Turn the Page (3/?)
Author: 
serafina19
Title: Turn the Page
Rating: R
Summary: Oliver Queen meets Chloe Sullivan right before his life takes a turn for the worse. Together, they work to find peace in their lives and justice for the people they have lost.
Warning: coarse language, adult content, AU
Chapter 1 Chapter 2
Chapter 3
“Sorry Lois, I’m on my way.”
She knew that tonight was cousin dinner night, but lately, Chloe had focused on the clue, the ramifications of the two words she found. Looking over the files she had, she found signs of chess pieces being involved and she was determined to figure out the meaning.
The most recent dead end was the reason she was running late, which was usually Lois’ style, not hers. It was a fact her cousin wasn’t going to forget. “That’s okay, because I’m at your building.”
Chloe’s head jerked back as she opened up her apartment door, but she was surprised by Lois’ smiling face in front of her as she hung up the phone. “Hey cuz.”
Chloe followed suit as she stood in the doorway, glancing down at the time displayed on her phone. “Okay, I’m not that late.”
“No,” Lois said with a sigh before taking a seat on her couch, “but I think we need to talk.”
Eyes narrowing as Lois patted the seat next to her, Chloe quickly caught on. “Clark told you, didn’t he?” Before Lois could answer, Chloe bolted from the room, not wanting to hear another lecture from her cousin. Or from anyone in that matter.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t ditching Lois that easily. “The way I see it, I was finally able to get some answers about you last night.” Her boyfriend had been awfully dodgy on the subject lately, but Lois was determined to figure out the truth some way. Clark may be the man of steel, but that didn’t mean he was invulnerable. “Don’t get me wrong, the signs were there, but you’ve gotten better at avoiding the subject… or me altogether.”
“That’s not fair,” Chloe said as she stormed through the door leading to the stairwell. “You’ve been busy too.”
“Not since the Queen plane went down,” Lois shouted, surprised at her cousin’s candour in a public area. But if this was only way they were going to talk, then so be it. She rushed down the stairs after her, ready to hear whatever Chloe would tell her. “I love breaking the story as much as the next person, but there’s a line and you crossed it months ago.”
Picking up her pace, Chloe shook her head. “Lois, I don’t care about the story. I want answers. I want to stop feeling guilty.” Upon reaching the final step, Chloe stopped, as unfortunate memories flashed in front of her. “I tried letting it go, but I can’t.”
After awhile, chasing this story started to feel like an addiction she couldn’t kick. When she tried to put it aside, her mood worsened, she hid from her life and she couldn’t even find the time to feel a real connection with people anymore. What she was doing right now was the best compromise she could find.
Taking that final step, Chloe sat down on it, staring ahead at the door as she heard Lois approach from behind. “These people have gotten away with more than just Jimmy’s murder. They have connections in Star City and Central City… and those are just the ones I’ve found.” Glancing to her right, she watched Lois sit down next to her. “It’s doing the right thing, and I can’t turn a blind eye.”
Lois grinned as she sat down. It wasn’t one of happiness, but she did feel grateful that Chloe was able to share that much. If nothing else, it held a helpful reminder. “I forgot how much this means to you.”
Swallowing hard, Chloe appreciated the lightened mood around them, but it didn’t completely fade away the memories. “Trust me, I wanted to give up, but then I can’t sleep. All I see is his still face, the blood.”
“Then why can’t Clark and I help you?”
Standing up quickly, Chloe took a couple steps forward, the sunset becoming clearer in her view. “This is my burden, you guys have your own stories to tell.” They were the Daily Planet’s star reporter duo, they worked together to make the world a better place. As much as they could help, bringing them in could cause Clark’s secret come to light and Chloe knew she couldn’t risk that. “Can we not talk about this anymore? I’m more than willing to share later, but…”
Pushing herself up from the step, Lois nodded. “As long as that later actually happens.” She doubted that it would, but she knew that Chloe wasn’t going to say anything else.
Still, Chloe replied, “Fine,” knowing the word was a placeholder for what she really meant.
Despite all that, that didn’t stop the cousins from venturing outside, heading to Christalia for their needed dose of caffeine before dinner. As the chime rung above them, they were both greeted by Chris’ smiling face.
“Two usuals?” she asked, even though she knew the answer.
“My treat,” Chloe said to her cousin. “Making up for being late.”
“Chloe, really, I don’t -”
“Lois, I’m not bankrupt,” she interjected, knowing Lois meant well. Lately, her cousin had covered plenty of Chloe’s java bill, as it was no secret who was making more money between them. But Chloe wanted to do this.
Sensing that there was a lot more to that exchange, Chris changed the subject. “Lovely evening isn’t it? I think I might squeeze in a run once my shift ends.”
“It is nice out there, although… Chloe had quite the night last week.” Seeing her cousin’s eyes widen, Lois knew she was in trouble, but there was no going back now. Chris was in the dark about a lot of things, but this was one secret Lois could share. Plus, she had to punish her cousin a little for continuing to avoid talking to her. “She had a run-in with the Emerald Archer.”
“I’d love to have that type of luck.” Chris immediately blushed afterwards. “Not like that. I… he helped my sister once and I’ve always wanted to thank him.” Swallowing hard, Chris turned back to the machine, as no matter how much time passed, it still wasn’t easy to talk about her.
“It’s what he does,” Chloe said, staring daggers at Lois while Chris’ back was turned. “I’m sure you don’t have to worry about it.” Despite being tempted to withdraw her offer to pay, Chloe put her money on the table, knowing that Chris needed the money as much as she did. “To be honest, he saved my ass… and then I saved his.”
“It’s probably not a bad ass to save,” Lois quipped, getting interesting looks from both women. “What? I can look.”
With a chuckle, Chloe leaned her back against the counter, glad that the store was isolated while this conversation continued. “I didn’t spend much time looking after he took a bullet for me.”
Chris almost dropped the cup in her hand. “Whoa… did you get a look at his face?”
It was strange. Before Chris asked that question, that thought never crossed her mind. Maybe because of her past involvement with heroes, probably because of how narrow-minded she had become. “Unfortunately, I was more focused on getting us out of that situation.”
“Maybe you could ask him for help, though?” Lois asked before taking a sip, a comment that drew another reaction from Chloe. “I’m serious, I’d feel a lot better about you attacking this again if you had some back-up, if you let someone in.”
“It was just a fluke encounter.”
“I’m with Lois here,” Chris said, taking a look at the clock behind her, “especially because you Sullivan-Lane women attract trouble. So I’m willing to bet it isn’t.”
“Well,” Chloe said, willing to give in a little, “I will admit that anyone with their resources would have a lot of intel that I don’t have access too.”
Lois scoffed. “I don’t think your hacking skills need work.”
“Yeah, but they would probably know where to look. Avenues I haven’t considered, answers that I haven’t found.” There was just one problem with that theory. It was the same problem with bringing Clark in. Chloe knew members of his team, knew the damage it would do to Evie if her boyfriend or cousin got caught up in all this. She couldn’t and wouldn’t do that to her friends. “But it doesn’t matter, they have more important things to do than worry about what I’m looking for.”
Recognizing that look on Chloe’s face from earlier, Lois grinned. “And you clearly need a night off.”
“That’s the plan,” Chloe replied as she took a long swig of coffee. “Did you ever decide where we’re going for dinner?”
“Actually, I was thinking…it’s a good night for a long overdue girl’s night, don’t you, Chris?”
“Sure, why not? I don’t have to close tonight and I’m pretty sure Evie’s available.”
