AN: THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and alerted. It means a lot and the response to the first chapter was most encouraging.

AN: For the purposes of this Fic Chloe's birthday is in November which is when the season 4 episode aired about her 18th Birthday. Also I imagine Moira Sullivan as Lynda Carter but with Blonde Hair.

Shout out to Tadashee for her input and Hellzza on Earth for being my all round cheerleader and beta. Any mistakes though are all mine.

Chapter 2 – What's Done is Done

What's done is done, you can't change me, I keep movin on cause its my destiny – Bio Killaz

Star City, 1st July 2008

It seemed to Chloe that it had only been moments ago that her head had hit the pillow and her body had fallen into a deep sleep, exhausted from the day's events. The sound of her phone though bought her back into a semi conscious state, her hand reaching to find it so she could turn it off before …nope to late… 'Time is waiting, we only got 4 minutes to save the world.' Lois's ring tone.

"Mmmm-llo," was all she could manage her eyes resisting being opened.

"Cuz?"

"Lo is everything okay?" she mumbled.

"What are you doing?" There was a hitch in her cousin's voice that told Chloe something was up.

Chloe placed her hands over her eyes blocking out the sunlight that had started to peak through the curtains her head spinning. "I was sleeping until you woke me up. So what's going on?"

"Oh. So you don't know?"

Looking at the time on her phone she moaned. "Lois its barely 6:30am here, I just went to sleep. You are going to have to spell out what it is that I don't know." She heard Lois take a deep breathe.

"Lex Luthor just announced his purchase of the Daily Planet and that he will be starting as editor in chief next Monday."

Her eyes shot open and she sat up. "What!" Now fully alert …her chest feeling like a heavy weight had been placed on it, the spinning now a confirmed headache behind her right eye.

"Yeah I know, talk about being blindsided. HR have been sending out emails. I got offered the choice of gossip columnist or pink slip. Rude much…"

Right at that instant Chloe couldn't bring herself to talk to Lois. "Lo… I'll call you back later." Hanging up the phone before her cousin could protest. She grabbed her laptop and quickly logged in. Sure enough she had a message from the Daily Planet HR department.

To: Chloe Sullivan,

From: Daily Planet HR,

Subject: Internship,

Dear Ms Sullivan,

We congratulate you on your recent graduation.

As you now may be aware a new owner has acquired the Daily Planet. We confirm that as of 5 July 2008, your internship position will no longer be available and that currently we have no staff vacancies.

Please ensure that any personal belongings still on the premises are removed by 5 July 2008.

Kind Regards

Daily Planet HR Management

And there it was in black and white, the finale torpedo through the heart of her life long dream to be a respected Pulitzer Prize winning Journalist working at the Daily Planet that had been hanging on by a thread. Not that respected would be a word associated with the Planet for much longer with Lex Luthor in charge. It would be out with the old and in with the easily controlled, which she refused to believe applied to her.

It stung to no end, knowing that her first career choice wasn't available to her anymore because of Lex. But really would she have stayed if Lex had let her? Lex the guy who at one time had fought his dad to keep the Smallville plant open saving hundreds of jobs, the guy who had worked with her Uncle Sam to keep her dad and her safe before she testified against Lionel. Lex…had been her hero at one time.

And her one time hero had become the same guy who had kidnapped the other members of JL International, her mother and herself, experimented on them, obsessed with harnessing what-ever power he could lay his hands on. He was someone she would love to expose to the world. Could she have borne to have her career confined to writing obituaries and fluff pieces while the stories she was proud of were relegated to the out filing bin deemed to be unprintable by the editor in chief? Shaking her head and taking a moment to accept what she already knew…Chloe Sullivan could never work for or under Lex Luthor.

So if by some sick twisted move on Lex's part he hadn't fired her, she would have left anyway. What a way for her musings on 'where to from here' regarding her career to come to head. At least she wasn't at a total loss at where to start. Pauline Kahn who had given her the intern position at the Daily Planet was the current Editor of the Star City Register and had already agreed to meet with her during the week she was here.

Having sorted through her immediate thoughts she called her cousin back.

"Cuz are you okay?"

"Yeah Lo, just needed a little time to digest that I no longer have a job at the Daily Planet."

"I'm sorry, I know how much working here meant to you. Trust Lex Luthor to be the dream killer."

"I'm sorry for the both of us. I'm guessing with the choice that the bald man gave you your taking the pink slip?"

"Yeah, no way am I being demoted to gossip columnist. I've already gotten a couple of interviews for other papers and I can freelance in meantime or Mrs K also offered me my old job as her Chief of Staff."

