GREEN ARROW & WATCHTOWER: THE CHLOLLIE-VERSE

Developed By Derek Andrew Sharp

GREEN ARROW Created By Mort Weisinger and George Papp

CHLOE SULLIVAN Created By Alfred Gough and Miles Millar

Issue No. 3 -- "Star Cross'd"

By Derek Andrew Sharp

-CHAPTER THREE

"Star Cross'd"

-ONE YEAR AGO-

Metropolis, Kansas

Glass shattering. The world falling apart. Torn leather. Blood. A blur of speed. Heart pounding like a hammer. Beating for the last time. Darkness.

Then it hits him hard, Oliver Queen's eyes snap open, glasses and hood removed. His eyes meeting...

Chloe Sullivan's own. He takes a moment, looking down at his chest. He's been shot, but he's alive and well somehow. His wound is gone...wiped clean.

"How'd you...?" he asks, stumbling with his words, feeling his chest once over.

Chloe takes a moment before answering, her blouse covered in blood - his own. "I was doing a little research...and I thought I would come out in the open about knowing things," she says it softly, watching him curiously. Not certain of what kind of response to expect from him. "Found you on the floor, trying to get to these vials." She takes a moment, examining the empty needle. "I didn't know what it was exactly but I..."

Oliver takes a small breath, trying to steady his heart rate. His eyes examining Chloe's short blond hair against the light of the room. She's an angel to him. His Angel, he thinks.

"RL65," Oliver states, blinking a few times, adjusting his eyes to the light. "An experimental healing drug." He pauses a second. "Where's Lois?"

Chloe takes a small second to scan the Watchtower. "She wasn't here, when I came in...I just found you sprawled out on the floor. You ok, now?"

He rubs his head, still watching her. "I've been better...but I think I'll live."

An hour later, after changing clothes and bandaging the wound, Oliver once again finds himself taking in the sprawling landscape that is Metropolis. Chloe beside him wearing one of his shirts, three sizes too big, but it works for the moment.

"I owe you a thank you, Chloe," he says it standing beside her, his hands placed behind his back.

"You're welcome," Chloe returns, still watching the skyline. "I suppose you'd like some answers and I'm willing to give them if need be."

"No explanation necessary," Oliver says it, turning his head to face her. "You clearly deduced the facts from the mistakes I made, while I was trying to get the necklace. You and Lois seemed to be hellbent on finding out..."

"Except..." Chloe begins to state.

"You had intervention," Oliver returns, walking back to his desk, before leaning against it. "I'm assuming Clark's boy scoutness came through, when he needed something from me." He pauses a second. "Not really a surprise, but then again an individual with the abilities he has...has better uses for his abilities than making a difference."

"Clark's just looking out for..."

"Himself," Oliver finishes her sentences, without hesitation. "When abilities like his could be put to better use."

"He's stubborn," Chloe returns, trying her best to make up for Clark's own hesitation over the years.

"That's still no excuse for his irrational black and white behavior," Oliver states, his voice an unusual calm. "World isn't black and white. Especially when it comes down to the likes of the Luthors."

Chloe raises a brow curiously, still watching Oliver. "Lex was his friend."

"I'd expect better from someone raised by Martha Kent," Oliver says folding his arms, looking back at Chloe.

"What do you want him to do?" Chloe asks, raising her voice a bit, clearly showing some level of frustration since he's picking away at her best friend.

"Don't tell me you don't know," Oliver returns, his voice still a collected calm. "It's not exactly like Boy Scout is that complicated."

"Can you honestly say anything good about Clark?" Chloe asks, watching Oliver's face ever the intently.

"He does some good, I'll admit that, but," Oliver states clearing his throat. "He fails miserably with people like yourself and Lana."

"And how's that?" Chloe asks in return.

"He tries..."

"He tries to do what? He's left you for Lana numerous times and always comes to you for help, but never has the nerve to even put in the time to thank you," Oliver states his voice raising. "That's not what friends do for one another. They take care of each other. Push themselves the extra mile. Say thank you and balance one another out."

Oliver shakes his head, looking away for a second before feeling Chloe tilt his head back and kiss his lips softly.

-THE PRESENT-

Star City, California.

The Estate of Oliver Queen.

8:05am

Waking up to the sound of the beeping alarm clock, Chloe Sullivan shifted uneasily within the confines of her and Oliver's bed. Taking a few minutes, she stretched, and let her eyes focus to the morning's light. It was early. Early even for her own taste, but fact of the matter was she and Oliver had set themselves to a schedule of sorts. No matter what was happening that day. First thing on schedule. The first task at hand was always managing to get out of bed. No matter the situation. No matter the time, that was always a difficult task. It didn't matter what day of the week it was. The first priority was always her morning coffee. Something that she still carried over from her high school days.

"You going to get up in there or not?" Oliver asks from the confines of their bathroom, his shirt off as usual.

