A Day Late (Chapter Three)

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

Chapter Three

Monday morning

Perry White was staring at her, then at her folder, then her again, then her folder…

Chloe didn’t have much of a problem with it, except for how it had been going on for at least three minutes now and she started to wonder if he was trying to find a polite way to tell her this wasn’t going to work out. Not even for a temporary placement?

It was a thought made even worse when he looked up at her again and shook his head.

She took a deep breath. “I understand if you…”

“Shh!” He held up finger.

“I know this is just…”

“Shh! I’m trying to figure it out,” he said, frowning at her folder. 

She blinked at him. “If there’s anything else you need…” She trailed off, even more nervous. “You know, those pieces might not be the best ones to… I could get online and print out some…”

“The pieces aren’t the problem,” he said abruptly, closing the file and folding his hands over it. “It’s you.”

She shook her head. “My record is pretty clean since I started again. I know Lex left his little mark on my history at The Planet, but you, of all people know what Luthors can…”

“It’s not your record.” He shrugged. “Look, I like your work. I looked you up. You don’t have the flash of Lane, who I’m sure is listening at the door,” he said loudly.

There was a muffled thump outside and Chloe resolutely kept her eyes on Perry.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he went on. “Lane gets me some great hero scoop. Her work on Superman alone keeps circulation up. But you’re different. You’re thorough,” he leaned over the desk, “you’re well-researched, you dig in at every angle, and…. Well, the world needs a few good social justice warrior types, I guess.” He frowned at her for what seemed like a full minute.

“I’m sensing there’s a ‘but’,” Chloe said hesitantly.

He leaned back. “But what the hell are you doing in California?”

“Uh… Well, there are several…”

“Do you know how hard I had to look to find your pieces?”

“Well, The Register does have some…”

“I think half your stuff was page ten or below.” He rolled his eyes. “But I guess that’s how California editors work, bumping you further and further away from the front page every time a celebrity gets a DUI.” He chuckled. “I mean, come on.”

“I can’t say that’s not an issue, but…”

“Well, it’s not an issue here.” Perry stood. “You’re on investigative with Lane and Kent while you’re here. I’ll work out the assignments by this afternoon.” He gathered her folder and moved around the desk, shoving her folder at her and hustling her to the door. “You still out there, Lane?” He pulled open the door.

Lois pretended to be very interested in a speck on her sleeve before looking up. “Oh, are you guys finished already? I was just waiting out here to give Chloe the grand tou...”

Perry chuckled. “Sure you were. Get someone from maintenance to bring up a desk and put it with yours and…”

“I knew it!” Lois clapped her hands. “Perry, you’re a prince among men, a true bastion of journalistic…”

“Yeah, yeah.” He nudged Chloe. “Get to work, Sullivan. I.T. is tied up with archives. You’re going to have to set up your computer yourself.”

Chloe had to laugh. “I think I can handle that.”

He shut himself back in his office without another word.

Lois turned to Chloe. “So… I take it that went well?”

“Like you didn’t hear every word.”

“That’s not true. I only heard every other word. These old doors are too thick.” Lois pulled her across the bullpen. “So come on. Details.”

Chloe beamed as they moved to Lois’ desk. “Well, he likes my work.”

“Of course he does! Perry likes all that social justice warrior crap almost as much as a good headline,” Lois said, preening slightly.

Chloe scoffed. “Crap?”

“Oh, I’m just teasing. But he was right about The Register.”

“Well, not completely. I might get just a little buried in print, but my online stuff gets a good number of hits and shares and they never haggle about word count,” she had to point out. “They let me have all the space I…”

“All the space you want in the back half,” Lois snorted. “Come on, Chloe! You’re better than that!”

“Lois…”

“Who taught me everything I know? Hell, you even carried Clark before I picked him up! You deserve better than California. You should be in Washington or New York or here!” Lois gripped her arm. “Chloe, why not here?”

Chloe patted the hand on her arm gently. “Because my life isn’t here anymore.”

“Your life can be anywhere you want it to be,” Lois said softly. “Just think about it, Chloe. What about us? We worked together before, but it was full of secrets. We were never on the same page and now that’s all over. Think about what we could do together now,” she said earnestly. 

