Nolan watched as Sam finished locking her door.

She had decided to wear a black skirt and a blue button up shirt covered by a black coat, along with a pair of pink high heels.

Honestly, the only reason Nolan really noticed it was because it was the only actual outfit he'd ever seen her in.

Her pj's didn't count.

Her work uniform didn't either.

She turned and smiled at Nolan as she put her keys in her jacket pocket.

"So, are we ready?"

Nolan smiled back at her. "I believe we are."

Nolan followed her as they exited the apartment building, her bouncing happily as he followed her. It didn't escape his attention how excited she was.

"Okay, so if we take the 10:00 o'clock bus, we can hopefully get their before they are busy at 1." Sam informed as she began walking down the sidewalk. Nolan chuckled.

"Are they open now?" He asked. She looked at him, confused, and she nodded.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, there is a quicker way there, Sam." He remarked, grinning ear to ear as her brow furrowed, trying to figure out what he meant.

She felt a blush make its way onto her face when she realized what he meant. "Oh! I don't… you don't have to…" She was mumbling now. Clearly a part of her wanted to, but she was a little nervous.

Nolan chuckled. "I don't have a problem with it. It's quicker and leaves us with more to do with the day." He reasoned as he approached.

Sam's face grew redder as he closed the distance. "Nolan, I really don't think it's a good idea." The thought of Nolan holding her close at all made butterflies in her stomach, but there was another reason she was hesitant.

Nolan chuckled. "What, you'll look at me, but you won't let me hold you for a few quick seconds?"

Sam could've sworn her face was about to explode from how red it was right now. It was a wonder she didn't have a nosebleed. "Um… it's not that…" She admitted.

Nolan raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"You see, I'm… afraid of heights…" She admitted, looking up at Nolan as she rubbed the back of her neck.

Nolan chuckled. "You say that like I'd judge you for it."

Sam looked down. "Well, I've been scared of heights since I was a kid, and I was always bullied for it. The other kids would call me names and laugh at me whenever I would freeze up at the top of the ladder on the playground."

Nolan smiled softly at her. "There's nothing wrong with being afraid of heights." He said, resting his hand on her shoulder. "Hell, you think I wasn't scared of heights when I was a kid? Flying is like a muscle. It's harder to slow down than it is to speed up." He explained.

She looked up at him, smiling softly. "You were scared of heights?"

Nolan chuckled. "I broke my arm after dive bombing into the ground as a kid. Had me terrified to heights for ages. I didn't fly again till my caretaker threatened to… well, point is, I was terrified of heights as a kid too. There's nothing wrong with not getting over that fear."

Sam smiled brightly at him. "Thank you Nolan."

Nolan smiled back. "No problem, Sam." He chuckled as he looked down at her. "Just so you know, flying doesn't necessarily mean I'll be in the air."

Sam tilted her head in confusion, a quirk that Nolan found himself growing fond of seeing. "What do you mean?"

"As long as my feet are off the ground, I'm flying. Whether it's an inch or a mile, I can fly either way." Nolan explained.

Sam bit her lip as she considered what he had said. "Don't… don't go higher than the buildings, okay?"

Nolan smiled. "I won't."

He held his hands out for her to take.

Hesitantly, Sam stepped forwards, grabbing Nolan's forearms has his hands wrapped around her own. He pulled her closer slightly, smiling.

"Step up on my feet."

Sam looked up at Nolan, hesitant. "Are you sure?"

Nolan chuckled. "It'll make you feel better. Outside of the wind, you won't even know we've left the ground."

Sam gulped as a thought occurred to her. "But won't people see you flying?"

Nolan laughed. "Sam, to you, we'll be here, then we'll be in Harlem. To you, we'll have teleported."

Sam grinned nervously, but nodded. "Okay."

Nolan smiled softly. "If you want, closing your eyes might make you feel better."

Nodding, Sam clenched her eyes shut. Suddenly, it felt as if a blast of wind had slammed into her as her hair whipped all over the place. Her jacket had wind flying up into it, giving a gentle breeze upon her back as she suddenly couldn't hear for a second.

