Chapter 2

A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update, I actually did try to post this chapter earlier this week, but the site was doing upgrades--or something-- and I couldn't post. I'm working on Chapter3 now...leaves you with a bit of a cliff hanger (jsut a little one though). Thanks to everyone who reviewed! :0)

It had been a while since he could remember relaxing anywhere, let alone on a beautiful Caribbean beach. But there he was, stretched out on a beach towel, arms crossed behind his head, toes in the sand, and a generous amount of SPF 35 on his head…a bald scalp burnt surprisingly quickly. He'd learned that at a very young age.

At that point, Lex Luthor was thinking that life was just about perfect, at least there at the beach. That was until –of course—a dark shadow covered a part of his towel, blocking the sun, and arising that familiar, annoyed feeling within him.

"You're in my light," Lex remarked dryly, not needing to open his eyes to know that his brother was smirking. He opened them anyway.

Beside him, Lucas sat down on another towel and mimicked his position, reclining and crossing his arms behind his head. "So big brother," he returned in the same dry and sarcastic tone that Lex had used. "You never did tell me what you wanted for your birthday."

Lex smirked. "I thought I had told you that I only want world peace."

"Yeah well," Lucas pulled an envelope out of the pocket in his swim trunks and held it out. Once Lex had taken the proffered envelope, Lucas climbed back to his feet. "They were all out of that. Happy Birthday."

Lex waited until his brother had wandered back into the villa before he sat up and looked inside. He tipped the envelope upside down.

A pair of keys landed in his hand.

Chloe sat silently on the steps of the deck, watching the sun make it's decent over the horizon, staining the water with various shades of pinks and oranges. The birds and crickets around the villa made gentle chirping noises, punctuated only by the occasional muffled cheer from inside the villa.

She rolled her eyes at the latest out-burst, Pete's voice echoing the loudest of them all, and couldn't help but grin. "Stupid boys," she muttered, picking up a rock and throwing it as hard as she could towards the water. It only made it halfway down the beach. "Stupid…toys."

They had been playing with Pete's Play Station for the last hour now, and she had long since grown tired of pretending to be entertained by it. Chloe sat for a few more minutes, trying to enjoy the sunset, her fingers tapping a sporadic pattern on her knees…before she gave up and admitted to herself that she was bored out of her mind.

When she went back into the villa she had to roll her eyes again at the sight in front of her. Lex and Pete were deeply immersed in some kind of fighting game, both of them punching manically at various buttons, and doing their best to ignore the 'helpful' comments that Clark kept yelling. Lucas was leaning against the couch sulking…he'd probably just lost or something.

"Guys?" Chloe asked, trying really hard to keep the whine out of her voice, and hoping up onto the kitchen island.

"What's up Chlo?" Pete asked, never tearing his eyes away from the game. "Oh…no you don't…"

"This sucks, seriously…we're on the Cayman Islands and you're playing Mortal Combat?" she pointed out.

"It's not Mortal Combat, Chloe," Clark corrected her, looking scandalized. Lex shook his head. "It's Mega Bloodbath Street—"

"Whatever," she cut him off with a sigh. "I'm going for a walk." They didn't answer and she frowned. "Outside…just so you know…in case you were wondering…"

"That's great Chloe," Lex replied absently, stabbing one of the buttons continuously. "Ha!"

"Hey!" Pete cried out.

It was all she could do to hold back the annoyed scream that was bubbling up in her throat. Instead she hopped down from off of the counter and made her way back out the door she'd entered through, closing it behind her with a little more force than necessary. Completely aware that she was sulking like a whiney child, but not actually caring now because they couldn't see or hear her, she made a point of stomping across the deck and kicking a beach ball that was resting against the steps. The ball flew into a patch of trees, giving her an unusual sense of self-satisfaction.

"Stupid boys!" she repeated again, a little less bitterly this time.

"Ouch," the annoyingly familiar, dry cutting voice said from behind her. Chloe spun around just in time to see Lucas close the patio doors behind him and send her a wry, cocky smirk.

"Speaking of—"

"Watch it," he warned. "Or I may just decide not to come with you after all."

