Blinding light flared. Her senses were dimmed and muffled, like being underwater, and then she staggered forward and fell to her knees. Chloe blinked her eyes but saw nothing but unrelenting darkness. Had the AU-ray failed? Was she trapped somewhere between worlds where light never shone?

"Oww!"

Maybe not. "Lois? Is that you?"

"Chloe? Thank God and, drat," Chloe heard the tinkling of breaking glass and something heavier falling, "watch out I think I broke something. Why can't I see anything?"

Chloe fumbled with the satchel slung over her neck and felt around inside, ignoring her pocket knife and palm-sized stun gun in favor of a flashlight. Its bold white beam sliced the oppressive blackness and sparkled on the shattered glass a few feet from her. Chloe got to her feet and turned the light toward the latest crashing sound.

"Give me a hand. Umph. I never picture my triumphant return home starting off, eh, perched on a pile of," she stared at her filthy palm, "filthy old boxes." Chloe set the light on a shelf and offered a steadying hand to Lois as she squirmed and wiggled off the stack. Lois brushed the thick coat of dust off her hands and looked around. "We made it," she announced with satisfaction. She twirled around and shouted this time, "We made it!" Her joy was overflowing.

Chloe waved the flashlight around the room. "You're sure about that?" She asked skeptically.

"Yes, Clark told us he arrived in the basement of Met U, the only difference between the lab and this room being stacks of boxes. Look over there!" She pointed to footprints outlined on the dusty floor.

"Clark's?" Chloe wondered.

"Yes, they have to be. Come on," she said taking Chloe by the hand and tugging her to the exit, "time to find my better half." They pushed past the outer door and turned down the hallway. The flashlight was better than nothing, but the narrow beam only emphasized the deep shadows. The eerie atmosphere flashed Chloe back to her first trek down the hallway; it had been deliciously creepy, providing her the excuse to cling to Clark.

During the past week, working with Victor and Milton on the AU-ray had required multiple trips back and forth through the corridors, which effectively nullified most of their mysteries, but now in the oppressive gloom, Chloe felt the skin on the back of her neck crawl. "This place gives me the heebie-jeebies; let's hurry, but watch the steps, they are starting to crumble."

After they came to the first landing, a weak grey light filtered around the corner and with the added visibility, they increased their pace. Lois galloping up the stairs lost in her giddy excitement of being back and Chloe flying up the flights, feeling as if the boogeyman was close on her heels. She had that tingly sensation between her shoulder blades, as if someone was watching.

Once topside and at the rear of the library, she paused to catch her breath and tried to slow her rapidly beating heart. The library was empty, as expected in the dawn hours of a Saturday morning, but still Chloe scanned the area looking and listening for something out of place. She heard several light taps coming from behind her. She pivoted on her heels, aimed her light at the counter to the side, and spotlighted Lois using the telephone.

At Chloe's questioning glance, she paused and explained, "I'm trying the house. Hmm, the machine is picking up. I'll call his cell."

Chloe tried to relax. This was good news; the answering machine message was confirmation of success. Maybe this feeling of dread was left over anxiety stemming from their departure. After all, they may have managed to switch worlds, but their exodus wasn't without tribulation. In fact, she might have burned her bridges and spoiled chances at a return trip, but she was counting on ego and a highly developed sense of honor to keep that from happening.

In the moment, right after Bruce realized retrieving Clark was her utmost goal, she thought he might just walk away, but Martha had reached out and begged, "Will you help me bring my son home?" He hadn't flinched when her hand rested on his sleeve; but Chloe thought it a close thing. His disbelief of the whole situation was plainly written on his face.

He'd said nothing for a full minute. In that time, he studied each of their faces before finally pointing to Lois and demanding to know, "Where does she fit into this?" Chloe answered his question and went on feeding him answers, carefully skirting her own eventual role in bring back Clark, until he was momentarily satisfied-even if uncertain of their collective sanity. They, with Martha and Lois in tow, then went immediately to Davinhoe and Hamlish's flat for a physical demonstration.

The demo proceeded smoothly; first utilizing inanimate objects and then using live mice in a cage. After the mice returned unharmed, he prowled the area, searching for trapdoors or any other smoke and mirror type tricks. Finding nothing, he demanded a repeat demonstration and then peppered Victor and Milton with technical questions.

By the end of the evening, the only topics he wasn't well versed in were those that directly related to why Chloe would need to go and retrieve Clark. She'd been adamant that Bruce not learn of her imminent travel plans. Call it gut instinct, but she knew he'd try to stop her. Maybe he'd insist on going in her place, but she couldn't let that happen.

