An Origin Story: 3/23

[bluesuedeshoes]

Author:  BlueSuede
Title:  An Origin Story
Rating: R/M
Genre: Friendship/Romance
Pairings:  Chloe/Oliver
Summary:  AU in which Oliver's parents never died
Warnings: minor spoilers for most early seasons



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Prologue

Previous (Chapter 2)
Next (Chapter 4)

Chapter 3:

Of Rescuing Fair Maidens

"Do I just have a big sign on my back that says 'Please Threaten My Life?' " Chloe asked her assailant irritably, her hand sliding discreetly toward the opening in her purse where her handgun was stored.

The mugger didn't like her nonchalant attitude. He cocked his pistol in warning. "Just hand over the bag, lady, and you can go home in one piece," he said.

Chloe sighed. They could at least come up with original lines. She wondered if she should call for help or take him down herself.

Deciding the latter was safer, she caught him off guard by dropping her purse on the ground instead of handing it to him. The moment he angrily stooped to pick it up, she kicked his hand, throwing his aim off of her and pulled her own weapon on him.

"I suggest you run," she informed him.

But he had his gun on her again. "You don't have it in you, lady," he retorted as they stared each other down.

"Maybe she doesn't, but I do," came a male voice. Chloe was startled as a green light surrounded both of their guns and raised them into the air and out of reach.

The light was connected to the ring on the hand of a strange man wearing a mask. He wore a black and green costume with a kind of hour glass on the front.

"Holy-" the man didn't even finish his sentence before taking off at a run. Chloe, on the other hand, looked at the man vexedly, her hand landing on her hip.

"What is it about me?" she asked heatedly.

The man lifted an amused eyebrow, handing her gun back. "Well, you were walking down a dark street alone in a bad neighborhood. What do you expect?"

She waved a dismissive hand. "Not that part. I almost expected that to happen. I meant you. How is it that no matter where I go, people like you seem to flock to that place?" She rolled her eyes heavenward.

He smirked. "You know, I was going to ask if you were all right, but somehow I feel like you might resent it."

Chloe nodded curtly. "What's your name anyway?" she asked. "Hour Glass Man?"

He actually laughed at that. "It's Green Lantern."

She shrugged. "Whatever. So what are you? Human with gadgets? Or do you actually have some superhuman power as well?"

The Green Lantern gave her a humorous look. "You wouldn't believe me. What's with you anyway?"

She shrugged. "Half my life has been swamped by threats to my well-being and dealing with heroes," she said the word with a certain irony behind it.

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm human. The ring is alien technology."

Chloe stared at him, and at first he was going to say 'I told you so,' thinking she didn't believe him, but then she shook her head in exasperation. "Not more aliens, too," she groaned. Then she looked at him. "You don't actually hang out in this city do you? You're just passing through, right?"

He smirked. "You sound so eager to be rid of me, considering I just came to your rescue."

She looked unimpressed. "If I were a normal person, I'd appreciate that a lot more. Not to mention I had the situation under control," she added under her breath. "But for some reason, unlike normal people, who have every reason to be grateful for people like you, I just end up having my life unbearably complicated by your existence."

He studied her carefully, trying to decide if maybe she weren't a bit crazy. "Do you?"

She nodded. "You just wait and see," she groaned. "It's going to happen. It always does."

"Because you have so much experience with people like me?" he said, amused.

She looked at him seriously. "You'd better believe it. I can't escape you people for some reason. Anyway, I'd like to go home now." She held out her hand to shake his. "Thanks for rescuing me," she said like she was thanking him for a pair of socks, "My name's Chloe Sullivan. I work at the Gazette. Look me up when you need help."

He shook her hand laughingly, no longer sure if she were serious or not. "What makes you think I'll need your help?"

She shrugged, knowing he wasn't taking her seriously and not caring. "You will. They always do at one point or another."

She thought of the men she'd met over the years in Smallville and Metropolis. Clark was the given, but there had been those passing through as well. Bart, Victor, AC, J'onn J'onz...and now this nutter with the glowing ring. One way or another, they all ended up coming to her for something.

The Green Lantern laughed genuinely at her response. "I'll remember that then, Miss...what was it again?"

"Sullivan," she supplied dryly.

"Do you need a ride home?" he offered, lifting his ring hand.

She shook her head. "I'm almost there. I'll scream if I'm attacked twice in one night. I'll be the one sarcastically chewing my assailant's ear off."

He laughed, watching her walk away. "Duly noted. Thanks for the tip."

---

"I'm telling you, man. She was totally serious!" Hal laughed to Oliver later that evening at a club in town.

Oliver was laughing uncontrollably.

"She just looked me dead in the eye and said 'I'm so-and-so. I work for the paper. Call me when you end up needing me.' "

"Unbelievable. You think she was kidding or crazy or what?"

"Dude," he shook his head. "I think she was for real. She was dead serious. And I don't think she was crazy. I told you, she pretty much had that mugger under control. I just intervened so no shots had to be fired. Crazy people can't maintain that much calm under pressure."

"Oh can't they?" Oliver arched a brow comically.

"Ollie, we're not crazy. We're eccentric."

Oliver shook his head before downing another shot. "Naw, man. I'm eccentric. You're crazy."

"How do you figure?"

"You have to be rich to be eccentric. Craziness is the poor man's eccentricity."

Hal laughed before noticing a rather shapely redhead trying to catch his eye from across the room.

