Within Enemy Lines
by Catheryne (tennysonslady)
Summary: Oliver joins the Suicide Squad in order to save Chloe Sullivan.
Characters: Oliver, Chloe, JL, SS
Pairing: Chlollie
Rating: PG13
AN: In the comics, the creature in the Land of the Shadows was a Succubus. Also, Dr Karin Grace was the Flag Jr's girlfriend and not Flag's wife. I am taking concepts and changing them a bit for the purpose of this story.
Part 10
The ground was powdered sand—red powdered sand, Chloe realized. Her head spun, and she held onto the levelled red ground to gain perspective. A red ground for a dimension long dead. Her fingers curled into the red, remembered Oliver's cry of pain as he fell onto the hard cement.
It worked.
She was alive, and if Wayne was half the hero he seemed to be Oliver would too. He would be in pain, and someone would need to dig up the bullet from Oliver's leg, but he was alive.
She looked up at the sky. Two suns were overhead, burning with blue flame. A few bald trees littered the horizon, throwing tall, dark shadows of figures with long, reaching arms. Chloe was entranced by the stillness, the peaceful quiet. She felt a steady gaze on herself and Chloe turned to look. Emptiness. And then a shadowy figure darted out from behind the trunk of the dead tree and to another. When she stepped forward, Eve caught her arm.
"Don't."
"What is it?" Chloe whispered back. It was the only sign of the life in the forsaken dimension where Eve had thrown them.
"Do not be drawn to it. It can possess you," was the answer. And then Eve nodded, indicating their success. Chloe raised her wrist up and saw the bracelet now quiet, powered down, when earlier it was about to explode. "Waller can't track us here, and the remote that powers that device won't find a signal."
Eagerly, Chloe wrapped her fingers around the intricate chain and jerked hard to break the link. And then the white gold chain unravelled and hung limply from her fingers. She stared at the bracelet, the bane of her existence for so long, the reason she needed to push Oliver as far as she could, the very thing that weighed her down and drowned her when up above the surface Oliver waited. He always waited. A large, gasping sob escaped her chest. Chloe's hand trembled and she raised an arm and threw it away. Midair it caught the blue light of the twin suns and it glittered its farewell before dropping on the red sand.
So quickly, it was over. Chloe imagined herself knocking on his door, her heart finally bared for him. She was no longer tagged with something that could kill him by proximity. He could help her now. And even if he did not forgive her, she knew he loved her enough that he would hold her in bed. That would be a start. At least she was home.
Chloe turned brimming eyes at her friend, who now looked in despair at her surroundings. This was Eve's home—this barren wasteland. It used to be. There had been a time when it used to be grand. Not anymore.
Before Chloe could offer a kind word, Eve shook her head. "Now you can go home."
Eve raised a hand and offered it to Chloe. Chloe took a deep breath and placed her hand in hers. With her free hand, Eve threw up a glowing blue doorway. When they tried to phase through, they found themselves thrown back to the Shadow world. Chloe's eyes grew wife as the blue door flickered, then was gone.
"What happened?" Chloe asked. She turned to her friend, and completely hated the look of surprise on Eve's face.
Eve looked around their empty surroundings and closed her eyes. "The creature wants something we brought with us," she whispered.
"It can have anything it wants," Chloe returned, her voice tense, her chest tight. "I just want to go home to Ollie." They had not brought anything of value. They had phased within a split second of the explosion of the chopper. There had been no time to grab a single thing. "If it wants the bracelet I can take it and offer it to him with a fat smile on my face!"
Eve opened her eyes. Her lips turned into a grim, determined smile. She looked behind Chloe, and Chloe turned to see a dark shadow looming and sluggishly creeping towards them. "I know what it wants," Eve told her quietly. "And you don't want to give it up. Trust me."
"I do," Chloe answered.
"Then don't let go of my hand," Eve instructed. "There is an abandoned tower southwest of here. That's where we're headed. At the count of three, run like the hounds of hell are nipping at your feet." Chloe appreciated the turn of phrase. "One. Two." Chloe took a deep breath. "Three."
