–19–

"I'm surprised you didn't want to stick around to see how things turned out." Victor looked questioningly at Chloe across the table.

It was a day later, and Chloe had just gotten done testifying in the case against Harleen Quinzel. Unlike in the case of the Joker, Chloe had had some sympathy for this captor. She had been sure to emphasize the fact that when push came to shove, Harley hadn't been willing to actually do Chloe serious harm. She, Oliver, and Victor were now sitting in a coffee shop in Gotham as far away from the courthouse as Oliver had been willing to drive them. Chloe looked exhausted, but had insisted that more than she wanted to go to the hotel and rest, she wanted a strong cup of coffee.

Oliver eyed Victor. Really? Was he honestly going to prod her with a stick like that? He sighed.

"Well," Chloe said, quite calmly, "I honestly just didn't want to be there. I'll find out in the papers like everyone else what they decide to do with the clown. And there's a good chance this case will go on for several days anyway."

"Actually," Victor said likely, "I meant I was surprised you didn't want to stick around to see if Wayne wanted to talk to you afterwards."

Oliver could have clobbered Victor. Chloe shot them both a look of daggers. "Hey," Oliver raised his hands defensively. "I wasn't the one who opened that can of worms. Unleash your wrath on him."

"Hey!" Victor gave him a panicked look.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "All right. Out with it."

"Out with what?" Victor raised a confused eyebrow.

"You're not the only ones who've been treating me like I'm made of glass ever since I got back from Gotham a month ago. So go ahead. Give me all the advice and consolation and other crap you've been bottling up since then." She waited, eyes landing first on one, then the other. Both men shifted uncomfortably, not meeting her eyes. "Nothing?" she asked. "Good. Then I don't want to hear anything else about it. I'll be in the car whenever you two are ready to go back to the hotel." With that, she started wheeling herself toward the door, stifling her frustration at not being able to grab her own coffee cup.

Oliver and Victor shot each other a look before going after her, Victor to hold open the door and Oliver to bring her coffee.

"Well, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked when Bruce returned that evening.

"It looks like the jury will probably go easy on Quinzel."

"Ah. And how do you feel about that?"

Bruce thought of Chloe's testimony and frowned. "Only time will tell."

"And what about Miss Sullivan?" Alfred asked.

"She seemed fine," Bruce answered shortly.

"Did you speak with her?"

"I didn't have the chance."

"Hmm," was all the old butler said, clearing a tray away and beginning to exit the room.

"What was that, Alfred?" Bruce called irritably.

"Nothing, Master Bruce."

"Oh?" Bruce questioned suspiciously.

"I simply said 'hmm,' sir."

"Well if what you're implying is that I didn't make an effort to talk to her, then you're wrong."

"Yes, sir."

"They're just wasn't an opportunity."

"I'm sure—"

"Fine! If you're going to keep acting this way, I'll go see her right now," Bruce threw up his hands, shoving away from the dining room table and storming out of the room.

Alfred watched him go with a sigh.

Oliver and Victor were in Chloe's hotel room, their own suitcases waiting by the door as they helped her put away the last of her things. For once, she was too tired to protest that the help was unnecessary. She just wanted her suitcases shut and loaded so they could start heading back to Metropolis and she could continue the process of reconstructing her post-Gotham life.

She was just thinking that the first thing she wanted to do was spend an entire day in a coffee house alone with her laptop when there was a knock on the hotel door. For a fleeting moment her stomach lurched uncertainly, memories of her abduction surging to the surface, but she shook it off. The Joker and Harley were hardly her first time to the rodeo. Kidnappings, life threats, a few bullet-wounds…they came with the gig. She had always been strong enough to compartmentalize and move on before, and she would do so again. She hobbled off the bed for her crutches while Victor answered the door—the boys had finally agreed to let her use them at least part of the time.

"Uh, Chloe?" Victor's voice drew her attention to the doorway, where Bruce Wayne was looking as if he was losing an internal argument. He met Chloe's eyes and her throat felt too thick to swallow all of a sudden.

"Victor!" Oliver said suddenly, "I just realized I left my watch in our room. Help me look for it?"

Victor gave him a weird look before cottoning on. "Oh. Right. Your watch. I think I saw it somewhere," he lied badly. "Excuse us," he said to Bruce, who stepped back to allow the two men past him.

