Author Note: I have no Betas so all mistakes are entirely my own. All comments and reviews are appreciated - they are like crack to me!
The final chapter people. I have really struggled with it and I am still not happy with it but short of throwing my computer out the window to improve it I thought I would post anyway.
This had to be the longest five minutes in history - fifteen minutes worth to be exact. Chloe was sat at the bar with Bart, her foot bouncing up and down with impatience. She was pretty sure Tess had seen their little scene and was currently berating Oliver somewhere in private.
"Now I see why you guys complain about me. That foot thing is driving me nuts!" Bart said around a mouthful of shrimp.
Chloe raised an eyebrow at him before sliding from the stool to stand. Maybe pacing would be preferable to foot tapping. "I just don't understand what is taking him so long."
"Am I asking for too much information if I ask why you're so impatient?"
"It shouldn't take him this long, Bart." She was looking over the guests, she couldn't find him or Tess anywhere.
"You want me and fish stick to have a look around? We can find out if Mercer has a suite here?"
"You read my mind." Chloe began walking towards the main doors, intent on getting to reception before Bart had pried AC from Lois' clutches.
"May I help you?" The receptionist asked as Chloe approached. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Bart standing to the side, giving her a nod.
"Yes, I need for you to call the room of Ms Tess Mercer. She is required in the ballroom to make her opening speech for the benefit. I'm afraid I don't know the suite number."
"No problem, I will put the call through for you." The receptionist typed a couple of details into the computer before dialling the call. She turned around as a gust of wind. "Between you and me the air conditioning in this place isn't what it used to be."
Chloe smilled with sympathy as the receptionist tried the room. "I'm sorry Miss, but no one appears to be in the room. Would you like me to try again?"
"No problem. I'm sure she is on her way." Chloe smiled before walking over to Bart. "Smooth, Impulse."
"I got the information didn't I 'licious?" He smiled. "AC is staying in the room to keep an eye out. We're going to suite 1503."
"Well no one's picking up." Chloe led him to the staircase round the corner.
Bart picked her up and within seconds they were in front of the suite doors. Bart listened at the door. "Sounds like no one is there." He tried the door to find it unlocked "You stay here beautiful."
Bart zipped into the room and was out in three seconds. "Bossman isn't here but something's not right. Oliver's mask is in there but the room looks untouched."
"He wouldn't have willingly gone with Tess, I know it." Chloe said as she walked into the room.
"Are you sure?"
"He's starting to remember Bart. Oliver doesn't trust her anymore, I know it!"
"Hey, if you say so, then I believe you. But where would they go?"
Chloe looked around the room. It looked untouched. She was about to give up when something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. She knelt down and moved one of the curtains surrounding the poster bed where it draped on the floor. The dart was small and red, she was careful of how she held it.
"Oliver didn't leave here voluntarily." She held the dart out to Bart. His face fell as he realised what had happened.
"Do we need to get you back to Watchtower?"
"This telepathy we have going scares me. Go tell AC where we're going. Get him to distract Lois, the last thing we need is her getting wind of this. I'll meet you in the lobby."
Bart nodded before running for the room. Chloe carefully put the dart in her bag and ran towards the elevators. She pulled out her phone and hit one of her speed dials.
"Clark! I need your help, Tess has taken Oliver and I need to bring Emil to Watchtower. I'm going to need both of your help tonight. I'll explain when I get there, Bart is bringing me."
"Chloe Just tell me where he is, I can get him."
"No! Clark, there will be meteor rock thee I guarantee it. Just meet me, please."
"Ok. I'll be there as soon as I can get Emil."
Oliver could feel feather light touches to his head as he came around.
"Shh, everything is going to be okay."
"Chloe?" He tried to blink his eyes open but his eyelids felt as if they were made from lead. The hand that had previously been comforting him stilled.
"She is not here and that is not going to change anytime soon."
Oliver jolted awake at the familiar voice, that night's events coming back to him. He found himself strapped to a bed in the middle of a lab. "Let me out of here Tess!"
"Don't you see that I am helping you? I am giving you the opportunity for a normal life Oliver. You can have a successful business, a home, a family. There are enough heroes in the world without you needing to shoulder that burden too."
"That is my decision to make!"
"You're not in a position to make an impartial decision."
