Title: Arrows and Band-Aids

Rating: Cautious T for slightly more mature subject matter and some mild language.

Pairing: Chloe/Oliver

Spoilers: WARNING! Based off spoilers/preview clip for Disciple.

Summary: Just a quickie based off the spoilers for the next episode. No real point for it really more like a scene taken out of an episode. Not that pleased with it either but I promised myself I'd post it anyways. Oh well.

6 hours since my last cup of coffee.

22 hours and 37 minutes since I last slept.

Chloe calculated the odds silently in her head. Not good. She could feel her eyelids drooping as she punched in the last of her security codes.

After getting a frantic call from Clark she'd been trying to find Oliver everywhere. Someone was running around the city dressed like the Green Arrow, but performing some rather less-than-heroic acts. Chloe was positive it wasn't Oliver but he wasn't picking up his cell so there was no way to find out what the hell was going on without him.

Chloe pulled up the main traffic and security cameras in downtown Metropolis on one screen and the photo Clark had sent her via text on the other. Clark didn't call her much anymore, a fact that had left a sore bruise around Chloe's heart the last couple of months, so she knew when she saw his number on her caller ID that it had to be important.

"Clark?"

"Chloe, it's Lois. She-she's been attacked"

"What? Is she okay? Clark what happened?"

"She's fine, I got there before he could take her. She's at Met General. Chloe I think he was planning to kidnap her."

"Kidnap? Clark what are you talking about? Attacked by who?"

"That's the thing. Chloe, it looked like Oliver."

"Oliver would never-"

"I know. I know. But Chloe, it looked like him."

"Well did you get a good look at him?"

"No, he got out before I had a chance."

"Why would Oliver attack Lois?"

"I don't know, but-"

"Clark. Just because he looked like Oliver doesn't mean-"

"Chloe. He had a crossbow. And he was good. Really good. I wasn't paying attention and he snuck up behind, if I didn't see his reflection in the window-" Clark trailed off

Chloe paused. That was pretty damn good.

"I still don't think that proves any-"

"Look Chloe I have to go, but I found something I'm sending you the picture now. Let me know when you find something. Click" And then he was gone, as per usual.

Chloe sighed. He may be back in Metropolis but Clark, her Clark had been missing since Jimmy's funeral. Rubbign her eyes Chloe took a deep breath and scrolled down to Oliver's number only to get his answering machine.

7 times in a row. Damn.

"Oliver? It's Chloe. I don't know what's going on but it looks like someone's playing dress up in your closet. Call me."

Coming out of her reverie, Chloe realized Clark's photo had loaded onto her screen. An arrow had been lodged onto the hood of Lois' car, but it wasn't the puncture in Lois's paint job that sent a chill down Chloe's spine. It was the emblem on the arrowhead. Engraved in the center of the blade was a three-headed dog. Admittedly Chloe's Celtic symbol dictionary wasn't as complete as it could be but that symbol was pretty damn clear.

Crap.

One thing was for sure, Chloe had seen every single one of Oliver's arrows, hell she had helped developed half of them, and not a single one had that emblem on it. Suddenly the security alarm went off.

Oh .

Baking away from her screen Chloe turned to face the main monitor eyes frantically scanning for any signs of an intruder, but the security cameras only showed her own face staring right back through the lens. Suddenly the screen went blank.

Oh goody. Not only is he here but he has cut the feed from my cameras too.

Just as quickly another image filled the screen; a detailed sketch, on parchment paper of what honestly looked like Robin Hood.

Stepping back surprised Chloe blinked as the passage about the Hounds Cwn Annan popped into her head:

"Ghostly specters, the hounds dance in expectation of the hunt, eyes and ears glow an unearthly crimson. Blood. They writhe and howl in a manner not of mortal dogs … But when the hounds come for thee, thou shall see the undaunted fury that lie behind the scarlet eyes as they wisp the souls of unwary travels on the Hunts night. Only fools will pay no heed to Cwn Annan."

Everything went quiet suddenly as the power shut off. Turning slowly Chloe faced the only source of light left, the window. In front of the stained glass stood a figure, bow in hand, arrow pointed at her head.

Chloe hesitated, it looked exactly like him. Pausing she almost said his name out lout And then he let the arrow fly.

Luckily that was the exact same moment when her brain decided to kick in, swiveling rapidly on one foot, her face avoided the arrow by inches, but he was too fast, and the arrow nicked her arm.

Hitting the floor, Chloe felt the ground slide under her as she tried to focus. Behind her she felt footsteps and she rolled onto her back to see him standing above her, arrow trained at her head, and his face hidden by his hood.

"He's kept you a bit of a secret now hasn't he? So many women in his life, splashed around on tabloid magazines and on his arm at every possible public event in the city and yet so few of their numbers on his cell phone," Though the man's face was concealed as he spoke Chloe could see that he wasn't smiling, instead there was a certain amount of pride in the tilt of his mouth like he approved of the situation. Like a hunter.

Plan. I need a plan.

Chloe's eyes flitted to her desk, less than a meter away

Eyes still on the man before her, she slowly she slid her hand down to the pocket of her jeans and hit the call button twice activating redial.

