Katherine

Kevin knocked on Annie and Hughie’s door. “Hey, you made it! Annie is just changing the baby, come in, come in,” Hughie greeted him. Annie joined them, cradling her daughter. “Hi! Thank God you’re okay,” she said. “Last hunt got a little hairy at the end, but I made it out unscathed. Hello, little Robin,” Kevin whispered. “Go see Uncle Kevin.” Annie gently passed the baby over. Kevin was awestruck. “Guys, she’s beautiful. Congratulations,” he said. “You have to be careful with this hunting thing. I’m counting on you to be here as she grows up,” Annie told him. “I’ll do my best.”

Kevin was filling up his gas tank somewhere in Oklahoma when his phone rang. “Hey, Annie gave birth last night,” MM told him, “We’re flying out to see them, and Hughie asked me to call you.” “That’s great news! I’m in Oklahoma, but I can drive out and meet you there in a few days. Have a good flight,” Kevin said. “Be safe, kid. See you in a few.” Kevin hung up the phone and started the truck, his heart light. He had a long drive ahead, but he couldn’t wait to meet little Robin.

Homelander powered on his lasers, a feral look on his face. Castiel sent him flying into the air and crashing down to the floor. “Enough!” He roared, “Homelander, you have caused nothing but pain, death, and destruction. This is your divine punishment. Fire at will!” After a round of bullets, Butcher stepped up, cold as ice. “Blood and bone. This is for my Becca!” The silence after the final shot was deafening. Homelander was dead.

Getting into the White House was surprisingly easy. Once Oh Father was taken care of, they found Homelander in the Oval Office. "Come to beg for your job back, guppy?" Homelander taunted. "I have a job. I'm a damn good hunter. You're just another monster," Kevin shot back. The crew drew their guns, Angel blade bullets already loaded. "Bullets don't hurt me." "Really?" Kevin aimed and fired. Homelander howled, blood blooming in the right shoulder of his suit. "Like I said: I'm a damn good hunter. Angel blades trump everything."

The group was silent when they packed up early in the morning. Calm but nervous. They knew they might not come back. Homelander was more dangerous than ever, and there was no way to know what role Soldier Boy would play. He was a wild card, and Dean hated wild cards. He couldn’t be certain that the ‘Hero of Heroes’ wouldn’t side with his son. They would have to hope that the bullets worked on him too, or they would all die.

“Damn it.” Kevin glared at the paper target. His pattern was still more spread out than he’d like, the grouping wide. He was rusty, and he couldn’t afford to be rusty when they faced Homelander. “Problem?” Dean asked as he joined him. “I’m too rusty to get the pattern tight enough and we don’t have time for me to knock it off my shooting skills,” Kevin explained. “You haven’t fired a shot in years, kid. You’re hitting the target fine, stop thinking you’re not. The rest will come. A few bullets in Homie and he should slow down enough for Billy to get the kill shot. You’re pressuring yourself when you don’t have to,” Dean said, calmly. “I want to keep hunting. We survive this, I’m picking up where my parents left off,” Kevin stated. “You’ll always have a place with us.”

Kevin couldn't sleep. They were as ready as they could be. The bullets worked. On Kimiko. "Can't sleep either?" Annie joined him at the kitchen table. "I can't believe you hid this huge chunk of your life. From Vought." "We do what we do and we shut up about it. It's the hunters' way. After my parents left, I was adopted by two hunters. They raised me in the life, until I went to God U. I grew up with Sam and Dean, they're family. I'm going to keep hunting, if we survive this. I'm good at hunting, I get it." "MM did say you fit here." "Only place I ever fit, I think. I know what I'm doing on a hunt. It's the outside world that I have problems with. Dean has a saying: Demons I get. People are crazy."

MM has been observing everything, and one thing is clear: Kevin fits here. There's confidence, real confidence, in his words, how he moves. The brothers listen to him when he talks about Homelander. "Show me a vampire and I can tell you how it thinks, how it hunts. Everything else gives me trouble. Hunting I get and I'm damn good at it. I wouldn't be here otherwise. This is just another hunt," Kevin tells him, "I'm just trying to save the world." Dean walked in with Frenchie and calmly unveiled the Angel blade bullets. "They're ready for testing."

