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babydee1
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peachmacaroons
Runner by go_clo
Title: Disintegration
Author: babydee1
Pairing: Chlollie
Rating: NC-17 (this chapter PG-13)
Warnings: Still on 8.05 (Commitment); major angst at the end of the chapter
Timeline: Season 8 episodes, from Odyssey - Doomsday
Disclaimer: All characters belong to the CW & DC comics.
Summary: Chloe and Ollie’s relationship gets fractured through a series of miscommunications and interferences. Fourth Book in the Chlollie series, sequel to Slingshot, Trajectory and Misdirection.
Feedback: …in spades. :-)
Read previous chapter here.
Read story from the beginning here.
Chapter 21
It didn’t take Oliver long to gather all the information available on the jeweller. Of particular note was a property he owned; small log cabin he owned located in a woodsy area just north of Granville.
He geared up and prepared to leave, but tried dialling Chloe’s cell on the off-chance that it might still be on and he could put a trace on it. To his complete surprise, it was answered on the second ring.
“Hello?” asked a familiar voice.
“Jimmy?” he queried.
“Yeah, this is Jimmy, who’s this?” he answered rudely.
Oliver clenched his fist and remained silent. One of these days, he was going to punch that ruddy little punk’s jaw, and derive a great deal of pleasure from doing so.
There were some muffled sounds, and then the next voice made him sigh in relief.
“Hello, this is Chloe,” she said.
“Chloe, thank God you’re okay,” he breathed. “What happened to you?”
“Long story,” she replied. “Listen, could I call you back later?”
“Do you want me to come over?” he asked gently.
“No, that’s not necessary,” she replied, sounding distinctly distant. “I’ll call you back later.”
“Have you told Clark you’re back?” he asked. “He and Lois are out looking for you.”
“If you could do that for me, it’d be a huge favour,” she replied. “Thanks for calling.”
The line went dead, and Oliver tightened his grip around the handset. Mixed feelings coursed through him; relief and joy that she was alive; anger and rage that Jimmy the Twerp Olsen appeared to still be very much in the picture, and annoyance that he wasn’t in a position to pull her into his arms and hold her close the way he wanted to.
Scowling, he dialled Clark’s number and was surprised to find himself listening to a disconnected tone. He hung up and dialled Lois’s cell; the same impersonal tone filled his ears.
Two disconnected lines from two people he’d spoken to this very morning was most definitely not a coincidence. Once again, he hung up the phone and dialled another familiar number.
It was answered on the first ring. “Hola, Senor Oliviera!” greeted Bart. “Como estas?”
“Can you get here like, right now?” Oliver asked.
There was a swift, noiseless breeze, and he turned around and looked into the smiling face of Bart Allen.
“Was that a trick question?” Bart asked, shutting off his phone and sliding it into his pocket.
“Boy Scout’s in trouble,” Oliver said briskly, showing Bart the coordinates. “Can you handle an extra passenger?”
“Green Arrow, your lack of certainty has pierced by heart,” the younger man replied dramatically. He moved quickly, and in a flash he had swept Oliver onto his back in a fireman’s lift.
“Hang tight,” he advised, and then streaked off into the night.
***
The screams from the cabin were blood-curdling.
Bart put Oliver down and straightened.
“Be right back,” he said, and swept into the cabin. Oliver heard a few thumps, and then all was quiet. A few seconds later, Bart swooshed back outside and gestured with his thumb towards the cabin.
“It’s all good,” he replied. “Creepy Dude’s out cold. Boy Scout’s unconscious, but breathing. There’s a woman in there who’s both conscious and breathing, so I left before she could see me.”
“You did good,” he replied. “Call the cops, and get them here as fast as you can.”
Bart saluted and sped off, and Oliver entered the log cabin and surveyed the scene before him. There was a rather large man in a mask lying motionless on the floor, and Oliver bent and ripped it off.
“I knew it!” Lois cried from the other side of the room when his face was revealed. “I knew it was that creep from the shop!”
Oliver’s eyes narrowed at the man’s pinky finger; he was wearing a ring with a green stone which lit up with a familiar, suspicious glow. Surreptitiously he pulled it off and slipped it into the lead-lined pouch in his utility belt, then straightened.
Lois looked dishevelled and a little worse for wear, but she appeared to be unharmed. Clark, on the other hand…not so good.
