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Thread: Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Updated 4th November 2015

  1. #1
    NS Senior Member Senior Member HotCrossedBunny's Avatar
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    Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Updated 4th November 2015

    Keeping Up Appearances












    Rating: NC-17
    Disclaimer: I don’t own Smallville.
    Spoilers: Possibly.
    Warning: Huge warning. This fanfic will contain one of the worst things imaginable in the Chlex verse. Chloe is going to be with someone other than Lex. I know, I know, but it spoke to me so here we are. Don’t worry our preferred billionaire will turn up, at some point.
    Summary: Chloe goes undercover as Oliver’s spoilt fiancée in order to discover who is infiltrating the Justice League.

    Prologue

    “Oliver Queen this had better not just be some scheme to get into my pants”, Chloe said, reclining against the limo’s soft leather interior as they wound through the streets. She tucked her short blond hair behind her ear and and then popped a chip inside, pressing it to assure herself that it was working.

    “Don’t flatter yourself Sullivan”, a decidedly masculine voice replied as he likewise inserted and checked his earpiece.

    She rolled her eyes. Not taking him seriously. She flipped open her compact mirror and examined her reflection. “Enjoying the view, boys?”

    “You know it”, the voice came through clearly from her earpiece. Causing her to smirk.

    “May I remind you that that is my wife you are talking about”, Oliver’s voice broke in.

    “Future wife. And only if things go really wrong”, she corrected him and clipped the compact shut, denying the other members of the Justice League a view of her features.

    “Ever the optimist”, he flashed her a dazzling smile.

    “That’s why you pay me the big bucks”, she returned.

    He opened his mouth as if he would have replied but as they pulled him he just grinned then whispered, “Welcome to Italy”.

    “Grazie”.

    ~*~

    Chloe stood in the penthouse of Rome’s premier hotel, bathed in the bright sunlight which flooded in through the large open windows, draped in an affected air of self-importance and Gucci. She looked about her without enthusiasm from the view, to the hotel suite, to the maître d’. The last of these she sent on its way with a flick of her manicured hand, leaving the utilitarian matter of payment to her beleaguered beau.

    Oliver handed over several hundred Euro notes, ordered that they not be disturbed under any circumstances and locked the door once they were alone, while Chloe simply took out her phone and became wholly absorbed by it.

    Oliver came to stand by her and placed his hand on the small of her back as he asked, “What do you think of the place?”

    Chloe raised her eyes from her device for a moment and answered in bored accents, “It is hopelessly deary”. With that, she lost interest in him and began wandering from one room to the next dividing her apparently unimpressed attention between the splendours surrounding her and those on her screen.

    “Yes, I suppose that it is rather”, he examined the frescos, with a smirk in her direction he continued, “you would have thought that they might have done it up in the last hundred years or so”.

    She shot him an irritated glance, before responding, “Quite”. She continued her strolling until finally she deigned to return to his side, snapped her phone shut and declared, “Done”.

    “No bugs?” Oliver checked.

    “None whatsoever”, she smiled. “I found and disposed of a couple remotely from Watchtower but no new ones have manifested themselves”.

    “You are brilliant”, he declared with boyish enthusiasm and admiration.

    “Thanks boss”, she patted him on the arm.

    He smiled. He always did when she called him that. “So, what do you think?”

    “Are you kidding? It is brilliant!” Chloe enthused skipping back out of the living room into the adjoining master bedroom. “I have to call Dad just to tell him. And Lois and …” She broke off as she came back down to earth.

    “Sorry”, Oliver ran his hand through his short blond spikes.

    “It’s alright”, Chloe shrugged, embarrassed that she had let herself get carried away. It wasn’t like her. “I’ll just tell them when it is all over”.

    “Unless they see you in the papers first”, he teased her.

    “That is what the glasses are for”, she indicated to the large pair of designer sunglasses she had placed on the coffee table soon after they had entered the room but which had adorned her features whilst outside.

    “They will still be able to tell”, he replied as he fingered the oddly shaped glasses. They were enormous.

    “Only if they look closely and Dad won’t read an article just because it centres around you. His schedule is far too busy now that he is retired”, she said happily. She had been worried about him becoming bored and lonely once he had given up work. His decision to take up tennis had been a nice surprise. The surfing had been a little more shocking but he seemed happy enough.

