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As Homelander flew over the chaotic scene in the woods where Rebecca, William Butcher, Ryan, and Stormfront clashed, he clenched his hands into fists. Heat rose up his neck, flushing his face. Of course Ryan was with Butcher and Becca. Of course they’d been behind all of this.
But before his feet even touched the ground, he'd surveyed the entire scene and realized he’d arrived just in time.
His gaze locked on Stormfront who was holding Rebecca by her throat. She was strangling her against a tree. William Butcher was yelling and swinging a crowbar against Stormfront's back but it was doing absolutely nothing.
He was so desperate that all common sense had flown out the window.
Pathetic.
Frustration, betrayal, and fury collided inside Homelander all at once- because of Rebecca and Butcher staging distractions to steal Ryan away from him and because Stormfront had taken it upon herself to hurt Rebecca.
"Please stop!" Ryan screamed a few feet away from the commotion that was unfolding. His face was panic stricken.
Homelander had never seen him like that. He hated it. It made him feel physically sick. As if his stomach had dropped to his boots.
Like a slideshow in his mind, Homelander saw Becca begging him on the porch not to take Ryan away from her a few days earlier.
And he could once again see Ryan begging for his mom when he was overwhelmed by the crowds at Planet Vought. As soon as Homelander realized his son was overwhelmed, he'd flown him away from all the crowds to try and console him.
But he really didn't want his dad. Ryan had begged to see his mom.
Homelander could see all of the pictures of Becca and Ryan inside their little Vought created home as he searched around. He could see the memories scattered around the house in the most mundane items.
He tried to take it all in. Who his son was and who Becca was.
It reminded him of the years with his son that he had missed. The years he could never get back.
And buried beneath all of the anger that caused him to blame Becca for keeping Ryan from him, there was something else burning inside him. He hated admitting it.
It was Regret.
It had been somewhere deep inside of Homelander. He'd been pushing it down further and further as if he could bury it.
But somehow it was gnawing at him again. It was telling him that he at least owed Becca this. He owed her for what he'd done to her to pull her into this life.
And for trying to take Ryan away from her when all she had been trying to do was take care of his son and keep him safe. She’d already given Ryan the life he never had.
And Ryan didn't deserve to see his mom murdered in front of him.
Homelander remembered the smell of homemade cookies on the counter that second day he’d barged into their lives. After he made the deal with her to spare Billy Butcher’s life.
Rebecca had put herself between he and Ryan, standing with her shoulders rigid and her arms crossed. She’d tried to act like she wasn’t afraid of him.
There had been Lego houses on the coffee table. Clean clothes neatly folded in a laundry basket. Hand drawn pictures placed on the fridge with cliché fruit shaped magnets. And a cozy bedroom with a neatly made bed.
It was all these little things that he hadn't had that were going through his mind. Ryan was lucky to have them. And it wasn't time for him to lose them.
Every muscle in his body screamed for action as he struggled to keep his temper from boiling over.
“Stormfront!" Homelander roared.
Both Butcher and Stormfront turned to look at him. They both looked shocked that he had dropped in so quietly.
Or maybe it was his bloodied appearance.
He was literally drenched in blood. The metallic smell was so strong in his sensitive nose that he could taste it on his tongue.
One of Stormfront's eyes was a bloody mess but he didn't have time to wonder who had delivered that blow.
"Dad!" Ryan yelled as soon as he noticed his presence.
"Help us please!" Ryan begged. "She's hurting her!"
Homelander's heart swelled a little at the sound of the word, Dad, and the faith that Ryan had that he could fix it.
Butcher had stopped swinging the crowbar into Stormfront's back upon Homelander's arrival, but the wildness in Butcher's eyes only grew.
He looked like a trapped animal, not sure who else he was going to have to fight next.
That was the first time Homelander had seen him like that. With no other cards to play and the life of his wife hanging on by a thin thread, he was basically helpless. Helpless but desperate.
It would have been so easy to finish the man off and be done with him for good.
