Chloe and Oliver spent the morning collecting her belongings from the dorm and the ones she hastily dropped at her father's condo at the beginning of winter break, bringing everything back what was now their apartment. By lunchtime, Chloe was happily organizing her wardrobe into half of the room sized walk in closet where Oliver's things seemed to be waiting for the company of hers.
"I knew my needs were small for a reason." Oliver said, dropping the last armload of Chloe's clothes on the bed. "I didn't think a college girl needed so many things."
"I have school clothes, work clothes, going out clothes…oops." Chloe looked at the pile and then up at Oliver, biting her lip. "I have to figure out what I'm wearing to Bruce's party…"
"Chloe, my darling.." Oliver grabbed her. "I love you with all my soul, truly." He looked at the pile of clothes she was sorting, and then led her to the bedroom to examine the pile on the bed. "But I am not going shopping today. Beg, plead, scream…I'm not doing it."
"I don't think I need a shopping trip." Chloe said, smiling. "I'll just have to figure it out as I'm putting stuff away. Besides, regardless of what I wear, clotheswise, I have this gorgeous diamond necklace to wear…" She stood on tiptoe and kissed him. "You should have seen your face, though. What a thought…shopping!" She giggled and went back to work. "Thank you for helping me get this all over here."
"Thank me?" Oliver went and leaned on the door, watching her hang her clothes. "Don't be ridiculous, Chloe. I asked you to live here with me. It would have been pretty crappy if I didn't help you move in."
"How many people have you ever lived with before?" Chloe asked, and Oliver shook his head.
"One, I guess." He shrugged. "College. Junior year. Why?"
"Did you help her move?" Chloe asked and Oliver nodded.
"Yep. Right out of her sorority house." Oliver grinned. "She didn't thank me after. We just unpacked and went to the movies." He walked over to Chloe and kissed her. "I like being thanked."
"So, while I am organizing my life, what will you be doing?" Chloe asked, putting her arms around his waist.
"Research." Oliver answered. "I'm looking for that new little place where Lex might be hiding his pet freaks."
"Really?" Chloe looked up at him. "Since when?"
"Ever. I'm not willing to let this go so easily. Bruce has got his feelers out too, I think he's even invited Lex to the New Year's Eve party tomorrow night. Meantime, I've been playing with the satellite cameras, trying to get a read on something, and friends of mine are out looking into it, too. So, my sweet little nosy body, you will have your article on 33.1 yet." He kissed her and Chloe frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Well, I don't want you doing all the work. I don't want to be handed stories." Chloe said, and Oliver shook his head.
"No, you already have your article. You need proof it exists. That's all I'm doing, getting you your evidence. The rest is up to you. When we shut that place down…"
"We?" Chloe asked, and Oliver kissed her. She looked at him skeptically and he smiled.
"Yes. We. Whomever responds to the call Clark put out earlier this week and then you letting the people know what's been going on. When we shut it down and Lex can't experiment on these people anymore…" Oliver looked up to the ceiling a moment and then back at her. "It'll be a great beginning for you, and for this partnership I'm getting into with Bruce and Clark." Chloe watched Oliver's face as it set into somber lines. "and a perfect ending for Lex's little lab experiment." He kissed her again, and nodded. "I'm going to go get to work."
"Okay." Chloe nodded, waving him away as he left her. "See you later…"
Kent Farm, Sixth Day of Christmas….
"No, you jump outward." Diana said, arms folded as she and Clark stood on the roof of the Kent barn. It had stopped snowing in Smallville, the sky was clear and bright with winter sun, and Diana had decided it was time for flying lessons. "Hold your arms at your sides. Be as aerodynamic as possible."
"Right." Clark looked at her with a grin. "Sure." He looked down at the ground around the barn. "The fall won't kill me, but I"ll have a pond sized hole when I land…"
"For someone with your abilities, you are very timid." Diana shook her head and took Clark's hand. "Come on." She rose from the roof, pulling Clark with her. "Let the wind carry you. Just hold my hand for support, not for anything else."
"Diana! Gravity is a law for a reason!" Clark exclaimed, but felt himself being lifted from the roof and then up into the sky with Diana's hand in his. She turned, flying low over the harvested cornfields and then up, pulling Clark along with her. Swallowing his fear of heights, Clark allowed himself to be carried on the wind, Diana's hand in his. Her confidence in him was staggering, especially since they had only just met, but Clark recognized the pull they were feeling toward each other. In some ways, it was very like how he felt about Alicia. Someone that understood what it was like to be different, with abilities she was comfortable using. Unlike Alicia, Diana was very content to let Clark set the pace for their relationship, strong enough to be independent and that made her extremely attractive, in addition to her how physically beautiful she was.
"Gravity is not a law for us. We are not bound by the laws of physics that keep humankind on the ground." Diana said, smiling as they flew over the empty, snow covered fields. "If only you would try, Clark! Look at the world that lies before you!" She gestured with her free hand. "Think of what you could do!"
