Chloe studied the sparse interview room they were holding her in. Before she could even start to worry about whether this really was the right course of action, Special Agent Powell and Special Agent McClane entered the room carrying trays of food and drinks. "I don't understand why we went out to get her food."

"Because I haven't eaten all day, it's a long story, and admit it Special Agent McClane, you're intrigued." McClane snorted. Chloe reached across the table and grabbed her sandwich.

"I also haven't eaten all day." Powell looked pointedly at McClane. "I was so close, oh so close to the most delicious meal of my life and you just had to go chasing murders." Chloe coughed pointedly. "Sorry, alleged murderers." She shrugged, that was slightly better.

"Please tell me we aren't talking about that stupid steak again?" McClane grumbled.

"One, don't ever refer to it as "that stupid steak"."

"It's just a steak Powell." McClane groaned.

"It's not just a steak; it's nowhere near just a steak." Powell got a faraway look in his eyes. "It is an artistry of meat, cows grow up hoping to one day become that steak."

"Cows grow up hoping to be slaughtered to become your diner?" McClane smiled at him.

"When it's prepared by Jonathan Pipper? You bet your ass they do." Powell said. "It took me eight months to get that reservation. I've been dreaming of that steak for eight months and instead I get this." He looked at his sandwich and frowned.

"It's a steak…sort of." McClane shrugged. "A steak sandwich."

"Did you get extra pickles?" Chloe interrupted.

"On the side." Powell said holding out Chloe's drink. "So start at the beginning, your beginning."

"Sure, no problem." Chloe took a bite of her sandwich and smiled. "So like I said, it started on October 10th, one hundred and fifty eight days ago."

October 10, 2008 (158 days ago)

"You promised." Chloe whined as Lois gathered various stacks of paper from different areas around the room and stuffed them into her overflowing briefcase.

"I know and I'm sorry." Lois grabbed the cup of coffee out of Chloe's hand and took a quick sip before handing it back.

"A girl's day you said. We'll do manicures and pedicures and facials and have a ridiculously expensive lunch and then go for drinks." Chloe reminded her.

"And then someone from Greenpeace decided to forget about the peace part and blow up an oil tanker." Lois pointed out, pausing to turn around and smile. "If you were still a reporter you'd understand."

"That's not fair." Chloe frowned then sighed dejectedly. "I need ice cream."

"You need to get out of your pajamas." Lois raised an eyebrow. "And take a shower."

"I'm not showering until Tibet is free." Chloe glared at her.

"You don't give a rat's ass about Tibet, you're wallowing." Lois pointed out. "You've been wallowing for two weeks." She pulled her briefcase on her shoulder. "Take a shower, get dressed, go outside, smell the fresh air, take a walk, then take another shower because seriously." Lois cringed. "You stink." She smiled slightly then opened the door and walked out.

"I do too care about Tibet." Chloe mumbled to herself and then sniffed her shirt and recoiled. "Ok, maybe I stink, but I'm not wallowing." She said taking the last sip of her coffee and then putting the cup in the sink. "Maybe, maybe I should change my clothes and fresh air couldn't hurt, and now I'm talking to myself. God, I really do need to get out of this house." She walked into the bathroom and turned the shower on.

After forty five minutes, gallons of water, and one worn out loofa, Chloe walked out of the bathroom with two less layers of skin feeling better than she had in weeks. She sighed and opened her closet wondering if she would feel different wearing regular clothes and then contemplated burning the pajamas that she'd been wearing for the past two weeks. She grabbed a few things, laid them on the bed, and then sighed. What difference would getting dressed make? She would be dressed but then what? She could take a walk, get some fresh air but after that she didn't have anything to do.

