Madelyn sighed, looking to Homelander, the anger in his face apparent. She should have expected this and, the only good thing was, she knew how to deal with. Once she explained what had happened, he would understand entirely. He would see that she had done this for him and no one was going to be hurt. He would see that this would boost his poll numbers. She stood up, holding Teddy in her arms and rocking him slowly against her.

"Rachel!" she called for her assistant who was just outside of her door and at her own desk. It opened after a moment, the red head peering in and beaming widely.

"Yes, Ms Stillwell?" she queried.

"Can you take Teddy and put him in his stroller? I'll be out in a moment."

"Yes, Ms Stillwell."

Homelander waited with fake patience until the baby was outside and removed from the office before turning his anger onto Madelyn. He kept his hands in fists on his hips. "Where is she?" he demanded from her.

"She is perfectly safe," Madelyn declared, holding a hand up and promising him that straight away. She ensured the door was firmly closed. Heading back to her desk, she perched on the edge of it, the backs of her thighs resting there, arms folded across her chest. "And she will remain perfectly safe, I promise you that, but we had to do something to help you and take the shine away from her."

"What did you do to her?" Homelander demanded.

"She's locked away in some room where no harm will come to her," Madelyn promised, reaching behind for the tablet she had been looking at as she fed her child. She swiped on it a few times and then handed it across to him.

He looked down at the live feed, seeing an image of Victoria in a simple, white room. She was sat on a bed, one leg crossed over the other and her eyes darting around the room. She stood up and began pressing against walls, looking under the cot bed and trying to find anything that could help her escape. He could see the fear in her face, noting the way her face was contorting while she tried to remain composed. He looked away from her, his gaze going back to Madelyn.

"You didn't fucking tell her the plan, did you?" he demanded and Madelyn shook her head.

"The less people who know the better," she assured him on that point and he ground his teeth together, anger coursing through his veins. "I am telling you because I trust you and because I know that you can keep it together. You can manage to play this right and get the attention back on you."

"How?" he questioned.

"A press conference," she said, suspecting that he might be coming around to her way of thinking. She wasn't entirely certain, but she was going to do her best to make sure that was the case. She took the tablet away from him when she noted that his attention was being drawn back to Victoria. Locking it, the screen went black and she placed it onto her desk once more. "We do a press conference where you state that she has been taken. You claim that you are doing everything you can to bring her back."

"A press conference? Is that it?" he sneered.

"After five or six days, you rescue her. The men who have her are off the books. They can't be connected back to Vought and we'll keep it that way…they'll have left by then, scared of being caught and convinced that this wasn't worth the ransom that they want."

"Six days?" he demanded. "You expect it to take the Seven six days to find a woman? You know that if I go down to analytics right now then I will have her found in seconds."

"I know, but you're not going to do that. We're going to make this look like a struggle," Madelyn continued. "And once she is returned to you, you're going to do lots of press where she praises you…where people have seen you as the hero you are…a dedicated boyfriend willing to protect his girlfriend at any cost. And then, after the six months are finished, you will break up with her, claiming that you fear you can't be with her in case she is used against you again…that you care too much to put her through that…you'll appear compassionate. You'll be a saviour and not look like a heartless dick when you finish this thing with her."

Homelander considered what he was being told and he had to admit that it did make sense. It made a lot of sense. But then he began to think longer and he shook his head. No. He wasn't going to go along with this. He wasn't going to take it. He could take a lot from Madelyn, but not this.

"And what if, after six months, I don't want to give her up."

"No," Madelyn warned him, stepping towards him and pointing in his direction. "This is not part of the plan."

"Plans changed," Homelander retorted. "I can't go along with this plan. I won't. I am not letting her go."

"You can't do this," Madelyn said, shaking her head quickly and standing in front of him. But he had that stubborn look on his face. "We had an agreement. Six months to help you boost your ratings. That's it. We didn't agree on anything else. We didn't agree for you to catch feelings for her or want to stay around. We didn't agree to it."

"Well, gee-shooks, I guess the plan's changed," Homelander snapped. "And you're going to have to get used to it because you need me. If you want me to follow your script then this ends now. You stop going after her and you give her back to me."

"She's not some toy," Madelyn retorted.

