Segment Summary: As Chloe tries to put Watchtower back together, Oliver reminds her of the hero she is.
Segment Timeline: Hostage

The Real You

'Cause I lost my shadow, lost my heart, broke my back and crashed my car
And I know that I've got one last chance to show you the real you

There wasn't much left, it didn't even feel like enough to get the database up and running again, but Chloe couldn't help but feel like this whole thing was well-timed. By hiding herself in Watchtower, Chloe lost herself here and it got to the point where she didn't even know who she was anymore. Seeing it holding its life together by a thread made Chloe throw her hands down on the console, wondering how she ever let it get this far.

Just minutes ago, Clark had called her a hero, but despite his good intentions, the sentiment felt empty. Watchtower was what made her a hero, the database that had consumed everything, costing her friendships, her regular life. She had become more code name than human being. Yet she opened the window again, because for a minute, she believed in what Clark was telling her. Looking at the stained glass now made Chloe wonder if this was what going insane felt like. If it was possible to get different results this time.

"Wow, you weren't kidding," a voice called out from the doorway. "This place really did get trashed."

Her mouth gaped upon hearing his voice. Whirling around, she hurried towards him. "Oliver, what the hell are you doing?" He wasn't supposed to be here. He wasn't supposed to anywhere near here while he was recovering from Zod's attack.

"I was going crazy at home," Oliver replied with a grimace. He didn't want her to worry about him, but he couldn't just sit back and twiddle his thumbs. Sure there was still a Z-shape scar on his chest as Zod decided to send a personal message through him to Clark, but Oliver figured that he could at least keep her company, rather than listening to the silence at the clocktower.

Seeing him grab his chest, Chloe put his arm around her back and helped him walk towards the couch. "Emil insisted bed rest for at least a few more weeks."

"Relax, I took a cab." He smiled down at her, but he knew that wasn't helping his case.

"That is not helping me relax." Shaking her head as she helped him down, Chloe leaned over to bring his legs up onto the couch. "Thank god the couch wasn't completely ruined." Granted, it was covered in glass shards and what not, but one of the first things Chloe did after coming back was clean it off. If nothing else, she needed a place to sit down when she needed a break, but it was one of the few things in Watchtower that made it look like a home and besides scattered debris in the cushions, it was in good shape.

She couldn't say that for the rest of Watchtower.

Shifting his body, despite her quiet objections, Oliver sat up a little, knowing that he wouldn't be comfortable lying like that. Especially because he couldn't see her working from this angle, which defeated the purpose of coming here in the first place.

It was clear that her worries weren't going anywhere, as she had left him to grab a blanket. When she returned, she knelt down to drape it over his body. She was about to stand up, but he grabbed her hand first. Patting his lap, he asked, "You joining me?"

"Yeah," Chloe replied with a scoff, "because that's a good idea." He had done enough damage as it was, but as this situation settled in, she understood why he had to come here. However, that didn't mean she was going to help him make it worse.

"You didn't seem to mind before," he said, a clear glint in his eye.

Unfortunately for him, there was no way that was going to happen, as Chloe shook her head. "I didn't mind when it was a bed, which has a lot more space." Before, she didn't have to sit on Oliver to be close to him, as instead she had cuddled up next to him, allowing for both of them to get some well-needed sleep.

"No, but this will be fun. Hanging wires, glowing screens. It'll be a party." It was meant as a joke, yet her eyes stopped looking at him, gazing at the room around them. "Chloe?"

She stood up, turning around so that her back faced him before letting out a sigh. "You can't tell me that there wasn't a small part of you that was glad to hear Watchtower was down."

"It hadn't really crossed my mind," he said honestly, but after one look around the room, Oliver could tell that wasn't the case anymore. "And if that's how you feel, then why are you rebooting the system?"

Chloe sighed again, almost hating her answer. "Because it's the right thing to do. It's... needed."

"In other words," Oliver said as he moved his feet to the ground, "Clark asked you to."

"He did, but –"

"What do you want Chloe?" He stared ahead at her, wanting to see the demons she was fighting, but she remained where she was, silent with her back turned. After squeezing his eyes shut, Oliver shook his head. "I know after Zatanna… you were happy with this. Is that still true?"

She couldn't see him, but that didn't stop Chloe from hearing the disappointment in his voice. While she wanted nothing more than to reassure him, she couldn't lie to him. "It's not that simple," she whispered.

"Sure it is." Biting back a groan, Oliver stood up, footsteps light to prevent her from hearing him. "I know it's under a different circumstance, but I'm out of commission right now and I hate it." Now standing behind her, he reached forward to graze his fingers against her elbow. "I mean, look at me… I'm kind of useless right now."

"That's not true at all." Chloe turned around, wanting to point out that he shouldn't have moved, but instead, her eyes locked on his shirt, knowing that the bandages were just underneath. Instead of showing her frustration for his stubbornness, Chloe remembered how close she had come to losing him. In a more usual situation, she would have lost him.

Streaming her palm down her shirt, albeit light enough not to do any damage, she felt her breathing even with his as they stood close in the silence of Watchtower. "There is more to what you do than wearing green leather." She curled her fingers around his shirt. "Whether you want to admit it or not Ollie, Green Arrow is what you make him to be. To me, he's more than someone who wants to save the day. It all stems from here."

Feeling his heartbeat through the material she was holding, she almost didn't hear Oliver chuckle. But she did hear it, leading to her looking up at him. "What?"

His hand lifting up to play with a loose strand of her hair, Oliver smiled. "I want you to take a few minutes and think about what you just said."

It didn't long for Chloe to realize what he meant. Oliver had a point, and something told Chloe she had just walked into this. Dropping her hand, she took a step back. "C'mon Ollie, I haven't been in control of Watchtower in a long time."

