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Stars and Water

Chapter 26

The sun crept down below the edge of the skyline and the haze above the city ignited in shades of red and brilliant orange. Maria and Clark stood side by side watching from the top of the Daily Planet building. Maria had her arm around Clark's waist, her head resting on his shoulder while she watched the sunset. Clark's arm was draped around her shoulders, holding her close to him, and his head was tilted so that his cheek touched her silky hair.

A feeling of peace drifted through Clark, a relaxed contented feeling that always seemed to come when he was with Maria. He could tell by her breathing and heartbeat that she was equally relaxed. They stood in silence and enjoyed the moment together.

Finally Maria stirred and Clark felt her shiver a little, now that the sun had gone a cool breeze was blowing. He tucked her closer protectively and she turned to face him, wrapping both arms around his waist and looking into his eyes with a soft dreaming expression. He looked down at her in wonder, how did this happen; a few months ago he had been convinced he was destined to be alone. Now he knew that wasn't the case and the knowledge made his heart soar.

Clark beamed a sudden smile at her and Maria blinked, did he know what effect his beautiful smile had on her? She looked up at his joy filled eyes and returned his smile, easing one hand from around his waist and resting it against his cheek. Clark turned his head to kiss her palm and Maria slid her other hand around his neck, leaning into him. Clark moved one hand into the waves of hair cascading down her back and slid it up to support her head and then he kissed her tenderly. She melted into the kiss and sighed as he placed light kisses on each cheek. Then she giggled as he kissed the tip of her nose and she slowly opened her eyes as he kissed her forehead and then rested his cheek against it.

Clark's cell phone went off with a chorus of "Who let the dogs out, who… who… who…" It was so loud, blasting into their quiet moment that both Clark and Maria jumped. "It's Lois," Clark explained as he dug the phone out of his pocket, "I should take this." he said apologetically.

"Hey, Lois. Yes, as a matter of fact this is a bad time. WHAT!" Clark yelled so loud it hurt Maria's ears. "Sorry," he said in a quieter tone, "My God, I can't believe it. With all the evidence they had and the testimony they got how could it be possible? Yeah I know, money, but I thought the IRS had that all locked down. Oh s" Maria stared in shock, did Clark just swear? "Okay, thanks Lois, yeah, you be careful too. Bye" Clark turned to Maria and said in a voice shaking with anger. "Lex has been released. The charges have been dropped."

Maria stared at Clark in shock and then swayed where she stood, "Lex? No, Lex can't be," her eyes were huge and her voice trembled, "But I went to the police, he kidnapped me, I saw him there, I told them…my God, he'll kill us all." and she looked around as though she expected Lex to be lying in wait on the roof.

Clark pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, tucking her face into his chest and murmuring in her ear soothingly. "Shhhh, shhh, Maria don't say that. I won't let anything happen to you. Oliver and the team won't let anything happen to your family. He's not that powerful. I can protect you from him. Let's go down and talk to Chloe, and see what we can find out." Maria nodded into his shirt. She really didn't want to move, she felt safe in his arms and outside them the world was sinister and filled with danger now that Lex was free.

Chloe was on the phone, typing on her keyboard and staring at the news on the TV monitor in the room when they came in. She looked up at Clark with worried eyes. "I can't believe this Clark," she said, "Apparently a man named Stan Turnpike confessed to the kidnapping and he said that he drugged Maria until she was high as a kite so there is no way she could have recognized anyone or understood what was going on. Now the report is that Turnpike committed suicide out of remorse." Chloe shook her head.

"What about 33.1?" asked Clark, his voice coming out harsh through his clenched jaws; surely something would stick to Lex.

"Well when the police raided the labs they found nothing there so obviously Lex has a mole in the police department, probably more than one." Chloe was talking to Clark but she kept glancing at Maria, who was pale and dazed, clinging to Clark like he was all that held her up.

"It looks like Lex is going to be cleared of all charges. Apparently the IRS is the only one giving him trouble now and that did tie up his funds Stateside but, you know Lex, can you say Swiss bank accounts?"

Maria felt like she couldn't breathe. The thought of Lex walking free was too terrible to contemplate. He would come after her, she knew, and not just for revenge. He knew she was close to Clark and whatever obsession he had about his secret, whatever he guessed, he knew she could give him information. Oh God, she thought, now I even know what can kill him. Her legs didn't feel like a part of her body anymore and chills swept through her making her shiver uncontrollably. She hated that, she wanted to be calm, Chloe looked calm. Actually Chloe was talking so fast she was hard to understand, so maybe calm was a little much, but at least she wasn't near passing out. Maria willed herself to stay upright and think, and listen. I will not faint, she told herself firmly. The room spun and she knew she was going down. She saw Chloe's alarmed face and felt Clark catch her but she was incapable of responding as all went dark.

