Chloe shot herself up with a magic potion in hopes to get better. But even some of the best made plans backfire...

Chapter Thirty Eight; Secrets

One hour.

Then another.

Her eyes sat on the clock, waiting for the juice to kick in and her headache to finally die off. Neither happened. More minutes past and Oliver started stirring. Her hands messed in her hair to give her that just woken look and she started the coffee. He was sat up when she came back and she passed him his mug.

"How man-"

"4 hours sleep on and of. A few bad dreams. Nothing I couldn't handle. 3 cups of coffee so far and I had a cookie for my breakfast but I'll be making more in a few minutes." she answered before he could speak. Why wasn't this juice kicking in? "Any requests?" she concluded, meeting his eyes.

"You stop reading my mind?" he jested and nudged himself forward closer to her. No, she hadn't read his mind. Not for trying though. If she had developed that power than Oliver had a strict rule against any type of thinking. Maybe it would take a while to kick in she thought. But she didn't half wish this headache would go away. She supposed the coffee didn't help any, but what else was she supposed to do while she waited. "Dunno… what's the cook got on the menu?" he asked, his arms around her again. The jolly green giant loves to snuggle, post that across the tabloids and it would be the truest thing they had ever printed. Her emerald archer could barely keep himself restrained around her.

"Whatever you want." she simply answered.

"You?" She let out a laugh. "I'm serious. We can lay you out across the kitchen table and just let me eat you till you scream."

"What a way to start the day…" she replied without a defining answer.

"Alright. Now I know something's wrong. You should have been on the kitchen table by now."

"And I see you're back to your usual charming self." She smiled at him.

"And you're back to your dodging. Tell me what's wrong. Or I'll have to do something drastic…"

"Drastic?" she rose an eyebrow questioningly.

"Yep. These fingers can do more than just fuck you senseless. I hear they tickle quite well too." His vulgarity sparked her sex drive. "Wanna try?" His laughter broke into her thoughts after he realised she was still stuck on the first half of his words.

"Calm the jet's Ollie. I'm just tired. The lack of quality sleep is bound to catch up some time. It's decided to choose now."

"So this is not about you feeling guilty for killing that woman?" Her eyes bulged, almost shooting straight out of her skull.

He knew?

For how long?

Did the others know?

Was he bluffing and just guessing?

Could she get her way out of this?

It's not like he hadn't done the same for the team before, but how would they react when she told him she felt no remorse for her actions, that she didn't have nightmares about doing it again, but about her coming back to find her. She'd taken out others before with Brainiac, that was true enough… but Kitty, or whatever her real name was, had left no scar on her, no marks on her conscience. Nothing of the word guilt. How would they look at her then? Was she even sure he knew? Maybe he was shooting into empty air, hoping to hit. "Relax Chloe. I've known for a while." Relax? "You did what you had to. People hurt you and its only natural you want to respond in kind."

"You think this was me responding in kind? She hit me so I hit her kind of thing? I did this to save your ass!" The misunderstanding hit a nerve and the headache seemed to want release through facilitating anger.

"Chloe we were fin-"

"Don't you dare say you had it all under control!" she snapped and shoved through his hold to find her own feet, he came with her, evening the ground. She paced a few steps then whirled back, snapping at him again. "You cannot stand here and say you knew exactly how to defeat them. She told me herself they cannot be harmed and they don't go away till either you or she died. I made a choice to keep you alive. I don't regret that!" It seemed all barriers broke and the stream spread out without hesitation. "I would make that same choice a thousand times over and still not regret it." She huffed out the remainder of anger, her fingers running in her wild hair, rough from sleep, or lack there of. The headache was still booming, her stomach churning. Thankfully Oliver didn't say anything as she crashed back onto the sofa, trying to calm the storm brewing up inside her head.

Why hadn't the powers kicking in by now? Surely they'd had long enough. What was wrong? She wasn't dead, no she was in too much pain to be dead, but she wasn't healed. "Do the others know?" she finally asked after a few moments of an awkward silence.

Usually she felt so comfortable around Oliver, able to relax in the silence, but this was a different type of quiet where the tension was heavy in the room, crowding her senses and inhibiting all controls over relaxation.

"No." he simply answered. It was short, minus the emotion and personality.

