Returning to the City, Victoria wished that they could be anywhere but there. Homelander had been missing when she woke up the previous night and rolled over on the bed, trying to find him. She'd walked through the cabin and called his name, still sleepy and wrapped up in one of her long nightshirts. She tugged at the collar and sat on the couch. He came back eventually, claiming that he'd been for a walk and needed air. She'd asked him if he was alright and he promised that he was.

He'd been to find Mesmer. He'd taken his phone, looking at the images of the men who had gone to him for his mind-reading help. They'd asked him to look into the memory of a rogue supe who Homelander had sent A-Train to track down. He had been giving her Compound V, experimenting on her to create supervillains to wreck havoc over the world to let supes into the military. Homelander had come up with the idea. Of course, no one knew that. A-Train was only privy to certain pieces of information, but not everything.

They all thought that Homelander was so naïve, but he knew more than they thought. He knew how Compound V was smuggled in through Samartian's Embrace. He knew that creating supervillains was risky and there was a chance he could be caught. But he knew that he had to do it. He had to do it to get exactly what he wanted.

"It's them."

Victoria had been sat on the couch in the penthouse, working on her thesis again and preparing for the final examination. She had her laptop open on her lap, typing away furiously on it. Looking up, she glanced to Homelander as he walked into the penthouse and she furrowed her brow at hearing him.

"Who?"

He picked up the remote control to the TV and Victoria uncurled herself from the ball she was sat in, stretching her limbs and looking to the screens that showed images of five people, two of whom she recognised instantly. Standing up, she left her laptop on the couch and looked on.

"These are the ones who are trying to bring us down," he said to her and Victoria's gaze fell to her brother, Homelander looking at her and she folded her arms over her chest. "They killed Translucent. And do you know why?"

"No," Victoria said, confused as to what was going on.

"This guy," he said, pointing to Hughie. "A-Train killed his girlfriend. It was an accident, yes, but he killed her by running straight through her."

"What?" Victoria asked, her brows furrowing and her forehead creasing. Looking to Hughie, she had wondered what he was doing with her brother and it seemed that she was about to find out. "He…he killed his girlfriend?"

"He did," Homelander confirmed. "And this is the guy who Starlight is seeing."

"Yeah, Hughie," Victoria said with a nod of her head. "But she can't have known any of this. You need to believe that. She would never risk her place on the Seven. She would never do that."

"Well, clearly she must know something," he replied and glanced back to the images on the television screen. "Hughie didn't do all of this by himself, did he? Someone got rid of the Deep…gave him inside information on the Seven…we're down by two now. It all started when she came along."

"Whoa," Victoria said firmly, shaking her head and looking to him. She wasn't going to sit there and listen to him talk about Starlight like that. "What the Deep did to her is nothing to do with this," she said and pointed to the screen. "Whatever my brother and Hughie are doing, she is not involved in. She's innocent in all of this."

"How can you trust her?"

"Because she told me about the Deep ages ago," Victoria said and he looked down to her, piercing blue eyes meeting her dark blue ones. "I didn't tell you because it wasn't my information to tell. It was hers. She spoke out on her own time and it was her choice. It's as simple as that."

"And what about never keeping secrets?"

"Because she swore me to secrecy and I respected that. Surely you get it?" she retorted and he shrugged.

"Perhaps," he said weakly, agreeing with her to a certain extent. "But this all still feels far too convenient for me. Two members of the Seven have disappeared and she has only been a member for a few weeks. Don't tell me that doesn't look suspicious."

"No, it does look suspicious," Victoria agreed on that point. "But it is just a coincidence. It is just that, nothing else. There is nothing sinister that she is doing. Besides, what the hell is Billy doing? Why is he working with Hughie?"

"To bring the Seven down," Homelander said to her, preparing for the lies to begin. He knew that he had to be convincing. "Your brother took you and tried to blackmail me. This is his group. This is what they're trying to do. They're trying to bring the Seven down…hurt us…and I don't know why. I suspect all of them had a motive. Hughie's girlfriend died. Your brother needs money. I don't know about the others, but this is revenge."

"Right, okay," Victoria said, trying to make sense of everything that she was hearing.

