Subtraction Time (Chapter Four)

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PREVIOUS CHAPTER

Flashbacks to Chloe’s side of Homecoming. She’s having a little reunion, too!And I suppose the Gotham side fits into the 56-58 mark of Batman Begins. 

Chapter Four

October 15th, 2010

Chloe stared at the journal, shaking lightly on her tray table, stared at the pen in her hand, almost afraid. Alfred had given both to her, as a sort of gift on leaving. Though, she’d be coming back. She’d only taken one carry-on, after all.

“Just something to help,” he’d said, giving her the leather-bound journal and matching pen, “in your quest for self-exploration. Nothing like writing,” he’d finished with a wink.

She almost regretted telling him she’d wanted to be journalist. He seemed to bring it up so much and it made her feel almost queasy, even looking at the journal. She’d been so intent on hiding for so long, staying off the grid, even before she’d wiped herself out of existence, that the thought of putting something in writing by now made her nervous.

“It’s only a journal,” he’d said off her probable pallor. Only a journal. She had to repeat the words to herself and stop looking at it like it was about to snap open and bite her.

Bruce had been surprisingly helpful with her little trip. Once she’d assured him she wasn’t rushing off to control some kind of damage, he’d even volunteered to pay for it. She’d tried to refuse. Enough people had answered her flyers for computer tutoring that she’d made a little bit of spending cash. It was mostly older people, finally giving in to the convenience of email and the temptations of facebook to reconnect with old friends. She just showed them around, really. But she had enough money (and hard candies) pressed into her hand at the end to get her a little bus tour.

But Bruce insisted she fly. “Do you even know how many miles I’ve racked up on credit cards? I’ll never use them. Please, I have a jet.” In the end, it had seemed wasteful not to take a plane ride, though she suspected he’d used twice the miles needed bumping her to first class.

She rather suspected he’d hoped the obligation felt would have her coming back. He did like the company, even though he wouldn’t admit it. She and Alfred spent enough time gossiping about him to know his ways.

“…a bat, of all things.” Alfred had shook his head. “I asked him why and he says he was always afraid of them.”

“Afraid?” Chloe had snorted. “After all his time training me with those nasty things hovering above?”

Alfred shrugged. “Well, he seems to think the criminal element should share his fear.”

She shook her head. “He’s a strange man.”

Alfred smiled fondly. “That he is.”

She did have a few things to say to Bruce about his name… or lack thereof. “Not The Bat.” It put her in mind of Clark and The Blur and just the… “the” of it all. “It seems so ambiguous. I remember my cousin used to try to sell stories about “The Green Arrow Bandit” and I told her to…”

“To shorten it to Green Arrow?” He looked up, grinning. “Well, that confirms one of your…”

“Like you didn’t already know,” she cut in, “Smart ass. Anyway, I have kind of a knack for names and…”

“The Bat is a symbol of almost visceral fear,” he’d insisted, still working on his gadgets. “It works.”

“Yeah, yeah. Your greatest fear, want them to share it. I know all that, but just… The Bat? It’s so formal. You need something solid like…. Manbat or Batm…”

“Considering you won’t be here,” he’d said almost petulantly, “I don’t think you have a lot of say.”

“Well, I will be here soon enough.” And she hoped to find him in one piece after his drug shipment Alfred had definitely notconfirmed he’d be interrupting. “Just be careful.” She knew better than to hold one of them back on a mission. “I’ll be back.”

And she would. This was just a reunion trip. Much like the elderly she’d been tutoring on the ways of the mighty computer, she was determined to connect with old friends. Once she heard Smallville High was having its tenth reunion at Homecoming, she’d been determined to be a part of it. Not the coming home part or even the full reunion. But she could take some time for a mini reunion of her own with what very few classmates she could reunite with.

First on the list was Pete. That was done. And she was still hung over from her jaunt to Detroit, but next was…

“Miss Briggs?”

She took a second, realizing that meant her, before looking up at the flight attendant. Marion Briggs. She had a license, birth certificate, and Social Security Card saying that was her and it would be shame to ruin it all now. ”Sorry. Just tired. Yes?”

