The gala event was beginning to wind down, with the majority of people having left already. Homelander had found himself being suckered into a conversation with the head of the children's hospital while Victoria had been diverted to go and talk to their chief events officer. He would look at her across the room, talking to the small, dumpy woman dressed in a conservative green dress. She seemed pretty relaxed in her presence, not like she had been with anyone else all night. She had looked, safe to say, pretty on edge as she spoke with people and Homelander introduced her to the members of the Seven.

He hadn't entirely appreciated the way Transluscent had looked at her or how the Deep had tried to steer her away for a dance when the brass band had struck up after dinner. He had laughed jovially and grabbed her hand before the Deep could take it, claiming that he believed it was only right her boyfriend had the first dance with her. The Deep seemed to get the message as Homelander glared at him over Victoria's head as he led her around the floor.

"If you'll excuse me, I do believe that I should check on my girlfriend," Homelander said to the bald middle-aged hospital boss. He slapped him on the shoulder and headed on over to where Victoria was stood.

Placing his hand on the small of her back, he got her attention. She looked to him and the smile on her face was clearly genuine, despite the eyes on them. "Hey," she said and he wondered what he felt at her heartfelt exclamation at seeing him. "I was just talking to Lisa. She's in charge of planning events for the children's hospital and she was saying that there is a bake sale coming up in the next week," Victoria said and Homelander almost wanted to ask why the hell he should care about that, but then he remembered where he was. He was at the gala. He had to at least look like he cared about charity. "I told her that I would take part and drop a cake off at the hospital…maybe even see if I could mention it on my social media account which seems to be out of my control nowadays."

Ever since she had demanded to look at it, she had decided that it wouldn't be for the best to continue looking. She had been happy to give Vought control. She didn't want to know what the trolls were saying. Yes, she was still intrigued to know, but she figured that, for her own health, it was best not to know.

"I don't see why that would be an issue," Homelander said to her.

"That would be amazing," Lisa fawned and Victoria continued smiling to her as Homelander kept his hand on her back, making her acutely aware of close he was to her. She did her best not to let it affect her too much, but she could feel how large his palm was against her. "I've given you my card so if you need anything, just let me know. But I can't wait to see you…and you know…a lot of people don't bother bringing in homemade cakes."

She frowned then, her lips pursing as she moved a hand to wave away that idea. "If it's a bake sale then I can bake something," she promised.

"Oh, she makes some mean cookies," Homelander added on and Victoria nodded her head once.

"He's not wrong, if I do say so myself," Victoria agreed. "Listen, Lisa, it's been lovely talking with you and I hope you have a nice weekend with your husband out in California!"

"Thanks, Victoria," Lisa said and the two women shook hands before parting ways.

Homelander led Victoria through the crowds. She looked up to him and noted that there were waiters clearing tables and carrying away empty trays of champagne flutes. The party seemed to be over, but Victoria was happy about that. Homelander and Victoria headed towards the elevator, bidding everyone a good night on their way. Approaching the elevator, Homelander pressed the button, well aware that he had to take Victoria home.

"You don't need to bother baking a cake. I can get you out of it." Homelander said.

But she shook her head. "I don't mind," Victoria responded to him and she folded her arms over her chest. "I can actually bake and it's for a good cause. Why would I not want to help out?"

Homelander had no answer to that without sounding like a total dick and, for some reason, he didn't want it to go that way that night. He was content just listening to her talk about her baking and she seemed to enjoy talking. They headed on down the elevator and Victoria felt comfortable with him picking her up and flying her home. She knew it was strange to think that a week ago she had dreaded the idea, but now she just let him wrap his arms around her with no complaint.

Once they had landed outside of her apartment building, he set her down and then looked to her, wondering if she had remembered what he wanted to know. It seemed that his look told her that she did. Sighing, she nodded and pulled her keys from her clutch bag.

"You'd best come in if we're going to talk about what happened," Victoria said.

