Life In Smallville & Metropolis {9}

Chapter 19: Sacrifice

Note: Liana's not in this chapter.

Chloe's on her way to get herself a cup of coffee, when she sees the man start to put away his stuff and Chloe says, "Hey. Don't tell me me you forgot about your favorite customer." The man says, "I think you forgot about me. You're late." Chloe smiles and says, "I'll have the usual, please." The man says, "All I got left is strong and burnt." Chloe says, "As long as it's hot." The man says, "You know, I've been meaning to ask. What kind of a job has a pretty young lady working all night, every night?" Chloe says, "Actually, I work for a nonprofit organization. We help people in need." The man hands Chloe her coffee and says, "Trying' to save the world, huh?" Chloe smiles and says, "All night, every night." Chloe walks away. As Chloe gets into the elevator of Watchtower, she puts her thumb print and Watchtower does a scan on her body and Watchtower says, "Verify." Chloe says, "Chloe Sullivan, Password, 0-5-1-4-0-9." Watchtower says, "Vocal and bio analysis confirmed." The elevator dings and Chloe walks out and walks into the main room of Watchtower. The lights turn on and Watchtower says, "Welcome to Watchtower, Miss Sullivan." Chloe takes off her jacket and scarf and says, "Ready to save the world from itself?" Chloe then looks to her computer, and it says that the Kandorian file has been accessed. Chloe opens a secret door and finds out her gun is missing. There's a gun cock and Chloe turns around to see Tess. Chloe says, "How did you find out my secret?" Tess says, "Oliver's voice wavered... when I told him that Watchtower had been kidnapped. And I've seen the way he looks at you. It's the little things a girl tends to notice." Chloe says, "And yet you somehow missed an unloaded gun." Chloe grabs a tray and hits Tess and then she grabs Tess's arm and kicks her in the stomach and Tess goes to shoot at Chloe, but the ground and Watchtower says, "Watchtower safety compromised. Initiating lockdown." Then the windows and doors get permanently shut and the two girls are trapped. Chloe turns to see a gun in her face and Tess says, "It's in your best interest to get these doors open, now." Chloe runs over to her computer to try and get the doors open and Watchtower says, "Security breach. Access denied." Chloe says, "We're not going anywhere. Watchtower's in control now." Then Tess starts firing bullets at the window and Chloe says, "In the event that I die of starvation or, oh, say, a ricocheting bullet do you mind telling me how you got in here?" Tess says, "You're sloppy, Chloe. I've got thousands of samples of your DNA from all the times you've spied on me. It's called a DNA cloak." Chloe says, "Well, aren't you fancy?" Tess says, "You know, getting in doesn't really seem to be our issue right now. How the hell do we get out of here?" Chloe says, "Short answer. It's impossible. When Checkmate kidnapped me, I upgraded Watchtower's security to contain intruders like you. The only problem is I was supposed to be on the outside." Chloe watches Tess dial on her phone and Chloe says, "Seriously? The lockdown prevents any signals from getting in or out." Watchtower says, "Threat confirmation still active." Chloe says, "Now, Watchtower didn't react because you attacked me. We're on lockdown because some hacking transmitter was detected. 'Cause the initial signal managed to pirate some data before my firewall blocked it and the thing is still alive. It's trying to break through another firewall, Tess. It's trying to give away our location. What did you bring in here?" Tess says, "Nothing. All I wanted to do is erase any info you had on the Kandorians, not re-route it." Chloe says, "I knew you were the Kandorians' lapdog, but I didn't realize you were Zod's little bitch too. Alright, look. If you're not behind this, there's only one other group I can think of that wants Watchtower this badly. Okay, if I was hiding a transmitting tracking device I would wanna make it as unassuming as possible. Which means I can probably count this out. Fever-colored lipstick? Really?" Tess says, "Well, I was gonna go with plain Jane, but you seem to have that market cornered. Really? How much could have been leaked in the blink of an eye?" Chloe says, "Watchtower downloads what amounts to the Library of Congress every three seconds. Which means in half that time Checkmate could have attained my entire team's database." Tess says, "And all of your files on the Kandorians." Chloe nods and Watchtower says, "Firewall breach. Cluster 4458." Chloe says, "Now, if it wasn't panted in your things, it must be on you." Chloe goes to check Tess's body and Watchtower says, "Firewall 3-1-1-0." Tess says, "What? Chloe, this is ridiculous, okay?" Chloe finds it and says, "It's in your body, Tess. Just beneath your skin." Tess says, "Get it out of me, now." Watchtower says, "Firewall 2-0-8-1." Chloe then gets a scalpel and cuts into Tess and the the chip in Tess starts moving and Chloe says, "Oh, my God. It moved." Watchtower says, "Firewall 1-5-7-9." Tess says, "When it feels threatened, it burrows deeper into the host. We'll never get it out now." Chloe says, "How did you know that?" Tess faces Chloe and says, "It's a Checkmate device. A mechanical parasite powered by the host's biorhythms." Watchtower says, "Firewall 1-2-0-9." Chloe says, "You know what they say, 'You lie down with dogs... you end up with fleas.'" Tess says, "Laugh it up, Chloe. But when Checkmate finds us, we'll both be dead." Watchtower says, "Air supply