14 Chapter 14 – Dark Horizons

(Los Angeles, California – Central Los Angeles – 26th September 2022)

Annie hadn't always registered that Clark was at a whole other level than her. To her, he was that friend that everyone knew, the friend who was always just a little better, a little cooler than you. That friend that at times you secretly wished you could wave a magic wand and become.

Since they were 9 she had watched and heard how Clark broke records and gained awards that had constantly moved him down the path of being the world's next greatest hero. Still, when you're a child the concept of power and ability is a strange nebulous one, never something real. So whilst she always knew Clark was better than her, there was room for the belief that all she needed to do was push a little harder and she'd be where he was.

She was Starlight, a rising teen superstar in her own right, and whilst she couldn't lift a building or run at the speed of sound like Clark, she was no pushover. She had routinely placed in the top 10 of Vought's Teen heroes and had always been the top heroine on those charts. Although she was never one to brag, Annie knew she was powerful and like every Superabled teen at one point had thought herself the greatest.

She had been 15 when she had first truly understood not the gap, nor even the gorge between her and Clark, but the entire solar system that separated the two of them. It had been right after Vought had formed the Young Americans, a 6-member super teen squad that her friend was poised to lead. Part of their formation had been a showcase of the new team at VoughtCon 2010, complete with a demonstration of their full powers. It had taken place in a sports stadium in Chicago, and she could remember almost freezing her butt off after some genius had decided to hold it in November.

She could still vividly see her teammates trying to one up each other. Dwight, or General Issue as he was known, had displayed his skills with firearms and his quick reflexes. The Standard, whose real name was Cameron, had wowed everyone with his aerial acrobatic skills and the speeds he could fly at. Her old boyfriend, Alex, had almost stolen the show with his sonic abilities and musical routine. Patricia Highsmith, known to the world as Holy Mary, had entranced all the men in one entire section of the stadium to stand and dance. Annie herself had come close to being the darling of the event when she had one upped Alex with a routine that her mother had planned which had worked so well that the crowd had been on their feet cheering for more.

Then, Clark blew them all away without even trying. It was the first time she had seen him not hold back, and the display of power had been something to behold. She had watched Clark crack diamonds in his hands, fly above the stadium with such speed that it had caused the local atmospheric pressure to shift, so fast that it had changed the weather. It was the day she realised that no matter how hard she tried, she would never come close to her friend. It was also the first time ever she had been a little scared of Clark.

It was the air itself that caused the memory to resurface as she ran at full steam down the street. The usually cool September air of the pacific coast was on fire as she ran down the cracked and charred street. Everywhere she looked she saw the devastation, the whole central section of the city looked like a warzone as buildings collapsed, ash fell on heaps of rubble and anyone she saw was fleeing for their lives.

"Ma'am!" Annie turned and saw a police officer covered in dust running towards her and trying to grab her arm and pull her with them "Ma'am, you can't be here! Come with me, we need to evacuate!"

"It's alright, I'm Starlight, I'm here to help." Annie managed to stop the officer in their tracks, who then wiped away the ash from their eyes and finally saw her properly.

"Oh thank god! Well, Superman is cu-ARGHHH!" The officer had half-turned to point down the street when a sudden burst of white hot light exploded through, incinerating the man to a crisp.

Annie leapt backwards on instinct away from the torrent of fire that had roasted one of LA's finest right in front of her. As she rolled to a stop she was cursing her stupid drunk choice to wear her more revealing costume. She felt herself sweating from all the skin exposed to the air, to say nothing of the way the poor material had torn slightly on the uneven ground. However, as she stopped her mind immediately went to the figure at the end of the street, who unleashed another wave of fire at one of the few standing buildings on the street.

"O-ye! You're the guera that Super-puta is screwing, right? " The figure sauntered closer and revealed herself to be a hispanic woman in her early 20's, who spoke with a strong accent. "Star-slut or something? Well while those two idiotas deal with your man, let's see how well you light up!"

Fire streamed from her fists, forcing Annie to dive to her left, but the superheroine couldn't help but swear as she collided with a pile of rubble which prevented her from moving as far as she wished. Annie looked down at her arm, and saw her skin slightly blister. This, combined with the fact that she hadn't seen Clark was causing her mind to go into panic mode. She was quick to try and respond, wheeling around to let off a series of blasts that forced her attacker to dodge herself, but the bursts of light were becoming weaker and weaker.

Annie was getting more alarmed. Every streetlight, every sign, every telephone pole destroyed limited the amount of electricity available for her powers to draw upon, this was a real fight and she was really in danger here. Being a superhero, Annie had been in a few scuffles, but she had always outmatched her opponent. The way the world was, apart from the odd difficult rescue there was nothing she couldn't handle. Now, she was worlds away from just stopping a mugger or beating up a would-be abuser.

"What was that, chica?!" Another torrent of fire accompanied the question along with a loud sarcastic laugh. "If you're the best they got, I am so going to run the table!"

Annie dodged again, barrelling herself forward into an impressive if inelegant forward roll, then as she stopped she felt her luck change. A few inches from her face was a fire hydrant, and the piece of utility equipment looked to her in that moment more valuable than all the gold in the world. She was quick to stand up and let off another series of weak hand blasts forcing the homicidal pyro-wielder to move herself until she was square with Annie.

"Let's cool you off!" Annie smirked as she raised her foot and easily smashed the fire hydrant open to unleash a torrent of blue directly towards her attacker smothering her.

Annie's triumphal smile lasted only a few moments. Instead of the flames extinguishing they died only for a moment. The entire street filled with steam as the pyro-wielder's body roared back into a bonfire, and then easily with a flick of her hand sent a fireball that melted the hydrant into a lump of metal. The steam impeded Annie's vision so much that she wasn't able to dodge the next attack that sent her careening through several buildings behind her as she felt her skin on her chest crack and char slightly.

However, she never felt herself impact with the street or another building. She was suddenly halted and found herself in a familiar warm embrace. Looking up she saw that Clark had caught her in mid-air, his face one of pure concentration and focus before turning into a smile so warm that Annie couldn't help feel safe.

"Don't worry, I've got you." Superman said as he gently landed on the devastated street, setting Annie down.

His eyes went from her to the hole she had been blasted through and as they did they lost all their kindness. Annie watched as her friend transformed before her, as he took several steps towards the hole which was now alight as her attacker appeared. Superman might have been an invention of her friend to make people feel safe but as Clark moved forward, she saw the myth turn from belief in her into flesh as bone. Here was not the skinny kid she had met when a child, nor the hulking gentle giant she knew, nor even the dutiful farmboy son, no, it was nothing short of justice incarnate.

"That's far enough," Clark's voice sent chills down her spine and caused her attacker to stop dead. "You caught me off guard before, not this time. Now surrender."

"You think I'm scared of you! I'm El Diablo! The queen of this city now. Your days of running over Los Diablos are done! These streets are ours again! THEY'RE MINE!" The woman's fiery body became white hot as she shoved her hands forward and blasted Superman.

"CLARK!" Annie screamed.

El Diablo grinned with joy as everything she had imagined was coming true, she had killed Superman! She was going to take over LA! The Diablos gang that had once treated her as nothing but a pretty face was hers now. Sure the boss had pumped her full of the blue shit because he had been too much of a maricón to try it himself, but that didn't matter now. She had the power and was going to rule!

However, her expression faltered and then fell away as both she and Annie watched wide-eyed in wonder as the barely visible figure of Superman started to walk forward. The villain poured more power into her attack, as her ignited body went from burning orange to blue. All of it was for nought, as Clark steadily marched slowly towards his target unimpeded.

"Quemate puta!" El Diablo cursed she felt exhaustion start to overtake her. The flames went from a near-blinding blue back to hazy orange-red. "You're not going to-AHHHG!"

The scream was accompanied by a snap then a crunch, then her flames disappeared revealing a very naked woman with fear in her eyes. Clark had grabbed her outstretched hands and with frightening ease shattered them. The naked hispanic woman who moments before had been triumphant fell to her knees as she wailed in pain at her now broken limbs.

"I warned you, now stay down," The woman momentarily looked from her broken hands up in fear at the figure of justice staring down at her, the terror in her eyes caused a sigh to escape Clark's lips as his gaze softened. "Look, I didn't want to harm you, but you left me no choi-"

A burst of green engulfed Clark's head cutting him off, crashing into it like the explosion of a small nuke. Annie was shoved backwards but managed to stay on her feet, while El Diabolo was thrown through the hole she had come through. Annie's focus immediately shot to Clark out of concern, until she saw he was completely unharmed. Superman lowered the hand he had raised with lightning speed to block the strike from directly impacting him, before turning towards his attacker.

"You cannot escape me! No amount of fake heroes can help you all! I am Mother Earth's redeemer, created from the nuclear filth of your corrupt society to be your DOOM!"

The glowing skull figure moved his hand in dramatic sweeps almost like he was on a bad way-off-Broadway show, complete with cheesy lines.