    “No”, Oliver conceded, “but Lois might”.

    Chloe shrugged and flopped down on the bed. “Hopefully we will be out for here before it ever … I take it back”. She had been moving her head around to stretch out her neck when something had caught her eye, reminding her of her earlier discovery.

    “What’s the matter?” He asked, coming up to where she had been lying only to have her dash off into the bathroom.

    “I’m sorry Mr Queen”, she began very seriously, “but I have deduced that we cannot possibly finish this project in a few mere days. I am afraid that a new piece of information has come into my possession and we won’t be able to leave for at least a week!”

    “And what might that be?” Oliver enquired following her into the en suite, his interest piqued.

    “Have you seen the size of that bath?” Chloe clapped her hands together once.

    The corner of his lips began to quirk upwards but he strove for control and a serious expression, “A Jacuzzi bath in point of fact”.

    “A Jacuzzi bath in point of fact”, she repeated and then sighed, “I’m in heaven”.

    “There is a mystery to be solved”, he reminded her with mock sternness.

    “Good, I always get bored without one”, she replied cheekily. She was like Nancy Drew.

    He just smiled and shook his head.



    A/N: Yet another fanfic. Please review if you have read it.
    Last edited by HotCrossedBunny; 29th May 2015 at 18:54. Reason: Incorrect posting date

  2. #2
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    Re: Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Posted 31st December 2014

    Nice

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    Re: Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Posted 31st December 2014

    curious to she what happens next & to see how lex comes into the story

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    Re: Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Posted 31st December 2014

    Really nice. I think Oliver is smitten with Chloe too. When will Lex make his apprearance?

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    Re: Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Posted 31st December 2014

    Just enough cuteness between my third favorite pairing. Wonder if Dinah will be involved or just chloe and her boys. Is Dinah an infiltrator for Lex? Don't really want an answer. Just thinking.

  6. #6

    Re: Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Posted 31st December 2014

    Cute beginning, now being on the lex!

  7. #7
    NS Senior Member Senior Member HotCrossedBunny's Avatar
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    Re: Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Posted 31st December 2014

    Wow, five reviews. I'm so happy.

    Trinna: Thank-you.

    Cbrunberg: Good, I hope that you keep reading.

    Trckyrcky: You'll have to keep reading to find out.

    Reyeslu: Keep thinking and reading! Thanks for reviewing.

    Phillydragonldy: Oh a new reader. Hello! *waves*

  8. #8
    NS Senior Member Senior Member HotCrossedBunny's Avatar
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    Re: Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Posted 31st December 2014

    A/N: Advanced warning, I'm sick. Sorry about that.

    Chapter One

    Chloe jerked awake. Immediately alert. As always.

    Her eyes scrolled across the room. For a few seconds she had no idea where she was or why she was surrounded by such foreign, delicate décor. One hand grabbed for the duvet cover and pulled it up to her chest while the other surreptitiously sneaked its way under her pillow to retrieve her gun. She strove to keep her breathing deep and even as she searched for the source of whatever the disturbance had been.

    A car horn sounded, loud and imperatively outside her window. She jumped. And she realised what it had been that had awoken her so rudely. That was all that it had been, a stupid car horn. She was going insane. Slowly but surely, she was going absolutely, stark raving insane.

    Now that she was awake she could hear all of the noise, a constant stream of of traffic passed the gardens surrounding the hotel. Apparently in Rome even in the most expensive of hotels, noise was still an issue. It just went to prove that there were some things that money couldn't buy. Peace. Quiet. Love.

    She looked around once again, swallowed, and tucked her gun back away for now. Chloe stretched and headed for her en suite to try to wash her foolishness and regret away. He was dead. Burned. And buried. He wasn’t going to come back for her.

    Her tears mixed with the water in the shower and were washed away just as easily. But the pain, a hard stone right in her heart remained. Now all that was left for her was to dedicate her life to the cause, and search for atonement.

    ~*~

    Oliver bounced out of bed and proceeded to do a quick couple of hundred push ups before heading for the bathroom. He was in an excellent mood; the sun was shining, he was in Italy and he had the company of a gorgeous woman. The only slight blot on the landscape was the unknown individual steeling highly confidently information from Queen Industries but they were going to captured soon. With him and Chloe on the case, what could possibly go wrong?

