Fic: Start Over (16/17), Chloe/Oliver, PG
Fic: Start Over (16/17)
Author: me
Rating: PG
Spoilers: 6.11
Summary: What if Oliver had been a supporter of Senator Kent from the very beginning of his campaign?
Character/Pairing: Oliver/Chloe, Lois, Lionel, Martha
Disclaimer: I’m an idiot who keeps forgetting to do this so please don’t sue me. I understand that these characters aren’t mine.
Author’s Note: Thanks to miss_morrygan who made me the banner below. I really do love it and thanks so much again : ) So I have the epilogue ready to post and it'll probably be tomorrow that I do that but I'd love your opinion on this first, not that I'm going withhold the chapter if you don't.
Enjoy and feel free to comment.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chpater 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15
Walking through the Planet Chloe smiled at what Oliver was saying on the other end of the line. He really was a sweet man her boyfriend and it was nice to know that she could get the nice guy. Sure she had her doubts but they’d been together for a long time now. Though they’d had their fair share of disagreement, or arguments depending how you looked at it, they had made it through and she was finally starting to believe that.
Moving into the newsroom she replied, “Look you keep hunting down thirty three point one’s and I’ll do this meeting. Bart happens to be in the area if I need help and Clark wants to drop by and see Doctor Casselli too so I’ll be fine.”
“Fine but I’ll swing by after patrol just to make sure.”
“Ok, I’ll see you at your place soon,” Chloe replied hanging up, a smile lighting up her face. Heading over to her desk she stopped short when she saw someone already standing there, “Doctor Casselli. You’re early.”
“And you’re annoyingly persistent, Miss Sullivan. I’ve already told you that I don’t know anything.”
Scoffing Chloe crossed her arms before replying, “Don’t sell yourself short doctor. I happen to believe that you’re a very knowledgeable man. Now in the last few months over a dozen patients have been transferred out of the high security wing at Belle Reve. Your signature was on the paperwork.”
Doctor Casselli shrugged, “Patients are transferred in and out of mental facilities all the time.”
“Even the ones who exhibit unusual abilities?” Chloe asked, “Where were they transferred too? Is LuthorCorp involved? How does this link to the thirty three point ones that are popping up all over the place.”
Watching as his face twisted in anger she took a step back when he pulled a gun out and pointed it at her. Slowly raising her hands she pressed five on her speed dial, praying that Bart would pick up quickly.
“Ok,” she whispered with a shaky breath, “I’ll take that as a no comment.”
“I didn’t want any of this, but it was so much money,” Doctor Casselli whispered before going to pull the trigger. Squeezing her eyes shut she waited for the gun to go off. Feeling the air swoosh past her she let out a shaky breath before opening her eyes and seeing Doctor Casselli on the ground in front of her. Taking a deep breath she turned as she felt another whoosh.
Smiling at Clark she said, “You got here just in the nick of time.”
Watching as Clark surveyed the scene she prayed Bart was out of the building so Clark wouldn’t catch him. That wouldn’t be a good thing, especially since Clark didn’t know about the team.
“It wasn’t me,” Clark whispered continuing to look around.
“Well if it wasn’t you, then who -” Chloe went to ask just before taking off. Sighing she placed the phone to her ear as the end of Bart’s voicemail message come through. Waiting for the beep she said, “Hey, thanks for the save tonight. I’m heading home to Ollie’s so I’ll see you later and sorry about Clark chasing you.”
*********
Laughing Chloe stumbled off the elevator, pulling Oliver with her, as she moved. She wasn’t sure what was so funny anymore but whatever it was it had her giggly. Shrieking when Oliver picked her up from behind the laughing came back double when she realised that it was just Oliver, being Oliver. Hitting one of the arms around her she swayed slightly before turning to face him.
“You know we shouldn’t have had that much to drink.”
“It was three martinis,” Oliver replied, pulling her closer and attaching his lips to her neck, “Well four if you include the one on my shirt.”
Chloe shrugged as she moved her head to give him more access to her neck, “That wouldn’t of happened had you not being giving me, a minor, alcohol.”
“Please,” Oliver scoffed, “This is nothing compared to what happened in Star City on your birthday.”
“Yes and you wonder why my father doesn’t approve,” Chloe replied before kissing him soundly on the lips. Listening to him groan she opened her mouth to deepen the kiss. Running a hand up his side she still couldn’t believe how amazing it felt just to kiss him. Sure everything they did was amazing but kissing him felt so intimate without trying.
Pulling back he smiled, “I’ve forgotten what it’s like to have parent disapproval.”
Laughing Chloe shook her head, “Well I’m sure there is more to come, especially if you keep getting me drunk.”
“Hey, you’re almost twenty one, that’s close enough in my books,” Oliver replied.
“Well we shouldn’t do this martini lunch thing constantly, we might get caught and we wouldn’t want someone losing their liquor license.”
Oliver nodded, “From now on we’ll just drink at home til your twenty one.”
Taking a step back Chloe looked at him in surprise, “You think we’re going to be together this time next year.”
Shrugging Oliver replied, “Well I hope we will be. That’s enough, isn’t it?”
Laughing Chloe pulled him back to her, placing his lips onto her before pulling back slightly and whispering, “You are so getting lucky for that.”
Joining in with her laughter he pulled her back towards the bedroom as his phone rang out through the apartment. Sighing Oliver pulled it out of his pocket while kissing her gently and whispering, “I gotta take this.” Placing the phone to his ear he said, “Go ahead... Give me five minutes.
Hanging up he sighed again before looking at Chloe.
“Who was it this time?” Chloe asked.