Annie couldn't help but turn her head and look at Clark with a raised eyebrow, she knew this was serious but this guy was preening like a 1960s tv-sitcom villain. Her look of slight bemusement halted as she felt the ground shake as another figure appeared. It was enormous, a gelatinous behemoth that towered over the few remaining city blocks. The creature's hand crashed into a building as it turned the corner, Annie's eyes widened as she saw the building start to dissolve while the creature seemingly grew bigger.

"Clark, what the hell is that?" Annie asked her eyes darting between her friend and the monster.

"Stay behind me," He responded softly, his gaze fixed straight ahead.

"But you ne-" Annie moved forward to try and stand next to her friend but was cut off by his head turning slightly with a stern gaze.

"Starlight," Clark's use of her hero name caused her to gulp before his face became soft again and cracked her a smile. "Just stay behind me, I've got this."

He finished with a small wink that somehow made Annie feel more confident and safe than anything else he could have done. As he turned back to the two attackers at the end of the street, Annie saw him become Superman again, and his friendly smile was replaced by steely resolve. He radiated confidence just as the glowing skull-headed figure at the end was radiating deadly rays that cracked the street as he walked forward.

"PREPARE TO DIE, FALSE IDOL OF THIS TOXIC CIVILIZATION!" The skull figure swept his glowing hands forward as prepared to blast his adversary once more, the green light intensified as he prepared to unleash his full power.

Annie's friend then did something that caused a look of confusion to appear on her face.

Clark was… sucking in air?

There he was, broad shoulders squared as he seemed to gain an extra 2 inches in height while his stomach went flat from inhaling as hard as he could. For a moment Clark looked comical even to her. That was until she noticed that he wasn't stopping, he just continued to pull in more and more, until she felt the ground shifting beneath. Looking down she saw dust and rock from the rubble around her moving towards her friend, her own feet were slipping forward as well causing her eyes to widen in shock.

It then stopped. For a moment everything was still as the air became still and Annie once again stood unmoving on the street. All eyes turned to Superman who was not just holding his breath but was now hovering just off the floor before…

Whoooooooosh!

Annie had to raise her hand to shield her eyes. The burning crumbling world around her suddenly turned white as an arctic gale suddenly engulfed the street. She had to slam her heels into the ground to not be pushed back by the torrents of freezing air leaving Clark's lips which turned the street before him into ice.

A bright green beam erupted from the glowing skull figure, but died halfway before reaching its targets. The winds had intensified as Clark stopped hovering and, with both feet on the ground, started pushing forward. The towering behemoth of toxic sludge fared even worse than his companion, and the drop in temperature caused his body to freeze into chunks of ice.

Annie managed to lower her hand slightly to look at Clark, expecting any moment for the winds to die down and the freezing temperatures to stop. Impossibly, the freezing breath that Clark was releasing didn't stop or even die down, it intensified. Each step he took was accompanied by the air becoming colder and the gale raging from his lips to worsen. Annie tried to take in a breath and found herself regretting the action. It was like her lungs were both collapsing and freezing at the same time. From her vantage point behind the source of it all, she could only imagine the hell Clark's enemies were suffering.

The skull-headed man stumbled as the winds died down. The radiation that had been pouring off of him had melted the ice and prevented him from being turned into a popsicle like his towering companion. However, it had clearly weakened him. His body was shivering and the green slickly light was now but a dim glow no brighter than a child's night light.

"D-d-d-d-die!" He tried to let off another blast at Clark again, but the beam never even materialised.

Clark's fist then slammed into the man causing him to stumble backwards, the sheer sound of the act caused the ground underneath them to crack. The supervillain blinked, spat out a mouth full of sickly green blood, and smiled.

"Is that all you can-" The taunt was cut off by a super-strength haymaker.

Watching Clark start to strike the man repeatedly made Annie recall the first time she had seen a boxer work a bag. Her mother used to drag her to spin and aerobic classes, to ensure she had the right shape, all the time and she remembered when she was 13 sneaking off just to be alone, that when she had seen him. He had been a tall muscular man with a boxer's frame, and she could recall clear as day as he methodically struck the bag, over and over again, gaining pace and power with each strike until he found his punch. Looking at Clark now she could see that boxer again, Clark wasn't failing to knock the man out, nor was he even fighting, he was just finding his punch. The right amount of force that he could use to knock out the superpowered madman without killing him.

Although her lungs still burnt from the coldness of the air, and her skin still stung from the heat, she could feel nothing but awe at that moment. Watching Clark work was like seeing a master painter turn a canvas into the Mona Lisa. Each blow was precisely measured and perfect in its delivery, the power of them causing the air to crack like thunder and the ground to shake until as soon as it began it stopped.

CRACK!

Annie winced as the finality of the sound struck her, she wished she could say the blow had been delivered with some sort of dramatic flourish but in truth, it was a simple jab to the face. The blow sent the skull-headed figure's head lurching backwards and his whole body then followed as he crashed onto his back. The whole street fell silent for a moment as Superman stared down at his vanquished foe before turning back to look at Annie.

"You okay?" Clark looked her up and down scanning to make sure his brief fight hadn't harmed her.

"I'm go- CLARK, LOOK OUT!" Annie's eyes went wide as the towering figure that had been encased in ice, suddenly broke free with a loud roar.

The monster lurched around and flailed its arms, causing pieces of frozen toxic sludge to rip from its body and crash into the street. Clark however didn't turn back to look at the monster immediately instead he just let out a deep sigh and then raised a single finger to Annie.

"Just give me a moment please." Clark then turned back towards the monster that was still putting on a show, its right arm smashing into a nearby building.

However, it stopped the moment it saw Clark, whose face was now fixed in a deep menacing glare as it floated halfway up the body. Clark then pointed at the green toxic monster's stomach and raised his eyebrows, whilst his eyes flashed red, the act combined with his glare was message enough. Annie was ready to look confused when suddenly, the green toxic monster suddenly stopped and then melted away until she could see what Clark had been pointing to.

It was a man, well boy actually, he looked no older than 17 and was ready to soil himself now that his protective layer was gone. Clark floated down keeping level with the terrified minor who became more scared as they went down. As they reached the ground level the boy's eyes went to the unconscious and battered figure of his companion before shooting his hands into the air.

"Please don't hurt me!" The boy's voice shook and he took in a deep gulp as Clark stepped towards him.

"Get on the ground now, I see one piece of moving green slime and I'll break your arms." Clark fixed the boy with a glare and no sooner had he finished his threat than the minor was laying on the ground face first.

However, Clark couldn't take a moment to savour his victory, he didn't even really hear Annie as she ran up to him, his eyes just raked over the destruction the very brief fight had caused. Only one thought was going through his head: what had they done?

(Sunshine Motel - Outskirts of New York City - 27th September 2022)

"Superman saves Los Angeles, in dramatic ba-"

"Where did these Super Terrorists come fro-"

"Are we safe? What will hap-"

"America needs to strike ba-"

"US Senate and House pass bill HR 421 - Allowing superhumans into the military. The previously controversial bill dubbed the Supe Bill has just been passed unanimously by both chambers of the US Congress in the wake of the Los Angeles attack. The bill allows the deployment of Superheroes into active comb-"

Hughie switched off the TV and leaned back on the cheap motel bed as his brain tried to catch up with what had happened in the last 24 hours. All of it had been in a word, shit. They had gone from having Vought on the ropes to hiding from the very people they had been trying to get on their side. Hughie's eyes darted up to Butcher who was on the phone to Raynor trying to get everything sorted.

"What can I say?" Raynor's voice sounded out over the phone, her tone indicating that she was even less happy about current events than Butcher was. "The Pentagon's agreed to keep Compound V classified."

"Classified?!" Butcher yelled into the phone. The man looked ready to put his fist through a wall. "What the fuck you on about?"

"What else could we do? Fucking LA's got everyone scared shitless and then we've got this Naqib asshole running around blowing holes in our boys overseas." Raynor shot back before taking a deep breath trying to keep her anger at the situation out of the equation for the moment. "Our standing orders as of yesterday are to keep Vought happy. What they want, they get."

"VOUGHT FUCKIN CREATED THE CUNTS!" Butcher's words were accompanied by fist finally slamming into and through the plasterboard wall, earning a look of shock from Hughie. "THEY ARE THE ONES WHO ARE FUCKING ATTACKING US!"

"We have no solid proof of that," Raynor responded calmly her voice going into the cool tones that Butcher knew meant he was about to get fucked, and not in the good way.

"No hard proof? I gave you proof! The fuckin' blue shit, and the Exhibit A we rescued from a basement and is currently sat on the bog as we speak!" Butcher threw up his arms and gestured to the bathroom that Kimiko was occupying.

Hughie's eyes darted to the door which opened revealing Frenchie and Lois, the former removing a pair of shades and lowering his hood and the latter actually peeling off a wig and a fake nose. He could tell that neither had good news from the look on their faces and Butcher glared when he saw the same thing. He held up a hand as he returned his focus to the conversation at hand.

"Susan, come on, luv. You know the work we did for the company, we have value. There must be something we can do, yeah?" This was what caused Hughie's heart to sink right out of his body, as for the first time ever he heard just the tiniest tinge of desperation from Butcher.

