Second Chance

In the previous chapter Catherine showed the stranger Lana Lang's grave. Now she has some explaining to do. Yet another sad chapter, but I promise it will pay out to stick around.

Chapter 2 – Lana's sacrifice

The stranger still stood there with his jaw dropped.

Lana Lang 23.09.1987-31.07.2011

A woman, who won't be forgotten.

The picture matched Catherine's face. The date matched the day of her graduation.

'I don't understand,' the stranger whispered.

'I will explain it to you,..,' Catherine said softly. Her obvious pause indicated that she wanted to know his name. He hesitated.

'You know mine. It is only fair,' she insisted.

'Vincent,' he simply said.

'So, Vincent, this going to be a long story,' she warned before she began.

'Three years ago I was working at a bar to pay for college. I was going to be a lawyer like my father. My car broke down one night, so I called my mother. Of course she came to pick me up insisting that I needed a new car. Next thing I know is someone blinding us with their car lights. They got out and just shot her cold blood. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to stay, to help her. But something told me that these men didn't shoot to injure. And I was right, she was dead. So I began to run to the nearby forest. They followed. When I tripped and fell, I thought it was over. They were there staring at me, one of them ready to pull the trigger. That is when she came.'

Catherine looked at the grave. Her eyes were sad.

'She was special, like you are. Let's leave it to that because this is not my story to tell. She killed them to save me. If it wasn't for her I would be dead now.'

'How did she die?' Vincent asked.

'You know that. You were there,' Catherine simply said.

'But how?' he was confused.

After she saved me, she brought me home. I was shocked by our resemblance, but she was confused herself. We looked exactly alike. What were the chances of stumbling across your doppelganger let alone being saved by them? We wondered if our history trees met at some point of history but we had other problems at that time.

She explained some of her story and went to save the world- her dream. She eventually found herself in Africa helping people there. She called once in a while to see if I was ok. I never got any number to call her back. I didn't see her for years. This summer she came back. Somehow she had lost her abilities. She was as vulnerable as I am. She wanted to stay with us for a while and we gladly accepted. In the meantime I had changed profession. I didn't want to be a lawyer anymore. Law enforcement was my future now. I was almost done. On the day of my graduation I was in bed with a bad fever. I would miss my graduation. She offered to take my place. This way she said I would at least have photos. I thought that her offer was so sweet. It obviously wouldn't hurt anyone and I would actually be able to show people one of the most important days of my life. No one would notice, so I accepted. She is dead because of me- because I wanted nice graduation photos.'

There were tears running down her cheeks. Vincent didn't know why he did it but he found himself holding her in his arms.

'Shh, it is not your fault,' he reassured her.

'But it is,' she said in a weak voice. She pulled herself together. Vincent gave her a few moments to calm down completely. Once her tears were gone he mind started working.

'At first you were the one they announced dead. And then they just said that you were missing and so they assumed you were dead, but you never were. That doesn't exactly fit your story,' he accused.

'My dad knows people. He figured it wouldn't look good on my résumé so we decided to bury the story. Besides we didn't want to draw to much attention to Lana. She wouldn't want that. So instead there was a victim less and the official story is that I was under shock and left after killing him. That I kind of stayed away for two days because it was too much pressure to see so many of my future coworkers dead before we even started. I even went to therapy so it would be believable. I am sorry that I took credit for your job,' she came to an end.

'What about her family? Don't they deserve to know?' Vincent asked.

'It is complicated. After Lana got her…gifts, she left the people, who meant something to her. She didn't see any other way,' she said with a sad voice.

'I can relate,' he admitted.

'I told you my story. What about yours?'

He didn't speak. She saw though how he stiffened.

'Whatever your secret is, it can't be more intimidating than Lana's. And as you saw I am keeping it, even after her death. The only thing I said to you is that she was special. You don't have to worry. I understand that it difficult to be accepted when you are different, but I am willing to do that. I don't judge people by how normal they appear to be,' she assured him.

'Catherine we are not talking about acceptance here. I am talking about danger. Danger I could be in if they found out where I am. Danger you could be in if they found out that you know,' he said with a trembling voice.

'I already figured out that you are not like any other person. Don't give me details. Just tell me what you can do and why,' she suggested.

She could see the struggle in his eyes. He had more or less agreed to tell her the truth, but it was not easy to go through with it.

'Have you ever been to Smallville,' she asked surprising him.

'Smallville? Never heard of it,' he said confused.

'It is a small town in Kansas,' she explained.

'Why did you bring it up?' he was curious.

'Never mind, it's not important,' she shrugged it off.

'If you want me to trust you with my secret, you might want to show some trust yourself,' he smiled.

'It's nothing. Lana just mentioned it once or twice and I figured maybe you knew it, because you seem to have some special abilities as well. It was stupid', she quickly said.

