Erase: Chapter Forty-Three (43/50)
Banner created by: nivieniv
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.
A/N: From the looks of my inbox with the petty messages and hate, you guys have finally caught on to the idea that Oliver is supposed to lose his sense of morality. That he’s supposed to be so desperate to find Chloe that he’s willing to do anything for a straight answer. The general consensus is that I’m a shitty writer, and I get that. It’s fine, and maybe I even agree with you if it’s taken 42 chapters in a 50 chapter story for that to come through. If it’s so bad, you don’t need to read it. You can go somewhere else.
Here’s something to keep in mind, though. This isn’t a Chlark story, and since Clark is not in this story, it’s not fair to take what I’m making Oliver do in a story with no official Smallville or DC writer to approve it and compare it to the actual Smallville or DC written character of Clark Kent. If you’re going to do that, compare Smallville or DC Clark Kent to Smallville or DC Oliver Queen, because since I’m not a professional, it’s not a fair fight to the Oliver Queen that I’m putting through hell.
If you don’t like it, don’t read it. Because whether you like or hate this story or any of my other stories, they’re all getting finished.
Chapter Forty-Three
Days without Chloe Sullivan: 93
He opened the door, half hoping that this would work and half calling himself an idiot for not thinking about this a long time ago. The scientists gave her a small dose- long enough to get some answers but short enough so that when she slipped back into her comatose state, the amount of time wouldn't be exponentially longer.
They were close to perfecting the serum that Lex gave Moira Sullivan years ago, a process that was slower than they expected because Oliver made sure that she wasn’t a specimen. The scientists understood how important it was that she was comfortable and that it wasn’t a constant process of testing different medications only to lose her again, especially when he learned a month in that the more often people tested her, the longer the coma would be.
Lex had done enough damage to Chloe’s mom- to the degree that they weren’t sure if they could get her out of the coma permanently. But they were still trying, more because Oliver kept funding the project.
Lucy was no help on the phone, just agreed that it was one of the two, but not who it was. So Mia and Bart were trying to track down Dinah while he was here, trying to see if he could get any headway on Lana Lang. Hopefully Chloe’s old yearbook would be able to help. Granted, he still wanted to see if Mrs. Sullivan could get anywhere with Chloe’s laptop to skip any extra steps.
He held out the laptop as she opened her eyes. “Mrs. Sullivan, my name is Oliver Queen”, he began softly. “I need your help in finding you daughter, Chloe.”
She shook her head and turned away from him. “I won’t do it.”
“We’re friends”, he told her. “She asked me to keep you safe after she got you out of Lex’s facility. She left town and I just want to make sure that she’s safe.”
She shook her head. “I can help you find anybody. Just not my daughter. Please.”
She looked at him like he was Lex. Like he was the bad guy, but he wasn’t. How could he explain? “I’m not one of the bad guys. I promise.”
“They all say that”, she whispered. “If Chloe ran, there has to be a reason for it. She doesn’t want to be found.”
“I made a mistake”, he said, kneeling down to her level and putting a hand on one of the arms on her chair. “Chloe- she was trying to protect a lot of people, and she went to some extremes to do it. I shouldn’t have called her out on it, but I did. She left because of me, and I need to fix it. This is the only thing that I could think of. I’ve been searching for months, and I can’t think of anything else.”
She looked at him. “You seem like a nice man, but I’m sorry. I can’t help you.”
He rested the laptop on the floor and pulled out the yearbook, flipping through the pages until he found Lana Lang. “Can you help me find her?” He asked, pointing to the picture.
She stared at the picture and held the book in her hands. Her hands glowed green and she closed her eyes, focusing.
It was quiet in the room for a minute before her hands stopped glowing and her eyes opened again. “This doesn’t belong to this woman.”
“No, but she has a yearbook just like this one.”
Moira closed the book. “I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way. I can find Ms.” She looked at the name. “Lang, but I need something personal of hers in order to do it.”
“If I come back with something of hers, will you tell me where she is?”
“Something that she connects with that has meaning.”
She dropped the yearbook on the floor, and Oliver picked it up. “I’m not sure how to do that.” He looked back up at her, but she was gone. Her eyes had glossed over and her body was still.
“Mrs. Sullivan?”
There was no response, and there was no use in waking her up if he didn’t have something that she could work with.
He remembered how shocked Chloe was when he found her at the Clock Tower years ago, how difficult it was for her to see her mother being taken away. He walked up to one of the head scientists. “It’s been years since we started this project and it doesn’t look like it’s getting any better.”
“Mr. Queen, the fact that we were able to wake her up from such a deep coma for this long is a drastic improvement.”
“But it’s not permanent.” Oliver told him.
“Not yet, but we’re getting there.”
“I know you are”, he started. “But she has a daughter who probably doesn’t visit much because it’s hard to watch her come back just to have her leave again. I need this to speed up. If it’s more funding you need, I’ll provide it.”
