Summary: A monster seems to have come to Smallville. A winged beast that is only ever seen by night, but he's only ever seen by the criminals that he stops. Is this hero real or only a legend? A news reporter, photographer, and farm boy try and find out.

Author's Note: This story is a story on the adventures of a young warrior by the name of Christian Van Hart. If you'd like to see other stories containing this same character please read my other two stories, 'Our Kind of People' and 'Thirteen Warriors'.

Setting: This is set in Smallville just after the episode after the episode where Clark, Lana, Lex, and Jason all go to China, or In other words after the latest episode for me here in the states, not sure if there are newer or different episodes or if the show is even shown anywhere else.

Chapter 1: Flying In

Sunday night. Most spend it with family, some spend it studying, but others spend it doing what they do best. Chris Hart is no different, but what does he do best? The answer is simple. He does what others can only dream of, he can fly.

Two great wings grew from his back, leathery and bat-like, a combined wingspan of twenty feet tip to tip. Both were stretched out now to their full span as he flew through the air. It was a cloud covered night sky above him; darkness seemed to cover the world. No star shone, the moon was hidden, and only unlit farmlands flew by beneath.

He was now flying over the state of Kansas; he'd begun his journey from New York several days ago. Beyond a week ago really, though he wasn't completely sure even of what day it was now. He'd been sleeping and sometimes walking by day, and flew by night. Usually for no more than six hours at a time. He couldn't risk being seen by others in the pale light after sunset or before sunrise.

He was close to his goal. He'd spent yesterday in a city called Metropolis. By his calculations he was already there, this was Smallville, his final destination, but so far he had only seen farmlands through his bright green eyes. His shoulder length blonde hair flowed behind him as he gracefully landed on the ground and folded his wings around him.

He was currently shirtless, but the sack that hung from his waist could soon fix that. His wings stretched out a bit before slowly pulling themselves into his back, bit by bit, and apparently quite painfully for Chris. The sky was getting paler so he'd landed. This was his destination after all, so he could walk to the town. He pulled a t-shirt from the sack around his back and slipped it on, once the wings were gone, to match his blue jeans.

Well, this was it, there stood a sign that proved it. "Welcome to Smallville, meteor capital of the world." Chris read aloud to himself. "So this is where you decided to settle down eh Uncle Frank?" He asked nobody as he began walking into town.

As the sun rose so did the town it seemed. By the time he reached the main street in town the morning had already begun and people were out and about. Running to and fro. Eventually the boy saw what he had been looking for. A sign read 'the law firm of Mandi and Kelner' on a building across from what looked like an old movie theater. 'Closed' read the other sign in the window.

"Great." The boy muttered to himself. He needed a shower, not to mention a place to stay, and he didn't have the money left for another hotel, he was on his own. "When do you open?" He asked looking for a sign somewhere, but there was none to be found. "Wonders." He said rolling his eyes.

What was that place across the street. Where the movies would have been listed it said 'Buy one get one free day.' What was it a flower shop or something? Luckily, unlike the other buildings on the street, this one was open. Quickly he took a camera out of his sack and took a nice frontal shot of the 'Talon' as it was named on the front. That would make a nice shot once he got to a place where he could develop it.

Photography was a hobby of his, and he enjoyed it. Putting the camera away he crossed the street and went in. The Egyptian décor was enough to throw him off a bit. But the place looked like a coffee shop. Except there was only one person in there, who was probably the owner, a slightly older woman, seemed nice enough though with that smile as he came up to the bar counter.

"Cappuccino?" He asked raising a brow as he sat down.

"Sure thing. Good morning by the way." The waitress said as she started getting him his drink. "I'm surprised to see anyone in here this early, usually the first company is the sheriff on her way to work." The woman said friendly-like as she got him his coffee.

Chris smiled. "Well I just got into town, and seeing as no where else is open yet, I figured I could use some caffeine."

"You're an out of town-er?" She asked still chatting as the machine filled up the large cup with coffee. "Where are you from?"

"New York." He answered with a slight nod as he bent into his sack to get the money for the coffee.

"That's nice. Where are you staying while in town?" She asked handing him his coffee and taking the money for it to the cash register.

