I'd Come For You 20/24
banner by: alxnhnt22
Title: I'd Come For You
Chapter: 20/24
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing: Chloe Sullivan and Oliver Queen
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 5,965
Prompt: This is dedicated to the amazing slytherinpunk who wanted to see a fic where Chloe met Oliver and Green Arrow before Lois and Clark did. Happy Birthday, Dawn! ♥
Previous Chapters: One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen Sixteen Seventeen Eighteen Nineteen
Chloe sat behind her desk at the Daily Planet scowling at the words she had just written. The article on the historical society’s new décor brought the term “puff piece” to a whole new level. There was absolutely nothing relevant or important about the changes that had been made and she had no doubt the article would never actually make it into the paper. But she was still going to write it to the best of her ability because she wasn’t about to give Lex the satisfaction he was looking for.
It had been just over a month since he’d announced Luthor Corp’s acquisition of the Planet and he had replaced Franklin as editor a few days later. Lex had called a meeting with the staff and assured them that even though he would be making changes as he saw fit, he was still going to strive to make sure the Planet remained one of the leading newspapers in the country.
He’d left out the part that he planned to censor any and all stories that had anything to do with his evil plots or that somehow make him, his family or his company look bad. He sent two of the paper’s top reporters on an extended overseas assignment and he had promoted bullpen reporters who were not qualified to take their place covering the breaking news in and around Metropolis. Chloe knew both of the reporters were ones that had been on Lex’s payroll long before he had a legitimate reason to sign their checks.
Lex had yet to address her personally except for the occasional nod in her direction if he passed through the bullpen, but Chloe had no doubt her latest story assignments were all his doing. She’d been paying her dues as a cub reporter under Franklin and she had been fine with that because he had still given her freedom to research and work on other stories in addition to the standard pieces he assigned to her each week. She knew those days were gone now and she had no choice other than to do whatever miniscule assignment Lex sent her way.
She flipped through her notes and went back to the story, adding in the mindless quotes she had gotten from people working at the historical society. Her stomach growled, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten anything all day. Chloe glanced at the clock in the corner of her screen. It was just after eleven and she was supposed to meet Lois and Clark for lunch at twelve-thirty. The morning was dragging more than usual and for once she was actually grateful for their sudden overprotective need to keep an eye on her.
Oliver had been out of town more often than not since they had returned from the mission in Vancouver and Lois and Clark had stepped in as her unofficial babysitters with constant lunch dates, dinner invites and random phone calls throughout the day. Chloe knew they were worried about her after her failed attempt to heal AC and they didn’t like the idea of her being so close to Lex on a daily basis without any backup. She appreciated their concern, but she doubted Lex would try anything with an entire newsroom full of witnesses around.
But having a distraction wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Chloe glanced at the clock again, mentally calculating the time difference in New Zealand where the team was currently working to take down three different 33.1 labs in a two mile radius. It was still early in the morning there. The week before, they had been on an island off the coast of Australia and while that mission had been a success, she’d had more conversations with Oliver’s voicemail than with him lately.
Chloe missed him desperately, but she knew this was the way things had to be. Their priority was to bring down Lex and save all the innocent people who he was torturing with his experiments. Oliver made sure she received all the intel they uncovered and she did as much research as she could from his penthouse, but she still couldn’t help feeling useless. It wasn’t like she could guide the team from the other side of the world and hold down her day job, as unfulfilling as it had become.
Sighing, Chloe pushed the thoughts aside and turned her attention back to the article. It wasn’t going to do anyone any good if she sat around feeling sorry for herself. She had known what she was getting into with Oliver and as much as she wished she could see him more often or talk to him for more than five minute intervals, she knew the cause was more important than their relationship. It had to be.
A shadow fell over her desk and she looked up, surprised to see Clark standing there. His hands were stuffed in his pockets and his eyes darted around the bullpen nervously. “Do you have a minute?” he asked.
“Of course,” Chloe replied. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she quickly locked her computer and motioned for him to follow her toward the copy room. She made sure no one was inside and closed the door behind them. Clark would not show up at the paper unexpectedly unless there was a problem. “What’s wrong? Is it Lois?” she asked.
Clark shook his head. “Lois is fine.” He glanced out the small window to make sure Lex was nowhere in sight before lowering his voice. “Oliver called me this morning,” he started.