Three months ago she had it all figured out. She decided to get her life back on track, take over the Isis Foundation. But when she called Lana and offered to take the lead, Lana informed her that while it was a very generous offer she was shutting the place down, pulling her funding at the end of the month, and even had the audacity to ask Chloe to pack it all up for her. At first, Chloe thought about going it alone, getting her own funding and keeping the place alive with no luck. The bank wouldn't give her a business loan because she wasn't going to turn a profit and had no way of paying it back. She couldn't get private funding from Charity organizations because she couldn't explain why her foundation was different and why it supported such a small select clientele, not that they would believe her if she did. So two weeks ago she packed up the office and then used the last of her savings to pay for a storage shed because she couldn't bear to get rid of any of it. For a few seconds she considered just setting things up in the apartment and working out of the Talon, but while she was still living with Lois that wasn't going to work.

Chloe stared at the clothes she picked out and groaned lying down on the bed and closing her eyes. Maybe taking a shower was enough, maybe she didn't have to actually do anything else today. She should take it slow, baby steps would be best. Her phone rang and she slapped her hand around searching for it, not bothering to open her eyes. She grabbed it and answered. "Hello."

"May I speak with Chloe Sullivan please?" The voice was that of an older woman.

"This is her." Chloe opened her eyes to stare at the ceiling.

"This is she." The woman corrected.

"Wow, your name is Chloe Sullivan too, what are the odds?" Chloe smirked.

"No, I'm sorry, you see, when I asked to speak with Chloe Sullivan you said 'This is her' the correct answer is, 'This is she', I was simply correcting you." The woman said.

"Yeah, I actually got that. When I implied that your name was Chloe Sullivan too, I was using sarcasm in a poor attempt at a joke." Chloe grabbed a pillow and clutched it to her chest.

"I see, well I can't really be the judge of something like that; I've often been told that I have no sense of humor." The woman said.

"It was a bad joke anyway, don't worry about it. I'm sorry, I'm really off my game here, maybe we could start over and I could think of something better to say, funnier, or maybe you could call back tomorrow, then I'd have the whole day to come up with something." Chloe sighed. "I used to be good at this, the snark just rolled off my tongue."

"That won't be necessary thank you."

"I'm sorry, do you mind if I ask who I'm speaking with?" Chloe suddenly realized she had no idea who this woman was.

"To whom I'm speaking dear." The woman corrected her again. "I'm calling on behalf of Oliver Queen."

"Never heard of him." Chloe joked.

That seemed to catch the woman off guard. "The head of Queen Industries?" She added as if that would make a difference.

"Is he the guy who makes the iPods? Cause mine keeps acting up and I know I sent quite a scathing e-mail to tech support but I didn't think that the head of the company would call me personally." Chloe smiled.

"I believe you're thinking of Steve Jobs with Apple, Mr. Queen is…" The woman trailed off. "You're joking again aren't you?"

"Don't feel bad, that one was pretty bad too." Chloe told her.

"So then I'm to understand you do know Mr. Queen?"

"Tall, blonde, too good looking for his own good? Yeah we've met." Chloe nodded.

"Yes well, Mr. Queen would like to set up an appointment with you for ten o'clock this morning. Are you available?" She asked.

"Actually Emma make it eleven. I forgot I've got a meeting with R&D at nine thirty and they always go over schedule." Oliver called from the background.

Chloe sat up slowly a look on confusion on her face. "Is he sitting right there?"

The line was silent. "Yes."

"Let me talk to him." Chloe rolled her eyes and pulled on the shirt she'd picked out earlier.

"That really isn't necessary, are you free for eleven?"

"He's sitting right next to you?" Chloe pulled on her pants.

"Yes ma'am."

"So then I'm to assume that he's in close proximity to the phone?" Chloe grabbed her shoes pulling them on.

There was another pause and then a sigh. "Yes ma'am."

"But he couldn't call me himself?" She sat back down on the bed.

"Mr. Queen would like…"

"Yes I know what Mr. Queen would like." Chloe said. "I just want to make sure I get this right. He wants to make an appointment with me, he's sitting right there next to you and yet he couldn't call me himself."

"Really ma'am, he would just like…"

Chloe cut her off. "Yes, thank you." She hung up the phone and then dialed Oliver's cell phone number.

"Chloe." He answered halfway through the first ring with an amused tone in his voice.

"You had your assistant call me?" She balked at him.

"I needed to set up an appointment."

