Yey I'm still alive. As a thank you for not harming me I decided I'd post the next chapter. I know; I'm a darling.

Anyway…Chloe was crashing outside the evil motel of doom and Ollie was speeding down the motorway his heart pounding in his ears desperately hoping his little Chloe was still alive.

Chapter Twenty Two; Providing

The first thing she registered was the smell of blood and cologne mixed together. Next was the panic raw in the masculine tone, breaking through her dark for a few vital seconds of a brilliant shiny light.

"Chloe?" She opened her eyes to meet Oliver's. They quivered in fear, settling only at her response before stirring back the waters.

"Oliver." The word crept from her throat, testing her strength. It was far from anything resembling sturdy, instead it spiralled up his worry, hers escalating in time.

"It's alright. I got you." His words did little to soothe as her mind was overcome, taken over by the fear as it rammed into her and she broke her grasp on reality, letting the tears pull her under. Vaguely she was aware of Oliver's arms lifting her and the blocking of sound as she was placed in the car. But after that everything became lost.

Like drowning in a sea of unconsciousness she only became aware of things for a few brief moments of floating then was pulled back under with the tide again. But every time she came to, she saw Ollie. He hadn't left her, not once.

Not in the car, nor lift, nor apartment. Every single time she took another breath of oxygen he was there, lulling her, talking to her, mostly just holding her. Letting her know she wasn't alone.

Finally the images formed a solid scene.

She sat up, finding herself curled in Ollie's bed, wrapped in the duvet with a headache ready to kill her. She rubbed her temples scanning the room to make sure it wasn't just another sick shadow puppet play from her captor. But everything felt real enough, the bedding scuffed along her jeans as she uncurled, the air smelled of clean and fresh (non-cheap motel) scents, every detail of the bedroom was accurate. But was this just another trick of the mind, fuelling the illusions the more she bought into it?

Then she saw the one thing that changed her mind entirely. Ollie was sat across from her, sleeping in the arm chair. Shadow man wouldn't possibly depict Ollie as peaceful as he looked then.

She tested her footing, padding silently across the lush carpet and draping the comforter over him. It made him seem more organised, more at home and more importantly, he seemed calmed from tough dreams. She smiled back at her work, before taking the next hit of aches her head associated with happiness.

Next she wanted to get rid of the sticky layer of sweat invading her senses though. It took priority over stopping the giant basketball teams crashing in her skull with their pneumatic drills for feet. Besides, she knew from experience that Brainiac headaches were somehow evilly immune to anything man kind could create in the drug world. It would go on its own… after it finished destroying her sanity. At least it was dark, she thought, that was merciful.

She checked the alarm clock, it was 2:24 am. It explained the lack of light and Ollie's peaceful rest. Silently she gathered bathroom supplies and a change of clothes, heading into the bathroom. She turned on the dim light above the mirror, and left the overhead off. She didn't need her cornea's melting, she had enough trouble seeing straight as it was. A warm dull light glowed behind her as she turned on the bath taps. Energy for a shower just wasn't there right now. Laying in a tub of warm water was her more pleasing option.

Chloe stood affront the mirror, fully undressed, checking her body for any sign of abuse. Thankfully Brainiac had given her more than the killer headache and she was as perfect as usual. Ollie didn't need to know she was beaten, it wouldn't help anything. Blood may have been on her clothing, but she doubted he'd have it tested to find it being hers so she could easily lie. But things had changed toward him as well. She could feel her heart beating for him, but she swore then and there she would never let it out of her cage. If that meant she wouldn't be sleeping with Ollie again then so be it.

Yes, she knew what she saw was not Ollie and that would never happen. She knew Ollie cared too much for that to ever reach such severity…

But that's what your fears are; irrationality. And they all stem from something. She may want to fall asleep for the rest of eternity in his arms, she may want him all to herself, she may want to kiss every inch of him every day and confess her blinding love. But she wouldn't. Oliver would lose interest. Maybe not in the next week. Maybe not the next month or year. But as sure as the spring became summer, something else would capture his interest. Something would come in the way. Maybe it would be morals, maybe his work, maybe his women, maybe an argument. Who knew? But she had seen it corrupt every relationship she had known. So desperately she didn't want that to happen to her.