He followed her up silently, Victoria slipping out of her heels as soon as she opened the door to the apartment. The living room was bathed in darkness. Homelander could hear soft snores coming from one of the rooms, indicating that one of her housemates was in and sleeping. She tip-toed across the room, the light from the streetlamps outside guiding her. Entering her room, she turned the light on and Homelander closed the door behind him.

Throwing her clutch onto the bed, Victoria flopped down onto the side of it and rubbed the sole of her left foot. It was aching from the evening wearing them and having to walk and dance and smile through the pain. Homelander took to his usual position at the bottom of her bed.

"Listen, I don't want to get into trouble or sound like I'm…I don't know…speaking out of turn," she said to Homelander and he shook his head.

"I doubt you would be," he promised her. "Now, tell me, what happened with Madelyn."

"Nothing really," Victoria said. "Well, I mean, she kind of just warned me not to get too close to you because what is happening between us…well…it will end in six months and that is all there is to it. I just felt like I was being warned off and I didn't entirely appreciate it."

"What did you say to her?" Homelander wondered, blinking profusely and waiting for her to reply. She moved to rub the sole of her other foot, folding her legs beneath herself on the bed.

"I…I kind of just said to her that I felt it was important for her to remember that you were more than just her job…that there is an actual person in there," she responded and Homelander couldn't stop the entertained look from forming on his face. He would have quite liked to have seen the two women fighting over him. That had never happened before and he felt like it would be quite the novelty. "I think that I might have pissed her off."

"Don't worry about her. I can take care of her," Homelander assured Victoria and she looked down, shyly tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Really? Because I get that you're loyal to her," Victoria said.

"Well, if what you're saying is true then you were just defending me, weren't you?" Homelander said and that caught her attention. Looking to him, her eyes narrowed and her teeth chewed down on the inside of her cheek.

"You think that I'd lie about that?" she asked from him.

"I don't trust people easily."

"Neither do I, but have I done anything to make you think that I'd say anything behind your back to her?" Victoria asked from him. "I've done nothing but try to make you trust me, but I just don't think you ever would."

"And do you trust me?"

"You know, you have a habit of turning questions back onto me," she said to him and he kept staring at her, not dropping her gaze. "But I'll answer it. Yes, I think that I am growing to trust you. Does that mean I am willing to tell you every deep dark secret that I have? No. But it means that I trust you enough to hope that you are looking out for me."

"And why would you think that?"

"Because of what you did on the talk show. You stopped her from asking questions about my childhood because you know that's a no go area. You defended me against those trolls. I mean, Christ, you bought me a TV!" she exclaimed, pointing to the door where the TV was on the other side. "So yeah, I think you care and so I do think that I can begin to trust you. But I don't think you'll ever extend me the same courtesy."

Victoria finished her outburst and played with the ends of her hair, remembering what her father had once told her. 'You need to toughen up, girl, because no one is going to care about you in this world. You look after yourself.'

Homelander was silent and Victoria rolled her eyes. He looked like he was hardly human at that stage; as if he was computing what response he should give her. And Victoria wasn't going to wait for that. She wasn't going to wait for him to tell her how out of line she was as he usually did. She moved from the bed and grabbed her pyjamas from where they sat on top of her laundry basket.

"You should go. I need to shower and it's late. I trust you can show yourself out," Victoria said to him and she began to move to her bedroom door.

But then he spoke. It was almost like a reflex. It was almost as though he knew he needed to say something to get her to stay.

"It was a padded cell," he spoke and Victoria froze. She kept her back to him, eyes closing and shoulders dropping. He stayed sat on the bed, hands clasped together in between his thighs. "All I remember from my childhood is that padded cell…and this blanket. They gave me this blue, soft blanket and I used to play peek-a-boo with the doctors through the window where they observed me. No one came in that room to tell me they loved me. No one came in that room to hold me. No one bothered with me because they didn't trust me. They thought that I would kill them…lose control…"

Victoria remained stood still, but Homelander was moving. He stood up from the bed, the mattress creaking from his movement. Moving towards her, his voice dropped down and grew closer to her ear.

