Chapter 10 – God? Never met him

(The Safehouse – Upstate New York – September 7th 2019)

The smell of cooking wafted into the dilapidated apartment the Boys were using for their hideout. Despite Hughie's aversion to touching anything in the frankly hazmat suit-encouraging environment his stomach grumbled at the sweet smiling cuisine Frenchie was cooking. However, his main focus was on the woman chained to the wall on the other side of the room who was staring daggers at him. The woman that Butcher had dubbed The Female strained against the chains again but stopped as she saw it was pointless.

Just as he was about to ask what the plan was, as Annie was expecting to meet him soon for the BELIEVE Expo, there was a loud knock at the door. The room froze, Frenchie paused in his cooking and instead placed his hand on his gun, Butcher eyed the door and brought his own hand to rest on the assault rifle next to him. Butcher gave a stiff nod to MM who just returned the nod and moved to the door placing his handgun behind his back cocking the hammer ready to shoot the moment he pulled the knob.

Hughie tensed as MM opened the door a little peering through the slight crack to see who was at the door. His tension immediately vanished as he heard MM's very loud chuckle and the tension going out of the man's body. The hulking second in command of the Boys threw the door open and gave their visitor a broad smile.

"You know, LL, you were about two seconds away from putting a bullet in your skull?" MM teased bringing his handgun to his side, jostling it playfully.

"Yeah, yeah. It's good to see you Milk, I like the goatee." Lois gave Mother's Milk a half hug as she came into the dump which was their safe house, her eyes flick to Hughie before settling on Butcher a grimace appearing on her face.

"Magnifique beauté!" Frenchie's voice sounded out and blur speed into the room and before Hughie could blink Frenchie was in the room lifting and spinning Lois in a hug. "C'est si bon de te voir, mon cheri!"

"Toi aussi, Frenchie," Lois replied fluently, only making Frenchie's smile wider, she gave a chuckle before patting the man's back and giving him a pointed look. "Vers le bas s'il vous plait."

Frenchie followed the instruction and gave a respectful bow of his, taking Lois' hand in his and giving it a respectful kiss before turning around as he heard his meal stirring. The room fell quiet again as MM leaned on the table between Butcher and Lois, who just stared daggers at each other. Hughie shifted again, looking at the ongoing scene and then at the chained woman who was eyeing everyone in the room as well.

"Well, ain't this a surprise. Hatchet Job Harley herself. Come on down from your ivory tower to see us little people, have you? Praise be!" Butcher gave his usual insufferable smirk at Lois earning him nothing but an eyeroll as the woman crossed her arms, seeing that his words hadn't provoked a response he ramped it up. "Or were you too busy fucking the enemy to care that the world's going to shit? Tell me, is the spandex-wearing idiot really the fastest man alive?"

Hughie's eyes widened at the words looking between the two of them and then at MM who was just shaking his head with a smirk. For the first time ever, Hughie saw Butcher's words fail to get a response, Lois merely just raised an eyebrow at Butcher's words and then smirked. She merely brushed past Butcher giving him a light pat on the shoulder that seemed to scream nice try in the most sarcastic way possible without even uttering a word. Her eyes swept over the dilapidated flat taking note of the guns, and ammunition the crew seemed to be working with, it wasn't anywhere near their old level but it was more than she suspected they would have.

"Who's the woman?" Lois paused in her assessment of the Boys hideout as she eyed the woman heavily chained to the wall who just stared at her with unblinking eyes.

"She's a supe, found her in a cage surrounded by heavily armed, drug-dealing Asian gangbangers," Butcher explained, moving towards Lois to lean into her ear demandingly. "She also tore through half of the New York underworld as well. Bet you or your pals didn't know anything about that?"

"She's a supe?" Lois asked, surprise in her voice looking at Butcher who just grimaced at Lois steady gaze, before rolling his eyes and nodding. "Interesting, from what I understand they don't use V on adults, too unstable. Speaking of which how did procurement of a sample go?"

"We got nada, A-Train used it all up and the Chinatown tip led to that fuckin mess chained to the wall. We did get some nice proof that the V came from Samaritan's embrace for all the fucking good it did us. CIA, Pentagon, and the rest of the pussies couldn't care less. Even if we fuckin gift-wrapped it in Homelander's signed confession." Butcher threw his hand out in disbelief as he moved over and collapsed on the couch next to Hughie who had to jump out of the man's way.

Lois was silent for a few moments before she released a heavy sigh and shook her head. "…. You asked for Homelander didn't you?"

Butcher didn't respond to the question he just made a face and turned his head to spit on the floor as if he had just swallowed something foul.

"Fuckin great. I get you the scoop of the century about how Supes are fucking manufactured with Compound V, and what do you do?" Lois' suddenly turned dark and cold, causing Hughie just to stare at the woman who seemed at the moment scarier than Butcher ever had. "You fuck it up! You take your Homelander shit to Raynor. And Raynor, not being a suicidal idiot, turned you down, didn't she?"

"She said she couldn't help without hard proof actually. All we need is some of this V shit and will be right as rain." Butcher shot back, a grimace forming on his face as he left out the bit where Raynor kicked him out before he could even say a word.

"WHOA wait! What was that about Compound V and Supes?!" Hughie's eyes nearly exploded at the news as he twisted in his seat to stare at Butcher and Lois twisting his head back and forth.

"Oh, for the love of…You didn't tell him?" Lois threw her hands up in the air, before bringing one to her face in disbelief, as Butcher just shrugged. She then took a deep breath and looked Hughie right in the eyes being as slow and careful as possible. "Hughie…. Supes are fucking made, the drug Compound V, it turns humans into Supes. Vought manufactures it, then ships it through Samaritan's Embrace to hospitals around the country, where they dose newborns and pregnant mothers with it."

