Chapter One
Late 2006 – Gotham City
It's a bitterly cold October night and Commissioner Gordon was on the roof of the Gotham City Police Department building. The wind whipped at his insulated tan trench coat and he hoped that he and the officer accompanying him would not have to be there long.
The Bat-Signal hadn't been beaming into the night skies for more than a quarter of an hour when he sensed the presence of the man he was trying to reach a moment before the sounds of the wind billowing the masked man's cape. Motioning for the officer with him to turn the searchlight with the bat emblem off, Gordon turned around, looking into the shadows that surrounded the building's roof.
Knowing Batman wouldn't start the conversation, Commissioner Gordon did. "I've been getting information from an anonymous source on a variety of crimes being committed in Gotham, but the source doesn't seem to think that my police force is capable of handling the data."
Batman walked out from the darkness, cape snapping behind him in the strong wind, but staying just outside the ring of light that was near the roof entrance to the building – apparently the Batman was intrigued.
Commissioner Gordon shook his head mentally at the vigilante that did more for taking care of crime in the city then all of his police force combined. At first, he thought any guy running around in the costume that stood before him, would be nothing but a nuisance; something else for his overworked, underpaid police officers and other personnel, to deal with. But as time went by, he was surprised to see the crime rate of Gotham City becoming less. Marginally, yes, but still, any downward direction in any wrong doings was something to be looked forward to, something to be praised.
After a few months, he'd decided to try and make contact with the person who was literally scaring the criminals into either fleeing the city or going straight. Several nights spent on the roof with the searchlight showing what everyone had termed 'the Bat Signal' had eventually paid off and Commissioner Gordon and the Batman had come to some type of an understanding.
Holding out a file folder filled with hard copies of the information sent by 'Watchtower' for the Dark Knight to take, he continued. "It seems I'm only to be used as a contact person for you, an assistant, if you will." Commissioner Gordon was slightly surprised when Batman actually seemed to smirk with amusement at the comment. Even after about four years of 'working with' the man, and he used the term loosely, he still didn't know anything about the man behind the mask other than he had a fierce need for justice.
Gordon let him glance through the information. The Commissioner was sure that Batman recognized the name just as he did; the mysterious reporter had been making a name for themself in newspapers and on the internet for a few months. "This 'Watchtower' seems very well informed. Any idea who it is?"
Batman's whiskey rough voice seemed to be made of the shadows, "Not at the moment but I'll look into it."
With that, the Batman was once again part of the darkness that he fought to obliterate from Gotham City and Commissioner Gordon was left saying a sarcastic "you're welcome" into the night.
*^*^*
Early 2007 – Gotham City
A few months later…
Bruce Wayne rarely dealt with the press on a personal level, so most of the information that Watchtower had put together about him was via her own research and whatever the billionaire playboy had allowed to circulate by way of the media. Caly had also gotten very short answers to a variety of questions at various events as well but nothing in depth.
The function she was going to be attending tonight would give her another in-person experience with the playboy from Gotham City; not only providing Caly with a chance to put together some type of article for publication – no matter that Watchtower got a lot of wrong doings cleaned up, she didn't get paid for it – but she was also hoping to get a better feeling for the man himself.
Caly suspected that Bruce lived a dual life, similar to hers, and was the Dark Knight that was currently protecting, although some wouldn't agree to that term, the crime filled city. Having made the connection of the Bat signal and Commissioner Gordon, Watchtower had, for the last few months, been sending the Batman all the information pertaining to wrong doing in Gotham City via the Commissioner in hopes the officer would pass it to the vigilante.
Batman used Kevlar body armor; used very specific personalized transportation – car, motorcycle, boat and a plane – and all those gadgets she had been hearing about, spoke of money, or at least connections to people with money, and Wayne had money; he had Wayne Enterprises, which had its fingers in a lot of pies, including a lot of R&D for Wayne Technologies, a direct competitor with LexCorp.
Caly knew a lot about what the Luthors were capable of with their research and development departments so it wasn't too much of a stretch to think if someone were using their resources for wrong doing and personal gain, someone else, someone as charitable as Bruce Wayne, could do the same in the opposite direction.
Not long after the event started, Mr. Wayne arrived, creating quite a stir with the crowd and bearing some statuesque beauty on his arm. Caly mentally rolled her eyes but didn't let it stop her from mingling with the group of people that surround him throughout the evening.
Keeping her eyes and ears open, she was very aware that neither of the Luthors had shown themselves at the event. Given how close they were to Metropolis and how each of the Luthors loved the limelight, this didn't sit well with Caly. Not wanting to think about what could be holding their attention, she forced the unsettling thoughts aside to focus on Mr. Wayne.
Her vigilance paid off.
A couple of hours into the party, Caly's suspicions about Wayne seemed confirmed as he excused himself, needing to take an international business related call, and less than an hour later, Batman was on the scene of a hostage situation on the other side of town.
*^*^*
While Caly did not want to reveal herself in any way to Batman, she also did not want him to know that someone knew his real identity. Over the next several days, Caly watched Bruce Wayne, both as herself and as Watchtower and found that Batman varied his patrols as well as how he patrolled. Some nights it would be via his car, others it was the motorcycle, rarely did he actually use his plane unless it was required.
