Epiphanies
Recap: Chloe figures out she is in love with Oliver the day before her wedding to Jimmy and runs out on her nuptials. Determined to change her life for the better she returns to Metropolis ready to do the deep introspection needed to accomplish that. She keeps her love for Oliver a secret from everyone and pushes him away. Slowly Oliver manages to figure the new Chloe out, finding out about her healing ability and everything that comes with it, leading him to figure out he loves her after she "dies" healing him from the gunshot. Davis is following Chloe, absolutely convinced that they should be together, but Chloe is focused on Oliver, especially after he starts waging a campaign to make her notice him as more than a friend. Lana is back in town and reconnects with Clark who still has feelings for Lois. Chloe embarks on a relationship with Oliver, while holding back, waiting for the inevitable end. Oliver and Chloe finally say their 'I love you's.' Lois and Clark end their fledgling relationship (again), but Lois decides to torture Clark by showing up with a prominent date to the DP's 100 years in business gala. The beast attacks the party injuring Oliver mortally while trying to kidnap Chloe. The team pulls together with Lex as an unexpected ally, and Chloe heals Oliver. Hiding out at Watchtower, the team pieces together what they know about the monster. Chloe figures out it's Davis, Clark wants to save him, Lois finds out about Bruce and Dinah, and the team (minus Clark) implement their plan to take down Davis once and for all. With Tess's help, Davis digs his way out of his grave at the Geothermal plant site, Chloe and Oliver are happy, Clark is at odds with everyone but finally has ended his relationship with Lana. Tess plans to use Checkmate and Davis to get her revenge.
Chapter 35
Bette and her team limp back to the Castle, battered and bruised and down two teammates. The teens all look scared and defeated.
"What happened?" Amanda Waller barks at them.
"He was too strong for us. Which you knew," Bette says accusingly.
"That's no excuse for failure."
"Then how about you go out and give it a try?" Waller glares at the mouthy teenager. "That's what I thought."
"Keep it up Plastique, and you'll spend your time safe and sound in the prison block."
"Come on Bette," another girl on their team cajoles. "We need to see the doc."
Bette still looks angry, but allows herself be led away.
Waller stomps back to the command center where Tess is hovering over a few computer geeks, a full leg brace making her stand awkwardly. "What now Mercer?"
Tess remains silent, and Waller scowls. "Review the video from the attack on the hotel again. Find a weakness. We need to either capture and control this thing or kill it. Failure will not be tolerated."
Tess turns her head slowly, the movement obviously painful, her bloodshot eyes meet Waller's gaze. "He's obsessed with a girl. We get her, we control him," she rasps.
CO-CO-CO
Chloe and Lois leave work for a coffee break, both girls smiling and in high spirits.
"How are things with you and Clark?" Lois asks, unaware of why the two best friends were going through a rough patch, but acutely aware of it.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Chloe deflects, knowing that Clark had moved on from his breakup with Lana quickly, and was now dating Lois.
"We're fine, he's learned to take me to either nice restaurants or hole in the wall digs. No chain restaurants. He's a great kisser, but needed to be taught what to do with his hands. But once we got past that… Want more?"
Chloe looks disgusted but is smiling. "No."
"Then it's back to you, cuz."
"It's… getting better."
"He barely said boo to you this morning."
"But he looked at me," Chloe says in an upbeat tone.
Lois sighs. "You're really not going to tell me what happened?"
"Sorry, no."
"That is so frustrating," Lois complains. "Is it about Ollie?"
"No," Chloe says, but Lois stares at her hard.
"Liar."
"Let it go Lois, we'll work it out."
"Or you won't."
"Or we won't," Chloe says without much emotion. "Clark… maybe… maybe with the way things are now… it might be better if we didn't make up… right away."
"What? How much redacting are you doing in your head? What the hell happened that you're both being this mysterious!?"
"Clark has a hard time accepting when people make a choice other than what he would do… even more so when… people… ignore his opinion and do what they think is right."
"He's an ass."
Chloe laughs. "He's your boyfriend."
"So, I can be a bit of an ass too," Lois shrugs. "But, if he has a problem with Ollie getting rid of your crazy monster stalker, then he can jump off a cliff." Chloe makes a face to suggest that she shares Lois's opinion, but Lois continues. "And God! Does everyone know Ollie is… a green stick lover?"
Chloe laughs again. "Green sticks?"
Lois smiles back at her cousin, happy to see Chloe so happy and in love.