“Mr. Queen, I understand the urgency, but this process- if it’s rushed, we might not be able to wake her up. We can’t just give her the first experimental drug that we develop. Mrs. Sullivan’s daughter would most likely prefer her mother to be alive.”
Oliver nodded. “Send me daily updates. I’ll be back soon.”
Days without Chloe Sullivan: 94
He flew back to Metropolis and gave Mia a call in the car. There was no news on Dinah’s location, and he told them to keep looking while he tried to figure out how he could get something that was Lana’s that she still had meaning to without wasting trips.
He didn’t really know Lana too personally- he just knew the stories that he heard over the years and some information that he dug up on Chloe that had mentioned Lana.
Oliver knew that Lana restored the Talon, but he wasn’t sure if anything would help that belonged to the coffee shop. He knew that for some reason, she married Lex and then divorced him, but he doubted that there was anything in the mansion that she would still have a personal connection with.
He remembered reading an article about Lana’s childhood during the meteor shower in one of Chloe’s old binders. There was some sort of memento that he saw once, but he couldn’t remember what it was.
He took out his phone and accessed the Torch’s database, trying to find the story, but he found the link to the front page of Time magazine instead. Lana was crying in a fairy princess costume and it was reported that her parents were hit by a meteor that killed them instantly.
She made something out of the meteor that killed them.
***Flash***
He knocked on the door to the Talon and she opened it. “Lois isn’t here, come in.”
“It’s encrypted”, he said, waving the CD case in the air.
“I know. I encrypted it.” She closed the door behind him.
“Victor’s out of town on a mission.”
“I know.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad the intel is secure in case something bad happened, but wouldn’t it be good if you let me in on the secret too?”
She shrugged. “Call it job insurance.” She put the CD in her laptop’s drive and started typing. “This could take a while. Help yourself to some food. There’s Chinese in the fridge.”
He looked over at the fridge and nodded. “I’m good.” He looked around the room and spotted a tin container. “What’s that?” He asked. “Does Lois collect baseball cards now?”
“No, that’s mine”, she said, typing.
“You collect baseball cards?”
“One of the Isis kids gave it to me.”
He gave her an amused look. “You’re a horrible liar.”
“Haven’t told anyone you killed Lex yet, have I? Must not be that bad.”
The combination of running his company, dealing with the merger, and missions helped him to forget what he did most days. Hearing her say it so casually reminded him of the guilt.
“I’m sorry”, she said. “That wasn’t fair. There’s just been a lot going on in my head recently. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay”, he said quietly. “I deserve it.”
She stopped typing. “No, it’s not.” She walked over to the tin and picked it up, opening it up and showing a necklace. “Lana left this behind with me because it was too painful to take it with her. Too many memories of Clark. I’ve kind of been holding onto it in case she surprises us all and shows up in town again. It used to be part of a meteor that killed her parents.”
***End Flash***
He was originally heading over to the Watchtower to try to find something, but if that little baseball card tin was still there, he hit the gold. He took a couple of turns to leave the city and started the ridiculous commute towards Smallville.
When he reached the Talon, he asked the barista at the counter if Lois was in the apartment. The guy said that he had no idea, he just started his shift. Oliver thanked him and went up the stairs anyway.
He knocked on the door a couple of times before taking out the lock-pick that he always carried around with him.
You could always try the handle.
He gave the handle a go and found that it was locked, like most apartment doors in the world were when people weren’t around. He started to pick the lock and opened the door before stepping inside.
It still looked pretty messy in here. The last time he was in here for longer than a couple of minutes, he ruined everything, and it still wasn’t fixed yet, but hopefully that could change.
***Flash***
“Nice storm trooper costume”, he remarked, picking up the helmet. “I’ve got to say, when I said that I’d let you design your own outfit to go out into the field, this isn’t what I had in mind.”
“Cute”, she said, taking the helmet from him. “That’s Lois’, not mine. She’s got to cover the comic book convention tonight for the Planet.”
“Oh, I know. Just making conversation before I have to head out and track down a potential crazy person. Last words and all”, he said dramatically.
“And you waste it on Star Wars conversation? I’m disappointed, but it’ll have to do. You’re all reconfigured.” She tossed him the earpiece. “Now get out of here before Lois gets home.”
Well, that was fast. He caught the earpiece. “Really? I owe you one.”
“Oh good, I’ll keep it in my log book with the other favors so I can cash them all in for something cool later.”
“Maybe a balcony so I don’t look suicidal jumping out the window. I’ll keep you updated on the havoc in Metropolis.”
He turned towards the setting sun for a split second and shot out a zip-line and waved goodbye to her before jumping out. He could have sworn that she looked like she wanted to tell him something.
