Chapter 4 – Young America

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"

The unseen announcer's voice sounded out clearly over the quiet, yet packed massive auditorium, causing the crowd to go even quieter as the lights went off. A single intense spotlight then focused on the very centre of the stage, as dramatic and patriotic music started sounding out.

"We want to welcome you all to VoughtCon 2011 and thank you all for your continued support of our brave Superheroes that protect and save us every day." There was a brief pause as the crowd broke out into a smattering of applause and cheers, at the announcer's statement before quieting down again. "NOW. We have a special treat for all you platinum members, so please welcome to the stage…"

The music that had been sounding out became more intense before it suddenly cut as a small laser light show enveloped on the stage, red, blue and yellow drenching the stage as the rest of the auditorium became pitch black. The room was primarily silent except for a few excited murmurs from the crowd, the most intense were from the first three rows seemingly all made up of young girls and teenagers. The girls and teenagers edged forward in their seats almost ready to pounce on the stage, as a brass trombone sounded out starting off a signature piece of music.

"…. He's faster than a speeding bullet."

The laser right show began to intensify, the bright white spotlight shifting to match the colours of the laser, filtering between red, blue and yellow as the announcer spoke.

"More powerful than a locomotive,"

The crowd started to get louder as the murmuring started turning into shouts, yells and whoops as people began to stand up. The crowd became so loud that the fanfare music actually had to be turned up, to keep the atmosphere of the event going.

"Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound"

The stage started to fill with smoke as the trapdoor in its centre opened up, and the multi-coloured laser of the light show suddenly converged on it. The crowd was starting to get to their feet and the first few rows suddenly lifted large placards and signs, declaring everything from simple admiration to requests for marriage.

"The leading member of the teen supergroup Young Americans…...The Might of the Midwest. The Heart of Heartlands. The World's most powerful boy. The one they only…... SUPERBOY!"

The crowd who was already going wild exploded into cheers and shouts as the silhouetted figure of Clark rose from the trap door, wearing his black T-shirt and red logo. The loudest noise in the room and one that almost made him wince was from the first few rows as the girls around his age pressed forward only being held back by the height of the stage and the security guards present. Clark maintained a friendly smile on his face as he wavered to the crowd and kept his eyes sweeping over the room not really wanting to linger on any of the crazed fanatics before him.

Suddenly caught a glimpse of his Aunt in the wings who was literally holding a script of the event in her hand and was counting off with her hand until the next part was supposed to begin. Clark had to repress a sigh and a grimace as she reached the end of her countdown as his 'theme tune' that she had paid John Williams to compose reached its zenith. Clark then took a deep breath and made sure that his face was a picture of confidence and happiness, as he pushed off the ground and started hovering in the air.

"Truth, justice and the American way." Clark's mouth formed the words that his aunt and the marketing department had chosen as his new 'catchphrase' going forward.

The crowd exploded into an even greater frenzy as Clark hovered in the air a fake smile on his face as he looked over the crowd of screaming people feeling sick at the sight.

(Kent Farm, Smallville – Kansas – July 28th, 2013)

"Pete will you please shut that off," Clark yelled over to his friend as he moved several dozen hay bales over to the barn on his shoulders.

Pete Ross, Clark's oldest and truest friend in the world pressed pause on the video he had been watching of his friend's VoughtCon act a smile gracing his face. Pete shut his laptop as he leaned back on the hay bale he was sitting on and gave Clark a chuckle, still finding it funny how much his friend hated his fame.

As Clark moved the last of the hay bales, Pete couldn't help but remark on how much his friend changed over the past years. His friend had always been skinny, spindly and at times looked fragile despite being the most powerful boy in the world, not that that many people believed that when they meet him. However, those days were quickly receding, as over the past year, actually really the summer, his friend was no longer that spindly kid adults raised an eyebrow at.

The Clark Kent that stood before him was nearly 6 feet in height and was so muscular that the plaid shirt and work jeans he wore looked ready to rip at any moment. Clark however much to Pete's liking was still Clark despite his new looks making him look every inch the superabled boy people knew he was.