They burst into a run. Chloe felt Nightshade's firm grip, knew she was running behind so she sped up. They ran, and Chloe felt the cold shadow teasing and taunting them even though she did not look back. It was long, and hard, and halfway there she stumbled and lost her grip on Eve's hand. Her ankle hurt, burned like fire.
"Get up," Eve said quietly.
"I need—" Chloe gasped for air, her ankle hurt like a bitch. "I need to rest for a bit."
"It's coming."
Chloe blinked back the pained tears. "What else can it take?" Because really, she could not run so fast, so long. The tower was still so small and out there. "What does it want?" They could not get out, and if it killed them—
"Life," Eve said urgently. "Not yours or mine. I listened to the whispers of the shadow, Chloe. Nothing had been born or grew in this wasteland for centuries. It's starving to taste of new life."
Chloe looked back at Eve. Her lips parted. New life. The last few days—
Chloe pulled herself up and held onto Eve's arm. And then she fought against the wave of pain. The Shadow was close. Chloe zoned out the rest of the world and headed for the goal.
When they reached the tower, Eve pushed the heavy doors shut. Chloe collapsed against the wall and slid down to the floor, panting to catch her breath. Her limbs shook; her bones had turned to jelly. The adrenaline and propelled her forward through the chase left her body in a rush.
Doors and windows slammed shut around her as Eve ensured that the Shadow could not creep inside.
"Get us out of here!" Chloe cried out, but her nerves had overcome her and it came out as a furious whisper.
Eve turned a frantic look towards her, then turned and threw up both of her hands, shooting out a blue orb around them. Chloe pulled herself up and walked through, seeing the translucent figures. Oliver was lying on a bed, his leg bandaged while he recovered. Bruce Wayne stood to the side, nodding during a conversation with the doctor. Chloe walked towards the figure and touched Oliver's cheek. She looked towards Nightshade.
"Open the door, Eve," she pleaded. Chloe needed to be home, needed to make her way back.
But Eve shook her head. "It won't let me. This is the most I can do right now. But I'll find a way," she promised.
Eve had gotten her this far. Without Nightshade's powers she would have been casualty of the explosion. Without Nightshade Chloe and the bracelet would have been within Amanda Waller's tracking distance when the latter initiated the Suicide Squad's response to agents gone rogue. "Please," Chloe agreed.
And then Chloe leaned over and whispered into his ear, "Ollie, wake up. Look at me, Ollie."
That first time, Chloe spent hours watching over him from the blue haze that tinted the vision. If she could not be by his side, she would watch over him this way. The image flickered and Chloe glanced towards Eve, who appeared exhausted holding up the flimsy link to the other plane.
Chloe bit her lip. With one last look towards Oliver's image, Chloe said, "You can take it down."
The blue orb vanished, and they were once again back in the stillness within the tower. Eve lowered her arms. "I can't sustain that for long."
Chloe brushed the tears from her cheeks. "It's okay. That was enough."
"We can't stay here long. We'll find a way. If we're far enough away from the Shadow, I can throw a doorway that it won't be able to block."
But it had taken weeks before they ventured out, and over and over the shadow loomed ready to spring towards them. They consumed supplies that had been stored away by the occupants when the end of the Land of Shadows drew near.
In the months that followed as the swell of her belly gently curved underneath her clothing, Chloe wondered how life would be if she remained there. There was a flutter inside her, and Chloe placed a hand over the taut skin of her belly at the movement.
One day, Eve would leave. Chloe knew it just as well as she knew that she was the only reason that Nightshade remained in the world she had already escaped. Nightshade had enough power to open the doorway. The only reason that she could not pass was that she held Chloe's hand. And Chloe was the one who held what the Shadow wanted. That day came half a year into their isolation.
"I'm coming back," Eve promised. Chloe kept her face stoic, nodded because Eve had spent too long imprisoned when she did not have to be so. "We need someone to keep the Shadow away when we pass."
