Victoria finished getting ready for the charity event, tugging at the sleeves of the long red dress she had worn before to another charity gala. She was tired of being sent new clothes when she had too many clothes, her wardrobe overflowing. She knew that was a stupid thing to complain about, but she did anyway. She'd kept some dresses at Homelander's apartment permanently considering that she usually got ready there. Others, she had donated, knowing that no one needed that many gowns.

Sitting in the bathroom, Victoria finished doing her makeup as Homelander slipped his gloves onto his fingers and watched the back of her. He continued staring, unable to look away as he drank in how her hair was much curlier than usual thanks to spending almost an hour pinning it back and curling it. The dress fit her perfectly, falling to the ground in swathes of material. She looked almost ethereal to him. His lips lifted up before she finished off and turned around on the stool she was sat on.

"You going to stand there and stare for much longer?" she questioned, teasing tone to her voice.

"I could stand and stare for a long time," he responded and she smiled, her eyes creasing. Moving to stand up, she left the bathroom, giving him a peck on the cheek as she went. Once in the bedroom, she picked up the black heels she had left out.

Tugging them onto her feet, she sat on the end of the bed as she did it. She looked to him as he turned on his heel and moved back into the bedroom. "So, who is going to be here tonight?"

"Well, Madelyn is coming," he said. "Maeve should be there too and Black Noir as well. I'm not entirely certain on A-Train. I think he's got a free pass tonight and the Deep is patrolling with Starlight. Translucent…well…no one's seen him since yesterday. He's probably just hanging around the women's bathroom."

Victoria frowned and looked up to him, arms folded over her lap. "Are you kidding?"

"Why do you think I told you never to use the bathroom on that floor?" he responded. "He's a pervert and a prick. Maeve learned a long time ago not to go to that bathroom. All the women have. Worst thing is he's got a kid. Fucking tragic."

"Has no one had a word with him?"

"Hard to stop an invisible man from doing what he wants," Homelander replied.

"Yeah, but couldn't you just kick him off the team?"

"Not as easy as that," he replied. "Edgar makes all the decisions around here. We just follow them."

"Fuck, this company," she said with a shake of her head and Homelander nodded. He moved towards her, holding his hands out to her. She took hold of them and helped her stand up, letting her find the balance in her heels. "Should we go? How many people do we have to charm tonight?"

"Madelyn's asked us to target some politician from the Senate Appropriation Committee," he told her with a roll of his eyes. "She mentioned it in the meeting this morning."

"How did that go?"

Homelander recalled in his head how she had chastised him for what he had done to the Mayor's plane. He had heard the Mayor threatening her the previous day, telling her that he knew all about Compound V. No one could know about that. He knew what would happen if they did. The company would be in trouble. He had sorted out that problem for her. He had brought his plane down, but the Deep had gone to investigate. He had found scorch marks on the plane. As soon as he told Madelyn that, she knew that it had been him who had brought the plane down. But then he'd gone to see the Deep. He'd made him keep quiet. He'd made him tell him why he'd gone to Stillwell with what he thought he saw in the ocean. But he'd changed his mind about what he'd seen soon enough. He realised that he hadn't seen anything. He was safe. Homelander wasn't going to let the Deep mess anything up for him. He would never let that happen.

"Fine," he settled on saying, keeping everything from her. She had no reason to know the details. "Are you ready? We should probably head on down."

"Ready," Victoria said, smoothing out the skirt to the dress against her legs.

They headed on down to where the event was being held in the Tower. There was some music playing softly and Homelander kept her hand inside of his as they moved amongst the guests and waiting staff. He picked her up a glass of champagne and she sipped on it slowly as they spoke to politicians and did what they had to do to try and win the approval of the Senate.

Victoria had heard about Madelyn's plan to get supes into the military. She didn't know if it was a good idea, but she was pretty certain her opinion didn't mean anything. She wondered if it might be a step too far, letting supes into the military. Surely it had been done before or, at least, thought about before? There must be a reason why it hadn't yet worked.

"Well, if it isn't the golden couple!"

