(11/14)

All Chloe could remember was an all-encompassing blackness as she slowly regained consciousness. She was on her way to work and then, nothing. Blinking her way out of the haze, she tried to move only to find that she couldn't.

Her mouth was dry and she could tell she was gagged. Wherever she was, it was dark and she could feel that her wrists and ankles were bound to the chair she was sitting in.

Oh, God, she thought, desperately trying to see through the dimness. Where was Clark? She remembered screaming; surely he had heard her.

Her eyes squeezed shut as a bright light came on and she slowly opened her eyes as they adjusted. She saw at least four bright lights and what looked like the dull silver of lead all around her. She gulped as she remembered Clark telling her that lead was the only thing that would protect him from Kryptonite and the only thing that he couldn't see through. Whoever was holding her knew Superman's weaknesses and that didn't bode well for her chances of getting out.

Feeling the need to try, she began screaming beneath the gag in her mouth and finally gave up when the light in front of her was suddenly blocked. She blinked, bringing a round, bald head clearly in focus.

Her heart skipped a beat as she realized what was happening. Lex was standing in front of her, a grim smile on his face.

"Well, well, well, Miss Sullivan. We meet again," he said.

Chloe's eyes widened and the panic coursing through her veins was undeniable. She was caught and there was no escape.

"Don't look so surprised, Chloe," Lex said calmly. "Surely you didn't think you could hide forever."

She was looking at him with all the hatred she had held inside for so many years.

"I can tell you have something to say and, since your screams can't be heard here, I think I'll let you," he said cooly, and with a wave of his hand one of his minions appeared and removed her gag.

She struggled to make her tongue work and finally worked up enough saliva to get started. "Go to hell!"

"Oh, now, Chloe, you can do better than that."

"What do you want with me?"

"You're complicating things for me - as usual," he said with a sneer. "That little unfounded exposé of yours has the EPA and several county agencies breathing down my neck and I don't appreciate it."

"Woe is you," Chloe said dryly.

Lex gave her a half-smile. "I'm afraid your witty, if juvenile, banter won't get you out of this one."

"If you're so innocent, Lex, what are you worried about?" she asked evenly.

"That's just it -" Another flick of his fingers, and another of his people appeared with a large syringe that was filled with a glowing, bright green liquid. "I'm not really innocent."

I knew that, she thought, but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of telling him so.

She was perfectly still as the minion gave Lex the syringe and he started toward her.

"I usually hate doing my own dirty work," he said. "But I think I'm going to thoroughly enjoy this."

Clark, in his Superman uniform, flew over the city for the second time, but he still had no clue where Chloe was. He had reported back to the Chief and been given permission to look for her. Like lack of permission would stop me, he thought as he x-rayed everything in sight again.

He wasn't sure who her abductors were, but the only thought that made sense was Lex. A thorough search of the downtown Lex Corp property had yielded nothing. He would have to get into Lex's office and see if he could find anything concrete. He had to find Chloe and he couldn't think of anyone else that would have a vendetta against her.

He landed on the roof of the Lex Corp offices and easily found the stairwell door. He was in Lex's office in a flash and he made sure the door was locked before he started searching.

The papers on Lex's desk all seemed innocent enough, so Clark began to x-ray the file cabinets and the safe.

He found a list of Luthor properties in one of the cabinets, and scanned it until he found something of interest.

Lex owned land ten miles outside of the city and, even though the maps showed no buildings there, he thought it was worth checking out. He could be holding Chloe anywhere and it disturbed him that it was apparently somewhere he couldn't trace her voice.

Flying over the property, he found nothing but land; empty properties that were designated for future development or housing projects.

He was discouraged only a moment, until an awful thought occurred to him and he began to scan the ground.

"There you are," he said to himself. There was a large underground structure in the middle of one of the fields, but that was as far as he could see. Lead, he thought. It seemed that Lex knew a great deal, but Clark couldn't fathom how he had known that Superman couldn't see through lead.

Then again, it was likely Lex had people everywhere and he couldn't underestimate what he did and didn't know. He was also willing to bet that the structure had something to do with Lex Corp's ongoing Kryptonite experiments, so he had no clue what he would find waiting for him.

All he knew was that Chloe had to be in there, suffering at his former friend's hands, and he had to save her.

He came to rest on the ground above the underground fortress and started to look for an entrance. Another scan of the ground revealed a hidden trap door and he opened it. He zipped down the small set of stairs to the underground entrance, only to find it sealed.

If that was the best Lex could do, he had obviously underestimated Superman.

TBC