Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville; it is without prejudice property of The WB (2001–06), The CW (2006–11), Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, DC Comics, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Tollin/Robbins ProductionsWarner Bros. Television. I own nothing I merely borrowing a group of fascinating characters. I will return them relatively unscathed…well I return them anyway. No money is made from this and no infringement of copyright is intended. This will be removed if contacted. This story is not for monetary gain but purely for enjoyment purposes. I claim no ownership with exception to my own original characters and ideas. All recognizable characters are not mine, merely my own creations. Nor do I own the Phillies just a fan. I own nothing I merely borrowing a group of fascinating characters. I will return them relatively unscathed…well I return them anyway. No money is made from this and no infringement of copyright is intended. This will be removed if contacted. This story is not for monetary gain but purely for enjoyment purposes. I claim no ownership with exception to my own original characters and ideas.
Pairings: Chloe/Clark, Lois/Oliver ( eventual undertones).
A/N: Set AU Season 9 before and after Checkmate,
Summary: Apparently being rescued from a top-secret government society's facility is a lot harder than it looks. Go figure. When someone unexpected enters the fray, the life of Chloe Sullivan is about to get a whole lot more complicated.
The Past's Present
Chapter One:
"I'm showing external power breach. Am I clear to shoot? Over..."
Chloe Sullivan glared back. Even gaged she lifted her chin jutted up stubbornly, an action that- if he had been there- would make General Sam Lane glow with pride. In the five years, since she had been blocking for Clark Kent, somewhere along the lines Chloe had changed; gone, was the girl with big dream of golden globes and Tiffany lamps. In her place was Watchtower the eyes and ears of a band of super heroes dedicated to ridding society of the Lex Luthor's of the world. So naturally, danger was always a part of her daily life and had been since ninth grade. Now instead of just Clark, she had an army of heroes behind her. Every day from the seclusion of the tower, Big Sister watched. Danger however still found her every time she stepped out of her fortress. Most recently, it had been Davis Bloom and his obsession with her and his plea to flee with him. She had done so, for one reason and one reason only, she would do anything to protect Clark Kent no matter what it cost her. Chloe Sullivan had promised his secret would never leave her lips. A promise she had silently made to every hero she ever met.
This was why; she started down the barrel of a gun unflinchingly. Chloe was expendable; there would always be another Watchtower, but first she had to ensure the safety of the tower mainframe. As long as she drew breath, the government would never get their slimy paws on her merry band of Misfits.
A wave of determination flared through her, hazel green eyes snapping from the barrel of the gun to her assassin. Icy blue eyes met hers, and for one brief moment, Chloe believed she saw hesitation. His finger twitched on the trigger. Her eyes narrowed, if Checkmate thought this was their ticket to the tower and the heroes that called the base home, they were sadly mistaken. Oliver, Dinah, Bart, and maybe even Clark would not rest until Checkmate was nothing but smoldering rubble.
"Good-bye, Watchtower." Then he squeezed the trigger. It seemed this time; Clark was too late if he even looked for her at all. With a flash of brilliant blue light, Chloe Sullivan was gone.
….
One moment she was staring down the barrel of a gun, sure that her heroes would never find her, and she would become another casualty in the oncoming war. Now she was soaring up an over the spires of the ancient castle that had been her prison safely, or at least she hoped. Enclosed in a small shimmering blue orb, she floated harmlessly away from Checkmate Headquarters. Dark landscapes bleeding from inky blackness into bright bejeweled cities shimmering with life just over the cresting mountains. Chloe released a sobbing hysterical laugh, which if she hadn't just been rescued from a gun wielding government agent, would have made her fear for her sanity. Now suspended high above the world she could not help but think, she had either been saved by a new and valuable ally, or she just made yet another formidable enemy with the powers to match. The bubble put on a surprising burst of speed, reminiscent of the few times Chloe had traveled on the Kent Express; this however was a much smoother ride.
She gulped, while Chloe had never been afraid of heights she was usually surrounded by more than a delicate bubble of Wintergreen chewinggum.
"Okay, breathe Sullivan…you've been in far worse situations than this. Just because none spring to mind, just means you're in shock…yeah let's go with that."
Her orb swayed soothingly on the breeze as it speeded for the stars.
She screamed, drawing her knees to her chin and digging her nails into her ankles, desperate for anything to grasp onto.
