Disclaimer: I don't own any of this.
"What happened after that?" Chloe was on the trail of another Batman story. Currently, she was interviewing the criminal he'd put behind bars a few nights earlier.
"I shot him in the arm." The man told her. "I shot him right here," he pointed to his left shoulder. "I think it just grazed him though, because he was ontop of me in a minute. He's a maniac. His voice…it's so…" the criminal shivered remembering it.
"Dark?" Chloe offered. It was one of the adjectives people used. Disturbing, creepy, scary, terrifying, and inhuman were the most common.
"Yes, but it was more than that. It sounded like someone without a soul or a creature from the devil." He said.
"You're a criminal. He's very good at stopping criminals that could be part of it." Chloe offered, resisting rolling her eyes at him.
"It's just not normal."
"Thanks, for the information." Chloe closed her notebook and gestured to the guard to let her out.
"Bruce, are you ignoring me?" Chloe asked Bruce Wayne's voicemail. He'd cancelled their date earlier that week at the last minute. Since then, he hadn't called her. Even though she had resolved herself to only being friends with him, that line was rapidly slipping. They were definitely more than friends. She'd had to pry herself away from his amazing body many times, refusing to go all the way with him. Because she knew he was holding back. But that was getting harder and harder with every kiss.
Three hours later, her cell phone rang. She looked at the name.
"Hey, Bruce." She answered eagerly.
"Chloe. Sorry about missing your call. I've been busy trying to avert a hostile takeover." He sounded tired. Chloe felt a little guilty about being annoyed with him earlier.
"Seriously? We can cancel dinner tonight." Chloe offered, but was disappointed at the thought.
"Yes, seriously and no to canceling dinner. Why don't you just come over to the mansion and we'll eat here." Bruce said. "Alfred had been interrogating me as to when he'd see you again."
"Yeah. Sounds like a plan." Chloe said.
"See you tonight then."
"Chloe. Oh. My. God. I have the story of my life!!" Alli walked over to Chloe, waving her story around in the air. Chloe looked at her in amusement.
"But you're so young. It's way too early to peak now," Chloe told her.
"Hah!!" Alli slammed the paper down on Chloe's desk. "It's crazy."
Chloe glanced at the paper but didn't really feel like reading it. Alli generally covered the celebrity beat and frankly, Chloe wasn't extremely interested in that.
"Fine, snob. Don't read it," Alli picked the paper up. "I'll tell you. You have to be interested. It involves a hot billionaire and a now jilted heiress. Still not interested?"
"Who?" Chloe suddenly became very interested. "You don't mean Oliver Queen do you?" Chloe asked quickly.
Alli nodded with a Cheshire like grin.
"Well, tell me then!" Chloe said eagerly.
"Well, apparently the whole thing is off. They aren't getting married." Alli leaned closer to Chloe and her voice became softer. "The baby isn't even his."
Chloe was stunned by the news. "How is that possible?" She could hardly breathe. Why would have Oliver pretended?
"I don't know how it's possible, but Katrina is now a happily single mother. They were never even romantic. They have been friends forever, but never dated." Alli reached out and pinched Chloe. "You aren't going to faint are you? You look pale."
Chloe shook her head. "How did you find all this out?"
"The woman herself, Katrina Matthews. She called me and asked if I'd like an interview and I wasn't about to pass it up."
"Have you spoken with Oliver about it? What does he say?" Chloe didn't even realize she'd only used his first name. Alli knew that there was a history between Chloe and Oliver and that just confirmed it.
"He won't go into any details, but confirms the split and that he isn't the father of the baby."
"I don't even know what to say." Chloe rubbed her temples and hunched over. "That is definitely a good story. Do any other papers have it?"
"Nope. I scooped em all! Katrina Matthews only came to me. She said she'd read my work before and liked it. I have no idea why she really chose me, but I am more than willing to take it!" Alli said.
"I can understand that." Chloe said. She suddenly found herself wanting to talk to Oliver and find out the whole story. It explained a lot about what she'd seen at the ball and his behavior in the interview. "Congrats, Alli."
An hour later, Chloe found herself pounding on Oliver's door. She was probably doing herself severe emotional harm by being here, but was also unable to stop herself.
He answered the door with his hair tousled and his shirt with the first few buttons undone. She could see his white cotton undershirt peeking at her. He looked exhausted.
"Hey," Chloe said lamely.
"Hi." He didn't look too happy to see her. Chloe closed her eyes for a moment to gather her thoughts.
"Can I come in?" Oliver inclined his head and stepped back to allow her to enter. His suite was enormous. She walked over to the couch and sat down.
Oliver just stared at her expectantly.
"Do you love Katrina?" Chloe asked suddenly.
"Nosy question and I don't think you're entitled to the answer." Oliver said harshly. He looked to her to be in full on reporter mode.
"Did you seriously just say that to me?" Chloe stood up and her voice rose an octave. "You left me, Oliver! You left me and went to her. You choose to be with a woman that was pregnant with another man's child instead of me!! I'd say that I'm entitled to a hell of a lot more than a few questions!" Chloe found herself fighting tears. She'd needed to know all this for such a long time.
"So, your friend told you the whole sordid story, then?" Oliver said unemotionally. He turned his back on her and walked to the bar and poured himself a drink.
"I came here to try and understand why, but clearly, you are going to keep the answers all to yourself. Fine," Chloe picked up her purse and stormed over to Oliver. "Just so you know, because I've wanted to say this to you for a long time, I thought that you were different. Obviously, I didn't mean much to you, but you meant the world to me, Oliver." Chloe told him and walked over to the door. He followed her and put his hand on the door to keep her from leaving.
