Okay this chapter was a little long so I ended up breaking it in two and posting them both today, this chapter is based off the events of season seven episode Siren, with a passing reference to Cure. After the end of Chapter fourI won't be restructuring/reconstructing episodes of Smallville, I'll be taking the series into a more original direction, that said the characters, dialogue and events of various episodes will be referenced and appering in various forms throughout later chapters.

Thanks: To everyone who read (which were a lot more than I thought) you have my deepest thanks. An extra special thank you goes out to: radone1969, ben10987654321, whatweareafraidof, Robenson, unoaranya30 and lilbit4 for taking the time to write a review for my story.

To lilbit4: While your particular pairing won't be getting much (if any) screen time I appreciate that you're reading and I hope you can find something to enjoy in my story regardless of the lack of a romantic relationship between Clark and Lois.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with Smallville/Superman (besides a cool coffee mug). The characters all belong to D.C/ Warner Bros. No infringement is intended.

One month later

Oliver Queen dropped his duffel bag onto his couch and plopped down a moment later. He had just returned from an extended mission with his self-styled league of heroes to shut down Lex Luthor's various 33.1 facilities. They had managed to knock out eight of the satellites before Lex had the project disbanded and moved. It was a huge success, now hundreds of meteor infected and metahuman's had been set free from Lex's nefarious plans and were now free to live their lives how they choose. Despite being happy to return home he wanted nothing more than to take a hot shower and a nap; he stood to do just that when he was interrupted by a knock on his penthouse suite's door. He had a suspicion he knew who it was, only one person would know to knock on his door less than five minutes after he arrived, the timing was too much of a coincidence.

"Come in." he called out.

The door opened and sure enough it was who he had expected. "Less than two minutes in huh?"

His visitor smiled revealing a perfect row of white teeth. "Come on Oliver. I gave you at least three minutes."

Oliver shook his head but he was smiling. "Good to see you Clark."

"You too."

The two men shook hands and Oliver indicated that Clark should have a seat.

"So what's so important that it couldn't wait until after I took a shower?"

Clark took the offered seat. "It's Chloe, I'm worried about her."

Oliver frowned all levity gone from his face. "What's going on?"

Clark filled Oliver in on what had happened last month with the phantom, Lois learning his secret and Chloe's mysterious resurrection. "And just last week she tried to get her powers removed by some psychotic doctor that was working for Lex. She says everything's alright but I found out that she broke up with Jimmy…Lois and I've tried everything we can think of but it's like she's losing herself."

Oliver shook his head. "This does sound pretty bad, but what do you want me to do?"

"Chloe needs to see her powers for what they are; a gift not a curse. I was thinking that maybe you and the league could take her in and help her embrace her abilities. I know when I used to have doubts about my powers having a group of people in a similar situation that I could've turned to, would've been a huge help for me."

Oliver stroked his chin and his recently grown goatee (he was debating whether or not to keep it) thoughtfully. "I think I can come up with something, but it's gonna have to be subtle. Chloe's scary smart and she'll probably see any attempt to sway her coming from a mile away."

"Thanks Oliver, I knew I could count on you."

"No problem Clark, but I have a question for you. Now that the last of the phantoms is safely locked away have you given anymore thought into joining the league?"

Before Oliver and his team had left to shut down Lex's 33.1 facilities across the globe Clark had been offered a position with them. A position he had been forced to decline because at the time he had been tracking down the escaped occupants of the Phantom Zone.

Clark hesitated for a moment. "I have and…I don't think I'm ready yet. I'm just getting my head around trying to protect Metropolis I don't know if I can devote the time to the league that it deserves."

Oliver gestured at a copy of the Daily Planet sitting on his coffee table. "I noticed that, I figured the red-blue blur had to be you. But that's an even better reason for you to join the league; we support and encourage each other. You just got through saying how a support system would've helped you, was that true or a load of Kansas hot air? You don't have to go it alone Clark."

Clark smiled. "Alright, let me get back to you."

"One thing though Clark, we're gonna have to do something about your duds…the red jacket and blue shirt just isn't working for you."

"This coming from the guy who runs around in a hooded jacket and sunglasses at night."

