Anything But Ordinary
Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Oliver made up for lost time in the time he’d have with her tonight. Thankfully, there were no paparazzi around to notice the couple in the softly lit secluded booth, enjoying each other’s company and a quiet dinner, and afterward, a romantic nighttime stroll through Centennial Park. They talked about everything and nothing at all, comfortable silences filling the spaces in between. Reaching for her hand, fingers interlaced, Oliver told her a bit about his Excelsior days, and his travels. He asked her what life was like during her teen years in Smallville, knowing she’d originally been from the big city, and Chloe told him about her Wall of Weird, and some of the misadventures of being Clark Kent’s sidekick. She was pleased to find him an attentive listener. But hadn’t he always listened? Even when they disagreed? Even when she thought he wasn’t listening?
And then there were his kisses. There weren’t many people out and about, but for a few others also enjoying the cool, clear night. Oliver seemed not to care that at any moment someone with a camera could appear, ready to snap the next gossip column photograph. Tonight he was content simply being Ollie, and he took every opportunity and used any excuse to stop and kiss her from time to time as they walked. He made a little game of it, so that Chloe never knew when or how she would be kissed. Sometimes he would kiss her tenderly, sometimes hotly, sometimes both as one would lead to the other, but usually when she least expected it. Chloe never guessed he’d be so affectionate, and was silently glad that he felt so at ease and comfortable, that not even the threat of paparazzi would keep him from being himself with her. She also never suspected, that Oliver purposely took the longer path around the park, so that he could spend this time alone with her, filling it with conversation, laughter, touches, handholding, those incredible kisses and whispered words of affection.
As she glanced around, noting others along the footpath, she realized that they were simply like any other couple here. No one seeing them would guess that the Green Arrow and his Watchtower were taking a romantic stroll. No one would guess that they were capturing a moment of normalcy that they’d both needed and had found only in each other. The realization flooded through her, and she stopped her movement, pulling him up short. She turned to him, gazing up into expectant, love-filled, dark eyes under the soft glow of a park light. Never taking his eyes from hers, Oliver grasped the lapels of her hounds tooth jacket, fingers slipping down to fasten up the buttons against the chill, the current between them pulsing, overflowing with unspoken emotions. This was what she had wanted and could never have with Jimmy, or anyone else. She’d once confessed to Oliver that she hadn’t found the balance in life he’d said he was envious of. Yet here she stood face to face with the man to whom she could give all the parts of herself. Her heart swelled with a feeling she had given up on ever having, since that night she’d cried on the roof of the ISIS building. In months to come, she’d realize that this - right here, right now, was the moment she’d fallen in love with Oliver Queen.
His eyes searched her face, as though he could reach into her thoughts. When he’d finished buttoning her jacket, he took her hands in his. “You’re cold,” he whispered, his voice soft, yet simmering with barely checked passion, as he slipped them inside his opened jacket, next to the warmth of his body. He pressed her palms over his shirt against his ribs, holding them momentarily in place, warming them, before sliding them up slowly over the hard, muscled contours of his chest, making her ever more aware of the strength and sheer beauty of him.
“You’re warm,” was all Chloe could think to utter breathlessly, the longing in his eyes, and the feel of his body beneath her palms causing most of the thoughts to fly suddenly out of her head.
Oliver enfolded her in his arms then, and lowered his head, pressing soft, warm lips to her temple, lingering in a soft kiss. His eyes closed as he inhaled the scent of vanilla shampoo and something else uniquely Chloe. “Let’s head back to ISIS,” he whispered close to her ear. “We’ll call Clark and tell him about the crystal.”
* * * * *
“What if Davis is this creature that’s been responsible for all the killings?” Clark asked, reading the files Chloe had found.
“It’s the first thing I thought of. It’s just… it’s not him at all though.” Chloe reasoned, trying to reconcile the caring man she knew Davis to be, with the bloodthirsty monster she’d seen and knowing the devastation he’d wrought on human life.
“We’ve been fooled before, Chloe,” Clark reminded.
“He says he wakes up in unfamiliar places not knowing how he got there. It’s like we’re dealing with an intergalactic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. If he’s the one responsible, I don’t believe he’s aware of it, and as of now, we have no solid proof of anything.” Chloe worried her bottom lip, then lifted her eyes to Clark once more. “And why now? If he’s been here all this time, why only recently has this killing urge manifested?”
Clark shrugged, his brows knitting in thought as he moved about the room. “It could be any number of things; the phantom zone portal having been opened, Brainiac returning. I mean, Kara had been buried here in suspended animation for years. But you’re right, something must have triggered it.”
Chloe stepped toward the computer, and began to type furiously, searching for dates when the murders first occurred.
“If he is an alien and he’s on a killing spree, the real question is, how can we stop him?” Oliver interjected, nearly wincing, as he recalled his encounter with the beast in the alley behind Luthorcorp. “He obviously has some kind of enhanced strength and abilities. It’s not going to be easy, Clark.”
“We all have our weaknesses,” Clark murmured taking a seat at the large desk opposite Chloe, his mind still working.
