Annie Hargreeves (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
defenderofdesmoines) wrote2021-05-17 06:10 am
defenderofdesmoines) wrote2021-05-17 06:10 am
Vought Tower | All Day Monday
Annie had been sure that telling people about what had happened with The Deep would actually hurt her. That it would have destroyed her career, her relationship, her friendships....
But instead, she felt so much stronger today than she had in weeks. She wasn't even wearing her cape -- much less the new uniform -- when she made her way to Madelyn Stillwell's office this morning. She was Annie, and that was enough.
She'd been through enough already.
"Thank you for coming, Starlight," Madelyn greeted her with a broad smile, after she'd called for her to come in.
Annie took a seat in the chair in front of Ms. Stillwell's desk quietly, considering how weird that smile looked in light of why Annie was here.
"So I would like you to take this in the constructive spirit in which it is intended," Madelyn opened.
"...okay," Annie agreed slowly.
"You are a selfish, arrogant child," Madelyn told her, smile dropping off her face.
"Wow," Annie replied, blinking. Sure didn't seem constructive to her. Wow indeed.
"Back in Iowa, and then in Maryland," Madelyn continued, "I bet you watched a lot of Queen Maeve's movies, right? She was a rebel. Didn't take anyone's shit, didn't play by the rules. That's who you wanted to be. That's what American heroes are. But it's a myth. I should know, because I wrote it."
Madelyn got up from behind her desk, coming over to sit beside Annie. "The truth is, dozens of people in this company spent hundreds of hours to create the thing that is you."
And while weeks ago, she would have just taken a comment like that, right now every ounce of Annie was screaming BULLSHIT.
"I never asked for that," she replied, calmly.
"Then why don't you burn the sparkly outfit and become a cop?" Madelyn asked frankly. "You want to be a superhero. You want to be famous. But nobody's famous alone. So, why don't you cut the petulant diva shit, show a little fucking gratitude, and let us do our job?"
And on that dismissive note, Madelyn stood to get up from her chair.
Annie watched her, breathing deep as she considered how to answer that. Did she deserve that? She had said all of that, on live TV.
And then she remembered what Diego had said, about how bad this all looked for Vought, and how much worse it could look.
"No," she said simply.
"I'm sorry," Madelyn said, spinning to look at her, because surely she had heard that wrong.
"I mean, I don't mean to be ungrateful," Annie explained. "But...no red carpets. No reality TV. No Noxema commercials. And I want my old uniform back." She lifted her chin, a little defiant. "I'm gonna save people."
"Then I think we may need to reconsider your position in The Seven," Madelyn replied evenly, despite how Annie could clearly tell she'd made her angry.
She took a deep breath, watching Madelyn closely. "And I think that firing an employee after she reported a sexual assault on live TV might tank your stock price."
She had her there. Annie knew she did. (And Diego had known even before Annie had, so really, if this worked, she was going to tell him roughly a thousand times how smart he was.)
Madelyn surveyed her for a moment before sighing and crossing her arms. "I admire you wanting to tell the truth. I have to say, all of us were just shocked."
Annie shook her head. "Oh, I think you knew," she replied quietly. Because Maeve had known. Maeve had absolutely not been surprised. "I think you've known for a long time."
Madelyn watched her a moment longer, quiet and still. "Thank you for coming, Starlight," she told her softly. "I have a lot to think about."
Annie got up, shut the door -- and couldn't miss the sound of glass shattering as soon as she did.
Annie didn't look back as she strode off to her own apartment, pulling her phone out to text Jessica along the way that she could feel free to swing by whenever -- and once Annie let herself in, she double-checked that the hoodie and jacket she'd borrowed were professionally cleaned and set aside, along with a bottle of actually good bourbon.
[preplayed with myself again, taken from The Boys 1.06, 'The Innocents.' expecting one, but we are also open for texts/calls/etc! warning for discussion of sexual assault in Jessica's thread]
But instead, she felt so much stronger today than she had in weeks. She wasn't even wearing her cape -- much less the new uniform -- when she made her way to Madelyn Stillwell's office this morning. She was Annie, and that was enough.
She'd been through enough already.
"Thank you for coming, Starlight," Madelyn greeted her with a broad smile, after she'd called for her to come in.
Annie took a seat in the chair in front of Ms. Stillwell's desk quietly, considering how weird that smile looked in light of why Annie was here.
"So I would like you to take this in the constructive spirit in which it is intended," Madelyn opened.
"...okay," Annie agreed slowly.
"You are a selfish, arrogant child," Madelyn told her, smile dropping off her face.
"Wow," Annie replied, blinking. Sure didn't seem constructive to her. Wow indeed.
"Back in Iowa, and then in Maryland," Madelyn continued, "I bet you watched a lot of Queen Maeve's movies, right? She was a rebel. Didn't take anyone's shit, didn't play by the rules. That's who you wanted to be. That's what American heroes are. But it's a myth. I should know, because I wrote it."
Madelyn got up from behind her desk, coming over to sit beside Annie. "The truth is, dozens of people in this company spent hundreds of hours to create the thing that is you."
And while weeks ago, she would have just taken a comment like that, right now every ounce of Annie was screaming BULLSHIT.
"I never asked for that," she replied, calmly.
"Then why don't you burn the sparkly outfit and become a cop?" Madelyn asked frankly. "You want to be a superhero. You want to be famous. But nobody's famous alone. So, why don't you cut the petulant diva shit, show a little fucking gratitude, and let us do our job?"
And on that dismissive note, Madelyn stood to get up from her chair.