Madelyn spoke, heading over to Homelander and Victoria once they were alone for a brief moment. Victoria could feel her cheeks aching from all the smiling that she'd been doing. She let it drop for a moment, knowing that there was no need to fake it around Madelyn. She knew precisely who she was.

"Madelyn," Homelander said to her, drinking in the tight pink dress she wore with strappy sandals, her hair hanging down her shoulders loosely like always. She looked pretty good, he couldn't lie about that. But, while he longed for approval, any attraction he felt to her had diminished rapidly as soon as his relationship with Victoria had developed.

"Victoria, it's been a while since I've seen you," Madelyn said. "How are you doing?"

"Well, I guess without the weekly meetings, we're bound not to see each other as much," Victoria said. She still didn't trust Stillwell. She didn't believe that she truly cared for her supes. She just cared for their approval ratings. "But I'm fine. Still here."

"So I see," Madelyn said, a tight smile on her face. "You know, we probably actually should have a meeting to discuss you two and the relationship. I'm still getting requests for interviews."

"But I've finished the contract," she said.

"Well, yes, but it would really help Homelander if you do some more with him."

"Madelyn, please," Homelander chuckled. "Victoria doesn't have to do any of that anymore. She still shows up to events with me…I think that's enough."

He nodded his head firmly to her, not entirely wanting to discuss this. He wanted to be famous. He wanted to be the one who took the limelight back. Yes, having Victoria turn up to premieres and galas with him didn't hurt, but he didn't need her for interviews and media appearances. She didn't want it and he wanted the attention firmly on him. It was enough for him to answer questions about their relationship, but nothing else. He just enjoyed saying that things were going well and that was enough.

"Well, yes, but you know that you still need to be careful." Madelyn said to him and he waved a nonchalant hand.

"We're still the most loved couple in America, I think we're fine," Homelander said to her. "Besides, we've done what you asked of us for tonight. We came, we talked, we charmed."

"It is a lovely event though," Victoria added on, feeing as though she had to say something.

"Glad you're enjoying it," Madelyn replied. "I should go and speak to some more people, but you two keep enjoying the party and I'll see you tomorrow, Homelander."

"Yeah," he replied. "Hey, have you seen Translucent yet? Has he turned up anywhere yet?"

"Not yet, but I have Crime Analytics looking into it. I'll let you know how it goes," Madelyn said and she took off before he could ask her any further questions. Victoria finished off her glass of champagne and placed it down on the table in the corner.

She noted Black Noir in the corner, sipping a drink through a straw and she wondered if he had ever spoken at any stage. Homelander had told her how he never said anything, communicating by writing down what he was thinking. Maeve was talking to a senator around a table and a video played in the corner, detailing what the charity was about.

"Sweetheart, I need to go and talk to the senator from Delaware…if you want…you can head on back to the penthouse? I'm not going to be long here." Homelander told her and she looked at him, eyes widening and brow arching.

"Are you serious?" she asked him. "You're giving me permission to get out of here?"

"I'm giving you permission to go back upstairs…and wait for me...because this party is becoming dull and I think we'd have much more fun alone," he said to her and she nodded her head, agreeing with him on that. Clasping hold of her hips in his grip, he brought her closer to him and bent down, kissing her firmly on the lips.

"Don't be long," she urged from him and he smirked, shaking his head.

"Don't intend to be," he promised her and she ran her hand down his arm, grasping his hand before leaving him alone in the party. He watched her go, heading to the elevator and leaving him alone.

On her way back to the penthouse, once she was content the corridors were empty, she stood to the side and bent down. Pulling her heels from her feet, she wanted to groan in relief at taking them off. Picking them up, she let them dangle from her fingers before heading on along the marble floor, the feeling cold against her feet.

"Hey, I thought that you were on duty tonight?" she asked as soon as she spotted Starlight in a pair of jeans, white top and denim jacket, her hair pulled into a ponytail.

"Oh, yeah, I already went. I just fancied a walk."

"And that's your secret identity?"

"Yeah…does it work?"

