Chloe got complacent. Rollins watched over her at night and Deputy Mason was on the day shift. For a whole week she managed to forget that someone was trying to kill her because for a whole week no one tried to kill her. It must have gone to her head, because there is no other explanation as to why she would decide to take a shortcut through a Gotham City alley on her way home at 11 p.m.
They'd obviously been waiting for that. For the moment when she slipped up and separated herself from her guards. She felt the hit on the head, not as painful as she thought it would be, then she saw Rollins screaming for her, running to the alley, his squad car abandoned on the street and right before she passed out she heard the gun shot.
When Chloe came to suddenly her first thought was that she had to get out of there, her second thought was to wonder why she was regaining consciousness in an alley, why didn't they just kill her? Take her? She looked up to see the guy who attacked her getting his just desserts by way of Batman. "That guy's freaking everywhere." Chloe said pulling herself up off the ground and ignoring the marching band that was playing in her head. She heard the sirens and almost tripped over Rollins, laying face down, unconscious at the mouth of the alley. She knelt down and tried to find the wound, but her hands were shaking to bad. He'd been shot; she'd seen it hadn't she? Maybe they just knocked him out like they did to her. But she could have sworn she heard a gunshot.
She heard it again, behind her this time and turned to see Batman fly through the air into a pile of debris. Chloe got up and ran to him as the attacker turned the sawed off shotgun on her. But the Siren's were getting closer and the alley had no other means of escape. He debated for a minute before turning and running. "Are you ok?" Chloe asked Batman checking the armor on his chest plate.
"It's bulletproof." Batman said lifted himself to a sitting position. Chloe reached out to help him and her hand slipped on something wet. When she brought it up to her face she saw blood and looked down.
"But not giant metal pole proof." She said shakily as Batman followed her gaze to the metal pipe sticking straight through his side.
"How did…" He trailed off as the siren's got closer. The police couldn't catch him, there was a warrant out for his arrest and if the paramedics took him in, they would unmask him, find out. Chloe sighed.
"Let's worry about the deficiency of your armor later and how we're going to get out of her now." Chloe pulled him to his feet and they back up to the end of the alley.
"My belt." He choked out. Chloe grappled for his belt and he coughed. "Green button." She fumbled for the green button and when she pushed it a wire flew from his belt and wrapped around a pyre on the roof of the building next to them. "Hold on." He said and pushed something on his arm and Chloe grabbed onto his waist as they were pulled into the air. Chloe managed to pull herself and Batman onto the rooftop and laid him down against the edge. "Take my car…"
"Like I can drive that." Chloe said pulling her shirt off and ripping it to a few pieces. "Besides, I hate to break it to you but you're not gonna make it." She brought the strips of fabric over to him and sat down. "When I take this pole out, your gonna have maybe two minutes before you bleed out."
"So don't take out the pole." He said through clenched teeth and she put her hands around the pole, getting a good grip on it.
"I don't take out the pole and you have thirty minutes." She said. "Those twenty eight minutes aren't going to do you any good so you're gonna have to trust me Bruce." His head snapped from her hands to her face and she smiled. "Yeah I know, I've known for three months now and that's kind of important at this moment in time." She grunted and pulled the pole out. Bruce bit his lip so a scream didn't erupt from him and he looked at her panting. "I've known who you are for three months." She said applying one of the strips of fabric to the wound. "And I own the biggest newspaper in the city. So the fact that you haven't seen a "Billionaire Playboy Moonlights as Leather clad Rodent" headline is saying something."
He grunted. "You know what it's saying Bruce? That you can trust me." She sighed taking a deep breath and rubbing her hands together. "And it's really important that you trust me ok, because in a few seconds, I'm about to put all of my trust in you and that's a big deal for me all right." She smiled at him as her hands started to glow. "I'm trusting you with something very, very important here; I need you to nod if you're following me." He nodded his head as he watched the light pulse under her palms. "I'm going to ask you to do something for me, and you're going to think it's strange and stupid but I really need you to do exactly as I say ok?" He nodded again as his pain started to disappear along with the light and he saw Chloe slump down against the ground. He pulled himself up to grab her before she hit her head and realized there was no more pain. He looked down and saw that his stomach was fine, there was no blood, and there was no hole, there was nothing.
"Hey." Chloe said weakly he looked down at her and saw the blood seeping out over her stomach in astonishment. "Promise me." She said swallowing hard. "No hospital, no doctors, and this is the most important thing…whatever happens, no morgue."
"What?" He asked confused.
"Promise me." She said more forcefully.
"I promise." He said holding his hand against her wound, a wound that he knew she didn't have five minutes ago, a wound that looked exactly like the one that just disappeared from his stomach.
"I'm holding you to that." She whispered before her eyes closed and her body fell limp.
Bruce took a deep breath and put his hand to her throat, searching for a pulse. There wasn't one. He sighed lifting her up and carrying her down the building to his car. He looked over at her after he situated her in the seat and sighed. He'd promised no doctors, no hospitals, and no morgues. He started the car and drove away.
Alfred was waiting at the door when Bruce walked in from the cave carrying the very limp and bloody body of Chloe Sullivan. "Master Bruce. Is that Miss Sullivan?" He rushed forward and Bruce brushed him off as he carried Chloe into a guest room and laid her down. Alfred followed him to the room with a first aid kit and went to Chloe's side to clean her up. He noticed as he swabbed the wound that her chest and stomach weren't moving. He grabbed her wrist and felt for a pulse then looked up at Bruce. "Sir…I'm sorry, she's…"
"I know." Bruce sat down in the chair next to the bed and looked at her.
"Should we…"
"No." Bruce said. "Just clean and bandage the wound."
"Of course." Alfred bowed and walked out of the room.
Two days passed, Bruce ate because Alfred made him, went to work so that people didn't start to think something was wrong but as soon as he got home he went straight to the guest room and sat in the chair, wondering why exactly he had Chloe's dead body lying comfortably on his Egyptian cotton sheets and not at the hospital or at the morgue. At some point Bruce fell asleep because he was awaked by the sound of someone gasping for air. His eyes flew open and he saw Chloe sitting bolt upright in bed looking around confused and sucking in air like she'd been under water for an hour. "Hey." He climbed on the bed and grabbed her into a hug. "You're fine." He said astonished. "You're safe, you're ok."
"Every time it's a surprise." Chloe said as she panted. "Like going to bed in a hot tub and walking up in the Arctic Ocean."
Her breathing slowed and she managed to calm herself as Bruce rubbed her back soothingly. He pulled away and looked at her intently as she calmed herself down. "Are you….ok?"
"Fine." She said smiling at him. "You didn't take me anywhere." She said.
"I promised." Bruce reminded her and she chuckled.
"Rollins!" Her eyes got huge and she reached for the side of the bed standing up too quickly and losing her balance.
Bruce caught her and smiled. "He's fine, at the hospital. He had on his vest but the guy shot him with a shotgun at close range, did a little damage but he should be out of there in a few days."
This seemed to calm her down. "Could I..." She pulled away from him. "Get a glass of water?"
"Sure." He smiled headed for the door.
