Title: My Undefined
Author: aquaxeyes
Rating: T for sensual scenes
Full Description: Chloe didn't know what was happening between her and Oliver, but when someone from the past resurfaces, she starts to realize how much he really means to her.


Author's Notes: The last chapter! Tons of thanks to reviewers of the previous chapter: Rebel Magnus, simplysteff, XxXLilRedXxX, brainchild, kim, iheartBL, batgirl2992, epic sweetness712, Jeremy Shane, libra20, Snapplelinz, Madlenita, jmmjlr12, bluchampaegne, Lady Lemons, katheryn, vmikaelian, nequam-tenshi, smallville12, and ChamberlinofMusic.

Instead of watching the season 10 premiere I worked on this story last night, so don't tell me what happened until Sunday, when I get the time to see it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story.


Six.


Present

chloe. Chloe. Chloe Sullivan. CHLOE!

Chloe's eyes flew open. She was back in the dark room again. It was like opening her eyes underwater, the scene rippling before her. And then she realized she wasn't breathing.

Forcing her mouth open, she gasped, racing to the surface. Air rushed into her lungs as she made it to consciousness. Too much. It was too much. She coughed, air coming in too fast. Who knew you could drown on air?

After taking what seemed like hours to get her bearings, she let herself think. Just a second ago, she thought she heard Oliver's voice, as real as though he'd been whispering in her ear. He sounded urgent, worried. Like he was trying to reach her but couldn't.

She shook her head stiffly. Her mind was playing tricks on her. She need to face the reality of her situation. She couldn't feel her limbs anymore. They weren't cold, or heavy. No pinpricks. Nothing. At least she wasn't shivering anymore. She was almost finished turning into a statue. No one was going to save her.

She exhaled slowly. For the first time in hours she whispered something into the blackness.

"I.. wish.. I'd told you."

She wished she'd told Oliver what he did for her. He saved her in a profound way. He made her laugh. He made her see hope in the world. He made her want things she was depriving herself of. He gave her all the things she wanted. Acceptance. Respect. Trust. Friendship. Passion. Work and play, he was someone she could do both with. When she saved him by orchestrating the whole situation with Roulette, she never expected him to return the favor tenfold. Truly, he was the kindest, gentlest man who knew and could handle who she was.

If only she'd told him what he meant to her instead of waiting until all she had left were memories of his face.


Less than a day ago

Oliver stood in the middle of Chloe and Lois's apartment, fighting the itch not to snoop. He was waiting for Chloe who, hours earlier, called simply to say, "Victor's with Justin at Watchtower. I told him I wanted to take the night off." He would have to be an idiot to miss what she meant.

What he didn't get was how she'd been acting lately. After their conversation at Watchtower, Chloe submerged herself back into her work, which included coffee runs and Justin. What it did not include was food, sleep and him. He was fine without the mind-warping sex-really, he was-but Chloe was ignoring him. Granted, it wasn't like the last time when she dropped almost all communication between them, but it was enough for him to notice and develop a bit of concern.

And today he received her electronic request for vacation time a few weeks from now. What was going on? Where was she planning on going? What was she going to do?

He thought they were a team and, with all that happened in the past few months, he thought she'd be more open. Did she not trust him again?

He took a few steps toward the fireplace when he noticed a brochure on the coffee table. He picked it up.

McDougal Inn. It was a small, quaint place in the middle of nowhere. Free breakfast, backwoods to take romantic walks-

He paused. Romantic walks. Chloe had a brochure about a relatively unknown inn for free breakfast and romantic walks. He exhaled sharply. She'd never asked for vacation time before. She'd never even expressed the want to take a break from their work. Now she wanted a chain of overnight stays with romance and food.

It had to be Justin..

The very thought of Justin and Chloe running off to that stupid inn together had him seething. Justin had been a pain in the ass since the day he showed up and inserted himself into their lives. He had Chloe wrapped around his finger with his awful one-liners and nostalgic high school memories. Distractedly, Oliver's fingers closed around the brochure.

A throat clearing made him stop and turn around. Chloe stood by the door, hand still on the knob. "That was mine, you know."

Embarassing. "Sorry." As she closed the door and started to free herself of her jacket and coat, Oliver tried his best to uncrumple the brochure. It was easier than trying to figure out what to say next. He went with something slightly irrelevant. "Where's Lois?"

