The crowd of people on the street outside The Planet seemed bigger than ever and Chloe felt a strong urge to slug whoever stepped in her way. The strong spring breeze whipped against her and she wrapped her arms snugly around her trench coat. Glancing across the street towards the coffee shop, her destination, she heard a thwap and felt something wrap itself around her ankle. Looking down she shook free a puddle soaked copy of The Inquisitor, the same glaring headline now blurry and streaking across the page. "Well I guess this is someone's way of telling me that coffee can wait." She grumbled as she looked towards the heavens and turned in the opposite direction, towards the offices of The Inquisitor that lie a few blocks north. As she trudged up the street, her head down against the wind, she caught glimpses of passerby's with the rival paper in hand, engrossed in the rippling pages, and heard snippets of conversations regarding the exact subject. All of this fueled her displeasure, egging her on to walk faster until she was panting, standing breathless outside the revolving doors of The Inquisitor building.

"What are you going to do Chloe?" She chided herself as she glared at the buildings white, stony façade. "Are you just going to barge in there and scream at Lois and make a scene?" She felt a wave of pure anxiety come over her and continued walking up the street. Spying a hotdog vendor's cart on the corner she made a dash towards it. Stress was dictating that the only way she could decide how to handle this delicate situation was over the biggest, greasiest kosher hotdog she could eat. As she slipped the man her money, she heard a familiar voice ring out from behind her.

"Chloe? What are you doing uptown?"

Chloe spun around as the hotdog met her mouth and began to cough violently. Lois reached over and slapped her hard on the back. "Woah, you okay there?" Chloe swallowed hard and threw the remaining bits into the trash. "Good idea there, I wouldn't advise eating from these street vendors. You never know, ya know? So what's going on?" The vendor shot them both an angered look and Chloe, without a word, charged forward leaving Lois in her wake.

"Chloe?" Lois called, trailing behind her. "What the hell is going on? Did you come up here to see me or something? What's wrong?"

Chloe stopped and spun around to face her. "I did come here to see you, but if this is how you're going to play it, I'd rather not stick around. I mean, is this what you're going to do? Feign complete and utter ignorance of the situation? Of what you did?"

"What I did? What did I do?"

"I'll tell you what you did. You broke into my files and stole everything and printed it under your name!"

A look of recognition swept across Lois face and her gaze grew cold. "Oh, you mean that."

"That? Yes, that Lois. And by that, I mean the story of my life. The story that I worked on for years. The one I put my life and reputation on the line for by writing! That was my story Lois and you know it. How could you do this to me?"

Lois crossed her arms in an attempt at defiance, but her eyes looked away and the corners of her mouth looked strained. "Well an eye for an eye is what some people say."

"What?"

"You stole a story of mine, so I stole a story of yours. Now we're even."

Chloe felt her cheeks burn and felt her anger boiling inside her. "That's exactly what I thought but hoped wasn't true. This is about The Green Arrow isn't it?"

"Bandit—Green Arrow Bandit. The name I named him. He was my story of a lifetime Chloe and you took that away from me!"

Chloe edged forward, her eyes blazing. "Lois, when The Green Arrow came to me, wanting to grant me The Daily Planet exclusive I asked you if it would be alright and you said you were fine with it. Then I asked you again and made it clear that if you didn't want me to write it that I wouldn't. But you said all that mattered was that the truth was out there, but all the time you weren't even telling me the truth. I guess I know the reason for your snippy behavior the past few days."

"Would it have even mattered Chloe?" Lois retorted bitterly. "I know how passionate you get about a good story."

"Lois I would never let a story jeopardize our relationship. I'm surprised you think so little of me." The hurt was evident in Chloe's words and Lois flinched as she heard them.

"Let's face it Chloe, you're the better journalist, you've always been. And I know all this time you've been laughing at me, behind my back, that I am working for a tabloid. I know you think the work I do is crap."

"You're putting words into my mouth again."

"And for once I wanted to have a story that meant something. Something that people would read and respect."

"Even if that meant stealing one?"

Lois shrugged her shoulders casually. "Well, if it was such an important story to you then why didn't you go to Kahn with it? Why did you just let it sit in your computer gathering dust?"

"I sat on it because I wanted the story of my life to be perfect. But that's not even the point, and if you can't even see that what you did was wrong, unethical and inexcusable than I don't know what else I have to say to you." Chloe stalked off; she felt Lois' presence behind her and she paused to face her once more. "You know what Lois, since you want to be a journalist—a real one—then here's your next big headline. Lois Lane steals beloved cousin's story. They never speak again." Lois' mouth hung open in an uncharacteristic silence, unable to make any reply and Chloe turned around. "I won't take up any more of your precious time, you're famous now, there must be millions of people anxious to talk to you. Find out how you gathered all that incriminating evidence against Lex? Good luck with that!" She yelled over her shoulder and disappeared into the crowd.