It was relatively easy watching him and it didn't necessarily put her in danger, as she had spent the last few years learning how to defend herself properly; however, Watchtower didn't relish being this close to Metropolis. There were too many people who knew her there and the danger to herself if the Luthors found out she was alive, was entirely real.
Caly wanted to stop using the Commissioner as a go-between for their communications, or hers at least, because it was entirely one sided thus far, for a variety of reasons. After a week of watching him, Chloe came to the conclusion that the only way to pass the information to Batman was to package it up and either deliver it to him personally, have it delivered to the Commissioner and have him give it to the Dark Knight, or … somehow get close enough to his mode of transportation and leave it there for him.
Knowing all of his vehicles were equipped with very impressive security systems, the delivery of the message had to be seen as passive, otherwise the information would be destroyed, she was sure. Sneaking up to said transportation wouldn't be wise; hitting it with a suction cup equipped arrow or any such action would be very unwise and obviously dropping it from above, or coming at it from below, would probably set off some type of system as well.
Shaking her head, Chloe came up with the only way of actually getting it near the vehicle, hoping that it would be taken in the spirit it was meant.
*^*^*
Batman was hurrying back to his car to continue with his patrol, when he noticed something dark, moving slightly, close to the driver's side door. Considering the security system hadn't been activated, he was very puzzled as to what it could be.
Cautiously he moved around the vehicle, scanning the area for anything that represented any danger to him. Coming around the back of the car, he was surprised to find a small black box tied with black string that was fastened to a single black helium filled balloon, sitting on the ground near the car.
Non-plused by the item, Batman took extraordinary caution in investigating the package before opening it. Inside, he found a CD with his name printed out on a sticky note attached to the case. Looking around once more, he deactivated the security system, jumped in and sped away.
Watchtower sighed with relief. And then smirked at the entire situation before heading back to her hotel, looking forward to the flight home the next morning.
*^*^*
Late 2007 – Metropolis
Like Bruce Wayne, Oliver Queen rarely dealt with the press on a personal level, however, he was a bit more approachable. Unlike with Wayne, Caly Scott had actually done a couple of pieces on Star City's own billionaire and, having gotten somewhat used to dealing with the rich and famous, Caly preferred dealing with Oliver. She actually enjoyed talking with him about the charities, projects and business ventures that he was involved in and he seemed honest in his concern for his fellow man, be they rich or downtrodden. However, she still did her best to make sure that the interview, or more specifically, the interviewer, was as forgettable as possible.
So when she was, again, introduced to Mr. Queen at the benefit in Metropolis, Caly found herself incredibly surprised and slightly unnerved by the glance of recognition from the blonde playboy.
"We've met before, haven't we?" Mr. Queen's date didn't give her a second glance, nor did anyone but the assistant who'd introduced them.
Doing her best not to give her surprise away, Caly nodded once and went on to mention that she had covered a few charities that he had been involved with as well as a couple of other articles. Oliver had smiled at her then, taking her hand and, instead of shaking it, he brought it up to his mouth and kissed her fingers while his date looked at her askance, one eyebrow raised.
Caly blushed significantly and then, as soon as she could, promptly made herself scarce.
As the evening progressed, Caly found herself thinking of Mr. Queen's behavior more than she wanted to admit. She had a large dossier on Oliver and she knew that he didn't often choose to greet females in the way he had done with her earlier. In fact, Mr. Queen seemed to reserve it for very few occasions and it was that last that puzzled her almost to distraction.
Trying to put the moment in perspective failed her, so then Caly tried to bury it in the back of her head; she had things to do.
But it continued to worry her.
If Oliver Queen recognized her, in any way, then the persona of 'Caly Scott' wasn't doing her job. She was supposed to be invisible. If she wasn't, and someone like Oliver remembered her, Caly Scott certainly wasn't safe around the Luthors, was she?
A couple of hours after her moment with Oliver, both he and Bruce moved to the podium that was on the stage near the band. They each said a few words about the cause of the charity and then graciously thanked everyone for their attendance and their generosity, leaving to the crowd's applause and the band beginning another round of music.
Once again, the Luthors were a no show and not more than half an hour later, Oliver Queen was leaving the benefit, his date on his arm, begging an early flight back to Star City the next morning.
And that night, in Metropolis, both Batman of Gotham City and Green Arrow of Star City, were seen.
*^*^*
Late 2007 – Star City
About a week earlier…
Calypso Scott made her way through the busy, seasonally decorated Star City Bugle building, smiling and nodding at people she recognized. While the petite, brown-haired, brown-eyed woman didn't work in the building, being a freelance writer for several different publications, both newspaper and magazine, Caly had made some acquaintances here and there through the years of her association with the award winning newspaper and enjoyed seeing them now and again.
While the building, much less the paper, wasn't as renowned as Metropolis' Daily Planet or even Gotham's Gazette or Globe, Caly preferred the atmosphere here much better. Metropolis was a can of worms waiting to burst and made her anxious any time she had to travel there and, while Gotham was a beautiful city in and of itself, the night life left a lot to be desired.
Star City had its problems, of course, but having lived there for the last two years, Caly found she actually preferred it to any other place she'd been. You never had to worry about snow; the criminal population was kept in relative control by their police force as well as their own Green Arrow; she hadn't run into any people with 'special abilities' and Caly hadn't had any near death experiences while living here.
