Fighting Echoes (19/23)
Author: 
serafina19
Title: Fighting Echoes
Summary: As identities and affiliations are exposed, the Justice League begins to form. But once an old foe re-emerges and raises the stakes, Evie is forced to determine how much she is willing to sacrifice to protect everyone she cares about. Sequel to “Notbroken,” and the final multi-chapter in the "Calendar Girl" verse.
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Coarse language, violence and adult content.
Special thanks to:
552158 for the amazing banners that I couldn’t stop admiring when you sent them to me. Also, big love to
slytherinpunk, without you, I probably wouldn’t have the guts to try this.
August p.1 August p.2 September p.1 September p.2 October p.1 October p.2 October p.3 November p.1 November p.2 December p.1 December p.2 January p.1 January p.2 February p.1 February p.2 March April May
June
June 1
Twenty hours.
Twenty long hours waiting, hoping.
It was hard enough watching Emil go from person to person, treating injuries, keeping an eye on the heart monitors while in Watchtower, or even just the frazzled state of those involved.
Although Oliver had spent the majority of the time watching Chloe, it was hard not to walk over to the other room, she was one of his closest friends after all, and she did save his life, no matter how unorthodox her methods were. But that didn’t make walking to her room any easier. How did she think that was a good idea, sacrificing herself like that? How could she do that? Then again, none of those questions mattered as long as she was unconscious.
Standing in the doorway, he caught Bart’s eye momentarily, her devoted cousin who hadn’t left her side once Scott had let her go. Everyone thought that he would stay with her too, but once the adrenaline died off, it was clear how much physical trauma he went through. So he sat downstairs, while Dinah and AC, despite his separated shoulder, kept an eye on him.
Giving Bart a final look before leaving the room, Oliver had taken about three steps away before he heard Bart exclaim, “Cuz?” Stumbling back to the doorway, he found the two in a tight embrace before Evie pulled back quickly.
“Bart? Oh god, please don’t tell me that Chloe...”
“She did,” Oliver interjected, knowing that she blacked out before she could manipulate Lex to fire his gun, “just not you.”
“Oliver,” Evie said, a smile replacing the confusion on her face, “you’re okay.” He nodded before stepping into the room. “How long?”
“Twenty hours.”
Bowing her head, Evie knew that was a long time, longest that she could remember in fact. The fact Chloe wasn’t here only meant she was still recovering, and she felt herself swallow hard in consequence. “Oliver, you know better than anyone else. The gun was... right here.”
Oliver’s face went white, forgetting that Evie had no idea of the events that transpired. Missions like this often don’t come easy, but the rescue mission had consequences that Oliver was scared to tell her. “That’s a story for later.”
She saw the worry in his eyes, but she had to know what happened, or rather what she caused. “You don’t have to say anything... just...” Her voice trailed Oliver’s expression hardened. “It’s that bad?”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Oliver replied, essentially waving the white flag as he closed his eyes, remembering exactly what happened to him.
“Evie no,” he yelled, only to close his eyes seconds later upon hearing the gunshot. She knew it would end up like this, willing to sacrifice herself for the cause, but he couldn’t watch her do it.
When Oliver opened his eyes, he initially wondered if his wound was causing him to hallucinate. But after a few blinks, there was no mistaking the sight in front of him. Lex was on the ground, and standing over him was a barely standing Scott, gun in his hands, holding it above Lex’s head.
“Don’t, you’re not a-“
Once again, Oliver’s words were cut off by a gunshot, a bullet embedded in Lex’s head, dead within milliseconds.
His breathing harboured, Scott shook his head, remorse far from his eyes. “I hope you burn in hell, you sick son of a bitch.” The family had taken enough from him, he wasn’t going to let him add Evie to that list. He never thought that he would be grateful to see her fall unconscious.
“Arrow!” It was AC’s voice, moving to check on him. “Aquaman to Impulse, I need you here. Echo’s unconscious, but Arrow’s wounded. Boy Scout, get the doc to the tower.”
Oliver thought about joking about how their cover was blown, but he decided against it. Everyone responded quickly, as Bart zoomed in and got him to Watchtower, but not fast enough before he heard AC’s reply to someone else.
“He’ll make it Tower, he has to.”
At Watchtower, they lay him down on the couch and Emil began working, but within seconds, Chloe pushed her way through the men. “I need to do this, don’t try to stop me.” Oliver’s vision was pretty blurry at this point, but he could feel her hand cradling his face. “I love you.”
She was still out, by far the longest time, but Emil assured everyone that Chloe would wake up. There was no reason to believe him, but everyone did anyway because they needed that hope in a time like this.
But that was nothing compared to Evie’s reaction, as not only did she expect to die twenty hours ago, she also couldn’t have foreseen these consequence. “No...” she just barely managed, the words dragged out by her own disbelief, but Oliver nodded his head. “Where is he?”
“Downstairs.”
Evie nodded as she looked around the room. “How is he?”
“Not good,” was his reply, and unfortunately, the truth. Within seconds of seeing him entering Watchtower, Scott had done a one-eighty. Gone was the anger, only remorse and guilt remained. He washed his hands so many times, even though there wasn’t any blood on them, staring at them as they shook uncontrollably. Everyone had taken their turns sitting next to him, but only Oliver was able to keep him calm, and even that was temporary.
Evie attempted to sit up, but the pain in her chest persisted. “You think you could help me out?” Oliver nodded, but Evie suddenly held a hand out. “There’s a response on Chloe’s heart monitor.” She grimaced as she continued to get up despite the pain. “You should check in on her. Trust me; you’re going to be the first person she wants to see.”
Oliver disagreed, but Bart intervened, wrapping his arm around Evie to help her up. “I’ve got this.”
After Bart took over, Oliver watched them walk down the stairs together before heading quickly to Chloe’s room. It looked the same, only with the odd blip, the only sound that filled the air as Clark and Lois sat beside her.
Walking over to Lois, Oliver put a hand on her shoulder, not even able to imagine how she was feeling right now, as the hurt inside them was completely different.