"Clark!" Chloe called in alarm but he'd already caught Maria as she slumped against him. He lifted her in his arms and looked around for something soft to lay her on. "Lets take her to the employee lounge, there's a couch in there and it's fairly private." said Chloe looking at all the other employees staring in their direction. Clark nodded and followed her, his face softening as he looked down at Maria in concern. Her face was so pale and vulnerable looking. Clark swallowed hard, nothing and no one was going to hurt Maria if he could help it.

Chloe cleared some newspapers off the couch and Clark laid Maria down gently on it. He kneeled next to her and lightly stoked the back of his fingers across her cheek while quietly saying her name. Chloe dampened some paper towels and handed them to Clark and he patted her forehead with them. Maria slowly blinked her eyes open and looked at Clark. "I fainted." she said, disgust filling her voice. She felt like her body had betrayed her. She wanted to be brave and strong, a match for Clark, instead she fainted. How lame was that?

Chloe offered her some coffee and Maria accepted gladly. Clark helped her sit up and Chloe put the cup in her hand. "Don't spill it on me." teased Clark, and the image that comment brought to mind, of the day they met, caused Maria to smile tentatively at him. Chloe watched them a moment and then backed out of the room, gesturing towards her desk.

"I'll just go back to work and see if I can find anything else on Lex" she said, giving them what little privacy she could in a busy newsroom.

Lex looked out the window at the clouds drifting past beneath him. Living in Europe wouldn't be so bad, he thought, at least he could move around without the Feds watching his every step. First stop was going to be his Chateau in the Swiss Alps. He could set up a headquarters there as well as anywhere, check on his global projects, and still be kept informed about what went on in the States.

Lex smiled to himself. He wasn't giving up on revenge, far from it, he would simply bide his time until the perfect moment arrived. Let them relax, think he had forgotten them, and then his vengeance would be swift. He allowed himself the luxury of picturing what he would do to those who had hurt him, Dr. Desantis, Maria, his father, Chloe, Lois, even Clark. They would all pay.

He especially wanted to continue the talk he had begun with Maria. This time he would have her brought to him, there would be no idiot like Stan manhandling her. He would have her all to himself and he would finally know the truth about Clark.

He thought about how to hurt Clark. Something inside Lex hesitated at the thought of physically hurting him. They had once been almost as close as brothers. He remembered the way Clark had looked at him the last time they spoke, his eyes full of disappointment and sorrow. An unexpected twinge of grief haunted Lex and he reacted with rage. What did he care if Clark didn't approve of what he had done. It was none of his business anyway. Lex didn't need Clark's friendship. He didn't need anyone. Caring about others made you weak.

Chloe watched out of the corner of her eye as Clark supported Maria out of the employee lounge. She was holding his hand so tightly you could see the white on her knuckles but her color had come back to her face and she was laughing at something Clark said. Chloe smiled, and looked back at the computer as she remembered times he'd cheered her up the same way. He really had a gift, Chloe thought.

"Well, at least it looks like Lex has left the country." said Chloe as they joined her, "it could be the media attention was too much for him." and she grinned triumphantly at Clark.

"That doesn't mean we're safe." said Maria, "Lex can reach across the world and strike us at any time." she looked at Clark, "What do we do?"

"We can't close ourselves off someplace and live in fear all the time." said Clark, "We are just going to have to live our lives and be alert. Oliver and the team will keep him busy, Chloe will keep an eye on him and I'll stop him if he tries anything here. We'll be okay if we deal with this together as a um, as a team." He had almost said what his father always said, as a family. He thought about his friends. Well, they were kind of like a family, he thought, smiling to himself.

"Impulse, just get out now, the lab is due to explode in minutes!" yelled Oliver, AKA the Green Arrow into his com. unit.

"I'm coming but I don't want to leave this beauty behind." replied Bart, with longing in his voice. "She never hurt anyone; she doesn't deserve to blow up."

"Impulse, it's a car," said AC's exasperated voice, "just leave it."

"Nope," said Bart cheerfully, "I'm driving her out." and they heard the roar of an engine.

"Bart you don't have a clue how to drive, especially a stick shift." Oliver said as he watched the car lurch out of the building's garage. Oliver winced at the sound of grinding gears. The car shuddered violently and died.

"S, I killed it." said Bart, messing with the gear shift.

Oliver looked at his watch and screamed, "Bart, get out now!"

Bart felt the ground shake at the first explosion and leaped out of the car. Moving as fast as he could he was by Oliver's side before the next one came. He watched sadly as the car went up with the rest of the building.

Oliver looked thoughtfully at the burning wreckage of the car. "That does it; you will never drive my Jaguar."

Lex snapped his laptop shut with an oath. He couldn't believe they had hit him again. Since arriving in Europe he could swear the attacks on his facilities had increased. Every time he established a new 33.1 facility it went up in a blaze. This was totally unacceptable. These terrorists needed to be dealt with accordingly.

To be continued…

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