An Origin Story: 18/23

[bluesuedeshoes]

Author:  BlueSuede
Title:  An Origin Story
Rating: R/M
Genre: Friendship/Romance
Pairings:  Chloe/Oliver
Summary:  AU in which Oliver's parents never died
Warnings: minor spoilers for most early seasons



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Prologue

Previous (Chapter 17)
Next (Chapter 19)

Chapter 18

Merry Men

Chloe was trying not to panic. Oliver was on his way, and for some reason he had her tracking his parents' flight. She had asked why, but Oliver had already hung up.

She bit her lip anxiously, wondering for the hundredth time why Oliver would respond to Clark's being missing in action with checking his parents' flight progress. She was about to pick up the phone to call him again when there was a knocking on the door of Lois's apartment. Chloe had sent Lois to the Planet, convincing Lois that Chloe would find Clark and that he'd probably gone to the farm for the night and overslept by accident. When she went to get the door and found Oliver there, she swallowed the question of how he got there so quickly, realizing that she probably didn't want to know.

"They're over the Atlantic. What's going on?"

"Remember when I told you Luthor tried to kill my parents?" he asked, moving past her to see her laptop for himself.

Chloe nodded.

"I think he's going to try again. And I think he's made damn sure that Clark isn't around to save them. He must have realized my parents figured Clark out. I think he's known for a while."

"You don't think he'd-"

"No," Oliver shook his head. "Lionel wouldn't want to kill Clark. He just wants to be the only one with influence over him."

Chloe closed her eyes for a couple of seconds, as though rewiring her brain with the new information and with what she had to do. When they flew back open, a look of determination was etched on her face. "Well then we have to get Clark so Clark can save your parents." She moved with purpose to the computer and started typing furiously.

"What are you doing?"

"Activating the GPS I had planted in Clark's phone."

Oliver stared at her, and she gave him an almost patronizing look. "He'll get over it. He's debatably the most powerful person on the planet. You think I was going to let him walk around all by himself?" she raised an eyebrow at him before turning back to the computer.

Oliver blinked at her in no little awe before he snapped out of it and started making calls to the airports his parents had left and would be leaving for. His parents themselves were not answering. Undoubtedly, he told himself, because they had turned their phones off for the flight.

"I've found him," Chloe piped up a moment later as he managed to get hold of the manager of the airport they were landing at in Belgium. In a rush he spilled out that the man needed to delay his parents' flight out of there, and to insist that they contact Oliver as soon as they landed. The man seemed incredibly confused, but also understood that the Queens more or less paid the bills for the small airport, so there was no point refusing. Only minimally relieved, Oliver turned to Chloe, who opened her mouth only to be interrupted by the ringing of Oliver's phone. He grabbed it eagerly, but his face dropped in exasperation when he saw the name on the screen was not his parents'.

"I forgot about Hamilton," Oliver groaned.

"Give it to me," Chloe said, snatching it without asking. "Hello?" she said, answering the call. "This is Mr. Queen's secretary," she paused, listening, "yes I understand. No, it's our fault entirely. Can we possibly reschedule? Mr. Queen will still be in town tomorrow. Yes, excellent. Absolutely. He's very sorry. He told me explicitly to be sure to apologize to you and explain that it was a family emergency. Yes, of course. Thank you so much. Goodbye, Dr. Hamilton." She hung up and handed the phone to Oliver. "Problem solved," she said simply. "Bigger problem: I know where Clark is."

"Shouldn't that be a solved problem?" he asked warily.

She shook her head. "Not when he appears to be locked in a LuthorCorp facility on the outskirts of Smallville."

Oliver almost didn't want to ask. "Locked?" he repeated, knowing that it would take more than a simple deadbolt to keep Clark Kent out or in.

Chloe looked at the computer screen nervously, biting her lip. "It looks like the plant is used for research on the 'anatomical applications of various geological substances.' "

Oliver frowned. "Meaning?"

"They're experimenting with meteor rocks, and-" she took a deep breath, and Oliver was struck with the impression that she was mentally arguing with herself, "Clark's allergic."

"Allergic?" Oliver deadpanned.