Chloe laughed. “Like disagree together? We have different styles. Perry said so hims…”

“Yeah, but maybe that’s just what we need to balance each other. I bring the panache, you bring the research and we…”

“Would you be saying any of this if you and Clark weren’t on the outs?” 

Lois stiffened and stepped away. “We’re not on the outs. We’re agreeing to disagree.”

She shook her head. “Lois, I can’t be a band-aid for this. You two have to work it out.”

“There’s nothing to work out.” Lois pasted on a wide smile. “Anyway, could you stop ruining my fun morning with all this… talk? I didn’t even get to take you on the grand tour of the fourteenth floor!”

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

By the time Clark came in, after taking a moment to stop an early morning car-jacking, the grand tour seemed to be under way.

“And this is the break room,” Lois was saying as he stopped in the doorway. “Shocker, though… the basement actually has better coffee because nobody cleans the pot up here. Everyone’s always waiting for an intern to do it and nobody ever…”

“Nobody including you,” Clark had to say, chuckling.

Lois turned, giving him a withering look, but at least she didn’t point out he was late. “Excuse me? I am pretty much always busy writing.”

“Aren’t we all?”

“Maybe we should bring up who does all the dishes at home.”

He shrugged. “Maybe we should bring up who has to do them again because you just run them under…”

“And here I thought you guys were done fighting,” Chloe muttered.

“This isn’t fighting,” Lois said stiffly, dumping out the thick, burnt coffee in the sink, then rinsing it out. She turned to Clark. “Happy, Dear?”

He sighed and turned to Chloe. “How did it go with Perry?”

Chloe shook her head. “Horribly.”

“No. Really.”

Chloe smiled. “They’re bringing up my desk as we speak.”

Clark smiled back, moved to her, then thought better of it. This wasn’t exactly a hugging occasion. They were adults at work, not a couple of kids, always fresh off world disasters. “You know, maybe they’re bringing it from the basement?”

“You don’t think…”

“Could be the same one. We’ll know for sure if it has the…”

“Coffee ring,” Chloe finished with a laugh. “God, I worked so hard at that. I figured, if I always put it in the same spot, then at least…”

“You’d leave one mark on this place,” he finished for her. “I kept it up for you when I took it over.”

Chloe smiled widely. “You did?”

“I swear.”

“You know, if it’s the same one, then I have to make sure I get my…”

“’Go Crows’ mug,” he finished quickly. “You know, I could get it for you on lunch if…”

“Oh, my God!” Lois groaned, rolling her eyes heavily. “I see you two have slipped into that again.”

Chloe turned to her. “What?”

“Stop with the sentence-finishing.” Lois shuddered. “It's like horror movie twins or something.”

Clark pursed his lips. If he couldn’t even reminisce without her harping on…

Chloe quickly moved to his side to face Lois. “Danny, don't you want to come play with us?” she said in a soft voice, then nudged him.

God! Maybe he was getting over-sensitive. Lois was just kidding. “Forever,” he added quickly.

“And ever.” Chloe’s eyes widened as she moved closer to Lois.

Lois ducked away. “Seriously, stop!” She stilled at the door. “Desk’s here!” She moved out.

Clark started to follow.

But Chloe caught his arm. “I saw that, you know. This tension with you and Lois goes both ways. You can’t try to pick a fight over every little thing she…”

“She picks most of the fights,” he mumbled. “And what’s with you two, anyway? Being all… happy.”

She tilted her head. “Is that a crime?”

“It’s all of you. You two come back and everyone’s getting along like this happy, little family and I look like a jerk for not laughing it up.”

Chloe nodded. “Yeah. You kinda do.”

“Thanks.”

“No one’s leaving you out of the happy family, Clark. I know that you’re worried about the whole… Lex of it all. But we’re going to look into it. In the meantime, can you at least try to act like a normal human being?”

“Technically, I’m not…”

She swatted his arm. “You know what I mean. As for you and Lois, stop with the angry silences and snide remarks.”

“I was barely even…”

“Say what you mean,” she cut in. 

“Which is it, Chloe?” He sighed. “Between you and Oliver, I’m getting talk it out, make a joke… If you’re going for couples counseling, you could pick one method and…”

“Well, it’s obvious you two need to do something!”

