She was going to be sick. She was convinced that she was going to throw up. She had never felt as sick as she did in that minute. They had Alex. If they had Alex then that meant that Homelander knew and if he knew then she didn't know what he was going to do. She couldn't stop pacing the living room, her hands frantically tugging through her hair and her stomach churning. She had tugged her own phone out and tried to call her husband, but he hadn't picked up. It had gone straight to voicemail. She kept trying, not caring that he would turn his phone on and see how desperate she looked because she was desperate.

"It's bullshit," Daniella said, hanging up her own call after some terse discussion. "They're not allowing him any visitors."

"What about legal representation?" Victoria asked. "He's entitled to legal representation, isn't he?"

"Yes, but they're claiming he already has some state appointed lawyer and so I need to file the court to take over the case and I won't be able to do that until first thing tomorrow," Daniella said and Victoria shook her head, feeling dizzy and like she was going to pass out. Daniella looked to her friend and saw that she'd gone pale, a look of anguish on her face. "Sit down, Vic," she urged from her.

"I can't," Victoria said. "I can't sit here and know that they've got him…what John might do to him…and he…I fucked everything up, Daniella. I fucked things up with Alex so bad and I need to see him."

"We're going to do everything we can," Daniella promised her. "Your husband can't block the entire legal system. He can do everything in his power to slow us down, but he can't stop us completely. I promise you."

Victoria wasn't entirely sure what good that promise was, but she didn't say anything. She was trying to keep quiet, knowing that her daughter was sleeping in the next room. Natalie was sat in there with her after reading her bedtime story and just making sure she slept soundly as she scrolled on her phone.

"I need to go," Victoria said quickly and she reached for her ankle boots. She tugged them onto her feet, holding onto the back of the sofa to steady herself as she zipped each boot up.

"Where are you even going to go?" Daniella asked from her.

"Vought Tower," Victoria said. "I'm going to go and wait for him. If I can't get to see Alex then I'll wait for John…see if he's there."

"What do you think that's going to achieve?" Daniella asked her. "Wait until morning and then we can go to the courts and we can get this sorted."

Daniella held her hands up, trying to calm Victoria as her phone buzzed in her fingertips. Her sleek red-haired bob looked slightly more mussed up than it had done earlier in the night and the top three buttons of her blouse were undone, sleeves rolled up to her elbows and jacket discarded on the armchair.

"I can't wait until morning," Victoria said to her. "I might not be able to get into the prison, but I can talk to the next best person."

"And what? Sleep with him?" Daniella asked from her. "You just came back and admitted that you almost ended up in bed with him. I just think you need distance from him. I don't think going to him is going to help Alex."

"I'm not going to sleep with him," Victoria snapped, voice terse then. "And sitting here and doing nothing isn't going to help him either. You might not agree with this, but I'm going."

She tugged her coat onto her arms, buttoning it up to her chin and then reaching for her satchel. She draped it over her shoulder and checked she had her purse and MetroCard. Daniella didn't bother trying to talk her out of it. She knew what Victoria was like when she had her mind made up.

"Just be careful," Daniella urged from her. A part of her was slightly apprehensive about her going there, but she also knew that Homelander would never hurt her. He had ample opportunities to hurt her and never had done so. In some twisted way, Daniella knew that he loved her.

"I will be," Victoria promised and she left the hotel suite. Daniella flopped back onto the sofa and let out a deep breath, rubbing her temple and realising just how difficult her job was going to be.

…

Sitting in the dingy prison meeting room, Homelander could hear the rain hitting the window pane. It was almost torrential out there and, in the distance, a loud clap of thunder rang out. The setting was almost perfect. The storm was rolling in and that was exactly how the two men felt. Alex was quiet, waiting for Homelander to talk first, but he looked defiant. He had his chin jutted out; arms folded over his chest. His body language was aggressive and almost like he was prepared for a fight. Homelander, on the other hand, was leant back with his legs spread and an amused look on his face. If he wanted to then he could laser Alex in half in an instant. Then again, a part of him wanted to take his time with him. He wanted him to suffer. Did he think that he could just try and make house with his wife and daughter and there be no consequences? Absolutely not. That wasn't how things worked.

