Author Note: All comments and reviews are appreciated.
It was late at night and Chloe walked proudly back to her apartment with her head held high and a beaming smile on her face. She didn't care about the strange looks she received from strangers as she walked by - she had made the front page and life didn't get any better. She had been living in Star City for less than a month and she had already progressed further in her career than she ever did in Metropolis. She held a copy of that day's edition close to her chest, resisting the temptation to thrust it into the faces of random people and screaming "That's me! I wrote this!".
She was still smiling when she entered her apartment. She threw her bag down by the door and held the paper up to look at it again. Chloe still couldn't believe it, that her name was here in print and her headline in big, bold letters. For a moment she considered phoning Clark or Lois to rave about her success but she thought better of it. Maybe it was time for her to start living her life here as she had planned. What good was success if you had no one to share it with?
She threw the paper onto the table by the door but it never landed. Chloe could only watch as she saw the paper fly past her as an arrow embedded itself into the wall, the paper attached to it.
"The disk Miss Sullivan. I want it."
She tried to keep calm when faced with the very same dark archer from the security footage. "I don't have it." It was a partial truth. She had given the original to the police but she had kept a copy hidden just in case.
The archer had a crossbow pointed in her direction. "For your sake that had better be a lie."
Without pausing Chloe turned and ran back out her open front door. She yelped in pain as an arrow caught her on the arm but she didn't pause, she headed straight for the stairwell and began her descent, grateful she was only on the third floor. She could hear her attacker chasing her and she kept as close to the walls as possible, not wanting to give him an easy target.
She burst through the fire doors leading to the adjacent alley. She knew she had to get out of there quick and she cursed that she had sold her car. It would have come in handy about now. She began to run towards the street until she felt a strong arm grab her from behind. Chloe screamed and tried to struggle free until she heard the unmistakable sound of an arrow being fired and felt her feet leave the floor.
'I'm dead. This is how it's going to end.' She thought to herself.
"Keep still." A gruff distorted voice spoke into her ear.
Within seconds she found herself landing on the roof of an adjacent building. She turned around to face her assailant, ready to go down swinging like a true Sullivan with her fists at the ready. "Oh thank god!" She sighed in relief to see Oliver in full Green Arrow costume "Talk about perfect timing." Chloe rested her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath.
Oliver walked to the edge of the roof and looked down. There was no sign of Chloe's attacker but that didn't mean he wasn't here somewhere.
"It's not safe here. " He walked over to Chloe and grabbed her arm causing her to hiss with pain. He looked down at her arm, noticing the ripped and bloodied jacket for the first time. "Do we need to get you to a hospital?"
"No, I'm fine." Chloe assured him. Despite the hood she could still see the frown.
"Come on." He led her to the other side of the roof.
"We're not taking the stairs are we." She looked over the edge, feeling a bit queasy at the height.
"Where would be the fun in that!" He grabbed his compound bow and fired a shot to the street below, securing a line. Converting the bow he attached it to the line. "So are you coming?"
"Like I have a choice." She muttered as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He laughed as she closed her eyes tightly.
"Hold on."
"Really not a problem."
As quiet evenings at home went, Chloe had not expected to be saved from an assassin by the Green Arrow before being whisked back to his place on a motorcycle.
"I thought you had a mansion here in Star City?" Chloe asked as she was led into the living area.
Oliver took off his hood and glasses. "I do, but this place is more convenient for patrolling." He unzipped the leather vest and walked into his bedroom. "And speaking of homes, why are you in Star City, Chloe?" He called through.
"I live here now." She sat on the couch and removed her jacket and examined her arm. The bleeding had slowed but the wound was still open.
Oliver emerged from his room wearing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt with a first aid case in his hand. "I gathered that. But why? I thought you were happy in Metropolis."
"I needed a fresh start. The Star City Gazette offered me a position and I took it." It was bending the truth but she doubted that Oliver would dig too deeply into it.
Oliver sat next to her on the couch and opened up the first aid kit. He soaked some gauze with antiseptic and started to tend her wound. "You could have called to say you were in town. I would have shown you around the city."
"No offence Oliver, but I moved here to distance myself from heroes. I wanted my life to take priority for a change and keep a low profile. Somehow I think looking up the Green Arrow the moment I stepped into town would contradict that."He let out a small laugh. "And how's that working out for you?"
"Absolutely fine." She said seriously. Apart from tonight's brush with death she had been truly happy.
"Your mouth says one thing but your article says another. Have you any idea who that guy is?" Using paper stitches, Oliver closed Chloe's wound. "For someone trying to keep a low profile in the crime fighting world you sure know how to pick your targets."
"I take it you know all about this guy then?"
Oliver taped a bandage over the cut. "Why didn't you come to me Chloe? You must have known I would be onto this guy."
