Talking in Your Sleep-3/21

[bluesuedeshoes]

Author:  BlueSuede
Title:  Talking in Your Sleep
Rating: NC17
Genre: Friendship/Romance
Pairings:  Chloe/Oliver, Chloe/Green Arrow, Lois/Bruce, Lois/Clark
Summary:  Intrepid reporter for the Daily Planet, Chloe Sullivan, has her heart stolen by the masked hero, Green Arrow, but can she be satisfied with not knowing his real identity?
Warnings: There will probably be some minor spoilers, particularly for Season 6.  There will also be a ridiculously unnecessary amount of smut.  You've been warned.



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Chapter 1

Previous (Chapter 2)
Next (Chapter 4)


'I'll pick up your hand and slowly, blow your little mind
'Cause I made my mind up you're going to be mine.
I'll tell you right now:
Any trick in the book now, baby, that I can find.
Superman or Green Lantern ain't got a-nothin' on me.

Sunshine Superman
Donovan

-3-

"Sullivan, I love you. Have I mentioned that lately, kid?"

Chloe grinned tiredly, slumped in the chair in front of Perry White's desk.

"Seriously, kid, this is two days in a row. Keep it up. Now get out of my sight before I get any more sentimental and ruin my reputation," he dismissed.

Chloe nodded, too tired to respond with anything but a demure smile, pushing herself out of the chair with effort and heading for the door where Lois was waiting to congratulate her.

She wrapped her in a crushing hug. "Chloe! That was amazing! How on earth did you ever find out about it?" she asked, releasing her and handing her a prized maple donut - the ultimate reward coming from Lois.

Chloe lifted a shoulder. "Anonymous tip. I just got lucky it ended up in my in-tray."

Lois shook her head. "Unbelievable. That's just...wow. Two front page articles in a row. You're on a roll, cuz," she congratulated unselfishly. "This calls for a celebration. This calls for a night on the town. This calls for - "

Chloe groaned weakly. "Lois," she whined.

"Oh don't give me that! C'mon. I'll get Bruce to set you up with someone and we'll all go out. It'll be great!"

Chloe just shook her head wearily, moving past Lois for the beckoning comfort of her desk chair. "Coffeeeee..." she moaned under her breath, trying to remember when she'd last had a cup. It must have been almost an entire hour ago. Much too long.

"Hey, Matt," Lois said, stopping the guy passing by them.

"It's Kyle, but what?" he corrected, annoyed.

"Get my cousin some coffee. Make it strong."

"But - "

"Now!" Lois said.

"Yeah, sure whatever. You're just lucky I'm headed that way in any case," he muttered, turning and heading for the copy room where they kept the coffee maker.

"Come on, Chloe," Lois said when he was gone, catching up to Chloe, who was now halfway to her lovely, beautiful chair. "You, me, Bruce, and some handsome stud who'll tell you how beautiful you are as often as you want to hear it. It'll be great. We'll hit the clubs."

Chloe laughed lightly as she collapsed into her beloved chair, her only friend. "Lois, I can't. I just can't. I literally haven't slept. I literally haven't been out of this building, since yesterday night. I am not going clubbing. I'm going home at 5:00, showering, and crawling into bed, where I intend to sleep until either the end of the world, or my alarm goes off on Monday morning, whichever comes first."

Lois sighed defeatedly. "Fine. But we're going out next week, mark my words."

"Consider them marked," Chloe laughed, rolling her eyes. "So how was your date with Bruce yesterday?" she asked as she allowed them to slide closed.

"Miss Sullivan?" Kyle's voice asked beside her, and her eyes flew open again at the smell of coffee being waved in front of her nose.

She grasped the cup desperately, breathing in its sent. She looked up at her coworker with tears practically blossoming in her eyes. "Thank you, Kyle," she said, a note of hysteria in her voice.

He grinned, shrugging. "Hey, no problem. Nice work, by the way. It's about time somebody got Luthor for something. I used some of that hazelnut creamer, by the way," he added.

