Everyone in Vought knew it wasn't far off. They could tell on Homelander's face. How his jaw would tighten at every small thing, how his fists would curl at any comment from someone he didn't like. If it wasn't for all the public's eye on him, Homelander would've leveled the entire city of New York by now. However, the supe couldn't keep all his rage in his chest. Which caused him to land in some small town in Mexico to let out his emotions on some cartel handlers. What was supposed to be a simple bust with as few causalities as possible turned into complete disaster. 43 lives lost, 27 of those bein innocent people, and a whole small town being destroyed.

It wasn't a shock that the American people were outraged. The beloved Homelander just committed a war crime and Vought was going to brush it under the rug like it was nothing. The people protested and rioted while demanding that Homelander be brought up for his actions. Ashly begged Homelander to stay silent on the matter until they figured out what to do but the supe refused and went to do it in his own way.

Boy, that did not work out. Homelander only ended up digging himself a deeper hole and loosing 10.7 fucking points. It was a disaster and it wasn't long before Vought announced that Homelander would be stepping down from the public eye for a while. That seemed to please people.

Meanwhile, Homelander was everything but pleased.

The supe was moved two hours north of New York City into some small town called Cold Spring and Homelander was given rules he had to follow.

1. He was no longer Homelander. He was John Gillman. 2. Absolutely no talk of Homelander, avoid conversations about The Seven in general. 3. NO POWERS. 4. He wasn't allowed to leave the town without permission from Vought. 5. No public statements.

It was simple. Stay in Cold Spring into further notice from Vought and play John Gillman.

John Gillman. Now, that was a name Home— John. That was a name John hasn't heard in the longest time. And now, it's all he would be called in this small town.

The house Vought picked for was a nice family house on Rock St. All white, nice driveway, even had the stupid fence. It made John angry. What the hell was this? However, he didn't have a say in it. Not this time.

It was a hot day for the area. Kids were riding their bikes down to the pool in town while the adults got yard work down. What was John doing? Unpacking. The moving van Vought sent the supe had some things they forgot to supply in the house. Simple things. Plates, utensils, a few blankets and a few boxers of clothes with supplies to wash said clothing. The hot sun beat down on John as he moved back and forth from the garage and the moving van parked out on the street in front of the house. The supe felt odd without his suit since all he was wearing was an old baseball cap, white t-shirt and black shorts that Vought gave him with the clothes they sent.