Spoilers: None that I can think of.
Summary: Chloe puts that first aid training to good use and takes care of her men.
Author Note: All comments and reviews are appreciated. Please feed the author!
Based on prompt by Jo_Winchester - "Nurse Chloe to Oliver/The League"
Bart
"I'm not sure who I should be more mad at - Oliver for running you ragged or you for listening to him." Chloe threw a bottle of water and a bag of chips to Bart
"All for the greater good 'licious!". He was currently laying on the couch in the Watchtower enjoying the attention. He knew that Chloe would look after him no matter how much she would want to lecture him. Bart was one of her boys and she would do anything for them. That, and he was sure his flirting always took the edge off her anger.
Chloe approached Bart with her first aid bag and a large bowl of warm water. "You know better Bart. You should look after yourself, especially your feet." She knelt in front of him and began arranging her supplies.
"I tried, but things have been crazy."
Chloe gently removed his trainers and slowly peeled off his socks. He hissed in pain as the material came away, parts of them already soaked with blood and serous fluid.
"Jesus Bart! How did you even make it here?" Chloe looked at the blistered feet in front of her. The wounds were raw, some of them had progressed as far as bloody wounds.
"Believe me, it wasn't easy."
Chloe placed his feet in the bowl and began to gently wash his feet, trying not to wince in sympathy as he jerked his feet in discomfort. "That's it, I'm kicking Oliver's ass." She said as he cried out.
"I would have done it anyway." He conceded.
"Doesn't mean I have to like it." She gently dried his feet before starting to apply some antiseptic cream. "And you're going to have to get these checked out by Emil tomorrow."
"I can't. I need to be in Keystone, I've been working with the guys too much and I've let things slip back there."
"A day isn't going to hurt Bart, you won't be at your best until you have let your feet start to heal." She placed some non-adhesive dressings over the sores and began to bandage them. "You're staying here tonight. I've converted one of the rooms into a bedroom and you are going to rest these feet."
"A bedroom? Finally admitting that you work yourself too hard?"
"Never." She began to zip up her first aid kit. "But I am serious about you resting Bart. Without your speed you're human just like the rest of us, and I don't want anything happening to you. Too many LuthorCorp employees know your face."
"Does that mean you're my personal nurse for the evening?"
"I'll take the couch, if only to make sure you don't move. But I swear if any sexual innuendo comes out of that quick mouth of yours you'll need more than bandages on your feet."
"You have my word Beautiful. I wouldn't want to upset my own personal Florence Nightingale!"
She smiled at him. "So are you hungry?"
He looked at her with an incredulous look on his face. "You know who you're talking to right?"
Chloe couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face. She got up and picked up her phone and a take out menu. "Chinese sound good?"
"Don't forget the extra egg rolls!"
Sometimes being Bart's personal nurse was made too easy, but it didn't stop the fact that she would be having a serious talk with Oliver in the morning.
AC
Chloe had been sat in her little Yaris for the past fifteen minutes waiting for the team to emerge from the warehouse. Next to her was her laptop with the warehouse schematics on display. Normally she would be sat safe and snug in Watchtower directing her boys from a distance. But this time she was required as on site report. Bart and Clark were unable to join Oliver and Victor this time round, they were dealing with a crisis in Metropolis that could not been left alone. And god only knew where Dinah was.
AC had been missing for a week. She had finally caught a break in her search four hours ago and pinpointed his location to this rundown warehouse. Apparently appearances were deceiving as this was in fact the site of a LuthorCorp laboratory.
Chloe hoped that AC would be okay, it wouldn't be the first time that he had been captured and experimented on. There was a fear settling in the bottom of her gut, making the contents churn. If AC hadn't broken out by now then there was a good chance that they were depriving him from water, hence the huge bottles on her backseat and in the boot of her car.
She had already accessed the schematics of the building and it seemed that LuthorCorp had learnt its lesson where AC was concerned. There was no sprinkler system installed, only a Halon fire suppression system. That was another reason she was on site - to provide AC with refreshments once they got him out.
Chloe began to tap on her steering wheel impatiently. Looking at her laptop Oliver and Victor were fast approaching the unit Chloe believed AC was being held in. The radio silence was killing her. It was times like these that she wished she had a super skill of her own, or at least Clark's X-Ray vision.
She watched the monitor as her team took out two guards at the door. They would face another three once they gained entry to the room. Security was high throughout the facility, someone was obviously trying to learn from previous encounters with the JLA.
There was the sound of fighting from the earpiece. She said the usual silent prayer that her friends would come away uninjured until she heard the all clear.
