Chapter Text
“Okay, so.” Oliver emerged from the small kitchen in Chloe’s house, carrying a plate of food. He’d cut class to spend the day with her because her dad was in Metropolis for the day, and she’d only been out of the hospital for two days and he didn’t think she should be alone. “Here, we have a healthy lunch of chicken lasagna, salad, a milkshake, and some garlic bread.” He grinned, pleased with himself.
“I don’t think I could eat all of that,” she said, grinning up at him as she pushed her laptop away on the dining room table. “We’re gonna have to clean every trace that that kitchen has been cooked in, otherwise Dad will know I had guests.”
He nodded slightly. “I’ll get that done while you eat. You can tell him a friend dropped off the leftovers?”
“No, Ollie.” She frowned, pouting a little. “Sit down and eat with me.”
He smiled a little and sat down across from her.
She smiled at him and cocked her head a little. “So, have you heard any updates from Mr. Sutton?” She asked as she pushed the plate between them with her good hand. The man had told Oliver that Lionel had indeed bid on his parents’ company but that he would stop him, at any cost.
“He’s filed an injunction,” he told her. “It’ll stop Lionel from being able to do anything, at least temporarily.”
“Good,” she breathed, reaching for his hand with her good one and watching him closely. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay.” He linked his fingers through hers, nodding.
“Promise?” She asked, cocking her head and squeezing his hand. “I know you must be worried but, at least we’re on to him before he did anything.”
“I’m all right,” he promised. He kissed her knuckles lightly. “Thanks to you the Luthors won’t be in control of my company. In a few months, it’ll be mine legally. All I gotta do is stall Lionel until then.”
“Well, if all else fails, we can lock him up in that basement of his until you’re eighteen,” she said, standing up and stepping closer to him. “I don’t think anyone will notice.”
“Except the ghost.” He arched his eyebrows, moving closer to her, too.
“If she haunts him, he’ll have deserved it.” She smiled, leaning in and kissing him softly.
“Yes, he will,” he agreed, resting his forehead against hers.
“I missed you,” she whispered, pulling her arm from the sling and wrapping her arms around him as well as she could. She had only seen him briefly at the hospital and then her dad had been home with her all day when she was allowed to leave so they had only texted a few times.
“I’ve missed you, too. And in case I didn’t say it before...I’m really glad you’re okay.” His voice was quiet.
“I’m glad you’re okay, too,” she said quietly, tightening her good arm around him. “Has he been giving you a hard time since?” She knew Lionel wasn’t going to be happy they had stopped his plans, or at least, delayed them.
“Nothing I can’t handle,” he assured her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I don’t think he has any idea I tipped off Mr. Sutton.”
“Good,” she breathed. “Hopefully it will stay that way,” she told him, arching her eyebrows a little. “Just keep your head down.”
“I always do,” he said, nodding.
“Now you do,” she said, smiling a little then taking a deep breath and kissing him again, not as softly as before. She had been terrified that Lionel had gotten to him when she found out about the buyout and then, not being able to really see him for days and the scare of her accident, she just wanted him close.
“Point.” He flashed her a charming grin, arching his eyebrows and kissing her back.
Chloe couldn’t help but smile at the grin even as her heart skipped a beat. She hesitantly deepened the kiss and tightened her good arm around him.
“All right. Stop trying to seduce me. You need to eat,” he teased, guiding her back to her seat at the table.
She made a face at him and sat back down, not that with her broken arm it was very practical, but still. “You know, you don’t have to be so respectful all the time, right?” She said, smirking mischievously as she picked up her fork. Truth was, she’d been getting a little impatient to explore more with him.
“Trust me, when you get that cast off and you’re all healed, I won’t be.” He gave her a look, his eyes filled with promise.
“I’ll hold you to that,” she said, grinning a little then took a deep breath and took a bite of the lasagna.
He watched her face, holding his breath to see if she liked it.
She sighed a little and shook her head. “You are not allowed to come over every day and feed me,” she told him, reaching for another bite. “I’ll never stop eating.”
He grinned at that, his eyes bright. “What if I like feeding you?”
“You can’t,” she said pointedly but smiled. “Can you make mac and cheese?”
“It comes in a box,” he said, giving her a look.
“No,” Chloe frowned, holding out the fork to him to see if he wanted some of the enormous amount of food he had set down in front of her. “From scratch, with fresh cheeses and stuff.”
