Anything But Ordinary
Chapter 20
Chapter 20
No longer concerned about Davis, leaving him to the doctors, Chloe walked numbly toward her fallen heroes “Take him outside! Hurry!” she gestured toward Clark upon seeing him more closely, calling to her bedraggled group of boys as they entered the partially destroyed warehouse. Victor’s robotic arm hung loosely, disconnected against his side, and Chloe winced inwardly at the sight of multi-colored wires like spaghetti strings protruding from his shoulder. Bart was badly bruised, his bottom lip bleeding, his red suit torn in places, but he seemed no worse for wear, thankfully. A.C. was the only one left unscathed. After he’d helped her to stay on her feet, he began tossing debris from both Clark and Oliver as Chloe anxiously looked on until she could reach her Archer and heal him.
She cast worried glances at Bart and Victor. “Are you all right?”
“No worries, chica. Would take more than that fugly bastard to bring Impulse down,” he gestured toward himself, offering her a cocky, puffy-lipped, reassuring grin to prove his point.
“It’s all right, Tower. Doesn’t hurt a bit.” Victor grunted as he reached for Clark with his good hand. “Nothing a good electrician can’t fix.” He and A.C. carried Clark out through the huge hole in the wall and lay him on the soft grass outside, exposing him to healing sunlight.
She felt completely drained, but she dredged up what strength she had left, and sank weakly to her knees beside Oliver, who remained unmoving. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and she noted that his dark glasses must have flown off somewhere. “It’ll be all right,” she whispered, stroking his dirty cheek with trembling fingertips. She closed her eyes, placing her hands over his chest, not certain where his injuries were, thinking they must be internal as there were no other signs of outward injury. The briefest flicker of light emanated from her hands, but nothing more.
Panic and confusion began building and swirling in her belly. She gazed down at Oliver, lifeless as before, and lifted terrified eyes to Bart who knelt opposite. “It’s not working!” Determined, Chloe slipped her hand beneath his shoulders, trying desperately to lift his weight in her arms. Oliver’s head lolled back with the movement, his eyes remained closed. “No! Oliver!” she cried, cradling him, closing her eyes, tears squeezing from beneath her lids slipping down her cheeks. She buried her face against his neck. “Nooo,” her grief-stricken voice emerged muffled against him. “It’s not working!” Brief flashes of static, pulsing light washed over them both and then flickered dead.
Chloe thought she heard Bart’s urgent voice from somewhere far away, but she was beyond hearing, beyond caring about anything else but the man in her arms, and using everything she had left to give him to bring him back to her. She wasn’t aware that Davis Bloom had now begun reacting to the DNA transfer, and once again had started a transformation that no one expected. She didn’t hear the shouts of doctors scrambling for safety around her, the crash of equipment, nor feel the shaking of the ground beneath her, the walls trembling and crumbling around her. Oliver. Her world was full of only him and the desperate need to bring him back to her. Chloe felt a dizziness wash over her, as though she were falling, spinning in a maelstrom of nothingness. Nothing else existed. There was only Oliver.
“Chloe!”
“Let’s get them out of here!” It was Clark’s voice reaching her through the rumbling chaotic din. It was the last thing she heard before blackness overtook her.
The creature appeared unstoppable. Clark called for the other team members to help clear everyone out, and then scooped up both Chloe and Oliver, speeding them a safe distance away. The small group reassembled, and watched as the creature, now equipped with heat vision, burned the warehouse to the ground. He then tipped his monstrous head skyward, and in the blink of an eye he was off the ground and soaring through the air in flight, leaving them awestruck. What had they done? The creature now appeared to have Clark’s abilities, with none of his inhibitions. He was more dangerous now than ever and none of them had any idea where he was headed.
They looked at one another, no one certain what to say. Bart suddenly took off without warning, and was back within a minute. “He’s gone back to the facility. Back to Tess.”
A low moan was heard from the ground. Clark knelt beside Oliver. His eyes flitted open. “Chloe.”