She had to stop these feelings for Ollie in their tracks before they became uncontrollable and devoured her whole only to leave her with nothing when they fell apart. And they would, it had happened previously to her numerous times, why would her bad luck suddenly stop now?

She sunk into the water, the bubble bath adding a fragrance to the room and a fluffy cover over her body as she sank further down, just her knees and head poking above water level. It was just as well.

The bathroom door opened and she cursed herself for forgetting to lock it. Ollie squinted seeing her lost in the bubbles. His fingers flicked on the light and she squealed, turning her eyes away from the blinding brightness. The drummers started a faster rhythm against her skull.

"Sorry." He flipped the lights back off. "How are you?" He folded himself on the floor next to the bath.

"Apart from the men stomping around in my head? Fine. You?" He had been thrown into a wall in all fairness, and unlike herself he had no bugs to make him all better.

"Nothing a rest won't fix." he answered dismissively. "What did they do to you?" Why start with the easy questions? Oliver knew what he wanted to hear and he had no intention of tiptoeing around it when he could come straight out.

"The full run down? I got a drugged coffee from electro twin. They drove me to a motel. They asked me some questions. I met boss guy. Not Eddie. It's Charles. He left and Sparky one and two came back. Brainiac jolted them and I ran." Her tone kept level, completely void of the emotion she wanted to show. That would be weakness, to tell him everything she felt and how abused her heart was in its newly mangled state.

"Are they dead?" She shrugged in response. She hoped they were, but really, who knew when it came to the medical miracles these people had already created. "You're lucky you're not dead Chloe."

"I know. Believe me I know." Hell, even the thumping lobes of her head down to the chipped polish of her toes knew.

"Then you agree you need to let Emil neutralise Brainiac."

"Woah. No!" She may be feeling battered, but crazy was far from her list of symptoms.

"Chloe it almost killed you. I found you unconscious in a parking lot. Anyone could have found you. If they came back you'd still be with them."

"If I didn't have Brainiac I'd still be with them. Brainiac saved my life."

"Brainiac almost took your life!" he argued, his face tensing from the heated discussion.

"I'm not having this argument. Brainiac stays." Her head didn't have the brain cells to form an intelligent argument, and was most definitely voting 'no' when it came to raised voices.

"Chloe-"

"Please. Don't fight me on this. I know it's dangerous, but I'm using it less and less."

"So that makes it alright?"

"Yes. It does. Brainiac has saved a lot of lives. Including my own more times than I can count." She breathed deep, trying to dull the pain. "Please. Drop it." He huffed, but agreed. Folding his arms across the lip of the tub, his chin resting on them, his eyes shamelessly gazed into the water.

"What's this about boss creep not being Eddie?"

"Ollie. I'm not answering any more questions while you're staring at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like…that" She wafted her hand in his direction, then flicked water from her fingertips in his direction.

"Fine. I'll close my eyes." He closed his eyes, then cheekily opened one to scan her up and down.

"Real trustworthy Ollie." she replied heavy with sarcasm. "Lie on the floor if you want to stay, otherwise close the door on your way out." He sighed and made a big show of getting comfy, but finally when she peaked over the edge of the tub he was flat on his back, knees bent staring back up at her.

"Now tell me about our perp."

"He's the great grandfather. He's sexist and firmly believes women should speak only when spoken to and bow down to his feet. But for some unknown reason his grandson, Frank, who was in the medicine field - Family business I'm guessing from the line of chemical experts – But Frank decided he was going to start experimenting with meteor rocks after the shower. He didn't want dear granddaddy to die and trialled medicines on him. They both ended up dead, but it seemed the great grandson found the research and finished off something and he came back to life. As thanks, Charles hacks his great grandson to pieces and claims his identity after filing a copy of his death certificate. His new goal now, is to throw the city into ruin and claim it for himself."

"Optimistic little bugger isn't he. You get anything more?" He was almost scared to ask. If she did know more, that meant that she would have been in longer contact, seen more evil pouring from a heart than ever before, and that was something no amount of scrubbing could get clean again.

"He wasn't big on conversations. I know he's a meteor freak as well. Some shadow cloak over him which shows you your fears when it touches you. I'm guessing he can change shape under the shadows as well since he matched Eddie's licence photo."

