CHAPTER TEN

Disclaimers in Chapter One

"If only people in Smallville could see me now," Lex said to himself as he propped the kebab of tropical fishes on the fire.  Five months of trying to survive on this remote island somewhere on the Atlantic had forced the young Luthor to be resourceful.

After two weeks of living on fruits and nuts, the billionaire decided that he just wasn't cut out to be a vegetarian, so he took his shot at fishing, excelling at the task after a week's time.

Five months had felt like an eternity on this island, so Lex had kept himself busy to stay sane.  Aside from learning how to fish, he had built a hut, grew vegetation near his makeshift home, and set up a water system from the nearby falls to the hut. 

'If Chloe could see how domestic I got,' he smiled at the memory of his beloved.  She always made fun of his cooking or his futile attempts at menial work, having to do them herself when he tried.  Her birthday was coming up soon, he remembered, as he glanced at the calendar he had made during one of those many moments of boredom.

"I wish I was there to celebrate it with her," he hoped, knowing that his reason was not just that he wanted to see her again, but that he wanted to apologize for being a jerk to her when he last saw her.

It was the day before the wedding, and Chloe had protested the event vehemently, stating that Lex had taken the plan too far.  She feared that Helen had other plans for Lex, and the last thing Chloe wanted was for them to be alone together during their 'honeymoon'.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Lex," she warned him, pacing back and forth in Derek's apartment.  "What if she had planned something?  You won't have anyone there to help you."

 "I'll have my transmitter," he informed her.  "At the first sign of trouble, I'll make sure to activate it, so Derek will be warned."

Chloe threw a doubtful look at him.  "That's not enough for me."

"Well, we have no other choice, Chloe," he reminded her. 

"Do not marry her, Lex," she asserted.  "Her allegiance does not lie with you."

And with that, she fueled an argument that led to an ultimatum, forcing him to choose between the beginning of her fake alliance with Lionel and the end of his romantic pretenses with Helen.

He bluffed on that ultimatum, hoping that when he came back from the pretend honeymoon, Helen would be trapped in blackmail and Lionel's reign would be over.  Then, he thought, he could make it up to Chloe.

Little did he know that his fiancée had other plans.  Plans that were unknown to him until he was boarding the plane.  Derek had given him a call on the secure line, warning him that Helen had been sent LuthorCorp-issued sedatives the night before.

When he sat with his new bride and she handed him a flute of champagne, suspicions rang in his head.  He pretended to drink and to fall under the sedative's spell, and he stealthily watched as Helen and the pilots, obviously Lionel's henchmen, parachuted themselves out of the aircraft.  Outnumbered by armed assailants, Lex had no other option but to play dead.

Once they were out of sight, he went to check the cockpit and the rest of the plane if it was really empty.  Once he got that confirmation, he quickly maneuvered the plane as best as he could remember from the days where he and his hoodlum friends would steal their parents' helicopters and take them for joyrides.

When he saw that the plane would crash as stably as it could on the ocean, Lex went for the inflatable raft, knowing that Helen and Lionel's men took the last of the parachutes with them.

After jumping off when the plane came closest to the water without crashing, he immediately set off the raft and sought refuge on it.  Three days after being adrift on the sea, he was washed ashore on this island.

Five months later, he was casually sitting by the fire and was about to enjoy his dinner.  Then he heard a click behind him, causing him to turn.  And he came face-to-face with the barrel of a shotgun.  At the other end, a bearded man, along with four of his friends, asked, "Lex Luthor?"

Lex nodded in response.  "I strongly suggest that you come with us," the bearded man continued.