September 27

Walking around the apartment, Chloe deliberated what she was about to do. Lois was officially moved out, making this the first weekend without her in the apartment. Evie had the late shift at Metro, and Victor and AC were covering patrols tonight.

Normally, this was code for Oliver and her having plans, but he had overseas business that he had attend to, and even Marnie insisted that Chloe enjoy her weekend.

How that was supposed to happen, she wasn't entirely sure. The apartment was eerily quiet and Chloe didn't have anything to work on.

It was late, but Chloe figured a short walk wouldn't hurt, grabbing the essentials: taser, pepper spray, phone, before walking out the door. The elevator, despite the hummable music that filled the speakers seemed dead quiet as it descended quickly. Stepping out, Chloe waved at a fellow resident who was doing some late-night laundry before going out the front door.

Within seconds of being outside, she realized that she had been drawn into walking towards Watchtower, but Victor had insisted on her having the night off, so she headed towards the clocktower instead, knowing Oliver wasn't in town tonight.

The building itself was just as quiet as the night she was getting used to, the elevator rattles not enough to break the silence Chloe knew. Feeling it stop, Chloe pulled the gate back, looking around the empty room before stepping out.

Slipping her shoes off in the entryway, Chloe walked slowly towards the clock face, her fingers gliding along the place that concealed Oliver's Green Arrow room. Eventually, she pulled the doors apart, revealing the place within. Everything had been laid out meticulously, and Chloe knew pretty much the entire layout and the majority of how things worked.

Sliding her fingers down his bow, Chloe found herself smiling, but it also made her wish Oliver was with her right now. Even though they say that clothes make the man, the gear is kind of pointless without the body that wears them.

Picking up the bow, Chloe placed it on the counter, playing with the tension settings and decided that she could use a little target practice to relax.

She couldn't explain why, but maybe it was because she always felt Oliver there when she pulled back the string. Even though she wasn't alone in her life per say, it made her feel better when everyone seemed to have plans. Pulling back, this time a lot easier than the previous two, she realized that her stance was wrong again.

Chuckling, she adjusted her footing slightly before looking back up. Chloe had only shot an arrow maybe a dozen times, but after her first attempt, things had been a lot better. Letting go, watching the arrow fly, Chloe felt satisfied where it landed. It may not have been a bulls-eye, but it was within a couple of inches, so all things considered, not too bad.

"You've gotten better," a voice called out behind her. It was close, closer than Chloe would have liked to admit because usually she was good at sensing people, but apparently the shot had taken over her senses.

"You're back early," Chloe remarked, not bothering to turn around and greet her visitor, although technically, she was the visitor.

"That's not a problem, is it?"

"Not at all," she replied, laying down the bow on the nearby desk.

"I was going to call you... but I guess you saved me the trouble."

"Is that what I am?" Chloe asked, quirking an eyebrow up as she attempted to turn around, but Oliver placed his hands on her hips to prevent such an action. So instead she leaned her head back onto his chest, just barely finding his eyes before adding, "Trouble?"

Oliver sensed that she was purposefully misunderstanding him, but instead of denying it, he took in a different direction. "Absolutely." He began undoing the buttons on her coat, sliding it down her arms to lay it down next to the bow. "You make it impossible for me to focus on work."

Feeling his fingertips slip under her top caused Chloe to catch her breath, but she was determined to at least sound calm. "And yet you're back early."

"Let's just say," Oliver replied, finding and undoing the clasp of her bra, "you're also motivation for getting work done."

"As long you get the job done," Chloe said, tilting her head to the side.

Oliver took that gesture to move her hair from her neck, kissing it softly before whispering in her ear, "Don't worry, I always finish what I start." Noticing the way Chloe's body tensed as his breath lingered on her cheek; Oliver kept his position, watching as she finally gave into him.

Turning her head first, Chloe found herself facing him straight on, curling her fingers under his shirt before she tugged Oliver towards her, his desire apparent the moment their bodies touched. A smirk grew on her lips before she looked up at him. She thought about saying a quip about how he had missed her, but it honestly wasn't needed.

