A/N: I want to take a moment and thank everyone who has been reviewing. I know I don't respond to reviews as often as I used to, but please know that every review does help me enjoy writing this story and each review is appreciated. Well, at least those that aren't bashing ones. Obviously, those are the exception to this message.
Chapter Fourteen
Beethoven's Second Symphony was playing at low volume as Oliver Queen returned to consciousness. Opening his eyes, he pulled himself into a sitting position, finding he had been laid on a couch in a rather posh-looking office. A stereo nearby was the source of the symphony, and Lillian Luthor was approaching him calmly from a doorway leading out into the rest of what was likely Cadmus' main base. "Hello, Oliver," Lillian said pleasantly. "I'm glad you were so willing to play along."
"Where's Kara?" Oliver asked without preamble
"Now, now, Oliver, the niceties must be observed," Lillian said, pouring two glasses of scotch and handing one to Oliver, who took it slowly. "It has been a while since we spoke in person. I trust your family is well."
Oh, good. Lillian was one of those kinds of bad guys. "They are," Oliver said, taking a whiff of the scotch just in case and detecting nothing untoward. He took a sip of the scotch, which burned its way down his throat and settled like warm coals in the pit of his stomach. "And I trust you are well?"
"Living off the grid has its challenges, but we still have most of the creature comforts I'm used to," Lillian replied. "Cadmus is not alone in its vision and we have many backers who keep us well-funded and well-supplied. We received quite a few of them in the aftermath of the Daxamite Invasion."
"An invasion Kara stopped," Oliver said coolly.
"With Cadmus' help," Lillian countered. "If it had been left up to the Girl of Steel's little duel with the Daxamite Queen, we would now be serfs, doing the bidding of our alien masters. But I did not bring you here to play a game of Point and Counterpoint."
"Yes, why did you bring me here? Your Frankenstein's monstrosity said Kara's life depended on it," Oliver replied.
"It did," Lillian replied. "If you had not come along, I would be putting a Kryptonite bullet between those blue eyes of hers by the end of the day. But you did, and for that, you've saved her life. What life she will have, bearing the scars, physical, mental, and emotional, that she has been given here. I suspect she won't have a very healthy reaction to it all. She may even seek a way to end her existence on her own, knowing that she was at our mercy and we let her live."
"You want her to feel as though every minute she lives outside of these walls is a gift," Oliver mused. "You've been torturing her all this time, and if what you say is true, then you've found a way to leave a permanent mark on her. She mentioned something they found in the Daxamite databases after the ships crashed…."
"Yes, we found a small quantity of Gold Kryptonite," Lillian replied. "It not only will cause scarring but slow the healing process of the rest of her wounds, forcing her to heal as a human would. I want her to leave here knowing that she is alive only because I wish her to live with the knowledge that I could have ended her existence at any time."
"She's stronger than you think, Lillian," Oliver replied. "She's survived a hell of a lot to become the woman she is. She'll survive this, too."
"I guess we'll find out which of us knows Supergirl better than the other," Lillian replied. "Come. We will take you to her."
Oliver stood with Lillian and followed along, noting Henshaw and four others in Cadmus uniforms joined them. To his discomfort, so did Amanda Waller, who watched him from behind with that dispassionate gaze of hers. Oliver noted each and every detail he could about the route from the office to their destination, just in case this was all a trick to capture another hero and use them as leverage against Kara for some reason. Oliver jerked in surprise as his eyes alighted on the familiar form of Slade Wilson, who had both eyes, and who joined the procession. "You have quite a number of henchmen," Oliver murmured. "Though I suppose running your own private prison can't be easy."
"All in the name of humankind, Oliver," Lillian said. "And don't think I'm unaware that you have sympathies that come close to our own goals. You opposed your family's decision to abandon human steel and contract an Nth metal steel company for future building projects. You even went so far as to go after your father as your heroic alter ego. Where Supergirl is a champion of the aliens, you are a human champion, and that is why we chose you to turn her over to. Or did you think this was merely because you're dating my daughter?"
"I doubted it was that," Oliver replied. "And I would have done what I did for aliens as much as humans."
"If that is what you must tell yourself, but one day I hope you realize the truth, that we're fighting for the same things," Lillian replied. "You could do great things with the help of Cadmus, Oliver." They came to a stop outside of a cell. "Miss Danvers is in here. I won't lie; she is in rather terrible shape. If she had done as I asked and admitted defeat, admitted that I have beaten her, she wouldn't be in such bad shape."
"Quit stalling, Lillian," Oliver said. Lillian keyed in a security code, and the door slid upward with a hiss of hydraulics. Oliver entered the cell, looking around. He saw the slender form huddled in on herself on the cot, her back to the door. He walked over, going down on one knee beside the cot and placed a hand on lightly on the woman's arm. She flinched back as if struck. "Kara, it's Oliver. I'm here to get you home."
