A/N: At the time of this chapter being uploaded, I already have all the chapters written out that correlate with the episodes, including the ones from season 2. I've also written in an extra chapter for some backstory on one of the characters. Aside from that, I've just been writing different scenes that I might place into later chapters during the season 2 block, depending on where they fit.

The next day, Frank found himself walking with Starlight through the crowded convention, which had been shortened to the Believe Expo. Frank was in his usual black hoodie, while Annie wore her original Starlight costume, complete with the cape. Unbeknownst to her, Frank had an earpiece on, and the rest of the Boys could hear her every word.

"I'm surprised you came." Annie told him.

"Yeah, thought you needed the support." Frank smirked at her.

"I just never took you for the religious type."

"I'm not." Frank shrugged. "I was a Catholic… once. Bit surprised they let you wear your old costume."

"Oh, yeah." Starlight groaned. "They said it was only because it was family friendly."

Frank nodded in understanding, as they kept walking through the convention.

"Hey, Mom!" Annie said happily, running over and hugging a woman with short blonde hair, and gray long sleeved shirt. "You came!"

"Of course!" Donna replied, embracing her daughter. "I wouldn't miss my baby girl for the world!"

"Oh, Mom, this is Frank!" Annie said, pointing to Castle. Donna stared at him for a second, before turning to Starlight.

"Isn't he a bit old for you?"

"We're not dating, ma'am." Frank said respectfully. "We're just friends."

Donna stared at Starlight, who nodded.

"Does he work for Vought?"

"Uh, no." Frank quickly said. "We just… met on a park bench."

"Hey, Starlight!"

Annie looked over, seeing Ashley walking towards her.

"Are you hydrating? You need to be at the round table in five minutes!"

"Coming!" Annie called back, before turning to Frank and her mom. "You wanna come?"

"I'm good." Frank told her. "I'll catch up later."

"Okay." Starlight smiled, and she, Ashley, and her mom left, while Frank stayed back.

"Frankie, are you still there?" Butcher's voice sounded off in his ear.

"Yeah." Frank confirmed.

"We're gonna need you to get into Ezekiel's VIP club and get him to tell us where he's getting the Compound V."

Frank frowned, picking up a flyer that advertised Ezekiel's VIP.

"The thing costs 15,000 dollars." Frank read off. "How the Hell are we going to get in?"

"We're not getting in; you are." Butcher reminded him. Frank turned around, realizing Butcher was no longer speaking in his ear, and was right behind him.

"You're pals with Starlight. She'll get you in." Butcher grinned.

"I'm not going to use her like that." Frank said adamantly. "Why do you think I refused to bug her phone?"

"Yeah, I was wondering about that." Butcher shrugged. "But you said yourself you'll do whatever it takes to bring down the guys who killed your family. So stop being a cunt, get her to let you in, or I'll tell her you're the one who blew up Translucent."

"How are we even going to convince him?" Frank asked.

"With this."

Butcher held up his phone, showing a video of Ezekiel having a threesome with two other men.

"Is that from the Continental Hotel?" Frank asked.

"I'm touched you remember our first night together." Butcher said smugly.

Frank grit his teeth in anger, and glared at Butcher.

"Fine."

While Butcher and Frank schemed on how to get in, Diggle, Dax, and Allyson walked around the expo.

"I never went to church that much." Diggle told his companions, while they walked around. "Between Afghanistan and my family, I felt like I didn't have time."

"Neither did I." Dax shrugged. "Always on another mission with Rekker. Not like I had much to believe in anyway. What about you, Allyson?"

Allyson looked at Dax with that same blank expression, before turning away. A knot formed in Dax's stomach, where he wished she would speak.

Starlight sat in a chair, circled by a bunch of kids asking personal questions. Like, if she had a boyfriend, what was her first kiss like, the full nine yards.

"Have you ever had sex?"

Annie jolted, not expecting it to get that personal.

