defenderofdesmoines | Vought Tower

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Vought Tower | Wednesday Morning

After the events of the night prior, Annie had barely slept.

It had taken everything to put her uniform back on today, because every impulse in her body was screaming that she didn't want to do this anymore. Hughie had said she had to stick in there no matter what, but this was a what that really pushed it too far.

"I don't know what we're going to do," she said aloud, probably not for the first time, as she sat curled up on her apartment couch, knees drawn up to her chin.

Other than, apparently, get married with Homelander as Best Man and Vought probably filming every second of it, possibly honeymoon included.

Diego	Diego was in the same boat as Annie, only he didn't have a uniform to change into. He hadn't slept, too busy worrying about what his family was going to do when they found out his wedding was being held hostage by a psychopath. And Diego might be held hostage currently? He wasn't sure. Homelander hadn't explicitly said. "Yeah, he did a good job royally fucking us."
Starlight	"I just keep trying to think of ways around it," Annie offered out, quiet and sad as she looked over at him. "But I also feel like if we fight back or argue with him, he'll make it worse." That was a good instinct, Annie.
Diego	"Yeah, he'll probably decide to upgrade himself to groom and marry the both of us." What a nightmare that would be.
Starlight	Forgive Annie for looking a little sick at the idea -- she had heard a lot of oblique comments from Maeve about what it was like to be romantically involved with Homelander. (To be obligated to entertain Homelander's advances for fear of one's life might be more accurate.) "I'm so sorry," she said, shaking her head and trying not to cry (again.) "I never wanted -- this is exactly why I didn't want to go public." Which, you know. Maybe Homelander had figured that out, too.
Diego	"It's not your fault," he said, reaching over to place a hand on Annie's knee. "If he hadn't have done this he would have figured out another way to torture us. Maybe in an even more humiliating way." Or, you know, could have just killed Diego. That was always on the table.
Starlight	Annie almost smiled, and moved to put her hand over his. "At least we're together?" she offered, shrugging a shoulder. And alive, yes. A huge part of why she hadn't slept wasn't just that her wedding was being hijacked -- it was that she understood, perfectly, that this was a threat. "Maybe for awhile. I don't...." She worried her lower lip. "I don't think he wants you leaving the tower." It had been pretty implied, to the point that she didn't really know what would happen if Diego tried to leave (either with her or alone.)
Diego	"Yeah, I gathered that," he said with a frown. Being held hostage when he was supposed to be a superhero didn't feel great, but he accepted long ago that he wasn't on the level with the superheroes here. "So we just do what he says?" Diego said with a shrug. "At least until Hughie figures out something?" Oh god, they were gonna die.
Starlight	"He says he's got something?" Annie offered, trying so hard to believe in the something Hughie had. "He and Butcher and the others are in Russia to look for this thing, I guess." She gave his hand a squeeze, blowing out a breath. "But yeah. Diego, it has to work." They could not live the rest of their lives under Homelander's control, and that looked like the alternative to Hughie's Hail Mary, here.
Diego	"It'll work." If it didn't, they'd have to start forming a plan to escape the tower and never return.
Homelander	Homelander swung open the door to Starlight's apartment, acting like he owned the place. He kind of did, didn't he? What would Vought be without him? "What'll work?"
Starlight	"Uh." Good God, she was too tired for this. Sleep would have helped her deal with the new waking nightmare that was her life, even if it had been completely impossible to relax since last night. "My VoughtSonic speaker set up." Actually, that was a good reminder -- she needed to get in the habit of playing music when she and Diego talked. Maybe turn the TV on for good measure, too. "I'm sorry, how did you get in?" That was...fucking interesting and awful, how he'd just walked in like that.
Homelander	"I have a key. Have to keep an eye on my closest friends, right?" Let's be real he had that key waaaaaay before he decided he was Diego's Best Man. "By the way, you're a sound sleeper, Starlight." He'd just let that comment hang there for a moment.
Starlight	She was never going to sleep ever again. Annie's stress-based insomnia had cropped up last year in direct response to the threat of Homelander creeping into her room and killing her while she slept, in fact, and that felt like a very legitimate fear, all of a sudden. She glanced to Diego, unable to hide her worry -- but also, maybe Homelander was full of it? It was, like, impossible to sneak up on Diego, even if he was asleep. (Impossible for her, anyway.)
Diego	Yeah, there was no way Homelander would be able to sneak up on them with Diego's paranoid ass sleeping next to her. However, there were times where Diego was distracted so he was going to sit here and be thankful nothing had been said about their sex life and the volume there. Have to take the wins where you could get it.
Homelander	Homelander laughed. "Oh, look at you two, I'm kidding! Come on, lighten up. But we do gotta go, we're running late." He held up a hand before Diego could get up. "Rolling Stone cover shoot. Co-captain thing. You should just sit here and rest. Smells like you've had a busy night." Interesting reaction to stress, you two. Also, gross on Homelander's part. "Though, I'm curious," he said, leaning in. "What's she like? She a good fuck? When I was with Maeve--let's just say she can bend a steel pipe without using her hands."
Diego	All right, Diego had been taking a lot of shit over the last couple days, but asking him to not react to that was way too much. He stood up, getting right in Homelander's face. He didn't know what he was gonna do to hurt him, but he'd figure it the fuck out.
Starlight	That was so vile, on every level. Hearing Homelander talk about her that way, hearing him talk about Maeve that way -- the new, incredibly invasive knowledge that he could smell when she'd had sex, apparently.... Annie didn't even really think about what she was doing as her eyes illuminated and every lamp in the room gave a soft buzz. "Touch him," she said slowly, quietly, "or anyone we care about, and I'll walk. And I'll take my approval points with me." They might not have any leverage against him -- but if Homelander was going to escalate things this quickly and try to goad Diego, transparently, into a fight...then she was going to have to escalate in turn. She didn't know what else to do.
Homelander	Homelander sighed, giving Diego a smile. "Women. I'm kidding! You really need to chill out, guys. Come on, Starlight! Mario's waiting!"
Starlight	Annie let her eyes return to brown and waited for Homelander to walk out first, purely so she could turn back to offer a mouthed, apologetic, "I love you," to Diego before she turned to go, too. And now to spend every minute of a photoshoot thinking about how to survive (literally, emotionally, and psychologically) with a sadistic psychopath who could hear and apparently smell everything she would normally keep quiet. Fun morning.