Annie watched her, breathing deep as she considered how to answer that. Did she deserve that? She had said all of that, on live TV.
And then she remembered what Diego had said, about how bad this all looked for Vought, and how much worse it could look.
"No," she said simply.
"I'm sorry," Madelyn said, spinning to look at her, because surely she had heard that wrong.
"I mean, I don't mean to be ungrateful," Annie explained. "But...no red carpets. No reality TV. No Noxema commercials. And I want my old uniform back." She lifted her chin, a little defiant. "I'm gonna save people."
"Then I think we may need to reconsider your position in The Seven," Madelyn replied evenly, despite how Annie could clearly tell she'd made her angry.
She took a deep breath, watching Madelyn closely. "And I think that firing an employee after she reported a sexual assault on live TV might tank your stock price."
She had her there. Annie knew she did. (And Diego had known even before Annie had, so really, if this worked, she was going to tell him roughly a thousand times how smart he was.)
Madelyn surveyed her for a moment before sighing and crossing her arms. "I admire you wanting to tell the truth. I have to say, all of us were just shocked."
Annie shook her head. "Oh, I think you knew," she replied quietly. Because Maeve had known. Maeve had absolutely not been surprised. "I think you've known for a long time."
Madelyn watched her a moment longer, quiet and still. "Thank you for coming, Starlight," she told her softly. "I have a lot to think about."
Annie got up, shut the door -- and couldn't miss the sound of glass shattering as soon as she did.
Queen Maeve | Of course, Stillwell's office was a few floors down from ninety-nine, where Annie lived. And it just so happened that Queen Maeve was slouched in the corner of the elevator that came to greet Annie here, already having a whole day. And you know what, the sight of Starlight in her little plaid shirt there was just too much. "Boy, you're really milking this thing for all it's worth." |
Annie | "Excuse me?" Annie replied, turning to look at her and keeping her face carefully neutral. She'd had multiple conversations this past weekend about Maeve and her either refusal or inability to actually act heroic when Annie had needed her most; she wasn't especially in the mood for tricksy little comments today. |
Queen Maeve | "This empowerment act," Maeve elaborated. "I mean, every time I do press for anything, now, they're asking me how I'm supporting Starlight. But hey -- as long as you're trending, right?" |
Annie | "I know that you might not get this," Annie said slowly, huffing a breath out through her nose, "but it's not an act. I'm just trying to be honest." And it felt amazing. She was standing up straight for the first time in weeks. |
Queen Maeve | "Okay. Yeah." Maeve said with a little disbelieving snort and a roll of her eyes. |
Annie | Okay, you know what? Annie was sick of this. Of all of this, but Maeve and her attitude were a huge part of it. "When I was younger," Annie said, "I read your autobiography so many times, I wore it out. I had to buy a second one. I wanted to live my life exactly like yours. Because you didn't just break all the bones in your right arm stopping that school bus from falling off a bridge, but you also went to every kid's physical therapy afterwards. Just to show the world they were heroes, too." |
Queen Maeve | Maeve stayed quiet, the smirk slowly fading away from her face as she leaned a little more heavily into the corner. Like she could get away from what Starlight was saying if she retreated. |
Annie | "You really stood for something." And then the elevator chimed, and Annie smiled a little ruefully as she stepped off. "But now, I'm pretty sure that was just written by the marketing guys," she noted, shooting Maeve a look over her shoulder as the elevator doors shut behind her. |
Annie didn't look back as she strode off to her own apartment, pulling her phone out to text Jessica along the way that she could feel free to swing by whenever -- and once Annie let herself in, she double-checked that the hoodie and jacket she'd borrowed were professionally cleaned and set aside, along with a bottle of actually good bourbon.
[preplayed with myself again, taken from The Boys 1.06, 'The Innocents.' expecting one, but we are also open for texts/calls/etc! warning for discussion of sexual assault in Jessica's thread]
no subject
Hopefully they have enough moral backbone to do the right thing, but...
Based on them trying to punish her, he wouldn't hold his breath.
This sort of thing is never easy. Wish it was.
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If she hadn't, who knows whether Vought would have happily swept it under the rug? (They would have at least tried.)
fingers crossed he's off the team, tho. he's scared of me, but I'd rather not work with that a-hole at all.
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they sure as hell better kick him off the team!
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he's been on it long enough that I had a poster of him when I was 15. we'll see. fingers crossed.
She was not really optimistic. It didn't exactly seem unlikely that Vought would stage some kind of scene where he had to apologize to her in public, and Annie was refusing to think about that.
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Also, he was pretty sure Steve was sublimating a lot of things by focusing on what to do to that creep. There were a lot of weapons out yesterday.
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And honestly, she hadn't really realized the degree to which people were on her side back in Fandom until it had all come out over the weekend, but it had made it all so much easier to know she had all kinds of backup.
told Steve I'd bring bad movies from my world next time I see you all, so hope you're ready for the adventures of Popclaw..
Popclaw was terrible and generally kind of dumb. But she was also, like, exactly the kind of dumb that both Annie and probably Steve needed, these days.
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Which was pretty vast for a guy constantly overseas for most of his adult life.
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And Annie wasn't going to say so, but it was because the movies with decent budgets tended to star her teammates, and while The Deep was the worst one, she wasn't really up for having to explain that Translucent was also a creep, or that Queen Maeve was an utter disappointment.
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I'll make sure there are plenty of drinks.
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I also would like snacks.
SEE HOW SHE LEARNED?
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That was a given.