Chapter Twelve
Red boots touched down on the balcony in a stealthy manner as Clark walked towards the door when he noticed Kara lying on the ground unconscious causing him to burst through the door and rushing to his cousin's side only to reel back after feeling the affects of kryptonite nearby.
"K-Kara" he calls out here name while trying to get a grip when he notices the source of the kryptonite being a piece of wiring that resembled the same ones that were on the device that Winslow Schott had attached to Lois.
Acting fast Clark grabbed the wire tubing and threw it over the balcony and waited for the affects to fade away before he raced back to his cousin's side and shook her awake, "Kara!" he calls out her name again this time thankful to see her stirring.
She rolled over and groaned as if she was in pain, "Clark?" once her vision returns to her and memories of what happened the blonde kryptonian immediately rises up looking frazzled.
"What happened?" asks Clark when he notices that Maggie's door was ajar and immediately rose to his feet headed towards his daughter's room, "Where's Margaret?" he asks after seeing that her bed was empty with Shelby nowhere to be seen.
"He took her." She replies appearing at her cousin's side, "I was watching a movie and then next thing I know I started to feel the affects of kryptonite when someone hit me in the back of the head."
Fear immediately struck the single father at the possibility that someone had taken his daughter even while she was under protection from his super powered cousin, "Did you at least see their face?"
Kara just shook her head until a look of realization crossed her face, "I do remember hearing something though…" she searched her mind for the noise and immediately looked at her cousin, "It sounded like one of those songs that plays before the jack pops out of the box."
One name fell off his lips and caused a surge of rage, "Schott"
Maggie awoke to see a strange man approaching her with a rather large teddy bear, "There's no need to be afraid my dear, I'm not going to harm you." He smiles as he places the stuffed animal at her side, "I do apologize for the unfortunate situation we have found ourselves in."
"My daddy told me to never speak to strangers." She responded rather definitely despite her situation, "When he finds me you are in so much trouble."
Winslow Schott just smiled and just backed away, "Things were so much simpler when we were children. I remember my mother playing her records and dancing around the house with such joy." A dark look crosses his face, "My mother stopped smiling before my tenth birthday when our house burnt to the ground all because some old man fell asleep with a lit cigarette."
Maggie keeps her arm around Shelby who was muzzled by the mean man and injured in the canine's attempt at protecting her, "I apologize." He says rather softly completely changing emotions like someone had flipped a switch, "I'm usually much more welcoming to my guests but lately I've been under a great deal of stress trying to build my latest toy." He trails his hands over the sheet covered device with pride in his eyes, "It'll be my crowning achievement."
The little girl could do nothing except pray that her father would swoop in to save the day just like he always did.
When Lois and Jimmy returned to the Daily Planet to work on the robbery story she was surprised to see Clark at his desk where he seemed to be frustrated with something.
She puts her bag and coat on her desk while she made her way over towards him clearly concerned by the wrinkled clothes and the fact that he wasn't wearing his glasses which she found odd.
"I'm not in the mood right now Lois." He states before she could even say anything and just continues working on his computer which beeped causing him to bang his hands against the desk careful not to break the wood in front of Lois but surely it would've been cracked were she not standing near him.
"Anything I can do to help?"
He lets out a tired sigh and looks up at her a defeated man, "Schott took Maggie." He ran his hand over his face, "That bastard took my daughter!" the growing anger is evident in his voice and also it was evident when she saw his knuckle nearly turn white with tightly curled fist.
"Did you call the cops?"
Clark reached into his pocket and handed her a letter, "He threatened to kill her if I went to the police. I've been trying to figure out where he can be hiding her and I think it's in a place that's lined with lead."
"Wow. You got all of that with just one letter."
"That's not the point." Clark's agitation overtakes the anger for a brief minute causing Lois to grow serious and place the letter back on the desk which caused him to soften his gaze, "I'm sorry Lo."
"No need to apologize Clark. If it was my sister or Chloe I would feel the same thing your feeling right now." She walks around to look at his computer from over his shoulder shifting into reporter mode once again, "If she's being held in place lined with lead then that would mean she's the industrial part of town. All lead based properties were shut down after workers began getting sick."
Something clicks inside his head and he immediately begins searching the online databases when a map popped up showing red pins located around the city, "There are only five old factories that manufactured lead but only two were demolished by Vince Davis."