“Bart, he has some more information,” Oliver replied wrapping his arms around her, “Give me an hour to get it and then I’m all yours.”
Shaking her head Chloe says, “I have to be at work in an hour and even if I didn’t I’d want to see what information Bart got before we went and did that.”
“See,” Oliver said, sweeping his arms out in a wide motion as he moved towards his Arrow room, “That’s one of the many reasons I love you.”
Puffing out a breath Chloe gave a little giggle as she watched him walk away. She still couldn’t believe that he had finally said it. Smiling she shook her head before picking up a pillow and throwing it at him. Watching as he turned around and caught it before it hit the ground she said, “I love you too, you goof,” before turning and heading to the bedroom to shower and change for work.
*********
Sitting perched on the roof Oliver waited for Bart to show up. He knew that the boy would show up on time so until then he was going to wait patiently for him on the roof so he wouldn’t be caught, especially since Lois was still lurking around. He couldn’t help the silly grin on his face though. When he had thrown those three little words out there he had been hoping she would slip them back to him on the sly but when Chloe had just come out and said them it warmed his heart. He couldn’t wait to go back home and tell her again. He wasn’t sure what he liked more, telling her or hearing it but either way it was pretty amazing.
“Hey, are we going to do this or are you going to lurk in the shadows all night?” he heard Bart yell for him, shaking Oliver from his thoughts.
Preparing his arrow he realised the cable and lowered himself to the ground saying, “I was just being careful. After all I’m not the one who can be gone in a second.”
********
Searching through the files on the computer that Chloe had left open for him he wasn’t surprised when the phone rang. The boys had been in town for a week now and one them always seemed to be calling for some reason or another. Reaching out he tucked it under his ear, resting on his shoulder, so he could continue his work without too much disruption.
“Queen here.”
“You know if I had more time I’d bag you out for answering the phone like that,” Chloe replied.
Sitting back in his chair he smiled, “What can I do for you beautiful?”
“Clark is probably on his way to you. He knows Bart is in town and that he’s been in constant contact with you.”
Feeling a tell tale swish of air behind him Oliver sighed and said, “Thanks for the warning. He’s here now so I better go.”
“I get off in an hour so I’ll be there soon.”
“Ok,” Oliver replied with a small nod, “Love you.”
“Love you too, call me if you hear anything from Bart,” she whispered before hanging up the phone.
Turning to Clark he sat back in his chair and waited for Clark to speak. He didn’t want to start, especially if all Clark wanted to do was bitch him out.
“Oliver, where’s Bart?” Clark asked, “I know he’s working for you.”
“Look, Clark, I know you’ve got your tighty whities in a bunch but Bart’s not working for me. He’s working with me, there’s a difference.”
“It’s not gonna matter when he ends up in jail, or worse,” Clark protested.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about Clark, and if you asked what was going on instead of jumping straight to accusations then you would know.”
“I know how much you hate Lex. That’s why you recruited Bart, so he can help with your little vendetta. That’s all I need to know.”
“Well, in case you’re wondering, we’re stopping thirty three point ones. You’d know that already if you’d stopped and asked.”
Seeing the confused look on Clark’s face he waited for the boy in front of him to respond, “You know about thirty three point one? Why didn’t you tell me what you were up to?”
Stepping around his desk Oliver shook his head, “You don’t check in every time you run off to save the world. Wait! I forgot for a moment, you don’t save the world, you wait for trouble to show up on your doorstep.”
“That’s not true,” Clark argued.
“Then why haven’t you done anything to stop thirty three point one?”
“I was busy with another problem.”
“What could be more urgent than Lex Luthor developing an army of super freaks?” Oliver asked, shocked at Clark’s response. “He’s starting war, he’s been at it for a while, and all you’re doing is sitting on the side lines.”
“What have you found out?”
“Not enough. Bart infiltrated a place last night that was supposed to house the mainframe but I haven’t heard from him since. I reconned an hour ago and the place had been stripped clean. The whole thing was a set up. Now we’re just trying to figure out where Lex could have put him.”
“Lex has Bart?” Clark asked, “Well we have to find him.”
“Like I said, my team’s already on it.”
“Your team?” Clark asked.
Oliver shook his head and motioned behind him to where the other two were standing. He watched as Clark turned before saying, “Of course we’re still little and Bart’s missing but we do ok, especially when Chloe helps us out.”
Smiling as the shock grew further on Clark’s face he smiled as Victor said, “Not everybody flies solo.”
“So how have you been Kent?” AC asked.
“Wait!” Clark cried turning to face Oliver, “Chloe’s a part of this?”
“Of course I am Clark,” Chloe replied as she got off the elevator. “Why wouldn’t I be? It’s an amazing cause.”
“But you’d be in danger.”
“No more than what you put her in,” Victor said as Chloe walked over and handed him a box.
“The computer chip you ordered finally came in,” Chloe replied before pulling out a bottle of water and handing it to AC, “You know if you stopped taking the bottles with you when you go swimming I wouldn’t have to keep buying you more.”
AC shrugged, “Sorry,” before grabbing Clark’s arm, “Come on we’ll give these two a minute while Vic and I fill you in.”
Smiling as the boys left Oliver turned and wrapped his arms around Chloe, “I thought you weren’t going to be in for a bit.”
“I wasn’t but then I figured this was more important and I snuck out under the guise of researching a story. I’ll make it up to them when Bart’s safe.” Chloe replied, kissing him gently.
Returning her kiss, he brought his hand up to her check, “I’m so glad that you’re here.”
“If you wanted me to come home all you had to do was ask,” Chloe replied with a smile.
