After some days Hughie came back to work, with huge dark circles around his eyes. (Y/n) was expecting that. Robin was someone he truly loved. What she didn't expect was to hear what really happened that day and what Hughie was onto while grieving. He was so full of rage while talking about Robin's death and how he was gonna sue A-Train, that the girl almost felt just as angry as him. But she was still having a hard time believing that the heroes that the whole world loved and idolized, were just a bunch of frauds and murderers.
"I've to thank you again, (N/n). If you weren't there, I don't think I would be able to say my address." he almost laughed at how stupid he must have been at the time, highlighting 'almost'.
"It was nothing. And stop thanking me!" she punched his arm lightly "I would be fucked if you hadn't come back, literally. Gary was especially flirty while you were gone."
"Please, just don't use one of his pick-up lines on me and I promise I'll never miss work again." he joked, finally laughing a little.
They continued their day of work normally, not many clients showing up like always. (Y/n) was preparing for another night of studying and no sleep, but a client came in, making the girl sigh just by thinking of staying another few minutes inside the store. Hughie was still there, but she should probably take the initiative, since he does almost all the work and because of the situation from a few days before.
The man was wearing a black trench coat, combat boots and had the sexiest beard the girl had ever seen. She went from behind the counter to beside the stranger, not too close, but close enough for him to notice her.
"Are you looking for a nanny cam?" she asked with her hands in front of her "The one you're holding is actually pretty popular, the camera is in one of the eyes."
"Tell me, how many nannies shake their babies?" he asked, holding the bear by its neck, slowly applying pressure.
Hughie turned his head to the conversation, not exactly finding it safe for the girl to talk to the weird guy.
"Uh... I'm sorry?" Hughie said, furrowing his brows and getting closer to the two.
"I don't know, most of them?" she responded while shrugging, seemingly not fazed by the strange question.
"You know, a good-" he shook the bear with one hand "Shake, like..." he turned to the two "Like getting ketchup out of a bottle." he stopped to think "One percent? Less?"
"Probably more." (Y/n) answered.
"I-I don't know." Hughie said, stumbling over his words.
"Funny, that." he put the bear onto the shelf again "They sell a billion dollars worth of that shit worldwide. Goes to show, doesn't it? The bollocks people will believe, if you get them scared enough." he finished, getting right on Hughie's face.
The kid laughed, faking understandment and trying to seem nice. (Y/n) crossed her arms, out of the stranger's view and raised an eyebrow at his comment.
"Cool." the kid said.
"Is there anything else we can help you with today, Sir?" the girl got in the way of the conversation, not exactly liking where this was going.
"I'm not gonna piss you about, Hughie. I know what happened to Robin." the guy said, completely ignoring the girl.
"I-I'm sorry, wh-who are you?" he stuttered again, this guy was making him nervous beyond comprehension.
"She wasn't in the street. She was one step off the fucking curb. And you didn't take the pay-off." he smiled devilishly.
"Who the fuck are you again?" (Y/n) got in between the two, pushing the stranger a little far away from Hughie.
"How do you know that?" Hughie asked, curious about the guy that was almost making him want to puke.
"Name's Butcher. Billy Butcher." he showed his FBI badge then got closer to Hughie's ear "Listen, I was thinking that you and me should have a little bit of a chat."
"And why on earth would he go with you? For all we know you could be just a handsome maniac with a fake ID." the girl leaned on a shelf beside them, a little playful smile on her face and a raised eyebrow.
"Would love to flirt back, but the situation is serious." he smiled back, finally eyeing her up and down before biting his bottom lip slowly.
"Shame. You look better when you're flirting." (Y/n) passed by him, blinking slowly and running her hand by his bearded cheek, turning his head slowly to her.
"Actually, I think she should come." Hughie said.
"And why is that?" Butcher still hadn't turned around to look at Hughie.
"I could knock you up if you tried anything funny." her voice changed, she was clearly talking business.
"Yup, you should definitely come, love." he laughed a little, his accent driving the girl crazy.
"We'll get changed, lock the store and then we're ready to go." Hughie said, clapping his hands once and leaving to the back of the store.
(Y/n) looked up at Butcher and then walked after Hughie, making sure to sway her hips as seductively as she could. Billy whistled softly, licking his lips right after.
After getting changed, they closed the store and Butcher led the way. On the way, Hughie asked for the guy's ID, Billy giving it to him right away, laughing about his lack of belief.
"Y-You're a Fed? You don't sound like a Fed." the kid questioned.