***End Flash***
He started tearing the place apart looking for Lana’s necklace, since it wasn’t out in the open like when he first saw it. He searched drawers of clothing, he looked in the closet, he looked in the kitchen, hell he even looked in the fridge.
He looked under both of the beds and was looking at the shelves when he heard his name.
He turned around and saw Lois standing there with a can of mace before she put it down. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Long story”, he said, still searching. He found a small light and started looking inside of the vases that were decorating the shelves.
“Oliver, stop.” He did. “Turn around.” He did. “I haven’t seen or spoken to you in months. You don’t call to keep me updated and you disappear and now you’re here and looking through my things. And you look awful. So you’re going to have to explain something to me or I’m going to have to report a break in.”
“I really don’t have time to catch up, Lois. I’m doing the same thing that I’ve been doing. I’m looking for Chloe. And I’m looking for something here that’s going to help me find her.”
He turned back to the vases and kept looking around.
“When was the last time you slept?”
God, not this question again. Oliver, when was the last time you slept? When was the last time you ate something?
He kept searching. “Does it matter? Geez, how many vases do you guys need?”
“They’re decorative”, she said. “We’ve had a lot of crazy psycho killers over the years. They always come with flowers in vases. It’s supposed to be funny.”
“It’s creepy”, he said, looking inside of one vase that looked like it had something inside of it. Something that was reflecting the light.
He grabbed the vase. “What’s this one?”
“Some guy from high school who hit on Chloe.”
Chloe put Lana’s necklace in this one. It was probably the guy who could clone himself and dated both of them at the same time. Interesting placement. Oliver was just glad that the necklace was still here, that Chloe didn’t take it with her.
“Any sentimental value?”
“No.”
“Good”, Oliver dropped it on the floor and picked up the necklace that he found. It looked like the same necklace. “See you around, Lois.”
“And you’re not even going to clean up the mess?”
“No time, I’m sorry.” He took out his cell phone and called his pilot again, telling him to fuel up for another trip to Star City.
Good thing the guy is well paid.
“Oliver, what the hell happened to you? Where is my cousin? Is she okay?”
“She’s safe”, he told Lois. “And I’m about to find out where she is.”
“With the power of jewelry?”
“It’s complicated, but this thing’s going to lead me to her. It’s the next link in the chain.”
“The chain of what?” Lois asked “You’re sounding really strange. Are you drinking again? You sound weird, but you don’t sound like an ass.”
“No, I haven’t been drinking.”
“Your shareholders are trying to remove you from being CEO. Put the president of Rao Industries in there instead.”
He didn’t know that. “It doesn’t matter”, he lied.
“How does your father’s company not matter to you?”
“You asked me to do this”, he told her. “You asked me to find Chloe and that’s what I’m doing.”
“No, I didn’t. You came in here and told me that you were going to find her. I said that I’d get the Blur to help and you wouldn’t let me. And you wouldn’t let me help you.”
“The Blur doesn’t care.” Oliver told her. “I tried to get him to help but he wouldn’t listen to me. He said that she was better off away from Metropolis.”
“Maybe he’s right. You said that she’s safe, right? That’s all that really matters, that she’s okay.”
“Like I said, it’s complicated and there’s no time.”
“This isn’t you, Oliver”, Lois told him. “You’ve always had boundaries, you don’t just go break into apartments like this just because you can.”
“I’ve stopped burglaries by breaking into bank vaults and museums. It saved people then from a lot of pain, and I broke in to save Chloe.”
“You could have called first, and I would have let you in”, Lois said. “You didn’t have to break in!”
“I’m sorry about that, and for the mess.”
“I’m worried about you”, Lois said, blocking the door. “if you’ve relapsed, it’s okay. I’ll go to meetings with you, we can get you help.”
He wasn’t an alcoholic. Not anymore. “I haven’t had a drink since my birthday. I’ll be fine once I find her, I promise. But you have to let me go and find her.”
“I’m drug testing you the next time that I see you”, Lois said before she stepped away from the threshold.
“Can’t wait.”
“Oliver”, she called out. He turned around before at the top of the staircase. “When you finally figure everything out, just know that it’s okay with me.”
“Sure, whatever”, he said, going down the stairs.
“Try calling next time.”
Days without Chloe Sullivan: 95
Moira Sullivan woke up with Oliver Queen at her side. “Mr. Queen, did you bring something to help me find your friend?”
“Yes”, he said, holding out the necklace. “Can you get anything from this?”
She took the necklace in her hands and it glowed green. She was silent, in a trance for a moment, before her eyes opened. “Pen and paper”, she whispered. Oliver held it out for her as she wrote out coordinates and handed it to him.
“Thank you”, he breathed. “I swear to you, I’ll make sure that they can heal you. I’m going to make sure that I bring you and your family back together again.”
She smiled widely before her eyes clouded over once more.