“I didn’t even realise until you showed up,” Oliver replied, kissing her again, deeper this time. Pulling back he placed his forehead to hers before saying, “We should go join the others.”
“Yes, yes we should, in a minute,” Chloe replied, pulling his lips to hers once more. “Ok let’s go now,” grabbing his hand and pulling him to where the others were.
“We should check the LuthorCorp manifest,” Oliver said as they entered the room.
Smiling Chloe went to get started when AC said, “I’ll do it. You take a load off,” kissing her check as he went passed to sit at the computer.
“How long have you been working together?” Clark asked.
“I joined six months ago, Ollie and Bart were already doing their thing by then.” Victor replied.
“I joined about the same time as Vic,” Chloe said, taking a seat.
Sitting next to her Oliver said, “Bart and I started up about a year ago, though Victor was the first person I asked.”
“Wait what about your girlfriend Katherine?” Clark asked, “And why did you start up so long ago?’
“Dude don’t go there,” AC called from the computer.
“He’s right,” Oliver agreed with a nod, “And yes I wanted this up that long ago but it wasn’t until I met Bart that I got my first member.”
“And Katherine gave it her best shot but she couldn’t deal with all the hardware in me,” Victor whispered, “I was living in the gutter when I realised why am I feeling sorry for myself when I could be getting revenge on the man who made me this way. That’s were Oliver came in and I haven’t looked back since.”
“I’m sorry Victor,” Clark said.
Turning to AC Oliver asked, “Did he just say something nice about me?”
AC shrugged, “Maybe he’s starting to rust.”
“So how did AC get into all this?” Clark asked.
“I got into a little trouble sinking a whaler off the coast of Japan,” AC said with a shrug.
“A little trouble,” Chloe scoffed, “That’s what you’re going to go with? Ollie saved your butt from getting filleted.”
“I would have gotten out of it,” AC protested.
“Oh really? Before or after they packed you into a thousand little tin cans?” Oliver replied.
“Well at least he would have been dolphin safe,” Chloe said.
“Fish jokes,” AC replied with a shake of his head, “That’s all I ever get. So how’s Lois doing man? Is she alright?”
“You ask that every week and I don’t give you answer,” Chloe said, “If you want to know, go find out for yourself. I’m not letting Clark do your dirty work for you.”
“Why don’t we focus on finding Bart?” Oliver suggested.
Rolling her eyes Chloe stood and pushed AC out of the way so she could get to the computer, “From what I can there are only two facilities that could be thirty three point ones anywhere near here, one on the outskirts of Metropolis, near the docks, the other on the outskirts of Smallville. I think this one is the more viable option though,” she said bringing up the plans for the facility on the outskirts of Metropolis, “They got a shipment the other day. It looks like it could make be used to refine meteor rock. Also this bugs me,” she continued zooming into a room on the layout.
“What is that?” Oliver asked, stepping forward to see if he would get a closer look.
“If I had to guess, I’d say a running room.” Chloe replied with a shrug, “I won’t know more until Victor jacks into the system.”
Oliver nodded, kissing Chloe’s check, before turning to the boys and saying, “Well lets suit up then.”
**********
Chloe sat at her computer pulling up more schematics as the boys changed. Clark sat on the couch, staring at her, but she had decided to ignore that. She knew he had questions but she wasn’t going to encourage him to speak, that would only lead to the rant she knew was coming. Prolonging it wouldn’t mean it wasn’t coming but it would help her keep her temper in check. Clicking down the screens attached to the roof she loaded the schematics onto them before logging into the satellite system to see if she could get a live visual of the scene without Victor jacking into the system.
Smiling as she saw the red dots that represented the security guards she knew she was going to be able use the program. Cross referencing it with the symbols she had set up for the boys she smiled when she saw Bart’s symbol flash around on the screen. It looked as though he was running and while that was confusing she brought it up onto another screen so she could show the boys.
“Chloe, we need to talk about this,” Clark whispered, turning to face her.
“No we don’t Clark,” Chloe replied as she started to shift through the minimal information that they had on the place to make sure that she hadn’t missed anything.
“Look Chloe I don’t think you should be doing this.”
“And I don’t think that this is your choice to make Clark.” Chloe said with a sigh, “I’m less danger with team then what you put me in on a weekly basis so you can’t use that as an argument. Plus I’m an adult Clark I’m allowed to do this if I want to.”
“But Chloe you could get hurt.”
“Do you think of that before you thrust me into your alien drama or is this because you don’t think Oliver would keep me safe? Because he can, he is for that matter. It’s not like I’m out on the field. I’m their eye in sky. It’s ten times safer than the stuff I do for you.”
“If you really believed that then why haven’t you told me about this?”
“Cause Clark half time I see you you’ve got some kind of alien problem and the other half your complaining about Lana. There wasn’t really a time for me to tell you even if I wanted to.”
“I thought I was your best friend.”
“You are,” Chloe said with a nod, “But so Ollie and his been here for me, even when I didn’t know I needed him to be. That’s what I need from a best friend.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know,” Chloe said with a nod, “I know, now let’s just do the job at hand.”
*********
Watching the two guards closely he waited for the perfect moment as he loaded his bow. Raising it waited for them to take a step closer to each other before realising the arrow. Watching as gas came hissing out of the he swung of his ledge to the ground and moved forward towards the compound door, taking the arrow out as he went.
Clicking his com he said, “Green Arrow to Watchtower. We’re in position.”
“Ok, the access panel is near the east door. I’m assuming you can take care of it Vic.”
