Chloe led Lana into one of the back rooms of the Planet late at night with Emmeline. "So I'm guessing you didn't ditch prime time on your social calendar to come and help me research the dwindling pigeon population."

"Chloe, uh, Lex proposed," Lana said bluntly.

Chloe and Emmeline froze and shared a glance.

"And?" Chloe asked without looking at her.

"And I haven't given him an answer yet."

The blonde turned to her. "I'm sure that's going over well."

"Lex and I are in a really great place right now, but…when I actually heard those words, there was something that wouldn't let me say 'yes'."

Chloe bit her bottom lip. "Something like Clark?"

"When I was with Clark, I would have said 'yes' without hesitating. I thought that chapter of my life was over."

"Are you sure about that?" Emmeline asked. "Because when you were with Clark, you seemed to always have your doubts and reservations. Would you really have automatically said 'yes', or are you just remembering things through rose-colored glasses?"

"Maybe you're right."

"Lana," Chloe started. "I think that you need to stop reading between the lines and actually talk to Clark before you're going to be able to close this book on him forever."

Lana sighed heavily.

"Let's go."

Emmeline pressed her lips together as she crossed her arms. It had been about a week since her confrontation with Clark in his barn. On the upside, she had finally been able to get some sleep because ever since she understood what she'd been seeing in her dreams, the nightmares had stopped. But on the downside, she was short one tall and broad best friend.

She was fully aware that it may have been a tad overdramatic to completely cut him out of her life, but how could she face him again after she learned that she had basically cost him his father?

Emmeline picked up her plastic cup and started sipping her vanilla bean frappucino. Of all the things that had changed so much in the last year, her go-to drink remained the same and it was more comforting now than ever. In the last week, she'd bought a lot of them. By this point, pretty much the entire staff of the Talon now knew her name and order. Sometimes, she mixed things up with a chocolate-chip muffin just to keep them on their toes.

Chloe picked up the latest issue of The Daily Planet. Her eyes scanned a particular column and widened in horror. Emmeline looked over her shoulder to see what had gotten her friend so shaken up.

And it was not good.

Right there plastered for all to see was an article detailing their conversation with Lana the previous night when they'd discussed Lex's proposal and her possible lingering feelings for Clark.

Emmeline didn't understand. Who could've possibly gotten all those quotes? There hadn't been anyone else in the room with them last night. Everyone had gone home by then!

…Right?

"Hey, Chloe," Clark smiled.

Emmeline met his eyes for a brief second before looking away from him and sipping her drink again.

Chloe looked at him nervously. "Have you seen The Daily Planet this morning?"

"No."

"Okay. I can't let you read this in the paper. Lex proposed to Lana."

Clark didn't say anything for a long time as he tried to process this information. "What did she say?"

"She hasn't given him an answer."

Clark took the newspaper from her and scanned the article. "It says here it's because of me. Is this true? Chloe?"

Chloe's look told him the answer to that question.

"I know better…look, I know better. You know, I've tried so hard to let Lana go that…" He could barely form any words, all of this hitting him hard. "If she marries Lex, there's no going back. Is it true?"

"I would double down on the fact that Lana's still in love with you."

"I can't let her do this."

He started out of the Talon, but Chloe quickly snatched his arm. "Whoa, Clark. Wait a minute. I-It's a lot more complicated now."

"What could be more complicated than living your life with regrets?"

Clark looked at Emmeline one more time and then quickly exited the Talon.

Chloe turned to her best friend, realizing that she and Clark hadn't said so much as a 'hello'. "So you guys really called it quits?"

Emmeline sighed and put her drink on the counter. "No, I did."

"Em—"

"Look, maybe it was stupid and a gut reaction. But I don't think I regret it, Chloe. I just…it's so hard to even look at him anymore after knowing what happened."

"I hate seeing you guys like this. Take some time and really evaluate if this is what you want."

"Of course it isn't what I want. But…I think it's the way it has to be."

Chloe and Emmeline walked through Chloe's apartment door and sighed when they saw Clark rifling through Lois's bag. "I swear we're losing our scare reflex because of you," Chloe muttered.