“You say girl’s night, but I hear Chloe pity party.” Seeing both women jump to the defence, Chloe put her hands up to stop them. “C’mon guys, it’s not that hard to see. You all have boyfriends and take pity. It’s cute… really, even if Ian’s serving the drinks.”
“I don’t need to see him tonight Chloe, but - ”
“There is no way another bartender is serving me tonight,” Chloe interjected. “So let’s do this.”
~0~
Evie knew that this had waited too long, that she had chickened out over clearing the air between Oliver and her. She wasn’t about to blame timing or label excuses, this was all her feeling guilty and regretting that she had underestimated Oliver. Since he came back to headquarters, he had come every day, showing that for the most part, he was under control of his emotions… everything.
And she had played it completely wrong. Not talking about the decision that she made, the reaction that she had given. Instead, she kept silent and it put on a strain on their friendship, something Evie had grown to treasure since she began rebuilding her life.
Looking back at the screen, showing what she was working on, Evie sighed. She knew how much this was eating away at her and she knew better than let it go on for any longer. Rolling her chair towards Oliver at the other console, she stopped the momentum suddenly, ensuring proper distance between them. She was tempted get the advantage, but using her abilities would be the easy way out.
So she took the chance and went in blind. “Oliver, I… I want to apologize to you about… a lot of things.” Her pause had led Oliver to turn around, so Evie tried to maintain eye contact. “I know I went overboard with you taking a break from patrolling, but what I didn’t tell you was the real reason why.”
His hands curling around the edge, Oliver leaned against the console, wondering where this was coming from. “You sure about that?”
Evie scoffed, knowing that she deserved that question. This whole time, it seemed like her intentions were clear, but the truth was that the Queens’ deaths hit her harder than she thought. “I wanted you to spend some time considering your life as Oliver Queen. For so long, your life has been defined by your parents and with them gone… I was hoping that you’d see more to that life than the bottle.”
Standing up, Evie took a single step forward before stretching her arms wide. “I thought that if you got lost in this, in Green Arrow, you’d lose who you are. Because you’re allowed to be this person as Oliver Queen. You can be the person we see every day. You…”
Her voice trailed as she realized that she was lecturing him again. Shaking her head, she turned around to hide her frustration. “But you also don’t have to take advice from me. I’m not a shrink… I’m just someone who can lead an ear to people who have nowhere else to go, but you do.”
Oliver’s mouth gaped open, as he didn’t realize just how much extra weight she had been carrying lately. “Evie -”
“That wasn’t a guilt trip,” she interjected, knowing that he could have construed her words that way. “Just the facts.”
What she wasn’t expecting was for Oliver to laugh in response. “Then I should probably apologize for messing with you.”
Evie whirled around. “Huh?”
“I… had a feeling you’d check in on the cameras at my place, so I subbed the alcohol in a couple of bottles for water and apple juice.” It was stupid now, but at the time it seemed like a good idea.
“Why?” she asked, biting the inside of her lip as she was tempted to ask if he had lost his mind.
“I hoped you’d change your mind.” He just wanted the distraction, the hit of adrenaline that came with patrolling, but like Evie, the execution in his intentions wasn’t his brightest moment. “But you weren’t wrong either. You just didn’t see the breaking points.”
“Hal… may have mentioned something… once I let him get a word in.” After all, Oliver got it easy compared to his drinking buddy, something Evie soon realized once Victor told her that Oliver wasn’t taking pain meds. Sometimes, she really hated how overprotective she got.
“Hey,” Oliver said, sensing that her confidence was taking a hit, “You’re better at this than you think. My parents wouldn’t have invested in you if they didn’t.”
Evie let herself smile, as that meant a lot to her to hear him say that. The only problem with that was something that Victor said starting echoing in her ears. “Except I clearly have to work on trusting you.”
“Evie, we’re good. I know you trust me, you’re just worried.” These were unordinary circumstances, and talking with her now made him realize both of their mistakes. Swallowing hard, he moved his head down. “To be honest, I should have come to you, but I didn’t think that I needed help. Or that it would help.”
That wasn’t easy for him to say, especially considering that he still doubted that talking about it would help, but he could have tried. But there was no sense dwelling in what he couldn’t change, Evie had done her part, now it was time for his. “Actually, there is one thing that you can do.”
“Huh?” Evie’s head popped up, as she had missed his last sentence. With the silence between his last two comments, she had taken the opportunity to answer her buzzing phone and check her text messages. In hindsight, not her best plan, but she likely did it to avoid regretting her answer to his earlier words. “I’m sorry, I just got a little distracted by new plans for tonight.”
“Date night?”
Evie sighed. “I wish, but it’s Victor’s night on the comms. Lois found out about Chloe’s run-in with you… Green Arrow I mean.” Staring at the text once more, she laughed as she stuffed the phone in her pocket. “That apparently means mandatory girls night at the Ace of Clubs.”
“You sound thrilled.” Not that this concept was new to him. Evie wasn’t exactly a girly-girl and with Victor in her life, she never understood the appeal of nightclubs.
Instead, her ideal night was a lot quieter, even if it was at home. However, saying no wasn’t as easy as it seemed. “Someone has to look out for Chloe.” She went along with things because she was worried about her friend, but Chris and Lois almost enjoyed setting up Chloe too much.
“Something tells me she can take care of herself,” Oliver replied, meaning that in more ways than one. He had to admit, he was impressed at how well she held her own. Chloe was by no means an expert fighter, but she was smart, which got results. “Tell you what, I think John has the night off. He can cover for Victor tonight. Have some fun.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
Maybe not, but it was clearly needed. “Before you dazed off, I wanted you to do something.” He took a step forward, smiling slowly as he tried to assure her that everything was okay. “Relax…take care of yourself a little more.”
He put a hand on her shoulder. “Look, I know you feel like you still owe me and Bart for everything, but we considered the debt repaid a long time ago. What you were trying to get me to avoid… well, there’s more than one way to lose sight of yourself.”
“Touche,” Evie replied with a sigh. Between here and H.O.M.E, she had been working a lot lately. The more she talked with Oliver, the more she realized just how tired she was. “I’ll give Vic a call.” With a smile, she took a step back to start dialling his number. But before she could hit the call button, she turned her head. “Thanks Oliver.”
He matched her smile. “Don’t mention it.” Pulling his own phone out, Oliver walked to the other side of the room, ensuring that Evie was sufficiently distracted before dialling Hal’s number. “Hey, you have any plans for tonight?”
~0~
Sitting here felt oddly familiar. Avoiding her friends, swirling the last of her drink before she got Ian's attention to buy another. It wasn't as if she didn't enjoy these nights, the problem was that the purpose they were supposed to hold didn't work on her.
She couldn't forget everything that happened, go up to a guy and pretend that everything was okay. She tried the casual route and that fell incredibly flat. That's why when she came here, Chloe wanted to focus on friendship, on what was working in her life.
The odd time, she'd humour her friends, dance with someone, maybe even let him buy her a drink, but the end was the same. Walking away was easiest, as she didn't want to pull anyone else down with her and she had no interest in picking herself back up.
Not yet.
Finishing off her drink, she pushed it forward, lifting her arm to get Ian's attention. Luckily for her, it worked, as he started to walk over, but then he suddenly stopped. Confused, Chloe's eyes narrowed, but then she realized that he had turned to grab a particular bottle of alcohol from the shelf. Soon enough, he was standing in front of her, pouring what looked like scotch into the glass. Even the bottle seemed familiar.