Eve had built a life in their world. If Chloe wanted nothing more than to be home with Oliver, she knew Eve had the same dreams. When the other woman thought she slept, she threw orbs of her own. Chloe peered in and invaded her privacy by watching how Nightshade watched over Nemesis from the blue haze.
And if Nightshade was never coming back, Chloe would not blame her—not an ounce.
"I swear I'm coming back. I never abandon missions halfway," Eve told her.
Chloe nodded. "One last thing," she whispered.
And when Nightshade threw her that final goodbye, Chloe stepped forward and found Oliver standing in the balcony, looking out at a city she had not seen before. There was a gorgeous bridge lit up, a topping over a calm river. The horizon twinkled with lights from the countless windows that peered back at Oliver Queen. Chloe reached up and touched the hair at the back of his neck. He was so tense, so lost. She placed her hands on his shoulders and pressed, like he loved so much.
With Nightshade leaving her, this could very well be the last time she saw him. He would never know—
So she wrapped her arms around him and pressed her body to his back.
And then she heard the bitterness in his voice when he said, "If you're dragging me down with you, then you should have had the decency to shoot me in the head."
She tightened her arms around him, squeezing her eyes shut because even in the harsh words she heard how much he loved her. He believed she was dead, and even now so long ago from the incident he loved her. If Eve could not, maybe he would save her. She only wished he felt the baby in the distance between them. "Ollie," she whispered, so close, so he would know, "why won't you look?"
Her heart broke when she heard his response. "Because you're dead, Chloe."
And then, she asked, "Am I, Ollie?" Chloe stepped out of the haze. She looked at Eve, then thanked her friend. That was enough. "Go," she said to Eve.
"I'm coming back," she promised again. Chloe nodded, then watched as Eve vanished into the open doorway.
Seven days, but she was not alone. The dark shadow loomed outside, ever closer, ever bolder. While her baby grew it seemed the Shadow was more and more impatient. A new life, finally, in the abandoned planet. The Shadow wanted; the Shadow desired. Chloe wrapped her arms protectively around her belly.
On the seventh day she heard the loud noise, the rush of air. She jerked up from the floor, rattled by the sudden noise in a place that had long been quiet. The doors burst open and Chloe saw Eve run inside, leaving the door open.
"Nemesis is holding the Shadow," Eve said in a clipped voice. Chloe recognized the fear in her friend's voice. Once again, Nemesis was the bait. She wondered if Eve had him disguise himself as Chloe. "They're far enough away, but we need to put some more distance."
Eve's gaze landed on the swell of her belly. "Can you run?"
If it was going to get them away from this hell and back home… "I can run," Chloe answered. She placed a hand over the baby, who now rolled inside her like it knew that it was time for something inevitable. Eve looked around them and out the door. Chloe rubbed her palm over where she knew the baby's head was, then whispered, "You're going home to your dad."
"Chloe, when we get back, Waller will find us. She's been tracking our visits."
"As long as we get home," Chloe answered. If Waller did find them, it made them that much closer to the League.
Eve nodded. "Then straight ahead. Don't stop. Grab my hand when we reach the cliff."
They ran, and the heavy weight was punishment. But this time it did not matter. Chloe had one goal in mind. Behind them, far from them, she knew her partner did his very best to keep the Shadow occupied while they escaped. They reached the cliff in time. Chloe looked down at the jutted rocks below. It was apparent that there used to be water there. But the water dried when the planet died.
"It's coming," Eve said tersely.
Of course it would feel there was no new life in Nemesis. Chloe turned around and felt Eve's form slam onto hers, propelling them both over the cliff. Chloe wrapped her arm around her belly and grabbed Eve's hand. And then they were midair, hurtling down towards the sharp rocks. Eve threw open a doorway below them, close to the rocks. Chloe closed her eyes right before impact.