“I’ve got something,” Chloe blurted. “The murders seem to coincide with the second arrival of Brainiac, but we know it can’t be him, there must be some connection between Davis and Brainiac.”
“And that puts an interesting spin on his friendship with you, Chloe.”
Chloe’s eyes left the screens to focus on Clark. “You think that my being infected by Brainiac has somehow triggered Davis to go all Incredible Killing Monster Hulk?” It was Brainiac’s invasion of her that had given her superhuman-intelligence, could this be the reason she and Davis had become friends?
“No, what I mean is, if there’s some part of Brainiac’s essence inside of you, maybe that’s why Davis is so attracted to you.”
Chloe snorted. “Please, he’s not attracted to me.”
Both men cleared their throats, and Oliver actually coughed loudly.
She looked from one man to the other in disbelief. “He is not.”
Oliver crossed his arms over his chest. “Chloe, the guy mentally undresses you whenever you’re in the same room with him. Believe us, we’re guys and we know the look when we see it.”
“And if looks could kill, Oliver and I and probably Jimmy, would all be dead. He hates when any other men are around you,” Clark added.
Chloe had to admit something was making terrifying sense. “The beast did try to kill Oliver but left me relatively unharmed, but why?”
“What did Brainiac want to use Lex for? As a vessel for Zod, remember?”
“Clark, what are you saying? I’m a vessel?”
Clark had that uncomfortable look he often got when discussing anything remotely related to sex. “Uh… not… exactly.”
Realization dawned, and her eyes grew wide. “Oh my God, I’m an incubator for a vessel?” The absurdity of the words she’d just uttered nearly made her laugh hysterically as though she were truly insane.
“It’s a possibility.”
She swallowed. Her heart pounded furiously. How could she have been so oblivious to Davis’s attraction? Her voice rose in panic. “I will not be a Zod-vessel baby mama! I can’t even say it with a straight face; it’s so utterly ridiculous! It would be like some horrible alien version of Rosemary’s Baby! We need to get that crystal, Clark,” she said, determined now, as she began hacking into Tess’s files to locate the whereabouts of the crystal. “Find where she’s keeping it; it may be the only way right now. If Davis is an extraterrestrial, or some Kryptonian lab experiment, maybe Jor-El has some answers.”
“That’s if the crystal will work.” Clark said.
“At least it wasn’t destroyed, and now that we know Tess has it, you have to try.” Chloe stopped momentarily, finding the information she wanted. “Here, Luthor mansion, the vault in Lex’s office.”
“I can get it,” Oliver’s confident, determined voice broke into the conversation.
Both Clark and Chloe’s heads turned in his direction. He was dead serious.
“Easily.”
Chloe gazed at him worriedly. Isn’t this what she’d hoped for? The complete heroic return of the Green Arrow? She’d encouraged him not to abandon his ideals, to fight the good fight, and now that he wanted to go off and do something heroic, she had the urge to convince him not to. She didn’t doubt him or his capability in the least, but she worried what Tess would do if she discovered it was Oliver who’d stolen the crystal. “Oliver.”
He moved closer, cupping her shoulders, massaging them gently. “It’s what I do Chloe. It’ll be all right. Besides, if getting the crystal means ultimately stopping this creature from killing one more person, then it’s worth the risk, and if it means keeping you safe from Davis… then it’s worth everything. I won’t let him near you.”
“I’m going with you.”
“Sidekick…” he began, gently, then glanced at Clark as if to say, ‘help me out here.’
She knew he’d try to convince her to stay. Chloe looked from one man to the other. “I’m going with you,” she said again with finality. “I can get the security and video feeds down in seconds, and… and what if Davis comes back? I don’t want to be left alone here.”
There really was no arguing her logic.
Chloe covered her computer hacking trail once more, and then shut down the ISIS systems. The three of them headed for the penthouse so that Oliver could gear up, and make ready to break into the Luthor mansion.
* * * * *
“I’ve been expecting you.” Tess swiveled around in her chair behind her desk.
“You said you could ‘tame the beast’. What did you mean by that?”
“What do you think I meant?” she said, rising gracefully from her chair and sashaying around the desk. She leaned casually against the front edge and folded her arms over her chest.
“I don’t have the patience for your games, Ms. Mercer.” Davis was still reeling from what he’d seen between Chloe and Oliver at ISIS, his sexual aggression transforming into pure, violent rage with every passing minute.
“Please, call me Tess.” She smiled indulgently, stepping around him.
She gasped, her eyes wide, when a hand snaked out quickly, gripping her throat. “Listen. Tess,” he ground out, his face next to hers, her name spoken as though it were bitter on his tongue. “You’d better start talking now.”
“I have… a team of doctors…” she choked, terrified at his strength, and noting the color of his eyes change from brown to flashes of bright red and back again. “We can… control it, or try to.”
Davis released her with a shove. “You mean, you want to control me. Don’t you?”
Tess recovered, bracing herself on the desk, coughing. She brought a trembling hand up to her throat, swallowing convulsively. “No. I mean, a way for you to control the beast at your own will.”
End Chapter 12
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