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. 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. Clark is at odds with everyone but finally has ended his relationship with Lana. With Tess's help, Davis digs his way out of his grave at the Geothermal plant site. Tess's plan to manipulate Davis to get her revenge on Oliver goes south. Davis finds Chloe just as the team discover that Davis is still alive and she agrees to go with him to save the people she loves. The team hunts for Chloe, but can't find her until Davis brings her back to Metropolis after realizing that Chloe will never love him. He asks her to kill him, and Chloe agrees.
Chapter 37
Chloe wakes up some time later to find herself still in Oliver's arms, lying on her side facing him, but now covered in a comforter too. She tries to wiggle around, without moving too much, to get a arm or foot or leg out from under the covers, their combined body heat making her too warm. Oliver sleeps through her wiggling, speaking to how little sleep he'd been getting since he was usually such a light sleeper. She finally manages to get her foot out and stretching a little more, she gets her calf out too.
Chloe smiles softly as her eyes trace his face. They had come so close to losing each other, but beat the odds. Together again, Chloe refused to let herself dwell on what could have happened. They were together now, and she wanted to appreciate it. She forced herself to lie still and silent against him, appreciating the quiet time.
Once he began to stir, Chloe decides to wake him up in her own way. Chloe had thought Oliver had slaked all their physical and emotional needs the night before, but she felt a strong pulse of desire as her hand slipped down his chest, tracing her fingers across his chest muscles.
Dipping her head to press a kiss to his shoulder, Chloe's hand slipped down his arm, finding his previously relaxed muscles taunt with tension, tension brought on by her touch. Raising her gaze to his with an impish look, she smiles at him slowly. Green eyes meld with chocolatly brown, as his lips curve up into an answering smile.
His arm slips around her back, pulling her closer, as his hand glides down the warm, soft skin on her back to curl around her hip. Snuggling closer into the hard warm body wrapped her, Chloe wishes they could stay in this moment forever. Waking up in Oliver's arms, to his kiss, was perfection. She opened her mouth to him as he rolled them over, settling his long lean body over hers. His hand cupped her breast and Chloe arched into his touch, wanting more of his touch. Smiling sensually, she runs her hand up his back and pulls him closer.
Oliver slides into her, moving with long, slow, powerful thrusts as she grips him with her inner muscles, trying to draw him deeper, her legs wrapped around him as she moved her hips to meet each movement of his hips.
CO-CO-CO
Later that afternoon, Lois shows up bright and early at Oliver's. Oliver drags himself out of bed, regretfully leaving Chloe's warm sleepy body behind. He knows it's Lois calling his name none too quietly from the elevator. He'd allowed the pass code she knew to remain in place, but only to get to the top, not to enter the loft since Lois had a habit of barging in whenever she felt like it and Oliver liked his privacy, and even more so since he had been dating Chloe since having her cousin, his ex, barge in during any kind of romantic or carnal activity would be detrimental to all involved.
"Ollie," Lois whisper shouts. "I swear to God, I'm going to dismantle this door from the inside if you don't..." He hits the command on his laptop to open the door and Lois's ire immediately changes to a bright smile. "Good morning! Why do you look so tired? Up late getting reacquainted with my cousin's luscious bod?"
"She's still sleeping," Oliver says instead of a responding to Lois's actual question.
"Good, I'm sure she needs it. She's OK, though, right? You said she was OK," Lois asks, vulnerability peaking through her usual bravado.
"She's not injured, which is what I said." Lois's eyebrows contract. "But she was taken by a monster and then had to kill it in human form, so no I'm pretty sure she's not OK, but she's here and she's safe and we'll work from there."
Lois smiles brightly, but Oliver can see the brittle edges around her attempt to look unconcerned. "Good." Lois pauses, sets down the bags she'd brought in with her, then hugs Oliver quickly. "Thanks for bringing my cuz back, Ollie."
He smiles and squeezes her back. "Let's get some coffee started, that might wake her up."
Lois beams a smile at him, and he smiles back.
