AN: Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter, and I am just all gooey from the amount of support I've had while writing this fic. I second guessed myself a lot with this chapter and it took a while to come together.

Chapter Spoilers/Summary: 3 1/2 years have passed and Emil has some surprising news for the Queens. Something is also afoot with the Luthor's. A nod to the sitcom How I met your Mother in this chapter.

Thanks to Hellza_on_Earth for being a great cheerleader.


Chapter 11: Kings and Queens

Into your eyes, Hopeless and taken, We stole our new lives. Through blood and pain, In defense of our dreams. We were the Kings and Queens of promise, We were the victims of ourselves. Maybe the children of a lesser God, between heaven and hell – 30 Seconds to Mars

Star City, 20th April 2012

"-Just the four of us tomorrow? Dinner should be fine, our place. Love you too mom," Chloe said ending the call resuming her activities.

Oliver stood in the doorway to the kitchen and smirked as he watched his wife's hips sway in time with the music, the hem of his business shirt from yesterday swishing teasingly against the tops of her thighs. She was now flipping pancakes with one hand, the other holding a spoon she was currently licking the cream off.

His mouth started watering. Breakfast…looked really inviting this morning. She turned around swiftly and gave him one of her 'I know what you're thinking but don't go there' smiles. "Good Morning" she said, placing her lips against his softly not giving in to his unspoken plea. She was starving this morning and extra crispy pancakes had been on the menu more than once because they had been too caught up in each other.

"Good Morning, Mrs. Queen," he murmured, his lips hovering over her mouth, the hint of cream on her lips stimulating all kinds of ideas in his head.

'Incoming coming video call from Dr Emil Hamilton,' the automated system announced.

"Accept call in the kitchen please," Chloe responded, leaning back and taking advantage of the interruption to step away from her smoldering hot husband. Oliver let out a little puff of air, pouted and stood a respectable distance from his wife. Not that they hadn't made the good doc blush before.

Emil's face flickered onto the comm screen as Chloe put another spoon of cream into her mouth and indicated to Oliver that he should start with the pleasantries.

"Hi, Emil everything okay?" To Oliver the man didn't seem to be in any kind of distress but Emil was always calm, it was one of the traits that made him a valuable asset.

"Morning Oliver, Chloe. Everything is… fine, but I wanted to talk to the both of you if you have the time."

"Sure, shoot."

"The baseline test results for Chloe since her last turn as Florence Nightingale have returned to normal but there have been some other changes in her biochemistry."

Oliver instinctively pulled her into his side. Her impression of sleeping beauty after she healed someone hadn't gotten easier on him over the years. She squeezed him back reassuringly, confident that the news Emil had wasn't negative.

Her last stint as 'Florence' had been nine weeks ago. Bart had been doing some investigating into a guy named Rush who was running a gladiator type game with people who were meta's and selling viewing subscriptions online. He had gotten himself into a whole lot of trouble that he couldn't get out of and keep his ability secret. When the team had finally gotten to him he had been badly injured and running out of time.

Using her physical healing power was something that she had done occasionally over the years. Mostly because all the testing she had undergone in 2009 established it only worked on those with whom she shared a emotional connection, then the injury had to be worth the tears and the down time in the first place.

Once it was established that having an emotional connection with someone was necessary for her ability to work, that information had silenced a nagging voice inside her head that had popped up after their exchange of vows at Christmas. The voice told her that the only reason she was staying married to Oliver was because of the stakes and that if she'd had a choice she wouldn't be here.

But given that her abilities depended on the connection she shared with the person in question, she had realized she had loved him long before she had said those three little words. Not only had she been able to physically heal Oliver, but she had been able to establish a psychic link with him – when they had been nothing more than friends. Then there had been all those times she had been able to soothe and comfort him, and he had said it felt like she was drawing the negative feelings from him. Turns out she really had been.

The revelation had also helped Oliver shake off the taint of Lionel's meddling somewhat by reaffirming his belief that if they had been left to their own timetable they would've gotten into forever territory by themselves.

"Is the fact that you haven't asked us to sit down a good sign?" Oliver queried his brows furrowing returning his attention back to the doc.