"You had your assistant call me while she was standing two feet away from you?" Chloe walked to the kitchen.

"I am busy." Oliver defended himself. "And that is her job."

"It's called multi tasking Queen, you should be a genius at that by now." Chloe joked with him as she started a pot of coffee.

"It's called delegating." He countered.

"Do you think that I'm the type of person that you should be delegating with?" Chloe asked him.

"That would be a no." He admitted.

"What do you need?"

"What? I can't just want to see you? See how you're doing? I have to need something."

She leaned on the counter top while he feigned indignation. "What do you need Oliver?"

"Just a favor." He said. "A tiny one."

"A tiny one?" She smiled. "So is this a tiny, 'Can you store some stuff for me' favor or is this more of a, 'I just need you to intercept a file, you probably won't be attacked by a crazy knife throwing ninja girl' type of tiny favor?"

"Well Dinah's decided she works better on her own and she promised not to interfere with our stuff anymore, so I can almost guarantee there shouldn't be any crazy knife throwing ninja girls." Oliver joked.

"You can almost guarantee there shouldn't. You're not instilling a lot of confidence here Queen."

"Come on Sidekick, ninja's are notoriously unpredictable, I can never guarantee against ninjas, especially crazy ones, it's in my recruitment contract." He paused a second as she chuckled. "So what do you say?"

Chloe took a deep sip of her coffee. "Not like I have anything better to do. But if there are ninjas, I want hazard pay."

"You got it." Oliver laughed. "Met me at the Clock Tower at eleven."

Chloe opened the elevator grate and stepped into the Clock Tower. "Hello?" She checked her watch, it was five 'til eleven so she was a bit early but someone should have been there.

"We're in the back." Oliver called out. She set down her bag and walked to the room behind the clock. Just as she stepped through the door an arrow zoomed past her ear and imbedded itself in the wall behind her. She looked from the arrow to Oliver who looked upset, but Chloe had a feeling that it wasn't because he'd almost hit her.

"Wow, impressive." Victor said in a bored sarcastic tone from beside him.

"It's still in the testing stages." Oliver put the bow down.

"What was it supposed to do?" AC pulled the arrow out of the wall and immediately dropped it, shaking his hand. Everyone looked to the ground as the arrow iced over, then formed a small circle of ice around the tip.

"That, only on a much larger scale." Oliver walked over and picked it up carefully and tucked it into a bag.

"That thing almost hit me." Chloe pointed out as she walked further into the room.

"I do have pretty good aim." Oliver rolled his eyes and Chloe glared. "It wasn't going to hit you."

"Hey Chloe." Victor stepped in to ease the tension and hugged her, AC and Bart following his lead.

"So you guys are back together now?" Chloe looked at the team.

"Better together than apart." Victor shrugged.

"I know the feeling." Chloe assured him. "So what's going on, what's the tiny favor?"

"It's all business with you." Oliver shook his head. "You can't relax a little? Let us catch up?"

"Fine." Chloe smiled. "How are you doing? Me I'm fine. Got no job, not sure what I'm going to do with my life or how I'm going to pay my rent. Are we all caught up? Good. You got any coffee?"

"None made but there is some in the kitchen." Oliver nodded behind her.

"So what's the big emergency?" Chloe opened cabinet and started the coffee.

"No one said emergency." Oliver got down the cups and creamer. "I didn't say emergency."

"You only call me in emergencies." Chloe leaned on the counter. "When you've exhausted all options."

"That's not true." Oliver shook his head. "You're pretty much generally our only option." She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. "But even if you weren't our only option you'd still be our first choice." Oliver back peddled.

"Nice save." She nudged his shoulder. "So what's the non emergency, tiny favor?"

"I may have lied." Oliver winced and handed her a cup of coffee.

"About the emergency?" Chloe sipped the coffee slowly.

"About the favor." Oliver sat down. "About it being tiny."

"So it's a big favor?" Chloe sat across from him. "How big?"

"Life changing big." Oliver admitted.

Chloe looked at him for a second and Oliver could tell that she was weighing something in her head. "I could do with something life changing right about now."

