Action Time (Chapter Sixteen)

Some mentions of Sacrifice, then dealing with Hostage.

And here we are with my big chest-healing wank. I'm putting some comic and some cartoon elements of Raven in as to how she is and might interract with the JL members present.

Hostage did show Oliver still scarred, but as that was in a virtual reality simulation in Tess' mind, we can disregard that. He'll still be healing up for me.

Chapter Sixteen

"... and every one of them just flew off."

Chloe groaned as she downed the last of her horrible vending machine coffee. "You know, I've been kind of bugging you to get on that for two years, but I guess that's immaterial since there's now a whole gaggle of them in the sky." And how was she supposed to keep an eye on them with Watchtower fried? "But you say... this book of Rao is some device?"

"Faora made a sketch of it. We need to keep Zod from getting it."

"I might be able to help," she said, remembering the footage she found of Jor-El, hiding something on the farm. She hadn't told Clark about it. He'd been so uneven all year with regards to Zod. She'd let it lie. But now that he'd decided to stop hugging it out... "Try to send me the sketch." Maybe she could get a closer look at that hidden object. It might be what Zod's looking for. Then again, she wasn't even sure she could get into that footage now. "Listen, just get some sleep. We're going to need all our wits about us if we're going to deal with this now. Besides, I need to get back to Oliver."

"Yes. Of course. I'm sorry this..."

"Don't be sorry. He's going to be fine." She'd make sure of it. "Bye." She hung up and glanced back. Emil and Zatanna were outside the door, arguing tensely while the girl was sitting in the corner in his room, buried in a book, a black hoodie mostly hiding her face. She was a pretty girl, though very pale, with black hair and a severe widow's peak and eyes such a deep indigo they almost appeared black as well. But she was off-putting, so withdrawn and, when she spoke, it was in a near-whispered monotone.

"Chloe!"

She turned to find Victor and Bart rushing down the hall towards her. 'So you heard." She moved to meet them. She wasn't surprised to see Bart. He always seemed to pop up. But Victor... "Didn't I take you to the airport?"

He shrugged. "Never got on the plane." He nodded at Bart. "Someone called me up and bugged me to hit the town before the world ends. I figured I should go along just to keep him out of trouble."

"Pfft! I was never going to get into any trouble." 

"Only because you didn't have time. Definitely had to cut it short when we heard what was going on. I've filled in AC and Dinah, but told them to stay stationed unless you say different. And I think it's best to leave Zan and Jayna out of this."

"Good call. They're just kids." She glanced back towards the room, thinking of Rachel. She was a kid, too. But at least they weren't putting her in any danger.

Bart glanced at the room, too, brow furrowed. "How's the boss man?"

"He's fine enough, I guess. No life-threatening damage. He's sedated."

Bart gestured to Rachel. "Hey, who's that?" 

"Her name's Rachel. She's a healer, among other things," she said tiredly. "We think she can help him."

"We got new people? Awesome." Bart looked ready to rush right off.

"No running in the hospital," Victor hissed.

"Fine," Bart groaned, before walking almost exaggeratedly slowly to the door.

Victor glanced at Chloe and shook his head. "So... all of them?"

Chloe nodded, shoving an impatient hand through her hair. "Powered and flying and doggedly loyal to Zod. I don't even want to think of how to deal with them without Watchtower."

He slung an arm around her. "Hey, we might be able to get things going again. I can run over and assess the damage as soon as we figure out how Oliver's doing." He moved with her to the room. "You really think this girl can heal him?"

"I suppose he'd heal even without... extra help, but I just..."

"No. I wouldn't want him running around with that mark on him, either."

They stopped at Emil and Zatanna, who still seemed at odds.

"I still don't think this is a good idea," she said tightly.

"What's the problem?" Victor wanted to know.

"Just something I sense. There's bad energy inside her. Demonic. I feel it."

"That doesn't mean she has bad intentions," Emil sighed. "She's been more than willing to help."

"But does she have a price?" Their argument faded to whispers as everyone started into the room. Chloe started to follow.

"Chloe." She turned to find John moving toward them as well. "Clark told me some of what's going on. How is he?" He glanced at her, then inside the room, squinting.

Chloe sighed. "Just to fill you in..."

"You don't exactly need to," he said, tapping at his forehead.

