Information. With chloeas.

[olliequeen]

Oliver's mind had not been on work the entire afternoon, especially when he'd gotten a message from Chloe stating that Stuart had woke up, and that she was going to go talk to him. His stomach was tight with unease as he waited on the doorstep. It never felt right to just barge in on her. Watchtower was her place, and while she'd always made it clear he was welcome, it just felt wrong to let himself in.

So he reached up and rang the bell, looking up at the security camera and offering her a grin. Not as wide as it could have been, but a grin nonetheless.

Comments

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Looking over at the camera, she raised her eyebrows a little at the smile on Oliver's face. Between her conversation with Clark and the news Stuart had given her, her mood was less than cheerful.

She had just stepped in herself so she was just a couple of steps from the door when she walked over to open it, "you really should start using your keys, especially when I'm expecting you."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He shrugged a little, sliding his hands into his pockets and stepping inside. "I know. You tell me every time," he teased lightly, glancing around before turning to face her. "But I don't like to just barge in."

He paused a moment, then smiled a bit more. "I didn't really enjoy having it done at my place," he admitted.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

With a faint smile, she nodded, it was nice that he wanted to respct her place like he did, didn't see a lot of that going around, "we should make a deal then, if I'm expecting you, you can come in, otherwise, you knock."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He met her eyes and nodded a little, smiling faintly. "Deal." He drew in a breath, seeing something in her eyes that he couldn't readily identify, and that only served to heighten his sense of unease.

"Did you talk to Stuart?"

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

At that, he tensed a little, a shock of alarm flooding him at her words. Shit. He held her gaze, his expression suddenly changing and growing very serious. "No. She won't," he agreed.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

With a nod, she held his gaze before turning to look at the screen on her computer, "Stuart opened the access to the security cameras of the mansion so I can keep an eye on her at all times," she glances at Oliver then back at the screen as it divided in four, showing different angles of the study, "I'm sure I will know if she's planning something."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"Don't count on it." His voice was quiet, grave. He looked at the screen, feeling more than uneasy now. "She's far too smart to let herself get caught like that." He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "She's not like Clark or even me. Lex made her his protege for a reason. She's always a step ahead."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"No?" There was a hint of uncertainty in his voice and he looked at her sideways.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"No." She repeated, finally turning to look at him and meeting his eyes, "I like having you around, even when I don't have a bull's eye painted on my forehead." The smile on her lips was very faint, but it was there.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He grimaced at her words. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you." His voice was quiet, but serious. "I swear it."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He searched her eyes and sighed softly, nodding a little. "All right," he said quietly, expression worried. He was quiet for a moment. "But just so you know, Chloe...I'm here."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Sighing too, she nodded, looking at him, "thank you." If things didn't get better soon, she would take him up on his offer, but until then, she would have to keep it to herself.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, offering her a half smile. "In the morning, I'm going to have a team install more security," he told her quietly. "If that's all right."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

His eyes widened a little and he looked at the monitor. "Good plan," he murmured, impressed. As much as he wanted to believe that Mercy wouldn't come after Chloe for what had happened in a version of the future that wasn't going to take place, he wasn't certain. The more they could learn, the better off they'd be.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

With another glance at him, she began typing, eyes back on the screen as she tried to make her way through the firewalls that kept popping up. If Tess was going to try to kill her to prevent her own death, the more she knew about it, the easier it would be to stop her.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He watched her work for a long time, silent and waiting. Then he took a seat at the other end of the desk, picking up a stack of files he hadn't gotten all the way through earlier.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

Sure enough, the next slide was a clear view of his face. "Well, that's...an interesting look for me," he muttered, raising his eyebrows. The next slide showed him turning to look at another black-clad figure, a small smile on his face. And the next revealed Chloe.

He sucked in a breath and turned to look at her.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Her eyes widened a little when she saw herself, also all dressed in black, crossbow in hand, standing next to the others, "that's... definitely interesting. I guess you finally decided to share your archery secrets with me?" She glanced at him, hint of a smirk on her face.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He met her eyes and held her gaze for a moment. "Apparently." A faint smile touched his lips.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

Oliver felt his stomach tighten a little when the next image was of Chloe standing alone on the sidewalk, a nervous expression on her face.

Where am I? he wondered uneasily.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

The second Chloe saw the Kandorian woman show in one of the images, she knew what was about to happen, but she couldn't look away from the screen in front of her, even as she saw herself falling on the floor and Lois kneeling next to her.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

Oliver held his breath, his expression blank as his image on the screen touched Lois's shoulder, and apparently engaged her in some kind of brief conversation before she vanished.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"Then that's what we stop," he said, his voice filled with determination, turning to face her once more. "We don't let that happen. Whatever it takes to prevent it, we do it."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe took a deep breath and rubbed her face, "that sounds like a great short-term solution, Oliver, but it's not a long-term one, eventually, they will find ways around it."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"We go with what we have for now," he said quietly. "And while we do that, we work on backup plans."