"Marry me?" she asked, laughing.

He chuckled. "Talk to my wife, first," he joked before turning to leave.

"I like him," Chloe said to Lois. "Really. I think he's my new best friend."

Lois snorted. "You're so dramatic."

Chloe ignored her, taking a long sip of the hot liquid she craved so dearly. "Oh...oh god...there is a God," she breathed. "Now," she gestured to Lois, "tell me about your date."

Lois babbled on and on about seeing Bruce again, where he had taken her, what they had done and planned to do while he was here. She went into far more of the explicit details than Chloe needed, but she was too intent on drinking her coffee to protest. It wasn't until she drained the last drop from the cup and Lois finally had to move on to her work that Chloe leaned forward in her chair, making a feeble attempt to be proactive and opening her e-mail account.

She skimmed over the names to see if anything jumped out at her, and only one thing did:

From: emeraldarch... Subject: (none)

She frowned, clicking on it, her curiosity piquing slightly. She had to read it twice before she fully believed it.

Sidekick:

Enjoyed my paper this morning. Nice work.

-your Friend from the other night

Her heart fluttered mildly as she let it sink in. She checked out the e-mail address, hoping to trace it, but he was obviously much more intelligent than that. It was a web e-mail account and untraceable. She'd never be able to use it to pin him, even if she tried.

A more important question: Should she respond? And if so, what should she say? Would he even get it? Probably not, she decided. He probably just opened the account so he could send an e-mail without being traced. I doubt he makes a habit of this kind of thing.

With which thought she promptly opened a reply e-mail and typed without knowing what was possessing her to do it.

Archer,

Thanks. Couldn't have done it without your help. I owe you one.

She paused, not sure how to sign it. She smiled lightly as she reread his nickname for her. 'Sidekick,' indeed. Of all the absurd notions. Then again... She glanced up at Clark, who was 'accidentally tripping over the corner of someone else's desk. She shook her head, chuckling. Maybe the description wasn't that far off at the end of the day.

Be seeing you.

"Sidekick"

She hit send and immediately regretted it. "Be seeing you?" she muttered under her breath. "What was that?" she asked herself, groaning and dropping her head onto the keyboard. Great.

It was official: she needed to go home. No matter what time it was. If Perry had a problem with it, she'd just hold up her last two articles in front of his face. She rose from her chair and picked up the entire contents of her in-tray and shoved it all into her bag.

"What are you doing?" Lois asked, looking up from her work.

"Going home," Chloe sighed. "I can't keep my eyes open. I'll take my work with me and deal with it later this evening. If Perry asks - "

"I got your back. No worries," Lois nodded. "But I doubt he'll be worried about you. He'll probably just be wondering if you're bringing him another front pager." She grinned.

Chloe laughed tiredly. "You know what, Lo? How about you handle tomorrow's front page for me?" she joked.

Lois smirked. "Working on it."

"Yeah?" Chloe asked, curious.

"Uh huh," Lois grinned, hitting send on an e-mail. "As a matter of fact I'm heading out to City Hall right now. I'll walk you home part of the way."

"Great," Chloe said, smiling. "So what's happening at City Hall?" she asked.

"That depends," Lois teased, "You asking for a by-line?"

Chloe snorted. "I think I'll pass."

"Then you'll find out with everybody else," she said simply, throwing her notepad in her purse. "Let's go."

On the way home, Lois discussed the fact that Bruce was in town for the next week and a half, for several business reasons, but also out of interest in supporting Senator Kent's election campaign. Chloe nodded in the appropriate places, listening, but not contributing much to Lois's energetic conversation otherwise.

When they split ways, Chloe was only a block away from her apartment complex, and it was with heavy limbs that she dragged herself to her floor and into her home.

"Ugh!" she grunted, collapsing on her couch and dropping her bag to the floor. "Never again." Then she laughed at herself, knowing better. "Well, at least not for another day or two."

