Chapter 27

In the middle of the desert with nothing around for miles upon miles besides dunes of sand. Leonardo was sipping on water, while sitting on one of the many dunes as the sun beat down on him. A small sigh was released from his lips, before he sprawled on the ground.

'A month, a bloody month of searching and still nothing.' Leonardo childishly whined.

'We found quite a few hidden tombs and buildings lost in the sands of time. Quite a bit of research value I say.' Clark tried to sound positive.

'Value yes, to us not so much.' Leonardo said. 'Well, at least Dr. Swann was nice enough to offer some pay to us for discovering them.'

'Yeah, though giving us five thousand per find is a bit much.' Clark agreed, feeling a bit uneasy about it.

'Well, it might be, but it is cheaper than sending out teams to dig for weeks and turn up nothing.' Leonardo replied. 'It's like being paid to be a one man dig squad.'

After a bit of resting and deciding on the next area to search, Leonardo and Clark tried to motivate themselves to move.

--

While Leonardo and Clark were playing hide and seek in the oversize sandbox. Back in Smallville, Jonathan and Martha were frowning at the bills. While there weren't any issues of losing the farm due to Clark and Leonardo sending money due to their search and the books Leonardo wrote. After calculating, they found out the only reason the farm is afloat is due to them pulling the weight otherwise they would be declaring bankruptcy.

"It feels terrible being cared for by them. We are supposed to be providing not the other way around." Jonathan wanted to slam his fist on the table.

However, while the thought did cross his mind, he held back before his shoulders sagged. It seemed like a blow to him that the farm he worked his entire life to run, seemed impossible to keep itself afloats. Not to mention felt like his son was now following the same path he followed when was about the same age.

"I know, but what can we do? Unless you want to hire more hands, it truthfully is Clark and Leonardo who were helping the farm survive. They do the work of six hands alone, four for Clark and two for Leonardo." Martha replied.

"Still, it is not fair to them. They earned the money and it seems wrong for us to use it ourselves." Jonathan sighed.

"I know, but it can't be helped." Martha rubbed his back. "At least on the bright side, neither of them are materialistic. Not to mention, probably more Leonardo than Clark realize we will need help paying the bills."

"I just wish Clark will come back." Jonathan sighed.

"Well, when he does, he probably doesn't want to go to the beach." Martha joked.

Jonathan bursted out laughing.

--

"Alright, if we don't have any luck, we will head to Smallville and come back around Christmas break. By then we should be able to handle the sand again." Leonardo said as he and Clark looked at the latest underground structure they found.

'I can't believe we spent most of summer break digging in the desert.' Clark groaned. 'It feels like we wasted a lot of time.'

"I agree, we could have gone clubbing with pretty women, but instead we are out here in the middle of nowhere digging." Leonardo nodded in agreement.

'I thought you hated crowds.' Clark asked.

'If I had a chance to dance close with pretty women, I can put up with something I dislike.' Leonardo replied.

'I fear the day a woman agrees to date you.' Clark shook his head.

'Believe it or not, I am very loyal like a golden retriever. If I can find a woman who can handle me, she would be spoiled to the high heavens.' Leonardo hit his chest with his fist. 'Do you think they would mind if I made a harem?'

'You say I am not the mature one.' Clark sighed. 'Well, let's search and leave. I want a few days to relax and get back into the swing of things at home.'

Taking a deep breath, Leonardo blew out a large gust of wind removing most of the sand surrounding the structure below. After the small wind storm he created stopped, Leonardo descended a flight of stairs while looking around. Besides some walls, pots and broken vases, the only thing that really got much interest was the amount of gold.

'Well, this was a bust.' Leonardo said. 'Not to mention, a wealthy merchant should have been buried here.'

'Yeah, but this also marks three fourths of the circle searched.' Clark said. 'If we didn't take those two week long breaks, we could have searched it all.'

'As well, drive ourselves crazy, Clark. While we sort of hurry along collecting the stones, it doesn't mean we need to drive ourselves crazy in the process.' Leonardo replied.

'I guess.' Clark sighed, wanting the search to be over.

Collecting their gear, Leonardo double checked if they had everything before kicking off the ground and flying back to Smallville. While Clark still tried everyday, besides hovering for a few seconds, he was still unable to fly. Which frustrated him greatly, but Leonardo just said he would get it one day.

--

Landing on the ground a bit away from the Farm as Jonathan and Martha seemed to have company. The two made their way up the driveway, or well Leonardo did while Clark tried to guess the visitor. Lex was still missing and he didn't know anyone would be returning today.

"Clark's been gone for months? How are you guys not worried about him?" Nearing the door, they heard Lana's voice inside.

'Oh, Lana got another car…again.' Clark said now knowing whose car was in the driveway.

While Lana doesn't really get new or expensive cars, she does tend to get new vehicles every few months to half a year. Now she has a maroon 2002 Jeep Liberty, which seemed in good condition. So it should last her a while if she takes care of it.

"We worry about him, but it's not like he fell off the face of the planet." Jonathan said. "He should be back within the next few days."

"How can you be so sure, he hasn't emailed or called me, Pete or Chloe." Lana attempted to grill for answers.

"He mailed letters, he is in an area that lacks internet connection." Martha calmly filled in.

Bracing themselves since it seemed kind of bad not staying in contact with his friends. However, mailing was a bit expensive and Jonathan was right. They weren't exactly in an area where they could tap into the internet often. To fill in Dr. Swann in, they carried a large brick satellite phone he gave him so he could send or mark the sites they discovered.

"I'm back." Clark said as he stepped into the kitchen.

"Welcome back, honey. Did you enjoy yourself on this adventure?" Martha smiled.

"Well, we didn't manage to dig up what we were looking for yet, but we did uncover quite a bit of history. Otherwise yeah it was enjoyable for the most part." Clark replied. "It will also be too soon to see all that sand again."

"Where did you go, Clark? Your friends and I missed you a lot." Lana asked, trying to sound sweet.

"Helping a friend and doing a summer job." Clark said, since it truthfully is not a lie but not a full truth.

Dr. Swann had helped cover Clark's and Leonardo's tracks as well as give them a cover. They were given an intern job under him to cover why he paid them and why they were in Egypt.