Erase: Chapter Thirty-Seven (37/?)
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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 is 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 haven't updated because I've been busy living my life, not because this story is a failure. I'm not going to apologize.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Days without Chloe Sullivan: Still 83
Oliver felt his head slam against the side of the couch as his air supply cut off. "What do you want from me?" The General hissed
Okay, this was no time to panic. He had been strangled before and gotten out of it, and he would again. Panicking wouldn't help him right now. "Relax", he started, trying to keep his voice steady. "One of the...good guys", he sputtered.
"I find that hard to believe", the General said, applying more pressure. Oliver wasn't really in a conversational mood right now. It was time to level the playing field. He curled his right hand into a fist and punched the guy in the nose.
Oliver took the split second that the General was distracted to place his hands on the couch and kick his legs up until he did a flip over the couch. He stood up and massaged his neck. Much better. "I brought you here and saved your life. A thank you would be nice."
The General sat up from the couch and narrowed his eyes at Oliver. "You kidnapped me. There's a difference. I'll ask again as a last warning. What do you want from me?"
There wasn't going to be any playing nice with this guy. No sparkling conversation or cup of tea. Oliver's eyes darted in the general direction of the kitchen. There wasn't a sound coming from there. He was on his own, and he had a feeling that the only way to get an answer from the General was to beat him at his own physical game.
Bring it. "Funny, I didn't realize that I was dealing with a kid", Oliver said before dodging a punch. Oliver tried to punch back, but his fist only came in contact with the man's arm. Oliver kicked the man, but the General caught his foot and slammed him down on the floor.
"I've been serving the United States for a long time. You're going to have to do better than that."
Oliver brought the other leg up and attached both of his feet to the General's neck, tightening his grip. But the idea wasn't to kill the General. Only to force the man to respect him enough to give up the location of either his youngest daughter or his niece. Either/or- he wasn't picky.
He tried to bring the General down to the floor on his level, but the man was too large in comparison and Oliver found himself lifted up higher every second that the General was lowered. When the General got close enough, Oliver smacked his head onto the General and let go.
The two men separated and staggered in getting up before circling around each other. "Am I doing better now?" Oliver asked "I'm really hoping to get some sort of golden star for my achievements. Or is that a purple heart? Shapes and colors- I get them confused sometimes."
He wanted to get the man riled up. Because he wanted to find some sort of way to bring his family into the conversation. It didn't look like the General had recognized him. Oliver wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
"You would, pretty boy", the General growled before running towards him. Right when he was about to jump and tackle Oliver to the ground, he rolled out of the way, colliding with Bart's table and snapping it in two.
Oliver held a foot over the man's back and added some pressure. "Well, now that you're just lying there, maybe you can help me with something. I'm looking for someone that I think you know very well. Her name is Chloe Sullivan. Sound familiar?"
"I have no idea who you're talking about", Sam Lane said.
"Now, I don't believe that, Sam." He started, placing a little bit more pressure on the man's spine. "You've been fighting in a battle field with child soldiers all night. You're tired, and so am I. Let's be honest with each other, shall we?"
The General started fidgeting for something in his pocket, probably a gun that Mia and Bart took away from him earlier. "I got rid of your little toys." No need to bring in his friends in the kitchen. "You're her Uncle Sam. I know that and you know that. She's my friend, and I'm trying to find her."
"I find that hard to believe."
"Yeah?" Oliver removed his foot from the man's back and held out a hand. "No guns, no fighting, no running away. Just talking."
The General looked at Oliver's hand before taking it. Right before Oliver could pull him up, the General pulled him down, shot up from the floor, and ran straight for the window.
Oliver got up and ran after him blindly, forgetting that they were on the second floor and that it was the middle of the night in the middle of Africa. He saw the General run out through the emergency window and followed right after him, rolling on the floor and picking himself up before running.
He was bruised all over from getting the General to this point, and would be more bruised later. But there was no way in hell that he was just going to let Sam Lane go. He sprinted after the figure, trying not to lose him in the darkness. There were no street lights in this area like there were in Metropolis and Star City, nothing other than movement in shadows to distinguish the night from the man he was chasing. He wasn't equipped with his night vision classes and there was no voice in his ear. But he kept running.
There was a whooshing noise, and a hand on his shoulder pulling him back. "Need a hand?"
He turned around and saw Bart. He breathed a sigh of relief. "He ran", he breathed. "I don't know it that's him or not", he pointed vaguely into the distance. "I think he's right...there."
Bart smiled and gripped his shoulder. "Hold on."
There was a flash of red, and the next thing he knew, the General was running right into him. The two men fell on the ground and Bart sped to the side, observing the tangled sight in front of him. "I was always good at bowling", Oliver heard him say. "That's a strike, my friend."