“She’s here, right next to you.” Clark shook his head. “But she’s still out. She tried to heal you…”
“She did,” Oliver groaned holding his head as he moved to a sitting position, hood and glasses forgotten. “But…” he grunted then gasped in pain. “Not completely,” he murmured, briefly searching for her momentarily disoriented, then finding her next to him, he rolled to his side, cupping her cheek. His breathing was labored, fighting against the pain in his leg and throbbing in his head. “Chloe?”
“Keeping Davis immobile took a lot out of her,” Bart offered. “She barely had any juice left to bring your green butt back.”
“She was pretty weak, Ollie,” A.C. interjected. “She might need more time to recover,” he added hopefully.
Oliver didn’t hear them. “Chloe?” His breath caught in a throat that began to constrict with fear. Her skin was cold to the touch. Not the way she was the last time, weak but still conscious, able to talk to him. His gut clenched. Something wasn’t right. “Chloe?”
The others saw his panic rising. “Oliver, let’s get back to the Tower,” Clark soothed. “We’ll figure out what to do then. If Davis went back to Tess, it’s doubtful he’ll do anything right now.”
Oliver lifted his eyes from Chloe to his friends, his face stricken. Words failed him and he simply nodded. Bart and A.C. helped him up, finding he was unable to walk unaided, he leaned on his friends for support as they made their way back to what was left of the parking lot, hoping none of the cars were destroyed. She’d healed him, maybe even brought him back from death. Oliver glanced over his shoulder at Chloe, her limbs hanging limp and lifeless as Clark carried her. She’d come back. She always did, didn’t she? She’d come back to him and he’d take her away, maybe she’d come with him, back to Star City, maybe he’d convince her to be his Watchtower forever. Maybe he’d take her on a vacation somewhere, anywhere but here, someplace they could find some peace for a while. She’d come back. She had to.
* * * * * *
“What do you want?”
“I think you know.”
Tess lifted a manicured brow, knowing she had Oliver Queen right where she wanted him. He hated it. Hated having to come to her for anything. She knew it, and this knowledge gave her an invigorating sense of power.
“What makes you think I’d help you, even if I could?”
Oliver pursed his lips, licking them briefly before glancing away. Three days had passed, and still Chloe remained in some comatose state. Not dead, not alive; hanging somewhere in the balance between life and death in some netherworld that he could neither extricate her from nor enter. He’d stayed by her side, hoping, waiting. He’d flown in the best doctors from around the country to see to her welfare, but nothing and no one could release her from the bonds that held her in that empty place. But Tess; Tess might have some answers. She’d been keeping Davis Bloom hidden, had access to him and to the creature, and Oliver would do anything at this moment. If there was some connection between Davis and Chloe, maybe… just maybe something could be done to help her. Or if not, maybe Tess’s scientists could do something, having worked extensively with the alien beast. Oliver was out of ideas, and Tess was his last resort, his last hope for saving Chloe’s life and bringing her out of her vegetative state, and back among the living. “I have something you want.”
Her eyes thinned, scrutinizing him as she rose from behind her desk, rounding it casually with the sway of her hips. The handsome billionaire looked worn and haggard as though he’d not slept in some time. He sported a fading black eye. Tess knew why he’d come. “And what might that be?”
“Me.” He took a few halting steps toward her desk. His limp was only slightly noticeable now, that and the fading bruise around his eye, evidence of his ordeal against the creature three days ago. “You’ve been wanting my death for some time now, haven’t you?” Oliver shrugged, lifting his arms out beside him in a gesture of surrender. “Now’s your chance.”
“Oh, Oliver.” Tess mocked, her voice laced with faux sympathy. She stepped up closer, her eyes boring into his. “So dramatic. And all for the love of some slip of a girl, who will be nothing but a footnote in the great soap opera of the many loves of Oliver Queen.” She pouted dramatically. “But you take all the joy out of it by making it too easy for me, being so noble and all…”
Oliver stopped her words, shocking her with the strong grip of his fist clutching her collar, and pulling her up by the throat. “Do you want me dead or not?” He ground out between clenched teeth, his eyes were wild, and because he’d not slept in days, his gaze reminded her of one gone mad.
