CHAPTER SEVEN-THE SUPER SOLDIER
"Brooke!" Oliver yelled running down corridor after corridor.
As he turned the corner he saw someone on the ground. He ran as fast as he could towards the person and as he came closer he saw that it was Brooke. As soon as he got to her he kelt down and lifted her off the ground placing her head on his knees.
"Wake up," said Oliver sounding scared. "Come on. Don't die on me. Brooke!"
"Oliver," Brooke said in barely more than a whisper.
"I'm here," said Oliver. "Come. We have to get you out of here. I promise I won't let anything else happen to you. I'm going to get you out of her safely."
"I'm cold," Brooke whispered.
"I've got you," said Oliver getting to his feet and lifting her up in his arms. "We're getting out of here."
"You there Green Arrow?" came Bart's voice over the communicator.
"I'm here," said Oliver.
"No sign of the vial here," said Bart.
"Yeah there's nothing here either," Victor added.
"Look what I found," said AC happily. "I have the vial."
"Mission accomplished," said Bart.
"Good work everyone," said Oliver trying to keep his voice calm. "Aquaman, make your way to Star City. Meet me at Queen Industries."
"Roger," said AC.
Oliver ran towards the car and put Brooke into the back seat. He turned back to the facility and self destructed the building. He got into the driver's seat and drove as fast as he could to where his jet was standing by. He got Brooke out of the back and carried her onto the jet laying her on one of the couch seats.
Oliver took off his green arrow gear and put on jeans and a baggy white shirt. He then made his way to the cockpit where the pilot was.
"Where heading to Star City," said Oliver. "I need to get there as fast as possible."
"Of course Mr Queen," said the pilot. "We'll leave right now."
Oliver nodded and went back to Brooke. He grabbed a cloth from a draw and put pressure onto her arm.
"You're going to be fine," said Oliver. "I'm going to get you the best care possible."
"You're scared," said Brooke smiling slightly.
"Don't go into my head," said Oliver. "Save your strength."
"Did you tell Bart what happened?" asked Brooke.
"No."
"Good," said Brooke. "He'd only worry and that's the last thing I need right now. I don't want you to worry either. I'm going to be ok. It was only my arm."
"Well, you're going to have to tell him about it eventually," siad Oliver. "He will find out and it would be better if you told him."
"I will," said Brooke closing her eyes. "Right now I just need to rest."
"Sleep tight," said Oliver wrapping the cloth tightly around her arm.
Brooke opened her eyes slowly and looked around to see all white. She felt pain in her arm and looking down saw it wrapped up tightly in bandage. A door to her right opened and Oliver Queen walked over to her smiling at her.
"I can safely say I'm not in heaven," said Brooke forcing a laugh. "If I was you wouldn't be here and neither would this pain."
"Glad you think so highly of the guy that made sure you got to a hospital alive," said Oliver sitting in a chair next to her bed. "How's the arm?"
"Hurts like a bitch," said Brooke. "But other than that, it's good."
"Do you know who shot you?"
"No," said Brooke. "I don't really remember much actually. I remember going into the building and checking computers and finding nothing. After that it's all a blur. I don't remember anything."
"I think you must have hit your head on the way down," said Oliver.
"Where am I?" asked Brooke. "This pretty much looks like any hospital room."
"We're at the Star City Hospital," said Oliver. "I called in Doctor Hamilton and he's been looking after you."
"When can I get out of here?"
"As soon as the doc says so," said Oliver. "It's for your own health and well being."
Brooke looked at him looking angry and he added quickly, "But it shouldn't be too long. Best case scenario you're out of here in a few hours. You'll just have to lay off on dangerous jobs for a while."
"Perfect," said Brooke. "Where the hell is my doc-"
She was cut off as the door opened and none other than Doctor Hamilton walked in.
"How are you feeling Miss Roberts?" he asked looking at her charts.
"Peachy," said Brooke.
"Well you seem to be fine," said Doctor Hamilton looking at her. "Do you have any memory loss? Mr Queen said he found you on the floor. You may have hit your head."
"I can't really remember what I was doing after I was using the computers," said Brooke. "I don't remember getting shot at all."
