Hey guys, welcome back and long time no see! I'm sorry I've taken so long to post a new chapter but I would love it if you would leave me a review. Good or bad comments, long or short, anything and everything means the world to me! Cheers!
Chloe and Lois had finally arrived at the hotel after being given a lift by Giovanni, Oliver's driver. The old man had chuckled to himself as he listened to Lois list reason after reason of why Oliver was such a great guy, despite his reputation. Chloe, in all honesty, didn't really understand most of the things that she was referring to and attributed that to the fact that she was from the past. As they were leaving the car, Giovanni had assured them that he would be waiting for the girls outside the hotel for when they wanted to go shopping for Chloe's dinner with Oliver later that evening. It seemed as though everyone knew about her date (was it a date?) with the billionaire- which was odd considering the driver was tens of storeys below them. Maybe Oliver Queen was as big a deal as Lois was saying earlier...
The pair strode through the lobby of the posh hotel, not talking as Chloe was too busy staring at the future as it expanded before her. People tapped their ears to start conversations with no one apparently or were poking at thin black slabs, ignoring the world around them. The receptionist gave a newly arrived guest a strip of plastic instead of a key that was paid for by another strip of plastic instead of money. Youngsters no longer wore bright colours- instead tending to wear darker, broody tones and woollen hats even though it was in the middle of a cool californian winter. She caught snippets of conversations that she didn't understand. Someone was going to 'tweet' about something someone had said on 'Facebook' while another declared 'they just had to have a selfie in front of the hotel sign so that her followers on 'Instagram' could see her there. It amazed the blonde that the world could change so rapidly in just thirty years and she was desperate to see more.
Lois led them around the corner and across an opening to the bank of elevators that would take them upstairs to her room but Chloe stopped and stared. It wasn't the 'National Newspaper Conference' banner that hung over the open double doors nor the fact that it was sponsored by the Daily Planet that caught her eye but an older lady that wore inappropriate knee high leather boots and a plunging dress. The blonde blinked as the old lady smirked at the person she was talking to and sipped champagne with a glint in her eye. Lois was left behind to spectate as Chloe moved forward without any real idea of what she was going to do or say- only she had to see for herself.
"Cat Grant?" she inquired meekly, placing a hand on her shoulder softly.
"No one's called me that in years," Cat remarked as she started to turn around- already dismissing the person that she was previously talking to. "I gotta give it to you, nobody normally has such a nerve to approach me so boldly, who are y-?" Cat finished her turn and stopped dead. She grew cold and rejoiced at the same time. It couldn't be true- it was like seeing a ghost. "Chloe?"
Chloe smiled at her now aged friend sadly. This woman had guided her and taken her under her wing when Chloe first joined the Daily Planet at eighteen and they had remained close friends over the next four years. She had pretty much replaced her elder sister as the sibling that Chloe never truly had. Now she had grown up and moved on while Chloe remained behind (or had she been thrust forward)? "Hey Cat."
"It's really you isn't it? Not a stroke as a direct result of all the pot I smoked in my college days?" Cat joked lightly, although there was still an ounce of fear laced in her voice.
"Yep," Chloe grinned, enjoying someone else's confusion. So far it she seemed to be the only one freaking out about the situation at hand and it was nice to have someone else on her level. "Don't ask me how or why but I'm here- thirty years in the future."
"I thought you'd been silenced- especially after you were sent to Russia a week before you disappeared," Cat revealed, relieved that her old best friend hadn't been killed off for knowing too much.
"So did I," Lois cut in, slicing her way through the crowd that milled around the pair of reunited friends.
"Lois?" Cat exclaimed in surprise, "how do you come into this?"
"She recognised me," Chloe replied, turning to her newly found niece and beaming at her. "Turns out she's my niece."
"So getting into trouble comes naturally with the genes then?" Cat smirked at the pair, who had the same look of pride on their faces. She could see the resemblance.
"You have no idea," Chloe admitted meekly, thinking of the blonde and very attractive billionaire they had left behind.
"She woke up in Oliver Queen's bed this morning!" Lois butted in, receiving a shocked look from her editor and an annoyed one from her relative.
"You've changed quite a bit Chloe," Cat noted with a underline of humour to her words.
"It's not what you think," Chloe immediately defended herself, raising her hands in mock surrender.
Cat laughed out loud as she looked at the pair. "Care to explain over a drink?"
"We've only got time for one boss," Lois shot in before Chloe could reply, "we've got to prepare for Chloe's date this evening: with Mr Queen himself."
"The details of which I need to hear; care to fill me in?" Cat requested as she led the pair to the bar.
"Of course," Chloe answered lightly as she and Lois followed the older woman across the room.
xxXxx
Oliver hadn't been to this part of town since his early drinking days- almost a decade ago. He had had the best night of his partying life here and the worst morning after. Some would have called it magical.
Located downtown, hidden amongst the abandoned buildings that were used for raves and busy flea markets that took over the space during the day, was a little dingy staircase. Upon dropping down the steps to a simple metal, barred door Oliver knocked the intricate knock that he had learnt many years ago and grinned at the eye that emerged once a peek hole cover had been slid aside. The door swung open wordlessly and it revealed a dark dingy corridor and once Oliver had walked down it and took a breath to steady himself, he pulled at the entrance door handle and stepped through.
