Ahem, sheepish wave hello everyone. I completely deserve all angry fist shaking aimed my way. Leaving this story hanging was a very evil thing to do. Though it isn't a very good excuse, it has taken me two plus years to get this last part out because I haven't watched Smallville in a really really really long time. I caught a re-run the other day while at the gym, and though I may not have recognized half of the characters that graced the screen, I did recognize Lex in all his glory.

Yes, sweating it out and breathless on the tredmill was how I found the inspiration to write this last part and a very random oneshot that is eating way all of my free time. Thank the lovely-ness that is Lex and the cute new haircut that Chloe has.

All rambling aside, please enjoy this last chapter and thank you all for all the reviews, pleas and threats for me to continue writing.

Title: New Game

Author: Lucy Mars

Disclaimer: Unless that wishing upon a star crap works, they don't belong to me.

A.N. I apologize in advance for all spelling, grammar and other errors.

Chapter 11:

The silence of the approaching dawn was a complete contrast from the chaos that had surrounded him just hours ago. As the moon sank from the sky and the sun ushered in a new day, Lex felt the first touch of peace as eyes of green fluttered open and brought life back to bleak world.

"Hey," she whispered hoarsely, putting life back into the lax fingers Lex had been clutching desperately all night. Wrapping her fingers around his, she felt warmth blossom within her at Lex's soft smile.

"Hey," Lex replied in turn, leaning in closer and pulling Chloe's hand to his quivering lips. Pressing a soft kiss to the bruised fingers, he held them to his cheek as he watched her caress him with her eyes.

Blinking away the fatigue that drowned her in a sea of cotton, Chloe absently stroked Lex's cheek as she let her mind drift for a moment before the sterile room came into focus. Exhaling a soft breath of surprise, Chloe immediately placed her free hand over her stomach as the memories came flooding towards her like a broken reel of film. Distorted images, which would become clearer as the days wore on, flashed in her mind as the sound of her screams filled her ears and the smell of gunpowder tainted the sterile smell of the hospital room.

Finding Lex's hand already protectively splayed over her lower stomach and the life that meant the world to both of them, Chloe had to fight away the fear she could feel swimming towards her. "The baby?" she whispered, her voice unnaturally loud in the quiet room.

"The baby is fine." Lex assured her, moving in so close he might as well have been sitting on the bed. "You and the baby are fine."

Shaking as the adrenaline worked its way through her body, Chloe nodded in silent understanding. Wordlessly lifting her watery gaze to meet Lex's gentle one, Chloe knew that no words were needed right now. Right now, all she needed was him.

Rising from his chair and closing the small space between them, Lex carefully lay down in the space Chloe had made for him in the narrow bed and swallowed her in his arms.

Fighting against the need for sleep that washed over her, Chloe knew that there was something else she needed to ask. Encompassed in the safety of Lex's arms, Chloe knew that there was something else that she needed to know before she once again fell under a blanket of oblivion.

Stoking her back, Lex tried to banish the tension he could feel coiling within Chloe. Pressing his lips to the crown of her head, he sighed softly at the news he knew she was going to demand for in a few seconds. "She's still in surgery."

"Claudia," Chloe whispered, realization dawning on her. "Oh god,"

Tightening his hold on her, Lex reminded her with a few gentle squeezes that she was not alone. "The best doctors, Chloe. The best doctors are taking care of her. She's going to be okay."

Pressing her face into his chest, Chloe wouldn't have been able to stop the tears for all the gold in the world. "She saved us, Lex. She didn't even know me and she didn't have to help me. She could have just run."

"We'll make it up to her, Chloe. Somehow, we'll show her how grateful we are."

Feeling exhaustion close her in its embrace, Chloe fought to tell Lex what they both already knew and what Chloe vowed to never leave unsaid ever again. "I love you, Lex."

"I love you, Chloe."

Holding the world in his arms, Lex let out the shuddering breath of relief he'd been holding onto all night and finally succumbed to the spell of the sandman.

"Have you been here all night?"

Raising his eyes to find Lionel standing beside him, Louis didn't know where the man had come from and he didn't particularly care. "I'm sure I've been here just as long as you've been storming around putting the fear of god in people, Lionel."

Titling his head in silent acceptance, Lionel looked through the glass pane and the two sleeping figures that Louis was holding vigil over. "The doctors say that she'll make a full recovery."

Nodding in appreciation to the news, Louis let his eyes drift to where both Chloe and Lex, even in the throes of sleep, were protectively shielding their child from any possible harm. "And the baby?"

"As far as they can tell, perfectly fine."

His shoulders sagging with relief, Louis turned to the elder Luthor and regarded him with questioning eyes. "And the girl?"

Casting one last look at the family that had fought against all the odds to find each other again, Lionel turned swiftly on his foot and moved away from Louis and his near desperate look of fear. "The hospital knows better than to disappoint me."

