Chapter 9
The day was sunny and perfect for flying.
My hair fluttered in the wind as my body floated leisurely through the air, and I gazed at the ground below.
It felt good to enjoy the beauty of nature, but it didn't last long. I finally got where I was going and landed easily on the porch.
The knock on the door was unexpected for Rebecca, but by her heartbeat, it was clear she guessed who had come to visit.
She looked at my face for two seconds from the peephole after finally opening the door.
The only thing I could do was smile and act like I was any other person.
"Why the facade?"
She asked, slightly furrowing her brows.
"And why do you have one?"
I countered with a wink.
My gaze at her body and my slightly altered smile immediately let her know what I meant.
She hadn't expected that from me, but this kind of compliment about her appearance was something she clearly appreciated.
I could tell that for sure.
"So, John?"
Rebecca said with a smirk, clearly not believing my words.
"Yes, Rebecca."
I smiled, winking at Ryan, who was watching me with some interest.
"Alright, John."
She almost muttered when noticing the reflection of her son in my glasses.
"Come in."
"Thank you, Rebecca."
I nodded to her as I stepped inside the house.
"Hi, Ryan."
"Hello."
He responded politely, but he looked wary.
"We were having breakfast."
Rebecca said.
"Join us."
"With pleasure."
I accepted the invitation politely, even though I had already eaten.
A stack of freshly made pancakes that looked delicious was in the middle of the table.
I sat at the available spot, watching Rebecca serve breakfast to her son.
"quí está tu desayuno"
She said, which genuinely surprised me.
"Gracias."
Ryan replied.
"Spanish?"
I recognized the word "thank you" spoken by him.
"On Sundays, we speak en español."
Rebecca explained.
"Wow."
I expressed my surprise more overtly.
"Do you speak Spanish?"
Ryan asked me, taking a sip of orange juice.
"No, but I speak Russian and German."
I decided to boast to him.
"Really?"
Rebecca was surprised.
She hadn't heard anything like that despite being Homelander's main PR person.
She regarded my words with skepticism. It made sense because if the company knew about it, they would use it to promote Homelander.
"Yes,"
I smiled at Rebecca and turned to her son.
"You know what, Ryan? I'm going to start learning Spanish too, so I don't fall behind."
"Won't it be hard for you?"
"Aller Anfang ist schwer."
I winked at him, causing him to look puzzled.
"It means that all beginnings are hard. Don't worry, Ryan. I'll manage."
He nodded and started his breakfast, trying not to stare at me with his slight aloofness was clear.
After all, he rarely saw strangers, and my behavior in his place would certainly have been similar.
"What would you like to drink? Tea, orange juice?"
Rebecca decided to break the awkward silence.
"A glass of milk, please."
I politely requested.
The breakfast was quite decent and homely.
Rebecca had clearly learned to cook much better than she did eight years ago, but I hadn't had the chance to taste her cooking before.
There were no malls, restaurants, or even the option to order a simple pizza here.
She had to cook with the situation.
I should think about where to move her and the boy to avoid unnecessary noise if needed.
It's also important to consider that socially, Ryan was no better than Homelander during his early days as a hero.
Homelander managed to blow up a factory on his first day which I would like to avoid in the case of his child.
I absentmindedly ate the two pancakes on my plate while thinking about this.
I reached for my phone immediately and was watching a popular video on it.
It was a very interesting amateur video where a blonde in civilian clothes, with bright yellow lasers in her eyes, skillfully took down two rapists.
It seemed Starlight had decided to ignore my words.
"John!"
Rebecca almost shouted, interrupting my thoughts.
"Yes?"
I paid attention to her, putting the phone away.
"We don't use phones at the table."
She sighed.
It seemed my behavior annoyed her.
"Sorry, it's for work."
I replied, trying to add a guilty tone to my voice. She nodded as she saw me putting the phone into my pocket.
"And what is your job?"
I stared at Ryan, who had apparently asked this question. He decided to show mercy and translated his words into English.
"And what do you do for work?"
"I'm an actor."
I replied without hesitation.
"Really? Like Clark Gable?"
