╔══════════════╗
SPACES
ii. Heritage
╚══════════════╝

Heritage is a thing that is by blood and is a word that means destiny by blood. When looking inside someone you can see features of their heritage. And for years some of us question if our heritage comes from our blood family or our family that adopted us, or even fostered us. But when heritage is full of lies by far it will cause problems between family, family vs. family. Person vs person. But what defines our heritage is what makes us who we are. 

Waking up Hannah turns to see her clothes still with the same ashes on her body, as she wished in her mind that she could have had everything that happened the night before be a dream. For it all not to be real and that going to school with the thought of having powers and being lied to...to get to her. She knew it would. But she knew that she had to act like everything was alright, even if it wasn’t. Even if it never would return to the same old way. Like her sister hoped, but with heritage comes change. And with change comes a new person, stronger than the one before, learning from their mistakes to become the person they are today. 

Looking at her now shaking hands, it reminded her that she had been lied to and that what happened last night wasn’t ever going to go away. And that she needed to learn more about who she was...without the help of her sister. The one who decided lying to her was easier than telling her the truth...no matter how hurtful. The lie always hurts more than the truth, including when she has this thing that makes her more different than she was before, not only is she a half-alien from a distant planet and people, but she is also a metahuman. Which in this world, a teenage metahuman has to go somewhere special for people like her. And that’s the last thing that Hannah wants to ever go to.

Heading downstairs she smelled the room and the food that was being cooked, and deep down the young woman knew what her older backstabbing half-sister was doing. Trying to talk to her, and use food to break the ice, or check the wood slab that stands between them. But after the shower and after changing, that was the last thing the girl wanted. Was to have to see the person who she cared for the most, and know that for the past seven plus years she was lying to her, and called her dreams just illusions that the mind is tricking you, when she felt something was off. About the whole idea of Margret’s mother, Angela who even died years ago. Leaving her with Margaret’s adopted father, and no mother, or father. 

Before Margaret could even try to go out and speak to her sister, she watched as Hannah threw her backpack on and she grabbed some of her notebooks and headed out earlier just so she could go to school. Running outside Margaret tried to tell her a few words, “I’ll pick you up after school.” She said yelling as loud as her graspy raw voice could project. 

“No thanks, I don’t need anymore lies anyways. I’ll find a way back later.” Hannah yelled with pure-numb, and anger mixed in the tone. One of which she never thought she would hear from her younger sister, but then again she knew that she deserved it. 

Finally arriving Hannah watched as Sarah approached her as she saw a guilty face on her friend. Knowing that it was from the night before and that deep down made Sarah feel guilty for not telling the Kent boy that she was dating. Even though her boyfriend from Hannah’s experience and watching him could come off very rude and intimidating...until you got to know him then he wasn’t a bad person to be around. 

A little while later after grabbing some of her books from the locker, Hannah had found Sarah near the boy that she had seen from the previous night. The other Kent boy...Jonathan from what she could remember. “Hey you already confused.” Her friend asked the boy as he was looking around in confusion but also he had been hiding something which kinda set off something in Hannah’s mind for a moment. Like she could feel the emotion, and hear the small thoughts of panic in his head. But she brushed it aside. 

“Uh, hey, um, yeah, yeah, actually, I’m a little lost. World history, portable three.” The boy spoke as the girl smiled at how nervous he was. 

“Oh that’s outside. I’ll show you.” Sarah told him, interrupting him as Hannah knew that the boy would agree with her, because of him being lost. But not long after Hannah knew she had to be on the other side of the building for Advanced Biology. 

“I’ll see you later Sarah.” She spoke as she looked at Jonathan and smiled before turning around and heading down the halls to the science hall to where her biology class will be held. But not long after did she bump into someone seeing the papers from not only her arms but this other person’s fly around the hallways. 

“I’m so sorry, I was just so distracted getting to class.” Hannah muttered looking up to see a girl who must have been new to town also, due to her face being new around Smallville. She had darker eyes, but could see some green. But she also noticed how short her blonde hair was as it reached under her chin just a bit. But in general she took in the girl's features until helping her pick up and trading her some papers. 

“It’s alright, I should have watched where I was going. This school is surprising for how small it is; it's hard to get around.” The girl spoke as it made them both smile. 

“I understand that feeling. You must be from a big city?” She spoke to the girl as she could see the girl shake her head at the comment. 

“Central City, the home of meta-humans, and science. Where are you from?” The girl asked Hannah, making her smile. 

“Metropolis, home of Superman and the famous Lois Lane. I’m Hannah Adams by the way.” She told the girl as she could see her smile knowing that they would be late if they didn’t hurry so she started turning a bit. 

“I’m Tessa…..” Tessa spoke, “Tessa Robbins.” 

The silence was bearing as the two girls finally entered the classroom sitting next to each other. “So when did you move here?” Hannah asked her trying to know more about this new girl. 

“Last week, my brother was here, but I had to fly in so I got here last night. So I’m still trying to adjust to the smaller lifestyle.” Tessa spoke up. 

