Restless Nights (Chapter Seven)

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Here we are!

If you comment, I'd love for you to add a vote for later chapters as to who you prefer as a love interest for Cyborg?

Sarah Simms or Sarah Charles?

It's not a huge plot point, but I'm just torn between these two. I've got one for Sarah Simms so far.

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet

Chapter Seven

“So… nice day,” Dinah said, popping her head out of her book. “Any thoughts about enjoying it?”

Chloe just grunted and kept fast-forwarding the commercials. 

Bart waved her off. “We’re busy.”

“Yeah. We’re only on season two,” Chloe muttered as she quickly rewound. “Went too far. How many episodes are left, anyway?”

“Four, I guess.”

Chloe paused and whirled on Bart. “You told me you had all the episodes!”

“Yes. All one and a half seasons, Babydoll.” Bart shrugged and squeezed more cheese onto his cracker. “We’ve watched almost all of them. Isn’t it the best, though?”

“It’s horrible,” Dinah sneered.

“I know,” Bart said with his mouth full. “That’s why it’s awesome. So creepy. I’ve had the worst nightmares about this kid,” he pointed at an egregiously spray-tanned first-grader. “She was a glittery shark and she gnawed my whole leg off.”

“Little girls being paraded around like this,” Dinah said hotly. “How can you support it?”

“How am I supporting it?” Bart snorted. “I’m making fun of it.”

“You’re watching it!”

“Yes, to mock it.” Bart nudged Chloe. “Is it just me or is Dinah no fun these days?”

“I don’t know. Hand me my root beer,” Chloe muttered. She’d have preferred a glass of wine or an actual beer with TV this trashy, but… she didn’t like to think about why she couldn’t have those things.

Dinah just huffed and curled her legs up, squashing the both of them further away on the couch. Bart was right, though. Dinah was no fun. Why did she have to be here to read those ridiculous baby books when they were busy with Toddlers and Tiaras?

Sometimes she wished The Talon was still free. But it had been leased in the beginning of the summer. This room was all she had. And it was damned small. 

Or maybe it just seemed that way because she was never alone in it except when she slept. Bart or Dinah were always around. Not that she minded much. Bart always had snacks.

Some of the clutter had been removed now that the gang weren’t on coma-watch, but Bart insisted the TV and sofa stayed. Good call, really. She’d always scoffed at reality shows before, thought they were a waste of time. But that was before the Kardashians, the Housewives, the Toddlers… Once you watched, it was pretty damned engrossing.

She watched Bart squeezing cheese onto a pepperoni slice. He might be onto something there… except Emil wasn’t letting her have cured meat. She wasn’t sure how he’d feel about cheese out of a can. Then again, he’d never mentioned it, so…

“Oh, give me that!” Chloe grabbed the cheese can and held it over her mouth, pressing on the nozzle. If she was going to keep watching this show, she was going need more cheese. It was only appropriate.

“That’s it!” Dinah stood and threw down her book. “I can’t watch this another second!”

“Fine,” Bart groaned loudly. He nudged Chloe. “We should switch to some classic Survivor. Dinah likes that more than…”

“I don’t like any of this,” Dinah cut in. “Eating squeezy cheese and watching reality trash! Is this living? No! Out!” She pulled at Bart’s arm.

“Hey! What did I do?”

“You’re a bad influence. So out! Chloe’s getting dressed!” She shoved him out the door and shut it. “You! Get dressed!”

“I am dressed,” Chloe muttered.

“Yes. In pajamas. And for too long. You have clothes here.”

“Maybe they’re all too tight,” she grumbled.

“All the more reason to get out of here.”

“For what?”

“Shopping.”

*************************

“I shouldn’t have done this.” Chloe patted her hair. There was slightly less of it and, though she couldn’t see it, she knew it was lighter, blonder. Dinah hadn’t taken no for an answer at the hair salon any more than she had at the nail salon.

“It’s fine,” Dinah said around her mouthful of panini. She hadn’t changed a hair, mostly because she was wearing a wig, the brown wig she seemed to prefer to wear in public. “Besides, they did mostly streaking. Barely even touched your scalp. Even if they did more, in the second trimester, it’s perfectly…”

“No,” she cut in quickly. She didn’t like those words. Those pregnant words. Besides, that wasn’t what was bothering her at the moment. “I mean, I can’t afford this.”

“Like I said before, don’t worry about it.”