Instead, she settled on, "So what are you starting now?"

His mouth inches from hers, Oliver quirked an eyebrow as he deliberated his many options of having her in this position. "That depends... what are your plans this weekend?"

September 29

Staring at her phone at she slipped her coat through her arms, Chloe noticed the multiple missing calls. "Lois is going to kill me."

Sure enough, as Chloe scrolled through the calls, her cousin made the majority of them. The only voicemail however, was from Evie, and knowing her friend, Chloe knew that everything would be okay. That, and there wasn't a single call from Lois after the voicemail, so it likely meant that Evie had confiscated Lois' phone again.

"I didn't hear you complaining earlier."

Chloe peered behind her, and she wasn't surprised that Oliver hadn't even bothered to put a shirt on. He was trying to make it very hard for her to leave, but after almost two days of... adult activity, Chloe really had things to do that she couldn't hold off anymore. "And you won't... I'm just never going to hear the end of it. That is, of course, if I can actually manage to walk into the elevator."

"You know," Oliver said as he pulled her close, nipping at a sensitive spot behind her ear, "I'm sure you could convince your boss to take the day off."

At this point, Chloe was doing everything in her power not to give in again. "Do keep in mind that part of that 'boss' is Tess which means it's not happening." Turning around, Chloe looked straight up at him and added, "Besides, Marnie said that she's got a big scoop coming, I can't miss a second right now."

"Suit yourself."

"Give me two," she paused upon taking a step back, wincing at the pain walking made her feel, even though she never regret the cause, "make that three days, and I'll make it worthwhile."

"I'll hold you to it," Oliver replied as he released her hand and watched her zip inside the elevator.

As the elevator started to move, Chloe pulled out her phone to see the time. Great, she thought upon seeing that she was already ten minutes late for work. Dialling Marnie's number, Chloe hoped she would forgive her tardiness, but her hopes weren't high because it wouldn't take much logic for her boss to figure out why she was late.

Marnie's voicemail kicked in as the elevator opened, so Chloe apologized profusely and continued out the door, hoping she wasn't in too much trouble.

Fortunately for Chloe, the traffic lights were working in her favour and she made it to the Planet in great time, so she dropped her purse on her desk and barged into Marnie's office, speech all planned.

Except she wasn't there.

Looking around, Chloe blinked, not believing that Marnie wasn't there. "No," Chloe whispered, remembering the conversation they had shared just last Thursday, but she shook out of it. There were plenty of better scenarios for why she was out of the office. Sick days, catching a lead, a last-minute interview, any of these things were possible.

"Hey cuz, you think you could proof-read this for me? The copyeditor is tired of my spelling mistakes."

"Sure Lo," Chloe said leaving the office as she absentmindedly grabbed Lois' story. But as she sat down at her desk, Chloe couldn't shake the feeling she had that something was wrong. "Have you seen Marnie this morning?"

Lois turned her head back to the empty office. "Come to think of it, no. Which is odd, considering she said that she had a hot story." She waited a couple seconds for Chloe to reply, but when she didn't, leaned over Chloe's desk and said quietly, "However, if you think we're talking about that, you clearly are mistaken."

Chloe attempted innocence immediately as she met her cousin's eyes, trying not to catch the attention of anyone else. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Ten missed calls cuz," Lois replied as she crossed her arms, "there's only one explanation for that, not to mention the hickey you're sporting this morning."

Eyes widening as she covered the left side of her neck, Chloe could hear her cousin laugh before adding, "Other side." With her victory at hand, Lois began to walk away from Chloe's desk. "You might want to hide that a little better."

Chloe blushed, but it quickly died down as she stared at her office phone. Give it a couple hours, she thought, everything was going to be fine.

~0~

Three hours and twenty... make that twenty-one minutes, and still no sign of Marnie at the Daily Planet. Her husband assumed she was working, Tess assumed she wasn't feeling well; it was the clichéd cycle that Chloe knew all too well when someone was missing. Feeling her nerves come back, Chloe decided to take her lunch break to Watchtower, hoping it would ease her worries.