“What?” Chloe cried, not bothering to keep her voice down. Fear gripped her chest as her mind ran through all the worst case scenarios. If Oliver had called Clark in the morning that meant it had been the middle of the night in New Zealand and they had probably been in the middle of a mission. “Did something go wrong?” she asked, confused as to why Oliver hadn’t called her and let her know what was going on.
“Oliver is fine,” Clark assured her. Feeling guilty for the obvious panic he had caused her, Clark placed his hands on her shoulders to offer her some comfort. “One of the labs they came across has more security than the others and he asked me to help them. I already told Lois, but I wanted to see you before I left,” he explained.
Chloe forced herself to take a deep breath, but her body still refused to relax. She knew Oliver wouldn’t involve Clark unless the mission was dangerous and she was slightly put off that he had called Clark directly without saying anything to her. She knew her thoughts were irrational; Oliver didn’t have to check in with her and he certainly didn’t need to run every step of the mission by her. She just wanted to hear it from him that everything was all right.
“Did he tell you anything else?” she asked.
“Just that he would fill me in when I got there and if everything went as planned, I wouldn’t have to be gone more than a day,” Clark replied. He wasn’t crazy about leaving Lois and Chloe alone in Metropolis, but he knew Oliver wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t necessary. “Do you want me to tell him anything for you?” he asked uncomfortably.
Chloe bit the corner of her lip to keep herself from laughing. She knew Clark was just trying to be a good friend, but the idea of him relaying a personal message to Oliver for her was hilarious. She averted her eyes as a bubble of laughter rose in her throat. “That’s okay, Clark,” she said, doing everything in her power not to laugh in his face.
Clark rolled his eyes, dropping his hands from her shoulders. “I wasn’t trying to be funny, Chloe.” He didn’t exactly relish the idea of passing along a message from his best friend to the guy he still wasn’t sure was right for her, but Lois had told him again that it was none of his business and Oliver made Chloe happy so he was making an effort.
“I know, Clark, I’m sorry.” Chloe gave him a quick hug. “Just be safe and make sure everyone else is too. I’m sure Ollie will call me himself when he has a chance,” she said. She just wished she had a better idea of when that would be.
He nodded. “Just be careful while I’m gone and try to keep a low profile.” Clark glanced out the window again. “Lex knows the team is taking down his labs and he might get desperate.”
“I think Ollie and the rest of the team are in a lot more danger than Lois and I are,” Chloe replied. The smile slipped from her face as the familiar fear took center stage in her chest once again. The team had taken down ten facilities in the past month, including the Vancouver one. She had no doubt Lex was out for blood at this point.
“Oliver and the others will be fine,” Clark said. He squeezed her shoulder and reached for the door handle. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, but if you or Lois need anything, call me right away.”
“We will,” Chloe assured him. She followed Clark out of the copy room and spotted Lex making his way down the stairs. His eyes passed over them, but his expression didn’t change as he walked through the bullpen toward the managing editor’s office.
Clark frowned as he watched him walk away. He had been hoping to get in and out of the building without Lex knowing he had stopped by to see Chloe. “Maybe I should stay,” he said.
“Go,” Chloe insisted. She gave Clark a light shove toward the door. “I have an article to finish and then I’m going to lunch with Lois. This is important, Clark,” she reminded him.
He nodded, glanced in the direction Lex had disappeared one last time and walked toward the door. Chloe went back to her desk, unlocked her computer and tried to get her mind back on the article instead of worrying about what was happening with Oliver on the other side of the world.
***
It was just after one when Lois jogged down the stairs to the basement of the Daily Planet. She had gotten held up on the other side of the city investigating a woman’s claim that she had seen a ship from outer space crash land in her backyard. While Lois knew better than anyone that those sorts of things happened, she had been confident the woman would turn out to be just another crackpot looking for her fifteen minutes of fame. Sure enough, after listening to her squawk for nearly two hours, the only evidence she had was a baseball that had shattered a potted plant on her patio.
She crossed the busy newsroom to her cousin’s desk, lifting herself up to sit on the corner as she waited for Chloe to glance away from the computer screen. When she finally did, Lois offered her an apologetic smile. “Sorry I’m late. I was covering another alien invasion that turned out to be nothing.”
“One of these days you’re going to discover the real thing and not know what to do,” Chloe teased. It was a running joke between them that Clark never found amusing, but the two women continued to be delighted by it. “I just have to finish up this email and we can go.” She had finished her article and sent it to the copy desk only to receive an email asking for more information. Chloe was convinced Lex was probably having a good laugh at her expense, but if he wanted more information on interior decorating, she would get it for him.