"Lois asked me to—"

"Oh, please, Clark. Are you going to tell me why you're digging in Lois's purse, Snoop Dogg? Wait. Let me guess. You're covering for the new pledge of your hero fraternity."

Emmeline lightly touched Chloe's arm. "I'm gonna head out," she said softly.

"Wait, hold on, Em," Clark said.

The brunette swallowed thickly. After everything that happened, it hurt so much more to hear Clark call her by her nickname. "What?"

"Last time Lois said she had a lead on the Green Arrow, she was just bluffing. Now she says Jimmy has shots that will help ID him."

"Jimmy?" Chloe asked. "He's moonlighting for Lois?"

"I guess we all have secrets to keep. You two should know that better than anyone right now."

Chloe sighed and clenched her jaw.

"You both knew that Lana was pregnant, didn't you?"

"Clark, before you unload your anger on us, can I just say that I think it is incredibly unfair that everyone trusts us to keep their secrets, and then they turn around and they throw us attitude for keeping someone else's secret! Might I remind you that you weren't exactly entirely honest with Em lately? Look, I'm sorry that I had to take a two-second breather from hiding the fact that you are an alien from another planet to protect someone else for a change!"

Clark sighed and then gently took Chloe into his arms. Emmeline watched them as a silent third-party. She remembered how it felt for Clark to hug her and her heart ached when she realized that she would never be hugged by him again. But she knew that was her own fault, so there was no sense in moping about it.

"You had that coming, you know?" Chloe said tearfully.

Clark nodded before he pulled back and looked at her seriously. "For the record…I prefer 'intergalactic traveler' over 'alien from another planet'."

Chloe laughed as she wiped at her teary eyes, and despite it all, Emmeline smiled as well.

Chloe and Emmeline exited the Daily Planet and saw Lana sitting at one of the covered tables against the building.

"Hey!" Chloe called as they walked over. "Hey. Thanks for finally returning one of my phone calls."

"How much does Lana Lang's personal life boost newspaper sales these days?" Lana asked hardly.

"Okay. I was expecting that. But to be honest, I was kind of hoping you'd give me the benefit of the doubt. I guess there's a shortage of those today."

"That article recites our conversation verbatim."

"Do you honestly think either of us would betray you like that, Lana?"

"What other explanation is there?"

"I'm not sure, but the Lana Lang I know would at least give me a chance to find one."

"It's possible someone just overheard the conversation and we didn't see them," Emmeline put in. "Or on the other hand, when you think about the various people we've encountered with abilities to turn invisible or turn into sand, someone being an unseen fly on the wall isn't so out of left field."

Lana sighed. "After Clark, I guess I'm so jaded, I don't even know what to expect from my friends anymore."

Emmeline sat down across from her. "If that relationship caused you to feel that way now, isn't that more proof that you wouldn't have immediately agreed to marry him if he'd asked?"

"Maybe."

Chloe sat down at the table as well. "So I take it the conversation didn't go so well."

"Conversation?"

"Clark left the Talon to go talk to you."

"About what?"

"Well…I don't…" Realizing that a conversation between Lana and Clark never happened, Chloe closed her eyes and sighed. "I should just put a bag over my head that says, 'If you want to keep a secret, don't tell me'."

"What did he want to say?"

"You two need to OK Corral it on your own because I've been blamed for putting words in people's mouths enough for one day."

"I'm sorry I didn't trust you guys. I just…I don't understand how every intimate detail of my life is being leaked into Linda Lake's column."

"From what I found out, her reconnaissance techniques aren't exactly from the journalist's code of ethics." The blonde showed her an article about Linda being caught in the last meteor shower. "I think it's time we turn the tables on our little resident voyeur."

Chloe sat at Linda Lake's computer with a webcam up so Lana could listen in from the safety of her car. Emmeline stood at the door acting as a look-out though she didn't know how much use that would end up being if Linda really did have any meteor-abilities.

"All right, Lana," Chloe said. "Are you ready for your close-up?"

"I can't believe this is so easy," Lana said on the computer screen.

