Chapter Thirty Eight: Escape

"This is Level Four – he must be along here somewhere."

Jimmy froze.

A voice – familiar, close.

The guys – they were here! He shot a glance across at the door, which to his horror stood ajar. From the sound of the voice he'd heard – Victor's, as far as he could tell – they were not too far away. Panic stricken, his eyes fell on Lex. The other man did not speak, but from the intensity of his glare it was clear what he was thinking.

Do it! Do it now, before it's too late!

Jimmy looked down at Oliver, who lay so helpless before him. Once more he levelled the gun at the young hero's head, but this time there was no confidence in his grip; his hand shook as the fear of discovery and exposure took hold of him.

"Oliver, where are you? Where's AC?"

Chloe's voice! The sound of it almost caused Jimmy's legs to give way. He couldn't kill him, not now – the risk was too great. In an instant Jimmy's thoughts turned from murder to self-preservation. His eyes darted around the room, desperately searching for a place to hide; he knew that to be found here, standing over Oliver's unconscious body, would raise questions that even his lies could not fully explain away. It took less than a second for him to identify what he was looking for – a door, located in the far corner of the chamber. Desperately he dashed towards it, praying that it would be unlocked. The voices were getting close now, and he knew that if this door didn't provide him with the way out he needed, he would be cornered, with no means of escape...

Please don't be locked! Please!

He took hold of the handle.....

It's unlocked!

Relief flooding through him, he pulled open the door. What he found was not the escape route he had hoped for, but instead some sort of control room, filled with yet more computers. It was not ideal, but he didn't have time to seek out an alternative; hoping that his luck would hold, he quickly closed the door behind him, plunging himself into darkness.

For a moment there was silence, only the sound of Jimmy's heart thumping in his chest piercing the gloom of his hiding place. And then he heard them – they had found Oliver.

"Oliver! Oliver – please no!"

Chloe's voice – desperate, fearful. Jimmy could tell that the sight of Oliver's body had led her to fear the worst, and ruefully he thought of how close he had come to making that fear a reality. He continued to listen, trying to make out every word of what was said, and imagining what his friends might be doing just a few feet away.

"What have you done to him, Lex! Man, if you've hurt him I'll kill you, you piece of shit!"

Bart's voice now – angry, emotional. As he listened he thought he heard a thud, followed by a gasp of pain; the teenager was clearly venting his fury on Lex.

Lex! Lex knew everything, Lex knew where he was hidden! Jimmy's gut twisted into a knot as he realised that his fate now lay in the hands of Lex Luthor – one word from him, and all would be lost.

"He's alive! It's okay, he's alive!"

Chloe's voice again, this time filled with relief.

"Oliver, are you alright? What happened? Who attacked you?"

Oliver must have regained consciousness. Jimmy tensed, waiting for Oliver's answer.

"I don't know - one of LuthorCorp's goons, I guess. Whoever it was, they hit me from behind – I didn't get a look at his face."

Again, Jimmy experienced a release of emotion. Oliver would not expose him – but what about Lex?

"It's just not your lucky night, is it, Lex? One of your goons takes out Ollie and then leaves you all chained up - you really do need to employ better people, do you know that?"

Jimmy knew that Victor's words were Lex's cue; if he was going to reveal the truth, now would be the moment.

"I'll bear that in mind for the future."

Lex's reply was short, delivered in a calm, measured tone.

"Hey, where you're going, baldy, you're not going to be hiring for a long time."

Jimmy waited for Lex to reply to Bart's jibe, but none came. Seconds ticked by, and the conversation in the room beyond moved on to AC, and how to release him from the tank. Jimmy was only half listening, his mind struggling to come to terms with the fact that once again fate had intervened to save him from discovery, and certain disaster. Why had Lex not exposed him? It would have been so easy, and the truth about what Jimmy had done would surely have hurt Oliver, a motive always uppermost in Lex's mind. Jimmy, however, quickly realised that Lex's calculations had led him to a different conclusion. He was a prisoner now, facing an uncertain future. It would serve no purpose to reveal Jimmy's betrayal; Lex was going to need all the allies he could get in the weeks and months ahead. Much to his own surprise, Jimmy realised that for Lex, he was now the man on the inside, the traitor who could yet deliver him from the League and Oliver's brand of justice. And if that was not bad enough, Lex had the power to make him do whatever he wanted, simply by threatening to reveal the truth.....

Jimmy shuddered at that last thought. He had not escaped the consequences of his actions yet, not by a long way.

However, that was all for the future. The room beyond had now fallen silent, indicating that Oliver, Chloe and the others had made their escape.

Jimmy heaved a sigh of relief. He had survived – at least for now.

"And now to the story that has gripped America – the discovery, alive and well, of billionaire Oliver Queen."

The voice of the TV news anchor signalled that what Bart had been waiting for had finally arrived.

"This is it, guys – he's on!"

