Fic: His Girl Friday (5/9)
Fic: His Girl Friday (5/9)
Summary: He had to figure out where they stood. Otherwise, they couldn't go forward
Author: pen37
Beta: Clarksmuse
Fandoms: Smallville/Supernatural/DCU
Characters: Chloe, Sam, Dean, Jo
Pairing:Chloe/Dean
Rating: G
This is a part of the Special Projects series. You can find the rest of the series here.
Written for the Crossovers100 challenge. Prompt #58 Dinner. The table is here.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9a, Part 9b
As soon as they’d decided to have the ring checked out, she made a call. Within minutes they had plans to meet one of her Justice League contacts for dinner.
They stuffed the pizza in the refrigerator for breakfast and went down to the corner to one of those old-fashioned diner-in-a-rail-car places.
Dean took it as a good sign that Chloe was taking his paranoid nature with good humor. She’d let him crowd her into the seat against the wall, and didn’t even complain when he’d insisted on the aisle seat next to her. From his vantage point, he could see the whole diner and note where everyone was.
He watched in some amusement as Chloe pulled what looked like an ink pen from her purse. “Where’s your notebook?”
“It only looks like a pen,” she grinned.
“Then what is it?” Dean looked at the device in interest.
“A low-frequency sonic jammer. My contact is with the League. So we may end up talking shop. In which case, we want to make sure that no one can hear. The diner is busy enough that the white noise would cover any eavesdroppers, and this will take out listening devices.”
“Any chance I can get a better look at that later?” Dean asked.
“I thought that Sam was the one who liked gadgets.”
“Sam likes tech toys,” Dean said. “I’m more interested in how that thing works.”
“Figures,” Chloe rolled her eyes.
“What?”
“You’re happiest when you can take something apart to see if you can put it back together again.”
He reached over and brushed her hair away from her face. “That’s not when I’m happiest,” he said quietly.
Chloe’s face flushed. She looked down, and bit her bottom lip. Dean watched her worry her lip with her teeth and thought about the way it felt to have those lips against his own. Before he could make a move, however, her attention was suddenly on the diner entrance.
A tall brunette walked through the door and scanned the room. When her eyes fell on them, she smiled faintly, and turned directly toward them. Chloe nodded in her direction. “That’s her.”
Dean raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t known what to expect. Spandex, maybe? Tights? Some kind of cape? For a hero, she looked - normal. Maybe she was built a little on the trim side, but these days, so was Chloe.
Then again, Dean imagined that Captain Underpants didn’t exactly go to the grocery store in his cape and tights. For the first time since finding out from Chloe that some heroes had a double-life, he wondered what some of them might do as a day-job, and what they looked like when they wore their civvies.
The girl sat across from them, and nodded a greeting at Chloe. “Watchtower.”
“Call me Chloe.”
“And I’ve always been Zatanna.”
“What, you two don’t know each other?” Dean looked at Chloe in confusion.
“The League is big, Dean,” Chloe said with amusement. “There are active members, inactive members like me, people who don’t have full membership and affiliated staff. And it takes a world-ending crisis to get us all in the same place at the same time.” She ticked each point off on a finger.
“And when that happens, we don’t really have the time to get to know one another,” Zatanna said with a grin. “The two of us have worked together before, but Watchtower - sorry, Chloe - has always only been the amusing voice in my earpiece.”
“Amusing, I like that.” Chloe smirked.
“Well I think you’re a riot.”
“I wish you’d convince Batman,” Chloe said.
“And lose out on the wonderful banter? I don’t know of anyone else that the Bat will actually banter with. He must like you.”
“And the ocean is slightly dry,” Chloe rolled her eyes.
“He likes you well enough,” Zatanna shrugged. “There aren’t many people who refuse to be intimidated by him. I think the two of you would be great friends if not for the fact that you are always on different sides of the same old argument.”
“Always will be,” Chloe shook her head.
