A/N:  I just wanted to thank everyone who has left reviews.  Your input has been inspiring and helpful in moving me and this story along.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Disclaimers in Chapter One

"So you're telling me that you and Lex have been together all this time?" Clark asked, scratching his head.

Chloe threw her hands in the air, and Derek groaned in frustration.  "Yes, Clark," he replied.  "For the fifth time, Chloe and Lex have been together."

"Together, together?" Clark inquired, generating a small growl from Chloe. 

"Yes!" she lashed out.  "But that's not the point.  The point is that someone will be impersonating Lex to get to you."

"Yeah, about that," Clark piped in.  "So Lionel only thinks that I have superpowers, but you, Derek and Lex know already?"

"Duh," she rolled her eyes.  "Clark, you're not exactly the most subtle person in the planet.  Or in your case, the universe."

"Oh," he muttered as his face crimsoned.  "So what happens now?"

Chloe and Derek grinned at each other and then at Clark.  "Clark Kent, you're about to join us for one hell of a ride," Derek warned as he pulled Clark by his workstation to brief him. 

Meanwhile, Chloe sat herself on the couch, praying that this would work as half of her life's work, and Lex's as well, now rested on Clark's shoulders.

"So when did you realize that you were over Clark Kent?" Lex asked her once during a secret rendezvous outside Metropolis.

"Who said that I was over him?" Chloe teasingly replied.

He glared at her.  "Alright, alright," she conceded.  "I was just kidding."  She toyed with the edge of her napkin before she spoke again.

"I never really liked Clark," she admitted.  "I mean, I had a crush on him, but my pursuit of the elusive farmboy was more of a self-imposed challenge."

Surprised, he managed to compose himself for the sake of not making her any more uncomfortable at this confession than she already was.  He nodded for her to continue. 

Chloe took a deep breath.  "It was a challenge for me not to see if I could capture the attention of a guy my age, but to perish the useless hope that I could capture that of a guy my senior.  And of course, when Clark focused his energy on Lana, I felt even more challenged to compete for it, hoping that it would keep me distracted from thinking about you."  And with that admission, she held her breath.

"Chloe," he whispered as he reached to hold her hand from across the table.  "You had my attention when you were 8."

"I know that now, Lex," she said.  "I just didn't know that then, and I was too afraid to surrender myself to these feelings, given what they did to my dad when he gave everything up for my mom."

Lex clasped her hand lovingly.  "Are you still afraid?" he blurted out almost inaudibly, fearing what the answer might be.

"Not anymore," she said confidently as she placed her other hand over theirs and squeezed his hand gently.  "Not with you.  I love you, Lex."

"And I'm in love with you, Chloe," he responded with a sincere smile.

The memory of that admission fueled Chloe's hope.  "I'm still in love with you, Lex," she whispered.