Hughie froze for a moment as his brain tried to process everything that was being explained to him. He seemed to hold his breath for a few moments as he stopped moving altogether earning a worried look from Lois. Butcher even frowned as he leaned forward to look at the frozen expression on Hughie's face after a moment longer he reached out a hand and gently shook the youngest member of the team.

"Sorry, so you're telling me they're all made. All the Supes? Even…." Hughie trailed off as he didn't know how to finish the sentence.

"Even Starlight," Butcher finished bluntly not wanting to waste time on the pathetic touchy-feely stuff, he then turned and smirked at Lois. "Even the Super-man."

"I hate to interrupt this clearly very functional caring circle, but does someone mind telling me if there's a motherfuckin' plan for what we do next?" MM spoke up gesturing to the little group in front of him, eager to move beyond the Butcher and Lois show revival.

"There is indeed, MM, Wee Hughie here is going to church," Butcher just grinned at his number two man as he wrapped an arm around the shocked boy.

"I am?" Hughie asked nervously and more than a little confused.

"Yes, you are my son. Your little supe girlfriend's priesty touch-a-thon is the perfect cover to get close to that wanker Ezekiel." Butcher gave his usual happy smile that made Hughie know he was about to do something he was going to hate. "He's a slippery one, despite his 'man of the people'routine, he's hardly ever in public. So, you're going to get close to him, and ask where the next shipment is going."

"That's the plan?" Lois asked, looking from the scrawny RadioShack kid to the asshole who had his arm draped around said kid.

"You got a better way?" Butcher shot back, removing his arm from Hughie and leaning forward to glare at Lois, who for the first time since coming in looked away from Butcher. "Didn't think so. Your leads have run bloody dry, and so have mine. We need a sample and hard proof, now we can sit on our arses whilst they shove supes in the military courtesy of your steel-hard spandex-wearing boy toy or we can do this."

The room fell silent as Lois just looked at Butcher, she was scowling slightly as she disliked this plan but wasn't voicing any objection. Butcher cast a quick glance at MM who just sighed and gave a reluctant nod of approval. Whilst when he looked at Frenchie, the mad French man just glanced at Hughie and then gave Butcher a shrug.

"Butcher, I don't think I can do this" Hughie's unsure voice broke the silence as his mind started racing, Annie, Robin, the blood-soaked street, and Translucent all pounded through his skull.

Butcher froze as he opened his mouth looking at the quickly-paling man next to him. Hughie had been solid and was stronger than the lad knew but he might have just unloaded too much on the poor fellow at once. He was about to give one of his patented 'don't be cunt' speeches and push the lad forward when he caught Lois' eye. The tall black-haired woman just gave him a subtle shake of her head, and then moved in front of Hughie.

"Hughie." Lois' voice was almost motherly, equal parts strict and warm; it caused the young man to look up at her immediately. "Let's go and get coffee."

To Hughie, it was like being in a dream. One moment he was sitting in their secret heavily-armed, supe-imprisoning shithole hideout. The next, he found himself a dozen blocks away sitting outside a quaint coffee house, sipping an americano like he was out with an old friend. Lois merely sat across from him gently stirring sugar into her coffee and doing the Times crossword puzzle as she waited for Hughie to get his senses back.

"So, you're involved? How? Why? How do you know them let alone be involved with these people?" Hughie leant forward desperate to understand how world-famous ace reporter Lois Lane was even remotely involved with Billy Butcher and the Boys.

"Because I was there at the start," Lois sighed in reply, taking a sip of the coffee in front of her and laying down the crossword she had been doing, to look at Hughie with an expression he had never seen before. It was an odd mixture of seriousness, anger, and… sadness? "Before everything went wrong, I worked for the Colonel, the same as Butcher. I was an original member of 'The Boys', what a sausage fest that was."

"The Colonel?" Hughie asked. His eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of the past of the Boys, something he suddenly realised that he was woefully ignorant of.

"The person who put us together, back when we really did work for the CIA. I was recruited about the same time as Butcher, I think, a little after him actually" Lois seemed to become more sombre as she remembered everything that had gone so wrong the last time. "However, we are not here to talk about the Colonel….. nor is that my story to tell."

"But why?" Hughie repeated his earlier question earning another sigh from Lois as he tried desperately to understand. "You're involved with Clark, Superman, the guy even Butcher doesn't really say shit about, and he hates all the supes. Why risk that?"

"Same reason you're risking everything with Annie," Lois shot back with a hiss before calming herself not wanting to take out the anger that still dwelt in her on Hughie who, rightly, wanted to know what and whom he was involved with. "…... Hughie, I know about Robin. I saw what happened."

Hughie froze at that, he managed to fight the urge to wince at the memory as he vaguely recalled a raven-haired woman saying something muffled near him as his world collapsed. As he focused on the memory the edges of it became a little less fuzzy and he remembered seeing Lois there along with a man who was still blurry. However, ignorant of Hughie's attempts to recall the memory Lois took the silence as a signal for her to push on.

"Hughie, you've stepped into a different world, and everyone you're going to meet in it has a story just like yours."

Lois swallowed the lump in her throat, but she pushed on as she knew Hughie deserved and more importantly needed to hear this. She remembered them all, all the ones she had given this talk to and the ones she heard others receive it from, and it never got easier. Nor did it usually end well as she recalled the bodies they had been forced to bury or the contacts they had to burn.