    He was still in this good mood as he returned to his bedroom, got dressed and was confronted by a grinning fool in the mirror.

    This just made him smile yet more brightly and bounced off in search of his ‘fiancée’ as he heard stirrings in the main living room.

    “I must say that Versace suits you”, he declared without preamble or discretion.

    Chloe turned to him, a look of amusement (and something that he could not quite place) on her face. “Yes, let’s just hope that I don’t spill anything down it. I think that this one dress is about one month’s pay”, she looked down as is trying to assess the price by the way that it fit over her hips.

    He smiled thinking very extremely humorous. Of course he wouldn’t expect her to pay for he dress, even if she were to ruin it. The clothes were all part and parcel of their trip. “You can’t worry about things like that if you are supposed to be a rich bitch”, he reminded her. He adored the fact that she was so different from the other women he knew, but he was concerned that that might bode ill for their deception. If people noticed her inner sweetness and infectious smile then they were screwed.

    “So I shouldn’t think about the fact that my earrings are worth more than my Dad’s entire house?” She enquired, gesturing to the diamond studs which adored her lobes, forcing him to transfer his attention upwards.

    “No, definitely not. You need to channel the ‘I can buy and sell your entire family twice over on what Daddy gives me for lunch money’ look”, he told her, well aware that he was one of them and that Chloe had probably viewed him in that light at least once in their acquaintance. “If in doubt, just look haughty”.

    Chloe was already dressed like a débutante in her silk dress and diamond jewellery,but she became the embodiments of hauteur before his very eyes. She raised her chin a fraction of an inch, made her eyes hard and did something to her mouth and suddenly almost every trace of what he liked best about her was gone. It was rather unsettling but did confirm that she was up the challenge.

    “Yeah, that’s the one”, he grinned at her.

    “Either that or say ‘I don’t use public transport, I don’t want to catch poor?” She declared in her most affected tone.

    “Stick to the look”, he advised with a snigger.

    “Alright boss”, she smirked. “Do you want me to call down for breakfast. See I’m all rich and lazy already”.

    He figured that she had forgotten that he was rich and used to having servants to cater to his every whim. Either that or she was trying to make a point.

    “It might be more believable if we were to go out for breakfast. It would give the people more of a chance to see us”, he stuffed his hands into his pockets. He didn’t know why he felt the need to explain his wish to take her out for breakfast so comprehensively, “Our success depends on being believed as a couple”.

    “Then what are we waiting for?” Chloe asked sauntering back into the main bedroom, spritzing herself with perfume and grabbing her handbag.

    Oliver followed her in through the open door and followed her over to the dressing table. It was strange, but oddly soothing, to see her doing something so personal. Normally he only saw her while working, he never felt as if he had a window into her actual private life.

    Chloe turned back around and looked up at him and he realised that it was a bit weird for him to just be standing there. He hadn’t thought of that when he had followed her in there. He reached out for the bottle and squirted himself with it as well. “For continuity”.

    If she had really been his fiancée he would have held her and kissed her so much by the time that they had left the hotel that he too would have smelled of her scent. Actually, if Chloe had really been his fiancée he probably wouldn’t have left the hotel at all but that would hardly further their plan.

    ~*~

    “We have to make this believable”, Oliver repeated for the umpteenth time since they had got into the limo.

    “I know”, Chloe said, trying not to snap - it was her boss she was addressing after all.

    For over a year now she had dedicated her entire life to Watchtower. To being everything that the heroes needed and asked nothing in return. She had been the one to bring them together, to solve the millions of problems that assailed them from unmasking evildoers to dealing with the IRS. She had been the one who had discovered that there was some form of leak in Oliver’s company and yet he repeatedly told her that they had to “make it believable” as if she were unprofessional or a screw up or ...

    “Good”, he didn’t sound angry as much as concerned.

    Oliver was always good and kind and she felt bad for being so waspish. She thought of telling him that she hadn’t slept well but she didn’t. That wouldn’t be professional either.

    She reached into her bag and found her compact, unclipping it immediately and staring into it. She looked far more put together than she felt.