Starlight	As much as Annie wanted to think she and Diego could handle this on their own, she knew full fucking well they could not. And Hughie was clearly going to be just...very limited help, while he was working with Butcher on whatever this Russian thing was. In the meantime, they were on their own here. But. There was one other person in this building who knew what it was like to be tormented this way by Homelander, and in fact, she probably knew more about that than Annie, hopefully, ever would. So here she was, knocking gently on Maeve's door after that Rolling Stone shoot, and hoping that the noise she could hear inside wasn't sex. (Not a lot of room to talk there, personally, but it would mean Maeve would be grumpier than usual if she interrupted a tryst.)
Queen Maeve	Queen Maeve had not, in fact, been participating in a raucous orgy or whatever it was that Annie had in her head. But the way she answered the door slightly out of breath and flushed might have continued that impression, anyway. Though people who were drunkenly getting railed by five dudes or whatever usually probably seemed like they were in a better mood, right?
Starlight	"Hi," Annie said, as soon as the door was open. "Can we talk?" Please. She really, really, really needed advice, if not...well, help.
Maeve	"No," Maeve said simply, moving to shut the door. She was way, way too busy to talk Annie through another relatively mundane crisis. Get back to her when Homelander was trying to harvest your eggs for a super-baby or something, girl.
Starlight	"Maeve, please." Annie knew she wasn't nearly strong enough to keep this door open if Maeve really wanted to slam it in her face, but hopefully shoving her foot in would be enough. And it was, considering Maeve exhaled an impatient sigh and left the door open for her, heading off into the kitchen area. And as Annie trailed after her, she noticed a few things. Maeve's bar was gone, for one thing. And she had a mat spread out on the floor. The noises. "I heard you stopped training." Or, at least, Diego had mentioned not seeing her in the gym for months -- which was noteworthy, since it was pretty much the only place either of them could stand to be in this tower, other than their respective apartments.
Maeve	"Yeah?" Maeve quirked a humorless smile at her from where she was picking up a water bottle. "You also hear that I wake up six days a week hungover, tits-deep in some random fuck pile?" You know, that exact assumption you'd made when you were knocking a minute ago, Annie? "People think what I want them to."
Starlight	Annie, who until about ten seconds ago had been 'people,' was both impressed at the ruse and embarrassed at herself for falling for it -- especially when she had thought she'd known Maeve better than that. Something else to beat herself up over later. "Okay, listen," she started softly. "Have you ever heard of something called B.C.L. RED?" That was the technical name for the...thingie Hughie was off looking for in Russia.
Maeve	It was Maeve's turn to be a little impressed. Way to join the grownups, Annie. "You mean a weapon that can kill Homelander, if Butcher can find it?" she replied, raising an eyebrow.
Starlight	"You know?" Annie asked, her voice even more hushed as she moved further into the apartment to lean on Maeve's kitchen island. How the fuck did Maeve know about this already, when Hughie didn't even know what it was they were even looking for?
Maeve	God, when Annie was like this, Maeve was always torn between wanting to ruffle her curly little head, and wanting to smack her upside it. "Who do you think sent them down the rabbit hole?" she asked slowly. "It's why I'm training. Or haven't had a drink in four awful, shit-eating months. I didn't even have champagne at your dress thing. Maybe I can buy Butcher a second or two to get a good shot. At the very least, I'll get a couple of licks in." She was the strongest woman in the world. Stronger than Noir, and she'd proven it last year. Maybe as strong as Homelander. She was kind of counting on it, actually.
Starlight	"Okay." Annie was nodding as Maeve spoke, her eyes wide. They could work with this! Maeve was not only on her side -- Maeve was kind of leading her side, and Annie hadn't even known. Of course she was leading the charge. No one had suffered at Homelander's hands like Maeve had. "Okay, okay. So there's you and me," she said, looking to Maeve. "Maybe we can find some others." Diego, too, but she was sort of...not counting him, right now. He would be invaluable and she knew it -- neither she nor Maeve had blinded Stormfront last year -- but after this morning's display, she also couldn't even think about how obvious it was that Homelander was playing with him to hurt her.
Maeve	Good thing she wasn't including Diego aloud for the moment, since that would only result in Maeve flatly explaining how quickly he'd get killed. As it was, "Yeah," she replied dryly. "I'm sure you and Duluth's Most Mighty would really get the job done." She shook her head. "This is my problem. I'm the one who was with the asshole." And it didn't matter if she'd been pressganged into it, either -- she had been with him.
Starlight	That panicky feeling was starting to rise in Annie again, but she forced it down. Not right now. "Maeve," she said slowly, "you cannot do this alone." She'd be able to put up a good fight. Annie knew that. She'd been following Maeve's career since the age of thirteen or so, after all. Maeve had one of the best shots of any solo hero against Homelander. But without a team.... "He'll kill you." She studied Maeve for a long, quiet moment, and took in the woman she knew, inside of the embittered hero she'd worshipped for a decade. "You really care that little about yourself?"
Maeve	Maeve, in turn, let herself be seen for once. She let her sadness and her anger and her hopelessness actually wash across her features as she looked over at Annie. Tiny, hopeful, probably a little stupid for it. It was like looking right into the face of why she had to do this. "I got it coming," Maeve said quietly, taking a swig from her water bottle before turning her back and going to retrieve her sword. Annie could see herself out. She had work to do.

