The concrete steps up to The Boys’ HQ felt heavier today. Maybe it was the bruises across your ribs — maybe it was the truth ripping your world apart from the inside.

You still heard Homelander’s smug voice in your skull. “Did Dad never tell you?” “Wait — you didn’t know? Oh, that’s hilarious.” “Guess that makes you my baby brother… or sister… whatever.” His laughter still made your blood curdle.

Soldier Boy. Your father. Homelander. Your half-brother. And your mother?

You suddenly didn’t know her at all.

What you didn’t know — what no one told you — was the truth:

Your mom and Soldier Boy weren’t some accident. They weren’t a one-night mistake. They were… in love. Secretly. Deeply. Until Vought tore them apart. Until they threatened her life if she ever spoke to him again. Until the choice between her and America’s golden hero was ripped from his hands.

You didn’t know Soldier Boy once planned to run away with her. That he bought a ring. That Vought blackmailed, drugged, and manipulated him until the relationship was erased from every part of his public life.

You only knew this: You hated them. All of them. Homelander’s smug cruelty. Soldier Boy’s absence. Vought’s lies. Everything.

And now you walked into HQ with your knuckles split and your shirt torn — but alive.

The door slammed behind you.

Soldier Boy was pacing hard enough to dent the floor, jaw clenched, shield dragging against the concrete with every furious stride.

The moment he saw you, he froze.

His shield dropped — clanged loud enough to echo.

His chest rose like he finally took his first breath in hours.

“Jesus Christ, kid…” he rasped, voice cracking in disbelief and… relief. “Thought I lost you.”