Homelander knew that there was a situation escalating at Godolkin University. He was leaving it for as long as possible, but he had his suspicions that he'd uncover something sinister. He'd heard rumours of supes being tested on and he suspected that was true. He knew that Vought wasn't clean cut in anything. He knew that they had ulterior motivations, but the way he saw it, they had no right to test anything on supes. Supes were superior and he knew it. He just had to be careful with how he expressed it, but support for him had been growing in recent months. People had started to come forwards and claim that he had a right to defend himself. His support was growing and there was a good chance that he wouldn't even stand trial if momentum continued to build.

Of course, if he did stand trial, then he knew he would never go to jail. He'd burn the entire world down before that happened. He would have Victoria by his side too. He had Evelyn and Ryan too. He had the perfect family who he would do anything to protect and people understood that. Well, most of them did. Starlight's lackeys didn't entirely take his side and she was doing everything she could to mobilise them against him. But he would win. He would always win.

He had been conducting business that morning back at the Tower before returning to the cabin where Victoria and children still were. He landed back a few hundred metres from the cabin and walked towards it, using his vision and hearing to see what they were doing. They were outside, a picnic blanket just by the porch and Ryan was tossing a ball in the air as Victoria sat on the blanket. She kept on covering her eyes with her hands as Evelyn walked slowly and around the trees. She was becoming quite the little walker, but she wasn't going anywhere far.

"Now where could she be?" Victoria wondered, peeling her eyes open. She stood up, hands on her hips and dramatically looking around the woodland area. "Oh my, Evelyn is so good at hide and seek, right, Ryan?" Victoria said and Ryan chuckled, nodding his head and tossing the ball high enough into the air that it became invisible to the naked eye before it fell straight back into his hands.

"I don't know," Ryan said. "I haven't seen her," he said, despite knowing that she was just around the corner and behind the closest tree to them and giggling to herself.

Homelander stayed back, hiding in the trees and enjoying the sight. It was moments like that when he realised that he loved nothing as much as his family. He adored them. He needed them more than he cared to admit. Victoria had given him a perfect family and last night had been the first night she hadn't pulled away from him when he'd kissed her. He'd relented on the baby and her getting pregnant. He knew a gentle approach was more likely to work over anything. He could be patient. If he kept Victoria away from negative influences and isolated her then he would be fine. If that meant spending as much time at the cabin as possible then that's what he would do.

"Where on earth could she be?" Victoria continued to sigh in exasperation, hands flapping by her sides and hair falling out of the loose bun she had tied it back into at the nape of her neck. She finally quit with it, tugging the bobble out and pushing it onto her wrist, hair flowing freely down her shoulders.

"She's really good at this game," Ryan commented.

"Better than anyone I've played with before," Victoria confirmed and she dashed behind a group of trees, grabbing onto their trunks and moving around them. "She's nowhere to be seen. I have no idea where she could possibly be."

"Mummy, here!" Evelyn called out and Homelander chuckled at his daughter as she ran out from a tree, arms stretched in front of her. Victoria clasped a hand to her chest and leant slightly back before crouching down onto the ground and opening her arms. Her daughter ran into her grip and she hauled her upwards, hugging her tightly.

"There you are!" Victoria exclaimed.

"I have to say she's not bad at hide and seek," Homelander finally made his presence known, hands behind his back as all sets of eyes turned towards him. Victoria continued to smile, forcing herself to act carefree because she knew it was what he wanted and she was giving him what he wanted until she found a way out.

"Daddy!" Evelyn exclaimed.

"Hey, dad," Ryan greeted him and Homelander ruffled his hair on top of his head as Evelyn's arms stretched out towards her father. Victoria had no other choice but to pass her to him, watching as he took her into his arms and held her tightly after pecking her on top of her head.

Victoria stuffed her hands into the pockets of the black a-line skirt she wore with her striped black and orange jumper. "You're back early," she commented, smile still on her face.

"Business finished sooner than I expected," he answered her and he leant forwards, kissing her on the cheek tenderly. Ryan watched the exchange and caught the ball in his hands as it fell back down towards the ground. "And it seems like you guys are having a good time. You've got quite the throw now, buddy," Homelander commented to his son who just nodded his head once, agreeing silently with his father. "Maybe we can go and play catch in a bit?"

