“So, how is my indispensable handler feeling?”
I asked with genuine interest as I stopped in front of the woman.
“I’m doing just fine, Homelander,” Stillwell replied with a smile.
“Thanks for asking.”
“Doing so well that you’re practically bouncing with excitement?”
I snorted, taking a quick look at the state of her body.
“You’ve always been able to see right through people,” the woman sighed, though she couldn’t hide her smile.
“Fine… I was offered something.”
“And what would that be, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I thought you could see through just about anything.”
She raised a folded napkin to face level.
“Take a look.”
My eyes focused on the napkin, instantly seeing through it.
The ink from a pen became perfectly visible, forming a series of numbers.
Very impressive numbers.
The surprise on my face was apparently just as obvious to her as gravity itself.
“A raise,” she bragged, pointing at herself.
“Though Miss Stillwell will be expected to put in the corresponding effort.”
“The important thing is that Miss Stillwell doesn’t let all this success go to her head.”
I smirked as I met the woman’s sly gaze.
“Don’t worry, Homelander. She won’t. I’ll make sure of it myself.”
Madelyn winked at me, picked up her champagne glass, and took a careful sip.
“Good, if that’s the case.”
I nodded, keeping my eyes on her.
“I hope you aren’t too burdened by the company of all these high-ranking officials.”
“Not at all. Ask me again in thirty minutes.”
She smiled while casting a rather lustful glance at several young officers nearby.
“Just don’t get carried away.”
I snorted and turned to leave.
“I hope you’ll give me a dance?”
She caught me by the elbow.
“Just one.”
I didn’t particularly like that.
I made no attempt to hide it, narrowing my eyes at her.
“Take your hand off me.”
“Oh, don’t get so worked up.”
The woman smiled awkwardly and immediately released me.
“I was only asking.”
“Know your place.”
I spoke through clenched teeth before returning to Starlight, whose company I found considerably more pleasant.
“So that’s a no.”
There was no point pretending the event had been anything other than incredibly boring.
After barely an hour, all the important people had already left, apparently deciding that they had more important things to do.
I couldn’t say I disagreed.
Not long afterward, I said goodbye to the members of my team who had attended the event.
Madelyn left around the same time, although she obviously couldn’t travel faster than the speed of sound.
Considering New York traffic, it would take her another hour to get home.
My flight, on the other hand, lasted less than five minutes.
That was all it took to reach my house.
The living room lights were on, and Becca and Ryan were sitting on the couch.
I flew into the guest bedroom, quickly changed into the clothes that had become completely routine for me, then went downstairs and entered through the front door.
I figured most people would agree that it would look rather suspicious if I suddenly came down the stairs from the second floor.
The wooden door gave a barely audible creak as I entered the house once again.
Standing at the entrance to the living room, I looked at the child sleeping in Becca’s lap.
The young mother hadn’t wasted the opportunity to run her fingers through her son’s thick hair, gazing at him with pure affection.
A smile naturally appeared on my face as I took in the pleasant scene.
Of course, remaining unnoticed was impossible, considering how enhanced the girl’s senses were.
There was no way she hadn’t heard the door.
She’d probably known I was there for the last couple of minutes.
“How was your day?” she asked, raising her head and meeting my gaze.
“Not bad. Could’ve been better.”
“And what was missing?”
“You…”
I smiled when I saw Becca’s expression change.
“And Ryan. I’ve been away too often lately.”
“Well, you have a lot to do. It’s only natural that you’re busy.”
Becca nodded before glancing down at her son.
“Ryan was waiting for you all day.”
“And were you waiting for me?”
“I… was waiting with Ryan.”
She yawned at the end of her sentence.
“And then he fell asleep.”
“Looks like you need some sleep too.”
“I’ll carry him.”
I picked the boy up, earning a skeptical look from his mother.
“I could have carried him too.”
“You could have, but you’re already tired. I’m full of energy.”
I answered confidently as I carried the child upstairs under her displeased gaze.
“Thank you.”
Her voice reached me from behind.
Another day had passed.
It had been stressful, but perfectly manageable.
After that, I could finally relax and sleep until tomorrow, when another pile of work would be waiting for me.
At least, that’s what I thought at the time.
The woman rested her head against the car window.
The vehicle was essentially at her disposal for the entire day, but Madelyn Stillwell only used it in the morning and evening, simply to get to work and return home.
She was an incredible workaholic, taking after Stan Edgar.
Because of that, even her time off rarely lasted more than a couple of days.
Streetlights rushed past her eyes like drops of rain that were impossible to make out because of how quickly they passed.
The thirty minutes she’d spent stuck in traffic earlier had gone by like mere seconds, perhaps because of the champagne she’d been drinking.
She certainly couldn’t boast about having a high tolerance for alcohol.
Such a talent would have been extremely useful to her.
Eventually, they arrived at Stillwell’s home, and she stepped out of the car.
“Thank you.”
She thanked the driver and closed the door.
The driver didn’t respond.
He simply drove away, leaving her alone by the road.
Madelyn gave an irritated snort and headed toward her house.
It certainly wasn’t anything luxurious.
It wasn’t some enormous mansion of the sort wealthy people liked to buy, either.
To be perfectly honest, she still used an actual key to get inside instead of one of those modern electronic locks people seemed determined to install everywhere.
