Vought Tower | Friday Morning

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie was this close to actually being late as she hustled onto the VNN Today set. Unfortunately, when you were Starlight, switching between your day job and your vigilante stuff took a little more prep than she'd like. (Her hair. The narrative meant her hair.)

Homelander was already there with Hailey Miller, but no one was making polite small talk or anything. It looked like, at least on approach, that he was doing that weird blank-stare thing he'd been doing yesterday.

Good. Hopefully that meant he hadn't even noticed she had left the building. She cleared her throat as she slid neatly into the armchair beside him with a cautious little smile.

Homelander	Homelander had been going through it. The pressure of being in charge of not only his team but the entire company and its shareholders during this explosion crisis (which was not Soldier Boy. It wasn't) was getting to him. Just a little. He was shaken out of his thoughts when he saw a swish of white and gold out of the corner of his eye and he saw Starlight sitting there. That, at least, was familiar. That was a situation he could handle. "I'm really glad you're here," Homelander said, reaching out to put his hand over hers. "I missed you." It kind of sounded like he meant it?
Starlight	You know, in a way, that was even more unsettling than seeing Homelander on the brink of rage. He seemed...sincere? Maybe even...emotionally vulnerable, in a way? It was probably an act, which just had her trying to think ahead to figure out what he might gain by throwing her off this way. She noticed, then, that there was a third chair to her right. "Who's joining us?"
Hailey Miller	"Oh, they didn't tell you?" Hailey asked, smiling as her makeup was touched up.
Victoria	And before anyone could answer, here came Victoria Neuman, striding out with one of her enormous trademark grins. "Hey!"
Starlight	Annie was left trying not to actually visibly fumble, but she hadn't actually seen Victoria since the revelation that she was the head-popper. Or the press conference that had revealed she was in Homelander's pocket, too. "Hey, lady!" The interview, at least, started easy enough. Annie knew her way through the first few questions Hailey asked about the explosion without thinking about it much. "The mayor can say what she wants," she noted in response to a particularly pointed question about whether Vought could handle this threat. "But Homelander is the one working to catch the guy. We're about to turn a corner here."
Homelander	"Absolutely we are," Homelander agreed, giving Starlight a smile he really wasn't feeling right now. "Thanks, partner."
Starlight	"Of course," Annie replied, reaching a hand over to comfortingly pat his arm. A normal gesture, here with cameras on them. What he had done earlier was weird because no one had been looking.
Hailey	"That's reassuring," Hailey replied with a smile -- before continuing, "But there are nineteen dead and dozens wounded." She turned her attention to Victoria. "Congresswoman Neuman, what do you say to the Americans who are watching right now and feeling scared?"
Victoria	"Yeah, look, it's understandable --" Victoria began, offering her hands out in an expansive, placating gesture.
Homelander	"What kind of nasty question is that?" Homelander interrupted.
Victoria	"Oh no," Victoria rushed to assure him. "I'm happy to answer --"
Homelander	Nuh-uh. This reporter was going to be put in line. Homelander was sick of the lies. Or people refusing to believe his lies, rather. "Starlight just said, and I keep saying, this is not a problem."
Hailey	"I'm sorry, sir," Hailey began, wincing in faux-apology. "I didn't mean --"
Homelander	"I don't have time for your mediocre ambush." Seriously, he didn't, he suddenly had a lot more responsibility and it really kind of sucked. "Your job is to report facts, not attack us when we sit here and tell the truth." "The American people, they know," Homelander said, pointing at the camera. "They know when someone's telling them facts, and they know when the media is lying to them. There is no problem. It is safe to go out. Period." Homelander started pulling off his mic. "You know what? We're done here. Stupid fucking hack." He was already on his way out the door by the time anyone could even nicely suggest he come back.
Hailey	"Up next," Hailey told the camera, smiling as she tried to recover because wow, "Chuck makes empanadas with Rachael Ray. We'll be right back." Unless she was about to be fired on the commercial break, given how Ashley was storming over.
Victoria	"Hey!" Victoria grabbed Annie's arm as the bell rang and they were clear to cut. "You free for a little catch-up?" It had been so long since they had hung out as vague professional friendly acquaintances.
Starlight	"You know what," Annie apologized, privately thinking about how she had just been grateful to break away early and get back to Diego and MM -- and also how much she very, very much did not want to take any kind of private meeting with Victoria Neuman, "I'm a little slammed right now."
Victoria	"Oh, come on," Victoria wheedled. "Ten minutes won't kill you." The implication, conscious or not, had Annie reluctantly agreeing.