"Look, the military deal is sealed, signed and approved. Do you think one mute girl is going to derail that? In the face of LA on fire and crowds ready to march on the Pentagon?" Raynor tried hard to keep the cynicism from her voice but the sentiment was still there. "Especially coming from the fugitives that killed Translucent?"

"Fugitives?" Butcher's head shot up, his eyes meeting Lois who gave him a look that told him that it was as bad as he was thinking.

"Vought insisted….and the DOJ agreed. You're wanted men now, the only one we could keep off the block was Lane." Raynor sighed as her voice went quiet, waiting for the angry response she knew Butcher was going to give.

"I suppose we 'ave the General to thank for that?" Butcher asked with an odd amount of calm as his eyes lingered on Lois.

"Yeah, Vought didn't want to piss off the head of our black ops programs. Look, I can still protect your families but that's it."

"Listen here, I gave you the V. I gave you everything you asked for and more." Butcher turned away from Lois and the others, blocking them from hearing what he was saying. His hand clenched tighter around the phone. "I fuckin' trusted you and this is the thanks we get? What about me and the boys, eh, then?"

"...Butcher, I bought you 12 hours. That was 11 hours ago. You cut bait and run for your lives." Butcher could almost hear Raynor cringing on her end as she had to sell out her principles. "...I'm sorry."

Butcher turned back to The Boys and amazed Hughie with the look of sheer calmness that was on his face. The man's face was even composed as he crushed the phone in his hand with such ease and calmness as pounding an empty beercan. He seemed to centre himself for a moment, before putting a grin on his face.

"Well, that's all set then." Butcher's voice was oddly level and composed, causing Hughie to glance at MM who didn't seem surprised, Butcher always seemed to function better when everything was on fire. "Looks like daddy sorted you out alright."

Lois just responded with a scoff and gave Butcher the middle finger. "He's already called, the truce they worked out doesn't protect me if I'm caught with you, just keeps my name out of the papers."

"Truce? What truce?" Hughie stood up looking between Lois and Butcher wanting to understand.

"Remember that I told you my father is a General?" Lois looked at Hughie who just nodded recalling her mentioning it when telling him why she did this. "He's a little more than that, my father is Sam Lane, he's the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

"Oh come on now, he's a little more than that Lane," Butcher's voice cut in as he gave a shake of his head and moved past Lois and turned to look at Hughie. "Her old man was the Commander of JSOC, and before that got his hands dirty doing a little, or should I say a lot, of wet work. And when he's not pushing pencils as the Vice Chairman, he's doing his real job, running every covert and black op that America doesn't want on the books. Not someone even Vought wants to mess with"

"Yeah, well even he can't help." Lois started. "Orders from on high. In fact, he's got orders to track down this team and drag us to a blacksite. He's already got to work, every safe house we have is burnt and all our contacts are avoiding us or are dead."

"We need to split up, mes amis" Frenchie moved over to the bed and pulled out his duffle bag from underneath, making sure his clothes were still folded and he had enough ammo as well.

MM moved as well grabbing his own equipment and was already planning on where he was going to take his wife and daughter. Hughie just stood there frozen, not sure what to do and so elected to sit back on the bed, his head trying to come up with a plan, but all it did was go back to Annie.

"Oi, what the fuck you cunts doing?" Butcher gestured to his two teammates that looked ready to cut and run. "We ain't done yet."

"The hell we ain't." MM shot back as he looked down at the explosives he was trying to cram into his bag. "We got Vought, the Supes, and the Fed on our asses."

"Everyone calm the fuck down!" Butcher's command made everyone stop and turn to face him even Hughie looked up. "Shut your fuckin' traps, and stop packing. We're on the verge of nailing these cunts. And you want to turn tail like a couple of milkmaids before we've played our final card."

"Okay, what is it, man? How do we get out from under this pile of shit?" MM asked raising his hands out to his side, wanting Butcher to explain whatever scheme he had.

"Give us a couple of hours. Yeah?" Butcher started putting on his coat and gave MM a confident grin and look that silenced any lingering questions. "I'll get this all sorted. Hughie, you're with me."

The young man just looked at Butcher and then to Lois who just sighed and nodded giving her ascent. He pushed off of the bed and grabbed his own coat heading out followed by Butcher who was stopped by Lois' arm across the doorway.

"You're going to see Mallory, aren't you?" Lois' eyes narrowed as she looked at Butcher who just stared back giving nothing away. "... Just don't do anything stupid, okay?"

Butcher just snorted as he left her arm out of the way and then headed outside to catch up with Hughie. Lois just grimaced and turned back to MM and Frenchie, then her phone buzzed in her pocket. Looking down she could see it was another text from Perry demanding to know where she was and why she wasn't in the studio reporting on everything that had been going down.

"Shit, I've got to go." Lois looked at MM apologetically. "The moment he comes back, fucking call me, don't let him do anything, you hear me?"

"Yeah, we hear you." MM gave Lois a nod, allowing her to leave feeling a little less shitty that she was still in the clear.

As Lois left, her mind also turned to other matters, namely Clark and how the hell she was going to convince him that she deserved his help.

(Superman Agency Building - Downtown LA - Same time)

"You're kidding me," Clark shook his head as he stood in what was technically his office but he hardly used it. "Vought Correctional Facilities? That's a real thing?"

"Yes, Vought just created the division, and given that they are the only ones with experience with Superpowered individuals the US government has handed them Atomic Skull and Chemo for detainment," Mary replied looking over the files she had been faxed and emailed over at the last minute, most of which she was still trying to make sense of.

"Atomic Skull? What is.. and who?" Clark's head shot back up and looked mystified at the words his aunt was saying.

"Joseph Martin and Robert Kanigher, the two super-eh… terrorists that you captured. It's what the media had been calling them." She agreed with her nephew that the names were not necessary given the panic their notoriety had already caused. "According to records, they are militant environmental activists known for their opposition to…. well, everything modern, mostly nuclear power."

"I'm guessing that we are not being allowed to talk to them?" Clark asked, chuckling at the rhetorical question with full knowledge of what likely had happened to the two super-powered individuals. The silence from Mary confirmed it, earning her another huff from Clark in return. "And what of the woman?"

"In the wind, with the panic and chaos no one was looking but the feds have your description and sketch. They'll find her." A sharp look from Clark killed the attempt at delivering good news stone dead.

"No, they won't." He sighed, knowing full well that Vought would either kill the woman going by El Diablo or deliberately keep her on the board to hype up fear, what they were not going to allow was for her to be caught.

The room fell silent for a few moments. Mary shifted as Clark returned his penetrating gaze to her. She could almost see the infinite number of complex wheels turning in his head as he debated whether to ask the question she knew was coming.

"... Did you know?" Clark asked the question hanging in the quiet office as the two of them stared at each other.

"No, I swear on my parents' graves, I had no idea, nor even the slightest hint this was coming." Mary met her nephew's eyes knowing that he would know she was being honest, something she was trying to be more of in recent years. "In truth, it doesn't make sense, this, all of this is insane. I knew Vought isn't staffed by angels, god do I know that, but this it's almost….."

"Childish?" Clark finished her sentence, his eyes leaving his aunt as pieces finally clicked into place in his head. A look of disgust crossed his face as he swore under his breath.

"Exactly, childish, all of this is….sloppy and impulsive. Vought's many things but never that." She looked away, trying to get a complete picture but couldn't make sense of it.

A gentle tapping on the door caused both to turn to the door and watched as Annie gently pushed it open and looked inside. Before she could say anything Clark waved her in. He didn't need to ask how she was, he could see that her skin had already healed, a benefit of her increased durability.

"Auntie, could you give us the room for a few moments, if the mayor calls tell him I've already searched the area and put out any lingering fires. He should still send in rescue teams but I've already gotten everyone who's alive out, it'll just be clean up now." Clark gave her a small nod which she returned and watched her leave, before turning back to his friend.

"Clark, what the hell was that?" Annie jumped straight into the conversation he knew was coming, she knew asking if he was alright was pointless, he was the invincible man. "Where did those people come from? HOW did they have powers?"

"Annie, I need you to sit." Clark sighed and gestured to his office couch watching as Annie sat down. "I need you to stay calm, and know that everything, I do mean everything I'm about to say is the truth."

"Clark, what's wrong?" Annie asked, her face becoming one of concern as she saw the conflict on her friend's face.

"The people who attacked the city gained their powers from a drug called Compound V….." Clark replied, trailing off as took a deep breath and then looked Annie square in the eyes. "It's a substance Vought created, and it's what gives every super-humanon the planet their powers….. including you. It's given to people when they're still infants, and Vought controls their lives in order to create….Superheroes"

Annie blinked at what Clark was telling her. She opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out. She wanted to ask if it was a bad joke, a terribly unfunny one, or at least treat it as some foolish crazy theory she could dismiss. The issue with both of those was that it was Clark telling her. He did have a sense of humour, but this was nowhere close to it. As for a crazy theory, Clark was many things and crazy wasn't one of them.

