A/N: Many of you have expressed quite a lot of interest in the anonymous character who witnessed Chloe's abduction. You will find out more about him in the coming chapters, and he and Oliver have a confrontation in Ch. 3. I planned to have him play a minor role in the search for Chloe, but I'm open to trying to include him more if this is something you guys think would be interesting. So, let me know your thoughts on this!

On another topic, I got my netbook back and my Word files are all there, but they've been corrupted somehow. For example, Ch. 10-12 of Letting Go have weird symbols interspersed with the text. Has anyone ever had this problem before and if so, is there a way to eliminate the symbols other than manually? I spent hours on this earlier today, but haven't finished cleaning up Ch. 10 yet. If you have suggestions, please share!

Chapter 1

Since Hal had planned to check in with his family before going to Metropolis, Oliver called for his jet and headed back to his penthouse in Star City to shower and pack a bag. Feeling more sober than he had in months, he pulled out his laptop and began to search for stories about Chloe's disappearance. While there were a lot of stories from the past week, when interest in her abduction had begun to rise, there were few details provided. Apparently Chloe had last been seen on a Monday and Lois had filed a missing persons report on the following Thursday.

The reason for the rising interest in Chloe's disappearance, as far as Oliver could determine, was that Lois had run across a police report in which an anonymous caller stated that he had witnessed a woman's abduction on Tuesday. The woman fit Chloe's description, and Oliver realized that the location given by the caller was outside the building he had helped Jimmy purchase for Chloe. From something Emil had said the last time he saw him in Metropolis, he gathered that Chloe had set up computers there and was using it as a base of operations from which to help Clark. After that, he had started to think of the building as Watchtower.

He shifted his attention back to the news reports, which all gave the same information: that a young, blonde woman matching Chloe's description had, according to an anonymous tipster, been abducted by a 'shadow' that had dropped from the sky and disappeared just as quickly. Police had dismissed the report initially until Lois pointed out that the description matched that of her cousin.

Within days, it looked like Lois had rallied the troops, so to speak. An article detailed the arrival of Senator Martha Kent as well as Lois's father, General Sam Lane. After that, coverage had really taken off and volunteers across the city had joined the search. Oliver realized that all of this had been going on for more than a week and he hadn't had a clue. While he'd been drinking and engaging in one self-destructive behavior after another, Chloe had been taken and God only knew what had happened to her after that. He felt sick again just thinking about it, and it reinforced every feeling of worthlessness he'd been feeling since Jimmy was killed.

He slammed his laptop shut, wondering exactly where Clark was in this whole investigation. He had seen photos of Lois with Martha and her father, but had not seen or heard anything about Clark. He pulled out his phone, a new one that he had not given out the number for. He scrolled until he found Clark's number and frowned when he got his voicemail. "Clark, it's Oliver. I just heard about Chloe and I'm flying back into Metropolis later tonight. I was hoping that you knew more than I'm getting from the news reports, so… uh, call me when you get this."

He moved to put the phone down and then paused before scrolling through the names in his phone's directory once more. He hesitated once more before dialing Chloe's number.

'Hi, this is Chloe. Leave a message and I'll call you back. And if this is Lois, please don't fill up my mailbox with Clark rants or rambling theories on your current stories – I love you, but you know I just delete them!'

Oliver found himself smiling a little as he listened, imagining the smirk that often accompanied her snarky asides. He put the phone down and rubbed a hand over his face as he stood up and grabbed his bag before heading downstairs to meet his driver. Thirty minutes later he was aboard his jet, fighting off the headache that was now replacing his earlier buzz. He grabbed a bottle of water and washed down a couple of pain tablets. He closed his eyes and leaned back against his seat as he waited for his pilot to announce takeoff.

"Sobered up yet?"

Oliver opened his eyes to see Hal settling into a seat across from him. "I thought you were going to meet me in Metropolis?"

Hal leaned back against his own seat. "I figured the flight might give us some time to catch up. More specifically, I'd like to know what the hell happened to cause you to go off the deep end over the summer because I'm sure you know the tabloid stories are not flattering. Then I'd like to know what's so special about this missing girl and why her disappearance has you running back to Metropolis so damn fast. I gather that you know her?"

Oliver rubbed his temple as he drank some more water. "I used to date her cousin."

Hal's brows drew together. "Wait, the girl's cousin is that reporter Lois Lane – this is the same Lois you dated a few years ago?" When Oliver nodded he sat forward. "Ok, so you're going back to help Lois then?"

"Chloe was – is- a friend. Regardless of my past with Lois, I'd want to help find her."

Hal looked like he was finally putting some pieces together in his head as he said, "You told me once that you had someone in Metropolis who helped you gather information on all those 33.1 labs that you and your team took out. Chloe knew you were the Green Arrow, didn't she? She was the one helping you."

