Action Time (Chapter Fourteen)

Now we go into Charade. Oliver wasn't in this one, but he had kind of a presence and quite a few mentions, so I'm dealing with some of it. 

Chapter Fourteen 

Chloe glanced at her phone. Lois was late... again. It was breakfast today and it was the fourth meal she'd bought this week to assuage her conscience after the chloroform. But it was definitely chipping away at the guilt, what with most of each lunch spent tapping her foot outside various bistros, cafes, and diners as Lois was pretty much always late. She might not even dodge Lois' customary last minute attempt to go dutch today. Chloe had brushed her off each time, even lied that she was getting paid meals from her rich client this week -- as part of her job as a freelance computer consultant, which was still her career in Lois' eyes and which was still a big fat lie. That added another layer to her guilt. Someday it would all work out. Someday all the lies would be worth it. That's what she kept telling herself. 

She was already feeling significantly less guilty today, what with having moved virtual mountains to get some fancy antique telescope for Lois... to give to Clark. And it wasn't even his birthday! 

She hadn't confronted him. She, in fact, had gone out of her way to be smiling and accommodating, but she was still seething inside whenever he asked her to so much as disable a security cam. She wanted to explode on him, tell him to do it his damned self, snidely ask him if he could. She was so unimportant, after all. So easy to wipe clean and disregard. But she didn't. She'd decided confronting him would do no good, but damned if she was about to forget. 

She thought she was behaving very well, considering everything. She even got him the damned telescope Lois insisted he'd just love. That same snide part of her wanted to tell her that Clark's big telescope's main purpose had once been spying all over Lana, watch him try to explain himself out of that one. But she wouldn't. This wasn't for Clark, anyway. This was for Lois. Lois was family. Family deserved happiness. And if Clark made her happy, even though he was a lying, high-handed... 

A chirp from her phone interrupted her internal tirade. She smiled just a little at picture mail from Oliver. He'd been doing this all week. There'd been pictures of parks, charming hilly streets with that rather fussy architecture unique to Northern California, quaint little bistros, statues and monuments. Just little pieces of his town. She knew his game. He was trying to tempt her there. Yesterday, he'd snapped a coffee cart with "Not kidding. BEST coffee I've ever had." Sneaky man. 

She smiled as she opened it. Today, it was a skyscraper with "You should see the city from up here..." The sun was just rising where he was. It did look gorgeous. It was silly, but she rarely thought about other cities. She'd been such a Metropolis girl from Infancy. Even when she moved to Smallville, that hadn't changed. As far as she was concerned, Metropolis had the only good restaurants, the only good coffee, the only tall skyscrapers, and the only newspaper worth reading... or writing for. 

But there was a bigger world out there and she'd hardly seen it. She'd had one trip to New York with Lana, a summer spent hidden by Lex in Atchison County, a little sojourn to Canada to try to stop Lex from uncovering Clark's secret (and to save the ungrateful, high-handed, memory thief that was Clark), and a few trips to the Arctic courtesy of the portal in the Kawatche Caves. None of those truly touched seeing a greater world. She'd always thought of herself as worldly, like it came with being a Metropolis Girl. But that really wasn't the case. She suddenly felt rather provincial. She'd seen so little, really. 

That bigger world? She should see it. Maybe even write about it. Not publicly, of course. That was something she could never have again. But to write... She'd sort of snapped Oliver's head off Sunday, at the mere suggestion she write again. But she wanted to. She'd been a writer since she'd first presented Nessie to her fellow second graders, or whatever number of them read her article. That was why it hurt so much to let it go. Writing was such a big part of her and always had been. It had taken a lot to put it away for good. Oliver had said it last year, said being Watchtower meant leaving her life as a reporter behind. She'd agreed, said it was someone else's life. And she really thought she was at peace with that decision. But sometimes she felt that urge again. Not to hide the truth, but to tell it. 

Maybe not out loud. Maybe it could be her secret. Seeing things she didn't have to hide. Just seeing new places and putting to page what she saw. What could be the harm in that? Why not start with Star City? Why couldn't she just go there? Just for a week? She nearly texted back that she wanted to see it -- and with him. She frowned and moved her finger away from the reply button. 