Then everything was silent. The wind stopped. Her jacket and hair fell back down.

"We're in Harlem. You can open your eyes, Sam."

Slowly, she allowed her eyes to crack open, gazing up at Nolan, who was smiling down at her. "We're here?"

Nolan chuckled. "We're in Harlem. You're gonna have to lead me to the diner."

Nodding, she stepped off Nolan's feet, the solid ground feeling a little weird under her feet as she slowly let go of Nolan's arms.

She was somewhat displeased from losing the warmth Nolan's arms provided, but she decided to instead focus on finding out where they were, so she could lead Nolan to the diner.

Looking around, she noticed the familiar trees of the nearby park.

Marcus Garvey Park.

"Okay, this is Marcus Garvey Park, so, the diner, is a few blocks down… that way." Sam pointed the sidewalk they were one, and began walking. "It's not that far of a walk, from here."

Nolan smiled, and began following her.

They made the trip in a companionable silence, comfortably enjoying each other's presence as they made their way to the diner.

After about ten minutes, they had reached the diner.

"Here it is!" Sam said excitedly as she looked up at the sign on the diner. Nolan took a glance at it as well.

"Frederick Barlow's Country Diner."

Sam nodded, smiling. "It opened up when I was a kid. My dad used to take me here all the time after it opened." She looked down, her face taking on a sad look as she looked down at the sidewalk. "I don't really come here anymore."

Nolan glanced at her. "Why?"

Sam sighed. "I never really have anyone to come here with me, and it's… lonely." She admitted, looking up at Nolan.

Nolan took a pretty good guess that something happened to her dad, but he wasn't about to open that wound.

Instead, he smiled. "Well, you do now." He said, grinning as he grabbed her wrist and gently pulled her towards the door. He let go of her so he could get the door, opening it as he gestured inside. "My lady."

Sam laughed. "Thank you, kind sir." She joked, walking through the door as Nolan held it.

Nolan simply grinned as he followed her inside.

The restaurant was relatively empty, save for a few seats that had a person or two occupying them.

"Oh, here!" Sam jumped, grabbing Nolan's wrist as she pulled him to a corner booth. "It's the best place for some A/C!"

Nolan chuckled and allowed her to pull him.

They took a seat at the booth, sitting opposite of each other. They were barely comfortable before a young man had approached their table, menus at the ready, while setting down silverware wrapped in napkins.

"Thank you so much for choosing Frederick's. Would you like a moment to look at our menu or do you know what I would like?" He asked, smiling at both of them.

Nolan and Sam both looked at each other, surprised by the quickness, before looking back at the boy.

"Well, I would like a Pepsi to drink. I think I'll look at the menu before deciding what to eat." Sam said, smiling at the boy. She looked at Nolan. "What about you, Nolan?"

Nolan glanced at the drinks section of the menu for a moment, before looking back up at the boy. "I will have a pink lemonade, if it's okay."

The boy nodded, writing down their drinks with a smile. "Alright, I'll be back in just a moment with your drinks." He said as walked back towards the counter. Nolan glanced at Sam, grinning.

"Well that was quick." He remarked, looking down at his menu. "They always that fast?"

"Depends." Sam said as she began looking through her own menu. "There aren't many people here right now. Probably saw us the moment we came in."

Nolan nodded. "That makes sense." He looked through the menu. "Oh, they have pizza?"

Sam gasped. "They have it back?!" She quickly flipped through her menu, an excited grin on her face as she found what she was looking for. "Yay!"

Nolan looked at Sam, smiling a bit. "You seem happy."

Sam grinned. "This place had the best pizza when I was a kid! It was better than anything you could ever get, even Giovanni's!" She exclaimed excitedly.

Nolan chuckled and set his menu down. "I guess we're having pizza for breakfast." He joked.

Sam nodded vigorously. "Yep!" She looked at the menu, examining the options. "Oh, they have 19 inches. Does that sound good?"

