Chlollie Fanfic: Beauty in the Breakdown IX, 'Fessing Up, Chapter 6
Title: Beauty in the Breakdown IX - ‘Fessing Up
Author: BabyDee
Pairing: Chlollie
Rating: PG-13 (for adult themes)
Warnings: A Re-telling of Chlollie post-Warrior
Timeline: Season 9
Disclaimer: All characters belong to the CW & DC comics.
Series Summary: With Oliver by her side, Chloe learns to let go, find peace, and fall in love.
Story Summary: Chloe upped and got married. Lois is not amused. :)
Feedback: …Always. :)
Read previous chapter here.
Read story from the beginning here.
Chapter 6
Lois had found her Achilles’ heel. And shot an arrow straight into it.
Pain clawed at her heart every time the DP was mentioned and Chloe instinctively winced, before immediately trying to recover.
“The Daily Planet?” she echoed, and gave a cheery laugh. “Nah, that’s…that’s ancient history, too.”
Her cousin snorted. “Like hell it is.”
“It’s true!” Chloe insisted hollowly. “I’m done with reporting.”
“Why?” Lois challenged. “Because Lex Luthor fired you over a personal grudge?”
“Because…because I’ve come so far from that now,” she argued, not sounding at all convincing even to herself.
“But don’t you even want to try being a journalist anymore?” Lois pressed. “Heck, it’s got to be better than…Jeez, what is it you do for a living again? Because I know that counsellor crap didn’t pan out.”
Chloe swallowed hard and immediately concocted another on-the-spot passable answer. “I’m a… consultant computer surveillance systems analyst,” she finished vaguely.
Lois stared at her as if she were completely crazy. “…the hell?”
“It pays well,” she went on, trying to sound enthused. “And that’s how I became more involved with Ollie, because I did some work with Queen Industries systems. We man some of their satellites, and installed their anti-virus systems.”
“I see,” Lois finally answered, pondering. “Still, it’s not what you really want to do, is it?”
Chloe sighed. “Lois…”
“Is it?” her cousin insisted.
“What I do makes a difference in the world,” she deflected. “I’ve helped save millions of lives.”
“Yeah, at the expense of your own,” Lois pointed out. “When was the last time you worked a job that you really, really loved? Counselling was a joke, and can you honestly tell me that this computer consultancy whatever-the-hell you called it really makes you happy?”
Chloe gulped. “I feel…fulfilled…”
“That’s not what I asked,” Lois said grimly, and went to lift the lid on her laptop. “But I have my answer.”
“Lois, what are you doing?” Chloe asked hesitantly as her cousin logged on.
“Listen, there’s been a lot of restructuring down at the Planet; lots of transfers and foreign correspondent positions that have been filled by in-house workers,” she began, and Chloe quickly began shaking her head.
“Lois - no. I don’t think---”
“...long story short, there are some openings,” she soldiered on, finding the Daily Planet’s website recruitment page and attaching it to a message. “Now, I don’t want to badger you, Chloe, but I don’t want you giving up on something you’ve always wanted, either. Just…take a look at the application, that’s all I ask. One look. If you decide the DP isn’t for you anymore, then fine; I won’t hassle you anymore. But promise you’ll at least consider coming back, okay? Please, Chloe.”
Chloe looked at her cousin’s pleading eyes and sighed. “Fine, I promise,” she finally answered quietly, and Lois brightened with relief.
“Thank you,” she said quietly. “It hasn’t been the same there without you.”
“Well, I haven’t definitively said I’m coming back,” Chloe said defensively.
“You will,” Lois replied with a confident smile. “I know you will.”
Chloe smiled and squeezed Lois’s hand, finally glad that they had cleared the air and said everything that had needed to be said for a long time.
Just then the timer on the oven pinged, signalling that their cake was ready.
“Perfect timing,” Lois said, getting to her feet and walking briskly to the oven. “Start mixing up the frosting, I’ll get this thing sliced. It’ll take another thirty minutes to cool, by which time the boys should be back.”
“I don’t think they’ll be around for a while yet, Lois,” Chloe said with a wry grin. “Sharks are in the play-offs this afternoon.”
“They must have snuck off to the farm then, to watch the game in peace,” Lois surmised as she slipped on her oven mitts and carefully lifted the hot cake out of the oven.
“Which gives us more time to talk,” Chloe replied.
“Please,” Lois scoffed. “What could we possibly have to talk about that we haven’t already?”
“Let’s see…your Cradle Robber comment, for starters?” Chloe said with a sardonically raised brow as she mixed the
chocolate frosting ingredients together. “Really, Lois, that was low.”
Lois giggled and waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, you know I didn’t mean it; that was just me being a bitch,” she replied with a smug grin as she sliced the cake into layers and placed them on a cooling tray. “Wanted to piss him off for marrying you in my absence.”
Chloe put the whisk down and stared at Lois for several seconds before bursting out into wild laughter. “Unbelievable!” she chuckled. “No wonder you two broke up, you’re too much alike!”
Lois frowned. “Meaning…?”
“Oliver said the exact same thing about you when we were coming over here - that he wanted to piss you off for daring to be angry that we got married.” She folded her arms and smiled. “You’d have driven each other crazy if you’d stayed together.”
“You guys talk about…that?” Lois asked, her face reddening.
“We talk about everything, there are no secrets between us,” she replied, thinking fondly of her husband. “You, Jimmy, Clark…we just got it all out in the open very early on, and decided that dwelling on the past is redundant because it’s not gonna change anything. Our focus is on our future, so it’s all good.”
“That sounds lovely,” Lois said with a smile. “And tell me, does this future include a mini Chloe or Ollie down the line, hmm?”
Chloe laughed as her cousin pointedly stared at her belly.
“Yes, but not for a while,” she replied. “We talked about it, and decided to wait a year before trying for a baby.”
“Well, I had to ask,” Lois said petulantly, lifting Chloe’s left hand and tapping the rings. “I mean, after this little stunt, I don’t want the first time I find out about my future niece or nephew to be when I read the birth announcement in the paper nine months from now.”
“There will be no birth announcement in the next nine months, Lois, trust me,” Chloe said confidently.
Lois raised a disbelieving brow. “Sure?”
“Positive. Aunt Flo’s visiting as we speak.” And she was right on that one; despite the pregnancy scare of her wedding night, her period had shown up yesterday morning right on schedule, albeit with a significantly lighter flow than usual. All the excitement of the wedding and honeymoon had altered her cycle, but things would no doubt return to normal by the time her next period rolled around.
“Well, as long as you do let me know when the stork pays a visit, I’ll forgive you for cutting me out of the wedding,” Lois said with a smile.
Chloe grinned. “It’s a deal.”
“Good,” her cousin replied. “Come on - let’s go sit. And while we wait for the cake to cool, you can tell me all about what you really did on your honeymoon.”
“Lois!” she gasped, her cheeks turning pink with embarrassment.
Lois grinned, her eyes glinting mischievously as she adopted a professional pose complete with an imaginary microphone. “So tell me, Mrs Queen: what was it like, having all that gorgeous, rippling manflesh beneath your fingertips?” she asked bluntly. “And no censoring - we want all the juicy details!”
***
Chapter 7…