"It's the easiest way to explain it. Point is, that stuff can hurt him. Even kill him. Oliver, we've got to get him out of there."

"And my parents?" he asked, starting to feel the enormity of the situation settle in on him. For all he knew, any minute the death of his parents would be all over the news.

"Oliver, if anyone can save your parents, it's Clark. I'll keep trying to contact them, but in the meantime, you're the only one who can save Clark."

She looked at him with such confidence, a hint of pleading in her voice, what else could he do but agree to it? He nodded. "How do I get there?"

Even in the weight of the situation, Chloe couldn't help the tiniest of smiles that tugged at the corner of her lips. "You, follow my instructions. I'm calling in reinforcements."

He raised an eyebrow. "Reinforcements? I don't like the sound of that."

"You're going to need help, Oliver. I have friends who will literally come running."

"I don't do teams, Chloe."

She shot him a look that silenced further arguments. "You're going to start," with which statement she pulled out her own cell phone.

It was less than half an hour later when Bart, Victor, and AC were bickering over communication links while Chloe stared at her laptop, four blinking lights indicating their location as well as Oliver's. She had called Bart first, using his help to round up Victor and AC, both of whom had come willingly enough when they found out it was Chloe asking for their help. However, now that she had the four boys together, it was difficult to keep them under control.

Just as she was thinking that, however, she heard Oliver speak up on the other end. "Hey, shut up and listen. This is a touch time sensitive," he said in a sarcastically threatening voice. "Chloe, we've taken out the two guards outside the back garage entrance. Take us in."

Chloe felt a slight smile curve her lips. Oliver appeared to have a few leadership skills, as it turned out. Other than a mild rumble from someone about green tights, none of the others argued, and she was finally dealing with a group that sounded manageable.

"Okay, I'm overriding the security codes as we speak," she explained. "As soon as you're in, Cyborg, I need you to try to tap into the security cameras onsite. If you can get me into the feed, I can figure out which room Boyscout is in. In the meantime, I'm going to set off the sprinkler systems for you, Aquaman. That way you and Bart should be able to take out the guards. I can see heat signatures crawling all over this place. Between the two of you, you should be able to clear the way for Arrow." Chloe felt almost a little ridiculous saying it all, as though she were playing on walky-talkies with a bunch of children, but the code names were necessary in case someone were to tap the same channel. It had only occurred to her moments ago when Oliver referred to her by her given name that they'd forgotten to give her an alternative designation. She shrugged a weary shoulder at the thought.

"No problem, 'licious," Bart was replying. "We'll clear the path for green bean there in a matter of seconds."

"Thanks," Chloe nodded. "All right guys, security's down. You should be able to waltz on in, but it won't take more than a moment for someone to notice the interrupted video feeds, so you won't have much time before you're swimming in guards," she warned as she watched their GPS signals enter the facility.

She could practically picture AC rubbing his hands together at her figure of speech. "Good thing I can hold my breath indefinitely."

Chloe grinned, flicking the last switch to activate the sprinklers. Almost as soon as she had, Victor was proudly informing her that he was streaming the videos her way. "You're amazing Cyborg," she told him. "Brace yourselves, guys. The guards are heading your way. I'm counting about five on the way. Once they realize what they're dealing with there's bound to be more," she told them. "I'll have Boyscout's location for you in a matter of seconds."

It was all Chloe could do to maintain focus as she surfed through the various video signals not to listen to the sound of scuffling on the other end of the lines. She knew her boys could more than handle themselves, but it wasn't in her nature not to worry. An alert on her computer distracted her from the camera streams for a moment. She cursed silently before warning the others. "Guys we're about to have a lot more company."

Then, to her surprise, she heard Oliver speak up again. "Everybody get down and hold your breath!" Chloe blinked in confusion. "Arrow? What are you doing? Guys? Somebody report!"

"Relax, 'licious. Chuckles over there has some sort of smoke-screen arrow," Bart responded easily, though Chloe didn't like the fact that he coughed as he was explaining.

"Smoke screen?"

"Knock-out gas," Oliver clarified, "They're still experimental, but-" before he could finish, Chloe interrupted.

"I've found him! Finally!"