Oliver raised his index finger. "Ahh, but you haven't seen my new costume." He reached over to his duffel bag and after unzipping it pulled out a green sleeveless jerkin, green pants, knee high black boots. A pair of green fingerless gloves and a black domino mask.

"What do you think?"

"It's a definite improvement, but why'd you get rid of the other one?"

"I didn't have a choice; it was damaged pretty badly in a fight with a metahuman that goes by the name of Cheetah."

Clark tried to hold in a snort of laughter. "Cheetah…seriously?"

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Yeah I know, but she was no joke. Fortunately Zatanna is handy with a sewing machine and-"

"Who's Zatanna?"

"Newest League recruit, ran into her in Rio and she helped save our bacon, doesn't hurt that she's a sorceress either…"

Clark's eyebrows shot up. "Sorceress, as in magic?"

"Yup, it's really something you have to see to believe; anyway I'm sure she'd be willing to whip something up for you. You should see what she did for Bart, and J'onn."

Clark thought of his past experiences with magic and repressed a shudder. "Uh thanks, but I think I'm good."

Oliver shrugged. "Suit yourself farm boy. Now if you'll excuse me I need to take a shower and get a nap so I can surprise Lois with a romantic dinner."

Clark got up but hesitated. "When she found out about my secret she took it pretty well, all things considering. Maybe you should-"

"Goodbye Clark." Oliver said pointedly.

Clark took the hint and departed leaving Oliver alone. He appreciated what Clark was trying to tell him but he had already planned to reveal his identity to Lois and ask her to move in with him. With any luck, this would be his last night alone.

It was several hours later that saw Chloe in the Daily Planet's basement intercepting a file with 'eyes only clearance' for Lex Luthor. She smiled as she input a complex series of data and managed to trap the file. She was wearing a wireless headset and reached and touched the small button on the side once it to open the channel. "Got the file Arrow."

On the other side of the line Oliver was in his Green Arrow costume; he looked down at a digital display on his right gauntlet and sighed. He was cutting his dinner date with Lois close, but an informant of his had told him that Lex was to receive a file about the construction of a new 33.1 facility. So seeing the opportunity to not only find out about Lex's plan but to put Chloe to a field test he had her crack the encryption of Luthorcorp. In next to no time she had accomplished her objectives and he had to admit he was impressed. Despite the fact that he was on a secure line, his voice still issued out in a whisper. "Download the file to the thumb drive and then make sure you delete any trace you were in there."

"Roger."

For the first time in weeks Chloe felt a sense of peace, she was doing what she did best. There was no awkward tension with Jimmy, no Clark trying to reassure and no Lois trying to cheer her up. Here there was only the simplicity of computers and code. She finished downloading the file to the encrypted thumb drive and was in the process of deleting her digital footprints when…

"Excellent work Ms. Sullivan, now turn around nice and slow and hand me that thumb drive."

Chloe's heart rate jumped and she slowly turned her chair around to see a woman standing about fifteen feet away from her. The woman was fairly tall and had short spiked blond hair. She was dressed in a leather jacket underneath which she wore a black one piece, her ensemble was completed by fishnet stockings that encased legs a model would've died to have; the fishnets tucked into a heavy pair of knee high boots. Her features were obscured by a thin domino mask.

"Who are you?"

"That doesn't matter. What does matter is that you give me that thumb drive. You've made some powerful enemies Ms. Sullivan and while I'd prefer if things didn't get violent I'll go there if I have to."

Chloe assessed her tone and body language. She's a professional; I'm not going to get much out of her.

Thinking quickly she reached down and pulled a paperweight off her desk and threw it at the woman, the shot went wide but in the moment the woman had been caught off guard Chloe turned tail and bolted.

The woman sighed, if her query wanted to play it like that, she'd be more than happy to oblige. With the conditioning of a trained athlete the mysterious woman gave chase, she saw her target up ahead, reached down into a hip mounted pouch and pulled out a small throwing dagger. Taking aim she let the small projectile fly, it landed with a thud in a wall, barely missing her query as she rounded a corner.

