Walking through arrivals of JFK airport, Victoria was trying her best to keep up with Daniella. Her friend had told her that she would meet her there considering that things were a mess. Victoria had flown back to New York on one of the overnight flights with Evelyn and Natalie. She had managed to get her daughter into a car with Natalie to take them back to the townhouse without facing any of the crowds and with thanks to Daniella working with security at the airport. Victoria had kissed her daughter tenderly on the forehead before letting her go. Daniella, on the other hand, had told Victoria not to shy away from the baying crowds of journalists who had taken up the pavement just outside of terminal four.

"Why do you think he's told the world about your brother?" Daniella wondered from Victoria, the two of them walking down the corridor together and ignoring the stares of people who were wheeling cases and gawping at the sight of them. "He's created mass panic. Why the hell would he want to do that?"

"You really want to know?" Victoria muttered.

Daniella had bought her clean clothes to change into and that was where they were heading. Diving into the bathroom, Victoria swapped her satchel she was carrying for the suit bag in Daniella's hand. She moved into a cubicle and started stripping out of her jeans and sweatshirt.

"What did you do?" Daniella asked, hanging Victoria's bag on her shoulder and leaning back against the vanity units with sinks on the opposite wall. The bathroom was thankfully empty.

"We didn't have a fight, but I kind of told him that I think we needed some more distance," Victoria said. "He'd been flying over to London every day and he was always there for me and it was making it harder for me to think clearly…not that I think clearly when he's not around."

"But what does he get from this? Apparently the police are receiving calls every few seconds with people thinking they've seen William Butcher. Everyone's on edge knowing that there's this virus that can kill supes."

"He thinks that people will turn on me," Victoria said, awkwardly trying to tug stockings onto her leg. Her cheeks reddened as she huffed loudly and her hair fell into her face. Finally, she got them in place around her waist and she unzipped the bag to reveal a long-sleeved green dress with a slim black belt and square neckline. She shimmed into it, tugging it up her body and onto her arms.

She pushed her feet into the black heels and left the bathroom, tossing her hair behind her shoulders. She turned her back on Daniella and her friend zipped the back of the dress up.

"But what will people turning on you achieve?"

"Want a guess?" Victoria wondered, moving her hair over one shoulder. She moved to look in the mirror over the basin and combed her fingers through her curls, trying to make herself look more presentable. "He thinks that if the news comes out then people might turn on me. Billy's my brother. How can they be sure I'm not working with him to release the virus?"

"Because your daughter is a supe? Your stepson?" Daniella checked with her.

"And we both know it's mad, but there's going to be people who will start doubting me. If that happens then things might get nasty…and if things get nasty then he thinks I'll go back to him. He's done this because he's annoyed with me for telling him that I wasn't coming home," Victoria said as she brushed up her makeup, trying to hide the bags under her eyes. "He's quite funny really."

Daniella's brow knitted together. "What is funny about any of this?"

"He spouts about how he wants to look out for me and then he does this," Victoria said. "I've been thinking about maybe increasing security as well. I know that things have been relatively peaceful so far, but we're not in the hotel anymore and I've got to think about Evie. I don't want anything to hurt her."

"A security detail?" Daniella checked.

"Just a few people," Victoria said. "I think it'd make me feel better considering we're here, there and everywhere. I just want my daughter to be safe. John clearly thinks I'll come back to him, but I won't. And if I won't go back to him then I need to do something to make sure my daughter is safe."

"I can sort something" Daniella said to her. "And you? What're you going to say out there? I sent you the briefing notes, but I know what you're like. You're unpredictable at the best of times."

Victoria scoffed. "I'm not going to do anything to derail the message," she promised her friend. "Besides, I'm too jet-lagged to think about going off message."

She checked her reflection in the mirror one final time, content with her appearance for the time being. She took a deep breath and prepared to face the music once again.

Homelander prepared to watch his wife's impromptu press conference on the pavement outside the arrivals of terminal four. The news anchor was already beside himself with anticipation. There were microphones lined up at the front of the baying crowd of journalists. Sitting in the meeting room of The Seven, Homelander had Sage to one side of him and Firecracker to the other side. He could tell that the redhead was seething over the fact that he had dared to bring Sage back into the fold.

"Good morning and thank you for letting me speak to you today."

Her soft voice echoed through the room and Homelander looked at her in the dark green dress with the low square neckline that revealed the swell of her breasts. She had a gold necklace on and had her hair curled over her shoulders. She looked tired, but she was forcing a smile onto her face to show the opposite. Homelander watched as Daniella stood over her shoulder, holding her bag for her and looking down at her phone.

