What joyful mood Becca and Sam had established amongst themselves was pretty much destroyed for Becca once they entered the hanger.
It wasn't Nolan, or any of the Guardians that had done something wrong.
No, it was the site of the green eagle clad man exiting the aircraft with them.
Soldier Boy.
Ryan's grandfather.
Becca had not expected that.
"Nolan!" Sam exclaimed, a smile on her face as she closed the distance.
Nolan smiled as Sam wrapped her arms around his neck, gladly returning the hug. "Hey Sam."
"So how'd it go?" She asked when they seperated.
"Well, the supe is dead. He had the ability to create magma blasts." Nolan explained. "Unfortunately, the pilots were killed, but most of the passengers got away with little to no injuries, outside of one third degree burn."
"Hey, you're Soldier Boy!" Ryan's voice echoed through the hanger, catching their attention.
And they froze, as the situation hit them.
Ryan had walked right up to Soldier Boy, bouncing excitedly as he looked up at the hero.
The hero that was his grandfather.
Soldier Boy chuckled. "That I am."
The tense atmosphere was lost on the two, as well as Stormfront, as everyone stared at the two interacted with each other.
"What's your name, kiddo?" Soldier Boy asked with a grin.
"I'm Ryan!" Ryan said excitedly. "My mom showed me one of your movies when I was younger!"
"Oh?" Soldier Boy's gaze turned to Becca, who was approaching slowly. "I take it you're his mom?"
Slowly, Becca nodded. "Yeah. I showed him the Red Storm film after he caught me watching it when he was six."
Soldier Boy chuckled. "One of my more kid friendly films."
Ryan's eyes were filled with wonder as he looked up at his grandfather. "Are you joining the Guardians of the Globe?" He asked.
Soldier Boy chuckled. "We'll see. That's all up to Omni-Man, over there." He said, gesturing to the white and red clad hero.
Nolan chuckled, relaxing slightly. "Well, I have no objections. Despite our rather tense introduction, you've done nothing but help so far."
Soldier Boy looked down at Ryan. "So, one of these guys' your dad?"
At the question, Ryan's mood visibly deflated, and the tense atmosphere picked up.
"My dad's dead." Ryan said, averting his gaze from the older man as he said it.
"Oh… I'm sorry."
"Don't be. He was a bad man." Ryan responded. "He hurt my mom."
Soldier Boy was more than a little confused. He glanced up at Becca, who gulped, unsure of how to proceed.
"His dad was… Homelander."
Soldier's brow furrowed at her words as her words sunk in. And as her words hit him, so too did their true meaning.
Homelander was his Son.
Ryan here was Homelander's son.
Ryan was his…
"This little guy is… my grandson?"
Behind him, Stormfront gasped, and Ryan's gaze snapped up towards him at his words.
"What?" Ryan turned to look at his mother. "Mom, is that true?"
Hesitantly, Becca nodded her head. "Yes, Ryan."
Everyone watched in tense silence as Ryan turned to look back at Soldier Boy, who was looking at his grandson in surprise.
And then Ryan smiled.
"That is so cool!" He said, jumping up and down in excitement. "My grandpa is Soldier Boy!"
There was a collective sigh of relief through the room at Ryan's outburst, as Soldier Boy chuckled.
"Well, nice to meet you, grandson."
Ryan couldn't help the urge that overtook him, flinging his arms forward around Soldier Boy's chest, taking advantage of the man's crouched position to pull him into a hug.
Soldier Boy grunted, admittedly surprised by the boy's strength, before chuckling. "Well, I guess I don't have to work to get you to like me." He said as he returned the hug with his non-shielded hand.
The boy let go of Soldier Boy, and ran towards his mom. "Mom, can I show him my movies?"
"You're movies?" Soldier Boy asked, curious.
Becca laughed. "He loves remaking movie scenes out of Legos. Does everything by hand."
"Stop motion?" Soldier Boy asked Ryan, who nodded.
"Yeah!"
"Neat." Soldier Boy said with a smile.
Everyone watched as Soldier Boy followed Ryan out of the hangar, smiles on their faces as Grandfather and Grandson got to know each other.
Becca let out a sigh of relief. "That went better than I was expecting." She admitted.
"Soldier Boy and Stormfront here showed up at the landing site as I sat the plan down." Nolan explained, gesturing to the heroine still in the hangar, still looking at where her lover disappeared with his grandson. "They were nothing but helpful."