Oliver tried to fight against the restraints. He had been stripped of his tie and jacket, and had no way of accessing the tiny tools he kept in his pocket. "And you have no right to do this."
"I have more right than anyone else." She walked over to one of the scientists at the computer console. "You'll thank me for this."
"You mean you'll tell me after you wipe my mind clean?"
She smirked. "Yeah, probably not. But I promise you that you won't miss anything."
"I have friends Tess. They're not going to let you just get away with this."
"You mean Chloe and that little band of misfits you hang around with? They won't be an issue. Checkmate will have them in their control before you know it, and Miss Sullivan will find that without her friends there is very little she can do. If she or her cousin press the issue then I will make sure she leaves you alone."
"If you hurt her-"Oliver's threat was cut short by a lab assistant injecting him with sedative
"I wish we could have done this the easy way Oliver." She genuinely regretted having to drug him to get him here. At least he would have no recollection of the past few hours to make any judgements. "I think you should begin now Doctor Wilson."
As the sedatives began to take effect, the probes were placed in Oliver's temples.
"I want to see what memories he has recovered over the past week. I want to see who he has spoken to and how his mind has been poisoned against me. I refuse to have to repeat this performance in a month's time." Tess ordered.
"I'm not sure how long that will take. The memory removal itself can be a lengthy process if we are to avoid any adverse effects." The doctor explained.
"Just do it. Failure is not an option here." Tess demanded as she stood by the monitors, ready to see inside Oliver's mind.
It had taken only a minute for Bart to get Chloe back to the watchtower. It was times like these that she was thankful she kept spare clothes in the chest upstairs. Rescuing Oliver would require something a little more hard-wearing than formal wear. She buttoned her blouse as she descended the stairs, she could already hear voices speaking at a rapid rate. Clark and Emil must have arrived while she was changing and Bart was bringing them up to date.
"Are you sure Tess is planning to alter his memories?" Clark asked as she finally stepped off of the staircase.
"Hello to you too Clark." She said as she brought up the GPS focusing on Oliver. "And yes. Oliver told me about some experiment to help retrieve his memories. Tess wouldn't have gone through this whole charade if she was just planning on helping him get his memories back. I think she was talking about the machine she used on Lois to see what happens in the future."
Her fingers flew over the keyboard as the signal focused and zoomed into Oliver's location. "She's moved the lab from where she originally stored it, it's now within the LuthorCorp building. She was probably trying to add some credibility to the project."
Clark's back straightened. "I'll get him."
"No Clark!" Chloe shouted before he could move. "Tess is going to be expecting you. For all we know she's lined the room with meteor rock."
"I am not going to just wait here on the chance Tess will be expecting me."
"No, I wouldn't ask you to do that. But Oliver will need all of us if he is going to make it out with his memories intact." She grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. "Bart, if you would be so kind…"
"No need to ask me beautiful. Pleasure's all mine!" Bart scooped her up in his arm and sped from the room.
Clark and Emil just looked at each other. Emil sighed before putting his glasses into his jacket pocket. "Just so you know, I find this really uncomfortable."
When Clark forcefully opened the door he only managed to walk two steps into the room before falling to his knees. Chloe had been right. There was green meteor rocks placed throughout the room, preventing him from moving any further.
Chloe followed him into the room as Emil and Bart tried to help Clark to his feet. She should have been more concerned for her friend, but all she could see was an unconscious Oliver strapped to a bed and Tess standing ten feet away with a gun pointed straight at her.
The three doctors within the room had stopped what they wee doing and stood open mouthed looking at the intruders.
"Gentlemen, if you would be so kind as to continue your work. These distractions will be removed shortly." Tess pressed a button on the wall, presumably alerting security.
"What do you think this will accomplish? We're not going to let you do this to him." Chloe said, she could feel the anger boiling inside.
"If any of you even twitches, I guarantee you that I will shoot her." Tess told the men at Chloe's back.
A small smirk formed on Chloe's face. Tess assumed that the only one here with powers was Clark. Chloe had always thought that Tess tried to plan thoroughly, make adjustments to every curve thrown. It seemed that she really was just a poor imitation of Lex, at least he had the foresight to protect himself from the speed of one Bart Allen.
Chloe turned to look at Bart. He smiled and winked at her before speeding across the room. Tess had no time to react before Bart had reached her and snatched away her weapon. It was all that was needed. Chloe launched herself across the room, rugby tackling Tess, slamming her into a wall.
