Chapter Eight: The Predator in The Prey
Chapter 9
‘The Revelations in The Truth’
Bart pursed his lips as he stood outside the door contemplating his next move. He needed to talk to Mia, but before he did he had to see Courtney, make sure what they had talked about was still a possibility even though he’d been MIA for over a week.
He straightened up and knocked sharply on the door. A couple of minutes later it was pulled open by Carter, who was holding a cup of coffee in his hand brow arching in confusion as he stared out at Bart. He moved the coffee from his lips and spoke, voice gruff.
“What are you doing here speed demon?” Bart swallowed hard. He hadn’t expected Carter to answer the door. He’d gotten so used to the older man not being around because he was working the mission at Tower Prep that he’d forgotten Courtney had moved in with him.
“Uh…I’m…is Courtney here?” Carter pursed his lips and stared down the young man in front of him. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Bart, he did, but he also didn’t want Courtney to get hurt and he wasn’t positive that Bart knew what he wanted.
Carter opened his mouth and was about to tell him she wasn’t home when her voice broke through the silence from behind the door. “Carter who’s at the door?” He sighed and pulled it open wider as he called over his shoulder and motioned for Bart to come in. “It’s the team’s resident speed demon.”
Courtney paused in her movements when she saw Bart walk through the door, her expression clouding slightly, voice soft. “Oh…” Carter closed the door and watched as the younger man slipped his hands into his pockets and gave Courtney a tight smile.
“Hey…” She stood there returning his smile with an uncertain one before her eyes drifted to Carter who was leaning against the wall a mixture of amusement and concern coloring his features as he sipped his coffee. Courtney cleared her throat and eyed him. “…Well thanks Carter…I know you need to get ready for work with the re-opening of the museum and all…”
He could take a hint though he wasn’t particularly happy about it. He pushed himself away from the wall, nodded in their direction and made himself scarce. When he was out of earshot Bart spoke first as he took a few steps towards her and pointed towards the couch. “Can we sit?”
She nodded and they made their way towards the couch sitting down before silence once again took over the room. Bart swallowed heavily to moisten his throat and spoke. “I’m sorry…” She raised an eyebrow crossing her arms over her chest. “For?”
He titled his head to the side and scratched the back of his neck. “For not being around much this past week. Look I owe you an explanation…and I’m hoping once you have it…things between us will be okay.” Courtney studied his face and leaned back on the couch.
She’d heard what happened when they rescued Mia and that kid from Tower Prep, how angry Bart got and how he’d practically been AWOL for a couple of weeks now. It hurt knowing he still cared about Mia that much, especially after the discussion they’d had that night at Watchtower. Now she wasn’t sure what to think. Courtney motioned for him to go ahead and speak. He cleared his throat and nodded.
“I know I’ve kind of been an ass lately and I know that you deserve better than that. I meant what I said that night Courtney.” He took her hand in his voice softening. “I didn’t realize how much we had in common until we started spending so much time together. You’re amazing and you just…the way I feel when I’m with you…it’s unmatched.”
Courtney frowned and pulled her hand out of his. “If that’s the case then why? Why have you been making such a big deal about Mia and this other guy? You told me when she came back you were going to talk to her…explain,” she motioned between them, “this and then we’d do this the right way…”
He nodded. “I know…and honestly I was holding onto something I had. No one likes to have their pride wounded and her falling for someone else…well I guess that’s all it took to hurt mine. I was angry because no one likes to feel like they aren’t good enough…and I’ve felt that way my whole life.”
Courtney’s face softened and she reached out taking his hand and giving it a small squeeze. “That’s not true you know…you are good enough…you’re not the same person that you were when you were younger…you’ve changed, grown up…done something amazing with your life.”
Bart gave her a weak smile and shrugged. “Sometimes it doesn’t feel like that though and that’s originally why Mia and I got together. We have that in common…neither one of us is perfect. We both come from a pretty messed up past.”
He licked his lips to moisten them and took a deep breath. Bart wasn’t used to being open about his feelings. He was mostly the guy in the background that cracked jokes and flirted with the women around him to distract people from serious situations. So opening up to Courtney about his fears was hard, even harder than talking to Mia, but he knew he had to do this in order for her to understand.
“My thought process isn’t always the best and I know I joke around about a lot of stuff, but…well I guess I figured if someone like Mia who is pretty much as damaged as me doesn’t think I’m enough…then how will you ever think I’m good enough?”
Courtney felt her chest tighten at his words. How could he possible think that little of himself? Doesn’t he realize what an asset he is to the team? To the cause? How can he not see how amazing she thinks he is? She shifted closer to him on the couch, entwining their hands as she spoke voice light.
“How could you ever think you wouldn’t be enough for me? I think you’re amazing Bart…I really do. You’ve saved the day countless times…Oliver thinks of you as a younger brother…Chloe adores you, the whole team loves you…but none of them care about you as much as I do…”
He grinned slightly, dimples showing as he tilted his head. “Yeah?” Courtney smiled. “Yeah.” He nodded and lifted her hand placing a kiss on it. “I’ll talk to Mia today then…I’ll explain things…and then maybe you and I can grab dinner?”
The hopeful tone of his voice made her grin, eyes warming under his gaze. “Absolutely.” He nodded. “Okay…well it’s early and I know you need to get ready for school, so I’m gonna go, but I’ll text you later tonight…” He stood and Courtney followed his lead walking him to the door, opening it , and leaned against it
“Sounds like a good plan…I’ll see you later.” Bart grinned, sent a wink her way and disappeared in a gust of wind that sent her hair flying around her face.
______
Ian shifted his arm tightening around the warm body next to him as he buried his head into the neck in front of him inhaling deeply. It took a second to realize what he was doing and suddenly his body tensed as his eyes flew open. Mia. He was lying in bed, spooning with Mia. Oliver was going to kill him. The leather wearing hero was going to take an arrow and shoot it straight into his ass.
He lifted his head slightly and glanced around the room frowning. It took him a second to remember where they were. Last night Mia had been helping Chloe’s cousin Lois with some wedding stuff when Chloe had called saying something about people coming for him.
She’d told them to stay with Lois and Clark for the night and then to head into Metropolis when they came in for work in the morning. He glanced down at the woman next to him, brown hair strewn haphazardly across the pillow, body molded against his.