"On another adventure with our favorite farm boy. I think Clark calls it a date."

"Do you have feelings for him?" he blurted out. When he saw Chloe reel he decided that wasn't the smoothest way to ask a question like that. He wasn't going to apologize for it, though. The question had been bugging him for a while. The only way to make it go away was to get an answer from the one person who could provide one.

He just wished the school boy feeling would quit washing over his body. How immature, his mind rebuked himself, asking a girl if she liked another boy. Yet he had to ask. It was important, and it wasn't important-or at least it wasn't supposed to be important. Either way, he felt stupid throwing a question at her that left him vulnerable. But it was hard to figure out where they stood since Chloe wasn't the typical woman who acted in a fairly predictable way.

Chloe slipped her shoes off, processing the reasoning behind his question-a question she was sure was in reference to Justin Gaines. All she could come up with was that Oliver was one part confused and two parts jealous. She understood the confused bit-she was completely confused in terms of what they were-but jealous? Slowly, she walked toward him, watching desire burn at the same pace. The start of a dangerous, addictive game. Before she could get caught up in it, she answered the best way she could. Truthfully. "Yes, I have feelings for Justin."

Oliver furrowed his brow. She admitted it. Then how could she say that and start what suspiciously looked like her infamous seductive slow-walk toward him? He had to clear his throat of the sudden dryness, clear his mind of her beautifully promising intention."Care to expand on that?"

She stopped in front of him. She undid the top button of his shirt. "Justin and I have history together." Another button. "We dated." Two buttons. "He understood me on a deeper level, just like he does now-"

Oliver caught her wrist in his hand. She looked up at him, realizing he didn't want her to ignore how serious he was being. Even the promise of bedtime fun wasn't a good enough distraction. She looked down at the brochure, sitting crinkly on the coffee table, and back at him. Oh.

It didn't take her long to put two and two together. Oliver saw the brochure. He then asked about Justin. The jealousy bit made sense now. He thought.. wow. Matching his eyes, all playfulness gone, she said, "I care about him and respect him because he's a good person. I like him because he's a good friend."

He wasn't placated. "I'm a good friend."

She stared at him. Was he really trying to compare night and day? Sure, Justin was a good friend, but she didn't trust him with her life-and more importantly the lives of the world. She didn't banter with him, fight passionately with him. Oliver Queen was her partner in justice. He was the man she chose to sleep with. He was the one that got her. Softly, she said, "You're more than that, Oliver."

He let go of Chloe's wrist and stared back. The depth in her eyes made her words come to life. She didn't have anything more than platonic feelings for Justin. Finally, an answer that put him at ease. "Sorry. He's your ex. I had to ask."

She bit back a smile, unsure of whether or not she hid it. "I've been pretty tolerant about the exes who are still in your life, considering I dislike one and I'm related to the other," she said, taking a seat on the couch.

"Don't rub it in," he said. Now relaxed, he joined her on the couch. "So this vacation at McDougal Inn was.."

"My idea of an escape from the city. And friends. And co-workers. And your ever-vigilant fans, the paparazzi," she said, completing his statement.

He reeled. My fans? "You were planning a trip for us?"

Chloe smiled and took his hand. "Don't take this the wrong way, but Ollie," she said, giving him a light kiss, "you can be so blonde."


Domo arigatou, Mr. Roboto, domo. Domo. Domo arigatou, Mr. Roboto, domo. Domo.

..wanna see me doin' my thing. All you gotta do is plug me into high. I said high.

Chloe shot up a millisecond before Oliver did.

Domo arigatou, Mr. Roboto. Domo arigatou, Mr. Roboto. Domo arigatou, Mr. Roboto.

High voltage rock 'n' roll. High voltage rock 'n' roll.

Chloe grabbed her cell phone from her nightstand at the same time Oliver fished his out of his jeans pocket. Simultaneously, they greeted, "Hello?"

At first, there was no response. Oliver flicked the light on the nightstand lamp on. Chloe called out, "Victor?"

When he didn't respond again, she hung up and waited for Oliver to put his phone on speaker. They could hear breathing. Though part robot, Victor Stone still respired. Judging by how often and how heavy he was respiring, he was running. Oliver, more alert, asked, "What's happening Cyborg?"

