The corner of Stormfront's mouth twitched.
Soldier Boy had always been like this. Whenever something fell within his understanding, he would use it to put people under relentless pressure and call them idiots.
Whenever something fell outside his understanding, he would say you made it up.
If you argued your case and laid the facts before Soldier Boy, he would even slap you across the face.
He was just that kind of unreasonable bastard.
Yet Stormfront ate it up. "Ben, you're still so funny. Let me show you."
As she spoke, Stormfront took out her phone, wanting to show Soldier Boy how times had changed.
She wasn't remotely afraid of Soldier Boy slapping her. To her, that was a reward.
Soldier Boy: "..."
"All right, if there's nothing else, leave." Soldier Boy started shooing her out.
"I'm not leaving. I want to take control of Vought with you," Stormfront said stubbornly.
"Tch." Soldier Boy raised his hand. "If you don't leave, I'll hit you."
"Come on, baby. Hit me hard." Stormfront eagerly offered him her cheek.
Soldier Boy was at a loss. Judging by how things were going, Stormfront might still leave if he didn't hit her, but hitting her would get her off, and then she would never leave.
She had nothing to lose and nothing to fear.
Soldier Boy discovered that he really had no way of dealing with this woman.
"Ah." He sighed, feeling powerless for the first time.
Stormfront smiled, a radiant smile, as though she had returned to decades ago, when she and Soldier Boy had taken on the world together.
She truly loved Benjamin.
"Then I'll see you tonight. Save me a spot in The Seven." Stormfront kissed Benjamin on the cheek, purple lightning coiling around her as she prepared to leave.
"Wait. Come meet Homelander with me first. You can only join if he agrees." Soldier Boy stopped Stormfront.
It was time to show some father-son teamwork.
I'm sure Homelander will see that I don't want Stormfront joining. As long as he says no, it'll definitely work.
With Stormfront's personality, she probably won't keep insisting. That should at least reduce the risk to some extent.
Fuck, I'm a genius.
Soldier Boy was utterly confident.
"All right." Stormfront shrugged. Unaware of yesterday's negotiations, she had no objection.
Next door, Homelander snapped back to his senses and looked at the milk on the floor. "Oh, shit."
His expression soured. He wanted to clean it up before Soldier Boy arrived.
Madelyn had no idea what had happened. "What's wrong, John?"
"Soldier Boy's bringing a friend over. I need to get things ready." Homelander answered offhandedly, his mind racing.
How do I clean this up?
Sweep it up?
He wanted to find some tools, but couldn't find any at all, because dedicated staff usually handled the cleaning.
Fuck, those useless idiots at Vought didn't even get me a broom.
Homelander was already panicking and starting to fling blame around indiscriminately. He remembered Soldier Boy mocking his fondness for milk more than once.
I can't let Soldier Boy see this. Absolutely not.
Knock, knock, knock.
A knock sounded at the door. "Homelander, open up. I've got something to discuss with you."
Soldier Boy was here.
"Fuck." Homelander cursed under his breath and hurriedly kicked the glass shards under the table with his boots.
Madelyn's face turned livid. Homelander was actually treating the milk she had given him like garbage?
It wasn't that she felt insulted, but that Homelander never wasted a single drop of milk, much less trampled it underfoot.
"Not here? Then let's go."
Soldier Boy's voice grew distant.
Homelander hurriedly called out, "I'm here."
He jogged over and opened the door, his face lighting up with the smile familiar to all of America. "What is it? I was just in the bathroom."
Then he looked at Stormfront in "surprise." "Who's this? A friend of yours?"
Soldier Boy thought Homelander was acting a little strange.
"I thought you were secretly drinking milk in here, you pussy." As he spoke, he pushed past Homelander, who was blocking the doorway.
"Whoa, nice decor you've got here. Have mine done like this too."
Stormfront waved at the dumbstruck Homelander. "Hello, hero."
She followed him into the room.
Homelander pursed his lips. Do none of them have any sense of boundaries? At this point, he could only let things take their course. If they found it, they found it.
Soldier Boy surveyed Homelander's room, raising his eyebrows when he saw Madelyn. "The wet nurse is here too."
Madelyn had still been wearing a professional smile, but her face darkened at his words.
Accustomed to her position of power, she hadn't had anyone speak to her like that in a long time.
Homelander immediately noticed Madelyn's reaction. After a moment's thought, he casually came to her defense. "Don't talk about her like that."
"Fuck." Soldier Boy rolled his eyes. "You idiot."
Madelyn already knew about Ryan and had been keeping it from Homelander all along.
Meanwhile, Homelander was still hopelessly lost in his milk-fueled fantasy. It seemed he would have to get rid of Madelyn sooner rather than later.
As long as she was around, there would always be an enormous baby crying to be fed inside Homelander.
Madelyn felt even worse, because she realized that Homelander wasn't defending her out of dependence. It was more like he was standing up for an acquaintance.
Those were two completely different things. If this continued, one day Homelander would slip entirely out of her control and no longer need him.
Her position at Vought would be finished.
"Mr. Soldier Boy, I'm very glad you've returned to Vought." Madelyn forced a smile.
"Are you?" Soldier Boy twisted his neck, making it crack loudly. "You won't be glad for much longer."
"Because I'm about to kill that slippery old black bastard Edgar, take control of Vought, and fire you, you mangy old whore."
Madelyn's eyes widened as though she had been frightened, and she looked to Homelander for help.
Homelander fell silent for a moment. "Madelyn is my friend. Could you be a little nicer to her?"
His tone was very soft. He wasn't negotiating, but pleading.
Before Soldier Boy could erupt, Stormfront's exaggerated voice rang out. "Oh my God, Benjamin, you were right! Homelander really was secretly drinking milk."
Homelander stiffly turned his head. The thing he had least wanted to happen had happened after all.
Stormfront was crouching under the table, pointing at the shattered baby bottle.
"Who knew Homelander was still a baby?" she said snidely, looking ready to enjoy the show.
Under immense pressure, Homelander sucked in a breath. "Let me explain."
The next moment, he deflated, because Soldier Boy was already wearing an expression of utter disgust.
"Fuck, you really are a pussy who hasn't been weaned yet."
Homelander wanted the ground to swallow him up. Soldier Boy's mockery hurt him more than online abuse.
He even wanted to use his super flight to smash through the glass right then and get away from Vought.
"All right, let's not talk about that for now." Stormfront broke the deadlock just in time.
The century-old schemer had a sharper eye than most and could tell at a glance that Homelander was bottling up his anger.
Little did she know that her timely intervention hadn't earned her the slightest gratitude from Homelander.
"All right, what did you come here for?" Homelander changed the subject, asking a question he already knew the answer to.
Before you continue