Chapter 05 - Girlfriend

Zoey yawns as Jonathan drives the pickup truck down the two-lane highway. The nearly three-hour flight from Gotham had left before the sun had risen. Luckily, Oliver's crew had managed to land at the Smallville General Aviation airport instead of Metropolis. She still felt sore. Bruce had emailed her, but she hadn't responded. She wasn't sure if she wanted to. She wasn't sure how she felt about what had happened,

A honking knocks Zoey out of her thoughts. She looks in the side mirror to see another pick-up tailgating them. The pick-up starts flashing their lights. "What's your hurry, pal," Jonathan questions. The pick-up honks once more before hitting them. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey!"

Zoey tightly grips her seat belt as the pickup hits them once more. The pick-up goes to past them, but swerves off the road and flips through the air before landing in some bushes. Jonathan pulls the truck off to the side of the road.

"Stay here," Jonathan tells her before climbing out of the truck.

Zoey sits there for a moment, then unbuckles her seatbelt and climbs out of the truck. Jonathan was dragging the unconscious driver of the truck across the road. "Is he okay," she asks.

"I hope so," Jonathan replies, setting the man on the ground. "Can you hear me? Are you okay?"

Neither of them notices the yellow flower that suddenly sits up and sprays a yellow mist in the air. Zoey sneezes. "We need to him to the hospital," she says, wiping her face.

Jonathan nods in agreement. "Help me get in the truck and we'll drop him off."

Lex lets out an annoyed breath as he walks into the study of the Luthor Mansion. He was used to Jonathan Kent's blatant dislike of him. But he needed to know what happened to Dr. Hamilton's employee, James Beales. He stops seeing a blonde woman wearing a very short jean skirt looking at one of the bookcases. "I can see security didn't do their job, but I'm going to ask you to leave," he says, walking over to her. The blonde turns around and he's taken back. "Zoey?"

Zoey smirks, walking over to him. She wore a short jean skirt and a black tank top. Her hair fell in soft curly waves. The glasses were gone; replaced with contacts. A pair of four-inch heels and a bright red lip completed her look. "I came to borrow one of your Porsches."

"And why do you want to borrow one of my Porsches," Lex questions. This wasn't like Zoey. There was something wrong with her.

Zoey smirks. She reaches into her bra and pulls out a black credit card. Lex doesn't miss the American Express logo. "Can't go on a shopping spree in one of Uncle Jonathan's boring pickups."

He needed to keep her here. At least until he was able to make sure she was okay. "I don't think you could handle one of my cars."

Zoey runs a hand down his chest. "You'd be surprised at what I can handle." Her tongue darts out. She laughs and lightly taps his cheek. "I wasn't asking permission." She walks around, heading towards the door.

Lex grabs her arm. "You're not going anywhere."

Zoey raises an eyebrow. "Says who?"

"I don't know what's going on with you, Zoey, but I'm not letting you leave."

"The only thing that's going on is that I'm done being Zoey York. Fuck that girl." She holds up her arms. "I'm Zoey Carmichael."

Lex pulls her against his chest. He would get to the bottom of whatever was going on with her after he took care of the problem caused by Dr. Hamilton and his employees. "I have some business to take care of, then we can head out of the Metropolis."

Zoey presses against him. She lightly tugs on the collar of his shirt. "How long will this business take?"

"A couple of hours."

Zoey stares at him. Her lips brush his cheek. "I'll check out the pool while I wait," she says. Her hand runs over his chest once more before walking out of the room. Lex lets out a breath, then walks over to his desk. He needed more information on that flower that Dr. Hamilton was researching.

Zoey hadn't missed the way that the young security guard who worked for Lex had eyed her earlier. She had no intention of checking out the pool. She wasn't going to let Lex stop her from having her shopping spree. She walks into the security guard shack by the gate. "I saw the way you were looking at me earlier," she greets, hopping up onto the desk. "How long have you worked here?"