"I know that there have been a lot of rumours swirling following the news concerning my brother and I want to set the record straight." She looked straight down the camera and Homelander saw the steely determination on her face. "I do not agree with what my brother has done. I am aware that he has a virus that is dangerous to supes and I have no knowledge of where he currently is or what he plans to do. I do not agree with his views and if I had my way then that virus would be destroyed and never replicated. I am not working with him."

"Reaction is mixed," Sage confirmed, already peering down at the tablet on the table.

"Do we believe her?" Firecracker wondered.

"She's not lying," Sage said, "but it wouldn't exactly be terrible for us if people thought that she was."

"Why's that, huh?" Firecracker questioned and Sage just quickly looked to Homelander, but he was ignoring both of them, his gaze firmly set on the screen against the wall that was playing the conference.

"Just think about it," Sage mumbled under her breath.

"My daughter is a supe. My stepson is a supe. I love them both so very much and I would never want to see anything happen to either of them. Believe me when I say that they are my world and everything I do is for them."

But then the questions began.

"Then why did you leave your husband?"

"How can we believe you when you've kept things from us in the past, including your family issues?"

"You claimed to be estranged from your family…then why did you go to your father's funeral and spend time with your mom?"

"Why was Homelander with you if you've split up?"

"She's a lying bitch!"

The last comment clearly hadn't come from a journalist, but it had been picked up on the mic. Victoria's eyes widened and she blinked repeatedly. Homelander stood up from his seat and walked around the table, hands behind his back. He stood in front of the screen and looked at her as she anxiously looked around, almost like she wasn't sure where she should look. It was then when Homelander began having doubts. What had he done? He could handle people coming after him. He'd grown used to it in recent months. Victoria had even had horrible things written about her online, but she'd always had him. He had always been there to protect her from them and keep her safe. Now, she was out there on her own. He couldn't take her hand and lead her away. He couldn't speak up for her and defend her. But he wanted to. He longed to do that more than anything. He just knew that she'd never let him now.

"I know that things might appear strange. I understand that my actions seem contradictory to what I've said before. I went back to London because I…honestly…I don't entirely know why. My mum asked me to go and so I went. I know that might make no sense after what I said about my childhood and I do appreciate that, but I went and a part of me wanted some closure…but I didn't get it. I didn't get closure. Instead, I just felt nothing. I felt empty. My husband was there because he…he wanted to help. We might be living separately. We might never get back together. But there are still years of feelings that we can't just let go of. He came because he knew I might need someone to lean on or a shoulder to cry on. That was it. He was there because he's the only one who I've ever told everything about my childhood to."

"Fuck that was good," Sage commented as Victoria just gave a firm nod and turned around and left, walking back into the arrival's door with Daniella next to her. The two women scurried off and Homelander turned the television off, tossing the remote onto the table. "She handled that better than we suspected she might."

"She might be many things, my wife, but she's not inept," Homelander declared. "And everything she said…well…she was being honest."

"There will be some people who turn on her though," Sage said.

"And I can push it on VNN tonight," Firecracker declared.

"Do what needs to be done," Homelander said. "I've got other things I need to be dealing with."

"Don't forget the meeting this afternoon for the debate," Sage reminded him as he swept from the room. He waved a dismissive hand in her direction before leaving the meeting room, lips picking up in amusement as he realised that things were slowly coming together.

"You know, you can be really petty when you want to be," Victoria said to her husband.

She had taken Evelyn over to the penthouse for the night so that he could spend some time with his daughter. Victoria had managed to be civil for Evelyn's sake. She'd watched as he'd played with her, making jigsaw puzzles and letting her colour in her book. He'd taken her to bed after Victoria said she could stay with him for the night, suspecting that it might be safer than being in the townhouse until she had a security detail in place. He'd read to his daughter and left her sleeping in her bed, kissing her on the forehead before turning the lamp out but leaving her nightlight on. He trudged down the stairs to find Victoria in the kitchen, helping herself to a bottle of wine from the fridge. She had poured two glasses out of instinct, leaving one on the breakfast bar as she took the other with her to the living room. Homelander's lips arched and he picked up the other glass, following her out to the living room where she sat on the end of the sofa. He sat on the other end.

"Me? Petty?" he questioned from her, hand pressing to his chest and lips arching upwards at hearing her. "I have no idea what you're talking about, sweetheart."

"Oh, really?" Victoria asked from him. "So, the fact that you decided to tell the world my brother has a supe-killing virus just a few hours after I told you that we weren't going to spend the night together has nothing to do with you being petty?"

"People have a right to know what's going on," Homelander said and Victoria's lips arched in disbelief at his comment. A dark chuckle left her lips as Homelander also smirked at her. "I think it's only fair they're aware that there's some supe-killing virus on the streets. Besides, everyone is looking for your brother now. Chances are that they'll find him sooner rather than later."