"How did you-"

"You were muttering about it in your sleep. I put it together when Vic brought it up and your reaction gave you away." Again, it was just the facts. No emotions. Chloe nodded. She hadn't said anything to anyone about this. She didn't even know how she was meant to be feeling. To grieve for the accomplice in her murder seemed wrong, but to be emotionless felt even worse. Yet there was nothing there to give her any hints. She felt empty; completely void of feeling.

More minutes of the awkward silence passed. Oliver didn't say another word. Chloe didn't know whether to be grateful that her head was without the bass line to its pounding beat in the quiet or to be on edge because he was being so distant. Her hand went back to her temples, rubbing in slow precise circles. Why hadn't the magic potions kicked in yet? It's like she had never taken it.

Her fingers froze… looking back she recalled how unbroken shadow man seemed to be about losing his supply. He would have acted by now…

They were given fakes!

Fuck!

She needed to call Emil and have him test whatever was in them and whatever she'd shoved inside her body. Stupid Chloe! she reprimanded and dropped back against the sofa. She'd just have to tell Emil she had a hunch they might be fake, rather than the truth that she had tested one in order to stay alive, but it was plausible.

Oliver breathed out and stood, breaking whatever dust had settled and stirred as he walked to the stairs. He seemed… angry? He had no right considering the things he'd done.

"What? Are you angry?" she hissed. He turned back, his fingers to the bridge of his nose. Annoyed and trying to control his temper. It flared hers.

"In a word: yes." She pushed herself to her feet.

"You're mad at me? Because I saved your ass by killing someone? That's rich coming from you. Just how hypocritical can you be?"

"I'm not mad at that." he snapped back.

"Then what's wrong with you?" she demanded her bare feet hot and hard on the floor as she made her way to him. She stopped a good few feet away.

"Why wouldn't you say anything? To me of all people." he challenged, purposefully squashing down the rising urge to touch her and reassure her. His ego wanted control, his pride had taken a hit and he desperately wanted the hurt to fade. To forgive seemed only natural at the moment, but he wanted to know what other secrets she was keeping, would they hurt as much?

"What was I meant to say? Oh Ollie; I killed a woman?"

"Something along those lines." He crossed his arms over his chest, stopping them from reaching out to hold her. His back found placement against the wall, trying to cool the urges that bubbled.

"And how would you have reacted? I wouldn't exactly get a cookie and pat on the head. It's murder Ollie. I'm a murderer and all you can do is be pissed that I didn't tell you sooner. Forgive me if I seemed a little pre-occupied not to tell you I'm going to be shoved in an orange jumpsuit and made cellmates to a butch lesbian who's only aim is to make me her miserable bitch before they finally decide to execute me." He closed his eyes blocking out the visual to accompany her words. She only read it as boredom and it fired her temper further. She could physically feel herself pressured and about to detonate.

"You won't be arrested Chloe. There's nothing to tie you to it and the body is gone anyway." How could he sound so nonchalant about it?

Her headache was pounding, vengefully making her feel everything at an extra sensitivity. His annoyance skied and he pushed off the wall with fiercely hot hands. He couldn't just leave it be. "Why wouldn't you tell me? Just what is it that we have here Chloe?" He wanted definitions… her insides crawled. How did you tell someone you loved them, but didn't want to because it would only hurt more when you died? There probably wasn't a status of relationship for that. They were way past friends, but lodged before lovers. What were they? "I'm not asking you throw yourself on the line and answer me for all or nothing. But I think that whatever we have it was enough that you would tell me things. How many secrets have you kept in the last week alone? I let them pass because I trust you, but it's insulting to get nothing back in return."

"I do trust you." But she knew she could never tell him everything, no matter how much she could trust him.

"Clearly not enough to tell me anything of importance."

"You argue that I don't tell you anything, but what do you call last night when I practically fell apart with you. I told you what happened when they took me and everything I dubbed that I was ready to share I had shared. With you. Not Dinah, not Clark. But you." Maybe fighting was a blessing in disguise. If they ended this would the final blow lessen?

