An Origin Story: 20/23
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 19)
Next (Chapter 21)
Chapter 20
A Return to Life in Nottingham
Two months later, Oliver's parent's had left Seoul and were spending some time reviewing their European companies. Chloe herself, well she really couldn't explain in words the way her life had changed.
Partly because she wasn't allowed to, Chloe thought with a smirk as she sipped her coffee and listened to Annette chatter away about the recent scandal Bruce Wayne had gotten himself involved in.
They had taken down Lex's facility. It had taken three days of planning, and Clark hadn't been able to help them because of the amount of meteor-rock on-site. He had his own life to worry about, of course, what with his debut as Superman - something Lois still knew nothing about other than what she wrote in her big article. But he was waiting in the wings if they needed him.
Emil had taken it upon himself to start designing Clark a lead suit that would prevent such problems in the future.
As for the others, they had all been far more ready to join up with the team than Chloe had expected, although then again, that was because Oliver was offering them paying jobs with benefits in exchange for, well, being themselves. Emil was also in the process of giving Victor a Queen Industries upgrade, and AC and Bart were making themselves pretty cozy with the concept of a semi-permanent residence. Of course, nothing could ever tie Bart down entirely, and there was little that could hold AC in a place where the largest body of water was a small river for long. That taken into consideration, Chloe could tell they both liked having a place to come 'home' to when they felt like it.
Chloe would never tell Oliver, but she was developing insomnia. Part of it was not her fault, but the rest of it...well, she couldn't seem to shut down her brain.
The part that was not her fault was the fact that she was Chloe Sullivan, snarky-mannered reporter for the Star City Gazette by day and Watchtower, mission-control for an elite team of superheroes by night. Not to mention best friend to one Superman/Clark Kent, girlfriend to Green Arrow/Oliver Queen/socialite, babysitter and mom to Bart, AC, and Victor, cousin of the constantly-in-need-of-girl-talk Lois Lane, and so much more. Being a reporter and friend to several heroes had been more than enough to keep Chloe on her toes once upon a time. Now, she was pretty certain there wasn't enough coffee in the world to keep her functioning.
But that wasn't all of it. Even with all that on her plate, Chloe might have found time for an hour or so of sleep at a time, not to mention the occasional power nap. The part of her insomnia that she blamed on herself was the part where any time she tried to sleep she was kept wide awake, her mind working a million miles an hour, recounting every detail of the day they had rescued Clark and Oliver's parents. She was being driven mad by the gnawing inclination that there was something she was missing, some intricate key that would explain everything that had happened that day.
Something wasn't adding up. She couldn't put her finger on what, but she just knew that something was missing from the equation.
Why had Clark been in a facility that belonged to Lex? Almost entirely unguarded? And why wait nearly two decades to make another attempt on Robert and Laura Queen's lives? What had renewed Lionel's desire to take them out?
The same unbidden questions flashed through her mind again and again, refusing to allow her respite from the day or a chance to ease the bone-tired feeling she felt in her entire being.
She tried not to let it show, determined not to let Oliver, or any of the others, worry about her. They all seemed unfortunately prone to doing so regardless and, in Chloe's opinion, didn't need any added incentive. So, she trudged through each day one at a time, smiling brightly and acting like she was fine whenever the boys or anyone else was around.
If Chloe thought she was fooling anybody, Oliver thought shrewdly, she was seriously kidding herself.
He was watching her carefully, as yet unnoticed by the elevator. The minute he stepped off it he had caught sight of her, sitting at her desk, leaning her chin on her hand and staring emptily at her laptop. He watched as she gave an exhausted yawn, before blearily reopening her eyes to stare at the screen again. The unflattering glow of the LCD screen threw the dark circles under her somewhat bloodshot eyes into sharp relief. She blinked several times and then gave a weary sigh before her eyes darted up to the left, and Oliver guessed that she had been reading something and then suddenly realized that she hadn't comprehended any of it, forcing her to start over.
Her friend Annette kept glancing over at her with a raised eyebrow, and the little photographer, Jeremy was looking very concerned.
Finally he walked over to her, noting that her elbow kept slipping from the desk, giving her a bit of a start each time she started to nod off again. He decided that it might be a good idea to prod her awake before she fell asleep and woke up with a keyboard-pattern on her face.
"Tell me you love me," Oliver teased, waving coffee under her nose.
Chloe started violently and nearly fell out of her chair. "Oliver!" she gasped as she clambered awkwardly up from her current position of half chair, half floor.
"Woah there, Sidekick," Oliver said, helping her up. "You all right?"
"Sorry," she said, shaking her head. "I'm fine. I'm just..."
"Caffeine-deprived?" Oliver suggested, offering up the coffee again.
"Yes!" Chloe breathed gratefully, taking the cup from his hands and taking a long, scorching draught. The moment she pulled her lips away, however, she grimaced. She turned to glare at Oliver suspiciously. "This," she said with contempt, "is decaf."
"It is not," Oliver defended. "And how can you tell anyway?"
Chloe raised an eyebrow, refusing to address a question that was, to her mind, absurd. Instead she said, accusation clear in her voice, "Why are you trying to slip me tainted goods?"
"I'm not trying anything! The girl at the counter probably made a mistake. Besides, decaf is not tainted goods. It happens to be good for you."
Her eyes narrowed still further.
Oliver held her glare as long as possible but finally broke. "Fine, fine, I hoped that if I got you off the caffeine you might actually get a good night's sleep tonight."
Chloe's mouth thinned considerably. She looked down at the useless coffee and up at Oliver and then back down to the coffee and finally back up at Oliver, who heaved a dramatic sigh and took the coffee, handing her his own.
"Here, take mine."
With a triumphant smile, she took a sip. The smile slid off her face instantly. She handed the coffee back to him. "You are a bad person."