[we are now on The Boys 3.04, 'Glorious Five-Year Plan.' Warning for Homelander being really inappropriate/gross/predatory/you name it, preplayed with

knife_bender, and NFB for distance but if you would like to call or text Annie you can catch her here!]

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So, HI. Checking IN. HYD?

Look, when you saw a social media storm go from BAD to WORSE in the span of a few days, sometimes you just didn't even know what to say, but that seemed like a good start. Maybe a bit later than Summer would have preferred, but ~~work is finally not eating her completely~~ it was hard to find that delicate balance between 'my friend is a BAMF and has enough to deal with without me throwing myself into it' and 'all hands on mother fucking deck'.

After leaving Maeve, Annie was tempted to head back down the hall to the apartment -- if only to lay eyes on Diego and make sure Homelander wasn't in there with him -- but she also had other people to see and time to kill between those meetings. It was more important than ever to cover her tracks a bit, and so she was winding her way down the floor to the conference room to text Summer. Make it look like she was watching the monitors, instead of openly taking comfort in someone she'd wanted to talk to for days.

(At least, as far as she knew, Homelander wasn't reading her texts? So it was probably okay to be happy Summer was reaching out, rather than responding with panic at him having knowledge and access of another person close to her.)

oh, you know. Homelander's holding us hostage but I'm gonna be on Rolling fucking Stone next month so it's cool.

So, that right there probably said a lot about how Annie was doing. That wasn't even effing, you guys!

Horrible. Fucking nightmare. He's taking over the wedding. came the more honest reply, on the heels of the prior text.

Edited 2022-08-17 11:26 (UTC)

Honestly, though? That all felt pretty retrained, even for Annie, especially considering how Summer herself probably would have responded to that with a novel-length text rant. But it was also about what she expected, too, considering what she could parse about the circumstances.

yeah, i fucking saw. clearly he's taking this cocaptain thing like a real fucking CHAMP

The lack of I told you sos in there was a true testament of their friendship and the respect she had for Annie and a concession toward how truly fucked up this was, even on just the surface levels!

u need anything?

