Disclaimer: Clearly not mine. I barely even know anything about Smallville so it couldn't have come from me.
Warning: Lots of changes to the timeline. Consider all the seasons spoiled, but the story begins in an altered Season 8. Some violence and swearing, eventually some smut.
Epiphanies
Recap: Chloe is a runaway bride from her wedding with Jimmy. She returns to Metropolis days later, and doesn't tell anyone why she ran. She returns to the ISIS foundation, the Daily Planet, and her part time role as Watchtower, but she has changed. Everyone notices the changes but Oliver is the one most insistent on figuring her out. Chloe begins to sort things out and relaxes, socializing with the others again. She continues to distance herself from Oliver, and one night after being injured on patrol he finds out about her healing ability. They continue their stalemate, but Oliver realizes it's not just his friend he's missing after Chloe heals him again, when he is shot and nearly dies. Chloe rescues Davis from some thieves and ends up in the hospital. Davis, Jimmy and Oliver are all there, and no one is happy. Oliver and Chloe repair their friendship, and are spending time together. Chloe suspects someone is following her and enlists Lois's help to find out who, which leads to Davis, but Chloe dismisses the idea. Oliver formulates a plan to keep Chloe off Lex's radar. Chloe and Lois switch bodies for a day, and learn a little about each other and Clark. Oliver begins his new strategy to win Chloe, leaving Chloe feeling off-kilter. John Jones is shot, and Clark goes undercover. Clark and Ollie clash but it works out in the end. Lois seems to know something is up between Oliver and Chloe. Lana is back in town and reconnects with Clark who still has feelings for Lois. Oliver leaves town for a few days, and Chloe manages to get cornered by Lex and then kidnapped. She rescues herself, but Davis/Doomsday is also there and kills all the smugglers before she can come back with the police. Tess confronts Lex about planting the spying device in her brain.
Chapter 12
CO-CO-CO
Chloe's article is on the front page the next day, above the fold. The news of a human smuggling ring being busted intermingled with the mysterious disappearance of all the smugglers is a compelling tale. The medical examiner says that with the amount of blood on the scene, at least five people died there, but the only body found, was just a body part, the head of the decapitated guard is fished out of the water by police divers. The story of the Daily Planet's reporter's own kidnapping is underplayed.
The new DP editor congratulates Chloe on a job well done, and tells her to deliver a follow up the next day as well as a larger piece incorporating the sensational events within the larger context of smuggling in Metropolis for the Sunday edition. "Find out who's the top dog in this smuggling ring and you'll get yourself another front page story, Sullivan."
Chloe and Lois go out for a celebratory lunch, with Lois happy about her own story leading the local politics section.
Returning from lunch, Chloe finds a bouquet of spring flowers on her desk. Lois snatches the card before Chloe thinks to find it, opening it to read, "Have a good day, Sidekick. Oliver." Lois narrows her eyes. "Get well flowers?"
Chloe shakes her head with a soft look on her face. "I'm not sick so, I'm gonna go with no."
Lois gives her highly independent little cousin a knowing look. "You didn't tell him about your most recent adventure, did you?" Chloe shakes her head again, a conspiratorial smile on her face. Lois smiles back "You wanna tell me why he calls you Sidekick?" Chloe assumes an innocent face and smiles at Lois. "Whatever. I will find out cuz. Don't you doubt it."
CO-CO-CO
Later that afternoon, Jimmy stops by to check on Chloe, finding her desk empty. He stares at the flower arrangement and glancing around to see if anyone is watching, picks up the card. Chloe appears walking towards her desk but hesitates seeing Jimmy there. "Jimmy, hey…"
"Oliver. As in Oliver Queen?" He asks in a hard tone of voice.
Chloe pauses, not sure what to say or if she should even answer. "Yeah. We're friends."
"Friends? Really? Do you send your friends expensive flower arrangements? 'Cause I don't send any of my friends flowers."
"No, but then again, I'm not a billionaire with a secretary and numerous assistants. You're making more of this than there is Jimmy. And frankly, it's none of your business."
"Six months ago I was your finance. Was he sending you gifts then too?"
Chloe looks around, embarrassed that they are drawing curious eyes. "I don't think this is the time or the place Jimmy."
"Too bad. I'm not letting you put me off. I did that through our whole relationship, and look how that turned out." He holds his ground.
Chloe reluctantly suggests they go somewhere more private. "Since you seem set on us having a fight."