“What about your ━” Hannah tried to speak until she saw the face change on Tessa knowing the same look that she always gave when people asked her. 

“My mother was a criminologist at CCPD, and she was recently murdered a year ago. While my father died years ago from a bleeding out he was a detective.” Tessa told her as Hannah’s expression changed. “But it’s all good now, my brother thought a move would be good for us. To see something new, and not to see the old ghosts that Central City brought. Even though we both knew that no matter where we were that will always be home to us.” 

“You’re not the only one Tessa. My mother died a few months after I was born, while my father disappeared, but deep down I think he’s gone.” Hannah spoke in a whisper while the teacher was starting off on the unit with his lecture. “I live with my older sibling who works on the newspaper.” 

After school Hannah headed out to the town streets, as she watched Tessa appear beside her. “You seem to be stressed about something. Sorry, if you want me to ━” 

“It’s good. I might as well be yesterday I found out something I never knew before from my sister, and right now I don’t want to even look her in the face.” Hannah told her as Tessa knew the feeling, she shut herself away from her brother after the death of her mother. The mother that was close to her, and the one who got her interested in her passion for Criminology and to become a CSI someday. 

“Are you doing anything later?” Tessa asked the girl, making Hannah smile. “I’m being forced to go to the town-hall meeting, but if I tell my brother I’m doing something else, I saw a diner around here if you want to join me?” 

“You know what, yeah I would like to. It’s better than sitting around at the council meetings which is just two hours of older councilmen trying to tell us what the town should look at doing in the future.” Hannah sighed mid-way through speaking. 

When arriving at the diner Hannah saw the blonde haired Tessa sitting in a booth already, as she smiled at her. Knowing that she couldn’t turn back she continued ignoring the buzzing that was within the pocket of her jacket, not even minding to answer knowing who was calling her. But deep down the feeling that sparked that night when her powers started manifesting. But deep down if anyone was to ask Hannah she would say that she didn’t even know if they were there still, and controlling them was a different story.

But what made her question something was when Tessa ordered  a few extra food items. More than the usual person she noted. But then again sometimes eating distracts people from something, and she knew the feeling of needing a distraction. 

“Wait doesn’t Central City have it’s golden speedster...the━” She started as Tessa smiled knowing more than what she would say about the Flash. 

“The Flash. They call him the Flash and he’s the city's red blur. The one who saves us, like your Superman in Metropolis.” Tessa said as she started hearing the ringing again as she could hear Tessa’s voice when she wasn’t speaking. Like she could hear her voice but it was more faint and she said something about this secret. But what Secret the girl thought, but then again Tessa didn’t speak. 

“Doesn’t he also have sidekicks?” She asked seeing that Tessa didn’t look at her 100%, as she could see the blonde girl nod. 

“Yes, the Flash has two sidekicks, Kid Flash and Speed from what I know of. They are Central City heroes.” Tessa gushed about them as Hannah’s smile grew for a moment. “Anyways what about Superman isn’t there a Supergirl?” 

“She’s in National City from what I have read on the news.” She responded back, “But she seems to be similar to Superman, but no he has no sidekicks from what the news has said.” 

“Which I always thought was weird.” Tessa rebarked at her, making her laugh. “What if he needs help? I get he’s nicknamed the Man Of Steel, but sometimes Steel can break and need help.”

“Who doesn’t?” She asked wondering if she needed help, because deep down Hannah knew this was something more than just a dream, she already knew it wasn’t. But who was going to believe her, and she didn’t want to be taken to a Meta-Human center to be tested and experimented on.  

“Yeah, who doesn’t!” Tessa remarked as she looked back down as the waitress brought her a coffee with extra espresso, as Hannah just got something simple to...hot tea reminding her of her own father a bit. The one who she missed and wished could have been here for what happened last night, when she was at the bonfire. If only he could see who she had become.

No longer was she just a “normal” girl who enjoyed most science subjects and was excelling in school being able to graduate soon enough, but instead now she is just trying to figure out who she is meant to be. And how much power she was gifted with...even though to her it doesn’t seem like it’s a gift at all. But it never does at first. 

“So you said your brother was a former gym owner, and now a firefighter you never showed me what he looks like.” Hannah spoke out before taking a sip of her tea as she watched Tessa clear in her eyes grab her phone as she was scrolling through...most likely her gallery. 

Not long after did Tessa slide her phone over the smooth but light sugar dusted covered small patch of table to Hannah. As the darker haired girl looked down she could see the much older looking man, in his young 20’s, and he had one bright sky blue eye, while the other was a mix of the bright sky with a chocolate like brown splitting it. And he also had the same mixture of brown roots but full on honey to dirty blonde like hair like Tessa. As he stood above her by at least 5’ inches taller than her 

“You two look so similar other than your eyes are more dark than his one eye. But my gosh you could tell you two were related.” Her voice squeaked out as Tessa laughed for a minute. 

