Never Say Goodbye

Chapter 22: Justice League To The Rescue!

Was anyone going to find him? The close proximity of the meteor rocks hurt like crazy and he was fighting to say conscious. How much longer would it be before he would give in to the darkness?

Then he saw big black shoes and he looked up painfully to see a guard there.

“Hey,” the man said, “You’re not supposed to be here.” Then he had a gun to his face. Clark was certain in that moment, his heart stopped. Then, the guard’s face contorted in pain and he fell to the ground, an arrow sticking into his back.

“Neither am I.” He had never been more relieved to see the Green Arrow standing there.

'Oliver! ' His mind was cheering. He had come for him after all.

“Come on.” Oliver said, picking him up, and carried him out of the room. It felt good to be in his arms, even if the circumstances that landed him there were awful.

The minute the door closed, Clark felt his strength returning. Oliver put him down and Clark took a few deep breaths, steadying himself.

“I’m alright.” He said.

“You sure?” Oliver asked and Clark nodded. Oliver started walking, talking into his headset. “Green Arrow to Watchtower. Boy Scout’s out of the woods.”

“Boy Scout?” Clark repeated.

“If you hadn't ran off, you could have picked your code name,” Oliver said. The other man turned to him. “You don't want to play for the team, that's fine. You can be smart about it.”

Oliver sounded annoyed but there was an underlying note of something else in his voice that Clark couldn’t place.

But he didn’t have time to analyze it. “Point taken. Where’s Bart?”

“Impulse,” Oliver corrected. “He didn't get to pick his own code name either.” He handed Clark a headset. “Watchtower will guide you to where he's probably being held.”

“What will you be doing?” Clark asked.

Oliver switched to his Green Arrow voice and gave him a smirk. “What I do best.”

He watched Oliver leave, wishing he had at least said “thank you.”

Chloe’s voice came through the communicator, interrupting his thoughts. “Watchtower to Boy Scout. Let’s find Impulse.”

With Chloe’s help, he found where Bart was being held. He overpowered the security guards and as the last one was thrown to the ground, he glanced at the chamber.

Bart was running around in circles and he could tell the younger man was exhausted. He sized it up and at the right moment, he smashed through the glass and broke through the other side, carrying Bart with him.

He shielded him as the chamber exploded.

“Bart?” Clark asked, observing the younger man, who looked drained, a trail of blood on the side of his mouth. “You okay?”

Bart gave him a weak smile. “Muy bueno, amigo.”

The two of them got out of the room, back in one of the hallways.