GIft of Fate Chapter 17 (18/?)
Summary: Oliver has been missing for two years, ever since his boat went down in a sudden storm. Chloe is still grieving for him. What will it take for her to move on and live her life again? What happened to Oliver? Will he ever come back? And who's behind the mysterious disappearances in Star City?
Rating: PG-13 for the most part, however there are sections that are NC-17 (my first attempt, for the record) for sexual content. This fic contains violence and language. Chapters containing sexual content will be preceded by a warning.
Spoilers: The entire series, basically. The basic setting is season six with a twist, but anything is fair game if it works for this fic.
Warning: Again, this is AU and is a continuation of my fic Twist of Fate, which you really need to read first or this isn't going to make any sense. There will sexual content and violence.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, I'm just playing around with them.
Beta: jessicaj703 Thanks for all the help!
Previous Chapters: Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16
Banner by geek_or_unique
Author's Note: It seems that once again I am in the position of having to apologize for the massive gap between updates. College has been kicking my ass and I just haven't had the time to write. I'm finally beginning to get a handle on things, so hopefully that will help and I'll find a little more time to write. In the meantime, read and enjoy!
This chapter contains smut and is rated NC-17. If you don’t want to read it, then skip down to the first story break. You shouldn’t miss anything.
Chapter 17
It had been a long flight and an even longer week. Picking up and moving halfway across the country hadn’t been as easy as Oliver had thought it would be. Convincing the board that it would a good idea for him to temporarily take over daily operations at the Metropolis branch had been surprising easy. They’d agreed with him that the office could use more direct oversight. The fact that he was showing so much interest in the entire company had been icing on the cake for them. There had just been so much to do.
Chloe had quit her job at the Register. She hadn’t bothered to send in her resume anywhere else because they had no idea what this mission would entail. At first, it had rubbed her the wrong way. Then Oliver had pointed out that she and Victor would be the ones doing the majority of the research and that it was probably better that to have more time to focus on that. She’d agreed reluctantly.
Several days had been spent walking Hal through using the Green Arrow gear so that he could convincingly impersonate Oliver, which had led to some interesting discussion. Chloe was pretty sure they argued more than an old married couple.
Once that had been taken care of, only the living arrangements had remained. Oliver and Chloe would be staying together. That was a given, but he’d still had to find places for Bart and Victor to stay. Someplace close to keep from attracting unwanted attention. Oliver lived in the spotlight and someone would notice if the other two heroes were constantly showing up at his apartment. The easiest solution was to get them an apartment in the same building. So that was what he had done. If anyone did link Bart and Victor to him, Oliver would just tell them they were old friends of Chloe’s.
All of the activity and stress had worn them out, but it seemed to weigh most heavily on Chloe. She’d been with Oliver every step of the way while still taking care of her own work and doing as much research as she could. It was obvious that she was blaming herself for not realizing what Lex was up to sooner.
In her exhaustion, Chloe had fallen asleep shortly after the plane took off. She had planned to call Lois to let her know that they were coming to Metropolis, but Oliver hadn’t been able to bring himself to wake her. Chloe could just as easily call her cousin once they were at the penthouse.
But she hadn’t woken up by the time they landed. He carried her off the plane and into the car he’d had waiting. Chloe didn’t even stirred until he carried her into the new penthouse.
The building had once been some sort of Clocktower. The penthouse had actually been built in the old clock, which had been rebuilt with a modern feel. Had he just been looking for an apartment, Oliver would have been drawn to it for the incredible view and the interesting location, but what had really sealed the deal was how easy it would be for his alter ego to come and go.
The ding of the elevator broke the silence. Chloe groaned under her breath and pressed her face into his shoulder. He kissed her hair, holding her more securely. He carried her into the penthouse. He didn’t even bother to turn on the lights. He just walked into the bedroom.
Chloe opened her eyes blearily when he laid her down.
“Where are we?” she mumbled.
He ran a hand through her hair. “We’re in Metropolis.”
She blinked slowly. “We are?”
“Yeah. You fell asleep on the plane.”
“Oh.”
“You were tired,” Oliver chuckled. She was cute when she was disoriented and half asleep.
“I know I was. But I didn’t realize I was that tired.”
Oliver kissed her forehead. Smirking, he walked across the room to the bags, which he’d had Bart bring up. He tossed her a pair of her pajamas. While she changed, he stripped and pulled on a pair of sweats before sliding in beside her.
“You were pushing yourself pretty hard,” he admonished tiredly, looping an arm around her waist. “You know that’s not going to help us any when you’re so exhausted that you sleep for an entire day.”
“I was not asleep for an entire day,” Chloe protested. “And I have pushed myself far harder than that before. I’m perfectly fine.”
“Sure you are.”
With his eyes closed, Oliver never noticed the coy smile that tugged at his girlfriend’s lips. She rolled toward him and pushed him onto his back. The next thing he knew, she was straddling his waist and looking down at him.
“Why don’t I show you just how all right I am?”
All Oliver could do was stare at her. Chloe’s smile widened. “Of course, if you’re too tired we could alwa--”
His hand at the back of her neck, pulling her forward, stopped her short. She stopped speaking in favor of kissing him. Oliver started to flip them over so that he could lie on top, but she planted her knees on the mattress and shook her head just slightly into the kiss. He raised his eyebrows, but allowed Chloe to take the lead.
Though still nervous and a little hesitant, Chloe felt an intense desire to give Oliver the pleasure he always seemed to lavish on her when they slept together. She ran her hands up his sides, lightly dragging her fingers along his skin. She felt him tense beneath her. Smiling she bent down and began kissing her way down his chest. His breathing increased raggedly.