“No rush,” Lois replied. She pulled out her cell phone to see if there were any messages from Clark. He had called her after he had stopped by to see Chloe and mentioned that Lex had spotted him. Personally, Lois thought that was a good thing. She wanted the bald billionaire to know that her cousin had an entire support system behind her and he’d be a fool to try anything. But Clark thought it would be better for all of them if they didn’t go out of their way to provoke Lex.
“Anything from Clark?” Chloe asked. She could see Lois playing with her phone out of the corner of her eye as she finished the email and hit send. She’d checked her own phone no less than twenty times in the past two hours and tried not to be disappointed when there were no messages from Oliver or anyone else. She knew he was busy, but she hated not having any idea what was happening or why it was so important that Clark join them.
“No, but I’m sure he’ll call later,” Lois said. She didn’t have to ask if Chloe had heard from Oliver. Her cousin’s mood had been on a steady decline since he’d left for the latest mission and Lois knew the distance was getting to her even though she would never admit it. She was worried that if Chloe continued to keep her feelings bottled up inside, sooner or later she was bound to explode.
“Probably,” Chloe agreed. She turned her eyes back to the screen so her cousin wouldn’t see the disappointment in them. It had only been a few hours since Clark had left. There was no reason for her to get worked up. She logged out of the computer and reached into her drawer to grab her purse. “Where do you want to go for lunch?” she asked.
“You’re certainly popular today.” Lex appeared beside her desk before Lois had a chance to respond to Chloe’s question. “This is your second visitor in as many hours,” he commented. “Do you need to take a personal day?”
Chloe forced herself to keep her expression neutral as she straightened up and turned to face Lex. She heard the less than subtle mocking in his tone and the last thing she wanted to do was give him any kind of satisfaction. “We’re just on our way to lunch. Employees do still get lunch breaks,” she said.
Lex gave her a cold smile before turning his attention to Lois. “Ms. Lane, should I be concerned that the competition has infiltrated my newsroom? Then again, since we don’t run any stories on alien invasions or two-headed babies, I suppose there’s no conflict of interest for either one of you. Feel free to look around and see what it’s like to be in a real newsroom,” he said. His voice was dripping with condescension.
“That’s very generous of you, Luthor.” Lois slid off the desk and linked her arm through Chloe’s. As much as she wanted to give the bastard a piece of her mind, she knew it wasn’t a good idea to provoke him when the team was in the middle of a dangerous mission. The last thing he needed was more ammunition.
“I’m a generous man,” Lex replied. He shifted slightly, blocking them from moving past him. “So generous, that I’m going to give you the rest of the day off, Chloe. You obviously have personal issues that need to be addressed. But before you go, I wanted to let you know that there will be an invitation going out later today for a charity ball I’m hosting at Luthor Corp. I want all members of my staff to attend. You’re welcome to bring a guest, but I’ll understand if that’s not an option for you considering some of the things I’ve heard recently.” He gave her another cold smile as the implication hung in the air.
Chloe’s eyes narrowed. She knew Lex was referring to all the gossip magazines that had posted articles about Oliver partying his way across Europe. Of course Lex had no idea that Chloe had actually planted the articles herself in an effort to keep Oliver’s name on the radar so there was less of a chance Lex would put his absence from Metropolis together with Green Arrow’s activities. But she knew he was just looking to get a reaction out of her.
“Careful, Lex,” Lois drawled. She returned his cold smile with an icy one of her own. “Last time you made unfounded accusations, you ended up with a black eye.” She tugged on Chloe’s arm and pulled her cousin around Lex. “I’m thinking Chinese food for lunch,” she said brightly as they walked toward the stairs.
“That’s fine,” Chloe agreed. She fought the urge to turn around and tell Lex exactly where he could shove his so-called generosity. He was doing everything he could to get a rise out of her and she wasn’t the type who backed down easily. But she had to remember that Oliver and the others were in the line of fire and she didn’t want to risk putting them in any more danger by pissing Lex off. It was probably a good thing that he’d given her the rest of the afternoon off even if he was just doing it to spite her.
***
“So then she pulls out this baseball and hands it to me like she’s giving me the Holy Grail or something.” Lois rolled her eyes and reached for her egg roll. “My entire morning was wasted,” she grumbled.
Chloe offered her cousin a sympathetic smile as she pushed her food around her plate with her chopsticks. She was only half-listening as Lois ranted about her morning. Chloe knew her cousin was trying to distract her and she appreciated the effort, but all she could think about was Oliver. She was tempted to text him and just ask what was going on with the mission, but she knew he didn’t have time to waste easing her fears.