Nolan nodded. "I'm fine with whatever you want."

Sam looked up at Nolan. "Do you get any toppings when you eat Pizza? I usually just get plain cheese pizzas."

Nolan shook his head. "Never really had a preference. Just no anchovies, bleh." Nolan stuck his tongue out in disgust.

Sam went green at the thought. "Oh god, I get that feeling." She shook her head. "My dad talked me into trying some pizza with anchovies when I was five."

Nolan grinned. "How'd that go?"

Sam shook her head at the thought. "I painted my lap."

Nolan chuckled as he understood what he was saying. "Yeah, they're disgusting."

Sam sighed. "Probably didn't help that we had come to find out I couldn't have fish."

Nolan's eyes widened. "Really?"

Sam nodded. "Oh yeah, turned I have a bad fish allergy. Never really went away, just lessened."

"How bad was it?"

"When I was a kid, eating a piece of seafood would've put me in the hospital. Now it just feels like someone set my throat on fire." Sam explained.

Nolan nodded. "Wouldn't surprise me. One of my old comrades back home, Josef. Due to his… condition, his metabolism was insanely high." He looked at Sam. "Turned out he had a bad peanut allergy. Never went away when he got his powers, just got worse."

"Worse?"

"Peanut dust in his throat sent him to the hospital. Doctors said that anything more than that is fatal."

Sam's eyes went wide. "Jesus Christ."

Nolan nodded. "Yeah. Consider yourself lucky that your allergy faded somewhat."

Sam nodded. "No problem."

Their conversation was interrupted when the waiter returned, drinks in hand as he sat them on the table, before pulling out two straws. "Your drinks." He pulled out his notepad. "Now, what would you like to order?"

Nolan looked at Sam, who smiled at the waiter. "One 19 inch cheese pizza, please." She said, the waiter scribbling it down quickly.

"Anything else?" He asked, looking between the two of them, who shook their heads.

"No."

"No thanks."

The waiter nodded. "Okay, I will be back in a bit with your food." The waiter smiled at the two as he walked away from them, leaving the two alone."

The two turned back to each other, and smiled.

"So, what do you hope to do with your life?" Nolan asked, looking at Sam as he took a sip of his drink.

Sam thought for a moment. "Well, I've… I've always wanted to be a singer." She said, smiling at the thought. "My dad used to sing the best songs when I was a little kid. He never… well, he never released them to the public." She looked at Nolan. "I have all of his songs hidden away in my closet. I've always wanted to try and get the equipment so I could sing them… but it's hard enough getting the money I need to survive."

Nolan looked at Sam, sympathy in his voice. "You're close with your dad, aren't you?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. My mom walked out when I was two. It was just me and him for most of my life." She smiled fondly. "He was the coolest. Every Friday after school, he'd bring me here to get something to eat. Afterwards, if I'd kept my grades up for the week, we'd hit the toy shop, which turned into the video game store."

Nolan smiled as he listened to her recount her memories of her father.

"I remember how he'd always kick my ass at Mortal Kombat. Then, we'd play one of the lego games." She laughed as she recounted something particularly funny. "I remember when he first tried to get me to play Wii Sports. He forgot to tell me to put the little strap around my wrist, and I ended up throwing the controller at the TV." She giggled. "He told me that if I ever touched a Wii Remote again, he was running for the hills."

Nolan chuckled at that. "He sounds like a good man."

Sam's smile turned sad. "He was."

Nolan noticed the sudden change. "Was?"

Sam nodded, sniffling slightly. "He uh… he died three years ago." Her voice wavered slightly as she spoke.

Nolan furrowed his brow. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Sam shook her head. "I need to. It feels like I've just been trying to forget it ever happened."

Nolan was silent as he listened to Sam.

"I was a carpenter. His jobs were always off the books so that he could get SSI." Sam looked at Nolan. "Then one day his leg started hurting."

