A/N: Here's the next chapter. I'm sorry for not updating- Conspiracy kind of messed up some ideas I had for this chapter, so I needed to write that chapter before I could write this one. This chapter takes place during the Absolute Justice episodes (technically, movie).
Chapter Nine: Clarity
"This is Clark. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you soon as I can." Chloe rolled her eyes at the message. It was getting very old very fast.
"Clark, this is Chloe with message one too many." She began, walking out of the café with coffee in hand.
"Look, I know that trying to lead a group of Kryptonians putting a new lease on life is putting a lot of weight on your shoulders, and I don't want to add to that, but I'm still trying to set up an official meeting with our super-gang."
Chloe was still concerned with the League's absence in Lois' memories of the future. Something was going to go wrong, and it didn't help that they weren't calling her back.
"Clark, we're playing too fast and loose. We need to start taking this more seriously."
Before she could say any more, she heard static. She gave her phone a glance, and looked up as she saw power outages in the buildings around her. She turned around and saw a man coming out of the shadows. There was a flash of light, and Chloe started to run.
"Who are you?" she asked the man, after realizing that the light was coming from his staff. He appeared to be draped in the American flag.
"My name is Sylvester Pemberton. You and I share something in common- we're both trying to put a team together."
"I don't know what you're talking about" she defended.
"You're the one they call Watchtower?"
"Watchtower?" she repeated, stepping forward
"Technology today makes hiding a whole lot harder, Miss Sullivan. When someone like you reaches out and plugs into so many outlets, someone else is bound to pull out one of those cords and follow it back to its source. You're lucky a friend did it first." The man explained
"Friends? Friends don't sneak up on each other in a dark alley." She said, suspicious of him.
Suddenly, the temperature dropped and Chloe let out a shivering breath. "Is it just me, or did it just get really cold really fast?" She asked him, suddenly abandoning the idea that he is an enemy.
He looked around, and the next thing Chloe knew, she was being thrown in a dumpster like a bag of trash. She dropped her coffee in surprise. "Hey!" she exclaimed
"Stay down, Miss Sullivan" he told her, closing the lid of the dumpster. She looked through the holes in the dumpster, and saw flashes of light.
The dumpster shook, and Chloe turned her head to see an icicle puncture the dumpster. She attempted to get herself upright, and moved to see what was going on outside. There was a loud noise, and Chloe shielded herself from view, so that she wouldn't be next.
The trauma disappeared almost as quickly as it came. The dumpster suddenly stopped moving, temperature regulated, and the flashes of light stopped.
Chloe opened the dumpster a crack to make sure that it was safe to come out. It was surrounded by ice. Jumping out of the container, she made her way over to the fallen hero. There was blood everywhere, and the man was shaking.
"Help!! Somebody help!!" She cried out. There was no reply.
"They'll come after us. They'll come after all of you." The man said wildly, grabbing her arm.
She looked at him, terrified. "Check-" he said, struggling.
"Check what? Check what?" she asked him, desperately.
He let out his final breath. "Who are you?" she asked him, shaking his body. "Who's coming?"
She reached for her phone and called 911. She stayed with him and waited for the ambulance to arrive. She called Clark again "This is Clark. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you soon as I can." She didn't even bother leaving a message this time. She hung up as the ambulance arrived and hurried her inside. Right now, she was alone.
"Do you know his name?" a man asked her
"I just met him. He said his name was Sylvester Pemberton. Is he going to be alright?" she asked
"We don't know. We're going to get you two to Met Gen" he said. The man went to the front of the ambulance and they drove away.
She stayed with him. Someone was coming, and she needed to check something. She was compiling a list of things to research the second she got back to the Watchtower. So far, the list was occupying her mind and preventing her from shivering so much. Still, she wrapped herself around a blanket that she found stashed away in the back of the ambulence.
Chloe took out her phone again, and scrolled through her contact list. There was no point in calling Clark right now, he was busy and didn't pick up the first fifty million times she had called. She didn't even consider Lois- she would be too nosy.
Oliver Queen remained highlighted, as her thumb hovered over the call button. She really didn't want him to worry about her, she was feeling fine.