The neighborhood was safe, and there was even a police station nearby.
She had nothing to worry about.
At least, she was confident that she didn’t.
“Rachel?”
She called for the housekeeper, who also served as Teddy’s nanny.
There was no answer.
She frowned, dropped her keys into a small dish, and looked around.
It was suspicious that Rachel hadn’t even warned her she was going somewhere.
The old woman wasn’t the sort to make spontaneous decisions.
“Looking for me?”
A dark figure spoke from an armchair.
A pistol rested on the armrest, positioned so that she could clearly see it.
“What do you want? And where’s Rachel?”
“Sleeping peacefully. I had no intention of hurting the old woman.”
The bearded man in the black coat grinned.
“But you…”
He paused.
“That’s another matter.”
The man stood up from the chair and slowly walked toward her, seemingly savoring the moment.
Madelyn froze as she stared into the visitor’s insane eyes.
A blow to the head immediately shattered any thoughts of resistance.
It was difficult to think about fighting back when even the slightest movement made her head feel like it was splitting apart.
She decided not to play the hero, especially after seeing just how large the British man was.
Before long, she watched in horror as he strapped explosives around her and forced her into a chair.
She was securely tied to it, and her phone was taken away.
“And here’s Homelander.”
Butcher grinned as he quickly found the blonde bastard’s number.
“How fast do you think he’ll come running?”
“I have no idea.”
The woman replied irritably, feeling the ropes digging into her body, especially around her wrists.
“He’s Homelander. He doesn’t care about me. I’m nothing to him.”
“Don’t bullshit me.”
Butcher glared at her.
“I already know you two are lovers. And I know he’ll come running here like a good little dog.”
He dialed the number.
The ringing quickly stopped.
“Hello? What happened?”
The unmistakable superhero’s voice came through the phone.
“Remember me?”
“William Butcher.”
The blonde answered after a brief silence.
“That accent is hard to forget.”
“Unfortunately, Stillwell can’t answer you right now.”
“We’re in her house, and she’s still alive for the moment. Hurry if you want it to stay that way.”
Butcher hung up and sat down, watching her expectantly.
Stillwell silently stared back at him.
Both of them waited for Homelander to arrive.
“Are you planning to kill yourself trying to take him on?”
“If I have to, then yes.”
His answer was completely confident.
She had nothing to say to that.
They didn’t have to wait long.
Only two minutes later, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed from the second floor.
The footsteps moved toward the stairs.
And then Homelander appeared.
The blonde looked over the situation with interest before turning his attention to Butcher.
“Move one more time and Stillwell goes up in pieces.”
He raised one hand.
A homemade remote detonator was held in it, and his finger was already pressing down on the red button.
“If I let go, that’s it. Even with your speed, you won’t make it in time.”
“What do you want, Butcher?”
The blonde sighed and glanced at Stillwell.
“You set us up.”
Billy’s expression darkened.
“You set things up so that the suspicion would fall on us instead of you.”
“That wasn’t my intention, William.”
Homelander replied irritably.
“If you hadn’t exposed yourselves everywhere you possibly could, this situation wouldn’t have happened.”
“You handed us Compound V yourself. You’re involved in all of this too.”
“Well, you probably shouldn’t have said that.”
The superhero rolled his eyes as he glanced at the woman’s shocked expression.
“Fine, William. State your ultimatum.”
Butcher fell silent.
He looked down at the button beneath his finger before raising his head and meeting Homelander’s gaze again.
This was his chance.
Even if it didn’t kill the bastard, it could at least hurt him.
And if that pain was even half as intense as the pain Billy himself had felt after losing Becca, it would be enough to satisfy him.
Unfortunately, life was never that simple.
“I want all charges against my boys dropped. And I want them left alone.”
“In exchange for Stillwell’s life?”
“Not just that.”
Butcher stared at him with determination.
“In exchange for my freedom.”
“Well…”
Homelander nodded, looking at him with a hint of respect.
“I agree.”
An hour later, the police arrived and took the British man away.
He didn’t resist.
The bomb squad defused the explosives, finishing the job in roughly thirty minutes.
Eventually, there was no one left in the house except Stillwell and Homelander.
Even Rachel had been taken to the hospital.
They were alone.
“I can’t do this anymore.”
The woman whimpered before suddenly transforming into a fat, bald man with an enormous nose.
“God, that’s disgusting.”
Homelander grimaced in disgust.
“I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to.”
Doppelganger gasped, struggling to catch his breath.
He simply couldn’t remain in someone else’s form for too long.
It caused him pain.
And four hours definitely qualified as “too long.”
“What you heard…”
“You can rest assured, I won’t tell anyone anything.”
Doppelganger interrupted him.
“Not even Miss Stillwell will hear about it, let alone Stan Edgar!”
“Yes. None of them will ever find out.”
Homelander nodded, seeing the man’s relieved smile.
Then his hand clamped around the man’s throat.
The smile instantly turned into a look of terror.
“Because there won’t be anyone left for you to tell.”
A loud crack echoed through the room.
The man’s neck broke.
His eyes went glassy.
John stared down at the body lying on the floor, regret visible on his face as he realized what he had just done.
But he also knew one thing for certain.
It had been necessary.