Disclaimers: None of this is mine
Setting: Takes place after Darkseid was defeated.
Spoilers: Finale

A/N: Since Tess died trying to protect Clark, I think she deserved to have her friends know what happened to her. This is my idea of how it might have happened.

Clark watched the courier until he turned the corner at the end of the hallway, then glanced down at the manila envelope in his hands. His name was scrawled across the front of it in Tess Mercer's handwriting.

He stepped back inside the apartment and closed the door before tearing the top off the envelope and turning it over to dump a small tape into his hand. Glancing at Lois, he popped it into the handheld video camera they had hooked up to the tv.

For a moment static filled the screen then it cleared to show Tess settling into the chair behind her desk at Watchtower. For a moment she looked uncharacteristically distraught, but then her face blanked and she was once again her stoic self.

"Not to sound too cliched," she said with a self-deprecating smile "but if you're watching this, Clark, then it means I'm dead."

"Lionel brought Lex back." She said without preamble. "But you probably already know that by now."

She paused and looked directly into the camera. "He knows who you are Clark. He knows about..."

She breaks off, shaking herself. "There's a neurotoxin, designed by Lex himself although I doubt he'll appreciate the irony. It's fast acting and will erase his memories completely and permanently. It...has to be administered through direct contact. But your secret will be safe."

She paused again and took a deep breath. "Thank you for believing in me Clark. It means more to me than you'll ever know."

She looked away from the camera for a moment and when she looked back her eyes shone with unshed tears. "Goodbye Clark."

She leaned across the desk, reaching for where the camera was at, and the screen went to static again.

Clark stood there for a minute, unable to say anything. Lois rubbed his back comfortingly, knowing what he was thinking without him needing to say anything.

Finally he reached out and shut the tv off. Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, he hit speed dial. The call was answered on the second ring.

"Oliver, you and Chloe can stop searching for Tess..."