Freedom

Title: Freedom
Season: Season 1-8
Rating: PG-13/R
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to the CW and the Creators of Smallville.
Couples: Chloe/Bart…
Edited By: dh1031
Category: One-Shot sequel to ‘A Price to Pay’
Requested By: Jake



Montana
September 2011
(Chloe POV)

I paced the holding cell that served as my temporary home and sighed. It was too soon. I should have waited. I wouldn’t make the same mistake this time. I crossed my arms over my chest and sat on the cot in the corner. I glanced down and furrowed my brows at the deep color of charcoal.

I’ve been basically wearing the same thing for two years now. A charcoal colored prison uniform, or what looked like one to me. It’s not like it wasn’t washed because it was and I showered of course, but still every day…the same uniform in the same color…it was highly depressing.

I glanced at the clock in the corner of the room and then leaned my head back against the wall. They’re moving me out of this facility at three. Two hours from now I’d be heading off to another undisclosed location. He’s looking for me…I know it.

Yesterday morning, after the millionth battery of tests that’s been run on me while here, I managed to get loose of my bonds. So, when the doctor came near me, I quickly grabbed a sharp instrument from the medical table next to me and jabbed him in the throat.

He gargled and blood overflowed from his mouth. I grabbed the pass from his pocket, pressed it against the door, and as soon as it opened took off down the hallway. I could see other captives in their cells as I ran. They banged on the glass, screaming and the alarms started to blare.

I knew if I could just get a few more feet there would only be one more metal door to get past. Once I was through that door I could make my way out of here, but it never happened. Right as I turned the corner and saw the door I heard a woosh in the air and then something stabbed into my back.

As soon as it hit me I felt my body freeze and I fell to the floor. I heard heavy footfalls and then nothing…everything was black. That’s when I woke up here. When I first came to I heard the doctors talking to a female. It took me a while, but I finally realized it was Tess.

That bitch better hope that when I get out of here, I’m feeling much more forgiving than I’m feeling at the moment…because as of right now, right and wrong isn’t really registering all that much to me, and I’m out for blood. Being cooped up in a place like this for two years changes you.

Apparently a few of Tess’ facilities have been compromised by the Green Arrow and his team. When I heard that this morning…well it’s the first time I let a genuine smile grace my face in about two years. It took them a while, but I think the calvary is finally on their way. The only problem is they think this place is gone…

The sound of voices brought me out of my thoughts and I focused on what was going on behind the door.

“Is she ready?”

“Yes.”

“I want you to leave here at 2:30 and load her into the van.”

“Should we sedate her?”

“Should we? Yes. Are we going to? No. If we add sedatives into her system right now it will compromise the procedure she had last night and this is the big one. If it works we’ll be able to harvest her cells and use them to restore Lex back to his former self.”

My eyes widened. You’ve got to be kidding me…Lex is still alive? I thought all of this…all of these experiments and tests was Tess continuing Lex’s work…wonderful…Lex isn’t even around and he’s still making my life a living hell…

Two years of my life I’ve spent here. Healing people, things…and myself. They even tried to take the meteor particles out of my blood once. Yeah that didn’t work out so well, I died…12 hours later I was alive again.

Each time I’ve died from one of their procedures the time it takes me to come back to life is getting shorter and I’m pretty sure it’s due to the meteor rock injections I’ve been getting once a month. At least now I know why she went to all the trouble of getting me here.

A long time ago, when that crazy doctor, Knox, was in town, the one who said he could cure meteor infected people, he implied that because of my unique make-up I would probably live forever…and that’s why he wanted my heart for his wife.

Well, Tess wants the same thing…sort of. She wants to use my make-up to make Lex whole again…to regenerate him…and I’m not having any part of that. It’s been two years since I was brought to this hell hole…but today would be my last day…I’m done…

The bolt being thrown back on the door knocked me out of my thoughts. I glanced over and saw two armed men walk into the room. They were suited up, head to toe, in fatigues. Impressive…apparently she considers me more of a threat than I thought she did…

She stepped in the room and grinned in my direction.

“I heard we had a little escape attempt yesterday morning.”

