"What do you mean not the same signature?"
Oliver rubbed one hand over his neck but it did nothing to ease the tension nestled there. He wanted to pace but after ten minutes of back and forth, Hal had pushed him roughly into a seat, claiming he was making Chloe dizzy.
"I mean that the XRays profile of your blood is not the same as the sample you provided. The hormones are the same, but the 2Teta-64 is missing."
"2Teta what?"
"What we suspect to be Kryptonite," Chloe interjected.
"Right. The meteor rocks. So what does it mean?"
No one answered Hal's question. Oliver stood to resume his pacing. Hal groaned. Oliver ignored him. He needed to move.
"Two drugs."
Oliver turned toward his girlfriend. Two additional pair of eyes strained on her. Chloe worried her bottom lip, as usual when she was nervous, or thinking hard. "Maybe we are dealing with two drugs. One form contains meteor rocks. The other is rock-free."
Oliver jumped in. "They need money. From what I gathered, Meteor Rocks are not that frequent outside of Kansas. So Zlythe is selling his cocktail pure and use the money to gather his secret ingredient, for special delivery. We don't know what form of meteor rocks he is using, so we cannot formulate any kind of antidote without that information. And we have to stop a standard drug ring at the same time. That's… great. That's just great."
"Oliver…"
"Sorry."
He'd plopped back into his chair at Chloe's incentive. Her indulgent smile tempted him to reach out and kiss it out of her lips. With both Emil and Hal in the room, he reined in the urge. Emil Hamilton snorted. "Chloe, any information regarding those crystals will be useful. What can you tell me about them?"
"I know only of three kind of Kryptonite, but we believe there may be more. The most common is green. It's radioactive, so human DNA mutates if the exposure is too long. I've encountered also red. That one acts as a…" he saw Chloe bite the corner of her mouth as she looked for the right word. "A suppressant of some sort, I suppose. It doesn't emit radiation so it's harder to detect until you're affected by it."
"What does it do?"
"People exposed to Red-K don't seem to have any inhibition, or any moral code. As if you were drunk, but not impaired, if that makes sense?"
It made too much sense for his taste. Oliver would have bet a small fortune that was why the Bratva used the drug for.
"And the third kind?"
"It's gilded. Gold Kryptonite," Chloe said, without offering any more information. Oliver looked up sharply. He tried to catch her eyes, but she was facing Emil, and didn't turn, even when he took one of her hands in his, giving her cold fingers a light squeeze.
"Like I said, there may be more. Those are the only three sorts I stumbled upon when… When I lived in Smallville."
"We could ask your friend Clark."
Right. Clark. The super remedy to cure all ills. Oliver forced himself to relax his hand not to crush the petite hand caught in his while he glared at Hal for even suggesting it. Chloe's instantaneous "No!" transformed the growl of the jealous beast inside him into a purring cat.
"Clark and Kryptonite… don't mix."
Hal smirked. "What, he's allergic?"
Chloe sighed, "Something like that, yes."
Clearly, there was more to the story. Kent was the Blur after all. A part of him wanted to ask, but instead, Oliver settled for running circles on the sensitive skin between her thumb and index. Her shoulders slumped a little, her hair a soft curtain before her eyes when she stared at her other hand on her lap, like she was lost in memories. She'd held so many secrets for so long, Clark's, her own, now his… He wondered if she fully realized the toll it took on her.
Chloe gnawed on the corner of her mouth. Oliver squeezed her hand. She had to stop doing that, or he would kiss her senseless, audience or not.
"There might be a way to know. A friend of mine had a necklace with a piece of green Kryptonite. That's how… How we discovered Clark's weakness to it. He had a major crush on her but every time he tried to talk to her, he ended writhing on the floor." Oliver hated the forlorn catch in her voice. Next time he'd see the farm boy, he was going to explain blow by blow how a man was to threat a girl as amazing as the woman by his side.
Chloe kept talking, unaware of his inner turmoil. "Maybe Martha knows where it is now. If not, we'll have to ask Lex to access the safe at the manor. I'm sure Lionel stored some. He liked to… He likes to…" Her voice reduced to a whisper. "He likes to experiment."
Oliver put all pretenses aside and wrapped her in his arms. Chloe breathed in deeply in his neck and the action settled them both. "Lionel won't touch you, Chloe. I won't let him."
It was too much to hope the bastard was in league with Zlythe and the Bratva. Those rocks had to come from somewhere after all. But if Lionel was involved… He tightened his grip and Chloe squirmed to get free. He let go reluctantly.
"I'm okay, Ollie…" Her eyes shined with tears. She sent an apologetic stare toward the other two men in the room. "Sorry. Mood swings really are kicking hard. I'll talk to Clark."
"You don't hav—" She shot him a look and Oliver changed course at once. "Let me talk to Lex first."
