Chapter 28 - Goodnight, Travel Well

Zoey stares in disbelief. "You have got to be fucking kidding me," she exclaims. Her gaze goes between the box of decorations and Lois. She was sitting in the kitchen of the Kent farmhouse, eating breakfast and trying to not be in the way of preparations for Chloe and Jimmy's wedding. "No fucking way. Go ask someone else."

"You're a bridesmaid, Malibu Barbie," Lois argues. "Bridesmaids pitch in with shit."

"I'm also four months pregnant. My ass is not going up a ladder. Give me something else to do. Just nothing to do with ladders." Lois stares at her for a moment, then picks up the box and walks out of the house. Zoey turns to where Clark was standing at the island. "You'd think that Lois was the one getting married with how she's acting."

"I think she just wants to make sure everything is perfect for Chloe and Jimmy," Clark replies, drinking his coffee.

"Is there such a thing as a Maid-of-Honor-zilla or is it just bridezilla? Granted Chloe is the complete opposite of a bridezilla." The kitchen door opens and Oliver walks in. Zoey shoots him a smile. "You should run and hide otherwise Lois…" She trails off seeing the look on his face. "Ollie, what's wrong?"

"Lex is alive," Oliver answers. "I was tracking a wireless ghost router he was using to bounce emails to Tess Mercer. If we can get our hands on that router, it'll tell us where the emails originated."

Clark frowns. "It's not like Lex to leave a trail."

"He's not leaving a trail. His routers pop up all over the globe. But every time I show up, all the hardware's missing."

"You want me to race in there and grab the router the next time Lex sends an email."

"That's right. Now, listen. Based on the previous pattern, I'm expecting one today. This means we could be hours away from locking that monster up for good."

Clark shakes his head. "I can't do this today."

"Clark, what are you talking about," Oliver argues. "You've given Lex, like, one hundred second chances."

"And if he's out there alive, he hasn't made a move for months. This can wait twenty-four hours. Chloe can't."

"The wedding? Is that the real reason you don't want to go after Lex or is that just an excuse?"

"Oliver," Zoey warns, sending him a look to just drop the subject.

"Chloe will understand," Oliver continues, ignoring Zoey.

"No, she won't," Clark counters. "When I had Jor-El bring back her memories, I asked him to leave out the ones about who I really am. You know everything she suffered through was because of me. And not to give her away on her wedding day? It's not an option."

"Maybe Lex hasn't made his move yet, but he will. He's more dangerous now than he ever was. Chloe may not know your secret anymore, but Lex still does."

Zoey lets out a relieved breath as she sits down on the couch in the living room. She kicks off her heels and lays down. Chloe and Jimmy's wedding had taken place without any problems. The reception was in full swing and she had taken the chance to slip away to rest. She hadn't been surprised when Oliver found an excuse to not be there.

Oliver raises an eyebrow when Max sets a large binder down on their kitchen table. He shoots Zoey a questioning look and she shrugs in response. "You two are having a wedding," Max declares, looking at his niece and her husband. "It'll be a vow renewal ceremony, but you're having a wedding."

"We're not having a wedding," Zoey tells her uncle.

"I'm not a big fan of weddings," Oliver adds.

"You're having a wedding. End of discussion," Max argues. "I've already sent out save the dates. It'll be on your anniversary. I've already told people that it's taken me four years to talk you two into this."

Zoey shakes her head. "Uncle Max, we are not having a wedding."

"Look, you are having—"

"We're not having a wedding because I'm pregnant."

Max stares at Zoey. "No wedding. But I get to throw you a baby shower."

"Fine."

Max grins and picks up the binder. "I have to go work on a baby shower binder. It'll be an amazing shower."

Zoey hears footsteps and sits up. She smiles seeing Oliver. "I thought you were out saving the world from evil dicks," she amusedly greets as he sits down next to her.

"Evil dick took off before I could get there," Oliver replies. "Why aren't you at the party?"

Zoey waves a hand. "I was tired." She turns on the couch and lays down, placing her head in his lap. "And my feet were hurting."

Oliver runs a hand over her hair. "Do you want…" He trails off motioning to the barn where the reception was still going on.

"Chloe and Jimmy's wedding was about them. We have a wedding…it's not about us. My sixteenth birthday wasn't—" Zoey's cut off when there are loud noises from outside. She and Oliver exchange a look. They stand up and move over to the window. People were running out of the barn, screaming. "What in the actual hell?"

Oliver runs out of the house. Zoey slips on her heels and quickly follows after him. He comes to a quick stop when they see a large dark creature covered in spikes walk out of the barn. In the creature's arms, was an unconscious Chloe. Zoey places a hand on his arm. "Stay here," Oliver tells her, then continues to the barn.

Zoey knows that if Oliver knew what she was doing, he wouldn't be happy. But the news of Lana's return had quickly spread among their friends. Zoey figured that Lana would be at the Isis Foundation offices and she was right. "Zoey," Lana greets, walking over to her.