“Oh you know it,” Victor replied, pulling the USB cable from his pocket. Pulling in his eyes lost their colour as a serious of ones and zeroes took over. Oliver waited patiently, trying hard not to look him in the eye cause it freaked him out a little bit. “Accessing perimeter security... Perimeter neutralized.”
“Aquaman, you’re up,” Chloe said, watching them all on the screen.
Waiting for confirmation from AC Oliver ran through the plan once more through his mind. It was always good to be prepared as far as he was concerned but then again he had Clark with them and he didn’t know how it was going to go. Clark had a habit of running off at a moment’s notice.
“Aquaman has breached the perimeter and is proceeding to the target.” Chloe’s voice sounded through his ear.
Nodding to Victor he smiled as the steel door flew into the corridor, “You make one hell of a can opener,” he said, clapping a hand on his shoulder.
“You’d look good on a bag of green beans,” Victor replied with a smile.
“Boys, focus. You can pick on Arrow and his tights later Cyborg.” Chloe replied, “Now Cyborg you have your own mission so off you go. Arrow go lay the charges.” Watching as the boys left she smiled before talking to Clark, “Boy scout, you’re up. Let’s go find Impulse.”
“Just we’re clear I hate my code name,” Clark grumbled as he followed Chloe’s directions.
“Well Impulse didn’t get to choose his codename either. Maybe one day you’ll earn a new one.”
“Do you like your codename?”
“I like that Arrow gave it to me and I like what it represents,” Chloe replied with a smile, “Now if you take the door on your left you should find Impulse in there.”
Nodding Clark pushed through the door while Chloe watched from behind her desk. Watching as Bart’s icon stopped moving in circle’s to land on the ground with Clark’s. Smiling she brought up the com system and patched herself through to Oliver, Victor and AC, blocking out Clark. “Boy scout has found Impulse. How goes you’re mission Aquaman and Cyborg?”
“We’re almost done Tower. I only need two seconds. Download should be starting on your screen any second.” Victor replied.
“Ok then when you’re done get out, both of you. What about you Arrow?”
“I’m almost done this place is rigged to blow in five minutes,” Oliver replied.
Looking at her screen Chloe noticed that Oliver had paused while talking to her, “Why have you stopped Arrow?”
“Lex is around the corner,” Oliver whispered, “Hang on, I’ll have to get him to get everyone else out.”
“Well you haven’t got very long. You’ve still got to meet up with Boy Scout and Impulse.” Chloe reminded him.
She watched the screen, praying she could hear more than what Oliver was saying. Knowing she couldn’t though she sat back and waited for him to tell her he was ok. Listening as the other boys confirmed where they were in the building she smiled when she heard Oliver tell her he had met up with Clark and Bart.
“Ok boys, get out of there,” Chloe said in their ears, “The place is going to blow in sixty seconds and counting.”
“We’re almost out tower,” Oliver replied.
Noticing Clark’s icon had stopped she asked, “What are you doing Boy Scout?”
“Is everybody out?” Clark questioned.
“Yes Clark,” Chloe sighed, “Do you really think I would let the building blow if it wasn’t empty?”
“Ok,” Clark whispered before he started to move again.
Sighing in relief Chloe turned so she was watching the screen as the information Victor had grabbed downloaded onto one. Setting a search she ran the parts of that had already download for locations of thirty three point ones before turning and watching the facility exploded on the screen. Smiling she pressed her com and said, “Ok boys, come home.”
********************
Walking in off the balcony he smiled when he saw Chloe looking at the computer. She always seemed to be working when got back from being the Green Arrow. Flipping back his hood he headed over to her just as she brought a hand up to her check to swipe at something. Looking at what was on the computer his eyebrow crinkled in confusion when he saw a map.
“Are you ok?” Oliver asked reaching out a hand to graze her shoulder.
Wiping face and sniffing she turned to face him before pointing to the map, “Do you know what that means?”
“It’s a map of the world.” Oliver replied, still confused, “I don’t know why this matters.”
“Cause each one of the red dots is a thirty three point one.”
Looking at the dots he shook his head, “So, there’s not that many of them.”
Sighing Chloe wiped away another tear, “Ollie, there has to be at least a hundred of them and we’re not even a quarter of the way through file. By tomorrow there will probably a thousand.”
“Ok, but I don’t understand why you’re having this reaction.”
“Cause you have to leave. That means we have to break up.”
“No it doesn’t!” Oliver replied immediately, not wanting her to get the wrong idea, “We’ll make long distance work.”
“No, we can’t. I can’t.” Chloe replied, trying to keep her emotions in check, “You’ll lose your focus and I can’t let you do that. The world depends on you.”
“Chloe,” Oliver sighed, “You don’t have to do this. I love you and we can make this work.”
Chloe shook her head, backing towards the elevators, “I don’t think we can and you can’t put the world at risk for it.”
“The world’s at risk if we’re not together.”
“No it’s not, you can go be the hero you need to be and I get to go back to being me, low levelled reporter no one really thinks about.” Chloe replied with a shrug, wiping at more tears, “This is way it’s supposed to be. You’re the hero in this story.”
“You’re my sidekick. The hero always needs a sidekick.”
Chloe shook her head, “No not this time.”
“Chloe, if you didn’t care why are crying so, huh?” Oliver whispered grabbing her arms and pulling her to him. “I love you. Please don’t do this.”
Reaching up she kissed him gently, slowly, one last time before pulling away, “Its better this way. I love you too but it needs to be over and its time we stop putting ourselves first.”
Jumping onto the elevator she was barely able to contain her tears as she saw Oliver fallen face. Placing her face in her hands she gave a sob before pulling out her phone and sending a blurry eyed text to Clark to ensure he’d came to get her.
