Chapter 14
Oliver stood bent at the waist, hands on his knees, head down, trying to get his bearings.
“You okay?” Clark asked.
“Yeah. How the hell does Chloe handle that trip without Dramamine?”
Clark smiled lightly. “She’s used to it by now.”
“I don’t think I’d ever get used to it.” Oliver stood to his full height, surveying his surroundings. The warehouse was in sight, situated among a few other smaller outbuildings, all surrounded in barbed wire fencing. Aside from that, the area was fairly void of any other structures, and surrounded by vacant land. A gravel road led up to the main entrance, where several cars were parked.
“Looks like Lex is here,” Oliver noted. He then tapped his comlink. “Cyborg, what have you got?”
“Heat signatures indicate not much movement on the outside, but things are hopping on the inside.”
Clark took a moment to use his superhearing, grasping snippets of conversation inside the facility. He paraphrased aloud. “She’s gotten away somehow… knocked someone out… they can’t find her.”
“Knocked someone out, huh?” Oliver grinned, placing his glasses on, and raising his hood up, he slung his bow over his shoulder. “That’s my girl,” he said, with obvious pride. “Now let’s go get her. Cyborg, lead the way.”
Victor proceeded to guide them through the easiest way into the warehouse. Oliver, Clark, and AC dispensed with the few sentries that impeded their entry, and Clark, using his superhearing was able to locate Chloe, while Bart set charges throughout. AC’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker. “Evacuate the building now, explosives are set to detonate in fifteen minutes. Repeat. Evacuate this building immediately!” He then set the alarm, and red lights flashed on and off throughout the facility.
“Arrow.” Clark called to him as they ran through a corridor together, then came to a halt. “She’s hiding, just up ahead, third door to the left. I’m going to make sure everyone’s out before this place blows.”
Oliver understood what Clark’s action meant. It was Clark’s way of letting her go, of giving his approval, of letting Oliver be the one to find her and bring her to safety, of entrusting him with Chloe’s well-being. He nodded once. “Thanks, Boy Scout.”
Clark nodded in return and watched him run toward the door. To Chloe.
Chloe heard AC’s voice over the intercom, relief flooding her. She’d managed to get away, but she was lost in the maze of darkened hallways and numerous doors with no markings, or exit signs. She’d tried several doors, but those had been locked. Finally finding a door that opened, she’d apparently entered some type of large examination room. Lined with several hospital beds, medical equipment and file cabinets. Dead end again. As she had been about to exit, to continue her search for a way out, she saw the approaching figure of Lex Luthor, and ducked back inside the room. Unfortunately, he had seen the door swing closed. It didn’t take him long to find her, hiding crouched behind a cabinet.
Lex drew his pistol, and grabbed Chloe up by the front of her shirt, pressing the nose of the gun to her temple.
“I find that women usually prefer a more subtle approach, Luthor.” A deep, distorted voice echoed in the room. “You will take your hands off of her. Now.”
Lex froze momentarily. Then grinned. “This was all too easy,” he muttered smoothly. Slowly, Lex turned sideways, his grip on Chloe unwavering, to see none other than the Green Arrow, bow at the ready. Lex repositioned the gun under her chin, cocking the trigger. Chloe’s mind raced, entertaining a hundred ways to escape the situation in less than a few seconds, and dismissing each one in turn.
Oliver too was unwavering, seething with anger. His body as taut as the bow stretched in his hands. His eyes swept over her quickly, taking in the sight of her cheek, slightly bruised and her bottom lip reddened and puffy. But it was her eyes that captured him, as they always did. Those expressive green eyes that he’d learned to read, that told him her every thought, her every emotion. Oliver could almost see her mind working to find a way out.
No one moved. The blaring sound of the pulsing intermittent alarm, coupled with red flashing light added to the increasing tension.
“This place is going to blow in less than fifteen minutes. You let her go, I let you go. We all get out of here and live to fight again another day.”
“I’ll see you in hell first,” Lex snarled.
To Chloe, it seemed that what happened next occurred in slow motion, yet everything was a blur to her.
Suddenly, Lex pointed his gun at Oliver and fired. Oliver shot an arrow at Lex. Lex recoiled, losing his grip on Chloe, falling. He pulled the arrow from his shoulder and then ran, staggering from the room stepping over the inert form of the Green Arrow without a backward glance.
Oliver was in excruciating pain, a bullet lodged in his chest. Chloe ran to him. But he protested, before she could touch him. “No,” he choked out. “I couldn’t… protect you… don’t Chloe…. It hurts….too much.”
“Don’t give me that silly macho nonsense. Just promise me you’ll get us out of here before this place blows to bits.”
Amid the sound of the blaring alarm, and flashing lights, Chloe leaned over him, their faces inches apart. She removed his glasses, and Oliver stared into her eyes, as the light in his own began to fade.
“I love you,” she whispered as she placed her hands on his now bloodied chest wound. The room at once illuminated with glowing, colorful light. And then, there were no other sights or sounds, but for her face, her eyes, her voice. His eyes never left hers, and some odd sense of Déjà vu flooded him. He had experienced this before. Some time, some place, only the details escaped him. He gasped as he felt her essence enter him, soothing him, wrapping herself around him with surging warmth and love. There was no other way to describe it, it was a dance of souls that merged them, made them soar together in flight. A knowing entered him as well. Because their souls had shared the same space, he realized that no one would ever know him the way that she did. And he in turn knew her like no other person on earth ever could.
“No, Chloe,” he anguished when he saw the pain in her eyes, as she took his pain and made it her own, his strength returning as he watched hers fade. “No.”
All at once the bright light was gone. He heard the sound of the alarm once again, saw the flashing red light, realizing where he was. Chloe slumped over him, her face buried against his throat, golden hair covering his face. Oliver sat up, cradling her in his arms, checking her pulse, then stroking the hair from her cheek. She was alive, barely.
She looked up at him, struggling to keep her eyes open, her breathing labored. “We…protect… each other,” she whispered, wincing in pain and gasping for breath. “That’s how… we… are, S-s-sidekick,” she smiled weakly up at him, and Oliver blinking furiously to keep the tears at bay, picked her up and stood with her limp body in his arms. His breath hitched with emotion, as he squeezed his eyes shut tightly, pressed a long, hard kiss to her temple, and buried his face in her hair.
“Arrow! What’s your status? Everyone’s evacuated. You’ve got three minutes to get the hell out of there!”
End Chapter 14
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