Antic weaponry besides bows was not his forte, but the one on his coffee table looked more like a short sword than a dagger. The hilt was almost nine inches long, enough for a solid two-hands grip. The blade was the same length, a strange oval form. He'd expected to find hammer marks or other indications of an early age smithing, but there were none. The metal was reflecting the light, untarnished by Time and smooth as a mirror save for the symbol he was starting to know very well that had been punched on the blade close to the hilt.
Oliver's gaze swept over the darker hue that tainted the lower-half of the blade. Automatically his head turned toward the other side of the room, where Chloe was pacing with her phone an inch from her ear.
"I know Lois… Yes, I know we did… No, something came up… No, that's not what I… Lois!"
He let his eyes roamed over her. She'd excused herself to a quick shower as soon as they'd been back from their expedition in the world of decades worth of dust cobwebs and rodent nests. Her blouse sheathed her torse in enticing, yet tasteful ivory. The dark green gathered skirt which flirted with her knees as she moved. He missed the shorts, but her skirts were working for him, too.
Hal planted himself between him and Chloe, effectively interrupting his staring. "Why is Blondie trying to placate her cousin?"
Oliver accepted the offered bottled water, wishing it was something stronger. It was still too early in the day for scotch, but he would have taken the help. "We were supposed to go to Smallville to pack Chloe's things and have diner at the Kent farm."
"Packing hum?"
"It's the next logical step."
Hal removed himself from his line of sight. Chloe was pinching the ridge of her nose, her eyes firmly fixed on the ceiling. Oliver refrained the urge to smile.
"Sure, why not… That means yes, Lo… Yes, okay, eleven works…"
"Funny, I thought the next step was going to involve some overpriced bling on her finger, but I guess playing house first's good idea."
"Yes, we'll have our Chlo-Lo time, I promise… Yes… No. Absolutely not!"
"Huh…"
Oliver swallowed more water. Chloe and he had talked about moving to Star City, having children. He had told her he would ask her to marry her sometimes in the future. The idea just blew his mind. Two weeks ago, he would have run Bart-fast in the other direction, or at least denied it loud enough to give Lois' dulcet tone a run for its money. Now, he found himself mentally cataloguing the content of the Queen Safe in Star City for a suitable engagement ring.
"Say hi to Mrs. K. for me, okay? … Yeah, love you too. Bye."
He watched her close her eyes for a breath before she lowered the phone from her ear. Unable—unwilling— to stop himself, Oliver took a step forward, then another. She barely started to find him by her side already. He flung an arm around her shoulder to guide her to the couch.
"If I order a massive gift basket to be delivered to the Talon apartment, is it going to save me from an irate phone call?"
Her eyes twinkled as she smiled up to him. "It's my cousin we're talking about…"
"A gift basket plus coffee and donuts delivered daily for the rest of the month?"
Chloe hooted a laugh at the same time his cell phone rang. She groaned, "I already penned us in for brunch tomorrow, what more does she—"
"No, it's… You're on speaker, Hawkman."
"I got your message, Archer. What is going on? Where is Chloe?"
Hal mouthed something to Oliver that probably go along the line of someone having an obsession, but it got lost in the absurd jealousy that surged up at the soft smile that blossomed on his girlfriend's lips when she heard the gruff question.
"I'm here, Carter. We're all right. We found it."
"What?"
"We found the dagger. It was here, in Metropolis. I'm sending you pictures as we speak."
"I… Thank you."
The emotion in the older man's voice was thick enough to cut through with a knife. Oliver reached for Chloe again when he noticed the wet shine in her eyes. She leaned her face into his hand automatically. He had to make an herculean effort to concentrate on the call.
"I am keeping it out of sight until you get here. Let me know your timetable, I'll arrange for someone to pick you up at the airport," Oliver said. His thumb painted soothing circles on her cheek. Her skin was so soft…
"It is unwise, and unnecessary. I know where to find you."
The continuous echo of the communication signaled the end of the call.
"Good bye to you too." Oliver grimaced.
"It is hard for him," chastised Chloe as she moved an inch away, out of reach.
Oliver had a sudden image of his future, with her defending Carter while the other man relished picking on him with complete impunity.
"Well, you going directly to the jugular certainly helped soften the blow." Hal sneered. "Way to ease the news on him, Watchtower."
Her face fell a little. Oliver jumped to defend her at once. "I'm with Chloe on that one, Hal. There was no point beating around the bush. You've met the guy. He's not the type to sugarcoat anything."
He stood to stretch his legs. A plan began to form. "We could…"
"No."
Chloe was glowering with her lips pursed. Oliver offered what he hoped was a disarming grin. "Come on, Tower, all you have to do is alter the police record of their intervention at the warehouse… I'll handle the rest. Hal took out the ribbon anyway."
"You are not "handling" anything. We are not doing anything before we have spoken to Carter face to face. There are too many variables in this equation. I am not—"
Hal whistled. "Hey! Would be nice to share with the rest of the class. Some of us aren't connected to the Chlollie Cosmic channel, you know."
Oliver all but laughed when Chloe huffed, her eyes rolling toward the ceiling. "This joke is going to grow old very soon, very fast."
