This is a rewrite of my story 'Without a Trace'. I went back a realized i missed a whole lot of plot points. I have worked for a long time on the ending and my take on how Clark would reveal his secret to Lana. So please enjoy and tell me what you think. As always, i do not own Smallville. Awardwinningsmile

"Just hand it over, please." A girl with long dark red hair was standing over a cashier and his wife her right arm out stretched. "Please, it wont be as bad if you just listen." the girl pleaded again. The man huddled over his wife but shook his head, gripping the key in his hand tighter. "No, you don't understand! I-" A flash of green light erupted out of the girls hand and hit the man and his wife. Their bodies fell limp. "No!" The look of shock on the girls face turned into tears. She turned around, staring into the shadows. "You said- you promised you wouldn't hurt them if I could get the key." She was shaking.

"We don't have the time." A deep voice came from the shadows. "take it from him."

" No, I'm not doing this anymore." said the girl, stepping away from the bodies on the ground; tears still pouring out of her hazel eyes.

A terrible laugh came from the corner. "My dear, you have no choice, or did you forget?" A man or the remains of what used to be a man stepped out of the corner. Even out of the shadows only half of his face was visible the other half was covered in dried blood, and had an empty eye socket.

The man pulled the ripped trench coat tighter around his body. "You have no choice." he repeated.

The girls face contorted into a grimace but she took a step closer to the dead man and then another before she dropped to her knees, and reached out a shaking hand to wrench open the one holding the key. Still crying, the girl slid the key from the cashiers pasty white hand. She looked up to the still shocked open eyed expression on the man's face. Hating herself more by the second.

The man in the corner grinned wickedly as he was handed the key. He limped over to the safe under the front desk and with trouble knelt to unlock it. Just as he was about to open the safe he fell to ground, blood pouring from his skull.

The girl stood over him holding a small, very sharp knife that was covered in blood, trembling with a look of mixed hatred and horror on her face. The man turned his head toward her, unable to focus, "Ginny.." he said feebly before his head dropped again and he drew his last breath.

"I haven't forgotten." Ginny said quietly, still shaking she let the knife drop from her hand. She stood there for only a second before wiping sweat and blood from her face and stepping away from the puddle of crimson red seeping its way across the floor. Pressing the emergency button under the counter on her way out the door, she ran out into the town street littered with news papers labeled the Daily Planet.


"No way! I'm not wearing it." Clark stood defiantly, holding a red and blue spandex material in his hand.

"Come on, just try it on."

Clark sighed, tired of fighting this matter with Pete, he fumbled to put the tight clothing on over his boxers. He stared in horror at himself in the mirror. "This is your idea of the perfect costume? I'm going to a Halloween dance, not joining the circus."

"You're a superhero. I got it from the costume closest at the high school, it's an old mascot idea. S for Smallville high." Pete said, standing to join Clark in front of the mirror.

Clark studied himself again. The costume had blue arms, legs, and blue torso with a red S on it, and a red cape. It was extremely tight spandex and he could clearly see his bunched up boxers.

"Pete, no superhero would ever wear this. Beside, if it's so great, how come you're not wearing it?"

"It's not my size." Pete shrugged. "Besides, I'm going for more of a prince charming look."

Clark shook his head and attempted to pull the spandex off. he struggled for a bit before falling sideways to the floor. Exasperated, Clark tore the tight clothing off of his body.

"Hey!" Pete stopped laughing. "I was supposed to return that!"

"Sorry Pete," Clark said getting to his feet. "It has a mind of it's own." They both stared down at the torn fabric.

Mrs. Kent stuck her head in Clark;s room. "Pete, your mom just called, she wants you home for dinner."

"Alright, thanks Mrs. Kent. See you later man." Pete patted Clark on the back and followed Martha out of the room.

Clark turned around, pulling on jeans and a blue t-shirt before heading downstairs.

"So how's the costume hunt coming?" Martha Kent asked her son as he walked past her to the fridge.