I stood up and shrugged. She raised an eyebrow.

“Well, it obviously didn’t work. I don’t know why you’re trying to leave Chloe…we’re almost done with you here. If you can just sit tight, as soon as I get what I need, I’ll let you go.”

Her face was straight and her voice held a meaningful note in it. I snorted and shook my head.

“Tess, when you speak and words come out of your mouth, please try to remember who you’re talking to. I’ll admit you fooled me once, but never again.”

I glared in her direction and I saw the mischief in her eyes.

“Alright boys…load her up.”

They cuffed my hands together and pushed me forward. As I passed Tess I paused.

“You better pray to whatever the hell it is you pray to that I never get out of here…because if I do…you’re dead…do you hear me?”

She didn’t flinch, but I saw her swallow hard. That’s right bitch…you should be scared. I was pushed again and I made my way out into the hall with a guard on either side of me. We turned the corner and I could see the large door that I was heading for yesterday.

It opened and we walked through it, down a few more corridors with a couple of turns and then one last door. They pushed it open and I squinted my eyes as the bright light hit them. I blinked a few times to get my eyes to adjust to the new surroundings I was in.

I glanced around and saw the deserted area. Rocks…sand…we were in the middle of nowhere. I glanced up and I felt my emotions overwhelm me for a minute. The sky was clear and blue. The sun shone down and as the heat hit my face I savored the moment.

It’s been two years since I’ve seen the sun…since I’ve been outside…two very long years…another shove brought me back to myself and the reality of the situation. In order to stay free I would need to wait until we were on the road. There’s just too many security personnel around that would throw me back into a cell if I tried to make a break for it now.

I’ll have a better chance with just these two bozos on the road. I was pushed into the back of a large white van that had LuthorCorp supplies in it. It looked like an ordinary transport van. They got in the back with me and held their guns at the ready.

The doors shut and the van started up. As soon as we started to move, I started devising a plan…I won’t let her win…not any more…I’m going home today…if it’s the last thing I do…

*****
I sat in a seat on the left side of the van. I estimated that it’s been a good half hour to forty minutes since we left the Black Creek Facility. Since the last dose of their meteor rock cocktail my powers have been expanding at an impressive rate.

They’ve been trying to figure out my limits and I was supposed to have another series of tests yesterday to see if anything new popped up, but I tried to escape…which kind of put a damper in that idea…

Good thing too…I would have hated if Tess had found out about the new powers that just sort of creped up on me a few days ago…I haven’t exactly mastered them, but no time like the present to start…

I discretely glanced at the guard across from me and focused my energy on him. I could feel energy building inside of me and I pushed it out trying to connect with his mind. When I felt his mind around mine I pushed even harder.

I whispered thoughts of tiredness into his mind and when I saw his head droop I focused my attention on the other guy. It took a little longer, but I was finally in. I focused and repeated the process. His head drooped and I waited a few minutes before getting up and searching them for the keys to my cuffs.

They were on the first guy. I unlocked the cuffs, stretched my arms, and grabbed one of their guns. Now what? I glanced toward the front of the truck and moved up to the small gated window. Okay Chloe…focus you can do this one more time…

The car started to swerve before going off the road and into a pole. My body flew slightly forward into the boxes of supplies and the car was still. Ugh, next time I gotta remember to make the driver stop the car before putting him to sleep. I pushed open the back door and sunlight poured into the van. It took a good twenty minutes, but I got both guards out of the van.

They were lying on the side of the road and I was panting. Jesus…could they be any heavier? I grabbed their phones and made my way over to the driver. I opened the door and his body jerked forward and his foot connected with my stomach.

Oomph…he jumped out and I got up. He was throwing punches and then he was on top of me. I was struggling to get a grip on him as his hands reached for my throat. I could feel him squeezing and I clawed at his hands. No…this can’t be happening…

I can’t die like this…I’m almost free…I dropped one hand and searched frantically for the gun I dropped when he’d knocked me down. My fingers hit metal and I grasped it in my hand as tight as I could. I wacked him in the head with the gun repeatedly until I felt his hands loosen and go limp around my throat.