She smiled tiredly. "That's a time saver, then."

John nodded at the room. "She's nervous. But she's trying to tamp it down."

"Really? From the way she keeps arguing..."

"Not Zatanna."

Chloe glanced through the blinds John was staring hard through. Rachel suddenly turned away from Bart, who was probably talking her ear off, and stared back at John, her dark eyes suddenly flashed a glowing white.

"She senses me looking in. I've told her not to be afraid." His brow furrowed. "She's hard to read clearly. Her thoughts are too complicated to be human, yet... there's human in her."

"Zatanna senses demonic energy," Chloe said worriedly, wondering if she might be right.

"That may be. My powers aren't based in magic. But I sense no ill will."

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded firmly. "Then we do this."

John moved to the door and held it open for her, then followed her in.

"...never thought we'd have someone who can apparate." He turned to Chloe and John as they moved into the crowded room. "Dude, you guys!" He pointed excitedly at Raven. "She can apparate! I mean, I'd be so bummed that I'm not the fastest anymore, but that's so freakin' cool."

Chloe shook her head, letting out a small huff of laughter at John's bemused expression.

"I've never heard of that power. What exactly does it indicate?"

"It means you disappear in one place and reappear in another. Boom!" Bart said, gesturing wildly.

John chuckled. "Don't you mean teleport?"

Bart waved him off. "Nah, this sounds cooler."

"It's a reference to Harry Potter," Rachel said in a soft monotone, staring at the floor.

"Exactly. I've decided all our powers would be a way cooler with more magical names." Bart pointed to Zatanna. "Z! You're with me on this, right?"

"Yes. By all means, let's model our work after a children's book with no basis in actual magic," Zatanna said, still looking annoyed.

"But..."

"Okay," Chloe broke in. "Let's not forget what we're doing here." She glanced at Oliver worriedly. He was sedated still, but there was a deep frown line between his brows. He was in pain underneath it all. She needed to take it away... or Rachel might. She moved to the girl. "Is this... something you can fix?"

She stood up and glanced from Chloe to Oliver, nodding. "I... I'm still figuring things out," she said, barely above a whisper. "I'm getting faster. It might take some time to go all away. But I'll know it's all gone when I no longer feel it."

Chloe let out a small gasp, taken aback. "You're empathic, too?"

"It's not real, though. I'm not really hurt. I just... I feel like I am."

"No, I understand. Me more than anyone. I used to... be like you in that way. And I don't know if you should..."

She moved to the bed. "It's alright. I'm learning to control that, negate feeling in myself. I can already do it in others."

Chloe followed her. "Rachel, you're only seventeen. I don't think this is..."

"I want to do this," she said, her voice suddenly louder and firmer as she met Chloe's eyes. She glanced apprehensively at the others before leaning in to Chloe, lowering her voice. "I'm tired of being afraid of what I am, what I do. I'm tired of feeling alone."

Chloe sighed, thinking she understood that, too, especially this last year. Her eyes slid to the man who was such a huge part of changing that for her.

"This could... prove there's good in me, that I can be a part of things," Raven went on softly.

"You don't need to prove anyth..."

"Just let me," she insisted.

Chloe felt a hand on her shoulder. She glanced behind her at John, who nodded.

She turned back to Rachel. "Okay," she whispered before stepping back.

Rachel moved nearer to Oliver, then glanced to the window. Her eyes flashed white and the blinds abruptly snapped shut.

"Dude, did you..."

"For God's sake, Bart," Victor hissed. "Let her concentrate."

Chloe gripped John's hand on her shoulder and watched as the girl laid her hands, emitting a bright, white glow, on Oliver's chest. The glow grew brighter as the room fell quiet, no whispered conversations now, just the steady beep of the monitors and the labored sound of Rachel and Oliver breathing. His eyes shut tighter as Rachel's eyes squeezed shut as well. Their breaths started to mingle in time, both chests rising and falling together until the glow seemed to swallow them in white light.

Oliver's heartrate suddenly picked up, the mechanical beats coming closer together. Someone, probably her, shrieked as the fluorescent light above went out with a loud pop. Chloe turned panicked eyes to the door just as Zatanna laid a hand on it, closing her eyes and chanting under her breath. It must have worked as no one was busting down the door.