Tess shoved him away, stepping back, surprised and relieved that he’d released her. “Your desperation is showing, Mr. Queen,” she said, trying to sound as noncommittal and unemotional as possible, smoothing her blouse down casually. The truth was, she was shaking inside. She’d never seen him so rattled and undone. “After all you’ve done to me, and to Lex,” she made a haughty sound in the back of her throat. “I’d love nothing more than to see you dead. But you know what I’d enjoy more?” she asked, taking a few steps around him, like a shark circling its prey. “I’d love nothing more than to see you live to suffer over the loss of the woman you love. Yes. That would give me much more pleasure. To watch you grow into some twisted version of yourself as you visit her every day, knowing she can’t hear you, see you or respond to you in any way.” Tess’s eyes began to glaze over with the vision of Oliver peering forlornly at Chloe through some hermetically sealed glass case as though he were an orphan peering through a toy store window at Christmas. She laughed out loud at the thought. “Knowing it’s hopeless, knowing she gave herself for you, and your wretched excuse of a life. Yes. I think I much prefer that a shell of you merely exists in the world, than have you die to save her.”
Oliver swallowed convulsively, his Adam’s apple bobbing lightly. “Maybe you’re right. But maybe the truth is, you can’t save her, just as you’re unable to control Davis Bloom.”
“My leash is far reaching,” Tess scoffed. “He owes me a great debt. I’m not worried, Mr. Queen. Now, if there’s nothing further to discuss, I believe you know the way out.”
Tess strode back to her desk, taking a seat, leaving Oliver to stand alone, dejected. He inhaled deeply, filling his lungs, releasing the pent up breath on a soft sigh. It had been a gamble, coming here in the first place, and he silently berated himself for doing it. But, he’d not be thwarted. He’d find a way to get Chloe back. With nothing more to do, he left quietly, returning to his Metropolis penthouse. He’d have to make arrangements to take Chloe back to Star City with him. He’d never give up trying to awaken his sleeping beauty.
Davis Bloom watched from a discreet distance as Queen limped out through the mansion’s double doors and entered his limousine. He waited until the car had pulled away, before entering Tess’s office.
“You didn’t tell me she needed help.”
She didn’t wonder how he’d overheard the conversation as he’d apparently discovered some superhearing ability only yesterday, that along with a few other new tricks he’d picked up somehow. Tess nearly rolled her eyes. She was becoming bored with Bloom’s obsession with Chloe Sullivan. First Queen, then Bloom. Tess couldn’t figure what was so special about the woman. Certainly she was intelligent and useful, but beyond that, Tess couldn’t understand it. “She’s of no consequence to you now, Davis. We’ve got more important work to do. And you’ve only just recuperated from whatever it was they’ve done to you. No need to worry about Ms. Sullivan.”
His eyes flashed red. “Don’t tell me what I should and shouldn’t worry about, Ms. Mercer.”
“She’s Oliver Queen’s problem now.”
Davis felt a sense of sadness wash over him and cast his eyes downward. Chloe Sullivan belonged to Oliver Queen, and there was nothing he could do about it.
“You can help her.”
“Maybe. But I won’t.” Tess shrugged, returning her attention to the file in front of her.
Davis looked up at her now, wonderingly, as though he couldn’t fathom why she’d not want to offer her help. “Why not?”
“Are you all right, Davis?” Her brows furrowed at his question. Davis was acting strangely.
“You have to help her!”
“Why should I?”
“Be…because, it’s what you should do.”
“And if I don’t?”
Davis shook his head, clearly becoming agitated and flustered. “But… but you have a healing serum that you’ve developed from her blood. You took her blood when you captured her. You can help her!”
Tess stood abruptly from her chair moving to stand in front of him. His behavior was more than cause for concern. Since when had her killing machine gone soft? “Davis. Davis! Look at me,” she began, waiting until he lifted his eyes to hers. “Those people are our enemies. They’ve hurt us, they’ve done something to you, how can you want to help them?”
