Secret Identities
Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Oliver rubbed a hand over his face tiredly. “You mean her ability is to heal people, and she takes on their injuries? And if she’s dead now, that means I was either dead or near death?”
Clark swallowed. “Something like that.”
Oliver shook his head, his brow furrowing, head bowed in thought. He released Chloe’s hand and stood, taking a few steps, then returning, pacing near the edge of the bed. “So now what? Does she come back to life?” he gestured toward the still figure of Chloe on the bed.
Clark could see the pain and confusion clearly etched on the blonde man’s face. He wanted Clark to tell him something, anything that made sense, but Clark didn’t think any of it would. “She has before. It may take awhile.”
“Before?” Oliver stopped pacing a moment, wearing a look of disbelief. “She’s done this before?”
“Twice that I know of.”
“And what happens if she doesn’t come back, Clark? What then?” he demanded. Oliver didn’t know what to feel. Anger? Betrayal? Jealousy? Guilt? Grief? Maybe he felt all of them in that moment. Angry that she had done this, betrayal that she didn’t trust him enough to tell him that she possessed this… this power, jealousy that she’d trusted Clark and not him, guilt that she had chosen to give her life for him, a life that he was supposed to protect. He should have been the one to die, not her. And finally grief. He thought it was the last of these that consumed him most. If there were one thing he never thought he’d ever have to see in his life, it was his Watchtower, dead. “What if she doesn’t come back? She died for me. Instead of me. How am I supposed to feel about that? How am I supposed to live with that?”
“Let’s just wait, Oliver.”
Oliver released the breath that was pent up in his chest and nodded slowly. He rubbed his forehead. “I’ll wait for as long as it takes,” he sighed, then looked up at Clark, as though he had reached a decision. “But she stays here.” Oliver’s expression dared Clark to argue.
Clark’s blue eyes squinted briefly and he tipped his head slightly, scrutinizing the blonde billionaire. “Oliver, something’s… you want to tell me what’s been going on between you and Chloe?” Clark couldn’t deny the slight pang in his chest of, what? Jealousy? He wasn’t sure exactly.
“If Chloe hasn’t told you anything, it was for a reason.”
Clark crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Would that be the same reason she didn’t tell you about her healing ability?”
Oliver’s jaw clenched, and he had the strong urge to wipe the smug expression from Clark’s face. “Touché.”
* * * * * *
Clark, Jimmy, and now Oliver. She must be seriously disturbed, kissing men whenever a situation turned seemingly perilous. She had the worst timing ever. The trip back to the Star City penthouse was uneventful, and Chloe sat half-listening to the others in the back of the van. Unconsciously, she touched her lips with her fingertips. Kissing Oliver was nothing like kissing Jimmy, or even Clark. She had never recalled having such a strong physical reaction to a kiss. Never had one kiss caused such a sweet burning ache low in her belly, making her want more, so much more. She snuck a furtive glance toward Oliver who was also quiet, concentrating on driving. He was so handsome, it hurt. Suddenly she blushed, and looked away. Her stomach fluttered. She recalled the first time she’d ever seen him in Clark’s barn, and how she was practically struck mute by the sheer beauty of him. How silly. She shouldn’t dwell on it. It was just a heat of the moment thing, nothing more. Besides, he was the one to initiate the kiss, and even if she did kiss him back, it didn’t mean anything. She wouldn’t start acting any differently toward him. He was just Oliver. Not only that, but it had only been a few months since the final break-up with Lois and though he didn’t talk about it, she wondered if he still harbored feelings for her cousin. Not to mention the weirdness of the whole thing. Macking on you’re cousin’s ex? Something didn’t seem right about it. And then…, and then there was Clark. Chloe had long ago accepted that Clark loved her as a friend only. He had his life with Lana, and Chloe respected that. But she realized that maybe some small part of her held out hope that he’d see her in a different light, see her as more. She loved Clark, she always would, but… suddenly, Oliver’s words from that first night came back to her unbidden, ‘I guess some things just aren’t meant to be, and we simply have to accept that.’
“Right, Chloelicious?” Bart’s voice brought her out of her reverie.
“Hmm?”
“I mean, we can’t be left hanging out to dry like that,” he went on. “Boss, you gotta get the comm. fixed, man.”