Chloe felt her own pulse slow down as the sound of Oliver's monitor slowed. She turned back to him as Rachel's glow began to fade, revealing Oliver depleted and sweaty on the bed and Rachel staggering backward. Chloe started toward her, but Victor pushed past her, catching Rachel before she fell.

"You okay, there?"

"I'm alright," she breathed as he led her back to the chair in the corner. "I just... Can I have some water?"

"I'll get it," Victor said, sitting her down before moving out.

"I'd better get out there," Emil said, grabbing at the door before it closed. "In case anyone's been alerted by those readings."

"I'll help clean them up," Zatanna said, glancing worriedly back at Rachel before she followed.

Chloe moved to Oliver, but Bart beat her there. "Is he gonna wake up now? Hey, Boss..."

"Bart," John cut in, pulling him away. "I'm simply fascinated by your magic names. Who is this Harry Potter?" John winked at Chloe as he pulled him away.

"Oh, he's this British kid who finds out he's special. You can see why I totally relate, except for the British part and all. See, when it starts out, he's living in a closet and his relatives beat on him all the time and... Actually, that's not the start. Okay. So, there was this dark wizard in the fifties or whatever and he scares the sh*t out of everyone so bad that they never say his..."

Chloe moved to the side of the bed as Bart droned on, sliding her hand over Oliver's forehead. His heartbeat had slowed, he was breathing normally, and that tiny crease between his eyes had gone away. But did that mean it worked? She stared down at his bandage, afraid to pull it away and find none of this had done any good.

"See, I figure I'd be Griffindor," Bart was saying. "I'm thinking you'd be Ravenclaw. AC's a total Hufflepuff, but don't tell him I said that. As for..."

"Chloe..."

She glanced down and gripped Oliver's hand. His eyes were still closed. But he'd said her name.

"Chloe?"

Bart quieted down and moved with John to crowd behind her. She dimly heard the door opening.

"I think we've fixed the..."

"Shhh! Doc, he's up," Bart whispered... loudly.

"Oliver..." She leaned over him, smoothing his hair back. "How do you feel?"

"Horrible," he rasped. "I was having this awful dream that Bart was sorting all of us into Hogwarts." He opened one eye. "Oh, that's real? Damn it." He seemed to be trying to smile.

She let out a horrified laugh. "Please don't joke right now."

"What happened?" he croaked, trying to sit up. "Last I knew Zod was... Oh, my God!" His heartrate sped up and he sat straight up, staring down at his chest. "He did it. That bastard really..."

"Calm down." She tried to push him back.

"What the... What's happening to me?" He glanced from his scars to Chloe.

She saw them, too, changing, the flesh sort of moving, slowly closing.

"It might take a day," a soft voice said. 

"Uh..." Oliver stared wide-eyed at Rachel in her chair, sitting cross legged, as if meditating, then turned to Chloe "Who is she?"

"Her name's Rachel."

"She healed you, Boss," Bart supplied.

"Oh," he said groggily. "Okay, then." He looked at his chest again, paled, then fell back to the bed.

Chloe gripped his hand hard and turned to Emil, standing in the doorway with Victor and Zatanna. "Is he..."

"He's fine." Emil moved to the other side of the bed and looked from Oliver's monitors to his scar. "I think he's just overwhelmed."

Bart moved beside Chloe. "So he's going to be okay?"

Emil slipped a glove on and studied the scar. "I believe so. It seems to be visibly mending."

Bart snickered. "Awesome. Because I'm telling everyone how he swooned. Like a girl." 

Chloe pushed at him, annoyed. Zatanna just glared from the doorway.

"I mean like a teenage girl."

Rachel glanced up from her chair, frowning.

"Tough room," Bart muttered, moving to Victor. "Aw, thanks. I'm really thirsty."

"Not for you." Victor batted him away and held the cup in his hand out to Rachel. "Feeling better?"

She took a deep breath and uncrossed her legs, taking it. "I will be soon. Thank you."

Victor moved to Chloe, rubbing her shoulder. "When this kid does sign, we'll have to keep the daily doses of Bart to a minimum. Don't want to scare her off."

Zatanna moved toward them, her voice low. "I don't think we should treat her joining us a foregone conclusion." She pulled Chloe aside. "It's not that what she did wasn't amazing. I'm glad she helped, but... I think we need to be careful, find out where she comes from. There are no genuine records of her, birth certificates..."

