Maeve looked around the party, holding onto a glass of scotch in her fingers. She could think of so many places she would rather be, but she knew that wasn't currently an option. Every member of the Seven, well, the five remaining ones, were expected to be there that night. She had spotted Homelander skulking around in the corner, but he was by himself. Victoria hadn't been seen in the Tower for quite some time. Maeve wondered if there was something going on. It had been two days and no one had seen her when, usually, she was constantly hanging around.
Plus, Homelander would have brought her to this event. He always brought her to any social event that was going on, almost as though he liked showing her off. He liked having her on his arm because of the power that they held. Yes, he might be the most loved superhero in America, but with Victoria by his side, his popularity skyrocketed. She was intelligent. She was kind. She went to bake sales, for fuck sake. Maeve knew that she was every inch the model citizen.
But she seemed to be missing.
It took her a few glasses of scotch before she noticed Starlight talking to some man in uniform. She had her own drink in front of her and was toying with the ends of her hair, wearing the costume that Vought had designed her. Maeve knew that look on her face because she had seen it on her own face. She was playing the game as well as she could, but Annie was better than the game. She was an idealist. Maeve didn't want to see that taken from her.
She soon ran to the bathroom and Maeve sighed, following her towards it. She walked in just as Annie emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Kneeling on the ground, she spat in the bowl and Maeve stood beside her, arms folded over her chest.
"Want me to hold your hair back?" Maeve asked.
"Ugh," she groaned, "just don't touch."
Annie was currently having the worst day of her life. She had found out precisely what had happened to her as a child. She'd been injected with Compound V to make her who she was. She hadn't been chosen by God. She hadn't been made to be special. She had been created by Vought when she was a child. She was a child when they pumped her full of drugs. She wondered who else knew about Compound V. Hughie had told her all of it when she had met him.
He had told her how he had never used her and that he truly did care for her. He had told her how she meant so much to him, but then he had imploded her life by telling her exactly what Compound V was. She'd heard how he was the one who had killed Translucent. She'd heard how Vought was trying to cover it up. And it seemed to be true.
She'd needed more details and so she had met Hughie again at church. The place used to be her haven, but recently she felt as though nothing in her life was real. She had listened to how Vought had given Compound V to the supe-terrorist and she didn't know if she believed him. His friends had been caught for looking into it and he asked her for her help. She'd told him no. She'd told him that she didn't want to help him. But then he had asked her the one question she had been wondering herself.
"And have you seen Victoria recently?"
Annie's eyes had widened then and she had demanded to know what he meant by that, but he shook his head to her and warned her that Victoria might be in trouble. But from who? Annie had gone back to the Tower and tried calling her, but once again, there was no one picking up the phone. It went straight to voicemail.
"I'm not in the mood," Annie said, stood up and went to the mirror, checking her appearance after washing her hands in the sink, tossing her gloves off to the side.
"Not in the mood for what?" Maeve questioned.
"Your casual bottomless cruelty. So just say whatever shitty comment you have to say and then go," Annie said, glancing over to her and Maeve's lips turned up at hearing her say that before she looked into the mirror herself. Her frown became apparent and her hand went to her arm, moving her fingers against the skin. She would tell Annie the truth. She would stop being so insincere to her because the kid wasn't bad. She was exactly what Maeve had wanted to be at one stage.
"Look."
"At what?" Annie asked, moving to the vanity and reaching for a tissue.
"My radius never healed straight," Maeve said to her and then looked up from her arm and to Annie who had slightly turned around to give her attention. "I really did break every bone in my right arm," she said. "From stopping those kids getting hit by that truck. I did that. I was twenty-three years old. I was bright eyed. I was innocent. I really did want to make a difference and I really did care. I was just like you."
Annie almost looking sympathetic to her then, but Maeve didn't want that. She was strong enough to live without someone's sympathy. She'd been doing it her entire life. She stepped closer towards Annie and continued looking to her as she spoke, recalling what exactly had happened to turn her into the woman she was today.
