Hunted by Secrets ~The Boys

1~ Promotion

I barely felt any different.

Sure, I'd gotten promoted to the one of the highest positions there could be in Vought tower, but I was still doing the same goddamn thing. Just with a lot more cameras.

I'd been chosen to join the Seven after Lamplighter's retirement, which we all know wasn't actually a retirement.

They pretended to hold auditions, knowing all along it would be me.

I had shown up to the auditions in one of their cars, wearing the super suit they'd chosen for me, my hair curled in the way they liked it, my makeup natural but sexy- just the way they wanted me to be.

I smiled for the video, watching them give me cues and remind me of what to say from behind the camera. I did a demonstration of my power, making sure to do enough to be impressive, but not too much.

I did just as they'd been teaching me for years. They knew I'd be in the public's eye someday. They knew they couldn't keep me hidden. So they taught me how to appeal to the world. How to put on a show and how to catch an audience's attention.

I never wanted to be in the Seven. Sure they live luxuriously and get to do whatever they want to, but they are also always in the spotlight. They always have to watch what they say and what they do.

I'm used to operating in the shadows. Vought gives me a target, and I take them down without any coverage or backlash. I don't understand why they want me out in the open, why they want my powers out in the open. None of the Seven know about me, about what I did. I lived in the same tower as them since I was 12 and I never saw them once. Vought made sure to keep me quiet and put away. Only bringing me out when they needed a protestor silenced, a governor threatened, a mob subdued. Whatever they couldn't do with super strength or laser eyes, they used me to do it.

Maybe the reason they put me in the Seven is because they were getting scared. Scared of what I might do after being locked up in a cage for most of my life. What I might do to them, what I could easily do to them. I guess the only reason I haven't is because I like what they send me to do. I like my missions. Using my powers makes me feel alive. And Vought is the only home I've ever known.

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"June!"

The high voice snaps me out of my thoughts and I put down the book I wasn't really reading.

"What is it Ashley?" I ask as the red headed assistant storms into my room.

"You're supposed to already be in hair and makeup!" She exclaims, throwing her hands out. "Your debut in front of a live audience is tonight and Jeff was supposed to come and get you but the idiot disappeared and now-"

"Ashley," I groan, jumping off my bed and stepping towards her, "It's okay! I'm going now."

That woman really needs to get laid or smoke weed or something.

I start walking out of my room and she follows, her heels clicking on the tile while my sneakers are silent. I'm only wearing sweats and a hoodie, knowing I'll probably never be able to wear something so simple again after being announced as a member of the Seven.

"The Deep will be welcoming you onstage, you'll get a script to look over while we're getting you ready, and you really just need to be yourself."

I glance at her, a small smile growing on my lips.

"Well, you know what I mean," she frowns, "Just remember your training."

My training. It's all I remember, hell, it's all I ever do. Also The Deep is announcing me? I may have never met him, but I've heard stories.  You hear a lot living in a tower with supes. I deserve someone better.

We arrive in the dressing rooms and I'm instantly bombarded by makeup artists and hair dressers. I get shoved into a chair and they start working.

"Well, I need to get set up at the stage, so you just sit and let them do their magic, okay?" Ashley gives me a quick smile before speeding out of the room, iPad clutched to her chest.

I get handed a small script to look over and an iced coffee. The script is mostly just me saying how grateful I am to be there and how excited I am to be a part of the Seven, and blah blah blah. I feel tired just looking at it.

I look up into the mirror. My hazel eyes are complimented nicely with black mascara. They put on a bit of blush, some highlighter, and some tinted lip gloss, but that's really all I can notice. My hair is currently being brushed and slightly curled, leaving it simple and wavy.

They want me to look sexy but also humble, at least that's the way Ashley put it. She predicted I'd be very popular among teenage girls and feminists, and that a lot of people would be in love with me. I really didn't care.

I can't completely remember the fake backstory they had given me. It was something like my parents died in a car crash and I lived with my grandma until joining the Seven. God I wish.

I don't have a grandma. And my parents definitely didn't die in a car crash. I don't even know if they're alive or dead. And I don't remember them at all, I only remember a few of the foster parents I had.

I started hopping around foster homes when I was little, around five. I never stayed with one family for long. I didn't have control of my powers, and most thought I was too much to handle. There were accidents, lots of them. Eventually there was so many that Vought found me. They decided I could benefit them and they took me in. I was tested, trained, and sent on missions. But at least I got to stay in one place, and I got to use my powers. They didn't make me hide them. For that I was grateful.

"Stand up please," a woman's voice commands.

I look up, being pulled out of my thoughts. The woman's holding my suit. It isn't that bad, I actually kind of like it.

It's a black and red bodysuit with long sleeves and black boots. A little of my cleavage shows and my thighs are bare. The boots are high though, above my knees. A silky red wrap covers my collarbone and shoulders, the shoulder spikes up at the end, creating a spaulder look. The red wrap turns into a see through silk and creates two little capes on either shoulder.

They tried to make it look Egyptian because of my heritage, but I have no idea how Egyptian I really am. I know Vought made me take a DNA test, but they didn't let me see it, they only told me I was half Egyptian. And I could see it, my dark hair, hazel green eyes, and tan skin. I've always been told how gorgeous I was since I was a kid. It was a curse back in the foster homes, no kid needs that much 'attention.'

It takes a bit to get it on, which is annoying. Looking in the mirror I notice how much it compliments my body, and how much of me it shows. I frown, realizing the whole world will be seeing me in a matter of hours.

"You look fucking gorgeous!" Ashley exclaims, coming into the room. I fake a small smile, thanking her and following her out of the room.

She leads me to a small dressing room behind the stage, and starts giving me more pointers.

"Just smile, a lot," she explains, "Like, smile so much it hurts your face, okay?"

I nod, pursing my lips.

"So after Deep introduces you, you'll be expected to give a little speech," her eyes widen, "Oh god, did Jeff give you the script I swear to god I will-"

"Yes Ashley," I breath out through my nose, "Jeff gave me the script."

"I swear I was about to go fire that idiot," she shakes her head. "Okay, so I hope you're ready- of course you are. Everything's going to be fine."

She leaves the room, still reassuring herself.

I look at the clock on the wall, I go onstage in about thirty minutes. Madelyn Stilwell is still doing her speech and the Deep is probably about to go out there. I take a deep breath, closing my eyes for a second, trying to shut out the yelling assistants and makeup artists patting my face with powder.

"June!" A man calls, "You're on."

I stand up, straightening out my suit and putting on my camera face.

Here we go.