"That's natural," said Doctor Hamilton making notes. "You had a mild concussion and your memory loss isn't extensive. You'll be fine. Your arm will be sore for a few weeks though. I've packed bandages and dressing for you and I've already gone through instructions with Mr Queen. I'll go get it for you and then you're free to go."
"Ok," said Brooke. "Thanks Doctor Hamilton."
As the doctor closed the door Brooke turned to Oliver and said, "This is better then the few hours you suggested. I'm going to be out of here in a few minutes."
"I'm not a doctor," Oliver defended.
"Where's the phone?" asked Brooke.
Oliver dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone handing it to her.
"I should probably let Bart know what happened and that I'm ok," said Brooke as she scrolled through the address book and calling him.
"Hey Oliver," said Bart. "What's up?"
"It's Brooke."
"Oops," said Bart. "Sorry. Why are you using Oliver's phone?"
"I don't know where my phone is right now," said Brooke. "So, how'd your mission go?"
"Alright," said Bart. "I didn't find the vial obviously. You know what else was upsetting?"
"What?"
"I didn't hear a word from you until now since we went our separate ways at the airport," said Bart.
"Yeah," said Brooke. "There is a perfectly good explaination for that. I kind of got shot in the arm while I was inside the facility. But the doctor says I'm going to be fine and my arm barely hurts anymore."
"You got shot?" asked Bart.
"I got shot."
"You got shot."
"Yes," said Brooke. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner but I wanted to know how serious it was."
"You should have told me," said Bart.
"I know," said Brooke. "And I'm sorry that I didn't. I didn't want you to worry and I'm fine. I just thought I should at least let you know."
"Ok," said Bart. "I've got to go. Victor's waiting for me. But we'll talk soon."
Brooke hang up the phone and handed it back to Oliver.
"Lover's quarrel?" asked Oliver.
"Shut up."
The door opened then and they both turned to see Doctor Hamilton walking in with a bag. He handed it to Oliver saying, "Everything is in here. You need to change it every day."
"Absolutely," said Oliver. "Let's go Brooke. We have to meet up with AC."
Brooke got out of bed and followed Oliver out of the room.
"So where are we meeting AC?"
"He should be out by the car," said Oliver. "I told him we were here."
Brooke nodded as they came outside. They turned left to head towards the car and saw AC standing there grinning.
"AC!" Brooke said happily running over and jumping into his open arms.
"Hey kid," said AC. "What happened to your arm?"
"Shot," said Brooke dismissively.
"Ouch," said AC as he pulled the vial out of his pocket and handing it to Oliver. "The vial. Safe and sound."
"Thanks," said Oliver opening the car and getting in the driver's seat. "Get in."
"I'll go in the back," said Brooke when AC looked at her.
"Thank you," said AC sliding in the front.
"Think Lex misses it yet?" asked Oliver.
"I wonder if he even knows it's missing yet," said Brooke.
"While I was waiting for Brooke to be conscious I was looking over the files we had," Oliver said. "I found a something in them. Lex is using this formula to make an army of super soldiers. In this vial is the main ingredient."
"So maybe he does miss it," said Brooke.
As they drove up on the bridge a van came up next to them and crashed into the side of the car.
"AC," said Oliver. "Go. Now. Take the vial and get it to the Queen Industries research facility."
AC nodded and opened the door as Oliver drove. He jumped high and dived into the water. Brooke climbed into the front of the car.
"I need you to steer the car," said Oliver.
"What?" said Brooke in shock. "What about my arm?"
"Just keep the car on the road."
Brooke leaned over and grabbed the steering wheel. When Oliver was sure she had control he let go and pulled out a crossbow. He aimed it at the tires and shot. The van skidded to a stop. Oliver threw the crossbow into the back and grabbed the steering wheel.
"Are you ok?" he asked Brooke.
"Yeah," said Brooke.
"Ok," said Oliver taking the next exit off the bridge.
"Where are we going?" asked Brooke.
"Queen Industries research facility,' said Oliver. "Bart and Victor are there. AC should be there soon too."
Brooke nodded before wincing in pain.
