Queen Of Paradox (Unedited)

Best Kept Secrets

"Are you ready?"

Lana took a deep breath and nodded in reply to William, before stepping out of the car and absentmindedly slamming the door shut. She stood, rooted to the ground, as she looked up at the house before her. It was beautiful and a charming combination of modern and old-fashioned, but nothing shifted inside for her. No spark of familiarity, no recognition. Nothing. She had to admit, she felt a bit crestfallen. "I grew up here...live here?" She asked, unsure.

"Yes," William confirmed, tucking the car keys into his pocket.

When Dean first suggested that they come here, she had been skeptical and even suspicious. But then she reasoned that if they wanted to harm her, they would have already. Also, it didn't make sense for them to have rescued her from Vera just to return her. So she'd agreed. Now...she wasn't so sure.

Taking slow steps, she walked up to the front door and gave it an experimental knock. She waited for a beat before delivering another series of knocks. Silence. "Doesn't anybody else live here with me?" she asked, turning toward the two males. They shared a look and then Dean gave a tentative nod. "Your sister...recently, and your parents. Whenever they aren't trapezing all over the realms doing the councils bidding."

The eye roll at the end was a clear giveaway that he didn't like the council very much, or maybe even her parents for that matter. But she didn't want to push. Not yet anyway.

"I see..then how do we get in-" William reached past her and she immediately tensed up. His arm brushed against hers as he reached up above her head, and she shivered. She liked that contact way too much and shifted backward so they weren't quite so...pressed together.

He pulled his hand back and revealed a key. "There's a hidden compartment up there," He gestured to the top of the door frame. "Where you always keep a spare."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Convenient."

Taking the key from him, she took a deep breath and unlocked the door. It felt wrong. Like she was invading someones personal space. As she moved deeper, Lana started noticing things she'd seen in the memories she's had so far. She smiled as she passed an end table and picked up the picture frame perched in its center. "I had a memory of this day."

They approached her and peered down at the picture as well. It was a picture of Lana, Felicity and two adults. Olivia and Lucian Falcon. Looking at the picture, Lana could see that she did indeed take after her father. Lucian was a tall burly man with unruly Brunette waves atop an extremely handsome face. Pale blue eyes shone down with love and joy as he tickled a laughing Lana, no older than seven. Olivia stood by his side. A tiny little thing, with her blond locks cut in a pixie and her violet eyes sparkling. She was hugging Felicity who was rolling her eyes at their father's antics. It was an almost odd pairing. Him being so muscular, and her mother being so wispy. But even from something as simple as a photo, Lana could feel their love for each other radiating over her.

"I didn't want to take the picture because my...parents.." the words felt so foreign coming out of her mouth but she finally believed them. There was no denying that she was indeed Lana. And that she had once had a life in this house. And for the first time since she overheard that conversation, she started trusting her memories.

A fond smile tugged at her lips and she glanced up from the frame to see that they were both waiting attentively for her to continue. "They, um, they were leaving again. And I didn't understand what could be more important than staying home with us." She shrugged and set the picture back down. "So he started tickling me until I had no choice but to smile."

When she was met with silence she tensed and looked at them curiously. "What?"

Dean gave her a lopsided grin while William just gave a curt shake of his head. "Nothing. It's just nice to see you smile." He admitted and despite her best efforts, a blush took over her cheeks.