"Yeah, yeah, explain now, complain later."
Chloe pointed at the weapon in front of them. "Oliver is talking about making a public announcement about the dagger. Say he discovers it by accident or something. Being the philanthropic billionaire that he is, he'll call the museum to have the relic assessed by a specialist…"
"And Carter Hall is their expert on Egyptian antiquities," Oliver chimed in. "so obviously he'll be the one they send to examine my discovery."
Hal crossed his arms over his chest. "What's the point? You already have that thing. Just hand it to him, no one will be the wiser."
Chloe sighed. "It's not that simple. Carter won't wait to go after Savage and then…" Her voice wavered but she forged on. "The way I see it, we have two problems : making Carter understand that he needs our help, and bringing Savage here, on our terms. Metropolis is our city, the League is here, and this way we can control the timetable."
Oliver couldn't help the proud grin that came up while he listened to her add the missing pieces to his half-cooked plan. They both knew that if Savage won that fight, they could all kiss good bye to any form of happy ending.
Hal looked a tad less enthusiastic. "Okay, so you bring the spider to your own web, then what? You put him in a magic box that nullify his powers so that Carter has a chance?"
"Exactly."
This time, Oliver too gaped at the beautiful blonde. She pressed on. "Carter lives in Metropolis. He probably knows every nook of the city. Don't you find it strange he never realized the blade was here? The only logical explanation is that the warehouse acts as a Faraday Cage of sort. When it's there, it's… safe."
She was looking at the dagger, her fingers stroking it from tip to hilt over and over. Each time her fingertips brushed over the symbol embossed on the blade, Oliver felt something inside him shifted toward, raw, indomitable lust. The need put him very much on edge. "Chloe, can you…"
She glanced up sharply at his tone. "Oh. Sorry."
Chloe pulled her hand away as fast as she could before she scouted to the other side of the couch, away from the temptation of the mark, her face crimson.
Hal stared back and forth between them then pushed to his feet. "I think I'll let you two work on the details. Keep me inform about the show. I love fireworks."
"You'll get front seats," Oliver deadpanned.
"Thanks for coming, Hal," Chloe added.
His friend left. Oliver followed, intend on locking the elevator after him. He was still trying to process what she had said about the building shielding the nth metal's radiations. The logic of it made sense. It also brought him back to how his family had gotten involved in the first place.
He was about to mention this out loud when Chloe screamed. "Clark!"
"What the—"
Less than a minute later, the mail he'd left on a side table pirouetted in the air.
"Chloe?" Her best friend knelt in front of her, both hands on her shoulders while he looked up to her. "What's wrong?"
"We're fine, Clark," Oliver grounded out once he'd recovered from the shock. He stepped forward but Chloe didn't give him time to interfere. Her sweet smile made him want to crush her to him or shove the other man away from her, whichever came first.
"Do you feel anything strange, Clark?"
"No, strange how?" Clark looked puzzled. Oliver couldn't fault him for being confuse by the question. For letting his hands wandered, though… "What's the matter? Lois said you're not coming to dinner. What is it?"
"I just needed to make sure…"
"Sure of what?"
"Good question, Boy Scout," Oliver said.
Clark shot an irritated look his way at the nickname he hated. Chloe hampered the upcoming confrontation. "This is made of a piece of meteorite." She pointed at the dagger.
"Oh." Clark's baby blue eyes rounded on the knife. Turning away from the petite blonde, he leaned down to touch the blade. Oliver held his breath, then released when nothing happened. "The symbol looks vaguely Kryptonian, but it doesn't feel like any of the stuff I've been in contact with. You could ask J'onn what he thinks. Where did you find that?"
"It's a long story."
Clark frowned at the dismissal. "You're not in trouble, are you?"
Chloe laughed, squeezing his hand. "Oh Clark… How long have you known me?"
The farm boy chuckled. "Long enough to wish Oliver luck. Call me if you need me?"
"We will. Thanks, Clark."
The papers flew again. Oliver gathered them for the second time with a scoff. "Honestly…"
"Sorry… I just…"
"Needed to make sure. Yeah, I got that." Oliver plopped down on the couch next to her. "What made you think of it?"
"The symbol looked familiar."
"You think it had to do with Krypton?"
"It would explain how you family got involved."
"Veritas."
"Yes."
The word never failed to leave a bad taste in his mouth. Oliver swallowed against the hurt. "It's a good theory."
He wished he could forget what Veritas and Krypton had cost him.
"It's a theory. We might need Clark's help. Considering how he reacts to Kryptonite, I preferred to confirm beforehand he'd have no problem with that one."
Oliver kissed the top of her head before he leaned into the couch with both arms stretched on the back, half hoping she would take her cue and curl into him. She didn't. He sighed. "All right. What's next on your to-do list?"
"Convince Carter not to rush to his death and find a way to bring Savage back to Metropolis…" Chloe moved a little closer, and he suddenly became aware of the light flush on her cheeks. The desire he'd quenched reared back up.
"All of which have to wait. Anything else on your list we should take care of now?" he teased.
"Oliv—"
Her plea dissolved quickly under his mouth.