"And then I gave away pieces of myself until finally I guess I gave away everything," Maeve said to Annie. "So you know what?" Maeve said and shook her head, a soft chuckle coming from her. "Just be original. My position is already taken. Just be the annoying goody-two shoes asshole that you are because one of us has to be around here."
Annie saw the look on Maeve's face and she wondered if she wished that she could still be her. She wondered if she wanted to go back in time and change what had happened. Annie turned to look back to the mirror, noticing how her mascara had run from her crying while vomiting. She stared into her reflection and noted Maeve turn on her heel and begin to walk out.
"Do you trust him?"
Maeve stopped on the spot and dropped the door handle to the bathroom. Pivoting once more, her hair flew behind her shoulders. "Who?"
"Homelander?" Annie spoke his name and she continued looking at Maeve through the mirror. She saw it then. Maeve, the woman who was usually so brass and collected. She saw the way she flinched and looked worried about what she had just heard, her face flickering for just a brief moment.
"Why?"
"That didn't answer the question," Annie replied and Maeve moved closer to her in the bathroom, making sure that no one was going to disrupt them with a quick glance into the corridor for a moment.
"You don't know what you're asking," she warned her in a soft voice and Annie turned back around, hands going to her hips and head cocked.
"You just told me to be an annoying goody-two-shoes," she reminded Maeve. "This is me being exactly that. It's Victoria. I haven't seen her or heard from her in two days. I have no idea where she is and when I asked him he said she was in the library."
"And wasn't she?"
"I don't know," Annie said. "But…I'm worried about her. It's not like her not to text back or call, especially for two days and usually when we see her round here all the time. And she's not even at the party tonight."
"So what? You think Homelander's done something to her?"
"No," Annie said quickly. "I…I don't know…" she trailed off, remembering what Hughie had said to her about wondering where she was. "I just get this feeling that something's not right and I don't know what to do about it. But why is it that I'm looking at you and getting the sense that my feeling might be right?"
"Listen to me," Maeve said to her in a low voice. "Homelander is in charge, Annie. He's dangerous. He might not act it, but he is. You don't want to go out there and accuse him of anything when you have no proof. Whatever has happened to Victoria…wherever she may be…you need to be certain before you make accusations."
"And if something has happened to her?"
"Then investigate," Maeve said, "but do not go out there and start throwing accusations round. Am I clear?"
Annie didn't respond to her. She just watched her head back out to the party and then Annie followed her. She was going to get to the bottom of this. Wherever Victoria was, she was going to find out. She'd just ask Homelander again, say that she was concerned for her. But why was Maeve so scared of him? It was clear that she was, her face betrayed her. As she walked through the party, she looked around for any sign of him. It didn't take her long, the suit being practically easy to spot. But then she slowed her pace as he turned around, his arm around Victoria's waist and holding her to him.
"Ah, Starlight," Homelander's voice boomed as he spotted her walking towards them. "I was just telling Vicky that you'd asked after her."
"Yeah," Starlight said, looking to Victoria who didn't look like herself. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. There was a fake smile on her face and no matter how much makeup she wore, nothing was concealing the bags under her eyes or her bloodshot eyes. Yet, she was there dressed in a long-sleeved red gown that clenched her hips with a shirred waist.
"I didn't know if she was going to make it tonight, but she got out of the library early. Plus, you lost your phone, didn't you?" Homelander addressed Victoria, looking down to her as she glanced to him, the smile still on her face and she nodded.
"I did," she said and then looked to Annie. "I'm really sorry. I saw everything that's happened and I know we need to catch up properly."
"Ah, a girl's night," Homelander said. "Well, I'm afraid that might have to wait. Tonight, this one is all mine," he said and squeezed her waist, bringing his lips down to meet hers briefly and he kissed her. Victoria felt his fingers squeeze into her hip, no doubt in warning. She needed to be more convincing.