"God, why does this stuff only happen to me?" she growled, irritated and allowed herself a moment of angry reflection. "Does this ever happen to Lois or Lana? Did they get possessed by a failed alien robot experiment gone Machiavellian? Get forced into a marriage they couldn't remember agreeing to? Become a vessel? Did they try to run away with a murdering beast to protect Clark? Noooo, only to Chloe."
Rage burned in her belly, after everything she had been through, it was her that Clark pushed to the sidelines. She who had become a villain in her best friend's eyes. All she had done, from kryptonite weapons to sequestering herself in a self-imposed hell to protect the world from Davis. Clark hadn't understood. Oliver turned against her believing she was hiding Davis for her own selfish desires. They hadn't understood, and she hated herself for being surprised. As much as she wanted to hate them for their hypocrisy, she couldn't and she doubted there would ever come a time when she would. Their lack of trust in her stung like a bitch, but at the end of the day she trusted them to do the right thing. So until the day she would be granted that trust she would be in her tower, doing what little she could to protect the heroes that protected the world.
Her eyes flickered open, gazing down at the world below. Despite her fear, inured feelings, and burning anger, Chloe couldn't help but be in awe. Flying high over cities, with a bird's eye view of the lives of the people below.
Poetic really.
Ever since she had taken full time to Isis and Watchtower by night, she had become the bird's eye. Hacking government databases and guiding her charges through labyrinth like tunnels in the quest to protect the world.
Chloe's stomach gave a twisting jerk, as she climbed even higher in the midnight sky.
"Fuck!" she screamed, as a lumbering 747 roared into view.
Powerless to do anything to change her trajectory, she watched as the hulking metal bird speed toward her.
"No, Oh God, up! Go up! Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!" she squealed, slapping at the bubble and bouncing up and down on her knees, as if that would force her up and clear of the plane. Despite her efforts, they proved fruitless as the shimmering side of her enclosure bounded off the nose of the plane-unseen by the two yawning pilots- and up and onto the top like pinball, bouncing and spinning wildly along the metal top. With one final bounce, she was sent spinning off to the side; Chloe groaned her stomach flipping with the quick successive spins.
For a moment, Chloe hovered over the left wing, gazing into a first class cabin window at a small snoring elderly man; his face pressed disturbingly again the Plexiglas, a trickle of drool winding down the window. A blast of turbulence-finally- knocked her lose, sending her rocketing off to the east.
Sitting cross legged on the floor of the sphere, her palms pressed against the side, she couldn't fight the gnawing free that bit at her stomach. Down below, somewhere, the league was searching for her and Checkmate HQ, tears burned her eyes at the thought of them walking blindly into the governments clutches, just to save her. Knowing Ollie like she did, she knew that was exactly what he was doing. What frightened her even more were his sporadic tendencies, especially after someone he cared for was threatened.
"Fear not daughter of Earth. All shall be well." A warm voice echoed, around her. She tensed-her back ramrod straight- being in the precarious situation did little to inspire trust. On the other hand, however, that arm soothing voice-while foreign- was somehow familiar.
"Look, I appreciate the save of mystical and powerful Oz. But if you don't mind Scotty, I'd like to be beamed down now. Preferably in Metropolis or even Smallville, I'm not picky. I have people looking for me! I need to get back, they could be in trouble."
The translucent surface of the bubble flickered. She froze, breath stealing from her lungs.
Hey- Hey! What are ya doing!" she demanded franticly, the last thing she needed was to free fall from this height. Even with Clark's ability to jump tall buildings in a single bound, she doubted he'd be able to catch her before she became a goo filled crater. It flickered around her once more, before a very welcome sight appeared all around her.
Clark.
"Clark!" she called desperately, the Clark swimming before her on the unearthly surface, showed no sign of hearing her.
"I must say, I liked your colors better when they were more patriotic." The woman Chloe was sure was the White Queen, drawled from the encroaching shadows of the dimly light room.
Chloe grudgingly had to admit the evil queen had a point.
"Kidnapping is illegal. Even for the government." He spat from the shadows, shifting closer toward the blazing amber flames in hearth, and the only source of light in the room.
Chloe growled. "What the hell are you doing! Don't show her that handsome mug of yours. She's a government slug Kent. It's not a photo-shoot for Seventeen magazine, you don't need candle light highlighting those chiseled cheekbones."