"So, we need to have a party." Oliver groans but Lois glares at him. "A welcome back party for Chloe. Think about it, Ollie. We need to celebrate and be happy. It's been one thing after another, and some normalcy is just what the doctor ordered."
He shakes his head but doesn't try to dissuade her.
CO-CO-CO
That night Chloe is sitting on one of the comfortable couches in Watchtower as their extended team swirls around her. Everyone was walking on eggshells around her, and while Chloe appreciated the sentiment behind it, she didn't want pitying looks. She felt raw, like an exposed nerve, but she knew she just needed time to let it all settle. She'd taken a life, and she hadn't made the decision to do so lightly. Davis would have made it easier on all of them if they had killed him in the heat of battle. But that wasn't how it had worked out. It had only been a day, but Chloe didn't have any regrets.
When she catches Victor giving her a worried, pitying look, she stands up and wanders over to where Dinah is talking to Zatanna. Surprisingly, the two women seem to be getting along. "Hey, Z, thanks for coming."
Zatanna nods, looking at Chloe inquisitively cocking her head slightly to the side, then smiles knowingly. "I'll leave you two alone for a minute."
Dinah looks from one woman to the other wondering what she'd missed. "So when should we start your training up again?" Dinah questions.
Chloe laughs heartily. "Soon. Maybe give it a couple of days so Ollie calms down a bit, but yeah, I want to keep training."
Dinah nods, and glances around the room. Bart was eating, no big shock there, but Vic and AC were gazing at Chloe with distressed looks. "What's their deal?"
"They're concerned," Chloe says with a heavy emphasis.
"But you're good, right? Tough week, but..."
Chloe laughs again. Dinah and Lois had so much in common, yet hated each other. Or at least loved to argue and annoy each other. Chloe wasn't sure which. "Yeah. About that. I was hoping you could help me out."
Chloe explains that the guys seemed to think Davis had hurt her despite her reassurances to the contrary, and Oliver's hyper vigilance, hovering over Chloe, keeping his eyes on her as if she might disappear at any moment, wasn't helping. She wasn't ready to discuss how her decision to kill Davis had effected her.
"And you want me to smash their heads together?" Dinah asked skeptically.
"No, I think they might think that I'm not telling them something..."
"They think Davis might have assaulted or raped you," Dinah says bluntly.
"Yeah. But he didn't. He didn't lay a hand on me," Chloe says clearly.
"And you want me to let them know."
Chloe smiles. "I do, I think they're too scared to ask me, and don't believe me when I try to say it without saying it."
"No problem," Dinah says easily.
Sometime later, John had gone home, leaving the room to the younger team members. Dinah had delivered the message to the boys, and they had relaxed enough to play video games. AC and Victor are playing against Zatanna and Dinah in a beach volleyball game that seems to include decapitation. They are all talking at once, trash talking each other and encouraging their teammate, filling the loft with noise.
Chloe is a few yards away talking to Lois when Oliver approaches and wraps his arms around Chloe's middle section from behind. She leans back into him, her hands resting on his forearms. "You two are freaking adorable. Seriously. But hold off on the blonde babies for a bit, huh. Chloe needs to experience her 20s a bit more before she settles down in the manner house."
Chloe looks stunned, but Oliver laughs quietly. "Two years."
Chloe's stunned gaze goes to Oliver. She knew her future, her life was with him. But she wasn't in any rush to push for a firmer commitment.
"Seven," Lois shoots back without missing a beat.
"Hey!" Chloe interjects.
"Three," he counters.
"Do I get a say in this?" Chloe complains good naturedly.
"Five," Lois continues the negotiation, ignoring her cousin. "She'll be 26 then, that's a good age, and leaves you time to knock her up with at least three kids before she's 30."
"This is my uterus we're talking about!" Chloe says loudly just as the rest of the team falls silent as Dinah kills off Vic's character with a spiked ball.
Every head in the room turns to stare at Chloe, who flushes. Bart drops the piece of pizza he was eating. "I just lost my appetite. That never happens."