Chloe stopped at the waistband of his sweatpants. She paused just a moment and looked up at him through her lashes. Oliver was staring at her in a mixture of surprise and lust. She felt a thrill of feminine pleasure run through her, boosting her confidence.
Scooting down the bed slightly, she sat back on her knees and pulled the sweats down Oliver’s legs. She crawled back up the bed to straddle his hips once more. Never breaking eye contact, Chloe reached down and took him in her hand. His eyes almost bugged out of their sockets and his breathing quickened. She stroked him slowly. He threw his head back, somehow still managing to keep his eyes on her. Taking encouragement from his reaction, Chloe stroked him more firmly and dropped a kiss to his chest. He slid one hand into her hair. His fingers tangled in the silky strands.
Oliver gently pulled Chloe up to kiss her passionately. She could feel his heart racing through his chest. Her hand on him never stopped.
Without warning, he wrenched his mouth free and grabbed her wrist, stilling her movements.
“Is something wrong?” Chloe panted.
He shook his head and a smile tugged at his lips. “No. It’s great. But if you keep doing that this is going to be over way too soon.”
Chloe blushed. She’d never expected that she could get that kind of reaction out of Oliver. Enjoying her reaction, he pulled her close and whispered in her ear, “I need you, Chloe. I need to feel you.”
The blush on her cheeks deepened and a rush of pure lust shot through her. He easily pulled off the oversized t-shirt she was wearing and she shimmied out of her panties. With his hand still clasped around her wrist, she guided him to her entrance and slid onto him. Her eyes squeezed shut at the almost painful stretching. He usually prepped her more before entering her. She stilled for a moment while she adjusted to his presence. Oliver sat up and kissed her hard. The shift in position caused her to gasp as he hit a new spot within her, erasing the pain. His tongue slid past her lips. He plundered her mouth. Chloe ground her hips against his. It was Oliver’s turn to gasp. She pushed him back down so that he was lying flat on his back. He had to admit that the sight of her, leaning over him, was incredibly arousing.
A hand like iron gripped her hip, dragging her closer. She lifted herself up, almost off of him and he slammed her back down. Oliver let out a moan. His free hand slid up her body, ghosting over her breast, before sliding into her hair. He jerked her down to kiss her. She moved on him faster. Sweat stood out on both their bodies. Every inch of Olive’s body was tense. His hips were rising and falling in time with her movements. In a matter of moments, they were both crying out in ecstasy.
Panting heavily, Chloe fell against Oliver’s chest. He rolled them over so that they were both lying on their sides, still intimately joined.
“I thought you were tired,” he chuckled.
She kissed his nose. “Am now.”
Oliver shook his head and yawned as exhaustion began beating over him in waves. Chloe snuggled closer to him. Her head rested on his chest. He wrapped his arm around her waist more firmly and the two of them fell asleep.
***
A loud bang echoed across the peaceful fields and the silence was broken by an eardrum-shattering yell.
“CLARK!”
Lois stomped across the yard to the barn. She’d expressly told her alien boyfriend that she needed to talk to him as soon as she got home from work. She’d even been on time for once! It didn’t take a genius to guess where he’d gone. He was probably off saving a cat from a tree or something equally noble. That was going to stop Lois from checking to see if he was brooding over something in the loft again.
She was clutching several large files in her hands. Ever since she’d stumbled upon Lex’s mysterious activity at the airport, she’d been doing everything in her power to figure out what he was up to. It looked like she may have finally figured out part of the puzzle. She was hoping that Clark, who knew the masochistic baldy better than she did, would be able to fill in some of the blanks.
Thundering up the steps to announce both her presence and annoyance, Lois shouted, “Clark, if you’re up here, you’re going to find yourself cuddling with a certain meteor rock tonight instead of me!”
To her surprise, she got an answer. From someone other than Clark.
“Isn’t that a little harsh, Lo?”
Squeaking in surprise, Lois spun on her heel to see Chloe sitting on the worn sofa. Her legs were pulled up under her and she was grinning from ear to ear. She had opted for surprising her cousin rather than calling her. Lois squealed again and ran to hug her.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded. “And what the hell took you so long?”
“It was a lot of things,” Chloe said evasively. “I’m here now and that’s all that matters, right?”
Lois’ eyes narrowed. She had a pretty good guess what had kept her beloved cousin halfway across the country and it was about six feet tall and blonde. She could only guess that Chloe had been scared to let Oliver out of her sight. Then in between repairing their relationship and him taking up the hero gig, it wasn’t surprising that Chloe hadn’t been able to tear herself away. She was well aware of the fact that there was no way this could be a social visit. Something important had to have torn Chloe away from her leather-wearing boy toy.
“Why are you here?” Lois asked again.
Chloe looked sheepish. “Oliver and I are looking into something that Lex is up to involving metas,” she admitted.
If she’d expected Lois to be angry that her reason for coming back to Kansas wasn’t to see her favorite -- and only -- cousin, Chloe got a pleasant surprise when Lois’ eyes widened.
“You, too?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” Chloe frowned in confusion.
“I’ve been looking into Lex,” Lois explained briskly. “He’s been up to some shady business at the airport outside of Smallville. I’ve been trying to figure out what he’s doing and I think I may have found something. It looks like--”
“We should wait until Clark and Oliver get here,” Chloe interrupted. “They’ll need to know what’s going on.”
Lois nodded in agreement. “Do you know where they are?”
“Oliver should be on his way. He got held up with something at the office. As for Clark,” she trailed off and shrugged. “No clue.”