"We've got him 'tower. He's in pretty bad shape." Victor said over the comm.
Glancing at her computer she took a look at the schematics again. "If you head out now you should be clear of the building's security. It's going to take them some time to get to you since Cyborg caused the electronic locks to malfunction. Just hurry."
What was only a matter of minutes felt like an eternity. Chloe hadn't realised she was holding her breath until she saw the three men emerge from the building. She scrambled from the car and opened up the back door, dragging out the gallon bottles of water.
Victor leant a weak looking AC against the back of the car. Patches of skin were peeling from his body, and what skin wasn't clearly dehydrated was bruised. During his stay here his body had been completely abused. Chloe opened up the first gallon bottle and began pouring the water all over his body. What sounded like a groan of relief came from the back of AC's throat.
Handing Oliver and Victor a large gallon bottle each she picked up a bottle of drinking water and held it to his lips. "Come on AC, you need to drink this."
His throat began to work furiously as he drained the bottle dry.
"How long did they keep water from you?" Chloe asked as the boys emptied their bottles onto AC.
"Three days." AC's reply came out in a hoarse whisper.
"Come on, let's get you out of here." Victor and Oliver helped him into the back of Chloe's car.
"We'll meet up with you." Oliver told her before making his way to his motorcycle.
Making sure AC was ok Chloe got into the driver's seat and started the ignition. AC was laid on her back seat and had recovered enough strength to open another bottle of water and began drinking deeply.
"You've got a choice AC, there's a motel about fifteen minutes away and we can keep you in the bath until you're feeling better, or there's a forty minute drive to the nearest body of water." She looked in her rear view mirror. He was already looking so much better. His skin was still chapped but his colour was returning.
"Motel. I'll head out to swim later."
"Okay. There's another bottle of water under my seat. Just keep on drinking." She pressed down further on the accelerator. Maybe if she conveniently ignored a few stop signs they'd make it to the motel in ten.
AC gave her a small smile. "Thank you."
In the end it had taken Chloe eleven minute to make it to the hotel. Oliver and Victor were nowhere to be seen. They were probably still dealing with the lab. She had a feeling that the building would no longer be standing come morning.
Chloe assisted AC to the hotel room, luckily he was able to take more of his weight now as there was no way she would have been able to cope on her own.
"Bart is gonna freak." AC muttered with a smile as he sat on the edge of the bath.
Chloe began running the bath and AC lowered himself into the tub with her assistance. As the tub filled she turned on the shower attachment too, the water cascading down AC's back. He leaned back against to cool tiles and relaxed.
Chloe pulled her last bottle of water from her bag and handed it to him. "So exactly why is Bart going to freak?"
"You and me in a motel room." He smiled as her gratefully took the bottle from Chloe. "Little dude is gonna flip."
Chloe smirked. "Just…don't tease him too much okay? I'm going to head to the trunk. I have a few more bottles of water there."
"I think I totally love you right now." AC sunk further into the water.
Chloe laughed as she left the bathroom and closed the door behind her. AC was cracking jokes so he was well on the way to recovering. Her mood lightened as she happily walked to her car. How many women could say they had a handsome man telling them they loved them, just for handing over a couple of bottles of water? As crazy as they were, she loved her boys.
Victor
All Chloe could see of Victor were two feet sticking out from a bundle of wires. Watchtower was being given a major overhaul as Queen Industries' R&D department had come up trumps with their new upgrades. Chloe had practically begged Oliver to give her and Victor first pickings.
When the deliveries had been made she had called Victor immediately, resisting the temptation to open the boxes and set to work herself. She had promised Victor she would wait for him to fly in and they could fawn over their new toys together. It had taken all of the willpower she could muster to keep that promise, but she had managed it.
"We're done!" Came the triumphant cry. The feet began to wriggle free from the maze of wires and Chloe was there to greet Victor with a beer in hand.
"Here's to spending someone else's money on brand new toys." Victor said clinking his bottle against hers.
"To Oliver's Research and development department. May they never find out about the things we have stolen." Chloe said with a smile.
"You know, technically they're not stolen. We all work for Oliver, so think of it as an inter-departmental exchange."
"And what are we exchanging for our new found goodies?" She asked before sipping her drink.
Victor thought for a second. "Consumer feedback."
"Fair enough." Chloe laughed. "So how about we go all out in our celebrations and order in pizza?"
"That sounds like a plan." She walked across the room to the kitchen. She pulled the take out menus from the draw and picked out the one for pizza. "You know without Bart here we can probably have one each."
