Reviews have been fabby, as always. Seriously, you guys deserve a medal for all the wonderful things that you've said.
I see you've all twigged on about Lex seeing Chloe's little mix-up with Arrow (Sorry, no get out of jail pass for Chloe this time - Lex saw the whole thing go down, he's over-ridden the cameras). Get ready for the aftermath.
Previously; Chloe and Oliver had the morning after the amazing night, with coffee, coffee flavoured dessert and an action movie. All was well until Chloe overheard Oliver talking with Tess and heard some unsettling things. Her presumption that he was going to break up with her was proved wrong as he asked for a fourth date- yey!
Chloe invited Green Arrow to review Nexus plans and have a game of poker while Victor went for a scout around Nexus. Then, just as things were getting good, Arrow received an emergency text; Victor is trapped inside.
Chapter Thirty-one; Beating
'I used to dismantle your two dimensional assaults with alarming regularity, remember? Maybe you should teach your friend something a little less complicated. What about a game of hangman? That's always fun' – Lionel Luthor (Season Five, Episode Mercy)
"So I see you finally found out about Chloe's betrayal." Lionel appeared once more in Lex's office, unannounced and unexpected.
"Dad, I hope this isn't becoming a habit of yours, barging into my office." Lex flashed his eyes up to his father's appearance. Grey suit, to try and hide the yellowing skin. His father had never looked more demonic. Yet even if he sprouted wings and a halo, Lex wouldn't be pleased to see him.
"Would it kill you to be my son for once?"
"You killed that part of me a long time ago, Dad." Lex stood, his expression careless to cover the anger. How did his father know Chloe was working with Arrow? How did he enrage him so much? And why the hell was she doing this?
"I did tell you Lex. She would turn against you one day." Lionel bragged, crossing to lift a bottled water from Lex's cabinet. "She's a wild horse, without a firm hand, she'll fight until she throws you off." Lex didn't meet his father's eyes, just dropped them back to the video feed he watched several times before that night. What was she thinking? How could she do this to him?!
He took her out from his father's cruel hand. He spared her the pain he'd felt as a child. He'd given her something worth living for. He'd only ever been fair and just with her and the deal. Never once exploiting it like his father had. And this was how she re-paid him?! Was this punishment for Lana?
His fists tightened.
His deal with Chloe was fuck buddies at best, she had no right to sell him out to Arrow. "Oh son. You can't even see that she's switched sides. You're probably still trying to reason this out." Lionel voiced with humour. "You're soft on her." he stated. "You always have been. Ever since she ran crying to you because she couldn't take a punishment."
"You beat her dad."
"And you don't." he smugly lifted the water to his lips, no shame. "Notice the difference Lex. She didn't betray me." Lex turned to his father with eyes black as the night that covered the castle. He didn't speak. "Oh stop it." he chastised. "She's not working an angle, she's not helping you. She's turned. She's grown past the limitations you set and she'd found someone who wants her free as much as she does."
"Just say what you came to say Dad. Then leave."
"So you can nurse your wounded pride?" Lionel scoffed. "You never could handle your emotions Lex. Just like your mother." Lex felt the rage bubble, his hands clenching to fists. "She's involved with Green Arrow son. You're too blinded by your feeling towards her to see clearly."
"I have no feelings for her." he hissed, violent to the end.
"You never could lie either." Lionel judged him and lifted himself from the chair. "I guess we'll pick this back up tomorrow Son."
"I'll ensure the guards are instructed to not let you pass this time." Lex snarled. Lionel rose an eyebrow, nothing more to show any change of emotion.
"One day. You'll wake up and realise you need me Son. And then it will be too late."
"Forgive me if I shed no tears."
Lionel would have shrugged if he wasn't above it. Instead, he just took his leave as Lex sat back at the computer chair, playing the video camera feed yet again.
The whole team stood outside as Oliver sped into the area, the bike roaring under the heavy touch of its owner. The sky had darkened, the clouds above as black as the night, filled with rain. It would be a downpour tomorrow, a heavy storm tonight. He stopped by the group waiting for him. Why were they waiting?! Why hadn't Clark rushed in and pulled him out of there?!
