I felt you go

by Smileeface

One friend traded her life for the other. Their Watchtower now lay in their leader’s arms deathly still.

Title: I felt you go
Author:Cking1575
Fandom: Smallville
Pairings: Chloe/Oliver
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville/DC or the characters. I am just playing with them.
Summary: One friend traded her life for the other. Their Watchtower now lay in their leader's arms deathly still.

A/N: I was actually working on another fic called "Lurking in Shadows" when this darn monstrous plot bunny grabbed hold of me and wouldn't let go until I typed it out. Hope you all like it.

It happened so quickly. Clark had been exposed to Kryptonite, and then injected with a liquid form of the green meteor rock by the criminal that they were hunting. Oliver watched helplessly as Clark fell to the ground in convulsions. He had never seen Clark in such a state. To Oliver and the rest of the team, Clark was invulnerable, nothing could hurt him…Clark was the one person on his team that he never had to worry about…well, except in the presence of the green rock, of course. The shock of see Clark fall cemented Oliver's feet to the ground. He couldn't move. He was frozen as he watched his friend suffer violently. The other members of his team, one by one, arrived and witnessed the final death throes of their beloved friend. Chloe was the last to arrive, hearing everything via her com link. She skidded to a halt at the horror before her. Oliver glanced up at her entrance; her presence snapping him out of his shock induced catatonic state. He rushed over to Clark and dropped to his knees beside his now still friend. Oliver quickly bent over Clark's still body and checked for his pulse.

Chloe looked to him fully expecting Oliver to look relieved at finding Clark's pulse but instead, sorrow covered Oliver's face. He couldn't locate Clark's pulse. He was too late. They were too late. His friend and comrade was gone. Oliver looked over to his other friends helplessly, not knowing what else he could do, not sure if CPR would even work on his alien friend. His dark eyes traveled the stricken faces of his team, Clark was dead-- they were too late to save one of their own.

Oliver heard Chloe scream, "NO!" as if she were far away, he being lost in his own grief. His friend was dead and he didn't save him. What kind of hero was he if he couldn't even save his friend? He looked at Chloe as she arrived next to him, she too, dropping to her knees beside the once vibrant young hero. He looked at Chloe, expecting to see her matching grief on her face, not completely ready to comfort her in her grief. She was bound to take Clark's death hard, she being his best friend. Oliver was completely surprised when instead of grief and sorrow in her green eyes he was met with steel determination.

"Chloe?" Oliver called to her his puzzlement at her behavior clearly ringing through in his tone.

"I'm sorry, Oliver. I want you to know that I love you…I have for sometime. Please tell Clark when he comes to: no hospital, no morgue. He'll understand."

"Chloe, Clark's…" Oliver interrupted her. He thought that she was in denial. She obviously wasn't taking her best friend's death very well.

"No Oliver, I know what I am doing. I know what this sounds like, but please trust in me. I am not loosing my marbles here; I just don't have the time to explain it to you. Clark will have plenty of time to explain what is about to happen. Please, just don't give up on me. I love you and I will come back. Know that I will come back for you, Oliver…for you; I will return no matter what I have to endure. But, because this is Clark and he's…well, special, Oliver, I don't know how long I'll be gone; just don't give up on me, ok? Know in your heart that I will return to you." She leaned over to Oliver, her green eyes locking onto his brown eyes, one of her hands traveled of it's own accord to his cheek gently caressing the smooth skin before continuing on it's travel to the nap of his neck. She gently tugged him forward to meet her half way. Her lips captured his in a fiery passionate kiss. Their first true kiss felt more like a kiss of farewell rather than a kiss of promised passion. "Remember Oliver, no morgue! I love you." She whispered as their lips parted. His eyes remained closed savoring the feel of her lips on his, her voice speaking the words that he had longed to hear for months. When he opened his eyes the confusion at her parting words was evident in his chocolate pools.