"Sorry about that," he said over the noise, sliding the drink in her direction. "But I got a special request for you." Holding his hand up to refuse her payment only confused Chloe more.
"From?"
That question caused Ian to smirk, as something told him that she wouldn't believe him if he told her. "Taste it and tell me."
An odd response, but Chloe obliged him with a small sip. Sure enough, he was right, as Chloe had told Ian that she had tried that scotch that night. "No," she said anyway, struggling with the reason this drink was in front of her right now.
Ian's hands raised further as he backed away from the counter. "Don't look at me. I'm not confirming or denying anything."
Chuckling, Chloe lifted the glass higher. "Also known as he told you not to tell me."
He expected her to see through that, but that didn't stop him from approaching her again to whisper carefully, "Tipped me quite well to do it too."
"Well, then I better not blow your cover." Shifting in her seat, she added, "Thanks Ian," doubtful that he heard her.
Just what was Oliver Queen thinking? Blanks were starting to fill in, but there was no way he could have known it was her that night. He never looked at her once when she put that drink down. So this time, as she approached the VIP area, it was curiosity that drove her. Although she couldn't solve most of the mysteries in her life, this one, she had a feeling she could handle. After all, this was exactly what he wanted.
"Hey," she said to the bouncer, feeling a sense of deja vu, down to the glass in her hand. "Yes, I know, VIP's only. I just need to talk to Mr. Queen for a minute." She looked around the man, but didn't see the face she was looking for. As the seconds passed by, she started to feel like a groupie.
That was until she felt a tap on her shoulder, and even though she couldn't see him, she knew it had to be Oliver. "And fortunately, you don't have to do a thing," she said with a grin before turning around.
"Hello again," Oliver said as their eyes met. He grinned as he noticed the drink in her hand.
That got Chloe to tilt her head as she fought the urge to return his expression. “Hey.” When her gaze moved down, she was reminded of the reason she had come over, "I have to admit, I was a little surprised." Moving the glass up, she did a mock toast in his direction. "While I don't think fixing your laptop constitutes a free scotch, I wanted to say thanks."
Oliver smirked before nodding. "How did you know?" From her tone, Chloe made it sound like this was the first time a guy had bought her a drink. Granted, he would remain silent on the real reason he bought it, as saving his life wasn't a concept she was supposed to know.
Even saying that she saved his life was a stretch, but she saved him from a lengthy explanation and recovery time. Emil was able to patch up his wound a lot easier because it didn’t have a chance to get infected and taking him off the streets prevented him from making it worse.
"If you remember me from Power Source, then you probably remember that I gave you a glass of this exact scotch later that night." After all, it was hard to remember a scotch that tasted this smooth, no matter how small her sip had been.
"Well,” he said with a chuckle, walking around Chloe towards the VIP area. “I was a little surprised that someone with your salary would break the bank for a stranger."
"Who said I did?" Peering around Oliver, she saw that sitting on the couch behind him was the same guy she had run into the previous time she was here, which helped to quiet a lot of her theories. Satisfied, she turned her attention back to Oliver. "One of the bartenders is a good friend. He did a favour when he knew what I wanted to do."
"Really?" He hadn't considered the possibility, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that they had seemed chummy when she saw her at the bar earlier tonight. That would also explain the bartender's reaction from when he bought the drink. However, it didn't explain one thing. "And why did you do it?"
A solid question, one Chloe debated, as her reason seemed flimsy. But she didn't deviate from the truth. "Because it's rare to find people who genuinely mean their sympathies in your life. Most are probably wanting to feast on your vulnerabilities that do exist, despite your best attempts to hide them."
"So you don't want anything from me?"
She immediately shook her head. "Money and influence buy a lot of things, but they don't satisfy the answers I'm looking for." Not unless it bought a time machine, and even then, based on Clark’s experience, Chloe was pretty sure that it wouldn’t help.
While Chloe’s thoughts drifted away, Oliver felt speechless. Somehow, she made her last statement sound like the battle of conflicting emotions, as her confidence in what she wanted was underlined by the frustration she tried to hide. When he bought her that drink, he knew that he wanted to do more than that to say thanks, and this was his opportunity.
"Do you... want to have a seat?” He watched her head pop up, as he had clearly broke her concentration. “Maybe have a real conversation?" If there was one thing Oliver knew for sure, it was that the team was right. He was intrigued by her, and they seemed to get along.
Chloe looked behind her shoulder, not sure what to say. She hadn't anticipated this offer, but going back to the table only meant not-so-subtle set-ups. That, and there was something about him that continued to pique her curiosity. "Sure, why not?"
Walking past the bouncer, Chloe followed him to an empty couch away from his friend. She had to wonder if this was part of his plan too, but based on how he looked back at her, she surprised him as much as he did her.
That didn’t mean that she didn’t notice him wincing as he sat down. “Are you okay?” she asked, following suit with the chair across from him.
“Yeah, just recovering from -”
“The motorcycle injury, right.” Shaking her head, she added, “Sorry, it’s all over the news, it’s hard not to know.”
Oliver grinned, as he almost felt relieved that she never dug more into that night. If he was going to let her in, that wasn’t the way he wanted her to find out his secret. However, if this was going to work, Oliver knew he had to tell her some of the things he knew.
"It’s okay, especially since I probably should have started with the fact I might have looked you up."
Leaning back in her seat, Chloe narrowed her eyes before taking a sip. "Seriously?"
"Like I said, you're completely over-qualified to be pushing thumb drives at Power Source.”
“Call it a quarter-life crisis.” Chloe laughed before lifting the glass to take another drink. However, she stopped before the glass reached her lips, as she realized something. “I take it my professional history wasn’t the only thing you found.”
Oliver nodded. “The reason you can relate to my parents. I’m sorry about your fiancé.” The truth was that he had always known, but now it meant more. Now he cared when he looked at the reports, the stories that were written about the young photographer brutally murdered on the streets.
“I hope you weren’t hoping to reminisce about dead bodies,” Chloe said, trying not to swallow hard, “because I’m not interested.”
“Neither am I.” Despite what they had in common, talking about the people they lost wouldn’t bring them back. He even doubted that it would ever make him feel better. “Honesty though… right?”
It was a word that oddly applied to their acquaintanceship so far. “Are you always this way with people you hardly know? Especially former journalists who could be looking for their next story?”
The thought had never crossed his mind, thanks to what he knew about her. But he couldn’t tell her that. Fortunately for Oliver, she had given him another answer tonight. “You don’t want money or influence, just answers. Combine that with what you said about Queen Industries when we first met...” Hearing her chuckle, Oliver tipped his glass towards her. “I’m not the only one who’s being honest.”
"Fair enough," Chloe replied, not really sure why that was the case. Maybe it was that she had come to the point where she felt like she really didn't have much more to lose, and considering his honesty, it was hard not to return. Especially in moments like this, where he proved to be an excellent listener.
That dynamic continued as the night wore on. They traded stories from university, a few embarrassing tales from their youth, and for the most part, everything they talked about was of an uplifting nature. As she watched his expressions while he told his most recent story, Chloe felt herself losing focus. This wasn't the guy she left a drink for a month ago, nor was it the charming stranger that needed technical assistance.
"...and then we burnt down the Statue of Liberty for kicks."
Blinking, Chloe knew that she had officially been caught staring. "What?"
Oliver smiled as he noticed a small amount of pink came across her cheeks. It wasn't the trance he was used to seeing when it came to women in his presence, but he didn't think that she would allow it to be so obvious to him. "What's going on in that mind of yours?"
