The Daily Planet, Metropolis
By the time Clark arrives at Tess' office, strolling in "willy-nilly" like Lois did earlier today, he finds her standing on one side of the room, working on something but he can't tell what. With her long, red hair tied into a bun and wearing a white blouse that perfectly matches her black pencil skirt and high heels, Tess turns to face him, a smile on her face, "It does bring out your eyes."
Before Clark can furrow a brow or wonder what she's talking about, she nods to it, her smile widening, "That tie."
Feeling a little awkward, like he can "sense" that she's sort of hitting on him, Clark swiftly changes the subject, "Erm…I was wondering if you could help me with something," he then ponders carefully as to what to say next, "A…friend of mine has been poisoned. The doctors can't help him, but I think Luthorcorp owns the lab that makes the antidote." Does she have any idea about his relationship with Oliver Queen? Would she help him if she did? Clark doesn't need to think about that right now, all he needs is hope that she'll help him retrieve the antidote.
She spins on one heel so she facing the tall brunette, a hand on her hip, her smile dissolving back into its usual tone, "Believe me, my heart goes out to your friend…" she replies with such emphasis on the last word Clark wonders that she probably does know something about him and Ollie, "…but I don't have some secret stash of toxins or antidotes." She shrugs her shoulders to further confirm her answer.
However Clark's not having none of it, "There must be something you can do. Lex never abandons a project." His voice a little louder than usual.
"He doesn't, does he?" Her piercing, green eyes seem to be transfixed on his own, "I'm still catching up on the ones he's named after constellations but if this lab truly exists, I don't know about it." Her voice a little louder as well.
That's it, this is getting Clark nowhere and he didn't have time for idle chit-chat, "Look, Miss Mercer, I realize that you're my boss and that your job requires a certain level of secrecy…" he says, taking another step forward, taking out the file that Chloe had given him before he left the Isis Foundation, "…but the antidote to this plant could save my friend's life."
Tess eyes the picture that he's flaunting out in front of him and suddenly recognises the flower in an instant. Hesitant at first but gradually taking it from Clark's hand, she studies the flower and then chooses to turn away. Not looking back Tess then asks him, "Who exactly is your friend?"
Clark steps up to her desk, watching her as she continues to stare at the file in her hand, "His name is Oliver Queen. He doesn't have much time to live," his voice firm again to highlight his situation but obviously having no idea that Tess does know Oliver…but from a past that feels such a long time ago…one that changed her life forever and all because of that name…Oliver Queen.
Hearing that name resonating inside her head Tess gazes into space, remembering that time so vividly before blinking the memories away, her voice returning to its firm tone, "I'm not gonna stand here and lie to you, Clark. But I'm afraid I can't help you, either." At this point she turns to face him again, seeing the hope that's written on his face suddenly wash away, only to be replaced by anguish, "The lab was relocated to Campo Grande, Brazil. Even if I made a call, we'd never get the antidote here in time."
That's enough to make Clark's heart sink to the floor as his options in saving his love continue to slip through his very fingers…
The Isis Foundation, Metropolis
Now having opened up his shirt to reveal a sweating, taut chest, Lois begins to place two large bags of ice on it, to help cool the fever down, if only for a little while. Taking his hand into hers she silently prays for her friend before she's suddenly interrupted by someone strolling in through the entrance door. Who is this guy?
Davis pauses just inside the door before replying swiftly, "You must be Lois," then closing it behind him and joining her by Ollie's side.
"And you must be the one who's actually qualified to do this," Lois answers back, her gaze returning to Ollie who looks like he's getting worse by the second. His skin's getting paler and sweatier, his lips are now purple in colour, dark circles forming around his eyes and his breathing rate's kicked up a notch from the last time she checked on him.
Davis takes a glance at Ollie lying before him, feeling the awkwardness of the situation, and decides to just come out with it, a deep sigh to accompany it, "He's dying…I'm sorry."
Lois' head swirls quick so fast it surprises Davis that she hasn't got whiplash from it and grabs him fast by the wrist, but not hard to hurt, pulling him away from Ollie, "Here is what's gonna happen, dimples. You are going to reach into that handy little tackle box of yours and pull us out a miracle," her voice angry at his inability to at least try something to help, "Oliver Queen does not die today. I won't let that happen, for Clark's sake."
Hearing Clark's name Davis lets out another sigh, "The best I can do is keep him alive a few minutes longer."