Homelander let himself relish in the idea briefly, but Stormfromt had to be dealt with first.
"What happened to you?" Stormfront asked.
Her grip loosened a little around Becca's throat.
But instead of looking at Stormfront, Homelander’s eyes stopped on Becca, listening for her heartbeat and the sound of her noisy, struggling breaths.
The mother of his child was clinging to life.
Stormfront immediately noticed his hesitation.
“John?”
Homelander looked at her.
“Let. Her. Go,” he gritted through his clenched teeth.
Stormfront blinked. She let out a half chuckle. “What?”
He took a step closer. He’d chosen a side before he even fully landed.
Sure, Becca had never loved him, but she protected Ryan with everything she had. Including her life.
The history between them hadn’t changed.
He knew she still feared him. She still hated him.
But she had spent years raising his son while he had been kept away.
Rebecca Butcher brought his son into this world and nurtured him.
His son. His blood. His legacy. Something he thought he would never have.
“I’m helping you.” Stormfront tilted her head, eyeing him curiously.
“No. You’re not.”
“What? You’re defending her?” Stormfront asked. She sounded appalled that he would even consider letting Becca live.
His expression hardened.
“She’s Ryan’s mother,” he growled.
"But…She’s nothing. She kept the truth from him…and from you.” Stormfront raised her voice as she choked the life from the woman she really knew nothing about.
She didn't know all of the events that had led Rebecca, William Butcher, and Homelander himself to this very moment in time.
Homelander realized that Becca was staring in his direction now but he wasn't sure if she was actually seeing him or if her vision had darkened and she was slipping away.
Did she even know he was there? That he was saving her life?
Stormfront tightened her hold.
“She didn’t deserve you. Or Ryan. She’s a nobody. And they set this whole thing up to steal Ryan away from you," Stormfront shouted back to him.
Becca was nearly unconscious now. She didn't have much longer. Her gasps were weak and quieting fast. Her own hands were slipping from their hold on Stormfront's gloved one that held her up.
Stormfront smiled.
Butcher started hitting her again, desperately.
"She's killing her!" He roared as if begging Homelander to step in.
For a brief moment Homelander relished in it. William Butcher wanted his help. He’d never let the man forget it.
"Dad!" Ryan cried out again.
Stormfront looked back into Becca's face. "The light is nearly out. This is the good part."
With her free hand she knocked Butcher backwards and out of the way as if she was merely flicking away an irritating bug.
While Homelander would've loved to revel in the sight of the man being tossed into the brush like garbage, he saw the slight flex of Stormfront's muscles as she prepared to tighten her grasp on Becca's throat.
He knew that would be the final move that would either crush Becca's windpipe or completely decapitate her. He didn't want Ryan to witness either.
"I said fucking let go of her." He gritted through his teeth.
He dove at Stormfront, hitting her hard, before she could finish Becca off. The force sent her flying onto the ground, carving a trench through the forest floor before she crashed into a stand of oaks.
Becca crumpled at the base of the tree like dead weight.
Stormfront recovered quickly and angrily climbed to her feet. Homelander didn't even glance down to examine Becca or her injuries. He didn't have time.
He moved to cut Stormfront off and keep her from finishing the job she'd started.
"After everything I've helped you with. I helped you get your son back. I helped you with your image. All that bitch has done is hide Ryan away from you. She kept you from spending time with your son. He didn't even know who you were! He didn’t know he had powers. So what’s the point of keeping her alive?”
She raised her arms and shot at him with purple electricity. Homelander saw it streaking towards him and actually felt it. But only for a brief moment. He hit her back with his lasers hard enough that it would stop her but not maim her. She cried out as she fell backwards.
"I thought you said you didn't break easy," he chimed. It was kind of funny to him now that he knew how much force to use after their laser foreplay.
She got up slower this time, but he could tell she was determined.
Becca was coughing and heaving now behind him. Homelander imagined Butcher was at her side now.
He didn't allow himself to take his eyes off the supe who was threatening her life.
