Fic: Methos And Chloe Save the Planet (2/3)
Fic: Methos And Chloe Save the Planet (2/3)
Summary: Chloe calls her oldest friend when she wants to steal back her stuff from an entire planet of Zealots.
Author: pen37
Fandoms: Highlander/Smallville. Characters from Supernatural mentioned. Places described in this series may resemble places described in Firefly.
Characters: Chloe, Methos, Amanda, Corey, Dean mentioned.
Pairing:Offscreen Chloe/Dean. Chloe and Methos friendship
Rating: G
Beta:Clarksmuse and Strangevisitor7
This is part of my Chloe and the Immortials series, which is now forever joined at the hip to Strangevisitor7's Immortal!Dean series. Each fic can be read independently of the rest. And each fic is very short. You can find the rest here. And the immortal!Dean series here.
This fic takes place in between chapters 4 and 5 of our story 5 times Immortal!Dean met Meta!Chloe. All five chapters are posted here. You don't have to have read anything that has come before. I think I did a good job of explaining everything in the story.
Written for the Crossovers100 challenge. Prompt #68 Lightening The table is here.
Also for the "Alcohol" challenge at hl_flashfic. Although Chloe isn't technically an Immortal (capital letters) she is ageless, which makes her immortal (lower case letters). And this caper starts out in a bar.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
When last he heard of Amanda, the immortal thief, she was posing as a companion on Bellerophon. Personally, Methos felt that she was running a little high profile by mixing with the rich and famous on the desert planet. If she were ever discovered, then finding a way to escape from the estate communities that hovered over the oceans would be difficult, indeed.
And if the guilds that regulated the companions ever discovered her, it would be much worse.
Of course, Amanda wouldn't have survived as long as she had without having contingency plans for her contingency plans. So Methos didn't worry. As the Carolina orbited overhead, he signaled down that Amanda's uncle, Adam Pierson, had come for a visit.
He had a first inkling of Amanda's contingency plan when the holovid pulled up an unfamiliar face: That of a pale, dark-haired, slightly nervous-looking man.
“Uncle Adam?” The man on the holo emphasized. “What a surprise.”
“Isn’t it just . . .” Methos trailed off uncertainly.
“Corey.”
Methos nodded. He’d heard about Amanda’s friend Corey, the Immortal whelp who liked to kill other immortals in the non-permanent way for kicks. He made a mental note to lock up all firearms and any heavy object that wasn’t bolted down just in case Corey came on this adventure.
Then he made a mental note to put Corey and Amanda’s room nearest the airlock. Because if Corey became a pain in the arse, he was going to give the whelp a proper spacing.
“That’s right. Corey. My eyes aren’t what they used to be.”
“An honest mistake,” Corey said. “We didn’t expect to see you so soon, though.”
“Didn’t you?” He shook his head. By showing up out of the blue like this, looking like space trash, he was probably raising questions that Amanda didn't want raised. “What have you told folks about your dear old uncle, Corey?”
“As little as possible,” Corey muttered. Methos let that pass. He figured that the two con artists were already doing mental backflips to talk their way around his sudden appearance.
Corey gave him a slightly intrigued stare. “So, are you here on family business? I didn't think you liked to take an active role.”
Methos answered his non-question with his own eye-roll. The family business was an old Immortal's code for hunting monsters.
“Other than a few bouts of lunacy in my younger days,” He broke off to allow for Cory to deliver his own editorial snort. “I leave the family business to Duncan and his band of merry boy scouts.”
“Then why the unexpected visit . . . Uncle?”
“I need Amanda's . . . special expertise in a bit of a consulting capacity.”
“Really?” Corey looked relieved. Instantly, Methos’ already suspicious nature raised a notch or three.
“Intrigued yet, nephew?” Methos raised an eyebrow at him.
“Always. I'll see to it the landing pad is open for you.”
The holo winked out just seconds after Chloe entered the room. She blinked at it owlishly. “Who was that?”
Methos sighed. “Trouble.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I'm good with trouble.”
“Trust me,” Methos shook his head. “That's the kind of trouble you don't want.”
Chloe looked like she wanted to argue, but instead let it pass. “I've heard stories of Bellerophon. Is it really as glamorous as they say?”
