That day started off as normally as any day could in Smallville, Kansas. Lois Lane was hiding out between the dumpsters in the alley of the Talon, furiously chewing on nicorette. There was a little bit too much awkward sexual tension hanging around the coffee shop for her taste.

Suddenly she heard someone running down the alleyway, splashing noisily in puddles. She peeked out to get a closer look at the middle age man who was shouting and knocking into things. She didn't even have time to react when he slammed into her and knocked her off her feet.

"Hey! What the hell is wrong with you?" She yelled as she tried to get to her feet. The man grabbed her by the arms and practically shook her.

"You have to help me! I'm stuck here and I need to get back!"

"I think that's the way most people feel about Smallville. You need to lay off the midday sauce, buddy." She forcefully knocked his hands away from her and stood up. Lois was not the type of woman that you cornered in an alley.

"You don't understand! I'm from the future!" The man almost started to sob. She rolled her eyes and pushed past him.

Lois was damn tired of all the crazy people that lived in this town. Living with the General at a base was more enjoyable then this little shit-hole town and all of the murdering, stealing, and insane meteor-freaks running around. It seemed like ever since she had come here to get justice for Chloe's "death" she had found herself holding an icepack or two by the end of the week.

She could hear the footsteps as the man began to follow her. Just as the guy was bout to get a rude awakening from the bottom of her shoe, the purple backdoor of the Talon opened. Chloe and farm boy started down the steps, deep in conversation. Clark noticed immediately the scene in front of them and moved forward to step in.

"Chloe! Chloe Sullivan!" The man stummbled towards her and she gave him a strange look. Apparently the acquaintance was not mutual. "It's me, John…er, Jay Little. We were lab partners in biology in high school." Chloe gave him a disbelieving look, but studied him for a few seconds.

"Oh my God! What happened to you?" She said staring hard at him.

"Chloe I haven't been back to Smallville in twenty years! Since the year after we graduated high school. I don't know what happened to me. I thought it was all a dream but then this happened." He rolled his sleeve up to show a deep gash on his elbow that looked like road rash. "It wouldn't look like hurt if I were dreaming or…or hallucinating. Right?" Lois could tell that this man was quickly losing it. Well he was going freaking out, obviously he'd already lost his mind.

"That's not possible," Clark said. "We only graduated a few months ago."

Lois was getting a danger-vibe from the guy as he started twitching and looking from side to side. She didn't like being too close to a crazy person. She stared hard at Clark hoping he'd get the signal to grab him if he made a run for it. They needed to get the man to the hospital before he hurt himself or one of them.

"No! No, I was driving to work when all of a sudden I was sitting near Crater Lake." Chloe put her hands up to calm him down. "You don't understand! I live in Atlanta now! I have a wife and two kids. I saw the paper just now saying it was 2005, but that's not possible! It was 2025 this morning." The Chloe, Clark and Lois started at Jay very hard. "Oh God this is a nightmare, no one believes me!"

He turned on Lois, with a wild look in his eye. He tried to close the distance between them, but Lois punched him hard in the face. He slipped on the asphalt as he fell back, and cracked his head on the side of the dumpster.

"Lois!" Clark shouted disapprovingly as he ran towards the unconscious man and hovered over him.

"Look Smallville, maybe you don't mind being charged at by a crazy person, but I'm not just going to stand there and get pummeled."

"Well he needs to be hospitalized." Chloe said, then she caught the glaring fest between Clark and Lois. "It would've had to be done either way. Lois, why don't you call an ambulance?"

"Fine," She said. She pulled her phone out and moved a few feet away to make the call.

Chloe waited until Lois was out of earshot before quietly saying, "Clark, what if he were telling the truth? I knew Jay Little and the might have gained a few pounds and lost his hair, but the was definitely him."

"So you think he came from the future?" He said, giving her a look like she too might be unstable.

"It's not that far of a stretch, Clark. Remember that phone call you got from Lana a couple of years ago? That call came from the future."

Clark thought for a couple seconds before answering her. "Chloe, that was a fluke with a thunderstorm and some meteor rocks. You don't think that could actually happen with people do you?"

"I don't know." She said, finally. "But I think we should go down to Crater Lake tonight and check it out."

Lois poured her third cup of coffee as Chloe answered her third call from Clark. The conversation wasn't a long one, but Lois got the jest of it anyway. They were poking their heads into something big and trying to leave her at the apartment above the Talon. When Chloe ended the call, she turned to Lois with a cautious look on her face.

"I have to get going. I have an interview at the Planet tomorrow morning."

"Nope." Lois said, pointing her finger at her cousin. "Call him back. I'm coming too."

"Lois…I don't know what you're talking about."

