Erase: Chapter Thirty-Four (34/?)
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Summary: After Chloe is found siphoning money from Oliver's company in order to purchase Kryptonite weapons, she realizes that she losing her sense of humanity. She decides that the only way to escape from who she is becoming is to erase her memories and start over. Oliver has 4 months to stop her before it's too late.
Spoilers: Up to Conspiracy, and then I write my own way.
POV: First chapter is Chloe-centric, and then Ollie-centric for the rest of the journey
A/N: I am so so so so sorry for not updating sooner. Things have gotten really really hectic, if that's any excuse. I hope you guys still read this story, and that you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter Thirty-Four
Days without Chloe Sullivan: 82.5
Oliver found himself in some sort of room, but before he could take in his surroundings his vision started to blur, a sudden sense of nausea taking over his body.
He closed his eyes and sucked in a breath of air. The image of the dead bodies in a trail behind him flashed in his mind.
“Deep breaths. Come on”, a voice sounded behind him. He opened his eyes when he felt two hands pushing him towards a red blob. He blinked a couple of times, and waited for the couch to come into view. He sat down, and took another deep breath until his vision completely cleared.
Bart sat down at the couch across from him. “What brings you to this side of the globe?”
“I’m looking for Chloe.”
“What do you mean, you’re looking for Chloe?” Bart asked slowly
“Chloe left Metropolis. I’m looking for her”, Oliver answered curtly.
Bart nodded. “You and Clark got separated.” He darted up from the couch, and pulled out his cell phone. “I’ll give him a call.”
No, that’s not what happened. Oliver shot up and pulled Bart back before he had a chance to speed off or call. “Clark’s not with me.”
“Obviously.” Bart looked at him as if he were dense.
“Clark decided not to look for her- that she had been in the thick of everything for too long and that it was better for her to move on with her life. I disagreed, and I’ve been looking for her ever since.”
Bart was silent for a moment before nodding slowly. “That sounds like him. How long has she been gone? A couple of days?”
“A couple of months”, Oliver said, waiting for the inevitable lecture. He waited for Bart to ask him what compelled Chloe to leave. And Oliver would rightfully take the blame.
“The Watchtower couldn’t track her down. That makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is how you still haven’t found her after a couple of months.”
“She wiped herself from the face of the planet. I’ve been constantly looking for her, Bart. These past couple of months haven’t exactly been a picnic for me.”
“That’s not good enough, and you know it. It’s your job to protect her and keep her safe, and you failed!”
Right. If Bart had ever said told Chloe that, she probably would have laughed in his face. “What do you mean it’s my job?”
“The rest of us, we don’t live in Metropolis.”
“I don’t live in Metropolis”, Oliver argued.
“Oliver, when was the last time you were in Star City for a long period?”
He tried to remember, but he couldn’t think of a time when he didn’t stay for longer than a week or two.
Bart smirked in victory. “Yeah, you live in Metropolis. And since you do, it’s your job to make sure Chloe’s okay when the rest of us aren’t around.”
“What am I, her bodyguard or something? Ever tell her your bizarre idea?”
Bart shook his head. “I don’t have to. You’re the leader of our team. It’s in the job description.”
But Oliver wasn’t the leader. At least, he wasn’t anymore. He just seemed to bump into his old teammates. He didn’t find them, and he didn’t go looking for him after Doomsday. “Bart, I think we both know that I haven’t been the leader of the team for a while now”, he said softly.
“No, we have two leaders. Personally, I think it’s a better system.”
Leaders didn’t kill poor innocent children. “If I’m such a great leader, then why couldn’t I save those kids?” he asked, frustrated
“Stop.” Bart said the word with such a commanding tone that Oliver just looked at him in confusion.
“Stop what?”
“Stop blaming yourself for everything. You don’t understand the whole picture.” Bart turned on his phone, and played with a couple of menus before showing Oliver the screen. He saw a map covered with red blips. “See those red dots?” Bart asked. He nodded. “Those are child soldier camps around the border. There’s genocide going on in the Sudan, and Kenya has no other way to defend themselves.”
“They’re bringing in kids?”
Bart nodded. “They take them in at a really young age. They’re either found wandering around or they’re taken from their families. Trained to be soldiers- they’re practically brainwashed. They’re not little kids anymore, Oliver. You couldn’t have stopped them.”
“I ran over them with a car.”
“They were chasing you with a tank. I followed you, I saw it. You had to. Don’t you dare blame yourself for this.”
“Why?” Oliver asked. “Because I owe it to myself after everything that I’ve seen and been through over the years?”
“No”, Bart shook his head. “Because you owe it to me. You owe it to Chloe.”