"And maybe…a steak?" She asked sheepishly following him out the door. He laughed and turned to her. "Oh and some fries, proper ones like you get in a good English pub." Chloe seemed to be getting excited about the food as Bruce stared at her. "What? I always need to beef up on carbs after…"
"Steak and Fries it is." Bruce held out his hand and she grabbed it as he led her to the kitchens.
Alfred walked into the kitchen just as Chloe was finishing her second batch of fries and Bruce watched her in astonishment. "Master Bruce I really think…" He froze when he saw Chloe. "Miss Sullivan."
"Alfred." She smiled. "Manchester verses Arsenal Saturday night." He just stared at her and she swallowed. "You ok?" She pulled away and looked at his face in concern.
"It's just…you were…dead." He pointed out to her.
"Oh." Chloe pulled away a little more and looked at Bruce who nodded and she looked back at Alfred. "I got better?" She offered.
"Right." He nodded. "Of course."
"Did you need something Alfred?" Bruce was trying to hide his smile at Alfred's expression.
"No sir." He smiled. "Glad your feeling better Miss Sullivan." He bowed to the two of them and walked out of the room.
"How exactly are you feeling better?" Bruce asked.
"Oh so you save a girl's life and feed her a steak and suddenly she's supposed to spill all her deep dark secrets?" Chloe joked.
"Well I did give you two helpings of fries." Bruce said. "Oh yeah and you died and came back to life after healing me."
"Damn, I was hoping my stunning good looks would distract you so much you'd forget about that part." She batted her eyelashes at him but he didn't smile, didn't laugh, he just stared at her. "Well, I guess I should start at the beginning." So she did, Smallville, Meteor shower, meteor rocks, super powered classmates, super powered crazies, her work with the Green Arrow (leaving out his true identity of course), Lex's crazy experiments, her own discovery of healing abilities, everything she could tell him without giving too much away.
"I'm just…" Bruce paused. "Trying to wrap my head around all this."
"It takes a minute." Chloe stood up. "While you do that I'm gonna search for some of that cake from the other night."
Bruce just stared at her in astonishment. "How can you be so calm about this?" He asked her. "You were dead twelve hours ago."
"But I'm not dead anymore." She smiled and held up a plate. "Found the cake." She grabbed a fork and sat back down.
"But you didn't know you'd get better." Bruce said. "You told me you don't know for sure what even happens. Why would you do that?"
"Look, I don't get this power, I don't know how it works, why it works, I just…I know that no matter what happens to me, I'm not going to sit there and watch someone get hurt knowing I can help." She said to him. "Especially someone like Batman, who does far more good for the City of Gotham than Chloe Sullivan could do for the world."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Bruce smiled at her as she finished her cake and stood up.
"I've got to go; I really appreciate what you did." She smiled and kissed his cheek.
"Where are you going?" He asked.
"I need to run a few errands; I want to visit Rollins in the hospital." She didn't mention the other ones.
Her first stop was the police station where there was complete chaos. "I want a search pattern fifty mile radius from the alley, and then push it out to a hundred, I want dogs there, I want a press conference in two hours. Let's go, let's go." Gordon clapped his hands and Chloe walked up to him.
"Someone kidnap the mayor's daughter?" She asked.
He turned around and froze, slowly the people around him froze and in a minute they were all staring at her. Then she saw it, her picture at the top of the board, they'd been looking for her, they thought she was missing, this was so embarrassing.
After a lecture from Gordon and after giving her statement to an office she was lead to Gordon's office. "I get what you're doing, I really do, trying to keep me safe and I appreciate it but turns out." She slapped a piece of paper on the desk. "A citizen can refuse police protection at any point in time." Gordon looked from the paper to Chloe and frowned. "Rollins has a wife and kid…what good is saving my life if it takes him away from them?" She asked. Gordon just sighed and nodded.
Chloe left the police station renewed, stopped off at the bank and then headed to the hospital. When she got to Rollins room his wife was sitting in the chair by his bed. "I'm sorry I don't want to interrupt."
"No." He sat up straighter. "Honey this is Miss Sullivan." Rollins introduced his wife, Linda. "I was…no one knew where you went, if you were ok…"
"Batman." Chloe said as if that explained everything and for some reason in Gotham it did.
"Thank God." He leaned back in his bed as if finally able to relax.
"I uh…" She laid a bag down on his bed tray and he opened it confused.
"Grapes?" He held them up and her cheeks flushed.
"Sorry, I was in England too long." She smiled. "And I really need to sleep. I just wanted to come see how you were doing, apologize for getting you into this mess and don't say you were just doing your job because you saved my life and you should get credit for that."
"I really don't…" He blushed, embarrassed.
"I know." She sighed. "You hero types are all alike; none of you can take a compliment." She smiled. "There's something else in the bag, I won't take up any more of your time." She bowed out before they could protest and walked down the hall headed to her next destination.
Rollins stared at the door and reached in the bag, coming out with what looked like a checkbook. He opened the booklet only to drop it on the bed. "What?" She asked surprised. "Are you hurt?"
"No." He picked up the booklet again and opened it to show her. It was a savings account in the name of Conner Rollins.
"Balance $500,000.00." Linda said shocked. "That's more than…why would she…" Then a note fell out of the booklet and Rollins picked it up. He read it and smiled. "What?" Linda said impatiently, the hands holding the bank book shaking.
"It says, $50,000.00 is the price that Maroni put on my head, my life's net worth to him. If he can pay that to kill me, I can sure pay that for saving me. I know this is a little more than that but the way I figure it, every day you were following me around, was another day you saved my life so just add them all up. Besides, putting a kid through college shouldn't endanger your life." Rollins handed his wife the note and she looked at him strangely.
"Is this for real?" She asked quietly.
"Knowing Miss Sullivan, no doubt." He nodded in shock.
Chloe caught movement out of the corner of her eye and she looked up to see Maroni through the glass partition of the visitor's area he nodded at her and she slowly picked up the phone on her side as he did on his. "Chloe Sullivan."
"Salvatore Maroni." She smiled slightly, not nearly as nervous as she thought she'd be. He wasn't as intimidating, sitting behind the glass in his orange jumpsuit with his hands shackled together. He looked much more his 60 odd years in here than he did on the outside in his expensive suits.
"You have no idea how disappointed I am that you're still alive." He smirked at her.
"I'm sure." She rolled her eyes.
"What can I do for you Miss Sullivan?" He looked at her as if he was bored.
"You know, it took me two days, only two, and very little work on my part to dig up that story on you. You know the one, the one that landed you in jail." He glared at her paying attention now. "Just imagine what I could find if I were really trying."
"Are you threatening me?" He asked then leaned forward. "Or blackmailing me?"
"Neither." Chloe said. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm not gonna stop, I'm not gonna leave. You can throw whatever you want at me and I'll just keep coming back for more." She smiled. "And in the meantime, I'm going to bury you, with every piece of dirt that I can find, murder, extortion, bribery, hell unpaid parking tickets and library fines, all so that I can be sure your stuck fighting legal battles until you're in diapers again." She tilted her head and thought for a second. "Well that is, if you live that long."
