Crossroads 4/??
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm incredibly sorry for taking so long to post this chapter, but real life seems to always intrude when the least wanted. Hope the length of it will make up for the delay.
Summary: Oliver doesn't know about superheros, secret societies, villains, who are after more than just his business until he gets caught in the middle. Meeting Chloe will offer both far more than they'd have ever expected.
This is AU set a few months after Chloe graduated from college.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. The characters used in here belong to The CW and DC Comics. No money is made from this, it's for entertainment only.
A BIG thank you to Lucy aka smallvillefics for editing this! You so rock babe!
CHAPTER 4
Chloe inwardly laughed at how easy it had been to take a closer look at Lionel's last operations. It amazed her that someone with such a wicked personality like him was almost being overly organized when it came to his business and most likely illegal activities.
Hadn't it been too easy? Wasn't it too organized? Wasn't it a bit inconvenient to have important data protected with nothing more but two simple fire-walls? It seemed a bit odd to her, but maybe she was imagining things...maybe Lionel didn't fear any intruders and if he did, he surely knew a way to take care of them.
Chloe took a sip of her coffee, mulling things over again. Wasn't it weird that she only found some business related files and nothing at all incriminating? After all, she had hacked into Lionel's computer. Shouldn't it look differently? If Oliver had been right, why didn't she find anything about Queen Industries? The only object that looked out of place was a folder labeled "Veritas". It was empty though, so she didn't think about it further. Yet. Something just wasn't right, the tingling sensation at her neck told her so.
Suddenly it hit her like a ton of bricks - it was a set-up!
Her stomach was knitting with acute panic, she began pacing the room, silently berating herself for being so stupid. Didn't she learn anything from her last encounter with the Luthors? She should have known better. Why hadn't she at least used some Internet-cafe to hack into his files?
Fighting the feeling off as well as possible she tried to think rationally again. Panicking over something wasn't her style. She was calm and collected and she would be exactly that no matter what might happen next. Perhaps she was overreacting anyway, perhaps Lionel hadn't even noticed.
"God Chloe, who are you kidding here?" she scolded herself.
0-0-0-0-
Oliver had passed out on his couch with a bottle of whiskey still clutched in his hands.
He had tried to stop drinking, he really had, and he even was managing to get through the day without any alcohol, keeping himself too busy to allow any signs of weakness.
But as soon as he had stepped into his apartment the voices inside his head had gotten louder and the overwhelming need to silence them had drawn him to the next available bottle like a moth to a flame. It had been become his sanctuary, his only escape.
After he had drowned half of it he had fallen into a fitful sleep.
Oliver was lying on his side, his hands and feet bound tightly together. The room was dark and cold, concrete cement in some old basement.
His head was still spinning from the chloroform they had used on him earlier. He groaned deeply as the pounding headache and nausea overwhelmed him.
"Look who's coming around," he heard a teasing, yet sinister voice speaking at his side. With a shove of his boot the man turned him around, making Oliver lay in an even more awkward position.
"Where am I…. What do you want?" Oliver demanded, trying to mask the fear he was feeling behind a stoicface and a strong voice.
"If it's money that you want, you have to let me making a phonecall."
A woman stepped in front of him. Her face was hidden behind a ski mask.
"Nah, we don't want your money, pretty boy. When we're finished with this, we'll have more money than you could ever give. We want some answers."
She kneeled beside him, touching his cheek in an almost gentle way. Oliver recoiled at her touch and she laughed. Standing up, she spoke. "Look sweetheart, you can make it easy and tell us what we want to know or you can have it the hard way. It's your decision to make. But choose carefully, it would be such a shame to marr that beautiful face of yours."
Opening his eyes with a start he sat up, rubbing his hands over his face, feeling shaken again. It wasn't real, it was just a nightmare. He looked around frantically, blinking several times. His heart was thumping inside his chest with such speed he feared he was getting a heart attack. Closing his eyes he combed his hands through his hair wearily, trying to get his ragged breathing under control.
He should have gotten used to it by now. It was always the same pictures; he had dreamed this sequence a million times. He knew that if he didn't get up now, another dream would follow. It was as all of his nights were. But as much as he was afraid of drifting off to sleep again, he was too exhausted to stay awake.
It were different versions of the same dream - the same reality - as his doctors had told him. But no matter how they started, they would always end the same way, with him being as helpless as a child. They had made sure that whatever chance of defense he may have had was blighted from the very beginning.
In some ways he relished the physical pain. It was something he could handle, it would turn his thoughts away from the burning agony he felt in his heart.
0-0-0-0-
Clark had landed at Oliver's balcony some time ago, had watched him tossing and turning. A part of him wanted to get over and shake Oliver awake, but he knew he couldn't do that.
But that didn't keep him from wondering if Chloe was right and Lionel had something to do with it. Maybe it was time to start a little digging of his own.