"I guess I have an advantage because I've seen you round here, but if I saw you in the street then I might not pay much attention to you…not being rude, of course!" Victoria said and Annie's lips arched upwards, the smile genuine on her face as she looked to Victoria. "And how did the patrol go?"

"Not like I thought it would," Annie confessed and Victoria could easily see the forlorn look on her face. She checked her watch on her wrist, knowing that it might be another ten minutes before Homelander was finished.

"Want to talk about it?"

"You have time?"

"Homelander is back in there and charming some senator," Victoria said. "I have time. Come on, is there anywhere round here where we can sit?"

"There's the meeting room," Annie said. "It should be empty."

And it was. They stepped into it and the lights flicked on. Annie took the seat that she usually occupied and Victoria looked at the other seats. Noticing how her eyes flickered around the table, Annie pointed to the chair at the head of the table.

"Homelander sits there."

She took his seat, feeling that it would be fine. Perching on it, she was pretty comfortable as she leant back and dropped her heels to the ground. She folded a leg over the other and brushed her hair back from her face, smiling to Annie. "Go on, tell me what's up."

"It's just weird," Annie admitted to her. "I went on patrol and it just felt completely staged. All of it felt so staged and usually I do my own research. I find the crimes that are happening. I'm not told where to go or what to do. It didn't feel authentic at all. Plus, there were cameras there. Can you believe that? There were cameras rolling to film us catching the criminals…wanting me to smile…want me to act…"

"I know," Victoria said to her and she toyed with the material of her dress in her lap. "It's weird and I get that. It's just the way they work and it might not be right…it might not be ethical…but it's Vought."

"So you're not a fan of Vought?" Starlight asked.

"I…I have some issues with them," was all that Victoria could say to her. She didn't want to tell her what those issues were. They were far too personal for the time being. "I feel like you do. I don't like how everything is managed."

"Well, I just had to go for a walk after it," Annie said and shrugged her shoulders, ponytail swaying from side to side. "I needed some air and to clear my head. Anyway, I stumbled across these two guys who were trying to rape a girl. I got them off of her and the girl got away, but I mean…that's what I should be doing on patrol. I should be helping people."

"You helped her while not on patrol?" Victoria checked with her and she nodded.

"I know, I know, I'm not supposed to, but can you seriously tell me that you'd just walk away?" she wondered and Victoria shook her head.

"No, absolutely not," she said to her. "It's not right and I know that. You know that too, but Vought don't. If anyone saw you then they'll be on your ass."

"I don't…I can't be sure…" Annie stammered. "But Homelander wasn't on an authorised mission when he saved you. How can they expect us not to act?"

"Because they like to control everything about your image," Victoria said to her. "I don't think you did anything wrong and I would happily and willingly back you on that, but I'm not Vought. I'm not even important to Vought, not really."

"Are you kidding? You're Homelander's girlfriend!" Annie exclaimed.

"That she is and she's sat in my seat."

They looked to the door, seeing Homelander stood there. He moved into the room and kept his hands behind his back.

"Homelander…hi," Annie said. "Sorry, I just wanted to talk to Victoria. I didn't mean to keep her from you."

"Oh, that's no problem," Homelander said and he moved to stand next to Victoria. She reached a hand up to his forearm as he draped an arm over the back of his chair. Her fingers took hold of his hand, holding onto it.

"Annie was just telling me that she saved a girl from being raped…while not on patrol," she said and Homelander's mouth fell open.

"Ah," he mused.

"Shit, am I going to get sacked?" Annie asked. "Can they fire me for this?"

"Well, I doubt they would," Homelander said to her, noting the way her eyes darted down to Victoria's hand inside of his. "I mean, if no one saw you and no one noticed anything then it should be fine, but if not then you can expect Stillwell to be on your ass."

"And is that something I should be scared of?" Annie asked.

"She terrifies me," Victoria confessed without thinking, realising that she might have been better holding her tongue. Homelander squeezed her hand and shook his head.

"Victoria's never been her biggest fan, but her bark is worse than her bite," Homelander responded. "It always has been."

"What the fuck have you done?!"