Chloe huffed as she burst into the stairwell and began ascending the stairs of the Daily Planet, she could hear her pursuer behind her, she had maybe a three flight lead, but at the speed the woman was moving it wouldn't be long until she caught up to her.

She hit the button on her earpiece. "Arrow, I'm going to need some backup, the sooner the better. I have the file but I've got a hostile on my tail."

"Can you make it to the roof?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"I'll meet you there, Arrow out."

Oliver landed on the roof of the Daily Planet, retracted his grapnel and quickly assessed the area for the best place to position himself, he decided on the wall adjoining the roof access entrance. He barely had time to get in position before Chloe burst through the door followed momentarily by a blonde woman dressed in black.

"Unless you can fly Ms. Sullivan you have nowhere left to run, now if you'd be so kind as to hand me that thumb drive…"

"You don't have anywhere to run either." A deep voice proclaimed.

The woman in black whirled around at the sound of the voice and saw a man in a dark green costume step out of the shadows. Green Arrow! Damn, this could complicate things…

Letting out a growl the woman charged Green Arrow who barely had time to raise his guard before the woman was all over him throwing punches and kicks. He was impressed by her skills whoever she was she was good… he ducked a vicious cross ….really good. He seized an opening though and grabbed an incoming punch, he used her own momentum to shoulder toss her onto the ground. Then in one fluid motion drew his bow and loaded an arrow, he confirmed her distance before letting the arrow fly, in midair the arrow split into two with a net cast between them, each new arrow sunk into the roof with a satisfying 'thunk' pinning the woman with the net between them. Assured his opponent was secure Green Arrow made his way to Chloe.

"Are you okay?"

Before she could respond she heard a noise unlike anything she had ever heard before, it was a cross between a scream and high pitched whistle. The noise seemed to be coming from the pinned woman's mouth, and a moment later Chloe saw Green Arrow's net dissolve into dust. The woman nipped up and all Chloe could do was shout at Green Arrow. "Look out!"

Green Arrow turned around in time to catch the right foot of the woman across his jaw, the impact cause him to spin around once in the air before landing on his chest. The woman hesitated for a moment shooting a glance between the downed hero and Chloe before running to the edge of the Planet roof and leaping off.

Chloe hurried to the edge and was in time to see the woman swinging off on some kind of grapnel and disappearing behind the skyline. She turned around at the sound of a painful groan. "Are you okay Oliver?"

Oliver rubbed his jaw as he sat up. "Yeah, but I feel like I got hit by a truck. Where'd she go?"

"She jumped off the roof and swung away. You wouldn't happen to know who she is would you?"

"Never seen her before." He stood and straightned his jerkin.

"She's obviously some kind of metahuman; she screamed and dissolved your net."

"I was wondering how she got free." Oliver responded dryly

Chloe sighed. "Good news is we got the file, bad news-"

Oliver finished for her. "Bad news is someone knew we were coming for it."

"Are you thinking its Lex?"

Oliver nodded. "Who else could it be?"

She handed him the thumb drive. "I hope whatever's on here was worth it."

"Me too. Are you going to be alright?"

Chloe waved him off. "I'm used to this stuff, when you hang around guys like Clark having crazed meta-assassins and ninja ladies chase you down is just another Saturday night."

Oliver chuckled. "Well anyway good job Chloe. I couldn't have done it without you."

She shook her head. "Yeah you could've but you're welcome anyway, I'll catch you later Ollie." And with that she disappeared back into the Planet leaving Oliver to stare after her for a moment before moving to the edge of the Planet and shooting off his grapple before swinging back in the direction of his penthouse. He had been impressed with Chloe, maybe he could use someone like her in the League… but he pushed all that from his mind and focused on his upcoming date with Lois. He was a block from his house when he received a call; looking down at his gauntlet he saw it was Lois.

.Pushing a button on the gauntlet connected the call to the small headset his mask concealed. "Hey Lois."

"Hi Ollie, what are you doing?"

He was scaling the side of his penthouse and entering through the skylight, but of course he couldn't say that…yet. "Oh just getting ready for our date, you?"