Feeling the contact, Lois turned her head, knowing it was Oliver behind her. He felt guilt for what was going on, but she knew her cousin, and knew that Chloe would feel the same guilt if she just stood by.
For what felt like hours, even though it was just a couple minutes, the three of them stood there, waiting for Chloe to open her eyes. But the first sound they heard was the door creaking open. Everyone thought it was Emil coming back, but it ended up being Bart, walking slower than Oliver had ever seen him before he crashed down on the chair next to Clark.
“She… needed to talk to him alone.”
“Evie’s awake?” Lois’ eyes widened as she looked at Bart, but when he didn’t give her anything, she looked at Oliver, who confirmed it. Standing up, Lois walked over to Bart. “You must be relieved.”
“A little, I guess,” Bart said with a tiny smile, which disappeared in seconds as he looked up at Chloe. “Doesn’t make what happened any better, the fact she...”
Lois looked confused at his response, so she looked up to Clark for help, but he just shrugged. Not everyone knew the circumstances of how Evie had passed out, so it was up to Oliver to speak up. “That’s not your fault.”
Bart was skeptical to say the least, so he scoffed as he stared down at his feet. “Why not?”
Unfortunately, looking down only brought the memory back, hearing Victor scream at the screen, seeing the momentary glimpse of Lex in front of her before he was gunned down. No matter what Oliver told him, it still stung Bart, but he didn’t want to dwell on that now that she was awake. They would talk, but later, as Evie had her share of explaining to do already. Pointing to Chloe, Bart said, “I thought there was a response.”
“There was,” Emil interjected, entering the room. “But it was weak. It may be a couple minutes before she regains consciousness.”
“Come on cuz,” Lois begged, squeezing Chloe’s other hand.
The response of the heart monitor was a good start, but her body was still healing, so it made sense that it took time before they saw any movement.
~0~
Time had been a concept lost on Scott as he lay down on the couch in the place they called Watchtower. Most of the day had seemed like a blur, from being saved by Evie’s old roommate and a guy he met once on Halloween, to hearing the explosion behind him as he emerged from the building, carrying an unconscious Evie in his arms.
But one moment stood out, the only thing he could think of once Evie was taken from his arms for medical examination. Scott had walked down the steps slowly, one step at a time, staring at his hands, flipping them over, questioning his decision to pull that trigger... both times.
At the time, it felt right, picking up the gun that laid around the corner from where Evie, Lex and Oliver were to get retribution for his father and to save Evie from making a terrible mistake, but he had just killed someone. No matter the questionable character that Lex Luthor was, killing someone put Scott at his level, no matter the reason behind it.
The adrenaline inevitably wore off, the pain coursing through Scott’s veins returning as a result, as he barely managed to get to the couch. Cracked and broken ribs apparently did that to a person. Emil had done his diagnosis and necessary work, from here, Scott just had to lie down and relax, but he was getting restless again.
Everyone had tried to talk with him: Dinah, Oliver, Bart, even Lois came down once to try to get him to see that it was okay, but he couldn’t shake it. He killed a man. A terrible man, but what did that make him? And was it even worth it? Looking at his watch, Scott knew that he had seen the time once before, meaning that Evie, Chloe, they had been unconscious for plenty of time, too much time if you asked him.
It made no sense. How was it that he’s the one alive and breathing, albeit with a fair amount of physical and mental pain, while Evie was the one who no one knew whether or not she’d wake up?
A hand came to his shoulder, and Scott didn’t need to look up to know that it was Dinah. He looked up at her begrudgingly and smirked, trying to sell that he was okay. But that was when she tilted her head to her left, telling him to look that way.
He couldn’t believe it. After so many hours, it surprised Scott to even see her awake, let alone walking around. He wanted to ask how long she had been awake, but instead, his mouth just gaped open as she took the final step. Evie tested a step in his direction, and despite the obvious pain in her expression, she turned to whispered something to Bart, and he, not seeing it, went back up the stairs.
Within a couple steps, Scott couldn’t stand idly by anymore. Despite the pain he was feeling, he bolted up from the couch. “Jesus, Evie. What the hell do you think you’re doing?” But the pain was too much, and Dinah sat him back down.
“I could ask you the same thing.” It was so hard looking at him between the gashes above his eyes, the split lip, not to mention the numerous bruises that were likely beneath his clothing. “There’s no reason you should be moving right now.” She sat down beside him and Dinah took her leave.
“I was told what happened... the last thing I want you to do is blame yourself.” Grabbing a hold of his arm, Evie squeezed her fingers against his skin, hoping it wouldn’t cause him further pain, but instead grab his attention. “You saved Oliver... you saved so many people.”
His stare still towards the other side of the room, Scott whispered, “He wouldn’t have killed you.” It had taken him awhile to realize the truth, and it shouldn’t be one of the first things he asked her, but Scott couldn’t help it. He had to know.
The words didn’t surprise Evie, especially considering how much he knew about her now. Bowing her head, she replied, “Scott, I-”
“No!” Scott ripped his arm away from her and stood up quickly, biting his tongue to hide the pain as he took a few calculated paces from the couches. “Don’t try to justify what you did because you can’t justify that.” Turning around, he sighed, trying to understand. “Why Evie? Why did you do it?”
Unfortunately for Scott, for Evie, his well-being took precedence over any explanation she had. “Scott, please, sit down. You don’t want to make yourself more hurt than you already -”
He ignored her pleas and continued to press her. “How is that your great solution? How would that help anything?”
Evie dipped her head once more, knowing her answer wouldn’t be good enough, but it was all she had. “I knew you were safe and that Oliver would get help. I knew Victor was in control of the cameras and I figured in case the 33.1 stuff didn’t stick, he could go down for good old-fashioned murder.”
“And you didn’t see any flaws with that plan?”
There likely were several, but she had been used for so many hours that Evie was more than aware that she likely wasn’t thinking clearly. The way Lex had forced her to use her power over and over, the plans he had, the destruction he had wanted if he succeeded in taking Oliver and the league, it was too much for her. She wasn’t going to let Lex use her anymore, even if sacrificing her own life would be what it took.
