Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Whatever Happened to Gabe Sullivan?

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Whatever Happened to Gabe Sullivan?

    Prologue
    ”When is mom coming back?” the eight-year-old girl asked once more. He had heard her ask that question two-three times per day, for the past three weeks, and he had no idea what to answer her. What was he supposed to tell her? “Sorry kid, your mom’s in the looney bin and isn’t coming back. Wanna hear something funny? According to the doctors, she’s got a genetic disorder, so it may have been passed on to you.” Never in a million years would he ever tell her that. He couldn’t do that to her. What if the kids at her school found out that her mom was in a mental institution?
    He knew that kids can be cruel. Kids get bullied for having a silly name, their physical appearance, what they happen to wear and an endless list of other things. She already had problems with bullying, for being brainy. He shivered at the thought what the kids could do with the ammunition of a mentally ill mother. Then there was the fact that the disorder was said to be genetic. If he told the girl, she’d be living in constant fear of something that may never come to be. He feared that the fear would rob her from living a good life. Afraid to get close to anyone, as she’d consider herself a ticking timebomb.
    “Mom’s not coming back.” He finally managed to say.
    “But, where is she?” The girl asked.
    “I…I don’t know. She’s left us, sweetie.”
    “Is she dead?” Tears began running down her cheeks. He knew he had to set things right.
    “No… She’s just moved away.”
    “Can’t we go with her?”
    “No, where she’s gone, we can’t go with her. She wouldn’t want us to.”
    “She’s not interested in me?!” The girl screamed and ran off to her room, slamming the door behind her. He hesitated to go after her. If he gave her a chance to calm down, maybe he could figure out the right thing to say. After two hours, he finally decided to go in there and talk to her. He stepped up to her door and knocked. “Sweetie?” He asked, as he opened to door and saw her sitting by her desk, with a Daily Planet newspaper and writing something on a notepad.
    “What’s you doing?” He asked.
    “I’m a reporter. Mom told me she was proud of an article I wrote for the school paper. If I become a journalist, mom will come back. She must come back.”
    “Okay, sweetie. I’ll make us some pancakes.” He exited and closed the door behind him. He had no idea what to do. Beginning to figure that maybe he should let her be. He had never been too good at talking to her, so he didn’t know what to do know. All he could do was hoping that she’d calm down. Besides, all she did was write some stuff on a notepad. It’s not like she was doing something dangerous. No, an obsession with journalism, driven by mommy issues, would never get Chloe Sullivan in harm’s way.

  • #2
    Chapter 1
    The sun had already gone down, when Gabe Sullivan came home from the plant to his shabby Granville apartment. The once white wallpaper had begun to turn yellow and fall apart. He knew that he should probably fix that. Gabe went to the fridge, got himself a beer and sat down at the wobbly kitchen table. He picked up his copy of the Daily Planet and began flipping through it, until he got to the obituaries, where he saw the name “Henry James Olsen” listed as recently deceased. Below his name, he saw Chloe’s. He had heard that she’s gotten married, then divorced. Now her ex-husband was deceased. Gabe had never met the man. Of course, he hadn’t been invited to the wedding – even if he had been, he wasn’t sure that he would’ve gone. Instead, he had heard about it through Chloe’s cousin, Susie Tompkins – the one who’d Chloe was supposed to stay with, when that Gary Watts creep kidnapped her.
    Reading the obituary, Gabe had half a mind to call her. Maybe he should? He got up from the table and went over to the phone. Placing his hand on it, he hesitated. They hadn’t spoken since she had gone off to college and that had been four years ago. What was he going to say to her? Would she even answer the phone? There was too much bad blood between them. Could she have forgiven him by now? Had he forgiven her? After what felt like an eternity, he finally took his hand off the phone. No, it would be wrong of him to call her now. She would’ve already been upset enough. The last thing she needed was him calling and them getting into another fight.

