Victoria watched as Homelander moved around the kitchen in the penthouse. She was doing her best not to snarl at him or anger him. She knew that she had to be smart. Being emotional and irrational wasn't going to help her and she knew that. She had to be the one to best him and she knew that she could do that so long as there was a chance of being able to get away from him. And she knew that she could if Billy could find something to kill him. The more she thought about it, the more she wondered if there was something out there.
"You know that I need to go back to Paris, right?" Victoria asked from him.
She had been back for one night and had slept in the guest room. He hadn't said anything on that. He hadn't tried to touch her or force her to stay around him. In fact, he had given her space, almost as though he thought that would change things. But it wouldn't. Nothing was going to change anything.
"You're not going back to Paris, Vicky," he said to her and her mouth gaped.
"I agreed to take a six-month extension," she retorted, voice firm. "I'm not going to go back on that, John."
"You're going to have to," he said to her and he placed a mug of tea in front of her and resumed cooking the bacon in the pan. She almost wanted to laugh. He thought that making her breakfast was going to make her happy? There wasn't going to be anything that he did that could make her happy. She was basically a hostage.
"Look, I'm here, aren't I?" Victoria retorted to him. "I've agreed to stay with you, John. I've agreed to go to all the events…dangle off your arm…pretend to be the perfect couple. I've agreed to do all of that because I know what happens if I don't."
"It would be so much easier for you if you actually wanted to do those things. You know, you make me feel bad, Victoria. You make me feel like I'm keeping you hostage here and I don't want to feel like that," he said and she almost rolled her eyes at him and told him that was exactly what he was doing to her. But she couldn't say any of that. She had to keep quiet.
"Look, I just think that I need time," Victoria said to him. "Besides, you can be in Paris in less than an hour if you wanted to be. I just want to go back to work."
He looked to her as the bacon sizzled and she picked up the mug of tea. Taking a sip of it, she swallowed the warm liquid down and did her best to feel as though she was in control. His lips quirked as he saw her drinking the warm tea he'd made her. At least she hadn't thrown it in his face. She realised there was no point in her losing her temper after spending the entire night crying and trying to think of an escape.
"Next week," he decided on saying to her with a nod of his head. "We will see how this week goes and, if everything is fine, then you can go back."
"Really?"
He sighed and took the bacon off the stove. "I'm not entirely unreasonable, Victoria," he said to her and she remained passive, her lips pursed on her cup as she took another sip of tea. "I do want the best for you and I want you to be happy. I'm going to prove to you that you can be happy with me and you'll see that we will be fine."
"Yeah," Victoria said in weak agreement.
"But I am afraid that you won't be seeing Starlight again," he said to her and she placed the mug down then, hands resting on the worktop of the breakfast bar as she slipped from the stool and stood up. He folded his arms over his chest and leant back against the worktop.
"What?" Victoria snapped at him.
"Black Noir is looking for her. She went with Butcher and Hughie to bring you back," Homelander said to her. "She's been working with them and they're the enemies. She can't be allowed to get away with that…of course, we're not going to use that for the news. We're just going to say she was a traitor."
"John, that's not fair," Victoria said to him.
"Yes, it is, because she's not a member of the Seven. She's not a real member of the Seven. She'd rather work with her boyfriend than help us," Homelander said and Victoria opened her mouth, but he held a hand up to stop her. "It's not negotiable, Victoria."
Huffing once, she realised she'd be wasting her breath arguing with him and so she didn't bother. She just took another sip of her tea and grabbed her coat from the back of the stool next to her. Shrugging into it, she picked up her phone and keys from the worktop. Homelander tilted his head, brows rising on his forehead.
"Where are you going?"
"For a walk," Victoria said.
"You think that's for the best?"
"I need air," she said to him. "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything crazy. I'm not an idiot."
"Keep your phone turned on," he said to her and she just nodded once before leaving the apartment.
Heading down the elevator to the ground floor, Victoria controlled her breathing and realised that she had to do something to try and help Annie. If Noir was after her then how would he find her? Annie hadn't been back to the Tower and she clearly had the good sense not to come back. Heading out past reception, Victoria barely heard Ashley calling after her, shouting her name. When she did, she didn't turn around, but the footsteps kept on getting louder until she couldn't plead ignorance again.