"…. It's why we do this; it's why we can't stop. Butcher, MM, Frenchie….me, we all have one. And if I could…... if I could wave a magic wand and take your shit and add it to my pile I would, Hughie. Any one of them would, we know the pain, we know the anger, the rage…...but the world doesn't work like that. So, we do this instead, chipping away at the shit, because it's the only thing keeping us sane or near enough."

Hughie just looked at Lois for a few moments absorbing her words feeling a connection with the woman in front of him the same one he felt with all the boys. He then took in a deep breath and asked the question he knew Lois was dreading but also knew he had to ask.

"…. So, what's yours?"

Lois' eyes drifted away from Hughie and for a few moments, it was like she had frozen in time. Her eyes stared at a specific spot of nothing whilst one of her hands held her cup of coffee on the table as if she was ready to pick it up. He thought for a moment he had made a mistake and the woman was either about to leave or threaten him but instead, Lois suddenly sighed and then looked him straight in the eye.

"2012, I'm 20 years old, rebellious and I'm a sophomore honour student at Colombia University studying a Business Law degree with a minor in Journalism, just for the hell of it. I live in a sorority house which I'm a member of for the sole purpose to piss off my dad, a five-star US general. My two best friends in the whole world are this Bisexual, polygamous couple, Amy, and Lizzie, who bring a different guy or girl back to the room every other week. You know just to really piss my dad off."

Lois spoke in a matter-of-fact tone as if she was telling a story for the news or was reading a book about someone else's life, although Hughie could see a ghost of a smile on her lips as she recalled her friends. However, as she paused to take a sip of her likely cold coffee, Hughie saw the glint in her eyes it was one he knew intimately because it was the one, he saw in Butcher's and his own. As she put the cup down, she pressed on with the story still not breaking eye contact with him.

"Anyway, I go home for spring break, during which my dad rants against supes, I can't remember why he just does. So, me being me, decides to really piss him off by writing this truly fantastic pro-Supe piece in the student newspaper. It's so good in fact that a local congressman uses it in a live debate on Supes and Vought sends me a job offer. I turn it down obliviously, but Vought wants me, so they try sending a Supe to do a fuckin' career opportunity speech…..."

Lois trailed off as her breathing got heavy and Hughie could see her knuckles go white and a small crack appeared in her coffee mug. Her eyes were on him, but had drifted into a textbook thousand-yard stare as the memory came flooding back to her.

"The Great Wide Wonder, that's the Supe they sent…... He gave this speech to the Honour Students, Amy and Lizzie were among the attendees. Now they've never met a Supe before, let alone talked to one, and he's good-looking, lays it on thick. Well, one thing leads to another, and later that night I spot them sneaking him into the house and I can hear them through the wall, fooling around…...He then suggests they go on what he calls a 'flying fuck'….. That was the last time I heard or saw them again."

"Jesus fucking Christ" Hughie whispered as his eyes widened as he could already tell were this was going, as it was basically his life currently just with a few details changed.

"Yeah, I don't think he was listening. Anyway, the Great Wide Wanker took them into near orbit, and left the bodies there. No proof, no connection, nothing. So…. no crime" Lois sighed as she felt the bile rear up in the back of her throat as it always did when she thought about this. "I tried to get people to listen, the facility staff, the police, the feds, even my dad but either they didn't want to hear it or they couldn't do shit. I was going mad trying to make a difference to do anything. Then along came someone, just like Butcher did with you I suspect, offered me a chance to get back at them, and the rest is history."

"What happened to the Supe? The Great Wide Wonder?" Hughie asked, feeling there was a part of the story he needed to hear but Lois was leaving out.

The ace reporter just took a sip of her coffee and played with the stirrer that was still in it. She looked at the black steaming liquid for a moment before she responded not looking at him as she spoke.

"…...A few years later, he attended a party where a French dealer and his girlfriend, spent the night partying at a club before the Frenchman convinces him to go back to their place. The dealer then asked if he wanted a hit of the good stuff, a heroin enema, on the house. The girlfriend would even help him, get it in, she was glad to help." Lois's eyes flicked up from the coffee and as they connected with Hughie, he felt a shiver go down his spine. "That next morning, The Great Wide Wonder, tragically slammed into the side of the Rocky Mountains." Her fingers slowly tapped the cup with each word.

"High. As. A. Fucking. Kite."

Hughie just stared at Lois for a few moments his eyes connecting with her seemingly uncaring cold ones that for a moment made Hughie warier of the woman in front of him than he was of Butcher. Oh, Butcher scared the shit out of him, but the man was all rage and controlled hot fury, Lois however was something else. She was a cold calculating fury, the kind that didn't burn you because it was hot but because it was ice cold, and it could wait forever.

"We can't stop Hughie, I can't stop…. I actually love Clark, that surprises me more than anyone but…I can't stop because every time I wake up, I hear them, just on the other side of the wall…. calling to me…..and I can't make that stop." Lois closed her eyes for a moment as if she was hearing her friends calling to her right then. "I do this Hughie because this is apparently the only way it's going to change, I tried everything else, and it never worked. I can't tell you what to do but whatever you do Hughie, try, and hold onto the good otherwise…...otherwise you'll end up like Butcher, and that's a place no one comes back from."

(BELIEVE EXPO - Upstate New York – Mid-evening - September 7th, 2019)

"God bless you, Superman, God bless." The southern pastor of the congregation that Clark was addressing just held his hand and kept shaking it, even though Clark's talk had finished 20 minutes ago. "God bless you, and all of those empowered by our saviour."

"Yes, thank you. That's very nice," Clark kept a smile on his face as he managed to slip the handshake and started moving through the crowd of overly zealous people, resisting the urge to shudder as they reached out to touch him with fervent devotion. "Thank you again, have a good day."

