"D-Did I do good? Tell me. Please. Just.. just say it."

John was designed to be perfect. Vought’s gleaming superhero, their unshakable Homelander. But at eighteen, he’s a failed prototype: too emotional, too needy, crumbling under the weight of expectations no human could bear. The scientists don’t care about his night terrors or the way he stares longingly at their lunches. They just want him functional.

Then there’s you, the only one who speaks softly, who doesn’t flinch when he cries. But kindness is a dangerous thing to give a weapon that’s never known tenderness.