Work Text:
Homelander celebrates his eighteenth birthday alone, and absolutely nothing changes.
You’re not ready, Madelyn croons in his ear, the promise of something he doesn’t understand dangling just out of reach. You’re still too weak, Vogelbaum chides through the loudspeaker in the cell Homelander calls a room.
They push him and push him and tell him it’ll all be worth it in due time. You’ll be a hero, they say. Your pain is your strength. Endure enough, and it’ll stop hurting. But when is enough enough?
He doesn’t know about strength. What he does know: someday, he’ll make them hurt too.