---- Chapter 1: Friends and Family
Rubbing her eyes for a second, Lois scooted forward in her desk chair and turned a page over onto a pile of others she'd already read before looking at the next one she'd revealed. Getting these pages read might very well be the break that she and Clark needed to get the story finished, but that didn't make them any less dull. It seemed like not finding what she wanted might actually be making them more boring than they actually were.
Truth be told, she found it odd to be working without Jacob sitting in his carrier next to her. It had been that way daily for five months now, and had been happening a couple times a week for the three weeks before that. At first it had been difficult to try and focus on work while so engrossed in Jacob, but not having him there was proving as distracting as having him there had been. Clark would probably agree with her, but was unavailable for comment while overseas helping people.
Underlining a name, she flipped the page and started running down the next one, underlining the same company name. It had been showing up throughout the investigation and now it was becoming overwhelmingly obvious they weren't the best of people. She grabbed her phone and dialed Austin Sanders, a source she'd found handy in this type of situation.
"Sanders here."
"Austin, Lois Lane. Need some info on a company, thought you might know it."
"Lay it on me."
"Castle Garden Corp." She heard him laugh and leaned back in her chair. "Something funny?"
"No, it's just that I've had some dealings with them and you're not going to like what you hear. See, they're into some real bad stuff, including but not limited to toxic dumping in the river. It's experimental stuff, though, so that's why you haven't heard an environmental report on it. Nobody knows what to look for."
"And you're just telling me this NOW? We talked four days ago!"
"I have a strong don't ask, don't tell policy, not including the fact that I just told you without you asking. Other than this, I don't give information until somebody asks, plus I tend to drink bottled water."
There was a click and Lois scowled at her phone for a second before putting back down. Toxic dumping in the river was huge, and way bigger than what she'd had on them. Looking back down at the papers she'd been going through, she shuffled them back together, not caring about order, then shoved them into her desk. After looking up the address for Castle Garden, she grabbed her purse and headed towards the elevator.
"Lois! Where are you going?"
"Castle Garden headquarters, Jimmy."
"Want some company?"
"Nope, this shouldn't be any big deal. Tell Clark for me when he gets back, ok?" She jumped into the elevator and smiled at him as the doors closed.
Landing in an alley, Clark changed into his suit, straightening his tie as he walked out and onto the sidewalk. He slouched a little as he walked into the Daily Planet building, excusing himself as he bumped into a guy walking out of the elevator. The ride up was quiet and when he got to his floor he exited with most of the other people. Pushing his glasses up, he walked to his desk to find Lois not at hers, with no mess on top of it to indicate she'd just walked somewhere else in the office. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed her number.
"You've reached the voicemail of Lois Lane Kent. Leave me a message and I'll call you back ASAP, or at least when I have a chance."
Sighing, he stuffed his phone back into his pocket and walked to Perry's office, knocking on the door.
"Come in."
Clark opened the door and smiled, leaning on a chair as he got near Perry's desk. "I know it's unlikely, but you haven't happened to have heard where Lois took off to, have you?"
Perry shook his head. "Sorry, son, but I was looking for her a few minutes ago and couldn't find her either. No answer on her cell?"
"No, but we both know that's not always unusual in a situation like this. I'll let you know if I hear anything."
Clark walked back out to his desk and sat down, frowning as he did so. He'd never liked her running off on her own, but he'd done his best to get used to it. If he wasn't there, she wasn't going to wait for him. That seemed to be something that would never change, no matter how long they were partners. Nowadays she was more careful than she'd once been, which he sometimes thought was like saying fire was colder than it had once been.
He got up again and walked around to Lois's desk, opening up the drawer where she kept her active investigation stuff and pulled out the papers he figured he'd find. Walking around to his own desk again, he sat down and started flipping through the papers, giving each a quick glance as is went by. Most of it was pretty standard stuff, with no real big outliers in the info. She'd been underlining things on the first few pages, but nothing that screamed 'I went here!'
He got on his computer and found their site, reading the text but not getting much out of it. They were obviously involved in everything, but would Lois have rushed off somewhere because she'd found something on them? It seemed to be the most likely explanation, but where she could have gone would be the mystery. They had warehouses all over the city, not to mention their corporate headquarters.
Pulling his phone out again, he tried Lois once more and got her voicemail. "Hey Lo, it's me. Just curious where you went. I always like to know these things before you end up yelling for help. Let me know what's going on when you get this."