Antithetical colour poured onto the canvases that were his retinas as Oliver soaked in the majesty of the place. Some would describe the clubhouse as disgusting but Oliver had always appreciated the lack of judgement that was found in the burlesque club. Scanning the room, the blonde could see that the police chief's son was having a whale of a time bunking off school and enjoying a performance of the dancers on stage. He also caught sight of the mayor's assistant flirting with the transgender running the bar and was satisfied that this was a place that anyone could call home.
Suddenly he was tapped on the shoulder and Oliver turned around to see a floating wine glass as the guilty party. Before he could react, two pink, feathered burlesque scarfs had tied his hands and legs tight and were carrying him like tribe's people did with a freshly killed animal, without assistance, across the room. Pieces of plastic scratched at his face as the trio passed through a bead curtain door into a darkened office.
The lights flicked on and Oliver caught sight of a woman sitting back in a chair with her boots laid on top of the desk before he fell unceremoniously onto the floor. The billionaire grunted as he hit the ground and immediately tore off the pink, enchanted scarfs. An attractive laugh broke out from above him and he rolled over to see Zantanna peeking over the top of the edge of the desk. "How nice of you to drop in Oliver," she beamed, tilting her head to one side.
"Never a dull moment with you is there Z?" Oliver snarked with a sarcastic smile. He gasped as he found himself sat in a chair of his own, sat opposite the raven beauty.
Her top hat was resting on a stand behind her but she was still wearing her fancy waistcoat and stockings that were associated with the sexy magician. She had the largest grin on her face, having spent many years in the company of the man in front of her in his younger partying days. She was one of the few proper friends he had made and stayed in contact with during that time. "You know me best Ollie," she smiled. "What can I help you with? I thought your birthday was a while away? Last's year's was pretty rocking."
"Yeah, rocking was one way to describe it," Oliver ruefully remembered his last birthday bash. "But I'm here for a far more serious reason."
Zantanna sobered up a little and sat straighter. "What are you talking about?"
"I woke up with a girl in my bed this morning..." Oliver started.
"That's hardly new Oliver," Zantanna smirked, uncrossing and crossing her legs differently.
"Well yes but normally they haven't travelled in time," Oliver replied bluntly.
"Sounds like you've got some new moves to show off Ollie," Zantanna joked, the cheeky glint in her eye gleaming as she spoke.
"I'm being serious. Her name's Chloe Sullivan and she's technically an accidental time traveller!" Oliver shouted, throwing his arms in the air. He was getting frustrated by her games.
Zantanna stared at him and looked at what had changed. "You like her don't you?"
"Does that matter?" Oliver snapped back.
"You've been lonely for so long Ollie, maybe this is someone answering your prayers," Zantanna summed up.
"So this wasn't you? You didn't do this?"
"No I didn't- there's not many magicians that could do this in history, let alone any alive right now," the magician informed him.
"Oh, right, of course," Oliver managed, slightly disappointed that he had failed to find the solution for Chloe on first attempt. "I should go, I'm eating dinner with her later and I need to prepare. Any tips?"
"Oh I don't think you need anything Ollie. I can just tell how smitten you are by the way you failed to notice my new bra I'm wearing," she winked causing Oliver to laugh uncomfortably. "But you might benefit from this..."
xxXxx
Oliver wasn't sure he had ever been so nervous in his life. He wasn't this anxious when he had lost his virginity nor when he had hosted his first board conference for Queen Industries. He certainly had never felt this way with any other girl.
His palms were sweaty and he couldn't sit still as he tapped his foot on the break pedal. Sat in his Aston Martin that he had had shipped over from England, he turned the radio on before quickly deciding to turn it off again. He gave his hair a quick check in the rear view mirror and almost jumped out of his seat when he heard a loud rap of knuckles against his window.
Turning quickly, messing up his hair in the awkward rapid movement, he set eyes on Chloe smiling at him from outside. He was absolutely taken away by the sight of her face and the dress she wore.
Chloe wasn't sure about the Frappucino that Lois had raved about when they bought coffee, preferring her coffee hot and from a proper cafe rather than a chain shop. Still, she was enjoying herself as the trio of reporters made their way around a shopping mall looking for an outfit that fit Oliver's recommendations of "smart casual."
She delighted in hearing the pairs' various stories about their shenanigans as reporters, from Lois accidentally accepting Bruce Wayne's drunken marriage proposal to Cat's spelling blunder in the headline of her acceptance of the editor in chief position at the Daily Planet article- therefore becoming the fastest editor to make a mistake in history. She was currently laughing at a story about Lois' "irritable" partner Clark Kent. "Personally, I think they're just trying to expel the sexual tension when they bicker. It was half the reason I put them together!" Cat whispered to her.
Lois missed this comment as she stopped dead in the aisle that they were walking along and stared at a blue dress hanging off the display rail. "Hold up, I've found the one."
