Title: Through the Sands of Time
Author: Miranda Aurelia
Pairing: Chloe/Oliver
Summary: A betrayal sends a battle-weary Connor Queen hurtling through time into the past. Soon, the gang discovers that potentially messing up the timeline is the least of his worries.
Chapter 2
Blurred images of his mom and dad floated through his mind. He dimly registered his dad gesturing as he talked with his mom before the former left. Connor wanted to talk to his mom, but all he managed was a mumbled 'don't leave'. His mother seemed a bit startled by this, but she still carefully threw a blanket over him before leaving the room.
Connor slowly opened his eyes as he came to. Sitting up on the bed, he noted absentmindedly that most of his wounds had healed already.
The digital clock beside his bed gave the time to be 8:42 AM. As he looked around the room, he observed that there was really nothing there that would give him a clue as to his location.
There were two doors and he soon found out that one led to an ensuite while the other, most likely the exit, was locked. He wasn't surprised. There wasn't a single window.
In the bathroom, he caught sight of his appearance in the mirror and was a bit surprised at how scruffy his appearance was. He needed a haircut and shave badly - although probably not the best idea as his resemblance to one blond billionaire would certainly bring up a whole can of worms he wasn't interested in opening yet.
Connor surreptitiously checked for his weapons. His knife was gone, as was the gun he'd had on his belt – although he'd probably lost the latter after falling from the cliff.
Tapping his boots, he was relieved to see that the carefully concealed thin blades were still present.
The last thing he remembered was Impulse knocking him away from Green Arrow as his mind tried frantically to process all the information he had gained from the leather-clad archer.
He rubbed his hands over his face. If the images he'd seen were correct, he'd just traveled into the past.
Ironically, the how was easier to answer than the why.
He must have accidentally absorbed some of Sarah's powers during the rescue mission. The reason why her rescue had been so vital in the first place had been because of her abilties, which allowed her to time-travel at will.
That wasn't to say that she'd been able to control it yet, but at this point, that was the only explanation he could come up with.
His mentor would have grunted and shelved the matter into the magical bullshit folder. After all, his Uncle Bruce had never been that fond of anything that couldn't be explained with cold, hard facts.
He looked around. As it was, it seemed that he was a prisoner and while it was possible that he'd been captured by the thugs that had ran the warehouse, it didn't seem likely. Connor figured he probably would have woken up in a dankly cell somewhere if that had been the case.
No, it was more like the JL gang had taken him with them and they were now trying to decide what to do with him.
It was either that or the Council was playing sick mind games with him. He didn't want to contemplate what he would do if he found out it was the latter, but suffice to say, heads would roll.
Connor leaned back on the bed and settled in for a long wait.
Chloe had only napped for a few hours, her mind working overtime to figure out how it was that the team could have walked into a trap. She'd been worried about Oliver – normally he'd be beating himself up over situations like this.
However, today it seemed as though finding out the identity of the stranger had taken over his thoughts for the moment.
"You're positive he knew who you were?" she asked, stifling a yawn.
"Sure seemed like it," muttered Oliver, running a hand through his hair as he paced back and forth behind her. "His exact words were 'What have you done with Oliver Queen?' Then he grabbed my arm and the next thing you know, I can feel myself weakening like I was getting drained or something!"
"So he didn't recognize you."
"I think he may-" He stopped abruptly and looked over her shoulder, "Did you check the database of known metahumans?"
"You mean, is he a 'meteor freak'?" Chloe said dryly, "And yes, I checked already. There's nobody listed on there that has the abilities you saw. It would help if I had a name to work with though-"
A movement in one of the monitors caught her eye. "Hey, he's awake."
After a few seconds, Oliver raised an eyebrow. "He seems awfully calm for someone that's just woken up in a strange environment."
At that moment, the man in the image looked straight at them.
"…Or maybe he knows that we're watching him," concluded Chloe, "So when are you going to interrogate him?"
"Hmm, I don't know. Maybe I should just let him stew in there for a while longer."
The blond-haired woman just rolled her eyes at that. "As if you're not impatient to find out how he figured out your identity… That and I really need more information to go on. Just typing in 'shaggy blond hair' doesn't help me narrow down the search."
"Fine, I'll go then."
"Oh and I'm coming with you."
"What?" Oliver stopped and turned around, "Why?"
"I-There's some questions I want to ask him."
