Just a little after six in the evening, Elena unlocked the door of her apartment and walked in, turning on the hallway light as she always does. She closed the door behind her and put the keys inside the bag.
A soft creak from inside her apartment startled her. It was a low sound that she would've otherwise missed if there was any other sound in the apartment, but it was unmistakably the creaking of her leather office chair. Elena's hand rushed inside her handbag and pulled out her black Glock G17. She moved against the wall, drawing the gun in front of her as she slowly walked towards the bedroom. She reached the bedroom doorway, her breath shaky with fear, and quickly jumped out to face the desk inside. The room was dark, but the unmistakable silhouette of a human being occupied the chair in front of her desk. The person was facing Elena, their legs crossed and arms folded across their chest.
"Who are you?" Elena said, pointing her gun squarely at her uninvited guest.
"Elena," a hoarse voice responded. Elena dropped the gun on the ground in disbelief as the person in the chair reached across their left to turn on the table lamp.
Queen Maeve's face lit up in the low light of the lamp, as her metal shoulder pad gleamed. Elena dropped the gun and ran into the room, turning on the lights. She turned towards Maeve as the latter got up from her chair. Maeve was in her usual Seven costumes, looking as perfectly put together as always. But as Elena looked into Maeve's eyes, she could see the slightly puffy cheeks and red in the corner of her eyes.
"Elena, I've missed you," Maeve said with a light smile, as she took a step forward towards Elena with open arms.
"Whoa, Maeve," Elena's palms went up in front of her chest as she took a step back. Maeve stopped in her tracks, her arms slowly falling to her sides.
"How did you get in here?" Elena asked, as she slowly moved to her bed and sat down.
"You still leave your window open a crack. It could be dangerous, I've always told you that," Maeve said, fighting off the crack in her voice.
"No one else will climb in through the window on the tenth floor, Maeve. Not many people can walk on walls, you know," Elena responded.
There was a moment of silence in the room, as the two women looked at each other, both unsure how to act in the moment.
"Why are you here, Maeve?" Elena broke the silence with a sharpness in her voice. Maeve could see that the look on initial shock was wearing off her face, as a steely hardness replaced it.
"Because I missed you, Elena. I missed you so much and I was hoping we could talk," Maeve responded, her voice so close to cracking under the weight of the emotions.
"I said I need time, Maeve. I need time to think and, and you're supposed to respect that," Elena's voice rose slightly, the anger coming out.
"And I did. I gave you your time and stayed away. I even asked Ashley to stop trying to get you back. She really wanted to build back the love story again, especially after the shit with Stormfront blew up. But I stopped her, I told her to keep you out of all of her cheap PR tricks," Maeve too raised her voice slightly, even though the rise in volume was undercut by a light sniffle in it.
"And so what? You expect me to say thank you? Thank you, Maeve, for treating me like a basic human being and not using me as a PR pitch. Is that what you wanted?" Elena said.
"How much longer, Elena? How much longer do you need? I couldn't take it anymore, I had to come to see you," Maeve's voice finally cracked the hurt in it pouring out with every word, as she knelt down in front of Elena and laid her hands on her ex-girlfriend's knees. Elena had never seen Maeve so broken, this was so much worse than when she had initially left her. For a brief moment, Elena measured her next words. She had to be careful because she remembered Maeve's angry outburst of super-strength last time.
"Maeve," she said, as she put her hands on the warrior's, "I'm sorry, but you need to let me do this on my own terms. I'm not ready yet, and when I am, I'll reach out to you. But you have to give me that. You have to." A few tears escaped Elena's eyes, but she did not try to hold them back.
Maeve sighed and shook her head but did not respond. She gently reached up and wiped Elena's tears with the forefinger. She reached up and softly kissed Elena's cheek, as Elena sighed with closed eyes. Maeve stood up and broke out a soft but silent smile, as she walked away towards the door. Elena heard two small sniffles and the sound of the door opening and closing. With the final sound, Elena's dam broke. She lay down on her head and curled up, sobbing into her arm.
A loud knock on his front door startled Marvin from his pensive trance. He sprang up from the couch and pulled out the gun hidden under the cushions. With his gun drawn, he slowly walked up to the door.
"Who is it?" he asked, trying his best to not betray the fear in his voice. Instead of a response, there was another rap on the door.
Marvin tensed up, as he took another step towards the door. He peered through the eyehole to see the person at the door. In a flash, he tucked away his weapon and swung the door open.
"Oh hell, not again," he said.
"Hello to you too, MM," Butcher said, his patented smirk pasted across his face.
Marvin turned around and walked back into his leaving room, shaking his head. Butcher followed in through the open door and stood in front of the mantlepiece as Marvin sat down on the couch once again.
"What do you want, Butcher? What is it this time?" asked Marvin as he looked up at his old friend.