"Did you think I never knew?" Homelander questioned him.

"If you knew then why am I still alive?" Alex wondered back.

"That's a very good question and I'm not entirely sure I have the answer," Homelander confessed to him.

"We both know why. You just don't want to admit it because if you do admit then you admit that you have a weakness," Alex pushed him back. "You know that if you kill me then you lose any chance you ever have with her. You might have no chance now, but there's a tiny part of you that still hopes that she'll come crawling back…I mean, the fact you almost slept with her tonight proves that. So long as there's that glimmer of hope, you won't do certain things."

Homelander's smile faltered for a moment, lips quivering and a deep chuckle eliciting from the back of his throat. Alex watched him and he knew he was playing a dangerous game. The man across from him was unstable and he was acutely aware of that. He just didn't know how far he could push him before he snapped, but a part of Alex didn't care. He was either going to spend the rest of his life in that tiny cell or he was going to die. A part of him suspected that death might be better. But then he thought about what he'd had when he was free and he wanted that back. He just didn't know if he was ever going to have it.

"You know that you never had what we have, don't you?" Homelander checked with him.

"I know that," Alex admitted. He wasn't going to deny it. How could he? "But what the two of you have is toxic. It's not healthy."

"It's love," Homelander said. "And she loves me. She will always love me. You were just a passing fancy. You were her moment of weakness, but we both know it was never that serious. She never opened up to you like she did me, did she? She never told you her deep desires…did you know about her? About the darkness inside of her?"

"She's a good person," Alex said and he didn't know why he was defending her after what she'd done. She'd broken his heart, but he knew that he couldn't push aside how he felt for her and how he longed for her still. "She's nothing like you."

"Oh, she might not be like me, but she's not as sweet and innocent as she pretends to be," Homelander replied. "What did she tell you? That I killed Eddie for her? That a part of her was thankful for me doing that?"

"Anyone would feel that way. That man was a monster," Alex said.

"And did she tell you everything about her childhood? What he did to her? How he hurt her?"

"Yeah, she told me," Alex said. "She trusted me enough to tell me and you know what? I might despise you and what you stand for, but I imagine I'd have killed him too if I ever saw him. You know about the nightmares, right? You know that she wakes up in the middle of the night scared?"

"Of course I fucking know, she's my wife," Homelander snarled. "You think you know her so well, but you don't. Did she tell you about how I killed the men who threatened our daughter? How I went after them and made them suffer for everything that they did? And did she tell you how she was the one who didn't care? How when I came back…she told me she understood…she's more like I am than she thinks."

"She is nothing like you," Alex snapped then.

"But she is," Homelander said. "She understands me on a level that no one else ever has and I understand her. I understand the part of her that longs to hurt those who have wronged her and I get it. I get it and I'm the only one who does."

"You're wrong," Alex said confidently on that point and Homelander chuckled again. "We all have sides of ourselves that aren't good. No one is perfect and I know she isn't. I know she's done things and excused things that have been wrong. I know that and I understand it because loving someone means accepting them at their very worst as well as their very best."

There was silence then, the rain bouncing off against the window echoing throughout the concrete room.

"You still love her?" Homelander questioned from him.

Alex bowed his head and it was then when his lips turned upwards sadly. "You know, I find her infuriating," Alex confessed. "I find it infuriating that I feel this way…that she broke my fucking heart by going back to you and I still love her. I still love her and I still want to protect her, but I can't because it's not me she wants…not deep down. It's you. It's still you and I don't think that is ever going to change."

Homelander uncrossed his arms and leant forwards, clasping his hands on the steel table between them. "It's not," he said confidently to Alex.