Kara rose up, the blanket falling down around her waste and exposing her shredded prison uniform, the deep cuts only just beginning to heal. "Oliver?" she whispered. "How are you here? You're not w-with them, are you?"
"No, I'm not," Oliver said, brushing a lock of blonde hair back from Kara's bruised face and feeling a deep flash of hatred course through his veins as he saw the look in Kara's eyes. He knew now why Lillian was willing to let Kara leave here alive. Kara may not have said it, but someone who knew what to look for could see the defeated look in Kara's listless blue eyes. "I was invited to come here. Lillian thinks she's got you beat and she wants you to live with that knowledge." Oliver held out a hand. "Help me prove her wrong."
Kara slowly placed her hand in Oliver's, and he stood, slowly drawing her to her feet and catching her as she almost collapsed again. "I'm sorry," Kara gasped. "Moving is… too much."
Oliver looped her arm around his neck and then bent slightly, catching her knees with his arm and lifting her up. She looked at him in surprise. "I'm not gonna leave you here, even if I have to carry you out," Oliver said. Oliver turned to face Lillian and the rest of the Cadmus-affiliated personnel. "Who did this to her?"
"That would be my pleasure, Mr. Queen," Slade said with a smirk. "She'll always know I dominated her, no matter how far she goes or what she does."
"Thank you for being forthright with me, Slade," Oliver said calmly, and Slade quirked an eyebrow at the familiar address. "Allow me to be equally forthright. One day, in response to what you've done to one of the kindest, most compassionate people I know, I'm going to take your eye, and then your life." It was not said threateningly, but as a plain statement of fact.
"You are welcome to try, Oliver Queen," Slade replied.
"You will be escorted to your plane, where you will be knocked out again for the journey back to National City," Lillian said, and Oliver followed along silently while Kara wondered if she was simply dreaming, or being toyed with and this wasn't really Oliver but Batman's adversary Clayface. All she knew was that she wouldn't trust this was real until she was holding onto her sister again.
*DC*
An undeterminable time after being drugged for the second time that day, Oliver found himself waking up in the cabin of the private jet; Kara was laying on her stomach on the couch, twitching fitfully but still trapped in a tormented sleep. Unlike Oliver, she would have had no tolerance for sedatives built up and she was likely to be out for hours yet. Oliver looked out the window and saw the sun was setting. Pulling out his phone, he saw it was still the same day he had been preparing to leave. That strongly suggested Cadmus' main facility was close to National City. Bringing up his list of contacts, Oliver selected Lena's name and hit the dial icon. "Oliver, I expected a call from you an hour or so ago," Lena said as she picked up. "Did you have some trouble landing in Star City or did you get hung up doing something?"
"I never made it to Star City, Lena," Oliver said grimly. "Your mother sent Hank Henshaw to fetch me at my hangar."
"Oh, my God, are you alright? Hang on, I'm putting you on speaker phone," Lena said. As she put the phone on said setting, Oliver heard her quickly tell someone else what he had said.
"Oliver, what happened?" Barry asked on the other end.
"The short story is I have Kara and I'm back at my hangar," Oliver said. "I need a team from the D.E.O., Alex, and the rest of you here ASAP. Kara's still drugged and she's going to want familiar faces around her when she wakes up so she knows she's safe. They-They had Slade Wilson torture her, Barry."
"Shit," Oliver heard Laurel curse in the background.
"We're on our way," Barry said. "We'll call Alex, let her know."
"I'll wait here with Kara, make sure this wasn't a trick from Cadmus," Oliver said. "I'm going to check the plane for signs of sabotage."
"I'll come help," Barry said, and only a few seconds passed before Barry was standing in the cabin with Oliver. He looked at Kara and Oliver recognized the despair filling his friend's eyes. He had seen it often enough in his own when he thought of the danger his friends and team had been in during his mission to take down Ra's. "She didn't deserve this," Barry whispered to himself.
"No one deserves torture, a person as good as Kara least of all," Oliver agreed. "Come on, let's check the plane. And I want to see how many miles we flew. It'll narrow down the range of Cadmus' main base. There are still other people being held there, innocent aliens who don't deserve what's happening to them."
"Right, let's do this," Barry said, and the two made a quick, but thorough examination of the plane. Barry used his speed to do it as fast as he could, and then the two entered the cockpit. It was after they had found out the plane had traveled fifty miles as there were 100 unaccounted-for miles logged that they heard the sound of vehicles pulling up inside the hangar. Oliver and Barry left the cockpit just as Alex Danvers entered the plane. Oliver pointed to the back to answer Alex's unasked question, and the red-haired woman shot him a thankful look before hurrying back to where her sister was laying. Oliver knew the exact moment Alex discovered just how badly Kara had been hurt by Cadmus by the vile, bitter oath questioning Lillian's humanity that escaped the second-in-command of the Department of Extranormal Operations.