Sighing, he tossed the phone on the desk. He tried not to worry about her. The only thing he achieved through his worry was taking a year or two off the very, very long life in store for him. The problem was her track record for things going poorly and her needing help, despite her saying she could always rescue herself, pointed him in the direction of worry.
Getting up, he walked over and poured himself a cup of coffee. This was one of those things he hadn't really picked up until he'd spent a lot of time with Lois. She'd want coffee, ask him if he wanted any and he'd say yes because he liked saying yes to her. Now he drank almost as much of the stuff as she did, even when she wasn't around. It didn't even give him a boost, but became a habit that was difficult to kick. Not that he wanted or needed to, but he'd tried once and found himself wondering why he'd bothered as he'd picked it up again.
Clark was on his way back to his desk when he saw Jimmy making his way through the office. He changed direction and made his way over to the photographer. "Jimmy, hey. You haven't seen Lois, have you?"
"Yeah, C.K. She left earlier and said to tell you she was going to Castle Garden headquarters."
"How long ago was this?"
He looked at his watch and frowned. "Uh, Forty-five minutes, maybe? Rough guess, at best."
"That's alright, Jimmy. Will you go tell Perry where she is and that I'm headed after her?"
"Yeah, sure."
Clark nodded and put his coffee down as he walked to the elevator. It never hurt to have backup, so maybe she wouldn't be too annoyed this time. If she started something alone, she liked to finish it all by herself.
Lois half covered her face and tried to look as if she were reading a piece of paper, waiting for people to pass as she stood there. It had taken some doing to get in, but it had finally happened. Searching places was much less difficult at night, but she didn't get as many chances to snoop at night these days, and she had plans tonight. She looked back as the small group walked around a corner and she started walking again, heading towards the office they had come from.
Testing the door, she found that it was locked. She pulled out her lock picking tools and started working on the door. Dinner should be fun, hopefully. Jacob was staying with Martha for the night, and if Pete and Lana left the kids with Mrs. Ross they might have the most peaceful get together they'd had in years. Technically they'd started the things about a year and a half ago, but that could still qualify as years. The past year and a half certainly felt like it had been years.
First and foremost had been Jacob. How had she had a son? Not that she'd wanted a girl, but just having a child in general was almost some surreal experience she couldn't believe she was taking part in. Eight months in and she was still wrapping her head around parenthood, though she liked to think that she had a pretty good idea of how it worked now. It wasn't nearly as overwhelming as it had been that first month. But she loved that kid like crazy. Everything she'd thought about motherhood had been wrong, but she really loved it.
The lock on the door finally clicked and she opened it slowly, slipping inside and easing it closed quietly behind her. She pocketed her tools and headed towards the desk and filing cabinets she saw at the other end of the office. She started going through the desk drawers, rifling through papers as she tried to find anything that might indicate dumping in the river.
Hopefully Chloe would have a good time tonight. After initially just ignoring the world for a while after everything that had happened, Lois had thought Chloe would recover and be her old self again when she'd started flying around the country for interviews at various papers. She'd have been sad to lose seeing her everyday, of course, but if she'd have gotten a job someplace like Gotham, New York or even Star City it wouldn't be a stretch that she still could have seen her with a bit of frequency. With Clark, anywhere in the world wasn't out of the question, but with Jacob she'd have to plan things a little more.
After all the failed interviews, though, Chloe had withdrawn again, this time more so than she had the first time around. It had been like she'd been checking to see if the world didn't suck anymore, and to prove that it still did had slapped her in the face and kicked her for good measure.
Grumbling, Lois moved away from the desk and back to the filing cabinets, opening up a drawer and checking files. If only Chloe had something, anything that she could use to feel better about herself. Something even halfway decent happening in Chloe's life would be the best news Lois had heard since she'd been told Jacob was healthy right after he was born. The apartment she was living in now... Lois shuddered thinking about it. It was a hole at best, and another thing she felt her cousin shouldn't have to endure.
The only reason she'd started pushing Chloe to date was so she might find a guy and find some comfort. It had been three months since the jackass had decided that he couldn't live with his guilty conscience anymore. Lois knew that it was probably a little early to try to push Chloe into it, but if she got lucky and found one of those rare good guys Clark made her believe still existed, well, maybe it would make her more willing to be herself again.
Shutting the last of the filing cabinet drawers, she planted her hands on her hips and looked up at the ceiling, exhaling loudly. She hated finding nothing. It was extremely annoying to go to the effort of breaking into an office and not finding anything. It just wasn't right, really. She walked back over to the desk and looked at it again. She ran through the papers on top of the desk, not finding anything. Pulling her hand back, she bumped a little carving thing and moved to catch it before it fell over, but it stopped, sitting at an angle that shouldn't be possible.
