Chapter 17 [Torch Office—Twenty minutes later]

Two floors down, Lana sat in front of the newspaper's desktop. Her fingers pecked across the keyboard. Her eyes struggled to focus on the screen. She stifled a yawn. Her mind spun over Clark's confirmation of Martha's and Pete's earlier statements.

He was an alien. He was really an alien.

How could we have somebody like that around? He seems so normal…so human. She frowned. And how did he keep his arm? He should've bled out. Best case should've been amputation. Who are those people who helped us? How did they do it? Perhaps channeling her inner Chloe, she typed away on another search. She recalled Lex's remark tying the two panelists to the Talon and her parents. She accessed the Ledger's database and entered her search.

Results scrolled across the screen from late in 1981.

That's about the time my folks met. What? She opened the first result and started reading. She'd heard the story about the fight to keep the Talon open back then from several people. Still she'd never heard of mobs, property damage or a Byron from a generation past. And yet she was reading it now. My God! Her eyes went wide over the standoff's account. She noted the hospitalized teen's picture.

Although it was a younger version, it was clearly the same person who'd driven Arighatto off earlier that week.

Seemed that the Talon's magic for her had come at a cost.

At least Mom and Dad could help him. If Mr. Dubois has friends and can be married, where does that leave Clark? Can we love each other? Lana leaned back in the chair. She took a big gulp of coffee to wash down that particular thought.

"Such are the cost of dreams. It depends on what you want."

Lana jumped. She tensed and slowly peered over the screen toward the corner.

There in front of the window, her virtual twin ran her hand across the window sill. She wore a white blouse and a long dark skirt. Her hair rose into a beehive hairdo so prevalent in the 1950s and 1960s. Her eyes sparkled at the younger woman. She smiled. "Hello, Lana. It's about time we met."

"You know me? You look like me but how…?" Lana looked the newcomer over. "How did you get in here?"

"I came down to see you. As for who I am, I'm your Great Aunt Louise. Your Aunt Nell never mentioned me. Did she?" Louise introduced herself.

"No. This is the first time I've heard of you." Lana stood. She walked over toward the visitor. "And what do you mean you came down to see me? Are you living up north or something?"

Louise giggled. "No, Lana." She glanced toward the ceiling. "I came back to talk with you." Her face turned serious.

"You came back? You're dead?" Lana slumped up against the wall.

"I've died forty years ago. I loved someone not approved of by the community. He was from another place." Louise exhaled heavily. "Joe talked of a place that the suns filled the sky. We floated toward the stars. He shrugged bullets off much as your Clark does. He was so dashing. I knew he was different but I didn't care." She flexed her fingers.

In a flash, a mug appeared in her hand.

Louise sampled the contents. "This is much better than the coffee we drank back then. Very nice, Lana."

"You…just made that appear. Are you like Clark too?" Lana stared at what the supposedly revived person had just done. She struggled to deal with the fact that her twin was actually her long deceased aunt. She couldn't believe that such an issue like hers had happened earlier…

…had it?...

"That depends on what you mean." Louise rubbed her chin. "If you're wondering if I am an alien or have abilities, no I'm not. I was in the position you are now. I discovered a man from far away. He made me feel alive. He reassured me. He cared. I knew he was an alien. I didn't care. I begged him to take me with him. He talked of Duty's burden. He loved me but he had another waiting for him." Regret tinged her eyes.

"So he left?" Lana presumed.

"He did after my death. Joe went back to his world, married and had a son. Along with the rest of that culture, Joe's gone now. He died in a planetary explosion." Louise glanced upward again. "There was one survivor. Joe's great hope."

"Joe's great hope?" Lana felt herself getting swept up in Louise's tale.

"His son. Joe sent him off in a spaceship. Kal made it here. But you know that. Don't you?" Louise added.

"Kal? Wait. Clark called himself that when…." Lana's eyes went wide. "Wait!" She put her hands up. She struggled to understand what the other woman was saying. "Clark called himself 'Kal' when that red meteor affected him. He's this Joe's son?"

"Yes, Lana. Clark's real name is Kal-El. He is from a planet many galaxies away. Now he is the last seeking one to help him restart that culture." Louise shrugged. "Times have changed. You have opportunities I didn't. Kal…Clark has overcome so much to be here. He wants to be here for you."

"Yet he didn't open up. Joe did for you though," Lana presumed.

"It was Joe and me against our worlds." Louise smirked albeit ruefully. "We had to trust each other. I knew Joe was different. I didn't care. Yes I was young and in love. So what? I dealt with it. You've known Clark for years. Right?"

"Right. Back then, he was just the boy next door. He's always been nice, caring and earnest. He's a great friend. I didn't know he was hiding this," Lana noted.

"And he still is that guy next door. Trust me, Lana. Your Clark is finding himself as much as his father was. Just be patient," Louise advised. "He needs you to understand and to care."

"I know he cares. I just need to know if I can trust him. I want to. I…." Lana bowed her head. Guilt and Hesitation ate at her.

"He's saved your life several times in the past year, Lana. Don't you owe him that chance? Clark does care. Let him show you." Louise finished her coffee. She set the mug down on the radiator. "Once again, thank you. You're a good girl, Lana. Just do right by Kal…I mean Clark. Have what Joe and I couldn't." With that, she vanished back into the early morning light.

Lana staggered back to the desk. She collapsed into a chair. Her mind spun even faster than ever.

Seemed that the answers could confound more than the questions could…..