"Where's he at, Chloe?" AC asked.

"Fourth floor down. Take a left and head for the elevator."

"Fourth floor down?" Victor asked as Chloe watched their signatures follow her directions.

"Yeah, there's five sub-levels below ground. Anyone want to start placing bets on whether or not the authorities know about that? Oh, head's up on the lef-" before she could finish she heard a thud and Victor reported that he had it covered.

"Based on the number of security guards they have here, I'm going to say that's a negative," AC added.

Chloe watched as they all safely entered the lift, and immediately turned her attention back to tracking the Queens' flight. So far, there was nothing out of the ordinary, but they were also barely a third of the way across the ocean. If anyone were going to try anything, it would only make sense to wait for the halfway point. Chloe took yet another nervous sip of coffee, noticing with disdain that the cup rattled in her hands. She was glad no one was there to see her losing her cool.

Her attention snapped back to the boys when someone informed her that the elevator had stopped. She also noted that someone had managed to turn off the fire sprinklers, which meant that AC's super strength would only last a limited amount of time. "Cyborg?" she asked, referring to the elevators.

"Already on it."

"Good," she said. "I'm getting a read on how much security is surrounding the room Clark's locked in," she told them, simultaneously attempting to bring up the fire alarms again.

"Elevator's working again," Oliver notified her.

Chloe beamed. "Cyborg, you're officially my new favorite-"

"Hey!" a simultaneous chorus of protest from Bart and Oliver interrupted her.

"-Now as soon as you get off, you'll have to deal with two guards, otherwise, there doesn't appear to be anyone else on that level, save for one in the back hallway, just outside Boyscout's campout. So if you can keep anyone from coming from other floors..."

"We can make this short and sweet," AC finished. "Me and Cyborg can hold down the fort while Impulse and Arrow take care of Boyscout."

"Just what I wanted to hear."

Within seconds Bart and Oliver were splitting off down the hall to Clark, following Chloe's directions while AC and Cyborg took care of any possible interruptions.

Bart took off ahead of Oliver, impatient to take care of the other guard, as he informed Chloe and Oliver. By the time Oliver got down the hall, he had to shakes his head in mild amusement, having found Bart dancing circles around the rather heavyset guard until he was impossibly dizzy. Oliver hit the staggering man in the back of his head, successfully knocking him out.

With that out of the way, Bart helped unhinge the door containing Clark, and the two of them found him lying on the ground, surrounded by shelf upon shelf of a glowing green liquid. "Chloe, he's..."

Chloe's heart stopped along with Oliver's sentence. "What? She demanded. What's wrong?"

"He doesn't look too hot, 'licious," Bart said warily, racing to the side of an unconscious Clark.

Oliver joined him and felt for a pulse. "He's alive," Oliver breathed, a sigh Chloe felt in her own chest. "But barely. He's been in here a long time."

"Get him out. Immediately. He needs sunlight."

"He's not a daisy, Chloe," Oliver warned, afraid she was getting her hopes up. From the looks of it, Clark was long past his expiration date.

"Just get him out there!" Chloe said. No sooner had the words passed her lips than her computer sent her an alert. She'd tapped into the radio signal of the Queens' private jet. Someone had sent a distress signal. "Oliver, NOW! Bart, clear the way for him. I don't care if you have to tunnel out, just get him to the sunlight!"

Everyone on the other end of the communicators noticed the sudden change in Chloe's tone. There were no witty, confident retorts this time, just silent submission to her instructions.

When Bart and Oliver found AC and Victor again, they were having a run for their money with five guards trying to get off the lift. Oliver pulled out his crossbow and embedded darts in three of them, rendering them unconscious. Bart, in the meantime, helped Victor take down the other two.

"Guys? Somebody give me an update."

"We're good, but Fishboy's fading pretty quick," Victor reported.

"I resent that," AC added, as the four of them clambered onto the elevator again, the dead-weight that was currently Clark in tow.

"Facts are facts," Victor muttered, so that Chloe just barely caught the words on her end. She smiled warily. AC might resent it, but the fact was, the longer he was out of the water, the more quickly his strength faded, meaning that he might become just an extra responsibility on the way out, and less of an asset.