"Chloe knew about the whole team. She was smart, you know? Just figured us all out and never said a word until she realized we needed her help one time when Bart was in trouble."

"So I take it the whole team will be helping with this?"

Oliver rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "I don't know because I haven't talked to the team – or to Chloe – in months. We had a mission that just went to Hell and Chloe… her ex-husband was killed. He shouldn't have been involved, but I brought him into it. I haven't seen her since the funeral."

Hal leaned forward as he asked, "Did she blame you?"

Oliver felt his chest burn as he let out a harsh breath. "You know, I think it would have been easier if she had? Jimmy wasn't in on all the secrets she was protecting, and she had tried to keep him out of it. It was the reason they got divorced and even though I was the one who got him involved, she told me it wasn't my fault. I just couldn't look at her – at any of them – after that."

Hal shook his head. "Man you've gotta stop doing stuff like this. Sometimes bad things happen, and we don't always make the best decisions, but punishing yourself won't change it and make it better for you or for anyone else." Hal was silent for a moment. "Her disappearance is damn strange, given this eyewitness account. Do you think it has something to do with her being plugged into the world of superheroes?"

"I don't know – I left a message for her friend Clark Kent. If anyone should know what she was doing, or possibly investigating, before she disappeared it's him."

"Kent, huh? I guess that explains the Senator's involvement. I also saw that she's the niece of General Sam Lane – with all of these resources at our disposal, we should be able to find out what happened to her."

Oliver looked out the window, watching the ground fall away as the plane took off. "I hope so," he murmured.

Lois walked through the newsroom with grim, determined steps. She had just filed her story for the day and she planned to spend the rest of it running down leads on Chloe. She knew that if she could just find out who had called in the tip about her abduction, she'd be a lot closer to finding out what happened to her cousin. She knew she was making the lives of local police hell, but she didn't care. They had dismissed her when she tried to file the report about Chloe, just like they had ignored the caller who claimed to have witnessed a woman's abduction.

One detective had been much more helpful, a homicide detective by the name of John Jones. Lois had been screaming at the detective in charge of Chloe's case when he had approached her and offered to help even though Missing Persons wasn't his department. He claimed that he had met Chloe a few times, and he'd be willing to do whatever he could to help. He was the one who showed her everything they had on the anonymous caller. The 911 call had been traced back to a pay phone near the docks. Security footage from a nearby warehouse showed the man, but the footage was not clear enough to pinpoint his identity. John had told her that despite this, officers had been patrolling that area and questioning any men who fit the general description of the man on the video.

After she had talked to Detective Jones she had felt much better about the police side of the investigation. Since he had known Chloe, he seemed to be more invested in the search efforts. Lois had then shifted her attention to gaining her father's help, which hadn't been difficult at all. General Sam Lane was a busy man, and maybe he wasn't going to win any awards for Father of the Year, but he wasn't about to ignore a member of his family literally being snatched from the streets of Metropolis. He'd arrived in town with all guns blazing and Lois had never been more grateful to have him there.

He'd been followed soon after by Martha, who had taken one look at Lois and simply held out her arms, causing Lois to give in to a mild breakdown. At that point it had been almost a week since Chloe had disappeared, and the strain of trying to hold it all together had begun to take its toll.

The one person whose help she did not welcome, however, was waiting by her desk again. "I have nothing to say to you, Clark."

"I care about her too, Lois," Clark responded quietly. "I know that you're angry, but I can help you find her."

"Now you care, huh? Where the hell were you when some monster dropped out of the sky and took her? I mean, you admitted to me that you had no idea what Chloe was doing in that neighborhood because you've barely spoken to her since Jimmy's death. What kind of best friend does that make you? With all of your abilities, you couldn't save someone who was your best friend for years, who protected you…" Lois felt her breath hitch as she clenched her fists and tried to calm herself down.

Finding out that Clark was The Blur had been a shock – she had been remembering more and more about her missing time, and one day it had just hit her. She suddenly knew why Clark always disappeared, why he seemed to know so much about Oliver's efforts as Green Arrow, why Chloe always turned extremely vague when it came to Clark and his activities. Once she realized the truth, she couldn't believe she hadn't seen it before. She had been so wrapped up in her epiphany that it had taken her almost two days to figure out that Chloe was missing. The guilt was there, but the level of anger she had felt toward Clark once she realized that he had been MIA from Chloe's life had swamped it.

Clark took a deep breath. "You have every right to be angry, Lois. But I want to find her as much as you do, and I'll do whatever I have to do to bring her home."

Lois ignored him as she grabbed her purse and walked away. She was walking down the steps of the Daily Planet when she was stopped by a few reporters.

"Miss Lane, is it true that a reward is now being offered for any information on your cousin's disappearance?" A tall, blonde reporter stuck her microphone in front of Lois.