The blocks blurred together after she left the building, as all she could remember were the words Marnie told her when she gave her a thumb drive last week.

"You want me to do what?"

"Safekeep it," Marnie replied as she filed some papers in her desk. "I've compiled some details on the story I'm working on, but I want you to..."

"What are you working on?" Chloe attempted to peer over at Marnie's computer, but there weren't any details in plain sight; she had probably made sure of that. "You usually give me details about your story before the threats come in."

That may have been the case, but Marnie knew what she had to do for this scenario, which is why she was forced to lie to her protégé. "It's the cautions of the job we do right? It's what makes our resolve stronger to bring the truth."

Chloe picked up the drive, trying to understand exactly what was going on. "But you don't want me to access the information, do you?"

Marnie nodded, knowing Chloe wouldn't likely listen to her, but at this point, she knew things were escalating and she had no choice. "Plausible deniability. The less you know for now the better."

Her mentor's averted eyes worried Chloe, because she wanted more, but Marnie had been in this game much longer than her, so the only question she could ask was, "What if anything happens to change that?"

With that, Marnie looked back up at her, straight into her eyes, in fact, and delivered the line that had engrained itself into Chloe's brain. "I trust you to make the right decision for yourself and the circumstances."

She had trusted her mentor, as despite Chloe's dying need for the truth, she hid the thumb drive at Watchtower, away from everyone, but now with Marnie missing, it had to be uncovered.

Bursting through the doors, she ignored Victor and Evie as they turned towards Chloe. She was on a mission and had to figure out what was going on. Pulling it out of the place where she hid it, Chloe immediately thrust it into Watchtower's database.

But it wasn't as easy as Chloe thought. The information wasn't easily accessible, and not only that, it was accompanied with a type of decryption Chloe had never seen before... which meant it would take more time than she wanted if she had a hope of getting the information.

"Damn it," Chloe muttered, not wanting to lose her cool, but this only amplified her anxiety.

"Need any help?"

Evie was surprised to see Chloe here in the first place, let alone using Watchtower's resources. Her and Victor were just having lunch when they saw Chloe come in, and from her actions, it was clear to Evie that her friend wasn't doing so well.

But when Chloe turned around, she gave Evie a questioning look. "You?"

It was a fair question, as Evie wasn't around a computer much, but that didn't mean that she didn't know how to use them. "I lived in an underground bunker for two months and in a FBI facility for four. How else do you think I hid my identity and fed you guys intel?"

Chloe rolled her eyes, feeling silly for doubting her friend's skills, but she intentionally decided not to answer her question as she turned back to the screen, hoping Evie would drop it. "Fair enough."

But she didn't as Evie walked up to the keyboard beside Chloe. The decryption seemed somewhat familiar, and while she had a feeling she could place it, she wanted to be sure, "What are we dealing with?"

Chloe kept typing away, but when the first two methods didn't give any progress, she stopped to slam her hands on the counter. "I don't know."

"You need to walk away from this."

It was Victor's voice that interrupted her train of thought, so Chloe turned around to face him, eyebrow firmly raised. "Excuse me?"

"I hate to agree with Vic, but he's right on this one," Evie replied quietly, knowing that she was right, but more importantly, that this was going to take some time. "You're clearly agitated right now, and that is only going to slow down the process." She hated to say it, but it was the truth. "How about you fill us in on what's bothering you and we'll take the decryption from here."

Chloe thought about arguing, but she knew she could trust them, so she gave in, not wasting time. "On one condition."

Evie nodded with a sense of relief. "We'll inform you the moment we crack it."

Chloe rolled her eyes "I have to get used to that."

"Don't. It doesn't get telepathy to figure that condition out."

"Fine, but I'll fill you guys in later. I'm going to see if I can find any leads in the field."

Evie was tempted to tell her to be careful, but she didn't know what they were up against. So, despite the bad feeling she had since Chloe entered Watchtower, she turned to Victor and said, "Let's get started."

September 30

"So... how was your first night patrolling?"