Bart's voice sounded through the penthouse, summoning the others to gather around the television. The teenager, usually slumped across the couch, sat on the edge of his seat, staring eagerly at the screen. He was soon joined by Victor, Chloe and Jimmy, all of them watching with anticipation for the news report to unfold. Seven days had passed since their escape from the LuthorCorp building, seven days which had seemed to pass by in a blur. Their first priority had been AC. When they had removed him from the tank the young hero had been unconscious, and for hours after he showed no signs of recovery. Anxiety had turned to relief, however, when at last he had come round, seemingly no worse for wear; ironically Lex's treatment had healed him of the terrible wounds that Carter had inflicted on him. Their joy at seeing their friend restored once more soon gave way to waves of exhaustion, as the effects of the ordeal that they had all suffered finally overtook them. For two days an eerie silence descended on the penthouse, as they all slept long hours of deep, restorative sleep. When at last they began to come round, the challenge of explaining Oliver's miraculous return from the dead became the first priority. A cover story was meticulously prepared, and statements were issued to the press; the media, already in a frenzy over the mysterious disappearance of Lex, had immediately gone into meltdown. A press conference at Queen Industries was hastily arranged, and so here they were, waiting expectantly along with the world's media for the appearance of Oliver Queen, back from the dead for a second time. They all watched in rapt attention as the newsreader began to outline the background to a story that by now few in America could have failed to hear.

"Oliver Queen, the billionaire CEO of Queen Industries who was thought to have been killed in an air crash over the Caribbean almost a month ago, was found alive on a remote island on Thursday. Rescue services had given up their search for him two weeks ago, and he was presumed lost in an accident that had tragically mirrored the crash that had claimed the lives of his parents some twenty years ago. However, in a quite remarkable twist, it now appears that Queen Industries employed a private company to continue the search, and after hundreds of hours scouring the ocean and countless uninhabited islands, they found their boss on a small island three hundred miles east of Jamaica, hungry but otherwise unharmed. What makes this story even more incredible is that this is not the first time that Oliver Queen has returned from the dead after being marooned on a desert island; seven years ago he spent nearly a year on an uninhabited island in the Pacific after his yacht was sunk in a tropical storm. Earlier today the man of the hour gave a brief press conference, and our reporter Steve Fenton was there. Steve, how did he appear to you? Were there any signs of the ordeal that he has been through these past few weeks?"

"Dude, if you only knew what the big guy has been through!" said Bart, prompting the others to tell him to hush.

"Jim, Mr Queen looked remarkably well as he answered questions from the world's media. As you can hear from this clip, he was eager to thank those who had never given up hope of finding him alive."

Film of the press conference then flashed up on the screen, with Oliver fielding questions from what appeared to be an army of journalists. The reporter had been right; apart from one or two minor cuts to his face, he appeared relatively unscathed – at least on the outside. As Chloe watched she couldn't help but wonder how his ordeal at the hands of Lex and Akunin had affected him on the inside. He seemed to be his old self, the darling of the media with his ready charm and effortless smile, but what lasting damage had been done to the man she loved? Would he ever truly recover, and be the Oliver Queen that she had fallen in love with?

"Hey, I don't look half bad, even if I do say so myself."

Oliver's familiar voice caused all four to spin round. He stood watching them from the door to the elevator; so focused had they been on the coverage of the press conference that they had not noticed his arrival. Chloe's heart leapt as he smiled at them, the same wonderful smile that she had just seen put to such effective use at the press conference. She felt relief at his return; ever since they had got back to the penthouse she could not bear to be apart from him, even for an instant.

"That was one classy performance, dude!" said Bart, leading the others across to where Oliver stood. "You blew them away, man – blew them away!"

"Did they buy it?" asked Victor, a hint of concern in his voice; unlike Bart, he knew that one good performance at a press conference didn't necessarily mean that the cover story would hold up.

"Oh, they bought it, Victor," replied Oliver, his words full of certainty. "If it had to, Queen Industries could convince the world that the earth was flat. Convincing a few journalists that I've just spent a month on a desert island – well, that's just child's play."

"And you – you're okay, aren't you?" said Chloe.

"I'm fine now that I'm with you again," said Oliver, taking Chloe in his arms and pulling her close to his body. He then kissed her – a lingering, uninhibited kiss, as if being away from Chloe for even a couple of hours had been an unbearable absence. Chloe responded to the touch of his lips against hers, surrendering herself to the moment. They appeared utterly lost in each other's embrace, apparently oblivious to the eyes of the three men that looked on.

"Whoah, get a room guys!" said Bart, unable to contain himself at the sight of the two of them.

Chloe and Oliver separated, smiling broadly at each other.

"And you're packed?" said Oliver, looking at Chloe.

She nodded.

"I won't be away long – and when I get back, I promise you the trip of a lifetime."

Again they kissed, as if they were two teenagers sharing the excitement of first love all over again. Victor and Bart exchanged glances, before turning and walking away. Jimmy followed, but not before his eyes had once more taken in the passion of the two lovers. Outwardly he appeared unfazed by what he saw, a thin, indulgent smile forming on his lips. Inside, however, the flame of jealousy that had burned within him for so long flamed brightly once more. Gone was any sense of shame at what he had done, or any gratitude for the good fortune that had allowed him to escape the consequences of his betrayal. Instead he could only think of one thing – how it should have been him, and not Oliver, who was kissing Chloe at that moment. A grim feeling of resolution once more took hold of him, disfiguring his soul as it had done before.

It wasn't over – not by a long way. He would break Chloe and Oliver apart, and he would make Chloe his own.

And nothing – not even the man who was the Green Arrow – would stop him.

So they all escaped - including Jimmy! Sorry to those of you who wanted to see him die, but he survives for a reason, as you'll see in the next chapter. And that chapter will be the last - we're nearly there! Will Jimmy be exposed? What happened to Lex? Both questions will be answered, and there will also be something for Chlollie fans.

Please do leave some feedback if you can - it means a lot. I'll try to post the last chapter next week, but the way life is at the moment it is more likely to go up in two weeks time. Please be patient, but I want to get the climax to the story right.