The guard lightly smiles. "It's my first day, Miss Carmichael."

Zoey grabs his tie, tugging him close. "What's your name?"

"Alex."

"Do you want to come with me?"

Alex had shaggy brown hair and dark blue eyes. "Where would that be?"

Zoey leans forward. "Metropolis. Then wherever." She holds up a set of car keys with a Porsche key chain. "Have you ever driven one of these?"

"Not before today."

Zoey pulls him into a kiss. His hands grip her thighs. He tugs her forward. She breaks the kiss. "I have an idea."

Lex walks into the garage to find Zoey and the newest member of his security team making out on top of one of his Porsches. He clears his throat. Alex, the security guard, jumps back. His shirt was undone. Zoey rolls her eyes and lays back on the car. "She's fifteen," Lex states.

Alex's eyes widen. He looks between Zoey and his boss. "Mr. Luthor, she didn't—"

"You're fired," Lex interrupts. "Leave. Now."

"Don't be a party pooper, Lex," Zoey says, sitting up. Lex is thankful that she is fully clothed. She walks over to him. "Don't worry, we can still have fun."

"You're infected with whatever James Beales and Jonathan Kent have, Zoey. You have the same symptoms as them. This isn't you."

"What if it is," Zoey snaps. "Everyone just sees me as the poor little girl who lost her parents. Or the freak who didn't talk for two years. You know, even Bruce still sees me as the freak. Yet, he's the one who wanted me to visit him in Gotham for a very disappointing fuck."

"Zoey—"

"Go fuck yourself." Zoey turns and stumbles. Lex grabs her arm. Her skin was burning up. She blinks and looks around, confused. "Lex?"

"How is she doing," Lex questions the doctor. Part of him didn't want to take Zoey to the hospital. The last thing he needed was for there to be any connection between Zoey and the research Steven Hamilton was conducting. But he knew that she needed proper medical care; more than any private doctor could provide.

"She has the same symptoms as two other patients that were brought in earlier," the doctor answers.

"How are they doing?"

"The car crash victim just fell into a coma. If these patients all have the same illness, then we at least know how this…thing works. But right now, Zoey is stable for now. I'll go let Mrs. Kent know."

"Thank you," Lex tells the doctor. The doctor nods and walks out of the room. Lex stands there for a moment, then walks out of the room. Outside of the hospital, he finds the head of security waiting. "Has he been taken care of?"

"Yes, Mr. Luthor," the head of security replies.

"Good."

Max runs a hand over his face. Not only was he exhausted and still processing the humiliating unexpected trip he had to Atlantic City, but the fact that Zoey was now in a coma was troubling. "How is she doing," Martha asks, slipping into the room. She had been splitting her time between Jonathan and Zoey.

"The same," Max replies. He shifts. "What exactly happened?"

"They believe that Zoey was exposed to the same thing as Jonathan and another man," Martha tells him. Common comes from outside of the room. "I'm going to check that out."

Max nods, watching Martha run out of the room. He grabs Zoey's hand. "I'm sorry for scaring you yesterday," he softly tells her. "I promise that this summer, I'll tell you everything. I mean it." Max's cell phone rings and he pulls it out to see a familiar number. "I see you got my message."

"Zoey was fine when I dropped her off this morning," Oliver tells him. "And now she's in the hospital."

"She's in a coma," Max corrects.

"I'm on my way—"

"No," Max interrupts. "No, Oliver. You are going to stay away from this. Far away."

"Max—"

"Look, I know you and Zoey are close. You're protective of her. But you need to back off. She is fifteen. It is inappropriate of you to be hopping on a plane every time something happens to her."

"You know Zoey is friends with Lex Luthor, right? He's a couple of months older than me."

Max sighs. "From my understanding, it's more a friendship by association."

"Believe what you want, Max. But Zoey's the one who called me yesterday morning, scared out of her fucking mind. Next time your hookup goes wrong, find a phone and let her know that you're still alive," Oliver says before hanging up.

