AN: Massive THANK YOU to all those who added the story as an Alert or Fav in recent weeks. And thank you to everyone who has been following along, left reviews or given me the thumbs up since I started posting.
Thanks to Hellza-On-Earth for being awesome.
Quick story recap - Chloe moved to Star City after being fired from the Daily Planet. She stayed with Oliver and the rest of the team and her friendship with Oliver deepened at a time when Oliver really needed a friend. Lionel Luthor suddenly married them off to each other one night in Vegas leaving all his worldly goods to the new nuptials. Lionel also confessed to killing Oliver's parents and Oliver didn't take the whole situation very well at all heading to India for a bit of a recoup. He came back and he and Chloe sorted things out and decided to work on a really being husband and wife. After almost 3 1/2 years of marriage Chloe is now expecting a baby girl. While in Metropolis to support Senator Kent, Chloe and her cousin Lois have been abducted by persons unknown at this point in time.
Chapter 12: Somebody Save Me
I see the world has folded in your heart, I feel the waves crash down inside, And they pull me under, And, I would give you anything you want, oh, You are all I wanted, All my dreams have fallen down, Crawlin' round and round and round
Somebody save me, Let your warm hands break right through, Somebody save me, I don't care how you do it, just Stay (with Me), stay, C'mon, I've been waiting for you – Remy Zero
Metropolis, 18th June 2012
Chloe squeezed Lois's hand trying to relive some of her distress, but she didn't need her a special ability to know what Lois was thinking. 'The bastards, if her cousin or niece was hurt in any way, it was going to take a superman to save them cause no one hurt her baby cuz and got away with it.' Her heart warmed at Lois's protective instincts and while she wasn't happy that Lois was being dragged into whatever was going on, she was grateful for the company.
The guy who they had originally thought was a waiter made eye contact with them and pulling out a pairing knife, skillfully carved out a skull in an apple before popping it into his mouth, the sound of chewing awfully loud in an otherwise silent cabin.
Chloe wanted to roll her eyes at his attempt to be intimidating and well Lois had grown up around hard-nosed military men whose job it was to scare grown men till they were peeing in their pants. She glanced sideways at her cousin. Nope not intimidated, more infuriated.
The van slowed down and stopped some moments later. Chloe eyed her cousin and they both silently agreed to not punch out the guards closest to them, any thoughts of taking down their captors and escaping scuttled by the appearance of six more armed men. Lois on the whole had demonstrated amazing restraint. Normally she would have just thrown punches or at least been more vocal.
They were shown to a sparsely furnished room and the door locked behind them. Other than sighing with relief at not being under guard for the moment they still hadn't spoken a word aloud. While they both knew that Oliver would leave no stone unturned to find them, it wasn't like either of them to passively wait for rescue…they had to do what they could to help themselves. They started by taking an inventory of the room and its contents looking for hidden cameras or microphones.
A short while later they hadn't found anything and had started speaking to each other recapping events in the hopes of piecing together what was going on. The sound of shouting and scuffling getting closer to them made them stop.
"Don't you know who I am?" A man bellowed outside the door.
No it couldn't be! They both looked at each other sure that they had heard wrong. The doors opened and several assault rifles were pointed in their direction and a man was shoved in the room with them, the door promptly locking again.
"You!" Lois shrieked, moving to stand between him and Chloe. "You bald bastard what the hell did you do," Lois's fist flying as her pent up frustration got the better of her.
Given her suspicions that he was responsible for the fact she wasn't enjoying a late lunch in bed with Oliver, Lex was the last person Chloe expected to see confined with them.
He stood up and wiped the blood from his lip cursing his luck at being confined with the two women who had gotten in his way more than once. "Can't say I am surprised that you think that our current situation is my fault. It seems to be the Sullivan-Lane modus operandi. Something goes wrong and all fingers are pointed in my direction."
"Lex Luthor, only you could be so bold as to pretend to be a victim here," Chloe murmured, her instincts telling her that her one time friend was involved somehow. She put a restraining hand on Lois's arm but the taller woman was on a roll.
"Of course this is your fault, what the hell did you do and why drag us into your mess?"
"I promise you Ms Lane I am just as surprised as you are at being here and when I find out who had the audacity to not send me a proper invitation, you'll just have to get in line while I make sure that that person understands the repercussions of their actions."
Chloe looked for his tell's that he was lying or giving half-truths. She didn't see any. Her cousin's fists curling ready to give him the Lane combination for ….well, being him. "Let it go," she said quietly the question now burning in her mind, if (and that was a big if) Lex was telling the truth and he had nothing to do with their kidnapping, who else would have the resources or motivation to take them from their daily activities?
