Disclaimer: We own nothing that is in any way affiliated with Smallville or the CW. We're just playing with the toys. So please, don't sue us.
Summary:A freak occurance in Smallville leads to Chloe, Lex, Pete, Lana and Clark knowing more about each other than they ever imagined. Or wanted to know.
A/N: Sabby: Okay, another one out of the lost and found. I don't even remember how this idea came up, but we ran with it and now you get to enjoy the crazy. Have fun.
A/N Blue: This one takes place a few years ago with what used to be the main characters. Fun and a little off the wall like you all like....hopefully. Enjoy.
While it had been storming all week, the weather seemed to be behaving itself for now. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the stars shone brightly overhead. It was one of those perfectly clear and cool evenings in which the moon looked impossibly huge and illuminated the ground below with an ethereal glow. It seemed as if Mother Nature herself didn’t dare to raise a thunderbolt or rain cloud against the Luthors. Lex had been planning the ‘little get-together’, as he called it, for weeks now. Or, more accurately, his planners had. When confronted with the weather forecast, he had shrugged it off. He had maintained that the night would turn out to be flawless. It irked Chloe to no end that he had been correct.
She passed through a stone archway that she didn’t remember from the numerous covert times she had skulked about the Luthor grounds. Lex had most likely had it brought in especially for the occasion. She rolled her eyes at the action. For all of the posturing that Lex went through about how he didn’t give a damn what the townsfolk thought of him, he always went above and beyond the call of duty when he threw a shindig.
Chloe tried to take in all of the wide expanse of lawn and the decorations that were festooned artfully around the cultivated, lush gardens as she passed them by. She had to admit that the place did look first-rate. His staff had obviously worked very hard for their master. She chuckled at the mental picture of Lex cracking a whip and screaming at his minions to work harder and make thing more purple.
Pete kicked at a marble, looking down the walkway that slithered in elegant swings through the wide garden. The sandy path was flanked with finely chiseled marble statues that he knew for a fact hadn't been there until last week. “Show-Off.” He muttered to himself as he kept walking in search of Chloe, Clark or Lana.
He hated that his mother had put him into that stupid suit and made him go to this party. “This party is a celebration of the plant’s achievement. The plant employs about 80 % of the working people in this town. I am the judge, so I have to go.” Pete huffed as he kicked at some more gravel.
When he looked up, a wide grin came over his face. He'd finally found one of his friends! Jogging up to her, he threw an arm around her shoulder to get her attention.
Chloe felt someone throw their arm around her shoulder and she tilted her head to see Pete looking quizzically at her. “If you tell me you’re laughing at Lex I’ll pledge my undying love and servitude to you.”
“Yeah, well partly. But for the most part, I'm just glad to see you. I was dying of boredom in there and my mom is schmoozing it up with some people from Metropolis, so...” He trailed off with a shrug, still keeping his arm around Chloe's shoulder.
She leaned into Pete, causing them to veer off onto a path that led them deeper into the gardens and away from the party. Pete looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “Ross, it’s not like I’m leading you down here to jump you, so relax. I just thought you might want to get away from everyone else. Especially since I think I saw Lex coming our way. You know, playing the gracious host and all. But, if you’ve got a problem being back here..” she started to walk back in the direction they came from.
“No, that's quite alright.” He turned her right back around and away from the general direction of all things Luthor. “I have no intention of running into Mr. Bald is Beautiful and having to be nice just to avoid getting grounded by my mother.” He looked around, trying to find some nice secluded spot that would serve as a hiding place from the Armani-Plague.
She was about to respond when she caught some movement out of her peripheral vision. Chloe saw two figures lurking about ten feet away from them. When she made out who it was, she groaned a little. “How about Brunette is Beautiful?” She tilted her chin and gestured to the twosome that was now approaching them. Taking in their appearance she said, “Or Blushing is Beautiful?”
Pete swiveled his head around to see Clark and Lana approaching them from the left. “Eh, as long as they don't make all with the lovey dovey.” He shrugged again, turning Chloe and himself around to face their friends. “Yo, Clark! Lana,” he nodded. “Had fun in the sticks?” he teased as the pair came to a halt in front of them.
“Um…” Clark stumbled for words. Nothing had really happened. It had been close but a balloon had popped off in the distance, startling both Lana and himself. Now he had to deal with Pete grinning at him and Chloe’s expectant look. “Lana needed some help with…”
Chloe cut him off. “Something stuck in her throat?” Now that she was over Clark, it was fun mocking his progress, or lack thereof, with Lana.
Pete snickered at Chloe's pun and the couple's reaction to it. At the moment it seemed to be a competition who of the lovebirds could blush the hardest. “Yeah, good thing our Clark is so good with CPR, isn't it?” He added grinning.
Grinning over at Pete, Chloe said, “Yeah, we should ask Lex how Clark’s technique is. Being that he was Clark’s *first*.” She didn’t think it was possible but Clark’s face turned even redder. It was almost too easy.
