o-0-o-0-o Sorry that this has taken so long to put up but a lot is going on and I'm back in school again. Thanks so much to ica013, Naleylover23xo, GoChlollie, Raya, morning1, Kassie46, jj, Whatever-the-weather and Twilitz for the reviews/comments and thanks to those who have favourited the story. Chapter 25 is here. I really hope you'll enjoy it. Please take a little time, even if it's just a couple seconds, to leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o
Clark and Tess moved around outside of the hospital.
"I like you like this," Clark said.
"Like what?" she asked him.
"Helping us- not having an agenda- being good. I could be friends with you like this. I can work with you like this."
"Good to know," Tess said, rolling her eyes but smiling a little bit, too. "I'll bet you anything that one of Lex's idiots is either already here or will be coming soon," Tess said, constantly surveying the scene around them.
"I wouldn't bet against that," Clark told her.
o-o-o-o-o-o
"You look really worried, Queen," Lois commented, as she and Oliver sat in the hospital waiting room.
"I think I have a right to be, Lane," Oliver said, sighing.
"Oh good God, you're jealous of a freakin' baby that's not even born yet," Lois said, elbowing him. "Don't be dumb."
"You really can't see why I'm worried?" Oliver asked.
"No, not really," Lois said, scanning the room.
"Chloe loved Davis. She only recently admitted that. She finally told me that she loved him the other day, but I'd already known that for awhile. I guess Chloe had Davis buried because one day she was in the cemetery and she was talking to him. It was after she and I sort of had a fight. I was worried about her because she wasn't talking to me, so I kind of 'pulled a Chloe' and I stuck a camera on her, and I heard the whole thing. She picked Clark over Davis every time, and she wouldn't change anything. She'd always protect Clark first. She'd kill Davis to keep Clark safe. But she loved him, Lois. Chloe loved Davis, and she had said that if things had been different she would have been with him. She said if things were different, he would have been perfect for her... She thinks something went wrong when we split him from Doomsday. She doesn't think it worked properly... She loved him and things were so messed up. She wished things could have been different. A big part of her wanted to save him, you know?... What do you want to bet that if it turns out that this is his kid, she's gonna do everything she can to be this baby's hero. She's gonna love that kid, I'm telling you right now... If that kid is Davis', Selena has been lying to Chloe since day one. If that kid's not really her boyfriend's, maybe it's not even hers. Lex probably stole some woman's eggs, too, and not just Davis' sperm-" Oliver was going to continue, but Lois cut him off.
"Are you thinking that if that's the case, Chloe's gonna find a way to take the baby away from Selena?"
"Yeah, that's kinda what's going on in my head right now, and if that happens I know she's gonna start to push me away. It doesn't make sense, but I can already see it," Oliver said, exasperated.
Lois bit her lip and tried not to laugh. "Ollie, come on. Stop it."
"Chloe does not want kids any time soon, but I'm telling you I already know what's gonna happen. If that kid isn't actually Selena's and she's been in on this whole sick thing, Chloe's gonna take that kid and she's gonna take care of it and she's gonna fall in love with it and she's still gonna do all her Watchtower stuff, but me, I'm either gonna get pushed away or dropped altogether," Oliver said, rubbing his temples.
"Shut up, Queen. Stop being a jealous, paranoid child. Whatever's gonna happen will happen. Just breathe and take things one step at a time. Chloe loves you. And even if what you're being paranoid about ends up happening, so what?"
"What do you mean 'so what' Lane? I don't want to get pushed away," Oliver said, his whisper getting a tiny bit louder.
"She tried to push you away for months, but look at you now. She loves you. You've got her. You can be just as stubborn as she is Oliver. If she tries to push you away, then don't let her. She can love a child and love you too. Calm yourself down, buddy. I think you're being crazy, but if all of this does go down- you fight for Chloe and that's all there is to it," Lois said, lightly smacking Oliver upside the head.
"You really like hitting me, don't you, Lane?"
