Chapter 26 — Toxic

Zoey walks through the crowded fundraiser. It was the annual fundraiser for rainforest conservation that one of Austin's clients threw. She spots Clark and Chloe and makes her way over to them. "Hey," she brightly greets. "What are you guys doing here?"

Clark holds up his newly issued press pass. "Covering the event for the Planet."

Zoey laughs. "Ouch. I heard that Lois pissed off Jackson. He told me that she set a new record. Two days. He said usually it takes a month or two."

"Where did Jackson use to work before," Chloe questions. Lex had managed to bribe the previous editor Zoey hired and had Chloe fired. Despite Zoey offering her job back, Chloe had turned her down.

Zoey smiles. "I poached him from the Washington Post. I figured after everything that happened, someone who has spent time in DC would be beneficial."

"Where's Oliver," Clark asks.

"He's meeting me here. I was helping Austin and an associate at his firm prepare for court tomorrow."

There's a roar of voices and flashes from photographers. They turn to see Oliver stumble into the fundraiser. "Looks like Ollie's party started in the limo," Chloe amusedly says.

Concern fills Zoey. She shakes her head. "Oliver doesn't drink," she mutters, pushing through the crowd to get to her husband. Oliver spots her and makes his way towards her. He stumbles into her. "Ollie?" He was flushed. Zoey places a hand on his cheek and feels how hot he is. "Shit. You're going to the hospital."

Oliver shakes his head. "No," he tells her. He was panting. "No hospital, Zo."

"Oliver, you need a hospital," Zoey argues.

"No! No hospitals, Zo."

Zoey tenses. He was keeping something from her. He never kept things from her. Not since they had gotten married. "Oliver—"

"Poison," Oliver whispers. "I have twelve hours to live, Zo."

Zoey presses a cold cloth against Oliver's forehead. With the help of Clark and Chloe, she had managed to get Oliver home. Oliver had passed out by the time they had made it to the brownstone. She looks down at her husband, who she had stripped down to his underwear after kicking Clark out of their bedroom. She presses a soft kiss to his burning forehead. "I'm not gonna let you die on me," she whispers.

Zoey makes her way downstairs. She finds Clark and Chloe standing in the kitchen, arguing over whether to take Oliver to the hospital or not. "Stop," Zoey snaps. "Oliver doesn't want to go to a hospital and I am going to respect his wishes."

Clark lets out a frustrated breath. "Zoey—"

"No. I am the one in charge here," Zoey coldly interrupts. "My husband is currently lying upstairs in our bed unconscious. And the last thing he asked me to do was not take him to a hospital. I am going to respect his wishes. And both of you are going to do the same. So, unless you are going to help, then you can get the fuck out of my house."

Clark shakes his head. He clearly disagreed. "Oliver made you go to the hospital for a bump on the head."

"I went to the hospital that night because I was having a miscarriage."

There's a knock at the door and Zoey looks between them. "I called my friend Davis," Chloe explains. "He's an EMT."

"Let him in."

With a look at Clark, Chloe walks out of the kitchen. Clark moves closer to her. "Zoey, I'm sorry," he softly tells her. He places a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'll do what I can. I promise."

"He said he was poisoned and that he only had twelve hours to live," Zoey tells him. Realization slowly comes over her. She turns to Clark. "Make sure he doesn't die while I'm gone."

Clark frowns. "Where are you going?"

"To thank Tess Mercer for her housewarming gift."

Oliver frowns looks at the cabinets. He had no idea where Zoey would want the dishes stored. "Zo," he calls out. She had gone to see who had been at the door, leaving him to continue unpacking the kitchen.

"Um, Tess Mercer sent us a housewarming gift," Zoey answers, walking into the kitchen with a bottle of wine. "Technically, Tess Mercer sent you a housewarming gift."

Oliver walks over and takes the bottle of wine from her. It had been years since he had seen Tess' familiar scrawl. 'Oliver, Happy Housewarming. I was right. -Tess.'

"So, are you gonna tell me what Tess is right about," Zoey softly questions.