”Eeww, man. So didn't need thatvisual.” Pete made a face. Sucking face with Luthor still number one on his top ten most disgusting list. “Speaking of the devil,” he turned back around to Lana and Clark. “If he's trying to use this party gig to convince people that he's something other than an arrogant stuck up bastard, he's not gonna be happy with the results.” He shook his head. “I mean marble statues? How Abercrombie can you get?” He motioned widely around, indicating the statues lining the small walkway somewhere behind.
“I'm sure Vitelli would be very disappointed to hear that his art is not appreciated for its beauty. But then, we can't all have an eye for the beauty of the inanimate variety, right Mr. Ross?” Lex stepped up to the group, shoving his hands into his pants pockets as he stepped up between Chloe and Clark.
He was glad to have found the circle of friends, because even though Peter Ross had a particular dislike towards him, at least here he didn't have to lay it on thick and kiss ass to be involved in a conversation. He could just trade some banter or give his own opinion to whatever was talked about. “Chloe, Clark, Lana.” He nodded to every one of them in turn. The girls had dressed up as far as their pocket money would allow and Clark was wearing the same tux he'd worn to the spring formal 3 years ago. “I take it the party is not too much to your liking?”
When Chloe saw that no one else was even close to thinking of a response to Lex, she decided to bite the bullet. “I think that any party that has an average age of at least twenty years above one’s own wouldn’t be too terribly enjoyable.” She kept her response even handed. She didn’t want to have to referee between Lex and Pete. It had gotten old months ago and she was sick of it. Sure, she made fun of Lex, but it wasn’t nearly as mean spirited or as full of vitriol as Pete’s comments usually were.
Lex nodded, understanding. “Yeah, I did invite more of the local youth, but it seems you and a few others are the only ones who actually came. On the upside, the old folks will probably leave early, so.” He nonchalantly shrugged a shoulder, “If you want to you can ask your parents if they'll let you stay over and we could make use of my entertainment system once they have left.”
Lana looked over at Clark. If the Manor cleared out, maybe she’d have more of an opportunity to be alone with him. He had barely been able to compliment her outfit at all so far. She had been seriously considering letting him kiss her. As if reading her mind, Clark said, “That sounds good, Lex. I’m sure our parents…”
Lana’s eyes started to tear. ‘I don’t have any parents.’ She felt a strong hand on the small of her back and looked up gratefully at Clark. He seemed to be the only one who understood how hard it was.
Chloe’s mouth gaped open and she shook her head, knowing what Lana was thinking.
Clark cleared his throat and started again. “I’m sure that we’ll all be able to stay, right guys?” He looked over at Pete and Chloe, hoping that they would understand that they should stay for Lana’s sake. Now that she was thinking about what happened to her, she’d need her friends there for support.
Pete glared at his friend. Great now he'd have to suffer the whole night in the company of Mr. Clean instead of just a few more hours. He was just about to say to hell with it and decline, when Clark started with the puppy eyes. 'Oh fuck no!' “Alright, alright, I'm sure mom will agree, after all she seemed to get along with Mr. ...” he received a hard elbow to the ribs and shot a sideways glance at Chloe before he continued. “Luthor here, so I don't think she'll have anything to say about it.” He sent a challenging look at the devil's offspring, daring him to say anything.
Lex smirked at the shorter boy, taking his hands out of his pockets and holding them up slightly to show he had no intention of giving any comment to that.
“Great, so I'll let you go to ask your parents to make sure and after the old folks have gone, I'll leave you free reign to decide what you want to do.” Thinking about his choice of words, he quickly added. “Within reason of course.”
At hearing the words free reign in conjunction with Lex’s place, Chloe had started to get all sorts of ideas. However, her hopes were dashed when Lex added his last few words. ‘Give a girl hope and then tear it down.’ She cursed under her breath and her eyes narrowed when she saw a small smile appear on Lex’s face.
Lex watched as Chloe's eyes narrowed to accompany the small pout on her lips and had a hard time keeping the grin that threatened to appear on his own face down to a smirk. “Any complaints, Chloe?”
‘Uh oh.’ Clark could see where this was going. He was able to check his sigh. Playing referee between Lex and Chloe was becoming tiring. He didn’t understand why they seemed to enjoy antagonizing each other. It was usually just a little bother, but now that Lana’s well being was on the line, he didn’t see why they couldn’t just get along for her sake. “Of course she doesn’t have any complaints.” He tried to catch Chloe’s gaze in order to plead with her to just stow the attitude for once.
Lex shot a sideways glance at Clark 'Spoil-sport' before he turned back to Chloe. “I'm sure I'll be able to entertain you. I could have Enrique set up a scavenger hunt to satisfy your investigative urges if need be,” he goaded her further.
The important decision Chloe needed to make was whose ass to kick first. While pounding Lex was tempting, he was just taking advantage of the situation that was presented to him. She had done the very same thing time and time again. So, it was down to Lana or Clark.
Clark’s brain was obviously being taken over by Lana, so Chloe decided that the other girl was the one who deserved a beating the most. But, when she looked over at the pathetic face that she was making and took in the fact that she was now sniffling, she stifled the violent urges. She wouldn’t be able to explain how Lana provoked her and she didn’t want to spend time behind bars or explaining herself to Sheriff Adams as Lana prattled on about how bad things kept happening to her.
