A/N: It'll go a little faster now that I don't have the songs to deal with for a couple of chapters…

Chapter 10

Chloe picked the lock on her door, thankful that she'd decided to pin back her hair for the dance. It was actually surprisingly easy, which made her extremely suspicious. She crept her way down the hallway, desperately trying to remember how to get to the lab.

scene shift

A breathless and disheveled Lex and Lois entered the lab and stood over an unconscious Clark. Lois clung to Lex as he sneered at the teen. "He's such a wet blanket… I don't care what my dad says. If he was really some sort of super-powered alien, he would have taken power somehow."

"I'm sure you're right, Lexy dear," Lois purred, openly mocking him.

Lex growled in anger and strode to the wall. He opened a cabinet door on the wall that revealed a fire hose. He laughed insanely as he unfurled the hose, pointed it at Clark and turned the water on full blast. Lois appeared surprised but pleased that he had no trouble handling the thrashing hose. The powerful stream of water battered the young man and any bystander could have heard the water pounding on his skin. For the first few seconds, the waterturned a glowing green that pooled on the floor but it quickly became clear as it streamed off Clark's body and into a convenient drain.

Neither of the young adults noticed that Clark was starting to breathe easier, but Lois sashayed behind Lex and slowly turned off the water. When he turned to glare at her, she stood on her tiptoes and whispered in his ear. A wolfish laugh escaped the young Luthor's lips and he practically pulled her off her feet in his rush to fulfill her every suggestion.

The door had barely swung shut when Clark's eyes fluttered open. With Lex's inadvertent help, breaking his bonds was now child's play for Clark. Still slightly weak, he sat up and looked around him. He shook his head and wondered where Pete and Chloe had gotten off to. The other three were now off of his "I care what happens" to them list since they'd been so willing to throw him into Lionel's power. A look of disgust crossed his face as he reached up to take off his gag, but he hissed and pulled his hands away quickly, noticing the bulging veins that accompany close proximity to kryptonite. A tear streamed down his face but it was a face firmed with determination. With super speed, he raced out of the room.

scene shift

Pete knew that he should be worrying about getting out of there, but he was really enjoying just relaxing and watching some television. His team was winning and he'd found a mini-bar and microwave so he had popcorn and soda. He knew that Clark would save them eventually, so he needn't worry and could take advantage of the Luthor "hospitality." He had dimmed the lights to get the full "theater" effect so he could have an even better time.

He was slightly startled when a knock sounded on his door. He walked toward it slowly, thankful it was a commercial, and opened it. The hallway was dark, but it was obviously a girl. "Oh, Pete," Chloe's voice weeped. "It's no good here! It'll destroy us and Lionel will kill Clark!"

Pete took her hand and pulled her into the room. He looked into the hall to see if she'd been followed and then shut the door. "Listen, Chloe. We'll be out of here soon."

"I can't believe it… They have us trapped here." Chloe was crying and that surprised Pete, but he was more than willing to comfort her. He pulled her into his arms.

"You said yourself that Lionel can't do anything else to you without bringing the Federal government crashing down on his head." A feminine scent wafted into his nostrils. "Mmmmm! You smell so good, Chlo!" He shook himself. "Sorry. Listen, why don't you stay in here and we'll watch some TV. You need to relax. Clark'll get us out of here."

Sniffs could be heard, but she willingly allowed herself to be pulled toward the bed. "Are you sure I'm not intruding?"

"Nah, you're good." His attention was again captured by the game and he hardly noticed that he had a partner in bed until she snuggled into his arms.

"Ummm, Pete… Have you ever thought we should get more physical in our affection?"

Pete was shocked but still couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the screen. "Excuse me? We're always hugging and stuff. What do you mean?"

She flipped over and straddled him, her face hidden as her body blocked the television. She bent down and passionately kissed him. His pulse began racing. As she began kissing her way down his body, his hand went to her head, caressing her hair. But when he came up with a handful of long dark hair, he sat straight up.

"What the…?" Pete shouted and flipped over to turn on the bedside light. Now he could clearly see the long brown hair of the person in his bed. "Lana?"

Lana looked up at him, mischief written along every line of her face. "I'm afraid so, Pete. But didn't you like it?"

"Lana, look. It's not that I didn't like it…" An ugly suspicion crossed Pete's mind and he stormed, "What have you done with Chloe?"

Lana looked offended. "Nothing, of course!" But then the mischief was back. "Why? Do you think I should?"

"Why did you pretend to be her?" Pete begged, ignoring the possible lesbian connotation. "You know that I've been in love with her forever."

"I know," Lana purred. "But it wasn't all bad, was it?" She took his hand and gently pushed him back onto the bed. He could only seem to look at her and allowed her to do whatever she wanted. "I know you liked it."

Pete moaned as her hands started working their magic on him. "No, listen... You're not yourself. What about Jason?"

Lana's face twisted into a grimace. "Yeah, I nearly loved that boy, but he's gone and there's nothing I can do about it." Her voice took on a wheedling quality. "Come on! There's no crime in having some pleasurable fun with friends… I won't tell anyone."

Pete leaned back in the pillows. He couldn't resist her. "Promise you won't tell?"

"On my parents' graves." She smiled and kissed him again. They were interrupted as the monitor flashed and switched over to Lex's face. "Lana, Clark's escaped. I don't want to tell Dad, so you have to help us come and look for him."

Lana lifted her head and turned toward Lex's picture. "I'll come as soon as Pete and I are finished."

Lex smirked. "Fine. But do it quick. He can't get out, but I don't want to give him time to find a loophole. Are we thinking 30 minutes?"

Lana looked at Pete and a sensual smile crossed her lips. "Let's say an hour."

A/N: I decided that the Slash aspect really isn't my thing… and since, in accordance with the legend, Lana and Pete get together, I thought I might as well start the process…

Snowbunny3: It is always gratifying to get your enthusiastic reviews, and I'm sincerely glad that you're enjoying my little foray here…

MarkMark261: To be honest, I haven't done any kind of age determination in this. Chloe could be anything from 16 to 20 for all I know… I guess considering that I wouldn't let Lionel touch her for very long, I decided I just didn't need to worry about it too much… Didn't seem to carry much weight in the pursuit of a good storyline…

And I do apologize for my "scene shifts" notes, but I have noticed that the dividers I usually put in for those instances never seem to survive the transition into Fan Fiction and, knowing me, I'd totally forget to put them back in!

And thank you very much for the editing advice. I have fixed Chapter 9 accordingly… and I'm thinking about going to my other chapters to see if there's anything else you noticed… and possibly to my first fanfic. Can I just say how much I love that Exporting tool so you don't have to reload and reformat everything?