Dean watched the conversation like a spectator at Wimbledon. It was like watching old hunters talk shop. As Chloe had observed earlier - the players were different, but the lines were more-or-less the same.
“This is Dean Winchester, by the way. He’s - I guess you could say that he and his brother have been teaching me a new skill set.”
“We’re partners,” Dean cut in. To emphasize his point, he put his arm around her and pulled her to his side.
Zatanna looked from Dean to Chloe and back with an amused expression.
“You’re the one who petitioned The Green Arrow for affiliate membership,” she grinned at Dean.
“Huh?” Dean and Chloe chorused at once. Chloe turned to him with a questioning glance, which Dean answered with his own confused expression.
“Ollie said that your exact words were: ‘You want Chloe’s time? Then you have to involve me and my brother.’”
“Did he?” Chloe glanced sideways at Dean. He winced, half expecting her to be mad. But her face looked more amused than anything.
“I might have said that,” Dean hedged.
Zatanna shrugged. “As petitions for membership go, it’s more eloquent than most.”
“That’s the truth,” Chloe rolled her eyes. “Half the time, I’m in is about as fancy as it gets.”
“Of course, half the time we’re in a crisis.”
“You make us sound like the volunteer fire department,” Chloe laughed.
“I don’t believe this,” Dean muttered.
“It’s a little bit of a downer, isn’t it?” Chloe smiled at him in sympathy. “You see all these heroes at a distance, and they look larger than life. Then you find out that they’re just people -- not that much different than anyone else. With a few bigger problems, sure. But other than that, pretty normal.”
Dean shrugged. “Actually? It’s kind of reassuring.”
Zatanna smiled at him. “Reassuring?”
Dean shrugged. “It’s a little un-nerving when you think about it. Superman is an alien. Wonder woman is ---“
“An Amazon,” both women chorused.
“Whatever,” Dean shrugged. “Wonder Woman is an Amazon. Personally? I hunt things that are different. I’ve never put my faith in them. So it’s kind of reassuring to find out that they’re just like us--” He broke off, suddenly realizing that he was speaking to two members of the them category. “I mean, finding out that you guys aren’t that different from the hunters I know. Flawed? Hell yeah. But still, something that I can trust.”
“That’s what sets us apart from folks like Lex,” Chloe said. “Lex comes down opposed to us because he can’t trust that different doesn’t mean bad.”
“It’s easy to see things as black and white,” Dean muttered. “Simpler.” He glanced up to see both women staring at him. “I’m not saying it’s right. But --I used to think that way. When you’re hip-deep in vampires and ghosts, and most of ‘em are evil, then it’s hard to reason that maybe - they can choose to be good.”
“What changed your mind?” Chloe asked quietly.
“Sam,” Dean said with a shrug. “He’s - different too. For a while - when we were finding out about it - we both worried that he was going to go darkside. But my gut told me no way. Not my baby brother. Even if other hunters were coming after him. Even if he was possessed by a demon that tried to make me think he was bad. My gut told me no. I mean, he prays, for Chrissakes.
“So - if Sam can be special - and good, then maybe Aliens and Amazons and metas can too.” He glanced over at Chloe to see her smile back at him. The look of tenderness and affection in her eyes gave him new hope.
“Maybe if things had been different for Lex,” Chloe said. “When we were kids - he latched onto Clark like the brother he never had. I think - he kind of drew back when we couldn’t share our powers with him. Maybe if he’d had the kind of bond with Clark that you had with your brother. . .”
“Clark has powers?” Dean’s eyes narrowed. That was something she hadn’t mentioned before.
“It’s Smallville,” Chloe said, crossing her arms. “A lot of people have powers.”
“You never mentioned,” Dean said.
“Not my secret,” she said defensively. “And that wasn’t supposed to have slipped out.”
Dean looked down, picked up a napkin, and started to shred it into bits. The silence stretched out uncomfortably between the three of them.
“In a twisted way, we all owe Lex a debt of gratitude,” Zatanna said with an uncomfortable cough. “If it weren’t for his psycho little experiments, Ollie might not have put together the Justice League.”