-xxXxx-
"Tess!" Oliver exclaimed pushing open the doors to her office, ignoring his protesting body and the pounding in his head. It had been almost two hours since he'd lost Chloe and time was of the essence. For all the tracking devices on her, Chloe's signals had been lost entering a hanger registered to LuthorCorp.
Victor had already hacked his way through several databases but the schematics to the facility they had concluded went underground, couldn't be found. While he really wanted to just aim a rocket at the front door, smoke everyone out and storm the area, his girls were at stake. So while going in blind was unwise at the best of times, the current situation made it more so.
The thought of Chloe being alone with one Lex Luthor made him sick to the stomach. The last time she had been Lex's personal guest, Clark had had to burn a hole in her shoulder to remove a tracking device.
Lex was such a bastard, he'd had a press conference shortly after dismissing Lana to announce a new LuthorCorp program to help school children thereby covering his whereabouts at the time Chloe was taken nicely. His charitable giving certainly hiding his true nature from the wider public.
He didn't believe that deep down Tess was cut from the same cloth, but if he found out that she had anything to do with Chloe's disappearance or was covering for her brother…no matter how guilty he still felt for his past behavior towards her, he would find a way to expose her. At the moment however, she offered his best chance of getting the information he needed.
Tess didn't even bother to look up at him. "You have a minute to explain your reason for bursting in here before I have security escort you off the premises," she said not appreciating the interruption. A situation had arisen requiring Lex's attention however he was currently un-contactable.
He strode purposefully towards her and got in her personal space laying out several surveillance pictures. "These pictures were taken shortly after you left the library. This," he said pointing to a petite women with a hood over her face "is Chloe," and "this," he said pointing to the van "is the vehicle she was placed in." He pulled out a satellite picture "we lost her GPS signal at these co-ordinates which just so happens to be a property owned by LuthorCorp."
He looked for any hint of guilt or shock on her face. But she betrayed neither of those. What he did get was annoyance.
"Conspiracy theory Oliver…really," her voice dripping in skepticism. "I suggest if your story is true, you do what any person in your position would have done and make a call to get help rather than point fingers."
"But you are the person most able to help me, since I already know that Lex disappeared from LuthorCorp right after his little show n tell with the press. I need to know about that property Tess and what Lex is doing there."
"You think Lex had something to do with this?" she asked in disbelief. Her mind couldn't fathom a reason why he would think Lex would want to kidnap anyone. Despite his personality clashes with several persons he just wasn't that malicious and she refused to have her family slandered any further. "I know the two of you hate each other, but Lex isn't some evil megalomaniac that abducts wives from public gatherings."
Oliver wanted to tell her exactly what Lex was capable of, but now was not the time to get into the laundry list of Lex's crimes against his family. He hated that he was relying on her to give him the information he sought.
Oliver barley hid the desperation he was feeling. "This isn't a random stranger we're talking about… it's my wife, please Tess just do a search."
She accessed the LuthorCorp Property Manger and typed in the address humoring him if only to get him out of her office quicker. NO MATCH FOUND. She turned her computer screen around for him to see. "Now if you'll excuse me I have work to do. " She dismissed him as she would any number of people, a finality in her voice that brokered no further discussion. But Oliver would not be deterred.
"Damn it Tess, you're a better person than that. Chloe means everything to me so I would appreciate a little heartfelt co-operation," he added more softly "…..please, try Lex's personal server."
Tess looked at her ex-lover and couldn't help but wonder at what point Oliver became so concerned with protecting the woman in his life, but it was several years late in her book. But his insinuation into her brothers and therefore her character bristled. As far as she was concerned her dealings with him at all times since she had come on board as a LuthorCorp VP had been above reproach, they had even been a little more like frenemies earlier in the day. His one little sentence though had them right back at glacial relations with no chance of thawing out….ever.
"You want access to Lex's personal server come back with a court order. I have humored you and your accusations about my family long enough. You know where the door is," she finished coldly. Oliver didn't move and so she gave into her urge to take a stab at his character. "I suggest you get started on searching for your wife for real rather than laying the blame on the Luthor doorstep or one can't help but think you don't care for her nearly as much as you profess. After all men have made their wives disappear for less than she's worth."
"I wouldn't do that to her...I'm not that type of person," he defended realizing what Tess thought he was capable of.