"Okay. How are my pearly megapixels looking?"

"Crystal clear. Since we're eavesdropping, can you find out what else she has on Lex and me?"

"Yeah, sure. Do a little recon while we're at it."

Chloe minimized the webcam feed and opened a few of Linda's files. Emmeline looked over when she heard her friend gasp quietly.

"Chloe, what is it?" Lana asked.

"Oh, Clark…" Chloe said barely audibly.

Emmeline quickly came over to the computer to see what Chloe had found, and her heart sank. Linda had written a new article, and the title of it was 'Farmboy From Another Planet'. She'd overheard their conversation last night.

"Like tomorrow's headline?"

Chloe sprang up from the chair at the sound of Linda's voice and Emmeline frantically turned around.

"And here I thought your hatred was just professional jealousy. Who knew you were covering such a scandalous secret?"

Chloe's eyes darted to the webcam where Lana was listening in. She carefully circled around the desk. "You're actually going to stake your reputation on this tabloid garbage that's not even fit for the Inquisitor? Nobody's going to believe you."

"Oh, of course they will. I have a very trustworthy source: you. And no doubt, if anyone goes looking for proof, well, I think they're going to find it. But I must say, I am impressed. Here you were, sitting on a story that could have earned you a major headline, and you chose to protect your friend instead."

"Not a hard decision to make when you actually care about someone."

"It's values like that that keep your career in the basement."

Emmeline didn't understand how someone could be so heartless or desperate for fame and success that she would completely ruin people's lives left and right and feel absolutely no remorse.

"Don't you just love the internet?" Linda giggled. "Do you know with just one touch of a button, I can be on every major talk show?" She hovered her cursor over the 'Publish' button and raised her finger to click it. "And everyone at YouTube will know that your farmboy friend is really an—"

Chloe grabbed a hammer left behind by the workers completing Linda's office renovations and slammed it onto the computer, destroying the article and cutting the feed to the webcam.

Linda backhanded Chloe across the face. "…alien."

"Chloe!" Emmeline exclaimed as she rushed to her side.

Chloe glared at Linda. "I have a feeling your credibility might be at stake when you're locked up for Mike Dawson's murder."

"Mike Dawson drowned. Do your homework. It's in every police report."

"Those police aren't from Smallville. You remember Smallville, don't you? You were a rookie reporter for KSCW who went for the second meteor shower. Moth got a little too close to the flame, and your news van took a nose dive into Crater Lake. My guess is you walked out with some sort of special ability. From what I found out, Mike Dawson wasn't your first victim, was he?"

"Nobody likes an overachiever."

Linda quickly snatched a nail gun sitting in her office. Chloe grabbed Emmeline's arm, and the two of them raced out of the office as Linda fired three nails in their direction. Luckily, Linda had terrible aim and they sank into the wall rather than their skin. The two women ran for the elevator and Chloe frantically pushed the 'Up' button.

"No, come on!" Emmeline cried. "Stairs, stairs, stairs!"

They both frantically tried to run up the stairs as fast as they possibly could.

"Hey, Sullivan!" Linda yelled.

She aimed the nail gun at them and fired, but fortunately for them, it was out of nails. Chloe and Emmeline resumed their race up the stairs and out the front doors to the Planet. Then they ran across the street and frantically looked behind them to see if Linda had followed them. Just when they thought they might be safe, water pooled beneath their feet and then receded behind them. When they turned around, they found Linda leering at them. Linda punched Chloe in the face and then rammed her into a nearby newspaper stand.

Emmeline's mind completely blanked at all of the basic self-defense she'd learned in the past, and all she could think about was Chloe's safety. She rammed her body into Linda's and they both went crashing to the ground. Linda pulled Emmeline's hair and the brunette cried out in pain and hit the woman across the face to get her to release her.

Linda yanked one of the sidewalk lights out of the ground and stood up to face Chloe. "You want to rise above sea level, you better sharpen those teeth!"

The deranged woman charged Chloe with the light raised above her head like a knife. When she attacked, Chloe fell onto her back and then used her feet to kick Linda over her body and into the street where she slammed against the windshield of an approaching car and shattered into a wall of water.