“There’s no need to trouble poor Enrique.” She wasn’t going to rise to Lex’s bait. She linked arms with Pete. “I’m sure that Pete and I will find a way to entertain ourselves.”
Lex's eyebrows climbed high on his forehead as Pete pulled Chloe even closer and wrapped an arm around her waist “Sure, thing Chlo'. You know you can always count on me for entertainment.”
At Mr. Ross' rather double edged intonation of the word, Lex titled his head looking the couple over. “Oh, can it be I missed some town gossip? Not that I want to assume anything,” he trailed off as he kept giving them an assessing look.
Lana was getting bored, this had nothing to do with her. So she started thinking about how she could get she and Clark alone when the time came.
Clark’s head swiveled towards Pete and Chloe. He hadn’t heard anything about them going out and he thought that they might have mentioned something like that. And if they didn’t, he was certain he would have picked up on it, he was very observant.
Every now and again, Chloe was unsure about Lex’s motives behind a question or comment and now was one of those times. Was he making a dig at her? Pete? Or was he really just trying to see if they were together? Flummoxed, she answered, “Pete and I aren’t into definitions, are we Pete?”
Pete grinned widely. He was almost sure Luthor looked a little uncomfortable about not being in the know. “Nah, that's only for stuck ups. We're about fun and games.” For good measure, he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Lex wasn't sure how to take this, but one thing was for sure, he wouldn't have anything below the belt going on in his house. At least not as long as he wasn't involved in it. Which was not going to happen because they were teenagers after all. “Well as much as I myself enjoy fun and games at times, let's make one thing clear. There will be separate bedrooms for every one of you. I don't wanna be held responsible for leading Smallville's youth astray, after all.”
Chloe rolled her eyes at Lex’s attempt to lay down the law. “Lex, do you really think that after all of the time I’ve spent in your place after hours that I can’t find my way around in the dark? I’ve always been able to find the bedroom that I’ve been looking for.”
‘Well, that didn’t come out the way I wanted it to.’ She was referencing a time when she had tried to score an interview with Enrique. She had almost given the man a heart attack when she knocked at his door so late. He had, of course, declined the interview and then made sure she was in her car driving away before returning back to the Manor.
Lex merely smirked at Chloe's unfortunate choice of words and indulged in the various reactions of the others. Personally, he gave Pete the medal for most obvious.
“What? What the hell are you doing traipsing around the haunted house after dark?” His arm dropped from around Chloe's waist as he looked at her completely agape.
There couldn't be more going on between her and the maniac of the manor, could there? No, no way, there just couldn't be. That'd be just ...no.
Lana, Pete and Clark were all waiting for Chloe’s response while Lex was just watching the exchange with glee. She expected as much from Lex but the tone of Pete’s voice was far too much like Clark for her liking. Forgetting that Lex was the man under discussion she started to fume at the fact that Pete would ever look at her that way for dating someone. Her choices were her own, good, bad or stupid. She gave Pete a silencing look as she tried to think of something to say that wouldn’t come out as her screaming at Pete.
While the subject of Chloe wasn’t Lana’s favorite to discuss, the subject of someone they both knew *preferring* Chloe over her was something that needed to be addressed. “I’m sure that there’s some logical explanation for what Chloe meant.” There, that came out well. That way it would look like she was on Chloe’s side. She gave the blonde an encouraging smile, hoping that she would jump in to explain. Lex had always favored Lana and treated her like a princess when compared to Chloe, and she had no intention of that changing.
Lex recognized the jealousy in Lana's eyes and wondered what he'd ever done to encourage that kind of reaction from her. Shaking it off, he turned his attention back on Chloe but didn't get farther than taking a breath to answer when Clark piped up. “Yeah Chloe, I'd like to know too if there's something going on between the two of you.” It would explain the tension between Lex and Chloe that had been mounting ever since the trial of Lionel had been done and over with. They seemed to be unable to occupy the same space for five minutes without getting into a spat.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” It took Chloe a moment to realize that she had said that aloud. But, now that she had, there was no reason to stop the rant that was on the tip of her tongue.
“Where in the hell do you, of all people, get off demanding to know if I’m involved with Lex?” She looked full on at Clark and, after a moment in her gaze, he ducked his head. “You don’t tell me anything that’s going on in your life. Ever. Especially in the realm of where your tongue has been.” She gestured vaguely to Lana. “I don’t owe you anything, you jackass. If I want to mount Lex and ride him in every room,” she pointed up to the Manor, “that’s my business, his business,” she pointed at Lex, “and none of yours.” She hissed out the last word as she glared at Clark.