Dipping her head down, Chloe tried to hide her embarrassment through a sip of her drink. "You...weren't what I expected." She pursed her lips, swirling the drink in her hand as she tried to justify her earlier actions. That normally wasn't like her. "I mean, I know you're smarter than you appear. Your parents wouldn't have trusted you with an inch of the company if you were as stupid as you let yourself be in the tabloids, but... I didn't thin you dumbed yourself down that much."
"Impressed?"
Letting their eyes meet once more, Chloe bit the inside of her lip before saying, "If I say a little, will it go to your head?"
Oliver shrugged. "Already has." Seeing her roll her eyes, he let out a single laugh. "No actually, and stop me if this sounds familiar, but I appreciate your honesty."
Chloe laughed back she leaned forward. "Well, something tells me that you'd see right through my lies anyway. I've been told that I'm a terrible liar."
"But you're excellent at avoiding the truth when necessary," Oliver countered, glad to hear her latter point, as the former was a dangerous one for him to address. "Or changing the conversation." Seeing her reaction, he laughed again. "Takes one to spot one."
Her mouth closed momentarily before forming a grin. "I suppose it does." It was just a little crazy how natural this felt, or at least, that was until three seconds ago before his smile completely fell. "Oliver, is --"
"Chloe, I've really enjoyed getting to know you, but you might want to get out of here... maybe even splash a drink in my face."
Initially, it felt like he was kidding again, but his eyes told another story. "Umm... what?"
Oliver sighed as he pointed to someone who was behind her. "A tabloid photographer just snuck in, I don't want -"
"I'm not going anywhere. Not yet." Chloe looked over to where Oliver was pointing, tempted to wave at the photographer before he clicked his shots.
She knew it was their job, but there had to be something better they could do with their time. "I knew what I was getting into when I accepted to go past the velvet curtain. Besides, there's a high probability that someone already took a photo while we were talking outside the VIP area." Turning back around as the photographer was not-so-subtly thrown out, Chloe smiled at Oliver. "Besides, that would be a waste of perfectly good scotch."
Watching as she held out her glass to him for a toast, he didn't waste much time accepting it, clinking his glass against hers. "That it is."
~0~
It would be another hour before Chloe finally left Oliver, realizing that she should probably spend some time with her friends tonight. She knew that there would be consequences to what she had done, but she couldn't find herself regretting it. Somewhere along the line, Oliver had become a confidante of sorts.
So she was prepped for the first jab thrown her way as she sat down, courtesy of her cousin. "You know, if you had better plans for tonight, you could have just told us."
"That... wasn't a plan," Chloe replied. It was the truth, as Oliver had started all this tonight, but she knew better than to ignore her part. Like she told him, she knew what she was getting into and eventually, all this would blow over. For now, it felt nice talking to him.
"I told you that he liked you," Chris said, looking towards the VIP area. What she wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall in that situation.
That made Chloe realize that they already knew exactly who she was with. She hoped that made things easier, as they had more than enough time to get all their crazy theories out of their systems. "He was only returning the favour." Noticing the skeptical looks on their faces, Chloe shook her head. "I wish Evie was here, she'd understand."
"She would have come if Victor didn’t get the night off last minute. With their schedules, you know the way she is." Chris grinned before finishing her drink. "So you're stuck with us."
"And the peering eyes of this whole place. You're front page news, cuz."
Chloe rolled her eyes as she realized that Lois wasn’t kidding. People were staring at their table and pointing, way more than what would be considered natural, even in circumstances like this. "People really need to get lives."
"Except some of them are actually doing their homework for once." While waiting for Chloe, her and Chris investigated the story, partially out of curiosity, mostly to figure out what the heck was going on. It was news to Lois, as unlike Chris, she had never seen Chloe interact with Oliver Queen before. Now, almost everyone in this place had seen it and the other photos that were circulating didn’t help. "Is that… you... from last month?"
"What?" Snatching the phone from Lois’ hand, Chloe sighed as she recognized her dress from that night. "Oh come on, I was there for two minutes."
"So the drink was the returned favour," Lois asked, trying to get her phone back.
"Yes, which you can confirm via Ian anytime you want.” Chloe dropped the phone on the table and leaned back in her seat, noticing how people were still staring. “So eliminate that stupid fantasy from your head and focus." She immediately regretted saying that, so she quickly apologized. "Sorry."
"Good," Lois replied. "Because I think this is normal girl talk, isn't it Chris?"
Chris shrugged innocently. "Chlo, you know I hate to agree with Lois, but..."
"Whatever. The score's settled. It's done."
"Except you have his card," Chris blurted, not realizing that she said that aloud. She was tempted to take it back upon seeing Chloe's reaction, but she decided against it. "Don't even try. I saw you pick it back up."
"Wait a second here,” Lois interjected before Chloe could get a word in. “You never mentioned that he left his card."
“Oops.”
"I hate you, Chris," Chloe replied, trying to make it sound as light as possible, despite her frustration. This night really just got better and better. But as the squabbling died down, Chloe realized it really wasn’t that bad. Once the stares died down, once the tabloids found something better to look at, this would also be over.
"Free coffee for a week?" her friend suggested with a sympathetic smile. It wasn’t every day that she could tease Chloe like this, and she only did it because she was usually the person that got teased. However, Chris underestimated the reaction from the pictures, so she hoped that her offer was a fair compromise.
Chloe smiled. "Deal,” she said before looking to Lois to ensure the conversation was over. When both women took the hint, Chloe wanted to focus on whatever they were talking about, but instead, her gaze moved back to the VIP area. Despite talking with him for over two hours, there was one answer she felt she never got an answer to.
~0~
This was strange.
They had come here tonight, it was his idea, but Oliver wasn’t acting like himself. Or at least, he wasn’t besides one particular encounter. Hal had kept an eye on Oliver when he could and seeing him with Chloe Sullivan was about the most relaxed Hal had seen his friend since his parents died.
Having enough, Hal left the woman hanging on his arm, hating himself for a second, to check on his friend. “Drink number one, Hal, relax,” Oliver said when he saw Hal approaching. “Evie’s not going to blow your head off.”
Hal knew that. Evie had apologized profusely a few days ago, and something told Hal that Oliver knew that. “While that’s comforting… what was that about?” he asked as he sat down across from Oliver.
It didn’t take long for Oliver to figure out that he meant Chloe. “She helped me out last week. I couldn’t think of a better way to return the favour.”
Again, that was something that Hal knew. What he wanted to know was whether or not she was the reason they were here tonight. Regardless, this was a slippery slope. That’s why he finally replied, “Telling the truth of why you’re revolving around her life might be a good start.”
“I know, but… it’s nice have the upper hand on someone for once. To be honest with someone and know they’re not going to take advantage of it.” Staring down at his drink, it was hard to believe that this alcohol was indirectly responsible for a lot between them, and not in the traditional sense. “She understands so much of my life without being involved. Part of me doesn’t want to lose that, to have a simple friendship in my life.”
“Are you such that’s it?” Because any friendship they might have would never be simple and Oliver had to know that. “No offence, but I haven’t seen you put this kind of effort into a woman before. Not to mention the fact that you blew your covert patrolling when you saw that she was being followed.”
Oliver hesitated to answer. He wanted to say yes, but Hal was right. This was different, but that didn’t mean that he knew what that meant. That’s why he eventually said, “Honestly Hal, I have no idea.”
Chapter 4
Sera’s Scribbles: This will be the last chapter before the new year. I hope get some one-shots prior to that, but I have some work to do on this one and not a lot of time to do it until January.