“Are you going to eat that or just pretend like you’re pretending to listen to me?” Lois asked bluntly. She felt like she’d been talking to herself since they had left the Planet. Chloe had muttered the occasional response, but for the most part, she just sat across from her, sulking. Lois was tired of it. “You need to get this out, Chlo. This isn’t healthy.” She gestured at her with her chopsticks.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Chloe replied. She scooped some chicken and rice up with her chopsticks and made a point of shoving the food in her mouth and chewing slowly. “Happy?” she asked.
Lois rolled her eyes. “This is exactly what I’m talking about, Chlo. You’ve been in a bad mood since you came back from Vancouver and it’s getting worse by the minute.” She took a long sip of her water as she eyed her cousin across the table. Lois had tried the kid glove approach because she knew that Chloe was hurting, but it was time for some tough love. It was the only way to get through Chloe’s thick skull. “Do you really think I can’t see that you miss Oliver?”
“I never said I didn’t miss him,” Chloe replied defensively. She reached for her own water to try and wash down the lump that had jumped into her throat. She didn’t want to have this discussion with Lois at all, but she definitely didn’t want to have it in the middle of the restaurant even if they were practically the only people there. “But I understand why he needs to be out of town just like you understand why Clark spends more time saving people at night than he does with you.”
As far as Lois was concerned, Chloe’s defensive response only proved her point. “That’s not the issue here and we both know it.” She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table as Chloe continued to stare down at the food she wasn’t eating to avoid eye contact. “You still haven’t said much about what happened in Vancouver,” she commented.
Chloe stiffened. She had filled Lois and Clark in on the mission and AC’s injury and she’d had no choice but to tell them that she’d tried to use her power and it had failed her. She still had no idea why and even though Emil had offered to run tests for her, Chloe had declined. Maybe healing Oliver had been a fluke or her power had been a onetime deal. It didn’t really matter as far as Chloe was concerned. She wasn’t going to be useful to the team and there was no point in dwelling on it.
“What’s there to say, Lois?” She looked up from her food and met her cousin’s gaze across the table. “I already told you guys what happened. The story isn’t going to be any different if I tell you again.”
“I’m not interested in what happened, I’m interested - no scratch that - I’m concerned about your reaction to what happened. Or lack of reaction as the case may be.” She lowered her voice and leaned closer to her cousin. “You spent all that time pretending your meteor power didn’t exist and then it failed when you needed it. I know you, Chloe,” she reminded her. Chloe could live in denial even better than she could and Lois was not going to let her do it any longer. “You must have some feelings on the matter.”
“Yes,” Chloe said icily. “I have feelings. I wish I could have helped AC so he didn’t have to suffer all that extra time. I couldn’t.” She lifted one shoulder in a shrug and picked up her chopsticks again, blindly scooping food into them. She didn’t understand why Lois had suddenly decided to push this particular issue.
Lois was not the slightest bit intimidated by the cold warning in Chloe’s tone. “Are you really going to sit there and act like you don’t want to know what the reason is? You, Chloe Sullivan, the girl who came out of the womb curious?” she challenged. “You forget who you’re talking to, cuz.”
Chloe scowled. She knew exactly who she was talking to and the look in Lois’s eyes told her that she had no intention of letting this go no matter what Chloe said. Sighing loudly, she reached for her egg roll and took a bite. The food only seemed to make her stomach tie itself in more knots. “The reason doesn’t matter, Lois.”
“You’re only saying that because you’re afraid of what that reason might be,” Lois replied. She saw Chloe flinch and knew she had hit the nail on the head once again. Lois had done plenty of her own research on people with meteor powers and she knew that most of them had some sort of trigger. She had a feeling she knew exactly what had driven her cousin to heal Oliver and she was going to make Chloe see it whether she wanted to or not.
“Oh, and I suppose you have some sort of theory?” Chloe guessed. She didn’t care for the smug look on Lois’s face. Obviously her cousin thought she had all the answers. Chloe motioned for her to get on with it. “Please, share with the class.”
Lois reached for the knife the waiter had brought them to divide up the appetizer. She saw Chloe frown and open her mouth, but before she had a chance to say anything, Lois dragged the blade across the back of her hand. She swore under her breath at the shot of pain that radiated through her body.