Castiel was aware of the situation turning in Homelander’s favor but didn’t say anything about it to Kevin, preferring to let him settle in with the brothers. The loss of his identity had shaken his confidence, and he needed to find his balance again. Castiel was patient, and gave him the chance to come to him. When Kevin asked if Angel blades could really be made into bullets, and if they would have any effect on Homelander, Cas brought him to Dean to explain his idea. A series of phone calls later and The Boys were safe in the bunker, hidden by magic, armed, and preparing for war.

Prompt for a Deeplander fic. Set in S5. Deep is in a relationship with Homelander, but it’s physically abusive. Homie beats Deep, who stays because he remembers when the relationship was happy instead of broken. Kevin has everyone telling him to leave, but he stays. Then Homie goes too far, and Kevin doesn’t make it. Homelander is left with the memories, and the knowledge that he’s the reason Kevin died. I’m hoping that this finds someone who can do it justice, because I don’t think I can.

“Heard you’re feeling a little stuck.” Dean joined Kevin behind the bunker and handed him a beer. “More like stunted. I’m between a frat guy and a man. I’m lost,” Kevin admitted, taking a sip. “I get that. After beating Chuck, getting Cas back, it was like, okay, what’s next? We’re still figuring it out. Sam mentors young hunters, Cas gardens and tends his bees. I cook and keep everyone together. You just have to find your niche. Whatever Homelander said is crap. He never got to know you, he didn’t bother. You are way more than the fish guy, Kevin. I know you, and I know how strong you are. You have faced things that would have Soldier Boy curled up in a corner and won. Vought barely let you show what you can do. Screw ‘em all. You haven’t begun to show your strength.” “Thanks, Dean.” “Anytime.”

Life with the Winchesters was just like an old pair of jeans: comfortable. Dean was the same sarcastic mama bear, Sam the sweet, gentle nerd, Castiel still too easy to underestimate. But they’d grown into themselves, over the years. Kevin felt stuck between the goofy frat bro and the man he was supposed to be. Like being on The 7 had stunted him, while the world moved on. Hunting he mastered too young, like so many others. It was everything else that he had trouble with. “I don’t know who I am anymore,” he admitted to Sam one night. “It’s okay, we’ll help you figure it out. You’re not alone in this, not anymore.” Kevin hugged his friend, knowing that he would never be alone again, not with the Winchesters.

“I need to come home.” “Then come home.” With one short conversation, Kevin was driving across the country to Kansas. He never expected to get back into hunting. But with The 7 dissolved he had no choice. Sam and Dean were the closest Kevin had to family. He saw Baby parked on the side of the road and stopped as well. The brothers welcomed him back with open arms. Kevin didn’t know why he ever expected different.

Homelander watched as Kevin was surrounded by friends, laughing over plates of food and half finished beer bottles. He was glowing, smiling at Dean Winchester as he told the group a story, growing increasingly animated as he went on. “Kevin has to be safe, and happy,” he told the Angel. “He is, safe and happy and healthy and loved,” Castiel confirmed. He ended the scene, turning to Homelander. “But if you continue on this path of war, you will find yourself in Hell. Abandon your search, raise your son, forgive your father his sins, and become a family.” Castiel vanished as Ben and Ryan joined him. John smiled and asked, “You guys want to catch a game?”

“Kevin was never mine. I can’t explain it, but he was never mine.” Homelander stared out the window of his penthouse, expression pensive. Ben joined him, but stayed silent. “Something told me to let him live. That he was not mine, I was just borrowing him for a while.” Somewhere in Kansas, Kevin climbed into the backseat of a 1967 Chevy Impala. The driver caught his eye in the rear view mirror, green eyes sparkling with warmth. “Welcome back, kid.” “Glad to be back, Dean. Missed you guys.” Baby roared off down the road, Zeppelin pouring from the speakers. Kevin grinned. He was home.

It's been a long time since Kevin attended Friday service. The Rabbi is kind enough to give him some time alone. Kevin prays like he was taught, but his prayers are frantic, rushed, anxious. He begs for forgiveness, for peace, for a new path forwards. Hours pass. Kevin steps outside, exhausted, emotionally, mentally. He sees Homelander and stops. Kevin doesn't run. He doesn't beg. He simply closes his eyes. Homelander hesitates, studies him. Something stops him, something tells him to spare this young man, who has always been so loyal, and now stands so calmly, awaiting his death. "Be free, Little Fish." John takes to the skies, but he still hears Kevin say thank you. John's going to miss him, but he knows now that Kevin was never his to keep.