The winter wind picked up as Chloe hurried towards the Mill Yard Cafe, which was long closed for the night. As the wind blew the light but chilling rain into her face, she pulled up the collar of her green coat to protect her ears and kept a firm grip on her red woollen beret. Her hands grew red with the cold, matching her hat almost precisely, and she made a mental note to buy some new gloves at some point.

Her last pair, if memory served, she had lent to Lois because she had nervously chewed holes in the ones she had been wearing before she was due to pitch a story at the Planet. She had grabbed them on her way out of Chloe's apartment, adding to the list of things that she had stolen from her cousin.

Stop it! Chloe scolded herself. She knew Lois had never meant to swoop in on her territory at the Planet- it had just happened on its own. And she couldn't deny that she was more than able to walk into Tess Mercer's office and get her job back now that Lex Luthor was gone. But the Justice League needed her, and so did her clients at the Isis Foundation.

Chloe, you've had more than enough time on your hands lately to get back into reporting, she lectured herself. She scowled. She had had this conversation in her mind far too many times, especially recently. With everything she had lost lately, she had been grasping onto anything that might make her feel normal again, and the truth was that the only thing she knew would help would be writing. Specifically, some investigative journalism. And she would have been lying if she said that she didn't have some hope that this woman she was meeting could lead her to a story. But it was something she constantly denied, and fervently. She wasn't sure she could handle walking the halls of the Daily Planet, continuously seeing the voids left by Jimmy. She wasn't sure she could handle being ignored no matter how amazing her work turned out. And she was certain she couldn't handle watching Clark and Lois banter all day when her best friend of nearly a decade had all but cut her out of his life at the worst possible time.

The rain started coming down harder, so Chloe took shelter on the porch of the cafe and peered out through the thick rainfall. As she saw a woman fast approaching under a silver umbrella with black frills. Before she came fully into view, Chloe did a quick check of herself and managed to swat away a couple of tears that she hadn't realised were falling.

The woman approached Chloe and took shelter under the canopy as well. As she closed her umbrella, Chloe studied her. She was a very stunning woman, even with her wet brown hair hanging in clumps around her tearstained face. She had a slim frame and captivating green eyes. The woman pulled herself together and held out her hand,

"Miss Sullivan?" Chloe shook her hand,

"Call me Chloe, please. And you are?"

"My name is Kate. I wanted to talk to you about-" Kate cut off and looked around her nervously.

"Kate? Are you alright?" Chloe asked cautiously, trying to follow the woman's gaze to see what she was looking for, if it was indeed there. Startled, Kate turned back to face Chloe and manoeuvred her hair so that it masked the side of her face that would be seen from the opposite street and ducked her head slightly.

"Yes, no. I... I'm just worried that I might have been followed."

"By the person you spoke to me on the phone about?" Chloe guessed. When Kate didn't respond, Chloe probed more, "Who is he? Did he hurt you?"

"Oh, hurt me!" Kate laughed bitterly, as though the suggestion of physical violence was ludicrous on the side of lenience.

"Then what happened?" Chloe asked again, hoping that Kate would open up. After all, she couldn't help if she didn't know what she was up against. After taking one last sweep of the area, Kate decided it was safe and began her story,

"Derek was," she said, emphasising the past tense, "my lover. We were together for years. I stood by him through all of his troubles... which was probably why it's been so hard to get away."

"His troubles?"

"Derek's a writer. A couple of years ago, he was blowing up all over town, getting his stories and poetry published, doing signings... but then the pressure kicked in and his inspiration dried up. I mean, completely. He was so depressed. He was missing deadlines, missing out on contracts. When he started to turn to alcohol, one of our friends tried to help him out with a good luck charm."

"A good luck charm?" Chloe couldn't help but repeating. She had been known to be superstitious at times, but she did wonder how important a little charm could be to the story.

"Yeah, our friend went to this farm town in Kansas over the summer and came back with this little green rock. Apparently the guy he bought it from said it was from the stars and could inspire creativity."

And the story wouldn't be complete without a bit of Kryptonite! Chloe thought bitterly, wishing that she didn't have to be reminded of Clark at every turn of her job and her life.

"I thought it was a load of rubbish too, but it worked. So well that he took it everywhere with him. He even slept with it under his pillow, which I always thought was weird. And it just got weirder. He got stranger. I just assumed it was because he was still drinking in secret."

"I take it that he wasn't?" Chloe prodded when Kate fell silent. She shook her head,

"About a month ago, he sat me down and he told me that something strange, something wonderful had happened to him. He said that the green rock made him able to visualise things like he never had before. That his stories were coming to life before his eyes... and he interacted with his characters! Can you even imagine that?"

Chloe nodded at Kate, prompting her to continue. So what she was dealing with was a writer affected by overexposure to Kryptonite and an overactive imagination. She still couldn't see what could have upset Kate so much.

"I didn't believe him at first. I mean, it just seemed insane. I begged him to stop drinking but he grew angrier with me. It went on for days until I couldn't take it anymore. I left him."

"So if you didn't believe him, why have you come to me?"

"I'm not finished." Kate continued, with the same laugh she used earlier. Chloe felt a pit in her stomach, knowing that this story was going to get worse.

"Derek didn't call me at all when I left, and I thought that maybe he would have let me go. That he'd buried himself in his writing and I would wake up one morning to find a scathing poem about me in the local paper. But instead, a few days ago, I woke up feeling the urge to see Derek. I didn't fight it, I didn't question it. I called him, crying and begging for him to take me back... and a woman answered the phone. I was stunned, but it didn't deter me.

"It was when the snow was at its heaviest and we were being warned to stay indoors. But I didn't care. I got out of my building and walked through the thick snow and skated over the ice until I reached his apartment. The other woman, this gorgeous leggy blonde came to the door in nothing but one of Derek's shirts, but I pushed her aside and walked over to him. I told him that I loved him and I couldn't live without him. He smiled his warmest smile and pulled me into his arms and kissed me..."

Kate trailed off, looking extremely pale. Chloe's heart sank further when she realised what had happened,

"And then you woke out of your trance." She was stunned. Of all the sick people she had met, this guy was way up there.

"I can't believe he was telling me the truth." Kate said, her anger edging back into her voice, "and I can't believe that he would do that to anyone. Especially me. And he might do it again."

"And you came to me hoping that I could protect you." Chloe stated, finishing Kate's thought. She nodded hopefully, still looking around in case Derek or someone he knew was close by. As far as Chloe could see, the street was completely empty. She turned to Kate,

"I will do some research and I will do my best to find some way of keeping you safe. Call me at the Foundation tomorrow and I will let you know what I've found out." She dug into her purse and handed a business card to Kate, "My cell number is on there if there's an emergency. If you feel any urge to see your ex, call me immediately. I have friends who can protect you."

Kate took the card and slipped it into her handbag in a protective compartment with her cell phone. With one last look of gratitude to Chloe, she disappeared into the rainy night. Chloe watched her go, thinking about what the poor woman had gone through. Pleased with both a chance to help someone and a decent distraction, Chloe headed back to the office.

She had a lot of work to do.