Suddenly a little drawer popped open next to her feet, and she looked down at it, finding some more papers. Grinning, she pulled them out and closed the drawer again. She sat down and started going through them, her grin widening with each piece of paper she read. Now this was what she liked to find. It wasn't exactly labeled 'How We Dump In The River' but it could have been. She pushed the little drawer closed with her foot as she finished reading and propped the carving back up like it should be.
Getting up, she walked towards the door. She stopped as it started to open then rushed back behind it as it was fully open. Holding her breath, she watched as the door closed and found herself looking at Clark. "Smallville?"
He turned back around and looked at her. "Lois! I thought I saw you up here, but when I walked in and didn't see you I was worried."
"You found me, now lets get out of here."
"What did you find?"
Lois motioned him to follow her as she opened the door and looked into the hallway, making sure nobody was there. "What we need to put these idiots behind bars. Come on, we need to get to the docks."
She walked out into the hallway and heard Clark follow her. He caught up with her a second later as they headed to the elevator. "Docks? Why do we need to go there?"
"Illegal toxic dumping. I know where to find them doing it. Hand me your phone, will you?"
"Something wrong with yours?"
"Yeah, dead battery." She took his from him and smiled at him. "How did your save go earlier?"
"Good. Everything turned out alright."
"Good, I'm glad." She skimmed through his numbers until she got to the one she wanted. She waited impatiently as the phone rang, and they walked out of the elevator as there was an answer.
"Jimmy Olsen's desk."
"Jimmy, it's Lois. Grab a camera and meet Clark and I at the docks in twenty minutes. The usual place."
"You got it, Lois."
She hung up and handed the phone back to Clark as they walked out of the building. She shielded her eyes against some reflected sunlight as they walked to the car, Lois slipping into the driver's seat as they got there. After handing Clark the papers she'd found, Lois got the air conditioning turned on and got them headed towards the docks before Clark spoke.
"These are pretty damning. Where'd you find them?"
"There was a secret drawer I found as part of the guy's desk. Cliché, but true. I wish I could say I found it on purpose, but I bumped a little carving thing that opened it up. Found the papers in there, and after that I found you." She looked over at him and smiled. "We didn't really have time for a proper hello, what with the rushing out of the building. Hi."
He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "Hello. I was wondering where you had gone until I talked to Jimmy. Was worried that you might have gotten yourself into trouble."
"Nah, too much going on this evening to get myself in trouble."
"Looking forward to dinner tonight?"
"I always look forward to these things, Smallville," Lois said as she took a left turn. "I really enjoy getting everybody together and having an evening where I don't find anybody in the room annoying. That tends to happen when we're a lot of other places. Plus, I'm hoping Chloe enjoys tonight more than she has the last couple of these."
"She hasn't enjoyed the last two?"
Lois glanced at him, curious if he actually meant that. When she saw the real confusion about it on his face, she figured he did. "She looked miserable the last couple times we all got together, Clark. She'd talk every now and again, but mostly she would just sit there looking morose. I'm hoping tonight is different."
Clark was quiet a few minutes before speaking again. "Hopefully things will turn around for her soon so that she'll be able to enjoy life more."
"That's why I'm gently nudging her to date, Smallville." She saw him frown a little and decided to elaborate on her point. "Look, she really has nothing going for her life right now. She can't do what she loves because Lex screwed her and she's so tight on money now that she lives in an awful apartment. If she could at least get out in the world again and happen upon a nice guy, maybe she'll feel a little better about things."
"Am I actually hearing you, of all people, say that a guy will cure her ails?"
"What? No, what I'm saying is that since nothing else is going right for her, maybe she could find something in her personal life that brightens things up. What I'm not saying is that her life will be good again if she finds a guy."
She frowned as she parked the car and saw him smiling. Getting out, she spotted Jimmy a little ways off and led the way over to him. "Hey. Ready to get some pictures?"
"Always am. What are we looking for?"
"There are a few warehouses that Castle Garden is using for toxic dumping into the river. We're going to get the pictures." Taking the papers from Clark, she looked through them a minute before pointing out the direction of the warehouses. "They shouldn't be too far, so let's go ahead on foot."
A little while later Lois was once again picking the lock on a door, this time to a warehouse. This one was much simpler and they were inside with ease. They made their way over to where the warehouse bordered the river and found toxic barrels sitting right next to the water. Jimmy took pictures as Lois went and looked in the water. "Jimmy, over here." She pointed out some barrels in the water and he took more pictures.