Emil took off his glasses to clean them with a handkerchief. "Any additional information you can put your hands on will be good. Obviously, endorphins are part of the solution when it comes to thwart the effect of aggression, so until we know more, I'll work on that."
"I could track down Zlythe," Hal suggested. "He doesn't know me, so he won't recognize me on sight."
"He might. You're associated with me, Hal, and Oliver Queen helped put him behind bars the first time around."
"That's a work for Watchtower," Chloe said at the same time.
Traces of her previous melt-down moistened the corner of her eyes, and she whipped that out quickly. Oliver took in her set jaw, the calculation in her green eyes. He shifted in his seat, unsure what unsettled him more, the sudden realization of the chaos hormonal up and downs would bring to their lives, the surging pride to see her back in the game, or the immediate worry she might lose herself in hero's duties rather than take care of herself.
Oliver slanted a glance toward Emil. The physician was still cleaning his glasses, unflappable as always. Oliver seemed to be the only one ill-at-ease discussing less than legal ops in the open of Hamilton's Star Lab office.
"Let's talk about that on the way back."
Hal took his cue. "Ah. Sure. Any chance to get a coffee around here?"
Chloe shot him such a dirty look Oliver almost laughed.
"There's a pot in the recreation room. End of the corridor to your left," Emil supplied.
"Great. Take your time, I had a short night and might need more than one cup."
Chloe growled as the brunette winked at her and closed the door behind him.
Hamilton grinned. "I presume that was a subtle hint that we move on to the second reason for your visit. How are you?"
He addressed the question to both of them, but Oliver opened his mouth first.
"I was under the influence of that drug when the baby was conceived." He laced his fingers with Chloe's again. He couldn't help the unspoken fear behind the words. The question he was about to ask had been burning a hole next to his heart since she told him. "With what you know now, is there any risk for the baby, or Chloe?"
His beautiful blonde squeezed his hand back in reassurance. Emil put his glasses back on the bridge of his nose. "I saw nothing out of the ordinary in the blood screening I did so far. We'll have to schedule an amniocentesis later on and more screening from both Chloe and the fetus. Spermatozoids take several weeks to form Oliver, you don't have to worry about that. I assume you've been sexually active since then?"
Oliver shifted on his seat. Chloe was quiet beside him and he could tell she was blushing. Oliver swallowed past the discomfort of discussing their sex life. In here, Emil was a doctor first, a friend second and his line of questioning had a point. "We're using protection."
Most of the time. When he could control himself long enough. Oliver closed his eyes, hoping against all hope that his face was less red than Chloe's.
"All right. I still want to take a blood sample from you too, urine and sperm samples."
Discomfort turned to another level as Emil pushed two plastic phials toward him. He'd been through the routine before, but not with a pregnant girlfriend waiting for him to finish. "You can do that while I give Chloe a physical."
"My nauseas are pretty bad," she pipped up.
Oliver frowned. He'd noticed how pale she was and the small shadows under her eyes, but he kind of forgot them when he saw her eat her muffin and gulped down tea this morning. Oliver took a mental note to keep a closer eye on her diet. The thought distracted him from the tasks that awaited him before they can leave Star Lab.
"Considering your stress history, Chloe, that's not surprising, even though four weeks are a little early for those kinds of symptom. The prenatal vitamins should help but morning sickness generally last up to ten to twelve weeks. You'll need plenty of fluids. Snack instead of eating full meals. Get plenty of rest. You should do light exercise, such as yoga or swimming. Take walk on the beach. Nothing with hard impact. If you start losing weight, call me immediately and go to the hospital."
Oliver felt her hand tightened in his and he squeezed back.
"Anything we shouldn't do?"
Chloe's nails dug crescent marks into his palm, as if he didn't want to plant his forehead against the desk as soon as the question was out of his mouth. Emil looked nonplus. "It's common knowledge that women libido increases during their pregnancy, though it nearly kicks in for good in the second trimester. Chloe will tell you if she's not comfortable during sexual intercourse, Oliver."
Oliver cleared his throat, worked on backpedaling as fast as he could. "I was talking about travelling and air planes."
He was pretty sure he would have claw punctures when she would release his hand. Emil allowed a knowing smirk to break through his professional demeanor. "No problem with travelling as well. Chloe, it's important you listen to your body. That's something you tended to overlook in the past, and I'm sure you'll want to have healthier habits now for your baby."
"I'll make sure she does."
Her head snapped toward him. Oliver stood to avoid the storm, making a show of picking up the phials he had to fill.
"Bring those to me when you're done, Oliver. As long as the pregnancy is uncomplicated, I can do the follow up with you. But I want to recommend you to a certified nurse wife."
"Emil…" Oliver started. Between Chloe's past, his own green secret and his public status, the less people would know, the safer his family would be.
"I assure you the person I have in mind is perfectly trustworthy, Oliver. I should know. Amelia's my daughter."
