Chlollie Fanfic: Disintegration, Chapter 1
Title: Disintegration
Author: babydee1
Artists: go_clo & peachmacaroons (formerly eklipsed)
Pairing: Chlollie
Rating: NC-17 (this chapter PG13)
Fic Length: 70,000 words (yikes!)
Warnings: Some sexual situations later on, and lots of angst
Timeline: Season 8 episodes, from Odyssey - Doomsday
Disclaimer: All characters belong to the CW & DC comics.
Summary: Chloe and Oliver’s fledgling relationship gets fractured through a series of miscommunications and interferences. Fourth Book in the Chlollie series, sequel to Slingshot, Trajectory and Misdirection.
Feedback: Oh, yes please. :)
Synopsis: When Oliver Queen discovers that Clark has gone missing and Chloe is being held at Black Creek, he orchestrates a daring rescue operation to recover them. But his act of heroism comes at a great personal cost, as he is attacked and his reasoning faculties compromised. Chloe discovers she now harbours a terrifying new ability that has her questioning her every move. Despite intense pressure designed to keep them apart, the pull of attraction between Chloe and Oliver proves too difficult to ignore, and both of them struggle to come to terms with decisions they’ve taken and the paths down which it might lead.
A/N: A behind the scenes-type look at what really went down between Chloe & Oliver in Season 8 using Misdirection as a precursor. Story kicks off at Episode 8.01, Odyssey, but I’ve played fast and loose with some of the arrangements in a way that I think (hope!) makes more sense.
Book 1: Slingshot
Book 2: Trajectory
Book 3: Misdirection
Written for the smallvillebbang long fanfic writing challenge. Banner by peachmacaroons, runner by go_clo
APPRECIATION
Here we go again! :)
Thanks in spades to my two wonderful betas, slytherinpunk and grlmonday. Sly has a unique understanding of Oliver Queen as a character, I’m thrilled she shared her input on the subject and keep me assured that I was staying true to his essence. Caina was a wonderful second pair of eyes, and she saved me from a lot of potential embarrassment by way of dodgy typos and fingerslips. :-P Thanks very much ladies, you are both absolute STARS, and I really appreciate all the editing hours spent on this gig. And it’s a very long gig! :-D *huggles*
peachmacaroons, provided the lovely banner way back when the series was in its infancy. Having that haunting, visual image in my head for years and knowing what it represented was a huge, huge boost, which went hand in hand with the countless requests for a follow-up to Misdirection. Thanks, honey! And for the third time, the uber-talented go_clo stepped up to the plate and created a bunch of Chlollie Prittehs that I just want to huggle and smish all day long. She is now the face of all three of my smallvillebbang fics, and I feel super-blessed to have her in my corner. You so totally ROCK!!!
Lastly, mad props to to twinsarein for organising this wonderful fandom writing project. It can’t be easy to coordinate such a rowdy bunch, but you do it and do it WELL, and the stellar turn out more than a year after the series has wrapped is a testament to the fantastic job you’re doing. Thank you so much for all your help - and most especially for the one week time extension! :-P
And now: the story. Ladies & gents, it gives me great pleasure to present my second Smallville Big Bang story for 2012, Disintegration. Story will also be cross-posted to The Chloe Chronicles and KSite.
Enjoy! :)
Links to Art: Art by go_clo here | Art by peachmacaroons here
Disintegration
Dis·in·te·gra·tion (definition): a separation by way of falling apart, breaking away or fragmentation; a state of disunity.
Chapter 1
“Oliver, I need your help.”
Oliver Queen glanced up briefly as Lois Lane entered his office, then returned his attention to the documents he was signing.
“And it’s nice to see you again, too,” he drawled disinterestedly as he scrawled his signature on another sheet of paper, which he added to his out-box. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company this evening? Oh, that’s right: you need my help.”
Lois folded her arms. “This is a hell of a time to get petty, Queen. When are you going to accept the fact that I don’t want to pursue a relationship with you because I simply can’t be a part of your world?”
“It may come as a complete shock to you, but I really have no interest in dating you whatsoever,” he replied tiredly, signing another sheaf of papers. “I have no idea why you’re here, but I assume you’re going to tell me.”
Her hand slammed down onto the desk and covered the signature line he was about to sign.
“This is serious,” she grated. “I didn’t come here for myself, and I am getting desperate, so you really don’t want to mess with me right now.”
“Then say what you came here to say,” he replied irritably, shoving her hand off the page and returning to his paper-signing. “The sooner you do that, the sooner you can leave and I can get back to my business. Now what do you want?”
“Chloe’s missing.”
***
At the mention of Chloe’s name, the pen in his hand stilled. Ink pooled on the page and completely blotted out the signature spot, but he ignored it completely.
“Chloe?” he echoed.
“My cousin, Chloe Sullivan,” she explained. “Blonde hair, green eyes…”
“I’ve met her,” he interrupted.
