Chapter Text
At first you think you're delirious. Your ears prick at the distant sound of yelling, rapid gunfire interspersed with loud bangs and screams. Your head tilts to the side, your eyes locked on the door as you pick up on the multiple sets of footsteps making their way down the hallways, towards your cell. Not a hallucination then.
That's when you hear their voices.
"Are you sure this is a good idea Butcher?"
"Positive, Hughie. Now let's have a fucking look at what's behind door number three, shall we?"
One, two, three, and the steel door flies inwards, narrowly missing you as it screeches to a halt in the corner of the room. Your eyes narrow as the dust settles and the three men come into view, a dark haired man grins at you wickedly whilst a tall, skinny man throws you a nervous wave over the shoulder of the first. Your whole body tenses as your eyes find the third, he's assessing you with a smirk on his face, his eyes roving up and down your form as he takes you in. He's tall and rugged and like you, a fucking supe; complete with a costume and shield.
"Well aren't you just a doll."
"Who are you and what the fuck do you want?" The supe tsks at you loudly and shakes his head in disapproval.
"A lady as pretty as you shouldn't be using that kind of language." Your eyes flash with anger and you clench your fists tightly.
"You didn't answer me. Is this one of their tests? Did he put you up to this!?" The dark haired man intervenes then, he steps forward slowly, his hands raised in surrender as if he's trying to calm a feral animal.
"Easy, love. We're not here to hurt ya. On the contrary, we've come to get you out of here." You level him with a glare.
"And why would you do that? I don't know you." His face splits into a wide grin.
"Homelander. We're gonna kill the cunt, and you're gonna help us."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
You find yourself ushered into a plush bedroom by an older man named Legend, an old friend of the supe you now knew as Soldier Boy.
The three men had introduced themselves to you not long after leaving the lab and explained that you would be laying low at Legend's home with them until it was time to execute Homelander, much to the eccentric man's chagrin.
You try to shake off the feeling of unease as you find the adjoining bathroom and begin to take off the clothes the scientists had made you wear, desperate to feel clean after so long in that place. You try to will your muscles to relax as you stand under the warm stream and let the rivulets of water carry down your hair, neck, shoulders and back but the tendrils of anxiety still linger in your chest.
Would he find you? And would they be able to protect you if he did?
You sigh as you secure the towel around your body and analyse your reflection in the mirror, despite all of the things they had done to you, all of the pain that you had endured, there were no marks left to show their handiwork. He had liked that, he had called you flawless.
You startle when you walk back into the bedroom, so caught up in the maelstrom of your thoughts that you hadn't heard Hughie come in. He bounces on his heels nervously and gestures to the bags laid out on the bed, purposefully avoiding looking at your state of undress.
"Sorry, I-uh, I should've waited outside, but I brought you some clothes and some food." You stare at him blankly as he stutters, unsure of how to respond to his seemingly genuine act of kindness. He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly and starts to back towards the bedroom door.
"I'll just-uh go now, let me know if you need anything else."
"Hughie-" He stops and turns towards you, his hand resting on the doorknob. "Thank you."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
You lay on your back, eyes focused on the ceiling as insomnia wreaks havoc on your mind. You think back to the other girls, the needles and the screams, the liquid that coursed through your veins, the pain that burned through your body like fire.
A wave of nausea rolls through you as you hear his voice in your head, his praising, taunting, telling you that it was just a matter of time.
The house is silent as you descend the stairs, everyone is asleep and you pad quietly into the kitchen in search of something to calm your frayed nerves. Your eyes light up when you spy a small orange bottle on the counter but you grumble when you pick it up and find it empty.
"Can't sleep?" You turn quickly and throw the bottle of pills at the intruder, freezing when it bounces off of his chest and rolls across the floor.
Soldier Boy leans against the door frame, arms crossed and eyebrow raised as you stare at him. He matches your stare until the silence becomes unbearable.
"No." You stand straighter as he pushes away from the wall, those green eyes of his examining you as he stalks around you. He opens one of the cupboards and retrieves an unopened bottle filled with amber liquid, whisky you think. He smirks and shakes it at you teasingly.
"Won't you have a drink with me Honey?" You watch him wearily, you don't trust him and you don't want to let your guard down but it's been so long since you've been able to just sleep.
"If you try anything, know that I won't hesitate to tear off your cock." He chuckles then, it's deep and rich and you stomach tightens at the sound of it.
"I don't doubt you'd try."
You settle down on one end of the long couch, not taking your eyes off of him and accept the short glass he holds in your direction, careful not to touch him more than needed as you take it from him. He settles into the chair opposite you and sets the bottle down on the coffee table. He hums as he takes a long sip from his own glass, his legs are spread wide and his free hand rests against his thigh.
"You're strong." He grins at you now and his chest puffs slightly from the compliment.
"Yes I am."
"Strong enough to kill Homelander?" His smile falters then, he leans forward to set his glass down on the table and clasps his hands together, elbows resting on his knees. The way that he's eyeing you makes you uncomfortable and you shift in your seat, he nods once as he considers what he's going to say.
"Why were you in that lab?" You frown at him.
"You didn't read the files?" He shakes his head and you nod as your fingers grip your knee, your short nails dig into the fabric of your jeans, the discomfort grounds you. You're silent for a long time as you run through the events that you remember and try to piece them together, the memories are hazy but not enough for you to forget.
"I was just on my way home from work, I remember waking up in that white room, in those clothes. There were others too, I could hear them, they wanted us to hear each other."
His brows are furrowed as he watches you, you knock back the remainder of your glass and set it down, your features steeled to hide the emotions bubbling just below the surface.
"Homelander wants children and in order to have those he needs a living incubator, but seeing as most supe women are sterile they had to get creative. They tried something new, they pumped us full of chemicals until we changed, it burned like hell and the more they did it the stronger I got, I had more stamina, my senses got better."
You lean forward and grab the whiskey bottle and bring it to your lips, you take a long pull before offering it back to Soldier Boy. He takes it from you with a silent nod.
"Then one day I woke up strapped to a table, they wanted to see how much my body could take, so they poked and prodded and sliced, I didn't bleed, I didn't bruise, but I still felt everything." You breathe deeply, trying to ignore the heaviness in your chest.
"He came to my cell the next day, told me that I was going to be the one honoured with carrying his children, that the others weren't as strong as me, as beautiful as me. I tried to slit his throat with the scalpel I stole from the lab but it didn't even make a fucking dent."
"He didn't try to kill you?" You let out a mirthless laugh.
"Of course he did, he tried to laser me in half but it didn't work, it didn't even mark my skin. That's when he started calling me his diamond and ranting about how our children would rule the world."
You scrunch your nose in disgust as you remember the moment before looking back at the man across from you. Soldier Boy's jaw is clenched tight and his expression is stormy, his eyes have darkened and his fingers are no longer entwined but pulled into fists. You consider him as he exhales deeply.
"Did he?-" You ignore him and shake your head as you rise from the couch and walk towards him, his eyes widen as you snatch the bottle of whisky from his hand and make your way past him to the stairs.
"That's enough sharing for one night."