"At least you have some options. What about Grant is he staying?" She heard Lois sigh.

"Grant is heading to London, but I don't do the distance thing and London is not where I want to be so I guess we've called in quits…"

Chloe pounded her pillow a bit to release some of her frustration. She may have had issues with some of Grant's professional choices, but he had been good to Lois and he had made her smile more than any other boyfriend had in the past. She knew somewhere Lex was having a party of sorts. "I hate that Lex's isn't losing any sleep over this."

"I'll be fine baby cuz…I'm getting good at handling breakup's although a break up and losing my job in the same day is a first. But moving on, how's your mom? Is Ollie taking care of you?" Chloe was so grateful she didn't have to lie to Lois about who she was staying with; she kept enough secrets from her cousin as it was.

"There were some issues at Queen Industries that I helped with yesturday but I'm going to see Mom today." No need to tell Lois that Ollie had issues of his own. They might not be dating any more, but she knew they had a soft spot for each other and Lois had already been handed a double hitter. "I don't want for anything at the moment and I'll see Pauline Khan later this week."

They chatted until Chloe was satisfied that Lois was copping with the reveals and consequences of the day. She made a mental note to get Clark to drop off a box of maple donuts, Lois's go to comfort food and if he wasn't available there was always Bart.

-xxXxx-

An hour later after she had freshened up and gathered her thoughts, she headed towards the kitchen in search of coffee pleased to find a freshly made pot waiting. Gratefully pouring herself a cup she headed out the balcony doors intending to admire the views of the pacific-ocean. She stopped short.

Oh. 'Wow' was the only word her brain could come up with and it seemed to be woefully inadequate since she had used the same description when she'd first met Oliver… and he'd been fully clothed then. And here he was saluting the sun, top half bare, his washboard abs glistening from the sweat of his morning workout.

"Enjoying the view?" His mouth smirked upwards as he noticed her taking in his half clothed form.

"Absolutely." Eyeing him and then the ocean. "It's just not something that Metropolis has to offer." She smiled back at him.

He gave her a slightly bemused look.

"Thanks for being my barista this morning," she said taking a sip of the warm liquid, before sitting down at the outdoor setting. "This is great coffee."

Grabbing his towel and water bottle he joined her at the table. "Your welcome. So what's with the early morning, I didn't really expect any company till much later. Still on Metropolis time?"

"I wish. Lois called to tell me that Lex Luthor bought the Daily Planet and you can guess the rest I am sure. I couldn't really go back to sleep after that little bit of news."

Ouch. Since he'd known her, Chloe's dream had been to be the Planet's ace reporter. To have it bought by Lex, the guy he was sure was at the top of her baddies list….it had to hurt. As a business decision though, it was bold and reflective of Lex's desire for power and control.

Looks like he had a chance to be the supportive friend today. "No one would blame you for being angry or disappointed. If anyone gets it, it's me."

"Yeah you would."

"So how are you really feeling. Don't feel you need to hold back in your opinion on my account."

"It bites, I mean the Planet is the most respected news publication in the country. I had such dreams of exposing corruption in its pages and the person I want to expose most… now owns it…" she caught herself from continuing, thankful for the invitation but mindful that Oliver was going through his own issues.

"How 'bout you. How are you feeling the day after?" she asked, not wanting to make it all about her.

He noticed that she seemed reluctant to share any more with him and judging by her question it had to do with yesterday's events. Bless her heart, she didn't want to burden him with her issues. "It bites," he replied using her words. "Badly, but it's done now. I can't change the past, I can only try and affect the future." He'd learnt that by bitter experience.

"That's a very healthy attitude."

"Took me years to learn it."

She smiled and touched her forefinger to her nose. "Ah so that was the whiff of old age and wisdom," her eyes dancing a little, grateful for the change in topic.

"I'm only a couple of years older than you."

She raised her eyebrows at his statement. "You're what in your thirties now?" she asked teasingly, already knowing his age.

He did his best to look offended. "Twenty-eight turning Twenty-nine."

"Hmm anyone that close to 30….."

He swatted her playfully with his sweat towel. "I think we've established that I am older than you. So when is your birthday?"

"November 10, I'll be 22."

"Huh our birthdays are less than three weeks apart." He had been thinking about having a quiet birthday this year, but maybe it didn't need to be too quiet.

"We could go to Vegas on me," he mused "to celebrate our birthdays…ever been?" That actually would be a lot of fun, the boys, Chloe and himself and after the last two days they deserved a little down time. He'd even invite Clark, Lana and Lois or anyone else she wanted. Having Lois around wouldn't be awkward. Their relationship had been three months of flirtation and fun and she had been someone he could see himself caring a lot about. But things had gotten in the way and neither of them had been mature enough to work past it. They were still on friendly terms though.