He shook his head. “Not them. Chloe.” He said, and in the blink of an eye, the air swirled around her, tossing her hair about her face. Davis was gone. Tess headed toward her desk picking up her cell phone, dialing angrily. This would not do. Whatever they’d done to Davis, she’d put a stop to it.
* * * * * *
Oliver stood on the tarmac, ready to board his private jet. Chloe was already inside, along with a private nurse, two doctors, and medical equipment.
“You’ll let us know as soon as anything changes, right?” Clark asked nervously. He wasn’t certain of the wisdom of having Chloe transported to Star City, but it seemed to ease some of the despondency Oliver felt, and Clark knew she’d be in good hands.
Oliver nodded. “Yeah,” he whispered. “It’s safer there for her.” He cast a backward glance at the opened jet, dark, tired eyes returned to Clark. “You let me know the same. Just because we haven’t found him yet, doesn’t mean he’s not out there. If that creature shows up again, I’ll do what I can to help.”
Clark pulled a Kryptonian crystal from his jacket pocket, showing it to Oliver. “This might be the only thing we have left that that’ll work.”
Oliver gazed down numbly at the crystal. He wasn’t certain what it was for, and didn’t ask, but if Clark thought it would help, then he’d have to trust him.
Their attention was diverted by shouts coming from the jet. A sidewall of the plane billowed out and exploded, as the creature plowed through it, Chloe’s limp body in its arms.
“Chloe!” Oliver shouted. “No!” He hobbled toward the beast, it’s red eyes glowing, it stared at Oliver momentarily, and then gazed down at the small woman in its arms. Lifting its head once more it let out a deep growl. “Clark! Do something! Use that damned alien crystal!”
“I can’t! That thing’s got Chloe, if I use it now, it’ll take her to the Phantom Zone too.”
Before Oliver could answer there was a whoosh of air, and it was gone, Clark taking off in hot pursuit.
“Mr. Queen!” It was the nurse running toward him. Oliver turned, dumbstruck over what he’d seen and his inability to react or do anything about it. “Mr. Queen,” she struggled for breath. “He said… he said he was taking her to Tess… to her facility... and that… that you should follow him. Does that mean anything to you? Does that make sense? And then…. and then he just… transformed. Oh, it was terrible! Mr. Queen?”
Oliver blinked. “Yes. Makes perfect sense. Thanks,” he said doing his best to trot with a banged up knee, over quickly to where his car was parked.
It was growing dark by the time he reached the site. He drove like a maniac to the facility, but upon exiting the car he wondered if he’d been too late. There was extensive damage to the exterior. Having no time to gear up, Oliver simply retrieved his compound bow from the car, and made his way inside. It was quiet. Too quiet; as though he’d come upon the aftermath of some disaster, or perhaps it was the calm before the storm? Oliver tread carefully down a corridor, pivoting swiftly around the corner, bow at the ready. His heart pounding wildly with every step he took, he entered the main lab, his eyes widening in horror at the bloodbath before him. Several people in white coats covered in blood, lay strewn about the room, their bodies torn and shredded. Equipment upturned and surgical instruments helter-skelter everywhere he turned. He scanned for any sign of Chloe, thinking he’d wretch at any moment at the sight of such human devastation, when a loud screeching noise sounded on the air, and Oliver, almost grateful to be out of the room, headed toward it. It lead to the opposite side of the building seeming to come from outside.
Shouldering an exit door open, he came upon the sight of the beast, still clutching Chloe’s pajama clad body in one arm about the waist, her body slung over, arms and legs dangling, her golden hair tousled over her head. Dread and fear rioted within him at the sight of her, but he needed to remain calm. Someone called his name softly, and Oliver moved toward the sound finding Clark some twenty feet away, tossed carelessly to the ground near some underbrush. Oliver crept over toward Clark, crouching low, keeping his eyes on the creature who continued to howl as though in pain.
