The Warehouse

*****

The cramped metal box was as cold as ice against Chloe’s exposed skin. She was almost completely naked except for the thin cotton underwear she’d put on that morning. The panties and the bra left little the imagination and she’d suffered frighteningly intense stares from the two men who’d taken her out of her bed in her apartment at the Talon.

What do they want?

The idea that they were going to rape and kill her had crossed her mind more than once since she’d awoken inside the cold metal enclosure a few minutes ago. She wanted to call for help but the men who now came toward the box mentioned the name Luthor. She doubted Lionel would risk his already shaky alliance with Clark and Martha Kent to kidnap her. That left Lionel’s son, Lex. She knew he’d been itching to discover Clark’s secret for years and he was getting closer every day. She wouldn't do anything to give him the final piece of the puzzle by calling for Clark to help her out of this situation.

The box rocked unsteadily as it was lifted out of the back of the truck.

“She’s heavier than she looks,” one of the men said. They both got a good laugh at her expense.

Screw you.

Chloe tried to find a split in the seam, or a lock, or anything that would give her a view of her surroundings, but she saw nothing. The box seemed pretty tight but air still came through in a cold and steady stream. She shivered and hugged her knees to her chest.

All she could do was wait.

*****

The Green Arrow took aim. A second later the arrow flew free of the compound bow in his grip and nailed its target -- the back of the man's right leg -- dead center. The thug went down with a cry and began screaming in agony.

Oliver had no pity for the man. He was assaulting an unarmed woman, after all, and he deserved little to no pity.

“Shut up,” he said. His voice was modified so that no one could recognize him when he spoke. The woman he’d just saved was in her mid forties and quite lovely. She had black hair and striking blue eyes.

“You’re the Green Arrow,” she said. “I’ve been looking for you. You’re the reason I came to this part of town.”

Oliver wasn’t one to enjoy fan worship. He hoped the woman didn’t start sobbing on his shoulder. He hated it when that happened. He also hoped she hadn’t purposefully gotten herself into trouble just to lure him out so she could meet him and get his autograph. He hated it when that happened even more.

“You’re going to be fine, ma'am. I’ll tie him up and call the--”

“I don’t care about him! It’s my daughter I’m concerned with. She’s gone missing.”

The man crying on the ground looked up at Oliver with frightened eyes. “I ain’t done nothin’ to nobody’s kid, man! I just snatch purses. I ain’t no pervert!”

“He had nothing to do with it,” the woman said, nodding in the thug's direction.

“We’ll have to alert the authorities about your daughter,” Oliver said. “You can tell them--”

“She was taken by Lex Luthor. The authorities can’t help her.”

Oliver’s curiosity was piqued now. “Luthor took your daughter? You’re sure?”

The woman nodded. “I'm positive. He held me captive for years. I’m Moira. Moira Sullivan. My daughter’s name is Chloe. She works at the Daily Planet.”

“I’ve heard of her,” Oliver said. He wasn't about to let the thug know that he knew Chloe personally. He finished tying up the man on the street and then called for the police. After that was taken care of he turned to Moira. “Come with me, Mrs. Sullivan. I'll do all I can to help you.”

*****

Chloe was almost asleep when the lid to the metal box she’d been stuffed into lifted. Cold air rushed in, making her shiver even more. She thought she’d die of hypothermia if she didn’t get warm soon. Her entire body ached with cold that went straight to her bones.

Big, calloused hands reached in, gripped her arms painfully, and hauled her out. Her knees, which had been bent for God only knew how long since she’d been placed in the box, buckled and she went sprawling to the floor.

“On your feet!” one of her captors demanded.

“Cut her some slack. She’s been locked up for two days,” one of the other men said.

The first man snorted. “You hot for her?”

“No.”

“She stinks to high heaven. I think she pissed herself.”

“She didn’t have a bathroom.”

Chloe lay on the ground, humiliated that she hadn’t been able to hold her bladder or bowels long enough to get to a bathroom. Tears stung at her eyes. She wasn’t just dirty she was nearly naked.

“Take her to the showers. Get her cleaned up,” a new voice said. It was a woman. Chloe struggled to look up but all she could see in the darkness was a pair of feet in sensible flats. Delicate calves disappeared behind an institutional gray skirt.

