Butcher was extremely nervous.

That's not something he ever thought he'd say, or think.

But it was true.

Eight years.

Eight fucking years.

He had tortured himself over what happpened to Becca. He had thrown himself to the wolves for a chance to even hurt Homelander.

The fact that he was dead was relief for only a brief moment. Couple by the few seconds that he knew Becca was alive.

Only for MM to deliver the news that brought it all crashing down.

Then again… that was his life, wasn't it?

Becca… his lovely wife… the one who had vowed they'd work through everything together…

Had left him. Kept him in the dark. Went to Vought… so she could raise Homelander's son.

Butcher would be lying if he said he wasn't hurt.

But still, he was happy.

She was alive! Becca was alive!

After eight years of torturing himself, being miserable! He had been right all along, she really was alive!

Butcher was honestly conflicted, and that was the truth of it.

He was happy.

He was hurt.

She loved him.

She left him.

She didn't even try to tell him. She just…

She left him.

Butcher finally realized what this mysterious emotion he was feeling deep inside was. It was an emotion he felt a lot. But not one he thought he'd ever feel towards Becca.

He was angry.

All this, bundled up together, definitely made him one nervous man.

Nolan had volunteered to take him to the compound Becca was supposed to be in, after MM, Frenchie, and Hughie had all volunteered to handle Noodle Palace by themselves.

Butcher could see, as they approached, it really was a fucking compound.

A giant wall created a large perimeter around a neighborhood, and it was one big neighborhood for something all staged.

"I think I know which house they're in." Nolan spoke up, catching his attention.

"How?"

"That one right there…" Nolan spoke, gesturing his head towards a little house in an open area. "It's dead center in the middle of the compound."

"Easiest to defend…" Butcher surmised, causing Nolan to nod.

Slowly, Nolan lowered them down towards the front lawn of the house, setting Butcher down on his feet when he landed.

Butcher looked at the house, anticipation flooding him.

He was nervous. Because he was both happy, and angry.

He was a little unsure of how to go about this.

… eh, to hell with it. Butcher always was one to get straight to the point.

Butcher marched straight to the front door, Nolan following him, and without hesitation, he kicked the door open.

Two cries of fright echo from within at his actions, one of those voices so familiar, and Butcher wastes no time, in marching inside.

In the living room, there's a little boy, no older than 9, looking at him fright. He's got blonde hair and blue eyes that are so much like Homelander's-

No. He already knew who this boy was. He wasn't Homelander.

Not all supes were bad.

Behind him, in the kitchen, is a site he's hoped so long to see.

And now, he can't even feel half as good as he'd like to.

But dammit if he still doesn't feel good.

"B-Billy…" Becca mutters softly, eyes wide, unable to process just who she's seeing.

Even with that beard, she'd recognize those scars anywhere… Those eyes…

"Becca…" Butcher mutters out, wasting no time in clearing the distance between them.

Behind him, he distinctly hears Nolan saying something to the boy… but that's not his focus right now.

Butcher wasted no time. His hands found Becca's cheeks as he pulled her in for a kiss that's eight years past due.

Becca responds immediately, and he can see the tears of joy welling up in her eyes as she wraps her arms around Butcher's neck, returning the kiss.

It's a moment of intense passion, and for a moment, nothing else exists except these two lovers.

And then the kiss is over, and they're staring at each other in bewilderment.

"How did you find me?" Becca asks immediately, a look of indescribable joy on her face as she looks at Butcher.

And despite his conflicting feelings about it all, Butcher can't help the smile that's on his face.

"Vought going down as we speak, Becca." He said, smiling at her. "That cunt, Noir… gave New York Times something, had years worth of files and docs on it."

Becca sniffled, her eyes practically shining, even with the tears on her face. "Vought's done?"

Butcher nodded. "Yep. And it's all thanks to him." He moves out of the way as he gestures back to Nolan.