“There was a flaw no matter where I looked,” she replied honestly, knowing he wouldn’t buy it, but she never expected him to fully understand the pain she had felt.
What she didn’t know was that pain was apparent in the defeat in her body language, so Scott sat back down before he grabbed her hand. “Did you really have that little faith in the people who cared about you? I mean, you came to them for help and you just threw it all away. Did their trust mean nothing to you?”
That trust meant more to Evie than anything, the faith that even though she had lied to them all these years that they believed in her, they still wanted her in their lives. But that trust, that belief, always came with a cost. “I’ve seen enough people fall on my behalf... it’s because I cared about them that I did what I did.”
“Evie, it’s not just your life you’re messing with a decision like that.” Releasing her hands, he looked away from her again. “These people care about you.”
“I’m sorry,” she replied, finally standing up, glancing upstairs at the open door to where Chloe likely was. “It’s my fault, all this... Oliver waiting for Chloe to wake up, AC’s injury, you being thrust into this... it’s all my fault. I should have pulled that trigger years ago and none of this would have happened.”
That wasn’t what Scott wanted to hear, not even close, and he had enough of this from her, so he yanked Evie’s arm down to the couch before turning her to face him. “You’re a fool if you think you forced them to do anything. Trust me; they’d prefer to see you standing than buried six feet under. As for me, if what I went through is the price to pay to keep you safe, then I’m glad I paid it.”
~0~
Initially, they didn’t see anything, but Lois felt Clark’s hand twitch in hers. Looking up her fiancé, their eyes quickly met, and Clark nodded. Sure enough, the heart monitor began to show increased activity and Chloe’s eyes started to open. But before anyone could say anything, Lois blurted, “Back off Queen, family gets first dibs.”
To be honest, Lois didn’t even look to see if Oliver had reacted, she was just so relieved to wrap her arms around her cousin. Even better was the small contact of Chloe hugging her back. “Nice to see you Lois.”
Opening her eyes, she gave everyone around her a quick smile, almost scared to ask how long they had been there. Sure, Chloe knew the extremes as to what she had done, but the relief on everyone’s faces was easy to see.
However, there was one face Chloe was hoping to see. “Where’s Evie?” Saving Oliver occurred before Chloe was able to get a status update on Evie. The last she heard, her friend was unconscious, not exactly the ideal prognosis. “Is she...”
“Yeah,” Oliver said with a smile before pulling Chloe close to him allowing her head rested against his chest. Closing his eyes, Oliver felt a wave of emotion run over him. It was a combination of the hours pressed into the rescue mission, the mission itself, not to mention the aftermath, but he was glad to be back in Watchtower, with Chloe still by his side. Part of him didn’t want to back away.
Chloe felt her eyes water up too, as she was glad that her ability was able to help in this case. Her and Oliver had come too far to lose each other now. But that didn’t mean Chloe was any less worried for her friend. “Where is she?”
“Having quite the discussion with Scott downstairs,” Dinah announced. “Do you want us to call them?”
“I got it,” Bart replied, zipping out of the room, almost wanting to clear his head entirely. Not paying attention to what possibly could happen, he announced, “Chloe’s awake,” from upstairs. But he quickly froze as he saw his cousin resting her head against Scott’s shoulder, and from the sounds of things, she was crying. “Sorry.”
“No problem Bart,” Scott replied, eyes still on Evie, “she’ll be right up.” He lifted his fingers to wipe the tear rolling down her face. “Look, this was a tough time for all of us, but it’s over now Evie... it’s all over.”
Releasing the breath she was holding, she shook her head once more. “I’m sorry... I’m so sorry.”
“Come on,” he says, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “Chloe’s probably worried.”
“Go ahead, I... need a minute.”
“Doctor’s orders stipulate that I have to rest, but you should go.” Managing a grin, he added, “Evie, I forgive you. You’re actually the one that shouldn’t blame yourself for any of this, but if that helps, then so be it. I forgive you.”
“Okay... I’ll head up then.” Wiping her eyes, she stood up slowly, looking over her shoulder once more, realizing that in all that, there was one thing she didn’t say. “Thank you, not just for this but -”
“You too,” Scott interjected, knowing it sounds strange, but having the truth about his father, about her, it meant more than he could ever express to her.
Evie nodded and started walking slowly, the pain subsiding long enough for her to reach the stairs. However, with each step taken, she felt her heartbeat increase, knowing that was just the first of many explanations she would give.
Standing at the doorway, Evie peaked in, watching Chloe smile at Oliver, her hand reaching up to play with his hair. “Have you guys been here the whole time?”
It was a question that was on Evie’s mind too, but she didn’t need Oliver to nod in order to know the truth. Speaking from experience, the first few hours were the worst. After that, they all blurred and there's no other place that they would rather be.
“We... didn’t want to leave you.”
Evie noticed the nods from all around the room and she felt herself choke up in consequence. Life hadn’t been the smoothest for her, but it did provide her with the best set of friends. From the profiles she could see, everyone looked like they hadn’t slept in days, all because they wanted to be there for her and Chloe. Evie couldn’t have asked for more than that.
Stepping forward, Evie took a deep breath and broke her silence. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” She saw everyone turn towards her, but after a quick grin, Evie moved quickly through the room, straight to Chloe to give her a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“Me too.” Chloe rested her chin on her friend’s shoulder as she closed her eyes again. “You can’t do that to me again.”
“Not planning on it, I assure you.” Evie smirked, looking over her shoulder at Oliver as she stood up again. “Sorry for going behind the team’s back again, guess I’m not as much of a team player as I thought.”
“We all have our moments.”
“Yeah, but even if I hadn’t burnt them, I’m hanging up my tights. Fieldwork has its perks, but isn’t my thing.” Evie pursed her lips as she looked around the room. “At least I decided to quit before someone got...”