"AND YOU HAVE A BLESSED DAY!" The pastor shouted over his flock as Clark left the tented area he had been in. "FOR YOU ARE GOD'S CHOSEN INSTRUMENT! HIS WRATH AGAINST THE HEATHENS!"

Clark didn't reply to that one he just paused for a moment, closed his eyes, and drew in a deep breath before pressing on. He quickly spotted his Aunt Mary who had stationed herself just outside the tent, a phone plastered to her ear as always. Despite the years passing the only real change to his aunt was her hair was going grey mostly due to stress and she wasn't wearing her wedding ring. As he approached, she quickly hung up the call and gave him a friendly smile.

"How was it?" Mary asked, the panel had been very open-ended as no one actually knew what aspect of Christianity they wanted Clark to discuss, so it was left just open as a 'meet Superman forum'.

"Please tell me I am not doing another one of those," Clark whispered as he came in close to Mary looking around to make sure he wasn't insulting anyone.

"According to the schedule, that's it. Apart from your appearances on stage later with Homelander and Starlight, respectively." Mary replied quickly glancing at her emails making sure no last-minute chances had been added, she knew Clark hated this stuff so tried to limit it as much as possible.

"Good…." Clark nodded releasing a grateful sigh, as an awkward silence fell over the two of them, it was an awkwardness that had existed whenever the two were alone since Mary's explosion in the hospital, that neither of them had ever addressed. "So…. How are Mathew and Clair?"

"Good, they are good." Mary winced slightly at her children's names, trying to put on a brave face before releasing a sigh and dropping the façade. "…..In truth Clark, I've barely talked to them in years. I only speak to Mathew during his kid's birthdays. And Clair, she hates me, she didn't even invite me to her wedding, I don't even know the name of the woman she married."

"Abigail, her name is Abigail, and she's a teacher in a high school," Clark revealed, looking at his aunt with a little sadness, Mary's career might have skyrocketed but it had cost her much of her personal life.

"Oh, you speak to her?" Mary's eyes seemed to illuminate at the chance of contact with her daughter even if it was just through Clark.

"Sort of, we call. Holidays, Birthdays, that sort of thing, same as I do with Matt," Clark's face became slightly sombre as he hated that he couldn't really help his aunt, he and his cousins had never been close, mostly due to the shadow his super life cast. "She's happy, they went to Paris for their honeymoon and are thinking of adopting a little girl."

"Oh, that's lovely, really wonderful," Mary smiled at the news as she looked away from Clark trying to subtly dry her eyes as they welled up.

"You should come to the farm," Clark blurted out the offer, his heart moving his lips before his brain could think of a more subtle way of offering, he then tried to clarify what he meant. "I mean for the Holidays, Ma and Pa would love to have you, and in truth, it's a little bit lonely just the three of us.

Mary opened her mouth to politely decline, the business side of her brain knew she was far too busy to waste time on things like the holidays, and she wouldn't be caught dead in Hicksville again. However, she stopped herself, as the rest of her brain reminded her, that instead of a home-cooked Kent meal with people she reasonably liked, all her refusal would get her were nights alone and a poor corporate Christmas party.

"That sounds good, thank you." Mary found herself accepting more to her surprise than Clark who just smiled broadly at his aunt, whilst she just shifted uncomfortably. "I'll need to check my calendar of course. You need to mingle now; go, I'll catch you up later."

"You sure?" Clark asked, smiling at his aunt already imagining his mother's joy that her little sister was coming to visit for the holidays.

"Yes, I'm sure, go I think I saw Annie walking near the stalls," Mary returned her nephew's smile with a polite one of her own before pointing over to the stalls that sold knickknacks and food. "She might need rescuing, she was being followed by this lanky pale baby-faced-looking guy."

"Really? I'll go save her then," Clark suppressed a laugh as he suspected he knew who was following Annie around.

Clark resisted sighing as he waded through the crowds that started to swarm him as he moved away from the relative privacy of the meeting tents. He made sure to keep a smile on his face, shake every hand and sign everything in front of him, he had discovered the more he did that the quicker the crowds dispersed. It didn't take him long to spot Annie, a smile appeared on his face as he saw her in her original costume and in her element. She was greeting people with a smile and waving to people passing her as she spoke with Hughie as if they were just taking a walk in the park. Clark might have hated the Capes for Christ circuit and BELIEVE Expos, but he knew that it was different for Annie, she loved these events, they were part of her childhood.

As he approached his smile only grew wider as he overheard their conversation, Hughie was playfully teasing Annie about her other costume and how she liked being back. He allowed them a few more moments together before moving in, hoping that two Supes conversing would stop so many people coming up to him. In truth he was glad the winged Supe Angel was still singing on stage otherwise the crowds swarming him would likely be a dozen times larger.

"Thanks, thank you have a nice day." Clark finally moved over to Annie pushing through the crowd of people wanting him to sign things and moving over to Annie and Hughie. "Yes, thank you…...and Hi."

"Popular as always I see," Annie chuckled looking at Clark who for the first time in a long while looked uncomfortable, oh his face was a perfect smile but Annie knew him too well to be fooled.

"Don't, you are reminding me of why I avoid these things," Clark shook his head playfully as he joined the duo in their leisurely walk around the stalls and food trucks. "Hughie, it's good to see you. Lois sends her best, she apologises but she has an interview with the Deep following that whole…. Ocean Land event"

"Oh, she does, that's good. I mean that's nice of her." Hughie stumbled over his words in a panic as he recalled his conversation with Lois just that morning. "Give her my best too,"

Annie just looked between the two men in her life and shifted slightly, a growing worry in her stomach. Hughie said he was cool with everything but every time he was around Clark, he seemed to turn into this pale-faced stumbling idiot at times, and she knew why…. He was intimidated by Clark, which was normal. Most men would be wary of their girlfriend being friends with a man that looked like a Greek god, add to that their shared history, Clark's fame, wealth, kindness, and oh right, he was arguably the most powerful being in the world.