Chapter 17
Author: me
Rating: PG
Spoilers: 6.11
Summary: What if Oliver had been a supporter of Senator Kent from the very beginning of his campaign?
Character/Pairing: Oliver/Chloe, Lois, Lionel, Martha
Disclaimer: I’m an idiot who keeps forgetting to do this so please don’t sue me. I understand that these characters aren’t mine.
Author’s Note: Thanks to miss_morrygan who made me the banner below. I really do love it and thanks so much again : ) So I have the epilogue ready to post and it'll probably be tomorrow that I do that but I'd love your opinion on this first, not that I'm going withhold the chapter if you don't.
Enjoy and feel free to comment.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chpater 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15
Walking through the Planet Chloe smiled at what Oliver was saying on the other end of the line. He really was a sweet man her boyfriend and it was nice to know that she could get the nice guy. Sure she had her doubts but they’d been together for a long time now. Though they’d had their fair share of disagreement, or arguments depending how you looked at it, they had made it through and she was finally starting to believe that.
Moving into the newsroom she replied, “Look you keep hunting down thirty three point one’s and I’ll do this meeting. Bart happens to be in the area if I need help and Clark wants to drop by and see Doctor Casselli too so I’ll be fine.”
“Fine but I’ll swing by after patrol just to make sure.”
“Ok, I’ll see you at your place soon,” Chloe replied hanging up, a smile lighting up her face. Heading over to her desk she stopped short when she saw someone already standing there, “Doctor Casselli. You’re early.”
“And you’re annoyingly persistent, Miss Sullivan. I’ve already told you that I don’t know anything.”
Scoffing Chloe crossed her arms before replying, “Don’t sell yourself short doctor. I happen to believe that you’re a very knowledgeable man. Now in the last few months over a dozen patients have been transferred out of the high security wing at Belle Reve. Your signature was on the paperwork.”
Doctor Casselli shrugged, “Patients are transferred in and out of mental facilities all the time.”
“Even the ones who exhibit unusual abilities?” Chloe asked, “Where were they transferred too? Is LuthorCorp involved? How does this link to the thirty three point ones that are popping up all over the place.”
Watching as his face twisted in anger she took a step back when he pulled a gun out and pointed it at her. Slowly raising her hands she pressed five on her speed dial, praying that Bart would pick up quickly.
“Ok,” she whispered with a shaky breath, “I’ll take that as a no comment.”
“I didn’t want any of this, but it was so much money,” Doctor Casselli whispered before going to pull the trigger. Squeezing her eyes shut she waited for the gun to go off. Feeling the air swoosh past her she let out a shaky breath before opening her eyes and seeing Doctor Casselli on the ground in front of her. Taking a deep breath she turned as she felt another whoosh.
Smiling at Clark she said, “You got here just in the nick of time.”
Watching as Clark surveyed the scene she prayed Bart was out of the building so Clark wouldn’t catch him. That wouldn’t be a good thing, especially since Clark didn’t know about the team.
“It wasn’t me,” Clark whispered continuing to look around.
“Well if it wasn’t you, then who -” Chloe went to ask just before taking off. Sighing she placed the phone to her ear as the end of Bart’s voicemail message come through. Waiting for the beep she said, “Hey, thanks for the save tonight. I’m heading home to Ollie’s so I’ll see you later and sorry about Clark chasing you.”
*********
Laughing Chloe stumbled off the elevator, pulling Oliver with her, as she moved. She wasn’t sure what was so funny anymore but whatever it was it had her giggly. Shrieking when Oliver picked her up from behind the laughing came back double when she realised that it was just Oliver, being Oliver. Hitting one of the arms around her she swayed slightly before turning to face him.
“You know we shouldn’t have had that much to drink.”
“It was three martinis,” Oliver replied, pulling her closer and attaching his lips to her neck, “Well four if you include the one on my shirt.”
Chloe shrugged as she moved her head to give him more access to her neck, “That wouldn’t of happened had you not being giving me, a minor, alcohol.”
“Please,” Oliver scoffed, “This is nothing compared to what happened in Star City on your birthday.”
“Yes and you wonder why my father doesn’t approve,” Chloe replied before kissing him soundly on the lips. Listening to him groan she opened her mouth to deepen the kiss. Running a hand up his side she still couldn’t believe how amazing it felt just to kiss him. Sure everything they did was amazing but kissing him felt so intimate without trying.
Pulling back he smiled, “I’ve forgotten what it’s like to have parent disapproval.”
Laughing Chloe shook her head, “Well I’m sure there is more to come, especially if you keep getting me drunk.”
“Hey, you’re almost twenty one, that’s close enough in my books,” Oliver replied.
“Well we shouldn’t do this martini lunch thing constantly, we might get caught and we wouldn’t want someone losing their liquor license.”
Oliver nodded, “From now on we’ll just drink at home til your twenty one.”
Taking a step back Chloe looked at him in surprise, “You think we’re going to be together this time next year.”
Shrugging Oliver replied, “Well I hope we will be. That’s enough, isn’t it?”
Laughing Chloe pulled him back to her, placing his lips onto her before pulling back slightly and whispering, “You are so getting lucky for that.”
Joining in with her laughter he pulled her back towards the bedroom as his phone rang out through the apartment. Sighing Oliver pulled it out of his pocket while kissing her gently and whispering, “I gotta take this.” Placing the phone to his ear he said, “Go ahead... Give me five minutes.
Hanging up he sighed again before looking at Chloe.
“Who was it this time?” Chloe asked.
