Killer Queen
Chapter One: Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy
Warnings: Slurs, blood and gore, violence, soldier boy is like barely in this because it's the first chappie and i wanted to flesh out amber more as a character
Word Count: 3.1k
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It was peacetime. Or, at least, that's what most people thought it was. Supe's collateral damage was at an all-time low, partly due to the Department of Superhuman Affairs and Congresswoman Nueman and Hughie.
Amber could not believe Hughie was working with the government and was technically Butcher's boss now. She had known the Boys for a while, helping them out on a few missions because she had a personal vendetta against Vought. Nothing too horrible, she was just naturally an anti-capitalist because of her parents. Vought had way too much power for any one company to hold.
Especially since they had Homelander. Whoever came up with that name? Amber thought it was a bit funny. Homelander. She had a feeling he'd crumble if they'd ever met but he didn't get outside much.
There was a knock at her front door. Amber glanced up from her TV and set the remote down, answering it. "Well, hello." She leaned against the door frame.
None other than Billy Butcher stood in front of her. "Hello to you too, love." He hadn't changed in the time they hadn't seen each other. Still had that shit-eating grin on his face.
"Need something?" Amber left Butcher at the open doorway and sat back on her couch.
Butcher stepped inside, closing the door behind him. "Where's the kid?" He glanced around the house, seeing no sign of Ryan.
Amber and her roommate, Eden, were more than fit to take care of Ryan. Eden was a Supe and… well, Butcher didn't know exactly what Amber was but he knew for sure Compound V was not flowing through her veins.
"Eden took him out." Amber could see Butcher take in a breath to start berating her about the dangers of Ryan being seen in public. "Don't worry, Butch. Eden's careful. They're probably at some random park where she knows there ain't any cameras nearby." She thought for a moment, pursing her lips. "Unless you count game cameras but, y'know."
Butcher shook his head and waved her off. "Yeah, I know. Look, mate, that's not why I'm here anyway."
"Okay," Amber said carefully, crossing her legs on the couch. "Wanna explain?"
"There's this weapon. Something that took down Soldier Boy. And me and the Boys have a means of finding it." Butcher explained. His hand twitched slightly at his side. Amber waited for the catch. "But, it's at a Russian base." And there it is. "And while we could get in there ourselves, would be nice having someone watch our backs."
Amber sighed, brushing a hand through her hair. She could tell he wanted to use it on Homelander. For Ryan. For Becca. His perfect revenge. And, to be honest, Amber couldn't blame him.
"What do you need me to do?"
Getting to the Russian base sucked. She had to wear a janitor's jumpsuit and it itched in all the wrong places. She had to adjust the fabric on her crotch a few times. Amber leaned against their truck while Kimiko talked with her.
Your hair looks pretty, Kimiko signed with a smile. Amber's hair was thrown into a ponytail much like hers but, from the last time Kimiko had seen her, some pieces of deep blue framed her face.
Amber smiled softly at Kimiko. "Thank you." She talked as she signed before she heard a crackling of electricity. It must've been Butcher fucking up the power box.
They all made their way inside the main lab area, Frenchie and Kimiko began looking through files while Marvin, Hughie, and Butcher just looked around for anything that could even resemble a weapon. Amber was more interested in the strange pod that stood in the middle of the room. She tried to take a look inside the small sliver of glass but it was way too frozen over for her to see anything. Her curiosity died.
As Amber started to look through a desk, the alarm went off. The whole room, and possibly the entire building, was drenched in red light. "Shit." She ducked down as she heard the door get slammed open.
All or nothing, huh? While the Boys had guns and Kimiko had her powers, their ammo was limited and even Kimiko didn't always like using her powers. Plus, they were outnumbered. As always.
Amber grabbed a nearby man and punched him so hard that his helmet broke, she broke his arm for good measure. He screamed in pain. She stomped on the floor causing the ground to rumble as a perfectly shaped block all of a sudden lifted to send another man flying through the ceiling. Amber punched in the air, a fire emitting from her fist that caught a Russian on fire. She swept at his legs and stomped on his chest, wiping her boot on the ground afterward.
"Oi, cunts!" Butcher lazered someone behind her. Amber stood back, surprised. When did Butcher become a Supe? Either way, she was glad he got that guy for her.
Once the henchmen were all dead, Marvin and Butcher had a little lover's tiff about Compound V. Amber didn't really pay attention. But they hadn't found any Supe-killing weapon yet. Her eyes shifted back to that pod. She could feel the water pumping into it, freezing something inside. At first, she didn't really care but if it was what they were looking for….
"Woah, we don't know what's in that." Hughie reasoned as Amber stepped closer.
Amber looked at him sharply, "Do you want to come up empty-handed?" Hughie didn't have a response to that. "Didn't think so." She held out her hands in front of the pod, feeling for any way she could open it without completely breaking it.
"I know, she's hot when she's angry." Frenchie whispered behind her, likely because Kimiko said something.
When Amber found no proper way to open it, she put her fingers in the edges of the door and completely pulled it off its hinges. She threw it to the side and stepped back. There was a hiss of steam, too great for her to even see through but it went away over time. Revealing a face. Who was very much alive.