"I want to re-open the Isis foundation." Oliver told her. "Clark told me about what you've been doing, or rather what you've been trying to do. I want you to be able to do that."

Chloe looked at Oliver and tilted her head. "You want to throw money at me so I can re-open the Isis foundation and council the meteor infected?" Oliver nodded at her. "No."

"No?" Oliver smiled confused.

"No." Chloe shook her head and sipped her coffee, leaning back in her chair. "You're a great guy Oliver, a hero, the Green Arrow, defender of the weak and abused, but first and foremost you're a business man so tell me what the real reason for all this is?"

He smiled at her. "You're right." He took a deep breath and looked at her. "I want you to do what you do; by day I want you to run the Isis foundation and help those people that need help."

"And at night?"

"I want you to run the JLA." Oliver said.

"What's the JLA?" Chloe looked confused.

"We are." Bart ran in the room and rummaged through the refrigerator.

"Justice League of America." Victor explained.

"So you have a name now?" Chloe looked at them.

"We finally managed to agree on something." Oliver said. "So what do you say?"

"Before I decide I want to be absolutely clear about what you expect me to do here." Chloe told him.

"I want you to set up the Isis Foundation as our home office. You've got the supplies, you've got the equipment. I want to have a central hub where all of our intelligence is stored, where the guys can check in on a regular basis, maybe even work at that won't be suspicious like the Clock Tower or the Queen building, and I want you to run it. I want you to be our Watchtower, I want you to work out the details, I want you to do the investigating. I hear you're pretty well equipped for that sort of work now."

"Clark told you about my mad computer skills then." Chloe smiled wryly.

"He may have mentioned it." Oliver nodded. "I was a little confused on how you figured out the poison so quickly."

"Wow, didn't realize the king of secret couldn't keep other peoples."

"He's afraid that it's his fault and that it's going to hurt you, I think he was worried, he just wanted some advice." Oliver defended Clark.

"No it's fine. It's not like he posted it on MySpace." Chloe sighed. "What you're asking me to do is pretty huge."

"I know." He smiled at her. "Trust me I know what I'm asking you. Like I said this is a life changing favor, emphasis on the favor part. You don't have to do it."

Chloe rolled her eyes at him. "Of course I'm going to do it. I'm just not sure you've got the right person for the job."

"I think I've got the perfect person for the job." He assured her.

"You're the boss." Chloe took a deep breath and stood up. "I can get the stuff out of storage later today and start setting it up."

"Actually…" Oliver winced.

"I'm telling you boss man, don't let her see it yet, give us some more time." Bart stage whispered.

"Let me see what?" Chloe looked between Bart and Oliver.

Twenty minutes later Chloe stared into the lobby of the Isis Foundation with her mouth open wide. After a few false starts, she finally managed to articulate something. "I am literally speechless." She tried and failed miserably to step over a pile of half unpacked boxes. "What did you…how did this…why?" She turned around in a circle and surveyed the damage that lay in front of her. There were boxes upon boxes piled haphazardly on top of each other, desks and chairs on their sides, piled up to the ceiling, electronics and wires lying in a tangle in a corner.

Bart, Victor, and AC all took a step to the side then looked at Oliver. "You?" Chloe asked.

"I brought everything I had over and then Clark told me about your storage unit. The plan was to have it all set up before you got here but halfway through Victor pointed out you might like to set it up yourself since you'd be the one working here the most."

"This is halfway done? What on earth could it have looked like before?" Chloe gasped.

"Ok, maybe we should show her the good part now?" Bart offered.

"Yeah." Oliver said enthusiastically. He was afraid if she stayed staring at the mess they made for much longer she'd either hyperventilate or beat the crap out of him, or both. "That's probably for the best. Come with me." He held out his hand and helped Chloe climb her way back to the door. Instead of going outside however Oliver turned right and led Chloe up the stairs. She followed him confused as they arrived at a hallway lined with doors.

"What's this?" Chloe asked as Oliver stopped at the first door.

"Open it." He handed her the key. She gave him another look and opened the door, only to stop dead in her tracks.