Her mind flitted briefly to the thought of her e-mail from the Green Arrow, and she felt a low warmth in her stomach, groaning and burying her face in the couch cushions as if to hide the sudden smile that crossed her face, though there was no one to hide it from. Was it wrong to be so delighted with an e-mail? Probably. At the very least it was silly. And she couldn't help feeling ridiculous to pull out her Blackberry to re-read it, not that that stopped her. There were very few times in her life that she received any kind of reward for her hard work, and these past couple of days had been rare indeed for her. Somehow that e-mail seemed to embody all the good feelings of the past 48 hours, all the excitement, adrenaline, triumph, satisfaction.

She snuggled into the couch and snatched the blanket off the bed, tucking it around her and sighing deeply, sleep quickly claiming her, but not without the sudden memory of what it had felt like when he crushed her protectively to his body, his hard muscles wrapping around her, the smell of sweat and leather filling her senses.

It left her wondering in the very furthest corner of her mind, when she would meet him again.

The question would not be answered for another week. Long after the initial excitement of her two big headlines had worn in a bit, Chloe had new things to worry her mind, though, other than the Green Arrow. She knew at some point she had to deal with a follow-up story on him like Perry wanted, but she had a feeling that that story would present itself when the time was ready.

And she was right.

Friday night, however, she was not concerned with vigilante archers or diabolical Luthors (to everyone's immense disgust, Lex had managed to get off scotch-free, there being no solid evidence proving him to have any knowledge of the illegal trading). Instead, Chloe was concerned with the right sort of undergarments.

"Your panty-line is showing," Lois said idly, lying on her stomach on Chloe's bed and watching.

Chloe's head whipped around and glanced at her backside in the mirror. She groaned.

"The bra, too."

"I need to go underwear shopping," Chloe sighed, reaching into her drawer and pulling out a bra and panty set of the more lacy variety. "If Mrs. K would stop having black tie affairs, this wouldn't be a problem. What time are the boys coming for us again?" she asked.

"In...about twenty minutes," Lois said, craning her neck around to look at the clock.

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be getting dressed?" she pointed out.

Lois smirked. "Nah. My hair and makeup's done. I'm going to change clothes after they get here."

Chloe laughed. "May I ask why?"

"Always keep them guessing, Chlo," Lois replied perfectly seriously. "In this particular case, by keeping them waiting a few minutes."

"So how are things with you and Bruce?" Chloe asked.

Lois sighed. "The same. Great banter. Great dates. Great sex."

"You poor thing?" Chloe teased, confused as to why Lois sounded so bored.

"I don't know...I like Bruce. A lot. But I get the feeling there's not much more to him than meets the eye, you know? Where's the adventure? Where's the mystery?"

Chloe didn't trust herself to meet Lois's eyes, instead busying herself with switching bras as she answered, "Oh, I don't know. I think Bruce has a certain mysterious element." She suppressed a smile as she thought of his BatCave. "You haven't really had time to get to know him that well."

"I guess. Well, anyway. At least the sex is great."

Chloe snorted. "Thanks, Lo."

Lois narrowed her eyes, watching as Chloe spritzed a little perfume on her wrists and rubbed it into her neck. "Speaking of sex - "

"Don't start, Lo."

"I'm just saying, it's been a while."

"Thanks, Lo. I don't need to be reminded."

"Right well what exactly are you doing about it? I mean, you could have a smoking hot date on your arm tonight and instead you're going with Smallville."

"There is nothing wrong with Clark Kent," Chloe defended loyally.

Lois's tone became concerned "You're not still - "

"No."

"Are you sure? Because - "

"No, Lois, I'm not still carrying a torch for Clark. That's so ancient the dinosaurs don't remember it. I'm just going because his mother wants him there and he didn't want to go alone." And because he wanted to ask Lois, but Bruce had beat him to the punch.

"Fine. But you know, I could get Bruce to set you up with - "

"NO!" Chloe turned to look at her cousin sternly. "No set-ups, Lois. I beg you."

"But - "

"No."

"But - "

"No!"