Chloe stepped back from the car door as Oliver fumbled to get out the car. Despite his cool and calm exterior earlier, the billionaire floundered about like he was taking his first date to prom. It was cute. "Chloe, hey, how are you? You look beautiful," Oliver stammered, keeping his eyes on her face despite the temptations to look elsewhere on her body.
She was wearing a simple light blue dress that went well with her hair. It was strapless, exposing a little more skin than she was used to but according to Lois it was almost suitable for a nunnery these days- especially considering it showed very little cleavage. Just the right amount to "tease" Oliver as Cat had said. Finishing a tad above the knee, Chloe liked how the skirt was swishy and its length meant that she felt taller somehow- even through she had decided to keep with the casual theme by wearing pumps. Judging by the look on Oliver's face, she had managed to achieve the desired effect.
"Thank you," she replied, somehow sounding much more confident than she felt. "And I'm good thanks- how about you? You look very dapper."
Oliver laughed at that as he opened the passenger door for her, letting her enter before shutting it and dashing around the bonnet to his side. "I'm doing well myself," he answered once he was in his seat with his seatbelt on. "You ready to see where we're going?"
"I'm glad you're not one of those men who like to keep everything a surprise," Chloe smiled, relaxing into her seat.
"I didn't say I was going to tell you where we going, you're just gonna have to wait and see," he replied cheekily a he pulled out of the space and onto the road.
xxXxx
Author's Note: Hello again guys and welcome back. Sorry for being the worst regular uploader in the world but I literally had the busiest time ever. I also had to watch the Doctor Who 50th around 8 times because that's pretty much the law in England as well as loving tea and the Queen hahaha But seriously though, how cool was that anniversary episode?!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter- it acts as an important build up to the next chapter where our favourite couple go on their first date and a bombshell is dropped. I am such a tease :P The next chapter is mostly written and would be stuck on the end of this one but I had to get this out to you lot earlier as I felt as though I was letting you down by making you wait all this time. Here's a cheeky teaser:
Chloe stared about in amazement at the restaurant that Oliver had brought her to. They had waited outside the little bistro as other two other couples entered first, despite the fact that the owner had immediately recognised Oliver and had tried to let him through before the others. It was nice for Chloe to see that the power of money and influence had not gone to the billionaire's head... too much. In fact he even took the time to take some photos with the people in the queue as he was Star City's Unofficial Prince according to Lois. She respected that he had an image to uphold and appreciated the apologetic look he sent her beforehand. Chloe didn't need that though- it was sweet to watch as Oliver accepted the high five of a seven year old boy and press a cheeky kiss to the cheek of a teenager as she took a photo of herself with him. "I hope you're not planning to steal him off me!" She called lightly, joining in with the laughter that broke out.
Now onto my fav people in all of time and space: reviewers! I love you guys and you are being so generous and kind to me- you're the ones that keep me going!
Firstly: Madlenita thank you for your three reviews- you are the best! Cheers for all the positive comments and I hope you enjoy this chapter and tune in next time. Love to hear from you soon!
Next: Hellzz-on-Earth firstly I saw a comment from you on the story "Save it for Later" by elenorlaura on achiveofourown (great story for anyone who wants something to fill the gaps of Chlollie in season nine) and I have the utmost respect for the support you give to authors across this fandom. Thank you for that, we appreciate it. There's another cheeky reference in here if you can spot it ;) I love Lois too and have stupid amount of fun writing her and Chloe together with a bit of the comic's version of Cat thrown in (I didn't like how Smallville represented her actually). Hope you like the description of the dress :) Thank you again and you're welcome and I hope you enjoy this instalment.
Next: Guest. Thanks for the review, I'd love to be able to address you by a proper name- even if it is something totally random! Thank you so much- I hope you are satisfied by who Ollie called and although we didn't strictly get to see Lois' evidence I'm fairly sure Cat was enough proof. Date's up next and I hope you enjoy this rather late chapter!
Next: . Thanks for the review! You most certainly are haha can I get an autograph? :P Yeah you're right, this fic may have been spawned by Torchwood but it's taking a completely different spin hahaha I hope you enjoy this instalment and I can promise you even more attraction in the next chapter. Smut is something I still haven't ruled out as I sometimes enjoy it but sometimes think it is unecessary. I'm thinking of just making the observations of Oliver and Chloe a little racy but maybe it'll become more! Thanks for the review and enjoy the story!
Next: malugargula. Thank you so much, you have no idea what those two words mean to me. I hope you're enjoying my portrayal of Chloe and I'm afraid it wasn't Bart but not a bad guess considering! Maybe he'll crop up in a sequel or something! Hope you enjoy this chapter :)
Finally: sasha9353. Hey, so nice to hear from a new reviewer, welcome! You're welcome and thank you for the feedback- it's my main motivation. I tried to shake up the conventions a little and I'm glad people are enjoying the story. Hmm I can't tell you just yet, to quote River Song: "Spoilers!" I'm certainly going to put some lusty thoughts into the brains of our two blondes! Thank you so much, hope to hear from you again :)
Thanks again to you guys for reading and reviewing- I love you all. Any guesses on that upcoming bombshell? ;) See you again soon! Cheers!