“First thing on my list to do in the morning, Bart. Can’t leave our Watchtower alone like that either.” Oliver glanced Chloe’s way, but she’d been staring out the window. He wondered what she was thinking. She’d been quiet the entire time, when usually she’d be talking his ear off by now. He probably shouldn’t have kissed her, but in that moment he thought he’d either kiss her or throttle her, and since throttling her was never really an option, he did the only thing he could possibly do. He kissed her. Hard. And heaven help him, he’d do it again.
After the gear was put away and the gang had their fill of late-night take out, it was close to 4:00 am. The others were saying their good-byes, and Chloe rose from the overstuffed couch, and stretched, drowsy and full. She was leaving for Smallville later that day, and needed to get some sleep. She now wondered at the prudence of sleeping in Oliver’s guest room, then dismissed it. She’d done it before when she was here, why should this time be any different? ‘Because the last few times you were here, you hadn’t shared the most earth-shattering, passionate kiss with the penthouse owner, that’s why.’
She said her good-nights, and laughed off Bart’s offer to keep her company in the guest room. “You’re loss, Chloelicious,” he winked, and then was out of sight. Then the others were gone.
Now they were alone.
“Well, I’m off to bed,” she covered her mouth as she yawned, not really meeting his eyes as she spoke.
“Yeah, I’m.. I’m…, I need to shower.”
“Okay.”
“Good.”
“All right.”
“Night.”
“Night.”
Chloe awoke a few hours later to the smell of fresh coffee brewing. She pulled the covers off, headed for the bathroom, washed, brushed her teeth, and glanced in the mirror running her fingers through her hair. Sometime during the night, she had decided to simply pretend the whole kissing incident had never happened. She awoke with a renewed resolve to carry on as usual. Taking a deep breath, she exited her room.
Oliver looked up at her as she stepped from the guest room and into the kitchen. She was still dressed in one of her tank top and pajama bottom combos. His eyes flitted briefly over her petite form, and he could see that she wasn’t wearing a bra, her perky breasts straining against the thin fabric. He swallowed. “Coffee?”
She smiled brightly, and his heart skipped, his breath caught in his chest. “Of course! Thank you.”
He turned away almost too quickly to retrieve a mug and Chloe took the opportunity to survey him. He’d been up for awhile she’d guessed. Already dressed in expensive blue jeans and a black t-shirt, the sleeves showing just enough well-toned bicep. She licked her lips unconsciously. He was tall, tall enough to climb. What? Where had that come from?
He’d turned and set the coffee filled mug on the counter in front of her, then waited till she looked up at him and met his eyes. “Chloe,” he began.
“Ollie,” she said at the exact same moment. Followed by a small, nervous chuckle from each of them.
“You first.’’
“No, you first.”
“Last night.. uh, I..”
“It’s okay, Ollie, really… I mean, things just got a bit tense, you know? We were both worried, it’s no big deal,” she waved it off lightly with even less confidence than she felt. Her lips quivered slightly in a nervous, uncertain smile.
He gazed into her expressive beautiful green eyes. It was all there. All her thoughts and emotions were in her eyes he had discovered, and if he looked closely enough, carefully enough, they were revealed to him. He sought something, anything to grasp onto, and when he found it he plunged ahead. “Well, no Chloe, actually…I,” he began, when suddenly her cell phone rang. The sound diverted their attention from one another. It rang several times before he finally said, “It’s okay, go on and answer it.”
She looked at him as if to ask ‘you’re sure?’ and he simply nodded.
“Clark? Yes. No, I’m coming home… um, I should be there in a few hours.” She gave Oliver an apologetic look, and turned away stepping into the living room. He couldn’t hear much of the rest of her conversation. “My dad’s good, yeah it was nice to spend time with him. Okay, I’ll call you when I get back to Smallville. See you soon. Bye.”
* * * * *
“That still doesn’t explain anything,” Clark answered.
Oliver took his place at Chloe’s side and reached for her frigid hand once more, placing both of his hands around hers, a thumb placed over the pulse point at her wrist, clutching her hand as if his body heat could warm her and bring her back to him. He gazed at her looking for any sign, a breath, a twitch, anything to indicate life. He sighed. “We’ve been working together for the past six months or more. She’s been an invaluable member of the team.”
“Somehow I think there’s more to it than that, all those out of town trips to visit her dad or some assignment?”
Oliver finally tore his gaze from Chloe, looked up at Clark for a long moment, and answered. “She was with me.”
End Chapter 3
No comments:
Post a Comment