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 JL gang discovers that potentially messing up the timeline is the least of his worries.

Chapter 4

The newspaper crinkled as Connor flipped idly through the pages. He figured he'd give his parents another day to make up their minds before he broke his way out of there – and there was no doubt he was capable of that.

He'd been a bit overwhelmed at first, but then the possibilities of all the events he could change had hit him and it made him all the more impatient to get out of there, with or without JL consent.

There were so many things he needed to do.

Of course, it would be way easier if he had the resources of Queen Industries and the Watchtower behind him, but he wasn't counting on it. No, as it was, his first priority was getting his hands on a laptop and an internet connection. And then access into his father's weapons stash.

The slight movement of the door caught his eye and he was surprised to see a plain-clothed Oliver walking in.

"So how long are you guys planning on keeping me in here for?"

"Actually, you're free to go."

"Just like that?" Incredulity laced his voice.

"You'll have to excuse us for being a bit cautious. It's not everyday someone turns up with full knowledge of all our civilian identities."

"I suppose." That's when an important point occurred to him, "And where exactly am I supposed to go? It's not like I know when or even if I can get back to my own time."

"Watchtower has all the basics covered and we're still trying to figure out how you ended up here," Oliver said, "Follow me."

250 Fairmont Street. Connor recognized the familiar décor as they exited the corridor where his room had been and the elevators came into sight. In his time, the 15 story building also doubled unofficially as JL Tower, a base of operations for the League. His mother's workspace made up the entire top floor.

He had been a bit surprised to see Oliver walking without the slight limp that had hampered him in Connor's time. Ever since he'd been aware of it, his father had always tended to favour his left leg. Now if he just could remember when it had happened so he could prevent it.

"How would you like a job with the Justice League?" Oliver said suddenly as the doors to the elevator opened.

Connor almost stumbled. "Are you serious?"

His father shrugged and motioned for him to enter the elevator, "If what you say is true, you obviously have the skills for it. That and we could always use some more help."

"Well…."

"Hey," Oliver finally gave him a slight smile, "Take your time. I'm just saying, there's an opening on the team if you want to join."

"I'll think about it."

"I'll try to make this as believable as possible," Chloe was telling him as her fingers flew across the keyboard, "The best identity is one that you're not making up from scratch."

"Got it," Connor was struck by a mixture of surrealism and déjà vu as he watched his mother work her magic on the computers. As a kid, he'd spent many hours in this exact area as Chloe coordinated numerous JL missions. However, it was just so strange, watching this younger version of his mother at work.

"Education background?"

When there was no rely, she raised an eyebrow at him. "Connor?"

It was then that Connor realized he was staring and Chloe was patiently waiting for an answer. "Columbia, business administration. Magna cum laude."

Meanwhile, he couldn't help but shake the feeling that his father was glaring at him from behind his back. For what, he had no idea.

"And what did you work as?"

Connor thought I ran a billion-dollar company called Queen Industries, probably wouldn't have been the best reply, so he simply said, "Lower-level management, but I did some programming on the side."

"Oh," Chloe continued typing, "Where did you work?"

"I don't think the company's been founded yet," he lied.

"Okay, I guess we'll just put you down as a Queen Industries employee then."

A strangled sound escaped from Connor's throat before he could stop it.

Chloe just gave him a questioning glance.

"Sorry, had something in my throat," he mumbled. Sometimes he had the scary feeling his mother could read minds.

"Hey, I'm going out to get some lunch," Oliver placed a hand on Chloe's upper arm, "Anything you want?"

"Surprise me."

"Sure. How about you, kid?"

Connor noticed that his father's hand lingered on his mother's arm longer than was necessary. Oliver's tone was casual, but there was a hint of steel underlying his tone.

Connor knew his father well enough to recognize the unspoken message.

"Whatever you're getting is fine," he said and because he valued his life, took a step back, away from his mother.

A few hours later, Connor was standing in the center of his new apartment. Eighth floor, Queen Plaza. The windows provided a stunning view of the south side of Star City, with the tall building making up Queen Industries Headquarters visible near the upper left corner. JL Towers was only a block away.