"Fine. Outside. Let's go."
Chloe is caught for a moment by the funniness of the statement, it almost sounded like he was calling her out to fisticuffs.
Outside they move down the sidewalk away from the front doors of the DP. "So who is this guy to you Chloe? How do you even know him? And don't say that he used to date you cousin. He comes here to see you."
"Jimmy…" Her tone is regretful, but she doesn't know how to answer him. There is no simple answer. Oliver was the Green Arrow, Chloe's relationship with him grew from that fact.
Jimmy's voice changes from angry accusation to confused neediness. "I'm just…I'm trying to understand Chloe. I don't know what happened. I thought we were happy. Can you just make me understand?"
"Jimmy, I'm sorry."
His voice grows louder and he moves closer to her, his anger surging again and getting the better of his usually gentle nature. "Don't tell me that you're sorry! I know you're sorry. I don't want to hear it anymore. I want to know what happened!"
Before Chloe can formulate a response, Davis is pushing his way between them. "Why don't you back off, man. You don't need to yell at her."
Davis's appearance just makes Jimmy madder. "Great. The other guy who's always around, that you never wanted to explain. Just perfect."
Chloe is wary of Davis's appearance, but needs to deal with Jimmy first. He never deserved any of this, she owes him some sort of explanation. "Davis, it's fine. Give us a second here, OK?"
Davis looks unhappy, but stays where he is as Chloe leads Jimmy a bit farther down the sidewalk. "Jimmy, I know you deserve an answer, but there is no easy answer to give you. I loved you. I did. I still do, but I'm not in love with you. I wanted…I wanted what we had together. I thought… I'm sorry. I know you don't want to hear that, but I am. I got caught up in the idea of you and me and being married, but we wouldn't have been happy Jimmy. You deserve someone who loves you completely. I don't want you to hate me, but I wouldn't blame you if you did."
"So there wasn't another guy?" he asks.
"I wasn't cheating on you Jimmy, I wouldn't do that." Chloe prevaricates.
He nods slowly, his sadness apparent. "OK. I'm sorry for causing a scene."
She grins, her expression hesitant. "Yeah, well…"
"I'm glad you're OK. I was really scared when I heard you were kidnapped."
She looks at him softly. "You really are a good guy Jimmy."
"Just not the guy, huh? I should have known. The Jimmy Olsens of the world don't end up with the Chloe Sullivans. It just doesn't work like that."
"Jimmy…" She wants to tell him that he deserves better than her, but knows that they will just be more empty platitudes to him at this point.
He shakes his head and walks away. Chloe watches him go filled with sadness that she'd hurt someone she cared about. Taking a deep breath she looks over her shoulder to find Davis waiting for her.
She moves back towards him reluctantly. After his declarations the night before she didn't know what to say to him. "What are you doing here, Davis?"
"I wanted to check up on you, make sure you were OK."
"I'm fine. Lois and Clark have been taking good care of me." She puts him off, and reminds him of the presence in her life of two people who didn't like or trust him. "I'm sorry, but I have to get back to work."
She walks quickly towards the door to the DP, feeling his gaze heavy on her back. The fine hairs on the back of her neck stand up suddenly, and a sense of unease fills Chloe.
CO-CO-CO
Chloe races from the Daily Planet to the Isis Foundation, trying not to be late for a meeting with Lana and the foundation's legal counsel. Arriving just five minutes late, Chloe greets the two lawyers, both women in their 40s. They review the foundation's legal status, looking over the finances, and Chloe is satisfied that things were in good shape. She stands up to end the meeting when the lawyer's words freeze her in place. "That leaves us with one last piece of business. Ms. Lang has had us draw up the document to transfer control of the Foundation's endowment to you Ms. Sullivan, as well as a permanent role as Foundation director. Ms. Lang will remain only in an advisory capacity."
Chloe looks at Lana, her eyes full of shock. "This is your foundation, Lana."
"Not anymore. You've done so much more here than I could ever have done Chloe. You have so much passion for life, for helping people. It's your foundation, and I don't want to get in your way. I don't expect you to take on a full time role here. I put more money into the foundation, the money I got from my divorce with Lex. The interest alone is enough to run the foundation and hire a full time executive director. What I'd like is for you to agree to stay on as the guiding force behind the foundation Chloe. You know what meteor infected people need. I don't. You're the right person to do this job."