The silence stretched on. Both of them tried to decide exactly what they were thinking and feeling. For his part, he could tell that he might want to hold off on his second big reveal, the secret that only his parents knew, and so he chose discretion for now. Annie finally moved, standing up and walking a few steps aimlessly before stopping and turning back to face him.

"Why did you tell me that?" Annie asked softly, her face scrunching up as she tried to hold back the pain.

"You deserve and need to know the truth," He could hear her heart rate picking up even as he responded just as softly, bracing for what he knew was coming.

"FFFFFFUCK! SHIT! GOD DAMN IT!" Annie exploded into a series of curses before she took a deep breath and just looked at him. "Why the FUCK would you tell me that! I'm already struggling with all this shit, Clark, you know that! I have no fucking idea who I'm supposed to be! SO WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU TELL ME THIS?! NOW OF ALL TIMES!"

Clark just stayed calm and let Annie's anger break against him, he just sat there calmly for a few moments whilst her rage from the shock subsided and she slowed her breathing down. Her brain seemed to start working again, as her face fell slightly, clearly regretting her outburst, as she tried to steady herself further.

"Feeling better?"

This defused the last of Annie's anger, and she collapsed back onto the couch, drained.

"Annie, you are one of the strongest people I know. I really wish I could say I'll talk you through all of this and tell you every detail there is, but things are moving now and I need your help."

"With what?" Annie asked. Her heart still felt like it could tear itself apart again.

"Saving Hughie and Lois," Clark responded immediately. He sighed as he stood up and moved back to his desk to grab his phone and text Mary to arrange things. "Along with the group they're with. I really don't like or approve of their methods but we need allies, and either way I'm not going to let Vought kill them."

"Wait, what? What do you mean kill them?" Annie jumped to her feet and moved over to Clark, suddenly laser-focused at the mention of Hughie's life being threatened.

"The group Hughie is with has information damaging to Vought and have been involved in the deaths of several Supes," Clark replied as he finished sending Mary the instructions on what he needed to be done, now giving Annie his undivided attention. "Vought can't have people like that existing, and now that they have the leverage they are going to push to get rid of them. You need to head East quickly, I would take you but I need to follow up on som-"

"Why do you care?" Annie's abrupt question caught Clark off-guard causing him to blink.

"I'm sorry?" Clark's politeness caught her to pause in return.

"I mean, why do you care about Hughie or Lois? They both broke our hearts, they used us, and you still want to save them." Annie shook her head while the pain of everything she had endured reared to life again. "Now you tell me we're freaks, created by some drug, doped up since we were children. What could possibly possess you, what possible motive could you have to help them?"

"Because Vought is doing bad in the world, people have died and more are in danger," Clark replied so quickly it caused Annie to blink at him in shock, then leaned forward with fists planted on the table and seemed to look into her soul. "Because, like it or not, we are Superheroes and this is the job….. and because I feel the same thing for Lois that you do for Hughie."

"They betrayed us," Annie tried to retort but her voice lacked true conviction.

"Yes they did, but that doesn't mean we get to betray ourselves." Clark gave Annie a sympathetic smile as he knew how hard what he was asking for was. "We don't get to choose what we feel, it would be easier if we did. but we don't. And the truth is you and I are not built to sit on the sidelines when the world is burning, we run into the fire, not from it. We save people."

"I can't remember the last time I did something amazing like that" Annie's face fell. All she had done since joining the Seven was smile for the camera and do stupid self-aggrandizing media appearances. "I'm not like you."

"Hughie at the bowling alley," Clark's words caused Annie to look up from the floor and just stare at him.

"What?"

"You saved Hughie when you went bowling with him, when we were together. I saw it."

"What are you talking about?"

"The reason I didn't see what Hughie was up to was because all I could see was a man falling in love whilst trying to put his life back together." Clark stepped from around his desk so that he could sit on it in front of Annie and make their eyes level to each other. "You couldn't see it, but I did, Hughie was angry, not just mad but he had this deep stirring hatred inside that threatened to consume him. I saw it when you invited him bowling, I thought all he would bring was tragedy to your life and then suddenly… it was gone. He just looked at you and it was gone."

"Just from bowling?" Annie looked at Clark, her face a picture of confusion as she tried to work out what her friend was saying.

"Yeah, bowling. That's it." He smiled as he saw her trying to piece together a lesson his own parents had taught him long ago.

"That's not a heroic rescue, that's just….that's just…..that's just being there." She heard the words he said, but was still failing to make the connection.

"Anyone can pick a fight they know they can win, anyone can put on a costume and spout a catchphrase about justice and truth. That's not what being a hero is.."

Clark sighed as he tried to sum up everything he learnt from just watching his parents, and the impossible bar they had created for him to live up to. He paused for a moment looking off into the distance until the right words came into his head.

"True heroism doesn't come from superpowers, or from having a corporation to back you up. It doesn't care where you're from, or what you can do, just that you do it. You've got to help people, in spite of doubt, in spite of fear or anger, in spite of grief and everything else that tells you otherwise. Sure, you can do something big like wearing a cape and fist-fighting monsters in a burning city so thousands of people can live another day…..but most of the time it's about doing something much harder, being there every day for the ones only you can save."

"Clark I'm not-" Annie started only to be cut off by the sound of the office door opening and Mary stepping in.

"Aunt Mary, I know I asked to be told when the jet is ready but I need a few more minutes." Clark moved around Annie to cut off his Aunt but stopped as he saw the look on her face.

"I know, and the jet is ready for Miss January, but that's not why I'm here." Mary for the first time in Clark's life looked flustered and anxious as she peered over her shoulder. "I've slowed them down but there are men from the Army outside."

"The Army?" Clark asked. He turned from his Aunt and looked through the building, and clear as day there were a dozen men coming up the elevator led by someone he recognised.

"They say they're here for you," Mary looked nervous, it was her job to see curveballs coming and she was brilliant at her job but she had no idea what was happening. "They won't tell me what it's for."

"It's okay, Auntie, take Annie down the private elevator and get her to the airport." Clark turned to Annie who opened her mouth to protest, still not sure what she was feeling or knowing what she wanted, but he caught her off. "I know, I get it and I know this isn't fair, I wish we had more time. Whatever you decide I will support you, but I need you to get on that plane, once you're in the air you can decide where you want to go…..I hope it's New York but if it's not I will understand."

Annie opened her mouth but her words failed her so she just nodded and let herself be led out by Mary. He turned around. His private elevator's doors closed on Annie and his Aunt at the same moment a dozen military men walked into his office. Most of them were a guard-detail of heavily armoured marines, but Clark's eyes immediately went to the man who was leading from the front, his chestful of medals and the five stars on his shoulders drawing the eye easily.

"Clark Joseph Kent, I am here to inform you that as of 12:01 today Eastern Standard Time you have been fully inducted into the service of the United States Military as per the new laws created by HR 421." The man moved forward with confidence and bravado to stand squarely in front of a superhero without any fear or hesitation. He was only just shorter than Clark and still looked remarkably fit despite his grey hair and deep lines on his face. "I am also here to inform you that you are to present yourself at Fort Bragg and will be reporting to me immediately."

"Straight to it, I see," Clark repressed a chuckle as he had actually suspected something like this was going to occur, he was just surprised at who they had sent. "Well can I at least offer you a drink, General Lane, before we start arguing with each other?"

Samuel Lane just looked Clark in the eye before letting out a scoff. No smile or hint of emotion appeared on his face as he pushed past him and took a seat.

"Whiskey, neat, and son, it might not be as big of an argument as you are thinking." The General sat down. Even sitting, his demeanour screamed professionalism, as if he just couldn't stop being a soldier. "Not after you hear what your President and country need you to do."

"And what is that?" Clark asked, moving over to the drinks cabinet and pouring a glass of whiskey which he gave to Lois' father.

General Lane stilled as he took the glass, glancing at the group he had come in with, all of whom took the signal and retreated back through the doors to give the two men privacy. He then returned his focus to Clark, his face still utterly blank.

"First we need you to neutralise Naqib, give America a win so people can get over the panic of LA" Lane stated, Clark didn't respond as the General's tone made it clear that he wasn't finished as he took a sip of the whiskey in his hand. "And then, once we get him someplace nice and isolated overseas, the President, Secretary of Defense and I would personally like you to kill The Homelander."

(Vought Tower - New York - Early 27th September 2022)

"Oh, you're too kind, and please, you guys are the real heroes!" Homelander waved to the room filled with military personnel and congressmen who had come to bask in the glow of Vought's new position of power.

But as he descended down the steps he largely ignored the sheep in their silly uniforms who gave him insincere smiles and thanks. He had eyes only for Stillwell.

She had to accept him now. No longer would she see him as that small little boy who she used to visit in the night and whisper words in his ears as she comforted him. No, she would see the man who had done all of this for her, who was infinitely more deserving of attention than that mewling baby she clung to. It was all going perfectly, he had created the most fool proof crisis to ensure that his moment had finally come. He was the saviour the world not only wanted but needed.

Only two things stood in the way of him having everything he desired.