“Bart, he has some more information,” Oliver replied wrapping his arms around her, “Give me an hour to get it and then I’m all yours.”
Shaking her head Chloe says, “I have to be at work in an hour and even if I didn’t I’d want to see what information Bart got before we went and did that.”
“See,” Oliver said, sweeping his arms out in a wide motion as he moved towards his Arrow room, “That’s one of the many reasons I love you.”
Puffing out a breath Chloe gave a little giggle as she watched him walk away. She still couldn’t believe that he had finally said it. Smiling she shook her head before picking up a pillow and throwing it at him. Watching as he turned around and caught it before it hit the ground she said, “I love you too, you goof,” before turning and heading to the bedroom to shower and change for work.
*********
Sitting perched on the roof Oliver waited for Bart to show up. He knew that the boy would show up on time so until then he was going to wait patiently for him on the roof so he wouldn’t be caught, especially since Lois was still lurking around. He couldn’t help the silly grin on his face though. When he had thrown those three little words out there he had been hoping she would slip them back to him on the sly but when Chloe had just come out and said them it warmed his heart. He couldn’t wait to go back home and tell her again. He wasn’t sure what he liked more, telling her or hearing it but either way it was pretty amazing.
“Hey, are we going to do this or are you going to lurk in the shadows all night?” he heard Bart yell for him, shaking Oliver from his thoughts.
Preparing his arrow he realised the cable and lowered himself to the ground saying, “I was just being careful. After all I’m not the one who can be gone in a second.”
********
Searching through the files on the computer that Chloe had left open for him he wasn’t surprised when the phone rang. The boys had been in town for a week now and one them always seemed to be calling for some reason or another. Reaching out he tucked it under his ear, resting on his shoulder, so he could continue his work without too much disruption.
“Queen here.”
“You know if I had more time I’d bag you out for answering the phone like that,” Chloe replied.
Sitting back in his chair he smiled, “What can I do for you beautiful?”
“Clark is probably on his way to you. He knows Bart is in town and that he’s been in constant contact with you.”
Feeling a tell tale swish of air behind him Oliver sighed and said, “Thanks for the warning. He’s here now so I better go.”
“I get off in an hour so I’ll be there soon.”
“Ok,” Oliver replied with a small nod, “Love you.”
“Love you too, call me if you hear anything from Bart,” she whispered before hanging up the phone.
Turning to Clark he sat back in his chair and waited for Clark to speak. He didn’t want to start, especially if all Clark wanted to do was bitch him out.
“Oliver, where’s Bart?” Clark asked, “I know he’s working for you.”
“Look, Clark, I know you’ve got your tighty whities in a bunch but Bart’s not working for me. He’s working with me, there’s a difference.”
“It’s not gonna matter when he ends up in jail, or worse,” Clark protested.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about Clark, and if you asked what was going on instead of jumping straight to accusations then you would know.”
“I know how much you hate Lex. That’s why you recruited Bart, so he can help with your little vendetta. That’s all I need to know.”
“Well, in case you’re wondering, we’re stopping thirty three point ones. You’d know that already if you’d stopped and asked.”
Seeing the confused look on Clark’s face he waited for the boy in front of him to respond, “You know about thirty three point one? Why didn’t you tell me what you were up to?”
Stepping around his desk Oliver shook his head, “You don’t check in every time you run off to save the world. Wait! I forgot for a moment, you don’t save the world, you wait for trouble to show up on your doorstep.”
“That’s not true,” Clark argued.
“Then why haven’t you done anything to stop thirty three point one?”
“I was busy with another problem.”
“What could be more urgent than Lex Luthor developing an army of super freaks?” Oliver asked, shocked at Clark’s response. “He’s starting war, he’s been at it for a while, and all you’re doing is sitting on the side lines.”
“What have you found out?”
“Not enough. Bart infiltrated a place last night that was supposed to house the mainframe but I haven’t heard from him since. I reconned an hour ago and the place had been stripped clean. The whole thing was a set up. Now we’re just trying to figure out where Lex could have put him.”
“Lex has Bart?” Clark asked, “Well we have to find him.”
“Like I said, my team’s already on it.”
“Your team?” Clark asked.
Oliver shook his head and motioned behind him to where the other two were standing. He watched as Clark turned before saying, “Of course we’re still little and Bart’s missing but we do ok, especially when Chloe helps us out.”
Smiling as the shock grew further on Clark’s face he smiled as Victor said, “Not everybody flies solo.”
“So how have you been Kent?” AC asked.
“Wait!” Clark cried turning to face Oliver, “Chloe’s a part of this?”
“Of course I am Clark,” Chloe replied as she got off the elevator. “Why wouldn’t I be? It’s an amazing cause.”
“But you’d be in danger.”
“No more than what you put her in,” Victor said as Chloe walked over and handed him a box.
“The computer chip you ordered finally came in,” Chloe replied before pulling out a bottle of water and handing it to AC, “You know if you stopped taking the bottles with you when you go swimming I wouldn’t have to keep buying you more.”
AC shrugged, “Sorry,” before grabbing Clark’s arm, “Come on we’ll give these two a minute while Vic and I fill you in.”
Smiling as the boys left Oliver turned and wrapped his arms around Chloe, “I thought you weren’t going to be in for a bit.”
“I wasn’t but then I figured this was more important and I snuck out under the guise of researching a story. I’ll make it up to them when Bart’s safe.” Chloe replied, kissing him gently.
Returning her kiss, he brought his hand up to her check, “I’m so glad that you’re here.”
“If you wanted me to come home all you had to do was ask,” Chloe replied with a smile.