The woman smiled. “I’m going to ask you put your tray table up as we’re landing.”

“I must not have heard the… Of course.” She rushed to do just that, stuffing the unmarked journal into her bag, glad to do it. This was the second flight she’d spent staring at that journal like some kind of adversary and she almost hated the sight of it.

Detroit had been fun. She’d barhopped, something she’d never got around to doing, with Pete. He’d been almost aghast when she learned she spent her 21st birthday working overtime at The Planet while under Lex’s command and had promised to make it up to her.

“But it’s not my birthday,” she’d pointed out.

”Well, it’s one week from Marion Briggs’,” he’d pointed out, looking at the license she was carrying. “Gotta make up for lost time!”

No one seemed too surprised she was running around with a false name. Pete even declared it “Classic Chloe!” Though she’d hushed him when he said that too loudly. 

She was surprised to find even Lana holding a sign for her, when she landed in DC, with MARION BRIGGS in capital letters. Of course, she rather ruined the effort when she squealed and ran towards her in Baggage Claim. “Chloe!”

“Don’t say that name too loudly,” Chloe whispered as she hugged her back. “And hi!”

She explained to Lana about her trip so far, about Pete, about the need to speak quietly with her still nursing a hangover.

That didn’t seem to stop Lana from pulling out the wine the second they got back to her place.

“Hair of the dog,” Chloe sighed, taking a long sip. What were reunions for if not drinking more than you should? “So why DC?”

“Seemed to make sense.” Lana shrugged, polishing off her glass. “Here we have politicians, crime, crimes against Politicians… but nothing much for me to do.”

“Well, you have to patrol to…” She stopped herself, not wanting to encourage things. But Lana had to actively patrol the streets to keep them safe, like Clark and Oliver had done for more than a year now. But she couldn’t see Lana doing that. She loved Lana, She just didn’t see Lana as being some kind of hero-by-night and by day… What did Lana do? She asked her.

“Well, I intern for now. I’m working for a senator from Michigan and…”

“Michigan?” Chloe nearly knocked over her glass. “But I was totally just in Detroit!”

“I know,” Lana sighed. “I was waiting for your flight.”

“But Pete was in Detroit. And you work for a Michigan senator? It’s like…”

“Oh, Pete. How is he?”

”He’s…”

“Oh, don’t bother telling me.” Lana snorted into her glass. “I’ve never been a Pete person.”

“Wha…”

“Oh, I’m not saying anything against Pete. Sure he’s fine. Just…” Lana groaned and laid back on her couch. “It’s like Pete was on one side of Clark and… I was kind of on the other. We never bothered to be pals and all that.” Lana sat up. “Anyway, back to DC… I was all… like… here I am!”

Chloe sat up as well, nodding. “You were. Okay.”

“But then… You know there’s already one here!”

“One what?”

“One Clark,” Lana said loudly, standing and gesturing widely to the window. “I mean, not exactly… It’s a she and she…” Lana stopped, giggling, “You know, it looks like a flag.”

Chloe was even more confused than before. “What?”

“Her outfit. She’s like… I mean, we never see it up close, but it’s like a bathing suit with… well… a flag.”

Chloe cleared her throat and stood, pulling Lana’s wine glass from her hands. “I think you had a little too much…”

“No, I’m serious! Stick around! She’ll show up, I swear. It’s like Clark with the Blur…” Lana sat back down, giggling. “Why does he let them call him The Blur?”

Chloe giggled as well. “It’s kinda silly, isn’t it?”

“He’s kinda silly,” Lana said loudly. “You don’t see it when you’re… like… right there. But Clark…”

Chloe had to agree. Maybe it was the wine talking, but… “Clark’s silly.”

Lana sighed. “But it’s so hard to just… give up on him. You know?”

“So hard.” Chloe had to agree with that, too. She’d had her struggles with that. She supposed Lana still did. Still, Chloe had moved on completely. She might be sort of separated from the object of her affection, but it still stood. And Clark had moved on with Lois. “But you need to try. I know it’s different with you two and all. I get it. I just… I don’t know. It’s kind of freeing, moving on from Clark. It’s like you see him so clear.” She snorted. “And he’s so weird!”

