She wasn't sure when it became a habit. Maybe when she first started to compile her Wall of Weird, maybe when she realized most of her Wall could be directly attributed to the meteor shower from over a decade ago. Okay, it was probably when her best friend Clark Kent finally admitted that he was an honest-to-God alien from outer space that Chloe Sullivan had made it a personal habit to keep one eye on the stars.
So Chloe Sullivan saw the meteor in all of its bright, white, glowing glory as it fell and then slammed into the ground just outside of Smallville, Kansas. Her right hand dove into her purse for the cellular phone even as she maneuvered her car to a stop along the side of the road. A safe few dozen feet of space separated her from the newly formed crater.
"Clark! Get to Peterson's Field, quick! But be careful, something just fell out of the sky!" Chloe jabbed the disconnect button before Clark could get a word out. (The words would be something along the lines of 'stay back' and 'wait for me' which she wouldn't listen to anyway.) Besides, she'd discovered a long time ago that the less she said about the situation the faster her friend would come running. Was it shameless to play on his overdeveloped hero complex? Yes, of course. Would she stop? Nope.
Carefully, she climbed out of the relative safety of the car.
A low groan of discomfort echoed from the crater: the sound of a quarterback shaking off a particularly hard tackle. There was also some muttered complaint, judging from the tone, but she didn't recognize the language. So, not just a meteor; meteors don't get hurt.
So. Meteor Freak or another Kryptonian? Chloe dug in her purse again for the little lead box and the even smaller green rock inside that. She wouldn't open it yet because Clark would be coming, but she felt a lot better with something on hand to defend herself with. Just in case.
"I wish people would stop doing that," a gravelly voice grumbled softly to himself.
Chloe could hear fabric rustling and dirt clods crumbling as the owner of the voice began to work his way out of the crater.
A gust of wind ruffled her short blond hair: Clark had arrived.
"Chloe?"
She pointed at the crater and the being climbing his way out of it. He looked normal enough: human appearance, middle-aged, black hair, blue eyes. His clothes were earth standard: a cheap suit, tie, and trench-coat. Nothing screamed dangerous at first glance, except for the fact that he had fallen out of the sky.
The newcomer brushed dirt and dust off of himself for a moment before he acknowledged his audience. "Where am I?" he demanded, a rumble of anger threaded through his words.
"Earth," Clark offered cautiously, not wanting to upset him more.
The man rolled his eyes and shook his head, as though he could not believe the stupid answers he was forced to deal with.
Chloe took mild offense. It was a perfectly valid answer when someone fell out of the sky hard enough to gouge a ten foot deep hole.
The man glared at Clark and opened his mouth... only to stop and snap it shut again. Icy blue eyes stared and studied Clark. They flicked to Chloe, then back. His head cocked sideways. "You. Are not human," he announced.
Both friends' mouth fell open in surprise. He could tell that just by looking at the Kryptonian?
"I- uh-" Clark stammered, at a loss for words.
The stranger shook his head. "Never mind. I do not have time for this. How far away is Lebanon, Kansas?"
"A little over three hours north of here," Chloe stuttered her answer on auto-pilot.
"Thank you," the man moved to walk past her and pointed himself at her red Volkswagon still idling behind them. "I need to borrow your car."
"Whoa, whoa!" Chloe cried, snapping out of her stupor, and placed herself bodily between him and her Bug. "Borrowing without waiting for permission is called 'stealing.' And you are not stealing my car!"
"I am sorry," the man told her, sounding honestly apologetic. Then he gently lifted her off of her feet and deposited her back on the ground three feet to his right. "But I am in a hurry."
He turned back to the car.
Clark Kent landed a heavy hand on the smaller man's shoulder. "Who are you? What are you?"
The man tried to tug himself out from under Clark's grip. To his surprise, Clark had to extend real effort to keep him there.
Surprise showed clearly on the stranger's face as well. But the expression quickly morphed into one of annoyance. "I do not have time for this," he grumbled. The man reached up to Clark's forehead with two fingers, just two fingers. But then his eyes seemed to glow an intense blue for a moment, noticeable only because it was so dark out.
Clark collapsed into a boneless heap.
"Clark!" Chloe screamed, dropping to her knees next to her downed friend.
"That was harder than it should have been," the man muttered to himself. To Chloe he continued, "He is not injured. He will sleep for several hours and wake unusually well-rested." Then he stepped past them both towards the car.
Chloe did not car about the damn car any more. "Oh, god, Clark. Do I check for a pulse in the same spot or what?" Kryptonians do have a pulse, she discovered shortly. Clark's was steady and his breathing was even.
She looked up in time to see her own taillights leaving them behind in an empty field.
Chloe scowled. "Lebanon, huh?"