"You know that when there's a threat, governments usually try to deal with them quietly and not incite mass panic like you have done," Victoria said. "Things are even more tense out there with people knowing about the virus. You have riots and unrest. You have your team of supes going round and rounding people up or, even worse, killing them. You think any of this is okay?"

"I think it's what your brother has driven us to," Homelander retorted.

"And how many calls are you getting from people thinking they've seen him but it just turns out it's some guy with a beard? Or bad dress sense?"

Homelander laughed at that despite everything. "Your brother really does need to buy himself a new coat," he agreed with her on that point. "Either way, I'll give it a few more days and he'll be rotting in some jail cell somewhere. I can't see him surviving out there for much longer."

"You know who he is, right? He was part of the SAS. He can hide. He can go incognito. You might have the whole world looking for him, but I imagine he can hide better than you think he can," Victoria said. "He knows how to go underground."

"You can't hide from the eyes of the world," Homelander said. "And in the meantime, I imagine the heats on you."

Victoria shrugged her shoulders. "I can handle it," she assured him. "I have Daniella looking into a security detail for us considering that people are wondering if I'm working with my brother. You know I'm not, obviously, but you're never going to say it, are you?"

"I've told people that you're not," he defended himself. "I've told people that you're estranged from your entire family, but you did go back for the funeral and were pictured with your mother quite a few times. It does seem contradictory. It only makes sense that people wonder what else you might be keeping from them."

"And our daughter?" Victoria wondered, taking a gulp of wine and feeling it go straight to her head. She didn't care though. She was happy to be drunk. In fact, she'd much prefer to be drunk to forget how much of a mess things were. "Did you never think about her? Her safety?"

"I always think about her safety…and yours," Homelander reminded her. "That's why you can come home, Victoria. You can come back to me and you can be safe. It's in your hands. Everything is currently in your hands."

She scoffed at that and rolled her eyes. "How can you say that?" she wondered from him. "You're trying to blackmail me into coming back here and being with you because you think I need you to keep us safe. I don't. I can pay for security for as long as it takes for this to end. All you did was put us at risk."

Homelander shook his head at her. "Do you truly think I'd do that? Victoria, do you think that I've been letting you run around out there without any security?" he demanded from her. "I have the White House at my disposal. There are always agents watching you. Every threat against you is monitored."

Her brow furrowed and Homelander stood up, hands clasping behind his back. Victoria watched him as he paced up and down the length of the sofa.

"You've been watching me?"

"You're my wife. You're the mother to my child. You insisted on leaving me and taking our daughter. Do you think that I would just let you go? Not have people watching over you considering that you want me nowhere near you? You have no idea what I do for you," he hissed, pointing at her. "You don't know the half of what I see…the threats that come in against you…what people threaten to do to you…you think that the comments you see on your Vought account are bad? Sweetheart, you should see some of the mail you get. You should see what they write about you on illicit sites that you don't know how to access."

Victoria felt her blood chill at what he had just said. She placed her wine glass down. "Why the hell did you not tell me?"

"And what would that achieve?" Homelander asked. "I keep trying to protect you, Victoria. Can you not see that is all I am trying to do. I've spent every waking minute since I've been with you trying to protect you."

"Bullshit," she snapped, jumping to her feet and he watched the pleated skirt she wore tumble down her legs to her ankles.

"No, it's not," he snapped back.

"And when Madelyn faked my kidnapping?" Victoria asked him. "You knew about that, but you didn't do anything to stop it. You let her keep me locked up in that room for days on end, worrying about what those men wanted from me and what they might do to me. You only want to protect me when it benefits you…when you want me."

"I can't win with you," Homelander said, flapping his arms out to the side. "There's no pleasing you, is there?"

"Don't pretend that this is for me," Victoria demanded from him. "You're tell me all of this to freak me out even more because you think I'll come back. You think I'll come crawling back to you and beg you to look after us. That's why you released the news about my brother. You want me scared and you want me clinging to you."

"Because I'm the only one who can look after you!" he snapped, pointing at her and then himself. "I'm the only one who can keep you and Evie safe. Out there," he moved his finger to the window, "you're away from me. You're away from me because you insist on this vendetta you have against me. When you're not with me I can't look out for you, not like I can when you're here. So just come home, Victoria. Come home if not for your sake then for our daughter's sake."

She pushed against his shoulder then, snarling at him. "Do not use her against me!" she demanded from him. "Don't you dare!"

"And if something happens to her?" Homelander pushed back, stepping closer to her, their chests almost brushing as they continued sniping at each other with raised voices. "If something happens to her then what?"

"Nothing is ever going to happen to her. Don't you dare say that!" she tilted her head up so and stuck her chin out defiantly. "Don't you dare!"