"So what do you want from me?" Alex wondered, picking his gaze back up and looking across to Homelander. He shrugged his shoulders aggressively at him. "You want to tell me everything the two of you have been getting up to since you got her back? How she's been warming your bed? Because none of it matters, does it? I know that I lost her."

Homelander shook his head once. "You can't lose something you never had."

"If you weren't here then things would be different," Alex said to him. "A part of her did love me. A part of her loved what I could give her."

"And what was that?"

"The life that you refused to give her," Alex retorted and Homelander knew there was some truth to that statement. "You'd never be fighting with her if you'd have given this all up at the start…if she'd never have found out about who you really are…if you'd have left Vought, lived a normal life with her in the countryside…she'd have been happy. But you wouldn't have been. You couldn't give her that and that was why you never left Vought. You don't know how to be anything other than Homelander."

"I give her everything she fucking wants," Homelander growled lowly. "You think that she'd have been happy just living in some cottage in the country side like Anne of fucking Green Gables? No."

"She might've still worked. She might've still travelled for work," Alex admitted, "but she never wanted the fame and the fortune. She just wanted the one thing she'd never had as a kid. She wanted a family. I gave her that. I could give her that, but it was never me who she truly wanted that life with. It was always you. It had always been you."

"Then why?" Homelander demanded from him. "Why did you go to her when you knew that it was never you who she wanted?"

"Because a part of me thought that maybe I'd be enough in the end," Alex said. "I thought that if we were away from you then we could build something together and we almost did. We were happy…but then you found us. You found us and you trapped her again."

"I never trapped her," Homelander said. "She loves me. She is my wife and she loves me more than anything. We have a daughter together. She loves Ryan like her own. You might think that I've trapped her, but that doesn't explain why she willingly keeps coming back to me and wanting me. She always comes home."

"I know that," Alex replied. "I know that and I don't think the two of you will ever truly be able to break up."

"You must've known that months ago," Homelander retorted. "She never slept with you, did she? She was never intimate with you? And you must've known why that was. She couldn't bear it…being with someone other than me."

"I thought that she needed time. I thought that was all it would take."

"But it was never about time. It was because she never wanted you and that, well, that must hurt so much," Homelander said and Alex could see that the man looked amused at his own words. He found it almost comical. This was what he wanted. He wanted to know that he'd won in all aspects of his life.

"She broke my heart," Alex confessed. He wasn't going to downplay things for Homelander. "But we both know you broke her heart."

"I put her back together," Homelander defended and he moved to his feet. He laced his hands behind his back and started wandering around the room, circling Alex as he remained seated at the table. "She came to me broken and I put her back together. I did that. She needs me and that's why she will always keep coming back."

"Maybe she will, maybe she won't," Alex replied, exhaustion taking hold of him. He didn't know if he wanted to keep this argument going or if he just wanted to call time on it. He was well aware that there would be no escaping Homelander. "I hope that she won't. I hope that somewhere, deep down, she realises that she's strong enough to leave you and not want you. I hope she understands that she can do it, but I just…I don't know if she can," Alex admitted. He turned his head over his shoulder and looked up at Homelander. He met his eye and then moved to his feet. He was slightly taller than Homelander and he stood face to face with him. "So what's the plan? You can kill me and we both know Victoria will never forgive you…you'll push her away for good…but you want to, don't you? You want to kill me and I can see it in your eyes."

Homelander's jaw tensed once more, teeth grinding together harshly. His eyes narrowed into slits and he felt his throat bob as he swallowed hard. He exhaled a shaky breath and then a dark chuckle left him, warm breath hitting Alex's face. The man across from him remained completely stoic, refusing to back down or show any hint of fear, no matter how scared he was.

"I've wanted to kill you ever since you laid eyes on her," Homelander confessed. "I've thought of how as well. Whenever you'd make those pathetic puppy dog eyes at her, I thought about how easy it would be to rip you in half, but that wouldn't be painful enough. No. I would take my time with you and make you suffer for thinking that you could have her."

"Then do it," Alex dared from him. "Do it because it might get her to see what a fucking coward you are."