"It's Justin. He took off after he got a call from an unknown number on the cell phone we gave him. One of his co-workers has been kidnapped."

They flung out of bed, reaching for clothes. "You couldn't stop him?" Chloe asked, reaching under the bed for Oliver's back-up Green Arrow gear.

"Let's just say having telekinetic powers redefines hysterical for me," came the response. "I'm still feeling the computer monitor he chucked at my head."

"Sorry," she said, only able to imagine what else Justin tore apart.

"Not your fault, Chlo," he said. "Look, he jammed the elevator on the main floor by pushing the emergency stop button, but I'm heading down the stairs-"

"Reverse course, Robot Man," Oliver interrupted. "I planted a tracker on him. You should be able to uncover his destination plans with our computers."

He saw Chloe stiffen for half a second as she pulled her shirt on. She didn't say anything, which mean that although she wasn't exactly happy he took the precaution, she was glad they could use the tracking device to find Justin.

"Where are you guys at?" Victor asked, breaking the thin ice.

His eyes flickered to her. "Smallville. Don't worry, we'll make it."

"Okay," Victor said. "I'll call you when Justin's dot stops moving."

When they were fully dressed, Chloe turned to him. What she said next, he didn't expect. "Mr. Roboto?"

"What?" he asked defensively. As they were rushing out of the apartment, he said, "It's a thematic song. More popular than High Voltage."

Chloe deadpanned him. "If it's so popular you'd think more people would know it was Styx. No one would mistake AC/DC for Queen."


They sped into Metropolis in record time, Oliver flooring it the entire way. Chloe didn't mind. The clock was ticking, and every second was another second lost for finding Justin. She didn't want to admit it, especially to Oliver, but she was really worried. She and Oliver were too busy playing hookie from their jobs to be there when Justin was contacted. Now they were playing catch-up, and she didn't like the idea of being even a single step behind.

She watched the street lights fly by, breathing through the adrenaline pumping through her system. Her stomach churned. Something awful was going to happen. She could feel it.

Oliver started dialing Victor's number and set his phone on speaker. He didn't like how quiet Chloe had been, but he knew she was stressed, concerned for Justin. He just hoped she had enough faith in him and the League to help save the brunette and his co-worker.

"I got him," Victor reported upon answering. "He's heading toward Main and Benson."

"Not the most upscale area," Chloe commented as Oliver took a quick right.

"Yeah. I think he's going for the corner diner. It closed down a few months ago."

"A showdown?" Oliver asked in his modulated voice. "How cliché."

"There's more," Victor said. He paused for a while, then added, "I was able to trace the call on his cell. Kacey Franklin ring a bell?"

Chloe glanced at Oliver. Oh, no. "She's a telepath, with a friend who can camouflage herself. I believe they may be working for a woman who wants to turn Justin to the Dark side."

"Not good," Victor interpreted. "How far away are y-"

Oliver barely saw the body flying fifty feet in front of him before stomping on his brakes. Car tires screeched, burning into the road. They stopped two feet away from Justin, flinging back into their seats so hard Oliver, at least, thought he might have concussed them both. He turned to Chloe. "Are you all right?"

She was breathing hard, but she nodded. Half-dazedly, she unbuckled her seat belt and climbed out of the car. He joined her, walking around the car to Justin's prone form. "Justin?" she asked, turning him on his back.

Justin was knocked out cold. His right arm hung oddly, indicating a dislocated shoulder. He had broken glass in his hair, and his face was scratched up from skidding on the road.

Oliver looked from him to the empty diner. "Wait here," he told her, and ran into the diner.

It was dark. His eyes were taking forever to adjust. As he stepped in further, he heard a small crunch of glass. He brought his arm up in time to block a blow from a woman dressed head to toe in gray. She went for another blow, but he deflected and backed away. "Camille, I presume?" he asked.

"The infamous Green Arrow," she said, scoffing. "Am I supposed to be impressed?"

"I don't care," he said, breaking into offensive. They fought back and forth, neither getting the upper hand, until he backed her into a corner. He went for a right hook when she suddenly disappeared. All around him he could hear laughter, but whenever he turned to confront Camille she wasn't there.

In the meanwhile Chloe held Justin's wrist, checking for his slowing pulse. "Come on, Justin. Wake up."