    Comment


    • #3
      Chapter 2
      After leaving work, Gabe had headed down to the local bar, with a few of his co-workers. They got a booth, and each had a beer. As they were sitting there, one of them was reading a newspaper, when he suddenly raised him head and looked at Gabe.
      “Say, Sullivan. Don’t you have a kid named ‘Chloe’?” He asked.
      “Not that it’s any of your business…” Gabe answered with a tone of hostility, “Yes, I have a daughter named Chloe. What about it?”
      “She’s in the paper.” He replied and gave Gabe the newspaper. “I guess congratulations are in order.”
      Gabe looked at an article in the paper with the headline: “Former Reporter Marries Billionaire”. Below there was a photo of Chloe, next to Oliver Queen of Queen Industries. Gabe felt a bit hurt. Once more he hadn’t been included in a big moment of Chloe’s life. At least they had something of a tradition: him not being present at her wedding. He just hoped this one wouldn’t end in tragedy like the last one.
      “With such a son-in-law, maybe you could lend your friends a few bucks?” Another one of his co-workers joked.
      “Don’t be ridiculous.” Gabe replied and put down the paper. “I haven’t spoken to her in nearly six years. I doubt her husband would be willing to lend my any money.”
      “What happened between you two?” The co-worker who’d given him the newspaper asked.
      “It’s… complicated. I don’t wanna talk about it.” Gabe replied and ordered another beer. As much as he wished to call her, he knew it was a bad idea. After almost six years, now he’d suddenly call her, the minute she marries a rich guy. How could she interpret him calling as anything other than him wanting money? At least, he was going to save the photograph in the paper. All his photos of her were a good six-seven years old. He was just glad to have a photo of her like she looked now.

      Comment


      • #4
        Chapter 3
        That wasn’t the last time he’d come across something about her in the paper. Little over a year later, Gabe was sitting in his kitchen and reading the paper, when he came across and article announcing the birth of Chloe’s and Oliver’s son. Once more Gabe had an urge to call her. He couldn’t believe that he was a grandfather. Then he looked down at the kid’s name: “Jonathan Queen”. Probably named after Jonathan Kent. Gabe figured that he deserved that. Even if they hadn’t gotten into that fight, he had never been much of a parent. He had largely left Chloe to raise herself. Half the time he didn’t know where she was. Sometimes he had come home at night and found that Chloe wasn’t home. Looking back, he was surprised she hadn’t gotten pregnant before now. Of course, she had been out doing her ridiculous investigations, that these days didn’t seem as ridiculous.
        Back in the day, he had thought that Chloe’s “Wall of Weird” had been an absurd thing and had even considered to take her to a therapist. Even allowed her friend, that extremely needy girl – whatever her name was – move in, hoping it would get Chloe away from her “Wall of Weird” and Chloe playing journalist. An activity that would frequently put her in dangerous situations. Looking back, at how he had handled all the situations with Chloe, he could understand that she’d seen Jonathan Kent as more of a father figure. He just wished that hadn’t had that huge fight all those years ago.

        Comment


        • #5
          Chapter 4
          It had been towards the end of the summer after Chloe’s high school graduation. Gabe was sitting in their tiny apartment in Smallville, having coffee, when he received a phone call from Sheriff Adams. Granted, Chloe was 18 at the time, but she had finally decided to call him and inform about what had happened earlier in the day. Gabe had heard about a nuclear missile almost taking out the town. What he hadn’t known was the details, that Adams gave him. That Chloe had been taken hostage, Gabriel Duncan, the guy who fired the missile. That she had tried to confront Duncan, together with Clark Kent. During which Kent had been shot and almost died.
          When Chloe came home, Gabe was waiting for her by the door.
          “I heard what happened.” Gabe said in a strict tone.
          “Well, I managed to stop him.” Chloe replied and began heading over to her room, when he grabbed her arm.
          “Chloe, this has got to stop! Because of you, Clark Kent almost died.”
          “Don’t worry, he survived. Everyone did.” She was very nonchalant about the whole thing.
          “You were lucky. You’re taking too many risks. I’ve looked the other way for too long. I convinced myself that if I left you alone, you’d finally get over it. Instead, you keep on playing journalist!”
          “I have been a reporter for years!”
          “You edited a school newspaper! That’s not real journalism. I don’t know how many times the principal called me about the rubbish fantasies you keep writing about!”
          “They’re not fantasies!” Chloe objected.
          “They are! Meteor Freaks?! Witches?! Aliens?! All a bunch of nonsense. If you wanna write fiction, that’s fine. But, you’ve almost been killed… I don’t know how many times! Your behavior also got me fired from my job and almost killed. People have tried to kill us both, because you just couldn’t stop playing journalist!”
          “Stop it!!” Chloe screamed and grabbed a vase, that she threw at a wall, then turned to him. “You wanna talk about fantasies?” She asked. “How about the fantasy that mom abandoned me?! Yes, I know the truth. How could you let me thing that she didn’t want me!”
          “How could I?!! I was doing you a favor!”
          “A favor?! I’ve spent my whole life thinking she’d abandoned me and now I’ve learned that I may spend the rest of my life in an insane asylum!” Chloe screamed with a mix of tears and rage. “I don’t ever wanna see you again!” Chloe screamed, as she ran out of the apartment and slammed the door.
          “Fine by me!!!” Gabe yelled back and threw his coffee mug at the floor. That was the last time they had spoken. It was the last time they would speak for 13 years. If Gabe could’ve seen into the future, he would’ve run after her. He wished that he had, but he was too angry. She was too angry.