Before she could make a decision, all was black.
***
Oliver Queen was having a very bad day. It was 3:00 in the afternoon, and his work was over for the day. He spent the day in a very inefficient 8-hour meeting with the members of his board. Regardless of his education, leadership skills, and commanding presence, he could not change their minds- Zod's solar towers were going to be built. Every proposal was rejected, every alternative plan thrown away, and Oliver felt powerless.
Oliver got in his car, and slammed the door behind him. He turned on his cell phone, and was shocked to see that he had 10 new voicemails and missed calls from Chloe. Eyes widening in alert, he started the car. "Oh no. No-no-no-no-no." he said, dialing his voicemail and inputting his password. He nestled his phone in his cup-holder after putting the phone on speaker-phone, and listened as he drove.
"Oliver, this is Chloe. You're busy, I guess. I'll talk to you later." Oliver listened for the next message.
"I'm sorry. I promised that I wouldn't do that, old habits die hard. I was in the hospital late last night. I guess if you want to be technical, early this morning."
"What?" Oliver shouted at his phone.
"Don't worry, I'm not hurt. I'm fine." She assured him.
"Define fine", he muttered under his breath.
"Everything happened really fast- I was walking around last night looking for Clark, when this guy approached me. He was literally draped in red, white, and blue. Turns out he's more patriotic than I thought- he's a hero, and he was trying to warn me about something. They're keeping me in the hospital. They won't even let me out of the room to see if he's okay. Can you get here?" Oliver patiently waited for the next message.
"Hey, it's me again. Chloe, that is." Oliver let out a chuckle.
"Kind of left out some major details- the guy recognized me as Watchtower." He slammed his foot on the brake as he approached a stop sign, his face contorting in fear.
"I have no idea how he found out, but he wasn't trying to hurt me. He was trying to warn me about something, but someone attacked us before he could say anything. Ollie, we have to get to the bottom of this."
"It's Chloe." Oliver felt his stomach sink as he heard the sadness in her tone.
"The guy's name was Sylvester Pemberton. He's dead, Oliver- he died trying to protect me. I don't really know what to do. Can you just call me back, please?" Oliver pressed his foot on the accelerator.
"Hey, it's Chloe. I'm kind of waiting here in the hospital. I'm fine, but can you come get me? My car's at the Watchtower."
"It's Chloe. Could you grab some coffee on the way? I know that little French Café's in your direction, and they make an amazing almond mocha. But only if you really want to. And if you do, don't forget the extra whip!"
"It's me. I called Clark and he finally picked up, since you don't seem to be here. He's on his way, so don't worry about me, okay? I'm fine. Little bit of frostbite and sleep deprivation- that's all." Oliver cursed the board under his breath- he promised her that he would always be there, and she had to wait for Clark to pick her up.
"Hey, it's me. I just got back to the Watchtower. I'm going to do some research on Pemberton, see what I can dig up. I was able to duplicate all of his phone data at the hospital, so now I'm going to try and find his connection to his last phone calls. I want to see if I can find any suspects or at least someone that I can get information out of. I just wanted to keep you posted."
"Are you okay? You seem to be at work, but you aren't answering. The meeting couldn't have taken that long, could it? Did the big, bad board members go rogue on you?" Oliver let out a laugh.
"Anyway, I'm trying to get the rest of the team together for this one- it looks mission worthy, and Clark decided to do some investigating on his own. We'll find out what we can, and compare notes with Clark later. Can you get here?"
***
Oliver made a u-turn. He knew the moment that Chloe told him that Clark picked her up that he would try to investigate this on his own. She was lonely, even if she refused to admit it. Even though it was out of Oliver's way now, he wanted to stop by the French café and pick her up a latte.
He was angry with Clark. He didn't learn anything from his trip to the future, did he? If Clark had really learned a lesson in teamwork, then why wasn't he there for her? Zod wanted to take over the world, and Clark's response was to be his friend instead of fight him while he was still a mortal. He still couldn't do what was necessary.
Oliver was worried about Chloe- it seemed as if all he did these days was work, worry about her, and try to keep Metropolis safe as the Green Arrow. It was clear by now that Clark wasn't even going to try to get her out of the Watchtower- he was some friend.