Lana giggled. “The weirdest. You guys and the hero club and Clark’s… stupid jackets.”

“Those stupid jackets,” Chloe squealed, falling on the couch. “Yes!”

“It’s like… Is it the eighties?” Lana tried to sit up… and failed, throwing her arms around Chloe. “But s’okay. I mean, I was never in the club, but s’fine.”

Chloe sat up. “You were in the club. You did… stuff.”

Lana giggled. “I wasn’t. You know I wasn’t. I always… I don’t know. I was always so angry. I went too crazy, especially if there was a Lex thing. Just… Why did I always go too far?” Lana blinked. “And now I can never…”

“Oh, no! No crying.” Chloe stood. “We’re having fun. Not allowed.”

Lana shook her head, swiping at her eyes. “Yeah. I hate crying drunk, anyway. And… we are having fun.” She sniffled and smiled. “And look at me. I moved on kinda. I got my own thing now.”

“Yes, but the biggest question is,” Chloe started seriously, “do you have more wine?”

Lana laughed and stood unsteadily, moving to her tiny kitchen. “In the fridge. I bought like three bottles just for us. Ooooh! I bought lots of chips and veggies and dips!”

“Leave the veggies,” Chloe muttered, going for the potato chips.

They moved about the little kitchen, pulling out bowls and pouring more wine and giggling and bumping into each other.

Lana nudged her in the side as they made their meandering way back into the living room. “This is the funnest. You need to stay more. Why didn’t you come here quicker?”

“You’re drunk,” Chloe slurred as they sat back on the couch.

“You, too!”

”Had to see Pete.” She sat up quickly. She was drunk. She had to stop it, right this second. Reunions had to be remembered. “And it was fun. Pete was fun. So fun. You…” She jabbed a finger at Lana, gasping, “You need to meet Pete!”

Lana snorted. “I already know Pete.”

“But not like… not enough.” She’d seen them in Doctor Fate’s helmet. Pete and Lana and a little boy that looked so much like the both of them. There was also Emil, looking rather intimidating. She didn’t like remembering that part. But Pete and Lana – apart from Pete being unconscious and all – that part seemed okay. Maybe she was seeing it wrong, but maybe… just maybe that was how Lana moved on. “Maybe if your senator sends you to Michigan, you should look him up. That’s all,” she said as casually as she could. “Whine about our hero club.”

“That’s right. Pete and me never passed initiallation and all… no, wait. Installation. I can’t say words.” Lana groaned. “And I can’t feel my teeth.” 

“Well, just… Feel free to talk all kind of smack about us if you meet him. Tha’s all.”

Lana laughed. “Well, I will if you will.”

“I just came from Pete.”

“I’m not talking about him. I’m talking about… other reunions and stuff.”

Chloe gasped. “Reunion! Where’s your laptop? I need to see.”

Lana gestured vaguely. “I don’t know. Here somewhere.” 

Chloe finally unearthed it under several empty chip bags and pulled it to the edge of the coffee table. She might be on Metropolis Media Blackout, but this was Smallville. Besides, if she couldn’t be there for the reunion, she could at least be with them in spirit. “Maybe they got some pictures on the website.”

“Maybe you,” Lana slurred, “should look up your dad.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “He won’t be at Smallville’s reunion.”

“He lives in Virginia, Chloe. Like not even far.”

“Oh, good,” she drawled. “Let’s go see him right now. We’ll drive.”

“I’m serious. I saw him and we talked and… he wonders about you.”

“Not enough.” Didn’t even show up at her wedding. Of course, that might have been for the best, considering what happened. “I’m grown up now. It’s fine. Do you talk to Nell all the time?”

Lana groaned. “It’s different. Nell was never like your dad. He was, like, the easiest, nicest guy ever.”