"What's the wait?" he demanded, cutting the engine.
"Green K." Dinah voiced.
"I can't reach the doors." Clark responded, looking guilty and panicked. Oliver sighed, regretting the harsh tone instantly.
"Alright." he began. "Can we get the doors open for us?"
"All shut on override, with Vic inside, we can't touch them." Ac offered.
He could call Chloe, he could get her to reset the system and open the doors. He… no… he had to do this alone. There was a reason they wore costumes, a reason they hit the camera's first. Lex had hidden camera's everywhere, if he even got a glimpse of what she was doing, he'd have her killed on the spot.
"Any idea of where he is?"
"Unconscious on the floor, first room to the right. The jack is still in his arm and computer." Clark informed, his x-ray working from the distance.
"Alright. First priority, get Vic. Second, deal with the meteor rocks." Oliver instructed, nods going around. He thought to Chloe's plan, but only one option was coming to mind, one he didn't like. But… there was no other. "We'll go in from the roof, there's a ventilation system Lex hasn't touched." he informed them, all listening carefully. "We don't know what's below, the plans aren't descriptive."
"You got the plans?"
"Yeah." Oliver answered Bart's question. "But, considering the situation, they're only good for the layout of the place and nothing else." No, their approach was gone the second those doors came down. "Canary, Impulse, you come with me from the roof. Aquaman and Boyscout, you stay outside by the doors. As soon as we open them, get Cyborg out." The code names came and they knew it was turning to game time. Oliver pulled from the team, Dinah and Bart hot on his heels, following him to the roof and over the ventilation fans.
It was quiet, silent almost. He turned to the other two before he began.
"There's a chance as soon as we hit the bottom the doors will shut and some type of gas will come in." he informed them. "The plans show the ventilation is kept in place, I can't imagine it's just because Lex has overlooked something."
"So what?" Dinah asked.
"Take a deep breath." Oliver just spoke, getting Bart to turn on the other two fans atop the roof and then breaking the third so they had clear passage.
"We're good." Bart spoke up and Oliver slipped into the ventilation system, punching out the gridding inside the tunnel and dropping from the vents onto the top platform of the room. He slung a rope around the railing and dropped once more to the bottom floor. He touched without a problem, the ground not having any sensors.
"It's clear." he called and Dinah and Bart soon joined him on the floor.
"What is this?" Dinah asked, her voice echoing.
"Kill room?" Bart offered.
"We know nothing more than it has gas canisters by the doors. That's all." Oliver corrected. "Let's find Cyborg. First priority is getting him out."
But as Dinah was the first to cross the threshold of the door, they heard a ticking inside the room. Oliver, who was furthest from the door, ordered their next movement. "Go. Find him!" And tossed the RL-65 he carried to Bart, ordering him out. Bart ran with the drug, pushing Dinah from the doorway as the doors shut quickly and loudly, sealing Oliver inside.
Dinah pounded her fist on the door the next second.
"Arrow!" she called, only just remembering not to call him Oliver instead. "Damn it!"
"I'm fine. Get Cyborg! He'll undo the lock." Oliver called back, but as he spoke he saw the gas canisters release the caps. Colourless, odourless, he had no idea what it was, just that he shouldn't be breathing it. Oliver unzipped the leather, ripping the black shirt underneath and using the cloth to cover his mouth and nose. Vic would come back, he'd unlock the door, everything would work out fine.
Dinah ran alongside Bart, scoping each room as they entered, the green glow of meteor rocks coming from each lighting. Clark would be dead if he ever stepped in here. How did Lex even know about his weakness?
Dinah cursed, running faster to follow the corridor along.
"Down!" She heard suddenly and threw herself on the floor, narrowly being missed by blades that swung across the narrowest point of the corridor across the walls at waist height. If she was stood up, she would have been cut in two. Her eyes went to Bart. He was on the ground as well, looking guilty. "Trip wire." he explained with embarrassment.
"Can run a mile in a second, but you can't watch where you're walking?!" she hissed.