"I don't have time for polite requests. I have reason to believe there are aliens among us. They have designs much bigger than just getting green cards. I need your help." The woman stepped forward into the gentle glow. Her dark eyes blank with indifference.
"To do what? Chase down rumors and UFO stories?"
"What if I have proof? Actual alien blood? The keystone to World War III."
Chloe nearly swallowed her tongue.
"Fuck." She whispered the corner of her eye twitched nervously and she bounced around uneasily. How could she not have known this? How could this, of all things elude her? She was willing to bet one of the Kandorians had gotten careless. Big shock there.
"Maybe these aliens aren't here to start a war."
"Yeah, right. They just want to stick around for the satellite TV and all you can eat buffets."
"If you don't stand with us, you stand against us. It's time for you to pick a side. Maybe this will help your indecisiveness." The screen on the wall flickered to life; there in the drab white room handcuffed, gaged and staring down the barrel of a gun, Chloe saw her own image. The com beeped and the White Queen gazed smugly into the shadows.
"Stand ready for immediate orders."
"Best of luck with that. I'm now a guest of the Star Ship Enterprise." Chloe snapped back waspishly, regardless of the fact the only ones that could hear her, was her own ears and an eavesdropping AI.
" Let her go." Clark growled, Chloe jumped slightly. She had only ever heard that particular tone when he played with little red rocks. Chloe was oddly flattered and immensely concerned when Clark got like this he got sloppy and self-sacrificing.
"I'm not being unreasonable. If you step forward, out of the shadows, I will let Watchtower go."
"Don't do it Hanzel, Grettle isn't available to pull your ass out of the witches oven."
"Release her now." He stepped out of the shadows.
"Oh you Big Dumb Alien, you never fucking listen! I'm not even there ET! Christ, have I taught you nothing! You can't save the one and condemn the many."Chloe ranted, her arms flailing about in anger.
"You sure are nice to look at. But I like to have my cake and eat it too. Mm. I want your loyalty to Checkmate. Nuh! Anything happens to me and bye-bye, Blondie. I know you're fast. But you can't stop a bullet when you don't know where she is."
"Oh good, poke the supper powered bear with a kryptonite stick." Chloe grumbled, unable to watch her head fell into her hands.
"That would be murder."
"Very good Boy Scout. Why don't you recite her the Bill of Rights now too." Her grumbles garbled by her hands.
The White Queen scoffed. "It's not murder. It's strategy. Something you could have used more of before coming here."
The queens black eyes, gazed smugly at the chess set in the center of the room. Then looked back to the Blur with an abundance of arrogance. She had only seen that expression look natural on the face of Lionel and Lex.
"What more do you want?" he asked aggressively, his arms stretching out drawing even more attention to the house of El symbol on his broad chest.
"The location of Watchtower's central database." Her highness drawled, demurely crossing her arms across her chest.
Chloe groaned, so help her God she would skin him alive him if he played fast and loose with her database.
"You're after everyone who's ever worked at Watchtower."
Chloe sighed. "You know, whoever you are- you might really want to work with him on deciphering the obvious."
Her lip twitched in amusement when she caught a light musical chuckle.
"Names, faces, addresses. The Black Canary, Impulse, Aquaman, Cyborg. I need people with the abilities to end the war quickly and decisively. It's your move." The queen shrugged her face a blank mask but deep down Chloe had no doubt the bitch was enjoying this.
Having played many games of chess with the General, Chloe knew the slight methodical gleam in the White Queen's eyes right before she took the King. Powerless she prayed for a miracle.
"Even if I gave you Watchtower's database, you know I'll come for you." His angry voice bounced off the walls surrounding her.
"And maybe teach him the finer points of chess." She moaned, pathetically.
"I am merely and AI, Chloe Sullivan not a miracle worker."
Chloe giggled slightly. She really hoped this AI was friend not foe.
"The Blur. He patrols the streets of Metropolis, protecting every citizen he can. But he, he lets the most valuable ally fend for herself." The hefty mocha skinned woman, drawled smugly. A delighted vicious smirk ticked at her the corner of the older woman's lip.
"I did not abandon her." Clark snapped angrily, a twinge of amber flickering in his oceanic eyes. Chloe snorted, crossing her arms over her breasts.
"Didn't you? You left your greatest asset vulnerable. All you have to do to save her life is give one simple address." The Queen taunted, her eyes burning like embers. A loud wailing blare, made the expression of victory fall into one of angry cruelty.