"Yeah, I'm free tomorrow. How about-"
"-Oh, sweetheart, you're not free tomorrow," Homelander said to her. "We have that trip planned, remember? How about next week? I think you're free then."
"Yeah, I can drop by next week," Victoria said to Annie and she looked her in the eye. Annie wasn't buying any of this. She could tell that much from the unconvinced look on her face and the fact that Victoria wanted to break out in tears. She wanted to cry and tell her everything. She wanted to get out of that party and that dress and run away.
"Sounds good to me," Annie said and she moved to embrace Victoria, taking her out of Homelander's grip.
It was then when she noted the bruises by her chin. They were covered by foundation and concealer, but they were faint and visible. They looked finger size and Annie wanted to do nothing more than take her from that room and ask her what had been going on.
"Come on, darling, we have more people to greet."
Annie watched as Homelander took Victoria from her, his arm going around her shoulders and leading her away. Turning her head over her shoulder, Victoria looked to Annie and mouthed that she was fine, but Annie knew better than that. There was something completely off and she knew she had to find out what. But before she could follow Homelander, Maeve was back by her side and demanding her attention.
"Evidence," she snapped at Annie, giving her a knowing look and for some reason, they were scared of him.
…
"I did what you asked of me," Victoria said once they were stood away from the part and Homelander had his hands clenched around the bar of the walkway that led down to the party. They could hear the music behind them, but he had led her from the people, faking his smile only until they came to the upper level. He peered out over the night sky, eyes flitting around as Victoria stood to his side, turned slightly so that she could look to him.
"John, I did what you asked," she continued saying, clearly on the verge of tears as she begged him to talk to her and reassure her. He found that almost ironic considering that he had spent the past few days trying to get her to talk to him. "I came here…I showed people that I was fine-"
"-But you didn't," Homelander interrupted her, shaking his head. "You made Starlight down there pretty suspicious. She's probably going to try and corner you before the night is out."
"I tried my best," Victoria said to him. "If she asks then I'll tell her that I just feel ill…that I'm tired from work and ate something that didn't agree with me…please…just please tell me that you won't hurt them…please…"
"You see, this is what's exhausting me," Homelander said. "You would do anything for them. You would do anything for those two dimwit friends of yours, but you can hardly stand to look at me. It's just tiring, Victoria, and you need to do better."
"I will," she promised him quickly, reaching to grab hold of his forearm and he looked down to her, noting that she had begun to cry once more. The tears were falling down her cheeks, dropping onto the red dress she wore. Her grip was tight on his arm as he kept his gaze on her. "I promise that I will. I will do what I can…I'll make things right with Annie…just don't hurt them. Leave them alone."
It was only half an hour ago when Homelander had warned her what would happen if she didn't come to the party. He knew that she had to show her face. She had to make things look as though everything was fine and she had initially refused. She had yelled at him and told him to go to hell. And then he had used the card he didn't want to. His eyes had glowed red and he had warned her that he had no hesitation in going to her apartment and bringing Daniella and Michelle back to the penthouse. She'd calmed then and begged him not to go to them.
And he had told her that her task was simple. She either did as he asked or he would. He was tired and his patience was waning. He just wanted to get everything done and then he would find the supe to erase her memories.
"Is everything alright up here?"
Victoria wiped her eyes quickly, still facing Homelander and trying to make herself presentable. Madelyn's voice echoed around them and Victoria sniffed once more, the noise loud and her breathing coming out in short gasps. She was exhausted. She hadn't slept in days and she felt as though she was crumbling, despite trying to stay strong.
"Oh, Victoria's just emotional," Homelander said with a wave of his hand. "You know, what with finding out the truth about Becca and our hidden business."
Victoria turned around and saw Madelyn stood there. Instead of meeting her eye, the woman looked away. Victoria's mouth gaped and she shook her head, her head pounding and her thoughts coming to her all at once so that she struggled to make sense of them.
