A/N : As late as it is in coming, I am proud to say that this story finally has an ending, and this is it...
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 4
Lex Luthor felt a familiar rush of air behind his leather seat as he sat at his desk one evening. His lips turned into a smirk, though he didn't turn to greet his uninvited, but entirely expected, guest.
"This is becoming a habit, Superman" he said, picking up his glass from the desk and downing the rest of his drink in one.
"One that ends here" the superhero told him as he came into view, newly mended cape swooshing around his legs, the holes that spoilt his S now unnoticeable as he folded his arms across his chest.
"You mean you won't be by to visit anymore" Lex checked, with a mock-surprise, his hand going to his heart, "I'm hurt. I thought we were friends... Clark" he addressed the man he abhorred by the name of the best friend he'd once loved like a brother, and it obviously surprised the Man of Steel enough to throw him momentarily off his game.
The fact was, Lex had spent months, years even, trying to keep Clark and Superman separate in his mind, even knowing they were actually the same man. It became increasingly difficult, first when he admitted he knew the truth, and later when he fell in love with Chloe.
Clark was Superman, and Superman was Clark. The clothes were different, the way the two men held themselves, even the way they spoke, but the look on his face sometimes showed all to clearly who he was, proved without a shadow of a doubt that Lex's best friend was his worst enemy too.
"I can't change the past, Lex" Clark in superhero garb told his old best friend, "Now I'm sorry I never told you the truth about me, and I'm sorry that you can't be all-powerful whilst I'm around" he explained, "but I'm not sorry enough to let you do whatever you want to Metropolis, to me, to Chloe..."
"Clark" Lex interrupted him as he got to his feet, "Let me tell you a few things that I don't think you know" the billionaire said as he came around the desk and stood toe-to-toe with the man in the cape and tights, "First of all, you can't stop me taking over this town, this state, this country, not in the way I plan to do it" he told him with a wicked smile, "Secondly, I no longer have any interest in ridding the world of Superman, if I had I never would have left Chloe alone with you" he shook his head.
"You knew she'd save me" Clark frowned as Lex walked away from him once again.
"I was also pretty damn sure she'd shoot you" his ex-friend admitted, as he looked out through the glass doors at the skyline, "Y'see Clark, Chloe knew the only way to save me was to potentially kill you" Lex explained, "If she did that, shot not only the world's hero but also her best friend, well, then I'd know she loved me as much as she said she did" he said, turning back around to face his friend-turned-nemesis.
"You were testing her" Clark shook his head in disbelief, "This whole thing was a game, a game that could've ended up with all of us dead"
"No" Lex assured him, "I had it all figured out, the doctor waiting in case you got a lucky shot at me, leaving Chloe alone with you, knowing she'd have to save you, because as much as she loves me Clark, and we both know she does, I'm afraid she'll always have that little teenage crush on the corn-fed farmboy" he grimaced.
"Everybody said that one day you'd turn into your father" Superman said, looking him over, "I never believed it til now. You're insane, Lex"
"Insanely in love" he shrugged, reaching into the top drawer of his desk and tossing something onto the surface, "With Miss Chloe Sullivan"
"What is that?" Clark asked warily as he eyed the small box on the table.
"I'll give you a hint" Lex smirked, "It's not a Lear Jet" he said seriously as he picked up the box and opened it, showing Clark what lay inside on a cushion of blue velvet.
"No" his old friend shook his head, "You're not serious" he said as he realised what he was looking at - one very large, very obviously expensive engagement ring.
"People in love get married, Clark, it's the way of the world" Lex told him, snapping the box shut with one hand and putting it into an inside pocket of his jacket, "Now if you'll excuse me I have a dinner reservation and a beautiful woman waiting for me"
Clark wanted to stop him, wanted to rush to the door at super-speed, grab this man by the shirt, and hurl him out a window. He wanted to hurt him, he wanted to teach him a lesson, he wanted to make sure that he never went within a ten mile radius of Chloe ever again. With all the powers Clark possessed he knew all this and more was physically possible, and yet, he would do none of it.
