Notbroken (12/12) part 2

[serafina19]

Title: Notbroken
Summary: Two years after the events in "Calendar Girl," Chloe finds herself days from beginning her final year at SCU when Oliver suddenly returns to Star City. But between balancing her ambitions, school, and her investigative tendencies towards the new vigilantes in town, Chloe finds herself struggling to choose the life she wants.

Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a couple original characters. The title/lyrics are from a song of the same name by Goo Goo Dolls.
Warning: I sample from seasons 8-9, so there are spoilers, but this story is very much an alt-verse.

Thanks to: tehzo  for the amazing banner and slytherinpunk  for being my beta/sanity maintainer.

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Sera's Scribbles: Make sure to read part 1 first....I couldn't fit it all in one post!!




July 19
 
Entering the event alone, Chloe couldn’t help but feel nervous.  It was her first gala since she got together with Oliver, but the majority of the world still didn’t know they had crossed that line yet.  There had been speculation, as there always was, but no confirmation.
 
Looking through the crowd, Chloe struggled at spotting Oliver when a champagne glass came into her line of sight. 
Taking it with a smile, she was surprised to see the person handing it to her
 
“Tess.”
 
“Chloe,” the redhead replied as she stood next to Chloe.  “Oliver still drags you to these events, I see.”
 
Not sure she should trust Tess, Chloe swirled her drink instead of sipping it.  “I know how much it sucks coming alone, and besides, someone has to save him from the screaming fans.”
 
“Well,” Tess said, finishing what was left of her champagne, “better you than me.”
 
Chloe opened her mouth to respond when her gaze caught Oliver’s across the room, her face lighting up upon seeing him smiling at her.   Tess noticed the exchange between the pair and shook her head. “I wish you both the best,” she stated quickly and walked away.
 
Not even hearing the comment, Chloe handed her glass to the nearest waiter.  However, when she began to walk over to him, smile firmly on her face, a young woman stepped in front of her view.  Oliver politely shook her hand, but as the handshake continued, his gaze went up to Chloe, essentially apologizing to her with a single glance.
 
She had to laugh at his obvious discomfort, and figured it was her turn to help him out, although this time, she was armed with a different tactic.  More than aware that what she was about to do would likely seem tasteless on her part, she found herself not caring about it as she got closer.  After all, she had her fair share of people stepping on her toes, it washer turn, and besides, the man was her boyfriend.
 
“Hey,” Chloe said as she stopped beside him, still going up on her tiptoes to kiss him, despite her heels.  After a second, she returned to her ‘natural’ height, elevated by the three-inch heels, to turn towards the woman, but making sure to coyly slip her arm around Oliver.  “I don’t believe we’ve met,” Chloe said as she held out her other hand to the woman, “I’m Oliver’s girlfriend, Chloe Sullivan.”
 
The woman huffed and disappeared from their sight, causing Chloe to sarcastically frown.  “I thought people like you were taught manners.”  She tsk’ed before adding, “I guess not.”
 
Oliver just stared down at her stoic expression and couldn’t hold his laughter anymore.  He didn’t even care that she turned to him the moment he started and asked with a raised eyebrow,  “What?”
 
“I’m trying to figure out if I should thank you for ditching that girl for me, or accuse you of being jealous.”
 
“Jealous?  Me?” Chloe asked innocently.  “I just thought it was a fair trade-off, no jerks for me, no bimbos for you.”
 
“I thought we were being low-key on the titles.  That was your idea.”
 
Chloe laughed, feeling Oliver’s obvious displeasure with their situation as he squeezed her tighter against his side.  “Can’t a girl change your mind?”
 
“In that case,” Oliver said, moving in front of her to kiss her softly.  “Have I mentioned how much I admire the colour choice for your dress this evening?”
 
“No, but you would,” Chloe said, staring down at her green dress.  It was purposely done, as it was no secret that Oliver loved the colour, but the added bonus was that Chloe loved the way she looked in green as well.  “But just wait until you see what’s underneath the dress, hero.”
 
At the thought of that particular mental image, Oliver groaned.  Matting his forehead against hers, he whispered.  “You’re going to be the death of me, Chloe.”
 
Taking his hand, Chloe led Oliver to the dance floor, shrugging as they arrived.  “A girl’s gotta do something to sweep a guy off his feet from time to time.”
 
Oliver placed his hands, admiring Chloe in her dress one more time before saying, “As long as you’ll have me, you’ll always have my attention.”
 
“Well-said Queen.”
 
“Well,” Oliver said as he twirled her before pulling her close, “a guy’s gotta do something to make sure you know what you mean to him.”
 