"Well, let's just say that retirement sucks, and I decided to put the band back together," Butcher said, picking up a photo of Marvin and his family from the mantlepiece. "How's Monique?"
"She's going to be very pissed if she comes back and finds you in her living room. May just kill you and do the whole world a favor, y'know?" Marvin said, with a tiny grin around the corners of his mouth.
"Nah, ain't no motherfuckers getting rid of me so easily. Especially when I'm with you," Butcher grinned, as he put the picture down.
"I dunno, I might just let her do it. Someone's gotta stop you, man," Marvin said. For the first time since Homelander's visit, Marvin felt something other than fear and anxiety. Butcher's presence and the lighthearted banter almost made him forget for a moment the situation he was in.
"Well, I guess I better get out of here before she shows up, then. I'll see you tomorrow at the old place, eh?" Butcher said.
"Nah man, I'm not doing this again," Marvin said, as the memories of his situation came back to his mind. "This time I mean it."
"Oh come on, let's just skip the little dance, MM. You know you're missing it," Butcher said as he shook his head.
"Not this time, man. I'm good here with my family, and I'm not gonna leave them again," Marvin said, looking down as he folded his hands together.
"Aight, fine. I see it's gonna take something to convince you, once again. I ain't dusted no Supe this time, so I dunno what I've got to give you," Butcher responded with the smirk in his voice once again prominent.
"It's not gonna be like that. It's different this time, it ain't about going after Vought or V or the Seven anymore. I'm done with all of that man, I really am," Marvin said as he stood up with a deep breath. "I really am."
Butcher had known Marvin a long time, and he recognized the determination in his friend's voice. He realized that he could not entice Marvin with the prospect of getting back at Vought this time around. He knew he had to tell Marvin the truth.
"MM, this is personal. I need your help in taking down Homelander."
Marvin was taken by surprise for a moment. Butcher was never one to ask for help in such a straightforward way, he was far too arrogant and hardheaded for that. There was a pain in Butcher's voice that Marvin had last heard at Judy's house when Butcher came back from the Vought compound without Becca. He realized that this was personal for Butcher, once again.
"Look, man. I'm sorry for Becca. I know we never really got to talk about it, but I'm sorry," Marvin said, moving forward and placing an arm on Butcher's shoulder.
"It's not about Becca, this time. Homelander's gotta pay for what he did to her, sure. But it's not just about her this time," Butcher said. The smirk in his face had gone, as his other patented look dominated his face – the ashen look of determination.
The change in Butcher's face was worrisome for Marvin, as he knew that something massive must have happened for him to react in that way. He was worried for Butcher but knew that he had to be careful with that feeling because he could not let himself get carried away.
"He did Judy, man. He did her up good," Butcher said with anguish in his voice.
"Are you sure it was Homelander?" Marvin asked before he realized what he asked. He was focusing so much on keeping his own emotions in check that he did not realize how insensitive he must have been in that moment.
"Yes, I'm bloody sure it was fuckin' Homelander. That cunt sent her bloody head as a gift, of course I'm fuckin' sure," Butcher lashed out, jerking Marvin's arm off his shoulder.
"I'm sorry man. I didn't mean to ask that," Marvin apologized.
"Look, I need to take that cunt down and do it fast, or he's gonna keep coming. And I need your help," Butcher said.
"I'm sorry man, but this time I'm out. I really am," Marvin responded in a low tone.
"What the fuck is wrong with you, MM? I've just told you that he came after Judy and you're telling me you're gonna let that slide? Why?" Butcher asked with disgust.
"Because he came after my family too," Marvin shouted. The volume in Marvin's voice took Butcher by surprise because he had never seen this amount of rage from his usually composed friend. Marvin's words rang around the room and then there was a moment's stunned silence, broken intermittently by Marvin's seething breaths.
"He stood here, not too far from where you're standing," Marvin continued, "and said that he'd come after my wife and my baby girl. Fuck, he promised me he'd kill them and there won't be a damn thing I will be able to do about it."
"So come with me, all of you. We're going to have a better chance of putting him down if we're together and you know that the only way he stops coming at us is if he's in the ground," Butcher responded.
"Are you even listening to yourself right now? You wanna kill Homelander so bad that you're gonna use my family as bait? You know he's gonna come for you and you're thinking of having my wife and kid there? What the fuck, Butcher?" It was hard to tell whether Marvin was more angry or disgusted as he said those words.
"I'm not going to use them as bait. I only want to keep them safe," Butcher could tell that the conversation was going away from him.
"If you really want them safe, then you'll walk away from this house and stay as far away from them as you can. You're bad news, Butcher. Trouble follows you wherever you go, and I don't want any part of it anymore. I have a family to look after," Marvin said with a tone of finality.
