Oliver considered the display, and selected a small crossbow in his collection, adding it to the bag in addition to the jeans and shirts he'd already put in there.
Hal pursed his lips. "You're expecting trouble?"
"I don't know. Chloe didn't tell me much beside the fact that she needs to go to Turkey to meet with someone." He decided to skim over the parentage details. "The guy hasn't been on my radar so it doesn't hurt to be prepared."
He stared at his green leather uniform with longing. His best friend laughed. "You just miss the action. You just came back. You could have booked the flight for tomorrow, let off some steam patrolling tonight."
"You know I couldn't have. The Green Arrow was MIA for weeks, so him showing up less than 24h after Oliver Queen is back in town would be too much of a coincidence."
"Yeah, well, about that… GA hasn't exactly been absent."
Oliver's head jerked up.
"Chloe had us suit up in your place a couple of times."
"That's… good."
She hadn't told him about it. And he couldn't remember reading anything about some exploits in the press, which means she'd carefully planned the patrols to avoid attracting attention. Oliver filed the information to examinate later, when the jealous tang of betrayal would stop tickling his tongue. It was a good plan. One he should have thought about himself. "You said "us". You and who else?"
"Me and AC, mostly. I think she asked Clark once and decided against it as soon as he donned the costume."
At least it wasn't the boy scout who'd taken his place. Oliver addressed Hal again.
"Do you mind keeping it up for a week or two?"
"No problem. You mind if I squat your penthouse while I'm here?"
Oliver activated the door so it slid shut behind them. "Of course not. Do you have plans with Tess?"
It still amused him to no end to watch Hal pant after the redhead while the beautiful marine biologist made him work for her attentions. The tall brunette shook his head. "Not tonight. She's hitting the town with Lois."
"Oh Jesus."
"Yeah, that's more or less what I said, too. She laughed in my face. Out of the three, you lucked out with the blonde, you know."
Hal flopped on the couch, grabbing the remote to put the game on. He groaned when he saw his beloved Angels were done by two out, one strikes in the fifth inning and nowhere close to move to first base. "Hell. They can't hit the ball to save their lives this year."
Hal muted the TV and turned his head toward Oliver for a second before his eyes glued back to the game. "What's up with you and Blondie, anyway?"
"It's not like that."
"All I'm saying is that she could have had Bart or Kent zooming her in and out at any time, but instead, she waited for you to come back and asked you to take her there."
Yeah. He spent half the previous evening and a solid portion of his day pondering the exact same thing. "It'll be easier to approach the guy with my contacts."
That was the conclusion he'd reached, and it stung. People used him to satisfy their ambitions all the time. He was used to it. But friends didn't do that to him. Especially not Chloe. If anything, she seemed to resent his status more often than not. He still remembered the look she'd pinned him with when he'd suggested booking the Ace of Clubs for AC and Mera's engagement party. And the lecture when he had done it against her advice. So he was both put out and ready to jump at the chance to throw his weight around.
Oliver checked his watch. Chloe had texted him she was leaving Smallville about two hours ago. With the light Saturday traffic, she would be in right on time for an early diner. He pushed to his feet. "Do you want a beer?"
"Sure… Aw, come on! My gran would have slammed that one home! This is hopeless." Hal switched the channel to the Stringray Hit List. "I'll give you a hand."
Oliver stared the petite blonde curled in the seat on the other side of the cabin. As soon as the pilot had given the go-ahead, she'd offered him a sheepish smile and booted her laptop. Four hours later, she was still completely engrossed in her work, only stopping her typing to take a sip from her cup from time to time. Her coffee must have run cold long ago, but she didn't seem to care.
He'd seen her work on occasion, but most of the time she was done with research by the time they met. Now, he was enthralled by the way her eyes narrowed or sparkled in glee depending on the moment. Her mouth moved constantly, as if she was having a silent conversation with herself in her head.