“I don’t think Ollie ever foresaw it going this far.” Out of the corner of his eye, Dean watched Chloe give the brunette a smile of gratitude. “We’re a long way from five guys in a barn.”
They broke off abruptly as a waitress appeared with menus. Dean ordered steak and eggs and a beer. Zatanna gave him a funny look, but since Chloe wasn’t saying anything, she didn’t either. The waitress returned with their drinks, and the three of them fell into one of those natural pauses that came when one was trying to think of how to break the silence.
Dean peeled the label from his bottle, and wondered again as to what Chloe’s relationship was to Cousin Clark. She talked about him and Lois all the time, but Dean hadn’t thought to question that relationship until he saw the hearts drawn in her yearbook.
Now he wondered, Chloe had made cryptic references to knowing super heroes in Smallville during her high school years. He wondered if Clark was one of them.
“So,” Zatanna said at last. “Small talk aside, you mentioned an artifact.”
“Oh, right.” Chloe pulled the jewelry box out of her purse. “We found this today in my Great-Grampy’s possessions. Along with some annotated Yeats.
“Dean has this theory,” Chloe broke off as she glanced over at Dean for confirmation that it was okay to credit - or blame him for the idea. Dean sighed, and nodded. Why not? If he was wrong, it wouldn’t be the first time.
“I think her Great-Grandfather was a hunter.” Dean said. “The signs are there. The annotations are locations, dates. Things a hunter would keep track of. And then there’s this ring.”
Zatanna opened the box. Instantly, her eyes widened. “There’s some strong magic in this.”
“How do you know?” Dean realized suddenly that they’d never given him her credentials. Chloe had introduced her, and then launched strait into an explanation of the Justice league.
“Sorry,” Zatanna said. “We did get a little side-tracked. I’m a bit of a magician.”
“I’m guessing there’s more to it than card tricks and pigeons up your sleeve.”
“Ha-yes,” Zatanna said. “For me, magic - real magic, is genetic. That’s how I can sense that there is strong, protective magic in this ring. Just like there is in your amulet.”
Dean glanced down at the horned-headed bull that he wore around his neck. Then he glanced over at Chloe. “So it would be safe for her to wear that?”
“Safe - and advisable. I’m guessing that your Great-Grandfather never removed it. I get a strong sense about the person attached to this ring. If he was your blood relative-the magic in the ring will recognize the lineage, and work more strongly for you than for a non-relative.” Zatanna nodded emphatically.
“If I could even wear it,” Chloe took the ring, and passed it over her left thumb. She held her hand up to show them that the band was too large for her tiny hands.
“Not a problem,” Zatanna reached across the table and tapped the ring. Instantly, the band shrunk until it fit the thumb as if it had been made for her.
“What did you do?” Dean asked as he took Chloe’s hand to examine the ring. It fit just snugly enough that she couldn’t remove it - yet it would turn freely over her slender digit.
“I made it fit,” Zatanna shrugged. “Not to worry, Dean. It didn’t interfere with the protective magic.”
“So you think my Grampy Seamus could have been a hunter?”
“I can check amongst my own contacts,” Zatanna said. “If he was - he would have been known to the Seelie. Maybe even personally. Time works differently for they of the fairee realm.”
“I appreciate that, Zatanna.”
“Of course,” she nodded. “And - you and your brother have my vote for affiliate membership.” She grinned impulsively at Dean.
Instinctively, Dean smiled his lady-killer smile. Then he remembered the blonde sitting next to him, and quickly dialed the charm down a notch. “Um . . . Thanks?”
“Don’t thank her yet,” Chloe said. Dean thought he could hear a touch of annoyance in her voice. “Even if you’re approved, it’s more of a pain than it’s worth.”
“I don’t know about that,” he smirked at her. “If it means a few less secrets between us, it’ll still be worth it.”