She tugged her fingers through her hair and moved around the living area in the penthouse, hands on her hips. Homelander watched her intently, his gaze remaining on her and he could hear her pulse racing.

"So this group of people," she motioned to the screen, "have their own vendetta against the Seven. I get that. However, Starlight is not involved in this. Annie wants to do good."

"Well, she is involved in this," Homelander said with a shrug of his shoulders. "And I'm going to get to the bottom of this as fast as I can. In the meantime, I need you to stay here and I need you to stay safe."

"What?" Victoria asked from him and he looked over her, gaze roaming over her features and he could see the confusion on her face. "Why do I have to stay here?"

"Because this is the only place where I know you're safe," he said to her. "I'm going to deal with this. I'm going to take care of all of them and I know what your brother is like. I know what he can do."

"I just don't get it," Victoria said to him. "Billy kidnapped me. He tried to blackmail you. If this group of people want revenge on the Seven for things they've done then how does he fit into this? Why is he with them? It's not like he has a personal vendetta against any of you, is it?"

"It's not personal," Homelander said, remembering Becca for a brief moment. He was in far too deep. The lies were now washing over him and Victoria could never know about any of them. "For him, it's just about the money."

She didn't look entirely convinced at hearing him tell her that, so apparently he needed to put a bit more work in to get her to completely on side. Stepping towards her, he moved a hand to take hold of her cheek in his palm, thumb sweeping along her cheekbone. Lowering his forehead to brush hers, he was soft and tender with her. He heard her let out a deep breath, hand moving to his chest and sitting there. Her eyes closed and she looked almost defeated with what was going on.

"He's not going to hurt you," he whispered, voice soft and gentle as he longed for her to believe him and not fight him on this. "I'm going to find them and I'm going to stop them before they hurt anyone else. I promise you that, Vicky."

"I know," she said with a nod of her head. "But just be careful. Billy…I know what he's done, but he's still my brother. I want to hate him. I want to despise him, but I just…I can't. I just want him to disappear and never bother us again. Why can't they just do that?"

Homelander didn't want to tell her that was exactly what they would be doing if he got his way. He nodded against her and she moved to burrow her cheek to his chest. His arms tightened around her and she closed her eyes firmly, longing for some semblance of peace. Moving a hand to cup the back of her head, his fingers tangled into her hair and he knew that there was no time to waste anymore. He had to get to the bottom of everything and he had to be quick.

Pecking her once on the top of her head, he pulled back and ran his hands along her shoulders, squeezing them tightly and watching her with wide eyes. "Just stay here and I'll deal with this," he said.

"But I can talk to Annie-"

"-Vicky, this is Seven business," he said to her and she wanted to snap at him and tell him that she believed Annie, but there was nothing she could say to make him change his mind. When it came to Vought business he could be pretty stubborn. "Just wait for me and I'll be back soon."

"Fine," Victoria relented and he smiled to her before kissing her chastely, finger curling under her chin to keep her face tilted to his.

He watched her for a moment, wondering if he could trust her to stay and he decided that he could. Leaving her in the penthouse, he headed on down to the meeting room. It was still empty, no one there waiting. But then he spotted Noir heading into the room and he sighed, looking to the only member of the Seven he had true faith in. Plus, there was the fact that he couldn't talk. He seemed to have Homelander's back whenever he needed it.

"Noir, good to see you," Homelander said and the man turned his face in Homelander's direction before sitting down in his usual chair. Homelander remained pacing, hands behind his back as he continued talking. He knew he wasn't going to get anything back from Noir. That had never happened. "You know, people are out to get us constantly and I just don't know how much more we can take. As soon as this one threat is over then everything should be fine…Victoria…she'll be fine."

Noir said nothing, but he did slightly tilt his head and Homelander noticed it, taking it as an indication of him asking what was going on.

"It's her brother," Homelander said and stood on the other side of the table. "It turns out that he's becoming a bigger pain in the ass than I anticipated. I need to deal with him before he gets to Victoria because she's…she's special, you know? She looks at me like I'm her entire world and I've never really had that…not someone who looks at me for me, well, not entirely me, but most of me. I keep things from her, but who doesn't hide things in a relationship?"