"You know everything," Victoria gasped out and Homelander chuckled, an arm slinging around Victoria's shoulders and keeping her by his side. Madelyn stood across from them and she sighed, finally looking to Victoria and shrugging, almost acting nonchalant.
"I told you that I always had his interests at heart," Madelyn said to her. "And on Monday, we have Lucid coming in and you won't remember any of this."
"So you two have always been in cahoots," Victoria concluded and she knew that she should never have trusted either of them.
"Well, not as much recently," Homelander confessed to Victoria. "It's only until you started piecing things together when we decided that we needed to work together for the good of the company…and for me, of course," he said, arm remaining around her shoulders before he shifted. Standing behind her, he moved to take hold of her shoulders instead, gripping them in his fingers. "But Madelyn doesn't know everything that I've been doing," he said, his chin sitting on the top of her head. "She doesn't know about the Compound V that I had A-Train run around the globe…used it to create supe-terrorists."
And she clearly had no idea of that. She clearly had been in the dark. It took a moment or two before Victoria spoke.
"What's Compound V?" she wondered.
"Our little secret," Homelander said to her, massaging her shoulders to try and help her loosen up, but if anything, she tensed even more. "It's what Vought gives us to turn us into superheroes. We're not chosen…not really…no, we're made. And I've taken it and used it to create enemies all around the world. Enemies who we have to fight in sequel…after sequel…after sequel," he said and Madelyn considered what she was hearing from him.
She hadn't authorised this. Chances were that she never would have authorised anything like it. He was becoming out of control. Homelander was becoming someone who she was struggling to control. He was doing what he wanted when he wanted and she couldn't let that happen. But what more could she do? The one woman who was actually a good influence on him wasn't that anymore.
"You did that?" Madelyn checked with him.
"I did that," he said to her. "Did it never occur to you that the timing was too coincidental? That when we needed supes in the army, we suddenly had super-terrorists?"
"You didn't get caught, did you?" she responded.
"Only you and my other half here know," Homelander said. "And come next week, she won't know much at all. But from now on, no keeping me in the dark, Madelyn. I can help when it comes to anything and I've proven that. You tell me what goes on. I don't need protecting."
"I protected you from Becca because you carry so much," Madelyn said, hand going to her chest and Victoria wondering if she was hearing this correctly. Madelyn was okay with all of this? Just how far was she willing to go to get the job done? "Knowing that she miscarried…I didn't want to put you through that pain."
His demeanour changed instantly then and Victoria knew that. She felt his hands still on her shoulders and she also realised what Madelyn had just said. Victoria's mouth opened and she remembered what Homelander had told her. He said that the baby hadn't survived once it had been born, there was no mention of miscarriage. The stories weren't adding up.
"She miscarried?" Victoria was the one to ask.
"Yes," Madelyn said. "And we never told him because we wanted to look after him…he's everything to us and the pain of knowing that he lost a child-"
"-And what about Becca?" Victoria interrupted. She was done with listening to Madelyn. "What about looking after her? Did you not think about that when he got away with raping her?"
Homelander turned her around then, his hand going to her wrist and snatching it into his grip. Madelyn said nothing as he dragged her off and away from the party. But as she passed Madelyn, Victoria couldn't resist from snapping at her. "Maybe you two did belong together after all, you heartless bitch."
"Enough," Homelander snapped at Victoria as Madelyn remained mute. He continued pulling Victoria down the corridor until they were well away from the party and pushed her into the meeting room, looking at her as she folded her arms over her chest and glowered to him.
"You told me that Becca lost the baby during childbirth."
"That's what Vogelbaum said," Homelander said, pacing up and down, hands going to his hips and holding them firmly within his grasp. Victoria contemplated running from the room, but she knew that would be stupid. It wasn't as if she was going to make it far. She just watched him and her eyebrows knitted together on her forehead.
She pushed her hair behind her shoulders and looked to him as she leant against the table, the backs of her thighs brushing the surface. The locket she wore glistened in the light, Homelander insisting that she wear it.
