A/N: I do not own Smallville, its characters, the character development, or the main plot. That'd be nice, though.
Chapter Four: Dinah Lance
5 days. It had been five days since Oliver had attempted suicide, and Chloe still hadn't slept. The boys were worried about her- Bart tried to take away her coffee, AC tried to get her out of the Watchtower, and Victor tried to do everything so that Chloe wouldn't worry. Instead of feeling supported and secure enough to sleep, however, Chloe kept on working.
They already had the plan finalized: Roulette gave the okay, and the paid actors were there to give the image of a working casino. Oliver was already becoming a regular there, Victor and Bart knew their roles in and out, and AC was ready to look over things in case Clark or Lois needed Chloe for something during the mission.
The only thing that was missing was Dinah. She was the only missing element, and she was needed to shatter glass, without anybody knowing that it was her. Dinah's blip was almost always moving, and Chloe was certain that there was a pattern. She sat at the computer day and night, legal pad and pen in hand, never taking her eyes off of the blip.
AC, Bart, and Victor were crowded around the kitchen
"She's at it again." Bart said, shaking his head.
"She's going to crash." AC said
"I know. We need to do something." Victor told them
"Like what? Short of disconnecting the computers, there is nothing stopping her", AC said, sighing.
"You mean, short of drugging her, there is nothing stopping her", Bart said.
"No. It's completely unethical." Victor told them
"It needs to be done. She's driving herself insane- constantly muttering to herself and staring at Canary's blip." AC said
"All she needs is a good night's sleep" Victor said
"Which she isn't taking", Bart told him
"Vic, I'm close to just ripping that legal pad out of her hands. She's like a machine!" AC exclaimed
"Fine. We'll put something in her coffee. She's going to be furious later." Victor reminded them
"She'll yell at us later, but at least she'll be well rested." Bart said
"What are we going to do while she's sleeping?" Victor asked
"Easy- we track down Canary, or at least find out the so-called pattern that Chloe thinks is there." AC answered
Bart broke open a sleeping pill and stuck the powdery remnants into a cup of coffee. He handed it to AC, who added sugar. AC handed the mug to Victor, who stirred the mixture. Victor went up to Chloe and grabbed a coaster. She glanced at him, and he smiled, showing her the coaster. She nodded as he placed the cup on the coaster and walked away.
Almost immediately, Chloe reached for the coffee and took a large gulp. Within twenty minutes, the cup was empty, and Chloe was still working. She was about to tear a page out of the legal pad, but she started feeling dizzy. Chloe put the legal pad down, and started walking towards her laptop. Her body was moving a fraction of a second slower than she intended it to. And then, she collapsed.
Bart sped over, and caught her. Then, he sped her over to a bed, and tucked her in.
"Sorry, gorgeous. It's for your own good", he told her. Then, he sped over to the computers, and picked up one of the many yellow pieces of paper that were surrounding them. "What have we got here?" he asked
"It looks like Canary's in Seattle." Victor said, glancing at the blip.
"Yeah, but Chloe knew that. And if she knew that Canary's in Seattle, then why aren't we on a jet getting there?" AC wondered
"Maybe because Chloe doesn't know what's going on with Canary right now? She's probably trying to figure out what she's been doing with herself." Bart said
"Okay, so first order of business is figuring out what Canary's up to." Victor said, drawing up a list.
"Second is trying to figure out her routine. Dinah is always on the move. Chloe probably wanted to pick a definite place and time." AC added
"Okay." Victor added it to the list.
"And then, we go and confront", Bart said.
"But before we do any of that, let's see what Watchtower found out", Victor said.
***
After one day of searching through Chloe's papers, the boys knew what Canary was doing. She was working in a florist's shop in Seattle, named Sherwood Florist. It was the location of the shop however, that was interesting. Canary picked a shop next to a suspicious Laundromat. Victor found out that Canary was trying to bust a drug ring, by herself.
"We have to get there", AC said, when Victor told him of his discovery.
