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babydee1So finally, Misdirection comes to a close. And I know alot some of you will want to pelt me with rotten eggs and squishy tomatoes by the time you're done, but believe when I say there is a method to my madness, and I WILL get these two together...eventually.
So...here ya go, final chapter. Enjoy!
Lots of love & hugs to
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kc_2009 , who gifted me with this wonderful, wonderful banner. Thanks a million, Claudia. Love ya, babes! *smishes you*
Title: Misdirection
Author: BabyDee
Pairing: Chlollie
Rating: R (this chapter PG13)
Warnings: None
Timeline: Season 7 (Siren) with references to Season 6’s Justice
Disclaimer: All characters belong to the CW & DC comics.
Summary:
Feedback: …is lurrrrve. :-)
Read previous chapter here.
Read story from the beginning here.
Chapter 11
Oliver stood on his balcony in the early morning sunlight, his mind on the events of the previous day. Another showdown with his nemesis, Lex Luthor, only this time, Lady Fishnet aka Dinah Lance, or the Black Canary as
He smiled grimly to himself.
Sighing, Oliver walked back into the apartment and bent to retrieve the framed family photo of him and his parents which had gotten broken in yesterday’s skirmish. As he placed it back on the desk, he heard the elevator arrive and turned to see Lois opening the grate.
“Oliver,” she greeted. “Slash-Green Arrow…or are there any other hyphenates that I need to know about?”
He smiled at his former girlfriend. “No, that’s pretty much the biggie. I’m sorry, Lois. I never meant to hide who I was from you, I just…”
“No…it’s okay,” she said, holding up a hand. “I get it, you were just trying to protect me. And I’ve got to say, it clears up a lot. It never did make sense how you could blow off a hottie like me.”
He chuckled, and then his face turned serious. “Listen, Lois…whole we’re on the subject…”
She put her hands over his. “Oliver – let me stop you there. I know what you want to say…”
His eyes widened. “You do?”
She nodded. “Chloe and I talked yesterday, and –”
His eyes widened even further. “You’ve spoken to Chloe? She told you about…”
“About the little thing you have going, yes,” she said.
He let out a relieved sigh, thankful that Lois was in the know about him and Chloe at last. “You’re taking it remarkably well, all things considered. I’d half-expected you to slug me again.”
“Don’t be silly, there’s no reason for that,” she said, scoffing. “I’m not jealous at all; well, maybe a little.”
“Given your reaction yesterday, I’m just pleased you’re not tossing me off the balcony, and scratching Chloe’s eyes out,” he laughed. “We were so worried about how you would take it.”
Lois waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, I don’t blame you for confiding in her. Chloe’s the family member who keeps all the secrets; I’m the blabbermouth that leaks them all out.”
A frown furrowed his brow. “Confiding in her?” he echoed.
“It’s just made me understand that I can never be trusted to keep a secret like yours.”
“My secret?” he parroted again.
“You know me and my big mouth, Ollie. Sooner or later, I’d slip up, and if we were back together, I’d end up compromising you by calling you the wrong name at the wrong time...”
Quickly he held up his hands. “Hang on, Lois, back up a little. You’re going to fast for me. What are you talking about?”
She sighed. “I’m not blind, Oliver,” she said sadly. “The romantic dinner, your state of semi-nudity at my arrival…I know you wanted us to get back together yesterday, and believe me, there’s nothing that would bring me greater joy…but I can’t.”
He stared at her, perplexed. It was like they were having two different conversations. From what he could surmise, Chloe hadn’t told her about them getting intimate; she’d simply acknowledged that she’d been in on his secret identity.
“Maybe I’m selfish here,” Lois went on tearfully, “but I don’t want to wonder where you are every night. I can’t share you with the rest of the world, Ollie, and I definitely suck at the whole dual identity thing.”
He stared speechlessly, blinking as she lifted his hands to her lips and kissed them.
“I can’t be with you, Oliver,” she said sadly. “I love you, but I love you enough to let you go, for the good of the world.”
She pulled him close for a brief hug, then released him and headed for the elevator, keeping her back to him as she entered the car and pulled the grate shut. Her shoulders started heaving as it made its gradual descent and she vanished from view.
Well, at least she hadn’t decided to resume their relationship; that would have been a really difficult one to explain away.