A small smile made its way across her lips and she shook her head slightly. "Wow…no I've never been…" Truthfully, this had been her first trip out of Kansas that she could remember.

He watched her face. "But?" he asked sensing she was hesitant.

"Aren't their other people you celebrate with, you know traditionally? Besides you're already too good to me, I don't need a trip to Vegas."

He looked away for a moment and ran his hands through his blonde hair before placing both hands, palms together on the table.

"Chloe, I meant what I said last night; I haven't had many good friends that were my friends because they liked me. So it might be kind of nice to celebrate a birthday with people who I know actually give a crap about me instead of my money, fame or just to be seen and that hasn't happened in a long time. As for being too good to you, you make that easy. You don't expect anything from me… Will you think about it….please?"

Seeing the sincerity in his eyes she felt bad for assuming whom Oliver would want to spend his time with. She was reminded that he was a person with no real family of his own and had spent years that way. That he had turned out into such an affable and caring person was a huge credit to him.

"It's a couple of months away, and if I can work the trip in with whatever job I get, then I would love to go to Vegas."

"Okay," he said acknowledging her acceptance of the Vegas idea. "You know you still have your job with us right? If you wanted to I can make it full-time."

"No, I didn't know that, I mean with everything that happened at Queen Industries yesterday I wasn't sure what that would mean for JL International."

"Being CEO is more about trying to honor my parent's vision for the company. But honestly at a dollar a year, I'm not going to miss the pay much. "

A small smirk formed. "You're right, that doesn't even cover the cost of your shoelaces."

"No it doesn't. With a little help from some friends though I am confident that I can restore my reputation and resume my duties as CEO sooner, rather than later…and in the meantime it's business as usual for JL International."

"That's all good to know, and I'II help you with anything that I can. But I'm not ready to give up on being a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist yet though."

"I can understand that. So any thoughts?"

"Before I came out here I'd arranged a meeting with the editor of the Star City Register for later this week and I'll start canvassing some of the other national papers I would like to work at. And hopefully Lex doesn't have much pull when it comes to papers because I am sure that I'll be blacklisted."

"You were looking at leaving Metropolis anyway?" That surprised him, especially given her attachment to Lois and Clark.

"I was looking at my options and now it seems leaving is inevitable."

"I'll help you in whatever way I can, although until we find out more about why someone is trying to make my life a living hell, I'm not sure that being a known associate will help your journalistic career."

She raised her eyebrows. "You are one of my best friends, and an incredibly generous person. I'm not afraid of any association with you."

He gave her one of the biggest grins she'd ever seen from him acknowledging the compliment. Looking at his watch he got up. "Ditto. Are you going to see your mom today?"

"Yeah. What about you, what are you doing today?"

"If you want someone to come with you I'm free."

"Thanks, but this is something I need to do by myself."

"Okay, then I have someone to follow." He kissed her temple and left before she could ask him what exactly he meant by that.

Her hand went to her temple without thinking, her fingers lightly brushing over the area his lips had briefly touched. That was unexpected, but not unwelcome. He was without doubt one of the most interesting men she ever had had the privilege of knowing.

-xxXxx-

Oliver pulled his grey hoodie closer around his face and stopped to lace up his runners, no one paying any mind to a guy out jogging at midday. Shadowing Nicholas Crane was a task the boys had been a little reluctant to let him carry out in case he did something impulsive. Pfffttt, he wasn't the one called Impulse.

Oh hello this could be interesting…Nicholas Crane just got into a limo…. Oliver got a snap shot of the license plate and started a DMV search, thankful for Victor's upgrades to his phone. A couple of moments later he started swearing… the car was registered to LuthorCorp.

-xxXxx-

It had been almost midday by the time Chloe had been able to walk through the doors of S.T.A.R Labs, where her mother was being cared for. It had been almost two years since they had last seen each other and it was a big step for her to be here.

She had been devastated when her brief reunion with her mom had resulted in Moira slipping back into a catatonic state. All the things she'd hoped to tell her, all the questions she wanted to ask had gone unspoken. At the time the anger she felt towards Lex for having her mother ripped away again had driven her harder to find evidence to put Lex away, but at the same time she couldn't face her mom.

She took a deep breath and headed over to the reception area. A nurse in pink scrubs intercepting her before she got there. "Hi you must be Moira's daughter, Chloe, I'm Tiffany one of your mothers primary caretakers. We were a bit worried about you, we thought you were coming yesterday."

