Chapter 14: Trip to Paradise

After Mariah's meet and greet had been finished, the senatorial hopeful gathered her niece Jenna and friends, and headed back to Metropolis International Airport. A colorfully painted private jet awaited them. Once on board, Mariah sat comfortably in the black leather chair.

Jenna, and her two friends, Namika and Athena, sat quietly on a large leather couch across from Mariah. The wily politician had given instructions to the pilot to fly into Athens where they would board a smaller plane to the Greek Island of Zakynthos.

The lengthy flight was completed without incident, and the second leg was just as uneventful. By now, Jenna, ever restless, was wondering why her aunt had decided to immediately fly to Greece in the middle of a hot political campaign.

"Girls." Mariah began. "We'll take cousin Myklos' yacht for a ride. I want to show you all something." Jenna glanced up from her double latte coffee. "I forgot my bathing suit, Aunt Mariah." She confessed as the other girls' nodded in agreement.

"Not to worry." Mariah smirked. "We have plenty of gear on the Eye of Artemis." Their cousin's yacht was a pristine fifty-four footer. "We may be out a while at sea." Mariah teased as her dark eyes sparkled. Jenna shrugged. "I have nothing pressing to do at the moment."

A mere hour or so later, Mariah and the girls were aboard the Eye of Artemis, slowly cruising away from Zakynthos out into the Ionian Sea. They were skirting the Greek coast towards Crete when Mariah slowed the boat to a crawl.

Dressed in a sensible, flowered, one piece swimsuit, Mariah stood before the bikini clad girls who had all just passed their eighteenth birthdays. "You are of age now, Jenna, as are Namika and Athena." She announced as Jenna gazed over the top of her dark sunglasses.

"You mean we have to only be eighteen to drink in Greece?" Namika asked cheerfully. Mariah laughed heartily. "No, my sisters, you are of age to know the truth." The elder woman hinted. Jenna narrowed her eyes. "The truth about what, Aunt Mariah?"

"The truth about your birthright." Mariah informed her, in a more serious tone. Jenna didn't like the sound of that. She also wondered why her aunt had called her 'sister'. With that, Mariah stood at the bow of the Eye of Artemis, extended her arms toward the warm, open sea, and shouted: "Selos estos Magape." Jenna had no idea what language this was.

"What?" Namika asked worriedly, fearing that Mariah had been drinking too much Greek wine, and may fall overboard. "It means 'we are the Magape!'" (mah gah pay) Mariah informed them. Instantly, a humid mist seemed to envelop the ship, appearing out of a clear blue sky.

Athena stared at the upcoming mist and wondered what Mariah had meant about their birthright. She couldn't really remember her parents, and had been on her own since moving to America as a child. Her guardians, Mariah's staff members Erin and Lauren, had been responsible for her.

The crashing waves subsided as the Eye of Artemis inched forward into the thickening fog. The yacht's pilot, (Mariah had referred to her only as 'my sister Penny'), guided it carefully in a roughly circular pattern. The sky was totally filled with gray and brown. The intense sunlight of the Greek Isles barely filtered through the stale, tepid, air.

"Where exactly are we, Aunt Mariah, the Bermuda Triangle?" Jenna asked warily. Mariah chuckled. "Wrong part of the ocean, my dear." She said, seemingly unconcerned about the fog and near zero visibility. "Prepare to step into a whole new world." Mariah stated vaguely.

A craggy land mass appeared fairly close to the ship. Some parts were covered with untended, overgrown vegetation; other areas were simply covered with milky white sand. "What island is this, Aunt Mariah?" The ever-curious Jenna inquired.

"The old ones call it Themyscira, but for our purposes, we can call it Paradise Island." Mariah directed Penny to pick out a suitable landing spot for the Eye of Artemis. They dared not get much closer to the strange, uncharted island, lest the yacht be stranded on the rocky reef.

"Paradise Island?" Namika parroted. "It sounds nice." Athena put in. "I thought that was a resort in the Bahamas near America." Jenna commented skeptically. "Where do you think that they got the name for it from?" Mariah needled, as Penny slowed the yacht to a stop and dropped anchor.

Back in Smallville:

Just after Mariah's final speech, Lois and Clark walked hand in hand through the fairgrounds. "That was quite a political coup for Mariah, eh Smallville?" Lois questioned. "I thought that she was going to try and slam your mom's campaign, but she took the high road."

"Yeah, Mariah really lit a fire under our laid back Kansas audience." Clark commented. "I just wonder about her motivations. I think that she has a hidden agenda." Lois nodded. "Don't all politicians…except for Mrs. K?" She added. "In any event, we need some me time." Clark smiled brightly at Lois. "Oh yeah?" She grinned lustily, extending her arms over his neck.

He held Lois by her thin waist, and hoisted her onto the hood of the family pick up. They made out for quite a while. Eventually, the young lovers ended their heavy breathing session, and headed back to the Kent Farm.

Lois and Clark entered the kitchen, where Martha was busily preparing a fresh chicken dinner for everyone. "Mom, we could've helped you fix supper!" Clark chastised her. "That's okay, honey, after all the lousy food in Washington, I needed a good home cooked meal. Besides, it relaxes me. Your father…" Martha sighed. "Loved a hot chicken dinner."

"Awww!" Lois went over and rubbed Martha's shoulder. "I miss Mr. Kent, too." Martha smiled at her. "Thanks, dear." She returned a hug for Lois. Clark flushed, happy that his mother had accepted Lois, but disheartened at reliving Jonathan Kent's memory.

"So…you two are an item I take it?" Martha swiftly changed the subject. "Unless of course, Clark has taken to wearing your shade of lipstick." She playfully teased the young couple, properly embarrassing them both. "Yeah!" Lois sheepishly admitted. "Who knew?"