"Ok, I'm going to look over the fact that you just lied to me and said you were fine," said Oliver. "There's some pain killers in the bag. I think there's some water in there too."
"Thanks for looking after me," said Brooke before swallowing the tablets. Oliver looked at her questioningly so she continued. "You're one of the only people in my life who watches out for me all the time. You're always there when I need someone to look after me. I guess what I want to say is, thanks."
"You're welcome," said Oliver pulling up outside the facility. "Let's get inside."
Oliver picked up the bag and walked around to open Brooke's door. He held his other arm out and they linked arms and walked inside.
"What've you found out boys?" asked Oliver.
"I've found out that my girlfried is insane," said Bart. "Getting shot and then not telling me about it until she's getting out of hospital."
"I've found out that Bart's obsessive," said Victor.
"I meant have you found out what we have to do next," said Oliver dumping the bag on the floor and pulling a chair out for Brooke.
"Oh," said Bart. "That. Nope. Maybe we were just supposed to find the vial."
"I'm here," said AC coming through the door. "And so is everyone else."
"Thank god you're ok," said Brooke.
"Course I'm ok," said AC. "You have such little faith in me."
"I have plenty of faith in you," said Brooke. "I was worried though."
"You need to relax kid," said AC. "I'm fine. You're fine. We're all fine."
Brooke smiled as the computer screen turned on and a dark shadow was on it and said, "Search no further than the palm of your hand for the answers. Join your skills to reverse-engineer the formula. But hurry, time is running out!" And then it disappeared.
"That was slightly creepy," said Brooke still looking at the screen.
"Not just creepy," said Bart and everyone looked at him. "It was cryptic. I hate cryptic warnings and messages. They don't help."
"The palm of your hand," said Brooke quietly.
"What?" asked Oliver looking down at her. "You think you know what that guy was talking about?"
"The vial," said Brooke. "AC, it's in your hand. The palm of your hand if we're being specific. We have to somehow use the formula to reverse the effects of the super soldierness."
"Oh my god," said Bart walking over to her and pulling her ot her feet hugging her. "My girlfriend's a genius."
"I always have been," said Brooke kissing him.
"Excuse me you two," said Oliver. "We have work to do."
"Ok," said Brooke.
"Not you," said Oliver.
"Am I no longer a part of this team?" asked Brooke. "Or just not a part of the we?"
"You're a part of the 'need to rest and regain strength' group right now," said Oliver.
"I've never been one to do as I'm told Oliver," said Brooke.
"Fine," said Oliver. "But you're not going into the field. It's way to risky right now."
"Fine," said Brooke. "I'll work on the formula. Give it."
AC put the vial in her hand and she went to the lab in the next room. She pulled out one of the microscopes and opened the vial. She took a small sample and placed it on a slide which she slid under the microscope. Leaning in and looking down at it she saw something strange.
"Found anything?" came Bart's voice from behind her.
"It doesn't look normal," said Brooke.
"You should go get changed Brooke," said Bart hugging her from behind. "You've been in those clothes for who knows how long."
"About a day," said Brooke. "But I do feel a bit disgusting. Make sure no one touches anything in here. I need to shower."
"Ok," said Bart. "Know where the showers are?"
"Want to show me?" said Brooke getting up and pushing him against the wall kissing him passionately.
"Brooke," said Bart as she moved her mouth to his neck. "What are you doing?"
Brooke pulled away and looked at him.
"Most guys I know wouldn't try to stop me doing that," said Brooke stepping back. "I have to have a shower. Bye Bart."
She walked out of the room without another glance at him. Bart stood where he was confused, unsure of what had just happened. He was breathing heavily and still looking shocked when Oliver came into the room.
"What happened?" asked Oliver.
"I have no idea," said Bart. "She kind of jumped me and kissed me and I was shocked and I may have hurt her feelings."
"You stopped her kissing you?" asked Oliver. "You are insane Bart. It's not every day that you will find a girl that not only knows about your abilities but still wants to be with you after she knows. You're lucky. You don't need to hide a thing from her. Not everyone gets that."
"I guess so," said Bart.
"Guess so?" said Oliver. "How about know so."
"Ok, I'm lucky," said Bart. "She's great."
"Who's great?"