"I told you that I wanted to do this on my own, for me." She didn't want to meet his eyes. Oliver had always been too sharp and she didn't want him breaking down walls she was trying to construct.
"You know, I'm sure there is more to all this Sidekick, but I'm going to drop it. I will find out though, we will finish this conversation." He promised as he zipped up the kit.
Chloe decided to ignore the thinly veiled threat, once she stopped shaking from the dissipating adrenaline she would be on form again. Not even Oliver Queen would be able to face an on form Chloe Sullivan, Queen of Snark. "So you want to tell me what you know about this guy?"
"Enough to know that you're getting in over your head. I've been tracking this guy for the past year. He goes by a few names, but the one you'll probably find are Arthur King. He's been known in the archery circuit for years as 'Merlyn the Magician'." He walked over to his bar and retrieved a couple of water bottles. Returning to the couch he handed one to Chloe.
"I saw this guy as a kid and skilled does not begin to cover what this guy could do."
"That sounds a lot like admiration." She sipped her drink. "What aren't you telling me?"
"About six months after I became Green Arrow he found me. He challenged me in public and according to some my ego wouldn't let me refuse the competition." He smirked at that before looking at her with a seriousness she had rarely seen on his face. "He beat me."
"This guy is better than you?" Now that was scary. "Just how much trouble am I in?"
"I don't think you should go back to your apartment. You're welcome to stay here -"
"I'm not running away from this Oliver. I just need to upgrade my security at home." He opened his mouth to argue "I'm serious. Now I take it you're after this guy?"
"I've been trying to track him down since the first murder. I knew your article would bring him out."
"So use me as bait. I'm not going to slink away at the first sign of trouble, this is my life."
There would be no arguing with her. He had seen that look on the faces of both the Sullivan-Lane women, and once their minds were made up there would be no changing of them. "It's unlikely he will make a move for you during the day but that doesn't mean you'll be safe."
"I'll be at work, he would have to be crazy to attack me at the Gazette. A room full of journalists? Would you chance it?"
"Okay, probably not. But I want you to come straight home after work. I'll have a car pick you up."
"I'm not looking for a protector Oliver. I'm sure I will be perfectly fine catching a cab home at night."
"At least let me send someone to your apartment to upgrade your home security tomorrow."
"Oliver... "
"No. No arguments. If you won't let me protect you then this is my compromise."
"Fine. But I will find a way to pay you back." She got to her feet and placed her bottle on his coffee table.
"You can't go back home tonight Chloe. I guarantee he's waiting for you to return."
"I can stay at a hotel."
"Let's put it this way, if you spend the night at a hotel I am going to have to wait and watch outside all night. I have an important meeting in the morning, and if I'm too tired and lose the deal it would be your fault. Millions of dollars lost and hundreds of jobs lost. All because of you wouldn't stay the night here where I could watch out for you without having to patrol."
Chloe folded her arms and quirked her eyebrow. "Wow. That was some guilt trip."
"Did it work?" He looked up at her hopefully, smirking.
"Depends if you were telling the truth about stalking me at the hotel."
"I wasn't kidding. If I were Merlyn I would make my play for you tonight while you were still unprepared."
Chloe felt her stomach turn upside down. Her pride and determination to be independent was going to get her killed if she wasn't careful. She had to remind herself that this guy had at one point proven himself better than Oliver. It would be sensible to think that if he came at her here at least Oliver would have a home advantage, at a hotel there was a chance he might not be quick enough. Staying the night wouldn't go against her plans to lead a normal life, it would just be for one night.
"Just tonight." She chewed her lip thoughtfully "And I don't want any of this getting back to Lois or Clark."
Oliver relaxed back onto his couch "It's just an overnight stop Chloe, it's not like you're moving in."
"No, I'm talking about Merlyn."
"No problem." Oliver was confident when it came to trusting his instincts, so when Chloe had asked for things to be kept under wraps he could feel her body language change. He knew that this was about more than preventing Clark and Lois from demanding she return home or swooping in to save the day. He considered calling Lois in the morning, something wasn't right here.
Oliver got up and went to his bedroom. He would go back to her apartment tonight while she was sleeping to look for more clues about Merlyn and pick up her clothes while he was there. He found an old t-shirt and brought it out to her, not even wanting to suggest grabbing some things from her apartment to her. Chloe would only insist on accompanying him.
"Thanks." She said taking the shirt.
"Come on, I'll show you the guest room." She followed him to a small room decorated in greens and golds. "There's a bathroom just around the corner. If you need anything just give me a yell."
He left her standing in the room, allowing her to make herself comfortable. She sat down on the edge of the bed and put the shirt next to her. She had tried to move her life away from heroes and now here she was about to change into Oliver Queen's t-shirt and sleep in his bed because a nemesis of his was targeting her. Oh yeah. This was normal alright.