"I feel like I'm loosing you. But the worst part is I don't know what to. Everything just feels like a goodbye with you. I need to know where you stand with me." The all or nothing sentence. The definition of yes or no. The future to end here, or later, with a death? She saw him then, that rare glimpse into the soft hearted soul that held her closer and kissed her with all the love and respect in the world. The one which was unsure. In the business room, in the clubs, in the field playing with arrows, they all had his 100% confidence in what he was doing. But in his heart of hearts, the insecure question of a one sided love reared its disfigured head to refute his every belief. Chloe saw two options lay out before her; tell him the truth and risk breaking him apart later, or lie and break him now.

A buzzing vibration sounded against the table and both gazes snapped apart to it. Chloe's phone was ringing. She stepped toward it, but Oliver shot out an arm to the wall blocking her in.

"Leave it. I want an answer Chloe."

"Oliver, if it's important-"

"They'll call back or super speed over here."

"I can't just give you an answer." she argued.

"Why not? What's so hard?"

"What's so hard is your ultimatum. Either I confirm your belief I'm head over heels, or we're over. There is no middle ground."

"Damn it Chloe. I tell you I love you, that I want to spend the rest of my life with you and you're searching for middle ground. Just tell me if my effort is wasted. Should I just give in now and say you'll never be with me?"

"No" The words were out before she realised the opportunity he had given her. She couldn't amend. Not now. Not with him so broken. "Your time's not wasted. I won't give you what you want or tell you the words you want to hear because right now I can't. Not with all this going on. I can't breathe and I can't think. I can tell you I feel something when I'm with you, and I can tell you it's a lot more than I could have ever imagined. But I can't tell you what it is because I don't know myself."

"Well what do you know?"

"I know I like lazy afternoons lounging around doing nothing with you. I know I like the comfort and the freedom when I'm with you. I know I like the things you can make me feel. Above all I know I want to spend time beside you. But to define anything more is something I cannot be sure of."

"What is it you want from me? What do you see for us?"

"I…I… I don't know."

The phone stopped buzzing, the voicemail catching the caller's worries.

"Fine." He slipped up the stairs leaving her jaw dropped and stunned. 'Fine'? Never had she heard such a word so false. It was filled with finality, confusion, anguish, anger, hope and a myriad of other emotions. She followed him a hatred building with each step.

"Fine?" she hissed and he turned back, almost surprised she hadn't taken the escape from the conversation he had supplied. He rose an eyebrow at her but said nothing. Waiting for whatever she had planned. After all; it was her that chased him. "You're just going to finish this with a 'fine'?"

"Why not?" he probed, poking the sleepy bear inside her. The truth usually came out when she was angry at him.

"Why not?" Apparently she was stuck on repeating him with distaste currently.

"Yeah. You won't answer so clearly the conversation is over."

"Conversation? Over?" she stumbled over the words.

"Unless you've got anything you want to add." he stated and took a step closer to her. She anchored her feet down to the carpet, building her stone walls again.

"You need to learn your boundaries Oliver." The statement was solidly fixed in the storm seas in her eyes. "What you can have, and what you can't." she continued, her teeth grinding against each other as she snapped her jaw back together.

"I agree. So tell me Chloe, where do you fit?" There was the pause and everything dropped. Oliver had just walked straight around her wall and had an arrow aimed at her bare exposed heart. It rattled her that he had got so close without her knowing. Had he always had this power over her?

The 'do I, don't I?' question buzzing around her head. "Don't fall silent on me now." He warned and stepped forward again. "Where do you lay Chloe? Beside me, or opposing me?" She resisted the urge to take the step back, but he was intimidating, towering over her in his superiority. Her mouth felt dry, her bones limp and unable to support her.

"You know I'm not opposing you." she claimed, but contrary to her words, there they were, standing face to face arguing about it. He laughed once, it was cold and amiss the comfort. He wanted the answer, not the dodging.

"Where are you Chloe?" he asked again, his chest pressed to hers. His fingers wrapped like cuffs around her wrists unfolding them from her chest; breaking her defences. "Let me in." he whispered. Her entire body felt drained. How much longer could she fight Oliver on this? She met his eyes, the doubt, the worry, the hurt hidden poorly behind the stoic façade. She caved, pushing herself onto that arrow he still held.

"I'll always be beside you." she confessed. He let his lips turn up at the corners, dragging up into a smile before descending upon her. It was a short, habit-like kiss. One that injected love and care rather than the 'fuck me' desire they both still held.