Chloe agrees, but feels the weight of responsibility weigh heavily on her. She knew she couldn't keep up with everything she had going in her life. School, work at the DP, the foundation, her role as Watchtower. She'd have to figure out how to manage it all, and soon.
Once the lawyers leave Chloe turns to Lana. "You could have given me some warning." Lana just smiles. "Lana, I need to talk to you about something." She hesitates, then blurts it out. "Lex came to see me."
Lana's gaze hardens, her expression brittle. "Did he threaten you Chloe?"
"No. Not exactly. Not me. He wanted me to tell you something. He said that you should stay out of his business. If you don't…well, that's where the threat was implied." Lana is silent and Chloe begins to worry. "What are you doing Lana? Don't go up against Lex. Let it go. I thought you were moving on with Clark?"
"I am. I want to start a life with Clark more than anything, but I can't just let everything with Lex go Chloe. It's not that easy. The baby…" Lana's hard expression breaks and her lip quivers.
Chloe moves in to comfort her, taking Lana's hand. "I'm so sorry, Lana. I never really had a chance to tell you that."
Lana's eyes are full of tears when she looks up at Chloe, the hatred in them a stark contrast to the softness Chloe was used to seeing in Lana's eyes. "There was no baby Chloe. Lex just made me think there was."
A wave of horror and compassion fills Chloe and she hugs Lana as her friend breaks down in tears in her arms.
CO-CO-CO
After the next day at work, Chloe leaves the office with a sense of satisfaction. She'd final gotten independent confirmation of the head of the smuggling ring. Instead of a lifelong criminal like she'd expected to find, it turned out to be the head of the Metropolis Chamber of Commerce. Chloe had sent her information to the detectives who'd been with her the night of the kidnapping, and in turn they'd let the DP photographer, Jimmy, be there to document the arrest.
The next day was Friday, and that meant the weekend was close. Oliver had called to say he'd be back in another day or two, and she and Lois were going out for girls night. Life was good.
CO-CO-CO
Chloe demanded that she be able to pick the place for once, and after careful consideration of what kind of guy Lois might like, Chloe decided that they were going to a local cop bar. The detectives working the smuggling case had invited Chloe to meet them there, and Chloe knew that Lois respected the job the police did, and knew that most cops were male, making a cop bar the idea place for Lois to meet someone she might actually be interested in.
Chloe's goal for the night was for both girls to blow off some steam and to find someone to distract Lois from the ongoing Clark/Lana drama. That it helped her keep her mind off Oliver and wondering where he was, who he was with and if he'd be back to his normal self or be acting just as weird as before he left once he returned.
At Chloe's studio apartment in Metropolis, Lois blasts Def Leopard from the stereo as the girls get ready. "Love is like a bomb, baby, c'mon get it on; Livin' like a lover with a radar phone…" Lois sings along.
Once they're ready, Lois steps out of Chloe's small bathroom with her hair teased, wearing a short denim skirt and shirt that shows off her assets. "Lookin' like a tramp, like a video vamp," Chloe offers with a grin.
Lois takes in Chloe's outfit of tight jeans paired with one of the slinky tops Lois had bought for her. "Little Miss Innocent, sugar me, yeah." Lois quotes back.
Chloe laughs, feeling the carefree sound burst from her body. It felt good.
The girls enter the bar then stop abruptly. It's full of men, some in uniform, some in street clothes. "Step inside, walk this way," Lois says as she pulls Chloe inside, already eyeing an attractive officer at the bar. "You and me babe, hey, hey!"
Chloe cracks up again. "Me or officer hot-stuff over there?" Lois shrugs.
The detectives make room for Chloe and Lois at their table, and Chloe for one is glad. The ratio of men to women in the packed space is easily four to one, and it's a little intimidating. The female detective, Barnes, pushes back Chloe's hair to get a look at the cut and knot on her forehead, taking in the blue and green bruising. "Nice."
The other detective, Gunther, scoffs. "I've seen worse."
Barnes scowls at him. "Yeah, but you have a higher threshold for ugly than the rest of us since you have to look at yourself in the mirror every morning."
Everyone at the table laughs and the ribbing continues, with Chloe and Lois getting in on it.
"Chlo, you want another drink?" Lois offers some time later.
Chloe looks at her half full rum and coke. "I think I'm good Lo."
"C'mon, take a bottle, shake it up." Lois teases.
Chloe levels a look at her. "Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet." The officers around them exchange confused by amused looks while the cousins smile at each other.