He parked far away as to not attract attention. He walked into the French café and ordered Chloe's usual almond mocha with extra whip and a hazelnut for himself. He picked them up after paying for them, and walked over to the flower shop next door.
"Can I help you with anything?" a sweet old woman asked him
"Yes, I'm looking for a bouquet of tulips" he told her. She walked over to the other side of the shop and pulled out a perfect bouquet of white tulips with red stripes.
"I'll take them" he said immediately, taking out his wallet. He paid, and the lady handed him the bouquet, saying "She's a very lucky woman" with a smile on her face. He nodded, and silently walked back to the car.
Oliver felt guilty. He should have told the florist that they weren't dating- that he and Chloe had a purely platonic relationship. Something had stopped him, something that he couldn't quite put his finger on.
The two had gotten pretty close lately. They called each other constantly, and he stopped by the Tower frequently to try and go over their plan to prevent the future from happening.
His visits always had work-related purposes. Chloe was keeping a steady eye on Tess Mercer and her projects, while Oliver was trying to figure out how to prevent the towers from construction and come up with a back-up plan. They figured out what Jor-El was doing at the barn the day that he went looking for Clark.
Jor-El hid a crystal at the Barn years ago, and came back to pick it up. Whatever it was, they were sure that Zod was trying to find it- that Jor-El was trying to keep him from it. They were sure that it was dangerous, and spent nights trying to find it, although their current efforts were futile.
With every passing day, Oliver found himself depending more and more on Chloe. He used League work as almost an excuse to drop by the Watchtower. She called him, he called her right back. He texted her every night after patrolling Metropolis to tell him that he was okay, and she texted him in the middle of the night to tell him that she got home safely. She knew his work schedule inside and out, and as far as he was concerned, he knew everything that was going on in the Tower.
There were no more secrets. The two set honesty and trust above everything else in their friendship. He would tell her about his parents as they worked at the Watchtower over pizza, and although he hated to see her look broken, she was no longer afraid to break down in front of him when times became overwhelming. She trusted him with every secret, and he trusted her with his.
Since Oliver had gotten closer to Chloe, he had been more in control of his life. His company's stock was back up, and he hadn't needed to bring some trashy girl back to his apartment so that he wouldn't feel lonely.
He now parked on the side of the road, and took his keys out of the ignition. He was about to go inside of the Watchtower, but he stayed in the car for a moment, as he thought.
Chloe was enough. Maybe the florist was right- maybe there was something going on. His relationship with Chloe was all he needed, and he hadn't trusted anyone else like this since his parents died.
Suddenly, the memories flooded him. Oliver could hear the voices, one after the other.
***Flash***
"And you're sure this is it?" Oliver asked her, taking the headset.
"This is where I belong." She told him, smiling.
***Flash***
"You were living like you had a death wish, Oliver. You had to face your demons if you were ever going to make it out alive and I had to push you over the ledge in order to pull you back." She explained
Oliver nodded. "Did you have to push with a three-ton truck?"
"I didn't think a tricycle would be a strong enough point" she said, leaning forward. "You're a fighter Oliver. You fought for yourself and a second chance." He smiled at her choice of words.
***Flash***
"I don't want to owe you anything, or for our friendship to be materialistic. I didn't mean to take advantage of your money, but I guess looking back at it, I did, and…"
"Chloe. Stop. It's okay. You did it to benefit the team- you didn't decide to randomly purchase a yacht or anything. It was for the good of mankind."
***Flash***
"She knows you better than anyone. She went to me first, and I saw it. She had scripts on exactly what you would say, what you would do." Bart said
***Flash***
"Let's be honest all the time, then", she said
"I think that's a deal. I'm tired of hiding from people all the time."
"Me too", she agreed
***Flash***
"She almost died at the thought of losing you." Victor said
***Flash***
"I can't lose you, Ollie. I don't think I can make it. Not you."
***
Oliver saw it now, almost as if there had been a blindfold around his eyes all these years that had finally relinquished its control over him. It wasn't Lois, it was never Lois. All this time, it was Chloe. He wasn't looking for someone to simply accept his secret; he was looking for someone to fight alongside him.