“I can’t not worry about it. Just keep the receipts and, as soon as I can, I will…”

Dinah threw up her hands. “Seriously? I told you not to worry about it.”

“But I can’t afford all this…”

“No, but Oliver can!”

Chloe set down her decaf chai. “Is that what you meant when you said it was taken care of?”

Dinah shrugged. “He owes you hazard pay.”

“Oh, he does not,” Chloe said impatiently. “I think he was overpaying me from the start anyw…”

“Chloe, it’s a mani-pedi, it’s a hairdo.” Dinah waved a hand. “These aren’t even luxuries. They’re basic needs.” 

“They are luxuries and…”

Dinah pulled out her phone. “If I texted Oliver right this second and told him I used the company card for this, I guarantee you…”

“Then do it.”

Dinah squared her shoulders. “I am.” She bent to her phone, tapping at it, then slapped it on the table and tapped her foot loudly against the leg. There was a loud ding and she picked it up again. She smiled rather smugly. “He says to get some damned clothes, too.”

Chloe groaned. “He does not.”

“See for yourself.” Dinah held her phone out. 

Chloe took it, read it. He did. Damned and all. “Well, that doesn’t mean I should just…”

“We’ll hit Lacy’s next,” Dinah said, plucking it back out of Chloe’s hands. “I looked at their maternity section online this week. They have some adorable…”

“I don’t want to…”

“You need to,” Dinah cut in. “Even your precious pajamas won’t fit you soon.”

Chloe just stared at her.

“I know you hate acknowledging this is happening,” Dinah said firmly. “But you have to at some point.”

Chloe looked away, wishing this was not that point, looked around her at the Metropolis Galleria. “I haven’t been here since last Christmas,” she turned her gaze back to Dinah, “shopping with Lois.”

Dinah tilted her head. “You miss her, don’t you?”

“Of course I do.” Chloe dropped her eyes to her tea. “She’s the only family I have, more like a sister than a cousin. I just wish things had been better before she left… or I did, I guess.”

“Did you fight?”

“No. We… we didn’t.” She almost wished they had. It would have been something, at least. “We just existed in the same space and…” Chloe took a deep breath. “I felt like we just didn’t understand each other anymore. Just little things that added up. Grant Gabriel, Stiletto…”

“I don’t know most of what goes on around here, but that sounds a little like two other people…”

“Neither did we,” Chloe cut in softly. “We never knew what was going on with each other. That’s the point. I felt like we gave lip service to being family and… and that was it. We just went through the motions.” Chloe shook her head. “Maybe I was partially to blame. I can’t blame her for her mistakes when I… well, I wasn’t honest with her.” Chloe stared at Dinah with a pleading gaze. “But how could I be? How could I tell her what was really going on?”

Dinah sighed. “Well, if she was here right now, you’d have to talk about some things eventually.” Dinah glanced emphatically down at Chloe’s stomach. 

Chloe’s hand flew to it, as if hiding it from Lois. She wasn’t here. And Chloe wouldn’t be able to hide it from anyone after a while. “I guess I would have to tell her about that.”

“And what would she say?”

“Well, I don’t know how she’d feel. I mean, with who the father is. But I probably wouldn’t be able to tell her the complications, maybe just that it was a boy and she’d… she'd probably go out and buy little blue onesies,” she finished on a sob, surprised to find herself crying.

Dinah’s chair scraped along the ground and Chloe felt her arms around her. “Is that something you want to do? Get little blue onesies?”

“No… I… I don’t know. I mean, babies need onesies, but… I don’t even know if this is a baby. I feel like I’m nothing more than some kind of cocoon right now. Like I’m just this vessel for this… this thing to grow. And I hate it for using me. Is that horrible?”

“Pre-partum depression,” Dinah whispered into her hair. “Sweetie, we will get you through this. I swear.”

“So this is normal?” Chloe pulled away, swiping at her eyes. “I mean, you’re reading all the baby books.”

“Well, they don’t say a lot about possible beast babies, but…” Dinah shook her head. “We will get you through this.” She tucked Chloe’s hair behind her ear. “We will also get you this sailor dress I saw with a red bow because it will look so fucking cute on you.”

Chloe wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or cry. She did both.

***********************

“I’m only asking to meet with her,” Tess said, losing patience by now.

“Why?” Oliver said, scoffing rather loudly and obviously. “And what makes you think I can make that happen?”