Oliver noticed, too, but Hal nudged him. "Dibs," he said, before sauntering off toward the girl.

---

Stumbling drunk, Oliver somehow made his way back to his own room later that night. He'd successfully ditched all women hanging off his arm that night. Rare though the occurrence might be, he wasn't in the mood.

Hal had taken off with the redhead earlier in the night, and Oliver had said goodbye to him then, knowing he'd have left Star City by the following morning undoubtedly.

He liked Hal Jordan. They had a lot in common. Both felt the need to live their lives with no inhibitions...in more ways than one. But Hal was more than just someone to take shots with. He was someone who shared Oliver's desire to make a difference in the world.

He envied Hal, though, and he would readily admit it if it had ever occurred to Hal to ask, which it never would. Oliver had grown up determined to prove to his parents that he, too, could be a hero. When he'd gotten older, somehow he'd made the transition from proving something to them, to proving something to himself. But all he had was his own mortal strength and abilities, along with a few fancy gadgets. Hal had been selected-much as Oliver didn't like thinking about the 'life on other planets' concept-by extraterrestrial guardians-or whatever-to be a member of some sort of intergalactic police squad. Hal had been chosen to wield the most dangerous weapon in the universe. Oliver had been chosen to inherit a company.

He knew that inheriting Queen Industries was no laughing matter. Neither was it something to be ungrateful for, but he couldn't help but envy someone like Hal, who had been granted a higher calling than to be part of the business world.

For some reason his mind drifted to the woman Hal had been talking about earlier that evening, the one who claimed that heroes flocked to her. He wondered vaguely, as he undressed himself and headed for bed, whether it were true. Was there such a person? Someone who, though a mere mortal like him, had been chosen by some higher entity to play phone support for the heroes of the world? He heaved a sigh. Another person to envy then.

He wondered who she was, this woman Hal had saved. He wished for a brief moment it had been him. He would have liked to meet this girl. Besides, Hal had said she was gorgeous. A tiny blonde who packed a punch. It reminded him irrepressibly of the woman he'd met in his father's office earlier in the day. It sounded like an apt description of her, granted that he'd had little to no conversation with her. Still.

---

The next morning, Chloe was feeling particularly harassed at work. She was behind schedule. She'd planned on writing the Queen article first thing last night, but after being forced to walk all the way home, getting mugged, and making the discovery that no matter how far away she ran, she'd never escape superheroes, she'd been too exhausted to write. So she'd been writing all morning, excepting the interruptions from Jeremy and Annette, the society-columnist.

Jeremy had surprised her with a cup of coffee, to which she would be eternally grateful, because her usual morning cup had simply not been enough to sustain her.

"Need a photographer today, Miss Sullivan?" he asked excitedly, snapping her picture for the fun of it.

Chloe smiled sympathetically. "I'll let you know, but I don't think so. Not today, at least."

He'd shrugged pleasantly enough, undeterred. "No worries. Tomorrow then."

She smiled as she watched him go.

Annette's interruption had lasted longer. Chloe liked Annette, overall, and had made friends with her quickly after coming to the Gazette. Annette had short, dark brown hair, excitable, round green eyes, and a wide smile. The moment Annette walked into work she made a bee-line for Chloe's desk.

"So did you meet him?" she asked excitedly.

"Who? Robert Queen?"

She shook her head. "Of course not! Oliver Queen."

Chloe smiled, remembering her encounter with the man.

Seeing the look on Chloe's face, Annette squealed. "Oh my God, you did!"

Chloe shrugged. "Briefly."

"What was he like?" Annette pressed.

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. A brazen flirt? He was trying to womanize his father's secretary into letting him into the man's office."

Annette giggled. "Unbelievable. Do you realize he's the city's most eligible bachelor? He's to die for."

Chloe looked amused. "Is he? How does one qualify for that title, I wonder?"

"You saw him," Annette giggled. "You tell me."

Chloe shook her head. "Whatever. Hey, I've got a question for you. What's the story on vigilantes in this city?"

Annette looked bemused. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Chloe answered noncommittally.

"Well, I'm surprised you didn't already know about this, but I guess you are new in town. Star City is home of the Green Arrow."

Chloe frowned. "The Green Which?"

"Arrow."

"Not Lantern?"

Annette looked surprised. "No. Although there have been reports of the Green Lantern showing up around here once in a while over the years. But he never sticks around."

Chloe's frown deepened. "What do you think brings him through here?"

Annette shrugged. "How should I know what goes on behind those masks?"

"So who's the Green Arrow?" Chloe changed tactics.

Apparently, Annette had been hoping she would ask that. She sat down on the edge of Chloe's desk and made a visible effort to contain her excitement. "He's like this Robin Hood type character. Some people think he's a crook. Other people say he's a hero."

"I take it you agree with the latter."

Annette gave her a look as though to say how painfully obvious that should be. "The crime rate in Star City has dropped dramatically since he showed up, and besides, countless people have reported that he saved their lives in the past three years," she sighed dreamily, and Chloe deduced that Annette wouldn't mind a little mortal peril in her life if it meant being rescued by a masked vigilante.

"So is he some sort of superhero or is he more the Batman type?"

"Batman is my guess. Nobody's ever said anything about him having powers, but he uses a bow and arrow, and he can hit anything."

"I'll bet he can," Chloe muttered humorously. "Anyway, thanks, Annette, I'm sorry to be rude, but I've just got to finish this article up before George comes after my blood."

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Next (Chapter 4)