"Chloe, what?" He began to say as she released him and moved to grip Clark's face. He watched as if watching a scene from a movie, a single tear slid from Chloe's now vibrant green eyes. His eyes watched the tear slip from her lashes; he followed it path down her rosy cheek as it balance precariously at her chin. His eyes continued to watch as it free fell for a second before splash landing on Clark's now bluing lips. She looked up from Clark willing Oliver to look at her and when he did finally look into her eyes a sad smile form on her lips. Her vibrant green eyes captured his dark brown eyes in a gaze of longing, of love. Oliver somehow knew that he needed to keep eye contact with her, showing her that no matter what, he loved and supported her…even if he thought that she was going mental over the death of her beloved friend. He kept eye contact until the blinding white light erupted from Chloe…so blinding that it enveloped her. Oliver had to tear his eyes from her, tightly closing his lids and throwing his arm up to cover his closed eyes to block out the blinding light.

Two…maybe three seconds after the light erupted from Chloe; Oliver quickly dropped his arm from his eyes and griped his chest. Pain like he had never experienced tore through him as though someone had stabbed him with a dull blade and began hacking out his heart. Vaguely he thought that he could be having a heart attack, the pain was that excruciating. His breath caught in his throat. The lightning pain brought tears…that he refused to shed…to his tightly shut eyes. Loss…unbelievable loss was what he was feeling. His gut was telling him that something was wrong--seriously wrong.

When the light finally faded so too did the pain fade but a dull ache remained in it's place. Oliver's eyes sprung open at the sound of Clark's voice. Happiness at his friend's miraculous recovery quickly subsided once he heard what Clark was saying. Fear replaced his happiness.

"NO! NO! NO! No…no…no…no," was the mournful wale Oliver heard from Clark.

"CLARK! OH MY GOD, MAN!!! HOW!?" Oliver began to exclaim until he saw what Clark was cradling, rocking back and forth, head bent cheek to cheek. "Chloe?" Oliver whispered as he scooted closer snatching her from her super-powered friend's grasp. "CHLOE!" He gave her a little shake hoping that her eyes would flutter open and he could yell at her about scaring the ever loving shit out of him. But her eyes didn't flutter. She lay still, deathly still in his arms. Her head lolled onto his chest as his eyes searched her face for life. When he saw no sign of life in her face, he watched her chest waiting to see the rise and fall of her breath. Nothing happened. He looked to Clark for answers. "She said to tell you 'no hospital, no morgue.' What did she mean by that, Clark? How is it that you are here alive and she is in my arms and she appears to be dead? How, Clark? Explain, and explain it to me now."

"Oliver," Clark began his voice somber not holding any of the joy that was normally associated with him. "She doesn't just appear to be dead, she really is dead. She's gone, Oliver. Chloe's gone. She healed me. We need to get her out of here. We need to get her some place safe."

"What are you talking about, Clark? She's not gone; she's right here…in my arms. I was just talking to her…I was just kissing her!" His voice hitched. He was starting to put the pieces of this puzzle together. He looked down at the woman he held cradled in his arms. "Chloe." He breathed out her name in barely a whisper shaking his head no; he wouldn't believe what Clark was telling him…what his own mind was screaming at him. "She's just unconscious, that's all, she's just unconscious. She'll wake up any minute and start yelling at me for being paranoid. Yeah, any minute she'll open her glorious green eyes and just smile up at me and say, 'Hi Oliver' in that way that only she can say my name. That's how it's going to happen, right Clark?" He tore his eyes from her to look at Clark for reaffirmation. He was met by Clark's blatant sadness. "No. THIS." He looked down at Chloe, "THIS IS NOT HAPPENING! NO! Not to us! Not now! Not after…" His voice trailed off and even Clark had to strain to hear his agonized whisper, "Chloe, no."

"Oliver," ever pragmatic even after coming back from the dead, Clark knew that they all needed to get out of this warehouse before the police arrived. He knew that if the police found Chloe in the state that she was in, she would end up at the morgue and he wouldn't let that happen again. She would NOT wake up in a freezer that housed the dead again…that's if she even wakes this time. "Oliver, we have to get out of here. We need to get Chloe out of here." He reached to take Chloe from Oliver but like a feral animal, Oliver growled at Clark and if Oliver had super-powers of his own, Clark would once again be lying on the ground in the same state as he was minutes before. "Ok Oliver, you can take her. But we need to leave now. The police are on the way; I can hear the sirens. We'll take her back to your penthouse, ok?" Clark stood slowly, placing his hands at chest level palms facing Oliver to show Oliver that he was submitting to his claim on Chloe. It was when Clark stood that he noticed the other guys on the team, just standing around them protectively, each with fear, sadness, and denial on their faces. They, like Oliver, just couldn't comprehend what had just taken place. One friend traded her life for the other. Their Watchtower now lay in their leader's arms deathly still.

