Pizza with dl_greenarrow.

[chloesullivan]

Things had slowly been getting better, Oliver had been healing okay and they had talked about training more before going out again, learning how to work as a team and how to protect each other. Chloe had been hesitant about this at first, considering what she had done, but eventually she had agreed. They did, after all, have to help Metropolis, but this time, they would to it right. And with more time to prepare.

Which was why they were only out for dinner tonight. They both had felt like they needed to get out of the Watchtower for a while, and they had had a nice dinner and were now in one of the few, safer areas of Metropolis, where it was still possible to walk around and talk while enjoying ice cream, something neither one of them had done in a very long time.

Chloe smiled at Oliver when they sat down on one of the benches, "you're moving a lot better," she told him, relived to see him sitting down without wincing.

Comments

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"I feel a lot better," he admitted, glancing at her sideways and taking a bite of his ice cream. He offered her a smile. "Thanks to your great nursing skills." He grinned.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe grinned softly at him and shook her head, smiling and laughing had become a lot easier once she got used to having someone around again, and something told her that the fact that it was Oliver made it even easier.

"I'm glad to know it helped, but I can't take all the credit, you've been a good patient."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He arched his eyebrows. "You mind calling Dr. Hamilton and letting him know that? Cause I have a feeling he might request written proof." His grin widened at the sight of her grin and the sound of her laughter. It had been a long time since he'd been witness to either.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

She laughed softly and rolled her eyes, shaking her head at him as she took a bite of her own ice cream, "can you blame him? It's not easy to keep you in bed without tying you down." As time went by, Chloe had been feeling more relaxed, more comfortable with Oliver's company, it still wasn't easy, especially whenever something reminded her of everything they had been through, but it was better and for a few minutes, she managed to allow herself not to think about all the awful things that were in the back of her head.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

His eyebrows rose. "Is that something you really contemplated?" He'd been hurt plenty of times in the past while patrolling, but this had been one of the worst and he'd actually thought he'd done a good job of staying in bed this time.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"I didn't have to," She smiled, a little proud, "you were actually pretty good about it this time." Chloe was pretty sure, part of that had been her freaking out every time he was in pain, she had been feeling so awfully guilty all the time about getting him hurt that she had been constantly watching him.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"So really you could say I was a model patient?" His voice was teasing and he took another bite of ice cream, leaning back against the bench and glancing over to the swingset where some young children were playing.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

With another bite of her ice cream, she considered, following his gaze towards the children then looking back at him, "something close to it, maybe... although you insisted on going up to the roof, so you lose points for that."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He scoffed, leaning his head back, then sitting forward once more and taking another bite of ice cream. "All right, Miss Perfectionist," he teased affectionately. "You try staying in bed for two weeks without being able to go outside."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe shrugged and raised her eyebrows, "bring me the Johnny Depp collection, pizza and I have no problems with it." She joked, taking another bite of her ice cream. Of course she would probably be more restless than he was if she had to stay in bed for longer than the necessary hours of sleep every night.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He chuckled. "Tell you what. Next event I have to attend that Johnny's attending, you can come along as my date and I"ll introduce you. Maybe you'll hit it off."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe looked at him then smiled softly, shaking her head, "I'm not interested in anything like that, I just like his movies. But of course I wouldn't say no to attending something like that with you." She couldn't even picture it right now, big gala events for the rich and famous, people enjoying themselves, eating, drinking, talking and dancing, it had been something that was so far from her reality, she hadn't thought about it in such a long time...

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"Really?" He looked at her with faint surprise. "Well, then keep your calender open." He nudged her lightly with his elbow.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

With a shake of her head, she smiled, "I'll see what I can do, Mr. Queen." Her voice was a little lower when she spoke his name, just in case they had anyone listening to their conversation.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He turned his head to gaze at her, eyes filled with warmth. Over the last few weeks, he'd grown closer to Chloe than he'd ever imagined possible and he was finding the more time he spent with her, the more time he wanted to spend with her.

"Appreciated, Sidekick." His voice grew quiet, as well.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe smiled at him, her arm going around his as she shifted closer. She had missed the comfort of just being able to hold someone's hand or hug the most, more than having a conversation, and it had all been so natural with Oliver, she was just glad to have him around.

