Thanks again to everyone who reviewed. You've all been extremely supportive during my NaNoWriMo experience. :) This is short, but I didn't want to squeeze it into the next chapter. Also, I posted chapter 5 a few days ago, so if you missed it, you'll want to catch up because of all that annoying plot stuff. lol

A/N One: This story supposes that Oliver never showed up on Smallville. The episode picks up at Hydro and then I go my own way.

Two: This is what I'm working on for National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo emphasizes quantity over quality and discourages extensive editing. As such, this story has been looked over once and that's it. I'm not promising any kind of quality in this story – not great dialogue, a firm grasp of characters, decent continuity, etc. - so read at your own risk.

Chapter Six

"Chloe?"

"Yes?"

"Do you really not like your codename?"

Chloe rolled her eyes, even though she knew that the large man sprawled behind her on her couch wouldn't see it.

"Oliver, I'm 5' 4". 'Tower' isn't a codename; it's irony."

Relieved by the silence, Chloe returned to the article that was due on her editor's desk in the morning. If she could just–

"But I worked hard on the names for you and AC."

"I know," she told him patiently. "And that's why we've kept them; because it means something to us that you put forth that effort."

"Really?"

His voice had perked up and Chloe was hopeful that his emotional trauma had been averted and she could return to work. "Really."

Her fingers inched forward to touch the keys of her computer.

"But you guys wouldn't let me name Victor."

Whining. The man who made criminals tremble was whining.

"Well, no. With Victor we had a chance to close the barn door before that particular horse got free."

He was quiet, but Chloe wouldn't fall for the lull again.

"But he named himself Cyborg! How is that creative?"

She wondered if it was remotely possible that he could be serious. "This from the person who literally named AC 'Water Man'."

"It has foreign flare!"

Idly Chloe considered if she could somehow keep her job if she gave The Post a jail cell interview concerning her murdering of Oliver Queen.

"Don't you miss the wide open spaces of your penthouse, Oliver?"

"AC's gone to the beach, and Victor's looking over possible upgrades with some R&D people."

"And?"

"And it's too early to patrol."

…

"And?"

"And I'm bored."

Chloe counted to three because she knew if she tried for ten he'd use the extra seven seconds to wear her patience even thinner. Finally she bit out, "Get a dog."

And at last he was quiet. But she could feel his contemplative air and didn't bother to even think about resuming her work so that he wouldn't have to forgo good manners to interrupt her.

"You'd want to take care of a dog?"

…

"Good point."

And it was, because she was sure that, within a week, the dog would be camped on her couch most days. Assuming whichever man occupying it at the time could be dislodged. Thousands of square feet of home in the most exclusive building in Star City and they'd all opted for a rotating schedule of time on her secondhand sofa.

So, no, there would be no dogs. As it was she'd been forced to relocate to the coffee table in front of the couch because, really, it didn't matter how much control she had over the team, getting a guy to give up either the sofa or the remote were things she knew better than to waste her time with.

"I didn't mean to come here and keep you from working though," he told her, his voice serious for the first time that evening. "It's just that…even with the guys around, I guess I'm kind of lonely."

Leaning her head back on the cushion, she turned towards him. She hadn't realized how close they were as mere inches separated her face from his. The endless depths of his darks eyes drew her in as the very air around them seemed to still.

"Sometimes it's more than just kind of," he whispered into the hush. "And you make it better."

Neither knew who moved, but it didn't matter as the distance between them melted away. With gentle movements and soft touches, their lips met.

Love had never been kind to Chloe Sullivan. She'd built a castle of dreams upon it only to learn it was the shakiest of foundations. It had made lows of her highs, defeats of her victories, and sorrows of her joys. The truth was, she was less than impressed with the entire phenomenon.

Yet, with Oliver's lips moving softly over hers, she began to feel something other than the constant dread that had been her heart's companion. And she allowed herself to open, however slightly, to the possibility that maybe love wasn't actually the culprit in her many woes. Maybe the problem was simply the choices she made because of it and the expectations she carried.

Suddenly every painful memory of love flashed before her; every bump and bruise her heart had taken washed over her, and Chloe knew that she was standing at a crossroads in her life. Because if there was one thing coming to Star City had taught her, it was that her life wasn't a set role she was destined to play out. She chose the path she walked on.