"Yes I'm Chloe," she acknowledged, reading the persons nametag. "Nice to meet you. I had planned on coming yesterday but something came up."

"Not to worry, things do come up. Would you like to speak with Moira's treating doctor before you see her?"

She was somewhat relived the nurse hadn't given her any kind of guilt trip about not visiting earlier and not just yesterday. As to the question Tiffany had asked. She hadn't really given any thought to enquiring about her mother's care. Oliver had told her it was the best money could buy and she had been more than a little relieved that he had taken care of everything, because at the time she just couldn't deal.

Would she like to speak with her mother's doctor? What if she got asked questions she couldn't answer or worse wasn't ready to answer? She probably should have asked Oliver how much his research staff knew about Smallville and meteor rocks.

Still it had taken her awhile to build up the courage to come out to Start City and see her mom. Trying to work through her feelings regarding her mother's illness and her own issues with being meteor infected was part of the reason why she had needed to come. Talking with a medical professional might help her with her own generally unvoiced concerns. Coming to a decision she smiled at Tiffany.

"I would like that," she replied truthfully.

"I'll let Dr Hamilton, know you're here."

Chloe moved towards the sofa in the reception area and got lost in her thoughts, about Ollie, Lex, her job, Lois, everything really.

"Aahem, Ms Sullivan." Chloe snapped out of her trance and looked up to see who she assumed was her mother's treating doctor. She stood up holding out her hand.

"Please, call me Chloe."

"Emil Hamilton, I'm your mother's treating specialist." Chloe's eyes went wide as she registered the name.

"The Dr Emil Hamilton, former research fellow at John Hopkins specializing in Chromosomal abnormalities." She gushed.

"Guilty."

"Oh, wow, Oliver wasn't kidding when he said he got the best…"

"And I must say it is a pleasure to meet the source of some of my background information regarding several of my patients….unique genetic changes." She looked at him puzzled.

"Your articles for the Torch have been more than enlightening as to the differing affects meteor rock can have on the human body." She was surprised that an esteemed doctor such as himself had bothered to read her articles as a form of research? It had also answered her earlier question about how much at least one doctor knew.

She blushed a little at the compliment." Oh…glad that my articles were of some use. So what can you tell me about my mom. How's she doing?"

"Physically she is incredibly healthy but the dose of serum when she was last in Kansas has caused long term damage to her neural pathways and its unlikely that recreating the serum would be able to bring her back." He put a reassuring hand on her arm.

"But that doesn't mean were going to give up and we just had to try something a little different and we have had some success with a couple of other connotations. On most days, she shows signs of having a very active brain and her eyes move, allowing for a form of communication."

"So what the stuff in Kansas even if I could get it now, wouldn't help – is that what you're trying to tell me?"

"Yes it seems that the serum was only meant to be a short term solution anyway – that or the doctors who had worked on it didn't know of its side affects."

The decision to listen to her mom and not go to Lex had always plagued her. But being the bald man's tendency to block her happy ending at every path, it seemed that it had been the right call. Digesting that last bit of information she filed it away with her other grievances against Lex. She took a deep breath trying to settle some of her anxiety. "Okay…I think I should see her now."

"Moira should be by the rose garden in the south wing. Why don't you stay at the facility tonight? Your mother's suite has an extra bed and I would appreciate the opportunity to have a more in depth conversation with you tomorrow. Your personal experience could prove valuable as I am often asked to attend to patients that have been guests of various 33.1 facilities."

She was surprised that Dr Hamilton would want to talk to her about other things. He was amongst the world's most foremost researchers and she just had a knack to attract trouble.

"I can stay, although I'm not sure I could add anything of value regarding 33.1, if you've had the chance to speak to recent guests. Other than my opinion of the person who was responsible for putting them their in the first place, that is."

"You'd be surprised how a different set of eyes see things, especially one with your obviously keen observation skills. I'll see you tomorrow morning then, after breakfast. To get to the Rose Garden just follows the signs out on the right."

"Thanks," she said as she made her way towards the gardens. The flower-beds were a beautiful burst of pinks, yellows, oranges and whites complemented of course by the green foliage. Her mother looked like she was resting peacefully on a chaise lounge like a Grecian princess, her blonde hair platted to one side.

She crouched down in front of her mother and took her hand. "Hi Mom. Its me Chloe." She searched for some sign of recognition and her heart did a little leap when she saw Moria's eyes flickered a little. One of her fears was that she would get no response at all.

Feeling grateful that first contact was now behind her and also greatly encouraged by Moira's response she grabbed a chair to sit opposite.