"At least we know what to look out for." Bart spoke, a valid point, but it didn't make her any less pissed that he'd almost killed her.
"Yeah, someone's been watching far too many Indiana Jones movies." she grumbled and pressed on. Their pace slower as they looked for other traps. Finally, they reached the computer room and Dinah's eyes locked on Victor's fallen body.
"He's here-"
But Bart suddenly pulled her back by the arm, tugging her from the doorway. "What the hell?"
"Think. Lex knew he'd go for that room. He knew he'd fall unconscious, and he knew we'd rush in to save him. What would you do?"
"There's a trap." Dinah summed, significantly less pissed with Bart. "Where?"
"There." And Bart pointed to the shiny liquid on the floor none had seen, following it to a metal box with a laser pointed across the door.
"That's flammable." she guessed rightly. The laser would alert the controls and it would drop a flame to the spilt oil/petrol, whatever it was and they'd not only be caged in with an unconscious man, but surrounded by fire. "Nice to see Lex is stepping up." she sarcastically muttered.
"I can speed in and get him out." Bart offered.
"We need access to those computers to lift the door."
"So, what?"
"Reflect the lasers?" she proposed, unsure.
"We don't have a better plan. But neither do we have a mirror."
Dinah sighed and pulled out the knife from her ankle holster. It was shiny enough to reflect.
"You better speed in for Cyborg anyway." she voiced. "Just in case."
"Alright. On three you try to reflect." Dinah knelt by the laser, counting to three and sliding the dagger into the path, but the signal faltered and a flame fell from the box to the oil. Bart pushed himself at full speed, racing to Victor and unhooking him from the computer, before trying to lift him. The flames had taken the door and were building.
"Impulse!" Dinah shouted over the crackling flames. "Faster."
Bart shrugged Victor onto him, struggling with the weight. But, finally, Dinah felt the whoosh of air and the flames parted for a slim second. She turned around and there was Bart, heavily breathing as she lowered Victor to the ground.
"Give him the RL." Dinah insisted. Bart just passed the drug to her, needing to cough out the smoke instead and restore his heart rate.
Dinah accepted without pause, taking Vic's arm and turning for the inner crease of his elbow. She didn't hesitate, she just took a single breath, ignoring the smoke that came with it and pushed the needle into his arm, pushing the plunger on the drug. She didn't know what was wrong, but RL fixed whatever it was, and it fixed it fast, pushing life back into Victor. He sat up, rushing breath back into his lungs, his eyes on the fire that crackled behind them.
"The girl!" he exclaimed.
Dinah looked to Bart.
"There wasn't one." he answered between coughs. "Another trick." he grumbled and crashed back to the floor.
"You need to get the doors open!" Dinah hissed at Victor.
"I can't." he replied. "I can't from the inside."
"You can do it from the outside?" she asked.
"Yeah, the controls are outside."
Dinah shoved her radio into Victor's hand.
"Talk them through it while we move. Arrow's trapped."
Oliver crouched to the floor, the cloth over his mouth, but he could feel a pull of whatever was invading his system. It was making him drowsy, or maybe the poison in it was slowly destroying him from the inside. Either way, he was running out of energy. Keeping low, hoping to avoid as much of the fumes as possible, he scurried to the doors on the left, trying once again at the control panel, hoping to pull the cover from the wall and manually override. But as he approached, he heard a whirring above. A whirring that wasn't the fans. He turned to see a single turret coming from the wall on a pivot. Dear God, Lex wasn't interested in keeping them alive anymore. He wanted them knocked out, and he'd fire bullets into them until they died where they slept. Oliver gave in with his efforts to stay low and avoid the gas, he needed to avoid the bullets, the only safe place was directly below the gun, the banister they had come in from. The rope still remained. Oliver scrambled to the rope, gripping and trying to heave the tired body up.
He barely managed a centimetre before the machine started, throwing bullets out across the entire area.
"What the hell?" Dinah asked, stopping the progress along the corridor, her hand guiding Victor while he was trying to describe different wires to Clark and AC.