Stormfront smiled at the praise. "I mean, we didn't get to really do much, you all were the ones to save the plane."
"I don't know." Love Sausage spoke up, stepping forward. "I think the presence of a hero like Stormfront, and most definitely, Soldier Boy really made people feel better, despite the incident that occurred upon your arrival."
"What happened?" Sam asked, tilting her head in the way that Nolan found so endearing.
"MM saw Soldier Boy and decided an acceptable course of action was to shoot him in the face."
Both Becca and Sam's eyes widened.
"He didn't!" Becca exclaimed.
"Oh yeah, he did." Maeve said. "I was the one that had to keep him from doing something stupid after he kept fighting Butcher and his friends."
"I thought MM was the calm one." Sam remarked, glancing at Nolan with a raised eyebrow.
"He usually is." Nolan nodded. "He kept screaming about how Soldier Boy killed his family."
Stormfront nodded. "He sent a car flying through a house in 82. He was trying to save a woman's life, and reacted on instinct."
Love Sausage nodded. "He did say it was an accident while that man was accusing him."
Sam glanced up at Nolan. "Well, maybe he feels guilty?"
"He did go talk to MM." Nolan remarked, glancing in the direction Soldier Boy had disappeared. "Maybe he explained his side of the story to MM."
Sam followed Nolan's gaze as she spoke. "Well, after everything he's been through, maybe he deserves some distraction."
Ben watched with a fond gaze as Ryan showed him the movies he'd made. In the background, a radio was playing.
He'd always wanted a kid. He really did.
Unfortunately, the only kid he'd ever had was kept from him, and turned into a complete psycho.
But this boy… Well, he may not ever be his father.
But he'd be the best damn grandfather he could be.
"So, Ryan, you ever play any sports?" Ben asked, smiling down as his grandson as they finished a Lego version of a movie called 'The Blind Side'.
Ryan nodded. "I play baseball with Butcher and Nolan!" He said excitedly. "Though, I prefer playing with Nolan since I can't hurt him with a ball."
Ben's eyes widened at the news. "What do you mean by "hurt him"?"
Ryan's face fell at the question. "I inherited my dad's powers." He explained, looking up at his grandfather. "Nolan's helping me control my strength and my flight, but he doesn't have any of the other powers I have, or might have."
"Like?"
"Well, I have heat vision. My eyes glow red when I get real stressed." Ryan explained.
"That's kind of like my radioactive laser." Ben remarked, catching Ryan's attention.
"Radioactive laser?"
Ben nodded. "Yeah. I can shoot a beam of pure radiation from my chest. It can fry people alive, and for supes, anyone who survives being near it has the Compound V completely burned out of them."
Ryan's eyes widened. "Do you think Compound V is what gives me my powers?"
Ben nodded. "Definitely, but I doubt I'd be able to burn it out of you since it's also a part of your DNA, since you were born with your powers."
Ryan looked a little disappointed, something Ben noticed. "Oh…"
"Oh? Kiddo, don't tell me you were gonna ask me to blast you." Ben said, slight worry in his voice.
"Well… I don't want to have powers. I want to be normal, like my mom."
Ben's eyes widened. "Is this because of Homelander?"
Ryan nodded. "I don't want to be a monster."
Ben's eyes got even wider, before he moved away from the couch and crouched down in front of his grandson.
"Hey, look at me." He said, gripping Ryan's shoulders. "It's not the powers that makes the monster, it's the person. You are not your dad, you are a bright, friendly little kid."
"But won't I have to be a superhero when I get older?"
"No." Ben said seriously. "You won't have to be anything you don't want to be. I will not let anyone force you into anything, you hear me?"
"But-"
"No buts!" Ben interrupted rather harshly, causing Ryan to flinch. "You are probably the only family I have left in the world, and the closest thing to a son I'll probably ever have." He spoke seriously, making sure Ryan understood what he was saying. "I don't care if I have to fight your buddy, Nolan, I will protect you with everything I have, do you hear me?"
After a few moments, Ryan nodded slowly. "I understand."
Ben nodded. "Good. I don't ever want you to think you're a monster, Ryan."
Ryan nodded, hanging on to every word. "Thank you, Grandpa."
Ben smiled, ruffling Ryan's hair. "Anytime, kiddo. Now, how about we-"
Suddenly, Ben froze.
