GREEN ARROW & WATCHTOWER
By Derek Andrew Sharp
GREEN ARROW Created By George Papp and Mort Weisinger
CHLOE SULLIVAN Created By Alfred Gough and Miles Millar
With what force, he could manage, Oliver Queen in Green Arrow gear and all, pushed against the weight of a locked door. His right arm bleeding from a bullet wound, that remains lodged in his shoulder. His left arm taking the blunt forcing on the first blow, not breaking the door down as planned. He takes a breath, removes his sunglasses and attempts to catch his breath.
He's not certain as to what the hell is going on at the moment, but he knows one thing: he's wanted dead or alive. A fact, that haunts him as he hears footsteps moving towards him in the adjacent stairwell. Changing tactics, he kicks at the door twice before breaking through and moving into the small office. His eyes scanning the room looking for any escape possible.
The room itself he notes isn't all that large, but like any office within the confines of Star City. It's surrounded and built to the standards and codes of state and federal regulation. Glass windows everywhere. He pulls out one of his "Pulse" bolts and attaches it to a window and holds the door for a second, listening to the multiple footsteps moving his way. He closes his eyes and hits a button on his crossbow, allowing the min-pulse to activate shattering the glass, setting off alarms within the building.
Picking up the pace, he moves forward and kicks the desk against the door in an attempt to buy himself more time. Lifting his crossbow with his left hand, he fires a bolt with a wire attached, hitting the top of the adjacent rooftop without much issue. Behind him, he can hear four cops moving towards the door, forcing their own weight against it to get inside. With another touch of a button the crossbow's panel, the crossbow shifts and latches onto the wire. Taking a second, he checks his weight and pushes out of the window, the air hitting his face before landing hard on the roof. Once below, he retracts the line and keeps moving, headed towards whatever shelter he can find.
Taking a few deep breaths, steading his heart beat, he waits a second in the stairwell.
"Ollie, you ok?" Chloe Sullivan's voice echoes through his earpiece. He smiles softly, listening to the sound of her voice. A much needed comfort after the current situation.
"Chlo...I need an escape route or some help A.S.A.P.," Oliver says taking deep breaths, his weight still held up by the wall as he leaves stains of red behind himself.
"On it now," Chloe says her voice, carrying that of sheer determination and willpower. Despite the loss of blood, he can't help but keep the smile, even for a second.
The comlink fell to silence not more than a second thereafter and Oliver attempted to collect himself. He knew he had less than five minutes at best if he wasn't going to be caught up in the madness of an attack again. He places his crossbow back on his belt before putting his glasses back on.
"Watchtower Command ID: Arrow1," Oliver says demandingly into the comlink. "I need a layout of the building I'm currently in and all the exits."
On his glasses, the 38 story building in green with the exits labelled in red. He smiles wider. "Track all radio police bands as well." At the moment of mentioning it, he can hear the squawk of the various police bands. "Focus the bands on activity involving the Green Arrow." Once more, the programming focuses itself.
He continues to move, his breathing still remaining heavy as he makes the long haul down the stairwell. He's half-tempted to vomit, but the idea doesn't even cross his mind as he keeps moving. He listens to the police band the entire way down. His each and every step getting worse by the second.
Four floors below, he hears the door open up and the sound of three or four clicks. He closes his eyes and focuses, listening before hearing the sound of a canister of tear gas opening up. He pushes open the adjacent door on the fourth level and moves into the empty office hallway. He shakes his head and keeps moving, his hand holding tightly to his wound.
"He's moving on the fourth floor," a cop's voice screeches into his ear. He pushes himself forward, trying his best to buy himself time. But before he can even move, he's surrounded by police S.W.A.T. He doesn't expect this, but he's not going to get into a fight with these officers now. Even if their surrounding him. He scans each of their faces, uncertain of what to do for once.
Then there's a flash of light before smoke fills the room. He covers his mouth, lifting his fists up, preparing for an attack, but he finds no such thing. Instead he hears the sound cops being thrown every which way before being pulled out of the crowd into an elevator.
When he opens his eyes fully, he finds Chloe dressed entirely in red leather. One of the few designs, she had approved of in their selection for gear.
"Leather bodysuit with sunglasses," he says it, half laughing and half smiling.
"Shut-up, I just saved your hide back there," she says, stopping the elevator on the sixth floor.
"So what do I call you...?" he asks, looking above as she climbs onto the top of the elevator. His eyes falling to her backside, admiring her figure.
"Red Arrow," she says it, offering her hand to him, pulling him up into the elevator.
"Where's our exit?" Oliver asks, scanning the elevator shaft.
"Level seven," Chloe returns, climbing to the elevator door on seven, pulling it open. Oliver follows suit behind her, still holding his shoulder. Chloe continues to lead him down the hallway into an office. Once there, she closes the door and begins to cut a hole in the wall. "Garbage drop," she says kicking the wall in before grabbing his hand and pulling him down with her.
The fall only takes seconds before they land inside a garbage container. Without hesitance, they climb out and climb into a van disguised as a laundry van. Chloe slams the door shut behind them, removing her hoodie.
"What in the hell is going on out there, Chlo?" he asks removing his hood, sunglasses and vest. His arm burning with pain as he does. Chloe takes a second meeting his eyes, staying silent before turning on the TV.
"Laurel McKay reporting from Star City Today," the female news anchor states, her voice echoing through the static of the monitor. "Our top story: Green Arrow Wanted for Murder!"
Oliver squints a few seconds before resting against the cold hard metal. "I didn't kill anyone, Chlo..."
Chloe lifts her hand to his cheek and meets his eyes. "I know that, you know that, but they've got evidence."
"What evidence?" he asks, reaching into his arm, pulling the bullet with his bare hands, holding back the pain.
"One of your arrows," Chloe says it softly, her eyes never leaving his.
Oliver takes a long deep breath and just looks into Chloe's eyes. The only comfort from the ongoing storm.