A/N: My dear readers, this is the longest chapter so far...
Busard: Thank you sooo much for your review :)
A huge thanks goes to my betas Dragon166 and Astha22!
5.
Clark walked into the apartment, completely soaked from the rain, and tossed his keys into the bowl where they usually stayed. The conversation with Lois about the incidence at the supermarket still echoed in his ears. Of course Lois' had been furious, especially as he and Celeste had made the decision to not rip her and Richard out of their romantic weekend and had waited until the couple had come back to tell them about the almost abduction of Jason. After an endless discussion about how to take care of the problem, Lois and Clark hadn't found a satisfactory solution about how to protect their son. At the end of the two hours long argument, they had at least agreed that they wouldn't leave the little boy alone from now on until Lex Luthor was behind bars for good, which was quite an optimistic assumption about getting the villain into prison at all.
Sighing about the fact that he had promised to Lois to also talk to Richard about the incident as Superman, he slipped out of his coat and spotted Celeste dancing in the living room to some earsplitting Dance track. A4 pages, with dancing steps on them where scattered everywhere in the apartment - on the floor, on the table, and on the chairs. In the middle of all the mess, was Celeste, practicing some positions Clark knew in his sleep by now, wearing her short ballet pants, a bustier, and her favorite ballet shoes. Her body was covered in sweat, a sign that she had already trained for quite a while. As she went into the Arabesque position and shortly after that into Attitude to end with a Fouetté rond de jambe en tournant, Clark wondered why she did not practice in the ballet studio. He actually hadn't expected her to be at home at all.
As the music was still on a deafening level, she hadn't noticed him coming back home. Walking slowly up to her and embracing her from behind, he pushed her against the window, she was standing in front of, doing some stretching exercises, and whispered "I love to watch you dance," into her ear.
Celeste, who was totally surprised by this move, let out a small scream. His wet clothes against her exposed skin caused her to hold her breath for a couple of seconds. He moved slowly closer and pushed her even more firmly against the cold glass, at the same time brushing his lips over her sweat soaked neck as thick drops of water out of his hair spiraled down her shoulder.
Moaning silently, Celeste closed her eyes, went back on pointe, lifted her arms up to catch his head, and pulled him closer to kiss his lips. "I thought you wouldn't be back until after the press conference?" she asked as a slight smile escaped her lips, her eyes still closed.
"I thought so, too," he smiled. "But a rain shower came in my way and forced me to have a pitstop to change my clothes."
As he slowly brushed his hands under her bustier to caress her breasts, she collapsed with her whole body on his chest and started to breath heavily. "I can't say I don't like the surprise," she whispered between his kisses and his hands vanishing into her training pants.
"I thought you would be in the dancing studio," he whispered into her ears.
Not able to form a straight though with his touch, Celeste just stuttered, "Agent… Call… Audition in two days… Movie… Ballet studio… Occupied today…"
Clark couldn't help, but smirk by her attempts to form a sentence that actually made sense. He loved to have that effect on her.
The only thing Celeste could think of was to concentrate on her breathing as she was dangerously close to hyperventilating. She felt as if his hands were all over her body and figured that this actually most likely was the case.
When he suddenly stopped, her eyes flew open in surprise. Turning around to face him, she realized that he was already standing in his Supermansuit in front of her, looking at her with regret.
She just shrugged as this hadn't been the first time something more important had come in between their love life.
Walking up to her, he cupped her face softly with his hands and kissed her passionately. "Lunch at our place in an hour?" he asked, smiling.
"You buy!" she syrupy smiled back. The next thing she felt was a gust of wind leaving her behind, shivering.
Oliver stood in front of the huge mirrors in his studio and swung a stick, practicing some moves. Being one of the few 'normal' humans in the team of superheros meant for him that he had to be physically top fit in order to keep up with them.
As he turned around and swung the stick in long wide moves, he noticed a woman clearing her throat from the other side of the room.
"So that's what you do when you are not writing cheques and grinning for the cameras?" she asked irritated.
Looking up, he smiled. "Mercy, what a pleasant surprise!" he exclaimed as he walked up to her. "When I asked your secretary to book me an appointment, I actually had in mind to call you later this afternoon, not you showing up at my place," he added with a boyish grin.
Tess just lifted her hand and inspected her perfectly manicured fingernails. "I figured when Oliver Queen wants to have an audience with me, I should go and meet up with him straight away to un-complicate things," she exhaled, looking determindly into his dark-brown eyes.