"Hoo-boy I'm sorry to do this Ollie, especially on your first night back and everything but I'm chasing down a story, is it possible to get a rain check on our date?" He could hear the sincere regret in her voice.

"Sure, sure not a problem." With the amount of times he had had to cancel dates due to his…moonlighting he wasn't in a position to say much of anything. Of course that didn't mean he wasn't still disappointed.

"Thanks Ollie, you're my hero. I'll give you a call when I'm free."

If only she realized the irony in that last statement…"Alright, sounds good."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later."

"Bye."

"Bye."

He pressed the button again to end the call and sighed. Looked like it would be another lonely night for him, but he had the file from Lex to keep him occupied. It wasn't a substitute for having Lois's warm body to snuggle with but it gave him something to focus on, feeling slightly better he changed into civvies and got to work.

The next day intrepid reporter and newest member to the Daily Planet staff Lois Lane stepped onto the elevator and pressed the 'B' button. On the way down the elevator stopped and the door opened. A brunette haired woman stepped onboard, Lois recognized her as Dinah Lance; Dinah worked for Galaxy Media's WGBS as a hard-nosed right-wing talk show host. They had encountered each other a few times when Lois had been working at the Metropolis Inquisitor; their relationship was prickly at best.

Dinah looked Lois up and down and her face settled into a smirk. "What on Earth are you doing here Lane, dreaming of becoming a real journalist one day?"

Lois bristled. "I am a real journalist; in fact I've been hired to work here for your information. Why are you here, trying to sleep your way to another story?"

Dinah shook her head but didn't seem the least bit offended. "I'm here meeting with a friend, by the way I heard the Planet's fallen on hard times, must be true if they hired a rag journalist like you to represent them."

Before Lois could respond the elevator chimed and Dinah put on a simpering smile. "Well if you'll excuse me I actually have something important to do." She walked out.

Lois scowled. "Bitch." She muttered under her breath as the elevator door shut closed.

By the time she had made it to the basement she was in a foul mood and stalked over to her desk shouldering past a bewildered Jimmy.

"What's got you so ticked off?"

Lois spun around to see Chloe looking at her with a raised eyebrow. She felt her anger abate slightly. "I just ran into Dinah Lance on my way down here and she just got under my skin that's all." She looked up at her cousin and noticed she had a large cut across her left cheek and her eyes widened as she reached up and turned Chloe's face to examine the gash closer. "What happened to you?"

Chloe gently pushed Lois off. "Nothing, it was an accident."

Lois looked around to make sure no one was in earshot and then lowered her voice. "Does it have to do with Clark, were you on a mission?"

"No, Clark had nothing to do with this."

"Nothing to do with what?"

Both women looked around and saw Clark standing by their desks. He was wearing a blue plaid shirt over a pair of dark denim jeans and was carrying two brown paper bags. That he had gotten so close to them without either of them noticing him wasn't surprising but it still took some getting used to.

"With that." Lois said gesturing at Chloe's face.

Clark examined Chloe for a moment and frowned at Lois. "You thought I did that?"

"No, I thought she was working with you and got that cut in the process."

Clark looked over at Chloe. "How did you get that?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "It was an accident. What are you doing here?"

Clark lifted up the bags. "I brought you both lunch."

They both blinked.

Lois recovered first. "Wow thanks, what's the occasion Smallville?"

Clark shrugged. "Nothing, I heard you two complaining about the food around here and I had a little extra time so I thought I'd give you guys a home cooked meal."

"Thanks Clark that's sweet, uhm can I talk to you a minute?"

"Sure."

They left Lois to rifle through her bag.

Clark looked at her. "What's up?"

"I don't know if you know but Ollie's back in town."

"Yeah, I talked to him yesterday and he said he was gonna call Lois, so I think she knows. So why the secrecy?"

"Oliver had me doing some…off the clock work for him." She explained her encounter with the mysterious woman.

"Oh, so that's how you got that cut."

"Yeah but more importantly we got the file, you should go talk to Oliver about this, if Lex is acquiring metahumans again…"

"Yeah, I'll talk to him after my interview."

Chloe jerked in surprise. "Interview?"

Clark rubbed his arm sheepishly. "Yeah I applied for a job over at the Metropolis Star."

