#like the moment where lana hands lex the drink and he smiles up at her with such an innocently adoring look....... many thoughts head full

[fairyroses]

requested by @lexkent: the scene in "Shattered" where Lana sees Lex on the ground in the stable sitting curled into himself, and she looks anguished to see him in such a state, and she's so kind and compassionate to him

+ bonus Lana, after literally almost dying:

[woods2006gal]

Chapter 05 - Hero

Zoey and Lana walk up to where Clark and Pete were talking in the hallway about ties and cummerbunds. “I don’t know Clark,” Lana greets, causing the boys to turn to them. “Red always looks good on you.”

“Then red it is,” Clark replies and Zoey can’t help but roll her eyes.

“Thanks,” Pete tells Lana. “Now I gotta go make a call and change my order. Don’t want people mistaking us for twins.”

“Yeah, because that would totally happen,” Zoey sarcastically says. Pete shoots her a glare as he walks away. She turns to Clark. “You seem to be super excited about the dance.”

“I am, but between the tickets, renting the tux, and buying the flowers it gets expensive,” Clark tells them as they walk down the crowded hallway.

“You should try finding the right dress,” Lana counters. “Guess the limo’s out.”

“I’m actually thinking of asking Lex if I can borrow his. Chloe says she doesn’t care but deep down I know she wants one. I’m trying to surprise her, so keep it between us,” Clark says. He sends a pointed look to Zoey and she runs her fingers across her lips, indicating that she wouldn’t say anything.

“My lips are sealed.”

They stop at Lana’s locker and Zoey leans against the other lockers. “I just still can’t believe I’m the only one who doesn’t have a date,” Zoey says.

Lana shoots her a smile. “You can always hang out with us.”

Zoey winkles her nose. “Yeah, I’m gonna say no to that. I’d rather not be the third or fifth…seventh wheel. Besides, I have pack for Star City.” She hadn’t told anyone about the email she had gotten last night from Bruce. The email that was inviting her to come spend a few weeks with him in Gotham.

Clark frowns when he notices an upset look on Chloe’s face as she walks towards them. “Chloe?”

“They’re closing the LuthorCorp plant,” Chloe tells them. They exchange confused looks, wondering why the plant.

~*~

Zoey steps into the manager’s office of the Talon. She closes the door and picks up the phone, dialing Max’s number. After going through the different assistants, Zoey finally manages to get ahold of her uncle. “How is my favorite niece,” Max greets. “I’m looking forward to seeing you Sunday.”

“Uh, that’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about,” Zoey begins. “Bruce emailed me and ask if I wanted to spend a few weeks in Gotham.”

Max lets out a relived breath. “You are more than welcome to go hangout with Bruce. I just got a call from our new hotel in Paris was having some construction difficulties. I have to be there by Monday morning for a meeting with the architect and the foreman. I can drop you off in Gotham before heading the Paris.”

Zoey bites her lip. “What if Bruce and I joined you in Paris?”

Max laughs. “You guys are more than welcomed to join me. I just didn’t want to you be bored in Star City by yourself. Oliver will be disappointed that he’ll have to wait a few extra weeks, but I think he’ll be fine.”

Zoey frowns. “Why will Ollie be disappointed?”

“He’s spent the past month stopping by to ask when you’re gonna visit. I keep telling him the same answer, but honestly, I just think he misses you. You guys didn’t get to hangout much after he came back from the island. I’ll let him that it’ll be a few extra weeks since you and Bruce are more than likely going to join me in Paris.”

“Don’t forget about Alfred,” Zoey adds.

“I could never forget about Alfred. An ex-special forces butler. Someone needs to be there to chaperone two horny teenagers while I’m meetings all day. Make sure you guys actually see some of the sights.”

Zoey smiles. “I’ll email Bruce and then let you know what he says.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Oh, hey. Can I add an invite to the Forth of July Party?”

“You can add whoever you want.”

Zoey sighs as she sits down under a tree. She pulls out the stopper from the bottle of wine and takes a swig. She coughs as the liquid goes down her throat. “Are you willing to share?” Zoey looks up to find Bruce Wayne. He was a year older than her. At fifteen, Bruce was over six feet tall with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. Zoey had known him for as long as she could remember. She holds out the bottle and he takes it.

