Chloe stepped into the apartment with her heart clogging her throat. She paused just outside the elevator, her vision tunneled to a blur of hazy shapes and faded colors.
"Chlo?"
Once-familiar hands closed on her shoulders. She almost jumped out of her skin then sagged against her childhood best friend. "Clark!"
"Hey… Oliver called me to come and get you out of here. What's wrong?"
"I don't know. He—"
Her voice broke in fear. Clark released her. "I'll be right back. Stay here."
Stay here. Get out. Anger started to boil, was she an airhead puppet that the strong he-men passed between them like a ball of hay? No thank you.
Chloe marched to Oliver's office. He'd left his laptop on the desk, so she made quick work to connect it to the QI network. She accessed the security feed with a few more clicks.
The camera outside the mailroom was ajar. The video showed Oliver with his shoulders stiff with tension, his head turned to the side to talk to someone. Perhaps Clark, perhaps someone else. She hacked into the manipulation system and angled the camera toward the sliver of space available.
"Chloe?"
She sighed. Of course Clark would pick up the noise of the camera moving. She turned to see him behind her, a frown on his handsome face and arms coming around her. Chloe took a step away from him.
"Don't you dare, Clark Kent. I'm staying right here until one of you tell me what is going on."
"Oliver said—"
The simmering ire began to turn her stomach. She planted her feet in a stance he seemed to recognize from their younger years. Clark's lips twitched. "Some things never changed…"
She glowered, arms crossed over her chest. "Now, Clark."
"Oliver asked me to scan the building because there's a… a…" His hesitation closed around her throat like a vise. "A corpse. In the mailroom."
Chloe slumped into the office's chair. "A what," she murmured?
"A body. Dead. It was, huh… delivered."
Her fingers trembled as she picked up the landline phone. Chloe turned toward Clark who shuffled his feet somehow. "Get to it then. Just… Be careful, all right?"
"Always."
A boyish smile and he was gone. Chloe dialed the number she knew by heart. Oliver picked up at once.
"Tell me you're in Smallville right now."
She decided to leave that particular argument for later. After he'd come back to her safe and sound. "What is Clark looking for, Oliver?"
"I don't know."
God give her patience… "What do you suspect then?"
"Check your phone, Watchtower."
She'd left her purse in the living room. Going retrieving it meant stepping away from Oliver's image on the camera. Chloe hesitated. "What am I going to find if I do?"
"Selfies. I just hope you're not as squeamish as Clark when it comes to that sort of things. For someone who was raised on a farm…"
"Now is not the time, Arrow."
Chloe tore her gaze from the screen and exited the office. "What do you want me to do?"
"Tell me if you recognize him, first. We can discuss the rest later."
"But—" A whoosh interrupted her protest. "Clark."
She brushed hair out of her face as the dark-hair man looked sheepish. "Sorry. Who are you talking to?"
"Oliver. Wait a second… Ollie?"
"Still here. Was that Clark?"
"Yes." She pressed a button. "You're on speaker, Oliver."
"Good. What did you find Boy Scout?"
Clark rolled his eyes. "Can you please stop calling me that? And nothing much. There was a box on your desk, but otherwise, the building's clear."
"A box?" Chloe asked. Her hands shook so she put the phone on the dining table."
"Some sort of can, half a pound, I think. There was a grey fish with a long spade on the cover, but I couldn't see through it." Clark shrugged. "Lead."
"I don't care if it was prime Beluga Caviar that's worth 20,000$. Tell me you got rid of it."
"It's at the bottom of the Geothermal Plant near Metropolis as we speak."
"The Luthor Power Towers I got roped in?" Oliver sighed audibly.
"Yes. Lex started the project specifically to get rid of Kryptonite. We bury them under nuclear waste."
"Damned. I have to rethink QI participation now. The board is going to kill me. Baldy could have mentioned something."
"Oliver!" Chloe admonished the man on the phone, glaring at her best friend at the same time. She hated to be kept out of the loop. The adrenaline receding made her dizzy. Blood pound against her temples. She sat abruptly. The phone clattered against the tabletop. "Hey, what was that noise?"
"Nothing. Are you coming up soon?"
There was a pause on the line and some inaudible discussion, as if Oliver had pressed the heel of his hand over the microphone. "Give me an hour or so."
"I'll stay, Oliver."
Chloe shot the brunette a disapproving glare. "Thanks Clark. See you later, Sidekick."
She shut down the call. Clark immediately took a step back.
"We worry, Chlo."
"I'm fine."