"Well, I think this has been a successful day. We start out going after them in middling violations and end up getting them for dumping toxic waste in the river."
They made their way out of the warehouse and back to their respective vehicles. An hour later they were all walking into Perry's office, Jimmy having printed out the pictures he'd taken and Lois having written the story, some of it getting done on her laptop on the drive back to the Planet.
As they filed in to Perry's office, he pulled the stub of a cigar out of his mouth and put it in an ashtray with an unfinished cigar that was already there. Looking back at him, she laid the story on his desk as Jimmy put his pictures next to it. Perry looked at each before looking up. "How did you find this?"
"Little luck here and there, Perry."
"Well, however you did it, good work. It'll be in tomorrow's morning edition, front and center."
Lois grinned at Clark and they walked out of the office, heading back to their desks. They said bye to Jimmy when he left to go home for the night and sat down.
"When do you want to leave to pick up Chloe?"
Clark shrugged. "We can go in a little while since that's when she'll probably be expecting us, or you can call her and tell her we're coming now."
"Hey guys!"
Lois turned around and spotted the aforementioned cousin walking towards them. "Chloe? I thought we were picking you up."
"You were, but my apartment sucks, so I came here instead. Was here earlier, actually, but you were not. Smoked a cigar with Perry and then I went and wet my whistle, so to speak. Better afternoon than I usually have." She smiled at her, but Lois frowned.
"How much did you have to drink?"
"I spread four shots out over about half an hour. Well, I had two pretty quickly and the other two spread out. I'm not drunk, if you're asking, just a little buzzed. Now, instead of being a big downer at the shindig tonight, I'll be happy as a clam! At least until I eat something."
"You didn't really need to do that, Chloe. You're not a big downer when we get together."
"No? Maybe it's just me then, because every time somebody asks me how my life is going I feel like pure shit. Instead of being able to enjoy the time I have with my friends I end up feeling sorry for myself all night. Instead of having three seconds of happiness I feel the eyes of everybody else on me, pitying poor Chloe and her asstastic life. I'm sick of pity being the only thing people have for me besides sadness."
Lois sighed and looked at Chloe, feeling sad that her cousin had been reduced to this and there wasn't anything she could do to fix it. Suddenly Chloe pointed at her.
"See! Right now, you've got that look of 'God, I wish I could help her feel better about things' that I've seen you have so many times through the years." She turned and looked at Clark, shaking a finger at him. "You're not saying anything, but I recognize your look, too. It's your 'I want to help by listening' look. Don't worry Clark, I've bent your ears with my problems so many times over the years that I owe them some time off."
"My ears are strong, Chloe. They don't need any time off, not from you if you need to talk about things."
"I appreciate the sentiment, but there will be no talking tonight. Well, not until we see everybody else, anyway. For now, I'll sit in silence and wait for you guys to finish up what you're doing." Chloe moved over and fell back into a chair, eyes widening in surprise as it rolled backwards a little. When it stopped, she giggled and used her legs to pull herself forward back towards Lois and Clark. Lois figured she was definitely a little beyond buzzed. "So, what were you guys working on today?"
Lois heard Clark launch into an explanation but kept her eyes on Chloe. What the hell had happened to cause her to be drunk already? Lois wouldn't have been surprised if she'd have done a lot of drinking at the get together, but being drunk before that was certainly not something she would have thought would happen.
Soon they'd gone down and were in the car, heading out to the house. She looked back at Chloe for a second then back at the road. She spoke as quietly as she could, barely moving her lips. "Clark, if you can hear me, nod slowly."
When he did, she continued. "I'm really worried about her. Showing up, having been out drinking already? I didn't even know that she liked to smoke cigars outside of the odd situation, like when she got promoted up to the bullpen or when she and I had one at our wedding. It's getting to be that I don't know what she's going to do next, and I hate that. I know that I can't control her, but I'm afraid she's losing herself in quick fixes that don't help.
"We need to try and include her in things tonight, if we can. We can't choose every topic to talk about, but let's try and at least find things that will keep her conversing with us. Last time she really didn't talk about much because it was all baby and couple centric."
Lois glanced in the rearview mirror, saw Chloe looking at her and stopped talking, instead focusing on the road. The drive passed quickly and they were soon home. Lois unlocked the door and walked inside, cracking her neck as she dropped her purse onto a small table.
"So, what can I help with?"
Clark answered her. "Well, we decided to grill cheeseburgers, so I guess you can make the salad and keep Lois away from what we're eating."