Unabashed, Lois holds out her hand to Ollie. "Married in three years, my first niece or nephew two years later. Deal?"
Oliver smiles and shakes his head, not agreeing or disagreeing. Chloe pulls away from him, glaring at Lois then Oliver. "You two think you're so funny."
Chloe stomps away, and Oliver grins. "I love you."
Chloe ignores him, but Lois laughs. "So, Jolly Green, when do I get an interview?" Oliver's grin fades. "'Cause once I get you in writing, maybe the Blur will give my appeal a second glance."
CO-CO-CO
The next day Emil calls Chloe. "Hey Emil," she answers her new phone cheerily.
"Chloe, do you have a minute?"
"Sure, I made Oliver go back to work and the DP thinks I have strep throat, so I get a few more days off before I have to go back."
"I don't know if you're aware, but Oliver asked me to take on Tess Mercer as a patient," he says.
Chloe stills, wondering why he's telling her. Chloe knew Tess and Oliver had a history, but that was it. "Is she sick?"
"Injured." Emil pauses. "She was attacked... by some...one."
"Ah," Chloe says, letting Emil know she got it. Davis or Doomsday had attacked her.
"She wants to talk to you." Chloe's eyes draw together. "Chloe, she's dying."
Chloe frowns. She'd never liked Tess Mercer, and didn't know how the woman had ended up in Davis's path, but she had absolutely no idea why the woman would want to talk to her, especially on her death bed.
CO-CO-CO
At the hospital Chloe waits for Emil at the nurses' station. He arrives and quickly tells Chloe what to expect. "She has multiple broken bones, including her spine; she's paralyzed from the waist down, and suffered extensive injuries. Frankly it's a miracle that she's conscious at all, let alone able to communicate."
Chloe cringes, knowing that Tess's injuries could have happened to any of their team. "Do you know why she wants to see me?"
"No. She was mumbling about telling Oliver something when she was only semi-conscious, but once she woke up she asked for you." Emil expects Chloe to enter the room, but she hesitates. "She's dying and she knows it. She has massive injuries that we just can't treat." Chloe's eyes shoot to him. "I don't expect you to... do anything. In fact I think it would be dangerous for you to do so. She asked for you, and I called. That's it, Chloe."
Chloe gives him a small smile and nods.
Inside the room Chloe is shocked to see just how bad Tess looks. She's barely recognizable through the facial swelling, her body wrapped in bandages and casts, unmoving in her hospital bed.
"Tess?" Chloe says softly, approaching the bed.
Tess opens her one unbandaged eye, and Chloe can see her struggle to focus. "Chloe... Sullivan. You came."
"Yes."
"Did you... kill him?" Chloe remains silent, but tenses. "I know... about Davis Bloome. What he was hiding," Tess rasps. "He thinks... he loves you." Even in her weakened state, Tess manages to inject the words with scorn. "He did this... to me. Because I... tried... to make him kill... you."
"Why?" Chloe asks quietly.
"To punish... Oliver." Chloe shakes her head and Tess's gaze softens. "I... loved him. Once. He..."
"I know." Chloe knew Oliver's less than savory past with the redhead, she holds up a glass of water with a straw to Tess's mouth allowing the injured woman to wet her mouth and throat. Chloe also knew that Tess had aligned herself with Lex to get back at Oliver. "Why were you trying to hurt Oliver now?"
Tess looks at Chloe for a long time. "I... always hated... women like you." Chloe frowns, not following Tess's train of thought. "The kind... that one that everyone... else worried about." Chloe shakes her head. "That... everyone raced to take care of and protect. The kind... that was fawned over... for doing nothing... particularly impressive."
Chloe's look grows indignant. "That's how you see me? Me?" Chloe doesn't know whether to laugh or be insulted. To Tess, Chloe was Lana. "I'm sorry Oliver hurt you, sorry that you're injured now. Even if you got hurt trying to kill me to punish him for something he did years ago."
"Oliver... betrayed me... now."