“I hate these parties,” Zoey says as Bruce sits down next to her. “People always talking about how they miss my parents.”

“How much I look like my dad.”

“How proud they are of the person I’m becoming.”

They sit under the tree, drinking the wine, and talking. Zoey doesn’t know what possess her to do it, but she straddles Bruce’s lap and kisses him. It wasn’t her first kiss. That had been with Mike. He had been the one who kissed her. It had been awkward and not what she had expected, given that she didn’t have those kind of feelings for Mike. Though after he kissed her, he had immediately came out to her. This…this was different. It was searching for comfort with an alcohol fazed mind. She gasps when Bruce flips them over and her back hits the cold ground. Bruce pulls back and the unasked question hangs in the air between them.

“Fuck me,” Zoey breathes. She watches as Bruce pulls a condom out of his back pocket. Her heart is racing. She shimmies out of her panties as he shoves his pants and boxer briefs down. She takes the condom from him and opens the packet. Carefully, she rolls the condom onto his cock. She meets his gaze as he guides himself to her entrance.

Bruce notices the wince on her face as he starts to enter her. “I can stop.”

“Don’t. Just…just do it.”

“Zoey—”

“Do it, Bruce.” He thrusts into her, breaking the barrier. Zoey lets out whimper. His thrusts are slow and shallow, taking her mind off the pain she was in. She leans up and presses her lips against his. Her nails dig into his back as he speeds up his thrusts, going deeper and harder. He buries his face in her neck as he comes.

Zoey frowns when the man in suit stares at her. He had been standing near the counter, waiting for someone. But the moment she had stepped behind the counter to make to go orders for herself and Clark, the mysterious stranger had been staring at her. Clark walks up to the counter and Zoey hands him his cup. “Here you go, Clark,” she says. She grabs her own cup and starts to join him as they make their way back to the farm.

“If I could have just one minute of your time, Clark,” the stranger says, walking up to them. He grabs Clark’s arm.

Clark shoots him a confused look. “How do you know my name?”

“Roger Nixon. I’m a journalist with the Inquisitor and I would very much like to write a story about you.”

“Thanks, but I’m not really interested.” Clark grabs Zoey’s wrist and they start to make their way out of the Talon.

“Why weren’t you hurt in that explosion,” Roger asks, stepping in front of them. “You were in the truck on the farm.”

Zoey had been at work when the truck had exploded on the farm the day before. She had heard about it after Martha had picked her up. Clark tenses. “I was nowhere near that truck,” he easily lies.

“Am I missing something interesting?”

Zoey turns to see Lex walking over to them. “This gentleman was just leaving,” she coldly says, glaring at Nixon.

“Lex,” Nixon greets.

“You know my name, but I don’t know yours,” Lex replies.

“Roger Nixon. I work for the Inquisitor.”

“When is someone gonna put that bad excuse for a tabloid out of its misery?”

“It was nice meeting you, Lex,” Roger says. He turns to Clark, but not before taking a quick glance at Zoey. “I’m sure we’ll talk again soon, Clark.”

They watch as he walks out of the Talon. “What was that all about,” Lex asks, looking between Clark and Zoey.

“He wants to do a story on me, make me out to be some kind of hero,” Clark answers.

“The Inquisitor’s a rag, Clark. If I were you, I wouldn’t get mixed up with him.”

“I don’t intend to.”

“If he gives either of you any more trouble, let me know.”

Lex starts to walk away, but Zoey grabs his arm. “I didn’t like the way that he kept staring at me,” she tells Clark and Lex.

Lex frowns. “How was he looking at you?”

“The same way that all reporters do whenever they think they’ve stumbled onto a massive story.”

“You know, you and Bruce fucking are not what I was expecting when I invited him to the party this summer,” Max says, sitting down across from Zoey at breakfast the next morning. She shoots him a confused look, wondering how he could know. “One of the groundskeepers found the evidence this morning. I’ll make you an appointment with a doctor later today.”