"But she is mine," Homelander said, snarling and looking to her, the glimmer in his eye enough to make her recoil for a moment. She was doing her best not to back down. But she had seen him manic before. She had seen him on the edge. "You were the one who gave her to me, remember?"

"For six months." Madelyn retorted.

"No, for as long as I want," Homelander retorted.

"And what about what she wants? Do you think that she will want this life forever? You've seen her. She's an academic. She's a recluse. She can't live the life you live. You're incompatible," Madelyn retorted and Homelander could feel the rage take over him. She wasn't getting it. She wasn't understanding. He just needed her to do as he said. "Or, what if it's worse than that," Madelyn continued and Homelander remained mute. She moved a hand to his shoulder. "What if she actually changes and ends up enjoying this. What if she wants the publicity…the book deals…the TV shows…what if she becomes bigger than you?"

"That would never happen," he said.

"How do you know that?" Madelyn wondered from him. "Are you willing to take this risk over her? Is she really worth it? Honestly, if you want to fuck her to get her out your system then I won't mind."

"You won't mind? What? You're giving me permission to fuck her?" Homelander checked with her and she lifted a hand up to his cheek, stroking it tenderly and hoping that it would be enough to calm him down. Her own lips arched after a moment and she took hold of his hand with her spare hand, leading him to the couch.

"You know you need my permission," she responded and he scoffed.

"But you know that I'd have fucked her on that couch before you interrupted," he informed her and he imagined it again, Victoria pinned beneath him, her gasps soft and guttural in his ear. But Madelyn didn't seem entirely bothered.

"No, you wouldn't have," she said confidently and he remained where he was on the couch as she stood up. He watched as she pulled up her skirt and then sunk down onto his lap once more. Her fingers nimbly found his belt, tugging at it until his pants began to loosen. "Because you're my good boy, aren't you?"

He tossed his head back, his neck straining as he did his best not to let her hear him moan too loudly. He kept thinking about where he was less than a day ago. He was in Victoria's apartment. He was with her. And now here he was with Madelyn and he so wanted her approval. It was all he had ever wanted. It was all he had ever longed for. However, it wasn't what he wanted at that moment in time.

Placing his hands to her hips before she could go any further, he shook his head. "Where is she?"

"Five days," she repeated and lifted herself from him, tugging her skirt down her thighs and moving back to her desk, understanding that he was't going to budge on this. She couldn't make him. "In five days you can have her back. You can go to her and play the hero, but you have to wait five days."

"And if I refuse to go along with this?"

"Then I'll take this to Edgar," Madelyn said. "And you really don't want me to go there, do you?"

Homelander was quiet and she saw the look in his eye. Despite everything, Edgar unnerved him. He would hardly admit it out loud, but it was the truth.

"No one touches her," Homelander warned.

"No one will go anywhere near her," she assured him. "Now, you are due in a press conference in another two hours detailing what is happening here. Her friends will be here as well. The police have gone to inform them of what has happened. You'll be there, supporting them as they will also make a public appeal for her to be returned safely."

"Fine," Homelander said.

"And she can never know about this," Madelyn said. "If she got wind of this then she might threaten to expose us. You know that. She's good. She's too good."

Homelander didn't know about that, but he knew Madelyn was right. He knew that Victoria would never be able to continue with the contract if she knew that they had kidnapped her for their own benefit. She had a conscience. She liked to think that she knew right from wrong. It was exhausting to Homelander, but it was the way she lived her life. Besides, would she even be able to look at him the same way if she knew that he had known?

If Edgar was in on this then Homelander truly felt trapped. He wanted everything. He wanted a high approval rating. He wanted people to love him. But, as much as he needed the nation's adoration, he needed Victoria's. He needed her there to be with him and listen to his concerns. He needed her as some kind of lifeline. He had no option. He had to go along with this entire plan.

…

Victoria had no idea what was going on. She had been shopping one minute and then the next she was involved in some armed robbery. She remembered dropping the milk to the floor and hearing the glass bottle break. She had dropped down to the floor, hands in the air. She assumed that the four masked robbers would go to the counter and raid the cash register. She never imagined that they would have been there for her.