Homelander reached for him then. Grabbing hold of Alex, he pushed him backwards by his neck until he hit the wall behind him. Alex grunted in pain at the force and Homelander saw it then. He saw the fear flicker over the man's face and his lips turned into a sinister smile. He might want to pretend to be tougher than he was, but he was still a weak man. He was nothing compared to Homelander. His fingers tightened around Alex's throat and he heard him struggle to breath alongside his heart rate increase. Homelander had him exactly where he wanted him.

"You think you have any power here?" Homelander demanded from him. "You see, everyone's the same. They talk a big game right until the moment when it becomes a reality. No one ever dies as defiant as they like to think they are and you won't be any exception."

"You think I want to die?" Alex managed to choke out and Homelander relaxed his grip slightly to let him talk. "I don't want to die. I want to be free…but if it's either staying in this cell or dying then what do I have to live for? I'll never see my family. I'll never see Vicky. You kill me and it might set her free from you and I can die knowing that…just maybe…maybe there's hope for her."

Homelander's grip on Alex increased and a loud snarl escaped him that was almost inhumane. The noise echoed through the room and Alex closed his eyes as Homelander's eyes glowed red. He felt a moment of peace take over him and he knew that he was willing to accept whatever fate was coming his way.

…..

Looking down at the image of Alex on her phone, Victoria felt her eyes water. She'd thrown everything away with him when she did love him. She truly did love him and she wanted him. She wanted to go back to their life in England, but she couldn't. She wanted to give him everything she had. She longed to give him her entire self, but she'd never been able to. She always went back to Homelander. She locked her phone and left it in her purse before standing up and leaving her bag on the new sofa with her coat. Folding her arms over her chest, she moved through the penthouse towards where her desk sat.

The photo of her wedding day was still on it. She looked at the image of the two of them on the staircase, Victoria sat one step below Homelander, arms folded on his lap as they looked at each other. That felt like an eternity ago and she wasn't entirely sure how they'd even go through with it. They were hardly talking at the time but they'd gotten through an entire wedding day.

It was gone one in the morning when Homelander came home and found his wife sat on the end of the sofa, fingers laced together in her lap and head bowed. Looking up at him, he saw that she'd been crying and instead of worry, he felt annoyance. He knew why she was crying. He tugged his gloves from his fingers and tossed them onto the sideboard, rolling his eyes at the sight of her.

"What did you do to him?" Victoria dared to ask from her husband.

"Nothing that he didn't deserve," Homelander retorted, voice low and dark.

"You…just tell me that you didn't…" Victoria blabbered. She moved to her feet and Homelander observed her as she remained rooted on the spot, like she was almost too scared to move towards him.

He dropped his hands to his hips and shrugged at her. "Didn't what?" he demanded to know.

"You know what, John," Victoria replied, her own voice turning terse. "I know that you despise him. I know that you hate him, but it wasn't solely on him what happened. I played a part in it too."

"Oh, I know that, sweetheart," he seethed back at her. He was angry with himself and he was going to lash out against her because he didn't know how to keep the anger inside. "I know that you played a part in ruining our marriage by running off with him. He knows it too. Do you want to know what's funny though? He still loves you. The pathetic idiot still loves you."

Victoria grabbed hold of an arm, scratching it and trying to form some kind of coherent sentence. What did he want to hear from her? She sensed that she had to try and stabilise the situation because he seemed particularly volatile. She guessed that the only good thing was that he hadn't walked in covered in blood.

"I know," she settled on being honest with him. "I know that he loves me, but he knows there's no chance of us being together."

Homelander snorted unceremoniously, moving to flop down onto the sofa. "There's no chance at all," he confirmed for her. His eyes widened and he blinked rapidly. Looking to her as she remained stood, he let his arms go limp by his sides. "You know when you and Maeve used to have your gossip sessions, did she ever tell you what I did to the men who even looked in her direction?"

Victoria kept quiet.