The car skidded to a stop and Lana urgently got out of it. "Holy crap! She came out of nowhere!"

"It's okay," Chloe told her as she put her hand to her cheek where Linda had left behind three scratches from her sharp nails. "She's gone now."

Emmeline didn't know about that. They had only seen Linda disappear into water. There was no telling if she was dead or not. She had a feeling they hadn't seen the last of Linda Lake.

Chloe opened the door to her apartment. "Clark."

Clark stepped inside, and Emmeline went about putting away some dishes for her friend so she didn't have to look at him. She was good at pretending to be invisible.

"What's going on?" Clark asked with a small smile.

"Uh, Lois was just telling us about her exciting night last night."

"Yeah, I don't know where you disappeared to last night, Smallville, but it turns out I was wrong about Oliver," Lois said as she sat on the couch sipping some tea Emmeline had made earlier.

"He's not the Green Arrow! Can you believe that? Luckily, Oliver showed up when our hero was still around, but it looks like you were way off base about him. And the craziest part is he chucked a guy across an alley, right?"

"Oh, yeah."

"And then supersped away. I mean, who does that?"

Emmeline smiled from the kitchen area as she listened to Chloe relate the story back to him, clearly enjoying herself and really throwing it in Clark's face that she knew what had actually happened last night.

"Hm," Clark mumbled, unamused at Chloe's excitement. He looked back at Lois. "It's a good thing Oliver showed up when he did. Then you know for sure."

"Oh, she knew before he showed up."

"You did?"

Lois nodded.

"Ask her how," Chloe said.

"How?"

"I kissed him," Lois told him with a smile.

"Isn't that romantic?" Chloe gushed somewhat sarcastically.

Clark nodded awkwardly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Lois. Finish the story."

"Uh—" Clark stuttered

Chloe slammed the back of her hand on his chest. "This is the best part."

"Well, he was holding me in his arms," Lois explained as she stood up from the couch. "And Ollie's a good kisser, don't get me wrong, but that Green Arrow? He could teach Ollie a thing or two."

Emmeline coughed in the kitchen and quickly tried to cover it up by loudly putting a plate away. Lois wouldn't be smiling so much if she knew that she was talking to the very person she'd kissed last night.

Well, this pretty much confirmed what Emmeline had suspected since Thanksgiving.

Oliver Queen was indeed the Green Arrow.

Clark came around the counter to the cabinets. "Hey, Em…" he said softly. "Can we…talk?"

Emmeline put the last plate back in the cabinet then walked around Clark and put her purse over her shoulder. "I've gotta go," she said more to Chloe than Clark.

"Em."

"Bye."

Clark sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before looking at his blonde friend. "This is crazy, right?"

"Look, Em runs when she gets scared, okay? I mean, she's done this before. Just give her some space to sort this out and she'll be fine."

"I should've told her about everything before she remembered like you said. Maybe if I had…"

"But you didn't, so there's no use thinking about how things might have gone."

"I feel like if I could just talk to her, we could work things out, but she won't even look at me anymore."

"Well, she blames herself, and if anyone understands what that's like, it's you. Right now, I think she just needs some time. So do her a favor, and just be patient."

Chloe and Emmeline headed to Chloe's desk at the Planet to find Lana sitting in her desk chair.

"Hey," Chloe greeted. "You took off early last night. You okay?"

Lana looked at the two girls icily. "I just keep running what happened through my head."

Chloe sat on the edge of her desk. "Lana, you can't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault."

"That part I'm pretty clear on."

"Look, nobody wanted to see her die. But if you hadn't come when you did, it would have been my obit on the front page. Maybe. Of section D. Anyway, um, thank you again."

Lana stared at her. "How do you guys do that? Just brush it under the rug as if nothing happened?"

"Lana, Linda wasn't the first freak of nature who went psycho."

"No. I mean whatever it is you're protecting about Clark."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do. Some secret about a farm boy made you take a hammer to her computer before I could hear the rest. Come on, Chloe. I'm not that naïve. Whatever it is you two have been hiding, do you really expect me to keep looking the other way?"