“Are you gonna tell Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Martha,” Zoey asks, shifting.

“As long as you’re safe, then it’s not my business to tell them. If you want to go onto the pill, then I’ll help you and pay for it. But if you do that, then you need to tell Martha something.”

“I know.”

The phone on the table suddenly rings. Max grabs it. “Hello,” he asks. Zoey watches as he frowns. “This is Max Carmichael. What? Where is he? No, I’ll go down there. Thank you.”

“What’s going on,” Zoey asks, after Max sets the phone down.

“They found Oliver.”

Zoey freezes. She feels like her world has suddenly stopped. “What?”

“Oliver’s alive. And he’s at Star City General.”

Zoey follows her godparents down to the storm cellar. They had paused when they saw that the storm cellars doors were open, but they had continued down to the cellar. Zoey recognizes Roger Nixon. He was filming Clark’s ship. “Mr. Kent,” Nixon greets, turning to them.

Jonathan slams Nixon against one of the pillars. “Jonathan,” Martha shouts. Zoey moves stays near the stairs. The howling of the tornadoes above them was the only thing she could hear. She could see Martha and Jonathan shouting. Zoey barely notices Clark’s spaceship start to light up. Nixon stares at Zoey for a moment. He shoves Jonathan off and starts towards the stairs. Jonathan punches Nixon and he falls to the ground. Nixon stands up and Zoey moves closer to the stairs.

Nixon grabs Zoey’s arm and drags her up the stairs. “Let me go,” Zoey screams, struggling to get out of Nixon’s grasp.

“You’re coming with me, Zoey Carmichael,” Nixon screams. She struggles to get out of his grasp. She can hear Jonathan screaming for her, for Nixon to stop and let her go. The wind picks up as they run through the woods and reach an old cemetery. Finally, realizing that Zoey was holding him back, Nixon shoves her to the ground and takes off.

“Zoey,” Jonathan shouts. He tugs her up and continues running after the man. Jonathan tackles the man and the camera goes flying out of his hands. Sensing that danger was imminent, Jonathan looks around the cemetery. “Zoey, there’s an underground crypt over there! Go!”

Zoey doesn’t hesitate to run down into the crypt. Moments later, a body is thrown down into the crypt. Jonathan shortly follows and a loud boom is heard above them. Dust and debris fill the crypt.

~*~

Zoey shifts on the cold, hard ground. Jonathan and Nixon arguing about Clark. About whether his secret should be exposed to the world or if it should be done when Clark was ready. She had been confused. Of course, learning that Nixon was working with Lex hadn’t made things any easier. Zoey was also exhausted and tired. “Why did you grab me,” she asks Nixon.

Nixon shoots her a disbelieving look. “You’re Zoey Carmichael. You’re the second biggest story this town has and no one can see what is right in front of them.”’

“There’s nothing special about me.”

Nixon scoffs. “Nothing special! Sweetheart, you’re one of the richest teenagers in the world and you’re living on a farm. Doing chores. Working at a crappy coffee shop. Just a couple of months ago you were at the annual Wayne Foundation Gala and seen getting cozy with the other richest teenager in the world.”

Zoey glares. “And you think that gives you the right to write about my life? To publish whatever the fuck you want without giving a damn about the real people you write about? They have to face the consequences of what people like you write. Of photographers taking pictures of events that they shouldn’t even be a witness to.” She stands up and walk towards him. “You write about me or my family and I guarantee that your career will be over.”

Nixon rolls his eyes. “Little girl, there’s nothing—”

“The entire fucking country still sees me as a seven year old, covered in her mother’s blood, sitting in a hospital waiting room. You’re a reporter who was seen harassing me weeks after the man who killed my parents was released from prison. Who do you think has the power here,” Zoey angrily says. She holds out her hand. “Give me the tape.”

Nixon stares at her. He knew she had a point. Reluctantly, he pulls the tape out of his jacket pocket and hands it to her. Zoey yanks the film out of the tape and drops it on the ground before smashing it. She turns and walks back to the corner she had previously been sitting in. She doesn’t see the proud look on Jonathan’s face.

