Look After You 16/20
banner by: kyra_and_co
Title: Look After You
Chapter: 16/20
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing: Chloe Sullivan and Oliver Queen
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 4,880
Summary: Chloe Sullivan agrees to be the sidekick to Oliver Queen's Green Arrow, but neither one of them realizes that's only the beginning of what fate has in store for them.
Previous Chapters: One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen
When I'm losing my control, the city spins around
You're the only one who knows, you slow it down
-The Fray
Chloe was smiling before she opened her eyes the next morning. Memories of the night flashed through her brain. Oliver’s hands, Oliver’s mouth, his body moving over hers and inside her. Chloe bit down on her lip to keep herself from moaning. She could feel Oliver’s hard body pressed up against her back, his legs tangled with hers and his arm wrapped possessively around her waist as he slept. She shifted as carefully as possible, turning her body to face him without waking him up.
He looked so peaceful and absolutely adorable as he slept. Chloe was tempted to reach out and brush his hair back from his face, but she knew how little he’d been sleeping lately and she wanted him to enjoy it while he could. She wished that they could stay there forever, just the two of them, and keep the outside world and all their problems far away. It wasn’t like they hadn’t earned it with everything they had gone through to finally get to this point.
But the world wasn’t going to stop turning just because she wanted it to and they weren’t the type of people who could just bury their hands in the sand and pretend everything was fine when it wasn’t. They still had so much work to do to solve the Veritas mystery and figure out a way to help Patricia get back to normal. There was also the matter of their day jobs, which Chloe knew she was in danger of being very late for if she didn’t get out of bed soon.
Glancing at Oliver one last time, Chloe slowly began to move her body away from his. She managed to get to the edge of the bed, but his arm was still holding onto her waist. She gently pulled out of his grasp, holding her breath to see if her movements would wake him. She saw his brow furrow slightly, but his breathing remained even.
Chloe glanced at the open bathroom door and decided she needed caffeine before she showered. Ignoring her scattered clothes, she went to Oliver’s closet and grabbed one of his dress shirts, buttoning it as she made her way down the stairs. The penthouse seemed abnormally quiet now that the team was gone. She briefly wondered how things had gone with Lois and Clark.
Her thoughts drifted back to Oliver as she poured water into the coffeemaker. She couldn’t seem to stop herself from smiling and Chloe wondered how she was going to get through an entire day at the Planet being away from him. Maybe she should call in sick or let Tess know she was going to work from home. Chloe figured she could always ask Lois to cover for her. The idea of crawling back in bed with Oliver was very appealing.
She jumped when she felt his strong arms wrap around her waist. Oliver pulled her body flush against him, nudging her head to the side with his before his lips descended to her neck. Sighing softly, Chloe laid her hands over his and let herself get lost in the sensation of his mouth on her skin.
“I was disappointed when I woke up alone this morning,” Oliver said. His tongue darted out to trace her pulse point and Chloe was grateful he was holding her up when her knees went weak. “I felt used,” he said as he softly sucked on her skin.
Reaching back, Chloe buried a hand in his hair and turned her head to press a kiss to his jaw. “Sorry Mr. Queen, but I got what I wanted from you,” she teased.
Oliver laughed. “I see how it is, Sidekick. I also see that you helped yourself to my shirt.” His lips continued their path down her neck as his hands slid up from her waist to palm her breasts through the material of his shirt.
“Mmm, I suppose I did,” Chloe said. Her head fell back against his bare chest as his thumbs tweaked her nipples to attention. “Is that a problem?” she asked.
“A minor one,” Oliver said. “But I believe it can be easily fixed.” His fingers made quick work of the buttons on her shirt and he spun her around quickly, shoving the fabric off her shoulders to pool on the floor at their feet. Hungrily, his eyes drank her in before his mouth swooped down to claim hers.