"Fine," Lois crossed her arms petulantly. "But don't you want someone?"

"Of course I do, Lois, but I also want a serious career and a Pullitzer and a lot of other things, and I have yet to meet someone who could compete with those ambitions. When I meet the right guy, then it'll just work out."

"Not if you brush him off before he gets the chance," Lois pointed out.

"Lois, if he's the right guy for me, he's not going to let a little brush-off stop him, is he?"

Lois bit her lip, not having a good comeback for that. "I guess, but I still think it couldn't hurt your chances to actually try dating someone. Or at the very least it couldn't hurt you to get laid now and again."

"Lois!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Hey, I'm just vocalizing your inner needs."

"Do me a favor and don't," Chloe said, laughing, the bell to her apartment ringing at the same time. "They're here," she noted. "Should I go tell them you're not ready?" she asked sarcastically, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yep," Lois said, springing off the bed and grabbing her black dress off the arm chair in the corner. "I'll be out in five," she called after Chloe, who was shutting the door to the bedroom.

She let in Clark and Bruce, both of whom looked very dashing in their tuxes, although Clark still managed to maintain that certain awkward air that was his alter-ego.

"Chloe," Bruce greeted. "You look stunning," he said, kissing her on the cheek and taking in her ivory halter dress. "Where's Lois?"

"She's running a few minutes behind," Chloe said, giving Clark a hug.

"As usual," Clark said, amused. "And Bruce is right, you look amazing, Chlo."

Chloe beamed. "Thank you. Can I get you boys a drink? I'm not sure how long Lois is going to be."

"Not that long," Lois announced her entrance to the room, causing both men's jaws to drop in response to her sultry black dress.

Chloe rolled her eyes. She wasn't sure what was worse: her cousin's antics regarding men, or the fact that they worked.

Previous (Chapter 2)
Next (Chapter 4)

Comments

[greenteam4ever.livejournal.com]

Awww, it was good,although a little short to my mind.I'm looking forward to the next chapter, my intuition tells me something about Chlollie interaction...Have you started writing?I can't wait!

[abarbiestory.livejournal.com]

great job

heres hoping Ollie is in the next chapter

[cocochanel60.livejournal.com]

This fic is so good! I can't wait to read more!! I really want Chloe to meet Oliver Queen (officially, not only through Green Arrow) I'm sure it will be interesting haha

[alexis374.livejournal.com]

loved - even though i'm now wanting it to continue onto the next chapter straight away!

[thegrin.livejournal.com]

Great chapter ! I loved that Chloe was still thinking about the GA and then she received an e-mail from him, her reaction was so cute ! The Chlo-Lo interaction are always so fun to read !!!
I can't wait to read more, great job <3

[purple-moon123.livejournal.com]

Love the interaction between Chloe and Lois!!!!
Got a giggle over the e-mail Oliver/GA sent Chloe!!!!!!!!!

Can't wait for the next part!!!

[phoenix-173.livejournal.com]

Fantastic chapter. I loved the Lois/Chloe banter. Keep up the great work. :D

G

[sil1020.livejournal.com]

Great chapter! Dying for more!!!!!!!!

[sjww.livejournal.com]

liked the emails between emeraldarch and Chloe and looking forward to the BT event I suspect Ollie will be there :-)

[triskel-08.livejournal.com]

oh my god it's so good!!!It is also good as some coffee!The work of writing is always as well. The thoughts of chloé are really well transcribed, we go completely into her character! I like! I become hooked of your fic!Lois rest lois always so bold! And the meeting between green arrow and chloé it's just that of the pleasure, their intéractions are brilliants, full of vitality, humor, spoken, sarcastic that good ingredients for a maid fic!

[sxymami0909.livejournal.com]

I like that Lois and Chloe both work at the paper I don't think I mentioned that. I love that we get Chlo-Lo interaction because you write them well together.

I also sort of like that's she's kind of seeing Bruce it's different and I love that Chloe knows Bruce's secret :)

This story is really coming together nicely!