"This is the part that I got finished." He walked up behind her. Chloe stared at the completely renovated, beautifully decorated apartment. There was a brand new fully furnished kitchen area, a nice sized dining room and a fully functional living room. There was a hallway towards the back where Chloe knew she would find some bedrooms and a bathroom.

"I don't understand." Chloe stepped in softly, treading very lightly on the brand new hardwood floors.

"It's for you." Oliver closed the door behind him after the guys filed in. Bart went straight to the kitchen and opened the fridge, which Chloe saw was fully stocked. "I thought, if you wanted, you could live here."

"Live here?" Chloe tore her eyes away from the room astonished.

"There's going to be a lot of long nights and I thought this would just be easier. Smallvile's pretty far away for an everyday commute and living above the Talon has got to be getting pretty old, not to mention I'm sure with Lois there it's not the best place for a newly engaged couple. It might make it harder to keep some things from Jimmy but…"

"Jimmy's not…" Chloe shook her head. "Jimmy's not really a factor in anything right now, or ever again."

"Oh, But I heard about the engagement and the cute little story with the plastic ring from the gumball machine."

"Don't make fun of that." Chloe frowned at him. "I shouldn't have said yes in the first place. I was stuck in Montana for so long and when I got out I just wanted to do something, I wanted to live and I thought saying yes to Jimmy was the right thing. But when the stuff with Isis started going downhill and I couldn't explain to him why it was so important to me and what the big deal was it caused a pretty big rift."

"It wasn't anything you could fix?" Oliver asked.

"Possibly but then…" She trailed off running her hand along the edge of the brand new granite kitchen countertops.

"Then what?" Oliver pressed on and she sighed.

"Well you." Chloe looked at him. "That night, when you were poisoned and I brought you here, Jimmy showed up and I couldn't explain to him what was going on, I couldn't explain to him why I was taking care of you instead of bringing you to the hospital, I couldn't even explain how I knew you. At first it didn't bother him, he thought it meant an exclusive. When he realized that not only was I not going to let him take any pictures, but I wasn't going to give him a story there was another fight. About the secrets and the projects and all the things in my life that seemed to come before him. He yelled and I yelled and I gave him the ring and we haven't spoken since."

"I'm sorry Chloe." Oliver said after a minute.

She shrugged. "I thought I could give it up and become a wife and a normal member of society but I can't do that, I knew I couldn't do that, but I could never tell him. Jimmy's a great guy but he's not this…" She motioned around to the guys. "He wouldn't understand what I do, he wouldn't be able to live with it and I think in a way that was why I stayed with him, he was my link to a normal life."

"Normal lives are overrated." Oliver offered.

"Yeah." Chloe smiled turned away. "Oliver this place is way too much."

"Not for what I'm asking of you." He shook his head. "It's really no big deal. I bought the whole building and these places were just sitting here, they might as well be useful."

"Places?"

"There are two other apartments." Oliver explained. "I fixed those up for the guys if they want to use them." He clapped his hands together and smiled at her. "So what do you say?"

"I say…" Chloe looked around the apartment and breathed deeply before turning back to Oliver. "I'm in."

"Yes!" Bart screamed from across the room and Chloe laughed.

October 16, 2008 (day 147)

"Wait a minute." McClane held up her hand to pause Chloe's story. "You're sitting here telling me that Oliver Queen, the Head of Queen Industries, the third richest man on the planet…"

"Second." Chloe corrected her. "Jacob Steinman just lost a bundle in the stock market."

"Ok, second richest man on the planet, is the Green Arrow?"

"Yeah huh." Chloe nodded. "Are you going to finish your fries?" She motioned to Powell who pushed his plate over.

"Oliver Queen is the Green Arrow." McClane repeated, working the thought over in her head.

"Yeah, that's not really the point of this story so if you could just keep up and stop getting sidetracked." Chloe checked her watch. "I've only got five more hours before the day starts over and like I said this is a long story."

Author's Note: I promise, I'll get to the first October 16th in the next chapter. I just had to set up the story.