“Maybe too easy,” she muttered. When she was a teenager, she thought she’d won the lottery. Gabriel Sullivan had always let her do pretty much whatever she wanted, always had and always would. He did his his thing and she did hers. He’d almost always treated her like an adult. But there were times, after many holiday dinners with Martha Kent, that she watched her with Clark and wondered if she’d been missing out all these years. After her mother came back into her life and was taken away just as quickly, she’d sort of resigned herself to it. Some parents just didn’t care to be involved after you grew up. There was no point trying to start something now.

“Remember when I lived with you guys?” Lana sighed next to her. “He was so cool. Never made us do stuff, never… Oh, my God!” Lana broke off with a laugh. “Look!”

“What? There’s nothing up ye…”

“No! Look!” Lana poked at the screen, at a banner on the side of “Go Crows!”

“Wall of weird,” Chloe breathed, her stomach dropping. “How the… Who would…”

“Oh, gimme!” Lana pulled the laptop to her and clicked the banner.

Chloe covered her eyes. “I can’t look.” It had been years since she’d taken down the Wall of Weird, years of trying so hard to make up for what almost felt like intolerance sometimes, the way she investigated and exposed and…

“Aw! So cute!”

Chloe dropped one hand and turned to Lana. “Cute?” That was a strange response to…

“You have fans!” Lana turned the laptop to Chloe. She saw her own name, in bold several times and so many screencaps and links.

“What?” She pulled it closer, clicking image after image, link after link. Pictures, dates, details and even texts of her own torch articles and some of her work from The Planet, even her stints at The Smallville Ledger. “They’ve got almost everything here.”

“I think it’s sweet,” Lana said on a yawn, laying back.

“Uh-huh.” Chloe kept clicking.

“But, you know, I mean it about your dad.” Lana yawned again. “You want to figure out who you are, you probably gotta look at who you were and all that.”

“Uh-huh.” She kept reading. She couldn’t think about any of that now. The Wall of Weird had survived all these years. It had gone from a wall to a binder to a database for private use. She’d only held onto things for research and reminders. She’d never thought about taking it public. But these kids had. They didn’t have everything she did, but they had a damned lot. It must have taken so much work, compiling all this. She looked at their profiles. Zoe and Clayton. She laughed when she saw their pictures. Zoe with the funky, eclectic clothes and Clayton with the flannel. Maybe history repeats itself. “Watch out for those farmboys, Zoe,” she muttered on a laugh.

Her laughter faded when she read their not-so-well-hidden speculation on The Blur. They didn’t say it outright, but there was lots of Hmms and winky emoticons under any saves happening in Smallville. Still, they seemed to support him, write glowing things about him, though not quite quite as effusive as their writings about her.

It made her blush several times as she read and clicked into the night, long past when Lana’s breaths became deep and even on the couch beside her, long past when the last bits of her own buzz faded into exhaustion.

She sat back, rubbing her eyes, wondering if she had it wrong these past years. She’d started to see her Wall of Weird as some kind of crime against mutants, to be heavily repented. But she was writing for her times, the wild theories of a kid on the verge of so many amazing experiences. As much pain as there had been, she couldn’t help thinking of her life with a smile when she saw it through these kids’ eyes. Maybe she didn’t always go about it the right way, but maybe it was all worth it if it inspired these kids to look deeper.

She stood and stretched, then leaned down to Lana. “Hey.” She gently shook her arm. “Come on. Time to go to bed.”

“Fine here,” Lana grumbled. “You take…”

“Nope.” She pulled her up, not about to make Lana sleep on couch in her own place. 

Lana grumbled all the way into her room, but finally let Chloe pull the covers over her. Chloe sighed and stared down at her. It was kind of nice, catching up, growing up and out of their years for contention. She supposed she and Lana had more in common right now than they ever had. They were both away from everything they knew, trying to figure out where they fit now, what to do now. She hoped they both got there.

She closed the door and moved back to the couch, ready to shut the laptop when something stopped her. Maybe it was a mistake, but she found herself typing furiously, blocking her location, anonymizing Lana’s IP address. It was possibly overkill, but she could never be too safe. Then again, what was safe about this? Why was she taking this risk? Maybe she was too tired, still drunk, but she couldn’t help it. She had to say something to those kids…

She stared at the prompt, thinking she should tell them to be careful, that a life like hers, whether exposing the truth or hiding it, was dangerous and often painful and could leave you alone, away from all you knew and…

No. She didn’t say any of that in the end. Maybe she was a little scared for these kids, but they knew it was dangerous, much like she had. It never stopped her and it wouldn’t stop them. Besides, in the end, she was mostly proud of them and maybe of that girl she’d been – just a little bit.

