This is my first update in a VERY long time, but I haven't forgotten about this story! I just wanted to make this chapter longer to include the meeting of Chloe and Oliver, but I postponed it to the next chapter. Hope you still read and review...

Chapter 10 or Let me go

Title: Biggest Mistake

Author:Honey 1005

Summary:Post "Sacrifice". Chloe discovered that she's pregnant with Oliver's child and ran without thinking. This is showing what happens until and when they meet again.

Characters: Chloe Sullivan, Oliver Queen, Lois Lane, Clark Kent, Dinah Lance, Bart Allen, Victor Stone, Arthur Curry, John Jones

Rating: M

Genre:Romance/Drama, Hurt/Comfort

Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville or any of its characters!

"One more kiss could be the best thing,

But one more lie could be the worst

All these thoughts are never resting

And you're not something I deserve.

You love me, but you don't know who I am

I'm torn between this life I lead and where I stand

And you love me, but you don't know who I am

So let me go

Let me go"

"What about the minor point that you're pregnant?"

The words resounded in her head like an echo for a few times and the only thing Chloe could think about was how to flee this embarrassing situation as soon as possible.

Her eyes darted to the next door and her brain processed if there was any possibility to make a run for it, but her stomach hadn't settled down yet and her legs were still wobbly.

Though she had nearly crushed Matt's kneecap during their nightly incident a few days ago, she couldn't count on being any faster than him, given her own swollen joint, which shone proudly in a dark shade of violet.

Matt seemed to suspect something, because he gripped her elbow and held it tightly, while he led her down the hall to his kitchen. Not seeing any chance to escape the situation, Chloe opted for sarcasm instead and hoped that would do the trick and shoo him away.

Slowly she took a swallow of the tea and shot Matt a somewhat annoyed glance.

"Don't tell me you didn't understand the whole concept with the birds and the bees, when you were little, because I'm not sure I'm in the right place to lecture you about the possible consequences."

At least she didn't try to deny it. Matt pulled up one corner of his mouth into a crooked smile, which definitely lacked humor.

"Oh, nice one." He clapped his hands sarcastically. "But I heard that story a long time ago. Let's get to the point, shall we?"

He shifted a little bit and watched her intently, before he began to speak again.

"You're pregnant, but we've already established that. Not drinking alcohol and puking your guts out in the morning are pretty obvious signs, if you ask me."

Chloe focused stubbornly on a picture of an African spice market just behind Matt's shoulder and didn't make a move. The sooner he would start talking the sooner this whole farce would be over.

But he wasn't botheredby her silence and simply continued. "I'm fully aware that that's personal and none of my business, unless you decide otherwise. The really interesting thing, though, is that you're using a disguise."

He recognized that Cathy's eyes widened ever so slightly and went on, knowing that he had her full attention now.

"You wear colored contact lenses and you dye your hair. I might not have special training, but I'm not stupid. I notice details. Maybe you should have wasted a thought on your hairline. It's already getting fairer."

Chloe caught herself touching her hair unconsciously. "Are you about finished?" she bit out and continued scowling.

Matt folded his arms and clicked his tongue. "Not even remotely. I might not have been suspicious about your motives for moving to a Canadian small town in the middle of nowhere, but when you went all "Kill Bill" on me I looked you up. You have a Canadian passport, however you're American. Anybody can hear that." He paused and waited for a reaction. An explanation, a justification, anything. It didn't come. So he had to be blunt.

"You're not, who you pretend to be!"

Cathy - or whatever her name was - flinched, but recovered quickly. Finally she looked him in the eye.

"I've lived in the U.S. since I was little, but I was born in Canada. So what, if I have a Canadian passport?!"she retorted.

As soon as she had answered she knew that he wouldn't believe her. It was too late.

"Catherine Archer – Greene didn't exist until a few months ago. Whoever took care of your new identity went out of his way to give you a nice and coherent background story, but it was conspicuously flawless, so I rechecked every detail of it. And after many hours of internet research and a lot of phone calls I found a loose end."

Chloe raised her arms in an unnerved gesture. Some dropsof tea sloshed over the brim of the mug she was clutching and on her swore.

"So? What keeps you from blowing my cover or even arresting me? Faking identities is a crime! Why do you bother to confront me first? And why the hell did you go on that stupid date with me, if you already knew I was playing you?!" she shouted furiously.

Because he liked her. Very much. But it was only one of his reasons. Though it was the one more important to him, it was wiser to try an explanation with the other one. "Because your set-up was so elaborated that I thought you might have a good reason to hide."

