Title: Fight or Flight

Author: Poetess

Pairing : Chloe/Oliver

Rating: PG-13 (w/ a little bit of R for some mature imagery)

Spoilers: Season 9, Checkmate

Summary: Takes place immediately after "Checkmate." Oliver and Chloe come to a crossroads in their "non-relationship."

A/N: So suffice it to say, my Chlollie loving heart was ecstatic after watching Checkmate. Anyways this little plot bunny came to me after watching the episode. Most likely will be a one-shot, but who knows…

Oliver stood by the large window in his penthouse staring down at the bright lights of Metropolis. It was well past 1am but he could still see the city bustling with life below him. He watched as taxis zoomed up and down the street and people darting in and out of buildings from the sidewalk. Taking a long and deep breath, Oliver lifted the glass of scotch to his lips, the amber liquid burning a path down his throat as he swallowed it. He had no intention of drinking tonight, but the events of the past 24 hours had left him feeling on edge; and he needed something to calm his nerves.

Oliver was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't hear the gentle pad of footsteps behind him coming out from the bedroom. Chloe walked in and stopped at the entrance to the living room, leaning against the wall and taking in the scene before her.

Oliver stood there clad only in his silk pajama bottoms; green ones of course Chloe noted with a small smirk. She took in Oliver's form as the light from the moon bounced off his bare chest, outlining the curves of his well defined muscles. He was, as always, breathtaking to look at. As she watched him she felt a small shiver run up and down her spine and that familiar ache between her legs return, remembering the feel of his body weighing down on hers just a few hours ago. It still amazed Chloe how just the sight of him could literally make her knees go weak.

Chloe mused to herself, "How cliché is that?" But she couldn't deny the way her body reacted to the man standing before her. When exactly she had gone all "romance novel" on herself, she still was unsure of. She used to laugh at women who talked about butterflies in their stomach or swooning over a man. But if she had to be honest, she could remember feeling that way the first time she saw Oliver Queen standing in Clark's barn that fateful day that seemed like a crazy lifetime ago.

And here they were now, years later…lovers.

Her mind still reeled at this most recent development in their relationship. They were, against all rational thought and logic, lovers. Not acquaintances, not colleagues, not friends…but lovers. And not that she was complaining either, mind you. Chloe had certainly enjoyed the countless hours of sexual abandon they had been engaging in the past couple of weeks. But she had never imagined herself in a scenario that involved a sexy, gorgeous billionaire in her bed almost every night of the week…doing things that she HAD only read about in romance novels.

As the memory of their most recent encounter began to replay itself in her mind, she immediately felt her body being drawn to him, like the proverbial moth to a flame. Chloe felt an ache in her fingertips to touch him again which finally propelled her across the room where she came to stand behind him.

Up close she could see his shoulders rhythmically rise and fall; noting how his back muscles strained with every breath he took. Chloe reached out and laid her hand on his shoulder, gently squeezing the muscle beneath. She felt him relax under her fingertips as her hand slowly made the journey over his bicep and down his arm where she took hold of the glass of scotch he was holding. She tugged the glass away from him and brought it up to her own lips, finishing its contents and placing it on the table beside her.

Oliver felt the heat of her body as Chloe stood behind him and let his eyes slide shut as he felt her hand caressing his arm, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. He heard the clatter of the glass as it hit the table and suddenly felt her small hand snake its way across his stomach, pulling him backwards into her. Oliver inhaled sharply as her hand lightly moved over his stomach and dipped lower, sliding her finger just below the waistband of his pajama bottoms. He could feel her smile against his back as he went hard beneath her teasing hand.

"Come back to bed" she whispered as her fingers wandered dangerously lower.

Oliver let his head fall forward as the feel of her body against his made any rational thoughts in his head go flying out the window. But suddenly he remembered what had driven him out of bed in the first place as he reached down and gently grabbed her hand, pulling her around to face him.

Oliver gazed into her emerald green eyes which stared back at him wide with surprise at his sudden movement. Her mouth was slightly open as she waited for him to say something. The sight of her lips almost made him lose his resolve again as he swallowed hard, fighting the overwhelming urge to kiss her.

"Chloe, I…" he struggled to find the words he needed to say, but found himself faltering.

She could see the internal battle going on in his mind as it played across his face, his eyebrows knitting together in frustration. With her free hand she reached up and caressed his cheek, trying to will away the tension in his brow.

"What's going on Oliver?" she questioned with concern in her voice.

Oliver took another deep breath and looked into her waiting eyes, "I can't do this anymore."

Chloe quickly drew her hand away from his face, and she stared up at him confused.

"What are you talking about?"

Oliver could feel Chloe drawing back at his words; her expression shifting from one of confusion to one of worry. But before she had a chance to move away, he reached for her other hand, pulling her back to him.

"No, that's not what I meant. I mean I can't keep lying to myself about how I feel….about you." He waited with bated breath for her response.

"Oliver, we've been through this" Chloe sighed in frustration.

"We agreed that we were going to keep this simple, no complications, no strings, remember?" Chloe tried to pull away once again.

But Oliver was unwilling to let go, literally and figuratively.

"No Chloe, YOU agreed. And I was willing to let you go on thinking that, until you were ready."

"Ready for what??" she shot back.

"Ready to admit that this was more than just a casual thing; ready to admit that what we've been doing these past few weeks has been about more than just sex…"

Chloe shook her head and tried to loosen his grip on her with no success.