"I could kill you with just a single hand," Homelander told her, moving his palm towards her, letting it sit on the nape of her neck over her hair. He moved a finger down her spine, feeling her shudder underneath the movement. "But you never act as though I scare you…as though I might lose control…"

"Should I be afraid?" Victoria questioned and his finger moved back up her spine, allowing all of them to curl gently around her neck, feeling her pulse point and hearing her inhale a sharp breath.

"If you had any sense, then yes," he said to her. "Because I'm not who you think you I am."

And that was the truth. He really wasn't who she thought she was, but she didn't know that. She thought that he was some damaged man because of his messed-up childhood. But he was worse than that. He was damaged, but it hadn't led him towards being weak. On the other hand, it had led him to crave power and be the world's strongest superhero.

"I'm not scared of you," Victoria said and she turned to face him, his palm splaying against her chest as he refused to let go of her. "And they should never have been scared of you. You were a child."

"Then why is your pulse racing and your heart beating almost twice as fast as it usually does?" he asked from her and she knew there would be no escaping it now.

"Because I've had almost a full bottle of champagne and, yes, I admit that I am quite anxious about where this conversation is going," she said to him. "Because I don't want you to go running back to Madelyn and telling her about this, making her think that I'm going against her or whatever."

"So you're scared of her?" Homelander asked, his thumb running up and down her neck slowly and she nodded. His smile grew then. Well, the was fascinating. "Why?"

"Because of what you said," Victoria said. "You told me that she was the one who made things happen and I have friends, Homelander. I have friends here who I want to protect."

"Nothing will happen to your friends."

"How can you promise me that?"

"Because I'm the Homelander," he said to her as though it was that simple, as if that held merit. And perhaps it did. "And I get what I want."

Victoria said nothing back to him, wondering just exactly what he had gotten before to make him say such a thing. She had no idea and so instead she moved to take his hand from her and he let her. She kept his hand inside of hers, letting them rest by their sides and he furrowed his brow, his face scrunching up while he watched their entwined limbs.

"You don't need to try and push me away," she promised him. "I'm not scared of you. I'm going to be here for the next six months."

He could only nod his head once. He had no idea how to respond to her. This was all completely new to him.

"I need to go," Homelander decided on saying, dropping her hand. Victoria nodded and she held the bedroom door open. He swept through it without another word, heading through the dark to the main door. As soon as it was shut, she let out the deep breath that she had been holding in and hugged her pyjamas to her chest.

…

"That isn't in the diary."

Madelyn had been fretting ever since Victoria had told her about the bake sale. She had her weekly review in Madelyn's office on the Tuesday night after her class had finished. She was doing her best not to yawn too much, but she was exhausted. After the gala, she had spent the Sunday in the library, Vought giving her the day off and Homelander not bothering her. On the Monday, she had gone to his penthouse for the evening, but she had asked him if he minded her grading papers. He told her to do as she pleased, but he hadn't gone upstairs. Instead, he had sat on the chair in the corner and pretended to read through some notes for his patrol on Wednesday night.

And now he was in Madelyn's office, sat next to Victoria who came in late, carrying her thermal coffee mug, satchel swinging against her hip and face flustered. She had said that her class had ran over, students fretting about some kind of assignment.

"I know, but I was talking to Lisa at the gala," Victoria said. "She runs all the events and she just mentioned it. What is the harm of me taking a cake there and just helping out for an hour?"

"For a starter, we haven't prepped you for it."

Victoria looked dismayed. "I think that I can manage not to bring down the entire company just selling some cakes."

"What if there are journalists?" Madelyn continued fretting, sat on the couch across from them with her hands laced together in her lap, her eyes full of annoyance with what she was hearing. None of this was part of the plan, but Victoria seemed to be continuously pushing back and the worst thing about it all was that Homelander seemed so nonplussed by it: like he would let her get her own way with whatever she wanted.

"Then I will just tell them what I have been telling them for weeks," Victoria retorted. "I am capable of doing this."

"And you're okay with this?" Madelyn directed her question to Homelander.