In the background, on the radio, was a song.
A Russian song. One he knew, very well.
He'd recognized the rather joyful tune anywhere.
It always meant pain.
Suddenly, he was back on the table. They were shooting bullets in his mouth.
He was drinking cocktails of poison.
They were testing plasma cutters on his skin.
Wait, no. He was at the Guardians headquarters, his grandson was with him.
Right?
"Grandpa?"
Ryan's voice cut through the haze, as Ben began panting. He could feel an immense heat building in his chest, pain gripping him.
He was on the table.
He could see his grandson in front of him.
He was drinking poison cocktails.
Ryan was looking more and more terrified.
He was eating bullets.
"Grandpa?!"
"RYAN, RUN!"
"But-"
But didn't let him get anymore words out.
He knew Ryan might be scared of him after this.
But he'd rather Ryan be alive to fear him, than be dead.
With more strength than he intended, his hand snapped towards the front of Ryan's shirt and jerked, throwing the child towards the doorway of the room as Ben turned to face the opposite direction.
The last thing Ryan saw before he ran was his grandfather screaming, as a bright light shot from his chest, and the entire base shook.
When the base began shaking, Klara knew something was wrong.
Her point was only reinforced when Ryan came running in like a bat out of hell.
"Something's wrong with Grandpa!" He shouted, running directly to his mom.
"What?!"
"Is he why the base is shaking?!" Nolan asked, concern in his features.
"Grandpa was saying something, but then this song came on the radio, and then he started shaking, his chest was glowing-"
Klara had heard enough.
She took flight out of the hanger, blasting off at high speed, on a straight stretch for Ben.
She just followed the noise.
Not that hard.
The lights were flickering on and off, and she could hear the sound of another person flying behind her.
She came upon the cloud of smoke within moments.
"What the hell did he do?!" Nolan asked, worry lacing his voice.
"He's got PTSD!" Klara revealed. "I tried to help him get a handle on it, but we could only do so much within a week!"
"How dangerous is he right now?!" Nolan questioned.
"Any tough supe hit directly will have the V burned out of their system, but just being near it is enough to render a supe powerless!"
Suddenly, the base stopped shaking as the two stopped within the smoke cloud, waiting for any indication of Ben's presence.
Suddenly, through the smoke, they could see him approaching, a look of confusion and worry on his face.
"Soldier Boy?" Nolan asked, concern in his voice, both for Ben and the rest of the base's occupants.
"W-What happened?" Ben asked, completely terriified. Klara's heart broke at the site.
"Oh, Ben…"
Her words seemed to be enough. "Oh god… is Ryan okay?"
"Ryan's fine." Klara nodded, smiling gently as she approached Ben. "He came running in, screaming that you weren't okay."
"Soldier Boy…" Nolan's words caught their attention. "Are you okay?"
Ben shuddered, looking at Nolan." As long as my grandson is okay, I'll be fine."
Nolan nodded, looking ay Ben. "Alright…"
The hesitation was clear in his tone, but Nolan knew better than most just how impactful PTSD could be.
He wouldn't condemn Soldier Boy for what he endured.
4 Days Later
James Stillwell was not at all expecting the call he received from Dr. Simmons.
Even less so considering what the call detailed.
"Mr. Stillwell."
"Dr. Simmons. It's always a pleasure to hear from you."
"I'm afraid it won't be today, loathe as I am to admit. Is this the secure line?"
"Dr. Simmons…"
"You know as well as I do, sir, that one can never be too cautious in our line of work."
"A trait I respect much. I assure you, this is the secure line."
"Good. I'm afraid we have run into a very grave possibility with Project Icon."
"You know I prefer blunt truth. What is the complications?"
"It turns out that this… Viltrumite DNA, that's what Omni-Man called himself, right? It turns out Viltrumite DNA is extremely resilient."
"Oh?"
"We've had to change from Novichok alone, to a cocktail of the world's deadliest gasses in order to keep Project Icon unconscious. Ever since we've added the Viltrumite DNA, the subject's body has become more and more determined to leave its induced hibernation."
"What of the lethal injections?"
"More and more ineffective. I'm loathe to admit that if we don't compensate for these unexpected events, Project Icon will awaken long before we are ready."
"Will Omni-Man be able to take Project Icon?"