"Ready to finally let me in" he whispered fiercely, a slight tremble finding its way into his voice.

"Oliver, please. You're just reacting to a VERY stressful day, okay? Look, I get it. I know you were worried. I know you were scared. But nothing happened, I'm fine" she said trying to convince him AND herself.

Chloe knew this was coming. She knew it the moment he had stopped her in the street and he had told her she had scared the life out of him with her near death experience. She knew it when they were in his bed afterwards and he held onto her for dear life; how he had touched her and kissed her as if he were a starving man savoring his first meal in years. She knew something had changed for him. And as always, her instincts were proving her right.

"Listen to me Ollie. This was supposed to be fun remember? We both know that there are no guarantees in our line of work. The only way this works, for both of us, is if we keep the boundary lines drawn" Chloe tried to explain, "and we stick to them."

"And you're telling me you can do that Chloe?" Oliver said eyeing her suspiciously, "you're telling me you can keep things between us strictly casual and uncomplicated?"

Chloe nodded her head at his question, as he finally let her out of his grasp. She turned away and began to walk back towards the bedroom.

"One thing before you leave…" he said to her retreating form. She stopped waiting for him to continue, her back still turned, as if poised to fly away at any moment.

"How did YOU feel?" Chloe turned around, her face filled with confusion at his question.

"How did you feel when I got taken and you lost contact with me? When you thought I was hurt or quite possibly dead?" he said matter of factly, a hint of daring in his voice.

Chloe suddenly felt her stomach drop to the floor at his question. Her mind hit the rewind button and she found herself transported back to earlier that day.

(Flashback, Watchtower)

The moment the computer screens had gone blank and she had lost contact with Oliver she felt her heart freeze in her chest, her lungs unwilling to let air in. She could hardly steady her hands as she furiously typed away at the keyboard trying to get communications back up.

She could barely find her voice when Clark suddenly blew in, trying to find out what had happened.

"Didn't you see my texts??!! I lost Oliver. He was tracking some armed men, followed them under the monorail and then it was like some massive mute button went off. No radio, no beacon, nothing!!"

Chloe was rattling off the information incoherently. She knew she was being short with Clark, who seemed WAY to calm at the moment, given what had just happened and more importantly what could have happened.

Oliver always followed protocol. He always checked in. He knew she always waited for him to do so. Chloe also suspected Oliver knew that she breathed a sigh of relief every time he did.

But he didn't this time and she was scared out of her mind. She was trying her hardest to stay calm and avoid the dread that was beginning to form in her head as she wandered around Watchtower trying and failing to get her feeds back online.

'What if he's hurt? What if we can't find him? What if he's…No, don't think that way Chloe' she screamed to her subconscious as she shut her eyes tightly trying to fight back the tears that were beginning to form

'He's fine. He can handle himself. He's okay. He has to be…' she tried to convince herself as she felt the cold sweat of fear run down her back.

(Present, Oliver's Penthouse)

Chloe gripped the edge of the couch as her emotions seemed to overwhelm her. She had fought hard to recover from her reaction to Oliver's disappearance earlier that day. The concern that turned to fear that turned into downright panic had taken hold of her at the thought that something had happened to him.

And when Oliver had returned safely to Watchtower, her heart had soared at seeing him and she had released a breath she didn't realize she had been holding since he had gone. After it was all said and done, she had tried to simply explain away her reaction; telling herself it was a knee jerk reaction to one of them being in trouble. It was how she would have reacted to any one of them being in that situation. But in her heart, she knew the truth.

Thinking back now to when they were in his bed, entangled in each others' arms, she knew deep down that things had not only changed for him. In that moment this thing had changed for her as well.

Now here he was calling her out on everything she had tried so hard to hide from.

"How did you feel?" Chloe heard Oliver whisper in her ear, standing behind her now.

She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply, her conscious mind battling with itself over what to say.

"Tell me how you felt Chloe" he urged her as he pried her fingers away from the couch and twined them with his.

"Scared" she breathed out finally, "I was terrified, okay?" she said, the defeat evident in her voice.

"Why?" Oliver prodded. He knew he was being unfair. He knew he was being cruel making her relive the horrible memory. But he had to know.

"Because…because I thought I had lost you. Because I thought you were gone and never coming back. Because I didn't get to tell you…" Chloe couldn't go on as the sobs she had been holding back finally broke through and broke her down.

Chloe collapsed to her knees as her body wracked with uncontrollable sobs. Oliver quickly followed her down, wrapping his arms around her shaking form. He buried his face into her neck as he held her, silently willing the tremors to cease.

After a few minutes, Chloe's body began to relax as her breathing evened and only a slight hiccup remained. Oliver finally felt her relax into his embrace as they both let the exhaustion of the day take hold.

They had sat there for a while unmoving letting the events of the past few minutes sink in. Oliver found himself almost drifting off to sleep, until he felt Chloe move from under his arms and stand up. He was afraid to look up, unsure of what he would find when he did.

With a deep breath he turned his gaze up to her tear stained face. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying and her hair was mussed beyond belief. But there it was…a gentle and serene smile had found its way to her lips and he had never seen her look more beautiful than in that moment.

Chloe reached down and held out her small hand for him to take, her head nodding toward the direction of his bedroom.

Oliver let out a small chuckle as he took her hand and stood up; and without another word he followed her.

A/N: Thoughts? Good, bad??