As if on cue, Clark chose that moment to speed into the loft. The girls just caught sight of his pensive expression before he broke into a wide grin and pulled Chloe into a bone-crushing hug.
“What are you doing here?” he asked happily.
“Trying to stick it to Lex,” Chloe grinned. “Oliver and I stumbled onto something and we were hoping that you could help us.”
Clark immediately became serious. He’d lost any patience for Lex long ago and was probably the only person on the planet that Clark actually hated. After everything that Lex had done to him, to Chloe, and to the other people in Smallville, Clark was more than willing to do something about it.
“Let’s go inside,” he suggested. “I’ve got some of Mom’s chocolate chip cookies.”
“I’ll call Oliver and see where he is. Maybe he can get Bart to give him a lift,” Chloe mused.
Both Lois’s and Clark’s eyebrows raised. “Oliver knows Bart?”
“It’s a long story,” she chuckled. “Don’t worry. We’ll tell you everything.”
“You better,” Lois threatened. “Come on, hero boy. Let’s leave Chlo to talk to her lovah.”
“Do you have to say it like that?” Clark whined.
Chloe chuckled as they walked away. Some things never changed. She was rather glad that Lois and Clark were included in that list.
Not five minutes later, all three of them were sitting around the table, chatting idly while they waited for Oliver to arrive via the Bart express. Lois was filling Chloe in on one of her wilder adventures in the pursuit of journalism. Chloe was trying not to be worried by the astounding number of times Lois seemed to have nearly gotten herself killed in just this one instance.
They were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Seconds later, Oliver strode into the kitchen. Before he could say anything, Lois was out of her seat and smacking him upside the head.
“Hey!” he said indignantly. “What the hell was that for?”
“That was being stupid enough to get yourself thrown overboard and for worrying my cousin for two years!” Lois snapped.
“You do realize that it wasn’t my fault and that I’ve been back for six months, right?” he grumbled.
She just shrugged. “This is the first time I’ve seen you and I’ve been waiting to do that for years. I wasn’t about to let the opportunity pass.”
Oliver glared at her. “Nice to see you too, Lois.”
Rolling her eyes, she surprised everyone but Chloe by pulling him into a hug. “Seriously, green bean, don’t ever do that again or I will personally hunt you down and bury you myself!”
“Don’t worry. I have no plans to go missing again,” Oliver said, sounding bemused.
“Good.” Lois detached herself and sat back down. “Now you two can tell us what the hell is going on and then we will return the favor.”
Sighing, Oliver dropped into the chair next to Chloe and the two of them began to tell their tale. They didn’t leave anything out.
***
By the time Oliver and Chloe had finished filling Lois and Clark in on everything that had happened, the other two were staring at them with their mouths open.
Clark was the first to find his voice.
“So you can heal people?” he asked Chloe.
She just nodded. Oliver put an arm around her waist and tugged her slightly closer.
“It’s an amazing power,” she admitted. “But a little scary.”
“I bet,” Clark murmured.
Lois quickly changed the subject. “In summary, you two have teamed up with Victor, Bart, and some guy named Green Lantern to stop Lex from abducting metas and experimenting on them, right?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “It sounds to me like you’re trying to take down all of 33.1!”
“That’s the general idea,” Oliver said. “Someone has to do it. I really think that if we all work together, we can manage it.”
“Oh I don’t doubt it,” Lois chuckled. “I just wish someone had thought of it sooner. All we’ve been doing is putting a bandage on a gaping wound. It’s been driving me crazy that we haven’t been able to really get to baldy.”
“Well here’s your chance,” Chloe said. “Oliver and I are in Metropolis until we can take care of this. We still need a lot more information. We have no idea where the metas are being held or what exactly Lex is doing to them. We’re a long way from charging in and saving the day.”
A smug smile appeared on Lois’ face. “That’s where I come in. I tried to tell you this the other day, but apparently you two were having too much fun playing doctor to listen. Lex has been up to something at the airstrip outside Smallville. He’s been flying in every week or so. It’s always at night and a flight plan is never filed. I recently managed to discover that Lex is funding all of this through Cadmus labs which was supposed to have been shut down years ago.”
“He must be bringing the metas here,” Chloe murmured. “Lo, can I see all the information you have? I’m assuming you actually managed to find evidence of these secret flights. If I can find evidence that the planes are coming from the cities were there have been missing metas, then we’ll know for sure that the 33.1 lab is somewhere in Kansas.”
“Of course I’ve got evidence,” Lois snapped. “What do you take me for? I snuck in a copied the security footage after I got into Lex’s bank records and found out that he was pouring way more money into the airstrip than was needed for the three flights a mont that are actually on record! And I want to be in the loop on this! You two aren’t about to run off without me!”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Oliver said dryly. “Besides, we came here to ask for help. Are you in, Clark?”
He nodded slowly. “Lex has to be stopped. I hate that this has been going on and that I didn’t even know about it. I’ll do everything I can. There’s just something I have to take care of first.”
When all three of them looked at him expectantly, he sighed and explained. “AC apparently got himself in a bit of trouble in Japan at some sort of protest. He’s in jail, no one will bail him out, and he’s worried that someone will find out about his...abilities. I’ve got to figure out a way of getting him out without making him a wanted criminal.”
“I can probably help with that,” Oliver offered. “The best way to get anyone out of situation like that is probably going to be bribery.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Clark protested. “You don’t even know him.”
Oliver shrugged. “If we leave him there, Lex may get to him. Seeing as that is something I’m trying to stop, I’m more than happy to help.”