"Of course she never told you," Homelander grunted and he laid his head back against the sofa. "I used to make sure that they never looked at her again, I'll tell you that much. I guess I've always been a possessive man. I've never enjoyed other people wanting something of mine."

"That doesn't give you the freedom to go around hurting those people."

"And who would stop me?" Homelander asked her, brow arching. "No one has stopped me and we both know that no one is ever going to stop me again."

"Just tell me what you did to him, John," Victoria almost pleaded and he felt an annoyance flare up inside of him at hearing her. She was always like this. She was always pushing and he couldn't stand it.

"You'll never see him again, you know that, don't you?" Homelander snapped at her. "He'll stay locked in that cell for the rest of his miserable life. He'll live with the fear that I could come back at any minute and kill him…torture him until he's begging for me to put him out of his misery. He's never going to be free and you're never going to be with him so you may as well just accept that."

Victoria knew that she shouldn't feel relief at what he'd just said. She moved a hand to her chest and almost doubled over. Alex was still alive. He hadn't killed him. There was still a chance that Victoria could get to him and get him out. She had to believe that there was still a chance because Alex deserved someone fighting his corner.

"You didn't kill him," Victoria reiterated.

"Not today," Homelander grunted. "You have what you wanted, Victoria. Now go."

Homelander wasn't in the mood to deal with any more questions or conversation. He moved his fingers to his forehead and squeezed it, rubbing along his temple. His wife tugged her coat onto her frame and she tugged her satchel over her body. He listened as her boots clicked against the floor and she scurried off. Homelander peeled his eyes open and watched the back of her, seeing how she turned her head over her shoulder to look back at him. She didn't say anything. She just glanced back in his direction and he met her eye, so much between the two of them staying unsaid.

….

Victoria left the Tower and considered hailing a cab considering it was so late, but she never got a chance to do that. She was going to scream when someone grabbed her arm, but a hand went over her mouth and she saw Hughie appear in front of her. When they were convinced she wasn't going to yell, Annie removed her hand from Victoria's mouth.

"We need to talk," Annie said quickly and Hughie opened the back door to an old car. Victoria guessed she wasn't going to escape conversation. She slipped into the backseat and Hughie shut the door. He climbed into the driver's side and Annie into the passenger seat. He turned the ignition and the car wheezed to life.

"Do you know where Alex is?" Annie asked.

Victoria sat in the middle of the backseat, looking in between the gap between the two seats in front of her. "He's in one of the correctional institutions that Homelander's taken over, but I don't know which one," Victoria said to her. "What happened to him? I thought that he was going with you two?"

Annie exhaled a sharp breath. She raised a hand to push her blonde hair over her shoulder. Hughie kept focusing on the road in front of him as he merged with traffic. They were both wearing dark jumpers and jeans, clearly trying to blend in as much as possible.

"He was going to, but he decided at the last minute to go somewhere else," Annie said. "He got his fake passport from M.M. and just split. I think he thought that he could do it alone and maybe he could have, but Homelander…we've seen the army of supes he's building."

"And the others?"

"Frenchie and Kimiko have gone their own way and so has M.M."

"Do you know what happened to them?"

"Hopefully they've managed to get away," Annie said, "but I don't know. We're on the run, but it's like we can't outrun them. We're leaving as soon as we've dropped you off at the hotel. We can't stick around here or we'll end up in a cell as well."

"I'm going to try and get Alex out," Victoria said. "Daniella is working with me. She's onto the courts trying to get herself as his legal representation. I'm doing interviews…turning up to rallies…anything I can to go against John and this crazy plan of his."

"We saw," Hughie said to her. "That Vanity Fair spread was pretty good."

"Yeah, you did look good…and also had a clear message," Annie said. "Then again, if Daniella is with you then she's a pro at this. She worked her magic at the Starlight House when we needed her. She got those men acquitted when it turned out it had been Homelander who'd had them killed."

"What?" Victoria snapped and Annie looked to Hughie who just shrugged and frowned.