He looked unbothered, shrugging his shoulders. "It a cake sale, not some national press conference. She can handle it," he said and Victoria looked to him, a smile forming on her face. He looked back to her, lips also curled at the sides. And it was that interaction that made Madelyn realise that she had to stop this before it became too much.

….

On top of everything Victoria had going on, she had to admit that baking a cake was something she could do without. But she had promised to help. And so she did. She stayed up late the night before the sale, beating the batter and waiting for the cake to cook in the oven while she tidied up. Michelle came and licked the batter out of the bowl and Daniella helped her whip up the cream cheese icing to go on top of the chocolate cake. Victoria had managed to hand in a second draft chapter of her literature review that day and so, thankfully, she could take an hour or two off to go to the sale and help out.

She dressed in a pleated black skirt with a long black jumper and tied her hair into a ponytail. She left for the hospital, carrying the cake in front of her and letting her battered satchel swing across her body and against her hip. She took the subway over to the nearest stop and made sure people didn't bump into her as she carried the cake. Entering the hospital, she had no idea where she was going, but she asked at reception and was told to head on up to the sixth floor.

Arriving there, she instantly spotted Lisa behind a makeshift long table formed of different sized and height tables. It was covered in a white tablecloth and already filled with loads of cakes, cookies and biscuits. Victoria rushed over to the woman, smiling and humbly offering her the cake she had made. Lisa set it down in the middle and introduced her to three nurses who had agreed to help out at the event.

Victoria found herself at ease, not one of them asking her about her relationship with Homelander. It was refreshing. She didn't feel as though she had to be performing the entire time. She placed boxes under the table and before long, the sale had begun. Members of staff came by and bought cakes along with parents whose children were in for treatment, Victoria talking to them and asking them questions. She was polite and courteous, handing out cake and taking money. About an hour into the event, she was just in the process of gathering empty plates to take them to the small kitchenette when she heard his voice.

"Hi…hello…I'm here to help, but don't worry, I'll answer any questions you might have so long as you all buy cake!"

Victoria turned around, holding the plates in front of her. He was moving from the elevator, walking in between a growing crowd who were staring in awe at him. Victoria continued to watch him as he finally spotted her behind the table. Heading over to her, he extended his arms and saw the look of surprise on her face.

"Hi, sweetheart," he said and Victoria played along, letting him placed a hand on her arm and bend down to peck her on the cheek.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned him.

"Well, I have a spare hour and so I thought I would come and help," Homelander declared, an arm going around her waist as he looked down at the sweet offerings in front of him. "Which one is yours?"

"That one," Victoria said, juggling the plates in one hand and pointing to it as Lisa served him a slice, handing him the plate. He knew that there were phones already out and filming. He picked a piece of the sponge and popped it into his mouth, surprised by how nice it actually tasted. She wasn't wrong when she said that she was a good baker.

"This is amazing," he said to her and she cocked a brow.

"You doubted me?" she wondered.

"Never," he said, taking another bite.

"Glad to hear it. I just need to go and put these in the kitchen and then I'll be back." She said, motioning to the plates.

"I'll give you a hand," Homelander said and he followed her over to the kitchenette, waving and smiling as he passed people by. Once they were in the small space, Victoria placed the plates on the side and began stacking them in the dishwasher as Homelander continued to pick at the cake. "You know, I'm being serious, this cake is actually amazing."

"I'm taking that as my compliment of the day," she said and he smiled at her as she remained bent over, placing the plates into the dishwasher methodically. "But, seriously, why are you here? Did Madelyn send you to check up on me because so far there haven't been any journalists around."

"Actually, I came here under my own steam," he said.

"Really?" she asked.

"Really," he echoed back. "You said you were a good baker, I wanted the proof."

"You know, I could have baked you a cake in private, right?" she responded. "You didn't need to come here, not that I'm not happy to see you. It's nice…I mean…it's nice to see you."

"And how is it going?" he questioned.

She should have known better than to expect him to be excited to see her back. He wasn't there yet and she wondered if he ever would be, but she didn't push it.

"Well, so far we have sold about six hundred dollars worth of cake. It's not quite the amount the gala raised, but it's better than nothing. I should really get back to them," she said to him and he nodded. "You can go if you want."