Victoria recoiled in her chair at Ashley's voice suddenly entering the room and even Homelander's brows arched on his forehead. He looked to her and she stumbled down the steps, still dressed in her work wear. Her hair was manic around her head and her eyes were focused directly on Annie. She looked from her after a moment, realising they had company.

"Oh…Homelander…Victoria…"

"Ashley," Homelander spoke her name as Victoria gave her a tight smile and then moved her hand to palm the necklace around her neck, finger running over the intricate detailing. "What seems to be the problem here?"

"Starlight," Ashely said, directing her attention back to her. "There's a video of you all over the internet beating up two guys while in your disguise, so you can say goodbye to not being recognised because everyone knows your name is Annie. Someone from your school commented 'I know that girl, she was practically bulimic.'"

"Those guys were going to rape that girl," Annie defended her actions and Ashley placed her phone on the table, playing the short video that just showed Annie beating up two guys. There was no girl in sight. Victoria shook her head as Annie's mouth gaped and she clearly struggled for words.

"That doesn't even show the full picture," Victoria pointed out. "It's just a really short clip, nothing else."

"It shows Starlight beating two guys and that's it. From a PR perspective this is a nightmare. There's no girl there. There's no evidence of an assault."

"Ashley, come on," Homelander said, seeming to have sensed that Victoria had taken to Annie. She was almost protective over her which was sweet considering Starlight could end her in seconds. "There must be a way to get this girl to come forwards and collaborate Starlight's story? Or some CCTV around where it happened?"

"I…I don't know," Ashley stammered. "But the fact is that this is a disaster. Ms Stillwell wants to see you first thing tomorrow so I suggest you come with me and I give you a briefing."

"Am I going to get fired?" Starlight asked, moving from her chair as Ashley picked her phone up again. She chased after her and Victoria let her go, Homelander exhaling a sharp breath.

"She's fucked up."

"Not really," Victoria said and looked to him. "She did the right thing."

"She wasn't on patrol."

"Neither were you on the night you came to help me," she reminded him and looked over her shoulder to him. "But you still helped me. Don't tell me you'd walk on by and let some poor girl be raped when you could help?"

He knew his answer. He knew what she wanted to hear. "Of course not," he said firmly to her. "I just think that she should have been careful to make sure no one was filming her, but she did the right thing. Obviously, she did."

"Can you not talk to Stillwell about her?"

"Vicky," Homelander groaned and Victoria stood up then, nowhere near his height without the heels.

"I'm just saying that, maybe, remind her that she has a moral compass…somewhere deep down," Victoria said and Homelander sighed, but shrugged.

"Are we sure about that?" he asked.

"No," Victoria joked and made him laugh. That was all she wanted to do. She just wanted to make him happy.

"I'll see what I can do," was all he offered to her and she smiled at that.

He bent down and kissed her before pulling back slightly, looking her in the eye and moving to sit down in his chair. She wondered what he was doing before she felt him tug on her hands so that she was stood in between his legs.

"You know, you were sat in my chair," he said to her and she smirked. "Kind of gave me an idea."

"Oh yeah?" she teased him and he moved his hands to her thighs, hiking her dress up. His fingers pulled at the material until it was out of the way and he could tug her down into his lap, getting her to place a leg either side of him.

"I wonder what it'd be like to fuck you in it," he whispered hotly into her ear and she pecked him on the lips once more.

"Well…guess we could find out," she said to him and that was enough for him to grab her hips and grind her against him, giving into his primal urge as he always did with her.

…

Sitting on the floor of Michelle's bedroom, Victoria looked into the mirror as she crossed her legs and finished curling her hair again. Daniella was sat on the bed, helping Michelle with her makeup and a bottle of wine in the middle of the room, each of them picking it up and taking a swig whenever they felt like it. They were getting ready to go on a night out for Michelle's big birthday bonanza. She had invited some other friends from university as well, but they were meeting at the club.

"Oh, Jo…Homelander said that he had tickets for the race next week," Victoria informed her friends, catching herself from using his name. He didn't entirely want it to be common knowledge, despite her roommates having heard her in the past. "VIP, the works, if you guys wanted to come. I'm having to go because I promised him."