"Just stop." Homelander ordered. "I don't need your help.”
Stormfront started to laugh. "You just don't know what's good for you, do you? With her gone, we could've been a family."
"You’re pathetic," Homelander growled. The whole world knows about your lies now. What do you think Vought is going to do with you?" He demanded. "There's definitely no place in The Seven for you now."
"Oh you worry so much about public image and ratings," she raised her hands quickly and attempted to hit him again, to catch him off guard, but he flashed his eyes at her again, disarming her.
She hit her knees, groaning out in anger and pain.
"Ryan needs his real mother,” Homelander snapped.
"You're not as strong as everyone thinks you are. Who would’ve guessed that Homelander would have a soft spot for the worthless mother of his child– a human,” she spat the words with venom.
Homelander growled out in anger as his twin beams of heat vision shot towards her.
Stormfront threw herself aside just in time. His lasers carved a trench into the ground as he tried to reach her. The damp smell of leaves and earth filled the air.
“You should have stayed out of my life,” he grumbled.
She thrust both of her hands forward and electricity shot out of her hands again.
Homelander dove forward, lunging through the electricity to stop her from causing more damage. He didn’t want her to hit Ryan or Becca.
He latched onto both of her wrists, stopping her.
He heard her bones crack under the pressure.
Stormfront winced.
"Well, do it then. Kill me," she said quickly.
Homelander paused. She wasn't going to stop.
"I didn't realize there was some sort of unresolved feelings left over for the woman who literally kept your son a secret for eight fucking years."
"Ryan doesn't need to see his mother murdered in front of him," he growled back.
He didn't even know why he was still trying to give her another chance.
Anyone else he would have obliterated in seconds. But Stormfront had weaseled herself into his life when he had never felt more alone.
"Becca, Becca we've gotta get moving," Homelander heard Butcher's frantic whispers behind him now.
With his attention briefly pulled away, Stormfront drove her knee into his groin and twisted free, hurling a wave of electricity beneath her as she flew into the air.
Recovering quickly, Homelander let out a roar as he shot up to her level and grabbed her by her throat. She used both hands to send more electricity into his stomach.
"Dad!" Ryan squeaked again. "No, dad!"
Homelander angrily threw her into the ground. He wasn't hurt, but he was fuming now.
She crashed hard into the Earth, leaving near crater in the ground.
She coughed and sputtered.
"I tried to give you a chance," he growled as he lowered himself to stand back beside her.
She laughed at him. But she wasn't getting up.
“What do you think is going to happen? Do you think she’s going to play family with you?”
Homelander scrunched his face in disgust at her stubbornness.
“It’s obvious she hates you. She’s scared of you and she hates you.”
Homelander’s jaws tightened. He kept being reminded of that.
Stormfront narrowed her eyes at him.
“You look like a man trying to outrun a memory every time she looks at you,” Stormfront smiled. A knowing smile. “She’ll never let you be a father after what you did.”
A faint glow flickered behind his pupils before fading again. A visible sign of how close his temper was to breaking.
She was no match for him. Power and stamina wise, she would never win.
He was going to have to end it. End her.
"No, I can't leave my Dad!"
Homelander turned his head in time to see Butcher attempting to drag both injured Becca and Ryan away. But Ryan actually didn't want to leave.
He was taken back by what he heard. His son was actually concerned about him?
Ryan pulled away from Butcher. His eyes were starting to glow red.
Homelander heard Stormfront's electricity crackle and as he turned to see her make one final effort to hurt him, red hot heat exploded around both he and Stormfront.
Homelander was thrown into the leaves upon impact. He'd felt the heat, the slight burn, and saw the red flash but he still couldn't believe it. He looked up incredulously as he pushed himself back up onto his hands and knees. He had to see where it had come from.
Ryan's eyes were dimming.
Homelander couldn't even speak.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd been knocked on his ass by anyone except for when Ryan caught him off guard and pushed him in the yard that day when he'd raised his voice at Becca.