The first was Clark Kent. His boy was proving stubborn, so he had set up a few Super villains not only to scare the public and keep the man of steel distracted but also to give him a chance to cut loose and see how liberating it was. The only problem was that he still had that stupid moral code drummed into his head by that cousin-fucking hick farmer that had raised him. However, he was sure now that the man was good and buried, along with the fact that the nation was applauding him for his taking out the trash, the kid would come to his way of thinking. He just needed a little more pushing and soon he would be embracing his urges like he should, doing whatever he wanted as was his birthright.

The other issue however that was plaguing him was what he had learnt from Vogelbaum. The old fossil had told him how Rebecca Butcher had died giving birth to his child, another boy, which had drowned in its own blood.

However, a part of him was feeling like something was off. When he had gone to the Vogelbaum estate to shake the trees and see what fell out, the man had folded on Rebecca Butcher but said nothing about Clark. Vogelbaum then tried to play him by pretending that he regretted what he had done, which he knew wasn't the case. So he let the man think the distraction had worked, dropped the issue, did some poking around on his own, and found out some very interesting things. All he needed was to talk to Stillwell, and then he would know what he would do next.

He was just about to walk over to Stillwell when he froze. There was the only person in the world that made his blood chill. Stan Edgar cut through the crowd like a shark through the shallows, turning the wildest partygoers silent as the head of Vought walked up to Stillwell and took her away from the festivities for a few moments. Homelander moved over to the bar to mingle, and his eyes moved to look at Meave who was charming a group of marines. He was sorely tempted to listen into Edgar and Stillwell's conversation, but a chill went up his spine remembering the last time he tried and the CEO had known he was doing it, so he decided to let the small man have his privacy.

Meanwhile, Stillwell was standing across from Edgar and was looking at the piece of paper he had just slipped across the table to her. She couldn't help the smile that had come to her face as she looked at all the zeros on her end-of-year bonus. It wasn't just the money, but what it reflected, which was how her gamble had paid off. Supes were in the military and it being her baby she had the strength now to make her shorter-term ambitions come true. The first was cementing her hold on Superman, then moving him fully into the Seven, then delegating Mary Clark back to the backbench where she belonged.

"The Pentagon is shelling out north of $40 billion per year. The board thought you should have a bonus that reflects that." Edgar informed her, as he sipped the espresso his assistant had seemingly conjured out of thin air.

"I-I don't know what to say, sir." Stillwell smiled back at her boss, as she felt the rush of victory go to her head.

"First, you could apologise for leaving me with the mess that now needs cleaning up." The blunt reply drove the smile from her face.

"I'm sorry?" Stillwell blinked, her feeling of invincibility from a moment ago had quickly crashed down on her head.

"Compound V was clandestine, it was off the books so to speak. Therefore as long as it maintained that, we had complete control. More importantly, it was the sole intellectual property of Vought International, largely due to its aforementioned clandestine nature." Edgar just looked at Stillwell with complete blankness, his voice even and calm, as he continued sipping his espresso. "Now we have V out in the world with a risk of exposure that is high and climbing daily, and worse, lack of control."

"Sir, I-.. I had nothing to do with that." Stillwell retorted, her voice shaking as she felt panic spike in her very soul.

"Precisely the issue, you had nothing to do with it. Demonstrating a lack of discipline and knowledge of your own house. I would remind you that although your asset is the public face of the company, we do have an adequate replacement waiting ….and the ability to make another one."

Edgar's words continued the sinking feeling that Stillwell was feeling and the mental scramble for a way out of this hole. When her boss did something that chilled her even more than his blank stare he smiled. Well smile was stretching it she wasn't sure the man's muscles could recall the act of smiling but the small grin he managed sent shivers up her spine.

"Well, regardless of that, the board is impressed and you have managed to turn a profit from this disaster. As such, your bonus comes with strings, firstly we're moving your office down to the 82nd floor."

"That's your floor, sir." Stillwell suddenly felt a small swelling of hope reigniting. onto Mr. Edgar's personal floor could only mean one thing.

"Yes it is, how astute." He dryly reflected before pushing on with his instructions, his mind already turning to other matters as he wrapped up this one. "You are also going to ride shotgun on my meetings. Let's see if I can teach you the art of control."

Stilwell tried to regain her composure fighting the building smile that was threatening to break out at any moment. A fact that was not missed by Edgar's keen and seemingly omniscient eyes.

"Don't go planning my retirement yet. This is mainly to keep an eye on you and will see if you're capable of managing this behemoth if I decide to retire to Belize." Edgar responded, finishing his espresso with one final sip before leaving the table altogether without waiting for a response.

"Th-Thank you, sir…!" Stillwell managed to shout after the man, her mind still racing as she absorbed what had just happened.

She started walking, first aimlessly before deciding to head to the outside private balconies. The fresh air would help calm her down and it would also give her the privacy to sort out her own personal thoughts.

'So, not great but still good. Yes, I can work with this, limit the exposure with V. Make sure these supe-terrorists don't come back alive, and the ones that do, well, the new Vought Corrections branch will deal with them. This can still work, we've got the bill passed, now just a little more of a push and we can run everything, then I'll prove to Mr Edgar who should take his spot."

"You've been avoiding me," Homelander swept in to cut into her musings. She turned and looked to see Vought's golden hero walking out on the balcony to stand next to her.

"No, I haven't." Stillwell managed to plaster on a fake smile as watched the blond walk over to her.

"Really? Sure seems that way." Homelander's calm tone and look sent shivers down her spine as he leaned in towards her. "You do know that I went to see Vogelbaum, though…right?"

It took all of her composure and skill to stay calm even then she couldn't help but gulp a little at his gaze. Not trusting her words at the moment, she just gave a little nod.

"And do you know what he told me?"

"I never meant for you to find out that way." Stillwell was quick to put a comforting hand on top of his and although he recoiled slightly he didn't pull away.

"Let me guess. You wanted to protect me?" Homelander asked sarcastically.

"Well, we all did." Madelyn's response was given with just enough sincerity that he could believe her, on her part she had been practising this speech since Rebbeca Butcher showed up on their doorstep.

"Of course." Homelander let out a deep sigh, then his eyes hardened. "Do you think I'm fragile?"

"No, I do not." Stillwell played her part beautifully giving just enough pause that it seemed she had put real thought into her response.

"I'd really like to see you try doing any of this, I mean fucking any of it, without me." Homelander started to retract his hand from underneath Stillwell's only for her grip to tighten.

"I couldn't," Stillwell gave him the smile that had worked on him since he was a little boy.

"Madelyn, did it ever occur to you that Supe terrorists showing up exactly when we, when you, needed them to was….a pretty fucking incredible coincidence?" Homelander had managed to seem almost intelligent up to then, but suddenly he was a giddy man-sized schoolboy eager for praise, causing Stillwell's eyes to widen. "It's almost like someone planned it."

She froze for a moment. Her brain was in panic mode but she did not let any of it show on her face. Homelander's smile turned into a goofy grin, he took her silence as a sign that she was overawed by him, so he decided to press on.

"Me, ME, I made them," Homelander looked at her like a prized pupil desperate for recognition.

"What do you mean you 'made them'?" She was trying to keep herself calm, as she now realised what Edgar had meant by 'a lack of discipline and knowledge of your own house'.

Of course had profited off of the Supe terrorists, she couldn't deny that, but putting V out into the world was insane, even she recognised it. Super heroes were tough enough to control, and trying to steer fundamentalist nutjobs and criminals hopped up on powers would be impossible. Even Fredrick Vought the Nazi had been against random use of Compound V. Nobody knew better than its creator of the danger it posed, how if it got out it could literally cause human society to end at best and at worst the world to be destroyed.

"Well, I borrowed some V, and then had A-Train run it all over the globe. Well, actually LA first to distract Clark, and then the world, couldn't have him messing it up. Then it was just a matter of supercharging some jihadis and criminals too, you know, for flavour." Homelander then chuckled as he looked into Madelyn's awe-filled eyes, causing him to stand up straight and take her hands in his. "Not to oversimplify it. I mean it was actually very difficult and very messy using adult subjects. Turns out there's a good reason Vought doesn't do it. But anyway….enough survived to call the operation a huge success!...Huge!"

Homelander moved away from Stillwell, striding towards the doors of the balcony as he outstretched his arms and gestured to the world around them before turning back. He waited to see the look of pure devotion and debt that Stillwell had to feel for him now.

"And now we have villains all over the globe….that only we can fight" He felt the thrill of his success cause him to shift as he felt blood rush in between his legs. "In sequel after sequel, after sequel. They will fucking worship us."

Madelyn didn't say anything; her mind was racing as the full weight of the insanity that she had just heard came crashing down on her head. She wasn't moving or speaking as she didn't trust herself just yet she just needed a moment to figure out how to regain her power and then get in position to control him once more.

"Well?...Say something?...Please?" It was then she heard the desperate shaking in his voice.

She swallowed hard, plastered on the best fake look of love she could, then spun around and played her ace in the hole. She devoured his mouth making sure to moan just enough to excite him even more as he returned the kiss. She fought back the bile in her mouth as she then dragged him to her office, and gave him what he had been after since he was a boy. The only thing that made it tolerable was that it was over very quickly and she had complete control over him during the act.