"You think I want to?" Homelander asked her. "You think I want to think about any of this? You think it doesn't make me want to burn this entire world to the ground when I heard about what people are saying about you?"

"Well, you made it ten times worse by releasing the news about Billy," Victoria retorted, voice angry and high. "You didn't need to do that, but you couldn't help yourself, could you? All because I told you that we were done and I didn't want you to stay the night?"

"I did it to make you see that you need me," he hissed down to her and he moved his fingers to grip hold of her chin, stopping her from looking away from him. "You need me and you'll soon see it. You'll come crawling back because there is no other option. You. Are. Mine."

Victoria moved a hand to grab hold of his wrist and tried to pull his hand from her. "I'm not a fucking possession," she snapped.

"That's where you're wrong," Homelander said. "You belong to me, Victoria, just like I belong to you and nothing is ever going to change that."

"Doesn't mean I'm coming home," Victoria hissed and finally moved away from him. He watched her go, catching a whiff of her perfume as she spun on her heel and walked away from him. He watched her sit back down on the sofa, curling her legs up underneath her body and leaning forwards for her wine. "You just didn't need to say anything, John. You could've kept quiet."

"And where would the fun in that be?" Homelander wondered from her and he sat down again, this time taking a space closer to her.

"None of this is about fun," Victoria said and she let out a shaky breath. "But I want the best for Evie and that's why I want her to stay here until I have adequate security in place."

Homelander's eyes widened at that and he cocked his head. "You want me to keep her here?"

"Only until I have something in place. Your White House goons aren't going to be enough for me now that people think I'm working to nuke supes," Victoria said. "And Natalie is going to be with Evie when we're working…and I…I'll sleep in Ryan's room for the time being."

"You're staying here?"

"Only until I have security in place," Victoria said. "Don't think that this is a permanent thing. I'm not staying here forever, but you've forced my hand. You've left me no choice…so thanks for that."

"You're more than welcome," he said and he saw her roll her eyes as she finished her glass of wine. She hadn't wanted to do this. She hadn't wanted to spend a night in the penthouse, but she knew that it would be safer for Evie. She was locked away in a building with so much security and a father who was more powerful than anything. He had a point when he told her that this would be safer for her. She hated that he had a point, but she knew it was true.

"And you know you don't need to stay in the other room," he said to her.

Victoria scoffed. "I'm not sharing a bed with you, John," she said to him.

"Scared you won't be able to control yourself?"

"It's not me who can't control themselves," she mumbled back at him.

"You've not had much self-restraint in the past," he reminded her. "Besides, you're wearing the red underwear set."

Victoria's eyes widened. "Did you just scan me?"

"The strap is poking out of you jumper," he said and Victoria glanced down to see the strap on her shoulder. She tugged her green jumper onto her shoulder to cover it. "And you know how I could never resist you in red."

"I didn't wear it with the intention of seducing you," she said. "Turns out that I'm not on top of laundry so here we are. Don't get the wrong idea."

Homelander shrugged his shoulders and sat back. They lapsed into silence again. Victoria set her empty glass down on the coffee table and Homelander drummed his fingers against his thighs. He let out a dramatic breath, cheeks puffing outwards as Victoria checked her phone. Glancing across to her, he knew he could wind her up further, but she might bite and it might entertain him for a while.

"We can always just have sex?"

"Oh my God," she exclaimed at him.

"What?"

"Are you serious right now?" she demanded.

"I have needs. You have needs. We may as well work together on something."

Victoria shook her head and looked back to her screen. "Yeah, sure, why not?" she mumbled sarcastically to him.

"Really?"

"Of course not!" she snapped and moved to stand up. "You think because I'm wearing red underwear that I used to use to seduce you that means I want to sleep with you? It doesn't. It means that I really do need to put a wash on when I go back home tomorrow. I'm going upstairs to finish looking over my emails."

"Oh come on, Vic," Homelander complained as she moved to the spiral staircase. "It's not as if it has to mean anything. I just figured it would be mutually beneficial. You know…pleasurable for both of us."

Victoria stood on the bottom step and turned her head over her shoulder to look at him. He stood up then and sauntered towards her, hands on hips. She looked at him with an arched brow and she couldn't help herself. "Who says I need you for pleasure?" she questioned from him and he tried not to laugh at that comment, but his lips did turn upwards. He shook his head at her.

"You think that those toys you keep in your bedside drawer are as good as me?" he demanded from her. "Come on, Vic, we both know that's a load of shit."

"Look, just because you're unsatisfied by jerking off in the shower every morning doesn't mean I'm suffering from the same issue," she promised him.

"You're not a very convincing liar, sweetheart," he warned her. "Just…perhaps this could be a mutually beneficial arrangement. There are other things we could do if you don't want to go all of the way," he said and she felt his hands clasp around her waist, her jumper riding up and his fingers digging into the bare skin of her waist. "Just pleasure, Vic…for both of us."