Butcher's mouth was open in surprise. He was still supporting Becca on her feet at his side.
Becca's eyes were wide, her mouth slightly open. She looked terrified at what she had just seen her son do.
And Ryan, he was looking past Homeander.
Homelander smelled the familiar smell of burnt flesh over the blood that was still caked on him. But he knew it wasn't from himself. He was uninjured.
It was Stormfront.
He slowly turned to finally look behind him. She was lying in the leaves– some of them smoldering around her. She was completely unrecognizable. Nearly limbless and burned badly. Her hair was completely burned away.
He stepped over to her. Her eyes were wide. Her heart beat was very faint. She was staring up at the sky but not seeing. She was in shock.
Homelander swallowed hard at the sight. He wasn't sure how he felt. A part of him ached seeing her like that.
But he'd been lonely when she popped into The Seven. She was the one who had inserted herself into his life.
Ryan obliterated her. Pride swelled inside of him that Ryan had used his powers. And he was as powerful as Homelander had expected- hoped his son would be.
Stormfront wouldn't have stopped. She was too prideful. Too stubborn.
Homelander was a little surprised that the choice had been so easy.
He’d stopped Stormfront because the idea of Becca dying had made something inside him panic.
And that realization unsettled him.
Homelander stared down at Stormfront.
Ryan was suddenly at his side, breaking his thoughts.
"I'm-I'm sorry, dad. I didn't mean to do this. And I hit you too," his voice was shaky. "I was just trying to help. You said it was easier to do when you think about someone you hate a-a-and I hated her…"
"No it's okay. That was…that was really something," Homelander placed his hand on Ryan's shoulder.
He would've hugged him but he thought about the blood all over him that would transfer to Ryan's clothes. "I told you that you were like me. I'm so proud of you.”
Ryan gave him a slight smile.
For a moment, everything else seemed to fade away, replaced by a quiet certainty that swelled in his chest.
That’s my son. The thought warmed him.
Ryan swallowed hard as he looked down at the mangled body in front of them.
"Becca, Becca, we've gotta get out of here," Butcher was talking fast but quietly as if it would keep him from hearing.
"Not without Ryan," Rebecca stated defiantly.
Homelander gently turned Ryan away from dying supe and turned his own attention back to the Butchers.
"Hold on. Just wait," he held his hand up. “What the fuck is going on?"
It was because Ryan was here, he tried to tell himself. That was why he panicked at the thought of Stormfront killing Becca.
Only, he didn’t panic. Never.
He was Homelander. He made other people panic.
Both Butcher and Becca looked up at him but didn't speak. Homelander could see the wheels turning in Butcher's mind. He knew he was trying to think of some way to get them out of this situation.
"William, you're working with Vought now? To have Ryan taken away from me? So what? They cut you a deal? They said they'd hide the three of you away together? And you really thought I wouldn't be able to find you if they did?"
"It wasn't like that," Becca croaked. She was obviously weak.
"Beck," Butcher mumbled lowly. It sounded like a warning.
"No. He deserves to know," Becca pulled away from her husband to shakily stand on her own feet.
"What?" He demanded sharply.
He found himself angry at her again. She’d made him do this. Made Ryan do this to Stormfront. All because of their little plan to steal Ryan away.
He glared at her, but she didn’t shrink back.
Homelander stared at the woman who could barely stand but still forced herself to meet his eyes.
The woman who had been forced into something she never wanted. The woman who had carried the burden of his existence.
Her face was a little swollen, red, and splotchy. Her hair was falling into her face from the ponytail atop her head. She even had a few scratches and cuts. He was honestly surprised she was still standing.
He remembered the hatred in her eyes when she usually looked at him.
But today, he only saw fear. Fear of what he would do.
"Billy didn't tell me that the plan was to only take me away, "Becca began. Her voice was hoarse.”He wasn't trying to steal Ryan away. I was. I wanted him back because you took him from me." Becca explained simply.
Of course William only wanted her. Why would he want a kid that wasn't even his. Ryan was the kid that had taken her away from him once already. Over 8 long years William had thought she was dead.
