Beyond Smallville: Fan Fiction

Queen Elizabeth, maybe?" Bart guessed. "E liss uh bith?" Gabrielle sounded out the unusual name. "Are you girls all right?" Clark asked with concern. "Back to this queen." Xena ignored Clark's comment. "What kingdom does she rule over?" Bart cast her a sidelong glance.

"Uh…she's more of a figurehead than an actual queen." Clark answered patiently. "She rules over Great Britain also known as the United Kingdom" He explained further. Gabrielle's attention snapped right back to Clark's square-jawed face. She was definitely attracted to him.

"So, Britannia rules over Greece?" Xena prodded. Clark shook his head. "No, Greece is independent. They are ruled over by a Prime Minister." He added. "Great Britain is actually run by a Prime Minister as well." Gabrielle bit the strange girl's lip. "I see." She was clearly assessing him.

Bart was growing antsy. "Have you girls been out here in the sun too long?" Clark frowned. "Bart!" He turned to Gabrielle. "Please excuse my friend, he tends to be rude." By now, Gabrielle was growing infatuated with Clark, and slowly moved closer to him. She took a good sniff.

He smells great, too, not like the guys back home. Gabrielle pondered, though Xena was growing impatient. "That still leaves us with the 'how'd you get here', problem." She challenged. "We can't reveal our secrets, even to babes like you two." Bart boasted as Clark groaned.

"Babes?" Xena echoed sourly. "Thanks once again for embarassing me, Bart." Clark complained. "Oh…it's no problem." Gabrielle said as she sidled closer to Clark, nearly brushing against him. This time Xena stared at her.

Something was different about Gabrielle, she considered. "I take it that's a compliment?" Xena asked menacingly. "Oh, most definitely." Bart said realizing his mistake. These were no ordinary European beach bunnies, he observed, quickly deciding on a new tactic.

"Maybe we should just go." Clark suggested. "No!" Bart and Gabrielle chorused, startling Xena. The ancient warrior princess wasn't exactly sure what they should do. She hated when things were mostly beyond her control. "Where are you boys from?" Xena grilled.

"America." Clark answered. "Ah mare ick uh." Gabrielle repeated. She'd always loved to learn new languages. "Is that near Greece?" Xena pursued. "No. It's across the Atlantic Ocean." Clark replied, scratching his head and brushing the sand from it.

How could the girls not know where America is? Maybe they'd been injured? He reluctantly x-rayed them, and found no obvious injuries.

"Across the At lan ta ick oh shun." Gabrielle parroted. It figures that Atalanta would get an entire ocean named after her, she mentally grumbled. "The unexplained or unknown territories?" Xena said as she and Gabrielle exchanged glances. "That would be my guess." Gabrielle agreed.

Clark and Bart were puzzled. "Can we take you girls somewhere?" Bart fished. "Where?" Clark and Xena chorused. "With what, genius?" Clark was growing irritated with how Bart treated their supposedly secret identities.

"Maybe we should have the boys escort us to a nearby village." Gabrielle suggested. Xena hesitantly agreed. It was a logical tactic. They had no idea where they actually were. "That will be fine." Clark added. "We'll walk there!" He gave Bart a severe look.

Suddenly something jabbed Xena in the backside. "Whoa!" She jumped, eyeing the boys suspiciously. Something with a sharp edge scraped against a sensitive part of her anatomy. Gabrielle began to fidget as well.

Xena spotted a large clump of bushes. "Would you excuse us a moment?" She asked far too sweetly. "C'mon Gabrielle." Xena said quietly, assuming that the boys couldn't hear her. Xena hustled her friend over to the foliage. One could still see their heads above it.

Clark scratched his head. "When you have to go, you have to go, I guess." Bart commented. Clark just gave him an annoyed glance. "There's something odd about these girls." He remarked. "Hey, don't worry mi amigo, this is Europe after all. Women act differently." Bart criticized.

"I have no idea what…" Xena began as she pulled a small flat object out of a hidden pocket in her bikini bottom. "What is this?" Gabrielle fished around in the same area of her briefs. "I was wondering what was chafing me." Xena brushed it off and held it up to the sunlight.

