Chapter 2

Clark was starting to feel frantic, after getting rid of Lana he called Chloe so many times he didn't recall the number. He super sped to Metropolis, there was no response and empty after a quick x-ray scan, he checked every room at the Daily Planet and even checked with Lois a half dozen times. What if something had happened to her? Running out of ideas, he started checking every coffee shop near her apartment and the DP hoping for a glimpse of his beautiful blonde girlfriend. Why did Lana have to kiss him, and right when Chloe came in, and why in the world did it take him a minute to pull away? He loved Chloe, he was absolutely sure of that now. He had suffered a moments hesitation when Lana had suddenly appeared. She was alive and that was great but after that kiss, he knew he only cared for her as a friend. Why did he need that kiss to discover that Chloe was the only one for him? And now he couldn't find her to tell her that. He spent the rest of the evening wandering Metropolis hoping to find Chloe and preparing to beg her back to him when he found her.

Oliver glanced at Chloe who was currently working on her third cup of coffee since boarding his jet. She was engrossed in reading over the security infrastructure of Lex's 33.1 building, her hands flying over the keyboard as she typed noted to herself and listing possible weaknesses and additional intel she needed to research later. So intent on her work, she didn't notice Oliver observing her. There was a glint of determination and excitement as she pursued her quarry and her teeth worryied her bottom lip. It was good to see Chloe like her old self again. Oliver briefly imagined soothing her poor abused lip with his mouth but mentally snapped himself out of that thought. 'Chloe does not need you lusting after her right now dirt bag, she needs a friend and that is exactly what he was gonna be' he scolded himself, 'for now' a ghost of a smile touched his lips at the last thought. His phone buzzed in his pocket and made he his way into the other cabin when Clark's name flashed on the screen. He had been preparing himself for this conversation and had to give himself a few pep talks as to why he shouldn't verbally cut Clark down like he so richly deserved.

"Clark" Oliver growled into the phone.

"Oliver what's going on, where's Chloe, do you have guys picking up her car?" Clark's questions rushed out as he glared at the men claiming to work for Oliver Queen trying to drive away with Chloe's car.

"Yes I did order her car to be relocated to her apartment because Chloe is otherwise occupied and will be for awhile."

"Where is she?"

"She requested I not disclose that to you because she does not want you to know, but I assure you, Chloe is just fine."

"What is Chloe busy with? What is Chloe doing? Are you putting her in danger? Why won't she talk to me?"

"Clark I think you know why she does not want to talk to you, you hurt her. And considering you and Chloe are no longer together, I do not see how it is any of your business what she is doing. I will keep her safe."

"We are not broken up!" Clark shouted into the phone almost breaking it in his vehement denial.

"It was a misunderstanding, Lana surprised me. If you could just get her to talk to me, I can explain everything to her and beg her forgiveness."

"I'll relay your message Clark, if she wants to talk to you, I'm sure she will call you. I've got to go now." Oliver clicked off the phone in the middle of Clark firing back more questions intermixed with demands to talk to her. His phone began ringing a few seconds later and Oliver turned his phone off knowing Clark would just keep calling until he picked up again.

"Shit" Oliver exclaimed softly, not looking forward to relaying Clark's message. He briefly entertained the idea of not telling her. 'Yea, that would go over real well. She just got crushed by Clark not being honest with her and you want to start lying to her. Plus Clark would know, he's like the human lie detector or something, not to mention Clark is supposed to be your friend.' Oliver turned and headed back to the other cabin resigned to his task.

"You know Chloe, when I asked you for help on this mission I didn't think you were going to chain yourself to the laptop for the past three hours. Why don't you take a break?" Chloe looked up blinking as if surprised to find another human being there. Grinning sheepishly she stood up and stretched her cramped muscles making her shirt ride up just enough to expose a sliver of her creamy taut stomach. A lightening bolt of desire to kiss her there shot through him.

"I guess I could use a break."

Oliver refocused his Chloe addled brain on the message he was supposed to give.

"I just spoke with Clark." Oliver watched her closely and tensed as her face became guarded and her bright smile dimmed.

"Oh."

"He says it was a misunderstanding, Lana surprised him and he wants to talk to you to beg for forgiveness." Oliver repeated the message through clenched teeth as neutrally as he could muster. Chloe's eyes became shiny with what Oliver suspected were tears but she did not let them fall.

"I know what I saw Oliver. She may have kissed him, but he was definitely kissing her back. I just waited so long for him, the first time I lost him to Lana and for it to happen again, even if he now regrets it..." Chloe shook her head softly, her eyes distant.

"I know now I'll never quite measure up to Lana Lang, I can't let myself go back to him," Chloe choked out, ducking her head in embarrassment.