"Yeah, the problem is that we both know we're never exactly going to be friends with benefits. We're not even friends, Jesus Christ," she said to him. "So, no, we're not doing anything."

"Sure I can't change your mind?" he wondered, leaning in close to her, his lips almost brushing hers. He was convinced she was going to fold. He was convinced she was going to give into him. He could smell her arousal. He could hear her pulse hammering in her veins. He could hear her heart beating erratically. He knew that he could have her where he wanted her.

He thought that was where it was going as his hand slipped further under her jumper. But then she tugged his hand from her, squeezing his fingers and whispering back against his lips. "Goodnight, John," she said and she took off up the steps without looking back and leaving him with a problem in his pants to sort out.

"So, you have a security detail and so does Evelyn. I hired the best of the best and made sure they were properly vetted, of course. There's going to be two people with Evelyn constantly, even when she's just with Natalie and not with you…and then two on you at all times."

Victoria was due to debate Homelander again that evening. She was back in VNN studios and was apprehensive, but this time the entire thing was being run like a proper debate. She'd seen the two podiums and then the podium where the host, Mary Daniels, was going to stand. Mary was a political analyst at VNN and one of the best news presenters they had. It almost felt like some kind of political debate and Victoria felt apprehensive at that. It wasn't as if she was going to be running for office anytime soon.

They were sat in the dressing room. Victoria had her hair neatly curled and wore a flattering fit and flare deep red dress with black heels. She had cards with notes on the table in front of her. The lights from the dressing room mirror were glaring and almost blinding her whenever she caught her reflection in the mirror.

"I feel like the worst mum ever," Victoria complained. "I've basically confined Evelyn to the penthouse of Vought Tower because I'm too scared for her to go out now…and then what happens when we go back to the townhouse? We have security, but am I going to be comfortable going out with her to the park? We used to love going there to feed the ducks, but I can't even imagine doing that right now. I just…I always wanted to put her first and I don't feel like I'm doing that."

"You're doing this for her," Daniella warned her. "You're doing this because you want to stand up for what is right and that's exactly what you're doing. I know that things are scary right now, but it won't be forever, I promise you. Things will settle down eventually and when they do then you can escape. You can go and live in the middle of the countryside with Evie."

"Sounds bliss," Victoria said and a part of her wondered if that was even on the cards for her anymore. "Anyway, we need to get going, right?"

"You're prepped on everything?"

"I've done my homework," Victoria promised her. "Whatever he wants to throw at me out there just let him. I can handle him."

Daniella wasn't entirely sure if that was true, but she knew that she had to trust her friend. She was the one who was doing this. The two of them stood up and made the walk down the corridors towards the set. Thankfully, there wasn't a live audience. All of the questions were going to be asked by Mary who was already there and greeted Victoria and Daniella with a cool tone. She was much warmer when Homelander came walking in, arms stretched out wide and he greeted her with a peck to the cheek.

Victoria stood behind the podium after getting mic'ed up, ignoring her husband's jovial voice. Daniella fussed around her too, making sure she stood up straight and that her dress was fitted correctly. She didn't want anything to go wrong. Of course, as soon as Victoria started talking then it was all down to her what happened. Daniella left her alone as the stage manager indicated that there was just a minute until they went live. Victoria fiddled with the cards on the wooden ledge in front of her as Homelander finished getting wired up.

"I was thinking about you earlier," Homelander commented to his wife as he went to stand by her podium, not caring that they were going live.

"Oh yeah. Why was that?" Victoria wondered from him, still glancing down at her cards.

"I found what you left in the bathroom."

"No idea what you're talking about," she defended even though she knew exactly what he was talking about. Homelander chuckled at her, knowing that she wasn't playing fair. Bending down, he whispered hotly into her ear.

"Next time, just let me do the honour of peeling it off of you," he said and Victoria knew he was trying to get a rise out of her. Then again, she guessed she'd done the same that morning when she'd left her underwear in a pile on the bathroom floor in the penthouse. She knew she shouldn't, but a part of her quite enjoyed knowing that she could rile him up. "Tonight? After the debate?"

"Sorry, I've got plans," Victoria drawled, smiling sickly sweet at him. "Besides, do you think you'll ever debate me on a network other than VNN? Scared of levelling the playfield?"

Homelander chuckled and brushed a finger down her cheek. "Sweetheart, I'm not the one who should be scared."

She rolled her eyes at his back as he took his place at the podium just as the stage manager began to count down from ten. Victoria took her final deep breath and glanced off to the side to Daniella who just nodded at her sternly, silently assuring her that she could do this. The countdown finished and then they were live. The studio lights seemed almost too bright and Victoria wondered if she was sweating underneath their glare. She hoped she wasn't.