Watching as Lionel moved down the hall with resounding purpose, Louis didn't know whether to frown at the man's arrogance that his money could give him what he wanted - or envy the confidence he never failed to exude in even the most dire of situations.

Looking down at the ashen face that unknowingly had the entire Luthor family indebted to her, Louis found himself considering the girl who slept peacefully under the soothing caress of morphine. The rhythmic beeping of the various machines in the room added a somber air to the already oppressive environment as he watched the labored rise and fall of her chest that each breath cost her. How could it be that such a slight thing could possibly do all that she had done?

Talking a seat at the stiff and impossibly uncomfortable chair at her bedside, Louis drank in the comfort that came from the steady sound of her beating heart. It could have been a handful of minutes that he sat alone in the shockingly white room or it could have been endless hours. Time became inconsequential as Louis watched and waited for a sign of life from the sleeping girl encased in bandages as devoid of color as she was.

Reassurances from doctors and nurses aside, Louis needed to see for himself that girl was going to be all right - and he was only going to be satisfied when she opened her eyes and told him so herself.

Watching the sun brush across the room with warm strokes of gold, Louis fought against the fatigue that gnawed at him. He would not be able to rest until he could leave this room and truthfully tell an ever anxious Chloe that this girl was going to be just fine. His eyes jumping back to the prone figure on the bed at the slight sound of her sheets rustling with her hesitant movements, Louis was gratified to find parched lips moving to release a soft groan of pain as heavy eyelids fought to open and welcome the morning blanket of light.

Quickly reaching over and pressing the button that would call for the countless doctors and nurses Lionel had waiting fearfully on the edges of their seats, Louis found his gaze locked on two eyes swimming in confusion.

"What happened?" she asked her voice groggy with sleep and laced with pain.

His eyes lighting up at the sign of life, Louis gave her the biggest grin he could manage. "You my dear, you're a hero."

Peace took its sweet time returning to all their lives but when it finally arrived and life resumed some semblance of normality, Lex was immensely grateful. Each morning he awoke to find Chloe nestled firmly against him, her arms and legs tangled lovingly with his, was a morning that left Lex slightly breathless with relief. Every time he felt the brief flutter of movement from the life that was flourishing within her and any occasion he found reason to laugh reminded Lex of all that he had.

Grasping Chloe's hand firmly in his own, Lex walked with her around the rooftop garden he had commissioned for her the few days she was in the hospital. Even encompassed within the silent walls of the hospital, Lex had known that chaos awaited them out in the real world. In his ever calculating mind, Lex knew that Chloe would need a place to recover and it had occurred to him as he watched her beam at Louis and Lionel as they brought her endless flower arrangements that maybe that was where his answer lay.

Though weeks had passed since her brief stay at the hospital, Lex still worried about her health and happiness. The nightmares were unavoidable but the look of sadness that graced her features the last few days were something Lex wanted to rectify. If only he could figure out what exactly was wrong, he could fix it all for her.

Letting one hand drift over the section of sunflowers that seemed to drink in the brilliance of the sun and reflect the warmth back up at her, Chloe let Lex lead her around the garden that had become her sanctuary as of late. With reporters clambering and going to new heights to try and get her photography and question her relentlessly about the nightmare she'd lived through, Chloe rarely left the building these days. Lex had offered to take her away to Smallville or anywhere else in the world she wanted to go, but all Chloe wanted was to be at home – and persistent reporters or not, Metropolis was home.

"A penny for your thoughts,"

Gracing Lex with a soft laugh, Chloe leaned closer into her fiancée. "As a Luthor, you should be offering me more than a penny."

"Fine," Lex laughed, teasingly poking her side. "Multinational conglomerate for your thoughts,"

Her eyes lighting up with mirth, Chloe shook her head and rained sunshine down on Lex. "My thoughts are worth that much?"

"Priceless," he assured her. "Everything about you is priceless."

"Careful," Chloe teased, pulling Lex towards her until she was pressed firmly against him. "Or you're going to get real lucky right here."

Bringing her lips to his, Lex kissed her until they were both flushed and breathless. "Promise?"

"Alexander Luthor," Chloe mock scolded as she pressed another kiss to his willing lips, "Are you trying to get a pregnant woman to have sex with you on a rooftop garden, in the middle of the afternoon?"

"It would probably give the guys up in the helicopter something to take a picture of," Lex grinned, kissing his way down Chloe's neck and lavishing extra attention where he knew she would appreciate it most. "I think they're getting sick of just getting pictures of you sitting out here reading and walking around with me."

Laughing between breathless moans of appreciation, Chloe wrapped her arms firmly around Lex and held on tight. "I love you, Lex."