"I'm not sure I'm going to go to the dance." Clark took out the milk and chugged it from the carton.

His mom slapped him with a dish towel. "How many time do I have to tell you, use a glass."

"Sorry." Clark grinned.

"Anyway, you can't give up so fast, it'll be fun."

"What will be fun?" Jonathan walked into the room.

"The Halloween dance." Clark answered. "What did you wear for yours?"

"Hmm- I went as a prince."

"Great" Clark said unenthusiastically.

"What's wrong with that?" His dad said indignantly.

"Nothing. Except I can't wear something like that unless Pete and I want to pass as Siamese twins."

"You'll figure something out. Martha took the milk carton from Clark and put it back in the refrigerator.


"Hey, Clark! Pete! Wait up!"

Clark turned around to see Chloe running towards him down the locker filled hall way of Smallville High, holding a copy of the Daily Planet in one hand and a Styrofoam coffee cup in the other. She dodged around a boy who had dropped his books. "Did you guys hear about what happened over in Grandville on Saturday?" Chloe breathed as she stopped beside him. "A cashier and his wife of a local store, the uh-" She glanced at the paper. "The Dylan's were killed and so was the suspected attacker." She told Clark and Pete's blank looks. "You wanna know the weird part?"

"You mean you haven't told us yet?" Pete said with a look that said he knew they were about to be pulled into another wall of weird story.

Chloe continued, clearly excited about this new mystery. "I looked at the police reports, there were no traces of blood on the victims, that's what really gets me. There is no sign that the Dylan's were murdered. No bullet holes, no signs of struggle. Almost as if they died of old age." Chloe walked over to her computer as they entered the Torch office and reached down to boot it up. "I'm going to see if I can find the medical records. If the autopsies show no poisons, I'm at a loss."

"When did the police find them?" Clark questioned taking the copy of the Planet Chloe was holding.

"Saturday night, somebody pressed the alarm." Chloe said

"Wait, Chloe this says that a knife was found on the scene." Clark pointed at the article.

"Yeah it was used to kill the attacker but the Dylan's weren't cut."

"Did they kill the man then?"

"There was blood all over the knife but none on the victims. Someone else was there but if the police have I.D.ed the finger prints, they're keeping it quiet."

"Definitely one for the wall." Pete chimed in.

Chloe looked up from her computer. "So, on a brighter note, are you two going to the Halloween dance?"

Pete nodded and Clark shrugged. "Either of you have dates yet?" Chloe glanced quickly at Clark.

Pete grinned "I've got someone in mind. And we all know who Clark is going to take." Clark looked at Pete, shifting his backpack to the other shoulder.

"She probably already has a date."

"Who are you kidding?" Pete said. "I bet you anything she's waiting for you to ask her."

Clark shifted his backpack again and studied his zipper.

Chloe took a swig of her coffee. "We should get to class." Chloe said with the air of someone who is changing the subject. She straightened up and grabbed her books. Clark followed her out the door, grateful for the change in subject. "Clark, will you help me with the Dylan's story after class today? I should have the autopsy report by then."

"Sorry Chloe, I told Lana that-"

"That you would help her at the Talon. Yeah. See you later Pete." Chloe sped up and was soon lost in the sea of people. Clark stopped and stared after her in confusion.

"What was that abo-"

"Clark, you know that Chloe has always been a little sensitive about you blowing her off for Lana." Pete gave Clark a wise look.

"Yeah, but it's not like I had promised to do this with her." Clark started walking again. Pete shrugged .

"Catch you later man." Clark lifted his hand up in goodbye then continued down the hall opposite the one Chloe and Pete had gone down.


"Can you take these to table two?" Lana handed a tray of coffees over to Clark. She leaned against the counter. "You are a lifesaver Clark." She smiled when he came back with an empty tray.

"Well I figure what's the point of having friends if you can't get them to work for free." Clark grinned jokingly.

