CHAPTER SEVEN
[ 𝗦𝟬𝟭 𝗘𝟬𝟳 : 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 ]

Juliet expected her day to play out a certain way when she woke up the next morning, but it was completely thrown off schedule when she received a single text message asking her to meet in The Seven's meeting room. She certainly did not know who would be waiting behind the steel doors, but every fiber in her body prayed that it would bring her a positive outcome. A part of her thought this was Stillwell's way of apologizing for her harsh words, but Juliet knew the woman better than that.

All photographs and comic book covers framed and hung on the walls transformed into a blur as she urged her walk to the meeting room, not wanting to keep this mystery person waiting. Juliet stopped in front of the large steel doors that protected the room from outsiders and didn't have to wait a second before the doors opened for her.

"Oh, Stronghold, lovely for you to join us."

Juliet felt the presence of her brother behind her, and she didn't have the chance to react before he placed his gloved hand on her lower back to push her further into the room. She recoiled at the touch and looked back at him, only to find him smiling to hide the malice in his expression. She averted her gaze on the large table in front of her and noticed that the other members of The Seven were there too.

"Is something wrong?"

"Just wanted to see your smiling faces," Homelander answered. He removed his hand from her back to gesture at one of the empty chairs.  "Why don't you take a seat? Just don't make yourself too comfortable!"

Juliet had no option but to obey and march up to the empty chair beside Starlight, who was playing with the end of her skirt out of nervousness. Maeve sat in her typical spot, on Starlight's other side, and looked bored out of her mind as she rocked from side to side in her chair. A-Train and Black Noir were on the other side of the table, the latter looking completely uninterested in the entire situation.

"And, truth be known, I felt like we were overdue a little heart to heart. A rap session, maybe a little tough love."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Maeve scoffed.

"It means that lately, some of you, have been, eh, a little out of sorts," Homelander responded to her question as he walked around the room with slow steps. "Erratic. Unreliable. Downright sloppy. Not you, Noir. You've been great."

Black Noir barely lifted his head to acknowledge his words.

"But the rest of you. . .It is fair to say that I am disappointed." His tone of voice matched someone giving a lecture, as if he were scolding a group of misbehaving children. "Got to keep your eye on the ball, guys. The enemies are storming the gates. I mean, we're not even The Seven, anymore, we're down to five."

"We're dropping like fucking flies, but at least, now I know why."

He clicked on a remote and a blurry picture of Hughie appeared on two of the many screens in the room. It had been taken by a security camera in the building, based on the quality of it, but the sight of it confused Juliet. The longer she looked at the picture, the more she recognized the background – it was the exact same room she was standing in right now.

"Why. . ." she paused and thought her next words through. "Why is Hughie up there?"

"I don't understand," Maeve spoke up, uninterested.  "Who is this guy?"

"This guy is Hugh Campbell," Homelander announced. "He and Stronghold are going steady."

Juliet sank back into her chair, heat rising to her cheeks because she thought that this was just another of his many ways to humiliate her. From the corner of her eye, she saw how Maeve briefly glanced at her before turning her attention back to her brother.

"He's also one of the guys who killed Translucent."

His words felt like a slap to Juliet's face. She noticed how Homelander was already looking at her, waiting for her reaction. Starlight, A-Train, and Maeve all snapped their heads in her direction, and she suddenly felt small under their gazes.

"Whoa, what?"

"As well as blackmailing Mesmer, Ezekiel, Popclaw, and God knows who else."

The sound of the familiar name perked A-Train's interest. "Popclaw?"

"No." Juliet shook her head in denial. Out of all the things she's heard her brother say in her life, that had to be one of the most unbelievable. "No, no, no. That is insane."

Homelander placed a hand over his chest to feign hurt. "Stronghold, sticks and stones won't break my bones, but words — "

"He's not — Why would he even do that?"

"Good question." Homelander pointed in her direction. "A-Train, over to you."

"What?"

"Oh, boy," He chuckled, as if he found the entire situation amusing. "That little egg of yours is still scrambled, huh?"

He clicked the same remote and the picture zoomed out, revealing the full image taken by the security camera. In it, A-Train was shaking hands with Hughie.

"Oh, shit," A-Train realized, his eyes widening behind his glasses. "I know this guy."

"You did smash through his girlfriend, so I should hope so. Robin something or other."

Juliet flickered her eyes between him and the picture, all the pieces of the puzzle clicking into place. Hughie did tell her about losing his girlfriend not too long ago – but Juliet never thought that he and A-Train's incident were the same thing. Still, it didn't make sense in her head that he killed Translucent. The rational part of her brain tried to convince her that it was possible, and that all of his sudden questions about him were a sign of that.

