Chapter 27 — Empress

"Malibu Barbie, what are you doing here," Lois asks when Zoey walks in. Lois was taking Clark up on his offer to be a roommate. Mostly because she needed her own space and was tired of sharing an apartment with Chloe and Jimmy.

"Um, Aunt Martha said she had a box of…stuff she wanted me to have," Zoey awkwardly answers. She hadn't expected Lois to be at the farm when she stopped by. She holds up a small box that had been sitting on the porch. "This was on the porch, Clark."

"Stuff," Lois questions.

The last thing Zoey wanted was to share her news with Lois, but she knew it would eventually get out there. "Baby stuff," Zoey reluctantly clarifies.

Lois takes a couple of steps back. "I'm going to keep my distance from you as that spreads rapidly. And congratulations, you're going to have very blonde babies."

Zoey watches as Lois quickly runs out of the house. "I think I'll like that part of pregnancy," she amusedly says, turning to Clark. "I can do without the puking. Morning sickness my ass. More like any time of day sickness."

Clark shoots her a smile. "I'm sure it'll get better over time."

"That is what I've been told," Zoey amusedly replies. "So, you and Lois are gonna be roommates. At least this time, you'll each have your own bedrooms…or not."

"Lois and I are just friends," Clark tells her, opening the box she had brought it. Inside was a dark grey metal box. He opens it to reveal a blue crystal.

"Someone must really like you," Zoey amusedly says. The moment, Clark picks up the crystal a blue light starts to emit from it. Zoey slowly stands up. "Maybe you should put it back into the lead box." The house starts to rattle. Zoey backs away. But she's not fast enough. The light covers them before pulling them in.

Zoey lets out a groan. She wasn't exactly sure what had happened. She could feel the wind rushing around her; its loud roar. Slowly, she sits up. And immediately empties what little remained in her stomach. "Zoey!"

Zoey wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and stands up. She stumbles, but a hand grasps her arm and steadies her. Clark was standing there. He had a cut on his forehead. "What…what happened," she asks, looking around at the bleak landscape.

"I think we got sucked into the phantom zone," Clark answers, pulling her close to him.

Zoey stares at the two blue suns in the sky. "We definitely aren't in Kansas anymore," she mutters.

"We need to keep moving," Clark tells her, leading her away from their crash landing. Zoey's gaze widens at the sight of the blood-red lake and quickly picks up her pace.

"So this is the…space prison your dad created," Zoey asks a couple of hours later. They had been walking nonstop and she was getting tired. Along with being hungry. "Um, there is a way out of here, right? We're not going to end up spending the rest of our lives here, are we?"

"There's a way out," Clark tells her. "We just have to find it."

Zoey stares at him. "You don't know where it is?"

"This is only the second time that I've been here," Clark argues. "I'm not that familiar with the landscape."

Zoey sighs. She knew that she should've convinced Oliver to not tell anyone about her pregnancy until she passed the first-trimester mark. But before she knew it, Martha was calling to congratulate her and insisting that she take a box of old baby stuff from the house.

Zoey's so lost in her thoughts that she misses the nearly decomposed body lying on the ground and trips over it. "Holy shit," she shouts, scrambling away from the body.

Clark rushes over to her. He helps her up. "Zoners," he explains. "Zoey, are you—" He's cut off when she covers her mouth and runs a few feet away from him. He stands back as she throws up. If there was one thing other than kryptonite that Clark couldn't handle, it was someone throwing up. Suddenly, a figure appears and heads straight for Zoey.

Clark tackles the figure and they roll down the hill. He wraps a hand around a wrist. A familiar silver bracelet stared up at him. "Clark," Zoey shouts, running towards him and the mysterious figure.

"Kara," he asks. "It's me."

The figure pushes back her hood to reveal that she was indeed Kara, Clark's Kryptonian cousin. "Kal-El," Kara breathes, relieved to see her cousin.

"Clark," Zoey cautiously asks, looking between Clark and Kara. She had never actually met Kara when the tall blonde had lived in Smallville.

Clark looks between the two women. "Kara, this is Zoey," he introduces. "Zoey, this is Kara, my cousin."