"Guys please; I will explain in more detail when we get her out of here. Here's the short version. She was infected by the meteor rock. This is her meteor ability…she can heal people, even bring them back from the brink of death. We don't know how it works, just that it does. She promised to never use it on me and I promised to never tell a soul. I'm thinking those promises are all broken now at this point. Look, it's very important that we get her to some place safe. It will be a while before she will come back to us." He looked around him at the group of men that have become his closest friends beseechingly.

"Yeah, we need to get her back to my penthouse. She'll be safe there until she wakes up. Aquaman, you will have to take my bike back because I will be riding in the back of the van with Chloe. I am not leaving her." Oliver looked at AC. Oliver's dual personality the Green Arrow taking command of his team at this moment in time.

"You got it, Boss." Aquaman turned and started for the exit, kicking the perp that starting this whole situation on his way past him. He'd like to do more than give that asshole a kick. He'd like to drop the mother into the ocean and let the sharks chew on him…yeah, that's exactly what he'd like to do. He allowed himself to fantasize about all the different and extremely painful ways that the guy could be killed on the way to retrieve Oliver's bike. The fantasy took the edge off of this situation for AC. It wasn't like he would ever do the things he thought to do to this guy for real, but it made him feel better to think about the pain that he would suffer in his fantasies.

"Impulse, you head back to headquarters and get my bed ready for her. She'll be staying in my room until she's better. Cyborg, get us back to headquarters ASAP. Clark, you can meet us there or you can ride with us in the van, the choice is yours. Just know this, I am not letting go of her, and don't you ever try to take her away from me again. I know where there are mountains of Kryptonite to bury you in should you try again and I am not afraid to use it. Ok team, let's roll."

Hours ticked by slowly at the penthouse. The somber mood of the place was quite different than ever before. Normally after a mission the team would all come back to Oliver's place filled with energy and they would be vivacious. Music would be blared; food ordered and consumed rapidly, video games played, voices raised in mock arguments over who killed who's character on the game, and laughter would permeate the apartment. And once the team settled down, they would all drift away to their respective apartments…all with in the building, of course except for Clark and Chloe. Most often though after missions, Chloe just crashed in Oliver's guest room. But lately Chloe and Oliver would unwind by dimming the lights, cuddling on his couch with a glass of red wine, and an old black and white movie once the other guys left. Chloe's all time favorite movie would usually be popped into the DVD player. Oliver loved to watch her face light up when she would see Jimmy Stewart's name appear in the opening credits of Harvey. Of course THAT movie would be her favorite movie… a kind, fun loving, caring, crazy guy and his 6 foot invisible rabbit. He loved how she would cry at the end of the movie when Harvey was going to leave Elwood or how she would laugh at Elwood's crazy sister who Chloe felt secretly believed in Harvey too. Those intimate little moments that he shared with her that the others didn't, made him feel special…made him feel like this was all just a bad dream and that he would wake up to find everything back to normal.

It was on the third day after her 'death' that life began again in the apartment. All the guys waited day in and day out for some sign that she was coming back to them…none giving up hope that she would rejoin their band of merry men. Oliver was the only one who stayed in the room with her, leaving only to use the bathroom but always making sure that there was someone there with her just in case she opened her eyes. He had taken to bathing her with warm water because he thought she felt too cold, he silently hoped that the warm water would start the circulation in her veins. Clark and Victor where in the room with Oliver keeping him company as he bathed Chloe this day. It was during the bath that he felt her pulse start pumping again. He watched the color start rushing back through her skin and heard her first labored breath enter her under-used lungs. He glanced up at Clark and Victor to confirm that he wasn't just imagining her alive again, and by the looks on their faces he concluded that it wasn't his imagination. He tossed the face clothe back into the basin he was using, and watched in fascination as her body kick started itself. Joy and elation quickly spread through his body as he climbed into the bed with her and wrapped him self around her…eagerly waiting for her to awaken.

Clark rushed over to the bed and Victor ran to get the others. Chloe was waking and they all wanted to be present for her welcome back.

