Clark hesitated, unsure if the man had seen him or not. If he *hadn't*, there was a chance--okay. There wasn't. He couldn't use his abilities without Chloe and Lex becoming suspicious; he'd had too many close calls already. And he wouldn't have minded Chloe finding out, but he did *not* want Lex knowing about him. Damn.

All right. He'd go along now and get them out of this later; that, he knew he could do. So when Lex stepped around the corner into the lights of the corridor, he followed, doing his best to look meek and unthreatening.

"Two of you," the man said, sounding amused. It was a little hard to tell through the mask he wore, but Clark *thought* he sounded relatively young. "Oh, this makes things so much more interesting."

He *obviously* hadn't read the Evil Overlord handbook, Clark thought irreverently.

"So here's what we're going to do." He kicked a roll of duct tape along the floor; it stopped in front of Lex. "You're going to tape your friend there--hands and feet."

"And if I don't like this idea?" Lex asked, sounding cool as ever.

The man, who Clark had mentally dubbed the Non-Overlord (N.O. for short), shrugged. "Note the gun. Note the way I'm holding your girlfriend. Are you willing to take a chance on her life?"

Chloe was definitely stunned, bordering on unconscious, Clark noted. Shit--she wasn't going to be able to help at all. From the brief look on his face, Lex had realized that as well. He bent and picked up the roll of tape, turning to Clark. "Any ideas?" Lex muttered, winding tape around Clark's wrists and ankles.

"Not at the moment," Clark admitted.

"Good," the N.O. said when Lex had finished. "Now her." He shoved Chloe at Lex, who caught her and eased her down to the floor. "And don't try anything," he warned, pointing the gun at Lex's head.

"I prefer my partners conscious and responsive," Lex said under his breath, too quietly for the N.O. to hear. Clark caught it and hid a smile, watching Lex tape Chloe's wrists carefully. When he was done, he leaned Chloe against Clark, making sure she was semi-comfortable.

"Your turn, rich boy," the N.O. sneered, scooping up the tape and efficiently binding Lex with it.

Lex half-fell, half-eased himself down the wall next to Clark. "I want Chloe between us," he muttered. "Is she--"

"She's pretty out of it," Clark admitted. "Here, if I move over this way--"

"Yeah, there we go." Lex ended up practically crawling over him to get on the other side of Chloe; another time, Clark might have been more interested in the way Lex felt against him. But being tied up at gunpoint wasn't exactly conducive to romance.

Wait a minute. When had he become interested in Lex? Clark shook his head mentally. Was *anything* with the man ever simple?

"So now what?" Lex asked coolly. "We're tied up, you've got the gun--is this where you tell us all about how you're going to kill us?"

The N.O. pointed the gun at him. "This is all your fault," he said angrily.

"I'm used to that." Lex sounded bored; Clark wondered if he could get between Lex and a bullet before it hit. Probably--the duct tape wouldn't hold him if he didn't want it to. Of course, that would bring a whole host of explanations later, but saving Lex's life was kind of more important than evading his way out of another mess.

"You don't care, do you?" the N.O. asked, waving the gun around. Clark kept a wary eye on it, noticing that his finger was next to the trigger, not on it. Well, that was good, at least. "You've ruined so many lives, and you don't even care!"

Lex just raised an eyebrow. "If that's what you want to believe, go right ahead. You're the one with the gun, not me."

"That's right," the N.O. said with a nod. "I am."

Clark wondered if he'd ever wind up in a situation where the bad guy (or gal) *didn't* sound like something out of a bad B movie. "Uh, excuse me," he said, going for meek and somewhat nerdy, "but what do you plan on doing with us?" He needed to get the idiot's attention away from Lex--he wasn't bulletproof, and Clark was.

"I have to admit, I hadn't planned on having three of you," the N.O. admitted thoughtfully. "Should I kill you all? Or just the one responsible?" He laughed. "Oh, decisions, decisions..."

Oh, this just kept getting better and better. Next to him, Chloe was beginning to stir; she blinked a few times, looking around. "Not again," she groaned, looking down at her feet. "Jesus Christ, I had enough of being kidnapped when I was in high school."

Clark hid laughter; at least he knew Chloe was fine. It was when she stopped snarking he had to worry.

"You've got company this time," Lex pointed out.

"Oh, goody." Chloe snorted. "We're going to renegotiate, here--I don't think a four-part exclusive is compensation enough for being tied up with duct tape. Do you *know* what that stuff does to your clothes?"

She was scared; Clark could hear it underlying her voice. But she was hiding it well. "If I offer to replace them, will that help?" Lex said dryly.

"I'll think about it when my head doesn't hurt so much." She winced and shifted a little. "So what's your deal, asshole?" Chloe asked the N.O.

"Oh, he thinks I've ruined lots of lives and it's his job to make me pay," Lex commented.

"Someone has to," their captor burst out angrily. "And you--you can just shut up. All of you."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Why, so you can rant at us?"

"Shut up!" His voice was getting tighter; he pointed the gun at Chloe, aiming at her head. Clark silently begged her to stop snarking--he *really* didn't want to have to explain how he could dodge bullets. To his relief, she looked at the gun and subsided.

Their captor turned to Lex, glaring at him so fiercely Clark saw it even through the mask. Unfortunately, he couldn't see behind the mask--he just saw bone structure, which didn't help all that much.