While someone from this world had to go and be used to recalibrate the watch-like resonator recorder that currently housed Lois's universal signature, Clark's secret narrowed down the viable candidates to just herself or Martha.

Lois had told her about Clark's stint as the Super Friend. It was almost a week since he used his abilities in front of multiple witnesses (and in the flimsies of disguises), got caught on camera for the evening news and made the front page of the Daily Planet. Someone with enough ingenuity and luck might have already exposed him in that world. If he hadn't been exposed yet, it would be some kind of miracle, and she wouldn't risk letting anyone from this world stumble onto that kind of information.

Maybe, just maybe, someday Clark might feel compelled to let "The Batman" in on his secret life as he had Oliver, but Chloe would not take away his choice. After all, it was possible that her instincts were off and Bruce Wayne was an ordinary, run of the mill, multi-billionaire without a secret crime fighting agenda.

Chloe didn't think twice about her plans, she knew she had to be the one to go find Clark. It was merely a bonus that she desperately wanted to go.

Before she and Lois left to get some sleep in anticipation of their early morning wake up call, Chloe filled Bruce in on how she needed his help,

"You understand that Lois will be leaving from the Met U basement lab?" Chloe checked.

Bruce nodded, "Due to the power source requirements."

"Right. Milt and Victor are on the way to do the needed set up and all will be ready for her departure tomorrow at 5 AM. Then she has to find Clark and give him the tagging device. We don't know precisely how long that will take, but she'll certainly need more than a few minutes."

He cocked his head, "I don't follow you. Why wouldn't she have more time before we would search and retrieve Clark?"

"Because according to my source down at the admin building, a crew from the electric company will be coming around at seven am to track down the origin of the recently noticed energy spikes centering around the old campus library. That leaves only two hours to disassemble and transport the AU-Ray out of there."

"Am I to understand that not only has the University been kept in the dark over the true nature of the project, but that…"

Chloe smiled cheerfully and interrupted, "That the lab is completely unauthorized and unknown to Met U? Yep, and I'm counting on you to secure another location where the ray can set up shop and bring Clark back."

"You're not asking for much," he sarcastically muttered, "not too many places are on a separate power grid, but," he paused and stroked his chin thinking, "perhaps if it's just a matter of having access to the equivalent power." He inclined his head and held out his hand. "I believe I have a place in mind that will work." Chloe shook his hand, hoping her trust in him was not misplaced. She essentially just gave him control over whether she and Clark ever returned home.

By four-thirty the next morning, she and Lois were both a ball of nerves. Neither slept much the night before. Lois was understandably anxious to be with her husband again, while the origin of Chloe's anxiety was equally divided between allowing a super-charged laser shoot her and fearing Bruce would try to prevent such a fate.

The way he stared when he thought she wasn't looking didn't help calm her nerves either. He'd also been eyeing her satchel suspiciously. That is, when he didn't have his nose buried in a collection of Milton's handwritten notes on the schematics to the AU-Ray.

Mrs. Kent insisted on being there to send them off. She greeted then both warmly but in Chloe's opinion, had trouble confining her public sendoff to Lois. Chloe just hoped Bruce was too intent on his reading to have noticed the overlong hug she had received. Since then, Lois had done a good job distracting Martha with outrageous stories about her and Clark's multiple attempts to get married. Something about frogs?

Victor and Milton bustled about rechecking cable connections and auditing each other's calculations. With both Lois and Chloe traveling, the exponential use of power had more than doubled and they had to make especially certain the curtain between the universes would remain stable. As it was, the calculations revealed they had only one chance to build up their needed power and a limited window in which to release the two needed bursts that would each send Lois and Chloe on their way.

Beyond the tight schedule, the AU-Ray had a 40 percent chance of shorting out after the first shot and the Met U campus had an 80 percent chance of experiencing rolling black outs after the second. Hopefully, most wouldn't be awake to notice. At the very least, the power grid wouldn't (without repairs) maintain enough energy to power up the AU-Ray again even if it didn't short circuit in the first place.

Chloe fidgeted with the tag Milton had discretely slipped to her when she and Lois first walked in that morning. The tag was her link to home. As long as she kept it on her person, then it would maintain and stabilize her frequency resonance. Milt theorized it might work up to a month, but Chloe had no plans to test his guess.

On her shoulder, she readjusted the strap to her leather bag of potential useful things. She'd chosen just some basics and left all hopes for a change of clothes with Lois's promise of free reign in her closet. Chloe worried she was forgetting something and then laughed softly to herself. How does one pack for trips to alternate universes?

Short of that how-to guide, she filled the satchel as if she was going to the seedier side of Metropolis and tossed in a can of mace (not merely pepper spray), her compact stun gun, a multi-function pocketknife, a flashlight, and a lighter among other small items. She was reexamining the content when she felt Bruce's stare again. He was frowning now. Not a good sign.