Noir remained silent and Homelander continued. It was cathartic, knowing that Noir would never respond to him. It felt as though he could finally offload everything he felt to him. "I hide things so that we can keep on being good together and we are so good together. She knows it. I know it," Homelander declared. "But her brother is a constant pain in my ass and if he tells her anything about what actually happened then I know we'd be fucked. I can't let that happen, Noir. I can't let anything get in the way of what we have because I know that she is everything I need. She can give me it all."

His lips turned upwards for a moment as he thought about it, as he thought about her. He imagined the family. He imagined finding a way for him to have a family. Perhaps there could be a shot. If not, then he knew she wouldn't leave him. He'd always have her.

"I need your help, Noir," Homelander said to his friend, looking over his masked face. "I need you to promise me that whatever is coming, you'll stand by my side because I need someone who I can trust. The others here, they don't have my back like you do. But I need you to have my back. If things go wrong, I'm not losing her. I'll find a way to keep her on my side...whatever it takes."

There was a brief nod from Noir and that was enough for Homelander. He smiled, genuinely pleased that someone was going to look out for him. He had no time to express his gratitude before Maeve walked in, bounding down the steps.

"What's so urgent?" she questioned.

"You'll see," Homelander said, looking away from Noir and to Maeve, the fake smile back on his face. "Trust me, you'll see."

…

Victoria didn't know what was going on in her mind. She had no idea what she was doing, but she couldn't focus. She didn't pick up her laptop again. She left it on the coffee table and began pacing the length of the room. She pulled her phone out from the pocket of her short denim skirt and looked at his number saved with the name 'dickhead'. She stared at it for far too long, wondering if she should call him. Would there be a way for him to sort this mess out? Would he give her the answers she needed about why he was coming after the Seven? That feeling in the pit of her stomach had never gone away.

Ever since the Expo, she'd been thinking about his face and the look on it. Sighing to herself, she finally typed out the text message and sent it before grabbing her denim jacket and heading to the elevator. She shrugged into it, but had no chance to make it down to the ground floor. The doors opened up and it wasn't Homelander who she saw, but it was Madelyn. Victoria rolled her eyes and pulled her hair from the collar of her jacket and picked her bag up, slipping it over her body.

"I don't have time for this right now," she said to Madelyn and tried to get into the elevator, but the woman held firm.

Her striped blue and white shirt was loose on her, sleeves rolled up and tucked into a grey pair of pants. She wore a black pair of heels and she was looking at Victoria with that usual stare of disdain that Victoria had gotten used to seeing on her face.

"Tough, because this is happening now," Stillwell informed her and Victoria huffed, checking the watch on her wrist and realising that she still had forty minutes before she had to be at the park. "What you saw the other day is never to be mentioned again."

Victoria scoffed, arms folded and hip jutting out slightly. "You think that I want to talk about it? Believe me, if I had my way then I'd be right on up to your boss and telling them what you are," Victoria snapped at her. "Because I'm not an idiot. I know a master manipulator when I see one. I suffered at the hands of a man older than me who used me. He may think that he knows what he's doing, but you…you get him to do your bidding. You don't care for him, not at all, not really."

"You think you know everything, don't you?" Madelyn said to her and she continued to glare in her direction, fingers drumming against her thighs. "You think you've got it all worked out, but you don't. You don't know anything, Victoria, and I suggest you just drop it. You drop everything and you go back to living in your ignorance."

"Seriously?" she demanded from her.

"Seriously," Madelyn said. "Because you have no idea what I'm capable of and what I'm willing to do to keep my job. If you even think of opening your mouth…saying anything…then you don't want to see what will happen."

"You're threatening me?"

"You're a smart girl, what do you think?" Madelyn asked from her.

"Do you think that John would take kindly to that?" Victoria asked from her. "One day he's going to see just what a corrupt organisation this is. He's going to work it out and he's going to want out."

Madelyn laughed at that. The idea was almost comical to her. Shaking her head, she continued to see Victoria for who she really was. She was just an idealist. She was an idealist who was madly in love with a man who would always choose power over her. When push came to shove, he would do exactly that.

"You really don't know him," Madelyn said to her. "Now, I have a job to do and it's more important than standing here and listening to your idealistic bullshit."