“Damn, Lois,” he muttered, staring at Clark’s prone form. “How many lies did you tell?”
***
“Thanks for coming after me,” Clark said.
Oliver smiled. “Hey, after I shot you through the heart; I figured I owed you a good old-fashioned rescue.”
Clark chuckled. “Water under the bridge. Oh, and thanks to Bart as well for showing up before I got burnt to a crisp.”
“If it weren’t for him, we’d never have gotten there in time.”
“I’m trying not to think about that,” he said, and shuddered. “Lois really isn’t used to telling the truth, apparently.”
Oliver cleared his throat. “Have you…seen Chloe?” he asked.
“Yeah, she’s fine,” Clark replied. “She got shocked a few times, but it’s nothing she won’t recover from.”
He nodded. “And Jimmy?”
“He’s completely fine.”
“No trauma at all?”
“None.” Clark paused. “Looks like she does love him, after all.”
Oliver felt his heart turn to stone in his chest. He couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was not right with that relationship, but maybe he was clutching at straws and trying to hold on to something she was no longer prepared to give him. If she could pass a lie detector test and confirm her love for her fiancé, then her feelings for him must be true.
There was nothing for him to fight for anymore.
“Well, I don’t know about you, Boy Scout, but after all that excitement I could do with a little loosening up,” he said, getting to his feet. “You up for downing a few shots at the Ace of Spades?”
Clark smiled and shook his head. “Not really my thing, but thanks for the offer,” he replied, standing. “I should be getting back to the Farm.”
***
He sat at a quiet table in the warmly-lit bar, nursing a double whisky. The amber liquid swirled in the glass invitingly, but he wasn’t swayed by its silent temptation.
“Hi,” a female voice said sweetly by his ear. “You here alone?”
He turned slowly and his gaze fell upon a blue-eyed young woman in her early twenties. She was of average height and slim build, with shoulder length blonde hair, and was wearing a short black dress with matching high heels.
The first thoughts that crossed his mind was that she was a fraction too tall, not quite curvy enough, had the wrong colour eyes, and her hair was ever so slightly too long and therefore didn’t catch the light the way Chloe’s did.
God, this was insane. He had got to stop comparing every woman he met to Chloe; otherwise, he might never have sex again.
“You’re Oliver Queen, right?” she said, slipping into the seat beside him. “What’s a gorgeous dude like you sitting all by yourself?”
Good question, he thought with a wry smile. He was moping alone like a lovesick puppy, whereas she was cosying up to a warm body night after night, smiling at him; kissing him…
Making love to him.
Oliver took a long sip from his glass to stem the nausea that had accompanied that last thought.
“I’m Tami-Lynn,” the girl was saying. “Tami with an i.”
White trash name, he thought before he could stop himself. Damn it, he was doing it again. It wasn’t this poor girl’s fault his life was such a sodden mess. Chloe Sullivan had moved on. It was time he did the same.
He shook off the cynicism and smiled into those eager blue eyes. Time to get back in the game.
“Tami-Lynn, huh?” he said smoothly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Tami-Lynn.”
He took her hand and kissed her fingertips, and she smiled and giggled coquettishly as he gave her a thorough onceover with his discerning gaze.
No; she wasn’t Chloe, didn’t even come close.
But she would do.
For tonight, anyway.
***
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no subject
Date: 2012-12-16 01:52 pm (UTC)Will Chloe and Oliver have a bit of respite? (fantastic fic, thank you)
no subject
Date: 2012-12-16 02:00 pm (UTC)Thanks again, and of course: pooor Oliver, when finally find out what is wrong with Chloe....
Love it
Date: 2012-12-16 02:36 pm (UTC)Re: Love it
Date: 2012-12-16 05:45 pm (UTC)I'll be traversing the whole of Season 8, so there are 23 more chapters after this. Told you it was long! We're currently on Chapter 5 of 22, so still a while to go (though I will be skipping most of the Lana chapters, since not much happened in them).
"And will there be a sequel?" :-)
There will be more than one sequel if I play my cards right! :-P
Glad you like this story, and this series. Sorry it's taken me so long to return to it, but at least you have the advantage of not having to wait months for me to post the chapters!
Re: Love it
Date: 2012-12-16 09:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-16 04:01 pm (UTC)And someone's been watching Ted haven't they
no subject
Date: 2012-12-16 08:48 pm (UTC)Whaaattt Ollie no! bad ollie!!