Ian smiled. He had never seen such a peaceful expression on her face before, it was kind of sweet. He pursed his lips together as he tried to quietly and carefully detangle his body from hers and maneuver off the bed.
He had just lifted his arm from her waist when she let out a light sigh and shifted, turning so she was now facing him before her body automatically curved against his, head landing softly on his chest, hand slipping to his stomach.
He sucked in a deep breath and after a second relaxed his body placing his arm back around her holding her against him. Ian had never spent the night with a girl before and it was weird how right it felt having Mia in his arms. A light knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts. He cleared his throat lightly and spoke quietly. “It’s open.”
Lois turned the knob and pushed the door open slowly trying to get a read of the situation and what she was going to be greeted with. The sight before her as she leaned against the door made her heart melt slightly. Mia and Ian were fully clothed and the badass teenager was curled up to Ian’s side the picture of innocence.
She tilted her head to the side and smirked at Ian. “Sorry to interrupt the morning cuddle session, but Clark just finished his shower. We’re probably gonna head out after we get ready and Smallville makes breakfast so I thought maybe you to might wanna shower and get ready.”
Ian nodded as he rubbed his eyes slightly. “Yeah, definitely. I’ll wake Mia up and we’ll be down soon.” Lois nodded and gave the teenager a quick smile before moving out of the room and closing the door behind her. He looked down on Mia again and ran a hand over her arm shaking her gently.
“Mia…Mia wake up…we gotta start getting ready to head back to Metropolis…” She groaned and buried her head further into her talking pillow. She froze…talking pillow? Her eyes flew open and she shifted her head so she could glance up her eyes making contact with Ian’s. She blushed lightly and bit her bottom lip before speaking softly.
“Hey.” He grinned. “Hey.” She pushed herself into a sitting position and yawned. She turned her head so she was looking at him. “We should probably get up and start getting ready…sorry about…you know…suffocating you and all.” She moved towards the edge of the bed, but before she could get far Ian’s hand on her arm stopped her.
When she turned he leaned forward and captured her lips with his, hand coming up to cup her cheek. They broke apart a minute later and he grinned. “Good morning…” She chuckled lightly, “Morning…now can we get up?” He nodded as he pushed the blanket off himself. “Yes, now we can get up.”
She slid off the bed and glanced around the room looking for her sweater and shoes. “You want to grab a shower first?” Ian shook his head before turning to face her. “No, it’s cool you can take the first one.” She made her way around the bed, walked towards the door, opened it and gave Ian a small smile before making her way into the hallway towards the bathroom.
He watched her go with a grin on his face as he got the rest of his things together and headed for the stairs to join Lois and Clark in the kitchen all the while thinking he could definitely get using to waking up with Mia in his arms.
______
The coffee pot beeped and Chloe grunted as she reached forward mumbling a soft ‘finally’ as she filled her cup to the brim. Oliver watched her with amused eyes as she added a packet of sugar into her coffee before pouring some the French vanilla creamer in it.
He made his way over to her wrapping his arms around her from behind as he placed a gentle kiss against her neck and spoke softly. “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning…you okay?” She sighed and turned carefully in his arms so as not to spill her coffee, pout gracing her lips as she looked up at him with big eyes.
“I’m exhausted…and I think I’m coming down with something.” Oliver frowned at her admission and cupped her cheeks brushing his thumbs against them lightly. “I shouldn’t have kept you up so late…you could have told me you weren’t up for an all nighter Sidekick. Maybe you should stay home today.” Chloe frowned and shook her head.
“I was fine last night…I wasn’t feeling crappy until I woke up this morning and I can’t, I’m meeting Victor at Watchtower so we can finish up planning out the strategy for your little jail break mission. Lois text me saying they would drop Ian and Mia off at Watchtower in about an hour and a half.”
Oliver shifted so he was leaning against the counter in front of her. “Oh? Are they helping too?” She nodded as she took a sip of her coffee, groaning slightly as the hot liquid caressed her throat. When she opened her eyes he was staring at her, lip licking his bottom lip slightly and she pursed her lips.
“It’s not gonna happen…so refocus your energy Romeo. Make sure while you’re at work that you send out an email letting everyone know we’ve got a team meeting tonight and by the time everyone gets there we should have the whole mission planned out.”
He sighed and nodded. “Will do…now that you’ve crushed my hopes for morning nooki I should get to work. I’ve got a meeting in a half hour.” She waved him off and he grinned before leaning down and placing a light kiss against her lips. “I love you.” Her face softened and she placed one more kiss on his lips before patting his cheek gently and moving towards the counter.
“I love you too, have a good day.” He grabbed his keys and wallet off the island and arched an eyebrow in her direction. “Lunch?” She glanced up as she secured the top of her travel mug while scrunching her nose. “I’ll let you know…there’s so much we’ve gotta cover before the meeting tonight.” He nodded as he made his way towards the elevator.
He sent a smile and a wink her way. “Don’t work too hard professor.” Her lip twitched and she watched as the doors slid shut blocking him from view. Her cell phone beeped knocking her from her dreamy gaze as she moved to the island and lifted her phone. She scrolled through it and sighed.
It looked like the time for ogling her boyfriend was over. She grabbed her stuff, tossing her phone in her purse and grabbing her coffee as she headed in the direction Oliver had gone just moments before determined to attempt to start her day as soon as possible so she could meet Oliver for lunch.
______
Bart was nervous. He knew he probably shouldn’t be, but after the way he had treated Mia a few days back, well he wouldn’t be surprised if she never wanted to see him again. He glanced at his watch and sighed. It was already close to one o clock in the afternoon and now that he knew there was a meeting tonight where everyone would most likely be together, Bart knew finding Mia was his top priority.
The last thing he wanted was things to be weird when the team was around tonight. He took a deep breath, pushed open the double doors of Watchtower and made his way inside only to come to a halt at the sight in front of him.
Victor was standing in front of the large monitor a grin on his face as Ian pointed to something. Chloe and Mia were on the other side of the main frame typing side by side. He swallowed hard at the picture this made. The rest of the team had practically welcomed Ian with open arms.
He seemed to be the only one who didn’t like the wannabe hero in front of him. He cleared his throat and four sets of eyes glanced up. Victor gave him a small smile as Ian tensed beside him. Mia got quiet and Chloe grinned as she stood up and made her way over to him.
