Spoilers and Timing: Takes place in the middle of Season Four of Smallville and a year and a half after the conclusion of Buffy. Has general Smallville S4 spoilers and other spoilers for the Buffy ep. 'Chosen'.

It had been an innocent little kiss, brought on by the passion of the moment. New Year's Eve did that to people, sometimes. When the countdown ended and the clock changed from 11:59 to 12:00 on the first minute of the new year, people were swept up with irrational emotion. Couples would make out in public. Friends and pseudo-enemies would hug each other like there was no tomorrow. People who hadn't shown any interest in each other before would fling their arms around their neighbor's necks and stick their tongues down their throats.

All of this was excusable and often forgivable once the moment had passed. Everyone involved was a victim of circumstances. Sometimes, however, awkwardness would occur.

When you're an eighteen-year-old alien male, being a victim of circumstances usual had very disastrous results. Awkwardness didn't even begin to cover it.

Lana had thrown a party at the Talon, and to Clark it seemed like everyone in Smallville was there. He'd lost Lana, Chloe and Pete in the throng around 11:23. Five minutes had gone by since and he'd yet to spot them again, but he wasn't really worried. He was more concerned that he would trip over someone. Everyone was moving in a frenzy around the restaurant, bubbling in excitement over the turn of the new year. It was contagious, and Clark found himself counting down the minutes with them. He just wished they would stay still so he didn't have to keep a death grip on one of the support columns to avoid losing his balance. Falling over would not be a good thing. It wouldn't hurt him, but it would hurt whoever broke his fall. It would also likely snap the column in two and break the floor. So Clark tried his best to stay upright even as people rushed by him on either side. It probably didn't help that he was standing just outside the bathrooms.

"Oof!" Someone's elbow collided with his back. Startled, Clark moved forward a pace before he got his footing again. He felt the plaster of the column crack under his hand and let go of it.

Clark turned around as smoothly as possible - stepping out of the way of a couple of girls who chose that moment to walk by him - and stared into the eyes of the girl who'd elbowed him. She looked slightly embarrassed and gave him a small smile. "Sorry about that. It's a little crowded in here."

He realized she wasn't a girl; she was a woman. He didn't recognize her. She looked to be a few years older than Lois and had long blonde hair. She wore a frilly red shirt, black leather pants, and black boots. Realizing he was staring, he flashed her a grin. "It's okay. Serves me right to stake out the area in front of the bathrooms." He stuck out a hand. "I don't think we know each other. I'm Clark Kent."

She took his hand and shook it firmly. He was surprised at the grip; she had a stronger handshake than anyone he knew. "Buffy Summers," she introduced herself.

"So what brings you to Smallville?" Clark asked before he had to step out of the way of the two girls on their way out of the bathroom. He had to step farther back for a heavyset guy he vaguely recognized from Smallville High's wrestling team.

"I was just passing through with some friends when we spotted the party. We needed a break from the road so we stopped by." She gave him a worried look. "This isn't a private party, is it? 'Cause if it is, I promise we'll be gone pronto. 'Cause crashing private parties is a bad thing. And I really think we should move somewhere else before bigbones guy comes back and decides to barrel us over instead of going around us."

Bigbones guy? Clark thought. Deciding she meant the wrestler, he nodded. "Sounds like a good idea to me. And don't worry, it's not a private party."

They moved a little to the side. She exhaled, obviously relieved. "Good to hear. So, what are you doing in Smallville? Do you live here?"

He nodded. "I grew up here."

"Cool," she said. "I'm from a small town, too, though it wasn't even close to being this small. It was bigger."

Oh, God, could you be any lamer? She asked herself. The voice sounded suspiciously like Dawn. She was babbling. She'd become a babble fest. Wasn't she above this sort of thing? Hadn't she grown out of the babble-phase whenever she came into contact with a hot guy? Clark Kent was definitely hot, no doubt about it. He was tall and had held his shoulders up like Riley always did, but he was tall. He had to be taller than any of her boyfriends. He looked young, too. God, he probably went to high school with most of the kids at the party. There was no way she could be falling for him.

It has to be the beer, she thought. She, Xander, and Giles had gotten a drink at the convenience store down the street to celebrate the new year. She'd only had a few sips, but she did feel a little tipsy; not enough to be noticeable, but enough. It had to be the reason for her babblefest.