And as it was for her future, so it was with her past. Whatever had happened with her family and friends, her allies and enemies, it wasn't the situations that shaped her, but what she decided to take from them; what pieces she wanted to hold until they merged into her reality.

She could look back at working with Lionel and believe herself a fool, or she could see herself as a young woman who stood up and righted the wrong she had done. She could think of her relationship with Lana as time squandered on a friendship that could never fully flourish, or she could accept the fact that the girl who had, for a time, been her sister had helped her to learn to see beyond her big city prejudice, just the way that she'd always wanted the people of Smallville to see past those of a small town. And Clark…

Chloe knew that she could either fixate on the fact that her love was something he'd never wanted to have, or she could embrace the belief that her time with Clark had shown her the amazing depth of love she had inside to give.

It wasn't easy; wouldn't happen overnight. But she was finally ready to choose. And as she felt the reverence in the lips against hers, she made her choice – to start to let go of the pain, to begin to free herself from the grasp of painful yesterdays. She was tired of sacrificing herself on the altar of the past, and she cared far too deeply for Oliver to let him suffer for the wounds she was ready to let time heal.

At the first touch of their lips, Oliver knew that he was out of what he would have considered, given his experience with women, his considerable depth. It wasn't simply the exquisite feeling of her mouth moving against his own, or presence of her sweet breath against his cheek. All of that was perfect; drove his need higher than anything he'd ever experience. But it was more with Chloe. It was…everything.

Feeling a small tug in his chest, he half wondered if maybe, after all the waiting, the reality was simply too much for his heart. And then the pressure shifted, grew, and he realized that it wasn't physical at all. That feeling was …feeling. It was emotion. It was a swelling of pleasure, but not of any kind that he could name or even recognize.

His dealings with women had always been more cursory in nature. He shared his body, but never his heart. It was a mutually beneficial relationship where pleasure was transitory; found during brief interludes, but never to linger. It was a momentary distraction from the persistent ache of loneliness he carried, and he never felt tempted to make it more, nor did he guilty for what he couldn't give. He chose his partners carefully, and any disappointment they felt at the end of their encounter sprung solely from losing the name of Oliver Queen, and not the man.

But what he felt in that moment, lost in a caress born of a desire that moved beyond the flesh, warmed something so deep inside him that he hadn't know it existed; began to heal something he hadn't understood was injured. And he knew, without doubt, that when they finally drew apart, if she told him that it was wrong, looked at him with shuttered eyes and a guarded heart, that he'd fracture in a way that the years of emotional deprivation had not yet done. Because his heart was fragile, too, and he knew that she could break it with a word.

A soft sigh whispered against his skin and he remembered every reason that made it all worth the risk. The heights to which she could lift him were far from his stoic life on the ground, but he believed she wouldn't let him fall. He had to; it was why he had let her make a place in his heart.

Slowly, they parted. Silence filled the space where passion had flared and Oliver opened his eyes to look into the green gaze below. The soft, mossy depths revealed so many things as the shadows of her emotions ebbed and flowed, and he forced himself to be the one to step forward, to stand under the sword and trust that she wouldn't let it cleave him.

"Are you going to make me apologize," he asked softly as she moved back and his breath caught as he waited, watching her wide, serious eyes.

"Yes," she nodded slowly. "Now I'll never be able to focus on my article."

The breath he'd been holding left him in a rush at her words and the soft smile that accompanied them. She looked slightly dazed, and he knew that it was most likely reflected on his face. For two people so prepared for the worst, the best could be overwhelming simply for the lack of expectation. And as blissful as the moment had been, he knew that they both needed some time to assimilate the fact that they'd been – however briefly – happy, and the world had failed to end.

"Maybe I should start patrol a little early tonight."

"Crime waits for no man," she agreed.

The smile on his face was goofy as he made his way to the door. He knew it; could feel it in the tilt of his lips and the giddiness in his chest. It went against every preconceived notion of himself that he'd fostered in people for years. But his feelings weren't a liability and his happiness was not a potential weapon. Not when he shared them with her. Because she might not trust in herself yet, but he knew that there was no placer safer for his heart than in Chloe Sullivan's care.