And the site that awaits both of them is oddly heartwarming.

Nolan is sitting on the couch now, talking to the boy as if he's known him for years. Nolan has a smile on his face, one Butcher has only seen once, and he's listening intently to whatever the boy is babbling about.

Butcher, to his own surprise, finds himself curious about what the boy is saying.

"What's his name?" Butcher asked, glancing sideways at Becca with a small smile, who looks at him in surprise.

"R-Ryan…"

Butcher smiles. "Ryan… Ryan Butcher." He let out a chuckle. "I like it."

Becca sniffled as a thought crossed her mind. "Do you… do you know?"

Butcher's smile faded as Becca's question was voiced. "Yeah. I know."

Becca looks nervous, scared, and the way she's looking at Nolan has Butcher conflicted.

Not in front of the kid, Butcher decided.

He wouldn't subject the kid to that.

"Let's go meet them, shall we?"

"Them?" Becca asks, a little confused.

Butcher smiles, and his thumb wipes away her tears. "Unless you already know Nolan?"

Becca's eyes widened. "He's your… friend?"

Butcher glanced at Nolan, who was laughing at something Ryan and said, and Butcher couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah… he is." He glanced over at Becca with a raised brow. "Don't tell him though." He joked.

Becca smiled, and Butcher took that moment to lead her towards the conversating duo.

Moving around the couch, their appearance catches the attention of both Nolan and Ryan.

While Nolan is mostly unfazed, Ryan's face twists in slight fear the moment he spots Butcher.

Which is understandable. Butcher did decide that breaking down a door and barging inside was the way to go.

"Hello, Lad. What's your name?" He asks with a grin. He asks the question, because he doesn't want to scare the boy any more than he already has.

The boy looks at him, slightly nervous. His eyes move to his mother, who smiles softly.

"It's okay, honey. He's a good man."

Ryan slowly turns to look back at Butcher, and answers nervously. "R-Ryan…" The answers.

Butcher smiles, and he crouches down on one knee, smiling at the kid as he offers his rough, calloused hand in greeting. "Name's Butcher, son. Nice to meet you."

Ryan looks at Butcher's hand for a moment, hesitant, before he slowly grabs Butcher's hand. "Nice to meet you."

Butcher grins, and he makes sure not to be two hard, shaking Ryan's hand firmly. When he finishes, the boy is looking at his hand with a furrowed brow as he lets go. "Looking at something, lad?"

"Your hand…" Ryan started. "They're really hard."

Butcher couldn't help but laugh at that. He could hear Becca behind him, giggling, and even Nolan was chuckling at the boy's observation.

"That they are, son. Results of hard work." He told Ryan, who was looking at him in concern, the fear mostly gone.

"Do they hurt?" He asked, and that right there was all the sign Butcher needed.

Not only was this kid nothing like Homelander, but he was so much like Becca that there was no doubt who his mom was.

"Nah, lad." He said with a chuckle. "It's actually natural."

"It is?" He said, confused.

Nolan decided this was a moment to speak up.

"Actually, yeah." He said, catching the boy's attention. "Hard work, regardless of what kind, can be rough on your hands and your feet. So they get calloused, so as to numb them somewhat to any discomfort."

Ryan turns to look back at Butcher's hands, before looking at Nolan. "Are yours like that?"

Nolan chuckled, taking his gloves off. "Somewhat." He showed his own hands to Ryan. Though they were calloused, thanks to his Viltrumite biology, specifically his accelerated healing, they weren't nearly as calloused as Butcher's were.

Ryan looked at Butcher again. "You scared me."

Butcher had a sheepish look on his face at the boy's words.

"Well, lad. It's been a while since I saw your mum." He said. "I was a little excited."

Butcher glanced back at Becca, and he noticed that she was still giving Nolan nervous glances.

Smiling, he stood to his feet, and put his hand on Becca's back as he looked at Nolan. "Nolan, meet me missus."