She takes her time, stretching a bit more, feeling the sheets and the fabric of the bed against her toes.

"Coffee," she states matter-of-factly to her boyfriend, smiling and laughing a bit.

"Get up first," he says, grabbing a towel.

"Don't wanna..." she says in return, shifting in the bed a bit more, trying her best not to cover herself up.

Oliver takes a moment, watching her from the distance of the bathroom before pulling off the blanket revealing her green night gown. He slowly climbs on top of her and kisses her lips tenderly.

"Come on, get a shower and I'll have coffee waiting in the kitchen...Queen style," he says it almost bragging. "Just..."

"Come ready to work out," she says finishing up his sentence. "I haven't forgotten. We do...some of this each and every morning."

Oliver smiles back at her, his hands running down her face gently.

"That some varies because of someone else's schedule," he says it smirking a bit. "A schedule I'm more than willing to bend to and for."

"Don't wanna...get up..." she groans into his ear.

He leans in gently and kisses her lips passionately.

"Shower and then meet me in the usual," Oliver says, whispering into her ear softly, before talking off into the estate.

"You know just once it would be nice if you all didn't knock the speed," Bart Allen says, doing his best to stand against the constraint of the metal crutches, attached to his legs. The only thing seemingly keeping him balanced.

"We weren't knocking the speed, dude," A.C. says shifting at the table, a piece of toast in his mouth.

"If we were knocking the speed...we'd do something a little more impulsive," Victor says, shifting his fork into his morning breakfast. "Something more...slam worthy."

"Slam worthy?" Oliver asks stepping into the confines of the kitchen. "Last I checked each and every one of us got our asses handed to us."

"Lucky us," Bart retorts, testing his balance managing a speed spurt to his seat.

"Good to see the tech is working for the speed," Ollie says, starting Chloe's coffee. "What about you Tin Man and Fish Stick?"

A.C. shakes his head at the nickname, taking it lightly. "Water does the body good. What can I say?"

Victor rolls his eyes. "Swear you and water jokes are starting to become like a bad milk commerical." He pauses a second. "I'm at 85 percent and rebuilding. The new improved upgrades and overrides over LuthorCorp tech has been a nice change in pace. Still need to play around with my new toys, when I get the chance."

"How much longer am I going to be wearing these things?" Bart interrupts, finishing off his second plate.

"I give it two days more tops and then we'll do a field test," Ollie returns, resting against the counter.

"Any news on Deathstroke?" Victor says, putting his fork down.

"None at present," Oliver states, watching his team's faces. "There hasn't been any trace evidence left of him since he took out that entire police van and I very much doubt, that he truly wants to be found." He pauses for a second, listening to the echo of footsteps coming down the hallway. "We'll get him and Luthor in due course. For now, the ball is in our court. We train, we rebuild and repair then we give them hell."

"Aren't we in a chanting mood this morning, boys?" Chloe asks moving into the room, decked out in a green spandex work outfit. Oliver smiles softly, kissing her lips tenderly before pulling out her coffee pot and pouring it into her cup.

"Chanting is right on the point, Chloeicious," Bart snorts, a bold smile crossing his face, clearly impressed by Chloe's morning outfit.

"Down Bart, you know she's spoken for," A.C. states, punchign him in the shoulder.

"Just a compliment," Bart returns, still smiling.

"Don't push your luck," Chloe says, resting agains the counter with Oliver. "And I did find a little something on our so called Deathstroke, while you and Cyborg were pulling your rounds."

"And what's that Angel?" Oliver asks, watching her eyes for a few seconds before wrapping his arms around her.

"Turns out he's a well known merc. Fought in 'Nam and the like before supposedly vanishing under the radar. Since then he's been popping up and taking random jobs. Some major, some so-so," Chloe says, resting into Oliver's arms.

"He got a name or do we just stick with Deathstroke?" Victor asks curiously.

"His real name is Slade Wilson," Chloe states simply. "Beyond those facts, I can't find much...at least not yet."

Oliver shifts slightly, resting his head against her shoulder. "As much as I hate to interrupt, we have other matters to deal with this morning."

"Yes, we do," Chloe says smiling back. "You boys have fun...I'll take this coffee to go and we'll all do our usual." As she speaks, Oliver drags her out the door into the hall, where he wraps his arms around her gently, kissing her lips passionately once more.

"You keep that up we're going to be exploring a different kind of fighting style on the mats," Chloe smirks, resting her head against his own. Oliver simply smiles back.

-THE PAST-

Metropolis, Kansas.

The Metropolis Watchtower.

"So let me get this straight. You and the others are just flat out leaving?" Chloe asks, following suit with Oliver as he collects his clothes within the confines of his own room. "You break up with Lois. Take down a facility and just take off with the whole team. No questions asked."