"Victoria, I've been calling you," Ashley said and Victoria turned around to look at her.
"What is it?" Victoria asked, ignoring pleasantries. She found herself having less time for them.
"Homelander is doing a rally this afternoon with Stormfront. We were wondering if you could go and put those rumours to bed…you know…that you're fighting and he's seeking solace in another woman."
"No."
The answer was blunt and to the point. Ashley clearly hadn't been expecting that. Victoria remained where she was, hands in the pockets of her dark red coat. She watched Ashley fumble around on her phone, almost as though she was looking for her response on it.
"Well…I mean…" she stammered. "It would be really great while you're back in the city. You know we've been getting more and more questions about the two of you and it's-"
"-No, Ashley, I'm busy and I'm not off to one of her little rallies for fascists," Victoria said. "If that's all, then I need to go because I'm not in a contract with Vought and I'm under no obligation to stay here."
When Ashley didn't responded, Victoria began to turn and walk away, but again, she didn't get far. It seemed the new executive had other ideas. She chased after her, rushing to keep up with her footsteps. "Well, actually, there was something else. Your mother's been calling reception all morning and Homelander told me to tell him, but-"
"-What did she want?" Victoria asked, continuing to walk away, looking straight ahead and longing to get away from the Tower.
"She…I mean…you might want a minute-"
"-No, just tell me," Victoria said brusquely.
"Your dad's dead," Ashley blurted out.
Victoria stood still then. She let those words sink in and she looked to the ground. He was gone. Her own father was gone and her first thought was 'good riddance'. Nodding her head, she swallowed hard and Ashley continued talking, tone seemingly trying to be genuine.
"I'm so sorry, Victoria, and I didn't want to tell you because Homelander said you had nothing to do with your family, but I thought that you should know. Your mum said she was in New York. She wanted to see you."
"Where?"
"Oh, I have it on a post-it somewhere…" Ashley said, fumbling with her diary and moving the pages back and forth before she pulled out a pink note. She handed it to Victoria who glanced down at the address and pushed it into her pocket before nodding once and tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Thanks," she said to Ashley.
"Shouldn't you tell Homelander-"
'-Just…Ashley," Victoria said, holding a hand up and trying to calm the woman before she seemingly had a panic attack. She clearly didn't deal well with the idea of going up against Homelander. "He knows I've gone for a walk and that's all he needs to know. I'll deal with him when I get back, but he knows there's no chance I'll be coming to that rally because it goes against everything I believe in."
Nodding her head once at Ashley, Victoria indicated that was done. She left Ashley and walked away, heading to the subway and needing to get away from the Tower for as long as possible.
…
"How long have you been sat staring at the building for?"
Victoria looked to the side, glancing upwards to see Billy stood there. For the first time in a long time, she felt relieved at seeing him. He was dressed in his black coat and dark jeans, a dark floral shirt on his body with the top three buttons undone. He sat down next to her and Victoria recrossed her legs once again and looked to the building.
"About two hours," Victoria confessed to her brother. "I take it she called you and told you too?"
"This morning," Billy confirmed to her with a nod of his head. He clasped his hands together, leaning forwards and looking to the pavement. "Can't believe the old bastards gone, to be honest. Thought this day would never come."
"Do you think it was painful?"
"Hope so," Billy retorted and Victoria's lips arched despite how dark her brother's comment was. Not that either of them cared for their dad. "But I'm here to see mum and then I need to get back to work. You wouldn't believe what we've found."
"What's that?"
"Lamplighter," Billy said to her.
"What the fuck?"
Billy explained how they had found him at the Sage Grove Center, telling her everything that went on there and how Vought knew about it and Stormfront and Edgar spearheaded it all. Lamplighter was willing to testify against Vought and he was currently hiding out with Hughie to make sure that nothing happened to him. The other man they needed was Vogelbaum, but Grace and M.M. had gone after him while Frenchie and Kimiko kept Congresswoman Neuman safe. Victoria listened intently to him and watched her brother.