"What does that mean?" He asked confused.
"There's a vacuum Maroni. You think you're handling everything from in here but you're not. Your reach is getting shorter and shorter by the minute and there are plenty of people out there ready to step up and take your place. And every single one of those people would tell me anything I wanted to know about Salvatore Maroni if I could ensure them that you'd be in that lovely jumpsuit for the rest of your life."
"That's not true." His face was turning red with anger but Chloe was just getting calmer and calmer.
"No?" She asked digging through her bag and slapping a picture on the glass for him to see. "This was delivered to my desk yesterday, anonymously of course. That would be you there right? Shooting Jimmy the Pig at the city dump. It's a nice picture, clear not grainy and you can see everyone's face." She turned the picture back toward her. "I think it's gonna look fantastic on the front page. I'll be sure to send you a copy of tomorrow's paper."
Maroni looked at her differently for a second, almost as if acknowledging that she beat him. "You got spunk kid."
"I got spunk coming out of my ass." Chloe stuffed the envelope back in her bag. "Spunk that's worth way more than $50,000.00 by the way." She hung her phone up and nodded to the guard to let her out and didn't look back as she walked away.
Chloe seemed more focused at work the next day, better able to concentrate on what she was doing, almost as if she'd been freed of something. "I'm not leaving town Oliver." Chloe said. "I've still got three months to turn this paper around and I'm gonna stick it out."
"There are people trying to kill you." He pointed out as if she was ignorant to the fact.
"Yeah all the more reason to stay." Chloe flipped through a folder. "Like I told Maroni, he's not running me out of town."
"What do you mean "like you told Maroni"?" Oliver asked more calm than he felt.
"When I visited him yesterday." Chloe said distractedly when she heard Elizabeth outside, her voice raised. "You can't just go in…"
"Watch me." A very angry voice shot back.
"You went to visit him?" Two different angry voices screamed at her and she looked between the phone and Bruce who was standing in her office, shaking with anger.
"How could you be so stupid?" Bruce stared pacing. "Why would you do that?"
"I honestly can't believe you sometimes Chloe." Oliver screamed. "All those times you've been hit in the head really screwed you up huh?"
"Look I can't handle both of you yelling at me at once, I'll call you back." She said to Oliver and hung up the phone turning to Bruce who was still ranting and pacing. "Hey!" She screamed and he stopped, shocked, and turned to her. "Could you dial it down please?"
He took a deep breath and glared at her. "I can't believe…"
"We were in a maximum security prison, there were guards everywhere and we were separated by a sheet of three inch thick shatterproof glass." Chloe pointed out. "It was perfectly safe."
"It was perfectly safe?" Bruce screamed. "It was perfectly safe? What planet do you live on where it's perfectly safe to taunt a well connected mob boss while he's in prison, one who already has a price on your head?"
She scoffed, some part of her still a little annoyed at the low price her death would bring in. "Look, you've got to understand these guys." Chloe pointed out. "He respected what I did; he respected me for doing it. Honestly Bruce, I don't think I'm going to have a problem with Salvatore Maroni anymore."
"You can't seriously be that naive." Bruce said.
"You know for someone who fights crime nightly." She said more quietly. "You don't really have a grasp on the criminal element. Sure you understand the desperate thieves, the petty criminals, but this guy is old school. He's about respect and honor and if he got out of jail tomorrow we wouldn't have dinner together but he wouldn't be dumping my body in the river either."
Bruce ran a hand through his hair. "You're gonna be the death of me Woodward."
"Please." Chloe said. "You love it, the excitement I bring to your boring life."
He cracked a smiled at that and shook his head. "How can I not stay mad at you?"
"The phrase cute as a button has been tossed around before." Chloe smiled at him. "I've heard that it's impossible to stay angry with buttons."
"Geez." He chuckled quietly.
"So are you done yelling?" Chloe wondered. "Can I go back to work?"
"On one condition." Bruce said and Chloe nodded. "Be my date to the Hospital fundraiser tomorrow night."
"Since I was planning on going anyway." Chloe smiled. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to have some arm candy." He smiled at her then leaned forward and kissed her forehead.
"Just…be careful ok?"
"Careful is my middle name." Chloe smiled as he walked out. "Hey." Chloe called after him and he turned around. "How do you know I taunted him?"
"One of the guards over heard the conversation." Bruce said. "It's all over the precinct now, the spunky blond reporter taking on the mob." Chloe smiled as he left the building.
The next day, just as Chloe promised him, along with his mail Maroni was delivered a copy of the Gazette with the picture she'd showed him on the front page. "Girls got Spunk." He chuckled as he read the article.
"We're gonna be late." Bruce said feigning impatience as Chloe signed off on articles and made layout changes, a stop at the paper was not what Bruce was expecting when he picked her up for the Hospital fundraiser.
"Almost done." She said scribbling on a large sheet faster with a red pen. "Get those changes done and send it to the printers." She handed off the sheet to Elizabeth who nodded and walked out of the room. "Sorry." She smiled at Bruce.
"It's ok." He assured her and led her out of the building. He was prepping her on how bad she could expect the food to be when they both stopped short of Bruce's car. Two very large men in suits were blocking their way, staring at them. Bruce put a hand out to push Chloe behind him but she wouldn't budge.
"Miss Sullivan." One of the men said. "Mr. Maroni would like to see you."
Chloe looked from the man to Bruce and then back. "Now?" She looked down at her dress and over at Bruce's tux.
"If it's not too much trouble." The second man offered politely. "Visiting hours are about to end."
"Chloe." Bruce warned her.
"Do you know why?" Chloe asked the two gentlemen.
"He didn't specify. He just asked us to request that you go see him." The first guy said.
"You can't be contemplating this." Bruce said to her.
"It'll only take thirty minutes, an hour at the most, we won't even miss anything." She pleaded with him. She had to admit she was curious.
"I can't talk you out of this can I?" Bruce sighed.
"No." She shook her head.
"Then I'm coming with you." He nodded at the men and led Chloe to his car. He gave the new destination to the driver but didn't say anything after that. They signed in and were shown to the visitor's room. Bruce stood silently behind Chloe glaring at the man who had sent multiple people to kill her.
"Miss Sullivan." Maroni sat down and picked up the phone. Chloe picked up hers.
"You requested to see me?" She asked raising an eyebrow.
"You look lovely." He smiled at her. "I hope you didn't get all dressed up for me?"
"Hospital fundraiser." She said.
"Ah yes, I went every year do you know that?" He asked her. "Donated quite a bit of money too."
"That's nice." Chloe said. "Did ask me here for small talk?" She said.
"No." He shook his head. "I just wanted to tell you that you win."
"I'm sorry." Chloe asked confused.
"You win." He said simply. "My lawyer informs me, after your expose from yesterday, that it's unlikely I will get out of this place anytime soon. My influence is, just as you said, not what it used to be and I am an old man Miss Sullivan. You are frankly not worth the hassle anymore; let my replacement waste his time in trying to kill you."
"I see." Chloe didn't want to smile; it would cheapen the moment somehow. "That's very gracious of you."
