![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
babydee1
Title: Disintegration
Author: ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
babydee1
Pairing: Chlollie
Rating: NC-17 (this chapter PG-13)
Warnings: Angst; Episodes re-writes for 8.22 (Doomsday)
Timeline: Season 8 episodes, from Odyssey - Doomsday
Disclaimer: All characters belong to the CW & DC comics.
Summary: Chloe and Ollie’s relationship gets fractured through a series of miscommunications and interferences. Fourth Book in the Chlollie series, sequel to Slingshot, Trajectory and Misdirection.
Feedback: …in spades. :-)
Author’s Note: For the benefit of this story, Lois did not go *poof* and disappear at any time whatsoever. Also, someone was kind enough to mop up the puddles of blood in the Watchtower this time. :-)
Banner by peachmacaroons
Runner by go_clo
Read previous chapter here.
Read story from the beginning here.
Chapter 49
Clark was gone. Just a brief, sombre goodbye, and then…gone. Vanished.
Chloe stared at the doorway for several seconds after he departed. It seemed unreal that he wouldn’t be walking through those doors again, demanding information like he always did.
But something deep down inside warned her that this particular goodbye was final. She had seen it in his eyes, heard it in his final, ominous words; something had changed, and things would never be the same between them again.
Clark hadn’t attended the funeral; at least, not with the rest of the team. But he had been there. She had sensed his presence, but he had obviously remained some distance away and kept out of sight. Which, she realised, was pretty much how he operated with the League the rest of the time; did his own thing in his own way, and kept his distance.
After the funeral, Mr Olsen Senior had asked to be taken to the spot where his son had died, so that he could lay some flowers there. Bart and Dinah kindly offered to take him to the geothermal plant, and Chloe decided it would only be right to do the same at the spot where Jimmy had actually lost his life. So she waited for Dinah and Bart to depart, then purchased a small bouquet of lilies and made her way to the Watchtower.
The entire place had been sanitised following the gruesome events of last week; she had Bart to thank for that. He and the rest of the team had been a great support, and she was grateful to have them in her life. But the events of the past week had shaken everyone, and Dinah and Bart had both made mention of taking a leave of absence straight after the funeral, which Oliver had granted. And now Clark had skipped town, as well.
Chloe carefully put the flowers in a vase, which she then filled with water and carried to the centre of the room. Once there, she knelt and reverently placed the vase on the spot where she had held Jimmy as he’d breathed his last.
“I owe you my life, Henry James,” she whispered. “Goodbye, and thank you for everything.” Her brow furrowed, and then she smiled. “You know what? Scratch Henry James. You’ll always be Jimmy to me.”
***
It was a long, lonely drive back to Smallville, one during which she did nothing but reflect on the aftermath of the burial. Hardly anyone had stayed behind after the eulogy; in fact, they couldn’t disappear fast enough. Again, the anomaly of burying a young man on such a beautiful day popped into her mind, and she sighed miserably, wishing desperately for some company.
She could understand Dinah and Bart not wanting to stick around; they hadn’t really known Jimmy, after all, and they did have their daily lives to get back to in other cities, so she’d hardly expected them to stay and hold her hand. Plus, they probably thought she had Clark, Lois and Oliver for support.
Well, Clark was gone; Lois was out of the country on assignment, and Oliver…
She sighed. Oliver had walked away immediately after the funeral, and she hadn’t heard from him all day. He was probably exhausted, having worked non-stop planning the funeral with Jimmy’s family, as well as maintaining double-duty hero shifts to cover the gap left by Victor, who was still not back in active service.
Still, she’d thought that would make Oliver want some company all the more. The two of them had felt Jimmy’s loss more keenly than the other team members, and she’d half-expected him to have called by now.
She pulled into Main Street and parked the car in front of the Talon. It was silly of her to sit and wait for him to call her; she decided she’d ring him herself as soon as she got upstairs.
He must have read her mind, because her cell buzzed the second she stepped into the coffee shop.
“I knew you’d call,” she said softly as she answered the phone. “It’s good to hear your voice, Ollie.”
There was a brief pause on the line. “How are you?” he asked.
She sighed. “It still doesn’t seem real,” she replied quietly. “I…I gave his camera to his little brother, and Bart and Dinah took the family to the geothermal site, so they could lay some flowers.”
There was silence on the line for several seconds. “Promise me one thing, Chloe,” he finally said. “That you won’t blame yourself for what happened.”
“Only if you promise me you won’t do the same,” she replied quietly. “Oliver, none of this was your fault.”
He sighed. “I wish I could believe that.”
“You couldn’t have predicted what happened; none of us could,” she argued.
“I said from the start that splitting him would be a bad idea, but I let it happen anyway.”
“You were out-voted—”
“That’s not an excuse,” he said flatly. “It was my mission; I had a responsibility to lead, and lead it properly. I failed. And now Jimmy’s dead.”
“You won’t do yourself any good if you keep thinking like that,” she said. “Just…come over; we can talk over a cup of coffee, or something.”