"You think that this might bring Vought down?" she asked.
"If Lamplighter can testify and we can get Vogelbaum then yeah, I think we might have a good chance," Billy confirmed to his sister and she shook her head. She remembered everything that Homelander had done to the doctor to get the information out of him. She remembered how Vogelbaum had refused to say anything until Homelander had him on the floor, his foot on his back and pressing down, threatening to break his spine. And the threat had come true after two minutes.
Victoria could still hear the screams. That was what made her shake her head. "He'll never go against Vought, not after what Homelander did to him to make him tell him what had really happened to Becca and Ryan," Victoria said to her brother with a shake of her head.
"Don't worry, I can be very persuasive if needed."
Victoria scoffed. "What you going to do? Threaten to break his legs? Because I hate to tell you, that won't bother him after John snapped his spine in two."
"Can you not call him John?" Billy asked from his sister.
"Force of habit," was all she whispered to him. "And you need to do something to help Annie."
Billy rolled his eyes and Victoria hit him across the arm.
"She's a supe," he defended.
"Who just so happened to help get my memories back and has been looking after me. She's not a bad person. She didn't choose to be injected with Compound V, did she?" Victoria said to Billy and he looked away from her. She rolled her eyes at him this time and hit him across the arm again to reinforce her point. "William, come on. She's a good person. You know that."
"Still a supe."
"A supe who is on your side so get over being prejudiced and just help her," Victoria said to him. "At this moment in time, I can't help her. Jo-Homelander's watching my every move when I'm at the apartment. I'm amazed he's actually allowed me out…but he knows he has me where he wants me."
"Not for much longer, Vicky. If we can bring Vought down then he falls with them. Their golden boy has no chance."
"You think bringing Vought down will stop him? Billy, he…the more time goes on, the more he despises Vought. I don't know what can bring him down except for a nuclear bomb and even then I think he'd survive it," Victoria sighed, moving a hand through her hair. "But it doesn't matter because I know how to survive him. So long as I do nothing to piss him off then I'm fine. He still thinks there's a chance we'll be fine…that I love him…"
"And do you?" Billy asked her and she knew that he was pressing with that question. She took a moment to look away from him and he had the answer he didn't want. Nodding thoughtfully, he tried not to snap at her, despite longing to do just that.
"It's complicated," Victoria settled on saying to him. "I hate him and everything he's done. I despise him and I think he might actually be a horrible person…but that's not who he is with me or who he has been. I know a lot of it has been a pretence, but to be honest, it's not bee horrendous…I lived in ignorant bliss…and I loved the man I thought he was."
"He's not that man, Vicky," Billy warned his sister and she nodded, sniffing loudly.
"I know," she promised her brother.
They lapsed into silence once again and Victoria motioned towards the building with her chin. Billy looked down to her and knew what was coming.
"Think we should go in?" she asked from her brother and he nodded his head.
"We'd best," he said to her and they stood up together.
She let Billy lead the way into the hotel, heading up towards the room number that their mother had given them. Knocking on the door, Victoria stood to the side as she heard footsteps from in the room. She rocked back and forth on her heels, arms folded over her chest. Billy continued to glance across to her, checking that she was alright before the door opened and revealed their mother. She looked older than the last time Victoria had seen her, but that had been ten years ago, her hair seemed ginger and had clearly been died and cut short, the ends curling above her shoulders.
"Alright, mum," Billy said to her and her lips formed a sad smile, relief clearly moving through her as she saw her two children stood in front of her.
Reaching out for them, she enveloped them into her grip. "Billy," she whispered his name and Victoria awkwardly wrapped an around around her mother, not entirely feeling as sentimental. "Victoria…you both came…you came together."
"Yeah, we're clearing the air," Billy said and Victoria scoffed.
"You're both looking well. I just wanted to see you…I missed you both so much," Connie said to her children, ushering them into the room and Billy looked around, noting that the sliding door onto the balcony was wide open. His brow arched as he glanced to his mother and saw that she had her hands on Victoria's shoulders, squeezing them tightly.
"And look at you, Vicky…I heard you'd gotten your PhD…and engaged to Homelander…I'm so proud of you."