"He touched you with the shadows?" Ollie's voice came back with concern and worry. How else would she know what they do if she hadn't seen them herself? What would Chloe's fears even be? She was one of the bravest women he knew.

"Only a second or two." she lied noting how unconvincing she sounded. "Not long enough to see things, just feel some weird scary vibe." She fed through the lie, letting it marinate in his thoughts. Ollie didn't seem to catch any foul flavours and she called it success.

"Alright." he huffed and stood up. Chloe watched as his hands stripped off his t-shirt.

"Woah, what you doing?" She hugged the side of the bath, using it to shield her body from his view.

"As you've pointed out before; Bath's are a naked thing." he replied back with smarts.

"Ollie… I…I just … I don't think we should." She stumbled across the words, visibly seeing him halt the motion and he dropped to his knees, eye level to her, a breaths width away. His coffee eyes drank her in.

"You saw something and it scared you." he rightly guessed. The way he could read her was amazing. Scary and at times really annoying, but amazing none the less.

"Ollie… I… It was nothing, I just don't think it's a good idea."

"You weren't thinking that a few nights ago." He reached out to touch her. To re-establish the connection they had. She moved back in refusal, but the guilt of the gesture hit her eyes. She still wanted his touch, but feared it almost. It looked like she wasn't entirely truthful about the extent of her stay in the shadow land. "What changed Chloe?" He knew something had happened, that she had seen something, but he didn't know what would turn her from his touch. Was it him she had feared? Had he done something to her?

"Nothing. I'm fine. I just don't think we should anymore."

"Why?" He tilted his head in curiosity.

"It means something. And I don't want those feelings." It wasn't totally a lie, love only led to hurt, she didn't want that.

"It doesn't have to mean something if you don't want." If only it was that easy.

"But it means something to you. And you can't deny that." She wouldn't deny that her fears had played protagonist in her thinking. Yes, she knew it wasn't Ollie that had said those things, but when it's your heart on the line it's all about risk. Others would push on, battle through wind, rain and lightening to see where this possible love could take them. Chloe had changed though; she wanted to forget and to spare herself the storm… even if he was the one.

"I agree. Having you close has changed things. Being able to touch you means a hell of a lot to me. And now I'm seeing that maybe I pushed those feelings onto you too soon." Internally she was yelling at him that he hadn't; that they had bloomed by themselves with a ferocious passion that burned all emotions and sense. "That was wrong of me, and for that I apologise."

"Ollie, it's not your fault. I just can't deal with all the emotions."

"Then don't. This doesn't have to be emotion central with feelings and declarations of love at every turning. Sex can sometimes just be sex, sans meaning."

"Ollie I can't ask you to forget how you feel so I can get happy whenever I get an itch. It's not fair."

"Trust me Chloe. I won't mind." He had been through worse, but to go back to not touching, to not seeing her moaning in passion beneath him every night, to not feel her warmth. That would be torture. He had held back his words before, he could do it again. Sure, it would hurt to not be able to tell her that she captured his heart with every smile. It would sting that he couldn't whisper to her how amazing she was, how beautiful and strong she was. It would forever pain him to keep the three desperate words trapped inside his mouth when she cuddled close to him or teased him, or even when she complained at him. But it was what she wanted, and he would re-arrange the cosmos to make her happy.

The rest of his clothing hit the floor and she blinked, coming back to the real world.

"Ollie, I'm not really up for it now." The line dancers had switched to wearing steel boots and were destroying all soft tissue in her brain.

"Oh, I know. I promise, nothing sexual. Just saving the environment again Sidekick. Close your eyes and think of the polar bears you are helping."

"I remember what happened last time we tried to save the polar bears." she muttered but made room for him to slide in behind her. He sat back and wound his cold arms around her waist, pulling so her back rested against his front. "I don't reckon much to the 'sidekick' either Arrow." she hissed, settling back and 'accidentally' elbowing him in the ribs.

"Alright. What nickname would you propose?"

"I need a nickname now? Why can't you just call me Chloe like a normal person?"

"We both know I am far from merely 'normal'. And besides, you call me 'Ollie', its only fair you have a nickname."

