CHAPTER FIVE: EPIPHANIES AND DISNEY REJECTS

Arching an annoyed brow, Chloe took everything in with calm indifference, obviously not impressed. The only thing that actually managed catch her interest was the figure that had announced himself to be the captain. It was a strange man, dark hair longer than hers, all sorts of beads and little trinkets braided into it, together with some dreadlocks.

As for clothing, he kind of reminded her of a mix between some rich, seventeenth century guy out of her history book and a California bum. The former white, muslin shirt was a bit too large for his lean form, front open at the top to reveal some of his smooth, muscular chest. The cuffs were plain and unbuttoned, leaving them to hang off his eloquent wrists. His grayish blue pants matched his long vest perfectly, not too full but not too tight either as it was partially held up by a very wide leather belt in a common looking brownish hue.

A white and pink (formerly red) pinstripe sash, which made her think of a candy cane, was wrapped around his waist multiple times, then tied together in a messy knot, the free ends dangling a bit lower than his knees.

From what she could tell, he also had a narrow black belt under the first one, holding his sword in place, but she couldn't be- Sword!?

Her eyes snapped up to the man's face, the smirk on his undoubtedly handsome features doing nothing to quell her anger. Whom she was angry at, she wasn't exactly sure of. Maybe it was the Captain for looking so damn smug. Maybe it was Lionel for dumping her in the middle of nowhere in freezing water. Or maybe she was angry at
Lex for not just having made his presence known to the guards and unarming the situation, instead of squeezing them in some small space. Although, if he did have authority over the guards, why did he end up here with her?

Not really in the mood to ponder this, Chloe just crossed her arms, ignoring Sparrow's inquiry. "So," she began, eyes shifting from one grungy figure to the next. "Circus was full, heh?" All she received were blank looks.

At the same time, Lex was thinking something else entirely, still having difficulty wrapping his mind over the fact that they may´ve gotten themselves into more trouble than either of them had ever encountered before. As senseless as it all was, it made sense in a disturbing way that sent small shivers down his spine.

He had not overlooked the obvious meteor rocks back at the lab, and he remembered reading a stray report about something like this a while back. It all fitted perfectly, if only it hadn't been impossible. Still, with his father involved, you never knew...

"Throw 'em back in!" a rough voice sounded from within the crew, earning sounds of agreement from a few others.

This only managed to strengthen his resolve, and before the blonde could even scoff at the comment, the Luthor spoke up first. "My name's Lex, and this is Chloe," he told Jack, who had yet to take his eyes off the girl. "We were well on our way home when there was a mutiny on the ship. We managed to escape just before getting killed like the others."

Chloe furrowed her brows. "We did? I don't remem-"

"That's," he continued on forcefully, shooting her a meaningful look. "Because you were knocked unconscious, and I had to save you." Turning back towards the man, he watched his reaction. Jack didn't seem to find it ridiculous, nor amusing, but just returned his gaze evenly. Then, as if having come to a decision:

"Take 'em to the brig!"

Almost immediately, there were two large guys by his side, roughly escorting him below deck. The same happened with Chloe, who tried with all her might to slip out of their grasp. "Hey! Keep your dirty paws off me, creeps!" she told them, elbowing one in the gut. The man buckled before grabbing her again. Painfully, this time.

With little trouble, they got the fiercely struggling girl to the brig, and threw her in, before leaving them. Lex, who was already inside, could just catch her from falling, and her hands instinctively went to his shoulders, steadying herself.

The first thing she noticed was the delicious feel of his strong arms around her waist, pulling her flush against him. It caused a small tingle to travel down her spine, making her gaze fly up to lock with Lex's. A moment passed between them as they continued to just stare at each other, neither willing to end it by turning away.

That was, until another thing managed to fight its way through the fog that had settled over her mind. Brows furrowing, Chloe reluctantly broke the eye contact to look down, frowning even more when her suspicions were confirmed.

"Why are we standing here up to our knees in water?" she questioned, then quickly rephrased herself. "Why are we standing here?" Not entirely satisfied yet, she added. "In the dark?" And since she was on a roll. "Locked up?"

