The Vought American Hero Mansion | Tuesday Evening

[defenderofdesmoines]

With Diego safely back at the apartment until the finale, Annie was left trying not to pace a hole in her trailer floor. She hadn't been able to track down Alex privately again, but it was more important than ever that he say no.

She wanted to text someone who would reassure her -- Summer, maybe, but then Summer would probably want to come help, and Annie had already put enough people in danger. The same went for all her other Fandom friends, and Diego's siblings. Her mother was a laughably obvious non-option.

She had to figure this out on her own, as much as she could.

Supersonic	There came a knock on her trailer door, followed by Alex's curly head sticking in. "Hey. Got a sec?" He had -- you know, maybe reasonably? -- been doing a lot of thinking since their conversation earlier.
Starlight	"Yeah, yeah, come in," Annie called, setting her phone down and clearing her throat. Just the guy she wanted to see, actually! He'd just happen to have caught her in a fit of...let's call it wistful despair.
Supersonic	"Thanks. Um." Alex shut the door behind himself, frowning at her as he obviously chose his words with care. "I went to talk to the producers, to tell them I had a family emergency and I have to bow out."
Starlight	"Good." Oh, that was so much better than good. Annie was practically light-headed with relief. "That's -- that's really good." And maybe now she didn't even need to tell him about how they didn't have a means to keep Homelander under control anymore, and that things were actually worse than she'd described this morning.
Supersonic	"But," Alex continued -- uh oh, "you know, when I got there, I...." Oh, no. "I told them I was thrilled to join the team."
Starlight	"No, Alex!" Well, fuck. Was she just going to have to worriedly yell at people all day today? God, they'd already gone through this once. "Alex, Alex, no. That's a mistake." And one he needed to go correct right now, because they were filming in under an hour.
Supersonic	"I was in rehab." He stepped closer, his voice low and serious. They didn't talk about this part of their shared past a lot. "Would've killed my mother for some oxy. Manager bailed on me, Vought -- everyone. But you didn't leave." Like, they'd been broken up for a real long time by that point, but there still hadn't been anyone in his life as supportive as Annie had been. "So do you really think I'm gonna bail on you now?" Alex smiled softly. "I'm an asshole. But I'm not that much of an asshole."
Starlight	He needed to leave. He needed to run back to the Midwest, and never look back towards New York at all. But Annie couldn't help it; after this whole fucking day, and losing her leverage with Homelander (and then becoming just this side of frantic about what he'd do to fuck with her, further), there was a certain comfort in just...letting Alex make his own choice here. He was right. She hadn't abandoned him when he'd gotten in trouble, and she'd kept in touch even when he got back out of the Global Wellness Center. And...well, at least she knew Alex could take a bullet. And his powers were no joke. (But Homelander was not...bullets.) "Are you sure?"
Supersonic	Alex blew out a little breath, sort of shaking his head at himself, before taking a step forward to take one of Annie's hands. Sure, they'd dated, yeah -- but he'd known her for over a decade. In a lot of ways, Annie January was one of the only friends he had left in this business. "Someone's got to have your back," he said quietly. He'd been around for almost three months, now, and -- you could talk about Queen Maeve all you wanted, Annie, but where was she? Everyone else was obviously an asshole. And he didn't doubt she had friends and Diego was great and he was so glad she had him, but -- if Homelander was as dangerous as she said, Alex couldn't leave now. "Right?"
Starlight	Annie gave his hand a little squeeze, suddenly swallowing down a lump in her throat. It might not have hit her so hard if she had expected the support, but after a year of turning to people in her world for help and being told to go fuck herself, it was kind of staggering to just have it willingly offered up to her from a fellow hero who was actually acting heroic, with her protests going completely ignored. Especially given what Hughie had said on the phone earlier. She was in this, no matter what it took. No matter what it took. "Right."