The two men hauled Chloe away. Her feet dragged and she struggled to keep them beneath her, to walk along lest the skin be rubbed from her toes, but it was pointless. She hadn’t eaten or had anything to drink in almost two days. She was weak.

The showers were filthy. Mold blackened walls rose above her and the floor tiles stank of dirty feet and mildew. Chloe was thrown into the center and a hose was turned on her. One of the men approached and pulled her underwear off, leaving her naked and ashamed.

Don’t let them rape me…

Powdered soap was unceremoniously dumped on her and scrubbed in with a brush and then rinsed off with frigid water. The cold was so deep in Chloe’s bones she thought she’d never feel warm again. Once the shower was over she was haphazardly dried off and dressed in a gray jumpsuit. The material was thin but blessedly dry. Socks and slippers were put on her feet and for the first time they began to feel warm.

She was dumped in a room with padded walls and no bed. The door opened and the woman from before entered. She handed Chloe a bottle of water with the label peeled off. Chloe gulped it down. She hadn’t realized how dry her throat was until the water flushed down her throat. She downed the bottle and wanted more.

“You’ll be summoned soon,” the woman said.

“Who are you? What do you--”

The woman’s fished connected with Chloe’s jaw. Her head connected with the rug that covered the concrete floor. Stars danced before her eyes as little pinpricks of colorful light.

“You’re not to ask questions. You are only to answer them. That is your last warning. Break that rule again and I’ll have you flogged.”

The door shut and left Chloe in total darkness. She succumbed to weariness and sank into dreamless sleep.

*****

Oliver Queen wasn’t fond of revealing his true identity to strangers but he couldn’t remain ‘in character’ every time he had to meet up with Moira Sullivan. Besides, he figured if she was Chloe’s mother, and she was an honorable woman like she seemed to be, he was willing to risk it.

“Have you any leads?”

“I’ve got one of my best men, Cyborg, working on cracking into Lex Luthor’s files to see if he’s got information on where Chloe would have been taken. My team is on it. It’ll take time but we’ll find her.”

Moira nodded. “I don’t have long.”

Oliver frowned. “What do you mean? Are you sick?”

Moira nodded. “In a manner of speaking. I’ve been in a catatonic state for years. When I sensed Chloe was in danger I came out of it. I don’t know how. Do you think you can get something that belongs to Lex? If I can hold onto it I can force him to lead us to Chloe.”

“How would you do that?”

Moira explained about her meteor ability. Oliver listened closely until she was finished. “I’ll have Impulse sneak in and get something. Does it have to be something specific?”

“No. It just has to belong to him.”

“I’m on it,” Oliver said. He noticed how tired Moira looked. He hoped he didn’t lose her before they could find Chloe.

He touched her arm, hoping to reassure her. “Hold tight, Moira. We’ll find Chloe.”

*****

Light stabbed at Chloe’s eyes when the door to her cell was yanked open. One of the men, the lesser of the two evil bastards who’d captured her, offered her a hand to help her stand up.

“Come on. Doc wants to see you.”

Chloe considered asking another question but decided against it. She didn’t want to risk a flogging from whoever ‘Doc’ was.

She was led through a sterile white corridor to a set of gray, windowless, double doors. On the other side were stacks of crates. She was in some kind of warehouse. Her escort was a young man, early twenties, with dark hair and brown eyes. He was the muscle builder type with strong hands and, despite his apparent interest in showing kindness, probably didn’t  have much of a conscience.

His grip was firm without being painful but Chloe wouldn’t consider trying to run on legs as rubbery as hers were. He’d catch her in seconds and the punishment for trying to escape would undoubtedly be terrible.

Chloe was urged into a seat behind a desk. The place was dirty and looked as though it was used to being occupied by blue collar men with grease and dirt from hard work permanently trapped under their fingernails. The woman behind the desk looked completely out of place. Whoever this woman was she hadn’t been in this warehouse long. From the sour expression on her face she didn’t want to be here a moment longer than she had to.

She brought up a paper bag with grease stains. It was from a local fast food joint. Chloe could smell the cheeseburger inside and her stomach growled.