Hundreds of snarky comebacks were on the tip of her tongue, but she held them back. After all, she had just been inside, pitifully hoping for someone to give up the videogames and keep her company. Lucas wasn't her first choice (or her second, or even her third), but he was better than talking to the annoyed voice in her head….well, hopefully…

She returned his smirk quickly and then began walking towards the water, Lucas falling into step beside her. Neither of them spoke, not really having anything nice to say to each other. They walked down the beach, following the curve of the ocean, for a while longer, still in silence. Finally Chloe grew restless again and couldn't quite help the sigh that she let out. Lucas looked over at her with a raised eyebrow.

"So," she tried to start up a conversation.

"Yeah, we don't have to talk, okay?" he wasn't really asking though. Chloe didn't like that, being ordered around.

"You don't have to," she returned. "Which is fine, I could do with you not talking."

"Is that right?"

She didn't like the way that every word out of his mouth always seemed to be mocking someone or something; this time it was her. "Yes, that's right," she insisted, hitting her stride now and getting on a good tirade. "In fact I—"

"Wait, shhh," Lucas stopped walking suddenly and peered intently into the trees.

"What? Do not shhh me—"

"Be quiet," Lucas pressed a surprisingly warm hand over her mouth until she stopped trying to talk. "Listen."

"Listen for what?" she batted his hand away angrily, sending him a mutinous glare. "I don't hear anything…well, besides your constant yapping—"

"It's water," he ignored her and smirked in realization.

"Uh, yeah!" she gestured grandly to the huge ocean only a few feet from them.

"No, it's running water," Lucas rolled his eyes. Chloe opened her mouth to retort again but he was already making a beeline for the thick scatter of trees.

"Hey!" she hurried after him, following his lead and ducking under a few lower hanging branches. "Where are you going?"

Lucas didn't answer her, he just kept leading her deeper and deeper into the brush. Eventually they reached what pretty much resembled a trail, and followed it. Chloe could now make out the sound of running water, growing louder and louder the farther that they walked, and now completely drowning out the sound of waves crashing against the shore.

Finally, Lucas pushed away a final low branch and over his shoulder Chloe could see what looked like a clearing. She followed him into the clearing and came to stand beside him, letting out a gasp at the sight in front of her.

"I knew I heard something," he cried, the sound of running water now drowning out almost everything else.

In front of them a beautiful waterfall, fed by a nearby river, poured down into a deep lagoon. Their path had ended atop a large rock, with a three-story drop, overlooking the lagoon. Even from that height, Chloe could see through the clear water, and could make out the rocky bottom far below. Around the water there were several more rocks and plants, with bright pink, red and orange flowers blooming in the moonlight. It was beautiful.

"I can't believe this," she cried back, gripping the sleeve of his t-shirt excitedly.

Lucas grinned back. "Wonder what the water's like?" he yelled, taking several steps back, all the way to the low-hanging tree that had obscured the view from the path. Chloe's eyes widened drastically, knowing what he was about to do.

"Lucas!" she yelled, shaking her head. "No—"

But he gave her a quick wink and then took off at a sprint. She felt her mouth drop open as she watched him jump off of the ledge and fall the three story's down into the clear water, luckily missing the jagged rocks surrounding the water. When he resurfaced she kneeled down and peered over the edge at him.

"That wasn't funny Lucas!" she yelled.

"It wasn't supposed to be!" he returned, laughing and pushing strands of wet hair out of his face.

"You could have killed yourself!" she stressed.

"We've all gotta go sometime, Sullivan," he laughed. "But it's nice of you to be concerned."

Chloe felt herself blush. "Don't flatter yourself Luthor," she shot back. "I just wouldn't know how to break the news to Lex, that's all."

"I'm sure you would have figured it out," he smirk grew even cockier (if that was even possible) and it drove her crazy. "Now come on down. The water's great!"

"It's too shallow," Chloe shook her head. She could see him roll his eyes from three story's up.

