See, I didn't make you wait long at all. Thank you for the reviews. It helps to know people are reading and enjoying my story! To answer the question about Chloe, my story is a little AU and set before Chloe found out she was infected so that doesn't come up. ( I love Chloe and her power, it just isn't in here) Hope you all like this update!

Stars and Water

Chapter nine

Getting in had been easy. Kate had simply shown up for work, meekly told Lex she would do anything he wanted, restrained herself from wiping the satisfied smirk off his face with her fist and walked into 33.1.

Later in the evening when most of the personnel had gone home she passed out fresh brownies to the security team. Since she already had a reputation as a nice lady who brought treats this raised no eyebrows. Soon all the guards were slumped over enjoying a nap and she proceeded to shut down the security cameras. They were already off.

That was odd, she thought. Oh well, not one to argue with luck she ran to the door and let Maria in.

Chloe sat in the van with Clark and they went over the layout of the building together. "Okay Clark, the security cameras are disabled." said Chloe, clicking madly on her computer "Time to go in. I'll bring the Van up to the loading dock and wait for you to bring the kids out. Be careful." Clark nodded and with a rush of wind he disappeared.

Maria and Kate released the children and gathered them into a group. The older ones understood the situation and helped to get the younger ones organized. Maria couldn't help staring as one of the children hovered six inches above the ground and another played with the sparks that flew from his finger tips. Kate saw her expression, "That's nothing she said. "I watched film footage today of people who could walk through walls and bend steel. It's amazing" she smiled at Maria's expression of wonder. "Come on we'd better get moving before the brownies wear off." They headed out of the room and into the hall with Maria leading the way.

Maria ran to the security door and pulled but it wouldn't budge. Wrapping both hands around the handle she tried again and suddenly with a loud grinding crash, the door was yanked right off it's hinges, with Maria in the air, dangling from the handle.

Before she could let go she felt herself flung through the air along with the heavy metal door. Maria was confused. She couldn't imagine what had just happened. Time seemed to stop as she felt herself sailing down the hallway and saw the wall coming at her. She realized she was about to be crushed between the door and the wall.

Suddenly Clark was there beside her. He caught the door and set it down gently. Then he caught her as she slumped to the floor. Maria struggled to stand up and Clark set her on her feet. He looked into her eyes, concerned "Are you okay?" He asked.

Clark was horrified. He'd barely had time to stop Maria from being crushed by the door he'd tossed. If he hadn't caught a glimpse of her dark hair and turned to look it would have killed her. Clark shuddered at the thought. Now she had seen him use his powers. What was she going to think? How could he explain it?

Maria stared at him, speechless, trying to process what she had just seen, then realized he had asked her a question and answered breathlessly "I'm okay. Clark how did you…that was a solid steel door and you…" her voice trailed off at the expression in his eyes, fear. Clark was afraid of her? Maria heard voices and looked up to see her Mom come through the doorway with the kids.

It was Clark's turn to look amazed.

"We have to go now!" Kate called, "come help me with the kids." Maria and Clark hurried to help. Maria lifted up the smallest girl, a tiny waif, not quite three years old. Clark grabbed two children in his arms, twin boys who climbed up Clark like he was a tree and then hung on tight. "I'll lead, everyone stick close together." Said Kate, carrying the baby, "Maria honey, you come last and make sure there are no stragglers."

Kate looked at Clark "Maybe you could lead the way and open any locked doors." She arched one eyebrow at him then turned to the children. "Let's go!" and the group hurried down the hallway towards the side exit where they had their rental van parked.

"I hear someone coming!" Clark whispered loudly. "We have to get out of this corridor." Kate and Maria looked at him oddly, they didn't hear anything. "Just trust me on this." Said Clark, and they turned down another hallway and hurried through a maze of halls and doors trying to find the one that led outside.

When they found the door they needed it was locked. Kate gestured to Clark and he gave the door a light push with his shoulder. It fell flat on the ground. Kate smiled and nodded at him. "Thank you Clark" she said, as if he had simply held the door open for her. Maria looked at her mother and then at Clark, how could she be so calm about this? It was as if she had seen other people who could do amazing things and just took it for granted. Then she realized that her Mother had seen just that, in the lab, and Maria thought she knew why Clark looked so scared.

