But when the sun that burns you…

Clark stood in front of the hallway mirror, struggling to tie the striped tie dangling limply around his neck as his mother's voice drifted up the stairs. " Clark, I made you some breakfast!"

"Okay Mom." He mumbled, giving up on the tie and throwing his hand up to run through his hair. The last thing he was concerned about was food; his mind was preoccupied with the events of the night before. As he dashed down the stairs he heard Chloe's voice replay in his head.

" Clark," Chloe said breathlessly, the light from the computer screen bathing them in an eerie glow. Clark hovered over her shoulder, watching as she clicked through file after file on the Flash drive. "This is amazing." Everything from pictures to phone records, patient information, lab results and even correspondence from Lex himself flashed before their eyes. It was everything Chloe would need to write her story.

"And just think," Clark said, placing his hands on her shoulder. "You wouldn't have any of this if you would have given up journalism for good."

Chloe cast a mockingly innocent look at him. "Me? Give up journalism? Never!" Chloe shook her head as she began clicking through the files again. "Well, I really wouldn't have gotten any of this had you given up your powers for good." Her eyes twinkled mischievously back at him in the monitor. "Promise me you never will—I kinda like you the way you are."

Clark felt a warm rush of pride, but played it causal. "Me? Give up my powers? Nah." He leaned in closer to her and spoke softly, squeezing her shoulders. "Only if you promise never to give up journalism—I kinda like the way you are too."

"Good morning." Martha greeted Clark cheerily, snapping him out of his reverie. She reached out to grab the ends of his tie and proceeded to make a proper knot.

"Thanks." He said sheepishly as he pinned his ID badge to his shirt. "Well, I gotta get going, I'm not really hungry." Martha made a move to protest but he hushed her with a quick peck on the cheek and moved towards the door. "See you later!"

Clark barged out the front door eager to get to The Planet and began to super sped down the drive. A split second later as his feet skimmed over the asphalt of the road, his ears picked up the sound of his badge hitting the ground. When he skidded to a sudden halt and turned around to retrieve it, he saw a familiar car slow to a stop a few feet behind him. The driver's side window rolled down slowly, revealing Lana's icy cold stare. She looked him up and down, her eyes fixed unblinkingly at the DP badge gripped in his hand as he pinned it back to his shirt. Her lips curled into a scowl that twitched slightly and Clark knew she had just witnessed him using his powers. That she had seen him streak past and stop on a dime—but he didn't care.

For a few tense moments they lingered, Clark in the street, Lana glaring at him from behind the wheel, before her eyes flicked ahead of her again and she slammed on the gas, screeching past him as he whirled away in the opposite direction towards Metropolis.

Sets with the night…

Chloe sat down on the plastic chair and smiled—maybe a bit too wide—as the bespectacled woman behind the desk gave her a once over, disapproving of her bedraggled appearance with subtle roll of the eyes. Indeed, Chloe noticed, as she checked out her reflection in the window, she was quite a mess. The rumpled hair and equally rumpled clothes a product of a late, sleepless night. Her ambition and six cups of coffee had kept her up all night, ready to be in Kahn's office first thing in the morning to present the information she had gathered from the Flash drive.

Chloe wrapped her fingers tightly around the precious package in her lap, fidgeting as she watched the hands of the clock slowly tick forward. She wasn't sure if it was the excess of caffeine, her excitement—or both—that had her jittery, but she could barely contain herself. She kept flashing back to a few hours ago, and the giddiness she felt when she realized all of her hard work had finally paid off—that she would be able to write the biggest story of her career.

"This is really going to happen." Chloe said as she finished looking through the last of the files. Even though she was looking straight at the evidence that would bring Lex down, a small part of her couldn't believe this was real.

"Yeah. Your first headline story in The Daily Planet." Clark smiled. "And I'm sure not to be the last."

Chloe swiveled around in her chair to face him and spoke, her voice firm. "I'm taking this to Kahn first thing in the morning."

Clark nodded as if he had expected as much.

"If this is a dream," She continued, her voice now dreamy. "—than just pinch me."

"You wouldn't want me to do that." Clark smiled devilishly. "I just might break your arm."

Chloe threw her head back and let out a laugh that echoed through the empty room.

Suddenly the bespectacled woman behind the large desk in front of her looked up from the phone pressed to her ear and summoned her over, snapping her out of her day dream with six words. "Miss Kahn will see you now."

It brings about a new day…

Chloe walked out into the hallway—or maybe she was floating, it was hard to tell—and boarded the elevator. When the doors shut in front of her she threw her hands up in the air and stomped her heels, doing a strange type of victory dance. She had went into Kahn's office, shown her the evidence for her story, and had been told to go full steam ahead—that it was front page, Pulitzer worthy material.

