Thanks for the reviews and interest! A special thanks to celticgothhardy and also just saying that the start of this chapter also follows pretty closely to what happened in the episode… Don't worry though, soon it will be branching out and away from the Justice episode.
Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville.
Lex listened to the voice on the other end of the phone, fury rising in him. He rounded another corner, still listening intently. Apparently the Allen kid had escaped with the help of his friend Green Arrow. He didn't know how Arrow had figured out where Bart was or how he'd managed to get the kid out of his cell, but at that moment he didn't particularly care either. He just wanted the kid back. He was the most valuable experiment Lex had ever conducted – there was no way he was just going to let him disappear.
"I don't care! Just get everyone – this is top priority…" Lex listened for a second before sighing. His team was so incompetent. "I'm going there now, meet me in two minutes."
He hung up, putting his phone back into his jacket pocket. Why was every bumbling buffoon who passed through his door hired as security? He would have to have a word with his recruitment staff about this.
It was as he was walking along in silence that he felt it, the tickling on the back of his neck, the heat building in his ears. Someone was watching him. Lex slowed and finally stopped. He turned slowly and saw his pursuer. He hadn't tried to hide, telling Lex that he'd wanted him to know that he was there. An arrow was already in his bow, although he hadn't drawn yet.
"You!" Lex hissed.
Green Arrow smiled. "I'm glad you remember me."
Lex narrowed his eyes and squared his shoulders, determined not to look cowed in any way.
"A bit hard not to. The last time we met, you put an arrow through my chest," Lex said.
"And you put a bullet in mine," Oliver retorted. "Bygones?"
Lex snarled. "Go to hell!"
In a swift move that Lex only just saw, Oliver had the bow up and levelled, the string pulled back to the corner of his mouth.
"You first!"
Oliver only took one second to aim, the next he used to release. The steel-tipped arrowhead sliced through the air. As the arrow shot across the corridor, Lex turned his head just slightly and Oliver almost hissed in anger. The sharp tip cut a perfectly straight line across Lex's cheek, bringing forth a trickle of blood. The arrow landed with a dull thud into an air duct behind the billionaire.
Both men paused for a second, a faint hissing sound coming from the punctured air duct behind Lex. Then Green Arrow raised a hand to his Bluetooth earpiece and listened in silence. Slowly he raised his eyes until they met Lex's. Lex stared at him briefly, and then lifted a hand to wipe away the blood on his face. He glanced down at his red-stained fingers before looking back up towards the Green Arrow. Only to find him gone.
With an angry growl, Lex reached into his jacket again, his phone in his hand once more. He hit speed dial and moved off, almost jogging in his hurry. An answering machine picked up and Lex snapped his phone shut in anger. He navigated the corridors as quickly as he could. There was a strange feeling in his stomach, like acid was burning away at his insides. Something was wrong – not the normal toast burning wrong, but the house burning down wrong.
***
"No! You can't go down there Bart, there are guards. Ollie and I nearly ran into them before…"
Bart didn't listen to Clark as he raced down yet another corridor. He was following an instinct that he didn't understand but trusted beyond doubt. Something important waited for him and it waited just around this corner, buried behind the walls of steel.
Without a thought Bart ploughed around the corner, taking out one of the guards before he'd even realised anyone was there. Bart used his momentum to spin onto the next guard, grabbing the man's gun out of his grip and flung it across the hall. Within a second, all three guards were on the ground unconscious.
Clark watched the teenager, frightened by the intense determination behind Bart's actions. He had never seen him like this before. What could be this important?
Bart instantly moved to the door, his hand twisting and turning the doorknob. But no matter how hard he tried, Bart couldn't get the handle to turn more than a few millimetres to either side. He dashed back to the guards and began riffling through their pockets, searching for a key.
"Hey Stretch, a little help over here!" he called.
Clark walked over to the door and took it in his hand. With one small twist of his wrist the knob crumbled and the locking mechanism within the metal door broke. He pushed the door open with his foot and turned his head to find Bart already standing. He blinked and then Bart was gone. He felt the air whoosh past his body as Bart ran into the room. Clark faced the room again and stepped inside.
He nearly bumped into Bart, who had stopped, frozen, just inside the doorway.
"What is it…?" Clark trailed off as he followed Bart's gaze.
