Victoria wasn't entirely sure how Homelander was going to react to the news that a date had been set for his trial to begin. Victoria had gone to see the Vought doctor about her shoulder and he had told her that it should be fine out of a sling, but she still had a large bandage over it. She was trying to move it as often as possible so that it didn't get too stiff. She knew that ever since she'd been with Homelander she'd been in more scrapes than she cared to count. She'd suffered from a broken leg, a shot shoulder, and bruised ribs.

Ashley had asked her to come and see her following her appointment with the doctor. Victoria was still working with the legal team on Vought's charities as something to do and occupy her time. A part of her hated that she was working for Vought. She knew how horrible they were and she despised the company. But their charities did seem to do good work and Victoria knew she was trapped. She felt as though she may as well try and do good from the inside.

"Victoria, how're you feeling?" Ashley asked from her as she stepped into her office after Ashley, her assistant, let her in.

"I'm fine," Victoria said to her and moved towards the chair on the other side of the desk. She sat down in it and folded one leg over the other before tugging her hair over her shoulder. She pulled at the pleated skirt she wore, draping it over her legs and then folded her arms over her chest, crumpling her black shirt. "What can I do for you, Ashley?" Victoria questioned.

Ashley nervously fidgeted behind the desk. It was one of her tell tale signs she was nervous. She always moved around, tugging on strands of her hair and eyes flittering around. She couldn't make eye contact and her face contorted. Victoria let out a deep breath and slumped further back into her chair. She looked to the ceiling, eyes rolling to the back of her head.

"What do you want me to tell him?" Victoria asked, guessing that was why Ashley had asked her to see her. She usually wanted Victoria to be the one to break bad news to Homelander, like it would be better coming from her. In a sense, Victoria understood. Ashley was clever to be anxious of Homelander.

"What?" Ashley asked, feigning ignorance. "Tell him what?"

"Ashley, we don't need to do this dance," Victoria promised the CEO. "Something has happened and it's to do with Homelander. What do you want me to do?"

Ashley looked to Victoria and there was a brief moment of pity that flickered over her face. Usually, Ashley played the tough CEO. She could be mean and callous to most people and Victoria had seen that. She saw how she treated Ashley and anyone underneath her. But anyone who had power over Ashley, she was right to be nervous of. Homelander fell under that category, but other members of the Seven weren't exactly there. And then there was Victoria. Ashley didn't dare be callous to her, but there was a level of her that understood it.

She understood what it was like to be under Homelander's thumb. But at least Ashley could go home and escape him. Then again, she wondered sometimes if Victoria was scared of him or if she was just trapped. She never seemed to tremble whenever he walked in a room. But there was no denying that Victoria wanted out. Ashley knew that. She just couldn't help her get it again.

"A date's been set," Ashley relented and Victoria sat up straight at hearing that. "In a couple of weeks' time…the trial will begin."

"Shit," Victoria whispered.

She knew that this date was going to come. She knew that the trial had been looming over them for some time. Each side had been given time to build their case and call key witnesses. Victoria wasn't testifying as she had spousal privilege. She had invoked that and Homelander had been more than happy. She hadn't wanted to lie under oath, but she knew there was no chance that she could get up on that witness stand and tell the truth.

"Yeah, shit," Ashley reiterated. "He's going to be expected to be in court."

"And you think he'll go?"

"You know that if he doesn't then he could be in big trouble. You have a law degree, Victoria. You know how these things go."

"I got my degree in the UK and I only focused on asylum legislation for my PhD. I'm not an expert in the US judicial procedure. I never practiced…I'm an academic…I criticise laws…I research them…this is as new for me as it is for any of us," Victoria said. "I just know that he isn't going to want to attend, Ashley. He's made that clear. He thinks it's a waste of time."

"And it might be, but the fact is that he needs to turn up," Ashley said to her. "He needs to be there because if he's not…if they find him in contempt of court then that could be worse than what happens in the case. He could make things ten times worse for himself…for us."

Victoria buried her face in her hands and let out a deep breath. She felt like screaming. She wanted to yell in frustration. She felt her stomach churn and she knew that she was probably the only one who was able to get through to him. Getting through to Homelander was almost impossible, but she'd managed it a few times in the past. She composed herself and lifted her head up. Nodding at Ashley, Victoria stood up and realised she should get this out of the way sooner rather than later.