"And you came all the way from Metropolis to tell me that personally?" Oliver asked bejond believe.
Tess glanced into his eyes. "Oliver I've got a private jet, too. Althought my pilot isn't even half as hot as yours...," she added with a smirk.
Sighing, Oliver turned around and grabbed a towel to dry his sweat-covered face. "Do you want to be my plus-one at the gala tomorrow?" he came straight to the point.
Looking at him with her eyes wide open, she snapped "Are you serious?"
He just nodded as she walked up to the cabinet, snatching a stick for herself, looking extremely angry. Walking back to face him again, she said, "You do realize that I am organizing the gala?" as she lifted the stick with one sharp move into a horizontal position, pushing Oliver against the wall.
He stared at her, caught completely off guard.
"And you realize that you need a man on your side?" he asked breathlessly, as he shifted them both away from the wall, grabbing his stick to defend himself.
After a couple of moves, he had to admit that she was quite an opponent who could hold up her own against him in every aspect of the fight. All of a sudden he felt the end of her stick boring into his jaw. Turning around, he stopped for a second as blood dropped out of his mouth. Tess just looked at him provocatively as he wiped away the blood with the back of his hand.
"Is this a revenge?" he yelled, being taken totally aback.
"You used to be better at this." she spat. "This is not revenge, Oliver. This is respect! Weak men like you just make me stronger," she cried out, continuing to fight until Oliver caught her hands, pushing her back to the wall and trying to keep her in place with his bodyweight. As she passionately tried to escape his grip, he lifted a hand and brushed a red strain of hair out of her face.
"You know how much you meant to me," he whispered softly.
A sarcastic laughter escaped her lips, "Yeah, that became very clear when I caught you with the waitress, or was she a hostess?"
"How many times do I have to apologize?" Oliver asked depressed.
Pushing him away in a harsh move, she lifted her stick again, pointing it at his chin. "I don't want an apology. I want an explanation! Why did you leave me? What were you so afraid of?"
Looking at her, Oliver exhaled deeply and released his stick from his hand. The plopping sound as it hit the floor let Tess startle for a second. Staring into her eyes, he walked up to her to cup her face. "You," he whispered as she looked at him, her eyes wide open.
"Tess, what happened to you?" he asked softly after a minute.
She turned her head. "I grew up when you left!" she said somberly and turned around, putting some distance between them. "I know my way out… Pick me up at seven tomorrow…," stopping mid-sentence, she realized Mathieu standing in the doorframe, gazing at them, dumbfounded.
Gathering together all her dignity, she lifted her chin and walked up to the Australian pilot, smiling sweetly. "Monsieur Perrontier. Comment ça va?" she asked in perfect French, as she brushed over his right cheek with her hand.
Mathieu could just stare at her as she vanished along the long corridor, leaving him and Oliver behind.
Walking up to his boss, he asked in disbelief, "Are you already on Tess' bad side?"
Oliver sat down and pressed the towel to his chin. "That's assuming that the Luthor wannabe has a good side. That punk made her to his acting CEO and we still don't know why, so being cautious with anything Tess related is the way to go."
Mathieu sat next to him and shook his head. "I don't know if she is a die hard Lex supportive. Up to this point, she has been civil."
The man next to him threw the towel into his direction and smiled. "Watch out Romeo!"
"I'm just saying," Mathieu tried to defend himself.
"Are you sure your judgement isn't clouded by her flowing red hair and piercing green eyes?" Oliver asked his friend in a more serious tone.
"Why haven't you told me about your connection to Tess Mercer before?" Mathieu tried to dig deeper into the topic.
Oliver got up to pick up the sticks from the floor. "It was in the past and I'm not exactly proud how things turned out… Let's just say that Mercy is one of the reasons Green Arrow exists. By the way, what are you doing here? Isn't today your day off?" he deliberately put an end to the Tess discussion.
Mathieu straightened. "Celeste called me this morning. Lex Luthor tried to kidnap Jason White a few days ago. He used one of his criminals to ambush her and Lois' kids at a supermarket and apparently the henchman did use Kryptonite to make his point."
Celeste had a very bad feeling. Nervously, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Clark had been assigned to report about Lex Luthor's newest project 'Prometheus'. The billionaire was about to launch the most advanced space project in the world. After the couple had had lunch in downtown Metropolis an hour after their encounter at their apartment, she had escorted her husband to the city hall, where Lex Luthor was expected to conduct a press conference about the details of 'Prometheus'.