"You and him should join a support group for terrible liars. You two are going all Scooby Doo tonight to investigate that dude from the future and I'm not missing out." She said in a final sort of tone. Chloe started to speak, but Lois quickly cut her off. "I'm going and thats the end of it."

Chloe sighed as she gave up. She pulled out her phone and dialed his number. "Clark…"

It felt like he was knocking on the door three seconds later.

"How'd you get here so fast?" Lois said as she opened the door for him.

"Uh…I was already around the corner." he said, not meeting her eyes.

"We were supposed to meet outside anyway," Chloe said, covering for him. He really needed to think quicker with Lois around. Clark didn't like the idea of Lois tagging along. She always got herself caught up in something and always ended up punching somebody, usually him.

"So what's the plan?" Lois said while going to her closet to grab a jacket.

"Well I did some research," Chloe began.

"Naturally," replied Lois as she started violently pulling out sofa cushions.

"What exactly are you doing?" Clark asked, eyeing her suspiciously. She soon pulled out a black bag and held it up for him to see. She dumped the contents on the kitchen counter, revealing an arsenal of knives, a taser, and pepper spray. He almost rolled his eyes. He was, as Chloe jokingly put it, a one-man army. "You aren't going to need any of that, Lois. Seriously, just leave it here."

She shot him a nasty glare and turned towards Chloe. "So what did you find out?"

"Besides Atlanta John, there's only been one other person who claims to be stuck in the past, but she's had a history of mental illness. Crater Lake has had its share of wall of weird moments, but this is a new one."

Lois smirked deviously. "Let's go then."

The ride down to the lake was not a pleasant one. Chloe was squished uncomfortably in the small cab on Clark's truck between Lois and Clark, who were arguing, as always, over the radio station. It took less than twenty minutes, but it felt like years. They parked down a hidden path that was supposed to be used to fix power lines, but was actually used regularly by fishermen, partying teenagers, and a few hobos.

The ground was wet and the air was just starting to have the crispness of fall. They grabbed flashlights and took their time inching deeper into the forest surrounding the lake. Lois's foot suddenly sunk underneath a large root and she felt herself falling forward, but at the last second something grabbed her hand and steadied her. Clark's hand easily wrapped around her arm and felt like steel against her. She quickly nodded a thank you and walked faster, though more carefully, to get away from him. Ever since her accidental stripping gig, things had become somewhat awkward between them. And she was very ashamed of her pounding heart and flushed cheeks. She couldn't help it. A pair of big, strong arms got her every time.

"We should split up, we can cover more ground." She said, turning to the two of them.

"Said every bimbo that's ever been in a horror movie." Chloe said with a raised eyebrow.

"For one, I'm not a bimbo-" Clark snickered. "Shut up Farm Boy. This isn't a horror movie and I can take care of myself."

"That's not a good idea. Whatever did that to Jay could be really dangerous," He said. Lois shot him a look as if he had sprouted another head. "If you really want to split up that badly, why don;t you and Chloe go search around the bank and I'll start at Bennet Trench."

"No!" Chloe practically shouted. Lois and Clark both gave her a strange look. "We'll search the trench. You look around the bank." She lowered her voice so that only Lois could hear (although he knew perfectly well that Clark could hear too). "It's full of meteor rocks. Anything exciting will be down there."

Lois nodded once in understanding and started heading East of where they were standing. It only took five minutes to reach the bottom of the "trench", which was actually just an embankment wedged between two hills. Chloe was right. The green rocks were everywhere and they made her nervous. They were probably radioactive from all the pollution in the atmosphere, which is why people around her got freaky abilities and went nuts.

They looked around for a few minutes, shining their flashlights into every tree knot and peaking underneath low hanging branches. Suddenly, Lois noticed bits of earth that were scattered over fallen leaves and started following a trail. She was only barely aware that Chloe wasn't behind her anymore. It lead her to a large, fresh crater that had probably been made in the last meteor shower.

She froze, keenly aware of faint breath on the back of her neck. She didn't look before she turned and struck the person hard in the stomach. Even in the dark she could sense the danger before her. He had not attacked her, hadn't even touched her, but she knew. She attempted to kick him while he was doubled over, but he grabbed the back of her knee and pulled hard. She fell on her back hard enough to knock the wind out of her. He leaned over her, pressing his knee on her torso, and pinning her down. She struggled and tired to throw him off to no avail. She was loosing her breath and fighting to stay conscious.

"Chloe," She croaked but hardly anything came out.

The stranger pressed his hand flat to her chest and Lois felt her flesh turn to fire. She felt as if she were trying to rip her own skin off from the inside out. She screamed bloody murder but nothing would lessen the pain. His eyes glowed green and flashed wickedly as she finally stopped fighting and fell easily into darkness.