"Can you call up to the nursery and ask them to keep Evie for another hour?" Victoria asked from Ashley.

"Of course," Ashley said, keen to bend over backwards if she could get what she wanted. "Are you going to tell him?"

"I'll talk to him and try and get him to see reason, but I'm not making any promises."

"If anyone can do it then it's you," Ashley said.

Victoria scoffed. "We'll see," she said, not entirely convinced on that point. But she wasn't going to argue with it. She took a moment to tuck her shirt back into her skirt once more. "Do you know where he is?"

"He was at some rally this morning," Ashley said. "He should be back soon."

"He'll find me then," Victoria said.

"Thank you," Ashley said, voice full of gratitude which was a rarity for her. Victoria just nodded her head once and left the office, prepared for everything to come crashing down around them over the next few weeks.

Victoria had wandered around the gardens of the Tower, needing some fresh air and wondering just how the trial was going to go. She suspected that Vought's lawyers would try and spin some lies about why Homelander had done what he'd done. Homelander had already told Ryan that the man he had killed was a bad man and he had protected him. Victoria hadn't contradicted him, knowing what would happen if she did.

The air was still quite chilly despite the fact that it was late summer. Victoria listened as her sneakers squeaked on the ground and she moved off the path and onto the grass, wandering through the rows of overgrown bushes. She would spend hours in the garden with Evelyn, playing with her and hiding from everyone in the Tower. It was the only place where she felt peace. Usually, things in the Tower always felt hectic. People always demanded her attention. The garden were her escape.

Sitting on the bench in the overgrown shrubbery, Victoria tugged a daisy from the grass beneath her and twirled its stem in her fingertips. She looked up at the arch above the bench with ivy trailing around it. The flowers were in full bloom, colourful and littering the borders of the garden. It was quite pleasant, despite the fact that New York City sat just over the walls, she couldn't hear anything but the distant rumbling of the hustle and bustle. It was the most peaceful place she knew.

She heard the familiar noise of Homelander flying overhead and she looked up. He landed somewhere in the distance and she waited patiently for him to find her. She played with the ends of her hair and closed her eyes, the breeze sweeping over her and her shirt rustling.

"I wondered where you were."

She opened her eyes and saw Homelander ambling towards her, hands clasped behind his back and cape swaying behind him. A smile sat on his face and Victoria couldn't help but think how he looked genuinely happy to see her. He took a seat beside her, arm going over her shoulders and fingers pressing softly against the bandage beneath her skin. "You're out of the sling," he observed.

"Doctor Jacobson said that I should be okay to try and start moving it," Victoria replied.

"And how does it feel?"

"Stiff and achy, but nothing I can't handle," Victoria assured him and he moved his hand to her hair, fingers slipping into it and tucking it behind her ear. He ran his fingers through her locks and his smiled dropped slightly.

"You're tougher than you look," Homelander said. "You'd have made a great supe."

Victoria laughed at that and shook her head. "I'd have made a terrible supe," she said to him. "Then again, it might be nice not to be scared of flying."

Shaking his head, Homelander ran his hand down her neck and along her shoulder before letting it slip down her arm, fingers moving to hold onto hers. Picking her hand up, he kissed the back of it tenderly. "I always liked you being scared of flying," he confessed to her. "In the early days I used to love how you clung to me…I used to wait longer than necessary to set you down."

"You think I didn't notice?" Victoria wondered and he set their entwined limbs down on his thigh, fingers running over her wedding and engagement rings. "I noticed, John. I noticed everything."

"You always did," Homelander chuckled.

There was a moment of silence between them and Victoria glanced down to where he continued toying with the rings on her finger. There were times when she forgot they were there. She'd gotten so used to wearing them. But then there would be times when they felt like they were weighing down on her.

"I need to tell you something," Victoria said to him.

"What is it?" he questioned and she slipped her hand out from his. Homelander frowned and watched her cross one leg over the other, hands moving to her lap and she leant forwards. Victoria closed her eyes for another moment, steeling herself. She turned her head to the side, her eyes meeting his blue ones and she saw how his brows were slightly scrunched up on his forehead.

"They've set a date for your trial," she told him. "It starts in two weeks' time."