Suddenly Stormfront made a noise. A gurgle and then a mumbling noise.
Everyone looked towards her body.
Homelander slowly turned to look back down at her.
The mumbling only grew louder. Was that German? She was definitely mumbling something in German.
Homelander gave her a pathetic look. Of course she was too damn stubborn to even die.
He gently grasped Ryan's shoulders and led him farther away from Stormfront and her Nazi ramblings. She was even irritating on her deathbed.
"But how did Vought get involved?" He asked the pair. "I just killed seven or eight Vought security guys back there. I'd like someone to tell me why. And why they said your name like they were looking for you," he pointed to Butcher.
"I told Vought they could have Ryan back to do whatever they wanted," Butcher finally spoke up. "But you'll have to call your bosses up and figure out why they don't want him to be with you. All I know is they don't want you two together."
Homelander furrowed his brows and squinted in confusion.
"But my deal with them was, I get Becca back to me self and they could have Ryan," Butcher added.
Homelander looked back to Becca. He didn't sense a lie in either's story.
"I wouldn't have let him do it," Becca said quickly. "Billy changed his mind, but I wouldn't have let Vought take him. God only knows what Vought would've done with Ryan. He's safer with one of us…You or me."
Homelander felt the tension in his body relax at her words. Her statement made him feel good. But did she actually trust him to take care of Ryan?
Maybe now, since he saved them. But he wasn't sure if she was sucking up or not.
He looked down at Ryan, trying to decide what his son thought about Butcher's deal.
"I need to take her to get checked out at the hospital," Butcher began. "Ryan can come too. I know he don't wanna leave her like this."
"Oh like hell I'll let you carry the two of them away to hide them again," Homelander growled.
"I won't."
"Oh I have your word?" Homelander grumbled. He stepped closer to the pair.
"We don't even need you, William. Ryan doesn't even know you from Adam anyway. And you didn't care enough to include him in your little escape plans with your bride."
"No, you won't hurt him." Becca choked out, reading between his words. She stepped protectively in front of her husband.
Homelander rolled his eyes. "I can take care of Ryan and Becca. Obviously you can't." Homelander motioned back towards Stormfront.
Becca motioned for Ryan to come to her. He left his side to stand against his mom.
Butcher was shaking his head.
“I just saved her life.” Homelander stepped closer to them. "I was the only one who could. I can keep them both safe. Even from Vought."
"There ain't no fucking way I'll let you take her away from me again," Butcher spat.
Homelander smiled. It was his calm and confident smile. The one he wore when he knew he had already won. "Oh so heroic for someone who can’t do a single thing to me.”
"I don't want anyone else to get hurt," Ryan's small voice called out.
"Listen to Ryan," Becca choked out. "No one else has to die."
"William, all you did was put your wife in danger this evening with your little plan. What makes you think you could save her the next time she’s in danger?” Homelander saw the anger flash across Butcher's face.
“This is all your fault,” Butcher spat.
"Are you ever going to stop coming after me? Even if you took Becca and Ryan back with you to whatever shithole apartment you live in, can you stop obsessing over me?" Homelander was pushing him now.
Did Butcher really have the audacity to take Ryan and pretend he was? Homelander wouldn’t let him.
"Every time you look at Ryan, you’ll be reminded that he isn't yours-"
"Homelander!" Becca snapped at him.
Her tone shocked him. He fell silent and he looked back at her.
“Just stop,” she pleaded.
He stared back at her.
He told himself for years that Becca was just someone who got in the way. That he was simply taking what he wanted.
He deserved it. Deserved her. Deserved whatever he wanted.
But the older he became, the harder those excuses were to believe.
He remembered her face. Even after all those years he remembered the
The disappointment.
That was the part he hated most.
She looked at him like he was someone who had the ability to choose better, but didn’t. That was how she was looking at him now.
But Butcher had heard enough. He was bending to pick up the crowbar.
