This time I don't let you wait quite so long. I hope you'll like this part for it will start to bring some light into certain parts of the story that have yet remained a mystery.
Italics indicate flashbacks 
Thanks to LaraMoon for beta-reading this so quickly. From Part 21:“I’m hungry, Daddy,” Becca said quietly. She was unsure, whether it was decent to ask for food in a moment like this.
“I’ll have a look if I can find something, Becky. The Shuster’s usually are prepared for everything; I bet I’ll find something.” Clark tousled his daughter’s hair and went over to the shelf.
He found some tins and had a closer look for an opener. He would think about a way to heat it up later. The shelf was full of amazing things and Clark wondered briefly why Mr. Shuster kept several ropes, buckets and an old dog bowl in his shelter. He didn’t even have a dog. There was an old sewing machine in one corner of the shelf and a rusty toolbox in another. Next to it was a box full of candles that were burned down to stumps. Clark stopped dead and his glance wandered back to the toolbox. There had to be something inside that would help him.
Part 22:Lois and Jonathan were both wandering through the high snow, getting closer and closer to the Shusters’ farm. They had agreed on starting the search there since Jonathan knew that Clark used to take a break in the Shusters’ old shed. They had already come past it and hadn’t found anyone there. The lonesome shed had left them worried nonetheless. The backpack Clark had taken with him was lying there, forgotten. And right next to the shed, someone had tried to dig a hole into the ground. They hadn’t been too successful since the ground was frozen deeply. However it was clearly visible that someone had been trying to work there.
Right after seeing that, Lois and Jonathan had hurried to get closer to the Shusters’ house. What they had found in the shed certainly served as evidence that Clark and Becca had been there and that something was going on. Lois had felt like her stomach had suddenly turned into a bucket of ice and she didn’t want to think of the face Jonathan had pulled as he had found the backpack. His growl had been frightening and Lois had gotten an idea of what Jonathan might look like if he was angry.
Lois shook her head and forced her concentration back on her way. She could now see the farm that was nicely covered by snow. It looked rather empty and Lois wondered whether they might be wrong and there was no one there after all. She was worried. If they didn’t find Clark here, where could he be? And how had the men managed to overpower him, assuming that they had really taken him. She couldn’t really imagine that Clark would just disappear with Becca without telling anyone where he went.
No, something had to have happened and she was determined to find out what it was. Lois felt uncomfortable as the two of them walked over the fields. They were likely to be seen and all Lois could do was hope that the snow was still falling densely enough to provide them with some cover. Hopefully the villains, if they were there that was, were too busy to watch the area around the farm. Apparently they were, because Jonathan and Lois made all their way to the back of the barn without anyone coming after them.
“Where could Clark be?” Lois asked anxiously as she pressed herself against the wooden wall of the barn. She looked around the farm, but there were no footprints in the snow. If anyone was here they hadn’t come out for some time.
“I’ve no idea,” Jonathan whispered back nervously. He felt awkward standing behind his neighbor’s barn in such a conspiratorial way. It strongly reminded him of James Bond, except that the secret agent would surely not hide behind an old barn. “Let’s have a look inside this barn,” he suggested trying to be helpful. If anyone, Lois was the investigator of the two of them, but she seemed to be just as clueless as he was.
She nodded her agreement and Jonathan made his way to the door, carefully avoiding being visible to anyone who might be looking through the windows of the farmhouse. They both tried to be as silent as possible, in case anyone was in the barn. Slowly they moved forward and winced as the snow crunched under their feet. They stopped dead at every sound they heard, afraid that someone was coming after them. But still no one did and they had almost made their way down the far side of the barn towards the door when a soft whistle ultimately stopped them.
A man was approaching the barn from the other side and both Jonathan and Lois heard their heart pounding loudly in their ears. They held their breath, nervously waiting for the whistler to come around the barn, but he didn’t. Instead, they heard a jarring sound coming from the door and a thud as it fell shut. Lois looked at Jonathan who had gone rather pale and let out his breath between clenched teeth. His expression was clearly indicative of the fact that he had come close to having a heart attack. A farmer just wasn’t born for this. Lois couldn’t deny that she was pretty relieved herself that whoever had come over to the barn hadn’t seen them.
“What have we got, Dan?” came the voice of a man, muffled by the wall, but still audible for the barn had lots of knotholes in it.