Homelander's lips pursed and Victoria could see how his face contorted, his chin jutting out and jaw locking. She knew when he was angry and trying to hold it in. She moved quickly then, leaning towards him and letting her hands wrap around his forearm as his fingers clenched into fists.

"We knew that this day was coming, John," Victoria assured her husband, stroking his arm in an attempt to soothe him. "You have the best legal time in the whole of America. They think they have a really strong case. You acted in self-defence and people will see that."

"You don't see that," Homelander snapped back and Victoria suspected that she shouldn't be shocked by how he was responding. He was going to lash out at her because she was there.

"It's not me who you need to convince," Victoria said to him, squeezing his arm in her grip and hoping that she could try to, at least, keep him from flying off the handle. "And after what happened in the Tower the other week…I…and what those animals would've done to our daughter when she was born…I understand what it is like to want to protect your child. I understand that entirely, John…and maybe you overreacted in what you did, but I know that you were trying to protect Ryan."

Victoria felt her stomach churn at her words. She was telling him what she thought he wanted to hear, not what she really thought.

"You've changed your tune," Homelander said in an almost amused voice, teeth bared and lips turning upwards. It was almost like he didn't trust what she was saying. And so she knew she had to be convincing.

"I know," Victoria replied. "And yes, I don't agree with what you did, and you know that. But I understand that you want to protect Ryan. You want to protect Evelyn. You're their father and you love them. Despite everything we agree and disagree on…we both love our children and would do anything for them. I know that. Never think that I don't know that."

Looking her in the eye, Homelander saw that she was being earnest. She was being honest with him. He listened to her heartrate and it was racing slightly, but he suspected she was just anxious. She wasn't looking at him like she was scared of him. Perhaps there was some honesty in her words because he knew that she was right. She would always put their daughter above anything.

"I know," he relented on that point. "I would do anything for our kids, Victoria."

"And I do know that," Victoria said. And, despite everything she hated about him, she knew he would. She could say whatever she liked about Homelander. She could criticise him for so much. He was a horrendous man and the things he had done made her sick beyond belief. But he loved Evelyn and Ryan. She had seen him with Evelyn and she had seen how tender he was. She struggled to reconcile how he could act like that in one moment and then willingly kill in another. After everything he'd done. He'd raped Becca. He'd murdered countless people. He'd brainwashed Victoria. He'd threatened her so many times. How could a man who did all of that show nothing but love towards his children?

"And them putting me on trial is ridiculous," Homelander said with a shake of his head. "I'm not going. What are they going to do? Throw me in jail?"

"I know you'll never go to jail," Victoria said. Even if they found him guilty, she knew they would never be able to put him in a cell. He would burn everything down before they got him in a cell. Victoria knew that much. "But, I think you have to go to the courthouse. I know you don't want to and I know it's going to be hard, but think about if you don't go…they could hold you in contempt and that would only make matters so much worse."

"I have better things to do with my time, Victoria," Homelander complained, shaking his head firmly. "I need to protect America and how can I do that if I am going through a sham trial?"

"Because it will show that you respect the judicial system. It will show that you are taking this seriously and it will give you a chance to put your own story across," Victoria informed him and she squeezed his hand, the leather of his gloves cool against her skin. She reached her other hand up and moved it towards his hair, her fingers stroking through it gently. "You remember when we watched those lawyers shows together in my old apartment?" she asked him.

Homelander looked confused then. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Remember how when anyone used to plead the Fifth we would just assume they were guilty?" she checked.

And he did remember that. But that had been a TV show. He would curl up with her on the sofa and it would become a running gag between the two of them to try and find out who the guilty party was. As soon as someone pleaded the Fifth, they knew they had their criminal. But Homelander mainly just enjoyed spending time with her, having her pressed against his side and hearing her laugh with him.

"You think I'd look guilty?"

"I think you would look like you had something to hide," Victoria said to him. "I think by running and hiding from this trial then you look like you're guilty. If you go there…if you sit and tell them why you did what you did then you stand more of a chance. I genuinely think that."

Homelander's teeth clenched once more and Victoria moved her fingers from his hair and to his cheek. She stroked along his cheekbone softly, turning his gaze back to her. She managed a soft smile for him and she saw his face soften slightly.

"I'll be with you," Victoria said, hoping that would gloss over things for him. "I'll come with you to court. I'll stand by your side. I'll do whatever it is you want me to do."