Lex's eyebrows once again returned to a place high on his forehead at Chloe's rant as very interesting and definitely X-Rated images flitted through his mind at her provocative words. 'In every room, eh?' Shaking his head slightly, he tried to ban that particular thought. 'Teenager, remember?' But damn, she was a hot little thing, there was no denying that. And if the passion she showed in arguments traversed into the bedroom as well 'Uhh, damn''
She could actually hear the crickets chirping after she stopped speaking. “Being that you all have come up with answers for yourselves to the question you asked me, I’ll just let you keep doing so. They’re much more interesting than the truth.” Chloe knew that she was stomping off like a child but she didn’t care. She was beyond enraged and it wouldn’t be very good for anyone involved if she stayed where she was.
Lex turned halfway to watch her walk away, still absorbed in his own thoughts as he regarded her retreating backside. 'Damn, if only she wasn't jailbait.' Then again, she was eighteen now, so not really jailbait. 'Hrm.' A small smirk formed on his face. He turned back to the group, just in time to bump shoulders with Pete who was rushing after Chloe.
”Hey, wait. Chloe I'm sorry!”
Lex turned fully to the two remaining teens, stifling the urge to heave a sigh. Great, now he was left with The Princess and her Knight in Shining Armor.
”I have to return to the manor and get something to drink then tend to my guests. I trust you two are going to be able to fare on your own?”
Lana looked over at Clark, waiting for him to tell Lex that they would be fine alone. It was good that Chloe had yelled like that. She got all red when that happened and boys didn’t like girls that did things like that. Finally, she noticed some movement from Clark.
Clark shuffled his feet uncomfortably on the floor. Damn he hated it when Chloe did things like that. He was still reeling from her outburst in his direction.
First, he couldn’t believe that she had said any of that to him. Sure, he hadn’t been honest with her in the past about his powers. Or when he and Lana got together. But, that still didn’t give Chloe the right to say all of that.
It wasn’t like he lied to her all the time. Plus he still hadn't gotten a real answer to the question that was nagging at his mind.
“Sure Lex, we'll be alright, but...” How to say that? He fixed his eyes at a spot between Lex's expensive shoes. “Uhm, you and Chloe, you're not really errr?” He stopped and dared a glance up at Lex from under his bangs. Neither of them had denied or verified it. He just had to know, though.
Lex bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Leave it to the farmboy to try and win a fight between innocence and curiosity and fail miserably at both ends. “Well Clark, you know me. Would I ever do something like that?” he asked bluntly before turning around and leaving the two teens guessing. “I'll see you later you two.” He shot back over his shoulder, laughing inwardly at their dumbfounded expressions. Ah life was good. Now he only wondered where Chloe had run off to.
~~~
After Pete had made a poor attempt to explain himself, Chloe had merely walked away from him. She needed some serious alone time. The gardens of the Manor were crawling with what seemed like the entire population of Smallville so that was out. In fact, Chloe decided that outside was a bad idea.
She had made her way inside the Manor and had headed for one of the lower floors. The champagne was flowing freely so she doubted that anyone would be coming down into the wine cellar anytime soon. She passed row upon row of expensive alcohol and then sat down gingerly on a chair, careful of her dress. She covered her face with her hands and let out a primal scream.
Clark and Lana had opted for strolling the gardens since they were finally alone once more. Clark loved any alone time he got with Lana, since it was a rare occasion between chores on the farm, saving people from meteor mutants, school, Lana's job at the Talon and other obligations that they hardly got away from.
Pulling her closer, he steered them to a small gazebo the likes of which had been set up all over the extensive garden grounds of the manor.
”Alone at last,” he grinned widely as they settled down on the cool stone.
Lana nodded as she flipped some of her hair off of her shoulders. She looked at Clark and smiled. “Though, I can’t believe Chloe’s nerve. Yelling at you like that.” She put a hand on Clark’s knee in what she hoped was not too bold a move. “I mean, it’s not like Lex would ever be interested in someone like her.” She realized that may have come out too harsh so she said, “Not that I don’t love her.”
Clark smiled benignly, even though he was a little offended by Lana's choice of words. “I know what you mean. But I'm not so sure. I mean, they do have this weird thing going on.” He made a vague hand motion not sure how to describe it. “Like when they are in a room together and I watch them getting started, I expect lighting to strike right in between them or something, you know what I mean?”
Though she didn’t like to do so because it might cause wrinkles, Lana’s brows furrowed. “No, I don’t know what you mean. I always thought that it was because Lex found Chloe really annoying.” She shrugged. “You know how she’s always harping on him. I assumed that he was trying to keep his temper under control. She can try someone’s patience.” She paused and then added, “If you don’t really know what she’s like.”
Clark's face scrunched up as he listened to Lana. Maybe she didn't mean it like it sounded, but still it came across as pretty unfair. Especially considering some of the things Chloe had done for her in the past and everything. “I dunno, my dad says that sometimes opposites attract and I guess that's what happens when... that happens. It just makes me a little uncomfortable because,” he shrugged, “Lex is older and he's got a lot more experience with stuff like that and I'm afraid Chloe might get in over her head if something between them happens.” Because being completely honest, he could see something happening. Chloe was at heart still a city child and she was very smart, so she tended to look for very bright guys, and Lex was nothing if not bright...and shiny. Clark grinned at his inhead joke before turning serious once more, waiting for Lana's answer.
