The Things We Keep | The Boys X Male Reader

"The worst thing about memory is that some of it never fades. Mine never learned mercy."
- (Y/N) (L/N)

You learned early that Vought only keeps two kinds of people alive. Products. And secrets.

Somehow, you became both.

For years, you survived quietly beside Billy Butcher, never realizing the thing rotting in your head had a name. Relapse lets you relive memories exactly as they happened, every feeling, every second untouched by time. Useful for finding lies. Terrible for forgetting. Especially when some of them keep pulling you backward whether you like it or not.

You tell yourself you're fine. The Boys believe it too. To them, you're just observant. Then the world starts dragging old memories back to the surface.

Memories of a girl named Firecracker.

Billy Butcher thinks you're angry. Truth is, you've just been tired for a very long time.