Starlight	Victoria had been weirdly insistent about this meeting, which Annie was trying really hard not to think too hard about right now. She really needed to get back to MM's place, but instead, here she was, cracking open a La Croix with the congress head-popper. Awesome.
Victoria	"Hey, so," Victoria began casually, setting her drink down with a smile. "Where's Diego?" If her eyes and ears in the tower were correct, he pretty much lived in this apartment -- and yet, no cute fiancé to be found, Starlight. Interesting. Especially given why Victoria wanted to have this meeting.
Starlight	"Suit fitting," Annie lied smoothly, trying to force a fond smile onto her face in spite of how her heart had just started hammering in her chest. "Here I thought I was gonna have the complicated wedding clothes." Ha ha ha ha, so relatable and believable, right?
Victoria	Victoria gave her a look that said she so got that, Starlight -- for sure. Just ask her ex-husband! "Okay, oh good," she laughed airily, waving a hand. "Hughie hasn't been at work for a few days, and then Diego wasn't here and I've hardly seen you around the tower -- I thought people might be avoiding me!"
Starlight	"No, no," Annie assured her cheerfully, leaning forward to take another sip of delicious pamplemousse fizz to cover up how much she wanted to change the subject.
Victoria	"In case I might go around popping people's heads or something," Victoria continued, like it was a laughable concept. But she wasn't laughing. She was staring at Annie.
Starlight	God help her, she tried. Even as hopeless and cornered as Annie was here, she still gave it her best shot. "Hmm?"
Victoria	Victoria crooked an unamused smile at her. "Come on, Annie."
Starlight	And Annie, who had not ever given this woman her Christian name, recognized the threat that it was. Annie's eyes had lit up in this apartment probably literally hundreds of times over the past year. (She and Diego were nothing if not consistent.) But for the second time in under a week, she was illuminating them as a threat to the person in breathing distance of her.
Victoria	"Put 'em away," Victoria told her, unwavering as she stared over at her -- but, at the same time, not confrontational or disrespectful. "I'm not gonna hurt you, or Diego, or your families." And then she quirked a smirk over at the other woman. "Besides. You'd lose." Just a fact.
Starlight	Annie held on for a moment longer, letting the buzz of the apartment's electronics sing in the silence before she sank back against the couch, arms crossed. "Then why are you here?" She was so fucking tired of the back-stabbing and the deals and the threats and the double-crosses. This looked like more of the same.
Victoria	"Because I want to help you," Victoria said, just this side of actually earnest. It was sort of the truth.
Starlight	"Huh. Help," Annie repeated, narrowing her eyes. Maybe it had been seeing Alex's mangled body. Maybe it was having Homelander openly fuck with her and Diego in public. Maybe it was the Soldier Boy of it all. But Annie was just entirely out of fucks. "From the psycho who blew up Congress."
Victoria	"Look, most of those guys passed around deep fakes of me on the house floor blowing Bin Laden, so I'm not exactly overwhelmed with sympathy," Victoria told her frankly. She smiled, raising her brows appealingly. "Annie. You need me. You're all alone. I mean, come on -- this shit where Homelander's your fiancé's Best Man and you're a fucking family? Looks like you're in a hostage video. Blink twice if I'm wrong." She leveled a look at Annie, waiting for the blinks. "And, what, you got to play nice with the guy who tried to throat-fuck you on your first day of work?" Again -- she got it. She really kind of did. "And Maeve -- they say Maeve is in rehab." She shook her head very slightly. "But you and I both know she's probably dead. I'm all you've got."
Starlight	The most that whole speech got out of Annie was an eyebrow raise on throat-fuck. She was perceptive. She'd give Neuman that. "Are you ever going to get to the point?"
Victoria	'kay. We were playing like that, then. "You have 193 million Instagram followers," Victoria said after a brief pause. "Lend me your influence, and I'll lend you mine. I can protect you from Homelander. You'll finally be team captain for real. And in return, you help me goose my numbers. I can finally get my education reform bill passed." She dropped her voice, serious. "We can make things better, Annie. For my daughter. For a lot of daughters."
Starlight	Annie took a moment to answer, breathing in to collect her thoughts. "You're right," she said, slowly getting up from the couch. "This whole place." She blew out a long sigh, letting herself feel the next few words. "I'm so fucking tired...." Victoria was all but nodding along, encouraging. "...of listening to people tell me I have to be shitty in order to win," Annie finished, leveling her gaze at Victoria so there would be no mistaking what she said. "Fuck you. And fuck Homelander, and fuck Vought, and this 'whatever it takes' crap. You're just gonna end up sitting on top of the steaming pile of shit that you built." She was shaking her head, this close to outright losing control of herself more than she already had. "I'm done. I'm fucking done, I'm not doing it anymore." It felt so, so good to get that all out.
Victoria	Victoria, her mouth set in a thin line, pointed out, "You're not gonna be doing anything if Homelander kills you." Obvious. And yet.
Starlight	"Yeah, maybe," Annie agreed, huffing out a little humorless laugh. "But then I'll know I'm not working with a fucking nutjob." She had a house in Vermont to get to. Twins to save. A (handsome) exploding man to somehow stop. "So, either pop my head," she said, just above a whisper. "Or get the hell out." Call her bluff, Victoria. Do it. Make Ashley get a cleaning crew in here, Starlight's private and very secure (unless you were Homelander) apartment, with no explanation of what had happened. That was the thing. Stan had been there to protect both of them.
Victoria	Victoria slowly -- so slowly, you knew she was a villain just by how slow she moved! -- rose from the couch, stepping carefully into Annie's space. Just long enough for everyone to feel it. "Hey, keep this between us?" she requested, abruptly shifting to a confidential, friendly tone. "It'd be really tough to take out America's sweetheart, but not impossible." And with that, she showed herself out.
Starlight	Annie turned to watch her go, waiting until the door actually shut before she relaxed her posture. Wait. That felt...weird. She reached up to her nose, dabbing at the liquid she could feel, and examined the blood on her fingers. Yeah. It wouldn't be impossible. She blew out a few stabilizing breaths, steeling her nerves and trying to recover from the adrenaline, and hurried into the bedroom to change her clothes and grab some things for herself and Diego. If all went well, she was pretty sure they'd be with MM for awhile.

[taken from 3.06, Herogasm, and knife_bender is continuing to tear it up as Homelander, Definitely Not Inspired By Real Events or Presidents. NFB, NFI, OOC welcome!]