Glancing down at the glowing green rocks that were intertwined with the chains that bound him, Clark felt like he could throw up. He didn't bother to attempt to break them again, with green Kryptonite it would only be a waste of time and energy.

Mysterio was nowhere to be seen, and Clark assumed that he'd disappeared long before he'd come to. It was just him, chained to one of the wooden pillars that secured the roof, and Gwen, wired up to a chair that had power that he didn't wish to witness. Though it wasn't himself he was worried about, and he could keep Gwen safe as long as he was in the room. It was Lois and Peter that he feared for, but there was little he could do in his current state.

"Did you… did you patch things up with Peter?" He inquired.

"You really wanna talk about that right now?" She fired back. "Because I don't think it's the time or the place."

"It's not." He agreed. "But since we can't go anywhere, we may as well kill time until we can come up with an escape plan."

"Escape?" She laughed. "You're chained to a pillar and I'm wired to what looks like a torture chair, escaping is physically impossible unless something were to weaken those chains."

"Peter says you have brains, if that's true then surely you can think of something!"

"Classy, Clark. Real classy."

With a hefty sigh, Clark silently cursed his lack of social skills when it came to anyone outside of his Smallville circle. His eyes lingered on the meteor rocks, making feel worse than he already did. If he wasn't able to distance himself from them soon, he was afraid that the last of his strength would disappear.

"I'm sorry, Gwen. That came out wrong."

"Damn right it did."

"I just thought that making conversation would stop either of us from panicking, that's all." He shrugged.

"Well, it would be nice not to sit in silence."

"See?"

"But, if you didn't notice, I don't panic."

"Yeah." He agreed, having no energy to challenge her on it.

"And to answer your question, yes. I think for the most part, we did." She said, thinking over his original question.

"Good… because I have a confession to make, and I don't know if Peter told you." He chuckled.

"Told me what?" Gwen frowned suspiciously.

"About the body swap."

"Oh. That." She sighed. "Yes, he did… What a joke." She added, rolling her eyes.

"… I don't know if I should tell you this, but it wasn't a joke." He admitted.

"Hah! Yeah right, what's next? You're gonna tell me that it was you that said those things and not Peter?"

"Well, actually… yes. I was the one that called you annoying and said all those other things." He admitted with a nervous laugh.

"What?" She questioned in disbelief. "Huh, figures… Okay, if we make it out of here, I'm going to hurt you."

"Oh come on, I said I'm sorry!"

"But you're only coming clean to pass the time away, and I was so mad at Peter for that. Now, if we don't get out of here, he's gonna forever go on thinking that I didn't believe him!"

"Gwen, I'm sorry. You caught me at a bad time and-"

"We are done talking about this." She cut in.

"Look, would it make a difference if I promise you that we will get out of here?" He questioned.

"Nope." She refused.

"But if we get out of here then you can clear things up with Peter entirely, and we will get out of here because I'm- I'm- good at getting out of situations."

"Don't care!"

"Gwen, come on, don't be mad… just help me think of a way out."

"I don't have any ideas." She growled. "And I won't tell you with that attitude."

"What do I have to do to get you to share?"

"First, would it kill you to have some manners? A simple please would be nice." She began. "Second, you need to play nice… and not just because you want something from me."

"We don't have time for this, Mysterio could be back at any moment." Clark pointed out.

"It takes half a second to use your manners."

"Fine!" He huffed. "If you have any ideas on how to get out of here, would you please share them?"

"That's better." She smiled coyly. "Now, you see the rocks in your chains? They're not tied properly…"

"Yeah, so?" He shrugged.

"They can easily be dislodged, but you barely have the strength to keep your head up." She continued, "but if I can break these wires, then I'll be free from this chair and I can remove the meteor rocks from your chains so that you can snap them."

"Oh yeah? How are you gonna do that, Bruce Banner?"

"I don't think I'm going to tell you with a tone like that."

"What? Gwen, I was joking!" He exclaimed. "You do know what a joke is, right?"

"Of course I know what a joke is, I wasn't born yesterday! But now is not the time nor place."