Emil chuckled a bit before shrugging his shoulder a little. "I think it's positive news, but perhaps you might what to sit down just in case…"

Chloe put the now empty bowl of cream down. "We're okay Emil. So what's my biochemistry up to."

"Well first can I say this is one of the instances where I admit that I was wrong." She titled her head a little and he continued before she could ask what he meant by that statement. "Chloe your blood tests having been showing higher levels of estrogen and progesterone and HCG has been constant now for six weeks."

"What are you telling us…?" Oliver trailed off trying to stifle the excited feeling bubbling in his stomach, considering what Emil had told them at the beginning of the year.

"Congratulations you two! You're six weeks pregnant and everything is looking good. I can see that cravings have started already," he noted looking at the cream bowl. Eating cream by the bowl full certainly wasn't the norm for her.

Chloe's mouth was doing an impression of a goldfish. "Pregnant! Are you sure that my body isn't just on fritz….that we're really expecting… because the specialists said…even you said it would probably take years… I mean…. I'm pregnant?" she finished finally.

"I know what was said Chloe," Emil responded somewhat bemused by her inability to form complete sentences. "I've been sitting on this news for the last few days. I've checked and rechecked. Believe me I didn't want to be wrong about what the results meant. It seems I didn't give enough consideration to your body resetting itself after you heal someone or that the two of you can't keep your hands off each other. "

She blushed a little at that and really he wasn't wrong about the hands off each other part, especially in the last few weeks. "When would baby be due?" she asked her brain jumping through acceptance and into planning mode.

"Sometime early to mid December, but we can get you a due date when you come in."

He watched as the couple in front of him looked at each other and did that speaking without words thing that they did. Oliver's smile just lit up a hundred Kent barns and Chloe was trying hard not to let her vision get to blurry.

"Can we call you later?" She was feeling all sorts of warm fuzzy feelings and wow they were going to be parents. On some level that was awesome and on another completely terrifying, they were past the point of no returns.

"Sure, and we'll discuss everything then. Congratulations again, you too Oliver."

"Thanks Emil." The call disconnected and she gazed into the adoring eyes of her co-creator his face full of wonder.

"We're having a baby," they both blurted out, Chloe unable to contain her happy tears and laughing. Oliver took her in his arms, holding her securely to him before swinging her around the kitchen.

"We made a little archer," he laughed gratitude filling his being. He was going to be dad, the thought equally humbling and thrilling at the same time.

"You would think of that!" she giggled wiping the tears away from her face. "You know the dates could be completely wrong and we could end up with another Scorpio in the family," she teased.

He looked at the mother of their child. "Scorpio, Sagittarius, I really don't care either way because he or she will be my little archer," he affirmed his forehead pressed to hers. "You're really okay with this right, it's a lot earlier than we expected."

She nodded her head. "My mind is going at a hundred miles an hour and I've forgotten what I was going to do today, but I am completely okay with this. You?"

"Emphatically okay with our family expanding sooner. I guess we have some news to share with grandma when we see her for dinner."

Her eyes went wide and then narrowed. "My mother, I suspect already knows hence dinner tomorrow."

"Well she is an amazing and intuitive woman."

"That and I swear she's …." He silenced her with a kiss not wanting to think about anything other than the three of them at this moment. Three adorable blondes surnamed Queen.

"I love you professor, you're going to be an amazing mother."

"I love you too Romeo, you're the best husband and I have no doubt that you're going to be a great father."

They stood in silence for a while he rubbed her tummy. "Wow… we're having a baby…."

"I second that wow and raise you an awesome," then she burst into giggles as her stomach growled. "Oops still hungry."

"Can't have that now can we," he replied nuzzling his face in the scent of her hair still basking in the glow of good news. "What would you like…I'm cooking."

-xxXxx-

When Oliver finally made it in to the office around 3:00 pm that afternoon he was guilty of having 'baby' on the brain. He'd actually been ready to leave the penthouse with Chloe around 11 am with intentions of heading to the office but had gotten caught up on the Kids R Us website. Who knew that there were over 50 different types of infant car seats!

Logging on he had dozens of emails and 3-missed calls from people who had his direct line, one of them being from his Luthor Corp liaison Tess Mercer. His interactions with her on Luthor Corp business over the last couple of years were frosty at best. Which considering their history was understandable.