"It's fun," Lois said, nodding.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Chloe cringed as Selena yelled and pushed. Anyone who called females the weaker sex should come into a hospital room while a woman was giving birth- they'd change their opinions real quick.
"Chloe, I know that this is asking a lot, but if something happens to me would you take care of my daughter?" Selena asked in between screams. "I have this really terrible feeling like something is gonna happen."
"Why are you talking like that? Nothing's gonna happen to you, crazy lady. And what about your family?"
"I lied to you when I told you that I didn't have family close-by. I don't really have any family that I know of at all. I lied to you because I didn't want you feeling more sorry for me than you already did on that day we met. And my ex just literally took off. He left the country... Hurry up little girl, come out! You're killing me here," Selena yelled, going from addressing Chloe to addressing the baby she was trying to push out.
"Don't worry for no reason," Chloe said, trying to sound soothing. "Everything will be fine."
"Will you take care of her if something happens to me?"Selena asked again, this time slamming her fist down in pain.
"Okay, okay. Yeah. Just calm down," Chloe blurted out.
Selena grabbed Chloe's hand, and Chloe tasted blood in her mouth. Selena had a death grip on her, and Chloe was biting down on her tongue so hard because the pain was crazy. She thought her hand might break soon.
"Okay honey, that's it. Good girl. It won't be long now, Selena. You'll se your daughter soon. Keep pushing," the doctor said.
"Please hurry up little girl, I'd like to still be able to use my left hand after today," Chloe said, unheard by the others, covered up by Selena's yells of pain.
o-o-o-o-o-o
"I told you. I told you!" Tess whispered furiously. "That's one of the guys who worked for me- one of the ones who used to work for Lex- one of the ones I guarantee you is working for Lex now."
Clark picked up his phone and called Lois inside the hospital right away.
"Something's gonna go down. I guarantee it," Tess said, getting back in contact with Victor and Lana at Watchtower, making sure that they had access to the hospital's camera feed.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"One of the guys who worked for Tess is on his way in here," Lois whispered to Oliver, hanging up with Clark.
"I've got a bad feeling that a whole lot of shit is about to go down," Oliver mumbled, pulling out his phone and sending a message to Bart.
"Don't be pessimistic," Lois said sarcastically.
Oliver snorted. "Don't tell me you're not thinking the same thing. I know you've got a bad feeling too."
"That's him," Lois whispered, elbowing Oliver in the ribs.
The man must have known who Lois and Oliver were because he took one quick glance at them and walked out the same way he came in.
"Stay here. I'm gonna follow him," Oliver said, getting up and heading off after the man.
Lois picked up her phone and called Clark back telling him that the man had left.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Not much longer Selena, not much longer honey. Just keep pushing," the doctor said.
Chloe was pretty sure that if Selena was able to move at the moment she would be trying to rip out the doctor's hair. Every time she told her to keep pushing Selena gave her a glare.
Chloe couldn't wait to see the baby. She was sure she would be beautiful.
Selena had completely overwhelmed her earlier when she asked her to take care of the baby if anything happened, but she understood that Selena was freaking out about everything right now because she was in so much pain.
Even though it would never come down to having to happen, even though it might be weird since they hadn't known each other for very long, a part of Chloe was pretty flattered that Selena would want Chloe to take care of her kid.
Chloe probably wouldn't have a clue how to take care of a kid, and was a little freaked out by the idea of having someone so small and fragile to care for and protect, and help shape into a good person, but it was kind of an honour to have been asked even though it scared the crap out of her.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Shit!" Lois muttered to herself. The guy who worked for Lex was back and Oliver was nowhere to be found. She guessed Oliver lost him somewhere along the way.
The man was approaching her now, and Lois reached into her purse trying to grab anything she could use against him in case he decided to go psycho on her in the hospital's empty waiting room.
Instead of stopping where she was, the man walked past Lois to the women at the counter.
He told them something that Lois couldn't hear and then each of the women left their spots at the counter and left the area- leaving Lois alone in the room with the man.
He was walking back towards her now.