Jonathan clears his throat. “The mortar here is weak. We might be able to dig ourselves out.”

~*~

Zoey groans as she pushes herself up. The tunnel that Jonathan and Nixon had been working on had collapsed. They had all been knocked out. She looks around and finds Jonathan covered in dirt and debris near where he had been standing. Nixon was lying on the ground, a couple of feet away from. “Uncle Jonathan,” she says, crawling over to him.

Nixon starts cough. “I can’t breathe.”

Zoey glances at him. “The tunnel collapse must have cut off the air supply.”

Nixon sits up and looks at the collapsed tunnel. Jonathan coughs. “Dying in a tomb, that’s ironic,” Nixon says. “At least you’ve got a legacy to leave behind. That’s something to be proud of.”

“First time Clark used his abilities, he’d crawled under a big oak bed that my grandfather had made and I-I crawled underneath to try and get him out and then all of a sudden the-the frame just came up in the air. He was toddler lifting, I don’t what it was, five hundred pounds over his head,” Jonathan tells them.

Zoey places a comforting hand on his shoulder. “What did you do,” she softly asks.

“We decided to take him to a doctor or a scientist. Somebody more equipped to understand than we were. But when we got in front of the office Martha, she said that if we left him there that they would want to keep him and we’d never see him again. So, I took him home. Now, that may have been a mistake. But it was a mistake I’d gladly make again.”

A loud rumbling noise comes from above them. Zoey looks to see sunlight suddenly shining into the crypt. “Dad! Zoey!” Clark runs down into the crypt. Zoey jumps up and tightly embraces him. Clark moves to start to pull Jonathan free, but falls to the ground.

“Kent, what’s happening to him,” Nixon asks, watching as Clark groans in pain. Zoey looks around and realizes that the rocks were actually meteor rocks.

“We need to get him away,” Zoey says, running over to Clark. She grabs his arm and starts to pull Clark. “He’s allergic to the meteor rocks.”

Nixon grabs a meteor rock and moves around to Zoey. He bends down and shoves the rock into Clark’s jacket pocket. “What are you doing,” Jonathan yells. Nixon shoves Zoey to the side. She stumbles and falls to the ground.

“I don’t need the tape. I got all the evidence I need right here,” Nixon says, grabbing Clark’s shoulders. He pulls Clark up stairs and out of the crypt.

“Nixon! You don’t understand! The rocks...” Jonathan trails off, letting out a groan of pain. Zoey pushes herself up. She looks between Jonathan and the stairs. “Go!”

Zoey takes off up the stairs. It doesn’t take her long to catch up to Nixon and Clark. She finds a tree branch and grabs it. She smacks him on the back of the head, knocking him to the ground. “You don’t get to kidnap people,” she snaps, smacking him the tree branch. Nixon grabs the tree branch and yanks it out her grasp. He raises it to hit her when a gunshot rings out.

A pool of blood starts to form on Nixon’s chest. He looks at her, confused, then falls to the ground. Zoey quickly moves out of the way. She looks up to see Lex standing there, with a gun in his hand. She stares at him for a moment, then runs over to where Clark is still lying on the ground. “Zoey, are you okay,” Lex asks.

Zoey nods. “I-I’m fine. Uncle Jonathan...he needs help. He’s still in the crypt. There was a cave in.”

“I’ll go help him. Wait here,” Lex tells her, then walks over to where she had motioned. Zoey kneels down and quickly searches Clark’s pockets. She finds the meteor rock and throws it as far as she can.

“Clark,” Zoey says, helping him sit up. “Are you okay?”

Clark nods. He notices Jonathan slowly making his way towards them. “Dad!” Clark jumps up and runs over to him. Zoey slowly stands up. She spots Lex standing next to Nixon’s body.

~*~

Luthors were never invited to the annual Carmichael Fourth of July party. The Waynes and the Queens were always invited, but never the Luthors. It was something that Lex had heard his father complain about every summer. But that summer was different. Lex had somehow garnered a coveted invite to the exclusive party in Star City. “Who did you have bribe to get in?” Lex turns to see Oliver Queen. His high school enemy.

