Chapter 14 — Yellow
Zoey grins as she walks down the stairs, carrying an overnight back. She was excited. Martha had planned a girls' weekend for them in Metropolis as Zoey needed to go shopping for a dress for the Wayne Foundation Gala, which was being held the next weekend. Bruce had informed her that they would be making their debut as an official couple at the Gala. She knew that she needed the perfect dress for the occasion. She places her bag on the floor next to the kitchen island. "Uncle Max has arranged for the perfect girls' weekend," Zoey brightly says to Clark and Jonathan. "Mani pedis, facials, a massage, a salon visit, and a private shopper at Bloomingdales."
"Sounds like Max has planned quite the weekend," Jonathan comments.
"Yep. Chloe even helped me gather a good collection of trashy tabloids."
"That sounds like a perfect girls' weekend," Clark replies, exchanging an amused look with Jonathan.
"I agree, but I can't go," Martha says, walking down the stairs wearing a brown suit and carrying her briefcase.
Zoey frowns. "Oh."
Jonathan places a comforting hand on Zoey's shoulder. "Now, wait a minute. Why not?"
"Lionel just called. LuthorCorp's finalizing a major acquisition tomorrow," Martha begins. "And he needs me to go with him to his Metropolis office to prepare."
"Didn't you tell him you have a girls' weekend with Zoey," Clark questions.
"I'll be back tomorrow night. We can have girls' weekend next week, Zoey," Martha replies, shooting Zoey an apologetic smile.
Zoey forces a smile. She was clearly disappointed. "Yeah, sure. I'll go call Chloe and Lana. See if they want to hang out or something this afternoon."
Jonathan shakes his head. He was not happy that Martha was choosing to put work first over their family. "What are you gonna do? Put it on your LuthorCorp expense account."
Martha sighs. "Oh, Jonathan. You can't make me feel any worse about it than I already do, but I don't have a choice. He's my boss."
"And that's our daughter."
"Believe me, I'd much rather spend this weekend with Zoey. But this job is important to me."
"I never thought I'd see the day where this job was more important to you than this family," Jonathan says, then walks out of the kitchen.
"Can't Zoey just join you in Metropolis," Clark suggests.
Martha sighs. She glances at Zoey. "I can join you at the hotel after I've finished work for the day. If that's all right with you."
"That works for me," Zoey brightly replies. Jonathan sighs and smiles at Zoey, though he wasn't happy that Martha was still choosing work over family time.
Zoey lightly smiles as she rides the elevator up to the top floor of the LuthorCorp building. She had been dropped off at the Rosewood Metropolis earlier that day and had already gone to the salon. Her hair had been cut; it now stopped above her shoulders. It had also been straightened but still held soft waves. She was excited to meet up with Martha and show off her new haircut. The elevator doors open and she steps off. Zoey stops seeing a bald man wearing a janitor's coverall and holding a gun. She slowly raises her hands. The bald man grabs her arm and drags her into a large office. Martha and Lionel were sitting on the couch in the back of the room.
"We better not have any more visitors," the bald man says, shoving Zoey towards Martha and Lionel. He turns his attention back to where a couple of other people wearing the same janitor's coveralls were attempting to break into a large vault situated in the room.
A beeping noise fills the office. The thieves exchange a look. "How the hell did the cops get tipped off," the bald man says. Lionel shifts and Zoey glances at him. She could see that he was trying to hide something. The bald man walks over them. He had seen what Zoey had seen. "What do you got in your hand?" The bald man grabs Lionel's hand trying to grab what the older man was attempting to hide. Lionel struggles against the man.
"Stop it," Martha exclaims. "You're hurting him! Lionel, please."
Lionel stops moving and the bald man successfully retrieves the small device with a red blinking button. "Panic button. State of the art," a man, wearing the same janitor's coveralls, says. He was sitting on the floor and was tied up.
The bald man glares. He turns to a dark-haired woman. "Check him out," he orders.
The woman nods and walks over to them. She grabs Lionel's arm and pulls the man up. She starts to search Lionel. "A man in my position can never take too many precautions," Lionel states.
"Why don't you just let us," Martha pleads. "You can avoid adding kidnapping to the breaking and entering charges."
"I think he's alright," the woman declares.
"We should've gotten out when I said," the man on the floor shouts. "If you'd kept to the plane, none of this would have happened!"
The bald man turns and pulls out a gun before shooting the man on the floor. Martha screams. The other thieves start arguing with their guns drawn on each other. Zoey can't help but stare at the now dead man, who had blood pooling on his chest.
"Zoey, you can't tell anyone what happened."
Zoey closes her eyes. She needed to get out of the office. If she could get out, then she could get help. She opens her eyes and finds one of the thieves staring at her. The man clearly recognized who she was. Any thoughts she had of trying to get out of the office vanish.
