Chapter Twenty-Five: The End of the Beginning

Silently Chloe stepped into the room, carefully closing the door behind her so as to not make any sound which might disturb its sleeping occupant. Gingerly she made her way towards the chair which stood at an angle next to the head of the large bed which dominated the otherwise sparsely furnished room. She resumed her seat, taking up the same position as she had adopted for the many hours since their return from the warehouse. The others had tried to persuade her to take a break, but she was insistent; she would not give up her bedside vigil until she was sure Oliver was okay.

She looked at the slumbering figure lying on the bed next to her, a white silk sheet resting on his body just below his well defined chest. He looked so peaceful, so serene, it was hard to imagine the ordeal that he had been through over the previous few days. But the bruises were there, and the bandages – visible reminders of what torments Oliver had had to endure. Chloe thought back to the warehouse and those images, all too vivid in her mind, of Oliver hanging from those chains, his body arching in agony as Stadler had electrocuted him, over and over again. She had felt so powerless to help him then, and she recalled her sense of despair, her feeling that all was lost. To think that from that nightmare she would be sitting next to him here, now, safe and secure in his penthouse – the thought only twenty four hours ago would have been incredible to her. But he was safe, and they had survived. The scars would heal, and then everything would return to how it had been before, with Oliver and the guys fighting Lex and outwitting him at every turn.

Or would it?

For a start there was AC, still missing since his stakeout at the lake. Clark and the others were out looking for him now, but they all knew that most likely he had been captured by Lex. They had lied to Oliver about that, telling him that AC was fine when they returned to the penthouse. She felt bad about the lie, but it was necessary – if Oliver had found out the truth he would have insisted on going out there and searching for him, and he was in no fit state to do anything, let alone mount some sort of rescue mission. No, the lie had been the right thing to do, and who knows, perhaps they would find AC before there was any need to tell Oliver the truth about his friend.

And then there were the scars that couldn't be seen, the emotional scars. Oliver was strong, but what he had suffered at the hands of Brown and Stadler would have tested anyone to the point of destruction. What effect would the torture, the taunts, his brush with death, have on his mental state? Would he still be the same supremely self-confident hero, utterly fearless in his pursuit of what he knew was right? He wasn't like Clark, he didn't have any special powers, and the last few days had exposed his humanity in all its vulnerability. He would want to go on, she knew that, but he would need support – and she knew in her mind that only she could give him that support.

And what of their relationship? Those moments they had shared together surely meant that they could never go back to how they had been. She could no longer be just Watchtower – too much had passed between them for that. But what did lie ahead? What did that kiss mean? Did he feel as she felt, or had the power of the moment produced something which in calmer times could not be replicated?

Chloe glanced across at Oliver's leathers, cast over the back of a chair by the door. He was the Green Arrow, and nothing would ever change that. Nor would she want it to change, but could she live with it? Could she build a relationship with a man who daily put himself in harm's way, who went out on every mission knowing that perhaps this would be the mission from which he did not return?

"The Watchtower never sleeps – that's what I like about you, Chloe Sullivan."

Oliver's voice, quiet but clear, brought Chloe back to the present. She turned her head towards Oliver, to find him smiling back at her.

"Hey, you're awake – how do you feel?"

"Like I've just gone thirteen rounds with Clark," replied Oliver, wincing as he pulled himself up in his bed.

He looked down at his chest and arms, taking in the bandages and bruises.

"I guess I don't want to be looking into a mirror anytime soon," he said, smiling across at Chloe.

"Oh, you look just fine to me," said Chloe. For a moment there was a pause as each looked at the other, remembering what had passed between them in the warehouse.

It was Oliver who broke the silence.

"So, where are the guys? You said AC was out on a mission when we got back – I want to see the big man, tell him he should be around when his leader needs rescuing."

"Oh, he's out with the others – they'll be back soon." Chloe felt her face redden as she repeated the lie of earlier, desperately hoping that Oliver did not pick up on her deception.

"Well, I suppose it can wait," said the young man. He asked nothing more, much to Chloe's relief.

There was silence once more. Each was aware of what the other was thinking, but neither knew how to start the conversation that they knew they must have.

"About the.."

"I know that you…"

The two of them laughed as they both started to speak at the same time, each bringing the other's sentence to an abrupt end.

"You first" said Oliver.

"No, you say what you wanted to say," replied Chloe.

"Okay. I just wanted to say that back there at the warehouse, when we kissed…."

Oliver paused for a moment, appearing to struggle to find the right words.

"You don't need to say any more, I understand. We were under stress, and we didn't know what we were doing. It meant nothing, and I want you to know that I can move on from it – we can carry on just as…."

"Hey, I just wanted to say, when we kissed, it was one of the most beautiful moments of my life." Oliver's voice, so calm and soft, brought the tumble of Chloe's garbled words to an abrupt end. "And I was just wondering, was there any chance of experiencing that moment again?"

Joy filled Chloe's heart as she looked at the man whose words had banished all the doubts that had been nagging away at her for the long hours she had watched him sleep. It had not been a one-off – he really did feel as she did, and in that moment her emotions soared as they had never soared before.

"Oh, I think that that can be arranged," she said, leaning forward so that her face was just a few inches from his. He reached up and placed a hand on her cheek, staring into her eyes as he had stared into them in very different circumstances back in the warehouse. Then they had kissed to say goodbye – now their kiss was to mark the beginning of a relationship that she had once only dreamt of.

"I love you, Chloe Sullivan," he said softly, before placing his mouth against hers. They kissed – a long, sensual, passionate kiss, which seemed to act as a release for all the emotion that had built up over the previous few days. It had taken a desperate situation to bring them together, but at that moment they knew that their destiny was to be with each other, and no obstacle would ever separate them again.