"At the moment, most likely. But artificial aging is being pushed more and more. Ever since introducing the Viltrumite DNA, we've found that we can age Project Icon by centuries. So as to not burn out the entire system and allow for us to compensate, we've paused artificial aging, but even now, it's passively growing more and more resistant and determined. At the moment, we have it resting at about 700 years old."
If anyone with an extremely slowed perception of time and enhanced vision were present in the room, they'd spot James eye's widen the barest micrometer.
"And what of the Compound V already in Project Icon's system?"
"I believe, actually, that's where our difficulties lie. If my estimates are correct, Compound V alone is incompatible with a Viltrumite, but human blood and Viltrumite DNA are exceedingly compatible."
"So add Viltrumite DNA to Human DNA that's already been infused with V as a workaround."
"Exactly. The Viltrumite DNA seems to exacerbate the Compound V that it's forced to work with. For example, prior to the addition of the DNA, Project Icon was simply a replacement for the now dead Homelander. But now, Project Icon has shown measurements far beyond anything Homelander was capable of."
"You've piqued my interest, Dr. Simmons."
"His muscle structure is unimaginably higher, and his skin is, if our scans are correct, at least 900 times more dense compared to what Homelander's was."
"With all due respect to your intelligence, you are simply stating things about physical capabilities, which we already knew Omni-Man was far more physically powerful than Homelander."
"No, you are quite correct, my apologies, Mr. Stillwell. Allow me to move to how Project Icon's non Viltrumite abilities were affected."
Now Stillwell's interest was piqued.
"Oh?"
"As you no doubt already know, we are able to send impulses to Project Icon's brain, in order for us to test many of his abilities."
"Yes."
"Project Icon possesses all of the same abilities as Homelander did, but our scans have shown that the subject's are far superior to Homelander's. For example, whereas Homelander's heat vision has only ever 3000 degrees celsius, Icon's eyes have a temperature of 300000 degrees. He's also much more sensitive to sound, though we have no way of testing his actual site abilities without waking him."
"An outcome we wish to avoid happening too soon."
"Unfortunately, if we do not compensate for the unexpected resilience of the Viltrumite DNA, then we will be unable to proceed with Phase 2 of Project Icon."
"What is his projected day of awakening?"
"Of his own volition? We're looking at weeks, but that number is reducing rapidly."
Stillwell sighed. "Okay. When's the soonest you can have Phase 2 preparations completed?"
"Within the week if we work double time."
"Okay. Begin preparations, and focus on aging it up. If you can keep it asleep until preparations are complete, then we have nothing to worry about."
"And if we can't?"
"Unfortunately, there's no possible way to prepare for that possibility, as this was unprecedented. I trust your word, and your expertise, Dr. Simmons. The best we can hope for is starting from scratch. I'm assuming the Viltrumite Blood Drop is all you had in terms of Viltrumite DNA?"
"Yes. If we lose this subject, we are physically incapable of creating another hybrid like this, since getting any amount of Viltrumite DNA is next to impossible."
"Then loathe as I am to admit it, we have absolutely no choice but to rely on luck, and hope he doesn't awake too early."
"Okay. I will begin preparations immediately. And the failsafes for if Project Icon awakens early?"
"Still in place, and absolutely non-negotiable."
"Understood. Until we speak again, Mr. Stillwell."
"Good day, Dr. Simmons."
James hung up the phone, and sighed.
This was unprecedented news.
Unfortunately, they can only rely on luck.
James hated relying on such chances.
A/N: And that's the end of the chapter.
Soldier Boy met his grandson, bonds with him, and has a panic attack.
Meanwhile, we catch up with James Stillwell and Project Icon after a small timeskip. Since this is their first time ever working with Viltrumite DNA, it stands to reason that they would have unforseen complications, and if I remember correctly, I do believe that Viltrumite DNA is extremely dominant when mixed with compatible species.
Anyway, that's the end of the chapter. I hope you enjoyed it, don't forget to review, and I'll see you in the next chapter.
P.S: To the Author known as PrinceKaz, I got a good laugh out of your little prank, considering you were petty enough to do that on a story you had no control over because you didn't like one little aspect of it.
I also noticed that you changed your name after spamming me. I only wish I could've remembered and/or written it down, so I could call you out by both names.
If you have nothing better to do than whine and cry because a story you like introduces something you don't like, well, there's this neat little thing. It's call "Writing your own stories!"
I hear it's real fun.