51 Mission I

[Date: February 2023]

The ding of the elevator signifying the end of the ascent to the top of the tower brought Starlight's attention out of the report and back to reality.

As she entered the cavernous space that once was Homelander's apartment she could see the signs of construction everywhere.

'Renovation not construction' she thought. The actual building construction was done.

Homelander had pushed for the building to be repaired as fast as possible insisting that Vought Tower was a tall, strong and proud shining beacon of power and strength, a symbol of the corporation, The Seven and New York.

'He sees it as his dick' Maeve had remarked and she snorted at the thought.

Ashley had of course obliged and spared no expense in getting the work crews and pushing through the red tape. Even so work had gone slow.

Vaught tower had been just one of the many buildings that faced damage in the 'Fight for New York' as some liked to call it. 'If only they knew the truth.' She briefly thought.

After it was all and done there were one hundred and thirty six casualties and over three hundred people injured all from collapsing floors and falling debris.

She'd been furious at Hughie and Butcher once the reports came out it may not have been them directly who killed them but they were the one that brought that loose cannon Soldier Boy into play so she couldn't help but blame them as well.

How Butcher managed to weasel his way out of landing in jail was beyond her but she suspected the not so invisible hand of the CIA at play there.

As for Hughie, well part of her had been glad that Homelander hadn't exposed him and part of her was furious with him and part of her had been really concerned for him.

Once he had recovered enough she spoke her mind on the whole matter and they fought, apologized and fought again. Admittedly she said some things she regretted and he said some things he regretted.

The problem was that he hadn't truly recovered before she knew it he fell into a coma and all her feelings for him bubbled up to the surface again.

The doctors kept telling them it could happen any moment but Hughie defied everyone's expectations and clung on to life.

When he waded back into consciousness she was relieved, even ecstatic but when she came to see him, when she saw the look in his eyes she it was the end.

The time to say good bye.

Ever since then she buried herself into work.

There was always work and more work to be done, in between patrols, winter disasters, photo shoots, guest appearances, talk shows and working on the new re-training program with A-Train there was always something to be done.

Hell she'd been practically left in charge of The Seven since Homelander was so busy as chairman and the new space venture.

More like 'The Six' now she remarked, they still needed to recruit a replacement for Translucent.

That's why she was here now, needing to talk with Homelander. She wanted to offer the spot to Silver Kinkaid without having to go through the stupid Reality TV contest again.

As she looked around the cavernous space she couldn't see him. What he was doing up here this late she didn't know.

"Homelander?" she asked raising her voice. "Homelander?" she asked again walking through the scaffolding set up in various spots. "John? Where are you?" she asked louder.

"Up here! Third Floor!" he finally answered.

She went up the stairs and found him concentrated staring out the sliding door into the terrace.

"Hey, what are you-" she didn't finish as his right hand went up with his index finger as if to silence her.

"I need a few moments." He said.

She stared at his back, his hair while shaved on the sides was getting longer on top and slicked back was falling into wispy ends. Even with the suit being modified to hide more of his neck you could still see the scarred tissue.

She watched as his head turned to the right side and stayed there for a split moment, the scars on the side of his head clearly visible thought the big eye patch was doing well in covering most of the scaring on the front.

He only stayed there for a split moment then turned to her. Thinking this was her cue she made to speak but his hand shot up again to prevent her.

As she watched him stare directly at her feeling self-conscious under his intense one eyed gaze she realized he wasn't staring at her but through her.

Just as fast the moment came and went and he turned and focused his gaze back to his left.

"Ok got it." He said and turned back to her. "Put that tablet down. I need your help."

"Got what? What's going on?" she asked curiosity now burning inside of her.

"Pakistani grooming gang I've been keeping an eye on. Eighty miles from here in Jersey, Motel 5, they're about to sell a sixteen year old."

"What? How?" She asked confused. "You can see that far?"

She saw him roll his eyes…well eye. "Yes, I can. It's harder with one eye, need to concentrate but yes. Now come one we don't have much time." He said extending his hand towards her.

"Right." She wasn't in costume but she wasn't going to let that stop her from helping someone. She put the tablet down and took his hand as they talked onto the terrace.

"Oh fuck its cold." She couldn't help but exclaim.

"Channel your power, build the energy in your stomach then imagine circulating it around your body, build it up but don't release it." He said firmly.

She did and she felt the sting of the cold winter air abate.

"Now come on." He urged for her to step on his feet. "Stiffen up and hold on tightly to me." He said as he wrapped his right hand around her squishing her further into him. "Close your eyes or channel energy into them to protect them. We're going to go pretty fast."

"Aahh!" she yelped as she barely had time to act on his instructions.

He wasn't kidding they were accelerating at an incredible pace, she felt her clothes pushing onto her bunching up against the air drag.

She brought up more energy as to protect herself from the biting cold wind. She noticed Homlander was flying upside down supporting her weight with the length of his body for better leverage.

Like a rocket they blasted through the sky at ever increasing speeds they were flying low enough that the landscape became a continuous blur.

She felt herself being pushed further down into his raise feet raised acting as a wall for her to push against. She felt his grip tighten on her and she did the same.