"What do we have here?"

The voice made Chloe jump. To her left, Kacey emerged from the side of the diner. In all black, she looked like she'd been part of the shadows, parting only to confront her. Chloe's heartbeat picked up the pace. Where was Oliver?

Oliver didn't see her until it was too late, and he was crashing into an upturned table. His body screamed in pain for a second, but he ignored it in order to defend himself from Camille's series of attacks. Every time he thought he had her, she would disappear and send him off-balance to the other side of the room.

In the distance he heard a shout from a voice all too familiar to him. Chloe. She was in trouble.

"You're the girl from his apartment, the one who tasered me," Kacey stated. When Chloe didn't deny it, she smirked. "What's a normal, pretty little thing like you doing with a meteor freak? Don't you know he'll only bring pain and death?"

Chloe stood up and stepped in between the telepath and the telekinetic. "Justin is nothing like you."

The smirk lifted into a darker smile. "He will be." With that, she ran at Chloe. Chloe cried out in shock. They both toppled to the ground, Chloe on the bottom. The wind was knocked out of her. She tried to fight back, but Kacey grabbed her by the neck and started to squeeze.

Oliver planted his back against the wall, gasping for air. Enough. He wasn't going to let some cocky amateur get the best of him. Taking an open stance, he grabbed an arrow from his quiver, nocked it on his bow, drew up to his anchor point and closed his eyes. He cleared his mind of everything-of his past, of Justin, of fighting, of Chloe-and focused. Archery saved his life from the very beginning, and it was what would save him now. And when the moment finally came, he opened his eyes and took the shot.

Two seconds later, Camille dropped to the ground, knocked out by the tranquilizer in his arrow. Oliver shuffled past her without another thought and climbed out of the broken window of the diner only to see another woman sitting on top of Chloe, choking her.

Oliver pulled another arrow out of his quiver and was nocking it when Kacey's head turned toward him. "Be still," she said, and his body was no longer in his control. He knew he needed to take the shot, strike Kacey before she could hurt Chloe more, but no matter what his brain was telling him to do, he couldn't do it. Everything in him fought against her hold, but whatever mojo she had was Clark Kent strong.

Kacey laughed. "Good boy," she said, and bent down to speak directly into Chloe's ear. Unexpectedly tenderly, she began. "You're alone in a dark room. It's empty. Cold. There's no sense of time, just the feeling of restlessness.."

Oliver wanted to yell, do something to make her stop, but Chloe was already lulling into a state of unconsciousness. Her eyes rolled back in her head as she closed them, succumbing to the reality Kacey was painting for her.

"No one can hear you. No one can see you. No one can find you-"

Out of nowhere, Victor tackled Kacey. They hit the ground rolling, though both were quick to get back on their feet.

"Stay where you are!" she shouted at him.

Victor plowed into her again, sending her sliding ten feet across the ground. She looked up, shocked. "My robot half doesn't listen to anyone but itself," he said, and swung at her hard enough to make sure she stayed down.

Oliver felt the control of his own body come back to him like a warm blanket. Sure, his muscles ached from being mentally frozen in place, but he was glad to be able to put his bow and arrow away of his own accord. It was an odd sensation to have lost that self-control. It was like he'd been paralyzed, his will taken away, and all he had was a small part of his mind to hold on to his own thoughts. He was grateful Kacey didn't have the ability to read his thoughts, too, otherwise she might have actually destroyed him from the inside out.

"You okay?" Victor asked.

He nodded, then his eyes came to rest on Chloe. He rushed over, knelt by her side. He lifted her up with one arm and held her face with his free hand. "Chloe?"

His voice sounded off. He didn't like it. Maybe she couldn't register that it was him, Oliver, who was trying to get her to snap out of it because his voice was that of Green Arrow. He ripped his hoodie and glasses off. "Chloe?"

No response. She just lay there, lifeless like a rag doll, her skin turning an odd blue.

Oliver looked up at Victor. "She won't wake up," he said, still reeling from the shock of that fact.

"You think what Kacey said really got to her?"

"You saw me," Oliver said. "I got that way in two words. She was going off on Chloe."

Victor studied Chloe's face. He placed a hand on her forehead. "Her skin's ice cold."