CO-CO-CO
At Checkmate, Waller briefs Bette's team with Tess standing off to the side. "If we can't bring this guy in, we'll make him come to us. He has a friend. Your objective will be to bring her in, without drawing attention. Her name is Chloe Sullivan. She's a reporter for the Daily Planet, so we need to do this right."
After the briefing, Bette sits in her small dorm like room, her back against the wall, brooding quietly. One of her teammates enters. "What do you think of this mission? Sounds pretty easy, right?"
"We can't do it."
"Why? They said she didn't have a power or anything… we grab her off the street, no biggie."
"I know her. She's a good person, a friend to freaks like us. She runs a center for meteor freaks, helps them. We can't do this."
The girl looks frightened. "We have to. You know how it works here."
"And I know when to say no."
Bette stands up and leaves abruptly, heading for the exit. But as soon as she pushes open the door to the underground garage, she feels the sting of a tranquilizer dart in her neck. She whips around, trying to fight back, but the sedative acts quickly and she falls to the ground unconscious.
Tess stares down at her expressionlessly, braced on two crutches, as the guards gather up Bette's limp body and drag her back inside.
CO-CO-CO
Glad to have her story done before 5pm, Chloe looks around the buzzing newsroom as she gathers her purse and jacket, wondering when things had changed. Then she smiles, realizing that things hadn't changed, she had. She no longer wanted to spend all her time at the DP, chasing the story, talking with other reporters, searching for her next lead. Now all she wanted was to finish her story and get home to Ollie. For as long as she could remember she'd wanted to be a reporter, convinced that it would make her happy. But somehow happiness had shown up in an unexpected form. She still wanted her career, but she wanted Oliver more. It was an odd realization, but not upsetting.
Chloe had never really believed that she would find a love like the kind in fairy tales. But somehow she had, it was a little messy, a lot complicated, and they were surrounded by events beyond most people's comprehension, but beyond her wildest expectations the object of her affection returned her feelings.
She waves at a few of the reporters she maintained a casual friendship with and then walked up the stairs quickly. On the street she took a deep breath letting her feeling of benign contentment fill her. Setting off at a brisk pace towards the Clock Tower she texts Oliver to say she was on her way home.
Oliver is waiting for her at the elevator when she arrives in the Clock Tower. She knew that living with him was only temporary, until her apartment could be repaired, but it felt like home. Oliver never made her feel like she was intruding in any way.
"Hey you."
He replies with a kiss sweeping her into his arms.
"Hmm… rough day at work?" she questions when he finally releases her.
He shrugs. "Lots of things that people absolutely need my attention on. Too many things. I hire the best people so I don't have to be involved in every decision."
"They respect you, Oliver, and they know you can move things forward," she soothes him, rubbing her hand up and down his arm. "It's better than the alternative."
"On days like today, I wish I could revive my playboy dilettante reputation, so they'd stop wanting me to be involved."
She smiles up at him. "You could."
He shakes his head, pushing her jacket off her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor. "No, but if you were game, we could play hokey together one of these days."
"Oh?" she teases with an answering smile, unbuttoning his shirt with easy efficiency.
"A trip to Europe, or Brazil." He watches her face carefully, looking for a spark of interest. "Costa Rica? Hong Kong?" He unzips her dress, sliding it off her shoulders to join her jacket on the floor.
"I've never been anywhere, so…"
"So we'll go everywhere, but what's your first choice?" She seems to be actually considering his question and Oliver dips his head down to kiss her neck. "I'll take you anywhere you want to go."
It was not the first time he'd offered to take a vacation with her, but this time Chloe didn't say no. She arches into him, tilting her head to give him better access to her neck. "Italy."
"Italy. Let me guess… the food," he chuckles
"And the cappuccino," she says with utter seriousness.
"Of course."
Oliver lifts her up so she's sitting on his desk, and Chloe spreads her legs so he can stand between them. He unsnaps her bra, running his fingers over the soft lace demi cups that raised her breasts temptingly, the freed the pale globes into his eager hands.
"God, Ollie."
"You're so beautiful." She shakes her head, but is smiling. "You are, and it's both amazing and annoying that you don't see it."
She moans as he latches his mouth to one nipple, her fingers sliding into his hair. "It's… a good thing… I don't…" she struggles for each word and Oliver finally releases her breast from his amorous mouth and grins down at her.
"Why's that?"
"Because you have enough ego for both of us, Mr. Vain."
His grin grows wider and she shakes her head at him.