Chloe wanted to fold her arms across her chest in some semblance of self-protection, but the crutches prevented it. Instead she just looked away, unable to hold his gaze.

"You're out of the wheelchair," he commented after a moment, remaining in the threshold, rather than invading the hotel room when she hadn't invited him in yet.

She rolled her eyes. "The boys keep insisting that I won't take it easy if I use the crutches."

He gave a small, amused smile. But the glare she gave him in return dampened it.

"What do you want, Bruce?"

"I…have no idea," he sighed.

"Wonderful," Chloe said sarcastically. "Well come in, sit down. I'm going to make coffee while you think about it."

He chuckled. "Still haven't just set up an IV?" he asked.

She gave him a smirk before turning to the coffee maker on the small counter next to the mini-fridge.

"Look, Chloe, I…I'm sorry."

"For?"

"For not calling, talking to you. For not checking on how you were doing."

She sighed with her back to him. "If that's all you came to say, flowers and a Get Well card would have been sufficient," she said coldly. "I'm about to head back to Metropolis, so I really don't have time to chat right now."

Bruce felt a pang in his chest. "Come on, Chloe."

"Don't give me that," she said sharply, rounding on him. "Bruce, I understand that you were upset. I understand how difficult it was for you, but you of all people should understand why things happened the way they did. And the fact that you're punishing yourself for what happened to me is the most self-absorbed, stupid—"

"Hey!"

"—unrealistic, childish behavior I've ever heard of. It wasn't your fault I got hurt, but even if it were, the idea that you think one bad thing happening means you're not allowed to have any happiness is narcissistic and foolish. You'll make yourself miserable that way and end up alone!" she half-shouted, spilling the coffee grounds in the process. She gave out a frustrated growl, and Bruce rose from the chair to help her.

She resisted at first, but her balance on one foot was too shaky not to give up. Bruce swept the spilt coffee grounds into the sink before turning to look to her, finding she had tears of frustration in her eyes. "Chloe," he said quietly, cupping her face in his hands. "I'm sorry I hurt you," he said, "not just for being a jerk."

She gave a forced laugh and tried to brush him away, but he wouldn't let her.

"Look, I've been arguing with myself for weeks, Chloe, but I miss you. I want you back."

"You don't know what you want," she argued. "You said it yourself."

"Chloe."

"Look, no!" she protested, finally pulling away from him, awkwardly grabbing the crutches and sticking them under her arms so she could get further away from him. "I don't think you understand. I can't deal with your emotional instability, Bruce! I can't deal with knowing that every time something goes wrong, you're going to take all the responsibility. Don't you get that this is my life, Bruce?" she pointed out. "I've been doing this for a long time, long before I met you, long before Batman was even putting on the mask. There's always going to be accidents and injuries. And if you're going to beat yourself up for all of it, then neither of us is going to be able to handle it!"

"Chloe, that's not fair! Of course I felt responsible! I didn't get there quickly enough. If I'd have been any later—"

"Then I still would have been fine," she stopped him. "The League has my back. And I'm a smart girl. The fact that you refuse to work with them doesn't mean they're not legitimate."

"I didn't refuse to work with them."

"You did. You had a little pouting fest over it."

"I don't pout."

"You're right. You brood. Which is even worse."

"All right, Chloe, you're right. Is that what you want to hear? You're right. I've been feeling guilty and beating myself up and it absolutely terrifies me that you willingly put yourself in those kind of situations on a regular basis. I mean, what the hell is wrong with you?" Chloe had an angry rebuttal on the tip of her tongue, but he didn't give her the chance. "But more than anything I've been thinking about the fact that I think I'm falling in love with you and even after staying as far away from you as I could, I still…I just want to find out what it is that we have."

She stared at him, too shocked to respond.

"Give me a chance, Chloe. I'm willing to try if you are." He took a few steps closer to her, and she stood her ground.

"I'm not going to waste time getting hurt by you," she said stubbornly, but she could feel her heartbeat betraying her. She wanted him, too.

"Tell me you don't want it, too. Tell me you don't want to at least give it a shot."

He was right in front of her now. She wished her leg was healed so she didn't have to feel so weak and vulnerable. "Bruce, my life is in Metropolis. I can't just stay here and hide from it."

