Part 13

If he had to be honest, the event would always have a sense of bittersweet to it. It signified a great humanitarian effort for the company and a chance for it to retain its former glory. Considering the long road Clark Luthor took in refining LuthorCorp's way, not to mention his full support, it seemed more possible that Queen Industries would survive. Fitting, because her first selfless gift to him required Oliver to step up, save his company.

But instead of showing up to the event on time, Victor had offered a happy hour of sorts. So Oliver started his car and drove to his apartment complex, more than willing to throw back a couple of shots before dealing with the same questions he had been dealing with all week. Hal had offered the same courtesy, but Victor was better company in this instance because the point was just to take the edge off.

He knocked on the door and waited the couple of seconds before Victor answered. "Hey," he said calmly. "Come on in."

Oliver nodded, slipping off his shoes just inside the doorway. Looking around, he quickly realized that Victor clearly didn't throw his money around. The apartment, while there was nothing wrong with it; it was a modest size for his pay grade.

Victor noticed the staring and quickly put two-and-two together. "After living on the streets, this is pretty much the lap of luxury." Neither he nor Emily were materialistic people anyway, because after you live with practically nothing, the basics were all they needed. Sure, their apartment was still in a nice part of town, but that was the consequence of Victor's title, nothing more.

"It's nice," Oliver remarked sincerely, as Victor's impeccable eye for detail was noted in every facet of the apartment. Taking in the small details of the place, Oliver walked in the living room and he immediately noticed a bouquet of lilies on the table. "Who's the lucky girl?"

Grateful Oliver wasn't facing him, Victor rolled his eyes. He had moved all the photos, all of her shoes, any possible sign of her living here... expect for the flowers he had bought for her birthday last week. "She's..."

His voice trailed, as words were completely failing him, but the knocking on the door seemed to bail him out. Rushing to the door, Victor found out that wasn't the case as he saw his girlfriend walk right past him into the apartment.

"I'm so glad I didn't miss you," Emily said. "Can you believe that I forgot my –" She froze in her spot as she finally looked up at their guest. "Key," she finished nonetheless, even though it was a pointless word.

But Oliver just stood there as a knowing grin framed his face. "Good to see you again." It seemed that he wouldn't need Victor's help with that lead after all. For the woman he was looking for, Chloe's partner, was right in front of him.

Emily bit her bottom lip, fighting the speechless feeling, albeit badly. Because what the heck was she supposed to say? Sorry didn't fit and it sure didn't fix him and Chloe.

So she took the high road, whispering, "I need some air," before rushing towards the balcony. It sounded silly, she knew that, but she was at such a loss at what to say that she hoped Oliver would give her a second to collect her thoughts.

Oliver did think about stopping her, as Emily had to know this was going to happen, but her let her go, as the facts were still settling in his own head. Pulling out the small business card from his jacket picket, he flapped it against his fingers. Staring at it, he couldn't believe that four letters had brought Oliver to the truth of Chloe's situation. She wasn't alone after all, and that Oliver could live with.

Tucking it back in his jacket, he looked up to see Victor standing across the room. "Are Chloe and her on better terms now?" Oliver asked, deciding not to step directly towards the elephant in the room.

Victor shrugged. "Shaky at best these days." He took a couple steps towards his boss, not proud of how things had transpired, but also knowing that this was probably for the best in the long term. "I'm sorry I lied to you, but—"

"She means a lot to you," Oliver interjected, knowing exactly where the younger man was going. "I get it."

Nodding slowly, Victor clarified, "She saved my life."

Oliver knew that feeling all too well. "I'm glad for you." He turned his head over the shoulder, questions buzzing in his head. This was going to be a big shock for Emily, but Oliver couldn't wait any longer. "But I need to talk with her."

Victor wasn't about to argue, all this was overdue anyway. "Take your time," he said, watching Oliver walk to the terrace. When the coast was clear, he looked over his shoulder, deliberating whether this made things more difficult or easier.

