Chapter Two: An Old Friend

"So how is Metropolis's next Pulitzer Prize winner?"

Chloe stopped her typing mid sentence. She knew that voice anywhere, even amidst the noise of the newsroom.

"Oliver!"

She turned around in her chair to find the head of Queen Industries standing a couple of feet away, a broad smile on his face. Clad in a casual leather jacket and jeans, he looked just he had the last time she had seen him, leaving Clark's barn with Bart, AC and Victor.

"You look great!". She got up and embraced him, hugging his body close to her. "I've missed you so much!"

"Hey, with a welcome like this I should go away more often", said Oliver, as she relaxed her grip. She took a step back, but kept a hand on each of his arms, like a child not wishing to let go of a treasured possession.

"So?"

"So….?", he replied, slightly shaking his head and giving her an expression of fake innocence.

"Oh, don't come over all coy on me, Oliver. I want to know everything. What have you and the guys been up to? Don't tell me all this hero stuff hasn't left you with some great stories. Come on, I want you to thrill me with your exploits"

"Thrill you with my exploits". Oliver smiled as he repeated the phrase. "Well, maybe we have been up to one or two things, but nothing special"

"Oliver Queen, if you've come here to play with me", Chloe warned, as she went back to her seat. She turned back toward her computer screen in a very deliberate way, and resumed her typing.

Oliver took a couple of paces towards her a placed a hand on each of her shoulders.

"Hey, I'm only playing. Forgive me"

He turned the chair round so that it faced him. He squatted down in front of her and put on his best pleading face.

"Please?"

"Do you think those eyes are going to work on me, Queen?"

"Absolutely"

She smiled. "You don't change, do you?"

"Never"

He got up and took a seat next to Chloe's desk.

"So how is Clark?"

"Oh, he's fine. Still wrestling with the potential superhero stuff, but you know Clark. How about the boys?"

"They're good. They send their best to you and Clark". There was a pause. "And Lois?"

"She's good, yeah, she's good". There was an extra note of lightness in Chloe's tone, an over-compensation for what was not being said.

There was another pause, each considering how best to move the conversation forward out of its momentary impasse.

"You should go and see her". There was no use dancing around the subject, thought Chloe, best to hit it head on.

"No…. I can't", the young man said quietly, the assurance of the early part of their meeting having evaporated.

"She misses you, you know that?". Chloe tried to offer reassurance.

"No, this way is the best for both of us". He seemed certain, but his tone had a sadness to it that was alien to the normally self-confident Oliver Queen.

"Besides, there isn't time. This is just a flying visit, Chloe, I'm here on business"

"Business? Queen Industries business or hooded green fighter for justice business?"

A smile broke on Oliver's face. He didn't need to say anymore.

"A mission!", Chloe's excitement was almost childlike.

"Yeah, a mission". Oliver pulled his chair a little closer to hers, and looked around to see if anyone was listening. In the noise of the newsroom there was no danger of anyone being able to make out their conversation.

"We've got a mole in Lex's operation. He's been feeding us information for two months, information that has been really useful"

"Who is he?"

"We don't know – but everything he's told us has been on the level. We've been able to inflict some serious damage on Lex in the last few weeks. And now he wants to meet – says he's got something big that he can only communicate face to face"

Chloe frowned. "Does he know you are, well, you know, the guy with the fetish for green leather?"

Oliver smiled. "No, all his communication has been with the Green Arrow. And that is who he is going to meet tonight"

"Tonight? What about back up? Where are the other guys?"

"They're busy on another mission. So its just me"

Again a frown betrayed Chloe's concern.

"Sounds like a trap to me"

"No, this guy's legit – Luthor has taken too many hits for him to be anything other than totally straight. But just in case, I've taken out a little insurance". Oliver reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small electronic device, no bigger than an ipod. He handed it to Chloe.

"It's a tracking device. We've all been implanted with a tracker, so if something goes wrong, the cavalry know where to charge"

"But there is no cavalry"

"That's where you come in"

"Me?"

"Yeah. You're my cavalry tonight, Chloe Sullivan. I want you to monitor my location and if things go wrong, call in Clark and the guys."

Chloe looked dubiously at Oliver.

Oliver stood up. "Look, it will be fine. This guy's legit, so nothing is going to go wrong. And tomorrow you and I can sit down and talk about old times"

He took a couple of steps away from her desk, and then turned.

"Just turn it on at eleven. I'll call you when I'm done, and we sort out lunch. Keep working on the Pulitzer!"

And with that Oliver strode out of the newsroom. Chloe looked after him, and then down at the device she had been given. She hoped Oliver was right, and that everything would go smoothly. Yet her journalist's instinct was nagging her, and telling her something was just not right.