And then she felt water wrap around her, drag her down. Chloe opened her eyes and found herself underwater with Eve. Her friend swam away and then vanished, needing to come back for Nemesis. Chloe felt herself sinking. She kicked at the water, forcing herself up. She did not travel two dimensions only to drown. But her baby was heavy now, and growing up in Kansas had never made her a strong swimmer.
She felt the lack of air make her heady, and before long she was sinking. Chloe then felt rough hands pull her to the surface and take her.
When Chloe woke, it was cold and white. She opened her eyes to find herself staring at a fluorescent bulb attached to the ceiling, swinging like a pendulum. She was surrounded by windowless walls and a closed door. She sat up and sighed with relief.
It was one of Waller's prisons, but she was back. She hoped that Nightshade and Nemesis would make it home.
There was nothing to do but sit, and Chloe recognized the fact as the first of Waller's punishment. She had always plotted, or read, or searched, or worked. Even when Chloe joined Waller's team she had been made to train immediately afterwards. The dead silence was Waller's gentlest way of taking power away from Chloe. Chloe hoped that the team was able to bring down the Suicide Squad headquarters and let lose the prisoners.
The door opened the next day, in the morning, and Waller stepped inside. Chloe sat up straight at the sight. She tamped down the urge to wrap her arms protectively around her belly. After all, a Queen did not hide in fear of the enemy. She would give her baby that sense of pride at least.
"You betrayed me," Waller stated. "I took you in and treated you like a valued asset, and you turned my very best against me."
Chloe was proud of that accomplishment, so she refused to answer.
"You may have destroyed the Squad for now, but the Suicide Squad is more than those few whose minds you've poisoned," Waller told her. The very statement filled Chloe with pride. "I have the means to band together a better Squad, a larger Squad. We have the resources to build new headquarters. You'll see, Chloe. The Squad will be here long after every one of you is dead."
"But right now, there is no Suicide Squad," Chloe answered. Right now, the threat had been removed from the people she loved the most. "You gave me the best news."
Waller shook her head. "You think you've destroyed something evil. You don't understand that the Suicide Squad worked to keep this country safe. That is our mission. The Squad is bigger than any of you could ever comprehend."
"You don't get to decide blindly that right is everything some anonymous government official tells you is right," Chloe answered. "Anyone with power needs to decide for himself."
"You turned my own operatives against me. Is that deciding for themselves?"
Chloe smirked. She remained seated on the cot. "Those people are intelligent enough. If I'm nothing but a nuisance to you, Amanda, then you have to know they decided to turn against you all on their own." And then she paused. She was tired. Her energy did not need to be wasted on someone like Amanda Waller. "What do you need from me?"
She wanted to scratch out the curve on Waller's lips. Chloe realized at that moment that there was no grand plan, nothing to build for, nothing to brace for. Waller was merely taking one chess piece out of play.
"I am building the Suicide Squad. You died to the only people outside the Squad who knows you're alive." Waller stepped forward and leaned over so Chloe could hear the soft words. "You will never disrupt any of my plans again. I hope you like this room. You and your kid are going to spend a lifetime in here." Amanda Waller's cold hand rested on the baby, and Chloe immediately felt the kick like a struggle. "Strong one, isn't it? I just might have a marvelous operative in the making there, Chloe. Thank you for the recruit."
The words brought a sharp pang of fear inside her, just when she thought there was nothing that would make her weak or fearful in front of Amanda Waller ever again. But she had only been terrified of the woman when they took Oliver. "Get your hand off me," Chloe gritted out.
Waller's hand remained for another second. "You better be nicer and more cooperative if I need your skills in the future. You have so much more to lose this time around."
Chloe did not release her breath until the door shut behind Waller. And then she sucked in her breath. Chloe stood and looked at the wall, tested the surface, pressed, looking, searching. She reached the door and pulled, knowing full well it would not budge.
She needed to get out.
