Oliver knew Clark would never bring the kiss up if he got the impression for one second that any of what Oliver seen had damaged their friendship. Weeks ago, Oliver had known what was simmering between Clark and Lois and with their kiss having been the unintended result, Clark would only go as far as Oliver insisted was necessary. He'd apologize and say that it hadn't been deliberate, that it had been one of those things that happened and if Oliver was upset, Clark could be counted on to back off. It was more than like that he'd think it was warranted; Lois' suspicions had been diverted and she had other stories to write now. In spite of the steps he'd taken and the corresponding progress, Clark was too much of a moralist to think that everything could be easily forgotten. It was possible that Oliver would have to give him a couple hard jolts of reality before he loosened up again.

Aware of the way Clark avoided people when he'd done something he thought had hurt them, Oliver sought him out. He chose a more private setting; Clark might be polite, but Oliver couldn't guarantee that his own composure would hold.

Senator Kent had been gracious and sincere publicly as well as in her own home, so despite the presence of Lionel Luthor in her campaign, Oliver thought it was time to have a talk with her. There were options besides those supported by the Luthors and it would be smart of her to be aware of them in case of some irreconcilable disagreement. There would be a time when she couldn't deny what was being done to further a family's ambitions, and when that moment arrived, better to have alternatives than lose vital ground.

He called ahead and was ushered inside a warm kitchen filled with the aroma of baked goods. Oliver saw a platter of cookies on the table and a dent in the pile where a handful had been taken.

The Senator saw him notice and she smiled tolerantly. "If it isn't Clark going through food like there's rationing around the corner, Lois does a fair imitation."

Oliver had watched Lois attack meals that way after she'd been arguing with sources and he nodded. "She does have a healthy appetite."

"Still, they left a few for the rest of us," the Senator said and offered the plate to Oliver.

"Have one, before they disappear."

"If you insist." Oliver accepted a cookie and followed her subtle herding into the living room. They sat down, him on the couch and the Senator in a chair, informally at ease, but still appropriately situated for business.

In her own space, Senator Kent was just as disarming as Oliver remembered. She had learned how to speak the language of the common people, yet brought to it a background of Metropolis upbringing. Her efforts to establish herself as an important figure on the political scene had given her more confidence, and Oliver's questions were countered and answered without fumbling. She wasn't afraid to admit that she was new to this area, but that admission didn't weaken her footing and Oliver found himself relaxed in a few minutes and straying from talk of politics soon after.

She wasn't looking for ways to put him in a bind, but Oliver got the impression that she was hearing more than what he told her. Being Clark's mother probably gave a woman a lot of methods for getting the truth even when her son didn't feel like she needed to hear it.

"I've been meaning to talk to Clark about a project we collaborated on but we keep just missing one another," Oliver said with only a little of his frustration coming through. "Would you mind giving him a message for me?"

"Clark's been awfully busy, but I'm sure that he'll get a hold of you soon," Senator Kent said and Oliver caught a hint of the mother showing.

"I appreciate it," he said.

"Not at all, thank you for stopping by."

Oliver was shown out and Mrs. Kent waved at him through the screen. On the way back to his car he glanced at the barn but didn't change directions. When they had this discussion, Oliver wanted it to be on his ground where he could compensate for being off balance.

Clark wouldn't stay away for too long on his own and by involving his mother, Oliver had ensured that the farm boy would pay him a visit even sooner. In specific instances, a family could be part of business and even move things along. Oliver didn't actually schedule Clark in, but he expected him to show up in a day or two. Whatever his secret project was, journalism assignment or some farm maintenance related mission he felt had to be handled by an expert, Clark would take the time out to do the right thing.

Lois had been awkward after her rescue by 'the Green Arrow,' but Oliver let it go for now. She already felt that she'd made a typical gaffe and movie night was canceled. Oliver took her home; Chloe met them at the door and he knew that while Lois recounted the night's excitement, she'd be looked after.

Oliver was back in his loft, the space vast without the presence of his girlfriend, someone who was vibrant and brash just enough for him to excuse them from parties, but she was becoming smarter about what words she used to insult the deserving. They could make it as partners if only her career and his weren't bound to run afoul of each other again. Lois might believe that Oliver wasn't the Green Arrow and his secret was safe, but that didn't give the vigilante and the reporter somewhere they could meet honestly and do a tell-all interview. The truth protected him but didn't free him and it brought a new barrier up between them. Whether Clark was going to give Oliver a way around that remained to be seen.

In the meantime, Oliver mulled over various avenues of possibility as he slowed his breathing. When he felt centered, he rolled back, weight resting on his elbows as his hands supported his lower back, toes pointed at the ceiling. He stayed in that pose for fifty heartbeats and wouldn't have moved if he hadn't heard someone clear their throat.

"You want me to come back?" Clark asked.

Oliver smiled. "No, I was just loosening up. I've been kind of tense." He let Clark react unobserved, eased down and then rose up onto his feet.

