Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville or any of these characters
AN: Update! Thank you for reading and reviewing enjoy.
Chapter 17: Lighting the torch
"Aquaman online." A.C was the first to connect to the comlink.
"Impulse online." Bart happily remarked pulling up his hood.
"Cyborg online." Victor was next to hook up to the comlink not having to put on an ear piece like his fellow heroes.
"Arrow Online." Oliver said then looked to Chloe waiting for her to connect to the comlink for the first time. "Your turn Watchtower."
Chloe didn't reply at first she just seemed hesitant like she had something to say that couldn't be said in front of the whole team. She turned her apprehensive gaze towards Oliver then the rest of the team. She and Oliver weren't on the best of terms at the moment. She had lost the fight in convincing them that she was physically capable of doing the mission. But that wasn't it; they were so far away from their haven and the protection of the penthouse. When had that place become her safety net she couldn't remember.
Here in the middle of nowhere, who would ever put a high security facility in the middle of nowhere. Only a Luthor, that little snake. Montana, he had sent her mother to Montana a place called Black Creek. Chloe had to give Lex credit no one would ever had thought a water treatment center was really a place where sick scientific experiments were being held. The worst thing about it was the papers on this place, all the files said the same thing. Anyone that went in never came out. They had landed the jet in a nearby field and parked it in an old barn hiding it easily from prying eyes, thank goodness for abandoned farms. The Jet was to be command central and where Chloe would have to stay and coordinate the mission.
This place was dangerous more dangerous than any of the other 33.1 locations. It was the last place on the road of any Luthor pawn that failed to live up to their usefulness. This mission was it. It was all or nothing now everything Chloe had worked for and the safety of those most precious to her rode on the outcome of this mission. If it was a success than her goal would be complete and she could rest a little easier at night in Oliver's arms. But failing met spending some quality time behind bars, or worse, they could all be captured and put into the facility themselves.
"Watchtower is everything okay?" John Jones asked seeing the expression on the young heroin's face. Oliver was about to ask the very same thing, Chloe could see the concern in his handsome chiseled features.
"I'm fine Manhunter, thanks for your concern." Chloe used Johns codename being more use to calling him by ,it then his earth name. "But could you guys give us a minute?"
"Sure you heard the lady boys, let's make sure the bikes are fueled or something." Victor was the first to answer the request knowing who Chloe was referring to when she said us. She wanted a moment with the leader of the marry band of men. They could all understand and did.
"Hey that means you too Boyscout." Bart got Clark's attention on his way out the small door of the private jet. Squinting his eyebrow in frustration for a quick second Clark followed his friends out of the small plane, closely followed by the Martian Manhunter.
"Not that I don't love our alone time Chloe, but I think this is hardly the time for..." Oliver watched the rest of his team leave and then voiced his curious assumption.
"Shh…Please let me say this. I don't want you going off saving one of the most important people to me without out apologizing for earlier I know how anger or frustration can cloud you're focus." With pleading eyes Chloe put her hand on Oliver's Leather clad forearm seeking forgiveness for the small argument about her ability to complete a mission.
"You mean the whole 'Anything you can do I can do better' attitude? Don't worry about it, in fact I've missed our condescending banter, I think it's one of our hottest qualities about our relationship." His smirk was all she needed to know any anger about the matter had faded.
"Is that all you think about?" Chloe smiled embracing him in an apologetic hug laying her head on his chest and then looked up with teary eyes to stare into his brown gaze. "But seriously Ollie, I want you to know how much this means to me. How much you mean to me? I know this isn't a time to talk like this, but you need to know that no matter what happens after today I always want to be with you."
"Wait want...That doesn't sound good. Are you still planning on runaway with your mother? And you had to pick now to tell me this?" Oliver's smirk shifted to a frown and he quirked an eyebrow. She was still going to run?
"It seemed as good time as any. I don't know yet, I've made my bed and now I have to lay in it. I need to keep her safely away from Lex. But I promise you, wild horses couldn't keep me away from you forever." She confessed that she had not thought it through yet. So much had changed in the last two days. Chloe had more people to consider in her plans, the things she thought she could leave behind were now going to be permanent pillars of strength Chloe didn't know were holding her up.
"You know you don't have to do it alone."His gloved hand was on her cheek and Chloe leaned into the loving caress. "I wouldn't ask you to stay on the side lines and be protected but never included. But you know I can protect you and keep you safe the both of you, in ways that no one else can."
