An Origin Story: 9/23
Author: BlueSuede
Title: An Origin Story
Rating: R/M
Genre: Friendship/Romance
Pairings: Chloe/Oliver
Summary: AU in which Oliver's parents never died
Warnings: minor spoilers for most early seasons
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Prologue
Previous (Chapter 8)
Next (Chapter 10)
Chapter 9:
Far Away Kingdoms Part III: A Grand Ball
"Quit trying to one up each other and let's go already," Lois said none-too-tactfully. Chloe, though she didn't say so, couldn't help but agree. She had just introduced Oliver and Clark, which had been followed by a handshake that never seemed to end. (Had it not been for Clark's personal advantage, she wasn't sure who would have cracked whose hand. As it was, Clark had clearly applied just enough restraint to not crush Oliver's hand.) It had been a difficult battle not to roll her eyes and tell them to just bring a ruler next time. Lois obviously had less self-control.
When she and Lois returned from buying popcorn only to find the two men still staring each other down. Her blunt demand caused them both to jump.
"Sorry," Clark said, grinning immediately as he stole a piece of Lois's popcorn before taking her hand and heading for the theatre.
Chloe raised an eyebrow at Oliver, smirking at him.
"What?" he asked innocently.
"What was that about?" she asked gesturing to where he and Clark had been just a moment before.
"No idea what you're talking about," Oliver shrugged, the corner of his lip tugging into a smile. He was much more relaxed today, due to the fact that Chloe was dressed merely in a sweater and jeans. A nice, pleasant, not-distracting outfit.
She rolled her eyes. "Would you mind playing nice?" she asked as they followed Clark and Lois. "That's my best friend and my closest family in there. Lois is starting to like you-although I won't get started on why-but Clark never trusts any men who show up in my life. I'm lucky he likes my dad."
"Why am I trying to impress him again?" he asked, holding the door open for her.
"Because I'll tell your mother where you really went when she thought you were sick last year."
Oliver paled. "You wouldn't."
"Wouldn't I?" he heard her ask as she disappeared into the darkness of the theatre.
Shaking his head, he followed after her.
"So Lois, how's work at the Planet?" Oliver asked Lois after the move, as the four of them sat at lunch.
"Yeah, I've noticed you and Clark have started sharing a fair few bylines," Chloe said, a hint of teasing in her voice.
"Yeah, well, Smallville here needs all the help he can get," Lois said, which translated from Lois-speak into, 'We make a good team.'
"That's right," Oliver jumped in, eager to get a little insight on Clark Kent. "You two both work at the paper, don't you?"
Clark nodded. "Yeah. Chloe was the one who got me interested in journalism. Lois was the one who forced me to apply for the job." He grinned.
"Huh. I bet that's a pretty exciting job. Chloe's always telling me how non-stop it can be, jumping up every time a police-scanner goes off."
"Just about," Lois agreed. "Although, I'll tell you what, half the time I can't keep track of Clark." She rolled her eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"He always disappears right when things get really exciting," she said to Oliver, yet looked at Clark and spoke admonishingly. "Drives me nuts."
"She imagines it," Clark protested. "Just because I'm not directly in your line of sight doesn't mean I'm not there," he pointed out to Lois. "Makes no sense to stick together. We learn more when we split up."
Lois appeared dubious, but merely raised her eyebrows and shoved a forkful of food in her mouth.
Oliver heard Chloe sigh, but when he glanced at her, she wasn't looking at him. She was eyeing Clark, who, Oliver noted, was looking anywhere but at Chloe.
"What about you two?" Clark asked, obviously wanting the spotlight off of him and Lois.
"What about us two?" Oliver asked absently, still studying Chloe.
"Chloe claims you're friends."
"A reasonable claim," he returned, taking a bite of food himself.
When he got no reply, he looked up to find Lois and Clark each giving him distinct and very different kinds of glares. He had already seen Lois's glare. It meant she thought he was wasting time and needed to start making out with her cousin at the soonest possible opportunity. After a second he identified Clark's as meaning he didn't trust Oliver anywhere near Chloe and clearly the fact that he and Chloe weren't dating was confirmation that all this distrust was well-grounded.
Chloe heaved another sigh.
"By the way, lunch with your friends was fun. Let's never do it again."
Chloe laughed. "I'm so sorry about that. I really thought Clark would behave better than that."
It was later in the evening and they were heading into the ballroom, and Chloe was relieved that she had successfully maneuvered the press outside once again. It was a hazard of being Oliver Queen's friend she had discovered within about two weeks of their first coffee-meeting.