Oliver sighs. "She said that I always pick you. That no matter what you asked I would always do it, no questions asked."

Zoey frowns, confused. "Why would…" She trails off, shifting. "I think you need to tell me exactly how Tess knows you well enough to even say that." She sits down on a stool next to the island and stares at her husband. "And don't leave anything out."

If there was anyone that Tess Mercer, newly appointed CEO of LuthorCorp, would expect to walk into her office as if they owned the place, Zoey Carmichael-Queen was number one on the list. Tess had never actually met Zoey. And they were complete opposites of each other. Tess had dark auburn hair and wore dark clothes while Zoey had bright blonde hair and tended to favor brightly colored clothes. The only thing they seemed to have in common were their green eyes. "I heard Oliver showed up drunk to the Rainforest fundraiser," Tess greets, standing up and walking around her desk.

"Oliver was poisoned," Zoey matter-of-factly states. She wasn't going to tell deal with any kind of bullshit.

"I don't know why you think I could help," Tess argues.

"He said he had twelve hours to live. And from what Oliver told me, the last time he was poisoned and had twelve hours to live, you were there."

"If you think I had anything to do—"

"I know you didn't have anything to do with it." Zoey moves closer to Tess. There was a hardness in her eyes. "But right now, you're thinking about who poisoned Oliver and how to save your own ass when they come after you."

Tess stares at her, then smirks. "Well, I finally understand what Oliver sees in you," she tells the blonde, then sighs. She grabs a piece of paper and scribbles the name of the antidote on it. "The lab that held the antidote was relocated to Campo Grande, Brazil. Even if I made a call, we'd never get the antidote here in time."

Zoey nods, taking the paper. "Thank you."

Tess is unsurprised when Oliver shows up at her office a few days later, especially since she had been the one who called and asked him to stop by. "Look who made a miraculous recovery," she greets, standing up and walking around her desk. She motions to the bottle of very expensive Scotch sitting on the desk. "Let Zoey know that I appreciate her gift."

Oliver grows tense. When Zoey had told him how she had found the antidote, he had grown worried. "Stay away from my wife."

Tess smirks. "Kinda hard to do. She's the chief of Queen Industries. It's even harder when she comes to me."

"This place is a few pay grades up from your days studying jellyfish and protesting whaler shippers, huh?"

"You're not the first person to wonder how I arrived at the helm of the Luthor dynasty."

"Well, what's to wonder? You play to win. I found out how ruthless you were a long time ago."

Tess raises an eyebrow. "After what you did to me, did you really expect me to just sit around and eat ice cream?"?

"No. You'd rather work for my greatest enemy, and, then, just when I think the knife can't twist any farther, you take over his entire company."

"Oh, so that's what you did when you're not writing checks, grinning for the cameras, and playing house. You sit around pondering ways that I've dedicated my life to your downfall. I'm sorry to break it to you, Oliver, but everything I did, I did for me."

"Well, then I guess our past is behind us."

"It has been since the day that you said goodbye. Oh, wait. You never actually did, did you?"

"Is that why you called me here? Hmm? Because it's on the tip of my tongue."

"No." Tess grabs a folder off her desk and holds it out. "I called to give you this. I realize that Lionel Luthor is dead and buried, but maybe this will help you sleep at night."

Oliver crumples up the press release and throws it into the trash can. He hadn't been surprised when Tess dumped him and moved out of the penthouse after catching him in bed with a random cocktail waitress. What made him angry was the fact that Tess had gotten a job at LuthorCorp. He looks down at the file his lawyer had given him. When his lawyer had told him that Zoey owned half of Queen Industries, he didn't believe it. But seeing the copies of the paperwork in front of him had cemented it.

"Hey!" Oliver looks up to see Zoey walk into his office. She carried a large paper bag. "I brought lunch. I hope you like sushi."

Oliver closes the file. "I didn't realize we were supposed to have lunch today, Zo."

