Chapter Three; Goldfish?

Instead of a knife to her throat or bullet in her heart she felt a warm breath against her neck followed by a soothing voice at her ear.

"Thank god, thank god." The lips rested against her as they chanted over and over, sending pleasurable shivers as she recognised the green leather, blonde hair and teasing jolt to his pronunciation that was forever present.

"Oliver?" She tested her voice to find it wobbling drastically and that only scared her further.

"God Chloe. We saw the tower blow, he told us you were gone, that we would be forever find your charred remains across the city. Bart and Clark ran out, but they couldn't find you. Oh god." He pulled her closer still and she breathed in his smell. It was sweaty and had hints of cologne but she wasn't repulsed at all by the combination. It was okay, she was alright. Oliver was really here. She sank into his arms, her feet finally loosing all ability to hold her up. "Whoa. I got you. I got you." he repeated and latched his arms around her to lift her back to the sofa. He sat her down, one hand running through her blonde locks soothingly, the other on her waist. His eyes connected with hers; trying to smooth out the adrenaline shakes she was still in the grasp of. He fished out his phone to text the others only one word: 'Isis', yet only ever took the one hand from her to do so.

"You're bleeding" he stated as he dropped his phone to the table. He stroked his thumb over her shoulder, she barely felt it; it was so soft.

"I'm okay." she whispered back, not quite ready to lose his touch on her.

"Chloe!" Bart burst through the broken door and before Chloe could release yet another scream she was out of Ollie's grasp and into Bart's own hug. It didn't feel the same though, and her eyes stayed focussed on Ollie's own. Bart released her sooner than Oliver had and she found the other team members standing at the door. She shuffled back, repeating that she was fine. The guys all looked at her like she was crazy, but truth was, she was still terrified. Dinah seemed to pick that up and slowly came to Chloe's side and sat her back down on the couch.

"I'll stay with Chloe tonight." They all started to argue, but whatever look Dinah gave them silenced every syllable. "You can all tell her how much you love her tomorrow when she isn't scared half to death and looking like crap. Okay? Now go." She stood protectively in front of Chloe and wafted each of the boys out.

Dinah wrapped an arm around Chloe and guided her to the office where the first aid kit was.

"Com'on. Let's have a look." Dinah instructed, nodding at the bandage Chloe had slapped over her shoulder that was sporting a growing red patch.

"It's fine. It doesn't hurt." Chloe admitted and life finally returned back to her eyes.

"Yeah, well humour me." Dinah muttered and lifted the bandage off to reveal the cut. Truthfully, it wasn't that bad, it was probably the actual shock of being witness to the explosion that had her shaking. Chloe sat silent, lost in her own thoughts, as Dinah doctored her shoulder, cheek, grazed elbows and skin from falling to the ground and both cut feet. They had earned real winces, walking in heels would probably be out of the question for a while.

Finally, Chloe was allowed up and to the coffee machine, then back to the sofa. She felt more collected as well. More so to hold conversation about what she had seen on her end and to drink coffee while at it. Together they walked back to the main room where they had found Chloe. Chloe froze, her eyes on the door.

"Clark came back and fixed it. Don't worry. We're all safe now. New locks, and a big hero that will probably be swinging by hourly." Dinah explained. Chloe nodded.

"Thanks."

"We wouldn't have bust down the door if we hadn't seen the building blow." Dinah admitted and curled up next to Chloe, hugging the java.

"What actually did happen down there? I remember someone cursing, and then you said something and it cut off." Chloe asked. Dinah eyed her sceptically, but Chloe really did need to know, for piece of mind.

"Just remember you asked for me to tell you this. God it was disgusting. Turns out psycho voice guy was using the elevator shaft as a body dump. Don't know what he was using them for, but there were jars of organs and blood everywhere. Think horror movie gone bad. Ollie thinks the guy's breeding some cross breeds, trying to find out how to collect meteor powers and put them in other people. But they were long gone. Everything was trashed. Well everything except an old TV in the corner. It turned on like magic as we stepped down and this voice came across telling us a revelation would start tonight and we could do nothing about it. The revelation being the end of superheroes. Starting with… well, you." Dinah smiled sympathetically. "Then it just changes to show us watchtower blowing to the high heavens. God, we all thought you were dead. Bart and Clark were up and out before we could blink. Oliver wasn't behind by much. Honestly, with the way he was panicking, it was like he'd just watched the love of his life jump from a building." Dinah started laughing, but it died seeing Chloe's guilt face and hearing a vast lack of laughter. "Are you sleeping with Ollie?" she jumped to, making connections. Her eyes fluttered with hope and the glee of stumbling on something so great.

"No. No, of course not." Chloe blushed.

"Then what's with the face, and oh my god, are you blushing? You are so tapping that." Dinah grinned and finally Chloe cracked a laugh.

"No. Nothing's going on between me and Oliver."

"But he wants there to be something doesn't he?" Dinah guessed, watching the pieces slide together. Chloe nodded and cast her eyes down. "Okay. I'm having a serious problem here. First why haven't I heard about this before? And second, I need details woman. When, where, how?" Chloe smiled and returned to a memory she kept close to her heart.