When the elevator doors dinged open she darted out and felt her shoulder collide into someone walking in. She looked up and felt her stomach and her good mood drop.

"Jimmy!" She smiled weakly, taking a step back in surprise. He refused to make eye contact with her, but made no effort to move, placing his hand on the elevator door to keep it from closing shut.

"Hey." He mumbled, his eyes searching the floor as if it was fascinating. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm okay I guess." She fibbed, knowing full well it was one of the best days of her life. A group of people had begun to form behind Jimmy, waiting to board the elevator, and she grabbed him by the arm, pulling him along as she walked out into the lobby. "Listen, I think we need to talk—"

"I know." He cut in, stopping to look her straight in the eyes. "I did a lot of thinking last night—I couldn't sleep for some reason." He quipped, laughing awkwardly. "And I needed to know something." He paused for a minute, his mouth hanging open while he tried to find the words. "Is this really what you want—are we really over?"

Chloe felt her stomach tie in knots, but before she could say a word the look in Jimmy's eyes revealed he already knew the answer.

"Well you can't blame a guy for trying." Once again his eyes drifted to the floor. "I guess I knew all along that this—us—wouldn't work."

"Oh?" Chloe asked, raising her eyebrows.

"We want different things.'

"I agree."

"But you can't blame a guy for trying." He said again as he turned his back to her and began to walk away. After a few steps he turned around. "It was wrong of me to want you change who you are." He blurted out, his voice full of regret. "I'm sorry." And with that he nodded goodbye and disappeared into the morning crowd.

A day where you get what you want…

As Clark hurried down the stairs, making a beeline for basement offices of The Daily Planet, he felt something jerk him backwards when he was mere inches from the door. He spun around and saw Chloe's face beaming up at him. "Hey—" He started, but before he could finish she threw her arms up in the air and squealed, her face scrunching up into a giant smile before she lurched forward and enveloped him into a giant hug. "Woah! Hey—good morning to you too." He joked, squeezing her close to him.

"Oh this is so unprofessional," Chloe giggled, her words muffled by his jacket. She lifted her head and gazed up at him. "But I don't care."

"I see that Kahn gave you the green light."

Chloe nodded, her smile growing wider. "What gave it away?"

"Oh, ya know, the little things." He teased.

"I can't believe this is happening. Well," She shrugged. "I mean, I knew it would happen someday. I do have faith in my investigative skills. But, still it's such a –"

"Chloe," Clark interrupted. He tightened his grip on her arms; they were still locked in an embrace, unaware of their co-workers casting them sideways glances. "You're babbling."

"Sorry." She said, stepping back out of his arms, making a move for the door. "Anyways, Kahn was very impressed with the amount of evidence we have against Lex—and she wants to see our rough draft on her desk by Friday."

Clark followed closely behind her as they navigated the newsroom towards her desk, his eyes narrowed in confusion. He was sure he had misheard. "What do you mean our rough draft?"

"Oh, "Chloe gave him a knowing glance over her shoulder, clearly enjoying his exasperated expression. "For our story."

"Our story?!?"

Chloe said nothing and simply smiled as she sat down at her desk, and Clark pulled up a seat next to her. He watched as she opened up her desk drawer and rifled through the contents slowly, leaving Clark's question hanging in the air, unanswered. "Chloe." He said after a moment. "What's going on?"

"Clark, you've helped me with this story since the beginning—so it's just as much your story as it is mine" Chloe sighed, pushing herself closer to him and lowering her head as she began to whisper. "And besides, with my journalistic skills and your talents we could be unstoppable." Clark raised and eyebrow and Chloe quickly continued. "Ya know, for the cause of truth and justice."

"So—we'd be, like, partners?"

Chloe nodded.

"But doesn't she care that I'm just a lowly mailroom guy?"

"I didn't exactly tell her that." She shrugged. "But—"

" CLARK!"

Suddenly their conversation was interrupted by the shrill barking of a stout, frumpy man waving a clipboard in their direction.

"Mr. Klein!" Clark yelped, almost falling out of the chair.

"What did I tell you about the hot blonde?!" He gave Chloe a once over, lingering a bit too long before he spoke again. "And the last time I checked you worked in the mailroom not the newsroom." His eyes narrowed sharply as he thrust a stack of manila envelopes into his arms. "Now get to work—deliver these to the tenth floor." He grunted and waddled off toward the exit.

Clark nodded. He took a quick glance around and zipped off, sending a stack of papers on her desk scattering. But just as soon as he was gone he was back, smiling and empty handed. "Well, let's get started before he comes back again." He smiled as he sat down next to her, huddled together in front of the computer screen, and began to work on their story.

And it's exactly what you need.

THE END!!!! THX FOR READING!!