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serafina19
Title: Turn the Page
Rating: R
Summary: Oliver Queen meets Chloe Sullivan right before his life takes a turn for the worse. Together, they work to find peace in their lives and justice for the people they have lost.
Warning: coarse language, adult content, AU
Chapter 1 Chapter 2
Chapter 3
“Sorry Lois, I’m on my way.”
She knew that tonight was cousin dinner night, but lately, Chloe had focused on the clue, the ramifications of the two words she found. Looking over the files she had, she found signs of chess pieces being involved and she was determined to figure out the meaning.
The most recent dead end was the reason she was running late, which was usually Lois’ style, not hers. It was a fact her cousin wasn’t going to forget. “That’s okay, because I’m at your building.”
Chloe’s head jerked back as she opened up her apartment door, but she was surprised by Lois’ smiling face in front of her as she hung up the phone. “Hey cuz.”
Chloe followed suit as she stood in the doorway, glancing down at the time displayed on her phone. “Okay, I’m not that late.”
“No,” Lois said with a sigh before taking a seat on her couch, “but I think we need to talk.”
Eyes narrowing as Lois patted the seat next to her, Chloe quickly caught on. “Clark told you, didn’t he?” Before Lois could answer, Chloe bolted from the room, not wanting to hear another lecture from her cousin. Or from anyone in that matter.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t ditching Lois that easily. “The way I see it, I was finally able to get some answers about you last night.” Her boyfriend had been awfully dodgy on the subject lately, but Lois was determined to figure out the truth some way. Clark may be the man of steel, but that didn’t mean he was invulnerable. “Don’t get me wrong, the signs were there, but you’ve gotten better at avoiding the subject… or me altogether.”
“That’s not fair,” Chloe said as she stormed through the door leading to the stairwell. “You’ve been busy too.”
“Not since the Queen plane went down,” Lois shouted, surprised at her cousin’s candour in a public area. But if this was only way they were going to talk, then so be it. She rushed down the stairs after her, ready to hear whatever Chloe would tell her. “I love breaking the story as much as the next person, but there’s a line and you crossed it months ago.”
Picking up her pace, Chloe shook her head. “Lois, I don’t care about the story. I want answers. I want to stop feeling guilty.” Upon reaching the final step, Chloe stopped, as unfortunate memories flashed in front of her. “I tried letting it go, but I can’t.”
After awhile, chasing this story started to feel like an addiction she couldn’t kick. When she tried to put it aside, her mood worsened, she hid from her life and she couldn’t even find the time to feel a real connection with people anymore. What she was doing right now was the best compromise she could find.
Taking that final step, Chloe sat down on it, staring ahead at the door as she heard Lois approach from behind. “These people have gotten away with more than just Jimmy’s murder. They have connections in Star City and Central City… and those are just the ones I’ve found.” Glancing to her right, she watched Lois sit down next to her. “It’s doing the right thing, and I can’t turn a blind eye.”
Lois grinned as she sat down. It wasn’t one of happiness, but she did feel grateful that Chloe was able to share that much. If nothing else, it held a helpful reminder. “I forgot how much this means to you.”
Swallowing hard, Chloe appreciated the lightened mood around them, but it didn’t completely fade away the memories. “Trust me, I wanted to give up, but then I can’t sleep. All I see is his still face, the blood.”
“Then why can’t Clark and I help you?”
Standing up quickly, Chloe took a couple steps forward, the sunset becoming clearer in her view. “This is my burden, you guys have your own stories to tell.” They were the Daily Planet’s star reporter duo, they worked together to make the world a better place. As much as they could help, bringing them in could cause Clark’s secret come to light and Chloe knew she couldn’t risk that. “Can we not talk about this anymore? I’m more than willing to share later, but…”
Pushing herself up from the step, Lois nodded. “As long as that later actually happens.” She doubted that it would, but she knew that Chloe wasn’t going to say anything else.
Still, Chloe replied, “Fine,” knowing the word was a placeholder for what she really meant.
Despite all that, that didn’t stop the cousins from venturing outside, heading to Christalia for their needed dose of caffeine before dinner. As the chime rung above them, they were both greeted by Chris’ smiling face.
“Two usuals?” she asked, even though she knew the answer.
“My treat,” Chloe said to her cousin. “Making up for being late.”
“Chloe, really, I don’t -”
“Lois, I’m not bankrupt,” she interjected, knowing Lois meant well. Lately, her cousin had covered plenty of Chloe’s java bill, as it was no secret who was making more money between them. But Chloe wanted to do this.
Sensing that there was a lot more to that exchange, Chris changed the subject. “Lovely evening isn’t it? I think I might squeeze in a run once my shift ends.”
“It is nice out there, although… Chloe had quite the night last week.” Seeing her cousin’s eyes widen, Lois knew she was in trouble, but there was no going back now. Chris was in the dark about a lot of things, but this was one secret Lois could share. Plus, she had to punish her cousin a little for continuing to avoid talking to her. “She had a run-in with the Emerald Archer.”
“I’d love to have that type of luck.” Chris immediately blushed afterwards. “Not like that. I… he helped my sister once and I’ve always wanted to thank him.” Swallowing hard, Chris turned back to the machine, as no matter how much time passed, it still wasn’t easy to talk about her.
“It’s what he does,” Chloe said, staring daggers at Lois while Chris’ back was turned. “I’m sure you don’t have to worry about it.” Despite being tempted to withdraw her offer to pay, Chloe put her money on the table, knowing that Chris needed the money as much as she did. “To be honest, he saved my ass… and then I saved his.”
“It’s probably not a bad ass to save,” Lois quipped, getting interesting looks from both women. “What? I can look.”
With a chuckle, Chloe leaned her back against the counter, glad that the store was isolated while this conversation continued. “I didn’t spend much time looking after he took a bullet for me.”
Chris almost dropped the cup in her hand. “Whoa… did you get a look at his face?”
It was strange. Before Chris asked that question, that thought never crossed her mind. Maybe because of her past involvement with heroes, probably because of how narrow-minded she had become. “Unfortunately, I was more focused on getting us out of that situation.”
“Maybe you could ask him for help, though?” Lois asked before taking a sip, a comment that drew another reaction from Chloe. “I’m serious, I’d feel a lot better about you attacking this again if you had some back-up, if you let someone in.”
“It was just a fluke encounter.”
“I’m with Lois here,” Chris said, taking a look at the clock behind her, “especially because you Sullivan-Lane women attract trouble. So I’m willing to bet it isn’t.”
“Well,” Chloe said, willing to give in a little, “I will admit that anyone with their resources would have a lot of intel that I don’t have access too.”
Lois scoffed. “I don’t think your hacking skills need work.”
“Yeah, but they would probably know where to look. Avenues I haven’t considered, answers that I haven’t found.” There was just one problem with that theory. It was the same problem with bringing Clark in. Chloe knew members of his team, knew the damage it would do to Evie if her boyfriend or cousin got caught up in all this. She couldn’t and wouldn’t do that to her friends. “But it doesn’t matter, they have more important things to do than worry about what I’m looking for.”
Recognizing that look on Chloe’s face from earlier, Lois grinned. “And you clearly need a night off.”
“That’s the plan,” Chloe replied as she took a long swig of coffee. “Did you ever decide where we’re going for dinner?”
“Actually, I was thinking…it’s a good night for a long overdue girl’s night, don’t you, Chris?”
“Sure, why not? I don’t have to close tonight and I’m pretty sure Evie’s available.”
