Title: Baby Proofing Fandom: Smallville Genre: Romance Pairing: Chloe/Oliver Rating: PG Spoilers: Smallville, through season 9 up to CheckmateSummary: An unexpected pregnancy has Chloe questioning her priorities.

Author Note: I have no Betas so all mistakes are entirely my own. All comments and reviews are appreciated, including the "you suck" variety. I also know similar stories have been written with this theme, but this is my take on the situation.

Chapter One

Of all the things that had scared her in her life, nothing was more terrifying than the small piece of plastic in her hands. Billionaires with less than ethical obsessions? Piece of cake. Aliens bent on world domination? Not a problem. Secretive government agencies? Don't make me laugh. But two little pink lines peering through a small plastic window? That was the scariest thing she had ever faced.

How the hell had this even happened? They were normally so careful. They had never not used protection. Then the realisation slowly dawned on her. "Oh god." That statement was not completely true. The night Chloe had been taken by Checkmate they had been careless.

When she and Oliver had arrived back at Watchtower the emotions of the day had come to a head. Within the space of twenty-four hours Chloe had lost Oliver and visa versa. All of the feelings they had never spoken about, all the emotion they had felt but never shared, everything they never said out loud to each other was declared by the way their mouths crashed together the minute the door was closed. It had been the most passionate, intense night Chloe had ever experienced and if there had been any doubt in her mind that she was falling in love with Oliver Queen then that night made things abundantly clear. In the midst of all this that piece of latex had been forgotten and here she was now staring at her future on a stick. Friends with benefits had just become a whole lot more complicated.

She had never considered the possibility that she would ever be a mother. There was a time with Jimmy that she had allowed herself the indulgence of dreaming about children, a picket fence, maybe even a dog. She had known in her heart back then what she knew now - that life as Watchtower was far to dangerous. There was no certainty that you could always protect the ones you loved. Again Jimmy was the most obvious example. All of the Justice League had at one point been taken against their own free will, herself included. How could she protect a defenceless child from what a team of heroes had failed to protect their selves from? Her life was just not baby proof.

If she had just been carrying the baby of Oliver Queen then maybe she could deal with the situation as any other woman in her situation would. But this baby was also the result of the coupling of Green Arrow and his Watchtower, two individuals high on the watch list of Checkmate. They had tried to use Green Arrow to get to her. What would they do if they discovered they had a child? He or she would just be another pawn in their game, and pawns were cannon fodder.

She needed some time. She needed to think through what her next move was. She should tell Oliver but already Chloe knew that she wasn't ready for that just yet. She wasn't ready for his reaction no matter what it was. He was in Star City for the next few days so she would be able to think things through.

She looked down at her flat stomach. It was strange to think that there was a life in there. She felt no different. Shouldn't she feel different? She idly rubbed her stomach and imagined the small heartbeat galloping away. "What are we going to do?"