"Then do it." Lois retorts back, not wanting him to waste another minute as he brushes past her and immediately gets to work. He takes out his small torch and carefully opens Ollie's eyes with his thumb, checking them for any signs of dilation, Ollie's flashback occurring as soon as the torch hits them…
Ollie's standing beside one of the glassless windows in the tent staring out into the horizon, the Sun setting overhead, when he hears Marco's guard entering through the entrance, AK-47 in both hands. Then, as soon as the guard looks away, Ollie takes the fishing hook from off the table and slips it into his pocket. Subsequently he faces Tess, who's on her knees and clutching her friend's hand, dry streaks of tears evident on her face from her sobbing. Watching her mourn at the loss of her dead friend, Ollie only wishes he could've done something to save her but Marco pulled out that gun so fast he was literally powerless to stop him.
Tess sniffs, brushing away the strands of hair away from Megan's face as Ollie kneels beside her. She then thumbs the bracelet around Megan's left wrist, sniffing again as she replies softly, "I gave this bracelet to Megan for her birthday. She was my best friend. She was joking around when she said she'd wear it 'till the day that she…died."
After a new wave of emotion causes her to shred more tears, she struggles in untying Megan's bracelet when she feels a soft hand upon hers and a gentle voice upon her ears, "Okay, easy, easy. Shh. Let me help you with that." She pulls away, allowing Ollie to untie it for her, passing it once it's unfastened.
"There you go," he whispers, his voice as soft as the wind, placing it in her hand but this just causes her to sob again as he pulls her into his arms, "Shh, shh, shh. Come here."
He can feel the tears upon his shoulder as she continues to cry over the loss of her best friend, who he looks down upon and utters softly, "I'm so sorry."
Whilst gently massaging the back of her head, Ollie grips her hair bobble that ties her hair into a short ponytail with his fingertips and pulls it off, resulting in Tess asking in a cautious voice, "What are you doing? They'll kill us."
"I swore that if I ever made it off this island, I'd change," Ollie utters, fingering the bobble whilst telling Tess of his intentions, "I wouldn't waste my life." They pull away from each other but still in the embrace, "That starts now."
Through her tear-filled eyes Tess nods in agreement, smart enough to realize what he's getting at as he stands to his feet, Tess following suit. A cry from outside alerts the guard, who leans out of the tent to catch it before turning to the prisoners, "Boat's ready, let's go," he informs, shotgun resting upon his shoulder.
Following Tess out of the tent the guard points them in the direction of where they should be walking and, with Tess shortly in front, Ollie begins to make something out of the fishing hook and her hair bobble and careful enough so the guard doesn't suspect anything.
As they round a huge bush, decorated with pink flowers, Marco appears upfront, an AK-47 strapped over his chest, "Hurry up and be careful. That flower's poisonous," he warns, seeing Tess so close to the bush they're just passing.
The guard glimpses at the said flowers and this is the moment that Ollie makes his stand. Once Tess' is at a safe distance he elbows the guard square in the face before taking another shot, this time with a strong right-hand, which knocks him to the ground. At this time Marco strives to holster his AK-47 Ollie pushes Tess down, in case he starts firing, and throws his makeshift arrow (made out of a stalk of reed, the fishing hook and Tess' hair bobble) with deadly accuracy. The "arrow" soars through the air, as though in slow motion, as it pierces through one of the berries, situated on the bush beside Marco, and sticks into his arm.
This hinders his attack on him, the shock of Ollie's attack just registering before collapsing onto his back. The effects of the berry blurs his vision, blinking to see if it might clear it but to no avail. Ollie helps Tess to her feet before running to Marco's side, taking his gun away from him.
"You're not gonna leave me here to die."
"You want to live?" He asks, though he doesn't leave enough time for Marco to answer, "You crawl down to the leech pond. Make some new friends."
Tess kneels beside Ollie, pushing him aside to take a look at Marco, eyeing the boat keys attached to his belt. Taking one look at him she instantly unclips it and pockets it in her khaki shorts. Ollie offers his hand and helps her to her feet, a grin on his handsome features, "Are you ready to go home?"
Tess doesn't answer. She just nods again before allowing Ollie to pull her towards the boat and to their freedom…
Lois glances at the heart monitor beeping beside the still-unconscious Ollie, his heart rate increasing a little at a time, "He just 106! He's on fire!" Her voice a little demanding.
