--7--

It was too much. Chloe wished the ground would swallow her whole and put her out of her misery.

It had been a month, one measly month since the gala and all hell seemed to have broken loose.

Things had been going well between her and Harry, generally speaking. The long distance thing was tough, but they were making it work. Still, he'd been hurt...to say the least, when she refused to follow him to New York. He'd asked her multiple times but she just couldn't. First of all, she'd only known him a short time, and it was just asking too much of her to pick up everything and follow him off to a strange city. And even if it hadn't been for that, well, her life was in Metropolis. Clark, Lois, the Justice League. How could she leave that behind? She belonged here.

Harry had been frustrated, but understanding. She felt guilty the more she realized how alone he was in New York. She couldn't get him to explain to her what it was about, but even though both he and Peter said they were best friends for as long as they could remember, there was clearly some sort of rift between them. Harry was obviously harboring some animosity for Peter, but he wouldn't say what it was about. Besides that, his life seemed to have taken on some sort of downward slope since his father died. He'd invested everything in that Octavius guy last fall, and not only had the good doctor let him down, he'd gone completely off his nut. Didn't exactly do much for Oscorp shareholders.

Peter and Mary Jane had left Metropolis a week after Harry, and from what MJ could tell, things weren't going well for them either. Peter was...well...he was turning into an arrogant jerk. From what Chloe could tell, MJ wasn't just whining, Peter really was being self-centered. She'd been fired from her job for the love of all things holy! And she still hadn't told him because she couldn't get a word in edgewise. And Chloe had seen the photo of him saving that blasted supermodel. How absurd. It had taken all her self control not to march straight to New York when she heard about that, just to give Peter Parker a good telling off. He'd earned it. Peter had declined the JL's offer, too. At first he'd said it was because he belonged in New York with MJ, a decision they could all respect. Now Chloe was starting to wonder whether it wasn't because he was getting to arrogant to be a team player.

Not to mention the fact that two days after the ball, Ollie had "mysteriously" taken off for Star City without any explanation. Coward. Couldn't he even handle one day of the cold shoulder? She'd been planning to actually talk to him about the whole ordeal, having finally cooled down enough. He'd given a fairly decent apology overall. She just hadn't been ready to accept it yet. But the moment she was ready he took off like a scared little boy. She'd even sucked it up long enough to try calling him a couple of times in order to tell him to fly his sorry butt back to Metropolis and face his problems like an adult. But he hadn't answered and he hadn't called her back. She could just ring his neck. He was being so childish! He didn't even call her about work, just had his secretary send her e-mails with various instructions.

And now...now this. This was by far the most horrible thing she could ever have imagined happening. Harry had been in an accident and he was out cold. The doctors weren't sure whether he were going to wake up.

So there she was, desperately trying to book a flight to New York, and being told over and over again that it was simply not going to happen. Clark was off on the other world solving some sort of tsunami crisis, and he wouldn't answer his phone even if she tried calling him. Bart wasn't picking up either, and AC, Victor, and Dinah would be no use even if she could get a hold of them.

It was no use. She was going to have to call him, whether she liked it or not.


Oliver's throat tightened at the sound of the tears in her voice as he replayed the message.

"Oliver you're being a jerk right now and I'm sick of it because I don't deserve it. You're the one who screwed up, but that's not important right now. It's not why I'm calling. I'm calling because--" her voice broke, "--because...Oliver, it's Harry. He's in the hospital, and I can't get a flight to New York to save my life and they don't know if he's going to wake up or not and no one is answering their phone and darn it all, Oliver, I swear I will forgive every stupid thing you've ever done since the day you were born if you will just stop being a coward and come help me. Please, Ollie."

Before the recording broke off he heard her blowing her nose. He'd never felt so awful...his gut was in a giant knot as he ran up the stairs of the building. He reached the top and started beating against the door.

Moments later it opened, revealing Chloe, her hair a mess and her eyes swollen and red. She took one look at him, lower lip trembling, and flung herself at him.