"It's almost see through." She observed. "It's flexible, but hard like porcelain." Gabrielle studied it. "There's an image and some writing engraved into it." Gabrielle grabbed Xena's, to investigate. She held it alongside Xena's face.

"This is an image of you…or whoever these girls were." Xena checked Gabrielle's. "You're right. This is very close to what you look like now."

"Can you decipher the writing?" Xena pressed. "Bits and pieces of it." She replied."Some looks like…Roman!" Gabrielle said worriedly. "No!" Xena hissed.

"There are other parts of it that seem to use Cyrillic, Phoenician, and Sumerian. It's a mixture of cultures." Xena rubbed her new chin. "Here's some Greek." Gabrielle pointed out. "Alpha, Nu, Phi, Epsilon, Gamma, Iota…" Xena was confused. "We could just ask the boys." Gabrielle nodded.

The two emerged from the bushes. Clark and Bart stood patiently. "Everything come out all right?" Bart quipped. Clark rolled his eyes. The girls stared at them blankly. Xena handed Gabrielle the cards.

"Clark, can you read these?" She smiled brightly. "Uh…just a minute." She wiped both cards on her wrap around skirt. "Never mind where they've been." Xena teased. Bart smirked, and Clark reddened as he took the cards from Gabrielle.

"Your drivers' licenses?" Clark asked skeptically. They must have fake I Ds. I thought I smelled alcohol on their breath, he mused. "Okay. This is yours." He motioned to Xena. "Gina Pappas, 454 W. Acropolis Way, Volos, Greece. 2-12-1985. You're 5'10'' 127 lbs. Black Hair and Blue Eyes."

Xena and Gabrielle exchanged glances. "Volos? Why would they name a village after a blacksmith?" Xena questioned, drawing a blank look from Clark. "Well here's yours." He continued glancing at Gabrielle, who was edging closer to him.

"Danielle Dathos, 917 Trubador Road, Argos, Greece. 7-16-86. You're 5''7" 118 lbs. Blonde Hair and Blue Eyes." "They named a village after my horse?" Xena smiled as Gabrielle shrugged. "So, you're Gina?" Clark asked. "No."

Gabrielle elbowed Xena in the ribs. "I mean yes." He chuckled. "Are you sure?" Xena grinned thinly. "Trust me, who you see before you is Gina." Gabrielle giggled, though it seemed to her that it came from someone else. "You're Danielle?" She nodded. Apparently.

Gina/Xena gazed out over the sea. Greece, eh? She contemplated, but when? The boys are dressed oddly. I've never seen clothing like that. "Gabrielle…uh…Danielle," Xena corrected herself. I must be losin' it.

Her attention snapped back to the moment. Clark was too swift. He caught her gaff. "Gabrielle or Danielle?" He questioned. "Um…Gabrielle is my Aunt's name." She lied."So you were named for your aunt?" Bart checked her story. "Uh huh."

Xena/Gina was already forming a plan. They would have to adopt these fake names until they found out what was going on. "Danielle…Don't be silly." Xena warned and Gabrielle started to catch on. Play along, was the unstated message in Xena's unfamiliar eyes. Clark handed them their I Ds.

"Should we go now and…uh…get cleaned up?" Gabrielle suggested, trying to follow Xena's lead. "Clark, you're coming aren't you?" She hoped out loud. "Yeah." He replied with disdain. "Clark…" Gabrielle repeated with a bright smile as Xena sighed.

"Ladies, follow me." Bart offered as he dashed up ahead a few yards. Clark caught him first. "Do you have any idea where we are, or what we're to do with these girls?" He asked in an annoyed tone. Impulse snickered.

 "You ought to be able to figure that much out, Boy Scout. Lana Lang is so last year." He added. "I've been telling you to broaden your horizons, stretch."

"There's a small fishing village on the other side of the island." Bart called over his shoulder. "Are you ladies hungry?" Xena and Gabrielle weren't sure. "Probably." Xena answered loudly. "Uh…could you boys give us a minute?"