“Oh.” He took a bite of the lasagna, chewing and swallowing. “Yeah, I could probably do that.”
She smiled a little at that and picked up the milkshake, sipping on it. “My mom used to make it, when I was little,” she admitted quietly.
He paused, glancing over at her and then nodding slightly. “How old were you?” he asked quietly. “When she left?”
“Eight,” she told him quietly, taking another bite of the food and chewing slowly.
“Pretty young,” he murmured, watching her. It was something he could relate to, in a way. He’d been nine when his parents had died.
She held her breath and shrugged a little. “I wish I had been younger,” she admitted. “That way I wouldn’t remember her as well, you know?”
His chest tightened painfully, and he nodded. “Yeah.”
Chloe glanced over at him and stilled, wincing and shaking her head. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, reaching for his hand.
“Don’t be,” he said sincerely, giving her hand a squeeze.
She watched him for a moment and took a deep breath. “You were nine, weren’t you?” She whispered, she had read plenty on him, and she wanted to give him the opportunity to talk about it, if he wanted to.
He pursed his lips, nodding slightly. “Yeah.” He looked down for a moment. “The night before their plane crash, my dad and I got into an argument. My last words to him weren’t good ones.”
Her face fell and she squeezed his hand. “What happened?”
“They were leaving on another business trip and they’d just gotten back the day before. I was tired of being left behind all the time.” He held his breath for a moment. “I was angry. I felt like they cared more about QI than they did about me.”
She pursed her lips together and nodded a little. “You just wanted to be around them, I’m sure they knew that.”
“I hope so,” he said quietly.
“They did,” she assured him. She had no way of knowing, but it was better than him thinking otherwise. “I’m sure they’d have stayed home if they could, Ollie.”
“I know that now,” he admitted, nodding.
“When you are done with Lionel, I want to tell dad about you,” she whispered to him. “I think you will get along when he really gets to know you.” And maybe he would feel more like he had a family.
He smiled faintly. “I’d like that,” he agreed, squeezing her hand. “Maybe I can impress him with my culinary skills,” he joked.
“You will,” she assured him. “Maybe next Christmas you can spend it here with us. And cook for us,” she teased.
His expression brightened at that. The idea of spending another Christmas with Chloe had its own appeal, but the fact that she was thinking of them long-term was what really pleased him. “I’ve never made a turkey before.”
She grinned a little at the look on his face and reluctantly let go of his hand to go back to eating. “Well, what about a turkey lasagna? We don’t have to be traditional about it.”
“That would be good, I think,” he said, nodding as he considered the possibility.
“Eat more,” she told him, finally taking a bite of the salad he had made, pausing when her computer alerted her of a new email and turning her attention toward it.
“Uh oh. She’s been summoned,” he teased, reaching out and tearing off a small piece of the garlic bread, taking a bite.
“It’s about the accident,” she told him, pulling up the email and downloading the attached document. “My friend who works at the station is sending me a copy of the investigation.”
He frowned at that. “Just standard stuff, right?”
Chloe read the document in silence for a moment, her eyes widening as she held her breath and shook her head a little. “Hm. No.”
“No?” There was confusion in his voice. “What does it say?”
She chewed on the inside of her mouth. “That my brakes were tampered with. Apparently the brake lines had been cut.”
His eyes widened at that, stomach tightening. “What?”
“That’s what this says,” she whispered, turning the computer toward him.
Shifting closer, Oliver stared at the email, reading it quickly and blinking a few times. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why the hell would anyone want to cut your brake lines?”
“I have pissed plenty of people off with my articles,” she said quietly, pursing her lips together. “Although, not lately.”
“And hopefully not enough that they actually want to kill you.” He frowned, rising to his feet, and shaking his head.
She shook her head and held her breath. “I don’t think so, but...” she hesitated, looking over at him. “Maybe Lionel did.”
“Why, though?” he asked, shaking his head again even as dread filled him. He remembered Lionel’s words--that the consequences of his actions would affect other people. The color drained from his face.
“What if he somehow knew I was trying to warn you?” She whispered, shaking her head and pausing when she saw the look on his face. “What is it?”
“He knows about us,” he whispered, his heart beating hard in his chest. “He knows I’d been coming over here to stay.”
“Can you be sure?” She asked, sitting up and holding her breath.
