The Rantings of a Roving Reporter

Chloe's Apartment, Smallville, Wednesday Evening

2009-09-24T01:03:18Z

Just because this had happened before, it didn't mean Chloe was prepared to wake up as a boy again, especially since Jimmy seemed even more disturbed by the whole thing than last time.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "I mean, besides the obvious. I told you, it's a Fandom thing, I'll be fine by tomorrow. Surely, you can go without kisses for one day."

"It's not that. I mean, it's kinda that," Jimmy said, because really, it wasn't like there were any other girls like Chloe willing to kiss him all the time. "It's just--I really don't like this, even more than all the other weird things."

"Would you rather have had me woken up as a little girl?" Chloe asked. "What's so much more terrible about this?"

Jimmy squirmed on the spot for a moment before finally saying, "I don't like that you turn into a guy who looks like a douchebag."

Well, Chloe thought as she looked at her reflection, she couldn't really argue with that.

[Establishy! *halo*]

Metropolis, Friday night to Saturday afternoon

2009-06-07T01:12:41Z

Looking back, Chloe still wasn't entirely sure what had happened. She'd agreed to meet up with Lana and Oliver to discuss his new job for her, one that would actually keep her in Metropolis for a while, and Chloe had ended up amazed by how everything about the Isis Foundation appealed to her. Getting to help the meteor infected before they went crazy and homicidal? Using Luthor money - thanks to Lana's divorce from Lex - for good? There was so much good work that could be done there, and Chloe had felt honored that they wanted to include her in getting everything officially off the ground and running.

She didn't remember who suggested going out for drinks to celebrate, but she did remember that she hadn't had nearly as much to drink as Lana, and the two of them combined hadn't had as much as Oliver. Chloe had been riding a natural high for the last few days, and she'd assumed that it was just an increase in feelings for Jimmy until she found herself pressed tightly into a corner booth, her heart beating faster every time her leg brushed up against Oliver's, and a heady feeling taking over when her hand ended up on Lana's thigh.

One thing Chloe was certain about was that she'd made the first move. One teasing line about tasting Oliver's martini had led to kissing him, and she'd been quick to press her lips to Lana's at the first mention of Jimmy. He wasn't there, but they were, and that was what mattered. She was also certain that while she'd started things, it was Oliver who'd suggested they go back to his place, who'd insisted that Lana join them, who'd taken proving that he could please two women at once as a personal challenge.

Now, fully conscious and still curled up beside them both, Chloe wasn't sure what her next move should be. On one hand, she'd cheated on Jimmy, with two people at the same time. But on the other, Lana and Oliver were both still there, and every bone in Chloe's body was telling her to go for round two - or three, or four, depending on how they were counting. She could feel Lana move closer to her in her sleep, and when Chloe slipped her arm around Oliver, he leaned back as well, and the thought of taking care of all three of their needs became the only thing on Chloe's mind.

She was sure Jimmy would forgive her, in the end. He always did. This felt like something she wasn't going to regret.

[Hey, look at that, I am capable of moving Chloe's story along sometimes. :D]

Chloe and Jimmy's Apartment, Smallville, Saturday Morning

2009-03-14T17:32:54Z

It had only been a few weeks since Chloe had been back in Smallville, but her assignments, or lack thereof, were the last thing on her mind at the moment. Putting the finishing touches on her tea party was taking up most of her attention, and what was left was going to watching Jimmy as he paced around the bedroom, talking to himself about how something was terribly, horribly wrong. Chloe didn't know what he was talking about - she felt great, except for being sad that he was saying bad words about Fandom again.

Obviously, he needed some tea to feel better.

"Jimmy!" she yelled. "If you don't come and have tea with me, I'm gonna tell everyone you're the meanest boyfriend ever!"

She didn't know what he meant when he muttered that he'd always wondered what prison would be like. Boys were so stupid sometimes.

[Establishy, but open for calls if anyone wants!]

OOC: Username Change!

2008-11-07T06:44:41Z

For the longest time now, I've wanted to change Chloe's username to something a little more original, and those of you who pay close attention to your userinfos might have noticed that I finally went ahead and did it. To those who have had the misfortune of getting to listen to me complain about exactly how horrific Smallville has gotten lately, I promise, this was very therapeutic, and my ranting will be more infrequent now. Possibly.

Blackwater, Arizona, Early Thursday Morning

2008-09-25T05:16:49Z

Chloe had spent the last three weeks in Arizona with Jimmy, looking for evidence of a Luthercorp facility for Oliver. Three weeks of learning exactly what defined "a dry heat" meant that waking up in an uncomfortable state wasn't such a strange thing. Realizing she was uncomfortable because her breasts were gone? That was far more surprising.

Luckily, Jimmy was a heavy sleeper, which meant Chloe managed to escape their bed and run into the bathroom without waking him up. After discovering that yes, she really was a boy - and a poorly endowed one at that - she wondered if a certain school could be blamed, and snuck back out to where her laptop was sitting on the hotel room table.

To: Fandom People
From: Chloe Sullivan <chloe.sullivan@fandomhigh.net>

Uh, hey guys and ladies. I apologize for the somewhat random e-mail, but I have to check something. Is anyone else having a strange morning, or is it just me?

Please tell me it's not just me? I haven't had coffee yet, and I don't think I can handle solo weirdness at the moment.

--Chloe

With that done, she went ahead and started up the mini-coffee maker, trying to figure out what she was going to tell Jimmy when he woke up.

[Chloe's contact list is long, so feel free to assume you got the e-mail if you want to. YES SHE'S CMM BECAUSE SOMEONE HATES ME GRRR ARGH.]

Smallville and Metropolis, January 2008 [Part 3]

2008-01-03T21:19:08Z

January 3, 2008:

It didn't take Chloe nearly as long to pack as she expected. It helped that she was a low-maintenance kind of girl with few special needs. She almost ended up with more electronics than clothes, between her laptop, her camera, and all the accessories.

The one thing that took her the longest was figuring out what kind of messages to leave for everyone. She left a note in the apartment for Lois, apologizing for her outburst, wishing her luck in her new job (along with a vow to come back and punch Grant again if he needed it), and promising to call as often as she could, as long as Lois promised to take care of the apartment. After a long debate with herself, she decided to call Jimmy from Oliver's place. It would be safer that way - for him, to not get involved in all of this, and for her, because the mere thought of saying goodbye in person made her stomach hurt, and she didn't think she'd make it through that without breaking down. As for Clark, Chloe waited until she was almost at Oliver's mansion before calling him. She made it about halfway through what she wanted to say before the call cut out, and sure enough, when she pulled up the long driveway, she found Oliver and Clark waiting for her together.

"You didn't really think you'd get away with saying goodbye to me over the phone, did you?" Clark asked, grinning at her as she got out of the car.

"I had a pretty good feeling I'd find you here," she said, before smiling weakly at Oliver. "I think I've got everything I'll need."

Oliver looked at her two duffel bags with approval. "You pack light for a girl. I knew you'd be the right choice for this assignment."

"I won't let you down, I swear," she said. "Lex doesn't stand a chance against us."

"You're going to be careful though, right?" Clark asked. "You know what Lex is capable of just as well as I do, and we don't know what the limits to your power are yet."

Oliver's interest in Chloe seemed to grow at that. "Your power? Did it finally manifest?"