Max drops the cell phone on the bed and runs a hand over his face. The only noise in the room was the beeping from the machines hooked up to Zoey.

Zoey lets out a soft groan and slowly opens her eyes. She looks around before realizing that she's in a hospital room. "Uncle Max," she tiredly questions, upon seeing Max half asleep in the hard plastic chair. "Uncle Max, what's going on?"

Max yawns, standing up. "You were poisoned by some flower. Some doctors in Metropolis found a Native American cure and used it. Looks like it worked."

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be in Star City?"

"Martha called and told me before I left Gotham." Max leans forward. "Zoey, what happened in Gotham—"

"I had sex with Bruce," Zoey whispers, staring down at her hands. "Whatever happened to you was my fault. I should have stayed at the gala."

Max shakes his head. "What happened wasn't your fault." He shifts. "Zoey, I'm gay. And when we were at the gala, I met this guy. He was nice and handsome. We snuck off and after some time we decided to go back to his place. Turns out his place was in Atlantic City and it was a dump. So, I got us a room at Caesar's, and…well, he robbed me the morning after. I woke up with no clothes, no wallet. Luckily, they had my card on file and the general manager knew who I was. She helped me get back to Gotham."

"Uncle Max, why didn't you go to the police," Zoey questions.

Max scoffs. "I'd rather just forget it happened, Zoey. It was a hookup that went wrong."

Zoey wants to argue with him; she wants to convince him to go to the police. "But you're okay? This guy didn't hurt you or anything, did he?"

"Zoey, I'm fine," Max tells her, grasping her hand. "I hope none of this changes things between us."

"Uncle Max, it doesn't change a thing. I just want you to be happy."

Max shoots her a smile. He shifts. "So, what is this about you sleeping with Bruce? Because if this is something that is going to continue in the future, then I need to talk to Martha about putting you on birth control."

Zoey picks at invisible lent on the hospital bed sheets. "I don't…I don't know if it'll go any further. But, um, I-I-I think being on the pill or whatever would be a good idea."

Zoey yawns as she sits down at her desk. Finally, she was home. She, along with Jonathan, had been held in the hospital for an extra couple of days to ensure that they were hundred percent healthy before leaving. She opens her iBook and logs into her email. She wasn't expecting to find much, just the usual junk emails. But sitting in her inbox were at least a dozen emails from Bruce.

Once she's finished reading through all of them, Zoey hits reply on the latest one.

'Hi Bruce,

Sorry for not replying sooner. Not long after I returned to Smallville I had a severe allergic reaction to some pollen and ended up in the hospital for a few days. I'm all better now and back at the farm. Everything was a little hectic before I left Gotham. Uncle Max had quite an adventure and I didn't leave until early Monday morning.

I managed to get ahold of the morning-after pill on Sunday and took it that same day. We should be covered there. I'll be going on birth control soon. That will be a fun talk with my godmother.

I'd like to visit Gotham this summer if the invite still stands. For me, the school year ends right before Memorial Day.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Zoey'

Zoey leans back in her chair, biting her lip. Chloe had been nice enough to bring over the assignments she had missed in school. She grabs her history book, ready to start catching up. A ding emits from her laptop and she looks to see a reply from Bruce. She quickly opens it.

'Hi Zoey,

I'm glad you're doing better. Alfred mentioned that he heard something may have happened to Max after the gala, but didn't elaborate on what. I'm also glad that you were able to find a way to take care of things. Yes, the offer still stands. School ends the second week of June here. We can figure out a time for you to visit closer to summer as I'm sure you'll have to talk to Max.

Let me know what works best for you,

Bruce.'

Zoey leans back in her chair and smiles, making a mental note to talk to Max the next morning.

Won't you be my girlfriend
I'll treat you good (I'll treat you good girl)
I know you hear your friends when they say you should
'Cause if you were my girlfriend
I'd be your shining star
The one to show you where you are
Girl you should be my girlfriend