DISCLAIMER: not mine.

Chloe opened the report Bruce had sent her on his investigation of Barbara's murder.

Knowing her identity from the beginning, he gave away his own to her when she took Barbara's legacy as Oracle. It was a proof of trust, he said.

Chloe guessed it was more a strategic maneuver to balance things between him and Clark when it came to choose a side if it came to that, but nevertheless it meant Batman trusted her, albeit working with him was no walk in the park.

They both sent updates to each other, soon consolidating a coordinated working relationship. Ollie had insisted Bruce that despite his wish of working on his own, Oracle would be directly involved in Barbara's case, off profile, whether he liked it or not.

Chloe thought many things of Batman, good and bad. Something everybody coincided in, was respect, for him and his sense of justice. However, the fact that her friendship with Clark was no secret and the fact that Bruce partially blamed Clark for Barbara's death, had them both on tense terms.

Trying to solve the case was becoming frustrating. So far they had more questions than answers, and they had two fronts to focus on: finding the material murderers and locating whatever Lex had hidden.

Concerning the murderers they only knew that it was more than one person: Barbara had not been shot, a bullet would've been easier to trace, and one man would've not been able to take her down on a close combat, that she had learnt. Barbara and Chloe had developed a good relationship over her stays at Gotham and several visits of Barbara when she had to go to Western or Northern Europe. She always managed to fly through London. Yes, it had started as a spying mission for Barbara, to make sure the new superheroes were in fact heroes, but eventually it had turned into a true friendship. The redhead woman had shown her quite a few combat tips, and she was really good at it. So, no, Barbara was no piece of cake.

Bruce had started looking on professional hit men, used Helena's gathered information about the mafia in Gotham and had a file shared with her on metahumans. Barbara's data base on that area was overwhelmingly vast, so following each trail took too long, and they never reached anything but a no for an answer. By eliminating candidates they were only losing time, and even if they had to do it, Chloe couldn't shake off the feeling that this was but a diversion orchestrated by Lex to let him carry out his real plans. Convincing Bruce of that had not been that difficult, he was one of the most practical and reasonable men she had crossed paths with, and he knew as well as her that catching the murderers did not solve the case whatsoever; they needed to take down the person behind it.

They had an almost absolute certainty that it was Lex, but to take such a public figure they had to make very sure of their moves, Lex had probably shielded himself from such eventuality, so Chloe knew that unveiling what was hidden in that facility was imperative. Finding the new whereabouts of Lex's secret should've been the easy part, because after all, it was supposed to be the information saved and encrypted by Barbara.

Supposedly.

More than a month later, and she had not been able to retrieve but fragments of intel, senseless if they were not put together.

It didn't make sense. Whatever Barbara had seen was not incoherent information, she wouldn't have taken so many pains in encoding it; se gave her life for that information, for crying out loud. There had to be more to it than it was showing. Once she had shared her concerns with Bruce, he had told her to keep trying, even if time was not at her side; he had also reminded her that she was Oracle now.

"Bruce, all I hit are dead ends, by the time we get somewhere it'll be too late."

"Keep working on it, Chloe, and check out the new profiles I sent you."

"Look, Bruce, she had a special software, and all her equipment was torn out by her attackers, I couldn't retrieve her Operative System, it's like trying to open Access on a Mac, it just doesn't work."

"Barbara trusted you, Chloe, and she was not expecting you to be a sidekick. Neither do I, so don't disappoint me."

"I'm not worried about that, Bruce, I don't really care about what you think of me. I just want the truth as much as you do, I'm just trying to be realistic so we can actually get somewhere with this. Do you think I'm giving up this information? Bruce, this is what killed her!"

"Then why are you stalling?"

"There is no shortcut, no ruby shoes to get into this, Bruce, I'm just saying maybe I have to find another way to get to it."

"You are Oracle now, Chloe, it's your call."

No, Chloe didn't want to feel that Barbara had died for nothing, and she had worked really hard to develop a decoding software. It was slow and flawed, but right now it was the best she could do.

She was also trying to figure out an alternative way of finding Lex's secret, which all they knew was that it was a subject. It wouldn't be the first time Lex used people for experimenting, and from what Lois had tried to uncover, despite her publicized failed confrontation with Lex about his medical research, it might just be tied to it. She also knew that Lex didn't want Clark to find out, and had used kryptonite enough to kill him if he tried, so maybe if she found a way of tracing the green rock, she'd get them a start.

Lois cuddled into Clark's arms looking for her favorite sleeping pillow on his chest.

"Honey," said Clark. "You left the window open."

"I know," responded Lois. "I'm hot."

"Maybe if you'd take the sheets and cover off..."

