He would not let it happen, he had to prevent it, he would substitute the icon for himself, it was the only way, but he does not know the whole story, not even the target knows the whole story. The League's reputation would survive this act if only he had succeed he thought, but now it would fail though his only lasting disappointment is failing to stop Luthor's scheme to tick off Superman. The whole presidential angle was a scam solely made to push his super powered enemy over the edge and it seems to be working if Lexor City was any proof of that notion. However Huntress… Helena… would not take his disappearance lightly… she had after all seen him in a disheveled state before he went after Luthor.
They would torture for what he knew, but he channels babbling about true things that have nothing or seemingly nothing to do with what he stole from a Cadmus corporate front. He did however recently prove that were 32, not 31 flavors, but that was usually something to laugh at for many. Back to the moment, he would only hope that his disappearance would not trigger the event he is aiming to prevent, but of course no one appears to have tried to stop Superman in the Lords reality. It was not like he was the only one trying to stop Armageddon, but it sure felt like he was the only one sometimes. He did not have an ego to feed, just a world that often fails to notice how close it is to a day straight from hell and the only reason why they got out of other days from hell in past was someone or many someone-s were there to stop it at exactly the 'right' moment.
It might be luck, it might be coincidence, it could be anything, but he knew Luthor was the epicenter of the current dystopian bender. He was sprung thanks to Helena and Superman, but still he had a piece of mind to give to the icon. Of course he would insist he could do it without becoming like his other, but Question, Vic was not ready to believe him or willing to as he posits no matter what reality or universe, it is still relative. However after hearing about what went down in the battle with the merged Luthor and Brainiac, Vic was actually glad to be wrong for once though it might have something to do with the way Helena is looking at his bruised face.
The physical wear and tear from the interrogation is not completely gone and of course the Cadmus clone of Supergirl led the charge against the Watchtower. He did his part then when banging up the Ultimen army of clones with a bedpan. He guarded his out of mask identity so he rarely allows anyone to see what one might call the actual face. He would never actually admit it, but he owes Helena his life for a change. He so ready to die, so ready to give, found a reason to stay alive when those dark eyes look at him with a range of emotions from annoyance to attraction.
So what really changed his mind by the time another Armageddon is averted, the question is not really there, but there is an answer when her lips connect with his, he might have prevented her from taking a life yet her feelings for him drove her to save his. If that was not the love he did not wish to know any other answer, because the way she is right now, is the only answer that matters to him. The only thing that counts for him deep down aside from the affections of Helena, is never compromising even if the world was on the verge of annihilation. Otherwise what was he trying to save?
That is the question… seldom put to the test and upheld when the world is falling apart.
A/N: this tangent while similar to a prior one featuring Question and Huntress, its actually slightly more towards Question than Huntress. The prompt came from seeing Watchmen, the mannerisms, the voice, it made me think Question though of course there's often a certain level of similarity between characters from time to time. One line in particular from Rorschach about not compromising even in the face of Armageddon. The similarities end at some point, one exists in a near similar world to our own as it could have been if things went really wrong and the other exists in a world where costumed heroics aren't quite well received as they once thought to have been.