Continuing rapidly through the busy lobby into a waiting elevator, the petite brown-haired, brown-eyed, conservatively dressed woman, who had specifically been asked by the editor to join him for a meeting today, looked at her watch again. After having overslept this morning, she smiled in triumph at having made up just enough time that she would arrive at the door to Thomas Davidson's office on time.
Just about to knock on the doorframe, Thomas raised his head and motioned her inside.
Caly closed the door behind her and Thomas, as if continuing a previous conversation, started right in, "I really wish I had this person on my payroll."
Looking at the front page of the early morning edition, Caly saw the headline and fought down the smile that wanted to reveal itself. Having not read any of the paper this morning due to her running late, Caly didn't have to actually lie, "Who's that, Sir?"
Davidson looked at her like she was from another planet. "You're a reporter, Scott, how could you not know what I mean? I'm talking about this 'Watchtower' that's been giving all the papers information on all the wrong doings all over the nation!"
"Sorry, Sir, I've been running late all morning; I haven't had a chance to read the paper yet."
Huffing, Davidson let the comment pass. "At any rate, they've been scooping every reporter in most large cities for months.
"Where, and how, are they getting their information? I've sent my best reporters out looking for leads on the stories they're getting and it's too damn dangerous for them. I've also had them looking for any information on this 'Watchtower' and so far, nothing."
Caly nodded her head once, responding in agreement. "They certainly are well informed. But, Mr. Davidson, if you think I can do anything that your best reporters haven't done, I really think you're reaching."
Thomas chuckled. "No, Scott, I know you couldn't get anywhere where they couldn't. Besides, you aren't cut out for that type of reporting. No, no," Davidson shook his head before continuing, "I know where your talents lay, Caly."
Caly couldn't help feeling disappointed by the editor's comments. If he knew her past, he wouldn't think anything of sending her into whatever was out there. However, on the other hand, having him express the sentiment with such assurance ensured her that her identity as nothing other than Caly Scott was completely entrenched.
"So, what's the meeting about, Mr. Davidson?"
"The newspapers have gotten advance notice of a charity benefit that will be held in Metropolis. It's been put together by our own Oliver Queen and Gotham's Bruce Wayne. Lex Luthor's scheduled to be there as well – to give a very large donation in lieu of not being able to help personally."
He looked at his best 'Entertainment & Living' section freelance reporter and continued, "This has your name written all over it, Scott. I'm giving you first dibs."
Yes, this was Caly's 'talent,' hobnobbing with the rich and famous, checking out restaurants and other, in her mind, worthless pursuits. It wasn't what she was born to do or to be but it was what she did now because it allowed her to keep tabs on what people were doing with their money and quite a lot of the politics of the world as well.
However, when it came to all things Metropolis, it would be like walking into the lion's den.
Despite the danger it would put Caly in, she accepted the invitation with sincerity and gratitude. It was, after all, what 'Caly Scott' was for.
After leaving Davidson's office, she stopped at the desks of a few acquaintances, leaving behind seasonal cards and some small gifts before setting out to check on sources and information for some follow-up articles for a couple of magazines she had been contacted to write. Along the way, she visited with her network of friends and other sources for anything new. Grabbing a late lunch at an up-town deli, Caly sat back to skim the early edition and then read through the evening issue before running the last of her errands for the day and returning home.
*^*^*
Back at the two-bedroom, top-floor apartment of the three level building, she moved to the smaller bedroom and began stripping away the trappings of the non-discrepant reporter who specialized in being a chameleon to allow her to blend in almost anywhere. The woman sighed with relief once the wig, conservative suit and contacts were put in their respective areas in the large closeted area she used to keep her personas straight.
The unknown, mysterious and well-informed 'Watchtower' had planned on staying in that evening, sifting through the results of her latest information gathering programs' results, scanning a pile of hard copy and doing filing. Sighing with relief, knowing that she wouldn't have to put on her black wig or black leather and vinyl uniform of her alter ego, she prepared for bed.
The petite blonde brushed out her long, wavy, mid-back length hair before braiding it for the night. Sliding into a tank top and some short shorts, not bothering with the glasses that she used if see was going to be seen by anyone, the woman looked at her reflection.
Even to herself, looking in the mirror was bizarre. She would never have guessed that just having long hair and adding some glasses would change her appearance so much.
Besides her green eyes, which she chose not to conceal with anything other than the glasses when she wasn't being Caly Scott, or wearing dark shades when she was in costume as Watchtower, her smile was the hardest to hide. She had spent months learning how to smile differently so if and when Caly ended up around people from her past, they wouldn't recognize her right off the bat.
After all, she hadn't spent the last four years changing her life and hiding herself to blow it all with a trademark Chloe Sullivan smile at some benefit like the one she'd be attending back in Metropolis next week.
*^*^*
Late 2007 – Metropolis
The morning after the benefit in Metropolis…
Chloe blinked as she read the morning edition of the Daily Planet's small story of the Dark Knight and the Emerald Archer being seen in Metropolis. What was the Green Arrow doing here? And if she didn't already know who Batman was, she would have been incredibly suspicious of his being in Metropolis as well.
Lex now owned the Daily Planet and she knew that both her cousin, Lois Lane, and Clark were now working there and Chloe spent an emotional filled hour going over the pros and cons of making contact with them. However, in the end, her good sense prevailed. Chloe had not spent the last few years of her life hiding from people who knew her just to jeopardize it now because she was in her old stomping grounds and homesick.
