Hey guys, I'm back! I'm sorry I took such a long time to update. I am working on another Fic called 'The Second Chance', it's a Veronica Mars fic, and people there were threatening for me to update. Also I had some busy time at the office and at class. I'm doing Law exams, so just guess the pressure. Hope I don't disappoint you by any chance in this chapter. And we get a good overall mixture of characters. Remember that even though I am a Clois lover, this fic is about Tess's revenge. So the main character is Tess. Another main character is Mia Dearden as I want to put a background story for her as well. She's finding her origins and will end up with a big surprise. I have already started with chappie seven, so don't worry, the next update will come quick.

Now for your reviews:

MercyFrost – Thank you so much for your review. I am glad that you are loving Mike. Some of his story will be said in the next chapter. Please keep reviewing.

SassyGirl96 – Thank you for your review. You are too kind. Yes, Tess is very valuable and I like how the actress is putting all her effort to make her look like the ice queen she really is. Please keep reviewing.

BarneyStinsonFan – I am glad that you like Mike. What can I say, he is nosy, but really interesting. You'll get to know about him in the following chapters. Please keep reviewing.

Guest – thank you. Enjoy this chapter and please keep reviewing.

Nikki Ray – Thank you and I will. You are too kind. Please enjoy this chapter and review.

Trish – Thank you very much. And I guess like everybody else, you are falling for Mike Fuller's charm, eh? Please enjoy this and review. I love reviews.

AN 1: So there are three parts in this installment,

Lana Lang and Chloe Sullivan, and an eavesdropper

Tess Mercer and Mia Dearden

Tess Mercer

Chapter Six

"Lana?" Chloe repeated again, as the black haired girl smiled sweetly and stepped in.

Chloe jumped from the table and walked towards Lana Lang, the girl who never changed. There were many things on Chloe's mind. Anger was the main thing. How could Lana leave Clark and Chloe and all the other friends and just run away from them all. And then she expects a warm welcome from the people who she dumped. Her best friends. Well, Clark was actually much more than a best friend to Lana, but still.

"Chloe…" Lana started but hesitated.

"Hey" Oliver turned to Chloe and whispered in her ear, "What's going on? Why is Lana Lang here?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask her?" Chloe whispered fiercely.

"Why should I? You're best friends with that girl" Oliver said.

"That's what I keep telling myself" Chloe sighed.

"Hi" Lana looked at Oliver and put out her hand, "I'm Lana Lang. I'm a friend of Chloe…"

"And Clark's, I know" Oliver said, a little bit rudely, "I'm Oliver Queen"

This is Oliver Queen? thought Lana. No wonder he is a playboy. He's cute.

"Nice to meet you" Lana said, and turned to Chloe, "Hey, can I talk to you?"

"uh…. Yeah, okay… Ollie, I'll come back later, ok?" Chloe looked at Oliver and whispered, "I'm dead"

"No shit, Sherlock" Oliver whispered, dead-panning.

Chloe gave her husband a dirty look and followed the past best friend out the room. Once outside, Lana turned to Chloe and gave a mysterious smile.

"So you and Oliver Queen, eh?" she asked, "How long have this been going on?"

"Lana, we are married" Chloe said deadpanning.

"Married? Wow, I didn't expect that" Lana said and looked thoughtful.

"Lana what's going on? Why are you here?" Chloe asked, "And don't give me crap about missing your best friends, ok?"

"I really did miss you… and Clark" Lana said, almost in a whisper.

"That ship have long sailed, Lana" Chloe sighed.

She did love Lana, she really did. But Chloe knew for a fact that she loved Clark more. Clark was her first ever best friend, and she worshipped his friendship. Lana was another story. She was the pretty, innocent girl who everybody loved. Chloe wanted to hate Lana for a long time. Lana was Clark's first love, and since long time ago Chloe had had a huge crush on Clark, she wanted to hate Lana. But then, Lana was always good, and she couldn't hate her. Then Lana became one of her best friends. But when Lois, her cousin, came into the picture, Chloe knew that Clark was falling for her. Lois was a person who you did not want to mess with, and Clark proved it. They had huge chemistry where either one would want to kill the other, and Chloe enjoyed watching them. And that's how she knew that Lana didn't have a snowball's chance to renew her relationship with Clark. But Clark still loved Lana, and almost gave out his whole secret. But Lana ran away. Away from Clark, away from her, away from Smallville and away from her consciousness and now she turns up again, wanting to renew their friendship.

"Lana, look-"

"Is Tess alive?" Lana asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Is Tess alive? Some journalist called me to ask questions about her….."

"Don't tell me, Mike Fuller called you too?" asked Chloe cursing in her mind, "That little…. Look, Lana, he is just cooking up lies, ok? All journalists in 'The Inquisitor' do that, and Mike Fuller is no exception"

"Who is this Mike Fuller guy?" came another voice and Oliver appeared from behind a pillar.

"Oh God, Ollie! What on earth are you doing? Eavesdropping?" asked Chloe, her face going red.

"Who is Mike Fuller? And why does he claim that Tess is alive when she never died?"

Ok, so Oliver didn't get the 'Tess is dead' memo, but that was just so he could concentrate on the tasks on board. Chloe didn't want to see Oliver get all moody about his ex dying.

"She… she never died, did she…. Chloe?" Oliver asked, turning towards his wife, "You would tell me….. if that…. happened, wouldn't you, Chloe?"

Chloe didn't say anything. She couldn't. She had been lying through her teeth all this time about Tess being alive to Oliver and when Lana suddenly shows up and announces that Tess is alive, she didn't have any option but to tell the truth.

