A Church in Midtown | Thursday Afternoon

[defenderofdesmoines]

This was the closest Annie had come to feeling really at peace in...days. Weeks? Being in Fandom had calmed her down, seeing her mom had been cathartic, but this was...almost peaceful.

She had been feeling somewhat at odds with her faith ever since Believe Expo. She'd always been able to fall back on her relationship with God as something she could count on, but it was getting increasingly difficult to believe that any loving god would allow...all of this. Vought experimenting on babies. Her mother lying to her for Annie's entire life. Flight 37. The disgusting money-making machine that was the corporation she worked for.

But this - sitting in a church, with its vaulted ceilings and stained glass, and listening to the choir rehearse - was almost enough to make Annie reach for prayer. Just to sort out her thoughts, to arrange her feelings into an order she could understand.

Maybe she'd get there. She kind of missed talking to Him.

Hughie	Hughie knew it was a long shot, but Annie had said she liked to come to this church to listen to the choir rehearse sometimes, and he really needed to talk to her. It was bad enough that the last time he'd seen her, she'd been shot in the chest twice and he'd just run away -- let alone the bad news he'd given her about Compound V. So when he spotted her sitting alone in a pew, he couldn't believe his luck, and it took a moment for him to work up the courage to clear his throat once he took a seat behind her.
Annie	Annie heard someone in the pew behind her clear their throat, and you know, she could have just written it off as someone with a scratchy throat. But that would be too easy, wouldn't it? "You've got a lot of balls," she said in an undertone, once she saw who it was.
Hughie	"Just two," Hughie told her. Ugh, that had sounded better in his head.
Annie	"I mean, you must want me to arrest you," she continued in a steely whisper. For fuck's sake, Hughie, couldn't she have some damn peace for once? Hadn't you done enough?
Hughie	"Actually, uh." Well. He really didn't want to ask her. Talk about your long shots. "Annie...I need your help."
Annie	Annie let those words wash over her for a moment as she closed her eyes and sighed. With a tiny shake of her head, she stood up, striding out of the church. Apparently she couldn't even have this one thing. She was going to need a new church. Assuming she ever felt like she could connect with her faith again, anyway. It still hadn't worked.
Hughie	Hughie followed after, stumbling a little to keep up with her. "Just listen to me!" he called as soon as they were outside.
Annie	"Why?" Annie demanded. "More awful secrets you wanna tell me? More drugs I was dosed with as a kid, maybe?"
Hughie	"Look, that just came out. I thought you -- maybe you wanted to know the truth," Hughie tried, trailing after her as she continued to stride away from him.
Annie	"Oh, okay, so you're all about the truth," Annie replied venomously, refusing to turn around to look at him.
Hughie	"Vought is giving Compound V to some bad fucking people," Hughie called after her. "Like really bad. Like that Supe terrorist."
Annie	That was enough to get Annie to stop, and she slowly turned to look at him. "That's insane."
Hughie	"No, it's true," Hughie told her, too tired to argue much harder. "Look, my friends want to stop it, but they got caught on...Vought's orders, and I -- I figured...because you had security clearance, maybe you could help find them." ...he heard it. Asking her for another favor, yes. After what he'd put this poor woman through already. Yep. Don't worry -- Hughie felt plenty bad about himself, even without the way Annie was looking at him now.
Annie	Fucking unbelievable. "Hughie," she said slowly, "I was almost arrested just for knowing you. I had to convince them I was an idiot, and now you want me to help your psycho killer friends?" By the time she reached the end of her sentence, Annie was yelling at him.
Hughie	"Well, when you put it like that...." Hughie offered with a pathetic little chuckle. ...but yeah, that was what he wanted.
Annie	She could only stare at him for a long moment. The nerve. "You have thirty seconds to get the hell out of here," Annie told him with renewed vehemence.
Hughie	Didn't get much clearer than that, did it? "Okay," Hughie said quietly, a little taken aback by her anger. Though he supposed he did deserve it. "Sorry to bother you."
Annie	Annie watched him go for a moment before her stupid curiosity got the better of her. Damn it. "I mean," she yelled after him, "why the hell would I ever help you?"
Hughie	Hughie turned around again, slowly. "Because Vought's up to some evil shit?" He considered whether there was another reason. "'Cause it's your job??" He was just so goddamn tired, Annie. "Because you're a superhero."
Annie	Annie stared at him for a very long moment, breathing harshly through her nose as she kept her composure. And with a long, slow blink, she admitted, "The thing is, Hughie...I don't care." With that, she turned and walked away. Slowly, calmly, deliberately -- and this time, he let her go.

[taken from The Boys 1.08, "You Found Me," usual warnings for language apply and preplayed with myself! NFB/NFI/OOC welcome per usual!]