“Bart!” He gave her a weak smile, “Chloelicious…if it isn’t my favorite blonde…how you doin mamacita?” She pulled him into a hug glad that he had finally decided to make his way back to Watchtower. She knew the whole Mia and Ian thing made it awkward for him, but she also knew that whatever they had fought about a few days ago had sent Mia back to the penthouse in tears.
It was hard when team members dated, that had been one of her and Oliver’s worries when they started their relationship. That if god forbid they didn’t work, what would happen to the team. Thankfully they haven’t had to deal with that…yet, though they had come close last year.
She shook herself out of her thoughts and pulled back from the younger man, smile still gracing her face. “I’m doing good, how are you?” He nodded eyes straying to Mia. “I’m doing okay…uh I know you guys are busy and we’ve got that meeting tonight…I was wondering if I could borrow Mia for a little bit.”
Chloe glanced at Mia who bit her bottom lip, gaze straying to Ian. His arms were crossed over his chest as he glared at Bart from across the room. She could see he wasn’t happy, but she knew they needed to talk. Their lack of communication was starting to affect the way the team interacted and she knew how much the team meant to Bart.
She didn’t want to be responsible for being the person who pushed him away or made him feel like he was no longer a part of the team. She stood slowly and nodded, voice soft. “I’ve got a few minutes.” When she took a few steps forward Ian opened his mouth, but before he could say anything Oliver made his way through the door voice cutting through the tension.
“Sorry I’m late…my meeting ran long, where are you favorite blonde of mine?” He came to a halt when he noticed how everyone froze at his entrance. He arched an eyebrow at the irritation on Ian’s face and then glanced towards his side at Bart.
He gave the younger man a small smile as his hands drifted to his pockets. “Hey Bart.” He nodded at Oliver briefly glancing away from Mia. “Heya bossman…” Mia swallowed hard and finished walking past Chloe towards Bart. “Why don’t we go in the hall?” He nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah…that’s a good idea.”
Oliver watched them make their way out of the room and turned back towards Chloe, Victor and Ian. “What’s going on?” Chloe shook her head. “Nothing, Bart just needed to talk to Mia…and I’m sort of in the middle of things…” Her voice trailed off and he frowned. “You’re not coming to lunch with me are you?”
She let out a small sigh and rubbed his arm lightly. “I’m sorry Ollie…but Vic and I really need to finish up here. The team will be here at five and I want to make sure everyone knows what they’re doing…this mission…it’s a big deal.”
His face softened and he nodded. “I know…it’s not a big deal.” He glanced over at the sullen looking teenager and spoke. “But that means I need company…Ian feel like grabbing some lunch? We can probably head over to the training warehouse for an hour…get in a little hand-to-hand if you’re up for it…”
Ian gave Oliver a grateful look and nodded. “That would be good…” He needed to release some of the excess energy that he was currently building up. And to think he had thought it was bad when Cal flirted with Mia, it was ten times worse with this Bart guy because they had a history that Ian didn’t know much about.
Oliver smiled. If Ian was anything like him when it came to the woman he cared about, well his temper was bound to go off at some point or another. He nodded towards the door and Ian made his way out from behind the monitors, waving to Victor.
“Thanks for showing me the system Victor.” He nodded. “Not a problem, thanks for pointing out where West campus was on the schematics.” Ian grinned. “Sure.” Oliver turned his gaze on Victor and smiled. “Hey Vic, things going good with that new update I gave you?” He pursed his lips and nodded. “Yeah…I’ve been running it all morning…nothing so far.”
Oliver nodded before moving forward, leaning down and placing a kiss against Chloe’s lips. “I’ll see you later tonight.” She nodded and watched as Ian and Oliver made their way out the door and towards the elevator. She glanced over her shoulder at Victor and arched an eyebrow.
He shook his head. “I’ve been running the new background check program…going over all of Ian’s information…as far as I can see he’s clean…he isn’t our leak…” She nodded making her way back over to him as she started typing on the keyboard. “I didn’t think he was.”
She tilted her head to the side and grinned, “You ready to put the finishing touches on this plan?” Victor returned her smile. “Oh hells yeah…Tower Prep ain’t gonna know what hit ‘em…”
______
Mia stood across from Bart not entirely sure what to say. Their last conversation hadn’t exactly gone well. He cleared his throat and her eyes flew up meeting his as he spoke softly. “Before I get into anything with you the first thing I want to do is apologize. I’m really sorry for those things I said…they were harsh and I had no right…”
Surprise crossed her face and she could see the guilt in his eyes as he spoke. “I was angry and hurt. I had so much crap going on in my head and I took it out on you, which wasn’t right. So…I’m sorry.” Mia nodded her body relaxing slightly.
“I’m sorry too…I--” Bart cut her off and gave her a slightly embarrassed look. “I’m actually not done yet…” He sucked in a deep breath and leaned against the wall as Mia watched him curiosity in her gaze. “While you were gone…I was lonely…and I missed you a lot.”
He paused and rubbed the back of his neck again. “So I started hanging out with Courtney more to sort of take up my time…and well it turns out we have a lot more in common than I thought…” He met her eyes and he could see the wheels in her head turning as her body stiffened again.
“We kissed…it didn’t go any further…but I care about her….I think…I think I might love her.” Mia swallowed heavily a tinge of pain in her chest at his words. He had been planning to break up with her the whole time for the pixie princess…so why had he gotten so angry with her?
“You’re in love with her?” He nodded voice quiet. “Yeah…I think I am…” Confusion filled her face as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t get it…why then? Why make such a huge deal out of Ian? Why scream and yell at me when you obviously don’t even want to be with me anymore?”
Bart tilted his head slightly and gave a one armed shrug. “No one wants to feel like they aren’t enough Mia…what we had…it meant so much to me and knowing that you went away for five months and came back with this guy…well I just snapped. It sounds ridiculous and petty…but I’m only human…and you hurt my pride so I guess a part of me wanted to hurt you back.”