The next day, Flag's widow walked into the room. Chloe stared at the doctor as the woman walked and placed a small container on the bare table. She swallowed, knowing full well that the woman had already found out that it was Deadshot, working with Chloe, who killed Flag during the attack.
"Dr Grace," Chloe said quietly. "Karin."
The woman opened her bag and slid a folder. Chloe could not blame the cold shoulder. She wondered if it was the hormones, or her own pregnancy, but Chloe was suddenly filled with guilt knowing that Karin now needed to raise Flag's son all by herself.
"How far along are you?" came the terse question.
The guilt was climbing in her throat. When they came up with the plan, no one humanized Flag enough to feel one of them would one day sit across Dr Grace, or need to think about what happened to the son that Rick would leave behind. "I don't know," Chloe rasped. All she wanted was to reach for the other woman. "How long have I been gone?" Time moved so sluggishly in another dimension, when nothing needed to be accomplished except survive.
"Rick has been dead a little over six months."
"Karin—"
"So what does it make the pregnancy?" the doctor interrupted. "How far along, Chloe?"
Chloe blinked, watching as the doctor poised the pen over the paper. "A little over six months. It was just that week."
The doctor wrote down the information and then handed her a cuff. Chloe took the blood pressure cuff and remained quiet as the doctor examined her. Every pore in Karin's body told her she did not want to be there, but Waller had taunted her with plans for her baby and she knew that Karin Grace was forced to perform this as well.
"You're a little small for how far along you are," the doctor told her. She scribbled notes on a pad and handed it to her. "I assume wherever Nightshade took you there was no medical care."
Food had been barely food there.
"I left medication for you over where. Here are your instructions. I'm sure you can figure it out."
Chloe took the slip of paper, then walked over to the container on the table. If this was a benefit she was going to get from Waller, she was going to make the most of it. She compared the contents of the container with the notes that Karin gave her, then nodded. "Thank you." The doctor proceeded towards the door. Chloe called out. "I'm sorry, Karin. I didn't—I didn't think."
The door shut with no response.
Over time, Chloe was pulled from the holding room four times to help Waller decode information and run analysis on patterns. On the second month of her imprisonment Chloe was taken back to the holding room. The guard opened the door. The man holding onto her arm fell to his knees. At her other side the guard was thrown to the wall.
Chloe turned around and found herself staring at the head of the guards. She backed away, holding a hand protectively over her belly. The man slid a pistol into his holster, then adjusted the neck of his sweater. Chloe honed in on the familiar gesture. "Tom!" The man smirked, then nodded.
"Waller will know soon enough that you've gone missing. Come on," he urged.
Chloe placed a hand in Nemesis', grateful of the proof that Nemesis and Nightshade made their way back safely. She moved to follow, and they ran down the corridor until they reached the steps. Chloe heard the shots behind them and cringed. They raced down the steps and turned. Chloe's heart raced. She was getting out. She was getting out and Amanda Waller would never lay a hand on her baby.
Halfway down the next flight of steps, Chloe felt the pain rip through her belly. Her hand tightened fiercely around Nemesis'.
"Are you alright?"
Chloe cried out and grasped the wall, then doubled over. Her vision was turning dark. She slowly lowered herself on the step and looked down at the flood of fluid that soaked her clothing. And then, slowly, a line of blood creep down between her thighs.
"Chloe," came the terse voice.
She blinked and found his face swimming in and out of her vision.
"I came lift you up and I can take us out of here. I need you to focus."
The sharp pain ripped inside her. She heard Nemesis speak into his comm. link. When he took her in his arms and stood, Chloe felt the pain escalate and she clutched at her belly. Chloe forced open her eyes and she shook her head. She wanted nothing more than to get out, but she knew her body well enough that she knew she had to stay.
"Get out of here!" she said, pushed at his shoulders.
"We can get out."
"No!" she said sharply. If he insisted he was going to get her and the baby in even more danger. "Just—make sure you come back. Make sure you find Oliver—"
When he was gone, Chloe rested back at the landing of the steps. She cried out at the sharp pain. When she looked down the floor was bloody. She looked up and saw Dr Grace racing down the steps. "Help me," she whispered.