And now, there was terror on the General's face. He backed away from the two of them. "Who are you people?"
"I told you. We're friends. Why don't we go back, talk." Oliver said.
"Where did he come from?" Sam asked, gesturing towards Bart.
"He's with me. If you're willing to listen, we have a bit of a story to tell."
"I'm not going anywhere with you people", the General said, getting up. "Stay away from me."
He got up and tried to run away.
"Chloe's missing." Oliver called out.
The General froze. It looked like he didn't know that. Okay, that got rid of the possibility of him knowing where Chloe was. But if Lucy did, then not everything was a complete waste.
Oliver walked over to him, knowing that Bart was there in case he tried to make a run for it again. "Chloe left Metropolis and I've been scouring the globe looking for her. I don't know if she's safe or not, and the only way for me to do that is to find her. If she's safe and wants to be left alone, then I'll back off. But I need to know. Your daughter might know something. And I know that at the very least, you know where she is."
"Lois lived with Chloe. If you know my niece at all, you know that."
"You have two daughters, sir."
The General touched the chain around his neck and shook his head. "I'm not telling you where Lucy is. She's being protected. If Lucy knows something, then Chloe's fine. She would be with family."
"She was with family in Metropolis and Dark Thursday happened. She lived with her father all throughout high school in Metropolis and she still wasn't completely safe." Oliver reasoned.
"Chloe's still a Lane. She can take care of herself."
"She's the strongest person that I've known. But you can't deny that she gets herself into trouble sometimes", Bart said, stepping forward. The General backed up a step.
"You're one of those people that she wrote about, aren't you?" Sam asked Bart "The meteor infected who terrorized her."
"I'm one of the meta-humans. Chloe ran a foundation in order to help people like me." Bart told him
"You people are unnatural. You take advantage of kind souls like Chloe's because she just wanted to help."
"She did help", a voice called out.
Oliver turned around to see Mia trudging around irritated, barefoot and wearing an oversized t-shirt.
"What, forget about me?" she asked before punching Oliver in the face
Okay, ouch. "What was that for?" he asked
"Oh, please." he heard her scoff before she turned to the General. "Forget these two buffoons. You and I? We're going to talk. Don't worry, no crazy powers here."
"What makes you think that I can trust you?" Sam asked
She gestured towards Oliver. "This guy started throwing you around the place, and this guy?" she gestured towards Bart. "We both know you're not going to trust because of what he can do. The reason why is beyond me. I'm just here in a t-shirt. I'm not even wearing shoes. Can't harm a fly. We're going to have a little chat."
Oliver suddenly felt very uneasy. What was she doing? "Mia?"
"Shhh" she hushed loudly. "What do you say?" she asked
"Just you?" The General asked "Nobody else?"
"Mia, what are you doing?" he asked, noticing Bart crossing his arms stubbornly.
"Just me." She confirmed
"Okay", Sam Lane said, walking out a little bit.
Oliver rushed over to Mia and held her back. "What are you doing?" he hissed
"I need you to trust me, Oliver."
"I do trust you, that's not the problem here. I don't think you get how important this is."
"Seriously? 20 minutes. That's all I'm asking for."
"If he tries to hurt you..." he started
"Then I'll be fine. Give me this one, Oliver. Come on."
Mia was a closed off teenager, scared and alone when he met her. When did she grow up? Where was he when that happened?
He felt her staring him down, and had no choice other than to stuff his hands in his pocket and nod his head. "We'll keep an eye out. If anything weird happens and you can't take care of it, I want you to scream, okay?"
"I'll be fine."
This was his only lead, and there it went with Mia running after him. He had no idea if she was going to succeed or not. And he had no idea what she was going to do, if he could guide her somehow and help do it better.
"Hard, isn't it?" Bart asked, distracting him from his thoughts.
"What?"
"It's hard, not being completely in control. You can't control everything, you know. And neither could Chloe."
"If she screws this up..." Oliver started.
"Do you remember 33.1?" Bart asked
How could he forget? "Of course."
"Do you remember ever asking me if I could run somewhere? Doubting if I could get in and out of somewhere?"
"Bart, you're faster than Clark is."
"Of course I am", Bart said smugly. "The point is that you never doubted me. And it's because you trust me. And even when everything was falling apart during Doomsday and Clark almost forced you out of that Barn, you knew on some level that we were going to be on your side."
"Which was a mistake", Oliver corrected.
"The point is that you trusted us implicitly. Whenever Chloe followed you in a facility or on a patrol, you followed her instructions to the t. You never hesitated. Why don't you trust Mia on that level yet?" Bart asked
"Because she's just a kid!" Oliver defended "She hasn't been doing this for very long- she's not completely confident in her abilities with a bow and arrow yet."
"Funny, that looked like confidence", Bart said, keeping an eye on her. "Looks like you."