I Found You

You'd come as soon as the report came across your desk. Hughie had been caught and was being taken to the holding cell with his 'friends'.

Perhaps it was a bad idea to confront him so blasé, but since when did you listen to sense. You'd always been one of those people who didn't understand why the villain was explaining his plan to the hero rather than finishing him off, but you had a clue now.

Gloating felt nice when you felt like you were in control.

So, you smiled as you approached the cell, and saw the recognition in his eyes, and the eyes of the other two, Frenchie and Mother's Milk.

"You're that guy, from Popclaw's place?" M.M. said as you nodded.

"The same, and you would be the gang of wannebe heroes who killed Translucent and have been screwing with my team." You explained.

"Your team?" Frenchie inquired as you stared at Hughie.

"Hmm, perhaps I should introduce myself. I'm Nick, surely Star mentioned me at some point or maybe she wanted to keep her personal and professional lives separate which seems to have failed... horribly." You taunted as Hughie looked at you with newfound recognition as you paced around the cell.

You knew he came with a plan, but he could hardly pull it off with you just standing there watching him.

"I really should be saying congratulations" You exclaimed with a smirk as the trio looked confusedly at you.

"Congratulations, for what?" M.M. asked.

"Really, Star didn't mention it? I can see why; she was probably embarrassed after I warned her." You teased as Hughie came alive, leaning closer as if to make sure he heard your next words.

"Warned her about what?"

"I suppose there's no point in hiding it, you already know where heroes come from, about Compound V." You explained, pausing so as to see his reaction, along with the reaction of the other two. "It's only a natural conclusion, although I didn't tell her why at the time... but she was warned that traditional birth control doesn't work with Supes, different biology, the truth is Compound V neutralizes it, although depending on the dosage it can affect fertility." You revealed as Hughie looked like someone had slapped him, an expression not that different from the other two men in the cell.

"Wait, you mean..." M.M. asked, Hughie still reeling from the knowledge.

"Hughie here knocked up a Superbabe. I really must thank you for it, in a few months' time, she'll be pulled from active duty and the public won't even be up in arms like they would be if we fired her. Not to mention as team doctor, it will give me ready access to study her child." You said and felt smug warmth at Hughie's pissed off look he was shooting you.

"What do you mean, you want to keep Annie's kid in a lab, to study?" He growled as you tipped your head to the side.

"Hardly, I have every intention of letting you and her raise the child as you see fit, I only need one small piece of DNA after birth to answer any questions I may have. You see, heroes as they are, are dependent on the V, but what I want to do is create natural born heroes, no V, no ****, just good old-fashioned genetics. And I know it's possible, after all, Homelander managed it with Butcher's beau Becca... unfortunately, the process seems rather hit and miss, Translucent's son Maverick is plain as white bread, so I'm hoping to create as large a sample size as possible." You revealed your plan as the men listened with rapt attention.

"Ryan was made with a male Supe and unpowered female, same as Maverick, your kid will be Supe mother with boring dad, I'm interested to know what would happen if both parents were Supes, but apparently that's a pipe dream given that Compound V meddles with genetics like that. I thought I'd managed to hit the jackpot when Popclaw's test came back positive, but somebody had to go and kill her, so back to the drawing board!" You relented as you started to walk away.

"Although I suppose with you locked up down here, I could see if Star's up for a round or two, I hear **** cuckoldom is all the rage these days. After you used her so flippantly, I bet it wouldn't take much convincing, from the reports I read on you two, she's a slut." You cackled as you vanished into the darkness, fully aware of Hughie seething behind you as your grin split your face.

After all, across the city, Butcher, Homelander, and Stillwell were facing off, well, Butcher and Homelander were, Madelyn was just a victim caught in their clash... which meant there would soon be an opening in her office.