Lights flooded the floor, instantly switching to a lower sultry mood. The music slowed to match the romantic setting. Chloe watched as the couples flocked, arms around each other as they picked up the beat of the slow music, swaying from side to side in their bubbles of love. She turned her back to them, favouring the bar where she sat nursing her second cocktail of the night. Jimmy had been gone a year to the day. Despite the hurt, she had forced herself out of her grump and dated twice in the past month. The guys were fantastic; they were so sweet and understanding. They wined and dined her, didn't push her for sex or for kisses. But every time she woke up happy, guilt made her sick. She shouldn't be happy; Jimmy was dead. She figured she just needed more time, to mentally prepare. Jimmy was gone; she had every right to move on and to be happy. But why did it feel so wrong to sit with another guy. Instead she shut herself down, never called her dates back and finally she had slipped back her silver band onto her ring finger.

Oliver had invited her to a charity ball as an opportunity to get out and meet some more people. But as she sat with her drink she gave them all the same answer.

"Sorry, I'm taken."

It had turned to a knee-jerk reaction and she would wave her left hand at the suitors. The bartender was sympathetic and helped her ward off the perverts that kept her talking if only for a look down her dress, or those who were still trying to get lucky with the 'married' woman.

Oliver had come over as the evening wound down for the couples.

"Hey, I thought you were taking steps today." he spoke sitting beside her. Chloe sighed.

"I wanted to. I really did. But every time, I just see Jimmy looking hurt and disappointed in me." Tears threatened to fall, but she held them back with her will.

"Hey, it's alright. These things take time. At least you're going out. Of course… the dance floor is in desperate need of your talent."

"Ollie, I'm not dancing." She thought she sounded firm in her response. Ollie did not.

"Com'on. You're all dressed up, and you look far hotter than any of the other girls here. It's simply wrong if you don't get up and dance with me."

"Ollie…"

"Com'on Chlo, think of my reputation. If I'm caught getting rejected by such an attractive female, they'll think I've lost my magic touch."

"I can't believe you just played that card." She laughed. He took her laugh as permission and took her hand, leading her to the floor, pulling her body to collide into his.

"If I was in any mood, I'd be throwing insults at you right now." she mused. His tall frame was drowning her in his scent, elating her senses.

"Little old me?" he mocked offense. "But you look so pretty with me." He brushed his hand down her back, sending tingles through her.

"Oliver Queen, you are neither little, nor old. And I'd much prefer to be brooding and looking pretty yet unavailable with Steve." Steve was the barman; he had a wife named Julie and two adorable kids named Kelly and Olivia. Twins aged 4.

Chloe had got bored and they had shared stories.

"It's never a good sign when you know the name of the man serving alcohol. Trust me, I've been there. Besides, you can look perfectly unavailable while dancing with me. I'll keep all those pesky guys off you." He winked and yet again she found another bubble of laughter escape her painted lips. He smirked and twirled her around. When she came back to his chest she found just how perfectly she fit there, like they were simply designed for each other. She wrapped her arms back around his neck, resting her head against his chest as they moved together.

"Chloe" he murmured after a few moments of silence. She hummed in response. "You don't have to be alone forever you know. It might feel like it now, but when you're ready. I'd really like the chance to show you real romance." Chloe froze up in his arms. They had always had a flirty relationship. He would always be touching her, smoothing her hair, and she would always cuddle up to him. But it was always innocent flirtation. He would joke about girls in front of her and he practically viewed her the same as he did the boys.

"Ollie. I can't." she simply said and stepped back from his hold.

"I'll wait. We can take small steps. We don't even have to do anything now. Whenever you're ready."

"I should go. It's late." she whispered and made to turn to the exit. Oliver took her arm gently.

"Woah, don't leave on my account. Please." Chloe dropped her arm from him and offered him a slow smile. "You can forget I said anything." She laughed once, and her smile hit her eyes finally.

"No. Ollie. We're good. I promise. I'm just tired, and my feet hurt from these heels." She wrapped her arms around him for a hug, breathing in his scent and committing it to memory. "I'll see you tomorrow?" He nodded and walked her to the door.

"Do you want a ride home?" he asked.

"I'll call a cab." she decided, remembering the drinks she had drunk. And feeling the quite buzz at the back of her head.

"You'll take a ride home." he corrected and pulled out his mobile. "Miss Sullivan needs a ride home." he spoke into his phone and gave Chloe's address. He snapped it shut and shoved it back into his pocket. "My limo's outside waiting for you."

"Thank you Oliver." She smiled. "For inviting me tonight as well."

"My pleasure."

"Well that does explain a lot of things, except, why the hell are you not with him right now? God, if that piece of ass told me he wanted to romance me, I'd be all over him." Chloe laughed. Dinah didn't usually get romanced… then again she didn't really let a man have the power to do that. She was very much top dog in the relationships she had.