And if Lionel got wind of Chloe Sullivan being alive… She really didn't want to think about it.
During the flight back to Star City, Chloe pulled up all the information she had on the Green Arrow. She would have to double check with her files at home, she had dossiers on everyone she watched, but what she had on the laptop should give her a good starting place.
The trip was long and boring, as usual, but Chloe's excitement kept her energy level up. Arriving at her apartment, she quickly retrieved Oliver Queen's folder and sat at her computer station, pulling up more information on the internet and began cross-referencing everything she'd put together during the flight.
Three hours later she was sure that she had another hero's secret to guard as well as another vigilante to help in his fight for justice.
*^*^*
Early 2008 – Star City
Taking the same course with the Green Arrow that she had with Batman, Chloe watched Oliver Queen, memorizing his habits as well as Green Arrow's routes of patrol. Unlike Batman, she found a pattern to his behavior and devised a way of getting his attention, and his alone. She didn't want just anyone coming across the information she wanted to give him and she didn't want him getting caught either.
Chloe decided that it would be both easier and harder to get the information to Green Arrow then it had been to the Batman. Green Arrow traveled mostly by zip-line, so she had to make sure to use something that would get his attention, but not enough to make anyone else come and investigate the scene. A couple of weeks after finding out about Oliver Queen's dual identity, Watchtower set up a small fireworks display that would be triggered by a remote she controlled. Knowing that he would be literally swinging by the building she had targeted, all she had to do was wait until he was in sight.
*^*^*
Green Arrow was on his way home for the night, near the end of his normal patrol, when he landed on The Grell Museum rooftop. Just as he started to recon the area, popping and hissing sounds came from behind him and he quickly turned around to be faced with a variety of colorful sparks shooting a few feet into the air. Checking the area, he approached the dying firecrackers and sparklers with caution. As they sputtered out, he saw a green box slightly streaked from the small fireworks display and, using his foot, he moved the box into the open. Stepping back, he used his compound bow to tip the box on its side.
The cover came loose and he swept it away from the box with his bow to reveal a CD case inside.
Once again using his bow, he moved the CD case out of the box, flipping it over. On its other side, there was a sticky note affixed to the cover with 'Green Arrow' spelled out on it. Looking up and around, the Green Arrow saw nothing that showed he was under any type of obvious surveillance and he bent down, picking the case up and putting it into one of his pockets.
Looking around again, he cautiously chose a different route than the one he'd intended before the fireworks went off. If he was being watched, he didn't want to lead anyone back to his base.
*^*^*
Watching Green Arrow deal with what she had left for him was almost comical. Watchtower was glad of his caution with the package as well as taking another route home instead of the one she knew he would have if her fireworks display hadn't have distracted him.
She knew that no one came to the rooftop on a regular basis but had not wanted to chance on leaving something behind that would draw the curious. The box and its contents as well as the firecrackers and sparklers had all been handled with gloves. The remote control device had been designed in such a way that it would turn to ash, mixing with that of the pyrotechnics.
No evidence left behind that could be traced anywhere, no garbage to take care of so she wouldn't be seen cleaning up.
Time to head home.
*^*^*
It took him an extra hour to get back home but Green Arrow figured it was worth it, making sure no one was tracking him. He'd even stopped a few buildings away from where he'd picked the CD up from and tossed the case, putting the CD in a reinforced pocket, to make sure he wasn't carrying some type of GPS on him.
Once back home, he quickly stripped from his costume, putting on some comfortable sweats and then went to his computer station, immediately loading the CD into a stand alone system. Taking the time, he scanned the CD with a couple of programs he used to kill viruses and other negative software before deciding it was clean.
Pulling up the directory of the disk, he found several folders, but the first one listed was a document that demanded he READ ME FIRST.
Snorting, he opened it.
Green Arrow,
I'm Watchtower. Many of the nation's newspapers have been carrying some of the articles from my underground internet paper and, over the years, I've been sending a lot of my information to the authorities and government agencies. However, the information hasn't been being used as well as it could.
I've been giving a variety of said information to the Batman of Gotham City for the last year and I'd like to start sharing that information and my resources with you as well.
Below is an email address with username and password that has been set up for you. Any information I come across that may be helpful to you, I'll pass along. While the firecrackers would get your attention, I feel this way would be much more convenient, for the both of us.
By the way, vary your patrol routes, you're becoming predictable.
Watchtower
Oliver Queen blinked a couple of times and then gave a smirk of amusement while shaking his head; whoever Watchtower was, they were certainly interesting. Queen had read every article that any newspaper had printed of the mysterious reporter's findings. He'd also attempted to hack Watchtower's website, "Truth's Guardian," in order to find out their identity, to no avail. Whoever the person was, they would be an incredible resource to tap into and he'd wanted to see if he could get them to help his own goal of serving justice.
Queen started opening folders, finding the data very well organized and extensive. It took him days to go through the information that 'Watchtower' had sent him, giving him evidence of various activities that he could use to shut down several things, such as a car hijacking and drug ring, he'd been keeping track of. He also found information that was being compiled on things, people and businesses, some of them Queen was actively watching, while others had fallen below his notice. It was like a database of possible and probable wrong doings that was waiting to be utilized or for more information, giving leads on things that weren't necessarily bad yet, but could be at any time, all at his fingertips.