Clark was loitering by the entryway, giving ground to Oliver without speaking. That was a good sign; Clark wasn't being defensive, he knew what Oliver wanted to talk about and he'd given him the room to move first.

"Come on, if you hang around there all day my assistant will insist on reminding me of my manners." Oliver wasn't kidding either, Susan habitually chided him for some of his less politic comments.

"Would she do that?" Clark asked.

"I never know if she's going to give me a hard time or let things go," Oliver said honestly.

"She sounds tough."

"That's why I hired her." Out of all the other applicants she had been nice, but assessed the corporate deficits that Oliver needed handled and took care of them in the first week.

Oliver motioned for Clark to come inside. "Your mother must have handed you that note when you walked through the door."

"She let me have lunch first." Clark came forward but didn't ascend the stairs to where Oliver was standing.

Oliver grabbed a towel and wiped off. His shirt was on the railing and he pulled it on as he went down the stairs. "Your mother's a smart woman. If she makes the right connections she could go far politically."

"Is that why you came over? To offer your help with her career?"

"I wanted to make her aware of my views and get an idea of her stance on the issues," Oliver admitted.

"She likes you," Clark told him.

"I'm glad, it's mutual." Oliver was pleased, if he had to deal with a powerful woman, he'd rather it was someone who he could respect, even if they didn't agree.

"But that's not the only reason you came over," Clark said.

"No, it wasn't."

"You got what you wanted."

"Not even close, but you can help with that."

Clark looked down and then met Oliver's gaze unflinchingly. "I'm sorry that the rescue didn't go along with our plan. I didn't mean to kiss Lois."

"I think she was trying to confirm her suspicions," Oliver said. "You were very convincing as a hero."

"I just did what you would have."

"With your own brand of justice." Although Oliver hadn't gotten an unedited version of events from Lois that night, he'd gotten enough to guess what had happened and then he'd gathered the rest from the scene and Lois' account the next day.

"That was what you wanted me to do."

"Right." Oliver picked up an apple from the table and took a bite. "How did that feel?"

"Kissing your girlfriend while I was wearing green leather?" Clark asked in confusion.

"Helping people without worrying that anyone would know who you were," Oliver pressed.

"It felt weird wearing a mask," Clark admitted.

"But it was liberating."

"What are you trying to say?" Clark gave him a puzzled look.

"That you need to find a way to let out some of this helpfulness and if you had a reliable disguise that could let you do that."

"Are you trying to get me to get fitted again?" Clark gave Oliver a nervous look. "And how did you know my exact size?"

"Experience. If you wanted I'm sure we could find something that wouldn't be too wild for your country bred tastes."

"No thanks, I don't like masks."

"You hide enough as it is?"

"That's getting personal," Clark warned.

"Considering what happened, I think I'm entitled to intrude on your privacy a little."

"You wanted my help."

"That didn't mean I was looking for you to step into my shoes. Not literally," Oliver snapped.

"That isn't what happened," Clark protested.

Running a hand back through his hair, Oliver sighed. "I know you didn't mean to, it just brought some things up. Stuff that I was already aware of and that we've talked about."

"You mean the fact that you think I'm, uh-" Clark wasn't eager to get the words out.

"Part of my relationship with Lois, yeah, I think you and I both know that's the truth, especially now."

"I think that's overstating the facts."

"Not from here."

"What do you want to do about this?"

"Lois is happy now, she's convinced that I'm the guy she thought I was and the perfect boyfriend."

"And that's bothering you?" Clark inquired.

"Yeah."

"Why's that?"

"How can I be sure that she won't like the Green Arrow even more now?" It was a natural progression for Lois' non-linear thinking. The guy wasn't so bad after all, he saved her, kissed alright, and was sort of noble. If Oliver hadn't gone through this farce to keep his secret he would be celebrating a job well done.

"She's had a problem with him up until now, one kiss isn't going to make that much difference." Even if Clark's tone indicated he could see the same happening.

"Are you sure? That was a hell of a way to thank someone." From where Ollie had stood, both of them had been eager to interrogate each other from the mouth down.

"That was her way of eliminating you as the Green Arrow," Clark said firmly.

"How very hands on of her."

"She did slap me," Clark recalled, rubbing his cheek as if he could feel the impact of Lois' palm all over again.

"And if I'd showed up a minute or two sooner?" Oliver asked.

"Then she would've known even quicker that you couldn't be the Green Arrow and you could have done something brave too." When Clark said it, missed chances were minimal and reassurances supplied quickly.

"Instead I got to show up and be disapproving." When Clark vanished in a well timed burst of speed, Oliver had found it difficult not to snicker at Lois' flummoxed expression. He'd been glad that she smacked Clark though, if he'd done it he would have bruised his fist again.

"Lois didn't apologize for suspecting you?"

"Was I even suppose to know that I was under investigation? On the phone later she talked about her crazy ideas and how I should be more careful about how I play and then she had to go giggle with Chloe about something I'm sure is none of my business."