Turning on her heel, Madelyn headed to the elevator and Victoria watched the back of her. "What do you mean?" Victoria asked from her. "What do you mean that I don't know him?"

But Madelyn said nothing. She left Victoria alone and she knew precisely that Victoria would keep quiet. She might be principled, but she was still someone who lived in fear. She wanted a quiet life. Madelyn knew that. But the issue was that she was with Homelander. There was never any chance of her having that quiet life.

Once she was certain Madelyn had gone, she left the penthouse and moved to the subway, keeping her head down and wondering if she was making a mistake. She knew that Homelander was going to be pissed off that she'd gone, but she wanted him to know that she was doing this for them. Everything that she did was to try and keep them safe and happy as a couple. If that meant begging her brother to go then she would do that. She would do what she had to do.

She took the subway and got off a few stops down the line before walking towards the park where she had said that she would meet him. She tugged her skirt at her thighs, picking at the thick material of her tights. Her other hand went to her necklace around her neck, playing with the detailing on the locket. She shrugged out of her denim jacket as the sun beat down on her, leaving her in her long sleeved, white shirt. Finally, she reached the final bench in the small park on the outskirts and she saw him.

He was wearing that long coat he had been wearing before and another patterned shirt with the top three buttons undone. Victoria looked to him as he stood up after spotting her coming towards him. They kept a small distance apart and Victoria wondered if she should turn and run. She wanted to do that. She wanted to turn and get away. She wanted to run back to the cabin where they had been staying and hide from her problems. She wanted to stop facing them and just hide.

But she knew she couldn't. She knew it wasn't an option.

"You showed up," Billy spoke and she shrugged, trying to look nonplussed by everything. She didn't want him to see that she was annoyed and upset. "I didn't know if you would."

She shrugged. "Figured it's time we put everything to bed," she said to him and he remained stood. Victoria did too. She wasn't going to sit and get comfortable. She didn't intend on staying too long. "After today, I never want to see from you or hear from you again."

"If that's what you want," Billy said to her and shrugged his shoulders. "But you're not going anywhere until you've heard the truth from me."

"You can talk, but it doesn't mean I'll believe you," Victoria retorted and folded her arms once more. "I've come to tell you that you can have what you want. I have three million dollars in a bank account. It's yours if you just leave us alone and never come back."

Billy wanted to laugh at her, but he stopped himself. He scoffed and looked to the sky. "You think I want money, Vicky?"

"Judging by that coat you're wearing, I'd say so," she said and he did laugh then at her. She had his quick wit when she needed it. "And why else would you have kidnapped me? You know that-"

"-And I've told you that was bullshit," Billy interrupted her and she rolled her eyes at hearing him, stepping closer to him again and looking him in the eye, not backing down from his stare. She wasn't going to be intimidated by him.

"For once, just look me in the fucking eye and tell me the truth."

"I am," he snapped back and she rolled her eyes at him. "But you're too busy up Homelander's ass that you can't see it. You can't see the truth."

"Whatever," Victoria rolled her eyes. "I came here to tell you that he's onto you. He knows all about you and that crew of yours. Hughie…the others…he knows who they are and he's going to find you. I came here to warn you because, for some fucked up reason, you're my brother and that still means something to me. I came here to offer you the money to get out of our lives…never come back…because I never want to see you again."

"I can't let you do that," Billy said to her. "I can't let you go back to him because I know what he is."

"Not this again," Victoria said with a roll of her eyes and she turned on her heel and began to walk away. She didn't want to hear it. But then she remembered Madelyn's comments. She remembered what she had just said to her and her pace slowed. She came to a complete halt when he yelled out to her.

"I had a wife."

He watched her then. She stood still on the pavement, her hair swaying in the gentle breeze and her denim jacket tugged over her arm. Billy saw her turn her head over her shoulder and glance back to him, eyes widening and her throat clenching. He had a wife. He used the past tense. He sat down on the bench and Victoria saw him push his hands together, leaning forwards and settling them in between his legs.

"I had a wife, Vicky. She was called Becca. She was perfect…everything that I wasn't and so you can tell how perfect she was," Billy said and Victoria found herself moving towards him and settling down on the bench besides him, keeping a distance between them. "I knew that I wanted to marry her as soon as I saw her. I told her everything…about you…Lenny…all of it. She wanted me to reach out to you and she wanted me to try and make things right. But you'd made your feelings perfectly clear when I went to you when you were eighteen. You told me that you never wanted to see me again."