Unbeknownst to Chloe, Clark Kent had managed to pull Oliver aside for a discreet, albeit somewhat melodramatic "Hurt her, and I'll hurt you" speech. Oliver had to give him credit for the gesture. Were the situation reversed, he'd be doing the same thing. At the same time, however, it irked him that no one seemed to believe him when he said that not only did he not have romantic intentions toward Chloe, he definitely didn't plan on hurting her any time soon.
"Did you? Because it looked to me like that was typical behavior for the little boyscou-OW! What was that for?"
She'd elbowed him in the ribs. "Talk nice about my best friend," she warned, grinning nonetheless.
Oliver shrugged. "Well, I guess I can't blame the guy. I'd get protective of you, too, the way certain types of men seem t-" he stopped short, groaning. "Speaking of which..."
Chloe followed his line of sight and grinned brightly. Bruce Wayne was making his way toward them.
"Chloe," he greeted warmly, kissing her hand like he always did upon seeing her. "You beautiful creature, how are you? It's been too long."
Chloe thought she heard Oliver mutter something under his breath about it not being long enough, causing her to grin even wider. "It has. I missed you. How have you been?"
"Bored without you. And I have to say, I'm wounded to once again find you on the arm of another man."
Chloe giggled and Oliver grimaced.
Bruce tugged on Chloe's hand and pulled her away to dance.
"Right, don't mind me," Oliver said to no one, rolling his eyes. He went to get a drink.
Bruce's attention to Chloe was bordering on annoying at best, and downright infuriating at worst. Time and time again Oliver had warned Bruce that Chloe was not to be some casual fling. She just wasn't that kind of girl.
He really didn't blame Clark Kent, now he thought about it. In his eyes, Oliver was probably just like Bruce. Some undeserving man who might take advantage of an innocent girl. Not that Oliver would do any such thing, of course. But he could see where Clark might get that idea; Oliver did have a reputation.
Bruce on the other hand, well, it was just bad news. He was Batman, for the love of- Oliver shook his head. What did Bruce think he was doing, stringing Chloe along? He glanced at them.
Chloe, meanwhile, was rather enjoying herself dancing with Bruce. Had Bruce kept on flirting with her after the charity ball hosted at the Queens, she would most likely have discouraged him similarly to the way she handled Oliver upon their first meeting. However, Bruce and she had quickly formed a sort of alliance. They both shared a secret love for pushing Oliver's buttons, and apparently nothing did that more than seeing Bruce flirt with her. Besides that, they enjoyed each other's company. Bruce was charming and gentlemanly and witty, and he got a kick out of Chloe's sarcastic immunity to him. Chloe got a few inside tips from him once in a while for her articles, and Bruce got the pleasure of seeing Oliver turn red in the face every time he said a single word to Chloe, not to mention her occasional flattering mentions of him in the paper.
Chloe had to admit she liked Bruce, maybe even had the smallest of innocent crushes on him. She blamed it on the knowledge that he was Batman. She had a thing for heroes, unfortunately. Not that it was anything serious, of course. Just that she didn't happen to mind all that much when he flirted.
Speaking of which, Bruce leaned forward with a devious grin on his lips. "Want to make Oliver turn thirteen shades of purple?"
She grinned right back. "What do you propose?"
"Well, I'm going to whisper in your ear like this, and then you're going to giggle and slap my shoulder," he told her, whispering in her ear as stated.
Chloe did giggle naturally, and followed his instructions to swat his shoulder.
"So," Bruce said, making a point of leaning especially close to her, to give off the impression that he was thinking about kissing her, "are you still playing dumb where Oliver's concerned?"
Chloe fought not to roll her eyes. "I'm not playing dumb."
Bruce smirked.
"How many times do I have to point out to you that Ollie and I are just friends. We don't think of each other that way?"
"Which is why it makes him incredibly jealous when I do this?" he asked, sliding his hand inappropriately low and pulling her a little closer. Bruce enjoyed the games with Chloe. It was fun to get Oliver Queen riled up. The man was wound too tightly when it came to Chloe, and Bruce had been trying unsuccessfully to get the pair of them to realize they were in denial about each other. In the meantime, of course, he got the pleasure of Chloe's company, as well as the pleasure of occasionally manhandling her.
"He's not jealous," Chloe responded for what felt like the umpteenth time, discreetly moving Bruce's hand back up. "He's overprotective."
"Same thing."
She shook her head.
"What's the difference then?" he smirked.
"You can be protective of someone without wanting to get them in your bed."
He cocked an eyebrow. "But I'm protective of you, and I want you in my bed," he teased lightheartedly.
Chloe laughed, knowing he wasn't truly serious.
Bruce gave in for the moment, deciding not to trouble her further. "By the way, I read the article."
"Which one?"
"A World in Need of Heroes."
Chloe turned bright red. "Oh. What did you think?"
"I was thoroughly impressed. It was a pretty good depiction of what's going on with these people."