She didn’t want to disagree with Clark, but she also wanted to be honest. “Clark, I don’t get the impression that Chloe would be a blushing virgin, do you? I mean, look at the way that she dresses.” Her perfect nose wrinkled thinking of the skin that Chloe showed off every now and again. It’s not as if she was a prude, it was just that she thought Chloe’s choice of clothing could be way over the line.
Clark's mouth dropped open. Lana couldn't really be meaning what she was suggesting. “What? What do you mean 'the way she's dressing'? What's wrong with Chloe's clothes?!” His voice had raised with every sentence.
Sure, Chloe was dressing pretty flippy, and the colors sometimes clashed a little, but the way Lana made it sound was really insulting and Chloe was still one of his best friends. Clark found himself getting angry with Lana for her insinuations, meant or not.
Lana whipped her head around to look at Clark. Was he actually yelling at her? No one yelled at her. “Well, Clark, if you like Chloe so much why don’t you go find her and sit out here with her!” Before Clark could answer, Lana walked off. Really, she didn’t need to subject herself to that. There were plenty of boys that would just nod along with whatever she said.
Clark was totally flabbergasted as he watched Lana stomp off in the direction of the manor. Usually he would have run after her, but this time she'd been the one totally out of line and there was no way he'd justify her behavior by chasing after her, no sir. Rolling his eyes, he got up and did the next best thing, walk aimlessly around the grounds. Lana would come back once she'd cooled off. Or he'd just find her later and they'd have a talk.
~~~~~
Pete had found his mom pretty fast after Chloe'd brushed him off and made sure he'd be allowed to stay over for the night. He was sure Chloe and him would talk things out once they were alone. Given he was able to get her to stay in once place long enough to talk her around, that was.
Shaking the thought off, he decided to take another walk. The atmosphere inside the mansion was still making him uncomfortable. Too many old people that only had one thing in mind when they got their hands on him. To pinch his cheeks and comment on how much he'd grown since they'd last seen him. Yeah, Smallville's community was like a big family. Pete hated family get togethers. He snatched a beer from the bar before anybody could see him and decided to find a nice little secluded spot outside where he could hide.
~~~~
Lex felt the light pounding in his temples and new he had a huge headache coming on. Excusing himself from his present company, he decided to take another break from the schmoozing and get some fresh air outside. If he was lucky he'd be able to disappear for an hour and only have to bid his guests farewell, thereby avoiding any further dull conversation about farming and crap.
Once he set foot outside of the large veranda doors, he took a deep cleansing breath and tried to forget about the pounding and twinging going on behind his eyes and in his temples.
He hadn't been able to find Chloe after coming back inside in and had a heavy feeling she was hiding somewhere inside the mansion in a room nobody would think to look for her. Considering he had locked his private rooms, that left another 82 possibilities. Great.
Giving up on that thought, he stepped further into the dark garden, letting the sounds of chatter and music slowly bleed away.
~~~~~~~
Chloe was still trying to get herself back in order when she heard the door to the wine cellar creak open. She suppressed a groan. She wasn’t up to seeing anyone else just yet so she didn’t want to be found down here. She held her breath and could hear the other person wandering around the rows of wine. She wasn’t sure if it was only her imagination or if the person really seemed to be getting closer.
Forgetting how close the chair was to the wall and how voluminous her skirt was, Chloe quickly stood up, preceded to trip a little on her dress, fell back into her chair, which made a horrible racket as it scraped against the stone wall of the cellar. Chloe knew that there was no way that whoever was in there didn’t hear the noise. Her suspicions were confirmed when she heard footsteps fast approaching her location.
Her heart sank when she saw who it was. “Hi Enrique.”
The man scowled at her. Ever since her little visit to his bedroom, he had been a little less cordial to her. She wondered what Lex had done for the man to inspire such loyalty.
“Ms. Sullivan.” He nodded curtly to her. “I don’t think I need to tell you that this section is off limits for the duration of the party. I’m sure you can find your way out.” He gave her a pointed look and Chloe knew that arguing with him would be futile.
Nodding, she passed him and made her way up the stairs and back outside. She wasn’t about to hide out in another part of the Manor. Enrique would now be sweeping various parts of the house at regular intervals being that he had caught her hiding out.
~~~~
While Lana enjoyed attention from the other sex, it was very yucky to have much older men touching her. She didn’t like it one bit and no matter how much further she inched away from them, they didn’t seem to take the hint.
When one of her friend’s father got too close for comfort, she decided it was time to go and find Clark. She’d give him ample time to apologize to her and be very gracious in accepting his words and then moving on. She was too close to getting what she wanted to just let a little argument, about Chloe of all things, stand in her way.
Lana walked outside and scanned the area. She didn’t see anyone, but she didn’t doubt that there were at least a handful of people milling around outside.
~~~
Pete had finally found a smaller gazebo in the darker parts of the humongous grounds that was far enough from the house not to be seen by anyone. With a relieved sigh, he flopped down on the low bench, leaning back against the wall behind him and stared up at the night sky as he opened his beer.
The pitch black skies seemed to be grey in some places where clouds were slowly rolling in from behind the mansion. Maybe it would rain after all. Pete grinned at the thought.