"Is it our place? Does Dinah want us involved?" Victor asked
"She doesn't know that we know what she's up to. I say we keep a close eye on her. If she busts them, then that's fine. If she gets caught and ends up in trouble, we intervene." Bart said
"Why should we wait for her to get in trouble? What if something does happen and we're not there in time?" AC asked Bart
"We should wake up Chloe, see what she thinks. She's already been sleeping for one day. She should be rested enough." Victor said
"We can take care of things without Watchtower, you know." AC told him
"But it wouldn't be good if she wakes up with nothing more than a 'Sorry Chloe, we're in Seattle.' What if something happens to us while we're there?" Bart asked
"Okay, we'll wake her up. She'll probably want to come with us- try and get Dinah back." AC said
"Are you kidding? If they catch Canary, it's obviously not a safe place for Watchtower. She's staying here", Victor decided.
"She can make her own decisions", a female voice called from a distance.
***
The three of them turned around, to see Chloe. You could tell that she was well rested from the lack of circles under her eyes and the look of anger and determination on her face.
"Uh, Chloe…" Victor stumbled
"Hey, Beautiful!" Bart tried to get on her good side.
AC just inched away slowly, as Chloe walked closer. They were expecting yelling, screaming, and punching. What they got was worse.
"You drugged me?" Chloe asked, in a deathly whisper.
"Chloe, you were awake for five days. You needed to sleep, and you weren't listening to anyone. We did what we had to." AC told her, grabbing her shoulders and giving her a little shake.
"That doesn't give you guys complete control over my body!" Chloe exclaimed
"We had to help you help yourself. Five days, Chloe. What were you thinking?" Bart asked her
"I was going to sleep eventually." Chloe reasoned
"Really? When exactly were you planning on sleeping, Chloe?" Victor asked her
"Right after I figured out Canary's routine, and tracked her down. And convinced her to come back. And after we saved Oliver", she said delusional.
"All of that could take weeks" AC told her.
"No, it wouldn't have. Oliver needs us now. He doesn't have weeks! We can't waste a single second!" Chloe exclaimed
Bart went over to her and gave her a hug. "You have to take care of yourself, Chloe. You're no good to the team exhausted or dead." He reasoned
"Besides, we're here. You don't have to do everything by yourself anymore." Victor assured her
She took a moment to collect herself, and asked "While I was snoozing, what did you guys find out?"
"You were right. Dinah has a routine." Victor confirmed
"She's been following this group of people" AC said, giving her printouts of pictures and descriptions. She thumbed through the pages.
"These men run the Laundromat that is located next to the flower shop that Canary's been working at. They've been carrying out illicit activities for months." Bart told her
"The only problem is that they have the police on their side. They have a few members on the inside: District Attorneys, local government agents- they know what they're doing. Canary's trying to do it alone." AC explained
"So the only question is what do we do next? Do we stop her, or do we wait until she needs us?" Victor asked
"We'll watch her from a distance. If she needs an assist, Bart can get there in a split second while the rest of us get there in the jet. Get sleep you guys. Good work." She decided
"We'll get some sleep while you take a look at everything, and keep an eye on her. When we wake up though, you're sleeping. You're at least taking a nap", Victor decided.
"Yes, Dad" she replied, rolling her eyes.
***
The boys went to sleep, and Chloe put on a pot of coffee. She looked over the pages that AC gave her earlier on the Chinese mobsters. After she completed her own research on the men, she glanced at Dinah's blip. It was still- uncommonly so.
"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no", she said fearfully. She printed out Canary's coordinates. Chloe put on her headset, and woke up Bart, Victor, and AC.
"Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep guys. I think she's been caught."
Victor woke up almost instantly, and poured a nearby glass of water on AC, who woke up. Chloe ran over to Bart's bed and shook him awake. "Bart, wake up. I think that Canary's been caught. Here are the coordinates. I need you to take a quick peek. Can you do that?" she asked
"Yeah, sure." Bart said. He sped over to the coffee, poured some in a cup, and gulped it straight. And then, he sped away.
"AC, Victor, suit up. We can't call Oliver's pilot- not this early in the morning. It'll look too suspicious- friends of the CEO of Queen Industries going to Seattle at two in the morning. Bart's going to have to carry us all one by one. I know it bruises your egos, but please yell at me later" she said, hurrying.
"Impulse, what's your status?" she asked
"She's at some sort of warehouse. They don't know who she is, but she's hurt pretty badly. I think they tortured her."
