Author's Comment: Hey, everyone. Sorry to those of you who are always counting on my daily/bi-daily updates. Crazy weekend combined with hitting a minor case of writer's block on how to end this threw me off course for a couple of days. But, here it is at last. Thanks once again to everyone who's responded to this story, and thanks to the people who have been sending me prompts. I will be getting around to those shortly.

B.S.S.

--11--

When Chloe's eyes opened it was the first thing she saw. Sitting on the table beside her bed, not six inches from her was the little white chess piece. A Queen.

She was about to sit up in bed when she realized that part of what had finally woken her (the sedatives having long since worn off) was the sound of an extremely irate Lois Lane.

"HOW COULD YOU LET HER GET MUGGED? What the hell is wrong with you, Oliver?"

"Lois--"

"I mean, I leave her with you for barely three days and this happens?"

"Listen--"

"You of all people should have been able to protect her! How could you let a mugger get the better of you?"

"Would you please--"

"She's my cousin, Ollie! My cousin! And now she's lying there, lifeless--"

"--keep your voice down?"

"--because you couldn't follow simple instructions and take care of her!"

"You're going to get us--"

A nurse entered the room.

"--thrown out," Oliver sighed, dropping back into his chair.

"Really, Miss!" the nurse said admonishingly. "If you don't calm down, I'm going to have to ask you to remove yourself from the--"

"Don't you tell me to calm down," Lois snapped. "Come back when you can actually back up those threats. In the meantime, I'm staying right here."

The nurse looked shocked and quickly fled.

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Very ladylike, Lois."

"You, shut up."

He closed his mouth and waited.

"Well," she demanded after a moment. "Don't you have anything to say for yourself?"

Oliver opened his mouth irritably, but before he could say anything, they both heard a soft chuckle. All eyes snapped in Chloe's direction, where said woman was slowly pushing herself up in bed.

"No, please," she grinned. "Don't stop on my account. You two tearing each other's heads off is clearly very important."

Oliver stood up and Lois ran to Chloe and wrapped her arms around Chloe. "You are coming home with me and you're never leaving the house ever again!"

"Hi, Lo," Chloe patted her cousin's back calmly, an amused smile gracing her lips. She glanced at Oliver and winked.

"I am so sorry I went to Mexico instead of staying with you. None of this would have happened if I hadn't left you with billion-dollar-toothpaste over there."

Oliver made an impatient noise. "How are you feeling, Chloe?"

"A bit oxygen-deprived. Lo, you're cutting off my circulation." Lois released her sheepishly and stepped back. "And lay off. Ollie did a great job taking care of me, all things considered."

"Whatever you say," Lois said grumpily. "I still think if you'd been with me--"

"What did you say?" Oliver asked suddenly.

"I said that if she'd been with me--"

"Not you, Lo," Oliver interrupted. "You," he turned to Chloe, whose eyes were dancing mirthfully.

"I said you did a great job taking care of me, all things--"

"You called me Ollie."

She nodded. "It's what I usually call you, isn't it?" She raised the chess piece in her hand indicatively.

Lois was the first to react. "Oh my god, is your memory back?"

Chloe nodded. "And let me tell you something, have I ever got the worst headache right now. I want painkillers. Yesterday."

"On it," Lois said, flying from the room to hunt down some poor, unsuspecting nurse.

Which left Chloe and Oliver to their standoff.

Chloe waited patiently for Oliver to say something, and Oliver just stood there, staring at her, an expression that simply screamed 'deer in headlights' painted across his face.

Chloe's lips twitched humorously.

"Well?" she asked after several minutes had passed.

Oliver opened his mouth, but was spared actually speaking by the entrance of Chloe's doctor.

"Miss Sullivan, good to see you're awake. I think you must have been thoroughly exhausted. You slept much longer than we expected you to."

"I didn't sleep very well the last couple of nights, unfortunately."

The doctor nodded, walking over to take her pulse. "I understand your memory is returned?"

Chloe nodded pleasantly.

"Entirely?"

She nodded again, and noticed out of her peripheral that Oliver had dropped into his chair again.

"That's excellent. I was a bit concerned about that. Do you remember the accident and the last couple of days?"

"Yes."

"Good. How are you feeling otherwise?" he gently examined the place where her head had been impacted.

"Like I have a massive migraine and I could use a very large glass of water."

"Well, I can certainly get you some water, and I'll put you on a very mild painkiller, but I don't want you on anything too strong."

Chloe nodded. "Thank you."

"Welcome back, Miss Sullivan," the doctor said, almost more to his clipboard than to her as he exited the room.

"Thank you, Doctor Cameron."

At which point, Chloe's laughing eyes turned automatically back to Oliver, who still looked as though he were completely terrified.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Speak."