She had fought against them, kicking and thrashing. She'd gotten a few good hits into one of the man's stomach, but it hadn't been enough. They had carried her out and shoved her into the trunk of a car. She had screamed for as long as she could, kicking at the roof of the trunk before realising that they were going too fast for anyone to hear her. They were only driving around half an hour before they parked up.

Victoria prepared to fight them once the trunk was open and she did just that. But there were four of them and one of her. Between them, they restrained her arms behind her back and grabbed her legs, hauling her into the air and carrying her into some derelict warehouse. They had dropped her in a room and slammed the door closed before she could get out.

Ever since then, she had been trapped in that room. There was no bathroom, but there was a bucket in the corner that they emptied for her daily. It had taken her almost nine hours before she had given up and used it. There was a small hatch in the bottom of the door, but nothing else. It would open for her to pass the bucket through and take food from. No one bothered her and no one answered her questions whenever she asked them what they wanted with her.

Her mind had begun to wander to dark places as well. Was this because she was dating Homelander? Was this all to try and get to him? What did they want with him? The most logical explanation would be money, she knew that. They could try and exploit him somehow, but would he even pay for her to be returned? Would Vought care? She had heard them before saying that they didn't liaise with criminals after a similar situation had taken place a few years before.

Or were they here for some other reason? Did they want her for something else? Sure, she had worked at the UN and hadn't always been popular thanks to her ideas, but nothing that would warrant a kidnapping. No, this had to be because of her link to Homelander. It was too perfectly timed for it not to be. Victoria was doing everything in her power to think positively, knowing that it wouldn't look good if Homelander did nothing to try and find his girlfriend. Besides, Michelle and Daniella wouldn't let her go missing without saying anything.

She had tried to figure a way out of the room, but she was coming up empty. There was nothing on the cot she could use to try and unlock the door. Besides, how would she know to pick a lock? She'd pressed her ear to the wall numerous times, listening out for any sign of a familiar noise that might make her able to identify who had taken her. But there was nothing.

On her fifth meal of the week, the hatch opened and she watched as a ready meal of lasagne was pushed through to her with a new bottle of water. She remained sat on the bed, not entirely bothered by food. But she had to keep her strength up. She climbed from the bed and placed the tray on the surface, about to sit back down on the lumpy mattress and force herself food.

But she had no chance. She heard a loud scream and her body instantly stood up straight. She wondered if she was hearing something; if her mind was playing tricks on her. But she wasn't. Another second later, there was another loud scream of pain and that was followed by the noise of gunshots. Victoria screamed herself, placing a hand over her mouth to try and stop it from echoing through the room. She knew that there was no weapon she could use against whoever was out there. The only option was self-defence. She remembered everything she had learned in classes and moved to the door, standing behind it.

The gunshots continued followed by another blood-curdling scream. But then there was silence. There was no other noise. Victoria could hear her breathing become ragged as the silence continued to stretch. She balled her hands into fists and prepared for what was coming her way.

But she had no need. His voice was like a sweet relief. Everything inside of her crumbled, the pent up emotions she had been holding in coming to the surface.

"Victoria?" he said. "I need you to step away from the door."

She did as he had asked, moving to the other side of the room from the door. He pushed it open, the metal coming off the hinges and then he stepped into the room. She launched herself at him before he even had a chance to say anything to her. Her arms were around his neck and he moved his around her waist, letting her cling onto him, her body shaking with loud sobs.

"It's alright, I've got you," he promised her. "You're safe."

She couldn't even form a coherent sentence. She was too relieved that he had found her, that the worst thoughts she'd had hadn't come true. Homelander didn't expect her to talk, but he knew that he had to get her out. He pulled back from her for a moment and crouched down at the knees, looking her in the eye and moving his hands to cradle her cheeks, thumbs brushing her tears away on her cheeks. But as soon as he had done that, more fell. She fell forwards, her forehead resting against his and her throat gurgling. She knew that she hardly looked her best, but she didn't care. She just wanted to get out.

"Did they hurt you?" he asked and her hands settled on top of his, just feeling a need to hold him and make sure that he actually was here.

"No," she said, gathering her breath. "No…I just…I just want to go, please."

"Alright," he said and continued to look at her. "I just need you not to look, alright? Just don't look because they…they came at us…and I had to do what I had to do to get you out. Just don't look."