“Eat. You’ll need your strength for what’s coming.”

“I’m not playing your games,” Chloe said.

“I can and will send you out there to face the trials on an empty stomach.”

Chloe leaned into the woman, keeping eye contact as she did, and whispered, “Do what you want. Tell Lex Luthor I’m not going along with whatever he's got going on here.”

The woman didn’t deny Luthor’s involvement in her predicament but she didn’t confirm it either.

“Take her out to the gate,” the woman ordered. She motioned at the bag of food. “It’s a shame to let this get cold. The food from that grease joint is actually pretty good. It’ll be waiting for you when you’re ready to cooperate.”

The gentle giant who’d led her into the office helped Chloe to  her feet. Once they were out of Doc’s earshot he said, “You should really consider playing along, Miss Sullivan. It’ll make this easier on you.”

“You’re a part of this. Don’t act like you care what happens to me.”

His mouth disappeared into a thin line but his grip didn’t tighten. He said nothing else as he came to a stop in front of a small makeshift gate. He put her on the other side and then stood guard.

“Start walking.”

Chloe turned her back to him and crossed her arms. “I said it before I’ll say it again. I’m not playing Luthor’s games.”

“Are you afraid of snakes, Miss Sullivan?”

Chloe turned to see Doc had arrived. She had a snake in her hands. It was brown and black and she caressed it with tender affection.

“Get moving or I’ll sic her on you.”

“Do what you have to.”

Doc smiled and approached Chloe. “The vipera aspis. Some say Cleopatra used it to kill herself rather than admit defeat to Octavian. It’s a relatively peaceful death but it is death all the same. Get moving or you die. It’s as simple as that.”

Chloe remained in place. “I'll pass.”

Doc looked frustrated for the first time. “You have to do as I say.”

“Why? Your job on the line? Your life, even? What happens to you if I don’t go along?”

Doc’s jaw clenched once before she suddenly screamed in frustration and hurled the asp at Chloe. She tried to catch it out of instinct. The frightened and confused snake lashed out at Chloe. She dropped the thing and lifted a hand to the soft flesh of her neck where the thing had bitten her.

Chloe was already weakened from a lack of food and water. She staggered back and then fell ungraciously onto her rump. She sank back onto the floor. She felt suddenly tired and sleepy. Her body felt heavy. Her eyes closed and she sank into darkness.

*****

When the world returned Chloe found herself on a cold steel table. Doc stood over her, eyes wide with wonder.

“So it’s true. You’re immortal!”

Doc leaned in and whisked a stray strand of hair from Chloe’s face. “I can kill you time and again and you’ll always come back.”

Chloe didn’t like the anticipatory gleam in Doc’s eyes. “Your wet dream, am I?”

Doc grinned. “You’ve no idea. Tell me; what awaits us on the other side?”

“I’ve never seen anything. Or if I did I don’t remember.”

Doc nodded as though she was pleased with that answer. “Nothing happens when we die. I thought so.”

“You mean you hope so,” Chloe said. “If there is more to life after death then somebody like you is screwed.”

Doc patted Chloe’s arm, almost affectionately. “I’ll take your personal experience of zilch as confirmation that this life is all there is and it’s oblivion at death. Now. Let’s get started.”

Doc turned away from the table and a split second later she held up a scalpel. “Let’s see if you’re made of sugar and spice and all that’s nice, shall we?”

She lowered the scalpel but it was suddenly gone as something green flew by leaving a puff of wind behind. Chloe and Doc both looked to the lab entrance. Oliver Queen, dressed up as the Green Arrow, stood in the door.

“You!” Doc didn’t look angry. Rather she looked pleased. “I did it. I lured you out of hiding! I’m going to take off that mask and hand you straight to Lex Luthor. After that, I’m going to slice up the Sullivan girl--”

The last person Chloe expected to see rushed around Oliver and confronted Doc. “You’re not touching my little girl ever again.”

Moira drew back and landed an impressive right hook straight to Doc’s jaw. The woman crumpled in a heap at the foot of the bed. Oliver and Moira made quick work of Chloe’s restraints.

“Mom! What are you doing here?” Chloe threw her arms around her mother.

