The sun had set hours ago, leaving the Vought Tower as a pillar of shadow against the glowing skyline of New York.
Homelander landed on the balcony of the ninety ninth floor.
He took a deep breath, smelling the lemon polish and the recycled air.
He walked down the corridor. He stopped in front of a door. Madelyn Stillwell.
He looked through the wood, through the drywall.
The office was empty. He looked down, through the floor, into the private nursery. The crib was empty.
She was gone home. She was with her son. Her real son.
He blinked, the world returning to color. He turned away, the cape snapping behind him.
He walked down the hall to Conference Room A. The meeting room for The Seven.
He pushed the double doors open. The room was empty, the long table reflecting the city lights.
He walked toward the head of the table. His chair. The one with the eagle wings.
He reached out to pull it back.
He stopped.
There was something on the leather seat. A piece of white paper.
Homelander narrowed his eyes. He scanned the room. He listened for a heartbeat. Nothing.
He looked back at the chair. He reached out and picked up the paper.
He unfolded it.
It was a list. Names.
Senator Mitchell – Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Committee.
Congressman Halloway – Armed Services Subcommittee.
General Raddock – US Army, 4th Special Forces Group.
He recognized the names. Raddock was a loudmouth General who hated Supes.
Below them, another list.
Sergeant John Miller.
Corporal David Banks.
Lieutenant Peter Kovacs.
Private Michael Davis.
Specialist Wei Chen.
He didn't know these names. Nobodies.
He read the message scrawled below.
Homelander,
They are working with the military to replace you. They have made all these soldiers into Supes.
Stan Edgar knows everything about them, but he is letting it happen.
Don't let them take your spot. You are the only god we need.
Your biggest fan,
A loyal Vought Employee
Homelander read the last line again. You are the only god we need.
A slow smile touched his lips. He ran his thumb over the ink. "At least someone knows," he whispered.
Then his eyes drifted back up to the middle of the page.
Stan Edgar knows everything about them, but he is letting it happen.
The smile vanished. The paper crinkled in his grip as his hand tightened into a fist. The heat began to build behind his eyes, a red glow casting long shadows across the table.
Edgar knew.
He turned around.
He moved with a purpose that terrified the very air in the room.
Stan Edgar was reviewing the initial audit reports from the Compound V inventory.
The double doors to his office exploded inward. They were ripped from the frame, the wood splintering and crashing against the far wall.
Edgar slowly closed the folder in front of him and looked up.
Homelander stood in the doorway. His eyes were burning red. His chest was heaving.
"Is it true?" Homelander demanded, his voice a low vibration that shook the water in the pitcher on Edgar's desk.
"Is what true, John?" Edgar asked, his voice calm.
Homelander walked into the room, kicking a piece of the shattered door aside. "General Raddock. Is it true that his men are killing Supes? Did they destroy our property?"
Edgar paused. His mind raced, connecting the dots. How does he know? The Odessa footage was locked down. Only Graves knew.
Unless...
Homelander has an informant.
Edgar had suspected it. Homelander had ears in the building. Someone in security, or perhaps a lower level analyst trying to curry favor with The Seven, had leaked the intel.
If Homelander knew about Raddock, he likely knew about the "Red Unit." Denying it would be pointless.
"Yes," Edgar said simply. "It appears so."
Homelander's face twisted. He had expected a lie. He had expected a denial. But the confirmation... the confirmation meant the rest of the letter was true.
"You knew," Homelander hissed. He stepped closer to the desk, looming over Edgar. "You knew they were building an army."
"We confirmed it only recently," Edgar corrected. "It is an ongoing investigation."
"Investigation?" Homelander shouted. "They are replacing us! They are making soldiers into Supes! And you're sitting here reading reports?"
"I am handling a corporate crisis," Edgar said. "I am ensuring that Vought remains standing."
"You're not handling anything!" Homelander leaned down, his face inches from Edgar's. "You're letting them do it. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because it is a delicate situation," Edgar said, not blinking. "How did you come by this information, John?"
"I have my sources," Homelander snarled. "I have people who actually care about this company. Unlike you."
He straightened up, looking toward the window. "I know who he is. General Raddock. I know where he is."
"John," Edgar said, his tone sharpening.
"I'm going to pay him a visit," Homelander said, a cruel light entering his eyes. "I'm going to find his little soldiers. And I'm going to tear them apart."
"No," Edgar said.
Homelander looked back at him. "Excuse me?"
"You will do no such thing," Edgar said. "General Raddock is a high ranking officer in the United States Army."
"He attacked us!"
"If you kill him," Edgar said, his voice dropping to a whisper, "you are not a hero. You are a villain. You are a monster attacking the American military."
"I don't care!"
"You do care," Edgar said. He stood up. "Think about the polls, John. Think about the people. If you attack the Army, the media will turn on you. The merchandise will stop selling. The movie deals will be cancelled. The crowds will stop cheering."
Homelander flinched.
"Is that what you want?" Edgar asked relentlessly. "To be hated?"
Homelander's eyes dimmed. The red glow faded. He looked away.
"He... he's making replacements," Homelander muttered.
"He is trying to replicate our success," Edgar lied smoothly. "He thinks he can build a better product. He is wrong. You are unique. But if you kill him now, you make him a martyr. You start a war we cannot win in the court of public opinion."
"So we just let him get away with it?"
"No," Edgar said. "We play the game. We gather evidence. We expose him. We ruin him. And we do this quietly."
Edgar walked around the desk. He stopped in front of Homelander.
"Let me handle the General," Edgar said. "You focus on the speech tomorrow."
Homelander looked at Edgar. He hated him. He hated the calm, the control. But he knew Edgar was right about the polls.
"Fine," Homelander said. "Handle it."
He walked to the balcony.
"But Stan?"
"Yes?"
Homelander turned back. "If I find out you're lying... if I find out you're helping them..."
He turned, his eyes flashing red for just a second.
"I won't care about the polls anymore. I'll burn it all down. Starting with this office."
He stepped out onto the balcony and launched himself into the air.
BOOM.
The sonic boom rattled the glass.
Edgar watched him go.