Butcher sighed and looked into Marvin's eyes. They held each other's gaze for a moment, a slowly building tension seizing control of both of their bodies. At length, Butcher smirked. He turned around and picked up Marvin's family photo once more to look at it. He put it down after a moment's glance and made his way towards the doorway.
"You know, you're the first person I came to after I found out about Judy. I thought that you, of all people, would understand. But I guess your heart has only got so much room these days. Have a nice life, MM," Butcher said as he neared the door. He did not give Marvin a chance to respond as he walked out, shutting the door behind him. He got into his car across the street and silently drove away.
A few minutes later, Monique walked into the house, a look of anger across her face.
"Did I just see William Butcher walk out of my living room?" she asked Marvin.
"Yes, but if he knows what's good for him, he's not coming back," Marvin said with gritted teeth.
The next day, once again just after six in the evening, Elena returned to her apartment. She had a difficult day at work as the events of the previous evening were still fresh in her mind. She had slept very little at night and instead spent the hours drowning in tears. The first rays of sunlight filtering into her room, ordinarily an event of displeasure for her as it necessitated getting out of bed, had this morning been a welcome relief from her misery. Throughout the day, she had tried to push her sorrows to the back of her head as she busied herself with work. She almost dreaded coming home to be alone with her thoughts.
Elena's thoughts were interrupted once again by a sound from her bedroom. It sounded like the notebook that she kept on her desk had fallen down on her wooden floor. Elena sighed.
"Maeve, is that you again? You can't keep coming here," she said as she rushed into the bedroom and turned on the light. In an instant, she froze.
Homelander bent down to pick up the notebook and placed it softly back on the desk.
"I'm sorry," he said with a wide smile betraying a sense of menace, "my cape really gets out of control in this wind."
Elena stood frozen in her position at the front of the doorway. Homelander clasped his hands behind his back and walked over to the window. He closed it in one motion, the loud sound making Elena jump even though she knew it was coming. There was an unmistakable menace in his gait, as he slowly walked up to her without taking his eyes off her.
"You know," he said as he got close to her, "you really should not keep your window open when you're not home. Anyone can get in through it."
Elena's breathing became frantic as Homelander stood so close to her. She tilted her head up to maintain eye contact, her eyes open wide with fear. She had not been able to say anything up until this point.
"Why—why are you here?" she finally managed to squeak out.
"Oh you know, I see why you keep the window open. It's getting very stuffy in here," Homelander ignored her question as he looked out towards the balcony. "Shall we go outside?" he gestured towards the balcony.
Though it was asked as a question, Elena understood that it was more of an instruction. She silently turned around and walked to her balcony, with Homelander following closely behind her. She opened the sliding door and leaned on to the railing, staring out into the New York skyline. This was good, as the wind both broke her out of her trance and allowed her to avoid Homelander's threatening eyes. Homelander stood leaning on to the railing next to her, clasping his palms together. The wind blew the corner of his cape up to the sides of her legs, as Elena shuddered at the touch.
"Maeve was here yesterday, wasn't she?" he asked. "She thought she went off the radar, and you're the only person she would do that for."
Elena did not respond. She could not think of what to say.
"It's not fair, you know," Homelander continued without waiting for a response, perhaps to himself, "that she gets to come see you whenever she wants to."
He put a hand on her back, the touch making Elena draw a sharp breath. She slowly turned her head towards him and found his eyes boring into her once again. But there was something else in there too, she thought. Was that a hint of sadness in there? She could not tell for sure.
"But you know something, Elena? I think you agree with me. You don't think it's fair of her to come here like that. And you said that to her too, didn't you? I think you did, because she wasn't in a great mood when she came back to the Tower last night," Homelander said with a smile.
There was a moment's silence on the balcony, interrupted only by Elena's sharp and rapid breaths. Homelander kept his palm on Elena's upper back, his fingers slightly twitching between her scapulae. Elena was feeling incredibly uncomfortable both in body and mind but did not dare to move his hand off. For his part, Homelander could not keep the thoughts of Stormfront out of his mind. He was reminded of her loving touch in a not too dissimilar way than how he had his hand on Elena's back.
"But don't you worry," Homelander broke the silence with a smile, coming back to the moment. "I'll make sure that she does not come here again, okay? She won't see you ever again."
It did not take Elena any time to realize the meaning behind Homelander's words, but that realization did not allow her to do anything about it. She stood rooted to the spot, her eyes wide in shock as she stared at Homelander. A moment later, she felt a rush of force on her back and before she knew it, her feet were off the ground. She let out a loud scream, releasing all the shock and fear she had held within her all this time as the pavement came closer and closer, and closer still.
Homelander leaned over the balcony to look down at the splatter caused by Elena's body on the pavement. He flew off in a flash before anyone could look up and see him leaving the balcony. But even in the distance, he could hear the blood gushing out of her body in a hurry, as passers-by rushed to her body.