Author's Comment: My first attempt to really see into the mind of a "Chlex" shipper. I hope I've done it justice, but for those who are fans, please just bare in mind that this is a Chlollie fic, and yes, Lex Luthor is, in fact, a villain.
Thank you again for reviewing. It makes me smile
B.S.S.
--7--
Chloe looked away from Oliver dreamily, which bothered him immensely.
"I guess...well, it's a little hard to describe. Lex, he's a complex man, really. I told you I met him because Clark saved his life and the two of them became friends?" She glanced at him, apparently waiting for confirmation.
He nodded.
"Well, it's amazing how well Lex treated Clark. He was so determined to pay back the favor, even though he knew he couldn't. Lex actually bought him a car. I guess that wouldn't be that big of a deal, but it wasn't just some rich guy wanting to pay off a debt. He actually became one of Clark's best friends. It's a shame the two of them have drifted apart since then, but anyway that's why I eventually got to know him pretty well. He helped me out a couple of times when he really didn't have any obligation. He has this incredibly selfless side. It's amazing." She paused for a moment. "Lex has been through a lot. I know the media paints him in a really negative way sometimes, but the they rarely see the real person. What no one seems to realize is the number of personal demons he's battled in his life and the ones he's still battling." She looked down, for a moment, lashes brushing against her cheeks as she blushed. "And I guess, as far as what I 'see' in him goes, you had to be there when I was growing up in Smallville," she turned plaintive eyes on him, willing him to understand. "I chose all the wrong men and all the wrong men chose me. I was in love with the same guy for years and he never looked twice at me, not in that way. All the men who were attracted to me...well, they were very troubled people; let's leave it at that. After a decade or so of rejection and starting to feel like something must be horribly wrong with me to make my romantic life so ghastly, having someone like Lex just come along and sweep me off my feet...it was a little too good to be true." She shook her head, looking down again.
For Oliver, puzzle pieces numbers one and two finally clicked into place.
First of all, either Chloe didn't realize how bad Lex was, in favor of remembering him before he'd strayed from the slightly crooked path to the dramatically twisting and winding one, or she was purposefully choosing not to see it.
Second, Chloe had fallen for Lex because for whatever reason, he'd been the first man to come along and actually offer her a relationship. 'A decade or so of rejection.' It made Oliver's stomach churn to think of Chloe being the unrequited lover. Chloe had grabbed onto the first offer she'd gotten, and she'd clung to it for dear life.
He wondered vaguely what kind of idiot would be oblivious to Chloe being in love with him, or worse, what kind of idiot knew and didn't care?
"God, I'm such a sap," Chloe said, obviously flustered, dabbing the corner of her eye with her napkin. "I don't know. I'm with Lex because I see the good in him. He told me when he proposed that I make him want to be a better person." She looked out the window, blushing bright red. "I've never mentioned that to anyone before."
Oliver was at a loss for words.
There was nothing...nothing about this that was healthy.
"Chloe..." he started, not sure what he was going to say. She turned to him, eyebrows up, her cheeks still flushed. He sighed in defeat. "I'm glad you're happy." Except that she wasn't. She was blind, a little delusional, and potentially very insecure, but she was definitely not happy. What was he supposed to say, though? He couldn't very well tell her that he'd pinned several murders on Luthor but had never been able to get sufficient evidence, forget the fact that Luthor had about a half a dozen illegal operations going on that quite literally had the Green Arrow, Aquaman, Impulse, and Cyborg dizzy with the effort of chasing them down and shutting them down.
There was just no telling that to the blushing girl in front of him.
He wasn't entirely sure she'd believe him either.
"Thanks," Chloe replied simply.
He sighed, stabbing his fork idly at the food that had been placed before them, no longer hungry.
"You shouldn't have had all that cake," she said in an amused tone.
"Yeah, yeah," he said in exasperation.
What was he going to do with her? He couldn't just let her marry Luthor, not if he even remotely cared about her.
"Thanks for being my adult supervision today," she added, laughing lightly. "This was a much easier day with a friend along for the ride."
He nodded, smiling. "Hey, anything for you, Chlo," he said.
Her phone indicated a text message and she glanced at it. She groaned quietly. "Lex is wondering where I am."
Oliver didn't say anything as she turned the volume on her phone off without responding to her fiance, putting it back in her purse.
"I'll call him later," she said, almost to herself.
"You can call now if you want," Oliver forced himself to say.
"I don't want to. Lex has gotten overprotective lately. He needs to relax a little."
"What do you mean by overprotective?"
She chuckled. "Oh, just that he worries about me too much. Just because I stay somewhere longer than I planned to doesn't mean that I've been kidnapped or something like that."
Oliver raised an eyebrow, hating to admit that if he were Chloe's fiance he'd probably spend just as much time worrying.
"He means well," she added. "Like I said, he just needs to loosen up a little."
"Whatever you say, Chlo."
That evening Oliver decided to handle the Chloe issue one item at a time. He had to find out whether or not Chloe were really aware of what she was getting herself into, a rather difficult ambition to achieve without invading her privacy.
So first, he called up Victor.
"Hey, boss. What's up?"
"I need a personal favor, Vic. Do you have some spare time?"
"Probably. What's the favor?"
Oliver heaved a sigh. "I don't suppose you can figure out if someone's cell phone has been bugged for me?"
He could hear the frown in Victor's voice. "Well duh I can. What's the catch?"
"I don't have the phone."
"Well duh I can't. Why don't you have the phone?"
"It doesn't belong to me?" he presented sheepishly.
"And who does it belong to? Perhaps a certain blonde girl our fearless leader has been obsessing over recently?"
Oliver hung his head shamefully. "Perhaps."
Victor laughed. "So you think Lex has got her bugged, huh?"
"Potentially."
"Well, boss-man, your instincts haven't failed you."
"What?"
"I had a feeling a request along these lines was going to come up soon, so I'm one step ahead of you."
"What do you mean?" Oliver frowned, sitting down on his couch.
"Well, I admit I was a little curious about Chloe, too. I actually met a couple of friends of hers a few years back after I had my little 'accident', so I had some personal incentive, I guess. Clark Kent speaks pretty highly of Miss Sullivan."
"Uh huh?" Oliver said, totally confused about where Victor was going with this and who he was talking about.
"So anyway, I hacked into the security system for the Luthor Mansion in Smallville and for their penthouse in town. Turns out Big Brother is definitely watching. He's got cameras in all of Chloe's private rooms, in spite of the fact that she doesn't keep any valuables. That, of course could be excused for the purpose of her safety, right?"
"Right," Oliver responded slowly.
"But he can't excuse the fact that they were set up in her Dad's place, too. Definitely without her knowledge.
"You've got to be kidding."
"It gets better. Every land line has been tapped. And after doing a scan of the whole place, I'm positive I picked up on radio frequencies in her bedroom at both of his places."
"Meaning?"
"Sound bugs. So taking all of that into consideration, it's really not too far of a leap to think there are some in her cell phone, too." He sounded impressed and disgusted at the same time.
Oliver couldn't believe it. It was like Chloe was under a microscope at all times.
"So what made you suspicious?" Victor asked curiously.
"She never uses her cell to call me. She calls from phone booths and God knows where else. She refused point blank to give me her number."
"But...wait. Wouldn't that mean--"
"She knows," Oliver finished. "At least, to some extent she must know. It also explains why she hasn't let me pick her up for anything if she's aware of all the cameras. She clearly doesn't want Luthor to know how much contact she's had with me."
"But if she knows, then..." Victor struggled to finish the sentence, completely bewildered.
Oliver knew what he was trying to say, though. If Chloe knew, then why was she turning a blind eye?