First things first.

Taking a seat at the table, he booted up his new laptop while marveling at how anybody in this time period ever got anything done. If there was one thing he really missed about the future, it was the technology.

Beside him, a stack of folders and loose-leaf held all the paperwork and information he needed in this time.

Meanwhile, unknown to him, the information he was accessing flashed across one of the computer screens at the Watchtower.

"Bob Stonely," Oliver read off the screen before turning to Chloe, "What's this?"

"This is what Connor is accessing on his laptop at the moment."

Oliver just stared at her for a second before he shook his head, "So how many of the 1028 unread emails in my inbox this morning were actually important?"

"…I'm not your secretary. And despite what you think, I don't make it a habit of reading your messages. It was just that one time."

"Because you saw those messages from Dinah, right?"

Chloe just rolled her eyes.

"It would probably be a lot convenient if you were," He said casually, sitting down at the edge of her desk.

"Why, what's wrong with the secretary you have now?" She smacked him lightly with the small stack of printouts she had in her hand, "And butt off my desk."

"It was just a thought," he said.

"Right. Anyways, Bob Stonely," Chloe tapped a few more keys, "According to this, he has a pretty long record. Multiple counts of auto theft, a few assault charges-"

"Don't they all," muttered Oliver.

"-and a gambling problem. Really not that much different that your usual run of the mill criminal."

"So no special abilities, no connections to anyone noteworthy…?"

"Not that I can see."

"Here's an address, although I don't think you'll need it yet."

"It doesn't seem like he's been up to much lately," Oliver read from the screen, "So maybe we'll leave this for later."

"You were the one that wanted to keep tabs on Connor," Chloe reminded him, "This really isn't any of our business."

"I still think he's hiding something. Something big."

"Can you blame him? It's probably because he's afraid that if he tells us too much, he'll end up getting unborn or something."

"Good night, dear."

"Good night," Sarah gave her mother a smile before shutting the door behind her. Her smile disappeared as she sat down on the floor of her darkened room.

Concentrate, she told herself before closing her eyes. When she opened again, hundreds of thin golden threads covered the space around her. The threads made up the many different, constantly evolving timelines that her powers gave her the privilege of witnessing.

Slowly leaning forward, Sarah could see that one of the threads had unwoven – and that was the cause of the disturbance.

One of the timelines had become unstable.

She'd probably been too traumatized the day of her rescue to notice it at first.

After she recovered consciousness that day, she'd been kept in the hospital for observation before being reluctantly allowed to return home with her parents.

The Justice League had been very unwilling to let her out of sight, but any trust she'd had for the organization had taken a serious hit the second she'd seen Nathan Kent hit the ground in agony. Then the red-haired woman had knocked her out when she saw the gun she was aiming towards her rescuer.

Asking around, she'd found out that one of Connor's powers had been the ability to take on other superhero's abilities. Judging from the frayed thread, perhaps it was possible that he hadn't perished after all and hope rose in her at the thought. She'd wanted to be saved, but not at the expense of someone else's life.

Her movements felt almost mechanical as she said hello to the many guests at the function. Alana hadn't wanted to go, but as the Wayne Foundation was one of the sponsors, it was expected that at least one member of the Wayne family would be making an appearance.

Normally she'd enjoy these social affairs, but only days after receiving the news of Connor's death, her heart just wasn't in it. She glanced at the clock – another half hour and then she'd be able to leave.

Suddenly, a familiar figure appeared on the edge of her vision and her fingers tightened unconsciously around the stem of her glass.

A red haze appeared in her vision and then it was as though someone had taken over her body, reducing her role to that of a distant observer. She didn't notice the hush that had fallen over part of the crowd as she made her way over and tapped the other woman on the shoulder.

As Dominique turned around, Alana just smiled sweetly at her before she punched the red-head in the nose.

To be continued.

A/N: I'm hoping the plot isn't getting too convoluted and/or too slow. I noticed a drastic drop in readers after chapter 3, so if that's the problem, please let me know and I'll see if I can fix it.

Also, I would love some suggestions about where you want this plot to go. I can always use more ideas!

Thanks for reading!