A shout snapped out of her cheese filled dreams. Victor was back amongst the wires only this time there was a small stream of smoke billowing from where he was.
"Victor?" Chloe could feel the panic rising and rushed to his side.
"I'm okay. One of the circuits fried."
Chloe breathed a sigh of relief as he began to shuffle free. She offered him a hand up but he declined, instead keeping his hand close to his chest. "I thought you said you were okay."
"I am, it's just a small burn. No problem."
"Are you kidding me? What is it with you guys!" She pulled him by the sleeve of his shirt to the kitchen area and forced him to sit on one of the stools. "Let me look at it."
Victor was right, the burn was small but even the smallest burns could become infected and hurt like hell.
"You know I am pretty resilient." He told her. Chloe ignored her and filled a bowl with cold water and added a few ice cubes. She placed the bowl in front of him and gave him a look indicating he should put his hand in there if he knew what was good for him. He hissed as the burn made contact with the water.
"You're keeping that hand in there for at least ten minutes, Vic." She grabbed her first aid kit from under the sink and set it up next to the bowl. She grabbed her sterile dressings and sat next to him.
"It's blistering." She noted. "You know you're going to have to see Emil, right?"
Victor sighed. "Can we at least get that pizza first?"
Chloe sighed and shook her head. "Fine. But you can eat it in the car.". If these guys carried on the way they were, Chloe swore she was going to have to enrol in medical school.
Clark
The shrill ringing of her mobile phone woke Chloe from the best sleep she had had all week. With her eyes still closed she fumbled for the phone until she had the vibrating little device in her hand.
She hit the accept call button "Lois, I'm not coming to bail you out. I'm broke."
"Chloe, it's Oliver!" Her eyes snapped open, her whole body suddenly alert. Adrenaline was a wonderful thing.
"What happened?" She asked scrambling from her bed.
"It's Clark. There was an explosion, he was nearby…and…there was meteor rock in the bomb Chloe."
"Oh god!" It felt as if her stomach had fallen to her feet. "Is he..?" She couldn't bring herself to say the words.
"No, but it's not good Chloe. Emil is half way around the world but you are nearer. Bart should be there with him any minute now. There are shards we couldn't remove here there were too many guards, we had to get him out."
"Okay, I'm at the Talon. I'll get my first aid kit. Keep safe Oliver."
"I'll see you as soon as the rest of us can get there." He hung up. Chloe had barely time to dig her larger kit out from the bathroom closet before Bart burst through the door. The young hero was struggling with the weight of Clark's large frame and deposited the injured hero on Chloe's couch.
Chloe was glad that Lois was off visiting the General otherwise this would have taken a whole lot of explaining. "How long has he been like this?"
Apart from his coat Clark was in full Blur costume, parts of it singed from the explosion. Chloe began cutting the t-shirt from him to look at his wounds. "Five minutes maybe." Bart was pacing up and down the apartment, clearly on edge.
"Bart, I need you to grab me a bowl from the kitchen." She said as she retrieved a pair of tweezers and some gauze from her first aid kit. She saw the two deeper lacerations, a faint green glow emanating from the wounds.
Bart placed the bowl on the table next to Chloe. "We tried to get it all out."
"When I'm done you're going to have to get rid of it Bart. As far away as possible." She said out loud. In her head she was repeating a mantra to prevent herself from being sick. She had never been great around blood. You would think after all these years playing superhero sidekick she would be less squeamish.
Chloe breathed through her mouth as she used the tweezers to probe the wound in his side. She found the shard of green meteor rock easily and gently pulled it free. She discarded it into the bowl Bart had given her before looking at his shoulder wound. Bart picked up the bowl and ran from the room, returning five seconds later without the kryptonite.
Chloe repeated the same process as before but she wasn't having the same success. She knew it was there, she could see the glow but her tweezers couldn't grip onto it.
"He's not looking too hot, Beautiful."
"There's a pen torch in the kit, grab it and shine it onto the wound for me." She was using a second pair of tweezers to hold the wound open. When Bart shone the light onto the wound Chloe had a slightly better view. "It's in deep. Just give me…"
Chloe bit her lip in concentration, not even finishing her sentence. She saw the shard and had a grip on it with the tweezers. She pulled firmly and felt it come loose.
"I've got it!" She pulled it free and practically threw the rock into the bowl. She hadn't needed to tell Bart what to do, he simply ran like the first time and returned just as quickly.
Chloe watched Clark. His breathing was still shallow and erratic but his wounds seemed to have stopped bleeding. She got up and collected a clean washcloth from the bathroom and wet it before returning.