“We'll be fine. We're agreeing to disagree and that's all we can do until we… get used to disagreeing.”

“No. You’re avoiding things and holding it in. And this isn’t the first time you’ve done this.”

“Why aren’t you saying any of this to Lois?”

“I try. She’s like a brick wall. She’s never listened to me. But you, you used to listen to me, so I’m hoping you listen now. Clark, I booked a lot of time in this same position with you and Lana. You hold off saying anything because you think you’re protecting the other person. But the secret’s out here. Why are you still so withholding?”

“It's different with you and Oliver,” he said, staring through the glazed glass at Lois, directing the maintenance men. “You two didn’t have secrets when you started out. It’s just… Maybe it’s like a force of habit.”

“So drop the habit. Fight if you need to, but don’t…”

“Like you and Oliver fight,” he muttered.

“We get into it sometimes and…” She stopped, frowning, then shook her head. “Well, if it’s an incentive, the making up part’s a lot of fun.” She grinned and backed out the door. “Try not to overthink it.”

Of course, he wasn’t overthinking fighting with Lois now. Now he had the thoroughly discomfiting mental picture of Chloe and Oliver making up. It always made him horribly uncomfortable, the idea of Chloe and… just about any guy. Whether it was Oliver or Jimmy, the public displays she seemed too free with always made him squirm. Maybe it was his upbringing. Maybe she was like a sister to him after all these years and the idea of her touching, kissing… Whatever it was, it never failed to irk him.

He moved out of the break room, watching Lois as she came out of the supply room with a box, pulling out a stapler and presenting it to Chloe with a flourish. Things had been deteriorating for so long. He couldn’t think of the last time he and Lois made up. It must have been more than a month. Maybe they were due for it, like some kind of reward if they could just get through the fighting.

Yet, even when Lois turned and gave him a wary smile, he couldn’t see it. All he could see was more fighting. 

Later that night, after work and patrol, he thought of knocking on the bedroom door, of having that fight everyone seemed to think they needed. 

But he didn’t. The idea was too exhausting. He just took the couch.

Tuesday afternoon

“I don’t want to go into all that,” Clark was saying.

“You’re going to have to,” Chloe insisted. “A big part of Lexcorp is how it started. Back then, Lex did have good intentions in keeping the plant open and…”

“Yes, but putting that in makes this a puff piece on some… hopeful future, as if Lexcorp is going to be somehow more ethical than Luthorcorp and I don’t want to…”

“There’s no evidence it’s not yet. You can only write what you can reasonably know as Clark Kent, plain and simple. You can worry about how it makes Lex look later. But you have to be thorough.”

“Chloe, it’s not needed.”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s like The Torch all over again. It’s like you want to do the least possible amount of work…”

“That’s not it. I did my homework on this, pretty much for a decade with experience. I just don’t want to include some noble idea of Lex championing the blue collar…”

“But that’s what he did then.”

“Who he was then has almost nothing to do with who he is now,” he hissed, looking around the bullpen.

“But we’re not supposed to know that. You can’t let your bias show. God!” She pulled his keyboard to her. “Look, it’s simple. The first Lexcorp started in 2002 when Lionel Luthor and Luthorcorp attempted to close Smallville’s plant number three,” she said, typing quickly. “Lex led a buyout with the employees and it was kept open under Lexcorp. Luthorcorp managed to get it back and dissolve Lexcorp later that year.” She finished typing and pushed the keyboard back to him. “Those are facts and they have to be included. Lois would back me up.”

“You don’t know that for sure,” he said, staring balefully at her new paragraph. She was probably right that it needed to be there. But it changed the tone of the piece so dramatically…

“Fine. We can ask her when she’s back from covering the Mayor. But I’m not letting you turn that into Perry without all the facts,” she said, pointing at him with her coffee stirrer before chewing on it and wheeling back to her own desk, perpendicular to his and Lois.’

He sat back, finding himself smiling. “You know, you’re the one who hasn’t changed much since The Torch.”

“Not true. I used to take quite a few wild leaps. I think I know how to balance things now.”

“I’m not talking about that. You still think you’re the boss of me.”

“Pfft! I was the boss of you, technically. Didn’t mean you ever listened to me.”