“You say girl’s night, but I hear Chloe pity party.” Seeing both women jump to the defence, Chloe put her hands up to stop them. “C’mon guys, it’s not that hard to see. You all have boyfriends and take pity. It’s cute… really, even if Ian’s serving the drinks.”
“I don’t need to see him tonight Chloe, but - ”
“There is no way another bartender is serving me tonight,” Chloe interjected. “So let’s do this.”
~0~
Evie knew that this had waited too long, that she had chickened out over clearing the air between Oliver and her. She wasn’t about to blame timing or label excuses, this was all her feeling guilty and regretting that she had underestimated Oliver. Since he came back to headquarters, he had come every day, showing that for the most part, he was under control of his emotions… everything.
And she had played it completely wrong. Not talking about the decision that she made, the reaction that she had given. Instead, she kept silent and it put on a strain on their friendship, something Evie had grown to treasure since she began rebuilding her life.
Looking back at the screen, showing what she was working on, Evie sighed. She knew how much this was eating away at her and she knew better than let it go on for any longer. Rolling her chair towards Oliver at the other console, she stopped the momentum suddenly, ensuring proper distance between them. She was tempted get the advantage, but using her abilities would be the easy way out.
So she took the chance and went in blind. “Oliver, I… I want to apologize to you about… a lot of things.” Her pause had led Oliver to turn around, so Evie tried to maintain eye contact. “I know I went overboard with you taking a break from patrolling, but what I didn’t tell you was the real reason why.”
His hands curling around the edge, Oliver leaned against the console, wondering where this was coming from. “You sure about that?”
Evie scoffed, knowing that she deserved that question. This whole time, it seemed like her intentions were clear, but the truth was that the Queens’ deaths hit her harder than she thought. “I wanted you to spend some time considering your life as Oliver Queen. For so long, your life has been defined by your parents and with them gone… I was hoping that you’d see more to that life than the bottle.”
Standing up, Evie took a single step forward before stretching her arms wide. “I thought that if you got lost in this, in Green Arrow, you’d lose who you are. Because you’re allowed to be this person as Oliver Queen. You can be the person we see every day. You…”
Her voice trailed as she realized that she was lecturing him again. Shaking her head, she turned around to hide her frustration. “But you also don’t have to take advice from me. I’m not a shrink… I’m just someone who can lead an ear to people who have nowhere else to go, but you do.”
Oliver’s mouth gaped open, as he didn’t realize just how much extra weight she had been carrying lately. “Evie -”
“That wasn’t a guilt trip,” she interjected, knowing that he could have construed her words that way. “Just the facts.”
What she wasn’t expecting was for Oliver to laugh in response. “Then I should probably apologize for messing with you.”
Evie whirled around. “Huh?”
“I… had a feeling you’d check in on the cameras at my place, so I subbed the alcohol in a couple of bottles for water and apple juice.” It was stupid now, but at the time it seemed like a good idea.
“Why?” she asked, biting the inside of her lip as she was tempted to ask if he had lost his mind.
“I hoped you’d change your mind.” He just wanted the distraction, the hit of adrenaline that came with patrolling, but like Evie, the execution in his intentions wasn’t his brightest moment. “But you weren’t wrong either. You just didn’t see the breaking points.”
“Hal… may have mentioned something… once I let him get a word in.” After all, Oliver got it easy compared to his drinking buddy, something Evie soon realized once Victor told her that Oliver wasn’t taking pain meds. Sometimes, she really hated how overprotective she got.
“Hey,” Oliver said, sensing that her confidence was taking a hit, “You’re better at this than you think. My parents wouldn’t have invested in you if they didn’t.”
Evie let herself smile, as that meant a lot to her to hear him say that. The only problem with that was something that Victor said starting echoing in her ears. “Except I clearly have to work on trusting you.”
“Evie, we’re good. I know you trust me, you’re just worried.” These were unordinary circumstances, and talking with her now made him realize both of their mistakes. Swallowing hard, he moved his head down. “To be honest, I should have come to you, but I didn’t think that I needed help. Or that it would help.”
That wasn’t easy for him to say, especially considering that he still doubted that talking about it would help, but he could have tried. But there was no sense dwelling in what he couldn’t change, Evie had done her part, now it was time for his. “Actually, there is one thing that you can do.”
“Huh?” Evie’s head popped up, as she had missed his last sentence. With the silence between his last two comments, she had taken the opportunity to answer her buzzing phone and check her text messages. In hindsight, not her best plan, but she likely did it to avoid regretting her answer to his earlier words. “I’m sorry, I just got a little distracted by new plans for tonight.”
“Date night?”
Evie sighed. “I wish, but it’s Victor’s night on the comms. Lois found out about Chloe’s run-in with you… Green Arrow I mean.” Staring at the text once more, she laughed as she stuffed the phone in her pocket. “That apparently means mandatory girls night at the Ace of Clubs.”
“You sound thrilled.” Not that this concept was new to him. Evie wasn’t exactly a girly-girl and with Victor in her life, she never understood the appeal of nightclubs.
Instead, her ideal night was a lot quieter, even if it was at home. However, saying no wasn’t as easy as it seemed. “Someone has to look out for Chloe.” She went along with things because she was worried about her friend, but Chris and Lois almost enjoyed setting up Chloe too much.
“Something tells me she can take care of herself,” Oliver replied, meaning that in more ways than one. He had to admit, he was impressed at how well she held her own. Chloe was by no means an expert fighter, but she was smart, which got results. “Tell you what, I think John has the night off. He can cover for Victor tonight. Have some fun.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
Maybe not, but it was clearly needed. “Before you dazed off, I wanted you to do something.” He took a step forward, smiling slowly as he tried to assure her that everything was okay. “Relax…take care of yourself a little more.”
He put a hand on her shoulder. “Look, I know you feel like you still owe me and Bart for everything, but we considered the debt repaid a long time ago. What you were trying to get me to avoid… well, there’s more than one way to lose sight of yourself.”
“Touche,” Evie replied with a sigh. Between here and H.O.M.E, she had been working a lot lately. The more she talked with Oliver, the more she realized just how tired she was. “I’ll give Vic a call.” With a smile, she took a step back to start dialling his number. But before she could hit the call button, she turned her head. “Thanks Oliver.”
He matched her smile. “Don’t mention it.” Pulling his own phone out, Oliver walked to the other side of the room, ensuring that Evie was sufficiently distracted before dialling Hal’s number. “Hey, you have any plans for tonight?”
~0~
Sitting here felt oddly familiar. Avoiding her friends, swirling the last of her drink before she got Ian's attention to buy another. It wasn't as if she didn't enjoy these nights, the problem was that the purpose they were supposed to hold didn't work on her.
She couldn't forget everything that happened, go up to a guy and pretend that everything was okay. She tried the casual route and that fell incredibly flat. That's why when she came here, Chloe wanted to focus on friendship, on what was working in her life.
The odd time, she'd humour her friends, dance with someone, maybe even let him buy her a drink, but the end was the same. Walking away was easiest, as she didn't want to pull anyone else down with her and she had no interest in picking herself back up.
Not yet.
Finishing off her drink, she pushed it forward, lifting her arm to get Ian's attention. Luckily for her, it worked, as he started to walk over, but then he suddenly stopped. Confused, Chloe's eyes narrowed, but then she realized that he had turned to grab a particular bottle of alcohol from the shelf. Soon enough, he was standing in front of her, pouring what looked like scotch into the glass. Even the bottle seemed familiar.
