Anyone who has been paying attention to the ballad of me and Billy Butcher should know by now that something as life altering as the two of us declaring our love wouldn't actually put a fucking damper in our work. Once we were both satisfied that the other person cared, we got back to it, with him allowing me to finish sharing with him what I thought was the next logical step in Supe Affair management.

"You're thinking that having each of these overpowered cunts come in to have a sit down is a good idea?" Billy was looking at me like he could think of many words to describe my plan, and none of them were 'good'.

Rolling my eyes, I knew my tone came out tart, but I couldn't help it. "Yes, William, we ARE the Office of Supe Affairs and as such, one would assume that we'd ACTUALLY speak with supes at some point."

I swear I heard a growl building in his chest and it did the fucking opposite of what a normal person would feel hearing a man who looks like Billy practically vibrating with irritation. No, I didn't feel fear or worry. When Billy's voice went rough and deep it made me feel an entirely different emotion. It turned me on. Shit.

"Ronnie," dear fucking hell, how is it possible that his voice could make me breathless? "These-" he stopped, and I watched how his nostrils were flared, his eyes almost crackling with irritation. "You've had minimal contact with supes, they're fucking-"

I waited, letting him rant and vent his anger and annoyance. Knowing that he needed to get it off his chest. As he spoke, it started to dawn on me.

I'd managed to make Becca Butcher an abstract concept. She was only real in the context that I knew the facts of her life from the moment of her employment with Vought, to the violation she experienced at the hands of Homelander. I knew that she'd chosen to leave her life, and the man she loved behind, simply to keep her child safe from her rapist. Even if that child was the product of rape, she'd raised Ryan with love. Which made her death, after he was abducted by the very man who raped her, at her son's hands (or laser eyes) all the more traumatic for everyone involved. But making her an abstract character, someone I didn't know and couldn't physically know, I'd forgotten that for Billy she was so much more than just the woman he loved.

Becca was his failure. He hated supes, not only for what Homelander had done by raping and impregnating her, but because of that pregnancy he lost years of a shared life with her. And then, to add insult to injury and failure to failure, she was killed at the hands (again, laser eyes) of her child, a child that she made Billy promise to keep safe.

When Billy told me he loved me, I failed to understand that this distrust of supes, this feeling of impotence in keeping Becca safe would transfer to me. Regardless of my training, of my gun, of the strength that I knew he knew I possessed, Billy was afraid of losing me. Damn it.

"Billy?" I took his hand and felt a sliver of hope that he was listening when his fingers easily linked with mine. "Sit, please?"

Sighing, he sat in the office chair that matched mine. I turned our chairs so we were facing one another and took his other hand in mine. "Veronica," his voice was almost hoarse, and my heart clenched. "They can't be trusted."

My head tilted as I studied him, our eyes always like magnets found one another. "Starlight?" I knew she'd helped him, his team and was still involved with Hughie. "Can she not be trusted?" He bit his lip, wanting to argue, but I went on. "Kimiko?" I knew, from reports and their time on the run that she had supe abilities. "She's part of the team, is she not?" He wanted to say something to force his issue, but I kept going. "Ryan?" He flinched, his fingers tightening gently. "I know what happened, with him and-" I swallowed hard. "Becca." I didn't want to do it, to bring up his pain, but he had to see. "We are the office to deal with their affairs, Billy. We have to sit down and talk to them, one by one, the ones that we have access to and once the others give us their reports, the ones we find."

Another sigh, and I knew he was truly listening, even if he hated the idea. "Not alone." He ground out. "You don't meet with any of these cunts alone."

"I hadn't planned on it, partner." I leaned forward and was rewarded by him mirroring me. Our foreheads pressed together, breaths mingling, I stared into his eyes. "With you by my side, Billy Butcher, I think I'll manage to keep the entire shitstorm from stirring too hard, don't you?"

His chuckle told me the worst was over, but his kiss cemented it.

Once we settled on a goal, it was simple to start to execute it. Every supe would be sent out a request for an appointment in the office. Home terf, I agreed, was important and easier to control. The meetings would be simple and calm, which I reiterated to Billy more times than I care to recount, touching base with each one to let them know that I was heading the office, that Billy and his team were part of my 'staff' and that as long as they did no harm, they'd face no shit.

"Who first?" He asked, as we were eating dinner at my house. I was happy to see that he'd packed extra clothes when he went to his place that morning.

I chewed while I considered. "Starlight?" I was curious, she seemed very sweet and sincere. "Do you think she'll bring Hughie with her?" More curiosity from me, since I personally hadn't met the man-child.

He shrugged, refocusing on his meal. "No clue, why would he though?"

Taking a drink I thought about why Hughie might come with his supe girlfriend. "Moral support?" I offered, then my lips curled into a smile. "Protection?"

Billy snorted. "Hughie protect Starlight?" His eyes met mine and I saw his lips smirk with understanding at my insinuating. "You're HUMAN, Ronnie, purely human."

I shook my head and went back to eating. "Not sure about that, Billy, when I'm with you, I'm pretty fucking certain that my sex drive becomes fucking supe levels of high."

"We'll have to test that out, Veronica," and with a single sentence, it flared up hot and heavy and I knew that we'd both have our hands full with one another, until we finally fell asleep in exhaustion and satisfaction.