She pursed her lips and gave him a short nod. “So…what does this mean now then?” Bart gave her a small smile. “It means…I still don’t like Ian…but I want you to be happy and if he makes you happy then I’m not gonna give you a hard time about it and I hope you’ll offer me the same courtesy with Courtney. When we started this we knew that if it ended one day we’d still be working together. Here’s our chance to act like adults…it may take some time, but I really don’t want to lose your friendship…you know me better than anyone ever has…”
Her eyes teared up slightly and she brushed them quickly not letting any tears fall as she nodded. “I know…and I want that for us to be friends…I don’t want things to be awkward and I don’t want either of us to feel out of place with our friends and family.”
Bart nodded. “Me either…so we’re good then…friends?” He held out his hand extending the only olive branch he could as he met her eyes waiting to see what she chose to do. Mia grinned and took his hand shaking it as she spoke. “Friends.”
Bart let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. Hopefully he and Ian would be able to keep the peace until he was okay with the outsider being a part of their group. Things were finally starting to look up now he could finally focus on the mission at hand.
______
It had taken Chloe and Victor three hours to finish putting together all the plans, but she was more than satisfied with the way they had come out. She glanced in front of her at the team milling about the room before her eyes drifted to the clock. It was a little after five and she was still waiting on Dinah and Clark.
Oliver, Ian, Bart, Mia, Carter and Victor were already waiting around and ready to start the meeting. Chloe had just grabbed the copies of the blueprints of the facility to hand out when the doors were pushed open and Dinah walked in slightly out of breath.
“Sorry, I ran into some asshole on the way here who thought it was okay to try and mug someone at knife point.” Chloe nodded. “It’s fine…” There was a whoosh of air around the team and Clark appeared seconds later by Oliver’s side. He turned his head and nodded in the dark haired man’s direction.
“What’s up?” Clark shrugged. “Not much…I had a last minute save in California…mudslide…” Oliver chuckled. “Not a big deal man, grab a seat and let’s get this shindig started." Chloe made her way around the room giving everyone a copy of Tower Preps floor plans before coming to rest near Victor.
She grinned at the their friends and motioned to the paper. “Okay, I’m going to make this meeting as quick and painless as possible. Mia and Ian helped us figured out exactly where everything is so we can get in and get out as quick as possible.”
She turned pressing a button making the same print out pop up on screen, but magnified so everyone could see it. She motioned towards the left. “This room here is where the main frame for Whisper 120 is kept.” She held up a an USB drive as she continued speaking. “This is a virus that Victor created, it needs to be uploaded into Whispers mainframe. Once it’s uploaded it will take out the system for seven minutes. It’s not as long as we hoped, but it’ll have to do.” Dinah glanced over the papers from her seat on the couch and frowned.
“What about those gnome things?” Chloe grinned and motioned towards Clark and Bart. “That’s where our two speed racers come in. Bart you and Clark are going to be the first ones on site. We need you to round up all the gnomes and take them out. Clark it’s up to you to upload the virus into the computer…”
His face was stern and he nodded. “I can do it.” Chloe smiled as she glanced in Clark’s direction. “I know you can.” She cleared her throat. “I can’t stress how incredibly important timing is on this mission…the minute the virus is uploaded Clark will send out a message to all the coms and you’ll all move in at once. This is not a step by step process.”
Victor shifted and pointed to a spot on the map that showed trees. “These maps are misleading…if you look at the small section towards the bottom where you notice there are only trees there, but Ian and Mia said there’s a whole other side to the school. And we need to find out what goes on there.”
Carter cleared his throat interrupting Victor and spoke. “West Campus is heavily guarded with its own set of gnomes and security features.” Chloe nodded and grinned as she spoke.
“We figured and that’s why we’re splitting you guys up into two teams. After the initial contact is made by Clark and Bart and the gnomes surrounding the perimeter are taken out and the virus uploaded, Clark will rendezvous with the ‘B’ team and Bart will head over to the ‘A’ team.”
Carter nodded and Oliver grinned as he tilted his head and smiled at his girlfriend. “Am I to assume that I’m heading up the ‘A’ team?” Chloe nodded. “You, Carter and Bart will make your way over to West Campus while Ian heads up the ‘B’ team.”
Surprise crossed the teenagers face as he glanced up from his seat next to Mia. “Me?” Chloe nodded and gave him a small smile. “Yes. You’ve been training with Oliver for the past few weeks and no one knows there way around the facility better than you and Mia…Canary will call the shots, but once inside the facility you’ll take point…are you comfortable with that?”
Ian straightened up slightly and glanced at Oliver who gave him a reassuring smile and he nodded. “Yeah…I can handle it.” Victor grinned and spoke before Chloe had a chance to say anything. “Good. Once Clark sendS out the signal both teams will move forward, remember we only have seven minutes to get in…get the information…and get the kids who want to leave out.”
Carter glanced up from the paper and interjected once more. “Ian, Gabe and Suki have coms, so once we get in and security goes down they’ll be able to contact you. Do you remember the rendezvous point with them?” He nodded. “Yeah, the observatory and then Mia and I will guide them out of the school through the underground tunnels while Dinah and Clark get to the rest of the kids at Tower Prep…right?”
He glanced between the adults and Chloe nodded. “Exactly. Victor, Courtney and I will be running support from Watchtower and Flag is going to take down the faculty from within and try to hold off Trotter. Hopefully West Campus will have some answers as to why they want Ian back and what trotter is trying to accomplish by taking over Tower Prep.”
Oliver nodded and stood paper in hand as he glanced at Victor and Chloe. “The plan looks solid…nicely done guys…” He glanced around the room taking note of Bart and Courtney standing beside each other and Mia and Ian sitting on the couch with each other.
His eyes strayed to Carter who nodded before moving to Clark and Dinah. They both inclined their heads as if to say the plan was solid and they agreed it was good to go. He looked back towards Chloe, their eyes meeting as he spoke to everyone.
“Alright guys…take the night off…and get some rest during the day, because we’re heading into Tower Prep and finishing this tomorrow night.” Ian remembered Oliver’s words about being a part of the team…helping them take down the people who murdered his parents…and he was ready to do that.
Oliver’s gaze drifted toward Ian who arched an eyebrow at the older man as smirk slid onto Oliver’s face, amusement dancing in his eyes. “So Ian tell me, how do you feel about form fitting leather?...”
