A week had passed since Pero fled into space.
For all of New York, and even the entire world, these had been seven utterly ordinary days.
News about Vought International still dominated the headlines.
The heroes of The Seven still played superheroes in front of the cameras.
Everything was so normal.
But for Homelander, these seven days had been the longest of his life.
And the most painful.
His mood had been like a roller coaster, plunging from the peak of his initial ecstasy to the depths of dejection he now felt.
He had used every ability he possessed, Super-Vision and Super-Hearing, searching the entire continent without finding any trace of Pero.
Pero had simply vanished from his world, without any rhyme or reason.
As the old saying went, CTs never looked up.
It never occurred to him that Pero was actually floating in low Earth orbit right above him.
Vought Tower, 99th floor.
The elevator leading to The Seven's hall was running smoothly.
Homelander stood expressionlessly inside, an impenetrable gloom shrouding his chiseled face.
He was not even in the mood to straighten his signature stars-and-stripes suit, leaving the traces of dust on it untouched.
Ding!
The elevator doors slowly opened, and Queen Maeve walked in. A flicker of disgust crossed her eyes when she saw Homelander in the corner.
Still, she kept her distance and stood on the other side.
The elevator doors closed, and the atmosphere in the cramped space became unbearably oppressive.
"Why are you here at this hour?" Homelander spoke first, his voice extremely hoarse.
"Didn't the company arrange for you to go to Los Angeles this afternoon and catch those bank robbers on a live broadcast?"
Maeve gave a derisive laugh at that.
She turned and stared at Homelander as though he were