"I… I…" Annie looked towards her mother, who shook her head in the corner.

"No. I'm a virgin."

After several more questions, Annie walked out of the tent, where she was followed by her mother.

"Hey, why did you want me to lie?" Annie asked her.

"Because you're Starlight." Donna told her, smiling in that motherly way. "You have to be perfect to those young kids."

"But-"

Annie stopped, seeing Frank walking towards her.

"Mom, I'll talk to you later." Annie told her mother, and walked towards Frank. "Hey, I wasn't sure I'd see you again."

"Yeah…" Frank said, fumbling for words. "I need your help."

"What do you mean?" Starlight asked curiously.

"I kinda need to get in to Ezekiel's VIP." Frank told her. "My friend, Billy… Russo, he's a big fan. Extremely religious."

Starlight looked at the ground for a moment, opening and closing her mouth for a few seconds, before speaking.

"Yeah, sure." Annie muttered. "It's the least I can do."

The entire time, Butcher watched them, as Diggle joined him, having left Dax and Allyson alone.

"Do me a favor and keep an eye on him." Butcher ordered. "I gotta sort something."

"Sort what?" Diggle asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Just do it." Butcher snarled before walking off.

A few hours later, Butcher knocked on the doors of a suburban home, where a woman with dirty blonde hair and a red plaid shirt opened the door.

"Billy."

"Rachel." Butcher said grimly. "Mind if I come in?"

"I'd rather you not."

"Either we talk out here, or in there. But I'm willing to bet you'd rather it be behind closed doors." Butcher threatened.

Rachel sighed, and ushered him inside, before closing the door.

"So why'd you do it?" Butcher asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Enough with the coy bullshit, I went to the cemetery." Butcher snapped. "Why is there a gravestone for Becca?"

"She's been gone for nearly ten years." Rachel reminded him. "It's time to move on."

"No. I never saw her body." Butcher insisted.

"But we haven't heard from her in nine years." Rachel repeated.

"I don't care. She's not dead." Butcher growled.

"But she is. And my mother is old, and she wants to talk to her daughter."

"She's talking to dirt."

"It's something." Rachel cried. "It's been nine years. She other got killed, or killed herself-"

"You watch your fucking mouth." Butcher snarled. Rachel looked up at him, steeling herself.

"You're not the only life that was ruined." Rachel told him. "She's my sister, and I loved her. Now get out."

"Rachel-"

"Never come back, or I'll tell everyone who you really are, Joseph." Rachel threatened.

Butcher stood back. It's been awhile since he was called that. The only people who knew his real name was his wife, Becca, and his sister in law… her.

"Alright." Butcher reluctantly agreed, making his way out the door. "Good seeing you, Rachel."

A-Train looked through footage of Popclaw's apartment, trying to find something, anything, related to Compound V. There had to be something she wasn't telling him, especially after her hasty denial yesterday. Eventually, he finally found what he needed, when his girlfriend accidentally killed her landlord after taking V, and two suspicious looking men entered the frame.

"Whoa, easy." one of the men, wearing a black trenchcoat, but the upper part of his body was cut off, said. "We're not here to harm you."

"Who are you?" Popclaw asked, just as the other man- with a baby face and messy blonde hair came into view.

A-Train's eyes widened, and he instantly paused the video. After taking a snapshot with the computer, he raced back to Vought, where he and Black Noir met up in the crime analytics lab.

Once the picture was printed out, the technician, Trevor, handed them a clear photo.

"We don't know who this guy is, but he has over thirty aliases."

"Thanks man, we'll check this out by ourselves."

"Whoa, since when do you guys do things alone-"

"Trevor, just shut the fuck up for once." A-Train snapped, handing Black Noir the photo. "Hunt this guy down."

Noir took the photo, and after looking at it, slowly walked out of the lab. A-Train shuddered. Despite being faster than him, he still scared the shit out of him, as if he was some kind of boogeyman.

Frank entered the VIP tent, where he was quickly called over by Homelander.

