[In a flashback, Butcher is visited by a woman from the CIA]
Don't want none, fuck off.
GMGrace Mallory
I'm here about your wife.
[Cut to Butcher watching surveillance camera footage of Becca with Homelander on a laptop]
MalloryI believe this was a few days after you met Homelander at that Christmas party?
[Homelander is seen laughing and leading Becca into an empty room]
Mallory
She was alone with him for three hours.
[Mallory fast-forwards the footage until a disheveled and distressed Becca is shown running out of the room. Butcher covers his mouth as he realizes what Homelander did to her.]
Mallory
Not long after that, Rebecca went missing and has remained so ever since. One way or another, Mr. Butcher, I believe Homelander was involved.
Homelander… But he's a fuckin' superhero.
Mallory
You wouldn't believe what they get up to.
[pause] Who the fuck are you?
Mallory
My name is Mallory. [shows Butcher her CIA badge] I'm the person who can get you payback.
Mallory
William.
What are you lookin' at out there?
Mallory
Eastern meadowlarks. It was either bird-watching or alcoholism, so… birds. [lifts binoculars from her eyes] I thought we agreed that you were never gonna come out here.
Yeah, well, you taught me a thing or two about broken promises, didn't ya? This is Hugh Campbell. We're working with M.M. and Frenchie. I got the Boys back together.
Mallory
[to Hughie] Grace Mallory. I'm the founder of your little club. [to Butcher] So, let me hear it.
Mallory
Sorry, I can't. I'm hoping to photograph a snowy owl in the dunes.
Look… I didn't wanna come here, but I need your help. And you're gonna fuckin' help.
Mallory
Why's that?
[gets in front of Mallory] Because you owe me. You fuckin' owe me, goddammit.
[...]
Mallory
There's simply nothing else to say. I can't help you.
Well, you're gonna have to do better than that.
Mallory
Do I? Why?
'Cause you made me a promise!
Mallory
But then my grandchildren got incinerated. Tends to change one's perspective. There weren't even teeth left; Lamplighter had burnt them alive so thoroughly. Well, I think I've had enough sun for one day. Pleasure meeting you, Hugh… Butcher.
Well, what about what you've done?
Mallory
What I've done? To who?
To me, goddammit. To me. You trained me up, manipulated me, aimed me at Homelander like a fuckin' howitzer! And then when it didn't suit you anymore, you just threw me away!
Mallory
And not a day goes by that I don't regret it.
Day late, dollar short, love. Now, I'm gonna finish what you started… and I need your help. Please.
Mallory
You can leave with something if you never come back, and you keep your goddamn promise this time. [pause; Butcher nods] Madelyn Stillwell.
Mallory
Homelander's her main account.
Mallory
No, but this is: They have a… what shall we say, a very special relationship. Complicated, intimate, hard to quantify.
Mallory
Still have a few fingers in a few pies. I don't know if Homelander has a weakness, but if he does… she'll know it.
[Butcher begins walking away with Hughie following behind]
Mallory
You wanna kill yourself, that's your right. I won't stop you! But, Billy… not the others! [to Hughie] Vengeance isn't a path to glory, Hugh. It's a one-way ticket to a dead end, looking at fucking birds.
Mallory
I ever tell you about my recurring dream? I'm on stage alone at Carnegie Hall. The audience is made up of every poor bastard who got killed by the superheroes.
Mallory
Nothing. They're all just watching me. Waiting for me to do something.
We hit a dead end on Rayner. I'm sorry.
Mallory
Christ, I don't wanna hear sorry. Sorry's not an option. We can't have anonymous skull-exploding assassins walking around. What if they hit the Speaker next? Or the President?
[Mallory gives Butcher a file envelope. Butcher takes out an old poster with Liberty on it.]
Mallory
You mentioned her before. Second-tier Supe, active in the '70s. She was all over Susan's private server. Get Marvin to talk to this Liberty. Address on the back, North Carolina.
Alright. We'll see what we can find.
Mallory
Wait. [Butcher turns around] I found Becca. Or at least, our best guess where she is. Vought facility, armed to the teeth. Won't be easy.
We had a deal. I didn't come through.