"Vic, come on, that's not entirely surprising news, is it?" Annie wondered from her. "Homelander had those three men killed and A-Train carried them to the courthouse to frame two of my supporters. It was all part of a plot to make his supporters look innocent and mine like violent thugs. It didn't work, of course, but no one ever found out that it was Homelander's plot."

Victoria leant back in the seat and looked up to the roof of the car as the lights of the city passed them by. She shouldn't be surprised. Why should she be? She knew who he was and she kept on going back to him. They could turn around and tell her the worst thing he'd done and it wouldn't shock her.

"And is there any evidence?"

"What do you think?"

"I think Sage was very good at covering his tracks," Victoria said. "I think that he's terrible at covering for himself. He doesn't see why he has to, but Sage is smarter than that. I imagine that's why you're on the run right now, because Sage has made sure that all of the planted evidence points to your guilt."

"I mean, the issue is that we did try to kill Vicky," Hughie said.

"Yeah, plus Billy fucked it up," Annie said.

"I take it no one has heard from him?" Victoria asked, not sure what she was hoping for the answer to be.

Annie shook her head and Hughie just kept quiet. That told her all she needed to know. No one had heard from her brother and she doubted he was going to make contact anytime soon. Victoria bowed her head and looked at her hands, instinctively going to her ring finger and finding no engagement ring to play with.

"He's gone rogue," Annie said. "I don't think anyone's going to hear from him."

"And maybe that's not a bad thing," Hughie said, anger behind his words and Victoria got it. He'd trusted Billy and, in his eyes, Billy had let them down. He had in a sense. He'd gone against them and ruined things.

"Either way, I won't stop fighting to clear all of your names. I know that the evidence is stacked against you, but we'll keep fighting."

"I don't know if it'll make a difference," Annie confessed. "The evidence really is piled up against us and I don't think we're going to be able to clear our names. You need to focus on ending this martial law and bringing Vought down. That's the important thing now and I think you can do it…you just need to stop going back to him."

"I only went back tonight because I'd heard about Alex," Victoria defended herself. "I just needed to make sure that he hadn't…" Victoria's breath faltered and her throat clenched as she thought of Homelander hurting Alex. She could never let him do that. She had to try and get Alex out of there, but she had to admit herself that the evidence didn't look good.

"It doesn't matter why you went," Annie said, "the fact is that you went and you can't keep going back to him. You need to be strong, Vicky. We can't stick around and help you. After tonight, I don't know if you'll see us again."

"Don't say that," Victoria urged from her.

"But it's true," Annie retorted. "We can't stick around here now. It's too dangerous."

They lapsed into silence then and Hughie continued driving until he pulled up around the block from the hotel. He turned the ignition off and they all just sat in the car in silence, not entirely sure what to say to each other.

It was Victoria who broke the silence. "You know I'm sorry, right?" she checked with the pair of them. "I'm sorry for everything that's happened. I feel like I let you down. I should've stopped him sooner. I should've stood up against him sooner and then I…I went back to him…I don't even have an excuse that isn't self-pitying and I'm done doing that."

Annie and Hughie looked to each other for a second, exchanging hesitant glances. It was Annie who broke though. She looked to the woman in the backseat who she had considered her best friend. She'd been the only true friend she'd had when she'd first joined The Seven. She had made her feel like she could be herself in that Tower and Annie would forever love her for that.

"Even if you'd found out, I don't think you could've stopped him," Annie assured her. "I don't think that anything was going to stop him."

"Maybe not, but I'm still sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Hughie urged from her, "just try and get even."

Victoria nodded. "I can do that," she promised and she climbed out of the car. Annie stepped out of it and Hughie reluctantly got out, all of them looking around anxiously. They embraced each other tightly, Hughie letting Annie cling onto her friend tightly for a few more seconds than he was comfortable with.

"I should never have yelled at you the other day," Annie said.

"I needed you to yell at me," Victoria replied. "I need someone to keep me in check."

"I think Daniella will make a good job of that."