In a different life they had saved each other from death and started a relationship. But not even three months in he had betrayed her trust and then walked away without an explanation or apology. After returning from the Ashram the first time he had accepted it as one of those experiences he couldn't change and he didn't seek her out rationalizing that was best for both of them.

Imagine his surprise when Lex had introduced her to the world as his half sister. Fate was twisted. He really had been in bed with a Luthor at one point. Not that she could help who her family was. From what he had found out it had been a surprise to her as well.

He had offered her an apology for treating her badly. She took a contract from under his nose, told him to get over himself but first could he explain how the hell his wife had ended up a Luthor heir when Lionel had a daughter that he had abandoned?

Tess had been a sweet person when he had first met her. On top of her past experience with him, she was now also dealing with the fact that her biological father hadn't deemed her worthy, but apparently had higher regard for the Queen's than those that were born as Luthor's.

While he and Lex would never see eye to eye, he did feel for all of them for the lack of love in their lives. He had never doubted that his parents had loved him and while the absence of that love had led him to make some not so great choices growing up, someone had loved him even if they weren't around anymore and he knew it.

He already felt so much love for a child he hadn't even met yet and was no bigger than a peanut. He couldn't imagine giving that child up. But Lionel had done it to both Tess and Lucas. And Lex , well Lex had also been so lonely that he had broken a bunch of ethical and legal laws and cloned his younger brother who now went by the name of Grant Gabriel. As a father Lionel, had been an epic fail in Oliver's book.

One thing was for sure, Oliver had an idea of the kind of father he didn't want to be. He sighed coming back to the here and now. That Tess had emailed and left a message probably meant something he really wasn't going to like. Trust the Luthor's to kill the happy buzz from the morning's good news.

-xxXxx-

Star City, 2nd June 2012

Chloe made her way to the study where she heard the clacking of a keyboard, her husband pulling some ridiculous hours the last couple of days. He'd put in a full day at the office, come home and tuck her into bed, then go do some more work.

She stood in the doorframe and watched him typing, completely oblivious that she and been there for at least five minutes. It wasn't until she put her hands on his shoulders and started kneading them trying to release some of the tension that he realized that someone else was in the room with him.

"Chloe," he said in a tone that was more question than acknowledgement.

"You're expecting someone else to be giving you massages at three in the morning?"

He shook his head. "No. You should be in bed."

She sat down on his lap putting her arms around him looking at what he was working on. On one screen were the images of their first 4D ultrasound taken less than 24 hours ago. At twelve weeks she was hardly showing and on the whole didn't feel any different. So just to see the limbs forming and the baby moving a little had been a special moment for both of them that they had shared with Mary. All three of them had gotten a bit tearful at one point observing the miracle of life.

On the other screen was a memo to his legal team asking about the Luthor Corp proposal.

"Luthor Corp still being pains in the ass?" she asked softly. She knew that he hadn't been giving her details because he didn't want to burden her.

He'd missed this the last couple of days. Just being able to hold her and have all his anxiety and apprehension melt away. "Unbelievably so," he replied exhaustion now catching up with him.

"Maybe its time reconsider our direct involvement with Luthor Corp?"

He tried to see where she was going with this conversation, but couldn't. Getting in Lex's face and having a very loud voice on his board was one of the ways Oliver felt karma was being served especially after Lex arranged to have him shot. "What are you thinking professor?"

"I'm thinking that they have started to take up more and more of your time and with Queen Industries growing and everything else we are trying to do, the amount of time your devoting to them isn't viable anymore."

"You're not wrong about the time commitment it's just that I don't know anyone I would be comfortable appointing in our stead. This is Lex we're talking about after all and selling our interest in the company is not on the table."

She'd actually been mulling over an idea since their last trip to Metropolis three weeks ago. As much as they wanted to keep a personal eye on all things Lex, Oliver's expected involvement had almost trebled since Lionel had died. Looking at the whole picture – babysitting Luthor Corp and keeping an eye on any potential flare ups of human experimentation while important was only a part of their larger agenda to make a difference in the world. And while she would love to go 10 rounds with Lex, she had other priorities as well.