“Are you crazy?” Chloe cried. She hurriedly grabbed her napkin and pushed it against the open wound on Lois’s hand. “What did you think was going to…?” Her voice trailed off as her hand began to glow. She heard Lois gasp, but once again, Chloe felt like she was separated from her body and barely felt anything as the warmth from her hand traveled to her cousin’s wound. The light faded a few seconds later and both women stared at Lois’s hand.
“Not even a scratch,” Lois whispered. Her eyes were wide as she looked from her hand to Chloe. Aside from being a lot paler than she had been a minute ago, Chloe seemed fine. But she knew she had slept for hours after healing Oliver. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“I don’t think I’m going to pass out if that’s what you’re worried about,” Chloe replied. She reached for her water and drank the entire glass in one long gulp. She didn’t really feel all that different, maybe a little tired, but more shocked than anything. She narrowed her eyes at Lois. “What were you trying to prove with that stunt? What if it hadn’t worked?” she demanded.
Lois shrugged. “Then I would have had an ugly scar on my hand. Besides, I knew it would work,” she said confidently even as her hand shook slightly when she reached for her water. She’d known Chloe would have just scoffed at her if she explained her theory to her so she’d decided to just show her instead.
“Fine, now that we’ve established that you’re crazy, why don’t you tell me what other point you were trying to make?” Chloe hissed. She didn’t understand where Lois was going with this anymore than she understood why her power had worked on Lois. It hadn’t crossed her mind that she could heal her cousin, all she’d wanted to do was stop the bleeding.
“You really don’t see it,” Lois said quietly. Chloe’s denial ran even deeper than she’d thought. No wonder her cousin had been so depressed. She was lying to herself as much as she was everyone else. “Chloe, how many times have you met AC?” she asked.
Chloe blinked, confused by the random question. “I don’t know. A handful, if that,” she said. “Why?” She didn’t see what that had to do with anything.
“You don’t have an emotional attachment to him,” Lois said. “Sure, he’s a nice guy and you hated seeing him hurt, but it wasn’t enough to trigger your power whereas I’m your family and your best friend and Oliver…” Her voice trailed off and she looked at her cousin expectantly.
Chloe’s mouth fell open and she could only stare at Lois as she considered her words. She wanted to tell her that she was crazy and it was probably the blood loss putting ideas in her head. But the theory made sense in its own way. There was no scientific rhyme or reason to meteor abilities, which was part of the reason Lex was so determined to turn infected people into his own lab rats. Maybe her ability was closely tied to her emotions. It would explain why she had been able to heal Lois and Oliver without even thinking about what she was doing.
“I’m right,” Lois insisted when Chloe didn’t say anything. She reached across the table and squeezed Chloe’s hand tightly. “You need to admit that Oliver is not just some guy who you want to take things one day at a time with, Chlo. You’re in love with him and that’s not going to change just because you keep telling yourself that his second job is more important than your feelings.”
“It is,” Chloe snapped. She pulled her hand back and angrily wiped away the tears that were pooling in the corners of her eyes. “Oliver and I are not you and Clark.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Even if Oliver and the team manage to take out all of Lex’s facilities, that doesn’t mean he’s just going to come back here for me. He lives in California, Lois. Besides, there will always be people like Lex out there. I’m not going to hold him back.”
Lois rolled her eyes. “How do you see any of this as you holding him back? I thought you volunteered to help the team and Oliver was all for it. That doesn’t seem like the kind of thing a man would do if he was worried that you were going to be in his way.” She wanted to reach across the table and shake her cousin until she started making sense. She didn’t understand how Chloe could be so smart and still have no idea how that Oliver was just as crazy about her as she was about him.
“There is only so much I can do to help them,” Chloe pointed out. She sniffled as she desperately tried to get a grip on her emotions and keep the tears from falling. “Lois, don’t you see? The only thing keeping Ollie tied to Metropolis is me and I can’t be a distraction for him. I won’t,” she said firmly.
“Does Oliver have any say in this matter?” Lois asked. She could see how much Chloe was already hurting and Oliver had only been gone for a few weeks. “Chloe, I know you don’t want to hear this, but if you push him away, sooner or later he’s going to stop coming back. Can you live with that?”
Chloe swallowed hard, turning to stare out the window instead of answering.
***
A loud buzzing pulled Chloe out of a restless sleep. Groaning, she rolled over and swatted her alarm clock. She’d gone to bed well after midnight and her mind had refused to let her relax even though her body was exhausted. The buzzing continued even as she pressed the button to silence the alarm. Chloe opened one eye and was surprised to see her room was dark, the numbers on the clock telling her that it was a little after three a.m.