They both exchanged soft laughs in agreement with that statement. Victoria pulled back, keeping her hands on Annie's forearms and then spotting it on her finger. Victoria's mouth gaped as she pointed to it and Annie's lips arched into a smirk before she raised her hand. "Yeah, that happened," she said. "It's a long story that I don't have time to disclose, but I'm pretty sure he's the one."

"Just pretty sure?" Hughie asked her.

"Well, we've got a long way to go, sweetie," she said and he chuckled, but the look of adoration on his face was evident. "But I've hardly been certain of many things in my life…this I am certain of."

Victoria felt a pang of jealousy and hated herself for it. She was happy for her friend. Of course she was. She was just jealous of her. She hugged Annie once more, trying not to let her emotions get hold of her. Annie hugged her back and Hughie placed a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder. Victoria wished that they didn't have to say goodbye. She wished they could stay on that sidewalk for a while longer, but she knew that was never going to happen. She had to let them go.

"I love you, you know?" Victoria checked with Annie.

"I know, Vic. I love you too," Annie replied. "Always will."

…

"So, you have the Maria Dott talk-show tonight at eight and the interview with Vogue before then," Daniella informed Victoria as the two of them walked down the corridors of the TV studio. She was going to be doing an afternoon interview with Maria Menounos and was back in Vought Studios. She was uneasy about going back there. She was even more concerned as to why she'd been allowed to be booked. She would've thought that Homelander would have blocked her from appearing on any Vought TV show.

"You don't think this is an ambush, do you?" Victoria wondered from Daniella as a runner showed them to the dressing rooms. She spoke in a low voice, looking around as if something was going to jump out at her and tell her that she wasn't welcome there.

"It might be," Daniella muttered back as the runner opened the door and the two women thanked her and asked for some time alone.

Daniella dropped her bag onto the dressing table that was already covered in makeup and hairbrushes. There was a big bouquet of flowers on the coffee table by the sofa and the fridge was filled with mini bottles of water. Victoria went over to them and crouched down, tugging out a bottle and tossing it to Daniella who caught it in between opening her notebook of notes. They'd spent the entire morning briefing for the show.

They'd been told what talking points were likely to come up and Victoria was prepared for curveballs.

"But, what kind of ambush would it be?" Daniella wondered.

Victoria took a swig of water and set the bottle down on the coffee table. She went to the floor length mirror and tugged on the long-sleeved green dress she wore with square neckline and black belt around her midriff. She slipped out of the black patent heels for a moment and walked in just her stockinged feet around the dressing room.

"I don't know," Victoria confessed to her on that point. "I just think it's weird I'm even being allowed on a VNN show."

"I know, but you've just got to go with it. The viewers might all be Homelander worshipping nutjobs, but if you can convince even one person by the end of the segment that martial law and an army of supes is dangerous then that's something. That's all we need. We just need to convert one person and I'll consider it a success."

Victoria nodded her head and ran a hand down her stomach, checking her dress and making sure it looked pristine. She didn't need calling out on looking like a mess even though she felt like one inside.

"It's not as if Homelander is going to tell them to ambush you with personal questions," Daniella said.

Victoria scoffed. "I don't know, you didn't see him the other night," she said. They hadn't entirely left on amicable terms. She hadn't had contact with him ever since. She wasn't sure when she would next see him. She suspected he might demand to see Evelyn again at the weekend. Her daughter was still in the hotel with Natalie and Victoria felt guilty for leaving her alone for so long, but she hoped that in time she might understand when she was older.

"He might've been annoyed, but he still won't let them ambush you on personal things."

"I'd like to think he wouldn't."

"Well, you have dirt on him, right?"

"Dirt I don't want to use."

"And hopefully we won't have to."

Daniella eyed Victoria suspiciously.

"Unless you want to tell me what it is."

"Daniella," Victoria groaned.

"What? It might be useful for me to know," she defended herself. "Why are you still protecting him? It's not as if he's protecting you, is it?"