Feeling the shift in her mood, Lex pulled back slightly and looked down at Chloe's flushed face. "What's wrong?" he asked, brushing away the sudden tears that fell from her eyes.

Sighing, Chloe closed her eyes miserably. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin the mood. Damn hormones."

Tilting her face up to meet his, Lex stroked her cheek and caught her tears on his thumb. "What is it, Chloe? What's wrong?"

Her lips quivering, Chloe buried her face against Lex's chest and shook her head. "You're going to think I'm being stupid."

"Try me." Lex said, running his fingers through her hair.

Her voice may have been muffled by his shirt but he heard her loud and clear. "We were supposed to get married next week."

Taken aback, Lex wasn't entire sure he had heard her right. He had been expecting something dire, something so serious that he would have to go to the ends of the earth to find the cure for everything that ailed her. "What?"

Looking away from Lex and concentrating on the array of roses that surrounded the small fountain that splashed away merrily, Chloe couldn't meet Lex's eyes. "We were supposed to get married next week. It's silly to be upset about a cancelled party, after everything that's happened, I know."

Grabbing Chloe's hand, Lex gave it a gentle tug. "It's not silly."

"Yes it is," she argued, annoyed with herself for bring it up. "I shouldn't be so upset. It's just a silly party where I have to wear a silly dress…"

"Hey," Lex said, cutting off Chloe's mini rant with a strategically placed kiss. "I don't think it's silly. And who says we can't get married next week."

Her shock apparent, Chloe gaped silently up at Lex. "What?"

A mischievous smile playing across his lips, Lex pulled Chloe deeper into the garden and sat her down on the many benches that were artfully scattered around the lush landscape. Getting down onto one knee, Lex clasped both of her hands tightly in his own. "Chloe Sullivan, will you marry me next week?"

"Lex," she gasped, obviously at a loss for words. "I didn't mean to…I wasn't asking you to do this."

If a cancelled wedding was what was causing Chloe to suffer moments of unspoken sadness, Lex would do everything to make her smile again. "No, I'm asking you to do this. Marry me, Chloe and become my wife. Be Mrs. Chloe Luthor this time next week."

Her face breaking into the most luminous smile he had ever seen, Lex was ready when Chloe launched herself into his arms. "Yes," she chanted, "Yes, I'll marry you."

Standing perfectly still as Claudia adjusted her veil, Chloe held her breath as she waited for the last pin to be fastened in her hair.

"Oh Chloe," Claudia gushed, stepping back and looking at the glowing bride, "You look beautiful."

Laughing nervously, Chloe touched her protruding stomach lightly. "Even for being ironic and wearing white?"

Handing Chloe her bouquet, Claudia laughed along with her. "Especially for being ironic. Seriously, Lex is going to lose all ability to speak when he sees you."

Turning slowly to regard her reflection, Chloe smiled at Claudia's beaming reflection. "Hopefully not all ability to speak. It might make exchanging vows a little difficult."

"Perhaps,"

Moving away from the mirrors that reflected her almost nauseating happiness, Chloe considered the young woman standing before her and felt her heart falter at the memory of how easily she could have missed today. "You look wonderful, Claudia."

Blushing at the attention, she pressed a nervous hand against the muted caramel color of her dress. "Thanks,"

"Knock, knock," Louis called out jovially as he bounded into the sunny room. "Bloody hell, two beautiful women for little old me? I am a lucky bloke."

His presence dismissing all the unhappy memories she didn't want to taint her happy day, Chloe happily took Louis's arm when he offered it to her. "It's time?"

"It is my dear pixie. It's time for you to make the sacred blood pact with the Luthor family and become one of them. Are you ready?"

Regarding Louis's playful expression with one of complete sincerity, Chloe nodded delicately. "I'm ready."

The notoriously difficult Metropolis weather was behaving itself on the unnaturally warm fall day as the sun shone merrily down on the people gathered to watch the loving couple become one in heart, soul and name.

Standing tall before the seated crowd surrounded by blooming flowers of all varieties, Lex couldn't help the ripple of apprehension that ran through him when the first strains of music reached his ears.

His eyes finding his father watching him with a look of almost pride, Lex didn't know how genuine it was but he would take it over glowering. Turning his attention to the pathway before him, Lex smiled briefly at Claudia as she walked down the aisle towards him, face flushed from all the attention she was receiving.

Stopping at her place across from Lex, Claudia gave him a genuine look of excitement before the first notes of the wedding march captured his attention.

Forgetting to breathe, Lex didn't even see Louis walking alongside Chloe as his attention was captured by the heart stopping image she made. Time moved on its own accord as the small steps Chloe took brought her to his side in no time.

Grasping Lex's hand firmly in her own, Chloe remembered belatedly to kiss Louis on the cheek and hand her bouquet off to Claudia before taking her place beside her husband-to-be.