She blinked. Matt pushed himself off the counter and came closer. "I know you're not a criminal. There are no records of a person, who really resembles you. And believe me – I've been thorough!"

Chloe chewed her lip, because she didn't know what to say. Therefore she stayed silent.

"That friend of yours, the girl with the long black hair … is she your Marshal?" Matt searched Cathy's face for some tell-tale signs, but looked away after a few seconds. He was stricken. "Ah, forget what I said. You shouldn't tell me. I know you're not allowed to." He ran his fingers through his dark hair and turned to stare out of the window. As if there was something more important out there than the woman standing on the other side of the room. But what was he supposed to say? That he didn't want to see her again? That it would be the best if she relocated and found another hiding place?

He wasn't a good liar, and the truth was that he wanted her to stay. He wanted her, pregnant or not! It was as simple as that. The difficult part of it was to tell her without sounding like some crazy pervert.

Still not an idea how to formulate his thoughts properly, he heard the thud as she put down the mug on the granite surface of the kitchen cabinet. When he turned around to look at her, he found that Cathy had already made the decision for him. She was halfway at the door, while he stood in his kitchen and waited until she had left.

In his head he knew this should be better for both of them, but his heart thought differently.

Chloe walked the few meters over to her house and began to cry as soon as she was inside. She was hungry and sick at the same time, a very nasty combination. The confrontation with Matt had drained her and she felt as if she hadn't slept at all.

When he had asked her about Lana she nearly had laughed hysterically. Or cried. She wasn't quite sure.

The guilt she already felt about leaving her friends behind without even saying goodbye was hard enough to cope with; she didn't need other sins that made her list of them even longer. And yet here she was.

Lying to Matt – or just not telling the whole truth, as she always liked to put it – gnawed at her conscience.

A Marshal and witness protection. A nervous squeak escaped her throat. That couldn't be farther from the truth.

Though, in some way, it was even better than only a fake personality. It gave her a good reason to be where she was right now. But she wasn't sure if she really was where she wanted to be. A very vivid image of Oliver appeared in her mind in the arms of the woman she had seen on the cover of the magazine. She tried to shoo it away, but it was persistent. And she knew that it was her own fault, that he had found someone else.

Dinah Lance impatiently glanced at her watch for what felt like the twentieth time during the last few minutes. She was at Watchtower and waited for the rest of the team to arrive. Well, most of the team. Clark and Oliver had been excluded from the meeting. Oliver already knew what they would be talking about and Clark too. He was against it, but he said that he wouldn't interfere with Oliver's decision.

A voice came from the double glass doors. "They won't arrive any sooner, only because you keep doing that, you know?"

Dinah turned her head to glare at the tall blond man, but he smirked at her in a way that made her shrug her annoyance off.

"Given the fact that one of us can be at most locations and I quote "in a flash", I get a little bit frustrated, when everybody is late, though we had fixed a time for this appointment." She complained.

"Stop whining, it doesn't suit you." AC said coolly. "You know how we are. You've been working with us for years now. And because you're no pushover, you'll endure the pain of waiting!" A wide grin spread on his face and he nudged her with his elbow in the ribs."Actually, I even have an idea how we could kill the time quite effectively."

He reached out to one of the slightly curled strands covering her ears, but she slapped his hand away. "Stop that, fishstick." She snarled grumpily. "I'm not in the mood."

AC intended to give her a smart comeback, but as the familiar gust of wind indicated Bart's entrance, he closed his mouth without a word. They could continue their banter after the meeting.

Victor came in right behind Bart, looking exhausted.

He was the only one, who offered an explanation for being late. "I'm sorry. I had a meeting with Clarkand Lois and I couldn't get away early, without raising any skepticism!"

"Good, now that we're all here, can we start?" Dinah rose to speak. The men looked at her expectantly. "Great. We all know what or better who this is about and I think that it's high time for us to make a decision." She cleared her throat before she continued. "Chloe is gone. We've been looking for her for months now. Oliver thinks she doesn't want to be found and that we should give her what she desires."

Bart's face fell immediately, but Dinah went on with her speech, before he was ready to contradict her.

"I believe he's right. We need to stop looking." Three pairs of eyes stared back at her and she waited for a reaction. Three. Two. One.

"NO! We can't do that. You're joking, right? Tell me she's joking…" Bart turned to AC, who just sighed. "Ah… well…"

"Are you crazy? We're not giving up! Victor, say something!" the younger one begged his friend.