As much as Chloe didn't want to talk about it, she figured Oliver had to know the truth. "Yeah. I can heal people, and myself."

"And come back from the dead," Clark added.

"Yeah, but I'd really like to not test that one out if I don't have to," Chloe replied.

"You won't have to," Oliver promised. "You're going to have the League behind you. Or with you. Bart's taken a particular interest in working with you if he can."

Chloe laughed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, well, I feel safer already."

"What did you say to Lois and Jimmy?" Clark asked. "I mean, how much did you tell them about what you'll be doing?"

"Uh, not much, really," Chloe said, looking a little guilty. "I didn't mention Oliver at all to Lois--"

"--which was probably a wise decision on your part," Oliver said.

"I thought so too. I told her I'm going to be traveling and trying to take down Lex, so she at least knows that much."

"What about Jimmy?" Clark asked. When Chloe just looked down, he sighed. "Chloe, you have to say something to him."

"Like what?"

"Like the truth."

"Oh, yeah, because you're such an expert at telling people the truth." Chloe gave him a nervous look. "I don't want him to hate me."

"He won't hate you," Clark said. "You've got to figure out something to tell him."

"And you've got about thirty seconds to do it," Oliver said, pointing down the drive.

Chloe turned to see what he was pointing at, and her eyes widened when she saw Jimmy's car heading towards them, slowing as he pulled up behind her Beetle. "Oh god." She thought about going over to him, but she couldn't make herself move.

Jimmy seemed to be in a hurry as he parked, so much so that he came tumbling out of the car, tripping and falling onto the pavement before righting himself and running over to her. "Thank god, you're still here."

"Jimmy, what are you doing here?" Chloe asked.

"Tracking you down, you crazy girl. What the hell's gotten into you?" he asked. "I went to the Planet to drop off some pictures, and Lois said you cold-cocked the new editor and quit. Then I went by your apartment, but you weren't there, and your stuff was missing--"

"Wait, how did you get into my apartment?"

"Um, I picked the lock?" Jimmy said with an innocent look. "Can we focus on the fact that you were going to leave without saying anything to me? Where are you going to try to take down Lex?"

Chloe nearly started flailing at him in her nervousness. "You read the note I left for Lois?"

"I didn't have much of a choice. Then I used that trick you showed me to track you down by your cell phone. Chloe, what's going on?"

Jimmy looked exactly as broken up as Chloe imagined he would, and she could already feel herself starting to well up. "Lois told you the truth. I quit the Planet, and in a moment of acting before I thought, I hit the new guy. But he insulted my writing, so he totally had it coming."

"So now you're...what? Working for Oliver Queen?"

"I'm working with him," Chloe said. "I'm going to help him and some of our friends destroy Lex's 33.1 facilities, and get the evidence we need to take him down for good. I have to get out of Metropolis, Jimmy. It's not safe for me to be here. It's not safe for anyone for me to be here."

Jimmy gave Chloe a look of total confusion. "Why not? What's wrong? Were you just going to leave without saying anything to me?"

"I was going to call you," Chloe insisted. "I was going to tell you as much as I could."

"Well, you can tell me everything on the way to wherever we're going," Jimmy said.

"What do you mean we? Jimmy, you can't come with me. Trust me, you don't want to come with me."

"Why not?" Jimmy asked, getting close to yelling. "Why are you keeping things from me? I love you, Chloe. I'm not going to let you put yourself on the front line without being there by your side."

Chloe took a small step back, stunned by his profession of love. For a moment, she finally understood exactly how Clark had felt all those times he'd decided not to say anything to Lana. A hundred different responses ran through her mind, but all she could say was, "I'm a meteor freak."

Then, it was Jimmy's turn to look stunned. "What?"

"You can't be in love with me," Chloe said. "I'm a meteor freak."

"But...how?" Jimmy asked, closing the space between them to take Chloe's hands in his.

"I don't know. Somewhere along the way, my massive exposure to meteor rocks has gotten me infected, with weird powers and everything." Looking down, she saw the scrapes on Jimmy's hands from where he'd fallen. Tightening her grip, she concentrated for a few moments, waiting for the bright light of her healing to fade completely before she pulled away.

Jimmy stared at his hands, front and back, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing, and just when Chloe was expecting him to freak out, he grinned instead. "Seriously? That's amazing!" he said. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Because you hate meteor freaks!" Chloe said.

"I hate meteor freaks who use their powers to try to kill us," Jimmy said. "You don't count."

From behind them, Chloe heard Oliver clear his throat in a distinctive, attention-getting sort of way. "You know, our team could really use a photographer. Pictures hold up in court far better than verbal evidence. It would be nice to have someone who knows what they're doing."

Chloe smiled, hoping he was going where she thought he was with this. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying you need someone to watch your back. As much as I like Bart, you need someone who really cares about you to make sure you're okay. And with your power, you can keep Jimmy safe too. That is," he said, turning to Jimmy, "if you still want to go with her."

"I do," Jimmy said quickly, taking Chloe's hand again. "You shouldn't have to do this on your own."

All the worry Chloe felt earlier faded away at the look on Jimmy's face. "You really want to come with me? This isn't exactly going to be a vacation."

Jimmy shook his head. "I don't care. All I want is to be with you."

"How fast do you think you can pack the bare essentials?" Oliver asked.

"In an hour, maybe a little less?" Jimmy said.

Oliver smiled. "You have two hours before my plane leaves. Get your things, come back here, and the two of you can go together."

Jimmy beamed, and went over to shake Oliver's hand. "You won't regret this, I promise." Turning to Chloe, he went over and slipped his arms around her. "Looks like you're not getting rid of me after all."

"I don't want to get rid of you," Chloe said, pulling herself close to him. "I love you too." She leaned up and kissed him, and Jimmy didn't waste any time before kissing her back. It wasn't until Clark started to laugh that they pulled apart.

"You guys will have time to do that on the plane, I think."

"Plenty of time," Oliver said. "All alone, where no one else has to watch you."

Chloe laughed, and gave Jimmy one more kiss for good measure. "Go on and get packed before he makes me leave without you."

Jimmy smiled, still holding her close. "Promise you'll be waiting for me when I get back?"

Chloe didn't even need to think before saying, "I promise."

[Aaaand the last part is done! Timelines have been played with in order to deal with the fact that this took me so long to finish. *facepalm* Contains spoilers for the current season of Smallville. OOC comments are like pie. *g*]

Smallville and Metropolis, January 2008 [Part 2]

2008-01-02T19:48:00Z

January 2, 2008:
After her resurrection experience, Chloe was hoping that the rest of the year would be nice and slow. It was hard to lie to Lois and Jimmy about what had happened at the facility - she didn't know how Clark had done it for all these years without snapping. It helped that Lois was convinced Lex had done something to them, and that Jimmy was easily swayed by anything that potentially put Luthors into a bad light. But it wasn't easy watching Jimmy continue on his crusade against meteor freaks, knowing that if he knew the truth about her, he wouldn't want to be with her anymore.

Thankfully, she had plenty of work to keep her occupied and not thinking about her personal drama, between her assignments for the Planet, and trying to keep Lois from getting into trouble again. At the moment, that meant trying to keep her from getting too involved in anything involving the word "spaceship."

