Chapter 53 : Favourite Couple
The next morning, Mark and Annie stood outside the hotel entrance. Neither of them had much to say. The date had gone well, they had spent the night together, and now both of them had things they needed to get back to.
Annie looked up at him. "I should go."
"Yeah. Me too."
For a moment neither of them moved. Then Annie stepped closer and kissed him, and Mark kissed her back before resting a hand on her waist.
When they pulled apart, Annie smiled. "Try not to start any international incidents."
"No promises."
"That’s exactly the answer I expected." Mark grinned. "And try not to let Vought drive you insane."
"I’ll do my best."
Annie shook her head before giving him one last kiss. "See you later, Mark."
"See you later, Annie."
After that, Annie headed back to Vought Tower as usual. Once she was back in her room, she changed into her Starlight costume and looked at herself in the mirror, a small smile appearing as she remembered the previous night.
Then the door burst open and Ashley walked straight in without knocking.
"A little privacy?" Annie asked, genuinely annoyed. Were people at Vought just forgetting that personal space existed?
"Forget privacy — what the hell did you do yesterday?" Ashley demanded, already turning the tablet toward her.
"It was the weekend. I can do whatever I want with my personal time." Even Vought couldn’t control what she did outside of work hours.
Ashley ignored that completely. On the tablet screen was a photo of Annie and Mark sitting together at the restaurant — the selfie with the waitress had somehow made its way online and spread fast.
"Do you have any idea what these photos have done to the internet?"
Annie was genuinely caught off guard. She hadn’t expected anyone to upload it, much less for it to blow up this quickly. "Is it bad?"
Ashley took a deep breath, then pointed at the screen. "Bad? It’s fucking everywhere." She began scrolling through page after page of reactions.
"You two became America’s favorite couple in a single day."
Annie stared at the screen. The numbers were absurd — comments, shares, trending hashtags, fan pages, reaction videos, all flooding in at once.
"The viewers love it," Ashley continued, reading headlines directly from the screen.
"’The mysterious hero and Vought’s Starlight.’
’Is there something going on between them?’
’How long has this been happening?’
’Will Vought make an official statement?’
’Is the Flight 37 hero joining the Seven?’"
She looked up from the tablet.
"The internet is completely obsessed."
Annie stared at the screen for several moments. All she had done was go on a date. Apparently the entire country had decided that was headline-worthy.
Ashley stared at the engagement numbers for a few more seconds before suddenly remembering something.
"Actually, Ms. Stilwell wanted to talk to you about this."
She pointed toward one of the photos showing Mark.
"Him."
Starlight already knew where this was going. "Can you ask him to come to Vought Tower?"
"Honestly, I don’t think he’d be interested."
Ashley frowned. "Why not?"
Starlight thought about Mark for a moment. "I don’t think he likes being famous."
Ashley looked genuinely confused. She had spent so long around celebrities and superheroes desperate for public approval that the idea sounded absurd. "Who doesn’t like being famous?"
"Mark."
Ashley blinked, and that answer somehow made less sense than anything else she’d heard that day.
"So he’s not coming to Vought?"
"Seriously doubt it."
"Not even for a meeting?"
"Especially for a meeting."
Ashley sighed. That was not the answer Madelyn Stilwell was going to want. She stood quietly for a moment thinking about how to explain that to her boss, then looked back at Starlight with a different expression entirely.
"Fine. Then I need to know something else. The entire internet is shipping you two right now, is there something going on between you two ? "
Starlight opened her mouth, then stopped. The answer was actually pretty simple. A small smile appeared on her face. "We’re dating."
Ashley froze. For several seconds she simply stared, then looked down at the engagement numbers, then back at Starlight, then back at the numbers.
"Oh, this is fantastic."
Ashley immediately pulled out her phone.
"We have a lot of work to do," she said the moment the PR team answered.
"Prepare an official statement regarding Starlight and the mystery hero. Don’t try to hide it — the public already knows."
"Start preparing media projections and audience reports, and I want plans for a public appearance ready as soon as possible."
After ending the call she dialed another number, spoke briefly, then looked back at Starlight.
"Ms. Stillwell wants to see you."
She looked simultaneously exhausted and excited. Without waiting for a response, she immediately returned to managing what had become the hottest story on the internet.
***
Inside Madelyn Stillwell’s office, the atmosphere was considerably less pleasant.
Stillwell sat behind her desk reviewing reports. Standing in front of her was Homelander — the world’s greatest superhero, currently looking like an annoyed child demanding attention.
"I heard you’re thinking about recruiting that guy," Homelander said.
"What guy?"
"The mystery hero."
Stillwell looked up from her paperwork. "The one who saved Flight 37?"
"You know exactly who I’m talking about."
His tone remained calm, but Stillwell had known him long enough to hear the irritation beneath it. Maybe it was the attention.
Maybe it was the popularity. Maybe it was simply that someone had appeared out of nowhere and become a national sensation without Vought’s permission.
"What about him?"
"Don’t you think you should have asked me before deciding to recruit him? I’m still the captain of the Seven. Still the public face."
Stillwell set her papers aside. "Nobody has recruited anyone."
"You’re thinking about it."
"I’m evaluating possibilities."
The distinction meant very little to him. "The Seven isn’t some charity case."
"No." Stillwell stood and walked around her desk. "It’s a product. The public likes him — pretending otherwise would be bad business."
"He saved one plane."
"And now half the country knows his name."
Homelander’s expression tightened. For years every headline had belonged to him. Now someone else was taking up space.
Stillwell stopped in front of him. "Nobody is replacing you."
"I didn’t say they were."
"You were thinking it."
He stayed silent. She knew him too well. "You are still the face of Vought. Still the most recognizable superhero on Earth. One new hero doesn’t change that."
The conversation had already shifted away from the mystery hero. Exactly as Stillwell intended.
A few minutes later the subject had been completely forgotten.
The office grew quieter. Stillwell removed her jacket and draped it over the back of her chair. Homelander watched her. The tension that had filled the room slowly disappeared.
A moment later the office door closed, leaving the rest of their conversation private.
*****
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