"All I wanted to hear." he commented, his forehead resting against hers. "I love you too." His cheeky smirk returned, her furiously annoyed face came back, pissed at his twisting of her words. Before it could bloom his lips came back to hers.

Oliver went back to playing business man and Chloe wandered back to his bookcase, forgetting momentarily the phone call earlier till it buzzed again, bringing her back to life with the update of a new voicemail. Chloe accepted and placed the phone to her ear.

"Chloe, it's Hannah. We're fine and Bart's been crashing with us, so stop the automatic worry and focus more on yourself. Amber says you're getting closer to the jump. You told me you'd sort this out. Get out of town now. I don't care if you need to hi-jack a plane to do so, just keep yourself safe. Alright. Send me a text and tell me what you're doing. Be smart please. I said I wouldn't tell Bart, but if you're being stupid I'll have him intervene. Please Chloe."

Chloe sighed and flickered her fingers across the text pad sending her a text.

'Leaving tonight. Stay safe.'

Lying in text was almost too easy, but if wanted to end this, she was doing it now. Taking the shadows down with her. Now she just needed her ideas to end this bastard.

An hour later Emil was in looking at the samples and drawing a scary conclusion.

"Compulsion drug. Same in every one. The make-up looks the same as what they gave you in the coffee."

"So they knew we were coming and switched them over." she summarised, cursing internally and at the same time thanking nobody was awake after she took it and asked her to run naked through the streets.

"Looks that way. That means our entire plans are failed. It's possible they had a seer to look into the future for them. But most likely they figured Oliver would want some kind of revenge." Emil sighed heavily and sunk into the chair at the table. "How is Oliver?"

"He's fine." she simply answered.

"Good. No delusions or episodes of trauma?" she shook her head. "Did he tell you anymore of what he saw?" again she shook her head. "Alright. Well keep an eye on him. Call me if anything happens."

Emil left and the intense research started. Eliminating shadows. Sunlight was the obvious answer. She hadn't seen him in direct sunlight, but shifting the sun in the sky was beyond her abilities. Maybe UV rays could do the same. It was worth a thought. Maybe she needed to look further into his past. If the great grandson re-animated him with meteor rocks, maybe she could find some way to reverse it. She sat cross legged on the computer chair, drumming her fingers as she browsed the collected files. There was nothing on his resurrection and even less on weaknesses. It made sense though, who would publically announce ways to kill them.

She sighed and rocked soothingly from side to side. Maybe she could find the biochemical facility Eddie had worked for and dig up some work from there.

30 minutes later and she was still fruitless. Maybe it was the wrong approach.

Taking a leap out of the Lex Luthor handbook guide to life she set about attacking, rather than discovering. Her fingers flew into old Luthorcorp files skimming over the millions of projects looking for one that had a keyword of 'kills everything and anything' maybe.

She was working with severe nausea and a group of line dancing lumberjacks stomping across her brain which wasn't helping her understand anything. Without Brainiac she was lost in the middle of the ocean about to sink and drown. Pills had been invited to the party in her body, but instead of kicking out the harmful toxins they had just assisted in wrecking her calm.

She dropped her head to the desk. She was tired, fed up and really needing some nightmare-less sleep. It was hard to admit, but maybe plain ol' Chloe would be better here. The Chloe that wasn't jacked up on dying cells of meteor powers, just normal healthy and boring Chloe that had a future. Her brain kicked back in disagreeing with the previous second's ideas. If she had been normal she would already be dead. Lois would be dead. Clark would be trapped in the phantom zone. Oliver would be dead… The list went on. It was a sacrifice she was still willing to make. Her own life in trade for that of millions of others.

A slippery smile tried to fix on her face. It failed to stay, but it gave her what was necessary to keep on with the multiple files hidden by Lex. Passwords were slowly broken, hacks were working in the background as she explored into his sealed off world and trap virus's were exterminated on sight. Sighing she set back and rolled her neck around, cringing as she heard clicks during her rotation. Stiff neck as a common problem for super Chloe and normal Chloe alike. One hand went to rubbing soothing circles on the back of her neck, the other opened up a newly cracked folder entitled 'Failures'. She almost groaned aloud. It wasn't helping. Still, she read through the multiple disasters Lex had created. One jumped out at her.