Feeling her feet hit the terrace, Evie replied quietly through her distorter, "Incredible, I see why you do it." Her and Oliver quickly made their way back into the penthouse before taking their glasses off. Oliver could see the smile on her face as he turned the lights on, a smile that Evie did nothing to contain.

It was amazing how much happened off the police's radar in one night. In a way, it was sad that Evie lost track of how many crimes they had prevented, but it also showed how much good that Oliver and his team did, and she felt privileged to be a part of it.

"You might want to consider practicing control on your adrenaline though," Oliver said as he walked around her, pulling back his hood and laying his glasses on the table. "I don't think you had to give that guy a concussion after I shot him with the taser arrow."

She smirked back, shrugging as she watched Oliver approach the clock face, behind which he kept his gear. "True, but I have a low tolerance for rapists."

Overall, it had been a successful venture, considering it was something Evie never saw herself doing. But being on the streets, helping people directly, it had a great feeling that came with it. The fact that Oliver was willing to deal with the extra weight on the zipline was bonus, because while Bart offered to take her to Watchtower, Evie really wanted to understand Oliver's place in the team.

For the most part, she had been in contact with Victor indirectly, and even though she knew about it, she had no idea how this life really was. But Oliver took her with his signature grin, and gave her a quick tour before coming back to the penthouse.

Heading over to the clothes she had brought along, Evie was about to express her gratitude when she heard a different voice. "No... freaking way."

Turning their heads towards the sound, both Evie and Oliver saw Lois standing at the end of the hallway, whipping her head between the two, mouth widening with each turn.

"I can explain?" Oliver said weakly, knowing it was likely a futile attempt, especially with the clock face doors partially open.

Evie focused on Lois to be sure more than anything and promptly shook her head. "Nice try Oliver, but we're both screwed right now."

"What the hell is going on?" Lois finally managed.

"Cliff notes version," Evie said as she slipped her hood off, "this is exactly what it looks like."

Lois wasn't even paying attention as she stared at Oliver. "You're Green Arrow? You?"

"Yes." Easily was never the manner of which Oliver wanted to reveal his alter ego, but the proof was right in front of her.

"And you... you're... who are you?"

Sighing before Evie turned back towards the bag which held her street clothes. "A long story that I don't have time for."

It wasn't what Evie wanted to say, but it was late, and she knew Lois would have plenty of questions, questions that Evie really didn't want to drudge up right now.

Oliver, seeing how the look on his friend's face dropped as she opened the backpack, intervened, hoping to reduce the tension in the room. "Lois what do you need?"

Lois wasn't an idiot, she knew this was awkward, and probably the furthest from which they wanted her to find out about their identities, but she was still disappointed. Why couldn't they trust her? Why did it have to come to finding out about them this way? But those answers could wait for now, there were more pressing matters as to why Lois was in the clock tower right now. "I was wondering if you had seen Chloe."

Those words froze both Evie and Oliver. She stopped rummaging in her bag, turning instantly to face Lois again. Oliver meanwhile, took a step towards Lois, and said, "I thought she was with you tonight."

"That's the thing, she never showed, and I got mad that she stood me up, but she's not here."

"Hold on," Evie said, activating her com, grateful it was still in her ear. "Echo online. Cyborg, any sign of Tower where you are?"

"It's her night off, remember?" When Evie didn't immediately reply, he added, "What's going on Echo?"

Gone. That was the status of her patrolling high. What was going on? No one likely had a clue. Sure, Chloe would stake off on a lead or something, but she always called either her or Lois, and with a blank message screen on her phone, Evie knew, something was wrong. "I'll touch base soon... we've got a situation. Over and out." Evie switched off her com to look back at Oliver, then Lois' face. She shook her head, knowing that words were pointless. "I'll have Cyborg handle a tracker on her phone... it's a start."

"Wait just a minute," Lois fired back, storming towards Evie, yanking her arm to get her attention. "Who the heck is Cyborg and what aren't you telling me?"

Shrugging off Lois' grip, Evie put her sweater over her uniform, giving both Oliver and Lois a stern look once she saw them again. "You two stay here."

"Why?" Oliver replied expectantly. "You're just as emotionally involved in this as we are."