"Is that… Gunfire?" Bart questioned. And then he hit super speed, crossing the corridor to meet the solid doors they'd left Arrow on the other side of.
Dinah raced with Victor by her, she found Bart pounding on the door with all his might, calling out for Arrow with no reply, the sounds of gunfire rained in the room behind the doors and everyone thought the same thing. There was no way he was alive if he was still in that room.
"Get the doors open NOW!" she demanded from Victor and he told Ac to cut the red wire. It would raise every alarm there was, but it should stop the power to the building and thus release the doors.
Seconds later the gunfire stopped, replaced by the shrill of alarms. The doors lost their electric lock and Victor dropped the device to pull the doors open. A wave of dread filled them as they felt a rush of air slam into them, bullet casing were scattered across the floor. Dinah's heart was pounding beneath her.
"Arrow!" she shouted, crossing into the room and scanning the corners.
Her heart fell as she saw his green leather. There he was, lying unmoving under the rope he'd slung down earlier. Dinah raced to him, pleaded to a God she'd never before believed in to let him be okay. She knelt, her hands on him, but she lifted them off as quick, warm wetness was under her touch, a crimson tide pooling around him.
Pleadingly, she searched for a pulse. It took her time, time she spent praying, but it was there, slow and feint. "RL now!" she ordered. "Damn it. Now!" she hissed as she heard no footsteps.
"Ac has the other two vials." Victor offered. There was a cut in the air, and Dinah knew Bart was pushing himself for it. Dinah's hands were pushing on Oliver's chest when he returned, desperate to keep his heart beating so the drug could move through his system. Bart passed the drug down to her and she wasted no time stabbing the needle into any part of flesh she could find, she threw the wasted injection aside and resumed her manual compressions of his heart. He'd heal. He would. As long as the drug could reach where it was needed.
Dinah beat his heart for him, her tears sliding down her cheeks unforgivingly, her blurred vision on the gunshot to his chest, the one that was slowing the bleeding. The one that was healing. Her broken laugher came as the relief all needed to hear, but, why wasn't he waking up. RL-65 always woke you up. If you were lying unconscious, one hit and you'd be awake.
Her fingers went back to his pulse. Stronger… but… only slightly.
"It's not working." she panicked, her hands back to his heart. "Why isn't it working?!" she demanded, but no answers came, just the silent prayers from the others guarding her.
The alarms of Nexus labs ran loud and uncomfortable in her ears. A reminder of the ticking clock on Oliver's life, and their need to escape. "Com'on. Com'on Ollie." she pleaded, her tears streaming and dropping to his chest, mixing with the drying blood.
"Why isn't it working?" Bart asked frantically, searching Victor for answers. But Victor was stumbling against a wall, holding his head in his hands. "What's happening?" Bart asked, making his way to him.
"Don't." he warned, as he crumbled to the floor. "He's poisoned my hardware. I can't… I can't see." Victor grabbed his head.
"D, what we gunna do?"
"Give me the other injection." she instructed, taking control. Blood still seeped from his wounds, it still grew the puddle around him, it was still coating her hands. The wound on his thigh not stopping the bleeds.
"But-"
"Just give it to me!" She held out her hand, and the cold plastic came to her palm. She bit the cover off and stabbed it again, this time directly into his heart, her hands sealing the gap as she threw the second empty injection from her. She resumed compressions, and watched as the bleeding stopped.
"Take… the weapons." Victor murmured. Dinah turned to him. "Side effects. Twice as bad now." Victor struggled to speak, his head throbbing uncontrollably.
Dinah's hands had paused, but now she felt a heartbeat, it was coming back with a vengeance.
"Help." she hissed to Bart and the two of them stripped the bow from his back, the daggers from his body and Dinah tied his hands with zipties.
"That's hardly necessary." Bart noted. But Dinah presented logic.
"You really think he's going to let Lex live after this? We don't kill." she reiterated. "You really think he won't fight tooth and nail to get to Lex?" Bart nodded, passing her another ziptie from his pocket.
"Just make sure." And she double tied his wrists as she heard him grunt.
The grunt was possibly life saving for her too. He was alive. Thank God.