“No, but it makes sense. Think about it. The same night that you were calling to warn me about the buy-out was the same night Lionel busted me for spending the night outside the mansion and the same night you got into the accident. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
She took a deep breath and nodded a little, rubbing her good hand over her face. It did make sense, and considering it had been weeks since he had started staying over, it was odd that Lionel would choose that day to say something.
Anger began to seep into Oliver’s veins and he clenched his fists at his sides. “I’ll be back to help you clean up,” he said, voice deadly calm as he headed out of the dining room.
Chloe stood up and quickly followed. “Where are you going?” She asked, her voice tight.
“To talk to Lionel,” he answered, not looking back at her as he made his way to the front door.
“Ollie, wait!” She called, following him out but he was faster. “Oliver!” She yelled as she made her way outside, just in time to see him getting in his car and speeding off. “Goddamnit, Oliver,” she muttered, her jaw clenched. It wasn’t like she had a car to try and follow him and even if her bug had been there, she was sure she wouldn’t be able to catch him on time regardless. All she could do was hope that Lionel didn’t kill him and if he was gone too long, she would have no choice but to have someone else drive her to the mansion.
* * *
He made it back to the mansion in less than ten minutes, not even sure if he managed to shut the engine off before climbing out of it, slamming the door behind him and storming inside the large house. He was so angry he was literally shaking, completely ignoring the staff as he moved past them, heading for the study.
Lionel had heard the commotion outside, it was impossible not to. So he checked the security cameras on his laptop and arched an eyebrow when he saw Oliver heading for the study. With a deep breath, he stood up and headed over to the wet bar to pour himself a drink.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” he demanded, slamming the door open so hard it made a dent in the wall behind it.
“For the time being,” he said calmly, turning around to face him with a full glass in his hand. “I am your guardian, I believe we have cleared this up last time we spoke.”
“You’re also a killer,” Oliver accused, hate in his eyes. “You tried to kill Chloe Sullivan.”
“That is a very serious accusation to throw around, Oliver.” He kept his voice and expression neutral.
“And cutting someone’s brakes or having someone else cut their brakes is a very serious crime, Lionel.”
“Is that what happened with Ms. Sullivan’s accident?” He asked, walking back to his chair and sitting down.
“You would know, since you’re behind it.” Oliver’s jaw tightened. “Just be a real man and admit it. Oh, wait. You don’t know anything about being a real man, do you? You’re just a sick coward.”
“You seem very certain of this,” he said with a cold smile appearing on his lips. “Do you have any evidence to prove what you’re saying?”
“I don’t need evidence,” he informed Lionel, voice cold.
“It’s true, then, Dad?” Lex’s cold voice came from the door as he entered the room.
Oliver turned quickly at the sound of Lex’s voice, caught off guard by the other man’s sudden appearance. He narrowed his eyes, jaw clenching once more.
But Lex paid Oliver no attention, his own jaw was clenched in place and his eyes were narrowed as he approached the older man’s desk. “What kind of threat could a high school girl pose to one of the most powerful men in the world?” He demanded. “Or did you want to kill her just for fun?”
Lionel’s eyes narrowed, as well and he considered his son for a moment. “Oliver is slinging unfounded accusations,” he said calmly.
“Bullshit,” Oliver snapped.
“Are they as unfounded as the accusations Dr. Swann made about you crashing the Queen’s plane?” Lex asked, straightening as a cold smirk to rival Lionel’s appeared on his mouth.
At that, Oliver turned his head slowly to stare at Lex, heart beating heavily in his chest. “What did you say?”
“What you heard,” Lex said evenly, keeping his eyes on his dad. “But I’m sure it’s just business, right, Dad?”
“I’d suggest that in the future, both of you keep your rampant theories to yourselves,” Lionel said, looking at each of them in turn.
“Stay away from my friends and we may have a deal,” Lex told him before turning to leave the room. He glanced at Oliver on his way out, a hint of a warning in his eyes, then left.
Oliver watched him go, then moved forward, resting his hands on Lionel’s desk and staring at him intently. “You tried to kill Chloe,” he said, his voice barely containing the anger he felt. The hatred. “If I find out what Lex said is true. If you had anything to do with what happened to my parents?” He leaned closer. “I will end you,” he whispered. “And if you come after her again to get to me?” His jaw tightened. “It’ll be the last thing you ever do.” Without waiting for a response, he stormed out of the study.