"Frank!" the supe grinned, handing him a glass of orange juice. "That is your name right? Starlight's friend? The one who got you in here?"

"Yeah." Frank nodded, but didn't take the glass. He had no idea what was in it.

"So, how'd you two meet?"

"On a park bench in Central."

"And she let you in here?" Homelander asked. "The tickets were pricey, after all. You must be a special guy."

"Maybe just lucky." Castle shrugged, as Ezekiel began to speak.

"Everyone!" the preacher declared. "Since Homelander is an ordained minister, I will now ask you all to be re baptized in our lord's holy embrace!"

Frank, Homelander, Ezekiel, and the rest of the donors entered another part of the tent, which contained a large pool. Frank was the first to go, and he took off his black hoodie, revealing a dark gray shirt, and stuck his phone in the hoodie's pockets.

Castle was the first to be baptized, upon Homelander's request, and he felt his neck grabbed by the hero, not too gently either.

"You nervous?" Homelander asked, almost mockingly.

"I look nervous to you?" Frank shot back, keeping his voice to a low growl.

"Just wondering. Your blood pressure… usually others would have their higher." Homelander grinned, before pushing Frank under the water without warning. The only thing that surprised Frank was that he didn't even repeat the mantra about being forgiven by Christ and all that. He was held underwater for what felt like forever, with Homelander smiling up at him. Not that it was a problem for Frank. He'd been waterboarded before in the Marines. This was nothing.

Eventually, Homelander pulled Frank up, and gasped for air. It didn't matter how long he was underwater, he still needed to breathe. Castle slowly walked out of the pool, grabbing his hoodie and putting it back on, ignoring that his shirt was soaking wet, and waited for everyone else to be baptized.

"Okay, thanks everyone!" Ezekiel told the donors, as they began to leave after everyone was baptized. "And remember, Jesus loves you!"

"Hey." Frank called out, when the last person left, and it was just him and Ezekiel. "I need some… guidance."

"Show's over." Ezekiel casually said.

"Well, I got something to show you." Frank insisted, pulling out the phone. Thank God he left it in his hoodie. Sure, he risked it getting stolen, but then again, it would've been done in front of Homelander.

Castle held up the phone to Ezekiel, where it showed the video of his upper body elongated and in a threesome with two other men.

"I don't remember this-" Ezekiel started to say, backing up.

"Continental Hotel." Frank told him.

"No-"

"Just a few days ago."

"No-"

"Your other half is being sucked off by some other prick-"

Ezekiel's arm stretched out, grabbing Frank by the throat.

"You think you can make up lies about me!" Ezekiel yelled, stepping closer. "You are filthy! Unclean-"

Once Ezekiel was close enough, Frank delivered a vicious headbutt, forcing the supe to let go of him and hold his head in pain.

"If you don't give me what I want, this video goes up on Youtube, Pornhub, Twitter, all of it." Frank threatened, turning off the phone. Ezekiel growled, still holding his head.

"What do you want? Money?"

"I want to know everything about Compound V." Frank ordered. "Those boxes you're getting from your soup kitchens. Where they go, how much you ship."

"No." Ezekiel shook his head. "They'll destroy me."

"Who, Vought?" Castle asked. "Here's what's going to happen: you tell me, or that video becomes top trending within the hour. And enough of the Pray the Gay Away bullshit. Your call, asshole."

Ezekiel stared at Frank, dumb founded, before throwing up his hands in frustration.

"Fine." the preacher grumbled. "The boxes are disguised as polio vaccines. They're shipped out across the country, and the latest one is going to the NICU at Metro General Hospital."

"Thanks." Frank nodded, and exited the VIP tent. When he was a safe distance away, he activated his earpiece. Thank God Butcher modified them to be waterproof. "You guys get all that?"

"Damn right we did." Butcher told Castle, as he stood over a grave. "Great work, Frankie. Diggle, I'll meet you there."