Of course, Summer had a few ideas, but see previous statement about friendship and respect and only being able to imagine what sort of tight...and delicate...spot this was putting her in right now.

It took a little bit for Annie's reply to come in -- but the little dots showed she was typing, anyway.

Because it was so, so tempting to tell Summer she needed her here, or she needed a way to get back to Fandom without Homelander noticing and maybe portal guns were the answer -- but she also knew she couldn't. Both because it was risky on this end, and more importantly...she just couldn't involve anyone else in this.

Anyone who wasn't already involved, anyway. And she felt bad enough about who she had to talk to next.

I need to be there and not here. :( was what finally went through, after all that typing. but I can't leave. he's basically holding us both hostage.

But kind of especially Diego.

Summer's frowned deepened the longer those little dots were on her phone, and she was staring down at them as if she was half-worried if she looked away, they'd disappear all together, and then what? She tried not to speculate on everything Annie might be debating on typing or not typing, so she was relieved when something finally came through.
Not that it was exactly great or anything, but...

what a fucking psychopath

Which seemed a little unnecessary to point out, but it also just needed to be said.

ur doing great btw. like amazing. u r practically like a GODDESS of self control with all of that, holy shit. if u need anything, tho, anything at all....let me know, okay? portals? Do you need portals? how well do you think PR could spin him being portal onto screaming sun planet like i did that racooon that holed everyone last summer?

lol you literally don't even know how much shit i've shot down, thank you.

Summer would eventually get to hear about the Starlight backup dancers. And maybe the comment Homelander had made to Diego this morning. So gross. (And weird, considering she didn't...really get a vibe from Homelander? But she also supposed it wasn't that weird; everything with Homelander was about power. Sexualizing her was just another tool in his belt, there.)

portals might be real bad. Vought would want in, you know? but you're the BEST to offer.

And it was bad enough how Vought somehow handwavily didn't know how she traveled between worlds as it was -- or that she even did. Give them accidental access to portals and they'd probably open one up to 1939 and bring Frederick Vought to the present.

we maybe kind of have a plan. maybe. And cue Annie looking up at the door, just in case Homelander could like...tell the words she'd typed from the sounds her phone made?

lets just send all of Vought to screaming sun planet.

Summer, you couldn't just send everyone you didn't like to the screaming sun planet, oh my gooooooood.

maybe is so reassuring!

It actually kind of was? Summer might have been leaning pretty hard on her connection with Annie to trust that there was a lot of subtext in those four words, but it wasn't just sarcasm, it was actually good to know that there was something potentially in the works. Especially since she knew Annie was good at handling shit with Vought, which was to say, if Annie had a plan, even a maybe plan, Summer had the utmost faith in her, and it actually took everything she had not to try and interject herself into it, but, she also trusted that, if Annie needed her, she would fucking KNOW.

She would absolutely know, yes. And even her maybe plan was coming down from more competent, practiced hands than hers, so Annie was just about ready to believe in it -- but not enough that she was ready to call in her own troops yet. This was way too dangerous to involve anyone she didn't have to. Bad enough Diego was already here.

She glanced again towards the hallway, then quickly typed -- under the table, like that would make a difference -- Maeve's working on something. I guess she has been for months? and I've got a contact looking for a lead on a weapon.

Not that Hughie, you know, filled her with confidence -- but Maeve did.

Edited 2022-08-17 12:31 (UTC)

And Summer nodded, the sort of reassured, reassuring nod of confidence at this news, as if Annie could feel that through text.

Good. i hope whatever it is is fucking terrible. u don't FUCK with THIS wedding and not get fucked right back dammit

Although, as she typed it, she felt a twinge of distress clenched in her stomach, considering how the last big wedding she'd gone to had turned out.

Here she'd wanted her bridesmaid dress to have pockets to hold, like, her wallet and her phone. Now she had to plan on pockets for weapons apparently.

Possibly raided from Rick's closet.

Well, damn. Now she was getting ideas.

he's doing other stuff too besides the wedding. tried really hard to get D to fight him this morning.

And that was, she knew from Maeve, just the tip of the iceberg when it came to how Homelander was probably going to progress in trying to hurt them both.

if this doesn't work, I might be calling in reinforcements. Unless, you know, something awful happened that made her vow to never reach out to friends for help at all ever again, or something.

Excuse Summer just a little bit of a moment to reinterpret that first part when her brain didn't immediately think Diego with that abbreviation.