"Yeah, I was just saying I was glad that he came." Annie jumped in close to Hughie and taking his hand to reassure the man. "Although, I will say I was a little surprised."

"Um, you invited me?" Hughie squeezed Annie's hand and looked at her in confusion.

"Yeah, I know…You just, don't really strike me as the religious type is all." Annie stated as the group started moving again, forcing her to release Hughie's hand.

"Well, yeah, lapsed, but I served my time in Sunday School" Hughie responded giving Annie a grin and nod as they moved past a couple of signs, one of which was a very religiously-charged poster of Superman surrounded by an angelic halo of light, "Nothing like you two however, I'm getting serious power-of-faith vibes."

Hughie turned to look at his friends smiling at his teasing joke; however, it vanished as he saw Clark's and Annie's faces. Annie just shifted uncomfortably as she glanced up at Clark who looked even more uneasy as he looked at the image of him as an angel. Hughie moved to talk, hoping to correct whatever hurdle he stumbled upon, but was stopped as Clark's head suddenly snapped around, towards the private VIP tents.

"Homelander's arrived." Clark turned back to the duo giving an apologetic look. "Apologies, I need to go and speak with him, I hope you don't mind."

"No, go, we can always catch up later. I have a teen panel in a bit anyway." Annie reassured Clark, all but shooing the man away to more important things than hanging out with them.

She was also secretly glad to be rid of the third wheel, which was making Hughie nervous. Clark held up his hand and then pushed off the ground flying over the crowd towards Homelander not wanting to wade through the growing crowds now that the music acts on the stage were dying down. Leaving Annie and Hughie with a few more moments together before Ashely inevitably came to find her.

"Okay, um what was that?" Hughie asked now that Clark was gone turning to Annie with confusion on his face.

Annie just sighed as she looked back at the poster that had caused Clark discomfort. She remembered when he had been younger it hadn't been so obvious as she had chalked up his discomfort at BELIEVE Expos and the Capes for Christ to just childhood jitters. However, his discomfort never left him and when he got into his teen years he stopped coming to them altogether, it was finally when they were adults that Annie had asked the question that had been bugging her all those years.

"Clark doesn't believe in God," Annie whispered as she leaned in close to Hughie to avoid accidentally spreading her friend's private beliefs. "So he finds all this and people connecting it to him, very…unsettling."

"Whoa, really?" The Hughie from years past wouldn't have believed his ears, but that was before he got hunted and beaten by a member of the Seven while they bragged about their own invincibility, something which also proved to be a lie. . "I mean, I believe you, It's just I remember growing up Superboy was like the Capes for Christ's poster boy. Hard to believe he's an atheist. Not that that's a bad thing."

"He's not an atheist, per se." Annie pulled Hughie along to start walking again mindful that her whispering to someone in a corner was bound to attract attention, better to whisper on the move. "I know he has something, just not Christianity. I asked him once about a few years ago what he actually believes in."

"What did he say?" Hughie asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"…. He said he 'had a duty to follow the faith of his ancestors,' " Annie's face scrunched up slightly as she tried to recall his exact wording, strongly remembering how had found it weird at the time.

"Sweetheart!" Annie's mom's voice sounded out from in front of them causing Hughie to pause in his tracks as Annie moved in for a hug.

He then spotted Ashley Barrett, Annie's pushy manager following close behind her mother forcing him to duck away and pretend to be interested in some of the knickknacks on sale. He kept his ear out however, listening into the conversation, which mainly was Annie's mom praising Superman and Homelander for saving Flight 37. Then Ashely appeared with a large cup of water, all but demanding in a polite way that Starlight hydrate before trying to whisk her away for her panel.

"Hey, do you want to come?" Annie turned asking Hughie as her mom and Ashely started to chat away moving to the event seemingly uncaring that Annie wasn't with them.

"Uh…you know what? I'll let you go ahead. Go, uh, roundtable those teens." Hughie forced a smile on his face, as he glanced over Annie to where Butcher had appeared. "Um, catch up later, okay?"

"Yeah, sure." Annie smiled she leaned in to give a kiss but stopped herself remembering they weren't public yet so just smiled and moved off.

As Hughie watched her go, he felt the bottomless pit which he was throwing all his emotions into churn. He knew what Butcher needed him to do, get in to see Ezekiel, and the only way to do that was through Annie. He walked over to Butcher who was casually sipping a large soft drink, his eyes went to the phone Butcher was holding, that Hughie suspected had the blackmail Butcher had mentioned to him earlier. It caused the sinking feeling to return in full as he walked over to Butcher hoping beyond reason that he didn't need to screw over Annie and that Butcher had another way in to see Ezekiel.

(BELIEVE EXPO – Homelander's Private Tent)

As Clark floated down just beyond the red cordon that separated the private VIP areas from the throngs of people being kept back by security, he found himself frozen. He blinked a few times making sure he was really seeing what was on the large easels before him. Standing in the bright light of day was an 8-feet tall poster of him, and it was not alone. Next to his solo one was one of him and Homelander together, and then next to that one of just Homelander.

His eyes lingered on the first one, where a picture of him with his hands on his hips with his cape swaying behind stared at him. He almost couldn't recognize the haunting face glaring out from the paper, but tt was the words that burned the most:

SUPERMAN NEEDS YOU:

TO CONVINCE CONGRESS

TO LET HIM SAVE LIVES!