Lois dialled Clark's number and dropped the phone into her purse as the man got closer and closer.
This is not going to go very well for me.
He was standing in front of her now. He gave her a smile and she returned it with a fake one.
The man moved quickly but Lois was anticipating that some crap was going to go down, so she was able to block his first blow and knock him backwards.
He recovered quickly and got back up.
Lois got distracted for just a second hearing Selena's loudest shriek yet. The baby must have finally come out.
The man took advantage of the second's distraction and threw Lois into the wall, causing her to hit her head hard and black out momentarily.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"She's here. Chloe, she's here," Selena said, smiling through tears.
"She's beautiful," Chloe said, looking at the baby in awe, as the doctor checked her to see if there was anything obviously wrong.
"You'll get to hold her in a couple minutes, honey," the doctor said over the baby's crying. "I've just got to check some things out and then you can hold your little girl."
Selena nodded, wiping her eyes.
"That's actually not going to happen."
All of the women in the room turned to see who had come into the room.
"That baby is coming with me," the man who had just knocked Lois out said.
"Like hell," Selena said, trying to get up.
"We have no more use for you. The baby is born," he said, pulling out a gun and shooting Selena.
Chloe's jaw dropped.
The man then turned to Chloe and the doctor, pointing the gun.
"Hand the child over," the man demanded.
"No way," Chloe said, trying not to cry as she watched the blood pour out of Selena.
The man shot one of the machines in the room to show them that he meant business.
The doctor started to walk forward. She was going to give him the baby!
Chloe grabbed the heaviest thing she could find and threw it straight at the man's head, knocking him to the ground for a moment. He may have fallen, but that didn't stop him from taking a shot at Chloe as she took the baby from the doctor and ran. The man fired another shot, this time at the doctor who Chloe had shoved as she took the baby.
Just as Chloe was about to get out the door, the man caught her foot.
Chloe was getting ready to kick him when two other pairs of feet did it instead.
Oliver and Bart.
"Everything's okay," they said, as Oliver knelt down and tazerd the man.
Chloe tried to catch her breath as she checked the baby for anything that might be obviously wrong.
"Remember Tess' theory?" Oliver said. "I'm 99.9% sure that you're holding Davis' daughter right now."
Chloe wasn't hearing anything that was being said. Her eyes had moved to Selena, dead in the hospital bed.
Selena's dead. Oh my God. She's dead. I have to make sure the baby is okay. I have to take care of her now. I promised her I would... Calm down. How do I take care of a baby? How am I supposed to take care of her? I don't know how to do this. What if I screw up? What if I screw her up?... Shut up. It'll be fine. Stop thinking right now, just focus on making sure that the baby is okay right now.
Chloe looked back down at the baby. She looked perfect. She was adorable and Chloe just realized that she wasn't crying at all anymore. The baby looked content. She looked like she was fine. Chloe felt immense relief, as she pulled the baby closer.
Oliver sighed. Yeah, I think I'm already jealous of a baby.
"Apparently this is Davis' kid or something," Bart said. "You guys need to fill me in because I am so lost right now. Come on gorgeous, let's get you out of here," Bart told Chloe.
Chloe's eyes went back to Selena and she had to wipe her eyes again. Nothing was registering with her.
"There's nothing you can do for her, Chloe," Oliver said gently.
He didn't think Chloe had heard anything either of them had said.
"Let him take you out of here, Chloe," Jonn said, coming into the room. "She's dead. You can't help her. You need to go while we take care of things here."
Chloe finally snapped out of her daze when Jonn came in. Before Chloe could make any objections, Lois , Clark and Tess walked into the room too.
"I'll come with you," Lois said and Chloe finally nodded.
Bart and Clark took off with Chloe and Lois and the baby.
They were brought to Emil's house. And it was only when Clark and Bart had let them go that Chloe cursed herself.
"I'm so stupid. Shouldn't be speeding around with a baby."
Clark and Bart looked like they felt pretty stupid too.