"That's my girl." She grabs Chloe's hand and pulls her away from the table, heading towards the bar. Lois pushes them between two good looking officers and smiles widely up at both of them.
"You need a drink sweetheart?" One of the officers offers.
"I'm hot, sticky sweet. From my head to my feet. Yeah." Lois says in a sing song voice.
Chloe wants to laugh at Lois's brazen reply but blushes too. "Red light, Lo!"
"Yellow light, green-a-light go! Come on cuz, cut loose a bit."
"What'll it be? I'm buying." The officer asks with an assessing smile.
"A beer for me, and a cosmo for my hot little cousin here." Lois says without a hint of embarrassment.
"Oh my God." Chloe mutters.
"What was that Chlo?"
"Crazy little woman in a one man show." Chloe says with a pointed smile.
"Sweet dream, saccharine, loosen up," Lois taunts. "You know what, bartender, get us two lemon drops too." As he makes the drinks and stirs in the sugar, Chloe grins at Lois.
"Pour some sugar on me," both girls say simultaneously.
CO-CO-CO
The next night is Friday, and Chloe smiles as she sits on her couch. In the last few months she'd made a lot of progress. She'd taken her life back for herself. No longer lost in the mission, or other people's lives she was making progress in forging a life for herself. It had been five months since the aborted wedding, but Chloe felt like it had been much longer than that.
The new editor at the Daily Planet seemed to appreciate Chloe and her stories were being published and she was given more and more free reign to find her own stories rather than picking them up off the assignment desk. She was back in school and making rapid progress towards a degree. Each day at Isis helped her better accept her own ability.
While she missed the closeness she'd once had with Clark, she realized that it had been gone for awhile, and their relationship had become hopelessly unbalanced. She'd pushed back on Clark's requests for help, and now maybe it was time to see what was left of the friendship borne of genuine affection, not just shared interests.
She even had a date. She didn't expect to fall for Bobby, one of Lois's police officer friends, being in love with Ollie kind of preempted that possibility, but it would be nice to be 'out there' again, as Lois put it. Besides Chloe was going more as moral support than as a date. She and Bobby were doubling with Lois and Officer Hot-Stuff. A baseball game wasn't Chloe's idea of a good date, but Lois had seemed so excited about it, Chloe went along with the idea.
Chloe sighs as she thinks about Oliver. She loved him. Somehow he had unknowingly slipped past her formidable defenses and won her heart. She didn't notice while it was happening, figuring it out in a lightening strike of shock and jealousy one day. He never knew she was falling. Never knew she had fallen. How could he, when she hadn't even known herself.
And now, he had no idea she was biding her time for the feelings to fade. Planning for her life once her heart no longer ached for him.
Of course he didn't know. She knew he had never looked at her like that. When they met he was dating her cousin. She was just Lois's family, Clark's sidekick. Firmly and clearly in the friend category. And she had been fine with that. Then she had gone and stupidly fallen in love with him. Even when she acknowledged the truth to herself, silently, she knew that love was just one part of the equation that made relationships work. She loved him, but he didn't love her back. Not in the romantic sense. They trusted each other, but not fully. She knew his secrets, he knew hers. Well, some of hers. But did she trust him with her heart? Clearly not. She did everything she could to never betray herself, her love, to him. Loving him in secret hurt, but not nearly as bad as the pain of rejection would have been if he knew, and had to let her down. And that would only complicate things with the JLA, her as Watchtower, him as hero, leader and financer.
Now if she could just figure out what had gotten into Ollie last week, everything would be fine.
CO-CO-CO
Oliver returns late Saturday night and invites Chloe to brunch the next day. She agrees and he picks her up from her apartment. "I thought we could try that new place down by the docks."
Chloe grimaces. "Why not? I've been spending a lot of time at the docks lately." Oliver raises one eyebrow in question and she smiles at him. "Just a story I was working on."
"I'll have to read it." Chloe frowns. She hadn't told Oliver about the kidnapping and the smugglers. She knew she'd have too, the presence of the monster or serial killer at the scene made that a foregone conclusion, but somehow she knew he'd be upset with her. "Something wrong, Sidekick?"
She shakes her head. "Nope. Nothing. Just glad you're back." She flinches a bit at her words, staring straight forward, mad at herself for saying it out loud when she was determined not to show it, and misses Oliver's wide grin.
"I missed you too Chloe."
