They ended up in front of a regular looking house, much alike some others they had seen on the way; when they walked in, there was what seemed to be a reunion going on inside, with regular looking people in it.

"And his bleached evilness is back again, all gelled-up and ready…" one of the people there, a boy perhaps a bit older than Clark, started, before he realized the man was not alone "And who is this, oh harmless one?"

"Bag it, git. Just came back to bring you this. Thought you might be interested. Found him in the park, I did. All lost and puppy-eyed."

"That was very thoughtful of you, Spike" an older man said, standing up from where he was sitting in front of a large book "But why not take him to the police station? We don't really specialize in helping lost people…"

"Not your regular bloke, watcher" the man who had brought him interrupted the other "Looks harmless enough, though… even had a puppy with him."

"And it's a cute puppy" a very small blond girl observed, standing up and walking towards Clark "Hi, I'm Buffy… these are Giles, and Xander, and the girls there are Willow and Tara. You've already met Spike."

"Pleased to meet you" Clark gladly replied, relieved to finally find himself in a situation in which he knew how to react "I'm Clark"

"Hi Clark", the girls in the couch waved hello, and he waved back.

"Okay, now we all know who we are" the tiny blonde seemed satisfied with that.

"Yes, I am afraid I have been a rather inhospitable host" the older, English man said earnestly "I am Rupert Giles, and this is my home. Perhaps you'd care to enlighten us as to how you ended up lost in Sunnydale?"

Clark gulped. He hadn't thought this far ahead when he had followed the strange-looking man, Spike. What was he supposed to say to this roomful of people watching him expectantly? "Hi, I just woke up here" didn't seem like a good option. He had already established "I'm from Kansas" was a very lame response, and didn't bring him any closer to coming home. Wherever home was. He suddenly felt a little bit like crying.

"Bloody hell, you're not going to cry, are you?" Spike exclaimed, sounding incredibly annoyed at the possibility.

"I'm not going to cry!" he defended himself "I just… I don't know how I ended up here" he confessed, hoping they all made the best that they could out of that simplified fact.

"Yes, of course" the older man, Giles, said in a reassuring tone "But you must certainly remember something… where are you from, Clark?"

"I'm from Kansas" he explained "Smallville, Kansas. It's a small town, a few hours away from Metropolis"

"I didn't know there was a Metropolis in Kansas" the other boy, Xander, interjected.

"There isn't" the redhead confirmed.

"Well, no, there doesn't seem to be…" Clark admitted, not really knowing how to go on "But they were there yesterday… I mean, I went to bed in Smallville last night, and it was there. I was there."

"There has never been a Metropolis in Kansas, I think" the Willow girl frowned, not at him, but rather at the whole problem.

"I'm not crazy… I mean, I don't think I am. I have lived in Smallville all of my life. Metropolis is the only other place I had even been to, other than Smallville. Until today, that is…" he didn't think it pertinent to mention he had gotten to Smallville after a brief stay in Krypton and an interesting bit of interstellar travel.

"Well, all in due time…" the English man began "Spike here says you're not just the average bloke… I think it's fair that I ask how you are not the average bloke"

"Is that… I'm a regular kid. There's nothing… not regular about me" he assured them, at the same time hitting himself mentally over the head for such a lame denial. He wasn't even sure what he was denying.

"No, he's not" Spike threw in "Not human, that kid. Don't know what, but not human"

"What? No!" Clark hurried, absolutely sure that this was something he had been taught to deny "I am… human. I mean, how could I not be? I'm not green, or…"

"Why would you be green?" the blond girl, Buffy, looked at him in confusion "Should you be green?"

"No, definitely not green" he assured her, shaking his head to emphasise his point.

"He looks normal enough to me…" the Xander person commented.

"You wouldn't know krej from human if they were eating out your brains!" Spike snorted "Look at your datin' record, git"

"It's only fair to admit Spike does have a point" Giles stated as he took off his glasses and started polishing the already pristine surface "and he does have a more accurate… perception of things."

"Thanks for the no-defence-at-all, G-man" Xander scoffed.

"Yes, well… Clark, we do understand your… reluctance. But we are certainly not going to judge you…"

"Unless you're up to destroy the world…" Buffy interjected "You're not up to destroy the world, right?"

