Chapter Twenty-Five

Days without Chloe Sullivan: 67

Oliver rang the doorbell. It was 6 o'clock, and he had spent the majority of the day packing and travelling. But he was finally here in Border, Colorado. And he had every intention of meeting Pete Ross.

The door opened, and a man greeted him. "Are you Pete Ross?" Oliver asked

"Who's asking?" The man looked him up and down.

"My name is"

"-I know who you are. What I want to know is what you want with me."

What did he ever do to this man?

"It's a bit of a long story. May I come inside?" he asked politely

"I don't usually invite strangers inside of my home." Pete gestured to the chairs on his porch. "Have a seat. I'll be with you in a moment."

Oliver nodded, and the door shut in his face. He sat down on one of the chairs and waited until the door opened again, and Pete walked out, shutting the door behind him.

"Oliver Queen", Pete started as he sat down. "What brings you to my front step?"

"I'm looking for some answers. Answers that I believe only you can give."

"I've come across your type before. What makes you think that I would tell you anything?"

"Because the two of us are keeping the secret of a very different man. I'm sure you remember Clark Kent."

"What about Clark? Is he in any trouble?"

Immediate jump to his rescue. Oliver admired this man's loyalty. "I wish it were that simple."

"Then, why don't you explain it to me?"

"I'm looking for Chloe. She decided to wipe herself from the face of the Earth. To cut this part of the long story short, she found herself keeping too many secrets. She felt that it was too much, and decided to move somewhere and start over."

"Chloe sucks at keeping in touch. I haven't spoken to her in the past year."

"She put everyone in her life off of the grid too. Her family members, her old friends, you. She wanted to keep you all safe. But a couple of days ago, you were put back on the grid. If you were able to deactivate something, or hack into something, I have to know what you did."

"I didn't do anything. But I can tell you one thing about Chloe- she's the strongest person I know. She ran a newspaper almost single-handedly in high school. And regardless of what was on her plate, stories still printed regularly."

"I know", Oliver said. "I've read them all. Every Torch story and every article that she wrote for the Daily Planet."

"Then you know as well as I do that if she can't handle something, then nobody else can."

He was starting to get angry now. He didn't put an unbearable work load on Chloe's plate- she created more work for herself to stay in the Watchtower.

"She can handle everything just fine", Oliver told him. "And you can stop feeling for the gun in your pocket. I'm not Lex Luthor, and I don't plan on manipulating you."

Pete stopped fumbling in his pocket. "What is it exactly, that you know about Clark?"

"Everything. I know about his Kryptonian heritage, his powers, and his weaknesses. I stole a generator at some point so that Chloe could bust him out of the Phantom Zone."

"Why would Clark trust a billionaire with his secrets?"

"He wouldn't. Not unless I had one of my own for him to keep."

"What's your power?" Pete asked immediately

"It's not like that. I'm human. I don't have any meteor infection. I, uh…"

"Hey, if I can keep Clark's secret for all these years, then I think I can keep yours too." Pete insisted

That was when Oliver realized something- he was afraid that what happened to Pete and Chloe would happen to him. That in time, he would lose himself to the degree of leaving. And after everything that he had been through, he couldn't afford to get lost again. He wouldn't be able to make it out.

"You see, that's what I'm trying to understand. You left Smallville after a couple of years, and Chloe left a couple of months ago. I've known for 3 years. You didn't jet out right away. Why did you leave?"

"I don't know about Chloe, but I'll tell you something. Helping Clark take down whatever meteor-infected bad guy is a great feeling. But it takes priority over everything."

But he understood all of that. He was willing to give up everything for justice. And he was willing to bet that Chloe was too.

"Nothing else becomes important anymore. You have no idea how many times I almost dropped out of college because school just didn't seem relevant." Pete continued

"But you didn't?" he asked

"No. Because right when I'm about to, I realize that I don't have special abilities. I can't change the world in the same way that Clark can. I've been trying for years to walk in his footsteps, but I just can't."

"You don't need to have special abilities in order to change the world", Oliver assured him. "I don't."

"Yeah, and I still don't know what it is that you do. We all have our secrets- I understand."

There was silence for a moment, and then Oliver decided to break the ice. "Did you and Chloe ever…?"

Pete laughed out loud. "No, we never dated. That's another thing that comes with the territory of being around Clark all the time. He overshadowed any of my accomplishments. Chloe was so wrapped up in the Torch and in getting Clark to notice her that she never saw what was right in front of her. And she was always overshadowed by Lana."

"But Clark gave her a chance once, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did. But there was a freak storm that night. There were a couple of twisters that combined to form one giant tornado, and Lana was out on the road. He left Chloe alone on the dance floor to save her."

Oliver nodded. So, that's what happened. It made sense. But he was still concerned with Chloe's family being off the grid.

"So, you have no idea what put you on the grid?"

Pete shook his head. "I don't. Sorry, man. I wish I could help you."

"So, what is it that you do anyway?"

Pete smiled widely. "I'm a social worker. But at night? I work for the National Federation of the Blind. One of the major offices is here. It's not the same as stopping burglaries, but I do what I can."

Oliver recognized a slight disappointment in the man's facial features. Pete may not have been a part of the team, but he was doing the best he could. Oliver wished that there were more people like him in the world.

"Pete, are you happy with what you do?" he asked

"I like to think so."

"Then, that's all that matters", Oliver told him. "Don't worry about having abilities- you don't need them to make a difference."

Pete nodded. "You're a good guy, Oliver. I wish I could help you, man. I really do."

He stood up. "Don't worry about it. It was nice to meet you."

He walked away from the porch, and was about to unlock the car that he had rented when he heard his name being called. He turned around.

"Sorry about the gun", Pete said. "I guess going to high school with Lex around gave me an unfair opinion about billionaires."

He understood Pete's prejudice. He was that spoiled kid, a long time ago when the death of his parents was still fresh. Duncan Allenmeyer paid for it with his life, and that was something that Oliver would never be able to fix.

"Your opinion of me wasn't wrong. I was that guy once. I even bullied Lex in prep school. At least you didn't do that."

"If I could have, I would have." Pete told him

"Doesn't make it right."

"Yeah, but you grew. Into a better person than Lex ever was."

"I like to think so", Oliver repeated Pete's words.

"Look, I have no idea where Chloe is. But I do know where you can find her dad."

Her dad was also off of the grid. He smiled. "You do?"