"Tell me your plan!" He yelled. "Christ, girl! We're gonna be toast at this rate! I do have to wonder how Peter puts up with you!"

"Use your heat vision to burn through these wires, then I can untangle myself and get those rocks off of you." She explained.

"Wait…" Clark froze. He had questions, and many of them. "How do you know about that?"

"Because I have eyes." She answered.

"Forget it." He muttered.

"Think you have the energy to at least do that one thing?"

"I'll try." He agreed.

Clark drew in a breath and forced his head up. He winced at the dull thud in his skull, but fixed his stare on the wires that held Gwen down and willed his heat vision to come naturally to him. Seconds passed and nothing happened, with a sigh he tore his eyes away.

"It's not working."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. Maybe the meteor rocks…" He shrugged.

"Is there anything that usually triggers it?"

"There is…" He began, not sure about admitting it.

"Right, well don't waste time… spill it!"

"I don't know, it's kind of embarrassing."

"Getting embarrassed is the least of your worries." She pointed out.

"Back when I first developed the power, there was one thing that triggered it…"

"And that was?" She pushed.

"If I was h-" Before he could finish the sentence, his embarrassment reached its peak and he broke into a cough to avoid revealing the answer.

"Sorry?" Gwen raised an eyebrow. "I can't make out what you're saying through the wheezing."

"Fine!" He growled. "My heat vision acted up when I felt hot."

"Hot?" She repeated. "That's no good, this place is freezing!" She pointed out, shivering as if to prove her point.

"Not that kind of hot…"

"How many kinds of hot are the- oh… you mean hot as in horny."

Clark could feel the pink heating up his cheeks. It wasn't something he brought up very often, and not something that he wanted everyone to know. Squelching down the sudden need to crawl into a dark corner and hide, he glanced up at Gwen sheepishly and chuckled.

"I know, it's weird. It just sort of happened and then I learned to control it."

"Clark, fix your eyes on the wires again." She instructed.

"It's not gonna work-"

"Just do it!" She snapped.

"Alright."

Refocusing his eyes on the wires again, he didn't feel a change and his heat vision still remained dormant. He was afraid of whatever tricks Gwen had up her sleeve now that he had let her in on the little secret.

"Now, think about something that makes you horny." She told him.

"Nope!" He protested. "Not doing that."

"Come on, how else can we get your heat vision to work? There aren't exactly any naked girls around."

"Good. Because it doesn't work like that." He sighed. "Forget it, this isn't working."

"Well, what do you suggest?"

"I don't know!"

"Better?" Chloe questioned as she led Lois into the waiting lobby at the hospital, the latter having just gotten stitches.

"You mean besides the blinding headache? Yeah."

Chloe rolled her eyes and continued leading her through the lobby and towards the automatic doors that they'd entered through. She wasn't sure how much time had passed since then, but the daylight was fading and giving way to the deep blue colour of night, and that was long enough.

"Quit complaining, you'll live." She sighed. "Come on, Peter's been waiting hours in the car and he's probably freaking out."

"It was an answer, not a complaint."

"Either way, we should get moving. We still have to find Clark and Gwen."

"Well, I think Luthor Junior would be a decent place to start." Lois suggested.

"Actually, I don't think he has anything to do with it this time."

"No?"

"No." Chloe confirmed. "Before he did his disappearing act, Clark asked me to look into someone. Though they turned out to be someone entirely different."

"So, where do we start?"

"By tracking down this son of a-"

"Peter!" Chloe cut in. "I thought I told you to wait in the car."

"I did." He insisted. "But it's been three hours."

"Sorry, not like I have a magic wand to shorten the wait."

"Never mind that, we need to get moving." He urged, opening the car door and climbing in the back.

"Yeah, we were gonna sit and wait around here in the parking lot before you came up with that genius idea." Lois scoffed, sarcasm dripping from her voice as she climbed in the passenger side.

"I was thinking… if this guy is using Paul Maddick as a disguise, wouldn't he be shown on CCTV in places he's been before?" Peter suggested.