Victoria gulped down the bile in her throat. If only her mother knew the truth. She would hardly be proud. But she wasn't here to tell her anything about her new life, not yet, anyway. Maybe one day they would reach a point where she felt comfortable to do that, but it wasn't just yet.
"Yeah," was all Victoria could say to her mother. "I guess so."
"And you're so beautiful…grown into a proper lovely young woman, hasn't she, Billy?"
"She's alright," was all Billy offered and Victoria rolled her eyes before her brother continued talking, noting the two mugs of tea on the coffee table. "You had company, mum?" he asked her.
Connie sighed and stepped back, looking between her two children who were staring at her with accusatory glances and inquisitive arched brows. Victoria folded her arms over her chest as Connie held her hands up defensively.
"Please don't be angry with me…but I just thought that this might help both of you," she said to them and Victoria finally came to the realisation over what was going on and she didn't like it. Her mother sniffed loudly and glanced to the open door. "I want you both to move on and he doesn't have a lot of time left."
"Is this a joke?" Victoria demanded.
"We're not doing this," Billy said and began to turn around, but Connie moved her hands to his shoulders, holding them tightly.
"No…please…" Connie said to them. "Don't do it for me, but for yourselves...he hasn't got much time…and this is for you both. It is to give you closure. Have I ever asked either of you for anything?"
"You think we owe you anything?" Victoria demanded, feeling sick knowing that her father was on the other side of the door. She didn't want to go out there. She wanted to get away from that hotel and go back home. The irony of which, she also despised who was waiting for her at home too.
"You owe me nothing, but do this for yourselves…for peace…one final time and that's it. You never have to see him again."
"Suits me fine," Billy said in a gruff voice and he stepped out first.
Victoria glowered over to her mother but followed her brother, her hands picking at the fluff on her thick black tights by the hem of her short brown skirt tucked into a long sleeved whited jumper. She then moved her hands into the pockets of her red coat and looked to the side when she was on the balcony, peering to the side of Billy's shoulder as their father who was sat on a bench. He was looking old and frail, his cheeks gaunt and his hair slicked back on the top of his head. He turned his head to the side and looked to his children.
"William," he said in a gruff voice. "And Victoria."
Billy kept a distance from him as he stood up and clung to the railing.
"What, no hug from my kids?" he asked, hand going to his walking stick and holding it.
Billy held a finger up in warning. "You come one step closer and I'll kill you myself," he warned him and Victoria had a suspicion that he might actually do that and she wouldn't even stop him. In fact, a part of her wanted to help him.
"I bet you would," Sam Butcher agreed with his son. "I've seen on the news that you topped that Stillwell slag…and kidnapped your own sister…you've got quite a dark side to you."
"That wasn't him. He was set up," Victoria said, feeling the need to defend her brother.
"But thanks for your support," Billy said in a snarky voice and began to turn around, stretching an arm out and indicating for Victoria to go in front of him and leave. They had nothing they wanted to say to him.
"No…please, please," Sam said quickly and they both froze. "I just want to talk."
"Two minutes," Billy said and Victoria groaned inwardly as her father sank back down onto the bench, gasping for breath and clearly struggling. The only thing that she could think of was how good that was. He deserved to suffer for what he'd done and she wasn't going to give him pity. She turned to look out over the New York skyline and Billy glanced back to their father.
"You been following the Ashes?" Sam asked.
Billy chuckled in disbelief. "You want to talk about the bloody cricket?" he demanded from his father.
"You used to love the cricket…remember the '83 World Cup when I took you to every match and you loved it," Sam said.
"Do you know why I loved it?" Billy asked. "Because you got on the piss with your loser mates and I could fuck off wherever I wanted and you'd never know."
"Let's not do this now," Sam said and Victoria scoffed at that, closing her eyes and gripping hold of the barrier in front of her, feeling the anger course through her veins.
"Yeah, let's not," Billy said.
"Why not?" Victoria was the one to snap, turning to look to her father. She flapped her arms out by her side and their gazes finally met and she felt nothing but repulsion. "You're on the way out, aren't you? Why shouldn't we bring up the past now? Isn't that why you wanted us here? You wanted us to forgive you for what you did?"