Chloe shakes her head. "No, Oliver ended a business arrangement with you, when you betrayed him. Lana could have died, and you didn't tell him. You knew who Lex was when you got involved with him. You took that risk. You did that to yourself. Not Oliver. He's not to blame for your choices." She stares at Tess. "Why did you try to use Davis against him?"
"I loved... but he didn't want me... anymore. He's not going to leave you, you know." Tess says so quietly Chloe can barely hear her. "Oliver... He won't leave you, so I had to take you... from him." Chloe looks sad. "You... give him a purpose. I never... gave him... that. I wanted to hurt him... the way... I'd been hurt. I... was wrong. You have... you must... kill... the beast. He... won't stop."
Tess's eyes close and Chloe stands at her side for a moment. Oliver had cared for Tess deeply once. He must still care a little, since he'd asked Emil to care for her as she died. Tess had tried to have Chloe killed, murdered just to punish Oliver, but somehow Chloe found that forgiving the woman wasn't hard.
Making a quick decision, Chloe reached out for Tess's hand, then looked around the room casually, finding the security camera in the corner easily. Tess moaned in her sleep and Chloe pushed the button to release more morphine into her system, pushing her deeper into unconsciousness. She then pulled the blanket up over Tess's arms and shoulders and walked around to open the blinds, letting in the bright spring sun. Returning to Tess's side, Chloe took her hand once more and very carefully, with more conscious exertion of control than she had ever attempted before, sent some of her power, her energy, into Tess. Chloe could feel it. The pull, the draw of injury, pulling at her light, her heat.
Standing still and silent, Chloe focused on healing some of Tess's life threatening injuries. Not completely, but just enough that she wouldn't die. Chloe hoped that a long recovery would allow the woman to reconsider her path in life, but regardless, Chloe didn't want to have another death on her hands.
She couldn't heal everyone. She knew that. But she'd killed Davis, and maybe healing Tess, giving Tess the second chance that Chloe couldn't risk giving Davis would help Chloe settle her karmic balance.
CO-CO-CO
Leaving the hospital, Chloe walks along the river path, heading back to the downtown. The sun is shining, birds are chirping, and a soft breeze moves over the water and through the trees. Chloe feels at peace. Veering away from the river she hails a taxi, deciding to drop by her apartment to see what progress had been made. Unfortunately, the building had had damage to a few units, not just Chloe's and hers was last to be repaired. Chloe felt guilty that the damage had been her fault - in a indirect way, so she hadn't complained about the delay.
As she approaches her building she feels no draw to move back in, but knows that staying with Oliver was temporary, no matter how right it felt. She looks up to see that the hole in the exterior of the building had at least been patched. Walking up the three flights to her apartment, she finds that the interior was still trashed. Her stuff had been boxed up, and what had survived was pushed to the inside wall of the living room, but the exterior wall was completely bare of drywall. A worker entered, stopping to question her quickly then getting back to work. When Chloe questioned him, he said that once the wall was open they had found that the wiring was in bad shape and the copper water pipes were rusty and leaking in several spots, which necessitated larger repairs than patching the hole that Davis had made during his hunt for Chloe.
Chloe gathers up a few items she wanted and exited. She texted Oliver to see if he wanted to get a late lunch with her, knowing that he often skipped lunch to make up for the days he didn't come in at all. "Lunch at Soup de Jour?" She typed in, referencing the high style little bistro that had opened opposite QI after Oliver opened offices in Metropolis. The café had a nice ambiance, with sit down tables draped in white table cloths as well as a takeout counter, and served delicious soups, salads, and sandwiches with a short turnaround time.
Oliver replied in the affirmative and they agreed to meet in an hour. Chloe decided to walk the rest of the way, stopping into a few small boutique stores along the way including a little bookstore.
Despite her detours she manages to arrive at the restaurant ten minutes early and takes a seat in the back corner. Before her relationship with Oliver became public, Chloe had been anonymous. But now at the oddest times she would look up to find a photographer with their camera pointed in her direction. It was disconcerting, but hardly the worst thing she'd experienced. She tried to be gracious while in no way inviting the behavior, but she still felt uncomfortable with the attention and loss of privacy.