"Is it right to take advantage of him for free tickets?" Daniella asked. "Especially from what we know about Vought and what Vic's told us."

"If there's free champagne then my morals go out the window," Michelle commented and Daniella rolled her eyes at her. "But, I mean, I'm happy to go anyway. I was thinking of trying to get tickets, but this just skips a step."

"It'd be nice for you guys to be there," Victoria said to them. "And…well…Vought…Homelander's not going to leave them anytime soon so I just have to try and work from the inside, you know, help him. Maybe one day he'll get out."

"Do you think he'll want to get out?"

"Not sure," Victoria replied to Daniella's comment and she turned the curling iron off, placing it down onto the heatproof mat and then standing up. "I want him to get out, but it's unlikely."

"You really do? What? You don't want any more galas or fancy dresses?"

"Not really," Victoria said with a shake of her head, tugging her short black dress down her thighs. The sleeves were flared down to her wrists and the dress was like something from the seventies. Turning round, she crossed one ankle over the other. "I don't particularly care for them, but I think Homelander enjoys them."

"Judging by the way he works the camera, I'd say so," Michelle agreed and saw Victoria's face fall for a moment at hearing her say that. "But that doesn't mean he'll want that forever. Priorities change."

"I guess," Victoria said.

"Have you thought about it?" Daniella wondered and Victoria shrugged.

Michelle stood up, taking a swig of the drink. She pulled at the golden dress she wore, the halter neck showing off her collarbone and the material glimmering around her. Daniella stood up once more, her own purple dress coming down to her knees and one shouldered. She had straightened her hair while Michelle had tied hers into a chic ponytail. Passing the bottle of wine to Victoria, Michelle and Daniella waited for her to answer.

"I don't know, kind of," she said. "Don't you and Georgina talk about the future?"

"Of course we do," Daneilla said. "But we've been dating for much longer. Then again, I remember when we first started dating, I would think about the future. It's hard not to, right? But we both want the same things. I got lucky with that."

"You got lucky with Georgina," Michelle informed her and Daniella smiled at that and nodded. She knew that. "She's great and I'm gutted she's not coming tonight, but you know that you grow in a relationship."

"Definitely," Daniella confirmed. "You've just got to let it happen. Don't rush things or put pressure on yourself."

Michelle nodded her agreement and Victoria handed Daniella the bottle. "And all of this is a long-winded way of saying that, yes, we do want tickets for the race. Do you think A-Train will win?"

"Homelander says he has a good shot," Victoria shrugged. "Anyway, I'll let him know you're game and we can get back to what we're supposed to be doing tonight."

"Getting completely drunk," Michelle said and raised her hands in the air in mock celebration, Victoria and Daniella rolling their eyes but smiling, knowing that tonight was about Michelle and nothing else.

…

The noise of the club was so loud that Victoria wondered if her eardrums might pop. They had skipped the queue thanks to Daniella's planning of informing the club that it was Michelle's birthday. There were people everywhere once they were in, Michelle fighting her way to the bar and ordering them each a shot before downing it. Victoria tried to get the taste out of her mouth as some of the others from the law department found them. There was shrieking and embracing, more shots ordered, and then dancing. Victoria kept her phone in the black bag across her body, continuously checking to make sure it hadn't fallen out during the night.

They sang along to songs and jumped around, Daniella and Victoria sticking together as the two who weren't exactly the party animals of the group. Michelle started talking to some guy who had whispered in her ear and Victoria watched on, making sure she was alright.

"Keep an eye on her, I need to pee," Victoria urged from Georgina, yelling in her ear so that she was certain she could hear her.

Georgina nodded and Victoria squeezed her shoulder before slipping through the crowds of people, the feeling of sweaty bodies pressing against her own. She kept on going, following the signs for the toilets at the back of the club. Finally, she got to the corridor and it had emptied out slightly. The queue for the women's toilet was pretty long, Victoria falling into it and waiting patiently. Tugging her phone out of her bag to pass the time, she looked down and saw that Homelander had text her, asking how the night was. She text him back and told him that she was fine before putting her phone away.