Evie stopped talking upon realizing her sentence didn’t seem true. “Where’s Victor?”
She looked around frantically for his face, only to never find it. The blank looks on everyone’s faces didn’t help either and as the seconds increased, Evie felt her heartbeat rise.
Fortunately, Dinah finally spoke up, “He’s running the tech side of things with Tess. Shutting down the 33.1 mainframe, getting the intelligence we need to save the subjects while ensuring our identities don’t get on tomorrow’s papers.” She glanced down at her watch, ensuring her next comment was accurate. “He said he’d be back soon.”
Evie sighed in relief, but what she didn’t see was Bart giving Oliver a knowing look. What Dinah said was technically the truth, but there was a lot more to Victor’s extraction from the facility and it wasn’t pretty.
Chloe had been moved upstairs after healing Oliver and he was about to head up himself when he noticed Bart blur in with Victor. It wasn’t a fatal shot, but his mechanical fluid was barely being held by a piece of cloth.
Insisting on having no one see him, he was transferred to Bart’s and Evie’s initial base of operations with Emil, who extracted the bullet from his body and restored the fluid and stitching Victor's body up. To keep the secret, Bart moved Emil back and forth between the two places, but after about six hours, it sounded like Victor was going to be okay. So they kept quiet, allowing for regular conversation to continue throughout the room, but eventually, Evie felt her body weaken again. No matter how much she had previously slept, it was clear that she still had a ways to go.
Leaving the room, she knew it wasn’t far until she reached her room, but she felt herself stumble a few times. Eventually, Evie tripped over her own feet, but she felt a hand grab her arm, helping her maintain her balance.
“Easy there sister.”
“Dinah, you don’t have to -”
“The least I can do.” Her body may not have taken the beating that Scott’s has, but it was clearly far from one hundred percent. “You have to take it easy.”
Wincing as Evie felt the accumulation of the pain in each step, she felt herself shake her head. “I forgot how much it hurt.”
“Well,” Dinah replied as she opened the door, “it won’t likely be this bad again.”
“It won’t.” While Evie accepted her abilities, she was done fighting with them and she was tired of them being over-used. Evie wouldn’t forget about them by any means, but as they say, everything is better in moderation. “As much as I admire what you guys are doing, I’m going to find my own niche.”
“Don’t think about it too hard.” Dinah couldn’t imagine everything that Evie had gone through, but she did know that there was time for that later. “You need to heal up.”
With a smirk, Dinah left the room as she saw Evie’s head hit the pillow. As the door clicked, Dinah felt her smile widen, as the worst of everything seemed to be finally over. She turned her body, intent on rejoining everyone else when she heard footsteps on the stairs. “’Bout time you showed up.”
Victor’s head turned immediately, glad to hear the positive inflection in Dinah’s voice. “What did I miss?”
“They woke up.”
“Both?”
“Yeah.” Dinah gestured her head towards the door she had just closed. “Evie was looking for you, you should probably check in.”
“Thanks, I will,” Victor replied with a nod, waiting for Dinah to take off before approaching the door. He opened it slowly, smirking as he noticed Evie sleeping inside. Stepping inside, he felt his chest tighten as he remembered everything that happened over the last day.
He really thought he lost her. All that time, all the struggle she put herself through, Victor really thought she was gone this time. But hearing that she was unconscious after Emil extracted the bullet from his midsection, he felt a pit build up inside him. Victor didn’t want the final words she spoke to him to be an apology, doing what was necessary to save him, just like he did in 33.1.
That’s why he should have been happy hearing her voice when he returned to Watchtower, but upon listening to her talk with Scott, Victor realized that Evie had a chance at something. Something he knew he could never give her, which meant that getting her voice out of his head would be harder than he thought.
“I... I won’t risk anyone else, especially you. Because I love you Vic.”
Resting his fingertips on her arm, Victor whispered, “You deserve better.” With a sigh, he walked away.
June 2
One difference between freedom and captivity was natural daylight and after enough days of the latter, Evie was grateful for the crack of it that reached her room. There was also nothing like being back in her own bed at her apartment. She didn’t want to ask questions as to how she got here because honestly, Evie didn’t care.
But she couldn’t stay in bed all day, so she pulled back the sheets and tried to sit up. It was still hard, but a lot better than yesterday. However, before she could swivel her feet out of the covers, Evie heard a familiar voice.
“Oh no you don’t.”
Evie looked up to see Lois rushing towards her, trying not to spill whatever was in the mug she was carrying. “You are not leaving that bed unless you have to pee. Are we clear?”
“Lois, I can take care -”
“Save the tough girl speech.” Lois was more than aware that Evie could take care of herself, but not too long ago, Lois had been in this position and taking Evie’s advice turned out for her. It was Lois’ time to return the favour. “I want to be here for you okay?”
“Fair enough, but you’re going to have to keep me company if you don’t want me to go crazy.” Evie paused for a second, trying to figure out what they could do. “What did I miss in the wedding world? Maybe I could help with some last minute stuff.”
Lois that she might say that, so after placing the coffee on the bedside table, she opened a drawer and pulled out the binders of the stuff Evie had missed. “You know what? You could.”
Evie smiled as Lois moved to sit beside her on the bed, pointing out the decisions that had been made, the address where Evie could get her bridesmaid dress. But all this talk made Evie a little reflective, causing her to say, “Lois, I’m sorry.”
Lois immediately stopped talking and turned towards her friend. She had expected an apology, but not the harsh sincerity on her face as she said it. “If roles were reversed, I’m pretty sure that anyone else in your shoes would do the same thing.” Evie’s expression hadn’t brightened up, so she added, “It wasn’t pretty, but we’re still standing right? I take that as a victory.”
Finally allowing herself to smile, Evie nodded, prompting Lois to continue pouring over wedding details.
Part 2
Sera’s Scribbles: As you can see, the ending of this story may seem a little long, but there is a lot of things that I want to hammer out, including something that happened completely by accident. But more on that later. I admit, the ending is Evie-heavy, but I do promise some good Chlollie moments ahead.
