Lois walked into Chloe's room to see her furiously cleaning the walls. Lois recognized it for what it was, Chloe hiding from her problems. She'd always done this. When Clark had called her and told her the turn Chloe's relationship with Lex had taken, she drove right over to get the dirt. She had been expecting to find her cousin in a state of happy contentment at finally getting Lex after so long. She was not expecting this cleaning lady on crack routine.

"Okay, what happened?" Lois asked as she sat on Chloe's bed.

"What are you talking about?" Chloe asked without looking away from the spot she was scrubbing.

"Lex."

Chloe's movements stopped completely. She looked as if someone had just flipped her off switch. "I don't want to talk about it." she gritted out between clenched teeth.

"Clark called me and-" Chloe interrupted her, fire blazing in her eyes, "Clark doesn't know what he's talking about." She then promptly turned her back on Lois and continued her scrubbing.

Lois sighed as she rose from the bed. This was not going to be easy. "Chloe," she said gently as she extricated the sponge from her hand, "what really happened?"

"Someone threw a rock through the window."

"Ooookay." Lois answered.

Chloe looked at her cousin with eyes full of sadness. "I'm not prepared to die yet Lois. I'm only eighteen."

Getting down on the floor next to Chloe, Lois wrapped her arms around her tightly. "Lex would never let anything happen to you."

"I'm not even sure what he wants." Chloe whispered as tears started to slip out of her eyes.

"He wants you." Lois's reply was eerily similar to what Lex had said the night before and caused a fresh swell of tears to pour down Chloe's cheeks.

………………

"Refill?" Lana asked perkily.

She shook her head. "No thanks." God this girl was getting on her nerves. Couldn't she understand the meaning of her last three 'nos?'

Lana walked away to chat with another customer and she breathed a sigh of relief. It was no wonder she hadn't been subjected to Lana Lang before now, the girl was a royal pain. It was easy to see why people would cut her out of their lives.

The bells over the door jingled and she looked up. Chloe walked in, looking as if someone had just informed her that the Daily Planet was closing, accompanied by none other than Lois Lane. Her curiosity peaked, she lowered her paper to get a better view. She had met Lois a few times, but never really gotten to know her like she wanted to. She'd always seemed pretty cool from the limited time they'd spent together.

The two girls sat down at a table across from her, and silently sipped their coffees. Both seemed lost in deep thought, Chloe reflective and Lois preparing. She watched them for awhile. There was more silence, a few attempts at small talk hugely out of place for the two cousins, and even some well-placed glaring.

'Well this is getting me nowhere.' she thought and headed to the bathroom. Spying really made you drink a lot. Then she remembered that she hadn't checked her watch today. A stupid mistake, she could mess up the entire timeline if she wasn't careful. Riffling through her bag, she continued walking out through the Talon and ended up smacking right into Chloe.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" Chloe asked her.

She nodded. It was as if she had lost the ability to speak. Chloe looked at her strangely and went on towards the bathroom. Of course she looked at her strangely, she had just done an excellent mime impression. 'Stupid.' She had been watching Chloe for almost a week now, but hadn't expected to actually get to speak to her. It was so overwhelming being that close to her. There were so many things she wanted to say, to ask. But really, what can you ask your mother before you're technically even born?

………………

Lex knew she was here. He had seen Lois's car outside. As soon as he stepped into the building he could sense her there. He had been up the entire night thinking about what had happened. He was so close, they were so close. Then that rock had come hurtling through the window. He wanted to kill whoever had thrown it.

Just then Chloe walked through the Talon to the table was Lois was nursing a latté. His heart ached at the sight of her. She looked so sad. Even her eyes seemed to have lost their sparkle. And it was all his fault. He never should have contemplated this nonsense. Chloe was much too young, and much too good, for him. So he needed to apologize.

"Ladies." he said as he reached their table.

"Lex." Lois greeted with a total lack of enthusiasm.

He looked at Chloe who was studying him intently. "You look like hell." she said bluntly.

He smirked. "Trust the writer to have such a delicate way of putting things." he said dryly.

"Well I'm sorry, but you've got circles under your eyes that could rival the nearest raccoon. Didn't you get any sleep?" she asked.

"I was a little preoccupied last night." He let that sink in, watched as she absorbed the meaning. Her face flushed an angry red and her eyes narrowed into slits. God, she was beautiful.

Lex looked up for a moment and caught a glimpse of something, or rather someone, that made his blood run cold. There was a girl standing a few feet away from them digging through her purse. She was petite, with long strawberry blonde hair and when she lifted her head he caught a glimpse of huge green eyes that were eerily familiar. But it wasn't her eyes or hair that drew his attention, it was everything else. It was like looking at his mother with deliberate mistakes.

"Do either of you know that girl?" he asked Chloe and Lois.

Lois shook her head. "My extensive history with her goes all the way back to five minutes ago when I bumped in to her outside the bathroom. Why?" Chloe added.

"She looks like…" Lex trailed off.

"Like?" Chloe pressed.

"Never mind."

………………

"Anything?" Lex asked his private investigator later that night.

"There's no trace of her sir." he answered.

Lex sighed and downed the remainder of his scotch. He had been looking for the mysterious girl in the Talon for three days. He had to know why she looked so much like his mother. It couldn't be a coincidence. And her eyes. Why were they so familiar?

"Any luck with your mystery woman?" a voice interrupted his thoughts.

He turned to see Chloe standing in the doorway to his office. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Clark. He told me you're on the hunt for the girl from the Talon and 'suggested' I help." she replied adding finger quotes to the word suggested.

Lex smirked at the obvious irritation in her voice. "You don't seem too happy about that."

Chloe's eyes narrowed. "Just what are you implying Lex?"

He crossed the distance to stand directly in front of her. He bent down slightly, placing his lips next to her ear. "Nothing."

Chloe took a deep, shuddery breath and pulled back. "Did you need help or not?"

Lex continued to smirk. "Your services are always appreciated Chloe." He waved his arm in the direction of the desk chair for her to sit down. She glared at him, pretty positive that his comment had nothing to do with her investigative skills.

He walked around the desk and told her everything he'd learned so far, nothing. "Why are you so desperate to find her?" Chloe asked suddenly.

Lex took a deep breath. "Can I trust you Chloe? To keep this private?"

"Of course." she said softly. Whatever this was, it was big.

"She looks like my mother Chloe." At her confused look he pressed on. "I don't mean just having the same hair color or something like that. Her features are so similar, it's almost like looking at my mom again."

Chloe didn't know what to say. "Almost?"

"Her hair and eyes are the wrong color. But everything else is identical. And her eyes, they're not right, but they're so familiar too. I know I've seen them before."

Chloe pondered his description for a moment. "Cousin maybe?"

Lex shook his head. "My mother was an only child. Her mother could never have another child after her and her father died when she was four."

"Well, then I'm out of ideas."

"Will you help me find her?" Lex asked. The pleading look in his eyes tugged at Chloe's heart and there was no way she could refuse him.

"Like you even have to ask."

………………..

A/N: Yeah, you guys were right. Looks like my subtlety is severely lacking. : )I'll try to have the next chapter up in a few days.