Billy slowly exhaled, staring at the grave of his wife.

In loving memory of Rebecca Saunders Butcher

Born June 9th, 1981

Died January 24th, 2012

Beloved wife, sister, and daughter

Butcher felt a surge of anger, and he grabbed the sledgehammer he lugged along, smashing the headstone to pieces. With every swing, he could feel his rage boiling up, until the marker was reduced to rubble.

Dax and Allyson stood on the sidelines of the expo, watching Homelander give a speech about Jesus, or God.

"Now, I know that there was a terrible tragedy just recently, and let's not mince words: we were attacked." Homelander declared. "Now, the government wants me to say that it's going to be okay, give that corporate talk. But I don't believe in that. I don't believe that's what Jesus wants!"

Dax rolled his eyes, when out of nowhere, his phone rang. He quickly answered it, knowing that only Valkyrie knew his number. Not even Butcher knew what it was.

"Yeah, Val?"

"Hey, Dax, they're on to you." Valkyrie told him. "Black Noir was just here."

"Which location does he know about?"

"If he found my place, most likely all of them." Valkyrie said grimly, before smashing her phone.

"Fuck!" Dax swore, ending the call. He turned to Allyson, whispering, "We have to go."

He didn't care how many people were at the expo, he would not be risking it with Homelander being there. Allyson tilted her head, but nodded, and the two of them quickly walked away from the convention, towards their black van.

Butcher, Diggle, and one of the nurses walked down the halls of the hospital, where Billy swiped her badge when she wasn't looking.

"You gonna tell me where you've been while I had to babysit the kids?" Diggle asked sarcastically.

"I was at a little place called none of your fucking business." Butcher said casually, swiping the badge through the card reader, and entering the NICU. Just as they walked in, they heard Dax speak through their earpieces.

"Hey, I'm burned."

"What? Fucking how, Dax?" Butcher asked.

"I don't know. But Allyson and I are at one of the safehouses to collect our arsenal."

"And what about the rest of us?" Butcher pressed.

"Your concern for me is great. Real fucking sweet." Dax muttered.

"Leave the girl. Maybe she can distract them." Butcher suggested.

"Do you know what they'll do to her?" Dax asked, mortified.

"Supe on supe violence is no concern for me." Butcher said coldly.

"Hey, fuck you." Dax told him.

"I said fucking leave her." Butcher snarled, and ended the call.

Starlight sat in front of a mirror, as someone was doing her makeup. All the while, her mother told them about the time she was seven, and the lights in the auditorium went out, but she lit up the room with her hands.

"The show must go on!" Donna said, wearing a big grin. Annie jolted, suddenly feeling sick.

"I… I can't go on." Starlight said quickly.

"But you're on in five minutes." Donna told her. "Please, do this for me."

"This isn't about you, Mom." Annie begged. Donna jerked back a little, looking at her daughter in disappointment.

"Isn't it?" Donna whispered, almost taking a harsher tone, as if speaking to a child. "I waited twenty three years. I made it work for us while selling houses. I took you to those hero conventions. Look, all my friends will be watching this, so please, make me proud?"

Annie looked at her mother, with a tear beginning to form. Everything Frank had said to her the day before came back to her, about how her mother should be proud of her no matter what. Now, it was all so clear. Donna only saw her as a way to brag about her friends back in Iowa. Would she feel this way if she didn't have powers?

Starlight looked back onto the stage, taking a deep breath, and stood up. She walked out, where she was bathed in the spotlight, and a teleprompter was at the foot of the stage.

"Hello, Believe Expo!" Starlight read off, pretending to be happy, as the crowd cheered. She looked to the right wings, seeing Ashley and Ezekiel standing there, smiling. "You know, my first public appearance, was right here with Ezekiel and the family!"

The crowd kept cheering, and Annie looked to her left, seeing her mother, grinning, and motioning for her to go on.