"Like the Talon, Luthorcorp, Lex's mansion?" Lois added.

"Hmm, that's possible. He may have revealed his identity to you and Clark, but to the rest of the town, he's probably gonna want to appear as a normal guy."

"And we don't have time to go around checking security cameras."

"No, you're right, Lois. We've already lost a lot of time waiting to be seen at the emergency room, we can't waste anymore." Chloe sighed. "Peter, where did you last see Gwen?"

"Literally on the front porch of the farm house."

"And we don't need to ask you where you last saw Clark, but Lois, what is the last thing you remember before we found you in the driveway?"

"I don't- I don't-" Lois struggled as she thought hard about the events that had taken place after returning to the farm. "I told you, it's hazy."

"Yeah, but you need to at least try to remember." Chloe insisted.

"I am trying!"

"Think, Lois. You were with Clark and you came back to the farm. You said that he got into it with his parents and stormed out, you followed him. Then what happened?" Peter pushed.

"I don't know!"

"Not an answer, try harder!"

"I'm trying as hard as I can, Peter. I've been trying since I woke up in the driveway, it's not easy." She snapped.

"Someone was out there with you, weren't they?"

"Yeah… at least, I think so."

"What did they look like?"

"I can't remember." She shrugged, winding down the window and allowing the chill of the night air to ease her frustration. "I'm sorry."

Peter drew in a breath, suppressing his panic and letting it out slowly as he exhaled. It was something he had been trying to work on, though with enemies popping up out of the blue, it hadn't been easy. He didn't know Lois very well, but it was clear to him that she was trying her best to recall her last moments with Clark, and unlike him, she was remaining calm. They were in the same boat, but it was clear that she was more in control of her emotions than he was.

"It's okay." He assured her. "It's not your fault…"

"But-"

"It's mine." He sighed. "I brought this upon you all because I decided to run from my problems instead of facing them back home. If I'd have just accepted my life then none of this would have happened… if anyone should be sorry, it's me."

"Well, maybe you did bring all this with you to Smallville, but I'm sure that you didn't ask for it either and it's okay to be afraid. But there's no point wallowing now." Lois spoke softly. "We're all dealing with it, and you're not alone anymore."

"I know, I never was alone to begin with… just making all the wrong decisions."

"Then let's change that." Chloe concluded. "Perhaps it could help trigger something if you ask her questions about this guy based on his appearance."

"It's worth a shot, though I didn't see much of him." Lois agreed, her voice being drowned out by the roar of the engine as Chloe turned the key.

"Alright…" Peter thought aloud. "Do you remember any colours from what you did see?"

"It's blurry, and I'm not sure if it was him or not, but I remember a flash of green and a blur of red." She answered, closing her eyes to try and get the image back in her head. "I was speaking with Clark, and he freaked out, telling me to look behind me. I did, but I didn't see much before the psycho hit me over the head."

"Just the red and the green?" He pressed.

"Pretty much." She confirmed.

"Well, at the very least I can say that it is him. Those are his colours."

"So, where do we go from here?" Chloe inquired.

"I do remember something else… he was able to get the better of Clark too, and he said something right before I passed out."

"What did he say?"

"Mostly he was just mocking Clark, and bragging about how easy it was to exploit his weakness, but he mentioned something about an abandoned stable… I don't know if that means anything." She explained.

"Hmm, Chloe, are there any stables nearby?"

"There is one; Lana used to board Whitney's horse there, it was shut down not long after he died though and hasn't been used in years."

"And with that being said, I think we found where we need to go." Peter stated, growing giddy with hope.

"Nothing?" Gwen questioned with a sigh.

"Nada." Clark shook his head.

The echoing of footsteps in the distance caught his attention, and as Gwen was about to speak again, he pressed his finger to his lips to hush her. As she opened her mouth again to question him, he shook his head and attempted to mouth the words 'someone is coming' to her.

"What do we do?" She mouthed back, barely using her voice at all.

"Just…" Clark panicked as he heard the footsteps getting louder as the person they belonged to got nearer to wherever they were. "Follow my lead." He finished and closed his eyes, dropping his head back against the wooden beam and letting his arms hang limply by his sides.

