Driving over to Chloe's with the remaining few boxes of stuff from their apartment in Metropolis, Lois tossed her cell phone back into her handbag and thought back to the crazy naked man she'd picked up from the middle of the now decimated cornfield. Once she'd gotten over the initial shock of finding a man in the middle of a lighting bolt impact site she noticed that although he seemed to be suffering from amnesia he wasn't disorientated, which was odd. Fighting to keep her sight line on his face and not... elsewhere... she also noticed his eyes; bright, clear green that stared unblinkingly at her. There was such a sense of purpose and confidence behind those eyes that the fact that he was buck naked in the middle of a field paled into irrelevance. Now, with the endless fields of corn stretching out to infinity on either side of her, Lois felt a strange, burning desire to know what that purpose was.

Pulling up in front of their new home a few hours later, Lois threw her poor, savaged vehicle into park and bounced out of the cab, stretching her neck as Chloe came out to help her unload.

"Did you remember everything this time?" Lois nodded and Chloe smirked, "So this naked guy you found, was he hot?"

"Chloe, the man was insane, I really didn't notice."

Chloe snorted, "Yeah right. You know I really don't buy into your plan to find the nerdiest guy in Metropolis and do two point four; my Lois would never settle for anything so bland."

"The hot ones are always assholes, this one was probably no different."

A victorious grin split Chloe's face, "Aha, so he was hot."

Lois stuck out her tongue and turned as she heard footsteps on the driveway. Turning with her, Chloe laughed as she saw Lana approaching and grabbed her friend in a hug. Once the introductions were made, Chloe and Lana slipped into conversation about one of their other friends leaving Lois free to continue unpacking.

"So did you hear? Clark turned up, Mrs Kent is practically screaming with joy!"

"That's great!" Lois paused in her unloading as she picked up the subtle manic note in her cousin's voice, "How - how is he?"

Lana seemed oblivious to Chloe's wide-eyed state, mistaking her panic for concern, "That's the bad part; he has amnesia. The hospital said that a girl from the city brought him in after finding him in Schuster's field."

"Really?" The faked innocence in Chloe's tone perked Lois' ears, as did the fact that it was clearly her crazy, naked man they were talking about. She frowned, unseen by the other two as Chloe asked, "Have you seen him?"

"Yeah," Lana's voice turned contemplative and Lois turned to rejoin them, curious about what had happened, "It was really weird. I know they say that amnesiac people can be different to the person you know, but this Clark was so different it was like he was someone else." Her voice turned sad, "He didn't recognise me."

As Chloe moved to comfort her, Lois blurted out, "Did he say anything about a sign?" Lana looked at her like she was an alien and shook her head. Once the two friends had spoken a while longer and made plans to meet up, Lois leaned against the car as Lana left, one finger gently tapping against her lips in thought.

"Oh no," Chloe quirked a half smile at her contemplative cousin, "I know that look."

"I think we should pay Clark a visit, you know, to see how he's getting along."

"Yeah right. This is your latent journalist sticking her head out, you want to see what the deal is."

"Well, maybe just a little. Come on, we have a right to know! You're his friend, I found him naked in a field, I think that gives us superior rights in fact." She folded her arms and looked condescendingly at her cousin.

Chloe smirked and picked a box up from the boot of the car, "Alright, I'm dying to know what happened, let's get this stuff inside first." She got to within ten meters of the house and stopped dead, "Oh my God... Lois, you've beaten both me and Lana to it: you've seen Clark naked!"

Kal El stood in Clark Kent's loft and took in all the meaningless junk his former self had collected. Football trophies, photographs, drawings, endless self-help books; all junk. The only thing that caught his attention and held it was the large telescope set up by the window. Bending to peer into it, he moved it until he found the gaseous mass where Krypton used to be. Straightening, he cast his gaze to the beauty of the sunset - always such a breath taking view from here - and sighed gently, he would never see his home again. Hearing footsteps on the creaky, inefficient wooden steps leading up from the barn, he turned and watched two women enter the space. They stopped and eyed him warily and he cocked his head, there was something eerily familiar about the taller of the two beside the fact that he had met her earlier in the day. Taking a few steps towards the silent pair, he approached the familiar one and let his gaze trail over her form, taking in her clear, electric eyes, the pulse fluttering in her neck, her pleasing form and... he inhaled and felt his heart skip a beat - and her scent. Perplexed by his body's strange reaction, he took a step back and spoke to the blonde, "Who are you?"

The blonde seemed to weigh her words carefully before speaking, an admirable trait, "I'm Chloe Sullivan and this is Lois Lane. I'm a friend, and Lois... well you already met Lois." The tall one waved briefly, a wry smile quirking her lips.

Kal El noted the blonde's tone, "You sound amused, Chloe Sullivan; why is this?"

Lois snorted, "'Why is this?' Where are you from, Mars?"

"No, I am Kryptonian."

Chloe's eyes widened as Lois' eyebrow raised dubiously, "Ri-ight, is that what they call your cult? The Kryptonians?"

"Lois!" Chloe elbowed her in the ribs, "Look, why don't you go back to the house and ask Mrs Kent for a drink? I'm parched."

"Okay..." With one last, weirded out glance at Clark, Lois did as she was told.

Finally left alone with him, Chloe gently guided him to sit on the sofa with her, "You were gone a long time, Clark. What happened?"

He glared at her, "I am Kal El of Krypton, Clark Kent is dead."

Chloe blinked in shock as he declared death on himself, what the hell had happened to him? "Clar - I mean, Kal El, what actually happened? Where have you been all this time?" Once she told them that she knew Clark's about Clark's abilities, Mr and Mrs Kent had told her what little they knew about what had happened, but Chloe was convinced that she could get him to open up to her.

"I have been with my Father."

"Your father? Mister Kent? But I thought -"

"Jor El, my Father. His will was preserved for me in the ship I was sent here in. I was to return to him and receive his teachings when I came of age."

Making a mental note to ask the Kents all about this alien business at a later date, Chloe pressed on, "The last time I saw you, uh, I mean Clark, he was being thrown from a multi-storey building by someone like you."

"Yes. That was the messenger sent by my Father to retrieve me. Clark Kent had been so corrupted by the humans of this planet that Jor El could sit by no longer and sent for me. Clark Kent resisted my Fathers will but he has now been purged. I am Kal El of Krypton, I am merely awaiting the sign."

"What sign?"

"You wish to know why I was absent for so long, Chloe Sullivan; I was taken from this place to be cleansed, to have the humanity that had made me weak washed away. I was returned here by my father with a purpose. I am awaiting the sign that will tell me what that purpose is."

"O-kay. Well maybe I can help you to find the sign." She had no idea what he was on about, but she needed to keep him talking.

Kal El rose to his feet, "Yes. Clark Kent trusted your intuition, Chloe Sullivan; we have no use for intuition on Krypton but we are not on Krypton now, you could be useful."

"Gee, thanks."

"Your companion, this Lois Lane, I would ask that you keep her away from me if we are to seek the sign together."

"Lois? Why?"

He looked at her, his eyes hard, "She provokes an irrational response in me, I cannot be distracted from my purpose in this way."

Chloe tried and failed to fight back a smirk, "Didn't you have distractions on Krypton?"

If she didn't know her friend's face so well, she would have missed the fleeting instant of embarrassment that chased across his lips, "Yes."

"That's it? 'yes'?"

"Yes."

"Alright." She stood, successfully keeping her face smirk-free this time, "I'll be back in the morning, Lois Lane-free."

She could have sworn that he sighed softly in relief, but it was probably just a trick of the setting sunlight, "Thank you."