Velocity Part 1

Pete twisted his wrists and groaned as his attempts to break free proved worthless. His location was unknown; Pete didn't even know how long he had been in the trunk. The thugs that jumped him in the Smallville High parking lot and shoved him in the trunk had stopped driving an hour or days ago. A bag had been shoved over his head and he was dragged to the chair Pete was currently tied to. His wrists were tied behind the chair's back, and each foot was tied a chair's leg.

The bag was finally yanked off, and Pete gratefully sucked in some breaths of cold air. A bright light shown in his eyes, making it impossible to see any of his surroundings.

"Tell us what we want to know." A gruff voice said. Pete heard the soft sound of footsteps behind him, along with a faint smell of cigar smoke.

"And that would be?"

"Your friend, Clark Kent, what makes him so special?"

Pete swallowed. He had wondered why the thugs had taken him. A possibility had been because of his mother's job as an attempt to get her to rule a certain way for a case. It had never happened to the Ross family before, but there were stories of these things happening to other individuals in law enforcement. But no, this was about Clark's secret. The last time this happened, Pete was tied up in Hamilton's shack, threatened with a needle that would cause death-threatening jitters. Clark managed to save him them, and Pete prayed his friend would again.

"I'm not telling you anything."

"We'll see." The deep voice chuckled.

Pete felt cold metal at his throat. His mind wandered to what the man would do with the knife. Pete pushed such thoughts from his mind and focused on taking steady breaths.

Pete felt the metal move away as muffled shouts and gunfire went off. Those noises continued as the interrogator's footsteps head toward the commotion. The sounds got louder as Pete assumed a door was opened. The noise intensified, followed by silence.

The light was removed and Pete blinked to regain his sight. In front of him was his friend, Clark, looking at him with a mixture of worry and relief.

"Clark," Pete sighed in relief as his friend went about untying him from the chair.

Opening theme song…

Pete reveled in the feeling of clean clothes. The night of his rescue, Pete went home. He had been worn out from the ordeal, so his parents hadn't talked much and allowed him to go immediately to bed. It was the first time in months Pete had slept in a real bed. He woke up to a closet of laundered clothes, but he dreaded walking down the stairs. There was uncertainty as to what he would encounter in the kitchen. Would his parents be yelling this morning? Or would they just ignore each other in uncomfortable silence? Either one was plausible, and either one made for an awful breakfast.

But the sight Pete beheld when he walked into the kitchen was his parents seated calmly at the kitchen table, side by side.

"Good morning, Petey," his mom said as she got up to greet her son. Pete soon found himself smothered in kisses.

"Mom," Pete whined, but the truth was he didn't mind the affection.

"Breakfast? I made my famous French toast," his dad motioned to the platter of steaming food.

Pete sat down and began to fill his plate. His Dad had gone all out with this breakfast; French toast, scrambled eggs with cheddar, bacon, and hashbrowns.

"Petey, we want to apologize to you." His mom and dad sat across from him, holding hands. "We know we've been fighting a lot lately, and that it's been hard on you. But we want you to know, that we're going to try harder and make this work."

"We both love you so much, and no matter what happens, that will never change. But your abduction last night made us realize how much we still care about each other."

"Really?" Pete looked between the two of them.

His mother smiled reassuringly. "Really. So, you don't have anything to worry about."

"What about the judgeship? Wichita?"

"Family comes first, Petey. I can't leave now. Not with your senior year around the corner."

"And we'll be going to all of your games," Mr. Ross vowed. "We'll be watching you lead those Ravens to victory."

"Crows, dad. Our mascot is the Crows."

"Oh, your father just needs some orange juice." Mrs. Ross poured out a glass for each of them.

Pete enjoyed the best breakfast he had had in a long time.

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

"And that's when I hit the guy over the head and made my escape." Pete concluded his tale of heroism as he waited for his morning coffee. During his morning caffeine run to the Talon, Pete had been interceded by two hot girls who inquired about his abduction. Pete was only too glad to weave a tale where he was the self-saving hero.