"I like to sleep with some weigh on me, Smallville," she said, "and if you cannot feel cold as we humans do, I'm expecting you don't feel heat either, so don't complain."

"Sweetheart, are you ok?," asked Clark. "You seem a little tense today."

Lois raised her head to look at him. "I'm ok, Clark, I just left the window open so I can get some sleep the way I like in Summer. It is not the first time I do it."

"I wasn't referring to the window, Lo. You were a little too much feisty tonight."

"Clark, honey, I'm tired, we have to go to work tomorrow and it's a little late. Why won't you tell me what's really bothering you?"

Clark swallowed and sat up, making Lois sit with him. He looked at her and kissed her before talking. "It's...look, it's really nothing. If you're tired we can--"

Lois cupped his face with her hands and looked at him. "Clark, if it's bothering you it is important. Talk to me, you know how much I hate it when you hold things back."

Lois' casual comment hit Clark right in the middle of his conscience. The guilt of concealing Chloe had increased ever since she'd returned from England.

Clark looked down, trying to shove that feeling away and share his other concern with her. He was going to dive into some troubled waters, and he didn't really know how would Lois react. Trust and faith in her he had, but he hated so much bringing pain into her life that sometimes he found it hard to open up to her, as twisted, wrong, cynic and mislead that sounded right now.

"Do you want to have a baby, Lois?," he finally said.

Lois was caught unaware by his question, and stood silent for a few seconds.

"I...I don't...I don't know," she managed to say.

"This is not the first time we talk about this. You've always been quite clear about it, but lately you've been...not yourself. You've been nervous about that topic."

Lois sighed. "I just...look, it's not that I've been thinking about this, Clark, because I haven't. And whatever I said today was me ranting with my defenses against my father. You know me."

"You might not have thought about it, Lois, but it is inside you now."

"Look, Clark, we've talked about this before and--"

"No, we haven't, Lo," he said now more resolute to carry on with this conversation. "I talked about it but you were so sure of the answer that the conversation was over before it really started."

"Clark, you've always believed that you could not have a baby with a human, and even if the miracle were possible, you're terrified that I would not be able to carry a baby to term. What was there to talk about?," she asked.

"All the possibilities. You've never wanted to explore them."

Lois gave him a pained glare. "Smallville, I am going to pretend that you have not suggested that we are not procreating because I didn't pass the 'quest for a baby' Kryptonian test," she said serious.

"I didn't mean that, Lois. All my life I've thought I would probably be alone. Then all what happened with Lana--"

"That was Lana's wrong decision and Lex's doing, Clark," said Lois reluctant to bring the proverbial ex into the conversation.

"Lana made her own choices and so did I, Lo, are you still having jealousy issues?"

"No," she quickly stated, "but if I have to pee in my corner to mark territory, I will."

"Look, what I'm trying to say is that you came and gave me hope. You gave me love, Lois, when I thought I shouldn't have it. You made me overcome my fear of hurting and cursing anyone close to me, because you believed in us."

"Not that you made things easy."

Clark rolled his eyes. "Not that I made things easy. If you start feeling that you want to have a baby, you are going to try, and nothing is going to stop you."

"So you're worried I want a baby. A biological baby, that is. Because if it took after daddy it could kill me from the inside in a very gross way."

"Not just that, Lois."

"Smallville, don't get ahead of things, ok? If it comes to that, we'll do what--"

"That's not my only fear, Lois," Clark insisted. Lois looked at him. "Barbara Gordon was pregnant when she was murdered."

Lois looked at Clark. "Clark, that's...I'm sorry, I--"

"We concealed that information from the press."

Lois nodded in realization. "And an eventual pregnant Lois would be a bonus target for villains; so you get a new fear on the list," she said looking right into Clark's very readable eyes. "What happened to Barbara Gordon is horrible, Clark, but I will not let our lives be controlled by all the 'what if' fears you harbor inside that stiff-necked head of yours."

"Because you are more stubborn than me, right?"

"Exactly. And speaking of that, it's been more than a month and still you haven't given me a single word on that case. I still remember your promise, Clark."

"We haven't found any leads yet," spitted Clark without a thought. Maybe if he didn't think it, lying would be less painful.

--Keep fooling yourself, Clark.

"Maybe you're lacking a good reporter's nose, Smallville."

"Just give me a little more time, please."

"A little."

"Thank you." They both kissed. "Now let's go back to sleep, you're right, it's late."

They laid back and stood silent for a few seconds, but while Clark was ready to fall asleep, Lois' eyes had remained open all that while before she said one last thing.

"Smallville?"

"Yes?"

"Don't count your chickens, I've agreed to wait a little longer, that's all I've agreed to."