Chloe realized the buzzing was coming from her cell phone. She quickly snatched it off the charger, her heart pounding in her chest when she saw Oliver’s name on the caller ID. She’d spent the rest of the afternoon and most of the night worrying as she waited for him to call or for Clark to come back. She quickly pressed the answer button and brought the phone to her ear.
“Ollie?” she answered uncertainly, her voice thick with sleep.
“Hey Sidekick,” Oliver replied. He winced, feeling guilty for interrupting her sleep. He knew it was the middle of the night on the other side of the world, but it had been almost two days since he’d talked to her. “Sorry to wake you up but this was the only time I could call.”
“It’s okay,” Chloe said. She sat up against the headboard, her heart still beating erratically. He sounded tired, but other than that, she didn’t hear anything troubling in his voice. “How did it go? Is Clark still there?” she asked.
“He left a little while ago,” Oliver replied. He sat down on the couch in his hotel suite, taking a moment to enjoy the quiet. The guys were out grabbing dinner and he had declined going with them, opting to call Chloe instead. “Things were a little dicey,” he told her honestly. “But we were able to shut down the three facilities with Clark’s help. Vic will send you all the data when he has a chance.”
“I’m glad everything worked out,” Chloe said. She bit the corner of her lip as she felt tears pooling in her eyes once again. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew Lois was right. Her feelings for Oliver ran deep and she didn’t know how she was supposed to deal with them. She had already gotten too attached to him and it wasn’t fair.
Oliver frowned. He heard a slight hitch in her voice and he wasn’t sure if it was because she was tired or if there was something else going on. Clark had told him that Chloe still wasn’t talking about her healing power and she seemed more withdrawn than usual since Lex had taken over at the Planet.
“How are things on your end?” he asked. “Clark mentioned that Lex saw him when he stopped by the Planet earlier.”
Chloe rolled her eyes and wondered what else Clark had said. “He did and he saw Lois too. He’s having a party for the staff this Friday at Luthor Corp. He made a point of telling me I could bring a guest but hinting that he knew you’d be busy. At least all those articles we’ve been planting are doing their job,” she said, doing her best to keep her tone light so that he didn’t worry about her.
“We’re going to be here another day or so, but I’ll make sure I’m back in time for that,” Oliver said. He’d been hoping to board the jet in the morning, but AC had discovered another possible site that they needed to check out first. But he would make sure he was back by Friday even if he had to have Bart run him to Metropolis.
“Ollie, you don’t have to do that,” Chloe insisted even as her heart tightened in her chest. She missed him and she wanted him to come back, but this was exactly what she’d been afraid of. He was worried about her being near Lex and he would put the mission on hold to make sure that she was okay. “The party is not a big deal. The entire staff will be there. I just need to put in a quick appearance.”
“I’ll be there,” Oliver told her firmly. He heard the hitch in her voice again and he hated that he wasn’t with her. “I miss you,” he said.
“I miss you too,” Chloe replied. Tears slipped down her cheeks and she quickly brushed them aside. “But I’m fine here, Ollie.” She swallowed hard, willing her voice to remain steady as she spoke. “I don’t want you to come back if you’re not finished with the mission.”
“We will be,” Oliver said. He would make sure of it. “I should let you get back to sleep. I’ll see you in a few days, Sidekick.”
Chloe bit down on her lip, covering the phone receiver with her hand as she choked back a sob. There were so many things she wanted to say to him. She wanted to tell him that she had healed Lois without trying. She wanted to tell him that even though she was scared that her power was still there, part of her was relieved that she might be able to control it after all. More than anything, she wanted to tell him how much she wished he was there beside her so she could feel his strong arms wrapped around her.
But she knew that she couldn’t tell him any of that. He had to stay focused on the mission so that he would be safe. The last thing Chloe wanted was for him to focus on her instead of concentrating on what needed to be done. “Be careful, Ollie,” she said finally. She ended the call, buried her face in her pillow and let the tears pour out of her.
Oliver stared at the phone in his hand, debating if he should call her back. Despite her assurances, he knew she wasn’t okay and he wished he wasn’t on the other side of the world when she obviously needed him. He briefly considered calling Clark and asking him to come back for him, but he knew Chloe wouldn’t want that. She’d be upset if he came back before the mission was finished.
Dragging his hand through his hair, Oliver sighed and rested his head against the back of the couch. As far as he was concerned, keeping him from Chloe was just one more thing he was going to make Lex pay for.
Twenty-One.