"It's twelve feet at least," he assured her. She bit her lip, considering it. Lucas gave her an encouraging grin. "Come on, you know you want to…"

Chloe squared her shoulders and climbed back to her feet, mimicking his actions and backing up to the tree. She squeezed her eyes shut quickly and took a deep breath. The next thing that she knew she was off and running, the rock ledge rapidly moving closer and closer. She pushed off of the ledge as hard as she could…

The sudden sensation of falling struck her, making her feel both terrified and exhilarated at the same time. The downward wind caught her hair, making it fly up around her head in a halo, and the breeze was cool against her bare arms.

She felt indescribable freedom as she sailed unassisted through the air, the water below her rapidly approaching. As quickly as it had come, the feeling vanished and she gulped in a large lungful of air, just before she touched down, the water seemingly parting and then encompassing her entire body.

The weightless feeling of being underwater enveloped her, and she kicked her way back to the surface, breaking through and taking in another lungful of air. Chloe pushed the hair away from her face and felt herself returning Lucas's grin. "That was so—" something behind Lucas caught her gaze and her excited cry tapered off abruptly.

Noticing how her eyes widened in shock, Lucas frowned and turned himself around in the water. Chloe's stomach clenched tightly and she vaguely noted that she swam a little closer to the youngest Luthor.

Standing on the rocks above them were three men, dressed all in black, and each sporting a nasty looking, high-powered rifle.

"Ha ha!" Pete threw his controls to the ground and jumped to his feet. "Go on, say it," he sang out, breaking into a goofy looking dance, as if he'd scored a touchdown. "I'm the king! Come on, admit it; I am the king!"

Clark rolled his eyes and tossed a pillow his way, hitting Pete squarely in the face and muffling his ridiculous chanting. "Yes Pete," Lex drawled lazily, reclining on the couch and catching the pillow as it bounced off of Pete. "You have clearly mastered the art of wasting hours of time on a ridiculous video game."

"You were singing a very different tune a few minutes ago, Luthor," Pete laughed good-naturedly.

"Yeah Lex," Clark grinned hugely. "You can't be good at everything."

"I was better than you," Lex reminded him smugly. Clark blushed.

"Who isn't?" Pete joked, flopping down on the couch between them and sighing. "Anyways, where's Lucas? It's his turn to play the winner…which in case you forgot, is me."

"He went outside when you guys were playing," Clark told them, shrugging his broad shoulders while he did. "I think he's harassing Chloe or something. Where are they?"

"Huh," Lex shook his head in amusement. Pete and Clark looked at him curiously and he smirked, elaborating. "When I was eighteen, I went skiing in Switzerland with some friends from boarding school."

"Cool," Pete declared enviously, and Clark nodded in agreement.

"Oh yeah," Lex smirked again. "Switzerland is great. But the best part was that I went with four of the other guys from my floor…and Victoria Hardwick." Pete groaned appreciatively, knowing exactly how hot Victoria Hardwick really was. Lex leaned forward on his knees. "But Vicky hated skiing. So when the others insisted on hitting the slopes, I gallantly offered to stay behind and keep her company."

"Sly," Pete grinned. "What happened?" Lex's smirk widened and he chuckled at the expression on Clark's face. "Damn," Pete let out a low whistle and Clark blushed again. They were silent for a moment, and then suddenly three sets of eyes widened. "So, we're going to find Chloe now, right?"

"Yes," Lex and Clark said at the same time. They all climbed to their feet and, tossing aside the game controllers, quickly left the villa via the backdoor. Pete left first, hurrying across the deck and down the steps into the sand. "Hey!" Lex and Clark again said together, this time simultaneously bumping into Pete, who had stopped dead in his tracks.

"What's wrong…" Clark followed Pete's gaze towards the water, seeing the problem immediately.

"We've got trouble guys," Pete told them unnecessarily.

On the shore line two men stood, dressed head to head in black, with facemasks, and each holding a high powered rifle. Lex looked quickly at the armed men and then automatically turned around, preparing to pull the others back into the villa. A third armed man came through the villa, out of the same doors that they'd just exited, and training his own rifle on them.

"No sign of the others," number three said to his associates, who were making their way closer, each with a gun pointed at one of the marks.