"You think they lied?" Victoria asked from him and he shrugged.
"Someone has," he declared to her and she tried to think about why they would lie to him. Why would they tell him that Becca and his child had died? Why would they do that unless they were trying to protect her from him? Was that it? Were they trying to look after her?
"Come on," he suddenly said once he had finished his pacing. He moved to her and grabbed her arm. She tried to fight from him, but he took her chin, the look on his face nothing but anger. "Come with me right fucking now or I swear that I'll kill those friends of yours. My patience is wearing thin right now, Victoria. So get your act together and come with me."
And she knew he had her then. She let him tug her from where she was leaning against the table and pull her away.
"Where are we going?"
"To get to the bottom of this once and for all."
…
Billy knew what he was doing. He knew that he was playing a dangerous game. Him and the Boys had been classed as fugitives, wanted men for killing Translucent. Vought was coming after them because they knew full well what they knew. Billy had all of the information on Compound V. He knew that Vought had created that super-terrorist. He knew that because of Kimiko. He knew that they were involved in dodgy dealings, but the CIA weren't listening to them. They weren't going to consider their evidence. And so Billy was desperate. He wanted his Boys to be safe, but he knew that he couldn't go with them.
If this was the end, then he was not going to go without doing what had to be done to Homelander. He was going to stop him. He was going to destroy him. And that was why he had gone to Grace and asked her for her help. He promised never to return if she just gave him something, anything, to get to Homelander. And it turned out that Stillwell was it.
That was why the woman found herself tied to her kitchen chair, a belt of explosives tied around her and Billy holding the trigger. He was perched on one of her leather chairs, watching her as she tried to maintain her composure. Her little baby was sleeping soundly and Billy hoped that Homelander wouldn't take a long time to get to him. He must know that he had Madelyn. He had told him to come to him. He had used her phone to make contact with him. Billy only hoped that his sister was far away already.
She hadn't been answering her phone and he didn't know if that was because she had gotten rid of her phone, which would be smart, but he didn't know. He couldn't know for certain. But this was the last throw of the dice. He had no more moves after this. He was trapped into a corner and he was willing to blow himself up if it meant killing Homelander too. If it meant getting revenge for his wife and protecting his sister then he didn't care. In a sense, he'd been dead for a long time without Becca.
"He won't come alone," Madelyn said to Billy.
"I didn't ask for conversation," Billy retorted.
"He's got your sister with him," Madelyn said and Billy looked to her. He shook his head.
"You're lying."
"She was just with him at the party," Madelyn continued to tell him, wondering if this would get him to stop this vendetta. "You've got me here, but you know that I'm not his weakness. You know that she is, but you'd never risk her because you love her. But she is with him. She never got out the city. He had been tracking her phone…he's kidnapped her and kept her in his apartment for the past three days."
"Healthy fucking relationship then," Billy's gruff voice spoke.
"So all of this is pointless," Madelyn replied. "Because if you do anything to me then it's a waste of your time. You won't hurt him…not really…not enough."
"Well, she's not wrong there."
Looking to the doorway, Billy's eyes landed on Homelander as he walked into the kitchen. But he wasn't alone and Billy knew that his plan was foiled. He watched as Homelander kept his hands on his sister's shoulders, guiding her forwards. He bent down slightly, whispering into her ear and Billy moved to his feet, looking to him as the two men refused to stop glaring at each other.
"Why don't you tell your brother to put down that detonator, huh?" Homelander said to Victoria, whispering in her ear hotly. "And we can sort this out."
"How about you get your hands off my sister before I blow up your boss."
"And kill your sister in the process? I think not," Homelander said and Victoria looked at her brother, longing to tell him what she had just found out. She wanted to blurt it out because then maybe it would stop whatever was going to happen. But then she thought about it. Could Billy even get out of this? Could he get away?
"You alright?" Homelander asked from Madelyn, giving her a quick glance.