Lex, apparently. And he hadn’t been wrong so far. “Are you trying to act as if you’ve never met her?”

“I never said that,” Oliver drawled, leaning back with his coffee. “She did some tech work a few times, but she kind of vanished recently.”

And you have no idea where she is? She should have offered him scotch. He’d never been known to say no to that, after all, even in the day time. Tess took a deep breath, trying a different tack. “I’m just glad you finally showed up to meet me.” She checked her watch. “And before dark. Does it ever look strange to you? This is what we call daylight, you know.”

“Thanks. I was trying to find a word for it.” He leaned forward and placed his cup down. “Because it all looks the same from on top of the enormous pile of money I used to bail Luthorcorp out of its hole of research and testing and no products to be seen anywh…”

“Oh, I know. We can’t all be as successful as Queen Industries with their extremely lucrative weapons division.” She smiled. “Why, I bet it could bail out two more companies while still funding all the charitable efforts that ease your conscience.”

He stood. “You know, it’s great catching up, but…”

“No. Stay.” Too far. It was something she was learning with Lex and in general. It was very easy to go too far, snapping back to gain a little of her own back with these supposedly powerful men. “I was thinking of ordering in a little…”

“Not really in the mood for lunch.”

“Good, because it’s nearly dinner time,” she couldn’t help but say.

“All the same…”

“Seriously, Oliver, I just need a number, email…”

“Yes, and I don’t have any contact information for Chloe Sullivan.”

“No one does.” Tess laughed. “She seemed to disappear from every database around the time she disappeared with Davis Bloome. Incidentally, no one can find him, either.”

Oliver shrugged. “Is that so? Maybe that’s your answer.”

No, it isn’t. And you know it. He knew something more, had some involvement in this. More than that, Lex knew it. Lex might even know every way Oliver Queen tied into all this – not that he’d tell her… yet. It didn’t matter. She had her assignment and it wasn’t to put all the pieces together, mores the pity. She was just here to lay the foundation.

“That wouldn’t quite explain that series of… earthquakes, I think the press later called them, rocking Metropolis.”

Oliver shrugged again. “Whatever happened, the Luthorcorp Cares campaign cleaned up most of the damage. You’re welcome, by the way. I noticed you’ve been getting lots off accolades for that.”

“Nice subject change,” she said with a smirk. “The point is I need to see Chloe Sullivan about that and other things.”

“Ah. You want to grill the poor girl for information.” Oliver chuckled. “Here I thought you were finished chasing oddities and wanted to focus on business.”

“I do. That’s why I wanted to offer her a job.” She smiled and moved back to sit behind her desk. “Everyone knows Lex fired her for reasons other than job performance and I wanted to right the wrong. I’ve already approached Clark.”

“Clark Kent?” Oliver asked with what seemed like practiced disinterest. 

“Yes. That one.” The one you seem to exclusively pal around with when in town. “He seems just as reluctant as you to pass on my message… or take the job I offered.”

Oliver shrugged, yet again. “Maybe he doesn’t want it.”

She’d give him one thing. He was a much more careful liar than his friend. “Yes, well, I seriously doubt the same could be said for Sullivan. Just pass my offer along if you just happen to see her. Would you? That’s all.” She smiled and picked up her phone. “I have some calls to make. You can show yourself out.”

She kept her eyes on her phone until he moved out, then dialed Lex. “It’s done.”

“She’s coming in?”

“No. But I’ve got the message out. You could at least tell me why you seem to think Queen has such sway over the two of them.

“Yes, I could,” he said before going silent.

“Where are you?”

“Not home,” was all he said.

“You know, I’m getting a little sick of your vague non-answers,” she hissed. “I might as well be dealing with Clark.” 

“Just trust me.”

“Why should I when you tell me nothing?”

“Because I booked eight years on this to your one before you fucked up thinking you know better,” he said, sounding impatient. “I’ve seen what you do with knowledge and it’s nearly got you killed multiple times. You’ll know more when you’re ready.”

“And when the hell is that?”

“I’ll let you know,” he said before hanging up.

“Bastard,” she hissed, slamming down the phone. She could still have freedom. She could still walk away from all of this. Hadn’t she been ready to before he showed up promising answers, finally answers? That was the main thing keeping her here, that carrot at the end of the stick, always swinging out of reach. 

She rubbed at her temples, wondering how much more of this she could take.