There was too much going on. Zod had powers, after all. Though Clark still seemed to think that made no difference, Zod wasn't raised on a farm by nice Kansas folk. Hell, she hadn't even met Zod, but she could tell he was nothing but bad news. This was no time to pick up dreams best put away and no time for vacations. Also, it was one thing to go away with Oliver to a supposedly secret B&B, it was a whole other for her to be seen with the CEO of Queen Industries on his home turf. There was no way for them to hide out there. Of course, any local paparazzi would probably think she was just a secretary or personal assistant or... 

"Chloe, can you believe it? I'm early." 

She glanced up and laughed, pushing her broody thoughts away. "Uh, no, Lois, early is when you arrive at your destination by said time, not when you can see it from seven blocks away." 

"Uh-Uh, nobody's raining on this girl's parade today. Clark's taking me up to the roof tonight, to do a little star-gazing." 

"Okay, that explains the 911 to the Craigslist queen." Chloe dug the box out of her bag and handed it over. 

"Long live the queen." Lois opened it. "I can't believe you got one so fast." She glanced up. "I kind of noticed that Clark has this thing for telescopes. Do you think he'll like it?" 

Chloe moved in before her earlier impulse could get the better of her and have her explaining Clark's history with telescopes. "I think he'll love it," he said, moving in as the host opened up, "but what is it exactly about a telescope that merits seventy-six trombones and a big parade?" she asked, hoping to sound light. Music Man was kind of the first thing that popped into her head. And, damn it, now that song would stay all day. Her father used to watch it every 4th of July and she usually spent the next four months trying to get rid of that damned song. While a hundred and ten coronets played the air. They were followed by rows and rows... 

"Well, tonight's the night," Lois was saying as they took a table near the window. "In the words of the general, 'It's time to drop the L bomb.'" 

"What?! You mean to tell me that you guys haven't volleyed the word yet?" That was surprising for Clark. Hell, he'd been bandying that word about over Lana before they even dated. She kind of thought that was just his thing. Lois might be a bit more skittish, but she'd thought Clark had drawn her in before now. Then again, Clark wasn't the same guy she knew these days. He was much more secretive, much less likely to open up, much more likely to hide it when he took pieces of you and threw them away like... 

"Among other significant relationship mile stones," Lois was saying. "I don't know, things used to be easier with Clark." Chloe couldn't help but agree. She hardly knew how to deal with him now. God only knew how Lois put up with him. "Back in the days when you'd wake up and the first thing you'd do is check for a text or an e-mail and it'd be there waiting for you." Chloe found herself smiling, thinking not of Clark, but Oliver, of his silly pictures and how easily he said what he felt. He had nothing to hide. Or maybe he did. But he chose not to. And that was so frustrating and wonderful at the same... "Anyway, things have been different ever since we decided we could keep secrets from each other. But that's all changing tonight." 

Chloe snapped back to attention. "Wait a minute. Secrets? Uh... changing how?" 

"No more secrets. It's time to take our baggage out of the closet, I mean if we L each other then nothing should come between us. Right?" 

Chloe tried to smile and nod, but... now? Sure, she'd been thinking of that mythical someday when Lois knew everything, when the lies could be put away, when all this might make sense to her. She wanted that day to come, but not now. Not when Zod had powers and followers and the city, even the planet, was at risk. With how long Clark stalled to keep Lana safe, she'd expect her own damned cousin to get at least some consideration! She hardly tasted her lunch, she was so freshly angry. 

Honestly, she wasn't sure there was a thing Clark could do today that wouldn't piss her off, which was why it was probably a very bad idea that she was now taking that long drive to Smallville. She thought of Oliver and what he might say about her taking this drive right now. She slowed down, trying not to drive angry. She wasn't angry. She was concerned. That was all. That was what had her trying Clark's cell every ten minutes, leaving message after message increasing in panic. Why would he just do this? Couldn't he even talk to her first? They'd hardly talked all year, so maybe she shouldn't expect to be asked for her opinion. But Lois was her family! He couldn't just drag her into danger all the sudden! She already attracted enough without this! 