“It’s nice to see that being stranded on an island for five years didn’t change you,” Lex replies, forcing a smile. “And to answer your question. I didn’t bribe anyone, I was invited.”

Oliver scoffs. “Max must’ve invited you by mistake.”

“Lex!” The two men turn to see Zoey bounding over to them. She was different from how she normally looked in Smallville. Her normally curly hair had been straightened had been pulled into a sleek ponytail. Her freckles were barely visible through the light dusting of makeup on her face. “I’m so glad you were able to make it.”

“I’m guessing you’re the reason I was invited,” Lex says, smiling at Zoey.

“You’re my friend, Lex.”

Lex smiles. “Thank you for inviting me, Zoey.”

“Of course. How’s your father doing?”

“He’s doing better. He’s still recovering in Metropolis. Through I’m sure he’ll be back up to his old tricks soon.”

Zoey shoots him a soft smile. “In that case, I hope he has a long recovery.”

Lex chuckles and Zoey smiles at him. Oliver clears his throat and wraps a hand around Zoey’s wrist. “We should talk with the other guests,” he says, forcing a smile. “It was good to see you, Lex.”

“It was good to see you too,” Lex replies.

Zoey opens her mouth, but Oliver drags her across the yard. “Ollie, let me go.”

“You can’t be friends with Lex Luthor,” Oliver quietly says, leading her to a quiet place behind the caterer’s tent. “He’s bad news, Zoe. You can’t trust him.”

Zoey rolls her eyes. “You sound like Uncle Jonathan. I’m gonna go talk to my friend.”

She starts to walk away, but he grabs her arm. “I’m just worried about you, Zo. First, I catch you trying to steal a bottle of wine. And then I learn that you’re friends with Lex Luthor.”

Zoey sighs. “You were gone for five years, Oliver. I grew up. I don’t need you to protect me. I...I just need you to be my friend.”

Oliver pulls her into a tight hug. “You’re my best friend, Zo. That will never change.” Zoey smiles up at him. They’re both unaware of the dark red headed woman watching them.

Zoey pats him on the arm. “I need to go find Bruce. He heads back to Gotham tomorrow.” She shoots him another smile, then walks away. The first part of her summer had been great. She and Bruce had seen the sights of Paris and Zurich. She enjoyed getting to be a regular teenager. Even if parts of her life were not normal.

Zoey sits up, panting. The Eiffel Tower could easily be seen from the window. A hand lightly touches her back and she turns to see Bruce. “Everything okay,” he asks, lightly rubbing her back. She bites her lip. Then she tells him about everything. She tells him the truth about Clark, Roger Nixon, and seeing Lex murder Nixon. He remains quiet. Not saying anything, letting her tell her story. When she finishes, she stares at him, waiting. He doesn’t say anything.

“You think I’m crazy,” Zoey softly says.

Bruce softly kisses her. “I think your life in Smallville is the exact opposite of what I thought it was.”

“What did you think it was?”

“Cow tipping and a lot of corn. Not an actual alien. Complete with a real space ship.”

Zoey finds Lex standing by the refreshment table. “Um, Lex, can I talk to you,” she says, walking up to him. Lex shoots her a smile. “I-I wanted to thank you. For...for...yeah.”

“I think you were more impressive,” Lex tells her. “I saw you go after him. That took a lot of courage.”

Zoey shrugs. “I don’t like people threatening people I care about. I also didn’t like the way he threatened me.” She sees Bruce looking around for her. “I have to go. But I just wanted to thank you. I’ll see you back in Smallville.”

Lex watches as she makes her way to the dark haired billionaire. He takes a sip of his Scotch. Bruce wraps his arm around her waist, pulling Zoey close to his side. He says something. She laughs. Lex knew that if everyone in Smallville thought Lana and Whitney Forman were the perfect couple, it was only because no one knew about Zoey York and Bruce Wayne.