Nolan raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

"At first I thought he had just worked himself too hard. Stayed up all night with him, until he felt better. It was a weekend, so I didn't have to worry about school." Her lips tightened. "He was fine for a month after that."

"Then it started again." Nolan guessed. Sam nodded.

"Yeah…" She sniffled. "He had always had a high pain tolerance. He thought he could wait for it to fade. But… it never did. It only got worse. Eventually, I had to let him use my hand to pull himself out of his chair."

Nolan only continued to listen in silence, letting her get it out.

"He was on a cane by the time he finally went to the hospital. They did an X-Ray on him, found out his back was broken." Sam shook her head. "I… I thought maybe he'd jumped off a ladder too high. Cracked his spine and it slowly continued breaking." She rested her arms on the table, folding them. "But we went to another doctor. By then, he was on a walker, and I had to be the one driving him. After a few appointments, we found out he had a tumor in his back."

Nolan's eyes widened. "Was it inoperable?"

Sam shook her head. "No, quite the contrary. It was in the perfect spot for them to remove it." She gritted her teeth as tears began welling up in her eyes. "But removing it only gave us temporary peace."

Nolan tilted his head, looking at Sam, unsure of what to say, so he just stayed silent, allowing her to continue.

"He got a little better… but he declined rapidly. Eventually, I asked Ellis for a favor, and we took him to another hospital two hours out of state." Her voice quivered slightly as she took in a shuddered breath. "Me, Ellis, and the nurses had to convince him to stay the night so he could get better."

Nolan looked at Sam. "So… what happened?"

"He stayed." She let out a breath. "And I got a call the next day from the hospital."

She looked up at Nolan, tears pricking at her eyes as her lips tightened up. "The uh, tumor in his back? It was bone cancer that spread from his femur. That's why it started with his leg. It, uh, spread… to his lungs and pancreas."

Nolan felt his heart shatter at the look on Sam's voice.

Her voice quivered as its pitch picked up, a result of her trying to hold back from crying. "They said that their was nothing they could do… just ease his pain." She hiccuped. "We chose home hospice. He wanted to die at home."

Nolan didn't like the direction this was taking. Not at all.

"He uh… well, they said he'd only live for two more months when He came home. Ellis stayed with us through it all… My dad was stronger than they knew. He lived for four months instead of two…"

She began hiccuping as the tears started flowing. Nolan didn't say anything, he just silently moved away from his seat, coming over to her side of the table, sitting on the edge of the booth as he pulled her into a hug.

"I went to sleep… Ellis said he'd stay up with my dad… my last thought before bed was begging for him to be awake when I woke up." A shudder ran through her body as she leaned into Nolan's side, Nolan holding her closely to him to try and comfort her. "But… Ellis woke me up the next morning… tears in his eyes… he had passed out when the sun came up, and when he woke up… my dad wasn't… wasn't breathing…"

Finally, the dam burst, and she couldn't hold it in anymore. She wrapped her arms around Nolan's side and leaned her head into his chest as she started sobbing.

Nolan's heart was destroyed at the site as he pulled her close to him, his hand resting comfortably on the side of her head.

He was unsure of what to say. Honestly, he wasn't sure there was anything he could say, that wouldn't sound bad.

But when words failed… actions spoke louder.

"I-I… n-never got to… actually process it!" She cried, gripping Nolan tightly, her hands gripping his shirt hard.

Nolan leaned his head down, resting his chin on top of her head. "Take the time you need." He whispered softly.

When the waiter arrived with their food, he merely sat the food down without a word, nodding at Nolan in understanding.

Nolan nodded back, mouthing the words 'Thank you' as he held Sam close.

The waiter merely nodded, smiling softly as he walked back to the kitchen.

Nolan merely stayed silent, holding Sam close in a gentle but firm embrace as she let out years of bottled up feelings, kept at bay by her focus on trying to survive the circle of life.

Nolan didn't move the entire time. He didn't know how much time had passed, and he didn't care either. By the time Sam had quieted to a sniffle, his shirt was drenched from where her tears had fallen on it.