**************************

“This is way too much.” Chloe stared at the bags bulging from either of Dinah’s hands.

“No, it’s not,” Dinah scoffed. “It just looks that way because Lacy’s bags everything with too much fancy tissue.” Dinah moved into the elevator sideways. “Hey, hit three for me, would you?”

“Least I can do,” Chloe sighed. Chloe had tried to carry more than their purses, but Dinah had insisted on taking all the bags. She turned to the panel, then noticed another change. “What happened to four?”

“Huh?”

Chloe pointed at the key hole where the four button used to be. “Fourth floor? Oliver said something about storage, but last I knew, that was the landlord’s place. I’ve been wondering why you guys didn’t turn that into living quarters or…”

“Oh, that… You know, it was damaged. Yeah. Too damaged. So key access only till… you know… Oliver gets it fixed up. So three?”

“Oh, yeah.” Chloe pressed it. “That’s a shame. I spied a nice roof garden last time I paid the rent.”

Dinah laughed. “Well, one of these days. I wouldn’t go up there, myself. At all. Floor’s just… ripped up. Hey, so what about our little walk? Wasn’t it nice after being cooped up in here?”

The door stopped short of closing as an arm appeared, then opened on Victor... with Clark right behind him.

Victor laughed. “Think this one’s full.”

“Oh, please! There’s plenty of room.” Dinah moved to the side. “We’ve been shopping.” 

“I can see that.” He moved in and gestured to Clark.

Clark just stood there, hands in his pockets. “Uh… I could take the stairs.”

“Why?” Dinah asked rather snappily. “Do we have girl cooties? Victor’s not afraid.”

Victor chuckled. “Yes, I am. I just hide it well.”

Clark finally got in and Chloe found herself moving to the corner. It was strange, hearing Clark’s voice after days of nothing, of barely even seeing him.

Victor pressed two and turned to Clark. “So I’m thinking New York tonight. If I get a good bounce off the satellites, then I can map out everything from here and…”

“New York?” Chloe found herself cutting in. “Are you guys expanding patrol?”

“We’ve been trying it out.” Victor glanced back at her. “Gonna give Boyscout first crack at the big apple. I’ve been working on tapping into police scanners. I figure they need an assist.”

“If they want it,” Clark added, not glancing back.

“We’ve been over this,” Victor groaned. “Whether they want it or not, they need it, with their shitty response time.”

“I didn’t know you guys were branching out.” Chloe tried to smile. “It’s good to see you’re getting into the team more. Good luck out there, Clark.”

“Thanks,” he said quietly, his head almost turning to her. Then the doors opened. 

“That’s our stop.” Victor nodded at them as he moved out. “Ladies.”

Chloe heard Dinah mutter something under her breath as the doors closed, then she reached forward to stop them. “You know, I’ll meet you up there,” she said, lumbering forward with the bags. 

“I can take the bags.”

“No, it’s fine. Just, you know, something weird with my cell. Wanted Victor to take a look before he got too busy. This damn…” She yanked at one of the bags caught on the rail.

Chloe grabbed it. “I think I can handle this one.”

“Okay, yeah. I’ll see you up there,” she said absently, rushing off. 

Chloe frowned at the closing doors. It felt strange being here, in the middle of all the action, and not being a part of it. Some time ago, she’d been the one to set the control room for watchtower duties and Oliver had talked about putting her back on. But then…

God! Why couldn’t she even finish the thought? 

Dinah said she had to acknowledge what was happening, but that was the problem. What was happening? She wasn’t sure, even without the complications, that she could handle this. But when had that ever stopped her before? Most of this last decade had been spent somewhere between in way over her head and flailing to survive.

She had to stop this, stop sleepwalking through each day. She also had to press a button or this elevator would never move. She switched the purses and bags to her free arm, thinking Dinah might have…

“Dinah,” she breathed, opening the doors instead and moving out and toward the control room. Dinah would have a hell of time getting her phone fixed without the actual phone. She tried to extricate Dinah’s purse from hers, ready to call for her when…

“Chloe!” she heard Dinah yell.

She started, looking around her then realizing it was coming from the control room’s open door.

“She's hurting and alone!”

“She has plenty of company,” she heard Clark answer dully. “She has you and Bart…”

“Yeah. And the damned Kardashians, but what she needs is you! She needs your attention right now more than some strangers in New York need it!”

Chloe tried to step back, shaking her head. She did not want to hear this. She didn’t want Dinah to say it. Why couldn’t she move?