His eyes then flicked to the one of him and Homelander together, it was an artist's drawing showing the two of them soaring next to a squad of fighter jets, and it was also larger than the other two. Clark's head tilted and he saw the three words that accompanied the image:

SEND THEM NOW!

He didn't even bother looking at Homelander's one as he pushed into the tent only to find Homelander shoving a script at a Vought executive.

"I don't care if she's not here, fuckin find out where Madelyn is and so I can tell her these talking points are shit," Homelander glared at the executive who shifted under his gaze and clearly wanted to talk about but was terrified of doing so. "What are you waiting for? GO!"

As the executive turned and scurried out of the room, Homelander moved over to pour himself a drink, his face a scowl until he saw Clark in the doorway. It was like a switch being thrown as moving in a blur Homelander made two drinks and moved over to the waiting superhero, a board smile on his face.

"Clark, son! Glad you could be here!" Homelander offered Clark the drink, which the younger man took hesitantly. "Great news, A-Train's got a lead on the men involved with Translucent's death, and Madelyn says with a bit more effort the bill is going to breeze through congress."

"Well, um, that's good we have a lead, but John we really need to talk about this. Especially what I just saw outside." Clark put the drink down that he hadn't even touched moving forward whilst gesturing to the tent's flap.

"I know, right? The posters are god awful, and the speech Vought wants me to give is shit. It's all 'moderation' and playing to the lovey-doves in congress" Homelander just drained his glass and shook his head at the idiots they had to deal with, his face twisting as he moved into an impassioned speech. "Madelyn is too distracted by that infant of hers to see. She doesn't understand, this, the people out there are ours. People are scared, they don't trust Washington or the coastal elites, and they hate foreigners. What they want is a little John Wayne frontier justice and just someone to tell them what the fuck to do."

Clark went quiet for a moment as he just blinked trying to understand what he was listening to had just been said.

"….John, that's crazy. This is insane. We can't be the military" Clark laughed a little at the absurdity of the conversation he was having, which caused Homelander's face to go neutral. "If we get drafted into service, that's it, we're not heroes anymore were weapons. Also, again it's insane"

"You help out at the charity event with Calhoun, and you helped stop the hijackers," Homelander responded his eyes narrowing at Clark who was looking like he was waiting for the punchline of a bad joke.

"Calhoun was never going to support that bill and the fact he now is, I find deeply troubling. As for the plane, I was there saving lives not….taking them." Clark responded looking shocked that his deeds were being used against him before he let out a deep sigh. "John if you want to help more that's great but this isn't the way to do it. You're talking about feeding ignorance and bigotry. If you want to make more of an impact on the world and help outside the US, then let's…. go to the UN, and get a charter, enabling us to help internationally. You and I will form a team, a real one, with Supes, Doctors and the like to help everyone, like….. a League of Justice"

"Why on earth would we want to do that?" Homelander asked his face one of pure confusion at Clark's idea of working with the UN, his face then became a smile as he let out a laugh, taking Clark's speech as a joke. "Oh god, you almost had me there. Sorry, I couldn't keep a straight face. Is that the talking points you've got, to try and placate the nanny-pamby liberals, whilst we pass this thing? It's really shit, this is the stuff I'm talking about. You and me, need to get better fuckin speechwriters."

"John I'm not-" Clark started his eyes going wide at the apparently tunnel vision focus Homelander operated and his detachment from reality.

"Sorry one second," Homelander cut off Clark's rebuttal as he held up his hand and cocked his head to the side. "Ah shit, sorry I've got to go and do this Diamond experience stuff with Ezekiel. It's baptising the sheep and glad-handing."

"Uh, what, um no," Clark responded, confusion setting in, as he found himself not discussing anything with Homelander which was the whole point of him coming to this thing.

"Don't blame you. I want to drown the little shits. Will catch up later, your on stage for my speech by the way it's going to be a good one." Homelander moved to the tent flap patting Clark on the shoulder as he did so, plastering a smile on his face as he moved to deal with the sheep. "Oh, and before I forget. The Deep."

"What about him?" Clark asked, hopeful to finally talk about something he was there to discuss, namely Deep's assault on Annie and the man's questionable actions of late.

"He's out, after that fucking fiasco with the Dolphin, his numbers have plummeted, it's an embarrassment really and to be honest we don't really need a fish guy." Homelander smiled at Clark as he delivered the news of the shift inside the Seven. "Not when we have you. Mary will be getting a call later, but you're in the big leagues now, sonny."

Homelander didn't wait for a response merely smiling at Clark whilst pointing at him the man like he was the man as he backed out of the tent. Leaving the Man of Steel just watching the tent flap in utter bewilderment, blinking several times as his brain registered the conversation he had just had. Whilst he was glad, they apparently had a lead on Translucent's killer and Deep was out of the Seven away from Annie. He was more concerned about the fact that Homelander had done it for purely PR reasons rather than punishment and was also hellbent on getting them into the military despite how destabilising that would be for world relations.

Clark grimaced as he moved out of the tent and scanned the area looking for Annie wanting to find his friend and talk. His eyes stopped as he spotted Annie in the last place, he thought to see her, she was sitting alone in her private tent, and worse seemed to be holding an open bottle of vodka. He didn't even wait, instead becoming a blur as he speed into the tent causing her to shout a little in protest as the tent jolted.

"Jesus Clark, watch it," Annie cursed not even looking at her friend as grabbed the bottle that almost fell out of her hand.

"Annie, what's wrong?" Clark asked, his worry slightly alleviated as he saw that the Vodka hadn't been consumed yet and Annie just seemed to be staring at it.