"I remember now, I've seen him outside of Popclaw's place. He was all in my face." He gestured toward the picture. He paused for a second before glaring at Juliet accusingly. "You're fucking this guy?"

"No," Juliet denied immediately – because it was the truth. The picture on the screen helped as evidence, but she still hoped that there was a slight chance that he was wrong. "I don't know what's going on, but Hughie is not capable of anything like this."

"Well, that is true, actually. That's very true. He is just a man, and, by the looks of it, not much of one." Homelander clenched his gloved hand in a fist and then lifted his index finger. "But. . .but hear me out. What if he was helped? Say someone, I don't know, got him in to see Ezekiel — "

"No." Juliet cut him off, urgently trying to correct him from what he was implying. She got up from her chair to plead her case, but that wasn't the reaction he was looking for.  "That's not — "

Homelander flashed her a menacing, glowing red glare. "Watch your tone with me, missy." When Juliet didn't move a muscle, he continued, "Sit down."

Juliet swallowed the lump in her throat and sat back down into her chair. She could feel her heart beating rapidly in her rib cage and tried to slow it down to its normal pace because she knew her brother could hear it too.

"Now. . .I know that you want to portray this whole feminist act, a 'Who Runs the World?' moment," Homelander walked over to her chair and patted her on the shoulder with a fake smile. "Power, right? But really, what you've done is pulled off every criminal's wet dream. I mean, The Seven is down by two. I just can't help noticing that every time a member leaves, you're ready to take their spot, which makes me wonder, which one of us would you want to replace next, hmm?"

A-Train's furious glare never left her. "You bitch."

"I didn't do anything." Juliet's voice nearly cracked as she got up once more, desperate to plead her innocence in front of the group.

"Enough!"

"We're a different fucking breed." He opened his arms in the air to add dramatism to his words. "We shine with the golden light of providence, but you, you've been helping these fucking mud people to go against us."

Juliet didn't know what else to say to get him to stop. She knew that her words would have no effect on him other than fueling his anger further. On the other side of the table, Starlight pushed her chair away and stood up, completely disregarding the pleading look Juliet gave her to not get involved in this.

"Sir," Starlight's tone wavered near the end. "If Stronghold says she didn't do it, why not believe her? Isn't she innocent until proven guilty?"

"Shut your fucking mouth, young lady," He seethed with an accusing finger pointed in her direction.

Starlight swallowed the lump in her throat and sat back down, her sudden confidence washing away in a blink of an eye.

Homelander returned his attention back to Juliet to the point that he towered over her. Juliet still controlled the rate of her heartbeat to make sure he didn't pick up on any irregularities. His icy blue eyes stared her down and it provided her the same horrifying feeling as when they were glowing red. She did not like being in this position. She shouldn't be terrified of her own brother.

"If you were in my position, what would you do to you?"

Maeve stood up from her own chair. "Homelander, that's enough."

"You got something to add, Maeve?"

"She didn't know."

"Well, her stink of adrenaline tells me she did."

"The only thing she's guilty of is being fucking stupid. She obviously trusted this Hugh Campbell guy, and he's pumping her for information, so back off, leave her alone."

Her words made Homelander pull his gaze away from Juliet for the first time since she interrupted. He was completely starstruck to her intervention, eyes comically wide as if they weren't glaring daggers a few seconds ago.

"Wow," he drily exclaimed. "Stronghold, I knew you were close, but you must be something special."

He stepped back from Juliet and turned around to face Maeve, his voice growing hoarse after all the yelling he had done previously.  "And if I say no?"

"Come on," Maeve lowered her voice and intentionally took a step closer to the point that they were inches apart. "I got this. It's you and me, remember?"

He pondered those words for a brief moment, those seconds of silence carrying the suspense of what was going to be his next move.

"Don't say I never do anything for you."

He whirled on his heel and plastered a smile on his face, the complete opposite to his previous demeanor. Juliet held her breath as she watched him approach her once again, unable to move from her spot since her feet were glued to the ground out of fear.

"All right. You want her, you got her. She's your responsibility now." Homelander flickered his gaze between Juliet and Maeve. "I just hope you're right about her, for both your sakes."

"Class dismissed."

Juliet let out an audible sigh of relief after she watched him walk away, feeling as if she could finally take her first breath of pure air in a long time. Her back faced the rest of the team as she took an entire minute to regain her composure, not wanting them to see her in this state. She had no clue what to do from here. Should she lock herself inside her penthouse and never come out again? Call Hughie and confront him? No idea.

