The next morning dawned with both Billy and me feeling pretty damn happy with our lot. First of all, I had made sure that my security codes, and Billy's were changed with a nice little quirk that I thought Homelander might appreciate. Or not, it didn't matter. After that, over dinner, I researched something that had me a touch concerned, but once I found proof that it was a non-issue, both of us enjoyed a warm bath (tepid, since Billy plus me in my current state made everything a few degrees warmer automatically). Then we slipped into bed and after working up a nice exhaustion, slept the sleep of two people who were about to ruin a superhuman douchebag's day.

Dressed in another light as I could make it outfit and still look professional, Billy's dimples hadn't left his face since we woke up entwined, steaming skin be damned. Once again, we drove into the office in my truck, the windows cracked and the air cranked up. We went over our plans for lunch, feeling that we'd have quite the appetite after our meeting with Homelander.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, as he helped me down from the truck to go to work. I looked up at him, not giving a damn about how much steam I might be producing, because I was feeling pretty damn good. "That good, eh?" My smile widened and he leaned forward to kiss me. "Let's go piss off American's biggest arsehole, shall we?"

Laughing we went inside, and waited for the supe who thought he was a puppet master to come visit and learn he was a mouse in our maze.

Homelander was late, but that could be because of the welcome he received from the people on the street outside. Anthony informed us that he was outside, but we waited, door open for the man of the hour to come to us. Seated behind our desks, mirrors of one another, looking as unconcerned as we were.

We could hear him begging off, with faux modesty, telling his adoring fans that he had an appointment and he'd sign autographs when he was finished. I wanted to roll my eyes or throw up, but I held back. I could give in to my temptations after we dealt with the cape wearing thorn in our sides.

"Ah, Dr. Taylor and Mr. Butcher." He was smiling as wide as he did during one of the required publicity stunts The Seven were contracted to attend. "Don't get up," sounding gracious, he shut the door and walked confidently to the single chair we'd placed between our desks. "Don't you look, warm." His eyes locked on mine, and I smiled. "I heard you were unwell, Dr. Taylor, I hope you feel better."

"Much." I answered, my tone as clear and concise as ever. "Now, Homelander, let's go through your file, shall we?"

"My file?" He stared at me as I looked up, and I smiled without speaking. "I thought we'd have more important things to talk about." His eyes shifted to where my midsection was hidden from the room by my desk, but not from his vision, which was his first mistake. Reminding me of that particular power.

"Oh," my smile grew and my hand touched my stomach absently. "I have a little virus, and I have an appointment scheduled to take care of it." Flipping open the file I had on my desk, I went back to what a supe appointment normally entailed. "Now, Homelander, it says here-"

"Take care of it?" His smile was starting to look a tad forced, oh dear. "Aren't you going to at least make certain it's unwanted?" His eyes shifted to Billy and I knew the man I love would be smirking. "Why be rash?"

"Rash?" Billy's head tilted. "Don't think a woman should be questioned about her right to her own body, do you?" I schooled my features against showing anything more than benign courtesy while Billy stared down the supe with laser eyes. "It would be a shame for a woman to be forced to choose between the man she loves something she didn't choose, wouldn't it?"

"Where were we?" I brought Homelander's focus back to me. The point wasn't to get him to attack, it was to keep him off his game. "The last time you were checked, the powers I have listed for you are-"

"You and I both know, Dr. Taylor, that you have a tiny being inside of you right now." He was trying so damn hard to get me to admit to the condition his sorry ass forced on me, and to admit I was angry and Billy was angry I almost felt pity for him. Almost.

"Again, Homelander, I have an appointment to take care of a problem. While I appreciate your concern, today's appointment is to make contact with you and let you know how our office will be handling superhuman situations and conditions." I went back to the file, starting with the first of his powers and got to the fifth before he snorted. "I'm sorry, did I miss one?"