“I did.”

“Yes. That’s why your pieces were always turned in on time and so very nuanced and thorough and…”

“Hey, you know all I had going on at the time now.”

She glanced at him. “I almost knew then. I was right there, gathering all the evidence before the day mysteriously got saved,” she said, leaning in slightly to whisper. “And your powers aren’t the excuse you think. Think of all the work I could have got out of you if I knew you could do most things, including write, faster than a speeding bullet.”

He chuckled. “I don’t know if the keyboards could have taken the abuse.”

She laughed as well. “Did you ever try?”

He nodded. “I melted the keys together on my laptop once when I was in a hurry last year.”

She shook her head with a grin. “Fast, careless boy. Like I said… nothing has changed.”

He scoffed. “Hey, I…”

“Fine, fine, fine,” she said, holding up a hand. “You are probably way faster and even more careless.”

“And you’re even bossier, so far.”

She tossed a pack of post-its at him. 

He caught it easily.

“Just checking your reflexes,” she said with a laugh.

He smiled and lightly tossed it on his own desk. It was the strangest thing, but right now, it was as if no time had passed between that time on The Torch and now. It was as if this was just some natural progression and none of the craziness between had happened. And he had to wonder how it would have been if she’d never been fired by Lex, or if she’d come back when he was gone or if… Well, he supposed there was no point thinking of all the what-ifs. But he couldn’t help thinking it would have been so much simpler if only…

“I know it’s time for lunch when you start hurling office supplies,” a voice said.

He turned to see Oliver staring at them, shaking his head.

“Cranky thing when she’s hungry,” Oliver went on, “isn’t she?”

“We were just working,” Clark said, turning back to his PC, annoyed -- not that he had a reason to be. Except that they were working.

Neither of them seemed to hear him as Chloe rose to greet him. “I told you I’d meet you at Chopaan at noon.”

“Well, it’s about half past that, so I thought I’d hurry things along. Lunch buffet ends at one.”

Chloe wrinkled her nose. “Is this that fusion place you kept going on about last night?”

“It’s Afghan-Mediterranean and, considering this is Kansas, we’re lucky they have anything that isn’t a sandwich or pizza place.”

Clark couldn’t help but feeling annoyed at that, too. They had… Well, they had Chinese places, too. He was just about to point that out when Chloe spoke.

“Doesn’t that just mean lamb under hot lamps?” She moved back and gathered her purse. “Don’t you dare send that piece before I get back,” she warned Clark.

He rolled his eyes. “You’re not the boss of me.”

Oliver chuckled and pulled her to his side. “I’ll have to try out that line, Clark. Let me know how it works out for you.”

Clark tried to smile. Oliver was on his side, after all. Why was he so bothered?

Chloe just slapped at the back of Oliver's head with her purse as they moved out.

“Thanks for asking me,” Clark said under his breath as he stared after them. Maybe that was what was annoying him. It was his lunch time, too. Maybe he’d like to at least be…

“Hey, Clark?” He turned back to find Oliver walking back his way as Chloe fussed with her purse near the elevator.

He tried for a smile again. “Hmm?”

“Want to come along? It’s a good place.”

The idea of them cuddling over couscous or whatever sounded suddenly unbearable. “No. I’ll just… I told Lois we’d go somewhere nice today,” he lied. Maybe he could make it true. They didn’t have to be the only couple trying exotic restaurants and… kissing as they waited for the elevator. He turned away again. Chloe and Oliver had been together almost two years. Wasn’t it past time for PDA? 

He wondered if that was what was bothering him. He and Lois weren’t trying new restaurants or kissing in public. He tried to remember the last time they went out. Then again, Chloe and Oliver had less time together? If he counted Chloe’s time away, then they were even further behind. Was he begrudging them their happiness just because things had gone sour with Lois lately?

Maybe. And it made him feel like a real asshole. He should be taking some of this energy and focusing it on Lois. Maybe tonight. Maybe they could try to fight… not against each other, but for each other, for their future.