Lying propped up on a hospital bed was a girl, no older than Bart. She had cream coloured skin that looked incredibly smooth and soft, contrasted by hair as black as pitch. Bart stared in fascination at the unconscious girl – she was beautiful! He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. For the first time in his life, Bart Allen was speechless.
Clark appraised the girl quickly before returning his attention to Bart. The kid was just staring at the girl, his grey eyes sparkling with a sudden and bright light, as though he had just discovered the best and only reason to live. In that moment, Clark knew that this girl was the reason for Bart's strange actions, although why he felt connected to this girl was beyond him as was how Bart knew where she'd be.
"Bart we have to get out of here," Clark reminded the speedster but he wasn't listening.
Bart walked slowly over to the bed and reached out to the girl, placing his hand gently on her forehead. He didn't really know what he was doing – that instinct was still driving him and all he could do was follow. The moment his skin touched hers, an odd tingling sensation ran through his body, starting in his fingertips and ending in his mind. It was as though a current had passed through him, alerting every nerve in his body and awakening his senses. His hearing and eyesight heightened and suddenly Bart was seeing and hearing everything with a new clarity.
He could hear a slow, steady beating that was getting stronger as the seconds ticked by silently. As he stared down at the girl, his fascination and curiosity growing, Bart saw her eyelids flutter and then they opened. Bright green orbs gazed back at him, burning with the same emotions that he felt.
She smiled gently, tentatively.
"Do I know you?" she asked.
Bart grinned, snatching his hand back. His heightened sense disappeared as suddenly as they appeared but that strange connection was still there. He could still feel the emotions that didn't belong to him and he was beginning to get an idea as to what was going on. It was a crazy thought but it was no crazier than some of the other thoughts he'd had. Was it possible that he could feel every emotion that this girl felt?
"Bart, we're leaving now!" Clark suddenly demanded from the doorway.
He didn't let his eyes leave the girl's face, enjoying her simple beauty. "I'll need your help. Even though my biceps are incredibly developed and muscular, I'm not going to be able to carry her out of here and run at the same time."
He heard Clark sigh in exasperation but that just made his smile widen. Then he felt the farm boy brush past him and suddenly he was there, ripping the wires and tubes away from the girl's body and lifting her from the bed.
Bart continued to stare at the girl for a few more moments until Clark began walking away. Quickly, so as not to loose them, Bart followed.
'Green Arrow to Boy Scout, what is your status?'
Clark glanced back to Bart, a question in his eyes. Bart looked fleetingly away from the girl in time to catch his stare and sighed as he understood his meaning.
'Boy Scout has his hands full at the moment,' Bart replied, not entirely sure what codename they'd given him.
'Impulse?'
Bart couldn't be sure but he thought he detected a hint of relief in the billionaire's voice. And what kind of codename was Impulse anyway? He thought, they could have called me Lightning Bolt Guy or something less suggestive! He sighed but decided to ignore it for the moment.
'The one and only! We're heading for the rendezvous point now but just for the heads up we have a DID with us.'
'DID?'
Bart smirked as he turned his eyes back to the girl in Clark's arms. Her eyes were closed again and her chest was rising and falling evenly.
'Damsel In Distress.'
'Of course! Boy Scout is ever the hero…'
'Actually this one was entirely my rescue, except that he's doing all the heavy lifting… but apart from that, it was all me!'
'Well good job kid but now I need you to get out alive.'
Bart nodded as though Oliver could see him. 'Easy done!'
Clark groaned beside him. "Please don't jinx us! We need all the luck we can get."
Bart shrugged and moved so quickly and so suddenly that Clark nearly ran into him as the boy stopped in front of him.
"Race you?" he queried.
Clark rolled his eyes. Bart was still very much a teenager. But then, Clark reasoned, so am I. He grinned.
"Do you need a head start?" he joked. They both knew Bart was the fastest of the pair.
Bart smirked, "Will you need a walking frame?"
He laughed and suddenly he was gone in a blur of red. Clark's instincts took over and despite having to carry a teenage girl in his arms, took off after Bart as though he had no burden at all.
Please review and tell me what you think of this chapter! It will help me to know what you'd like more of like action or whatever!! So pretty please review! Thank you!