No, she had a person in mind that had proven she could be trusted with an out of this world secret. Plus, would love a legitimate excuse for getting into Lex's face almost more than Oliver did. "I've got someone who I think would be suitable after a little coaching."

"Who?"

"Lana."

"As in Lang, Lex's ex-wife who faked her death, to run away from him and straight into the arms of boy scout as his one true love! That Lana?"

She nodded a little. When he put the story like that it sounded like a bad soap opera. "Not sure about the one true love part but she has even less love for Lex than we do. Being we would need someone that views anything that comes from Lex with suspicion and derision I don't think we could ask for a better ally. Lana is already keeping tabs on Lex since she started the Isis Foundation in Metropolis. She won't want him anywhere near her meteor powered clients."

"Lana huh. That would be a win-win and it would piss Lex off more than having me there. With Luthor Corp off my plate then I might actually get the chance to go to bed the same time as you in the future."

Her mouth turned upwards in a smirk as she rubbed her belly. "We'd like that wouldn't we little archer?" Then she put her ear to her belly as if to listen. "What was that? Yes I completely agree. We do sleep better when daddy's with us."

Oliver's face completely melted into that of adoration. There was absolutely nothing he wouldn't do for his family. He dropped a kiss to her belly.

"Let's go to bed then. We can contact Ms Lang later and see if she's willing to help out."

-xxXxx-

Metropolis, 18th June 2012

"Can't believe you made me do this" Oliver's smile tense, his wife held tight to his side, resisting the urge to put his hands on her belly and put his case to their daughter. They hadn't made any kind of public announcement yet and while her waist had started to expand it was still easily disguised with clothing.

Him talking to her belly would just announce it to everyone not to mention probably start some kind of debate about how parents who try to present rational arguments to their unborn children are doing some kind of physiological damage.

"Please I didn't make you do anything, I merely told you what I was doing and asked if you wanted to come."

"As if I was going to let you anywhere by yourself." He'd gone into major bodyguard mode as the reality of being responsible for the safety of their baby girl, not to mention his wife sunk in as soon as Emil had confirmed what they were having a week ago. It just added another level of reality to their prospective parenthood.

"We have each other lo-jacked in every possible way. Besides on my scale of dangerous things to do, attending the opening a new wing of the Metropolis library by Senator Kent is a low zero on my list."

"Under normal circumstances I would agree with your threat assessment, but then I saw the guest list."

"Seriously," she deadpanned. "Academics, a few member's of the press and my cousin."

"And.." he pressed.

"And one or two Luthor's may have been invited…" she offered a little exasperated.

"Exactly!" he said please she had gotten his point. "I don't want Lex any where near my family."

"I can handle a couple of icy stares across the room if they come, Ollie."

"Not the point," he murmured. "Besides they'll come, the good senator naming the wing Veritas and our significant donation of Lionel's library will bring them, in the hopes that a we have left a tidbit of information."

"Oomph." The sound escaping before she had a chance to reply to him as she was wrapped in one very solid pair of arms belonging to Lois Lane.

"Cuz!"

"Lois, you're squishing my wife," Oliver stated looking a bit alarmed trying to pry them apart.

"Love you too Lois," Chloe squeaked as Lois released her.

"She misses her cousin," Martha supplied putting a friendly hand on Oliver's arm. "We should give them a chance to catch up." She linked her arm in his and walked towards the new wing, the official opening less than half an hour away. Chloe gave him a wink and mouthed "I'll be fine."

Oliver attempted to relax looking at the logic of the situation. It was he agreed a very low threat scenario, and she was right. WatchTower knew where she was at all times, plus he had a couple of super friends on speed dial. Nothing was going to happen.

"I haven't had the chance in person to thank and Chloe for your personal contribution to this project."

"You don't need to thank us, Mrs K. Most of the books were in a warehouse gathering dust anyway."

"True but given your obvious feelings towards the Luthor's you could have just as easily had a large bonfire with all that paper."

"That wouldn't have been very green of me, besides despite what I thought of their previous owner, the collection of first editions is impressive and they belong in a place where they can be appreciated. "

"And there is your hero heart, willing to share what you have for the good of the world. You're a good man Oliver."

-xxXxx-

Lois came back to their hiding place with a mixed platter meant for the reception and gave it to her cousin.

