Lockdown with chloeas

[have_no_mercy]

Tess is tired of running. She's tired of hiding, tired of acting like the scared little girl she shouldn't be anymore. But most of all, Tess is bored.

Luckily, all that hiding and boredom has led to a plan: If she can take out the Castle's systems, then maybe she can get its residents out in the open long enough to take them out. At this point, it's worth the risk, because Tess will no longer allow herself to be hunted down and exterminated like a pest. If she's going out, she's going out fighting.

Of course, in order to put her brilliant plan into action, she needs a database. A very powerful database with very sophisticated computer equipment. Any of her Luthorcorp labs are out of the question; no doubt Checkmate is watching them and she'd never make it inside alive. But there is one place Tess can think of that no one would ever expect her to be at. So that's precisely where she goes.

Getting inside Watchtower is easy. As soon as she'd figured out Chloe was behind it, setting up a DNA cloak was child's play and it's one of the gadgets Tess actually took with her. Accessing the system puts her meager hacking skills to good use, but something catches her eye before she really starts to put her plan into action. A file on the Kandorians.

"Not on my watch," Tess mutters and then sets about purging that particular file from the system.

Comments

[have_no_mercy]

"No, I'll be fine." Tess being stubborn? Of course.

She nods to the paper still lying on the table. "That's the location of a remote server that houses a database of computer viruses. I was going to let it loose on the Castle's servers."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe looks from Tess to the table and picks up the paper, looking at it for a second, "take down their security, I guess it worked well enough last time." She agrees, since she didn't end up with a bullet to the head, "then what?"

[have_no_mercy]

Tess half smiles at that, wondering if Chloe even knows it was her who told Oliver how to disable the system last time.

"This will take out everything, not just security." She hesitates for a moment. "I doubt you want to know what comes next."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"I'm not Clark, Tess," Chloe points out, leaning back against her chair, "I have a pretty good idea what you plan on doing to the head of the organization and while that's not always the answer, I rather not take chances when it comes to the security of my family."

[have_no_mercy]

"Having a pretty good idea and knowing the facts are two different things," Tess replies. "So let's just say I'd rather you not know."

She wipes a hand across her forehead. "Is it getting warmer in here or am I just hot flashing?"

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"The system shut the AC down when security was breached," she takes a deep breath and looks over at the screen, "we have about ten minutes before it cuts down air supply completely, I'm hoping Ollie and the others will get here before then."

[have_no_mercy]

"Great." Tess can't help but roll her eyes, because it's just the most perfect situation ever.

"That's your grand plan? Wait for Oliver to save you?"

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"What part of no way out don't you understand, Tess? I built the security system myself, I know how it works." Chloe gives her a look then purses her lips together, "they'll be here," they always were.

[have_no_mercy]

"Next time maybe you'll even do a good job of it."

Another sigh and Tess pushes her hair out of her face. "Death by asphyxiation. Well, I can't say I ever saw that one coming."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe sighs and rubs a hand over her face, "you're not going to die, Tess, maybe your life would be easier if you had faith on people every now and then."

[have_no_mercy]

"You said it yourself, we have less than ten minutes and in case you haven't noticed? Oliver kind of sucks with computers."

Tess empties her water bottle and leans her head back. "No one's ever really let you down, have they?"

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"But one of our team members is on with them," literally, "Ollie will contact him."

And then Chloe has to smirk at that, "you really don't know much about me, do you, Tess? I've been let down plenty, but some people are worth trusting."

[have_no_mercy]

"Well, we're down to seven minutes now, so they'd better hurry their asses up."

She huffs out a soft laugh. "I mean really let down. I can tell. No one has. But believe me, there comes a time when not trusting anyone is simple self-preservation."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"I can assure you I have been really let down before," Chloe tells her, looking blankly as the paper she still had in her hands, "but after everything that happened to Ollie and losing him then getting him back, it made me realize that it's not worth to project other people's mistakes on people who are trying so hard to break through your walls."

[have_no_mercy]

"You have no idea what I'm talking about," Tess says softly. "And you know what? I hope you never do."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"What are you talking about?" Chloe asks quietly, looking at Tess out of the corner of her eyes.

[have_no_mercy]

"It doesn't matter." Tess shakes her head. "And if we're going to try and conserve some air, we should stop talking. Breathe deeply and slowly."