Title: Bridge to Nowhere - Chapter 3
Author: Poetess
Pairing : Chloe/Oliver
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Season 9, Pandora
Summary: Takes place immediately after Pandora. After Chloe finds out about the future she starts to question everything about her life and work with the JL/Clark…and whether any of it really matters.
Oliver had sped over to Chloe's apartment at breakneck speed, nearly sideswiping two taxis in his rush to get over there. The eye catching Aston Martin screeched to a halt in front of her building and without regard to the "NO PARKING" sign he jumped out, slammed the car door and sprinted over to the black Lincoln sedan parked across the street; which currently housed the two men employed to keep watch over Chloe.
"Anything?" Oliver said as he bent down and leaned into the open car window.
"Nothing Mr. Queen" one of the men replied. "Ms. Sullivan hasn't left the building since we arrived this morning."
Oliver ran his hand over his drawn and tired face and let out a frustrated breath.
"Okay, I got it from here. I'll contact you if you're needed again."
"Yes Mr. Queen" and with that the two men nodded and quickly drove off.
Oliver turned and weaved his way back through the traffic filled street. He made his way into the lobby, giving a curt nod to the doorman. He immediately headed for the stairwell, having no patience for the elevator, and taking the stairs two at a time he quickly made it up to the third floor.
Slightly out of breath the blond billionaire finally found himself standing in front of Chloe's door. He made a move to knock but suddenly stopped, unable to bring his hand up to make contact with the door.
Oliver had been in such a rush to get over here that he hadn't given much thought to what he was planning to say or do once inside. He ran through a dozen different conversation starters in his head; all ranging from the overly angry "What the hell is wrong with you?" to the overly "Oprah" touchy-feely "Tell me what's wrong and how can I help?"
Everything Oliver could think up sounded so trite and utterly unoriginal that he could almost hear Chloe's mocking response in his head.
He chuckled to himself thinking about how much she hated anything and everything cliché; her quick and snarky wit never allowing such a travesty to occur.
"Fuck it" he muttered to himself, "I'll wing it."
And with decision made he proceeded to pound his fist on the door; rattling the doorknob with each blow.
He stopped after delivering three loud but determined knocks and listened for any noise from within.
Nothing.
He repeated his actions and listened again; hoping to hear footsteps or even Chloe cursing angrily behind the closed door; anything to give him a sign that everything was okay.
Still nothing.
Looking down at the antique brass doorknob he wondered to himself…Maybe
And sure enough as he went to turn the handle he was met with no resistance as the door swung wide open.
Oliver was momentarily shocked at how easy it was to get inside, given Lois's unsuccessful attempts the last three days.
He took a few tentative steps inside, not wanting to alarm Chloe if she hadn't heard him come in. Taking a quick survey of the room Oliver was looking for any sign, not just of Chloe, but of anything out the ordinary to indicate that she was in some kind of trouble or danger.
Everything appeared to be normal, tidy even; which is what immediately alarmed Oliver.
He had been to Chloe's apartment hundreds of times since she officially became his Watchtower; whether it was planning a mission with the boys or going over some newly discovered information about illegal Luthercorp dealings. All those times Oliver had noticed how Chloe's apartment was always in disarray; unopened mail sitting on her kitchen counter, half-read magazines strewn across her coffee table, and always a half-empty pot of coffee in the coffee maker.
He recalled a time not too long ago when he was standing exactly where he was standing now…
"How is it possible for you to be such a genius and such a slob at the same time?" Oliver said to Chloe who was kneeling on the floor peering underneath her couch.
She had been searching her entire living room looking for a missing shoe for the past five minutes.
"This from a man who has never even seen a toilet brush let alone picked one up" she quipped still down on the ground.
"Yes!" she exclaimed triumphantly as she came up from the floor with the shoe in her hand.
"Ordered chaos, Mr. Queen, ordered chaos" she said as she breezed past him.
He snorted at her but smiled as she disappeared into her bedroom. Oliver looked around and thought how comfortable and "lived-in" her apartment felt in comparison to his cold museum-like penthouse. Thinking back it was probably why he opted to have team meetings here instead of at his place or why the guys always chose to come to Chloe's apartment after missions to unwind.
It felt like home…she felt like home.
Forcing himself back to the present day Oliver walked through the living room and made his way toward Chloe's bedroom, sure that he would find her there.
"Chloe" he called out as he approached her bedroom door.
As he opened the door he found more of the same disturbing order. Her bed was made and her desk, which was normally topped with stacks of paper and her laptop, was completely empty. Oliver stepped inside and looked around, confused and growing more worried as each second passed.
He sat down on her bed and folded his hands resting his elbows on his knees, trying to figure out where she could be.
She hadn't left the building, his men assured him of that when he arrived. He had checked every room in the small apartment, including her bathroom and hallway closet. He had even checked under the bed, as ridiculous as he must have looked doing so.
As he sat there contemplating his next move his gaze wandered over to the dresser where he saw a large black suitcase along with a cardboard moving box that was partially open. He walked over to the suitcase and picked it up, and found it to be quite full and heavy. Oliver suddenly felt a knot beginning to form in the pit of his stomach. There was only one reason for a packed suitcase…and from the looks of it she wasn't just planning for a quick weekend trip.
He kneeled in front of cardboard box almost afraid of what he would find inside. As he lifted the partially closed top with trembling hands, he found himself staring at Chloe's entire life…in pictures.