“I’ll do a little hacking magic and see if I can figure out exactly what they’re holding him for and who you need to talk to,” Chloe sighed. “Maybe he’ll be willing to help us with Lex.”
“Of course he would,” Lois scoffed. “Lex nearly killed him, remember?”
“He’s gotten on the wrong side of Lex, too?” Oliver asked in surprise.
Everyone nodded. He sighed and draped his arm around Chloe’s shoulders. “Do you have any normal friends?”
“If it helps, I used to think that you were normal.”
“Then you were seriously deluded,” Lois snorted. “Green bean has never been normal.”
“Thanks,” he said sarcastically.
Laughter filled the room. Chloe leaned into Oliver’s side. She couldn’t help but remember the times when the four of them had spent afternoons together, just messing around, back in high school. A contented sigh escaped her lips. Oliver tugged her closer and kissed her forehead lightly. Though she knew that the peace she felt wouldn’t last much longer once they began to actively face Lex, she couldn’t help but relish it while she could.
***
AC had a splitting headache. They hadn’t been giving him enough water and he was getting dehydrated. He was only getting enough water for the average human, not for the average Atlantean.
He paced his cell restlessly. There was no way he could escape on his own. He wasn’t strong enough and there was little chance that he ever would be. If someone didn’t come bail him out, he was screwed. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem likely to happen either. He’d been caught doing quite a lot of damage to some of the boats and it was unlikely that the protest group or anyone else would come forward for him.
Which was why he had called Clark. AC had hoped he would be able to help. It would be easy for Clark to get inside and bust him out, but Clark was a stick in the mud. He’d taken one look at the circumstances and said no. He’d pointed out that if he freed him, AC would have to spend the rest of his life on the run. He had, however, promised that he would try to do something. Now AC just had to hope that he actually would.
The sound of footsteps broke through the pounding in AC’s head. He looked up warily. To his surprise, a guard stopped outside his cell. The man unlocked the door and opened it sharply. He signaled AC to follow him. More confused than before, AC followed.
He was led outside, not to the courtyard where he was sometimes allowed to get some fresh air, but to the front gate. An expensive looking black car, a limo really, was parked in the street.
The guard shoved AC toward it. He didn’t like where he thought this was going, but it was probably his best chance of getting free, so he decided to take the risk. It wasn’t as like he had any other options.
Opening the door, AC slid into the back seat. He was unsurprised to find that he wasn’t alone. A blonde man in a dark, well-fitted suit was leaning back leisurely across from him.
The truth was, he was almost frighteningly reminded of Lex. This man exuded the same sort of power and confidence. He obviously had money if he’d been able to arrange AC’s release. To say it made AC nervous was an understatement.
“Dude, please tell me this isn’t what it looks like,” he teased in an attempt at humor.
The other man smiled. “Don’t worry. It’s not.”
“How can you be sure? You don’t know what I’m thinking.”
“You’d be surprised,” the man said dryly. “You’re probably thinking that I’m either one of Lex’s lackeys or one of his rivals. I’ll admit that that is what it looks like, but I don’t work for Lex. In fact, I’d much rather sabotage him.”
“Who are you?” AC asked in confusion.
The man held out his hand. “Oliver Queen. I’m friends with Clark and Chloe.”
“Arthur Curry,” he said, taking the proffered hand. “But you can call me AC. How long have you been friends with them? I don’t remember meeting you when I was in Smallville.”
“I met them before you did,” Oliver sighed. “But that’s a bit complicated, and we don’t have time to get into it right now.”
AC nodded and fell silent for a moment. “Look, no offense, dude, but I don’t know you and you had to fork over a lot of money to get me out of there. You’re going to have to give me a little more to go off of. What exactly do you want with me?”
Oliver groaned. “See, this is why I told Clark that he needed to be here when I did this, but he had to go and stop a wildfire somewhere in the Amazon. Look, I’m not a meta, but I know a fair few, including Clark. You’re a friend of Chloe’s who needed help, which would have been enough. But as it so happens, we’ve recently discovered that Lex is rounding up metas to experiment on them. I’d really rather that didn’t happen to you. We’re going to have enough people to rescue when we take down the facility without adding you to the list.”
“You know I’m a meta?” AC spluttered. He moved back as far as the car would allow him.
“It wasn’t that hard to figure out,” Oliver chuckled. “Everyone Chloe knows is a meta or some kind of hero. I have no idea what you can do and I’m not going to tell anyone.”
“How can I believe that?” AC challenged.
Oliver shrugged. “I’m the Green Arrow. There. Now you’ve got something on me. I’m headed back to Smallville in less than an hour, if you’d like to come. Or I can arrange for you to go anywhere you want. I’m sure Chloe would like to see you and we could actually use your help stopping Lex, if you’d like to join us. It’s up to you.”
For a long moment, AC just stared at Oliver, trying to figure out if he could trust the stranger or not. In the end, he relaxed.
“Don’t suppose you have any water?”
Author’s Note: Just in case things were a little confusing if you skipped the smut, Oliver and Chloe are in Metropolis, as are Victor and Bart. Chloe was supposed to call Lois, but didn’t, hence the surprise when they later meet up at the Kent’s.
This is the first time I’ve written more than a couple of sentences for AC, so I hope I did all right. He’s one of the characters I have a little bit of trouble with.
I’ll get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but there’s another fic that I have to get finished by a certain deadline and, as so much of my writing tends to do, it’s gotten away from me and is about three times longer than I thought it was going to be. And I still have to write most of it. That’s going to have to become my priority, because I really don’t want to drop out of this and I have to meet the deadline. I’ll try to work on it and my other two in progress Chlollie fics equally, but I tend to get focused on a certain fic as I’m writing it and have trouble working on any others. Posting may be slow, but I will post. I promise!
