Conversations: The Strength to Go On (4/5)

[serafina19]

Title: The Strength to Go On
Rating: PG
Summary: Chloe is brought out of hiding through various conversations with some unlikely allies.  

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended.  I don’t own Smallville.  Each part is inspired by a Rise Against song title, but not necessarily all the lyrics that follow them, although a sample does accompany each chapter (italics).

 
Whereabouts Unknown           Hero of War             Long Forgotten Sons

 

 

Banner courtesy of: of:  alxnhnt22
 

 

The Strength to Go On

 

But the heart reveals what smiles betray
Your sad sad eyes gave you away

 

 

Chloe turned to face her visitor with a smile.  “How’s my favourite Martian?”

 

John Jones entered Watchtower with a matching smile on his face.  “Happier now because I know you’re alright.”

 

“Tess sent you?”

 

“Yes… at this point, you needed a friend, someone who saw everything you’ve gone through.”

 

“All ready, I’m ready.  What do you think I should do?

 

John put a hand on Chloe’s shoulder.  “I can’t tell you what to do Chloe, but I don’t need telepathy to know that both you and Oliver are suffering without each other.  More importantly, you’re suffering without your family.”

 

“I’ve survived without family this long.”  Chloe tried to smile.  “The rest of my life isn’t going to make any difference.”

 

“I believed that once… that I could go through life alone.  Chloe, I lost my wife… my daughter…and my homeland, but then I met you, Clark, and Oliver… you accepted me, and became my family.”

 

“It’s wasn’t hard.  Look around at the people that entered Watchtower.”

 

“All they needed was normal people that believed in them.  Oliver may have started this on his own, but it was your teamwork that kept the team together during the last couple of years.  Even before you two fell in love, your strength and belief in each other kept this team together.”

 

“I saw his future, John.  He learns to lead them without me.”

 

“You know how the helmet works; you can’t see your future.”

 

“I know.”

 

“So how can you discount the possibility that you’re part of his life?”

 

Chloe bit her lip and tried to hold herself together.  There was one facet of his future life that hurt her more than anything.  “He found someone else, John.  Whether I was a part of that life or not, he found someone else to love.”

 

“Dinah, I assume.”  After talking with Canary, he knew about the animosity between the two women.

 

She nodded. “I didn’t have the heart to tell her that she won in the future.”

 

 John paused; he saw how this future affected the woman he had learned to love like a daughter.  She was fading fast. 

 

“Out of curiosity, was his secret exposed in the future?”

 

Chloe shook her head.  “I don’t know… I don’t think so.”

 

He smiled, hoping this would be the breakthrough he needed.  “Maybe you altered the fate you’d seen when you saved his life.”

 

Thoughts were flooding Chloe’s brain.  She realized that his double life was a secret in the future she had seen.  And then she remembered one moment that proved that she had changed the future. 

 

As she placed the tips of her fingers on her forehead, Chloe finally mumbled, “Carter.”

 

She saw him working alongside Oliver and the league in the future.  Oliver had looked older than the recent pictures in the newspaper, which meant Carter survived longer in that future...he had to.

 

 “I have to say that I like this future better.  Hawkman will be missed, but he’ll be happier with his wife, and everyone will happier with you back in the picture.  That is of course, if you’re willing to finally step out of the shadows.”

 

For a moment, Chloe’s green eyes gleamed in the light, but she soon bowed her head, shaking it in defeat.  “I can’t, even if I wanted to… the Squad’s still looking for me.  They think I’m dead… and it has to stay that way.”

 

“They’re tracking Oliver and Clark… clearly they’re interested in what they bring… they won’t get their help if they take you down.”

 

Chloe sighed as she tried not to roll her eyes.  “That’s the beauty of blackmail.  I need a plan, and I don’t have one yet.”

 

“We go out each night protecting civilians, but more importantly, we want keep the ones we love safe.  You have a team… a family… that loves you and wants you to return.  Let us help you, let us protect you.”

 

 Chloe’s gaze lifted to Watchtower. “I miss all of this, everything it represented, everything it protected.”

 

“You can have it all Chloe, but the question is whether you’re willing to fight to protect yourself and everyone else, or stay hidden in hopes that it keeps everyone safe.”

 

John made his exit soon after because like everyone, he knew this was her decision to make.

 

Chloe looked over at the window where one final memory came to life in front of her.  This one was different… happier.  

 

It involved a night of target practice and a couple sips of single malt.  They had begun the night as friends who understood each other completely, but by the end of the night, they were much more than that.  After letting go and shooting the bulls-eye, Chloe remembered smiling at him, reminding her that her life at one point had some happiness.

 

He had looked at her with his dark, brown eyes that used to remind her of her addiction to coffee.  Since her disappearance, Chloe had given up coffee… she had to.   But she couldn’t shake the feeling his eyes had given her, she couldn’t give up the way she felt about him. 

 

Chloe headed to the elevator, weighing her decision.  Her entire life, she was always willing to sacrifice her happiness for others, but this time was different.  It wasn’t just her happiness that was affected by her decision. 

 

There had been a group of people that relied on her.  It took Oliver breaking down a year ago to bring his team back together, and this time, it was the people on the outskirts who braved to reunite the heart of the league.

 

Dinah was her competition, the only other female presence in the league before Tess joined.  But in the end, Chloe admired the fact that Dinah was able to put aside her personal opinion of Chloe to do the right thing.  Carter was initially a surprise, as he begrudgingly joined the team.  However, he had learned to embrace each member as a new generation of heroes, including her.

 

Tess and John shouldn’t have surprised her, but they did.  Chloe may never fully trust Tess, but she had turned from a worthy adversary to an unlikely ally.  John, meanwhile, reinforced the value of camaraderie and family.

 

Still, her decision wavered.  Each person left her with a question, questions she didn’t have answers to, but when the elevator doors opened to reveal Tess in the entranceway, Chloe knew that this was the moment of truth. 

 

Looking at Chloe, Tess merely grinned and asked:

 

“So what’ll it be, Chloe?  Are you ready to leave this life behind?  Or are you ready to come back to life?”






Saviour