"That is the bravest thing I ever heard," one of the girls gushed.

"Well, you know," Pete shrugged, "if I didn't do something, I'd be toast."

"I'm glad you're okay." The other girl kissed his cheek. "Call me."

"I will do that," Pete promised.

As he picked up his coffee order, Pete wondered who he had just been talking to. The girls were insanely hot, and looked familiar, but he couldn't remember their names. His musing got interrupted by someone standing beside him.

"I think I'll be hearing that story a lot." Clark grinned at him. As usual, Alicia was latched onto his arm. Clark was again wearing his glasses. A sight Pete had still not gotten used to. They really did make Clark look more like a geek. Not that Alicia minded; in fact, it was what she preferred. And if your girlfriend liked you wearing something, you did.

"Busted. Well, chicks dig a hero. Sorry, Clark. I figured you wouldn't mind if I bended the truth a little."

"Petey, look who you're talking to: the master truth bender."

"Thank you for protecting him." Alicia kissed Pete's cheek. "But how did the rescue really happen?"

Pete glanced around the Talon. It was the morning rush; a person couldn't move an inch without bumping into someone. It was not the ideal time to start talking about something confidential.

"Now's not the time."

"Why?"

Peete grimaced as a searing, ringing pain went through his mind. "The place is crowded, that's why."

"Fine." Both Clark and Alicia seemed to growl.

When Pete opened his eyes, he found himself in the middle of the Smallville High hallways, coffee in hand.

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Pete was having the best day of his life. He had aced his geometry exam; the coach had confirmed Pete would be starting for this weekend's basketball game; and every hot girl had treated him like a local celebrity.

Pete breezed into the Torch. Chloe, seated at her desk, grinned when she saw him walk in.

"Hi there," Chloe walked over to give Pete a hug. Chloe's scent of vanilla and ink toner overwhelmed him. Chloe looked particularly beautiful today; she wore an orange and red dress with an orange tulip clip in her hair.

"Hey. I'm ready for my Torch interview. Any luck tracking down who did it?"

Chloe shook her head. "Nope. Whoever they were, they were professionals; didn't leave a trace. That just goes to show how brave and smart you were to get away."

Chloe took a step closer to Pete; a step that was closer than he was used to. Pete stepped back, only for Chloe to follow. And then, Pete was against the wall and Chloe's hands were on his lower abdomen, just like Pete had seen Alicia do to Clark in the hallway.

"I was so worried about you, Petey." Chloe was looking up at him. "What would I do, if I lost you?"

And then Chloe kissed him.

"Woah. What are you doing?" Pete pulled away.

"Don't you want to kiss me?" Pete watched Chloe's lips mouth the words he had wanted to hear.

"Aren't you still crushing on Clark?"

"What does Clark have on you?" Chloe leaned in again. "When I heard you were taken, I realized how much you meant to me. How close I was to losing you. How much I'd regret never expressing my feelings."

Pete didn't pull away as Chloe leaned in again. Her hands ran up and down his torso as her mouth explored his.

"I really need to get kidnapped more often," Pete said when Chloe finally peeled away.

"Tell me, Petey: what does Clark got?" Chloe whispered into his ear. "What does Clark got that you don't? Tell me."

Chloe kissed him again. And this time, the kiss was way more intense. Pete found it hard to breath. It felt as if Chloe's fingers had entered through his skull and were digging around in his brain.

WHY. IS. CLARK. SO. SPECIAL?

The words forced themselves into Pete's mind. It was as if someone were digging into his brain, looking for buried treasure. An intense pressure began to build. Pete couldn't take it anymore and looked away from Chloe. His eyes tried to focus on the Wall of Weird. Except, where there were supposed to written articles, there were only strange symbols that made no sense to the reading eye. Pete broke away from where he was trapped against the wall. He ran for the door, only to see it disappear before his eyes.

"Tell me, Petey." The image of Chloe was getting closer.

"You're not Chloe." Pete backed away as much as he could. "What is this?"

"Oh, Petey," the image of Chloe sighed. "Now we have to do this the hard way."