"Oh Ollie…" Chloe sighed.
"You said you would die for the Green Arrow, But would you…." The billionaire didn't get to finish his sentence as Bart popped his head in the door breaking up the romantic moment.
"Sorry Chloeliclous, Hey boss-man." The speedster apologized for his interruption.
"Yes what is it Impulse?" The emerald archer looked back towards the entrance way his jaw set in a scowl.
"We gotta go now it's almost dusk, tin man says it's now or never." Bart answered thanking goodness that his boss didn't have heat vision like Clark.
"Okay I'll be right there in a sec." Without another word Oliver turned to Chloe kissing her a deep passionate kiss and then releasing her lips. "For luck, not that we need it with you keeping an eye on us."
Chloe touched her lips silently savoring the kiss and locking away the memory safely in the back of her mind as she watched the Green Arrow and Impulse exit the aircraft. Whipping herself around to the consoled that had been set up as her work space. Finally placing the ear bud in her lope she connected the link with the rest of them.
"Watchtower is officially online." Chloe said connecting to the teams link for the first time a cocky tone to her voice. "Let's get to work."
A day and a half that's how long it had been sense Moira Sullivan had been brought to her latest location. It felt like an eternity though, this place was not like the others and she wasn't treated as well as she had been. That viper was furious with her, but enough was enough and she was not going to be used.
As the despair set in her heart Moira leaned against one of the steal walls of her darkened cell. This place had no windows and no furniture to speak of. No one had brought her any food since she arrived in this place, and the silence was starting to driver her more crazy then the world thought she was, if that was at all possible? The only thing she could hear was the dripping of water somewhere off in the distance, the source of the minute sound was a mystery though.
Sliding down the wall Moira tried not to think about the pain her daughter was probably going through right now. They had always had some type of empathic bond since that day in the field in the meteor shower. But somehow in the last 24 hours that bond had been strengthen. How Moira had her suspicions but she choose not to think about it. The only thing on her mind at the moment was Chloe's own words.
Her daughter said she would save her, that she had powerful friends. That was almost a day ago, or that's at least how long it had felt like Moira didn't know the time. There was no clock in this dark place, the older woman smirked at the irony of it all...
" Cold damp rushing water? Sounds like some water treatment plant there's one over on…" There was a loud explosion coming from out of nowhere causing dirt to fly everywhere and the earth to shake. Moira could feel the connection fading as her daughter spoke. "No mom, I can't lose you now"
"You never lost me, I have always been with you… save me Chloe, you're the only one that can." Their hands grasp for each other only to fall just out of reach.
Moira questioned if the momentary shared dream was even real or if her mind was making it up. She had been in a dark place trapped in the confines of her own mind for so long. Now she was truly in the dark. Alone all hope seemed to be lost. But Chloe had to be coming she just had to be.
"Green Arrow to Watchtower we're in position." Oliver said over the comlink as they blew the door to the main entrance of Black Creek open.
"Good Cyborg punch a hole in the security net and head towards the main frame. Impulse make sure you put a charge at the end of every corridor, Aquaman have you found the sewer access point?" Chloe gave them all their assignments pointing them where each of them needed to be.
"Affirmative." A.C replied into the small device.
"Good there should be a long corridor leading to the underground foundation,there should be support pillars every ten feet. Place a charge on every third pillar from the Center." She relayed what needed to be done to destroy the facility as she looked over the schematic of its lower areas.
"Roger Watchtower." As he answered the aquatic hero switched to silent running.
"Boyscout you're up. Time to put that super speed to good use, I need you to pull fire alarms and get as many people out as you can before we blow the place. The Martian Manhunter will help you." Getting every single person out was not going to be too hard. Most of the guards didn't know what was really going on in the facility. All Chloe had to do was trip a few evacuation alarms and make it look like some lethal chemicals spilled over.
"Boyscout really?" Clark remarked making the fact that he still didn't like the codename known. Something all of them were all too aware of.
"No time to wine big blue get going. Arrow take a right at the next corridor then a hundred meters to your left." Her mother was not that far away from Oliver's position.
"Mr. Luthor said you had a preference for green, but I had no idea you were walking comic relief." A man in a black suit accompanied by two armed guard caught the emerald archer's attention as he ran down the corridor. "We both know why you're here? But I'm curious as to how you got in."