“Frankly, I don’t think I’m any good to you right now,” he said, a hard edge creeping into his voice. “I’m no good to anyone.”
Chloe tensed. There was something about his words that gave her a bad feeling; it was as if he was saying goodbye.
“Oliver, what’s going on?” she asked fearfully.
He gave a ragged sigh. “I need to be on my own for a while,” he finally replied.
Her heart sank. “Why?”
“It’s hard to explain….but I can’t stay.”
“Where are you going?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?”
He sighed. “You don’t understand…”
“Then explain it to me!” she cried. “You can’t just walk out of my life, and expect me to be okay with it!”
“Chloe, I can’t be around you right now - I just can’t,” he said shortly.
So it was personal. She took a deep breath. “I see.”
“No, you don’t,” he replied, his voice softer. “My feelings for you haven’t changed, Chloe; I still want us to be together, but…”
“But what?” she prompted when he fell silent.
He exhaled roughly. “We just buried Jimmy,” he said quietly. “Right now is not the right time.”
“It never seems to be the right time for us, does it?” she said tremulously as tears gathered in her eyes. “How many times are we going to go through this, huh?”
“I don’t know,” he replied honestly. “Every time we get close, something happens to wrench us apart; we just always seem to be fractured.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way,” she said desperately trying to inject some hope into her voice. “I know the timing isn’t ideal; but things can’t get better between us if you’re not here.”
He took a deep, steadying breath. “Chloe…”
“Don’t go,” she begged. “Don’t go, Oliver - please. I need you.”
“I have to,” he replied hollowly. “I’m sorry. Maybe one day, we can put these broken pieces back together again, but…not today.”
Chloe swallowed, and her heart began to thump erratically. “Oliver, don’t leave,” she pleaded. “Please, don’t leave. It wasn’t your fault—”
“I have to go.”
“Don’t do this!” she cried.
“Goodbye, Chloe.”
“Ollie, no—!”
“The line went dead. Frantically she tried to dial back, but all she got was a disconnected tone. Even if she tried to run a trace, he would have turned off his cell completely by now; clearly, he didn’t want to be found.
But she refused to believe or accept that he was gone.
“No,” she whispered, her voice rising. “No!”
“Chloe Sullivan?” a voice enquired, startling her. She whirled round and came face to face with a UPS man, who held up his hands defensively.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you; I just need you to sign for this, is all.” He handed her an envelope and presented a sheet of paper on a clipboard for her to sign, which she did.
“Have a nice day!” he said cheerily as he departed.
Oh, the irony. She stepped back into the Talon and closed the door, then dropped heavily into the nearest chair. With a deep breath, she tore open the envelope and her heart tightened in her chest when she saw what it was.
DECLARATION OF NULLITY OF MARRIAGE
In the matter of the union of Miss Chloe Ann Sullivan (The Petitioner) and Mr James Olsen (The Respondent):
Pursuant to a thorough examination of the medical evidence submitted in support of the Petitioner’s request for the annulment of the marriage between herself and the Respondent, and by virtue of an admission of non-consummation of the union by both named parties, The Court is convinced that there is sufficient reason to consider the request of the nullification of the marriage.
The Petitioner has been found to have been non compos mentis at the time of marriage, such that she could not legally have consented to such a union with the Respondent.
Therefore, by the power of the State of Kansas and in accordance with Kansas State Law, we hereby declare that the marriage entered into by Chloe Ann Sullivan and James Olsen is null and void ab initio and therefore deemed to have never existed.
The above-named parties are therefore free of marital status, and any and all obligations of the union are now discharged.
***
There was some other technical-sounding legalese drivel that followed, but she’d already read enough. Chloe relaxed her fingers and watched as the piece of paper fluttered silently to the floor. Sighing, she rested her head in her hands and squeezed her eyes shut against the tears that began to gather.
She had waited months for the annulment papers to arrive on her doorstep; had dreamed of this moment and the freedom she’d thought she would feel. It was supposed to have signalled the beginning of her new start with Oliver, the man she loved; the man she was sure loved her in return, even though the words had never been spoken by either of them.
Instead, she was now entirely on her own. And ironically, the freedom she had desperately craved from Jimmy had been willingly granted before the tragic events that had taken his life.
The reality of her situation sunk in: she was now completely alone. Her shoulders heaved, and the grief she had kept in check all day finally engulfed her. She burst into tears, weeping in abject misery as she’d done several times earlier on in the week.
Only this time, there were no strong, comforting arms to hold her.
***
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Date: 2013-01-05 11:59 pm (UTC)Thanks for this chapter...
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Date: 2013-01-06 01:12 am (UTC)Only one chapter left now... :-/
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Date: 2013-01-08 11:02 am (UTC)I'm sorry, hun! I did say early on that it would be full of angst (and the title was a bit of a giveaway!)
" And only one chapter left? Should I expect another sequel, or will things get worked out in the next chapter?"
There's no way this can be resolved in a single chapter, babes. There shall definitely be a sequel - or two! :-P
So glad you liked it, and thanks for commenting! *huggles*