"So, have you met the other members of your superhero team?" Pete asked with a smile on his face as watched Clark walk over to him.

"Yeah, I've met them," Clark said in a tone that Pete knew all too well when his friend talked about the superhero industry.

"What's up?" Pete asked leaning forward a look of friendly concern on his face, his question caused his old friend to release a sigh.

"It's all bull," Clark said placing his hands in his pockets and leaning on the same hay bale that Pete was sitting on. "The team doesn't really exist, it's all marketing gimmicks to sell us to the public. We've never saved anyone as a team, all we do is stand and look good for the cameras."

"Oh, come on. I've seen YOU save lots of people, when we were kids you saved the school bus when we ran off the road." Pete stated not believing for a second his friend wasn't a hero not after seeing all the lives Clark had saved first-hand. "AND just last month, you saved all those people in Wichita, when you ran to help when that freak tornado hit. You telling me those were what fake?"

"No, not at all," Clark spoke in genuine surprise that Pete seemed able to recall his saves so well. He then released a sigh taking his hands from his pockets and picking up a small stone from the ground. "But I didn't do that as part of the Young Americans, I just ran over to help and the next thing I know is that they are flying in most of the team to help with the clean-up. Then suddenly it's all Superboy leads Young Americans to save the city from Tornado.

"Wow, really? I'm guessing your Aunt wasn't happy they made you share the credit." Pete said remembering Clark's aunt well, she was a scary lady who always seemed to worry about numbers and how things looked.

"You know I don't care about the credit," Clark said giving Pete a sideways look that made him chuckle. Clark then threw the stone he was holding launching it so fast that Pete couldn't even track it as it rocketed towards orbit. "She was actually okay with it, something about me looking like a leader was good from over 30's point of view."

The two were silent after Clark's statement for a few moments with Pete looking at Clark and his best friend just looking out towards the horizon. Pete then released a chuckle wanting to improve the mood and gave Clark a playful grin that made him look at his friend.

"Your aunt is one weird lady." Pete's joking yet true comment on Clark's aunt caused him to start chuckling and a smile to appear on his face. Pete then leaned back contented that he had made his friend smile before asking another question. "So, what are the other superabled teens of Young Americans like? Starlight and Holy Mary look hot."

"Pete." Clark groaned at his friend's statement over the two female members of his 'team', shaking his head at the question only Pete Ross would be brazen enough to make to Clark.

"What! They are" Pete stated with mock conviction leaning forwarded and pretending that this was a serious discussion. "Starlight has that whole girl next door thing going for her, and Holy Mary well that's just forbidden fruit. Think you could introduce me?"

"To which one?" Clark asked raising his eyebrows at Pete wondering if his friend really wanted him to set him up with a teen superhero.

"Both." Pete gave him a grin that caused Clark to laugh and shake his head at his friend before slapping Pete on the back. After a few moments of a good laugh, Pete looked at his friend and tried to be more serious. "But seriously what are they like?"

"Annie is alright, you'd like her, she's been a great friend. Actually, it's crazy you to have never met." Clark spoke honestly, a look of curiosity on his face as suddenly realised that his super life and his Smallville life rarely overlapped. However, he pushed that to one side as he tried to recall the other members of the Young Americans that he had met. "Alex is actually quite nice, despite that boyband persona they make him do, but I think he is struggling with everything. The rest I don't know that well, we only interact during photo ops and there isn't much talking."

"Well, that sucks." Pete's comment made Clark look at him confused, but his confusion was answered when Pete grinned at him and spoke again. "I really wanted you to introduce me to Holy Mary."

Clark laughed again shaking his head at Pete and opened his mouth to say something but suddenly snapped his head over to the main house. He then let out a deep sigh as his vision narrowed down and saw a bright pink car coming towards the house. Pete noticing Clark's sigh turned around and stood up, although he didn't possess supervision he could spot the car and immediately knew why his friend was sighing.

"You know you're the only guy in Smallville I know that doesn't look forward to seeing Miss Teen Kansas herself, Lana Lang," Pete smirked at his friend's distress at seeing his girlfriend's car, knowing full well why. "You two still in a fight?"