“The planet itself is pretty inhospitable, but the estates are like the glory days of San Simeon.”
“’In Xanadu did Kubla Kahn, a stately pleasure dome decree’,” Chloe recited with a tilt of her head.
“And you're more familiar with that poem because of Citizen Kane.”
“You would prefer that I be familiar with it because it was only a half-written opium dream?”
He shrugged and turned back to the ship's controls.
“So we're walking into the lap of luxury to basically tell your friend that we want to take her away from all this?”
“Not exactly,” he glanced over at Chloe. “You've lived a long time, Chloe.”
“You calling me old?” She raised an eyebrow humorously.
“I was just thinking that you've had some time to amass a bit of jewelry.”
“Here and there,” Chloe shrugged. “Your point?”
“What say you to using it for a bit of bribe?”
“You telling me that Amanda likes shiny things?” Chloe grinned.
“Wave a bit of sparkly in front of her, and she's like a kitten after a butterfly.”
Chloe's eyes took on a distant, unfocused look as she considered the matter. “I think I might be able to kill two birds with one stone.”
“Would this be a very sparkly stone?”
Chloe grinned. “The New Kryptonians have one relic of Clark's that they haven't destroyed yet: Lois' Kryptonian promise bracelet.”
“This is important?”
“They're sort of the equivalent to wedding bands. Supposedly the only girl who could wear it was the one it was made for.”
“Slight flaw in your plan there, Chloe. How would Amanda be able to wear it?”
“Lois and Clark are both long-dead, so the bracelet should be just an ordinary bangle at this point.”
“You're hanging a lot of hope on should. Are you sure?”
“Really pretty sure.”
Methos fixed her with a stare. In response, Chloe threw her hands up. “I may have picked up a few Deanisms here and there over the last fifty years. It's not a crime.”
“Just don't refer to me as the old man, and we're fine,” he said. “This bracelet sounds like a big deal. Do you really want to turn it over to Amanda?”
Chloe nodded slowly. Her face took on a sad, wistful appearance. “Lois loved that bracelet. I'd rather it go to someone who would cherish it.”
“Then Amanda is definitely your girl,” he said. “I don't think she's found a piece of jewelry that she doesn’t like.”
“Then she would treat it better than a group of half-baked zealots who once kidnapped me, held me against my will and had me declared a national treasure.”
“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Methos said. “You hold a grudge like no-one I've ever seen.”
Chloe waved his observation away. “It’s not like that’s the only thing they’ve done to me, either. I still haven't forgiven them for declaring me dead and having me canonized. Do you know how close to sainthood that puts me?”
“Uncomfortably so,” he said. “Trust me. Those of us who know you could never take you for a saint.”
“Weren’t you one of the four horsemen? That would be a big fat pot calling the kettle oh so very black.” She put her hands on her hips, and stood with legs akimbo. “On second thought, Saint Chloe has a kind of a ring to it.”
Methos rolled his eyes. “How about instead, you march your saintly butt up to the control room and learn how to land my ship without crashing. Then we'll discuss your merits for sainthood.”
“You expecting trouble?”
“I always suspect trouble. Which is why I’m still alive.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “But are you suspecting more than the average amount of trouble?”
“Corey acted just a little too relieved when I told him that I had business with Amanda. We may be making a hasty exit. So be prepared.”
“Aye-Aye Cap'in.” Chloe saluted jauntily. As she strolled away, she whistled a happy tune. It reminded Methos - disturbingly enough - of Dean on a hunt. He sighed, and decided that he would be relieved to get her back up into the black, where she could avoid picking up any more habits from Dean, Duncan and the merry band of boy scouts.
* * *
Corey and Amanda were both waiting on the landing pad when the Carolina touched down. Methos glanced at the crates they had with them, and confirmed his suspicions that it would be a short stay.
“Keep the engines running, Chloe.” He stood and headed back to the loading ramp.
“Don't get us in a pursuit situation,” Chloe said. “I haven't had a chance to get comfortable with this ship the way I was with the Persephone.”
“If we do, it won't be my fault. You can blame Amanda.”
Chloe rolled her eyes and turned back to the controls. Methos chuckled as he walked the length of the ship and keyed open the cargo hold. It was good to have Chloe back with him.