"Oh, not much, found a bottle in my mom's bag, Ashely gave me this speech, which is basically pro-you and Homelander, whilst also being incredibly racist as well but in a subtle Christian way so it's good." Annie scoffed as she gripped the bottle in her hand so tightly that Clark thought it was going to shatter. "And oh yeah, Hughie just wanted me to get free stuff so that's great."

"Wait, what?" Clark moved to kneel in front of his friend finally seeing that Annie looked ready to cry but didn't have any tears willing to do so, because of her growing anger too.

"Hughie, he asked me to get him in to see Ezekiel, this stupid Diamond event." Annie laughed at herself sarcastically, scoffing at the stupidity which was her love life. "Boy, I can sure pick them. First it was the junkie, now a freeloader. I'm such an idiot."

"Hey, whoa. You're not an idiot." Clark countered taking Annie's hands in his as he managed to gently peel the bottle away from her before she could take a swig.

"Yes, I am Clark, with Hughie and all of this." Annie gestured to her costume and then to the tent gesturing to the outside fair and concert. "Have you seen what's out there? It's all homophobic, gay bashing, moral preaching and bigotry. I can't believe I never saw it before, am I just that blind?"

Clark didn't answer her question, knowing that nothing he could say as an answer would help her. So he let her sit for a while whilst he held her hands just being there for her, in case she wanted to vent more. They spent what felt like hours just sitting, with Clark just waiting for when Annie was ready to move past her self-loathing stage.

"What am I going to do Clark?" Annie finally asked looking at her oldest friend wanting to his secret, how did he keep it all together?

"Well, what do you want to do?" Clark pressed, giving her an encouraging smile that lifted her spirits up.

"I want to scream; I want to yell, curse and break things. I want to go out there and tell everyone what I am really thinking for once. I want to stop pretending just for a few moments." Annie admitted feeling the anger bubbling inside of her, as she stared into Clark's impossibly sapphire blue eyes.

"I'd advise against the first part, there are small children around." Clark gave Annie a grin that caused her to chuckle as he teased her. "But I honestly think the second part is fantastic."

"Really?" Annie asked equal parts surprised but also hopeful that her friend was encouraging her to be herself.

"Yes, Annie you're the best person I know…after my parents, that is." Clark's corny joke caused Annie to laugh again and remove much of the anger that was weighing down on her. "Seriously, I'm with you all the way, 100%. If you want to tell the world how bad, tough, and strong Annie January is, then I'm a million percent behind you."

"Thanks, Clark," Annie moved in and gave him a tight hug, resisting the urge to laugh as she failed to actually reach all the way around him due to his musculature. She allowed the hug to linger for a moment until she saw the time on her watch. "Oh geez, we are supposed to be on stage in five, Homelander's big speech is coming up."

"Yay, great." Clark made a face as he spoke, his voice dripping with sarcasm causing Annie to look at him with confusion. "I'll explain later,"

(10 minutes later – Main Stage)

Clark merely moved onto his mark on the stage as the music died down, he spotted several stage directors wave at him, and Ezekiel try to whisper to him, but Clark didn't move. His inaction caused a slight pause as he was supposed to be the one introducing Homelander and setting up his speech. However, although he was on stage his appearance was to support Annie who was standing next to him, not sell the dangerous idea of Supes in the military.

"Let's hear it for Jesus!"

Homelander quickly stepped in, casting a quick glance at Clark but otherwise pretending nothing was wrong. His booming words caused the fully swollen crowd to cry out and cheer as they pressed forward to get closer to the man, whom they viewed as sent by God.

"YES! One more for the guy upstairs! Oh, I love you guys. Let me tell you something. I am so thrilled to be here. Truthfully, are you?"

The crowd roared to life again, causing Homelander to lift his arms up and absorb the cheering as if it was a drug. As Clark turned his attention from the crowd to Homelander he would swear that he saw the man shudder slightly as he listened to the crowd cheer his name.

"Yeah! That's right. Now last week, and let's not mince words, our great nation…... was…... attacked. And who was it that saved the day?!"

The crowd exploded into shouts and cheers of Superman and Homelander, with placards and signs going up to that effect as well. Clark also watched as the crowd seemed to surge forward as if trying to press up against Homelander and Clark themselves as if a fraction of a centimetre closer would somehow make it worth the effort. The worst bit however to Clark's eyes was Homelander's reaction the man was euphoric at the response and shivered with pleasure at it.

"That's right, YEAH! SUPERMAN AND HOMELANDER! Saved the day! Not Washington, not the media! US! America was attacked, people! Now there are some people…...some people want me to come out here and speak empty platitudes. A bit of corporate talk."

Homelander paused for a moment as he listened to the crowd boo and hiss at his set up, he breathed in heavily. Loving, savouring the fact that they hung on his every word, believing everything he said and would do anything he asked.

"But I don't want to do that. I can't do that! You want to know why? Because I believe that what GOD wants me to do is get on over there, find the filthy bastards that masterminded this…in whatever cave they are in…And introduce them to a little thing called God's judgement! That's what I think! Sounds like the American thing to do! Sounds like the right thing to do!"

The crowd exploded into cheers and shouts of praise, as the guests on stage clapped and shouted their praise with the exception of Clark and Annie who remained silent. However, Clark could have sneered, and nobody would have noticed as every camera and eye was fixed on Homelander.

"But no, no, no, no. Apparently, we have to wait for Congress to tell us its okay. Right?" Homelander paused again as he listened to the crowd boo at his set up drinking in their love and admiration. "I say I answer to a higher law. Wasn't I chosen to save you? Isn't it my God-given purpose to protect the United States of America?"

The crowd cheered louder with each question he gave and started to become even more fanatic than they were before. Homelander moved right into the centre of the stage and lifted his arms up to his side, pushing off to start floating above the crowd. As the crowd chanted his name, as if praying for him to act.