"What fight? We actually have to talk to have a fight" Clark scoffed, feeling irritated that Lana was again just showing up out of the blue again. He released a deep sigh and turned to look at Pete as the two started to slowly walk back over to the house. "I mean, I've liked Lana since I was 5 and everything was great, but now, she's all guest appearances and tabloid stories. She talks about our relationship with everyone but ME."

"Sorry CK," Pete looked genuinely sad for his friend, knowing what Clark was on about.

Clark and Lana had seemed like the perfect match and on the surface were. She was the queen bee of Smallville high, the head cheerleader of the cheer squad, Miss Kansas Teen USA and runner-up for the Miss Teen USA competition last year. Whilst Clark was the Superboy, the most powerful boy in the world, the heartthrob of a teen heartthrob, and Kansas' favourite son. The two both coming from Smallville meant that it all seemed natural the two would be the ultimate teen power couple. However, under the surface, nothing was perfect.

Lana had increasing become a media whore, desperate to stay in the spotlight alongside her more famous boyfriend, whose fame many suspected was why she won so many beauty pageants. She was also willing to do everything including selling personal secrets to the tabloid to stay relevant and was constantly convinced that Clark was cheating on her with other superabled teen heroes. Clark for his part was just tired of the relationship, he tried to make it work but he only saw Lana when she wanted him to boast her image or she wanted to yell at him for apparently cheating on her with whatever super teen a tabloid placed his photo next to that week.

As the two reached the edge of the field next to the main house, they saw the incredibly attractive and tanned figure of Lana get out of her car. Her red hair contrasted perfectly with the skin-tight pink crop top she was wearing and the very short daisy dukes covering her waist. She took off her sunglasses as she spotted Clark and gave him a perfect smile and waved at him whilst blowing a kiss.

"Oh, Clark baby, I've missed you," Lana said in a tone that would drive most 18-year-old boys wild but just made Clark feel tired, as she walked over swaying her hips suggestively. "I've come to give you a lift, your Aunt is in town and wants to see you, she's at the agency. Apparently, something big has come up."

The agency was what everyone called the small Vought office branch that his aunt had set up in town for him, it's official use was it was supposed to be something like Superboy's HQ. In truth, however, he hardly visited the place, and its only real purpose was a place for his fan mail to go instead of his house. On occasion when his aunt came to visit she would stay at the agency building having converted one floor of the 4 storied building into an apartment, for her to sleep in when needed.

"Thanks, Lana but you know you could have just called to tell me, I'm faster than your car," Clark said giving Lana a strained smile as she sauntered over to him and placed a kiss on his.

"Of course, you are baby, but I just wanted to spend time with you. We haven't seen each other in ages." Lana said batting her eyelashes at him and giving him an almost sickening sweet smile.

Clark turned to look at Pete who just smiled and nodded indicating that it was alright for his friend to go and that he would be fine. Clark just gave a small sigh and gestured for Lana to get back into the car. She gave him a small squeal of delight and raced back into the car quickly followed by a reluctant Clark, who quickly took out his phone and messaged his parents where he was going.

As they drove back to town Clark gave Lana a glance trying to figure out which Lana he was dealing with today. Was it the fame-obsessed overly affectionate Lana that would do anything to keep him or the super paranoid jealous Lana that sold fake stories to the tabloids and tried to control him?

He didn't have to wait long as three minutes into the car drive, he felt a magazine thrown at his head. Looking down at it as it landed on his lap he saw it was one of those trash super teen magazines, which had his, Annie's, and Alex's faces on them under their superhero names with the title, Love Triangle in Young America?

"You want to explain this?" Lana looked at him with almost a snarl on her face.

"Lana." Clark sighed, not wanting to have the argument again that Annie was with Alex and that he was just friends with Annie.

"DON'T LANA ME!" She shrieked out as if Clark was being unreasonable. "I know you and that little slu-"

Lana's voice was cut off by Clark's sudden disappearance from the Car. She only felt a rush of air and the car jolt a little to know that her boyfriend had just super sped away from her, and not for the first time. As he departed she let out a small scream of anger and grip the wheel tightly putting her foot down trying in vain to catch up with him.

