Ryan stared at the television in awe as Luke Skywalker struggled to understand the ways of the Force and become a Jedi.
On screen, the Rebels fought against the Emperor and Darth Vader, who sought to seize control of the entire galaxy.
The boy was completely captivated by everything happening on screen, especially Han Solo and Darth Vader, the two most striking characters in the movie.
Needless to say, they put on the next movie in the trilogy immediately after finishing the first.
They were halfway through it when a knock sounded at the door, prompting Becca to get up from the couch and answer it.
When she opened the door, she found Homelander standing there with an unusually thoughtful expression.
She immediately knew something serious had happened.
Even the black shirt he was wearing, which did little to hide his muscular build and defined abs, failed to hold her attention.
His foul mood was far more noticeable.
Becca was extremely curious about what had happened, but she did not want to interrupt Ryan’s movie.
He rarely got to watch television as it was.
“Come in. We’re already on Episode Five,” she whispered.
“Really?” John perked up.
“So he liked it?”
“More than liked it.” Becca smiled as she headed back toward the living room.
She didn’t miss the way John’s eyes followed her lower half.
The next hour or so passed almost unnoticed as they watched the movie.
Ryan stared in shock as Luke fought Darth Vader, who was clearly dominating the young Jedi.
When Luke’s hand was severed, the boy’s eyes even began to glow red from the excitement.
Becca immediately turned toward Homelander.
He simply gave her a reassuring smile.
If their powers were truly identical, there was no way Ryan would accidentally fire his heat vision just because he got emotional.
Emotion alone wasn’t enough.
He would still need to focus it and direct it toward a specific target.
That thought seemed to calm Becca down.
“How is that possible?!” Ryan asked excitedly after the movie ended.
“Darth Vader is Luke’s father?! Is that really true?”
“Absolutely.” John smiled and ruffled his hair.
“Can we watch Episode Six?” Ryan asked, briefly glancing toward the window.
His mother noticed immediately.
“It’s already evening, and you need to be well rested tomorrow.” Becca gave him a stern look before softening her tone.
“You can watch it tomorrow. For now, brush your teeth and go to bed.”
“Okay.” Ryan answered reluctantly.
For a moment, he glanced at John.
The man simply shook his head, silently admitting that there was nothing he could do about it.
After putting the boy to bed, they went downstairs to the kitchen, where Becca made some tea.
Throughout the movie, she had noticed that Homelander kept drifting off into his thoughts.
She decided to ask him what was bothering him.
“What happened? You flew off so suddenly.” She placed a cup of hot tea in front of him.
“It’s… work. Don’t worry about it.” He took a sip of the hot drink.
“John, I know we’re not that close. But you were the one who said you wanted us to at least be friends.” Becca sighed, not entirely sure why she was saying any of this.
Curiosity was probably to blame.
“So take the first step.”
“Fine.” Homelander frowned.
“Translucent is dead.”
“What?” Becca exclaimed in shock, immediately covering her mouth.
She didn’t want to wake Ryan with her shouting.
“How is that possible? He’s invulnerable!”
“He was blown up from the inside by a bomb, judging from the… remains.” John sighed and took another sip of tea.
“I assume you don’t need the details.”
“Who could have done that?” Becca asked anxiously.
“We don’t know yet, but we’ll find them.” Homelander assured her.
A surveillance camera had captured Hughie Campbell getting out of a black Fleetwood Cadillac and heading toward the building.
The cameras weren’t good enough to capture his face clearly, but the license plate was perfectly visible.
The car belonged to William Butcher, a former soldier.
Becca’s husband.
And what a wonderful coincidence it was that, not long afterward, a car of the exact same model had crashed into Campbell’s workplace before fleeing the scene.
Signs of a struggle and blood had been found inside the electronics store.
Someone had also erased all the surveillance footage from inside.
Then, the following day, Translucent failed to visit the young cancer patient he had been treating, forcing Madelyn to send A-Train in his place.
“But you shouldn’t fill your head with all that,” Homelander continued.
“There’s something more important.”
“More important?”
“Yes. There’s something I’ve been wondering about lately, and I’d like to ask you about it, if you don’t mind.”
He decided to approach the subject carefully, without revealing where the conversation was going.
“And what exactly is that question?” Becca asked warily.
“Why are you here?”
“What are you talking about?” She frowned.