“This should be enough Danesium, Hugh,” replied Dan, who sounded rather nervous. “I guess there can’t have been much more, anyway. The destruction reported back in 1966 allows this assumption, at least according to my estimations.”
“Right, Dan, I trust you,” Hugh replied. “How long will it take for you to build both the weapon and the machine to use the energy generated by this element?”
“A couple of days…could be a week, maybe longer…” Dan said.
“Just get it ready, I’m sure you’ll manage. I’ve gotta go now and think about what we’ll do with the man and the child.” Hugh muttered ponderingly. “I asked Jack to prepare for blackmail. You better be ready as soon as possible if we want this to work. Washington will have to pay a lot if they don’t want their White House painted in a sickening green radioactive substance. We don’t need to tell hem that the radiation is completely harmless to humans.” His laughter made Lois’ stomach heave. “And unbeknownst to them they will sponsor us to get the energy monopole for the entire United States. I love a good plan.”
The rest of the conversation wasn’t audible and Lois couldn’t do anything but have a look inside through one of the knotholes. The barn was slightly illuminated by an eerie green glow. All across the floor lay pieces of a rock that emitted the radiation. Two people were standing in the room, their faces barely visible. Lois looked back at Jonathan who seemed to be just as shaken as she was. Whatever was going on inside, it was auguring badly.
“We need to get the police!” Lois mouthed to Clark’s father and he readily agreed with a nod. “And we need to find Clark quickly. I don’t want to think about what they will do to him and Becca,” she whispered, her voice as low as humanly possible.
Jonathan nodded once again, but remained still. He wasn’t able to believe what he had just heard with his own ears. Someone wanted to blackmail the government and had chosen Smallville, of all places, as their headquarters. That was more than odd, and certainly nothing he had ever expected to experience, being the regular Joe he was. For a moment Lois couldn’t decide what their next step should be. She certainly knew what her tasks were but never before had she felt so nervous as she stumbled right into the story of the year.
She shook her head to clear her mind and suddenly she was Mad Dog Lane again.
“You go and get help,” she advised the older man beside her. “You’ll surely be quicker than I can ever be and you know people around here, they probably won’t think you’ve gone crazy. I’ll try to find Clark”
Jonathan nodded weakly and made his way back to where they had come from while Lois remained behind the barn and tried to figure out where Clark and Becca could be. She glanced around the area to find something that could give her a hint.
* * *
Beads of sweat were running down Clark’s forehead as he tried to break the door’s hinges with the crowbar he had found in the toolbox. He groaned from the effort as his arms began to hurt, reminding him that he was still without his powers. The soreness returned and the hinges simply didn’t move. They were obviously more stable than he had first thought. Trust Mr. Shuster to find the most stable rusty hinges to secure his doors with. Clark cursed silently and rested, panting heavily.
“Daddy?” Becca asked, scared, as she looked over to her father who was standing on the ladder and looking rather exhausted. He steadied himself with one arm and seemed about to fall of the ladder any minute now. “Are you okay?”
“I’m all right,” Clark replied, catching his breath. “This is more difficult than I thought. But that doesn’t mean I won’t manage,” he stated, trying to reassure himself that he would really get them out of the shelter. He let out his breath slowly, bracing himself for another try and grabbed the crowbar more securely, before he made a new attempt at the hinges. He used all his force, groaning again loudly.
“You’ll do it, you’ll do it!” Becca encouraged him from her place on the bed, watching her father anxiously.
She so much wanted to help him more than just with words, but she knew very well that she was too weak. It was doubtful that she would be able to open the doors even if there wasn’t a chain holding it in place. Much less could she manage to break the chain when even her father couldn’t. She just kept muttering encouraging words, hoping that her prayers would help him.
Clark heard Becca and increased his efforts. He owed it to her to try his very best. He hadn’t been able to save Lily, but he sure as hell was going to rescue her daughter. It was his fault she was an orphan and he wouldn’t leave his little girl in the hands of villains if there was anything he could do to prevent it. *Oh Lily, I’m so sorry I didn’t take better care of her,* he whispered to himself. He had once failed in his duties; it wasn’t going to happen ever again.
Clark slowly emerged from a deep dreamless sleep. He didn’t exactly know what was waking him up. No matter how much he wanted to resist the unknown force it was impossible to return into the warm embrace of his sweet slumber. He noticed with astonishment that the ground he was lying on was pretty uncomfortable. What had happened to his bed and why was his back so stiff?
