Prologue:A Dark day

The world was falling down all around Chloe Sullivan and she couldn't do anything about it. She didn't like being so powerless, it was now in her attempt to get back to the Dailey Planet from the Luther corp. building that she wished she had kissed Clark when she last saw him, but no instead she just gave him a more then friendly hug in an attempt to let him know how she felt, but of course the sentiment was lost on him.

Chloe thought that she had let go of those feelings, but apparently somewhere in her heart she still had them for the farm boy. She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. This was no time to think of such things she had to get back to the bullpen and catalog Mr. Luther's Kryptonian gibberish. But that was easier said than done. There seem to be so many obstacles in her path, even though the building was across the street it was worlds away, debris littered the streets and there were people everywhere. It was a full on riot throughout the whole city.

The riots hadn't slowed since he entered the city. Oliver Queen disguised as the Green Arrow sat perched on a low rise building near the Dailey Planet. His entrance into the falling city went largely unnoticed, all thanks to Bart, who had super sped him from the airport. Oliver still wasn't used to the whole super speeding thing, but this was no time to think about his stomach. Many planes were grounded when a massive computer virus was reported to have crashed the infrastructure of Metropolis.

His plane wasn't in the air for that long being Star City wasn't too far away, and he was sure that whatever was happening to the world's tech it had started here. There were people that needed saving, and stopping. He had already saved a few people and stopped some others from looting a few small stores.

Oliver knew that his efforts wouldn't be enough to stop what was happening alone but, he had to help. The rest of his team was spread throughout the city doing their best to combat the growing hysteria and to help those who needed it. He had as much confidence in his team's abilities as his did his own.

"Noo… LET ME GO...SOMEBODY HELP ME!" He heard the scream that snapped him out of his thoughts bringing him back to the chaos that would soon become known as dark Thursday.
Chloe knew it was hopeless that anyone would hear her pleas, Clark was long gone and the world was falling deeper and deeper into chaos. She was sure that she wasn't going to survive the night but she had to try. She had to see her friends and family again; there was no way she was ready for the end.

It was then in that moment of hopelessness standing there in the street that she laid eyes on the Green Arrow for the first time. He came out of nowhere and barreled into the mob that was attacking her on a zip line. The Green Arrow pulled out his crossbow and paralyzed a few of the assailants, they were down for the count but there were more where they came from.

He knew he couldn't hold them all off. Without saying a word he grabbed the almost victim's hand. He didn't check her out like he normally would have, but from what he could see though she was a petite blonde. A feisty one at that he was sure, she wasn't taking being assaulted very well and she had helped a little. Chloe almost pulled her hand from his grip before realizing he was the one trying helping her.

Chloe let the hooded man lead her away from the mob, but she noticed he was going in the wrong direction. She pulled back a little to get his attention.

"This way." Chloe said nodding her head towards the revolving door of the Dailey Planet building, luckily he seem to get the message.

They ran into the safety of the Dailey Planet. She was about to head down the stairs to the bullpen where she had a notebook and she could do her translating, however the hooded one seemed to have other plans.

"We're still being followed, those people are out for blood." said the deep modified voice that caught her off guard. "It's safer in the upper levels."

"But I have work to do…I-" Chloe didn't get the chance to protest too much because her mysterious hero in green pulled her up the stairs without another thought.

Was she serious? What could she have to work on in a time like this; the most important thing was to find a safe place? He figured the upper levels were safer since everyone was out on the streets. He knew that's where he should be but not before he found a safe place to leave his latest damsel in distress.

He stood in the fortress of solitude nothing was making sense. Jor-El's voice was weak; he could hear what was left of the artificial intelligence talking to Martha Kent. Of course he kept his presence unknown to Kal-El's adoptive mother. His existence was not of importance at this moment. The number one priority was to find or figure out what happen to Kal-El.