Gwen hesitated, but as the sound of the footsteps reached her earshot, she caved in and closed her eyes, allowing her chin to drop against her chest. She drew in a breath, and held it as she felt their presence enter the room. It grew harder as they got closer to her though, and she resisted the temptation to sneak a peek.

As two fingers slid between her chin and chest, lifting her head, Gwen let out the breath she'd been holding very slowly. If she even twitched, their cover could be blown and she was afraid of what might happen if he figured out that they were only feigning unconsciousness.

"Huh, looks like I really did a number on you…"

Mysterio smirked as he removed his hand, letting her head fall back down to her chest. He glanced over to Clark, who was sprawled lazily across the floor as much as the chains would allow, and his smirk deepened as he stood up straight and crossed the room.

"You'd better not be dying on me yet, Kent." He warned as he knelt down in front of him. "Maybe I can lose one of the rocks…"

As he said it, he slid one of the rocks out of the chains, and tossed it across the room, leaving only one rock remaining. Despite this change, Clark remained in the same state; unmoving, except for the even rise and fall of his chest.

"Just a little while longer. Once your friends are here, the fun can begin." He taunted. "Though I'll admit, I'm surprised that it's taken them this long… my patience wears thin."

Clark lifted his head, though it felt heavier than it had only minutes ago, but his eyes remained closed. Mysterio's powers only affected what he saw, in the few minutes since he'd been playing unconscious, he had come up with a new idea. As long as his eyes remained closed, he hoped that he would be free from illusions.

"If they do not get here by sundown, one of you is going to die." He warned. "Though I'll be generous and let Peter decide which one of you-"

"Enough!" Gwen snapped, lifting her head, though not opening her eyes. "I don't know what the motive is behind your sick games, but trying to corrupt Peter isn't going to work. He's not going to throw someone under a bus, regardless of how hopeless a situation may seem… and if you think that he would then you really need to work on studying who you're going after."

"Oh no, Gwen." Clark muttered with a sigh as he realized their cover was blown.

Mysterio stood up straight and set his sights on her, crossing the room back over to where she was tied down. Clark made a feeble attempt to break his own chains, though got no further than he had the several other times he'd tried.

"Bold words, girl!" He sneered. "But has it ever occurred to you that maybe you're the one who doesn't know him that well?"

"Don't try to get inside my head, it's not going to work." She smirked, still not opening her eyes. "The truth is that without your power to create illusions, you're nothing but a man with deep psychological issues. I'm not afraid of you, because as long as my eyes are closed, you can't hurt me."

"Gwen, don't!"

"It's okay, Clark." She assured him. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

"I don't doubt it, but if you anger him, you won't be able to defend yourself being wired up to that chair." He pointed out.

"He won't do anything yet. You heard him, he's biding his time."

"... I wouldn't put it past him."

"He's only dangerous if you open your eyes." She added. "And he uses illusions because he knows who he's up against. He'd never win in a fight without his tricks, he's weak… pathetic… nothing but a little boy, desperate to feel superior."

Clark bit down on his lower lip, anticipating the moment when the enemy would grow bored and snap. He hoped that Peter would arrive before that happened.

Pulling up a short distance away from the stable, Chloe pulled the key out of ignition but made no move to step out of the vehicle.

"Shouldn't we get moving?" Peter prompted.

"Yeah, because waltzing in there without a plan is wise." Lois rolled her eyes.

"She's right, Peter. We can't go in without a plan." Chloe agreed.

"Right." He sighed. "How does this sound?" He questioned, "I'll stay out here and draw attention to myself to get Mysterio out of there. While he's busy with me, you two sneak inside the stable, find Gwen and Clark, and get them out of there. Once we have them, we make a break back to the farm where we can come up with a plan to deal with him once and for all."

"It's erh… it's doable." Lois shrugged. "But how do you plan to lure him out?"

"Leave that to me." Peter smirked. "You two should get somewhere he won't notice you."

"Alright." Chloe agreed. "Let's do this!"