She nodded. She wouldn't look. He seemed appeased and wrapped his arms around her once more as she did the same to him. She didn't even bother to ask him what he was doing as he picked her up like she weighed nothing. He grabbed hold of her with one hand going under her thighs, hoisting her up until her legs were wrapped around his waist. She clung to him tightly, arms around his neck as he walked out of the room, his other hand cupping the back of her head, forcing her to keep her face buried against his shoulder.

Carrying her through the bloodbath, Homelander looked at the four men who were strewn across the room, their bodies dismembered and missing pieces. The walls were covered in blood and a hole was in the ceiling from his laser eyes. He ensured his grip was tight on her head, keeping her burrowed against him until they were outside.

"Is she alright?"

His grip relented slightly, but he still kept her in his arms and against him, her legs around his waist and his hand running to her back. "She will be," Homelander said and Victoria turned her head to the side to see Maeve stood there. She looked pristine too, like she hadn't had to put up any fight with what had gone on in that room. "Maeve, I need to get her home. She needs rest. Can you deal with the police and Vought?"

"I've got that," Maeve said. "You sure you're going to be alright taking her back? Should she be flying?"

"She'll be fine," Homelander said, tone tight as the smile stayed on his face to Maeve, warning her silently not to push him on the matter. "I've got her."

"Look after yourself, Victoria," Maeve said to her.

"Thank you…for everything," she said and Maeve could only give her a tight-lipped smile before Homelander took off with her, still holding her to him like she was his new favourite toy.

Maeve waited until she was certain he was gone before heading into the building once more and looking around. The entire room was a crime scene that had never needed to happen. It was all Homelander. The men had surrendered. They had laid down their weapons and were prepared to go. But Homelander had killed them all. He had killed them with no remorse, ignoring their pleas. Maeve couldn't stop him. She had told him to stop, but there had been a rage inside of him that she hadn't seen in a long time. She worried about what he was going to do in the long run.

…

Walking Victoria into her apartment, Homelander kept an arm around her waist. He knocked on the door considering neither of them had a key. He knew that Michelle and Daniella were inside and waiting, neither of them had given him much peace all week. They had demanded to know exactly what was being done to find Victoria. As soon as they appeared in the doorway, Homelander watched as they took Victoria from him and embraced her, the three women crying loudly and fussing.

"I'm alright," Victoria promised, her cheeks persistently refusing to cool down. They were red and her eyes were puffy, also reddened from her crying. She was shaking, no doubt from adrenaline. "Honestly, I'm fine."

"What happened?"

"Where have you been?"

Michelle and Daniella asked the questions consistently, needing to know what had gone on. They led Victoria to the sofa, forcing her to sit down. Daniella stayed with her, arm around her shoulders while Michelle went and got her a glass of water, handing it to her and making her take sips of it.

"I…I don't really know," Victoria confessed to them. And that was the truth. She had no idea where she had been or what had happened to her. Looking at Homelander, he couldn't help but think of how broken and damaged she looked. But she would be fine in time. He could help put her together, make her realise that she needed no one but him. "Homelander found me."

"It was some gang from New York who thought they could take her to exploit me," Homelander said, remembering the script that Madelyn had prepared for him. "We struggled to find her because she didn't have her phone, their plates were fake and they had her in a zinc room…I can't see through zinc. Anyway, we got a tip off that there was some suspicious activity in an abandoned warehouse. Turned out it was a good tip for once."

"Oh my God," Daniella said and Victoria took another sip of water. "Vic, we can't even imagine."

"I'm fine," Victoria promised them, but she was still shaking. "They didn't hurt me, but it was just the worry...wondering what they wanted with me."

"Honey, I'm so sorry," Michelle said, hand going to Victoria's jean covered thigh. "Listen, we're not going anywhere, alright? We're going to stay here tonight and we're going to look after you…and we'll be here for as long as you need us."

"Thank you," Victoria said, looking from side to side at her friends.

"They've been brilliant," Homelander said, feeling slightly left out of the conversation. "They helped us with appeals and have practically lived at Vought until you were found."

"We would have done anything to get you back," Daniella said.

"Just like him," Michelle said and looked to Homelander who pretended to be embarrassed, looking to the floor. "He was on TV every day, doing conferences with the police…said that he would have paid whatever ransom they asked of him. I dread to think what might have happened without him."