~*~

Zoey yawns as she walks towards the Rosewood. She had convinced Max that she would be fine on her own. An author she greatly enjoyed held an event a few blocks down from the famed hotel. Max had been worried. Crime had steadily been on the rise in Star City, but over the past year a figure wearing a hood and green leather had appeared. He had been fighting crime in the city. Tugging on her arm causes her to turn and see a man pulling on her purse. “Let go,” she coldly says, pulling her purse close to her.

The mugger pulls out a switchblade. “Give me your money.”

“I don’t have any,” Zoey tells him. She continues down the street, picking up her pace. She would see the Rosewood one block ahead of her. The mugger runs towards her. He shoves her to the ground, ripping her purse out of her grasp. Zoey pushes herself up just in time to see an arrow hit the mugger’s shoulder, knocking him out. She watches as the green hooded figure lands on the ground near the mugger and grabs her purse out of the criminal’s hands.

The green hooded figure walks towards her and she’s frozen. He holds out her purse. “I think this belongs to you.”

Zoey takes her ruined bag from her. “Yeah,” she softly says. She can’t help but stare at him.

The green hooded figure lightly touches her forehead. A small cut was there from when she hit the ground. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

The green hooded figure has an amused smile on his lips. It seemed familiar to her, but she couldn’t place it. “You should probably be more aware things if you’re walking the streets by yourself,” he tells her. “That mugger was following you for a couple of blocks.”

“Yeah.”

“Where were you headed?”

“Rosewood.”

The green hooded figure chuckles. “Well, I’m glad to see that you know more than one word.”

“Yeah.”

“Zoey!” The green hooded figure turns and they see Max running towards her with one of the security guards from the Rosewood. The green hooded figure shoots her another smile, then fires an arrow into the dark sky and vanishes. “Zoey, are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

~*~

“I heard you had an exciting evening last night,” Oliver greets, sitting down on the couch next to Zoey. News of her mugging had quickly spread and was the only thing being talked about that morning. A photographer had also been following her and managed to get not only photos of her being mugged, but of the mysterious green hooded figure talking to her. Oliver notices the bandage on her forehead. “Zo, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Zoey softly says. “And it wasn’t that exciting. It was just a book reading by the lady who wrote this romance novel I enjoy. I did get her autograph though.”

Max rolls his eyes as he sits down in an armchair. “I don’t think Oliver was referring to the book signing you went to.”

“Oh…that.”

“Are you sure that I don’t need to take you to the ER. Get a MRI or something of your brain.” He looks at Oliver. “She spends half the summer, running around Paris and Zurich with Bruce. And this idiot in green leather is what renders her speechless.”

“He’s not an idiot,” Zoey snaps. “He saved me from that mugger. And he managed to get my purse back which had my autograph copy of The Duke and I in it. He’s a hero.”

Neither of them miss the blush that lightly covers her face. Max shakes his head. “Fine. I’ll give him that.”

Oliver pulls her against his side. He presses a soft kiss to the top of her head. “Well, it seems like this green Robin Hood is an okay kind of person. You’re okay and that’s all that matters.”

Zoey winkles her nose. “Green Robin Hood is too wordy. He uses arrows. So, what if we call Green Arrow.”

Oliver smiles. “That sounds a lot better.”

“Uncle Max, can—”

“I’ll get the PR team to put out a statement saying that we thank Green Arrow for saving you and the SCPD for putting the mugger behind bars,” Max interrupts. He doesn’t miss the frowns on their faces at the mention of the SCPD. “Hey, we need the police and their union on our side.” He stands up and starts to walk out of the living room. Max stops behind Zoey and presses kiss to the top of her head. “I’m very glad that you’re okay. And I’ll make sure that they don’t put on the press release how you deeply in love you are with Green Arrow.”

Zoey grabs a pillow and smacks her uncle with it. He laughs as he walks out of the room. She leans against Oliver and he wraps an arm around her shoulders. “Are you doing anything fun today,” she asks, looking up at him.

“I heard a new seafood restaurant opened up on Pier Thirty-Four,” Oliver replies. “I was thinking of checking it out tonight. Wanna come with me?”

“Of course!”

“It’s a date.”

I can be your hero, baby. I can kiss away the pain. I will stand by your forever. You can take my breath away.