Title: Save the Hero
Pairing: Chlollie (Chloe-centric)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: As much as I wish I did, I do not own them. Everything belongs to their respective owners. The lyrics are from "Save the Hero" by Beyonce.
Chloe wasn't sure how long she'd been there. Didn't know if it was night or day. But she knew they'd be coming for her soon. It wouldn't be the 'they' she wanted it to be, no. The Justice League was no sooner going to walk through that door than Santa Claus was.
So it went, that every time that door would open and one of her captors would walk through she died a little more inside; believed a little less that she deserved more than the hand she was dealt. Every broken rib, bloody nose, and black eye was another reminder that she wasn't as strong as she thought she was. Every shock, injection, and article chronicling another Green Arrow save was another nail in coffin she prayed she would soon see.
Regardless of how much she wanted to, she didn't break though. No matter what they threw at her she never gave them what they wanted. When they wanted her to scream and beg for death, she would only smile and ask for more. When they would ask for the name of her hero, she'd list the names of Saturday Night Live cast members or ex-presidents. When they wanted her to cry, she'd stare them in the eye as best she could and laugh. And when they told her that no one was looking for her; that no one was coming, she'd always grace them with a knowing smirk.
She used to believe they'd come and rescue her. That at any minute her team would barge in and banish anyone who had dared to touch her. That Oliver's distorted voice would reach her ears once again.
She used to believe in a lot of things… not so much anymore.
I lay alone awake at night
Sorrow fills my eyes
But I'm not strong enough to cry
Despite of my disguise
I'm left with no shoulder
But everybody wants to lean on me.
I guess I'm their soldier.
But, who's gonna be mine?
Chloe understood sacrifice all to well. After all, she'd been doing it all of her life.
Like it was yesterday, she could still remember the feel of the computer keys under her fingertips. It was a mission like any other. So much so, that she'd never even thought to be scared because she had her heroes to back her up.
But she was Watchtower, and she should've known that nothing was that easy.
One minute she was hacking into the mainframe and the next, there was a locked door between her and freedom.
"No, Chloe! No!" Oliver was banging on the door, trying in vain to break the glass.
"Ollie…" She sounded scared, even to herself. Of all the missions for Clark to miss, why did it have to be this one?
"I'm going to get you out, Chloe." He ran over and retrieved a fire extinguisher from the wall and proceeded to ram it into the door.
"Ollie, stop! You have to get out of here before they get you too! Please." Her handheld computer started beeping wildly and tears immediately welled in her eyes. They were closing in on them-fast.
"No! I'm not leaving you!"
"Please, Ollie. This is a government facility. They can't find out that the Green Arrow and Oliver Queen are the same person! You can't be here. I need to know that you're safe… please."
She was right and they both knew it.
Chloe was all out crying now. "Go, Ollie."
The pain in his eyes tore through her heart. "I'll find you. I swear to God, I'll find you."
"I know you will. I love you, Hero. Go…"
"I love you, too. I'll find you."
He swore that he'd find her and she didn't doubt that he had tried. But she was also never one to ignore the big picture either.
In the larger scope of things Chloe Sullivan was just one person, one person in a world of billions. She wanted to believe that their love was strong enough to bring them back to one another, but she knew Oliver's mission.
Heck, she shared Oliver's mission.
The needs of the many often outweighed the needs of the few. So no matter how much she wanted-needed- him to save her, she understood why he hadn't.
Who's there to save the hero?
When she's left all alone
And she's crying out for help.
Who's there to save the hero?
Who's there to save the girl?
After she saves the world
They'd drugged her again. They'd always thought that if they doped her up enough that she'd just start spilling her guts. It hadn't worked yet. But something about this time felt different. They hadn't even bothered to strap her down.
Something was wrong.
She concentrated on controlling her breathing. Lying as still as possible, she tried to make out what they were saying through her drug-induced haze.
"… have to call Waller. Oliver Queen is the Green Arrow. "
She wanted to die.
They'd done it. They'd gotten her to betray the man she loved.
In that instant everything seemed to move in some sort of blur. All the years of combat training with Oliver rushed to the forefront of her mind and before she realized what she doing, she had tapped into some unknown energy reserve she didn't know she had. The two doctors in the room were on the floor and she was on the computer overloading the buildings generator.
It would all be over in a few minutes.
Death would be her lover on this day and she welcomed it.
Sure she'd be a murderer, but where she was going held no room for regrets.
Closing her eyes, images of him flashed across her mind's eye and silent tears finally escaped, rolling down her cheeks. Shattered pieces of her heart lay at her feet as she began to realize what she was really about to give up.
There was so much unfinished business between them, so many things left unsaid.
Maybe they would have worked. Maybe they would have gone their separate ways.
Either way, it seemed like they were damned from the beginning.
The tragic love story of two people who were never really meant to be with one another.
A modern day Romeo and Juliet, with a twist… only her life would end today.
I've given too much of myself
And now it's driving me crazy
(I'm crying out for help)
Sometimes I wish someone would
Just come here and save me...
Save me from myself
She didn't even feel the impact. She just knew that everything hurt. And as she lay staring at the ceiling, her time running out, she made no attempt to help herself as blood began to pool beneath her.
She'd done it for the greater good. Because whether they knew it or not, the world was a better place with him in it.
She'd done it for him.
Wincing when she tried to move a little, it was getting harder for her to breathe. Finally, finding it useless, she closed her eyes and laid her head against the dirty floor.
Silence was the only sound now, no echoes of shouts of confusion or terror. Only her own thoughts to keep her company in those final moments.
She'd never see Clark be the greatest hero of them all.
She'd never get to tell people that Mad Dog Lane was her cousin.
She'd never again be den mother to her group of misfits.
She would never again get the chance to look into his soulful brown eyes and tell him that she loved him one last time.
By the time Bart and Clark found her, her breaths were shallow and her skin ashen, the soul of whom she used to be all but gone. They were full of anger and sorrow. They couldn't help but to feel responsible for her condition, the guilt so tremendous it ate away at them.
They would never know that she did it to save him, that her demise was to a means end to her own future suffering.
Oliver knew though. As soon as he laid eyes on her, he knew.
He'd spent the last six months searching high and low for any sign of his lost love, praying to God for the day that he'd get to see her again.
As he stared at her unmoving body, he didn't see the Chloe he knew. Only the blood she'd spilled for him.
With her final conscious breath came the whisper of, "I'm so sorry, Ollie…"
So yeah, Chloe understood sacrifice. She understood that to sacrifice was to give something up that she valued for the sake of something that was more important. So she'd given up her freedom in the never-ending battle of good and evil.
The fate of the world and her hero would always be more important.
Who's there to save the hero?
When she's left all alone
And she's crying out for help.
Who's there to save the hero?
Who's there to save the girl?
After she saves the world
A/N: I hope you guys liked it. All mistakes are my own, as I am my own beta. Feedback, good or bad, would be appreciated. Thanks :-)