Internally Chloe was beaming, but she only raised an eyebrow. "You who thought Batman should leave police business to the police?" she challenged.
He shrugged a shoulder carelessly. "I guess you persuaded me to look at it otherwise. I was particularly impressed by the quote from Gotham PD, something about needing 'all the help they can get,' I think it was?" He had his suspicions who the quote might have come from. He'd have asked Chloe outright if it were Commissioner Gordon, but he knew she'd never give up her source. "But I think the clincher was when you said that 'It will be a happy day indeed when America no longer needs heroes like Batman, the Blur, and the Green Arrow; but today, here and now, we do.' Not to mention the part about those heroes looking forward to that day. Very insightful. It made me think."
Chloe was surprised at his ability to quote her word for word, not to mention immensely flattered, considering he had been a subject of the article. She could feel her face growing hot. "I guess I made an impression."
He nodded.
"Thanks."
Bruce had the distinct impression he should be thanking her. That article had given him a faint glimmer of hope that perhaps being Batman was not entirely a thankless task. Every once in a while, something convinced him to keep going. At the moment, it was Chloe's unsought, unashamed, unbreakable, and yet apparently logical, balanced, and informed faith in him and the others that had succeeded in lifting his spirits, if only slightly. He sincerely admired the young woman in his arms, and he hadn't been lying when he said he was protective of her. In their few brief encounters, he had grown exceptionally fond of her. "I think we should give Oliver a break," he said, changing the subject and glancing at his friend, who was talking to a pretty brunette. "Apparently he needs to be reminded that he brought a date."
Chloe followed his gaze and instantly resisted being steered in Oliver's direction. "No, leave him alone. It's not like I'm a real date."
Bruce laughed. "What constitutes a real date?"
"Some form of romantic obligation. Oliver can chat up whomever he likes, as long as he doesn't forget that I need a ride back to my cousin's place at the end of the night."
Bruce lifted a disapproving eyebrow. "Whatever you say. I'd still like a drink, though."
"Fine," Chloe gave in, allowing him to lead her away.
Oliver, half listening to the brunette's conversation, watched them go out of the corner of his eye. Maybe he shouldn't bring Chloe as his date to things like this after all. Not if she was going to abandon him to spend the entire night with Bruce.
And Bruce had been getting far too friendly. Oliver had seen him sliding his hand over the black chiffon of her dress, groping her like she was a piece of meat. And Chloe letting him. It was absolutely indecent was what it was. Bruce was lucky Oliver had to take Chloe home that night. Otherwise, he'd be paying the bat a visit later that evening.
He cooled down after a while, however. Eventually the brunette gave up on him, noticing that she had had to give him her name at least six times. He clearly wasn't paying her his full attention. Shortly after that, Chloe returned to his side, saying that Bruce had people to make nice to, and that she wanted to dance with him.
She dragged him out on the floor for a slow song, putting her arms around his neck. Oliver instantly noticed she was pleased about something. He raised an eyebrow. "What?"
She shrugged.
"You're never this happy after spending time with me," he teased.
"Not true," she tossed back. "Besides, how would you know? You're never around after I've been spending time with you. Hence the term 'after,' " she pointed out. Chloe didn't want to tell him about Bruce praising her article, which was what still had her glowing. She wouldn't be able to explain why his praise in particular meant so much to her, and it would make Oliver think she didn't value his opinion as much as Bruce's.
Then again, there was a good possibility she did value Oliver's opinion for similar reasons.
After six months in Star City, and finally being personally rescued by the Green Arrow, the inevitable had occurred. Chloe had set out with determined ambition to find out who the emerald archer was. Days later, when her computer had helped her narrow it down to a list of 20 possible men living within Star City limits (mostly based on body type but also resources) and she had found Oliver's name on the list, she had stopped in her tracks, shutting the program on her computer down, fighting with every ounce of energy she had against her natural curiosity.
It had been difficult beyond belief to make herself let it go, but all she could think about was the years she spent harboring Clark's secret, waiting for him to tell her himself, only to be disappointed. Only when she revealed that she already knew did Clark trust her. The possibility that once again her best friend was hiding a double life from her was a little too much for her to handle. She was choosing to believe that Oliver was not the Green Arrow and she had nothing to worry about. If she chose to believe that it was someone else, there was no betrayal, no lack of trust.
So she carefully dodged talking about the Green Arrow around him, not giving him an opportunity to lie to her if it were really the case that he was the bow-and-arrow-wielding hero.
Oliver was about to try another approach to finding out why she looked so thrilled about something, but then to his surprise, he watched all the happiness and pleasure slowly drain out of her face, leaving her pale and anxious.
"What's wrong?" he asked quickly, looking over his shoulder to see what she was looking at. It didn't take long. He glowered.
Lex.
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