.
serafina19
Title: Fighting Echoes
Summary: As identities and affiliations are exposed, the Justice League begins to form. But once an old foe re-emerges and raises the stakes, Evie is forced to determine how much she is willing to sacrifice to protect everyone she cares about. Sequel to “Notbroken,” and the final multi-chapter in the "Calendar Girl" verse.
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Coarse language, violence and adult content.
Special thanks to:
552158 for the amazing banners that I couldn’t stop admiring when you sent them to me. Also, big love to
slytherinpunk, without you, I probably wouldn’t have the guts to try this.
August p.1 August p.2 September p.1 September p.2 October p.1 October p.2 October p.3 November p.1 November p.2 December p.1 December p.2 January p.1 January p.2 February p.1 February p.2 March April May
June
June 1
Twenty hours.
Twenty long hours waiting, hoping.
It was hard enough watching Emil go from person to person, treating injuries, keeping an eye on the heart monitors while in Watchtower, or even just the frazzled state of those involved.
Although Oliver had spent the majority of the time watching Chloe, it was hard not to walk over to the other room, she was one of his closest friends after all, and she did save his life, no matter how unorthodox her methods were. But that didn’t make walking to her room any easier. How did she think that was a good idea, sacrificing herself like that? How could she do that? Then again, none of those questions mattered as long as she was unconscious.
Standing in the doorway, he caught Bart’s eye momentarily, her devoted cousin who hadn’t left her side once Scott had let her go. Everyone thought that he would stay with her too, but once the adrenaline died off, it was clear how much physical trauma he went through. So he sat downstairs, while Dinah and AC, despite his separated shoulder, kept an eye on him.
Giving Bart a final look before leaving the room, Oliver had taken about three steps away before he heard Bart exclaim, “Cuz?” Stumbling back to the doorway, he found the two in a tight embrace before Evie pulled back quickly.
“Bart? Oh god, please don’t tell me that Chloe...”
“She did,” Oliver interjected, knowing that she blacked out before she could manipulate Lex to fire his gun, “just not you.”
“Oliver,” Evie said, a smile replacing the confusion on her face, “you’re okay.” He nodded before stepping into the room. “How long?”
“Twenty hours.”
Bowing her head, Evie knew that was a long time, longest that she could remember in fact. The fact Chloe wasn’t here only meant she was still recovering, and she felt herself swallow hard in consequence. “Oliver, you know better than anyone else. The gun was... right here.”
Oliver’s face went white, forgetting that Evie had no idea of the events that transpired. Missions like this often don’t come easy, but the rescue mission had consequences that Oliver was scared to tell her. “That’s a story for later.”
She saw the worry in his eyes, but she had to know what happened, or rather what she caused. “You don’t have to say anything... just...” Her voice trailed Oliver’s expression hardened. “It’s that bad?”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Oliver replied, essentially waving the white flag as he closed his eyes, remembering exactly what happened to him.
“Evie no,” he yelled, only to close his eyes seconds later upon hearing the gunshot. She knew it would end up like this, willing to sacrifice herself for the cause, but he couldn’t watch her do it.
When Oliver opened his eyes, he initially wondered if his wound was causing him to hallucinate. But after a few blinks, there was no mistaking the sight in front of him. Lex was on the ground, and standing over him was a barely standing Scott, gun in his hands, holding it above Lex’s head.
“Don’t, you’re not a-“
Once again, Oliver’s words were cut off by a gunshot, a bullet embedded in Lex’s head, dead within milliseconds.
His breathing harboured, Scott shook his head, remorse far from his eyes. “I hope you burn in hell, you sick son of a bitch.” The family had taken enough from him, he wasn’t going to let him add Evie to that list. He never thought that he would be grateful to see her fall unconscious.
“Arrow!” It was AC’s voice, moving to check on him. “Aquaman to Impulse, I need you here. Echo’s unconscious, but Arrow’s wounded. Boy Scout, get the doc to the tower.”
Oliver thought about joking about how their cover was blown, but he decided against it. Everyone responded quickly, as Bart zoomed in and got him to Watchtower, but not fast enough before he heard AC’s reply to someone else.
“He’ll make it Tower, he has to.”
At Watchtower, they lay him down on the couch and Emil began working, but within seconds, Chloe pushed her way through the men. “I need to do this, don’t try to stop me.” Oliver’s vision was pretty blurry at this point, but he could feel her hand cradling his face. “I love you.”
She was still out, by far the longest time, but Emil assured everyone that Chloe would wake up. There was no reason to believe him, but everyone did anyway because they needed that hope in a time like this.
But that was nothing compared to Evie’s reaction, as not only did she expect to die twenty hours ago, she also couldn’t have foreseen these consequence. “No...” she just barely managed, the words dragged out by her own disbelief, but Oliver nodded his head. “Where is he?”
“Downstairs.”
Evie nodded as she looked around the room. “How is he?”
“Not good,” was his reply, and unfortunately, the truth. Within seconds of seeing him entering Watchtower, Scott had done a one-eighty. Gone was the anger, only remorse and guilt remained. He washed his hands so many times, even though there wasn’t any blood on them, staring at them as they shook uncontrollably. Everyone had taken their turns sitting next to him, but only Oliver was able to keep him calm, and even that was temporary.
Evie attempted to sit up, but the pain in her chest persisted. “You think you could help me out?” Oliver nodded, but Evie suddenly held a hand out. “There’s a response on Chloe’s heart monitor.” She grimaced as she continued to get up despite the pain. “You should check in on her. Trust me; you’re going to be the first person she wants to see.”
Oliver disagreed, but Bart intervened, wrapping his arm around Evie to help her up. “I’ve got this.”
After Bart took over, Oliver watched them walk down the stairs together before heading quickly to Chloe’s room. It looked the same, only with the odd blip, the only sound that filled the air as Clark and Lois sat beside her.
Walking over to Lois, Oliver put a hand on her shoulder, not even able to imagine how she was feeling right now, as the hurt inside them was completely different.
