CROSSROADS 2/??
Summary: Oliver doesn't know about superheros, secret societies, villains, who are after more than just his business until he gets caught in the middle. Meeting Chloe will offer both far more than they'd have ever expected.
This is AU set a few months after Chloe graduated from college.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. The characters used in here belong to The CW and DC Comics. No money is made from this, it's for entertainment only.
A BIG thank you to Lucy aka smallvillefics for editing this! You rock babe!
And I might as well use this to say sorry to Manu realchemistry for being so lousy these days - I'll write soon, I promise.
A few weeks later...
Chloe groaned deeply as a shrill beeping awoke her from her sound sleep. Yanking the blanket over her head she tried to block it out and go back to sleep, but the sound wouldn't stop. Finally she gave in to the inevitable and opened her eyes, only to be greeted by a completely different look. It took her a few moments to take in her surroundings and find the source of the noise until she realized that she was back in Metropolis in her own apartment and the nasty ringing was coming from her alarm clock.
Remembering that she had tons of stuff to do she got out of bed and padded over to her coffee machine. She needed a good cup full of hot steamy caffeine to wake her up, although the excitement brewing inside her was almost enough to make her jump with anticipation.
Tomorrow she would start her new job as a reporter at the Daily Planet - her lifelong dream was finally coming true. She was under no illusion that she had to start at the very beginning, but that couldn't change the happiness she was feeling one bit.
0-0-0-0-0-
Her application was accepted a few weeks ago, but she wouldn't start until tomorrow, so after graduating from college she had decided to spent some time away from Smallville and her unrequited love for Clark needed to see something altogether different, so she had spent the last couple of weeks on a trip through Europe.
With a lot of memories in mind and a new outlook on her own life she was ready to face whatever fate would throw in her way. She had finally accepted that Clark would never see her the way she wanted him to. She would always love him, but she was ready to be his friend only now.
0-0-0-0-
The headline at the newspaper caught her attention.
"Oliver Queen, billionaire, CEO of Queen Industries found unconscious after being missing for three weeks"
Chloe had met him once for an interview shortly after he had become CEO. She remembered him being arrogant and rather indifferent, but he had stirred something in her though. He hadn't told her much and she had cut it short then.
But that didn't mean she had forgotten about him … kind of difficult to do so, when he used to appear on every gazette with his Date of the Day or sometimes, when the woman was lucky enough, Date of the Week.
Strangely enough, Clark hadn't told her he had been missing. Chloe and he had nearly lost contact whilst she was away. That new side of her was tired and frustrated of heartbreak and the endless tirades of Lana and what she did or didn't do. Therefore, she had kept him at a distance throughout her whole trip. But still she wondered why he would keep something so important to himself.
But then she hadn't found a single line about Oliver being missing in any newspaper over there, either.
0-0-0-0-
The reporter in her, lover of everything mysterious, immediately got the upper hand. She was already on her PC searching for information while she talked on the phone to call in some favors.
Of course Oliver Queen was rich and this could have been an abduction for ransom, but after all this was Smallville, and Chloe had seen a lot of strange things. She'd learned a long time ago that nothing was ever the way it seemed in Smallville.
If she could find Oliver and get him to talk to her for an exclusive she would surely make an impression on her new editor.
0-0-0-0-
Oliver jolted awake. He squinted his eyes against the sudden light and moaned as pain coursed through his entire body at his sudden movement, breathing in short gasps. He felt like he had been hit by a three-ton truck … only that he couldn't remember being involved in a car accident at all.
Lying back he closed his eyes and tried to get his breathing under control. His whole body screamed in agony and his mind was fuzzy and disoriented. Not being able to get a grip on anything yet, he let the faint sounds wash over him until his mind registered that he was most likely in a hospital room and....
… and he wasn't alone.
His eyes snapped open again he saw a blonde woman standing in the far corner of the room.
0-0-0-0-
Chloe had sneaked into Oliver's room moments before he had awoken. It had been easier to get past the security guards than she had expected. A single phone call was made when one of the two guards was away for a short coffee break and the other suddenly had gotten an emergency call from his family.
Chloe felt slightly guilty for doing that to him, but he would find out soon enough that it was faked. Until then, she'd have to make good use of the time she'd been given.
For the time being, she was watching him come to his senses. He looked terrible. He must have been beaten mercilessly if the cuts and bruises were any indication of what had happened to him. Chloe had taken a short look at his hospital notes; he had a few broken ribs, a concussion and a gunshot wound to his right shoulder.
If this was for ransom than something had gone horribly wrong.
Maybe the money hadn't delivered and his kidnapper had taken it out on him - or maybe Oliver had recognized his kidnapper and the guy couldn't let him survive.
But the more Chloe thought about it, the more she was convinced that money wasn't the reason.
0-0-0-0-
Oliver was sure he had seen the woman before but for the life of him he couldn't remember.
"Mr. Queen." Chloe addressed him formally, waiting for him to be remember her, but as she got closer to his bed she saw him tense and fear flicker in his eyes and knew he didn't. "My name's Chloe Sullivan. I am a re...“ she trailed off.