How she got herself into these situations Chloe could never figure it out. Maybe her life was someone's cosmic joke, she scoffed at the thought. She'd been saved for the umpteenth time that day and now she was trapped yet again. Not only was she trapped in a supply room in the lower levels of the Dailey planet on what she was sure was her last day on earth but she was trapped with a mysterious hero with what appeared to be a Green Leather fetish.

Oliver didn't know how long it had been since she had gotten them trapped and he was sure it was her fault; she had dismissed his advice and ran off to the lower levels. Why couldn't she just listen to him? If she had they would not be in this situation.

Neither of them was sure of how it happened but from what they could tell, a bookshelf was blocking the door. It had fallen in the first tremor. Where that tremor came from was another mystery. It was a small while before either of them broke the silence.

"This is all your fault you know." He said being the first to break the silence and voice his complaint.

"Is it just me or does this seem like some cosmic joke to you too?" Chloe didn't want to reply to his accusation she knew some part of his statement was true.

"I feel like there's a punch line to that question." Oliver said with a deep modified voice

"You can turn that off, I don't think anyone's going to be coming through that door anytime soon" She motioned towards the blocked doorway. "And I'm Chloe by the way."

"That's nice, are you okay?" He'd turned off the device and she heard his real voice for the first time.

She was right he had to give her that much. No one was coming through that door anytime soon. Oliver groaned at the thought and realization suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks. He could die here; he pushed the thought away to the back of his mind quickly. He was Green Arrow after all, he wouldn't die here…he hoped.

"My leg hurts a little but it's nothing to worry about," Chloe looked across the small room and started to examine her savior for any sign of trauma. "What about you? Any bumps or bruises under that form fitting green leather?"

"No I'll be fine, but we need to find a way out of here-" Oliver was cut off by another tremor and a sharp pain in his abs.

"Ahh..." Damn maybe he broke a rib or something in the fighting.

"Get down!" Chloe jumped into action knocking the hero over to the floor and out of the path of a heavy falling object. "What the hell was that?"

"Another tremor, but since when are there earthquake's in Metrop…Ahh" He felt the stabbing pain again. Chloe sat up suddenly realizing that she had been resting her weight on him.

"You're hurt, let me take a look at it," She was about to push his hood back but he caught her hand before she could. She could only guess what kind of look he was giving her from behind those dark shades.

"There's a reason I'm wearing this hood, a hero's got to protect his identity" She was so close and he got a whiff of her perfume god did she smell good. He quickly pushed the thought to the back of his mind; this was not the time, nor the place.

"That identity doesn't matter if said hero has a broken rib and the world's ending." Chloe rebutted and moved to push back his hood again. He let her this time and for the first time she finally got a good look at him. "See I have no idea who the hell you are. So you can relax."

He was blonde with chiseled features and as he removed his vest completely she got a glimpse of his abs. They looked each other in the eyes for a moment before he broke the silence.

"Like what you see?" The comment went unnoticed for a moment. Why he even made the comment he wasn't entirely sure, he was just good at flirting.

"Not really." Chloe said putting her hand over a large purple spot on his abdomen, "You could have a broken rib; you need to see a doctor."

"What I need is to get out of here. I shouldn't be trapped like this; I should be out there helping people." Oliver said as he tried to get up so that he could stand but Chloe just pushed him back into his sitting position.

"You think I like being stuck in here? I should be trying to take down this virus and even if you could get out of here how do you expect to fight crime in your condition? So what's your name anyway? " He heard her questions but didn't reply at first. She did have a right to know his name being they might not get out of here alive. "And if you're worried that I'll plaster your identity all over the front page once we get out of here…if we get out of here, don't. I know how to keep a secret."

"You're a reporter? That explains a lot. The name's…" He battled with himself for a moment debating whether to tell her his real name or not. "Conner and I'm sure we'll get out of here we have too."

"That makes one of us. I can't believe it's going to end like this, so much for that Pulitzer and Clark…I'm going to die without…" She didn't finish and let the tears flow freely down her cheeks. Oliver was caught off guard by this sudden display of hopelessness.