"No," he shook his head. "I can help for an hour or two."

"You're sure Madelyn won't mind?" she asked.

"Nah," he replied. "It'll be fine. Come on."

They went back out and acted like the perfect couple. He stuck close to her side, cutting slices of cake and placing them on paper plates as Victoria took the money. His hand would occasionally brush her back when he went by her and he would feel the heat from her body when she leaned across him for something, her hair tied back in a ponytail and his fingers twitching to run through it. He would laugh and joke with members of staff, Victoria taking photos for kids who asked if they could get pictures with Homelander.

It felt almost normal, well, as normal as being with a superhero could be. Victoria didn't exactly have any idea what that was like. But it felt as though she didn't have to perform for once in her life. There were no journalists asking her boring questions. There was just her talking and asking patients and nurses questions in between serving cake. She was out of the limelight. Once everything had been sold, Homelander said that he would take her back home.

Picking up her empty cake tin, she cradled it against her chest and said goodbye to Lisa and everyone else as she walked by. Homelander stood in the elevator with her and walked her out. Before he could pick her up, she placed a hand to his arm to stop him.

"Do you fancy grabbing a coffee?" she asked him. "If you have time, that is."

"A coffee?" he checked with her. "You don't need to get home?"

"I do, but I just figured that a coffee might be nice," she responded.

"Even though you know we'll be filmed?" he checked.

"You're right," she said to him and shook her head. "It was a stupid idea. We should just head home."

"No," Homelander quickly said and looked to the sky, nodding once and realising what he was doing. He knew that Madelyn might not be happy, but he was beginning not to care completely. He was more interested in Victoria and seeing her happy and he knew that wasn't what he was supposed to feel. "I have an idea."

"Oh?"

"Hold on," Homelander said.

Victoria had no other option but to grab hold of him as he knocked her feet from underneath her. He took off into the sky and Victoria had no idea where they were going, but she didn't question him. He finally landed on the ground and Victoria dared to peel her eyes open. She'd gotten used to not looking whenever they were in the air, pretty terrified of the sudden drop. There was always a slight delay whenever they landed between him touching the ground and setting her down, but he had grown to enjoy that moment, feeling to her clinging to him, as if she needed him.

"Where are we?" Victoria asked and headed over towards the edge of the building, dropping her bag and cake tin on the way. Homelader followed a few steps behind her.

"On the top of Vought's building," Homelander said and Victoria moved to the edge, her hands settling on the stone ledge. She peered over and then backed away pretty quickly.

"This is pretty high."

"Only place you can get solitude round here," he confessed and Victoria continued to look out over the city. "You can see everything from here."

"It's a great view," Victoria agreed with him.

"Well, you enjoy it and I'll be back with coffee…an americano, right?" he checked with her and she nodded, amazed that he remembered her drink's order. He took off into the sky and Victoria remained idling on the rooftop. Why had she asked him for coffee? What was she even going to say to him? She didn't have anything desperate that she wanted to tell him, but there was something she felt she should raise.

He was gone for about less than two minutes, coming back up with two take-out mugs of coffee. He handed her one and she clasped her hands around it, feeling the warmth on her palms. She took a sip, finding that it was still pretty scalding hot. They stood in silence for a moment, overlooking the city in front of them.

"Thank you for coming today," Victoria finally said, unable to take the not talking any longer. "I bet it helped increase sales, but more importantly, I imagined you made some kids days. Did you see how their faces lit up?"

"I just did what I had to do," Homelander said, but Victoria shook her head.

"No, you didn't," she responded, glancing at him. "You never had to come. You could have just stayed here…but you did come. You know, I'm beginning to think you might not actually be as sarcastic or scary as you want people to think."

"Oh, I don't want people to think that."

"No?"

"No, I want them to think that I am nothing but charming," he retorted and she laughed, nodding her head and agreeing with him.

"I guess that's the image you portray pretty well when the cameras aren't rolling," she agreed on that point. He was pretty good at acting that part. "But it was nice today. It was just nice not having to act for a camera."