"Linda was grasping at straws. She's always desperate for her next story. You know that better than anyone."

Lana sighed and started to walk away.

"Lana…we would never do anything to hurt you."

"That's what Clark always says."

"Wait a minute, this is not fair," Emmeline interjected. "Everyone has secrets, Lana, I don't have to tell you that. And you can't just tell us your secrets to keep and then get mad when we do the same for someone else. You didn't want to tell Clark that you're pregnant for your own reasons, and we respected that and didn't tell him. So if Clark does have a secret, then it's not your place to determine if you deserve to know it, especially since you both pretty much cut each other out of your lives." The brunette sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm needed at the clinic, I've gotta go."

Just as Emmeline walked out the front door of the Planet, she heard behind her, "Em, wait."

Emmeline turned and saw Lana coming up to her.

"Look…I know that…we've kind of…drifted apart lately. And I guess that I deserved that just now and back when we were all at the alleged 33.1."

"I realize that I've been kind of short with you these past couple weeks," Emmeline confessed. "I'm sorry, I could probably word things better."

"No, I appreciate having a friend who tells me things honestly and not the things I want to hear."

Emmeline didn't think that was accurate at all because lately whenever anyone tried to share an opinion that clashed with Lana's, Lana immediately became defensive and refused to see things any other way. But she decided not to say that.

"Um…I heard that something happened between you and Clark and you guys have stopped talking. I'm sorry to hear that, I know you both were really close. But…it's okay to talk to me. About anything. You know that, right? And you know, if you and Clark aren't really friends anymore, then…you don't owe him anything."

Emmeline looked at her in disbelief and scoffed. "Are you actually trying to use the fact that Clark and I aren't talking anymore to get me to reveal something about him?"

Lana's silence answered her question.

"What's happened to you? You didn't used to be like this."

"And you didn't used to keep things from me."

"If Clark did have any secrets, then they wouldn't be mine to tell."

"You can stop playing the 'if' card, we both know he's hiding something from me and he has been for as long as I've known him."

Emmeline didn't see a point in denying the fact because two years ago, she too had figured out that Clark and Chloe had been keeping something from her. She at least hadn't pressed them about it and had allowed Clark to tell her when he wanted to.

After everything that had happened over the last several days, Emmeline was in an incredibly sour mood and Lana pushing so hard after everything she had recalled last week really wasn't helping. "Is this about him not telling you…or you not knowing? Because there's a difference."

Lana pursed her lips. "If he would just trust me—"

"Trust is a two-way street, Lana. If you want him to trust you so much, you should give him reasons to."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You keep saying how much you don't like him keeping secrets from you, but you constantly keep secrets from him as well, even back when you were dating."

"I would've been honest with him if was honest with me."

"It doesn't work like that. And when you guys were dating, the second that something happened that you didn't like regarding Clark, you ran and told everything to Lex. How do you think that made him feel?"

"At least Lex is honest with me."

"He's never kept anything from you this whole time?"

"He always comes clean eventually."

"Before or after you found out on your own?"

Lana looked away from her.

"Has it ever occurred to you that if Clark is hiding something, then he probably has a pretty darn good reason for it?"

"Like what?"

Like the fact that I freaking died when he told you the truth and then I ended up costing his father his life. "That shouldn't matter. Have you ever stopped to consider what knowing someone's secrets might mean for you? For other people? You know that Clark has a good heart and he always has the best intentions."

"But he doesn't trust me."

"You know, you've spent a lot of time lately blaming absolutely everyone else for the things going on in your life. That's just as dangerous as always blaming yourself. Some secrets can't be pushed. They need to be revealed in their own time on the person's own terms."

"You can stop with the psychology crap."

"If you hadn't just tried to manipulate me into revealing someone else's personal secrets, I would. You have no idea what happened between me and Clark, and that's between us so don't try to act like you have a right to know. And no matter how you or I feel about Clark right now, he never would've tried to manipulate me into revealing something about you."