Feeling the contact, Lois turned her head, knowing it was Oliver behind her. He felt guilt for what was going on, but she knew her cousin, and knew that Chloe would feel the same guilt if she just stood by.
For what felt like hours, even though it was just a couple minutes, the three of them stood there, waiting for Chloe to open her eyes. But the first sound they heard was the door creaking open. Everyone thought it was Emil coming back, but it ended up being Bart, walking slower than Oliver had ever seen him before he crashed down on the chair next to Clark.
“She… needed to talk to him alone.”
“Evie’s awake?” Lois’ eyes widened as she looked at Bart, but when he didn’t give her anything, she looked at Oliver, who confirmed it. Standing up, Lois walked over to Bart. “You must be relieved.”
“A little, I guess,” Bart said with a tiny smile, which disappeared in seconds as he looked up at Chloe. “Doesn’t make what happened any better, the fact she...”
Lois looked confused at his response, so she looked up to Clark for help, but he just shrugged. Not everyone knew the circumstances of how Evie had passed out, so it was up to Oliver to speak up. “That’s not your fault.”
Bart was skeptical to say the least, so he scoffed as he stared down at his feet. “Why not?”
Unfortunately, looking down only brought the memory back, hearing Victor scream at the screen, seeing the momentary glimpse of Lex in front of her before he was gunned down. No matter what Oliver told him, it still stung Bart, but he didn’t want to dwell on that now that she was awake. They would talk, but later, as Evie had her share of explaining to do already. Pointing to Chloe, Bart said, “I thought there was a response.”
“There was,” Emil interjected, entering the room. “But it was weak. It may be a couple minutes before she regains consciousness.”
“Come on cuz,” Lois begged, squeezing Chloe’s other hand.
The response of the heart monitor was a good start, but her body was still healing, so it made sense that it took time before they saw any movement.
~0~
Time had been a concept lost on Scott as he lay down on the couch in the place they called Watchtower. Most of the day had seemed like a blur, from being saved by Evie’s old roommate and a guy he met once on Halloween, to hearing the explosion behind him as he emerged from the building, carrying an unconscious Evie in his arms.
But one moment stood out, the only thing he could think of once Evie was taken from his arms for medical examination. Scott had walked down the steps slowly, one step at a time, staring at his hands, flipping them over, questioning his decision to pull that trigger... both times.
At the time, it felt right, picking up the gun that laid around the corner from where Evie, Lex and Oliver were to get retribution for his father and to save Evie from making a terrible mistake, but he had just killed someone. No matter the questionable character that Lex Luthor was, killing someone put Scott at his level, no matter the reason behind it.
The adrenaline inevitably wore off, the pain coursing through Scott’s veins returning as a result, as he barely managed to get to the couch. Cracked and broken ribs apparently did that to a person. Emil had done his diagnosis and necessary work, from here, Scott just had to lie down and relax, but he was getting restless again.
Everyone had tried to talk with him: Dinah, Oliver, Bart, even Lois came down once to try to get him to see that it was okay, but he couldn’t shake it. He killed a man. A terrible man, but what did that make him? And was it even worth it? Looking at his watch, Scott knew that he had seen the time once before, meaning that Evie, Chloe, they had been unconscious for plenty of time, too much time if you asked him.
It made no sense. How was it that he’s the one alive and breathing, albeit with a fair amount of physical and mental pain, while Evie was the one who no one knew whether or not she’d wake up?
A hand came to his shoulder, and Scott didn’t need to look up to know that it was Dinah. He looked up at her begrudgingly and smirked, trying to sell that he was okay. But that was when she tilted her head to her left, telling him to look that way.
He couldn’t believe it. After so many hours, it surprised Scott to even see her awake, let alone walking around. He wanted to ask how long she had been awake, but instead, his mouth just gaped open as she took the final step. Evie tested a step in his direction, and despite the obvious pain in her expression, she turned to whispered something to Bart, and he, not seeing it, went back up the stairs.
Within a couple steps, Scott couldn’t stand idly by anymore. Despite the pain he was feeling, he bolted up from the couch. “Jesus, Evie. What the hell do you think you’re doing?” But the pain was too much, and Dinah sat him back down.
“I could ask you the same thing.” It was so hard looking at him between the gashes above his eyes, the split lip, not to mention the numerous bruises that were likely beneath his clothing. “There’s no reason you should be moving right now.” She sat down beside him and Dinah took her leave.
“I was told what happened... the last thing I want you to do is blame yourself.” Grabbing a hold of his arm, Evie squeezed her fingers against his skin, hoping it wouldn’t cause him further pain, but instead grab his attention. “You saved Oliver... you saved so many people.”
His stare still towards the other side of the room, Scott whispered, “He wouldn’t have killed you.” It had taken him awhile to realize the truth, and it shouldn’t be one of the first things he asked her, but Scott couldn’t help it. He had to know.
The words didn’t surprise Evie, especially considering how much he knew about her now. Bowing her head, she replied, “Scott, I-”
“No!” Scott ripped his arm away from her and stood up quickly, biting his tongue to hide the pain as he took a few calculated paces from the couches. “Don’t try to justify what you did because you can’t justify that.” Turning around, he sighed, trying to understand. “Why Evie? Why did you do it?”
Unfortunately for Scott, for Evie, his well-being took precedence over any explanation she had. “Scott, please, sit down. You don’t want to make yourself more hurt than you already -”
He ignored her pleas and continued to press her. “How is that your great solution? How would that help anything?”
Evie dipped her head once more, knowing her answer wouldn’t be good enough, but it was all she had. “I knew you were safe and that Oliver would get help. I knew Victor was in control of the cameras and I figured in case the 33.1 stuff didn’t stick, he could go down for good old-fashioned murder.”
“And you didn’t see any flaws with that plan?”
There likely were several, but she had been used for so many hours that Evie was more than aware that she likely wasn’t thinking clearly. The way Lex had forced her to use her power over and over, the plans he had, the destruction he had wanted if he succeeded in taking Oliver and the league, it was too much for her. She wasn’t going to let Lex use her anymore, even if sacrificing her own life would be what it took.
