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At Butcher's house, the atmosphere was painfully awkward due to Roger’s arrival.
Becca and Ryan sat silently on the couch, with Becca keeping her head down, avoiding looking at Roger. Butcher busied himself in the kitchen, while Hughie, sensing the strange tension, decided it was better to excuse himself and help in the kitchen as well.
Ryan sat quietly next to his mother, glancing between her and Roger. Although curious about what was happening, he chose not to speak.
Roger, sitting across from Becca, also felt the discomfort. He suddenly wondered if coming here had been a mistake.
Maybe he should have taken Thor and the Winter Soldier and left. Maybe he shouldn’t have thought about involving Ryan at all.
But since he was already here, Roger couldn’t just leave without saying anything. After all... he was already sitting there.
“Uh... this is our first ti eting, isn’t it?”
After a long pause, Roger finally broke the silence.
Becca imdiately raised her head to look at Roger, her eyes clearly saying, What kind of nonsense is that?
To Becca, this wasn’t their first eting.
She had once been in charge of managing Holander for Vought International. Later, she had a relationship with him that led to... well, Ryan. No matter how you looked at it, this wasn’t their first encounter.
Or could this really be the Holander from a parallel universe?
Roger decided to clarify: “For , this is our first eting. Don’t think of as Holander—Holander is dead.”
“…Then why are you here?” Becca asked cautiously. “If you’re not Holander, Ryan isn’t your son either...”
Becca instinctively pulled Ryan closer, her motherly intuition telling her that Roger was here to take her son away.
Roger sighed and said, “I’m not Holander, but Ryan and I do share a bloodline. Of course, if you don’t want to acknowledge that, it’s fine. I’m not here to claim him as my son.”
“Then why…”
Before Becca could finish, Roger interrupted:
“Ryan has an innate gift. You know that, don’t you? That kind of gift can be dangerous. Without proper guidance, Ryan could very well beco the next Holander.”
“He won’t! I promise!”
Becca spoke with conviction.
Roger glanced toward Butcher in the kitchen and asked, “You promise? With what? Butcher?”
“Billy has changed a lot! And Ryan has a private tutor! We’re making sure he won’t turn out like you—like Holander!”
When it ca to Ryan, this seemingly gentle woman exuded an unimaginable determination.
She was like a lioness protecting her cub, baring her fangs and claws at anyone who dared threaten her child. To Roger, though, Becca’s stance was more like that of a feisty cub herself. Nonetheless, he admired her courage and resolve to protect her child at all costs.
Becca surely understood that even if Roger wasn’t Holander, he still possessed the sa power. She knew what could happen if she angered soone like him. Yet she still dared to et Roger’s gaze head-on.
However, courage alone didn’t guarantee safety. Roger looked at Ryan, who was huddled close to Becca, and asked, “Are you sure?”
“?”
“Environnt shapes a person. Do you know why Holander beca the way he was when you knew him? Initially, Holander’s desires were simple—he just wanted a caretaker’s attention.
“But... he eventually turned into what you saw. Do you know why that happened?”
Becca had no answer.
Roger, flipping through Holander’s old mories and emotions, answered for her:
“Because no one educated him. Everyone treated him as a tool, an experint. That’s why he beca what you saw.”
At first, Holander had wanted to be a real superhero, much like a child who does good deeds hoping to be praised.
But without anyone to teach him how to control his powers or discern right from wrong, his first mission ended in disaster when he accidentally killed hostages. After that, he was never the sa.
Roger brought this up not to justify Holander’s actions or to elicit sympathy. Frankly, after all the harm Holander had done, he didn’t deserve sympathy.
Roger’s point was to highlight how critical an environnt is in shaping a person’s developnt.
Even if Becca and Butcher tried their best to educate Ryan properly, any missteps could lead Ryan to misunderstand things. In such a scenario, even if he didn’t beco the next Holander, he might still grow into a dangerous individual.
Roger wasn’t exaggerating. During his ti at Butcher’s ho, he had noticed that the couple treated Ryan like an ordinary child.
They sent him to school, hired private tutors, and taught him general knowledge.
But they never taught him how to deal with his powers.
They were raising Ryan as if he were a normal child.
But Ryan wasn’t normal. As he grew, his powers beca increasingly evident. His strength was vastly superior to that of ordinary humans, and when emotionally distressed, his eyes could unleash deadly beams.
If they weren’t careful, Ryan could unintentionally hurt soone.
And when that happened, knowing Butcher and Becca’s personalities, they were more likely to reprimand Ryan than comfort him.
They weren’t teaching Ryan how to handle his abilities or embrace his unique identity.
To Roger, this was the most dangerous oversight.
“You’re suppressing Ryan, treating him like an ordinary child. But... is Ryan an ordinary child?”
Roger asked Becca directly.
Becca answered without hesitation, “Ryan is an ordinary child!”
“Really? Ryan, what’s your take?” Roger turned his gaze to Ryan. “Do you think you’re ordinary? Have you noticed any changes in yourself recently?”
“Changes? You an…”
Becca assud Roger was spouting nonsense and looked at Ryan in her arms.