"Hello and welcome to this evening's episode of Topical Issues with me, Mary Daniels, political analyst and presenter of The Mary Daniels Hour on VNN. Tonight we have two special guests joining us to discuss the current issues surrounding the White House. We have Homelander, leader of The Seven and head of justice for the current administration. We also have Dr Victoria Anderton, former UN advisor and PhD Candidate at Colubmia School of Law…also the wife of Homelander. But tonight we are not here to discuss their marriage. Tonight we are here to discuss their opposing views on the current martial law that has been imposed on the nation. Homelander, Dr Anderton, thank you for being here with us tonight."

"Thank you for having us, Mary."

"It's my pleasure."

They both answered and shot each other a look, almost like they were going to relish the challenge of facing each other.

Mary tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear and looked between the two of them. "First of all, I think it's important that we discuss the current rumours that have circulated concerning supes attacking humans who claim that they have been doing nothing but minding their own business. They say that they have been in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Victoria picked her pen up and scribbled down a note. Homelander watched from the corner of his eye, frowning and letting his face scrunch up. What was she doing?

"Homelander, if we can start with you," Mary urged from him.

He snapped his gaze from his wife then, turning his smile on and trying to play the charming supe. "Look, Mary, I know that there have been viscous rumours circulating on the internet, but that's all they are. We aren't hurting anyone and we most definitely will not be persecuted for trying to bring law and order to this country. We have arrested numerous individuals who are being dealt with by the legal system. Starlighters have been told that we will not tolerate such behaviour from them."

Victoria waited patiently for Mary to turn to her and ask for her opinion.

"And Dr Anderton?"

"I have to say that I am amazed at how blasé my husband sounds about these issues," Victoria said coolly and Homelander rested an arm on the podium, leaning against it and listening to her with an arched brow. "We've had numerous people get in touch with us stating that their loved ones have been victimised by supes simply because they have been involved in peaceful protests against this martial law. I can give you numerous examples and some of them are truly heartbreaking. A man from Chicago informed us that his wife was left with a broken leg after Higheagle cornered her in an ally as she returned from a rally."

"There is no evidence that ever happened," Homelander quickly said.

"No, because all of the CCTV footage on the surrounding buildings was destroyed," Victoria said.

"A coincidence," Homelander told her.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Seriously?" she asked from him. "Okay," she pushed on. "Or what about Mrs Norbett. Her husband was with her at a supermarket. They were running late and weren't home before the curfew because they got a flat tyre. Mindbreaker happened to be patrolling the area in Wyoming and left Mr Norbett with a broken back. He'll never be able to walk again."

"He became violent. He tried to attack Mindbreaker."

"He tried to attack a supe who has mind control?" Victoria checked with her husband on that point.

"That's what happened."

"And conveniently there was no evidence there too," Victoria said.

"Look, I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to make out that supes are dangerous."

"That's not what I'm saying," Victoria said with a firm shake of her head. "I know that supes can be dangerous. I know that they have the potential to do harm, but I also know that the majority of supes want to live in harmony. They want to help people. The supes you have out there who are patrolling towns and cities don't want to help. They want to cause pain. They want to hurt humans and I don't always know why. A part of me guesses it's because they think they can. They think they can do it and get away with it. Another part of me wonders if it's because they resent how they've been treated in the past. The Singer administration would have reduced them to nothing but entertainers. I don't think that was the right course of action, but what's going on out there is too far."

"And what would you see us do?" Homelander wondered, still leaning against the podium and directing his attention to his wife, ignoring Mary completely. "You think peace rallies are going to stop what's going on out there?"

"No, but I know that the answer isn't letting supes run wild," Victoria said. "We need policing that is fair and just. We need trained officers to deal with this situation and we need an administration that advocates for that. The current administration is advocating for violence. It's not trying to put the fire out. It's fanning the flames."

"Homelander, there have been those who have questioned the martial law enveloping the country…the nine p.m. curfew…the loss of civil rights." Mary finally regained control of the questioning.

Homelander let his fingers tap against the podium before he answered.

"Listen, I know that this isn't the ideal scenario," Homelander said. "I know that the curfew is difficult to stomach, but those who need to be out after nine have permits. The curfew is in place to try and assist supes with finding those who want to cause trouble. We know that most riots take place in darkness."

"And why are riots taking place?" Victoria questioned from her husband. "They're taking place because there's anger. There's anger that Singer tried to assassinate his VP. There's anger because Victoria Neuman was a supe and she hid it from people."

"And people are angry because she did that. But you can see why she hid it. She'd have been persecuted if she didn't."