"You're not going to die… is Clark your boyfriend?" It really wasn't any of Oliver's business but he couldn't help the curiosity

"No, just my best friend. I don't have anyone that feels that deep for me let alone that I really can say I love." Chloe sighed admitting her lack of a love life.

"Really, that's hard to believe." He blurted out.

His comment didn't go unnoticed and it caused Chloe to look up. Oliver was wondering at how someone that glorious didn't have anyone worrying about her. Of course he didn't have room to talk there wasn't anyone that serious for him either.

Silence fell over them again and Oliver's inner thoughts turned from trying to get out to trying to making this young woman feel better. All things pointed towards not to getting out, he had a destiny and he couldn't let it end like this.

"Look we're going to get out of here, we have to. Do you have family anyone that you want to see again?" His voice was sincere causing her to smile and he could see the emotion in her eyes that now hid partly behind her eyes.

"Lois my cousin, she's on her way to D.C with Senator Kent, god I hope they landed before the virus…" Chloe stopped talking at the idea that she may never see her cousin again.

"This virus…what do you know about it? You said that you should be out there stopping it? What is it you do exactly, or do you have some kind of hero complex too?" Oliver asked smiling again, this Chloe person was turning out to be quite interesting.

"I know its origin and how to shut it down, but now that I'm stuck without my tech I can't do anything. None of this would have happened if Clark was here. Where'd you learn to be a hero anyway?" Chloe had to bite her tongue not to insult him anymore.

"A deserted island, actually." He replied simply. This confused her a bit and caused Chloe to let down her guard even more as well as apologize for insulting him.

He watched as Martha Kent left the Fortress and followed suit making his exit. Kal-El wasn't here and there wasn't much time before the fortress itself died completely. Kal-El would escape the Phantom Zone there was no question of that.

"Jor-El, what am I to do old friend?" The Martian said out loud knowing that he would not be answered.

Protecting the boy from a far was starting to be harder and harder. Maybe when this was all over he could recruit some help to keep an eye on Kal-El, but who it had to be was someone close, a friend someone with unquestionable loyalty and faith in him.

-
After his last comment the conversation carried on and they started to talk more about their pasts. Chloe told him about losing her mother, and Oliver told her about his parents. Both of them knew that the discussion was getting personal, but the world was falling down all around them and they knew they might not get through it. Oliver had never felt like this before, he was coming to terms with his own humanity and the fact he may never get out of this.

The worst thing was that he was enjoying talking to this damsel he had saved; her story was remarkable, it wasn't so different from his own. The thought of his death was in the forefront of his mind now. He was going to die and without anyone to mourn him. No father or mother no wife his team would and maybe a few of his exes but there was no one to worry about him the way that this petite woman worried for her friends.

Chloe had lost all hope by now. How long had it been since she was trapped and was Clark ok or her cousin or anyone else she knew? She didn't like not knowing what was happening out there. She knew the world was ending and for some reason knowing how would be a little comforting.

"At least we won't die alone." Chloe chimed up bring them both out of their thoughts.

"It's wrong, it shouldn't end like this." His words confused her, "I mean you should have someone to mourn you."

"We're about to die and your worried that I don't have someone that will miss me." She couldn't believe that he was thinking about that at a time like this, there had been more tremors and the end was just around the corner.

"No, well yes I don't have anyone either and I figured I'd always go out saving the world not needing to be saved." Now it was making since.

"You want a hero's death and when you say 'you', you mean yourself." Her words were harsh."Well Mr. Conner I didn't know you were so self absorbed and yet here I thought we were getting close."

"No it's not that at all" He said with the utmost conviction.

When did he get that close to her? Oliver's hands were on her shoulders and his eyes were on her. It was in that moment that his intent was suddenly realized. He wanted to kiss her. As he leaned down and touched his lips to hers Chloe was stunned and then put her arms around his neck molding herself to his body.