His mortal life had been short and brutal - and for the majority of his immortal life, he'd avoided his own kind. So Methos hadn't really had anything close to a sibling before striking up a friendship with Chloe Sullivan.
Although in terms of Immortal lifespans, fifty years was a drop in the bucket of time, Methos had still missed Chloe while she'd been away with Winchester.
He pushed those thoughts away as he lowered the ramp. Amanda and Corey met him halfway, dragging a hovercart laden with crates.
“I take it you won't be able to give me a tour of the grounds,” he said as he looked over the baggage with an amused grin.
“So good to see you, Uncle,” Amanda said to him as he helped Corey push the hovercart up the ramp. . “You’re just in time to give us a lift out of here. We’ve somewhat overstayed our welcome.”
He paused to close the ramp behind him, and opened the com to the helm.
“Chloe, prep for takeoff. I'll be up as soon as I've secured our passengers and their belongings.”
“Chloe? As in Sullivan?” Amanda asked as she watched him and Corey strap down various boxes. “You still hopping around the 'verse with her?”
“She keeps life interesting,” Methos said.
“Speaking of interesting,” Corey looked out the cargo bay window. “We should go. Because - the port authority is out there trying to make our lives interesting.”
Methos glanced out the window and saw a bright white hovercraft pull up. The lights on the ship blazed in a way that suggested that the authorities wanted to do more than just have a friendly discussion.
He glanced at Amanda and raised a single eyebrow. “You wore out your welcome?”
She responded with a helpless shrug.
“Right --” Methos said. “Find yourself a seat and strap in.” He turned, and ran toward the helm. “Chloe!”
“I see it. I see it,” she muttered as she fumbled her clumsy way through the launch sequence. “This is the kind of exit I want to avoid on New Krypton.”
“One exit at a time, Chloe,” Methos said as he took the controls and guided the Carolina through launch.
Once they had left the planet's atmosphere, and were certain there was no pursuit, Methos and Chloe set the autopilot and headed down to the cargo hold to greet their guests.
“So why the quick exit?” Chloe glanced at Methos with an inquisitive tilt of her head.
“Amanda said that she wore out her welcome. My guess would be that either her sugar-daddies went sour, found out about each other, or found out that Corey wasn’t her relative after all.”
“Well,” Chloe tucked her hands into the pockets of her coveralls. “Taking them into going with us is going to be easier than I thought.”
“Getting them to go with us isn’t the problem,” Methos observed. “Getting them to participate might be.”
Chloe nodded. “Back to the sparkly jewelry plan.”
Amanda and Corey had pried open the crates and were cataloging the goods therein when Methos and Chloe returned to the hold. The two Immortal thieves were so absorbed in what they were doing, that they completely missed as Chloe walked right up behind them.
“Early twentieth century carnival glass?” Chloe surveyed the goods with a small grin. They jumped in surprise, and then turned to look at Chloe. “I remember when you could pick that up at a garage sale for twenty-five cents a piece.”
Amanda looked at Chloe in confusion, then gave Methos a suspicious glare.
“It's no joke,” Methos said. “Chloe is a Metahuman.”
“That explains the lack of buzz,” Amanda said. “So you’re a different kind of immortal?”
“With a small I,” Chloe said. “But I like to think of myself as ageless.”
“I'd always just assumed you were one of us,” Amanda said.
“Most folks do - from a distance,” Chloe said. “By the time they get into sword range, they've figured it out. And the really dense ones - they get the message by the time I've shot them once or twice.”
Methos glanced away from the exchange - to see Corey lean forward with a fascinated expression on his face. His eyes had a hungry, predatory gleam as he seemingly hung on Chloe's every word.
Uh-oh, Methos thought as he glanced over at Amanda. The female thief hadn't yet clued into Corey's sudden interest in Chloe.
“So as fascinating as this all is,” Amanda turned to Methos and fixed him with an inquisitive look. “I'd like to know what made you come looking for us. Not that I don’t appreciate your timing.”
Methos sighed, and looked at Chloe.
She nodded in acknowledgment and turned to Amanda with a sunny smile. “I actually thought we could help each other.”
“Really?” Amanda tilted her head and crossed her arms.