Everything seemed to happen at once. Emil hit the doctor at the console, taking his place at the keyboard. Bart ran around the room collecting the meteor rock before depositing it on the other side of the building within seconds. Feeling his strength return, Clark grabbed the two remaining lab workers and bound them using the ties from their necks.
Bart had returned to the room just in time to stop Clark from interfering in the fight taking place between the two women. "Clark, just let Chloe handle this. She can take care of herself."
"Bitch!" Chloe yelled as she punched Tess squarely in the jaw. She had been right to change clothes. The confinement of her evening dress was preventing Tess from being able to move as she normally could.
"You had to ruin everything! We were happy!" Tess screamed back, trying to throw the petite blonde off of her.
"You were delusional. Maybe next time you'll take a leaf out of Luthor's books and just try to blackmail someone to spend time with you."
Tess spat blood onto the floor as she wrapped her hands around Chloe's throat and began to squeeze. Chloe managed to reach a nearby stool and using all the strength she could find brought it down onto Tess' head, knocking her unconscious.
"Fucking bitch." Chloe said trying to catch her breath. Bart helped her to her feet.
"You are so many levels of awesome 'licious!"
"Are you okay Chloe?" Clark asked.
"I'm fine." She walked over to Oliver. "How is he?"
"I've stabilised him, but I have no idea if they have stripped him of any memories." Emil said before walking over to Oliver and removing the probes from his temples.
Clark walked over to the doctor Emil had hit. He lifted him in the air using one arm, bringing him to eye level. "What did you do to him?" He demanded.
"No-nothing! We were still working through the memory retrieval programme when you came in. I swear!"
"If you've lied to me-"
"No! I haven't! If anything we have sped up his healing process. Since being connected to the machine his memories have been returning at an accelerated rate. Miss Mercer had just given the order for us to start erasing them." The doctor was pleading. It was surprising how fear could be such a motivator.
"Then why is he unconscious?"
"Miss Mercer had him sedated." Clark lowered the man on the floor next to his colleagues. The police would be able to deal with them soon enough.
"Is it safe to move him Emil? Security could be here any second." Chloe asked.
"Yes, he should be fine."
"Clark, can you take him back to his place?" She asked, her friend merely nodded before speeding from the room with the man she loved. Before she could say anything Emil interrupted her with a hand gesture.
"I'd rather catch a cab if you don't mind?"
"Sorry Emil, Oliver needs you."
"That's what I thought." He grumbled before Bart sped him from the room.
A groan brought Chloe's attention back to Tess. The Ice Queen was starting to come around. "You can't protect him forever Chloe, he has put himself in harm's way too many times. If I hadn't been the one to take Oliver it would have been Checkmate."
Chloe knelt before the bleeding red-head and stared straight into her eyes. "I swear, if you come after Oliver again I will kill you Tess. And believe me when I say I will lose no sleep doing it either."
"Oliver would never forgive you."
"After the stunt you just pulled? Be thankful he hasn't gained consciousness yet, because I'm sure this time he wouldn't have shot you with a tazer." Chloe got to her feet. "But don't worry. I would never be so bold as to use an arrow. All I can promise you is that you will have no idea how or when it's coming."
She walked towards the door, Bart turning up just in time. "Come on 'licious. Security are here." They left the building within a blink of an eye, leaving Tess to tend all of her wounds.
Bart released Chloe the minute they got into the elevator. "At your service ma'am."
She cocked an eyebrow at him and took in his appearance. "You're the fastest man alive, and yet you've been running around in that tux all night. You were trying to be James Bond weren't you?"
His grin was all the reply she needed. "Think Oliver will buy me an Aston Martin?"
"Not a chance." The elevator reached its destination and Chloe ran to Oliver's bedroom. She found him lying on the bed with Emil by his side.
"Clark has gone back to inform the police." Emil informed her as he got up to stand.
"He's okay isn't he?" Chloe asked, sitting on the edge of the bed next to Oliver.
"I've just given him a check up and he seems fine. The sedatives are starting to wear off but I think it would be wise if someone stayed with him tonight. He's going to be drowsy, it's best if he just sleeps it off."
"That's not a problem. I'll stay."
"I'm going to be staying in Metropolis tonight. If you need me just call." Emil left the room leaving Bart standing there looking in.