"Oliver…"

"She died?"

Lana is here. Lana is here.

But he's my husband, he should know the truth.

Lana is here!

Chloe took a deep breath, but Oliver interrupted.

"You two…. Talk….. I know you've got a lot to catch up with….. Then I'll …. talk with you, ok, Chloe?" and with that he was gone.

There was a pin drop silence and 'Awkward', the Penguin sat between Chloe and Lana, looking at each other's faces.

"Did I hit a nerve?" Lana asked, and Chloe glared.

This was not how it was supposed to go.

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Tess woke up as she felt somebody wiping her face with a wet cloth. 'Shh', that somebody said, and Tess relaxed back. Her whole body was tingling and she couldn't even hold up herself. She had fainted, she knew that, but still she couldn't move her body. Mia sat back and hugged her knees, looking at the tough lady who was very weak now. Tess murmured something, but then again lay silent.

She closed her eyes again and flashes of her nightmare crept through. The slash of the knife, Lex asking her to stay calm. Her head jerked sideways as she tried to leap back to reality from the nightmare she was experiencing. Mia watched silently.

"No!" Tess screamed and opened her eyes again. Her eyes were wide with fear and Mia fell backwards almost toppling from the chair.

"Jeez, man, relax. No monsters here" she said in a joking tone, and Tess turned towards her.

Tess stared at the young girl who was sitting comfortably, well, until the last moment that is. Mia Dearden, Oliver's friend, that's all she knew about that girl. Until the last moment Tess had thought that Oliver and Mia had a romantic relationship. She had to admit to herself, she had been a bit jealous. And when Tess found out that Oliver was dating Chloe… that's another story, for another time.

"What happened? What's going on? Where am i?" Tess fired.

"You fainted, but it's alright. I cleaned your wound. And you are safe, don't worry" Mia said, putting the wet cloth back to the water.

Tess sat on the bed and cringed at the pain that shot through her stomach. She looked around and saw that her things were placed in one place. She was in a room, dingy and quiet. She guessed that Mia had taken her promise of not telling Oliver about where she was. She looked at Mia. They had fought, but Mia took good care of her as well. She can't put the youngster more in trouble. And she knew that annoying reporter was on her trail too. What was his problem?

"Do you want…. Some soup, maybe?" asked Mia, "It won't take much time to cook"

Tess nodded and spoke when Mia rose to walk to the kitchen, "Hey… Thank you… for everything"

"You're welcome" Mia gave a soft smile.

Mia walked to the kitchen and took the instant soup packet, ready to prepare something for the injured lady. She was sure that her mentor, Oliver, used to love Tess. Used to, that is. Now he has Chloe, and she knew that he was sure very happy. And was she the only person who knew that Tess was dead, but came back alive? She cooked the soup quickly, not understanding why she was helping Tess. It might be because Oliver and Chloe both were quite kind to Tess. Even Lois and her fiancé- was it Clark?- were good to Tess.

She picked up the cup and walked into the room. Her eyes widened. Tess was missing. Mia looked around, her stuff was missing too. She sighed heavily.

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Tess started walking away, with her bag strapped across her back. It was getting hotter and hotter, and she took off her black shirt and tied it across her head. She put her shades on, but she was really tired now. She'd been running away from everyone and everything that she had come across. She didn't know what to do. She tried to look decent when she boarded the bus that will take her home, or more likely, Lex's home. When she came to a stop at the large Luthor mansion, she had to remind herself that she wasn't a welcome guest anymore. She didn't own the place, and her securities won't be very keen to let her in unscathed.

She hid behind the gates and looked through the many holes in it. The place was crawling with guards. They were very attentive too. She grabbed her bag tight and took off the black shirt from her head. It might capture too much attention. She stated climbing the tall wall that secured the evil fortress. At the top, she peered below and hung tight, waiting for the guards to go to their work. Two guards from the four started to walk to the entrance and Tess tried telepathically telling the remaining two guards to go somewhere else. One guard walked to the the other and drew out a cigarette.

I've never liked smoking guards, Tess thought, scoffing, but right now, I do.

She crawled down the wall and to the garden. Hiding from the guards, she walked to the tunnel-like back entrance that smelled dingy. Lex had told her that whenever Lionel had gotten mad with him, he used to go to the tunnels and tell the Tunnel Gods, that he hated his father. As Tess entered, she prayed to the Tunnel Gods that she wasn't going to harm Lex, not right now. She just need the necessary items to do that job without being messy like Lex.

She walked to the sound of water coming and finally came to a dead end. What was this? Where is this going? What am I doing here?

"Hello?" came a voice and Tess panicked.

It didn't sound familiar at all, but she was still scared. A guard? She mashed herself against the wall, hoping that the guard would not notice. She looked and saw that the guard was indeed approaching her. What was with this? Why were people always following her? She was dead; people thought that she was dead. So what was the huge deal? She covered her own mouth to stop the panicked breathing from being caught. Just as the guard turned and walked, somebody grabbed her from behind and pulled her into another tunnel that she hadn't noticed before.

"Shh….. I'm helping you" a male voice that sounded very familiar said in her ear and Tess's eyes grew wide.

AN 5: Okay, so anybody know who Tess's 'apprentice' is? Drop a review with a guess, take your best chances. What do you think of the action today? I thought that the story is moving too slow, so I thought to just drop a huge bombshell. Do you think that I write Tess like a pathetic old hag? Defenseless and all that? And how about the little bit of Tollie I put in there? Please keep reviewing, I just adore reviews.

Thank You!

*hugs*,

Sarah