Chloe was surprised. "The Star? Why didn't you apply at the Planet instead?"

"The Planet is like the big leagues you know? I've got no articles to my name other than what I wrote at the Torch and a B.A. in Journalism, I'm not exactly what the Planet is looking for."

For all the things Clark could do Chloe was constantly baffled by his inability to perceive how special he was. "As your former editor I have to say you're an excellent writer Clark. With your talent if you wanted you could get on here no problem; if it doesn't work out with the Star maybe you should give the Planet a second look."

Clark looked embarrassed and Chloe changed the subject to something that had been on her mind recently. "I've been meaning to ask you is there any news on Lana?"

Clark shook his head ruefully. "Other than a few e-mails to tell me she's okay and to not go looking for her…nothing."

Chloe nodded somberly as they lapsed into silence in reflection about their old friend. After the moment went on for too long she shook Clark. You'd better get going; you don't want to be late. Good Luck."

He smiled. "Thanks, I'll see you later tonight."

Jimmy scowled having caught the tail end of the conversation. Clark turned around and bumped into him. "Sorry Jimmy."

"Clark." He hoped he sounded as tough and indifferent as he thought he did (he didn't).

Clark looked at him strangely before excusing himself.

Lois saw the whole exchange and tried not to roll her eyes. It was painfully obvious Jimmy was jealous of Clark, seeming to think that he had deigns on Chloe; of course that was absurd. If Chloe and Jimmy would both stop being so bullheaded she was sure that they could repair their relationship…then again with her track record regarding relationships she would be the last person to comment on anyone else's.

She was brought out of her speculation by the loud voice of Perry White the Planet's editor-in-chief. "Lane, Sullivan, Olsen, my office now!"

The Planet's editor was a no-nonsense man in his mid-forties, White had grown up in Metropolis and loved the city like the child he never had, he had started at the Planet as a beat reporter and had stayed on until he had become the head honcho. A few years ago he had given up his job thinking he had nothing left to contribute, but the Planet had called him back due to a management shakeup and like a moth to flame he had allowed himself to be pulled back in.

When he had returned through the large revolving doors he wasn't sure why he had left. As he took the familiar elevator ride, more of his previous doubts had fallen away. By the time he arrived in the news room he's knew he belonged here and would never it leave again.

The three youngsters arrived in his office and he took a moment to observe them with pride. Sullivan had been his last appointment before his premature retirement, she was smart as a whip and was an excellent writer, her main problem was her stories tended to lack a certain human element to them. He was sure she'd have it figured out soon and fulfill her potential.

Olsen had joined during a summer intern program as a photographer a few years ago and had remained onboard ever since. He had a natural eye and an attention to detail. Perry knew it was only a matter of time until Olsen caught his big break. Until then he'd pay his dues and be that much better for it.

Lane…Lane was the wildcard of the group. She had a tenacity that Chloe lacked and a spirit that would put most wild horses to shame. Her spelling was atrocious but she had the it…the X-factor. Perry had only seen a few reporters like Lane in his time, and they were some of the all-time greats; he could see many a Pulitzer's in her future. Even though it was early in her career and most people wouldn't have given a tabloid journalist like her a second glance, he had followed his gut and taken a chance on her.

He knew it was only a matter of time till it paid off

"Okay, I've heard rumors Oliver Queen has returned from an extended business trip and since no other news outlet has managed to get a scoop on what he's been up to…" he left the sentence hanging and handed an assignment slip to a flustered Lois

"I-I'll just be going now."

"Sullivan I want you and Olsen downtown, the mayor and police commissioner are giving a statements downtown about the recent crime wave, get an interview and pictures. Double-time." Perry knew that they had been dating and the relationship had gone sour, but that was the price one paid for dating in the work place, he knew the two of them worked well together and they'd just have to deal with the awkwardness.

Olsen hesitated. "Sure chief."

"Terrific." Chloe muttered darkly before they left Perry's office.

Dinah Lance watched both Jimmy and Chloe disappear into the elevator before stealthily making her way to Chloe's desk, the busy atmosphere of the news room ensured that no one paid her any attention. She slid open a drawer and to her surprise saw Chloe's cellphone.

