Chapter One

"The Daily Planet announces the appointment of its new Editor-in-Chief, Perry White. White, a senior staff reporter for the Planet for over twenty years--"

Lois trailed off as she heard someone come up behind her. Looking up from the paper she held in her hands, she smiled slightly at Oliver Queen as he hovered in the doorway of the hospital room.

"Hey," he greeted her, quietly.

"Hey, yourself," she returned. "You can come in, you know. I don't bite."

"I didn't want to intrude," Oliver told her. "Has there been any change?"

Lois looked down at Chloe's comatose form and shook her head, pressing her lips into a tight line, tears glinting at the corners of her eyes.

"Wouldn't novels be better reading material?" Ollie asked, giving her time to compose herself.

"What else would you read to a reporter?" Lois countered. "You know, I don't know if I've thanked you for taking care of Chloe's hospital bill."

"So much money, so little time to spend it in," Oliver joked, and Lois cracked a small smile.

"Thanks," she said, softly.

"What else are friends for?" he asked. "She's going to wake up, Lois."

"I know," Lois replied. "She's stronger than whatever the hell Lex Luthor did to her down in that dam. She survived a safe house explosion, she'll beat this."

Oliver just nodded. "I have a meeting with some corporate bigwigs in a couple of hours, so I can't stay much longer," he said, "but I can give you a ride back to your apartment, if you'd like."

"I would, thanks," Lois told him.

Straightening up from the chair she'd been sitting in, she brushed a kiss across Chloe's forehead before following Oliver out of the room.

"You never mentioned what brought you back to our little part of Kansas in the first place," Lois commented, as Oliver drove down the crowded street.

"I had some business to attend to," Oliver told her.

"Queen Industries' business or Green Arrow business?" Lois asked, bluntly, as Oliver shot her a startled look.

"How did you--"

"Oh, come on, Ollie. I'm not blind," Lois said. "The Green Arrow leaves Metropolis the same time Oliver Queen does, and shows up in Star City at the same time? You're either the Green Arrow or the guy is stalking you."

"So, am I going to be your next big headline?" Oliver asked, his tone cautious.

"Don't be ridiculous; I wouldn't do that to you," Lois snapped, and Oliver smiled at the offended tone to her voice.

Then, Lois sighed and looked at him.

"I do have one favor to ask," she continued, softer. "I need you to find Clark. No one's seen him in nearly two weeks, the same time Chloe got hurt, and the police said there's no case, no evidence, and even though he's been officially declared a missing person, chances are he just up and walked away, and- and Clark wouldn't do that, he wouldn't just leave everyone who cares about him-"

"I know," Oliver interrupted. "Clark's disappearance is the reason I came back to Metropolis."

Lois looked at him, a thousand questions on the tip of her tongue, but she didn't voice them.

"Tell me you'll find him," was all she said.

"I will," Oliver assured her, pulling into a parking spot in front of her new apartment building.

Lois nodded, hugging him tightly before climbing out of the car.

"You know," Oliver called out through the open window, "I'm really not comfortable with you living this close to Suicide Slums."

"Neither am I," Lois told him. "But, Chloe's in Metropolis General because they've got the best doctors, and I want to stay close to my cousin. And this was all I could afford on what the Inquisitor pays me."

"I could put you up-" Oliver began, but Lois cut him off.

"I already owe you too much," she informed him. "Besides, I've got my black belt, my mace, and this big, green shadow that shows up whenever I'm in trouble. How much safer could a girl get?"

"I worry about you," Oliver told her, trying one last time. "And, when Chloe comes home from the hospital, do you really want to bring her back to this place?"

"That's low," Lois said.

"I fight dirty," Oliver agreed.

Lois smiled, then, and Ollie grinned back, a precursor to the banter that had been a cornerstone of their relationship, before. Then, Lois shook her head, sadly.

"We said we weren't going to do this," she reminded him.

"Yeah, I know. Doesn't mean it's not fun, though," Oliver replied. "Lois, at least tell me you'll think about my offer?"

"I'll think about it," she promised.

Turning, she walked to the door of the apartment building, hearing Oliver's car move away once she had the door shut safely behind her.

She walked into the apartment and dropped her purse onto the couch. Walking to the kitchen, she noticed the light on her answering machine blinking insistently. She hit play and went to pour herself a glass of water as she listened to her editor.

"Lane, I don't want you to spend anymore time on this Luthor exposé. Even if by some miracle you did manage to find evidence against the man, he'd only bury the story, and I don't want to waste resources on a dead end."

Lois groaned as the message ended.

"Can this day get any worse?" she asked the empty room.

At the sound of her voice, Shelby came out from where he'd been sleeping in her bedroom, and she ruffled his fur as he leaned against her, gazing hopefully at the cabinet where she kept his treats. Lois grabbed the bag and opened it, tossing Shelby a treat, which he caught neatly in midair. He woofed softly in recognition when Martha Kent's voice came from her machine and Lois smiled.

"We'll go out to the farm this weekend, let you run around for a few hours, how's that sound?" she asked him, and Shelby jumped on her chest, licking her chin in response.

"Guess that's a yes, then?" Lois laughed.

Martha's message ended, then, and a man's voice rolled out of the machine.

"This is Perry White of the Daily Planet, and I'm trying to reach Chloe Sullivan. Ms. Sullivan, when I employ someone, I expect them to show up for work. Either you're in my office, tomorrow, by nine am, or you're fired."

The machine beeped, indicating the end of the messages, and Lois dropped her head into her hands.

"I guess this day can get worse," she told Shelby.