"Well, we don't need to think like that," Homelander assured them. "Look, I've got to get back to Vought. They'll be expecting a debrief. Do you think that I could come back later? I just want to make sure you're fine."

"Of course," Victoria said and he smiled as charmingly as he could to her, giving her a subtle wink.

"I'll be back later then," he said and took off, leaving Michelle and Daniella to fawn over Victoria.

Flying back to Vought Towers, he purposefully made his way up to Madelyn's office. He found her sat behind her desk on her own, typing out some email to some lackey. Closing the door behind him, he watched her stand up as soon as he was in the room. She was clearly annoyed.

"What the hell did you do?" she demanded from him.

"I saved my girlfriend," he replied in a simple tone and went to the couch, taking a seat on it and folding one leg over the other.

"I told you that the men would flee," Madelyn seethed, storming over to him and chastising him like a child. He rolled his eyes at the dramatics and sat back, making himself comfortable. "I told you that they would cause you no problem, but the photos from that warehouse…Jesus Christ, it is like a war-zone…what you've done to them."

"They fired first on us."

"Maeve said."

"Well then, there's your story."

"It's the official story that we are giving to people, but we both know that it's not true," she snarled back at him. "We both know that you made the decision to do what you did. You butchered them. You…I've never seen anything like it."

"No?" he asked, tone mocking. "Well, I suppose at least now you might have some understanding of what it means to fuck with me."

Moving back to his feet, he watched Madelyn slink back from him. She was afraid. Good. She should be afraid because she had no idea what he was capable of doing. She leant back against her desk, each of Homelander's arms encaging her there, trapping her with nowhere to go as he brought his mouth to her ear, whispering hotly against it.

"You might have thought that you had gotten your way, but you went behind my back," Homelander drawled. "You took something of mine without asking and I had to make you see that I won't tolerate it. I ask for very little, Madelyn. You parade me around like the good superhero I am and I let you. All I want in return is a little respect and for you to realise that she is off limits. Do you understand?"

He pulled back and heart her heart rate increase. Gripping her chin forcefully, he looked her in the eye.

"Do you understand?" he repeated and she could only nod.

Once he was satisfied, he let her go, backing away from the room before she spoke, her voice shaking.

"She's…she's making you unhinged," she commented.

"Yeah," he chuckled, "imagine how I'd be without her."

…

Michelle opened the door to the apartment later on that evening. She had changed into long sleeved blue silk pyjamas, her hair hanging in a ponytail on the back of her head. She looked to Homelander after he had knocked on the door, waiting to be let in. Opening the door slowly, she moved to the side and let him in. She looked exhausted, bags under her eyes and her smile only half-hearted.

"Hey," she greeted him. "She's in her room. She went to bed after a shower and she's been there ever since. We took her some food, but she wasn't entirely hungry. I was just going to take her some herbal tea."

"I can take it," Homelander said, allowing Michelle to close the door behind him.

"Hi, Homelander," Daniella's voice suddenly entered the room. She was also in her pyjamas, her hair pushed back in a headband. "I thought it was you. Vic told me to send you in."

"Great," he said and Michelle finished pouring the boiling water from the kettle on the stove into a floral mug.

"We also just wanted to thank you…for everything…for bringing her back," Daniella said to him and Michelle placed the mug of tea on the breakfast bar. He picked it up and shrugged his shoulders, trying to brush it off.

"It's what I do," he responded.

"I know, but she's our friend," Michelle said. "She's everything to us and she…we just want you to know that we're grateful and don't think we'll ever be able to repay you."

"I think we both have the same interest," Homelander responded. "Looking after Victoria, even though she doesn't need any looking after. She's a pretty tough cookie."

He noted the worried looks exchanged between them. Was she not as tough as he thought? He suspected that she was reasonably strong, but a part of him wasn't sure. There was still her childhood to get through that he had to figure out. He wanted to know how badly that had impacted her. But all in time. It would all come to him in time.

"I'll go and take this through," Homelander said to them and he headed on through to the bedroom that he had come to recognise pretty well.