“There was a flaw no matter where I looked,” she replied honestly, knowing he wouldn’t buy it, but she never expected him to fully understand the pain she had felt.
What she didn’t know was that pain was apparent in the defeat in her body language, so Scott sat back down before he grabbed her hand. “Did you really have that little faith in the people who cared about you? I mean, you came to them for help and you just threw it all away. Did their trust mean nothing to you?”
That trust meant more to Evie than anything, the faith that even though she had lied to them all these years that they believed in her, they still wanted her in their lives. But that trust, that belief, always came with a cost. “I’ve seen enough people fall on my behalf... it’s because I cared about them that I did what I did.”
“Evie, it’s not just your life you’re messing with a decision like that.” Releasing her hands, he looked away from her again. “These people care about you.”
“I’m sorry,” she replied, finally standing up, glancing upstairs at the open door to where Chloe likely was. “It’s my fault, all this... Oliver waiting for Chloe to wake up, AC’s injury, you being thrust into this... it’s all my fault. I should have pulled that trigger years ago and none of this would have happened.”
That wasn’t what Scott wanted to hear, not even close, and he had enough of this from her, so he yanked Evie’s arm down to the couch before turning her to face him. “You’re a fool if you think you forced them to do anything. Trust me; they’d prefer to see you standing than buried six feet under. As for me, if what I went through is the price to pay to keep you safe, then I’m glad I paid it.”
~0~
Initially, they didn’t see anything, but Lois felt Clark’s hand twitch in hers. Looking up her fiancé, their eyes quickly met, and Clark nodded. Sure enough, the heart monitor began to show increased activity and Chloe’s eyes started to open. But before anyone could say anything, Lois blurted, “Back off Queen, family gets first dibs.”
To be honest, Lois didn’t even look to see if Oliver had reacted, she was just so relieved to wrap her arms around her cousin. Even better was the small contact of Chloe hugging her back. “Nice to see you Lois.”
Opening her eyes, she gave everyone around her a quick smile, almost scared to ask how long they had been there. Sure, Chloe knew the extremes as to what she had done, but the relief on everyone’s faces was easy to see.
However, there was one face Chloe was hoping to see. “Where’s Evie?” Saving Oliver occurred before Chloe was able to get a status update on Evie. The last she heard, her friend was unconscious, not exactly the ideal prognosis. “Is she...”
“Yeah,” Oliver said with a smile before pulling Chloe close to him allowing her head rested against his chest. Closing his eyes, Oliver felt a wave of emotion run over him. It was a combination of the hours pressed into the rescue mission, the mission itself, not to mention the aftermath, but he was glad to be back in Watchtower, with Chloe still by his side. Part of him didn’t want to back away.
Chloe felt her eyes water up too, as she was glad that her ability was able to help in this case. Her and Oliver had come too far to lose each other now. But that didn’t mean Chloe was any less worried for her friend. “Where is she?”
“Having quite the discussion with Scott downstairs,” Dinah announced. “Do you want us to call them?”
“I got it,” Bart replied, zipping out of the room, almost wanting to clear his head entirely. Not paying attention to what possibly could happen, he announced, “Chloe’s awake,” from upstairs. But he quickly froze as he saw his cousin resting her head against Scott’s shoulder, and from the sounds of things, she was crying. “Sorry.”
“No problem Bart,” Scott replied, eyes still on Evie, “she’ll be right up.” He lifted his fingers to wipe the tear rolling down her face. “Look, this was a tough time for all of us, but it’s over now Evie... it’s all over.”
Releasing the breath she was holding, she shook her head once more. “I’m sorry... I’m so sorry.”
“Come on,” he says, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “Chloe’s probably worried.”
“Go ahead, I... need a minute.”
“Doctor’s orders stipulate that I have to rest, but you should go.” Managing a grin, he added, “Evie, I forgive you. You’re actually the one that shouldn’t blame yourself for any of this, but if that helps, then so be it. I forgive you.”
“Okay... I’ll head up then.” Wiping her eyes, she stood up slowly, looking over her shoulder once more, realizing that in all that, there was one thing she didn’t say. “Thank you, not just for this but -”
“You too,” Scott interjected, knowing it sounds strange, but having the truth about his father, about her, it meant more than he could ever express to her.
Evie nodded and started walking slowly, the pain subsiding long enough for her to reach the stairs. However, with each step taken, she felt her heartbeat increase, knowing that was just the first of many explanations she would give.
Standing at the doorway, Evie peaked in, watching Chloe smile at Oliver, her hand reaching up to play with his hair. “Have you guys been here the whole time?”
It was a question that was on Evie’s mind too, but she didn’t need Oliver to nod in order to know the truth. Speaking from experience, the first few hours were the worst. After that, they all blurred and there's no other place that they would rather be.
“We... didn’t want to leave you.”
Evie noticed the nods from all around the room and she felt herself choke up in consequence. Life hadn’t been the smoothest for her, but it did provide her with the best set of friends. From the profiles she could see, everyone looked like they hadn’t slept in days, all because they wanted to be there for her and Chloe. Evie couldn’t have asked for more than that.
Stepping forward, Evie took a deep breath and broke her silence. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” She saw everyone turn towards her, but after a quick grin, Evie moved quickly through the room, straight to Chloe to give her a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“Me too.” Chloe rested her chin on her friend’s shoulder as she closed her eyes again. “You can’t do that to me again.”
“Not planning on it, I assure you.” Evie smirked, looking over her shoulder at Oliver as she stood up again. “Sorry for going behind the team’s back again, guess I’m not as much of a team player as I thought.”
“We all have our moments.”
“Yeah, but even if I hadn’t burnt them, I’m hanging up my tights. Fieldwork has its perks, but isn’t my thing.” Evie pursed her lips as she looked around the room. “At least I decided to quit before someone got...”
Evie stopped talking upon realizing her sentence didn’t seem true. “Where’s Victor?”