"First of all, you and Lana don't even compare, she's a sweet kid but you are everything a guy wishes for and secondly, you don't have to justify your decisions to me. I support whatever you decide about Clark and if you need me to kick his butt, I'll hunt down some green rocks," Oliver said with a smile, only half-kidding. A watery smile appeared on her soft lips and her stormy eyes cleared up even as a single tear slipped past her guard, unbidden down cheek. Without thinking, Oliver leaned in and kissed her tear away, but he couldn't make himself pull away , her lips being mere inches from his own.

"I'm sorry Chloe" Oliver whispered and his mouth came crashing down on her lips, unable to stay away any longer. She gave a gasp of surprise and he used the opportunity to slip his tongue inside her. She tasted sweet with a hint of coffee and felt like fire in his mouth. He lost himself in her, his hand reaching to tangle itself in her soft hair, gently urging her head closer to him. And for the briefest most ecstatic moment, she responded to him, tiny moans escaping from her throat. He wanted to do nothing but continue to coax those moans out of her as he molded himself against her. That was a mistake. Chloe felt exactly how excited Oliver was and it shocked her out of her daze. She ripped herself away from Oliver and every part of his body screamed at him from the loss of contact.

"I'm sorry Oliver, I'm really needy right now. I think I should just get back to work, focus on the mission." Chloe took a few steps away from him and wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Chloe," Oliver hoarsely pleaded not really knowing what he was asking for.

"No I get it, you were trying to comfort me. I just really need a friend Ollie." An awkward silence descended between them as they both tried to compose themselves. Chloe got there first.

"Guess I should get back to the grind. Lex's facility isn't going to break in itself," she quirked, trying to ease the tension. Chloe retook her seat in front of her laptop staring at the screen. 'Okay that was really weird, but really good.' Her body flushed all over again just thinking about the kiss. "No, focus, you have a job to do. You have to get the team undetected into the building, release all the prisoners, take evidence, destroy the building and write it up for the Daily Planet; get your head in the game. Plus you just broke up with Clark and you are probably really confused!' Chloe gave herself a little shake after her mental scolding and began once again navigating through Lex's security intel.

Oliver viewed Chloe through hooded lids, trying to hide his frustration and disappointment. She just started working like nothing had happened, but she did give herself a little shake. The shake gave him hope that the kiss had affected her somewhat but he squashed that hope quickly. 'Idiot, keep your hormones in check, she said she needs a friend. Oliver settled himself into his seat and forced himself to focus on his business memos that had the magical ability to multiply themselves like bacteria no matter how many he got through in a day. If these memos didn't get his mind off a more demanding member of his body, nothing would.

Clark was miserable. He didn't want to eat, he couldn't sleep worrying about her. And ever since he picked up the picnic basket she had dropped, discovering candles, wine, his favorite pasta and, of all things, massage oil; his mind had been torturing him with all kinds of different scenarios on how that night could have turned out, usually leaving him with an overwhelming need to relieve himself. It had been almost two weeks and he hadn't heard from Chloe or Oliver and every time he spoke to Lois, he got a clipped 'Forget it Smallville, you lost her' and the dial tone. Guess Lois had talked with Chloe. Lana had called him repeatedly until he broke down and called her back. He explained as gently as possible that he was dating Chloe and kissing her had been a mistake that he would not be repeating, ever. His ears had rung for quite awhile afterward from the reverberation of the phone crashing down as she hung up on him. He didn't really care that Lana was hurt or mad right now, he would gladly spend the rest of his life pissing Lana off if Chloe would just forgive him and take him back. He had tried speaking to Bart, Victor and AC to try to wheedle a location out of them but they had all refused to tell him where she was. They assured him she was fine and each gave Clark their own way of showing disapproval for his mistake with Lana. He growled in frustration, tempted to start breaking things in his barn when his heart skipped a beat. Closing his eyes and holding himself still, he blocked out other noises and tried to focus on what had made his heart jump. A slow smile spread over his face when he realized he could hear Chloe. Her laughter still tinkled in his ears as he immediately honed in on her voice and he was in front of the Daily Planet before he knew what he was doing. He briefly debated getting her chocolates, flowers, diamonds, maybe his heart on a silver platter and dismissed each idea knowing she would think the gesture was trite and ripping his heart out would be counter productive since he very much wanted to be alive and with her.

She looked beautiful, he was thrilled to see her smiling, the last time he had seen her, she had looked pretty shattered. She had on a tight grey pencil skirt that showed her curves to perfection and a loose, soft looking creamy top; he just wanted to gather her in his arms and bury himself against her and hopefully she wouldn't mind if he never let go. Laughter still danced in her eyes as she hung up the phone and settled gracefully in her seat behind her desk. Clark softly said her name to get her attention and regretted it as her bright open face looked at him and became shuttered.

"Clark" she responded stiffly. 'Okay, she doesn't like you very much now, just give her the speech before she runs away again' Clark coached himself.