"Lois, a story about a spaceship is not gonna send your career into the stratosphere. It'll embarrass you," she said. There was also the chance that this spaceship was tied into Clark and his nameless Kryptonian gal pal that had just shown up, but she hadn't had time to fully investigate that for herself.

Lois sat down on the edge of Chloe's desk, and started working her most endearing look. "It's the truth, Chloe. I saw it with my own eyes."

"You don't know what you saw. Besides, I'm still trying to resuscitate my credibility after writing about the Smallville believe-it-or-not set."

"We are talking about an alien invasion. Two men are dead. You know, if you were there, you'd be clacking away on the keyboard as we speak."

Chloe had to admit, Lois had a point. "Maybe. But not now. The Daily Planet just hired a new editor wonder boy from the Star City Post. And spaceships are not the stuff of good first impressions."

"Did I hear someone say spaceship?"

Chloe and Lois turned around, and found themselves face-to-face with a tall, handsome young man.

"Didn't anyone teach you that eavesdropping is rude?" Lois said.

"Eavesdropping is my livelihood," he replied, holding out his hand. "I'm Grant Gabriel, your new editor."

"Actually, she doesn't work here. I do," Chloe said, stepping in front of Lois. "I'm Chloe--"

"--Anne Sullivan, former editor of the Smallville High Torch, taking Met U. journalism classes by night while writing filler stories sandwiched between sofa ads by day." Stepping past Chloe, he faced Lois again. "Tell me about your close encounter."

Lois gave Chloe an uncomfortable look. "Sorry, can't share a trade secret. I work for your rival, The Inquisitor."

"Our rival?" Grant said. "This is the Daily Planet, read in virtually every country across the globe. We have no rival."

"That's true," Chloe piped up, determined to stay involved in the conversation. "Besides, the Planet wouldn't publish a story like that anyway."

Grant smiled. "See, that's the kind of old-guard thinking that's putting newspapers in the crapper all around this country."

Chloe stared in disbelief, and wondered if Grant had ever been a student at Fandom High. "Since when is truth in journalism old-guard?"

"Well, she says it's true. I believe her," Grant said, before turning his attention to Lois again. "I'll tell you what. You deliver me your spaceship story, a story that will sell papers, and you've got yourself a job here."

Chloe and Lois both stared at him, although Lois' look was more elated, while Chloe was busy being shocked, horrified, and wondering if her new powers included being able to kill people with her mind. She was still staring as Grant flashed a smile at them both, and headed out of the newsroom.

"Looks like I've got a story to find," Lois said, practically bouncing beside Chloe.

"Yeah, I guess you do," Chloe said flatly.

"Hey, I'm going to get the real scoop on this," Lois promised, headed out after Grant. "I'm going to write a story you'll be proud of, you'll see!"

Chloe waited until she was gone to sit back down and sigh heavily. Banging her head against the desk a few times might have hurt, but it was pretty therapeutic too.

***

So, the spaceship thing was tied to Clark, of course, because nothing truly strange happened in Smallville without Clark being involved in some way. By the time the day was over, Clark had found his Kryptonian girl - Kara, of the shiny blonde hair and piercing eyes - and Kara had found her spaceship. Lois found the ship as well - Chloe had to give her credit for her detective skills, as hereditary as they might have been - and all four of them got to the compound where it was being held just in time to watch the ship disappear in some kind of self-defense. One of these days, Chloe was going to understand Kryptonian technology, but today was not that day.

When the ship disappeared, so did Lois' story, and if Chloe was pleased about that, she did her best to not show it as she and Lois headed back to the Planet.

"All that spaceship got me were two concussions and a fried green camcorder," Lois said, massaging the back of her head. "You were right. I never should have chased that story."

Chloe felt guilty for a moment at Lois' disappointment. "I tried to warn you, Lois. When you're scaling the Wall of Weird, there aren't any mattresses to break your fall."

Lois gave a short, sardonic laugh. "To think I could have landed a job at the Daily Planet. What a joke. I am no Chloe Sullivan and never will be."

"Lane!"

Chloe and Lois turned to the sound of Lois' name, and found Grant Gabriel coming into the newsroom, clutching a piece of paper in his hand.

"I just read your story," he said. "It's ridiculous."

Chloe turned on him and glared, but before she could say anything, he spoke up first.

"It's absurd how good it is. Your prose leaps off the page like a bengal tiger. I was riveted."

All the disappointment in Lois' face drained as she beamed at Grant. "So, you're actually gonna run it?"

"Absolutely not," he said, laughing. "It's utterly unprintable. I don't care if every word of it is true. I can't run a story about a ship from outer space without a photo. You got to learn, Lane. Always carry a backup camera. Do you like water?"

Chloe and Lois exchanged a confused look at the sudden subject change. "As much as the next girl," Lois said.

Grant smiled. "I'm giving you a waterfront view. This is your new desk right here, right across from cousin Chloe."

"Excuse me?!" Chloe said, turning on him before she could tone down her anger.

"If you're lucky, Sullivan, some of her passion will rub off on you, maybe put a little fire on that Torch you let burn out after high school."

"Am I hearing things, or did you just offer me a job?" Lois asked.

"Welcome to the Daily Planet, Lois Lane," Grant said. "You play your cards right, you'll be out of this basement quicker than your cousin."

"Wait a minute," Chloe said. "You can't possibly be serious."

"I'm completely serious. There's nothing like a little family rivalry to keep the bullpen hopping," Grant replied.

He looked utterly pleased with himself, and it took everything Chloe had to not wipe that look off of his face. "I've been working on the same kind of stories that Lois just wrote, for far, far longer, and it's gotten me almost nowhere. Now you're going to stand here and tell me we should compete with that material? Competitions are for people who are on the same level--no offense, Lois."

"None taken," Lois said, watching the two of them with unease.

"You're right, competitions are designed for people of equal skill," Grant said. "Maybe if you're around your cousin long enough, you can climb up to her level."

Chloe heard Lois make a noise behind her, but she was too furious to give her any attention. "Climb up to her--who the hell do you think you are?"

"I'm your boss, Sullivan, and I'm telling you that if you want me to continue being your boss, you're going to need to adapt to the direction in which the Planet is turning."

"Do you know what direction the Planet is turning in?" Chloe asked. "Straight down, into the gutter where all papers go when they try to give stories about spaceships and weirdness to the general public. I have years of experience with this sort of thing. I know what I'm talking about. You're just a pretty boy from Star City who's so far out of his league that he can't even see what's in front of him."

"Chloe--" Lois said, sounding worried.

"--I'm not done yet. I've been holding this in for way too long. Do you know why I wanted to be a reporter?" she asked. "Because I thought that good, honest journalism could help people. I thought with my articles, I could do my part to save the world. I've given everything I had to this paper. I've risked my life to get a story printed on the back pages of the C section, because I thought that maybe it might do some good. But I've reached my limit. If you're going to be deciding on the direction of the Planet, then stop the train, because I'm getting off."

"Chloe, you can't--" Lois started.

"Shut up, Lois," Chloe said, before turning back to Grant. If anything, he was looking even more amused at Chloe's outburst, and that was the point where she snapped. "You want fire? Passion? How's this?" she asked, before punching him square in the face. Grant's head snapped back, and he stumbled backwards, bringing his hands up to his nose.

"Oh my god," Lois said, gasping. "What the hell, Chloe?"