Maybe a little hungry, with her stomach caving upon itself. Feeling smothered, and a little lightheaded but she was fine. Clark sat next to her with that smile he always had for her, and she daydreamed all day long as a teen. Even now, its gentleness enveloped her in warmth.
"Are you sure? What about the…"
"So you do know about that…"
Clark mussed his hair with one hand. "Your heartbeat changed… Your body temperature is elevated too. I didn't say anything to Lois. I figured you wanted to keep it between you and Oliver for a while…"
Chloe flushed and laughed. "You know she's going to flip when she'll realize you knew before her, right?"
"I've gotten quite good at distracting her when she flips…"
"Clark!" Chloe pressed her hands to her face to cool it. "TMI!"
"Sorry." He scratched his scalp again, looking around the living room. "Oliver is taking good care of you, right?"
Chloe covered his hand with hers. "Yes, Clark. You don't have to worry about me."
She knew him well so she waited until he stirred the conversation to what he really wanted to say. Some things never changed, Clark Kent' skittish handling of strong emotions included. There was so much living with Lois Lane could do.
"I have… I knew, Chloe. That you were… well, alive. I…" His blue-green eyes misted. "I wish I could have been there. I was trapped. In the fortress. After you testified, my parents convinced me to go to Jor-El and start my training. Lionel was getting too close, and you weren't there anymore to cover my tracks. I heard you… There was nothing I could do. I argued with Jor-El to let me go, but he threatened to strip me of my powers for good. I listened for days… Then suddenly your heartbeat faded, and it disappeared completely. It ripped me into two."
Her vision blurred. Chloe linked fingers with his to fight the searing pain of that summer. Unable to find her voice, she nodded for him to continue. "When I finally got back, Lionel was in prison. I looked for you as discreetly as I could. Or not so discreetly. Lex told me to leave it alone. I couldn't hear your heart anymore…"
A single tear rolled down his cheek. Chloe sniveled. Clark closed his arms around her even as he cringed. "Oliver's going to kill me if he sees you cry."
She laughed and tried to refrain her tears at the same time and it came out in a very inelegant snort. "You're indestructible, Clark."
"Except if you use Kryptonite."
"I don't have any with me at the moment. Should I go load up?"
"Oliver!"
Chloe wriggled out of her friend arms and launched herself into Oliver's. She burrowed against his chest, the roller-coaster of the past hour getting to her at last.
"Hey…"
Chloe punched him hard in the chest. "You idiot! You thought there was a bomb in the building and you didn't tell me! Get the helpless girl out of here and let us macho men handle it. What if there had been one, more than one even, and Clark hadn't been able to get to them in time? What if they had exploded? What then?"
"Sidekick…"
"Don't "Sidekick" me. We're a team Oliver." She punched him again, refusing to look at him in the eye. She was pretty sure he was smiling at her outburst, or worse, got that kicked puppy look he knew full well would disarm her in seconds if she caught sight of it. "You cheated. Again."
"I'll just… leave you to it, I think…"
Clark zoomed out of the room. "Coward." She heard Oliver whispered under his breath.
She growled, her back still to him. "If he's a coward, then you're a—"
Strong arms looped around her from behind to cut her rant, pulling her into a mass of hard muscles and heat. It worked almost as well as the puppy look. Almost. When he pivoted her so he could cup her face, she stared at his shoulder in mulishness. Oliver nuzzled her temple. She pouted. She could feel his smile into her hair. The cad. He knew what he was doing.
"You're not mad… You were scared, and that's okay… I was scared too, and that's why I wanted you out of the danger zone. Chloe, look at me…"
"No. I am mad at you."
"All right."
His hand dropped from her neck and she clung to his shirt, terrified to let go all a sudden. Then her feet left the ground as he scooped her up. "Oliver, what are you—"
"We're going downstairs. I need you to access the video feed of the manor security system."
"You can't carry me down the stairs. Your back…"
"Is perfectly fine."
"Put me down."
"You didn't say please…"
"I hate you."
"You don't mean that."
She didn't. And the touch of hurt in his voice was real, as well. Chloe met his eyes finally. Hurt, in there too. "I don't mean that. I hate being sidelined."
Oliver let her back down on her feet, flushed against his chest. "I know. But you know that I will do it again in a heartbeat, because I love you and I can't bear the idea of you getting hurt."
Her eyes welled up again. "Me too… But I am not trying to wrap you in cotton anyway."
"Should we talk about the Kevlar you brought up last week?"
"You're not funny."
"I love you."
Oliver bumped his nose to hers gently. Chloe sighed. She tilted her head back for a proper kiss. "I love you, too…"
