Epilogue: Another Life

Helena slowly woke in the familiar warmth and safety of her home. It was a Sunday morning, six months after Homelander's body was taken from the wreckage of Vought Tower.

Six months after Stan Edgar officially dismantled the Hero Division of his company and shifted fully into the pharmaceutical business. (Grace was still doing her best to keep V24 out of the military.)

Six months after Helena had been officially hired by Supe Affairs to help clean up the rogue supes created by Vought's corporate machine.

But she wasn't alone in her bed.

She let out a deep breath through her nose and turned over to find her boyfriend. Butcher laid on his side facing her, bare-chested and still dozing. She had a feeling he was more or less awake though.

She debated how she might try to wake him up. Maybe with a clever hand down his pajama pants…

But instead, her gentle hand slid up his arm. With a deep breath of his own, still with his eyes closed, his arm moved under the blankets to slip around her waist and bring her closer. Helena smiled and rested her head against his chest.

His movements were often slow in the morning. Even half a year later, he was still recovering from the effects of V24 that ravaged his body in the form of lesions across many of his internal organs. And yet, he was lucky. As the doctor had informed him, he'd been one dose away from irreversible damage.

Remembering that thought had Helena pulling away a bit, just so she could caress his bearded face, encouraging him to open his eyes. When his gaze found hers, they didn't need words.

They were home.

His head bowed to greet her with a kiss, languid and unhurried.

His hand moved under the sheets to slip under her silky top, splaying across her lower back. Her arm twined around his neck in turn, her fingers slipping into his dark hair. Hers was already wild this morning; it both tickled his arm and fanned across her pillow.

She nipped his bottom lip and earned a pleased sound from him, deep in his throat. But before he could roll her onto her back, they heard quick footsteps coming up the stairs.

Butcher groaned, dropping his forehead onto her shoulder. But a smile twitched at his mouth.

"Incoming," he muttered.

Helena smiled as well. Their embrace loosened when a knock finally struck at their bedroom door.

A short laugh bubbled in her throat as she answered, "Come in."

Ryan was an early riser, unlike his adoptive guardians.

"Morning!" he said cheerfully. He wore a bright smile, and dinosaur pajamas.

He went over and jumped onto the bed on Butcher's side, nearly cracking the man's rib in the process. He grunted out an "Oof," but begrudgingly made room for the boy.

Seeing Butcher's surly look, Helena giggled, but welcomed Ryan between them. She ran her fingers through the kid's hair soothingly.

"I started the coffee," Ryan said. Helena nodded and closed her eyes, with a sigh. She wasn't ready to get up, and neither was Butcher.

"I made French press," Ryan added.

Butcher made an impressed sound. "Tricky fucking thing, that."

Helena cracked her eyes back open and shot him a narrowed look.

"Okay, do you have to throw around F-bombs so early in the morning?"

For Ryan's sake, she was trying to curb that. But with Butcher, she also knew it was a sinking ship.

He raised a flirtatious brow at her. "I tried tossin' other things, but I was waylaid—"

Instead of reprimanding him (a useless venture), Helena yanked a spare pillow from behind her head and lobbed it at his face.

Ryan giggled. Butcher removed the pillow and shot Ryan a wry look.

"Think that's funny, do ya?"

Ryan tried and failed to stop his grin. He gasped and fell into childish laughter when Butcher suddenly sat up and scooped the kid up from the bed, hefting him under his arm on his way over to the door.

Ryan continued to laugh and squirm, but not too much that Butcher couldn't handle it. He eventually set Ryan down on his feet and laid a warm hand on his shoulder.

"All right, go brush your teeth, wash your face if you haven't already," Butcher said.

Ryan's slight pout said he wanted to stay, but at a pair of raised brows from Butcher, Ryan nodded and went to do as he was told. Butcher watched him go for a moment.

He's a good kid, Butcher thought.

Ryan's bedroom was just down the hall, formerly one of the guest rooms that Helena had converted. He liked being on the same floor as them.

Butcher hefted a sigh. He shut the door so they could get dressed and start their morning in peace. After getting up out of bed, Helena went over to him and slid her arms through his, hugging him from behind. The muscles in his back contracted, then released. He held her hands to his chest. They both took a deep breath.

Neither of them thought they would be parents.

At the very least, Helena's parents were happy to accept Ryan as a kind of "grandchild." When they came to New York for a visit last month, even her father had pulled her aside…

"Are you sure about this?" Joe had asked. Helena faced him without even one doubt in her eyes.

