Chlollie Fanfic: Disintegration, Chapter 2
Banner by go_clo
Title: Disintegration
Author: BabyDee1
Pairing: Chlollie
Rating: NC-17 (this chapter PG13)
Warnings: Re-writes for 8.01 (Odyssey)
Timeline: Season 8 episodes, from Odyssey - Doomsday
Disclaimer: All characters belong to the CW & DC comics.
Summary: Chloe and Ollie’s relationship gets fractured through a series of miscommunications and interferences. Fourth Book in the Chlollie series, sequel to Slingshot, Trajectory and Misdirection.
Feedback: …in spades. :-)
Read previous chapter here.
Chapter 2
The plane’s engine hummed quietly as it was piloted towards the Arctic.
Oliver glanced disinterestedly at his fellow passengers. Dinah and AC tried to play a game of cards, but Bart persisted in whooshing around them and scattering their deck, only stopping when Dinah threatened to make his ears bleed. Victor lay on a recliner with his eyes closed, no doubt listening to one of the billion songs he’d downloaded into his internal drive.
Oliver himself spent most of the flight alone with his thoughts.
It had been six months since he and Chloe decided not to pursue their fledgling relationship; six long, torturous months during which time his feelings for her had only grown stronger, despite his vigorous attempts to get her out of his mind. He’d tried dating other women, but their shrill laughs, vacant gazes and painfully stilted conversation had only served to emphasise what he was missing with Chloe.
Oh, he’d stayed out of her way most of the time, and done his best to keep things professional when he absolutely had to see her, but it was almost impossible to be close to her and not want to put his arms around her. The yearning was unbearable.
What made the situation even more painful was the fact that as far as he was concerned, they’d split up over nothing. He suspected the cousin who’d inadvertently caused their separation had moved on, and was considering approaching Chloe and asking her out afresh when she’d suddenly resumed her off-again/on-again relationship with the weasel photographer. Reluctantly he’d backed off, thinking he’d be content to see her happy, but that had turned out to be a joke. He just wasn’t the kind of person to pass up a chance at a good thing. And even though he wanted her to be happy, he was selfish enough to want to be the person who made her happy.
He stared out of the window at the changing landscape and sighed. Chloe clearly wasn’t hot on Jimmy Olsen, but she seemed to genuinely like keeping him around; a dose of normal, he suspected, in the chaotic wildness that was her life. Jimmy didn’t have a clue as to who Chloe really was, hence his obsessive possessiveness and constant sniffing around her heels, so much so that Oliver itched to put an arrow through the other man’s shoulder.
Oliver scowled. Jimmy couldn’t hold onto Chloe any more than the moon could hold onto the night and stop the sun from rising; and he suspected Jimmy was well aware of that fact. If he wanted to, Oliver thought with a touch of malice, he could snatch Chloe out of Jimmy’s clutches, and there wasn’t a damn thing that Olsen would be able to do about it.
But he couldn’t go around maiming people simply because he couldn’t have what he wanted. As a result, he spent most of his time either in Star City or abroad simply to avoid temptation. He wanted Chloe, and he knew that she was still attracted to him; but he didn’t think it would be fair to compromise her.
The last time he’d seen her was two months ago, when he arranged to stow some of his computers at the Isis office. She’d been wearing green again, and he’d been on the verge of reaching for her when Jimmy had walked in and regarded him suspiciously before planting a long, hard kiss on Chloe’s lips. Oliver had almost puked. He’d split, deciding there and then to stick to Victor for tech issues so that he’d never have to set eyes on Chloe again.
But it had turned out to be a big mistake, because now she’d gone missing and he’d never even known. The sting of guilt gnawed at his heart, and he sighed heavily.
He should never have distanced himself from her. If he’d at least picked up the phone and called her once a week on the guise of League business, she would still be safe.
His brow creased in a worried frown. He had to get Chloe back, by any means necessary. And if Lex or his goons had touched even a single strand of hair on her head…
Oliver gritted his teeth menacingly and clenched his fists.
Well. He would gladly take responsibility for his actions.
***
As Oliver suspected, Lex was definitely involved in at least Clark’s disappearance. From his vantage point sheltered by a fairly large snowdrift, and with an assist from a hi-tech microphone developed by Victor, he could hear every word of the conversation from the arctic search site.
“What have you been doing all this time, Regan?” chided a woman’s condescending voice. “Building a snowman?”
He frowned. He knew that voice…
“Hey, this site is off-limits!” came the curt reply - a male voice this time. “Who are you? And how did you even find this place?”
“Tess Mercer,” she replied crisply. “My access is unrestricted.”
Mercy. What was his ex-girlfriend doing working for a worm like Lex Luthor?
“Under written orders from Lex, I am now Acting CEO of Luthorcorp and all its subsidiaries,” she continued.
The man named Regan snorted. “And what makes an obscure Regional VP like you think you’re qualified for the job?” he retorted.
“Lex believes it,” she said shortly. “That’s all that matters.”
“Hear anything interesting?” drawled another female voice in his other ear.
“I’ve just ascertained the identity of Lex’s right hand girl,” he said grimly. “From the look of things, he and Clark disappeared together.”
“Hmm. So when do we make our move?” Dinah asked.
Oliver narrowed his eyes and did a quick study of the area. There were five men on site plus Tess, making six in total. None of them would be a problem.
“Well?” she persisted.
Oliver steeled himself against the bitter cold and pulled his hood up over his head.
“Now.”
***
Three minutes, two arrows and one sonic scream later, the ground was littered with unconscious Luthorcorp lackeys. Oliver stood at the edge of a freshly dug deep hole, a familiar red jacket clenched in his hand.
“Clark,” he muttered. “Where are you?”
Everyone’s gazed mirrored his thoughts. Dinah approached him, her expression particularly grave.
“Oliver…this doesn’t look good,” she said hesitantly. “Maybe we need to consider the possibility that something’s happened to Clark.”
“He’s not dead, if that’s what you’re suggesting,” he replied harshly. “Clark’s not like us; it’ll take a lot more than ice and snow to bring him down.”
“I’ve checked all the bays and harbours,” AC added gently. “And Bart’s circumnavigated the globe at least twice, but there’s been no sign of the big man.”
Oliver shook his head. He heard what they were trying to say, but he refused to accept it.
“Clark wouldn’t give up on us, guys,” he replied tightly. “So we’re not giving up on him.”
Dinah folded her arms. “I’m not sure what else we can do, Arrow,” she said quietly. “Do we have any other leads at all?”
“Just one.” Oliver clenched his jaw and activated his headpiece. “Cyborg,” he barked as soon as the other man came online. “What you got for me?”
“Good news,” Victor replied, sounding pleased. “I hacked into every surveillance camera on the planet and planted hidden face recognition software in them. One of them recorded a hit on Clark’s mug.”
Oliver exhaled roughly. At last. “Where is he?”
“Verkhoyansk, Russia. It’s not too far from here; we can take the chopper.”
Jackpot.
“Let’s go,” he said to the team.
“If you don’t mind, I think I’ll get there faster in the water,” AC said with a grin, and disappeared under the ice before they could even blink.
Silently Oliver and Dinah made their way towards the helicopter where Victor was waiting, sitting in the co-pilot’s seat. Oliver got in and strapped himself into the pilot’s seat, doing a quick but thorough pre-flight check.
As soon as everyone was carefully strapped in Oliver took them off the ground and headed due south.
He fervently hoped Victor was right. The sooner they located Clark, the sooner they could get to Chloe.
***
Chapter 3…