"Sorry. I didn't think about that, 'Licious," Bart said, dashing off.
"What the hell, cuz?" Lois said, looking at Chloe's arm for the first time.
"What?" Chloe asked. "Am I holding her wrong?"
"You're bleeding, babe," Lois sad. "Did you get shot?"
It was only as Lois asked this that Chloe started to feel an immense pain in her arm.
Clark pulled up Chloe's sleeve and winced a bit. "You did get shot, Chloe."
"Oh wow," Chloe said, blinking "I didn't even feel it until now."
"Okay Clark, take Little Miss Beautiful from Chloe for a minute so I can get her out of this nasty bloody shirt. I'm sure doctor boy has an extra shirt around here somewhere" Lois said, as Emil finally walked through his own door.
"I'm not a paediatrician, but I can tell if all the important things are okay," Emil told Chloe.
"Okay," Chloe said, nodding..
"There's some t-shirts in the third drawer in the next room," Emil said.
She was confused. She honestly didn't know if she was awake right now or not. None of this could have really happened, right?
Selena couldn't be dead, right?
Was she actually holding a baby right now? Was the beautiful baby actually staring at her right now?
Emil took the baby from Chloe.
Lois pulled Chloe into a different room as the baby started to cry.
The crying brought Chloe back to her senses. Yes, this all was real.
Just as Bart brought Oliver over and rushed off himself again, Chloe walked back into the other room, and over to Emil. She took one of the baby's tiny hands in her own and the girl stopped crying.
"It's okay cutie," Chloe said. "Don't be scared. I don't know how to do this, but I'm gonna take care of you. Everything's gonna be fine. I'm gonna make sure nothing happens to you, I promise."
Clark, Oliver and Emil all exchanged looks, thinking the same thing, but not saying anything out loud. Yeah, that's Davis' kid alright. Like father like daughter. Look how Chloe can calm her down. Look how she made her stop crying.
"She'll be fine, Chlo," Lois said, taking Chloe into the next room again.
It took Oliver a second to notice Chloe's bloody shirt "You got shot?" he asked her, moving towards her quickly.
"Apparently," she said, wincing a bit as Lois removed Chloe's shirt.
The baby started to cry again.
"Lo, can you just go stay with her for a minute. I'll be there soon."
Lois nodded.
Chloe couldn't really walk into the next room with just her bra and no shirt on.
"You help her get this on," Lois said, grabbing a shirt from the drawer and handing it to Oliver before heading back to the other room.
"Are you okay?" Oliver asked her quietly, gently tracing the skin away from where she had been shot.
"I didn't even feel it until a minute ago," she said, taking a deep breath.
"It's the adrenaline. There was a rush. So much happened. I don't think it's that crazy that you didn't feel it until now," Oliver said, manoeuvring the shirt onto Chloe's body carefully.
"She didn't even get to hold her, Ollie. The doctor was doing those immediate check-up things and then he just walked in. He said that the baby was going with him and then he shot Selena. And then he shot one of the machines and the doctor was gonna give him the baby, but I picked up the heaviest thing I saw and I threw it at the guy, and then I grabbed the baby and he shot at me. I just didn't think I got hit and then he shot the doctor," Chloe said, rubbing her head, feeling dizzy.
"I'm really sorry for everything that went down," Oliver said.
"I thought she was just being crazy, but Selena said that she had a really bad feeling that something was gonna happen and she asked me to take care of the baby if anything happened to her. She doesn't even have any family and the boyfriend left the country. I'm all the baby has," Chloe said, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.
"We'll figure things out, don't worry," Oliver said, rubbing her hand.
The expression on Chloe's face changed. It looked like she just figured something out.
"Oh my God, Tess was right, wasn't she? Why else would someone come in and kill Selena and try to take the baby? The baby is Davis's daughter, isn't she? This has Lex written all over it."
"I think so, Sidekick," Oliver said. "That's what I was telling you at the hospital."
"I wasn't really hearing anything. I kind of couldn't even think back there," Chloe said.