More and more impressed by the information and resources of Watchtower, he wished for the thousandth time that he knew who the person was and how they had access to everything they did. Queen was also suspicious of it, of course; while there was a Watchtower out there, this might be some type of ploy to get to Green Arrow – a way of gaining his trust and luring him into some type of trap.
Oliver would have to walk carefully.
*^*^*
2004 – 2007 Chloe's years
After the explosion at the FBI safe house, her father dead, all alone, Chloe Sullivan realized that she couldn't be the reporter she wanted to be – that is, to be that and actually live, live without looking over her shoulder and sleeping with the lights on. However, she wasn't hardwired to just let things happen; she was Chloe Sullivan, the teenager who'd taken on the Luthors, who knew secrets left and right, who's curiosity had gotten her into more scrapes than the proverbial cat that got killed following its nose.
Growing up and experiencing Smallville with all of its meteor infected people, happenings and things; knowing about Clark Kent's alien abilities and being privy to the munitions of the Luthors hadn't fully taught her that she wasn't prepared for doing what needed to be done in this world, squeezing by with her luck, her wits and her own personal hero, until her mind had been irrevocably changed when Lionel had somehow made the FBI safe house she and her father were living in, unsafe.
At seventeen, she was an orphan, had a powerful family gunning for her and was pretty much scared out of her mind.
However, all of that aside, truth and justice had to come first and in order to continue doing what she did best, Chloe had to create another identity. Much like Clark would have to, someday, if he was to follow his destiny, she thought. She had to create a persona that could get the intel on the bad guys and somehow get it to the good guys without endangering herself, her freedom and her life, in the process.
While freelancing for a variety of magazines and doing small newspaper featurettes, writing children's books on the side, Chloe spent the next two years in training; taking every self defense course she could afford before going onto martial arts classes taught at a local recreational center. She even found a small group of people working out with actual weaponry, bartering with and begging them for training on how to use throwing knives and the like in exchange for tutoring them in journalism and doing research for them.
Chloe had then found a small apartment in Star City that was close to three different types of gyms and a university. Hacking into the university network gave her a pretty anonymous internet connection, a lot of resources that she hadn't been able to access in Smallville and a base of operations to create a variety of research oriented and information gathering programs.
With all the computer hacking that she had ever done for herself, Clark and others, she had never taken anything but information. After the explosion, she had nothing; as it was, she'd barely escaped with her life. She couldn't stay 'Chloe Sullivan' any more and that meant she needed money. She had to create a new identity from scratch.
Taking a huge risk, she hacked into a variety of LuthorCorp business bank accounts and siphoned off enough to hold her over for a couple of years, if used frugally. She covered her tracks and made a bunch of false trails, the only one leading anywhere actually ended at the, now dead, she hoped, FBI agent that had had ties to Lionel Luthor. She also set up a program that intercepted bank transfers from all of Lionel's and Lex's companies that was redirected to a few off shore accounts that then redirected to over two thousand other transfers before actually ending up in the same off shore accounts that they were redirected to in the first place.
A penny here, a penny there, really added up after a couple of years!
.
A year into her training, Chloe found herself more frustrated than she had possibly ever been in her entire life. While freelancing and writing children's books paid her living expenses, it left her feeling depressed and incredibly hindered in her ability to search for the truth and get it out there; to get justice to those who needed it.
It was then that she realized she didn't just need a new identity, but that she also needed an alternate identity. The first one needed to be who she was on a daily basis, when she was out and about. When she was home, she could revert to form as Chloe, but outside she had to be someone who could totally slip under the radar.
Getting her 'everyday' persona together was relatively easy and a few days later, Calypso Scott's life was laid out, paper trail and all. Her other identity, other persona, needed to be as far away from her personality and person as possible, but still comfortable or she knew she'd never be able to pull it off.
Going back to memories of her childhood, she thought about her dreams of what she had wanted to be when she was older, of Saturday morning cartoons and Halloween costumes and after researching and going through a variety of costume stores, she ended up purchasing most of what she needed over the internet.
The wig came from a specialty store on the East side; long, sexy dark-brown blackish ringlets, that would obscure the frame of her face very nicely. The weapons came from her trainers, who had become dear friends she remained in touch with after moving. Black leather gloves that came up to the middle of her lower arms; black leather and vinyl thigh-high boots with two inch spiked heels on the outside and an additional two inch platform footed area inside that would help mask her height significantly; black leather and vinyl turtle neck body suit that left her shoulders and arms bare and a black leather coat that would hang a few inches passed the tops of her thigh-high boots.
While Chloe had put the outfit on, she hadn't done anything with it except the gloves and boots, figuring that she would need to learn to work with the gloves on and needed to learn to balance with the additional four inches of height.
After an absolutely terrible first night out in costume, Chloe realized she was completely unprepared for working in the outfit she'd chosen. She would need a lot of practice in order to be really comfortable in the entire thing, not just the gloves and boots, and she also needed to be more familiar with how to access her weapons without any fumbling or hesitation.
It took her awhile to find a secure location to practice at and to get the logistics of her costume worked out but, three months later found Chloe going out for her 'second' debut. The night went as perfect as the first debut was terrible.
Watchtower was born.
*^*^*
While her time spent as Watchtower was definitely paying off, the information she was passing on to the authorities and government officials really wasn't bearing much fruit. Either they weren't able to act on the information quickly enough, they weren't following through on it or corrupt individuals were suppressing it. To make it even more difficult, they were set on knowing her identity as well as using her for their own purposes.
