Summary: Pete and Lex have been kidnapped, but they have a plan to escape. Will it work?


Pete's breaths were coming in short little gasps from the adrenaline coursing through his body. He was certain they could get Lex's plan to work, but were these goons going to be armed? Were they going to be people he knew? And why couldn't they have been a little longer so that he could have gotten every last bit of information about it from Lex? Darn them and their bad timing!

The door creaked open and Pete knew they were inspecting him and Lex for signs of consciousness. They had arranged themselves on the floor, but allowed for different positions to be taken. After all, neither of them really knew how they'd been dumped and it was entirely possible that they might have moved in their drug-induced sleep. Pete had taken up position by the door at Lex's insistence. He actually didn't mind too much because he figured if things went extremely sour, he was probably faster than Lex and might be able to get some help.

One set of footsteps passed his head. Lex had warned him not to move, just in case there were more. Pete held his breath as he listened to the steps stop. Then he heard a thud and a groan. Pete's eyes popped open, just in time to see Lex's attacker go down. His nose was bleeding profusely and Pete wondered if Lex had managed to break his nose. Lex turned to Pete to give him the all clear, but then another voice was heard. "You stay right there, Luthor." A gun was pointed at Lex's face.

This isn't a good sign, Pete thought.

"I have a gun pointed at me. Why would I try to move?" Considering the situation, Pete thought Lex's sarcasm may have been slightly out of place.

The second goon moved into the room. Obviously, he didn't think Pete was a threat. Pete watched him cock the gun and knew he had to do something. This was not going as planned. Well, let's have at it. All that football practice should come in handy… He shook his head. No time for thinking. He quietly rose to his knees and launched himself full speed at the goon… taking his knees out from under him. Pete rolled to his feet, fists raised. A hand touched his shoulder and he twirled around.

"Easy there, Pete. That fall took that guy out. Thanks." Pete wasn't sure Lex looked that happy to be thanking him for saving his life. Well, the people he owes life debts to is steadily increasing.

"No problem. So, now that we're able to get out, what's the plan?"

"I was thinking get out before someone else comes." Lex grinned at Pete. They laughed shortly as the adrenaline hit their systems full force. "Quick, grab the rope those two brought and we'll tie them up."

"Are you sure about this, man?"

"As sure as I'm ever going to be." Lex grabbed the rope and efficiently hogtied the two goons. Then he started searching through their pockets.

Pete was jumping up and down, his desire to be out of there almost more than he could bear. "What are you doing?" he hissed.

Lex held up a set of keys. "We need to lock them in here. The last thing we need is for them to get out and raise the alarm. We were put out of the way for a reason."

"True enough. Finished?" Lex nodded and they went out the door. Lex turned and locked it before they started racing down a long hallway. "Where are we?"

"I have no idea. Let's just get out of the building and get our bearings. The longer we're in here, the more likely people will hear us."

Lex took the lead, occasionally pausing at intersections to listen. Finally they reached a fairly substantial door and both men had to put their shoulders into it to move. They dashed for the safety of a sparsely wooded area. Pete's head turned from side to side… searching for any signs of pursuit. There isn't much cover around here. They're going to catch us for sure!

Not soon enough for Pete's peace of mind, they finally reached the sparse cover of what looked to be an abandoned orchard. "What was that place we left?" Lex asked.

"I have no idea. I didn't even know it was around here."

Lex looked around carefully. "Look. Plant #7 is right over there." He looked over his shoulder as well. "OK, look. There's a farmhouse over there. You go and call for help."

"What are you going to do?"

Lex looked grim. "It's my plant… My project… I'm going to see what they're doing over there."

"How do you know they're actually in the plant?" Pete wasn't looking forward to taking off on his own. Even though Lex wasn't his first choice of companion (visions of girls from school flitted across his mind), it was better than going on his own.

"Because of the vehicles behind it. No one parks there because of security reasons. And all the equipment was finished moving in yesterday. There is no reason for them to be there… other than espionage or sabotage."

"There's always the possibility of you being paranoid."

"True enough, but it's better to be safe than…" Lex grimaced at the overused phrase. "But we're wasting time. Get going." With that, Lex took off towards the plant. Pete used a moment to be impressed by his speed.

It's amazing that a spoiled white boy could run that fast. He shook his head and took off for the farm house. But three paces into it were all he took before he skidded to a stop. Hey, wait a minute! The story is that way, Petey boy! You can't depend on Lex to give you all the dirty details and Chloe will kill you if she finds out that you avoided the best part of this article. He sighed and turned. He was definitely going to regret this.


A/N: Thank you one and all for your continued support of my little story. It's nearly finished being written and I will continue posting updates nearly every day. Let's put it this way… When you see the Epilogue, you'll know it's the final chapter. Also, can you tell that I'm not a real swearer? ("Darn it to heck anyway!") :D

Markmark261, thank you for your continued support. It's true that I think Lana has it too easy sometimes. Oh, sure. She gets death threats, weird stalkers, and possession by a centuries dead witch, but she never gets dirty. The Princess of Pink needed some grime. And of the 3 arms of the story, hers is the most humorous because of the dirt.

To answer your question about my timeline, there isn't a specific one… the story definitely isn't sequential. In fact, they all run along on their own timelines with no true corresponding time points with the other chapters. I placed Clark in there because with his heightened senses I thought he would be most repelled by the smell. And it turned out pretty well, if I don't say so myself. If you'd like a specific reference point, I'm thinking at this moment that he went back to the Torch after his shopping experience with Chloe.

Dorawen, I've read a lot of Chlex fan fiction and some of it is well done. I enjoy it and it remains true to the characters. My favs are mainly just having them riff off each other… mostly as just friends. I just think all of them are tooyoung to have any serious romantic relationship that would last past a bit of time in college. These characters don't seem to be the high school sweetheart types.