Commissioner James Gordon looked up to the skies. He had been meeting Batman in his police station rooftop every week for the last month.

Gotham City's police department had found no leads on Barbara's killers, and Batman had told him that he would personally trace the killers. Gordon had demanded a weekly report.

"I'm sorry I'm late."

Gordon turned. Batman approached him coming out of the shadows.

"You got anything?," asked Gordon.

"False leads, mostly," said Bruce. "We still haven't got all the information Barbara got us. So far I've ruled out some possible killers. The Joker didn't do it, Jim."

"The Joker would've loved to do it, he must be seething right now," said Gordon grimly. "But that I figured. He would've made it in front of me, not behind the curtains."

"I am not limiting my search within Gotham."

"Batman, I've been a policeman for longer than I can remember, I know there is a big fish behind Barbara's death, because I know who Barbara was. But she was killed in Gotham. I want those who stained themselves with their blood under my care, those were in Gotham City that night, Batman. Hotshots are hard to touch, I've also learnt that. It will take long to get that person, even if you know who he or she is," said Gordon looking at him.

"I wish I had something more for you, Jim," said Bruce bowing his head.

"There is something else to talk about, Batman. We received an anonymous call tonight. When the patrol car got there they found a man severely beaten. I don't want that kind of violence in my streets when I retire."

Batman raised his head. "You're--?"

"After Barbara's killers are put behind bars. I'm leaving Gotham, I've lost too much already, it's not worth anymore."

James Gordon couldn't see Bruce's pained expression, but his voice gave his feelings away. Gordon was one of the few people worthy of respect and admiration without glitches of weakness.

"I wish I could convince you," he said.

"I'm old, Batman. All my hopes have been taken away from me in this city. And Gotham still has a fighter for justice. You don't need me for that. I know it wasn't you who did that, Batman, but I do expect that you control those under your care."

That said, James Gordon turned and left.

Chloe finally closed the book. She had been staring blankly at the same page for almost an hour. Looking at the ceiling with the light off would have the same effect, and at least it was more ecologic.

These past weeks she had been so held up with all her preparation as Oracle and trying to clear the riddling amount of information gathered by Barbara on Lex, that she hadn't found a minute to, but every time she stopped, all those concerns nagged at her brain like a constant hammer.

Living in Europe had been a good self-deceiving tool for her. Her surroundings were different, and none of the people from her past were around, so she could pretend to be Ella, even those times she worked with Barbara or even talked to Ollie, because Lois, Clark, Smallville or Metropolis, were never mentioned.

But now, back in Gotham, seeing Clark again...all the pain, regrets and doubts about her done deeds had come back.

She had assured herself that going away in such a radical manner had been the right thing to do, and she firmly believed it. Chloe knew that, by leaving, she had helped in protecting Lois' life; but knowing she was going to cause her a deep pain, even if it was for her own good, that had ached sharply.

With that she could live, taking it as a price to pay. But what Chloe couldn't forgive herself for, was for making Clark lie. She had taken their friendship to an extreme, going directly against one of Clark's principles; even more, to be practiced on the person she knew he loved the most in his life.

And he had done it: he had been lying to Lois about her being alive for more than a decade.

So the question now was back. Clark didn't deserve to take that burden, Lois didn't deserve to be kept in the dark, and she may deserve her cousin's rightful rage, but how and when to return?

With Lex back, a public appearance by Chloe Sullivan would only endanger everything, and now it was not only about Lois and Clark, now she had a new responsibility, carrying Barbara's legacy on her shoulders, so when then? And how?

"What day is it today, Bruce?," asked Dick while he looked at the screen.

"July 5th."

"Babs was killed the 29th of May. You told me to stay out of it, but so far you have nothing."

"I want you out of the streets, Dick," said Bruce abruptly.

Dick turned to look at him. "You know I won't leave, Bruce."

"You are out of control, you don't have the restraint, lenience and forbearance needed for this job, right now you don't deserve the costume you're wearing, Dick. Barbara wouldn't approve what you're doing."

Dick moved fast towards him, fist directed to his jaw.

"Don't you dare get her into this!"

Bruce caught the fist with his hand. "Barbara is gone, Dick. Deal with it, and do it fast, because you're endangering everything we fight for."

"My life was ripped out from me, Bruce," he said through greeted teeth, "of all people I thought you'd understand. I want them taken down, and it's taking too long. You won't let me help and I am not finding anything on my own. I feel like I am fighting against an unbreakable wall, and my rage won't just disappear in thin air. I will deal with her death my own way, Bruce. You do what you have to do."

"Next time you step out of the line I will stop you, Dick."

"Be my guest."

Both men stared at each other in tense silence. Bruce was the one to break it. "I'm sorry I can't help you anymore."