"I know that it might not seem like it, but he is," Victoria said and she hated that she was defending him. She didn't particularly want to take his side, but she knew that he could ruin her if he wanted to. "He could easily go on television and tell people that I ran away with Alex. He could tell them that I basically cheated on him. He could go into detail about my brother…how he abandoned me…he knows every single detail of what Eddie did to me. He's not going to do any of that and so I'm not going to tell anyone what he told me."

"You don't owe him anything," Daniella urged from her.

"I know that I don't, but this isn't about us exposing childhood traumas or our marriage. This is more than that…to boil it down to the two of us having marital issues is just childish and it makes us look immature," Victoria retorted and Daniella shrugged her shoulders. She sat down in Victoria's dressing chair and pulled her phone out from her bag.

"If he fights dirty then we have to fight just as dirty in the end," Daniella warned her.

"And if that happens then we'll cross that bridge," Victoria promised her. "But I don't think he's going to do that. Anyway, what's the news on Alex?"

That was one question that Victoria had continuously asked Daniella every day since they'd found out Alex had been caught. Daniella looked up from her phone, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I'm now officially his legal counsel, but the courts made sure that the paperwork dragged through. I'm trying to arrange a meeting with him next week, but it's highly unlikely you'll be able to tag along."

"I know, but I just need you to make sure he's okay, well, as okay as he can be," Victoria replied and she took another sip of her water.

"I will, but for now we need to focus on prepping you for this," Daniella said.

Victoria nodded and sat on the sofa as her friend fired questions at her repeatedly. Victoria answered them like they'd rehearsed before the hair and makeup artist came in to make Victoria camera ready. Once they were done, they followed the runner back down the corridors. Victoria tried to ignore the photos on the wall as some of them showed Homelander on chat shows, perfect teeth gleaming in a wide smile with a hand waving. Coming towards the studio, Victoria almost stumbled in her heels when she saw the usual swish of a familiar cloak standing by the studio cameras.

"I think this is our curveball," Daniella muttered to her friend. "You've got this, Vic."

"Yeah," Victoria weakly agreed, knowing that he was listening in.

He finally turned around and glanced to the two women, smile wide on his face. "Hey, sweetheart," he greeted his wife.

"I'd ask what you're doing here, but I get the feeling it isn't a social visit," Victoria said to her husband and he chuckled, gloved hands-on hips and eyes gleaming with menace.

"Well, I heard you were doing this today and I figured why not make a trip down here?" Homelander said to her. "People are just dying to see the two of us on camera together ever since you announced we were separating and you know me, I love to give people what they want."

"Well, everyone except your wife," Victoria tacked on and arms folded defensively over her midriff. "You want to debate me then?"

"I'm not sure it'll be much of a debate, gorgeous, but we can try," Homelander said to her and he just winked at her before glancing to Daniella. "Good to see you, Daniella."

"Wish I could say the same," Daniella said and Homelander laughed before moving to sit down on the sofa opposite Maria. Victoria watched him go and then glanced back to her friend. Daniella just took hold of Victoria's hand and squeezed it. She didn't want Homelander hearing them discuss strategy.

"You've got this," she promised her.

Victoria wasn't convinced, but she wasn't going to back out. And so she moved onto the studio floor and took her seat on the other end of the sofa as the crew did final check and Maria conversed with the stage director.

"It's not too late to back out," Homelander said to his wife.

"Same goes for you," Victoria said to her husband. "I'd hate to embarrass you on live TV, John."

His smile remained on his face and he looked amused as he reached a gloved hand out towards her, brushing her hair behind her shoulder and letting his fingers dance down her neck. "How about we chat after this, huh?" Homelander said to her. "I get the feeling you might've changed your mind on coming home by then."

"And why would that be?"

"You'll see, sweetheart," Homelander said with a smile and he turned his gaze to the front. "You'll see."

...

A/N: I remain so happy that so many of you are still reading - it means so much that people still want to go on this journey. As always, would love to know your thoughts!