“All of this.” He looked around the kitchen and, seemingly, the entire secured compound.
“Why did you willingly lock yourself in a cage?”
There was no judgment in Homelander’s voice.
Only the innocent curiosity of a child.
Becca didn’t like it.
“Do I need to remind you whose fault it is that I’m here?”
“You’re aware that I have perfect memory.” He sighed and pushed his cup aside.
“And you’re not here because of me. You chose this yourself.”
He paused.
“It can’t be because of Ryan. His abilities only manifested recently, and the birth went smoothly. You could have chosen somewhere much more populated, but you chose this place.”
He looked directly at her.
“So the question is, why?”
“That’s none of your business.” Becca answered sharply.
“That’s where you’re wrong.”
There was steel in Homelander’s eyes now.
“Anything involving you will eventually involve our son. I can’t allow anything to threaten him.”
“No one is going to threaten him while he’s here.”
“Do you really think this will last forever? What happens when he eventually wants to see the world?”
“What are you getting at?”
“I’m getting at the fact that he won’t stay here forever. I’m taking you both out of here.”
His gaze became so heavy that Becca couldn’t bring herself to argue.
“And I need to know what you were so afraid of that you were willing to go this far. Believe me, the sooner I know, the better it will be for all of us.”
“I was afraid of Billy, my husband.” Becca spoke through clenched teeth.
Homelander nodded, silently encouraging her to continue.
“He… served in the war, and it changed him. When he gets angry, Billy becomes almost impossible to control. He can do horrible things.”
She swallowed.
“And I was afraid he’d kill Ryan if he found out… who his father was.”
“I see. That’s why you locked yourself away here.”
Homelander sighed and stood from the table.
“Thanks for the hospitality, Rebecca, but I should go.”
“Wait!”
Becca jumped to her feet so quickly that she knocked her cup onto the floor.
“Damn it!”
“Why are you getting so worked up?” The blond rolled his eyes.
He headed toward the door.
“See you tomorrow.”
Becca silently followed him outside, lost in thought.
“John.”
She suddenly called out to him just as he was preparing to take off.
“Yeah?” He turned toward her.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
John nodded before flying away.
Becca watched him for only a few seconds before he finally disappeared from sight.
She quietly sighed and went back inside.
Well, that conversation went pretty well, Homelander thought as he made sure she wasn’t about to do anything foolish.
Butcher was having a hard time falling asleep.
It wasn’t even Hughie’s fault, despite the boy’s childish shampoo.
The smell was far too sweet, but it was tolerable.
Something else was keeping the veteran awake.
Something much more troubling.
With a sigh, he got up from the mattress and went to make himself some tea.
Maybe it was an obvious stereotype, but British people did tend to drink tea more often, and Billy was no exception.
For the next five minutes, he stared blankly at the electric kettle until it finally clicked.
Tea bag in the mug.
Boiling water.
Perfect.
Smiling at his own thoughts, Butcher took a sip and closed his eyes in bliss.
At least there was something good left in his frankly shitty life.
He admitted that to himself during moments like this.
After another sigh, Billy stepped onto the balcony to enjoy the cool night air against his skin.
It helped that he usually slept in nothing but shorts.
He took another sip of tea and looked up at the night sky.
Then he froze.
The smile vanished from his face.
His eyes stopped blinking as he stared at a single point in the darkness.
Or rather, two red points.
His fingers tightened around the mug as he refused to look away from Homelander’s eyes.
There was no one else it could have been.
Only that blond bastard had those distinctive red lasers.
And the ability to fly.
And, of course, Butcher had blown up one of his colleagues not long ago.
The conclusion practically drew itself.
For several more minutes, nothing changed.
Homelander remained exactly where he was, watching Butcher.
Butcher stared back defiantly.
At that point, he no longer cared that he had been found.
The only thing he would regret if he died was failing to avenge his wife.
Yet, to his immense surprise, Homelander suddenly flew away in an unknown direction, leaving him alone on the balcony.
It took Butcher a few seconds to process what had happened.
Finally, he let out a relieved breath, took another sip of his tea, and immediately spat it out in disgust.
“Fuck!”
Butcher grimaced at the taste of the now-cold drink.
It was impossible to say what irritated him more: the terrible taste of the tea or the expectations he had built up about his encounter with Homelander.
No one would ever find out.
Not even under threat of death.