Chapter 9
‘The Revelations in The Truth’
Bart pursed his lips as he stood outside the door contemplating his next move. He needed to talk to Mia, but before he did he had to see Courtney, make sure what they had talked about was still a possibility even though he’d been MIA for over a week.
He straightened up and knocked sharply on the door. A couple of minutes later it was pulled open by Carter, who was holding a cup of coffee in his hand brow arching in confusion as he stared out at Bart. He moved the coffee from his lips and spoke, voice gruff.
“What are you doing here speed demon?” Bart swallowed hard. He hadn’t expected Carter to answer the door. He’d gotten so used to the older man not being around because he was working the mission at Tower Prep that he’d forgotten Courtney had moved in with him.
“Uh…I’m…is Courtney here?” Carter pursed his lips and stared down the young man in front of him. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Bart, he did, but he also didn’t want Courtney to get hurt and he wasn’t positive that Bart knew what he wanted.
Carter opened his mouth and was about to tell him she wasn’t home when her voice broke through the silence from behind the door. “Carter who’s at the door?” He sighed and pulled it open wider as he called over his shoulder and motioned for Bart to come in. “It’s the team’s resident speed demon.”
Courtney paused in her movements when she saw Bart walk through the door, her expression clouding slightly, voice soft. “Oh…” Carter closed the door and watched as the younger man slipped his hands into his pockets and gave Courtney a tight smile.
“Hey…” She stood there returning his smile with an uncertain one before her eyes drifted to Carter who was leaning against the wall a mixture of amusement and concern coloring his features as he sipped his coffee. Courtney cleared her throat and eyed him. “…Well thanks Carter…I know you need to get ready for work with the re-opening of the museum and all…”
He could take a hint though he wasn’t particularly happy about it. He pushed himself away from the wall, nodded in their direction and made himself scarce. When he was out of earshot Bart spoke first as he took a few steps towards her and pointed towards the couch. “Can we sit?”
She nodded and they made their way towards the couch sitting down before silence once again took over the room. Bart swallowed heavily to moisten his throat and spoke. “I’m sorry…” She raised an eyebrow crossing her arms over her chest. “For?”
He titled his head to the side and scratched the back of his neck. “For not being around much this past week. Look I owe you an explanation…and I’m hoping once you have it…things between us will be okay.” Courtney studied his face and leaned back on the couch.
She’d heard what happened when they rescued Mia and that kid from Tower Prep, how angry Bart got and how he’d practically been AWOL for a couple of weeks now. It hurt knowing he still cared about Mia that much, especially after the discussion they’d had that night at Watchtower. Now she wasn’t sure what to think. Courtney motioned for him to go ahead and speak. He cleared his throat and nodded.
“I know I’ve kind of been an ass lately and I know that you deserve better than that. I meant what I said that night Courtney.” He took her hand in his voice softening. “I didn’t realize how much we had in common until we started spending so much time together. You’re amazing and you just…the way I feel when I’m with you…it’s unmatched.”
Courtney frowned and pulled her hand out of his. “If that’s the case then why? Why have you been making such a big deal about Mia and this other guy? You told me when she came back you were going to talk to her…explain,” she motioned between them, “this and then we’d do this the right way…”
He nodded. “I know…and honestly I was holding onto something I had. No one likes to have their pride wounded and her falling for someone else…well I guess that’s all it took to hurt mine. I was angry because no one likes to feel like they aren’t good enough…and I’ve felt that way my whole life.”
Courtney’s face softened and she reached out taking his hand and giving it a small squeeze. “That’s not true you know…you are good enough…you’re not the same person that you were when you were younger…you’ve changed, grown up…done something amazing with your life.”
Bart gave her a weak smile and shrugged. “Sometimes it doesn’t feel like that though and that’s originally why Mia and I got together. We have that in common…neither one of us is perfect. We both come from a pretty messed up past.”
He licked his lips to moisten them and took a deep breath. Bart wasn’t used to being open about his feelings. He was mostly the guy in the background that cracked jokes and flirted with the women around him to distract people from serious situations. So opening up to Courtney about his fears was hard, even harder than talking to Mia, but he knew he had to do this in order for her to understand.
“My thought process isn’t always the best and I know I joke around about a lot of stuff, but…well I guess I figured if someone like Mia who is pretty much as damaged as me doesn’t think I’m enough…then how will you ever think I’m good enough?”
Courtney felt her chest tighten at his words. How could he possible think that little of himself? Doesn’t he realize what an asset he is to the team? To the cause? How can he not see how amazing she thinks he is? She shifted closer to him on the couch, entwining their hands as she spoke voice light.
“How could you ever think you wouldn’t be enough for me? I think you’re amazing Bart…I really do. You’ve saved the day countless times…Oliver thinks of you as a younger brother…Chloe adores you, the whole team loves you…but none of them care about you as much as I do…”
He grinned slightly, dimples showing as he tilted his head. “Yeah?” Courtney smiled. “Yeah.” He nodded and lifted her hand placing a kiss on it. “I’ll talk to Mia today then…I’ll explain things…and then maybe you and I can grab dinner?”
The hopeful tone of his voice made her grin, eyes warming under his gaze. “Absolutely.” He nodded. “Okay…well it’s early and I know you need to get ready for school, so I’m gonna go, but I’ll text you later tonight…” He stood and Courtney followed his lead walking him to the door, opening it , and leaned against it
“Sounds like a good plan…I’ll see you later.” Bart grinned, sent a wink her way and disappeared in a gust of wind that sent her hair flying around her face.
Ian shifted his arm tightening around the warm body next to him as he buried his head into the neck in front of him inhaling deeply. It took a second to realize what he was doing and suddenly his body tensed as his eyes flew open. Mia. He was lying in bed, spooning with Mia. Oliver was going to kill him. The leather wearing hero was going to take an arrow and shoot it straight into his ass.
He lifted his head slightly and glanced around the room frowning. It took him a second to remember where they were. Last night Mia had been helping Chloe’s cousin Lois with some wedding stuff when Chloe had called saying something about people coming for him.
She’d told them to stay with Lois and Clark for the night and then to head into Metropolis when they came in for work in the morning. He glanced down at the woman next to him, brown hair strewn haphazardly across the pillow, body molded against his.
Ian smiled. He had never seen such a peaceful expression on her face before, it was kind of sweet. He pursed his lips together as he tried to quietly and carefully detangle his body from hers and maneuver off the bed.