          Comment


          • #6
            Chapter 5
            It was on a Saturday that Gabe heard someone knock on his door. Gabe shut off the television and got up from the couch. He went over to the door and opened it. On the other side, was a thin brunette woman in her mid-30’s. He could see on her face that she had been crying, but tried to wipe the tears away, before coming to his door.
            “Uncle Gabe?” She asked. “Can I come in?”
            “Sure, Susie.” Gabe replied and showed her in. She sat down on his couch, while he made them some coffee.
            “Been a while, hasn’t it?” He asked.
            “What…? Oh, yes. Think it’s been a few years, since we last met.”
            “You gonna tell me what you’ve been crying about?” He handed her a cup of coffee, while she tried to wipe any remaining tears away and he sat down.
            “Oh, it’s nothing. I’ve just been to see Chloe.”
            “How is she?” Gabe asked, considering Susie as his only source on all things Chloe. Last he had heard, she had divorced Oliver Queen and married that kid Pete Ross. Apparently, Ross had even adopted her kid, whose last name they had changed. Gabe thought it was a good idea, considering her ex-husband’s activities.
            “She’s… She’s at Metropolis General…”
            “Nothing serious, I hope.” Gabe tried to laugh it away, but he could tell from Susie’s expression that something was very wrong.
            “She’s… dying, uncle Gabe.” Susie burst into tears, upon saying those words. Gabe took her in his arm, trying to comfort her, while trying to hold back his own tears and failing.
            “Dying…?” Gabe asked.
            “Cancer. She wants to see you.”