Little hands were hitting his face angrily and an anguished cry pierced in his ears. He hadn’t noticed before, but the child in his arms was moving restlessly and his shirt felt rather wet. Becca made a squealing sound that could have woken up a dead person and it certainly alarmed Clark. His ears were ringing and his head began to hurt as she continued to cry loudly and seemingly without stopping for a gasp of air.
“Clark!” he heard the angry voice of a woman. “What are you doing here?” she shouted at him, the tone of her voice threatening.
It took Clark a moment to be able to open his eyes. They seemed to be glued shut, reluctant to face daylight. He still wasn’t fully awake, but at least he knew now what had disturbed his sleep. He wasn’t quite sure what the reason was, but there was a riot in his bedroom. Not exactly the best conditions to have a nice refreshing nap. Hands reached for the baby in his arms.
“College students, all drunkards,” another woman grumbled reproachfully. “I should have known! Listen, Miss, you are going to sober that boyfriend of yours and if this happens ever again you will have to search for another apartment. I understand many things, I can tolerate a child even if it’s giving me sleepless nights, but this is too much!” She hollered and made Becca cry again.
“Shhh, honey,” Lily tried to calm her daughter. “She’s teething, it’s tough at the moment,” she tried to explain. “I will have a serious conversation about drinking with Clark,” Lily said though she had to know very well that Clark wasn’t drinking on a regular basis, much less did he spend his money on getting wasted. It would have been a waste of money anyway. “I promise this won’t happen ever again.” His cousin sounded rather desperate and he could hear the anger in her voice, but he couldn’t get a grip as to what the matter was.
What did his lying in bed have to do with being drunk or getting a new apartment? Clark saw their landlord leave as he opened his eyes. Bewildered, he looked around, trying to get a grip and swallowed hard as he realized that he was far from lying in his bed. His back was stiff because he had slept right in the staircase. He had to be dreaming.
Clark sat up and his wet shirt clung to his chest. He looked down and began to understand why Becca had been so irritable. The diapers hadn’t been enough to keep her dry. Clark gulped and winced guiltily. This had to be a nightmare. Had he really worked so much that he had fallen asleep in the stairs? He tried to remember the previous night. Granted, he hadn’t been able to sleep much during the last couple of days, but it couldn’t be that bad, could it?
“You promised me you would care for Becca tonight,” Lily hissed at him, her eyes gleaming dangerously. “You told me not to worry, said that I should get my much needed rest. And how do I find you…?” Her voice trailed off. She didn’t need to remind him of his situation, he was well aware of it.
He tried to remember when he had last slept. It couldn’t be more than three days ago, he assured himself. But it had been the weekend then and he knew that he hadn’t managed to even close his eyes, let alone take a nap. But it couldn’t be…Clark realized, shocked, that it had to have been Thursday. That was more than five days! This had obviously taken a toll on him, and at the worst moment imaginable.
“I’m sorry, Lily,” he replied, his gaze lowered to the floor. “I’ve been working a lot over the last days.”
“Clark, it can’t go on this way,” she said and ran her hand along his cheek to lift his chin so that he looked into her eyes. “You are overdoing things,” she said quietly, now clearly regretting that she had yelled at him earlier. “I can’t do this to you.”
“I’ve had my last exams, Lily. Life will be a little calmer now and I promise you this won’t happen ever again. I would never want to do anything to harm Becca,” he said apologetically.
Lily shook her head. “No, Clark. It was a mistake to bother you with all this. Can you please look after her today? I’ll go and do what I should have had the courage to do long ago.” With these words she handed him Becca and turned around to leave. “Good bye, honey,” she said and brushed a kiss on Becca’s cheek before she left.
“Bye,” replied Becca and watched her mother, having forgotten about her wet diapers for a moment. Clark stood there, dumbstruck, and as he was on his way to run after Lily, Becca cried again, reminding him that there were still diapers to change. He would get Lily soon enough, he told himself and wondered where she wanted to go to. And what had she meant about courage? Slowly the hinges were giving in and with another growl, Clark managed to break them. He almost lost his balance at the sudden release, but could steady himself just before he fell down to the floor. His knees were wobbly and his breathing still came in panting gasps. His shirt was soaked with sweat and he was shivering in the chilly air. It was time to get out of there. That was for sure. With a relieved sigh, Clark climbed down the ladder and went over to Becca.
“Get your things, honey. We’re leaving this place,” he said quietly.
To be continued...