Chloe clung to him, returning the kiss desperately. His hands dropped to her hips and he lifted her onto the counter, easing her onto her back. Her eyes fluttered open and she stared up at him. “Really?” she asked.
“Really,” Oliver said. He lowered his mouth and devoured her in a scorching kiss. His lips slanted over hers again and again as he sank deeper into her. Chloe’s fingers buried themselves in his hair, drawing him in closer.
***
Needless to say, Chloe was more than a few hours late for work. But after the kitchen and the shower and Oliver’s bed, her body was humming with energy and she couldn’t quite bring herself to care that she was being unprofessional. She made her way into the newsroom with every intention of staying late to make up for the missed hours, pointedly ignoring the voice in her head that scoffed at her and said there was no way she could be away from Oliver that long.
Please, I do have some self-control, Chloe rationalized with herself even as her mind drifted back to Oliver pressing her up against the tile in the shower. She thought about the way his slippery skin and taut muscles felt under her hands while he thrust into her over and over again until she was screaming his name.
“Ms. Mercer needs to see you in her office.”
“What?” Blinking in surprise, Chloe stared up at Tess’s assistant or henchman or whatever his official job description was. He was the same man who had led her to Tess’s office the first day she had met the redheaded viper.
“Ms. Mercer needs to see you now,” he repeated. His tone made it clear that he was irritated to have to repeat himself.
“Lucky me,” Chloe muttered. She supposed she should have expected this meeting since Tess had been watching her closely lately and she had just shown up nearly three hours late. Chloe pushed all thoughts of Oliver out of her head and put her game face on as she made her way to the elevator. She had no idea what Tess was up to, but she needed to be prepared for anything.
“Chloe,” Tess greeted her coolly as she entered the office. The henchman closed the door at her back and Tess pointed to the chair across from her desk. “It was nice of you to show up for work today,” she said.
Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Chloe kept her expression neutral as she sat down in the chair Tess had indicated. “I know you’re not a journalist, so this might be a hard concept for you to understand, but news happens in the world, not behind a desk,” she pointed out.
Tess arched an eyebrow and just watched her for a moment. When Chloe simply stared right back, Tess nodded. “Fine, we can pretend you were chasing a story. But I called you in here to give you a friendly warning.”
“Friendly?” Chloe snorted at the term. “We both know we’re not friends, Tess and we never will be. So why don’t you stop wasting my time and say whatever it is you want to say so we can go back to our neutral corners,” she suggested.
“Interesting you mentioned neutral corners,” Tess commented. She held up a stack of papers. “Have you read the article Lois wrote about the fight club that got busted last night? It’s a fascinating story about the wealthy and bored taking their unhealthy obsessions and habits a bit too far.”
Chloe fought to keep calm as a rush of panic went through her. Tess was obviously hinting hard at something and she doubted it had anything to do with what Lois had written in her article. Chloe realized she’d forgotten to double check the police reports to make sure that there was no mention of Oliver in any of them.
“I haven’t had a chance to read it, but Lois mentioned it to me,” she said carefully.
Tess nodded. “You might want to show it to Oliver,” she said. “It’s exactly the kind of place he used to be drawn to,” she added.
Chloe’s expression hardened. “Oliver is not that person anymore, Tess. Not that he is any of your business,” she said pointedly. The last thing she wanted was for Tess to think that Oliver gave a damn what she thought about his life.
“Maybe not,” Tess agreed. She folded her hands on the desk in front of her and leaned forward. “But I know what obsession can do to a person and how it can drive them to the edge and cost them everything,” she said.
“Lex,” Chloe guessed. She wasn’t sure why Tess suddenly wanted to have a heart to heart chat, but if she knew anything that could help Oliver, Chloe wanted to try and find out. “Do you know what happened to him?”
“He got caught up in something that was bigger than him and it destroyed him,” Tess replied. She leaned back in her chair again and eyed Chloe warily. “Despite what you might think, I don’t want to see the same thing happen to Oliver.”