            Comment


            • #7
              Chapter 6
              Gabe rushed through the halls of Metropolis General, fearful that she’d be gone before he’d make it to her room. He couldn’t believe how much time he had wasted. Why couldn’t he have called her, after Henry James Olsen had died? Why couldn’t he have called her, when she married Oliver Queen? When her son was born? Now there was so little time left? They had lost so much time and for what? Some stupid argument, that he could barely remember the details of.
              Gabe finally made it to her room and walked in. Chloe was sitting in a chair, with an IV attached to her arm and with a bandana around her head, clearly trying to cover her baldness from her treatment. Gabe couldn’t believe how thin she was. Chloe finally turned to him and smiled as she saw him.
              “Hi, dad.” She told him. Gabe tried to answer but couldn’t utter a single word. Instead he fell to his knees and embraced her, while they both broke out into tears.
              “Sweetheart,” he said, “can you ever forgive me?”
              “Forgive you? I thought it was I who was going to ask for forgiveness.” She answered, while she wipes away the tears from his face. “I don’t know how many times I’ve wanted to call you over the years, but I never had the courage.”
              “Neither did I.” A six-year-old blond boy came into the room.
              “Mom? Who is this?” The boy asked.
              “This is your grandfather.” Chloe told the boy and looked up at Gabe. The boy went up to shake his grandfather’s hand, but Gabe gave him a hug instead, while he felt more tears coming. Behind him, Gabe could hear Pete Ross enter the room.
              “Mr. Sullivan.” Pete said to him and walked over to Chloe, kissing her.
              “Pete,” she told him, “Could you take Jon to the canteen? Me and dad need to talk a little.” Pete took the boy’s hand and they left the room. Chloe looked over at her dad, who took a seat. He tried to wipe the tears of his face.
              “Don’t worry, dad.” She told him and took his hand. “Everything will be fine. They caught it early. If the treatment fails, arrangements have been made.”
              “Can’t your ex-husband and his super friends do anything?” He asked.
              “They have… Like I said, arrangements have been made.” Chloe got up from the chair, but she was clearly weak. Gabe got up and helped her into a wheelchair.
              “What do you mean?” Gabe asked, as he pushed the wheelchair out of the room and through the hallway.
              “Ever heard of Red Tornado? Robotman?”
              “Sure, they’re robots.”
              “They’re more than that. They’re human minds stored in android bodies. If my treatment fails, Ollie and the others have instructions to transfer mine into one. I just wanted to give the treatment a chance first. The transfer is more of last resort. No point in doing something that drastic, for something that could’ve been cured with modern science.”
              “But,” Gabe stopped and kneeled down beside her, “will it still be you?”
              “Of course, it will. Of course, I would probably have to change my name, if it does happen.” Chloe paused for a moment. “But, let’s not worry about something that may never happen. Now, if you don’t mind, we have a lot of time to catch up on.” Gabe got back up and continued pushing the wheelchair. No longer would he waste time. From now on, he was going to be a part of Chloe’s life. His son-in-law’s and his grandson. Together they would be able to fight this thing. He was sure of it. He was just grateful, that she hadn’t died, before he could speak to her again.
              The End
              Creator Credits:
              Chloe Sullivan first appeared in the Smallville TV series episode “Pilot” and was created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar.
              Gabe Sullivan first appeared in the Smallville TV series episode “Pilot” (deleted scene) and was created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar.
              Jon Ross first appeared in Action Comics #457 and was created by Gerry Conway and Curt Swan.
              Pete Ross first appeared in Superboy #86 and was created by Leo Dorfman and George Papp.
              Susie Tompkins first appeared in Action Comics #59 and was created by Jerry Siegel and John Sikela.

              Comment


              • #8
                you did a nice job of filling in the gaps and explaining his absence on the Smallville show. on a meta level I knew it was because the actor couldn't stay on for the show forever... but his absence was noticeable in some ways.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally, I had planned for Chloe to die of cancer, with Gabe deciding to devote himself to his grandson. However, as I was writing the story, I realized that it couldn't work. The show had introduced many ways to heal someone (even bring back someone from beyond the grave): metahuman powers, magic, alien technology. Season 11 had Tess' mind uploaded into a computer. Trying to respect the show's continuity, I couldn't justify why none of these options would be open to one of Clark's best friends. Not without inventing some reason, for why they can't just do that, and then I'd end up with a long list of "here's why they can't do this. And here's why they can't do that" (with the added problem that Gabe's not part of the inner circle, so he'd be unaware of many of these options. Preventing him from suggesting most of them). The only workable alternative would've been to kill Chloe in a car accident or something (making her death sudden and unexpected). Magic and Kryptonian technology could bring her back, but both would come at the cost of another person's life (something that her friends (especially Clark, who've gone through it) feel that she wouldn't want), forcing them to allow her to stay dead. But, I wanted to have Gabe and Chloe be reunited, and try to mend their relationship. Not to mention, that would've taken this story away from being about a father's estranged relationship with his daughter (only coming back together, after one of them nearly dies), to more of a Clark-centric story. Dealing with Clark and the late Chloe's relationship, while Clark desperately tries to bring her back from the dead (possibly interacting with Chloe's spirit, who asks him to let her go).
                  Last edited by jon-el87; 03-07-2020, 03:55 AM.

                  Comment

                  Working...
                  X
                  😀
                  🥰
                  🤢
                  😎
                  😡
                  👍
                  👎