Chloe flashed her a grateful smile before making a selecting several cookies.

"Okay spill, I know that smile."

"Just a flashback, of Clark bringing me a plate of cookies. Completely random huh."

"Completely random" Lois agreed. "Smallville was another life time ago, I mean you've almost been in Star City for just as long and now you're going to be mom."

"I cross my heart, I didn't know that was going to happen four years ago, but I wouldn't change a thing."

"Can I?"

"Sure."

Lois put her hands over her cousins belly.

"Hi, little cuz. I am your awesome Aunt Lois and I want you to know that if you need anything, especially any tips on how to wrangle yourself out of trouble I am the one to come and speak to."

"Lois!"

"Yes, I think Lois is a perfect name for my niece!"

"That would be a no."

"What could be a better name for a little girl than Lois?"

"I love you cuz, but Ollie and I don't want to name her after anyone. She is already going to have to deal with the fact that she's a Sullivan-Queen, we don't want her to feel like she has to live up to anyone else's name too."

"Just so long as she doesn't end up with a name like Tiger or Moon, or Wait-for-it," Lois grinned.

"I loved that episode of How I Met your Mother," Chloe enthused.

"So did I, but thank goodness Ollie doesn't have a friend named Barney," Lois smiling at her cousin and watching a guy in a server's outfit approaching them. Oops looks like they were sprung.

"Mrs Queen?"

Chloe looked up and smiled in acknowledgement, currently completely content. Then she felt a sharp prick in her neck.

-xxXxx-

Oliver stood off to one side of the room looking around for his wife when he caught sight of a statuesque redhead walking towards him. He was unsure of what to expect from her, especially since they announced their intention to have Lana Lang as their representative.

"Hmm, no feisty blonde attached to your hip this morning?"

"Not my choice," he responded smiling a little. She and Lois had probably done a snack run. "Big brother not joining you. I know how intrigued he must be with the idea of a Veritas library."

Tess raised her eyebrow at the small hint of domestic happiness, usually he was fiercely guarded when it came to his wife.

"Veritas. Latin for Truth and the name of an… astronomy club our fathers belonged to which was in fact nothing more than intense discussions amongst wealthy families about power and control and how they could be used for the good of the world or to its detriment. Somehow I think the meaning of the word Veritas was lost on them."

"You've done your homework. Then you would know that most of those original members disagreed with each other vehemently."

"I wouldn't know about that, but I do know each and every member including daddy dearest met an untimely end." She paused, "to answer your question Lex isn't coming, he's meeting with your new representative, which nicely played by the way."

"Glad you can you can appreciate the strategy."

"You never fail to surprise me Oliver. I honestly thought it was just luck on your side, but it turns out that you and your wife are smart too."

"Is this you calling a truce Tess?"

"Not at all, this me simply acknowledging that you're both much more shrewd in your business dealings than I have previously given you credit for. I can see now why the two of attracted Lionel's attention."

"Tess," he sighed not wanting to get into this discussion again with her.

Tess went to say something when she was interrupted by one of her assistants who pulled her off to one side and showed her something after which she left the building in a hurry. He glanced over his shoulder aware that they never seemed to be able to resolve anything.

As he looked up at the podium he was hit with the overwhelming sensation that Chloe was in trouble just as his phone started to vibrate, no doubt alerting him to the same. He whipped it out of his pocket and moved as quickly as he could towards the reception area.

He looked around frantically for her, sure that she was near. " Have you seen a petite blonde and a tall brunette come through here?"

The serving staff all shook their heads then he caught the eye of one of them heading towards the door with a linen basket.

"Hey," he yelled.

The guy started running and Oliver took off after him, the staff getting out of the way. Oliver's heart was racing, he couldn't feel her, which meant she was at least knocked out. As he pushed open the back doors a truck was pulling out of the bay, he was about to leap onto the roof, when his world went black.

To Be Continued


AN: For those who have been following this fic since I first posted Mahalo. When I started I had no idea that I would still be writing 7 months later. Unfortunately even though I have spent a lot of hours on this story I am not one of those writers that just has words come together - If I did a couple of my other stories would already be realized!

Next Chapter: Somebody Save Me