“What are you talking about?”
“During the Roulette mission, AC hit you with a truck. And all of a sudden, it was up to me to make sure that you came out of it alive. Doomsday made me morally gray as it was, but your life was put in my hands. Had I been a split second later, you would have died.”
“I didn’t ask for the Roulette mission. You guys did it all on your own.”
Bart scoffed. “Of course you were asking for it. You were drunk every night and you completely lost control of yourself.”
“They were my mistakes to make!” Oliver exclaimed
“You don’t get it, do you? We’re a team. We’re scattered all over the globe, but that doesn’t change what we are. You brought us together. What, did you think that we were going to just turn our back on you because things went wrong?”
“Sure I did, I had no problem with turning my back on you.”
“You don’t go and get plastered unless you want to drown your emotions. You were guilty for not looking back.”
Suddenly, there was a whirring sound, and Bart fell to his knees, his body shaking violently before he was knocked unconscious.
“Bart?” Oliver got down to the floor, and shook him. “Buddy, wake up.”
There was no response. He turned him over, and saw the dart in his back. He pulled it out and examined it. It was a red Taser dart. With the exception of the color, it was identical to his own. He should have recognized the noise.
He wasn’t surprised when he saw Speedy emerge from the shadow of the room. She flicked off the voice distorter and took off her sunglasses “Oliver, let’s go.”
“What are you doing here?” he asked
“I’m saving your ass. Come on, let’s go.”
“Mia, you just knocked out Impulse.” He told her
“Wait, what? I found you, and then he took you. I thought…” she trailed off
“How did you even find me?”
She took out a GPS system, and showed him the green blip on the screen. “There’s a tracer on your phone. Thankfully, this guy doesn’t have the signals jammed.”
“That still doesn’t explain anything.”
She shrugged, and glanced at the body in front of them. “Oh, yeah, that reminds me”, she said.
Oliver perked up at her words, but the next thing that he registered was pain as he unexpectedly stumbled around, trying to find his balance. Mia punched him in the jaw.
“Way to tell me that you were following a lead in Africa.”
He let out a groan. “I didn’t leave a note or anything?”
She shook her head.
“Mia, I’m…”
“Save it. I punched you in the face, you know what you did. We’re good. Don’t let it happen again. I found the coordinates by doing a system playback over the past couple of days. You have no idea how difficult it was to get your pilot to take me here.”
If only the system playback worked months ago when he tried to find Chloe. Would have been a huge time-saver, but she was better at covering her tracks than he was.
“Well, as you can see, I’m perfectly fine.”
“Can you stop lying to me, Oliver? I found you when you got out of the car. He”, she nudged Bart’s body with her boot, “beat me to getting to you. But I still saw you.”
“What doesn’t kill us…” he took a breath.
“Anyway, we better get going. Otherwise we’re going to be late.”
“Late for what?” He asked Mia
“I assumed that you’re here to track down the General.”
Sam Lane. Chloe’s uncle. Right. “I guess with everything, I got a little bit sidetracked.”
“And that’s fine. I don’t blame you, but we should get to that camp as soon as possible. We don’t know when they’re going to relocate.”
There was a groaning sound, and they watched as Bart opened his eyes, clutching his forehead. “Never figured to get a security system here”, he managed as he sat up. He seemed to spot Mia’s boots and trailed his eyes upwards until he saw her. He glanced at Oliver and then back at Mia. “He always keeps good company”, Oliver heard him mutter.
Mia held out a hand. “Sorry about that.”
Bart took it, and she pulled him up. Oliver watched uncomfortably as Bart continued to hold on to her hand. “I never say no to an apology, especially from someone who looks like you. Bart Allen”, he introduced himself before kissing the glove and releasing it.
Oliver watched as Mia’s cheeks turned pink. “Mia Dearden.”
“Okay, we should really get to that military camp, shouldn’t we, Mia?” he prompted
“The American military base?” Bart asked
“Yeah, Chloe’s uncle is there. And I think he might have some answers.”
“They’re heading out to destroy a child soldier camp later tonight.”
“Wait, how do you know about the camp?” Mia asked him
“Wounded soldiers lose their sense of direction sometimes. If they can somehow get their way back, the medic at the camp can save them.”
“You’ve been through a couple of the war zones?” Mia asked curiously
“Impulse is super fast”, Oliver said.
“Yeah, well”, Bart said nervously. Oliver had never known him to be shy. Ever.
“We could really use your help. Can you help us get to them?”
Bart glanced at his watch. “They’re probably already gone.” He pulled out his cell phone. “But I think I know where they’re headed. Interested?”
Oliver and Mia responded at the same time. “Always.”