"I'm really sorry I let you get 'mugged.' "

"Speak something other than an apology."

"I'm really glad your memory is back and that you apparently don't hate my guts."

"When did I ever hate your guts?"

"Never. But I keep expecting you to. I tend to deserve it."

Chloe raised an eyebrow skeptically.

He shrugged. Then he looked suddenly entertained. "By the way, I had a custom leather pillow case ordered for you."

Chloe laughed. "You're never going to let me live the last couple of days down, are you?"

He shook his head. "Not in a million years. I'm also going to buy myself some more green ties. Apparently the color suits me."

Chloe grabbed her pillow and through it at him. "You're terrible."

He caught the pillow easily and grinned at her. "I also plan on telling Bart you thought he was your boyfriend."

She attempted to glare, but the effect was dampened by the smile she failed to suppress. "Don't you dare!"

"What? I think he'd like to know that his flowers worked."

"It was a completely logical assumption."

"True," he grinned easily. "It's not your fault that every relationship in your life defies ordinary standards."

She raised an eyebrow at him, but he didn't seem to realize quite what he'd said. She sighed. "Where's Clark?"

All of a sudden he appeared in the room. "Just waiting outside for you to ask for me."

Chloe laughed as he bent down and hugged her. "Clark?"

"Yeah?"

"I would like to hit the back of your head right now, but I realize that is pointless because I'd only end up hurting my hand. So just realize the thought is there, please." She looked at him significantly.

Clark looked ruefully at her. "May I ask why?"

"Because first of all, you have been a complete jerk the last couple of months and I'm tired of you blowing me off. I'm about ready to make you go into relationship counseling with me as soon as I'm home again. Second of all, I don't care how guilty you feel or how many stupid things you've done, I like my life just the way it is, and I don't appreciate your stupid guilt-inspired desire to see me forget the most important aspects of my life."

Clark studied her for a minute before finally saying simply, "I'm sorry."

"You're not forgiven. I will forgive you when I have received coffee and painkillers and not a moment sooner." She gave him a sharp look, which slowly turned into an exasperated smile.

"If it means anything, I am glad you're back to normal."

"Normal," Chloe repeated the word with a scoff. "Interesting choice of words. But thanks, Clark."

The doctor returned with painkillers and after they took a few more X-rays and a final CAT scan, Chloe was released.

Before Chloe left the hospital, though, she let Oliver in on some important information: when she'd gotten by the car, she'd been on her way to see him because she had realized she was being followed. Besides that, she had been unable to shake the feeling that her apartment was being watched. Unfortunately, the knowledge that someone was after her had gotten lost in translation when she lost her memory.

Of course, it all made sense now. Chloe was convinced that Checkmate wouldn't try the same move a second time, but Oliver insisted on having AC and Victor check out the Talon before she was allowed to move back in. All evidence pointed to it being safe, but Clark used the pretense of staying with Lois for a movie night in order to keep an eye out for Chloe. Chloe would have protested, but she knew it was better to err on the safe side, and Clark appeared to be using the opportunity to get into her good graces. it was evident that Clark was feeling guilty, which normally would have annoyed Chloe, but this time at least he was feeling guilty for the right reasons, so she decided not to touch the matter.

The morning after Chloe's return from the hospital she was back to work. Clark tried to persuade her to take a day for rest, but she dismissed the idea immediately, saying she'd already had three days to rest. Clark tried to point out that amnesia and abduction did not a vacation make, but it was no use.

Oliver was...startled when Chloe appeared in his apartment that morning, though he realized he shouldn't be. It was surprising how difficult it was to accept that they were going to slip right back into the old routine.

"Morning, Green Bean," she'd said when she walked in on his morning work out. She placed her laptop on his desk, an air of business about her, and for a flicker of an instant, Oliver found himself missing high school Chloe. He shrugged it off, leaving to change into fresh clothes.

You panicked, he told himself disgustedly as he pulled a clean shirt over his head. You panicked in the hospital yesterday and you missed your chance.

"I'm taking the liberty of spreading a rumor that you were ill last night to explain your absence at the St. Jude fundraiser. And I'm having you make a large donation so that no one can complain," she called after him.

"Sounds good. What was I sick with?"

"Gastroenteritis."

"Sounds nasty."

"It's stomach flu."

"Will I be better soon?" he asked humorously as he reentered the room, rubbing the scruff on his chin, thinking he could use a shave.

"You look terrible," she noted.

He smirked. "You look beautiful."

They said it to each other almost every day, as a joke, but today, Oliver noted with interest, Chloe's ears turned red as she kept her eyes glued to the computer screen.

It was the sign he'd been waiting for, the indication that they were no longer on the same playing field they had been before her accident.