"Can you get her out of there?" She asked him
"Not from where you are, you can't. I need codes- I need you to actually be here. I don't think that you can open some of the doors at the Tower. Should I pick you up?"
"No, come back and pick up Victor. He'll get you in, and help out in case you need physical assistance."
"Pick me up? It almost as if we're going on a date, Chloe." Victor protested
Chloe smiled to herself. "Put on your headset. He'll be coming any second. I'll walk you through everything." She said, typing. Suddenly, she was able to pull up the blue-prints of the warehouse.
Victor grabbed his headset as Bart sped over and took him away.
***
"Cyborg to Watchtower, we're in position"
"Good, I've already put the video feed on a loop. For fifteen minutes only, you are invisible. You need to follow my instructions very carefully. There should be a door right in front of you. Type in 67834."
"67834. We're in."
"Walk about 15 paces, and make a left. There should be two security guards."
Victor punched the security guards out
"Impulse to Watchtower, we got the guards."
"Keep on walking. At the end of the hallway, make a right, and then a left. Cyborg, there will be a door that you have to deactivate. I can't get it from here."
They walked. Cyborg plugged himself into the door, and as his left eye turned red, the door opened. "Piece of cake."
"Three guards ahead."
Bart sped around the guards and knocked them into each other.
"We're clear, Watchtower."
"Second door on the right, and we have our bird. What can you see?"
"She's bruised pretty badly. They must have beaten her" Victor said
"Cyborg, look at that thing up there. It's an individual dropper. Chinese water torture."
"How many people are inside?" Chloe asked
"Two. Suits. They must be heading the operation. They're trying to find out who she is, who she's working for."
"Cyborg, I need you to get in the room." She replied
"No problem" he said, once again plugging himself into the door.
They opened the door, and Victor threw both of the men across the room, knocking them out
"Hey!" Bart exclaimed
"Sorry, couldn't let you have all the fun", Victor said, laughing.
Bart ran over to Canary, and unstrapped her. "Are you okay?"
"Watchtower to Impulse, bring Canary up to the roof, and pick me up. AC, I'm sorry, but I need you to stay here and overlook things", Chloe said as she strapped on her laptop bag.
"Not a problem. There's no water way over there, anyway." AC said, putting on his headset.
Cyborg, Impulse, and Canary ran up the stairs to the roof, and Bart sped back to the Tower to pick up Chloe.
They sped back to the roof, and Chloe reached into her laptop bag, pulling out 4 explosives and a copy of the blue-prints.
"Impulse, I need you to plant the bombs at the circled areas. Can you do that without being seen?"
"Am I ever seen?" he asked, before shortly disappearing
"Watchtower to Impulse, after you plant the bombs, meet us at the checkpoint." Chloe said into the earpiece
"You got it, Watchtower"
"Come on, let's go", Victor said, ushering Dinah and Chloe to the checkpoint.
When they arrived at the checkpoint, Chloe took out her laptop and set off an alarm that made every security guard run for their lives. Bart returned, and Chloe checked her laptop. It looked like everyone was gone, but she had to make sure.
"Watchtower to Aquaman, is everything clear?"
"Crystal clear, Watchtower."
"Aquaman, would you do the honors?" Chloe asked
And back at the Watchtower, AC grinned as he pressed the enter button, and the team in Seattle watched the warehouse explode. Afterwards, Bart transported everyone back to the Watchtower.
***
Dinah Lance was pissed off. "Why did you have to do that?" she asked Chloe angrily
"What? No 'hey guys, thanks for saving my ass'?" Bart asked her sarcastically
"I had everything under control by myself." Dinah told him sternly
"Being strapped in a room being Chinese water tortured does not classify as having everything under control. You could have called us for back-up." Chloe told her
"This was my operation. I've been keeping an eye on these guys for weeks!" Dinah said, still furious
"Yeah, you've been keeping an eye on them. You developed a routine. We caught on, and chances are so did they." Chloe said, bitingly
"This was my thing. I can take care of myself."
"Not to echo Chloe, but you were strapped in a room. How could you possibly have taken care of yourself?" AC asked
"You're lucky Watchtower was keeping an eye on you. You could have blown your cover." Victor added
"Of course everything's about her. Obviously someone has to hog the spotlight" Dinah huffed.