"What? No!" Clark jumped.

"Better to be on the safe side of things" the small girl shrugged.

After that they all seemed to go silent for a while. Clark was trying to figure out what to say, because someone had to talk in such a situation, when someone else beat him to it;

"Wait a minute" Xander started all of a sudden "Your name is Clark, and you're from Smallville… near Metropolis. And you're not human… why does that ring a bell?"

"You know him, Xander?" the redhead asked, curious.

"Oh, oh! I've got it!" the boy almost jumped up and down on his place, he was so excited "You're Clark Kent, right?"

"Yes, I'm Clark Kent…" he answered tentatively "Have we met?"

"Shit, this is so cool!" Xander beamed "He's Clark Kent, from Smallville!"

"Xander, I hope you are going somewhere with this… and do watch your language" Giles said in a voice that clearly spoke of exasperation.

"Don't you see?" Xander asked, goggling at everyone like they had all grown a second head "Had you no childhood?"

"Xander, what…" someone began to speak when Spike, who had remained silent in a corner, interrupted them rudely;

"Oh, sod all, the kid's bloody Superman!"

"I really don't know what that means, but I'm definitely not… that" he insisted

"But that's only because you're probably too young right now…" Xander explained, as if he were a particularly slow child "You're still living in Smallville. How old are you?"

"Sixteen"

"What?" Buffy goggled "He's sixteen? He's… you look so… big" she sounded amazed. He thought his head might burst if he blushed any more.

"Everybody, please…" Giles interrupter the banter "You're telling us, Xander, that Clark here is a superhero from children's comic books?"

"Well, yes! The name, his hometown –which does not exist in this reality—and look at him! He's sixteen, and he's by far the biggest guy in the room. And I bet he can do all kinds of cool things! Like, can you fly?"

"No, I can't fly… birds fly, not people" he said in disbelief, but then noticed the way everyone was looking at him like he was too dense to be true, and gathered everyone already knew his secret "I sometimes float in my sleep. But I can't control it."

"Yes, well" Giles cleared his throat "now that we have established that, I think we should try and find a way to get you back to your world."

"Can't we keep him for a little while?" Xander all but begged

"I kind of have to go home…" he confessed, hoping they didn't think him an enormous dork for what he was about to say "Mom and dad must be very worried by now."

"Xander please, do behave… this boy is not a toy for you to play with" Giles scolded him.

"Yeah whelp, you don't get to play with that kinda toy… not in your league, this kid." Spike cut in from his corner.

"God, Spike, naughty images in my head!" Xander whined "Why hasn't Buffy killed you yet, again?"

"I'm more helpful than you are... if somebody has to be put to sleep, it's gonna be you"

"Please, nobody will be put to sleep!" Giles interrupted "You two have exasperated me enough for one day, and I frankly think you should both go home now. It's late enough as it is, and Buffy has to patrol… we'll find out how to bring Clark home tomorrow morning."

Everybody seemed to be somewhat put out by the older man's tone, and remained quiet. He was fighting with himself not to insist that they try to find out how to bring him home right now, because mom had taught him not to be pushy, especially when one is a guest.

"Can I take him home with me?" Xander asked in a much tamer voice, after the silence was maintained for a while.

"Thought you said you didn't fancy the bloke…" was the immediate come back from the corner.

"Argh, Spike! Evil creature of the night! I'm not even addressing that comment…"

"Well, Xander, I appreciate the good will" Giles spoke, before another word could be said on that line "Do you think it'll be safe, though?"

"He's Superman!" the boy insisted, sounding entirely sure of himself "He's the nicest guy ever. That puppy is more dangerous than he is… I mean, look at him!"

Everybody looked at him, and the girls even smiled tenderly. He had no words for how embarrassed he felt.

"Alright then, Xander…" the older man agreed, clearly tired of the younger one's enthusiasm "If Clark is alright with it, that is…"

"It's okay Mr. Giles, I'll stay wherever it's best for you…" he assured him, not wanting to cause any trouble.

"See? All-around nice guy!" Xander sounded filled with pride "Okay, let's go Clark!