Starlight	It was the American Hero finale! Broadcast live, and beaming into your living rooms exclusively on Vought+! After the events of the afternoon, Annie had done just about everything she knew to calm her nerves (including doing a shot in her trailer about a half hour ago, which was helping, but she was glad she hadn't done more than that.) All she had to do was get through this -- and it would be no easy feat, given she had to smile at The Deep and Homelander -- and then she and Diego could retreat to the safety of Fandom. But for right now, she couldn't think of Fandom (and their apartment, and their bed, and how all she wanted right now was the familiarity of sinking into a comfortable surface and discovering she'd sat on a knife.) She glanced off to the wings, where she could see Diego (crucial, given her state of mind at the moment), but quickly flicked her gaze to the three remaining contestants onstage. Fuck, Silver Kincaid, she was sorry. You too, Moonshadow.
Homelander	Homelander hadn't had to drink before showing up for the show. He had a fantastic day, and it was only shaping up to get better. "Well," he started, looking over at the three contestants. "It's been quite a long road for all of you. You've shown us the best of what heroes can be." Ugh, who wrote that line?
Starlight	Probably the same person responsible for the instructions to hang-up non-existent articles of clothing and leave. "The first of the two selections -- and, the newest member of The Seven," Annie intoned, her voice playful and coy about the secret she was about to reveal, "is...Supersonic!" The man! The one man out of these three! Great look already (even if this happened to be a man whose presence on the team she reluctantly welcomed.)
Homelander	But he wasn't a white man, so Vought still got those woke points regardless! Homelander clapped, smiling like he hadn't been horribly racist to this guy a day earlier. "Welcome."
Supersonic	And Supersonic, who had of course known for several hours that he was going to be one of the final two, was a better actor than most people might have given him credit for. He offered out a slightly-shy smile, like he couldn't believe his good fortune, as he crossed over to give Starlight a very wholesome hug. "Thank you, sir," he told Homelander, just the right balance of respect and hopeful camaraderie.
Homelander	"Amigo, el honor es todo mio, hermano." He was so fucking inclusive it wasn't even funny. Homelander turned back to the other two contestants, who were practically buzzing with excitement. Unfortunate. "Well. This is it. The final new member of the Seven is..." "Lord of the Seven Seas, The Deep!" Homelander turned towards the back of the stage where The Deep was standing very conveniently! "Get up here, you! Welcome back!"
The Deep!!!!	He was standing conveniently with his back to the camera, in fact! Both so he could show off his goods -- you know, the Post had once called his ass the official butt of the United States, so you were all welcome -- and so he could dramatically turn with a smile. He jogged up to join Homelander, Supersonic and Starlight, offering out smiles and waves and insincere congratulations to Supersonic. Nothing for those two gals, though. Sorry, ladies. Them's the breaks! (It was an incredibly normal, reasonable choice to re-instate a white, male, privileged sexual predator over two hyper-qualified women of color, okay? Everyone had agreed this was the best idea.)
Homelander	Of course it was the best idea; Homelander had thought of it. "Alright, unfortunately it won't be either of you two," Homelander said, all but shooing the poor women away. "I'm sure you understand, you can't put a price on experience." Because The Deep had been known as being such a useful member of the Seven in the past.
Starlight	Annie was as apologetic as she could be while working from a pretty strict script. "Please hang up your capes," she said softly, looking from Moonshadow to Silver Kincaid, "and go." Goodbye, teammates she wanted so much more than the one she was getting. At least they were sparing themselves?
Homelander	"Now, Deep," Homelander said, not wanting any time wasted on the sad faces of those losers. "I gotta say, I am, well, frankly moved and inspired that Starlight here has chosen to forgive you." Totally a thing that had happened.
Starlight	This was legitimately maybe the hardest part of the whole evening, and Annie wasn't quite as good an actor as Alex was. She gave it her best shot, anyway. "I accept your apology, Deep," she said, at least managing a fairly neutral face if not a smile. "You deserve a second chance." He deserved to have his dick ripped off by rabid wolves, but she wasn't getting anything she wanted these days.
The Deep	"Thank you, Starlight," The Deep replied, shooting her a winning smile that he didn't think she deserved after what she'd put him through. "Looks like we've all grown." But especially him.
