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Just for that, you wonderful loyal readers, here's more…
Stars and Water
Chapter 28
They were quiet on the way back to the dorm, each dwelling in their own thoughts. Maria was once again tucked up against Clark with his arm around her shoulders. She felt safe in his arms but the gift of the tracking device had made her danger seem even more real. Whether Clark meant it that way or not, it was an admission that Lex could kidnap her. Not when she was with Clark of course but he wasn't in all of her classes and couldn't be with her every minute.
She touched the locket again; it was a promise that if Lex did take her Clark would come. She knew Lex wouldn't just have her killed because, as Clark had told her, Lex believed knowledge was power and she knew things he wanted to know about Clark. Maria thought about what Lex would do with that knowledge and shivered in spite of the warm air. Clark looked down at her in concern, rubbing her shoulders a little to warm her up.
"Maria, are you okay?" he asked. Maybe he shouldn't have given her the locket, he thought, but he didn't want a repeat of last time where Maria needed him and he didn't know where to find her. He'd thought about giving it to her and not telling her about the tracking device but that had seemed wrong somehow. Maybe it was from his experiences with Lex but he didn't feel people should be tracked like that without their permission. It seemed dehumanizing somehow, even if it was done out of love.
"I'm okay," she thought about lying to Clark, saying that she was cold, but she wanted to always be honest with him. "I just had a nasty thought about Lex, but I don't want to waste any more time dwelling on him." She changed the subject. "So, have you met your roommate yet?"
Clark understood and followed her lead, "He's not here yet." he said, "My luck he'll be a science fiction nut with an alien fetish and I'll float in my sleep in front of him or something."
Maria heard the worry in his voice. "You don't really float in your sleep do you?" she giggled, "I guess you could tell him you practice yoga and you have achieved levitation, and then of course you'll have everyone on campus meditating."
Clark smiled, "I have floated in my sleep before but it's been a long time. I'm not very worried I will again. Its just weird thinking of living with a stranger, and I've never shared a room with anyone before. I'm kind of looking forward to it, and kind of dreading it. Know what I mean?"
Maria heard loud music coming from her room as they approached the door. "I know exactly what you mean." she said with a grimace as she opened the door and the noise burst out at them.
A tall young woman with wild black hair and wearing pink footed pajamas threw her arms around Maria. "You must be my roommate! I'm Naomi. Is this your boyfriend? What's his name?" said Naomi, eyeing Clark with appreciation.
Maria felt breathless, Naomi talked so fast, and Maria had hoped to be alone with Clark. She looked at him apologetically and he grinned and shrugged. He hadn't met his roommate yet but he doubted he could be any odder than Naomi.
Oh well, thought Maria, at least she's friendly. "Yes I'm Maria and this is my boyfriend Clark." she said and was a little taken aback when Naomi threw her arms around him too. Clark gave her a very careful hug and looked at Maria as if in apology. She just raised her eyebrows at him and then grinned when he blushed.
They all hung out and talked for a while, or at least listened to Naomi talk for a while and eventually after Maria's fifth jaw popping yawn, Clark excused himself to go back to his dorm. Maria offered to come along but Clark insisted she go to bed and he would come see her in the morning.
She wanted to argue but wound up yawning instead and admitted reluctantly he was right. She walked with him out to the hall and they embraced tenderly. When he kissed her she felt she never wanted to let go, but he pulled away eventually when someone came up the steps. Cupping her cheek in his hand and laughing at her when she yawned again he wished her a good night.
When she got back to her room the lights were off and Naomi was in bed but the music was still playing. It was softer music and she found she liked it although she had never heard the band. She wondered if she would be able to fall asleep with the noise and was out before she finished her thought.
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Lex put the phone down and got up to pace the room. Lately he had been so obsessed with his quest for revenge that he had ceased to sleep, hardly ate and neglected his business dealings. Now that the day approached he found that he could hardly contain himself. There was only one more day until his birthday, he told himself, one more day until his wrath would be felt by those who opposed him. He was satisfied that it was all falling into place. He contemplated the pain he would inflict on those who had once been his friends and any touch of guilt was brutally put down. They had betrayed him and they would pay. No one messes with Lex Luthor, he thought.
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The sky brightened just before the sun rose above the skyline of Metropolis, its pale grey light creeping through the blinds and into the silent dorm room. The campus of Met U was quiet and the dew shimmered untouched on the grass of the commons. Maria woke up to a quiet knock on her door. She looked over at her roommate's bed and saw a tumbled heap still under the blankets and black hair trailing off the side of the bed. Maria groaned and dragged herself up as she heard the knock again. She pulled the door open and stood blinking at Chloe.
"That's it? No who's there, no look out the peep hole? You just fling the door open as though Lex Luthor was never born? Clearly I was right to worry. Here, I brought you coffee." said Chloe pushing a large paper cup into her hands. "The cafeteria coffee isn't worthy of the name." she looked at Maria expectantly, "Well, drink it and go get dressed, it's black just like you like it. We need to talk before you head to class. Oh, and wear sweats or something."
Maria opened her door wider and let Chloe in. What on earth was she doing here at this hour? Why did they need to talk? She stumbled into the bathroom and pulled herself together, then came out and slipped into her bright blue sweats and a white T shirt. After beating her hair into submission with a brush and pulling it firmly into a ponytail she turned to Chloe, "Okay, I'm ready. Now what?" she whispered, glancing in her roommate's direction. There had been a grumble from under the covers and then the blankets had shifted up to cover her completely.
"Let's go outside to the commons, there's more room and no one is out there yet," said Chloe. Maria followed along, meekly sipping her coffee and growing more curious by the minute as the caffeine took effect. She liked Chloe and respected her, so whatever she was up to Maria would do her best to keep up.