"You're wasting your time, you know. There's nothing in there of value to any of you," Lionel declares.
The man walks over to Zoey and grabs her arm before yanking her up. "Let her go," Martha shouts.
"How much do you think Bruce Wayne will pay for his girl," the man asks, looking between the bald man and the woman.
"Who cares," the bald man replies. He grabs Zoey and shoves her back towards Martha and Lionel. "Get back to work."
Zoey falls to the floor in front of Martha and Lionel. Martha wraps her arms around Zoey. "Sweetheart, are you okay," Martha quietly asks.
"I'm fine," Zoey softly answers. She leans against Martha's knees, wanting to have the comfort of her godmother.
"What are we going to do," the woman asks, glaring at the bald man. Zoey shifts from where she was sitting on the floor in front of Lionel and Martha. "They saw you kill Kern. They can ID us, Pine. And I for am not going down for murder, you understand me."
"We'll deal with them when the time comes," Pine, the bald man, replies. Zoey watches as they walk back towards the man who is currently cutting open the vault with a blowtorch.
Lionel leans in close to Martha. "I know what you're thinking. If I hadn't asked you to work today, you'd be at home right now with your family," he whispers.
"I don't blame you, Lionel," Martha quietly replies. "It's…it's just that Jonathan and I left on such bad terms."
"It's ironic. I had quite a row this morning too with Lex. If they kill us, those will be the last words we ever spoke to each other."
Zoey clears her throat. "I should've just stayed at the hotel," she whispers. She turns her gaze to where the thieves are using liquid nitrogen to open the vault. Pine grabs a crowbar and hits the door where the liquid nitrogen is poured. He hits the door and the frozen metal easily breaks. The thief opens the door and he steps in.
"What the hell is this," one of the thieves exclaims.
Zoey scoots over a bit to peer into the vault. On a silver cart were stacks of refined meteor rocks. The color of them was unmistakable. She glances at Lionel to find that the man has an amused look on his face and is stoking his beard.
Two of the thieves wheel the cart out of the vault. Martha frowns and glances at Zoey. They look as Pine walks out with a stalk of blue file folders. He walks over to them. "Where's the fucking money?!"
"I told you there was nothing in there of interest to you," Lionel calmly answers. Pine throws the folders on the ground and they land a couple of feet away from Zoey. She glances at the folders and finds one with her name on it. She also notices one with Clark's name on it.
"Check this out," a thief says, walking out of the vault with a cylinder case. The thief opens it and pulls out an octagonal disk. Zoey glances at Martha and she sees that the older woman instantly recognized what it was. "It could be worth something."
Pine grabs the disk and walks over to them. He grabs Lionel's hair and yanks the man's head back. "What the fuck is this?"
"Martha, perhaps the, uh, gentleman hasn't noticed that I'm blind," Lionel says, taking off his sunglasses. "Would you mind telling me what he's referring to?"
Martha glances at Zoey. "It's, uh, some sort of metallic disk-shaped like an octagon."
"It's nothing," Lionel says, shaking his head. "Keepsake."
Zoey frowns. It was something important if Lionel was keeping it in his vault. Martha seemed upset and angry for some reason. Something was going on and Zoey was curious as to what was going on. She was also curious as to the nature of Martha's relationship with Lionel as they seemed extra close on the couch.
"Where's my transportation," Pine demands into a cell phone. "Okay. Fine." He walks over and grabs Zoey's arm. He drags Zoey over to the window. He pulls the gun out of the inside of the janitor's overalls. Pine places the gun against Zoey's temple. She could see a helicopter flying around outside. "You've got ten minutes then you cantata this one out in a body bag." He shoves her against the window and Zoey winces. Pine hangs up the phone and drags her away from the window. He shoves her onto the couch next to Martha.
"Sweetheart, are you okay," Martha whispers. Zoey shakes her head and wipes away a tear. Martha rubs Zoey's back, all while keeping an eye on Pine, who was currently talking on the phone and fingering the disk.
Zoey shifts. She was starting to get hungry. She was tired. More than anything she wanted to lay in bed and talk on the phone with Bruce. Suddenly, alarms on Lionel's computer go off. Pine was on the phone once more. The thief walks over to them. Another thief walks out of the office. "Hey Lionel, you been holding out on me? Is there some kind of secret way out of here?"
Martha and Zoey look at Lionel as he strokes his beard. "Oh yes," he says. "And whatever that anonymous coward, your Mr. Green, is offering…I'll double it. In exchange for our lives and the contents of the safe."
"Hmm. Hear that Mr. Green? Looks like we got us a bidding war," Pine says. He chuckles. "Oh, but I should trust you. Somebody who hides his own identity? I think I'd rather deal with Lionel." Pine hangs up the phone.
"So, as soon as the banks open, I'll have the money wired to, uh, any account you choose. Anywhere in the world," Lionel says.