"No one should die feeling alone. You should have something or someone to hold on to before you go. " With those words Chloe's mind was gone and she gave in to his every advance.
She would later wonder where between being saved by the green leather clad hero and the spilling out of life stories it had gotten to this point.

Oliver's arms were around her waist and the way his lips moved across her skin made Chloe gasp, she had never been kissed like this. She heard him groan in pleasure or pain she wondered but when he moved them so he was sitting and she was straddling his hips she half got her answer. Chloe was about to voice her worry when Oliver shushed her with another bruising kiss, this was not a time for talking.

After her worry left her all coherent thought left Chloe's mind, clothes were being removed everything was happening in a blur. She felt his lips on her neck and hands roaming everywhere, they were both in bliss and ready to die knowing that they weren't alone.

"Beep...Beep!" Oliver heard the faint sound of his communicator coming from his vest and then realized where he was, the memories came flooding back to him.

What had he done, it wasn't the first time he'd slept with someone he'd barely knew. This girl, no this woman didn't deserve to wake up alone and she was going to wake up without him there he needed to get out of here before someone discovered him. They had talked and Oliver had listened. He never had gotten that close to anyone in such little time.

"Beep..Beep! Cyborg to Green Arrow…hey boss man you there? " A voice came over the small device.

"Green Arrow here." Oliver said putting on his gear while trying to stay quiet.

"What's your status? Where are you?" Cyborg asked concerned for the team leader.

"I'm alive that's all you need to know." He brushed a faint kiss to Chloe's cheek and then put on his glasses. "And I'll need a pick up."

Nothing else was said between the two heroes. Cyborg freed the emerald archer and didn't ask any questions about how Oliver had gotten into the situation he was in. He just did as he was asked and moved the big object blocking the door. Oliver had moved Chloe so she couldn't be seen through the small door and took the task of dressing her to a point. He kissed her forehead one last time before making his exit and ordering the rest of his team back to the jet.

He told Cyborg to erase any virtual trace of their little trip to Metropolis no one would know that Oliver Queen was anywhere near the city on its darkest day. Not even the blonde, Oliver momentarily mentally kicked himself. He didn't even know her last name when they were talking she'd never said it and he gave her a fake name. What if she looked him up or tried to find him? Oliver couldn't answer his own question he just knew that this day and that she had changed his life forever.

"Mmm Conner..." Chloe mumbled opening her eyes and letting consciousness fully comeback to her, she felt around the floor looking for her hero. But she found nothing. She looked up now aware of the fact that she was no longer trapped.

The sun shone brightly through the basement window of the bullpen. Chloe knew that it wasn't a dream she felt the soreness that came after such an act. But she couldn't help but feel used, and then she thought about it, he was a hero he had an identity to protect. That didn't seem to make it right but being the best friend of an alien Chloe understood her mysterious archer's reasons.

Looking around the bullpen Chloe saw her desk and was surprised that a lot of her things weren't out of place, it was then she remembered why she was coming back to the Dailey planet in the first place. Deciphering alien symbols was easier said than done, but she was given a job to do and it was time she got to it.

-Two Days Later-

Chloe was walking down a dark path to her car. She often took the back door out of the planet being it was much safer than going out the front. She would have called Clark for a lift home but he was trying his best to clean up after the events of Dark Thursday. Chloe knew that Clark was a bleeding heart; he thought all of this was his fault and in some twisted way it was. She wouldn't say it aloud though because her best friend was doing everything he could to fix it.

"Chloe Sullivan?" Chloe jumped hearing her name from the shadowed part of the alley.
Why did she park her car here? She turned around seeing two glowing red orbs staring back at her. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears with fear.

"Who are you?" As the figure stepped out of the shadows Chloe shrunk back slightly afraid but then straitened up the moment she heard his next words.

"Someone that needs your help protecting a certain farm boy and his secret." With that answer Chloe Sullivan got out her gun, of which she started carry after the recent dark Thursday, and pointed it at the figure.