Disclaimer: I don't own much, so I most certainly don't really own any of these characters, maybe the ones that I throw in there that you don't recognize.
Author's note: Lana gets a visitor at the Talon one night. It's two years after Whitney's death. One shot that I wrote in a half hour or so. So, don't flame if it sucks really back, I already know it.
It had been a busy night at the Talon, and things were just now winding down at ten p.m. Lana Lang wanted to go home, but there were just a few people left. There was a group of three girls, laughing over something trivial in the corner. A couple was discussing something deep in the middle of the room. Their heads were bent together, as if they were plotting how to take over the world. Then there was a lone man sitting near the cash register.
It was the man that had caught Lana's eye. He seemed tense, as if he were ready to run out any minute. Yet, he seemed sad. There was an envelope that he kept staring at all night, Lana had noticed. There was nothing special about. It looked worn, and stamped, but nothing that jumped out.
The teenager was too engrossed in analyzing that twenty something man, that she didn't notice him look at her until he said her name. "Lana Lang?" He asked softly, as if he were afraid that it wasn't her.
"Yes?" She replied.
He stuck his hand out. It was a working mans hand. "Hi, my name is Lieutenant Daniel J. Smythe." He slowly smiled over the counter. "I, uh, have something that belongs to you. I'm not too sure if you want it, though." He dropped his voice a notch.
Lana frowned. It sounded like the guy had a bomb, somewhat. "What is it?"
"Well, it's a letter." He pushed the envelope that he had been staring at all night closer to Lana. "It's from Whitney Fordman. If you don't want it, it's alright."
Whitney. The name hit Lana like a ton of bricks. She hadn't really thought about him for a while now. It seemed like a lifetime ago that he was in Smallville, the quarterback. She felt instantly guilty that she hadn't thought of her first boyfriend. "No, no. I want it." She then noticed what she had missed before. There, on the envelope was her name and address, albeit smudged a bit, but it was still Whitney's boyish handwriting.
Daniel smiled. "I apologize for its appearance. It's practically been around the world." He looked down. "Our commander asked us to write letters for our family and friends before the mission." The blonde man looked around the Talon. "Fordman, excuse me, Whitney wanted me to hand deliver this if things didn't go well during the mission."
"And?"
"Well, I sent it after the mission, but it got returned because the address had been smudged by dirt and water during the mission." Daniel gazed at the simple envelope. "So, I kept it, and had remembered Whitney talking about Smallville and such during training, so I decided that I would hand deliver it if you were still living here. I am sorry it is a couple years late."
Lana nodded. She looked at Daniel, and it seemed like this visit was taking a lot out of him. "It's okay, it's still a letter."
Daniel flashed a smile, visibly relaxing. "I know." He looked around. The other five patrons had left the coffee shop. "I, uh, I should leave."
"No." Lana spoke before she knew it. She just didn't want to read the letter alone. Whatever it held.
The tall man stopped halfway up out of the chair. "Okay?"
The Smallville native held up a coffee pot. "Please. I want someone here when," she let her voice trail off, telling Daniel why.
"I understand, Ms. Lang."
"Lana. Just Lana." Daniel just nodded at her request.
It took the teen ten minutes to gather up the courage to open up the worn envelope. She picked it up with shaking hands, and slowly let out a breath that she had been holding. Slowly, she pulled it apart at the top and withdrew a simple piece of paper.
It was white, with black pen ink. Whitney hated using a color ink but black. He always said that it annoyed him and they shouldn't have been made. The thought made Lana smile a bit. She hadn't really let her mind wander back to her early days of high school recently. It felt a little nice. Lana let her gaze drop down to the black ink
Dear Lana,
Hello. If you're reading this letter, it means that my mission didn't really work out the way we all wanted. It's okay to be sad, just know that I died fighting for my country.
Our commanding officer told us that we should write letters to our family and friends just in case, and that they would send them. I gave my all my letters to him except for this one. I wanted someone that I knew to give it to you. I could at least give you someone to share memories with, if you do choose to.
Danny Boy, as we all like to call Daniel, is a good guy who never fails his mission. Even if it takes him five years to get this to you, he will. Please don't be mad at him if you are angry with me. He is just fulfilling what is essentially my last wish, and he is kind enough to do that. Please tell him that I was lucky to have a friend like him throughout this whole experience, and that I consider him to be one of the greatest people I know.
I just wanted to say I love you, Lana Lang. Not in the mushy girlfriend way. But the, "I really care about you and your well being as a friend and fellow human bring" kind of way. I want you to be happy. I want the best for you. If that means staying in Smallville all your life, so be it. If that means moving to France after this letter, so be it. Whatever it is, I hope you are happy, Lana.
After I got your videotape, I realized that we could never really be together ever again. By the time I would have gotten home, you would have moved on. Maybe with Clark, but maybe with some other guy. But for the record, I hope it was with Clark. He's a good guy, even if I didn't really like him at times. Either way, we have grown up and grown apart too much. I accept that we are going different ways, but I hope you never forget the times we had.
I better get going; Chief says it's almost time to go. Whatever happens tonight, Lana Lang, just please remember me and know that I love you.
Whitney
By the time Lana looked up, she had a single tear running down her face. Daniel frowned a bit, not really knowing what to do. All the raven haired teen said was, "He says to tell you that he was lucky to have a friend like you throughout the experience, and that you are one of the greatest people he knows."
Daniel's bottom lip quivered, but he never shed a tear. He had seen too much sadness and can't remember how. Over there things were different. One never cried, they just moved on. "He was my best friend."
That sent Lana walking around the counter and hugging Daniel. At first, he didn't know how to respond. He just willingly hugged back, knowing both needed to finally accept Whitney's death as final. Even after his friend had died, Daniel didn't really accept it. He just pushed it back into the recesses of his mind. It wasn't until Lana said Whitney's message that he did.
After standing hugging for a while, Daniel whispered. "Can I do anything?"
"Yeah, can I get a ride somewhere?" Lana asked quietly, knowing what she had to do, even at eleven p.m. at night. She felt Daniel nod, and she continued. "It's a farm, not too far from here. I'm sure you could even spend the night."
"Clark?"
Lana looked up. "How did you know?"
Daniel smiled. He always wanted to meet the man that made Whitney Fordman shake in his boots. Whitney was strong, so this man had to be stronger. "Whitney always talked about the people from here, and Clark was mentioned a couple times. He said that the Kents were selfless people who would take in a stranger in the middle of the night, if need be."
A tiny laugh was heard. "Yeah, that would be them."
"Well, should we go?"
Lana nodded, making sure to grab the letter on her way out. "Yeah." She took a look around the Talon before shutting off the last light. "Yeah, let's go see Clark." The teen glanced at the letter and remembered Whitney's words.
'By the time I would have gotten home, you would have moved on. Maybe with Clark, but maybe with some other guy. But for the record, I hope it was with Clark.'