Nolan chuckled as he stood to his feet, offering his hand to Becca. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Butcher. Billy here has told me about you."

Becca glanced at Billy at his words. "Has he?"

Nolan chuckled. "You've been the only thing on his mind for a while." He said, noticing Becca's reluctance to take his hand. "I'm not gonna hurt you, ma'am."

Becca glanced at him, and she seemed to shake away her nervousness as she smiled. "I'm sorry. It's nice to meet you too." She said, returning the handshake. Nolan smiled.

"So, you're the new superhero, right?" Ryan asked, catching their attention. "Omni-Man, that's what they said your name was, right Mr Grayson?"

Nolan chuckled at the boy's curiosity. "That's what they call me."

"How did you meet Billy?" Becca asked, curious.

Both men let out a chuckle, though Butcher's was nervous, while Nolan's was amused.

"Uh yeah… about that…" Butcher really didn't want that embarrassing story to be retold. But Nolan wouldn't grant him that luxury.

"Butcher here decided to tail me for three hours, and then assumed that I would be like most of Vought's other jokes when he showed that he knew who I was." He said with a grin. "It was about three seconds before I had him above the clouds."

Becca grinned at Butcher. "Really?" She asked jokingly.

Butcher rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah, hardy har."

"So, Butcher says you are helping to take down Vought?" She asked, glancing back at the Viltrumite, who laughed.

"Vought's probably done after today's events." He remarked. Becca had a noticeable look of relief flood her face, before it was quickly overcome with alarm.

"And what about Homelander?" She asked, slightly fearful. Nolan suddenly stopped laughing as he looked at Becca.

"Homelander can't hurt anybody, ever again."

"But-"

"Homelander's dead, Becca." Butcher said, catching his wife's attention. "Dead as a doornail, and never coming back."

Becca looked as if she'd just had a massive weight lifted off her shoulders. She didn't care how, she was just happy. "Oh… thank god…"

Butcher pulled her close as she began to cry in happiness, finally feeling relief at the fact that Homelander was gone for good.

"Mom?" Ryan asked, concerned.

"Mommy's fine, honey." Becca said through her tears.

"Why don't you play with Nolan here outside, lad?" Butcher proposed, looking between Becca and Nolan before looking at Ryan.

Nolan nodded. "Yeah, it's fine." Nolan down at Ryan, a smile on his face. "Come on kiddo."

Hesitantly, Ryan followed Nolan out of the living room, giving the reunited couple some well deserved time for himself.

"How did you guys even manage it?" She asked as Butcher led her to the couch, sitting down next to her.

"Nolan. He's not like Vought's jokes. He's a real alien." Butcher revealed, to Becca's surprise.

"Real? Like… from outer space and everything?"

Butcher couldn't help but chuckle. "Farther. He's from another universe entirely."

Becca looked stunned at the prospect. "Another universe?"

Butcher couldn't help but laugh at the look on Becca's face. "Oh yeah. And he is much more powerful than anything Vought's come up with."

"And you actually like him… why?"

"Because, Becca," Butcher said, looking at her seriously. "He is a lot like me. More human, funnily enough."

Becca's eyes widened at Butcher's words, and Billy finally felt his anger returning as he remembered why Becca was here in the first place.

"Billy…" Becca's hand moved to cup Butcher's face, but instead he turned away from her. "What's wrong?"

"Why, Becca?"

Becca knew very well what Billy was asking, and she'd been dreading it. "I…"

"The day we got married, we vowed to work through everything… together…" Billy could feel tears welling up in his eyes as the hurt and betrayal mixed with the anger he felt. "So, why?"

"Billy, I was…" Becca trailed off, unsure of how to answer. "I was scared of what you would do." She admitted.

Butcher couldn't help the look of hurt that flashed across his face as he looked Becca. "What I'd do?"