"You know what I think?" he asked, walking over to her and leaning on the counter to watch her.

She smirked, never looking up from the screen. "What do you think, Mr. Queen?"

"I think my stomach flu is going to last another day."

She glanced up at him, amused. "Is it? Not trying to shirk your business obligations are you?"

"Of course not. It's called delegating."

Chloe rolled her eyes before returning them to the computer. "I see, and what are you planning to do with your sick day?"

"Well, I've just about finished the design for my new compound bow--"

"Have you?"

"Yeah. So I think I'll put the final touches on that."

"Good plan. I doubt you need an entire day for that."

"I don't. There's another project I want to look into."

She raised a curious eyebrow but kept at her work. Oliver leaned over slightly to see what she was doing. It looked like she was attempting to profile some of the people who had kidnapped her, It didn't seem to be producing much result. "What project?" she asked at length, finally taking his bait.

"Well, it's a personal thing, really," he said, moving behind her under the pretense of getting a better look at the research she was doing, his face now beside hers. "It's going to require some very careful attention."

Chloe's body stiffened at the close contact. "Oh?"

With a sigh, Oliver dropped the pretense. "You know, I didn't have memory loss this week. I remembered you."

"So?" she asked, steeling herself.

"So I wasn't kissing a stranger."

Chloe's face turned magnificently red. "Right. That." she said tightly, her throat suddenly constricting.

Oliver laughed, rolling his eyes as he turned her in his arms to look at him. "Yeah, that."

"I was confused," she said evasively, her eyes looking away from him.

"So?" he asked, summoning up more courage than he was sure he had.

Chloe forced herself to look at him. Having her memory back hadn't changed the fact that Oliver having feelings for her was the most absurd scenario she could think of. All it changed was that she remembered how much she had been hurt.

And then she remembered her conversation with Dinah in the cafe. Dinah was her friend, and she wanted Chloe to let go of how much she had been hurt, and how scared she was. Bear it in mind, she'd said.

"So I don't know," she said finally, her voice exasperated. "It's a lot to register."

"You don't know how you feel about me now that you have your memory back," Oliver said astutely.

She nodded.

"Well let's find out," he said, causing her to squeak in surprise when he lowered his head to capture her lips for the second time.

Chloe felt her heart beating frantically, panic spreading through her body. Maybe it was because of the panic, she decided later. Maybe that rush of adrenaline was what made herself practically attack his lips in response. Even Oliver was surprised by the enthusiastic return, though he quickly took advantage of it, arms wrapping tightly around her waist and drawing her to him. He held her so tightly she had to wrench her head back to gasp for a laughing breath.

"Do you have any idea how much I missed you?" he demanded as he kissed her neck.

"Oliver!" she squealed in shock, trying to be dignified and push him off of her.

"You are not allowed to forget me ever again," he told her, pecking her lips again.

"Trust me, I won't," she laughed.

"So you say," he said in mock-admonishment, "but you put me through hell, you know."

Chloe looked at him seriously. "Thanks for taking care of me, Ollie."

The corner of his lip pulled into a hint of a smile. "That was the only fun part of it."

"Fun?" she laughed.

"Yeah. I got to see you in your pajamas, watch you walk around looking at everything through a fifteen-year-old's eyes, pretend not to notice that you'd been snooping through my things, see how long it took you to figure out everyone's secrets, freak you out every time I wasn't wearing a shirt--which, by the way, was possibly the most entertaining thing I've ever seen."

"Oh shut up," Chloe rolled her eyes, attempting to squirm out of his arms as he teased her. Oliver, naturally, tightened his grip to disallow it.

"I'm serious! Nothing makes you nervous. But apparently when you were a teenager..." he trailed off.

"Ass," she accused.

"That made you nervous too? Duly noted."

Chloe just laughed. "Would you shut up? You're becoming less attractive by the minute."

"I am not," he said, kissing her again. He released her just enough for her to wrap her arms around his neck.

"You need a shave," Chloe said, giggling as the stubble on his chin tickled her.

"You need to stop interrupting kissing with silly things like talking and breathing," he countered, hands lowering to squeeze her ass. Chloe squealed and swatted his shoulder in response, jumping back from him.

"Neanderthal."

"Yes I am. Would you like to see my cave?"

"I cannot believe you just said that," she rolled her eyes mockingly.

"Yeah, yeah. C'mere, woman," he told her, dragging her back to him. He rested his forehead against hers.

"Hi," she said humorously.

"Hi," he said back.

"I'm sorry I put you through hell."

"I can think of a few ways to make up for it."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. And all of them involve caveman behavior on my part."

"Well, I'll see what I can do."

"Chloe?"

"Hmm?"

"You know I'm going to make sure you never ever forget me again, right?"

"I'm counting on it."