"I could try not to fall." Clark said dryly, and Diana laughed, gaining altitude and moving closer, her arm around his waist. "That's my first goal." She continued to gain altitude, not relaxing her grip at all.
"Are you truly afraid, Clark?" She asked as they broke through the white clouds. "If you are, I'll bring you back down."
"No." Clark said, feeling gravity lose it's hold on him. "I can't believe this. It's amazing."
"Believe it." Diana let go of his waist. "You're doing it!" She stayed nearby, just as if she had been teaching him to ride a bike, but Clark was indeed flying on his own, catching his hand if he seemed unsteady. Diana smiled as Clark willed himself to soar past her, faster and faster. She sped up, and caught his hand again. "Be careful, Clark. Icarus was excited his first time flying too."
"He had wings of wax and feathers." Clark said, "The sun won't melt us, Diana." He let the air rush around him, feeling freer than he'd ever felt in his life. He turned to smile at her. "Are you afraid now?"
"No." Diana grinned. "I just don't want to you to overdo your first flight, that's all. We'll head back. I want to work on your take offs. I boosted you, like a plane under the space shuttle, but you need to be able to do that on your own." Turning back to Earth, Diana held out her hand. "We're going to see how good you are at landing now." Clark nodded, taking her hand again, and together they glided back to the Kent farm, landing just behind the barn. Diana turned to Clark and smiled. "You did it! Well done!"
"You did it." Clark said, taking her hands in his. "I couldn't have done it without you."
"You will." She nodded, sure of him, but taking her hands away from his. "I feel foolish...holding hands with you. You are a god…" A soft blush deepened her already rosy cheeks.
"I'm not a god at all." Clark stepped closer and rested his hands on Diana's waist. "I'm a Kansas farmer who met someone who believed he could fly. A princess, as a matter of fact." He kissed her softly, and then looked into her eyes. "I'll never forget that, Diana."
"Neither will I." She smiled at him, her eyes nearly level with his, and Clark kissed her again, her arms sliding around his shoulders as if they were meant to be there.
Metropolis, Same Night….
When Chloe finished unpacking her clothes, she went downstairs, and found Oliver in the living room, working on his laptop. He was studying something pretty intently and didn't seem hear her come into the room.
"Done." Chloe said, and Oliver looked up, smiling. "I've officially invaded your space."
"Good." Oliver shut his computer and set it aside, holding out his arms for her. "Come invade my personal space now." She smiled and went to him, curling up in his embrace. "Sorry about earlier."
"What for?" Chloe looked up at him. "I wasn't offended, Oliver."
"That's good. I don't want you to think I'm feeding you stories, either. Our interests in 33.1 are overlapping now, and if there's a story to be gotten out of it, I want you to be the one to write it." Oliver kissed the top of her head. "There's something else."
"What?" Chloe said, and Oliver handed her the heavy platinum ring and chain Lois had snatched off his neck the first time Green Arrow had appeared in Metropolis. "The ring."
"Yes." Oliver nodded. "My father's wedding ring. I did always wear it. Lois being around so much made it kind of hard. I don't expect you to wear it for the same reasons, but I want you to hold on to it. Just in case."
"Oliver." Chloe shook her head, but clutched the ring in her hands, feeling a little like Frodo Baggins with the One Ring. "Just in case of what?"
"When we finally find the new location of 33.1, it could be dangerous, and I don't know what might happen. Maybe I'm being melodramatic, but I want you to have this, and know that you'll be taken care of by my estate…"
"Oliver..." Chloe hugged him. "Don't talk like that. It's not your responsibility to worry about me like that."
"I can't help it." He sighed, tightening his grip on her. "In a very short amount of time, you've gotten closer to me than anyone really has been in ages. Worrying about what will happen to you if something happens to me is just comes with the territory."
"Then, let's not think about it any more." Chloe said, sliding up into his lap to cuddle closer. "We're together now. You're safe and I'm here." She looked around and saw the two boxes from the bakery on the table. "When did those get here?"
"About ten minutes after I came back downstairs." Oliver said, leaning back to look over at the table. "You were busy and I was morose."
"Don't be. You don't brood well." Chloe smiled, and Oliver grinned. "There, that's better. Leave the mopey behavior to Clark and Bruce. Bruce is quite the brooder, isn't he? I noticed when he was playing chess yesterday."
"He's always been that way." Oliver said, feeling a better than he had all afternoon. "Come on, my true love, let's go see what I gave to you today."
"Six geese a-laying, I guess." Chloe got up, and pulled Oliver up too. "I can't imagine."
They walked to the table, and Chloe opened the first box. Three grey geese, sitting on nests of spun sugar looked up at her. "Look, Oliver, they're like cupcakes." She took them from the box. "They're smaller than the French Hens, too."
"Thank goodness for that. These must be the other three." He opened the box and looked in. "Yep, three more. They're cute. I wonder what kind of cake they are?"
"Well, my true love…" Chloe turned and kissed him. "Help yourself. I'm going to seriously need to make a New Years Resolution or two tomorrow." She put her hands on her hips.