"That might be true, but considering Green Arrow's past with Chloe in Star City, it might connect a few more dots than we want," Evie countered, knowing it wasn't what Oliver wanted to hear, but if the public saw Green Arrow as picking favourites, his credibility would slip. Not to mention the fact enemies may use Chloe against him, or use it to determine Oliver is Green Arrow.

Reaching into her bag again, Evie slipped her jeans on, oddly thankful for the skin tightness of her uniform so she didn't have to change. "You tracking her as Oliver Queen doesn't help much either, thanks to your paparazzi entourage. And if we do find someone who could help us out, they would likely be more forthcoming to someone like me instead of a Daily Planet reporter."

"Besides..." Evie dragged out, hoping to calm the room, "for all we know, she's okay."

It was more of a hope than an actual concept to Evie, she knew that, but Oliver wasn't aware of Marnie's disappearance, which lead Evie to believe she and Victor had some explaining to do once Watchtower had finished decrypting Chloe's intelligence.

Looking back up, it seemed that she had temporarily convinced Oliver, but Lois hadn't backed down. Evie bit her lip, knowing that the truth had to remain hidden for now, and that she had to get moving. "I'll tell you everything when I get back Lois, you deserve that much, but right now is not the time."

"Let her go Lois," Oliver said, trying to have her back right now while there were a thousand scenarios running through his head. "We can trust her."

Evie beamed as she looked at Oliver, who just nodded at her. She knew how hard it was for him to stand back at a time like this, but his faith in her meant more than he knew. Looking back at Lois, Evie watched her gesture towards the elevator, so Evie wasted little time getting out. With any luck, she was overreacting, and Chloe would be back by the time Oliver had finished coming clean.

Exiting the elevator, Evie quickly entered the streets with a call to Victor's cell, immediately saying, "I need you to track Chloe's phone... Lois said she never showed up," when he picked up.

"On it," Victor replied, typing away at Watchtower, hoping for a clue. "You're tracking this civilian-style?"

"I told Oliver and Lois to stay behind. I'm really hoping we can fix this, but unlike him, I'm not exactly comfortable jumping over rooftops, which means I have to stick to my strengths."

"Fair enough," Victor said with a chuckle. "Does that mean...?"

"Lois knows about him, yeah. As for me... well, I'll get into that long-winded speech once I know Chloe's safe."

Evie kept her fast walking pace, even though she had no idea where she was supposed to go. For that, she waited for Victor to give her the go-ahead. Her answer came within a couple of blocks. "I got a read on her cell, but you're not going to like it."

At this point, a read on her cell was more than what Chloe was expecting, so she fired back, "Try me."

"Right in the heart of Suicide Slums," he replied with a slight amount of hesitance, because even though he knew that Chloe could handle herself, that was never the first clue anyone wanted to her.

Picking up her pace, Evie said, "Get me there Vic... I need her to be okay right now."

Victor guided her to the location but Evie's face fell further when he said that she was seconds from it. There was no visual sign of Chloe, but Evie saw the purse in the hands of a homeless man, likely rummaging through its contents for anything of value.

Running up to the man, she drove him up to the wall, even though she knew it was a drastic manoeuvre. Watching the purse drop, Evie subtly moved it towards her hand, and held it up.

Forearm digging into the man's neck, Evie didn't hold back as she demanded, "Where did you get this?"

"On the ground, I swear," the man managed, clearly in shock over the attack.

Part of Evie wanted to feel bad, and remembered Oliver's words, but this was different. If this man had any information, she was getting it. "You swear, huh?" Ignoring the rational part of her brain, Evie pushed harder. "Where?"

He lifted his hand to waft it in a southern direction. "Fancy building downtown."

It wasn't much, but if it was the truth, it was a start. Evie stared at him harder to look into his mind, praying for an exact location, but to no avail. Releasing him, she backed away, and watched as the man caught his breath as he tried to run away, but she stopped him. "For fifty bucks, will you show me where?"

It didn't take long for him to reply. "You got yourself a deal, lady."