Victor was obviously uncomfortable with the situation. He patted Bart's shoulder awkwardly.

"They're right, Bart!" he stated silently. His discomfort with the situation was palpable.

"What?" The younger man jerked his head up in disbelief.

"You should have seen Oliver's face, when he told me that Tess had confirmed that Chloe had made money with insider trades concerning Luthercorp. and fled the city." Victor shook his head as if he wanted to get rid of the picture.

Oliver had looked something between furious and disillusioned, when he explained what information Tess had been able to give. His eyes had been swollen and red. If it had been because he had constantly worked overtime during the last weeks or because he had cried, Victor hadn't been able to tell. And he had known better than to ask. He liked his head, where it was.

Dinah brought herself to speak up again, her voice a little unsteady. "Let's face it. In doing so, Chloe betrayed us. We can't waste –"

"No, no! Not her! Chloe would never do that to the team, we are her family!" Bart's voice nearly cracked at his desperate exclaim.

"Oh, come on! How can you defend her actions? She let us down and is now somewhere enjoying a sizzling new life with Oliver's money!" Dinah shouted at the younger one, and hated herself for doing so the moment she had acted out on her frustration.

The kid's shoulders slumped and his eyes went a tad glassy and he fought back his tears.

He wouldn't cry. Not in front of them. And he wouldn't give up either. He would never stop looking.

"Do what you want, I will too!" He stated hoarsely, before he whooshed away and left the others helplessly looking on.

The rest of them stood in the circular room of Watchtower, heads lowered in shame. Only the humming of the many monitors and processors penetrated the awkward silence.

Victor found words first. "It's difficult for him. He needs time."

"But we stick to the decision?" Dinah had to make sure.

"Yeah, we do. Keeping up Oliver's hopes and disappointing him again and again doesn't do him any good." Victor rubbed his face. "I'm heading out. You guys don't mind, do you? I didn't get much sleep lately. I need to rest before we meet the others."

The remaining two just nodded. When Victor had left, Dinah sighed and leaned against the desk near the door, where AC had already sought support at the start of the discussion.

"You were too tough on him. Bart loves Chloe more than anything, you know that…" AC's voice was soft, but his words still stung.

Dinah glared at him, before she responded. "Do you think it makes me feel good to play the bad guy, whenever there is a complicated choice to make?" Her voice grew louder with every word.

"I had to be the bearer of the bad news, because you two big guys were too chicken to tell him. Oliver got an excuse, because he barely can keep himself together right now. But you and Victor… -just behave like grown-ups from time to time!"

Her cheeks flushed red with anger as she continued her rant.

"Do you think I like to be the only woman on the team? Or that it's easy for me to see our leader in the shape he's in, without being able to help?" When she realized she was yelling at AC, she closed her mouth.

He pulled her closer and tucked a curl behind her ear. Then he carefully wrapped his arm around her back and lightly squeezed her shoulder. Dinah let her head sink against him, hiding her face in the crook of his neck. "It's not your fault. I mean, yelling didn't help the cause, but you were right. Don't do this to yourself. I'm sorry we've let you handle it alone. We really weren't helpful. I can only speak for myself, but I'll try to be more mature from now on." He turned his head and kissed her hair.

"I'm sorry about the yelling part." She groaned and stood. "We have to meet Oliver and Clark soon. There must be something we can do about the Kandorians. Playing the sitting duck isn't my forte."

"Oh, really?" AC chuckled softly as she took his hand and dragged him along to meet the others."Lead the way, tweetie!

Matt gave her time. He was sure that she would run. Day after day he waited and feared that the lights wouldn't go on in the neighbor house anymore. They always did. After two weeks of avoiding Cathy, he felt his self-restraint crumble. He caught himself a few times, when he was already reaching out to the doorknob without thinking. Struggling with himself because of the obvious complications that liking her and the undeniable need to be with herwould bring, was no use. It always had the same effect.

There was this little voice inside his head that kept pushing him. "Just do it. Go over to see how she's doing. You know you want to. And for heaven's sake, stop talking to yourself!"

Finally, he gave in and went over to ring the doorbell. Cathy opened the door and was clearly surprised to see him, but still invited him in.

He shrugged out of his coat, stepped out of his shoes and followed her to the living room. She had made some changes since he'd been there the last time. There was a dark blue sofa with huge cushions and a matching armchair with a plaid blanket and an open book on the seating. They sat down on the sofa.

"You're still here." He muttered and silently berated himself for stating the obvious.