Ryan asked with excitement.
"Who?"
I responded.
I had never heard of such an actor in either this life or the previous one.
"Gone with the Wind. He plays the main male role."
Rebecca explained.
"I've never seen that movie, though I've heard of it."
"Maybe we could watch it together?"
Ryan suggested, looking pleadingly at his mother.
"Please."
"Alright."
Rebecca smiled, giving in to the child's request.
"It's his favorite movie."
"Hooray!"
I stayed with them for four hours to watch the story of how a selfish girl turns into a vixen.
It was certainly interesting.
This was largely due to the actors' performances, especially the lead actress.
However, the feeling of watching the lives of terrible people... lingered throughout the film.
Afterward, I had to express my enthusiasm for the movie in front of my son.
Although I spoke very positively about the film, my true impressions were somewhat mixed.
Anyway, I never considered myself an expert on films from the 1940s, which were ahead of their time and more akin to movies from the 1980s.
In this situation, the important thing was that time passed unnoticed and engagingly.
However, I couldn't stay there for long and left shortly after the movie.
I needed to find out what Madelyn planned to do about Starlight.
This woman never liked it when her protégés engaged in self-initiative.
She wouldn't even let Homelander take a step without permission.
What could be said about the others?
The familiar elevator cabin and corridor on the ninety-fifth floor had remained unchanged during my absence.
"Homelander!"
Starlight exclaimed, her face lighting up with joy when she saw me.
She had been looking very thoughtful up until that point, which showed that something had happened.
"Starlight, you have no idea how happy I am to see you."
I smiled, leading us to the conference room.
"So, tell me."
"Tell you what?"
Annie asked with confusion.
"What's made you so deep in thought that you nearly knocked someone over."
I smirked, looking at her with a condescending gaze.
"Really?"
"Absolutely."
I assured her as the iron gates slid open.
I didn't wait for them to fully open before going inside.
"So, what's the issue?"
"Miss Stillwell wants me to wear something that's usually sold in sex shops."
"Something like a swimsuit?"
"Yes."
Starlight grimaced.
"And it's necessary for the ratings?"
I nodded thoughtfully while recalling the padding in Homelander's suit designed to show off his abs and powerful muscles.
"Yes."
She sighed.
"Can you help?"
"Of course."
I smiled at the desperate girl.
"And I even have a perfectly workable idea."
...
[3rd POV]
Madelyn was deeply irritated, but this wasn't evident from her appearance.
She had learned to hide how she really felt behind a polite smile over the years of working in the entertainment industry.
This may be why the past few days' events rattled her.
She had dropped her mask in front of Homelander for the first time in years, showing panic and pure terror.
She had never done this before because she knew Homelander was dangerous.
To make matters worse, Translucent had suddenly disappeared.
This meant that all plans involving him were canceled.
The son of a bitch didn't even bother to send a text message, apparently off to get drunk.
That's not to mention Homelander's protest against Vought, who had previously considered himself part of it.
Suddenly, everything changed when he heard about his son.
Then everything went to hell.
A-Train had decided to screw up live on Instagram.
Of course, Starlight had decided to go out in her civilian clothes and shoot lasers from her eyes!
Fortunately, everything turned out fine and ratings even went up, and action was needed before her popularity dropped.
But... there's always that damn "but."
She clenched her fingers into a fist, feeling her nails dig into her palm.
She stubbornly refused the generous offer of a new costume design that would boost her ratings among teens and adults.
As if that wasn't enough, she began to insist that all matters concerning the "Seven" were decided personally by Homelander.
This nearly drove Madelyn to the edge, but she restrained herself and clearly explained the company's policies to the naive idiot.
A few hours later, Homelander summoned her to the conference room—something he had never done before.
She was the one who summoned him, not the other way around!
But this time, she didn't let all of her anger out on the kids playing in their sandbox.
She had to clean up all the trash!
She was clearly not paid enough for this worthless job.
With these thoughts, she put on her usual smile and approached the iron gates.
They easily opened, letting her inside where the other six superheroes were waiting and watching her.
"Good afternoon, Madelyn."