CO-CO-CO
Oliver and Chloe finally make it back downstairs to have a late dinner just before 10pm. Chloe is dressed in a silky black negligee that does little to hide her assets. Assets that Oliver seems more focused on than food. She stands before the open refrigerator, peering at the contents skeptically. "We could make an omelet?"
Oliver finally looks away from her curves to inspect the meager offerings, and agrees with her assessment. "For the sake of food safety and our health, I'll make the omelets." She pouts up at him and Oliver grins down at her, quickly grabbing the items he needs and setting them on the counter next to the cooktop.
Once they eat their quick meal, Oliver turns back to Chloe and she laughs and shakes her head. "Is it ever enough for you?"
"With you? Never."
She turns to run away but doesn't get far as Oliver gets an arm around her quickly, his hand sliding up her silk covered stomach to cup one breast.
Oliver is leaning down to kiss her neck when a cool breeze fills the apartment. Oliver looks up to find Clark staring at Chloe with dumb shock on his face. When Clark's gaze falls to Chloe's chest, her peaked nipples clearly visible under the thin silk even to someone without z-ray vision, Oliver turns her in his arms and pulls her into his chest, hiding her breasts from Clark.
"Clark, did we have an appointment?" Oliver looks pointedly at where his watch would reside on his wrist if he was still wearing it. "For a late dinner or nightcap perhaps?"
"Oliver," Clark begins, clearly uncomfortable even without Oliver's hands being full of Chloe's breasts.
"I must have forgotten. We just ate, but I'm sure we can throw together something for you."
"No, I…"
"Cheese. Crackers. A cappuccino?"
"What do you want Clark?" Chloe asks with a dry look at Oliver and a vaguely annoyed one at Clark.
"I wanted… I thought we could talk."
Chloe frowns but doesn't say no immediately. Oliver's face tenses and he looks from Chloe to Clark. "I guess I can just have a nightcap on my own then. Or a cold shower."
Chloe makes her choice in a split second. "Make it a warm one Ollie, I don't like being cold," Chloe says firmly earning a smile from Oliver who hugs her to his side with one arm then kisses her temple firmly. Oliver goes to the coat closet and grabs out one of his sports jackets, setting it over her shoulders, before going upstairs.
Chloe looks at Clark expectantly.
"Lois…" he begins, but Chloe cuts him off.
"Is she hurt?"
"No."
"About to be hurt?"
"No."
"Then whatever you want to talk about can wait until tomorrow Clark." His face falls and Chloe feels bad even though Clark had been such an ass through the whole Davis/Doomsday debacle. "We'll talk tomorrow. Meet me for breakfast?"
Clark nods, but still looks like a kicked puppy. Chloe mashes her lips together. Clark was so trying sometimes. Most times lately. He only saw his own needs, only saw what effected him. He undoubtedly felt that what the team had done was a direct attack on him, but would deny that he had done anything to hurt the team. Clark cared about people, but with a few exceptions you would have to be in imminent danger for Clark to pay any attention to you.
Chloe wanted more than that from the people in her life, and she knew Clark was capable of giving it, he just didn't. Not to her anyway. And Chloe deserved better. She finally really believed that. And she had that. Friends that wanted her around even when things weren't urgent, wanted her for more than her skills as a hacker or investigator. Chloe knew Clark was hurt by the changes she'd made in her life that had affected him, but she didn't regret any of it. She was happy now. And if Clark was a real friend, he'd be happy for her.
CO-CO-CO
At a diner frequented by truckers, Chloe watches as Clark plows through his second plate of pancakes. Her one place setting includes only a cup of coffee, a few remaining bites of a bagel and a pile of tiny empty cream containers. "What's really going on Clark? Things with you a Lois seem fine, and you already knew I think you should tell her. You should have told her a long time ago."
"Ever since you moved in with Oliver, I never see you."
"I haven't moved in, I'm staying there. My place is a wreck. And you see me every day at work Clark."
"But that's work."
"And last night I was at my… temporary home, and Ollie's home. And you need to respect that." Clark had always just stopped by whenever he wanted and when Chloe's life had revolved around him, she had never complained. But, things had changed.
"Are you moving to Star City?" Clark asks abruptly.
Chloe pulls back, a V appearing between her eyebrows. "Why would you… Did Lois… I haven't… never mind," she sighs. "I'm thinking about it. It's a possibility. Does it matter? Star City is less than five minutes for you."
"You're really thinking about leaving?"
"I said I was thinking about it, but yes. If he asks. Oliver's staying here for now, so I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. But his home is in Star City, he's made that clear."
"And yours is here."