“Yup,” Chloe plunged forward - undaunted by Amanda's negative stance. “Methos tells me that you have an eye for jewelry. Suppose I happen to know of a piece that dates back to the Pre-Columbian period of Earth-That-Was.”
Amanda raised an eyebrow. “Sounds rare.”
“One of a kind,” Chloe nodded.
“And what's in it for you?”
“Say that while we're retrieving this artifact we also help ourselves to any data files that happen to be lying around.”
“Really?” Amanda raised an eyebrow in interest. She reached out and linked arms with Chloe “I want to hear more. I assume this scow has a kitchen, and I'm famished. Let's discuss this while we eat, shall we?”
As the ladies walked away, Methos watched Corey watching Chloe.
Ordinarily, he didn't get involved in the affairs of other Immortals, but he thought of Chloe with a certain amount of brotherly affection. Given the way that she and Dean were at loose ends, Corey's attention on her could only mean one of two things for Methos's future: either a lot of afternoons with tears and ice cream, or another prolonged separation from his favorite crew member, because Chloe knew better than to set up housekeeping with some random guy down in her quarters. A setup like that could only lead to frustration and annoyance. And sooner or later, Methos would be tempted to stuff the boyfriend out the airlock.
“Don't even think about it,” Methos said.
Corey looked from Methos to Chloe's retreating figure and back. His lecherous grin told Methos that he was probably wasting his breath.
“Sorry,” Corey looked anything but apologetic. “I didn't realize that you were smitten, old man.”
Methos gritted his teeth. Yep. He was going to space the kid, first time the girls weren't looking. “Chloe is like a sister to me.”
“Well, I'd say that she's a big girl. She probably doesn't need her brother dear defending her honor.”
“If it were any other time, I would agree with you,” Methos said. “Right now she's very angry with her sweetheart. I would hate to see her make a mistake out of spite.”
“I'll take that under advisement,” Corey said with a grin.
Methos swore under his breath in a long-dead Sumerian dialect. “What about Amanda?”
“We have a very open relationship,” Corey said. “This time, anyway. After all, she was doing a thorough job of playing the companion as recently as yesterday.”
He switched to expletives in Latin before sliding into highland Gaelic as he turned and stomped off toward the helm. He really hoped that Chloe was smart enough to see through Corey's charm.
Summary: Chloe calls her oldest friend when she wants to steal back her stuff from an entire planet of Zealots.
Author: pen37
Fandoms: Highlander/Smallville. Characters from Supernatural mentioned. Places described in this series may resemble places described in Firefly.
Characters: Chloe, Methos, Amanda, Corey, Dean mentioned.
Pairing:Offscreen Chloe/Dean. Chloe and Methos friendship
Rating: G
Beta:Clarksmuse and Strangevisitor7
This is part of my Chloe and the Immortials series, which is now forever joined at the hip to Strangevisitor7's Immortal!Dean series. Each fic can be read independently of the rest. And each fic is very short. You can find the rest here. And the immortal!Dean series here.
This fic takes place in between chapters 4 and 5 of our story 5 times Immortal!Dean met Meta!Chloe. All five chapters are posted here. You don't have to have read anything that has come before. I think I did a good job of explaining everything in the story.
Written for the Crossovers100 challenge. Prompt #68 Lightening The table is here.
Also for the "Alcohol" challenge at hl_flashfic. Although Chloe isn't technically an Immortal (capital letters) she is ageless, which makes her immortal (lower case letters). And this caper starts out in a bar.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
When last he heard of Amanda, the immortal thief, she was posing as a companion on Bellerophon. Personally, Methos felt that she was running a little high profile by mixing with the rich and famous on the desert planet. If she were ever discovered, then finding a way to escape from the estate communities that hovered over the oceans would be difficult, indeed.
And if the guilds that regulated the companions ever discovered her, it would be much worse.
Of course, Amanda wouldn't have survived as long as she had without having contingency plans for her contingency plans. So Methos didn't worry. As the Carolina orbited overhead, he signaled down that Amanda's uncle, Adam Pierson, had come for a visit.
He had a first inkling of Amanda's contingency plan when the holovid pulled up an unfamiliar face: That of a pale, dark-haired, slightly nervous-looking man.
“Uncle Adam?” The man on the holo emphasized. “What a surprise.”
“Isn’t it just . . .” Methos trailed off uncertainly.