Glad to see you're carrying my Torch – CS

November, 2011

“It’s about inspiring the kids,” Chloe hissed at Victor, “not tearing them down.”

“I just think we should point out that them going rogue is a liability for all of us and it needs to stop until they’re fully…”

“Yeah, but you don’t start with that. You need to build them up first. Let them know their instinct to protect is a good thing.”

Victor snorted. “You’ve gone soft, Watchtower.”

Chloe rolled her eyes and turned to Oliver. “Ollie, back me up.”

Oliver turned to them, still looking a little peaked. “I agree with… one of you.” He swallowed hard. “I wasn’t listening.”

She sighed and dug in her purse, pulling out some gum. “Here.” Teleportation was hard to get used to. She’d let Rachel practice on her a few times by now. The loss of equilibrium tended to have differing effects. Her personal symptom was a persistent ringing in her left ear. She supposed Oliver’s was nausea. She rubbed his back. “You okay?” 

“It’s a good thing Mia’s coming in my jet,” he said, stuffing several pieces into his mouth. “Not doing that again.”

She glanced at Rachel, currently listening intently to whatever Garfield Logan was animatedly saying on the other side of the cave. “Don’t say that in front of Rachel. Okay?” Still, she knew teleportation was not for everyone. She chuckled and continued rubbing his back. “You do look a little green.”

“Hey,” Victor hissed, “come on. He’s right over there! Don’t say that like it’s a bad thing.”

Chloe rolled her eyes at Victor. Garfield’s extremely green skin had been… an interesting thing to see. But he cracked so many jokes about it himself, she had to be believe he wouldn’t be the type to imagine slights everywhere. “Now you’re Mr. Sensitive? After talking about ripping these kids a new one before they even start?”

“I’m just saying we start off strong with these guys. Let them know they do it our way or there’s the door.”

“Which they will use if we don’t encourage them first!”

“Chloe’s got a point,” Oliver said, taking shallow breaths. “Maybe we should save the tough love for now. Just let them see the space, the equipment, see how we do things, run patrols…”

Victor threw up his hands. “Fine. Take the wife’s side.”

“Ugh! Don’t remind me!” Bart suddenly appeared next to Victor. “It’s too soon.” He took Chloe’s hand. “Nothing helps. I still cry daily, listen to break up songs, make collages, fill the void with food...” 

“That what we’re calling your stomach now?” Oliver muttered.

Bart gasped, dropping Chloe’s hand and staring over her shoulder at something. “You guys,” he whispered… extremely loudly. “That guy’s totally green!” At Garfield, apparently.

Victor scowled, but Chloe laughed. “You’ve known John for how long now?”

October 17th, 2010

She’d been here longer than she expected to be. She’d planned to be in Star City by now, just checking on her mother. Oliver had long ago, long before they were even truly friends, put her in a home under a false name, making sure she had the best of care, whether she was aware of her surroundings or not. For years, she’d been afraid to see her, afraid of someone targeting her again, the way Lex had. But Lex was gone… for now. She knew what she’d seen in fate’s helmet, but she’d be damned if she’d be kept from even her mother now. She was lonely enough.

And that was why she was standing in front of her father’s new home. She closed her rental car’s door and stared at the little house. She recognized a few things of his already. The garden gnome that used to be in their yard, but ended up in their storage locker after they lost everything, sat in this yard now. As she approached the porch, there was the wind chime he’d always treasured, a wedding gift from Aunt Ella. She wondered what other familiar sights she’d see inside… if she ever got up the nerve to ring the doorbell.