Victoria hated herself for saying those things. She hated herself for giving him what he wanted. She didn't want to. She wanted him to leave her alone, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. She kept repeating the same thing over and over in her head: keep him happy until she could escape for certain. She'd tried too many times in the past to escape him and it had never worked. She'd pushed him to the edge and she'd been scared of him and what he might do. She couldn't risk it again. There would come a point when he would snap and the love he felt for her wouldn't be enough to protect her then. So until then she would survive and give him what he wanted for her sake and her daughter's sake.

"You mean that?" Homelander asked her.

"I mean it," she whispered and he brushed the back of his hand over her cheek before leaning down and kissing her tenderly. She closed her eyes as his lips moved against hers, noses brushing. Closing her eyes, Victoria felt his tongue sweep over her bottom lip and her lips parted, letting him take advantage to deepen the kiss.

Victoria felt his other hand slip down her side and she shuddered as he took hold of her hip, bringing her closer to him until their fronts were pressed together, one of her legs moving in between both of his as she leant back slightly under his dominance. He pulled away from her after a moment, sensing she needed a breath and before he could get carried away. They were awkwardly entangled on the bench and Homelander wrapped an arm around her waist to stop her from drooping any further down. She laid a hand against his chest and he kissed her forehead.

"What is it about you?" Homelander wondered from her. "You have this ability to make everything feel better, no matter how shit things are?"

"Well, they don't give PhDs out for nothing," Victoria merely said to him and he chuckled at that, finding her amusing. This was one of the reasons why he loved her. She was always downplaying things. She never liked to big herself up. She used humour to mask things. A part of him wondered if it was the British way. Her brother tended to use humour as a form of insult.

"We'll get through this," Homelander declared and he sat up straight, but wrapped his arm around her shoulders, holding her to him. She let him, resting against his side and closing her eyes. Her head was throbbing as she wondered just what was going to happen and how they were going to cope with it.

Homelander was attending a rally in California, but Victoria hadn't gone with him. He could be there in minutes and it would take her hours to fly across country and someone needed to stay back with Evelyn and Ryan considering they had nursery and school. He'd woken up that morning in a chipper mood considering that the trial was edging closer and looking over them. Victoria had let him kiss her goodbye as she sat at the dressing table and finished getting ready for the day. She'd told him that she was going to see her brother that afternoon and his mood had slightly dullened.

"We both know he only has months left, John," Victoria told him as he perched on the end of the bed, hands clasped together as he leant forwards. "And I know that we've never been close after what happened when we were younger, but he is still my brother."

"Your brother who abandoned you," John muttered, but he knew better than to come between them. It didn't mean he liked it. "And we both know that he's still plotting against me. I don't think he's going to stop trying to kill me until his dying breath."

Victoria sighed and adjusted the necklace she wore around her neck: the locket her husband had given her. She toyed with the gold chain and spun around to face him. She could hear Ryan down the corridor leaving the bathroom and Victoria knew that she should go and wake Evelyn soon. She crossed her legs and Homelander drank in the way her shirt gaped slightly as she leant forwards.

"I know that," Victoria promised her husband. "I know that he's not going to stop until he has you where he wants you and we both know that is six-feet under."

Homelander's lips arched in amusement then, but his eyes glimmered darkly and she knew that she had to choose her next words carefully.

"But the fact is that he's not going to be able to do anything. He's human. He's ill. He…and even if he offered me a way out, I wouldn't take it and it's not because I'm scared of you. I'm not scared of you, John…perhaps I have been in the past…and we've made mistakes. This marriage hasn't been easy and we both know that," Victoria said and she continued to observe his features, hoping that she was getting to him. "But it's because we're married. We have a family. Running away before was wrong and I know that now. I see it. I belong here with you because I'm your wife and despite everything…it's always been us, right? Me and you against everything?"

Homelander tried to weigh up her words. He desperately wanted to believe her. He wanted her more than he could say. He loved her like he had never loved anyone before. She was his everything and she knew it. He wasn't sure if she was just whispering pretty words for him. But then he thought of the last few weeks they'd had together. They'd been good. They'd been better than things had been in a long time and he knew she couldn't fake all of that. And he so desperately wanted to trust her.