"PSALM! 58:10! THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL REJOICE WHEN HE SEE THE VENGEANCE AND HE WILL BATHE HIS FEET IN THE BLOOD OF THE WICKED!"

Homelander floated out into the crowd waving and smiling as the crowd pressed forward to touch him. He was oblivious to the dozen of Vought executives including Ashely swarming around now trying to contain his outburst, as it was surely to scare the hell out of moderates in congress. Annie turned to look at Clark's reaction only to find that her friend was gone, turning around she could see he was already a distance away from them and likely had left the stage in the middle of Homelander's rant.

(Several hours later)

Annie didn't speak with Clark again for the rest of the evening, although he was around her friend had a perpetual look of concern on his face that he wasn't bothering to hide. She also didn't see much of him as he raced around trying to talk to Homelander but kept missing the man until he discovered that Homelander had left. Leaving Clark to ponder his worry about the speech and everything happening alone, Annie was sure Clark would have left hours ago if not for his promise to back her up for what she was about to do.

The stage was empty, and all set up for her big speech, which was supposed to be about Christ, true faith and Supe's being God's chosen people. However, as she stepped out onto the stage and greeted the crowd with a wide smile she knew she couldn't do it. She paused for a moment causing murmurs and whispers from the crowd, causing her for a moment to consider backing out until she saw Clark off to one side smiling at her.

"Just...just please stop the music. Please stop."

Annie held up her hand forcing the sound guy off to one side to stop the music that was supposed to accompany her, the small pause allowed her to take a deep breath and push on. She quickly glanced to the other side and saw that her mom was mouthing at her in bewilderment.

"I can't do this anymore. I'm sorry mom but I can't. People you deserve better. Every single word that I say up here, I'm reading from a script. I didn't write any of these words. I don't even know if I believe in them. I mean, I believe in God, I love God so much, but..."

Annie gestured to the crowd and then at the posters and stalls that were littering the area. Her eyes lingered on the ones proclaiming to know god's will, and that they knew the way to heaven. That Supes were superior people chosen by god to lead the rest of humanity to the promised land.

"Honestly, it's... it's just how goddamn certain everyone is around here. I mean, tickets start at, what, 170 bucks, so that these people can tell you how to get to heaven? How do they know? How does anybody know? When the Bible was written, life expectancy was 30 years old. I mean, I'm not so sure you're supposed to take it literally."

The crowd started to murmur in disagreement, no one looked happy with what Annie was saying but also no one was trying to stop her. Annie's eyes flicked over to Clark who just smiled and gave her an encouraging nod, knowing that she needed to do this. As she took a deep breath, Clark's eyes glanced at the crowd and widened in surprise as he saw Hughie almost dead centre looking at Annie in wonder.

"It also says that it's a sin to eat shrimp. What, if you're gay or if you're Gandhi, you're going to hell? I mean... one of the greatest men I know, my best friend on Earth doesn't believe in god and he's the most selfless and honourable person I ever met"

Annie just sighed and shook her head as she listened to herself and started to remember all the hypocrisy she had encountered. All the lies and falsehoods that had been shoved in her face caused her to doubt when she should have believed. It caused the fire inside of her to spark up again and make her push on.

"And if you have sex before marriage, that's, that's not immoral. That's human. What's immoral is the guy who shoved his dick in my face. Here's the truth. Anyone who tells you they know the answers is lying. And I know, I know, I'm supposed to be this hero-idol-symbol-whatever, but I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I'm just as scared and confused as the rest of you."

Annie took a deep breath and looked over to see Clark was looking as proud as he could be and gave the biggest smile and nod he could. His faith in her caused the fire that was burning in her to spark hotter and turn into an inferno. She ignored the shocked murmurs and looks of astonishment her revelation had caused, focusing on getting through this.

"I'm done pretending, and I'm done taking any more shit. Thank you."

Annie didn't wait for the crowd to react or for someone to praise her or belittle her, she instead turned on her heels and marched right off the stage. She didn't stop until she was nearly clear of the fairground allowing herself to release the pent-up breaths, she didn't realise she was holding in. As the adrenaline wore off she suddenly felt cold as reality crashed against her again, she was about to scream when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around expecting to see Clark and instead was greeted by Hughie, causing her anger to flare up once more.

Meanwhile, Clark had let Annie head off alone for the moment, knowing she needed to cool off and get herself settled after what she had just done. This was a major step for Annie, and a pretty scary one too, one she needed to do yes but a necessary one and one she needed to know she could do by herself. What she didn't need was him hovering over her like a helicopter parent or a big brother, making her think she needed him to get through life's major hurdles.

For the moment he kept track of where Annie was but mainly focused on the crowd and gauging their reaction to Annie's speech. He was pleasantly surprised that it was almost universally positive, there was of course a few diehard zealots but even they were sympathetic to Annie. Homelander might have played on their fear and need for validation, but Annie had truly touched them in a way Clark was suspecting that Homelander couldn't.

Clark finally decided to check on Annie in person, and subtly floated upwards, going unnoticed due to the darkness of the night sky and people's distraction at Annie's speech. However, as he cleared the crowd he stopped himself from descending and talking to Annie as he saw he had been beaten to it. Directly in front of him, Annie and Hughie were embracing and crying as well, it was a compassionate embrace that told Clark all he needed to know for the moment. His friend was going to be alright and just maybe Hughie was going to be too.

However, as he turned to fly away and leave the young couple to sort themselves out, one thought flashed through his mind, his brain reminded him of Homelander's earlier speech.

They might be okay, but what about the rest of the world?