Second chance

Chapter 5 – Looking for answers

[New York City]

Catherine was pacing back and forth in her apartment. She has been doing some digging about Vincent Keller. She desperately tried to find a link to Metropolis, but couldn't. It definitely was a situation that reminded of LuthorCorp. Had they spread to New York? She pulled every resource she could think of in order to connect the puzzle, to find some information on Vincent's condition. She sighed. Pacing around wasn't doing any good. She needed to calm down and think. She was good in things like that; figuring mysteries out, solving problems, finding information. She was a master by now. If there was something, even the slightest mistake, she would eventually find it. She had learned from the best after all.

All of a sudden she jumped to a sound coming from the window. She jumped around to see Vincent sitting on her fire escape, knocking on the window. Despite her searching for information, she didn't like Vincent very much. She sympathized as she knew how it was to have a secret and enemies, but that was it. He was annoying; interfering in other peoples' business. He practically forced her to tell him the truth like it was his right to threaten her. Still, she went with a sigh to the window and opened it. She needed some answers after all.

"I have a door, you know," she stated coldly.

"And I am supposedly dead, you know," he spit back. This woman was driving him crazy; in good and in bad ways. One minute he wanted to rip her head off for being so annoying and the other he was so attracted to her, that he wanted to throw her on the bed. This body, those eyes. The eyes troubled him the most. He could lose himself in them, but still, the feeling wasn't the same as in that fraction of a second when this woman was in his arms before the last breath left her body. Her glance, even though very short, had sent shivers through him. But Lana Lang was dead and Catherine Chandler was standing in front of him, very much alive. She was wearing black pants that were hugging her curves, along with a black, elegant turtleneck shirt. Her ankle boots gave the last touch on the outfit. It was simply but yet so classy. Cut it out, Keller! He was there for a reason. He couldn't let her good looks get in the way of what he wanted, the truth.

"So what is a dead man doing in my apartment?" Catherine brought him back to the conversation.

"I visited your friend today," Vincent simply said. That hit a nerve, although the effect was very subtle even for him. This woman was very good in hiding her emotions. Damn good, a human would never notice. Vincent almost missed the slight tension of her body. How did she do it?

"I am talking about Lana," he clarified although he knew she understood. Who else could he be talking about after all?

"Yeah, I got that. Is it a hobby of yours? Visiting graves of people you didn't even know?" her voice was venomous. She clearly didn't like the fact that he wouldn't drop the subject.

"This isn't any woman. She died in my arms," Vincent reminded her.

"So you felt the need to come here and give me a report of your day? How did you even know where I live?" Catherine wasn't pleased and she didn't bother hiding it.

"You are forgetting that I found you at your father's house. After I read about Catherine Chandler being alive along with your face on the front page, portrayed as the hero who eliminated the killer, I did some research. And about my report, I thought I should inform you that I ran into somebody at the cemetery," he told her while eying her very carefully. The tension in her body was slightly more evident this time, but still very difficult to catch. Vincent had to concentrate very hard and still wasn't sure if he just imagined it because he wanted answers so badly.

"Well, people usually visit their beloved ones," she said calmly, like she didn't understand that he meant a visitor of Lana's.

"I didn't run into him at a random part of the cemetery but in front of Lana's grave. In fact he was having a nap there," Vincent clarified.

"Obviously a drunk, homeless person. I don't know why you felt the need to tell me," Catherine brushed it off.

"He was very sober. And I look more like a homeless person in my old clothes than he did. Besides, I talked to him. He was there for Lana," he elaborated looking directly in her eyes.

"He was? Lana never told me about a man from around here," she simply said not showing anything.

"Oh, he wasn't from around. He said that he travelled from far away just for her. Anything for Lana, he said. His name was…Clark Kent," he eventually told her, his glance challenging.

This time Catherine couldn't compose herself. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth opened a little bit. She caught her breath and her heartbeat was quickening. He had hit a nerve. She knew this man.

But Catherine snapped out of it very quickly, "She told me about him. They used to go out years ago. He probably found out and wanted to pay his respects."

"It didn't seem like a thing he did because it is what society requires. He was devastated. I told him that I would ask if you wanted to meet up with him and tell him about her life these last years." Vincent insisted.

The look on Catherine's face was like she was going to panic every second.

"Look, I really have to go. We will talk another time," she said in a shaky voice while pushing him towards the window.

"Wait, at least give me an answer," Vincent stood his ground.

"I can't right now. Bye!" she pushed one more time.

Vincent could have stayed if he wanted to. This woman's strength was no match to his own. He didn't though. He saw her reaction. Now the best thing to do was to watch her actions, so he left through the window.

Catherine quickly closed it and collapsed on her bed, breathing heavily.

"Clark," she breathed.

What she didn't know is that Vincent was still listening.

[Metropolis]

Clark entered the Watchtower. His emotions were a mixture of pain, confusion, anger and desperation. As the time was passing, though, another feeling surfaced; determination. Something was off in this story and he would find out what. His Lana couldn't be dead. It couldn't be. His love to her, his father's sacrifice, the times he fought for her, it couldn't be all for nothing.

"Clark," Chloe reluctantly spoke to him.

"Chloe, I want you to gather any information you can; from the moment she left to her…to her death. I ran into somebody into the cemetery. Vincent Keller, I want all you can find on him. And he told me about a woman in New York who knew La..her. Track her down," he sounded more determined than ever. He avoided saying her name out loud. even thinking of it pained him. He didn't want to find out what it would do to him if he actually said it.

"I will try, but your last request isn't an easy one" she answered.

"That is why I am asking you. Since when do you go for easy?" his smile didn't touch his eyes. He started heading out. He wanted to be alone, he needed it desperately

"Why does it even matter, Clark? It won't bring her back," Chloe asked carefully. Clark paused trying to compose himself. "I want to know what happened to her. I need to know," he finally sighed without turning around.

"Won't you ask me about Lois? She was pretty much a mess when you left," Chloe was even more careful. She wanted to bring Lois into the conversation from the very first minute but was hesitant. As much as she loved her cousin, she had screwed up big time and Chloe was afraid of the consequences.

"I don't want to hear anything about her for now, Chloe. I just want to go home and think," he sighed again.

"Well..." she hesitated. She didn't want to betray Lois, but she was afraid that something bad might happen if Lois didn't grant Clark his space.

"What is it Chloe?" Clark asked rubbing his forehead.

"She is at your place. She wants to talk to you, to explain. She doesn't want to lose you. She loves you, Clark," Chloe reminded him of Lois's feelings.

"Then I won't go home. I don't want to see her. I need to process things first. To find some answers. Then I am going to think about what I am going to do with this situation."

"What do you mean? Are you thinking about leaving her?," Chloe's eyes grew wide although subconsciously she expected it. But Clark was already out of the room, probably because he didn't want to answer that question.

"Great. This is just great," she sighed and dialed a number.

"He is not coming, Lois. Yes, I told him you were there. Because you would have gotten into a very big fight right now. Trust me, I know him," she spoke in the phone, pausing to hear Lois's answers.

Thing were bad, really bad.

Author's note: Well, I have dropped a lot of hints in this one. I am waiting for someone to make the right guess. Someone wrote in a review that Vincent/Catherine romance is preferred, so I felt the need to elaborate. I love Catherine, but this fan fiction is going to be more about Lana. Dead or not, she will be in the centre of attention even if it doesn't look like it right now.

If you want a story only about Vincent and Catherine, than your should check out "Reversed" my BATB story.

But if you like twisted plots and are not all about the Vincent/Catherine romance without wanting to read anything else then stick to the story. A lot of things are going to happen ;)