Facing the Music. With need2speed, chloeas, and mirrorsmirk.

[dl_greenarrow]

The trip from Kansas to Missouri had taken a little over an hour, and thanks to the very high tech GPS tracking system in Chloe's laptop, it had only taken forty minutes to drive from the airport through St. Louis evening traffic to the motel where Michael and Mia were staying

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[dl_greenarrow]

Oliver watched as the younger two members of their little group headed toward his jet. He glanced at Chloe, sighing softly and raking a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

[chloeas]

Frowning slightly Chloe turned to look at him and shook her head, reaching over and rubbing a hand over her arm before giving it a soft squeeze, "you have nothing to apologize for, Ollie."

[need2speed]

"I invited myself on this trip," Mia replied, speaking lowly as they walked up the ramp leading into Queen Industries private jet. "And I'm the one that lied about it. So if I'm getting kicked out, it's my own fault."

[mirrorsmirk]

"But I let you come. You're not going to get kicked out," Michael all but collapsed on the nearest couch inside the jet, sweat trickling down the side of his face from the effort to stay awake. "If anything, Ollie's going to tell me to stay away, you don't need my hunting crap to complicate your lives more."

[dl_greenarrow]

Oliver sighed as he climbed onto the plane in time to hear Michael's words. "Okay, no one's being kicked out, and no one's asking you to stay away, Michael." His voice was weary. "Let's all just take a deep breath and try to relax." He looked at Mia, his eyes sad. "You're not being kicked out."

[chloeas]

Chloe heard the words too as she climbed onto the jet behind Ollie. She sighed too and rubbed Ollie's back before walking around him and pressing a kiss to Mia's forehead, she didn't want her to think like that.

"Get some rest," she told Mia, looking at her for a moment longer then over at Michael, "both of you," she added before pulling back.

[need2speed]

"I'm not?" Mia looked a little more hopeful at that, but nerves kept her from believing it implicitly. She nudged Michael gently to remind him to stay awake and also to put on his seatbelt for take off.

And then she took a seat beside him and looked everywhere except at Oliver, because she really didn't want to see how disappointed he was.

[mirrorsmirk]

"Told you," Michael said quietly, nudging her back and keeping his head low, not making eye contact with Chloe or Oliver. Putting his seatbelt on, he let out a sigh, hand going back to his side. It felt warmer than earlier and he had a suspicion that he was bleeding through the bandage Mia had put on it, but he kept it to himself. They'd be back to Metropolis soon enough.

[dl_greenarrow]

He rubbed a hand over his face and shook his head. "Of course not, Mia," he said quietly. He glanced at Chloe sideways, kissing her temple softly. "I'm gonna get a drink from the back. Anyone want anything?"

[chloeas]

"I'm okay," Chloe told him quietly, looking up at him and rubbing her hand over his back soothingly.

[need2speed]

"I just want to crash," Mia said, then blushed a little at the poor choice of words on an airplane. "I mean sleep. It was a really long night."

And to stop herself from saying anything else, she leaned her head back on the seat and closed her eyes.

[mirrorsmirk]

"I'm fine," Michael's reply toward Oliver was short and clipped. He looked over at Mia. "Oh so you get to sleep and I don't? I call unfair."

[dl_greenarrow]

Oliver shook his head a little and headed toward the back of the jet without another word.

[chloeas]

Chloe watched Oliver walk away, her jaw tightening and she turned back to look at Michael, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"I would cut back on the attitude if I were you," she kept her voice low, leaning forward slightly to look Michael in the eye, "we're not the family you grew up with and if they let you get away with this, that's their choice, but we are doing our best to help you and whether you like it or not, Ollie cares about you and he's been through enough in the past day or so without you adding more to it."

She paused and stood up straight, "so stop being ungrateful and quit pretending you don't need help, you are bleeding through your shirt."

With one more look at him, she turned around and walked over to the back of the plane to check on Oliver.

[need2speed]

Mia sucked in a breath at Chloe's speech and squirmed uncomfortably in her seat, because in her experience a good dressing down never came without someone throwing a punch at the end of it, but when it didn't happen she relaxed enough to rummage through her pockets for another handful of gauze.

"Here," she said, tucking her arm around Michael so she could hold the gauze in place against his side. "Don't move a bunch and you should be okay until we touch down."

And then she settled against him enough to rest her head carefully on his shoulder. "I get to sleep because I don't have the head injury," she mumbled, closing her eyes.

[mirrorsmirk]

Michael didn't say anything while Chloe was speaking. He stubbornly held eye contact until she'd walked away. He didn't react much when Mia pressed more gauze to his side and lay her head down on his shoulder. His mind wasn't on the plane anymore.

He wasn't trying to be ungrateful, but he didn't know any other way to react than with attitude and sarcastic comments. It was what he did. He really needed to learn to keep his mouth shut in situations like this, he'd be better off in the end. So, that's exactly what he did, keeping his gaze fixed on the floor in front of him.