Secret Identities Chapter 1

Secret Identities
Chapter 1

“Where is he?”


“Chloe, I’m not going to let you…”


“Listen Clark, this is Oliver we’re talking about. Our friend, leader of the Justice League. If you don’t tell me where he is, and take me to him, I’ll find someone who will. I can help him.” Chloe reached for her purse and jacket and headed out the door of the Talon apartment. Clark’s hand stayed her, stopping her up short.


“Chloe, he’s.. he’s pretty bad. Luckily Bart found him in time before he was discovered unconscious wearing full Arrow gear by Lex’s goons. Who knows what would have happened then.” Clark swallowed convulsively for a moment, then continued. “Lex already has his suspicions about Oliver being the Green Arrow.”


Chloe studied him determinedly, and then spoke with conviction. “Where is he?” It wasn’t a question. It was a demand.


“Star City.”


“Take me there. Now Clark. You can get me there in minutes.” She paused and whispered a last word as a plea, and gave him that look, the one he could never refuse. "Please".


He hesitated, thinking of all the arguments he could make against the use of her ability to heal others. There were possible dire consequences. But, he also knew that ultimately, the choice was hers to make, and Chloe never failed to remind him of this. There would be no argument this time. “Okay,” he said simply in resignation.


“Let’s go.”



* * * * * * *


Chloe sat cross-legged on the futon, dressed comfortably in loose pajama bottoms and tank top, her laptop perched in front of her. She needed to make this deadline, or else. Now that Lex had bought the Daily Planet, he’d been watching her more closely. She didn’t want to give him a reason to find fault with her. In truth, it wasn’t that she cared, so much about Lex, of course, she wanted to keep her job, but now that he owned the Planet, it also gave her another reason. It was a way to keep an enemy close. Unfortunately, it also made it harder to use the Planet’s resources when one was investigating the owner. Chloe had to be sure that nothing she did would cast greater suspicion upon her.


Lois was out of town on assignment, so Chloe had the small apartment to herself. In some way, she was glad. Lois needed the time away. She seemed to be doing well since the break-up with Oliver Queen, and Chloe knew that it was Lois’s choice, her decision not to continue a relationship with the handsome billionaire and archer extraordinaire. Nonetheless, ending a relationship was neither simple nor easy, even if you were the one doing the leaving.


Chloe was so engrossed in finishing her article on the negotiations between the school board and the union over the possibility of a Metropolis teachers’ strike that she hadn’t heard the knocking on the door until it became pounding.


“One minute!” she called as she set her notes and her laptop aside, stretched briefly, and padded barefoot to the door. “Who is it?” she asked before opening.


“Chloe, it’s Oliver. Can I come in?”


“Oh… um... sure,” she said finding it odd that he should be knocking on her door at this hour, or at all for that matter. She slid the chain from the lock. “Hey Oliver. Lois isn’t here now...”


Oliver looked down a moment. “Yes, I’m aware of that.. uh…look, I’m sorry about coming over so late… I had a late flight, and…” he looked up at her again, rather sheepishly, not knowing what to say next, and a moment of awkwardness passed between them before Chloe spoke.


“Uh.. would you like to come in? What can I help you with?” She stepped aside opening the door wider to allow him entrance, then closed the door as he passed. She noted that he looked a bit disheveled, his indigo silk tie opened a bit, and the first few buttons of his white dress shirt undone. He wore a long black overcoat. He looked like the typical overworked yet wealthy businessman.


He turned to her, stuffing his hands into his coat pockets, and rocking on his heels briefly. “Well, I left rather abruptly last time I was here, and.. I never really got to say thank you, and… sorry.” His eyes then met hers as if waiting for a response.


Chloe raised a brow, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips, crossing her arms over her chest. This she had to hear. “Thank you and sorry?”


“Well, you know, thank you for helping me, and sorry about putting you in danger.”Chloe unexpectedly snorted at that and rolled her eyes. “Listen, Oliver, it’s really not necessary. I mean, danger is my middle name. Besides, with Clark as a best friend, being in danger comes with the territory.”