He shrugged, taking a sip of decaf for himself. "Can't blame a guy for trying. Listen," he said, setting both cups down and then wrapping his arms around her, "why don't you take a night to come over and have a movie night with me? We haven't done that in ages. I miss you," he said teasingly, looking at her with pleading eyes.
Chloe's eyes darted guiltily to her computer.
"Whatever it is," Oliver told her, "I have great faith that it can wait."
Chloe sighed. Technically, it could. So why not? She missed Oliver, too. They hadn't had much time for themselves lately. She nodded. "Okay, sounds good." She allowed him to plant a soft kiss on her lips. "But you'd better get out of here for now. Otherwise I won't get anything done."
"Are you saying I distract you?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.
"Ollie."
"It's my great body, isn't it?" he asked, looking himself over. "Yeah, I'd distract me, too."
"Ollie," Chloe laughed, shoving him away. "Get out of here!"
Chuckling, Oliver grabbed one of the decaf coffees and made his exit, but not without stealing another quick kiss.
Chloe sighed contentedly as she slipped back into her chair, her hand automatically reaching for the styrofoam cup and raising it to her lips. She took a sip from it absently and that started, turning her eyes to glare at the offending beverage.
Later that evening, much later than Oliver had been hoping for, a weary, beaten-down looking Chloe appeared in the doorway of his apartment.
"Hey, handsome," she joked, pecking him on the cheek before walking directly to his couch and collapsing on it. "Hello, you beautiful, wonderful creature," she said, hugging one of the pillows to her. "I promise never, ever to leave you again. What's that? No, there could never be anyone else. My sofa at home means nothing to me. It's you I love."
She sighed heavily and her eyes closed.
Oliver snorted, shaking his head at her dramatics. "If I weren't so worried about you, I'd think this was cute."
"Who's worried? Why worry?" was Chloe's partially coherent response, muffled by the pillow she now had her face buried in.
"Chloe, when was the last time you slept properly? And I mean a minimum of seven hours."
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," she said, removing the pillow from her face.
Oliver returned with blankets and the usual pints of ice cream. "Sidekick, you are running yourself into the ground. Are you sure you can handle-"
"Don't even attempt to finish that sentence," Chloe cut him off.
But Oliver's jaw was set when he sat down beside her and handed over the ice cream. "Chloe, I'm worried about you. I'm serious. When was the last time you had a good night's sleep?"
"Oliver," Chloe waved her hand dismissively at him. "I'm fine. You're being hypersensitive."
He continued to look at her, a determined expression in his eyes.
She raised her hands in surrender. "I don't know, okay! I've just been having a little trouble sleeping lately."
"Chloe," Oliver said gravely, "I know you'll never listen, but I have to say it anyway: you're taking on too much. Maybe..." but he couldn't finish his statement. He wanted to tell her she needed to stop playing On-Star for the team, but the truth of the matter was that they needed her. He was too selfish to tell her to stop.
Chloe raised a knowing eyebrow at him. "Maybe what? I'm not quitting my job at the Gazette. And I'm not about to ditch you and the guys. You can barely get your tights on without me," she added cockily.
"They are not tights," Oliver grumbled, leaning back into the couch. "Still, Chloe. I know the others aren't working a day job, but I am, and I'm somehow managing to get some sleep every once in a while."
Chloe shrugged. "I work harder than you," she teased. "Let's put in the movie."
"Not until I get a straight answer. Chloe, something's been bothering you. What's the real reason you aren't getting enough sleep?"
Chloe sighed impatiently. "I just...I haven't been able to get to sleep. That's all."
Oliver's concerned face became still more pronounced. "Why not?"
She gave and aggravated groan. "I don't know. I just can't seem to shut my brain off."
He put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. "And what is it that your brain can't stop working on?"
"I don't know. Stuff," she said ambiguously, snuggling gratefully against him.
"Hmmm, I can see how 'stuff' could really keep you up to all hours," Oliver teased, gently pinching her side and making her squeal. She swatted his hand away irritably.
"Don't be mean," she whined into his side, the words muffled.
He chuckled. "Why don't we skip the movie for tonight?"
"Mmmm," she muttered. Sitting beside Oliver like this felt wonderful. She could almost feel all the anxiety leaving her body for the moment. She knew it would return later, probably with reinforcements, but right then, with his arm slung protectively around her, she felt safe, calm. Who cared what the Luthors were up to? Who cared about the evil in the world? Maybe they could handle things. A little sleep would be just the thing to make her feel up to the task. And right now, she actually felt like she could manage it.
Oliver, meanwhile, was pulling her into his lap and tilting her face up for a kiss. "You know," he said, teasing her bottom lip with his teeth before pulling away to speak properly, "I can think of a few ways to clear your head," he told her, a roguish glint in his eyes.
Chloe gave a short, breathy laugh. Normally, she would have been nervous. She and Oliver had gotten fairly heated a few times, but they'd never actually...done it, Chloe finished the thought lamely in her mind. She was pretty sure she knew what Oliver was thinking, but she was too sleepy to tell him that she was...well, too sleepy.
Oliver caught on quickly however, when her body went more or less limp in his arms, communicating to him that she'd actually dozed off mid-kiss. Another time, he might have tried to rouse her, but taking into account how much she needed this sleep, he didn't try anything, just lifted her up and carried her to the bedroom.
He had to laugh to himself as he flipped over the covers and laid her down. Until Chloe, Oliver couldn't really say he'd ever known what it felt like to be sexually frustrated. So between waiting for the right time and being constantly thus thwarted, he had a feeling he was becoming the butt of some sort of cosmic joke.
Sighing, he climbed in next to her and pulled her to his chest, burying his face in her neck.
"You owe me," he muttered against her skin.
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Next (Chapter 21)