    “Are you calling the boys again?” Oliver wondered.

    “No, just checking my hair this time”, she returned it to her bag.

    “Right, we are almost there", he pointed ahead to where they were headed, “We are about to become the worst of American tourists going only to the most famous of landmarks, ignoring half of the real culture, and generally just missing the point entirely”.

    “Well, we wouldn’t want to destroy a perfectly good stereotype, now would we?”

    “I wish I could show you the real Italy”, Oliver said with something close to a sigh. “It really is an amazing country”.

    “As long as we get the job done, nothing else matters”, she reminded him, trying to get away from a subject which was becoming rapidly uncomfortable for her. She had been to Italy before.

    “Right”, Oliver seemed to hesitate before asking, “Are you alright?”

    “Sure”, she flashed him a smile, “just itching to get going”

    They came to a stop. “As you wish”.

    ~*~

    The limo pulls up outside a small café in the centre of Rome which was famous amongst Americans for being the place to be seen - if you had the money - and famous amongst the Romans for going only if you wanted to overpay for second rate food and have a first row view of bad manners.

    Oliver almost winced to be seen there but it was necessary. He got out first and held out his hand to assist Chloe in doing the same. He smiled, not for appearance’s sake but due to the transformation which had taken place in Chloe within a few seconds.

    She slid out of the car. Her delicate feet , placed elegantly on the ground, coming into view first. The her long legs. Then the rest of her perfect silk clad figure. And then finally her face. She had covered half of it with a pair of enormous sunglasses which happened to be in fashion, but they could not disguise her exquisite beauty or the hauteur which oozed from her every pour. He had to give it to her, she was a good actress.

    “Darling”, the endearment made him do a double take. So much for being believable. He realised after a second that he was standing in her way. He moved to the side and she strode ahead, causing him to then have to dash ahead to open the door for her. He was the one who was going to have to work on his performance, she really had hers down pat.

    Or maybe they both would he considered as he noticed her flinch slightly as he placed his hand on her lower back. He was not sure what was wrong, if she was just shocked or it was something to do with their mission. He also noticed that she neglected to thank him for holding the door open as she normally would have.

    Once inside, he noticed her inhale deeply as the smell of coffee washed over them. Nothing could dilute Chloe’s love of coffee. He kept his hand on her back, stroking it in what he hoped was a soothing motion, and leant over to whisper in her ear, “Don’t worry you’re doing great”.

    She turned her head to look at him and for a second he thought that it might have gone too far, until she reached up to kiss him on the cheek before whispering in his ear, “I thought that I saw something, behind the car”.

    “Darling, please forgive me, I forgot my phone. Do you mind if dash back to the car for a second?” He asked, just loudly enough for anyone around them to believe his story.

    “Just as you please”, she said in a snotty tone, but he knew that Chloe understood.

    “I’ll be right back”, he kissed her cheek again and dashed back out to the car. He scanned the area and then ducked back into the car, leaving orders for a more thorough investigation to be carried out, but quickly returned to the café.

    He knew what Chloe was like. She would want to go out there and investigate herself or at least be there sticking her nose to the glass to see what was happening. He could appreciate how difficult it must have been for her to go and sit at the bar, as if nothing of interest were occurring.

    Unfortunately she was also attracting men to her like flies. Large, and in one case muscular, flies. They definitely weren’t in Metropolis any more. It wasn’t a chore for him look annoyed and possessive as he strode over to Chloe and placed his hand once more on her back.

    She almost jumped out of her skin and the men backed off, he slipped onto the stool closest stool to Chloe. She was ridged to his touch and he leant over to assure her, “There was no one there, but the team is on it just in case”. He didn’t doubt her. If she said that someone was there, then someone had been there.

    “There is no need to worry”, he reassured her, stroking her back his hand travelling lower without his realising it.

    “How realistic is this supposed to be if we are going to go sightseeing today”, Chloe asked in a whisper as she arched an eyebrow at him. He shook his head with a smile, as if his desire to immerse himself in the role had merely got away from him.

    It was true if he continued like this no one would believe anything but that he had taken her back to the hotel. He teased her in an audible voice this time, thinking that it would only add to the performance, “Are you absolutely sure that you want to go sightseeing today. We could spend the entire day in our hotel suite?”