“Hey, you were one of the first ones on board with expanding,” she heard Victor say calmly. “So why don’t we table this until…”

“This is not about the work, this is personal. Stay out of this, Robocop!”

“That’s what I’m doing. That’s what you should be doing. Because this is personal. It’s between Clark and Chloe! Not us! We all agreed to give everyone time to…”

“To stand still? Ignoring the situation, ignoring Chloe is the last thing she needs.”

“I’m not ignoring her.” Clark’s low voice now, almost a whisper. “I’m giving her space. If she needs me, then she’ll…”

“You are the number one thing she needs right now, but if you think she’ll admit it, then…” 

“Hey! You’ve been in this, what, a year?” Victor now. “The rest of us…”

“Maybe I’m new to your little boys’ club, but I see things you don’t. I see the way she struggles not to look at you, Clark, the way she finally gives in and then shuts down, like she’s resigned to it by now, like you’ll never see her as more than some fallen woman!”

He never said…

“I never said…”

“You didn’t have to," Dinah spat. "And that’s just now! Did you know how long Oliver tried to get her on board? He offered pay and she’d rather work for a pat on the head from you. He told me it was more than a year! A year of her dropping everything for you! Hell, even her own job came second to…”

“I never wanted that for her,” Clark cut in. “I always told her she did too much!”

That was true. He always did. But the work was important and…

“Then there’s the alien supercomputer that hijacked her brain and I’ve seen the wedding tapes and then there are her other dozen or so near-deaths… I mean, that’s just the stuff I know about! That’s just this year!”

“You weren’t here…”

“Neither were you! She even said it, talked about existing in the same space and… not understanding each other.”

There was silence, then Clark's voice. “She said that?”

“She said that about Lois,” Dinah said in a rush, “but it might as well have been about you!”

“Like I said, you weren’t here.” 

“No, I wasn’t. So I can form a damned better picture than all of you! Do you think she did all of this for the excitement? It was for you, Clark! Why do you think she went with Davis in the first place?”

“To give him a chance at a life,” Clark said quietly. “She cared about him and…”

"If you really think that, then you’re the dumbest man I…”

“Then why do you think she’s pregnant right now?” Clark yelled.

“If I were a girl on the run from everyone and everything I knew, facing constant danger, sex would be the last damned thing on my mind! Jesus, Clark! Do you think she sexed it up with him for fun? Her touch calmed the beast! Put two and two together! Even that was for you!”

Chloe backed away for real this time. Because it was for him, but not like that. Dinah made it sound like… like… 

She ran for the stairs, skipping the elevator, hands shaking as she opened the door. 

It was… it was just for all he could be for… for the world, really. She’d long since given up on the idea of the two of them as… as more than friends and partners and… Listing it off like that, it seemed a little over the top, but... 

“Damn it, open!” She pulled at the door, but it wouldn’t give. Then again, she had the wrong floor. She stared at the large four and took a deep breath, then kicked at it. Only place where she could get some air and it was on lockdown. “Stupid door! Stupid… Dinah!”

She’d just talk to her, explain that she had it wrong and, incidentally, she didn’t need her to fight her battles for her! She didn’t even have any battles! She was… 

The knob turned. And not from her side.

“What’s all that yelling in there?” a voice echoed in the stairwell from somewhere below.

“Who’s in there?” she breathed.

“Chloe?” Something zipped past her from behind and Bart appeared before her. “There you are!” Bart laughed and took the bag and the purses, then her arm, turning her around. “You know, I’ve been waiting for you. I got this roast going and I can’t even tell if it’s good anymore. Clark’s mom sent me the…”

She looked back. “There’s someone in…”

“Oh, that’s just Oliver, looking for something in storage.” He steered her down the stairs. “I wouldn’t go in there, myself, but he’s got cat’s feet. You know, it’s a wreck up there. I seriously fell right through the floor this one time. I’d show you the scar, but it’s in a delicate place. Anyway, Madame, please allow me to escort you to zee kitchen!”

“I’d rather just…”

“Oh, no! It’s dinner time! And I have strict orders to feed you something that is not pure junk. Apparently, I’ve been a bad influence. Now are you for or against paprika?”

She sighed and shrugged, too drained to even argue. “I don’t really have an opinion.”

“That’s good. Blank palette. That’s how I like em.”

CHAPTER EIGHT