With an inward sigh, he released her and created the greatest distance between them the tiny cell could provide. He knew that he needed to think straight, and that task was near to impossible when he could smell the fresh, peach-scented shampoo the snarky reporter had washed her hair with that morning. "I'm a little disappointed you haven't figured it out already, Miss Sullivan."

He sounded calm, maybe even a bit mocking, but he got the desired effect out of her. Crossing her arms over her chest and taking on a rather defensive stance, Chloe narrowed her eyes in a manner that he had come to recognize as an indication that the wheels were turning inside her head. "Well, excuse me," she barked snidely. "I was too busy getting manhandled by those Disney rejects to summon up an epiphany. You, on the other hand, didn't seem to be having any problems just now. By the way, have I thanked you already for saving my life from those terrible, terrible mutineers?"

A small grin lifted one corner of his mouth. "I had to tell them something, right?" Her mouth opened again, but he quickly cut her off. "They're pirates." As he blurted it out, he watched her closely, gauging her reaction.

There was a beat as she just stared at him, trying to find out if he was for real, or just messing with her. It was then that she cracked up, bursts of laughter shaking her body. "Are you sure it wasn't you who got hit over the head, Luthor?" she managed after calming down a little, eyes sparkling even in the dark surroundings of the lower deck.

Since she obviously wasn't getting it, his grin faltered and he lowered himself onto the cot hanging against the wooden wall, reaching just above the water. He found that he was more tired than he had earlier thought himself to be, the weight of all that was happening starting to press down on him. "As you're already aware of, my father has been interested in cloning for quite some time now, using the meteor rocks in the hopes of furthering his research." She nodded, silently wondering how he'd found out about her digging into that particular subject. "What you probably don't know, is that he has started investigating…" he paused, knowing how utterly ridiculous was going to sound. "Time transportation."

This time, however, she didn't start laughing, but only nodded grimly, taking in the information she was receiving. Lex had been right, it did sound insane, but who was she to suddenly turn skeptical. Chloe Sullivan, meteor rock expert. She knew that the green substance was capable to doing many things, but this…?

She shook her head. "Impossible."

"And yet here we are, trapped in the brig of a pirate ship, surrounded by nothing but ocean, with no recollection of how we got here. Don't you think that's a bit strange?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna go HG Wells on your ass!" She was losing her patience now, plopping down on the cot beside him, then positioned herself so that she was facing him. "I knew this was going to happen sooner or later, but did you just have to loose your mind now? I'm in no mood to be the sane one of this odd, little couple. I mean, when those smelly dudes up there decide to get rid of you and your shiny head, don't look at me. I'm not gonna stop them. Hell, I'll probably encourage them! A crazy Lex Luthor is not exactly going to come in handy, so it's easier to just get rid of you all together. Don't be surprised if I'm the one to actually push you overboard-"

"Chloe, enough! I get it!" he said forcefully, not really wanting to hear the imminent details of how she'd kill him off. "I am not crazy, and those smelly dudes are pirates. There's no other reasonable explanation."

"Reasonable?" she asked incredulously, mouth agape. "I have yet to hear a reasonable thing from you since we regained consciousness!"

"But that's just it! What if we were never asleep? I don't feel nauseous, or have a headache, and those are the usual side affects of being knocked out or sedated." Scooting closer to her, he grabbed her hands in his, forcing her to look into his eyes. "It makes sense. The height from which we fell, the time difference. We've been placed back into time by accident. One of the guards must've triggered something…"

Pulling her hands back, she started to protest again. "But that still doesn't explain what we're doing here. I doubt they wanted to send someone or something to a watery death. If they were really intent on this time travel stuff, there would've been something to decide where they wanted to-" any further words were stopped short in her throat as she remembered the machine with all the little dots and stuff in the lab that had reminded her of some sort of coordination device. "Oh."

There was a long silence as the two just listened to the waves crashing against the hull of the ship, resulting in the constant rocking of the large vessel. Leaning back, Lex could feel his body relaxing with the soothing motions, eyes slowly starting to droop closed. Just an hour, he told himself.

Just as he was about to give into the urge to surrender to the inviting darkness, a voice cut through his daze.

"So… why wasn't it you that had to be saved from the mutineers?"

TBC