"Sorry about that," he said over the noise, sliding the drink in her direction. "But I got a special request for you." Holding his hand up to refuse her payment only confused Chloe more.
"From?"
That question caused Ian to smirk, as something told him that she wouldn't believe him if he told her. "Taste it and tell me."
An odd response, but Chloe obliged him with a small sip. Sure enough, he was right, as Chloe had told Ian that she had tried that scotch that night. "No," she said anyway, struggling with the reason this drink was in front of her right now.
Ian's hands raised further as he backed away from the counter. "Don't look at me. I'm not confirming or denying anything."
Chuckling, Chloe lifted the glass higher. "Also known as he told you not to tell me."
He expected her to see through that, but that didn't stop him from approaching her again to whisper carefully, "Tipped me quite well to do it too."
"Well, then I better not blow your cover." Shifting in her seat, she added, "Thanks Ian," doubtful that he heard her.
Just what was Oliver Queen thinking? Blanks were starting to fill in, but there was no way he could have known it was her that night. He never looked at her once when she put that drink down. So this time, as she approached the VIP area, it was curiosity that drove her. Although she couldn't solve most of the mysteries in her life, this one, she had a feeling she could handle. After all, this was exactly what he wanted.
"Hey," she said to the bouncer, feeling a sense of deja vu, down to the glass in her hand. "Yes, I know, VIP's only. I just need to talk to Mr. Queen for a minute." She looked around the man, but didn't see the face she was looking for. As the seconds passed by, she started to feel like a groupie.
That was until she felt a tap on her shoulder, and even though she couldn't see him, she knew it had to be Oliver. "And fortunately, you don't have to do a thing," she said with a grin before turning around.
"Hello again," Oliver said as their eyes met. He grinned as he noticed the drink in her hand.
That got Chloe to tilt her head as she fought the urge to return his expression. “Hey.” When her gaze moved down, she was reminded of the reason she had come over, "I have to admit, I was a little surprised." Moving the glass up, she did a mock toast in his direction. "While I don't think fixing your laptop constitutes a free scotch, I wanted to say thanks."
Oliver smirked before nodding. "How did you know?" From her tone, Chloe made it sound like this was the first time a guy had bought her a drink. Granted, he would remain silent on the real reason he bought it, as saving his life wasn't a concept she was supposed to know.
Even saying that she saved his life was a stretch, but she saved him from a lengthy explanation and recovery time. Emil was able to patch up his wound a lot easier because it didn’t have a chance to get infected and taking him off the streets prevented him from making it worse.
"If you remember me from Power Source, then you probably remember that I gave you a glass of this exact scotch later that night." After all, it was hard to remember a scotch that tasted this smooth, no matter how small her sip had been.
"Well,” he said with a chuckle, walking around Chloe towards the VIP area. “I was a little surprised that someone with your salary would break the bank for a stranger."
"Who said I did?" Peering around Oliver, she saw that sitting on the couch behind him was the same guy she had run into the previous time she was here, which helped to quiet a lot of her theories. Satisfied, she turned her attention back to Oliver. "One of the bartenders is a good friend. He did a favour when he knew what I wanted to do."
"Really?" He hadn't considered the possibility, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that they had seemed chummy when she saw her at the bar earlier tonight. That would also explain the bartender's reaction from when he bought the drink. However, it didn't explain one thing. "And why did you do it?"
A solid question, one Chloe debated, as her reason seemed flimsy. But she didn't deviate from the truth. "Because it's rare to find people who genuinely mean their sympathies in your life. Most are probably wanting to feast on your vulnerabilities that do exist, despite your best attempts to hide them."
"So you don't want anything from me?"
She immediately shook her head. "Money and influence buy a lot of things, but they don't satisfy the answers I'm looking for." Not unless it bought a time machine, and even then, based on Clark’s experience, Chloe was pretty sure that it wouldn’t help.
While Chloe’s thoughts drifted away, Oliver felt speechless. Somehow, she made her last statement sound like the battle of conflicting emotions, as her confidence in what she wanted was underlined by the frustration she tried to hide. When he bought her that drink, he knew that he wanted to do more than that to say thanks, and this was his opportunity.
"Do you... want to have a seat?” He watched her head pop up, as he had clearly broke her concentration. “Maybe have a real conversation?" If there was one thing Oliver knew for sure, it was that the team was right. He was intrigued by her, and they seemed to get along.
Chloe looked behind her shoulder, not sure what to say. She hadn't anticipated this offer, but going back to the table only meant not-so-subtle set-ups. That, and there was something about him that continued to pique her curiosity. "Sure, why not?"
Walking past the bouncer, Chloe followed him to an empty couch away from his friend. She had to wonder if this was part of his plan too, but based on how he looked back at her, she surprised him as much as he did her.
That didn’t mean that she didn’t notice him wincing as he sat down. “Are you okay?” she asked, following suit with the chair across from him.
“Yeah, just recovering from -”
“The motorcycle injury, right.” Shaking her head, she added, “Sorry, it’s all over the news, it’s hard not to know.”
Oliver grinned, as he almost felt relieved that she never dug more into that night. If he was going to let her in, that wasn’t the way he wanted her to find out his secret. However, if this was going to work, Oliver knew he had to tell her some of the things he knew.
"It’s okay, especially since I probably should have started with the fact I might have looked you up."
Leaning back in her seat, Chloe narrowed her eyes before taking a sip. "Seriously?"
"Like I said, you're completely over-qualified to be pushing thumb drives at Power Source.”
“Call it a quarter-life crisis.” Chloe laughed before lifting the glass to take another drink. However, she stopped before the glass reached her lips, as she realized something. “I take it my professional history wasn’t the only thing you found.”
Oliver nodded. “The reason you can relate to my parents. I’m sorry about your fiancé.” The truth was that he had always known, but now it meant more. Now he cared when he looked at the reports, the stories that were written about the young photographer brutally murdered on the streets.
“I hope you weren’t hoping to reminisce about dead bodies,” Chloe said, trying not to swallow hard, “because I’m not interested.”
“Neither am I.” Despite what they had in common, talking about the people they lost wouldn’t bring them back. He even doubted that it would ever make him feel better. “Honesty though… right?”
It was a word that oddly applied to their acquaintanceship so far. “Are you always this way with people you hardly know? Especially former journalists who could be looking for their next story?”
The thought had never crossed his mind, thanks to what he knew about her. But he couldn’t tell her that. Fortunately for Oliver, she had given him another answer tonight. “You don’t want money or influence, just answers. Combine that with what you said about Queen Industries when we first met...” Hearing her chuckle, Oliver tipped his glass towards her. “I’m not the only one who’s being honest.”
"Fair enough," Chloe replied, not really sure why that was the case. Maybe it was that she had come to the point where she felt like she really didn't have much more to lose, and considering his honesty, it was hard not to return. Especially in moments like this, where he proved to be an excellent listener.
That dynamic continued as the night wore on. They traded stories from university, a few embarrassing tales from their youth, and for the most part, everything they talked about was of an uplifting nature. As she watched his expressions while he told his most recent story, Chloe felt herself losing focus. This wasn't the guy she left a drink for a month ago, nor was it the charming stranger that needed technical assistance.
"...and then we burnt down the Statue of Liberty for kicks."
Blinking, Chloe knew that she had officially been caught staring. "What?"
Oliver smiled as he noticed a small amount of pink came across her cheeks. It wasn't the trance he was used to seeing when it came to women in his presence, but he didn't think that she would allow it to be so obvious to him. "What's going on in that mind of yours?"