"I only ask one favor."
"You want a favor from me?" She smiled this time.
"This favor, I don't think you'll refuse." He said to her. "I simply ask that you go after my replacement with as much spunk as you went after me."
"You're right." Chloe said. "That is a favor that I can't refuse." She smiled. "Now, I'm going to be late…"
"Miss Sullivan." Maroni called out to her. "A bit of advice."
Chloe's ears perked up, she was going to get advice from a mob boss, this had to be interesting. "Yes?"
"Whatever you do, don't order the chicken plate." She looked at him amused. "Trust me."
"I'll take that under advisement." Chloe tried to hold back a smile as she hung up the phone and nodded at Bruce that it was time to leave. When they were in the car and the shock had somewhat worn off she laughed.
"What was that about?" Bruce asked.
"He conceded." Chloe said.
"Conceded?" Bruce looked at her amazed.
"He said I won." She smiled. "That he was too old to be bothered with me anymore. That he would leave me for his replacement to deal with."
"That's it?" Bruce asked shocked.
"Oh and he warned us not to order the chicken plate at the fundraiser." She smiled. Bruce looked at her and laughed, and then Chloe laughed, and then neither of them could seem to stop laughing. That was the picture on the front page of the Society section the next day. Chloe Sullivan and Bruce Wayne entering the Hospital fundraiser in on a private and seemingly intimate joke.
The Hospital fundraiser turned into diners together, then lunches, then lazy Saturdays hanging out in the park, and suddenly she was on the cover of the society pages again, thistime with pictures of Bruce Wayne.
Chloe signed the last shipping order and handed the papers to Elizabeth. "You're going to be late." She said eyeing Chloe who had planned ahead for once and was standing in her office at the Gotham Gazette in an evening gown.
"I know." Chloe grabbed her shoes from under her desk. "Bruce is going to kill me."
"He called me three times today, expressly asking me to make sure you were on time tonight." Elizabeth pointed out to her.
"I know, I know." Chloe pulled on her shoes and grabbed the wrap off the back of her chair. "I'm leaving."
"Miss Sullivan." Ryan, her staff photographer ran to catch up to her as she left her office. "I need you to approve the pictures for the Festival articles."
She held out her hand and grabbed the file he was holding flipping through it without stopping walking. "No, no, yes, no, what the hell is this?" She stopped in her tracks and stared at a picture. Ryan looked over her shoulder.
"The world's largest bowl of chocolate pudding." Ryan said, trying to keep a straight face.
"It looks like a giant bowl of dog crap, no." She flipped through the other pictures. "Yes, yes, no, yes." She handed the folder back as Elizabeth came up to her.
"Aren't you going to be late?" Ryan asked as Chloe checked the clock again and sighed.
"Jewelry." She held out her hand and Chloe saw a mish mash of earrings, necklaces and her charm bracelet resting there. She pulled out the bracelet and then reached in for a pair of earrings that would match the dress.
"Chloe." Janet her political correspondent came walking up. "We've got a problem with Mason Phillips again."
"Walk and talk." Elizabeth said to her and Chloe motioned for Janet to follow them as she put the earrings in.
"He refuses to give an interview." Janet explained.
"The man is running for Mayor of Gotham City and won't even give us a freaking sound bite." Chloe sighed in frustration as she looked through the different necklaces Elizabeth had picked out for her. "Do we have the sapphire dragon fly that Bruce gave me?"
"In your office." Elizabeth turning around and disappearing as Chloe stopped to talk to Janet.
"Look, he knows that he's not going to be able to win this election without our support so that means he wants something." Chloe tried to latch her charm bracelet. "He should be at Bruce's tonight; I'll shake him down for you."
"Thanks." Janet sighed visibly. "Let me." Janet grabbed her wrist and latched the charm bracelet for her.
"Dragonfly necklace." Elizabeth slid to a stop and put the necklace on Chloe who smiled when she was finally adorned.
"You're going to be late." Janet reminded her.
"Right." Chloe said. "Maybe that could be my thing, charmingly late."
"It won't be so charming in fifteen minutes." Elizabeth tapped her watch.
"Right." Chloe said calling over her shoulder as she left. "If Bruce calls…"
"You left an hour ago, traffic must be killer." Elizabeth finished the sentence with a smile on her face.
"You're an angel." Chloe called after her and stepped out into the Gotham city night. She turned down the street and headed closer to the business district. Even with Maroni's assurance that she was safe, from him at least, her preferred mode of transportation was still cab but it was hell getting one in front of the Gazette at this time of night so she was forced to walk to a more inhabited part of the city in hopes of finding one.
Her phone rang before she was two blocks away and she pulled it out sighing. "Go." She said.
"You forgot to approve the layout; it's got to be at the printers in twenty minutes to make the deadline." Elizabeth said. "I've e-mailed it to you."
"Hold on." Chloe pulled the phone away from her ear and pushed a few buttons. She put the phone back to her ear. "Switch the Highway Bill approval and the zoning piece and get a better picture for the Museum Benefit announcement we should have a few exterior shots in stock footage."
"No problem." Elizabeth said.
Chloe was so busy on the phone she didn't see the two guys walking intently for her until they each had hand under her armpit and were pulling her into the nearest alley. "Excuse me." She said amazed.
"Money and jewelry." The tall one said.
"Well isn't this refreshing." Chloe rolled her eyes. "A good old fashioned mugging."
"He said money and jewelry lady." The fat one emphasized pulling out a gun.
"I don't have time for this." Chloe sighed digging in her purse for her wallet. "Here, take the wallet." She handed the wallet to the tall one and thought about the necklace that Bruce had given her and her beloved charm bracelet. "But the jewelry isn't valuable, just sentimental. There's more money in the wallet trust me."
"Are you playing with me?" The fat one asked.
"Ok." Chloe reached up. "These are four carats each, much more valuable than the sapphires, just take them and let me have…"
Before she could finish the hand not holding a gun was around her throat tearing the necklace off of her and then slapping her hard across the cheek. "This isn't "Let's Make a Deal" bitch."
"You're going to want to apologize for that." A deep voice said from the front of the alley.
"This doesn't concern you freak." The fat one with a gun turned at the same time as Chloe to see the Green Arrow standing at the mouth of the Alley with his bow raised and ready.
"Of course it does." He let an arrow fly and the gun flew out of the fat one's hand. He'd pulled another arrow and had it set before they could blink and it was flying through the air, grabbing the fat one and pushing him to the end of the alley, securing him to the wall. Oliver walked further into the alley as the tall one scrambled for the gun but he never made it, another arrow was loosed and the tall one was pinned next to the fat one at the back of the alley.
"What are you doing here?" Chloe asked pulling herself away from the wall and feeling her cheek where she'd been slapped.
"A thank you very much wouldn't go unappreciated." Green Arrow said pulling Chloe's wallet from the tall one.
"How long were you out there?" She asked as her cheek started stinging. "You had to wait until after he slapped me?"
"I didn't think you would negotiate." Green Arrow chuckled snatching the necklace from the fat one's hand. "You should have just given him the necklace."
