"What's going on?" one of the security technicians asked as he saw the alert come up on the screen.

"Hey, aren't those two with Lex Luthor's group?"

"Yeah, probably just got lost, cancel the alert and let them out."

One of the men punched in an access code, but the computer rejected.

"Access denied…intruders detected…all system access is terminated."

"Sir, we have a problem, the computer has locked us out; I can't get in to deactivate the alert. It's locked out the passcodes."

"How did that happen?"

"I don't know, it's not supposed to be able to do that on its own."

"Warning…intruders detected…commencing plant shutdown in two minutes!"

"Oh crap, quickly, order everyone out now!"

"ATTENTION…ATTENTION…ALL PERSONNEL PLEASE EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. THE PLANT WILL BE LOCKED DOWN IN TWO MINUTES. ALL PERSONNEL EVACUATE!"

"That does not sound good," Chloe said with a worried smile.

"What the heck's going on?" Clark wondered.

Outside the Luthorcorp plant, the employees were all gathered looking very confused. Lex Luthor stormed out of the front gate looking rather pissed off.

"What's the meaning of this?" he demanded.

"Sir," one of the technicians answered, "the computer went on alert when it detected two people in an unauthorized area."

"Who?" Lex asked.

The man opened a laptop and opened a link to the security camera system. Lex saw none other than Clark and Chloe.

"Mr. Luthor, we tried to cancel the alert, but the computer locked out all the access codes and went into lockdown. It's going to perform a complete lockout of the plant."

"Which means what exactly?"

"It's going to quarantine everyone out of the Luthorcorp plant."

Other employees and technicians came scurrying out of the front entrance like a pack of frightened rats.

Less than two minutes later, the plant doors slammed shut, and large steel beams crisscrossed over the entryway.

"Somebody tell me something!" Lex roared.

"Sir, there's nothing we can do; the computer's completely cut us out of the system."

Just as the technician finished speaking, his screen went dead. Now, they couldn't even monitor what was going on inside.

"Clark, I have a bad feeling about this," Chloe said and gulped.

"Don't worry, Lex is not gonna leave us in here; he'll get us out eventually."

"That's the thing, Clark…"

"What is it?" he asked, seeing the worried expression on her face.

"Those doors…" Chloe sighed pointing at the two steel doors that had sealed them in.

"…I think they're air tight. That means that if we aren't rescued before the oxygen in here runs out, we're gonna…"

"Don't even think like that!" Clark said forcefully and took her hands.

"We're gonna get out of here, Chloe, I promise you." He smiled down at her, and she nodded at him.

"Thanks, I needed to hear that."

Clark cupped her face in his hands and tilted her chin up. He bent down and laid a soft kiss on her lips. Chloe curled her arms around his neck and pressed up against him. He still tasted like peppermint.

WARNING…WARNING…ALL INTRUDERS MUST BE ELIMINATED…

The computer's voice cut off the couple's tender moment.

"What's that noise?" Chloe asked as she heard a loud vibration coming from inside the ventilation shaft.

INTRUDERS MUST BE ELIMINATED…REMOVING OXYGEN FROM CONTAINMENT AREA…REDUCING INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT TO VACUUM

"Clark!" she gasped and clutched him tightly as the fans kicked into reverse.

"I know, Chloe, it's sucking the air out of here."

"We're gonna suffocate!"

"No we're not, there's gotta be a way out of here. Come on."

Clark led Chloe down to one of the large steel doors. Concentrating his x-ray vision, he peered through the plating and saw that it was almost three inches thick.

"Hey look, there's a code panel on the side here," Chloe said and interrupted his thoughts. "Maybe we can short-circuit the door or something."

"You sound like James Bond."

"Very funny, now, let me see."

Chloe dug through her purse but couldn't find anything to use.

"What the heck, it works in movies." She proceeded to pull a bobby pin out of her hair.

"Okay, let's see now."

She tried to open the panel to get to the electronic circuitry inside.

WARNING…NO ILLEGAL ACCESS…

"Chloe!" Clark snatched her hand away just as the panel exploded in a shower of sparks.

"Now what do we do!"

Clark stared at the door blocking their path, and his ears easily picked up the rotating fans, which were sucking the oxygen out of the room. Not more than ten minutes passed by before Chloe began to cough slightly.

"Clark?" she asked softly and wrapped her arms around him. He was surprised at the desperate tone in her voice.

"Chloe, don't worry, everything's going to be fine."

"No, it's not, we're running out of air, and even if Lex manages to get people inside here, we'll be dead long before they arrive."

"We're not gonna die; I promise you that."

"It's okay, Clark, you don't have to lie to me. It's really sweet, but there's nothing else we can do."

"You're wrong, Chloe…" Clark walked over the security camera and snapped out it connection, shutting it down, "…I've still got one card to play."

'I've got no choice now; I won't let her die!'

"Clark, what are you talking about?"

"Stand back, Chloe."

He moved her behind him and stood directly in front of the door. Drawing back his fist, Clark threw all of his power into it and punched straight through the steel door. A second punch widened the hole to twice its size. Clark grabbed the inside of the door and gritted his teeth.

Chloe's jaw dropped as she saw him doing this. She could hear metal grinding and straining against its restraints.

Clark could feel the hinges giving way and gave one last hard pull. The door was torn out of its socket, and Clark threw it against the wall. He turned around to see Chloe gawking at him.

"C-Clark? What…what did you just do?" He grabbed her hand and pulled her out into the main hallway.

"I'll tell you later."

That statement made Chloe's journalistic instincts kick in, and she dug her heels in.

"Oh no, you don't, Mr. Kent. I just saw you rip a solid, steel door out of a wall, and I want an explanation." Clark knew that this would be coming; he just hoped she'd forgive him for lying to her for so long.

"Chloe, I'm not like normal people."

"Damn right, you're not. That was incredible!"

"Look Chloe…I'm sorry for not telling you about this, but I have certain abilities. I have exceptional strength plus I can move very fast. How do you think I always showed up to save you just in the nick of time?"

"Point taken, but why didn't you tell me? Aren't I your friend?" she asked sadly.

"Chloe…" Clark took her hands in his, "…you're my best friend, but I felt that the less people that knew about me…the better. You're one of only three people who know about me." Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Three! So…I assume that means that Lana and Lex know about you as well," she said angrily.

"Relax okay, I'm talking about my parents." Her anger immediately disappeared.

"You mean…you…Lana doesn't know about you?" Her tone was almost excited. Clark merely grinned at her.

"No Chloe, I never told her; you're the only one who knows."

That made her smile; she finally knew something about him that was completely hers. It also explained why he always disappeared from time to time.

"Don't worry, Clark, I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you, Chloe, I knew that I could trust you. Now, let's get out of here."

Clark kept her behind him as they walked back down the main hallway.

"Don't worry, we should be at the main entrance in a couple of minutes," he said reassuringly. Chloe clutched his hand and smiled.

WARNING…WARNING…INTRUDERS MUST BE ELIMINATED…

Laser nets appeared in front and behind the two teenagers.

"What is this – a bad sci-fi movie?" Chloe shouted.

Author's Notes: Stay tuned to see how they plan to escape.