A Future Sooner than Tomorrow

The Future Frightens

When Kal leaves the training room, he heads straight for where he knows his room in the Hall will be. He unceremoniously throws the door open and rummages through his drawers until he comes across the stationary.

He hates that they're in a different place to where he would put them at home. It's the small details that really show that the Superman here is unlike Kal in every which way.

He lays out the thin sheets of paper across the desk and begins to address them.

To Green Lantern.

To Wonder Woman.

To Shayera.

To Flash.

To J'ohn.

To Batman.

It's only then does he begin properly writing. He switches from paper to paper, trying to capture the absolute horror he has felt during his time here, how appalled he is at Kon's mistreatment, a plead for each and every one of them to do something about what's going on, to speak up and aren't they heroes? And how could they let one of their own be so cruel?

He doesn't intend to but he ends up making Batman's the longest. Where the others are a page at most, Batman's spans both sides of two pages with each injustice to Kon listed in detail.

Oddly, Kal feels like Batman is the one that would really make a difference for this universe's Kon. It could be because Batman is also a parent, or because Batman has never failed to stand up to those stronger than himself, or maybe it's because Kal has proof of this Batman's kindness in Nightwing, Red Hood and Robin.

So, he writes and hopes it will make a difference after Kal and his Justice League have left. After these are done - or as done as they can be, Kal won't hesitate to add anything new he finds - he deliberates on what to do with them, where to put them.

He doesn't want his teammates - his own teammates - to see them. He doesn't want to risk being told that he's overreacting or that it's nothing because what would that mean for their own future? That they would let a child be treated so terribly?

It's awful of him but he'd rather live in blissful ignorance for now.

It means he can't put them in the Watchtower because there's too high of a chance of them coming across the letters. That leaves the Hall of Justice.

He doesn't want Kon or anyone other than the intended recipients reading the letters - they might end up throwing them out in fear of possible repercussions from this world's Superman. And isn't that a nasty thought? That everyone would be so scared of angry this world's Superman that they would throw out something that could help, that could save them?

That excludes any communal area, leaving only the bedrooms left.

Decided, he quickly leaves his room and slides almost every letter into its place in the recipient's top drawer. The only one he has left is Batman's.

He'd like to put Batman's in the man's room and be done with it but...

Kal remembers the notes Batman's Watchtower room, handwriting not his own. It seems like Batman's children have complete access to his rooms whether he's here or not which means it's likely one of them would happen across the letter first.

Kal heads back to his room and shoves Batmans letter into his own drawer for the time being. Before they leave, he'll put it in Batman's drawer and will just have to hope that the kids won't find it first.

He doesn't want to burden the boys with that.

He's written down everything in the letters that he feels he needed to but his fingers still itch to write so he sits down and starts an entirely new letter and addresses it with pointed loathing twisting every letter.