"But everyday, there are at least a dozen calls to Watchtower. No name, just 'Watchtower'" he said slowly drawing out 'Watchtower' as if the word tasted bad in his mouth.

Chloe felt her jaw clench. She couldn't hear the phone ring but she knew by know the three rings would be up.

I just need to distract him. Come on, come on Oliver pick up.

"And the only address I could find led me straight to your pretty little blonde head" he said lowering the arrow so that the cool tip grazed her forehead.

"Tell me Ms. Sullivan, what is Watchtower?"

In the second it took her to blink Chloe imagined the whole thing. She could feel the sharp edge break her skull impaling her frontal lobe and clean out through her occipital bone like a demonstration reel in her biology class at Met U.

Don't.

Suddenly there was a crash from the left. A crash that Chloe was unfortunately familiar with; someone was forcing the front door open.

Taking her chance in the split second her assailant looked away, Chloe rolled out from under him and yanked the first drawer of her desk open. Wrapping her hand around the gun she spun to face him just as he slammed her into the desk. Ramming her gun into his stomach she brought her face up to his. She moved her fingers to cock the gun letting the sound ring in the empty tower.

"I am."

Shocked she watched as his grimace turned into a smile.

"Good. I was counting on that." he said. In one swift motion he broke the gun from her hand and spun her around. Suddenly she was yanked up and backwards by the neck, and slammed into a hard body as her air supply was cut off by the sharp sting of a bowstring cutting into the flesh of her neck.

"Oliver may be stubborn but he's also broken the rules. Now he's vulnerable like everyone else." he whispered into her ear

Suddenly Chloe heard an arrow wiz by her ear and embed itself into the wood of her desk.

"Put her down" Despite the voice distorter Chloe knew exactly who it was.

"The archer just shook his head "You know what you have to do"

"I'm not that person anymore."

"You will always be that person. You're nothing without that person."

"Let her go." Chloe could hear the anger in his voice as he tried to control his words. It was slipping.

"Do it!"

"LET HER GO!"

"You made your choice Queen. You broke the rules. Now you'll pay."

As the air supply to her brain dwindled Chloe suddenly felt very clear.

She let her body slacken as if she had blacked out.

"CHLOE!"

"It's her life you're risking Oliver." He replied calmly.

There was brief pause and then Chloe heard the sudden rush of an arrow wiz by her ear just missing the archer behind her.

"You missed" he yelled at Oliver.

No he didn't

The archer had loosened his grip the minute he saw the arrow coming giving Chloe just enough wiggle room to break free. Slamming her elbow into his solar plexus she turned to punch him. Unfortunately he was still stronger than her not to mention full of oxygen unlike her and caught her hand without much effort. Just as he pulled back to hit her, Chloe felt something block it. Oliver had slammed into the archer landing them both on the ground.

Scrambling for her gun she cocked it to see the archer standing at the window again his eyes fixed on Oliver who was getting up off the floor.

"Finish this Oliver." And the he was gone. No puff of smoke, no flash of light, just gone as if he were no more than a trick of the light.

"Chloe" it was Oliver. He had somehow managed to get up without her noticing and was standing right next to her, "Are you ok?"

Gently he wrapped his hands around hers loosening her grip on the gun and placing it on the desk.

"Me? Oh just peachy" even as the snarky remark left her lips Chloe could feels the exhaustion hit her body and she began to sway.

"I'm sorry. I honestly didn't think he'd come after you. Lois, I expected, there are pictures of us together but I didn't think…" he trailed off.

"He went through your phone record. Looks like I'm going to have to change my number."

There was a beat as his eyes met hers. "You're bleeding" he said suddenly reaching for her shoulder.

"Here" he said helping her peel her cardigan off carefully. Pulling the first aid kit from another drawer he began to dap at the cut with rubbing alcohol.

"Ow"

"Sorry. Chloe I-" he started.

"Hey, it's ok. I've been through worse, remember? Evil billionaires, alien mind control, and then there was that whole death thing" she smiled trying to lighten the mood. Oliver wouldn't meet her gaze.

"So… friend of yours?" she said as he went back to dabbing

Oliver was silent for a moment. "Mentor" he replied. "When I first started out in archery I was part of a group, with special…skills."

"Assassins"

"How did you…?"

"It's my job to know" she replied sheepishly. After a moment she said "Oliver, he said something about you breaking the rules?"

Oliver finally met her gaze "No lovers, no friends, no allies. I've broken all those rules. To them caring about others makes you pathetic. Vulnerable."

Chloe snorted. She'd heard that one before. She looked back at the stained glass window. Turning to him she watched as he dabbed at the last of the blood and carefully applied a bandage to stop the bleeding. She put her hand over his.

"Well it's a good thing they're not right about that."

A/N: BLARG. Sooooo not the way I wanted it to turn out, but it's almost 2am and I'm sleepy. I feel like it's bordering on major cheese but I have to get up and go to school tomorrow so cheese it is. Maybe I'll write something better after Disciple.