Five minutes later, Skye walked into Antony's office.
She was still wearing a hoodie, her battered backpack slung over one shoulder—the same backpack she never let out of her sight. She looked like a van-dwelling hacker who'd wandered into the wrong building, completely out of place in Vought Tower's polished glass and steel.
But her eyes told a different story.
Exhaustion. Anxiety. A weight she'd been carrying for far too long.
"What's wrong, genius hacker?" Antony rose from behind his desk, adopting the warm, almost brotherly air he wore so well. He moved toward the bar and picked up a crystal tumbler. "Drink? I've got some excellent bourbon."
"No."
Skye dropped her backpack onto the couch. Her voice was hoarse. "I… I hit a wall."
"Oh?" Antony leaned casually against the desk, swirling the amber liquid. "In this world, there's still a wall that can stop Rising Tide?"
Skye bit her lip, frustration burning behind her eyes. "I found something. About my parents. A 1989 file. Codename: 084."
She swallowed.
"But the rest of it—it's buried in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s core database. Physically isolated. Air-gapped. I can't get in."
She looked up at him then, eyes glistening, locked onto Antony's face.
"Antony… you said you care about the truth. You said you'd help me."
Her voice trembled.
"I need to know who I am. I need to know whether my parents really… really abandoned me."
Antony studied her in silence.
Of course he knew who she was.
Daisy Johnson. Quake. An Inhuman.
The Kree had worked overtime on Earth—Obelisks, Terrigen Crystals, hidden temples. Half the planet's "miracles" could be traced back to them, including Captain Marvel.
And Terrigen…
Antony was very interested in Terrigen.
"If I can control the Inhumans," he thought calmly, "Vought's reach won't stop at Earth."
"You want in?" Antony stepped closer, bending slightly so their eyes were level.
"More than anything," Skye said without hesitation.
"Then stop knocking from the outside." Antony gestured toward the window—the distant direction of the Triskelion. "If you want to crack a vault, you don't bring explosives."
He smiled.
"You get the bank manager to open the door for you."
Skye froze. "What… does that mean?"
"Trojan Horse, Skye." Antony's smile sharpened.
"Right now, S.H.I.E.L.D. is desperate. You've humiliated them with leaks, and Hydra's ghosts have them tearing themselves apart. They need talent—real talent. A clean-background genius they think they can control."
Skye's eyes widened. "You want me to… turn myself in?"
"Strategic infiltration."
Antony straightened, pouring himself a glass of milk instead—calm, deliberate.
"Nick Fury is paranoid, but he's also obsessed with useful people. If they catch you as Rising Tide, odds are they recruit you. They'll watch you, cage you—but they'll also plug you into their systems."
He tapped his temple.
"And once you have an internal access point… what firewall on Earth can stop you?"
Skye's heart slammed against her ribs.
It was insane.
S.H.I.E.L.D. meant black sites, assassins, super-prisons.
"But what if they don't play along?" Her voice shook. "What if they decide I'm too dangerous? What if they lock me up—or worse?"
She laughed weakly. "I have been ripping their secrets apart lately."
Fear.
Real, human fear.
Antony looked at her—the girl who hadn't become Quake yet. Not a force of nature. Just a hacker who wanted answers.
"Skye."
He reached out and took her hand.
His grip was warm. Steady. Powerful.
The trembling stopped.
"Look at me."
She did—and fell into eyes as blue and deep as the open sea.
"Do you know who I am?"
"You're… Homelander."
"Yes." Antony smiled, arrogant and absolute.
"I am Homelander. The most powerful being on this planet."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. has Helicarriers. They have Quinjet squadrons."
He scoffed softly.
"To me? They're nothing."
His grip tightened slightly.
"If they lay a single finger on you."
"If they put you in any cage—any cell."
"I will tear their Helicarrier out of the sky. I will crush the Triskelion under my heel."
"I will find you."
"And I will bring you home."
His voice dropped, iron-hard.
"On this planet, there is no person, no place, no wall that can stop me."
"Do you understand?"
Skye's mind went blank.
The words were arrogant. Tyrannical. Insane.
And yet…
In a world of lies and shadows, a living god had just promised her absolute protection.
Her fear melted away.
"…I understand." She inhaled deeply, then smiled—a real smile, one she hadn't worn in a long time. "You'd better keep that promise, boss."
"I never break my word."
Antony released her hand, opened his desk drawer, and took out a small object. He fastened it gently around her wrist.
A plain mechanical watch.
"This is…?" Skye asked, touching the face.
"Insurance."
Antony pointed to the tiny crown.
"Vought's newest prototype. No network. No signal. S.H.I.E.L.D. scanners will read it as an ordinary watch."
"But if you turn this."
He tapped his ear.
"It emits a special ultra-high-frequency wave. Humans can't hear it. Dogs can't hear it. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s equipment can't detect it."
"Only I can."
He leaned down and whispered near her ear.
"Wherever you are… if you call me…"
"I'll come get you home."
Skye stared at the watch. The metal felt warm against her skin.
"Okay." She looked up, eyes clear and determined. "I'll do it."
She knew this wasn't charity. Homelander didn't help people for free.
But that didn't matter.
What mattered was this—
She wasn't alone anymore.
Ding!
Special Popularity Points +10,000 (from Mary Sue Potter)
The system chime echoed in Antony's mind.
"Excellent… Mary Sue," Antony thought, watching Skye leave, a faint, knowing smile curling his lips.
The game had just entered a far more interesting phase.
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T/N:
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