She might have broken off her volume button, trying to turn up what was supposed to be some calming Tori Amos and get the damned lyrics from "Seventy-six Trombones" out of her head. It didn't work. She was still marching in time with it up to the farmhouse. 

"Hey!" She spotted him coming down the stairs as she stalked in. "Do you ever check your voicemail?" 

"Looks like someone missed breakfast in bed with Oliver this morning," he said, all lightness, and it just made her angrier. 

"I'm not here to talk about my love life!" 

"That makes two of us." 

"I'm here to talk about yours," she said, planting herself in the kitchen. They were going to start talking again, damn it, starting now! 

"Whoa, can't we just stick to a topic like aliens assimilating the earth?" 

He was pouring coffee. The world was ending and he was pouring coffee. "This isn't about assimilating, Clark. Zod has powers now, and you told him all of your secrets. This is not a good time to bring Lois in, too." 

Clark turned. "Lois?" 

"Yeah, she told me about your big date tonight, where you both are going to come clean with everything." 

"I'm not going to tell Lois anything." He was gesturing with the coffee pot. God, she wanted to rip that pot out of his hands. Maybe down the whole thing herself while she was at it. "I'm making Lois dinner tonight so she shares her secret. She's been keeping something from me, and I didn't want to use my abilities to spy on her. It's been driving me crazy." 

Chloe scoffed, pushing the urge away. "So you're gonna seduce it out of her?" On one hand, she should be relieved he wasn't about to haul off and just tell her, on the other, for him to play these games... "Clark, you're the reason all of this is happening to begin with," she tried. 

"I have not called her as The Blur in months," he said, rather dismissively, she thought as he moved away. 

"That doesn't matter, Clark." She moved around the counter to block him. She was sick of being brushed off. "The second that your back-in-black alter ego asked Lois to lie about The Blur was the day that you asked her to lie to the person she loves...which is you!" He looked away. He seemed to be taking it in. "And she did," she added, hammering it in. He had to understand that he couldn't play games with her cousin's mind. Not anymore. He couldn't hide protect her with one hand and pull her into this with the other. 

"A relationship with secrets can never work," he said thoughtfully. "Look at you and Oliver. Everything's out in the open." 

Wait... what? "That is because we both understand that our relationship comes second to a higher calling." Had she just convinced him to bring her in? "Clark, you and Lois--" 

"Don't have to be any different," he cut in. "Now if Lois was going to trust me tonight, maybe it's time I trusted her," he said. Then he just left. 

Brushed off again. And after having basically convinced him to do exactly what she didn't want him to. She was really knocking it out of the park today. 

She sighed and moved out, pulling her phone from her pocket. What was she going to do now? 

He answered on the first ring. "Well, hey there! Did you know you have perfect timing? I'm about to be surrounded by six stuffy old women and forty even stuffier old men. I can smell the formaldehyde already and would do anything to put it off just a little." 

"Oliver, something's wrong." 

"I know. Only six women. Listen, most of this board has been in place since before I was born. The minute some seats open up, I'll be all over getting some fresh female blood in this..." 

"Oliver, I've really screwed up," she cut in frantically as she got in her car. 

"Oh. Okay. What happened? Do you need me to come back or..." 

"No. I just... Nothing exactly happened, I guess. I don't know if it's that bad, but it could be. And I might have just made everything worse." She took a deep breath and put her bluetooth on. 

"You know I do like you with an air of mystery and all, but if you could just... Wait a second. I think I heard a moo. Are you in Smallville?" 

"Yes," she said quickly. "But I didn't..." 

"Chloe," he groaned, "with everything going on, I thought you weren't going to..." 

"This is not about that. I didn't come here to confront Clark... or just not about that." 

"Then how exactly did you screw up?" 

"I think I just pretty much convinced Clark to tell Lois he's The Blur," she blurted. 

He laughed just a little. "Jeez, Chloe. I thought you'd spilled coffee on your favorite console or something." 

"But you don't get it. He's going to tell her everything." 

"And we can all be one happy family. I mean, she's not spread the word about my extra-curriculars. Plus you were talking about the day she knows, so... Good for you?" 