Chapter 18
Rating: PG-13 for the most part, however there are sections that are NC-17 (my first attempt, for the record) for sexual content. This fic contains violence and language. Chapters containing sexual content will be preceded by a warning.
Spoilers: The entire series, basically. The basic setting is season six with a twist, but anything is fair game if it works for this fic.
Warning: Again, this is AU and is a continuation of my fic Twist of Fate, which you really need to read first or this isn't going to make any sense. There will sexual content and violence.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, I'm just playing around with them.
Beta: jessicaj703 Thanks for all the help!
Previous Chapters: Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16
Banner by geek_or_unique
Author's Note: It seems that once again I am in the position of having to apologize for the massive gap between updates. College has been kicking my ass and I just haven't had the time to write. I'm finally beginning to get a handle on things, so hopefully that will help and I'll find a little more time to write. In the meantime, read and enjoy!
This chapter contains smut and is rated NC-17. If you don’t want to read it, then skip down to the first story break. You shouldn’t miss anything.
Chapter 17
It had been a long flight and an even longer week. Picking up and moving halfway across the country hadn’t been as easy as Oliver had thought it would be. Convincing the board that it would a good idea for him to temporarily take over daily operations at the Metropolis branch had been surprising easy. They’d agreed with him that the office could use more direct oversight. The fact that he was showing so much interest in the entire company had been icing on the cake for them. There had just been so much to do.
Chloe had quit her job at the Register. She hadn’t bothered to send in her resume anywhere else because they had no idea what this mission would entail. At first, it had rubbed her the wrong way. Then Oliver had pointed out that she and Victor would be the ones doing the majority of the research and that it was probably better that to have more time to focus on that. She’d agreed reluctantly.
Several days had been spent walking Hal through using the Green Arrow gear so that he could convincingly impersonate Oliver, which had led to some interesting discussion. Chloe was pretty sure they argued more than an old married couple.
Once that had been taken care of, only the living arrangements had remained. Oliver and Chloe would be staying together. That was a given, but he’d still had to find places for Bart and Victor to stay. Someplace close to keep from attracting unwanted attention. Oliver lived in the spotlight and someone would notice if the other two heroes were constantly showing up at his apartment. The easiest solution was to get them an apartment in the same building. So that was what he had done. If anyone did link Bart and Victor to him, Oliver would just tell them they were old friends of Chloe’s.
All of the activity and stress had worn them out, but it seemed to weigh most heavily on Chloe. She’d been with Oliver every step of the way while still taking care of her own work and doing as much research as she could. It was obvious that she was blaming herself for not realizing what Lex was up to sooner.
In her exhaustion, Chloe had fallen asleep shortly after the plane took off. She had planned to call Lois to let her know that they were coming to Metropolis, but Oliver hadn’t been able to bring himself to wake her. Chloe could just as easily call her cousin once they were at the penthouse.
But she hadn’t woken up by the time they landed. He carried her off the plane and into the car he’d had waiting. Chloe didn’t even stirred until he carried her into the new penthouse.
The building had once been some sort of Clocktower. The penthouse had actually been built in the old clock, which had been rebuilt with a modern feel. Had he just been looking for an apartment, Oliver would have been drawn to it for the incredible view and the interesting location, but what had really sealed the deal was how easy it would be for his alter ego to come and go.
The ding of the elevator broke the silence. Chloe groaned under her breath and pressed her face into his shoulder. He kissed her hair, holding her more securely. He carried her into the penthouse. He didn’t even bother to turn on the lights. He just walked into the bedroom.
Chloe opened her eyes blearily when he laid her down.
“Where are we?” she mumbled.
He ran a hand through her hair. “We’re in Metropolis.”
She blinked slowly. “We are?”
“Yeah. You fell asleep on the plane.”
“Oh.”
“You were tired,” Oliver chuckled. She was cute when she was disoriented and half asleep.
“I know I was. But I didn’t realize I was that tired.”
Oliver kissed her forehead. Smirking, he walked across the room to the bags, which he’d had Bart bring up. He tossed her a pair of her pajamas. While she changed, he stripped and pulled on a pair of sweats before sliding in beside her.
“You were pushing yourself pretty hard,” he admonished tiredly, looping an arm around her waist. “You know that’s not going to help us any when you’re so exhausted that you sleep for an entire day.”
“I was not asleep for an entire day,” Chloe protested. “And I have pushed myself far harder than that before. I’m perfectly fine.”
“Sure you are.”
With his eyes closed, Oliver never noticed the coy smile that tugged at his girlfriend’s lips. She rolled toward him and pushed him onto his back. The next thing he knew, she was straddling his waist and looking down at him.
“Why don’t I show you just how all right I am?”
All Oliver could do was stare at her. Chloe’s smile widened. “Of course, if you’re too tired we could alwa--”
His hand at the back of her neck, pulling her forward, stopped her short. She stopped speaking in favor of kissing him. Oliver started to flip them over so that he could lie on top, but she planted her knees on the mattress and shook her head just slightly into the kiss. He raised his eyebrows, but allowed Chloe to take the lead.
Though still nervous and a little hesitant, Chloe felt an intense desire to give Oliver the pleasure he always seemed to lavish on her when they slept together. She ran her hands up his sides, lightly dragging her fingers along his skin. She felt him tense beneath her. Smiling she bent down and began kissing her way down his chest. His breathing increased raggedly.
