Oliver looked around the clock tower penthouse as he set down his suitcase. He'd paid a great deal of money to have all of their things moved and arranged ahead of time. Of course, knowing Mia, she'd probably rearrange everything herself anyway. He glanced over at her, raising his eyebrows.

"So what do you think?"

Oliver had just finished cleaning up the kitchen from the breakfast dishes that he and Mia had generated that morning when he heard the front door open. Drawing in a breath, he dried his hands on the kitchen towel and tossed it onto the counter before heading out to the living room to greet Chloe and the still-unknown little girl.

Oliver was exhausted by the time they made it back to Star City. He'd heard from Emil that his flight had been delayed, but he'd be in the city in a few hours. He figured that would give them a little time to get settled back at home. He glanced sideways at Chloe as he walked up the sidewalk of their apartment building, opening the front door for ( Read more... )

Oliver made his way into the penthouse, his heart beating quickly. He quickly headed for the answering machine, his chest tightening when he saw it was flashing with four messages. The four messages he had left ( Read more... )

Oliver had the chicken already marinating in barbecue sauce by the time Mia got home from school, and he'd changed out of his suit and into a pair of sweatpants and a white t-shirt, ready for training. He heard the turning of a key in the front door and grinned a little, pulling a couple of bottles of water from the fridge and greeting Mia in the ( Read more... )

The drive back to the clock tower was long and silent. He wanted to ask her what had happened, but he knew her well enough to know she needed some time to sort it out in her own mind before he started asking questions. It was no secret to anyone who knew them that Chloe and Tess pretty much hated one another, and had since they'd first met. He knew ( Read more... )

It was a quiet night in Metropolis, Kansas.

Which considering the recent crime-wave that had brought him to the city in the first place, was highly unusual.

He watched the LuthorCorp building silently from a few rooftops away. Maybe it was time to get down to the other thing that had brought him to Kansas. Nodding slightly, he ran across the ( Read more... )

Oddly enough, as the days came and went in a blur, the two of them fell into a routine of sorts. Wake up in the morning, he would fix breakfast, they'd watch a movie and take Nellie out for a walk on the beach. Then they'd eat lunch--either last night's leftovers, or take-out of some kind. After lunch, it was either napping or another movie, ( Read more... )

Metropolis was not the same as when he'd left four years ago ( Read more... )

Oliver stood on the balcony of his penthouse suite apartment that night, staring blankly out over the city, then finished off the glass of whiskey, shutting his eyes as the liquid burned his throat all the way down. Letting out a breath, he pushed himself away from the railing and moved to set the glass down ( Read more... )