Victoria was under her quilt, propped up on her pillows with a notebook in front of her. Homelander's brow furrowed and he kicked the door closed with the back of his foot. "Hey," he said upon seeing her. "How're you feeling?"

"Honestly, I feel fine," Victoria said, but she knew that she wasn't exactly telling the entire truth. She had jumped at the sound of a backfiring car and almost hyperventilated when a gaggle of girls walking by her window had shrieked suddenly with laughter. "Thanks for coming back."

"Of course," Homelander said and he settled the mug on a coaster on her bedside table. He perched on the side of the bed and Victoria's legs pulled up to her chest, giving him some more room and placing her book on the floor. "Everything has been cleared at Vought. I've spoken with Madelyn and she will be briefing the media on what has happened. You're not expected to do anything for the time being…I mean…I imagine media appearances are the last thing on your mind."

"You're not wrong," Victoria concurred on that point. She hadn't even thought about doing that. "And I don't think I'll ever be able to repay you for coming for me."

"Well, it was my fault that you were there in the first place," he told her, lacing his fingers together in between his spread legs. Victoria quickly shook her head, reaching for his arm and squeezing it tight.

"Don't say that," she urged him. "None of this is your fault. You can't help that there are people out there who want to exploit you."

"Perhaps not, but I would understand if you wanted out, if you decided that this wasn't for you," he promised her and he was almost too glad at watching her quickly shake her head. That wasn't what she wanted. In fact, recently, it had been the last thing she had wanted.

"No," she said to him, voice slightly hoarse from days of not speaking. "I don't want to stop seeing you. I've…I thought that we were getting somewhere…you know? Actually liking each other and not just faking it for the cameras."

He arched a brow. "You like me?"

"When you're not being an asshole, yeah," she said and he saw the smirk on her face as she said it. "I think that I could grow to really like you."

"Really like me?" he echoed back and his teasing words were enough to make her blush, looking back down at her floral duvet. Homelander shifted closer to her, his hand going to her chin and bringing her gaze back to his before he bent down further, forehead brushing hers. "You don't need to be embarrassed about it."

"I'm not," she assured him. "I'm just worried that you'll never feel the same way, or openly admit you feel the same way."

"Why would you think that?" he wondered. She had no idea what he had done for her, did she? "Because I don't say it clearly? Well, Vic, I can rectify that for you if you want because I do like you. In fact, I like you more than that stupid contract of ours says I should because tonight I told Madelyn that if after six months we still like each other, then no contract is going to stop us seeing each other."

She looked confused by that, thin eyebrows knitting together on her forehead as he said it and she took his hand from her face, holding it tightly. "You actually said that to her?"

He shrugged. "I want to see where this goes," he said. "And I hope you do too."

"Yeah," she agreed on that point. "But, no matter what happens, I don't want us to fall out. And we have to take it slow because this is not something we should rush into…if we're going to try and actually make a go of this for real and not just for show then we need to do it properly."

Homelander bit his tongue at that. He wasn't going to lie that a part of him wasn't entirely pleased with that output, but he wasn't going to argue with her on it. "So no repeat performance of what almost happened last week on the couch?" he asked from her and she blushed and looked down again, glancing at the intricate red detailing on his glove.

"Might be for the best to wait before getting that carried away again," she confirmed and he chuckled.

"Understood," he said.

"It's only because…I don't do this," she told him. "I've never actually liked anyone seriously enough. There's been quick flings, but that's it. I don't want that with you. I want to get to know you and I want you to get to know me."

"Slow and steady it is," he replied. "I should leave you to get some sleep."

"You don't have to go if you don't want to," she said to him. "I…I wouldn't mind if you stayed the night…just sleeping, you know. I might feel better if you did."

"You trying to emotionally blackmail me?" he questioned, the teasing tone back in his voice and she looked flummoxed for a moment before she saw the gleam in his eye and he shook his head, the smile not once dropping from his face while he watched her. "I'm joking. I'll stay if you want me to, but it's not as if I have a change of clothes."

"I have some men's jogging pants and top in my chest of drawers," Victoria said to him. "Some online company gave them to me by accident and I never bothered to return them. You can have them if you want."

He was about to protest and tell her he actually preferred to sleep naked, but he suspected that might not be in their best interests if they were intending on 'going slow'. He nodded and went into the bottom drawer where she directed him. He picked out the grey bottoms and light blue top before heading to the bathroom to change.