"Come here," he urged from her. Her heartrate was steady and she didn't seem nervous. She stood up and he held his hands out towards her, legs spread slightly. She took hold of his hands and stood in front of him. He squeezed her fingers before moving his hands to clasp hold of her hips and she ran her fingers along his shoulders to the pointed eagles holding his cape in place.

"I know you might not trust me because we haven't entirely been honest with each other in the past," Victoria continued talking as his thumbs stroked along her hipbones. "But we've both been guilty of that. We've both been guilty of keeping things from each other. I don't want it to be like that anymore. I want…we both know that things can't go back to how they were, but we're trying, aren't we? We're trying and things have been nice. They've been good. I'm not going to risk that, no matter what Billy says or does. I just…I need you to trust me."

"I want to," Homelander said to her.

"But?" Victoria guessed there was a but to this conversation.

"But it's going to take time," Homelander said.

Victoria bit her tongue and longed to yell at him about how he had no right to talk. He'd lied to her about so much. He'd put on a pretence of being a perfect boyfriend and that had all been a lie.

"I know," she decided on simply saying to him. "But let me prove it to you. Please?"

And so Homelander nodded. He pulled her down and kissed her softly, knowing that time would tell her dedication to him.

Victoria sat in her brother's apartment, the TV on in the background and showing the rally that was taking place. Billy had let her in and poured her a glass of scotch, claiming that it was six p.m. somewhere in the world before he'd gone to the door after hearing a knock.

"Expecting guests?" Victoria wondered from him.

"I'm not, but you are," he retorted.

Victoria turned her head over her shoulder and looked to the door as he opened it and in walked Annie, Hughie and Alex. Victoria shook her head quickly, placing her glass down on the stained wooden coffee table. Moving to her feet, she looked to the three of them and her eyes widened.

"This is too risky," Victoria said with a shake of her head. "He knows I'm visiting you, but if he finds out the others are here-"

"-How is he going to find out?" Billy interrupted. "He's on the other side of the country." He pointed to the TV for good measure but Victoria still wasn't entirely convinced. She knew that she'd have to lie to him when he came home that night. She knew that he might be able to smell them on her, even if she showered.

"He can be back here in minutes," Victoria said.

"It's alright," Annie quickly said, sensing that her friend was nervous and she got it. She knew what it was like to live in that Tower and be scared of Homelander. "We can go. We don't need to say. I just…we just…we wanted to see you. I miss you, Vicky. You're my best friend and I just wanted to see you."

"And I want to see you too," Victoria said to her. "But it's too risky. The trial is coming up and it's practically a civil war out there. I need to do what I need to do to stay on his good side."

"Jesus Christ, Vic, do you hear yourself? Sucking up to him?" Billy asked from his sister and she turned her glare to him as Hughie awkwardly looked around. Alex remained rooted to the spot, hands by his side and eyes fixed on Victoria, expression unreadable and face impassive.

"I am doing what I can to survive," Victoria snapped at her brother. "I am trying to keep him on my side because I have a daughter, Billy. I have a little girl who I need to think of…and Ryan too…what? You think if I'm defiant and go against him then that would make things better? You think being at each other's throats would help?"

"I don't know what to think."

"I know who he is!" Victoria snapped at her brother. "You think I don't? You think I don't think about everything he's done when I go to sleep at night? I know he raped Becca. I know he's killed countless people. I know he has no care for human life. I know he's abhorrent. I know he's a psychopath. But he's my husband. I married him. I had a child with him. And I…for some reason he listens to me. Do you think he wants to go through with this trial? If he had his way then he'd burn down every courthouse in America, but he listened to me when I told him he had to go through with this."

"So what? You're Mother Theresa now?" Billy wondered.

"She's not saying that," Annie defended her. "But she has a point. He does listen to her. He values her opinion and maybe that does stop him from going completely unhinged at times."

"You have no idea what it's like, Billy," Victoria said to him. "Every day I wake up and know that this might be it. If there's nothing to stop him then there's no chance I can get away from him and I've accepted that. I've accepted that there's no hope because I had hope before and look where it got us? I'm back to where I started and he…he's still my husband."

"I'm working on things, Victoria," Billy said. "I just want to know if there's an out that you'd take it."