She gave him an uncertain smile. "Did you want me to leave?"

"God, no!" he said too quickly and flinched. Checking Cathy's face for her reaction, he was relieved to see that his vis-à-vis didn't seem to object.

"Good. Because I like it here." And I have nowhere else to go. But he didn't need to know that.

"I like you." He replied simply and smiled again.

The proximity of her body made his heart beat faster. Matt lifted one finger to the side of her face and followed her jaw line down to her chin. His eyes never left hers as he did so, giving her the opportunity to stop him. He knew he was taking chances. It was either now or never. He leaned in to kiss her and this time she wasn't spooked.

He nudged her nose a little to the side and finally brought his lips down on hers. The kiss was gentle and soft. He nibbled at her lower lip and slowly brushed over it with his tongue as if he was begging for entrance. One hand wandered to the back of her neck and curled up in her hair, while the other one still caressed the side of her face with his thumb.

Chloe closed her eyes and gave explored her mouth with gentle strokes of his tongue as she let him in, but didn't push her to further things. He was just enjoying the feeling of her soft lips against his and the warmth of her mouth.

In return Chloe felt relaxed for the first time since she had left Smallville for good, moreover she felt save in the arms of this man. That he was a really good kisser didn't hurt either.

When the need for air slowly but steadily increased, she pulled back.

Matt stared at her, waiting. "Huh… that was…." She stuttered finally.

"If you're going to use the word "nice" now, I think I have to hurt myself."He grinned saucily. "The last time a girl used the term "nice" after I had kissed her, was in my teens. And I'm sure it wasn't a compliment back then."He patted her knee, when she giggled. He knew she had enjoyed the kiss.

"I've got something for you. Wait right here." He walked across the room to the hall and dug in the deep pocket of his woolen coat.A little later he came back with a book, which he handed to her. He sat down once again. Chloe looked at the title.

"A thousand baby names" it read. The choked sob that emanated from her mouth all of a sudden made him uneasy. He reached out to hold her hand.

"It's too soon, isn't it?" She wordlessly shook her head. "And you don't have a book like that already?" Same reaction. She wiped her face with her sleeve and cleared her throat.

"I'm just emotional, sorry. Sometimes the hormones really get the best of me… Thank you for the book." With those words she pulled him into a hug and gave him a quick kiss.

"You're welcome." He kissed the top of her head, and then leaned back a few inches to look her in the eye. "There is one question I have to ask." He felt her stiffen immediately. "You're not married, are you?"

"No." she answered plainly.

"The father of the baby…" Matt began, not sure how to verbalize his thoughts.

She freed herself from his arms, and moved a little bit away from him.

"I don't want to talk about him."

"Okay. You don't have to."

He reached out for her and pulled her closer again. She sighed and leaned her cheek against his shirt. They sat there in silence for minutes.

"Does that mean I can take you on another date?" Matt couldn't control his enthusiasm over the situation.

"Is that what you want? Dating a woman, who's going to have the baby of another man?" she whispered.

He lowered his head to murmur into her ear. "For now." And then he kissed her again.

His tone told her that she could have more if she just wanted. She only had to take it.

And maybe she would just do that.

Clark was waiting impatiently for the rest of the team to arrive. He glanced over to the others and sighed.

Since they had arrived, Oliver and Carter had been bickering the whole time, which strategy would be the best to defeat the Kandorians. Carter's version basically consisted of attacking first and thinking later, while Oliver thought it was best to do things the other way round.

Courtney was sprawled out on the orange couch and watched their exchange with quiet interest.

But then the dynamic of the dispute changed. Every minute they continued their quarrel, their voices became louder.

And when Carter suggested that the team's "secretary" had probably left because of their leader's lousy plans, something exploded inside Oliver's head.

He leapt over the table with a growl,taking the maps of the citywith him, which they had been brooding over.

Carter didn't see this reaction coming and was taken by surprise. Oliver managed to knock him down and landed a nasty blow on the other man's jaw, before he was thrown across the room and crashed hard into one of his bookcases. Every single shelf gave way under the force of the impact and buried Oliver underneath a flood of books.

Courtney gasped loudly and shot up from her seat. She threw Carter an angry look. "Was that really necessary?" Then she hurried over to the heap of books and helped Oliver to free himself. Blood seeped from a cut on his forehead to the corner of his eye, where an edge of a hardcover had struck him.

Carter shrugged. "He started it!"

"And I will finish it!"Oliver staggered in his direction, getting ready for another attack.