Pulling together all of her resources, she began publishing an underground internet paper that dealt with uncovering all the wrong doings Watchtower had been gathering information on. Within a year, most of the major papers were carrying some of her stories and those people being focused on were doing their best to find the source of them as well as trying to hack her site.
While Watchtower kept a watch on the bad things of the world, Caly Scott kept her eyes and ears on the pulse of it. Under cover of her freelance magazine and newspaper featurette reporting, she made a habit of keeping track of various billionaires, the politically minded, certain charities and maintaining a network of connections. That said, however, she didn't really particularly care for the 'wealthy' functions that she had to attend in order to keep up with everything.
Knowing there was a good chance of getting photographed or having either of the Luthor's arrive – Lionel had been released from prison due to the star witness against him, Chloe Sullivan, being dead – she created another persona for herself when she went to the various gatherings. When she was at these functions, she used a brown wig and contacts and dressed in conservative suites and dresses. When she was being herself, she had let her blonde hair, grown well past the middle of her back now, always pulled into a pony tail or braid, and wore large glasses; her wardrobe completely her own.
Sometimes Chloe felt like someone with a multiple personality disorder. It was so bad that she had taken to separating her large walk-in closet into three separate sections to accommodate each of them. She guessed that it was a good thing that she didn't have a roommate or had any intimate relationships because there would just be too many questions and they'd never be able to understand everything.
As it was, Watchtower was relatively easy to portray because she rarely interacted with anyone. The brown haired 'Caly Scott' was quiet, smart, listened to everything, but was otherwise someone who didn't really hold anyone's attention. And then there was herself.
When she actually got to be herself, Chloe was essentially the same as she'd been back in Smallville, only improved.
*^*^*
2008 – 2009
Over the next year…
Green Arrow had been introduced to Batman and, at the unknown researcher's insistence, they had established a tentative relationship. Watchtower communicated with both sides about the need to form some type of alliance or league, to pool their resources, giving them a better base to bring truth and justice to the world. While the Dark Knight grudgingly appreciated Watchtower's efforts, he was very territorial and possessive of Gotham City; he definitely appeared to be a solitary person, a 'does not play well with others' type.
However, Watchtower didn't appear to let that phase them as they continued to discuss the formation of some sort of group to fight for the truth and to see that justice was served.
It was also through Watchtower that Green Arrow became familiar with three other heroic individuals. And it was through them that he came into contact with a truly extraordinarily powerful person named Clark Kent.
*^*^*
Chloe had known that, at some point in time, she would end up dealing with her past. While she had introduced Green Arrow to Arthur Curry, Bart Allen and Victor Stone, it was AC, Bart and Vic who introduced Green Arrow to Clark Kent.
She was happy because she knew that Clark's destiny was to be an incredible force for good, and having the other four around would help him grow into that responsibility. She was also pleased because that meant that the other four would have a significant backup when they needed it. However, she was just as anxious about Clark finding out who Watchtower really was and the fallout and consequences of it.
Chloe had kept tabs on everyone important to her, of course, but she'd let them think she was dead, for years. She'd known about the death of Jonathan, Clark's father; his mother, Martha Kent, becoming a Senator; Lana Lang's marriage to, and divorce of, Lex Luthor; and her cousin's fight for truth, in Chloe's name. But she knew, when push came to shove, that what she was doing was what she was made for. And in order for her to do that, Chloe Sullivan had had to disappear, to cut herself off from her former life. She believed, without a real doubt, that the sacrifices she had made and continued to make, were worth it.
Chloe just hoped that when she came to light, came 'back from the dead' to her former best friend and to his family and their friends, that they would all understand and forgive her for the deception.
*^*^*
It was also during this year that Oliver Queen had moved to Metropolis for an indefinite period of time, intent on opening a branch of Queen Industries in the thriving city. Dividing his time between Metropolis and Star City was exhausting and, unknown to Queen or Green Arrow, Watchtower took it upon herself to pick up the slack created by the archer's absence. She made Star City her number one priority when processing information and gave the authorities significant tips on illegal or questionable activities when Oliver was out of town.
While she didn't consider herself in the same league as the heroes she Watched for, Chloe made a real effort to do her own patrolling and kicking some butt, carefully, of course, when Queen was away or otherwise engaged. However, she honestly had to wonder how Oliver thought he was supposed to keep his identity secret if the Green Arrow 'followed' him where ever he went, leaving Star City unguarded.
.
The evening had been eventful and Watchtower was thankful to be home. Taking off her black costume, she made her way to the bathroom, intent on cleansing the dirt, grime and blood from her body, after the last altercation.
It had started much like any other; she'd patrolled, stopped a couple of muggings, one convenience store robbery, ferreted out some information from several sources and then Watchtower had come across a pair of police officers walking their beat. They'd stopped to check out a disturbance in an alley near a club that was known to have connections with drugs and gang activity.
However, the officers had gotten more than they bargained for and were attempting to call for backup while fighting off a handful of gang members that had been causing trouble in the club. While they were wearing Kevlar vests under their uniform shirts, those didn't offer much protection against edged weapons or being beaten and there wasn't a lot of space in the alley for using anything but deadly force when it came to using guns.