Homelander said with a smile, spreading his arms as if trying to embrace her, but the distance didn't allow it.
"Good afternoon, Homelander."
She smiled back, glancing at Starlight and the new costume lying on the table.
"Why did u call me?"
"Well, I wanted to address a minor issue."
Homelander's smile became more strained as he tossed the costume onto the floor right in front of Madelyn.
"Just a little something."
"I see."
She huffed, surveying the room with a glance.
"But why all this?"
"As everyone knows, we have a democracy. So we must consider everyone's decisions that directly affect the entire team. And you're here to witness it. What do you think, Maeve?"
"I completely agree."
Maeve responded while sipping another glass of whiskey and glancing at Madelyn disdainfully.
"And when do we start?"
Madelyn asked with a forced smile while feeling the sharp pain from her nails digging deeper into her skin.
"Right now."
Homelander replied casually.
"Who's in favor of changing Starlight's costume design? Raise your hand."
As expected, no one voted against Homelander's decision.
At that moment, Madelyn wanted nothing more than to smack the smug face of this bastard who had orchestrated this public humiliation in front of her subordinates.
She would definitely remember this.
"And who's in favor of leaving everything as it is?"
Homelander raised his hand, and everyone followed his lead.
"Well, I hope you won't contest our decision."
"I..."
"Since when do you think you have any say in decisions here?"
The person who was rightfully considered the most important in the entire company entered the room.
It was a black man in glasses, dressed in a bespoke business suit.
He looked prideful, like he was above everyone else, even Homelander.
The silence was absolute, as Stan's presence was literally overwhelming.
"Stan! What a surprise!"
Homelander greeted him cheerfully, seemingly cool by his words.
"You decide to come down from the heavens to visit us?"
"Witty. But I'm not the one flying over the city all day instead of attending to business."
Stan Edgar replied calmly.
"I'm just trying to catch up, sir."
Homelander smiled at him with a subtext easily understood by only three people in the room.
He soared over the table to land in front of the company's CEO.
"That's no reason to jeopardize an important contract for us."
Stan frowned, staring directly into his eyes.
"I think it's an excellent reason."
Homelander smirked, challenging him with his gaze.
"Do you consider yourself the most valuable asset of our company?"
"Oh no, why would I?"
Homelander scoffed, looking mockingly at him.
"Fortunately, I know what that asset is and have it on hand. Just in case. Right, Madelyn?"
She flinched, feeling as if the ground had been pulled out from under her feet.
How was she to know that ten years ago he would use his knowledge of the V serum against her?
Homelander had outright stated that he would make the information about the serum public because of the damned costume of the newcomer!
"And what exactly do you want then?"
Stan asked while shocking Madelyn.
Stan had never backed down until now because he always had something good planned.
However, those advantages didn't seem to work against Homelander, who didn't seem to care about the company's future.
At least for now, but Stan wasn't the type to just let things go.
"A mere trifle. I'll continue to handle my business, and you handle yours. And yes, you will not coerce any members of my team."
Homelander replied, looking down at him and extending his hand.
"Are we in agreement?"
"I suppose... yes."
Stan finally allowed himself to smile, shaking hands with the hero.
"Until next time, Homelander."
"Until next time, Stan."
Homelander smirked, looking at him with amusement.
Madelyn watched in shock as Stan Edgar was left defeated by someone he considered a capricious child who could be easily put in his place.
She decided to follow him, not wanting to stay here and to find out further plans regarding Homelander.
There were definitely plans.
"Ashley, please get this trash out of sight."
Homelander asked when noticing Madelyn's assistant, who had been eavesdropping.
"Yes, of course!"
Ashley almost squeaked, quickly picking up the costume from the floor.
"Well, since everything is settled, let's get back to work."
Homelander smiled while turning to the silent spectators.
The first thing he noticed was the look of admiration from Starlight.
However, the other team members couldn't say the same thing.
The shock was evident everywhere, even in Black Noir's stance, and that says a lot.
Well, the goal was accomplished beyond expectations, and John was quite pleased with that.
He just had to wait for Stan's retaliation actions, which were definitely coming.