It had taken her decades to create this hold over him, starting with late night visits when he was a boy, telling him how special she was and giving him hints of pleasure. Vogelbaum had initially disapproved but had done nothing in the end, seeing that his creation's growing fixation on her was useful. Especially as he got older and the visits got more intense, but also less frequent and more controlling. She had always dreaded the day when she would have to do this, especially now, after she had her own child and Homelander had turned out so unhinged, but she swallowed that for this moment.

"Do you like that?" She asked softly as she held Homelander's head in her lap and gently stroked his temples.

"Mmmmmm, yes," Homelander almost moaned again as the bliss of her fingers sent shivers down his spine.

"Mr. Edgar came to the party tonight, and practically offered me his job. Well not right away, but he wants me to move to the 82nd floor so that I can be closer to him" Madelyn's smile strained as she informed Homelander of her versions of events knowing he would react poorly if this wasn't handled correctly.

"Okay, but y-you'll still be my day-to-day, right?" He looked up shaking his head to remove her fingers so that he could gaze up at her worry in his eyes,

"Yeah, yeah of course." She was quick to reassure him, taking a deep breath as she smiled down at him. "Of course, I will always be there for you."

"Okay, good." He then set his head back down on her lap and nestled into her lap, "Mmmmmm, good. Madelyn, from now on, no more secrets. Promise me"

"I promise, no more secrets" She smiled down at him earning a mumbled agreement as he turned on his side and nestled into her more. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about your baby. It's just that….you carry soooo much, and…..the pain of losing a child to a miscarriage is…..I just wanted to spare you that burden. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Homelander felt all the pleasure and warmth he got from Madelyn leave his body, his mind already going to Vogelbaum and how he was going to squeeze the truth from the man's body.

(Undisclosed Black Site - Somewhere in New York State - Late 27th September 2022)

Hughie felt his knees dragging along the floor as he was pulled along, the rest of his world was completely black thanks to the bag over his head. At the moment he was seriously debating whether his master plan was actually going to work. For all he knew, MM, Frenchie and Kimiko were dead, shot in the back of the head the moment they were out of sight, and then cut up in little pieces and dumped in New York Harbour

Geez I'm starting to think like Butcher. Hughie shook his head at the morbid thought, which proved a bad idea when someone noticed it and struck him hard in the back of the neck.

Despite the pain, his mind returned to Butcher. Well more accurately that the man had abandoned him after they had gone to see Mallory, a meeting which had ended….poorly, the word seemed insufficient but was all he had. About two minutes into it, he was pretty sure the two of them hated each other's guts and if they stayed near each other for any longer one of them would be dead. However, all that had happened was the two insulted each other, Butcher pressed the old spymaster and then he learnt something about Homelnader and Madelyn Stillwell. Then when he had pushed for how that was to help their friends, learnt just how much of an asshole he could be.

'Vengeance isn't a path to glory, Hugh. It's a one-way ticket to a dead end, looking at fucking birds'

Grace Mallory's warning played in his head as he felt the slightly wet floor get drier. His mind then turned to Lois' earlier advice which caused him almost to chuckle despite the had certainly known what she was talking about.

'Try and hold onto the good, Hughie, otherwise…..otherwise, you'll end up like Butcher, and that's a place no one comes back from'

His trip down memory lane ended when felt himself being lifted up onto his feet for a moment as he heard a metal door opening and was suddenly pushed to the ground. He winced. With his hands cuffed and his head hooded he couldn't brace himself and felt that he had certainly bruised his face.

"Hey, easy with the man. Fuck is wrong with you? Shit." MM's voice, then his face appeared as the hood was removed, the large man kneeled to check him, and then lifted him to his feet.

Hughie then heard an audible click and looked up to see that Frenchie had pushed himself forward, looking ready to tear the guards apart but the rifle muzzle shoved into his face had stopped him cold. There was a tense moment and unbelievably to Hughie's eyes, it looked like the mercenary was about to escalate the matter and try to fight. However, MM was quick to pull him back and put himself between the guards and the mad Frenchman. The guards quickly slammed the door and retreated leaving them alone.

"You okay, kid? Did they break any bones?" MM turned back to Hughie looking the skinny man up and down.

"No, no, no. I'm good, just sore." Hughie managed to sound more certain than he did, feeling the remnants of the beating he had all over his body.

"Good, did they get Butcher and Lois too?" Frenchie asked, looking around for a sign of their two other members.

"No," Hughie stated, sucking in air as he tried to think how to break the news.

"They got you separated?" MM asked, alarmed his mind jumping to the worst scenarios. "When? When did they do it?"

"Well, um, Butcher actually went after Homelander," Hughie stated slowly wincing as he delivered the terrible news, before trying to add the good news. "But we still have Lois, and I've come to save you…yay…?"

"So you meant to come here? Lois have a plan or something?" MM asked looking at Frenchie who just shrugged just as surprised as his friend.

"Well it's mainly my plan. Um, Lois said she would find me. I don't know how." Hughie's voice was slightly muffled as he talked, earning a curious look from MM.

"Coffee," The word caught by surprise, causing him to look confused at Frenchie.

"I'm sorry what?" Hughie blinked at the most crazed member of their party.

"It's how Lois is tracking you, when you went for coffee, she slipped it into your drink and, voila, you can be detected by the right satellite." Frenchie stated casually, actually looking surprised at Hughie's wide eyes. "What you didn't know is she did the same thing to me once, it's why I don't have coffee with her anymore."

"True that," MM nodded in agreement.

"Wait, there's a tracking device in me?!" Hughie asked, in alarm recalling now that Lois had taken a long time to get their coffees now that he thought about it and waited until he had drunk his before starting her tale.

"Non, non, she simply slipped a little piece of radioacti-" Frenchie started only for him to be caught off by MM's hand slapping his chest.

"Ah-ta-ta-ta. Yep, tracker, nothing to worry about," He spoke quickly trying to distract Hughie from the old and dubious spy trick. "You said you had a plan?"

"Um, uh, yeah. Okay….." Hughie trailed off as he looked between Frenchie and MM, shifting now as he tried to push the concern he was feeling to one side. "Okay, um, so they searched me, very, very,thoroughly, but I managed to Poligrip in my 12th-grade retainer. Made it look like a permanent bridge, and it totally worked."

"Shit." MM nodded as he looked in Hughie's opened mouth, impressed by the young man's resourcefulness.

"Frenchie, you can pick a lock with anything right?" He received a smile and firm nod from the Frenchie who looked ready to kiss him and probably would. "There's premium metal wire in this thing."

"Come on then, get that sucker out." MM smiled, giving Hughie a nod.

Hugie smiled likely that he was proving himself useful without having Butcher hover around him, he placed his hands onto the retainer. His smile however quickly left his face as he tried pulling and yanking it, until he looked over at his two teammates.

"Shit…..it's stuck." Hughie winced trying not to look embarrassed.

Before he was able to say anything else, Frenchie was suddenly on him, pushing him against the bars of their makeshift cell. The mad Frenchman looked around quickly making sure they were still alone, before shoving his hand into Hughie's mouth. He would protest but Frenchie seemed to be alarmingly skilled in keeping his mouth open as he tried to pull out the retainer.

"Merde!" Frenchie cursed after a few minutes of fiddling, shaking his head before sighing and patting Hughie on the shoulder. "Well Petit Hughie, I can honestly say you are very good at making things look real…sorry about this."

"Sorry about wha-" Hughie was cut off as Frenchie stepped away from him to have MM's fist slam into the side of his jaw and knock the retainer out of his mouth….along with a few teeth "AHHH SHIT!"

"Oh shit, sorry you okay?" MM asked wincing as he leaned over Hughie, who spat out blood along with his retainer.

"You knocked ow ma teef!" Hughie hissed, even though in pain he was still mindful of where they were.

"Don't worry, I know un bon docteur, he can fix you up no problem, even give you a new face if you want?" Frenchie commented as he fiddled with the retainer, which before Hughie's eyes almost magically transformed into an improvised lock pick. "Annnnnd there we go….now, who's next?"

Although Hughie knew that Frenchie and MM were dangerous and used to work officially as CIA operatives, he had never seen them in their element. Sure he had seen them surveil people, handle things quietly, and once had watched Frenchie make a bomb from garbage whilst high as a kite and also making them breakfast at the same time. However, as he watched them go through the facility it was scary just how good these guys were, it was like something out of an action movie or very gritty comic.

He watched Frenchie snap a guard's neck like it was a toothpick and take his gun before he hit the ground all without making a sound or pausing. One moment Frenchie was next to him and then the next moment, the Frenchman was standing over a corpse. MM was somehow even better than his teammate. The taller man didn't possess Frenchie's creepy vanishing skills, but somehow was even more silent. Hughie would just watch as MM creeped up on someone and employed crushing pressure to their windpipe, even with all he had seen he winced watching the cold brutally of MM's kills.

