Ficlet: Amidst a Sea of Gray | DCU/SR | Clark/Lois | PG | 1/1
Title: Amidst a Sea of Gray
Fandom: DCU/SR
Characters/Pairing: Clark/Lois, Perry
Rating: PG
Word Count: 805
Summary: Twenty-four hours later, Lois takes stock of the situation.
Disclaimer: DC and WB own it all. I own nothing.
Author's Notes: Written for kirax2's Heroes in Haiti Challenge. Aftermath-verse, but nothing new or too terribly spoilery.
Amidst a Sea of Gray
In retrospect, the whole first twenty-four hours had felt like a hazy dream, full of horror and grief and numb shock, everything happening so fast that it was simply surreal. But this was the kind of thing they'd dealt with on a more or less regular basis since Clark had first come home to them, so it wasn't like it was anything new. It was just... all those people....
All in just fifteen seconds.
"Lois, something's wrong," Clark had said, standing from his desk as they finished up some last-minute work in the bullpen. His gaze had gone distant, his expression dark and worried, until his eyes started to widen in stricken terror. "Earthquake," he'd finally said after a long held breath, "Haiti. It's bad, Lois. I've got to go."
Without even thinking about it, Lois had stood and given him a quick, firm hug, kissed him, and told him to go. They'd gotten through the Snowpocalypse a month ago, they'd gotten through other earthquakes, other disasters, so this would be no different. They had a routine now, Clark had his phone with an extra battery, they had backup care for Jason and Lara, and Lois had a direct line to the slowly growing hero community to help get updates.
But that had been just the beginning of what was rapidly turning into the worst disaster the world had seen in a long time.
Shaking herself out of the painful train of thought, Lois refocused on the open document in front of her, and the distant, clinical reporting of the rescue and relief work that was just really getting started. Within the first hour, the heroes that could help had gotten there, and lives had been saved as they'd worked to find survivors in the rubble. Of course, all her information had to be spun as a brief two-minute phone interview with the Man of Steel, but that was hardly a concern at this point. What was important, was getting this story out and published in the special late edition of the Planet.
Saving the document, she printed it and sent a copy straight to the Copy Desk to go in the paper edition and up on the website right away. The printed pages were pulled from the machine and taken into Perry's office, where the Editor had about three things going on at once and CNN on the television in the corner.
"Already sent to Copy," she told him quickly, dropping the pages on his desk. "I got word twenty minutes ago from Superman that he and Green Lantern are still pulling people out of the rubble in some of the worst hit parts of the city, twelve alive in just the last hour, eight children."
Of course, Perry knew everything she wasn't saying, and he nodded at her, skimming the article quickly. "Good to hear," he answered gruffly, his voice going hoarse from barking orders all day. "How's he doing?"
"He--" but she paused a second, her breath caught in her throat as she recalled their short conversation over Clark's cell. He'd been on the verge of tears, both for lives lost and for lives saved, his heart so clearly on his sleeve as it was clear he'd been thinking about their own children with every one brought out of the wreckage alive. "He's tired," she answered finally. "But okay. Hopeful."
And it was true. There had been so much hope in his voice. So much relief that he was there and able to help, that those people, those children, would live another day.
As if on cue, the CNN coverage on the TV in the corner turned to Superman's efforts, and both Lois and Perry turned to watch.
"Here since the almost first moments since the quake hit and working non-stop, the Man of Steel has recovered another child from the ruins of this apartment complex, and is already heading back into the rubble to search for more trapped people," the reporter said. "His colleagues are hard at work as well, in other parts of the city, through all the aftershocks, and it's clear how determined they all are to keep at it as long as it takes, even as rescue teams from across the globe arrive to do their part."
The looped camera footage showed a brief image of Clark, covered in dust and handing a small girl over to rescue workers in the street. His gaze caught the camera for just a second, and Lois couldn't help the way her heart seized in her chest at the sight of those eyes, striking blue in the middle of a sea of gray concrete dust. And even though his suit was completely obscured and his cape had long since been torn away, the symbol on his chest stood out clearly. Eternal hope, no matter how dark the night of tragedy.