Stripping out of his suit, he felt a vulnerability he hadn't felt in a long time. It had been a while since he had been in normal clothes around someone. He didn't even think that Madelyn had seen him in anything but his suit. It wasn't like he often took his clothes off when they were intimate with each other. He looked around the bathroom, spotting an array of toiletry products. He sniffed out Victoria's shampoo instantly and inhaled it from the bottle before placing it back on the ledge in the shower. Once he was out of his clothes, he headed back into her bedroom, closing the door once again and leaving his suit folded up neatly on the desk chair. He checked the windows to her room, ensuring the curtains were firmly closed.

Victoria had moved up in the double bed, occupying the space next to the wall. Homelander saw that the duvet was slightly peeled back and her mug of tea empty. He slipped into the space next to her and laid down on the mattress, letting the duvet sit over his torso.

"So," Victoria drawled, "this is awkward."

He laughed and Victoria followed suit. They acknowledged that it wasn't entirely normal. Victoria turned her head to the side, resting on her back still as he placed his hands behind his head.

"You know, you're slenderer than I thought you'd be," she confessed to him and he arched a brow, looking to her.

"What are you saying? That my suit has too much padding?"

"Just enough, I'd say," she retorted. "But honestly, you don't need to stay here if it's too awkward."

"Well, how about we try and make it not awkward?" he queried and she wondered what he was thinking. He moved an arm out towards her and she got the hint. Scooting closer to him, he smelled of sandalwood as her nose brushed by his neck and his arm curled around her shoulders.

She felt slightly tense in his grip, but she soon relaxed once her eyes closed and she let out a deep breath. His chin sat just by her forehead, her free hand going to sit on his chest. He wriggled slightly and then let out a content breath.

"Better?" he questioned.

"Hmm," she said.

"You should get some sleep. It's been a long day."

"Agreed," she said to him. "Can you turn the lamp out, please?"

He did so, moving his free arm to the side and finding the switch. The room was bathed in darkness and Victoria instantly felt exhausted, like her body was was accepting that she could go to sleep.

"I did have one question for you," Homelander said.

"Yeah?" she asked sleepily.

"I wasn't snooping, but I did find a note on your bed when I came to see you on Sunday," he said. "It was a letter to you…pretty cryptic…asking to meet you."

She stiffened again in his hold and he moved his thumb over her shoulder, trying to get her to relax. He didn't know if it was working, but he waited patiently for her to tell him what it was. And she did.

"My brother," Victoria said. "I last saw him in England when I was eighteen…a decade ago…we haven't spoken since."

"Then what did he mean by the place?"

"We used to talk when we were kids about coming to New York and spending days by the Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park. It was my favourite book as a kid," she said. "Anyway, I missed the deadline so I didn't go…not that I'd have gone anyway."

"Why not?"

Another silence engulfed them. "He left me," was all she offered. "He was all I had and he left me when I begged him not to."

Homelander wanted more information. He needed more information. What had happened to make her plead with him not to walk away from her?

"He left you to your dad?"

"Yeah," Victoria said, remembering how she had turned sixteen and begged him not to go. She had pleaded so hard with him, but he had still walked out the door. "And I know that holding grudges isn't healthy, but I just…I just don't want to see him."

"You don't need to justify your reasons. Fuck everyone. Just do what you want."

"Well, if that's the case then all I want is to sleep," she responded and he chuckled, but nodded.

"Then get some sleep," he urged her.

She rolled onto her other side and away from him. But he didn't mind as she grabbed his arm and dragged it over her waist, her hand holding his as he adjusted himself into a more comfortable position.

"I'll explain everything one day, I promise," was all she said to him before she dozed off and he heard her breathing steady out as sleep claimed her, her back still pressed to his front.

He didn't sleep, his mind too busy thinking about the future and hypothesising about what lurked in her past, but also what was coming up in their future. Was he able to maintain this life with her? Was he able to keep her and have what he wanted? He felt that he could, so long as he had her affection. And he knew there were ways to keep her affection.

...

A.N: Thanks so much to anyone reading and I hope the updates aren't too fast! As always, would love to know your thoughts/theories! Until next time!