"They do that sometimes," Clark agreed. He seemed uncomfortably familiar with the way those particular girls carried on together and Oliver had to ask, just to see how safe they considered him.

"What did they say?"

"Not much. They were really wound up about you not being Metropolis' resident vigilante."

Clark thought back as he spoke. "Chloe thought it was funny that I was wrong, Lois was relieved. Other than that, they didn't say much." He added, "They kept giving each other these looks, though and smiling."

"You got caught in the middle." Actually it didn't sound like a bad position to be trapped in, but Clark wasn't the guy to take advantage.

"I'm used to it."

"I've noticed." Oliver had been watching as Clark's relationship with Lana was used as fodder for a journalistic shark and he'd bounced between Lex and his ex girlfriend as if it was an old routine.

Clark appeared uncomfortable, which wasn't unexpected, but he wasn't denying how entwined he was in multiple relationships, while not officially dating anyone involved.

"It's not something I set out to do."

"But it happens a lot." Oliver had been theorizing while he went through his asasanas routine and he felt like sharing. "You have these compartments, to your life and anyone who knows you. Nobody gets inside fully but they all have their places."

"That sounds like a horrible way to treat your friends," Clark said. "And if that's the way I live, then I don't care what I do to them."

"I didn't say that; you leapt from keeping secrets to being a sociopath."

"Glad to hear that you don't think I'm crazy," Clark snapped.

"I don't, but that leaves us with the question of what you are."

"Having kissed your girlfriend means you get to be upset, but it doesn't go further." Clark's tone was harsh.

"I don't even get a hint, you got to handle my stuff and you haven't given me more than a preview."

"That's either a warning to keep away from Lois or a lame attempt at coaxing me into a tell-all."

Oliver smiled. "Could be."

"Does that work for you?" Clark asked.

"I'm trying what I know and moving on when it comes to you."

There was a barely perceptible tightness in Clark's face. "From you it sounds like I'm an experiment that you haven't been able to finish."

"Sensitive about science?" Oliver asked. 

"Only when it's being used to mess up lives."

"Let's assume that I'm saying that's true and both of us know who was testing you."

"Lex doesn't care who gets hurt if they might be holding back what he wants to know."

Clark was ill at ease whenever Oliver began harping on Lex's criminal aspirations, but he hadn't denied Lex's interest in him or that it had been a problem for some time.

"On anyone else it would be called stalking, but Luthors show their interest by taking things apart to prove a point."

"And how does Oliver Queen show his?" Clark wanted to know.

"I investigate, but I ask."

"Always?"

"I've had to be more impolite when uncovering Lex's plans, but I try to do things the right way. When that fails, though, one has to confront a challenge and meet it." He faced Clark's gaze.

"Okay, so what are you trying to say?"

"I kissed you, then you kissed Lois. You're not just covering for me, it's like you haven't gotten credit when you should have."

"Keeping Lois from figuring out your secret identity was the reason I agreed to help you, it had nothing to do with a skewed concept of who's the more deserving." 

"I'm phrasing this badly," Oliver realized.

"That's accurate."

"What I meant to say is; you keep getting stuck between two people and none of your helpfulness is ever reciprocated."

Clark's expression was confused and a little nervous. "if you're going to try and pay me for putting on a hood and leather pants, I'm heading home to do tomorrow's chores."

"You're getting ahead of yourself," Oliver warned.

"So catch up," Clark invited.

"I'm not going to apologize for getting your help because it turned out all right."

And Oliver felt he'd found the right strategy, and it had worked.

"I am going to insist that you come over sometime for movie night," Oliver said. 

"When Lois has recovered from the first one?"

"Right?"

Clark thought about the offer. "Is that how you feel?"

The question was bold of Clark, but he'd come closer as they talked.

"You have your way of doing what you do and I have mine. Combine them and we make a good team." He eyed Clark playfully. "It'd help if you'd give me some idea of what you bring with you."

"Why do you need to know so badly?"

"It's not a project, more long term planning."

"Business venture?"

"More global."

"Okay." Clark nodded.

He couldn't force Clark to tell him everything, and even teasing him wasn't advisable after specifics were considered off-limits.

"You can tell me I'm being pushy." Oliver knew he let his need to account for every variable get the better of him.

"You are," Clark said. 

"Backing off," Oliver promised.

"Thanks."

"But really, I'll give you a call when Lois and I are having another movie night and you should come over."

"Maybe," Clark said gently, not refusing, but being honest about how events changed plans.

"See you," Clark half-waved and left, neatly exiting before Oliver could think of another reason for him to stick around while he worked up to offering a position that Clark had already refused on the grounds of having his own mission. Clark was thinking about it, though and if Oliver's work yielded useful information he knew it might sway Clark to reconsidering his views on group affiliations.

In the meantime, he trusted Clark to see reason and also to be around for Lois while she regretted a relationship where other things came first. And while Oliver wasn't coming back to stay in Metropolis but he knew its citizens would be protected and Clark would welcome a visit.

-end