People Make Mistakes Chapter (2/13)

Banner By: Andrea

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Chapter 2
August 15th 2010



Chloe sipped her coffee as Oliver idly glanced at a copy of the Daily Planet. Mia shoved another mouthful of fruity pebbles into her mouth and glanced between them. She rolled her eyes and broke the silence that seemed to be hanging over the room.

“It’s not like I’ve never seen two people having sex before. I’m seventeen and I mean hello, did you forget what my profession was before you found me?”

Oliver winced, Chloe’s face turned scarlet, and Mia grinned as she swallowed another spoon full of cereal before speaking again.

“Though I’m not sure I’ve ever heard someone scream quite so loud before…”

Mia trailed off a wicked smirk on her face as Chloe groaned and Oliver put down the paper while trying to hide his smile. He cleared his throat and gave Mia a stern look.

“Cut it out. So what brings you back to Metropolis? I thought you wanted to stay in Star City, start over.”

She shrugged and looked away from him as she played with her food. Chloe exchanged a worried look with Oliver while Mia spoke.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt things here…I can go back to Star City if you want. It’s not a big deal.”

Oliver opened his mouth, but before he could say anything Chloe reached out, touched Mia’s hand lightly to get her attention, and spoke.

“I don’t think that’s what Ollie meant. More like had we known you were coming we would have picked you up at the airport. Did you take a cab here?”

She nodded.

“Yeah, caught one at the airport.”

Oliver raised an eyebrow.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I just…I dunno. With you here in Metropolis and the team running all over the globe on missions the penthouse in Star City was just starting to get a little lonely.”

She looked back down at her cereal and Chloe met Oliver’s eyes before tilting her head in Mia’s direction. He cleared his throat again and spoke casually as he grabbed a piece of toast from his plate.

“Well you could always move back here. School hasn’t started yet; we can enroll you in one of the prep schools if you want. It’s not like I don’t have the room here.”

Mia gazed up and her eyes traveling over to Chloe who was nodding.

“Personally I think it’s a great idea. He needs someone to whip that butt of his back into shape. Maybe Mia can patrol with you Ollie.”

His body tensed and he frowned at her.

“Chloe…”

It had been a month since she’d found him wallowing in guilt at his apartment and since then things had gotten a bit better. He hadn’t been back out on patrol since the night he tried to save Karen Bingham and her 8-year-old son Nathan, though.

He’d neutralized the muggers, but never saw the van coming. He got to Nathan in time, but his Mother hadn’t been as lucky. Since that night, Oliver had blamed himself, his failure for that woman’s death. This week would be mark a month and a half since Metropolis had seen the Green Arrow in action.

When Chloe had come to him that night she’d been able to help pull him out of the depression that had settled around him inspiring an idea that he’d spent the last couple of weeks putting together. Oliver was pulled from his thoughts by Chloe’s voice.

“What? You’ve gotta get back out there sooner or later. Maybe having Mia with you will help.”

“Mia isn’t ready to go out on patrol yet. We haven’t trained together in months. She needs more practice.”

Mia scrunched up her nose. She hated when people talked about her like she wasn’t there. She clinked her spoon against her bowl and they turned in her direction.

“Umm hi remember me? First off why haven’t you been patrolling? And secondly just because you haven’t been around for me to train with doesn’t mean I stopped training. If the three of us are gonna do this whole living together thing you two are actually going to have to include me in the communication stuff you know that right?”

They seemed startled for a minute before they shook their heads and spoke simultaneously.

“No I don’t…” “Chloe doesn’t…”

“I mean I stay over sometimes…” “She has her own place…”

Mia looked between her two flustered companions and grinned.

“I see…alrighty then, weirdoes. Anyway tell me again why you haven’t been out on patrol?”

Oliver looked away a pensive expression covering his face as Chloe sighed and spoke.

“Listen Mia why don’t you come to Watchtower with me after breakfast and I’ll fill you in. We remodeled since the last time you were there. It’s a lot more up to date now.”

She frowned at the tension that suddenly filled the room, but nodded. Oliver grabbed his phone, glanced at the screen, and pushed his chair back. They watched as he stood up and got his things together. He walked over to Chloe and spoke.

“I’ve gotta get to the office.”

He leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on her lips and squeezed Mia’s arm gently. He gazed between them, voice light, but Chloe could tell it was forced.

“Dinner tonight? Thai food? Italian?”

Mia’s eyes lit up before she spoke.

“Mmm can we get Chinese?”

“Sure. I’ll call you guys when I’m leaving the office. You order, I’ll pick it up on my way home.”

“Did you get a chance to speak with Mrs. Chase from the Metropolis Orphanage?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a meeting with her today at two.”

She studied his face, but she couldn’t get a read on what he was thinking. Things were changing quickly and she was doing her best to keep up. If Oliver got his way, which he usually did, come Friday there would be a new addition to their already hectic lives.

Chloe wasn’t positive it was the best idea at the moment, but when Oliver was determined to do something, he did it so she might as well go along for the ride and make sure everything went smoothly.

“Okay.”

He noticed the concern in her eyes, but said nothing. He gave them a tight smile, grabbed his suit jacket and made his way to the elevator. Mia watched him go and a quiet unease settled in the pit of her stomach. It looked like she missed a lot more in the past few months than she thought.






_____

He stopped the video feed, rewound it and played it through again. He watched as the brunette woman who couldn’t have been any older than thirty-five attempted to pull her son away from the muggers. Minutes later a green figure appeared on the screen.

Metropolis’ modern day Robin Hood took down both guys and pulled the boy out of the way right as the van scaled the sidewalk. He watched as the vehicle barreled into her petite frame, body crumbling to the ground.

Seconds later the screen was filled with white noise and he flicked a switch and turned off the monitors. It had been close to a month since that night and he’d spent every day since then attempting to figure out where Nathan Bingham was.

The shrill sound of his ringing cell phone had his eyes shifting from the screen. He picked it up on the second ring and spoke quietly.

“Well, did you find anything?”

“Yes, we just got word that Nathan Bingham was transferred to the Metropolis Orphanage earlier this week.”

A grin settled on his face as he turned around in his chair and glanced out the window of the jet.

“Good, I’ll be landing in Metropolis in a few hours. Make sure there’s a car waiting.”

“Yes sir, Mr. Luthor.”

Lex disconnected the call, eyes straying back toward the window. Two years he’d spent in hiding and it was finally time to come home. Giving everyone the perception that he was dead, lulled them into a false sense of security which is exactly what he’d wanted.

When they realized he was alive a year ago he’d set up an elaborate scheme, which led to the Green Arrow ending his life. Or what that jolly green giant had thought was his life. He ignored the pilot’s voice as he let him know they’d be approaching the airstrip in less than two hours.

He turned away from the window and back toward the laptop, pressing a couple of buttons and playing the video feed again. His eyes turned to slits as he watched the masked vigilante get in the way of a perfectly orchestrated kidnapping.

No matter, he was back now and no one messed with Lex Luthor’s plans, not even the Green Arrow and his merry band of men.

Chapter 3