She feels her insides warm at his soft words, but forces herself to stop mooning over him. They were friends. That's all. "Why don't you ever call me Chlo?"
"What do you mean?
"It's always, Chloe or Sidekick, or sometimes short stuff. Never Chlo," she asks, her gaze curious.
"I could call you…Petal."
She laughs, her face filled with amusement. "Petal?"
"Why not, you're beautiful and delicate like a flower's petal." She flushes at the compliment, but wrinkles her nose. "No? How about Poppet? Ma chérie?"
"What does Poppet even mean?" she laughs.
"I think it means doll. I could call you mon poulet," he offers with a wink and a French accent.
"Doesn't that mean your chicken?"
"Yes, but the French make it sound so much more endearing." She laughs again and he joins her this time.
The arrive at the restaurant and Oliver valets the car. Handing over the keys to the hundred thousand dollar machine like it was nothing. The hostess leads them to some seats overlooking the water.
"Seriously, what's wrong with Chlo?" she asks as she takes her seat, Oliver pulling back the chair for her like a gentleman.
Oliver leans down to whisper in her ear, "Chlo is what Lois calls you. Chlo. Her little cousin, her little sister. That's not how I see you ma moitié."
Chloe shudders as his breath stirs her nerve endings and she loses her composure. He unnerves her so much she forgets to ask what ma moitié means.
Chloe is unsettled for the rest of their meal, not able to even pretend to be at ease with Oliver. Her mind keeps tumbling his words over and over again in her head, not sure of their meaning. When he drops her off she tries to scramble out of his car and away from him, but he beats her to it, opening her door and hugging her goodbye for much longer than she thought necessary, making her heart thud heavily against her ribs.
As she watches him leave she realizes that she forgot to tell him about the smugglers or the reappearance of the killer.
CO-CO-CO
Chloe lugs a load of laundry back into her apartment, her face flushed from the exertion of carrying it up two flights of stairs. Her cell phone rings and she snatches it up just before it goes to voice mail. "Yeah, hold on, wait just a minute… OK go." She flops down on the couch laying her head back with a sigh.
Oliver's angry voice fills her ear. "Oh, I can go now? Great. I have a few questions for you Chloe. Like how come I had to read in the paper about you being kidnapped again? Or, and I'm reading between the lines here, how you and the serial killer we've been looking for happened to be in the same place at the same time. Or how about you being the only one who walked out of that warehouse that night alive?"
Chloe grimaces, and looks sheepish. "That's not exactly true, and I was going to tell you."
"When?" he demands.
"Today."
"Why didn't you?"
She frowns. "I got distracted," she says with a bit of attitude, not happy at how easily he seemed to be able to strip away her defenses recently. "Look Oliver, I get that you're upset that we missed the killer again-"
"That's why you think I'm upset?" If his voice had been loud before it was at a whole new level now. Chloe holds the phone away from her ear with a grimace
"Don't yell at me. It's not like I planned it."
Oliver shoots a series of rapid fire questions at him, getting into the details of what had happened. Her responses don't make him feel much better. "I should lock you up in a safe room."
"I don't think so mister."
"Fine, I'll just wire you for GPS and we can put a panic button in your molar. All you'll have to do is bite down."
"Can you seriously do that?" Chloe asks curiously.
"Probably. If I could, would you let me do it?"
"No."
He sighs. "Chloe this is serious."
"I know, I was there. And yet here I am now, fine, at home, doing laundry and being yelled at. See, totally OK."
Oliver grumbles a bit more, upset that she hadn't told him and neither had Lois or Clark. Oliver had gotten in the habit of thinking about Chloe as being his, even though he knew they weren't together. They were just friends and colleagues, but his feelings demanded a more proprietary role in her life.
"I was going to tell you Ollie, I swear."
"Could you maybe give me a heads up before you get yourself into a potentially dangerous situation? At least then I'll know to come looking for you."
"Come on, Ollie. I've been getting into dangerous situations," she mimics the gravitas of his tone when she says the words, "since I was fourteen. I can take care of myself."
He grits his teeth, annoyed that she refused to let him or anyone else take care of her. He knew she knew how to handle herself, but she was still at a size disadvantage when it came to most physical fighting.
"Oliver?"
"Yeah." He forces his voice to be soft and even, not wanting to fight or let her know how upset he really was.
"If you're OK now, maybe I should tell you about running into Lex earlier this week."