"Don't look at me like that." Becca said, averting her gaze from Billy's own. "You just admitted it. You still went after Homelander when you found out what he did."

"Yeah, of course I did! I thought he'd taken you something!" Butcher exclaimed. "I found out he fucking raped you, your missing, I'm supposed to just ignore that?!"

"You would have went after him even if I'd stayed!" Becca yelled, turning to look back at Billy. "You would've went after him and it wouldn't have ended well for anybody!"

"What, you think you couldn't have stopped me?!" Butcher exclaimed. "You're the only fucking one who could talk out of doing anything, Becca!"

"Billy, I never knew how to save you!" Becca exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "You always put me on this pedestal but I never fucking knew how to save you, but you were always one bad day away from beating someone to death in parking lot!"

Her words were like a knife through his heart. The entire time… she really had no faith in him.

She thought he was a time bomb.

He couldn't help the tears glistening at his eyes as he averted his gaze from her. "That's not fucking true."

"Billy, are you really trying to tell me you weren't always ready to kill somebody?" Becca asked.

"How many people did I fucking kill when I was with you?" Butcher asked. Becca was taken aback by the bite in his tone.

Then again… he'd never ever been angry with her before.

"You know what I did, when you went to Vought?" He asked, looking at her with a look of hurt that broke her heart. "I was fucking miserable. I was looking so hard, to find you."

"Billy…"

"No." Butcher said, standing to his own feet as he looked at Becca. "I exhausted myself. You're family hates me, because I would never just admit that you were probably dead. Even after they gave up, I kept looking."

He felt himself getting more and more riled at the thought that she'd left him to do that.

"I know I'm violent, Becky! I got a fucking temper like a damn H-Bomb!" He yelled, causing Becca to back up, eyes wide.

In another time, Butcher wouldn't dream of ever getting mad at Becca, let alone flipping out like this.

But the fact that it was Becca, and not Vought, that had caused him so much pain, so much sorrow and loathing… and for ten years?

The dam cracked.

"But until I found out what Homelander done, I was doing nothing but sitting at home with Terror, too fucking miserable to do anything!"

Every single word from his mouth broke Becca's heart.

"I went after Homelander, because I had nothing to do. Nothing to look forward to." Butcher finally admitted. "I didn't have you anymore. And you were the only thing good in my life, so what did I have to lose?"

Becca found herself looking at Billy, horror flooding through her as the true implications of his words rang in her ears.

"Billy… oh god, I'm so sorry…" She brought a hand up to her mouth, sobbing as she realized just what she had done to Billy.

"I love you, Becca. I always will. I didn't say you were the one to save me because I thought there was some kind of magic to it." Butcher said, ignoring the tears in his own eyes. "I always said it, because you were the only one that made me want to try and be a better person. You brought me out of the gutter." Butcher could feel himself gritting his teeth. "And you… and you…"

Butcher felt it all catch up with him at once. The sorrow and pain of the past eight years hit him all at once, and for the first time since Lenny, he dropped to his knees.

Becca watched in shock as this large, gruff man she'd married collapsed to his knees, and began crying his eyes out. The site of it alone made her start to cry.

"Billy, please…"

"Not even you had faith in me!" Butcher cried, his hands gripping his thighs harshly as he kept his gaze to the ground. "Even you thought I was some monster who was too violent to be controlled!"

"Billy, stop, please!" Becca crouched down in front of him, resting her hands on his shuddering shoulders as this man bawled his eyes out. She had never seen Billy cry, and his pain was too much for her to witness. "Please, I'm so fucking sorry, Billy!"

Billy's hands came up and wrapped around her, pulling her close. "Please Becca, don't leave me again!"

Becca could feel the desperation in Billy's calloused hands as he pulled her close, and she laid her chin on Billy's head as he buried his face into her neck. "I won't Billy. I promise you, I'll never leave you again!"

Butcher didn't say anything back, he just held her close as he let out all his pain and suffering.