But she got there! Context was definitely a thing that helped once you got past your natural inclination anytime anyone used the letter D by itself in a text.

u know all u need to do is say the word and i will be there faster than you can even say Narcissistic personality disorder

Honestly, given the information Homelander had used to try to instigate that fight, it wasn't, like, entirely off-base, anyway!

I know. ♥ ♥ ♥

but fingers crossed that this idiot Hughie I know comes in with some kind of miracle from Russia and I don't have to.

Annie's Hail Mary was a guy who'd thought it'd be a good idea to actually break his arm so he could get out of work, soooo....

Ew. Russia?

Summer couldn't help making a little bit of a face at the sudden dip in her confidence, because, come on, Russia? What was this, the eighties? It felt like nothing good ever actually came of Russia. No, not even the vodka, she said it!

apparently the Russians killed Soldier Boy back in the 80s, and whatever they've got is probs our best bet since he was like, proto HL.

BCL Red plus Maeve and Annie and whoever else they could rustle up? Annie rolled with the Hargreeves. She'd heard much worse plans.

the 80s are pretty hot right now too, ngl

Because, yes, Summer, pop culture trends totally dictated the effectiveness of secret Cold War era superhero killing technology, why not?

that bodes well, then. maybe we can distract him with a VHS tape and some parachute pants while we're at it.

Jokes! Look at that! Seeing Maeve really had done a lot for Annie's morale, it turned out.

Jokes were good! Jokes were great! Summer was a big supporter of Levity as a Survival Tool!

and your hair was practically MADE to be hairsprayed, crimped and teased out to high heaven girl

And OHGOD, now Summer was imagining an 80s version of Starlight, and it was glorious, like how perfect would she be for that time period? Damn.

You know what would really suit an 80s Starlight? Roller skates and disco. (Get on that, Sony, you have that character in your X-wheelhouse just languishing!)

k so it is decided: 80s victory dance party when this is over.

She'd probably have to watch Hughie dance but it seemed like an okay sacrifice.

With great victory did come great sacrifice.

or 80s themed bachelorette party at the very least

Summer. Summer, no.

omg i would totally crimp my hair for that.

Watch Annie resist thinking about whether Homelander would invite himself along to her bachelorette party in real time!

(He would probably be making Diego do something horrible for his. Don't think about that.)

but I'm not like doing shots of new coke or something.

Summer would honestly deal with a self-invited, self-imposing Homelander at the bachelorette party if it meant Annie in crimped hair.

Granted, she didn't even think she'd need a bachelorette party to convince Annie to crimp her hair at all, but that was beside the point.

i am totally making new coke shots now omg. shit if this russia thing pays off i'm pretty sure i HAVE do the eighties theme, i mean, we have to pay HOMAGE. it'll be the best bachelorette party/funeral ever

part of me thinks it's kinda tacky for a funeral but the rest of me doesn't care because HL's actual funeral would be a lot worse.

Oh, don't mind a little fantasizing here about all the red, white and blue tributes she'd have to attend if they pulled this off. Annie would happily belt out a Homelander-ish version of Never Truly Vanish for years to come.

🤮🤮🤮

In case Annie needed any help thinking about what Summer's reaction to that funeral would be. She remembered 'Never Truly Vanish'. It was hard to forget.

Only instead of regular puke, it's red, white, and blue, all fucking stars and stripes

That was an important detail, she felt.

I'm sure Vought could even bottle it up and market it too!

the Homelander Memorial Commemorative Grief Vomit. comes with free smiling Starlight and Queen Maeve action figures!

Honestly, the Maeve one might well dance with that kind of incentive.

With opposable thumbs-up action!

Summer grinned quite a bit at that, really hoping all of this was doing wonders for Annie's soul right now, because it was definitely doing hers a lot of good in that moment, even if it was probably all just conjecture and fantasizing. But damn, it felt good and if she could do anything for Annie right now, she really hoped at least making her feel slightly better, even in the circumstances, was one of them.

twenty years from now, still heartbroken incels in an act of desperation to not get kicked out of their parents' basements will be selling bottles of it on whatever the Vought equivalent of eBay is for hundreds of dollars

Actually, there probably could be a decent market out there for celebrity vomit if you (unfortunately) knew where to look for it...

vBay.

Of course it was. Duh.

it's gonna age so badly though. but maybe that'll make it more valuable? like wine?

Being super gross was an outstanding distraction from how worried Annie was, yes. And if this evening hadn't held what this evening held for her, this text conversation might have been enough to just buoy her through the rest of the week.

Alas. Annie was not destined to be happy for long.

And how else could Summer respond to that thought than with a litany of more puking emoji?

Look at that. its a gift that keeps on giving!

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Vought Tower | Wednesday Morning

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