"That's for me to know and you to wonder." The Green Arrow drew back his bow intent on putting an arrow through the heart of this man. Regan that was the only name he was known by, this monster was just as bad as Lex if not worse. His position in the Luthor Corp hierarchy was that of devil's advocate or in better terms head of experimentation on every meteor infected individual that entered a 33.1 facility.
"Look you have a bow, but look here I have them. Mr. Luthor wants him dead or alive. Get him boys." As the armed meat heads descended on him The Green Arrow took his battle stance ready to fight, he could take them, he only hoped that Chloe's mother could wait just a little longer.
"Arrow to Watchtower I might be a little late to the show." The Green Arrow punched at another opponent taking him down.
"Mrs. Kent what are you doing here, I thought you were in D.C?" Lana Lang smiled at her ex-boyfriend's mother as the older woman walked into her hospital room.
"I landed a few hours ago. I'm sorry I couldn't be here earlier. How are you doing? Lois is fine now, I bailed her out before I sent her back to the capital. " Martha Kent replied sitting on the hospital bed next to the younger woman.
"It's fine I'm just thankful for your caring about me. It seems like the closer I'm getting to Lex the farther apart I've been getting away from everyone else." As the words left her mouth Martha could hear the regret in her tone, Lana was in pain that was understandable. But to question the way she felt about the father of her lost child so soon was not normal.
"By the look on your face I can tell you've been feeling this way for a while. Is everything okay Lana? Did Lex do something?" She could see the disgust on Lana's face as Oh no, had that snake hurt this poor child too? Used her in some way that as unforgivable?
"No of course not Lex loves me, Why would you ask something like that?" Lana answered turning away, Martha could tell she didn't want to talk about something. However if Lex had done something she had to know. Maybe it was connected to what he was up too with Moira Sullivan?
"I know how it feels to lose a child, you feel alone and should want the man you love not to leave your side." Martha pressed on trying to get an answer to her own question. "But Lex isn't here and you seem to be taking this better than you should be."
"I have a confession to make, can you keep a secret Mrs. Kent?" Lana relented quicker then she thought she would.
"Of course, what is it my dear?" As she put a hand on the young woman's shoulder trying to comfort her, Lana spilled out everything about her pregnancy including the fact that it was all fabricated and how much she felt guilty for wanting revenge against him. Martha just sat back and listened to all of the brunette's troubles trying not to make evil plans of her own. She normally wouldn't be so spiteful, but Lex Luthor was turning out to be just what her husband had always feared him to be, a chip off the old Luthor block.
Her daughter's bracelet shined brightly, the only light in her cell glinting off the small piece of jewelry. This small object was the only thing Moira Sullivan had to connect her to Chloe in this dark place. The silver chain swung back and forth like a pendulum as she held it firmly in her grasp, there was nothing else to hold her attention. The older woman's gaze followed its motion only thinking of how long she had been here. They had let her eat but then brought her back here to her prison. Alarms started blowing about fifteen minutes ago and Moira had heard so many hurried footsteps outside the steel door. Something was wrong and everyone in the place was being evacuated, the sound of alarms that accompanied some sort of chemical fire were not unfamiliar to her. Now all hope was lost no one was coming for her, or at least it didn't seem like it.
"Chloe where are you sweetheart?" Moira said out loud to no one in particular, there was no one in here with her. No one to save her no one to talk too, just as the words left her mouth the steel door leading to her freedom opened with a loud bang. In an instant Moira made her decision she was going to leave this place she had had enough of just laying low.
A dark figure entered the pitch black room and as soon as the person was fully in the room, Moira kicked them into the wall using a self defense move she had learned when she was younger. A groan could be heard from the dark corner where she had sent the invader of her prison, it sounded like a youthful groan. That met it wasn't any of the scientists or security guards that she had seen walking around. Most of the people who worked in the facilities Moira had been passed around were older individuals in their thirties.
"Ow...Why did you do that?" A young man dressed from head to toe in green and black leather stood letting his hood fall back revealing blonde tousled hair and chiseled features. Or at least from what she could make out. The small room was still dim the only light coming from the door that was now open.
"I'll be the one asking questions shamrock. Who are you? What do you want from me? Did that snake send you to kill me? He finally realized I'll never bow to him or his schemes?" This man was taller and looked like a fighter. She could tell that he had just fought someone by the bloody bottom lip he was sporting.
"Shamrock…Okay if that's what you want to go with? You know I envisioned this rescue mission going a little differently. First of all…Watchtower could you do something about the lights?" Within seconds the lights came on startling Moira making her step back a few feet.