They both turned around and Kate walk in.
"What are you doing here?" asked Bart.
"I set her up here," said Oliver. "Did I not mention which place I had her?"
"No," said Bart hugging Kate when she reached them.
"Who's great?" Kate repeated.
"Brooke," said Bart.
"She really is," said Kate. "Is she here?"
"Yeah," said Oliver. "I just saw her walking up the corridor about five minutes ago."
"Shower," Bart said.
After ten minutes of talking the door opened and Brooke walked in. She stopped in the doorway before grinning.
"Kate!" said Brooke walking in and they hugged each other tightly. "I missed you. Please tell me you're going to start coming on missions with us."
"Actually, I was thinking about it," said Kate. "And I'd really like to but I don't want to do anything to dangerous."
"That is awesome!" said Brooke hugging her tighter.
"What happened to your arm?" asked Kate noticing the bandage for the first time.
"I got shot," said Brooke. "It's not that bad. I mean, when it first happened it hurt like hell, but now it's fine now. I have work to do."
"What are you working on?" asked Kate following Brooke back to the desk.
"We recently obtained a vial from Luthor Corp that is being used to make super soldiers," Brooke explained absent minded. "I'm trying to find out how to reverse engineer it. Hold on a sec."
"What?" asked Kate.
"She's talking to herself now," said Bart.
"That doesn't look right," said Brooke. "What is it?"
She adjusted the microscope and leaned in closer to look.
"It's like nothing on this earth," Brooke whispered.
"What is it?" asked Oliver walking over and sitting down on the desk.
"Something not from this earth," said Brooke. "Something other worldly. Somehow Lex Luthor has gotten hold of alien DNA. I remember seeing something similar in Clark's blood when I first found out about his heritage. He let me do a test because I was a total science geek back then."
"You were a science geek?" asked Oliver.
"Yeah," said Brooke. "I was twelve. This is beside the point. How did Lex get alien DNA?"
"I don't like talking about this alien stuff," said Oliver.
"I don't know how to reverse the formula Oliver," said Brooke. "You'll need to get a specialist in. I may be mildly intelligent but I'm not a 'alien reverse engineering formula person'."
"I'll call someone in," said Oliver. "I'll tell them everything you saw and you will go to bed Miss Roberts."
"You can't tell me what to do," said Brooke.
"Bed now," said Oliver. "You need rest."
"Fine," said Brooke. "But I'm only going because I want to."
"You can tell yourself whatever you want," said Oliver. "Kate could you please take her to a bed?"
"Absolutely," said Kate as she linked arms with Brooke and dragged her out of the room. "You really don't look well Brooke. You're so pale."
"I'm fine," said Brooke. "But I think Bart and I are having troubles."
"What?" said Kate. "Did something happen?"
"It's more like what's not happening," said Brooke. "We haven't had sex since we got together."
"What do you mean since you got together?" asked Kate.
"We did before we were together," said Brooke. "I wasn't thinking clearly and I was hearing his thoughts and his feelings and it kind of just happened. But ever since we got together there's been nothing. I want to know how he's feeling but I don't want to go in his head when I can control it. I need to talk with him."
"Maybe he's scared if you move to fast he'll lose you," Kate suggested.
"Maybe," said Brooke. "Or maybe he doesn't feel the same way about me anymore."
"You should sleep on it," said Kate opening the door to a room. "I'll wake you in the morning."
"Thanks," said Brooke changing into pyjamas and getting under the covers.
She was just about asleep when her phone rang. She moaned and rolled over to pick up her phone from the table.
"Hello?" said Brooke yawning.
"Bad time?" said the voice on the other end.
"Depends who it is," Brooke replied.
"Richard Grayson," he said. "We met on Corto Maltese. We danced at a party and then we exchanged phone numbers."
"I remember you," said Brooke.
"Always a good thing to hear," said Richard.
"Yeah," said Brooke. "You were with Bruce Wayne. How are you?"
"Not bad," said Dick happily. "Just thought I'd get in touch and make sure you hadn't forgotten me. Mission accomplished."
"I'd really like to talk but I'm actually really tired right now," said Brooke. "I've kind of had a bad day."