Last year, he wished for an opportunity for the clarity that was given by Zatanna's magic. He felt like a sailor, lost at sea. Now he realized- Watchtower was in front of him all along.
Oliver left his car, a look of determination clear in his face. Chloe was lost right now, insecure, her faith in humanity shaky. He was going to help her. He was going to guide her with his love.
***
He opened the doors of the Watchtower as Chloe walked down the stairs.
"Oliver, you got my message."
"I got all ten of them, Chloe", he said, looking around the Watchtower. "Where are the other super-friends?" He asked
"Still waiting for them to ping me back. See, this is why I keep asking everybody to come up with some sort of standardized trouble alert. The team needs structure." She told him, as she looked through a pile of papers.
"That what we're lacking?" he asked as he stared at the monitors. How could he not have noticed how absorbed she had become in her work?
"You're really on a kick lately, Chloe- personal phone conversations, bank records, Amazon Wish list" he finished, smirking at the last monitor.
"Big sister's watching", she said as she minimized the Amazon page. He stared at the window that replaced it. It was his e-mail. Great, she read the emails, and knows about Dinah's lousy attempt at flirting.
"Is that my e-mail? Chloe, I'll have you know that those messages between me and Canary were purely platonic", he defended.
"Can we skip your virtual love life, and actually focus on the job here?" she asked him
"Gladly" he said, grateful for her suggestion.
"Great", she said, turning to the computer screens. "Our victim's name is Sylvester Pemberton, and he had a long criminal record- fraud, embezzlement, and assault. He didn't have any family, but he did have a friend show up at the hospital", Chloe explained, typing rapidly on the computer.
Oliver stared at the screen, focused. He watched in amazement as Chloe pulled up the hospital's security feed and magically ended up with the name for Pemberton's friend.
"Courtney Whitmore. She's a sophomore at Blue Valley High, and she gets a big old D+ for her attendance. She hasn't been to school in the last three weeks." Chloe read her academic file.
"You don't think Blondie's our killer, do you?" he asked, staring at the screen. She's just a teenager- there was no way.
"No, but I do think she knows something" Chloe said, as she pulled out some printouts and walked over to him.
"I want to take a closer look at this glowing staff the police have as evidence. We need to get it."
Oliver took the print out from her hands, and tried to resist a smile. "We meaning me, right?" he asked
She smiled at him innocently. "I'll see what I can come up with" he said, turning to leave. "Oh, and enjoy the flowers and coffee", he added over his shoulders before he closed the doors.
"The what?" she called after him. There was no answer.
Five minutes later, there was a delivery. Almond mocha with extra whip and a bouquet of the most beautiful tulips she had ever seen. She smiled from ear to ear as she put the flowers in water. "Only Oliver", she said to herself, shaking her head after smelling the flowers. She grabbed the coffee, sat down at her desk, and went back to work.
***
Clark was gone, and Chloe was at the Watchtower, helpless. She slipped on her Bluetooth headset, and called Oliver, praying that he would answer. He answered on the first ring.
"Oliver?" she asked
"What's wrong?" Even with a distorted voice, Oliver sounded concerned.
"Clark's gone."
"What do you mean, he's gone?" he asked.
"One of Pemberton's old gang somehow teleported him away. He said he had to show him something, called him his friend."
"Where would they take him?" Oliver asked, running on a rooftop.
"I think the same place they took Courtney."
"Another twist to the mystery, Chloe. Satellites caught the glow from that staff over the Metropolis ten minutes ago. I followed it. Wherever Goldilocks went, she got a change of clothes." He said, jumping down.
"It's getting stranger", he added, as he peered over the girl walking.
"Stranger, how?" Chloe asked him
"Well, it's the middle of the night in suicide slums. She's standing under a street light- all dolled up and no place to go. I'd say she's making herself-" Oliver stopped in realization. She was using herself as bait.
"-the target", he finished.
"Oliver, you have to stop her. She doesn't know what she's getting herself into. She's just a kid." The voice said in his ear. He nodded, even though he knew Chloe couldn't see him.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he called out to the girl.
