-CHAPTER SIX-

"No, Dad. I'm fine. Actually the doctor is probably going to let me go today sometime. Don't worry about it. By the time you got here, it was all over anyway and Clark and Lois have been taking good care of me. Dad, that's ridiculous. You've called twice a day since Lois called to tell you I was out of surgery; I haven't felt abandoned or unloved once during all of this, OK? So enough! Tell me how things are going in Rome. How is it being a student with kids young enough to be your children?"

Gabe Sullivan, when faced with the loss of his job at Luthorcorp, decided to strike out into uncharted territory and go back to school and study International Business. He was living in Rome as part of a study abroad program, and had been understandably upset when Lois called him about his daughter's accident. But by then, Chloe was awake and convinced him that to travel all that way was really a waste of his time. She laughed as her father groaned into the phone in response to her question. "You poor baby." she teased."

A few more minutes passed then father and daughter hung up. The phone rang immediately.

"Hello?"

"Hey Cuz. What time is the doctor letting you go home? Do you know?"

Lois' voice came over the line, but she sounded distracted, on edge maybe. "I don't know. He hasn't been here yet. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Lois answered a little too quickly.

"Lois…" Chloe's voice held a warning edge.

"OK. OK. Fine. I know you told me to let it go, and that getting involved in anything with the Luthors usually leads to your demise, but I can't stop thinking about those numbers Wes kept muttering before he died."

The incident to which Lois was referring was in regards to a project Lex had spearheaded called Aries. And Wes was a fallen soldier that Luthorcorp and pulled from the battlefield to experiment on. The experiment had included mind control and superhuman powers to defeat an enemy, and Wes had gone on a mini killing spree at Lex's command. And old friend of Lois', she was able to get through to him before he killed her, and she had listened to him mutter a series of numbers over and over until he died. Lois' obsession apparently wasn't diminishing, even after Chloe's warning.

"Lois! Let it go!" Chloe warned again.

"I can't." Lois answered. "And I think I've figured out what they mean. They're longitude and latitude!" she finished excitedly.

"No, Lois! Please tell me you're not going to do what I think you're going to." Chloe closed her eyes and clinched her hand around her bedcovers, waiting for the words that she knew were coming.

"Yeah. I can't do that."

"Lois." A defeated sigh fell from Chloe's chest and she spoke in resigned tones. "I guess there's nothing I can say to talk you out of this?"

"Nope". Lois said flippantly. I'm going to figure out where these numbers take me, and if you're not going home this morning, I'm going to head out right now."

"OK. But promise me you'll be careful." Chloe replied seriously.

"I always am." Lois said just before she hung up.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Chloe muttered under her breath.

"In this place four days and you're already talking to yourself? That's not a good sign."

Chloe looked up in surprise at the voice and couldn't keep that same feeling from her face as she looked at him.

"Jimmy."

"Yeah."

The silence between them was slightly awkward. They both had been avoiding the other since their breakup on Valentine's Day.

"I didn't expect to see you." Chloe was the first to break the silence.

Jimmy looked a little hurt, but tried to hide it. "I guess I didn't give you any reason to think differently. It has been four days." He looked at her sheepishly and shrugged. "I—I guess I was a little scared. I didn't think you'd want to see me. But then I couldn't stay away."

Chloe didn't say anything. Jimmy looked thoughtful and she wanted to give him a chance to say everything he wanted.

"Chloe. I've really missed you." He paused as he gathered his thoughts. "I don't know if we can actually go back to—to what we were before. But, can we at least be friends?"

Before she could answer, the phone rang again.

Jimmy raised an eyebrow. "Popular gal."

"Sorry." she laughed. "Hello?"

"Sullivan! I hate to call you at the hospital and I hate to seem insensitive, but I was hoping you'd tell me you'd be going home soon."

Hearing from her editor wasn't an unusual occurrence. He'd even stopped in the first day she was out of surgery. Ribbing her a little at her out of character behavior, then reassuring her the Planet would be anxiously waiting for their star reporter to get back on her feet…so she could come sit behind her desk. But like Lois earlier, he sounded on edge. The way he sounded when he had a big lead on a great story. Chloe's interest was definitely peaked.

"Actually, you're in luck. The doctor's letting me go today. What's up?"

"Excellent." Chloe could practically hear him cackle with glee. "I'm taking you off the Meteor Infected Criminals stories. I've got something much bigger for you to cover. Definite front page stuff."

"Really? What do you have in mind?

"A mysterious rash of people becoming deathly ill, some people are reporting it to be something like seeing someone possessed. Lasts for twenty-four hours, then some kind of spirit flies out of them, kills anyone else that's in the vicinity, then flies out into the night."

As her editor spoke, Chloe's face turned ashen, her mind racing as she started putting random pieces together.

"The latest case was only about two hours from here. A twelve year old boy. But get this—the kid just comes up missing. Snatched into thin air. Authorities have absolutely no leads, no idea where this kid is. He could be in our own backyard for all we know."

"Yeah. How scary is that?" Chloe asked weakly.

Jimmy looked concerned. "What's going on?" he mouthed.

"I need you on this, Sullivan. No other major paper is reporting this yet, and you're the only one I have that can do it justice. I know this is inopportune-

"No. I'll do it." Chloe interrupted.

"Excellent! Now, your budget for this is wide open. We'll hire whoever you need to do your grunt work, we'll pay for any arrangements you need to make to stay comfortable with that leg…"

He was still talking, but Chloe wasn't listening. Too many coincidences were beginning to add up into one big not so coincidental that pointed to a disaster that would have serious repercussions…

"I think Lex is building an army…"

"Nothing. I—I just thought of something I have to do…"

"Lex is out of town. But even if he weren't, he couldn't keep me from seeing my friend in the hospital…"

"…building an army…"

"…longitude and latitude! I'm going to find out where the numbers take me…"

Project Aries…mind control…superhuman…

"…building an army…"

"…Reeves Dam…"

"…spirit flies out of them…killing…"

"…twelve year old boy…missing…no idea where he is…"

"…twenty-four hours…"

Lex is following this phantom because it's the last piece he needs to complete his army of superhuman soldiers. He kidnapped the boy, took him back to Reeves Dam where Clark will be waiting to fight this phantom which will leave the area destroyed…and Lois is going right into the middle of it!

"Chloe? Chloe? Are you all right?"

She looked up into Jimmy's concerned face, and he gestured to the telephone receiver she was gripping with white knuckles.

"That was obviously bad news. What's going on?"

"Good news, Ms. Sullivan." The orthopedic surgeon waltzed in as if he didn't have a care in the world. "I think we can safely send you home today!"

"Good!" she exclaimed. She had been so vocal about wanting to get out of the hospital the doctor wouldn't have give a second thought to her elation. But Jimmy knew better.

"Chloe?"

"Jimmy, I hope you don't mind. But do you think I can take advantage of that 'friend thing' right now…?"