Lois paused, quelling her irritation. "Currently we've raised $50,000 for any information that leads to Chloe's safe return. Any tips should be directed to Detective John Jones at the Metropolis Police Department."

"Actually, with my contribution the reward being offered is now $500,000."

Lois turned to see Oliver standing behind her with a tall, dark haired man she didn't recognize. The blonde reporter nearly tripped over her cameraman in her haste to get to Oliver, who simply reiterated that all information should be directed to the Metropolis Police Department. When Oliver tilted his head, she followed him away from the reporters.

They stopped near a newsstand that partially hid them from the people walking briskly along the downtown sidewalks. Lois eyed Oliver silently for a moment. Finally she said, "I guess I should thank you but first…"

Oliver reeled backwards as her fist connected with his jaw. "Jesus, Lois. That's your idea of a thank you?"

"Yeah well, if I hit Clark I run the risk of breaking my hand, so you're getting it for both of you."

Oliver rubbed his jaw as he watched her warily. "And you want to hit Clark because…why?"

Lois rolled her eyes as she poked him hard in the chest. "Please do not pretend that you don't know Clark's little secret because I am damn tired of being lied to. I figured it out, Oliver, and Clark confirmed that Chloe knew – it was a short leap after that to figure out that she knew about you too."

"I'm not denying anything," Oliver replied.

Lois suddenly shifted her attention to Hal, who was standing off to the side watching them. "Who's your friend?"

"Hal Jordan, meet Lois Lane, Chloe's cousin." At her questioning look, Oliver said, "He knows everything – well, not about Clark, but I guess that's out of the bag now. Don't worry, he won't say anything."

Lois nodded. "So, are you actually here to help, or were you planning to just throw your money around before you hit the Metropolis club scene?"

Oliver met her gaze steadily. "I'm here to help, however I can Lois. I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner."

Lois nodded. "Good. The detective I've been working with at the Metropolis PD is John Jones. He actually knew Chloe, so he's been more helpful than some of the others." A look of realization dawned on her face. "Wait, he knew Chloe; does he know you? About…"

"Yeah, he knows," Oliver said quietly. "Don't worry, I'll talk to him. What about Clark?"

"What about Clark?" Lois's lips tightened.

"I know you're angry about the secrets, but Clark could be a big help to us, Lois. Surely you realize that."

"What I know is that if he had been a real friend to Chloe, she might still be here. He's barely spoken to her since Jimmy died, did you know that? So you'll forgive me if I don't really want his help right now."

That news surprised Oliver, and he wondered if anyone really knew what Chloe had been doing before she disappeared. He had assumed Clark would know, but if Lois was right then that wasn't the case. "Where is Clark?"

Lois looked behind Oliver. "Coming down the steps of the Daily Planet; look, I realize that he can help you, but I can't deal with him right now. I'll talk to you later, Oliver."

Oliver watched her walk away before he turned to see Clark approaching him.

Clark nodded at Hal, his expression uncertain. "I got your message this morning."

Oliver replied to his unspoken question. "Clark, meet Hal Jordan. He's an old friend, and he knows about me and the team. He has contacts that could prove to be useful."

Clark held out his hand. "Clark Kent; I'm a reporter at the Planet."

Hal shook his hand. "Good to meet you."

Clark looked back at Oliver. "I was actually on my way to talk to Emil. He's been using Chloe's computers to run information searches, and I wanted to check in before I start running down leads again."

Oliver was surprised. "Emil is involved?"

Clark shoved his hands in his pockets. "Emil was the last person to see or talk to Chloe on Monday morning – the day before we think she was taken."

"And you think that she was taken that day based on the anonymous 911 caller," Oliver said, running a hand through his hair. "Lois mentioned that you and Chloe hadn't talked much since Jimmy's death."

Clark's expression closed up a bit. "No," he said shortly before adding, "I take responsibility for that. I thought I was doing the right thing, keeping her out of danger, but I was wrong."

Oliver wondered what he could have been thinking to cut Chloe off like he apparently had, but he also knew he was in no position to be throwing stones at the moment. "So you don't have any idea if she was looking into something that could have gotten her into trouble? I mean, if we can believe this witness, then her abduction doesn't sound like random street violence. Whoever took her must have had a reason."

Clark shook his head. "We're going through all of her files, but we haven't come up with many leads yet."

Oliver looked over at Hal before saying, "Mind if we tag along? I'd like to talk to Emil myself."

Clark nodded. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you came back, Oliver. Chloe will be glad too, when we find her."

Oliver noted Clark's use of the present tense and was relieved that the other man hadn't wavered in his resolve to find Chloe. He and Hal followed Clark to a neighborhood only a few blocks from the Planet. He looked at Clark questioningly. "Emil is at Watchtower?"

"It's where Chloe was spending most of her time," Clark replied.