"It has sentimental value." Chloe pointed out. "What I should have just handed over the charm bracelet too?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Sentimental value huh?" Green Arrow held the necklace up to look at it and suddenly his hands were pinned to his side by a cable that wrapped around his waist a few times. "What the…"
He looked up to see a large black bat swoop in and knock him to the ground. "Hand it over." Batman growled and Chloe rushed forward.
"Wait, wait." She pushed Batman away from the Green Arrow and held up a hand. "He's a good guy." She nodded to the end of the alley. "They're the bad guys."
"Yeah." Green Arrow said as Chloe helped get him out of the cables. "Good guy."
Batman looked him over as he stood up and scoffed. "How was I supposed to know? You're like a magnet for trouble and he's holding your wallet and necklace. I just assumed."
"Yeah well you assumed wrong." She grabbed the wallet and necklace back from Oliver and slipped both in her bag. "Don't you have somewhere you're supposed to be right now?" She scrutinized him, wondering how he managed to slip out of his own party.
"Well if someone would leave work at a decent hour, maybe I wouldn't have to spend all my free time saving your butt." Batman joked with her.
"Excuse me." Green Arrow stepped forward. "I do believe I was the one who did all the saving." He pointed to his arrows keeping the thugs in place. "Where as you just swooped in and attacked the wrong person for the hell of it."
"I'm still not sure I did attack the wrong person." Batman sneered.
"I think Chloe should be the judge of that." Green Arrow crossed his arms over his chest.
"Yes I think she should." Batman glared at Green Arrow.
"Do you guys need to be alone?" Chloe looked between the two of them and smiled slightly. "Cause I've got a party I'm late for."
"I'll take you." They both said at the same time, not bothering to look at Chloe. "What?" Bruce looked at the street and saw Green Arrows motorcycle. "That's not really practical is it? With her in that dress?"
"She's never complained before." Green Arrow chuckled. "You're gonna fly her there?"
"Actually." Bruce pushed a button and they turned the head of the alley to see his car pull up and stop. "I brought my car tonight." Green Arrow scoffed.
"Can you say over compensating?" He turned to Chloe to share the joke but she wasn't there. "Chloe?" They looked at each other then headed for the mouth of the alley. She was walking purposefully down the street muttering to herself.
"Where are you going?" Green Arrow called after her.
"To catch a cab." Chloe said. "You two should argue some more, really keep it up, it was so productive." She turned the corner with finality and both superhero's stopped and looked at each other.
"I really have somewhere I need to be." Green Arrow headed back to his bike.
"I'm late for something myself." Batman added heading to his car.
Chloe had beat Bruce to the party wondering how long it would take for him to change out of the skin tight leather and into a tux as she mingled around the room. She lost count of the amount of people asking her where the birthday boy was and she suddenly started to feel stood up even though they hadn't specifically said it was a date. "He was running a little late." Chloe said for what felt like the hundredth time. "Last minute business."
"He works to hard." Leslie Parker smiled. "So do you though, I guess that's why you guys are so good together."
"Excuse me." Chloe pressed a smile on her face. "I need to talk to Senator Phillips. It was so good to see you again." She kissed Leslie's cheek and walked away wondering how after two diners and a few lunch's her and Bruce were suddenly together as all the denizens of Gotham were concerned.
"Senator Phillips." Chloe deftly intercepted him before he could get embroiled in another conversation, slipping her arm though his elbow. "Might I have a word?"
"Certainly." He smiled, although Chloe could tell it was far from genuine.
"Why are you giving my reporters the run around?" She asked getting straight to the point.
"I'm doing no such thing." He feigned ignorance.
"Senator Phillips." Chloe said in a scolding tone. "You know you're going to need the Gazette if you're serious about making a go for Mayor. We're doing the candidate platform stories on Tuesday, so just tell me, what's it going to take for you to sit down with Janet Monday morning?"
"Direct and to the point, I respect that." He laughed at her. "I want a full page human interest piece, which I can approve before printing, and free campaign ads from now until the end of the election."
"That's cute." Chloe smiled. "I'll have to tell Janet about your sense of humor."
"I'm not joking." He stared at her with one eyebrow raised.
"Mason." Chloe said using his first name to show that she wasn't playing nice anymore. "We both know the ad is a pipe dream, you want to advertise in the Gazette, you pay for a slot like your competitors. As for the piece, since you're a new comer to local politics I can swing that and you can even look at it before print but there's no way I'm giving you creative control, that's what my first amendment is for."
"Miss Sullivan forgive me but you've been known to crucify anyone one whim." Mason pointed out. "You have ended many a promising political careers in this city, so excuse me if I'm not jumping up and down to bare all to your paper."
"Now honestly, we're printing the story with or without your particular input but it would behoove you play ball with me. It's pretty well known by now that the only people who snub the Gazette are in league with Maroni and the city isn't catering to his every whim anymore so if you'd like to distance yourself from him I'd really think about setting up a time to talk to Janet on Monday."
Mason looked at her shrewdly for a minute before nodding. "I'll have my secretary set it up." He said to her. "I'm not in league with Maroni."
"I realize that." Chloe smiled at him. "You are the best candidate for Mayor Gotham City's had on the ballet for more than a decade."
"Then why are you giving me such a hard time?" Mason asked.
"It's not my job to make friends with you; it's my job to keep you on your toes so you'll stay the best candidate for Mayor." She smiled at him. "Monday." She said before walking away.
"That was impressive." A voice said in her ear and she turned around smiling.
"Oliver." She sighed, amazed at how glad she was to see him, Oliver Queen, not the Green Arrow. She resisted the urge to hug him and hold on tightly because as far as the people in that room were concerned they didn't know each other.
"You look amazing." He said smiling at her.
"Chloe!" Rose walked up with Lily, the two of them having come in to town the night before for Bruce's party. "I see you've finally met the elusive Oliver Queen."
"I saw her from across the room and just had to come introduce myself." Oliver said kissing Chloe's hand and smiling at Rose. "Since no one else has had the good manners to do it for me."
"Do you always wait and let someone else do your dirty work?" Bruce asked from behind Chloe and she jumped slightly as he deftly slid his arm down her back and around her waist to settle on her hip. "So sorry I'm late." He leaned down and placed a kiss on her cheek.
"It's ok." Chloe said. "It's your birthday, you can be as late as you like." Rose smiled at the two of them and only Oliver and Bruce could tell that her voice betrayed her smile.
"Bruce." Oliver held out a hand. "Happy Birthday. God, it's been a while huh?"
"Since that trip we took to Switzerland." Bruce said shaking Oliver's hand. "What was that six years ago?"
"God, has it been that long." Oliver smiled. "You must be getting old. Bruce and I were almost inseparable in our school days; best of friends isn't that right?" Oliver said.
Bruce smiled genially and Rose and Lily seemed to be enjoying the exchange with rapt attention. "That's right." Bruce said to Chloe. "Oliver was one of the best friends I'd ever had. It's a shame we lost touch after college." Chloe felt like laughing but knew it would be inappropriate. What were the odds that two guys who had been such good friends growing up could stare each other down in an alley in costumes and not even realize who they were talking to. People could be so blind.