Victoria looked down to the pavement and her hand continued holding onto the locket around her neck, hoping that it would keep her grounded. Whatever she heard from Billy, nothing would change. Homelander. She trusted Homelander. She believed him more than anyone because he had never hurt her, not intentionally.

"I was eighteen, Billy. I was still a kid and I was still processing what had happened," Victoria said to him. "I was angry with you for such a long time."

"And I understand it," Billy said to her. "I let that bastard do God knows what to you because I left. And Becca knew that. She knew that I'd walked away and she knew that it was one of the biggest feelings of shame I felt…not protecting you or Lenny…she knew the regret I felt. And I couldn't make things right with Lenny, but I could with you and she wanted me to, but I was too much of a coward. I was convinced that you'd never want to see me again."

Victoria chewed down on her lip. "Why are you telling me this?" she wondered from him.

"Because I want you to know what a good person she was. I want you to understand that she was too fucking good for a piece of shit like me," Billy confessed. "I want you to know that because what I'm going to tell you is going to fuck everything up for you and I've already fucked so much up for you…but this…I'm doing it to keep you safe from him."

"Homelander?" she checked.

"Yeah, that cunt," Billy said and Victoria was about to snap at him. She had no chance to do that as he continued talking. "Becca was running his social media account. She was in charge of all of it and I never understood her job. I never got what she did, but she was good at it. Of course she was. She was fucking great at everything."

Victoria was silent, her eyes widening and her face contorting into one of confusion. Her gaze met Billy's and she shook her head, stammering. "He…what…he never said he knew her…why would he not?"

"Because she's been missing for eight years," Billy said and he closed his eyes for a second, remembering his wife's beautiful smile. "She went missing after Homelander raped her."

The words hung in the air and Victoria felt a crushing weight against her chest. She went light-headed, a lump forming in her throat. Her eyes remained focused on Billy's as she let his words sink in. He gave her time, giving her a chance to process the information. He had expected her to react like this because he knew that she genuinely loved him. She was in love with a psychopath who she didn't know.

"No," Victoria said, voice firm and shaking her head. "No, he wouldn't. He couldn't."

"She was in his room for three hours," Billy said, the pain of reliving what had happened coming back to him. They said that time was a healer, but it wasn't. He would never be healed from losing his wife. "I saw the video, Victoria. I saw her standing in the corridor from the CCTV film…I saw her…her clothes were a mess…and the look on her face…she wouldn't talk to me for days. She wouldn't tell me what had happened. She was last seen sat on a park bench eight years ago before she disappeared. No one's been able to find her since."

"You're lying!" Victoria snapped at him, moving to her feet and shaking her head. Looking down to him, he had expected to see this from her. He had expected her not to believe him because why would she? She'd been poisoned and Billy hadn't helped himself by never having a relationship with her.

"I wish I fucking was," Billy retorted. "I wish that I was lying, but I'm not. Why do you think he's never mentioned her? Why do you think I've been trying so hard to get you away from him? Because I know the truth. I know what he is."

"No!" Victoria yelled at him. "That's not him! He's…whatever happened to your wife…he wasn't involved. It wasn't him!"

"I know that this is hard," Billy said to her. "I know that you don't understand, but it's true. What I'm saying is the truth and you can't go back to him. You can't go to him because he's a fucking monster."

"Are you really that desperate to fuck my life up?" Victoria demanded from him, shaking her head firmly and the two went toe-to-toe, Victoria looking at him with venom. "You really want to make some bullshit up about my boyfriend being a…being exactly like Eddie…because you know that it would hurt me. You know that it would ruin us and you're so determined to fuck my life up. But not this time. You're not doing that to me."

She began to walk away, but Billy grabbed her arm. She tried to pull him from her, but before she could, he had his phone out and had pressed play on the video. Looking down to it, Victoria saw the CCTV images playing. Her eyes narrowed onto it and she saw Homelander. He was moving into his room, his hand on the small of a woman's back. Victoria felt sick as Billy kept his grip on her arm, but she couldn't look away. She couldn't tear her eyes from the phone as the time jump happened to three hours later and the woman came out, hair dishevelled, shirt untucked from her skirt and a shoe in her hand. She leant against the wall, her face clearly blotchy from crying and her hand shaking as she tugged fingers through her hair and then slipped her shoe onto her foot and stumbled away, looking back at the door fearfully.