Chloe stopped at the waistband of his sweatpants. She paused just a moment and looked up at him through her lashes. Oliver was staring at her in a mixture of surprise and lust. She felt a thrill of feminine pleasure run through her, boosting her confidence.
Scooting down the bed slightly, she sat back on her knees and pulled the sweats down Oliver’s legs. She crawled back up the bed to straddle his hips once more. Never breaking eye contact, Chloe reached down and took him in her hand. His eyes almost bugged out of their sockets and his breathing quickened. She stroked him slowly. He threw his head back, somehow still managing to keep his eyes on her. Taking encouragement from his reaction, Chloe stroked him more firmly and dropped a kiss to his chest. He slid one hand into her hair. His fingers tangled in the silky strands.
Oliver gently pulled Chloe up to kiss her passionately. She could feel his heart racing through his chest. Her hand on him never stopped.
Without warning, he wrenched his mouth free and grabbed her wrist, stilling her movements.
“Is something wrong?” Chloe panted.
He shook his head and a smile tugged at his lips. “No. It’s great. But if you keep doing that this is going to be over way too soon.”
Chloe blushed. She’d never expected that she could get that kind of reaction out of Oliver. Enjoying her reaction, he pulled her close and whispered in her ear, “I need you, Chloe. I need to feel you.”
The blush on her cheeks deepened and a rush of pure lust shot through her. He easily pulled off the oversized t-shirt she was wearing and she shimmied out of her panties. With his hand still clasped around her wrist, she guided him to her entrance and slid onto him. Her eyes squeezed shut at the almost painful stretching. He usually prepped her more before entering her. She stilled for a moment while she adjusted to his presence. Oliver sat up and kissed her hard. The shift in position caused her to gasp as he hit a new spot within her, erasing the pain. His tongue slid past her lips. He plundered her mouth. Chloe ground her hips against his. It was Oliver’s turn to gasp. She pushed him back down so that he was lying flat on his back. He had to admit that the sight of her, leaning over him, was incredibly arousing.
A hand like iron gripped her hip, dragging her closer. She lifted herself up, almost off of him and he slammed her back down. Oliver let out a moan. His free hand slid up her body, ghosting over her breast, before sliding into her hair. He jerked her down to kiss her. She moved on him faster. Sweat stood out on both their bodies. Every inch of Olive’s body was tense. His hips were rising and falling in time with her movements. In a matter of moments, they were both crying out in ecstasy.
Panting heavily, Chloe fell against Oliver’s chest. He rolled them over so that they were both lying on their sides, still intimately joined.
“I thought you were tired,” he chuckled.
She kissed his nose. “Am now.”
Oliver shook his head and yawned as exhaustion began beating over him in waves. Chloe snuggled closer to him. Her head rested on his chest. He wrapped his arm around her waist more firmly and the two of them fell asleep.
***
A loud bang echoed across the peaceful fields and the silence was broken by an eardrum-shattering yell.
“CLARK!”
Lois stomped across the yard to the barn. She’d expressly told her alien boyfriend that she needed to talk to him as soon as she got home from work. She’d even been on time for once! It didn’t take a genius to guess where he’d gone. He was probably off saving a cat from a tree or something equally noble. That was going to stop Lois from checking to see if he was brooding over something in the loft again.
She was clutching several large files in her hands. Ever since she’d stumbled upon Lex’s mysterious activity at the airport, she’d been doing everything in her power to figure out what he was up to. It looked like she may have finally figured out part of the puzzle. She was hoping that Clark, who knew the masochistic baldy better than she did, would be able to fill in some of the blanks.
Thundering up the steps to announce both her presence and annoyance, Lois shouted, “Clark, if you’re up here, you’re going to find yourself cuddling with a certain meteor rock tonight instead of me!”
To her surprise, she got an answer. From someone other than Clark.
“Isn’t that a little harsh, Lo?”
Squeaking in surprise, Lois spun on her heel to see Chloe sitting on the worn sofa. Her legs were pulled up under her and she was grinning from ear to ear. She had opted for surprising her cousin rather than calling her. Lois squealed again and ran to hug her.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded. “And what the hell took you so long?”
“It was a lot of things,” Chloe said evasively. “I’m here now and that’s all that matters, right?”
Lois’ eyes narrowed. She had a pretty good guess what had kept her beloved cousin halfway across the country and it was about six feet tall and blonde. She could only guess that Chloe had been scared to let Oliver out of her sight. Then in between repairing their relationship and him taking up the hero gig, it wasn’t surprising that Chloe hadn’t been able to tear herself away. She was well aware of the fact that there was no way this could be a social visit. Something important had to have torn Chloe away from her leather-wearing boy toy.
“Why are you here?” Lois asked again.
Chloe looked sheepish. “Oliver and I are looking into something that Lex is up to involving metas,” she admitted.
If she’d expected Lois to be angry that her reason for coming back to Kansas wasn’t to see her favorite -- and only -- cousin, Chloe got a pleasant surprise when Lois’ eyes widened.
“You, too?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” Chloe frowned in confusion.
“I’ve been looking into Lex,” Lois explained briskly. “He’s been up to some shady business at the airport outside of Smallville. I’ve been trying to figure out what he’s doing and I think I may have found something. It looks like--”
“We should wait until Clark and Oliver get here,” Chloe interrupted. “They’ll need to know what’s going on.”
Lois nodded in agreement. “Do you know where they are?”
“Oliver should be on his way. He got held up with something at the office. As for Clark,” she trailed off and shrugged. “No clue.”
As if on cue, Clark chose that moment to speed into the loft. The girls just caught sight of his pensive expression before he broke into a wide grin and pulled Chloe into a bone-crushing hug.