The restaurant owner comes out from behind the counter to greet her, bringing her a latte without her even asking. Chloe wanted to think he was just being nice, but she'd seen enough people fawn over Oliver, offering him free stuff, trying to earn favor that she couldn't help but be slightly reserved. The man withdrew leaving her alone and Chloe opened up a book she'd brought from her apartment, and started to read. She was behind in her online classes, but given everything that had happened she figured she deserved the break.
CO-CO-CO
In QIs Clock Tower headquarters, a breeze whips through the offices, papers flying up everywhere. "When is someone going to get that damn air fixed?" One employee asked irately as he collected his papers from the floor.
Bart speeds into Oliver's office his door hitting the wall with a bang. Oliver is sitting at his desk, talking on the phone, and looks up in annoyance.
"Oliver!" Bart says breathlessly, alarming the taller hero since Bart didn't get breathless even when he ran at speed for long distances.
"Let me call you back Dave," Oliver says cutting into whatever the person on the other end of the line had been saying. He stands up, at the ready for whatever news Bart had to deliver.
"He's gone. Davis. The beast. I checked. He's gone. Like totally gone."
Oliver relaxes. "Clark checked. He's there."
"No, dude. Vic asked me to get a sample for Emil, and I did. I mean I tried, I dug him out and opened the tank, and let me tell you that was nasty. Like, whoa, but it wasn't Davis."
Oliver stands back up again, moving towards the door.
"Where are you going? Did you hear me?" Bart says, scrambling after him.
"I heard you, that thing is still alive, which means we have to get to Chloe now."
"But it can't see us, right? I mean Z's spell is making us all stelth-like, right?"
"I hope so," Oliver says without much conviction.
He uses his badge key to override the elevator, calling it to his floor immediately and zips down the 15 flights to the ground, moving towards the café at a fast pace, Bart as his heels the whole way.
Entering the restaurant, he finds Chloe sitting with her head buried in a book, the restaurant about half full with the late lunch crowd. Most of the clientele look up as Oliver strides into the dining room, his face set with tension, every eye watching as he makes a beeline for the pretty blonde girl sitting in the corner.
The sudden silence alerts Chloe who glances up with a warm welcoming smile. "Ollie, hey..." her greeting turns into a yelp of surprise as he pulls her out of her chair and propels her over his shoulder before she can even react. He strides out of the restaurant as quickly as he entered, leaving mouths agape and eyes lit with outrage or humor.
"What are you doing?" Chloe hisses, slapping her hand against his back.
"Getting you out of here."
Chloe looks up, blushing deeply as she realizes the spectacle they are making, and sees Bart gathering up her items and following along behind them. Alarmed, and knowing what the situation probably is with a fatalistic sense of certainty, she drops her head, hiding her face in her hands. "I hate you right now."
"I'm OK with that."
CO-CO-CO
The team reassembles in Watchtower, its location still unknown to Davis, to discuss and plan.
"You need to run," Dinah says without reservations.
"No," Chloe replies stubbornly. "If Zatanna's spell worked, he can't see or find any of us."
"But we won't know if it worked until he sees one of us or not, and if he does, splat goes the hero," Dinah argues.
"She's right," Bruce chimes in over the satellite connection to his bat cave. "We threw everything we had at it twice now, and it's come back. We need to keep out of its path until we have a solution in place."
"We have to send him to the Phantom Zone," Chloe says softly.
"It's our only viable option," Bruce agrees.
"We can't keep him dead, we can't stop him from changing and killing. We have to send him to the Phantom Zone," Oliver states their case clearly.
"I agree," Victor says.
"Yeah," AC concurs with the group as Bart nods emphatically.
Dinah stares at Clark, seeing that he still wasn't willing to see their point of view. "Fine, Chloe and Oliver run, the rest of us send that thing to the prison planet."