terminated." Chloe opens her fridge and grabs two water bottles and walks over and sits next to Tess and gives her one. Watchtower says, "Firewall 1-2." Chloe says, "We got three minutes of air left. You think Checkmate will find us before then?" Tess says, "Asphyxiation or firing squad." Chloe says, "Damned if we do, damned if we don't." Watchtower says, "Firewall 1-1." Tess says, "Just damned. I just wanted to save the world." Chloe scoffs and says, "That's funny. Last time I checked, you were just trying to get rid of everyone in it." Watchtower says, "Firewall nine." Tess says, "Paint my ideals however you want. But you and yours don't trust people any more than I do. This entire building was programmed to prevent anyone from getting close to you." Watchtower says, "Firewall seven." Chloe softly says, "Yeah, I guess I lost my faith in people, a long time ago too." Tess says, "It's why you won't let Oliver get close to you." Chloe says, "And why I can't blame him when he eventually leaves." Tess says, "He's not gonna leave you. With you, he has a purpose. I wish I could have given him that. And it kills me." Watchtower says, "Firewall three." Tess says, "'Cause you have everything right in front of you... and you can't even see it." Watchtower says, "Firewall two. Final breach imminent." Chloe says, "They broke through the final firewall. Checkmate's gonna be here any minute." Tess says, "As long as they torture us with the AC on, I'll die happy." Chloe looks at Tess with realization and says, "Cold." Chloe gets up and runs over to the cooling system and Chloe says, "Okay, Watchtower's cooling system uses a special mix of liquid helium and nitrogen. Cold enough to shatter steel." Chloe tosses Tess a bullet and she loads it into the gun and Tess says, "What are you waiting for?" Chloe says, "If I pull these tanks, then the mainframe melts. All my work. Watchtower is gone." Tess says, "If you don't, we die." Watchtower says, "Critical oxygen level." Chloe nods and pulls the tube of the cooling system and Watchtower says, "Warning. Temperature variation detected." Chloe looks at Tess and says, "Ready?" Chloe tosses the tube at the main door and Tess fires at the gun at the tube. They watch the door freeze and Watchtower says, "System failure imminent. System failure imminent." Chloe and Tess move the table and push it throw the door breaking it. The girls run out the door. Later, Chloe and Tess enter the hospital and Tess says, "I don't get it. You're in the clear. We escaped before Checkmate got a hit on Watchtower's address." Chloe says, "That doesn't make you any less of a liability, Tess. You still know the secret identities of all my most valuable players." Chloe tries to open a door, but it's locked. Tess says, "There's no sense in both of us getting captured." Tess hands Chloe a card and Chloe says, "I'm not letting you out of my sight until we get rid of your little friend." Chloe picks the door with the card and the door opens and the girls walks in. Chloe then breaks a glass cabinet and takes out a syringe and Tess says, "Atropine? What the hell are you gonna do with that?" Chloe says, "There's no time. Look. If you're right... and that transmitter is powered by your biorhythms. Then the only way that I can turn it off is to stop your heart. I have to kill you, Tess. And this is the only way I'm gonna bring you back." Chloe then goes to turn on the defibrillator and Tess softly scoffs and says, "You're asking for a pretty big leap of faith here." Chloe says, "You're gonna have to trust me." Tess then unbuttons her shirt and lays on the bed. Then Chloe rubs the defibrillator together and places it on Tess's chest and says, "You ready?" Tess says, "Do it." Chloe then stops Tess's heart and she flatlines. Chloe then hides Tess in a body bag and hides from Checkmate. Chloe crack opens a door and hears a man say, "Establish a perimeter. I want this whole area locked down." Chloe closes the door and Chloe opens the body bag and looks down at Tess wanting nothing more than to just leave her there, but she decides to use the Atropine to wake Tess up. Then Tess gasps awake and takes the syringe out her chest. Chloe helps steady Tess and she's breathing heavily and says, "I really... I really didn't think you'd do it. Bring me back." Chloe says, "Neither did I." Chloe helps Tess down from the bed and as Tess goes to leave the room, Chloe closes the door and she says, "Just for the record, I just saved your ass. You say anything about me or mine to anyone... next time you won't wake up. You understand?" Tess says, "Guess you'll have to trust me." Tess then leaves the room. Later, Chloe goes to Oliver's hospital room and waits for him to wake up. Chloe places her hand on his face and rubs her thumb. Chloe sees Clark outside the window and leaves the room to speak with him. Clark hands Chloe some coffee and Chloe says, "Please tell me you found that Z-branding bastard so we can slap him back across the universe." Clark follows Chloe down the hall, and he says, "Zod's on the move and there's no sign of Faora or the Kandorians. Maybe if I can reach the others, I can talk some sense into the." Chloe looks on the news to see the castle of Checkmate on fire and says, "We may be too late for that. That's the Castile. God. Zod's attacked Checkmate." Clark says, "Oliver was personal. With this, Zod just declared war." Chloe's phone beeps and she looks down and says, "You're not gonna like where he's gathering his troops. My eye in the sky above the Fortress is picking up movement."