"I'm not lying," was all that Billy said and he put the phone away, Victoria silent and still. "He did that to my wife…to my Becca."

Victoria shook her head and tugged her arm from his grip. She looked around, her stomach churning before she found a bin. She vomited into it, emptying the entire contents of her stomach as she thought about what she had just seen. Homelander. It had been her Homelander. He had taken Becca into his room. The sight of her as she left it was one so familiar to Victoria. She had looked exactly like that whenever she glanced in the mirror once Eddie was finished with her.

Billy watched her wretch before she stood up, wiping her hand with the back of her mouth and she looked to him. Staring him in the eye, Victoria tilted her head and felt sick again. Her eyes welled up with tears and her head began pounding. Her entire world was collapsing around her and she had no idea how to handle it. She had no idea what she should be doing.

"I'm sorry," she said to him and she buried her face into her hands as she crouched down, struggling to stay on her feet. "I'm so sorry…"

"He manipulated you, Vicky," Billy replied with a sigh and he bent down to crouch opposite her. "He turned you against me so convincingly."

"But you're my brother," Victoria replied in a whisper, her throat clenching and her voice hoarse. "You're my big brother."

"Not much of one though, am I?" he responded to her and she wasn't entirely going to deny that. "I get why you turned against me. It fucking hurt, but I do understand it. You know the truth now and you can't go back to him. You can't go anywhere near him because I failed her, but I can't fail you."

"What happened to her?" Victoria asked from him.

"I don't know," Billy said. "She either killed herself or Homelander killed her. Either way, he's going to pay for what he's done."

Victoria shook her head and she took hold of his forearms as she stood up and he stood with her. His hands went to her own arms to steady her, sensing that she might fall over at any given moment. "He is coming for you. You don't know what you're up against, Billy. He's a supe. He's a member of the Seven."

"I'll get to him," Billy promised his sister. "But I need you to get out of here. I need you to get somewhere safe…hide from him…until I've done it. I need you to do that because I can't take you with me and risk you. But you can't go back to him."

"I need to…he'll know…he won't let me leave and I need the truth. I need to hear the truth from him."

"No, absolutely fucking not," Billy said firmly and he looked to his sister, seeing the pain and fear on her face. He watched her his grip on her arms grew firmer. "You can't go back to him. What the fuck do you think he'll do to you? You saw that video. You know what he did to my wife. Do you think he wouldn't do the same to you?"

"I…" Victoria trailed off. She wanted to say no. She wanted to say that she knew him well enough to know that he would never do that to her. But she didn't. She clearly didn't know him at all. And that did scare her.

"Exactly," Billy snapped. "So go back to your apartment. Pack a bag. And get out. Get out and away from here until it's safe…until he's gone."

"What are you going to do?"

"What I need to," he responded. "Just trust me on this one. Trust me and get away from New York. Promise me, Vicky. Promise me that you're going to go home and do what I've asked you to do."

And she nodded her head. She promised him because it turned out that she believed him. How could she not? She had seen Becca's face and the proof was there in front of her. But a part of her still wanted him to look her in the eye and tell her the truth. That wasn't going to happen. Billy sighed in relief at her agreeing to his terms. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight as she embraced him back.

"You're my little sister and I'm going to keep you safe, I promise," Billy said and she inhaled the stench of sweat and cheap aftershave on him. But it was her brother and she didn't care. He gave her a final squeeze and pulled back, looking at her with determination. "Now, go home. Go home and get away from here."

She nodded and brushed her tears from her eyes as Billy tucked her hair behind her ear and nodded once, walking away from her and knowing that it was for the best. She would get away from him. She would get away from Homelander and she would be safe. He watched her head in the opposite direction back to the subway and pulled his phone out. He had to warn the others that they were in trouble.