"What are you doing?' Chloe said. She really didn't want to break down in front of him.
"Chloe, what would you do for Clark? How far would you go to save his life?"
"What does that have to with anything?" She was thrown by his random question.
"What would you do, Chloe?"
"Anything." And Chloe knew that was the truth. She'd done a lot to protect his secret and his life, there was really no limit. "Why does that matter, Oliver?" Chloe was unable to stop her curiosity.
"She's my Clark, Chloe. We were best friends until college and then went our separate ways. She knows all my secrets and my past. She came to me for help and I couldn't turn her away. I went to Metropolis to talk to you, but by then you'd come to Gotham. I knew you thought the worst of me and I was prepared to let you, because Katrina needed me." Oliver was standing close to Chloe and she could smell his cologne. It brought back memories of the time they'd spent together.
"What if I'd gotten pregnant? Would you have still wanted her instead of me?" Chloe said moving away from him a little, stunned at his revelation.
"Wanting you was never the issue, Chloe. There was more to it than that. I'm not sure, Chloe." Chloe nodded her head then laughed. It was one of those moments when if she didn't laugh she was going to begin to sob uncontrollably.
"Ok, on that note, I'm gonna go now. I'm not sure my ego can handle this much longer," Chloe again went to the door and again, Oliver blocked her escape.
"The baby's father was going to kill Katrina and take the baby for himself," Oliver told her. "What was I supposed to do?!!?" Oliver sounded frustrated.
"You should have told me!!" Chloe yelled, suddenly her anger boiled over and she couldn't keep it in. She poked him in the chest. "You should have trusted me. You should have called me. You should have done a million other things, but you didn't!"
"I couldn't, Chloe! You'd left Metropolis. I couldn't raise the father's suspicions or he'd come after her. I had to play the family man even when it killed me!" Oliver grabbed her hand to stop her from her poking attack on him.
"Funny, you look alive to me." Chloe said and tugged her finger out of his grasp.
"The baby's father is dead so the charade is over," Oliver told her.
"This is a completely ridiculous story," Like usual, Chloe turned to humor to lighten the pain in her heart. "It is your life though, so not entirely unexpected."
"What does that mean?" Oliver made a confused face.
"You're a bit of a drama queen, Queen." Chloe smiled. Then reached toward the door again.
"Chloe, what are you doing tonight?" Oliver asked quietly.
"I'm having dinner with a friend," Chloe told him not mentioning Bruce.
"It's Bruce Wayne, isn't it?" Oliver hung his head a little and shook it. "Am I too late, Chlo?"
"Too late for what?" Chloe knew he was talking about a relationship, but she played dumb anyway.
He looked at her and grinned a little, "Us, Chloe. Me and you." He moved in and closed the space between them, trapping her against the wall.
"Umm…" Chloe couldn't think clearly when he was this close to her.
He looked down into her eyes for a moment before bending and kissing her. She was helpless to resist. She loved him; it was that simple. He reached around her and pulled her tightly to his body. He held her so tightly, in fact, that it was actually slightly painful. She pushed him softly, attempting to get him to loosen his grip. He just wrapped her up even tighter. Chloe pulled her head back and put her hands on his shoulders.
"Oliver, I can't breath," She finally managed to get out. He released his hold a little, but still held her tightly.
"Just stay here with me," Chloe could head the pleading in his voice and it nearly broke her resolve. She didn't want to be with him like this. Not when there was so much left unsettled and far too many unanswered questions, not to mention Bruce Wayne. "I actually have protection this time," he said it was a grin and Chloe laughed a little.
"I can't, Oliver," She reached up and ran her hand down the side of his face. He really did look exhausted. He leaned forward and put his forehead on her shoulder and closed his eyes tightly. He was losing her again, he could feel it. He couldn't let that happen, she meant too much to him.
"Not tonight, but eventually. I can't let you go again, Chloe." Oliver sounded tortured. She closed her eyes and turned her head and kissed his cheek.
"Oliver, look at me." Chloe commanded and he slowly complied. His brown eyes were dull, like he'd resigned himself to some horrible fate. She hated to see him like this. He seemed so unlike himself that it was killing her. "I just…" she really didn't know what to say to him right now.
"Please, Chloe. I don't beg for anything, but I'm pleading with you now. Please stay with me," his eyes were imploring her to stay. "I'll even be a gentleman and sleep in the other bedroom." He said, trying to tease her into staying.
She shook her head and gave him a crooked smile. "I can't stand Bruce up. It's not something I do, Oliver," Chloe told him honestly.
"I understand," He pulled away and stood apart from her. His posture rigid.
"No, Oliver, you don't," Chloe put reached for the door again.
"I meant it. I'm not letting you go that easily, Chloe," Oliver told her in a steely voice. When she looked at him, she could see that his mind was set. She just made a face and left the room.
In the elevator, she took a deep breath and calmed her nerves. She had no idea what to think about the Oliver situation. It was so complicated and so unlikely that she was at something of a loss. But, the more she thought about Oliver, she knew this was something that was within his character. He was loyal and fought for people he loved. Why was every man she fell for so complicated?? She let out a long sigh and her thoughts moved to her impending dinner with Bruce. He was someone that she cared for greatly; if she was honest with herself, she was in love with him. But he had secrets and was unwilling to share them with her. That was a huge bump in any possible relationship.
a/n: I am so SORRY that it took me so long to update!!! I have been having some personal issues. And not to mention that I have sorta lost any idea as to who I think she should end up with. I must secretly say that I am leaning toward Bruce….any opinions???