But with that life came the price. His feet kicked out and socked Dinah right in her stomach, winding her.
"Bastard." she grumbled as she pulled herself further from him.
"What the hell? We need to move!" Ac's voice came to them. He crossed the room to Oliver, but Dinah warned him off.
"Get Cyborg." she instructed Ac. Bart would be better to walk Oliver, since he could dodge the kicks with his speed. Dinah pulled herself up. "Where's boyscout?" she turned to Ac.
"Outside, he couldn't pass the rocks."
"Alright. Impulse, get Arrow out and pass him to boyscout. I need to you go back to the tower and change that tech lock up into a jail cell for our angry friend." Dinah hugged her side and led the boys out.
Clark was pacing nervously as they reached the exit, his eyes flickering between the exit and the street where Lex's goon were bound to arrive from. He looked drained, he'd clearly been trying to get past the rocks and pushing himself far too far. Clark took Oliver from Bart as he reached him, following Dinah's instructions. The two sped off with Oliver cursing and kicking the entire way. Twice the usual temper of RL-65 was bad… it was a good idea Victor suggested it. She turned back to Victor. Ac was trying to establish what was wrong, checking things for him. So far Cyborg couldn't see, and that was all, but both knew it was going to get worse. "Get him to the tower. Take the car." Dinah instructed, throwing him her keys, she'd parked out of sight. Ac nodded as she took the bike Oliver had left, his keys and bows in her possession along with the discarded needles. No need to leave Lex any DNA to pin them with.
Bart was sat on the sofa with Ac when Dinah stepped into the new Watchtower. She hadn't been here before, but she'd seen plans. The tech room was locked from the outside, with a small window and originally designed to store important information and computers. But now, it held Oliver.
"Where's Vic and Clark?" she asked as both males looked up to her. She wouldn't lie, she enjoyed having the lead, she liked having things her way without argument. But… she hated the circumstances.
"Vic's with Emil in the back. Clark went with some sirens. Ollie's in… well he's locked down." Dinah nodded to Ac's words. Bart was unusually quiet, sat with his head in his hands.
"He stopped kicking?"
"Doc knocked him out." Ac explained the lack of noise.
"Keep him in there for a few days. And… you best keep Vic in here too."
"D." Ac asked, looking at her, then correcting his mistake. "Dinah." Dinah softened the hard cold hate in her eyes.
"Yeah?" She sat on the arm of the chair.
"What happened in there?" Dinah ran through the story from the start, Bart staying silent as the grave.
Chloe woke in the middle of the night, hearing thunder crack the sky. She rolled over. Even if Oliver was right and it rained all day, nothing could put a damper on her mood. Tomorrow was going to be amazing. She had a fourth date, a date after sex. Something that had NEVER happened. She smiled sleepily and turned into the warm pillow again.
When Chloe next woke, it was morning. But the rain hadn't relented, it was hammering on the window, the morning sky taken over by the dark clouds above. It looked like midnight, not 9am like the clock confirmed it was. The forecast predicted it to be on and off all day, heavy in the morning and worse at night. Chloe didn't mind, she liked a good rainstorm, it cleared the air.
She'd expected Lex's call to wake her to be honest, the man would no doubt want to confirm Nexus plans, or run something else past her. He always made use for her. Was always there for her.
Chloe remembered the first time Lex had stood up to the mark. She'd upset Lionel. Her part of a plan had gone sour and ruined his play. Nothing that was her fault. But, Lionel didn't see it that way.
"Excuses excuses, Miss Sullivan." he tutted. "When I give you a job, I expect you to do anything necessary to complete it."
"It was hardly my fault."
"And your failing is not my fault, yet I am the one to pay the price." he countered.
"You're right. I apologise, I made a mistake." She had hoped playing into his hands would save her the punishment, she was wrong.