(Vought Superboy Hero Office – Smallville, Kansas - July 28th, 2013)

Clark's arrival in the office was heralded by a small gust of wind that caught most of the staff off guard as he was so rarely there they had never gotten used to his arrival at superspeed. However, there was one exception to this, having felt the breeze a split second before the rush had hit her, Mary Clark had simply placed one had on the papers next to her and lifted her cup off the table. She gave her nephew a kind smile and couldn't help but admire the man he was turning into, Clark was getting taller, and more handsome every day.

He would be the face of the next generation, she thought with pride, and was eager for him to do so, Vought had too many fake heroes in it solely for the fame that cost the company millions in damages every year. Clark however, she noted with pride was the real deal, he was genuinely kind, and moral and really did believe in helping people. Despite her arguments and disagreements with her sister, Martha had raised Clark well and despite being famous Clark didn't seem to care for that side of things at all.

"Hi, Auntie." He said releasing a deep sigh as he looked at her, however, being a mother herself Mary knew that Clark's sigh was not truly directed at her.

"Trouble with Lana again?" Mary guessed, knowing full well the issues the couple was having.

She had initially supported the relationship as it scored high with the teen demo and Clark initially seemed to care for Lana. However, recently Lana's behaviour was making it too much of a headache and Mary was spending more time than she wished crushing tabloid stories, Lana was trying to sell to those rags than she wanted. Despite that, she was unconcerned for the moment as Clark's growing fame and soon debut as a full hero would be enough that they could drop the whole high school sweetheart phase for something more substantial.

Her nephew's response was just giving her a deep sigh and a pointed look that told her everything she needed to know. The look also told her that it might be worth dropping Lana sooner rather than later, in all honesty, she had never liked Lana anyway and knew that the Kent parents had gone off the girl as well.

"Well, that's something we can discuss, as there is someone very important that has come all the way from New York to talk to you." Mary gave Clark a genuinely pleasant smile as she then gestured to the nearby stairs that lead to the rest of the agency. "He's upstairs I think you are going to like hearing what he has to say."

Clark gave his aunt a curious look but decided to trust her and followed her upstairs, to his surprise they didn't stop until they reached the top floor that his aunt had renovated into a small yet luxury apartment. As his aunt opened the door Clark was greeted by the sight of an African man seated on the couch, his hair had a tinge of grey around the edges but what surprised Clark was how still the man was.

"Ah, Mrs Clark and you must be her nephew the Superboy." Stand Edgar rose out of his seat rebuttoning his suit as did so before moving over to Clark offering his hand. "However, I understand that you prefer Clark in private, correct?"

"Um yes sir." Clark took the man's hand a little confused, as he tried to place the man's face before realisation dawned on him. "Sorry, but aren't you Stan Edgar, the CEO of Vought?"

"I am indeed, a very astute young man you have Mary just like you said." Stan Edgar gave an impressed smile at Clark as he withdrew his hand and gave a nod at Mary who looked almost ecstatic with the praise. "How's your father doing, I understand that Doctors are still worried about his heart? If you want, I can get him seen by some of the best Cardiologists in the world?"

"Oh thank you, sir, um I'll talk to my parents," Clark said surprised at the offer or that the Vought CEO knew about his father's declining health.

"Oh please you Clark, you can drop the formalities. Why with how often your aunt talks about you I feel like we are practically family. So please call me Stan or Mr Edgar if that makes you feel better" Stan Edgar offered, gesturing for them to return to the living room where Clark saw that the table had been laid out with his favourite food or drink.

"Okay, Mr Edgar." Clark moved over to sit on a chair next to the table, casting a hesitant look at Edgar and his aunt who took their seats on the same couch across from him.

He eyed the food with suspicion whilst many thought Clark was a simple farm boy and some called him a hitch because of the persona his aunt had created, he was anything but simple. He had been dealing with Vought and the same people his Aunt Mary dealt with and whilst he was not as good as her, he wasn't a novice at the game being played.