He guessed they were almost out of wherever they were when Frenchie suddenly stopped and rushed over to a window looking into a sideroom. MM cursed and was about to yell at the man when he saw why Frenchie had run over. Kimiko was just visible inside, strapped to a bed along with about a dozen IV bags stuck into her arms. Despite that Hughie sighed with relief as he watched her open her eyes and smile at Frenchie like his mere presence had woken her up.

Suddenly, the window cracked and a spray of red came from Frenchie's arm. It took Hughie's brain a moment to catch up with what was happening as MM all but tackled him to the ground before dragging him over to cover. The world exploded in a hail of bullets around their makeshift barricade, which was a piece of a demolished wall. Frenchie looked pale and Hughie could see why, there was a crimson pool forming beneath him and a nasty gash on his shoulder. However, despite that he still propped himself up and poked his head over the rubble, swearing as a burst of gunfire missed him by an inch.

MM just looked at Frenchie, and when their eyes connected let out a deep audible sigh. "Aw man, shit. She better be worth it."

"Wait what?" Hughie shouted, still catching up when Frenchie shoved a gun into his hand.

"Cover him." Frenchie pushed the gun further into Hughie's grip and when he was about to protest felt a sharp slap across his face. "Cover him. NOW! JUST FUCKING PULL THE TRIGGER"

Hughie reacted on instinct wheeling up and pulling the trigger, a very messy volley pouring forth as a result. Whilst it was far from anything resembling actual skill, Hughie's messy attempt provided the opportunity MM needed. The large african american man moved like lightning, rushing forward with a set of precise shots that hit two attackers and forced a third back. MM didn't slow down and instead of trying the door just fired at the window in another burst before launching himself at it, causing it to shatter as he rolled into Kikmo's room.

Hughie would have just stared in awe if he wasn't busy firing like a madman, his elbows felt like they were shattered as he shook with each shot. The pain however stopped as he heard an audible clicking noise. He went wide eyed and was about to curse when he felt himself pulled down just before bullets ripped through the air where he had just been standing. Frenchie pulled the gun from his hands causing Hughie to sigh only to have his relief quickly ended when Frenchie reloaded it and shoved it back into his hands.

"Well, what are you waiting for? FUCKING SHOOT SOMETHING!" Frenchie growled, before groaning in pain clutching his shoulder wishing he still had his stash for the pain.

As Hughie cursed and returned to his 'suppressing' fire he watched as Kimko's door flung open. MM quickly appeared, the small asian woman draped over his shoulder, firing like mad as well. Kimko's weight and size meant he needed speed, so he sacrificed accuracy to rush towards them firing to give himself added cover. MM launched himself around the side of the barricade but was still careful not to let Kikmo hit the ground.

"Shit, I'm out!" MM cursed as he looked down at his gun watching as Hughie ducked down as well.

"Me too," Hughie stated, looking between the two ex-CIA men hoping one of them had a plan.

Before either could say anything, a clambering of feet sounded out and the small group found themselves surrounded. Hughie quickly dropped the gun as a dozen masked armed men started pointing their weapons at them..

"On your knees!" One of the armed men shouted, pointing his gun directly at MM's head. "Turn around and face the wall!"

As Hughie glanced at MM and Frenchie he saw the look on both their faces and knew this was the end. He started shuffling around on his knees, and suddenly felt oddly calm and tranquil, like all the fear and anxiety he had a moment ago had just melted away. He caused him to chuckle slightly under his breath, noting that here at the very end was when he would stop being scared, however he quickly realised why.

Just one thought was in his head…Annie.

He could picture her standing in front of him, her shining golden hair draped over her shoulders in the way that always seemed to catch the light. The image made him smile as he felt the cold rush of certainty wash over him, just as he closed his eyes waiting for the end. He heard the gunshots and felt a warm brightness wash over him, it felt like going home…

… Then he heard screams and as he opened his eyes watched four men being blown clear over his head as several more dropped dead next to him. So, most likely not heaven.

As he turned round his eyes widened in shock. Annie was here! There she was, standing tall in her old costume with her hands outstretched, blasting away at their attackers whilst the lights above her surged with power. She wasn't their only saviour as standing next to her was Lois, who was wielding an assault rifle and wearing a leather biker jacket, jeans and a helmet. He would have said that the rifle looked comically big compared to her slender frame but as she fired several more shots that cut down a squad of soldiers that appeared from a side door he decided not to make the comment or think about it again.

"For fuck's sake! I can't leave you idiots alone for one day without being captured?" Lois shook her head, her tone teasing as she walked towards MM who stood up giving Frenchie a hand whilst he also picked Kimiko. "I'm glad you're alive."

"Me too, you got a ride?" MM asked, Lois giving a nod and then gesturing the way she came as she moved to take Frenchie's weight. "Great. You call in the Supe?"

"Nope, she called me, and given this shitstorm I thought why the hell not. You can thank Hughie though, idiot left her a bunch of messages including what he was planning on doing." Lois smirked as they started to head back to the entrance she and Annie had come through, but not before giving Hughie a look over her shoulder. "Which is something we will talk about along with what radio silence means!"

Hughie however just waved off the comment, his sole focus being Annie as she strode up to him. He felt giddy as she walked up to him, still glowing from the power running through her body.

"You came?" Hughie managed to get out past the giddy smile on his face, avoiding more intelligent thought.

"Well…yeah….I'm a Superhero, it's my job. And besides who else can I beat the pants off at bowling if your dead." Annie managed a smile. She was feeling happy, angry and confused all at once, combined with butterflies in her stomach.

"Annie I'm so sor-" He moved towards her, only to suddenly stop as he felt her hand slap across his face. "Ow, shit."

"That was for lying to me," Annie gave him a look of anger, but it was clearly dying as she then shifted standing upright and trying to look composed, but failing as a slight blush appeared on her cheeks. "...I'm glad you're not dead though."

Annie quickly turned on her heel and marched from the room. Hughie held his slapped cheek for a moment before smiling broadly, the pain forgotten as he followed her out. The group reached the loading docks, passing several dozen more unconscious men that Annie had clearly knocked out on their initial way in.

"I've got several cars waiting outside, take the SUV, its medical supplies in the trunk and a map to a safehouse in the glove box." Lois stated pushing forward as she tried to keep Frenchie up, however the man was starting to stumble due to blood loss. "Come on Frenchie, stay with us. You should see all the ammo and toys I got you."

"It's just through here." Annie pointed to an opened freight door, however as she reached it a voice cut her off.

"HO-HO-HOLY SHIT!" Everyone froze as A-Train's voice sounded out causing Annie to spin, around one of her hands slipping behind her back, everyone else froze as A-Train moved forward into the light, his eyes flicking between Annie and Hughie. "Homelander was right. You're a fucking rat.. And now the fucking jailbreaker of these shitheads, are you kidding me?"

"A-Train. Just, just turn around and walk away." Annie moved forward, her voice sounding calm and commanding, taking a spot directly across from A-Train.

As she moved however Hughie saw her slip something out of a back pouch on her belt he had never noticed before. However, A-Train's dark sarcastic laughter cut off his observation as he turned back to look at the speedster who was now hopping from one foot to the other. Annie then turned back to the group, her eyes immediately going to Hughie.

"I've got this. Go." Annie whispered, gesturing for them to leave, MM and Lois looked at each other and gave a nod, MM moved off and Lois let go of Frenchie who staggered after them, whilst Hughie and Lois stayed.

"No, I'm the one he wants." Hughie stated firmly earning a sigh from Lois who thought that was going to be the case, Hughie however was focused only on Annie, a smile gracing his lips. "I'm not leaving you."

"Fucking touching! BUT NO ONE IS LEAVING ANYWAY!" A-Train called out rolling his shoulders as he sucked in a series of deep breaths as he psyched himself up. "Superman ain't here to save you this time, I'm going to enjoy this."

There was a moment of silence as A-Train and Annie squared off. Annie took in a deep breath before she closed her eyes for a moment, and pulled in all the power she could from around her. The lights started to flicker as she started to glow, pooling the energy into her hands. A-Train on his part was trying to do the opposite and cool down, his heart was already hammering away and the shots of V he had taken to heal his leg were starting to wear off.

"Last chance, please just go..." Annie begged her eyes glowing with power as she stared at A-Train.

Hughie just watched A-Train tense, and then the world exploded into motion around him. It was like a snap shot had occurred the moment the fight started, before it came crashing to a stop. Annie had flung out her hands in front of her and then tried to swing them in a wide arc, hoping to blast the room before A-Train could reach her. However, the V boosted speedster was a fraction of a second too quick for her, he seemingly blinked and just as the fight started Annie slammed backwards knocking Hughie and Lois over.

She tried to get up only to have A-Train appear standing on her throat putting so much pressure she immediately started to gasp for air. A-Train just looked down in disgust at her, his eyes flicking over to Lois who had slammed against the freight door and was groaning with pain whilst she blinked trying to regain focus, her weapon knocked clear from her. His eyes then snapped to Hughie, the man had fared better but only just, he was on his side looking at A-Train in horror as he pinned Annie to the floor.