Relaxing her head on his chest, Chloe smiled.  “I think I’m starting to get it.”
 
Looking around, Chloe noticed they were getting stared at, but she couldn’t blame them.  They were unintentionally playing up the crowd after all.  Oliver sensed the tension in her body, so he rubbed her side gently, causing Chloe to lift her head.  “You sure about this... coming out to the public I mean.”
 
 “It’s a little late for that now, don’t you think?”
 
“You know that’s not what I mean.”
 
Oliver was right, but knowing the way he’d always look after her made her answer that much easier.  The truth is, she also knew this was part of being in his life, no, their life.  She had been living this long enough that it no longer mattered what people thought of them.  They could stare, roll their eyes, snap a photo, but it would no longer faze Chloe like it used to because the only thing that mattered to Chloe was the man in front of her.
 
She replied, “Yeah,” before she leaned her head against him again, her body getting lost in the way they moved to the music.
 
 

 
July 31
 
“Is the blindfold really necessary?”
 
There they were, standing in an elevator of all things, and Oliver had her blindfolded.  Chloe trusted him, that was never a question, but it seemed pointless.  What exactly could she see while she was in a tiny room exactly?
 
“Relax, it’ll be off soon,” Oliver reassured her as the elevator stopped.  He grabbed her hand, taking her out and leading her... somewhere.  The only noise she heard was the sound of door creaking, but that wasn’t much to work with.  However, Oliver was true to his word, as within a few footsteps after Chloe heard the door close, he stopped guiding her and said,   “Okay, you can take it off now.”
 
Chloe did so and looked around as the lights lit up the room around her.  It felt like the place she visited, or rather broke into, in Star City, but instead of assuming anything, she asked, “What is this place?”
 
“Watchtower,” Victor replied as he descended from the second story.  “It’s what you told Oliver our headquarters was, and well, considering we’ll need your help from this location... the name seemed to fit for you too.”
 
She immediately looked to Oliver.  “I thought...”
 
“I kept my secret from you and you found out everything anyway.” He put his hands on her shoulders and shrugged.  “I’m not stopping you from doing something you want.”
 
Leaning closer, his eyes darkened before he whispered, “Besides, having you in my ear every night can’t ever be a bad thing.”
 
Rolling his eyes as he approached the main console, Victor waited for the other two to join them.  When they didn’t, he cleared his throat.  “If you two are done being couple-y, we’ve got work to do.”
 
“Right,” Oliver said, backing away with a sly smile before joining Victor, Chloe not far behind.  “How’s the mission coming in Denmark?”
 
“AC and Dinah seem to have everything under control.”
 
“Dinah?” Chloe asked, confused as to the new member of the team.
 
“So you won’t feel like you’re dealing with a bunch of testosterone.  She’s been looking forward to meeting you.”
 
“So we’ve got Green Arrow, Cyborg, Aquaman, and ...?”
 
“Black Canary,” Victor finished.
 
“Hey, she’s the one from Gotham right?”  Looking up at Oliver, Chloe narrowed her eyes.  “Should I be concerned that you’re patrolling with a fishnet-wearing vigilante?”
 
“No, because you should know by now that I’ve only got eyes for only one blond.”
 
“You better.”  Chloe leaned over the console analyzing some of the data Victor had pulled up.  Eventually, she turned back to the two men and asked, “Speaking of new recruits, any leads on Impulse?”
 
Victor opened his mouth to respond, but Oliver beat him to it.  “Nothing yet.”  Chloe nodded, before turning her head back towards the equipment in front of her.  Seeing how entranced she was, Oliver chuckled.  “I’m going to get geared up.”
 
“Great,” Vic replied, “I’ll show Chloe the ropes.”
 

~0~

 
Lois had been ranting to Evie all evening, frustrated on how their girl’s night was apparently ruined by Oliver. 
 
Evie,of course, knew that Oliver had been planning on surprising Chloe by showing her Watchtower for the past two weeks, because even though Evie didn’t know the location of the elusive building, Oliver trusted her to make sure Chloe was free tonight.  Unfortunately for her, that meant lying to Lois when she wanted to include Chloe.
 
Although, it really wasn’t that bad.  Sure, when Evie met Lois, they were like oil and water, but she had learned to really respect Chloe’s older cousin...except her tendency to jump to R-rated conclusions.
 
“I know it took them forever to figure it out, but they could at least, I don’t know, come up for air sometime.”
 