~0~

Emily felt like an idiot. Once she got outside, she fell on of their deck chairs and stared at the ground. She knew this was coming, and yeah, the timing was off, but she should have held her composure better. Counting the seconds that went by until she heard the inevitable opening of the terrace doors, once she heard the footsteps outside, she said honestly, "I don't know where to start."

That was okay, because Oliver did. "How about I start by saying that I knew exactly who you were before you walked in the door?" That particular question drew her attention as her head popped up.

But Emily shook her head soon afterwards, slightly in disbelief. "Is that so?"

"I was close to figuring everything out," Oliver confessed, as he had the resources to run a background check a while back, only to come up with a confused puzzle of a woman. "Victor was the only piece I hadn't anticipated." He really had to hand it to their team, they thought of everything.

They had set up everything, keeping an eye on the world around them, an impressive feat considering they were all people of interest. But what hit home the most was that, even from a distance, Chloe would ensure that Oliver and his company would survive.

Emily knew that Oliver was smart, but she had a hard time believing that he knew everything already. "Mind me asking how?"

Oliver didn't expect her to believe him right away, as her back story wasn't exactly normal. "For one, the night we met at the bar... you said Chloe's name."

"I did?" Emily knew she was out of it, but she knew better than to slip up like that. In fact, she had never betrayed the trust Chloe had shown her.

Seeing her widened eyes, Oliver narrowed his in response. "Do you have any idea what you said to me that night?"

Emily remembered most of that encounter because she wasn't that drunk yet, but as she really thought about what she told Oliver, her eyes closed, feeling almost embarrassed. "I... I totally gave myself away."

He noticed the pink hue on her cheeks as she turned her head away, but the way Oliver saw it, the only reason that happened was because Emily knew she could trust him. "But that only started my search... which went nowhere until I found this." Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out the familiar blue and grey business card again.

Emily's eyes widened again as she realized Oliver did know the truth. "Wow," she whispered, taking the card on her hands, shocked that one still existed after all this time.

Then again, Oliver was surprised to find it still in his office after all these years, but as he was about to throw it out, there was something that caught his eye. Echo Tech, the first word of which triggered something that Oliver hadn't thought about for a long time.

Despite LuthorCorp's attempt to cover up the hacking job Emily had done, a codename was released, and sure enough it was Echo. Back when Oliver first saw the business card, he never noticed the connection, but when he saw it again in his office yesterday, he thought there was a possibility that she was Chloe's partner. Another person protected by Lex who had reached out to help Oliver... and Victor too.

He heard Victor banter with her a few times at work and Oliver knew they were close to something before he had to disappear. So it was nice to see that they panned out, but Oliver had clearly underestimated Victor's involvement in the team, the extent of the plans they had executed.

Oliver had actually considered bringing Victor into the search, but instead, he did it secretly and found out that he had it backwards. He figured that the name on the card was the real one, but Evelyn Chambers died with the company two years ago. "Based on what I found, you went back to your birth name. Why?"

"A name isn't much, I didn't even pick it." She sighed, as her problems seemed so silly now. Her fight with Chloe, seeing how this whole thing panned out, it put her life in perspective and how things weren't as different as she thought. "But Victor risked becoming a test subject every day he stepped out that door. Yet every day... he came home to me."

She smirked, standing up to move closer to the railing. "For years, I didn't even have a name." While she was in hiding, pronouns covered the names Lex called Emily. "I created that alias to have something to call myself. But it wasn't me. Just like Roy Connor wasn't you."

Tapping her fingers against the paper, Emily shoved the card in her pocket, as it represented the past, a past Emily thought she had moved away from, but it turns out she holding on tighter than she thought. "I taught Victor to live for a second chance because he hadn't gotten it yet. He's teaching me to truly embrace the one I had." And now she could see that she still had a lot to learn.