"What, I can't immigrate? There's a giant green slapper with her ass in the harbor that says differently." he responded, always with bad jokes.
"Don't sound like a Fed and don't look like one." (Y/n) said, walking closer to Butcher and leaving Hughie behind them.
"What she said." Hughie agreed with the girl.
"And what do I look like to you, sweetheart?" he asked, lifting one corner of his lips.
"Hughie, you first." she smiled jokingly.
"You look like you're staring in a porn version of The Matrix."
"Close enough to mine, to me you look like a stripper in a women's club that only chooses the younger ones that come in." she shrugged, hinting at herself in the end.
"That's cute, but, unfortunately, it's all right there in black and white."
"Uh. Okay, what exactly can I do for you?" Hughie asked, cute as always.
"No, you got it all wrong, Hughie. It's what I can do for you. You see, you ain't alone, son. It happens a lot more than you think. Supes lose hundreds of people each year to collateral damage." Billy said coldly.
Hughie furrowed his brows, finding all of this too weird for him.
"No. Come on, that'd be all over the news. People would be screaming bloody murder."
"They must do exactly what they did to you to other people, Hughie. Probably most of them just take the money and shut the fuck up." (Y/n) said, shrugging and then crossing her arms.
"Yeah, look, there might be the odd mention of it now and again, like with Robin, but there's a fuck-sight more that happens that just gets swept right under the rug." Butcher turned to Hughie and stopped on the street.
"Why?" Hughie asked.
"You ain't that stupid, honey." the girl said, smiling a little bit.
"Ain't it obvious?" Butcher extended his hands, showing the streets, posters and propaganda with supes plastered onto merchandising "Movie tickets, merchandising, theme parks, video games. A multi-million dollar global industry supported by corporate lobbyists and politicians on both sides. But the main reason you won't hear about it is because the public don't want to know about it." he walked around Hughie, while the kid looks at the environment and frowns "See, people love that cozy feeling that Supes give them. Some golden cunt to swoop out of the sky and save the day so you don't go and do it yourself." Billy sways his body and gets closer to him "But if you knew half the shit they get up to..." he clicked his tongue "Fucking diabolical. But then, that's where I come in." he gave a little presentation, bowing his head and body slightly.
"Come in to... To do what?" Hughie asked, his innocence making (Y/n)'s blood boil, she liked his naive side, but God dammit he was getting on her nerves.
"To fuck your mother. Come on, Hughie." she rolled her eyes, making the guy open his mouth in awe "He wants to expose them and make them pay for what they did and will do." she stopped for a second "Just a question." she turned to Butcher.
"Spill it, love." he licked his lips again, her eyes following that tongue.
"Are you alone, like, is the whole FBI involved or is it just Hughie's case you're working on?" she asked, finding it all a little too perfect to coincide with Hughie's new hatred for Supes.
Billy laughed, not answering the question.
"Come on, you two." he said, turning away and walking forward.
"Where?" the kid asked, walking a little far away from the man, grabbing the girl's arm before she could follow him.
"You'll love it." he responded.
"Uh. Not likely." he stopped again in the street.
"Hughie, what the fuck?!" (Y/n) whispered angrily.
"Uh. Listen, I think this is good, I'm good." Butcher turned to the two "Uh, thank you for an extremely weird conversation, but, uh, I don't want us to go to a second location with you. So, we're gonna get back to work. Thank you." Hughie finished, still gripping the girl's wrist, and turning away to leave the place.
"Hughie! Hughie." Billy calls.
The girl grabbed the kid's arm that's holding her own and got herself free, walking to Butcher and waiting for him.
"This is your one and only, mate. Once I go, I'm gone." he walked back to Hughie "The girl has some sense, she knows it'll be good for you." he pointed to (Y/n) behind him, who waved and smiled at him, her cheeks blushing a little "I'm offering the opportunity to get them that got your girl. What have you got to lose that you ain't already lost?" Butcher turned away, walking in the middle of the crowd.
"Come on, Hughie." the girl began, getting closer to the kid, holding his two hands in hers "Isn't it all you wanted? You know you'd have lost if the case went to court. A-Train would still be free to do whatever he wanted and you'd gain just a little more money than before. Robin isn't worth all this money, she's more! She was a human being just like all the people that suffered because of these guys." she said, pointing to the posters on the street "You know you want it."
Hughie looked at her, his eyes meeting hers and seeing how much she cared for him. He sighed, closing his eyes for a few seconds before grabbing the girl's arm and taking her with him to follow where Butcher was going. All the way to the man, he could hear her slightly chuckle.