"So Clark you are likely wondering why the CEO has come out all the way to rural Kansas just to see you." Mary started giving Clark a smile he knew well it was the same one she gave everyone she was trying to sell something to, which was usually him.

Clark gave a small nod, not wanting to speak yet in case he said the wrong thing and also wanted to get the tone of the meeting before he started addressing anyone.

"Mary I think your nephew deserves the respect of dropping the formalities and getting straight to business." Edgar interrupted his voice was almost perfectly controlled, and for the first time ever he saw his Aunt let someone else take charge of a meeting. "It's quite simple son, in a few years, you will be the number one draft pick of future heroes every city will be bidding to have you. What I want to offer you is a chance to effect real change and a measure of control. Would you be interested in that?"

"What kind of deal?" Clark finally spoke he cast a quick glance at his aunt but saw that she was taking a backseat for this meeting.

"Well put simply we will arrange for you to be stationed somewhere on the West Coast I'm thinking Los Angeles personally for your first few years. No Superhero team, no subordinate rule, just you. Full PR support, branding and merchandise are all handled by an exclusive team, 'the whole nine yards' as it were. We will make you into THE hero of the west coast." Stan Edgar presented his offer in short concise points not continuing until he knew Clark had both heard and understood his words.

"And what would I have to do?" Clark asked feeling like such an offer had to have strings attached to it.

"Not much, we are all happy with what you are currently doing. However, we would expect a slightly more active media presence than you have now. Branding, TV show appearances and a couple of movies, nothing too extreme." Mr Edgar gave Clark a delicate business-like smile as he leaned forward and took a small plate placing several pieces of food on it before retreating back. "The only real prevision would be that you keep yourself to the West Coast as much as possible, and with that, you will get Vought's full support."

"Why do you want me to stick to the West Coast?" Clark asked confused although he didn't care where he was stationed as long as he could help, he did find it odd. Nearly every major superhero from Homelander to Nubian Prince was positioned on the East Coast. He then turned to his aunt who had always regarded the West Coast Hero scene as a collection of B-listers. "I thought you wanted me to go to Chicago or New Orleans then head to New York."

"I did…..." Mary stated carefully looking at her boss first and when he gave her a nod, she became more confident, returning to the confident woman her nephew was used to. "But things change, the East Coast is oversaturated with heroes now, and we don't want to waste your potential. I mean Homelander operates out of New York and as the greatest hero he covers nearly all of the East Coast anyway. So, we believe the place you can do the most good is the West Coast."

"Okay," Clark looked at his aunt with hesitation in his eyes, whilst Stan Edgar's vitals revealed nothing, Mary's heart rate was elevated and her pupils had dilated. There was something that she was clearly hiding from him.

"It will be great for the brand as well, just think America's favourite boy hero, the Might of the Midwest becomes the Warrior of the West." Mary jumped on Clark's apparent agreement, starting to lay out her vision of the future, as she always did with marketing slogans. "Saviour of LA, the Avenging Angel of the city of Angles, you are going to be the next Hom-"

"Yes, the opportunities are endless." Stan Edgar cut off Mary before she could mention Homelander giving her a quick look that Clark caught but didn't mention as the man pressed on. "However, all I wanted to do was come in person and tell you that your future is very important to Vought. Anything we can do to make it easy, just let us kn-"

"CLARK JOSEPH KENT!" Lana's voice suddenly sounded out as the door to the apartment rattled as she banged on it with her fist trying to get in. "YOU OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW! HOW DARE YOU RUN AWAY FROM ME! I WAS RIGHT WASN'T I YOU ARE CHEATING ON ME WITH THAT SLUT!"

Clark's face fell as he stood up to go and deal with his irate girlfriend again, feeling embarrassed that the CEO of Vought who was offering Clark a deal of a lifetime was now subject to teenage drama. However, as he stood up Clark found himself stopped by Stan Edgar who merely raised one hand and stood up himself. The CEO placed the small plate he had been eating from back onto the table and then casually walked to the door, opening it with a blank expression on his face.