"You have time?" Ryan asked, knowing that his dad had a busy schedule.

"I've got the rest of the day off," Homelander said and Victoria knew what that meant. He'd be sticking around for the entire day. She tried not to look too upset by that. What had happened the previous night had been enough for her to realise she had to play this game. He'd warned her not to break his heart again. She knew that she would eventually at some point. But hopefully by that point it would be too late and he'd be gone for good. Until then, she was taking no more risks.

She had Ryan and Evelyn to think about. She had to protect them from him and, in a way, she had to protect herself because there were no more chances. She'd run out of those now. She was amazed he'd been as lenient as he had been up until now, but she wasn't going to push him any further.

"Everything okay at the Tower?" she questioned and tucked her hair behind her ears, crossing one ankle behind the other.

"Yeah," he said, gaze meeting hers as he bounced Evelyn in his grip. "Maybe you can take your sister inside for a bit while I ask Vicky about what we're doing for dinner tonight?" he suggested to Ryan and the boy rolled his eyes to the sky. He was becoming increasingly astute as to when the adults wanted to talk. He just wished they actually said it outright than make excuses. But, he guessed, he didn't need to know everything that was going on.

"Just say you want to talk about adult stuff, dad," he said and Homelander chuckled, eyes widening in his son's direction.

"Getting a bit wise there, son," he said. "But yeah, just give me and Vic a few minutes."

"Got it," Ryan said and he took Evelyn from Homelander, holding her in his grip and then setting her down but keeping hold of her hand. "Come on, Evie, we'll go inside and play in your fort for a little while."

Homelander watched the two of them head inside before arching a brow at his wife. "You built a fort?" he checked with her.

"Just out of the sofa cushions and sheets," Victoria said. "I used to do it as a kid sometimes when dad went away for weekends and mum was working. Billy would build one for me sometimes and I'd hide in there for a while…pretend nothing could get me…and then dad came home and ruined everything."

Homelander shook his head slowly. He hated hearing about her childhood. He hated the fact that she had suffered so much in the past.

"Our kids will never experience that."

"I know," Victoria said and tugged her hands from her pockets. "What did you want to talk about anyway?"

"Well, I need your advice," he said and she had to admit she was shocked on that. He rarely asked her for advice. He moved a hand out and gestured towards the woods. "Should we take a bit of a walk?" he asked and Victoria looked to the cabin apprehensively. "The kids will be fine. Super hearing, remember?" he said to her and she relented, nodding her head and letting him lead the way. He walked close by her side along the dried dirt in between the trees.

"So, what's going on?" she asked him.

"The trial," he said. He didn't need advice, but he just wanted an excuse to talk to her and this was it. "They're saying it might start soon and that my plea of not guilty should be accepted, but there's lots I need to do in the meantime…talkshows…rallies…and then there's my supporters."

"I've seen," Victoria said and Homelander knew she didn't agree with them. If she had her choice then he knew she'd be a bleeding-heart Starlight fan.

"I mean, the question here is if I appeal to my base or repent," Homelander said and Victoria wondered what he was doing. He wasn't a man who repented. He spoke on national TV and said he shouldn't apologise. Was this a ruse or did he really want her opinion? Did he think that she might care more for him if he acted how he thought she wanted him to act?

"I see," Victoria said.

"But what do you think?" Homelander asked. He knew what he was going to do, but he just wanted to talk to her.

"You already know what I'm going to say, John," Victoria said, stepping through some leaves, feeling them crunch beneath the sole of her shoe. "I think you should say it was an accident," she said, although she wasn't sure blowing a man's head off really was an accident. "I know it wouldn't go down well with your base, but your base…they're becoming volatile. I saw on the news this morning that some of them are even thinking of storming courthouses in protest of your trial…I just…I think that's dangerous."

"Not brave?"

"John, how is it brave?" Victoria wondered from him. "I know the power you have. I know that they would listen to you and I think if this went to trial then maybe…maybe if you said sorry…asked for calm…for law and order to prevail and the justice system to do its job then maybe you'd be in a better position."

"With who?" Homelander questioned her. "Starlight's supporters will never love me and if I adopted that position then my own supporters would turn against me."

