defenderofdesmoines | Vought Tower | Late Tuesday Afternoon

Good thing Annie knew a way into the building besides scanning her hand in at every keypad, right? It also helped that her powers were very well-suited to evading security cameras -- though that was also probably not going to last forever, considering she was leaving a trail of dead cameras in her wake. Almost as damning as just showing right up on them on purpose.

Though she did have a little bit of a plan, now that she was here. It was really risky, but -- she'd done three more broadcasts since Herogasm, and each one had had a lot of viewers and participation. They were even using her footage on the news -- for Ashley to argue with, of course, and declare as a basis for how she was eating babies or something -- but...she had an opportunity here.

Annie	First things first, though -- she got into one of the labs remarkably easily. Again, Annie had the kind of powers that would disable any keypad between her and victory, sure, but -- Jesus Christ, had this building always been this lacking in security? No wonder they'd just let Homelander make a key to her apartment. She slipped into a refrigerator lined with little blue cannisters and carefully selected one from the very back, so it would hopefully take everyone a moment to notice. But while she recognized the blue cylinders, there were some new green ones that caught her attention, labeled V24. So that was the official name. Catchy. And clearly it was still being tested -- Hughie, you idiot -- because there was a legal pad out on this desk, here, with all kinds of convenient notes about the results! "...oh my God." Annie scanned through the notes quickly, then pulled out her phone to take a picture of what she was reading there. "Jesus Christ." The temporary V killed all its test subjects within a matter of five trials. By the looks of this, there was no way Hughie and Butcher didn't already have permanent brain damage. She hurried out of the lab, her mind racing -- and tempted though she was to head for the stairs, she still thought her initial plan from earlier had some merit, even in light of the new information she had. And so...as foolish as this might turn out to be, here she was right out in the open, pressing the button on the elevator and immediately slipping her hand into her purse as she waited.
Homelander	"Here she is!" You were very out in the open Star--Annie. It was...either very brave or very stupid. Probably the latter. "Did you think I wouldn't know the second you walked through the door?"
Annie	Could be both, you know. Annie was kind of a trademark Gryffindor that way: equal parts brave and kind of stupid. Plus she'd left the camera over her head totally alone, so. Maybe this was what you'd call bait. "Well," Annie replied, striving for casual, "like you told everyone -- we broke up, right? It was time to pack my shit and go."
Homelander	Homelander gave her a tight smile, approaching Annie slowly. "Okay. So here's what happens now. You're gonna march into VNN Studios, and you're gonna recant everything you said. It was a tragic cocktail of heartbreak, Zoloft and despair." That ol' tale. "You regret any harm that your lies have caused Vought or me -- but me in particular."
Annie	"Mmm." Annie raised her eyebrows noncommittally, angling herself a little more towards Homelander but otherwise not really offering a response. He could take it as agreement, sure.
Homelander	Well, that was easy. Didn't even have to threaten Diego's life or anything. "Good."
Annie	"But, um -- you want to hear my counter?" Annie suggested, her tone innocuous. "I stop Soldier Boy before he murders more people. And I find Maeve." She tilted her head, studying him. "If she's still alive." She wondered what he would have to say to that. Maybe he would also insist she was in rehab.
Homelander	"Maeve's just learning her manners. And you should do the same," Homelander advised. "Seriously, before you've thrown everything you've worked so hard for."
Annie	"You know what?" Annie replied, rolling her eyes. "I could give a shit." Sincerely. She'd had a few days of not being Starlight at all, and while things were tricky in a new way -- it was so freeing, too. A little depressing, when she thought about it (the way he clearly wanted her to think about it), but it had been a long time since Annie had been so confident that she'd made the right choice regarding her career.
Homelander	"Really?" Homelander asked, lifting an eyebrow. "You sure about that? Your fame is the only thing protecting you." She would have been deader than dead if it hadn't been for her fucking Instagram.
Annie	Once upon a time, a declaration like that would have scared Annie right to her core. But now.... "Here's the thing," she replied evenly. "I'm not scared of you anymore. I'm not. I see who you are. I see how small you are." She paused, watching him. Remembering. Thinking about her next move. "I saw it. I saw it the night that you killed Supersonic."
Homelander	"Hmm, you know what I remember about that night?" he asked. "I remember what I told you would happen to Diego. You walk, that's next."
Annie	Annie looked down, as though chastened and struck by the threat. In reality, though, she was covering for how she was bringing her hand out of her purse. "Good luck with that," she said, looking back up at Homelander, before bringing her phone -- which, of course, was alive with comments and reaction emojis from the livestream she'd started as soon as he'd walked up -- so that everyone could see who that voice belonged to, without any mistaking. "Now that you've told my 190 million followers." And you know who Starlight fans adored? Her cute fiancé, whom you had just explicitly threatened, Homelander. As well as admitting to Supersonic's murder, and knowledge of Maeve's whereabouts. "I'm still pretty popular," she told him.
Homelander	There was a brief look of shock on Homelander's face before he covered it up with the smile he usually reserved for the cameras. "Heeeeeeeeeey, everybody!"
Annie	The elevator dinged just then, which was very handy. "Oop, that's me," Annie said apologetically, glancing over her shoulder as she backed into the elevator but kept her phone trained on Homelander. "Gotta go." This had worked out perfectly. Risky as fuck and really, really stupid...but it had paid off.
Homelander	Shitshitshitshit-- "Starlight! Uh, wait, you're not supposed to record us when we're running lines!" Nice save, Homelander. Nice save.
Annie	She kept recording right up until the elevator doors closed, and then -- and only then -- she heaved a little sigh of relief and ended the stream. And now to get ahold of Hughie, as little as she wanted to. He needed to know, because if she was counting right, his next dose was probably the lethal one.

[taken from 3.07 again, and preplayed with

knife_bender! open for calls and texts, again particularly if you think your character's been keeping track of Annie's social media and would have caught this.]