"Come in, White Queen. Come in, White Queen." The voice of a guard broke the impasse.
Chloe grinned in spite of herself as she watched a slight look of concentration and she knew he was listening for her captures. Then he was gone in a blur.
"I'm showing external power breach. Am I clear to shoot? Over."
Then the picture dissolved, leaving her gazing out the translucent side and out over the night sky. All around her thick nimbus clouds lazed passed.
"Hey! What are you doing?" she demanded her head swiveling from side to side searching for the images. She needed to know what had happened to Clark, was he okay? He didn't stick around after her disappearance. The White Queen didn't strike her as a gracious loser and she wanted Clark and her heroes as far away from Checkmate as possible.
"Peace child, my son has returned from the Castle. Your friends are safe, for now." The voice finished grimily.
"Clark." Chloe whispered in spite of herself. Clark had come for her, whether it is for Lois' or the League's sake, he had still come for her.
Whoa wait a second.
His son!
"Jor-El?" Chloe's voice was sharp with thinly veiled contempt. "I have had the displeasure of meeting Jor-El and you are not him. He is cruel, viciously so."
The voice sighed, warily. "Yes, you have met the AI within the Fortress, but you and I have never had the privilege."
"Then who did I supposedly meet?" Chloe demanded, disbelievingly. "Zod? Live and in charge from the Phantom Zone."
"No," the voice was ominous as the thunder. "Not Zod, but Zor-El my own flesh, that has assumed leadership of the fortress. Seeking nothing more than to destroy Kal-El and through him to fulfill his whims of absolute domination, and sub planted a… I believe you would call it a backdoor, that he could access at will. For years he has imprisoned me inside my own inventions. Enjoying my suffering of being so near to my dear Kal-El and unable to speak a word of guidance."
Chloe's brow crinkled in suspicion. "Then how can you rescue me? Speak to me?"
The warm voice chuckled. "Ah, now I see why son values you so. Long have I awaited this meeting, with the woman my son trusts over all others."
Chloe snorted. "Valued, past tense."
"Yes, I am sorry to say. Kal-El has pulled away from you. As much as I wish it Zor-El's influence on him as his new fascination with drab colors not befitting his house." The last part was spoken dryly, and Chloe could not help but wish this was the true Jor-El.
"Zor-El? Kara's father, right? Or did you have some other megalomaniacal relation I've yet to hear of."
"Yes, my own brother had betrayed and is now endangering the destiny of my son."
She rolled her eyes.
Seriously.
This shit could only happen to her.
"Tell me how you can talk to me now. Explain it to me."
"It has taken me years to conclude his methods in invading the crystals, and now that I have, I have now resumed control, but I fear Zor-El will soon send me back to my prison."
"Why should I believe you? Why would Zor- El, AI or not, wipe his own daughter's memories and powers? Leaving her completely vulnerable and at the mercy of a Luthor? "
Jor-El-much to her surprise- grunted. "Zor-El wished to sever the relationship between Kara and Kal-El. His plot never came to fruition; never did he expect it would untie them further against a common enemy."
"The Fortress." Chloe nodded absently to herself. Anxiously twining a lock of short golden hair around her fingers, she bit her lip.
"Correct, but so like my dearest brother, his hubris has hindered his knowledge and he never discovered the full potential that resides in Kal-El's fortress."
"Oh so it does more than flash freeze and imprison those against their will?" She gripped snidely.
"Quite," he answered dryly. "Ever since the discovery of the haven in the north, I have been capable of tapping into satellites, radio waves, and even cell phone towers. I learned everything I could on the current state of the world, my son's surrogate world."
"And what did you find?"
"Many things, but most of all the need for those like the Red-Blue Blur and the Green Arrow. I also found I am fond of great American television sitcoms, Seinfeld and Gossip Girl. The Upper east side is truly diabolical."
Chloe snorted. Of all things to give an alien AI pause it was a show dedicated to teenage girls. Go figure.
"I have also watched those, important in Kal-El's life."
One brief moment and then creepy.
Peachy.
Her bubble gave a sharp jerk, as it rose higher. The glints of the lights below were soon absorbed by thick gray nimbus clouds. Brilliant red sparks flashed off the buoyant surface and fell down toward the earth like a rain of fireworks. With sickening certainty, Chloe knew she had just broken through the atmosphere.