"I need Teddy out of here," she said and Victoria wondered just what Billy was playing at. Her son was still in the house? Did he actually intend to go through with this and blow a child up? She had no idea and she almost didn't want to test him.
Homelander ignored Madelyn's plea. "You see, you think that I took your wife from you," he said and began moving through the room. Victoria watched the back of him, her heart thudding against her chest. She could hear the blood pumping into her ears. "But have you even got any concrete proof that she's dead? Is this all just based on a hunch? Because you know, she came onto me. You know what it's like. Being famous…people develop crushes…it's hard, but it happens."
"Would you please be quiet?" Madelyn demanded from him, clearly distressed and on the edge. Victoria wondered precisely what Homelander was doing. She knew the truth. She knew exactly what had happened to Becca.
"And you know, she came three times that night," Homelander said, holding three fingers up and looking to Billy. Victoria thought that she might throw up. "Three times," he added on in a whisper and Billy's glare not once dropped from him. "But not as many times as I've made your sister come. She's quite the screamer too."
"John," Victoria said his name and he narrowed his gaze to her, clearly not appreciating his name being used in public. But he said nothing on the matter, the look enough. "Stop it."
"Well, shouldn't he know the truth?" Homelander queried, moving towards Victoria and taking hold of her cheek. "That we're happy together and he's done nothing but ruin it. He's ruined it with his inability to leave things alone. He's taken someone he thinks I care about…and I do, Madelyn," Homelander said to her and she wanted to snap at him. "But he would never take the one thing I truly care about…threaten me with that…because it's you, sweetheart." Homelander turned her around to face her brother, hands going to her hips and causing Billy's anger to swell up once more. "Isn't that right? You hoped that you'd gotten to her before I could…that she would have run away and then this plan would have come together for you. I took someone you love and in return you take someone I love."
"You wouldn't know how to love," Billy declared, finger slipping over the trigger button.
"Oh, you're very wrong on that, isn't he, darling?" Homelander said, looking down to Victoria once more and brushing her hair over one shoulder, his fingers running down her neck slowly.
"Does she know?" Billy asked and Homelander turned to look to him, hands still holding Victoria's hips and she longed to buck him off. But this situation was already complex. She didn't need to make it volatile.
"About your wife and me? Yeah, she knows," Homelander said nonchalantly and then Billy shook his head.
He moved to the coffee table to press play on a button on a tablet. Homelander frowned and Victoria peered down onto it. Stepping back, Billy watched as his sister listened to the video of Homelander tell Maeve that he had killed all the men in the building and that he'd go and fetch Victoria. It was from when she'd been kidnapped. How had he gotten this?
"She doesn't know that you orchestrated her entire kidnapping to boost your poll numbers, does she?" Billy declared and Victoria felt another punch to her gut. Her eyes closed and she squeezed back the tears. Why was she not surprised?
She moved from Homelander's grip and turned to face him, looking between him and Madelyn. "You did that?"
"Victoria, we were trying to get his popularity back. You'd taken it from him-"
"-Don't make excuses now," Victoria snarled at Madelyn. "I should have expected this from you because I know exactly what you are. You're a manipulative, lying hypocrite." Turning to Homelander, she looked him in the eye and his jaw tensed. She noted how he struggled to look at her, almost as though he felt some sense of shame. "And you went along with it? You let them kidnap me?"
"I didn't want to."
"But what? She got down on her knees for you and you were so easily convinced?"
"It was before we were officially together," Homelander said, almost as if that defended his actions. "It was before any of that had happened. I just did what was the best option for me. You were never in any real trouble anyway. I made sure of that."
"Well aren't you my fucking hero," Victoria sniped, all sense of rationality going out of the window. She didn't care anymore. She wanted this to be over with. Turning to Billy, she looked at him and moved to him. "Pass me the trigger," she said and his brows knitted together.
"Vicky, no."
"William, give me it."
"Oh, full name," Homelander commented, eyes glimmering. He looked almost amused by the situation.
