Secret Identities
Chapter 20
Chapter 20
At first Chloe felt as though they were kids playing house. Of course there were the normal growing pains of a newly married couple. Growing accustomed to each other in both big and small ways, shared living spaces, his stuff, her stuff, their combined stuff, personality quirks, his habit of always leaving damp towels on the bathroom floor next to balled up socks, right next to the clothes hamper instead of in it, and let’s not forget the infamous never-putting-down of the toilet seat. Her habit of leaving half empty coffee cups in every other room, or leaving her notes spread out on the coffee table when researching an article.
The tabloids had a field day.
SMALLVILLE REPORTER CHLOE SULLIVAN SNARES BILLIONAIRE OLIVER QUEEN!
Sorry ladies, Mr. Queen is now officially off the market. Can the playboy billionaire make a go of marriage? Only time will tell…
The wedding was a simple and intimate celebration held at Queen Manor, Oliver’s childhood home. The entire JLA was in attendance, Dr. Reynolds and his wife, a few close friends and family, of course Lois as maid of honor, and Clark as best man.
They were at times dogged by the paparazzi during their three-week European honeymoon, and of course they did get to spend a few days in London, simply being tourists.
They were happy. They rarely, if ever argued. Being in an angst-free, drama-free relationship was something Chloe was deeply grateful for, especially after having lived through and observed plenty of angst and drama in Smallville. There was only one subject they ever seriously argued about. He wanted her to be more careful, and she, too often for his liking, threw caution to the wind when going after a story.
She was now one of the up and coming investigative reporters of the Star City Gazette, in just under two years. Oliver Queen’s pride in his wife knew no bounds. The name Chloe Queen was respected in west coast journalistic circles. He knew it hadn’t been easy for her to uproot her life, and leave her long held dreams of the Daily Planet behind. But once she’d made her decision, she’d never looked back, and she seemed driven to make a place for herself here in Star City, and at his side. He admired her tenacity, her curiosity, her courage, her desire to right wrongs, and her belief in achieving truth and justice through the power of the press. But it was these very traits that sometimes had him agonizing over her safety.
This time, he wouldn’t argue with her. There was no way, he’d let her go all cloak and dagger, trying to get dirt on Danny Brickwell, a.k.a., The Brick. The meta-human Star City mob boss was simply going to be off limits to her, especially alone. Besides, his mood right now was too good to spoil. After a busy week, he simply wanted to enjoy a quiet night with his wife, curl up on the couch and, watch a movie with her.
“Chloe, this guy’s not above killing off entire mob families, just to get ahead. How do you think he became the kingpin of pretty much the entire Star City underworld?”
“He needs to be brought to justice, and I may finally have a lead on him. Everyone has a weakness, even someone as seemingly invulnerable and super powered as The Brick.”
“No Chloe.”
Chloe moved over him, straddling him on the sofa, placing her arms around his neck. She was wearing one of his t-shirts, and not much else. “I’m so close, Ollie.”
“Mmmm… I know, you feel amazing,” he murmured with a devious grin, and even added a slight waggling of eyebrows for effect, as he stroked the soft skin of her exposed thighs on either side of him. If she thought seduction would work to change his mind, she was wrong, but that didn’t mean he’d stop her from trying.
She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t keep the smile from her face. “Ollie, that’s not what I meant.”
“I’ve gone up against him before, Chloe. I know what he’s capable of. He’s also got half the Star City police force in his back pocket.”
Chloe wiggled subtly yet deliberately against him, causing him to groan softly from the back of his throat. His hands slipped under the edges of the loose-fitting t-shirt to grasp her hips.
“Come with me then, just so I can meet this source. He claims to have valuable information,” she coaxed, her green eyes wide.
“No, Chloe. It’s too dangerous. You really think The Brick is not going to know or find out you’ve met with someone who claims to have information about him?” His hands moved, sliding to her back, slipping under the edge of her panties to grasp her bottom, flexing his hips upward, squeezing her flesh and pressing her down onto his hardness.
“Come on Ollie. We can get this guy,” she said, followed by her sharp intake of breath as he ground himself, rock hard, between her legs.
“No,” he whispered. Capturing her lips with his, cutting off any further discussion. He grasped her thighs once again, shifting her down into the sofa, and covering her body with his.
* * * * *
“If this source doesn’t show up in one minute, we’re out of here, you got that Tower?” His synthesized voice sounded in her earpiece.
“I copy, Archer,” Chloe answered softly. She bit her lip nervously, waiting in the darkness for the mysterious person to make an appearance. They had agreed to meet on the roof of the Star City Gazette. The Green Arrow was well hidden, but in close proximity in the event something went awry. Oliver didn’t like it one bit. How did she manage to talk him into things?
“Mrs. Queen.”
Chloe began to turn at the sound of a deep voice.
“Don’t turn around. Count to ten slowly. There’ll be something here for you when I’m gone.”