'My condition has nothing to do with some small town. It has to do with a company. I used to be a soldier in Afghanistan up until nearly ten years ago. There they approached me for an experiment. They wanted to create super soldiers. At this point of my life I hadn't had anything to lose, so I accepted. Their serum changed my DNA. When the amount of adrenaline in my blood rises, I turn to some kind of beast. I am strong, fast, I heal. But I am also dangerous.'

While he said those things he was looking away from her.

'What is the company's name?' her voice was a mere whisper.

'I said enough. Anything else would only endanger you and me,' he clarified.

'Why?'

'Because after they saw that we didn't have control they eliminated the group. I was lucky to escape. If they find out I am alive, they will look for me,' he explained.

'Tell me who they are. I might be able to help!' she insisted.

'You maybe a cop, but that won't stop them from killing you if you dig your nose in their business,' he said harshly.

'I can look after myself.'

'I don't doubt that. Anyway you enlightened me about the mystery, so there is nothing more to say.'

'Wait! At least tell me your last name!' she insisted before he could turn away.

He hesitated for a moment and then said, 'Keller.' With this last word he left.

'I will find out who did this,' Catherine whispered in the dark.

[Smallville (a week later)]

Clark was sitting in the watchtower. There was not much to do at the moment; he just didn't want to go home yet. Lois has been acting weird lately. In fact she has been acting weird since she came back from Africa. He had asked her several times without getting an answer. It has been four months now. She was always suspicious and jumpy. When he came home he received questions such as "Where have you been" or "Why are you late". He didn't understand why all of this happened all of a sudden. It almost felt as if she was jealous. But why should she?

Clark was starting to fear that something happened in Africa. That she did something. Maybe it wasn't suspicion after all. Maybe it was quilt. But no, Lois couldn't have possibly cheated on him.

These thoughts were torturing him when Oliver came in.

'Clark, I stopped by your home. Lois said you would be here. What are you doing?' he asked.

'I just didn't feel like going home yet,' Clark said not really wanting to talk about it, 'what did you want?'

'Well Chloe told me something today,' he reluctantly started.

'Oh boy, don't tell me she is pregnant again!' his eyes grew wide. Their baby was only a few months old. Lois had missed his birth.

'NO! No, she isn't,' Oliver quickly assured.

'Looks like he is giving you a hard time,' Clark grinned,' so what is it then?'

'It is about Lana,' he replied carefully.

Clark froze. Lana. Normally nobody mentioned her. It still hurt to think about the day he saw her for the last time. No sign since then. No letter, no phone call. Nobody knew where she was. How he wished that she had stayed. Even if they were not together, seeing her, knowing that she was alright would give him some peace.

He quickly composed himself, 'What about her?' He wasn't sure if he could say her name out loud without Oliver noticing the pain in his voice.

'She..,' Oliver struggled for words, 'she is dead, Clark.'

Clark could have sworn that everything froze. His heart skipped a beat. His breath didn't want to come out. He slowly processed what he heard. Lana. Dead. No, this couldn't be.

'Very funny, Ollie,' he finally said, 'Lana is indestructible like I am. No, she is even more. Not even green kryptonite can harm her.'

'I don't know how it happened, Clark. All I know is it did,' Oliver's voice was empathetic.

'You are lying. It isn't possible. And how would you know anyway,' Clark insisted.

'Chloe,' Oliver simply said.

'Chloe what, Oliver,' Clark was clearly annoyed.

Chloe had assured him that she didn't know where Lana was. That Lana hadn't made any contact in the last three years.

'Lana used to contact her once a month. Asking about you,' Oliver eyed him carefully not knowing how his friend would react to this news.

'Chloe lied to me?' Clark felt enraged.

'She didn't have a choice. It was Lana's desire- even condition,' Oliver defended his wife.

'All this time she knew where Lana was and didn't bother say a word!' Clark raised his voice.

'She didn't know! Lana was very secretive. She didn't even have any way to contact her if Lana didn't want to. Lana used to write an email once a month asking how you are. It was a new account every time. She couldn't track her. Lana didn't want to be found,' Oliver explained.

'What did they talk about?' Clark asked in pained voice.

'Not much. She always sent the same message. "I hope you are alright, Chloe. Is he ok?" Only the first differed. In that one she told Chloe her conditions. Chloe wasn't allowed to tell anyone. Not even me, I only found out today. She also wasn't allowed to give specifics about you. The only answers allowed were "He is ok" or "He is not ok". Don't ask me why. When she didn't write in August Chloe tried to track her down. She found a grave in New York City. Lana Lang 23.09.1987-31.07.2011 A Woman who won't be forgotten. I'm so sorry man!' Oliver said tears forming in his eyes.

'It can't be. Even if she didn't contact Chloe, even if there is this grave, this can't be true. Lana can't be dead. Maybe she faked it! She has done that before!' Clark struggled to find an explanation.

Oliver's revelation was nagging on him. Lana was asking about him. Lana was supposed to be dead.

'Actually, it can be,' a familiar voice said reluctantly.

So what did you think? Why does Catherine insist on finding out what company Vincent is talking about?

Is Clark right? Did Lana fake her death?

To whom does the voice belong?