“What happened?” Oliver whispered breathlessly, sinking to his knees beside his friend, panicked eyes still on Chloe, searching for signs that she was unharmed.
“He’s killed everyone inside…” Clark gasped. “He made them do something to her. Injected her with something, I don’t know what…” Clark swallowed, wincing in pain. “I couldn’t stop them. Too much Kryptonite in the room…. Then, when nothing happened he went berserk. Everyone’s dead.”
“How’d you get out here?”
Clark motioned with his head toward a gaping hole in the side of the building. “He tossed me through it.” He shook his head. “I can’t beat him. He’s stronger than me, has my abilities, only more powerful.”
“He might be strong, but he has a weakness,” Oliver said, his voice determined, rising to his feet. “Chloe.”
“No. Wait. Oliver…”
“Davis!” A shout sounded from the building exit, causing both men to turn toward the voice. It was Tess. She waited until the creature lifted his head in her direction, a low growl escaping its throat. “Put her down.” Tess moved slowly toward him. “Come inside,” she continued, her tone soothing. “We’ll fix her. We’ll fix her and then you can keep her, all right? That’s what you want, isn’t it?”
The creature only growled more loudly at this, tossing its head from side to side.
“I promise.” Tess stepped closer, stealthily slipping a pistol loaded with Kryptonite tipped bullets from behind her, tucked in the waistband of her jeans. “Your own little pet. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“Bitch,” Oliver muttered beneath his breath as he listened to Tess. She hadn’t seen them near the bushes in the growing darkness, and he had half a mind to send an arrow flying in her direction.
“Easy Oliver,” Clark warned. “Just wait. Watch him. I think he’s listening to her.”
“Come on,” Tess crooned, urging him as though talking to a petulant child. “Come on, put her down. That’s it. Easy.”
The beast lowered Chloe to the ground carefully, and Oliver was struck by the tenderness it seemed to show her, even stroking her cheek as he settled her onto the soft earth.
The beast lifted its head once more, and as it did, Tess fired off six shots in rapid succession. The Kryptonite bullets penetrated the creature’s gray cast skin, but did not stop him. Enraged, it flew at Tess. Oliver fired off several arrows in a vain attempt to stop it, but it clawed at her, and flung her around tossing her into the brick wall, her limp body falling to the ground in a broken heap after impact. The beast, satisfied that Tess was no longer a threat, stomped back toward where he’d left Chloe, finding Oliver already kneeling at her side. He’d removed his leather jacket covering her against the chilled night air. The monster simply stared at them with those red eyes, a low, almost ghostly sound emerging from its chest. Oliver stared back wide eyed, slowly, carefully gathering Chloe in his arms. He wouldn’t attempt any sudden moves, but now he’d just made himself a sitting duck. The beast could easily attack them now, but for some reason, he didn’t, and Oliver, his pulse pounding, body frozen, could do nothing but wait for the killing blow. Still, the beast did nothing, and Oliver wondered if he’d let them go. Adjusting Chloe in his arms, he rose to his feet, never taking his eyes from the beast. Seeing that it made no move toward him, Oliver took one step back, then another, inching further away. Red glowing eyes simply watched him.
Slowly the creature turned its head in Clark’s direction, as though expecting him, as though knowing what lay ahead. A blue-white beam of light hit him, and Oliver watched, awestruck as Clark held up the crystal in his hand. The creature spread his arms, and lifted his head, emitting a heart-rending howl, as he seemed to accept his fate, and his entire body swirled before Oliver’s eyes, the crystal like a vacuum, pulling, drawing the creature’s body inside, and then abruptly sealing itself up.
Exhausted, Clark fell to his knees, and slipped the crystal back into his pocket.
“Ollie?” Chloe’s soft voice broke the silence. He blinked and looked down at her in his arms, relief flooding him.
“Chloe,” he could barely breath, so overcome with emotion at her recovery. “It’s all right now. Everything’s going to be all right.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, gladly accepting his every kiss.
End Chapter 20
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