"You're killing me Chloe," he groans.
"What?" she asks innocently. "I'm only telling you because it's pretty clear Lana knows something or is doing something that is making Lex nervous. I thought whatever makes him nervous is something we should know about." She explains about how Lex was watching Lana and had used Chloe to send a warning.
"You're probably right." There is a pause, then he laughs.
"What?" she asks a bit indignantly.
"I was just thinking, I should never leave town again."
Chloe flops back on her couch a small pout on her face, then smiles. That would be nice.
CO-CO-CO
Oliver is doing yoga, trying to find a calm and centered state before his next meeting. He feels a breeze and drops out of his handstand, standing up to level a serious look at Clark. "Glad you could make it."
"You said it was important," Clark replies.
"It is. I want to know what happened with Chloe the other night." Clark looks blank. Oliver grits his teeth together. "At the docks? You were there right?"
"You read the article, it pretty much said it all," Clark offers.
"Why was she there alone? Where were you?"
Clark gets defensive. "I was with Lana, and Chloe didn't even tell me she was working on anything dangerous or I would have been there."
"She's always working on something dangerous Clark." Oliver's anger peaks through his calm exterior.
"Why are you mad at me?"
"She could have been killed!"
"But she wasn't, she's fine."
Oliver looks like a vein in his head is going to pop he's so mad. "That's it? That's all you have to say?"
"I don't even get why you think this is your business Oliver. She's my best friend."
"She's my best friend too, Clark. And she's a member of my team. I care about her."
Clark narrows his eyes, feeling the intensity coming off Oliver. "What do you mean you care about her? You care about her as a friend?"
Oliver's emotions are suddenly shuttered, his face a mask of blandness. "I don't question you about your relationships Clark, or do you want to hear my opinion on Lana?"
Clark gives Oliver a hard assessing look. "Chloe is fine. Just a bump on the head." Oliver's gaze sharpens, and Clark realizes he didn't know she'd been hurt. "She's my best friend, you don't need to worry about her. And if you're so concerned for her safety you wouldn't let her be a part of your team. Being involved with you is dangerous, and one day she's going to be hurt because of you."
Oliver picks up on the double meaning in Clark's statement, knowing that Clark was warning Oliver off Chloe. "Chloe can make that choice for herself."
The two men stare each other down, neither willing to concede an inch.
CO-CO-CO
Clark is less than pleased to see Oliver show up at the Daily Planet the next day. He watches carefully as Chloe smiles her welcome at the older man, her eyes lighting up. Oliver barely acknowledges Clark and Lois, swooping down to hug Chloe, letting his hands brush over her back and hips while keeping her close to him for longer than Clark thought appropriate for a workplace hug.
"You ready for lunch Sidekick?"
"Yeah, just give me a sec-"
Clark interrupts her, "Oh you're going out? I was going to ask you to help me with some research."
Chloe hesitates. "Sure Clark, I'll help you when I get back."
"It's kind of important Chloe." Clark tries to convince her to stay.
She frowns and Oliver stares at him, his expression benign except for the tightness around his mouth. "Can't it wait? I'm just going out for lunch."
Clark stands up and smiles at Chloe, "Can I just talk to you first?"
Chloe frowns confused at the undercurrents, but lets Clark lead her away, looking back at Oliver and Lois who both look annoyed.
"I think Clark's upset with me," Oliver says to Lois with a certain amount of dry humor.
Lois looks at him, her face full of amused derision. "Is that really a surprise to you?"
Oliver shrugged, clearly not alarmed at Clark's disapproval.
"I see you're not at all concerned with what I think of your play for my cousin," Lois says archly.
Oliver frowns, understanding clearly that if Lois had objections, it would only complicate things with Chloe. He gives her a sincere look of concern and she rolls her eyes.
"Get over yourself Queen. I did, a long time ago."
Oliver smiles, looking relieved. "That's what I thought, but you never know. Sullivan-Lane women are nothing if not surprising."
Lois smirks. "Believe it. You and I are so three seasons ago."
Oliver frowns at the fashion reference, never sure what it really meant. "Good."
Lois gives him a sharp smile. "So you realize that even if we are friends that if you hurt Chlo I will destroy you, then I'll cut off your balls," she says happily.
Oliver grimaces but nods. "I'm not going to hurt her." He assesses Lois, and sees that she might be willing to help out. "Clark could be an issue though."