"I like Star City, Clark. Would it really be so bad? California is the sunshine state," she says lightly. "A fresh start away from all the craziness that has been my life here might be nice. And I love Oliver. I want to be with him. I want him to be happy, I want us to be happy together."
"And what about your friends here? Your job? The foundation?"
"I don't have time to answer all your concerns. But don't you think I've considered all this? That I have one or three or seven contingency plans already in place?"
Clark smiles faintly. "I don't want you to go."
"That's sweet Clark. I love you, too. But my life is with Oliver. Where ever that takes me." Clark slumps and Chloe shakes her head. "I'm not going anywhere yet."
CO-CO-CO
That evening Oliver is in his office pouring over the profit and loss statement of a QI subsidiary that had been losing money for years. It was their last chance to increase productivity. They had to turn it around or sell off the assets. There were two proposals with very different approaches, but Oliver was unsure. One meant pumping capital into the failing company, but it would save the factory, and jobs. The other would recoup some losses for his shareholders, but merely shore up the company for another three to six months.
Clark is standing in front of his desk before the sound of the door opening even reaches Oliver's ears.
Oliver meet's Clark's eyes, his face a blank mask as he looks at the powerful alien who happened to be Chloe's oldest friend.
"Oliver, I checked the quarry where you said you buried Davis. He's not there anymore."
"Your vision must be getting blurry. I buried that body myself. I probably still have the dirt under my fingernails to prove it. But since you don't trust me you can ask Bruce."
"I saw the area where you buried him. He's not there anymore. It's empty."
Oliver stands up, alarm racing through him. "Why would someone move the body?" It was always a possibility that Lex had found the body.
"I don't think anyone moved him. It looks like something... clawed its way out."
Oliver feels his heart clench. "Then that thing's still alive." Oliver picks up his phone to call Chloe, but she doesn't pickup. He quickly punches in a 911 text message to her, then sends one to Bart telling him to get to Metropolis and find Chloe.
Oliver heads to the private staircase that will take him upstairs, needing to activate the team and get his costume on. Adrenalin fills his blood stream. If Davis was alive then he was going after Chloe.
"How did he come back? He was dead, we checked, we waited," he says ineffectually, unable to fully comprehend how they had failed.
"I x-rayed the site, the dagger you used to murder him was still there."
Oliver stares at Clark. "You mean the dagger I used to put down a rabid beast?"
Clark's face tightens, but he revisits taking the bait. "It must have come out when the fill shifted."
Oliver goes straight to his secret room, pulling up Victor on screen and stripping down.
"What are you doing?"
"Going out to find Chloe," Ollie says with barely contained anger, waiting for Chloe's GPS signal from her phone to show up on the map, but it doesn't.
"I'll find her and protect her. She's my best friend," Clark says dismissively.
"And she's mine too, and the woman I'm going to marry." Oliver spits, then manages to calm himself. Clark stares at Oliver wide eyed, not having thought that Oliver would ever commit to one woman. "Find her. Bring her back here then we can talk about what to do next."
Clark doesn't bother to respond, just disappears in a puff of air.
CO-CO-CO
Exhausted and still bruised and battered from her encounter with Davis, Tess heads home, but can't resist having her driver go past Davis's building, wondering if he'll see things her way once he has some time to consider.
Entering her house she peels off her scarf to reveal the extent of the bruising on her throat. Pouring herself a glass of wine she touches the darkly bruised skin gingerly and rubs her temples. She'd had a headache since he attacked her. Luckily she had landed in a freshly dug up flower bed, the soft earth cushioning her landing. Except for her broken leg.
Hobbling to the downstairs bedroom she was forced to use now, she slowly stripped off her clothes and stepped into a steaming hot shower, uncaring that the leg brace would get wet. She feels her exhaustion dragging her down, but forces herself to keep focused on the goal. Punish Oliver and destroy Lex. First she would take Chloe from Oliver then kill her, making Oliver suffer the loss of the woman he loved. At some point Tess would let him know that she had been the one to orchestrate Chloe's death, making Oliver that much more guilty.
Going after Lex would be a more drawn out process, there was no one close to him, but Tess knew things that would put the final nails in his coffin. Oliver and Bruce Wayne had done much to weaken LuthorCorp, but Tess would finish Lex off. As the final coup d'etat she would let Lionel know which child was the winner, the last one standing.
Tess steps out of the shower to find Davis waiting for her. She assesses her options carefully, but knows that if he wants her dead she's dead.