But he didn't care. Sam needed a friend. He may not have known her long, but she was his friend, and he'd be damned if he wouldn't be there for her.

As she quieted down, Nolan finally decided to speak.

"You know, something my family taught me was that all life is precious, because it's how their life makes an impact, not how long it lasts, that matters." He smiled down at her as he gently stroked her hair.

She slowly looked up at him, wiping her eyes.

He continued to smile. "Your father made an impact on you, and it sounds like he was the high point of your life. Focus on that, instead of the fact that he's gone."

Sam nodded, sniffling as she wiped up her tears. "Thank you Nolan." She said, giving him a smile.

He grinned. "Not a problem. Now!" He jumped up and back over to his side of the table. "We have a nice hot Pizza here, and I have it on good authority that it's the best around."

Sam giggled, he breakdown slowly becoming a thing of the past. "Oh? And who is this authority?"

"Some girl I met." Nolan laughed as He began separating the pizza. "Short, blonde, honey colored eyes… always happy and likes ogling?"

Sam laughed, for once not embarrassed at being called out, instead running along with the joke. "Sounds like she stole my identity."

Nolan chuckled as he split the pizza apart. "Well, maybe it's time for you to take it back." He grinned at her as he sat a piece of pizza on her plate, before getting himself a piece.

As they began to eat, sharing the pizza, it dawned on both of them that this might be the start of something bigger.

Unfortunately, Nolan's mood was spoiled.

"Oi, look who it is!"

Nolan's eyes shot wide as a voice he knew filled his ears, and it was a voice he really didn't like hearing at the moment.

"Butcher?" He asked, turning to the source of the voice, to find the bearded man approaching his table, a smirk on his face.

"If it ain't my old friend, Nolan! Where have you been mate? I've been calling you all morning!" Billy Butcher said, looking at Nolan, his smirk never wavering, and Nolan had the odd feeling that Butcher was enjoying his surprise.

"Nolan? Who's this?" Sam asked, glancing at Billy with confusion. Butcher turned his gaze to her, and gave her a wide grin.

"Me? Name's Butcher, luv, Billy Butcher. And you boytoy here is an… associate of mine."

Sam looked at Billy, confused before turning to Nolan.

"He's one of the guys helping me to take down you-know-who." He deadpanned.

Butcher and Sam's eyes both went wide.

"Oooh." Sam said, before smiling at Butcher. "Well, nice to meet you! I'm Sam."

Butcher glanced between Sam and Nolan, before fixing Nolan a look. "How much does she know?"

Nolan sighed. "Everything but your names. Though, now she knows your's, Butcher." Nolan shook his head as he fixed Butcher with a look of his own. "Speaking of which, how the hell did you find me?"

Butcher simply smirked. "My ways are my own, Nolan."

Nolan rolled his eyes. "Well, my phone hasn't rang since I've been up." He fixed Billy an annoyed glance. "So, what's so important?"

Billy glanced at Sam, before sighing. "Well, since the lady already knows, we're fixing to move in on Popclaw. Thing is, well, we'd like you to be there, in case it all goes down the shitter. Besides, ain't you supposed to be helping us against Vought?"

Nolan sighed, annoyance flooding through. "Let me guess, you want me there to subdue her in case she makes a move against any of you."

Butcher grinned, his tone implying the opposite of his words. "I said no such thing."

Nolan sighed, and looked at Sam. "I'm sorry, Sam.."

Sam raised a hand, stopping Nolan. "It's fine. Vought's gotta go down anyway, and we can reheat the oven in the microwave later."

Nolan smiled at Sam. "If your sure."

Sam gestured towards Butcher. "Get going, Nolan."

With a smile, Nolan nodded and stood up out of his seat, fixing Butcher with a look. "This better turn up something."

Butcher grinned. "A-Train's her man, mate. It'll turn up something."

Nolan sighed as he walked towards the exit of the restaurant, Butcher following him. "It better."

