Never Shut Up Again [The Boys]

Seven

Seven

Eight years ago...

Eight years ago...

Act normal. Everything's fine.

Santa Maria had been living her life as The Siren for six months when she met Rebecca Butcher.
Homelander handed her an invitation to Vought's Christmas party with a smile on his face. "Cinderella's going to the ball." He'd said, "And she's not going to lose her fucking slipper this time. Right, sweetheart?"

It was a gift, going to the party. She had been so used to being locked up in the tower doing training and schoolwork.

"Merry Christmas." Homelander walked into the party with Santa Maria by his side looking out of place in her red dress with a gold ribbon tied around her waist like a fukcing present. "Becca." He'd pointed right at a woman. "New senior director of digital marketing."
"How'd you know?"" The woman laughed, shaking his hand.
"I have my sources." Homelander said, "And your name tag."
"Yes. That too." Becca introduced them to her husband, "Billy Butcher."
"This is my protege, The Siren." Homelander pushed the girl forward. "Say hi to Becca."
"H-hi, Becca."
"Hi, honey. How old are you?"
"Seventeen, ma'am."
"Becca you handled my takeover, right?" Homelander smiled.
"I-I did, you saw it?" Becca said, "And The Siren's too?"
"I loved them."
Becca turned to fill in her husband. "Vought's twitter account."
"Your brilliant wife here did all the work. She posted out photos. She wrote our messages." Homelander explained.
"All of which I said I could do myself." Santa Maria stated sarcastically. Homelander turned toward her.
Butcher was also unimpressed. "Alright so they thought it was you up there but it was really Becca. Bit deceptive, isn't it?"
"That's what I fucking said." Santa Maria laughed. Homelander's eyes glowed red. "Go get me a drink, Siren." Homelander demanded. Billy and Becca didn't miss the way he grabbed the girl's wrist enough to bruise. As she walked away he turned to Becca. "Excuse her. She's learning." The adults continued to talk and the girl eventually returned sparking an idea in Homelander's head. "Listen, I would love to talk to you about quarterbacking the rest of our social media. Maybe teach the Siren a thing or two about marketing before she graduates."
"Really." Becca beamed.
"Absolutely. My dad always said, surround yourself with people smarter than you." Maeve saw Santa Maria in distress and waved her over. "My better half wants our attention but maybe we can chat tomorrow. Great to meet you. Sweetheart, what do we say to guests?"
"Nice to meet you." Santa Maria repeated.
"Love the accent, pal." Homelander said to Butcher as he dragged Santa Maria away from Becca.
When they approached Queen Maeve she could tell SantaMaria fucked up by the way Homelander dragged her along. Homelander took the drink from Maeve's hand and shoved it into SantaMaria's hand. "Drink up."
"I'm seventeen." The girl protested.
"Does it look like I care? Drink. It."
Maeve scoffed, "That was mine."
"You've had enough," Homelander said while pouring the drink down the young hero's throat. "She needs this for later." SantaMaria choked down the alcohol, gasping for air. "Jesus. It's not that horrible. Most teen girls get drunk at high school parties every fuckin weekend."
The burning alocohol brought tears to SantaMaria's eyes, causing Homelander to laugh. "Are you crying? Don't cry, sweetheart. It's Christmas. I haven't even given you your gift yet. Although you don't deserve it after how you've been acting tonight."
Maeve took a step forward, "Homelander. She's a kid. Give her a goddamn break. Like you said, it's Christmas." She placed her hand strategically on his chest. "You can give her her gift in the morning."
"Seems Maeve has a soft spot for you." Homelander chuckled, "And here I was thinking she'd be jealous. A Christmas miracle, I suppose."