"Not sure yet." He said with a shrug. "Not exactly sure how long I'll be in town."

"How old are you?" The waitress asked, taking a good look at him for the first time.

"Sixteen." The boy answered before taking a sip of his drink.

"A little young to be traveling by yourself don't you think?" She asked leaning on the counter.

"Probably." He answered with a smirk. "But I had to come in anyway, my Uncle just died, I'm his only living relative, I've got to go through all the legal things."

"Oh. I'm sorry." She answered. She hadn't realized.

"It's okay. Though I should probably start school if I'm going to stay here for more than a week. I don't think I can catch up more than that back home." He said with a smile. To be honest he wasn't even sure if he wanted to go back to New York.

"But you don't know where you'll be staying?" She asked just making conversation since she was his only customer.

"Not until I talk with my Uncle's lawyers. Maybe I'll stay at his place, maybe a hotel." He answered with a shrug.

"Well, everybody usually opens around eight or nine. So it seems like you've got some time." She said with a smile.

"Thanks." He said as he took a sip of drink.

"Morning Mrs. Kent." A woman's voice came from the stairs as somebody came down. Chris turned to see a young couple coming down the stairs in jogging clothes.

"Morning Lana." The waitress, evidently this Mrs. Kent, said with a smile to the young couple.

"And who's this?" Lana asked coming up to the counter next to Chris as she spoke. "Here so early?"

"Lana this is… uh… What is your name?" Mrs. Kent asked looking towards the boy.

"Chris." He answered with a smile. "Chris Hart."

"Chris this is Lana and Jason, Lana this is Chris, he's from out of town." Mrs. Kent introduced the two.

"Nice to meet you." Chris said taking a sip of his coffee.

"Are you passing through or looking to move into town?" The guy, Jason, asked looking over to him.

"Both." He said with a curious smile. "Thanks Mrs. Kent. But if that place doesn't open for a few hours I'm going to go have a look around town." He said getting up. "Nice meeting you Lana, Jason." He said on his way out.

That was what he loved about small towns. Everyone was so friendly. Everyone knew everybody, it was safe, and no one had to fear anything. His head was filled with different thoughts as he started to cross the street. Out of nowhere a red beetle came speeding around the corner, not feet from him. His eyes grew wide as the driver slammed on her breaks just a little too late.

He tried to jump, but failed, rolled onto the windshield and then back onto the ground by the time the car stopped. He laid there, deathly still as the driver recovered and got out of the car to see if there was any damage done to either Chris, or her car. There was no blood on the scene that was a good sign, right? But he still didn't move.

"Oh my God…" The poor girl was having a break down of some kind as the people came out of that coffee shop. "Help me get him inside." He heard Jason say as he heard footsteps.

Suddenly he stirred. "Ow." He said shaking his head as he got on his hands and knees.

"Oh my… Are you okay?" He remembered the voice of the waitress.

"I'm fine." He said as he stood up and shook it off a bit. "Nothing too bad. But I think…" He looked into his sack. "Yeah. Great. Broke the camera." He said with a frown as he turned towards the driver. The girl was too cute to try and pretend to be mad with. "You okay?" He asked out of general concern.

"Yeah… Are you sure you are? I hit you at almost thirty." She said, half shocked, half concerned. She was obviously curious, but she was also scared and still a little shaken about what had happened.

"I'm fine." He said looking to her with a nod. "Don't worry, no damage done to me, no charges or nothing." He said looking at the front of her car. "I don't think I dented anything." He said inspecting the car.

"Don't worry about the car." The girl said shaking her head.

"Are you sure you're okay?" The waitress asked. "Maybe you should come inside and we can call the doctor."

"Don't worry about it. There was no way she hit me going thirty. If she did I'd be dead and her car would at least be dented or something." He said with a smile. "Name's Chris." He said offering a hand.

"Chloe." The girl answered with a smile as she took his hand. Almost as if scared of it. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Let's see if my state has changed since the last time you asked that." He said sarcastically. "Yes, I'm fine." He said with a nod. "Just… drive more carefully or something. Don't run into anyone again."

"Well you were the one who stepped out from behind the parked cars." Chloe said defensively.