"Peace," The voice spoke soothingly. "You are safe Chloe Sullivan; the sphere shall protect you until we reach our destination."
Chloe's hazel eyes burned brightly with furry. "Where the hell are you taking meeeeeeee?"
Her angry question ended in a squeal of terror, as the sphere with one final tremor she was in the pitch blackness of space. She gasped, her eyes widening as she gazed out at the untainted beauty of the moon. Burning brightly, like shimmering molten silver lava, was the North Star.
"With your consent, I shall take you train."
Chloe looked up startled. "Train! Train for what?"
"I have seen the downward spiral that Kal-El has chosen. With the knowledge of his heritage and how to eradicate Zor-El's presence, you could guide him. Much like you have done since your days at the Torch. Always there waiting, waiting for the moment he would need your assistance. Only now you must right the wrongs before they begin to corrupt."
Chloe scowled. "You make me sound like a stalker. Very flattering."
Jor-El ignored her sarcasm.
"Chloe Sullivan, Daughter of Earth will you accept the mantel of the Vrai l'Un."
"The what now? Care to translate I took Italian in High School."
"The translation means little, will you accept. Will you help save my son? Help him fulfill his destiny."
"How do I know I can trust you? I've met many an enemy who could take on other's appearances, heat sucking vampires, chainsaw wielding telepaths. Pretending to be a kind and fatherly Jor-El, while out there, is not the strangest thing I've seen today."
"I have no way to prove my intentions, I can only ask for a blind leap of faith."
She fell silent.
"I…I" she stammered, warring with the doubt of her suspicious nature and something else that seemed to be fighting to believe.
"A war is coming, and it will paint the streets of Metropolis. Thousands will be a risk, time is of the essence, and I must have your choice, now."
…
"Enter the chamber," Jor-El's voice was soft and soothing.
Standing beneath unnaturally large overlapping crystals of varying hues of blue and whites, Chloe gnawed nervously at her bottom lip. Worried hazel eyes gazed into a small chamber barely wider than her high school locker, which appeared to be a perfectly carved elongated tube of pure milky white ice, a fine yellow mist swirling up from the floor. Gulping, she squared her shoulders, lifted her chin and lifted her foot to march into the tunnel like a good solider. However she had forgotten she was in a fortress of…well ice. Chloe slipped and slid her sneakers useless in gaining traction on the smooth frozen glassy surface.
Panting, Chloe crawled to the chamber entrance, using the rounding curves of the portal to pull herself clumsily to her feet. Her weight now firmly back on her sneakers, taking a deep breath she stepped warily into the mist.
"We shall now begin. The first part of your trials shall be the easiest. Never, daughter of Earth- Vrai l'Un- forget that to secure the future we must correct the present, to change the present, one must first change the past. The duty shall be yours and yours alone. One final time I will ask this…will you now and always be Le vrai un de Kal-El?"
Chloe licked her lips, she knew, even without Jor-El 2.0's insight that a war was coming. The U.S Government vs. Heroes everywhere and then when everything seemed so bleak the Kandorians would make their final move. It would be a bitter and bloody battle and in the end the only loser would be humanity. How many would needlessly be killed while those that had sworn to protect them were fighting for their own lives. Oliver, AC, Dinah, Victor, Bart, Courtney, Carter, and Clark, even Lois and Martha would not stand idly by. They'd all be in danger each fighting to be the solution the world needed, and one by one they would fall. Be it to a bloody end at the hands of the government, super powered Kandorians, or into madness and soul splitting guilt. Fall they would and she couldn't let that happen.
"Alright Yoda, let's see if I'm smarter than a fifth grader." She grinned slightly, leaning back against the sold ice tube.
"I shall take that as a yes, then? Very well Vrai l'Un, we shall begin." Jor-El remarked dryly, and the mist began to rise, swirling around her like a funnel cloud. Slowly it began to solidify, taking on the same texture and sheen as her protective puff the magic dragon bubble. Much like the bubble that had given a bird's eye view into Checkmate HQ, the screen flickered and a warm face smiled serenely back at her. Mussed wheat colored hair tickled the brow of a handsome face, twin stone of aquamarine gazed into hers, a strong stubborn jaw-one she was well acquainted with- and the same full supple lips she had gazed at although high school.
"Greeting Vrai l'Un, to begin your journey we shall begin at the beginning. Krypton."