"No. Bad for me. Bad for all us and especially bad for Lois." She took deep breaths as she drove through the sunlit fields. It should be a relaxing view, if she could just unclench. "Zod has more power and knowledge than he ever did and a swarm of blind devotees. He's got Tess playing footsie with him and she not only knows about Clark, but about you! There's Checkmate gunning for all of us and now I have to watch my family get dragged into this and I can't get Seventy-Six Trombones out of my head!" 

"What does that have to do with..." 

"Nothing! It's just really bothering me!" she half-sobbed. "I just drove all the way out here and all I did was make everything worse," 

"Okay. Listen, you know what Clark is like. If he gets an idea in his head, there's no talking him down. So just... I don't know. We can just focus on what we can do." 

She pulled over just shy of the freeway, sniffling. "And what can we do? What can anyone do?" 

"You can calm down and go to Luthorcorp." 

She scoffed through her tears. "You know, the evil empire isn't the best place to calm me down." 

"I want you to to go to my office, get in the system, go to my Swiss accounts, and transfer half a mill into Watchtower's account." 

"Oliver, after the weapons stash and the money from before, I'm done touching your..." 

"I thought we agreed that was not a borrowing and I killed your stupid mortgage. Anyway, I'm telling you to touch my money. I want you to get your hands all over it, then I want you to call Victor and the two of you can go nuts. I'm talking take over every satellite in the country, every camera in the city. If we can increase monitoring, then you can have eyes everywhere and especially on Lois. And if we can beef up Watchtower security, then everyone has a safe place to hide out if it comes to that, while we plan our next moves." 

She swiped at her eyes. "You're right. I can't stop him telling her. But I can make damned sure none of this touches her. I'm going to... spend your money." 

"Atta girl. Hell, I might spend a little on my end. I've been thinking about whether I can get us a... What?" 

"A what?" 

"Not you, Sidekick. Hold on." His voice grew faint. But she heard what might be one of those stuffy old men mumbling back, too. He had to go. She really wanted to hear his other plan, but he'd given her enough for today. And enough to do. "Chloe? I gotta..." 

"I understand. Go give 'em hell." 

"I always do." 

She smiled, surprised she could today. But he tended to draw it out of her. "Thank you," she said softly. 

"For what? Some money? Hell, the board's lunch orders this week probably top that." 

"I still appreciate all you do." 

"Me? I sit around pissing off octogenarian fat cats and do a couple back flips on rooftops when the mood hits. It's all good fun." 

"Well, I appreciate it. So learn to take a compliment." 

He chuckled. "This from the girl who rolls her eyes every time I call her sexy." 

She did find her eyes rolling. "Shut up and go piss off some old people." 

"Yes, Ma'am." 

The drive back to Metropolis was a bit smoother than the one leaving it. She hardly even flinched as she walked into Luthorcorp, though the place would always give her the willies. So many bad memories. So many tense conversations with both Luthors. And she swore she could still see Lionel's body bagged up on the steps no matter how she tried not to. 

Still, Oliver's office wasn't so bad. It had a warmer feel with greens and earth tones that separated it from chilly blues and stark blacks favored by Lionel and Lex. She could almost forget where she was while she made the transfer. She'd only just begun to breathe freely when she caught movement in the corner of her eye, a shadow behind the glazed door. She hastily pulled her flash drive from Oliver's laptop and moved to the center of the room. She wasn't sure if she was surprised or not when Tess pushed through the doors. For a woman on the lam, Chloe seemed to be seeing more of her than ever before. 

Tess smiled as she pulled off the overly large sunglasses that seemed to be her entire disguise. Chloe was expecting a dye job by now, maybe at least a hat. "Oliver gave you keys to his office. He must trust you with just about all of his secrets." 

She really had too much to do to trade barbs with Tess. But why the hell not? She needed a pick-me-up. She smiled as well. "Tess. I thought you were supposed to be underground. You know, if you're having a hard time finding your way there, I'm sure I can help." The woman had tossed a few knives at Oliver, after all. 

"So we're over the temporary truce and straight back to fire at will? Okay." Tess sauntered in like she hadn't a care. "Just remember, Chloe, that out there I might be MIA, but in here, I'm still CEO." She didn't answer back. Just held her smile... and her ground. Tess glanced around. "Where is Oliver?" 

"Out of town," she said lightly, moving to her bag and tucking her flash drive in. 