“Everyone says that, but you know sometimes it’s weird when they think I could be his daughter from a teenage mistake of his.” Tessa spoke and instantly regretted telling Hannah it as the girl shook her head. 

“And yet here you are Teenage mistake.” Hannah sassed in a joking manner before glancing back to see the waitress starting to fall a bit but before she could notice a blur happened and then time stopped but not long after the waitress was questioning herself and was back to normal. 

But that didn’t stop Hannah from suspecting it as she started eating her plate. Somewhat of her couldn’t believe how the scene unfolded. Her first reaction was that it was just the waitress who gained her feet back; but that couldn’t have happened. But she knew deep down that it had to be someone...and her and Tessa are the only one’s in that corner, unless there was a mystery speedster. 

The next day after school Hannah headed over to the Cushing’s family barbecue, as she was invited by Sarah a few weeks back. Which she accepted since her sister would work late anyways, and now it got her outside the house to just sit in a room with all the other teenagers and young children for a few hours including Sarah. 

Dressed in her more casual clothes Hannah was welcomed by Sarah’s mother who smiled at her as she knew that the girl would know where Sarah was as she entered into the small living room space as she saw Sarah sitting on her sofa with her younger sister. As she smiled at her friend and went to sit on a small chair across from her. 

A little bit later Hannah watched as Jonathan and Jordan entered the room, as Sarah broke the ice in the room by reminding Jonathan about his bad day. Until she started talking about her boyfriend, and then Jordan’s issues. Which peaked Adam girls attention, and what made her more suspicious of the Kent twins hiding something was how after Sarah left with her sister that they went out in the hallway and started whispering. 

The feeling returned to Hannah’s head, as she started hearing the voices once again; but thought deep down that she was hungry and pushed it to the side. Knowing that she most likely would find Tessa and her brother, along with Sarah outside. As she started grabbing some food she finally saw Tessa, with an older but dirty blonde hair man, who seemed to know Kyle Cushing as the two were talking. 

As she approached her she could hear the conversation between Kyle and the dirty blonde man as she went closer to Tessa. “I’m glad you found me. I don’t know how much longer I could hear Mr.Cushing, and Nathan talking.” The girl sighed as it made Hannah smile brightly. 

“Well Mr.Cushing can be very talkative when he gets into it with his firefighting friends from what I have observed.” Hannah noted as her and Tessa headed inside. Tessa had her hands full with her plate of steak and ribs, and Hannah with her hamburger. 

“How are these ribs really addictive to eat?” Tessa said with the barbecue on her side of her mouth as Hannah noticed that Ms.Kent and her son’s left as Jonathan met her eyes with some sort of sadness within them making her wonder. “You ok or are you staring at blue eyes over there?” She asked Hannah as she was sushed. 

“No. And he has a name…” Hannah started as she can see the face that is written on the blondes. “And he has a girlfriend in Metropolis.” 

“You mean the city you're from. So you both understand the same feeling of going from a big city to here in Smallville.” Tessa mentioned as Hannah knew how it felt deep down to be similar to Jonathan in some way that he wouldn’t even know. Heck she didn’t even know fully to what extent it was at. 

That next morning at school as Tessa entered she was greeted by the smile of Hannah, as Hannah introduced her to Sarah as the two seemed to know each other through Tessa’s brother working with Sarah’s father. But that didn’t stop her from making a good conversation with Sarah. 

When they approached another hallway, Hannah saw both of the Kent brothers as she smiled at them before heading to her locker as she smiled at what Tessa joked about for the moment. Making the girl smile as Jon noticed as he smirked. As she continued her way down the hallway, as the two girls pushed each other heading to Advanced Biology. 

After school they sat on the bleachers watching the football players with Tessa as the two sat there watching the men run on the field as they were seen by Sarah who eventually joined them after cheer practice as the three joked around. 

Meanwhile in the Smallville Gazette, Peggy was waiting for her sister to respond to her many text messages and phone calls. Not even seeing her most of the time, as her focus was not on her paper, but on her sister’s wellbeing. But deep down she needed to try to finish her article to make sure it could distract her for the small time she writes them. 

But what she didn’t expect was the woman walking through the door. 

“Hello.” The voice of a familiar woman rang through the Smallville Gazette building. “Anyone here?” The voice continued as Peggy stood up seeing her former Daily planet fellow reporter and famous Lois Lane. 

“Lois Lane.” Her voice rang as Lois saw the familiar face. “Chrissy got out here.” Peggy yelled into the other room as Chrissy walked out shocked that Lois Lane out of all the people was in the Smallville Gazette. 

When Lois explained how she no longer worked for the Daily Planet it did shock Peggy, but it didn’t shock her that Morgan Edge changed her paper. He did it many times to Peggy until he didn’t see her fit to work for the planet anymore. But when hearing that Lois was explaining how the Smallville Gazette or the editor which Lois must have not have known; Peggy noted. 

As Chrissy tried to explain she butted in, “She does pretty much everything, except I also report.” 

“When can you start?” Chrissy asked Lois, making the three smile.