Chapter Twenty

Days without Chloe Sullivan: 62

"So you're basically going to wing it."

"Yup", Oliver said as he shoved a t-shirt into the duffel bag.

Mia smacked him over the head. "You're an idiot", she told him. "What happened to playing it smart this time?"

He let out a sigh. "Mia, I've been spending my life tracking down a woman who doesn't want to be found. There's nothing smart about any of this."

She was silent for a moment. "Not the point."

"Actually, it's exactly the point. I'm running out of time here. Two months have already passed. I can't waste any more time. If this is another dead end, I have to know."

"You're walking in blind."

"I'm not walking in completely blind. I know how I'm going to get there." He reasoned

"Do you know how you're getting back?" she asked

"I haven't exactly ironed out the details", he said vaguely as he walked to the other side of the room and opened the door to his closet. He stepped inside, knowing that Mia would follow him in. And she did.

"You're walking in blind", she repeated. "It's dangerous. I'm coming with you."

That was out of the question. He dropped the pair of socks in his hand and turned to face her. "No you aren't", he said firmly.

"If you think I'm just going to let you go, knowing that there's a chance you won't come back, then you're crazy."

"It's going to be fine, Mia. I've gone on missions alone hundreds of times. This is just another one of those times." He turned his back on her, and picked up the pair of socks again. He was going to need a couple of more.

"No, it isn't. Missions are emotionless and controlled. This is the farthest from that."

He knew that rescuing a stranger was different than rescuing someone he actually knew personally. But the team had gone on some missions blind before. It was tough, but everything still ran smoothly.

"Okay, so it's a little different", he agreed. "But that doesn't mean that it won't work out."

"You're going in alone, completely unarmed."

"Yes, because Oliver Queen running around with a bow and arrow doesn't look suspicious at all", he answered sarcastically.

"Pack a gun, at the very least."

A couple of more shirts might be a good idea. "Yeah, and have the thing go off randomly? People accidentally shoot themselves all the time."

"Leave the safety on."

"Fine. Anything else?" he asked

"Oh, you're taking my advice now? Here's some advice- don't go to Cuba. You're asking for trouble."

"That's not an option."

"Yes, it is. There's always an option, Oliver. You have a million leads on that wall of yours at Watchtower. Why don't you check out one of those?"

"This is one of those. Chloe has a history with journalism, and nobody would be able to find her. If I do, then that's that. Problem solved."

"What about Lucy Lane?"

He scowled at the mentioning of the cousin. Chloe's entire family was his white whale. Even though he had cracked code after code, travelled from country to country, her family was still a mystery. "She's hidden right now, as is the rest of Chloe's family."

"Have you tried cracking whatever system there is?"

"That's just it- there's no information anywhere. I can't crack a system if it doesn't exist. If I told someone that I was looking for her and they did a check, they would accuse me of making her up."

She nodded silently. Mia didn't think that he was crazy, did she? Because Chloe exists, she has a past, present, and future. His imagination wouldn't be able to make her up, even if it tried.

"I'm not crazy, okay?" he snapped at her

"I never said that you were, Oliver."

"I know that you never met her, but she's real", he insisted.

He felt her hands on his shoulders, and winced slightly at the contact. "I never said that she wasn't", she said softly. "I believe you."

Oliver took a deep breath, and she removed her hands from his shoulders. Paranoid. He was just being paranoid.

"Sorry."

"It's okay. I get it."

"I just…" he trailed off

"Have to find her", she finished for him, smiling oddly. "I know."

He nodded. "Look, I know you're not exactly on-board with me going to Cuba."

She scoffed. "Understatement for I think you secretly miss your bruises, even though your cuts remain. Go on."

"But you can't come with me. It's not safe, and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to you because of me."

"I know", she said before walking out of the closet.

Where was she going? He followed her out. "What are you doing?"

He followed as she walked over to his desk, and picked up his cell phone. "I'm going to call Victor."

"What? Victor's in China. I'm going to Cuba in six hours."

"So? You'll wait. Perks of having your own jet- you can just call your pilot and tell him to hang out until tomorrow." She was staring at the phone for a few minutes. "God, how many contacts to you have in here?" she asked, frustrated

He held out his hand for the phone, but she didn't give it. "Mia", he said, motioning with his hand again.

"You're going out there with backup. I can't get there if I'm here and you need me. So, bring Victor with you."

"Mia", he repeated sharply. She looked up. "Victor is working on a very important project right now in China. He never asked me to get involved, and I haven't. I can't just assume that he can go to Cuba with me. And besides, that would mean putting him and his entire project at risk. I can't do that."

"No, you can't", she started. "But you know what you also can't do? You apparently have a problem with being a team player. Which is surprising, for someone with a team."

"Well, I'm sorry I want to keep you all alive."

"Don't be. Be sorry that you can't trust anybody, and that you're becoming paranoid. Be sorry that you can't rely on anybody anymore!" She slammed his cell phone on his desk. "Just call me when you get there, and call me when you get back."

She pushed past him, and made her way over to the elevator.

That was when Oliver realized- she thought that he couldn't trust her. That he couldn't rely on her. And that wasn't true, was it?

He turned around. "Mia", he called after her.

He watched as she shook her head, and pressed the down button. The doors opened automatically, she stepped inside. She turned around, and held down a button to keep the doors open.

"Do me a favor?" she asked "I don't care how beaten up you get, because you won't tell me about it. But you come back alive, you hear me? You come back alive, so I can kick your ass later."

He nodded. "I promise."

"Good."