Lois scoffs. "Please. Smallville's just upset you're taking some of his me time with Chloe. He finally noticed that she's not waiting around at his beck and call anymore. I swear he's like a two year old when it comes to her. He about had a conniption fit when she started dating Jimmy, until he realized that he still came first with her." Lois narrows her eyes at him. "You do realize that that is the real problem, right?" Oliver's eyebrows draw together in question. "Chloe isn't Clark's anymore, and he knows it. She's with you even if she doesn't know it. And he can't stand it."
"You sound happy about that?" Oliver questions.
"I am, it will do them both some good. Clark can be an insensitive ass when it comes to Chloe. And she deserves to be first with someone. Chloe's the best. And if you're smart enough to realize that, then I'm 100 percent, balls to the wall in support of that. Just remember what will happen to your balls if you mess this up."
"Got it." Oliver says easily.
"Oh and by the way Oliver, green leather?" He looks blank. "The jacket you gave her for her birthday? How much more obvious could you be? You might as well pee on her leg to mark you territory. I know that you've got the hots for my baby cuz, but come on."
Oliver grins. "What can I say, she looks good in green." Lois rolls her eyes.
Clark and Chloe return, Clark looking upset. Oliver takes that to mean that he didn't get his way with Chloe.
"Ready Ollie?" she says with a determined smile.
Oliver offers her his arm, which she accepts and they exit the basement. "What was that about?" Oliver questions, keeping his tone even.
"Clark just wanted me to help him break into a database for a story he's working on."
Oliver frowns, knowing that was not likely to have been the topic of discussion between the old friends. Chloe smiles forcing herself to set aside her annoyance with Clark for trying to interfere with her friendship with Oliver. Clark had warned her not to get close to Oliver, saying that Oliver was involved in a lot of dangerous things, and had enemies that Chloe shouldn't be involved with. Chloe had dismissed Clark's worries, so he switched to a more personal warning.
"He's not going to be around much longer Chloe, Oliver only came to Metropolis to take on Lex, but most of the 33.1 facilities are gone now, and Lex is having business problems, so he's not doing anything serious enough to keep Oliver in town."
"Lex is having problems because of Oliver, and if you think Oliver is going to just leave and let Lex pick back up where he left off, you don't know him at all."
"I just don't want you to get hurt. Oliver leads a different life than us Chloe. He doesn't have the same values as us."
Chloe frowns not sure what Clark meant by that, offended for the obvious slight that Clark meant on Oliver. "I think I know Oliver pretty well Clark. He's a good man. One of the best I've known. I trust him, and so should you."
CO-CO-CO
Chloe gets the message to meet Oliver at Watchtower as she is leaving Isis the next night. She arrives to find Victor there unexpectedly.
"What's up? Did you find something to lead to the killer?"
Oliver shakes his head and his question throws Chloe. "Can you trust Lana?"
"Of course," Chloe's response is automatic.
"No, Chlo, think about it, take a minute. Can you really trust her? Because she's part of our plan," Victor says.
Chloe considers then nods slowly. Oliver and Victor look at each other and nod, coming to some type of agreement. "That's good. We know Lex is watching her, so the plan is for you to show off your power to her and let his men catch you at it," Oliver explains.
Chloe blanches. "Are you crazy?"
"Not at all. You're not going to heal someone, you're going to put on a little show. We're giving you a new power, one that will be of no use to Lex in any capacity," Victor explains confidently.
Chloe nods, following the plan now. "And if the goons he has watching Lana are good little minions they'll report back to him." She pauses and arches one skeptical eyebrow. "That's great in theory."
"What's the problem?" Victor asks.
"What happens when Lex kidnaps me again and expects me to show off my little power?"
Oliver frowns, his look severe. "That's the point Chloe. You'll act like it was a surprise, an accident."
"Like I can't control it."
"Exactly."
Victor chimes in, "And your power will be so lame Luthor won't want anything to do with it."
"Great, so what lame power do you two propose to give me?" Chloe asks skeptically.
"I thought you should be able to glamour colors," Vic says with a smile.
"Huh?"
"You know, change hair color or eye color. That kind of thing."
"That'd be pretty handy if you were a spy or a thief. Or Lois." Chloe say with a smile.
"Right and it would be hard to fake. So instead you're going to be able to make small light shows with your hand," Victor says proudly.
"Like fireworks?" Chloe looks skeptical. "And I let Lex's goons see me? Seriously, that's your plan?"