He’d seen that future, after all. Over a year ago, Brainiac had shown him a clear and bright future with Lois. It was what led him to let go of his fear, tell her all his secrets, even the ones she already knew. He smiled as Chloe disappeared behind Oliver as the elevator doors opened. Lois had been a lot like Chloe that way. She knew and she’d tried to help him even during the times he went back and forth on telling her. At the time, he thought it had been a sign. History was repeating itself, but in a better way. He’d seen the future, after all. It had all seemed to come together so perfectly.

If they could just work through this…

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

“I’m just worried about them. They’re so chilly.”

“Like your food if you don’t eat it,” Oliver suggested. 

Chloe sighed and cut up her chicken, pushing it through the pile of rice. “It’s been this way since we got here. You aren't in the middle, so you don't see it. I felt like I spent all day yesterday going back and forth between them. Every little comment turned into an argument. It was exhausting.”

Oliver huffed and took a bite. “Yeah, it must have been. You fell into a coma when you got back to the room. I could barely get the blankets out from under your dead weight.”

“Well, I pulled an all-nighter the other...”

He pointed at her with his fork. “You didn’t have to and you know it. You could have spread the work out a little. It’s a week before the gang’s all here.”

“I know. I just… it wasn’t just the work. I was all hyped up, being home again. Like I got back into this rhythm I’d always...”

He frowned at her. “Home?”

“Well, not home anymore. I mean… I just… I wanted to make things more like they were.” She glanced down at her food. Yet, she couldn’t deny it. It felt like home. Not just Watchtower, but The Planet. She had been wide awake all day, so excited to be there again. At the end of the day, exhaustion hit her like a brick wall, but up until then, she’d been wide-eyed as a that kid shaking Pauline Kahn’s hand.

Welcome to The Daily Planet, kid.

She hadn’t felt that exhilaration after Lionel pulled his strings, even if that landed her on a higher floor. It was when she earned her way back that it felt good and right. And it felt that way now. Maybe Perry White and Lois seemed to think being buried in the back half of The Star City Register was a humiliation. But, for her, it was a penance and, maybe it was an imprint left from the Catholic grade school her father stuck her in from third to seventh grade, but she felt right for having served it. 

Maybe she didn’t deserve to be fired by Lex, but she’d lost sight of what it meant to be a journalist by then, so used to sitting on all the scoops. But she’d been a kid then, so afraid of the open world around her and the idea of it mixing with the secret world she’d discovered. She’d learned balance by now. She knew what to share and what to keep close.

“Anyway, I’ll make it up to you tonight,” she promised Oliver, leaning over the table.

Oliver leaned in, whispering, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Well, you will.” She toasted him with her pomegranate tea, then scowled into it. “I’m still worried about Lois and Clark. I think if I just…”

“If you just what?” Oliver wiped his mouth, then dropped his napkin in his lap. “This is just like with Watchtower. You think you’re supposed to jump back and fix everything, like you have all the answers.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Chloe, we’ve been here before. You can’t control everything around you just because you think you know how it should be and you lose yourself when you try and…”

“I’m not talking about controlling. I’m talking about… Oliver, they’re not happy – neither of them. I know you see it, too.”

He finally sighed and nodded. “Then they’ll work it out. You can’t get into every…”

“But now that we’re home, we can just nudge them in the right…”

“We’re not home,” he cut in, his brows drawing together.

“I just meant…” She took a deep breath. “When I said ‘home’…”

“You’ve said that a few times now and I’m starting to wonder if you mean it. Chloe, I get that you grew up here. I even get that The Planet was your dream job. But you applied to The Register so long before we even talked about moving that…” He shook his head. “I mean, I thought this wasn’t even an issue with us.”

“It’s not. It’s really not,” she said, giving him a smile.

“Then why…”

“Oliver, I just mean… childhood home. Back home. Way back. You know, if you lived anywhere but Star City, wouldn’t that still be ‘back home’ to you?”

He grunted and picked up his fork. “I guess so.”

They ate in silence for a few moments. But she couldn’t help going on, just to test the waters. “It’s just that… I don’t know. Perry kept saying California papers bury non-celeb pieces and Lois keeps saying stuff about working together and…”

Oliver put his fork down again. “Maybe this is an issue.”

