I'm a Homelander

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***

The day was sunny, and perfect for flying. My hair rippled in the wind as my body floated leisurely in the air and I contemplated the ground beneath me. Admiring the beauty of nature was calming to say the least, but it didn't last long. Eventually I reached my destination, landing smoothly by the porch.

The knock on the door came as a surprise to Rebecca, but I could tell by the heartbeat that she had guessed who had come to visit. When she finally opened the door for me, she took two seconds to stare at my face. I only had to smile at her, appearing to her as a simple man.

- Why are you wearing that masquerade? - She asked, frowning slightly.

- Why do you need it? - Asked a counter question, winking at Rebecca.

My glance at her body and the slightly changed smile let her know immediately what I meant. She hadn't expected that from me, but she liked this peculiar compliment to her appearance. I can say that for sure.

- And yet? A Homeylander never takes off his superhero outfit.

- But I'm not a Homelander," he smiled at her, causing her bewilderment. - My name is John, and Homelander is just a role I play in front of a multi-billion dollar audience.

- John, then? - Rebecca snorted, not believing what I was saying.

- Yes, Rebecca. - I grinned, winking at Ryan, who was watching me with interest.

- Okay, John," she almost snarled, noticing her son's reflection in my glasses. - Come in.

- Thank you, Rebecca," I nodded, walking inside the house. - Hey, Ryan.

- Hi, Ryan. - The kid was polite, though he looked wary.

- We were having breakfast," Rebecca said. - Join us.

- I'd love to. - He politely accepted the invitation, even though he was having breakfast.

A stack of freshly made pancakes stood at the very centre of the table, a perfect display of appetite. I sat down in the empty seat, watching Rebecca serve her son breakfast.

- Aquí está tu desayuno. - She said, giving me a look of genuine surprise.

- Gracias. - Ryan answered her.

- Spanish? - I recognised the word "thank you" spoken by the kid.

- We speak en español on Sundays. - Rebecca explained.

- Oh, wow. - Expressed his surprise more explicitly.

- And you speak Spanish? - Ryan turned to me, taking a sip of orange juice.

- No, but I speak Russian and German. - I was bragging to my son. Homelander himself only knew one language, which, with his pride, was obvious.

- Really? - Rebecca was already surprised.

She had never heard of such a thing, even though she was the chief publicity officer of the Homelander. So she was incredulous. That's understandable. If the company had known about it, they would have used it to promote Homelander.

- Yeah," I smiled at Rebecca and turned to my son. - You know what, Ryan? I'm going to start learning Spanish too, just to keep up with you.

- Won't that be hard on you?

- Aller Anfang ist schwer," he winked at the child, causing a puzzled look on his face. - It means: All endeavours are difficult. Don't worry, Ryan. I can handle it.

The kid nodded and started eating his breakfast, trying not to stare at me. His somewhat aloofness was clear; after all, he doesn't see strangers very often. My behaviour in his place would certainly be similar.

- What can I get you? Tea, orange juice? - Rebecca decided to break the awkward silence.

- A glass of milk, please. - I asked her politely.

Breakfast was quite tolerable, homemade. Rebecca had clearly learnt to cook much better than she had eight years ago, though I hadn't had a chance to try her cooking before. Still, there were no shopping centres, no restaurants, and you couldn't even order a simple pizza. So the woman had to make the best of the situation.

It would be necessary to think where to transfer her and the boy, so that in case of anything there would be no unnecessary noise. Ryan was no better socially than Homelander in his first days as a hero. And he managed to blow up a fucking factory on his first day, something I'd like to avoid in the case of his kid.

As I pondered this question, I sluggishly finished the two pancakes on my plate. Somehow I found my smartphone in my hand, on which I was watching a video. A very interesting amateur video of a blonde woman in civilian clothes, bright yellow lasers out of her eyes, technically knocking out two rapists. Looks like Annie decided to ignore my words after all.

- John! Rebecca almost shouted, interrupting my musings.

- Yes? - I turned my attention back to her, putting the phone away.

- It's not our custom to sit on the phone at the table. - She sighed. She seemed to be stressed by my behaviour.

- Sorry, it's work. - I answered her, trying to make my voice sound guilty. She nodded, seeing me put my phone away in my pocket.

- ¿Y cuál es tu trabajo?