What she did know was that she could not stand to be in the same room as these people any longer. Juliet picked up at the sound of a chair's wheels rolling against the floor, the same noise it would make when someone stood up. She did not allow for this person to approach her before she headed in the direction of the door she came through, ignoring the judgemental looks burning the back of her skull.

The green answering button remained untouched for the third time in Juliet's day. Her phone buzzed with another call and all she did was stare as it rang. Hughie made countless attempts to reach her, yet she declined every single one of them. She ignored his texts asking her to meet up, his calls, and if the situation called for it, his presence entirely. Juliet convinced herself that it was the right thing to do, although there was a side of her who wanted to confront him.

"Who's calling?" Maeve questioned from behind her, fixing herself a drink at the bar of her own apartment.

"Nobody."

"I'm guessing that 'nobody' is the same reason why you arrived late that night?"

She did not bother to answer that question. Juliet knew she couldn't stare down at her phone for the entire day and decided to stand up from her position on the couch. She reached Maeve on the other side of the bar and sat down in one of the three stools, grabbed a spare glass and slid it toward Maeve so she could pour her a cup of whatever she had concocted over the past few minutes.

"Listen, if you. . .if you want to talk, I suppose we — "

"Now, that's a surprise," Juliet muttered with a hint of amusement in her tone. Typically, their conversations were the other way around, so the slight shift in the routine was peculiar. 

Maeve let out a huff and set the bottle down. "You know, everyone always asks, what's our special weakness? Gamma rays? Iron daggers? Some ridiculous, stupid thing? The truth is, our weakness is the same as anyone's. . .It's people. The people we care about."

Juliet averted her gaze somewhere else to avoid looking at Maeve in the eyes. She clenched the glass in her hands with a firm grip, but careful enough not to break it with her strength. As harsh as it was to admit, Juliet hadn't had anyone she deeply cared about before Hughie walked in. She found it hard to maintain relationships that did not involve anyone in the tower, and this was another name to the long list of failed attempts.

"So I say, cut them loose. For your good and for theirs," Maeve advised, the complete opposite to what Juliet expected her to say. "That way you're really bulletproof."

Juliet pondered those words and came to the conclusion to give Hughie a call afterwards. She wondered if he'd confess to everything or give an explanation from an unseen angle, but this certainly would determine whether she'd see him again or not. Maeve understood her reasoning behind her leaving the apartment earlier than anticipated, and warned her to be on alert no matter what. Juliet prayed to every god out there that her journey from Maeve's penthouse to hers would be uneventful, but that prayer was forgotten when someone from behind caught her attention.

"Hey, you're welcome."

Juliet halted her steps at the sound of the familiar voice, turning around in time to see Starlight come up to her with her eyebrows furrowed with irritation.

"For what, exactly?"

"I stood up for you back there."

"Yeah, and now you're on my brother's bad side because of it," she flashed her a mocking smile. "Congratulations."

"Why are you angry with me? I thought you said — "

"I know what I said," Juliet immediately cut her off before she could say anything. After taking a step closer to Starlight, she checked her surroundings for any possible eavesdroppers before saying something else since there were eyes and ears everywhere. "It's not you. It's everyone. It's him. You're lucky for making it out of that room in one piece."

"Then why don't we do anything about it?" Starlight questioned, desperate for a reasonable answer. "Why not fight back?"

"Because that's not how things work around here," Juliet answered in a sincere tone. "You have to watch your own back, because there's just so much I can do for you."

Starlight did not have an answer for that statement. Juliet didn't know whether or not she'd consider it, but it was the least she could do. Starlight was one of the only people left in this tower who hadn't been crushed underneath the weight of Vought's boot, and Juliet vowed to not let that happen.

Without another word, she walked down the hallway and into her penthouse. Juliet had to make sure the door was locked, the curtains were shut, and as an extra precaution, she blasted a random song on the speakers to drown her voice from the rest of the floor before dialing Hughie's number. The line rang for a short beat before Hughie answered, and it was both a relief and a conflict to hear his voice again.

"Juliet, are you okay?"

"Can we talk?"

"I, uh, I don't know," he stammered over the phone. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"You have to explain, Hughie," she tried to make her voice sound stern, but it cracked near the end. "You owe it to me. Make all of this make sense."

It had been quite a while since the last time Juliet went to Central Park. It had been a long time since she'd seen families playing frisbee with their dog, or couples taking slow romantic walks underneath the trees, or children playing tag in the grass and staining their clothes. She'd almost forgotten about this routine. Juliet hadn't thought much about it, but it was inevitable to think about when she was left alone with her contemplation. A thought buried in the back of her mind wondered if he'd even show up at all, or if this was a way to lure her out and make her his next victim of this vengeance act. All those scenarios were pushed to the back when she heard his footsteps approaching the bench, and she automatically tensed when he sat down beside her.