"Clark?" Chloe questions, a knot in her stomach as she considered their limited options if Clark refused.
"No," Clark refuses simply.
John Jones shakes his head. "Your father created the Phantom Zone for exactly this kind of criminal, Kal-El."
"I won't send him there, not without trying to work with him first. He wants to change, he wants to be good," Clark says, blindly ignoring their arguments.
"He wants to die," Oliver inserts caustically. "He asked Chloe to kill him. Even he accepts that he can't stop killing, why can't you?"
"Because I could have been him. I could have been abandoned, alone, raised by Lionel Luthor. He never got a chance. I can give that to him now."
"What gives you the right to make that call?" Dinah accuses as Oliver's face turns to stone. Chloe looks from Clark up to Oliver and feels him squeeze her hand, but he had a faraway look, as if his mind had already left the conversation. In truth he had. Clark wouldn't yield to the team or reason, so Oliver was focused on their other options.
"He's Kryptonian. He's my problem, I'll handle it."
"You haven't so far," AC says in disappointment.
"I didn't get a chance, Oliver killed him before I could talk to him."
Clark's accusing use of his name draws Oliver's attention and Chloe releases his hand to wrap her arm around his waist, declaring her support, as if it were ever in question. "So your plan failed before, and you think it will work this time?" Oliver says in anger. "How much talking did you get in when you smashed half of downtown during his last rampage?"
"I have to try."
"And if you fail? If he comes after Chloe again? Takes her, kills her? Is that an acceptable risk to you? What if he kills Lois, trying to get to Chloe, would that change things for you?"
Clark glares at Oliver, but his look tinges with uncertainty as he sees how hard Chloe was squeezing Oliver's waist, clearly terrified. But Clark knew Chloe, she wasn't afraid for herself, she was afraid for Lois, for Oliver, for all of them. "I won't let it come to that."
Clark turns to leave and Chloe follows him. "Clark, wait." The team continues talking, trying to brainstorm any options.
In the hallway Chloe grabs Clark's arm. "Wait."
"Why? So you can rationalize betraying me again?"
Chloe stops short, hurt at the accusation in his voice. "I betrayed you? How? Because I followed my own instincts and tried to protect the people I loved from an unstoppable killer?"
"You went too far. Killing him is not the answer."
"No, it's not your answer, but there is more than one answer Clark. Don't you think I would like to save him? He was my friend, you barely knew him. But he can't stop, he won't stop. How many people have to die for you to see that?"
"It's wrong. Who are we to stand in judgment on him?"
"We're here, we're knowledgeable, we're able. We're the only ones who know what he's done and the only ones who can stop him," Chloe says with impassioned logic.
"Then I guess I'm on my own."
"No, we're all here, you're the one who refuses to work with the team."
"Chloe..." Clark says, and the condemnation in his tone is enough to let her know his mind is made up.
"Don't "Chloe" me, Clark. What is it with this whole "with me or against me" mentality?" She glares at him, but here eyes are shiny with tears. "You're not the only one affected by this, you're not the only one who gets to have an opinion." She makes an effort to get control of her emotions before meeting his eyes again. "I must have thrown away a million green rocks... trying to save you, so you could save us, and because you were my friend." She shakes her head sadly. "Our protector, the great hero. But you aren't protecting us Clark, you refuse to even consider any way other than yours." She stares at him and realizes that they were on their own.
"I can do this Chloe. I can help him. He doesn't have to die."
"And if he kills someone else while you're trying to save him? Is their life any less valuable than his? I guess it must be, at least in your mind, since you're so willing to risk it. You won't kill him. Fine. Send him to the Phantom Zone. That's what I wanted in the first place." Clark stares at her stubbornly. "All right. I guess we all know where we stand." She turns to walk back inside, to the team. "I won't risk the safety of the world because of your code of ethics."
CO-CO-CO
I have more written, but I'm trying to break the chapters at points that make sense… more action in the next chapter, Bruce, Davis, Chloe, Oliver and the Team… and maybe some Lex.