Sullivan, you're making this too easy. The thought made her smile; she turned the device on and thumbed through the recent call history until she saw exactly what she was looking for a one hour call to Oliver Queen at the same time she had been at the Planet the other night. She turned the device off placed the cellphone back in its drawer and casually made her way out of the news room. She picked up her cellphone and dialed a special number. "Mr. Luthor, I tracked down Green Arrow and I'll be bringing him and your file to you shortly."

Oliver leaned his head against his shower in frustration. He had spent most of the day attempting to crack the encryption on the pilfered file, he had succeeded but the file had been worthless; just a bunch of shipping invoices. Certainly nothing worth the trouble he and Chloe had gone through in obtaining it and nothing as damning as his source would have led him to believe. He wondered why Lex had went through the trouble of encrypting such a file but was interrupted by the bell at his door ringing.

Frowning as he wasn't expecting any visitor's he got out of the shower he threw on some undershorts and a pair of pants and opened the door, to his surprise it was Lois.

She eyed him appreciatively and smiled playfully. "Hell of a way of greeting someone Ollie, If you think that glistening-muscle-answering the door in your bare chest routine was gonna work... you were dead on. I like the goatee by the way…very sexy."

He blinked.

"I know we haven't done this in a while but this is the part where you invite me in, remember?"

He shook his head. "Yes, of course come in, it's just I wasn't expecting to see you."

"Oh does a girl need an excuse to drop by and see her favorite billionaire?"

He shut the door. "Of course not, you know you're welcome here anytime."

She smiled crookedly. "Good answer, but it just so happens I do have a reason, my boss wants me to get an interview with the world famous Oliver Queen about his recent business trip and what he's been doing for the past three months…but that can wait."

She strode over to him stood on her tip toes and kissed him on the mouth. Although surprised, he quickly reciprocated. When they broke apart they were both flushed and breathing hard.

He laid his head against hers. "I've missed you Lois... more than you can possibly know."

She opened her mouth to say something, but Oliver's eyes caught a flash of movement and saw the blonde woman from the other night standing on his balcony, his eyes widened as she saw her open her mouth. The world seemed to slow down as he pushed Lois to the floor "Get down!"

The same high-pitched scream from the other night hit Oliver's eardrums before all the glass in his penthouse shattered, he clutched his ears in pain as his equilibrium was thrown out of balance before he collapsed, unconscious on the floor.

The screaming stopped and Lois looked up and saw that every piece of glass in the room was broken, as she looked for Oliver her eyes were drawn to what she had assumed had been a wall, but the thick opaque glass on it had shattered revealing a dozen bows of various styles and sizes, quivers full of arrows and a very familiar green costume.

Despite the situation she felt her eyes widen. "No way."

"Way." A voice behind her said. She turned around into a punch and fell to the floor; out cold.

When she awoke she found herself tied up; back to back with Oliver.

He felt her stirring. "Lois, are you okay?"

"What the hell happened?" She asked groggily

"We- I was attacked and-"

"Yeah I remember, but it seems you didn't remember to tell me you're the freaking Green Arrow!"

He winced having expected this but he still thought this wasn't the best time for such a discussion he was about to say so when Lois interrupted him.

"Oh, nothing to say? Then let me ask you a question. In all those nights together, somewhere between brushing teeth and spooning in the sheets, you didn't think that it might be a good time to mention that you prowl the streets with green leather and a compound bow?"

"Well, I don't usually bring the compound bow and my costume is made out of Kevlar, not leather…"

Lois rolled her eyes even though Oliver couldn't see them. "Oh, so now he's a funny hero. I can't believe you didn't tell me that you were Green Arrow!"

"Hard to imagine why when you're taking it so well."

"Whoa... wait a second. I kissed Green Arrow last year when you were standing there with me in the alley!"

He winced again, he wasn't exactly proud of that moment. "Yeah! I remember that with precise detail!"

"So who did I kiss?"

Before Oliver could answer the woman clad in black stepped out of his bedroom, he caught a glance of her stashing the thumb drive into her hip mounted pouch before she stepped over to them.

