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Part Eight
"I can't believe this. All this time, she's been here. She runs off, deserts us, and starts running around with Bruce Wayne of all people!"
Zatanna sat on the couch of the two-bedroom hotel suite, her legs drawn up to her chest, the woman now wearing a pair of lounge pants and a t-shirt with a cardigan sweater over it instead of the evening gown she'd had on earlier. She arched a brow as she looked at her boss. "By my understanding, all of you deserted her first. She simply moved on," the woman said, her voice kept carefully even, her eyes following Oliver Queen as he paced back and forth across the length of the room.
"That's not the point."
"Yes, Oliver, I believe it is," the woman returned. "Chloe Sullivan may not have been living as husband and wife with Jimmy Olsen, but they were married. Perhaps the marriage was short-lived and they were on their way to ending it when he died, but she loved him enough to say 'I do'. From what I've gathered from my various sources... In the year prior to Jimmy's death, Chloe'd had quite an eventful time."
"Zatanna-"
"I'm not finished. First, she was held captive in one of Lex Luthor's facilities because of her meteor ability. As it turned out, that ability was no longer active due to an attack by Brainiac. She was infected. She lost her memories and Clark, in his infinite lack of wisdom decided that he had the right to choose which memories she got back."
"Hey, I had nothing to do with that."
"Well, I seem to recall that, when I first found out about it, one part of Clark's defense of his actions was that he'd told you about it afterwards and that you didn't seem bothered by it, which apparently was supposed to mean it was okay."
"Chloe didn't even seem-"
"Didn't she? Do you think that she wasn't bothered knowing that Clark could drag her up to his damned ice fortress whenever he wanted and pick and choose what she got to know?" Zatanna asked, rising from her seat on the couch, moving to stand in front of Oliver.
"You don't know Chloe like I do. She understands-"
"Understands what? That all of you saw her as beneath you? As somehow less because she was behind the scenes instead of on the streets? Don't deny it, Oliver. I've been around you and Clark and some of the others - most specifically Dinah - long enough to realize that some of the heroes out there think they know what's best for us all and have the right to make those decisions for us. But the thing is... You don't have the right. Clark had no right to do what he did to Chloe. To decide what memories she was allowed to have back. And maybe now that she's been away from Metropolis and Clark for a couple of years... Well, maybe Chloe realizes that. Maybe she realizes that she deserves more than what any of you gave her."
"That's not fair."
"Isn't it?"
"You're supposed to be on my side, you know," Oliver told her, and Zatanna gave him a look.
"Why is that? Because you sign my paychecks? Forget that. After the stress of everything... Being infected and then taken over by Brainiac, after trying desperately to protect Clark from Davis or Doomsday or whatever, someone she loved ended up dying in her arms. I'm not saying she didn't make mistakes. But the rest of you did, too. And then, when it was all over, when she was grieving and needed someone... You were all gone. Clark decided he didn't have time for human emotions, and the rest of you just skipped out. Lois couldn't help it at first, given the fact that she was missing, but... Even when Lois came back, Chloe couldn't confide everything in anyone, and while I know Lois regrets it now, she was so caught up in everything with the Blur... It's no wonder Chloe left Metropolis."
"You're really not helping."
"I'm really not trying."
"How do you know all of that, anyway?"
"Lois talks to Bart. Bart talks to me. Between the two of them, I got a pretty good idea of what happened."
Oliver shook his head, shoving his hands into his pockets. "You know, I never would have pictured Chloe as the type to take up with a billionaire."
"Why not? I mean... It's not like she's had bad luck with billionaires in the past. Oh, wait. I'm wrong about that. I mean, Lionel Luthor tried to kill her, Lex locked her up as an experiment, and you... Well, you were just one of the so-called friends that deserted her when she needed you the most," Zatanna replied, then shrugged. "Besides that, you've been keeping an eye on Bruce Wayne lately, ever since you got it in your head that he's Batman. You would have noticed if he'd been dating her before tonight."
"Maybe. She went back to his place tonight."
"I know. Because you followed them. But maybe she went back to his place to avoid you. She's smart enough to know that you'd sic Victor's computer skills on her once you realized she was here." She smirked as Oliver shifted uncomfortably. "What did you find out?"
"That she's been getting by-lines in the Gotham Gazette for a year. And that, more than likely, she was contributing before that, just doing so anonymously. She's the reporter that covers Batman. Something that Victor had apparently already realized when he'd been getting information for me and had conveniently chosen to leave out."
"Good for Victor," Zatanna murmured, ignoring the glare she received for that remark.
"She's been covering Batman for at least a year. Possibly longer. Odds are, she knows who he is. And the fact that she was on Bruce Wayne's arm tonight just makes me that much more certain that he's the man behind the mask. It takes a lot of money to have the gadgets that Batman does."
"And the billionaire playboy bit is just a ruse. Sounds familiar," Zatanna said, eyeing Oliver for a moment, then turning to look out the window. She was very aware of her boss standing beside her.
"Of course, this just goes to show that Lois doesn't know her cousin as well as she thinks she does."
"Why do you say that?"
"Isn't it obvious? Lois is the one that told us that Chloe would never go to someplace like Gotham. She would avoid superhero cities after everything..." He trailed off, frowning as he took in the look on Zatanna's face. "What?"
"Do you honestly believe that?"
"But... Damn it. She lied, didn't she? She's known all along, and she..." Annoyed now, Oliver went and yanked out his cell phone, quickly connecting a call, barely waiting for the other person to answer before snapping out instructions. "I need you to get to Gotham, Boy Scout. Now. And bring your girlfriend. We've got a lot to talk about."