Carter laughed. "I'm waiting right here, green bean! Bring it on!"

Courtney grabbed Oliver's arm and tried to hold him back. She wasn't strong enough to stop him, but Clark stepped in his way. "ENOUGH!" he thundered. Then he turned to look at Carter and shot him an angry look. "Both of you!"

Oliver retreated to his bedroom and probably his en suite to nurse his wound and sulk, but not before he had given Carter the one finger only got an unnerved grunt as a reaction from the other man, because Clark was still eying them warningly.

"Since when is Mr. Billionaire this hypersensitive?" Carter asked the others as soon as Oliver was out of earshot.

Clark just sighed exasperatedly, though he said nothing. Courtney wasn't as reserved as the man next to her. Instead shejust chose to speak up. "Since he's in love with Chloe, you insensible idiot!" She inhaled deeply and a disbelieving expression appeared on her face. "How can you be so blind?"

A screeching sound indicated the arrival of the elevator. Dinah, AC and Victor had finally arrived.

"Hey, what happened here?" AC asked as he noticed the chaos.

"Oliver and Carter clashed!" Courtney explained. Dinah walked over and hugged the girl in greeting.

Then she eyed Carter suspiciously. "What did they fight about this time?"

He wanted to answer, but was interrupted by Clark. "Chloe." he just said.

The response came back in unison. "Ah…"

"Why the hell am I the last to learn about this?" Carter was irked and even a little ashamed that he had provoked Oliver.

Dinah drew up her eyebrows. "Maybe because you like him so much?"She asked back ironically.

Carter growled.

Clark harrumphed. "Could we get to the point of this meeting?"

Everybody murmured their approval.

Clark picked up the maps and began to delegate. He pointed in the direction of Oliver's room. "Dinah, please get Oliver, we really need to begin!" She pulled a face, but disappeared into the bedroom. She had already had her share of moody men during the last days, she didn't need another one on top of the cake.

"Victor, we need a connection to Watchtower's database and link us to the phone of John, he's the one on duty tonight!

Victor nodded, pulled out his laptop and began to type eagerly.

"AC, did you get the floor plans of the Luthor Mansion? - Good! - And Bart…- Where is Bart?"

AC still held out the prints to Clark. "Bart won't be with us in the near future. He left the team, because we gave up searching. He was gutted."

Clark sighed for the umpteenth time this day. "Of course he was, but leaving the team is harsh. I respect Oliver's decision, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up hope that she comes back or that I won't follow any clue that might come up."

AC nodded understandingly. "I doubt Lois would ever let you, man!"

Clark smiled tightly. "Tell me about it!"

AC looked over the dozens of rooms on the plan."What do we need the floor plans for, anyway?"

"We need to know, what Zod is planning. And he set up camp at the mansion, after Tess went underground."

"I know that, but, what do you want us to do? Go in there and say "hi"?"

"He wants to check the house for unusual objects or anything else that's different." Oliver had appeared again with Dinah right behind him. He had a butterfly band aid on his eyebrow and a bump was beginning to form. He walked into the kitchen and came back with an ice pack, which he pressed onto the wound. He grinned at AC. "Do me a favor and don't stay underwater that long anymore. It obviously affects your brain, fish stick!"

Carter strode over to Oliver's side and grumbled something into the other man's direction. For Clark it sounded like "didn't know" and his super-sensitive ears even picked up a low "sorry", but it was covered up quite quickly by a faked cough. Oliver's grin disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. "Don't worry. It's just a cut. I'll get over it!" he said with a stony expression.

"Good man!" Carter was obviously relieved that this farce seemed to be over. He clapped Oliver's shoulder in a friendly manner, but had miscalculated the power in his arm and Oliver stumbled a few steps forward under the blow.

Courtney and Dinah shot a warning glare at the older man, AC coughed to hide a laugh and Clark just rolled his eyes. Only Victor was oblivious to the whole scene, because he was busily scanning over the floor plans to find any abnormalities. He was in deep concentration and only reacted, when Oliver spoke up in a loud voice. "Okay guys! Let's see what this creep has in store for us. Then we'll find a way to use it to our advantage. Zod won't know what hit him, when we're finished with him and his underlings."

All the other team members looked surprised. Who would've thought that a little "butting heads" with Carter could lead to any other results than physical damage and aggression? Apparently it had also been the wake-up call Oliver had needed. Victor and AC shared a crooked smile. Finally, their leader was back.

Hope you liked it. I'm looking forward to your comments. Criticism is appreciated! ;)