Becca held him, crying with him as she held him close, whispering comforting words into his ear as she attempted to make him feel better.

The two sat, letting loose years of grief and pain as they were finally reunited.

"So how strong are you?" Ryan asked as he caught the baseball with the glove, looking at Nolan in curiosity.

"Well, I don't really know, for sure. Outside of some particularly powerful enemies, I've never really had to strain myself." Nolan admitted as he caught the ball as Ryan through it back.

"What's the heaviest thing you've ever lifted?" Ryan asked, catching the ball and throwing it back once more.

"Well, there was an asteroid the size of Texas… but that still wasn't too heavy."

"Woah." Ryan gasped, wonder in his eyes at Nolan's words. "How fast are you?"

Nolan tilted his head in thought. "Well, I can move fast enough to ignite the atmosphere. But I haven't really had to strain myself so far."

Ryan went quiet at that, as they continued to toss the ball to each other.

It was about a minute before Nolan spoke up. "So, what's some places you've gone on vacation too?"

"Oh, I've never been on vacation." Ryan admitted. "I've never left the neighborhood, actually."

Nolan couldn't say he was surprised at the answer. MM was only able to go through a small amount of the file relating to Becca and Ryan before Butcher had finally gotten completely impatient.

"Do you know anyone outside of the neighborhood?" Nolan asked, but Ryan shook his head.

"No. Everyone I know has lived here." He admitted. "I've… only ever known the neighborhood."

Nolan frowned at those words. "You've never been beyond the wall?"

"What wall?"

That did make Nolan freeze.

"You… you've never seen the wall around this place?" He asked, shocked.

Ryan shook his head, no longer preoccupied with the game of catch they had been playing. "No… what are you talking about?"

Nolan glanced back at the house, wondering if he should do what he was thinking about doing…

It wasn't his place, not in the slightest. But the boy deserved to know the truth, and he'd be lying if he said that he was a little angry at this new knowledge.

You don't intentionally isolate somebody like that. You raise them. Give them a normal life.

Even despite what Mark had learned at an early age, he and Debbie had both raised him like a normal child. Even despite Nolan's line of work, and the knowledge that he was Omni-Man, Mark had a normal upbringing. Unlike films, where the hero's family and loved ones always got brought into it, Mark was kept sheltered from that lifestyle until he got his powers, and Debbie had only ever really encountered such danger when he had met her, and if you counted, the day of that dragon attack in Paris.

Nolan didn't think much of himself, and after what he'd done to Mark, he knew he was far from a good father.

But you don't isolate someone from the world like this.

With a sigh, Nolan made his decision. "I'll show you, on one condition."

Ryan looked at Nolan, curious, confused, and scared. "What?"

"We listen to your mom, and let her explain everything."

The boy gulped, but nodded slowly.

Nolan knew Butcher would be pissed, and Becca would most likely hate him completely.

But right now, he didn't care.

The boy deserved to know the truth.

He picked up Ryan with ease, and a gentleness he hadn't had to use since Mark was this age.

Slowly, he levitated into the air.

And the higher he went, the more Ryan's eyes went wide.

As they rose higher, the massive wall around the area that went on for miles became more and more obvious.

"You never knew about this?" He asked.

Ryan shook his head, and tears were welling in the poor boy's eyes. "Why is there a wall?"

Nolan had a pretty good idea he already knew. "I… I think they wanted to keep you and your mom in here."

Ryan gritted his teeth, understandably hurt by this knowledge, even moreso since he knew that Becca mostly likely knew about this. "I want to talk to mom."

"I'd imagine, son." Nolan as he landed back down on the front lawn. Once he let Ryan back down on his own two feet, the boy gunned it towards the house, to Nolan's surprise. "Hey, Ryan!"

Ryan either didn't hear him or didn't listen, as he threw open the door to the front house, Nolan running after him, barely catching the door before it closed.

Before he reached the living room, he could already hear the confrontation.

