Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"In an electrifying turn of events, a mesmerizing new figure has emerged, captivating the hearts and minds of people across the globe. Allow me to introduce Queen Maeve!!! The Amazonian Empress of the Other World, whose entrance onto the scene was nothing short of breathtaking! With an aura of mystery surrounding her, this enigmatic heroine has swiftly risen to become a beloved favorite among the adoring masses, leaving an indelible mark on the world!" A newswoman excitedly said while various images of a beautiful blond Amazonian flashed across the screen of the TV. 

 Various images of the heroine saving the day and helping people in trouble appeared one after another. Some were of her carrying civilians to safety, while others were of her stopping low-level thugs from robbing, but many of them were just her standing next to another rapidly rising hero, Homeland- 

Click!

"Mind explaining what the fuck this is?" A woman asks while roughly shutting off the tv, having seen more than enough of what she considers shit news.

"A TV that has just been turned off?" A calm baritone voice innocently answered, much to the woman's annoyance.

The two of them were in the woman's office and were currently in a meeting to discuss important matters… or what is deemed important matters to the woman. 

 "Why am I even talking to her? It's my bloody lunchtime for crying out loud!" The hero whined to himself as he munched on a sandwich, enjoying the delicious flavors that touched his tongue. "Wow! This is one hell of a sandwich! I need to go there more often! Grandma Rose makes a mean sandwich!" 

He received the sandwich as a heartfelt thank-you gift for his heroic actions of preventing a restaurant fire and rescuing the owner from a dangerous situation. Despite not seeking any rewards for his heroic deeds, Grandma Rose, the kind-hearted owner of the restaurant, stubbornly insisted on expressing her gratitude by offering him a free meal. So to pacify her, he graciously accepted her offer and got a nice warm sandwich! And he gotta say, he does not regret accepting it!

 "I'll help her repair her restaurant after I'm done with this 'meeting' if I can even call it that." He thought to himself, almost halfway through his sandwich. He was currently sitting down on a comfy chair barely paying attention to what his 'manager' was saying, too focused on his meal to care.

"Not that you idiot! What I'm asking you is why the fucking hell are you working with these two bint broad!" The blonde-haired woman screamed out, throwing the remote that was in her hand with all her might at the hero. 

Homelander merely caught the remote with one hand without so much as looking up from his sandwich.

Madelyn Stillwell was a woman of great ambition and would go to extreme lengths to achieve her goals. That's why she was working with the world renowned Vought that dealt with the insane business of superheroes. Any other job would be beneath her skills and talent, and that was why she took on the challenge of handling what she was told to be their greatest creation. And said creation was proving to be more and more of a nuisance with each passing day. 

She has an extensive experience in dealing with so-called "heroes," Madelyn knew firsthand that these fuckers were far from the virtuous saviors that Vought portrayed them to be in the public eye. Behind the facade of superheroes lay a darker reality, one in which their actions often mirrored those of monsters rather than saints.

Madelyn had ample experience dealing with them and knew precisely how to manipulate them to her advantage. They were driven by greed, were often petty, and a pain in the ass to deal with, but ultimately, they were easily controlled. Instead of acting like the responsible heroes they were portrayed to be, they were nothing but spoiled children, easily swayed by money, fame, and sex. 

She had managed many heroes throughout her years of being a hero manager and was one of the very few that knew the truth behind the supposed heroes. The messes they made and the expensive cost of sweeping all the dirt under the rug.

The murders, rapes, and mass group genocides. All of it swept under the rug just to keep the image of heroes as clean as a whistle, after all… it wasn't profitable if their merchandise was put in a bad light was it?

 "But this bastard just has to be different from everyone else." Stillwell glared hatefully at the man in front of her who was mindlessly munching on that stupid sandwich without a care in the world.  "With his Boy Scout attitude and good boy personality, makes me fucking puke." 

"That wasn't very nice of you, Miss Stillwell." Homelander said as he calmly put the remote down on the desk in front of him. "That could've hurt somebody."