"Davis. Have you reconsidered my plan?" Tess asks, naked and dripping wet. "Are you ready to listen to me or would you rather the love of your pathetic life and her beaus kill you again. Maybe you like being buried."
"No, but I realized that you would keep going after Chloe."
"She's nothing to you, just a weight around your neck." His intense look never varies. "Fine, we can do it your way. You don't have to kill the girl, just take her. Oliver will go crazy trying to find her."
Davis advances on her, but Tess has nowhere to go. "You'll hurt her. I can't allow that."
CO-CO-CO
On Oliver's private plane, Victor works the data streaming through all Metropolis's police feeds, and the surrounding cities too. They still couldn't find Chloe or her phone. "A burned out vehicle was found just outside of Smallville. It has Davis's license plate."
"I'll tell Clark," Oliver says, typing the info into his phone and sending it to the stubborn alien.
Clark immediately runs to the scene. "Excuse me. Have the police been here yet?" he asks Mr. Miller, the clueless owner of the field that had been Clark's first contact with Earth.
"Ah, young Mr. Kent, your mother's doing a fine job. Just fine. The Sheriff's come and gone."
"Did they find a victim?"
"Nope. The truck was abandoned. No sign of a driver."
"Thank you."
Clark's phone rings and he hits talk."Clark. What's going on?" Oliver's worried voice sounds in his ear.
"It's weird that Davis would have stopped here."
Oliver looks at the location on satellite and shakes his head. "That place must hold a lot of memories for you, huh?" Clark doesn't answer, and Oliver continues. "It's where Davis went when we were following him. It's where we killed him."
Clark frowns catching an odd scent in the air. He narrows his eyes and scans the field using his z-ray vision. "Memories aren't the only thing buried in the field." Clark's x-ray vision reveals dozens of bodies buried in the ground. "We have to find Chloe now."
CO-CO-CO
At an old prohibition era pub that you had to walk down a steep narrow set of stairs to find, Chloe is out with friends from work celebrating a going away party for a reporter who got a job in another town. The lights are low, the walls brick and mortar, and unknown to Chloe, she neither receives cell signal nor does her phone transmit GPS from there.
Lois does a shot with the departing reporter then comes over to Chloe who was talking to some interns from Met U. Several yards away a table in the corner is buried under a pile of purses and jackets from the gathered reporters, including Chloe's.
CO-CO-CO
"Where could she be?" AC asks anxiously.
"I don't know, but Lois isn't answering either so they might be together on some story," Oliver says with little hope.
"We'll find her," Dinah reassures Oliver, her eyes never leaving the screen as she searches the city's street camera feeds for the familiar blonde.
CO-CO-CO
Sometime later, Chloe looks that the clock on the wall and realizes that she's stayed longer than she intended. Grabbing her purse, a chorus of complaints from her co-workers convinces her to stay for one more drink. She slips her phone out and points at the stairs, letting Lois know what she was doing. Lois mimes kissy faces and then vomiting back and Chloe laughs, teetering up the stairs on slightly unsteady legs.
CO-CO-CO
When Tess fails to answer her phone later that evening Waller sends an agent to check on Tess. He finds her naked and barely recognizable through the blood, broken bones and swelling. Pushing back his instinctive need to get far away, he crouches down to feel for a pulse and is shocked to find one.
CO-CO-CO
At Watchtower the team has mostly reassembled, minus Victor who was en route, Bruce who hadn't responded to Oliver's communications yet, and Chloe who was missing. And once again Clark was on the opposing side.
"You want me to kill him," Clark says with judgment heavy in his tone.
"No. I need you to kill him. Find him, get Chloe, then kill the beast."
"We all do," Dinah chimes in.
"You're the only one who can," Victor says reasonably.
"That doesn't make it right. I'd still be taking a life."
Oliver makes a valiant effort to remain calm. "You'd be saving thousands, Clark. The only way any of us are ever gonna be safe again is if this Doomsday creature is destroyed... for good."
"He's is my problem, and I will handle it. Just, please, find Chloe and keep her safe."
Oliver looks alarmed. "Clark…"
"I can help him," Clark says sadly disappearing again.
CO-CO-CO
On the street outside the bar, Chloe is shocked to see dozens of missed calls. She is just about to hit the button to call Oliver when her phone rings, her stomach already tied in knots in anticipation of what must be bad news. She is raising it to her ear when the phone is ripped out of her hand.
She spins to find Davis standing there. He crushes her phone in his hand and drops it to the ground. "Chloe," he says her name with heartfelt emotion.