“Corey.”
Methos nodded. He’d heard about Amanda’s friend Corey, the Immortal whelp who liked to kill other immortals in the non-permanent way for kicks. He made a mental note to lock up all firearms and any heavy object that wasn’t bolted down just in case Corey came on this adventure.
Then he made a mental note to put Corey and Amanda’s room nearest the airlock. Because if Corey became a pain in the arse, he was going to give the whelp a proper spacing.
“That’s right. Corey. My eyes aren’t what they used to be.”
“An honest mistake,” Corey said. “We didn’t expect to see you so soon, though.”
“Didn’t you?” He shook his head. By showing up out of the blue like this, looking like space trash, he was probably raising questions that Amanda didn't want raised. “What have you told folks about your dear old uncle, Corey?”
“As little as possible,” Corey muttered. Methos let that pass. He figured that the two con artists were already doing mental backflips to talk their way around his sudden appearance.
Corey gave him a slightly intrigued stare. “So, are you here on family business? I didn't think you liked to take an active role.”
Methos answered his non-question with his own eye-roll. The family business was an old Immortal's code for hunting monsters.
“Other than a few bouts of lunacy in my younger days,” He broke off to allow for Cory to deliver his own editorial snort. “I leave the family business to Duncan and his band of merry boy scouts.”
“Then why the unexpected visit . . . Uncle?”
“I need Amanda's . . . special expertise in a bit of a consulting capacity.”
“Really?” Corey looked relieved. Instantly, Methos’ already suspicious nature raised a notch or three.
“Intrigued yet, nephew?” Methos raised an eyebrow at him.
“Always. I'll see to it the landing pad is open for you.”
The holo winked out just seconds after Chloe entered the room. She blinked at it owlishly. “Who was that?”
Methos sighed. “Trouble.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I'm good with trouble.”
“Trust me,” Methos shook his head. “That's the kind of trouble you don't want.”
Chloe looked like she wanted to argue, but instead let it pass. “I've heard stories of Bellerophon. Is it really as glamorous as they say?”
“The planet itself is pretty inhospitable, but the estates are like the glory days of San Simeon.”
“’In Xanadu did Kubla Kahn, a stately pleasure dome decree’,” Chloe recited with a tilt of her head.
“And you're more familiar with that poem because of Citizen Kane.”
“You would prefer that I be familiar with it because it was only a half-written opium dream?”
He shrugged and turned back to the ship's controls.
“So we're walking into the lap of luxury to basically tell your friend that we want to take her away from all this?”
“Not exactly,” he glanced over at Chloe. “You've lived a long time, Chloe.”
“You calling me old?” She raised an eyebrow humorously.
“I was just thinking that you've had some time to amass a bit of jewelry.”
“Here and there,” Chloe shrugged. “Your point?”
“What say you to using it for a bit of bribe?”
“You telling me that Amanda likes shiny things?” Chloe grinned.
“Wave a bit of sparkly in front of her, and she's like a kitten after a butterfly.”
Chloe's eyes took on a distant, unfocused look as she considered the matter. “I think I might be able to kill two birds with one stone.”
“Would this be a very sparkly stone?”
Chloe grinned. “The New Kryptonians have one relic of Clark's that they haven't destroyed yet: Lois' Kryptonian promise bracelet.”
“This is important?”
“They're sort of the equivalent to wedding bands. Supposedly the only girl who could wear it was the one it was made for.”
“Slight flaw in your plan there, Chloe. How would Amanda be able to wear it?”
“Lois and Clark are both long-dead, so the bracelet should be just an ordinary bangle at this point.”
“You're hanging a lot of hope on should. Are you sure?”
“Really pretty sure.”
Methos fixed her with a stare. In response, Chloe threw her hands up. “I may have picked up a few Deanisms here and there over the last fifty years. It's not a crime.”
“Just don't refer to me as the old man, and we're fine,” he said. “This bracelet sounds like a big deal. Do you really want to turn it over to Amanda?”
Chloe nodded slowly. Her face took on a sad, wistful appearance. “Lois loved that bracelet. I'd rather it go to someone who would cherish it.”
“Then Amanda is definitely your girl,” he said. “I don't think she's found a piece of jewelry that she doesn’t like.”