As Chloe's eyes fluttered open and close, her consciousness slowly began to return to her; the smell of leather, tung oil, and Oliver filled her nostrils. She felt his strong arms wrapped tightly around her waist and draw her body flush against his hard frame… enveloping her in the security of their love for each other. Chloe instinctively knew that she was protected within Oliver's very powerful, very capable arms. His unique scent surrounded her and comforted her as her sight and her other senses slowly began to return to her. Healing others always took its toll on her. Slowly, painstakingly slow, she turned with in his arms so that her face burrowed into his cotton covered chest. She nuzzled his chest just above his heart with her nose before she closed her eyes once again and breathed him in. When she re-opened her eyes she raised her hand and her eyes to his anxious face, she caressed his face easing his tension, reassuring him that she had indeed returned to him…she spoke silently with her eyes, communicating with him on a level far beyond the realm of mere reality. His powerful arms, lean and long, closed tightly around her tiny frame as he lowered his face to nuzzle at her neck and revel in her nearness. He finally released his long pent up breath in a joyous sigh…she was going to be fine. She felt his mouth on her neck just under her ear. His nose gently rubbed her skin as his lips caressed the place where her pulse beat steadily. It was his turn to close his eyes tightly to capture the wetness that began to well. It was then that he realized that he was in fact silently crying. What shocked him more was the fact that the tears were flowing…he hadn't shed a tear since he was a child and had learned of his parents' deaths. He hadn't even cried at their funeral but here he was, Oliver Queen, billionaire, philanthropist, hero to the populace burying his face in this vivacious woman's hair weeping like a child in its mother's embrace. It was then that he acknowledged what he felt…he as in love with this rare woman…true, hard core, soul searing love with none other than this tiny, stubborn, at times a bit neurotic woman that he calls Sidekick.

Neither Oliver nor Chloe acknowledged any other person in the room but each other. They weren't even aware that they had an audience. The guys stood off to the side wanting to give them privacy but not wanting to be far away on the off chance that they could speak to Chloe. Clark moved from the seat next to the bed to the door way and quietly observed the oblivious couple on the bed. This was the first time that he had witnessed this kind of romance with his best friend as the star. He was happy for them that they had found each other and envious at the same time that they had the kind of love that he longed for.

Oliver took a deep breath before he spoke. It was one thing for him to realize that he was crying, it was another to let her see his tears…he wasn't even aware that the guys from the team were still in the room and had also witnessed what he would perceive as his moment of weakness. "I felt you go, Chloe." he breathed into her ear as his arms tightened around her body.

"Hold me tighter, Oliver, hold me tighter." She whispered back.

"God Chloe, I felt you go. I felt you leave…deep in my soul…I felt you go. Don't do that to me again, please." He whispered to her huskily. Chloe felt his tears on her neck and her own started to flow from her eyes. She never dreamed that she could matter to someone so deeply.

"Oh Oliver, I am sorry you had to go through that. I did what was necessary, Oliver. The world is so much better off with a hero like Clark rather that just me."

"The world may be better off, but I would be destroyed. Chloe, don't you know how much I love you? I couldn't go on if I lost you. I know I couldn't. Please, I am begging you with all that I am…NEVER do that to me again."

"Oliver, I can't promise that, you know that. Just as you can't promise me that something wouldn't happen to you. We just have to learn to live and to love around this possibility and do our best to not let anything like this happen again. I can promise you that I have loved you and plan to continue to love you like I have never loved another man before. I never believed in soul mates before you, Oliver. You are the only reason I returned this time. You are the only reason for me to brave the pain of returning to life. I promise you I will return only if you are here for me to return to…never doubt that I will come back for you. You are my tether to life, Oliver…you hold the other half of my soul." She held him tightly as a sob escaped his throat at her confession. He was her hero, and she was humbled that he felt the way he did about her. She was used to being left on the side lines, waiting to be noticed…waiting to be missed. In Oliver she found the one man who saw her for who she truly is and passionately loves every fiber of her being.

They stayed clasped in each others' arms, locked in their embrace, neither hearing nor acknowledging anyone else's presence in the room. Slowly all those who had witnessed their reunion silently left the two lovers alone, laying together rejoicing in their love for each other.

A/N: Constructive feedback is always appreciated! Thanks for reading! :)