“Yeah, well…she’s missing.”
“What do you mean, missing?” he said hoarsely. “What’s happened to her?”
“She was arrested by the DDS, or so they claimed to be,” she said, sounding worried. “But I’ve pulled all the strings and dropped all the names I know trying to trace her whereabouts, and nobody there has even heard of her.”
“You’re sure they’re not just bluffing?”
“I’m sure; I’ve done my homework,” she confirmed. “Whoever it is that’s got her, it’s not the DDS.”
“When was she picked up?” he asked.
“About three weeks ago.”
“And you’re just telling me this now?” he said harshly, his voice rising.
“A second ago you didn’t even want to know,” she snapped. “And there’s no need to shout at me, I have been trying to find her.”
He exhaled roughly. “What’s Clark doing about this?”
Lois snorted. “Who knows? Ever since Lana split he’s been in a moody, mopey funk. I try his cell every so often, but he’s not answering.” She paused, and frowned. “Come to think of it - he’s been MIA for weeks; probably looking for his runaway girlfriend.”
Oliver’s eyes narrowed. “Could his and Chloe’s disappearance be connected?”
A look of surprise crossed her face. “I’m not sure,” she said after a while. “I didn’t think about that, to be honest. But I suspect Lex may be involved with Chloe’s.”
Lex. He’d been MIA since both Chloe and Clark disappeared too, Oliver suddenly realised. Mentally he cursed himself for not making the connection earlier.
“Leave it with me, Lois,” he said. “Just give me all the information you have, and I’ll take care of it.”
“Here…” she pulled a flash drive from her purse. “I lifted this from the Luthor Mansion this afternoon - don’t ask me how I got it. It may have something on it, but it’s encrypted.”
“I’ll get someone on it right away,” he replied. “Trust me, I have a really good computer programmer on speed dial.”
Lois nodded. “Promise you’ll bring her back to me,” she said thickly, her eyes welling up with tears.
Oliver took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “You can bet on it.”
She gave him a tentative smile and headed for the door. As soon as she left the room, he pulled out his encrypted cell and dialled Cyborg.
“Rally the troops and meet me at the Clocktower, stat,” he said as soon as Victor answered his call. “We’ve got a major emergency.”
***
Victor Stone, Dinah Lance, Arthur Curry and Bart Allen were all assembled at his apartment within an hour.
“I’ve cancelled all my meetings at QI and taken a leave of absence until further notice,” he said grimly. “Simply put, we’ve got a grave situation on our hands.”
“What’s the dealio, bro?” Bart asked.
He took a deep breath. “It’s come to my attention that Boy Scout and Watchtower have been off the grid for over a month, presumed missing,” he replied. “Incidentally, Lex Luthor disappeared at the same time. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”
“Do you have any clues as to their whereabouts?” asked Dinah.
“For now, just this,” he answered, holding the flash drive aloft. “It was retrieved from the Luthor mansion and is protected by an encryption, but it shouldn’t be any problem for Victor to crack.”
“You got that right,” Victor drawled, plucking the drive out of his hand. In one quick move he rolled up his right sleeve and slotted the disk into a concealed USB port in his arm. Within seconds a holographic digital display emerged, its screen processing data at incredible speed.
“Lex’s last operation was at a set of coordinates that lie very close to the North Pole,” he said after a few minutes. “According to the data, he was tracking down an extra-terrestrial information storehouse…?”
“Clark’s Fortress,” Oliver confirmed. “It has to be.”
“Then it’s a safe bet to assume that Clark must have headed in that direction also,” Arthur said.
Oliver swallowed. “And Chloe?”
“She’s being held in a facility in Black Creek, Montana.”
“Any indication as to how she is?” he asked, concern creeping into his voice.
“From the look of things, she’s acing every test and far exceeding expectations,” Victor replied. He frowned, and a worried look crossed his face. “As of three days ago when this was last updated, her captors were considering setting her more challenging assessments.”
Oliver gasped. “Are you saying she’s being experimented on?” he asked in dismay.
Victor took a deep breath. “Most likely,” he said soberly. “But she doesn’t appear to have been harmed in any way.”
“We need to get her out before they change their mind,” Oliver said shortly.
“What about Clark?” Dinah asked. “Wouldn’t we have a better chance of getting Chloe back with Clark’s skills set on the team?”
“His presence did make a heck of a difference last time,” Arthur agreed.
Victor nodded. “Dinah’s right; we’ll have a greater advantage of success at Black Creek if we have Clark with us.”
“Bart, what do you think?” Oliver asked. He was already outvoted, but one more person on his side wouldn’t hurt.
“You know I can’t wait to see Chloelicious again, bro,” he said. “But having the Boy Scout within reach is honestly our best shot at finding her, so I’m speedy either way.”
Oliver sighed. “Then it’s settled,” he said with a hint of resignation in his voice. “We head for the Arctic immediately.”
***
Chapter 2…