Zoey brightly smiles. "It's so nice to meet you. Sorry, I never got to meet you earlier. I was a little too busy with work, school, and life. The usual." Kara nods in response.

"I should have known that Brainiac put you here," Clark says to Kara. "Are you okay?"

"I thought you were Zoners," Kara tells him. "Zoners kill. What were you thinking, bringing her here?"

"Hey," Zoey snaps. She didn't like that someone was talking about her as if she wasn't there. "I didn't get away fast enough after Clark touched the crystal. My pregnant ass would much rather be on Earth. Where there are cheeseburgers."

"We need to find a portal back," Clark continues.

"I did," Kara says. "Zor-El built me an escape hatch."

Clark frowns. "If you know a way out, then why are you still here?"

Kara sighs. "I didn't want to make the same mistake that you did. Zoners got out when you left. They're just waiting for me to open the portal again."

"So, you stayed here all this time, fending for your life to protect Earth?"

Kara hands Clark a knife. "Your lifeline. You lose it, you die." She starts walking away. Clark and Zoey quickly catch up with her. "She better be able to fight."

"She won't have to," Clark argues. "We're sending her back."

"How many innocent lives is she worth to you?"

"Why are you acting like this? What happened to you, Kara?"

"The same thing that would have happened to you had you been here for more than a day. The portal stays closed."

"She doesn't belong here! She's not one of us, Kara. I'll guard the gate, but she's going home!"

Zoey looks between the two cousins but doesn't say anything. The Phantom Zone was the last place she wanted to be. But she also didn't want to be responsible for causing the deaths of people on Earth. She remains quiet as they walk across the barren wasteland. She didn't want to be caught in the middle of two fighting Kryptonians.

Oliver runs a hand through his hair as Zoey's cell phone goes unanswered once more. "Zo, call me back. It isn't like you to not pick up. Got me a little worried," he says, then hangs up. Truth was since he had learned of Zoey's pregnancy he had grown more protective of her.

"You know, Oliver, for a guy with three cell phones, you sure are hard to get a hold of," Chloe greets, climbing into the private jet.

"Chloe, hey. You know, the captain hasn't even turned off the fasten seat belt sign yet. What warrants this visit out to the tarmac, huh," Oliver replies, shoving his phone in his pocket. He zips up the messenger bag, wanting to keep the files Tess had previously given him out of sight. He had been doing his own research into the death of his parents. And he had started to look into the deaths of Zoey's parents.

"Clark disappeared this morning," Chloe tells him.

"Did you check The Planet? I'm sure he's just out chasing fire trucks with Lois."

"Yeah, I checked everywhere." Chloe pulls out the blue crystal she had found on the floor of the Kent farmhouse earlier that day. She had managed to grab it before Lois saw it. And before Tess had made a visit. "I think it has something to do with this. It's Clark's crystal. It's his link to his Kryptonian heritage."

Oliver shifts. "Yeah, look, uh, when it comes to Clark's…that, I, uh, I steer clear."

"I need you to steal a piece of equipment, Oliver. It powers this crystal. Now, I think that if I can gain access to the crystal's database, I may be able to reverse its effects."

Oliver snorts. "That's your plan, Chloe? You're gonna hack into alien technology? Come on. That's a bit ambitious, isn't it, even for you?"

Chloe shakes her head. "There is no door number two. This is my only option."

"Well, look, even if that thing is responsible for his disappearance, I don't think Clark would want you messing with it, Chloe. That stuff is dangerous." Oliver shakes his head. "Look, as much as I want to help you right now, Chloe. I can't. Zo's not picking up her phone. I need to go find her."

Chloe tenses. She barely paid attention to when Lois had mentioned that Zoey had been at the Kent farm that morning. She had been more concerned about Clark. "I think Zoey is with Clark."

Oliver frowns. "Zo told me she was going to farm this morning to pick up some stuff from Martha. Shit." He runs a hand over his face. The last thing he wanted to be involved in was anything related to Clark's Kryptonian heritage. "All right, who does this fancy piece of the equipment belong to?"

Zoey yawns as she follows Clark through the terrain. Kara was following behind her. She was exhausted and hungry. She wasn't sure how Oliver would react when she told him about what had happened. At that moment, she wasn't sure if she was even going to tell him about what happened.