“Then she would treat it better than a group of half-baked zealots who once kidnapped me, held me against my will and had me declared a national treasure.”
“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Methos said. “You hold a grudge like no-one I've ever seen.”
Chloe waved his observation away. “It’s not like that’s the only thing they’ve done to me, either. I still haven't forgiven them for declaring me dead and having me canonized. Do you know how close to sainthood that puts me?”
“Uncomfortably so,” he said. “Trust me. Those of us who know you could never take you for a saint.”
“Weren’t you one of the four horsemen? That would be a big fat pot calling the kettle oh so very black.” She put her hands on her hips, and stood with legs akimbo. “On second thought, Saint Chloe has a kind of a ring to it.”
Methos rolled his eyes. “How about instead, you march your saintly butt up to the control room and learn how to land my ship without crashing. Then we'll discuss your merits for sainthood.”
“You expecting trouble?”
“I always suspect trouble. Which is why I’m still alive.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “But are you suspecting more than the average amount of trouble?”
“Corey acted just a little too relieved when I told him that I had business with Amanda. We may be making a hasty exit. So be prepared.”
“Aye-Aye Cap'in.” Chloe saluted jauntily. As she strolled away, she whistled a happy tune. It reminded Methos - disturbingly enough - of Dean on a hunt. He sighed, and decided that he would be relieved to get her back up into the black, where she could avoid picking up any more habits from Dean, Duncan and the merry band of boy scouts.
* * *
Corey and Amanda were both waiting on the landing pad when the Carolina touched down. Methos glanced at the crates they had with them, and confirmed his suspicions that it would be a short stay.
“Keep the engines running, Chloe.” He stood and headed back to the loading ramp.
“Don't get us in a pursuit situation,” Chloe said. “I haven't had a chance to get comfortable with this ship the way I was with the Persephone.”
“If we do, it won't be my fault. You can blame Amanda.”
Chloe rolled her eyes and turned back to the controls. Methos chuckled as he walked the length of the ship and keyed open the cargo hold. It was good to have Chloe back with him.
His mortal life had been short and brutal - and for the majority of his immortal life, he'd avoided his own kind. So Methos hadn't really had anything close to a sibling before striking up a friendship with Chloe Sullivan.
Although in terms of Immortal lifespans, fifty years was a drop in the bucket of time, Methos had still missed Chloe while she'd been away with Winchester.
He pushed those thoughts away as he lowered the ramp. Amanda and Corey met him halfway, dragging a hovercart laden with crates.
“I take it you won't be able to give me a tour of the grounds,” he said as he looked over the baggage with an amused grin.
“So good to see you, Uncle,” Amanda said to him as he helped Corey push the hovercart up the ramp. . “You’re just in time to give us a lift out of here. We’ve somewhat overstayed our welcome.”
He paused to close the ramp behind him, and opened the com to the helm.
“Chloe, prep for takeoff. I'll be up as soon as I've secured our passengers and their belongings.”
“Chloe? As in Sullivan?” Amanda asked as she watched him and Corey strap down various boxes. “You still hopping around the 'verse with her?”
“She keeps life interesting,” Methos said.
“Speaking of interesting,” Corey looked out the cargo bay window. “We should go. Because - the port authority is out there trying to make our lives interesting.”
Methos glanced out the window and saw a bright white hovercraft pull up. The lights on the ship blazed in a way that suggested that the authorities wanted to do more than just have a friendly discussion.
He glanced at Amanda and raised a single eyebrow. “You wore out your welcome?”
She responded with a helpless shrug.
“Right --” Methos said. “Find yourself a seat and strap in.” He turned, and ran toward the helm. “Chloe!”
“I see it. I see it,” she muttered as she fumbled her clumsy way through the launch sequence. “This is the kind of exit I want to avoid on New Krypton.”
“One exit at a time, Chloe,” Methos said as he took the controls and guided the Carolina through launch.
Once they had left the planet's atmosphere, and were certain there was no pursuit, Methos and Chloe set the autopilot and headed down to the cargo hold to greet their guests.
“So why the quick exit?” Chloe glanced at Methos with an inquisitive tilt of her head.
“Amanda said that she wore out her welcome. My guess would be that either her sugar-daddies went sour, found out about each other, or found out that Corey wasn’t her relative after all.”