"What happened?"
"Just stressful," said Brooke evasively. "I'll call you back."
"When?" asked Dick.
"Soon," Brooke promised. "In the next two days. I'm not sure if I'll be able to tomorrow."
"Ok," said Dick. "But please try to. You could come to Bruce's annual fundraiser. It's pretty boring but you could keep me company."
"I'd like that," said Brooke. "Where and when?"
"It's a Wayne mansion in Gotham in about a month. Guess you'll have to call back to get the actual date."
"I will," said Brooke. "Bye."
"This super soldier dude is as fast as me," said Bart trying to stay ahead. "He has a forcefield too, but I don't think he's that bright. I can totally out smart him. Green Arrow, are you guys ready?"
"Not quite yet," said Oliver. "We need a few more minutes to set up all the laser calibration."
Oliver was working as fast as he could to set it all up in the sweltering heat of the Utah desert. Everyone else was at strategic intervals setting up there own laser for the operation.
"Just keep it up for a little longer," Brooke said.
"Really trying," said Bart. "He has boyscout's level of strength!"
"Hang on," said Victor as he finished. "Locked and loaded. Everyone else ready?"
"Impulse," said Oliver. "Get the super soldier into place. Everyone else get ready to fire."
Bart got the super soldier to where everyone was waiting and they all used the lasers to fire. Oliver's was running out of energy fast and the energy was gone before they could finish him off.
"Now what do we do?" asked Bart as they all discarded the lasers.
"Pray," Brooke suggested as Oliver's phone rang. "Is now really a good time to answer that?"
"It's watchtower," said Oliver answering. "Chloe, what's wrong?"
"Lois is in major trouble," said Chloe. "Do you know how to disable the soldiers?"
"To be honest the field test isn't going so great," said Oliver. "But we have a plan B."
Oliver passed his phone to Brooke and took a vial out of a box. He loaded it into a gun and shot it at the soldier. There was a massive explosion and when it had all cleared the super soldier was gone.
"That wasn't so bad," said Bart happily.
"Sometimes I wonder about you," said Oliver taking his phone back.
"You guys are amazing," said Kate. "And you do stuff like this every day?"
"Not every day," said AC. "But fairly regularly."
"We kicked ass," said Bart coming over and high fiving AC. "You ok Brooke?"
"Fine," said Brooke opening her phone.
Bart and AC exchanged a concerned look. Brooke went to her voice mail and listened to a message that had been left ten minutes before. 'Hey, it's Cameron. Listen I was hoping you could come around to my house tomorrow. I need to talk to you. Say hi to Bob for me.'
Brooke hang up the phone and stood there in shock. 'Say hi to Bob for me' was the signal they had made the previous year for when they were in trouble and needed help. She had no idea why he would need her help after the way she had treated him but thought she should at least go to see what was wrong.
"Hey Oliver!" Brooke called.
Oliver turned around and walked over, "Everything ok?"
"Yeah," said Brooke. "I need to ask a favour actually. Can I borrow your jet?"
"You want to borrow my jet," Oliver said. "Why?"
"I need to get to London right away," Brooke said. "Please?"
"Sure," said Oliver."I'll call over and the jet'll be ready to go when you get there. Do you want someone to go with you?"
Brooke looked over her shoulder and saw Bart with Kate talking and laughing. She turned back to Oliver and said, "No. I want to go alone."
"Alright," said Oliver. "I'll drive you to the airport."
"Thanks," said Brooke. "I appreciate it. Can you do one more thing? Don't tell Bart until I'm gone."
"Ok," said Oliver confused. He picked up one of the boxes and turned to AC. "Brooke and I are heading out. I'm making you designated driver. Get them back to my apartment to rest. I'll be there as soon as I can."
AC nodded so Oliver lead Brooke back to his car. They both got in and Oliver made the call and headed towards the airport.
"Thanks for the lift," Brooke said getting out of the car. "I don't think I'll be gone for too long. I just need to talk to someone alone. Hopefully I'll only be gone for a couple of days tops."
"Call me when you get there," said Oliver.
"Absolutely," Brooke replied before boarding the jet that was taking her back to London. Back to Cameron.