Lois looked at her. "Who're you toots? Some ex-girlfriend with a leather fetish who found out his secret or something? Cause you better not think you-"

Lois was silenced into unconsciousness again by a hard punch.

Oliver was a little less abrasive than Lois. "Who are you and why are you doing this?

"I'm called the Black Canary. As for why…I'm making sure justice is being served. I know all about you Green Arrow, you and your band of terrorists, how you-"

He tried to interrupt her before she got going. "Listen lady I don't know what Lex has been telling you, but I'm no terrorist, I'm one of the good guys! I try and help people, Lex is the one running experiments on metahumans, I'm trying to free them."

"Shut up." She pulled out a cellphone and dialed a number. "Yes Mr. Luthor I have him, I'll deliver him once the transfer is complete…yes that was the amount we agreed upon… I'll see you then."

Oliver hung his head, this situation was fast going from bad to worse.

Clark walked out of the Metropolis Star's large building and looked down at his watch, it was slightly after 2:00 and he was starting to feel hungry, the interview hadn't gone too well, he sincerely doubted he'd be hired by the Star anytime soon. The editor had been exceptionally rude and seemed to take issue with everything about Clark, from his being from Kansas to his going to Metropolis University as opposed to Metro College.

Feeling slightly depressed he decided to drop by and see Oliver and maybe pick up a bite to eat. He ducked into an alley and using his sense's he made sure the area around him was clear before he ran off at super speed to Oliver's apartment. It only took him about thirty seconds to cross Metropolis and arrive at his destination. He knocked on the door and waited, he heard a strange noise so he trained his ears on the inside of Oliver's penthouse and realized it was muffled screaming. Not hesitating he pushed the door open, breaking the locks in the process and stepped over the threshold. The ground was covered with shards of broken glass and in the middle of the floor tied onto a water main was Lois. He easily broke the ropes and removed the gag before helping Lois stand up.

"Smallville, thank God you're here. Some psycho woman showed up here and attacked Oliver and I."

"Where is he?"

"I don't know, she knocked me out and when I came to they were both gone." She hesitated. "I think she wanted to capture him because…she found out… some kind of secret about him."

Clark was impressed that she was trying to find a way to tactfully not mention Oliver's dual identity outright. "Lois, it's okay I know."

She blinked. "Youknew? And you didn't tell me either?"

He shrugged. "It wasn't for me to tell you, that's between you and Oliver. But now isn't the time for this, Lois I need you to think. Did she say anything that could give me a clue about who she was?"

Lois thought for a moment before she lit up. "Yeah after she hit me but right before I blacked out I heard her tell Ollie her name was Black Canary."

"Good we have a name, I need to see Chloe but I'm going to drop you off at the hospital and-

"Thanks but I'm fine Smallville, let's just hightail it back to the Planet. I could use a lift if you don't mind."

Clark wanted her to get checked out but he didn't have time for an argument. He strode over to her and easily picked her up in his arms. "Hold on." His form blurred and disappeared and a minute later reappeared in the basement of the Daily Planet.

Lois hopped down and readjusted her windswept hair. "Well that was fast, but I think I like flying a bit better."

"I think the sight of a guy flying around town with a reporter in his arms would draw a little too much attention, don't you?"

"Yeah you're right."

She and Clark walked over to Chloe's desk and after a hasty explanation of the situation watched as she did her computer thing.

A few minutes later she beckoned them closer. "Look at this, it seems the Black Canary is a soldier of fortune and was hired by Lex four days ago." She pulled up some press reports of a metahuman with a sonic scream rescuing people in various cities from Gotham all the way to Star City. "These are all from a few years ago. I guess being a hero doesn't pay the bills…whoa!" She typed furiously for a moment. "Guys look at this."

It was a report of an incoming transfer of a significant amount of money from Luthor Corp into an off shore account.

Clark pointed at the screen. "Can you find out whom that account belongs to?"

"Yeah but it'll take a while. But we need to stop her now…I'm going to interrupt this transfer and try and draw her out. I mean without the money she has no reason to be going after Oliver right?"

Lois and Clark nodded and Chloe got to work.