"Is he going to be okay?" The speedster asked.
"He should be, although he would heal a lot quicker if the sun was out. It'll take him a few minutes to recover. See." She pointed at some of the smaller cuts on Clark's torso that had already healed. Using the washcloth she began to clean where the wounds had been.
"I'll call Oliver, the guys will want to know."
Chloe finished cleaning Clark's wounds as the rapidly healed before her eyes. "Clark? How are you feeling?"
His eyes slowly opened and fixed on her face. "Chloe?"
"Bart brought you here, you had meteor rock imbedded because of the explosion. Do you feel alright? Did I get it all?" She asked, trying to help him sit up.
"I'm fine. I need to check that Oliver didn't kill anyone." He stood up abruptly and super sped from the room, the force of his wake causing Chloe to fall back onto her ass.
"You're welcome." She muttered to herself.
"I did just see Clark run out of here, right?" Bart asked, poking his head around the door.
"Yeah. Maybe next time I'll leave some rock in there. I might get a 'hello' or 'thank you' that way."
Bart rushed over and helped her to her feet. "He does appreciate it 'licious. It's just sometimes…" Chloe could see him struggling for words.
"It's just sometimes he's an ass Bart. Don't worry, I'm used to it. Now go on, Oliver's probably waiting for you."
"We appreciate you beautiful, don't you forget it." He gave her a swift peck on the cheek. "I think you're awesome!"
Chloe smiled as he ran from the room. As she cleaned up she shook her head. Despite Clark's coldness, ignorance, or whatever the emo term he wished to use she would still be there.
Oliver
That evening, Chloe had talked Oliver through his patrol as Green Arrow and it had been quiet until Oliver had come across a knife wielding thug. It had been shortly after confirming he had disarmed the attacker and checked on the would-be victim that Oliver had signed off.
He had said he was fine, but something felt off. Lately, Chloe had become used to talking until the sun rose, both of them providing witty banter and some subtle flirting. Tonight however had been different, Oliver had abruptly disconnected his communication link leaving Chloe dazed. She had tried calling his cell a couple of times but with no answer.
"Something's not right." She picked up her bag and headed to the door.
The streets were relatively empty at this time of the morning and Chloe was thankful for it. She had made it to Oliver's Clock Tower within minutes and quickly made her way up to his apartment.
Chloe pulled the elevator grate aside and looked around the living area "Oliver?"
"Chloe?"
She looked over to the couch in the middle of the room. Oliver was perched on the edge with a suturing kit in front of him and the needle in his right hand.
Normally Chloe would have been unable to look past the view considering he was only wearing his underwear. However watching him trying to single-handedly stitch the wound on his thigh was grabbing all of her attention.
"Jeez Oliver, why didn't you tell me you were hurt?"
"Because I knew you'd come storming in here. Seems like I shouldn't have worried about that though."
Pausing to throw her purse on a nearby chair and remove her jacket she glanced over at the wound. It was located at the top of his thigh, so far round the back it was almost on his ass. "I can't believe you are trying to stitch that yourself. As agile as you are Ollie, not even you could contort yourself enough to do the job."
She was right. He had been struggling for the past seven minutes trying to angle his body into a position where he could stitch the back of his thigh. He sighed as Chloe removed the suture and tweezers from his hand and forced him to lay down on the couch with a push. Oliver gave in to her non-verbal demands without argument. It just wasn't worth the trouble, her jaw was set and her eyes were determined. She was in full Watchtower mode and he did not want that focus trained on him. An angry Chloe was a scary Chloe.
"You've not even used a local anaesthetic have you. Were you trying for martyrdom?"
"I could hardly get the needle around there to use it."
"You want me to use some?" She asked.
"No, just do it."
She shook her head. Chloe knew better than to argue, Oliver could be just as stubborn as she was and asking for the anaesthetic would mean admitting that he really couldn't have done this on his own.
He ignored the sharp pain as the needle penetrated his skin. "It's not too deep. You were lucky." She said as she tied off the first stitch using two pairs of tweezers, just like Emil had taught her.
"Yeah, not feeling too lucky at the moment." He gritted his teeth as the needle penetrated again. "Although I have to say having Nurse Sullivan on call certainly has its perks."
She couldn't believe he was flirting while she was stitching his leg. "You know, we taught Emil the secret handshake for situations like these. There's a reason I stay behind my computers."