"You do realise it's the same as dating a co-worker?" Chloe jested and leaned back on the couch, stretching out while minding where she put her aching feet. She was definitely feeling a load better. But Dinah had that skill; she could make a suicidal man step down from the rock face for a good laugh.

"Yeah, I'd shack up in the copy room and play footsie under the desk though. I wouldn't even mind getting fired over that fine piece of man." Dinah grinned, biting her lip, no doubt thinking of what she would do if she had a man in that position. "…so, I guess that's why you're not all over him, doing the vertical tango and getting sweaty…because of the co-worker thing."

Chloe shook her head.

"It would be an issue, but people like Oliver can't be tied down. He was made for telling woman he loved them and ditching them days later, it's not like I'm not attracted to him, any woman with eyes would fall for him, but to him I'd just be another accomplishment. Something he wants only because he can't have it. And when he leaves me… it would be beyond awkward."

Dinah nodded and slid her empty coffee cup onto the table, chucking a bag of popcorn to Chloe and fishing the blockbuster from the overnight bag Clark had fetched, to slide the DVD into the TV. Dinah promised it was a comedy, with no violence what so ever. She carried on the conversation as she moved around and refilled the coffee.

"I can imagine… what with you wanting to kill him, but your job being to protect him. It's a tough choice. If I had morals I'm sure I'd find it a hard predicament too." Dinah grinned and jumped back onto the sofa. She was back in street clothes like Chloe and they snuggled under a large blanket Chloe used for when she feel asleep at Isis. Chloe had vehemently said she didn't want sleep yet, and so it had turned into an all-nighter. Though the building was perfectly secure, Dinah figured Chloe would feel a hell of a lot more relaxed with her close by. Chloe welcomed it.

At 5am, neither had slept a wink; they had burnt through 2 DVD's and hours worth of idle chit-chat.

"So he told me he would call me. Like a guy does. But, I'd seen him the other night chatting up this other girl, clearly he didn't recognise me. Anyway, he got the number to Mr D's Chinese take-out. And if you technically can count him as a boyfriend, he was number 61. Not that I'm counting."

"61?" Chloe exclaimed as Dinah nodded.

"Not that I'm counting." she repeated, though of course she was. Her diary had a number next to every boyfriend she ever had. "And that's just up to him, there are others after. Like the other night, I went dinner and dancing with the guy named Nigel. Usually I don't go out with people if I find their name weird, but I figured I'd give Nigel a chance because he had this awesome tribal tattoo across his chest. And oh my, what a chest!" she licked her lips for effect, making Chloe laugh yet again. "Turns out, I was right to ditch the name freaks. Nigel had goldfish."

"You don't like goldfish?"

"Well, they freak me out with their eyes that follow you."

"Don't tell A.C. that" Chloe warned.

"Oh he knows. He didn't talk to me for around a week. It was bliss." she jibed. "Anyway, other than the eyes I have no problem with goldfish, or fish in general. It's just the eyes that get me. But Nigel… he had a glass wall in his bedroom of these tropical fish." Chloe raised her eyebrows. "Not the worse part." Dinah continued at her expression. "What was bad, was that he insisted on introducing me to each fish personally, and before he went to sleep, he said goodnight, in song, to each of them."

"In song?"

"In song." Dinah confirmed. "Nigel had over 100 fish. Do you know how it feels to hear the same fishy night night song sung over 100 times? I do! And I did not care for it. But I always have attracted the weird ones. I think I'm missing something that is meant to attract the good guys." she mused. Chloe found herself freely laughing, a huge grin plastered across her face.

"And he was the weirdest one you've dated then I guess?" Chloe asked.

"Nope." Dinah popped the 'p' almost proud of her bad luck. "I once dated this guy. Don't remember his name. But he had serious stalker issues. An entire draw was devoted to framed pictures of what I presumed were all his ex-girlfriends. Either than or the man had a million sisters. I swear most of the girls had no idea he'd even took the photo. I believe I did them, and the world, a favour when they suddenly went missing and his camera was scattered around his apartment in a thousand pieces… along with anything else that was breakable." Dinah smiled proudly. "How about you, any weird guys?"

"I can't really think of anyone who measures up to that calibre, but I did have a guy who talked to me like he was a robot, thinking it turned me on." Chloe flushed at the memory.

"Wow, you really have been spoilt. How come you get all the good guys?" she joked and stretched out cat-like.

Chloe finally slept that morning, knowing it was daylight and people were outside which would ward off any criminal behaviour. Oliver and Clark had checked in on her, Bart as well. But she had told them she was fine and brushed it off. She dismissed Dinah of night duty after the second girl's night and eventually found peace living in the Isis building. Nobody had heard any more from deep voice psycho guy so they figured he thought her dead and that settled Chloe a bit more than anything else they had told her. A couple more days and she was out and about, making a morning routine with her usual pep. She fired back up watchtower and ran it from Isis guiding missions again. She was back to her normal self. Well her normal self, secretly only sleeping a max of 4 hours a night. But enough to pass for healthy with her friends. She had coffee to thank for that.