Homelander smiled at Butcher’s reaction to his provocation. "Oh there he is. That angry, pathetic man that's dedicated his entire life to seeing my demise."
"You two stop it!" Becca ordered.
Homelander could've easily stopped Butcher as he came towards him with the crowbar, but he didn't. He waited to see what the desperation would drive him to do.
Butcher gripped the crowbar until his knuckles whitened.
"Is that all you've got? How long have you been chasing me? All that pent up anger and that's it? You must've remembered the crowbar doesn't work on supes," Homelander teased.
"Not even close to all I got," Butcher let the metal tool fall to the ground and he came forward with his fist.
Homelander grabbed his incoming fist, covering it with his hand.
Homelander felt a smile cross his face.
"Billy! Stop." Becca yelled. "He'll kill you-"
Homelander used his other hand to grab the front of Butcher's shirt.
"You don't stand a chance, so you might as well stop," he tossed him into the large tree that Becca had nearly lost her life against. Hard enough to get the point across and maybe knock the breath out of him but not do any real damage. Butcher landed in a heap.
"Hey!" Becca snapped at him as if she was scolding him.
Homelander grabbed Becca's arm, pulling her closer to him before she could run to her husband's side.
“You think you can tell me what to do?”
Becca gasped. She felt so light and helpless.
"I haven't even gotten a thank you for saving your life," he brought his attention back to her.
She fought to keep her composure. He felt her entire body tremble.
“Stop," she sputtered.
"I'm trying to keep you and Ryan together. Like you wanted. Isn’t that what you wanted?” He asked.
He stared into her blue eyes.
She pursed her lips tightly as if trying to keep them from trembling.
C'mom Ryan," Homelander started to pull Becca away. He motioned for Ryan to follow.
But Ryan was frozen in place. His son looked confused, unsure of what to do.
"I can take you two somewhere safe where you'll be together,” he explained to his son. "Everybody is fine.”
"No one is getting hurt." He felt the need to let him know so that no one else was lasered as a mistake. “We’re all alive here. Because of me.”
Becca wasn't fighting him any more. She was smart. She let him drag her closer to where their son stood.
Homelander couldn’t help but remember when he first noticed her at that Vought Christmas party with her husband by her side.
She was attractive. That was what had first caught his eye. He heard someone else introduce her to someone. Rebecca Butcher, new senior director of digital marketing.
She’d been talking work with a few other Vought employees. He’d caught snippets of her conversation and immediately realized she was smart.
She’d been the one running his social media. To be honest, he’d never even cared to find out who it had been. He had been too busy with important things.
Her eyes met his once, but didn’t hold his gaze. She gave him a light, polite smile and she returned to her conversation.
Professional. No racing heartbeat. No trembling excitement. And no desperate attempt to hold his attention.
After that, Homelander drifted closer to her under the excuse of greeting another executive. At one point, he nearly brushed elbows with her.
She didn’t gravitate towards him the way the others did.
They smiled too much. Laughed too loud. Wanted to shake hands. Wanted a moment with him. A connection. But she…just looked busy.
As if he wasn’t the most important thing in the room.
She’s playing it cool, he finally determined. Playing hard to get.
But even if she was playing it cool, she never once looked back at him to see if he was watching her. That was….different. Too cool to be pretending.
Finally, Homelander couldn’t take it any longer and approached her. She had been cuddled up to her husband, William Butcher like he was the only man in the room.
Homelander tried to make her feel important– see how flustered she would get when he started down the stairs and called her name and new title.
He praised her, but she remained professional and respectful. Only a slight blush appeared on her cheeks.
"Becca needs a hospital," Butcher called out, breathlessly. He was on his knees now, climbing to his feet.
"Billy. I'm fine-" Becca began.
Homelander stopped to look at her again. He actually was a little concerned himself. "Can you breathe?"
Becca nodded.
"Does anything feel broken?"
She shrugged and then shook her head.
He looked at her neck, tilted her chin up with his blood soaked glove. She flinched and closed her eyes at his touch.