Davis approaches from behind, looming over the two, "It's just like Nicholas. We need more ice and towels," he informs, looking around the place.
Lois turns and points in the direction of where they're stored, "In the back," and then Davis' gone. Afterwards she maintains in applying the damp towel against his feverish forehead, "Come on Ollie. You've gotta hold on for Clark. Come on."
Suddenly her soft words aren't enough as his body starts to convulse violently, his eyelids twitching. Holding him down Lois calls to Davis in the back, "He can't take much more of this!"
As she persists on watching him Lois hears that dreaded long beep and looks to the monitor, seeing that all the numbers have all dropped to zero and Ollie has now flat-lined. Not knowing CPR Davis thankfully makes his entrance as he asks her to move out of the way so he can better operate on Ollie.
Taking off the bags of cold ice Davis starts to pump Ollie's chest in quick succession, "Lois, I need you to breathe for me."
"Okay," she nods, positioning Ollie's face upwards so her breaths can travel down to his lungs easier. After a few more pumps Davis signals Lois by uttering a "Breathe" and she obeys, mumbling a "You're not going to like this Clark". Opening Ollie's mouth and pinning his nostrils together Lois persists in breathing into his mouth twice before pulling away, allowing Davis to start pumping again, "Come on Ollie. Stay with us. You can fight this…you're a fighter. Fight it…for Clark."
As just as that name leaves her lips a whooshing sound from outside the room (which Lois and Davis doesn't hear) and Clark enters the room, a needle in his hand which they both don't notice yet, "Clark…he's dying," Lois informs quickly, Clark noticing that she's close to crying.
Looking down at the needle in his hand Clark gestures it to Davis, "Use it," he says simply as his eyes catches Davis', whose own are questioning Clark's without using words but inevitably giving up when he realizes that Ollie's life's quickly slipping away.
Taking it from Clark's hand Davis looks at the needle before looking back at Ollie, hesitating for only a second, which feels to Clark and Lois like an hour. He then squeezes the plunger lightly to make sure that there's no air in the needle before placing his hand on Ollie's chest and sticking it straight into his heart, injecting him with the substance within. As Clark makes his way to Ollie's side Lois moves out of the way for him, standing opposite Davis as Clark takes her seat, his gaze not moving from Ollie as he waits for the moment for him to wake up so he can see those delicious, chocolate eyes he fell in love looking up at him.
And for the next few moments the room's deadly quiet; Clark brushing Ollie's hair softly back as he desperately waits for the antidote to take effect, Davis wondering what he's just injected his patient with and Lois nervously pacing and biting down on a fingernail at the thought that she might be losing a good friend this very night. It's only when they hear the slightest of gasps and see the blinking of eyes that they know that whatever Clark had given Davis has obviously worked.
Clark lets out a sigh of relief as he lightly brushes his lips against Ollie's, his hands softly cupping the blonde's face as a wide smile forms on his face whilst blinking away the wetness from his eyes before replying softly, "Welcome back."
"Clark, I don't get it." Davis questions, standing to his feet and waving the needle in his hand, "This…antidote doesn't even exist."
Clark turns his gaze away from Ollie for just a second to look up at Davis, "Queen Industries. They have a lab nearby," he answers with a nod, Davis' expression still questioning when Ollie's voice disrupts him and causes them all to glance back at the pale blond, "Mercy," he whispers so softly even Clark can barely hear him, "You have to go find Mercy."
"What?" Clark asks with a worrying tone in his voice and a furrow of his eyebrows.
"Tess Mercer. Clark please," Ollie states, his expression full of anxiety as he looks up at him, "Whoever did this to me will go after her next."
Clark stares at him with confusion, "Wait? You know Tess?" He asks, surprised at the fact that Ollie has never mentioned her in the time they've spent together and can't help but feel just a little hurt that he probably wasn't going to tell him if this "incident" had never have happened.
"There's no time, Clark." Ollie's voice a little louder even though Clark's sitting right beside him, meaning that this "talk" will have to wait until later when all this is blown over.
"She's working late. She's at the Daily Planet," he replies, looking at Lois then at Davis before he glances back at Ollie, who collapses back down on the chair, still exhausted from the effects of nearly dying a few minutes prior.
Knowing that this is his cue to go to her rescue Clark nods his head at Ollie's request before leaving him in the safety of Lois and Davis, super-speeding it to the Daily Planet once he's outside the room and away from their eyes.