She looked upwards and saw the Green Arrow. "Me? What are you doing? Get out of here!" she called out, as he jumped down.
"Red, white, and blue- loud and proud to be an American. Nice."
"Well, at least I'm proud of something other than myself" she bit back.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I know what kind of hero you are, Green Arrow."
"Is the masked cheerleader really talking down to me? Where's my friend? Where's Clark?" he asked. There was a sudden blue glow, and the Green Arrow was pushed to the floor.
"Anyone up for some ice-cream?" he heard a voice say.
"What are you supposed to be, sweetie? The star-spangled kid?" the voice went on. Shivering, Oliver got up and reached in his quiver.
"It's Star Girl. Say cheese!" she told him, as she blew back her enemy with the rod. Frost created an icicle rod, and they fought.
Oliver had an arrow ready, but couldn't shoot it without risking Courtney's life. He took the opportunity when there was a large enough distance between the two. Aiming the arrow at the icicles heading her way, he released the arrow, and they shattered the ice just in time. Icicle disappeared when he realized that she was not alone.
Courtney turned to him. "You jaded jerk, you just ruined everything!" She exclaimed. "This was my chance- I was supposed to get first shot at Sylvester's killer. He promised me."
"He who?" Oliver asked in disbelief. He just saved her life, and she was lecturing him? The next thing he knew, he was being taken into the sky.
"Who the hell are you?" he asked the winged creature who took him. Receiving no answer, he blindly reached one hand in his pocket, and grabbed the first thing he felt.
He stuck the throwing star in his pocket- it looked like an antique, and he hoped that Chloe would be able to identify it later. It had to give some sort of clue.
They were approaching the Watchtower. Oliver knew that if he could just get in there, he would be safe. He started to struggle, and tried to fight his way out of the winged man's grasp.
"Stop moving", the raspy voice said.
Oliver continued to move around, and he was thrown in the window. Not the most graceful landing, but the job was done. He looked around. Chloe was on the floor, her headset on the floor.
He instantly started chastising himself- what if Chloe was hurt because of him? He made a motion to move to her, but there was sharp pain in his body. He looked down and saw pieces of glass penetrated into his skin.
"Oliver!" Chloe exclaimed, moving over to him. He let out a deep breath. She looked okay.
"Are you okay?" she asked, rolling him over to take a look at him.
"He'll live. Now, stay the hell out of our business. Next time, I won't ask so nicely." The man with wings said before flying away.
***
Chloe rushed to the bathroom and grabbed a cotton ball, a bottle of iodine, and a pair of tweezers. After setting the objects down on a table, she hurried to the kitchen and grabbed a bowl.
"I'm fine, Chloe. Don't worry about me" Oliver insisted, as he sat on the table.
"Have you looked at yourself, Oliver? There is glass everywhere. You were thrown through a window." She stated bluntly, waving the tweezers at Oliver's face.
"It doesn't hurt, I promise." He lied, wincing slightly as Chloe pulled a shard of glass out of his arm. She showed him the shard before dropping it into the bowl.
Chloe silently removed every piece of glass as Oliver stared at her. She put a couple drops of iodine on the cotton ball, and started to clean the cut areas.
"Ten to one says pigeon-man's got Clark locked up in a bird cage somewhere", he said, rubbing his neck, as Chloe tended to his arm.
She didn't reply, so he continued. "I don't know who the hell these people are, but they sure don't like us. Ow." He finished
"I thought you said it didn't hurt." She said worried.
"I lied" he told her. She pushed his head upward and started to clean the cut on his forehead.
"You know, you're lucky he didn't drop you from 10 stories up."
"I don't feel lucky. As much as I hate to admit it, these people really know what they're doing. OW!" he exclaimed, as he felt the stinging of the iodine.
She walked away from him, and began to wrap up her medical supplies. "Don't you think it's sad that a secret society of retired super-villains can actually come out of the mothballs and tear us apart like this?"
"They know everything about us Chloe", he reasoned.
"Yeah, and we don't know anything about them." She said, grabbing the med-kit and walking to put it away.
