Clark Kent is drowning in irony. Far too often he had relied on Chloe to dig deep into the unknown and extract the pieces of information he needed to solve the puzzle. Now, she was the puzzle, and he didn't feel as if any of the pieces he had fit together.

Her father seemed like he not only didn't know where his daughter was, but also as if he may not even care. Then, there is the enigmatic Jimmy.

As if Chloe had whispered a breath of inspiration into his ear, he suddenly realizes that he's been asking the wrong questions to the wrong people. If he couldn't talk to Chloe, he would have to go to the next best thing.

Pawing at his shirt, reaching into his breast pocket for his cell phone, he finds only the small paper strewn from Chloe's purse. Spotting a phone booth across the street, he makes for it, clutching the paper as he digs a pair of quarters from his pocket. His heart pounding loud enough he's sure anyone can hear, he shoves his last two quarters into the slot, dialing the number oddly burned in his memory.

Certain that this is his last idea, his last hope at getting his Chloe back, he holds his breath and prays that this is the right question to ask. Every long ring makes him fidget nervously, his fears being taken out on the scrap of paper from Chloe's purse he still holds in his hand.

"Hello," Lois answers after what seems like an eternity.

"Lois?" he responds, nervously. "It's Clark. Clark Kent."

"I know who Clark is. I hope that there aren't two sets of parents in the world cruel enough to shackle their kid with such a retro name," Lois always has a way of making Clark feel valuable.

"I have to ask you a question," Clark begins, swallowing down his fears. "It's about Chloe."

"I'm listening," Lois prompts him after a silence.

"Who's Jimmy?" Clark finally asks.

"That's something you need to bring up with her," Lois doesn't pause a second to answer.

"I can't find her. She's gone. She's disappeared. She didn't get The Torch out this morning. She didn't go to class. Her dad has no idea where she is. I have to find her."

"That's odd. She'd get that newspaper out if she were in a coma," Lois begins to get worried herself.

"The only lead I have is this Jimmy," Clark pleads Lois for answers.

"Why do you think he's a lead?" Lois asks, not ready to betray her cousin's trust.

"Because, it's the only thing in her files that she's kept from me," Clark answers her.

"Not everything in her life is on display for the great Clark Kent," Lois scolds him. "If you're thinking he's some sort of meteor freak that's done something with her that you can go rescue her from, then you're wrong. Chloe has a life of her own, and if you don't realize that you must be more selfish than I thought."

Barely allowing him a moment to digest her insult, she continues.

"If she needed to take a day off to see Jimmy or anybody else, then there's nothing you can do about it," Lois says, speaking up for the cousin who has been treated wrongly long enough.

"There has to be something I can do," Clark says, feeling utterly defeated.

"Oh give me a break, you can't swoop in and save her all the time you know. Chloe is a big girl, and she can take care of herself."

Lois's words would make a lot of sense if the fact wasn't looming that Chloe didn't abandon The Torch. Clark could maybe accept the fact that Chloe has escaped to spend the day with the mysterious Jimmy if he didn't feel deep down in his heart something else is wrong. Whatever happened with Gabe drove Chloe somewhere, and the pounding in his chest won't cease until he finds out where.

"Do you think she would go see Jimmy?" Clark asks, his mind slowing beginning to fear who in fact Jimmy could be in Chloe's life.

"I highly doubt she would waste her time driving to Metropolis to see him after what he did to her," Lois scoffs at the notion.

Clark feels heat well up within him. If this Jimmy has done anything to hurt Chloe...

"What did he do to her?" Clark asks through gritted teeth.

"Look, if you really think that this might help, then get a pencil ready and I'll tell you where you can find him," Lois says. "But, I won't be held responsible for what Chloe does to you if she finds out you were digging into her secrets."

Mad with worry, Clark digs a pencil out of his pocket, eager for any information that will keep him from being idle. He unwraps the scrap of paper in his hand to write on.

"I'm ready," Clark's pencil is poised to scribble the information Lois is ready to give.

But, he doesn't. Written on the scrap of paper is an address. Underneath that are three letters written with shaky hands, punctuated by a tear stain: 'Mom.'

"Lois," Clark announces, "I know where she is."

He hangs up, the force of which cracks the phone's cradle. His large boots slam to the pavement outside of the phone booth, his head craned up to the horizon which he scans around to get his bearings.

He straightens his red jacket, and then speeds off, never pushing his speed as hard as he is right now.

X x X x X x

Chloe holds onto the side of her car with one hand, hoping that it's enough to steady her quivering knees. Her cheeks stained with the tracks of her tears, she stands in front of a very plain, unassuming building, the small shrubbery lining the path a stark contrast to the somber gray concrete of the asylum. Unable to bear reading the words on the sign, fearing for her own future, and hating her mother's past, she tries hard to square her shoulders, needing to be the strong woman she likes people to see.

Stepping away from her car, driving her legs with all of her determination to make the dozen steps to the front of the building, she stops dead in her tracks, the sight of a short man in a long white coat leaving the building reminding her just where she is about to go.

The reality of the situation grabs hold and promises to never let go, whispering ever so evilly how truly alone she is. Her head spins, and her legs let go of the delusion they could help her stand erect. Feeling suddenly as though the world has gone dark, she falls backwards towards the cold black asphalt below.

Her eyes blurry with the world spinning around her, her head tilts to the side with white and black swirling through her vision, again and again they surround her, until they seem to mix into a bright flash of red.

Inches before she hits the ground, Clark is there to catch her.

Instinctively she rolls into his arms, feeling safe.

"Chloe," Clark begins, unsure what to say.

"Clark?" Chloe stares up into his worried eyes. "You're here."

He pulls her into his chest, letting the tears soak into his shirt.

"I'll always be here, Chloe."

Chloe grips his shirt tightly, as if she had fallen a million miles into his arms.

"I want to go home, Clark. Take me home."

X x X x X x

The drive from Metropolis is proving to be a quiet one, the afternoon sun having faded behind the clouds hanging over the city. Clark's mind races with a thousand questions, a thousand worries about the girl resting against his shoulder. Steering her car back towards home, he hopes he can find all the answers, even the ones plaguing his own heart.

Looking down at the daisy gracing the small bud vase near the steering wheel, Clark can't help but remember what the petals of fate told him about Chloe.

"I love her," he thinks, letting his eyes move to her peacefully sleeping lids.

"I love you," he whispers upon her sleeping ears, letting his head rest briefly against hers.

Without realizing he allows a slight smile to brush across his face, warming his cheeks despite the somber day. Adjusting the rearview to see for himself the light in his eyes, he catches a glimpse of red plastic peering over the backseat from the hatch back.

His eyes widen with the realization that it was Chloe who had taken the tanks from the barn. Her sadness brought her to him, lead her to the arms she was destined to hold, yet her desperation, the part of her heart it seems may never be whole, lead her away from home, seeking the person Clark could never replace.

Letting his hand glide against the soft cheek of his sleeping friend, tenderly avoiding the bruise marring her perfect complexion, his heart sinks, knowing although he had found her, it was too late to spare her of her pain. Despite all of his powers, he couldn't save her from her past.