'Deserves to get some rain on his parade, smug bastard.' he thought as he took a healthy swig of his beer, emptying a good quarter of the bottle in one pull.
He shook his head after he'd swallowed and released a loud belch. Now that felt more like it. He'd just hang out for a while and go back when the crowd was gone. He still had to find Chloe after all and try to talk things out with her. But not now.
~~~
Clark grabbed his head in pain when he heard the loud burp. After a moment, the pain went away, as did the super hearing. Every now and again, he had no control over it. He had no clue if what he had heard was five or fifty feet away. He just knew that he should get away from crowds. He didn’t know if he could act natural if his hearing acted up and he was in total agony.
He walked away from the house and the decorations became more sparse until there were none. He figured he was far enough away from everyone and plunked down on the grass. He knew his mother would complain about the way he had manhandled his suit, but he didn’t care at this point.
It was times like these that he questioned what sometimes went on in Lana’s head. ‘She really couldn’t have meant what she said,’ he reminded himself. Lana was far too nice to really think those things about Chloe. Besides, the two girls were really good friends now.
~~~~
The night had gotten cooler and Chloe wished she had brought some type of jacket with her. She hadn’t thought that she would be wandering around outside at this time of night, though. She could hear that the chatter was getting louder in the Manor. She reasoned that the party was in full swing by now, the drinks flowing and the like.
At least that meant that she wouldn’t run into too many people out here. She wasn’t in a conversational mood. More like a homicidal mood. She still couldn’t believe the gall of Pete and Clark. Then there was the look that Lana was giving her. Not that she gave a damn about what the girl thought of her. She put up with the girl just for the sake of her friends and her father. Mostly, though, she was avoiding Lex. She knew that he’d have some comment to make. No doubt about her imaging them together or some bullshit like that.
Chloe let out a growl and saw a small bench near some of the shrubbery. It looked like a good place to blend in so she made her way in its direction.
~~~~
Lex breathed another sigh of relief when he walked out of the backside of the maze, away from the castle. There were nights when he just hated to play the graceful host, no matter how beneficial to his reputation or company it might be.
Shoving his hands down his pants pockets to keep them warm, he wandered around the back areas of the enormous garden, trying to steer clear of any remaining people outside. Most of the guests should be in the house by now, filling up on drinks and dancing. Lex couldn't care less, as long as no one crossed his path for now.
His mind drifted back to the conversation he'd had with the teens earlier. Chloe definitely had it in her. Her blatant innuendo about the two of them had cleared up a question for him though. There was nothing going on between her and the Ross boy, he was sure of it.
But why had the thought of those two being a couple irked him so much? Because Chloe deserves better than that. Someone who was strong enough to hold their own against the hurricane that was Chloe Sullivan in motion. And Pete Ross can't? Well the boy did have a rather quick wit, but Lex wasn't sure that was enough were she was concerned. They did get along rather well, though. Ah, she'd steamroll all over him when it came to an actual argument. Think you'd do better? I know I would.
Shaking his head, Lex steered towards the lake. Why was he debating with himself over Chloe Sullivan and her potential significant others, anyway? Didn't matter, but he'd definitely have to have a talk with her about making wild insinuations where his sexlife was concerned. Tonight would be the best opportunity, if he was able to get her alone for a moment.
~~
Lana was totally and utterly lost. She had gone outside about ten minutes ago and had just walked. She hadn’t really paid any attention where she was walking to and now realized that that had been a huge mistake.
She could hear the party, she just couldn’t find it. The wind had picked up and made it difficult to determine in which direction the house was. But, she was definitely not on the right track.
The path that she was on had trees on either side of it that blotted out the light that the moon afforded. Lana was trying not to freak out but she could feel the panic setting in and knew that it wouldn’t be long before she started screaming for help. She peered through the trees and could make out what she thought was a lake on the right side of her, but she couldn’t see it clearly.
‘Ok, five more minutes and then you scream.’ She often made deals like that with herself. That way, when she was found, she could tell everyone how she had tried to first find her way back. People then always complimented her on her bravery.
~~
‘This is so not what I need.’ Chloe could see a drunken couple weaving their way in her direction. They were too engrossed with each other to notice that she was even there. ‘Story of my life. Oh, are we going to start feeling sorry for ourselves now?’ She had tried to cut back on those feelings, instead taking action to circumvent them from happening.
She got up from her bench and walked in the opposite direction of the couple. After a few minutes, she heard a splashing sound. It was only then that she remembered that there was actually a lake on the property. It was set far back from the Manor. Which meant that she was a long way from the house.
Sighing, she kept walking towards the lake. She had no desire to go back to the party. Plus, she figured that the longer she was out here, the less likely it would be that she’d have to deal with her friends when she returned. Maybe they would take the hint when she didn’t come back and just leave.
~~
Pete chucked his last swig of beer and dropped the bottle on the ground beside him. Surely Mr. Clean would have people coming over to clean everything up tomorrow. He giggled drunkenly at his own, rather bad joke and slowly got up from the bench to make his way back to the house. It had to be somewhere over there, or in that direction, anyway.