"What town would that be? Grandville?" Clark asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

There's a town called Grandville? And I thought 'Smallville' was bad enough. "Sunnydale, California," she answered. Not that 'Sunnydale's much better, she thought.

She saw the recognition at the name in his expression and smirked. Two years ago, only demons would recognize the name if you mentioned it outside of SoCal. Since the town had been reduced to a crater and the news agencies across the globe had sicked their reporters on every inch of the gaping hole, everyone knew the name of Sunnydale.

"Oh," he said, uncertain how to proceed. What do you say to someone who lost their whole town to a freak earthquake? 'Gee, that must suck' didn't sound appropriate.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Buffy said, waving a hand. "I'm good. Besides, we're at a party, so we should party."

A fast song started blasting out over the loudspeakers, making Clark wince. Buffy gave him a small seductive smile. "Wanna dance?"

"Dance?" Clark repeated, wondering if he heard her right. She smirked again and pointed over his shoulder. He turned. Some of the tables had been pushed to one side of the room. A few couples had begun to dance in the cleared space. Clark did a double take. Was that Chloe leaning back against ___ ___, gyrating to the music? She didn't even like that song, and just last week she'd told Clark that she thought ___ was a snob. Weird.

"Well?" Buffy questioned.

Clark turned back to her. It was on the tip of his tongue to say 'no,' but he stopped himself. Why not? It was New Year's Eve, the night where everyone went a little crazy and out of character. It wasn't like he was going out with anyone. Buffy wasn't acting like a meteor freak or something; what harm could one dance do?

Similar thoughts were running through Buffy's mind. She was a little surprised at her forwardness, but it was New Year's, wasn't it? Everyone was allowed to dwell in wackyville on New Year's.

He shrugged. "Sure."

She smiled. "Great!" She grabbed his hand and gave it a tug, leading the way toward the impromptu dance floor. She stopped suddenly, causing him to stumble a little. She looked at him. "How old are you, by the way?"

This girl kept throwing him for a loop. "Eighteen."

She grinned, letting out a relieved sigh. At least he was legal. "That's a relief."

She turned back around and pulled him through the crowd. "Way to go, Buff!" Xander congratulated her as they passed him.

"Where's Giles?" Buffy shouted back. She couldn't see the Englishman anywhere.

"He's in the car!" answered Xander. "He said he couldn't stand being around so many bloody teenagers when he's on his bloody vacation!"

Buffy laughed and moved on. She and Clark reached the dance floor and started dancing.

Normally Buffy would have her hands all over a guy, but not this time. For one, she didn't know Clark all that well. Still, she got pretty close to him while they danced.

Clark was feeling a little more awkward. He wasn't used to dancing, period, and here was this woman he'd just met who obviously was very used to it. He only hoped he didn't stumbled into her.

He watched her dance and couldn't help but laugh. She had a way of dancing that immediately caught stares - several other guys were staring at her and shooting Clark glares - but it was all-out, no-hands-barred, too. She was above being embarrassed and she gave the air of someone used to getting attention.

The song ended, leaving Buffy out of breath. She couldn't help but grin. It felt good to dance. It had been a while since she'd last done that.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Lana's voice rang out over the speakers. Clark turned and saw her standing on a chair; it was the only way she could have been seen by everyone. She was smiling. "We now have a minute to go before New Year's!"

The entire restaurant broke out in wild applause and whoops. Clark glanced at his watch, surprised. He hadn't even noticed the past half hour go by.

"I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight! It's been a blast!" Lana continued, shouting into the microphone to be heard over the shouts. She studied the face of her watch closely. "And now, if everyone's ready! Ten!"

Everyone picked up the chant, making Clark's ears ring. He shouted with them, not caring that he would probably be deaf tomorrow.

"Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One!"

"Happy New Year!"

Auld Lang Syne sounded out over the speakers, barely heard over the sounds of noisemakers and screams. And suddenly, everyone was kissing in an almost frenzy. Clark glanced around in astonishment, amazed at always at how people could get so swept up in the moment.

Buffy glanced around at the groping couples, then glanced at Clark. She shrugged. "What the hell."

Buffy grabbed his cheeks, forcing him to turn and face her. His eyes widened as she pulled his head down to hers and planted her lips on his.

