Disclaimer: not mine
A.N: I don't know if this is a one shot or a prologue. No decisions yet. Review.
It was easy. They watched her and it was obvious from the start that she would have no trouble with it. Adjusting. Slipping into someone else's skin. The skin of a friend. It was easy for her, and that's what made it so hard to watch.
Lana Lang, stumbling upon another filthy and prison worthy secret of the senior Luthor's. Only this time, there were no safe houses provided by the man's son. There were no explosions and underground tunnels. There was really no warning.
There was just Lois Lane with a migraine, asking Lana to let her off work early. And there was Lana, always caring, always compassionate. Lois with a splitting headache and Lana offering her bed upstairs for a nap. Sleep it off. You can't drive like this. I'll bring you some coffee later.
It was dark upstairs, curtains closed and lights unlit. It was the type of dark that makes the shapes you can barely make out static, like the picture on a near death television. The man can't be blames for making a mistake. One pretty girl is every pretty girl. No, don't blame the hit man for accidentally killing Lois and not Lana. He's innocent. Except for the fact, that he did kill Lois instead of Lana. That he was going to kill Lana at all.
He didn't know. Therefore his employer didn't know. Done Deal. Mission Accomplished, I'll be expecting my check in the mail. Nice doing business with you, Mr. Luthor.
For his part, Lex tried to make it better. Tried to stitch together the shreds his father had managed to leave his friends in again. Protection after the fact. Lana Lang was dead, for all events and purposes. And now the world was missing a Lois Lane. Paid off the coroner, the paramedics, switched the dental records. No Nell, you can't see the body, here's a charity in Lana's name. No Smallville, the service will be closed casket, don't ask, I'll keep the Talon open for her forever.
And people did ask. Chloe took it hardest, but that's to be expected. Burying family. Burying fact. Being the one to answer with lies instead of the one to uncover the truth.
"My cousin is going into the dirt, not your precious princess." Chloe whispered bitterly, staring through the stained glass window at the town, slipping into the cliché black dress. Lex dropped a light kiss onto her bare shoulder before zipping up the fabric and pulling Chloe against him. It was hard for him as well. Chloe's warm, living body in his arms was proof enough that he could save someone from his father's wrath. Why not save another member of the Sullivan clan? No such luck. He tried to not feel grateful he had exhausted the good karma on the blonde cousin first. But he was grateful.
"You know Lois finds all of this terribly amusing." he whispered.
"Which part? The bungled assassination or the fact that Lana has to dye her hair for the rest of her life"
"Oh, definitely the bungled assassination." He answered easily. "The hair dye thing is just a perk, as is the fact that you got to commandeer all of Lana's pastel clothing."
She smiled, granted it was dim, but it was a smile and that's all he could have asked for at the time.
"I can just imagine her getting to the afterlife and rolling her eyes once she realized what happened." she murmured.
"None of this would have fazed her." he confirmed.
She nodded. "That's why I want her here."
Because everyone else was. Fazed, scared, devastated.
Relived.
Lex still had Chloe, although no one knew it but the two of them. Clark still had Lana, and although he mourned the loss of his friend, he made no effort to hide how much he preferred this to the alternative.
And Lana, she slide into the new identity like it was molded just for her. Like breathing in fresh air for the first time in years. Hell, she didn't even have to change her initials. Freedom. In that way, Lana Lang really was the one that died that evening.
"You shouldn't be here." Chloe stated calmly, not even bothering to look at the women who walked beside her.
"You know I can't stay away." She answered quickly. This exchange of words was well worn and practiced. They halted in front of an ornate tombstone resting in the ground above an empty coffin. Cremation, they'd all know it was for the best. No lingering evidence.
"Someone could recognize you." Chloe whispered heavily.
Lana shrugged. "Everyone in this town is busy hiding their own secrets, they wont go looking into mine"
"I used to." Chloe countered.
"That was before you had something to hide yourself." Lana retorted blandly, gesturing to Chloe's noticeable bulge.
"I'm not going to tell you who the father is, Lana." Lana chuckled sarcastically, sounding so much like Lois Chloe felt her breath catch in her throat.
"You don't have to. There's only two men in the whole world who you wouldn't admit to having a baby with, and since Lionel is dead, that only leaves one option."
"How long have you known?" Chloe asked.
"Longer than you'd expect." Lana answered. "Let's call it reporter's intuition. Are you going to marry him?"
"No. Curse of the Luthor wives, or something like that, always fated to die young. I'm satisfied with the way things are."
They stood that way for a long while, thinking thoughts that the other would never be privy to. Finally, Lana replied.
"So am I."
And somewhere in the afterlife, Lois Lane really did look into the living world and roll her eyes. At least the new version of herself wouldn't be allowed to wear that much pink