Digging into her pocket, Evie pulled out her wallet, showing the man her money. He reached out, but she pulled it back. "After," she deadpanned, trying to hold back the adrenaline and anger in her system. It was clear that it wasn't this man's fault, but that didn't make the situation easier for her.

For about ten, maybe fifteen, minutes, she followed the man, and as they got closer to downtown, Evie couldn't help but feel nervous. It was all of the familiar buildings that were coming into view, which meant it wasn't likely because of a lead that Chloe lost her purse. This really didn't look good now.

Time ticked by more, but Evie's heart rate didn't spike until she watched the man walk off the pavement and point down. "It was right here. I even waited ten minutes for the owner to come back."

Damn, Evie thought, taking another look around, for right behind her, was their apartment building. It was clear now that it was going to take a little more work to find Chloe. "Thank you," she said as she paid the homeless man, who was more than happy to take off after the money was given to him.

Holding Chloe's purse in her hand, Evie pulled out Chloe's phone, surprised to see it in there, but with that came the hope that something in her call log would explain where she was.

Half-way to Watchtower, Evie saw an unknown number, so she tried calling it, hoping for a break, but there was no answer. Not willing to give up on that, she went up the elevator, knowing that Victor would be able to track the call, but before she got inside, a text came on Chloe's phone.

This is what happens when you refuse to mind your own business. Don't make the same mistake as your friend.

Nervous about the picture attachment, Evie opened it anyway, and held her hand over her mouth. Chloe was definitely in trouble, and it looked like they were going to need all the help they could get right now. Victor's face didn't help once she opened the doors to Watchtower. Looking up, Evie saw the results of decrypting the thumb drive.

Nope, this wasn't good at all.

~0~

Despite having no idea how she got here, Chloe had lost track of time she had spent here, but it was at least enough to track the clichés. Dark room, likely an abandoned warehouse, a single light above her which didn't reveal much. She was hoping for duct tape or handcuffs, things she could get her way out of easily, but unfortunately, whoever took her knew what they were doing. The only duct tape around was on her mouth, meaning screaming for help wasn't exactly an option.

Pulling at the zipties that bound her wrists and ankles, Chloe winced as the hard plastic began to dig into her skin. Her arms were starting to get tired as they were wrapped around a pipe behind her back, but Chloe knew she wouldn't break, no matter how many seconds ticked by.

But she was pissed at how careless she had been. It was a simple lead, a phone number, but instead of trying to track it, she called it. Now, she sat here, all because she didn't follow her own protocol.

She wanted to turn her head when she heard the door behind her open, but Chloe knew there was little point in doing so. The footsteps were slow, almost calculated, which meant whoever was here wasn't on her side of things. So it didn't surprise her when Lex finally came into her line of view. This whole set-up reeked of LuthorCorp.

"Sorry about the tape," he remarked, "but you have a tendency of interrupting me." Leaning down, he stared into her eyes and said, "It will come off soon though... you will talk."

Chloe let out a muffled scoff through the tape, letting Lex know she wasn't going to give him anything he wanted.

"I have to say though, in my time away, your taste in men hasn't improved. First Clark, who never saw you, then Oliver Queen of all people... you know it's only a matter of time before he breaks your heart right? That's just who he is."

He rubbed his hands as he continued to pace around the room. "On the bright side, you meet a better fate than your boss. Unlike poor Mrs. Wilder... you serve more purpose to me alive."

Once the shock registered through her system, Chloe struggled through her bonds, but it was no use. She wanted to swear at Lex, but even if she could, it wouldn't change the facts. Lex had long made his bed; it just appeared there were more lines that he was willing to cross than Chloe thought.

"It isn't really a shame for me... never was a fan of her work." Lex finally looked back at Chloe, smiling at her predicament. "But then again, it's probably why you got along so well. You both were always sticking your noses into where it didn't belong."

He took a final step towards Chloe, looking down into her defiant eyes before adding what would be the final words she heard that night, "I'll spare the bloody details, but I want you to consider the possible consequences of lying to me when I ask you what I want."

With that, Lex walked away, leaving Chloe alone in her room again. She had to find a way out, because she had a feeling things were about to get much worse.