"And I am not saying that isn't a tragedy," Victoria confessed. "No one should be persecuted for who they are and it's sad that Victoria Neuman felt she had to hide her powers because she might've been a supe…but perhaps she could've been a good VP." Victoria wasn't entirely sure if that was true, but she went with it anyway. "As I've said countless times before, I think there needs to be equality between supes and humans."

"The issue is that we're not equal," Homelander reminded his wife. "We're supes. We are stronger. We have the power to look after the country. We need a supe army to do that."

"No, we don't," Victoria replied. "What we need is an understanding that there can be harmony. You and this current administration could lead on that. You could do good, but you don't want to, do you?"

"I want to protect America," Homelander said.

"That's just a slogan. If you really want to protect American then you would be trying to advocate for peace. You'd be holding supes to account."

"And, Dr Anderton, I understand that you are working on a judicial review?" Mary interjected before Homelander could jump in. His jaw had tensed and he could sense that his wife was doing better than he'd anticipated.

"We are," Victoria confirmed. "We think it's important to fight this through the courts. We think it's important to go down the right route. Law needs to prevail. We can't be a lawless country because then what do we have?"

"And you, Homelander, what do you think about this application for judicial review?"

"Well, I think my wife is wasting taxpayer's good money by going ahead with this. The chances are that the courts will throw it out straight away. We invoked martial law without breaking any laws. We were at liberty to do it. It was lawful."

"But how you're invoking it isn't," Victoria said. "Again, seventy-eight percent of people who have got in touch with our organisation have said how they were detained without having their rights read to them. Sixty-three percent said that they hadn't even been offered legal counsel. Forty-two percent were detained for longer than twenty-four hours without charge."

"Is this true?" Mary asked from Homelander.

He stuttered for a moment, stumbling over his response and not sure how to reply. "I don't have the statistics on me, but trust me, our supes have been trained appropriately."

"Training doesn't mean they're putting it into practice," Victoria said.

Homelander had no response to that and so it went on. Victoria quoted statistics at him. She spoke of more stories about people who had gotten in touch with her. Homelander denied all of them, but he wasn't sure he had evidence. He could feel himself flailing and wondering if he should've spent more time preparing with Sage. She was stood off to the side of the stage and watching him. He could almost sense the annoyance radiating from her.

"And you, Victoria, we would be remiss in not asking about your brother. Have you had any contact from him?"

Victoria didn't need to look down at her cards to answer that question. "I haven't seen my brother since I was in London," she said. "I told him that I didn't want anything to do with him if he was going down this path. He's on the other end of the scale to my husband. He despises supes and he wants to see them gone. I'm never going to feel that way because my daughter and stepson are supes and they really are my world. I love them more than anything."

Victoria took a deep breath and she looked to Mary as Homelander just watched her.

"And I love my brother. I love Billy and I just want him to stop this…I want him to be the brother I remembered growing up as a kid. He might've left when he could, but when he was there…he looked after me and Lenny. He would take us for walks. He would protect us from our dad…he truly loved us and I just want that man back. I want that brother back. But I think he's gone. I think things have gone too far for us to get that back. So no, I've had no contact with him and I doubt I ever will."

"And I know we said that we wouldn't talk about your marriage, but I'm having it whispered into my ear by the producers that that's what everyone on social media is talking about," Mary pressed a finger to the earbud in her ear that was feeding her information. "So…what is going on? Obviously, we know that Homelander was with you in London."

"I went to support her because I knew how difficult it would be for her and her childhood isn't exactly something that she enjoys talking about. As things stand we're co-parenting our kids and we're on good terms on a personal level," Homelander answered. "I'm not hiding the fact that I still love her and I still want to make things work."

"I don't have anything to add," Victoria said, not wanting to get into things.

She listened as Mary wrapped up the interview and then she moved towards one of the crew who helped take the mic off of her. She watched as Daniella moved out to her, phone in hand. "You did so well," she promised her friend. "Reaction has been positive and you're the number one trending topic above Homelander."

"He'll love that," Victoria grunted and she didn't look back to see what Homelander was doing. If she had then she'd see that he was storming off and laying into Sage.

"What the fuck was that?" he snapped at her, ignoring his wife and not wanting to be a part of her gloating. "She had statistics…evidence…why did we not know any of this? How do we not know what is going on in that stupid organisation she set up?"

"Because we don't have inside information," Sage said and they walked off stage together. "And I sent you the notes in an email last night. I offered to run through them with you. Your wife is clever. She's going to have her facts in order before she goes on camera. I know you're used to appealing to a certain audience and for the most part it works. The entire thing you do…saving America…being a God…it plays well with a certain demographic. The issue is that it doesn't play well when you go up against a former UN intern and a woman with a doctorate who is used to doing research to back up arguments."

