A/N - This sorta came to me after reading the PS hint for Stiletto (so yes, beware of spoilers!). And the fact that I think some of the fun in Smallville's version would be that some people would be privy to the faulty geometry of this whole thing,

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April 2009

Lounging in Clark Kent's still-squeaky desk chair, Oliver Queen busied himself setting up his new Blackberry as he waited for the man himself amid the morning buzz of the Daily Planet. He'd become suspicious of Tess recently. Well, longer than recently actually, but it was more clear than ever that she was hiding something from him. She was acting strange, and Oliver was anxious to get Clark's opinion on whether that had carried over to the workplace.

If so, it was possible they had something to worry about. Tess proclaimed to admit she was wrong where her devotion to Lex had been concerned, but Oliver wasn't quite convinced she'd given up following through on the wishes of the dead billionaire.

He was programming Lois' number into his new device when he heard the woman herself call out cheerfully.

"Good morning, Oliver!"

A quirked eyebrow greeted her blinding smile, one that was completely uncharacteristic this early in the day.

"Well, you're in a good mood this morning. Mickey over at the Coffee Stop give you a triple shot latte on the house or something?"

"I don't need to be caffeinated to be a in a good mood, Ollie."

"It certainly helps," he quipped back, chuckling as a pencil was good-naturedly launched at him from the opposite desk.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, though Oliver could see something was distracting her. He couldn't recall ever seeing such a distant, almost dreamy look on her face.

"I need to talk to Clark about something."

"Who?"

Oliver's eyes widened in disbelief at that, and Lois quickly looked up at him, apparently catching what she'd said. But instead of a sarcastic eyeroll mocking her own little blunder, she merely giggled.

"Oh, right. Clark," she said, turning her attention to unpacking her bag. She lugged out a thick red file folder, placing it on her desk with what Oliver could only classify as a playful bite of her lip.

"Actually, you have perfect timing. I was gonna call you today. I need to talk to you myself," she said cryptically.

"About?" he asked, his eyes flicking back to the folder, having a feeling the color was a big clue as to file's subject.

Her eyes glanced quickly around the noisy bullpen, taking in the usual hub of activity.

"Not here," she said, getting up and gesturing for him to follow her. She led him to a small copy room and, once inside, she turned and locked the door.

"So, what do you need to talk to me about?"

"Well, not you, exactly. Green Arrow."

He narrowed his eyes at that. "Why?"

"I wanna talk about a friend of yours."

Not willing to give anything away, Oliver leaned back against the wall, arms crossed nonchalantly in front of him.

"And that would be?"

A knowing smirk formed on her lips. "The Red-Blue Blur, of course."

Oliver simply sent her a close-mouthed grin. "What makes you think he's a friend of mine?"

She shook her head with a laugh. "Come on Ollie."

"Seriously, Lois, it's not like there's some fraternity or something. Just because the guy's in the hero business doesn't mean I have anything to do with him."

Lois leaned back against an old desk.

"Right," she snared disbelievingly. "You can save the denials. I know you know him."

"You do, do you?"

"I do."

"How?"

She smiled, a bit too triumphantly for Oliver's liking. "Because he was your decoy. That night, in the alley."

"Oh, you mean the night you tried to out me as the Green Arrow?"

"Which, I was right about by the way."

"Granted," he mumbled.

"Which was also why you needed the decoy. To throw me off the scent."

"And what makes you think my friend from that night and the Red-Blue Blur are one in the same?" Oliver asked.

"Because he kissed me."

Unable to stop his reaction, Oliver's jaw dropped, noticing the almost dreamy look once again on Lois' face.

"What?!?"

"Last night," she said, apparently oblivious to his shock and now looking at him with a bright smile. The same smile he'd seen on her face when she'd breezed into the bullpen earlier. "After he'd gone, I'd realized I'd only been kissed like that once before," she said, then seemed to realize who she was talking to and gave him an apologetic look, which was waved off by Oliver, urging her to continue. "Then, I remembered how he'd sped off that night, and it all clicked."

He swallowed thickly, grinding his teeth in a moment of frustration directed squarely at one big dumb alien. He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck roughly, attempting to regain his composure.

"How does one kiss a blur, exactly?" he asked, his voice a tad strained.

"Well obviously he wasn't blurring when he kissed me, Ollie," she said, her smile fading and replaced with an eyeroll.

"Obviously," he snarked back. "So…you saw him?"

A silly question, he knew, because if she had seen him, she'd know exactly who he was. Unless Clark had costumed up and not let him in on it.

"Not exactly."

He shook his head. "I'm not getting this. The man superblurs around Metropolis, yet stopped long enough to kiss you, and you didn't see him. How is that possible?"

She shrugged. "Long story."

"I'm a billionaire, I can afford the time."

She hopped up on the desk she'd been leaning against, crossing her legs and planting her hands on either side of her.

"One of Mannheim's thugs kidnapped me yesterday. They figured out I was Stiletto," she began.

"Yeah, about that. Don't think you're getting off the hook that easy, Lois. I wanna hear all about you playing dress-up," he grinned.