"Very True. So, how goes the hunt for a costume?"

Clark shook his head. "I don't think costumes are for me." Clark said, remembering the red and blue super hero one.

Lana shrugged. "Well, there are no rules that say you have to have a costume to go." Lana said in a matter of fact tone.

"Are you going with anyone?" Clark asked in a casual way.

The corners of Lana's mouth twitched. "No, not yet."

A bubble appeared in Clark's chest. She didn't have a date. Maybe she was waiting for him to ask her after all. "Lana..." Clark started, mustering his courage "Lana, would you- " At that moment Chloe came banging through the Talon door.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Clark I thought you might like to hear this." Chloe was holding papers in her out stretched hand. Clark took them from her. "The autopsies didn't report any poisons, actually, the Dylan's were completely healthy, aside from the fact that they were dead."

"What are you talking about?" Lana questioned. Chloe filled her in as Clark read the autopsy report. "That means that whoever killed them-"

"Is either rich enough to develop a new way to commit murder, or a meteor freak that has some kind of power to kill without a trace." Clark finished.


Ginny hid behind the door of Cadmus labs, listening to the scientist inside. "Hopefully this time we have found something that will work." He was talking to a blonde girl who was sitting on a metal table. "Dr. McBride will be here shortly to take you back to Belle Reeve so we don't have very long to test it." The man slipped a blue arm brace on the girl that covered her whole lower arm, from about an inch below her elbow to the middle of her palm, except one hole for her thumb. "The inside is lined with iron so it should keep you steady." he said more to himself than the girl, looking down at his clipboard. "Ok, try to teleport." Ginny was sure she had miss-heard the man but peaked out from her hiding place to get a better look. The girl stared unblinkingly at the man then simply vanished and reappeared about five feet away from the scientist. Ginny gasped and fell from her squatting position. She scrambled onto her hands and knees looking to see if the scientist had heard her. Luckily, he had slammed his clipboard onto the table at same moment. "Damn! I thought we had it this time." The girl gave him a broken smile but didn't say anything.

"Ah, Alicia, how are you doing?" Another man had entered the room from the door opposite Ginny.

"Things are not progressing as fast as we had hoped Doctor McBride. We haven't been able to find a way to distribute the iron properly. She can still teleport. It seems she would need to be covered in it to stop her from using her power." Said the scientist handing over his clipboard.

"Well, we will just have to try something else." Dr. McBride sighed as he ran his eyes over the clipboard. "Let me know when you have come up with something else." he handed back the clip board and took Alicia by the arm, taking off the wrap and laying it on the table. "Come on, time to go, good day Mr. Thatch."

"Good day." Thatch stood, making notes on his charts for a minute, then headed out the same door that Alicia and the doctor had gone. Ginny stood up carefully brushing the dirt of the back of the jacket she had tied around her waist over her worn jeans. She looked around to making sure that no one else was there then walked as fast as she could without making her sneakers squeak to the metal table where the blue brace was. She looked around again then picked up the brace, feeling the inside of it.

"Iron lined." she murmured and slipped the wrap over her right arm. Ginny flexed her fingers then held up her arm, aiming at nothing in particular. She never had to really aim. She screwed up her face in concentration, focusing on her arm. She stood there for minutes putting all energy into her concentration, sweat beaded on her forehead. She could feel it starting, first a tingling then burning. Finally Ginny let out a whine of pain and a flash came out of her palm. Come on, please keep It in. Ginny smiled in triumph as the light shrunk until it was just a glow under the wrap and the burning died away. She sighed and sunk to her knees, lowering her hand. Ginny massaged the palm of the wrapped hand, breathing hard. It worked! Ginny looked around. Nothing was damaged, the brace had stopped It. A drop of blood fell onto her jeans. She brought the back of her hand to her nose. She felt blood and whipped it off with the bottom of her black tank top. Ginny looked down at the brace. Smiling, she got to her feet, leaning against the table to regain her strength.