“Well,” Chloe tucked her hands into the pockets of her coveralls. “Taking them into going with us is going to be easier than I thought.”
“Getting them to go with us isn’t the problem,” Methos observed. “Getting them to participate might be.”
Chloe nodded. “Back to the sparkly jewelry plan.”
Amanda and Corey had pried open the crates and were cataloging the goods therein when Methos and Chloe returned to the hold. The two Immortal thieves were so absorbed in what they were doing, that they completely missed as Chloe walked right up behind them.
“Early twentieth century carnival glass?” Chloe surveyed the goods with a small grin. They jumped in surprise, and then turned to look at Chloe. “I remember when you could pick that up at a garage sale for twenty-five cents a piece.”
Amanda looked at Chloe in confusion, then gave Methos a suspicious glare.
“It's no joke,” Methos said. “Chloe is a Metahuman.”
“That explains the lack of buzz,” Amanda said. “So you’re a different kind of immortal?”
“With a small I,” Chloe said. “But I like to think of myself as ageless.”
“I'd always just assumed you were one of us,” Amanda said.
“Most folks do - from a distance,” Chloe said. “By the time they get into sword range, they've figured it out. And the really dense ones - they get the message by the time I've shot them once or twice.”
Methos glanced away from the exchange - to see Corey lean forward with a fascinated expression on his face. His eyes had a hungry, predatory gleam as he seemingly hung on Chloe's every word.
Uh-oh, Methos thought as he glanced over at Amanda. The female thief hadn't yet clued into Corey's sudden interest in Chloe.
“So as fascinating as this all is,” Amanda turned to Methos and fixed him with an inquisitive look. “I'd like to know what made you come looking for us. Not that I don’t appreciate your timing.”
Methos sighed, and looked at Chloe.
She nodded in acknowledgment and turned to Amanda with a sunny smile. “I actually thought we could help each other.”
“Really?” Amanda tilted her head and crossed her arms.
“Yup,” Chloe plunged forward - undaunted by Amanda's negative stance. “Methos tells me that you have an eye for jewelry. Suppose I happen to know of a piece that dates back to the Pre-Columbian period of Earth-That-Was.”
Amanda raised an eyebrow. “Sounds rare.”
“One of a kind,” Chloe nodded.
“And what's in it for you?”
“Say that while we're retrieving this artifact we also help ourselves to any data files that happen to be lying around.”
“Really?” Amanda raised an eyebrow in interest. She reached out and linked arms with Chloe “I want to hear more. I assume this scow has a kitchen, and I'm famished. Let's discuss this while we eat, shall we?”
As the ladies walked away, Methos watched Corey watching Chloe.
Ordinarily, he didn't get involved in the affairs of other Immortals, but he thought of Chloe with a certain amount of brotherly affection. Given the way that she and Dean were at loose ends, Corey's attention on her could only mean one of two things for Methos's future: either a lot of afternoons with tears and ice cream, or another prolonged separation from his favorite crew member, because Chloe knew better than to set up housekeeping with some random guy down in her quarters. A setup like that could only lead to frustration and annoyance. And sooner or later, Methos would be tempted to stuff the boyfriend out the airlock.
“Don't even think about it,” Methos said.
Corey looked from Methos to Chloe's retreating figure and back. His lecherous grin told Methos that he was probably wasting his breath.
“Sorry,” Corey looked anything but apologetic. “I didn't realize that you were smitten, old man.”
Methos gritted his teeth. Yep. He was going to space the kid, first time the girls weren't looking. “Chloe is like a sister to me.”
“Well, I'd say that she's a big girl. She probably doesn't need her brother dear defending her honor.”
“If it were any other time, I would agree with you,” Methos said. “Right now she's very angry with her sweetheart. I would hate to see her make a mistake out of spite.”
“I'll take that under advisement,” Corey said with a grin.
Methos swore under his breath in a long-dead Sumerian dialect. “What about Amanda?”
“We have a very open relationship,” Corey said. “This time, anyway. After all, she was doing a thorough job of playing the companion as recently as yesterday.”
He switched to expletives in Latin before sliding into highland Gaelic as he turned and stomped off toward the helm. He really hoped that Chloe was smart enough to see through Corey's charm.