"What game are you playing?" His eyes were locked on mine and I stared back, unconcerned, which only pissed him off more. "So you'll abort the thing inside of you," nice, 'thing', glad to know he was so paternal. "And then what? Pretend it didn't happen? There are records, Dr. Taylor. Records of YOU requesting MY sperm. Records of YOU having a doctor inseminate you. Records of YOUR positive pregnancy test. How will you explain all that if it happens to come out?"

I shook my head. I hadn't known precisely what he'd wanted, but I had to admit, he truly thought he had me. "Well, first of all, I would have the proof that MY request came through an outside IP address that I have NO access to. The tower The Seven uses as a residence doesn't have WiFi that just anyone on the street can piggyback off of. As for MY request itself, it's strange that that request came from that tower while I was here at work. With MY security clearance code." I sat back, file forgotten as I spoke. Once I had the idea, the research was shockingly simple. "Now, the knee jerk reaction, if I hadn't done an IP search first, would have been that I had a mole in my midst. Unfortunately for whichever cape wearing sour grape who decided to utilize my code, they didn't think of doing a VPN which would have made it marginally more difficult to figure them out, I guess being invulnerable doesn't make someone very smart." His fists were clenching as I went on. "Let's see, that deals with the request that I made. As for the doctor, well I'd dare anyone to link me to that doctor through any form of communication other than email, which by the way, I found. 'drvtaylor '? Really?" I scoffed at how idiotic I'd found his trail. "The receptionist that acted to divert me from my real appointment to the doctor's clutches was more difficult, but she doesn't really matter. In the end, I'm getting rid of something I never wanted or asked for, and if the superbeing that put everything in motion knows what's good for their star spangled ass they'll keep it as quiet as I plan on doing. Otherwise, all my fact finding goes as public as his fake tears and emotion."

"You think you're incredibly clever, don't you?" I raised an eyebrow, yes, of course I did. "If the good doctor was only there to inseminate you, then what was in the shot?"

"What does that matter?" I asked, head tilted, refusing to show him any fear. "It could have been a placebo."

Homelander was smirking and I felt a twist in my stomach. "Or," he took a deep breath, seeming to savor having the upper hand for the first time in the meeting. "It could be a little Variation". I heard the emphasis he put on the 'V'. I knew Billy did too, and that meant I had to keep my head.

"Regardless," I sounded, thankfully, unimpressed. "It doesn't matter. Your spawn will be gone, and I'll find out if you're bluffing or not afterward." I prayed that Billy wouldn't take the bait and give the asshole what he clearly wanted.

"And then what?" Homelander's hands came up under his chin like he was simply curious. "In love with a man who HATES supes, and you just might be one."

"I think we're finished here." I stood up, moving in front of Billy as he stood. My back to him, but acting as a shield between the two. "I'd see you out, but you clearly know the way."

Homelander sat for a beat, savoring what I imagined he felt was a minor victory. As he stood, he glanced around the office. "I do like what you've done with the place since the last time-" I felt Billy step forward, but held my ground between him and this pompous ass. "Of course, I've peeked here and there."

"About that," I wanted to be sure he knew how much I'd pieced together about his peeping Tom bullshit. "You should know, if you try to use either of our security codes again, not only will they not work, but an alert will be sent out and well-" I smiled as he glared at me. "I'm fairly certain that Vought won't be able to find a fix for breaking through CIA clearances."

He left, cape swishing behind him, and I shut my eyes and hung my head. What he said, taunted me with, what if-

"Veronica," Billy's hands were sliding down my arms, and for once I didn't fear steaming. I was so frightened I could barely feel the warmth from his hands much less my own body. "Sweetheart, come here." He turned me and tucked me into his body. Holding me while I tried to process this new, more disturbing development. "Listen to me, Ronnie," his breath was fanning over the top of my head as I pressed my face into his chest. "Whatever we learn, I love you, do you hear me? I love you."

I knew he meant it. Now. But Billy Butcher had spent years hating supes. Years wanting nothing more than to see them all burn to the ground. How would he really look at me if, as Homelander mocked, I was one?