“You see?” Oliver sighed in relief and ran a hand through is spiky blond hair. “That’s what I told him, but he practically tore my head off. I just didn’t feel right about it after that though, and I thought I needed to talk to you.” He paused for a moment as though searching for words. Words he almost didn’t want to admit. “I mean, I can’t protect you the way he can, I don’t have any special abilities or super powers.” Oliver shrugged uncomfortably and looked away.


Suddenly Chloe felt bad. He was apologizing for not being able to protect her? “Oliver, really it’s okay. Nothing happened, and you’re wrong you know.”


“Wrong?”


“You do have special abilities. Can you imagine Clark with a bow and arrow? Besides he’s afraid of heights, and no way would he be cavorting through the city from rooftops via zip-lines. Not only that, but green is definitely not his color.”


He smiled at that, and so did she. Then her face was serious for a moment, vivid green eyes staring into chocolate brown ones. “The world needs heroes, Oliver, whether they have superpowers or not,” she said softly.


“Thanks, Chloe.”


“Any time, Green Bean,” she said with a grin, hoping to ease his unnecessary guilt over the whole incident involving the Black Canary. Speaking of which… “How’s the new recruit working out?” she asked, stepping over to the coffee pot. “Would you like some?” she took a mug out of the cupboard and gestured toward him with it.


“Sure, thanks,” he responded, leaning against the counter. “She seems to be doing well enough,” he shrugged. “Not much to tell just yet. But another part of the reason I’m here, Chloe is also to ask whether or not you’d like to continue to do some side work for me. That is, if you think Clark won’t mind.”


She rifled through the drawer looking for spoons. “Pfft. Clark doesn’t own me.”


“I just don’t want any trouble with him, that’s all.”


“I’ll handle Clark, Emerald Archer. Now, what did you have in mind? And how do you take your coffee?” she asked as she turned to look at him, trying not to notice that swoon-worthy grin on his handsome face.


He stayed far longer than Chloe would have expected. They sat on the futon, Chloe’s legs curled under her, facing him. He’d long ago discarded his over coat and tie. Chloe’s article was long forgotten, as they talked into the night. Surprisingly, he told her about how things ended with Lois.


“You know, about Lois,” he began hesitantly. “I really did want us to have another chance but…,” he looked down at the empty mug in his hands.


“But Lois wasn’t able to share you with the world,” Chloe finished softly. He looked up at her.



“It’s okay,” she smiled reassuringly. “I know Lois. And I know that she loved you, but I also know that she’d be miserable after awhile. It’s just not a life she could handle right now, nor is it a life she wants.”


He nodded. “I can’t change who I am, and what I do,” he shrugged. “I guess some things just aren’t meant to be, and we simply have to accept that.”


Chloe thought of her own disastrous love life, and now with the added stress of having to deal with her meteor infection. “No, I suppose they aren’t always meant to be,” she smiled sadly, “but that doesn’t mean you can’t find the one who is meant for you, someone who accepts you for who you are… someday. And you know, you can’t fault Lois for knowing what she wants and doesn’t want in her life,” she added gently. “Maybe she’s saving you both a lot of heartache down the road.”


“Probably,” was all he could say, then he gave her a small, sad grin. “You’re probably right.”


Somewhere in the back of her mind, Chloe vaguely wondered if it was her lot in life to be everyone’s sounding board. Maybe she should be an advice columnist instead of a reporter. She pushed those thoughts aside, replacing them with the positive spin. At least he felt comfortable enough with her to talk to her about it. And actually, she felt pretty comfortable with him too. It was interesting to get his perspective on things. Chloe was surprised at how easily she could sympathize with both of them, rather than hating him for hurting her cousin. It was evident that Oliver was hurting a bit too, but it wasn’t meant to be. Chloe could relate to that completely. Her own meteor infection often had her wondering whether anyone could accept her as she was. Maybe she and Oliver weren’t so different after all. Considering how things ended with Jimmy, Chloe could understand Ollie’s side of it.


