Reclaimation

By Amara83

Notes: For the Smallville Swing Challenge by Signe.

It had been a year since Lana had left Smallville. She had gone off to Paris, and the small Kansas town was nothing compared to the bright Parisian nights. She sighed as she gathered her things off the luggage carrier when a familiar voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Hey Lana, need a ride home?" There he was, her knight in shining armor, Lex Luthor. They had kept in touch over the previous year, and Lex had even come to visit her a few times whenever he was on business trips. It had been a difficult year for Lex, what with his father in jail and the deterioration of his friendship with Clark Kent. Although Lex had done some shady things in the past, Lana believed that deep down, Lex just wanted to do the right thing. She gave him a hug, and they made their way to the parking area.

"A limo, Lex? That's going to stick out a little don't you think?" Nevertheless, Lana hid a smile as she and Lex got into the limo. He had tons of money, fast cars, and the only mansion in Smallville, but he liked sharing his wealth with his friends. It was because of him Lana had been able to go to Paris in the first place. He was the one that had gotten her a plane ticket out of the tiny town, and he was the one who showed up to see her off. Unlike someone else she didn't particularly want to think about at the moment.

They rode in silence for a while, each in their own thoughts. They passed what used to be the Talon, which now boasted a sign for Los Charros, a Mexican restaurant. Lana felt a small panic attack as the building passed them. It was there that Emily had returned, this time at the age she would have been had she not died ten years ago. Emily was a clone of her former self, a clone that still thought like an eight year old, and that she and Lana were best friends. The girl had tried to kill Lana twice, but according to LuthorCorp. Scientists, there was no way Emily could return to the outside world. Lana hoped that was true.

LuthorCorp.

"Goodnight, Emily. Pleasant dreams."

The last technician left, finally. The past year had been horrible in Emily's mind. She had been stuck here in the lab, unable to go about as she pleased. She couldn't even phase through the walls anymore, so now she was caged like an animal. It wasn't really her fault she had killed her father and that man at the Talon, they were just being mean to her, saying that she couldn't spend time with Lana anymore. It didn't help that Lana had told Emily that she was leaving Smallville. Emily hadn't wanted her to leave, so she had decided to keep Lana in her family's old barn. Lana turned out to be just as mean as Emily's father, and Emily had tried to kill her too.

Best friends forgive each other though, Emily thought as she turned out her beside lamp and snuggled under her comforter. She and Lana would be friends again, the other girl just couldn't see that yet. They'd be best friends no matter what.

Lana turned down the sheets in her old bed. She tried hard to relax, and finally, she managed drift off into a fitful sleep. The next thing she knew, Chloe was shaking her awake.

"Lana! What's wrong? You were screaming."

Lana curled up into a ball and sighed. "I had a dream about Emily. You remember her, right?" When Chloe nodded, Lana continued. "I dreamed she was back, and she had caught me again. I was so scared, because this time, no one could help me."

Chloe gave Lana a quick squeeze. "Everything's going to be okay Lana. Remember, the people over at LuthorCorp. Are making sure she can't get out. Don't worry. Get some sleep."

Lana nodded and waited until Chloe left her room. She dug around under her bed until she found an old shoe box. Inside, there were pictures of a younger Lana with Emily. They had been the best of friends back then, so close they were almost sisters. That had changed when Emily died. Lana had moved on, grown up, and although she did miss Emily, she couldn't stay in the past.

Shaking her head to clear away her thoughts, Lana put the pictures back in the box, turned the lights out and tried to sleep. "I can't change what happened. It wasn't my fault," Lana said out loud. She snuggled down under the covers, not seeing the familiar face in her window.

"She's gone, sir!"

"What do you mean she's gone?" The head of the research team demanded.

"Emily's gone. She broke out of her room, see?" Here the younger scientist pointed to Emily's enclosed room. The glass on one side had been busted, the edges of remaining glass gaped at them like the jaws of a monster.

"We've got to find her. She's extremely dangerous. Remember, she has the mind set of an eight year old, and if you get in her way she could kill you."

"Wow Lana, I can't believe you went into Victoria's Secret all by yourself. You even bought a thong, for God's sake."

"Yeah, well, I guess I'm not the same Lana that you knew." Lana enjoyed the fact that Chloe had looked shocked when she had gone straight into VS without any prodding on Chloe's part. The two of them had had a fun time shopping at the mall in Metropolis that day. Lana had seemed to forget all about Emily, and Chloe was determined to keep it that way.

They decided to head to the food court since it was almost one-thirty. Getting some food from Little Tokyo, a Japanese place that Chloe decided was the safest out of all the places there, the two of them settled down by the widows to eat.

"So how have things been while I was away?" Although Chloe and Lana had spent hours talking about Lana's trip to Paris, they hadn't really talked about anything that had gone on in Smallville.

"What is there to tell? School, life, prom and graduation. That's pretty much what's happened. Pete actually came down to be my date, and Clark didn't show up. Lex was a chaperone, and I think he got hit on by all the single female teachers...Lana, are you listening?" Chloe waved her hand in front of Lana's unblinking gaze, but the other girl looked as if she was about to run for it.

Chloe looked where Lana had been staring. There, sitting on a bench outside the main opening of the mall, was Emily. She got up and walked inside, walking around people with a determined look on her face. It hit Chloe just then that Emily was, of course, looking for Lana. How did she know we were here? She glanced over at Lana to see that the other girl was shaking.

Without another thought, Chloe helped Lana up, and the two girls headed in the opposite direction. They were parked on the other side of the mall, and if they were careful, they just might make it there before Emily could spot them.