I stared at Ryan with a question in my gaze as I asked what appeared to be the question. To which he decided to take pity on me and translated his words into English.

- What do you do for a living?

- I'm an actor. - I answered him without hesitation.

- You are? Like Clark Gable? - Ryan asked excitedly.

- Who? - Asked back. I'd never heard of such an actor in this life or any other.

- Gone with the Wind. He plays the male lead in it. - Rebecca explained.

- I've never seen that film, though I've heard of it.

- How about we watch it together? - Ryan suggested, looking at his mother pleadingly. - Please.

- Okay," Rebecca smiled, giving in under the child's pressure. - It's his favourite film.

- Yay!

And just like that, I stayed at their house for the four hours the film was on. Watching the story of a selfish girl turning into a bitch was certainly entertaining. The actors' performance, especially the main character's, contributed to it to a great extent. But the feeling of watching the lives of shitty people... didn't leave the film.

At the end I had to express my delight at the film in front of my child. And although I expressed myself very positively about the film, but the real impressions were not the most unambiguous. But my opinion is not the most important thing here. And in general, I have never considered myself an expert in films of the forties, which were ahead of their time and look more like films made in the eighties. In this situation, the main thing is that the time passed unnoticed and fascinating.

However, it was simply impossible for me to stay there for long, leaving them shortly after watching the film together. Now I had to find out what Madeline was going to do about Starlight. The woman never liked it when her charges were amateurish. She wouldn't even let Homelander make a move, let alone the others.

The familiar lift cabin had not changed during my absence, nor had the corridor on the ninety-fifth floor. People were running around, not paying attention to America's foremost superhero. Certainly not of Earth, as Homelander thought of himself. But the one who did pay attention to my figure was a blonde woman in a cute superhero outfit.

- Homelander! - Starlight cheered as she greeted me.

She had looked extremely pensive up to that point, which indicated that something had happened after all.- Starlight, you don't know how glad I am to see you," I smiled at her, leading us into the meeting room. - So, tell me.

- About what? - Annie asked perplexed.

- About what made you think so hard that you almost knocked a man down. - He grinned, looking at her with a condescending look.

- Really?

- Purest," he assured her as the iron gates slid apart. Without waiting for it to open fully, he stepped inside. - So, what is it?

- Miss Stillwell wants me to wear something they usually sell in sex shops.

- Like a swimming costume?

- Yes. Starlight grimaced.

- And it's necessary for ratings. - I nodded thoughtfully, remembering the linings in the Homelander's suit, which should show off his abs and powerful muscles.

- Yeah," the girl sighed. - Can you help me?

- Naturally," smiled the desperate girl. - And I even have a working idea.

***

Madeline was quite annoyed, though you couldn't tell from the look of her. The woman had learnt over the years to hide her true emotions behind a smile.

Perhaps that was why what had happened over the past couple of days had made her so nervous. For the first time in years, she'd dropped her mask in front of the Homelander, revealing panic and fear. Something she'd never allowed herself to do, knowing the danger that came from America's most famous blond.

And on top of that was the fact that Blink had suddenly disappeared. Which meant all plans for him were off. Son of a bitch didn't even bother to text if he was going out for a drink. That's not to mention the protest against Vought by the Homelander who had previously considered himself a part of it. Now, with the news of his son, everything changed.

From here on, everything went the same way. Train-A that decided to screw up specifically by going live on instagram. And of course Starlight, the new girl, that decided to walk around in her civilian clothes and shoot lasers out of her eyes! Luckily, everything turned out okay. Even the heroine's rating went up and it was necessary to act before the popularity dropped. But... there's always that nasty "but."

The woman clenched her fingers into a fist, feeling her nails digging into her palm. The drab girl, instead of accepting kind help, had stubbornly refused a new costume design that promised to boost her ratings among teenagers and adult audiences alike. So it wasn't enough, the blonde started talking about how everything about the Seven is decided by Homelander personally. That almost pissed Madeline off, but she held back and lucidly explained the company policy to the naive idiot.

And now, just a couple of hours later, she is called into the boardroom by Homelander, something he has never done before. She's the one calling him on the carpet, not him! But this time, Stillwell is restrained from unleashing her rage on this bunch of kids playing in their sandbox. And she's the one who has to clean up the shit! And she was clearly underpaid for this thankless job.

With these thoughts, she put a smile on her face and walked up to the iron gates. They opened smoothly, letting her inside, where the remaining six supers were gathered, watching her expectantly.