But when she noticed Ryan turning his head away, she instantly realized sothing. She gently forced Ryan to look at her and asked, “Ryan, have you... have you developed any special abilities?”
“…Yes.”
Ryan nodded.
Becca was stunned and asked, “Why didn’t you tell ?”
“Because I knew you’d be mad.”
Ryan answered softly.
“What…?”
“You never let watch movies or shows about superheroes. You don’t let ntion the Seven or superheroes at all. I know you don’t like them, so I didn’t say anything...”
Ryan spoke quietly.
Even though Becca and Ryan had been freed from Vought’s grasp and no longer had to live under their surveillance, Becca’s hatred for Holander had extended to all superheroes.
She avoided anything related to Holander and did everything she could to prevent Ryan from learning about him.
Whether Becca admitted it or not, she had been raising Ryan as a normal child while stifling his natural gifts.
Though Ryan was still young, as he grew and learned more at school, he started to realize his mother didn’t want him to embrace his abilities.
Ryan was an obedient child. Before being rescued from Vought, his world had revolved solely around his mother.
Anything his mother disapproved of or forbade, Ryan avoided, even if he understood he wasn’t ordinary. He suppressed his powers to align with her expectations.
Becca had never realized this. She had been raising Ryan based on her own perceptions, unaware that her son had already grown to be different.
“Butcher probably knows about this too.”
Roger glanced toward the kitchen, where Butcher was clearly eavesdropping, and made this remark.
Butcher’s face darkened. “Did you have to drag into this?”
“I was just guessing, but thanks for confirming.”
Roger smiled.
One of the reasons Butcher had injected himself with Compound V, aside from his duties with the Boys, was likely Ryan’s burgeoning powers.
To better protect Ryan—and to ensure neither he nor Becca got hurt—Butcher had willingly beco a superhero himself.
Becca was even more shocked as she looked at her husband.
She had always assud Butcher had taken Compound V for work. After all, as a public official now, he dealt with many superheroes regularly. It seed logical for him to beco one himself.
But she had never known Ryan was part of the reason.
“Butcher, you better explain yourself…”
Butcher smiled sheepishly, trying to explain to his wife.
But Becca clung tightly to Ryan, turning back to Roger. “Even if Ryan has powers, he’s still my son! I won’t let you take him!”
“When did I say I’d take him?”
Roger said, exasperated.
“He’s your son, and I’ve never denied that. I’m just saying Ryan’s education is critical. I want to be his teacher and find him other ntors to help him understand and use his abilities. Sure, I’ll take him to so places, but I’ll always bring him back. I have no intention of keeping him—I’m not in the business of raising kids.”
Roger’s goal was to guide Ryan, shaping him into soone like Superman instead of another Holander.
Raising Ryan as his own wasn’t part of the plan. Roger wasn’t ready to have a child calling him Dad—especially when he didn’t even have a girlfriend yet.
“I just want to make sure Ryan’s on board with this plan. So, if you don’t mind, can I talk to him for a bit?”
Roger asked, smiling at Ryan.
Becca’s instinct was to refuse, but Butcher stopped her, saying, “This Holander isn’t the sa bastard as before. As much as I dislike him, I’ll admit that much. Let Ryan talk to him—we’ll be here.”
“Y-yeah!” Hughie chid in awkwardly, “Becca, if Superman tries to take Ryan, we’ll... we’ll stop him!”
Hughie’s stuttering didn’t inspire much confidence, but with their reassurances, Becca finally relented.
She agreed to let Roger talk to Ryan, but only within her sight and earshot.
Roger didn’t mind. It wasn’t like he had anything to hide.
With that settled, Roger led Ryan to the balcony while the others stayed inside preparing dinner. It was ti for Roger to have his first “father-son talk” with this accidental son of his.
Ryan appeared nervous and shy.
Having never t Holander and only recently escaping his “prison,” Ryan’s personality was understandably timid.
This was one of Roger’s concerns.
A timid child is more prone to bullying, and with Ryan’s unstable powers, such bullying could easily result in soone getting hurt.
It would only spiral into a vicious cycle from there.
Keeping this in mind, Roger glanced back at Becca, who was still watching him from the living room. He turned to Ryan and smiled, asking, “Ryan, do you know who I am?”
“I do! You’re Superman! My classmates talk about you all the ti!”
Ryan replied quickly.
Despite Becca’s attempts to shield him from all things superhero-related, Ryan couldn’t avoid learning about them at school.
For the people of this world, superheroes were an integral part of daily life.
From schools to society, from food products to billboards, superheroes were everywhere. If Ryan deliberately ignored these, he’d effectively isolate himself from his peers.
No child wants to be ostracized, so Ryan inevitably learned about superheroes through his classmates.
Naturally, he knew about Roger—about Superman and Holander, and the major events surrounding them.
“And do you know what my relationship with you is?”
Roger asked again.
Ryan froze, looking back at his mother, who was still watching from the living room. Understanding began to dawn on him, and he hesitantly asked, “Are you... my biological father?”
Roger didn’t answer imdiately, but Ryan could tell from everyone’s reactions that he had guessed correctly.
Roger—or rather, Holander—was indeed his biological father.
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