Home Again. With chloeas.

[olliequeen]

The Watchtower was quiet.

Even though they'd arrived home with Mia over an hour ago, they had all been pretty silent. Emil had allowed Mia to leave under the condition she get plenty of rest at least for the next twenty-four hours, so she was currently curled up asleep--or at least feigning sleep very well (with Mia it was almost impossible to tell)--in her bed. He stood in the doorway of her room, listening intently. Occasionally he heard the faint sound of Chloe's heels on the floor below, and the electronic whirring noise of all the computers.

He leaned his head against the wooden frame of the door, as if simply watching over her would keep her safe. He knew better.

Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly, folding his arms across his chest. He heard footsteps on the stairs and he resisted the urge to look over his shoulder, even when he felt the familiar touch land there a moment later. He shut his eyes for a second, then turned slowly, his expression uncertain as he met Chloe's eyes.

Comments

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Once she had checked in on everything at the Watchtower, not that she had to check anything considering Victor had been running the computer while they were in the hospital, she went upstairs.

She was worried about Oliver, he had barely been able to look at her and Mia since they got back from the hospital and even before that and she knew it was because he was blaming himself for putting Mia's life in danger.

After a quick glance inside the room to make sure Mia was okay, Chloe dropped her hand from his shoulder to his hand and gave it a light squeeze, "c'mon," she whispered.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, reluctantly allowing her to lead him across the hall to his own room. "Everything been all right?" he asked, keeping his voice quiet. "Anything big going down in the city?"

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"Nothing big, things seem pretty calm," she assured him once they were in his room, she turned to face him, but kept her voice quiet since the door was still open.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"Good. That's good," he said with a nod, glancing toward the stained glass window.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"Hey," she said quietly, reaching up to cup his cheek and watching him closely, "what's going on?"

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

Oliver closed his eyes at the touch, leaning into it unconsciously. "What do you mean?"

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

She brushed her thumb over his cheek gently, "you're avoiding looking at me, and Mia," she pointed out quietly and moved closer, lifting her other hand to his arm, "you're guilt tripping yourself." It wasn't a question.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"How can I not?" His voice was quiet. "She could have been killed. She almost was. And so were you, Chloe."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"But we weren't," she pointed out, "and we are both safe thanks to you."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

Oliver shook his head, pulling away from her. "No. Not because of me. The only reason any of us is alive right now is because of Zatanna." He rubbed the back of his neck wearily. "That whole place...it was one big trap. For everyone on the team. Because Slade wanted me. And if the others had been here--they all would have been in danger, too."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"You were the one who said we should call Zatanna, Ollie, none of us, not even Clark would have been able to fight Slade, we needed her help," she told him quietly, dropping her hands to her sides when he pulled away.

"You can't blame yourself for Slade's actions and you can't blame yourself for what happened." She took a step forward, looking at him, "we will always be each others' weaknesses, the people we love will always be the ones they will go after to try and get to us and all we can do about it is protect each other as well as we can, Oliver, but we can't stop it because it comes with the life we lead."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He closed his eyes as she fed him back the almost exact words he'd said to Mia the day before in the hospital. He ran a hand over his face and sat down slowly on the edge of his bed, exhaling slowly, his shoulders slumped. He knew on some level she was right, of course. Clark wouldn't have been able to help either. There had been Kryptonite in that warehouse.

There was a way to stop people from going after them, though. The one that his instincts screamed for him to do and he struggled against giving in because he knew cutting ties and running wasn't the answer either.

"I hate this," he admitted in a barely audible whisper.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"I know," with a worried frown, she moved to sit down by his side, bending a knee over the bed and sitting down so she was facing his profile then leaning in and cupping the back of his head before pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.

"I do too, Ollie, and I wish we could do what we do without paying the price, but it doesn't work that way."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He leaned into her, kissing her temple softly and slowly winding his arms around her. "This isn't what I planned," he murmured. "I should have expected it, but it's not what I wanted."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe shifted on the bed and moved closer, wrapping her arms around him too, "of course it's not what you wanted, Ollie, you would never want someone to get hurt, especially not Mia, and" she paused, pressing her forehead to his cheek, "we should have been better prepared and we should have been paying more attention but... we've learned our lesson."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He pulled her closer, resting his chin atop her head. "That's not really what I meant," he whispered. "I meant...I dragged her into this life. I didn't stop to think if it was really what was best for her. "I didn't stop to think about the possible consequences."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Sighing softly, she rested her cheek against his chest and closed her eyes, "considering the alternative, I think this is a lot better." She told him seriously, rubbing a hand over his back soothingly.

"We need to figure out a way to protect her better, but everything you've given her, Ollie, a home, a family, a chance to belong and do good and take care of herself, love and respect, these things count too."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He buried his face against her hair. "I know," he murmured. "I know it counts. It just doesn't feel like enough," he confessed.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe lifted a hand to the back of his head, running her fingers through his hair gently, "and it probably never will, because that's just who you are."

She pulled back enough to look at him and smiled slightly, "you always want to make things better for people, you always want to help them more, but what you're doing for her is more than anyone else has, if not her entire life, at least for a while and you need to give yourself a break every now and then."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He swallowed hard, relaxing at her touch without even realizing it. He exhaled slowly and nodded, letting his eyes drift shut. "A break huh?"

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"A break," she repeated quietly, turning her head and pressing a kiss to his cheek, still moving her fingers slowly over his hair, "relax, slow down, let someone else take care of you instead, because there is only so much worrying you can do until you can't take it anymore."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He was quiet for a moment. "Mia's on Easter break this week." His voice was soft. "Maybe we could go somewhere now."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe took a deep breath and pulled back enough to look at him, "I think that's a good idea."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"You think she'll want to go somewhere?" he asked, reaching out and tucking some hair behind her ear.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," she told him, smiling softly as she leaned into his touch, "I think it will be good for all of us to go out of town for a little while and she will want to be around us. Especially you."