"Perhaps, but maybe it would calm them down? You might drop in the polls, but at least then there might not be fighting? And isn't it the right thing to do?" Victoria questioned, amazed she had gotten this far with her line of questioning and not being shot down. This was further than she'd recently gotten before.

"I'm not convinced," Homelander said and she knew that was coming. "Sometimes the best thing to do is fight."

"But what about what that means for the country?" she wondered from him. "Everyone is so polarised. It's either Team Homelander or Team Starlight and that…the two groups fighting…it scares me…and you have the power to try and make it stop and bring peace. Do you not want to do that?"

"I want to avoid a trial," Homelander answered her honestly. "And if I go to trial then I want people to support me. If I alienate my fans now by becoming weak…pathetic…apologising…then I'd drive them away. I can't afford to do that right now. I understand what you're saying, Victoria, but I just don't know if it's the right approach."

Victoria stood on the spot then. Homelander turned to look to her as he took another step in front. Whirling around the look at her, he arched his brow as she shrugged and cocked her head to the side.

"Why did you even ask me?" she wondered from him. "You already had your mind made up, John, and you must have known I'd not give you the answer you wanted."

"Maybe I just wanted an excuse to talk to you?" he questioned from her and she watched him take a step towards her. "Maybe I was just intrigued as to what you would say? You're my wife, Victoria, and I do value your opinion. I always have and you know that. I just…I just wondered what advice you would give."

"Well, you have it now," Victoria said. "And what did the experts say about the trial? Surely the PR department is working overtime?"

"I'm booked on every single talk show you can imagine," Homelander said to her. "My polling isn't too bad and has remained consistent for a while. I've won some fans through being a doting father and a concerned husband for what you've been going through. They think with you by my side…we can appeal to a wider base."

Homelander sat down on a fallen tree trunk. Victoria stood before him and then moved slowly, perching down besides him. He clasped his hands in between his legs.

"I don't know," he suddenly admitted to Victoria. "I'm going to stand trial for protecting my son. I mean, you know I'd do anything to protect my children and I'm being punished for it. The entire system is being dragged out. I don't want to go to court and sit through a trial."

"I know it's not easy," Victoria assured him. "But you know that you have to, right? If you win the case…or if the case is dropped…you just have to let the justice system do its thing."

"Easier said than done," Homelander confessed to her. "There's times when I feel alone in all of this, Victoria. I go to meeting. I listen to lawyers. I listen to PR experts. But I just feel alone because I am the only one in this situation and I…I know you know how that feels. When you first joined Vought, you must have felt the same?"

Victoria nodded her head slowly. "When I first signed that contract I wondered what I was doing," Victoria agreed. "And I ended up in a world I didn't understand just like you have right now. I just…I felt like I was being pushed and pulled in every direction, but you were the only one who kept me grounded."

"Just like you're the one keeping me grounded," Homelander said. "Coming back here…to the peace and quiet…it's exactly what I need. I need this and you…you're solace, Victoria. When I'm with you it gives me a chance to breathe. I can just be. Nothing else matters."

Victoria nodded her head slowly and looked down to the ground for a moment, her engagement ring flashing in her eye. "You know whenever we had to go to big events…premiers…galas…I felt like I was drowning at sea because I didn't know what to do. There would be times when I wasn't sure what to do or how to act and then you would grab my hand and I'd suddenly feel safe because I knew that I could lean on you and you knew what you were doing," she said and Homelander watched her as she kept on looking down to the ground.

But then she picked her gaze up and looked him in the eye. "I know you think that this is the best way to deal with things," she said. "But I have experience in law. I have experience in diplomacy and building relationships between numerous stakeholders. I know you're scared about becoming an island and having no supporters, but…in the long run…squashing the rising tension…being a figurehead who speaks in favour of law and order…that might serve you well," she said and Homelander's brows furrowed together as he continued to watch her. "Just think about it. Think about it because I…maybe it's your turn to take my hand and you can lean on me because I know what I'm doing."

Homelander wasn't entirely convinced, but he heard the longing in her voice. She wanted him to do the right thing in her eyes. She wanted him to be the person who called for peace. He knew it would be difficult. He knew it would be almost impossible. But, for the time being, he could pretend to think about it.

And so he took her hand and held tightly onto it.

...

A/N: Just a short chapter here as we build up to the trial...would love to know what you think!