Thank you for letting me know you liked it! Whew, I was starting to wonder.

Stars and Water

Chapter Sixteen

Clark turned the radio up and rolled the windows down, singing along with the music. He was thinking about how fun it would be to share more of his life with Maria. He could take her to the Planet with him next time and explore Metropolis together. Maybe they could both attend Met U. The thought of attending College together made him almost miss his turn.

Bouncing into the Talon Clark nearly made Chloe choke on her Latte when he stood before her laughing and said "I come in peace," while placing a muffin on the table before her. "Sorry I'm late. I was a little preoccupied."

"Who are you and what have you done with my friend Clark Kent?" asked Chloe, her eyes wide in wonder. Clark looked amazing; he looked dazzling, he looked happier than she'd seen him in ages.

Clark just grinned at her and sat down but it was obvious he could hardly contain himself. "I told Maria everything." said Clark, turning suddenly serious but with a smile playing around the corners of his mouth.

"My God Clark you hardly know her!" Chloe sounded surprised and worried, "I can't believe you told her your secret."

"Well I wasn't going to. In fact I was going to break it off because I couldn't lie to her and I couldn't burden her with the truth but she saw me. You know what I mean, you were there." Clark looked into Chloe's eyes, very serious now, "Did I tell you she tried to put herself between me and a bullet? I barely turned in time to keep it from hitting her." Chloe shook her head.

"When she came to my house yesterday I was ready to lie but I came up blank, and then, oh god Chloe she was so sweet." Clark looked down and fidgeted with his hands. "She came to see me because she didn't want me to worry. She thought I was Meteor infected and she wanted to be sure I knew she wouldn't tell anyone. How could I lie to her, she was being so trusting and open with me? I didn't want to repeat all the problems I had with Lana, besides, the truth is she's not Lana. She has no history with the meteors and doesn't talk to Lex, and…honestly, I just couldn't do it again." He looked into Chloe's eyes. "I couldn't make myself push her away."

Chloe nodded, she did understand, she knew how much it killed him to lie. It was why he was so lame at it. "I take it from the expression on your face that Maria has no problem accepting intergalactic travelers." said Chloe with a smile, if Maria ever betrays him I will kill her, she thought, watching Clark's face light back up with one of his irresistible grins.

Maria woke in terror. It was dark and what she could make out of her surroundings she couldn't recognize. She couldn't move and realized she had been strapped down in duct tape. Her arms were taped to her body and her ankles were taped together and a small piece was across her mouth. There were large rectangular objects looming in the dark around her and she guessed they could be crates of some kind. She was lying flat on her back on top of an old mattress in the midst of them and even if she tried to roll she couldn't have done much but fall off of the mattress and hit a crate.

Outside she heard voices and she strained to hear what they said. There was a cold, high pitched man's voice saying, "Okay guys it's our shift now, you brought her here and you have to come back and guard her at midnight, but now it's our turn." He laughed and it made her hair stand up on her neck. "She was unconscious when you had her but she'll be nice and awake for us."

"Mr. Luthor said not to hurt her Stan, you know that." said a deeper voice with a hint of authority and anger in it.

The high voice answered "I'm not going to hurt her!" He let out a strange mirthless giggle. "Hell Scott, she'll probably like it. Never had a real man like me I'll bet. Probably needs it." Maria struggled against the tape and a tear trickled down her cheek when she made no progress at all.

"I swear to God Stan, you touch her and I'll make you wish you were never born." said another voice, almost a tenor and with music in it, even though right now it was angry music.

"Whoa, back off Matt, you want her to yourself? I get that. But why not share?" Stan actually sounded a little afraid of Matt and Maria couldn't help feeling cheered up by that.

"Look Stan, we aren't all perverted like you." said the deeper voice, Scott, she thought to herself, God bless Scott and Matt. "If you lay a filthy hand on her we'll find out and Lex Luthor will know you didn't follow his orders."

Lex Luthor! Maria thought, I should have known.

"Fine, Fine," said Stan in a frightened sullen tone. "No touchy, I get it, seems a waste but whatever." Maria sighed in relief but continued to struggle as she listened to footsteps retreat and could hear Stan talking to someone else in an angry tone and that person seemed to be in agreement. Her eyes widened and her mouth dried up at what she heard them discussing.

Clark and Chloe drove into Metropolis to visit Jimmy in the hospital and it took both Jimmy and Clark working together, to finally convince Chloe to stop blaming herself for what had happened. Chloe listened, delighted, as Clark praised Jimmy for saving Chloe from being hurt by the drug dealers. She could see how that made Jimmy brighten up and she thanked Clark later.

"Hey, I meant every word Chloe." said Clark, "He's brave and he kept you out of danger. He got himself into trouble but he's not the first guy who's been willing to do that for Chloe Sullivan." And he grinned at her.