***
It was several hours later that the real object of his affections showed up at his apartment.
“Looking for this?” she drawled.
Oliver turned at the sound of her voice. Sure enough, Chloe stood in his doorway, holding up his cellphone.
He couldn’t get over how beautiful she was. She was wearing purple today, but, much to his delight, she’d accessorised with the green scarf and Chloé handbag he’d picked out for her. Her cute hair framed her face like a caress, and the bruise on her face was healing quickly.
Her lips lifted in a gentle smile, but there was a resolute expression in her eyes, a look that gave him a sense of foreboding.
He returned her smile and walked towards her. “Thanks for looking after it for me,” he said warmly, wrapping his hand around hers. He stroked her hair with his other hand as he stroked her fingers and lowered his forehead to hers. “I’ve missed you,” he whispered hoarsely.
Chloe swallowed, then turned her hand round and placed his phone in his palm before walking over to the balcony. “I see you didn’t get my message before Lois dropped in.”
He grimaced. “Awkward doesn’t even begin to cover it. As soon as I saw her, I panicked and…well, I didn’t know how to tell her that you and I…”
“She said you kissed her.”
He reddened. “Actually, she kissed me. I didn’t initiate it, but I…kind of gave her the impression that the dinner I’d cooked for you was for her, and then everything just started to spiral out of control –”
“It’s okay, Oliver, I understand,” she cut in. “I couldn’t bring myself to tell her about us, either.”
He walked forward and stood in front of her.
“Just so you know,” he said gently, “Lois was here this morning, and before I could get a word in edgeways, she declined re-starting our relationship, citing specific reasons why we can never be. As far as I’m concerned, Lois and I officially, completely over.”
Chloe pursed her lips and looked down at the ground. “It doesn’t change the way she feels about you.”
She fell silent for a while, then she looked up at him with sad eyes and spoke softly.
“She still loves you, Ollie.”
Oliver had a horrible feeling he knew where this was going. He reached out and took her hands, rubbing them with his thumbs.
“Chloe, I can’t help how Lois feels about me, anymore than I can help how I feel about you,” he pleaded. “Please give us a chance. Please.”
Chloe face crumpled and her voice shook slightly. “Oliver, I…I can’t do this.”
The feeling of dread that had crept over him threatened to engulf him at her words. “Chloe, I know how much you love your cousin, but -”
“She hasn’t stopped crying since yesterday,” she said numbly. “I had to hold her all night. In all my life, I’ve never seen her as broken as she is now.”
Still he refused to give up without a fight. “Lois is a big girl, Chloe. She’ll get over it soon, move on…”
“And until then we…what, parade our brand new relationship in her face?” She shook her head and buried her face in her hands. “I can’t do that to her, Oliver. I can’t add to her pain like that.”
He gave a deep sigh and ran his hand through his hair. “So where does that leave you and me?” he asked wearily.
“Ollie, we…we almost got together one night after a near death experience, and -”
He shook his head stubbornly. “No. Don’t you dare try and treat this as proximity-slash-trauma fallout.”
“But that’s what happened, Oliver. We got physical after a particularly thrilling situation, and that’s not healthy. Relationships based on in intense circumstances never last, you know that.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “And where did you get that little nugget of information?”
She smiled wryly. “You never watched Speed?”
He gave a short laugh. “Oh, yeah. As I recall, Jack and Annie got together at the end of the movie.”
“And they had broken up by the start of the sequel.”
He winced. “Ah, there is that.”
Silence filled the air again, and then she suddenly spoke up. “Also, I’ve…decided I’m not cut out to be a field agent.”
“Chloe, you can’t throw in the towel after one botched mission,” he argued.
“I don’t have any brawn to bring to the table in a combat situation, Ollie,” she said practically. “I’m far more useful here, behind the scenes. I’ll leave the heavy lifting to you guys.”
“Are you sure?” he asked earnestly. “About everything?”
She nodded, and he could see the sadness in her eyes. “I’m positive.”
He nodded, lowering his gaze as his heart plummeted. “Okay. We can still be friends, can’t we?”
She smiled. “We have to be, we need to work together after all this.”
He smiled back, even though there was no real joy in him. “In that case, I’ll schedule a debriefing for 09:00 hours tomorrow. That’ s not too early for you, is it?”
