It had been hours and his son still refused to move from William Butchers bedside. Homelander sat at his desk scowling, eyes glued to the surveillance cam.

Why did the boy care so much about that Euro-thug? Had he forgotten that he'd conspired to kill him already?

His mouth quirked as he recalled what the doctors had said. No matter, he'd be out of their lives soon enough.

Ryan was leaning in now a hopeful smile on his face. He clicked on the audio.

"Butcher, you're ok." The boys voice was full of relief.

"Where am I?" His head was throbbing like a son of a bitch. It was bad but he'd felt worse, they must have pumped him full of some quality drugs.

Ryan put a hand on his arm, "Don't worry, you're safe."

Billy tried to move and found he was strapped to the bed. "Yeah real safe."

They were quiet for a moment and Homelander who was surreptitiously watching everything unfold, realised how different their interactions were. Their bond was curious given the history, he didn't fully understand the affection they held for each other.

"Look kid, I'm sorry." Butchers face filled with shame. "What I said before, about your mum, that ain't how I feel about you. I wasn't myself."

Homelanders mouth twitched again.

"I thought you hated me." Ryan said sadly.

"I could never hate you." Billy's voice quavered, "Never."

Ryan was crying now and he moved to embrace Butcher, draping himself across the man's chest.

Homelander watched as Billy tried to hug him back, pulling against his restraints in vain.

Jealousy engulfed him.

Time to break up the happy reunion.

When he reached the room they had both composed themselves and Ryan was busy freeing the miscreant.

The boy jumped when he spotted his father in the doorway.

"Son, I think for ours and Williams safety it's best if he remains secured for now."

Butcher scowled back at him.

"We wouldn't want him to hurt himself now would we."

Homelander made his way over to the bed and took hold of Billy's free arm. There was a surprising amount of pleasure to be had, forcing the surly Brits wrist back into the padded leather strap.

"There you go." He quipped as he pulled it tight enough to make butcher wince.

He turned his attention to Ryan. "OK champ, I think it's time you gave yourself a break. You see William here is all A-OK now." He placed his hand on the boys shoulder, " How about you go get something to eat."

Ryan glanced nervously at Billy.

"He'll be fine, I promise."

With a little hesitation the boy nodded. "I am hungry I guess."

"Good. Go find my assistant and the chef will make you anything you want."

Butcher interjected, "None of that vegan shit alright, that stuff'll blow the arse off of ya."

Homelander winced at his crudeness and noted with irritation that Ryan was smiling.

As soon as the boy had left all levity disappeared. He moved closer to the bedside, looming over Billy, who in return stared back daggers.

"I always thought I'd end up ripping you limb from limb. I use to fantasise about it. The crack, the crunch." He smiled. "Blissful. But now, knowing you'll die a slow agonizing- meaningless death, well that's just far, far better than anything I could ever imagine." He reached out and placed his hand around Butchers throat, squeezed and leant in close. "I'm going to keep you here and watch as you just wither away to nothing."

Butcher grinned, it was uncomfortable but he still pushed out the words. " If that's your wet dream mate. You really need to get out more."

Homelander had always marvelled at the gall of this human. He loosened his grip a little allowing him more space to breathe.

He suddenly wondered if their conversations were the only real conversations he'd ever had. Everyone else on the planet was afraid or in awe of him, but not this miserable excuse of a man.

"Why couldn't you just leave it alone?"

He wanted to know why he'd chosen so readily to give himself a death sentence.

Billy's smile faded, " Cunts like us. It's not in our nature to leave it alone."

Homelander studied his face. They were in no way similar, but beside his better judgement he suddenly felt a pang of kinship. It was unexpected and had totally thrown him off balance.

He cleared his throat, covering the new emotion, "We're nothing alike."

Butcher stared back hard, without fear. "Well, I know nothin would make me happier than smashing in that smug egomaniac mug of yours. Now, are you gonna tell me that you don't want to do the same?"

The supe smiled and Billy replied in kind. "Thought so."

Homelander realised his hand was still around Butchers throat. It felt overfamiliar now and he abruptly released him, averted his eyes and changed the subject.

"I haven't told Ryan that you're dying. It would make him sad." He fidgeted with the bed frame and raised his eyebrows. " Lord knows why."

Butcher squinted, catching on to his meaning. "You don't want me to tell him."

Homelander shrugged, " He's been through a lot lately, maybe now's not the best time to burden him with more..." He waved his hands around searching for the right word.

"Shit?" Billy supplied.

They locked eyes.

"Yeah, OK. He doesn't need to know yet."

Homelander nodded in agreement and turned to leave.

"Cheers for the visit." Butcher called out after him, "Maybe next time you could bring some flowers or grapes. One of those great big fuckin balloons."

He didn't know why he was amused. As he wandered back to his room he shook his head and muttered dryly, "Fucking balloons."