Two D.E.O. medics arrived with a stretcher and headed towards the back of the plane where they could see Alex. Oliver and Barry left the plane and found J'onn J'onzz waiting for them. "Gentlemen," J'onn said. "Mr. Queen, thank you for sending word as promptly as you did. Do you know why Lillian sent Henshaw for you?"
"She chose me because she sees me as a champion of humanity the way Kara's a champion for alien kind," Oliver replied. "As for why she released Kara… I saw the look in Kara's eyes, and there's no doubt Lillian saw it, too. Kara may not have admitted it aloud, but Lillian beat her spirit and Lillian wants her to know that she is only alive now because Lillian allowed it. They also had Deathstroke torturing her and they found a way to leave permanent scarring. I'd guess they used it to make the tip of a whip based on the markings on Kara's back. She's going to need someone to talk to, Director. I'd suggest you consider asking Dr. Green. She's helped me a lot and she already knows about the D.E.O."
"I'll take it under advisement," J'onn replied. "For now, did you uncover anything else?"
"There's 100 miles unaccounted for on the meter," Oliver replied, gesturing to the plane. "That means Cadmus' main base is at least fifty miles from here, and if I remember right, we were banking eastward when I lost consciousness after being invited to their base of operations by Henshaw."
"That gives us a starting point, then," J'onn said. "Again, thank you. We'll have your plane back to you as soon as we can, Mr. Queen. I understand you have to get back to Star City."
"As much as I wish I could stick around while Kara recovers and be here for her, I have to go back," Oliver said with a sigh. "I have my own city to protect. But if Kara ever needs to talk, she can always come find me."
"I'll let her know," J'onn said.
The D.E.O. needed to perform their own investigation of the plane, of course, but Kara was sent back to the D.E.O. fairly quickly. Barry went along while Oliver answered more questions about the base of operations and everything he had seen there. It took five hours in all to get everything sorted out, but soon Oliver was left alone with a fully-refueled plane. He was about to board when he head the fflutter of a cape. He turned to face Superman. "Thank you for getting my cousin back," Superman said. "And I will try harder not to let the Luthor name blind me to what Lena is really like."
"I hardly saved her," Oliver replied. "They had already done all that they wanted to do. This wasn't a rescue; it was Cadmus showing their power. They showed us they can take someone as powerful as your cousin, as powerful as you, hold them, and torture them, and that we can do nothing. This was a sales pitch to their backers."
"Then finding their main base and bringing them all to justice is even more important, and you gave us a lot of information," Superman replied. "I'm trying to thank you for what you did."
"You're welcome," Oliver replied. "But you should be back at the D.E.O. Family is important, Kal-El. Make sure you're there for her while she needs it." Oliver turned and entered the plane, closing the door behind him and heading for the cockpit to begin pre-flight checks. Superman, meanwhile, took off and headed for the D.E.O. It was time he sorted everything out with Kara. Queen was right. Family was important.
*DC*
Speaking of families, Oliver's was beside themselves with worry and had all made their way to the private airfield just outside of Star City where they housed their private planes. As Oliver descended the steps, he was struck by a blonde missile otherwise known as his sister, Mia. "Woah, easy there, I'm okay," he said, holding her tight despite his words and turning to face his parents, who pulled him into hugs of their own. The Queens simply stood there for a moment, basking in the knowledge that they were all safe and whole, before the inquisition began.
"You said you were coming back this morning but then you didn't show up by noon and we got worried," Mia said. "Dad called in a favor with a guy at the FAA and they couldn't find your plane anywhere. We didn't know what happened to you!"
"What did happen, Oliver?" Robert asked.
"Lillian Luthor," Oliver said, deciding to tell the truth for once. It beat coming up with some stupid story. "I got to the hangar and Hank Henshaw, the real Hank Henshaw, was waiting for me. The Henshaw you met is actually an alien called J'onn J'onzz. The real Henshaw's been part of Cadmus for years."
"What did Lillian want?"
"She wanted me to play delivery boy," Oliver replied. He hesitated. "There's more, but this isn't the right place to talk about it, and I'd rather tell the families all at once. Lena already knows the truth."
"We'll call a meeting tomorrow afternoon, then," Robert said. "For now, we're just glad you're safe."
A/N: A little shorter than usual, but it gets the job done.
Outside of Oliver's talk with the families, I don't have much planned as of yet for the next story arc. I have a vague idea of what I want to do. In the meantime, I still have my Harry Potter story to work on.