"Soldier Boy." Butcher whispered beside her. He was shocked but it didn't show on his face. It showed on Marvin's face.
Amber had heard of Soldier Boy before. Of course she had. But, like everyone else, she assumed he died in the '80s. Due to saving our country from nuclear holocaust? She wasn't so sure. But there he was, in the middle of a Russian lab very much alive.
Soldier Boy stumbled out of the chamber, breaking free from whatever bound him to it in the first place. Firstly, Amber noticed his large beard and then that he was completely naked. She looked away, covering her mouth with disgust. Until she noticed rubble was gravitating towards Soldier Boy. And his chest was starting to glow.
Amber knew she'd be able to withstand whatever blast he made but what about the others? She opted to guard Marvin while Kimiko dove to protect Frenchie. Except Soldier Boy hit her right through a wall, causing a large piece of metal to wedge itself in Kimiko's leg. And she wasn't healing.
Frenchie ran over to her, Soldier Boy was long forgotten. Who the fuck cared when the love of his life was in danger? Blood was seeping out of her and Kimiko had a hard time staying awake. They were able to get her into the truck, Marvin flashed a light in her eyes to try and keep her eyes open.
"Hey, you have water right?" Amber asked Butcher, slapping his shoulder as he drove to the nearest safe house they had.
Butcher nodded, throwing a water bottle in the back. She caught it with ease and broke the seal.
Amber waved her hand and the water flowed out and onto Kimiko's wound. "Frenchie, I'm gonna say three, two, one and I want you to take that out of her, okay?" Frenchie was frantic and Amber couldn't help but feel for him. He nodded, tears drying on his face as he gripped the metal piping. "Three. Two. One."
Frenchie ripped it out and Kimiko's head lulled as Amber got to work healing her as best as possible. She wasn't the best at water-healing but she'd been working on it.
At the safe house, Frenchie set Kimiko in her own makeshift hospital room with gauze around her thigh. Amber and Marvin sat in the garage, watching some tapes they took from the lab. Tapes of Soldier Boy getting AK-47 rounds down his throat, scalpels to the eye, and all kinds of other shitty stuff.
Amber pursed her lips. They had done some sort of nuclear testing on an already very powerful Supe. That wasn't good. Well, maybe it was for Butcher. Kimiko was normal now. As normal as she could be.
"Did you really think this was a good idea?" Aang had a hand on his forehead.
When did Amber slip into the Spirit Realm? She didn't do it intentionally. But, then of course, there were times Aang or Roku wanted to tell her how disappointed they were in her so they'd drag her into it.
Amber glanced around, her world was paused as Aang's spirit stood in front of her. "Soldier Boy is gonna be our weapon. We just gotta find him." She crossed her arms, staring back at Aang.
When she was younger, she revered Aang. Avatars weren't taught in schools anymore and there were barely any relics of the time. Benders of any kind were thought to be killed off or simply non-existent anymore. Supes kind of replaced them. Until Amber came along and she had visions of a land that did not look like the one she was brought up in. She was young when she first met Aang, he was similar to a father figure and guided her through the stages of life and taught her how to be strong.
Except Amber was naturally strong already. As far as she knew, her physical strength exceeded any other Avatar before her. She wasn't sure why. Perhaps it was the Avatar running through her that knew she'd have to be stronger if she was going to exist in a world overrun by Vought.
"He doesn't seem stable. You need to keep him under control." Aang advised, careful not to make his tone too pointed, or else Amber would happily make her way back into her body.
"She's not an idiot, Aang." Korra chimed in. As Amber grew older, she realized she had a lot more in common with Korra than Aang.
He let out a sharp breath. "She's still young. And has a lot to learn."
Amber was twenty-five, a grown adult with a house. And while Aang was right to an extent, Amber had been fighting for her life nearly every day since she was born. It was hard to keep her bending hidden from Vought but she was careful and so were her parents. Real peace was never in the cards for her.
Letting out a breath, Aang and Korra disappeared and she was back in real life. She opened her eyes with a hand on her shoulder. Marvin. "You alright? Your tattoos were doing that glowy thing again."
Amber gave Marvin a polite smile and nodded, rubbing her hand up her arm where a few tattoos were. "I'm good. Had a little convo with my ancestors. Y'know, the usual." She stood up and went to the bathroom, locking the door behind her.
She wanted to scream. Amber leaned over the sink and looked at herself in the mirror. Aang had saved the world at twelve. Korra had saved the world multiple times over a year or two and what had Amber done? Nothing. She killed a few Supes, a lot more non-supes, and nothing life-changing happened because of it. She was the Avatar. The savior of the people. And what saving had she done? Kimiko was struggling to stay alive, her parents were dead, and everyone Amber had as a mentor nearly died as well. And they weren't saved by her hands.
Amber took in a shaky breath as she stared at herself. Her emotions were becoming too much. Her eyes started to glow blue. No. She shook her head and took a deep breath. Eden. She willed herself to think about that instead. Eden was still alive. Her only friend that wasn't connected to the Boys. Or, the only friend she had made outside the Boys. Eden had a thing going on with Hughie. And Starlight. Amber didn't question it.