"Either way," Chloe interrupted before AC could retort, "we're in the home stretch, from what I can see, there' a batch of people waiting at the top of the elevator, but otherwise, you've got little to worry about on the way out. Archer, do you have another one of those knock-out gas arrows?"

"One left," he said. "Like I was saying, though, they're still in the development phase."

"Yeah, well you're almost to the top floor. Will it work or won't it?" Chloe asked. She still had an eye on the Queen's flight, which seemed to be steering off-course.

"I think so. The first one did."

"Good. Give it a shot. We're running out of time."

"What do you mean we're running out of time?" Oliver demanded, more concerned than ever about the sudden change in Chloe's tone.

"Just go!" Chloe ordered as the doors of the elevator slid open. The boys all dropped to the floor, covering their mouths and noses as Oliver took aim at the wall opposite them and the remaining security guards lunged against them.

The arrow didn't go off.

Oliver cursed and the others jumped to their feet, caught in a vulnerable position as the guards tackled them. Victor managed to send one of them flying to a wall, where he slumped down, unconscious, and Bart ran circles around two of them, causing more trouble than good when they started firing at him, random bullets ricocheting wildly in the hallway. AC struggled hand-to-hand with a guard, a now even match with the depletion of his strength. He bought Oliver, who still had Clark slung over his shoulder, some time, though. Oliver raised his crossbow and faired a dart directly at the first one. Within instants, it detonated, releasing the gas from the first one into the room. As everyone in the room began coughing, only the team realized why, having the presence of mind to hold their breath and make a break for it while the guards began to drop like flies.

Chloe silently thanked God when she saw their signals break away and head for the exit.

"With no time to spare, either," she muttered to herself, checking again on the Queens.

"Mayday. Mayday," she could hear Robert Queen's voice. "Our pilot has abandoned ship. We're rapidly losing altitude, and we can't find the parachutes. Is anyone there? Mayday!"

Chloe wished she could respond, wished she could tell Robert Queen that on the other side of the globe, she and his son were doing everything in their power to help them.

"Impulse," she said. "Come get me and take me to the rendezvous."

Within seconds, Bart was at her side, albeit confused about the change in plans. Yet, without asking questions, ever-trusting Chloe's judgement, he swept her up in his arms, and a split second later they were beating the rest of the team back to their safe-zone in Smallville. AC and Victor walked in, AC in particular looking worse for the wear, but Chloe had eyes for only Oliver, who walked in last, bearing the weight of a still-lifeless Clark.

Chloe rushed to his side, eyes scanning him for injuries as he started to drop Clark to the floor. "No," she stopped him. "Over here." She helped him pull Clark to a window, which she promptly opened, allowing sunlight to stream undiluted onto Clark.

They all stood around him, watching Chloe kneel next to him. Oliver rested his hand on her shoulder, trying to find the words to explain to her that they needed to find someone who could help Clark. He couldn't understand why she was so fixated on this sunlight-thing. She seemed obsessed with the idea that it was going to help. How could he tell her she was being irrational?

Yet just as he opened his mouth to try to sway her, Clark Kent stirred. In a moment he was sitting upright, gasping for air. He looked around him in surprise, body tensing as the memory of where he had passed out seemed to come back to him. Just as quickly, he seemed to relax, but as an onslaught of questions formed on his lips, Chloe stopped him, explaining to him the Queens' situation, knowing he was the only one who could save them. Oliver listened to her with growing horror, realizing that what he was afraid of was already taking place.

"Clark," Chloe said, looking him squarely in the eyes. "You have to fly."

Clark looked ready to protest, but Chloe shook her head.

"We both know you can."

Clark nodded, and in an instant, he was gone, leaving only a gust of wind in his wake.

"Fly?" came the simultaneous question from every other mouth in the room.

Chloe looked up at Oliver and shrugged, though he could still see the anxiety in his eyes. "He's been working on it." She stood up and looked around at them. "We should get back to the hotel. You guys are a mess," she told them, putting on a brave face.

Oliver shook his head. She was definitely some kind of woman.


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Next (Chapter 19)