She looked around frantically for his face, only to never find it. The blank looks on everyone’s faces didn’t help either and as the seconds increased, Evie felt her heartbeat rise.
Fortunately, Dinah finally spoke up, “He’s running the tech side of things with Tess. Shutting down the 33.1 mainframe, getting the intelligence we need to save the subjects while ensuring our identities don’t get on tomorrow’s papers.” She glanced down at her watch, ensuring her next comment was accurate. “He said he’d be back soon.”
Evie sighed in relief, but what she didn’t see was Bart giving Oliver a knowing look. What Dinah said was technically the truth, but there was a lot more to Victor’s extraction from the facility and it wasn’t pretty.
Chloe had been moved upstairs after healing Oliver and he was about to head up himself when he noticed Bart blur in with Victor. It wasn’t a fatal shot, but his mechanical fluid was barely being held by a piece of cloth.
Insisting on having no one see him, he was transferred to Bart’s and Evie’s initial base of operations with Emil, who extracted the bullet from his body and restored the fluid and stitching Victor's body up. To keep the secret, Bart moved Emil back and forth between the two places, but after about six hours, it sounded like Victor was going to be okay. So they kept quiet, allowing for regular conversation to continue throughout the room, but eventually, Evie felt her body weaken again. No matter how much she had previously slept, it was clear that she still had a ways to go.
Leaving the room, she knew it wasn’t far until she reached her room, but she felt herself stumble a few times. Eventually, Evie tripped over her own feet, but she felt a hand grab her arm, helping her maintain her balance.
“Easy there sister.”
“Dinah, you don’t have to -”
“The least I can do.” Her body may not have taken the beating that Scott’s has, but it was clearly far from one hundred percent. “You have to take it easy.”
Wincing as Evie felt the accumulation of the pain in each step, she felt herself shake her head. “I forgot how much it hurt.”
“Well,” Dinah replied as she opened the door, “it won’t likely be this bad again.”
“It won’t.” While Evie accepted her abilities, she was done fighting with them and she was tired of them being over-used. Evie wouldn’t forget about them by any means, but as they say, everything is better in moderation. “As much as I admire what you guys are doing, I’m going to find my own niche.”
“Don’t think about it too hard.” Dinah couldn’t imagine everything that Evie had gone through, but she did know that there was time for that later. “You need to heal up.”
With a smirk, Dinah left the room as she saw Evie’s head hit the pillow. As the door clicked, Dinah felt her smile widen, as the worst of everything seemed to be finally over. She turned her body, intent on rejoining everyone else when she heard footsteps on the stairs. “’Bout time you showed up.”
Victor’s head turned immediately, glad to hear the positive inflection in Dinah’s voice. “What did I miss?”
“They woke up.”
“Both?”
“Yeah.” Dinah gestured her head towards the door she had just closed. “Evie was looking for you, you should probably check in.”
“Thanks, I will,” Victor replied with a nod, waiting for Dinah to take off before approaching the door. He opened it slowly, smirking as he noticed Evie sleeping inside. Stepping inside, he felt his chest tighten as he remembered everything that happened over the last day.
He really thought he lost her. All that time, all the struggle she put herself through, Victor really thought she was gone this time. But hearing that she was unconscious after Emil extracted the bullet from his midsection, he felt a pit build up inside him. Victor didn’t want the final words she spoke to him to be an apology, doing what was necessary to save him, just like he did in 33.1.
That’s why he should have been happy hearing her voice when he returned to Watchtower, but upon listening to her talk with Scott, Victor realized that Evie had a chance at something. Something he knew he could never give her, which meant that getting her voice out of his head would be harder than he thought.
“I... I won’t risk anyone else, especially you. Because I love you Vic.”
Resting his fingertips on her arm, Victor whispered, “You deserve better.” With a sigh, he walked away.
June 2
One difference between freedom and captivity was natural daylight and after enough days of the latter, Evie was grateful for the crack of it that reached her room. There was also nothing like being back in her own bed at her apartment. She didn’t want to ask questions as to how she got here because honestly, Evie didn’t care.
But she couldn’t stay in bed all day, so she pulled back the sheets and tried to sit up. It was still hard, but a lot better than yesterday. However, before she could swivel her feet out of the covers, Evie heard a familiar voice.
“Oh no you don’t.”
Evie looked up to see Lois rushing towards her, trying not to spill whatever was in the mug she was carrying. “You are not leaving that bed unless you have to pee. Are we clear?”
“Lois, I can take care -”
“Save the tough girl speech.” Lois was more than aware that Evie could take care of herself, but not too long ago, Lois had been in this position and taking Evie’s advice turned out for her. It was Lois’ time to return the favour. “I want to be here for you okay?”
“Fair enough, but you’re going to have to keep me company if you don’t want me to go crazy.” Evie paused for a second, trying to figure out what they could do. “What did I miss in the wedding world? Maybe I could help with some last minute stuff.”
Lois that she might say that, so after placing the coffee on the bedside table, she opened a drawer and pulled out the binders of the stuff Evie had missed. “You know what? You could.”
Evie smiled as Lois moved to sit beside her on the bed, pointing out the decisions that had been made, the address where Evie could get her bridesmaid dress. But all this talk made Evie a little reflective, causing her to say, “Lois, I’m sorry.”
Lois immediately stopped talking and turned towards her friend. She had expected an apology, but not the harsh sincerity on her face as she said it. “If roles were reversed, I’m pretty sure that anyone else in your shoes would do the same thing.” Evie’s expression hadn’t brightened up, so she added, “It wasn’t pretty, but we’re still standing right? I take that as a victory.”
Finally allowing herself to smile, Evie nodded, prompting Lois to continue pouring over wedding details.
Part 2
Sera’s Scribbles: As you can see, the ending of this story may seem a little long, but there is a lot of things that I want to hammer out, including something that happened completely by accident. But more on that later. I admit, the ending is Evie-heavy, but I do promise some good Chlollie moments ahead.
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