Soldier Boy and Butcher in “Unfinished Business”

[sniffs whiskey] Whoa. That brings me back. Used to sneak my dad's Manhattans when I was a kid.

I didn't have to nick nothin' from my old man. He used to get me and me little brother lagered just for the hell of it.

Well, I gotta admit, that does sound funny. The old man still around?

Arse cancer. [pause; sees Mallory calling him and shuts his phone off] Shittin' his guts out as we speak, one hopes.

You ever see The Soldier Boy Story?

Must've missed it.

It's a classic. We lost Best Picture to An American in Paris that year. At least I got to ass-fuck Jane Wyman in the coat check. It's about a poor kid from the streets of South Philly, discovers he's got incredible powers to match his heart of gold. It was all bullshit.

[sarcastically] Blimey, you don't say.

Actually, my father owned half the steel mills in the state. I went to boarding school. Got kicked out of boarding school because I was a fuck-up… but he made sure I knew it.

Used the belt, did he?

Never laid a hand on me. He couldn't be bothered. He said I was a disappointment. Not good enough to carry his name. So I went to his golf buddies in the War Department, and they got me into Dr. Vought's Compound V trials. I became a superhero. Strongest man alive, fuckin' ticker-tape parades when I came home.

And what did the old man say then?

Ah… he said I took a shortcut. [pause] That a real man wouldn't have cheated. [beat; clears throat] How 'bout you? You got kids?

It's complicated.

I always assumed I had a few out there… somewhere. I always wanted 'em, 'cause I thought I could do it better than my father did.

Homelander ain't yours. Not really.

He's the only blood I've got left.

It don't matter. You didn't name him, didn't raise him. Vought grew him in a fuckin' test tube to take your place. He's the fuckin' reason they left you to rot with the Ivans. Look, mate… we had a deal.

I'm gonna get some air.