Mallory
Jesus, Butcher. I'm just giving it to you. It's my fault you stopped searching for her. I put a target on Homelander's back and pointed you right at him. I didn't know Becca was still… It'd be good to have one less person in that audience staring at me.
[Butcher and Mallory watch Victoria Neuman negotiate with Lamplighter to have him as a key witness for the upcoming Supe hearing]
Mallory
Put away that petulant look before you hurt someone with it.
I should be chuffed we're pissin' away the best asset we ever got our mitts on.
Mallory
And your plan would be?
Same as always: Squeeze the cunt until he gives up the next cunt, then kill the fuck when we're done.
Mallory
I have no doubt you'd be happy with that unending cycle of brutality.
How can you not want blood for what he done?
Mallory
He's willing to speak against Vought at the hearing. We've never had Congress on our side before.
Congress? Please. What a bunch of corrupt fuckin' cunts they are.
Oh, come on. You're not the first person to call me a cunt, Mr. Butcher. I'm starting to think it's like a... badge of honor.
Term of endearment where I come from, love.
Mallory
[to Neuman] Well?
Opposition's gonna have a field day with him. Disgruntled ex-Supe… I am fairly sure he's fucked half the Sacred Heart cheerleading squad. But yeah, he'll be a good witness. It's not enough, though.
Not enough? If torturin' and burnin' a bunch of mentals on Vought's say-so ain't enough for you Muppets, then what the fuck are you good for, huh? A strongly-worded tweet?
Mallory
Neuman's head of the Bureau because I said so. I tried to save her from the attack on Congress that she fucking caused!
Well, at least you didn't spend the last year getting her oatmilk lattes and every piece of intel she asked for.
Mallory
[to Butcher] I would very much like to know the plan to eliminate her.
Well, that depends on what you can tell us about your little holiday down in Nicaragua.
Mallory
[pause] I've never been to Nicaragua.
Really? 'Cause a little birdie told me you were Payback's case officer down there, on a classified job that Soldier Boy never come back from.
MSMother's Milk
[pause; Mallory scoffs] Colonel?
Mallory
Whatever it is William thinks he may have heard… he's mistaken.
Is he? You know that safe you got in your home office? The one behind the picture of Bush number one? Well, I borrowed a ledger from it–the one with all your assets around the world. How long do you think them and their families will last when I put every one of their fuckin' names on Facebook?
Mallory
You'd sign the death warrants of dozens of innocent people who had nothing to do with this?
I'm embarrassed for the both of us that you're askin'.
Mallory
[pause] Nicaragua's ancient history. Not to mention, I could be killed just for telling you.
And all your agents will get killed if you don't. [pulls out chair and sits down] Blimey. What a pickle.
Mallory
[beat] It was part of Operation Charly.
Mallory
Reagan's pet project, off the books. Helped the Contra rebels fight the Russian-backed Sandinistas, but we needed a way to pay for it. Some of the cash came from selling arms to Iran. Oliver North's epic fuck-up. But the rest? If there's one thing that the Contras had plenty of, it was cocaine. I was in charge of trafficking the coke into the U.S. and then using the profits to buy more weapons in the fight against the Reds. Whatever it took.
MSMother's Milk
That's some self-justifying bullshit. Were you part of that other thing, too?
MSMother's Milk
She knows. [to Mallory] Tell him.
Mallory
The unwritten policy was to sell the cocaine strictly to minority neighborhoods–destabilize, demoralize–while staying out of white ones. Late in '84, we were gearing up for a major offensive. So the higher-ups, in their infinite wisdom, decided it was the perfect time to throw a wrench in the works: Fucking Payback. Each more ridiculous than the next: Crimson Countess, Mindstorm, Swatto, the TNT Twins, Noir, Gunpowder, and the most idiotic of them all…
You came to me after Becca disappeared and promised me Homelander's head. And all this time, you knew there was something that could do the job, and you never said a fuckin' word!
Mallory
Whatever this weapon is, it probably won't work on Homelander.
Mallory
Even worse. Because it wouldn't end with him. You'd go after another Supe, then another, then all of them.