Number one shook his head and used his gun barrel to gesture to the patio doors. "Back inside guys," his voice rang out through the cloth of his facecloth, slightly familiar. "No need to scare them off when they come back."

Lex, Clark and Pete shared a look, all thinking the same thing. Lex nodded once at Number one and dutifully led the way back into the villa. As much as he hated it, Lex wasn't going to make a move until they were sure that Lucas and Chloe were safe. They all sat down at the kitchen island and waited, trying to ignore the guns hovering just out of sight of the doorway.

"Come on girlie," the biggest of the three guys grunted, nudging her in the back with the tip of the gun barrel. Chloe shivered and hurried along. "Move it."

"Don't touch her," Lucas warned him as he moved the barrel towards her again.

"Shut up," one of the others snapped, whacking him hard in the back with the butt of his own rifle. Lucas stifled a scream and bit hard on his lip, pretending that it hadn't hurt at all. Chloe shivered again, her clothes as wet as his own, and caught his gaze. She looked terrified…he would have figured that she'd be used to being held hostage by now.

They finally emerged from the brush and Chloe stumbled over some tree roots, onto the beach. Lucas reached out to help her up but the guy hit him between the shoulder blades again, knocking him onto his knees. "Do that again and Lex will kill you," Chloe snapped confidently, slinging Lucas's arm over her shoulder and helping him up.

"Just keep moving," the third guy, quieter than the others, gestured with his gun. Chloe huffed, beginning to walk again. Lucas would die before he admitted how badly his back was stinging now.

"Could you not point that at me please," Chloe remarked hotly to the closest captor, her snarkiness apparently now returning now that they were out of the close quarters of the trees. "It makes me a little uncomfortable."

"A little?" the first guy snorted. "This thing has enough ammo in it to kill you fifty times over, princess."

"So," Chloe rolled her eyes, shivering when the breeze from the water hit her wet skin and moving her hands to rub up and down her arms. "You say that like you're the only loser who's ever tried to take me hostage."

"You get kidnapped often do you?" the third guy asked, sounding almost as curious as he did amused.

"Apparently you have never been to Smallville," Chloe muttered, ignoring him now.

They walked the rest of the way back to the villa in silence, and luckily without any more physical contact from any of the guns. Lucas had felt an uncomfortable feeling of worry, for his brother (and maybe a little for Pete and Clark), when they made their way up the step to the villa. He could see Clark through the patio doors, sitting at the kitchen island, and wondered how he could warn them…

"Clark!" Chloe screamed suddenly, thinking the same thing that Lucas was. But unlike Lucas, with her attention locked on the patio doors, she didn't see gunman number three come up behind her. "Run—"

"I told you…" the gunman swung the butt of his gun at the back of her head.

"No!" Lucas yelled, struggling against the other two who had suddenly grabbed his arms, holding him back. Chloe dropped to the ground unconscious and Lucas stopped struggling, staring down at her body in shock.

"…shut up," the gunman smirked down at her body quickly before bending down and lifting her up, tossing her over his shoulder and leading the way into the villa. Lucas tried not to watch the way her arms swung lifelessly, and followed quietly.

"This is ridiculous," Lex glared at the armed man closest to him. "What exactly is it that you want?"

"I would really like you to be quiet," the familiar voice said again, gesturing menacingly with the barrel of his rifle. Lex rolled his eyes and held back a snappy retort. Beside him, Pete took to tapping a sporadic pattern out on the counter top, his knee bouncing rhythmically, and looking quite worried.

"You guys," Pete muttered once the gunmen had begun discussing something quietly in the corner. "Not that I'm anxious for them to walk into this situation or anything, but shouldn't Lucas and Chloe be back by now?"

Lex checked the clock on the wall and nodded; it had been a half an hour since they'd been corralled back inside. Lucas and Chloe definitely should have returned by now. Clark turned towards the patio doors.

"Chloe!" he cried, jumping to his feet. Lex would have pulled him back down, but he too caught sight of what had alarmed Clark. Lucas walked into the villa, two armed men behind him, and a third masked man brought up the rear, Chloe's unconscious body thrown over his shoulder.