Clark stops and turns to Zoey. "You go ahead with Kara," he tells her.

Zoey frowns. "You're not coming?"

"He's guarding the entrance so we can open the portal," Kara reminds her.

Zoey looks between them for a moment, then tightly embraces Clark, catching him off guard. She knew that Clark would find a way home, but she also felt the need to give him a hug. For what, she didn't know. "I'll see you at home," she says, then follows Kara.

Kara leads Zoey into a dark crystal cave. Light came in through the different breaks. "The altar is this way," Kara says, walking further into the cave. They come upon a large rock in the middle of a room. The familiar 'S' symbol was etched into the rock. Zoey watches as Kara cuts her hand on the edge of the altar. "We just have to touch it."

A growling noise and Clark groaning cause Zoey to turn. She was starting to worry about Clark. "Kara," she begins.

"He'll be fine," Kara interrupts. She places her hand on the 'S' symbol and it lights up. A bright swirling light appears in front of them.

"Holy shit," Zoey mutters. She glances at Kara. "Any special instructions?"

"Just go," Kara shouts, shoving Zoey into the light.

Zoey doesn't know exactly what happens, but she suddenly hits the ground. She stands up and looks around. The familiar Metropolis skyline was lit up in front of her. "At least I made it home," she mutters. She searches her pockets, hoping to find her phone. But comes up empty. "Guess I'm walking."

Zoey starts walking through the dark train yard. The horn for a train blows behind. She doesn't hear the growling noise. Nor does she see the dark figure fly through the air and slam into her back.

Chloe lets out a relieved breath upon reading the text Oliver had sent. He was getting close to getting the generator, which meant she was one step closer to finding a way to bring Clark home. She grabs a file off her desk before turning around. She jumps at seeing Zoey. "Zoey," she greets, finding the other blonde staring at her with a cold look. "Oliver will be glad to know that you're okay."

"I read your articles, Chloe Sullivan," Zoey matter of factly states. "What do you know about the Kryptonian spacecraft that landed in Smallville?"

Chloe tenses. This was not Zoey. "Where's Clark?"

"The man you call Clark will die in the prison his father created."

"What did you do with Zoey?"

"I need her vessel. Not my first choice, but it works. For now."

"And you would be…"

"Faora. Wife of Zod." Chloe's eyes widen and she takes off down the hallway of the Isis Foundation. There's a gust of air and she stops at seeing Faora standing in front of her. "Where's my son?" Chloe remains silent. "Tell me where he is or suffer the consequences."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Please let me—" Chloe's cut off when Faora grabs her by the throat.

Faora glares. "You must know more."

"I can't breath," Chloe rasps. She drops the file on the floor. Faora glances at the floor, then suddenly drops Chloe and vanishes.

Of all the things that Davis Bloom expected during his shift that night, running into Zoey was not one of them. He hadn't seen the blonde billionaire since he helped keep Oliver alive and stable after he was poisoned. "Zoey, hey," he greets, not noticing the perplexed look on her face. "What are you doing here?"

"I might ask you that question," Faora answers.

Davis forces a smile. "Is everything okay?"

"I don't understand. All that human carnage. Is that not your doing?"

Davis gently grabs her arm. "Maybe we need to find you a doctor, Zoey."

"All I need is you, my son," Faora replies. Davis is caught off when she tightly embraces him. "Mother's here."

Davis recalled reading about Zoey's problems with alcohol years earlier. He gently pulls away from her. "Let's see about getting you sobered up," he says, leading her out of the crowded emergency room.

Oliver watches as Chloe examines the blue crystal. Getting the generator from the Luthor Mansion had been no problem for him. It was even easier than he had expected as Tess had not been home. "Phantom Zone, huh? Seriously, who names these things," he mutters. He was trying to keep his worry about Zoey buried. He knew that the last thing Chloe needed was to see him worried about his wife. He had been relieved when Chloe told him that Zoey was no longer in the Phantom Zone, but that relief quickly left upon learning that Zoey was being possessed by a prisoner who escaped the Phantom Zone.