Evie shrugged as they entered Metro, which had become their official hang-out spot even when Evie wasn’t working.  Sure, the plan was to hit the Ace of Clubs afterwards, but Evie had managed to convince Lois that caffeinated courage was more effective on loosening her up than alcohol.  As they stood in line, she turned to Lois and said, “It’s their lives, Lois.”
 
Lois just scoffed as she looked up at the hanging menu. “You’re just smug that you found out before me.”
 
“Yes,” Evie responded, “That’s why I’m happy for them, not the fact it took they’ve been googly-eyeing each other for years and or the fact that they’re my best friends, no, it’s because I caught Chloe sneaking out before you did.”  
 
Feeling her phone buzz in her pocket, Evie pulled it out to find a new text message waiting for her.  Thinking it was Oliver or Chloe, she took a step away from Lois to read it, only to find out it was from someone else entirely.
 
We need to talk.
 
Within seconds, Evie had practically lost her breath, because even though she didn’t recognize the number, she had a pretty good idea of who sent this to her.
 
“Excuse me Lois," she said, just barely managing a smile, "I have to make a quick call.”
 
“No sweat,” she replied, waving Evie off, “I’ll order your usual.”
 
“Thanks,” Evie said, smile fading the second she left the cafe.  Walking down to the end of the block, she paused to stare at the message.  Taking a deep breath, she finally dialled the number and waited for the person to pick up.
 
The person answered on the third ring, “It’s been a long time, Emily.”
 
It had been years since she had heard anyone say that name to her, and the caller knew that. Closing her eyes, Evie nodded, even though she knew the caller couldn’t see it, “Yes... yes it has been.”

~0~

 
By the time Oliver got back, it was just Chloe in the main room.  Before he had a chance to ask, Chloe said, “Vic had something he had to take care of,” her head still facing the computers.
 
“Then let’s get started,” Oliver said as he placed his com in his ear.  “Arrow online.”
 
Taking the com Victor had given her, Chloe followed suit.  “Watchtower online.”  She turned to Oliver and smiled at him, grateful that he trusted her enough to guide him through the city.
 
Eventually, her smile broke.  “Go... you’ve got work to do.”
 
Oliver went to leave, but stopped abruptly and turned around to kiss her.  “I love you.”
 
“I love you too,” Chloe replied.  “Now go.”
 
It was Oliver’s turn to smile as he left Watchtower. It was the first time he’d be suiting up as Green Arrow in Metropolis, playing it carefully by convincing Clark to pose as Green Arrow in Star City to protect his identity and to protect Chloe. 
 
It also bought a bit of hush time from Lois when in return he gave Clark access to his lodge in the mountains for him and Lois to catch up after Clark realized the effect it had on his love life.
 
Of course, their trip allowed Oliver to spend as much time with Chloe as possible, and now... he meant what he said about having her in his ear being a good thing.  She’d look after him, just like she always did and he could continue to be her hero.  Watchtower and Green Arrow... it had a decent ring to it.
 
Standing on the rooftop staring down at the city, he had to admit, it felt damn good to be back in the leather.  It had been too long.
 
“Hey Arrow... there’s a mugging breaking out near you... you got it?”
 
Smirking, he prepped his arrow. “Of course I’ve got it.”
 
She chuckled on the other end, “I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to that voice.”
 
“Admit it, you like it,” Oliver managed before arriving at the scene of the crime.  A few punches later, the purse was back in the rightful hands and Oliver returned to his rooftop, Chloe’s voice filling up the silence around him.
 
He would never tell Chloe, but she was right, it was selfish that he wanted to keep her on the sidelines, because she was a natural at her role.  Following a car-jacking and a robbery, things seemed to quiet down, so Oliver took a moment for himself and realized, after all life had thrown his way, right now, it couldn’t get much better than this.
 
 

~End~

 
 
 
 
 

Coming soon:
 

 

 

Banner courtesy of 552158

 
 
Sera’s Scribbles: Thank you everyone for reading and all of your lovely comments!  I don’t think a fic has ever taken this much out of me, but I can only hope you enjoyed it.  I thought I’d go for as happy of an ending as I could in case people wanted to jump ship here.  If that’s the case, again, I appreciate the support you’ve given to the stories in this verse.
 
But, if you want to stick around, look for the final multi-chapter of this verse in a couple weeks, where everything starts to unravel and, in a way, come together at the same time.  Just know that while a lot of this story does deal with Evie, so she does get a far amount of focus, Chlollie is very much involved, as is the JL. 
 
That being said, the rating will be going up for various reasons, but I can assure you August (which might be posted in 2 parts) will be PG-13/T because most of your (current) questions  would likely be answered in that month. 
 
Thanks again!