"Hey!" Ginny jumped up like a startled deer and turned around to face Dr. Thatch. "Your not supposed to be in here!" The Doctor rushed forward, Ginny dodged but held her foot out causing him to stumble, then kicked out with her other foot hitting him square in the back. He slid a few feet into the wall. He tried to get up right away but was so disoriented that he dropped back to the floor. Ginny stood there for a second ashen faced before running out the door she had hidden behind which lead out of the building. She ran as fast as she could across the pavement. The alarm sounded behind her as she climbed the high metal fence and kept running.


Clark sat down at the table and started to poke food into his mouth with a fork. "You've been awfully quiet Clark, what's going on?" Martha Kent looked up from the bills that piled up in front of her.

"There was a murder in Grandville that I'm helping Chloe figure out." That was partly true, but most of his quietness was due to the fact he hadn't yet managed to ask a certain coffee house owner to be his date.

"Now I don't want you kids getting mixed up in a murder investigation." Jonathan pointed a forkful of chicken at Clark.

"Don't worry dad, I'm not going to put myself on the police's radar." Clark said stuffing his own fork into his mouth. "Anyway, I've got a load of homework, so I'll be up in the loft if anyone needs me. He scrapped the last bit of potato off his plate and put it in the sink on his way out the door.

Clark climbed the stairs to the loft and made his way over to the couch. He leaned back and took a breath before reaching into his backpack for his books. Clark laid them out on the table before heading over to the small desk to find a pencil. Clark squatted down to rummaged for a pencil then stopped when he heard movement in the corner. He looked side ways at the spot the noise had come from and stood up, and walked quietly over to the corner. Clark pulled off a sheet that had been loosely hanging over some old boxes, revealing a girl huddled in between them. She scooted back into the wall looking scared. Clark took a step back in surprise. The girl had dark red hair and dirt all over, dried blood streak from her nose across her pale face. She could be no older than fourteen. Not wanting to scare the girl, Clark spoke softly. "Hi. Who are you?" The girl opened her mouth but nothing came out. Clark held out his hand for her. The girl looked at it, then back at Clark's face. "Don't be afraid." Clark said soothingly. The girl opened her mouth again and spoke slowly.

"I'm hiding." She said in no more than a whisper, eyes wide. Clark thought that that was apparent. She looked so scared.

"It's ok." Clark said softly. She took his hand and he helped her up and lead her out of the corner. "What's your name?" He asked.

"Ginny." The girl said stronger than her last words.

"Who are you hiding from Ginny?" Clark asked. Ginny looked at him, shook her head and backed towards the stairs. "Please, Maybe I can help." Clark took a step forward. Ginny shook her head more vigorously.

"No... you don't want to.." Ginny started coughing, then fell to her hands and knees, and vomited. She slumped to the floor and fell unconscious.

"Ginny?" Clark ran over to her and checked her pulse before picking her up. "Mom! Dad!" Clark picked Ginny up gently in his arms and sped back to the house.


"How is she?" Clark and his parents were standing outside a hospital room talking to the doctor.

"She was dehydrated, now that she has gotten fluids in her she should be fine with a bit of rest." The doctor looked toward the hospital room she had just come from. Ginny was sitting up on the bed having her lungs listened to. "We don't see dehydration like hers very often around here. I have to ask you again, do you have any idea were she has been or where her parents are?" All three Kent's shook their heads.

"She just kind of turned up on our farm." Mr. Kent stated. Clark looked back into the room. The nurse was now trying to take off the brace Ginny had on her arm but she wouldn't let the nurse touch it.

"Where is she going to stay?" Clark intervened in the conversation. The doctor sighed.

"Until we find her parents or a foster home Ginny will have to stay in the juvenile detention center."

"Mom, we can't leave her there." Clark turned to face his mother. He knew she was a sucker for strays. Martha nodded.

"Ginny can stay with us."