"I did." Martha assured them. "I could tell that day when we all met at the bathroom, after you two were playing tag with Lois's father's helicopter crew." She smiled at the pleasant memory. "I'm surprised it took you so long to get it together."

"You know how that goes, Mom. It's complicated." Clark defended. Lois rolled her eyes at him. "Isn't it always?" Lois countered. "You two can hash it out…you know…working together at the Daily Planet?" Martha grilled as she set the chicken pieces on a warming plate.

"So far we have." Lois answered for them. Clark noted that more and more she was responding for him to asked questions. This, he did find annoying at times, but kept silent, accepting that was just the way she was. "Perry busted us a few times." Lois added playfully.

"We're supposed to be acting professionally at work." Clark reminded her. "You'll figure it out." Martha said confidently, risking a knowing glance at Clark. I bet she will, he silently mused. Maybe I'd better come clean, now, before we get involved any further. He considered.

They ate and chatted for a while, enjoying the relative momentary peacefulness of the family setting. "That was one heck of a shocker about the Luthor kids wasn't it?" Lois started up the next line of conversation. "Really." Martha agreed. "I knew Lionel was no saint, but to have two previously unknown children by different mothers?" Lois chuckled. "I'm not surprised."

Clark still found the matter and it's timing very suspicious. Suddenly, over a year after Lex's alleged death, two after Lionel was killed, the kids show up? Not that he would ever side with Tess, but the young Luthors' appearance bore a lot of investigation.

After some more chatting, Martha excused herself to do some paperwork, and check E mails, giving Lois and Clark some more alone time. The young lovers cleaned up the kitchen, side by side washing dishes, and storing glassware. Clark suddenly smirked.

Lois caught his look, and her eyes sparkled. "What? What's bouncing around in your mind, Smallville?" She prompted. "I don't know. It's just that I thought…I'd never…see the day when Lois Lane would be at my side cleaning dishes." Clark flashed his farm boy smile at her.

"Don't get used to it!" Lois playfully snapped a wet washcloth at Clark's backside. Naturally, he didn't feel the impact, but pretended he did for show. "Oh? Why not?" He pressed her against the cabinet. "Because I plan to make so much money that I'll be hiring maids to do dishes, clean house, and cook meals." She deadpanned, putting her arms around his broad shoulders.

They made out a bit, before Clark suggested they go outside and take an evening stroll around the farm. "I know you Lois, you'd never be happy with too much money, and servants. You like to do things yourself." He commented. "Yeah, but I still don't want to be a pauper." Lois remarked as Clark held the door to the backyard open for her.

They followed the gravelly path in between the horse corral and the cow pens, and headed towards Clark's barn loft hideaway. He quickly tossed some bales of hay out for the livestock, as Lois watched him intensely. "Whoa! How much do those bales weigh?" She asked suspiciously.

Clark had forgotten not to use his super powers in front of her. He mentally rebuked his sloppiness. "Uh…oh…I don't know." He played it off, rapidly guiding her up the slight hilly incline beside the barn. "I'm so used to the work that I just don't think about it." He said.

Lois bought his lame explanation for the moment, but Clark realized that he couldn't hide his true nature from Lois for very much longer. He sighed. The longer I put it off, the harder it will be, Clark thought. I might as well start testing her reaction.

"C'mon Lois, let's head up to the barn loft." He urged, grabbing her hand and entering the dimly lit lower half of the structure. "Whoa there, cowboy!" Lois hedged. "I'm not quite ready to take a roll in the hay with you." Clark dismissed her protests. "Oh relax!" He guided her up the steps.

Clark's loft had been vacant for a while, but most of his memorabilia was still in tact. He dusted off the couch, desk, and chairs, removing a large black case from behind a wall of brown storage boxes. "What's that? Are we going night hunting or something?" Lois was clueless.

Clark flipped on a wall switch, and the old style light bulbs illuminated the area. "Tacky, yet oddly romantic." Lois wisecracked. "That's my beau." She added the good-natured dig. Clark chuckled as he opened the case and quickly assembled his telescope.

"We're taking Astronomy now?" Lois playfully sniped as she sauntered over to where Clark had stabilized the tripod. "Please tell me that we're not going to be spying on the neighbors." She teased. Clark glanced through the telescope and got the magnification set up.

It was the first time that he'd had the telescope out…since Lana left. "Lois, look into the telescope and tell me what you see." He cheerfully directed. "Fine. If you grab my butt without warning me, you'll be seeing stars alright." Lois playfully scorned.

Clark smirked and shook his head. "Okay. There's the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, the North Star, Mars, and the Moon." Lois went through a litany of other recognizable space objects. "What? No moon jokes?" Clark teased. "Pass!" Lois laughed as she examined a new object.

"Now that's odd." She squinted and attempted to adjust the magnification. "What?" Clark asked worriedly. "Naw! It can't be." Lois was skeptical. "What do you see?" He urged. "It looks like…a flying blonde girl…like Kara." Lois gawked. Oh crap! Clark panicked, and quickly turned the magnification dial out of focus. "Rats! I lost it!" Lois groaned.

"A flying girl…like Kara?" Clark scoffed. "You don't really want me to tell her that, do you? I mean it was probably just a bug on the lens." Lois sighed. "I guess." She hesitated, before returning the magnification back to her focus.

"Lois…would it really be so bad if we were being visited by alien life forms?" Clark decided to test her response. "Yeah, and speaking of that…" She snickered. "Remember, it was me who had photographed that flying saucer that time, and the way our government is, I wouldn't be surprised if they were building dozens of the things."

"You still haven't answered my question." Clark prodded. "No, I haven't." Lois teased.