Chloe couldn't even look at Lois, too focused on pulling off her badge, and going into her wallet to yank out her press pass. "I quit," she said. "I've had it with this paper, and this city, and this whole place. I quit."

Lois knelt down next to Grant, and looked up at Chloe. "You can't quit. What are you going to do?"

Chloe grabbed her purse off of her desk, giving both of them a look of accomplishment. "I'm going to save the world."

Without looking back, she stormed out of the newsroom, and out of the Daily Planet altogether. It wasn't until she sat down in her car that she started to come down off of her adrenaline high, and think about what she'd done. Looking down at her hands, Chloe noticed that the one she'd used to punch Grant was bleeding. Covering her knuckles with her other hand, she concentrated, imagining the cuts and bruises healing, and watched as a tiny bright light peeked out from the space between her fingers. When she pulled her hands apart, there were no marks left at all, and she found herself staring down for a few solid minutes before reaching for her cell phone.

"Oliver?" she said when she heard him pick up. "I don't suppose that job offer is still on the table?"

"It might be," he said casually. "Aren't you still working for the Planet?"

"Not really," she said, managing a laugh. "And I think I've got about two hours before the severity of what I've just done will sink in."

"Use those two hours to pack, then. Come to my place when you're done?"

"Okay, I will. Thank you," Chloe said.

Over the line, she heard Oliver laugh. "You're the one helping me out, Chloe. Thank you."

Chloe shut her phone, tossing it into the passenger seat, and felt like a weight was lifted off of her shoulders. Two hours. She could pack well for a new mission in that amount of time.

[Much dialogue was borrowed from Smallville, and timelines have been played with in order to deal with the fact that this took me so long to finish. *facepalm* Contains spoilers for the current season of Smallville, not that anyone else watches 'cause y'all are smart...ahem. OOC comments are like pie. *g*]

Smallville and Metropolis, December 2007 [Part 1]

2008-01-02T19:41:12Z

December 18, 2007:

Chloe wasn't a hundred percent certain, but she was almost positive that when she found Lois, she was going to strangle the crap out of her.

She loved her cousin, she really did. But when Lois did stupid things like go off to investigate a LutherCorp plant on her own without any kind of backup, Chloe almost always felt the temporary need for a violent reaction. Of course, it never took long for her anger to turn into worry. The fact that Lois had stopped answering her cell phone made the worry come a lot faster this time around. The fact that Chloe hadn't gone with her when it was clear that Lois was going to investigate the facility where her friend had died mixed that worry with a big helping of guilt. And the fact that by the time Chloe found Lois, she was dead in one of the basement hallways just made her heart stop.

After that, everything was kind of a blur. Chloe knelt down next to Lois, pulling her shirt up to see what was causing all her bleeding, and found a long, deep knife wound. She tried to apply pressure to make the bleeding stop. She checked for Lois' pulse. She shook her and yelled at her and tried to get her to wake up, but nothing worked. Chloe's breath hitched as she started crying, and she was only dimly aware when one of her tears hit Lois' forehead. But she didn't miss the bright ~~overdone, highly CGIed~~ light ~~of doom~~ that came from where the tear had fallen, expanding until it covered them both, and Chloe didn't know how, but she could have sworn that she saw Lois start to breathe again before everything went black.

December 19, 2007:

Chloe was terrified of dark, enclosed spaces. Being buried alive once upon a time had a way of doing that to a person. So, when she woke up, delirious, alone, and in the dark, she did the first thing that came to mind - she started screaming for help. This was exactly the kind of situation in which her big dumb alien always came to the rescue, and deep down, she trusted him not to let her down now. Sure enough, somewhere in the middle of her kicking and yelling, she heard a slamming noise, and finally felt a rush of fresh air as Clark yanked her out into the open.

"Oh god, thank you," Chloe said, sitting up and wrapping her arms around him in a hug. "What the hell happened?" She pulled back just enough to look around at her surroundings. "Am I in a morgue?"

Clark looked nervous, and reached for Chloe again. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

"Clark! Why am I--" Chloe cut herself off when she looked down and realized that a) she was wearing nothing but a sheet, and b) the sheet was rapidly slipping down. She yanked it up with quite a bit of force before looking back at Clark. "Why am I in a morgue?"

"Chloe, I don't really know exactly what happened. But you're alive now, and that's what matters."

"No, what matters is that I was put into a morgue!" Chloe replied. "I died?"

"Yeah, you did," Clark said, sighing. "Like I said, I don't know what happened. You were already out when I found you and Lois."

Chloe's eyes widened as she remembered what happened. "Oh my god, Lois."

"She's fine," Clark assured her. "But then, I guess you'd know that better than anyone."

"Turn around," Chloe said, waiting for Clark to do so before hopping off of the table and wrapping the sheet around herself. She was still trying to process exactly what might have happened when Clark spoke up again.

"She showed me her stab wound. The one that didn't leave a mark on her. Do you have any idea how that happened?"

"Yeah, I think I do," Chloe said, coming up beside him. "I think I did it." She was expecting concern, but instead, she found Clark smiling.

"Did you heal her? Is that..." He leaned in and dropped his voice a little. "Do you think that's your meteor power?"

"Maybe?" Chloe told him about the tears, and the light, and everything she could remember, until he was staring at her.

"Wow. That's awesome," he said, still grinning.

Chloe glared at him. "Clark, I cried on Lois, and it brought her back from the dead and killed me. In what universe is that awesome?"

Clark frowned and started to stammer. "I just meant--in the general sense of--because of what you did and--"

"Yeah, okay, you'll have plenty of time to refine your statement after you get me back to my apartment."

"Whoa, wait a second," Clark said. "Chloe, you just woke up from being dead. Don't you think you should at least have your blood pressure checked or something?"

"And let the doctors figure out what happened and turn me into a lab rat? Not a chance." Chloe looked around for anything that had her name on it, and discovered a clipboard on a nearby table, with her death certificate. Moving past the sick feeling in her stomach, Chloe ripped the sheet away from the rest and crumpled it in her hand. "I need the Clark Express to get me the hell out of here, now."

To his credit, Clark had been friends with Chloe long enough that he seemed to know when to not argue with her. Instead of protesting again, he wrapped the sheet tighter around her, and picked her up, running out of the hospital to take her home.

[Some dialogue was borrowed from Smallville, and timelines have been played with in order to deal with the fact that this took me so long to finish. *facepalm* Contains spoilers for the current season of Smallville, not that anyone else watches 'cause y'all are smart...ahem. OOC comments are like pie. *g*]

Chez Antoine, Metropolis, Monday Evening

2007-06-18T22:40:47Z

When Chloe arrived at Chez Antoine, it only took a few moments after giving the maître d' her name for her to realize that this was going to be a very serious meeting. Sure, it was kind of a given that Oliver Queen wouldn't have invited Chloe to dinner for the sheer pleasure of her company. But when she was led to one of the private tables and immediately offered wine, along with a menu that had all the prices removed, she knew she was in for an interesting evening.

Accepting the wine probably wasn't the wisest idea, but if Oliver was shelling out to impress her, the least she could do was enjoy herself while she could.

