5 DC AUs I'm NOT going to write - Part 3

[icarus_chained]

Part the Third - In Which They Are Pirates
Characters: Clark Kent, Lois Lane, mentions of Arthur and Luthor

He found her in the rigging, perched on a cross-brace with the wind in her hair and the sun in her eyes, looking out over the wide seas like they were her own kingdom, and she their proud queen. Lois Lane, pirate queen of the Caribbees. Or near as made no difference.

"Clark, darlin', you gonna come here and talk to me, or you just gonna stare all day?" And there she was, turning to face him, that sly curve to her lips, the sparkle in her eyes, a hand rising to tangle teasingly in her dark hair. A siren temptress, his pirate lady. His Lois.

"Well now," he murmured, climbing those last few feet, propping his back against the mast so he could smile down at her. "Who's to say I don't like just starin'?" Because he did. Anybody would. She was sure worth starin' at, with those wicked eyes, and that sun-dark skin, and those hips in her cotton trousers, draped in red silk. A taste for the fine things, she had, and hadn't they raided half a dozen ships to prove it? But it was worth it, oh, so worth it, to see her shimmy up to him with those red-clad hips, swaying gently in the wind, the gold at her throat all a-glinting. By Jones, he did like to stare!

And touch, too. Raise the hand not braced on the mast, curl it 'round her shoulders, bury his face in the wild scent of her hair, feel the press of her against him, her laughter bubbling at his throat. His Lois. So nearly lost to him, along with his ship, his crew, his world. All because of a storm, and the cruelty of a Navy Captain. He shuddered, pulled her closer. He didn't want to think of Luthor. Not here. Not now, when all he loved was his once more. But she felt it. Always did. That weather eye she kept on him, the steady regard of the woman he loved. She knew when his thoughts turned to that nightmare.

"Hey," she murmured, hoarse against him, wind whipping her hair to hide their faces. "He's gone, Clark. Don't fret anymore. He's gone for good, sunk beneath the waves, and damn him too!" She pulled back, trusting him to support her, to never let her fall, and put her hands over his face, curled her fingertips in his hair, the look on her face so tender, and so fierce. "Arthur made sure of that, Clark, and if he had asked me for my life itself, I'd have given it gladly to be sure!"

"No!" he gasped, grabbing her close, the thought of it an agony. "Don't say that. Don't say that, Lois!"

"Why not," she whispered, pressing shaking lips to his, dry and gentle. "It's true. I'd do anything to see you safe, you know that." And he did. He did, and it set ice in his heart every time he thought of it, made him desperate to be safe, so she'd never have to make that choice again, never have to risk herself for his sake.

"I don't like thinking of it," he murmured, wrapped around her. "I don't like thinking of you hurt." And she smiled, leaned in to kiss him again, to press herself to him and swallow all his fears.

"Nor I you," she murmured, and laughed a little. "But Arthur wouldn't, you know. The King of the Seas is surprisingly honourable. And it costs us little to take out a few whaling-ships, after all." Clark nodded, remembering the stern man who had saved him from the wreck of Luthor's ship, who had carried him safe back to his Lois. A man of honour, it was true. But even still ...

"Never again," he said, pulling back to stare at her seriously. "No matter what we have to do. I don't ever want you to risk yourself for me again." And then, that frown of challenge that had made him love her when they'd first met, that rich intelligence and fire, shone in her eyes as she reached out to seize his ears and pull his face to hers.

"I won't if you won't," she snarled against his lips, and sealed them with her own before he could disagree.