The waitress appeared just then with their plates, cutting off any reply Chloe might have made.
Summary: He had to figure out where they stood. Otherwise, they couldn't go forward
Author: pen37
Beta: Clarksmuse
Fandoms: Smallville/Supernatural/DCU
Characters: Chloe, Sam, Dean, Jo
Pairing:Chloe/Dean
Rating: G
This is a part of the Special Projects series. You can find the rest of the series here.
Written for the Crossovers100 challenge. Prompt #58 Dinner. The table is here.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9a, Part 9b
As soon as they’d decided to have the ring checked out, she made a call. Within minutes they had plans to meet one of her Justice League contacts for dinner.
They stuffed the pizza in the refrigerator for breakfast and went down to the corner to one of those old-fashioned diner-in-a-rail-car places.
Dean took it as a good sign that Chloe was taking his paranoid nature with good humor. She’d let him crowd her into the seat against the wall, and didn’t even complain when he’d insisted on the aisle seat next to her. From his vantage point, he could see the whole diner and note where everyone was.
He watched in some amusement as Chloe pulled what looked like an ink pen from her purse. “Where’s your notebook?”
“It only looks like a pen,” she grinned.
“Then what is it?” Dean looked at the device in interest.
“A low-frequency sonic jammer. My contact is with the League. So we may end up talking shop. In which case, we want to make sure that no one can hear. The diner is busy enough that the white noise would cover any eavesdroppers, and this will take out listening devices.”
“Any chance I can get a better look at that later?” Dean asked.
“I thought that Sam was the one who liked gadgets.”
“Sam likes tech toys,” Dean said. “I’m more interested in how that thing works.”
“Figures,” Chloe rolled her eyes.
“What?”
“You’re happiest when you can take something apart to see if you can put it back together again.”
He reached over and brushed her hair away from her face. “That’s not when I’m happiest,” he said quietly.
Chloe’s face flushed. She looked down, and bit her bottom lip. Dean watched her worry her lip with her teeth and thought about the way it felt to have those lips against his own. Before he could make a move, however, her attention was suddenly on the diner entrance.
A tall brunette walked through the door and scanned the room. When her eyes fell on them, she smiled faintly, and turned directly toward them. Chloe nodded in her direction. “That’s her.”
Dean raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t known what to expect. Spandex, maybe? Tights? Some kind of cape? For a hero, she looked - normal. Maybe she was built a little on the trim side, but these days, so was Chloe.
Then again, Dean imagined that Captain Underpants didn’t exactly go to the grocery store in his cape and tights. For the first time since finding out from Chloe that some heroes had a double-life, he wondered what some of them might do as a day-job, and what they looked like when they wore their civvies.
The girl sat across from them, and nodded a greeting at Chloe. “Watchtower.”
“Call me Chloe.”
“And I’ve always been Zatanna.”
“What, you two don’t know each other?” Dean looked at Chloe in confusion.
“The League is big, Dean,” Chloe said with amusement. “There are active members, inactive members like me, people who don’t have full membership and affiliated staff. And it takes a world-ending crisis to get us all in the same place at the same time.” She ticked each point off on a finger.
“And when that happens, we don’t really have the time to get to know one another,” Zatanna said with a grin. “The two of us have worked together before, but Watchtower - sorry, Chloe - has always only been the amusing voice in my earpiece.”
“Amusing, I like that.” Chloe smirked.
“Well I think you’re a riot.”
“I wish you’d convince Batman,” Chloe said.
“And lose out on the wonderful banter? I don’t know of anyone else that the Bat will actually banter with. He must like you.”
“And the ocean is slightly dry,” Chloe rolled her eyes.
“He likes you well enough,” Zatanna shrugged. “There aren’t many people who refuse to be intimidated by him. I think the two of you would be great friends if not for the fact that you are always on different sides of the same old argument.”
“Always will be,” Chloe shook her head.
Dean watched the conversation like a spectator at Wimbledon. It was like watching old hunters talk shop. As Chloe had observed earlier - the players were different, but the lines were more-or-less the same.