He stood silently for a moment, staring at the bruised skin of her neck.
Stormfront had done this. But he had left bruises on her before.
He remembered the way she fought against him even when she had every reason to give up.
"Nothing is broken." He muttered. He flicked his eyes away from hers.
I was created, he thought to himself. I wasn’t raised. I wasn’t loved. I wasn’t taught how to be human.
The excuse usually came easily.
He told himself that his childhood had broken something inside him. That the people who made him were responsible. That the world had turned him into what he was. That if anyone had shown him kindness, things might have been different.
In his mind, he’d always replayed the events of that day differently. Not as a moment where he took something from someone, but as a moment where he had been searching for something he had never had. Connection.
And Rebecca Butcher had tried to deny him of it.
He convinced himself that he had been lonely, abandoned, and denied the things ordinary people took for granted.
But now, why did he feel so guilty?
"Ryan come with me and your mom," he motioned again for Ryan to hurry and come closer so he could fly the two of them away. Fly away from the memories.
Ryan slowly stepped towards them.
"Stop."
Homelander rolled his eyes at the sound of the voice. He recognized it immediately. He turned with Becca's wrist still tight in his grip.
"What are you doing here?" He was exasperated at this point. Surrounded by idiots. All of them had turned a relaxing evening into this shitshow.
"You're gonna let them go," Maeve stated confidently.
Homelander snorted. "And if I don't? Why do you care anywa-"
She held up a phone. A video immediately started playing. It was Flight 37.
Some idiot had recorded he and Maeve as they fought about leaving the passengers on the plane as it fell from the sky. How it managed to survive the crash in the ocean, he had no clue.
He felt his face slacken.
"Let them go. You're gonna stop hunting Starlight. You're gonna leave me and Elena alone. Or I release this."
Homelander was thinking quickly. "If you do that, I'll destroy everything and everyone." His blood pressure was rising.
"Great. As long as everyone sees what a fucking monster you are. As long as no one ever loves you again."
As Maeve's words resonated with him, he allowed Becca to pull away from his grip. She grabbed Ryan's hand and ran towards Butcher.
He glared at Maeve. How dare she?
"But what about dad?" Homelander heard Ryan choke out.
Homelander turned to look at his son. He was protectively nestled in between the Butchers now.
"No honey. He's fine. We have to go without him right now. I promise you'll see him again." Becca met Homelander's eyes as she said the last part.
A lie, he assumed.
Homelander clenched his jaws. His heart actually ached at the thought that he would have to let Ryan go.
Would William Butcher be a stand in father? The thought made Homelander frown.
"And how do you think you'll handle his powers now?" Homelander called out to them.
"You think the two of you can teach him how to not blow up the neighbor's kid when they have an argument? Not to break a few ribs when he hugs you too hard? Or to not accidentally kill the family dog?"
Becca's face looked pained for a moment.
"I told you that you wouldn't be able to keep his powers hidden forever," he continued. "He's strong. He needs someone to teach him about them."
Becca turned Ryan gently by his shoulders. The three of them began walking away.
"Or when he has nightmares about this kind of stuff that no one else would understand-" Homelander clenched his jaws.
It took everything in him to let them go.
Homelander knew Ryan was safe for now at least. Even as much as Butcher might want to get rid of the kid, Becca would never allow it. The two of them were a package deal now. And Butcher would probably be able to keep Vought away for a while.
At least until He could find them again. Because he wouldn't stop looking for Ryan. Or Becca. He couldn't.
"Ryan, I love you. This is just for a little while," he called out to his son. His own voice nearly cracked.
"I love you too," Ryan turned his head back but Becca was rushing him, pushing him farther away from the little clearing in the woods.
Homelander fought to keep his composure as the three of them hurried away.
He assumed Maeve was still behind him, probably smugly watching the scene unfold, but he didn't turn around.
Who did he have now? Not Maeve. Not Ryan.. Definitely not Stormfront. Not Becca. And not Vought.
He was alone.