	Oliver arrived at the restaurant a few minutes early, and was pleased when the maître d' informed him that Chloe was already there. He showed himself back to the table, and grinned widely when he saw her looking over the menu. "Well, if it isn't my favorite reporter," he said, sliding into the chair across from her.
	"And my favorite pretty rich boy," Chloe replied, easily matching his smirk.
	Oliver laughed. "I'm your favorite?"
	"Well, you're the one who hasn't tried to kill me at all yet," Chloe remarked. "That pretty much puts you at the top of the list."
	"It's nice to see you have some standards to how you prioritize." Oliver nodded to the waiter, who came over and poured some wine into his glass, before handing him a menu as well. "All kidding aside, I'm glad you came. It's good to see you again."
	"It's good to see you too, although I didn't think I had much choice in accepting your dinner invitation. You sounded pretty serious on the phone," she said, giving in to instinct and cutting to the chase. "And you don't look any less serious now. What's up?"
	"What, I can't just invite you to dinner? You assume that something has to be up?" At Chloe's skeptical look, Oliver smirked. "Okay, I'll explain everything--after we've ordered."
	Chloe gave him a different look, one that translated into something along the lines of ugh, stupid pretty rich boy, and turned back to her menu. The two of them sat in companionable silence until they ordered, at which point Chloe began staring at Oliver, waiting for him to say something, anything about why she was here. When he stayed silent, she scooted down in her seat and kicked him under the table.
	"Hey! That wasn't very ladylike."
	"You should know by now that the women in my family make terrible ladies," Chloe replied. "Spill already, Oliver. What's going on?"
	Oliver put his hands up in acquiescense. "All right, all right. Honestly, nothing's going on right now, so don't worry. But I have it on good authority that that won't last for long."
	That was more than enough to pique Chloe's attention. "What do you mean? Do you think Lex is up to something?" She scoffed, rolling her eyes at herself. "Of course he's up to something, it's Lex. But is there more going on than normal?"
	"Maybe," Oliver replied. "I've got people keeping an eye on Luthercorp's finances, and it seems that one of their development departments is looking for new facilities, particularly in rural, quiet, out-of-the-way areas. The line they're using is that they're working with potentially hazardous materials, and they want to be in areas where their experiments won't be a danger to others. But I'm thinking--"
	"That Lex is setting up new 33.1 facilities," Chloe finished. "In abandoned areas where no one will find out what he's doing or who he's experimenting on."
	"Exactly. I mean, maybe this information is the truth, and they're really setting up biochemical labs in the middle of nowhere. But I know I'll sleep better at night knowing one way or the other for certain."
	Chloe sat back a bit in her chair, looking smug. "Why do I have a feeling that this is the part of your plan where I come in?"
	"Because you're brilliant," Oliver said. "And savvy, and dedicated to the cause of bringing Lex Luthor to the justice he so rightly deserves. Did I mention brilliant? And pretty?"
	"Relax Oliver, you don't need to butter me up. You know my researching skills are at your command if you need them for this."
	Oliver smiled softly at Chloe. "I was hoping you'd say something like that. There's just one...minor issue."
	"Oh? What?"
	"I need more than just your research skills, Chloe. I need all of your skills - the researching, the investigating, the spying, the breaking and entering..."
	"Whoa, wait a minute," Chloe said, waving her hands. "Not all of those things are in my league, especially from Smallville or Metropolis." When Oliver fell silent for a few moments, everything suddenly clicked into place - the dinner, the compliments, the details about what Luthercorp was doing - and Chloe stared at Oliver. "You don't want me to do this from here."
	After a few more seconds of silence, Oliver finally sighed. "No, I don't. I need someone to actually check these labs, to investigate the surrounding areas to see if anything unusual is going on, to access the security systems and get into the cameras and figure out exactly what's going on. I need someone for serious survelliance, and it has to be someone I can trust. You're the only person I know who fits that description."
	"What about Clark?" Chloe asked.
	"Clark's a great guy, and very useful when brute strength or flannel and sexy dimples are required. But he doesn't have the investigative skills that you have." When Oliver looked at Chloe, it was with total seriousness. "I'm not trying to flatter you, Chloe. I'm serious when I say that you're the only person I can think of who can accomplish what needs to be done."
	"But...I can't just leave. What about my friends, and my job?"
	"I promise, I will do whatever I have to do to make sure that the Daily Planet has a place for you when you're finished. And you don't have to worry about money - on paper, you're going to be one of Queen Enterprises' employees. You'll receive a tidy salary, along with extra pay for all the traveling you'll be doing on the company's behalf. As for your friends," Oliver continued, "I'd think the only people you'd really want to worry about would be Clark and your boyfriend. If I'm not mistaken, Jimmy's off doing some traveling on his own? And wherever you are, Clark can get to you if you really need him."
	Chloe shook her head. "What about Lois? And Lana?"
	"Since when is Lana Luthor your friend?" Oliver asked bitterly, and the look on Chloe's face let him know he'd hit the right nerve there. "And Lois is great, but if there's one thing I've learned about her, it's that her first priority is always number one, and everyone else pales in comparison on her list."
	Chloe had to admit that Oliver had a point, and there was nothing she could really say that would go against either of his opinions. "Hypothetically speaking, if I were to agree to this, when would I start?"
	"As soon as possible," Oliver replied. "If you need time to put in your notice at the Planet, or to find someone else to live with Lois, or to pack and get yourself in the right mindset, that's fine. But time is definitely of the essence here, and the sooner you could start, the better. With that said, I don't expect you to make a decision about this tonight."
	"Oh gee, thanks," Chloe said dryly.
	"I'm serious, Chloe. I understand that this would completely make your life crazy, which is why I don't want you to make a decision until you've had some time to really think about it. But I think you know the kind of good that you'd be doing by helping us out. You can help us find the evidence we need to take Lex down. You do still want that, don't you?"
	"Of course I want that," Chloe snapped. "I won't be safe until Lex is put away for good. No one's safe with him around."
	Oliver smiled, picking up his wine glass to tap it against Chloe's. "And there's something we definitely agree on," he said. "I don't need an answer now, but just promise me you'll at least think about my offer?"
	The idea of leaving the Daily Planet didn't sit well with Chloe, but she had to admit that seriously working to try to take Lex down sounded better than sitting on her hands in Smallville and waiting for the axe to fall. But could she leave her friends again after only being back for a year? She wasn't really sure about that. "I will. Think about it, that is. Can I have until the end of the week to decide?"
	"Yeah, sure," Oliver said. "If nothing else, that'll give my associates some time to get more details about these new facilities. And Chloe?" he continued, looking very serious for the moment. "Whatever you decide, I'll still be here if you need me."
	"Thanks, Oliver," Chloe replied. That made her feel better, and she was sure it showed in her expression. But even knowing that, her decision on this wasn't going to be easy.

The Daily Planet Main Office, Wednesday Afternoon

2007-04-18T17:37:12Z

It was a slow news day. Chloe hated slow news days, because she always ended up bored, and today was no exception. While lounging beside her computer, she realized that it had been way too long since she'd e-mailed Jake and Krycek.

It wasn't until she started typing that she remembered how her attitude shifted when she sent e-mails these days.

To: Jake Gavin, Alex Krycek
From: Chloe Sullivan <chloe.sullivan@thedailyplanet.com>
Subject: Random Hello-ing

Hey guys! How's it going? I just wanted to drop you a line, and say hi, and see how you're both doing. There's a horrible lull in the office right now, so I figured I'd put my time to good use. It's been waaaay too long since I've gotten a chance to send out an e-mail, and that's totally my fault. Things have been crazy around here - crazier than usual, which is saying something.