"Oh fuck off! If military grade bullets can't hurt you then a remote won't do shit to you." Madelyn growled out, she was currently pacing back and forth trying to calm herself down.

"No, but it did hurt my feelings~" John smiled as he lightly teased his manager, knowing full well that she absolutely hated it when he did it.

The scowl on her face was truly a sight to behold.

Putting his half eaten sandwich down, the blonde haired man stood up from where he was sitting and turned to exit the room.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?! We are not done with our meeting until I say we're done!" Rushing to block the door, the woman's piercing eyes glared at the man before her and stood between him and the exit. "You still haven't explained why you're helping that bitch! She's our competition, you idiot! At the rate things are going, that slut is going to steal the spotlight, and your popularity is going to drop because of her!"

Homelander merely raised an eyebrow, not at all understanding why she was bringing this up.

"Since when is being a hero a competition? As far as I'm aware, being a hero is about helping people and besides, you should know how little I care about those kinds of things." He said, crossing his muscular arms and narrowing his eyes down at the much shorter woman.

If it were any other superhero, Madelyn would've cut her losses and gone on to deal with another more easily manipulated hero. But unfortunately for her, he  wasn't just any other hero. He was America's golden boy and, more than likely, the future number one hero of the world! If she stopped being his manager, then some other bitch trying to make it big would take over her spot and reap all the benefits that come with being the manager of the number one hero!

A tense silence came between the two, neither one willing to back down. Piercing brown eyes met calming blue, one filled with annoyance and the other with steely resolve.

As the seconds ticked by, John couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when he noticed something odd. Seeing his frazzled expression, Stillwell crossed her arms, wondering what caused him to make that face.

"The fuck are you thinking about now?" She asked with a slight growl.

John, who was now staring at her in confusion, shook his head and responded to her question.

"I'm just confused as to why your heart beat is so calm." 

"My heart beat?" Now it was her turn to be confused, what the hell did he mean by heart beat? 

Taking time to organize his thoughts, the hero further elaborated on what he meant.

"Because of my powers, I am somewhat of a human lie detector." Homelander explained, pointing at his ears and eyes to further his point. "I can see their heart and hear it beat, heck I can even see the tiniest twitches of their body. While I'm not exactly perfect at it, I am accurate enough to know what a person is feeling even when they don't outwardly show it."

Hearing his answer she nodded her head in acknowledgment, but was still confused as to why it would cause him to be confused when looking at her. After all, she was informed about his powers in great detail by Stan Edgar, she knew full well what he was capable of.

"And what does that have to do with my heartbeat? I already know all of this."

Pausing for a moment to think of a proper way to explain, John tried his best to answer.

"...I've noticed how you interact with other supes, and it's clear that you hold yourself in higher regard, considering them inferior in every aspect. However, despite your show of superiority, you still unconsciously fear them." These words left the strong-willed woman momentarily speechless. "I can detect your accelerated heartbeat and observe the subtle flinches whenever they come near you, and this pattern repeats with every single super I have seen you interact with. But weirdly enough…" 

The hero took a moment pause and stared at her with a look that made the woman's knees buckle.

"…none of that happens when you're with me. Your heart rate remains steady, and you don't even flinch… Why is that?" John questioned, wanting to know why the woman that should fear him, was so relaxed around him compared to other supes.

No words came out of Madelyn Stillwell's mouth, too stunned from hearing what he just said to make a proper reply. The two stared at each other for what seemed like hours in an awkward silence, much to Homelander dismay as he didn't mean for it to turn out like this.

"…you can leave, but don't blame me when your paycheck is missing more than a few zeros, because of you losing popularity because of her." With that said she moved out of his way and went back to her desk more than a little upset. 

Free to leave, John quickly made his way out, wanting to get out of there as fast as he could.

 "I'm going to have to avoid her for a while, that was awkward as hell!" John thought to himself as he zoomed down the hallway while being mindful about the people around him.