Placing a kiss on Clark's cheek, Celeste realized that she was too late to slip away, when the black limousine stopped in front of the journalists, waiting for the ambitious businessman. Her breath faltered when she saw Lex Luthor smoothly getting out of the car and walking up the stairs where he was instantly surrounded by dozens of journalist, wanting to get at least a short statement before the press conference.
Trying to get around the reporters as unnoticed as possible and most of all Lex Luthor, Celeste ran down the stairs.
Struggling to escape, she was held back by the crowd of journalists trying to grab a statement from the businessman.
Displaying his immaculate white teeth and focusing his smile just in time into the cameras, the bald billionaire answered patiently the endless questions about 'Prometheus' as the sound of zooming cameras and flash lights filled the air. All of the sudden, he noticed his most favorite ballet dancer stumbling hastily down the stairs just next to him, from the corner of his eyes. Excusing himself to the journalists, while giving his bodyguards a sign to hold the reporters as far away from him as possible, he turned around and snatched Celeste's left wrist in a vice verse grip, just before she could slip away. Smiling obnoxiously at her, his eyes pierced into hers.
Shit, shit, shit, Celeste thought as she bit her bottom lip, starting to tremble as she felt his fingers burying even deeper into her wrist.
"Miss McPherson," he whispered after pulling her close enough, so nobody could hear what he had to say to the young woman. "My precious ballet angel, what a nice surprise to meet you here, although, I have to admit, I'm still upset about you having the nerve to save Superman's life," he whispered.
Celeste looked at the bald man with eyes wide open as Luthor continued to speak, "By the way, I was also quite stunned to hear that you are the babysitter of my best friend's son…What a small world we are living in, don't you think?"
The young woman swallowed hard, lifted her chin and glared at him. "That's really odd. Richard White has never mentioned you as one of his closest friends," she exclaimed as the corner of her mouth twitched for a split-second. Lex looked at her, his eyes twinkling as guffaws of laugher escaped his throat.
When his publicist grabbed him at the other arm to indicate that they had to go, he nodded, bent his head, and whispered in a higher voice. "You have no idea precious ballet angel! Seriously, and this is a free advice for somebody I really like… If I were you, I wouldn't sign up to babysit Jason White at any circumstance anymore," he recommended as he turned around and walked into the town hall, a diabolic grin plastered all over his face.
Fighting back the tears welling up in her eyes, Celeste bit her lower lip and looked around. Her heart was about to jump out of her chest. She needed her husband. Now. But unfortunately, he was somehow caught between all the reporters who were about to get a short statement from Lex Luthor. Noticing Clark's concerned expression, she tried to press out a smile as their glances met.
Trying to somehow get to her, Clark smiled reassuringly while giving her a sign to meet up with him on the bottom of the stairs. He had eavesdropped the whole conversation between the two of them and was now more than concerned. Lex Luthor displayed a fondness for Celeste, that made the hair on his skin shoot upright.
Kitty Kowalski who had just jumped out of the limousine spotted Celeste straight away. She couldn't believe that the Australian ballet dancer was at this place at this time. What did she want there? Following Celeste's glance, she noticed the man who was looking with a very concerned expression at the Australian woman. Frowning, Kitty tried to piece together where she had seen this before. Somehow she felt like having a déjà vu as she racked her brain to find out why this scene seemed so familiar.
Meanwhile, Celeste stormed down the remaining stairs and collapsed on one of them, sobbing. She inhaled deeply as tears ran uncontrollable down her cheeks. This man gave her the creeps. As she tried to find a tissue in one of her coat pockets, Clark sat down next to her and hugged her tightly.
"I am so sorry," he said softly, quietly cursing himself for having suggested to have lunch with her before the press conference. The last thing he needed at the moment was his wife caught in the middle of this mess.
She lifted her hand and brushed over his cheek. "It's okay. I was just too late to back away before he showed up," she said, resting her head on his chest.
Clark just nodded and kissed the top of her head, while trying to soothe her. Feeling her calming down and relaxing more and more in his arms, he brushed another kiss into her locks and got up again.
"Sorry, I have to go back," he apologized.
Wiping the remaining tears out of her eyes, Celeste nodded. "I'm okay. I'm a big girl," she tried to assure him.
Walking up the stairs, he turned his head and smiled once more to reassure her before he followed all the other reporters to the press conference.