"I was curious how you two got into each other's orbit," Tess said behind her. 

"Mutual friends," she said, zipping up. "Which I understand you could use some help finding, considering the fact that you have to go to outer space to look for them," she said, changing the subject of just how she knew Oliver. She'd had eyes on Tess. If Tess knew about her, she would have heard so by now. 

Tess turned. "The Kandorians?" she said, still calm as you please. "You'll see, Chloe, they're better as allies then enemies. Clark gets that. Why don't you and Oliver?" 

Chloe tried not to flinch. There was something searching in everything Tess was saying and she wouldn't give anything away. She was Clark's friend and occasional helper. Oliver's... well, whatever she was. That was all Tess knew. "Clark optimistically thinks that Zod will be happy wearing an apron and slinging coffees," she said as calmly as she could. "We don't. Especially now that he has powers." She shouldered her bag and moved out before she said anything that would make Tess wise to her. 

She almost made it. 

"We?" Tess echoed. "As in you and Green Arrow?" 

She stilled. But told herself it didn't change anything. Tess might know Oliver was Green Arrow now, but it didn't have to follow that she was Watchtower. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility that she and Oliver might discuss Zod. Tess had no proof. 

"Chloe, I get what you see in your heroes, but what do they see in you?" 

She knew that Tess was just trying to draw her identity out. But she found another meaning. This morning, she'd dismissed the idea that anyone would think her involved with Oliver if she showed up with him in Star City. She doubted anyone would mistake Tess for a secretary or PA. She was lithe and sophisticated and had surely seen the world, more a match for a billionaire superhero. And maybe she knew it. 

"I could ask Zod the same question about you," she said, letting her anger and a shred of petty jealousy slip out just a little. "But I guess I don't have to anymore. I've been watching you two. And it seems like Zod hasn't been home for dinner for quite a while." She frowned, knowing she might have just said too much. But she couldn't take it back. "Be careful, Miss Mercer," she said softly. "At this rate you're going to run out of people to betray." 

She breathed deep as she walked out, trying to calm her nerves. It didn't matter what Tess suspected. Tess was nearly powerless now. She had no allies left. Chloe had a team and, soon, a virtual army of surveillance at her fingertips. She could take Tess. 

****************************** 

"If you can take the Russian satellites, I'll hack into ours," she told Victor. "We need some eyes in the Arctic just in case our alien friends show up at Clark's winter cabin." 

"Got it. Do you need me to hitch a ride out? I'm not too into flying, but I could ask John to haul me over..." 

"No. Please stay there." She glanced at Victor on the monitor. "Oliver will be coming back here in a few days and I'm going to need you on the west coast just in case Zod's minions make trouble in your direction. As long as you guys have the weapons..." 

"We have a handy supply. AC's keeping tabs on the Coast City stash, Dinah's handling Seattle..." 

She nodded. "I've got John keeping an eye on the northeast in his off hours." 

"And Bart can pop up all over the place to annoy all of us." 

She chuckled. "We all have our special skills." She took a deep breath and looked over her screens. Between this and running interference for Clark and inadvertently Lois, she was feeling spread a little thin. But she could take it. "I think all of us need to be on full alert at all times," she said firmly. 

"Ready for anything, Watchtower." 

She turned back to him and forced a smile. "Over and out?" 

"Sure. I'll tell you if I need some help getting in." 

"Same for me," she said, feeling exhausted. 

She switched him off and paced the darkened room. Clark was at Sacks' party by now and, she hoped, in the midst of getting her loose canon of a cousin out of harm's way. At least he wasn't telling her now. She knew he had to someday. But not now. When all this was over... 

She laughed harshly in the empty room and leaned on her desk. She'd said it herself - when this was over, there'd just be some other looming threat. After nearly a decade of weekly near-death experiences, she wondered if it would ever end. What was the point of even... 

Her phone trilled next to her and she snatched it up eagerly, not much liking where her thoughts were going. It was Oliver. 

"Hey," she feeling, feeling marginally better. "You all done fleecing the rich?" 

"Just for today. What are you up to?" 

"Just contemplating my futile existence, wallowing in fear for the future of the planet..." 

