A historical romance story based on the characters in Smallville but NOT based on any plot from the show. You do not need to have seen Smallville and you can read with Dean and Teri in mind if you wish.
The only spoilers for the show of Smallville are in the form of certain characters used I guess.
Warning: As this is called 'A Pirate Affair' expect the story to involve pirates, be a little like Pirates of the Caribbean, and expect it to involve much in the way of 'Affairs'. There will be romance and love. There will also be at least three parts in the nfic section (although I will make gfic versions available too).
Disclaimer: Superman, Clark Kent, Lois Lane and all other character and place names are owned by DC and/or Smallville (the CW). I own nothing ... except my fantasies -- which frequently include Clark/Superman.
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Prologue: Kidnapped “Father!” Lois stormed into her father’s office. “You can’t do this to me.” She was livid.
He stood slowly, a stern look on his face. “I most certainly can, young lady. I am your father ... and Commodore of the Navy.”
“But ...”
“No buts. You are to sail back home to England to present yourself at court. Prepare yourself to leave in three days.”
“You know I am no lady, father. I will disgrace you at court.” She threw her defiant and unruly personality back at him.
“Lois, you will learn the ways of being a Lady and return here to take a proper husband. I will have no more of this childish disobedience.” His gruff loud voice brooked no opposition and she turned on her heels and strode off.
Lois returned to her room, desolate. She was an unconventional lady, but she’d never defied her father, it least not in something so big. He was commanding her, not just as a naval officer, but as her father and there was no refusing him. She stood and looked out of her window.
The heavy drapes hung beside her and she clung onto them. Stepping forwards into the very centre of the full size window, and onto the tiny ledge balcony, she gazed out at the view.
Port Metropolis. The main trading centre of the Caribbean.
She’d been here for four months, since the King had commissioned her father on some secret mission. Commodore Lane had patrolled the British waters for years but something seven months ago had set him on a journey across the Atlantic Ocean to take up the mantle of Commander of the Caribbean waters.
Lois was not privy to the details or circumstances which had caused this … at the time ... but she knew that her father was involved in something serious. She’d spent many hours eavesdropping at her father’s study door since arriving, trying to discern the reason for the disruption in her life. All she had managed to uncover was that he was to deal with the pirate problem ... at its source.
But that didn’t matter to her. All she knew was that Port Metropolis was her home now, and even though she had lived all her life on board ship, she had taken to life in the bustling port easily. She loved it. And her father wanted to send her back to England; to the land that claimed her mother and baby sister’s lives.
To court.
Where she’d have to simper and preen for the aristocracy, and bow to the King.
She shuddered.
Life on board a navy ship wasn’t easy, but it was all she’d ever known, and loved – till she arrived here. And now this place was home. More than that ... she had family here. She’d finally been given a chance to befriend her cousin, although it was difficult to find a time that Chloe was not engaged in her maid duties at the Governor’s mansion.
As the sun set over the ocean Lois felt a pricking at her soul. She couldn’t bear to leave here now. But to be able to stay would mean defying her father. And that was not possible, at least not in person. Her defiance would have to be in absentia.
She whirled round suddenly, her mind made up, and began to pack but not in the way that her father expected. A basic canvas bag was appropriated from the store room and she filled it with as many simple clothes as possible; items that would be plain and allow her to pass unnoticed out of Port Metropolis.
Leaving the Port was contrary to her heart’s desire, but it would enable her to make her own life choices, rather than live by her father’s word. She may even be able to return shortly, or actually hide in plain sight. Rifling through her bedside drawers she found something to tie her hair back and then began changing into a brown woollen dress.
It was now past dusk, and barely forty minutes since she’d left her father’s study. She extinguished her lamp and picked up her bag and shawl, heading for the large, open bedroom window. As she pulled back the heavy curtain to reveal the escape route there came an almighty scream from one of the maids inside the house.
“Rosie?” Lois voiced her thoughts. She was the youngest of the maids and it was a dreadfully high-pitched and loud scream.
Lois dropped her bag and cloak and ran to her bedroom door, flinging it open and searching for the screaming maid. She eventually found her in the Commodore’s office.
“Rosie? What is it?” Lois tried to quiet the young woman but she was in hysterics. When the older maid arrived Rosie began to calm down. Mary was a calming influence on the flighty young girl.
“Now, deary. Pull yourself together and tell the mistress whatever it is,” she said in a soothing tone.
All Rosie did was point to the desk. Lois walked around and found her father’s military jacket crumpled on the floor. She picked it up and then dropped it again immediately when she felt a wet and sticky substance. Stepping back and into the light of a lamp she held up her hands to find they were covered in blood.
A rushing in her ears sent her dizzy, the bile in her stomach threatening to rise. She felt unsteady and leaned against the solid oak desk for balance. As she spread her fingers out, flat, the blood transferred itself to the table and Lois absently considered how annoyed her father would be. She took a deep, consciousness-restoring, breath and focussed on her hand. A minute wrinkle appeared in the centre of her forehead when she noticed the burn mark half obscured by her palm. Ever so slowly sliding her hand away to reveal the damming mark she brought her other hand up to her mouth to contain the sob of terror which escaped her lips.
The burn mark was unmistakable, although probably not recognised by very many people. Lois was one of the few who did. Her regular eavesdropping had turned into exploration and she’d come across parchments bearing the mark on a couple of occasions over the last few months. This was the mission her father had been given by the Crown; the mission he had discussed in private with a secret officer on many occasions.
She reached out her finger and began to trace the shape, leaving behind a matching trail of blood.
The square border.
The two dots outside two opposing corners.
The lightning bolt striking from corner to corner.
It all merged together to make a stylised ‘Z’; the symbol of the man her father had been tasked to hunt and arrest.
The mark of the Pirate King.
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Hope you are intrigued. There's actually a few clues in here as to things you will probably have questions about soon, but they are not that clear or obvious until the story has progressed, they are just here for completeness (and to show that I did have the whole back story mapped out correctly
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Note: In Smallville and the DC comics Sam Lane is a General in the Army. To move this story to the ocean I have made him the Commodore of the Royal Navy.
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