Butterflies Volume II

Chapter 21

"So, I guess you've all heard about Starlight's 'alleged' involvement..." The crowd cheered as Homelander spun the conversation away from what they were actually there for, Violet behind him smiling along.

The people loved the suit, they loved her persona, they loved her terrible public speaking skills and lack of knowledge on how to use social media. She thought the most painful part of the whole ordeal was playing Supe and wearing the suit, but apparently it was trying to explain how she was British when he was so painfully American. Though Ashley informed her that it would be great to tap in to the audience of adoptees, which was something she never expected to hear about in her life. Hands behind her back she nodded on and smiled at the young people in the audience that were definitely too young to be there. Red, white and blue,  the republican rally was the perfect place for Homelander to rack up support.

"...with a human trafficking ring? And I suppose it's 'pure coincidence' that, uh, she opened Starlight House for runaway teens," he went on and on, "come on, we can put two and two together can't we? Can't we Violet?"

Her head jerked to him and the crowd looked for her to speak next, "yeah I mean... Those poor kids? They... Pass through her doors, they disappear. They're never seen again..."

It was difficult to spew such blatant lies but she had to if she wanted to be believed. She spotted Victoria Neuman in the audience, catching her out of her own script. The woman was pretty and stylish, it was almost aggravating that she was a murderer because if Violet saw her in a bar she'd be the first to go up to her.

"It's horrific," Homelander finished for her, "but we got to face the truth, people, no matter how ugly it is. Starlight is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Plain and simple. She fooled me, she fooled Violet she fooled all of us. Right? Now she wants to take me down. Why? Because with me out of the way, there is no one who can stop her. No one, and she knows it. Do you think the media, our buddies over here... Do you think the media is gonna report on that? No, no, no, of course not. They'll lie just like they did about my sis-"

In the distance he spotted something that made his voice trail off, Violet was confused as he seemed nervous. Eyes flickering red for merely a second, she was shocked to spot the fear in him, though when she looked out into the audience she saw no one. Stepping forward she placed a hand on her brothers shoulder and he calmed, which was another strange feeling knowing she had that power too.

"Tell you what," Violet addressed the crowd, "you guys, we love you yeah? All right, thanks for having us! And vote for Bob Singer!"

As the crowd began to cheer, the two of them left the stage, leaving the person who was actually meant to speak to begin his campaign. When they reached the backstage area, Homelander started to pace further away, his hands in fists as Violet trailed after him. He breathed heavily, and it slowed her down in her tracks. Homelander doesn't get scared like that, he doesn't storm off stages or fumble over his words. What purpose does a god have in being nervous? But in the short time she had been close to him, she had seen plain as day what Maeve told her about him.

"Hey are you okay?" She timidly asked him, not sure if she wanted to know at all.

His eyes drifted to the barn they kept cows in and he shut his eyes tightly, "yeah, give me a minute. See you back at the tower-"

He hardly gave her time to say anything more before he was walking away to the cows. If he was expecting her to chase after him, console him, he was mistaken, because he just gave her permission to go back to the tower and snoop around without him there. And if there was anything else she was expected to do that day, it could wait as she headed back to the tower.

Opening a portal, she jumped through back to her bedroom, the cloud of amethyst disappearing with her. It was good to be blessed with portals, it was good to be able to go anywhere she wanted on her own. Keeping her phone in her pocket, she walked out her door in the direction Annie told her. There were several labs in the building; ones for show and ones they didn't want the public to have a peak into. Descending down the lift, she went as far below as she could, which only led her to the ground floor. There were people surrounding her as she strolled through in her glittery purple suit, but as long as she was Homelander's sister, she had clearance for anywhere.