𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄'𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐊𝐄 // 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐎𝐘

CHAPTER 13, fleeing the bear

2022

Silence. That was the best way to describe the van ride until the airport. They didn't question Vi's sudden takeoff, at least not yet. She was sitting in the van with them, she was there by the time The Boys arrived. They were quick to hop into the van, saying that Kimiko showed no signs of her healing abilities. So after she passed out, that was when silence struck. They were talking to her while she was awake, but there wasn't much to be done. They decided that it was best if they admitted her to a hospital back in America.

"Soldier Boy was always a hard bastard, but not like that," Butcher spoke not long after Kimiko passed out. He was behind the steering wheel for some reason. "They must have done something to him. What do you think?"

Butcher's eyes were fixed on the rear-view mirror inside the car. Through that, he could see Vi's hateful glare at the question. She was staring into the rear-view mirror, just like Butcher. They were able to look into each other's eyes through it, and Vi just wanted him to watch the road instead of that mirror, because as much as she was praying for the Brit's downfall, he wasn't the only one in the car.

"So now you listen to me? That's what I wanted to tell you inside the lab, but you just had to keep your bullshit going, didn't you?"

"Oh, you mean before you broke through the fucking roof?" He grins back. Somebody get this man a bad plastic surgery so that he won't smile like this all the time.

What she did back there was unintentional. It was seemingly triggered by how overwhelmed she was. She still is, but that's besides the point.

"That was just after you shot yourself up with V," she adds. Somebody had to remind Butcher that Vi wasn't the only one with an ace up her sleeve in that lab. Except for her, that ace was a mystery card.

Butcher playfully scoffed at that, but no words. He either let it slide or he grew a brain and realized that arguing about these was pointless right now. The first option was more likely.

Vi was conflicted. Ben didn't seem to recognize her, or if he did, he didn't try to make it obvious. He just woke up from who knows how many years of sleeping. He wasn't in his right mind. He didn't forget me. If Ben was to meet her and not recognize her, he couldn't even say that she got too old for him to recognize her, because due to her non-aging ability, she still looked like she did in 1943. For the first time, she sensed a loss of connection. But at least Ben is now free to roam, and her chances of finding him were higher than before.

Nina's private jet was right where they left it. Vi, Frenchie and MM carried Kimiko to the plane, placing her into one of the leather cushioned couches. Frenchie sat down next to her, promising to keep an eye on the wounded woman. Vi plopped down on the single seat facing another seat with a sigh, closing her eyes in hopes of some well-deserved rest. 18 hours will surely be enough. In the meantime, she will have enough time to muster up something to say to Ben if she sees him again. Because even if he got away, now it was confirmed that he was alive.

She just sat there, smiling to herself at these thoughts, when Hughie sat down on the white leather seat, sitting face to face with her. At first, he just fiddled with his fingers in silence, then after seemingly reconsidering every thought he ever had, he spoke.

"I know Butcher already mentioned this, but uh, you can fly?" He meekly asks.
"I didn't exactly fly. I just shot up, then fell down. Think of it as a jump. The only difference is that I jumped pretty fucking high pretty fucking quickly," she explains, hoping that it was easily understandable.

Hughie hums in understanding, slowly tilting his head back and forth, the movement barely noticeable, but it was there.

"And this uh, until now... did you know you had it?" He asks, his eyebrows knitted together.

"No way. I was surprised, even scared. I'm still trying to process it," Vi smiles faintly. She has yet to experience and get into this ability, because once she understands it and learns to use it, it can still be very useful. Vi knew the first thing she should do is figure out how to trigger it. After that, it should be combined with her ability to change density. That way there would be no trace of broken roofs.

She probably won't get an answer as to how this is possible, but if Homelander has at least five different abilities, it's not impossible for her to abound either.

"Funny, you were the one who taught me about learning our abilities first. But, I understand, of course, you couldn't have known about it, and that's perfectly fine, that's not why I said it," Hughie begins, putting together every possible word that could come to mind at that moment, stuttering.

On some level, Vi found it amusing. Hughie was trying so hard to speak without accidentally offending anyone. Funny, Ben was aiming for the exact opposite. Vi noticed that Hughie didn't just talk to her like that, but to the vast majority of people. Of course, when a supe is sitting across from him, he stresses more about what he says, knowing that Vi can tear his heart out of its place at any time.

"You know, I have a question. I'd rather not ask Butcher right now," Hughie says after listening to Vi's silence. He could see that she was smiling in the corner of her mouth.

"I already said something similar in the lab, but now it's really bothering me, and I think you would be the best to answer it. Seeing as Kimiko is in a coma."

"Just ask. Either I know the answer or I don't," Vi sighs as she shifts in her seat.

Hughie clears his throat and speaks.

"In the lab, I killed someone with my own hand. I mean, literally, because my hand went through his body. And you know, I noticed you doing the same thing. You don't... It doesn't bother you? That you literally have other people's blood on your hands dry?" He asks quietly.

Vi thinks it over in silence. It did bother her, she thought about it many times. The first few times it happened, she spent hours rubbing her hands under the running water because even though there was no visible sign of blood, Vi felt like it was still there on her hand. Now she just wiped her hands on her clothes.

"I remember so many faces. And their blood on my hands. They're here. They're here in my mind, all the time. They haunt me. So many things do. I'm supposed to be the one haunting them, but things don't always turn out as they are supposed to, or how we would like them to," she finally professed. She wasn't a woman of words, at least she never admitted it to herself. Ben once told her she was, though.

Hughie hummed again in agreement. Vi couldn't quite decide if the boy understood what she had said before. She hoped so. If she herself won't learn from her mistakes and guilt, at least give Hughie a little help. She didn't want to say anything else, and thankfully Hughie didn't ask any more questions. So Vi could almost be sure that the boy did understand what she said.

Vi had already woven the plans in her head, one after the other. B plans, even C plans, all for different cases. Ben was no longer locked away in an unknown Russian lab, and the possibilities were growing. She'll probably have to go back to Russia, but at least she won't be alone because Ben could be the secret weapon against Homelander that Butcher has been looking for. Therefore, Butcher will have to send somebody back to Russia to get Ben. But first, Kimiko had to be admitted to a hospital, and they had to rethink their plans and chances.

"Vivienne," she randomly blurts out. Hughie shoots her a confused glare almost immediately.

"What?" He asks, not so sure what she meant.

"You asked me what my name was. Not right now, though. It's Vivienne."