"Victoria, I know that I wasn't a perfect father," Sam said to her and she laughed at that. He ignored her and kept on going. "I never got chance to say goodbye to Lenny and I don't want that with both of you."
"Didn't have a chance to say goodbye to Lenny?" Billy snapped.
"You were the reason he killed himself," Victoria added on, the two siblings standing side by side and glaring at their father.
"Let me tell you both something," Sam said, pointing at them. "It's a shit world out there and you either have to sink or swim. No one is going to look out for you except for yourself and in Lenny's case he chose to sink."
"You don't have the right to mention his name!" Billy snapped at his father.
"I loved Lenny, but he wasn't hard like both of you. That's why you're here and he's dead," Sam said, standing up as Billy moved closer to him, able to see his yellowing teeth and smell his breath. But he wasn't going to back down. He'd been scared of his father before and he wasn't going to be that little boy again.
"He's dead because you beat the living shit out of all of us, didn't you?" Billy snarled at him.
"Maybe I pushed you a bit hard, but look at both of you," Sam said, nudging him in the shoulder and Billy instantly swatted his hand away from him. "Are you afraid of anything? No. You're the strongest you both could be."
"You seriously think you made us strong?" Victoria demanded to know from her father, standing next to Billy and looking at him. "Is that what you think you did? Because that's bullshit. You almost broke us."
"You're tougher than I ever was and you should be thanking me."
"Are you taking the piss?" Victoria demanded from her father. "You want me to thank you for letting Eddie into my life? Did you know what he did to me when you were drunk on that sofa? Did you know how he would sneak into my room…pin me down and rape me?"
Sam was silent at that and Victoria continued to glare at him. He glanced away as she balled her hands into fists, the anger taking over her to the extent that she wanted to hurt her own father. She wanted him to feel pain. She wanted him to realise how hopeless life could be.
"Eddie took advantage of us." He settled on saying.
"And you never questioned why the rent was so cheap?" Victoria asked from him. "You never woke up and wondered where he was? Because I know that you knew and that just makes it worse…it makes it worse because you're our father and you couldn't keep us safe."
"He'd have evicted us, Victoria!" he yelled at her and she stepped back. She finally had the confirmation she needed. "Did I work it out in the end? Yeah, I guess I did…but he'd have kicked us out…he's have left us all destitute and you're-"
Billy cut him off then. He grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket and pushed him up against the wall as Victoria watched him. She didn't intervene as Billy's hand went to her father's neck and squeezed tightly. Connie was the one who reacted. She stormed out of the room and onto the balcony, moving to Billy and thumping on his back with her fists.
"Stop it! Leave him alone! Just let him be!" she demanded from Billy who happily did as she asked.
He pushed Sam against the wall one final time and stumbled back, rubbing his hand under his nose. He sniffed loudly and pointed down to him. "Never mention Lenny's name again and never try and make contact with either of us again. Do you understand me?"
"Billy…Vicky…please," Connie begged from her children, but Billy was already turning around and storming out, Victoria having no choice but to go with him as he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her out with him. And she wanted to go. They left the hotel and came to the sidewalk, standing still for a few brief moments and looking out to the distance down the road.
"You alright?" Billy asked Victoria.
She nodded once and gulped, folding her arms over her chest. "I always had my suspicions, but it's shit to hear I was right," she confessed to him. "And do you want to know the worst thing? Jo…Homelander killed Eddie. I told him everything that he had done to me and on that very same night he went to England and he killed him."
Billy was quiet at that piece of information. Homelander had killed Eddie for his sister. Then again, lives meant nothing to that man.
"Can't say I'll mourn that death," Billy managed to weasel out. "I almost wish that it could have been me."
"Same," Victoria whispered in agreement and he saw her blink back tears. She took a deep breath and leant her head back, glancing to the sky above. She composed herself and wiped her eyes before looking back to her brother. "I need to get back before Homelander gets suspicious. Promise me you'll help Annie."
"Vicky-"
"-Please," she pleaded from him.