"Victoria?"

Looking up, Victoria saw a tall scrawny young man stood in front of her. His hair was a slicked back on the top of his head, a brown colour, and he was wearing jeans alongside a smart shirt. She looked to him, taking in the faint stubble running along his chin and under his nose. He looked harmless, but Victoria was instantly alert.

"Do I know you?" she asked him.

"No," he replied with a shake of his head. "And I get that this is strange. I don't exactly corner people in the queue to the bathroom…try to freak them out…but I…someone sent me here. Someone sent me to talk to you."

"Who?" Victoria asked.

He was talking to her while she was in the middle of the bathroom queue. She wondered precisely what was going on. He wasn't exactly being subtle.

"Billy Butcher."

At the sound of his name, Victoria moved from the line and stormed towards the fire exit. The boy followed her and she took control of the situation. He, of course, was behind her in an instant, following behind and the door closing behind him.

"Thanks for…ow, ow, ow," he moaned as Victoria grabbed his arm and pulled it behind his back, pushing him up against the wall and keeping him there with her weight, knowing that she had him cornered. "I don't mean any harm, I promise."

"Who are you?" Victoria demanded, her voice snapping at him.

"Hughie," he said his name. "Hughie Campbell."

"How do you know Billy?" Victoria snapped, keeping his arm firmly behind his body, pressure unrelenting. He wondered exactly how he was going to get out of this and he wondered just why Billy had sent him to this club to find Homelander's girlfriend.

"He's a friend," Hughie said, voice high and babbling. "Well, he's not a friend. I get the feeling Butcher doesn't have friends, but he sent me to you because he said that he was too scared to come…worried that he'd put you in danger…he didn't say anything else other than that, but he said that he wants to meet you…that he's sorry for everything but he wants to put things right."

"He wants to put things right?" Victoria snarled back, anger taking over her and she shook her head, twisting his arm further and hearing him whimper in pain. "Tell Billy that I'm not interested in putting things right. Tell him that that I don't give a shit about what he has to say."

She relented on him then. Letting go, she watched him collapse against the wall, his arm falling down by his side and his breathing coming out erratically. She was about to head back inside when he said something that made her stop on the spot.

"He said that he swears on Lenny's soul he's telling the truth."

Hughie watched her freeze and her hands clenched into fists by her side. She remained still and Hughie kept his eyes on the back of her head, seeing her shoulders tense. He would much rather still be bowling with Annie instead of at some club at one in the morning. Victoria turned her head over her shoulder and looked to Hughie, trying to weigh him up.

"He actually said that?" she asked from him.

"Yeah, he said that," he said to her. "Look, I don't know what he wants and he didn't elaborate. I left a really great date tonight to tell you this and I don't really want to get in the middle of what goes on in Butchers head."

"Wise of you," Victoria said, arms folded over her chest and the two of them went silent. "What's his number?"

"You want to meet him?"

"I want his number, I don't know if I want to meet him," Victoria said and Hughie nodded quickly, agreeing with her on that. It would be a start and hopefully Butcher would be happy with it. Then again, Hughie didn't think anything made Butcher happy.

"Here," Hughie said, handing her his phone and she pulled hers out, typing the number in and saving it under 'dickhead'. "Should I give him yours?"

"No," Victoria said.

"Shall I tell him you'll call?"

"No," Victoria said with a shake of her head. "Tell him that I'll think about it. But tell him if he's sworn on Lenny's name just to get to me then I will happily punch him again."

"Why do I believe that?" Hughie replied and Victoria eyed him suspiciously.

"You should get out of here," Victoria said to Hughie. "And whatever you have going on with Billy…I'd reconsider it. He's an asshole."

"Yeah, I'm starting to think that," he agreed and shook his arm, trying to get feeling back into it.