It didn't really feel like she had control of anything lately. That semblance of control that she thought she had was really born of a place of fear. Even this, this… thing she had with Oliver had a sense of fear underlying the surface. Only Zod's attack brought most of it forward, something he had to notice, as instead of letting her walk away, he took her hand and squeezed it.

"Maybe not in the beginning, but these last few months, you've –"

Biting the inside of his lip, Oliver realized that was a slippery slope he didn't want to go down. Best case scenario, she recognized it and gave him credit, worst case, he'd scare her away and Chloe would become distant from everyone again.

"All I'm saying is," he said, hoping to steer the course a little differently, "Watchtower is what you make it too. The database is important to us, but so are you. And if you think we're forcing you to be here –"

Chloe held up her hand to interject. "No, that's not it." She chuckled dryly as she turned her head over her shoulder to look at the progress she had made in bringing up Watchtower again. Opening the window to Watchtower was only a symbol to Clark, as she hadn't officially rebooted the system. It was just the first of many steps that Chloe was fighting to finish. "Ollie, what if I get in too deep again?"

"That's not going to happen," he replied, hoping to reassure her, but it didn't work.

Because as nice as the sentiment was, Chloe couldn't let herself believe that. "You can't know that."

She was right, but there was going to be at least one difference this time. "Then if it does, I'll be here to pull you back. Because last time, I had my head up my ass… I couldn't be there for you like I should have been."

Her lips parted in silence as she hadn't intended to bring up his struggles. "Ollie, you shouldn't bl–"

"No, we should call it how it is." Lifting his hands to cup her cheeks, Oliver said, "You saved my life, Chloe, all while you were drowning in your own guilt. I wouldn't mind returning that favour."

What if you already have?

Chloe couldn't say the words aloud, but she might as well have, because Oliver had to have seen how hard she just swallowed. What Oliver had grown to be in her life was never about returning a favour, she knew that. He was doing this out of the goodness of his heart, confirmed by his most recent words.

But she couldn't tell him how much he had done for her already. How much he had reminded her to take a look at her life and take charge of it. She had learned to take a step back from Watchtower before this all happened, but Chloe knew the way she was when she built Watchtower, how detached she was from reality.

The way he looked at her, it made Chloe realize that Tess was right, Oliver really wasn't going to leave her. Leaning his forehead down to rest against hers, he said, "You're stronger than you think Chloe. I'm pretty sure you know the right balance now."

And there it was. The blind faith he had in her, not to mention that he never took credit for all the good he did. She looked up at him, recognizing the way that his face lit up when their eyes met. It was enough for her to forget about the cuts and bruises on his body, the mess around them.

But after awhile, it appeared that she had been staring too long, as Oliver broke the silence. "What?"

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head.

He didn't believe that it was nothing, but he knew better than to push her. Right now, he could see parts of her walls coming down and he wanted to enjoy it. "I believe in you," he said, kissing her gently. "Never forget that."

Her smile grew as she tugged slightly on his shirt. "Ditto. Thanks."

"Anytime."

With that, Oliver backed away, knowing it was only a matter of time before she told him to lie down, so he thought that he'd save her the trouble. Backing away slowly, he maintained eye contact with her, waiting for her to continue working.

Except all Chloe could see was the difference in his expression between when he arrived at Watchtower today and now. "There's no way you're resting right now, is there?"

Oliver shrugged. "Not likely."

That's what she thought. She turned around, working the keyboard to remind her of her progress before Oliver came. After a few seconds, she found herself shaking her head. "Then you're on your own with Emil if anything happens to prolong your recovery."

He couldn't argue with that, but there was one thing he had to hear from her. "As long as setting this back up is what you want."

"It's funny. Not too long ago, I was ready to walk away." Feeling him standing behind her, Chloe tilted her head to rest it against his chest. She knew they were pushing their luck with his wounds, but after that close call, sometimes, the most important thing was to enjoy everything they could while they were still alive.

As he wrapped his arms around her, Chloe felt a sense of peace that she hadn't felt in awhile. It felt great for a few minutes, but she knew she had to break from his embrace. She had work to do.

"But you're right," she said, placing her hands on the keyboard. "Just because Watchtower exists doesn't mean that Chloe Sullivan doesn't. However, the good this database brings, that I can bring, I don't want to lose that."

Stepping forward, Oliver moved to lean against the console next to Chloe. "That sounds like the Chloe I remember."

"Which one?" she asked, her head leaning forward as her eyes narrowed. It was an interesting thing for him to say, especially considering he had told her that the old Chloe was gone.

"The one who can take on the world by herself and win," Oliver replied, knowing that what he had said would be on Chloe's mind. The difference between then and now was that no matter what happened, these characteristics would always be a part of Chloe Sullivan. "The one who saved heroes from themselves, all while being the hero that she was born to be. The one I…"

"What?" she asked, watching him grin after he suddenly stopped talking.

It didn't take long for Oliver to find an answer. "The one who never ceases to surprise me." It maybe wasn't what he was going to say, but it was still true.

"In a good way?"

"For the most part." Stepping towards her, Oliver moved her hair to whisper in her ear, "Most recently with your exploration in the fun area."

Chloe laughed as she felt his lips against her neck. Despite wanting to give him better access, she opened her eyes and shoved him slightly. "Oliver, I meant it."

"Yeah I know," Oliver said with a smile. She returned the expression before giving him instructions on what he could do. In time, their unique circumstances faded away and they were just two people working next to each other. However, Oliver couldn't keep his smile from fading, because as long as she was happy, so was he.

They were a team after all.

And I don't mind waiting
And I don't mind watching
But I can't walk away

~End~