If you'd have told me about this sooner, Homelander might already be dead! Ryan wouldn't be runnin' from one safe house to the next, wonderin' when his nutter dad's gonna drop outta the sky! And Becca… Becca might still be alive. And for that… I'll never fuckin' forgive ya.
Mallory
This was never about Ryan or Becca. It was always selfish. Always and only for you. For the hate inside that you want to let loose on the world. I thought maybe you changed, but I was wrong. You are your father. Always have been.
[Butcher is recovering in the hospital and sees Kessler standing by his bedside]
You know, if you need any help…
Really? Seems to me you're shitting in a bedpan and days away from being planted. And what do you have to show for it? I mean, Singer–He’s as good as dead. Homelander, he won. And you… you gave away the virus–the one fuckin' weapon that could’ve stopped him! But we are gonna turn that frown upside down, my friend. You know why? ‘Cause you still have me.
You ain’t even fuckin' real.
Well, now, that’s an interesting philosophical question. See, what is real are the fucking V’d up tumors that are mushrooming inside your guts and noggin. Super cancer! What is real is that piece of you that wants to burn every fucking Supe on Earth. How is it you think you ripped Ezekiel into fun-sized little chunks? I’m the one that gave you the juice that you needed, and I can do it again. All you have to do… is hold up your end of the bargain.
Bargain? What fuckin' bargain?
We go all the way. I mean, come on, champ. What’s a little genocide between friends?
Just fuck off and let me die in peace, would you?
Mallory
Wish I could.
[Kessler disappears when Mallory walks into Butcher's hospital room]
Since you’re here… [takes out a cigarette] be a doll and fetch us a pint, would ya? [Mallory rolls her eyes at him] Come on, don’t be a cunt. I’m fuckin' dyin' here.
Mallory
Your dying’s been pretty high on my wish list lately.
I appreciate what you’re doin' here for me.
Mallory
Not one bit of this is for you.
Alright, then. Give us me phone. We got work to do.
[sees Mallory whispering to Butcher] You know I can hear you. Marvin said there was an attempt on Singer’s life. He survived.
We know. There’s just some things you don’t gotta worry about. That’s all.
Mallory
They’re gonna try again, and that virus is a Hail Mary at best. We are out of time and out of better options. Ryan needs to know the truth.
Mallory
The assassination attempt, it was on your father’s orders.
Mallory
And Flight 37… Homelander killed every soul on board.
Mallory
We have it on video, and he’s murdered countless more. Your father isn’t who you think he is…
Mallory
…and he wasn’t having an affair with your mother.
Mallory
He raped her!
[beat; sighs] I’m sorry, son.
And? Your heart’s pounding. There’s something you’re not telling me.
And you’re the only one who can stop him.
S–Stop him? Like, kill him? No. No, I can’t. Don’t ask me to!
Mallory
We’ll train you. Get you ready.
So this is why you want me to go with you? So you can teach me how to kill my dad?! [brief pause] I have to go.
Mallory
No, just stay. We’ll talk it out together.
I don’t wanna talk. I’ll be back. I–I just need to think.
Listen, Ryan. There ain’t gonna be another time for you and me, alright? Let’s just take a breather, yeah?
Mallory
You can’t leave.
[pause] Wait… These walls are six feet thick.
Mallory
This is the CIA’s Hazlet safe house. Designed to hold people like you. I could seal us in here, flood the room with halothane. And we all take a nice, long nap. But I don’t want to do that, kiddo.
You planned this. All along, you–you brought me here to trap me!
No, no. We brought you here to help you.
You’re locking me in a cage unless I agree to be your weapon! Just like they did to my dad.
That ain’t the way it is. Honest.
Mallory
Ryan… When I lost my grandkids, it left this big empty black hole inside me. And then the greatest miracle came along: You. [pause] I love you, kiddo. Please.
Aunt Grace… I wanna leave.
Mallory
I'm sorry. [reaches for a red button behind her]
Mallory
I’m sorry.
[Ryan throws Mallory hard against the wall, killing her. Butcher approaches her body and grieves over her when Ryan leaves. Butcher looks up and sees Kessler standing over him. They stare at each other knowingly and Butcher winks at him.]
The Boys · 278 quotes