"Yes, you did. But you should have avoided the mistake, not apologised for it later. However sincere it is." Chloe knew she'd dug herself a larger hole. Not only was he blaming her, but he was punishing her for lying her apology as well. Chloe sat silent, the only thing that would stop her from adding to more of it. "You used to be a bright pupil Miss Sullivan. You passed with nothing less than an A in near everything." Gym had let her down. But if she went back now, after being whipped into shape by Lionel, she'd be running rings around her older self. "And yet the thought of locking a door evades you." he continued, pacing the room. "I don't know what to do with you in all honesty." He stroked his fingers down his beard. But they both knew the conclusion before it happened. He'd put her on the mats opposite him, he'd give her a fencing sword no protective gear. In one way or another, he's beat the lesson into her.
So that night, as she tried to find a comfortable position to sleep, when she heard someone arguing with Lionel, and sounding like they were winning, she couldn't help but climb from the bed and wander the hall.
"I've told you before, and I'll tell you again. You really must control your emotions Lex." Lionel spoke. Lex? His son?
"And you really must control your temper Dad, it's leading you to drink." Chloe peeked around the door, watching Lionel slam a glass of alcohol to the cabinet again.
"Damn it Lex, I'm sick of this behaviour."
"Yeah, well. What you going to do about it?" Lex mocked and turned to the door, only to find a small face in there… that suddenly retreated. "Terrifying the maids still?"
"Chloe." Lionel called and Chloe couldn't avoid him now, she straightened herself out and walked into the room, feeling nervous under Lex's eyes as she crossed the room in her pyjamas. "I thought we had a discussion about eavesdropping." Chloe hung her head, hoping for a verbal rebuttal this time.
"Oh Jesus Dad, do you really need to terrify her?" Lex spoke instead, taking her battle in his hands and stepping between the two. "You get a new pet to break in, or can you recognise this one as a human?" Lex chuckled. Chloe lifted her head to it, it was a funny sound, one that seemed full of life. Little did she know it would die away year by year.
"Son, meet my new assistant. The one we were talking about." Lionel spoke, his tone gleeful.
"This is your contracted aid?" Lex laughed again, but this time, it was at her. "She's nothing more than a teenager."
"She's top of her class. And now she's mine." Lex's eyes turned hot over her.
"You don't need her Dad. Let her walk."
"No. No my son, she stays as long as I do." She could almost feel the evil pour from Lionel's smile. "She's property of Luthorcorp now."
"Property of Luthorcorp. Well, as your son and shareholder, she's mine too." Lionel rose an eyebrow to his son. "I'm sure you won't miss her if I borrow her for the night." And Lex took Chloe, his arm around her shoulders and led her back to his room. Lionel chuckled to himself. Lex had taken a shine to his plaything, she'd never leave this mansion.
Lex's bedroom was on the other side of the great building, far from the dingy accommodation Lionel had given her. The great windows showed the view of the front of the garden. Statues and flowers of all colours smiling up to the windows.
"Sit down." he simply spoke, motioning to the bed. But then he walked into the bathroom shutting the door and she heard the shower run. Chloe remained seated, her eyes out of the window until he returned, his body shimmering with the water he didn't dry off, low sleeping pants on his hips down to his ankles. He was muscled, she noted. He caught her gaze and smiled before she blushed and turned away. "So what does my father have you for?"
"I can't tell anyone." she simply replied. Her stomach was spinning, she knew she had a good chance of becoming his bed-mate for the night, whether she wanted it or not.
"You see him kill someone?" Lex guessed and she turned to face him. "I know of my father's hobbies Chloe." And with a smirk he turned to her. "You're not a virgin are you?" Chloe flushed bright red, but shook her head. Lex squatted in front of her as she sat on the bed. "Good. So how about I give you better memories of tonight, than you would get if I sent you back down to my father." Chloe felt her stomach swirl. "I believe he still wants to teach you a lesson about listening in to his conversations." Chloe gulped.
"Only if you give me something in return." she spoke, managing to find her voice. Lex smirked.
"I planned to give you something very pleasurable." Chloe sat up straight.
"I want you to get me out of this deal." Lex didn't turn an emotion on her face. "I promise I won't say a word to anyone about anything. I just want to go home."
"I can't do that. It's not because I don't want to." Lex's eyes looked honest.