“I didn’t even realise until you showed up,” Oliver replied, kissing her again, deeper this time. Pulling back he placed his forehead to hers before saying, “We should go join the others.”
“Yes, yes we should, in a minute,” Chloe replied, pulling his lips to hers once more. “Ok let’s go now,” grabbing his hand and pulling him to where the others were.
“We should check the LuthorCorp manifest,” Oliver said as they entered the room.
Smiling Chloe went to get started when AC said, “I’ll do it. You take a load off,” kissing her check as he went passed to sit at the computer.
“How long have you been working together?” Clark asked.
“I joined six months ago, Ollie and Bart were already doing their thing by then.” Victor replied.
“I joined about the same time as Vic,” Chloe said, taking a seat.
Sitting next to her Oliver said, “Bart and I started up about a year ago, though Victor was the first person I asked.”
“Wait what about your girlfriend Katherine?” Clark asked, “And why did you start up so long ago?’
“Dude don’t go there,” AC called from the computer.
“He’s right,” Oliver agreed with a nod, “And yes I wanted this up that long ago but it wasn’t until I met Bart that I got my first member.”
“And Katherine gave it her best shot but she couldn’t deal with all the hardware in me,” Victor whispered, “I was living in the gutter when I realised why am I feeling sorry for myself when I could be getting revenge on the man who made me this way. That’s were Oliver came in and I haven’t looked back since.”
“I’m sorry Victor,” Clark said.
Turning to AC Oliver asked, “Did he just say something nice about me?”
AC shrugged, “Maybe he’s starting to rust.”
“So how did AC get into all this?” Clark asked.
“I got into a little trouble sinking a whaler off the coast of Japan,” AC said with a shrug.
“A little trouble,” Chloe scoffed, “That’s what you’re going to go with? Ollie saved your butt from getting filleted.”
“I would have gotten out of it,” AC protested.
“Oh really? Before or after they packed you into a thousand little tin cans?” Oliver replied.
“Well at least he would have been dolphin safe,” Chloe said.
“Fish jokes,” AC replied with a shake of his head, “That’s all I ever get. So how’s Lois doing man? Is she alright?”
“You ask that every week and I don’t give you answer,” Chloe said, “If you want to know, go find out for yourself. I’m not letting Clark do your dirty work for you.”
“Why don’t we focus on finding Bart?” Oliver suggested.
Rolling her eyes Chloe stood and pushed AC out of the way so she could get to the computer, “From what I can there are only two facilities that could be thirty three point ones anywhere near here, one on the outskirts of Metropolis, near the docks, the other on the outskirts of Smallville. I think this one is the more viable option though,” she said bringing up the plans for the facility on the outskirts of Metropolis, “They got a shipment the other day. It looks like it could make be used to refine meteor rock. Also this bugs me,” she continued zooming into a room on the layout.
“What is that?” Oliver asked, stepping forward to see if he would get a closer look.
“If I had to guess, I’d say a running room.” Chloe replied with a shrug, “I won’t know more until Victor jacks into the system.”
Oliver nodded, kissing Chloe’s check, before turning to the boys and saying, “Well lets suit up then.”
**********
Chloe sat at her computer pulling up more schematics as the boys changed. Clark sat on the couch, staring at her, but she had decided to ignore that. She knew he had questions but she wasn’t going to encourage him to speak, that would only lead to the rant she knew was coming. Prolonging it wouldn’t mean it wasn’t coming but it would help her keep her temper in check. Clicking down the screens attached to the roof she loaded the schematics onto them before logging into the satellite system to see if she could get a live visual of the scene without Victor jacking into the system.
Smiling as she saw the red dots that represented the security guards she knew she was going to be able use the program. Cross referencing it with the symbols she had set up for the boys she smiled when she saw Bart’s symbol flash around on the screen. It looked as though he was running and while that was confusing she brought it up onto another screen so she could show the boys.
“Chloe, we need to talk about this,” Clark whispered, turning to face her.
“No we don’t Clark,” Chloe replied as she started to shift through the minimal information that they had on the place to make sure that she hadn’t missed anything.
“Look Chloe I don’t think you should be doing this.”
“And I don’t think that this is your choice to make Clark.” Chloe said with a sigh, “I’m less danger with team then what you put me in on a weekly basis so you can’t use that as an argument. Plus I’m an adult Clark I’m allowed to do this if I want to.”
“But Chloe you could get hurt.”
“Do you think of that before you thrust me into your alien drama or is this because you don’t think Oliver would keep me safe? Because he can, he is for that matter. It’s not like I’m out on the field. I’m their eye in sky. It’s ten times safer than the stuff I do for you.”
“If you really believed that then why haven’t you told me about this?”
“Cause Clark half time I see you you’ve got some kind of alien problem and the other half your complaining about Lana. There wasn’t really a time for me to tell you even if I wanted to.”
“I thought I was your best friend.”
“You are,” Chloe said with a nod, “But so Ollie and his been here for me, even when I didn’t know I needed him to be. That’s what I need from a best friend.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know,” Chloe said with a nod, “I know, now let’s just do the job at hand.”
*********
Watching the two guards closely he waited for the perfect moment as he loaded his bow. Raising it waited for them to take a step closer to each other before realising the arrow. Watching as gas came hissing out of the he swung of his ledge to the ground and moved forward towards the compound door, taking the arrow out as he went.
Clicking his com he said, “Green Arrow to Watchtower. We’re in position.”
“Ok, the access panel is near the east door. I’m assuming you can take care of it Vic.”