"You usually don't tag along for those."
Well, you see, I have no idea why but I feel like I know him from somewhere. So maybe if I can talk with him, I can figure out where I last saw him... However, Chloe chose to keep that thought to herself.
"There's no rule against me starting now. Besides, he did help you guys out last night."
"Fair enough, but dressed like that you're not."
Chloe looked down at her t-shirt and jeans. "What's wrong with this?"
"Secret identity, remember?'
She scowled at him, "I knew that."
It didn't take Connor long to locate the surveillance device. Not surprising, considering the environment he'd grown up in.
It's also why he was barely reacted when the door leading to the outside finally opened some time later. Green Arrow and a smaller figure stepped in and shut the door.
Was that Impulse? Connor thought rather irrelevantly. The unknown figure was certainly too short to be Aquaman. Whoever they were, their face was concealed by the hood of their sweatshirt and a pair of sunglasses.
"How are you feeling?" Green Arrow asked.
"I've felt better," Connor threw his legs over the side of the bed, "I'm guessing this is not a social call."
"You'll have to excuse us, considering where we ran into you."
"You could have left me behind," Connor had a niggling feeling he knew where this conversation was going.
"It's more about happened before you blacked out."
Connor thought back, "I think I know what you mean. Sorry about that," He sounded genuinely regretful, "It was just reflex."
However, Chloe noted that his eyes were watchful and while his pose seemed relaxed, she had a feeling that he could probably spring into action at any moment if needed.
"Can you tell me more about this ability you have?"
Connor shrugged, "People call me an energy leech. That's pretty much sums it up."
Neither Oliver nor Chloe could miss the bitterness in his voice.
"And what happens afterwards?" Chloe finally spoke up.
Connor's head jerked up at the sound of her voice.
"Chloe Sullivan," he said slowly before he looked up, "This is not funny!" He yelled at the ceiling.
Ignoring Oliver's warning glance, Chloe threw back her hood and took a step forward, "Do I know you?"
An ironic smile crossed his face at that question. "You could say that."
Meanwhile, the expression Oliver was directing at Connor was eerily similar to the ones he directed at a target before he decided whether or not to shoot.
Seeing that, the absurdity of the situation struck Connor and he couldn't help but start laughing. His parents were alive, they didn't recognize him and apparently, his father thought he was out to get them.
Oliver and Chloe weren't too sure what to make of this reaction, although Green Arrow quickly moved to shield his partner.
However, he soon lost his patience when Connor just started shaking his head as though he were privy to some hilarious inside joke.
"Alright, that's it!" Oliver growled and he grabbed the front of the younger man's shirt, "Who the hell are you?"
Undeterred by Oliver's angry grip on his shirt, Connor just gave him a cynical smile, "Would you believe I'm from the future, Mr. Queen?"
Meanwhile, sometime in the future…
"The matter has been taken care of," The Head Councilman drummed his fingers against the desk.
"I'll set things in motion on my end," came the voice from the speaker.
"And the amount we agreed on?"
"Will be transferred as soon as the paperwork is done. I'll be putting pressure on the board to make a decision promptly-"
Suddenly, he could hear the raised voice of his secretary coming through the door. "Mr. Kent! You can't go in there! Councilman Akan gave strict instructions-"
"Do I look like I care?!" An angry male voice could be heard.
"I'll talk with you later," Akan told the person on the other end before he ended the call.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Nathan stormed into the office. The secretary looked extremely harried and Akan gave her a nod, indicating that he had the matter in hand.
"They told me you'd react this way," he told Nathan.
"How the hell am I supposed to react after getting poisoned just so you could murder my best friend?!"
"Connor Queen was becoming a liability. He was getting more and more mentally unstable and his erratic actions could have compromised our missions."
"Then just kick him out!" Nathan slammed his hands onto the councilman's desk, "You didn't have to kill him!"
"He knew too much. Letting him live would have been a security risk."
Nathan just gave a snort of disgust. "You make me sick."
"Careful, Kent. You're trending dangerously close to insubordination here."
"What? You're going to kill me too?"
"You don't want to push me."
Nathan didn't reply, instead he just stormed out and slammed the door behind him.
Inside the office, Akan pressed a button.
"Shadowhawk here."
"Keep an eye on Kent. The boy's going to be up to something."
"Yes, sir."
To be continued.