As much as Superman, and the man inside the costume, could dislike Lex or pity Chloe for being with him, forcing them apart wouldn't help them or the world. In fact, if he made threats about trying to remove Chloe from Lex it might just make him even more determined to have her. No good could come of any action Clark took right now and he'd never felt so useless in his life. Even kryptonite was less debilitating.
"Then there's nothing left for me to say" he told the billionaire's back as the two men prepared to leave via opposite ends of the room, "But Lex" he called suddenly and his old friend looked back at him, "If you hurt Chloe, ever, in any way" he said as he began to float off the ground, "There will be consequences"
Lex nodded once, a small gesture but it was all Clark needed. He knew how Lex worked, he'd known him years enough to be overly aware of everything about him. This agreement that had now been made was as real and binding as anything written on paper or signed in blood, and they both knew it.
As Clark, in his superhero costume, flew out into the sky and disappeared over the horizon, Lex thought of the deal just made. Never had he so quickly accepted an agreement, but where Chloe was concerned, it was simple. He loved her, like he'd never loved any other woman in his entire life, and he knew for certain now that she felt the same. He didn't want to hurt her, he couldn't, and now he would prove his commitment to her.
"Lex, is your food not good?" Chloe checked as they sat across from each other in the fancy restaurant and she watched him shift the contents of his plate around again without actually putting anything into his mouth.
"No, no, the food is fine" he assured her and she smirked.
"How do you know, you didn't even taste it yet?" she told him and Lex smiled.
"I trust this place, and your opinion of it, Chloe" he told her, "I'm sure if I felt up to eating it would be delicious but honestly, right now you have me feeling too nervous to eat anything"
"A nervous Luthor?" the reporter girl frowned slightly, feeling a little worried herself now, "Should I be proud of the effect I'm having, or scared because you're nervous for maybe the first time in your life?" she checked, "Lex, is something wrong?"
"No, Chloe" he promised her, "On the contrary, everything is finally right" he said, reaching his hand across the tale and taking hold of hers, "I just don't want to ruin what we have..."
"Lex, you can't ruin it" she interrupted, something that nobody else would ever dare do to a Luthor, and yet Chloe was different, and that was kind of the point, "You know I love you, and just so long as you love me..."
"Chloe, you know I do" he took his turn at cutting in this time and she smiled.
"Then how could you possibly ruin it?" the blonde wanted to know, feeling just slightly apprehensive but not letting it show as Lex reached inside his jacket and pulled out a small box which he laid before her on the table, "What is that?"
"Use your reporters instants, Chloe" Lex joked, "What do you think it is?"
They both knew what she thought it was, what she ought to know it was, and yet where Lex Luthor was concerned she almost always found she was surprised. She wasn't going to state her guess aloud and then look foolish, it was not her way. Reaching across the table, she picked up the small box and opened it, to reveal that which she had kind of been expecting, and yet was still shocked by the sight of.
"Chloe Sullivan" Lex stated her name as he came to kneel beside her chair, "Will you marry me?"
"Oh God" she gasped, tears filling her eyes as she looked down at him.
For all the times she'd imagined engagement and marriage with Clark or even Superman, neither of those men passed through her mind right now, only Lex was there. He loved her, she loved him, they'd proven they were willing to die for each other, kill for each other, there could be no bigger commitment than that.
"Was that 'Oh, God, yes', or 'Oh God no'?" he checked in a whisper as all other patrons of the restaurant turned their eyes on the young couple.
"Oh God, yes" she promised him, and with a grin the like of which barely ever graced the features of a Luthor, Lex look the ring from the box and slid it onto Chloe's finger before kissing her hard on the lips.
Applause went up all around them, and yet they barely noticed. They only had eyes for each other these days, Above everything and everyone else, they had chosen each other, they loved each other, and from here on out it was just the two of them... forever.
The End
