Perry was back in his office and somebody knocked on his door. "Come in."

It was Chloe.

"Miss Sullivan, how can I help you?"

She glared at him. "You can help by not pressing charges against my cousin."

"She needs help. Can't you see that?"

"My cousin is not crazy!"

"Keep your voice down, please. If they give her a clean bill of mental health, fine. If they don't, she may have to get psychiatric help, but I have a feeling she'll be better before you know it. Now if you don't mind, I have a lot of work to do."

Chloe stepped closer. "This is my cousin's life we're talking about. So what if she raised her voice and cried? Is that a crime?"

"It's a nervous breakdown. You also conveniently forget that the she broke things and threatened to hurt somebody."

"You said something to her, didn't you?"

"I beg your pardon?" Perry asked with a puzzled expression.

"You've been spending a lot of time with her, more than with the other employees. What made her suddenly snap like that? Did you sexually harass her, Mr. White?"

"You are completely out of line, young lady. I merely rejected her story. I've been spending a lot of time with her because I believed she had great potential."

"Drop the charges, Mr. White!"

"It's out of my hands now."

"Then I quit!"

"Perhaps that's for the best right now," he told her.

Chloe slammed the door and gave a cry of disgust.

Clark was waiting on the other side. "How did it go?"

"Not good. The man is a pigheaded jerk, so I quit!"

The newsroom fell quiet. The memory of the last screaming woman was still fresh on everyone's minds.

"Calm down, Chloe," Clark said softly.

"Yeah, I'd better not scream around here. They'll ship you off to Belle Reve!"

She gathered up as much of her stuff as she could carry in her arms and headed for the elevator, dropping things as she went, but she didn't bother to stop and pick them up. Clark watched her sympathetically. She was really worried about Lois. He wasn't going to let Lois get taken to Belle Reve though, no matter what he had to do.

"I say good riddance," declared the same man who had called Lois a psychopath, once Chloe had left. "Craziness must run in their family."

sss

Lois was sitting in a psychiatrist's office at the Smallville hospital with her arms folded. The dark blue carpet and beige walls were supposed to have a soothing effect but she was glowering and not making eye contact with the male psychiatrist. She had her legs drawn up and she was sitting in the far corner of the brown couch.

"I just want to ask you some questions about what happened at work. It can only help your situation to talk about it."

Lois didn't answer or look. Her eyes stayed focused on the corner of the room where a bookcase and a potted plant met. Her eyes had never once wavered from that spot during the entire time she'd been there.

"Miss Lane, I only want to help you." He waited for her response and then sighed and adjusted his thick glasses. He wrote something down on his notepad. "We've been here 30 minutes and you haven't spoken once or made any sign that you hear anything I'm saying to you. I'm afraid I'm going to have to recommend some intense therapy. You became very emotional I hear and made threats."

"It doesn't matter," Lois said darkly, still not moving her eyes.

"So you can talk."

"If you lock me up, it won't matter. I'll still have my revenge on the editor."

"And just how do you plan on doing that, Miss Lane?"

"You'll see. Never underestimate my ability to do something, when I don't seem to be doing anything."

"Were you here during the Smallville meteor shower?"

"The second one? Yes."

"I have no choice but to send you to Belle Reve."

He went over behind his desk and pushed a button. He stared at her frightfully. 2 men in white came in and got her and locked her up in the back of one of Belle Reve's transportation vehicles. Once the door was shut, she smiled like a kid who'd gotten exactly what she wanted for Christmas. "I'm in," she whispered triumphantly.