Zoey smiles. "Well, technically, I was supposed to have lunch with Uncle Max. But he's stuck in meetings all day. Don't tell me you have meetings all day too."

Oliver laughs. He stands and walks over to her. "No. I'd love to have lunch with you, Zo."

Zoey smiles when Oliver climbs into bed that night. She turns her attention to the biology textbook she was reading. He plucks the books out of her hands and drops it on the floor. "Ollie—" He presses his lips against hers. She can taste the whiskey on his breath and pulls back. "Oliver—"

"Zo, I need this."

Zoey snakes a hand to the back of his head and pulls him into a deep kiss. She could tell that he needed comfort. She could tell that something was going on with him. She could tell that he was hiding something from her. Zoey reaches between them and undoes his jeans. He's shoving her nightgown up. Oliver quickly shimmies out of his jeans and boxers then thrusts into her.

Oliver comes with a grunt and collapses onto the bed next to her. The only noise in the room is from their heavy breathing. He grabs a pillow and shoves it under her hips. She shoots him a questioning look. "I read that it helps," he mutters.

Zoey looks at him. "Are you going to tell me what is bothering you?"

Oliver leans over and kisses her. "Everything is fine, Zo."

Zoey sighs and settles into the pillows. He was lying to her. She knew it. She just couldn't think of why he would lie to her.

Oliver runs a hand through his hair as he steps into the jewelry store. Zoey had been keeping her distance from him the past few weeks. He knew that coming home drunk after having survived being poisoned may not have been his smartest move, but he knew there was no way that Zoey could learn the truth. That Lionel had not only paid people to sabotage his parents' plane, which led to the plane crash that killed them but had also employed the man who had hit Zoey's parents. No, he knew that it was better that she didn't know the truth.

Oliver raises an eyebrow seeing Lois and Clark. "What are you two doing here?"

Lois forces a smile. She wraps an arm around Clark's. "Oliver, you didn't get the invitation yet?"

"My invitation to what?"

"Tell him, cupcake," Lois directs at Clark.

Clark sighs. "Lois and I are…we're getting married."

Oliver laughs. There was no way that Lois and Clark would be getting married. "You're just full of surprises lately, aren't you, Clark?"

Lois smiles. "I know, right? I mean, we've been friends for so long, but we just had this one magical night, and we could deny our feelings any longer."

Oliver raises an eyebrow. "Is this true?"

Clark nods. "I'm afraid so."

"See you at the wedding," Lois tells him, then drags Clark out of the jewelry store. Oliver watches as they walk out of the store. He shakes his head. There was no way that Lois and Clark were actually getting married.

Oliver finds Zoey sitting in her study in their brownstone. Books and papers were spread out around her. "Find anything interesting," he asks, leaning against the desk. He looks at the books and easily recognizes them as her political science textbooks.

"Not really," Zoey answers, not looking up. She grabs a piece of paper and holds it out to him. "I had a doctor's appointment this morning. Those are test results."

Oliver takes the paper and reads over it. He stops on the results of a pregnancy test. Positive. He turns his gaze back to her. "Why didn't you call me?"

"I had class right afterwards. Freaking professor assigned a paper due by Friday because too many failed the last test," Zoey explains. She looks at him. "I'm sorry. I've just been so busy. It doesn't help that Tess brought the Star City towers out from under me."

"If you're having problems with Tess, Zo, I can talk to her."

Zoey shakes her head. "It's fine, Ollie. It's just business."

"I'm taking you out to dinner to celebrate. I'll have the jet ready and we'll be in Malibu in time for a sunset dinner."

Zoey shoots him a soft smile and stands up. "I would love to do that, Ollie, but I can't. I'm way too busy." She leans and softly kisses him. "Can I take a rain check?"

Oliver pulls her against his chest. "Of course." He scoops her up and she laughs. "We're at least going to celebrate."

With a taste of your lips, I'm on a ride
You're toxic, I'm slipping under
With a taste of a poison paradise
I'm addicted to you
Don't you know that you're toxic?
And I love what you do
Don't you know that you're toxic?