"Yeah, Dad. He needs us," she replied. Her gaze moved beyond them, to the living room, where Butcher and Ryan were playing Connect 4 while her mother Celia cheered Ryan on.

Helena turned back to her father. "Butcher made a promise to Becca. And this is the one thing I can do for her that I couldn't then…but more than any of that…I don't know. I just love that kid."

She could admit that with a smile as she glanced back at Ryan. He might grow to be one of the most powerful supes alive, but the kid was soft and sensitive inside. He was troubled, and had gone through immense trauma…and yet, he was still kind, and had more courage than Helena felt she had herself.

"He's good," she said. "And good for both of us too."

Joe considered his daughter. She finally seemed to have firm ground beneath her feet. She knew exactly what she wanted, and though he could cite the risks with this idea, he could also admit that he was proud of her.

And he did, grasping her arm warmly. Helena turned to him with a questioning look.

"Good," he said with a smile, and even tears in his eyes. "I'm proud of you, mija."

Tears welled up in her eyes as well. She let out a shuddering breath, and she let him pull her into a hug.

So now, Helena turned her hands under Butcher's and held him, both supportive and comforting.

"Does it feel right?" he asked.

She nodded, pressing her cheek against his warm, solid back. "Feels exactly right."

Butcher nodded. "Good."

He turned in her arms and held her to him. He slipped a hand to the back of her neck and looked down on her with serious eyes. She felt he wanted to say something, but was having trouble getting out the words. So she smiled and waited for him.

"I love you, you know," his deep voice rumbled.

"I might, yeah," she teased. But then, her expression gentled when she replied, "I love you too."

It wasn't the first time those words had fallen between them, but it happened sparingly enough that when it did, it served to connect them in the moment. To make sure that this was real, and all that came before was finally just a memory.

And with that confirmation, they could start getting on with their day.

They met Ryan downstairs in the kitchen. True to his word, he'd figured out how to work the French press, and now Helena and Butcher sipped while getting breakfast together. Ryan watched some morning cartoons on the living room TV while seated at the breakfast bar, so he could be close to them.

They hadn't moved from the house that Helena owned, even though it made for a bitch of a commute sometimes for Butcher. She worked from home with Ryan. It was safer for both of them that way.

The aftermath of Vought withdrawing from the superhero business left its network of supes either contracting with local law enforcement, or going rogue. It was the rogue ones Butcher and "the Boys" had to worry about. And ironically enough, the Boys now included Annie and Helena.

Hel was organizing the intel and groundwork surveillance, while Annie was providing some much-needed field muscle. Maeve might've been an ideal addition too, but she had utilized the Homelander takedown to fake her death, allowing the public to believe she died trying to take him down.

Though the public didn't know that Soldier Boy was in the wind once again. M.M. was focused on that particular project.

But while Butcher was frying up some bacon and Helena was whipping a few eggs in a bowl, Gordo the cat finally got up from his bed (the couch) and hefted his fat ass onto the kitchen counter.

"All right, Gord," Butcher greeted. He changed hands with his spatula so he could pet the long-haired cat. Helena looked over with a frown.

"No, no, no, off the counter!" She snapped her fingers in Gordo's face, but the cat just gave her his large amber eyes and meowed.

Butcher's lips curved. "What? He ain't hurting anything."

"Billy, we're making food," she said. "He knows he's not supposed to be up here."

She scooped up the cat and set him on the ground before she went back to cooking. Behind her back, Butcher gave Gordo a small piece of bacon.

When breakfast was ready, Ryan helped set the dining table and the three of them sat down together as they often did, sharing the morning.

It didn't escape Helena that this was surely what Becca wanted for herself. Sometimes Helena still felt guilty, like she was living a life meant for someone else.

And so it goes that way sometimes.

But she had to remind herself that this bit of peace, this family, was hers. She'd fought for it.

She was only distracted from her thoughts when Ryan spoke around a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

"Are you going boxing today?" he asked Butcher.

"I might," he replied. That depended on if his creaky body would let him do a proper workout at the gym. Recovering from the Temp. V was a continuing process, but boxing was one of his new outlets—an oldie but necessary goodie. Part of his own form of therapy.

"Can I come with?" Ryan asked hopefully.

Butcher's lips quirked. "Did you finish your homework?"

