Chloe cruised down the dark street, rolling down the windows to let the breeze blow them dry. "That was intense." She said, staring at the road head of her. She stuck her hand into her pocket, pulling out the Flash drive. She placed it on the dashboard and smiled. "I can't believe we may have the information I need to finish my expose on 33.1"

Clark studied the profile of her face; she hadn't seemed this happy and free in days. Like all of her troubles were a million miles away. "Well, let's get to it then," He said eagerly, grabbing the drive and waving it past her playfully. "We've got a laptop with this little one's name on it back at The Planet."

Chloe let out a laugh as her hair whipped into her face. She cranked up the radio so it could be heard over the wind. "Yes we do!" She pounded the steering wheel triumphantly to the beat. "Yes we do!"

Clark couldn't help but laugh in return as hers was infectious. "Glad to see the old Chloe making a comeback—I missed her."

Chloe turned to him. "Yeah, the same can be said about you. What happened exactly? What made you decide to embrace your powers again?"

"What made you decide to embrace your reckless journalism again?"

Chloe laughed. "Nope—I asked you first."

"I told Lana that my powers were here to stay—they were a huge part of who I am, and if she couldn't deal then we were over."

"What happened?"

"She stormed off."

Chloe looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "So you two are?" She asked cautiously.

"Over? Looks like it." He said bluntly. It was the first time he had said the words out loud; he expected the finality of them to cut him deeply, instead he felt calm—almost relieved in a way.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," He insisted. "We wanted completely different things. I realized that I can't be with someone who doesn't accept my true self—and Lana didn't."

"I know what you mean." Chloe's face fell instantly and she switched the radio off. She swerved the car over two lanes to make a sudden turn down another street.

"Whoa—what's going on?"

"I need to take a little detour first," She said as they sped up to a large apartment complex. "There's some unfinished business I need to attend to."

Clark knew that it had to do with Jimmy; after all she had been dealing with a very similar situation. "Is this Jimmy's place?" He asked as they pulled into a parking space and got out of her car.

Chloe nodded. "Yeah. I left Jimmy asleep on the couch when I got the call tonight." She punched a series of numbers into a security pad outside the front door and they were let in to the building. When they reached his first floor apartment she used the key Jimmy had given her to unlock his door. The TV was still on in the corner, showing an infomercial, but Jimmy was no longer on the couch. "Jimmy?" She called, taking a look around. "Are you here?"

There was no answer, but a few moments later Jimmy appeared around the corner, clad in boxer shorts and a wrinkled t-shirt. He rubbed his eyes and let out a yawn. "Hey, look who came back. Guess that key came in handy." He said bitterly.

Chloe placed the key down on the counter top. "Did we wake you?"

"Yeah you did." He grumbled. "Unlike the first time when I was asleep and you just left without a word."

Clark took a step back to give them a hint of privacy. The tension in the room was high; Clark felt like he shouldn't be there to witness such a private moment, but he had nowhere to go. He averted his eyes and tried to make himself invisible.

"I'm sorry I left without telling you," Chloe said. There was a fierce determination in Chloe's eyes, and Clark could see that she wasn't going to play the shrinking violet any longer. "But it was important—it was a break in the Luthor story I've been working on. I had to go, and I hoped you would understand."

Jimmy pulled up a stool and plopped down. His head hung low and he ran his hands through his bed head hair. "Chloe, I don't know what to do. I really don't. I try to spend time with you but you are always running off on some story. I just can't seem to compete with your job."

"I'm not asking you to compete," She said firmly, her eagerness to please gone. "I am asking you to be supportive. To understand that this is how my life is—and I like it. I am a reporter first and foremost. To me it's not just a job, it's who I am." She took a breath and shook her head solemnly. "If you can't handle that then—"

Jimmy looked up at her, his eyes narrowing. "Then what?"

"Then we need to end this."

Jimmy hopped off the stool. He took a step back and began muttering something unintelligible under his breath.

"I care about you Jimmy," Chloe continued, undeterred. "I really do. But journalism is always going to be a major part of my life. I need to be with someone who can live with that." She walked around the corner, reaching out to touch his arm lightly. He looked back at her, flinching at her touch. "And I don't think you can."

Jimmy took a step back from Chloe, letting her hand fall back to her side. "So, this is how it has to be?" He asked, staring down at the floor.

"Yes."

He nodded and reached for the key lying on the counter. "I take it you won't need this." He looked down at it wistfully for a moment. "Well, I think I'm going to go back to sleep—you two can show yourself out. I'm sure you probably have a big story to work on anyways." He dropped the key with a clink into the nearby wastebasket before heading back to his bedroom.

Chloe turned back to face Clark; her expression was full of regret, but there were no tears. "Come on Clark—" She started for the door.

Clark grabbed her arm. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be okay. This was a long time coming." She nodded. "Now, let's go work on our big story."