“What are you doing here?” he asked happily.
“Trying to stick it to Lex,” Chloe grinned. “Oliver and I stumbled onto something and we were hoping that you could help us.”
Clark immediately became serious. He’d lost any patience for Lex long ago and was probably the only person on the planet that Clark actually hated. After everything that Lex had done to him, to Chloe, and to the other people in Smallville, Clark was more than willing to do something about it.
“Let’s go inside,” he suggested. “I’ve got some of Mom’s chocolate chip cookies.”
“I’ll call Oliver and see where he is. Maybe he can get Bart to give him a lift,” Chloe mused.
Both Lois’s and Clark’s eyebrows raised. “Oliver knows Bart?”
“It’s a long story,” she chuckled. “Don’t worry. We’ll tell you everything.”
“You better,” Lois threatened. “Come on, hero boy. Let’s leave Chlo to talk to her lovah.”
“Do you have to say it like that?” Clark whined.
Chloe chuckled as they walked away. Some things never changed. She was rather glad that Lois and Clark were included in that list.
Not five minutes later, all three of them were sitting around the table, chatting idly while they waited for Oliver to arrive via the Bart express. Lois was filling Chloe in on one of her wilder adventures in the pursuit of journalism. Chloe was trying not to be worried by the astounding number of times Lois seemed to have nearly gotten herself killed in just this one instance.
They were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Seconds later, Oliver strode into the kitchen. Before he could say anything, Lois was out of her seat and smacking him upside the head.
“Hey!” he said indignantly. “What the hell was that for?”
“That was being stupid enough to get yourself thrown overboard and for worrying my cousin for two years!” Lois snapped.
“You do realize that it wasn’t my fault and that I’ve been back for six months, right?” he grumbled.
She just shrugged. “This is the first time I’ve seen you and I’ve been waiting to do that for years. I wasn’t about to let the opportunity pass.”
Oliver glared at her. “Nice to see you too, Lois.”
Rolling her eyes, she surprised everyone but Chloe by pulling him into a hug. “Seriously, green bean, don’t ever do that again or I will personally hunt you down and bury you myself!”
“Don’t worry. I have no plans to go missing again,” Oliver said, sounding bemused.
“Good.” Lois detached herself and sat back down. “Now you two can tell us what the hell is going on and then we will return the favor.”
Sighing, Oliver dropped into the chair next to Chloe and the two of them began to tell their tale. They didn’t leave anything out.
***
By the time Oliver and Chloe had finished filling Lois and Clark in on everything that had happened, the other two were staring at them with their mouths open.
Clark was the first to find his voice.
“So you can heal people?” he asked Chloe.
She just nodded. Oliver put an arm around her waist and tugged her slightly closer.
“It’s an amazing power,” she admitted. “But a little scary.”
“I bet,” Clark murmured.
Lois quickly changed the subject. “In summary, you two have teamed up with Victor, Bart, and some guy named Green Lantern to stop Lex from abducting metas and experimenting on them, right?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “It sounds to me like you’re trying to take down all of 33.1!”
“That’s the general idea,” Oliver said. “Someone has to do it. I really think that if we all work together, we can manage it.”
“Oh I don’t doubt it,” Lois chuckled. “I just wish someone had thought of it sooner. All we’ve been doing is putting a bandage on a gaping wound. It’s been driving me crazy that we haven’t been able to really get to baldy.”
“Well here’s your chance,” Chloe said. “Oliver and I are in Metropolis until we can take care of this. We still need a lot more information. We have no idea where the metas are being held or what exactly Lex is doing to them. We’re a long way from charging in and saving the day.”
A smug smile appeared on Lois’ face. “That’s where I come in. I tried to tell you this the other day, but apparently you two were having too much fun playing doctor to listen. Lex has been up to something at the airstrip outside Smallville. He’s been flying in every week or so. It’s always at night and a flight plan is never filed. I recently managed to discover that Lex is funding all of this through Cadmus labs which was supposed to have been shut down years ago.”
“He must be bringing the metas here,” Chloe murmured. “Lo, can I see all the information you have? I’m assuming you actually managed to find evidence of these secret flights. If I can find evidence that the planes are coming from the cities were there have been missing metas, then we’ll know for sure that the 33.1 lab is somewhere in Kansas.”
“Of course I’ve got evidence,” Lois snapped. “What do you take me for? I snuck in a copied the security footage after I got into Lex’s bank records and found out that he was pouring way more money into the airstrip than was needed for the three flights a mont that are actually on record! And I want to be in the loop on this! You two aren’t about to run off without me!”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Oliver said dryly. “Besides, we came here to ask for help. Are you in, Clark?”
He nodded slowly. “Lex has to be stopped. I hate that this has been going on and that I didn’t even know about it. I’ll do everything I can. There’s just something I have to take care of first.”
When all three of them looked at him expectantly, he sighed and explained. “AC apparently got himself in a bit of trouble in Japan at some sort of protest. He’s in jail, no one will bail him out, and he’s worried that someone will find out about his...abilities. I’ve got to figure out a way of getting him out without making him a wanted criminal.”
“I can probably help with that,” Oliver offered. “The best way to get anyone out of situation like that is probably going to be bribery.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Clark protested. “You don’t even know him.”
Oliver shrugged. “If we leave him there, Lex may get to him. Seeing as that is something I’m trying to stop, I’m more than happy to help.”
“I’ll do a little hacking magic and see if I can figure out exactly what they’re holding him for and who you need to talk to,” Chloe sighed. “Maybe he’ll be willing to help us with Lex.”