'Lab Test; Six Alpha One. Subjects have all shown similar reactions to the drug given. From our first lab tests we assumed the formulae would nullify the meteor powers present in subjects. The opposite has been found. 100% of subjects with already present powers have been amplified. Those with latent powers have been projecting them with force enough to cause a system failure. 20% of subjects have carried on without adverse effects, however, the drug is potentially more dangerous than we originally planned. The experiment can only be concluded as unsuccessful and closed off. See Six Alpha Three for more details.'

Six Alpha Three included the observations made by a secondary experimenter. Chloe dug it up without hesitation.

'The drug has been ruled out from testing due to the effects upon the system. The predicted removal of powers has been completely reversed. Upon taking a sample of blood before and after the injected drug, it is clear that although the substance does leave the body, it creates a manifestation of cells drawn from the possessors DNA. This causes a rapid incline in performance, almost trebling the force of these powers. An example would be subject 377. 377 was able to communicate with the deceased, 20 minutes after the drug was given 377 was complaining over an overcrowding of voices from both the past, present, future and those 377 could not identify other than the sinners of hell and saints of heaven. Other findings were unable to be recorded after the fifth hour where 377 flipped from the unconscious state and went into multiple system failure unable to revive.

The trails were clearly far from our original hypothesis, and cannot be used for any other uses. As a result Project Six Alpha has been closed.'

Chloe tapped her fingers across the keyboard. The drug, whatever it was, could create new cells from DNA. DNA like the empty Brainiac imbedded in her body. Was this her cure all? Sure it could potentially kill her and would probably revive the electro twins as well, but it would stop the headaches and… if it gave her the electricity powers… would it not be the solution to killing the shadow man? Nobody liked electric shocks. She had a good five hours from injection to finding him. It wouldn't be hard since he probably had people scouting for her as she breathed.

The coffee mug made the worn out track from table to her mouth and she groaned again, finding it empty. That was the third time she'd done the same action and came to the same conclusion. Time to re-fill maybe.

She was half amazed she could keep so calm about reading all this information. She knew then that it was true that this had changed her. Not only had she get stronger physically, but clearly the wall around her heart had moved to her head and was bouncing off the deeper emotions that should cripple her. She was grateful in a way.

Forgetting about the empty coffee situation she turned back to the computer screen looking for the information about the drug. She rolled her eyes when she found it. Of course Lex was playing with meteor rocks.

The cookbook was Clark's worse fear. A cocktail of Green and Red meteor rocks crushed and blended with a pharmacy.

Chloe rubbed the bridge of her nose, a trait Oliver had imparted into her when he got stressed, how was she going to get these things? She flipped back to the Luthorcorp pages, hoping they would have saved some batches for her. Clearly they weren't that considerate. But Lex never threw anything away, there must be something somewhere. It's hardly like she could break into his vault, Oliver wouldn't even let her out of the apartment. Mixing it herself was out of the question, there was no instructions, just ingredients; it could all go wrong if she tired to be inventive. She couldn't even get her hands on half of the stuff. Well… not legally.

More files flew across the screen swimming circles around her headache like a predatory shark looking for its next victim to devour.

Chloe pressed the heel of her head against her temples, praying something would ease this, she'd already downed enough drugs to kill an elephant, her blood was running so thin it was a wonder she wasn't waking up with nosebleeds every morning. She needed this cure all.

12 minutes later and 16 attempted drinks of the empty coffee cup later she had hit bingo and was successfully swinging her legs from the counter in the kitchen while the coffee machine made with the magic. The medical facility had a storage facility in Lex's name. She'd bet everything she owned (not that it was much) that he had kept all (and she meant ALL) of his test formulas in there. She sent down a thank you to Lex down in hell for him being such a pack rat and protective over all his ideas.

Now all she needed was to get there and collect. Going herself was very slim chances. Clark wouldn't ask questions, but green meteor substance ruled him out completely. Oliver would ask questions. Lot and lots of questions. Dinah was still out of duty. Bart was a possibility, but he'd be curious as to why she didn't immediately ask Ollie. Ac was more of a blow it up type of personality and when he saw all the chemicals he would just set it alight. Victor would be more curious than a nosey cat but he would be more aligned with Oliver than her. Male solidarity and all that. Maybe she could drug Ollie and go get it herself. But, chances were that as soon as she left she'd be picked up before she could reach it. It left her only one option. She flipped open the cell and dialled.