~*~*~*~
Fandom: DCU/SR
Characters/Pairing: Clark/Lois, Perry
Rating: PG
Word Count: 805
Summary: Twenty-four hours later, Lois takes stock of the situation.
Disclaimer: DC and WB own it all. I own nothing.
Author's Notes: Written for kirax2's Heroes in Haiti Challenge. Aftermath-verse, but nothing new or too terribly spoilery.
Amidst a Sea of Gray
In retrospect, the whole first twenty-four hours had felt like a hazy dream, full of horror and grief and numb shock, everything happening so fast that it was simply surreal. But this was the kind of thing they'd dealt with on a more or less regular basis since Clark had first come home to them, so it wasn't like it was anything new. It was just... all those people....
All in just fifteen seconds.
"Lois, something's wrong," Clark had said, standing from his desk as they finished up some last-minute work in the bullpen. His gaze had gone distant, his expression dark and worried, until his eyes started to widen in stricken terror. "Earthquake," he'd finally said after a long held breath, "Haiti. It's bad, Lois. I've got to go."
Without even thinking about it, Lois had stood and given him a quick, firm hug, kissed him, and told him to go. They'd gotten through the Snowpocalypse a month ago, they'd gotten through other earthquakes, other disasters, so this would be no different. They had a routine now, Clark had his phone with an extra battery, they had backup care for Jason and Lara, and Lois had a direct line to the slowly growing hero community to help get updates.
But that had been just the beginning of what was rapidly turning into the worst disaster the world had seen in a long time.
Shaking herself out of the painful train of thought, Lois refocused on the open document in front of her, and the distant, clinical reporting of the rescue and relief work that was just really getting started. Within the first hour, the heroes that could help had gotten there, and lives had been saved as they'd worked to find survivors in the rubble. Of course, all her information had to be spun as a brief two-minute phone interview with the Man of Steel, but that was hardly a concern at this point. What was important, was getting this story out and published in the special late edition of the Planet.
Saving the document, she printed it and sent a copy straight to the Copy Desk to go in the paper edition and up on the website right away. The printed pages were pulled from the machine and taken into Perry's office, where the Editor had about three things going on at once and CNN on the television in the corner.
"Already sent to Copy," she told him quickly, dropping the pages on his desk. "I got word twenty minutes ago from Superman that he and Green Lantern are still pulling people out of the rubble in some of the worst hit parts of the city, twelve alive in just the last hour, eight children."
Of course, Perry knew everything she wasn't saying, and he nodded at her, skimming the article quickly. "Good to hear," he answered gruffly, his voice going hoarse from barking orders all day. "How's he doing?"
"He--" but she paused a second, her breath caught in her throat as she recalled their short conversation over Clark's cell. He'd been on the verge of tears, both for lives lost and for lives saved, his heart so clearly on his sleeve as it was clear he'd been thinking about their own children with every one brought out of the wreckage alive. "He's tired," she answered finally. "But okay. Hopeful."
And it was true. There had been so much hope in his voice. So much relief that he was there and able to help, that those people, those children, would live another day.
As if on cue, the CNN coverage on the TV in the corner turned to Superman's efforts, and both Lois and Perry turned to watch.
"Here since the almost first moments since the quake hit and working non-stop, the Man of Steel has recovered another child from the ruins of this apartment complex, and is already heading back into the rubble to search for more trapped people," the reporter said. "His colleagues are hard at work as well, in other parts of the city, through all the aftershocks, and it's clear how determined they all are to keep at it as long as it takes, even as rescue teams from across the globe arrive to do their part."
The looped camera footage showed a brief image of Clark, covered in dust and handing a small girl over to rescue workers in the street. His gaze caught the camera for just a second, and Lois couldn't help the way her heart seized in her chest at the sight of those eyes, striking blue in the middle of a sea of gray concrete dust. And even though his suit was completely obscured and his cape had long since been torn away, the symbol on his chest stood out clearly. Eternal hope, no matter how dark the night of tragedy.
~*~*~*~