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AN: Enjoy!
Chapter 5
Chloe was surely having an out of body experience. It was a feeling of absolute and complete disconnection from her mind and body. It was as if a gaping rift was torn between her conscious mind and her physical self. Whatever vague memories she had of the car wreck and the flashes she had of the ambulance ride and faces peering at her had nothing on what she was experiencing now. She could comprehend this, even if she couldn't reconcile what was happening. Chloe watched, as if she were standing in the doorway to her hospital room, her body attempt to come to grips with the Oliver she confronted her. This was an Oliver who was Green Arrow and goateed. This was something she could never have imagined on her own.
From outside her body, Chloe say herself calm a little and Oliver take her into his arms. She saw the momentary hesitation and fleeting pity. Chloe saw how quickly he killed his pity and remember that she didn't need it, but that she did need his comfort. The Green Arrow silhouette smoothly flowed and settled around Chloe as well. It was then that awareness of herself, her complete self, snapped into focus. It felt like she was being enveloped by two presences, but it was not uncomfortable, physically, even if it was a bit unnerving. There was also a strong sense of déjà vu. It had only been a few days before when she and Clark had come together and then so disastrously ended. "Will this end the same?"
Chloe fervently hoped that she and Oliver could end in a better place than she and Clark. She genuinely loved and cared for Clark, but a break from him could be a good thing. But from Oliver? He was a steadying influence. Oliver had gone through a lot in his life and he tried hard to be a better person. To be a hero. His morality didn't come easy. In literal terms, he did break the law on occasion to right some perceived wrong, and she knew that he believed in that. Chloe also knew that he was afraid that he would go too far one day. She also knew that he did not do well with defeat. It was a problem for him and it was the one thing she couldn't really tell about him: could he rebound on his own when that day inevitably came?
The silence between them that had been edging towards uncomfortable was broken by the rough, but patient voice of the Green Arrow silhouette. He smiled and that was when Chloe knew that this was Oliver. There was no doubt. That grin was still sly and mischievous. It was all him.
"You will never know, Chloe, if I can if you never let me."
Oliver hadn't really looked alarm, but something must have shown on her face because now he was concerned. He framed her face in his hands.
"Chloe? Are you ok?"
"Yes, Chloe. Are you ok?"
The same cadence. The words said exactly the same, but she heard the sarcasm underlying Green Arrows words. Not kind, but not exactly cruel. Oliver searched her eyes. He knew there was something wrong. Chloe saw the moment that he knew she wouldn't tell him. She also saw that he wouldn't ask her about it. Yet. He wouldn't ask her yet, but she knew that as soon as he went to his condo, he'd pore over every bit of information she had given him prior to the accident.
"You can't let him do that, Chloe. He will use it to hide from something else. He can't hide this time. You can't let me do this, Chloe."
Chloe drew back from Oliver's hands and closed her eyes. It was hisvoice. Oliver's voice.
Oliver leaned back in his chair, as the Green Arrow stalked around the bed to stand at the window. Oliver exhaled and then leaned forward in his chair, but Chloe's eyes were drawn to the window. To the bulkier and more mature Green Arrow standing so close to her. Green Arrow held up his hand to the light. He was slightly transparent. The light didn't bend around him.
Feeling Oliver's hand on her thigh, Chloe turned to him. He was more than concerned for her. Oliver was no fool and he knew something was seriously wrong. Moving from the chair to the side of her bed, he sat and faced her. Oliver's voice was gentle, as if he spoke to an animal that could startle at any moment, which Chloe realized she was.
Oliver's voice betrayed his desperation. "Something isn't right here. I can feel it. Something's happened and it's changed you."
Chloe looked down and away from him, but he caught her chin in his hand and forced her eyes to his again. He continued, "I understand if you can't tell me. This takes time, but Chloe I am here for you. I'm not leaving you. I promise."
"You know, Chloe, you deserve to be selfish and to have so much more. For instance, you deserve that promise I just made. It is, in fact, a promise I'll keep, Chloe. But you can't let me keep it."
The Green Arrow's fingers ghosted over her face. Chloe felt the displacement of the air. It raised goose bumps on her flesh and made her hair stand on end. "Push me away, Chloe. Let me fail this time. Or I will never know until it's too late."
Chloe put her hand over Oliver's, which remained on her face. The desire to never let go overwhelmed her, but something inside of her was telling her that the apparition of Green Arrow was right. It felt like Truth. She gripped his hand like a lifeline, and then pushed him away.
She sighed and smiled slightly. "I know you're here for me," she paused and looked at the Green Arrow, "It's been a weird few days and I kinda just want to be normal. What's happening with you?"
Oliver could accept that. "I really haven't been doing anything except dealing with Queen Industries. The markets haven't been favorable to us recently," he waivered slightly, "I've been trying to retrace your steps the night of your accident."
The Green Arrow snorted on the other side of her. "A bit passive-aggressive of him to mention that. That's something he could've not mentioned. It's a way to get a response."
It hadn't escaped Chloe's notice, but she had already made her decision. She had tossed in her lot with an apparition, something that could be an indication of her incipient mental illness, but it felt right.
"It's a bad decision now, Chloe. Don't think otherwise. But it will become good later."