An hour later Maria was still trying to keep up, "I can't do this Chloe, I can't fight like this. It makes me cringe to think of gouging someone's eyes out or pushing their nose back into their brain with the heel of my hand." Maria shuddered, honestly appalled at the self defense moves Chloe was trying to teach her.
"Maria if someone is trying to kill you, you need to be ready to defend yourself any way you can." said Chloe, "Okay, to be honest I don't feel comfortable with any of those moves either but I thought you should know them just in case. I'll tell you what, we will just work on breaking holds and getting away, okay?" she gave Maria an encouraging smile.
They worked for a while longer and Maria felt she could get out of almost any hold. She had to admit Chloe had given her more confidence and a lot of practical advice.
"Okay! By George I think she's got it!" exclaimed Chloe as Maria flipped her over her back when Chloe grabbed her from behind. "Now I can go to work and stop worrying about you. Well, not as much anyway. Oh, one last thing, here…a present from one Luthor target to another." and she handed Maria the pepper spray.
"Thank you Chloe, I really appreciate your help." said Maria a little confused. They weren't close friends and although Maria liked Chloe and could tell Chloe liked her she still couldn't imagine why Chloe would be so concerned for her.
Chloe could tell she was confused. "Maria, I'll admit it's not just you I worry about. Clark cares for you a lot and he would be devastated if something happened to you. You hold his heart and by knowing his secret you hold his life and future too. Do you understand how important that is?"
Maria nodded, "I think so. I'm starting to understand, I would never tell anyone his secret Chloe. I would die first."
Chloe looked hard at her and then nodded. "So would I. I really believe Clark has a destiny beyond any of us and I think the world needs him, now more than ever." then Chloe's expression softened, "but I also want my best friend to be happy and for that he needs you, so be careful. Okay?"
Maria surprised Chloe with a hug. "Okay Chloe, you be careful too, Clark needs all his friends. Thank you for teaching me the self defense moves. I hope I never need them."
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Lex ticked the converging threads of his plot off on his fingers, muttering to himself as he examined each for weaknesses and seeing none. Pacing quickly in a small circuit of the room he completely ignored the meal laid out for him as he thought of each target one by one.
He had the surveillance in place on his father, watching for the opportune time for the sniper to strike. Lex wanted it to be when he was with Martha Kent. He couldn't quite bring himself to have her killed but he knew seeing Lionel die would hurt her and he wanted to cause her pain for her betrayal. Somehow picturing her reaction didn't bring him the satisfaction he hoped for but he ignored his conflicted feelings and focused on his father. Lex went cold as he remembered all the times his father hurt him. Yes, he could kill this man with no remorse, he thought.
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Clark woke up at the first sign of light coming in through his window. He lay in the strange bed and listened to the sounds of the city waking up. Somewhere nearby a garbage truck was doing its rounds and Clark thought it sounded like some dinosaur was munching on the trash cans. Traffic was very light so you could still hear the occasional bird song. The room was silent, Clark's roommate had not arrived yet so he still had the space to himself. He stretched and sighed, it felt strange not to have chores to do. Mornings were usually busy on the farm and he missed his routine, then he remembered Maria and smiled. He was really looking forward to being with her every day.
He wanted to go see Maria now but he knew it was early; she didn't have any classes until ten o'clock today so waking her up at six thirty probably wouldn't go over well. He took a leisurely shower and looked over his text books and then headed to her room at eight o'clock, just to see if she was up.
Maria was up and wide awake when he came to her door. He could hear her walking around her room and knew it was Maria's step. She was being quiet so he assumed her roommate was asleep.
Clark knocked softly and heard a quiet, "Who's there?" Good, he was glad she was being cautious.
He answered and the door popped open and then Maria slipped out. "Clark! I'm so happy to see you!" she said and she kissed him as though she hadn't just seen him the night before. Clark was happy to kiss her back with equal enthusiasm.
Maria felt her knees begin to buckle as she melted into his kiss. "As much as I'd like to do this all morning, I feel dizzy when I don't breathe." she said, tucking her head against his chest for a moment and hanging on until her head stopped spinning. Oh, but she wished breathing wasn't necessary. "Let's get breakfast, I'm starving."
Later in the Cafeteria Clark watched in wonder as Maria filled her plate.
Maria wasn't kidding Clark thought, of course it was less than half the food he took but it was still a lot. "Wow, you are hungry." he said, as she tucked a piece of toast onto the growing pile of ham, eggs, hash browns, and fruit she already had loaded on her plate.
"You try practicing Martial Arts at dawn with our friend Chloe and see how hungry you are." She answered, grinning at his puzzled expression. "That was my reaction too but it was really helpful and sweet of her. She's a good friend, even if she did make me work hard before breakfast."
They found a table and ate in silence for a moment. Maria looked up to see Clark pushing his eggs around doubtfully on his plate. "What's wrong Clark?" she asked, watching him tasting them cautiously, she looked down at her own in alarm.
"They don't taste like eggs." He said, "They look right but they taste weird."
Maria laughed, "That's because they didn't come straight from the hen house. Welcome to dorm food Clark, they might even be powdered." Clark made a face, "Come on," she said, "It's not any worse than a school lunch."
"I never ate the school lunch," he replied, "Mom always packed something for me." He ate another bite. "Well, if you don't think of them as eggs they aren't bad." He said as he finished his breakfast.
"Boy, are you spoiled. Good thing you know how to cook, your wife might not be up to your standards." She grinned.
"I'm not that picky, I like your cooking." He said, and watched to see how she took it.
Clark's smile widened at her surprised expression, "Oh yeah. Thanks a lot." she said, and Clark dodged the piece of crust she flipped in his direction.
To be continued…