I pushed and managed to roll him off me onto the dirt. I stood up on shaky feet and kicked his leg lightly to see if he was conscious. Guess not…I took a deep breath to calm myself before leaning over him, grabbing his gun and phone, and moving toward the van.

I started the van, backed up, and got back on the road. I could feel the adrenalin pumping as I drove down the road. I pushed the hair away from my face and as I hit 80 MPH something in the truck started ringing. I frowned and after the third ring the van’s intercom system automatically answered.

“What’s going on Jason? I was following the GPS and you guys stopped for a while…everything okay?”

I swallowed hard as I glanced at where the voice was coming from. This doesn’t bode well…if I don’t answer she’ll know something’s wrong…if I do answer she’ll know something’s wrong…and she knows where I am…shit…

I took a deep breath and steeled my emotions.

“Actually Jason can’t come to the phone right now. He’s a little busy.”

There was a pause on the other line and it made me smile.

“Chloe, if I were you I’d stop the van. I know exactly where you are and things will just be worse for you if you keep this up.”

I actually laughed.

“Tess, by the time you get where I am I’ll be gone, and then you better watch your step because after everything you’ve put me through these last two years…well, you better hope I don’t find you.”

Before she could say anything else I found the phone that showed a connected call, turned off the phone, and tossed it on the seat beside me. I need to find a way out of this and soon…there’s gotta be a town around here somewhere…

(Clark POV)

I glanced up from the paper as I heard the elevators open. Bart and Oliver walked in pulling off pieces of their respective suits. I folded the paper and stood up.

“Any luck?”

Oliver shook his head and Bart tossed his gloves down. I could see the frustration on his face. Chloe’s been missing for two years. We know Tess has her, we just don’t know where. We’ve been taking down facility after facility, but still nothing.

I sighed.

“We’ll find her Bart. Trust me, no one wants to find Chloe more than me…I was going over some of the recent shipping schedules and manifests and I think I found another possible location.”

He rubbed a hand over his face as he and Oliver walked toward me.

“Hopefully we’ll have better luck with this one. There weren’t even any people at the facility Oliver and I just got back from. They were already gone. She knows we’re coming.”

I nodded.

“That doesn’t surprise me. Here, take a look.”

I pulled up some stuff on the computer and motioned to the area I was talking about. I saw Oliver frown and I raised an eyebrow.

“What’s wrong Oliver?”

He pointed to an empty portion of the screen.

“We’ve been there before…there’s a facility there.”

I frowned and looked back at the screen.

“No there’s not. The map doesn’t show anything.”

He nodded.

“That’s because we blew it up…or I thought we had. It’s The Black Creek Facility Clark…the one Chloe was being held at last time Tess has her.”

I looked at the map, squinted and realized Oliver was right. How could I have missed that…Tess must be holding her at the same place…I glanced at Oliver who had a smile on his face.

“This is good news guys. We know our way around that facility…we can work with this. I’ll call in Victor, A.C., and Dinah. Let’s go get Chloe…”

I grinned and Bart smiled. Things have been hard for him lately. He and Chloe had just started dating not long before she disappeared…he loves her…I know he does and at first things were a little tense between us because well I’m used to being the only guy in Chloe’s life…

And I might have blamed him for her getting kidnapped and I’m pretty sure he blamed me for a while. So, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the two of them together, but after seeing Bart these past two years…never giving up on Chloe…out searching for her almost every night…I knew he’d be a good guy for her.

Oliver’s voice brought me out of my thoughts.

“Okay they’re heading over here now. Why don’t you suit up Clark…they’ll be here soon and then we’ll take the jet to Montana.”

“You got it.”

As I passed Bart I put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a tight smile.

“We’re gonna get her back.”

He grinned.

“We sure are.”

I nodded before going in the back and changing into my suit. I had just finished getting everything on when I heard a loud scream. I turned my head, ran into the main room startling Bart and Oliver. They gave me an odd look and I frowned. Great not I’m hearing things.

I heard it again and I tilted my head and focused on the sound. CLARK KENT! Get your ass over here now! Dammit Clark….where are you…help me….please Clark

My eyes widened. Chloe…My head shot up and I looked back at Oliver and Bart who were watching me with concern.