"So you called me sidekick?" She rolled her eyes, secretly surprised his hands hadn't travelled from around her middle yet. "It's like you want me to pick on you for the rest of eternity."

"Alright. Okay. Sidekick was a bad choice."

"You think? Really?"

"Shhh. I'm thinking." He laughed and wound his arms tighter around her waist, letting her rest between his legs, laid against him. She couldn't say she'd ever been comfier.

"Don't think too hard; you'll strain something."

"Oi!" He playfully splashed her. "I'm not the one with headache right now." he teased, sticking his tongue out when she turned back to scowl. "Speaking of…" He smoothed a callous thumb down her blushed cheek. "We're not finished with this Brainiac talk. I-"

"Yes we are Ollie. Brainiac stays."

"Chloe-"

"I don't want to hear it Oliver." She gripped the sides, pushing to stand and get out. Ollie reached out to stop her, taking her hips in his hands as she stood and spun her around. "Ollie please."

"No more Brainiac talk. Just promise me you won't let this get out of hand. I couldn't live if something happened to you and I could have stopped it." A smile crept across her lips but was quickly dropped and she sank back to the water, straddling his legs, letting the contact re-establish between them. She was proud and surprised that he kept his eyes on hers, rather than her body. If she was honest she was also a little disappointed; it wasn't the lure of her body he desired most. It was just her, through and through. Every tiny inch, every molecule hiding in her skin was loved by him. Her eyes wanted to water that she couldn't reciprocate. She wanted to… but she couldn't loose that much control. The shattered splinters of her heart refused to go through that all again. "You're beautiful." he whispered, his hands gliding down her glistening skin, his fingers locking with hers.

"I'm tired." she corrected. "And in desperate need of a new head."

"Come on." His hands went to her shoulders, turning her.

"What you doing?"

"Showing you my magic fingers." Without no more explanation she turned back and allowed his fingers free roam over her head. Long luxurious circles spun into her scalp, sucking her into peace. "I was worried." he suddenly whispered after a few moments of silence, his ridged amazing fingers still rotating around her temples with a skill she admired deeply. "I shouldn't have let you go alone."

"Ollie, it was only for coffee. I don't need 24/7 surveillance." Though she doubted she'd get anything less after this event.

"As soon as I saw you speaking with him I knew something was wrong. I just knew, I could feel it in my gut and I just shook it off like it meant nothing."

"This is not your fault. It would have happened one way or another. If you had been there you could have got seriously hurt." He ignored her words, carrying on, his fingers sliding back in loving movements intended to caress and calm her stomping rhinos dancing to the rap music.

"I could have been there. I should have been there. I just sat there and watched." His head dropped to her shoulder, his fingers falling from her locks and she caught them in her hands, holding him against her as she turned back the tables. Oliver needed a little bit of caring for too, a little bit of healing for the guilt, torment and emotional pain. Her thumb glided across his hand as she spoke.

"You did nothing wrong. There was no way you could have stopped this. I'm perfectly fine with zero scars and a man with magical fingers to chase away my head demons" The humour nor hint, wasn't lost in his state and he laid his lips quick to her cheek. He rose up to put both hands back on the control she firmly passed him and fingers to her golden mane. His woman needed her rock in the ever violent storm of life. What Chloe wanted, he would provide. Always.

See, I'm not a smut whore. I can do romance with a side of loving. I'm an emotional person… it just so happens I prefer smut and that my heart resembles solid stone. Doesn't mean I can't make you all very soppy and lovey-dovey though, does it?

Yes, clearly this was a pretty filler chapter to keep the flow going smooth, rather than shooting you back up into deep action so soon. It was not intended to thrill your socks off, maybe make you a little soft around the edges but nothing drastic.

But…next chapter…. Well… you'll have to wait and see. All I'll say is that Chloe looses a reason as to why she shouldn't love Ollie. It's all very big and exciting. Little bit of comedy and smut too. Why? Because I want there to be. *Evil laugh*

Review me with your take on me being emotional, can I pull it off? By the way, look at the reviews, I got over 100. I'm so thrilled. Yes, I know it's not that brilliant, but for me it is and I want to send out a brilliantly massive hug to anyone who has reviewed on my story so far. You have no idea how thankful I am for your support. So thank you, from the bottom of my soul; thank you.

Xx