The little girl Maria was holding took that moment of distraction to wiggle out of her arms. Mentioning the word "potty" she took off back inside with Maria in hot pursuit.

Outside near the door Chloe was sitting in a large black van, motor running, and ready to blast off at a moment's notice. Near her was another van, the one Kate had rented, with cash, under another name.

"Where were you going to take the children?" asked Clark as they stepped outside.

"To a friend of mine who works for children's services. Why?" said Kate, pausing on the way to her van.

"Lex has all kinds of connections. He'll get them back." stated Clark. "I have a friend who's made arrangements for a private plane to meet us and he's already tracking down the children's parents, those that are alive and still at liberty. We'll reunite all that we can and he'll find homes for the others. They will never be found by Lex."

Kate looked at Clark and nodded, impressed with this young man and his compassionate friends. "We will load the children in your van." she said, "Maria and I will leave in ours and if anyone follows we will try to lead them astray." She smiled at Clark.

Clark was helping load kids in the van and explaining to Chloe as much as he could about what had happened when he heard Kate say "Where's Maria?" He looked up to see the child Maria had been carrying standing alone in front of Kate, crying.

"A bad man hit us and I runned away" She sobbed.

Clark felt his stomach jolt. "I'll go check on her Dr.Desantis" he said as he turned and sped back into the building. Clark saw Maria being dragged down the hall, fighting for all she was worth with one of Lex's guards. He had one hand over her mouth and the other was holding a gun. Clark supersped over and tapped him on the forehead, knocking him unconscious.

"Let's go!" he said to Maria who was staring at the guard lying on the floor stirring a little, he seemed to be waking up.

She looked up at Clark in surprise. "Where did you come from?" she asked.

"Never mind that now." Clark said, "We have to go." and they hurried down the hall towards the open door.

Maria looked behind them just in time to see the guard raising his gun and aiming at the center of Clark's back.

"No!" she screamed and flung herself at Clark just as the gun fired.

Clark looked back at her yell and hearing the gun reacted in super speed to grab Maria and turn so the bullets bounced off his body. Then he continued his turn and using his heat vision seared the gun, forcing the guard to drop it as he curled up around his burning hands.

Clark lifted Maria in his arms and super sped outside to the van. Once again he set her down and asked "are you okay?" This time Maria just nodded, unable to speak.

"We need to go!" called Kate and she grabbed Maria and dragged her to their van, stuffed her inside and took off out the main entrance.

Clark hopped in next to Chloe and she floored their van. They tore out of the parking lot, spraying gravel as they went. Chloe pushed the van to its limit and they sped down the road, took turns on two wheels, and were well on their way to Metropolis with no pursuit in sight before either of them said a word.

"She saw you use your powers." said Chloe, looking worried.

"How did you know?" asked Clark.

"I recognized the stunned expression." Chloe smiled, remembering. Then she looked over at Clark. "What did she say?"

"Nothing, we didn't have time to talk." Clark looked miserable.

"What do you think she will do?" Chloe gripped the steering wheel so hard her knuckles turned white, "Will she tell anyone?"

Clark shook his head, "I don't know. I don't think so." He looked at Chloe, desperate for reassurance. "I don't know what to do."

Kate whipped the van down the road a short distance, then she turned down a small gravel road and pulled into a grove of trees. She turned off the engine and they sat in silence waiting. Soon they saw three black SUVs fly past. Kate waited awhile then slowly eased down the gravel road with the headlights off, navigating by moonlight.

"Are you okay sweetheart?" Kate asked Maria. She tried to see Maria's face but it was too dark.

"I'm fine Mom. Clark saved me," Maria still couldn't get her head around just how that had happened. She stared into the night remembering how it had felt when the bullets made his body jerk, the terror that had washed over her when she thought he had been shot, and the overwhelming feeling of joy when she realized he wasn't killed. She remembered the sensation of incredible speed when he carried her, it had felt like her stomach had been left down the hall, like the sudden drop on a rollercoaster. Finally, she remembered the look of fear in his eyes.

"I need to talk to Clark" Maria said to her Mom.

To be continued…