"Tell me Milton," he casually requested while Hamlish crawled around the base of the AU-Ray. "I'm curious, how long does it take for a traveler's resonance signature to realign to the new universe?"

Chloe tensed and sent a warning glare in Milt's direction, but he was too caught up in his last minute prep to glance her way.

"Surprisingly, as little as three days to adjust too far out of synch with the home world to be of use, but maybe up to a month to fully resonate at the new frequency."

"That's very interesting," he said, starting to prowl the room, "because according to this," he held a sheet of loose leaf paper filled with Milton's dark scrawl, "the resonator recorder will have to be retuned to this universe's frequency if it is to be of any use to Kent. However, you are saying Lois hasn't been here long enough. Someone else would have to go." He scanned the people in the lab. "So who's making the trip?"

Milton scowled and went back to his work; they had a looming deadline and no time for ridiculous drama. Victor opened and closed his mouth like a fish and then sent Chloe an unsubtle look of panic.

Bruce crossed his arms and nodded. "As I thought, the indomitable Ms. Sullivan." He shook his head and strolled to where Chloe stood stiffly, clutching her satchel in front of her like a shield. "Am I the only one who thinks this is a bad idea? Davinhoe, Hamlish, why aren't either of you going? Why are you sending a friend of your first victim to fix your error?" Bruce raised an eyebrow at the stammering Victor. Chloe jumped in.

"I choose to go, Bruce. I know there are risks, but they're worth it."

"I don't think you're the right candidate."

"Who else is going to go? We need both Victor and Milton in case this contraption blows up again and I'm the only one here how knows Clark, unless you think sending his mother is a better idea," she added sarcastically.

Milton leaped up and went to the controls of the AU-Ray. "You better make your minds up quickly because in less than four minutes we will have activation. You, Lane, you're up first."

"Where do I stand?" She asked after giving Martha's hand a final squeeze.

Victor guided her to a spot on the floor marked by masking tape. "You stand here and Chl..Chloe...," he stammered to a stop, intimidated by the glare Bruce delivered. "Whoever else goes must stand a few feet to the right."

Chloe started walking to the indicated location when Bruce clamped a hand on her shoulder bringing her to a halt. "You have to let me go, Clark needs me," She pleaded.

"He doesn't need you, anybody will do. You don't have to do this." He saw desperation lurking in her eyes. "Do you think I can't tell how terrified you are? You feel guilty about exposing your friend to this crazy situation and have taken it upon yourself to play the hero, despite the fact you're practically shaking. I'll go. I'll bring back Clark Kent."

She tried to shrug out of his hold without luck. Chloe blew an errant strand of hair out of her eyes. Petulantly, she told him, "I suppose you have the lock on playing the hero." Then suddenly her shoulders slumped and she sighed raggedly. She stopped fighting him and tears welled in her eyes, "I've been so scared." She looked up at him and still clutching her bag to her chest asked, "Will you really take my place and go for me?"

Martha gasped. "Chloe, no."

Milton flicked a series of switches and called out. "We are powered up, ten seconds until the first power transfer."

Lois stood on her mark and looked at Chloe in horrified confusion. Chloe tried to go to her, but Bruce would not release her arm. She spared a quick look at Bruce and then implored Lois to, "Trust me, it will be better this way."

Uncharacteristically speechless, Lois nodded as Victor called out the countdown. "Nine…eight… seven… six… five… four," Lois squeezed her eyes shut, "three… two… one."

Milton triggered the AU-Ray and a beam of intense orange light streamed out. Chloe saw Lois enveloped in a shimmery, golden haze. The lights flickered and the haze seemed to rush in on itself, like cyclone or a whirlpool getting smaller and swirling exponentially faster until it winked away, leaving nothing behind.

Chloe heard Martha cry out while Bruce nodded approvingly. Chloe twisted trying to see the machine. "Did the ray survive? Are we set for the second transfer?" She demanded of her semi-scientists.

Milton grunted in affirmative and began the quick prep for the second transfer. "We are a go in one minute." He looked up, "Who's going?"

Bruce shuffled Chloe to the side and strode forward, "I am."

Milton frowned and then said, "Fine, stand over there."

Chloe rushed to stop him. "Wait!" She called and un-slung her satchel from her shoulder. "You should take this; it has a few things that might come in handy." She opened it and fished a few items out to show him, "like this flashlight, or this pocketknife."

Bruce smiled, charmed at her naïveté, "Thanks, but I have a few items of my own that should serve just fine."