- Good afternoon, Madeline. - Homelander smiled, spreading his arms out to the sides as if trying to embrace her. Only the distance didn't allow it.

- Good afternoon, Homelander," the woman smiled back, glancing at Starlight and the new suit on the table. - Why did you call?

- Just wanted to take care of a minor problem," the blond man's smile grew strained, and in one motion he threw the suit to the floor in front of Madeline. - That's all.

- I see," Stillwell hummed and looked round at the crowd. - But what's the point of all this?

- As everyone knows, we're a democracy. That means that everyone's voice should be taken into account in decisions that directly affect the whole team. And we need you to bear witness to that. What do you think, Maeve?

- I totally agree. - The red-haired bitch took a sip of her whiskey, glancing at Madeline with a contemptuous glance.

- When do we start? - Stillwell smiled, feeling the sharp pain from the nails digging into her skin harder and harder.

- Right now," Homelander said nonchalantly. - All those in favour of changing the design of Starlight's costume? Raise your hand.

Expectedly, no one voted against Homelander's decision. At this point, Madeline wanted so badly to punch the smug bastard in the face for this ostentatious humiliation in front of her subordinates. She'd definitely bring it back to him.

- And who was in favour of leaving it at that? - Homelander raised his hand and everyone decided to follow their nominal leader's lead. - Well, I hope you won't challenge our decision.

- Я...

- What makes you think you're allowed to decide anything? - Entered the room, the man who was rightfully considered the main man in the entire company.

He was a black man with glasses, dressed in a tailored business suit. He had a haughty look in his eye, the kind of look that would have sieged anyone, including Homelander. So the silence was absolute, as Edgar literally overwhelmed with his presence.

- Stan! What a surprise! - The Homelander greeted him cheerfully, not at all embarrassed by the man's words. - Decided to come down from heaven to see us?

- Witty. But I'm not the one who flies over the city all day long instead of doing business. - Stan Edgar replied nonchalantly.

- I'm just trying to make up for lost time, sir. - Homelander smiled at him. There was a subtext in his words that was easily discernible to the only three people in the room.

He soared over the desk to fly across it and land in front of the company's CEO.

- This is no reason to jeopardise a contract that is important to us. - Edgar frowned, looking the blond man straight in the eye.

- It sounds like a good reason to me. - Homelander grinned, looking at him defiantly.

- You think you're the most valuable asset of our company?

- Oh, no, why would I? - The superhero snorted, looking at the black man with a sneer in his eyes. - But luckily I know what that asset is and have it with me. Just in case. Yes, Madeline?

She shuddered, feeling the ground go from under her feet. How had she known a decade ago that one day he'd use knowledge of the V serum against her? The bastard had said he was going public because of the new girl's fucking costume!

- What do you want, then? - Edgar asked, shocking Madeline.

He had never conceded before, as he always had a trump card up his sleeve. But it seems that against Homelander, who doesn't give a damn about the future of the company, there are no trump cards left. At least not this time, but Edgar won't let it go.

- It's a small thing. I'll keep doing my thing, you keep doing yours. And yes, you will not force my team members to do anything," said Homelander, looking down at the CEO and holding out his hand. - Do we have an agreement?

- I believe we have... Yes," Edgar smiled for the first time in the entire conversation, shaking the hero's hand. - See you soon, Homelander.

- See you soon, Stan. - Homelander grinned, looking at the black man with a sneer.

Madeline watched with all eyes as Stan Edgar walked away defeated by what he thought was a capricious child who could be easily besmirched. Stillwell decided to follow him, out of reluctance to stay here and to find out further plans for the Homelander. And there certainly are.

- Ashley, please get that stuff out of sight. - Homelander asked, noticing that Stillwell's assistant had decided to eavesdrop on their conversation.

- Yes, of course! - The girl almost shrieked, picking up the costume lying on the floor.

- Well, now that that's settled, let's get back to work. - The blond smiled, turning to the silent audience.

The first thing he noticed was a look of admiration from Starlight. But the other members of the team couldn't say that about him. Shock was pervasive, even in Black Noir's posture. And that spoke volumes.

Well, the goal was fulfilled even beyond expectations, and John was quite satisfied with it. Now all he had to do was wait for Edgar's response, and there would definitely be one.

*** 

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