"So?" Victor moved in. "Most of us have phony records, considering all we need to hide from."

"But what is she hiding from?" Zatanna hissed. "And what if it's led to us? There's something dark..."

"Then we'll help her fight it," Victor said, voice growing a little louder. "I don't see why this is even a question. After what she just did..."

"Guys, not now," Chloe broke in, looking past them to Rachel, her hood pulled low again. She didn't need John to tell her she was upset. She moved to Oliver, giving his hand another squeeze as Emil cleaned at his disappearing wound, then sat by Rachel. "I don't blame you for staying in your corner. We can be a little much sometimes."

"No. It's nice. It's good that you all have each other."

She wanted to tell Rachel she could have them, too. But that wasn't her call alone.

"I don't know why she's afraid of me." Rachel nodded just barely to Zatanna. "I don't fight. I won't fight," she said, her voice suddenly hard before she took a deep breath and went on in that same emotionless voice. "But I can help in other ways. I can get people where they need to be. I can absorb knowledge and language by touch. I can take pain. Not just wounds. I can take sadness away, replace it with something better."

"That sounds like a lot to carry."

"I don't know. Sometimes it helps, feeling for others. I can't feel on my own." 

"You can't feel?" The girl was a bit guarded, but Chloe saw some emotion in her tonight.

"I suppose I can. I just don't. It's better if I don't. Trust me."

Chloe reached a hand to her, but drew it back at Rachel's slight move away. So she just sat by her, wondering that this girl had been dealing with all this on her own. Here, she thought she was open to such a wide world of heroes with her team. But they had all nearly fallen into her lap in Smallville. She'd never gone looking for them. If she were to look, she supposed she would find more like Rachel, all alone and afraid of themselves. And they didn't have to be.

"I'll tell you what," she said, concentrating on this one. She was just a kid and they couldn't consider her now, not even on the assignments Zan and Jayna called baby stuff. She had a feeling Rachel might end up extremely unsatisfied with those missions and even more so because she'd know why it was happening. It was busy work. Things to keep them occupied until they were old enough to be a real part of the team. Rachel would be less likely to fall for that. "You come find us when you finish high school. It's not all up to me, but I think quite a few of us would be happy to have you around."

*******************************

She'd been at this all morning, moving from monitor to console to multiple hard drives without finishing anything because she was just as fried as her system. She didn't know what to feel. She took what was supposed to be a calming breath, thinking of yoga and how Oliver was always bugging her to try it, and tried her tablet, thinking of Rachel, wondering if she should have asked for a demonstration on this business of taking feelings away. She didn't, of course, and she wouldn't. But it was tempting when she was careening from emotion to emotion.

Worry for Oliver still recovering with his disappearing body-art, worry for all of them, anger at Zod, anger at Tess, anger at Clark for taking so long to wise up about Zod, absolute mourning for the state of Watchtower now, regret about wasting time and money revamping a system that was destroyed pretty much that very night...

Her phone rang. It was Clark. Guilt. there was another one.

She put on her headset and hit talk. "Clark..."

"Chloe, the Book of Rao isn't here," he said without preamble. "I know you just came across that footage, but there's got to be something more on it." 

"I'm looking at it now, Clark," she said tensely, knowing she hadn't just found it. She knew she had very good reasons for keeping the footage, along with the location of what they now knew was the Book of Rao, to herself. But it still made her anxious, having secrets. She was so exhausted with it. "Jor-El put it in the north wall. I wish I could give you more, but thanks to Tess' little break-in, Watchtower can barely run a game of "Donkey Kong," let alone an image-enhancement program." That was one hundred percent true. She looked around at the mess of wires and flashing screens full of moving static like an 80s TV with vertical hold issues. She had no time for feelings. She had to sort this out.

"Chloe, if that book really holds unlimited power, then we need to find it."

She shoved in a system boot disk. Old fashioned, but... "You know, Clark, this could explain why our favorite alien nation has gone AWOL. I mean, maybe Zod and the Kandorians are trying to track down the holy Rao grail before we do." She only hoped they were on the wrong trail and Clark was on the right one.

"I got to go," he said, then hung up.