"You're right. I'm sorry I hit your car." He said with a smile. "I'll tell you what. Let me make it up to you. Care to join me for a cup of coffee?"

Jason glanced at Lana, this guy didn't waste any time, and here he was asking out somebody who had just run over him.

"Sure." Chloe answered with a smile as Martha headed back into the talon with Chloe and Chris following behind.

How did he survive that? Not even he knew for sure. He knew he had wings and all, but he felt it when he hit the car, he wasn't invulnerable at all. And sure he looked tough, standing six one, broad shouldered, muscular tone, and all that, but he wasn't invulnerable to bullets or anything. All he remembered from the actual crash was himself hitting the car, massive amounts of pain, then nothing, no pain even, and then Jason's voice.

And then it was as if the pain he had felt never existed, he felt like he just woke up from a nap or something. Had he died?

"So… Chloe, you go to school here?" He asked as the two sat down.

"Yeah. I was actually on my way when, well…" She paused.

"I see." He said with a nod.

"What about you? I don't think I've seen those green eyes around before." She asked curiously as Martha brought them their coffees.

"I'm an out of town-er. Came by on some family business. Don't know how long I'll be here for." He said with a nod.

"So you're staying with your family then?" She asked as she took a sip of her coffee.

"No." He said shaking his head and smiling a bit. "Probably a motel or something." He said with a nod. "Like I said, I don't know how long I'll be in town, so I'm not sure if I actually need somewhere to stay or not."

"I see." She said with a nod.

"So… Chloe… I see you drive a beetle." He said with a small smile.

She laughed. "Yeah, it was a gift from my dad, last year." She said with a nod.

"That's cool. Sometimes I wish I had a car, but then I run into people like you and thank God I'm not on the road every day." He laughed.

She smiled. "If you don't have a car how'd you get into town?"

"Flew." He answered with a nod.

"Smallville doesn't have an airport. What'd you do take a taxi in here from Metropolis?" She asked curiously.

"Something like that yeah." He answered. "First thing this morning."

"Cool." She said with a nod. "So where are you from?"

"New York. At first I lived in the city, then I moved into some boarding school, and then I came here." He explained.

"Cool." She said with a nod. "Boarding school huh?"

"Yeah, a few friends were goin' so I applied. Turns out I'm the kind of student their looking for." He said with a smile.

She smiled. "So… What do you like to do?"

"Well I used to like photography." He started.

"Used to?" She asked raising a brow as she took another sip of her drink.

"Well being that I just broke my camera in half on the roof of your car the past tense was automatic." He explained.

"Oh." She said with a small laugh. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine. I'll get another eventually." He said with a smile. "What about you. Any hobbies?"

"I'm a writer for the school newspaper, but other than that I'm a bit of a collector." She answered with a nod.

"Cool." He said with a smile. "Maybe if I end up staying in town I can be a photographer for the school paper."

"Maybe." She said with a small nod.

"So…" He started let's see… "What's your favorite song?" He asked with a smile.

"Oh man… there's too many." She said shaking her head.

"Okay, what about your favorite flower?" He asked looking to the door as Jason and Lana came back from their jog.

"Tulip." She answered with a nod. "You?"

"Queen's Lace." He answered.

She laughed. "That's a weed, not a flower."

"I know." Chris said nodding surely. "But even though it's a weed it still has a beauty all it's own." She smiled at his answer but he looked to the doors and saw someone going in that law firm. "I'm sorry, but I've got to go." He said standing up. "I'll see you later. Maybe after you get out from school." He said to Chloe as he gave Martha the money for the drinks.

"Oh!" She said standing up. "Well it was nice to meet you." She said watching him.

"You too." He said with a smile as he offered her his hand to shake. "I'll see you around."

"I hope so." She said after he had walked out the doors. She glanced to Mrs. Kent who just smiled.

"You should get to school." Martha said with a smile.

"Yeah." Chloe said snapping back to reality. She grabbed her bag and walked to her car. "What the?" Something seemed to be stuck under the window wiper on the driver's side. Getting closer she realized what it was and took it out from under the blade. A fresh tulip.

End

Author's Note: Please Review! If you want a second chapter let me know. Otherwise, I won't put one up.