A Gas Station in the Middle of Nowhere to MM's Apartment | Wednesday Morning

Annie had gotten a call this morning from an unknown number, and while she would have ignored it, it had called back three times. And then it had called collect, which Annie had not even known you could still do.

And once she'd talked to the person on the other end -- well, frankly, she had very nearly hung up the phone upon hearing his voice. And as it was, she had absolutely no intention of having any kind of a conversation while she drove this fuckstick's ass back to the city.

But here she was, pulling up outside of a gas station in the middle of goddamn nowhere. At least she got to drive MM's sweet car.

( You know what buys forgiveness for being a total asshole all season? A sad story about Pizza Rolls, for sure )

( Meanwhile, something nice actually happened for once )

[and we are in the home stretch -- welcome to 3.08, 'The Instant White-Hot Wild.' Preplayed with knife_bender, and NFB/NFI/OOC welcome!]

Vought Tower | Wednesday Evening

When they got to the tower, and had followed Diego in through the Lamplighter Schoolgirl-Sneaking Entrance (ew), the group split up.

Diego was directed to the master tech controls for the building, where he'd have access to the PA system as well as any emergency systems that might be helpful in getting people out of the tower. Frenchie and Kimiko headed for the main lab, taking Hughie with them (for no reason other than that MM didn't want Hughie with him, right now.)

And that turned out to be a good call, since Annie and MM had made their way up to the upper floors and just had to follow the way the building shook to figure out where the action was.

( It all ends here )

[THE END. Most of this is taken pretty straight from 3.08, and warning for the (apparent) death of two NPCs, as well as quite a bit of descriptive violence. Preplayed with knife_bender, who talked me off several ledges throughout this, deserves some kind of medal, and is also taking a well-deserved bow as Homelander here. NFB, NFI, but OOC is very welcome, and I'm almost done with spam now!]

MHA #2 | Late, Late Wednesday Evening

It had been almost two weeks since Annie or Diego had stepped foot in their own apartment -- Annie wouldn't even be able to bring herself to look at their poor plants until the light of day forced her to in the morning -- and so much had changed in just those thirteen days since they'd been home.

Already, her phone was alight with news alerts about Queen Maeve and her legacy as Vought's bravest lesbian (Annie was annoyed on her behalf, don't worry), and the way she'd saved America from a radicalized Soldier Boy. It was a little comforting to know the truth -- that the explosion hadn't killed either of them. Soldier Boy was currently in the custody of Colonel Mallory, who would keep him sedated until they could figure out what to do with him. And, better still, the woman who had been ready to sacrifice her life hadn't actually had to. Annie had nearly burst into tears an hour or so earlier, when MM had stopped their van near a completely uninteresting dumpster and there had been stirring before she and Diego had gently pulled Maeve's shaky, bruised -- but breathing -- form into the van. It was almost enough to make her believe in miracles again.

"I kind of can't believe we're actually home," Annie noted softly as she let them into the apartment, smiling a little. "I'd pinch myself if I didn't still hurt from earlier."

No need to pinch oneself when you could still feel where a beautiful man had repeatedly thrown you into things, after all.

[for the fiancé!]