A few days had passed since James last met with the boys at that coffee shop. He had nowhere to stay, and if it were up to him, he'd probably steal something to get by—his character wasn't exactly pure or innocent. But as it turned out, the guys from the group he met with gave him a little money to rent a place until the dust settled. Now he was heading to another location. The plan to attract Vought's attention was still on, according to Butcher and the others.
From the sky, looking down, anyone watching would see a car traveling along a dirt road surrounded by trees.
"What do you think Grace is going to say about this, Butcher?" MM asked from the back seat of the car.
Butcher, who was driving his car, turned slightly to look back and replied, "Dunno. Her problem. She can deal with the kid."
"You guys have no idea what you're doing, do you?" murmured a young man sitting in the back with his feet propped up on the front seat.
"Of course we do. It'll all work out," said a certain Frenchman.
"What about that plan of ours? Is it still happening?" James asked lazily.
Butcher turned and saw the annoying young man with his feet on his precious car.
"Get your paws off my car, please, or I'll throw you out..." said a certain someone.
"Alright, alright, calm down, man," murmured James.
After removing his feet and getting bored, he asked, "Aren't we going to arrive yet? How many hours have we been in this old car?"
Butcher felt a bit irritated hearing "old car" but sighed and let it slide this time.
After a while on the road, they arrived at a residential area fairly distant from other houses. In the center stood a house that looked quite large from the outside and was very beautiful.
"Wow, whoever lives here has good taste..." someone murmured after getting out of the car.
"Wait here in the car. And don't touch anything. Don't even look," said a certain someone after stepping out.
"Wow, so much charm... I wasn't going to do anything..."
Butcher, followed by the others, got out and stood at Grace's doorstep.
"Hey Butcher, don't you think it's a terrible idea to leave the kid pissed off? You want him to kill us..." MM whispered quietly, but it was useless because if James wanted to, he could hear.
"Ah, don't worry, he'll be fine. A few bruises on the heart won't hurt," said Butcher.
"Butcher, you're being too hard on the kid. You want him to turn into another Homelander," the Frenchman whispered softly.
"He's right, Butcher. You can't treat me like this forever, or I'll end up going crazy. Weren't you supposed to be my mentor or something? I'm still an immature young man, geez," James shouted, still near the car.
"You damn brat, stop eavesdropping on other people's conversations..." Butcher shouted back.
Damn... I always forget he can hear everything, Butcher thought.
"Let's get this over with," Butcher said, ringing the doorbell.
After a few moments, someone opened the door.
It was a woman. She was older, but not too old, with blond hair and a serious expression.
"Butcher... boys, you've arrived," murmured Grace.
"Hi Grace, sorry for showing up unannounced. We took longer than expected," murmured Butcher.
"It's fine. Where's the boy?" asked Grace.
Butcher just pointed, with an expression that seemed to say, "The idiot's over there..."
Grace looked to where Butcher pointed and saw a handsome young man leaning against Butcher's car, waving.
"Hi, boss! A pleasure to meet you. So, you're the woman who bosses Butcher around? Good to know..." the boy shouted, waving from the car.
"Are you sure you got the right kid?" Grace asked, not entirely convinced.
The Frenchman and the others just nodded, somewhat embarrassed.
"Right... let's go inside," murmured Grace, entering her house.
Butcher and the others exchanged glances before calling James inside.
"Kid, get over here!" Butcher shouted.
They entered. Grace's house was very beautiful—after all, she wasn't just anyone. Her house was full of decorations and very comfortable.
Grace led them to her living room. She told them to sit and said she'd be right back.
"Wow, she's really rich," murmured James...
"Of course she is. She's the boss," murmured the Frenchman quietly.
"Yeah, I always wonder whenever I come here—how long would someone have to work to buy a house like this?" MM whispered softly.
Grace returned, carrying a turned-on laptop. She placed it on a small table in the living room and sat down on one of her sofas.
"I did what I could. I had several designs made for you. Said it was for a party, that kind of thing. What do you think? You can choose whichever you like best. Once you pick, I'll send someone to take your measurements to make the uniform. And of course, everything will be confidential," said Grace.
"Can I take a look?" asked MM. The Frenchman was equally interested, as if he were picking out clothes for his son or something.
"Of course," said Grace, not very interested. Instead, she was more curious about the boy sitting on her sofa.
James was also visibly interested in this "old lady."
"You're the boss of Butcher and the others. A pleasure to meet you..." said James.
"That's right. My name is Grace. I'm the one who created this little group of crazies. Tell me, boy, do you know who you are or where your powers came from?" Grace asked.
James shook his head and replied that he didn't.
"What do you think of your powers?" Grace asked.
"What do I think?" murmured James, thinking. In short, he didn't quite know what to think. It was good, but sometimes very annoying—like hearing everything, being super strong, not getting hurt. It was cool, but it took some of the fun out of life.
"I don't really know what to think yet," he replied.
Grace paid close attention to him, analyzing.
Butcher was nearby, listening to the two. Meanwhile, MM and the Frenchman were busy choosing James's "superhero" uniform.
"I like this one. What do you think?" murmured the Frenchman, looking at the images on the notebook.
"Too many colors. I don't like it. Let's look at others," said MM.
"Can we talk in private?" Grace asked.
Butcher heard and interrupted, somewhat worried.
"What do you want with him, Grace?" Butcher asked.
James stayed to the side, watching the two.
"It's nothing. Just a conversation, Butcher. You don't have to worry about anything. Besides, he's not yours and can do as he pleases."
Butcher was left speechless.
"Come on... you coming?"
"Sure..." replied James.
James and Grace went outside. Grace lit a cigarette and started smoking. After a few drags, she asked:
"Show me. Show me your powers," she said.
"Here? Alright. I can break some trees or something."
"There's no one here. Just don't set anything on fire..." she said.
"Okay..." said James. After that, he hesitated. How should I do this? He thought.
Well, the easiest way was to demonstrate.
He stepped a little away from her and approached a tree.
Without any fear or hesitation, he looked at the tree and concentrated. After a few moments, his eyes turned red, and beams of energy shot from his eyes, cutting the tree. Then, he used his hands to push in the direction where the tree would fall.
The base of the tree was left with a perfect cut.
After that, he returned to Grace and asked:
"What did you think? Cool, right?" he asked.
"It's at least terrifying," she replied.
James couldn't help but laugh.
"What do you want to do? You can't follow Butcher forever. You need a home and a place to belong," she said.
"That's true. I have nowhere to go, no home or anything like that. To be honest, I don't know," he replied.
"I understand. What do you think about coming to live here with me? I can pull some strings and get you into school. In return, you help me with a few things. What do you think?" Grace asked.
"Seriously? You'd do that for me?" he asked sincerely, touched.
Grace just nodded.
James analyzed the situation, taking a moment to think about what he should say.
"I guess I don't have much of a choice..." he replied after a while.
"I don't think Vought will leave me alone. I accept."