"You still haven't said you don't want to."

"I promised myself I'd stop falling for heroes!" she said, with a note of hysteria in her voice. "I've done this! It always ends up a mess."

"Chloe," he said, placing his hands on her arms and forcing her to look him in the eyes. "I'm willing to try; I think you're worth a risk. All I'm asking is whether you're willing to give me a second chance."

She looked at him, and finally, silently, nodded her consent. Immediately he leaned down and kissed her soundly and the way she sighed with relief told them both everything they needed to know.

One Month Later…

"So let me get this straight," Lois said, leaning in the doorway and studying her cousin. "You're leaving me forever."

Chloe laughed as she held up two dresses in the mirror, a teal one and a gold one.

"The gold," Lois commented.

"Thanks. I'm hardly leaving forever, Lo. I'm just…going for an extended stay."

"That's the same thing as leaving forever!" Lois whined.

"Oh, Lo, don't be so silly. Look, Oliver has work for me in Gotham, and yes, I could handle most of it from Metropolis, but this way I get to see more of Bruce for a few months. I can't keep expecting him to fly out to Metropolis all the time. It's hardly fair."

"What's hardly fair is that I'm losing my coffee-buddy," Lois pouted, but they both knew she wasn't really sincere in her complaints. Lois had been so relieved that Chloe and Bruce were giving things a fair go-'round. She'd never seen her cousin happier than these past few weeks. She positively lit up whenever Bruce was in town.

They'd been taking things slowly, from what Lois understood. Even Lois, who knew Chloe better than almost anyone, realized what an enigma her cousin was, and there was clearly more to Bruce Wayne than met the eye. So for the two of them to really get to know one another on an intimate, honest level, well, that was going to take time. But it seemed like they were doing things right. Bruce had been out to Metropolis three or four times in the past month, and now a serendipitous opportunity for Chloe to spend a few months in Gotham had magically presented itself ("I think you're developing a cupid-complex," Lois had accused Oliver smugly.), and it was the chance the couple really needed to spend some real time together again.

Chloe smiled to herself as she folded a few pairs of jeans. It wasn't just about being near Bruce again—although that certainly was cause to smile. She was excited at the prospect of working closely with Lucius Fox and collaborating on Justice League technology with him. While Bruce was still hesitant to officially commit himself to the League as 'member,' he was more than happy to 'sponsor' the project alongside Oliver, as he had termed it. Batman would always be on call if there were a real crisis, but for now he felt his place was in Gotham. Chloe had a feeling that after a few months, she might be able to persuade him to make a steadier commitment to the idea.

In the meantime, some interesting things were happening in Gotham. Besides the fact that Clark and Bruce were becoming the most unlikely friends anyone had ever met, there was a young man shadowing Bruce that Chloe was interested in. Bruce thought he was in over his head, but Chloe thought this Robin-kid had potential. Even more exciting, a week ago, someone calling herself Batgirl had made an appearance. She was a real mystery, and Chloe loved a good mystery.

As for Bruce, well, he kept his emotions close to his chest, but everyone knew he was ecstatic that Chloe had accepted the proposal to work in tandem with Wayne Enterprises as a representative of Queen Industries. Not to mention he liked being able to keep a closer eye on her. It was taking a while to adjust himself to the notion that she was going to be involved in the grittier aspects of his life and the League's, but slowly he was realizing that it made the relationship stronger. They were both on an equal playing field, and this time around, everything was honest and straightforward.

Alfred, of course, was already planning a menu for the first evening Chloe would be spending at the mansion.

Hey everyone! Most of you know what a long-time-coming this chapter has been, and I can only apologize and say that sometimes you lose momentum and sometimes Real Life gets in the way. :) However, I'm pleased to finally be posting a conclusion to what has definitely been a fun story to write.

Due to the extremely unusual time lapses that occurred between working on different portions of this story, and even between paragraphs of this chapter, I'm aware that I may very well have missed something with the final chapter. Please, if there are loose ends that I missed, and you would like to hear more about, I want to encourage you to mention it in a review or tweet ( the_BlueSuede). Depending on the material, I will be more than happy to post a short epilogue to give a little closure!

Thank you so much for your patience!
Blue