"Thirty seconds!" Called out Milton. Bruce turned away from Chloe again.

"Let me at least give you a proper goodbye!" She closed the gap between them, slid her hands up his chest and tilted her head back. Her touch had him tingling.

He could not resist cupping the back of her head and lowering his mouth to hers. His mind had barely registered the softness of her lips when a million tiny pins stabbed him all over his body. He started falling forward and Chloe supported his weight. "I'm sorry," she said calmly as she continued to hold her stun gun to his upper abdomen. Seconds went by and she finally removed its contact as he slid uncontrollably to the floor.

He lay awake, but without command of his body. His eyes shone with fury over her deception. She knelt before him and smoothed back the fallen hair from his brow. "I am sorry, but you wouldn't listen to me. I'm still counting on you to get us back."

"Hurry, we have five seconds before it's too late."

Chloe scrambled up as Victor called out the final numbers, "Four… three… two… one."

The next thing she remembered was a flash of light and finding herself in the pitch-black storage room with Lois. No wonder her nerves were working overtime.

Lois rejoined Chloe. "Well, he didn't answer his cell phone and he's not at the Planet, either. Part of me just wants to scream for help, but he's probably in the middle of something super important if you catch my drift."

Chloe smiled at Lois's pun. "So, what now?"

Lois cocked her head in surprise, too used to Chloe's take-charge attitude to accept easily her deference.

Chloe laughed and held up her hands, "I swear, I'm not a control freak usually and this is your turf, so what do you think? How hard would it be to walk to your house?"

Lois slipped her hand around Chloe's elbow and linked their arms companionably. "In these heels, pretty hard, but since I've already have a cab ordered and headed this way, I think life is looking good."

They started walking toward the exit. Outside, the sun already had begun peeking up at the world, but the campus was peaceful and still. They left the old library building and headed to wait for the cab by the main gate.

Lulled by the familiarity of the Met U campus, the different skyline and a bay reaching out into a large body of water made pink and orange from the rising sun, came to Chloe as more of a shock than she'd expected. She couldn't help stopping and staring.

"Wow. I'm really not in Kansas anymore." She smirked and blushed. "I can't believe I actually said that, but I now have new sympathy for Dorothy." She squeezed Lois's hand, "and for you. I don't think I understood how hard the last week must have been for you."

Lois smiled teary eyed, "Hey, I got lucky; I knew I was coming home this time. I knew you'd get me here."

Chloe scrunched up her brow and chewed on her lip. "How could you know, when half the time I didn't know myself?"

"Clark had complete faith in you and that was enough for me." Chloe blushed and looked away. Lois relinked their arms and started walking again.

"Beyond that," Lois continued, "I'd have had to be an idiot not to put my trust in you. You don't give yourself enough credit; all you accomplished during the last week amazes me. Somehow, while managing Hamlish and Davinhoe, and scrounging up a backer with deep pockets, you not only maintained your position at the Planet, but also worked ahead and submitted, how many articles on speculation? Ten?"

Chloe grimaced, "I'm hoping those articles and my call this morning about a family emergency will keep them from plopping a new body at my desk. If I'm gone too long, nothing will."

"They'd be fools if they let a natural like you get away," Lois insisted fiercely.

Chloe laughed, feeling her normally optimistic nature return. "True and besides, working in the basement, they might not even notice I'm gone." She laughed again, "I wonder if they will notice when Lori Kent doesn't show up, I know those interns you terrorized will never forget you, even if they never did know your real name."

"Yeah," a brutal voice from behind them snickered. "Lois Lane is unforgettable." As they spun around, Chloe pulled the can of mace out of her bag and aimed at the eyes of their attacker. Unfortunately, he was not alone. Someone knocked the bottle out of her hand and flattened a sickeningly sweet smelling cloth over her face. She fought not to inhale anymore of the chloroform, but already started to feel its effects.

As Chloe's world faltered, she registered Lois in a similar circumstance. She felt her body sliding as if boneless to the ground, but she hovered just beyond consciousness and heard a trio of voices.

"Aghh! Damn it, it burns!"

"You're just lucky the boss sent us along with you, or you'd be explaining how a couple lightweight chicks took you down."

"Yeah, you're lucky," echoed the third thug. "We're going to be the heroes of Intergang!"

"Don't give me that crap. Just get them into the car. Call the boss and let 'em know we've nabbed Lane." Still wiping and pawing at his face in agony, he snarled and added, "And see what he wants done with the extra chick. She's the miserable bitch who damned near blinded me. She's gonna get what's comin' to her if I can help it."

Chloe flinched as his harsh promise.

"Damn it, she's not under yet!" A rough hand clamped the cloth over her face again. The world went silent.