"Well, there were people filming."

"But I mean not journalists," Victoria said to him. "Not having to say anything rehearsed. I don't know how you do it all the time. It's exhausting."

"You get used to it," he said. "I'm not ordinary, Victoria. I've never been ordinary and I never will be."

"But don't you just want some time to be ordinary?" Victoria asked. "Try and wear normal clothes and just go out and not be recognised…go to the cinema to see a film other than your own…walk around a store and buy whatever food you want without Vought telling you what to eat…I just think that I'd struggle to live like that."

"You don't struggle when you know no different," he said and took a drink of his own coffee, sipping on it slowly.

"If you ever want to know different then I don't think it's too late," she retorted and for a brief moment, he was interested. He wondered what it might feel like. Then again, people were intrigued by things they didn't understand.

"I'll keep it in mind," he said to her.

"I…I was wondering if I could ask you a favour too," Victoria said and Homelander almost felt his heart sink. Was this where she turned out to be like everyone else? Wanting something from him? He felt deflated, hiding his frown with a drink of his coffee as he nodded his head and she continued. "My parents know where I live."

"Oh?" Homelander asked. He was interested as to where this was now going.

She tucked her loose strands of hair behind her ear that had fallen from her ponytail and moved closer to the edge again, unable to look at him while she told him what had happened.

"I didn't really want to bring it up, but I knew that this could happen. I've been on national TV so it's obvious really," Victoria said and she placed her coffee mug on the ledge, her hands still wrapped around it. "They…they didn't really say much. It was my mum's writing. I recognised it instantly. She just said sorry for everything that had happened and she wanted to meet. She wants to come over to New York and see me."

"And you don't want that?" Homelander wondered, keeping a few paces away from her, standing behind her and watching the wind push her hair, swaying it gently in the breeze.

"No," Victoria said. "But yes…mum…she never did anything to hurt me. She tried to protect me when I was younger, but she never really could. I blamed her for a long time…wondering why she never left him. Why did she never get us out of there? We were children…" she trailed off and sniffed, shaking her head and trying to clear her mind. "Anyway, the point is that I don't want to see them. I don't want to go back to the past because I left that behind. If they try and make contact with Vought, can you just block it? Don't tell them anything?"

"Of course," Homelander said. That was no problem. He almost wanted to laugh at himself for thinking her favour would be anything to exploit him. "Are you scared of him? Your father?"

"Not anymore," Victoria said with a shake of her head. "I know how to handle myself now and I'm not a sixteen-year-old girl. But that doesn't mean that I ever want to see him again."

Homelander continued to watch her back, eyes roaming over her back. "What did he do to you?" he asked, his voice low and soft.

Silence lapsed between them once more and Victoria turned around and he could see that her eyes were watering. She shook her head and looked at him with wide eyes. "I…not yet," Victoria said to him. "Don't ask me that yet, please."

"You can trust me," he told her and, for some reason, she didn't doubt that. But her tears began falling even harder and she nodded, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands and knowing that her eyes would be puffy and her cheeks red.

"I know," she said and her gaze continued to meet his. She didn't back down. She just looked at him and he wondered if she was going to tell him. Did she actually trust him? Did she truly trust him or had she just said that? "But not now…I can't tell you right now because that would mean reliving it and I don't know if I'm ready to do that yet."

"Alright," he said, agreeing with her and she finally cracked completely, crying openly as she remembered everything from her childhood that she repressed. Homelander instinctively moved to her then, his arms going around her as she fell against him, her cheek pressing against his chest and his hand going to her hair, stroking it slowly and soothingly.

"It's alright," he promised her. "I've got you now, Victoria. I've got you."

She clung onto him and closed her eyes, letting herself cry and be comforted by the supe in front of her, completely unaware of the fallout that would come when he discovered the truth.

…

Eeee! Thank you so much to everyone following! And thank you to .Venus, Wondeverett and nizem8 for reviewing. So things might be pretty sweet right now, but we all know the show and nothing is sweet about it! As always, would love to know your thoughts/recommendations/what you think might be coming!