"What happened to her?" Lex demanded sharply. Beside him Pete hurriedly cleared off the island, making a space for the man to put her down.

"Just a little accident," the guy dropped her unceremoniously onto the counter. As soon as her cold and wet body hit the tiles Lex reached out and checked for a pulse.

"Yeah," Lucas glared accusingly when one of the other gunmen nudged him towards the island forcefully with the barrel of his gun. "An accident involving the butt of someone's rifle."

Lex sighed in relief when he found a pulse; her breathing was deep and steady. "She'll be fine," the man told them flippantly, walking over to join his associates in a mini-huddle.

"What happened?" Lex hissed quietly at Lucas and gestured for Pete to grab his sweatshirt that he'd slung over the back of one of the chairs earlier. Pete handed it to him and Lex wadded it into a ball, slipping it under Chloe's head. Clark held tightly onto one of her hands.

"They surrounded us," Lucas told them quietly, wincing as he flexed some of the muscles in his back. "When we got back she tried to tell Clark to run, but he knocked her out."

"Are you okay?" Lex tried not to sound too concerned when Lucas winced again.

"I'm fine," Lucas nodded quickly and averted his gaze. "Is she going to wake up?"

"Eventually," Lex tentatively felt the back of her head, luckily not feeling any blood. "I don't think he hit her very hard."

"He shouldn't have hit her at all," Clark muttered. "I didn't even hear her anyway."

"Neither did I," Pete shook his head, turning curiously to the doors.

"She yelled pretty loud," Lucas told them. "Do you think maybe the doors are soundproof?"

"Probably," Lex nodded. "This was dear old dad's private getaway."

"I wonder what other goodies he's got tripped up in this place," Pete looked around.

"Whatever there is it has to wait," Clark told them sharply. "We can't do anything until Chloe wakes up."

"Did they tell you what's going on?" Lucas asked.

"Not yet," Lex shook his head. "But I think it's time we found out. Hey!" The gunmen looked over. "Are you going to tell us what the hell you want?"

"Shut up Luthor," one of them snapped.

"Is the girl okay?" the familiar sounding one asked.

"She needs a doctor," Lex lied. "We have to get her out of here." The gunmen looked at each other hesitantly, apparently not really having planned to kill anyone that night. Just as Lex thought that they were going to get lucky, and get out of there, Chloe choose that moment to stir.

Lex cursed mentally when she let out a tiny moan, loud enough for the masked men to hear her. "She sounds like she's coming around," the one who'd hit her remarked dryly. "Looks like we're staying here."

Clark turned his back on the gunmen and leaned closer to Chloe, visibly gripping her hand harder. "Chloe?" he asked eagerly when her eyes began to move slightly behind her closed eyelids. "Chloe?"

Lucas reached out and grabbed a nearby glass of water. Before Lex could stop him, he'd splashed the entire contents of the glass in her face. Chloe coughed loudly and her eyes flew open. "What is your problem?" Clark demanded, turning around and shoving Lucas into the counter.

"Hey, she's awake isn't she?" Lucas shoved him back.

"Stop it," Lex snapped at them once before turning back to Chloe. "Chloe?"

"My head hurts," she muttered, struggling to sit up, and then wincing and lying back down. She pressed a hand to her forehead and wiped away several drops of water. "Who hit me this time?"

"A random kidnapper," Pete joked lamely. "Don't worry, you weren't dating this one."

"Oh yea," she grinned weakly. "Oh! Lucas…he was…"

"I'm fine," Lucas cut in, smirking obnoxiously. "And again, I'm touched by your concern Sullivan."

"And again," Chloe accepted Pete's assistance in sliding to the edge of the island and sitting up. "I just wouldn't know how to break the news to Lex." Lucas snorted and, more concerned about Chloe's health than her verbal judo at that moment, Lex nudgedhim out of the way.

"Are you dizzy?" he asked her, cupping her cheeks in his hands and holding her head still while he checked her pupils.

"No," she assured him, all of them…because the others were peering curiously over Lex's shoulders.