Pursing her lips, Chloe knew she had to choose her words carefully. She didn’t trust the woman at all, but maybe she did still care about Oliver. But she had been the one to set him on the path to connect the dots between Veritas and his parents in the first place. If she wanted him to stay clear of it, why would she have done that?
“I can see that you don’t trust me and that’s fine,” Tess said before Chloe had a chance to say anything. “I don’t trust you either, but I think we can both agree that we don’t want to see Oliver lose his mind or his life over a bunch of meaningless symbols.”
It took every ounce of willpower Chloe had to keep herself from reacting to that comment even as her mind started racing. Tess had Dr. Swan’s journal. She had probably found it after Lex disappeared or maybe they had been working together all along. That explained how she knew about the Queens being involved. But she obviously didn’t know much about the Kryptonian symbols unless she was just bluffing to see if Chloe would give her any information.
“Don’t worry about Oliver,” Chloe said. “He won’t make the same mistakes Lex made because he knows there are more important things in this world than power.”
Tess smirked. “You just can’t resist taking shots at Lex, can you?”
Chloe shrugged. “Contrary to your rose-colored opinion, I know exactly what kind of man Lex Luthor was.” She stood up. “Can I assume we’re done here?” she asked.
“Close the door on your way out,” Tess replied.
“Always a pleasure,” Chloe muttered. She hurried down the hall to the elevator as her mind tried to formulate a plan. They needed to get their hands on that journal right away and the odds were Tess would know exactly who took it if she realized it was missing. Chloe pulled out her cell phone and texted Victor to see how fast he could put together a decoy journal from what they knew about the original.
When the doors opened into the newsroom, Chloe spotted Lois and tilted her head in the direction of the copy room. Lois nodded, hurried over and pushed the door shut behind her. “I know Ollie is probably still mad about last night,” she started.
Chloe shook her head. “That’s not important right now. I need your help,” she said quietly.
Lois nodded. “Anything you need,” she said.
“How do you feel about distracting Tess Mercer for a few hours?” Chloe asked.
“I can do that,” Lois said. She grinned at Chloe. “Then when we’re done with that little mission, you can tell me all about how you and Ollie finally hooked up,” she said.
“Lois!” Chloe cried. She could feel her skin burning. “That is inappropriate and none of your business,” she said firmly.
“Tell that to your sex glow,” Lois quipped. “I’m pretty sure they can see it from space.”
“We are not talking about this,” Chloe repeated. She lowered her voice and told Lois her plan.
***
The next night, Chloe sat on the couch in her apartment with her laptop and her com device in her ear. They had managed to put the mission together even faster than she’d thought possible, but she knew everyone was anxious to finally get some answers. She checked the satellite feed on her screen and tapped the com.
“Are you in position?” she asked.
“I am,” Lois replied. Her voice was much quieter than usual and Chloe was proud of her for making the effort to blend in. She knew it wasn’t her strong suit by any means.
“Do you have a visual?”
“I do,” Lois replied. She sat near the front of the restaurant, carefully staying out of sight by between the high-back of the booth she was sitting in and the newspaper she was pretending to read while she waited for her meal.
Across the room, Tess was seated with one of the city council members. He was running for reelection and looking for an endorsement from the Daily Planet. Lois had stopped by his office and hinted that Tess had been in a good mood lately and it was the perfect time to talk proposals. He had jumped at the chance and set up the dinner.
“They haven’t even ordered their drinks yet, so we’re talking a solid hour and a half before she leaves here and it’s a two hour drive back to Smallville,” she added.
“Good,” Chloe replied. Unless Tess had her own speedster that they were unaware of, there was no way she’d be back at the mansion before they were finished with the job. “Stand by and let me know if there’s any change.”
“Ten-four,” Lois replied.
Chloe glanced at the screen again and waited. A few minutes later, the com beeped in her ear. “Go ahead, Arrow,” she said.