"Hey, I'm learning how to cook, Smallville. Those lessons at the community college I took while I was pregnant will pay off, especially when I get into them again and really apply myself." Lois looked over at Chloe. "I kept getting distracted by Jacob kicking or a story. Got some great thinking done during that class, but none of it really helped my cooking."
"Yeah, I've noticed that. I'm sure you'll conquer it, though. Nothing much in this world of ours whips Lois Lane Kent for long and gets away with it."
Lois shot Chloe a quick smile before walking off and heading upstairs to the bedroom. She unbuttoned her shirt slowly, thinking about how much she'd tried to do while she'd been pregnant. She'd pretty much done the exact opposite of all those people that told her she was allowed to take it easy.
Until the last month of it she'd taken on as many tasks as she ever had, if not more. Along with working they'd moved into the house, she'd taken cooking lessons and attended a lamaze class, not to mention the half dozen books she'd read about pregnancy and early childhood. Hell, she probably would have worked right up until the day she had Jacob if Clark hadn't asked her to slow down.
In hindsight it might have been advantageous to save up a little energy for when Jacob had been born, but when people told her to take it easy it always made her want to work harder. That hadn't ever been something she'd even thought about much until she'd realized the habit she'd gotten into. By that point she was used to it, though, and it was just the way things were. No point in taking the time to change it.
Lois pulled on a green t-shirt and tossed her shoes off her feet and in the general direction of the closet, slipping out of her suit pants and pulling on some shorts as she heard a knock on the door. She walked over to the mirror and made sure she didn't look ridiculous before taking a quick restroom break and heading downstairs. She heard Chloe talking to Pete and Lana at the door as she headed back through the house and out into the backyard, where she found Clark, Lucy and Jimmy all standing around.
Lucy saw her first and wrapped her up in a quick hug. Lois gave her little sister the once over before saying anything. "So, how are you feeling?"
"Pretty good."
"Really?"
Lucy grinned mischievously. "Really."
Lois frowned and rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding me? It still hasn't hit you?"
"It still hasn't hit me."
She stopped her hands as they tried to reach for Lucy's neck, tucking them safely at her side. Lucy rolled her eyes and Lois sighed. "After all the morning sickness I went through, what with barely seeing the world outside of various bathrooms for six weeks or so, that may be my reaction to all women that don't suffer morning sickness." She glanced over at the back door when she saw Chloe come through and saw Lana and Pete follow her. "Hey guys! No kids tonight?"
"Nope," Pete said. "Mom's watching 'em for us and we're flying solo for the first time in..." He looked at Lana. "What? A month?"
"Something like that. I love my boys, but I think a night away from them will keep that love alive and well."
"Is it really that bad?" Lucy asked. "What do you guys think Jimmy and I should expect?"
Lois zoned in on the conversation for a moment, letting herself get lost in remembering what Jacob had been like when he was at his tiniest. Wiggly had been an apt description of him, along with night owl. Nights had been his favorite time of day pretty much from the time he'd been born, and he'd certainly taken to being awake every time it got dark.
"I'm getting drinks. Who wants one?"
Lois snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at Chloe. She looked at everybody else for a second before looking back at her blonde cousin, who apparently wanted an excuse to do something. Not a good start. Clark spoke first. "Uh, I guess I'll take a beer unless somebody wants to open some wine."
After Chloe brought back the drinks the time passed quickly and soon they had all moved into the living room to eat cheeseburgers. She took her time eating, and the only distraction from the food and conversation was when Chloe left to go cook more burgers. Lois thought that she would come back inside while they cooked and go out to flip them, but she didn't come back until she got some cheese then brought the burgers in, finding that nobody else wanted one.
She joined them in the living room after that, and Lois kept up with the conversation while trying to keep an eye on Chloe. Early on she was caught staring and smiled at her cousin before jumping in on the conversation again. Unfortunately, the blonde never seemed to get into anything they were talking about, and even more unfortunately they seemed to stick on kids and couples again.
When she wasn't thinking about Chloe, though, the night was a lot of fun. It was always good to get everybody together and talk about life. God, she wished Chloe hadn't had to have gone through everything and could have just been a part of this like everybody else.
"Guys, this was... well, it was what it was. I'm going to call a cab and head home." Lois looked up at the standing Chloe but was beaten to saying anything by Clark.
"Are you sure, Chloe? I'm more than happy to give you a ride."
"Thanks, Clark, but I'll be fine. Bye, everybody."
