There were inefficiencies--delays that could have been avoided, dispatching that could have been more effective--but Lex seemed to feel the moment when everything settled into the right patterns and routines. It felt as though finally machinery that had been grinding started purring. Either that or he'd had so much coffee he was starting to hallucinate. Or maybe it was shock at the equipment he was using. Bruce had arranged to send most of the Cave's self-generated power onto the city grid, using only the minimum needed for their own operations, so Lex and Alfred were using different colored pushpins to track activities and needs, rather than the computers.
Flash returned and after delivering reports and request for assistance, picked up the list of messages, muttering them aloud as a second check.
"When Clark's done delivering the new generator to the hospital, he'll go to evacuate the Hudson Towers. All the buildings in imminent danger of collapsing are shored or frozen, so Diana will pick Ice up and take her to the third and fourth emergency treatment outposts. Uh, what's she going to do there? I can't remember if she's done emergency outposts before."
Without looking up from the map where he was noting the three now fully-evacuated buildings, Alfred answered, "First aid. Stop severe bleeding and immobilize compound fractured limbs. But only if they'll get treated in the next fifteen minutes and there's danger from blood loss."
"Got it. Aquaman probably isn't done yet finding out what the damage is to water supplies and sanitation lines, but if he is, get his report and bring it back and send him to guide the small craft bringing medical supplies by boat. Find out if Canary's had any luck with improvising sonar to find survivors. If she hasn't and doesn't think it will work, she'll help finish evacuating the Piedmont Building. If it does work or she thinks it will in less than five minutes, I find Robin and have him bring her the glider and he'll help evacuate the hostel on 17th. Last, I check the Warkins factory to see if they need any HazMat supplies. Okay, all that's clear."
When he had gone, Alfred stepped back and contemplated the map. Lex, seeing his expression, swallowed hard and turned away, as if he could avoid the truth by avoiding the other man's eyes. Alfred's mild voice was nonetheless inexorable. "While a candle might light the darkness, it can't turn night into day." Lex slowly nodded and picked up the box that held the blue pins that marked looting and rampages of mass violence. It was the first box that was empty. The boxes of green, for safely evacuated buildings, of red, for places where medical stations had been set up, and yellow, for places where enough individuals were unharmed that they could help the injured themselves, remained almost completely full. The boxes of white, for areas where there was still danger of extensive casualties, and transparent pins, for areas where the danger was still present but less extreme, were missing a handful of pins. The predominant color on the map was blue.
AN: All I can say is that when I sat down, I was expecting to violate canon and make the presence of the JLA make a difference. Not make everything all rosy and shiny but, you know, an emphasis on what they could do rather than what they couldn't. But what came out...well, you see!
That'll teach me to think that I know where these @#$()@#$(@)_*% fics are going.
That raucous sound you hear? That's the Muse laughing her head off.
Flash returned and after delivering reports and request for assistance, picked up the list of messages, muttering them aloud as a second check.
"When Clark's done delivering the new generator to the hospital, he'll go to evacuate the Hudson Towers. All the buildings in imminent danger of collapsing are shored or frozen, so Diana will pick Ice up and take her to the third and fourth emergency treatment outposts. Uh, what's she going to do there? I can't remember if she's done emergency outposts before."
Without looking up from the map where he was noting the three now fully-evacuated buildings, Alfred answered, "First aid. Stop severe bleeding and immobilize compound fractured limbs. But only if they'll get treated in the next fifteen minutes and there's danger from blood loss."
"Got it. Aquaman probably isn't done yet finding out what the damage is to water supplies and sanitation lines, but if he is, get his report and bring it back and send him to guide the small craft bringing medical supplies by boat. Find out if Canary's had any luck with improvising sonar to find survivors. If she hasn't and doesn't think it will work, she'll help finish evacuating the Piedmont Building. If it does work or she thinks it will in less than five minutes, I find Robin and have him bring her the glider and he'll help evacuate the hostel on 17th. Last, I check the Warkins factory to see if they need any HazMat supplies. Okay, all that's clear."
When he had gone, Alfred stepped back and contemplated the map. Lex, seeing his expression, swallowed hard and turned away, as if he could avoid the truth by avoiding the other man's eyes. Alfred's mild voice was nonetheless inexorable. "While a candle might light the darkness, it can't turn night into day." Lex slowly nodded and picked up the box that held the blue pins that marked looting and rampages of mass violence. It was the first box that was empty. The boxes of green, for safely evacuated buildings, of red, for places where medical stations had been set up, and yellow, for places where enough individuals were unharmed that they could help the injured themselves, remained almost completely full. The boxes of white, for areas where there was still danger of extensive casualties, and transparent pins, for areas where the danger was still present but less extreme, were missing a handful of pins. The predominant color on the map was blue.
AN: All I can say is that when I sat down, I was expecting to violate canon and make the presence of the JLA make a difference. Not make everything all rosy and shiny but, you know, an emphasis on what they could do rather than what they couldn't. But what came out...well, you see!
That'll teach me to think that I know where these @#$()@#$(@)_*% fics are going.
That raucous sound you hear? That's the Muse laughing her head off.