"I should've of come by months earlier, but truth is I wasn't ready." She sighed. "I still don't know if I am ready to deal with the effects of meteor rock on us and now probably isn't the best time, but I know if I don't start trying, I'll bury it and pretend it doesn't bother me until it blows up spectacularly in my face." She paused looking back at her mom, still sitting on the edge of the seat.

"So here I am. And maybe we should start with what's been happening in my life in the last month or so." She settled herself comfortably into her chair.

"Your cub reporter graduated last month, Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Journalism and Computer Science. Dad's still working as a Project Manager on a top secret military contract, location undisclosed." She missed her dad, but he was safe and in her world that was all she could ask.

"Dad sent me your engagement ring as a graduation gift with his version of the story of how he proposed with Uncle Sam's help and you said yes. Sometimes I wonder if he shouldn't have gone into standup comedy instead." Her parents had been so in love…a major reason they had divorced in the first place was because Moira had been afraid of her condition and had pushed Gabe away. Chloe had done the same thing with Jimmy when she had found at about her ability. Pushing men away during times of uncertainty seemed to been an instinctual thing for the Lane women to do. They all did it.

"Back to the graduation, we did the whole pomp and ceremony thing. Wish you and Dad could've been there. Mrs Kent was there with Lionel…that relationship creeps me out on all kinds of levels can I just say. Lois, Clark, Pete, Lana and Bart." Thinking of the little speedster bought a smile to her face, he had given her a dozen tulips from Holland to mark the occasion.

She told her mom about the purchase of the Daily Planet by Lex and how she really felt about that, the Leagues success in shutting down the 33.1 facilities, and what was happening with Oliver – he been their benefactor and all.

Looking deeply into her mom's baby blues, she felt a connection to the older woman. Like her mom had heard every word and empathized with her. Part of her wanted to kick herself for delaying this moment, but then considering what it had taken to get her here, she didn't know when she would have made a different decision.

As her stomach growled she was surprised at how fast the afternoon had gone. It was already 5:30 pm and no doubt dinner would be ready soon. She quickly sent a text to the guys to let them know she was staying with her mom.

Later that evening after she had helped the nurses get her mom ready for bed and borrowed a set of PJ's she sat on her mom's bed knees tucked up to her chest holding her mom's hand rubbing circles on it.

"I found out I was meteor infected a couple of weeks after you came to Star City and I have a pretty good idea of what may ability could be. Lois was hurt pretty bad about a year ago, one of Lex's goons had run her through with a knife while she was investigating a story. She called me and by the time I got to where she was, there was barely had a pulse. I remember kneeling over and telling her that she couldn't die because I loved her too much and I was crying and then I felt this warm peaceful feeling go through me like everything was alright. The next thing I remember is waking up in a morgue 'cause the hospital declared me dead. But Lois was okay, like nothing had happened to her." She paused, the memory of waking up in the morgue still sent shudders down her spine.

"I am scared mom…about the consequences of being meteor affected but at the same time I saved Lois and I have to be grateful for that. I did see a doctor in the hopes of a cure, but that didn't work out so well." Dr Knox had actually wanted to remove her heart and it was only Clark's intervention that had saved her.

"I haven't tried to use it since Lois. But I badly want to. I need you mom. I mean what kind of daughter would I be if I didn't at least try to heal you. I don't know if it would work or what it might do to me if it does, but I want to try… okay?"

Her mother looked at her a little blankly, so different from earlier on in the day. If she could even heal her even a little it would be so worth what ever the consequences might be to her own body.

"Just don't let me wake up in a morgue, please," she whispered.

She put one of her hands on her mother's forehead and the other on her arm and willed everything she had into healing her mother's ailment. She felt like all the energy was leaving her body...and then…nothing. She opened her eyes to see her mother staring at her and flopped down beside her utterly exhausted.

"Probably serves me right for calling us meteor freaks all those years"…. She was feeling a sense of bitter disappointment. "I'm sorry mom… I love you," she said giving her mom a hug, letting her tears fall, briefly experiencing the same warm peaceful feeling before exhaustion claimed her.

She didn't feel the arms of her mother sometime latter gather her up to cradle her, whispering "I love you too baby girl…"

To be Continued

AN: In watching the Season 6 special feature on the introduction to the Green Arrow, one of the producers mentioned that the relationship between Lois and Oliver was just a flirtation and wasn't mature, so that's where I've taken my explanation of Oliver and Lois's relationship from. Also Lois appeared to move on fairly quickly to Grant in the show so I never got the feeling that Lois felt like Ollie was the love of her life.