“This is Dean Winchester, by the way. He’s - I guess you could say that he and his brother have been teaching me a new skill set.”
“We’re partners,” Dean cut in. To emphasize his point, he put his arm around her and pulled her to his side.
Zatanna looked from Dean to Chloe and back with an amused expression.
“You’re the one who petitioned The Green Arrow for affiliate membership,” she grinned at Dean.
“Huh?” Dean and Chloe chorused at once. Chloe turned to him with a questioning glance, which Dean answered with his own confused expression.
“Ollie said that your exact words were: ‘You want Chloe’s time? Then you have to involve me and my brother.’”
“Did he?” Chloe glanced sideways at Dean. He winced, half expecting her to be mad. But her face looked more amused than anything.
“I might have said that,” Dean hedged.
Zatanna shrugged. “As petitions for membership go, it’s more eloquent than most.”
“That’s the truth,” Chloe rolled her eyes. “Half the time, I’m in is about as fancy as it gets.”
“Of course, half the time we’re in a crisis.”
“You make us sound like the volunteer fire department,” Chloe laughed.
“I don’t believe this,” Dean muttered.
“It’s a little bit of a downer, isn’t it?” Chloe smiled at him in sympathy. “You see all these heroes at a distance, and they look larger than life. Then you find out that they’re just people -- not that much different than anyone else. With a few bigger problems, sure. But other than that, pretty normal.”
Dean shrugged. “Actually? It’s kind of reassuring.”
Zatanna smiled at him. “Reassuring?”
Dean shrugged. “It’s a little un-nerving when you think about it. Superman is an alien. Wonder woman is ---“
“An Amazon,” both women chorused.
“Whatever,” Dean shrugged. “Wonder Woman is an Amazon. Personally? I hunt things that are different. I’ve never put my faith in them. So it’s kind of reassuring to find out that they’re just like us--” He broke off, suddenly realizing that he was speaking to two members of the them category. “I mean, finding out that you guys aren’t that different from the hunters I know. Flawed? Hell yeah. But still, something that I can trust.”
“That’s what sets us apart from folks like Lex,” Chloe said. “Lex comes down opposed to us because he can’t trust that different doesn’t mean bad.”
“It’s easy to see things as black and white,” Dean muttered. “Simpler.” He glanced up to see both women staring at him. “I’m not saying it’s right. But --I used to think that way. When you’re hip-deep in vampires and ghosts, and most of ‘em are evil, then it’s hard to reason that maybe - they can choose to be good.”
“What changed your mind?” Chloe asked quietly.
“Sam,” Dean said with a shrug. “He’s - different too. For a while - when we were finding out about it - we both worried that he was going to go darkside. But my gut told me no way. Not my baby brother. Even if other hunters were coming after him. Even if he was possessed by a demon that tried to make me think he was bad. My gut told me no. I mean, he prays, for Chrissakes.
“So - if Sam can be special - and good, then maybe Aliens and Amazons and metas can too.” He glanced over at Chloe to see her smile back at him. The look of tenderness and affection in her eyes gave him new hope.
“Maybe if things had been different for Lex,” Chloe said. “When we were kids - he latched onto Clark like the brother he never had. I think - he kind of drew back when we couldn’t share our powers with him. Maybe if he’d had the kind of bond with Clark that you had with your brother. . .”
“Clark has powers?” Dean’s eyes narrowed. That was something she hadn’t mentioned before.
“It’s Smallville,” Chloe said, crossing her arms. “A lot of people have powers.”
“You never mentioned,” Dean said.
“Not my secret,” she said defensively. “And that wasn’t supposed to have slipped out.”
Dean looked down, picked up a napkin, and started to shred it into bits. The silence stretched out uncomfortably between the three of them.
“In a twisted way, we all owe Lex a debt of gratitude,” Zatanna said with an uncomfortable cough. “If it weren’t for his psycho little experiments, Ollie might not have put together the Justice League.”
