Tess derailed Oliver's plan for the night with one innocent remark. "Byers is a professional liar. I would pay good money to strap him to a lie detector for an hour or two."

Oliver looked at Hal, Hal looked at Oliver, Chloe did her best to stir Tess' attention away from the silent exchange, and just like that, instead of curling with Oliver in bed, Chloe found herself in Watchtower pouring over the councilman's commitments, while her archer practiced his aim.

She turned away from the screen to watch him select another arrow in the quiver he'd placed beside him. He'd set up the target near the farthest wall. Oliver took so much care aiming, she wondered how he managed to do it in seconds under pressure and on longer distances.

"That's why I used a crossbow in the field instead. It's really point and shoot. The long bow," the bolt hit the yellow center of his target, not even close to the external ring "requires more patience."

Oliver winked at her when he saw her puzzlement, then notched another arrow. "The question was written all over your face. How's the research going?"

"It's going." She pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes, returning her gaze to her screens once more. "Finding where Mr. Byers is going to be in the next few days is easy. As a public officer, his schedule is all over the Internet. It's getting you and Hal in and out without one of you ending in jail or on the front page of every single newspaper of the five continents which is complicated."

She gnawed on the corner of her bottom lip, close a file, opened another one. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Oliver put his compound bow back on its rack then walked behind her. He placed both hands on her shoulders, starting a gentle massage. "Byers' name keeps popping up and every other lead got us into a dead end. You've researched him and came up empty handed. But he is hiding something. I know he is. Hal's ring is our best chance to find out what."

Chloe bowed her head to grant him a full access to her neck. His thumbs worked on the knot at the base of her nape, the pressure bordering painful until it gave.

"I know you're right… I just— Oh that feels good…"

Oliver dropped a kiss on the top of her head before he pulled a stool to seat. His fingers kept digging into the tense muscles along her spin. "So what are our options?"

Chloe enlarged the calendar on the screen closer to him. "Most of his commitments take place during the day, so we have to exclude those. As for his evening appearances, I've narrowed it down to two possibilities: the Town Hall Christmas pageant and the Public Services cocktail. The pageant is on Saturday, the cocktail tomorrow."

"I've been invited to both, I think." Oliver's hands stilled on her upper arms. "The pageant is for families. There's too much risk for collateral damage."

"Agreed. And the cocktail will crawl with police officers and other people all very eager to get their hands on the Green Arrow or the Green Lantern."

Oliver going as himself and disappearing in the middle of the event was simply out of question. He'd done it before too many times as it was. Chloe refused to expose him like this if she could avoid it. It was cutting it too close. His fingers left her to drum a rapid staccato on the desk. She sighed. "We don't have enough time to plan this properly, Oliver… It is not as if you were to barge into his house and—"

"Well, now, that's an idea."

Her head jerked toward him, immediately cancelling all the good his ministrations had done to her neck. Oliver shrugged. "He doesn't have children and I've met his wife, I am pretty sure they don't sleep in the same room."

"Oliver! It's no wonder he hates you if you slept with his wife!"

"I didn't. Though she made it very clear that she would." Oliver chuckled when she grimaced. "It's not my fault women find me irresistible," he teased.

"They wouldn't if they knew how much of a handful you are on a daily basis."

"Handful, huh? What about you, Sidekick? Seeing how you run into trouble now, I bet you were a little terror in your younger years."

She pouted. "Everything that happened was Lois' fault. Or Clark's. Or both. I'll let you know I was an angel."

"That you are…"

Chloe rolled her eyes, the corner of her mouth lifting despite her resolve not to return his charming grin. Oliver winked before he returned his attention to her screens. "That's his address?"

"Yes. The area is residential. There's not much traffic at night, which means either people won't see you at all, or you'll stand out as a sore thumb. The house is to both his and his wife's name. They re-mortgaged it when he decided to go into politics. It's a two-stories bungalow, with a garage attached. There are neighbors on both sides."

"What about the back?"

"You're serious about this."

"Very. We can't grab him in a public area. But if we can sneak into his house, it's simple enough."

He was right, Chloe realized. Even though dread tickled the back of her throat, her mind ran through the possibilities. They would use a knock-out gas on Sheila Byers and a lighter dose on the councilman to be able to drag him into a room dark enough so that the man didn't make out Oliver or Hal's features…

"It could work."

"Yeap. Especially if we do this while I am supposed to be in Kansas with you."