Dipping her head down, Chloe tried to hide her embarrassment through a sip of her drink. "You...weren't what I expected." She pursed her lips, swirling the drink in her hand as she tried to justify her earlier actions. That normally wasn't like her. "I mean, I know you're smarter than you appear. Your parents wouldn't have trusted you with an inch of the company if you were as stupid as you let yourself be in the tabloids, but... I didn't thin you dumbed yourself down that much."
"Impressed?"
Letting their eyes meet once more, Chloe bit the inside of her lip before saying, "If I say a little, will it go to your head?"
Oliver shrugged. "Already has." Seeing her roll her eyes, he let out a single laugh. "No actually, and stop me if this sounds familiar, but I appreciate your honesty."
Chloe laughed back she leaned forward. "Well, something tells me that you'd see right through my lies anyway. I've been told that I'm a terrible liar."
"But you're excellent at avoiding the truth when necessary," Oliver countered, glad to hear her latter point, as the former was a dangerous one for him to address. "Or changing the conversation." Seeing her reaction, he laughed again. "Takes one to spot one."
Her mouth closed momentarily before forming a grin. "I suppose it does." It was just a little crazy how natural this felt, or at least, that was until three seconds ago before his smile completely fell. "Oliver, is --"
"Chloe, I've really enjoyed getting to know you, but you might want to get out of here... maybe even splash a drink in my face."
Initially, it felt like he was kidding again, but his eyes told another story. "Umm... what?"
Oliver sighed as he pointed to someone who was behind her. "A tabloid photographer just snuck in, I don't want -"
"I'm not going anywhere. Not yet." Chloe looked over to where Oliver was pointing, tempted to wave at the photographer before he clicked his shots.
She knew it was their job, but there had to be something better they could do with their time. "I knew what I was getting into when I accepted to go past the velvet curtain. Besides, there's a high probability that someone already took a photo while we were talking outside the VIP area." Turning back around as the photographer was not-so-subtly thrown out, Chloe smiled at Oliver. "Besides, that would be a waste of perfectly good scotch."
Watching as she held out her glass to him for a toast, he didn't waste much time accepting it, clinking his glass against hers. "That it is."
~0~
It would be another hour before Chloe finally left Oliver, realizing that she should probably spend some time with her friends tonight. She knew that there would be consequences to what she had done, but she couldn't find herself regretting it. Somewhere along the line, Oliver had become a confidante of sorts.
So she was prepped for the first jab thrown her way as she sat down, courtesy of her cousin. "You know, if you had better plans for tonight, you could have just told us."
"That... wasn't a plan," Chloe replied. It was the truth, as Oliver had started all this tonight, but she knew better than to ignore her part. Like she told him, she knew what she was getting into and eventually, all this would blow over. For now, it felt nice talking to him.
"I told you that he liked you," Chris said, looking towards the VIP area. What she wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall in that situation.
That made Chloe realize that they already knew exactly who she was with. She hoped that made things easier, as they had more than enough time to get all their crazy theories out of their systems. "He was only returning the favour." Noticing the skeptical looks on their faces, Chloe shook her head. "I wish Evie was here, she'd understand."
"She would have come if Victor didn’t get the night off last minute. With their schedules, you know the way she is." Chris grinned before finishing her drink. "So you're stuck with us."
"And the peering eyes of this whole place. You're front page news, cuz."
Chloe rolled her eyes as she realized that Lois wasn’t kidding. People were staring at their table and pointing, way more than what would be considered natural, even in circumstances like this. "People really need to get lives."
"Except some of them are actually doing their homework for once." While waiting for Chloe, her and Chris investigated the story, partially out of curiosity, mostly to figure out what the heck was going on. It was news to Lois, as unlike Chris, she had never seen Chloe interact with Oliver Queen before. Now, almost everyone in this place had seen it and the other photos that were circulating didn’t help. "Is that… you... from last month?"
"What?" Snatching the phone from Lois’ hand, Chloe sighed as she recognized her dress from that night. "Oh come on, I was there for two minutes."
"So the drink was the returned favour," Lois asked, trying to get her phone back.
"Yes, which you can confirm via Ian anytime you want.” Chloe dropped the phone on the table and leaned back in her seat, noticing how people were still staring. “So eliminate that stupid fantasy from your head and focus." She immediately regretted saying that, so she quickly apologized. "Sorry."
"Good," Lois replied. "Because I think this is normal girl talk, isn't it Chris?"
Chris shrugged innocently. "Chlo, you know I hate to agree with Lois, but..."
"Whatever. The score's settled. It's done."
"Except you have his card," Chris blurted, not realizing that she said that aloud. She was tempted to take it back upon seeing Chloe's reaction, but she decided against it. "Don't even try. I saw you pick it back up."
"Wait a second here,” Lois interjected before Chloe could get a word in. “You never mentioned that he left his card."
“Oops.”
"I hate you, Chris," Chloe replied, trying to make it sound as light as possible, despite her frustration. This night really just got better and better. But as the squabbling died down, Chloe realized it really wasn’t that bad. Once the stares died down, once the tabloids found something better to look at, this would also be over.
"Free coffee for a week?" her friend suggested with a sympathetic smile. It wasn’t every day that she could tease Chloe like this, and she only did it because she was usually the person that got teased. However, Chris underestimated the reaction from the pictures, so she hoped that her offer was a fair compromise.
Chloe smiled. "Deal,” she said before looking to Lois to ensure the conversation was over. When both women took the hint, Chloe wanted to focus on whatever they were talking about, but instead, her gaze moved back to the VIP area. Despite talking with him for over two hours, there was one answer she felt she never got an answer to.
~0~
This was strange.
They had come here tonight, it was his idea, but Oliver wasn’t acting like himself. Or at least, he wasn’t besides one particular encounter. Hal had kept an eye on Oliver when he could and seeing him with Chloe Sullivan was about the most relaxed Hal had seen his friend since his parents died.
Having enough, Hal left the woman hanging on his arm, hating himself for a second, to check on his friend. “Drink number one, Hal, relax,” Oliver said when he saw Hal approaching. “Evie’s not going to blow your head off.”
Hal knew that. Evie had apologized profusely a few days ago, and something told Hal that Oliver knew that. “While that’s comforting… what was that about?” he asked as he sat down across from Oliver.
It didn’t take long for Oliver to figure out that he meant Chloe. “She helped me out last week. I couldn’t think of a better way to return the favour.”
Again, that was something that Hal knew. What he wanted to know was whether or not she was the reason they were here tonight. Regardless, this was a slippery slope. That’s why he finally replied, “Telling the truth of why you’re revolving around her life might be a good start.”
“I know, but… it’s nice have the upper hand on someone for once. To be honest with someone and know they’re not going to take advantage of it.” Staring down at his drink, it was hard to believe that this alcohol was indirectly responsible for a lot between them, and not in the traditional sense. “She understands so much of my life without being involved. Part of me doesn’t want to lose that, to have a simple friendship in my life.”
“Are you such that’s it?” Because any friendship they might have would never be simple and Oliver had to know that. “No offence, but I haven’t seen you put this kind of effort into a woman before. Not to mention the fact that you blew your covert patrolling when you saw that she was being followed.”
Oliver hesitated to answer. He wanted to say yes, but Hal was right. This was different, but that didn’t mean that he knew what that meant. That’s why he eventually said, “Honestly Hal, I have no idea.”
Chapter 4
Sera’s Scribbles: This will be the last chapter before the new year. I hope get some one-shots prior to that, but I have some work to do on this one and not a lot of time to do it until January.
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