As Tess watched his face contort in pain at the slight she realized a simple truth. Her words had hit him hard below the belt – Oliver Queen was truly in love with his wife and that she could think that he would make the situation up had hurt him deeply.
"I don't see that anyone in my family is either," she replied, satisfied that they now had an understanding as to where her loyalties were.
He nodded, his feet heading towards the door and he really, really wanted to break something. All the plans he and Chloe had put into place to keep each other safe had proved ineffective. Now she had been gone for close to three hours and all he could think about was how his arms ached to hold her and have her reassurance that everything was okay.
Talking to Tess had not gone well, in fact it had destroyed any progress they had made over the years. He just hoped that Victor had been able to access to the LuthorCorp personal servers via the cloak he had on him, because every fiber of Oliver's being was telling him this whole situation was all on Lex despite Tess's instance otherwise.
What felt like an eternity later, the elevator doors opened into the foyer of LuthorCorp and the universe obviously knew that he needed some kind of news because his phone rang.
"It's Lois," Vic blurted before he could ask for an update. "Bart picked her up and she's with Emil right now."
He broke into a sprint ignoring the daggers from other pedestrians as he brushed past them heading back to the Clock Tower, adrenaline pumping.
He heard Lois before he saw her. "Will you stop that! I'm fine it's just a scratch, Ollie tell Dr Do Good here to stop before I re science his magic wand."
Ignoring the stern glance from Emil he pulled her into a tight hug while launching several questions at her. "Are you okay, how is Chloe, how did you get away from Lex?"
"Lex! While I admit I enjoyed punching the bald bastard in the face he wasn't responsible."
Vindication. Wait WHAT. If not Lex then who?
-xxXxx-
Chloe's fingers trailed over the steel, the apparatus bringing back unpleasant memories. Still she was determined not to give her captor the satisfaction of seeing her falter even if she was more apprehensive since Lois has been forcibly removed and Lex invited to met 'the boss' leaving Chloe alone with nothing to do other than think about the worse case scenario.
The man with his back towards her had made no move to acknowledge her presence and well it was time to know what she was up against.
"Is this the part where you reveal who you are and tell me what maniacal plan you have in mind?" Since Lex's confession she had been thinking of all the people who could have the means and motivation to pull off her unwelcomed invitation. She'd narrowed it down to three persons.
The seat spun around slowly. "Good Afternoon Ms Sullivan or do you prefer Ms Sullivan-Queen. Personally I've never been a fan of the hyphenated surname, it denotes that the last part of your name could be dropped at any given time. Although given the circumstances of your wedding in Vegas that would be unlikely wouldn't it."
Seriously Universe. She didn't bother to hide her astonishment, because he wasn't one of her suspects, in fact the last time she had spoken to him it had been a one sided conversation.
"Lionel Luthor," the shock of seeing him animated catching her tongue momentarily "…it seems the permanency of your death was greatly exaggerated."
Lionel V2 walked out from behind his desk. "I assure you the Lionel Luthor you knew is still six feet under, a victim of his own noble misguided tendencies later in life."
With resurrection out that left her with two known possibilities how the man in front of her could be Lionel. He was either a visitor from another dimension, or given Lex's success rate at genetically engineering family members, a clone. She was leaning towards the later given his hint about what happened in Vegas.
"So Lionel 2.0 huh. Care to share with the rest of the class?"
"I'm the universes way of righting a grave wrong."
She mentally baulked at that. Regardless of her Lionel's new leaf his methods were still underhanded and well two wrongs never did make a right. "And what wrong would that be?"
"It's simple really. I want restitution."
She involuntarily shuddered. Her mind was going a thousand bits per second. Their Lionel had also wanted restitution, but she got the vibe that helping a band of superhero's out or protecting Clark's secret wasn't what this Lionel meant and her current predicament gave an indication as to what type of man this Lionel Luthor was.
She hid her apprehension as best as she could. "Restitution. Our Lionel had the same idea, tried to fix things up, before his untimely passing." She watched his face. He had the same facial features as Lionel but not the same expressions.
"Your Lionel was a fool to turn his back on his own family for someone who will never belong to this world," he stated passionately. "I'm taking this new opportunity at my life to learn from my past mistakes and that starts with making things up to Lex."
Her eyebrow arched. "So Lex is involved."
"In your invitation here. No. But I am sure that he will embrace me and what we can do for this world. You see Lex is a victim burnt by secrets and the betrayal that came with having those secrets kept from him. I plan on giving him the means to discover those secrets for himself, if he wants them. Then together we will set out doing what we should've in the beginning. Protecting the world from those that would have us think they were gods."