Clark was too surprised to pull away for many long seconds. Almost against his will, Clark found himself leaning into the kiss. Buffy's lips were thickly coated with strawberry-scented lipstick.

Just as suddenly as she had initiated the kiss, Buffy pulled away. Clark felt dazed. He opened his eyes.

The look on Buffy's face wasn't what he was expecting. She stared up at him in puzzlement. Clark's brow furrowed. Had he done something wrong?

Before he could ask, arms wrapped around his midsection. Clark looked down into the grinning face of Chloe Sullivan. "Happy New Year, Clark!" she shouted at him. Then she pulled away and disappeared through the crowd.

"Happy New Year!" Clark called after her. He turned back to Buffy and gave a start. She wasn't there anymore.

He whirled around in a circle, searching the crowd for her mane of blonde hair. His height made this easy to do, but he didn't see her anywhere.

*****

Xander downed the two aspirin tablets in a single gulp. He'd drunk a little more beer than he'd intended to the night before and now was paying for it.

He walked over to Giles bed and shook the watcher by the shoulder. "Up, Giles," he said. The Watcher had had more to drink than him, Xander was pretty sure of that.

"Sod off," Giles muttered into his pillow. Xander shrugged. If the Watcher wanted to wallow in his hangover, Xander decided he wasn't going to stop him.

"Time to go see if the Buffster is awake," he muttered to himself. He shuffled to the door, cup of water still in his hand, and left the hotel room. He went to the next door and knocked.

No one answered after the third knock. Xander pulled one of the card keys out of his pocket and swiped it through the lock. They'd agreed to knock three times before entering. If it turned out that Buffy was in bed with that guy she was dancing with the night before, then it was Buffy's fault for not answering the door. He doubted it, though; Buffy wasn't known for one night stands.

He opened the door and peered around. "Buffy?"

The room was empty and both twin beds were made. The bathroom door was open. Clothes had been thrown haphazardly on one of the beds; Xander remembered Buffy rummaging through them the night before. From all appearances, the room hadn't been slept in last night.

Okay, no need to panic just yet. Xander re-entered the other hotel room and got his cell out of his bag. He dialed Buffy's number by memory, not bothering to spend time picking it out of his contacts list, and hit the button.

As it began to ring, he headed back to Buffy's room. He heard her cell phone ringing before he opened the door and saw it resting on the table. "Damnit!" he exclaimed, hanging up.

Xander left a note for Giles before taking off in the car. He'd look around town first, which shouldn't be too difficult considering that Smallville was a fifth the size of Sunnydale, then he'd move on to the corn fields. He hoped he found the Alpha Slayer in one piece.

*****

There was a woman wondering down the street. Chloe spotted her through the window of the Beanery. She'd gone to the Beanery that morning for her coffee because the Talon wasn't open on New Year's. Chloe had settled in her usual table in the corner, which afforded her a good view of the street and the rest of the café. She'd glanced out the window and had spotted the blonde-haired woman she'd seen with Clark the night before.

Chloe frowned as she took another sip of her coffee. From what she could tell, the other blonde was a few years older than Clark. She was still dressed in the outfit she wore the night before, only now it was a mess. She looked like she hadn't slept.

Smelling a story, Chloe grabbed her bag and left the shop, running over to intercept the woman.

"Hi," she said. The woman, startled, looked up at her and automatically settled into a fighting stance. Chloe raised an eyebrow. It wasn't the reaction she'd been suspecting.

Chloe shrugged and held out a hand. "I'm Chloe Sullivan. I'm Clark's friend." The woman still looked puzzled, so Chloe continued, "The guy you were dancing with yesterday?"

"I-I'm sorry," the woman said, pulling back a little. "I don�t know what you're talking about."

She began to walk around Chloe. Chloe watched her. "Are you okay?"

The woman whirled around and gave Chloe a small smile. "Yeah. I'm fine. Although�could you tell me what town this is?"

This was leaning toward Wall of Weird material. "You're in Smallville."

"Smallville," the woman said, trying it out. She bit her lip. "That's not right�"

She didn't look so good. "I think you need to go to the hospital."

"No," the woman protested, putting on her best reassuring smile. "I'm fine. I'm pretty sure I am, anyway�I mean, I seem to have a slight case of déjà vu, and I haven't eaten since�um, I don't know�so, not really sure about my own self-diagnostic."

To be continued