Shrugging, Pete started to walk straight, or as straight as he could, ahead. Maybe he shouldn't have downed the beer as fast as he had, but he was sure the long walk back to the castle would get rid of his buzz and nobody would be the wiser.
Looking around as he walked, he noticed that instead of thinning out, the trees around him became more and more. Weird, shouldn't there be more grass and less shrubbery? Ah well, whatever. He kept walking until his foot slipped away, sliding into something murky and cold with a loud splash. Damn.
Pulling his leg out of the sludge, he realized that he'd somehow ended up by the lake. So not where he wanted to go, but nothing he could do about it now. Maybe it'd be smarter to sit down for a while and get rid of the buzz before he tried making his way to the castle again. Yeah, good idea, he decided after his ass had already hit the ground. What could happen out here anyway?
~~
Lex turned in the direction from where he'd heard the splashing sound but didn't see anything. Probably just some loose earth falling into the water of the lake. He kept walking alongside the shore embankment, kicking at loose shrubbery and stones, never mind that Enrique would get homicidal when he'd find his shoes muddy and scratched the next morning.
He wondered where the group of friends had ended up after they'd split. Clark and Lana were probably stargazing somewhere, or making out under the pale glow of the moon or something equally 'romantic'. The Ross boy had probably found a way to entertain himself alone, since Lex couldn't see Chloe forgiving either of the boys for their acting any time soon.
~~
Lana had decided that getting to the lake seemed like the best idea. She kicked herself again for not having her cell phone in her purse. But, then she would have needed to get rid of her gloss, lip liner and eyeshadow. She didn’t think that anything would really happen at Lex’s party that would necessitate her needing her cell. Now, she could see how wrong she was.
She remembered that Chloe had once said that in Smallville everyone should have their own panic button. That way, the cops could find you, or your remains, very quickly. Lana had thought it was a silly idea at the time but now it didn’t seem so funny.
A twig snapped somewhere off in the distance and the wind picked up. Lana heard a small, high pitched whining sound and realized that it was her. Her body was tense and she tried to make herself relax. She stared at the thicket of bushes that the sound had come from and stayed still. Hoping that if something was in the bushes it would go on its merry way and leave her in one piece.
~~
Deciding to look for his friends in the Manor, Clark walked through the door. It had taken him awhile to find his way back being that he hadn’t used his superspeed. He had to be careful about who saw him doing what. He scanned the room for his friends but only saw the adults of the town milling about.
He thought that maybe Lex would be in the study so he started up the stairs, smiling and saying hello when it was necessary. Clark was still surprised by the sheer number of people that had attended the party. He was happy for Lex, he knew that the success of the party would please his friend.
Clark stopped dead halfway up the stairs when he heard moaning. His heart rate sped up, it sounded like someone was in pain. The moaning got louder. It didn’t hurt his head yet and he concentrated on seeking out the sound. That usually kept it from exploding in his brain.
He could hear some other shuffling sounds and heavy breathing. A grin broke out on his face when he realized what he was hearing. Maybe being from another planet wasn’t all bad.
“We…we should stop. Someone could…oh, Jonathan.”
Clark yelled and threw his hands over his ears. He tried singing aloud to drown out the sound, but he could still hear his parents making out in some corner of the Manor.
~~
Pete had at some point decided that lying was better than sitting and was now looking up through the trees, watching the stars and clouds and the occasional night bird flying by overhead. This was actually nice. Maybe a bit cold and his mom would kill him for ruining his suit, but he could always tell her he'd stumbled and fallen and it really wasn't his fault that Luthor hadn't taken care of the property and had roots and stuff lying around on the ground that could kill you if you didn't see them and fell over them and stuff.
Anyway, the sky looked actually pretty nice, even the dark grey clouds that were looming even closer now than before. Maybe he should try to do a rain dance. Then again, that'd involve getting up and actually moving and that was so not of the good. A rain song then, maybe? Hrmmm. What songs did involve rain again? Weather Girls? No way. Let it Rain? Nah, not the right thing either. He'd just make something up.
And who said it had to be a song anyway? Hrm. Let's see.
”Yo, big man! Up there? How about some rain down here. Would be cool to see Luthor's face when you open the gates and flood his party! Make you a deal, you send some rain and I go to church next Sunday, how's that?”
Pete listened into the woods, but expectedly, no answer came. All he could here were little critters running around in the undergrowth, the light splash of water somewhere close by and the occasional snapping twig.
”Yeah I get it, fine.”
~~
Lex thought he'd heard somebody shout his name, but when he listened closer to see if he was right, he didn't hear anything. Shrugging it off, he kept walking along the water's edge. He wasn't ready yet to go back. The party wasn't about to die down any time soon it seemed. When he'd left the house, not one of the guests had shown any intention of leaving so it could very well be another 3 hours before they decided to head off. His damn luck. He'd thought they'd be toddling along shortly after 11 being that they had to get up with the cows and everything. Apparently, a party at Luthor manor proved the exception to that rule.