“I’m not saying it is,” she said quickly. “I just think discussing the possibility…”

“I’m just starting to gain respect in Star City. People that saw me as just a playboy with a late night hobby are starting to…”

“But press coverage is everywhere. That work wouldn’t be undone if you were somewhere else. Lois even said that if we were in New York or Washington…”

“We’re not talking about New York or Washington. We’re talking about Metropolis. Metropolis has a resident hero. It doesn’t need me and Star City does and I don’t see why this is suddenly a problem,” he finished on a hiss, then closed his eyes. “I’m sorry. Listen, we can talk about this later if you want. I don’t want to fight.”

“I don’t either,” she agreed, meeting his eyes when he opened them. But she was starting to wonder if they needed to. She’d been telling Clark to fight with Lois if that’s what it took. Maybe she needed to practice at least a little of what she preached.

Tuesday night

“You want to fight?” Lois stared at him across the kitchen, then laughed. “Should I put up my dukes or get some green…”

“Lois, you know what I mean. We can’t go on like this,” Clark said wearily.

“All I said was that you could fold the damned bedding when you leave.”

“No. You said ‘when I creep out.’ You actually sneered it.”

“Well, I just meant…”

“And let’s talk about the fact that I’m on the couch to begin with. Just because I don’t want to burst out and declare myself Superm…”

She jabbed a finger at him. “Don’t you dare pretend it’s about that. The fact that you won’t even talk about being free is not the…”

“The fact that you call it being free is part of the problem,” he cut in angrily. “The fact that I can keep Clark Kent and Superman separate is freedom to me. How do you think I could live if everyone knew? I wouldn’t have a moment’s peace if…”

“Oliver’s doing just fine!”

“Oliver grew up in the limelight. He knows how to…”

“How would a pap even catch you, Clark? You could speed away before…”

“And what do you think your life would be like, Lois? Every tabloid in the nation would come down on you!”

“I think I could handle…”

“Or maybe that’s fine by you. Maybe you want the notoriety. Being with Clark Kent is too dull for a superstar like…”

She rushed around the counter to him, then stopped. “I’d slap you if I thought it would make a dent,” she hissed. “In case you missed it, I was with you before I knew.”

“But maybe it’s different now that you do,” he said coldly.

She shook her head, glaring at him. “No. I can live with this, Clark. I can even live with picking up your slack because I know what you do for others. But for me…” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I try so hard, Clark. I try to accept that I’m not the first priority. God, I’m used to it after my father…” She opened her eyes, spilling over now. “But then you bring him into…”

“No.” They weren’t going to fight about this now. He’d look into it with Chloe. Then they could fight. “We agreed to disagree on this,” he pointed out, backing away.

She tossed a dishtowel to the floor. “Which is it, Clark? Do you want to fight or agree to disagree? Because I can’t keep up with you!”

“I don’t know. I just…” He met her eyes across the space between them. This could be over. She knew it as well as he did. The fights had only gotten worse, the words only sharper. This could end tonight. “Lois, I don’t want to lose this.”

She drew in shaky breath. “Neither do I.”

He stared at her, took a step toward her,lifted his arms. “Lois…”

She held up a hand. “No.”

He stilled. “No?”

“Not tonight.” She shuffled, staring at the floor, across the living room and to the bedroom. She stopped at the door, a hand on the knob. “I’m not saying not ever. Just not tonight,” she finished on a whisper before shutting herself in.

*********

Chloe fell back against the door, Oliver’s hands working their way up her skirt.

“I love that you’re wearing skirts to work,” he gasped, “just FYI.”

She laughed, but it turned to a sigh as he placed open-mouthed kisses against her neck. He’d promised to get that skirt off her as soon as she got off work. And maybe it took her till past eight to actually leave work, but he was making good on that promise.

His hands moved to the zipper, getting slightly impatient. “Hey, if you like it so much, then try not to rip it. Okay?” She undid the hook and pushed the zipper down, letting it slide down to her heels. She started to step out of it, but he tried to lift her against the door at the same time. 

They fell into a heap on the floor.

“Okay. No more fancy moves,” he gasped. “Am I getting old?

“Just weird.” She giggled and rose over him, leaning on his chest. “What is about me in this skirt that got you so hot and bothered?”

