A/N: This is a companion to my novel, Survival. For all Survival readers, hopefully, I should have the next chapter up by the end of the week. Reviews are appreciated!
Prompt by Elemaria 91: Clark's thoughts during the Chlollie reunion at Watchtower during the Checkmate episode.
Reunited
Clark was descending the Watchtower staircase. "Chloe, it seems to be taking longer than normal to find a mere serial number." It seemed as if she was losing her touch.
"That's because someone's hidden it. But after cross-referencing those last four digits? Clark, I think that the earpiece in John's pocket was government issued", Chloe responded. He followed her as she walked to the desk.
"Why would the government take Green Arrow?" he asked
"Considering what I pay out every year, it better not be for tax evasion", they heard a voice call out. They turned around to see Oliver Queen. His hands were in his jacket pockets, and there was a smile on his face.
Clark was about to ask what happened, when he saw Chloe walk across the room to him.
"Oh my god." She said as she walked. "You're safe." Clark watched as she embraced Oliver. She let out of breath in relief, and was holding on to him as if she had depended on Oliver's very presence to live.
There was a time in which she would hug him like that. Clark hadn't seen Chloe smile like this in a long time- almost since she got married to Jimmy.
The truth was that Clark in a state of shock. Lois had told him that Chloe and Oliver were not in a real relationship- that everything between the two of them was purely physical. How was it then, that they were so lost in each other?
Chloe and Oliver weren't even in a real relationship, and yet they were more definitive with each other emotionally than Clark was with Lois. Lois refused to be addressed as his girlfriend, and counted their public displays of affection in an attempt to limit them.
It wasn't supposed to be this way with her. They were supposed to know exactly what they were. And here Chloe was, a widow of not even one year, and she was dating again.
She was always the one with shaky relationships- there were more lies than there was love in her relationship with Jimmy. Clark was always the one in a "meant to be together" relationship with Lana. He loved Lois, there was no doubt about that; but this change in Chloe- when did it occur?
This was supposed to be a professional meeting- they were here at the Watchtower to do their jobs, and nothing else. No emotional attachment, no room for weakness. Chloe should have known better- Clark was worried that the connection that she had for Oliver would lead to him getting hurt. It was inevitable that their emotions for each other would get in the way, and when that happened, Chloe would be devastated.
Clark had left her life to prevent all of that from happening in the first place. Jimmy and Davis were dead, and he left because he realized that all he did was constantly put her life at risk.
He had told her to walk away from the Watchtower- to walk away from this life and to start a new one. She could have gone back to working as a journalist, and could have been happy with an ordinary man. When Jor-El sent him into an alternate reality, Chloe was the only one who ended up right. If he was gone from her life, she would have been engaged.
Leaving her on the day of Jimmy's funeral had been difficult for him too; he wished that she could see that. He did it to help her, to give her happiness. And it seemed as if she was happy with Oliver now- but she would never be safe.
Oliver…Clark was angry with him. Clark was grateful that he was safe, that he had returned to his role as the Green Arrow. But Oliver must have seen what constantly being at the Watchtower was doing to Chloe.
Why was Oliver encouraging all of it? Why did he fund the Watchtower if he knew that the missions that the League went on were dangerous? Why would he intentionally give her a role that would place her in harm's way?
And there they were, so lost in each other that they completely forgot that Clark was even in the room. They forgot that Oliver had been kidnapped while on patrol, and forgot that John was keeping secrets from all of them.
"I'm glad you're safe too," Clark said, breaking the silence.
They looked at him, as if he were crazy for destroying the moment.
"Do you want to fill us in on what happened?" he asked impatiently
"Definitely", Chloe said, releasing Oliver's arm.
"Absolutely", Oliver said at the same time.
"Uh, let's see. One minute, I'm saving someone's bacon", Oliver started as he walked over to Chloe's desk. "The next thing I know, I'm the only pig on a pork chop express." He sat down in Chloe's chair.
That was another thing that bothered Clark. Chloe was possessive when it came to her coffee and her desk. Clark had learned never to sit down at her desk, or to drink the last of the coffee. And here Oliver was, sitting at her desk and Chloe was completely okay with it. It was natural.
Oliver was confident when he sat down- as if he wouldn't have done so if he knew that it would have offended her.
"Some harpy gets on the monitor, starts telling me that this is the welcome wagon, and she's recruiting heroes for the US of A. Guessing you didn't get the e-vite", Oliver said, pointing at him.
Clark dismissed his egotism. The Blur was well known throughout Metropolis- perhaps even more so than the Green Arrow was.
"No, but someone else did. And that explains why John Jones was covering for them. Did this woman give you her name?" he asked
"Nope. No name, just that her organization was called Checkmate." Oliver told him
"Wait a minute, Checkmate?" Chloe asked
Oliver nodded.
"When Sylvester Pemberton from the Justice Society was murdered, he warned me that they came after us, and they'll come after you. His dying word was 'check'." Chloe said
"If he meant Checkmate, then these are the same people who took down the JSA", Clark finished.
"I searched the archive's security footage that was taken from the cameras across the city. This was taken a few hours ago," Chloe said, walking over to a monitor. She typed on the keyboard for a moment until a picture came up on the screen.
It was John Jones. He was talking to a man that the group had never seen before. The man's picture was running through Watchtower's database in order to identify him.
"That was right after I confronted him. Who's he talking to?" Clark asked Chloe.
"We got a hit from the passport agency. Edward Lott. He's the CEO of a consumer manufacturing company. He seems pretty high profile for a secret agent man", Chloe answered, turning to them.
"Well, maybe they recruit people who are already established in the private sector", Oliver reasoned.
"Or plant them there", Clark said. It was more likely that whoever kidnapped their recruits planned to use force in order to get what they wanted.
Suddenly, Chloe's monitor picked up a piece of recent news.
"You're not going to be happy where he was planted next. Within an hour after this footage was taken, he was on a list from the Metropolis General Morgue", she said, reading the screen.
She looked at Clark, and he looked down. John had probably killed him. He crossed the line, which was unacceptable.
Oliver saw the looks on their faces. "Whoa, slow down guys. You can't think John murdered this guy. Come on, now." He said, getting up from the chair.
Clark barely heard Oliver.
Chloe was saying something, but he sped off before she could finish. All he could think of was confronting John.
This was the man who had come from Mars in order to help him embrace his Kryptonian heritage. He had given up his powers in order to save Clark's life. If John had betrayed him, if he had killed someone, then there was no one left that he could trust.