"Excuse me? I didn't ask for any spotlight. I'm just doing my job!" Chloe exclaimed
"You destroyed us all earlier, and you have a hidden agenda now. Nobody else knew about the explosives, did they?" Dinah asked
"Come on, it's routine. Blowing up the bad guys' building is what we do. She didn't have to say anything." Bart defended
"No, I didn't need to say anything." Chloe said
"Just like you didn't tell anyone that you were going to split Davis, right? So that we wouldn't be able to execute our plan?" Dinah, said, shoving Chloe
"Canary, you're way out of line." AC told her.
Chloe put up a hand. "It's okay. Obviously Dinah has a problem with me. Don't get involved." She told the rest of the team
"You're mad at me for running away, aren't you Dinah?" Chloe asked
"Yes, I'm mad at you. I'm mad at you for making me responsible for deaths. I'm mad at you for running away and making everything operation 'Save Chloe'!" Dinah exclaimed.
"If you want to hit me Dinah, I won't stop you." Chloe replied.
Dinah took this as a sense of permission, and slapped Chloe in the face. Chloe didn't move. The guys cringed, but didn't move. What were they supposed to do?
Dinah pushed Chloe down on the Watchtower floor "You deserve it. You killed Jimmy Olsen, not me." She said, kicking Chloe in the face, breaking her nose.
"Fight back!" Dinah said, kicking her repeatedly. There was blood coming out of Chloe's nose and tears in her eyes, but she didn't say a word.
"You want me to fight back?" Chloe asked
"Yes. Fight back." Dinah replied
Chloe suddenly kicked Dinah's feet from under her, bringing her down to her own level. "This is what you're looking for, isn't it, Dinah? You're looking for an even match." Chloe said
Both women got up, and circled each other. "It's what you've been looking for on the streets in Seattle, but the muggers are never strong enough" she said, as she deflected a punch from Canary.
Angry, Canary tried to punch her again, but Chloe was too quick. Suddenly, Dinah threw her against a wall, her hands clasping over Chloe's throat "You're…a…hero, Dinah…" she sputtered.
"You…don't…kill…" Chloe said, struggling to breathe. Chloe head butted Dinah, and Dinah released her grasp in shock.
Chloe suddenly kicked Dinah in the stomach, hard and Dinah fell to the floor.
"You've met your match. Heroes don't kill, and they don't fight members of their team. They stick together, and that's what we're going to do. We need to help Oliver. He attempted suicide almost a week ago, and we need to help him out of the rut he's in"
Chloe extended a hand. "Take my hand if you want to help a fellow teammate." Dinah contemplated the situation for a moment, and took Chloe's hand. She pulled up her friend, her ally.
"Victor, help her get cleaned up?" Victor nodded. Then, Chloe departed into the bathroom to clean her own wounds.
***
Chloe bandaged her face, and didn't worry about the rest of it. She knew that after a good night's sleep, her powers would heal her nose and the rest of her wounds. She typed out an e-mail to Roulette on her laptop, and just as she hit the send button, she heard a very quiet "Chloe?"
She looked up to see a very guilty Dinah in front of her "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"It's okay. It was mostly just the water-torture talking. I know it can cause a sense of insanity." Chloe told her
"But…I meant it, all of it. There's a little part of me that does blame you for what happened." Dinah explained
"Dinah, there's a large part of me that blames myself for everything that happened. It's okay. I understand." Chloe said firmly
"I didn't mean to hurt you. Are you okay?" Dinah asked
"Yeah, I'll be fine. My powers will take care of everything" Chloe answered confidently.
"Victor told me about how you hadn't slept in five days. Why were you pushing yourself that hard?" Dinah asked
"I hacked into the video feed and saw Oliver attempt suicide. I guess working myself to death is my way of coping with that." Chloe replied
"Why are you doing all of this for us…for him?" Dinah wondered out loud.
And then it hit Chloe. Why she so willingly forgave Oliver for killing Lex, why she was so torn at the thought of losing him. It all pieced together, and it seemed so obvious now.
"I can't live without him." Chloe replied softly.
A/N: I hope you guys liked it. Please review!
-CS