Victoria turned on her heel, giving no more time or attention to Hughie Campbell. Moving back into the club, Victoria wanted to get out. She wanted to go home. She was thinking about what he had just said to her and she didn't know whether she could believe or not. He never swore on Lenny's soul unless he was serious. He had done it when he had warned their father to leave Victoria alone. "If you touch her again, I swear on Lenny's soul that I'll come back and kill you myself." And her father hadn't touched her again. Then there was the time she had seen him in Durham. "I swear on Lenny's soul that if I knew what Eddie was doing then I would have taken care of him. I'd have gotten you out." And now he was doing it again. He had basically sent her a message. "I swear on Lenny's soul that Homelander isn't who you think he is."

The beating of the bass was harsh to hear ears, making her head ache and her breathing come out in shallow pants. She needed to get out. She needed to get away from them all and think. Would Billy do this to her? Would he use Lenny to get to her if it wasn't anything serious? Her trust in her brother wasn't exactly great. She didn't know if she could believe everything that he said, but he didn't mess around when it came to Lenny. But he was also an asshole. Victoria knew that much from what she had seen of him growing up. Yes, he tried to protect Lenny, but he also got into trouble at school. He had anger issues, which wasn't surprising considering the household they grew up in. And she didn't want anything to do with him.

"Are you alright?" Daniella asked Victoria once she had made it back to the group.

"I'm just not feeling great, my stomach's churning," she said to her, yelling in her ear again. "I'm going to catch a cab and head home."

"I'll come wait outside with you," Daniella said. "Just let's tell Michelle."

They managed to get to Michelle who pouted when Victoria told her that she was going to head home. But she soon relented. Victoria told her to enjoy the rest of her night and she'd see her when they got back home. Daniella walked Victoria out of the club, their arms entwined until they came to the cold night air. Victoria began to wish she had brought a jacket with her, the chill in the night making her shiver. They bypassed the queue waiting to get in on the sidewalk and headed to the curb side.

"You sure you're alright?" Daniella checked with her friend.

"Honestly, I'm fine," Victoria promised her. "I just went to the bathroom and didn't feel too good. Although, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm ever going to get a cab back…this is New York City, for fuck sake."

"Whoa, language," Daniella said and Victoria sighed, letting out a deep breath and then shaking her head. "Why don't you just call Homelander? I'm sure he'd give you a lift back?"

"Yeah, I don't want to bother him. Besides, I think he might be out on patrol tonight," Victoria lied and Daniella didn't look entirely convinced by her words. Thankfully, Victoria didn't have to answer to her any further because a cab appeared out of nowhere. She hailed it down and it pulled over. "Look after Michelle and have a good night. I'll see you tomorrow."

She embraced her and then climbed into the cab. She gave her address to the driver and pulled her phone out again. Looking to Billy's number, her thumb hovered over the call button as they went through the streets and she shook her head. She pushed her thumb onto the button after a moment and heard it begin to ring, her hand shaking as she pressed it to her ear.

"Hello."

His gruff voice answered on the other side of the phone and Victoria wanted to hang up. She wanted to ignore him, but she couldn't. She wanted to know what was going on and, if he was lying, then she'd make sure she never spoke to him again or believe him on anything.

"It's me," was all Victoria said to him.

She heard murmuring on the other side of the line before he responded to her.

"Vicky," he said. "You called."

"You swore on Lenny's soul," was all that she offered him.

"Because I'm serious, Vicky," Billy said to her and she wondered if that was true. "Homelander isn't who you think he is and I need you to stay away from him. I need you to do that for me…and I'll explain everything. Come and meet me and I'll explain everything."

She was quiet, looking out of the window, she did her best to compose herself and gather her breath. "What has he done?" she wondered.

"Vicky, this isn't a conversation for on the phone, do you understand me? I know I've fucked up in the past. I know I failed to look after you and I know what happened. You went through something no one should ever go through and I wish that I could go back in time. I wish that I could pick you up as a six-year-old and get you out of there…both you and Lenny…but I can't. I can only try and make amends right now."

She went quiet, closing her eyes and feeling her eyes begin to water. She cried, unable to stop herself. She squeezed her eyes shut firmly and sniffed. "I want to trust you," she said to him. "I wanted to trust you all those years ago."