He sighed and just nodded, well aware that Hughie would try to help her too. He was besotted with her and there was no chance he was going to leave her alone. Billy wished the boy happiness, but he just wished that he could find it with someone who wasn't a supe and, even worse than that, a member of the Seven.
"Thank you," Victoria said to her brother and stood on her toes to peck him on the cheek. "I'll try and help anyway I can, but Homelander…he knows my weaknesses and I have to protect my friends. Daniella and Michella are everything to me."
"I get it," he promised his sister. "I don't like it, but I do get it."
"Thank you," Victoria whispered and squeezed his forearm. "I'll see you around, Billy."
"Yeah," was all that he could offer her. He watched her walk away, arms folded over herself as she went back to the subway and headed on home.
…
Victoria had watched the news for a little while, seeing Homelander at a rally with Stormfront, the two of them claiming that they needed more people willing to be injected with Compound V in order to defend America. She rolled her eyes and turned it off as the news crew began speculating on the two of them, asking where Victoria was and why she wasn't at the rally considering that she had been spotted in America.
Once she had turned the television off, she headed on outside. The sun was slowly setting over the skyline and she checked her phone. Michelle had asked her if she was alright, wondering why she hadn't told them that she was back in New York and they'd seen it on the news. She made up some lame excuse about needing to see Homelander.
She had no idea how long it was before Homelander came back to the penthouse. She heard him stomping around inside the room before he found her outside. He stood in the doorway for a few moments, simply watching the back of her head and wondering if he should make a move and talk to her. He'd spent the afternoon with Stormfront and it had been so easy. She got him. He wanted Victoria to be just like that. He wanted her to be like she used to be.
"I saw your rally," Victoria said, breaking the silence and realising that she had to say something. Plus, she wasn't scared of him. So long as she kept him happy then he wouldn't hurt her friends. But she had no idea how long she could keep that up for.
"What did you think?"
"You want the truth?" she asked from him and he was silent at hearing her.
"I'm not sure," he confessed and Victoria's lips picked up at hearing that.
"You get with her and you'll be miles ahead in the polls with some followers," Victoria said, not bothering to suger coat it. "I mean, you'd lose all the followers I'm popular with…the bleeding heart liberals, as she calls us, but I guess you're losing them anyway. You should see the way she looks at you. She's like a lovesick puppy."
"I don't pretend not to know that," he said to her, recalling how she had shared her history with him and told him everything about how she was created by Frederick Vought himself. She had a daughter who had grown older than she was. She was lonely. Homelander could relate to that, especially in his current state.
"Have you slept with her?" Victoria decided on asking from him.
He moved onto the balcony and saw her pull her legs up to her chest, hooking her arms around them. She didn't look at him, focusing instead on staring straight ahead and out over New York.
"Would it bother you?" he asked from her.
She shrugged, knowing what answer he wanted from her but unsure if she could give it. "It's so weird…but despite knowing what I know…yeah…I think it would bother me," she confessed to him and his lips arched at hearing her say that. A part of her still loved him.
"I haven't slept with her and I have no intention of sleeping with her," he said to her and Victoria nodded, chin going to sit on her kneecaps. Hesitantly, he settled down next to her on the bench and saw that her cheeks were red and blotched, eyes bloodshot.
"You've been crying," he said to her.
She sniffed and rubbed her eyes, shrugging. "Yeah," she said. "And for once you didn't cause it so that's a novelty."
"Who did cause it? What did they do to you?" he asked and she wanted to roll her eyes at his concern. The main issue was that she knew it was genuine and that made things feel ten times worse because she didn't want him to be genuine. She shrugged and sniffed, rubbing her hand under her nose.
"I went to see my parents," she said to him and his eyes widened at hearing her say that. She shrugged once more and took a few moments to pull her legs tighter against his chest. "Turned out that it was a waste of time because I didn't get closure. I only got the truth…knowing that my dad knew all about Eddie…so I guess he's always been a piece of shit."
Homelander was quiet at hearing her say that. He took a moment to let her words sink in and he clasped his hands together, leaning forwards before speaking in a low voice to her.
"You're too good for them, you know that," he said to her. "You deserved better than them."