"I'm going to k-kill you," she sobbed into his shoulder, completely collapsing in his arms.

He smiled weakly. "Later," he promised. "Let's get you to the airport. Jet will leave as soon as we get there. I'll have someone send your things along after you."

She just sobbed in response, and he guided her outside down to the car that was waiting for them.

"Here," he said in the car, handing her a handkerchief, "clean yourself up. It'll be okay."

She sniffed, blotting the tears on her face with the handkerchief. She looked at him. "I'd spend time listing all the reasons I'm furious with you, you know, but," her lip trembled again and he panicked, but she just wailed, "I missed you!" and flung herself at him for the second time.

He sighed and rubbed her back soothingly. "It's going to be okay, Chloe. I promise."

She hiccuped in reply.


MJ and Peter greeted them at the hospital first.

"We don't know yet," were the first solemn words out of MJ's mouth. Chloe's whole body trembled and Oliver was afraid for a moment she might pass out.

"There's still a chance, though," Peter assured her. "Nobody's given up on anything yet. But Chloe," he shifted uncomfortably, "Can I talk to you alone for a moment?"

Chloe nodded, frowning. Oliver didn't like letting her out of his sight but let her go, knowing he had no right to go with her.

MJ watched him in approval.

"Glad to see you two have made up," she said when Peter and Chloe were out of earshot. "It's been really hard on Chloe."

He looked at her guiltily. "We haven't actually made up yet...I think."

She rolled her eyes. "Men."

He couldn't argue. "She came to me for help, and...today is the first time we've seen each other in almost a month. But I couldn't not come for her," he said, looking in the direction where Chloe had vanished with Parker.

MJ nodded. "Of course not." She studied him carefully. His face was white and his eyes revealed his concern. She reached out and patted his arm soothingly. "It'll be all right. Chloe doesn't hold grudges. Right now she's got other things to worry about."

Oliver nodded. He felt like his heart was in his throat. Seeing Chloe like that...it was more than he could take. He wanted to go off and murder whoever and whatever was responsible for upsetting her, except that right now there was no villain. There was no tangible monster for him to go after. It was just hurt. And there was nothing he could do to save her from it.

"How did the accident happen?" he asked Mary Jane.

She bit her lip. "About that...I'm glad you asked because it's definitely cause for concern..."


Chloe's hand flew to her mouth as her eyes widened in horror. "His father was what?"

"The Green Goblin."

It was too much. Someone somewhere was playing a horrible practical joke on her. Or maybe she was having a nightmare. Things couldn't possibly be this horrible in real life.

But they were. And they got worse.

"There's more. Harry's accident. It was...my fault." He looked horrified with himself.

"What do you mean?"

"He sort of...took a page out of his dad's book. Came after me--Spiderman--with those blasted grenades on a glider and everything. I stopped him, but in the process he got way more seriously injured than I'd ever intended. I don't know what happened to him, Chloe, but he just finally snapped.

Chloe was in tears again, shaking her head and holding her sides as though she might rip into a million pieces if she loosened her grip. "It's--I--" She swallowed, "He asked me to come see him and I refused because I had work. He wanted to know if there wouldn't be sometime for me to come visit soon, but I said there wasn't. You know what it is I'm doing, Pete," she looked at him desperately. "I can't just leave any time I want. Especially not with Oliver awol. Harry got upset. Said I cared more about my job than him." She choked on a sob.

Peter looked at her with pain etched all over his face. "Chloe...I can't tell you how to handle this or how to live your life or who to be with, but...it's just that...if--when--Harry pulls out of this, we don't what he'll remember or even who he'll be," he looked at her edgily, "and I just--I don't think it's a good idea for you to go on like you have been with him. He's dangerous, Chloe, and he might put you in danger. I don't want to see you get hurt. The choice is yours, but," he looked into her eyes, "I think you should back away, go back to your old life."

Chloe thought she was going to pass out. She just couldn't handle this.

A nurse found them, a relieved look on her face. "Oh, good," she said upon finding them. "He's woken up."