It was great and a compliment in some way, but on the other hand, he just wanted to get all those people out of his house and call it a night. He'd gotten up at 6 this morning and worked non-stop until his guests had arrived.
Risking a glance at his watch, Lex groaned when he read the numbers. It was already going on midnight. He was definitely getting too old for this shit. And of course if Clark and his friends decided to stay over after all, they wouldn't want to head straight to bed, no matter what time it was. They'd want to have fun in the rich man's castle with the toys they couldn't afford in their own home. Sometimes being a Luthor sucked dick and not in the good way.
~~
And the sucking just kept going on. After wandering away from Romeo and Juliet things had gone from bad to worse. As she had gotten closer to the lake, she had discovered what had to be a new form of mud. Her shoe had barely touched it but had been sucked into the murky abyss.
Instantly, Chloe had shouted an expletive as loud as she could. She wanted to kick something but she knew that it wouldn’t do any good. She was able to retrieve her shoe but it was clear that it was totally ruined.
Not only had she been humiliated, she had now ruined her favorite pair of shoes. She now had a decision to make. Put the muddy shoe back on her foot or traipse around outside barefoot. Chloe half skipped away from the mud and peered in front of her. The ground seemed to be dry over there.
‘Maybe I’ll step on a nail, get tetanus and die,’ she thought as she took off her other shoe. Nope, that wouldn’t happen, she couldn’t get that lucky.
She had the childish urge to just chuck her shoes but she didn’t think she would be able to find her way back her in the light and didn’t want to litter Lex’s grounds with her cast asides. Now that she was a good three inches shorter, she had to pick up her dress a little so it didn’t drag on the ground.
‘Ok, enough nature, time to get the hell out of here.’ Course, that was easier said than done.
~~
That was the second time in the last few minutes that Lana had heard some sort of screaming near her. She just wished that Clark would pop out of nowhere as he usually did and take her away from this place.
This was not what was supposed to happen tonight. She was supposed to be having a good time, flirting with Clark and then having a magical moment with him under the stars. They’d come back to the Manor and everyone would be able to tell. Chloe, Pete and Lex would congratulate them and things would just fall right into place.
Instead of getting her kiss, she and Clark had had a fight over Chloe of all things and now she was getting dirty, ruining the new pink dress that she had bought.
Lana’s head shot up towards the sky when she heard the loud crack of thunder.
“No. No. No. It cannot rain. Not now.” She looked around helplessly, hoping that somehow she would now magically know the way back to the Manor. This was not happening. She was not about to get drenched in some downpour while civilization was less than a mile from where she stood.
As the rain began, Lana realized that that was exactly what was about to happen.
~~
Pete looked up at the sky as thunder finally boomed from above. When the rain started to pelt down, he couldn't help it. He laughed like a maniac, kicking his legs in the dirt.
”Whoo hoo hoo! You're great! I owe you one man! I swear I owe you one! See you next Sunday in church!”
Still, he didn't care too much for getting absolutely drenched, so he shuffled his legs under him and made to get up from the floor to find his way back to the castle. He wondered how many people were running for the same direction now, getting soaked just like he was.
~~
The path below Chloe’s naked feet began to get slippery and she almost wiped out, saving herself by grabbing onto a tree. When the thunder boomed again and the rain came in a torrential downpour, she had the strangest reaction.
She started laughing like a maniac. Chloe couldn’t believe that she was barefoot, lost on the Luthor grounds and was now hanging onto a tree for dear life. She realized that she was close to hysteria but that only made her laugh harder.
Chloe leaned against the tree and accepted defeat. She wasn’t about to wander around when she could just stay in one place and wait for the storm to pass.
~~
Lex looked up into the stormy grey sky and shook his head, very slowly. Water was running down his face and into his shirts and he knew that he was going to be soaked through in another few minutes. And wouldn't Enrique just love the result of that? He snickered to himself, thinking of his trusted butler having a silent and very reserved hysterical fit when he saw the ruined clothes trying to bite back any and all comments.
Shaking his head and wiping the water from his eyes, Lex decided he couldn't care less at the moment, even when another clap of thunder sounded, this time closer than before. He just kept walking, looking out over the water that was rolling and splashing with the force of the wind now.
Maybe near water wasn't the best place to be right now though, there was always the chance that if lightning struck it would most likely go down right....
He didn't have the time to finish his thought when another loud bang sounded straight next to him and the last thing he saw was a straight white line shooting into the surface of the lake. His world glowed bright green for an instant before everything went completely black and Lex's prone body hit the ground where it had stood.
~~
Chloe heard a loud crack and then saw the lightening dart towards the earth very close to where she was standing. In the few seconds before the wave of energy flowed through her body, Chloe tried to remember how exactly electricity traveled.
She hadn’t come up with an answer when her vision became impaired and bright green as she felt a jolt travel from her feet all the way up to her head. It hurt like a bitch and she thought she groaned. But, all other thoughts left her as she crumpled to the ground.
tbc
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Lex is in Chloe, Chloe is in Blana and Pete is in Lex and Blana is in Pete. Did I get that right? 
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