She shook her head. “That’s fine. I’ll see you then.”
As she turned to go, he called her sharply. “Chloe?”
She spun round. “Yeah?”
He swallowed. “Can I just have one last hug before we push the reset button?” he asked quietly. He wanted a whole lot more than just a hug, but anything more would result in him breaking down, and he didn’t want to cry in front of her.
She smiled, her own eyes filling with tears. “I’d like that,” she said, her voice breaking as she stepped over leftover glass fragments and wrapped her hands around his waist.
Oliver’s arms went around her back and he engulfed her in a warm embrace as he lifted a hand to cradle the back of her head gently. He pulled her up against him tightly and wound his fingers in her hair, burying his face in her neck and inhaling deeply. Her arms tightened around his waist and he felt her fingers flex at the edge of his t-shirt, as though she were itching to lift it over his head.
He was tempted, so tempted. All he had to do was slide his lips to the side, just a little, and…
And he would risk shattering the fragile bond between them. Chloe was hurting here as much as he was, but the guilt of a relationship with him while her heartbroken cousin watched from a distance would destroy her. He couldn’t do that to her, wouldn’t be the one to alienate her from the only family she had around her.
He closed his eyes and mentally committed every facet of her body to his memory. Her breasts were warm against his chest, and he was holding her so close that her heartbeat was thrumming in tune with his. Predictably, his body began to react to her nearness, and he took a deep breath and dropped his hands to her hips. He couldn’t resist pressing his hardening cock into her belly, letting her know just now much he still wanted her, before steeling himself and pushing her away from him.
Reluctantly her arms slid away from his middle and she stepped back, moving out of the circle of his arms. They were both breathing heavily, and took deep breaths to get themselves back to normal.
“I should go,” she finally said, her voice husky and low.
He nodded. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then. Goodnight, Watchtower.”
“Goodnight, GA.”
So they were back to using codenames. He sighed as she stepped into the elevator and turned to salute him with a smile as the car descended.
As soon as she was out of his sight, Oliver clenched his fists in fury. He wanted to weep at the injustice of it all. He and Chloe had been on the verge of something real, something that was rare and precious. Unfortunately, time and chance seemed to align against them, and there was fuck-all he could really do about it.
Tears stung the corners of his eyes and he clenched his jaw tight, wishing he could punch a wall, or break something.
And he would have. He really would have…if there had been anything left in the apartment to break.
***
“I spoke to Lois,”
Oliver smiled wryly. He wondered what
Approaching footsteps made both men turn around. Dinah was walking towards them, sporting her dark-haired daytime look.
“Thank you both for coming,” she said graciously. “It seems I have a little crow to chow down on. Is it too late to offer an apology?”
“Apology accepted,”
Oliver said nothing. He wasn’t really in the mood to make small talk with anyone.
“I shan’t be freelancing for Lex anymore,” she said, “and I’ve decided to hang up my fishnets. I’ll stick to being the word of justice on the airwaves.”
“Kind of a waste of your talent, don’t you think?” Oliver said dryly, contributing to the conversation for the first time. He knew he was probably being a bit rude, but he was still emotionally raw from everything that had happened the past few days.
“I agree,”
Oliver’s eyes narrowed. Did
“I’m afraid I’m not much of a team player, guys,” she said apologetically.
“That’s perfect. You’ll fit right in,” said
He wasn’t being paranoid;
“Then it’ll be my pleasure,” she said with a grin.
He smiled. Maybe it would be good to have another girl around; the boys would certainly appreciate it. “Come with me,” he said. “I have some people I’d like you to meet.”
As they headed out, Dinah couldn’t resist baiting him. “Anyone ever tell you that you have lousy taste in women?”
He chuckled. “Bite your tongue, woman. I recently discovered that I secretly have a thing for tiny, sassy, smart-mouthed women with short blonde hair.”
The End.
Coming Soon: Book 4 - Disintegration
So, there you have it, folks. And as much as I wish I could say that Book 4 will be all flowers and rainbows, I think the title says it all. It's gonna get a whole lot worse for our two favourite blondes before it gets better. :-(
Now I have to go and start reviewing the barfworthy Season 8. Wish me luck; I'm gonna need it. :-S
***
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Date: 2010-02-26 04:02 pm (UTC)Hope you liked it! :-)