"You know, maybe it's time I gave up on trying to bring the band back together. Maybe this has all been a lost cause." She said, walking past him.
"Whoa- don't give up on us yet. We may be a bit dysfunctional and a little hard to wrangle at times, but when the chips are down, we're always there, Chloe." He told her. He couldn't have her give up on the League- on him. Not yet.
She angrily closed the cabinet. "They took Clark out from under our noses."
"And I took this off the Wing Wonder when he yanked me into the sky." He told her, revealing the throwing star. She walked over, and took the item.
"It looks like an antique- from a museum." She said, the pieces beginning to fall in place.
"Now, I say we get some reinforcements, get Clark, and throw them through some windows."
"I say you're right." She agreed.
***
"Wow. So this is where you guys operate?" Courtney asked Chloe.
"More or less. Mostly less" Chloe said, with a hint of sadness. The League hadn't been around in a while.
Courtney looked around in approval. "I guess this is everything you could ever ask for in order to fight the good fight right?" Chloe nodded.
"It's missing something." Courtney said. "Where are the pictures? Or, you know, a place to sit down and eat?" she asked
Chloe looked at her oddly. "Sylvester always told me that the JSA's Brownstone was always considered a second home for everyone. I mean, they'd even spend Thanksgivings there with their spouses and kids." Courtney explained.
"It was like a family." Chloe said, smiling at the thought.
"Yeah. I mean, it was a family."
"How did you get involved with the Justice Society?" Chloe asked her, sitting down at the couch.
"Well, my stepfather Pat was Sylvester Pemberton's sidekick years ago. The Star-Spangled Kid and Stripe-sie."
"Stripe-sie?" Chloe asked
"It was like the worst code-name ever." Courtney said, with a laugh. She continued her story.
"I found Sylvester's old equipment. And well, first I put it on, just to annoy Pat." Chloe smiled
"But, I don't know. The first time I saved someone…"
"You were hooked." Chloe finished.
"Yeah- line and sinker", Courtney confirmed.
"Yeah. So you're not related to any of them?"
"Well, family's not just about blood. And watching people doesn't make them a part of your life. I mean, I don't know Chloe, maybe your team would operate better if they didn't get together only when there was trouble. And if you made it a little more home sweet home, and a little less nuclear war-room." Courtney explained.
"I think I can do that." Chloe told her.
Suddenly, Oliver called the Watchtower. Chloe got up from the couch, accepted the call, and his face appeared on the screen. Courtney also got up.
"Hey, Oliver. What do you got?" she asked him
"I'm here with Wing-man. Did you put the call in to the snow-miser?" Oliver asked as he took off his sunglasses.
"I re-routed the call through the hospital and left a message that said that his father's taken a turn for the worst. If Icicle's been checking in as often as he has been, we should be able to catch him at Met Gen" Chloe told him.
"Thanks." Oliver said, ending the call.
"What about him?" Courtney asked
"What do you mean, what about him?" Chloe asked her
"You care for him, but he doesn't know. Why?" she prompted
"Courtney, it's a bit complicated." Chloe sighed
"You care for him. It's not complicated." Courtney told her.
"Look, I would love for this place to have the Thanksgiving dinners. To have spouses and children come and fill this place with life. But it's a dream." Chloe explained
"It doesn't have to be. Hawkman had a wife, a fellow superhero that worked by his side."
"Worked. Past tense. She's dead now, isn't she?"
"Why does it matter?" Courtney asked her
"Because I don't want him to die for me!" she exclaimed. She said it with so much force that Courtney stepped back.
"Pemberton died in order to save my life. And a year from now, five years from now, ten years from now, that could be Oliver. And I can't do it." Chloe told her, weakly, sitting back down on the couch.
"You can't jeopardize your happiness, Chloe." Courtney said, taking a seat beside her.
"If it keeps him alive, then I have to."
"Watching over him doesn't make him a part of your life, Chloe. Watching over him is not a substitute for loving him."
"It keeps him safe."
"Even if he is safe, would you really rather see him with someone else?"
