(Untitled)

[victormakesart]

Sometimes when disasters happen, you just have to curl in and hunker down, and that's what's happening at the Allen/Dover residence. There are six television screens (one of them is gigantic) and two computer monitors, all streaming different news channels, all subtitled and some of them foreign. Through the midvolume din, a few key phrases keep

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[kalel_ofkrypton]

Clark PINpoints in and immediately starts staring. He's been in big expensive places before, of course - one can hardly be friends with a billionaire for years and not be used to that - but he's never been here before. And the chaos is a bit... overwhelming, from someone who doesn't have anything even resembling a secret headquarters like this sort of does.

"Wow. You weren't kidding."

[backnthesaddle]

Cole gives Clark a little wave. "Hey, man. Welcome to HQ." He smiles, but there's this tense weariness behind the smile that needs more fixing than a simple good night's rest can provide. His eyes are focused on the news channel that's done little but loop the footage over and over, letting the atrocities speak for themselves.

[victormakesart]

Victor glances from one to the other, and then glances back at the television, then the other television, then the other television, then rearranges the newspapers on the coffee table, really just neatening the stacks. Hands all fluttery, like birds. To Clark, ever the hostess: "Wanna sit down? Can I get you anything?"

[kalel_ofkrypton]

"I'm good," he says automatically, then a little more insistently when he finally gets a good look at the two of them. "Really. Are you guys okay?" He knows that Victor said they were, but looking at them, he isn't sure. And the televisions aren't being very reassuring either.

"...what happened?"

[backnthesaddle]

Cole exchanges a look with Victor and sits up a little, one arm thrown across the back of the couch. "It's... a pretty long story. Everything's going to be okay." Which means that right now, a few things are still up in the air. "We stopped some human rights abuses."

[victormakesart]

"We broke the government," Victor clarifies, even though it isn't much of a clarification. "We were on the trail of a conspiracy... money being allocated to funds that were redundant, people disappearing in raids. They were...."

One of the beautifully haggard newscasters on the television (Victor has to wonder how long it took for her to perfect looking tragic while still having every hair in place and flawless makeup and that nondescript accent) says, "And we still do not know who the footage came from, but--"

"They were keepin' folks with powers, locked up. They barely fed them. They just... disappeared. It's been happening for years. At least a decade."

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Clark looks back at the video feeds, and suddenly they make a lot more sense. It's rather horrifying. Worse than finding out about Level 33.1 in LuthorCorp. "Oh my God." It's so much worse, because this is the government doing it to their own people.

He comes to sit near them, because he gets the feeling they might be talking a while, and he wants to make absolutely sure that they're both alright. He's not sure he is, and he wasn't even there. "Looks like the genie's out of the bottle now."

[backnthesaddle]

"Definitely. Definitely." Cole closes his eyes and reaches for a large bottle of ice water Victor's been making him drink since he woke up. His appetite has largely disappeared and he's been crying more than he ever has since his parents died. "Everyone's just... no one knew. Politicians were covering up but they didn't know for what. It's absolutely...."

He doesn't have any words for it, just a sick, empty feeling in his stomach. His government, doing it. The legacy of his parents.

[victormakesart]

Victor hasn't been able to eat since, which makes it going on three days, which is why she's dragging when she isn't jittery. She leans over and kisses Cole's temple, frowning.

That old, childish impulse to fix him, to force normalcy back into their lives with an iron fist of caring and love. "Yeah, it is. Which is why my voice sounded kinda funny yesterday. We exposed them from the inside out, which meant we had to get in. And we didn't want to do it in our own bodies, so we had them... altered, temporarily."

[kalel_ofkrypton]

The more he hears, the less he likes about the whole thing, and what's being shown on the news isn't pleasant by any stretch of the imagination. He's impressed with their courage, but it never should have been necessary. Ever.

"I don't even know what to say. Is there anything I can do to help you guys?" He knows there's probably nothing left to be done on their part for the expose, but he can still offer to help them.

[backnthesaddle]

"I don't know," Cole says softly, finally looking away from the television. "It all feels so surreal, you know? I've got a bio test at the end of the week. All my professors think I have the flu." He rubs at his eyes and drinks some more water.

[victormakesart]

"I don't know, either," she says, giving Cole another worried glance. It's about as obvious as a walking rainbow in San Francisco or a neon sign in Las Vegas that Victor can't handle Cole in pain.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

He wants to ask so many questions, about what they saw and heard and did, but none of that is necessary to know that this has hurt them both, deeply. And the news programs are painting a rather graphic picture too. "They won't be able to cover it up anymore. And... if your world is anything like the ones I know, the people won't stand for this. Things will have to change." He's trying to find a good side, but there's really only the one. And he wants to ask how bad it was, but it's clear that it was bad. He doesn't have anything to compare it to.

"If there's anything at all I can do, please. Let me know. My PINpoint is always on for you guys."

[backnthesaddle]

Cole gives him a small smile. "Thank you Clark. I mean it." Even if it doesn't show, it helps to talk with someone not involved with this fiasco. Life is still continuing in the multiverse, so it must be ready to continue in this world. "People are already taking up arms. Well, figuratively. At least I hope. The internet's been buzzing and hasn't stopped since it hit airwaves. They're not going to let anyone forget about this."

[victormakesart]

"It's great to just, I mean, to have company, you know? I'm sorry, if you've got other things.... Are you sure I can't get you anything?" Another glance to Cole, hands twitching hard, she reaches out to straighten the articles in front of her again. "Things're gonna change, yeah. And I'm grateful for it. Right now, it's just helping all the people hurt by it. Getting them food, and water. Rehabilitating them to the point where they can function outside again. It'll take months, years, for folks to just get to partly normal. The easy work is over, now it's time for the professionals."

[kalel_ofkrypton]

He shakes his head. "Even if I had other things, time stops when I'm not at home. I can be here as long as you need me." He really does mean that. If for some reason they needed him to stay for a week, he would do it in a heartbeat and still get home in time to feed the cows.

He looks back at the televisions, the sheer quantity of data coming in, and thinks of how much Chloe would love a place like this. "Was it just you two?"