She was coming in and out of consciousness, and she knew she was not going to be awake for this birth. Karin's white pants bloomed bright red when the doctor knelt in front of her. Chloe gasped and kept herself awake for as long as she could. She grasped Karin's hands. "I swear, Karin, I am so sorry."
The doctor opened her bag and said curtly, "Stay with me, Chloe."
Chloe threw back her head. When she did, she saw Deadshot on the upper flight. Her team—the Squad that she had turned against Waller—had come for her. She could not help but feel pride at her accomplishment. Deadshot's gun was trained on the doctor.
"No," she said softly. Floyd lowered the gun and made his way down to the landing. "Are we secure?" Floyd nodded. Chloe turned to the doctor. Dr Grace was tense at the presence of her husband's killer. "If anything happens—"
"We have the facility to ensure you stay alive. Billions of women have done this before, Chloe."
Chloe reached blindly at the pain. She found Floyd's arm and held tightly. "I mean Waller," she said. "Don't give my baby to her." She looked at Deadshot. "I swear to you that Oliver would have taken care of Zoe like you asked, Floyd. I need you to find a way to take my baby home."
"We'll take you both."
"Security on a child is far lighter than on me. If you have the opening, take it," Chloe told him. Floyd nodded.
"There's too much blood," she heard Karin say. "I need to take her in." The doctor turned to Deadshot and said, "Get out. I'm calling for help. If the baby is healthy enough, I'll leave the nursery door unlocked five days from now." Chloe looked at awe at the doctor. "No child deserves to be raised within these lines," Karin told her. "The issue between us is among adults, not babies."
"Five days," Chloe agreed.
Deadshot jumped straight down over the railing and vanished.
She would have five days with her baby.
The pain calmed somewhat, the eye of the storm. Chloe went out of consciousness until she felt the arms around her, lifting her and transporting her to the infirmary.
When she woke afterwards, Chloe's entire body ached. She saw the doctor sitting in the chair beside her holding a small bundle in her arms. "Thank you," she said softly. Karin Grace stood while Chloe struggled to sit up. She accepted the baby and said hello.
"It's a girl," Karin offered. "I told Amanda the baby needs to stay with you for the next five days before we keep her in the nursery."
Chloe buried her nose in the baby's soft hair. Her daughter would be with her until Deadshot needed to take her, until Oliver could hold her. She closed her eyes and buried her face in the blanket.
"Do you want to try to feed her?"
Chloe had not thought of a family—not with Jimmy, not with Clark, not with Oliver. But when the baby latched quickly to her nipple, and Chloe gasped in surprise and then felt the gentle motion of the baby feeding from her, she could not think of anything else she had been meant to do.
"Maybe we shouldn't let Floyd take her," Chloe whispered. "If he does, how will she eat?"
"Oliver Queen will figure it out," Karin told her. "But if you want what's best for the baby, you will get her out of here as fast as you can."
And the doctor remained silent while Chloe finished. Chloe put the baby on the bed in front of her, then gentle peeled the blanket so she could see all of her. She said softly, "How is she?"
"She's small," the doctor said.
The pregnancy had not been ideal, not where she was. But Chloe had faith that Oliver would take care of her enough that soon she would be as big and strong as all the healthiest babies. "Is she healthy enough to be taken away?"
"She is," Karin answered. Chloe suspected even if the doctor doubted it she would find the risk worth being removed from Amanda Waller's reach.
"Good," Chloe whispered. She brushed her fingertips across her daughter's red lips. "You'll meet your daddy soon." And from what little she had seen of Oliver, he needed to meet her too. "You tell him that mommy needs him, okay?"
"Her name?" Karin prompted.
She had known about the baby when the pregnancy was only a few days along, and throughout the time she could not decide on a name—not without Oliver. Chloe shook her head. "When we're all home, we'll think of one," she answered.
tbc