She looks at him confused and he goes onto explain, "Before Schott took Maggie my cousin Kara managed to pull the same type of meteor rock infused wires he used on the vest that was strapped to you. There's only one person that ever used the meteor rocks from Smallville in their demolition work and that was Vince Davis. Schott must've found out about the meteor rock's enhanced explosive capabilities from Garrett, Vince's brother." He rises up from his computer and goes to get out the print out maps unaware that Lois was following close behind.
When he turned around she quickly snatched one of the pieces of paper from him and folded it, "You take one and I'll take the other."
"I can't ask you to do that Lois." He tries to take the paper back from her only to have her pull away, "This isn't some kind of story for you to write about for the morning paper. This is my daughter we're talking about."
"Exactly." She responds and reaches over to grab his hand giving it a comforting squeeze which he returned, "All the more reason for me to help you find her."
"The first sign of trouble you call me."
Lois just smiled.
After speeding through the area Clark had come up with a dead end which only caused him to grow even more frustrated until a familiar hum called out to him sending him blurring from Metropolis all the way to the Fortress.
"You have no idea how happy I am to hear your call." He calls out into the cold hoping to see a glimmer or sparkle that his father's AI would respond, "Jor-El!" he calls out only to hear silence, "I need your help father. Maggie is in danger and I've searched everywhere for her but she's hidden from my abilities"
The silence was starting fuel his anger and frustration not making the situation any better, "Please you have to help me! If not for me then for her."
Suddenly as soon as he said those words light began to shine and the console activated, "I can not locate her directly but I can guide you in the right direction." A crystal slid out of the console and floated in front of him, "Margaret's DNA is unique from any kryptonian and human. Although I can not find her physical form, this crystal will allow you to communicate with her but not for long. Choose your questions wisely my son."
Clark grabs the crystal which glows once it's made contact with his hand and he is bombarded with a sense of fear that belonged to his daughter.
"Maggie" the sound of her father's voice causes her to perk up and look around for him but soon grows confused by the fact he was not there, "I don't have long. Can you see where you are?"
She tries to find an answer for the question and just shakes her head, "Is there anything that stands out?" he asks causing her to do another scan of the place when she notices discarded grocery bags that had a barely readable name on the plastic but could make out what looked like a shamrock unaware that the image was being relayed to her father through the crystal.
"Stay put honey I'm coming to get you." The reassurance puts the little one at ease but she quickly grows sad when the connection is no longer there along with her father's presences.
The crystal flew back into the console severing all ties he had with his daughter, "Thank you." He says before speeding away but not before ripping open his shirt revealing the red blue costume underneath.
Meanwhile…At the same time…
Lois had managed to use the mini bolt cutters she had stashed away in her trunk to cut a whole in the wired fence allowing her to slip through, "I finally get to use these." She says to herself while slipping the cutters back into her bag, "I'm gonna have to send Lucy that thank you card."
She walked around the facility to find an opening but all the doors were locked and the only possible entrance point was a partly smashed window which was already slightly broken.
Careful not to cut herself on the glass, Lois slipped her hand through the opening and unlocked the window latch where she then proceeded to push it open allowing her to slip inside.
Navigating through the dark halls felt like something straight out of horror movie with the occasional rat running across and the sound of water dripping from a rusty pipe creating a creepy atmosphere for the seasoned reporter.
It wasn't until she heard the distant sound of a music box that she knew where to go while using the light from her cellphone to help guide the way.
The music eventually stopped leading her to a barely closed door that allowed her to peek through the crack to see Maggie sitting on a pile of broken teddy bears with a wounded dog sitting at her side with clear hints of blood in the blonde fur of the animal.
A shadow moved causing her to step away out of view waiting for the large footsteps to fade away allowing her to silently slip through the door headed towards the little girl, "Lois" Maggie whispers with excitement despite her predicament.
"Hey there kiddo" she says looking around her to assess the situation before reaching into her bag to pull out a small pocket knife, "I'm gonna get you out of here and take you to your dad."
"But daddy's already on his way…I heard him tell me so."
Lois looked at the girl confused but chalked it up to the hopeful imagination of a child and proceeded to carefully cut the bindings when Maggie called out, "Look out!" before the reporter could question what she meant a painful electric current traveled through her body rendering her motionless.
"Tsk. Tsk. Ms. Lane" A short pudgy man who she assumed was Winslow Schott appeared in her peripheral vision holding a taser.