"I'm going to take from you what you took from me!" A-Train breathing was erratic now as his heart hammered faster and faster, his brain was going haywire as he looked down at Annie, a dark sickening smile appearing on his face. "First though, I'm going to break every bone you have, and make you watch as I take your little rat girlfriend first, then gut her and then all your little shithead friends."

A-Train sneered as Hughie tried to get up, however felt himself knocked to the ground as A-Train burred forward striking him hard enough that he felt a few ribs break before reappearing over Annie. He just shook his head with a sneer, as he watched Hughie gasp for breath on his knees, he looked down at Annie who was starting to go blue from the lack of air.

"And you, you one dumb bitch, to come here with these people as back up." A-Train smirked, he was about to act when a mumbled gasp escaped Annie's lips, he eased the pressure just slightly off her throat. "What you trying to say bitch?"

"I-I-I di-didn't" Annie managed to gasp out, her hand going to her pocket and pulling out…a wristwatch?

'Clark I really hope this thing actually works' Annie thought to herself. She remembered when Clark had given it to her and the old team years ago, he had explained what it was 'supposed' to do but in truth she nor any of the team had ever used it.

A-Train looked at it, his face circling into confusion, the wristwatch had a large superman logo on it, and was flashing slightly like a silent timer had gone off. In truth it looked like one of those gimmicky, trashy limited edition Vought-hero watches from a few years. The flashing light suddenly stopped and then…nothing happened, causing A-Train to sneer did she really think a scare tactic was going to wo-,

Pain exploded in his chest as he felt the blow before the crack of thunder that signalled the arrival of his attacker. Superman had arrived, or more accurately Clark had arrived wearing dark clothing and hoodie where partly shrouded his face. He retracted his fist as he returned to stand erect, taking a moment to look to where he had knocked A-Train back to, the speedster was sprawled on the floor gasping for air. Before turning around and offering a hand to Annie to help her back to her feet watching Lois and Hughie get up by themselves.

"Ack-ack! Sh-shit!" Annie cursed as she coughed regaining her breath, expelling the spit that welled up in her throat, before giving Clark a smile. "Well at least we know the watch works….what are you wearing?"

Despite the circumstance she couldn't help but gesture to the outfit Clark was wearing it very urban and dark in colour very much not his usual style.

"Well considering this is an illegal CIA blacksite filled with assassins and government agents, I thought it might be better not to wear a bright colourful costume that told everyone who I was." Clark replied, giving a look at Annie's Starlight costume, earning a sheepish grin from the heroine.

"Yeaaaah, good point, we should CLARK WATCH OU-" Annie's eyes went wide as she saw A-Train shift and then blink out of existence.

However, the speedster suddenly reappeared, but he was once again sprawled on his back, just this time much closer to them. As she looked to Clark who had zoomed across the room, now standing with her back to her with his hand outstretched. No matter how many times she saw it, the speeds some of her fellow Supes could move at still sent shivers down her spine.

"OH FUCKING GREAT! The boyscout is here!" A-Train winced as he tried to get back up, one of the lenses of his glasses had splintered, revealing deep bags under bloodshot eyes. "You're protecting them, HIM?! He killed the only person I loved!"

"A-Train, stay down" Clark stepped forward, although A-Train sneered taking his words as a threat Clark was actually looking at the man's heart.

"I didn't kill her" Hughie's voice sounded out, his words causing a look of pain to flash across A-Train's face.

"I know, I did…..but it was your fault!" A-Train's breathing was becoming heavier and he was visibly sweating, as he propped himself up, his heart was hammering faster as his muscles in his chest started to tense, his eyes now glaring at Clark. "You just couldn't stay in your lane could you?! YOU HAD TO FUCK EVERYTHI-...oh shit."

A-Train staggered forward and then suddenly collapsed on the floor causing everyone in the room to freeze. Well everyone except for Clark who suddenly shot forward to kneel next to the speedster who was unmoving. He rolled A-Train over and scanned him with his vision, his face going grim.

"Damn it, I told you to get your heart checked." Clark grimaced as he saw that A-Train was suffering from a heart attack, his hands going to the man's chest to start compressions "Annie call an ambulance, Hughie, Lois you two need to leave."

"Clark what are you doing?" Annie asked, the shock leaving her system as she looked down at the man who had just tried to murder her and was going to keep coming after Hughie. "He just tried to kill me, and he will never stop coming after Hughie."

"Yes and?" Clark replied bluntly, his hands pumping in steady beats, his focus on A-Train, he glanced at her and furowned that she was still standing there. "Annie call an ambulance!"

"So maybe we shouldn't save the super-douche trying to murder us!" Annie was surprised at her own raised voice.

"He is going to die if we don't do anything." Clark shot back silencing the room as his hands kept working the man's chest, his voice so commanding and sure that it left no room for argument. "He is a human being, a living breathing person just like anyone else. Does he deserve to answer for what he's done, yes, but that doesn't give us the right to let him die. Either every life matters or none of them do. Now either help or leave!"

Annie opened her mouth but whatever she was going to say, Hughie cut her off. "He's right. We can't just let him die. It's the right thing to do."

Annie's eyes went wide as she looked at Hughie, who just gave her nod showing that he was okay with saving the man that had killed his girlfriend and would likely try to kill him again. She looked at Lois who was just staring at Clark before releasing a deep breath and cursed loudly.

"...Fuck, he's right. Call it in." Lois gave Annie a nod before moving over to Hughie picking up her gun as she went. "Hughie we need to leave, now."

Hughie briefly looked at Annie wanting to stay but the small smile and nod she gave him was enough to get him moving. Lois turned to move to but cast one last glance at Clark who met her eyes, his face falling a little before releasing a deep breath and gave her a small smile. She returned it and pushed Hughie out of the loading dock door, as Annie called in an ambulance.

"Annie I ne-" Clark cut himself off as he felt his phone go off in his pocket, he kept up his pace as he turned his head to peer through his clothing to see who was calling. "Annie, I need you to take over."

"Okay, okay." Annie moved over her hands hovering weighting and immediately took over as Clark quickly scrambled to answer his phone.

"Yes Jo-...what? I don't understand….why do you want me to- Hello? Hello?" Clark's face fell into a grimace as the strange call ended as quickly as it occurred, his face turning to Annie. "I need to go."

"I've got this go." Annie replied quickly earning a nod from Clark who then vanished in a rush of air to disappear into the night.

(?)

Butcher cursed as he felt every bone and muscle in his body protest as he tried to sit up. His head was still ringing from the explosion he had set off, the thought caused another pang of hurt to rush through his body. Years of tracking, years of dealing with all this shit, he had finally found the cunt's weakness, and was ready to get justice for his Becca…..and it all went to shit! Homelander had murdered Sitwell himself and was apparently an even bigger asshole than he had thought.

As he looked around he saw what seemed an idyllic little street and town, his first thought was that perhaps this was the afterlife, in which case he owed Frenchie a beer. However, the pain he was feeling quickly knocked that on its head, as did the fact that he was staring at Homelander who was talking to a man in black hoodie who had his back to him. By the way he was acting and gesturing his arms, Butcher could tell that he wasn't happy with Homelander, he tried to focus but his hearing was still shot to shit.

"-at did you d-...I ca-...this is ins-...why is h-...what is this plac-...We need to talk about this, things have gotten way out of hand!"

As Butcher's hearing cleared up his eyes focused on the man, he knew that voice. He had heard it over the radio and TV a few times on stupid adverts, it belonged to the one man, well, the one other man he had never been allowed to go near. Superman.

"Hey buddy! Wakey wakey!" Homelander's voice drew his focus, as Butcher managed to get on one knee as Homelander pushed past Clark to stand in front of him. "You've been out for a while. You can thank me for saving you later, but, for now, time to get up. Come on, you're going to love this."

Homelander then strode away from Butcher, back towards the house they were stood in front of. Clark moved to stand in his way, his face fixed in a frown. He opened his mouth to restart his argument but stopped as a new voice sounded out.

"Mom!" Clark turned his face going from a grimace to one of shock as a blonde boy of ten appeared out the door followed by a brunette woman.

"Wow, he's a handsome devil isn't he, son?" Homalnder asked Clark as he moved past him to stand in front of the blonde boy. "Hey pal. Do you know how I am?"

"Yeah, you're Homelander!" The boy looked in awe at the broad shouldered blonde supe, his eyes going to Butcher for a moment and then to Clark his eyes going even wider as he recognised the man. "You're Superman! I have your poster on my wall!"

"Well ain't that something, you're a fan?." Homelander smiled moving to the side so he could see both Clark and the boy. "Well we are, but do you know who else we are? To you?"

Butcher managed to get to his feet, although the action used the last of his strength but not before he saw the woman clearly. "Becca?"

"No…" The boy shook his head, looking up at Homelander with wide eyes.

"Mommy didn't tell you." Homelander smirked looking over to Becca who tensed at the gaze but somehow managed to keep calm. Homelander then went back to Ryan with a genuine smile appearing on his face. "Well….you see, I'm father, and Superman here, is your brother and we are a family."

The boy's eyes went even wider in awe and Clark's eyes followed suit as he saw, the boy's blue eyes flash red.