She burst into the cavern not even registering the beauty of the Fortress. She was too pissed off.

"Jor-El!" she shouted as she made her way to the command chamber.

"Jor-El you better tell me what's going on before I get Clark involved in this."

"I'm afraid that is impossible Chloe Sullivan." The disembodied voice boomed from the crystals.

"Why, you gonna keep me here forever?" She put as much sass as she could muster into the question, really hoping that wasn't his game plan.

"He has gone in search of our home planet."

"I thought your home planet was destroyed?"

"There is a possibility that remnants of the planet survived."

"Okay, so what am I doing here? You want me on the welcome home committee?"

"My son left a few days ago, he will not return for some years."

"Years!"

"He has a long journey ahead of him."

Chloe tried to wrap her head around not seeing Clark for several more years. She had thought she was close to going home and seeing her loved ones. And now…

"Why didn't you bring me here sooner? So I could see him, say goodbye."

"That was not my purpose for bringing you here."

"It would've been the right thing to do. For Clark and for me."

"Perhaps. But perhaps he would have never embarked on his journey had you been here. This is something he must do. I believe you humans call it 'closure.' He must settle once and for all his hopes of finding other Kryptonians."

"You already know he's not going to find anyone, don't you?" Chloe deduced in astonishment.

"He must take this journey."

She shook her head, knowing she shouldn't be surprised at his callousness. To have him go so far; for nothing.

"So what am I doing here?"

"You know how mankind can be. They will seek to take advantage of his absence."

"Jor-El, your son is not the only hero. There are others that will look out for us."

"And you will join them."

"What! Me? I'm not rich or powerful or influential or have useful abilities. I'm no Clark Kent. What are you going to do, imbue me with his powers so I can be a superhero?"

"Chloe Sullivan, you already are a superhero. I am merely requesting you officially take over for my son."

"I'm no hero Jo-El."

"No? Are you not Chloe Sullivan, best friend and moral compass of Kal-El? The one that always guides others to do what is right? The one that seeks truth and brings to justice the evil and corruption in mankind?"

"There are many who do that. That doesn't make us cut out to be superheroes."

"Chloe Sullivan, I've spent the last three years of your life with you. I have placed you in impossible situations, demanded you to do things that were beyond your skill set. You have gone against every type of evil I could find in your world and you have succeeded. Your powers have grown, you are invulnerable with unlimited endurance and you now have the physical and mental skills to outmaneuver anyone. This is something you were meant to do. Not fated by me or any other power, not part of some grand design or scheme. It is simply who you are. I gave you no powers yet you survived my most rigorous of tests. You are a superhero and it is time the world knew you. You can no longer be the silent shadow in the background. The world must know that even in Kal-El's absence, they are being protected."

A crystal to the right of Chloe glowed brilliant white and then faded. It slid down into the ground of the Fortress to reveal a pool of black material with knee-high boots and a midnight blue belt.

"This has been imbued with your ability. It cannot be destroyed, it will repair itself if damaged and will last for the rest of your life."

Chloe slipped it on, unabashedly discarding her clothes, not like anyone was going to walk in on her. The crystal that had disappeared into the ground rose up and the surface grew milky for a moment and cleared away to reveal the polished shine of a mirror. Stepping closer, she inspected herself.

"You want me to fight crime in this?" She squeaked out.

"Is it not to your liking?"

"Umm…it's…short and uh…slinky. And I think it's clinging to me." Chloe stuttered out, unable to further describe the outrageous way the material clung to her like second skin.

"It was made from you, it molds itself to you. Put up the hood."

Chloe hadn't even noticed the hood that was attached to the dress, she was slightly more concerned with the amount of cleavage on display. It wasn't a skanky amount, but it was more that she was used to. She popped up the hood and took another look.

"What the..."

She snatched the hood off and then slowly put the hood back on.

"Well, that is just…neat!"

When she popped the hood back on, her face turned into a deep black abyss. She was completely faceless. As she looked at herself, she started feeling more comfortable, more confident. No one would ever know that Chloe Sullivan was in this costume, no one would ever know Chloe Sullivan was a crime fighter.

"I have studied human male behavior and found that this outfit will give you an advantage over them. It serves as a distracter."

"And the female baddies will be distracted by…?"

"They will be intimidated by your sexiness."

"Did you just say sexiness?"

"Yes, Chloe Sullivan. That is how you appear in the outfit."

"Please don't ever say that again. That's disturbing on so many levels." She was astonished that Jor-El even knew what sexy meant let alone had programmed his computer brain to be able to differentiate sexiness.

"My apologies. I did not intend to make you uncomfortable."

"I know. Thank you for the outfit."

"As they say in your culture, good luck Chloe Sullivan."

"What if Clark doesn't return?"

"He will. He has strong ties here. Some of them are unbreakable, he will return."

With that Chloe turned and walked away. Glancing down at her feet, she looked at her 4-inch heel boots and then looked at the snow. Sighing at the impracticality she trudged her way onward. Surprisingly the boots stayed dry and despite the height booster heels, they didn't feel awkward or wobbly. Who knew Jor-El could design such stylishly comfortable footwear for women.

She giggled out loud at the thought of Jor-El being a flamboyant women's wear shoe designer. The giggle turned into a full-blown laugh. And then the laughter dissolved into tears. She was alone. Clark was gone. The voices that had been her only companion for three years were gone too. She let herself sob and feel sorry for herself all the while marching on through the snow.

Somewhere in Space

Clark lay curled up on his side; sleeping deeply on his ship. Clutched in his right hand was a picture of a blonde. The setting sun peaked out just a bit behind her head; her hair hung in soft curls and glowed from the sunlight. She had that smile on her face, the smile she bestowed on him and only him. And her eyes sparkled a brilliant green. Clark lips tugged up into a sweet smile as the girl in the picture came to play in his dreams.