Pine stares at the billionaire. "All right. We got a deal."
"Good."
"But I'm hanging on to everything until I get that money."
Lionel nods. "Alright."
Pine walks over to the thief standing a few feet away. "Bishop, pack up the stuff in the vault," he orders.
"So, now are you going to tell me who's on the other line," Lionel questions.
"You'd probably know better than me. Why don't you think who your enemies are," Pine retorts, walking over to them. He aims his gun at Zoey and Martha. "Come on, you two. You can help out. Pick up the files. Come on." Zoey and Martha kneel next to the files. Zoey grabs the file with her name on it. She wanted to know what Lionel had on her. She glances to find that Martha is peering into the file with Clark's name. A gun clicks. "Today! Come on! Pick 'em up, put 'em in the barrel with the rest of the stuff!"
"Okay," Martha weakly says, grabbing the rest of the files. "We're picking them up."
Zoey gathers a couple of the files and stands up. She puts them in the barrel on the cart. Martha does the same. Pine pushes Martha towards Lionel. "Get over there and help your boss." Martha walks over to Lionel. Pine places the gun under Zoey's chin and forces her chin up. She glares at him. The power suddenly goes off. "What the hell happened?"
"The cops cut the power," Bishop shouts. "We have got to go!"
Pine shoves Zoey to the side and she falls to the ground. "Bishop, don't," Pine exclaims, running after his partner. The doors suddenly fly open. Bishop and Pine fly across the room. The gun falls out of Pine's hand and lands a couple of feet away from Lionel.
Zoey turns to the doors and sees Clark walking. "Clark, get out of here now," Martha shouts. Clark stumbles as he nears the cart filled with the meteor rock bars. He falls to the ground.
Pine regains his footing and runs over to Clark. "Are you alone," he demands, grabbing Clark by the jacket. "Answer me! Are you alone?"
Zoey runs over to the cart and grabs one of the bars. She slams the bar on the back of Pine's head, knocking the thief out. He falls onto Clark. Zoey runs back over to the cart and places the bar on it before pushing it into the vault. Martha runs over and they close the vault door. Clark shoves the man off of him and stands up. "Are you okay," Zoey quietly asks.
None of them notice Pine stand up and walk towards Lionel. He grabs a drill out of a tool bag and holds it up to Lionel's head. "Put your hands over your head or I'll kill the old man," Pine says, causing them to turn to him. Blood was streaming down his face.
A gunshot rings out. Zoey jumps. Blood was pooling on Pine's chest. The image of Roger Nixon and a blood-stained shirt flashes in her mind. Pine falls to the floor to reveal that Lionel had shot the man in the back.
"Zoey, you can't tell anyone what happened."
Zoey misses Clark setting the barrel with the files on it on fire or Martha sipping the octantal disk out of Pine's pocket and into hers. The doors burst open. "Metropolis PD! Nobody move!" Zoey jumps. She quickly raises her arms. She keeps her gaze on Lionel. For the second time in her life, she had witnessed a Luthor killing a man. But there was something off about this. If Lionel was blind, how was he able to shoot the thief in the chest?
Bruce reaches up and brushes some of Zoey's hair behind her ear. She shoots him a soft smile. "If you had canceled, I would have understood," he tells her. They were sitting in the backseat of a black SUV, heading towards the Wayne Foundation Gala. News of her being held hostage in Lionel's office had quickly spread across the country. He was wearing a simple black suit with a black tie. She was wearing a strapless maroon dress and the diamond necklace he had given her for her birthday.
Zoey leans over and softly kisses him. "I love you," she softly says.
"I love you too." The SUV comes to a stop. Bruce grabs her hand. "We don't have to do this if you're not up to it."
Zoey shakes her head. "I'm fine."
Bruce opens the door and climbs out of the SUV. Zoey sits there for a moment, then she slides across the seat. She grasps his outstretched hand and climbs out of the SUV. Her grip on his hand tightens as they walk down the red carpet. She forces a smile as the cameras flash at her. She could people shouting questions, but doesn't register what they say.
Bruce leads Zoey off of the red carpet and into the gala. He glances at her and finds her eyes filled with panic. "Zoey, are you okay," he quietly asks.
Zoey shakes her head. She wipes away a tear. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just…I just…I need a minute," she softly tells him.
Bruce shakes his head. "We're leaving."
"What? No. No. I'm fine. I just need a minute."
"I'm not putting you through this anymore. We're leaving," Bruce states, then leads her out of the party. They step out into an alley and the crisp February hits them. Everything that she had been holding in for the past week suddenly comes out. She covers her mouth trying to keep the sobs in. Bruce pulls her against his chest. His arms are wrapped around her; doing everything he can to protect her.
Look at the stars
Look how they shine for you
And all the things that you do