"I'd like to hear all about it sometime." Chloe smiled at the two of them.
"Maybe." Bruce smiled.
"We should all get together sometime this week." Oliver smiled. "I'll be in town for a little while still. We could catch up, regal Chloe with stories of our rambunctious youth."
"That sounds great." Bruce said. "I'll have to see what night Chloe and I are free." They stared at each other for a second before Bruce looked down at Chloe and smiled bright. "Have I told you yet how beautiful you look tonight?"
"No." Chloe smiled. "You haven't."
"Well you do." Bruce smiled at her and brought a hand up to her neck. "All though I thought you were gonna wear the necklace I gave you."
Chloe reached in her purse and pulled something out. "It broke." She looked between the two guys and saw Oliver's face give a slight reaction to the necklace as he looked at it then at Bruce. She'd told him it had sentimental value and now he knew why. "I was almost mugged on my way out of the planet." Chloe said at the confused look on Rose's face.
"Oh no, you poor thing, what happened?" Rose touched her arm.
"Nothing." Chloe smiled. "I got away, everything's fine." She said. "Except the necklace." She deliberately left out the part that Oliver and Bruce both played in her rescue, not wanting to increase the tension any more.
"You sound as if you were very lucky." Oliver said to her, the real smile gone from his face as he studied Chloe intensely.
"I was." She assured him as sincerely as she could and he nodded almost imperceptibly. She wanted to reassure him that she was grateful for what he did without drawing attention to it.
"So Oliver." Bruce looked around the room. "No date tonight?" He raised an eyebrow.
"You always have the most beautiful girls at your parties Bruce." Oliver said his eyes on Chloe. "That would be like bringing your own snacks to an all you can eat buffet."
"And on that high class note." Chloe untangled herself from Bruce. "It's nice to see you again Oliver." She held out her hand but instead of shaking it he grabbed it and kissed her knuckles again. "Rose." Chloe slipped her arm in Rose's. "Lily, I think I just saw Abby walk in, I haven't seen her in ages."
Rose and Lily smiled and walked away with Chloe as Oliver and Bruce stared at each other. "Oh my God." Rose fanned herself with her hands. "How are you so lucky?"
"What?" Chloe laughed.
"The total showdown between Bruce and Oliver just now, you had to have been on another planet not to catch that." Rose smiled.
"What are you talking about?" Chloe laughed. "Abby!" She smiled and hugged the girl and then passed her off to Rose then Lily.
"You just missed it." Rose said excitedly. "Oliver Queen vs. Bruce Wayne."
"Oh." Abby smiled excited. "What for?"
"Our very own Chloe Sullivan." Lily said.
"Not even." Chloe tried to brush them off.
"I mean obviously it's no contest." Rose said. "You and Bruce are like perfect for each other, everyone knows that."
"And Oliver is such a ladies' man." Lily pointed out. "No long term aspirations there." They looked across the room where Bruce and Oliver seemed to be getting along much better now that Chloe was gone, both laughing at something genuinely.
"But my god." Abby said in Chloe's ears. "If Oliver Queen doesn't look better in a tux than anyone in this room I'll give up my shoe collection."
"Abby!" Rose shrieked.
"Honey I'd take one night with him." Abby said. "I'd be able to die happy."
Oliver must have felt Chloe looking because he turned his head slightly away from Bruce and caught her eye. He smiled a rare smile for Oliver, not his full blast, blow off a girls panties at fifty paces mega watt smile, or his cat that just ate the canary smile, it was a small smile, just the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, a private smile almost. Chloe couldn't help but smile back and she hadn't realized how long she'd been looking at him until she turned away and saw Rose and Abby staring at her in shock. "What?" Chloe said confused.
"What was that?" Rose asked.
"What?" Chloe said.
"That thing, just now, you and Oliver, we all saw it." Abby smiled at her. "My god, he's still looking at you, staring…"
"Hmm, looks like Bruce just got some competition." Lily raised an eyebrow.
"Ok." Chloe turned to the both of them. "No more champagne for you. One, Bruce and I are…we're just…it's not very serious ok. And two, Oliver seems very nice but there is nothing going on there either."
"Right." Rose scoffed. "That's why he can't keep his eyes off of you."
"Well, probably because he's trying to remember me."
"You've met before?" Abby said hoping for a nice piece of juicy gossip.
"It was a long time ago, almost four years. He was in Metropolis on business and I was working at the Daily Planet. It was before…" She trailed of not sure how to put it, before she became rich and fabulous. "Before I moved in with my Uncle. He probably doesn't remember me. I ran an errand to his office once and we talked briefly for two seconds." It was the story that they had come up with a long time ago, in case anyone remembered seeing them together back in Smallville.
"Huh." Abby said looking again at Oliver and straightening up. "Well he may not remember you but he sure wants to." She elbowed Chloe and they saw Oliver heading their way.
"Ladies." Oliver nodded at all of them. "With Bruce otherwise engaged I was hoping I could get one of you lovely woman to give me a tour of the house. I haven't been here in so long, I've almost forgotten what the place looked like."
"Chloe can do it." Rose pushed her forward. "She knows this house top to bottom."
Chloe glared at Rose who just shrugged. "You know." Abby pressed. "You and Chloe have met before, you probably don't remember."
"Four years ago." Oliver said smiling at her. "You were working for the Daily Planet and you delivered something to my penthouse." Rose and Abby raised their eyebrows. "You were wearing a cute little black suit with a cream colored silk top underneath." He said and Chloe had to raise her eyebrows at this because that is the exact outfit she had on the first time they'd actually met. "Your hair was shorter than this and it had little messy curls in it."
"Good memory." Lily smiled.
"She's a hard person to forget." Oliver smiled.
"Well then." Chloe interrupted before Abby, Rose, or Lily had time to say anything else. "How about that tour?"
"Lead the way." Oliver held out his hand and Chloe took it leading him away from the crowd. They talked about nothing of any importance for over an hour as Chloe showed him the house and Chloe felt so comfortable being back in Oliver's presence as if they'd always been like this. For two people who talked on the phone daily, sometimes twice she was surprised how easy conversation flowed, especially conversation that had nothing to do with Lex or super abilities. They ended their tour in the study and Chloe walked over to the desk, grateful they were finally in a quiet room.
"Bruce Wayne?" Oliver said when they were out of ear shot.
"Bruce Wayne what?" Chloe asked.
"Bruce Wayne and Chloe Sullivan." Oliver prompted. "You and he…you're…dating?"
"We've been out a few times." Chloe said suddenly uncomfortable. "What?"
"Nothing. He just…didn't seem like your type." Oliver shrugged.
"I have a type?" Chloe asked smiling. She'd missed talking with Oliver so much.
"Yeah you know, good looking, secretive, fights for truth, justice, and the American way." Oliver smirked at her.
"You just described almost every man I know." She said. "And no man I've ever dated." She pointed out.
"Except Bruce." Oliver pointed out.