"That's the plan," Oliver says seriously.
Chloe looks back and forth between the two men. "And I have to have the lamest power ever?" she says with a bit of a whine.
"That's the point of the plan," Victor laughs.
"It doesn't seem like Lex really wants to hurt you, though you shouldn't get overconfident about that," Oliver cautions and Chloe rolls her eyes, "so if we give you a power that isn't marketable or really able to be leveraged for anything useful, he'll back off of you."
"I developed this cool little projector that will stick to your palm. They won't be able to see it, and it will project colored lights. Pretty cool, huh?" Victor shows her the small, thin device, just a little bigger than a dime.
Chloe smiles, "Sure and Oliver can market it to rave kids afterwards."
Oliver smiles, more at ease now that Chloe had agreed to the plan.
CO-CO-CO
They set the plan in place for that Friday night. Lana was free since Clark had to work late, and agreed to meet Chloe in the city at Chloe's favorite café.
Chloe meets Oliver and Victor at Watchtower first to be fitted with the small light projector. She enters and smiles at them both. "Let's get this show on the road."
She's happy and relaxed, dressed casually as she chatters away as Victor fits the base of her palm with the tiny chip that will hopefully trick Lex into thinking Chloe's meteor power wasn't worth bothering with. "So, I think we need to have a strategy meeting for catching the serial killer. They found two new bodies today." She grimaces, "Or what was left of them anyway." She looks at Oliver, who appears to be lost in thought.
Oliver usually saw Chloe in her work clothes. Outfits that were professional, respectable, even stylish. He usually spent some time admiring how her skirts showed off her curvy bottom and legs, but Chloe in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that hugged all her curves, revealing every bit of her rounded bottom, small waist and high breasts? Oliver couldn't take his eyes off of her.
Chloe notices his far off look. "Ollie?"
"Hmm?" He responds to his name, but her utterance sent him off on another tangent. Every time she called him by his nickname, Ollie, his heart faltered then filled with emotion. For months after her aborted wedding he had been Oliver to her. Oliver Queen, CEO of Queen Industries, playboy. Or he'd been Arrow, vigilante warrior, fighting for justice on nights when she was running a mission for the team. A construct, an idea, but never a man, never the man he was, never her friend. When she called him Ollie, he knew she saw him. The real him that was part billionaire, part playboy, partly spoiled rich kid, part orphan, part vigilante, part justice fighter, and all red blooded, thinking, feeling, male. Ollie.
"Ollie? Hello?" She waves her hand in front of his face. "Are you OK?"
He was looking at her smiling, but wasn't responding to anything she said. Victor snickers and Chloe shoots him a questioning look. "Oliver, did you hit your head or something?" She reaches out a hand to check for herself, causing Victor to turn away and cough to try to cover his laughter. Oliver catches her hand and lifts it to his mouth for a kiss.
She flushes and Oliver smiles. "I'm fine. Perfectly healthy, I promise. Just distracted with a project I've been working on."
Victor raises one mocking eyebrow at him and Oliver cuts him with a single look.
"Anything I can help with?" she offers sweetly.
"I'll let you know."
Victor gives up and just starts laughing. Chloe looks between the two men with adorable confusion. Keeping her hand in his, Oliver rubs his thumb over the back of her hand, setting off her nerve endings and sending pluses of sensation through her body. He watches for her response, seeing it as her eyes lose focus, her lips part and her breathing quickens.
CO-CO-CO
The plan goes off without a hitch, Lana acting her part perfectly, though of course they didn't tell her what Chloe's real power was. Chloe had lied and said she still didn't know, but wasn't waiting for Lex to find out before her.
After Chloe pretends to get worked up and emotional she gives off a few fireworks displays, and Victor monitors the goons to make sure they get it on film.
Afterwards Chloe and Lana settle in to have a real conversation and drink their coffee, but Chloe catches Davis's reflection in the café window, and finally acknowledges that he's following her. She feels uneasy again, not sure what to do with that information.
Words 6399
AN—No reviews here at LJ for the last few chapters, not sure how to feel about that, but oddly despite the lack of reviews I wrote a ton last week. I was feeling like this story is starting to get away from me, I've never written without a timeline before and I think I probably shouldn't try to do so again. The Davis storyline will wrap up in the next few chapters and Chloe and Oliver will transition to a new dynamic within a few chapters. Oliver's patience is limited after all, and so is mine.