Homelander	Aww, look at that. Relationships healing. "Just to be clear, it wasn't my idea to bring you back, buster," Homelander lied, giving The Deep a smile. "Not at all. Starlight here on insisted on it. But keep your distance, pal, because she's getting married!" Homelander nudged his arm against Starlight's playfully. "Show off that pretty ring, Starlight."
Starlight	Oh, how fun. A deviation from the script she'd been religiously following. There was no way this was going anywhere good, after the birthday rant. But she kept her smile frozen on her face as she lifted her hand to show the camera her ring, even inclining her head a little towards it to sort of...pose. It was natural enough, after a couple months of being publicly engaged. "We're very excited," she added, a little lame but at least truthful. And she couldn't help it -- her eyes darted, just for a second, offstage to shoot a look at Diego.
Homelander	"We're all so excited to welcome Diego into the Seven family. He's such a great guy," Homelander said. "Just so supportive of everything you do. In fact, he's here tonight. Come up here, Diego!"
Diego	Diego had been watching this thing go off the rails from offstage, looking on with something like vague horror. Which turned into actual horror when Homelander called him out. "Uh." Diego was frozen to the spot, looking at Annie for guidance, though he knew she was just as screwed as he was. After a moment he felt someone shoving him from behind--Ashley. Of course it was. "Okay, okay, I'm going."
Starlight	Oh God. Oh God, oh God, oh God. Annie only just managed to keep from mouthing another word they'd get fined for, but even with that graceful save, there was no recovery from how utterly shocked she looked. Fuck you, Homelander. Fuck you so hard. His power wasn't lasers or strength or flying or fucking whatever. It was, clearly, psychological torment. "Hey, babe," she greeted Diego as he was shoved onstage (yeah, fuck you, too, Ashley), actually managing to smile even as she was desperately trying to communicate a little more with her eyes. She reached for his hand, immediately trying to draw him right to her side. They had to sell this, okay? "I didn't even know you were here!" Apparently that was kind of the...angle they'd been set up for? Supportive Diego! Look at her wonderful, supportive fiancé, America! ...in fact, please look at him a lot. Look at him so much that you would definitely notice and care if he was abruptly removed from your television screens.
Homelander	Nice try, Starlight, but Homelander was going to intercept and put his arm around Diego's shoulder, drawing him in close in a hold tight enough that Diego couldn't leave even if he wanted to. But why would he? They were such good friends! "It's been such an honor getting to know Diego over the last year." Yep, they totally hung out all the time. Went fishing and stuff, like men. "I'm happy to call him a friend. A brother. And today he has asked me to be his Best Man, and of course I had to say yes!" Homelander pulled a shocked looking Diego into a hug. "Gracias hermano. Bienvenido a la familia." From over Diego's shoulder, Homelander winked at Starlight.
Starlight	She did not wink back. It was taking all her effort not to actually draw all of the power out of every one of these cameras and monitors and their microphones and blast him off of Diego, as stupid and hopeless a move as that would have been. Hughie had said to stick in here, no matter what it took. She hadn't anticipated having to sacrifice their wedding. She could see Ashley from here, frantically signaling for her to say or do something. She probably looked as shocked as she felt, and this was live. (Of course it was. Homelander had thought of everything.) "Well, we couldn't ask for a better...friend," she replied, preemptively reaching over to gently clap Homelander on the shoulder once the hug broke apart, and she performatively rose up to kiss Diego on the cheek (and kinda hated herself for it.) And behind his back, she curled one hand in on itself, making a fist so tight that her nails dug into her palm painfully. It was an old habit, an outlet for anger and frustration and hopelessness that she couldn't show, dating back to every pageant she'd had to dance through with an aching stitch in her side from trying to hit Britney Spears' autotuned high notes. It definitely wasn't enough right now.

[and this is the piece I was most nervous about adapting when these episodes premiered back in June, lol. Taken from The Boys 3.03, 'Barbary Coast,' still, and we're gonna keep warning for Homelander and Vought just being like...really insensitive and terrible. Preplayed with knife_bender, and NFB due to distance but once more open for calls and texts and reactions if you want to say you were watching at home!]