Homelander didn't particularly enjoy being told off by Sage, because that's what he felt like was happening. He wanted to snipe back at her and tell her that he didn't need her help. But clearly he did need her help if they were going to keep going with their plan.

"What's the reaction?" Homelander decided on answering.

"From initial results, you played well with your current base…but Victoria is trending at number one on all platforms and her clips are going viral. She's got some good soundbites. She has people saying she's empathetic…kind…sweet…"

"If only they knew she had a fucking dark side to her."

"If people know that then they know what you've done for her," Sage said. "We can't dig ourselves out of that particular hole so don't even think about bringing any of it up. It's not worth it. Trust me, it'll only vindicate people who are against you. It might bring her down, but it'll ruin you too. Mutual destruction."

"Hmm," Homelander settled on just muttering to her and she knew that she had to keep an eye on him. She couldn't trust him not to lash out.

"Are you here to have a go at me?" Victoria wondered.

She opened the door to Homelander later that night. She'd moved back to the townhouse after security had been sorted out. She was still wearing the red dress she'd been wearing at the debate, but the heels were gone and she was padding barefoot on the herringbone wooden floor. Security had alerted her that Homelander was there and she'd gone to open the door to him. He walked in and she locked the door behind him.

"I've actually come to tell you that I'm impressed," he said. "You beat me this time, but we both know I'll win the war."

Victoria chuckled and headed through into the kitchen. He followed her and saw that she had a take-out bowl of katsu carry on the table with a glass of wine. She sat down and started picking at her meal again.

"Well, thanks for the congratulations, but I'm having a late dinner and then I'm having an early night. Evie is in bed already and Natalie is out."

"I knew she'd be asleep," he said, "but I still wanted to come."

"I don't see what you're getting out of this," Victoria said after a mouthful of food. Homelander went to sit down next to her, arm going over the back of her seat. "You're not staying over and we really don't have anything to say to each other. You're making things ten times harder for yourself than they need to be."

Homelander eyed her with amusement. "We both know you pulled that stunt in the bathroom for a reason."

"Maybe I just enjoy messing with you?" she suggested, taking a sip of wine.

"Trust me, I quite enjoy it when you mess me," he promised her on that point. "But I came here to tell you that we have a lead on your brother. We think it's a pretty solid lead. I'd wager that he'll be in custody tomorrow morning."

"Where?" Victoria asked him.

"He's still in England," he said.

"Figures," Victoria said. "And when you get him, what happens then?"

"Well, we'll have to see. We both know he's dangerous. Whatever lives inside of him is toxic and he clearly has no idea how to control it, not really. You wouldn't let a wounded dog live with a cancer, would you?" Homelander asked from his wife and Victoria closed her eyes for a moment, scrunching them shut. Homelander moved his hand to brush the back of it down her cheek. He stroked it gently and Victoria let him. She bit down on her bottom lip and then looked to him, eyes wide.

"If he comes quietly…if he agrees to surrender…don't hurt him," she pleaded from her husband.

"He tried to kill me, Vicky."

"And you've tried to kill him numerous times," Victoria reminded him. "I don't want any more death, John. Please. I know that I can't get through to him. I know that he won't listen to me anymore. Any relationship we might have had…could've had…it's gone. We're finished. I just don't want him to die."

Homelander considered what she was saying and he reached for the back of her head. He brought his forehead to hers and Victoria moved a hand to his neck, fingers tickling his bare skin.

"We both know he won't come quietly," Homelander whispered to her.

She didn't say anything then. She just closed her eyes and tried not to cry over the idea that she could lose her brother for good. Homelander felt glee at the idea of having Butcher in his clutches, but he knew that he couldn't show it when his wife was upset. He pulled back slightly and kissed her forehead. He moved to his feet and Victoria looked up at him, face the picture of concern.

"Will you keep me updated?" she asked from him.

"You know that I can tell you only limited pieces of information. A lot of what we discuss is confidential and you-"

"-John, please," she interrupted him, not wanting to listen to his excuses. She reached for his hand and moved to his feet. "He's my brother. Please."

He nodded once to her and she squeezed his hand.

"Thank you," she said.

"I'll see you soon, sweetheart," he said and he kissed the top of her head once more before leaving her stood in the kitchen. He made it to the doorway and tapped the wood with his hand before turning his head over his shoulder to look back at her. "Oh, and Vicky."

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Don't think about trying to make contact with him," he warned her. "I can only defend you against so much."

"Wasn't thinking about it," she said and she saw him smile, teeth bared. He chuckled once and he just eyed her with amusement.

"Alright, sweetheart," he humoured her.

And she knew that he knew she was lying.

A/N: Wow we're past chapter 100 and over 500 reviews! Thank you so much to everyone who has read so far and reviewed- your comments really mean so much!