Clark had heard Oliver scream - a piercing sound that had let him freeze in it's intensity.
He saw Oliver panting heavily from the impact the dream had caused on him. Oliver was drenched in cold sweat as he dragged himself up to walk over to the balcony to get some fresh air - Clark had just enough time to jump.
This time it was altogether different. He could still hear their voices echoing in his head "We're going to kill you, Queen, for the same reasons your parents died … died … died."
0-0-0-0-
Clark showed up at Chloe's doorstep the other morning, with a pounding so loud it would wake a dead man.
Chloe nearly spilled her coffee at the powerful noise. Being certain it could be only Clark she called out, "Hold on Clark! I'm coming."
"God Clark, do you want the whole neighbourhood to know about your iron fist?" she chastised good naturedly.
Smiling rather sheepishly Clark held up a bag with her favorite bagels, already making her guess that something must be wrong. He usually wasn't the guy who brought breakfast to her, not anymore anyway.
"I brought you bagels - they're vanilla, your favorite."
"Okay, Clark, spill it. What did Lana do?" Chloe sighed.
"This isn't about Lana. Look, I went to the Clock Tower last night …. if you really want to help that Queen guy, you shouldn't wait too long anymore," Clark stated.
"What do you mean, I shouldn't wait too long?"
He shrugged. "Just saying. I still don't get it. Why do you want to help someone you barely know? Is it because of me? Look Chloe, I …. " he trailed off. He wasn't very good at those things.
His eyes glued to the ground, which suddenly had a very interesting view to offer, he tried again.
"If I … ifIhavehurtyouIamsorry," he said all in once, looking flustered.
'You've hurt me badly and more than once,' Chloe thought, but instead said aloud, "This hasn't anything to do with you, Clark, okay?"
"I want to help him, because I know what it feels like to get in the way of a Luthor. And I'm guessing that Oliver has no one else to go to, no one who could help him coping with it."
"Chloe, be careful, you know what Lex and Lionel are capable of," Clark warned her.
Chloe choked back a bitter laugh. Yeah she knew, first hand and she would never forget.
This was her chance to tell him about last night, about the big mistake she may have, but somehow she couldn't.
"I'm a big girl now, Clark, I can take care of my own!" she snapped at him instead.
0-0-0-0-0-
It was pretty late when Chloe was finally able to leave the Planet. She couldn't complain. If anything, the day had been fantastic. For once someone had actually needed her opinion on something important, had let her giving real input on some bribery story. The tremendous sense of accomplishment that hit her wasn't comparable to anything else. It didn't even fade when she was reduced to taking copies and making coffee again. One day soon she would be the one who wrote the exposes again.
She had been too preoccupied to think about the conversation she had had with Clark this morning, but now it popped into her mind again and she decided to pay Oliver a visit. She wouldn't necessarily make her presence known. She just wanted to check on him, to see with her own eyes if what Clark had told her was true. In fact, she definitely preferred to stay hidden. Her senses kept telling her that Oliver wouldn't be happy to see her again and she could usually trust them.
She would hide in the dark behind some trees not far away from the QI main building. She had anonymously called the clerk about half a hour ago and received the word that his boss hadn't left his bureau yet.
It wasn't the most comfortable place to be though. Her clothes were too thin for this kind of activity and she longed for her warm apartment and a nice hot bath with lots of bubble to wash away the remnants of the day. It was getting considerably colder and the wind was increasing by the minute. She hadn't planned to spend the night in an alley, after all.
0-0-0-0-
A sudden sniggering made her jump in surprise.
"Are you lost, little lady? I can show you the way home and we can have some fun," the voice teased.
Chloe decided to ignore the man it belonged to, but he yanked her back into the wall, leaving her stunned for a second.
"I told you - we're gonna have some fun," he said harshly, while he tried to drag her further into the alley away from the lights.
Getting over her momentary immobility, Chloe started to fight him off. Her heart was racing both with fear and her desperate efforts to get rid of him. She kicked him hard, using her fingernails to scratch him at whatever part she was able to reach.
He was cursing under his breath, but wouldn't let go of her though.
Chloe could feel her energy draining off rapidly. "Clark!" She screamed frantically, but her attacker had his hand over her mouth immediately, muffling her cries.
0-0-0-0-
Chloe stumbled backwards when her attacker was pulled away from her.
"I think the lady said no!" She heard a growling voice behind her and then a sickening thud as the guy was crashed into the wall.
Taking some deep breaths to calm herself down Chloe turned slowly around to see Oliver beating him until he was sprawled out on the ground.
From far off Oliver heard Chloe calling him to stop, but he found himself unable to - weeks of suppressed anger and frustration were finally finding a release.
It was only when he felt her hand on his shoulder that her words were registering in his brain.
"Oliver … Oliver, stop, you're going to kill him!"