"Bye to you, too," she said miserably. She really wished he'd just come over, maybe help with her system rather than just make demands. They could put quite a few of his powers to use here, even the heat vision. There were definitely a few things that could use soldering around here. As it was, she had Victor and Bart in Star City assessing and running supplies respectively. Victor said Oliver had given groggy authorization to his electronics division over the phone. 

She shrieked and drew her hand away as a cable sparked, tossing her headset to the floor. Why was she even doing this? Zod could find this place and ruin all the damned new work they were about to do. Even without that, did she want to build Watchtower? Again? She stood back and took a deep breath, knowing that was defeatist talk. She just needed to stop and breathe, like Oliver was always saying. Deep, calming breaths or... 

"Oliver." She needed a break from all that breathing, anyway. She picked up her headset from the floor, then her phone, dialing Emil.

"Chloe?"

"Hey. How's the patient?"

"Heavily drugged."

"Is he still in pain?" she asked, losing her supposed deep calm again.

"Not really. He was just increasingly agitated, kept pulling off his electrodes and demanding his clothes..."

She chuckled. "He would."

"I thought it was best to calm him down, give Rachel's... well, whatever it was some time to work unhindered."

"How's that coming along?"

"Fascinating. I can see rapid growth and renewal. If there was a way to get a look on the cellular level, I'd really..."

"I meant Oliver's wound on the... not-so-scientific level. But thank you. So he's truly healing? That horrible mark..."

"Might be gone altogether by tomorrow. As if it never happened."

"Good," she said harshly, "That's one thing Zod can't win." It was amazing that she could hold so much fear and hate, have her life be so upheaved... and all by a man she never met. At least Lex had the decency to give her a hello and a phony smile before he destroyed everyone she cared about. She shook the dark thoughts away. "Listen, I still have a ton of work ahead. I was just wondering if I could talk to him?"

"Oh. Certainly. Just a moment... Oliver?"

"Mr. Queen to you. You won't give me my stupid clothes, stupid insubordinary... insub... stupid guy."

"Yes. Well, Chloe's on the phone. Did you... oof!"

"Chloe. Heeeey," Oliver drawled. "You know, I was just thinking about you. This nurse came in and she was, like, wearing these shapeless scrubs. And whatever happened to the cute, little white dresses and the hats like in olden days, you know?"

"So... you're ogling nurses?"

"Nooo. Baby, I swear. I was thinking of you."

"Baby?" she echoed, not sure whether to laugh or... shiver a little. They'd never exactly done petnames.

"Gonna get you one of those so you can nurse me instead."

"Okay, then," she said on a laugh. "Sounds like you're feeling better."

"I'd feel lots better if stupid Emil just lemme go. I have stuff to do... I can't remember what it is right now, but stuff."

"Tell you what? I'm going to do all your stuff so you can get better."

"Aw... Baby, you're the besssst. Did you know they have TVs on the ceiling in here?"

She laughed. "No, they d... Oh, yeah." She guessed whatever Emil gave him was at least giving him a show. "Well, you have fun with those. Can I talk to Emil again?"

"Oh, him," Oliver groaned. "Fiiiine."

"Chloe? Hello. As you can hear, he's mostly fine, if a little difficult."

"I wouldn't expect him to be anything but," she said, smiling. He'd be alright. That was enough to get her through this day.

She hung up and shoved her phone in her pocket, moving upstairs. Maybe if she started with the second-level units, she'd make more progress. Really, they were less damaged by the meltdown than...

She jumped at a knock on the once-automatic door.

"Delivery for my Maven of Mainframes?"

"Bart!" She moved down the stairs and pulled it open manually as it was still on the fritz. "You were supposed to try out the elevator this time."

"But the stairs are quicker for me," he whined, hefting a box.

"Well, I need to know if we can at least prevent any Tom, Dick, or Zod from getting in here and you have your codes and..."

"Okay, okay." He shoved the box into her arms. "I'll do it on the next run. Anyway, you got shiny new cables and QI's most secure operating system. Our favorite appliance says you can shove this in, then retrieve your files and make it just like before. He's looking through the rest of the goodies and will send me with whatever, so... reward?"

She moved to the kitchenette. "I should withhold this for you not following protocol..."

"But you won't, will you, my delectable..."

She turned and shoved a donut in his mouth. "Hold the flattery and use the elevator next time."