"Nah." Oliver hugged her. "You're perfect. Besides, if you're feeling like you've over done it this Christmas, just remember how much you've been burning off." He slid his hands into the back pockets of her jeans. "No personal trainer could have worked you like I have." He squeezed her butt, and Chloe laughed.
"Right. That's why you're up at five every day working out for two hours." Chloe kissed him on the chin.
"No. If I were just Oliver Queen, billionaire, I'd work out an hour a day. The extra hour is for my night job." Oliver looked at his watch over Chloe's shoulder. "Speaking of which, I'm going to have to get going. Metropolis is going to be unprotected tomorrow night, with Clark and I at Bruce's party…it's my turn tonight."
"Oh." Chloe nodded. "I'll wait up."
"I'm counting on that." Oliver smiled down at her. "I have time for dinner, regardless. Want to go out? We should celebrate our new status." Oliver took the ring on it's chain that Chloe was still holding and looped the chain around her neck. "I feel like we're going steady…" He grinned and she laughed, as the ring slid between her breasts, a circle of precious metal against her heart, representing promises they weren't ready to make yet, but seemed suddenly to not be so far-fetched. Chloe liked the idea of dreaming about a future with Oliver. It was soon, of course, but unlike her years of dreaming about Clark, seeing her life with Oliver ahead of her was easy.
"Just come home safe." Chloe kissed him. "Dinner sounds great. Let's go. The sooner we go and get back, the sooner you're home for the night."
Later, after stopping a robbery and preventing a young woman from being attacked, Oliver rode his motorcycle through Centennial Park, making a last round for the night. It was nearly two, and he doubted Bruce or Clark would fault him for packing it in. He rounded the bend on the park road, near where he'd exit to go home, and looked up. A large dark, batlike shape dropped down silently in front of him.
"Isn't it a bit cold out for you?" Batman said, and Green Arrow nodded.
"Yeah, well, I was busy, saving people, so you know, it's easy to stay warm. What about you? Not your turn."
"I didn't know there was a set schedule." Batman nodded. "You look like you were on your way home."
"I am." Oliver said. "You?"
"No, just out. Not all of us have pretty blondes waiting for us." Batman said and Oliver grinned. "Pretty blondes who could teach you about protecting your king, now that I think of it."
"You could fix that, you know. Guy like you, tall, mysterious, and dark? Chicks dig that." Oliver revved his motorcycle. "Night, Bruce."
Batman coughed and then a smile briefly softened the austere cowl that masked the rest of his face. "Night, Oliver."
Oliver sped off and was home in no time. He found Chloe in the little room he'd initially set up as a den of sorts but never used. She was sitting on the floor, leafing through files of old articles.
"Hey, anyone need a hero?" Oliver asked, padding into the room on bare feet and sitting down beside Chloe. "What's this?"
"My articles from the Torch, my high school newspaper." She looked up and smiled. "Wondering how many of these people might be in Lex's hands right now. Possibly because of me." Her smile faded a little. "I've not given it a whole lot of thought until now."
"You were a high school kid." Oliver shook his head, taking the folder and looking at the articles. "An extremely talented high school kid. Either way, if they are in 33.1 or whatever it's called now, you didn't put them there. Lex did. You may have unearthed them, or reported what they were doing, but in the end, Lex capitalized on that. He didn't have to, but he did." Oliver put the file down and hugged Chloe. "You'll be the one that blows the whistle, and helps those people have a chance at justice. That's a big deal, Chloe."
"I know. I guess your mood earlier was contagious." Chloe sighed, leaning against him. "I'm glad you're home."
"Me too. Bruce says hi, by the way. Mentioned you could teach me how to protect my king better." Oliver kissed her and helped her stand.
"You saw him." She clutched Oliver's arm. "He's the Batman, right?"
"Oh yeah." Oliver grinned. "Mentioning you that specifically was his way of telling me without directly telling me."
"So neat." Chloe said, amazed. "Does he have, I mean, is he like Clark?"
"No." Oliver answered, and then shrugged. "He's normal." He put his arm around her as they left the room, turning off the light. "Any geese left?"
"Ha ha." Chloe pinched him. "Yes. All of them. I was waiting for you."
"Ouch." Oliver said, pinching her behind in retaliation, laughing when Chloe squealed in protest. "What? You need five more…I'm supposed to give you six geese…"
Chloe laughed, dodging away from Oliver. "Catch me first."
"When I catch you, it's more than just six 'geese"." Chloe backed away, a wicked little grin on her face. Oliver shook his head and grinned. "Okay, you asked for it." Chloe shrieked and ran, darting up the stairs, and Oliver went after her, quickly shutting off the lights. It was good to be home, he thought, and when he opened their bedroom door to see Chloe waiting for him, her flannel pajamas making a trail to the bed, he laughed, leaping for her. It was very definitely good to be home.
"On the Sixth Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
Six Geese a laying, Five Golden Rings, Four Calling Birds,
Three French Hens, Two Turtledoves and a Partridge in a Pear Tree…"