I don't know what the Lana at school is up to, but the one here managed to get herself pregnant, so I had to be the good, supportive friend while quietly questioning how she could be so crazy as to not properly use protection. Then I got to play bridesmaid in her crazy wedding. Did I mention that her new husband/babydaddy is an evil, conniving bastard who I will be responsible for taking down some day even if it's the last thing I ever do? Yeah, it was definitely a charming gala. I could have had some support in the whole endeavor, but my one other friend skipped out on the wedding because he's still sickeningly in love with Lana despite the fact that she's NEVER GOING TO BE WITH HIM and she's NEVER GOING TO HAVE SEX WITH HIM AGAIN and she's PREGNANT WITH WEALTHY BALD DEMON SPAWN and he's SUCH A FLANNEL-WEARING IDIOT sometimes that I wish I had the physical strength and height to shake the stupidity out of him.

And God forbid I try to deal with my own problems for a few minutes, instead of handling Clark's love troubles or Lana's worries, or my cousin's self-centered needs, or my boyfriend's jealousy issues. I don't even want to admit this - like admitting it will make it less real or something - but I know I can trust you guys not to let the following information spread around anywhere: you know how I told you about the weird people here? The ones who have abilities from being infected by the rocks that fell during our meteor showers? Well, there was a guy who could spot people who were infected, even if their abilities haven't come out yet, and it seems that all my years of getting caught up in investigating meteor freaks have led me to being exposed one too many times. But hey, this opens up a whole new opportunity for me. I mean, now I could either go crazy by inheriting my mother's hereditary mental illness, or I can go crazy after developing zany powers! Sure, the end result of a padded cell in Belle Reve is the same, but at least the ride could be a little different than I expected.

Chloe sat back and looked over what she'd typed. She got about halfway through the message before selecting and deleting the entire thing. Jake and Krycek definitely didn't need to see all of that, not unless she wanted them to make her take a head start towards her future in the psycho ward. After clearing the screen, she changed the recipient list, and started again.

To: FH Peeps
From: Chloe Sullivan <chloe.sullivan@thedailyplanet.com>
Subject: Random Hello-ing

Hey guys! (And ladies!) I just wanted to say hi, and see how things are going. I recently scheduled my time off for Fandom High's graduation, so that got me thinking about everybody. You're all still alive, right? Did the new students get scared away? Has John been turned into any more animals? Has there been lots more boykissy? (I want pictures if there has been!) Tell me about all the wonderful things I've been missing being stuck here in the land where goodness and light goes to die. I miss you all so much!

-Chloe

P.S. Jake, my voicemail sucks, so I only got part of your last message. What was that about someone's daughter?

[If you knew Chloe at all while she was at school, feel free to assume you got the e-mail. It's a pretty broad list, because I said so. *g*]

The Daily Planet, Wednesday Morning

2007-02-14T17:24:36Z

By the time Wednesday morning rolled around, Chloe was so tired of hearing about Valentine's Day that she was ready to hunt down whatever sadistic person had spread pink heart streamers across the doorways of the Daily Planet and give them a piece of their mind.

"I don't understand you, Sullivan." Chloe turned from her desk to look at Madeline, one of the other junior reporters, with whom Chloe had shared her disembowelment-by-streamer idea. "How can you hate Valentine's Day? You have a boyfriend."

"Just because I happen to be dating an admittedly awesome guy doesn't change the fact that this holiday is cruel to those who are single and stuck in an unattached holding pattern," Chloe replied. "The hearts and flowers and candy are all just commercialized excuses for people to spend money."

"So, does that mean you and Jimmy aren't doing anything special for the holiday?"

"We're going out to dinner whenever we get out of here tonight," Chloe explained. "But that's it."

Madeline started snickering and looked at Chloe sympathetically. "Is the handsome Mr. Olsen aware of this?"

"Of course," Chloe replied. "Why do you ask?" Madeline's only response was to point, and Chloe turned to find Jimmy weaving his way through the office, failing miserably at hiding a handful of roses behind his back.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Chloe muttered, giving Jimmy a disbelieving look as he came up to her. "What are you doing here?"

"Wishing my girlfriend a happy Valentine's Day," Jimmy replied, leaning in for a kiss before pulling his hand out from behind his back, and offering the roses to Chloe.

"You didn't need to do this--" Chloe started.

"Yes he did," Madeline interjected. "This is what guys are supposed to do today."

Chloe whirled around and gave Madeline a dirty look. "Shut up, please? I didn't ask you." Madeline smirked and went back to her computer, and Chloe turned back to Jimmy, unsure of what to say. "Forget her, she's crazy. You really didn't need to get me anything, Jimmy. But thank you," she added quickly, before he could get offended at her lack of enthusiasm.

"I know you said you didn't want anything today, but I figured I had a lot of Valentine's Days to make up for, from that whole not-calling-you-when-I-should-have period," Jimmy explained. "And no matter how stupid you might think today is, I still want to celebrate having you in my life."

Chloe melted a little, suddenly caring a lot less that Madeline was probably smirking triumphantly behind her. "Do you always know what to say to win me over?"

"Not always. But I think I'm learning." Jimmy grinned, and Chloe didn't notice that he still had his other hand behind his back until he brought it around. "Speaking of learning, I think I've gathered enough information to know that you might like something to balance out the mushiness of the roses."

It had been a year since she'd seen and used them, but Chloe recognized the black box of Bittersweets immediately. "Where did you find these?!" she squealed.

"In the same store where I got the flowers. The guy couldn't tell me where they came from, but...I don't know, they just seemed like they'd be right up your alley. I--" Jimmy may have meant to say more, but he got cut off by Chloe getting up and wrapping her arms around him, to yank him in for a kiss. "Um. Okay, I take it I chose wisely?"

"You chose very wisely," Chloe said, starting to laugh. If Jimmy had in fact been learning as much as he claimed, he could probably associate that laugh with fond memories of Fandom. "Trust me, you have no idea how perfect of a gift this is." Chloe grinned, leaning in to give Jimmy another kiss, and she couldn't help but think that maybe he was a little bit perfect too.

Arms Hotel - Chloe's Room - Sunday Evening

2006-10-09T01:26:48Z

The weekend had gone by far too quickly, and Chloe found herself packing to go home a lot sooner than she wanted to. Luckily, she still had one bit of unfinished business to deal with before she could leave.

[locked to a specific someone, whee!]

Metropolis University, Chloe's Dorm Room, Thursday Morning

2006-10-05T15:50:48Z

Chloe was sitting in her room, flipping through an instruction manual, when she heard someone knock on the door. "Come in," she said without bothering to look up.

Jimmy opened the door and peeked inside, smirking at Chloe. "Are you sure that's a safe practice, to just let anyone in without asking who it is first? I could have been someone crazy and evil."

"If that were the case, I would have just reached into my desk and pulled out my taser," Chloe replied, finally looking up at him and matching his smirk. "A trick I learned from one of my roommates last year."

"Has anyone ever told you that you can be kind of scary sometimes?" Jimmy asked, coming fully into the room and closing the door behind him.

"Yes, but it's usually implied that it's a compliment." Chloe laughed. "So, what brings you by my neck of the woods?"