Oliver too was surprised. He wasn’t a man who revealed much of himself, and yet he found something very comforting in Chloe’s presence. There was an ease in being with her. Something he couldn’t put his finger on, and yet there he was talking to her about anything and everything. It was an odd thing to him, but he didn’t dwell on it. He knew that she’d be a valuable member of the team, and his hope was to get her to become more involved in the League without stepping on Clark’s toes. That she could become an ally was good, that she could become a trusted friend, was icing on the cake.


“Tell me about how you learned to fire a bow,” she asked as the conversation drifted to other things. “What made you decide to do the whole Green Arrow thing?”


“Ahh.. ever the reporter, Ms. Sullivan,” he teased.


She laughed. “I’m not writing a story, I’m just curious. Come on!” she urged.


“You wouldn’t believe it if I told you.”


“Hey, I live in Smallville, remember?”


He chuckled. “True.” He paused, his smile fading somewhat, and his gaze wandered off in the distance. “Let’s just say, it was a matter of survival.” He shook his head briefly, as if casting off memories and turned to look at her, smiling sadly. “Maybe I’ll tell you more someday.”


By the time he’d left, they’d polished off an entire pot of coffee and the dawn was approaching.

Chloe had come home late from the Planet a few days later to find a package waiting at her door. Picking it up, she unlocked the apartment and stepped inside, reading the mailing label, looking for the sender. Seeing whom it was from, she grinned, tossed her bag, keys and jacket on the table and tore open the box.


Inside was a white embossed card, written in neat hand. ‘Thank you, and sorry. Thank you for staying up most of the night with me, and sorry for drinking most of your coffee. Oliver'


Chloe set the card aside and dug into the box, pulling out and tossing aside paper stuffing where she’d finally found two one-pound packages of Hacienda La Esmeralda coffee. A sound of surprise and delight escaped her. On her salary she’d never be able to spend around 100 dollars per pound of precious brew, and she personally thought he was crazy to do so, but she’d tell him that later after she’d made a pot and enjoyed it.


Two days later he’d called her with an assignment, wanting her to check shipping manifests of a company supposedly shipping textiles out of India. It was an easy task, and she finished it within an hour only to find the company was apparently legit, and that customs officials found nothing out of the ordinary.


“Have you finished all that coffee yet?”


“No way, I’m saving it for special occasions.”


“Such as?”


“Oh, I don’t know, like getting up in the morning?”


The following week he’d called her asking her to look into a Dr. Reynolds in Los Angeles, then had her run lists of all the doctor’s previous patients for the past month. The next day he called amending that list to three months prior. By the end of the week, Chloe had realized that he’d called her every day, and each day with flimsier excuses or things anyone could look up. He didn’t need to pay her for that.


“Ollie, my laptop is taking a beating here.”


It was Ollie now, he liked that for some reason. “No worries, Sidekick. Believe it or not, your information gathering has been invaluable.”


“I hope so, for my laptop’s sake.”



The next day, a courier arrived at the Planet.


“Please sign here Miss Sullivan.”


She signed for the box, thanked the courier and set the box on her desk. She opened it. Inside sat another note written in now familiar hand on a familiar white embossed card.



‘Thank you, and I’m not sorry. Thank you for your help, and I’m not sorry for having you on my side. Ollie’


Chloe pulled out packaging and gasped. There sat another box with the words VOODOO PC ENVY u909 imprinted on the top. She tore into it, and pulled out a sleek new emerald green laptop. Of course it would be green, she couldn’t stifle her giggle.


Someone whistled through their teeth. Chloe looked up. It was Clark.


“Wow! Where’d you get that? That’s got to be one of the most expensive laptops around.”


“Uh.. I’ve been saving up for it,” Chloe lied. She wasn’t quite ready to tell Clark just yet about her arrangement with Oliver, especially after how he had reacted last time. She would tell him, of course she would. In time.