"Lois!" Chloe called for the tenth time. With a woosh Clark was suddenly by her side. "She wandered off and I've been looking for her everywhere. Why don't you use the X-ray vision thing?"

Clark concentrated hard, unsure wether he' be able to actually locate her in the dark. Sure enough though, there was a bodying laying in between the trees. He could tell that it was Lois by the size and shape of her pelvic bones, but he would never admit to that out loud.

"She's over there. I think she passed out." He pointed and was about to run, but Chloe grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Clark, you can't just run around down here. If there's meteor rock I'm going to have to drag both of you up the hill"

"Whoever attacked Lois could still be around. I'm not letting you go by yourself."

"If I need you, I'll call for you," She reassured him, and he nodded reluctantly.

Chloe found Lois unconscious at the bottom of what looked like a large sink hole. What she saw stopped her in her tracks. Lois's hair was much darker, she looked older, and she was wearing a big flannel shirt and pajama pants with rubber duckies on them. A black leather purse was hooked around her wrist and some of its contents were scattered around her. Chloe moved above Lois and checked her pulse. It was steady. Chloe almost sighed in relief.

"Lois…Lois, wake up." Chloe tried shaking her gently. Lois moved her head slightly, but didn't open her eyes. Her movement had opened her shirt enough for Chloe to notice the blood. Burned into Lois's chest was a large handprint.

"Oh God."She muttered. She quickly shoved the random items back in Lois's purse and zipped it up. She then grabbed Lois under her arms and dragged her from the crater. The blood was worse now, deeply staining the flannel.

"Clark!" He was there in a fraction of a second. He picked Lois up and gave her a once over.

"What happened to her?" He could feel the familiar ache of kryptonite and Lois began to feel very heavy in his arms. It was faint enough that it wouldn't bring him to his knees and he could keep going.

"Look at this," Chloe pulled one side of the flannel open to show Clark her wound, though to Chloe's surprise, it had begun to heal and it looked like the degree of the burn had lessened.

"We should get her to the hospital." He had almost reached the top of the hill. Lois's burn continued to fade as they walked.

"I don't know if that's a good idea. If she started shouting stories of being from the future like Jay did, she could get a one way ticket to Belle Reeve. Besides, she seems to be healing. Why don't we take her back to the farm for tonight?"

The ride back to the Kent farm felt much faster without all the bickering, plus Clark was driving thirty miles over the speed limit. Chloe quickly ran to the front door and pulled it open for Clark with Lois in his arms. His parents rushed to his side as he laid Lois on the couch.

"Oh my God! What happened?" Said a very concerned Martha Kent.

"She was attacked by something. Could you get some ice and maybe a blanket?" Clark turned to his mother, who did as he asked without hesitation. Jonathan followed his wife out of the room and offered to go upstairs and grab the blanket. Clark pressed the back of his hand to Lois's forehead. She didn't have a fever, but she was clammy. Chloe knelt beside her, looking up at Clark as if she was waiting for him to give her all the answers, or at least comfort her. Lois started trembling. He put a hand on either side of her face.

Lois opened her eyes to meet Clark's. She smiled brightly at him, remembering last night. "Good morning." She stretched and felt the back of her wrist hit something hard. Then she looked around. First she noticed Chloe, which was highly unusual, then she saw the old Kent house, which was impossible. She bolted upright.

"What's going on?" She bluntly asked her husband.

"Lois, you were attacked," He said feeling a little uncomfortable with the intense way she was looking at him.

"When? Was it really bad enough to call Chloe? Did you and Ollie get the guy?" She shot questions at him at reporter speed.

"Ollie?" Chloe asked with a confused look.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny. Who's watching the kids?" She looked back at Clark quickly and something important popped into her head. "Did you bring Jase? Where is he?"

"Lois, you were hurt pretty badly. I think you're confused."

"Me, confused? You're the one acting like you don't know who Jase is." She stood up and pain radiaded across her body. She looked down to see a faint pink burn on her skin. She touched it gingerly. "Oww. Did you get me with heat vision again?"

Clark started at her in horror. "What did you say?"

"What's wrong?" She said suddenly, touching his arm. "Is it Kryptonite?"

He and Chloe stared at each other blankly. Clark's parents entered the room and Lois gasped loudly, putting her hand over her racing heart. Her diamond ring glittered violently in the light. She looked around as if she were seeing everything for the first time. She turned back to Clark.

"How…?" She searched his face and began to notice faint differences about him. "How old are you?"

"Nineteen."

She sank back on to the couch. "Son of a bitch."