"Um. I just, you know, wanted to see how you were doing," he said, taking on the nervous look that Chloe had gotten used to seeing whenever she asked him something he couldn't answer without embarrassing himself. "What have you got there?" he asked, pointing to the manual.

"Oh, it's the instructions for my newest toy." Chloe grinned and picked up the gadget from her bed, showing it to Jimmy.

Jimmy glanced at it for a few moments before declaring, "It looks like a walkman."

Chloe gave him a short sigh and rolled her eyes. "It's not a walkman. It's an EMF meter, to check the room for Lana's ghost."

"You're kidding, right?" Jimmy asked, then shook his head from the look Chloe gave him. "Okay, you're not kidding."

"Hey, you would be amazed at some of the awesome things I've found on eBay. I've bought other stuff from this guy before, and it's all worked perfectly. Most of the time, at least." Chloe looked back at the manual before setting it aside. "Want to see how this one works?"

"I'm more interested in seeing if it works," Jimmy replied, laughing.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "If Lana's right, and there's some sort of ghostly presence here, all of these lights should light up," she said, pointing to the row of lights at the top of the meter.

Jimmy watched as Chloe turned the meter on and waved it around as she walked around the room. "Well, what's it say?"

"That Lana's insane," Chloe replied with a smirk, holding the meter up to show him that only one light was lit. She was about to add more when the door flew open, and Lana came charging in, rushing towards her desk. "Lana! Hi!" Chloe said in surprise. She turned to Jimmy and tossed the EMF meter to him, mouthing, "Hide that!" before glancing back towards Lana. "I thought you had class all morning?"

"I do, but I was halfway to my second class before I realized that I'd left my book and notes here," Lana replied, shuffling through papers in what looked like a bit of a desperate search. "And of course, I can't find any of them now."

Chloe gave Lana a serious look as she watched her tear her desk apart. "Hey Lana, calm down," she said.

"I'm a little too busy to be calm right now." Lana glanced up at Chloe, and then past her as she finally noticed Jimmy. "Oh. Hey Jimmy."

"Hi Lana," he said, waving with one hand as he hid the EMF meter behind his back with the other.

Chloe looked at Jimmy thankfully and turned back to Lana. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Lana sighed as she sat down on her bed in temporary defeat. "No. Did I tell you I've got a date with Lex tonight?"

"Ooh, no. I take it things are going well?" Chloe replied hopefully.

"Not exactly. That's kind of why we're having the date. We're going to a party being thrown by one of Lex's business associates. It'll be nice and formal--"

"And public," Chloe added.

Lana nodded. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I mean, deep down, I know Lex won't hurt me. He's not that kind of guy. But every once in a while, he'll get this look on his face, and for a moment, I can't help but get scared that he's possessed by Zod again, and that he's going to hurt me again. And I hate feeling helpless like that."

Before Chloe could say anything, Jimmy piped up from behind them. "Um, Chloe? Can I talk to you for a second?"

"What? I'm doing roommate consolation here, just hold on," Chloe replied. She gave Lana a sympathetic smile and sat down next to her. "That doesn't make you helpless. It just makes you...normal. It's a natural reaction, and I'm sure Lex understands."

"He does. He's been nothing but understanding. That's why I'm trying to make things work between us again, because I want things to be the way they were before, when I felt safe with him."

"Chloe..." Jimmy started, before stopping himself at Chloe's glance.

"You'll feel safe again," she said to Lana. "Things will be fine, and you'll get to go to all the best parties in town. You know I want details, right?"

Lana laughed softly. "I promise, I'll bring home all the juicy gossip I can get my hands on." She glanced down at her watch, and sighed. "I'd better go before I'm late for my class. Keep an eye out for my notes, would you?"

"Sure," Chloe replied, giving Lana a hug as they stood up. She waited for her to leave and close the door before turning on Jimmy. "Okay, what? What's wrong?"

"I was trying to get your attention. I don't think Lana's as crazy as we might have thought," he said, handing Chloe the now fully-lit EMF meter. "It started going crazy while you guys were talking."

Chloe walked around the room, watching as the lights on the meter stayed lit. Suddenly hit with an idea, she opened the door and headed out of her room. Sure enough, as she walked down the hall, the lights began to go out. But going back, she stepped quickly into her room, and watched as the meter lit up fully again.

"What do you think that means?" Jimmy asked nervously.

"That Lana was right. God, I hate when that happens," Chloe replied, sighing.

"What are you going to tell her?"

Chloe thought about that for a moment. "For right now? Nothing. I don't want her to get worried until I can figure out exactly what we're dealing with here." She glanced around the room, looking for any physical sign of a ghostly presence, but she stopped when she caught sight of the plane ticket to Washington, D.C. sticking out of her mirror.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Jimmy said, following Chloe's line of vision.

Chloe went over and plucked the ticket out of the mirror, and smiled. "I'm going to have to talk to a professional. Luckily, I think I know just the guys to go to."

[Not open for interaction due to time and space, duh. *g* Just establishing some things!]

The Daily Planet, Late Tuesday Evening

2006-10-04T04:22:18Z

"Hey there, pretty lady. Aren't you here awfully late?"

Chloe turned around from her computer, and gave Jimmy Olsen a bemused look. She was having enough trouble trying to find her place with her new internship at The Daily Planet - having Jimmy around the office just made things even more complicated. All she needed was for Clark to suddenly decide that he wanted to be a reporter, and the triangle of awkwardness would be complete.

All the newspapers in all the world, and Jimmy had to come back to work at hers. Of course, if it got her called "pretty lady" more often, Chloe supposed she couldn't complain too much.

"It's not that late," she replied, blatantly ignoring the clock. "And I've got work that needs to be done."

"You've got work that could easily be done tomorrow," Jimmy argued. "I'm positive that the obituaries will not fall apart if you go home for a few hours."

"You're one to talk. You're here just as late as I am."

Jimmy blushed a little and suddenly became very interested in the calendar on Chloe's desk. "Well, I didn't want you to be in the office alone."

"Oh," Chloe said simply, before smiling. "You didn't have to stay. To be honest, I'm not just doing work. I'm kind of hiding out."

"From who?" Jimmy asked.

Chloe sighed. "From Lana. She's gone totally crazy on me, which I guess shouldn't be too surprising, considering the whole 'Lex being possessed and trying to kill her' thing. But this is a whole other type of crazy: she's convinced our room is haunted."

Jimmy's eyes widened and he started to laugh. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, completely. She started out yelling at me for like, moving her things while she was in class, and then she realized that her things were being moved while I was in class too, so..." Chloe trailed off, just barely keeping from rolling her eyes. "I'm being a good roommate for now, because I promised her that I'd check things out. It gave me an excuse to buy some new gadgets off of eBay, at least," she said, laughing. "But near-total avoidance is still my preferred option for dealing with Lana for the moment."

"So," Jimmy started carefully, "if you're trying to stay away, do you maybe want to get together some time this weekend?"

Chloe winced softly. "I can't," she said. "I'm going out of town, for Homecoming at the school I was at last year."

"The one in Virginia?"

"Yeah." Chloe smiled, pleasantly surprised that Jimmy would remember that. "I'm not going to be back until some time on Monday, probably. But...if you're free sometime during the week, maybe we could do something then?"