The doctor smiled approvingly. "That would be much appreciated I'm sure, thank you."

Jonathan sighed then chuckled.

"Why does this all seem so familiar." Clark smiled, knowing why his father found all this funny. He remembered the last kid that they had found and had taken in. Ryan had been very special.


"Thank you Mr. And Mrs. Kent, I appreciate it." Ginny stepped inside the Kent's house looking around.

"It's our pleasure Ginny. I know you talked to the doctors, but are you sure there is nothing you can tell us?" Martha urged. Ginny smiled politely but didn't say anything. After a few seconds Martha broke the silence. "Well, you can sleep in Clark's room, it's up this-"

"Oh, no Mrs. Kent, I'll be fine on the couch I don't want to put anyone out." She glanced quickly towards Clark.

"Oh, It's fine just-."

"No really, please. I could use a shower though." She ran her fingers through her hair.

"Of course. Up the stairs and to the left, we'll find some new clothes for you tomorrow." Martha looked at Ginny's dirty shirt and jeans.

Ginny nodded and headed up the stairs. When they heard the bathroom door close Martha turned to Clark and Jonathan.

"Poor girl, she hasn't lost her memory, she just doesn't want to tell us." She shrugged and walked to the hall closet and pulled out blankets for the couch.

"She said she was hiding." Clark leaned against the kitchen table. "When I found her up in the loft she said she was hiding from someone."

"Who would be chasing a fourteen year old girl?" Jonathan said, helping Martha straighten the blankets.

Clark shrugged. "I'll wait up and make sure she gets settled." Clark reached for a book that was sitting on the kitchen table labeled 'Supernatural'.

"Ok, tell her that if she's hungry she can help herself to anything in the fridge." Martha kissed her son goodnight and headed up the stairs with her husband. Clark sat down at the table and opened his book, skimming the pages to find where he had left off. A few minutes later Ginny came down the stairs. Clark looked up. ⌠Hey, my mom set out some blankets for you on the couch. Oh, and our fridge is your fridge." He grinned broadly at her. Ginny nodded and walked towards the couch, when she got there she turned around.

"Thank you Clark. Not many people would invite strangers that appeared in their barn into their homes." Her look was serious

"Think nothing of it." he looked at Ginny for a moment. "So, what's up with the brace? Did you hurt your arm?" Ginny's hand went instinctually to the palm of her other one. She nodded.

"I guess you can say that." Clark looked at her, his green eyes filled with concern.

"You know, we can't help you find your parents if you don't tell us what happened." Ginny wouldn't meet his gaze.

"There's no one to find. They died. In a car crash when I was eleven." Ginny's eyes were shining softly when she looked up. "I didn't want to say anything because-. there are just some things people are better off not knowing about me." Clark understood why she didn't want people knowing her parents had died. People would give her the same look they gave him when he said he was adopted.

"Where are your real parents?" Ginny asked as if she had read his mind.

Clark raised his eyebrows in surprise. "How did you know?"

"You look nothing like the Kents." Ginny grinned, then seemed to pick her words carefully. "and I see it in your eyes. They're like mine."

Clark's stomach tightened. "I don't know what happened to my real parents." Which was the truth. Kind of. Clark changed the subject. He could see from the look on Ginny's face that she was about to question him more and he really didn't want to lie to her. "Where have you been since it happened?"

Clark studied Ginny's face, trying to read her expression. Her mouth twitched downwards slightly before she put on the blankest look Clark had ever seen.

"Thanks again Clark." Ginny said, she sat down on the couch.

Clark frowned. She looked just like Lex did when he wasn't being honest.

"The offer for my bed is still open." Clark said as Ginny lay down and pulled wet hair off her back.

"That's ok, I think I can fit on the couch better then you anyway." She pulled the covers over herself so only her shoulders and head were visible and closed her eyes, slamming the door on their conversation.

Clark frowned again, but put his book in his backpack and left to go upstairs.