Lana just blinked up at the slightly taller man who had opened the door clearly not excepting to see a middle-aged African American man in a suit. Her shock however did nothing to dispel the anger in her voice. "JUST WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! WHERE'S CLARK."

Stan Edgar merely stepped forward causing Lana to back out into the corridor allowing him to step out as well and close the door behind him. Clark blinked himself surprised at the sudden action and gave a look to his aunt who just seemed smug at seeing Lana having to deal with the Vought CEO. Clark was about to reach out with his super-hearing to see what was happening when the door suddenly opened again, revealing Stan Edgar who looked calm as ever.

However, what drew Clark's eye was Lana who was no longer angry nor shouting, but for the first time ever she was pale-faced quiet and looked a little scared. She quickly glanced up at Clark and then suddenly turned around and left without saying another word, all but running for the exit.

"What did you say?" Clark looked at the CEO a little wary now as he had never met anyone that could do that to Lana especially not in under a minute like what had just happened.

"Nothing much, we just came to an agreement, Miss Lang will no longer be bothering you or us with her attempts to sell gossip. Apologise if that was a bit presumptuous of me but I had a feeling that the relationship had run its course." Mr Edgar walked back over to him and pulled a card out from his jacket pocket offering it to the young superhero. "My personal number, please call if you need anything, especially regarding your father's health."

"Um I ur, thank you, sir." Clark took the card feeling ironically a little rushed off of his feet for once, as he looked down at the CEO's personal card.

"I must say if that is the worst of what we have to deal with for you. I foresee a very profitable and mutually beneficial relationship." Mr Edgar gave Clark a small almost fatherly pat on the shoulder before moving back to the table with food on it. "Come let's eat something, and we can discuss a choice of Colleges and Mary's new position as the Senior Director of Hero Management."

The trio talked for about three hours with Clark feeling like he was less talking about something that might happen and more like he was listening to an already formulated plan. Whilst everything they said about placing in the best position to do good and spreading out heroes across the country, made sense, he kept feeling like there was more to it. However, the conversation eventually shifted to other things, mainly his brand, with Mr Edgar and his aunt giving him options for his future costume, cape or no cape, red or blue as the main colour scheme.

Eventually, Clark noticed the time and politely excused himself as he still needed to finish up his chores and his homework for the day. As he left Stan Edgar waited a few minutes before turning back to Mary releasing a sigh.

"He seems accepting if a little reluctant." The CEO said as he moved off of the couch and over to the liquor cabinet, pouring himself a single malt scotch.

"I'll work on it. I have a couple of years, and I promise you, sir, your faith in me will not be misplaced." Mary sat up straight and projected an air of confidence believing she could convince Clark to agree with the plan.

"It is imperative that you do." Stan Edgar sighed as he took a deep sip of his drink almost draining the glance in one go. "Otherwise, managing this situation will be impossible."

"Is Homelander really that threatened by Clark?" Mary asked slightly hesitant to broach the carefully kept Vought secret, that the world's greatest hero was a loose cannon and egomaniac. Who had straight-up murdered god knows, how many people when he felt threatened.

"Who can tell with that oversized man child," Edgar replied bitterly, as he drained the last of his scotch before pouring himself another. "Sitwell has him under control for the time being but given how strong your nephew is getting I can't imagine Homelander will stay happy for long. Especially when Clark is no longer a boy and the whole you are still the strongest man thing isn't going to work."

"Do you think Clark can take him?" Mary asked knowing full well the reason Edgar was so invested in Clark was that he saw him as a stable alternative to Homelander. A super that wasn't a hedonistic self-obsessed child, that Vought wouldn't have to clean up after.

"Hmmm, currently I'm not sure. Clark for all intents and purposes is still a boy and still developing, whereas Homelander is still in his prime and has decades of experience on the boy." Stan Edgar spoke thoughtfully as he nursed the drink in his hand taking a small sip as he calculated the odds. "So, at the moment it could go either way. However, in a few years if Clark keeps developing then things might be very different indeed."