Oliver checked it himself. Victor was right. She had to be ten degrees lower than the normal body temperature. "Chloe Sullivan. Chloe!"

Before he totally lost it, Oliver checked himself. He and Chloe were put under Kacey's mojo at around the same time. Kacey didn't say much to him, but she was the complete opposite with Chloe. When she passed out he was released, but Chloe wasn't. Why?

Oliver stared at her face. Chloe was fading, he and Victor knew it. He had to act fast. "Chloe, listen to me," he said, throwing all the strength he had in his voice. "You are on the corner of Main and Benson. Justin's here. Victor and I are here. You are right here." He took her hand, squeezing it. He remembered everything Kacey said. Now he had to use that to get through to Chloe. "You can get yourself out of that room. You have to hear us and see us. You have to find us."

Like a miracle, Chloe took a deep breath. "Ollie?" she asked, her eyes still closed.

He squeezed her hand before letting it go so he could hold her face. "Right here."

Weakly, she half-opened her eyes. "I'm cold."

He looked at Victor, whose face shown relief. His gaze went back to her. "I know."


Epilogue.


Chloe walked into the hospital lobby right as Justin was walking out. She hid the concern of seeing his arm in a sling with a smile. "Just who I came here to see."

He smiled back. "Perfect timing. I checked out a minute ago." He lifted his free hand, filled with paperwork. "This is my first free hospital visit."

Her mind went to Oliver and her smile turned genuine. She had no idea what happened when Kacey put her under, but when she came to Oliver was there. At first, he insisted she go to the hospital with Justin, but aside from a couple of bruises she was fine. She was unconscious for four minutes at most, after all. But she was glad Oliver took care of Justin's hospital bill, despite Justin's quote "lack of finesse" with handling the fake kidnapping of his co-worker. "Don't make a habit out of it," she said.

Justin led the walk toward the exit. Chloe waited a beat before asking, "So what's next for you?"

"Oh, I don't know," he shrugged. "I'm taking the time work gave me off to figure out what to do. Traveling sounds good. Maybe I'll pick up another language."

"Ambitious," she commented. "If you decide to stick around Kansas, or even if you don't, you know you could save the world with a group of justice seekers-as long as you don't keep butting heads with our team captain."

"I think I'll pass on the constant danger, but thanks for the invite. Speaking of our green-leathered savior," he said midstride, "I'm surprised he didn't freak out on you for getting caught in the fray again."

Chloe thought of last night. Everything happened so fast, too fast for her to hesitate or overthink. She didn't have the luxury of standing around, safe in her fortress of technology, watching via satellites from above and being able to anticipate what would happen next. Oliver knew that. Although the situation wasn't ideal he was simply glad no one on their side got hurt and that Kacey and Camille were locked up, charges pending. "Guess he's learning."

They stepped outside, onto the streets. Justin stopped and turned to face her completely. "Come on, Chloe, I know you like labels," he said. "What is Oliver to you?"

"He's.." A friend? Co-worker? Hero? Lover? Non-boyfriend? An escape from the world of serious? The one who eased the burden of facing the danger and pain?

Chloe looked up, certain. "My undefined."

He stared at her, seeming to accept her answer. "Well, let me give you one last piece of advice. No strings might sound good right now, but when you realize love isn't something to fear, you'll have someone who isn't afraid to love you." He leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. "I hope we meet again, Chloe Sullivan," he said, and walked away.


Justin waited until nightfall to arrange a pick-up. Two blocks from his apartment, he walked up to a black limousine. Without knocking, he opened the door and got in.

The limo passed three streets before he looked at the woman sitting across from him. "I don't understand," he began. "Why couldn't we have told them what we were doing?"

"Because in not doing so, we're protecting them. The less they know about us, the better."

"You know Chloe," he argued. "She would never betray your trust."

"She wouldn't," she agreed, "but she's a beacon for danger. And we don't know what we're up against."

He nodded, though doubt still lingered. The woman leaned forward, her hair spilling around her face like fire under the dim carlight. "It's too early to play the game, Justin. Don't plan out your moves without knowing what pieces are on the board."

"Okay, Mrs. Kent."


( The end. )

I'm already thinking of my next Chlollie fic. Should I do a Chloe/Oliver/Clark triangle semi-AU or a Chloe/Oliver/Lex completely AU?