"You lied to me!" Came Ryan's angry voice from the living room.

"Son, what are you talking about?" Butcher asked, and his voice sounded hoarse.

"Omni-Man just took me up and showed me, this whole place is a lie, you're a lie!" Ryan screamed as Nolan walked into the living room.

Both Butchers were sitting on the couch. Billy looked surprised by the boy's outburst, while Becca looked completely shellshocked.

Her eyes slowly moved to Nolan. "H-How… How could you-"

"The boy deserved to know." Nolan said sternly. "You don't isolate somebody like that."

"You don't know what he needs!" Becca said, jumping up from her position on the couch. "He's my son!"

"I have a boy of my own, Mrs. Butcher. It doesn't matter who his father is, you raise him as a normal boy." Nolan replied without a beat.

"He's right, Becca." Butcher said, standing to his feet, causing Becca to turn to look at him in shock.

"Y-You… agree with this?"

"He should've warned you at least." Butcher said, shooting Nolan a slight glare. "But he's right. Kid's not his dad. You don't raise him in isolation just because of who his father is."

"And what if Homelander had found us?!" Becca asked. "What would we do then?"

"We're not saying that you should've gone out willy nilly, but the lad needs to have kids his own age. People to actually interact with, not paid actors." Butcher replied. "I hate Homelander as much as you do, Becca, but Ryan isn't his dad."

"I know that, Billy!" Becca responded, understandably upset. "But I just… I didn't choose this."

"Mom?" Ryan's voice caught Becca's attention, and the woman turned her stressed gaze to her son. "What… why are we trapped here?"

At his question, Becca felt herself holding back tears. The day had come that Ryan had learned the truth. And it had come a lot sooner than she would've liked.

"Don't worry, Becca." Butcher said, squeezing her hand comfortingly, causing Becca to look at him in surprise. "You're not alone. Not anymore."

Becca smiled at Billy, thankful for his support. "Thank you, Billy."

Turning to look back at Ryan, Becca sighed as she steeled her nerves and prepared herself for the talk to come. But here, she had Billy. She wasn't alone anymore. And hopefully, she never would be again.

"Well, Ryan, it all starts with your father…"

A/N: Nolan and Butcher both meet Ryan, and Butcher has a long awaited reunion with his wife.

I know many of you might be surprised by the fact that I made Billy snap at Becca, but take into account that things are different here compared to the show.

Butcher has had an epiphany, and he is trying to legitimately do better.

He doesn't view Ryan as a simple supe freak, but a little boy. He's not letting his view of Homelander affect that, but he's letting himself get to know Ryan first, instead of jumping to conclusions, like he did with all supes.

Here, Butcher knows Becca cut a deal with Vought when he meets her. In the show, he finds out from Becca himself, and she never faces any backlash from Butcher because Butcher is A) Desperate not to lose is wife again, and B) Has to leave quickly because she essentially summoned the guards.

He's hurt and happy, but here, he actually has time to give Becca a piece of his mind for her stunt.

I'm not saying Becca didn't have a shitty time in the show, and we all loved her for what time we had with her, but what she did to Butcher was never addressed, and I wanted to change that. Butcher had a shit life, all his life. Becca was the only good thing to happen to him, and even though it's never addressed, she admits that she never had faith in him staying straight, and her decision to go to Vought and leave Butcher started a chain reaction to years of suffering and downward spirals.

Basically, we all talk about Butcher's hurtful remarks about Ryan to Becca, but we rarely ever talk about the suffering Becca inadvertently caused Butcher, even though she knew of his past, about Lenny, and his father's abuse. Disagree with me all you want, I felt like that's something that should be addressed, and at the very least, Becca should at least be confronted with the knowledge.

Still, don't be fooled. Like everyone, I love Becca :)

Anyway, that's the end of the chapter, and I hope you all enjoyed and review, and I'll see you all in the next chapter.