There must have been at least a thousand pictures inside that box. Oliver reached in and grabbed a stack and started flipping through them. One of her 1st birthday party; one with her father holding her in his arms dressed as a pumpkin for Halloween; one in her cap and gown flanked by Clark and Lana at graduation; one of her, Clark and the Kents at their farm; one of her and Jimmy in front of the Daily Planet.
Then he had flipped to a picture of the two of them sitting on her couch. It was a candid shot taken almost a year ago when they had thrown Bart a surprise birthday party. Chloe was cutting the birthday cake as Oliver was looking at her laughing.
Dropping the other pictures back into the box, Oliver stared at the photo before him. He focused in on Chloe's face, her green eyes shining with such happiness. His own face exuded such a relaxed and carefree expression, one he had seemed to be missing these last three days.
But what struck him the most was how he was looking at Chloe; with such genuine appreciation and adoration; and something deeper…something that he wasn't quite ready to admit, even to himself.
"What are you doing here?" said a familiar voice from behind him.
Oliver nearly jumped out of his skin from the surprise and quickly turning around, accidentally dropped the picture at the size 5 feet standing in front of him.
He looked up to see Chloe standing inside her bedroom door holding a manila envelope and wearing a very unreadable expression on her face.
"I…I was…I mean…" Oliver stammered, as he stood up trying to recover from the shock and embarrassment of being discovered in her bedroom going through her personal things.
Chloe reached down to pick up the picture. Without even looking at it, she casually tossed it into the cardboard box as if she were throwing away a used Kleenex. Without a word she pushed her way past a still-stunned Oliver and knelt in front of the box.
She folded the flaps down and secured it before lifting it up and carrying it outside to the living room.
Oliver, who had finally recovered his ability to speak, followed Chloe to the other room.
"What's going on Chloe?" he asked sounding confused and still a little dazed.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that question?" she replied her back still turned as she placed the box on the coffee table.
"I mean you are in MY apartment. And I don't seem to remember inviting you in here" she answered in a very matter-of-fact almost deadpan tone.
"The door was open" he said and even before the words left his mouth, he was already mentally kicking himself in the head for making such an idiotic statement.
"And you needed no other invitation to come in and invade my privacy?" she asked, as she turned around to face him.
Oliver's head was busting at the seams. On the one hand he was overjoyed to see Chloe and to find that she was safe and sound; he was also confused about everything he had discovered in her apartment – the suitcase, the box of pictures; but most of all he was terrified of what he saw in her face.
As she looked him straight in the eye, Oliver was almost bowled over by the woman who stood in front of him. He didn't recognize her at all. Her face was ashen and pale as if she hadn't slept in days. Her green eyes, which normally exploded with color, now seemed gray and lifeless. Her mouth, which normally flashed a blinding smile, was now set in a thin line with rigid unmoving lips.
They stood there staring at each other; the small space separating them seemed more like a never-ending abyss, neither of them willing to take the leap.
Chloe raised her eyebrows slightly, daring Oliver to speak first. And never one to back down from the challenge, Oliver took a deep breath and closed the distance between them. He took two long strides and now stood face to face with her, their bodies mere inches apart.
Being this close to her after days of going out of his mind with worry was making his ability to think rationally rather difficult.
His irrational thoughts kept screaming at him, "Grab her and never let her out of your sight again!"
And as much as he wanted to give in, he knew better than to act on his emotions. He watched her for some sort of reaction to him. Yet still she remained stiff and Oliver could literally feel the cold coming off her body.
"Everyone's freaked out Chloe." He tried lowering his gaze to stare into her eyes.
"You up and vanished and everyone has been going out of their minds with worry; Clark, Lois, the guys…" Oliver trailed off.
Chloe stood quietly waiting for him to finish. When she looked into his face she saw him struggle for words, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, his forehead creased in concentration. When it seemed as if he had nothing else to say, Chloe started to turn away when she heard him mutter something under his breath.
Turning around she asked, "What did you say?"
Meeting her gaze once again he whispered, "And me…"
"You scared the hell out of me when I couldn't find you, talk to you, make sure you were safe…" He finally let it out as if a giant weight was being lifted off his chest with each word he spoke.
He continued on unable to stop the emotional floodgates from flying wide open now.
"I drove myself crazy trying to contact you, but all I got was silence. No phone call, no e-mail, no fucking note telling everyone to leave you alone!" Oliver roared on not caring about his volume.
"Do you know what that feels like??" He continued starting to move in closer. Chloe could feel the heat rise in her cheeks as she stepped back trying to maintain her personal space.
He was getting too close and she couldn't handle that…not now.
But for every step Chloe took back, Oliver took one more forward. He could see in her eyes that he was getting through.
Suddenly Chloe felt the wall solid and unmoving behind her; and she couldn't back up any further. Oliver quickly cornered her in, placing one hand on the wall above her head, making any chance of escape seem impossible.
"Do you know how it feels when you start imagining crazy whacked out scenarios about torture and pain and death where you, Chloe Sullivan, were playing the starring role?" Oliver said in a much quieter tone but with such fierce emotion in his words and in his expression.
She tried to avert her eyes away from his…knowing she could get through this, go through with her plan if she could just look away…walk away…and never look back.
But Oliver it seemed had different ideas about where she would be going at the moment.
Chloe closed her eyes against Oliver's penetrating gaze.
She retreated into her mind, recalling the last three days of her life and how she had arrived at her current state and her current decision….
Chloe was leaving Metropolis; and everything and everyone in it behind…forever.
So this took me a while to write, so please review/comment. I'll try to have the next chapter up in a couple of days (hopefully sooner with the help of more reviews !!)