Zoey smiles and tightly embraces her old friend. "It's so good to see you," she replies. She pulls back and smirks. "And according to Oliver, you've definitely changed."

Lana smirks back at her. "You've known that he's the Green Arrow the entire time."

Zoey shrugs. "I found out like a year after he started doing it. But yeah." She shifts. "So, yeah, I, uh, I just wanted to stop by and say hi."

Lana frowns. "Zoey, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything is fine." Zoey forces a smile. "I'll see you around, Lana." She walks out of the office, passing a blonde woman on her way out.

Zoey sighs as she walks out of the brownstone into the alley, carrying the trash bag. She lifts up the lid and drops the bag into the trash can. She hears a noise and turns to see a cat in the alley. "Hi," she softly says, walking towards the cat. It slowly moves closer to her. She kneels and the cat cautiously smells her hand. The cat rubs its head across her hand. "You're such a good kitty."

Zoey runs back into the brownstone and grabs a can of tuna. She opens the can and sets it down. "Eat up," she tells the cat.

The cat meows at her. 'Thank you.'

Zoey shakes her head. "I must be going crazy. It sounded like you said thank you. Or I at least heard it."

The cat meows. 'I did. There are no rats to kill.'

Zoey stares. She rubs her eyes. She was tired. There was no way she could understand the cat, who was now happily eating the canned tuna. "Right. Eat up. And I - I'm going to go inside and go to bed. Because I have to be imaging that I can hear you in my head."

Oliver enters the kitchen to find Zoey pouring canned cat food into a small bowl. He sighs. This was a conversation they had multiple times since moving into the brownstone. "Zo, you gotta stop feeding the stray cat. It won't stop hanging around otherwise," he tells her.

"You said that he can't come inside. So, he doesn't come inside," Zoey softly argues. She had no desire to have this conversation with her husband. She couldn't even bring herself to talk to Lana about it. And Lana had created an entire foundation where the sole purpose was to help meteor infected people. Granted, Zoey wasn't even sure if she was infected with Kryptonite.

Oliver frowns. "Zo, you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just tired." She shoots him a smile and picks up the bowl. The stray cat was sitting on the back steps and meows when she sets the bowl down. She scratches the cat behind its ears before stepping back into the house. "Has Clark found Chloe yet?"

"Yeah. She was infected by Brainiac again. But according to Clark, Chloe is now safe and alien computer-free. But she also has her original memories. She's heading to Star City to be with Jimmy."

"I called the hospital in Star City the other day. I told them to just send us all the bills related to Jimmy's care. They just got married. They don't need medical bankruptcy hanging over them."

Oliver pulls her against his chest. "That's pretty amazing of you to do that, Zo."

Zoey shrugs. "I figured that it was the least I could do. I just…I needed to feel like I was doing something and not just sitting here. I donated money to some different shelters too. I mean, it's not like you and the League saving the world. But…it makes a little bit of a difference. Gives shelters desperately needed funds to provide the services to people."

"You help people more than you know, Zo. Don't put yourself down. And league?"

"You guys need a name. So, Justice League of America. Or League for short." She places a hand on his chest. "You should order us some pizza for dinner. I'm starving."

The holidays pass with little fanfare. After everything that had occurred at Chloe and Jimmy's wedding, no one really felt like celebrating. Zoey and Oliver had taken a trip to Fiji to celebrate their anniversary. "Sue," Zoey brightly greets, walking up to her assistant's desk outside of her office in Queen Tower a late January morning. "Can you order—"

"Double cheeseburger with bacon and onion rings along with the chocolate fudge milkshake is already sitting on your desk," Sue answers, not looking up from her computer. "Mr. Queen called. He would like for you to call him back. And he does not know about the burger."

"Can you write down a number for a new salary and just—" Sue holds out a clipboard and a pen. "Sue, what would I do without you?"

"Be forced to deal with a bunch of idiots who do not know how to correctly place your lunch order," Sue tells her. Zoey smiles and quickly signs the form before handing the form back to her secretary. "A package arrived for you. I placed it on your desk. You have a two o'clock meeting with Professor Whitley to discuss your research paper for the semester. I've allowed two hours for that. The rest of your day has been blocked out."

Zoey smiles. "Sue, thank you." She turns and starts towards her office, but stops at the last moment. She sets her messenger bag on the ground and heads down the hallway towards the bathroom. Suddenly, an explosion goes off and knocks her to the ground.

The next morning, Zoey's sitting in the hospital bed eating a chocolate pudding cup when Clark and Lana walk in. "Hey," Zoey brightly greets. There was a small cut on her forehead and her right arm was bandaged. "How is Metropolis' newest superhero couple? How much of the house has been destroyed with superpowered fucking?"

A light blush appears on Clark's face. "How are you doing, Zoey," he asks, quickly changing the subject.