"Except Bruce." Chloe said playing with a paper weight. "Is this going to be a problem?" She looked up at him. "Mess up your plans?"
"No." Oliver smiled. "It just makes them more…interesting."
Chloe looked at him confused, she wasn't sure she liked the tone he was using or the smile on his face. "What does that mean?"
"Nothing." Oliver smiled. "I just hope Bruce Wayne's ready for some competition."
"No Oliver." Chloe shook her head. "You can't turn this into…Bruce is a good guy…I don't want you two too…" She took a deep breath. "When did the plan go from Oliver Queen and Chloe Sullivan hanging out a lot to Oliver Queen and Chloe Sullivan dating anyway?"
"What better way for Oliver Queen and Chloe Sullivan to spend a lot of time together without it being suspicious?" Oliver asked smiling.
"I'm not going to hurt Bruce for a pretend relationship." Chloe informed Oliver.
"Chloe." Oliver said. "Are you planning on marrying him?"
"I don't even know if I want to go to the Opera with him next week but that's not the point. He's not a part of this, we don't have to bring him into it."
"You brought him into it." Oliver told her.
"I'm not supposed to have a life Oliver?" She asked pulling him further into the room, away from listening ears. "Chloe Sullivan was just supposed to sit around and knit until the day she finally met Oliver Queen?"
"Of course not." Oliver scoffed. "That's not what I…"
"And your right, I probably won't marry him but I like him Oliver. I like his company and I like being able to talk to him on the phone without pretending that he's someone else and I like eating lunch with him in public." Oliver's smile faded more with every reason she gave for liking Bruce. "And I like the fact that when people compliment the necklace he gave me I can give him the credit for it." She almost jingled the charm bracelet in his face. "Instead of saying my father or my Uncle gave it to me."
"I know Chloe." Oliver sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Soon enough we can have lunch in public." Oliver grabbed her arm. "And talk on the phone and you can show off everything I buy for you…"
"Oliver…" Chloe sighed. "That's not…"
"There you are." Bruce said from the doorway and stared at the two of them until Chloe moved away from Oliver's grip. "Rose said you were giving Oliver a tour."
"Yeah." Chloe smiled walking over to Bruce. "He wanted to see the house."
"Funny." Bruce put his hands in his pockets. "He practically grew up here."
Chloe looked over at Oliver who smiled and walked to the door. "But you rebuilt the whole thing Bruce. Wanted to see the new and improved version."
"It's exactly the same as the old one." Bruce said slipping his hands around Chloe's waist.
"Not exactly." Oliver said glancing at the protective grip Bruce had on Chloe's waist.
"Some things were…upgraded but mostly it's the same old house." Bruce shrugged. "Well if you'll excuse us, it's time to cut the cake and they tell me my presence is required."
"Oh." She smiled. "Cake. Is it chocolate? You know I can't pass up chocolate cake." Chloe grabbed Bruce's arm and waved at Oliver as she followed Bruce back into the main room.
Oliver walked to the edge of the crowd and peered over the tops of heads as the cake was wheeled out and Chloe smiled up at Bruce while he cut it, offering her a taste of icing. He laughed as she tried to avoid it, as if he would try and smear it on her face when someone came up next to him. "Aren't they adorable together?" Abby asked sipping her champagne slowly.
Oliver looked over at Abby then back at Chloe who had finally licked the icing off Bruce's fingers and was smiling as he gave her a kiss. "I don't know." Oliver stood up straighter. "They don't seem to fit."
"They don't fit?" Abby raised an eyebrow. "In what way?"
"I'm not sure yet." Oliver said smiling. "But I'm gonna find out."
"Are you?" Abby asked. "Do you mind if I ask why?" Oliver looked down at her again, still smiling.
"Why?" Oliver said confused.
"Why Oliver Queen, self renowned ladies man is so worried about the fact that Bruce Wayne and Chloe Sullivan don't fit?"
"See." Oliver nodded at her. "You don't think they fit either."
Abby sighed. "No, I don't." She shrugged. "But she's happy now, and he's happy now and they're my friends, so until they stop being happy, I don't care."
"I'm your friend." Oliver reminded her.
"Yes." Abby said. "You are which means I know you." She pointed out. "Which is why I ask again. Why do you care so much about Chloe Sullivan and Bruce Wayne?"
"Abby." Oliver smiled at her. "Are you telling me to back off?"
"Are you planning on breaking her heart?" Abby asked.
"I don't ever plan it." He joked and when she didn't smile he looked at her with a straight face. "I just want to get to know her, be her friend. She's different." He admitted to her. "Intriguing, stunning, and she's much too good for Bruce."
"Yeah." Abby nodded. "But doesn't that make her much too good for you too?"
"No doubt about that." Oliver laughed. "She's way out of my league now." He looked back up at Chloe and smiled as Bruce fed her another piece of cake.
"Well, at least you know that." Abby smiled at him for the first time. "Chloe is one of a kind."
"I'm beginning to see that." Oliver said. "Well." He turned to Abby. "Now that Chloe has been claimed for the night by Bruce Wayne, care to keep me company for the remainder of the party?"
"Are you using me to get in good with her?" Abby squinted at him as if it would reveal all his secrets.
"Will it work?" Oliver asked.
"It might." Abby admitted. "You know once someone gets to know you Oliver; you're a pretty great guy."
"That's what I'm counting on." Oliver said. "Force myself down her throat until she can't help but realize how amazing I am."
"God." Abby laughed. "I'd forgotten how completely full of yourself you are."
"But in a good way right?" Oliver asked.
Chloe smiled at Bruce and watched Oliver talking with Abby. Somewhere, somehow Oliver had turned this whole thing into a pissing contest with Bruce and she wasn't sure how she felt about that. In fact she wasn't entirely sure how in three hours with Oliver she'd gone to "hanging out" with Bruce to girlfriend extraordinaire, which was how he was acting now. "You ok?" Bruce asked as she watched Oliver and Abby walk out of the room.
"Yeah." She smiled up at him. "Did you save me an end piece?" Her eyebrows waggled at him and he produced a corner cut of cake from behind his back and she smiled kissing him softly and took the cake. "You are the greatest." She smiled at him grabbing for a fork.
"I try." He smiled down at her as she bit into the cake and then offered him a piece.
Chloe awkwardly did her duty and stood by Bruce at the end of the night, saying goodbye as the party wound down. "So good to see you again." She kissed the cheek of one of Bruce's colleges. "Call me about the fundraiser and I'll make sure someone from the Gazette is there to cover it."
"Will do." She smiled at Chloe and walked out the door.
"Chloe." Oliver stood there and grabbed her hand. "It was really great to see you again."
"You too Oliver." She smiled as he leaned in to kiss her cheek.
"Set up a meeting with the Bat." He whispered in her ear and she nodded imperceptivity. "I understand your final destination is Star City?" He smiled at her. "That's where your home office is right?"
"Yes." Chloe said a little annoyed at bringing up how Gotham City was not a permanent place for her.
"I think the Global building is right next to Queen Towers. We'll be seeing a lot of each other." He said to her. "Maybe we can go get some coffee while I'm in town, get to know each other better."