"L-Let the girl go Schott."
"I don't think so." He throws the used taser to the side and advances towards her with a menacing look on his face, "You and your partner to learn that bad things happen to meddlesome people." He grabs her arm and begins dragging her away from the now crying girl.
"If you hurt her…"
A disgusted look suddenly appeared on his face, "I would never hurt a child. They're innocent souls in this world" he grabs the back of her hair craning her head up to look at him, "This city has a way of corrupting the innocent but not after tomorrow. The city you know will be just a memory."
"You're insane!"
"Am I?" he asks after forcing her to sit where he then bound her arms and legs, "They called the greatest minds crazy because they didn't share the same vision." He leans down causing her to turn her head away from him, "I'm what you call a stylish psychopath. There's a message hidden in what I do."
"What message is that?" a voice calls out from behind causing Schott and Lois to look towards the source to see the mysterious hero in red and blue standing in the center of the room, "Your just a man so starved for attention that he's hurting innocent people to be on the six o'clock news."
"No!" Schott snaps turning his back to Lois allowing her to work on the ties while he was distracted, "You're the one starved for attention" he pauses to let out a chuckle, "Look at your outfit for example it screams desperation."
Clark looks down and looks back up to reply, "My mother made this for me." Schott lets out another laugh, "Keep it up chucklehead. The more you keep talking the more I'll enjoy watching you rot in a cell at Belle Reeve."
"You can't stop me! No one can!"
"I was hoping you'd say that." Says Clark with a smirk on his face when suddenly a blur of red and blue streaks towards the crazed toymaker slamming into him causing his body to fly across the room into the wall rendering him unconscious.
Lois looked up at the ruckus and immediately locked eyes with the same strangely familiar blue eyes, "If we keep meeting like this Ms. Lane I may start to think you want to get my attention." He rips the bindings from her legs and arms then proceeded to help her up.
She watched him walk from her towards the little girl who appeared to be smiling almost as if the little girl knew him, "What took you so long?" she hears Maggie ask the man.
"Is that anyway to talk to your father" he whispers to the girl mindful that Lois was right behind him but he could no longer contain himself any longer and just wrapped her tiny body into his arms never wanting to let go, "You scared me to death. I'm so sorry baby." He kisses her head letting the feeling of relief flood through him now that he got his daughter back.
"Shelby got hurt protecting me." Maggie pulls away from him and walks towards her faithful companion, "I think he needs a doctor."
Clark removed the muzzle from the animal who stared up at its master happy to see him and patted the animal on the head, "I'll rush him down there as soon as I take you and Ms. Lane home." He rose up and turned around to see Lois giving him a strange look.
"It is you." Lois couldn't believe it except everything seemed to click into place from the way Maggie looked at him to the frequent disappearing acts, "Deep down I knew but I didn't want to believe it."
He just stares at her confused, "I think that taser gave you more than an electrical shock Ms. Lane. Perhaps I should drop you off at the doctors instead." He turned his back to pick up Maggie.
"Don't play mind games with me Clark Kent. I know its you under that red and blue getup." From his reaction she already knew that she was right and that made it all the more harder to admit that he had lied to her all this time.
"I'm afraid you have me confused with someone else." He says trying to get out of this newly dug hole he had found himself in out of the blue.
Her immediate response was not what he was hoping for, "I've played poker with the best and worst liars, everyone has a tell even you." She goes to grab her stuff, "You may not want to tell me the truth but I'll find out eventually."
Fearful at what might happen next Clark gave in and reached out to stop her causing her to look at him, "Why don't we talk about this later?" he says while looking back towards Maggie, "She's been through enough for tonight."
Lois nods and starts to walk out just as Schott begins to awaken that is until she kicked him in the face rendering him unconscious once more, "That's for trying to blow me up you crazy son of a bitch." She looks at Clark once more before walking out leaving father and daughter alone.
"Daddy, can we go home now?" asked Maggie as she began to rub her eyes and try to suppress a yawn which caused Clark to smile and scoop her up into his arms along with Shelby before they sped away.
TBC
Be honest was it too soon with Lois finding out? Also just to explain something in cause any of you were wondering the kryptonite wires that Schott was using in his devices were inspired by the episode Resurrection (Season 3 Episode 15) where the guy used kryptonite to improve the explosion and kind of made reference to that but just wanted to be sure so there was no confusion.
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