“It’s Chloe…I can hear her…”

Bart took a step forward.

“Where is she?”

I shook my head.

“I don’t know…wait…”

He spoke in a warning tone.

“Clark….”

I glared at him.

“Shut up so I can focus. I need to go…she’s calling for me. I’ll bring her back.”

Before they could say anything I was gone. I ran like I’ve never ran before…I followed her voice and her heartbeat until I came to a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. She was standing there in what looked like a dark gray jumpsuit kicking the tire of a white van.

“You stupid, stupid van…dammit why won’t you start. Where the hell is Clark? Crap!”

She gave the tire one last kick before collapsing against the side of the van. I swallowed hard and quickly walked over to her. My voice shook as I spoke.

“Chloe…”

Her head shot up and I saw her eyes fill to the brim with tears. She stood slowly and I moved closer to her. Seconds later she was in my arms. I buried my head in her hair and I could feel a tear leak out of my eye. She spoke through her tears.

“You heard me…you came…”

“Of course I came…we’ve been looking for you for two years Chloe…I would have come sooner if you called…why…why didn’t you ever call for me?”

She pulled away and wiped at her tears…

"That’s what she wanted…I’d never call you into a trap Clark…never…”

I pulled her to me and held onto her tighter. Chloe is unbelievably selfless…I’ll never understand how I got so lucky…

“Well now that I’m here…let’s get you home.”

She smiled.

“That sounds like a plan…I’m exhausted…”

I chuckled lightly, picked her up in my arms and grinned.

“Hold on.”

She nodded and we were off. Things were finally going to be okay…

One Day Later

Metropolis

(Bart POV)

I sat on the couch and watched as the guys fawned over Chloe. A grin settled on my face as she spoke animatedly. God I missed her…When Clark came back with Chloe yesterday things were crazy. Everyone bombarded her including me and she was slightly put out because of it.

Understandably so, I mean she did just spend two years locked in a facility. Everyone backed off and she let me take her to my place so she could clean up and change clothes…it was a long night…she really opened up to me…she told me a bit about what happened while she was locked up and my heart hurt for her.

She said Tess would probably be looking for her, but if she came back she’d be ready for her…I could see the pain and anger in her eyes when she spoke about Tess and I was a little worried, but that’s something that can be dealt with in time.

I was just happy to have her in my arms again. Everything isn’t miraculously fixed after one night, but now that’s she’s home with us…it’ll get there…I was brought out of my thoughts by a warm hand. One of it’s fingers hooked under my chin and I glanced up.

Chloe smiled with a warm look in her eyes.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

I smiled as she sat down next to me and I put an arm around her shoulders.

“Just thinking about how glad I am to have you back.”

She rolled her eyes good naturedly.

“You’re just a big old softy aren’t you?”

“When it comes to you? I sure am.”

Her face softened and she leaned in, cupped my face with her hand and kissed me. I leaned into the kiss and deepened it. She pulled away a minute or so later and sighed. She placed her head against my shoulder and I tightened my hold on her.

The room was loud around us, filled with laughter and excitement and I couldn’t help the feelings that boiled up inside of me. I cleared my throat.

“Chlo…I just want you to know…I never stopped looking…I’m sorry I didn’t find you sooner.”

She patted my chest lightly.

“Don’t be sorry…I didn’t want to be found until I knew it was safe…and now…well I’m home. I’ve changed a lot and there’s still so much more I need to tell you guys…but we have time for that…until then I have you here…and everyone else.”

I nodded.

“Always…I’ll always be here…”

I could feel her grin against me.

“Good, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

I swallowed hard and turned my head so my mouth was by her ear. I spoke to her in a whisper.

“Chlo…I love you…and I’m grateful you’re home…”

Her grip on me tightened and her voice was just as low.

“I love you too Bart…and thank you for not giving up on me…”

I grinned and we sat there while out friends celebrated around us. Getting things back the way they were would be difficult…too much has happened, but as long as Chloe has her freedom, and her friends, everything will work out eventually…it always does…