"I can stay if you want." He offered.
"I'll be okay thanks."
"You'll let me know when he's back to his old self?"
"You'll be the first person I'll get him to call." She smiled.
"Okay. I'll go let AC know what happened. I have a feeling your cousin will be giving him a hard time."
"Thank you Bart, for everything."
"No problem beautiful. Just doing my job." He smiled before zipping to the elevator.
Chloe toed off her shoes and removed her jeans before crawling under the blankets with him. She laid next to Oliver in the bed and just watched his sleeping form - he was safe and he was with her. For the first time that week Chloe felt as if some weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Watching the steady rise and fall of his chest she gradually allowed sleep to take her.
Chloe groaned as she felt the sunlight on her face. She must have forgotten to pull the curtains before settling down for the night. Her face was feeling hot and flushed and she realised that she must have snuggled into Oliver during the night. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at her bed partner.
She was surprised to already find him awake and staring straight back at her. "Morning." She smiled before kissing him softly on the lips. She frowned when he remained perfectly still, not even responding in the slightest.
"Who are you, and why are you in my bed?" He asked.
"What? Oliver, you know who I am."
"Lady, I have no clue who you are." He was as serious as she had ever seen him.
Chloe bolted upright in the bed. "That bitch! I knew it was too good to be true!" She cursed to herself. "Oliver, it's me. Chloe. Remember? Chloe Sullivan."
She felt like she could cry. After all this they were back to square one, back to the unknown. She was about to make a move for her phone before she caught a slight twitch of his mouth.
"Oliver! That is not funny!" As she threw a pillow at him he burst into laughter.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist."
"Are you trying to give me a heart attack? Of all the stupid, thoughtless-"
Oliver pulled her towards him and silenced her with a kiss. "I have some making up to do." He said slowly unbuttoning the blouse she had left on from the night before
"How would you know? You don't have all of your memories back yet. We've never been this intimate for all you know."
"Believe me." He threw her shirt away as he began said kissing down her neck towards her collarbone. "I remember everything."
"Everything?"
"Oh yes. I think being strapped into Tess's little house of torture kick started a few things." Her bra and panties seemed to follow the way of her blouse.
"Your libido one of those things?"
"Never needed a kick start to that where you're concerned." His hands slowly descended to the juncture between her thighs and he began to touch her in a way he knew normally drove her wild. "Any doubts about my memory now?"
"No." Was all she could manage to say as the pleasure he created with his fingers began to build.
Oliver rolled her onto her back as he withdrew his hand. She kissed him before taking his hardness in her hand, causing to inhale sharply. "I missed you Oliver. So much."
He knew he had to say something, before they went any further. He closed his hand around hers, stilling her motion. "I know that you don't want to hear this Chloe, but after everything that's happened I have to tell you…I love you. More than anything. Without you I have nothing."
"I love you too Oliver." She kissed him before guiding him inside. With a roll of his hips he was fully sheathed within her.
Normally when they had sex, it was full of passion, pressing kisses and hard, frantic movements. But now it seemed that finally telling each other their feelings had changed how they could be together. Oliver's eyes never left hers as he thrust slowly but firmly, her hips moving to match his pace. After all this time they were finally making love to each other, finally allowing theirselves to feel what they had been trying to deny for so long.
Chloe whimpered as the firm pace began to have a growing effect as she felt her climax starting to form. She knew he was close too, she felt the muscles in his back tensing under her hands and his eyes became darker. She found there was something intensely erotic about looking into his eyes as he tried to bite back his own groans of pleasure. Oliver increased his speed slightly before slipping his thumb to where they were joined, clumsily finding her clit. It was all she needed before he had her crying out, her uncontrolled thrashing bringing him to his own release.
Oliver rolled them so they were laying on their sides facing each other, both trying to catch their breath. "I missed you so much." She said.
"Did you mean it?"
She didn't have to ask what he was talking about. "I know I've been the one setting all of these rules and boundaries but I just can't lie to myself anymore. Seeing you with Tess…it hurt. I really thought I had lost you for a while there, and I knew I couldn't lie to myself any more. I love you Oliver, and I'm not scared to say it."
He smiled broadly before hugging her tighter. Feeling the kisses on the top of her head she snuggled closer to him. This was all he wanted right here, and he would let no one take this from him. Not ever again.