He slid a hand up her thigh. “I don’t know. You barely ever wear skirts anymore. The Register usually lets you telecommute and it’s all sweatpants and tanks and…”

“Yeah. Well, Perry White’s a little more old guard than that. He’d made it clear that nine-to-five and business casual were the only options.” She smiled. “You know, he has the weirdest way about him. He can be so brusque, then he makes these little jokes that…”

“Yeah. He’s the best,” Oliver groaned, sitting up. “I think I got that after all the times you dropped his name.”

“Oh, come on!” She had to laugh, falling to the floor beside him. “Are you jealous? Of Perry?”

“Not exactly.” He gave her a long stare, then got to his feet. “Chloe, I really…” He moved to the honor bar, hand hovering over a tiny scotch before he settled on an Orangina, twisting it open with a hiss. “I meant what I said before. I didn’t think this was something we’d ever have to discuss.” He sank into a chair. “You have a job at The Register in my city. Your mother is there. Your father is only sixty miles away and…”

“It’s not like I see my father every day,” she mumbled, sitting up. “We can still fly out and…”

“Chloe, are you really thinking about…”

“… and my mother can be moved anywhere there’s a good care facility,” she finished. Because she was thinking about it, more and more today. 

“Chloe, is this because of the stories?” He ran a hand over his face. “Listen, I can pull strings at The Register if…”

“You know that’s the last thing I want,” she said, getting to her feet. After Lionel Luthor and the mess that was summer 2002…

“Well, you know what the last thing I want is.” He stood, setting his drink down and moving to her. “Babe, I don’t want to fight.”

“This doesn’t have to be a fight,” she said gently. “Just a discussion of options.”

He shook his head. “Chloe, there are no other options for me. I’m trying to get political clout in Star City and I’m close now and… I told you before. It needs me. Metropolis doesn’t. It has its hero in Clark. Chloe, if this is a marriage…” He stopped suddenly. “Except maybe it’s not.” He turned away.

“Ollie…”

He paced toward the bathroom. “I mean, that piece of paper is from an illegal gambling hall, so maybe, for you…”

“Don’t say that,” she broke in, hot on his heels.

He gripped the toothpaste. “I can’t help but feel that. Every time I bring up doing it up for real, you shut me down and say this is enough.”

“Because it is!”

He tossed it into the sink, staring into the mirror. “It’s not enough for me. I get that you don’t want the limelight. But we can do this privately and…”

“And it will be a matter of public record and sniffed out in two seconds by everyone looking you up, which is pretty much everyone these days,” she said hotly. “And I can say goodbye to being taken seriously as a journalist after all this work because all I’ll be is hounded down alleyways by the paparazzi because they all know who you…”

He turned to her “No. We’re not doing this. I can’t change what happened.”

“You mean what you chose.” She had to correct him on that. She could feel this turning into more of a fight than a discussion, but she didn’t want to stop it for the world right now. Because this was what he always said, as if calling a press conference and laying Green Arrow open to the world was something that just happened to him. “Did you seriously think shining more light our way was a good idea?”

“If you hadn’t left…”

“No! You can’t put that on me. I left for you. I traded my life for yours so you could have one, not so you could toss it to every piece of tabloid trash after a story. And if you think that was a picnic, then remember who I was with. You think I wanted to throw in with The Suicide Squad, with the man who tortured you?”

“I never said…”

“Oliver, I’ve done a lot of things I didn’t want to do, couldn’t ever see myself doing. I compromised myself, compromised on what I wanted for so long and...”

“I never asked you to!”

“No, you didn’t. But I did it. Even me applying to The Register. That was me compromising because that’s what I do. Over and over, I have to keep adjusting who I am and what I want. And maybe… You know, maybe The Daily Planet isn’t what I want anymore. Maybe this month will be up and I’ll have my fill of it. But can’t we at least talk about it?”

He stared at her, then sighed. “We can talk about it. Just not tonight.” He smiled just a little. “I’ve probably been watching too many zombie movies. I don’t know. I’m tired.” He moved into the bedroom.

She followed, trying to feel okay, trying to hold onto the idea that he was at least open to discussion. Yet she felt deflated. “It’s not even nine,” she said from the doorway.

“Well, I’ve got an early day and at least a dozen heroes to coordinate before Saturday. And you have… The Daily Planet.” He pulled back the covers with a jerk.

