The Fallen - T - Chloe/Oliver - OneShot (Prompt 25/100)
Title: The Fallen
Category: Smallville
Rating: T
Genre: Angst/Friendship
Pairing: Chloe/Oliver
Prompt: #025 - Growth
Word Count: 927
Summary: One day, we’ll look back on this and know it was a necessary evil...
The Fallen
“I’m tired of tiptoeing, Sidekick.”
She turned slowly, her back rigid, her stance stubborn. His abrupt arrival was really no surprise. He’d never been one to call ahead in the past, so now should be no different.
“Is that what you’ve been doing?” She lifted a mocking brow. “Didn’t even know you knew how…”
His lips pursed, eyes darting away in an uncharacteristic show of uncertainty. “Listen, Chloe…” He shrugged his shoulders. “I… I want to… apologize for… the part I played in all of this. I…”
She watched him struggle for the right words; some part of her rather enjoyed his discomfort.
He wouldn’t look directly at her; he was doing a good of job of faking it but she knew he was actually staring just past her shoulder.
“Oliver,” she interrupted. “You killed Lex… You were willing to kill Davis…” His face fell, wincing with… What? Regret? “But you didn’t kill Jimmy,” she finished, shaking her head as she sighed. Her arms crossed over her chest as if to keep her emotions at bay. Her shoulders lifted, her expression not quite forgiving but not damning either. “You were only doing what you thought was right…” Her eyes fell. “Mistakes make us human… And I’ve made my own fair share.”
All was silent for a moment, the both of them taking in her words and the ramifications of such honesty. Neither of them were in the clear, they’d both done things, said things, that couldn’t be taken back and now… Now they were the fallen, alone and uncertain once more.
“He’s gone, isn’t he?”
She looked up, her brow furrowed with confusion. And then it dawned on her; Clark. “Yeah…” she breathed, her eyes blinking wildly at the tears. She laughed, short and wrought with pain and anger. “You’d think he’d stick around, right?” She shook her head. “Not in his master plan, I guess.” Her jaw clenched as she forced herself not to cry. “As usual he takes all that’s happened and blames it on himself… Decides what’s best for everyone involved and then…” She trailed off, turning her eyes away.
He crossed the room slowly, as if unsure if he should approach or not. She wasn’t sure if she even wanted him to. But then his hand was on her chin, turning, tipping and they were face to face, eye-to-eye. “I… I haven’t been the best hero…” He licked his lips uncomfortably. “But… I wanna be better… I can be better and… And I’d like to you to be there for that…” He stared searchingly. “You probably don’t trust me and… I don’t even know if I trust you, but…” He sighed. “I’m willing to try to… again. And I won’t leave you.”
A promise, a certainty, but was it true?
She stared at him. Funny how a hero didn’t change in appearance when they fell from grace. As if she expected him to suddenly sprout devil ears or wear a sign that said “I fucked up… Royally.” But he was the same man with the same sincere brown eyes and stoic expression that haunted his handsome face. He was by no means the best of men she’d known and now she couldn’t even say she was ranked amongst the best of women. They were both in the wrong and standing here, in this place Jimmy wanted her to call home, some part of her wanted to disregard any chance of redemption, feeling his blood on her hands thicker than any other. But here she was and here Oliver stood and he was offering her a chance, a friend, a partnership.
“What do you say, Sidekick?” His hand fell from her chin, held out as if waiting to be shook, a deal sealed. “Be my Watchtower… Help me save the world.”
She looked at it and while she felt as though a hand (Clark’s? Jimmy’s?) was trying to hold her back as punishment, she reached forward, took his and shook. “It’s the least I could do,” she murmured, brow knotted.
He drew her nearer, kept hold of her hand tightly. “The least would be to let this all be in vain.” He half-smiled, reminiscent of the good man she’d once known. “A few mistakes don’t change you… If anything, we’ve both grown, hopefully for the better. And we’ll use this… We’ll learn and we’ll do better next time.”
So earnest, trying only to be the hero the world deserved.
She grinned lightly. “In this second chance of ours, could you play Sidekick while I don the leather?”
He chuckled. “Much as it pains me not to see that come to fruition, especially the leather part, I don’t think I’d make a great Watchtower.”
She cocked a brow. “Well, admittedly, you’re a little too tall for my heels.”
He smirked. “And I don’t have the legs for pencil skirts either.”
Her head bowed, a smile turning up her mouth.
As their hands fell, bound together still, she felt relief and a sense of rightness once more. “You think we’ll be okay?” she asked, although she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.
He grinned down at her, warm brown eyes wielding the same sincerity of once upon a time. “Better than okay.” He squeezed her hand, nodding thoughtfully. “One day, we’ll look back on this and know it was a necessary evil.”
She exhaled, accepting this as truth. There was much to do, much to learn, and many more obstacles to overcome, but… they would conquer. The fallen would rise and redemption would follow.