"I know, love," he said. "And I know that I messed up, but I'm not going to mess up again. Just come meet me. Come and meet me at the statue and I'll explain."

She gulped. "When?" she asked.

"Wednesday at seven p.m." He said to her. "But…I need to know…Vicky…has he hurt you?"

"Who?"

"Homelander."

"No, of course not," she said, the notion abhorrent to her. It seemed that he had his work cut out. "Look, Billy, I've got to go. I'm at my apartment and need to pay the cab driver."

She hung up without another word and handed the driver the cash before climbing from the yellow vehicle. Closing the door, she dug into her bag for her house keys, pulling them out and then looking up. She startled when she saw him stood by the door, looking at her with his hands on his hips.

"Wow, look at you, beautiful," he said and Victoria instantly smiled, hoping that it looked genuine.

She should tell him. She should tell him all about the phone call she had just taken. She should come clean. And yet, she didn't. She knew it went against everything she had said to him. Truth. Honesty. And she was going to keep this from him. She told herself that it was fine. It was fine because she would see Billy and tell him to leave her alone. She would tell him that whatever he thought he knew about Homelander was wrong. She knew him. She was the one who had been dating him for several months. But that didn't explain why she couldn't get rid of the niggling feeling at the back of her mind.

"What are you doing here?" she asked from him, moving to him and twirling her keys in her fingers.

"Daniella text. She said she was worried about you. Apparently you were sick," he said and Victoria cursed her friend. "She has my number from when you went missing. Are you feeling okay?"

"I lied," Victoria blurted out to him and he arched a brow, cocking his head. "I'm not sick. I just wanted to get out of the club. It was loud…I wasn't feeling it. Promise you won't tell them."

"I promise," he said to her. "But it does seem a shame to waste that dress. You look stunning."

He picked her hand up and spun her under his arm as she laughed. "Well, this dress is making me pretty cold so I'm intending on going in and heading to bed," she said to him and unlocked the main apartment door. Homelander watched the back of her head intently.

"Can I come in?" he questioned.

She turned her head over her shoulder. Was she acting suspicious? "I thought that was just a given," she said to him and he followed her, holding the door open for her and then letting her lock it.

Once they were in the apartment, she threw her keys down and kicked her heels off, shrinking slightly. Homelander locked the door for her, leaving the chain off for her friends. He moved to crouch down, feeling her startle as he grabbed hold of her hips and began kissing her neck softly. She didn't lean into him though as he dropped a hand to her inner thigh and she grabbed hold of his wrist. Turning to look up to him, she smiled sadly.

"Can we not tonight?" she asked from him. "I'm just exhausted and want to crawl into bed."

Homelander knew she was lying. He knew that she had been lying to him since he had seen her. But he wasn't going to let her know. He pecked her on the neck and nodded.

"Sure," he said. "But you're going to have to wear that dress again."

"Take me out on a date and I might," she said to him and smirked.

He watched her head into the bathroom after pecking him on the cheek. He watched her go, lips turned upwards. They climbed into bed after Victoria had showered and removed her makeup. Homelander's bare arm settled around her and he kissed her softly before turning the light out. She had no idea that he had hacked her phone. That meant he knew as soon as she called anyone, a number that he didn't recognise. And she had. He had listened into their conversation, hearing her plan to meet her brother. And she had just lied about it to him. She had said nothing to him. So much for being honest with him. But he wasn't going to let her meet him. He couldn't do that.

He knew she was probably keeping quiet because she didn't want to worry him, but she should have. Then again, at least now he could frame Billy Butcher for something to stop her meeting him…claim that he wanted to extort her…fabricate evidence to show that he was a bad man…and she would believe him. She would always believe him because he was all that she had. She was all that he would ever need.

She fell asleep quite quickly considering she had lied to his face. But he didn't. He remained awake, arm firmly around her and mind racing on ways that he could take care of Butcher.

...

A/N: So we're really get into things now - more characters introduced, more drama coming up! As always, love to know your thoughts, what you want to see etc!