“I’m in position,” Oliver replied. He stood on the roof of the Luthor mansion, hovering near one of the skylights that overlooked Lex’s den. “Waiting on your signal,” he said.
“Stand by,” Chloe replied. She switched from the aerial feed to the mansion’s personal security feed. Hacking into it had taken her longer than it used to, so she had to grudgingly give Tess props for that. “The room is empty and it looks like the guards are currently patrolling the west corridor. I’m switching the feed to a loop and then it will scramble.” She quickly typed the command and watched the screen reset itself. “You’ve got twenty seconds before the guards are alerted. Go.”
Oliver pulled open the skylight and used his zip line to lower himself silently to the main level. Careful not to make any noise, he flattened himself against the bookshelf and waited. Thirty seconds later, two guards rushed in and he dropped them both with taser arrows to the shoulder.
“Two down, Watchtower.” He stepped over them and ran down the long hallway that led to the bedrooms.
“You should have a few minutes before the perimeter guards are alerted,” Chloe replied. She had switched back to the satellite feed to monitor the heat signatures on the property. Oliver and the unconscious guards were the only ones in the house, but there were at least five guards on the grounds.
“Copy that,” Oliver replied. He made his way into the master bedroom that had once belonged to Lex. He’d never been in the room before, but he had to imagine it was exactly how he had left it when he disappeared. Oliver glanced at the various cologne bottles on the vanity along with a few pairs of cuff links and some loose change.
He reached into his utility belt and pulled out the device Victor had given him that would scan fingerprints. Oliver reached for the cologne bottle and ran the device along it. The screen created a perfect thumbprint and the name Lex Luthor appeared beneath it.
“Gotcha,” Oliver muttered. He put the bottle back and out of the corner of his eye caught sight of some framed photographs Lex had on the wall. All of them were of him at various charity events or groundbreaking ceremonies. Rolling his eyes, Oliver walked over to the closet where Lex’s clothes still hung in neat rows and made his way to the back wall where the safe was.
“You know people say I’m arrogant, but at least I don’t have pictures of myself all over the place,” he commented.
“You’re a different kind of arrogant,” Chloe replied. She kept her eye on the monitors to make sure the guards were still in place.
Oliver smirked as he attached the device to the safe’s scanner and watched it verify Lex’s print. “What kind of arrogant would that be?” he asked.
The husky tone of his voice combined with the voice distorter sent a shiver down Chloe’s spine and she had to force herself to focus. “Arrow now is not the time for an ego stroking,” she reminded him.
Knowing that she was struggling to keep her tone professional only made him smirk more. “I was thinking we could save the stroking for when I get back,” he said.
Chloe had to bite her lip to keep herself from moaning. He was much too good at this. “Does that mean you’re going to keep the uniform on?” she asked.
Oliver grinned. “You did say the leather was what got you,” he reminded her.
“Do you two realize I can hear you?” Lois broke in.
Oliver coughed as his skin burned with a rare blush. “I actually forgot about that little plot point. Sorry,” he added hastily.
Mortified, Chloe buried her head in her hands. Lois was never going to let her hear the end of this. She took a deep breath and focused her attention on the mission. “Arrow, did you acquire the target?” she asked.
“Yes,” Oliver replied. He found Dr. Swan’s journal on the shelf and carefully pulled the replica Victor had put together from his belt. Using his pocket knife, Oliver carefully cut the binding from the original journal and quickly glanced through the pages.
From the research and Clark’s memory, they knew the journal was a combination of Kryptonian symbols and Dr. Swan’s notes and observations. The tricky part was they had no idea how much information he spelled out regarding Veritas and there was no way to replicate that part. They just had to hope Tess wasn’t familiar enough with the book to be able to tell the difference at first glance.
“Arrow, there’s movement at the security station. You need to get out now,” Chloe warned.