And there was silence then. Victoria could feel the four sets of eyes watching her. Her stomach was churning and her vision blurred as she shook her head slowly and Billy pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I can't," she said to her brother. "I can't because I took it before and he still found me. He will always find me…and I got away with it this time, but only just. If I try to leave again then I don't want to know what he'll do and I'm not risking it. That might be cowardly, but you don't know what it's like living with him…trying to keep him happy just so that I can stay on his good side and not have my daughter ripped from him…have him touch me and know what I know."

"He's touched you?" Billy demanded to know from her then and Victoria shook her head. She didn't exactly want to tell her brother the intimate details. She didn't entirely want to relive them. She found that she could handle it so long as she tried to act numb. She wondered if this was how Maeve had felt when she'd said that she'd eventually just given away so many pieces of herself.

"I need a minute," Victoria declared and she turned to head into the bathroom.

She shut the door and closed the toilet seat, sitting on top of the lid and bowing her head. She felt tears slip down her cheeks and realised that she'd been holding things in for such a long time. She had been pretending for so long that she was forgetting who she was. She lived for her daughter. If she didn't have Evelyn then she'd either have left or found any other way out. But she stayed with him for Evelyn.

Victoria felt her shoulders heave and she sobbed loudly. Her hair fell onto her cheeks and stuck there as tears slipped down her skin and stained her navy pleated skirt. She heard the door creak open and she looked over to see Alex stood there. He closed the door behind him.

"You shouldn't be here. Do you know what he'd do if he found you?"

Alex remained silent, not listening to her and Victoria cursed her brother for not putting a lock on the door. Moving towards her, Alex easily grabbed her hands and forced her to stand up. She tried to push him from her, but he wasn't moving. He was stronger than she was and he sat down on the closed toilet lid before pulling her down to his lap. An arm wrapped around her waist, tugging her against him and Victoria relented, the feeling of his body comforting and familiar. She cried against his shoulder, inhaling his familiar scent and letting herself ruin his white tee he wore tucked into dark jeans. Alex's chin sat by her forehead and he felt her hands grab hold of his bare forearms, clinging to him as he stroked her hair softly.

Kissing her forehead tenderly, he closed his own eyes, his chest aching as he swore he felt his heart break.

"It's alright," he whispered to her and she realised how much she'd missed his voice. "It's alright, baby."

"No, it's not," Victoria said to him. "None of this is alright. I…I don't know if I can do this forever…being with him. I hate myself. I hate the hold he has over me."

"We're not going to stop looking for an out," Alex assured her. "I swear to you, we're going to find a way to kill him because I know that's the only way you'll ever feel safe. I know that, Vicky…and even if Billy…if he's not here…Annie and I will not stop. I promise you."

"And if there isn't anything?" Victoria wondered. "I don't want you to do that. I want you to be safe. If he finds you-"

"-You can worry about me as much as you want, but the fact is that I'm not going to give up on us because I love you. I love you, Victoria, and nothing is ever going to change that…and so no, I'm not going to stop fighting. I'm not going to stop fighting for us. I just need to know that whatever he does…says…that you still care about me and want to be with me."

And Victoria nodded her head. She wanted that. Of course she wanted that. She wanted to be back in England with him, playing on the beach with Evelyn. She longed for it.

"And Evie? Is she okay?"

"She's growing up so fast," Victoria sniffed. "But she's okay. Despite his faults, he loves her. He'd never lay a hand on her. I just can't let him turn her or Ryan into him."

"And we'll do everything we can to help," Alex promised her. "We just miss you. We all do…and I…every time I see you with him it breaks my heart, knowing that he's with you and he doesn't deserve you and you deserve none of this."

"I know, but I'm…I'm okay," she said and Alex scoffed.

"Don't lie to me," he urged from her. "It's okay not to be okay. You don't need to pretend otherwise with me. You never need to pretend with me."

And so Victoria just kept quiet. Instead of telling him everything that she feared, she just remained mute. She nestled against his neck and wrapped her own arms around his waist, clinging to him tightly. She closed her eyes for a moment and relished in the comfort, just for those few minutes.

"I love you," she whispered against his neck and Alex's arms tightened around her.

"I love you too," he breathed. "We'll find a way out of this. We have to."

A/N: So this is the last chapter until season 4 comes out this week! I am so excited to see what's in store! As always, I would love to know what you think!