Watchtower dropped down behind some of the assailants and began using her nunchaku's on the ones nearest her. Caught by surprise, the two dropped quickly but were replaced by two others; one was brandishing his own set of nunchaku's and the other, a long dagger.
"Well, lookie what we got here. You're a gorgeous, momma, aren't you." The one with the dagger looked the woman in black over, licking his lips.
Watchtower didn't even blink, watching them close on her.
His partner looked to his fallen gang brothers and then back to her, a feral gleam in his eyes. "And she likes to play."
If she hadn't been watching for it, Watchtower would have been in trouble. But she knew what she was doing and when the one with the dagger tensed, she moved out of the way of the thrown knife and then met the attack of the one with the nunchaku's. Watchtower saw the one that had had the dagger pull another one from somewhere on his person as she was fighting with his partner. Taking advantage of the stance the one she was engaged with, she threw her spiked boot into his groin and then whirled around to meet the one with the dagger.
Trading a few blows, she then began to hear sirens and chanced a glance to the police officers. She noticed one was down, his partner trying to protect them both from three others. Watchtower turned and roundhouse kicked her last assailant and then rushed to the ones the officer was battling with.
One of the three turned to her before she'd gotten within comfortable hand-to-hand range, his arms just a touch longer than hers, and a knife slashed through her black leather jacket, sliding along her forearm. Wincing slightly, she used her nunchaku's to sweep his arm, grabbing it at the wrist and throwing him off balance into the dumpster just a few feet away. Once he was parted from his gang brothers, she pulled a throwing knife from her boot; it caught him high in the shoulder, essentially nailing him to the wall as one police car skidded to a stop in front of the alley, more sirens still approaching.
Watchtower didn't even look back to the officers, knowing that they were safe now and opting to get away from the location as quickly as possible.
Using moves that the Green Arrow would probably smirk at, she was soon a few rooftops away, and crouched down, pulling her jacket off. The wound wasn't bad but she wanted to get it taken care of sooner rather than later. Taking a breath, she placed her bare hand over the sluggishly bleeding slice in her arm and concentrated. Golden light began to seep around her fingers and she caressed the wound, almost as if she were spreading some type of salve along it. Soon, the wound was completely gone, not even a scar to show that it had ever been there.
Dropping her hand, she stayed crouched for a few minutes, pulling a power bar from one of her pockets, ripping into it, she took a few bites. Healing, depending on the severity of the injury or illness, could leave her feeling dizzy, nauseous and very thirsty. Getting up, she made her way back to her apartment.
*^*^*
Chloe had found herself outside of the safe house, or what was left of it, singed all over, clothes in relative tatters, soot covered. Overwhelmed, all she knew was that she had to get away from the area and she struggled to her feet, stumbling and clamoring through the debris. Life was a complete blank to her for the next couple of days and she would never be able to recall what, exactly, had happened or how she had gotten out of the safe house once the bomb went off. But considering her appearance and state of dress, she assumed that she hadn't gotten out of the safe house unscathed.
A few days later, she broke into a hunter's cabin and collapsed to the floor from exhaustion. After sleeping the clock around, Chloe came back to herself, the layers of shock that had been protecting her from the outside world seemed to have dissolved over the time she was unconscious and she hugged herself tightly, rocking back and forth, her body wracked with sobs. A tear fell from her chin and landed on her still singed forearm and then she was enveloped in a bright golden light.
When she awoke again, her entire body was completely free from all of the physical wounds that had come from the safe house explosion, the days of hard travel through the wilderness and Chloe found that she was starved and thirsty, more than she could ever recall having been in her entire life.
Several months went by, the golden light appearing every once in a while, when she would touch some type of wound on her body, whether it was a bruise, a paper cut, or some type of injury incurred during her training sessions and Chloe came to the conclusion that, after all her years in Smallville, she had her own 'meteor infection.' She also began to think that she hadn't escaped the safe house as she thought. That she had actually died in it and after she came back to life, she must have dragged herself out of the house and passed out; coming to after being injured from what little flames had still been burning before she ran.
It took her months of trial and error to learn to control her gift of healing and to understand that it used her essence, exchanging her life force with the life force of another if she healed someone besides herself, or her own energy reserves when treating herself. Chloe was paranoid about anyone finding out and had taken to wearing gloves, finding that she actually needed skin on skin contact in order for her gift to work. Chloe also realized that, no matter how scared she was of being found out, she had a very valuable gift and she strove to use it to benefit others as much as possible.
However, the first time she found herself waking up on a cold, smooth surface in the morgue, made her realize too, that she needed to be careful with what she healed, how she did it, who she did it to and where.
*^*^*
The morning edition featured a small article on the incident at the club, letting the public know that two officers had been set upon by a number of gang members after an altercation inside the building. One of them was listed in serious but stable condition in Star City General and that, if it hadn't been for a mysterious woman in black, they both may have died before other officers arrived on the scene.
Chloe smiled slightly, glad to know that neither of them had died, and then continued to read through the rest of the paper.
*^*^*
Oliver Queen always read the Star City Gazette online when he was away from home. Since he'd moved to Metropolis, he had been reading every article of the 'woman in black' who seemed to know whenever Green Arrow was away because she only appeared when he was out of town. Green Arrow had looked for the mysterious guardian whenever he was in Star City but had never found her; even going so far as not to patrol for a couple of nights in a row, hoping to draw out the elusive lady in black. But it was as if she actually knew who the Green Arrow was.