He glued the fake journal pages into the original binding and carefully set the journal back on the shelf. Double checking to make sure the doors closed behind him, Oliver raced down the hall back to the den. He plucked the taser arrows from the unconscious guards and fired an arrow up the skylight. He had the window back in place and was running across the roof before the perimeter guards reached the front door.
Oliver vaulted off the roof, flipping over and landing in a forward roll on the back lawn. He made his way through the trees to where he’d stashed his bike and tapped the com device again. “I’m on my way back, Watchtower.”
“Copy that, Arrow.” Chloe quickly put the Luthor security system back online and carefully wiped out any trace that she’d been there. “Coast is clear,” she told her cousin.
“Okay,” Lois said. She caught the waiter’s attention and motioned for her check. “I’m going to wait for Boy Scout to finish with his patrol and then we’ll be there,” she said.
“Sounds good,” Chloe said. She slipped the com device out of her ear and set it on the table with her laptop. Reaching for her coffee mug, Chloe frowned when she realized it was empty. She went to the kitchen to make a fresh pot.
A few minutes later, the coffee was almost finished and Oliver came in through the living room window she’d left open. Without saying a word, he crossed the room toward her, hauled her body against him and crushed his lips to hers.
Chloe didn’t hesitate to kiss him back, gripping his biceps and wrapping her legs around his leather-clad waist as he backed her up against the wall. They feasted on each other in an exchange of lips, tongues and teeth until their lungs were ready to explode and they had no choice but to pull back for air.
She leaned her head back against the wall and tried to catch her breath while Oliver pushed his hood off and tossed his glasses on the counter. His eyes were dark with lust when they met hers.
“How long before Lois and Clark get back?” His hands slid up her thighs and gripped her ass, holding her even tighter against him.
Chloe stroked his cheek and pressed another quick kiss to his mouth. “Not long enough,” she whispered against his lips.
“Think we can get away with turning off the lights and locking the door?” Oliver asked. He ducked his head and kissed her again, long and sweet. His tongue danced with hers, touching, licking, loving her mouth deeply and intimately.
Chloe laughed when the kiss broke. “After what Lois heard? Probably not.”
Oliver grimaced at that and reluctantly set her on her feet. “To be continued,” he said.
“Counting on it,” Chloe replied. She skimmed her fingers over the front of his vest and her gaze locked with his.
He claimed her lips, kissing her hungrily. There was nothing casual about this kiss, it was passionate, possessive and left her shaking. His need and urgent desire for her poured into the kiss and Chloe felt the electricity sizzling through her skin. She wanted him just as desperately as he seemed to want her. But she knew they couldn’t get carried away.
Panting, Chloe put a hand on his chest and firmly pushed him back. “Ollie, we really need to take a look at that journal.”
“Right,” Oliver agreed. He struggled to keep a grip on what was left of his self-control. Another few seconds and he was going to take her right there in the kitchen and not give a damn if Lois and Clark walked in on them.
He pulled out the journal and set it on the counter while Chloe refilled her coffee mug. “It looks like he started this right after he intercepted the first transmission.”
Chloe sat down on the stool beside him and Oliver slid the journal closer to her, moving behind her to read over her shoulder. Dr. Swan had detailed everything he heard and deciphered that a traveler was being sent to earth to be the world’s protector.
The next few pages were filled with coordinates and possible dates and locations for the arrival. It didn’t take Dr. Swan long to realize a meteor shower was coming and he pinpointed the location to Kansas, but he wasn’t able to be more specific than that.
Chloe turned the page and Oliver held his breath when he spotted his parents’ names. She squeezed his hand and he leaned in closer to read.
“Along with my friends Robert and Laura Queen, Edward and Genevieve Teague and Lionel Luthor, I am making a vow to welcome the traveler to earth and do whatever is necessary to keep him safe and make sure that he fulfills his true destiny. In the event of any of our deaths, the other members of Veritas will continue on this path. We will keep the world safe,” he finished.