(The Seven Tower- Homelander's Apartment – New York – August 1st 2013)

Homelander was staring at the front cover of a superhero magazine and felt his hand contract as the paper ripped from the pressure. He threw the remains of the magazine down onto the table only to see the offending front page was still glaring up at him. The entire front cover was a single image of a boy in a black T-Shirt standing in the rubble of a town, lifting up a house with one hand and offering his hand to a trapped family he was rescuing. The title of the article although ripped in half was also still visible.

A Super Save by the Superboy

Homelander's eyes flashed red and saw the magazine turn to ash before his eyes he let a small, satisfied snarl appear on his face wishing he could do it to the actual boy.

'How could people be so stupid to compare that, that…pup to me!' Homelander thought in disbelief, he was THE HOMELANDER, for heaven's sake the world's greatest superhero. This 'Superboy' was a fucking farm boy from who the fuck cares middle of nowhere, they weren't even in the same league let alone the same ballpark.

What was currently making himmore irritable than usual was the fact that Ashley Barrett, Madelyn's newest assistant had just suggested a mentorship. The very thought made his skin itch, him THE WORLD's GREATEST HERO mentoring the fucking mongrel from fuckin nowhere. It was only Madelyn's quick shooting down of the idea that stopped him from putting a fist through the stupid assistant's head.

"What's the matter?" The voice of Madelyn of Sitwell caused him to immediately perk up.

As he looked up and saw her standing in the doorway of his apartment, he realised he had been more distracted than he thought as he had completely failed to notice her arrival. He quickly swallowed the lump in his throat that always formed when he saw her and also tried to brush the pile of ash off the table.

"Nothing, nothing at all. Why would anything be the matter?" Homelander quickly responded standing up in her presence, fixing a strained grin on his face.

Sitwell just raised an amused eyebrow at his attempts to hide anything from her giving him a small seductive and manipulative. She moved forward to the table and leaned down giving him a quick glance down her top before she stood back up and held one of the other magazines Homelander forget was on the table. It was a superhero Athletic magazine that had a picture of Clark lifting a pair of train engines one on each hand, under the title Most Powerful Boy Alive.

"What did I tell you he is nothing to worry about." Madelyn tossed the magazine away emphasising her point before moving around the table and placing her hands on his chest. "You are the world's greatest hero, you don't need to worry about a fucking super boy, because you are the man every man wants to be, you are HOMELANDER."

"I know." He whispered quietly as he breathed in Madelyn's scent trying to make sure his body didn't respond too obviously. He then released "It's just everyone is talking about him, saying that I should MENTOR HIM like I'm what some fuckin has been, some senior citizen superhero, that needs to pass the fuckin torch to some whiney snot nose prat that I could tear in ha-"

"Hey, hey, calm down. Okay, he's not worth this, he's not a tenth of the man you are." Madelyn quickly moved to calm the unstable superhero before him. Her hand slid lower on his body causing him to stir and focus on him. "Just forget about him okay, I've already sorted it, he'll be shipped off to the West Coast, far from you or the real action and soon he'll be another former famous child Supe who nobody remembers. Now just relax and let me take care of everything."

Homelander let himself be pushed to the couch and Madelyn moved around to the other side to start giving him a gentle massage. Homelander was practically rapturous at the attention and Madelyn saw him stir below the waist causing her to shiver slightly. Although she was terrified of the man and found him repulsive despite his good looks, she still forced herself to continue on knowing it was needed to keep him in place.

"Your right." Homelander eventually whispered after feeling himself almost at the climax of the sensation he was getting from Madelyn Sitwell's touch opening his eyes to look up at her. "He is really nothing to worry about because I'm Homelander."

"Yes, you are." She agreed with him fixing a smile on her face as she looked down at him.

It was several hours later when she was back in her office finishing her day that she looked at the files and emails that her boss Stan Edgar had sent over. Madelyn despite her dislike of Homelander's unstable side was still feeling blinded-sided and more than a little irritated at recent events over the last few years. Homelander was her golden goose, the very thing that made Vought so successful as well as herself, she had gotten in on the ground floor of Homelander and built his brand herself.