“Oh you know it,” Victor replied, pulling the USB cable from his pocket. Pulling in his eyes lost their colour as a serious of ones and zeroes took over. Oliver waited patiently, trying hard not to look him in the eye cause it freaked him out a little bit. “Accessing perimeter security... Perimeter neutralized.”
“Aquaman, you’re up,” Chloe said, watching them all on the screen.
Waiting for confirmation from AC Oliver ran through the plan once more through his mind. It was always good to be prepared as far as he was concerned but then again he had Clark with them and he didn’t know how it was going to go. Clark had a habit of running off at a moment’s notice.
“Aquaman has breached the perimeter and is proceeding to the target.” Chloe’s voice sounded through his ear.
Nodding to Victor he smiled as the steel door flew into the corridor, “You make one hell of a can opener,” he said, clapping a hand on his shoulder.
“You’d look good on a bag of green beans,” Victor replied with a smile.
“Boys, focus. You can pick on Arrow and his tights later Cyborg.” Chloe replied, “Now Cyborg you have your own mission so off you go. Arrow go lay the charges.” Watching as the boys left she smiled before talking to Clark, “Boy scout, you’re up. Let’s go find Impulse.”
“Just we’re clear I hate my code name,” Clark grumbled as he followed Chloe’s directions.
“Well Impulse didn’t get to choose his codename either. Maybe one day you’ll earn a new one.”
“Do you like your codename?”
“I like that Arrow gave it to me and I like what it represents,” Chloe replied with a smile, “Now if you take the door on your left you should find Impulse in there.”
Nodding Clark pushed through the door while Chloe watched from behind her desk. Watching as Bart’s icon stopped moving in circle’s to land on the ground with Clark’s. Smiling she brought up the com system and patched herself through to Oliver, Victor and AC, blocking out Clark. “Boy scout has found Impulse. How goes you’re mission Aquaman and Cyborg?”
“We’re almost done Tower. I only need two seconds. Download should be starting on your screen any second.” Victor replied.
“Ok then when you’re done get out, both of you. What about you Arrow?”
“I’m almost done this place is rigged to blow in five minutes,” Oliver replied.
Looking at her screen Chloe noticed that Oliver had paused while talking to her, “Why have you stopped Arrow?”
“Lex is around the corner,” Oliver whispered, “Hang on, I’ll have to get him to get everyone else out.”
“Well you haven’t got very long. You’ve still got to meet up with Boy Scout and Impulse.” Chloe reminded him.
She watched the screen, praying she could hear more than what Oliver was saying. Knowing she couldn’t though she sat back and waited for him to tell her he was ok. Listening as the other boys confirmed where they were in the building she smiled when she heard Oliver tell her he had met up with Clark and Bart.
“Ok boys, get out of there,” Chloe said in their ears, “The place is going to blow in sixty seconds and counting.”
“We’re almost out tower,” Oliver replied.
Noticing Clark’s icon had stopped she asked, “What are you doing Boy Scout?”
“Is everybody out?” Clark questioned.
“Yes Clark,” Chloe sighed, “Do you really think I would let the building blow if it wasn’t empty?”
“Ok,” Clark whispered before he started to move again.
Sighing in relief Chloe turned so she was watching the screen as the information Victor had grabbed downloaded onto one. Setting a search she ran the parts of that had already download for locations of thirty three point ones before turning and watching the facility exploded on the screen. Smiling she pressed her com and said, “Ok boys, come home.”
********************
Walking in off the balcony he smiled when he saw Chloe looking at the computer. She always seemed to be working when got back from being the Green Arrow. Flipping back his hood he headed over to her just as she brought a hand up to her check to swipe at something. Looking at what was on the computer his eyebrow crinkled in confusion when he saw a map.
“Are you ok?” Oliver asked reaching out a hand to graze her shoulder.
Wiping face and sniffing she turned to face him before pointing to the map, “Do you know what that means?”
“It’s a map of the world.” Oliver replied, still confused, “I don’t know why this matters.”
“Cause each one of the red dots is a thirty three point one.”
Looking at the dots he shook his head, “So, there’s not that many of them.”
Sighing Chloe wiped away another tear, “Ollie, there has to be at least a hundred of them and we’re not even a quarter of the way through file. By tomorrow there will probably a thousand.”
“Ok, but I don’t understand why you’re having this reaction.”
“Cause you have to leave. That means we have to break up.”
“No it doesn’t!” Oliver replied immediately, not wanting her to get the wrong idea, “We’ll make long distance work.”
“No, we can’t. I can’t.” Chloe replied, trying to keep her emotions in check, “You’ll lose your focus and I can’t let you do that. The world depends on you.”
“Chloe,” Oliver sighed, “You don’t have to do this. I love you and we can make this work.”
Chloe shook her head, backing towards the elevators, “I don’t think we can and you can’t put the world at risk for it.”
“The world’s at risk if we’re not together.”
“No it’s not, you can go be the hero you need to be and I get to go back to being me, low levelled reporter no one really thinks about.” Chloe replied with a shrug, wiping at more tears, “This is way it’s supposed to be. You’re the hero in this story.”
“You’re my sidekick. The hero always needs a sidekick.”
Chloe shook her head, “No not this time.”
“Chloe, if you didn’t care why are crying so, huh?” Oliver whispered grabbing her arms and pulling her to him. “I love you. Please don’t do this.”
Reaching up she kissed him gently, slowly, one last time before pulling away, “Its better this way. I love you too but it needs to be over and its time we stop putting ourselves first.”
Jumping onto the elevator she was barely able to contain her tears as she saw Oliver fallen face. Placing her face in her hands she gave a sob before pulling out her phone and sending a blurry eyed text to Clark to ensure he’d came to get her.
Chapter 17