"What are you thinking right now, Sullivan?"
"I'm thinking about making sure that that baby has everything she needs and how Lex and his little bastard employees are never getting anywhere near her again."
"I'll help you however I can. Everyone will," Oliver assured her.
Chloe just nodded, still trying to come to terms with everything.
"Let's get Emil to fix your arm up," Oliver said.
"I've never actually been here before," Chloe said, looking around.
"He's got his own super mini hospital set-up here. He can deal with your arm," Oliver told her, as they walked back into the other room.
Chloe was just still in complete shock. She knew it was all real, but she couldn't believe anything.
"Where did you all come from? Why were you all at the hospital?" Chloe asked going back to the baby and holding her hand, finally wondering why so many of them were at the hospital and who was at Watchtower right now. "Who's at Watchtower?"
"We had a feeling that Little Miss Beautiful here might be that baby that Tess was talking about," Lois said, taking a seat with the baby.
"Me and Tess watched outside of the hospital. And Oliver and Lois watched inside. Lana and Victor kept an eye on things at Watchtower," Clark explained.
"When I got a really bad feeling about shit hitting the fan, I gave Bart a call and he called Jonn. Bart sped off and grabbed Dinah and brought her back to Watchtower, and just after he brought me here he was bringing Victor to the hospital. Jonn's going to wipe everyone's memory who might have seen anything. Victor's going to erase the camera footage and Bart's doing a quick clean-up of everything and then he's going to go get A.C. and bring him to help deal with the bodies and bring Lana here to you. Tess is trying to see if she can find anything else out," Oliver said.
"Okay," Chloe said, nodding. "We have to bury Selena...What happened to the shooter?" A big part of her was hoping he was somehow dead.
"When he came to again, he grabbed the gun and shot himself," Oliver told her. "I think he was probably more afraid of Lex than anything."
"Was Selena playing me this whole time?" Chloe wondered out loud. "The baby probably isn't even hers."
"It sort of looks that way," Oliver said.
"No," Chloe said quietly. "She really thought that baby was hers. Lex must have screwed with her somehow. She wasn't playing games. She loved the baby. She wanted her. They must have messed with her head," Chloe sighed.
"We'll deal with all those possibilities later. I need to deal with your arm right now," Emil told Chloe.
"She needs to eat, right? We need formula or something, right? It's not like Selena can feed her," Chloe said. "Emil, we need to get her food. You're the doctor- tell me what to do," Chloe said, not really caring about herself at the moment.
"Chloe, she'll be fine for a little while. Don't worry about that. I need to deal with your arm and make sure it's not going to get infected too. I'm dealing with you first, and then we'll deal with the baby, okay. I swear, she's fine right now. Lois got her to calm down after a minute so she's fine with her."
Chloe was about to say something, but Emil cut her off. "You know what, I'm going to send Oliver and Clark to the store, okay? They'll go pick up some formula for newborns and we'll have that by the time I'm done with you, and then we'll make sure she has a bottle."
"Okay. That sounds fine," Chloe said, finally following Emil.
"Does it actually say newborn formula on the stuff?" Oliver asked Clark as they left.
"I have no clue," Clark told him.
"We'll figure it out, right? If the two of us can't figure out baby formula, then we're pretty dumb."
Lois sat on the couch with the baby in her arms. "You're quite the special one, aren't you? You've got my cousin's world spinning right now, beautiful. She's really scared right now, but she's gonna make sure you're happy. Try to be a good girl. We don't want her to get even more stressed, okay?" Lois said, tickling the baby's toes. "I know you can't talk, but when you can you can call me Auntie Lo. I don't think you only stole Chloe's heart today. I think you might have just taken a piece of mine too," Lois said, smiling. "I think you're gonna be just fine."
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Where the hell is he?" Lex yelled. "He should have been back here with the baby by now."
"He's dead, Mr. Luthor. He didn't get the baby. I'm pretty sure the child is with Miss Sullivan."
Lex smashed his fist down onto the table in frustration.