Celeste indulged in the silence for a moment, now hanging in the air after all the reporters and news teams had followed the billionaire into the town hall. As she blew her nose, a woman approached her. "I didn't know my husband has such a deep impact on you," she exclaimed in a calm voice just next to the ballet dancer.
Celeste looked up and was stunned that it had been Kitty, now standing in front of her. "You seem to be very happy about that," she answered annoyed.
Kitty let out a loud sigh. "I am happy! You know, I'm happily married to Lex," she stated with a low voice looking dreamingly in the direction where Luthor had just vanished.
"Well. Congratulations! I really hope he loves you," Celeste said sarcastically as she knew that Lex Luthor couldn't love anybody else than himself.
"Listen," the dark haired woman replied outraged. "Not everybody in this world is lucky to find true love. Some of us have to settle with what they are given. Not like you."
"What do you mean?" Celeste asked puzzled.
"I mean that you are very lucky to have a man who truly loves…," suddenly, the brunette stopped mid-sentence and looked absolutely perplexed into Celeste's eyes. With an obnoxious smile on her face, she continued in a high pitched voice a couple of seconds later. "Seriously Celeste? I can't believe it! The little ballet dancer and the hero - disguised as a reporter? Wow, I am stunned… This is sooooooo sweet, my teeth start to rot away just by thinking of it," Kitty shouted out, taunting, as Celeste eyes widened in shock.
Kitty was so distracted to humiliate the woman in front of her, that she didn't notice Celeste jumping up from the stairs almost in lightening speed and grabbing her, pushing her to the floor, and squeezing her throat, while sitting on top of her.
"If you tell anybody in this world, I swear I will find you and kill you with my bare hands," she yelled.
Kitty was in total agony as she tried to get some air into her lungs. She had never thought that the sweet little fragile ballet dancer could be so furious. The next thing she felt was somebody trying to get Celeste off her. Choking, she opened her eyes and was stunned that it had been Superman disguised in his alter ego who had come to her rescue, by grabbing Celeste, and pulling her off from Kitty. Lex' wife looked fierecly into direction of the young woman who had choked her, as she tried to get up.
"Let me go! I will kill her," Celeste shouted out as Clark held her safely in his grip, trying to calm her down.
When Kitty was able to speak again, she walked up to Clark, tipptoeing, to whisper into his ear. "We are even now Superman. You saved my live and I saved yours. Don't expect any more from me," she stated in a hoarse voice, walking slowly up the stairs to meet up with her husband who had come back outside the town hall in order to pose for some press pictures.
Clark's eyes widened. How in the world did Kitty know his secret?
"Are you okay?" he asked Celeste, who had finally calmed down, brushing with both of his hands some of her messy locks behind her ears.
"I will be when I get the chance to kill her," she answered nodding into Kitty's direction, all the rage against Luthor's wife surfacing again.
"What just happened?" he asked, still absolutely stunned about Kitty's statement.
Celeste blew another lock of hair out of her face. "What did she say to you?" she counter questioned.
Clark run a hand through his hair and asked her to sit down on the stairs. Looking up at Kitty, who had taken her spot next to her husband, he sat down next to Celeste, grabbed her hand and started to play with one of her fingers. "She said that we are even now and that I can't expect any more from her. And she called me Superman," he turned his head, whispering into Celeste's ear.
His wife just nodded. "Yep, that's the reason why I was so furious."
"How does she know?" Clark asked puzzled and very concerned about the fact that if she would break this news to Lex, his life and the lives of all the people he cared for would be in more danger than they already were.
"I think she's smarter than we think she is. Kitty saved our lives when the New Krypton incident happened. That is a plain fact. But I've never told you the real reason why she saved us. She saved us because she noticed how you looked into my eyes when you realized that I was captured by Lex. Clark, she knew that Superman loves me and she only let me go because I told her I love him too. I mean, one doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to count one and one together don't you think?"
Clark just nodded. He would had never thought that Kitty was a sucker for romantic situations… Maybe she had noticed the concern in his eyes about Celeste earlier. Lowering his head and tucking his chin in, he tried to think of something comforting to say to his wife. But he couldn't. Deep in his thoughts he felt suddenly Celeste's hand on his cheek.
"I'm sorry," she said desperately.
Clark kissed her softly on her lips and pulled her into a firm hug. "It's okay Celeste. We will cross that bridge when we have to. Okay?"
She just nodded and continued to sob in his arms as she knew that from now on their lives would never been the same.