Waves of heat and nausea roll through her, her vision going dark momentarily before she managed to push back the debilitating physical response to her shock. "Davis, how did you… what are you doing here?"
"I need you to come with me." He tries to grab her arm.
"No," she says, her voice shrill with fear, inching away from him.
"You have to trust me, you're in danger," Davis says passionately.
"From you?"
He looks shocked. "Of course not… wait… do you know?"
Chloe backs away from him slowly, trying to put space between them. "I…" She breaks off when he closes the space between them, her throat seizing up.
"You do. Then you must understand."
"Understand what?"
"I need you."
"Why?" she asks in a whisper.
"There is something about being around you that seems to calm the murderer inside. I need you to come with me."
"I can't…"
"I love you, there's something between us, it could be something good. I'll take care of you."
"No," she says shakily, her voice wavering.
"Why won't you even consider it?!" he rages, and she turns to run, but he easily catches her, pulling her off the street and into an alley.
"I need you with me. I love you!"
"No," Chloe denies, looking around wildly, and finding herself trapped with no way to go except past him or deeper into the dead end alley.
"You just need to give it time. Get to know me." He reaches for her but she flinches back from him. "You're scared of me? You don't have to be. I would never hurt you. I love you."
"You don't love me, you don't even really know me."
"We could go anywhere, live anywhere. Just you and me," he tries to change her mind.
"Davis… you killed people… so many people. You have to face the consequences of your actions."
"I couldn't help it, I tried, I tried so hard, but I can't control it. But with you I can. I need you. You understand that, right? I don't have to hurt anyone, not if you're with me."
"No, I don't understand, I don't understand how you're even here!"
I know I've killed people, hundreds of people. I tried to stop. I tried so hard. But nothing helps, nothing but you. You have to come with me."
"No," Chloe whimpers.
"Stop saying that!" he yells, his eyes turning red, and she struggles to keep her fear in check, trying to think rationally.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry all this happened to you, Davis." He looks hopeful, but she takes that from him with her next words. "But I can't… Please don't ask me to… I can't…"
"You can, you could if you tried."
"I'm sorry."
"You won't even try!"
"I…"
"Is it because of him? Because you're dazzled by him?"
Chloe's mouth falls open her heart skipping a beat as Oliver's beloved face flashes in her mind. "No." She doesn't want him to focus on Oliver. Not Oliver.
"I'll kill everyone you know, everyone you love. I won't be able to control it. I'll kill Clark, just like I'm supposed to, just like he wanted."
"Who wanted?" Chloe asks desperately.
"I'll kill Clark, then your cousin, then Oliver Queen."
"No," she cries, her heart breaking at the thought of it.
"You don't belong with him, you belong with me. Can't you feel the connection between us? It's real. Come with me and they'll be safe. You just have to stay with me."
Chloe begins to cry in earnest, sobbing and dropping to her knees, realizing that the moment she had feared has finally arrived. She had to make a choice, go with Davis or risk the lives of everyone she loved. Risk Oliver.
"I'll go with you."
He looks surprised.
"I'll go with you, just promise me," a sob interrupts her demand. "Promise me you won't hurt them, promise me!"
"As long as you're with me, I can control it." Chloe shakes as tears stream down her cheeks. Davis pulls her to her feet, then they are hurtling through the air, in flight. Chloe clutches his arms, but it is not fear of falling that is tearing her apart inside.
CO-CO-CO
"I thought I saw her phone come up on the grid, but then it was gone," Vic says, still on the plane.
"Where?" Oliver demands.
"I'm looking."
"Look harder, we're running out of time."
Oliver stares out the window, wanting to be out there looking for her, but knowing that Bart and Clark could cover territory a thousand times faster than he could.
"We have to find her."
Oliver stands still, lost in memories as he remembered meeting Chloe. She was so bright and beautiful. The first smile she gave him was burned into his memory. So many moments, so much time wasted when he'd been blind to his growing attraction, and she'd been too scared, too insecure to tell him that she had feelings for him. They'd wasted so much time, but he'd been trying to make up for it ever since. Chloe was an integral part of his life now, if he lost her, he had nothing. He couldn't lose her.
Bruce walks in and assesses the scene. "Oliver, what do you need me to do?"
Oliver turns and Bart is suddenly in the room as well. "Any news?"
"We have to assume he has her. Bart, keep looking. Bruce, we need to find a way to kill him. Once we find them we need to end this once and for all," Oliver says gravely.
"And Clark?" Dinah asks.
"We can't depend on Clark."
CO-CO-CO
Another short chapter, but it packs a punch.
Words 5214