“Of course he would,” Lois scoffed. “Lex nearly killed him, remember?”
“He’s gotten on the wrong side of Lex, too?” Oliver asked in surprise.
Everyone nodded. He sighed and draped his arm around Chloe’s shoulders. “Do you have any normal friends?”
“If it helps, I used to think that you were normal.”
“Then you were seriously deluded,” Lois snorted. “Green bean has never been normal.”
“Thanks,” he said sarcastically.
Laughter filled the room. Chloe leaned into Oliver’s side. She couldn’t help but remember the times when the four of them had spent afternoons together, just messing around, back in high school. A contented sigh escaped her lips. Oliver tugged her closer and kissed her forehead lightly. Though she knew that the peace she felt wouldn’t last much longer once they began to actively face Lex, she couldn’t help but relish it while she could.
***
AC had a splitting headache. They hadn’t been giving him enough water and he was getting dehydrated. He was only getting enough water for the average human, not for the average Atlantean.
He paced his cell restlessly. There was no way he could escape on his own. He wasn’t strong enough and there was little chance that he ever would be. If someone didn’t come bail him out, he was screwed. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem likely to happen either. He’d been caught doing quite a lot of damage to some of the boats and it was unlikely that the protest group or anyone else would come forward for him.
Which was why he had called Clark. AC had hoped he would be able to help. It would be easy for Clark to get inside and bust him out, but Clark was a stick in the mud. He’d taken one look at the circumstances and said no. He’d pointed out that if he freed him, AC would have to spend the rest of his life on the run. He had, however, promised that he would try to do something. Now AC just had to hope that he actually would.
The sound of footsteps broke through the pounding in AC’s head. He looked up warily. To his surprise, a guard stopped outside his cell. The man unlocked the door and opened it sharply. He signaled AC to follow him. More confused than before, AC followed.
He was led outside, not to the courtyard where he was sometimes allowed to get some fresh air, but to the front gate. An expensive looking black car, a limo really, was parked in the street.
The guard shoved AC toward it. He didn’t like where he thought this was going, but it was probably his best chance of getting free, so he decided to take the risk. It wasn’t as like he had any other options.
Opening the door, AC slid into the back seat. He was unsurprised to find that he wasn’t alone. A blonde man in a dark, well-fitted suit was leaning back leisurely across from him.
The truth was, he was almost frighteningly reminded of Lex. This man exuded the same sort of power and confidence. He obviously had money if he’d been able to arrange AC’s release. To say it made AC nervous was an understatement.
“Dude, please tell me this isn’t what it looks like,” he teased in an attempt at humor.
The other man smiled. “Don’t worry. It’s not.”
“How can you be sure? You don’t know what I’m thinking.”
“You’d be surprised,” the man said dryly. “You’re probably thinking that I’m either one of Lex’s lackeys or one of his rivals. I’ll admit that that is what it looks like, but I don’t work for Lex. In fact, I’d much rather sabotage him.”
“Who are you?” AC asked in confusion.
The man held out his hand. “Oliver Queen. I’m friends with Clark and Chloe.”
“Arthur Curry,” he said, taking the proffered hand. “But you can call me AC. How long have you been friends with them? I don’t remember meeting you when I was in Smallville.”
“I met them before you did,” Oliver sighed. “But that’s a bit complicated, and we don’t have time to get into it right now.”
AC nodded and fell silent for a moment. “Look, no offense, dude, but I don’t know you and you had to fork over a lot of money to get me out of there. You’re going to have to give me a little more to go off of. What exactly do you want with me?”
Oliver groaned. “See, this is why I told Clark that he needed to be here when I did this, but he had to go and stop a wildfire somewhere in the Amazon. Look, I’m not a meta, but I know a fair few, including Clark. You’re a friend of Chloe’s who needed help, which would have been enough. But as it so happens, we’ve recently discovered that Lex is rounding up metas to experiment on them. I’d really rather that didn’t happen to you. We’re going to have enough people to rescue when we take down the facility without adding you to the list.”
“You know I’m a meta?” AC spluttered. He moved back as far as the car would allow him.
“It wasn’t that hard to figure out,” Oliver chuckled. “Everyone Chloe knows is a meta or some kind of hero. I have no idea what you can do and I’m not going to tell anyone.”
“How can I believe that?” AC challenged.
Oliver shrugged. “I’m the Green Arrow. There. Now you’ve got something on me. I’m headed back to Smallville in less than an hour, if you’d like to come. Or I can arrange for you to go anywhere you want. I’m sure Chloe would like to see you and we could actually use your help stopping Lex, if you’d like to join us. It’s up to you.”
For a long moment, AC just stared at Oliver, trying to figure out if he could trust the stranger or not. In the end, he relaxed.
“Don’t suppose you have any water?”
Author’s Note: Just in case things were a little confusing if you skipped the smut, Oliver and Chloe are in Metropolis, as are Victor and Bart. Chloe was supposed to call Lois, but didn’t, hence the surprise when they later meet up at the Kent’s.
This is the first time I’ve written more than a couple of sentences for AC, so I hope I did all right. He’s one of the characters I have a little bit of trouble with.
I’ll get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but there’s another fic that I have to get finished by a certain deadline and, as so much of my writing tends to do, it’s gotten away from me and is about three times longer than I thought it was going to be. And I still have to write most of it. That’s going to have to become my priority, because I really don’t want to drop out of this and I have to meet the deadline. I’ll try to work on it and my other two in progress Chlollie fics equally, but I tend to get focused on a certain fic as I’m writing it and have trouble working on any others. Posting may be slow, but I will post. I promise!
Chapter 18