She moved around to the other side of the bed, taking off her blouse and laying it carefully over a chair, thinking of her skirt still crumpled in the living area from his wandering hands, wondering how this night had gone from that to this. Had she really been thinking they needed a fight? Either way, she hadn’t meant for it to happen tonight.

She left her underthings on and slipped in on the other side. She hadn’t even meant to bring up The Daily Planet tonight. It just kept creeping in. Maybe the idea of it, as tantalizing as it was, was no more than a fantasy. Maybe she could take these weeks, live it out, and go home with him… to Star City. That should be he home now. Not here. Metropolis was a silly, childish dream. People didn’t always live where they grew up. People didn’t always get what they wanted growing up.

She turned to him in bed. “Ollie?”

He didn’t answer. But his breathing wasn’t deep and even. He wasn’t asleep. He just didn’t want to talk anymore. She couldn’t blame him. She’d tossed so many wrenches in his plans tonight. She’d tell him tomorrow…

Wednesday morning.

He was gone when she woke. He did leave a note under a giant coffee and a croissant. 

Going to Washington early to meet Victor. Think we can get you-know-who. Back in the morning.

That was fine. That gave her a day to resign herself. She’d just gotten carried away with the fantasy, with The Planet, with Lois… She’d have to explain it to her fully, that this was just a few weeks, maybe not even a month. 

But Lois wasn’t there when she arrived, so early she had to get the sleepy night guard to let her in just before he clocked out. There was just Clark in the bullpen.

She supposed she’d gotten carried away with him, too. She couldn’t lie, bossing someone so powerful around had been a bit of a thrill. It was something she never got to feel the weight of when she actually had the clout, at least at the high school level, to do so. She’d enjoy it while she could. She smiled as she made her way to his desk. “I hope you’re not rethinking my edits. Because…”

“No. I kept them in,” he cut in, just staring at his dark screen.

“Then what are you doing here so early?”

He shrugged. “Lois and I…”

“I don’t want to hear it,” she said, quickly taking her chair. “I’ve had enough fighting.”

Clark turned to her. “But you said we…”

“It’s between you and Lois,” she said decidedly. “I’m not getting in the middle.” Oliver was right about that, too. She didn’t have to fix everything. But he wasn’t right about everything. “Listen, I’ve got limited time here, so we need to move starting now.”

“Move?”

“On Lex,” she said. She was going to take care of more unfinished business than just the childish fantasy of The Planet. She was going to close out and that meant one last hurrah on Lex. “I’m thinking I take over Watchtower Friday night. I can take care of patrols and also guide you on how to properly plant surveillance on Lex, both work and home.”

Clark stared at her, his eyes widening before he nodded. “Better make it Saturday, too.”

“Between you and me? I think we can get both done in one…”

“We can say we’re prepping for the big meeting,” he cut in, “but we can look over the footage.” His brows drew together. “But Courtney might want to help. She’s always volunteering even if she…”

“I’ll tell her I’m working over the system again,” Chloe suggested as she turned on her very temporary desktop. “That’s boring enough. But what about you?”

“I’m… going to the fortress. I need a little time to unwind before the big meet-up.”

“That’s one thing that’s changed.” Chloe stopped in the middle of putting in her, also temporary, password and stared at him. “You’re getting better at lying.”

“I have to be,” he sighed. “Lois can’t know about this. We’re essentially investigating her father right with him.”

She gave him a commiserating, if a little joyless, smile. “I’m not about to tell Oliver, as I said. Even the barest mention of Lex and he looks like he wants to crawl into a hole.” They’d locked horns over enough last night. Chloe leaned in, silly as no one else was there. “But what about the rest of them? Maybe we should let Victor in or John or…” She trailed off, trying to think of anyone else she’d trust with this. Was it awful that no one else even fit?

Clark snorted. “You were just going to say Bart, weren’t you?”

“I wasn’t. Not if I didn’t want this shouted from the rooftops.”

Clark leaned in, all traces of a smile gone. “Look, as it is, we don’t know if there’s anything to find. I think we should keep this to just us.”

Chloe tried for a smile, just to break his dead-serious air. “Like old times?”

Clark drew back, the tiniest smile tugging at his mouth. “Why not?”

CHAPTER FOUR