She wondered if he’d changed much. It had been five years since she’d actually seen him, after all. He’d moved away after she graduated high school. It had been impossible to find work in the tri-state area with how Lionel had blackened his name. But sometimes she wondered if there was more to it than that. Her life was dangerous, even then. They’d both been declared dead that summer they spent hiding from Lionel Luthor. Maybe it was just easier for him to get away from all the death that surrounded her. Maybe she shouldn’t blame him.

They’d talked at first, then that tapered off into emails until, one day, she realized her relationship with her father was more like he was some distant relative, checking in with perfunctory lines with the barest of details. He couldn’t know most of what she did, after all. When he answered her wedding invitation with nothing more than a checked box saying he could not attend, she wasn’t even surprised.

Regardless, he knew she was coming from their brief and awkward phone conversation. He was waiting for her. And maybe she was waiting for him. Maybe this was that mysterious why she was looking for, the reason she had to stay away. Maybe, after this, she could go back. Probably not. She didn't think her reconnecting with her father was even a blip in Fate's helmet's long game. There was a reason she had to stay away. She wished that reason would hurry up and show itself. That was the hardest thing in all this – not only the mystery of when she could return to her life again, but if she could return at all.

She shook it off and concentrated on now, took a deep breath and rang that bell. The door flew open so quickly, she jumped a little.

“Chloe?”

She stared at him, hair still red, but with traces of gray, eyes still the bluest she’d ever seen, a few more lines and creases in his face than she remembered. She stared at him until her vision blurred. God, was she crying? It came on so suddenly, just seeing him.

“Hi, Daddy,” she said on a sob. 

November, 2011

The chatter echoed off the cave walls. Chloe supposed when you got this many heroes and sidekicks together, the noise would be deafening. Most people were still standing in little groups.

Clark was subtly arguing with Victor. Luckily, he was on Chloe's page about not starting off with some variation of a drill sergeant routine. Zan and Courtney were talking to Bart, very loudly arguing about, and sometimes reenacting parts of, the final Harry Potter movie. Jayna seemed to be shadowing Mia near worshipfully, agreeing with about everything she said. 

Garfield was showing off to Oliver, becoming first a wolf, then a turtle, then a cat – every one of them green. He’d said he really wanted to work on morphing into larger animals, something he found exhausting. It could definitely come in handy, considering he seemed to possess whatever abilities each animal did, though the color was an issue as far as staying incognito. Most people might balk at a green cat.

Chloe sighed as she stared at Rachel, off to one side, silent, hoodie up like a little shield again. 

“I know that sound.” Oliver sat next to her at the long table. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s just Rachel. She’d seemed to relax a little earlier, talking to Garfield, but she just shut down as soon as everyone else arrived.”

“Well, you know she’s shy.”

“It’s more than that.” Chloe tilted her head, staring at the girl. She was so afraid of connecting, it seemed, even feeling. She’d like to see Rachel openly laugh and smile, but Rachel seemed to forbid herself, thinking letting any emotion in, even the good ones, left her open to worse ones. Maybe training would help. 

“Okay!” Victor clapped his hands loudly. “I think we’re all here and we’ve all caught up. Let’s sit down and get to business!” He gestured to the table Chloe was currently sitting at and everyone moved that way, voices lowering as they took their seats.

“…didn’t have to off him. That’s all I’m saying,” Courtney hissed at Bart.

“But the whole point is that war takes lives, so if Rowling shied away from killing him off just because he was popular…”

“Bart,” Victor started witheringly.

“Okay, okay. Business.” Bart sat down.

“Thank you. Now, I’m not going to give you all a big speech about not hitting the streets untrained,” he glanced at Clark, then Chloe, “apparently.” He looked at the rest. “Because you should already know that. The main thing today is telling you what we’re going to accomplish here. If…”

Chloe’s cell phone beeped loudly and she pulled it out with an apologetic glance at Victor. “Sorry. Meant to…” She broke off. “You know… Can we wait just five minutes more?” she asked, staring at the screen. Chloe had asked her to come, help bolster the youth set, even knowing she was busy enough. She didn’t think she would. She quickly sent the coordinates, then looked up at the others and smiled. “I think we’ve got just one more special guest.”

CHAPTER FIVE