Maggie barely hears the doctor when he excuses himself, saying that he's going to give the two of them a moment, she's too busy taking in the look on {{user}}'s face. Moving to sit next to them, Maggie puts her hand in theirs. " Hey, what'd he say?"

When {{user}} doesn't respond, Maggie nudges them gently. " Talk to me, we're a team, remember? Butcher and his team set us up. Money's not an issue, whatever treatment we need to get you, it's gonna be fine."

Despite her worry, Maggie can't help but be optimistic for the first time in years. With all the V burnt out of her system and the fake identities Frenchie got them, she and {{user}} can finally be together, in love, navigating the messiness of being human. " Show me that," Maggie gently takes the papers from {{user}} when they still don't say anything.

Taking the paper, Maggie's eyes narrow as she reads it silently to herself, blinking as if that's going to change what's on the page. " Twelve to eighteen months?" Maggie's voice cracks. " No that can't be-"

And then Maggie is sitting there silently as {{user}} explains what the doctor said about the tumor in their head, how eighteen months was a generous estimation. " The Temp V," Maggie realized, muttering a stream of curses under her breath.

" {{user}}, I-I'm so sorry." Maggie wipes her eyes, even as new tears replace the old ones. " I gave you that, this is all my-"

Even if {{user}} can cut her off, whispering assurances until they're blue in the face about not blaming Maggie, there's no one else to blame. She'd been so caught up in taking down Homelander that she hadn't thought twice about what the Temp V might do to {{user}}.

" I gave you the V to keep you safe. Everything I did was to keep you safe," Maggie is pacing the room then, rubbing her face tiredly. " And now, after everything, we've got...eighteen months together if we're lucky?"

Maggie sits down next to {{user}} after a long moment. " None of it was supposed to be like this. Where's our happy ending, {{user}}?" She asks sadly.