Oliver folds his shirt gently before turning to face Chloe.

"Yeah, it's as simple as that," Oliver states, without issue.

"I doubt that very much, Oliver Jonas Queen," Chloe states blocking Oliver's path, her arms over one another.

"Now, that's uncalled for," Ollie states caught off guard by his full name.

"No, what's uncalled for," Chloe states keeping Oliver's focus on her. "Besides the obivous is the fact, that we kissed two weeks ago. I didn't mind pushing it under the rug and ignoring it, BUT you broke up with my cousin."

"So...?" Ollie asks playing the matter almost as if there's no issue.

"Don't give me "so"," Chloe states, resting against the door. "I've seen you checking me out. You've been doing it every chance you get."

"Name one," Oliver returns.

"Let's see one, you stopped in the Planet the other day," Chloe states matter-of-factly. "Faking research on an out dated file. Even if you were there for that. Everytime, you tried to go for something you kept looking back at me. Like a lost puppy looking for someone to take care of..."

"Whoa! Hold it right there, Sidekick," Oliver states, meeting her eyes for a second. "You keeping tabs on me or something?"

"Not too hard when your popping up on my radar every time I turn around or doing something Arrow-y," Chloe states smiling back. "Not that being your team's Watchtower didn't help." Chloe pauses a second, looking up at the stairwell to the awaiting helicopter and then back at Oliver. "Be honest with me Oliver. Have you been thinking about me in a different way? Beyond "Hey Sidekick's got a cute butt?""

Oliver runs his hand through his hair, looking up at the helicopter pad. "To be frank, as much as I enjoyed my time with Lois. You stole my heart with one simple kiss," he states, grabbing his bag. "Don't get me wrong, Lois is a good person deep down, but she doesn't suit...my world."

"So...?" Chloe repeats mimicking Oliver fully.

"So yes, I needed to rethink myself and reconsider things," he says, moving towards the steps. "And in all fairness, I'd love to be getting to know your cute butt more."

"How am I suppose to do that, when you're walking away?" Chloe asks, watching him curiously.

"There's two options right here and here. The first is you follow me up these steps and go away to wherever it is, that I'm headed," he states it pointing to the steps. "Or two, you stay here and stay a Sidekick to Clark and go from there. I can't say I know how either option is going to play out, but I know I'm going to give you any chance I can get to give us alone time together. I'm not going to keep my world a secret from you, not that you haven't already deduced the biggest portion of it away by now."

"Two options? That's all you've got to offer me, Leather fetish?" Chloe retorts.

"The doors more than open if you're willing, Angel," he states, still standing on the steps.

"Seems someone is falling into the habit of calling me Angel already," Chloe says stepping forward meeting him eye-to-eye. "I'm coming with, but I need a little something, something to seal the deal."

Oliver doesn't hesitate meeting her lips for the second time. This time as deep as he can manage, their tongues meeting for the first time in a much desired encounter. The first of an ever growing many kisses of passion and love.

"Welcome aboard Watchtower," he says softly, a smile forming on his lips once more.

-THE PRESENT-

STAR CITY, California

"Don't let your guard down for a second," Oliver says blocking a few of Chloe's quick punches. "And don't start telegraphing your attacks. The moment you start telegraphing is the moment that the enemy gains the upperhand. You don't want that to happen. Ever."

In an attempt to change it up, Chloe sends a few sidekicks and round house kicks Oliver way. Oliver blocks each one of them.

"Good, good, but you're still telegraphing," Oliver states, holding his ground.

"You got any suggestions?" Chloe asks, striking a few fast combos, which Oliver still manages to block. She flashes him one of her one in a million smiles and quickly sneaks her leg under Oliver's, her arm grabbing his flipping him over onto the matt. "Match is mine," Chloe says smirking above him. Oliver's head firmly planted on the floor.

"You're getting faster," Oliver says from the floor, smiling back at her.

"Yo Ollie! Chloe! We've got company!" Victor's voice echoes through the halls of the training room through a loud speaker.

TWENTY MINUTES LATER.

"Oliver Jonas Queen, correct?" a middle aged, man about five foot three asks, offering his hand.

"None other," Oliver returns, shaking the man's hand.

"I'm Dr. Robert Grell with the United States government," the man says back, keeping his focus on Oliver and off of Chloe.

"What do you need exactly? I'm very certain all my bills are paid in full and all the charities I'm involved with or well in hand," Oliver says keeping a calm but steady cool.

"It's about your parents, Oliver," Grell says it softly, meaningfully. "Certain facts were kept from you and the rest of your family."

"Like what exactly?" Oliver asks, raising his brow curiously, folding his arms into place. "Besides the fact that they were in a plane crash."

"Your parents were murdered, Oliver," Grell states, his face a cold shadow of emotion.

NEXT ISSUE...WATCHTOWER: UNDERCOVER!