    “Yes, I need more stimulation that”, she smirked at him.

    “Ouch”, he held his hand over his heart. He would get her back for that. He called the server over and before she could, he ordered her breakfast for her, knowing how much she hated things like that.

    She smiled sweetly but he could tell that she was annoyed. She was turning pink and even more adorable. He began to trace patterns on her back, idly as he whispered in her ear as if they were really lovers.

    “Rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb”, he whispered, that was what they said on stage wasn’t it?

    Chloe giggled.

    “What’s so funny?” He breathed against the delicate shell of her ear.

    “You?” She laughed.

    “I’m not that humorous. Hell, who am I kidding? I’m hilarious”, he purred.

    She laughed again and he wrapped his arm around her, hugging her to him and burying his head in her neck. “Fine, I’ll bore you instead. I’ll tell you all about the last Queen Industries stock meeting”.

    Even this made her laugh, although she may have just been acting. It was irritating to say the least when their coffee arrived and he had to let her go to pay.

    He turned back to Chloe and smiled at her and raised his cup to her, “Buon appetito”.

    “Buon appetito”, she replied in kind and took a sip.

    “Strong?” He inquired, hiding his smirking mouth behind his own cup.

    “I can take it”, she informed him with a lick of her lips, even though he knew that she normally preferred the American style lattes with sugar-free syrups “And anything else you can dish out”..

    “Good to know”, he smirked and observed her not only as she drank her coffee but also as she began to nibble delicately at her marmellata. He knew how hard it was not for her to tear into it. He’d always had the utmost appreciation for her healthy appetite, if a slight concern for her ability to go hours without sustenance, work all night long and then inhale take out in under a minute. He had timed her once last week, ten hours straight working and then less than three minutes to receive the food, eat it and recycle her carton. All the while typing with one hard

    He’d have to get her some more snacks later. As tasty as his pastry was, it was hardly substantial. He fancied a nice big bowel of Wheaties himself. The rest of their breakfast was passed in quiet, companionable silence. He started to feel a little more relaxed.

    Unfortunately, a picture was taken of them and not by the paparazzi. Walking. Together. His hand on her lower back.

    ~*~

    “Convincing liar aren’t you?” Chloe said, in her normal tone as the reclined in the car.

    “You aren’t the first girl to tell me that”, Oliver admitted.

    “I’m sure”, she said, getting her phone out automatically and checking for updates.

    He shot her a look.

    “Come on Ollie, you disappear all of the time, come up with lame excuses and do have something of a playboy history”, she said without looking up from her screen, “you have to expect that you are going to get some flack for that”.

    “True”, he conceded.

    She sighed, realising that she might actually have hurt his feelings. She tore her eyes away from her life line and patted his leg. It was odd for the to have physical contact, even after the display in the coffee shop. “When you tell a girl the truth, she’ll understand”, she consoled him. “Girls are suckers for the whole tortured billionaire saving the world thing. Plus good guys”.

    “But not too good hey”, he joked.

    She froze. Then rolled her eyes. Clearly he hadn’t been too upset. She opened her mouth to say something when their new driver turned around and winked at them.

    “Get going speedy Gonzalez”, Chloe ordered.

    “Si” , Barry saluted her.

    Ollie looked surprised. “I know that you said you had someone we could trust, but ...”.

    “He was the obvious job. He almost speaks the lingo”, she pointed out.

    “He is also going to slobber all over you if you aren’t careful”.

    “I heard that”, Flash called from the front seat of the car.

    “He’s had his shots”, Chloe shrugged.

    “I heard that too!”


    A/N: My doctor said that I need lots of rest, fluids and reviews. Well, not the last one but they would make me feel better.

  9. #9

    Re: Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Posted 19th January 2015

    Loving this story so far! I love throwing Oliver in the mix with some Chlex, can't wait for our bald billionaire to show up

  10. #10

    Re: Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Posted 19th January 2015

    Liking this story a lot. Very curious what (who?) had Chloe so upset in the morning. I'm not a Chlollie fan, but I found their interactions here interesting.

    That said, I agree with jessicakadie. BRING ON THE LEX!!

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