He had just lifted his arm from her waist when she let out a light sigh and shifted, turning so she was now facing him before her body automatically curved against his, head landing softly on his chest, hand slipping to his stomach.
He sucked in a deep breath and after a second relaxed his body placing his arm back around her holding her against him. Ian had never spent the night with a girl before and it was weird how right it felt having Mia in his arms. A light knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts. He cleared his throat lightly and spoke quietly. “It’s open.”
Lois turned the knob and pushed the door open slowly trying to get a read of the situation and what she was going to be greeted with. The sight before her as she leaned against the door made her heart melt slightly. Mia and Ian were fully clothed and the badass teenager was curled up to Ian’s side the picture of innocence.
She tilted her head to the side and smirked at Ian. “Sorry to interrupt the morning cuddle session, but Clark just finished his shower. We’re probably gonna head out after we get ready and Smallville makes breakfast so I thought maybe you to might wanna shower and get ready.”
Ian nodded as he rubbed his eyes slightly. “Yeah, definitely. I’ll wake Mia up and we’ll be down soon.” Lois nodded and gave the teenager a quick smile before moving out of the room and closing the door behind her. He looked down on Mia again and ran a hand over her arm shaking her gently.
“Mia…Mia wake up…we gotta start getting ready to head back to Metropolis…” She groaned and buried her head further into her talking pillow. She froze…talking pillow? Her eyes flew open and she shifted her head so she could glance up her eyes making contact with Ian’s. She blushed lightly and bit her bottom lip before speaking softly.
“Hey.” He grinned. “Hey.” She pushed herself into a sitting position and yawned. She turned her head so she was looking at him. “We should probably get up and start getting ready…sorry about…you know…suffocating you and all.” She moved towards the edge of the bed, but before she could get far Ian’s hand on her arm stopped her.
When she turned he leaned forward and captured her lips with his, hand coming up to cup her cheek. They broke apart a minute later and he grinned. “Good morning…” She chuckled lightly, “Morning…now can we get up?” He nodded as he pushed the blanket off himself. “Yes, now we can get up.”
She slid off the bed and glanced around the room looking for her sweater and shoes. “You want to grab a shower first?” Ian shook his head before turning to face her. “No, it’s cool you can take the first one.” She made her way around the bed, walked towards the door, opened it and gave Ian a small smile before making her way into the hallway towards the bathroom.
He watched her go with a grin on his face as he got the rest of his things together and headed for the stairs to join Lois and Clark in the kitchen all the while thinking he could definitely get using to waking up with Mia in his arms.
The coffee pot beeped and Chloe grunted as she reached forward mumbling a soft ‘finally’ as she filled her cup to the brim. Oliver watched her with amused eyes as she added a packet of sugar into her coffee before pouring some the French vanilla creamer in it.
He made his way over to her wrapping his arms around her from behind as he placed a gentle kiss against her neck and spoke softly. “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning…you okay?” She sighed and turned carefully in his arms so as not to spill her coffee, pout gracing her lips as she looked up at him with big eyes.
“I’m exhausted…and I think I’m coming down with something.” Oliver frowned at her admission and cupped her cheeks brushing his thumbs against them lightly. “I shouldn’t have kept you up so late…you could have told me you weren’t up for an all nighter Sidekick. Maybe you should stay home today.” Chloe frowned and shook her head.
“I was fine last night…I wasn’t feeling crappy until I woke up this morning and I can’t, I’m meeting Victor at Watchtower so we can finish up planning out the strategy for your little jail break mission. Lois text me saying they would drop Ian and Mia off at Watchtower in about an hour and a half.”
Oliver shifted so he was leaning against the counter in front of her. “Oh? Are they helping too?” She nodded as she took a sip of her coffee, groaning slightly as the hot liquid caressed her throat. When she opened her eyes he was staring at her, lip licking his bottom lip slightly and she pursed her lips.
“It’s not gonna happen…so refocus your energy Romeo. Make sure while you’re at work that you send out an email letting everyone know we’ve got a team meeting tonight and by the time everyone gets there we should have the whole mission planned out.”
He sighed and nodded. “Will do…now that you’ve crushed my hopes for morning nooki I should get to work. I’ve got a meeting in a half hour.” She waved him off and he grinned before leaning down and placing a light kiss against her lips. “I love you.” Her face softened and she placed one more kiss on his lips before patting his cheek gently and moving towards the counter.
“I love you too, have a good day.” He grabbed his keys and wallet off the island and arched an eyebrow in her direction. “Lunch?” She glanced up as she secured the top of her travel mug while scrunching her nose. “I’ll let you know…there’s so much we’ve gotta cover before the meeting tonight.” He nodded as he made his way towards the elevator.
He sent a smile and a wink her way. “Don’t work too hard professor.” Her lip twitched and she watched as the doors slid shut blocking him from view. Her cell phone beeped knocking her from her dreamy gaze as she moved to the island and lifted her phone. She scrolled through it and sighed.
It looked like the time for ogling her boyfriend was over. She grabbed her stuff, tossing her phone in her purse and grabbing her coffee as she headed in the direction Oliver had gone just moments before determined to attempt to start her day as soon as possible so she could meet Oliver for lunch.
Bart was nervous. He knew he probably shouldn’t be, but after the way he had treated Mia a few days back, well he wouldn’t be surprised if she never wanted to see him again. He glanced at his watch and sighed. It was already close to one o clock in the afternoon and now that he knew there was a meeting tonight where everyone would most likely be together, Bart knew finding Mia was his top priority.
The last thing he wanted was things to be weird when the team was around tonight. He took a deep breath, pushed open the double doors of Watchtower and made his way inside only to come to a halt at the sight in front of him.
Victor was standing in front of the large monitor a grin on his face as Ian pointed to something. Chloe and Mia were on the other side of the main frame typing side by side. He swallowed hard at the picture this made. The rest of the team had practically welcomed Ian with open arms.
He seemed to be the only one who didn’t like the wannabe hero in front of him. He cleared his throat and four sets of eyes glanced up. Victor gave him a small smile as Ian tensed beside him. Mia got quiet and Chloe grinned as she stood up and made her way over to him.