She held Gabrielle back a bit. Bart and Clark stopped. "Xena, what's the plan?" She asked excitedly. Gabrielle always loved to be in on the warrior princess's thought process.

 "We're going to have to play it by ear, Gabrielle. We have no weapons, armor, or transportation. For now we'll have to follow the boys." Gabrielle's eyes lit up. "Not a problem!"

"You like Clarkkent don't you?" Xena prodded. "Yes. There's something about him. He's like a cross between Perdicus and Hercules." She gushed. "I mean he doesn't look like either of them, but my gut tells me that he's trustworthy." Xena nodded. "Remember that it's not your gut."

"Bart reminds me a bit of Ioalus or Joxer." Gabrielle critiqued. "I agree. You know, I never thought that I'd miss ol' Joxer." Xena smiled thinly. "One thing you could say about Joxer, was that he had a heart of gold and he never gave up trying to better himself."

"What kind of game is there to hunt around here?" Xena asked their companions after catching up to them. Clark frowned, but Bart was hyper as usual. "I bet I could scare up some wine, cheese, and gyros, with real lamb, no doubt. Clark, you're in charge of the girls until I get back."

"Wait! What?" Clark reddened, but Bart was already gone, startling the girls with his exit. Xena and Gabrielle had arrived just in time to see Bart's disappearing act. "Aha! I told you that he was a god!"  Xena accused.

She let out her warrior cry, "Llllllllll!" and attacked Clark by attempting to put a chokehold on him. Xena's cry sounded ludicrous to Gabrielle. It was too high pitched and her voice cracked halfway through. "Xena!" She shouted. "What?"

The ancient warrior princess hung limply from Clark's neck, across his back. He had a good six inches of height on her. She couldn't budge him at all. "Was that really necessary?" Clark asked warily.

Xena sighed and slid around Clark to the front, standing barefoot on his shoes, bringing her eye to eye with him. "Relax ladies." Clark began. "Bart and I are just different, that's all." He reassured them.

 "I was born this way, and Bart was hit by a bolt of lightning or something. It causes him to run faster than the human eye could see." Gabrielle reddened with embarassment. "This is such a mess!" She remarked. Xena gave up her attempted stranglehold, and stood by silently.

"Gina and Danielle aren't your real names, are they?" Clark pressed. "That's okay. I mean you don't really know us." Xena didn't know what to say. "As far as we know, they are." Gabrielle confessed.

By now, Bart had zipped back with the food and drinks, handing them out to the girls first. Xena looked over the bottle of wine, reading the label, since it was in Greek. "Kallikos Vineyard. Vintage one nine eight four?"

 Xena had no idea how she'd learned the foreign numbers. Perhaps this Gina person was still in her somewhere. Gabrielle was sniffing the food. "This smells good." Bart grinned. "It ought to, I made it myself." He boasted. Clark gave him a cold stare. "Yes, I paid for it Clark!" Bart defended.

"The service was taking too long. I just helped myself to the kitchen, made the meals, and left the money on the cash register. I swear!" Bart sounded sincere, but Clark remained skeptical. Gabrielle quickly tore into the sandwich, munching happily. These girls were half-starved. Clark observed.

Xena was still struggling with the wine bottle. Pathetic! This girl has no power, Xena thought sourly. "Here, let me." Clark offered, and easily popped the cork with his heat vision. He then used his cold breath to properly chill the wine. Xena stared at him in disbelief.

"Are you sure you're over twenty-one?" Clark asked as Xena laughed. "Yeah, way over!" Bart scowled. "Dude, this is Europe, age restrictions do not apply!" Gabrielle looked up from her gyro and finished her last bite. "Dude? You sound like Aphrodite!" Clark stared suspiciously at her.

"Is she a friend of yours?" Bart asked casually. "Yes, you could say that." Gabrielle replied as she nibbled on the sagnaki. (Greek Cheese). The four of them finished off the bottle of wine. Clark, of course, was not affected by alcohol, but he worried that the girls and Bart would be tipsy.

"The wine's good, though a bit wimpy." Xena criticized. "Nothing beats tapping the barrel of some recently molded mead." Gabrielle hiccupped. "It went down well with the cheese, though." Clark watched Bart carefully.