"So the usual?" 

"Well, that's not all." She quickly filled him in on her and Victor's progress with new security and surveillance measures and, of course, Clark and Lois. She didn't tell him about Tess. Nothing exactly happened there, apart from another little chip in her self esteem. She'd rather talk about the US Satellites, anyway. 

"I can only get a clear view of the Yukon before I get locked out, but I'm getting closer each time. I'll lock it in on his fortress if it kills me." 

"All this and playing love doctor, too?" 

"Me, of all people," she sighed. 

"Hey, you don't do so bad." 

"Maybe not with other people's relationships," she said, feeling a slight blush. "Oliver, I've been so busy, but I have been thinking about some of the things you said and..." 

"Chloe, we can talk when I get back. You don't need to go into all this now." 

"But you do have a point about..." 

"I know. I'm a very incisive man that almost always has a point or two." He chuckled. "But you're deep in ones and zeros and I'm about to go international and woo some Japanese big wigs with Indian cuisine into replacing some of the Swiss funds you just filched from me." 

"Hey..." 

"With permission," he added quickly. "But really, I think our issues can shuffle to the back of the line for now." 

She couldn't argue with that, not when she said nearly the same thing to Clark about them this morning. There was always something more important and they both knew that. "Well, at least till you're home." 

"Oh, so it's home again? You know, I'm still counting on you at the door with the apron and the martini and the foot rub..." 

"And you'll get it as soon as it's 1955," she scoffed. 

"You modern dames..." He chuckled. "Well, as long as you don't destroy our sex tape, I'm happy." 

She stilled. "Okay. Where did you put that? Because I have been..." 

"Don't worry. It's in a safe place." 

"Bet I could find a safer place for it," she sneered. "Like oblivion." 

"Don't you wish. Anyway, it's evidence. And we are going to have to watch every second to exonerate me." 

"Not gonna happen. I'll find it. I found that picture hidden in your hoodie." 

"My new favorite picture? Tell me you didn't..." 

"No. But I will. I've got the matches on stand by as soon as I get my hands free." 

"Liar. You'd never be so cruel, not when I'm working day and night to bring home the bacon." 

"Bacon," she found herself sighing. 

"You didn't eat dinner, did you?" 

"I had something," she said sheepishly. 

"Coffee doesn't count." 

"Well, my work today was a lot less schmoozy than yours. It didn't come with meals. Anyway, I had breakfast with Lois." 

"About twelve hours ago. I'm going to start demanding Clark pick you up a hot dog in exchange for every info dump. Guy's been freeloading." 

"Well, I'll eat as soon as you hang up. How about that?" 

"All I can ask." 

"Bye." 

"Bon apetit." 

She smiled as she hung up, her eye landing on a small square sticking out from under her tablet. She slid the horrible picture he called his favorite out and stared at it. She'd thought about destroying it, but something stopped her. Maybe it was the idea of what he saw in it. 

Chloe, I get what you see in your heroes, but what do they see in you? 

She really wasn't sure and part of her wondered if this picture held the answer. She knew by now that Oliver saw her as more than just a willing sex partner and, really, this was her at her least sexy, so that confirmed it. All she saw was puffy eyes and no makeup. He saw something else in this picture and, she supposed, in her. 

Sometimes she felt like she didn't deserve it. One one hand, it had been a struggle all this last year, feeling like she deserved anything after all the ways she'd screwed up. Then there was that other hand where she thought she had to grab what happiness she could after all she'd lost or might still lose. 

She had to keep telling herself that it would be worth it in the end, that more people would live than die and that was due, in part, to her help. But when did that end come? 

She pushed the thoughts away again and got back to work as she had all day, all week, all... for longer than she cared to count. But she couldn't help thinking it. 

Was this her life now? More importantly, did she want it to be? 

PREVIOUS CHAPTER
CHAPTER FIFTEEN



I'll be skipping detailing the rest of Charade as it wasn't Chlollie related and going right into Sacrifice in the next.


ETA: If anyone who comments on Blogger can, please do tell me if they get notified if I reply to their comment. It still seems to be the same issue. I want to make sure people that may have questions know I'm trying to answer them. If they get no notification... then blogger just sucks in that way.