"Oliver, I—"
"Don't remember anything," he finished for her. "Clark told me. And he also said you haven't spoken to him since. Chloe, you are able to heal. You came back from the dead once and this, this, is stalling you! A car accident. Doesn't that seem off to you? Maybe we should look into this further."
"You should keep ignoring Clark, Chloe. Of course, that's personal opinion. Just kidding. He'll grow out of it, eventually. You'd be surprised. I was and then I wasn't."
Chloe was becoming annoyed and she really wanted to be alone. "I actually don't want to talk about Clark or being in the hospital or anything related to what is happening to me now. I'm a little tired. Can we talk later?"
Before Oliver could respond, her nurse walked through the door. She was preternaturally cheery, but it did serve to break the slowly developing tension in the room. "It's time for your check-up."
Oliver looked vaguely annoyed and the Green Arrow silhouette smirked.
"Saved by the bell, Chloe. You will always be a part of our lives, but you can't be who you are for me this time and for that, I am truly sorry."
Oliver kissed her softly before he left. "I will never leave you, Chloe."
"He is speaking the truth as he understands it, Chloe. As I understood it then. He will never leave you, not completely, but he will withdraw. You can bring me back to you if you want, but not before you let him fail."
It was a struggle for Chloe to force the words past her lips, but she did because she loved him. "I know, Ollie. I'll call you later."
Gabe waited ten minutes after Oliver arrived before he took the opportunity to leave the hospital and take care of a few business dealings. It was a little difficult getting a bit of dirt on Queen Industries, but Oliver couldn't be everywhere all of the time. Of course, Gabe's endeavors were aided by breaking into the Watchtower. Chloe's touches were all over it, and it nearly proved impossible for him to gain access. He was further aided by what he deduced were Lex Luthor's meddling, which was fortunate since Luthorcorp was also a target.
Gabe couldn't do everything he wanted because Chloe had installed countermeasures and neither Oliver Queen nor Lex Luthor were slouches in that department either. They were also fully capable of responding to new situations. Only time would tell if he was successful in his bid to guide them into conflict with each other because just being that spark between them wasn't enough. One of them had to destroy the other and then he could become more involved.
"Now for you, Clark Kent."
Kent's weakness was his mother and Lana Lang. Martha and Jonathan were generally squeaky clean but between Chloe's personal database and the Watchtower and Martha's activities as the Red Queen, it was not going to be hard to bring down Senator Martha Kent. Martha Kent may have thought that her activities justified what she was doing, but Gabe didn't need to even twist the facts to prove malfeasance. It was disappointing. Until this moment, he didn't even realize how much it would hurt to realize that Martha Kent wasn't just like everyone else, she was worse than many of them. It was no wonder Clark was the man he was: short-sighted and callous. Gabe supposed that Clark really wasn't a bad person, but he wasn't growing. Clark just didn't learn.
It wasn't that the Kents weren't good parents or guardians, but Clark was a super-powered alien and being good enough wasn't enough. It was hard to truly be what a child needed and it was hard to be what an alien needed, but they took the challenge and forged an entitled prick. Actually, Jonathan had done a good job, but he died and whatever lessons Clark may have learned was forgotten and his mother's actions didn't inspire confidence that it was all him being a fool.
"Let's see how much mud I can track all over the Kent name. Ya know, Clark, I wonder if you'll do the right thing. Will you report on your mother? Or will you simply offer more excuses? Let's see how much you truly value your morality. Me? I bet you prove how unworthy you really are."
Gabe glanced at the time and he realized that he probably should get back to the hospital. Oliver had spent enough time with his daughter. He stopped what he was doing and headed for the hospital.
He arrived just in time to hear his daughter ask Oliver to leave. "My timing is perfection."
Oliver Queen approached Gabe quickly. There was an aura of resolve about him.
"Mr. Sullivan, do you think we could talk?"
He smiled widely, "Yes, of course, Oliver. Let's go to the lounge."
This would be a perfect way to take a measure of Oliver's mindset.
"What's on your mind, Oliver?"
Oliver didn't really know how to start this conversation. "How is Chloe doing? She seemed a bit…off kilter."
Gabe looked away and his mouth twisted. "Son of a bitch"
He stepped closer to Oliver. "What is it that you think should be happening? She was in a coma."
"I know, but I just—"
"Just what, Oliver? Unbelievable. Chloe needs support. If you can't be that, then don't come around."
Gabe pushed passed Oliver towards Chloe's room.
As soon as Chloe was sure that Oliver was gone, she turned on her television. Chloe put her head in her hands. Throughout their entire conversation, Oliver hadn't really given her an indication that what was going on was bad. It seemed mundane. But beneath the current of general misfortune that plagued Queen Industries and others, she could see a pattern. What she saw was Brainiac's virus being used in a different, more destructive, way. It was a time bomb that counted down to something worse than Dark Thursday.
Chloe whispered softly, "How?"
Chloe had to stop the situation, but she couldn't help Oliver or Clark directly. They had to feel the consequences of their actions, and she couldn't even identify why she genuinely thought that or why she even trusted in apparitions to guide her. The thought was a bell that rang with clarity and purity. She had to follow it.
"There is something more here. I just need to find out what it is."