"No."
"Becca's alive."
The words hung in the air and no one said anything as Victoria took hold of Billy by the wrist, fingers slipping down his skin towards the trigger. If he gave it to her and she kept pressure on it then it would be fine. But she knew there was no chance that she could let Homelander out. She couldn't let Madelyn go. But she could give Billy a head start. He could get out and he could find Becca.
"She can't be."
"She is," Victoria said to him. "And they both know it."
"She's not wrong," Homelander said and paced towards Madelyn, cape flowing behind him as he placed a hand on the Vought Executive's shoulders. He bent down, peering into her eyes and the amusement disappeared from his look. Looking to her, he saw exactly what he'd wanted to see. He saw her for the woman she was: the woman who manipulated him. The woman who used him. The woman who lied to him.
"You see, you and Vogelbaum should have gotten your stories straight," he hissed to Madelyn, his face inches from hers. "And I squeezed the truth out of him. You were both so fucking close to having the same story, but not close enough. So tell me the truth."
He leant closer to her and she whispered something to him, no doubt confirming the truth for him. He pulled back from her then, standing up straight.
"Did you ever care about me? Or was Victoria right? Did you really just use me?"
"Of course I care about you…I've cared about you long before she walked into your life," Madelyn said, tears now forming in her eyes and the fear evident in her voice. She was scared of him and she knew that now she couldn't get him to do her bidding. She couldn't turn her against him.
"No, no," Homelander said, wagging a finger. "You care about your job more than you ever cared about me."
"No…no…I do…I love you…I do," she sobbed and Victoria kept her hand on Billy's wrist.
"But?" Homelander asked, hands going to his hips while he watched her.
"I'm scared," she whispered.
"What?" he snapped.
"I'm scared."
"Of what?"
"Of you, I'm scared of you," she finally spat out, the venom clear in her voice.
And that seemed to appease Homelander. He placed his hands to her shoulders and leant closer to her, kissing her forehead. "Thank you," he whispered to her and then Victoria noticed the glow of his eyes in the dark room.
Billy moved quickly, standing in front of his sister while Homelander cupped Madelyn's cheeks in his fingertips and used his laser eyes to burn straight into her face. She didn't even scream or beg. She just went silent, her mouth hanging open and a long gasp escaping her. Victoria placed a hand over her mouth, the smell of burnt flesh entering her nostrils and making her feel sick. Looking to Madelyn, there was nothing left of her face. It had been completely burnt in. Gagging, Victoria looked away and Homelander turned back to the two siblings.
"Now, that plan of yours," Homelander addressed Billy. "I think we might need to change it up."
"Get out of here, Vicky," Billy said to her.
"Oh, she's going nowhere," Homelander retorted.
"He's right," Victoria said and moved to stand in front of her brother again. She looked up to him and took his free hand inside of hers. "Give me the trigger and get out of here. Becca is still alive and she is your wife. After eight years looking for her…go and find her…get away from here and be happy. Let me do this. Let me pull that trigger. You can run and have a head start."
"Sure, he might get a bit of a head start, but I'd catch him up."
"Not if I let go of that trigger you won't."
"You'd blow yourself up for him?" Homelander questioned Victoria and she turned around to face him. "Really? You'd blow me up too? I don't think so, sweetheart. This isn't Romeo and Juliet-"
"-Yeah, because we most certainly aren't going to die because of romance."
"Neither of us are going to die," Homelander said. "We're going to get out of here and we're going to be fine. You see, Billy," he said and looked to him. "I have a plan for Vicky and us. She's going to have her memories wiped and so everything will be a dream. We'll be safe together. It'll be like it was, but you'll be out of the picture."
"Just let it go," Victoria said to Billy. "We can't get out of here. We can't escape…and we can't let him go."
"You know, your words wound me, darling," Homelander said to her and she turned her head over her shoulder to glare up to him. Advancing towards him, she stood toe-to-toe with him.