She was reading again when Oliver emerged from his study. He looked wrecked. She peered over her shoulder and giggled.

"You get attacked by your computer?" she joked. He stole the coffee cup from the table putting it to his lips and settled beside her. An arm slung across her shoulders and she settled into his shape.

"I got attacked by business." he replied when she folded the book and set it on her knee.

"Sounds terrible." she sympathised. He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Stressed.

"Queen Industries isn't anywhere near as demanding as Luthorcorp. Tess has been trying to handle them since Lex 'left' but there are some messes even she cannot undo. We've got investors wanting reports we don't have and facilities everywhere that needed staff shifting around. It's an impossible task." Chloe snuggled closer, giving silent comfort where words could not express her properly. "You have no idea how much mess Lex left his company in. It'll take me a year alone to get it back on par with Queen industries and we've got branches asking about projects we had no idea Lex was even running. The paper trails are enough to sink metropolis and we've got to try to make sense of them all."

"Is it worth it?" she asked. He'd been in that study for hours on end and the only things it seemed he'd managed to accomplish was furthering his caffeine addiction and getting even more stressed.

"It will be. Besides, leaving Luthorcorp as it is would be more dangerous. We could get someone taking over who wants to continue with Lex's work. In the long run this will be worth it." He kissed the top of her head and pulled her closer for comfort. She welcomed it. "It will give us more control." he spoke again, repeating to himself that the hours away from Chloe were actually worth it. "What have you been up to anyway? I missed the majority of the day."

"Reading." Truth. She had been reading from the computer screen, then maybe a page or two from his book.

"Anything good?"

"Well we've already had a death, ferocious argument, and staring competition as well as some playful shower scenes. So I'm saying yes." He grinned.

"It's not as good as you think. I have better books."

"Then why do you keep it?"

"Page 139." he simply stated, the sneaky smile returning and she knew exactly what she'd see if she read that page. She laughed. "Hey don't look at me like that. You can't judge till you've read it."

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that page involves things that would make nun's feint."

"I'm not going to dignify that with an answer." He laughed and laid his lips back to her skin.

"So that's a yes then." He didn't say anything, just kept smiling like he had a secret. "I'll read it later." she vowed. "But right now, you owe me a tumble across some mats." He groaned.

"I'm tired." he whined.

"I'm not letting you back down on our deal."

"I'll make it worth your while." he pleaded.

"You'll come and play with me."

"I can just stand there and watch right?"

"What if someone came in right now and tried to kill me? You'd have to fight them then."

"Nope. They can have you. I'm tired." She laughed and playfully slapped his arm.

"Come on Ollie. You need a break from all your tiny brain cells going into overload with big business words." He rose an eyebrow. "You don't have to do anything strenuous. Maybe change into some sweats rather than jeans."

"And what would I be doing in my sweats?"

"If you don't have the energy for fighting then we can do some yoga and get all that stress out of you with glorified stretching."

"We both know what that will lead to." he replied suggestively, adding an eyebrow wiggle for good measure. She laughed.

"I have no idea what you're on about. It's only a show of flexibility in barely there clothes. It's not like I'm trying to seduce you." She batted her eyelashes innocently. There she was, the devil using the angel as a body shield. Oliver chuckled.

"If you think I have the energy to keep up with you then you're insane."

"Ollie." She pouted and twisted herself onto his lap, her arms laid around his neck, fingers clasped together behind him, effectively trapping him beneath her. "I could always sort myself out. I just thought you might like some de-stress." The bubbly blue of her big orbs shone through drawing him in. "Yoga is de-stressing." She fluttered her eyelashes and he was falling to her will again.

"Alright. I suppose a little break from my impending death would be nice." he joked and shifted her from his knee. She smiled and took her hands from him letting him change.

Lovely... Ollie and Chloe go for a roll around on the mats. Delightful.

Just a little side note here; but i'm thinking this story will be a total of 44 chapters long... long being the operative word... You think it's stressful reading that many words? It's stressful writing that many!

But yeah, it will all be finished at chapter 44. It may seem a while away, but I thought you might care to see the light at the end of this tunnel.

Love y'all. Hope you enjoyed and continue to. Xx