"Should we get back?" She suggested after a few minutes in silence, it was getting late and it was better to be safe.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He nodded slightly, draping an arm around her shoulders. "Yeah, probably." He turned his head a little and dropped a kiss to to the top of her hair before rising to his feet.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

She finished her ice cream then got up, wrapping her arm around his waist and leaning close to him as they started back towards the Watchtower, "we should do this more. It's nice to be outside."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He wound his arm around her as well. "I like that idea. It is nice to be out and about again."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

She smiled up at him and nodded softly, "yeah, pretend we're normal people."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He paused at that and met her eyes. "Guess it doesn't hurt to pretend once in awhile."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"No," she looked back at him and smiled softly, "it's probably healthier for us to pretend sometimes, anyway."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"You could be right," he said with a slight nod, winding his arm around her waist and leading her down the sidewalk, away from the park.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe was relaxed as they walked, but her eyes were alert to anything weird, they were reaching a patch of the street that wasn't as well lit as it should be, she moved closer to him unconsciously, not because she was scared, but to protect him.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He tightened his arm around her just a little as they picked up their pace a bit. They hadn't made it very far when the sound of squealing tires made him look up. A car with tinted windows was zooming around the corner. "Oh shit," he said under his breath as one of the back windows rolled down just a little and the barrel of a gun poked out. "Get down!" He quickly pulled her to the ground, covering her smaller body with his as gunfire erupted.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe closed her eyes and held on to him, she had seen the car too and she had started to pull him towards the building when he pulled her down, moving them both a lot faster than she could have.

The noise didn't last long and she heard the car speeding away, Chloe blinked her eyes open and looked at Oliver, "are you hurt?"

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He lifted up a little, looking down at her, and shaking his head. "No. I'm all right. Are you all right?" Before she had a chance to answer, he heard a woman screaming from a few yards away. The terror of the noise sent a chill down his spine and he quickly rose to his feet, pulling Chloe along with him.

He sucked in a breath at the sight of a couple of women huddled around a small figure on the ground. "Oh God."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Holding on to him, Chloe got to her feet, her eyes widening at the scream and then she saw it too, her stomach turning at the sight of the small boy on the ground, a pool of blood forming under and around him.

She glanced over at Oliver and took a deep breath then started towards the women.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

Oliver was right behind her, his heart pounding in his chest as he whipped out his cell phone from his jacket pocket and dialed 911, and ordering an ambulance to the location. He felt the breath catch in his throat as the boy lay limp on the ground, his eyes already glassy. "Ambulance is on the way," he said, trying to keep his voice calm even though it was far away from how he felt.

"He's dying!" the woman cried, cradling the boy in her arms, tears streaking down her face. "Oh God please! Somebody help me!"

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

She knelt down next to the woman, ignoring the uneasiness of her stomach, there was so much blood, "help is on it's way," she told the woman quietly, meeting her eyes for a second, "do you mind if I..." she asked, just as quietly, motioning towards the boy.

"Please, help him," the woman sobbed and Chloe nodded, reaching to feel the boy's pulse, it was incredibly weak, he didn't have much time.

Her eyes filled with tears as she avoided the woman's eyes, she glanced at Oliver, a hopeless expression on her face, and then she felt it- the warmth on her fingertips and then all over her hand, her eyes widening when she looked back down at her own hand a faint glow appearing between it and the boy's skin.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He met her eyes for that moment, then his gaze also shifted to her hand, his eyes widening when it began to glow. "Chloe?" His voice was barely audible, breath hitching in his throat as he watched in stunned amazement as the boy's wound began to seal itself shut.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe gasped quietly, feeling the pain from the wound as if it had been in her stomach instead of the boy's, she chewed on her bottom lip and glanced at Oliver, her face growing pale, and gave him a small nod before looking back down at the boy, her hand glowing brighter as she moved her hand to hover directly over the wound.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He felt his own face grow pale at the sight and he quickly moved to kneel beside her, putting a hand on her back. He stared in fascination as the light began to grow brighter, and he didn't hear the faint gasps from the women as somehow Chloe began to heal the boy.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe held her hand still for a second then sighed deeply, smiling faintly when she saw the boy open his eyes, the warmth and glow gone from her hand and she gasped quietly, weakly, letting her body fall against Oliver's, she looked up at him, faint smile still on her lips, then closed her eyes.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"Chloe?" He quickly wound his arms around her as she went limp against him. He was faintly aware that the boy was sitting up, that excited, confused voices were chattering around him, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. All he could focus on was Chloe's still, unconscious form in his arms.

"Chloe? Chloe, can you hear me?" His heart pounded frantically in his chest.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"I'll be okay," she whispered quietly, using what was left of her energy, "need time, take me home." Slowly, she lifted a a hand and pressed it against his chest before letting her hand down and head fall back, allowing herself to rest.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

Oliver swallowed hard, gathering her in his arms and rising to his feet. "I've got you," he whispered, pulling her close and ignoring the questions the women were asking. It's not like he had any answers. He strode away quickly, hearing the sirens in the distance. He hoped to hell Chloe knew what she was talking about.

Please God. Let her be okay, he thought.