"You're never going to stop, are you? You're never going to stop hurting people and trying to be the God you think you are because I realise now that's what you want. You just want people to worship you and you're not going to stop. You'll go to any length to get what you want and I can't let you do that. I can't stand by and see more women like Becca suffer…more people die because of the supe-terrorists you helped to create…because I might not be perfect, but I'm not evil…not like you."
"You think that's what I am?" Homelander asked, hand going to hold her chin firmly and he backed her into the room, pushing her up against a wall as Billy moved towards her but Homelander moved a hand out, knocking him back to the floor, his finger nearly slipping from the trigger.
"You think what I've done so far is evil? You have no idea the lengths I will go to just to get what I want. You have no idea what I'm truly capable of and believe me, you're never going to see it if I have my way, but just know that right now, right at this moment, this isn't the worst thing you have seen from me. Trust me."
"Let her leave," Billy said quickly, scrambling to his feet. "This is between us."
Victoria tried to get away from him, but his grip on her chin was firm and unrelenting.
"Fine," Homelander relented on that point. "No one dies tonight anyway."
He let Victoria go and she didn't know what happened. It all happened far too quickly. As soon as his grip on her had gone, she doubled over, holding onto her chin. But then she saw Homelander take hold of Butcher's arm and the pressure from the trigger disappeared. Billy yelled loudly at the same time Victoria screeched no. She saw the flash before she heard the explosion, feeling an arm around her waist and dragging her away quickly. But then everything went black.
…
Sitting by her bedside, Homelander watched as she slept. She was hooked up to monitors, but he had been informed she would recover. She would be safe and sound eventually. She had a broken leg and a few cracked ribs from the pressure of his arm around her. But that had been all. She had been unconscious since the explosion, completely missing Billy's brief reunion with his wife before Homelander had taken him away.
"Is she asleep?"
Homelander turned his head over his shoulder to see the supe walking in. She was small, her ginger hair cropped and her eyes looking to the bed in his penthouse that had been set up by the window.
"The doctors have kept her sedated on my request," Homelander declared.
He'd been watching the rolling news for a while. He'd watched as Billy was framed for the murder of Madelyn. He'd watched as he was hailed a hero for saving Victoria from her brother, people unable to stop talking about it. Vought had even mentioned turning it into a film.
"This will be easier to do if she's asleep," the woman said, moving further into the room.
"How long will it take?"
"You gave me the information of what I need to erase," she responded with a shrug, chewing on some gum. "Give me five minutes and it'll be done. I've signed the NDA, the money will be given to me as soon as you're satisfied I've done what needs to be done."
Homelander nodded, agreeing with her on that one. He stepped back and gave Lucid permission to do what she had to do. And so she did. She stepped to Victoria, a hand going to her forehead. He watched as she jerked in the bed slightly. He knew that Lucid would see everything Victoria had seen. She would see his darkest secrets. She would see and feel the pain, anger and hurt Victoria felt.
He stepped back and let her work, giving her the time to do what she needed to be done. Once she had pulled her hand away from Victoria, she stumbled back. Her hand went to her mouth and she hid the gasp before looking to Homelander. For someone who had entered so nonchalant, she looked anything but that now.
"It's done…I did what you asked," Lucid said. "I need to get going. I have another appointment."
She scurried away and Homelander sighed. He didn't trust her. How could he? He watched her back as she headed to the elevator and instantly let his eyes laser her in half. She didn't even have time to scream. Turning back to Victoria, he looked to her in the bed and moved his bare hand to her cheek, using the back of it to brush the locks from her skin.
"We're safe now, Vicky," he whispered to her, bending over her and moving closer to her. Kissing her forehead as she slept soundly, he smiled against her skin. "We're safe."
...
A/N: So...Season 2 here we come! We have a few filler chapters before we head to the plotline. As always, would love to know how you'd want me to incorporate Victoria into the plots coming up (especially considering a certain someone joins the Seven)!