Chloe reached for her coffee again and must have found it empty since she pouted. Catching his gaze, she shot him a quick grin before returning to her screen. He could have been a photograph in a frame, for all she cared. Oliver shook his head in amusement, wondering how she was going to take their first pit-stop.
As if on cue, the Queen Jet started its descent toward the small airport of St-John's. Chloe jolted at the change of pressure. She stared around, her eyes widening as if she was suddenly aware she was sitting in a plane and not in Watchtower or her apartment. "What's happening?"
Oliver took a glance through the hatched window. "Refuel. We have a range of about 2,500 miles, so we will also stop in Galway before we reach Turkey."
"Galway in Ireland?"
"Yeah. Ever been?"
Her sudden excitement dimmed as soon as it was born. "No. The only place I've ever visited outside the U.S. is Montreal, in Canada."
Too late, Oliver realized Ireland was probably part of her Sullivan's heritage.
"Stick with me, Sidekick and I'll broaden your horizons," he joked.
His effort earned him a smile, not as wide as he would have liked, but he'd take it. The corner of her lips continued to quirk up even if her green eyes stayed on her screen. Finally, she relented and looked up again to pick up the conversation where they'd left off. "Is that a promise, or a threat?"
Oliver mirrored her smirk. "There's only one way for you to find out."
He waited for her repartee.
"Sir, we'll be landing in about twenty minutes. The layover should be a little more than an hour."
Oliver pressed the intercom. "Thank you."
When he turned toward Chloe again, she was pressing the heels of her hands to her eyes.
"You should go to bed, Chloe."
"I'm okay." She looked at her laptop longingly as she powered it off for landing. "I have to finish this."
Oliver shrugged one shoulder. If she fell asleep in her seat, he would simply carry her to bed again. He just hoped she wasn't going to make a habit of it. There was so much undressing he could endure before it became a problem. "As you wish."
To his utter amazement, Chloe blushed beet red. For a second, he wondered if her mind had followed the same track as his. Now that would make her sleeping habits less problematic than… compelling.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you all night."
Or not.
"You were not ignoring me, you were working."
"I… Not many people know there's a difference."
He guessed people meant Lois and Clark. One of these days, he was going to have a serious conversation with both of them about Chloe.
"I'm not many people. And you're stalling. Tell me what you did find on our mysterious Carter Hall."
Chloe blinked rapidly, either to chase sleep away or to recover from the fact that he understood her well enough to guess what she'd been doing. "I… I don't know where he is. I mean my contact said he's working out of Bergama and the logs at the airport confirmed he entered the country but… I can't find him anywhere. He's not booked in any hotel, I looked all over Turkey. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack. If he has nothing to hide, where is he?"
Her blonde hair curtained her eyes when she looked down at her hands so Oliver took another guess as he travelled the small distance between their seats to crouch next to hers. "Hey… Don't beat yourself up because you want to cast him as a bad guy. It's natural. Maybe he's staying with friends or in an apartment the university rented for him or maybe he's camping on a dig. That's what archeologists do, don't' they? They dig holes with spoons and clean dirt with small little brushes while pretending they know what they're looking at."
Chloe rewarded his quip with a grateful, if tired, chuckle. "When did you become an expert on Archeology?"
Oliver grinned. "O ye of little faith. I'll let you know I've seen all the Indiana Jones' movies."
He straightened up to his full height, offering his hand when she laughed.
"Come on. Let's finish the tour. This way once we've landed you can take a quick shower then hop into bed."
"You have a shower in here?"
"Yeap. Of course you have to promise to leave some hot water for me."
"Hum… I suppose I can do that—oh, wow…"
"Impressed?"
"Very."
"Then my job is done."
Oliver showed her quickly how to operate the shower and fix the water temperature, where to find towels and bath amenities and let her explore the luxuries of his jet. Taking a pillow and a cover in one of the compartments under the bed, he regained the main cabin. He, too, had homework to do.