"You ruined my parents' lives," the N.O. said shakily, pointing the gun directly at Lex's forehead. Lex didn't even flinch; Clark gave him points for courage. "You stole their land and you ruined them."

"Who were they?" Clark asked. He had an idea in mind, but he needed the guy to turn toward him first.

To his disappointment, the guy just turned his head briefly. "No one you'd know," he said bitterly. "I doubt Lex even noticed their names when he signed the papers to steal their land."

"Actually, I keep a list of all the people whose lives I've wrecked," Lex interjected. "This way I can gloat." Next to him, Chloe smirked, hiding laughter rather unsuccessfully. "When it gets long enough I might make a desk calendar out of it or something."

Chloe nearly fell over, snickering. "That's just way too Austin Powers," she decided. "At least do something unique, like--I don't know, print toilet paper with the list on it."

Clark nearly bit through his lip trying not to laugh. Unfortunately, the N.O. didn't appear to have a sense of humor. "Shut up!" he barked, swinging the gun to point between her and Lex. "Shut up or--"

"You'd have shot us already," Lex told him. "So I don't think you're going to."

Oh, not good. Clark *saw* the guy's finger move to the trigger; before he could squeeze, Clark pursed his lips, using the force of his breath to knock the gun out of his hand. The N.O. stumbled backward, the gun went flying, and Lex and Clark moved at the same movement, almost as if they'd planned it. Clark dove for the N.O., pinning him down; Lex went for the gun. "Chloe?" Clark said, lying on the guy's legs. "We could use some help here."

"Right." She crawled over to them--well, slithered, really. It was difficult to crawl with ankles taped together and her hands taped behind her back. "What do you need?"

"Help getting out of the duct tape?"

"Great, just let me get my handy pocketknife..." Chloe sighed.

"Chloe." Lex turned so he was lying on his right hip. "In my pocket--there's one of those those multi-purpose pens. It's got an exacto blade in it."

Clark thought that while the banter had been amusing, watching Chloe trying to get the pen out of Lex's pocket was downright hilarious. She ended up lying on him, and if they hadn't both been dressed and taped up, it would have looked--well, obscene. As it was, it looked like they were rehearsing for a porn movie.

"Roll over," she said, once Lex had helped her get the blade out. "I'll cut your wrists free."

Lex turned onto his stomach; with some more wriggling, Chloe clenched the pen between her teeth and bent to slice through the tape. Oh. God. Chloe, practically lying on top of Lex, her mouth *way* too close to his ass--Clark swallowed.

"There," she said finally, dropping the pen and rolling off him. Lex nodded and pulled his wrists free, reaching for the pen to slice through the tape around his ankles.

"Clark next?" Lex asked, and Chloe nodded.

"Y-yeah." She looked a little pale and shaky; Clark guessed her head was bothering her. "I'll just--" Her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped to the floor.

"Oh, shit," Lex said, scrambling over to her. He slapped her face lightly, cushioning her head with one hand. "Chloe? Come on, Chloe--come on, wake up."

She blinked, staring at him fuzzily. "I don't feel so good," she said thickly.

"Stay with us a little longer and we'll get you taken care of, okay?" Lex asked, his voice more gentle than Clark had ever heard it.

"Okay."

Lex settled her on her side and went back to Clark, cutting through the tape as quickly as he could. "There," he said. "I'll--"

Get kicked in the solar plexus by the crook, who had squirmed out from under Clark while Lex was cutting him loose. Lex went skidding backwards across the floor, slamming into the wall. Clark looked at him, gasping for breath, and spared three seconds to run a quick X-ray check and make sure nothing was broken.

By the time he turned around, the N.O. was gone.

"Shit!" Lex said, one hand on his chest. "Oh--" He took a deep breath, visibly wincing. "Nothing feels broken, at least," he said, swallowing.

"I don't think it is." Damnit! Clark cursed himself for not following the guy. He had *no* way of tracking the N.O. now without alerting Lex and Chloe's suspicions. Even with a bump on her head, Chloe was more persistent than a bulldog. And he'd skirted around Lex knowing for too many years, even back when they'd been closer.

"He's gone?" Chloe asked, blinking, and Clark realized she was still bound. He knelt by her and got the tape off her wrists and ankles, rubbing her hands gently.

"You okay?" he asked, helping her sit up.

"Yeah--give me some Advil and I'll be good as new." She smiled. "Really, guys."

"Pardon me for not quite believing you, but you passed out," Lex told her.

"Guys. I'm fine. I will go back to my place--"

"No, you won't," Clark and Lex said in unison.

Chloe sighed. "All right, then, I'll go back to Clark's place. Or Lex's place. Or a freaking hotel or something."

"I want you where I can keep an eye on you," Lex said. "You might have a concussion, which means you need someone to stay with you."

"I'll spell you," Clark offered.

Lex looked at him over Chloe's head and nodded. "My place, then? I've got room for you both."

"All right." Clark stood, stripping the remains of the tape from his clothes, and lifted Chloe to her feet. She wobbled a little but stood on her own once he let go.

"We'll deal with security and such in the morning," Lex said on their way out.

"Sounds good to me." Clark helped Chloe up the stairs, gaining a glare for his trouble, and followed her and Lex to Lex's car. He hoped Chloe was well enough to be awake for part of the night--if he and Lex had to spend it talking, disaster was more than a possibility.