She had sacrificed, threatened, and done some pretty unsavoury things to get to where she was now.

Yet, now there was another Supe out there that could challenge her shinning American icon for his title of the world's most powerful man. What infuriated her the most was this 'apparent miracle' super child just also happened to be Mary Clark's nephew. Who just so happened to be the product of a regular Compound V injection into Mary's pregnant sister, that Mary knew nothing about until after it had happened.

'Yeah, right and I'm the bloody Queen of Egypt.' Madelyn scoffed thinking it insulting that Vought that she or anyone would buy that story.

She knew what this was Vought had made a contingency plan, they saw where they had gone wrong with Homelander, and this time had corrected the mistakes. A real childhood with real parents, controlled exposure to the media to make him ready for his true debut and keeping just off the radar enough that their current Homelander would go out and destroy his replacement. Yeah, she saw through the scheme easily enough, all Clark Kent was Homelander 2.0, the true red, a white and blue hero without the kinks Homelander had.

Then of course there was also Mary Clark, now there was a name that Madelyn thought she was never going to hear again. She remembered the presumptuous little bitch from the cousin-fuck-hick middle of nowhere Kansas, who had one time thought herself Madelyn's rival. In truth, there had never been a contest Madelyn was Vought born and bred, practically raised to be in her position, and knew the game like the back of her hand.

Whilst Mary Clark had been that over-eager little bitch, that was kept around because she looked good in a pencil skirt and was eye candy for the older executive boys to look at. She had proven to be good enough and must have gotten in bed with the right executive as well to land a management position in Vought.

However, where before Mary's name invoked a smirk from her, Madelyn now formed a grimace as she thought of the woman. Mary had played the long game and much like how she had coasted on her success with Homelander and the Seven to get to her position, Mary was obviously planning to do the same with her 'nephew'. Mary had even managed to get Stan Edgar to promote her to Senior Director of Hero Management, placing her just under Madelyn and with a directive from the CEO himself that she had free range of the West Coast hero scene.

She also grimaced at the email she had just received from one of her contacts that Clark's girlfriend Lana had broken up with him and had gone media silent. Madelyn had found the girl as a useful pawn and had been the one through various agents using her to try and discredit Mary's golden boy through tabloid stories. It seemed as though someone had got to Lana and that particular route of smearing Clark was no longer going to work, Madelyn needed to think of another way.

'Or maybe, don't' The random thought that went through her head made her smile as an idea suddenly came to her. 'Don't fight change, be the one in charge of it. Yes, that was it, let Mary do all the work build up Clark into something, out west and then swoop in. Dazzle the boy with the glitz and glamour of the bid leagues pry him away from Mary and then bring the next icon to the east coast, as a member of her team.'

Yes, Madelyn liked that plan, Clark from what she understood was like most people and admired the Seven thinking them the world's greatest heroes. What super kid didn't grow up dreaming of being in the Seven. So it should be easy once he was more established to swoop in and convince him to come to work for her in the Seven, although it might take a few unsavoury things she could convince Homelander to go along with it.

The only question was which one of the idiots on the Seven would they drop for Clark when the time came. Maeve and Black Noir were out, one because they needed a female in the team and the other because Stan Edgar wanted him there. A-Train was also likely a no as the team still needed diversity unless he lost his position as the fastest speedster alive and got slower, then Clark could easily take his spot as the fastest man alive. So, she was thinking, Translucent or the Lamplighter, both were arrogant pricks, whose messes she could do without, one was a perv and the other was a colossal idiot, both of whom really offered little in the way of power.

Yep, she liked this plan for a few more years and then she could clean out one of the rotten apples for the next golden goose. The future was looking very bright indeed for Vought, the Seven, and Madelyn herself. The icing on the cake was that when she whisked Clark off to the real Superhero show, it would leave the bitch Mary Clark on her own in the B-list rodeo that was the West Coast scene.

Madelyn let a great big grin settle on her face as she looked down at the file that had Clark's picture on it, and where before she had felt annoyance, she now felt opportunity. She had wrapped Homelander around her finger in no time, how hard could a farm boy from the stick possibly be.