"How did you do that? Wait rescue mission, I don't believe you that snake probably sent you here to trick me into a false sense of security." Now that the lights were on she got a better look at her supposed savior, he had arrows what did they call this man.
"So you've met the viper. For the duration of this mission you can just call me Green Arrow." He tried to convince her that he was telling the truth and when he mentioned her daughter's name Moira stepped forward some since of courage returning to her. "I'm not going to hurt you Mrs. Sullivan. I'm here to save you, Chloe sent me."
"Chloe? My daughter, the last man that tried to pull that one on me wanted to use me for world domination. Sorry, if I'm not so trusting." Her arms were now over her chest in defiance and daring him to prove what he was saying.
"That's okay, I get it. But we have to go now we have ten minutes before Impulse starts the timers on the charges and Black Creek is a distance memory." Oliver pointed in the direction of the door with his thumb.
"Impulse...Who is this Watchtower some kind of control freak and you're the puppet?" She knew she should believe him, but that man had jaded her and used her so much that it was hard to take a kind hand when offered."I'm not going anywhere with you. I want to speak to my daughter."
"You have no idea. You know you're just as brazen and curious as her." The corner of his lips turn up in a smile like he was thinking of a fond memory of who he was comparing her too. "I promise you, you will see Chloe soon, but not now. So please if you don't mind this show needs to get on the road."
"I don't think so, I've been nothing but lied to since that man woke me up. So I don't know much about what's really happening here."She was still not convinced. "But I do know I've been locked up and guarded better then fort Knox. If you are who you say you are how did you get in here?"
"Let's just say I have powerful friends."Those were the same words Chloe had used when she had invaded her daughter's consciousness briefly. "Shamrock to Control freak momma bear won't leave the cave. What do I…"
"She doesn't trust you it's understandable with everything she's gone through." Chloe cut him off, how could this be happening her mother wasn't being cooperative at all. She should never have listened to the team she should have gone in herself. Then in a moment of clarity Chloe knew exactly what to use to help make her mother trust Oliver. "But you're telling the truth and you have me I'm the ace in this deck. "
"Okay...That still doesn't help the death glare I'm getting here." Damn thank god those eyes didn't have heat vision behind them. Why did he feel so guilty when it came to this older woman. He personally had never met her or done anything to cause her pain. Maybe it was because he had seduced her only daughter the day he met Chloe, and then got her pregnant a few months later. Oliver shook his head trying to rid himself of the feeling.
"Don't worry, I need you to repeat after me okay?" Praying that her dream wasn't just a dream Chloe continued. "Say 'we don't know what we're going to name her, but She's going to be a Queen' if nothing else she will believe those words."
"Okay if you say so you're the expert here." Oliver took his hand off the comlink and directed his attention to the stubborn woman on the opposite side of the room. "If nothing I have said has convinced you to trust me then maybe what I say next might?"
"And what would that be Archer?" Moira was unhappy and it was showing.
"'we don't know what we're going to name her, but Shes going to be a Queen'" As the words left his mouth the change in Moira's demeanor was immediate her expression turn from anger and distrust to one of disbelieve and relief. Oliver was astounded how quickly the older woman's walls had fallen. What did those words mean? He would have to ask Chloe there true meaning later.
"Chloe, she really did send you. I want to see her take me to her." She was like a mocking bird repeating herself, she only ever wanted one thing.
"Like I said you will see your daughter soon but for that to happen we have to go now." He pointed towards the door again putting on his hood and glasses again.
"Archer what is taking so long?" Maritain Manhunter entered the room phasing through the wall causing Moira to gasp in surprise.
"You know Sullivan's Manhunter as stubborn as mules." Oliver smirked at Chloe's mother and could hear a huff come over the comlink. He was going to pay for that comment later. "But we're ready to go now. You take Mrs. Sullivan back to base I'll meet you there."
"Mrs. Sullivan do you mind?" John extended his hand and Moira took it without complaint as he lifted her up bridle style. "The route back to freedom will be shorter like this."
"I'm not complaining lead the way." Were those two flirting Oliver quirked an eyebrow, of all the peoples to flirt…
"Arrow time to go. Get you leather-ass moving." Speaking of shameless flirting.
"Anything you say Professor." In an instant the Green Arrow and his team were out of the facility and watched in pride as the place was blown sky high. Everyone got out safely thanks to Clark and John. The mission was a success, as far as any of them could tell.
AN: Hope you liked as always read and review!