“I don’t think Ollie ever foresaw it going this far.” Out of the corner of his eye, Dean watched Chloe give the brunette a smile of gratitude. “We’re a long way from five guys in a barn.”
They broke off abruptly as a waitress appeared with menus. Dean ordered steak and eggs and a beer. Zatanna gave him a funny look, but since Chloe wasn’t saying anything, she didn’t either. The waitress returned with their drinks, and the three of them fell into one of those natural pauses that came when one was trying to think of how to break the silence.
Dean peeled the label from his bottle, and wondered again as to what Chloe’s relationship was to Cousin Clark. She talked about him and Lois all the time, but Dean hadn’t thought to question that relationship until he saw the hearts drawn in her yearbook.
Now he wondered, Chloe had made cryptic references to knowing super heroes in Smallville during her high school years. He wondered if Clark was one of them.
“So,” Zatanna said at last. “Small talk aside, you mentioned an artifact.”
“Oh, right.” Chloe pulled the jewelry box out of her purse. “We found this today in my Great-Grampy’s possessions. Along with some annotated Yeats.
“Dean has this theory,” Chloe broke off as she glanced over at Dean for confirmation that it was okay to credit - or blame him for the idea. Dean sighed, and nodded. Why not? If he was wrong, it wouldn’t be the first time.
“I think her Great-Grandfather was a hunter.” Dean said. “The signs are there. The annotations are locations, dates. Things a hunter would keep track of. And then there’s this ring.”
Zatanna opened the box. Instantly, her eyes widened. “There’s some strong magic in this.”
“How do you know?” Dean realized suddenly that they’d never given him her credentials. Chloe had introduced her, and then launched strait into an explanation of the Justice league.
“Sorry,” Zatanna said. “We did get a little side-tracked. I’m a bit of a magician.”
“I’m guessing there’s more to it than card tricks and pigeons up your sleeve.”
“Ha-yes,” Zatanna said. “For me, magic - real magic, is genetic. That’s how I can sense that there is strong, protective magic in this ring. Just like there is in your amulet.”
Dean glanced down at the horned-headed bull that he wore around his neck. Then he glanced over at Chloe. “So it would be safe for her to wear that?”
“Safe - and advisable. I’m guessing that your Great-Grandfather never removed it. I get a strong sense about the person attached to this ring. If he was your blood relative-the magic in the ring will recognize the lineage, and work more strongly for you than for a non-relative.” Zatanna nodded emphatically.
“If I could even wear it,” Chloe took the ring, and passed it over her left thumb. She held her hand up to show them that the band was too large for her tiny hands.
“Not a problem,” Zatanna reached across the table and tapped the ring. Instantly, the band shrunk until it fit the thumb as if it had been made for her.
“What did you do?” Dean asked as he took Chloe’s hand to examine the ring. It fit just snugly enough that she couldn’t remove it - yet it would turn freely over her slender digit.
“I made it fit,” Zatanna shrugged. “Not to worry, Dean. It didn’t interfere with the protective magic.”
“So you think my Grampy Seamus could have been a hunter?”
“I can check amongst my own contacts,” Zatanna said. “If he was - he would have been known to the Seelie. Maybe even personally. Time works differently for they of the fairee realm.”
“I appreciate that, Zatanna.”
“Of course,” she nodded. “And - you and your brother have my vote for affiliate membership.” She grinned impulsively at Dean.
Instinctively, Dean smiled his lady-killer smile. Then he remembered the blonde sitting next to him, and quickly dialed the charm down a notch. “Um . . . Thanks?”
“Don’t thank her yet,” Chloe said. Dean thought he could hear a touch of annoyance in her voice. “Even if you’re approved, it’s more of a pain than it’s worth.”
“I don’t know about that,” he smirked at her. “If it means a few less secrets between us, it’ll still be worth it.”
The waitress appeared just then with their plates, cutting off any reply Chloe might have made.