“I sensed you were in trouble. I located the Green Arrow and he agreed to help me find you.”

“We don’t have time for a family reunion here,” Oliver said. “We have to move before the guards can call for backup.”

*****

There were several unconscious guards lying on the floor of the warehouse. Oliver and Moira led Chloe along the outer rim of the floor, avoiding the maze Doc had cooked up for Chloe to cross.

“Chloe, the drugs that keep me awake are wearing off. I don’t have much time.”

Chloe gripped her mother’s hand. “No, that can’t be. You just found me. Besides, didn’t you overcome your condition to help me? You don’t need the drug.”

Moira blinked away tears. “I sensed your distress and used my power to coax one of the nurses to dose me. Now the drug is wearing off. I’m so sorry, Chloe. I…I…”

Moira’s speech began to falter. It was the first sign of her remission into catatonia.

They were very close to the exit when the door flew in, its hinges reduced to spiky shards of twisted metal. Chloe hoped at first it was Clark come to rescue them.

That hope was quickly dashed when a tall man with bronze skin and blond hair ducked through the doorway. Oliver fired off an arrow that literally bounced right off the strongman’s skin.

“Shit,” Oliver said. “Head back!”

The gentle giant guard, who was a dwarf in comparison to the newcomer, rounded the corner and raised his gun.

“Don’t make me shoot, Miss Sullivan. Tell your friend to put down his bow.”

Oliver’s grip tightened on his bow rather than loosened.

“What are we going to do?” Chloe asked.

“I’m thinking, I’m thinking.”

“Mom, no!”

Moira had left Oliver’s side and was approaching the strongman. She had her hands held up in a gesture of surrender.

“I give up. I’m ready to return to the lab.”

“Keep your hands down,” the newcomer ordered. Moira lowered her hands but when she was close she lunged at him.

A green light began to glow between his chest and her hands. A second later the strongman stood tall and still.

“Fight them. Do all in your power to make sure The Green Arrow and Chloe Sullivan escape.”

The strongman nodded. He marched away from Moira, past Oliver and Chloe, and put himself in front of the guard.

“What are you doing?” the guard asked. “Hey, you’re supposed to--”

The strongman thrust the palm of his hand forward. There was an ugly crunching sound as his sternum shattered. He fell to the ground ten feet away, his eyes staring blankly at the high ceiling of the warehouse.

“Run..Chloe…” Moira insisted. She was fading fast. “I don’t k now how…much longer I…can keep control of him.”

Chloe’s heart broke. She didn’t care about the strongman. She only cared that she get her mother to safety.

“We have to go,” Oliver said. “She told me you wouldn’t want to leave her if she started to slip. I promised her I’d get you to safety.”

“But she’s my mother!”

Oliver took Chloe by the arms. “She went to extraordinary measures to save you, Chloe. Don’t make everything she did go to waste by getting yourself captured again.”

He urged her on as her mother stood still, looking off into nothing. She was gone. Chloe took one precious moment to kiss her mother goodbye before allowing Oliver to pull her toward the wreckage of the door and out into the bright light of day. To freedom.

*****

Lex Luthor watched Chloe and the Green Arrow escape. Sitting across from him was his most trusted adviser -- Tess Mercer, aka Mercy.

“Did you see the familiarity in which the Green Arrow interacted with Miss Sullivan?” he asked Mercy.

Mercy nodded. “I did. They know one another personally. She definitely knows his true identity.”

Lex laced his fingers and studied the many camera angels in and around the warehouse.

“Dr. Hill exposed my part in this. She mentioned me by name. She can’t be allowed to be taken alive by the police.”

“I’ll see to it. I’ll also have Mrs. Sullivan returned to her cell,” said Mercy.

“Have Christian see to the cleanup at the warehouse and Moira’s safe return. I want you to focus on Miss Sullivan. Follow her every move. I want you to discover the Arrow’s link to her. I want to know who this man really is.”

Tess nodded once before leaving the office. Lex turned back to the monitor and zoomed in on the Green Arrow and Chloe making a run for it from the warehouse.

Lex Luthor’s lips curved into a smile. “I’ll have you soon, Arrow.”