Chloe shifted in her seat to face him as he let the words sink in. “Ollie?”
“I’m okay,” Oliver said quietly. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I guess the desire to save the world runs in the family.”
Chloe could tell he was trying to be funny, but she could see the pain etched in his face. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she hugged him close to her. “Tell me what you’re really thinking,” she said.
“I don’t know what to think,” Oliver replied honestly. It was hard enough to wrap his mind around his parents and their friends devoting their lives to protect the traveler who would eventually end up being one of his friends and teammates.
“It’s a lot to process,” Chloe said. Up until that point everything had been speculation on their part. She knew it might take awhile for Oliver to come to grips with everything his parents had been doing.
“This still doesn’t explain what Lex was after or why someone altered Patricia’s mind to get to me,” Oliver said. He flipped through pages and pages of Kryptonian symbols that meant absolutely nothing to him.
“Look!” Chloe grabbed his hand to stop him from turning the page and pointed to a drawing of a key. “That’s the missing part of Patricia’s necklace.”
Oliver quickly skimmed the page trying to figure out why the key was important. “It says here that there were four made and two needed to access the box.”
“A safe deposit box?” Chloe guessed, thinking of Lex entering the bank in Switzerland. “He probably had Lionel’s key and he stole Patricia’s. That’s why he left town so fast.”
Oliver nodded. “That makes sense, but what could be so important they needed to hide it in a safe deposit box? It seems like all the information is here.” He tapped his hand against the journal.
Before Chloe could respond, the door opened and Lois rushed in followed by an embarrassed-looking Clark. Lois tossed her purse and coat on the chair and grinned at them.
“I had Smallville use that handy x-ray vision of his to make sure everyone was wearing clothes before we came in,” she announced.
Chloe’s face flushed and she glared at her cousin. “Did you make it out of the restaurant without Tess seeing you?”
“Yes,” Lois replied. Her smile faded when she saw the look on Oliver’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“More questions,” Oliver replied. He quickly filled them in on everything they had discovered in the journal before passing it over to Clark. “Maybe you can take a look at the symbols and see what we’re missing.”
Clark nodded and took a seat on the couch with the book. Chloe stayed where she was and rubbed her hand over Oliver’s back in an attempt to comfort him while he was lost in his thoughts. Not sure what to do, Lois poured herself a cup of coffee and started pacing the room.
“I found something.” Clark rose from the couch and turned to face his friends with a grim expression.
“Don’t keep us in the dark,” Lois insisted.
“Dr. Swan had concerns that the traveler - that I - would end up on the wrong side and use my powers against the world instead of for it. There was a device created to make sure that could never happen,” Clark said.
Chloe’s eyes widened. “Like a remote control?” she asked.
“Exactly,” Clark said stiffly. “The person who possessed it would have the ability to control my every action.”
“I think we just found Lex’s motivation,” Oliver muttered darkly. “He was probably foaming at the mouth at the thought of having all that power over you.”
Lois made a face. “I guess we can all be grateful he didn’t succeed.”
“But why didn’t he succeed?” Chloe asked. She glanced at each of them, her gaze finally resting on Oliver. “He had the journal, two keys and he made it all the way to Switzerland before he disappeared. What stopped him?”
“Or who,” Oliver said. “Everyone who is supposed to know about this society is dead. But someone scrambled Patricia’s brain and made Lex disappear.”
“We would know if someone had the device, right?” Lois asked. She turned to Clark, her eyes wide with fear.
Clark nodded. “I can go through the rest of the book and see if there’s anything else.”
“I’m going to call Emil and see if he can speed things up with Patricia. She might know who did that to her.” Oliver pulled out his cell phone and walked toward Chloe’s room to make the call.
Chloe glanced at Lois and saw her cousin staring back at her with the same mixture of fear and dread on her face that Chloe felt in her chest. They were finally starting to get the answers they’d been searching for, but they were anything but reassuring.
Seventeen.