Bringing Chloe's hand up for an impromptu kiss, Lex positively beamed at her. "Ready?"

"Ready."

After many flutes of champagne (or in Chloe's case, many flutes of cold crisp milk), endless congratulations, an extravagant dinner, extra servings of cake and a nice night of dancing – the four found themselves alone under a sea of dazzling stars. Finally alone to hold their own private party.

"If they do end up making a TV movie out of it, I'd better be played by someone damn hot."

Knowing better than to argue with the volatile pregnant woman that went from rage to utter despair at the drop of a hat these days, everyone nodded in hasty and heartfelt agreement.

"I want to be played by someone dashing." Louis grinned, once the danger of setting Chloe off into one of her moods had been averted. Striding across the dance floor as if he was on the red carpet and the three of them were his adoring fans, he struck various poses for their viewing pleasure. Plucking a rose from one of the many bouquets that filled the room, Louis threw it playfully at Claudia. "While few would be able to capture my roguish good looks, there must be someone that can impersonate my charm."

Rolling her eyes and making gagging gestures from the chair Chloe and Louis had ushered her into the moment she had mentioned feeling slightly fatigued, Claudia had no such superficial and aesthetic demands. "I'll be happy as long as they don't pick an airhead, bubble gum, idiot starlet to play me. I'd be mortified and various degrees of incensed if they cast some tittering twit that had a combined IQ of 4."

Feigning a gasp of outrage, Louis dramatically swept Claudia to her feet and danced her around the deserted dance floor. "Banish the thought!" he ordered, expertly moving them both to the soft music around them, "I'll make sure that only they pick the brightest actress there is."

Not blinking an eye at the Englishman's antics, Claudia inquired innocently, "And by brightest, you mean brains don't you, Louis? And not the degree of peroxide that has been applied to her hair?"

Laughing, Chloe happily sat back against Lex as she devoured a bowl of the sweetest strawberries floating in a mixture of orange juice and sprite and he rubbed soothing circles over her aching back. Leaning back against her husband, Chloe smiled brilliantly at him. "How about you, Mr. Luthor? Any particular way you want to be portrayed?"

Smiling, Lex pressed a soft kiss against Chloe's temple and wrapped his arms around her and the silk of her wedding gown. Lex left his fingers to idly dance across her stomach. "No one is going to be making a movie, Mrs. Luthor. I would never allow for someone to profit from something so horrible."

His statement somber but reassuring, Chloe nodded briefly and turned her attention back to her laughing friends. Watching the two laugh and dance, Chloe knew that she couldn't have asked for more. "Thank you, Lex."

"For what exactly, my beautiful wife?"

"For making this day absolutely perfect, my loving husband."

"I think I'm going to be ill," Louis drawled as he twirled Claudia to a stop before the newly married couple. "The guests may have left but I do not believe that the party is over. Hoist that wife of yours up, Luthor. We still have some celebrating to do."

Feigning a pout at Louis's mention that she needed to be 'hoisted' up, Chloe didn't argue when Lex helped her to her slightly swollen feet.

"What do you have in mind?" Lex inquired, eyeing Louis contemplatively.

"Just think of this as one of my wedding presents to you both," Louis grinned, leading the trio away from the evidence that a very good party had been thrown and towards an awaiting limo.

"Where are we going?" Chloe asked, half wary and half excited at the pleased gleam in Louis's eyes.

Opening the door with a flourish, Louis laughed gleefully. "After a whirlwind week and a hell of a wedding, I do believe that we could all do with a few days away. Just to relax, pet. The jet awaits my dear Mrs. Pixie Luthor, and we can go anywhere that little heart of yours wants."

Looking up at her husband, Chloe could tell that he was just as surprised as she was. A quick glance at Claudia revealed that she was just as baffled. "Anywhere?"

Bouncing on his heels now, absolutely smug that he had managed to shock them all, Louis nodded his head. "Just name it and we'll be on our merry little way."

"I hadn't really envisioned spending my honeymoon with you and Claudia in tow, Louis." Lex smirked, wrapping an arm around his wife.

Rolling his eyes, Louis waved Lex's comments away. "Please, we all know that you're waiting until the baby is born to take a real honeymoon. So what do you say, Chloe Luthor? Are you up for it?"

Turning to her husband, Chloe knew from the smile on his face that he felt the same way she did. Excitement absolutely filling her with giddy laughter, Chloe nodded vigorously. "Oh yes, I'm up for it."

"Always these adventures," Claudia teased as she followed Chloe and Lex into the limo, "You guys can't do anything normally, can you?"

"Normal?" Louis scoffed as he waved the driver to take them away to wherever the sun shone the brightest, the sea was the clearest and the stars sparkled like diamonds in the sky. "Normal is highly overrated."

THE END.