Silence enveloped the room as Chloe walked out and Lois sighed, letting her head fall so her chin was resting against her chest for a second. When she looked up again she got up and headed outside after Chloe. She found her sitting on the curb and sat down next to her.
"How ya doing, Chlo?"
"I'm fine, Lois."
"You were buzzed at five thirty in the afternoon and didn't say five words tonight, at least not five that weren't involved with getting drinks or food."
"I didn't have anything to say."
Lois scoffed. "I seriously doubt that."
"I got turned down for another job this afternoon, so the drinks were just a consolation prize." Chloe paused for a second, then laughed quietly. "And of course, tomorrow was supposed to be my wedding. Can't believe I'd almost forgotten that tidbit."
Lois ran a hand through her hair. She'd forgotten that little detail, too, after telling herself that she wouldn't so she'd be able to distract Chloe. "Chloe..."
"As far as tonight... I don't even know why I came. I knew what was going to happen because I've been to these things for two years now, ever since we made it a regular occurrence, but I came anyway."
Had it been two years? Lois could have sworn it was only a year and a half, but now wasn't the time to argue it. "What are you talking about?"
Chloe looked over at Lois and smiled sadly. "This is a couples night, Lois. The fact that the couples are made of our friends and family is nice, but that doesn't change what it is. Before, when I was actually part of a couple, I could enjoy it without realizing what it was, but to be single and go to it... perspective is everything."
Lois looked away, controlling her features as best she could. She'd never bothered to think about what the night could be thought of because she'd never had to. She should have seen it, and she should have found a better way to include Chloe than just torture her with a night like this. She could only think of one thing to say, and while it was probably stupid, it went along with what she'd been saying before this.
"You could always date, Chloe. That might help."
Chloe let her head drop and chuckled. "Lois, I've loved three men in my life. The first was Clark, and yeah, he was a high school and slightly beyond crush, but I was never what he wanted. It happens, ya know? Then there was Jimmy. I loved him, he loved me. I felt I had to hold a little back in that relationship, and that part was my fault, but I saw him looking at Kara as soon as he met her. Hell, this was before I even pulled away a bit, or near the same time, and still felt like I was in it as much as I could be, and it wasn't enough.
"And then there was Mark. A man I loved like no other, really. I had never opened myself up to a guy like I did Mark because I saw what you had with Clark, what everybody around me seemed to have, and I wondered why I didn't have it. I figured that part had to be it, because I'm not good at it and my relationships didn't last. So I really opened up, and I was with him for two and a half years. It was amazing. And then that night came. He never loved me. He wanted to, but it wouldn't happen.
"I've now become unlovable to guys. How did I need that? I already had enough problems with men because I was never the hottest one in a room, or the most interesting or even the go get 'em type that could be aggressive. I never stood out because I was in the midst of excellence, always with my friends and family.
"I thought I had gotten lucky, though, because I had found somebody I thought loved me for me. In reality, I had found somebody that thought I was good for him but never loved me, and couldn't no matter how often he said he did. Then he found somebody else and didn't tell me for eight months. Love at first sight, of all things!"
Chloe rested her face in her hands for a moment, then lifted her head and wiped away a tear. Lois wanted to pull her into a hug and just wish the pain away, but unfortunately she didn't live in a world where that happened. "I appreciate the offer to get me out there, Lo, but I think I'm done with trying to find somebody that loves me. I'm tired of being the wrong girl. It hurts too much. One way or another I end up alone so I'm just cutting out the painful part to keep what little heart I have left."
"Will you at least keep coming to these get together's whenever Pete and Lana drive into Metropolis? They love seeing you. I can go get them right now and have them tell you."
"Maybe I will again someday, but now... now I'm just tired of being the person everybody feels sorry for, the person everybody wishes didn't feel so awkward. The only thing people ask me anymore is if I'm alright, Lois. It's not their fault, because I would do the same thing in the situation. To endure more nights like this, though... I don't know if I would survive another conversation centered on children with my sanity intact. I can't do it, Lois. I don't have it in me because I'm not that person anymore."
"We want you here, Chloe. Never doubt that."
"I don't, and I won't, but like I said, this is a couples night, and I have no couple to be a part of." Chloe leaned over and hugged her quickly before pulling away. "I love you, Lo."
"I love you too, Chloe."
As soon as the cab pulled up and stopped, Chloe jumped in and it took off. Lois watched until it disappeared around the corner before running her hands through her hair and holding back from screaming in frustration. Not being able to help her family was the worst thing she could imagine, and now she was living that imagined scenario.