Ryan bit his lip. "I just have like, one more thing for math."

"Right. If you finish by lunch, you can come with."

Helena gave him a cajoling look. "Come on, Billy. It's Sunday."

Butcher turned to his girlfriend, in which she plied him with imploring eyes on Ryan's behalf. She knew the boy just wanted to spend some time with Butcher, man-to-man.

And it was good for Ryan to have a physical outlet that taught him how to control his body. Hel had watched the last couple of sessions between them, and Butcher was actually a good coach.

"All right," Butcher relented. "But make sure your homework gets done tonight."

Ryan brightened at that.

Helena winked at him. "Let me know if you need help."

Or rather, she would call Hughie, who could most definitely help. Helena sucked ass at math.

Helena and Ryan later did the dishes together while Butcher answered a text from Mallory. She had a tip on Soldier Boy, who had been spotted in Brazil. She sent Butcher a surveillance screenshot: a closeup of Soldier Boy wearing a beige fedora.

What a prick, Butcher thought.

He waited until later to show Helena, when they were upstairs, once again in their bedroom. By now he'd changed clothes to head to the gym soon, while she was similarly changing into some activewear for a walk at the park. Butcher took a moment to admire her ass in those tight yoga pants while she scrolled through the surveillance images on his phone.

"He looks tan," she remarked. Ben seemed to be playing up his sabbatical in South America, but she had a feeling about him. If Butcher could turn his asshole persona around, then maybe Ben could as well.

Meanwhile, Butcher stopped his perusal of her body to search her face, trying to gouge her reaction. But she noticed him watching her, and she raised a brow.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing. You're the one who made out with the ancient fuck," he made a point to say, with a slightly peeved look. "And a granny fucker at that."

Helena handed Butcher back his phone with a pursing of her lips.

"I didn't make out with him, you ass," she said. Ben stole one fucking kiss off her. One.

"You're lucky I didn't tell M.M.," Butcher said. "He's not as forgiving as I am."

"Sure. That's why you keep bringing it up, right?" she retorted.

She was teasing, as was he (mostly), but there was some truth in there that caused an underlying sting.

Butcher frowned, rather predictably. She sighed at his pouting and reached up to take his face between her hands.

"Again, I am sorry that happened," she said.

Even if she'd been too shocked to try and push him off, despite everything—the assholery and the "small" matter of him bruising her—maybe there had been a part of her that had been attracted to Ben. Dangerous men seemed to be her type.

She didn't know what that said about her though. Maybe she was more fucked up than she realized… But regardless, she hadn't had to contemplate Ben's offer in that alley, even for a moment. She knew what her heart wanted.

"Look, if I can forgive you for all the shit you put me through, you can forget about one kiss he stole off me," said Helena.

With that, she left Butcher there to find her AirPods for her walk. Of course, she could have predicted the way he followed her across the room.

"Oh, it's Ben is it?" he said. His tone was snide and almost affronted.

"That is his name," she said wryly.

Butcher held her hips from behind at her dresser, while she sorted through her purse. He met her gaze in the mirror, and she couldn't help but smile.

"I'm here, Billy. And I'm not going anywhere," she said. When his hands slipped around her waist from behind, she covered his hands with hers.

His gaze softened slightly; the truth began to mollify him. Butcher started to press a line of warm kisses down her neck, just the way she liked. His beard tickled her skin, while his lips made a shiver run down her spine.

"Billy!" Ryan called from downstairs. "You ready to go?!"

"Jesus fucking Christ. That kid's cock-blocking me left and right," Butcher muttered into Helena's shoulder. She laughed and swatted at his head.

Then she turned to face him, holding his face in her hands, and pulling him in for a deep kiss. It was full of promise—for tonight, and many other nights to come. She parted from him with a smile.

"All right, get out before Ryan flies up here," she teased.

Butcher snorted in agreement. He turned to leave.

"Oh, wait. One more thing," said Helena. She grabbed him by the jacket and kissed him again. "I love you."

Butcher hesitated. The truth was, he still didn't believe he deserved all this either. Or her, for that matter. But he nodded, accepting the simple fact that he loved her too.

He stroked her cheek and replied, "See ya later."

She let him go, so Ryan wouldn't be kept waiting any longer. But from the large window in their bedroom, she watched Butcher and Ryan go out together to the car.

Helena smiled. Whether she deserved this new life or not, it was hers. It was theirs.

And it was more than enough.