"What? No! I…"

Oliver twirled her chair to rest his hands on both sides of her on the armrests. "Yes. Hal can pilot the jet. I'll have a car wait for us at the airport. We'll stop somewhere on the way so he takes me back here while you drive on to Smallville. We go in, question the man for an hour, go out. Hal takes me back, and take the jet back to Star City in the morning while we're having cocoa and cookies for breakfast at the farm. No one will be the wiser, and it gives us a solid alibi."

"You need me to block off the security system."

"You do that remotely anyway. Smallville or Watchtower, that's the same thing."

"Oliver…"

Her eyes heated a little, precursor of them welling up. She blinked to chase away the moisture. Chloe refused to use tears as a weapon. Not when she could try and talk him out of his scheme first.

"It's too simple."

"Simple always works best."

"You won't be able to lie either, Oliver."

That particular argument was weak, it was true no matter what.

"I know. Which is why I plan only to ask simple questions and nothing else. Hal can do the talking. He knows how to work with the ring's power."

"I need time to figure out how to disable the alarm without tipping the central…"

Oliver just smiled, gazing at her from under his lashes. "You'll figure it out."

Of course she would. She'd hacked into systems much more complicated that a private house alarm system. Chloe loathed to admit it but the plan was sound. Giving all of them a solid alibi was a good idea. The chances someone caught them were low from the start and in the dark, with voice disorders…

"You speak Russian, Oliver, don't you?"

"I'm not fluent but I get by, why?"

"Could you fake a Slavic accent while you speak English, even with Hal's ring affecting you?"

"Probably, it's not a really a lie, per se. We can test it beforehand, in any case. What do you have in mind?"

The slow grin that lit his face confirmed he was already onto her plan.

"I think…" Chloe typed a new command. The eagle view of the house and backyard zoomed out. "… that you won't wear green for that operation. All black, with a ski mask and your best imitation of Ravil Isyanov. Who knows how the councilman will react to being questioned by the Bratva? If he has nothing to hide, it certainly won't tip the scale in their favor to attack a reputable public figure in his own home…"

"Devious. I like it."

She turned her head. "Enough to wait until we're both in Smallville and take Clark with you?"

"No. First, because he is a boy scout, and he's not going to approve of me breaking and entering a private house to interrogate a civilian, even less help me do it. Second, because I want him to stick close to you while I'm not there."

Chloe opened her mouth to protest. Oliver yanked her from her chair onto his so fast her seat banged back into the desk. The stool skid backward under their combined weight. Chloe clung to him with a yelp. "Ollie!"

"Breathe, Sidekick. I'm not going to let you fall."

She wished he used both arms to secure her position on his lap rather than reach behind her while he held her loosely. "What are you doing?"

"Distracting you. You said I'm not allowed to kiss my way out of every argument…"

Chloe sighed into his neck, allowing him to cradle her on his lap. She didn't mind his kisses, per se…

"We should go up, it's late."

She shook her head. "I have to tap their phones, make sure they don't have plans to host a party or go out of town…"

"You can do that tomorrow. We're not leaving Star City until next week. That gives us plenty of time to get organized. Worst case scenario, you can always put them on the no-flight list."

She laughed. "You really don't like the councilman or his wife."

"I really don't."

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the screens go black and realized that what he'd been doing. Chloe opened her mouth but Oliver beat her to it.

"Sleep mode. I know better than to mess with your system. Come on, Watchtower, you can plot my demise upstairs."

He set her on her feet, with his hands on her hips to help her keep her balance. Her body protested the upright position and the loss of warmth his provided. She fought a yawn and a shiver at the same time.

"Sowy…"

Her yawn had to be contagious, as Oliver imitated her, a bit more gracefully. They took the stairs hand in hand. A minute later, they entered the penthouse.

Chloe gave silent thanks to her previous insistence they cleaned up the table and set the kitchen to rights before going to Watchtower. Her limbs started to weight a ton and her head was full of cotton. Oliver squeezed her waist.

"You know, I look forward to our minivacation. It's going to be cold, and I'll have to share you with the Kents and your cousin, sure, but it'll be nice to spend time together, no Arrow, no meetings, just the two of us until we have to get back for Star Lab's big bash."

It would be just like their first few days together, with the added benefit of kissing him under every single brand of mistletoe Mrs K. loved to spring up everywhere.

"I bought a dress."

"Is it green?"

Chloe hummed under her breath, too tired to keep up with the banter. Oliver took his cue, and picked her up to carry her to the master bedroom. He set her on the bed, and went back to the living room to shut down the lights.