Eventually their lips parted, and again they looked deep into each others eyes. Without saying a word, Oliver then threw back the sheet which loosely covered his body. Chloe then slipped into the bed next to him, gently nestling her head against his chest and placing her arm across his body. Oliver gently replaced the sheet so that it now enfolded both of them, and placed his hand gently on her head, running his hand through her hair. Her scent filled his nostrils as they pulled close to each other, sharing the warmth of their bodies.

They had found each other – and nothing, no one, would ever tear them apart.

"Mr Luthor?"

Lex did not reply to his aide's voice, but instead continued to stare into the middle distance, apparently lost in thought. He was sitting in his office at the LexCorp Building, having arrived there some three or so hours before. In his hands he held the arrow that Brown had sent him a couple of days earlier, the gift that had initiated the sequence of events that had taken him to within an inch of achieving his longed-for victory over the Green Arrow. Now that victory seemed a million miles away, as his hopes had collapsed around him. When he had eventually managed to free himself from the bank vault he had gone to the rendezvous point, knowing full well that he would be too late. As expected, Brown had not shown, and an hour or so later his men had found the Englishman using the tracking device planted on his car, dead at the bottom of a nearby lake.

The Green Arrow was nowhere to be seen.

"Mr Luthor, the report on the warehouse fire you requested?"

At last the aide's voice brought Lex back to reality. Without speaking he placed the arrow on his desk and held out his hand to receive the report. The aide handed it over and withdrew, glad to leave his brooding boss to his thoughts.

Lex opened the report and scanned it quickly, taking in its contents. The tracking device had indicated that Brown's car was parked up in a warehouse district for some hours between his meeting with Lex and the scheduled handover, and on hearing that a suspicious fire had taken place in the vicinity early that morning his interest was aroused. The fire had been caused by some sort of explosion, according to police reports, and there had been one fatality – a young woman, as yet unidentified. There was nothing else of interest in the document, and Lex cast it casually onto his desk – any hope that perhaps his enemy had died in this fire was extinguished.

Again Lex picked up the arrow, turning it slowly in his hands. He thought back to that moment the previous night when he had had his enemy bound and gagged before him, the moment when he had placed the gun against his head. To have come so close! Lex felt the anger and frustration of the last few hours once again start to bubble up within him. How could he have let the Green Arrow slip through his fingers yet again? He hated him, he hated him as he had never hated anyone before in his life. Every resource of LuthorCorp, every fibre of his being, would be given over to the capture of the Green Arrow. He would destroy everything the young hero valued – his friends, his family – all would be destroyed in his quest for victory. He, Lex Luthor, would not rest until the man was chained up and begging, crying, for mercy!

Suddenly the arrow snapped in Lex's hands. Unaware of the pressure he had been placing on the shaft, Lex looked down at the two broken pieces that he now held in each hand. He smiled at the symbolism of the moment, before casting the pieces onto his desk. He then picked up his cell and placed a call which he knew would serve to brighten his day.

"Dr Thomas? Lex Luthor here."

"Ah, Mr Luthor, good to speak to you, sir. When can I expect the arrival of my next patient?"

"I'm afraid there's been a change of plan. The Green Arrow transaction was unsuccessful."

"I'm sorry to hear that – I was so looking forward to working on him."

"All in good time, Dr Thomas. But this unexpected development does give greater urgency to your work on your other patient."

"Mr Curry? All is proceeding according to plan, Mr Luthor. I expect to start working on him tomorrow morning."

"Excellent news. I intend to travel up personally to supervise his interrogation – make sure you don't start without me."

"Of course, Mr Luthor. It will be a privilege to have you observe my work."

Lex snapped his cell shut. He then turned to his computer and began to access a sequence of codes which gave him access to the surveillance network of all LuthorCorp facilities. Soon he was looking at the Wallis Facility, and within seconds he had found the camera feed he was looking for.

Staring at the screen, Lex could see a brightly illuminated room, white and featureless save for the powerful lamps which cast a harsh light into every corner. Suspended from a hook in the centre of the room hung the unmistakeable form of Arthur Curry, his arms stretched high above his head and shackled with thick chains. The young man's head lolled forwards onto his chest, an obvious sign of unconsciousness. As Lex looked closely he could see grey blotches disfiguring his well muscled chest and arms, a sure sign that Aquaman was starting to suffer from the effects of prolonged water deprivation.

Lex leaned back in his chair and smiled. He may have lost a battle today, but he still held an ace up his sleeve. Curry would talk, or the Green Arrow would try to rescue him. Either way, he would bring the vigilante to heel and uncover his true identity – and then his revenge would truly begin.

This wasn't over – not by a long way.

THE END

So that's it guys – my first story completed! Can't believe I started writing this six months ago. I'm guessing that some of you are shouting at your computers that I can't end it there, with AC still at the mercy of Lex. Well you know I like cliffhangers, and Ollie and Chloe escaping from Brown and Stadler and being reunited seemed like a natural point to bring this first story to an end. I've got plans for another one, maybe two, Chlollie stories, picking up immediately where this one left off. I know that a lot of you wanted another face-off between Lex and Ollie, and the developing feud between them is one thing I'm keen to write more about. Don't want to give too much away, but I can guarantee a lot of angst and desperate situations!

I want to thank you all SO much for taking the time to read my story. I especially want to say a MASSIVE thank you to those who have taken the time to review – it is no exaggeration to say that without your kind words and encouragement this story might never have got finished. You'd make my day if you'd take a little time now to give this story a final review – it would help to fire me up to get started on the next one!

Thanks again, guys – off now to have a lie down!