The sinking sensation kept growing in her belly but she had to ask. "I don't see what that has to do with me though."
"I doubt you would have accepted an invitation to chat just for old times sake. And well, lets be honest, you're a secret keeper of great importance."
"There is no secret I know that you don't."
"Perhaps but lets just say Lex would rather get the information from you than me …he thinks you are more trustworthy."
"So what are you going to do, plug us up and let Lex go rifling through my mind."
He moved to the other side of the steel apparatus. "Something like that. … All this equipment was commissioned by the military. We called it Project Intercept. It allows an integrator to connect to the subjects mind."
Her mind recalled reading about it in some old mission files. "Wait a minute, Project Intercept was mothballed because the interrogator kept dying."
"Minor point. I've made some improvements. My son will be quiet safe."
"And then what, happy reunion with all your children back at the mansion and you'll just let me go."
"Lex is really the only child I am interested in getting reacquainted with…"
Rarely had she felt pity for anyone surnamed Luthor, but this was one of those moments, her mother heart bled for those children who would never know a father's love.
"As for you, I'm going to give you the opportunity to start over, after all I'll be wanting my assets back."
Two labs coats came for her and she deftly dispatched them without a second thought and made a beeline for Lionel, getting in his face. "Oliver won't let you get away with this, letting Lex know who Clark is, is not in the world's interest."
"Frankly my dear I don't give a damn what you think. I should have never believed that a child from the stars was going to be my salvation in any universe and my predecessor made a grave error in judgment in taking that side. As for your so called husband… every single version of Oliver Queen that I have ever met has not been worthy of Chloe Sullivan's devotion or loyalty and I don't believe this one is any different. But don't worry, the Oliver Queen where you're going is quiet broken and might just welcome a familiar face."
Lionel's confession about other universes caused her to revise his origin. With several men now holding her she spat in his face, a small kick against her womb and a feeling of 'go mom' spurring her on. "You're nothing but an impostor. Our Lionel was actually a decent human being in the end, but you're never going to be that. How many billions of lives and worlds have you ruined?"
"Like I said the universe gives us opportunities to right past wrongs." Motioning to the two lab coats that had gotten themselves off the floor. "Let's do this gentlemen."
-xxXxx-
Oliver secured the hood of his vest and did one last minute check of his equipment, turning around to face John and Mary. Everyone else was suited up and awaiting the go ahead for the rescue mission having gone over the plan several times.
"Thanks for doing this John." Looking down at a small parcel of belongings that Lionel had requested in exchange for Chloe including a mirror box and the Veritas journals residing in the Martians hands.
"You didn't need to ask."
"Yes I did, this is somehow my fault. I just…I've been ungrateful to our Lionel… gah everything was such a mess in the beginning ….and maybe I don't deserve people who are home for me…maybe him taking her is my punishment for being ungrateful…but I can't lose Chloe or our baby."
When Lois had told him what had really happened, he had felt the life being sucked out of him. It was a cruel twist that the Lionel of this earth had given them so much and the inter dimensional version was so eager to take it away. He wondered if he had bought it on himself by voicing the possibility of another Lionel the night he and Chloe first stayed at the Villa.
Mary stepped in and pulled her son-in-law close to her. "You are one of the most grateful people that I know. You've never failed any of us and I don't think today will be the first. Chloe knows you love her, no matter what is thrown in her face. The two of you are the strongest people that I know, and she loves you… fiercely." She kissed him on the cheek and squeezed John's arm warmly knowing that the older man had a few things to say to Oliver before going to get ready. This was one mission she was going in the field for.
"So if everything goes horribly south, you'll take care of my girls…." he pleaded his brown eyes meeting red.
"Your tactical plan is sound and if things do go horribly south they will be aimed at me, rather than you. The plan is for no one to see you."
"I know I just, I didn't want it left unsaid though."
John looked up at the stars reverting briefly to his true form. "Before I came to earth. I had a family, a daughter too. I was powerless to stop them from being taken from me. Mary, Chloe, your daughter and you are part of my family now and I am not powerless this time. From one father to another, you will not suffer the same the fate as me while I have breath." Shimmering into the form of Oliver and ready to be the body double. "Now lets go get our girls."
To be Continued
We have three chapters to go - unless the chapter count goes up again (lol). Make a girls day - I would love a hundred reviews by the time the story is finished.
Next Chapter - Keep Holding On