"I wanted to talk about how Jesus saved me, and about my love for Christ-"

Annie stopped, seeing Frank in the crowd, a solemn expression on his face. Starlight's face fell, realizing he knew she was forced to say all this, and she looked down.

Music: "You Can Run" by Adam Jones

"Can you stop the music, please?" Starlight asked. The stadium went quiet. She looked to her left, seeing her mother mouth the words What are you doing?

"Do you want me to suck it up and do it for you?" Starlight asked harshly, directing her words at her mother, though everyone heard her.

In the crowd, Frank smiled. After getting knocked down so many times, Annie was finally picking herself back up.

"You don't know what you're asking me. You don't know what I've been through." Starlight continued, before turning to the crowd. "I didn't write any of these words. It's all from a script that I don't believe. I love God, I do. But it's just… everyone here is so god damned certain here. Like, it costs two hundred bucks, for someone to tell you how to get to Heaven? When the Bible was written, life expectancy ranged only in the thirties. And it says all these things that you do will get you sent to Hell, but they're not evil. Eating shrimp, being gay, having a different religion? They're what make us human. What's evil, are the ones who shoved their dicks in my face."

In her office, Stillwell was watching the livestream from her tv, and she dropped her glass of alcohol to the floor.

"SHIT!"

"Here's the thing," Starlight continued, looking over to her mother and seeing her heartbroken expression. "Anyone who tells you they know the answer is lying. Nobody knows. I know that I'm supposed to be the hero, telling you all what you want to hear, but I just can't anymore. I'm just scared, like all the rest of you. And I'm done taking anyone's shit."

Starlight finished her speech, and walked off stage, ignoring her mother's pained expression, while Frank quickly pushed his way through the crowd to catch up to her. He finally found her outside of a tent, and was crying.

"Hey, Annie." Frank said softly, making her whirl around defensively. "Whoa, easy. I saw your speech. You did good up there, standing up for yourself-"

"Well, I'm glad you liked it." Starlight snapped. "Hey, how was your time with Ezekiel? Because if you need any more VIP tickets, I'm so there for you."

"It's not like that." Frank protested, feeling guilt from his actions.

"Really?" Starlight scoffed. "You sure I can't get you a souvenir cup, or a wristband, or-"

"My family died." Frank blurted out. Starlight stepped back in surprise, a look of concern flashing across her face.

"What?"

"It happened a few days ago." Frank told her. "I've been here, trying to dig myself out of the shit I've been in, and it wasn't fair to you. I'm sorry I dragged you into it with me. Honestly, I don't think anyone can fix what I'm going through, and tonight proved it… except for what you said. Because you're right, nobody has all the answers, and that's the only thing that's made sense out of all this."

Annie stepped forward, wrapping the older man in a hug.

"I'm so sorry."

"No, kid. I'm sorry." Frank told her, as they looked out across the night sky.

Butcher and Diggle walked around the NICU, eventually finding an IV bag with a dark blue liquid in it.

"Ah, jackpot." Billy grinned, before looking down to see a baby in a glass container, with a tube of the liquid being pumped into his arm.

"Compound V?" Diggle asked, eyeing the liquid. Right as he said it, the baby's eyes opened, and blue laser beams shot out, scorching the glass, but not breaking it.

"Chosen by God, my ass." Butcher muttered. "These cunts are grown in a lab."

Butcher pulled out a needle, and began extracting some of the Compound V.

"Careful." Diggle warned. "You get some air in, you'll kill the kid."

"Boo fucking hoo." Butcher smirked, pulling the needle out and capping the vial. Just then, three men in suits ran into the NICU, carrying assault rifles.

"Bollocks." Butcher muttered, as he and Diggle took cover behind a pillar. Diggle took out his pistol to fire back, while Billy suddenly ran out. By the time he got back, he smiled slyly, holding up one of the incubator's cords.

"Watch and learn, son."

Butcher pulled the incubator on wheels towards him, and once it was close to him, he opened the glass lid and pulled the baby out.