"Picture an alien Alcatraz and if I don't bail Clark out soon who knows what kind of havoc Zo-Bot will leave in her wake," Chloe replies.

"That still doesn't explain how you're hacking into that crystal, Chloe," Oliver counters. "It's not hooked up to anything. There's no computer here—"

"Do I tell you how to shoot your arrows," Chloe snaps, glaring at Oliver. Oliver tenses. "Yeah. I don't think so, stay back."

Oliver watches as Chloe places the crystal in the generator, then holds her hand over it. The generator suddenly starts to spin. The lights in the Isis Foundation office go out. Chloe appears to be in trance.

"Chloe," Oliver asks, concern laced in his voice. Chloe doesn't answer him. Blood starts dripping from her nose. "Chloe, you're bleeding." Her eyes turn white. "All right, you know what, Chloe, you're done here."

Oliver moves to grab her, but Chloe shoves him away. But it wasn't a normal shove. It was one that sent him flying across the office and knocking him out in the process.

A bright light flashes throughout the office and Chloe takes a deep breath. She turns to find Clark and Kara lying on the floor. "Chloe," Clark greets. He stands up and tightly embraces her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Chloe answers.

Clark glances around and finds the crystal sitting in the generator. "Chloe, what did you do?"

"It doesn't matter. You're safe now," Chloe replies. "And I see you snuck something through customs."

"Where's Zoey? Have you seen her? Is she all right?"

"Far from it. She was infected by something. Does the name Faora ring any bells? Strong, quick, hater of man?"

"Zod's wife," Kara clarifies for Clark.

"Yeah. The wraith that escaped."

"I need you to go Metropolis Police Department. Find John Jones. Ask him for his crystal. He'll know what you mean," Clark tells her then starts to walk out of the office.

"Hey, Clark, just a heads up. Zoey has all of your abilities without any of your inhibitions."

"Don't worry. I can handle Zoey. Tell Oliver I'll make sure she's fine," Clark says, then runs out of the room.

Davis leads Zoey to a quiet area of the Metropolis General Hospital. It was close to the basement and he knew that people rarely ventured down to this area. "Here," Davis says, handing Zoey a cup of coffee. "This won't sober you up, but it'll help clear away the cobwebs."

A quizzical look appears on her face. "You don't recognize me," Faora reasons. "But you are the spitting image of your father."

Davis frowns. "Okay, Zoey, you got to reason with me. What kind of drugs did you take? Pills, powder, paste? Don't tell me you injected anything."

"You don't know who you are. Have you experienced blackouts? Horus of your life mysteriously lost? Your body's still evolving?"

Davis freezes. "How do you know that?"

"Before we were phantoms, Zod and I were unable to have children. So, we created you."

Davis snorts. He clearly didn't believe her. "You, uh, created me…"

"You arrived here as genetic matter, containing our planet's most powerful life forms, so that, in time, you would evolve to become Earth's ultimate destroyer."

Davis shakes his head. He doesn't notice Faora grab a metal pipe from the corner. "Zoey, I drive an ambulance."

"The duty of a child is to continue the legacy his parents began. Our family is meant to take this planet like our own. And after seeing you with these humans, I realized that you are still too weak to fulfill your destiny," Faora says. She shoves the metal pipe into Davis' chest. He gasps for air. "Trust me, my son. That which kills you makes you stronger." Faora steps back and Davis falls to the ground. "I'll be back when you're ready."

Faora walks out of the room, leaving a bleeding Davis on the floor. She makes her way out of the hospital and into a dark alley. There's a rush of air and Faora turns to see Clark standing behind her.

"I've been looking for you," Clark tells her.

"You're too late, Kal-El. Zod may be gone, but our creation will destroy your world," Faora replies.

"Zoey, I know you're in there."

"Remind me, Kal-El, did Jor-El and Lara come looking for you? Of course not. They didn't love like I love my son."

Clark moves closer to her. "Zoey, this is all my fault. I'm sorry."

Faora swings at Clark and sends him flying through the air. He lands with a thud on the ground. "Zoey can't hear you," Faora coldly says, walking towards him. She stumbles. Kara was standing a few feet away, holding a red crystal. Faora is sucked out of Zoey's body and into the crystal. Clark stands up and runs over to Zoey. He catches her before she falls to the ground.