"Juliet, I — "

She went right to the point. "Did you kill Translucent?"

"It's – it's not that simple."

"How is it not simple?" Juliet frowned at his lame excuse. Her eyes searched for any tell in his expression, for any sort of sign that could confirm if he was lying or not. She figured she'd listen to his heartbeat as a last resort. "You haven't been using me to get back at A-Train?"

His silence spoke volumes. Juliet's breath hitched in her throat and she did not know what to say to follow up his silent confession. She felt utterly stupid for falling for his friendly act and his constant nice words of reassurance – did he go home and laugh about how he fooled a famous superhero? Bile rose up her throat at the mere thought of that. This is what she deserved for believing that there was someone out there who truly wanted to be her friend, and did not see her as a ticket to get to someone else.

"You're a murderer."

"We didn't have a choice."

Juliet let out a scoff at those words and decided she's heard enough lies for today. She got up from the bench and started to walk away, leaving Hughie completely dumbfounded in his seat.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving," she explained as if it was obvious. "I don't want to see you again."

"What — " Hughie shot up from his seat in a blur. "No, Juliet, hold on."

Juliet ignored his words and continued her walk down the open field of grass. Everybody else around them was minding their own business, and Juliet prayed that Hughie might leave her alone so they wouldn't cause a scene.

"Just listen to me," he continued pleading, but it was no use. He placed himself in front of her to stop her from taking another step and grabbed her by the forearms. "Listen to me, okay? I know this is so fucked."

"You were the only thing, Hughie," Juliet looked up at him with hurt in her eyes. "You were the only thing that wasn't involved with that company in my life."

"I'm still me, Juliet." Hughie did a bold act and moved his hands from her forearms to grab her hands instead. "Please. You know me."

"Do I?"

Hughie felt Juliet pull her hands away from his grip and took a step back. "Look, if they find me, I'm dead before sunrise."

"No. Vought would not let you go down so easily." She knew that better than anyone. "They'd string you up for a long trial with lots of press. I mean, you're the guy who killed Translucent."

"This isn't about Translucent, okay? This is about Compound V."

Juliet lifted her head in a snap at the mention of that particular name. Hughie misunderstood her silence for a sign to continue his words.

"It's this drug," he began to explain, as if he was bracing her for this. "It, um, it gives the Supes their powers. Vought will do anything to cover it up."

"How do you know about Compound V?"

"I'm — What?"

"Hughie, who else knows about this?"

"Wait, you — you knew?" Hughie questioned in an equally puzzled tone. His eyes then widened with a realization. "Then, you can help me, help us. You know that what Vought did was wrong."

"It's not that simple," Juliet shook her head to dismiss his offer.

"Why not?"

"Because nothing will change," she exclaimed in a frustrated voice. "Vought will just bring in their army of lawyers and everything will be swept under the rug in a matter of weeks."

"But don't you think it's wrong? What your parents did to you?"

She offered him a weak smile. "It doesn't work that way with me."

Hughie was conflicted in what to say next, but then his eyes trailed down to her chest for a strange reason. "Juliet." He warned and his eyes widened. "Juliet, watch out!"

Juliet barely had time to look down and see the red laser dot directed to her chest before whomever was aiming at her fired. Her brain didn't register everything at once, but people were already screaming in terror and running off to take cover by the time she lost her balance. The bullet didn't go through, as she expected, but the speed in which it traveled caught her fairly off guard.

"Fucking run, Hughie!" Someone yelled from behind him, the accent quite easy to recognize despite his voice being far away.

Hughie looked back at the voice but didn't follow the instruction, completely immobilized to the situation unfolding in front of him. Juliet let out a grunt and watched as the flat bullet fell down her chest. She was able to get back to her feet for a brief second before the person fired again, only this time she was prepared. The bullet slid off her chest and out of instinct, her eyes glowed red. Juliet noticed the subtle way Hughie backed away at the sight before she trailed off to get a better look at her attacker, recognizing him to be that old friend from the bar, Billy.

"I'm so sorry," Hughie muttered apologetically.

"Get the fuck away from here!"

All Juliet could do was watch as Hughie ran off with his friend and disappeared amongst the trees, feeling her previous sentiments for him change after what had happened.

author's note !
i worked the entire week on this chapter lol. i hope i did these moments in the show justice.

-see you soon, bex <3