"Good," Lex dropped his hands and turned her head to the side, checking to make sure that there were no abrasions that he'd missed before. "Your pupils look normal, so I don't think you have a concussion. Do you feel okay?"

She smiled weakly and returned his concerned gaze warmly. "My head hurts," she pouted, accepting his hand to help her down off of the island and settling onto a stool. Lex smirked slightly and took a seat beside her, the others following suit, waiting for their captors to start talking.

"You okay?" the familiar sounding guy asked her. Chloe nodded and stared back at him curiously, trying to remember something.

"I'm fi—Danny?" she jumped to her feet slightly, swaying slightly. Clark jumped up too and reached out to steady her.

"What? The delivery guy?" he stared hard at 'Danny', as if he were trying to see through the facemask.

"What's going on here?" Lex demanded again, this time a lot more forcefully than before.

This time, one of them answered. Danny pulled off his facemask, shaking his dreadlocks free, and sighed. "Guess I don't need that anymore," he remarked. "I hope you don't mind if my colleagues keep theirs on. Wouldn't want you to recognize any of them later."

"Later?" Clark asked hopefully. "So then you're going to let us go."

"Well, hopefully," Danny shrugged. "If everything goes smoothly and we get the info that we need."

"And what would that be exactly?" Lex demanded.

"If you want money," Lucas drawled. "You'd better give us a good reason for giving it to you."

"I don't care about your money Luthor," Danny assured him with a sneer.

"Are you sure?" Lucas shrugged. "Because Lex has tons of it to spare."

"Lucas shut up," Chloe snapped, crossing her arms in front of her and glaring at Danny.

Danny's gaze locked onto her again and his sneer seemed to soften. "Are you sure you're okay Chloe?" he asked. "Do you want an Aspirin?"

"I'll be fine," she gritted her teeth.

"They weren't supposed to hurt anyone," Danny said apologetically.

"Really?" Chloe snarked. "That's really nice of you to say. You may just be the nicest kidnapper I've ever had, and believe me I've had a lot. That's just so reassuring."

"Well if you're going to be a bitch," Danny shrugged, his tentative smile vanishing into a disturbingly cool exterior that made even Lex flinch a little. "We can just move it right along. Hey boss are you ready to do this yet?"

"Boss?" Lex looked skeptically at the shortest guy in the group. "You're the head of this little operation?"

"I work for a guy, who works for a guy," the short man said, his voice slightly high pitched and weasel-like. "Who happens to be paying us a lot of green to keep you all locked up in here until his court verdict is announced on Monday morning."

"Wiring it here all the way from Kansas," the mean, Chloe-hitting guy piped in.

"From Kansas," Lex sighed, knowing that it was probably his fault that they were in this mess, not that he'd really thought any different. Although, he was having trouble remembering whom he'd pushed towards jail lately, besides his father…

"Dimitri Katz," Lucas guesses, correctly because the boss nodded.

"Who?" Clark asked.

"Mr. Katz is standing trial this week for racquettering. Coincidently, he is one of the state's more prominent business men...based out of Edge City," Lex informed them, turning to Lucas accusingly.

"Edge City?" Clark repeated, also turning to look at Lucas.

"What did you do Lucas?" Lex demanded. His stomach clenched suddenly when he saw the flash of hurt on his brother's face, not concealed as quickly as Lucas would have liked. Lex averted his eyes and Lucas didn't even bother to respond to his accusations.

"Don't worry Luthor," the boss laughed. "It wasn't his fault this time. He just helped us track the rest of you down. Once Benny knew that he was meeting with the girl, it pointed us in the right direction."

"Benny?" Lucas repeated. "Benny Sans? You had Benny Sans tailing me?"

"Who's Benny Sans?" Clark asked, not entirely able to keep up.

"I know him from a club I used to go to," Lucas muttered.

"Look, to make a long story short," the boss waved his hand impatiently, and pointed around at the hostages in turn. "Benny led us to Luthor, who led us to the girl, who led us to him."

Lex followed Clark's astonished gaze, to were the masked man was pointing. At Pete Ross.

TBC…