"Does that mean she's okay," Kara asks, looking at her cousin.

Clark looks down at the unconscious Zoey. "I don't know. I hope so."

Zoey lets out an annoyed breath as the cold gel hits her stomach. She didn't remember anything from when Faora possessed her. She had woken up in the Isis Foundation office with a concerned Oliver and Clark standing over her. Despite the fact that she insisted she was fine, Oliver convinced her to see the private doctor he had hired for the JLA and their allies, Dr. Emil Hamilton.

"How far along are you," Emil asks, running the ultrasound wand over Zoey's lower abdomen.

"Ten weeks," Zoey answers. She glances at Oliver and finds his gaze glued to the small screen. On the screen was a small figure that at that moment did not resemble a baby. A heartbeat fills the room. "It looks like a tiny alien puppy."

"I'm not an OB, but baby appears to be perfectly fine," Emil tells them. "Heartbeat is nice and strong."

Zoey shoots Oliver a smile. "See, I told you I was fine. And Ollie Junior is fine too."

"Your blood pressure is a little high, Zoey," Emil says, reading a chart with everything he had taken down earlier.

"Well, I think getting sucked into an alien prison, then sent back home, and being possessed by a creature that escaped said alien prison might cause that."

Emil makes a few notes in his chart. "Hopefully that's the cause behind it. I recommend that you take it easy for the next few days. Don't do anything too stressful."

Oliver lets out a relieved breath. "So, they're both okay," he asks Emil.

Emil nods. "Mom and baby perfectly survived a trip to the alien prison."

Zoey looks at her husband. "Can we get some god damn cheeseburgers now?"

Clark walks into the farmhouse that night to find Oliver sifting through the box of baby stuff that Martha had wanted Zoey to have. The box of stuff that had been the reason Zoey was at the farm the other morning. "Oliver," Clark greets. "It's nice to see everyone has a key to this place."

Oliver shoots him an amused look. "I borrowed Zo's."

"How is Zoey doing?"

"She's fine. And the baby's fine too."

"I spoke to Chloe. She said if it wasn't for you, I probably wouldn't be here right now. Thanks."

Oliver sighs. This was his primary reason for being at the farm and for insisting that Zoey stay home. "Actually, uh, if it wasn't for Chloe tweaking into a supercomputer, you wouldn't be here right now. Her eyes turned white, and then she, uh, with one hand, mind you, pushed me into the other room. So, uh, what happened to her?"

"It's Brainiac. He infected her somehow."

"What are you doing about this?"

"Everything I can. I've tried to talk to her, but I can't control her life."

"Her life? It's not her life anymore, Clark. She's living yours. Chloe's knee-deep in these situations that…pardon the expression, but humans just don't understand. As her best friend, make her stop before she gets hurt," Oliver tells him. He picks up the box and starts towards the door, but stops. "Look, Clark, I'm grateful that you helped Zo make it home safe and you and your cousin took care of whatever was possessing her, but, um, can you do me a favor and put some distance between you and Zoey? Nothing happened to her or the baby this time. But…if there's a next time, they might not be fine. And…Zoey…she's the only family I have left. I can't lose her."

Oliver finds Zoey curled up on the couch, reading a book. He places the box on the coffee table before sitting down next to her. "How was the farm," she asks, setting the book on the coffee table. He runs a hand over her leg. "Ollie?"

"The farm and Clark are fine," Oliver answers. "What are you reading?"

"One of my mom's journals. I was hoping that it would have some clues about who my dad actually is, but…nothing. Just how much she hates rehab."

"Is this a road you want to go down right now?"

Zoey sighs. "To be honest…I don't know. But I feel like there will never be a right time."

"Look, I'll support whatever you want to do. I just want you to be careful."

Zoey smiles and leans forward. She softly kisses him. "I love you."

Oliver pulls her against his chest. "I love you too, Zo."

Sound and pulse and volume
Hands just reaching out for hands
This is almost overload
I said almost overload
Friends and foes and princes
Are all just human in the end
This is so damn simple, yeah
It's so damn simple