“Bart!” He gave her a weak smile, “Chloelicious…if it isn’t my favorite blonde…how you doin mamacita?” She pulled him into a hug glad that he had finally decided to make his way back to Watchtower. She knew the whole Mia and Ian thing made it awkward for him, but she also knew that whatever they had fought about a few days ago had sent Mia back to the penthouse in tears.
It was hard when team members dated, that had been one of her and Oliver’s worries when they started their relationship. That if god forbid they didn’t work, what would happen to the team. Thankfully they haven’t had to deal with that…yet, though they had come close last year.
She shook herself out of her thoughts and pulled back from the younger man, smile still gracing her face. “I’m doing good, how are you?” He nodded eyes straying to Mia. “I’m doing okay…uh I know you guys are busy and we’ve got that meeting tonight…I was wondering if I could borrow Mia for a little bit.”
Chloe glanced at Mia who bit her bottom lip, gaze straying to Ian. His arms were crossed over his chest as he glared at Bart from across the room. She could see he wasn’t happy, but she knew they needed to talk. Their lack of communication was starting to affect the way the team interacted and she knew how much the team meant to Bart.
She didn’t want to be responsible for being the person who pushed him away or made him feel like he was no longer a part of the team. She stood slowly and nodded, voice soft. “I’ve got a few minutes.” When she took a few steps forward Ian opened his mouth, but before he could say anything Oliver made his way through the door voice cutting through the tension.
“Sorry I’m late…my meeting ran long, where are you favorite blonde of mine?” He came to a halt when he noticed how everyone froze at his entrance. He arched an eyebrow at the irritation on Ian’s face and then glanced towards his side at Bart.
He gave the younger man a small smile as his hands drifted to his pockets. “Hey Bart.” He nodded at Oliver briefly glancing away from Mia. “Heya bossman…” Mia swallowed hard and finished walking past Chloe towards Bart. “Why don’t we go in the hall?” He nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah…that’s a good idea.”
Oliver watched them make their way out of the room and turned back towards Chloe, Victor and Ian. “What’s going on?” Chloe shook her head. “Nothing, Bart just needed to talk to Mia…and I’m sort of in the middle of things…” Her voice trailed off and he frowned. “You’re not coming to lunch with me are you?”
She let out a small sigh and rubbed his arm lightly. “I’m sorry Ollie…but Vic and I really need to finish up here. The team will be here at five and I want to make sure everyone knows what they’re doing…this mission…it’s a big deal.”
His face softened and he nodded. “I know…it’s not a big deal.” He glanced over at the sullen looking teenager and spoke. “But that means I need company…Ian feel like grabbing some lunch? We can probably head over to the training warehouse for an hour…get in a little hand-to-hand if you’re up for it…”
Ian gave Oliver a grateful look and nodded. “That would be good…” He needed to release some of the excess energy that he was currently building up. And to think he had thought it was bad when Cal flirted with Mia, it was ten times worse with this Bart guy because they had a history that Ian didn’t know much about.
Oliver smiled. If Ian was anything like him when it came to the woman he cared about, well his temper was bound to go off at some point or another. He nodded towards the door and Ian made his way out from behind the monitors, waving to Victor.
“Thanks for showing me the system Victor.” He nodded. “Not a problem, thanks for pointing out where West campus was on the schematics.” Ian grinned. “Sure.” Oliver turned his gaze on Victor and smiled. “Hey Vic, things going good with that new update I gave you?” He pursed his lips and nodded. “Yeah…I’ve been running it all morning…nothing so far.”
Oliver nodded before moving forward, leaning down and placing a kiss against Chloe’s lips. “I’ll see you later tonight.” She nodded and watched as Ian and Oliver made their way out the door and towards the elevator. She glanced over her shoulder at Victor and arched an eyebrow.
He shook his head. “I’ve been running the new background check program…going over all of Ian’s information…as far as I can see he’s clean…he isn’t our leak…” She nodded making her way back over to him as she started typing on the keyboard. “I didn’t think he was.”
She tilted her head to the side and grinned, “You ready to put the finishing touches on this plan?” Victor returned her smile. “Oh hells yeah…Tower Prep ain’t gonna know what hit ‘em…”
Mia stood across from Bart not entirely sure what to say. Their last conversation hadn’t exactly gone well. He cleared his throat and her eyes flew up meeting his as he spoke softly. “Before I get into anything with you the first thing I want to do is apologize. I’m really sorry for those things I said…they were harsh and I had no right…”
Surprise crossed her face and she could see the guilt in his eyes as he spoke. “I was angry and hurt. I had so much crap going on in my head and I took it out on you, which wasn’t right. So…I’m sorry.” Mia nodded her body relaxing slightly.
“I’m sorry too…I--” Bart cut her off and gave her a slightly embarrassed look. “I’m actually not done yet…” He sucked in a deep breath and leaned against the wall as Mia watched him curiosity in her gaze. “While you were gone…I was lonely…and I missed you a lot.”
He paused and rubbed the back of his neck again. “So I started hanging out with Courtney more to sort of take up my time…and well it turns out we have a lot more in common than I thought…” He met her eyes and he could see the wheels in her head turning as her body stiffened again.
“We kissed…it didn’t go any further…but I care about her….I think…I think I might love her.” Mia swallowed heavily a tinge of pain in her chest at his words. He had been planning to break up with her the whole time for the pixie princess…so why had he gotten so angry with her?
“You’re in love with her?” He nodded voice quiet. “Yeah…I think I am…” Confusion filled her face as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t get it…why then? Why make such a huge deal out of Ian? Why scream and yell at me when you obviously don’t even want to be with me anymore?”
Bart tilted his head slightly and gave a one armed shrug. “No one wants to feel like they aren’t enough Mia…what we had…it meant so much to me and knowing that you went away for five months and came back with this guy…well I just snapped. It sounds ridiculous and petty…but I’m only human…and you hurt my pride so I guess a part of me wanted to hurt you back.”
She pursed her lips and gave him a short nod. “So…what does this mean now then?” Bart gave her a small smile. “It means…I still don’t like Ian…but I want you to be happy and if he makes you happy then I’m not gonna give you a hard time about it and I hope you’ll offer me the same courtesy with Courtney. When we started this we knew that if it ended one day we’d still be working together. Here’s our chance to act like adults…it may take some time, but I really don’t want to lose your friendship…you know me better than anyone ever has…”
Her eyes teared up slightly and she brushed them quickly not letting any tears fall as she nodded. “I know…and I want that for us to be friends…I don’t want things to be awkward and I don’t want either of us to feel out of place with our friends and family.”