* * * * * * *


Star City at night was spectacular. Chloe could smell the salty air and feel the warm sea breeze against her cheeks. But, there was no time for that now. She stood waiting on Oliver’s penthouse balcony for Clark and the others to return. Pacing back and forth, not particularly paying much attention to the sights and sounds of the coast. The boys, well mainly Clark, had managed to supersneak Oliver out of the hospital. Within minutes he was back with an unconscious Oliver in tow.

“Put him in his bed,” Chloe ordered shortly, rushing to his side.


“Chloe…”


She followed him down the hall to Oliver’s room. “It’s okay Clark. Just keep an eye on me when I’m out, and don’t go writing any funeral speeches just yet, or at least wait a few days.”



Clark gave her a look. He evidently didn’t think that was funny at all. Chloe told him to remove Oliver’s hospital gown so that she could see his injuries.


Once Oliver was settled in his bed, the sheet pulled up to his hips, Chloe sat beside him, simply staring at him. Clark wondered when she’d touch the unconscious man and heal him. Chloe surveyed Oliver. His face was badly bruised, lips and eyes swollen shut. The sight of him caused a tear to slip down her cheek. Such beauty and perfection and goodness marred in this way. What the hell happened? A large wrapping of bandages encircled his chest, which rose and fell erratically.


“Leave us, please,” Chloe said woodenly, as she stared at the unmoving figure of Oliver lying prone on his bed.


“Chloe, I can’t.”


Not turning her gaze away from Oliver she monotoned, “Clark, just let me do this. Please go. It’ll be all right. You’ll know when it’s done. You can come back inside then.” Not until she heard the door close with a satisfying click did she move. She was going to get this one right.



Somehow, Oliver knew he was dying. How stupid could he have been! He had always checked his gear before a mission, made sure everything was in working order, unless someone sabotaged his gear? How could that be? Wait. Who is that? What’s happening?


“Who are you?” his mind asked.


“It doesn’t matter. Everything will be all right," a voice echoed in his head.


The voice was soothing, a woman's voice. Oliver thought he could feel soft warm hands touching him. Feminine hands. Small. Gentle. Familiar. He couldn’t really see her well, her form appearing almost ghostly to him. Her hair was light, her eyes… was she crying? Was he dead already?


She touched his cheeks with tentative, trembling fingertips, then wandered further, soft as butterfly wings to caress his lips lovingly. Her hands moved down his neck, tracing his collarbone, sliding down his shoulders to rest finally on his chest.


Light. Blinding colorful light. Surging warmth, wave after wave of it. Safety. Love. “What are you doing? Are you an Angel?” He could have sworn she giggled at his question.


She floated with him. Her being seemed to enter his, her essence permeating him and mingling with his own. As if…as if their souls were dancing, whirling in a timeless spaceless pulse. Higher they soared, and Oliver could see it all. Could see everything that had ever happened to him in his life. All the joy, all the pain, and knew somehow that everything that had ever happened was as it should have been. Everything is as it should be, and everything in the Universe was everything else. Never had he felt more connected to life than in his death.


Suddenly he felt the woman’s essence leaving him and he was falling, “Noooo!” He reached for her, wanting the beautiful dance to continue, but she either couldn’t or didn’t want to continue their merging-of-souls dance. Falling, falling, falling… without her, but who she was exactly, he did not know.“Tell me what’s going on!”


Oliver Queen gasped, a huge breath filling his lungs. His now perfect brown eyes widened and his breath came quickly.


“Someone tell me what’s going on!” Oliver shouted as he awoke in his bed to find Chloe Sullivan slumped over him, limp, lifeless, and in other words, quite dead. “Chloe?” He grabbed her up frantically, checking the pulse at her throat and finding none. He held her against his chest, looking down upon her ashen face, gripping her tightly and shaking her gently. Her head bobbed slightly, blonde hair tousled. “Chloe? Chloe!”


The sound of running footsteps bounded toward the bedroom door, was swung open unceremoniously, and filled by Clark. Oliver looked from Chloe back to Clark, his perfectly healed, un-marred face was stricken with a different kind of pain now, and seeking answers.


“She did it,” was all an awestruck Clark could utter.

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