"Butcher, what the Hell?" Diggle asked, firing back at the armed men.

Billy emerged from the pillar, right as the baby's eyes shot blue lasers, and he directed them across the room, cutting all three men in half.

"Holy fuck!" Butcher said gleefully. "That was diabolical!"

As Diggle looked at the bodies in horror, Butcher placed the baby back in the incubator, and plugged it back in.

"You did good, lad." butcher smirked, looking at the baby. "Now, keep your nose clean, or I'll come back and squish ya, savvy?"

"Butcher, we gotta go, man." Diggle told him, grabbing his arm, Billy nodded, and the two left the NICU, with the vial of Compound V.

Music: "Halloween Triumphant" from Halloween 2018

Dax finished loading up all his weapons and equipment in the duffle bags, and turned to Allyson.

"I've been ordered to leave you here… for the supes to find you." Dax told her. The girl's eyes widened in fear, finally breaking her expressionless mask.

"But I don't want to." Dax confessed. "We're the same, you and I. Thick skin, hardened killers… but on the inside, we're soft."

Allyson began hyperventilating, still thinking about how he was supposed to leave her.

"We can get out of here, away from all this." Dax told her. "When this is all over, I promise, you won't have to run any more-"

Allyson pushed past him and ran outside. Dax sighed, and walked out of the safehouse, not seeing her anywhere in sight. Unfortunately, as he looked down the alley, he noticed a man dressed in all black from head to toe was standing there.

Black Noir.

"Oh shit." Dax gasped, having not felt fear in a very long time. Black Noir tilted his head to the side, oddly similar to Allyson earlier that day, and broke into what could be described as a speed walk. The mercenary began stumbling in the opposite direction, causing Noir to increase speed. Just before he broke into an all out run, Allyson blind sided Noir, sending him into a wall. She looked back towards Dax, and nudged her head to the side.

Go.

Dax nodded, and ran off, just as Black Noir got back up. The two supes sized each other up, Black Noir breathing heavily, before Allyson bolted towards him. Strange, she thought, that the breathing sounded familiar. Black Noir easily sidestepped, pulling out a curved knife, and slashed at her, but Nelson ducked, climbing onto his shoulders and punching him in the face. Allyson proceeded to grab Black Noir's mask and rip it off, just as he threw her into a wall.

Allyson rolled back onto the ground, and she looked up, seeing the black clad supe with his mask off. Her eyes widened, seeing a bald man with white whiskers for a beard. But what shocked her was his face itself. His face was blank, and expressionless, and he had the blackest eyes.

The Devil's eyes.

Allyson racked her brain, vaguely remembering someone from her past. Someone who had saved her twice from madmen, and proved he wasn't the boogeyman everyone claimed him to be. Someone named…

"Michael?" Allyson whispered, just as she felt him jam the knife into her chest. Oh. In the time she was thinking, she didn't realize he had placed his mask back over his head, and stabbed her.

Allyson looked down, seeing blood pour out of her body, and she fell to the ground. Black Noir yanked the knife out, and began to slowly walk away, leaving her to bleed to death.

Once Black Noir left, Dax quietly approached Allyson's body, crouching down to see her body still. He placed his fingers, trying to feel for a pulse, but found none.

"I'm sorry." Dax said sadly, taking off his jacket and beginning to put it over her body. Suddenly, Allyson's eyes snapped open, and she gasped awake, looking down at her body to see the knife wound rapidly close up.

"Holy shit." Dax gasped, as Allyson grabbed his hand for support. "Miracles really do happen."

A/N: Maybe I'm going a little bit overboard on who I decided Black Noir was. Then again, in the context of his powers on the show, it does make some sense. And I seriously doubt Black Noir in the show is going to be the same one from the comics, after the opening in season 2's premiere.

The next chapter will be a bit shorter, but it will contain some of my own written scenes, instead of completely going by what happened in episode six. Especially since I already inserted the Mesmer scenes in the last chapter.