After checking in at the Planet they headed back for the long drive to Smallville and Maria's house. Standing in front of the dark house Clark felt the hairs go up on his neck. "Chloe, someone took her, I know it."

"Come on Clark, maybe she forgot something and ran to the store." reassured Chloe.

"Chloe, her car is still here, the house is dark and she's not answering her phone." Clark's voice was rising. "Lex has her. If I had stayed with her this wouldn't have happened. I shouldn't have left her alone."

Chloe felt cold fear settle in her stomach. If Clark was right there was no knowing what Lex would do. She didn't want to think about what it would do to Clark to loose someone else. "Clark, look at me." Clark turned to Chloe with his eyes so full of naked pain that she had to swallow hard to continue. "We will find her. I'll help and we will find her."

Light streamed across the floor as the door opened to the room Maria was lying in. She curled up as small as possible on the mattress and blinked into the light.

A man walked into the room, blocking the light and standing over her grinning, it was not a nice smile. "Well, well, hello there little lady, looks like we have us some time to play." He said, and she recognized with a shiver the voice of Stan. "I wonder how you sound when you scream." and he reached down and touched her arm. Maria flinched away and that seemed to anger him.

He grabbed her arms hard and hauled her into the patch of light on the mattress. "Maybe you like it rough," he growled, "I know I do." And he leaned down and ripped the tape off her mouth. Before she could scream he had covered her mouth with his in a savage kiss. Maria struggled to get away but he held her tight and ground his mouth into hers, cutting her lips with his teeth.

Maria fought a wave of nausea that rose in her at the feel of his mouth and taste of his breath. Then she realized she had a weapon after all and let herself go. Just as he pulled away for a breath Maria vomited on him, soiling his face, his shirt, and down his neck. Stan swore and jumped back.

He stood there shocked and disgusted for a moment and then rage filled his eyes and fisted his hands. With a curse he struck Maria so hard her head rocked back on the mattress and she lay there stunned by the pain. Stan ran from the room and she could hear him telling his partner that he had to go change clothes and get cleaned up. She heard a loud laugh and a lot of swearing and then the slam of a door as Stan left. Through the pain and the fear Maria smiled a small smile of victory.

Clark was headed to the mansion to confront Lex. There wasn't a thing Chloe could do to stop him and she wasn't sure she wanted to even if she could. He'd dropped her off at her apartment, jumped out of the truck and blasted into superspeed leaving her in the middle of the words, "Be careful Clark."

Lex sauntered into the warehouse while dialing the number he had recently acquired for Dr, Desantis. When she answered he smiled and said pleasantly "Dr. Desantis, how nice to hear your voice." His smile widened as he heard her gasp, apparently she wasn't happy to hear him. "I thought you might like to reconsider the threat you made after you have a nice heart to heart with your daughter. She's staying with me at the moment." His voice changed suddenly to a cold, hard, growl "If you want her back I suggest you start collecting all that nasty information you've been passing around about me. I'll let you know where to take it later. Otherwise I might have to start returning her to you piece by piece."

Kate gripped the phone so hard her knuckles turned white. "Let me talk to her." She held back a sob. "I'll give you what you want, just don't hurt her." Lex smiled triumphantly.

Approaching the door where Maria was being held Lex looked at the man standing there. "Where's your partner?" he asked brusquely. Then he waved off the man's answer and said "I don't have time for your excuses, unlock the door, Maria needs to talk with her Mother."

Matt lay in bed chasing sleep but it wouldn't come. He kept seeing Maria lying helpless in the warehouse. Finally he gave up and got out of bed, reaching for the phone. It rang just as his hand touched it and he jumped.

Clark searched the mansion for any sign of Lex and not finding him he headed for Metropolis to search in Luthorcorps headquarters.

Chloe called Oliver and filled him in on what was happening.

Maria lay back on the mattress trying to rest; she wanted all her strength for whatever opportunity might come her way, then she heard a voice at the door and recognized Lex Luthor. The door opened and he stepped into the light that streamed in, casting his shadow across her body as she lay there frozen in fear.

Matt knew Scott well; they had worked together for years, so it didn't surprise him at all to hear Scott's voice on the line. The fact that Scott couldn't sleep and wanted to check on Maria just made Matt nod while he slipped on his pants. He listened to Scott rant as he buttoned his shirt and tugged on his boots. When he finally heard a pause in the flow of words he said, "Be there in ten." And he hung up.

Oliver paced the room thinking. If Lex had taken Maria then he had really gone off the deep end and there was no knowing where he would stop. "My God," said Oliver coming to a sudden halt. "Nickolas will be next."

To be continued…