Origin of Icarus

Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville or any of these characters

-Still an AU Takes Place after the episode "Icarus"-

Oliver was asleep, he was tired all thanks to the woman that now sat at the end of the bed wrapped up in a cotton sheet, the evidence of what they had just done strung all over the room. They hadn't talk much since she saved the team, but that was okay their hands said everything that words just couldn't. She had briefed her comrades on what almost happened to them and most of the team was resting now.

They could all sleep soundly knowing they were safe in what was once Carter's underground hidden headquarters. No one would find them here not tonight at least, Chloe gazed across the bed to the exhausted hero, he looked so peaceful. Her thoughts drifted back to the last time she was in Egypt.

-Months ago-

Chloe pulled the soft material over her face preventing herself from inhaling the sand that blew through the desert. Two weeks since she had seen the future, two weeks since Oliver had kissed and she had traded herself to safe him. She'd given up everything to save him and gained the knowledge that could save them all.

The future was bright, but not until the coming darkness subsided, the images Chloe saw then confused, shocked, scared, and calmed her in a way she didn't think was humanly possible. The moment she took the helmet off she knew who she had to see.

Carter Hol, the man known to few as Hawkman, he sacrificed years of his life to care for his friend who had been driven partially insane by the Helmet of Nabu. He would have answers for her and he would know what to do.

"You shouldn't be here? But you know that already don't you?" Carter Hol stepped out of the large tent into the sand storm and then led Chloe into the structure.

"I need your help." Chloe removed the cloth covering her face and sat down in a wooden chair.

"Of course you do, you should have never put on that Helmet, but you did and now here you're here. So what can I do for the great watchtower?" He served her tea and sat down across from her.

"They're in danger, there is a coming darkness." She didn't beat around the bush she came here for help, even now Chloe still felt calm and Carter recognized that aura of certainly, and it scared him.

"I know, but there is nothing we can do right now. The threat is not here yet, all we can do is wait." He looked her straight in the eye and saw an unasked question behind her gaze, "In the mean time it would help if you could tell me some of what the Helmet of Nabu showed you."

"Everything, the past, the present, what kind of hero's they could be and how you… " Chloe stopped as Carter raised a hand.

"It's best that I don't know any of what's coming for me, I already know enough about my past to know what the future holds for me." Carter told her taking a drink of his tea.

"I was going to tell you of the greatness that they could reach, but you already know don't you? You already see it in them even if they don't see it in themselves yet." She spoke beyond her years, and with an understanding that only a wise man had.

"They have the gift of Icarus." Carter said without a second thought as if she should know what he met.

"The Gift of Icarus? What do you mean?" Chloe asked thinking she already knew the answer.

"The foolish hope that they can accomplish the impossible, even if it means certain death. You have it to Ms. Sullivan, you sacrificed it all to save the man you love. I can respect that." He poured her another cup of tea.

"Speaking from experience, does it ever get easier, not being able to be there when you need them the most." She lowered her head in sadness at the thought at not being near the man she loved.

"Just remember the reason you're staying away from him now is so that you can be there when he needs you the most." Carter's were truer then she wanted to admit, she had to stay away for a little while, they were all being watched and her existence had to remain a secret if she had any chance to save them from the coming darkness.

Carter had helped Chloe more that day than he ever knew, he'd help build her faith in herself and what she was doing. 'The Gift of Icarus' that's what he said they had. Foolish hope in the impossible, she silently thanked him again. Not just for her life but for her cousin's.

It was one of the many things she had seen when she put on the helmet, the fear in his eyes as he saw Lois being thrown out the window, the courage as he dived with flaming wings to save a woman for the sake of love that was not his own. The words that he said to Clark, so similar to the words he had told her.

'Hold on to him there has to be a balance, being a hero isn't possible if one has an empty heart.' Carter's wisdom resurfaced in her mind as she felt a hand grab at her sheet and pull her back to bed. Oliver didn't say a word as his lips found hers in a loving kiss. Words weren't necessary not right now, there would be time for them later. The only things that mattered were that she was with him and he needed her.