"How could she have gotten out? Oh God, what if she tries to kill me again?" Lana sounded slightly hysterical as she and Chloe raced along, trying not to slam into people or trip over their own feet. Finally, they reached the doorway leading to the parking lot. Running past onlookers, who Chloe was sure were wondering if she and Lana had gone crazy, Chloe managed to find her car.

"Lana, hi!" There, waiting by the car, was Emily. Chloe had forgotten that Emily was really fast, a side effect of her being a clone. Emily stepped around the side of the car to face Lana and Chloe. "Can Lana and I have a minute alone?" she asked.

"No Emily, you can't. Whatever you want to talk to Lana about, you can say it in front of me."

Chloe could tell she hit a nerve with the other girl, but she wasn't about to leave Lana alone with Emily. If Emily killed her, then so be it, but she knew she'd stay no matter what the consequences.

"Why won't you be my friend, Lana? What did I do to make you so mad at me?"

Chloe saw anger flash in Lana's eyes, and she took an involuntary step back.

"What did you do? I can't believe you're asking me this! Emily, you tried to kill me! You kidnapped me and acted like it was just a game! I'm sorry that you died, and I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I'm sorry that your dad cloned you and that so much has changed, but I can't be your friend!"

Emily trembled. For a moment, Chloe had visions of Lana and herself getting in the car and running Emily over without a thought. There were too many people though, which was probably one of the reasons that Emily wasn't going nuclear, and one of the reasons Chloe's vision wouldn't be the best idea in the world.

"Do you have any idea what it's like being me?" Emily screamed back suddenly. Chloe noticed a woman with her two children look towards them, then hurry away whispering to themselves.

"It's not like I don't know I'm not supposed to be here. I'm supposed to be dead, I know that! I was eight years old a year and a half ago, but look at me now! Now, I'm eighteen, and I live in a cage surrounded by scientists. I'm a freak, Lana! I don't have any friends, you won't be my friend, and I don't have any family. All the people that cared about me are gone."

"You killed your dad, Emily! That's why he's not here. I know what he did was wrong, but I know a part of him loved you. That's why he brought you back. He just wanted you with him again." Lana took a breath, but she was still shaking. She was tired of running from Emily, tired of being afraid.

"I just can't be your friend, Emily. Too much has changed; I've changed. I'm not the same person I was when you died. So much has happened to me that we couldn't relate to each other anymore. It doesn't help that you tried to kill me twice, either. We couldn't be friends automatically, picking up where we left off. Things have changed, Emily. I know it's hard for you to see it, but it has. I'm sorry."

Lana took a deep breath. Emily hadn't moved, but she was still shaking. She noticed that the other girl had tears in her eyes. Lana couldn't believe it; Emily was crying. More so, Lana had madeher cry, and she was sure that she had never made someone cry before.

Emily had dropped to her knees, sobbing into her hands. "I'm so sorry Lana! All I wanted was for the two of us to be friends again. You were the only girl that I ever liked back then and I thought that if you saw me again, we could be friends like we used to." She looked up at Chloe and continued.

"I know what I did was wrong, I shouldn't have tried to kill you and I know I shouldn't have killed my dad. I want to be normal, Lana, like you. I want to go to school, have friends, maybe even have a boyfriend, but I can't. I'm stuck in a lab being studied for something I don't even know about. I'm just so lost..." Her voice broke again and Lana realized that no matter what Emily had tried to do or had done, she was still just a young girl. Lana crouched down next to Emily and held her, both of them crying, and leaning on each other.

There was a sudden screech of tires that snapped them out of their tears. Looking up, Lana saw five men come out of a black van and head toward Emily. Before the other girl could run, one of the men aimed a gun at her and shot.

"Emily!" Lana caught her before she fell to the ground. In Emily's neck was a small tranquilizer dart. She wasn't dead. Lana took a couple of deep breaths as two of the men lifted Emily from her lap.

"We're very sorry about this, Miss Lang." One man, a scientist from what Chloe could gather from his lab coat, was helping Lana to her feet. Lana shook him off.

"I don't want her in the lab anymore." Before the scientist could object, Lana continued.

"She wants to be a normal girl. She wants to go to school and lead a normal life. Don't keep her locked up. She's really not all that bad." Chloe nodded in agreement.

"Well, I'm not really sure of what I could do. Mr. Luthor wants her for some sort of project of his..."

"Yeah, and he's in jail, remember?" Chloe said. "I don't think he'll be needing Emily from there."

Epilogue

"Lana! Come on, we're going to be late!"

Lana raced down the stairs and hopped into Chloe's car. The two of them were on their way to see Emily. Since the scientists at LuthorCorp. Saw no need to keep Emily in their lab, due mostly to the fact that Lionel Luthor was in jail and didn't have much use for a clone, as well as the lawsuit against them by Chloe's father for child abuse, they decided that the best thing for her to do was have a family. She was adopted by a family that Gabe Sullivan knew from work, and they welcomed her into their family wholeheartedly.

Emily was given several tests to determine where she stood academically. She would need to be home schooled, but she had learned at an accelerated rate, and ended up graduating after a year. Chloe and Lana were on their way to Emily's graduation party.

The party was in full swing by the time they both got there. Music was playing loudly and a table at the far end was filled with food and gifts. Chloe spotted Emily and she and Lana made their way over to the other girl.

"Oh, I'm so glad you guys could make it!" Emily beamed. She introduced them to some of the kids she'd had her home school classes with. Everyone was friendly and had nothing but nice things to say about Emily. The three of them made their way to the center of the dance floor and began moving to the pulsing beat of the drums.

As she danced, Lana thought about what had happened over those first few days she had returned to Smallville. She had been afraid of Emily, but looking at her now, Lana recalled the days before Emily died; the ones filled with laughter from two small girls and the promise of being friends forever. Maybe now, they could give forever a try.