Chloe felt sick to her stomach at the thought with Oliver with someone else. It didn't matter if it were Lois, Dinah, or some random girl he picked up at a party. She just felt sick. Still, there was the League to think about.
"Okay, say we do decide to start a relationship. What if it ends and our team suffers for it?"
"You will figure it out then. For now, just live."
***
Icicle was put back behind bars. The world was a safer place, and while he should really be relaxing at the Clock Tower enjoying the feeling of a job well done, Oliver was wandering around the streets, feeling empty. He couldn't stop thinking about something that Hawkman of all people had said to him earlier.
***Flashback***
"It's not what happened to you that destroyed this team, is it? It's what happened to her, right? Hawkgirl? What was she, your partner?" Oliver asked him
"My wife." He corrected, slamming his weapon down, and turning away from Oliver.
"You were married?" Oliver asked, surprised. Being a hero usually destroyed relationships.
He closed the cabinet. "Hard to believe? What would someone like me know about love? When I only know it ends, and it always ends. In every one of my lives, past and present- the sooner this life is over, the sooner I see my wife again." He said, sharpening his blade angrily.
"I've never had a connection like that, at least, not one that lasted." Oliver told him.
"Because you hide it." Hawkman said simply.
"Hide what?" Oliver inquired.
"You don't want anyone to know how important they are to you, so you act like a jackass."
***End Flashback***
Winged-wonder was right. Oliver was always afraid to let people know how important they are to him. He blocked out Lois and focused on being the Green Arrow. He cheated on Mercy, because she understood him too well.
Every date that he brought back to the Clock Tower always woke up in the morning alone. He had learned to duck out quickly, to the point of waking up before most people. No strings, no true connections- just sex. He kept all secrets to himself.
And what would happen with Chloe, if they ever started a relationship? He would probably cheat on her as well- there were no secrets.
And he had already hurt her before, when he tried to kill himself. It was a selfish act at the time; he didn't even consider anyone else caring about him enough to be hurt. It was always selfish- it never occurred to him that Mercy would be hurt if he cheated on her or that Lois could be hurting with every rain check and kept secret.
If he didn't change, it would continue to happen again and again. It would never end, and he would never be happy. He could barely stand the sight of Chloe crying in front of him, looking completely broken. If he didn't change, that would happen again. And it would be his fault.
Oliver suddenly found himself in front of the Watchtower. He almost walked past the building- there was no mission, no real reason right now to visit her.
He realized it then- if nothing else, they were at least friends. Good friends, even best friends. And they didn't need to use work as an excuse to just stop by. Chloe usually got incredibly absorbed in her work at the Watchtower and there was a good chance that she hadn't eaten. They could go out to dinner, and talk about things completely non-work related.
He was going to get her out of the Watchtower, help her interact with the outside world again. He opened the double doors, and walked in.
"Anyone home?" he called. He saw Chloe and John Jones there.
"What's up?" Chloe asked, suddenly all business.
"Nothing, actually." Oliver said. Chloe raised her eyebrows.
He let out a soft chuckle. "I thought I'd stop by and see if anyone was hungry." She still looked at him, confused.
John smiled. "I could use some dinner. Chloe?" he prompted
She looked at John, and at Oliver. He flashed a smile. She looked at John again. "Uh…sure." She said, slightly uncertain. Oliver nodded.
"You're buying, Mr. Queen", she said, suddenly regaining her sense of confidence, as she walked past him and grabbed her bag.
"Hey, don't look at me. I'm living off of a policeman's salary." John told him lightly.
"That's fine, dessert's on you." Oliver teased, slapping his back.
"At Mars, we never had dessert. But I have grown especially fond of cookies." John said. Mars' last descendent, eating cookies- Oliver smiled at the thought, as they walked out the door.
Chloe rested her hands on the doors and looked around the Watchtower. For a split second, she was afraid to leave. It felt like a lifetime since she had gone outside without a fixed purpose. What if someone needed her?
Then she remembered what Courtney told her. Watching people doesn't make them a part of your life. Right now, she was going to live. She smiled to herself, and closed the doors.
***
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and the extra length! I'm sorry if it seems as if Chloe falls apart every chapter, but I really think that she needs to heal.