Chloe was torn. The journalist in her wanted to press on, wanted to ask the questions that would reveal the story that she knew was waiting to be told.
But it was her humanity that would not let her continue. Oliver Queen was vulnerable, and despite all that she'd read about him, she knew he needed help. Maybe she wasn't the right one to offer it, but if he was willing to let her in, she would fight with him.
There was something in his eyes - behind the fear - something innocent yet captivating, that would not let her go.
This surely wasn't the time to ask for an interview. Screw the possibility for an exclusive.
0-0-0-0-
Oliver withstood the strong impulse to call security. He was fairly sure that there were police-officers outside his room. How she had gotten past them was still a mystery to him, but he was willing to hear her out.
"Ms. Sullivan...” he started.
“Chloe,” she corrected him almost automatically, sending him the brightest smile he had ever seen.
"So … um … Chloe, why are you here? What can I do for you? Whatever it is you want from me, I hope it doesn't involve me being physically challenged, because that could be a slight problem right now,” he smirked at her, feeling strangely safe in her company.
Chloe resisted the urge to roll her eyes on him. "Funny, but actually I'm here to do something for you.”
"For me, huh?” Oliver retorted.
"Yeah. I want to help you find out who did this to you and bring them to justice.“
He frowned. "What makes you believe someone did it? Maybe it was a car accident or...” Oliver stopped mid-sentence, suddenly aware that he was touching dangerous ground.
Hadn't he just learned the hard way not to trust anyone anymore? He felt a painful stab as he remembered Gretchen and her breach of trust.
He had to stop talking to her.
Oliver couldn't remember much of the last three weeks (at least he has been told that he had been missing for that exact time), but subconsciously he felt that something horrible had happened to him. He had no idea what reason she could have to be in his room or how she had gotten there. For all he knew she could be another threat to him.
Chloe saw Oliver's face darken as a shiver run through him. She wanted to reach out to soothe him, to tell him that he'd be okay, but something about his abruptive stance stopped her.
"Do you remember anything?“ she asked quietly.
At her question he looked sharply up at her, his brown eyes now icy and somewhat troubled.
"You had better go, Ms. Sullivan,” Oliver told her harshly.
With that he turned away from her, essentially dismissing her from his presence.
0-0-0-0-
Chloe walked towards the door and watched him relax slightly. Given the circumstances she had been surprised that he had talked to her at all. But she would leave it for now. He had been through enough; he didn't need her questions to add to his physical and mental fatigue.
"I'm really only here to help,” Chloe whispered as she left the room - leaving her cellphone number on the table.
0-0-0-0-
When Chloe was gone Oliver racked his brain to find a clue about what had happened to him. The more he thought about it, the more unbelievably the theory of a car-accident sounded to him. It normally didn't leave someone with a gunshot wound. But his mind was still incredible foggy and he couldn't piece everything together. The only thing he truly remembered was an all penetrating pain. It was dominating every clear thought of every indication of what had happened to him.
0-0-0-0-
Chloe was submerged in her own thoughts. She was already forming a plan in her head about how to investigate on Oliver Queen without leaving too much of a trail. Her hacking skills had clearly improved since she had first started using them back in high school, but that doesn't mean she was untraceable - at least not for someone like Oliver whose company was well known for producing the latest technology.
She had learned that it wasn't always the words spoken during an interview or a conversation that told the best of stories, but rather all the small little details like a look or a gesture.
And Chloe had listened carefully - what few words they had exchanged hadn't conveyed what his whole demeanor had. Chloe had been on the wrong end of some misleading mission often enough to recognize signs of torture - and Oliver Queen had clearly just recently escaped exactly that.
There was the way his eyes had clouded in fear the moment he had seen her, or his voice that still sounded hoarse and somewhat strained - whether it was from the lack of use or from screaming Chloe had yet to find out, but given the facts she assumed the latter.
She had read in his hospital notes that he had been found unconscious, but had soon, after the doctors had run some tests on him, regained consciousness. Which had let her to the conclusion that he'd either had a very vivid nightmare or had dreamed of his tormentors judging by the way he had jolted awake.
Chloe wasn't sure what it was about Oliver that wouldn't let her stop thinking about him. She had discarded the idea for an interview, so why she couldn't she just let it go?
If she listened to the tiny little voice inside her head that had started whispering the moment she looked Oliver in the eye, she'd know exactly why she was doing this - to overcome the sense of loneliness she'd felt since she decided to leave Clark, and every dream she ever had of becoming more than his best friend, behind.
But for the moment she wasn't willing to listen, that's why she shrugged it off and started making more concrete plans for her new mission. She would analyze it later, if ever.
It wouldn't be enough just to hack into Queen Industries' security system to check on their cameras, although doing that might give her an indication about Oliver's last minutes before the abduction.
She needed Clark to spy on him - no, to watch over him, she corrected herself.
'Clark' - just to think about him, made her cringing inside. God she missed him, missed being his sidekick, the woman he came to when he felt like there wasn't anybody else to go to.
With a loud sigh she surrendered and called for him.