Shattered Perception (Just Another Woman)
A/N: Many, many thanks to smallvillefics for letting me write a companion piece to "Maintaining Perception." Like most fans I don't particularly like how the SV writers set this up but I thought there was at least a semi-plausible explanation for Oliver's actions, so here's my take on why.
Someone was embezzling money from Queen Industries? Mercy had to be wrong. Maybe it was a ploy to distract him from her hidden dealings. It only took a few moments of reading the financial statements to know she was right. Almost immediately he knew who, and it felt like he'd been kicked in the gut
hard.
His gut, still twisting with the revelation, told him it could only be her. She'd saved him from his downward spiral and he trusted her with his life, so how the hell could she turn around and betray him like this? It felt like the game with Roulette was going into round two. Or maybe it hadn't actually ended, and Watchtower was pulling the strings behind the scenes the whole time.
Questions from the simple to the outlandish ricocheted around in his skull as he made his way to Smallville. Had Mercy involved her in some convoluted plot to get at him? Was Brainiac still controlling her? Had an escapee from the Phantom Zone inhabited her body? Had she cracked under the burden of being Watchtower? Was it really just about money? Had their friendship been a sham? Was the woman who he thought had his back really just trying to stab him in it?
No, there had to be a reason, a voice inside him said. Everything she did was for the greater good. The two of them worked side-by-side fighting the good fight for justice. Of all the women he'd known, he thought she was different. Special. But maybe, whispered another more insistent voice, she was only special in the way she was trying to outdo the women before her.
Thinking back he recalled her past deceptions, ones he himself had brought up with her: murdering Sebastian Kane, sheltering Davis Bloom, planting surveillance devices on his clothing. The telltale signs had been there all along. She'd said it herself, "Big Sister is watching." Only she was doing a hell of a lot more than just watching.
Pulling into a parking space at the Talon he was filled with disappointment and cool rage. If she was playing the betrayal game he was putting a stop to it, now.
He barely registered her smile as he opened the door. He walked past her, keeping his face neutral and eyes empty to hide the storm of emotions roiling within. Her place looked as normal as it usually did, as did she, but right then his suspicions made the normalcy out as a cover for something sinister. Glancing around the apartment he walked over to Chloe's laptop. This was between her and him. If Mercy was at the root of this she might have the place under electronic surveillance, but if it was about him then this was none of her damn business. He turned up the music to muffle conversation.
Looking at her across the table he knew he had his opening. If she thought he was here on the pretext of physical intimacy she was vulnerable. If she'd used friendship as the Trojan horse to get past his defenses he had no problem using seduction to get past hers. Other women had tried and failed. He'd played this game many times before; no one was getting the best of him.
He calmly laid it all out, searching her eyes, her face for her reaction, any hint of betrayal. Though he hadn't asked a tiny part of him needed an answer, an honest answer. He just hoped his heart could survive the answer she gave.
She took a breath, looked him straight in the eye and started to speak.