This concerned Oliver deeply. However, there wasn't much he could do about it if he couldn't find her. And, if she were acting as the city's guardian while Green Arrow was away, could or should he trust her in regards to his identity?
If she did know his identity and was deliberately hiding when he was in town but faithfully patrolling Star City when he was away… Oliver sighed.
*^*^*
2009
About six months later
"Arrow to Watchtower, I'm in position."
"Cyborg to Tower, I'm in position."
"In position, Watchtower."
"Aquaman to Tower, I'm at the perimeter."
"Watchtower to team, comm is clean and clear. Arrow and Cyborg, you are good to go."
"Copy Watchtower."
"Copy Tower."
"Aquaman you have two heat signatures ahead and to the left; Impulse you are clear."
It wasn't their first mission using their merged communications systems with Watchtower; there had been several between that first time and this one actually, and they had done missions before ever knowing anything other than the information that was passed to them by her. However, they had found that having Watchtower at the comm with them in real time made them better at what they were trying to accomplish, they were more in sync as a team. She gave them direction; kept them on track and going at a steady clip, especially when they got too focused on bantering at each other over the comm; warned them of potential dangers they wouldn't have seen until they were on top of them and so much more.
While they were all intrigued by the woman who never seemed to sleep or have a lack of information when they needed it, Oliver Queen found himself far too interested in her. Once again, Green Arrow was paying too much attention to Watchtower's voice coming over his communicator and not enough on the mission he and 'the boys,' as she called them, were in the midst of.
Oliver did whatever he could to work with Watchtower, whether it was asking her if she had anything for the League that day, if he could help her with anything that she was working on or having her work on encrypted files that he'd come across. He especially loved it, and hated, when she was able to work missions with them; her voice coming through his earwig would send shivers down his body that he had to consciously stifle.
God Queen, get your act together. You can't be falling for her; you haven't even met her. You don't have a clue who she is or what she looks like. Hell, you don't even know what her real voice sounds like!
Green Arrow jerked his attention back to the mission, sighing with frustration at his lack of control.
*^*^*
A couple of weeks later
Watchtower had been giving the Justice League, that's what all of them finally decided to call themselves, mountains of information on the activities of Lex and Lionel Luthor lately. Frankly, they were all staggered by the amount of data that their faceless hacker/librarian/researcher was coming up with and it looked like Watchtower had been pulling it all together for years.
The most recent information she'd been passing on to the League was very disturbing. Evidently Lex was gathering people who were 'meteor infected,' from either the first or second, or even both, showers that had hit Kansas, or just natural special abilities, such as Aquaman, Impulse and Clark, and running experiments on them. Watchtower had included a database that included individuals that had disappeared over the years or who may be targets in the future.
Where and how Watchtower had gotten all of the information was anyone's guess, just like everything else she found and passed on.
Reading over some material that dated back well over five years ago, the team was startled when Clark suddenly pounded his fist through the coffee table that he and Oliver were sharing, before standing up and heading over to the floor to ceiling windows that looked out of Queen's Metropolis clock tower apartment.
Oliver looked at the other four before getting up and walking over to him.
"What's up, Clark?"
The tall, black haired reporter shook his head slightly before sighing quietly. "In 2004, my best friend was… killed. She was going to testify against Lionel Luthor confessing to her that he'd killed his parents. The FBI was putting her and her dad in the Witness Protection Program and had taken her to a safe house."
Clark's voice petered out for a moment while the others listened.
Turning around, he faced into the room and continued, "I don't know how Lionel did it but it had to have been him. There was a bomb… There wasn't much left of the place when the authorities and rescuers were able to actually get into the place. They found what appeared to be some human remains…."
Clark made his way back over to the sofa and started picking up everything that had been laying on the coffee table when he'd put his fist through it.
"If Watchtower knew about all this back then, why didn't she come forward?"
Oliver could understand where Clark was coming from but from the little he knew about Watchtower, he'd just found out she was a she about three months ago, – the woman could definitely keep her mouth shut, that was for sure – he knew that Watchtower didn't act without plenty of evidence.
"Hey Clark, I get where you're coming from but, maybe Watchtower didn't have the evidence back then. Maybe she found it too late to help your friend and has been hanging onto it to put another nail in Luthor's coffin."
The younger man paused momentarily before nodding his head slowly, continuing to pick up what was left of the broken table.
Oliver wanted to get Clark's mind off the loss of his friend, who, even after almost six years, seemed to still have a hold on him, and called for a break. Deciding it was best for a change of scenery, he told everyone to meet him at the steakhouse on Twentieth, just a few blocks away. Bart, of course, was the first one out of the penthouse and Oliver winced. The others laughing at him, telling him to bring his best charge card because they all knew that, smaller size aside, the kid's extraordinarily fast metabolism would have him out eating all of them put together.
*^*^*
Over the next week, Oliver continued to think about all the information that Watchtower was now giving them on the Luthors as well as Clark's revelation about his friend. While he believed what he had told Clark, and Watchtower had been nothing but incredibly helpful to all of them, he had to wonder why she was giving all of it to them now. Lex and Lionel had both had spots on that database that had been given to him over a year ago but nothing of the magnitude they were going through now.
He decided that, after a year and a half, he had a right to know who he was dealing with.
*^*^*