Marvin was not sure what to expect when Butcher popped up asking him to come back.

Seeing Frenchie was definitely not something he was happy about.

The new kid, Hughie, seemed a little… light, for this kind of work.

That left… well… Butcher, as the only person he knew as reliable for this job.

So it went exactly how he would've usually expected.

But when Butcher climbed into the trailer after a few hours with a fucking supe on his, Marvin nearly flipped out.

"A supe?! You brought a fucking supe here, Butcher?!" He exclaimed, jumping to his feet as he closed the distance quickly. "I thought you hated supes!"

Butcher waved his hand at Marvin. "Don't get your tits in a twist, MM. This one is reliable."

"Nolan!" Frenchie approached the supe, walking past Butcher as he greeted the white and red clad man. "I know we didn't get a proper introduction, vrais heros, but my friends call me Frenchie."

The supe nodded, smiling. "It's good to actually meet you, Frenchie." He said, shaking the frenchman's hand.

"Hey Nolan." Hughie said, walking up to the supe as well, shaking his hand in greeting.

"Hughie." The man responded, grinning slightly. "You doing better?"

"Honestly, I'm still really nervous. But, I jumped in the river. May as swim." Hughie admitted. The supe smiled.

"That's understandable. But, depending on how long you stay with us, that might change." He assured the kid, who sighed.

"I hope so."

Meanwhile, Marvin was still glaring at Butcher. "First you bring Frenchie back, after saying your not, and now we're working with a fucking supe?"

"MM, cool it!" Butcher said sternly. "Unlike Vought's test tube freaks, this one's the real deal!"

Marvin froze, looking warily at the supe. "What do you mean… real?"

"Vrais heros here is a real alien! Separate universe, everything!" Frenchie said, honestly a little giddy with a supe on their side, on par if not more powerful than Homelander.

Marvin glowered at the supe. "Bullshit."

Butcher glared at Marvin. "You listen to his story like I did, and then tell me it's another one of Vought's shit shows."

The supe approached Marvin, and held his hand out to him. "Nolan Grayson. But the public calls me Omni-Man."

Marvin looked at the newly named Nolan's hand, and hesitantly returned the gesture, shaking his hand. "Everyone around here calls me Mother's Milk."

Nolan raised an eyebrow. "Mother's Milk?"

Marvin rolled his eyes. "Don't ask."

Nolan shook his head. "Anyway, we're here to move in on Popclaw?" He asked, turning to Butcher.

Butcher nodded. "Yeah, here's what we got."

As Butcher began explaining the plan so far to Nolan, who would add little details here and there, Marvin could safely say that he was seeing a site he never could've dreamed of.

Billy Butcher, working with a supe, to take down Vought.

And if he was telling the truth, this supe was the real deal?

Marvin let himself smile as he felt a small swell of hope.

Their chances may have just skyrocketed.

A/N: And that's that!

Yeah, this chapter turned out a bit longer than I intended. Honestly, I was a little hesitant on writing what happened to Sam's father, but I started writing it, and I couldn't bring myself to stop.

I know Nolan is getting over Debbie really quickly, and honestly, I only just realized that when I saw a couple reviews pointing it out. But in my defense, Hughie did get with Starlight relatively quickly after Robin's death. Maybe not as quick as Nolan is in this story, definitely quicker than most people would've.

Still, I acknowledge that Nolan seems to be getting over Debbie really quickly, but it would throw the entire outline I have for this story out of balance if I tried to change it now. So unfortunately, it's a fuck-up of mine that's too late to fix.

Also, reviewer Austin mentions that Vought could use Compound V to create an army of Homelanders.

Homelander took years to create and bring to the level of power they wanted him at. He is specifially designed to be Vought's most powerful superheroes, and it took his entire childhood for him to do it. His first contact with the outside world was his debut at 18. They can't just create an army of Homelander level supes willy nilly.

Also, Yay, MM!

Anyway, that's the end of this chapter. Don't forget to review, and I'll see you all in the next one.