"Are you sure that you could still…" Impulse zipped back and forth and encircled them in a blink of an eye. "Run?" He finished Clark's question. Xena and Gabrielle were amazed.

Bart had the fleet footedness of Hermes, the attitude of Ioalus, and the odd humor of Joxer. "I'm fine Clark, and stop being such an old lady!" Bart snapped as Gabrielle giggled. Where and whenever they were, the boys seemed nice, she mused.

Xena tried to analyze Clark, through the wine induced haze. He could have been a shining example of a Greek god. He had the good looks of Ares, and the pleasant attitude of Hercules. Gabrielle wished she had a scroll handy, as this was so far, a day to remember.

For a few moments Xena and Gabrielle were alone. "These names are confusing." Gabrielle began. "Perhaps we should simply accept the hand that the fates have given us." She was in one of her philosophical moods. "Meaning?" Xena asked. "Meaning, we were given a second chance."

Gabrielle smiled. "Meaning that these unfortunate girls may have sacrificed themselves for something, and we should honor their memory." Xena grinned. As usual, she was one step ahead of her friend and soulmate. "You're really into young Clark, aren't you?" Gabrielle frowned.

 "You always do that. Get right to the point." Xena put her arm around Gabrielle. "It's a gift." The boys were busy clearing a path to the beach through the overgrown foliage. Xena checked on their progress.

"I was just musing that Clark would have made a great Greek god." Gabrielle continued. "Be thankful that he isn't, Gabrielle." Xena added.

"The power always goes to their head, like it did with me." Xena admitted solemnly. Gabrielle nodded. Bart and Clark were several paces ahead of the girls. Clark kicked a good-sized boulder off to the side.

 "Bart, what are we going to do with them?" Clark pressed. "I don't know!" He was getting frustrated. "Take them home. This is taking way too long." He complained. "We don't know anything about the girls." Clark argued.

 "What's to know, CK?" Bart asked as he zipped around in circles, causing a small tornado to clear the path. He sent sticks, leaves, pebbles, and dirt spinning in all directions. Xena and Gabrielle gawked.

"Once we get them to the village, we should have a long talk." Clark suggested as he dodged some debris that Bart kicked up. "Geez, stretch, they're European. You can't expect them to act like Lana, Lois, or Chloe."

"This is what I meant when I said that you should get out and see the world more. You should join Oliver and the rest of us and save the world that you've never seen." Bart concluded. Clark considered that, and reluctantly agreed that Bart had made a good point.

They reached a clearing near dusk. "I don't know, Bart. I think the girls are in some type of trouble." Clark hesitated as something in the area attracted the attention of his super hearing.

Xena was already straining to see the position of the first stars to appear and where they were in relation to the darkening skies. Only then could she determine what part of the world they were in.

"Yeah Gabrielle, we're near Greece all right, check the constellations…see there's the Northern Star, the Hunter…" Gabrielle cut Xena off. "Why is that star moving?" Xena followed her friend's gaze.

"It seems to be getting bigger." Gabrielle watched in fascination. Clark overheard them, and checked the skies as well. "That's no star…that's a helicopter!" He remarked in alarm. "Helio cop tore?" Gabrielle repeated. "As in the Greek god Helios?"

"Bart! It's time to go!" Clark's voice was urgent as he ignored Gabrielle's comment. "We have company!" Impulse yelled back. A large shadowy ship had entered the outskirts of the cay. "So much for our deserted island paradise!"

Xena and Gabrielle caught the excitement in the boys' voices. "What exactly is that?" Xena narrowed her eyes as she tried to locate the silhouette.

"It might be a cargo ship, or an oil tanker." Clark said hurriedly. "It's too large to be a fishing ship or the coastal guard." Gabrielle winced as she stared at the darkening horizon. "If that's a ship, where are the sails?" Bart zipped past her. "It's not that kind of a ship."

The helicopter edged closer as the girls' eyes widened. "A flying thing with no wings?" Gabrielle said as she prepared to run in the opposite direction. "A ship with no sails nor oars? Xena, what kind of a world is this?"

Link to Chapter 3: A New Hero