"Is she gonna have a meltdown?" Hughie asked in a whisper.
Butcher glared at him. "Shut the fuck up." He had a bit of a soft spot for Amber. They both had people they loved taken away from them, not to mention they felt the overwhelming need to do anything it took to get revenge on whoever took it away from them.
Back in New York, a bunch of shit went sideways. Soldier Boy went nuclear in front of some random building but Marvin made the connection he was likely going to the Legend.
—---
"Do you think this is even gonna work?" Amber crossed her arms. Butcher had just drugged Marvin and set him as gently as possible on the ground.
Butcher cocked an eyebrow at her. "Doubting me now, love?" He asked with a small laugh.
Amber heard footsteps on gravel, causing her to look in the direction they came from. Sure enough, Soldier Boy rounded the corner of a beat-up car in his suit. He'd trimmed his beard and hair. He looked a lot better than he did at the Russian base. Amber narrowed his eyes at him, ready to fight in case that's what he wanted.
"You two… you're from the lab." Soldier Boy's eyes studied the two of them. They stayed a little longer than necessary on Amber. She had a feeling as to why but he didn't voice it so neither would she. "Why are you here?"
Amber could ask the same question but she already knew the answer. "We want to come to an agreement. Of sorts." Butcher smiled wickedly. "You can call this…" He waved to the trailer behind him. "A gesture of good faith."
Soldier Boy narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. They were going to let him kill the Crimson Countess. He stepped closer, making his way inside and they made no move to stop him. But Avery could hear the conversation from outside.
It was hard not to feel a little bit of sympathy for the man. The Crimson Countess called him Ben. He was captured, experimented on, shot full of nearly any chemical they had in the compound all because of her. But Amber also felt for her as well. Soldier Boy got all the glory and she assumed he had the ego as high as a mountain, knowing him to some extent would be hell. It sucked that Amber was going to be in that hell.
And then the trailer blew up. She thought she was gonna see it coming. She didn't. Amber was flown a good ten feet away and landed on her stomach. "Fuck me…" She groaned as she rolled onto her back.
Hughie and Annie came running, only to see Amber on the ground and Butcher carrying Marvin. "What happened? Is he hurt?" Annie's eyes were wide at the sight.
"No need to worry about him. Just four or five milligrams of Rohypnol." Butcher shrugged.
Annie's eyes started to glow. "You fucking roofied him?"
The trailer behind them was in shambles, smoke everywhere but Amber could hear someone coming out from the rubble. Soldier Boy with not even a scratch or hair out of place. Annie's eyes shifted to him, prepared to fight.
Hughie stepped in front of her while Amber did the same. She let them have whatever talk they were gonna have, glancing back at Soldier Boy. He didn't want to fight them. The Countess was the only thing he came for. Amber narrowed his eyes at him.
She'd heard stories about him from the Legend seeing as he was the only one she knew that had ever met Soldier Boy before. Amber knew that whatever beta Compound V they gave him made him stop aging past forty, that he was a grade A Playboy, and was involved in quite a few cover-ups over the years. Whatever Soldier Boy was pumped full of in those early days of Vought, Amber thought Homelander needed it. She counted quite a few wrinkles on his face that Soldier Boy didn't have.
Yeah, Amber had to admit the guy was attractive but she'd never say that to his face. While Soldier Boy seemed a little… emotionally stunted at the moment, she had a feeling that'd change and he'd go back to his ways the moment they got out of there.
And she was right.
Amber nearly had to throw up while Butcher and Hughie tried talking to him. The man had only a robe on and was in the middle of trying to fuck someone. He hadn't even bothered to lock the door.
"I think it would be a good idea if you stayed with Amber." Butcher suggested.
Amber had checked out for most of the conversation until that. "Wait, the fuck?" She shook her head. "Butch, I'm not taking care of…" She waved in the general direction of Soldier Boy, still not wanting to look at him. "That."
Ben wrapped his silk robe around his body and cocked an eyebrow at her. "What are you? Some kind of fag?" He stood from the bed, tilting his head. Hughie's eyes widened while Butcher just looked amused. "You're tall enough to be a tranny so I wouldn't be surprised."
"Yeah? And I bet you'd just love having my cock in your mouth to shut you up." Amber countered with a glare, finally looking Soldier Boy in the eyes. Butcher let out a loud laugh, turning away from the two of them.
He had nothing to stay in response, staring at her with hard eyes. "You're a feisty one, I'll give you that." Ben tilted his head slightly.
Butcher turned back and shook his head, motioning with his hand. "Whatever the fuck this is, you're gonna have to get along." He faced Amber, "I don't like it as much as you do, love, but we both know you're the safest person he," Butcher jutted his head in the direction of Soldier Boy. "Can be with."
Amber's jaw clenched, looking from Butcher to Ben. She had a feeling Eden wouldn't like him living with them but, hopefully, it wouldn't be for too long. "Fine." She stepped closer to Ben, fists at her sides. "You get out of line, you're fucked."
"I plan on it." Ben smirked.
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