"Yea…" he conceded as Chloe explained why she had orchestrated the last couple of days of terror, "but did you have to push with a three ton truck?"
She gave a sympathetic smirk, if there was such a thing - if it were a thing, though, she'd be the master at it. "I didn't think a tricycle would do the trick." He nodded solemnly, but was unable to keep the small smile from appearing on his lips.
When he had given the events of the past few days actual thought, it became obvious who had been the mastermind of the entire ordeal; the one and only Chloe Sullivan. There was no one else that could have done what she did. No one else could have thought out every scenario, even allowing an accident like the presence of Lois to fit into her plans. No one else could have gathered the power that was needed to do what needed to be done, the only person who had that many connections with metahumans who would follow her without pause. Most significantly, however, there was no one else who could have known everything that she had, not about the Toy Maker or Lex Luthor.
Having realized this, he had confronted her. He had meant to scold her. Despite understanding her reasons for doing what she had done, there had been no reason (he tried to tell himself) that she should go that extreme. But then he had sat across from her, listening to her explain herself, her green eyes locked on his intently, and suddenly it was like he was seeing her from a completely different perspective, and in that instant, there wasn't even anything that needed to be forgiven.
She was beautiful, he found himself thinking, as they continued to sit there outside the coffee shop, thinking it as if it were something that had happened out of nowhere. It wasn't the classic kind of beauty. Nor the type of beauty that was obvious sight. Rather, it was a beauty formed from the inside out.
It was a type of beauty that could be found in sensible short hair that never got in the way of intelligent eyes, and yet, despite its simplicity and sensibility, was always adorable. It was the lurking mischief in her expression, the crinkle at the edges of her eyes or the subtle twitch of her button nose. It was the small, playful mouth, capable of being snarky and sarcastic, displaying all at once the teasing sidekick and the savvy genius. It was her small frame that gave the impression of vulnerability, only to be knocked off your feet for making such a fatal error in judgement.
He remembered their first meeting years ago, when the favor he had owed Clark was given to the dainty blonde. At the time he had wondered how someone so plain had earned the title of best friend to a super human. Yet, he chided his younger self, she hadn't been plain even then, with her soft, observing eyes and quick wit. Even then her brilliance had been noticed. It was just that back then, he hadn't given it much thought.
Then he had soon learned that she was Lois's cousin, and that, he was beginning to think, had been his problem in truly deciphering the code that was Chloe Sullivan. For he had been entranced by an obvious type of gorgeous with a nuclear personality, that he had missed the subtle aesthetic of the young woman that had just saved him from himself, with a personality of a perfect storm...a natural disaster.
She had surprised him that day she had stormed into his loft, demanding their attention concerning Clark and Bart's capture and declaring that she would help. As if it were nothing, she took charge of the situation, casually stating that Clark had trusted her enough with their identities. Then she had turned to him with a knowing smirk. "I found out your green leather fetish on my own."
From there, their alliance and working relationship had been inevitable. Her usefulness became as evident as the blazing ball of gas hung above them, and Oliver was nothing if not a man who could take advantage of those type of skills. He teased her with the title "sidekick', (mocked her really) because back then that all she was, no matter how useful he found her to be. And she had been a sidekick, he reasoned even now, though after all she had gone through and everything she had done, he doubted he'd ever be able to see her that way again.
She had been good at being a sidekick. Probably the best sidekick anyone could even hope for. With her logic, quick thinking, computer skills, determination to undermine corrupted authority, and unfailable loyalty, she was a treasure. So it was no surprise he wanted that on his team, though in the beginning she was too much of Clark's sidekick to truly be a part of the Justice League.
Then, because of events that he was never quite sure of (though he knew it had something to do with Zatana), she was a part of the team. WatchTower. Their eyes in the sky.
It was then, he realized, that she had truly stopped being a sidekick of any kind, and became something more akin to a partner. The boys had always adored her, most obvious being Bart, and when she joined their ranks, that adoration became the foundation of respect and fealty. Though he hadn't admitted it to himself, had even tried to deny it to himself, she had started to lead the team that very first day. A voice that, according to the others, was as equally trusted as Oliver's.
In that time the team as a whole had been through much together. On an independent level, though, Oliver and Chloe had each experienced constant reunions with hell.
He had stated just as much now, hadn't he? That the others, especially Clark, had led very different lives than the two of them.
He smiled as they stood from their seats and headed to the Tower, consumed by the onslaught of re-impressions of this amazing young woman that had made it her mission to bring him back from the edge.
It was obvious now that he had been an idiot these past few years of knowing her. That he had been blind.
But now that he could see, thing could change. Him and Chloe would change. He would make it his mission to do so.