Oliver looked up at the tall building. For a while after Jimmy was killed, he hadn't been able to look at the building without remembering the day he found Chloe covered in blood and crying over Jimmy's body. The sight of the imposing structure caused a visceral reaction, and he'd done his best to avoid this part of town altogether.

After he'd learned that Chloe was working from there, he had imagined her in Watchtower mode in the same room, and that image had gradually become the more prominent one. He had even found himself drawn back here once after the Toyman incident; he'd stood across the street and imagined walking in there and letting Chloe help him. Somehow he'd known that she would help him get his life back on track, that there would have been no recriminations from her. But in the end he couldn't make himself walk across the street, and it was a struggle to do it today as he followed Clark into the building.

The elevator ride was a silent one and when they exited on the top floor, Clark walked over to the double doors and pushed them open. Oliver followed with Hal, but stopped short in surprise as he took in the large room. This looked like a command post, with several computer stations and multiple monitors set up in the center of the room. Of course Oliver knew that Emil had withdrawn a significant sum from the JL account, but he'd never imagined that all of that money had gone into setting up Chloe's Watchtower.

Hal whistled as he looked around the room. "Damn, your friend was a computer wizard I take it? This is some serious equipment."

"Pretty sure she could hack into the database of her choice from here," a familiar voice said. "But we all know that was Chloe's specialty."

Oliver turned to see Victor Stone standing at the top of the stairs. He walked down, followed by Bart, Emil, AC, and even Dinah. Oliver looked over at Clark in surprise.

Clark smiled a little. "They all came as soon as they heard about Chloe. Regardless of our other differences, we all want her back."

Bart walked forward, holding a burrito in one hand. He slapped Oliver on the shoulder. "Good to see you Bossman. I have more burritos if you're hungry."

AC came forward next, followed by Dinah. "About time you got here," AC said as Dinah nodded at Oliver.

Emil adjusted his glasses. "Welcome back, Oliver."

Oliver felt something relax inside him as the ache he'd been carrying around for months eased a little. Just like that, they were all willing to accept him back. He knew that they'd have to talk some things out eventually if they planned to get the team back together, but right now finding Chloe was the main objective for all of them. Clearly, no one was interested in wasting time by pointing fingers at one another.

One of the computers pinged as a search concluded, and Victor walked over to computer station. He hit a few buttons and then looked over at Oliver. "Looks like we may have a lead on this mysterious 911 caller; we hacked the city cameras and ran searches to track Chloe's movements prior to her disappearance. What we noticed pretty quickly was that she was being followed."

Oliver walked over to stand next to Victor. "Who the hell was following her?"

"Meet Sergeant Matthew Ford of the U.S. Army. According to his military file, he was an Army Ranger for a little more than eight years and served five tours in Iraq. This obviously explains why Chloe hacked the D.O.D. system."

Hal had joined them at the computer station and he looked at Victor sharply. "She hacked the D.O.D.? How the hell did she manage that?"

Oliver snorted. "You'd be surprised what Chloe can manage with a computer and an Internet connection. So Vic, you're thinking what? That Chloe knew she was being followed and ran a search on this guy herself?"

Victor nodded. "Chloe was no green recruit, so it makes sense that she might have noticed that he was following her. But she ran that search several days before she disappeared, and she didn't throw up any red flags, so she obviously concluded that he wasn't a threat."

AC spoke up. "He also wasn't following her during the week before she disappeared. We caught him on a few cameras, always coming from the direction of the docks, and he usually headed in the direction of Watchtower, but he wasn't on any of the footage we found of Chloe during the days before she was taken."

"But if he saw her being abducted, he was still watching her," Hal pointed out. "If he wasn't trying to hurt her, then what was the point?"

Oliver shook his head. "We don't know what his intentions were, but the fact that he was stalking her doesn't exactly fill me with the warm fuzzies."

"Well, we know he wasn't the one who took her if he called to report her abduction, but that doesn't mean his interest in her was entirely innocent," Dinah agreed. "What we need to do now is find this guy and persuade him to answer our questions." Her tone indicated the type of persuasion she thought might be necessary.

"Let's find out everything we can about Mr. Ford," Clark said. "The 911 call was made from a pay phone near the docks. Maybe he lives or works in that area."

Victor went to work on the computers. "I should have what we need by this afternoon, and we can all hit the streets tonight, see if we can find this guy." He looked over at Oliver, one brow raised. "Now that you're back, how do you feel about green leather?"

"I hear it's in this fall," Oliver said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I'll have to make a trip to the clock tower and get my equipment."

Victor hesitated, but then walked over and hit a button on the wall, revealing Oliver's uniform and gear. "She never gave up on you man – none of us did."

Oliver walked over and ran his hand over the leather of his uniform. He cleared his throat. "Which is why we're not giving up on her." He looked over at Hal. "Feel up to taking a spin around the city tonight?"

Hal grinned. "Thought you'd never ask."