"I'm sorry for kissing Lana. She kissed me and it took me a minute to pull away and I know that was wrong. I guess a part of me needed to find out if I still had feelings for her. I was shocked that she was still alive, but it is crystal clear to me now that you are the love of my life and I'll do anything to get another chance Chloe. Please forgive my insanity, I love you." Looking at him at his most earnest and sincere, Chloe could not stay mad at him.

"Look Clark, I'm sorry I ran away from our problems. I just needed some space to think."

"So did you come to any conclusions after two weeks of thinking?" hoping she would say she forgave him.

"I would like very much for us to be friends again Clark. I really missed you and I understand about Lana but we don't work as anything more. It is gonna take some time and work from both of us but I'm confidant our friendship can get back on track." Now Chloe was hopeful for a positive response. Clark felt like he had been punched in the gut, or at least what he imagined being punched in the gut would feel like without super powers.

"Chloe, please give me another chance, I swear I won't screw it up again. I've been going crazy without you." Clark stepped towards her with the intention of holding her and not letting go until she agreed, but Chloe quickly backed away.

"I'm sorry, I just want us to be friends. You've broken my heart twice and I don't think our friendship could survive a third round."

"Your heart won't have to survive anything, I'll take care of you. I want to be with you and only you."

"I think the lady said no, perhaps you should be on your way unless you would like security to see you out." Lex casually intoned as he strolled closer to them.

"This has nothing to do with you Lex, stay out of it. What are you doing here anyway?" Clark demanded, suspicious of his presence. Lex ignored his question and picked up the phone on Chloe's desk, dialing the extension for the security office. Before the line connected, Chloe disconnected the call.

"Mr. Luthor, that's not necessary. He was just leaving and I really need to get back to work. Clark, I'll talk to you later." Chloe hated playing peacemaker to these two.

"Can I see you after work?"

"I'll call you, I don't know when I'm going to be done," Chloe evaded, unsure if she could handle being alone with him yet. Clark nodded and swallowed his desire to throw Lex through the brick wall and take Chloe as far away from him as possible; reluctantly he left to go wait for her call.

"Mr. Luthor, what can I do for you? Run out of businesses to conquer? People's souls to crush?" Lex smirked enjoying her barbs, their verbal sparring always left him with a desire to find out how well their tongues would spar physically.

"You'll know I've run out when I'm declared emperor of the world, until then my work is never done. I came by to let you know I've pulled your highly imaginative 33.1 story. And you can stop thinking of getting it to another newspaper, your "evidence" has mysteriously disappeared, including your well guarded back up disks. I know you would never try to get an unsubstantiated story printed, that's not your style. Would you like to have dinner with me?" Lex steamrolled innocently, like they were talking about the freaking weather or something equally innocuous. A million things she wanted to say and scream came bubbling to the surface but she tamped them down not wanting to give Lex the satisfaction of a reaction.

"No thank you, I seem to have lost my appetite. If that's all, I should get back work, you know my imagination is always coming up with a new story," Chloe bit out sarcastically.

"You should come to dinner, it concerns 33.1," Lex said mysteriously. Chloe weighed his words, considered interrogating him further but she knew he wouldn't give anything else away until they were at dinner.

"Let's go." Chloe headed out the door grabbing her coat on the way, not even looking back to see if he was following. Outside a limo sat idling at the curb in front of the Daily Planet and the chauffeur smoothly opened the door like he had been expecting her. 'Of all the nerve' Chloe thought of Lex as she slid neatly into the seat.

The ride was quiet, surprisingly Lex had not said a word since getting in, he just stared at her through half-closed eyes. Trying not to show her discomfort, Chloe stared out the window as they sped through Metropolis and thought about Oliver. During their time in Chine together, he had made it very clear he was interested in her but was careful not to pressure her. The team was determined to set aside time every day to take her out and explore China, like they were on a vacation. They all flirted shamelessly with her, they must have had a contest to see who could make her laugh and blush the most. It was unnecessary, but sweet of them to try to boost her self-esteem and she couldn't remember the last time she had so much fun and felt so care-free. She liked Oliver, but she also didn't want to jump into anything. It seemed like every relationship she had ever tried, she was the one that ended up getting burned. She couldn't keep Clark's interest, so she doubted she would have much more success with Star City's most eligible bachelor. But the attraction between them was real, maybe she should try just having a physical relationship. Chloe squirmed in her seat thinking about her and Oliver getting physical. Lex observed the movement and the faint blush that graced her cheeks and scowled knowing full well she wasn't thinking of him. He would fix that soon he promised himself. He let his imagination run rampant, fantasizing about tearing off her clothes and taking her against the plush leather seats. His face gave nothing away of his dirty thoughts as they continued their ride in silence.