Oliver sat back, noticing how Emily remained in her spot, staring out into the night. "I see why Chloe wanted to protect you." They could definitely relate to each other and considering the years they hid in plain sight, it was better to play it safe, even with him.

Emily smiled. "She's faithful to the people she cares about...and as much as I wanted her to tell you our secrets, I guess it doesn't matter anymore."

"Actually, it does matter," Oliver replied as he stood up. "If nothing else, it's nice to know more about you."

Emily nodded, as the feeling was mutual, even if she had never anticipated coming clean like this. "I meant everything I told you... even the stuff I didn't mean to say."

"I know."

Taking a deep breath, Emily decided to go for it, hoping her chance wouldn't backfire. "Chloe... she's—" Her voice was cut off by the noise of Oliver's phone ringing, so Emily shut her mouth, knowing this was probably the sign from the universe that she had done enough. "You should probably get that."

Oliver nodded, walking back towards the terrace doors, but he stopped to turn back to her. "Emily?"

Her head whipped in response. "Hmm?"

Flashing a smile, Oliver realized there was something he forgot to say. "Thank you for everything." For a second, he looked to the ground before adding, "And take care of her. She'll insist otherwise but—"

"Sure," Emily said, wanting to say that she would fix things, but she didn't want to give him any false hope. The single word was what he wanted, so she watched as Oliver picked up his phone, leaving her alone again.

Well... that wasn't so bad.

Now more than ever, Emily could see what Chloe saw in Oliver, as he really was an incredible listener, and he was a lot more understanding than she could have ever imagined.

Hearing the door open again, Emily sighed as she saw Victor join her on the terrace. Pushing herself off the railing, she walked to him, wrapping her arms around his neck before quickly kissing him. But afterwards, her smile fell and she rested her head against his chest. "This wasn't the way I wanted that to happen."

Victor rubbed his hands against her back, leaning his head down slightly. "Can't always control how things happen."

Emily knew that, and while the fallout was better than expected, there was one burning question on her mind. "Why was he here anyway?"

"I can explain that actually, but first, I need you to —"

"So far so good," a different voice called out, so Emily turned abruptly to see Lois coming onto the balcony.

Moving her eyes towards Victor again, Emily's eyes narrowed. "What is she doing here?"

However, before he could respond, Lois laughed lightly, pointing between the other two. "If you think I'm buying the 'regular' argument again, you're seriously mistaken." She walked over to one of the lounge chairs and leaned back. She figured they'd be out here a while and it was best to be comfortable.

"Wasn't planning on it," Emily replied slowly, moving her eyes back to her boyfriend expecting an explanation.

However, Victor just shrugged before admitting, "She recognized me."

"You honestly think that I wouldn't care about Oliver's company after we split?" Lois raised her eyebrows further to make her point, as what Emily didn't realize was that Victor gave her the 'in' she needed to pull this off. She was just lucky that he was willing to participate.

"Answer my question and I'll answer yours," Emily said, realizing what Lois said made a lot of sense. However, it didn't answer why she was here.

Sighing, Lois sat up on the chair. "I had to improvise to bring Oliver back inside your apartment, so I had Clark call him." Meeting Emily's eyes, she added, "Let's just say I didn't come alone," knowing the implication wouldn't be lost on the other woman.

Emily's eyes widened quickly as she momentarily looked into the apartment. No sign of anything yet, but it would be soon enough. Looking back at Vic, she asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wasn't expecting you," Victor replied honestly. When a function night hit, Emily made herself scarce, or in the case of this job, she worked the graveyard shift. "I was just going to keep Oliver busy until they were finished, but then... you showed up."

Walking over to sit next to Lois, Emily chuckled under breath. "I got someone to cover my shift... because I wanted to knock some sense into Chloe, but I thought I'd get some back-up." Go figure the day she decides to do something about it, something was already in motion. Sighing, she leaned her head back against the chair. "I really hope this works."