"But I was stuck with them and that was it," Victoria replied, not bothering to tell him that Billy had been there too. She looked to the sky, seeing how the clouds had turned red in the setting sun. Homelander watched her, his eyes moving over her face and he wondered if this was it. Was their future just going to be her pushing him away? Pretending to be happy? He didn't know if he wanted that. He didn't know if he could handle the pretence, no matter how much he loved her.
"Will you ever love me?" he asked from her and her eyes widened, turning her gaze over to him. This was new. He was looking at her, an almost sad glaze over his face, eyes watering. Victoria, despite everything, felt a pang in her chest. She didn't want to, but she couldn't stop herself.
"I do still love you," Victoria said to him and she hated herself for saying it. She moved to sit up, a hand going to hold the back of the bench as she crossed a leg underneath herself. "I can't stop loving you because I…I know that there is the John inside of you who I fell in love with…and I know you couldn't have faked it for the entire time. No one is that good of an actor."
"I didn't fake it…not most of it, anyway," he promised her in a soft voice. "I just hid the truth from you on occasion to protect us and what we had."
"I know," she responded with a soft nod of her head. "But that's not what a relationship should be about, John. You shouldn't need to hide any part of yourself…you've seen the good…the bad and the ugly of me…but my ugly…it's nowhere near as ugly as yours. You've done things that I can never forgive and you can try and wipe my mind again, but you know that it's going to be a waste of time. You're always going to know that you're lying to me."
He was silent at that and he gulped, blinking back the tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes. Victoria wondered if this was it. Was this him realising that they were over? That they couldn't go back to who they had been? She hoped it was. She longed for it to be.
"I want it to be how it was," he said to her.
"And you think I don't?" Victoria replied. "But it can't be, John. It can't be how it was because you're not the man I thought you were and I only wish that I'd met you years ago…before Vought got to you and made you think that you were invincible and could get away with anything."
"You would want me to be different…apologise for who I am," he said to her and she shook her head.
"I wouldn't want you to apologise for who you are because maybe you wouldn't have done what you did," Victoria said to him. "You're forgetting that I know what you did to Becca…you did exactly the same thing that Eddie did to me…you've killed people…and not on accident, but on purpose, with no remorse. You're just not who I thought you were and yes, I might love you, but like I've said, I just don't like you."
He closed his eyes, inhaling a sharp breath. This wasn't how he wanted this to go, but it seemed as though there was nothing he could do.
"You know that they made me to be better than other people, don't you?" he said to her in a whisper and she shook her head. "They made me and I am tired of being apologetic…explaining…I do what needs to be done to keep people safe."
"I'm not sure Becca sees it that way," Victoria couldn't stop herself from speaking. She continued to watch him and wonder exactly what he was going to say to that. Victoria could only watch him stand up from the bench and head on over to the railing, clinging onto it and looking over the city.
He made his decision then. He knew what was going to happen. He knew what had to happen.
"Go."
He said the one word he never thought that he would say, but it had come from his lips. Victoria tensed up, shoulders hunching and her back stiffening. She clung onto the back of the bench and looked at the cape flowing down his back. Was he being serious? He didn't hear her move. He just heard her sit there and so he repeated himself.
"Go, Victoria," he urged from her.
She said nothing, hoping that this wasn't a trap. Moving to her feet, she headed back to the door and opened it. Holding the frame of the glass, she turned once more to look back to him. "But Annie-"
"-Don't push your luck, Vic," he warned her, head bowed and for a moment she almost pitied him.
She knew that she wasn't going to get anything out of him. And so she went inside, feeling the tears falling down her cheeks. But she wasn't sure why. Why should she be sad when this was what she wanted? But he had been right. When it had been them and she had been ignorant and oblivious then things had been great. But it had all been a fabrication.
Moving to the bedroom, she grabbed her case and threw clothes into it as quickly as she could. He didn't come back in and when she had finished packing everything that she carried, she went back downstairs and saw him still stood outside. Hitting the button for the elevator, she went downstairs and quickly walked through the reception and to the street. It was now dark in the City and for the first time in a long time, Victoria felt a sense of freedom. She was out. She could go.