**************************

"Bad news, Clark. It looks like I just got a Red Queen virtual smack down." It was only one of the many things pissing her off right now. First, the only damned search Watchtower had done and it was nullified. Second, Clark kept calling in the middle of all her work -- though she supposed that wasn't fair, being annoyed with him. The main reason for Watchtower getting back in the game right now was tracking Zod and the Book of Rao. But there was a third thing... Perry White was at his house.

"Red Queen? Chloe, that sounds like Checkmate."

She got her head back in the game. "Yeah, well, despite her handle, the Red Queen isn't actually a figure on Checkmate's board." There wasn't much to find out about the shady, now destroyed organization, but she knew that. "In fact, the rumor has it that her name has been filed under big, bad nemesis."

"I'll be there as soon as I can. I'm, uh, sort of held hostage here until after my mom's family dinner. Okay."

She stared at the phone long after Clark hung up, not just because the Red Queen had pretty much halted her progress, but because she wasn't sure she could take this anymore. Perry White was at Clark's house right now. Clark and Lois were about to sit down to a "family dinner" with Perry White. And he was treating it like a chore! This was Perry White! She hoped Lois, at least, appreciated this. Lord knows she'd talked her ear off about Perry White once upon a time...

You were once the kind of reporter that I would like to be, she'd told him. And he was. She'd idealized The Daily Planet and absolutely idolized Perry White, even when he'd been working for trash like X-Styles. She knew what he was underneath it all. How had he ended up...

Then again, she knew how. Same way she'd ended up exiled from all she ever wanted. A Luthor.

"You know the only thing that's worse than never landing that story of a lifetime?" he'd said. "Having it and being afraid to write it."

She hadn't understood it, then. She'd been young and full of passion and thought no threat could make a good reporter back off a story. The Lionel had tried to kill her... a lot. Then Lex had used her mother against her. Then there was Clark, always protecting Clark...

And here she was, without any of the things she'd wanted. Was it worth it? She could have had those things, that life, if she hadn't been a part of this secret world. She always told herself it would be worth it in the end. Sometimes she felt this could be worth it... but when did it end? She might as well be Sisyphus, pushing that boulder up the hill only to watch it roll down again. 

It never ended. 

She lost her dreams. She lost her mother, languishing in a catatonic state in Star City under an assumed name. She'd been afraid, for years, to approach her, afraid of someone targeting her again. Her father had disappeared after high school, not even attending her wedding to Jimmy, possibly afraid of all the death that surrounded her. Then again, that was just as well with how the wedding turned out. And then there was Jimmy, sacrificed on the altar of this cause by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And maybe Jimmy wasn't meant for this world she lived in, something she was realizing more and more with distance, but he was something she cared for and he was taken away. 

It seemed like every time she thought she had something worth keeping, it was taken away. Now Zod had targeted Oliver and... 

She swiped at her eyes and breathed deeply, stopping this downward spiral.

Zod hadn't won. Oliver was healing, more and more every minute. Oliver was here. Oliver was something she still had and she'd be damned if she was giving him up. 

She stopped staring at her phone and dialed. 

Screw it. If Clark could take a dinner break, so could she.

"Hey," she said as soon as Emil picked up. "How's he doing?"

"He's okay. Chomping at the bit to leave again. I'm trying to decide between sedation and some Ativan or..."

"Or you could release him into my care."

"Oh, well... I'd thought of that. But I'd been keeping him with me since you have so much to..."

"Don't worry about that. I have time to get him settled in at home... or Luthorcorp, I guess." She wasn't about to bring him here with the flashing monitors and her wild mutterings. "I'll be there waiting. Can you get him there in an hour?"

It turned out Emil could and would. Good. 

She'd spent all day shifting wires and fielding calls. She deserved a break.

Well... not a break. She defiinitely had some work to do.

PREVIOUS CHAPTER
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Isn't it insane that Zod and Chloe never met? He was the big bad and Chloe was the main person working against him (I mean, waaaay more than Clark) and they never shared a damned screen! I'm going with canon, so I can't fix that. But isn't that just a bunch of BS?

Anyway, I'll be back with my missing Chlollie scene (I just can't stand that poor Chloe would spend the entire episode working her butt off for no appreciation. She at least needs a dinner break), then dealing with the rest of Hostage.