Jimmy broke out into a grin at that. "Yeah! I mean, sure, that would be great."

"Great," Chloe repeated, before turning back to her computer and shutting it off. "I guess I should get back to my dorm, before Lana gets worried. Will you walk me out to my car? I don't dare take a chance in being in the garage alone. Who knows what evil lurks out there?" she said, batting her eyelashes at him playfully.

Somehow, Jimmy managed to grin even more. "It would be my pleasure."

[Not open for interaction due to time and space, woe! Just establishy.]

James T. Kirk Memorial Causeway, Also Late Friday Night

2006-09-02T04:45:53Z

After packing all of her things, and saying goodbye to everyone that she could, the only thing Chloe really had left to do was step back through to her world at the end of the causeway.

Casting a glance back towards the center of the island, she was struck with exactly how much she was going to miss this place, and all the people in it. But, like she'd told everyone who'd asked, she had a future waiting in Metropolis, and the first steps on the road to ultimate success as a reporter were straight ahead.

If only those steps didn't have to be through a portal that separated her from everyone else, things would be perfect. But, she told herself as she finally stepped through, it wasn't like she wouldn't be back.

[Like the others, aside from some slowplay, Chloe's gone from Fandom, for now. Woe.]

Room 126, All Day Thursday

2006-08-31T12:27:38Z

Chloe had tried just about every procrastinatory trick in the book. She'd cleaned her room and wandered around the dorms and sent out e-mails, and at some point in the morning, she finally realized she couldn't put this off any more.

Her flight was scheduled for Friday evening. Today? She had to suck it up and pack to leave.

[Minor OCD below, for those who want to come by at a specific time. I'll be on slowplay at work throughout the day.]

Room 126, Saturday Morning

2006-08-05T17:05:31Z

The first thing Marty was aware of when he woke up was that he was in bed by himself.

Okay, that was actually the second thing Marty was aware of. The first thing was that he had breasts, and not the lovely pair attached to his girlfriend. The second thing was the fact that he was alone, and his third thought was the realization that he wasn't even in his own room.

He shot up out of bed and ran to the mirror, staring in shock at the tiny blonde image before him. "Sullivan?! What the hell?" he yelled, before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "Okay. Relax. This is all just a weird dream." He leaned in and smacked himself on the cheeks a few times, hoping to wake up. "Or maybe not."

There were a few moments where Marty wondered if it would be best to just go back to bed and hide until this was all over. But those thoughts passed, and after raiding Chloe's closet for the most conservative outfit he could find (really, it wasn't right for one person to own so much pink and lace), he stormed out of the room. First, he had to find Angela and make sure she was all right. Then, it was off to find a proper suit.

Room 126, Wednesday Morning

2006-06-28T14:24:01Z

Chloe blinked a little sleepily, thankful that she hadn't had enough to drink the night before to wake up with a hangover. Waking up pleasantly sore? That was a different story, and from a much different source, she was reminded as she rolled over find Alec still in her bed. There may have been some quiet giggling after that.

[open to Alec whenever...stupid time zones.]

Chloe Sullivan's Yearbook

2006-05-04T20:45:27Z

Chloe has the following pages marked in her yearbook:

Zombie Weekend
Snow Monster Weekend

Halloween Party
Homecoming
Prom

MFCD
Drinking Games
Detention with the Mountie
Wee!tiny Weekend

Student Council
The Fandom Hightimes

East Attic, Friday Morning

2006-04-14T11:32:50Z

Chloe shuffled quietly out of her room ~~before V woke up, zomg she's a faster typer than I am!~~, suitcase in hand, and did her best not to frown at Bel sleeping on the couch. He's really trying to help this time, she told herself, for the slight reassurance that thought gave her.

Grabbing pen and paper, she wrote a quick note to Veronica and Piper:

Dear Roomies,

Got a call from my dad last night. I have to go home for a few days - my best friend's dad just died, and he asked for me to come home, which means he must really, really need help. Please take care of yourselves while I'm gone. I'm totally going to be thinking about you guys and Phoebe until I get back.

--Chloe

She left the note sitting on one of the tables where the girls would be sure to see it, and one distressed voicemail later, and she was up and out the door.

[Just establishing why Chloe won't be around this weekend, because she would totally be involved otherwise.]

East Attic, Monday Morning

2006-03-06T22:08:06Z

Chloe taps away at her laptop as she relaxes on her bed, trying to find a good way to start on the pile of e-mails that she has to send. She's been hoping to use this week to get caught up on things while everyone is away, but she can't seem to get her mind off of Angel long enough to be anything close to productive.

[for the roommates]

mycanonhatesme @ 2006-02-15T11:13:00

2006-02-15T16:34:29Z

To: lois.lane@metropolis.edu
From: chloe.sullivan@fandomhigh.edu
Subject: Have You Had Your Valentine Spayed or Neutered?

Hey Lois! How was your Valentine's Day? Please tell me you didn't spend it with vile-smelling frat boys? Honestly, you can do so much better than them! ~~And no, I don't mean with Clark. Hands off!~~

My day was loads of fun. I bought some of those really obnoxious candy hearts with cute little messages on them, only the messages were really kind of delightfully snarky. Then, I established a firm position at the local coffee shop to pelt those who were being too schmoopy. Which ended up being pretty much everyone, since it was Valentine's Day and all.

But before you say anything, no, I didn't end the day by myself. My roommate decided that her friend from home and I need to be hooked up, so I met up with him, and we actually had a surprisingly nice conversation. Of course, it helps that he's really, really hot. He's a lot smarter than he looks, and he's got these big, strong arms...and I'm just going to stop there before I give you more teasing fodder. Suffice it to say that I think we'll be talking again, even if it does mean Veronica's going to be unbearably smug about the whole thing.

Oh, and John's animal of the day? A cute little puppy. At least he's being turned into things that are cute and cuddly now.

Anyway, I should run, because I've got class first thing this morning. Tell everyone I said hello, and give your latest boytoy a grope for me!

Love,
Chloe

East Attic, Chloe's Room

2006-02-04T15:00:42Z

Chloe finishes packing her bookbag and getting ready for work. She may be throwing things into the bag a little more forcefully than necessary, now that she's listened to the radio broadcast. She's still muttering something about stupid people trying to get themselves killed and not taking her with them as she heads out.

OOC: Fandom High Times Community Access

2006-02-02T22:09:56Z

Would the following people please check their invites to get themselves added as members to fhightimes:

anole_x, cerulean__eyes, chasingangela, future_visions, krycek_rat, peter__parker, auroryborealis, threeweapons, and marsheadtilt

If I missed someone, just let me know, and I'll get an invite sent.

E-mail to the potential newspaper staff

2006-01-25T21:15:03Z

To: Victor Borkowski, Boone Carlyle, Angela Chase, Jake Gavin, Rory Gilmore, Phoebe Halliwell, Alex Krycek, Veronica Mars, Peter Parker, Alanna Trebond
CC: Rita Skeeter
Subject: First Newspaper Meeting of the Year!

Hey guys (and ladies)! I just wanted to make sure you all knew that the first newspaper meeting of the year will be tomorrow (Thursday) at 4pm FHT. We'll be discussing what sorts of things you guys want to do to contribute, and I'll have a bunch of sugary foods, so you really should come. See you guys there!

Chloe Sullivan