Bart nodded. “Me either…so we’re good then…friends?” He held out his hand extending the only olive branch he could as he met her eyes waiting to see what she chose to do. Mia grinned and took his hand shaking it as she spoke. “Friends.”
Bart let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. Hopefully he and Ian would be able to keep the peace until he was okay with the outsider being a part of their group. Things were finally starting to look up now he could finally focus on the mission at hand.
It had taken Chloe and Victor three hours to finish putting together all the plans, but she was more than satisfied with the way they had come out. She glanced in front of her at the team milling about the room before her eyes drifted to the clock. It was a little after five and she was still waiting on Dinah and Clark.
Oliver, Ian, Bart, Mia, Carter and Victor were already waiting around and ready to start the meeting. Chloe had just grabbed the copies of the blueprints of the facility to hand out when the doors were pushed open and Dinah walked in slightly out of breath.
“Sorry, I ran into some asshole on the way here who thought it was okay to try and mug someone at knife point.” Chloe nodded. “It’s fine…” There was a whoosh of air around the team and Clark appeared seconds later by Oliver’s side. He turned his head and nodded in the dark haired man’s direction.
“What’s up?” Clark shrugged. “Not much…I had a last minute save in California…mudslide…” Oliver chuckled. “Not a big deal man, grab a seat and let’s get this shindig started." Chloe made her way around the room giving everyone a copy of Tower Preps floor plans before coming to rest near Victor.
She grinned at the their friends and motioned to the paper. “Okay, I’m going to make this meeting as quick and painless as possible. Mia and Ian helped us figured out exactly where everything is so we can get in and get out as quick as possible.”
She turned pressing a button making the same print out pop up on screen, but magnified so everyone could see it. She motioned towards the left. “This room here is where the main frame for Whisper 120 is kept.” She held up a an USB drive as she continued speaking. “This is a virus that Victor created, it needs to be uploaded into Whispers mainframe. Once it’s uploaded it will take out the system for seven minutes. It’s not as long as we hoped, but it’ll have to do.” Dinah glanced over the papers from her seat on the couch and frowned.
“What about those gnome things?” Chloe grinned and motioned towards Clark and Bart. “That’s where our two speed racers come in. Bart you and Clark are going to be the first ones on site. We need you to round up all the gnomes and take them out. Clark it’s up to you to upload the virus into the computer…”
His face was stern and he nodded. “I can do it.” Chloe smiled as she glanced in Clark’s direction. “I know you can.” She cleared her throat. “I can’t stress how incredibly important timing is on this mission…the minute the virus is uploaded Clark will send out a message to all the coms and you’ll all move in at once. This is not a step by step process.”
Victor shifted and pointed to a spot on the map that showed trees. “These maps are misleading…if you look at the small section towards the bottom where you notice there are only trees there, but Ian and Mia said there’s a whole other side to the school. And we need to find out what goes on there.”
Carter cleared his throat interrupting Victor and spoke. “West Campus is heavily guarded with its own set of gnomes and security features.” Chloe nodded and grinned as she spoke.
“We figured and that’s why we’re splitting you guys up into two teams. After the initial contact is made by Clark and Bart and the gnomes surrounding the perimeter are taken out and the virus uploaded, Clark will rendezvous with the ‘B’ team and Bart will head over to the ‘A’ team.”
Carter nodded and Oliver grinned as he tilted his head and smiled at his girlfriend. “Am I to assume that I’m heading up the ‘A’ team?” Chloe nodded. “You, Carter and Bart will make your way over to West Campus while Ian heads up the ‘B’ team.”
Surprise crossed the teenagers face as he glanced up from his seat next to Mia. “Me?” Chloe nodded and gave him a small smile. “Yes. You’ve been training with Oliver for the past few weeks and no one knows there way around the facility better than you and Mia…Canary will call the shots, but once inside the facility you’ll take point…are you comfortable with that?”
Ian straightened up slightly and glanced at Oliver who gave him a reassuring smile and he nodded. “Yeah…I can handle it.” Victor grinned and spoke before Chloe had a chance to say anything. “Good. Once Clark sendS out the signal both teams will move forward, remember we only have seven minutes to get in…get the information…and get the kids who want to leave out.”
Carter glanced up from the paper and interjected once more. “Ian, Gabe and Suki have coms, so once we get in and security goes down they’ll be able to contact you. Do you remember the rendezvous point with them?” He nodded. “Yeah, the observatory and then Mia and I will guide them out of the school through the underground tunnels while Dinah and Clark get to the rest of the kids at Tower Prep…right?”
He glanced between the adults and Chloe nodded. “Exactly. Victor, Courtney and I will be running support from Watchtower and Flag is going to take down the faculty from within and try to hold off Trotter. Hopefully West Campus will have some answers as to why they want Ian back and what trotter is trying to accomplish by taking over Tower Prep.”
Oliver nodded and stood paper in hand as he glanced at Victor and Chloe. “The plan looks solid…nicely done guys…” He glanced around the room taking note of Bart and Courtney standing beside each other and Mia and Ian sitting on the couch with each other.
His eyes strayed to Carter who nodded before moving to Clark and Dinah. They both inclined their heads as if to say the plan was solid and they agreed it was good to go. He looked back towards Chloe, their eyes meeting as he spoke to everyone.
“Alright guys…take the night off…and get some rest during the day, because we’re heading into Tower Prep and finishing this tomorrow night.” Ian remembered Oliver’s words about being a part of the team…helping them take down the people who murdered his parents…and he was ready to do that.
Oliver’s gaze drifted toward Ian who arched an eyebrow at the older man as smirk slid onto Oliver’s face, amusement dancing in his eyes. “So Ian tell me, how do you feel about form fitting leather?...”
Chapter Ten: The Pain in The Heart
"How do you feel about form fitting leather"
ReplyDeleteThat was just too cute. i just discovered this story and this site but I have seen all the Tower prep episodes and I love how seamlessly you have combined them. I can't wait till the next chapter.