…
"She's gone."
Stormfront looked to Homelander as they stood behind the platform separating them from the crowds at the rally the next day. He looked down to her as she furrowed her brow and watched him back. She hadn't been expecting this. She hadn't been expecting anything but him telling her that he was keeping his fiancée locked away in some room.
"We've got to spin it and explain it to the press…I'll probably dip in the polls for it…but I let her go. She…the way she looked at me was never going to be how it was and I don't want that. I want what we had, but now all that she does is pull away from me and hate me. I'm tired of not having what I deserve."
"And you deserve everything," Stormfront said to him, laying a hand on his forearm. "But I am sorry. I know that you loved her. It's hard."
"I just wanted her to accept me for who I am, but clearly she couldn't," Homelander said and he enjoyed the sympathy he was receiving from her. Why could Victoria simply not act like this?
"And you deserve someone to do that," Stormfront said to him, hand going to his cheek and stroking it softly. He didn't know exactly what he was doing, but he let her guide his face towards hers and before he knew it, her lips were against his. She kissed him softly and he closed his eyes, feeling the comfort of her touch.
But he came to his senses. Pulling back, he stood up straight and her hand dropped from his skin as he shook his head and dropped his hands to his hips. "What was that?" he asked her.
"You know that I care about you. You know that I understand you…together…we can have everything," she said to him, but it felt wrong. It had felt so wrong and he didn't know what he could do about it.
Shaking his head, he looked beyond the stage to the crowd in the distance and saw them chanting and calling their names. He'd never felt like he had betrayed anyone before. Even when he cheated on Maeve, he had never felt guilty. But he wasn't even with Victoria and it had felt wrong, like all of the times Madelyn had tried to make a move on him. It made him feel nothing but contempt.
"Where are you going?" Stormfront asked from him as he turned on his heel and began to walk away. "We have a rally to go to!"
But he was already taking off into the air, needing to get away from her and have some space to think.
…
Victoria had checked into a hotel for two nights, uncertain of what she should do. She had intended on going to Paris, heading back on a flight to her work there. She could have some sense of normalcy. And then she had seen the news. She had seen the image of Homelander kissing Stormfront and she hadn't even cried over it. In fact, she almost felt relieved. Perhaps he had someone else he could obsess over now? Victoria didn't know. Did a part of her feel hurt? Yes. He hadn't even waited forty-eight hours before moving on. And so she had booked her flight to Paris. She was due to fly that evening, but then everything had changed that morning.
She didn't think it was possible. She didn't think it could happen, but it had. She'd checked numerous times over the course of an hour and her head was spinning. She'd gone to the exact same park bench where Becca had gone to on that CCTV footage. She'd sat down and she'd stared straight ahead, unable to think coherently. The only thought she had was how had Becca coped with this? Pulling her phone out, she looked down to the screen and scrolled to Homelander's number. She let her thumb hover over the button and she wanted to call him. She wanted it to be how it was. She wanted him to tell her everything would be okay and they'd be fine. And he could give her that. He would give her that because she knew that kiss with Stormfront had meant nothing to him. She could see it, no matter how much she tried to convince herself otherwise.
But she couldn't forget who he was. She couldn't do that. And so she called the one person she never thought she would call.
"Vic, what's wrong?"
"I've left him," Victoria said. "He let me go."
"He let you go?" Billy's gruff voice asked from her.
"He just told me to go and I go out of there," Victoria said to him. "And I…I just need to see you. Can we talk?"
"Vic…it's not a great time…the hearing is taking place soon and-"
"-Billy, please," she interrupted him. "It's important."
"Alright," he said to her. "Give me a few minutes and I'll text you an address."
"Thank you," she hung up the phone and nodded her head once before placing her phone back into her coat pocket. Moving a hand to her stomach, she stood up and left the park, hoping that Billy might be able to help her. She didn't know who else could.
...
A/N: So I'm not sure if anyone is still reading this anymore, what with sporadic updates etc. I had been thinking of going into season 3, but not sure whether or not to do that now. If you are still interested, I would love to hear from you and what you think might be happening!