Chloe nodded and began to count in her head. When she got to eight, she heard the report of a firearm and turned to see the fleeing figure jolt with the impact of the bullet, then continue to run onward, staggering. Chloe jogged over to where an envelope lay on the ground, and almost didn’t have a chance to pick it up, before Arrow was there, his arm around her, running with her, his compound bow firing an arrow across the sky, then converting to a grappling hook.
“Hold onto me and don’t let go whatever you do,” he ordered, and before she knew it, she was flying across the open space over various buildings. Within what seemed like seconds, they’d landed safely onto another rooftop some distance away.
She knew he might be angry about putting herself in danger once again, but before she could think another thought, an inexplicable wave of nausea and light-headedness washed over her, and she decided to brush it off as a by-product of what had just occurred, along with the ride across the sky her husband had just given her.
“Chloe?” Even through night vision glasses he could see she did not look well. “Are you hurt? Did you get hit?” he panicked.
“No. No, Arrow, I’m okay.” She took several deep breaths. “I think everything just happened so fast, and.. I’m okay,” she attempted a weak smile. “Now you can start yelling.”
“If I thought it would do any good, I might.”
“I’m sorry, Archer.”
“Let’s go home. Think you can hold onto me again?”
She nodded. “I’ll hold onto you forever,” she said as she wrapped her arms around him, and he shot another arrow into the sky. Chloe gazed up at his hooded face and added, “Admit it, you sort of like the thrill of it just as much as I do.”
She thought she saw his lips curve into a small smile. “I’m still not finished with you yet, woman. You’ll get an earful from me later. Hold on.”
* * * * *
“That’s it?” His voice was incredulous as he dropped down onto the couch beside her.
“That’s it,” she said as they both looked at the slip of paper.
His brows knit. “I thought The Riddler was Batman’s territory.”
Chloe read the words aloud once more thoughtfully. “He will retire, if he ceases to respire.” She paused. “Heck anyone would retire if they stopped breathing.” She looked up at Oliver. “Wait a minute. That’s The Brick’s vulnerability. He might be super powered and apparently indestructible, but he still needs to breathe just like everyone else!”
“So what are we supposed to do? Sneak up on him while he’s dozing off and stuff a pillow over his face until he yells ‘uncle’?”
She gave him a sidelong glance, shoulder bumping him and grinning. “No, silly.” She looked back at the paper in her hands. “We’ll just have to figure something out.”
Two mornings later Chloe found herself with her face poised over the toilet. Since the night Oliver had whisked her off the Star City Gazette rooftop, she’d been having odd bouts of nausea at various times, but this was the first time she’d actually vomited. This couldn’t be a case of stomach flu, the way the nausea came and went, or the way certain smells seemed to set it off. She needed her suspicions confirmed, and the only doctor she trusted was Dr. Reynolds. He had since become a good friend and ally to both her and Oliver, and the only doctor who knew of her ability. Sworn to secrecy, she had occasionally helped him with a patient a time or two. Both of them knowing the possible dangers to herself, they did not want to push her ability too far. She’d agreed to allow him to test samples of her blood to see whether or not it had healing properties as well. So far, results were inconclusive.
She called in sick, and paid a visit to Dr. Reynolds, sitting nervously in the examination room, playing with the gown, making folds in the blue cotton fabric on her lap, then unfolding them. He entered the room, and looked over his bifocals at her, an amused grin on his face.
“When was your last menstrual period, Chloe?”
“Ummm.. about six or seven weeks ago?”
“Well, sweetie according to the test we’ve just done. You’re pregnant.”
“But, I’m on the pill,” she said in mild disbelief.
The doctor took her hand. “Even the pill is not one hundred percent, but in your case.. well, I’ll tell you my theory, crazy as it sounds. I’m thinking that with your healing ability, any hormonal birth control you use will eventually cease to work. Your body sees it as something unnatural, and tries to fix it. The pill is simply not going to work for you anymore.”
He paused now, his face taking on a grave expression. “Which brings me to the other part of my theory. If it’s true that your body will fight off anything it thinks is an invasion, there’s a possibility that it will see any child you carry as an invasion of sorts as well, similar to what happens when women have RH negative blood. Unless…”
“Unless what?” She looked up at him anxiously.
“Unless you pass on your ability to your child, which could mean that there’d be less risk or none at all.”
Chloe cupped her hand over her mouth. Her ability to heal others could possibly kill her own child?
Dr. Reynolds placed an arm around her shoulder, and Chloe accepted his comfort. “Now, now… it’ll be all right,” he crooned, his deep voice fatherly and soothing. “It might happen that you’ll have the easiest pregnancy a woman ever had. But I felt I had to be honest with you about all the possibilities. I want to see you every week from now on, and I’m going to call in a very good OBGYN, a friend of mine, on this. She won’t have to know about your ability at all. We’ll monitor you closely. Nothing’s going to happen to you or the baby if I can help it, I promise.”
Chloe sniffled her thanks, and wiped her eyes.
When she had composed herself sufficiently, he continued. “Now, go on home and tell Mr. Queen the good news. I know he’ll be happy to hear he’s going to be a daddy.”
End Chapter 20
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