"Anyway," she said, shooting him a look that showed she was not amused by his comment or having her story interrupted. "The jerk blindfolded me and had me tied up in some old, abandoned warehouse. He said the big guy wanted to talk to me. And then left me sitting there, for like hours while he kept watch."

"Then the Blur showed up," Ollie interjected.

"I heard the thug get knocked out and then he was in front of me. He asked me if I was okay and I said I was, and he started untying the ropes around my wrists."

"What was his voice like?" Oliver probed.

"He whispered," she responded. "Anyway, once my hands were free I went to take the blindfold off but he asked me if I would leave it on, at least until he dropped me off."

"And you did?" he asked, more than a little shocked.

"Hey, I can respect the guy's privacy. I'm not asking you to tell me who he is here, I just wanna contact him."

"I wouldn't worry," Ollie said dryly, knowing all too well that the alter ego behind the Red Blue Blur had developed a serious case of being in love with Lois Lane. "I'm sure he'll find you."

At that, she gave him a quizzical look.

Clearing his throat, he covered quickly. "You do manage to find yourself in need of a hero quite often, Lois," he said, earning him a glare from the feisty brunette. "Now, let's get back to it. I still didn't hear anything about a kiss."

"So, he blurred me back here, and I didn't know what time it was but it was pretty quiet. He took us into one of the phone booths."

"A phone booth?"

"Yeah, he said he didn't want to take the chance that anyone was around and would see him dropping me off."

"So, you were with him, blindfolded, in a phone booth? Sounds kinky, Lane."

"Says the green leather wearing archer," she shot back. "Besides, we just…talked. At least at first," she said with secretive grin.

"About?"

She shrugged. "Nothing really. He wanted me to promise to be more careful."

"Not bad advice."

"Do you wanna hear this or not?"

"Sorry. Go on."

"It wasn't a long time, not really anyway. He said he had to go, but then…he just stayed. For a minute, he just stood there, and then…he kissed me."

The faraway look once again appeared in her hazel eyes, and Oliver sighed. Complicated wasn't the appropriate word to describe this mess.

"Did he say anything after?"

"Huh?" she asked, startled out of her memory. "Oh, um…no, he just sped off."

"Real gentlemanly move," he said dryly.

"Oliver, I'm sure he had things to do. People to save. You should know that drill better than anyone. And you, my friend, are hardly one to be commenting on anyone kissing and running."

He smirked. "Fair point. So, what now? Where do I come in?"

"Like I said, I just wanna contact him. I mean, I suppose I could put myself in mortal danger to draw him out but I thought I'd actually try a safer method first."

"Will wonders never cease?" he quipped with a grin.

"Cute. I'm serious. I just…I wanna know why."

You're not the only one, Oliver thought to himself.

"Lois, look…I'll see what I can do but…," he paused, taking a deep breath before broaching the subject he knew had to be brought up. "What about Clark?"

Lois' eyes widened slightly at the mention of his name. "What about him?"

"Oh, I don't know, how about the fact that you're in love with him?"

"Not anymore," she said, a bit too sharply before recovering a plastering a smile on her face. "Besides, he made it clear that he wasn't interested."

"When was that?"

"After I got back, I asked him to meet up with me for coffee if he wanted to talk about everything that had happened, you know, the wedding and all, but he blew me off."

"He did?" Oliver asked, unable to keep the incredulousness out of his voice. Clark had neglected to mention that to him.

"Yup, with some lame text message about being swamped with work."

"So…that's it?"

"As far as I'm concerned. That's pretty definitive don't you think?"

Oliver's jaw tightened, resisting the urge to go find Clark and douse him with Kryptonite.

"Besides," she continued, "Clearly someone else appreciates me. He's …amazing. And he kissed me Ollie. Me. Metropolis' biggest hero planted one on a girl who writes about him and lives in a tiny one bedroom downtown. Clark Kent can eat his heart out. Not that he'd even care," she said, a hint of sadness entering her voice.

"But Lois…"

"No, Oliver," she said, determination clear in her tone. "That ship has sailed. And I'm okay with it. Really."

"Because of the Blur."

"Look, I'm not some weak-willed female whose feelings jump from one man to the next, alright? It's just…," her voice trailed off, and he could see a hint of blush in her cheeks.

"What?" he urged softly.

"He makes me feel special," she said quietly.

If it was possible to feel one's heart break, Ollie felt his do just that as her words sank in. Of course, he being privy to the irony in the situation made it all the more frustratingly sad, because the very man she really wanted to make her feel special was actually the one accomplishing it.

He just wouldn't let her know it.

Pushing away from the wall, he walked over to where Lois was still sitting on the desk, leaned down, and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"You deserve that, Lois," he said sincerely.

She gave him a grateful smile. "So, you'll contact him for me?"

"I'll see what I can do. But I can't make any promises, okay?"

"Got it. Thanks Ollie."

He nodded in response, before turning and heading toward the door, unlocking it and shutting it behind him. He leaned against the wall outside, his mind racing with all he'd just heard. Out of all of the various thoughts running through his head, though, one stood out from all the others.

He was going to kill Clark.