"Then another deal." She was quick to speak. "I want you to teach me." To this, his showed his emotions, surprise, mild fascination. What could he teach her? "You can stand up to your father. I want you to teach me how."
"And what do I get in exchange?" Lex asked, his voice a purr.
"I'll… I'll spend tonight with you." she blushed again.
"I'll teach you to fight my father, physically and verbally. And you'll come to by bed anytime I ask. And I'll make sure you leave with a smile on your face." His own smile grew as he said this. He watched her bite her lip, then nod.
Chloe sat at the barstool at the island, coffee in her hand. Lex had come into her life as a solar flare, burning as bright hope. He kept his promise, he taught her, and she always left with a smile. But the thing about Lex was that the solar flare burns itself out. Whatever happened, Lex picked up and left, following some mystical symbols across the world, and she fell back into her black hole. When he finally came back, his light was dim, blinking, burning low. He still cared, but… the care wasn't as freely given as it was before. He'd underhandedly taken her contract from Lionel in a property trade, where he'd hidden her legally. He thought he'd finally beaten his father for good. Until Lionel had walked in, telling him he was dying of liver cancer and Lex realised it was all set up. His father had won, not him. And Chloe. Chloe was the pawn between the two chess masters, she was forgotten about, used and played with as they desired. Lex kept her contract, sent her away, and then called her back when his flame had died.
Chloe stirred from her memory to a knock at the door. Lex? Maybe he wanted a chat in person. But Chloe opened the door to a whole other kind of hell.
"Miss Maine." Lionel Luthor. Chloe stepped back, the door left open. He was alone, no guards. Though they'd probably be around the building somewhere. "It seems we need to talk." And he let himself in.
"I have appointments." she lied. He tutted at her words, knowing the lack of truth and sat himself on the closest barstool.
"Miss Sullivan. Believe it or not, but I'm here to give you some advice."
"I don't want it." she hissed.
"Maybe not, but you'll listen anyway." Chloe remained standing, a far distance from Lionel. "My son, shares a lot of traits with me."
"He is your blood." Whether he liked it or not.
"That being so, there will come a time in the near future when you realise my warnings were right." Which of the many warnings would this be? "My son will inevitably become me." Oh, that one.
"Lex is nothing like you." She knew Lex, she had seen the light in him. It may have died, but nothing was gone forever, he could be redeemed.
"Is that so?" Lionel laughed like he had a secret. "You may think I ruined your life. But Lex will take that to a whole new meaning."
"I think you are confused with someone else. Lex has been nothing but good to me."
"And when he finds out your feelings for your target?" he challenged.
"I don't have feelings for anyone anymore, you freed me of that burden." she snarled bitterly.
"If that is true, you have nothing to worry about. But what happens when you cannot turn over the man you've been chasing." he enquired, standing again. "There was always something in you I couldn't take Chloe. Your morals and ethics." he complimented, or at least she thought he did. "But when you realise Arrow is a personal vendetta of Lex's, and not a threat… which you already have. What are you going to tell your owner when you return empty handed?"
"Leave Lionel." She moved past him to the door, holding it open. He stepped to it, pausing only in the doorway.
"Lex will become me. You'll see." And he walked away, whistling to himself down the corridor. Chloe bolted the door, slid on the chain and cursed herself for not using the peephole. She raced to the coffee, draining the cup and pouring herself another the stop the nervous shaking Lionel always induced in her.
By her third cup, when the rain had taken a temporary stop for the day, she finally managed a breath. Nothing was going to ruin her day. Today was a good day. Lionel was not going to get under her skin, she wouldn't let him. Not today. Today she was in power, she was in control. Today, she had a date with Queen. Today things would change for the better. A new start, a new hope, a new beginning. Time to put the girl who spent her life being used behind her for good. Today, things would change for the better.
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Reviewers get an imaginary box of tissues... you'll probably be able to guess why you'll need them.
Haha, so yeah... this chapter sets a few things up... ummm, get ready to knock them down next chapter. Prepare yourself however you need.
Many thanks for the support so far, it's been amazing. Honestly amazing!