"I'd like that." Chloe said and he nodded.
"Bruce." Oliver said shaking his hand.
"Oliver." Bruce smiled at him. "Don't be a stranger."
"Count on it." Oliver said walking out to his car.
"Well now that we have the house all to ourselves…" Bruce put his arms around Chloe and she pulled back. "I have a bone to pick with you."
"With me?" Bruce said confused.
"Yes with you." She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "You knew, you knew the whole time who the Green Arrow was."
"What are you talking about?" Bruce asked guiltily.
"I told you before, that I worked with him, how he was, you knew when you saw him in that alley that he didn't mug me." Chloe said.
"Maybe I did." Bruce smiled. "Maybe I just wanted to give him a hard time." She glared and he sighed. "I'm sorry."
"Why are boys so stupid?" Chloe asked finally giving in and leaning against him. "He wants to meet you." Chloe said as they swayed to music that no one could hear in the entryway of Wayne Manor.
"Why?" Bruce said confused.
"Well not you, Batman." Chloe yawned. "And I don't know, just asked me to set up a meeting."
"Ok." Bruce said. "I'll see when Batman's free." He kissed her forehead and she sighed.
"I'm exhausted." She leaned her head onto his chest. "And my feet are killing me." She pulled her shoes off and stretched her toes.
Bruce smiled down at her. "Stay here tonight." He whispered in her ear.
"Hmm." Chloe said thinking about it. She couldn't be sure how much of this request was because of Oliver and how much was because of her, and in the same vein she wasn't sure how much of her answer was because of Oliver and how much was because of Bruce. "It's really far from the office." She pointed out. "How are you gonna make that worth my while."
"I'm sure I can think of something." Bruce smiled down at her and Chloe raised her eyebrows at him. "Business first with you, as always." He sighed. "Ok, I'll have Alfred make you his famous Belgium waffles in the morning."
"With cream cheese and strawberries?" Chloe asked smiling at the thought.
"With whatever you want." Bruce assured her. "And if you absolutely must go into the office tomorrow, which is Saturday by the way."
"Papers do come out on Sunday, our biggest day in fact." Chloe reminded him.
"Then I'll personally take you to the office." He said. "I've got some things I can do in the city."
"Deal." Chloe said.
The meeting between Batman and Green Arrow, on the roof of the Gazette building, couldn't have been more of a disaster, two boys fighting over a toy and that toy was Chloe. She had the urge to slap both of them hard enough that maybe some sense would get in but she wouldn't do that, not when they were in the suits, she wouldn't undermine what they stood for, and she'd wait until she got both of them alone. She could smack Bruce and she could definitely smack Oliver. As she suspected Oliver, even with the animosity he seemed to hold for Batman wanted to offer him a place on the team, and Bruce as she suspected declined, citing the fact that he wasn't really a team player. A few more insults, a few more times Chloe had to catch herself from hitting one or both of them and the meeting was over.
Oliver and Bruce, when put together we're no better than Batman and Green Arrow. Their coffee date consisted of the both of them trying to remember and tell stories that put the other in the worst possible light while Chloe was stuck in the middle with a headache the size of Texas. The only thing that saved them was behind the ribbing, Chloe could tell that they were really good friends once and that on some level they each regretted letting the friendship slide.
Oliver stayed in Gotham for two weeks on business and by the time he left, the stories had gotten less incriminating and more praising. The teasing seemed less biting and more good natured and Chloe was enjoying being able to openly and freely hang out with Oliver, laughing with him, eating with him, enjoying his company. All of this time together only caused one fight between Chloe and Bruce about the amount of time she spent with him, or after he'd gone back to Star City, how much time she spent on the phone with him. It was that fact more than anything which helped Chloe to realize that their relationship wasn't going to make it outside of Gotham City. That coupled with the fact that she couldn't muster up the anger at the amount of time that Bruce, and Batman for that matter spent with Rachel Dawes. There would be no late night phone calls when she moved to Star City, no long distance dating. She would sell him the paper, they would break up, as friends though, and of that she had no doubt, seeing as they both knew the others deepest, darkest, and secret.
She knew that Bruce knew it too; he just didn't want to acknowledge it. The day her reign as editor hit the six month mark, they finalized the sale of the paper. The Gotham Gazette was once again locally owned. Chloe promoted Randall to Editor in Chief, a more fitting job for him as he got older, plus she knew that he was too much of a hard ass to ever bow down to the mob or the government. Two days later she was standing in a now empty penthouse apartment, her stuff on its way to Star City, explaining to Bruce how they just weren't going to work.
"Is this about Batman?" Bruce asked not daring to look at her.
"No." Chloe laughed. "Trust me I have no problem with the double identity, secret life of a superhero."
"Is this about Oliver?" Bruce asked looking up this time.
"No." She shook her head knowing that for once, what she was doing right now, was not about Oliver. "It's not. Oliver and I are just friends."
Bruce chuckled. "No." He shook his head and stood up. "You and I are friends Chloe, great friends, we always will be. I don't know what you and Oliver are."
Chloe sighed. "I don't either." She admitted. "But we don't fit Bruce and you know that."
"I've known that for a while." He said to her smiling. "I was just hoping it would take you a little longer to figure it out."
"You and Rachel fit you know." Chloe said to him. "Far better than we ever did."
"Rachel and I…" Bruce trailed off.
"Yeah." Chloe smiled.
"This isn't going to make things weird?" Bruce asked hopefully.
"Oh things will be weird." Chloe said. "But I was never one to shy away from weird." She reminded him.
"Neither am I." Bruce smiled and kissed her softly. "Don't be a stranger."
"Couldn't if I tried." Chloe assured him.
"You're going to be great in Star City." Bruce said.
Chloe laughed uneasily. "I'd settle for not disastrous."
"No you wouldn't." Bruce said to her. "You don't settle." He looked around the apartment and noticed a fairly large flower arrangement on the kitchen counter. "What's with the flowers?"
"Going away present." Chloe said. "From Maroni." Bruce sighed.
"Only you." He said laughing before turning to leave. Chloe smiled sadly as he walked to the door. It opened before he got there. "The car's here." Elizabeth said looking between the two of them uneasily.
"I'll walk you out." Bruce said smiling and took her arm. "When will you get to Star City?"
"A few months still." Chloe said pushing the ground floor button. "I've still got a couple of other papers to check out, shouldn't take too long, most of them are doing pretty good. My first stop is…" She turned to Elizabeth.
"New York." She said.
"Great city." Bruce smiled. "You know they got their own superhero. Spiderman."
"I've heard about him." Chloe said. "You know him?"
"Never met the guy." Bruce shrugged. "But he's doing good work." The stepped out into the lobby and nodded at the guards. "Knowing you and your ability to piss people off and your need for rescues, I'd say you'll probably meet him within 12 hours?" He looked to Elizabeth for confirmation of his estimate and she tried to stifle her laughter and avert her head as she walked to the car. "See you Woodward." Bruce kissed her forehead.
"See you." She smiled and sighed. "Tell Batman to give 'em hell for me."
"I'll pass along the message." He assured her.