If only Chloe knew why he hadn't made the call to Emil. It was so embarrassing he cringed as he thought about the accident. Chloe had let herself believe that the injury had been picked up in his earlier hand-to-hand scuffle and he was not going to correct her. What Chloe didn't know was that he received the injury while he tried to sit on his motorcycle. He never forgot to check the safety on his crossbow but the thought of flirting some more with Chloe had distracted him. There was no doubt in his mind that Emil would have been able to determine the wound was caused by an arrow, not a small knife.
"So is this what it takes for you to join us in the real world?"
"Hey! I'm in the real world!" Smirking slightly she started another stitch glad that it was timed to punish him for the implied accusation.
"Is that the reason I have Lois calling me at all hours accusing me of making you work too hard?"
"And since when are you bothered by Lois calling you?" She asked with a knowing smile.
"Me and Lois…that was a long time ago, Sidekick. All I get from her now are threats and hangovers." He looked over at her, frowning in concentration as she finished another stitch. "Nice way to deflect the question by the way."
"One more and I think you're done. I really think you should get this looked over in the morning though."
"Chloe." His voice was deeper, warning her that he wasn't as easily distracted.
Chloe set to work on the last stitch. "You know, maybe this is a conversation for when you are actually wearing pants."
"I think now is a good time." He turned his head as far as possible to look at her. "Lois isn't the only one worried about you."
"Well Bart has always been a little sensitive about me. God knows why."
"I think I understand. And it's not just Bart either. I have been worried too."
She sighed as she tied up the final stitch. "None of you need to worry, I am fine. I've always been this dedicated to my work."
As she finished Oliver eased himself upright onto the seat "I'm not denying that. I just think it would be good for you to take some time to yourself. Enjoy life a little."
"I really don't know where this is coming from. You know that Lois doesn't have all the facts about what I do. Don't take what she tells you so seriously." She collected up the bloodied pieces of gauze and crossed the short distance to the bathroom.
Oliver got to his feet, following her with only a slight limp. "Alright. I'll believe you if you can answer me one question. When was the last time you just sat around eating junk food and caught a movie with friends?"
"Ollie, I appreciate what you're trying to say but it's not really any of your concern. Everything is fine, I promise you." She dropped the gauze in the trash and began washing her hands.
Oliver stepped into the bathroom and stood behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "I think that just answered my question."
She sighed and looked at his reflection in the mirror. The deep frown on his face as he looked at her in concentration didn't make him any less handsome, all it did do was put a sense of uneasiness in the pit of her stomach. "I don't like that look. You're not going to do something stupid now are you?"
"I think it's about time we organised your schedule, Chloe. Starting tomorrow I'm calling the team in and we're finding a way to give you one entire day off a week."
"You can't do that!"
"Oh, I think you'll find I can." He said smirking. The plan was already forming in his mind and he was liking it.
She looked at his face in the mirror, her eyes locking with his. He was unbelievable! "You can't make me have time off. I'm on call twenty-four hours a day - the team needs me!"
"Oh, I can make you have time off. Unless you make plans with Lois or other friends you will be spending your day with me." It was as much for himself as it was for Chloe and he had no problem admitting just how selfish he was. He enjoyed her company and had never smiled so much as when he was around her. The flirting over the last few weeks had probably been less than innocent.
Chloe spun on her heel, almost coming into direct contact with his chest. Trying to bring herself up to her full height she looked at him directly and tried to stare him down. It had worked in the past with Clark, she just hoped it would work on Oliver too. "So you can what Ollie? Make me have fun?"
He brushed off her hostility. She had never taken to personal criticism well and her defences were up. He gently touched her shoulders with his hands. "I can't make you have fun Chloe, but I think the time off is a good idea. You take care of the whole team. Without a break you are just going to burn out, and then what good would you be to us?"
She didn't reply. He watched as she shifted from foot to foot, her brain trying to think a way around his proposal.
"What kind of a team would we be if we didn't look after you too?"
"I suppose it would be one way for me to make sure at least one of you stays out of trouble."
Oliver smiled in triumph and began to gently lead Chloe from the bathroom. "See, now you're getting it!"
As they reached the couch Chloe helped Oliver to settle comfortably onto the cushions, being mindful of his injury. "You don't have to think of it as taking time off, think of it as babysitting duty. Imagine all the trouble you could keep me from if you spent the time with me."
She sat next to him and took a hand of his in her own. "You know you're right. I mean how many heroes can say that when there was minimal danger they shot themselves in the ass."
His eyebrows raised in surprise and she merely gave him her broadest smile. With a groan he fell back against the cushions. She knew, and he was never going to live this one down.