"I'm fine. Baby's fine. My secretary…not so much. Sue got more of the blast than I did. Luckily, I had to pee. I wasn't even in my office when the bomb went off."

"Zoey, do you have any idea who did this," Lana questions.

Zoey tenses. She had a pretty good idea of who may have been behind the bomb. But she wasn't sure she wanted Clark and Lana to be digging into her life. "No idea," she lies.

Clark frowns, noticing a person missing. "Where's Oliver?"

"Australia. For a big CRC event. He went in my place." Zoey rubs a hand over her belly. "You know, I'm really tired."

Lana softly smiles. "Let us know if you need anything."

Zoey smiles back. "Of course." She watches as they walk out of her hospital room. She glances out the window and could see Queen Tower in the background. "Fuck."

Oliver runs a hand over his face. He was exhausted. He knew that he shouldn't have left Metropolis but someone needed to represent Queen Industries at the announcement of the newest CRC property. Given that CRC had a history of working with Wayne Enterprises when it came to the tech and security of Rosewood hotels, it was important for someone to be the face of Queen Industries. He glances at a sleeping Zoey in the hospital bed. The doctors didn't want to release her until her blood pressure had been significantly reduced.

The door opens and Oliver looks up to see Chloe. He quickly stands up and gently guides her out of the room. This wasn't a conversation he wanted to risk Zoey overhearing. "I need you to pull an address off of Queen Industries database. It's an engineer that I fired six years ago. His name's Winslow Schott," Oliver quietly tells her.

Chloe glances in the room then back at him. "You think that this ex-employee is behind the bomb?"

"I hired him right out of MIT. Developed explosives, anything from blowing out tunnels to breaking up kidney stones."

"That's pretty high praise for someone you handed a pink slip to. What happened?"

Oliver sighs. "High-pressure job. He snapped. He started bringing toys to work. Whatever, right? But then he started hiding explosives inside the toys. And that's when I realized Winslow was thinking a little bit too far outside the toy box."

"Why are you telling me this when you have your very own personal bomb squad in Clark and Lana? I mean, give me ten minutes with one of your satellites and I'll get them to go and get him."

"No," Oliver snaps. He shakes his head. "We can't tell Clark. Winslow could have attacked me any time he wanted in the past six years. Instead, he went after Zo. And he did it when I was in Perth announcing a contract that LuthorCorp has wanted for the past decade. The toy boy may have pulled the pin, but I think he's working for Lex."

Chloe shakes her head. "Why would Lex want to hurt Zoey? You…I can understand. But Zoey?"

"She took what he wanted." Oliver shifts. He glances around the hospital hallway. No one was paying attention to them. "Chloe, you know Clark would never agree to do what needs to be done to get rid of Lex forever."

"You're talking about killing a man."

"I'm talking about ending this reign of terror that's been consuming us all lately."

"No. I can't lie to Clark."

"You want to tell him the truth or do you want to protect him? Lex tried to kill my wife. You know he's coming after Clark next. Chloe, he knows his secret. Could you honestly live with yourself if you let something happen to Clark," Oliver argues. He knew how to manipulate Chloe. She lets out a breath, agreeing to help him.

Zoey silently turns off the TV. She didn't want to hear any of the details of the bombing that killed Lex Luthor. Oliver sits down on the couch next to her and wordlessly hands her a mug of cocoa. "No one can trace anything back to you," she softly asks.

"No. The bomb was in a toy," Oliver answers. "It needed to be done, Zo."

"You're not getting any arguments from me. I just want to make sure you don't end up in prison. Chloe isn't going to say anything?"

"No. She's not."

"Good."

Oliver presses a soft kiss to the top of her head. "I'm gonna take a shower."

Zoey shoots him a smile and grabs her laptop off of the coffee table. She knew Oliver was responsible for Lex's death the moment she had heard about it. Lex was dangerous and she knew there was only one way to deal with him. The doorbell rings and Zoey sets her laptop down before standing up. She opens the door to find a man standing on the stoop. "Can I help you," she asks.

The man stares at her. "You don't remember me."

Zoey raises an eyebrow. "I'm sorry. Have we met before?"

"Every morning for a year, I had your order ready," the man replies, pulling a gun out of his coat pocket. Zoey tenses. "Every morning at exactly 8:35, I had your coffee and morning bagel ready. You knew my name and you always gave me a tip. And…you don't know who I am."

Zoey holds up her hands. "Look I-I-I-I don't know who you are. But if you want money or something, I will get it for you."

"I don't want money," the man shouts. "I want you to remember who I am. I worked at the Rosewood for twenty years and I got fired last week. I gave twenty years of my life to that hotel."

"I-I-I-I can call Jack. I'm sure he can get your job back. With a raise."

"I don't want my job back!" He raises the gun. Zoey takes a couple of steps back. "I want you to remember who I am." Two gunshots ring out.

Every time you fall
And every time you try
Every foolish dream
And every compromise
Every word you spoke
And everything you said
Everything you left me, rambles in my head