…

Victoria rushed from the subway back to the apartment. She was glad that Michelle and Daniella were out so she had the place to herself. She grabbed her apartment keys from her pocket and realised that her laptop was still at his place. She didn't care. She had most of her stuff there, but her passport was where she needed it. It was in the drawer of her desk. She would pack a bag and she would go, no matter how badly she wanted to confront him. She wanted it all to be a lie. She wanted him to tell her that it was a misunderstanding. But he hadn't even mentioned Becca. And why would he when he knew what would happen? He knew that Victoria would never look at him the same way again.

Climbing the staircase towards the apartment, Victoria fumbled with her keys and unlocked the door. She left her keys on the sideboard and dropped her bag and jacket. She headed to her bedroom. But she didn't get far. She heard the noise of footsteps behind her before she could escape the room. She froze, spine instantly straightening and her eyes closing. She didn't need to turn around to know that he was there.

"I thought I told you to stay in the penthouse."

Victoria didn't want to look at him. She didn't want to see his face. But she knew that she had to. She had to try and at least get out of this. Billy had told her to get away. He had told her to do that and Victoria was going to do it.

"I needed to come back here for a while," Victoria said to him, trying to act as though nothing was wrong. She turned to face him and he instantly noticed the bloodshot eyes and the puffy cheeks. He knew where she had been. He wasn't an idiot. He had her phone tracked and as soon as she had text her brother, he knew where she was going.

But the information had come through too late. She had made it to Billy before he could stop her. He had been too busy with the Seven and by the time Crime Analytics told him, it had been too late. But he knew where she was going, tracking her back to her apartment.

"Really?" he asked from her, shrugging his shoulders, tight smile on his face and hands behind his back. "What was so urgent?" he questioned.

"I just needed to check on some things," she said to him. "I'll be back at the penthouse later."

Victoria knew he wasn't buying it. He knew that what she was telling him wasn't true. But she just needed him to get away from her. She had no idea how she was going to react to him, just the sight of him enough to make her heart hammer against her chest. She watched as he moved closer to her and sighed, glancing up. She remained stood where she was, almost as though she was frozen to the spot. Anger took hold of her. Fear was also coursing through her veins.

"You know, I thought that we were closer than this," he said to her. "I thought that you loved me."

"I do," Victoria said to him and he chuckled darkly, standing behind her and picking her hair up. He felt her flinch as he draped it over one shoulder. Placing two fingers against her neck, he felt her pulse. It was racing.

She knew. He'd told her something. The question was, what had he told her? What had he said to make her turn against him like this?

"Then why did you just recoil from me?" he demanded from her, voice still low and soft. He moved closer to her, his lips inches from her ear and she shuddered. "I know where you went, Victoria. I know where you've been and I know that he's poisoned you…whispered pretty lies into your ear."

"I haven't been anywhere-"

"-Stop," he snapped, hand going to her chin and forcing her to turn her head to the side, making her look up at him as his other hand stroked her cheek, the back of it running along her pale skin. "Lying to me," he finished his sentence and she gulped. "I had Crime Analytics keep an eye on your phone and it's a good job I did because you went to him. You left when I specifically told you not to go."

"Because I was trying to sort things," Victoria said, moving to take his hand from her chin and he let her push it down. "I went to offer him money to leave us alone. I wanted him to go…and then…he told me about his wife. He told me about Becca."

Homelander shrugged. "Who?" he asked from her, playing ignorant and he began walking around her kitchen, running his hand along the top of the worktop. Victoria glowered at his back and she swore that she wouldn't be scared of him. She wouldn't let him intimidate her.

"I saw the video, John," Victoria said to him and he arched a brow, turning and leaning against the worktop, arms folding over his chest. "I saw the video of her going into your room. I saw her leaving too…her face…I saw what you'd done to her."

"You saw it?" he questioned. "What? You saw me physically having sex with her?"

"So you do know her?" Victoria pushed him and he rolled his eyes.

He had a plan in the back of his mind. It had been his backup plan in case he had ever needed it. He had, of course, hoped that he never would need it. But things were not going the way he had intended.

"Fine, I know her," Homelander responded, giving in.

"And you knew she was my brother's wife?"

"Well, I only put that together a few weeks ago," he said, waving his hand in the air. He seemed too nonchalant. He seemed far too calm and Victoria wondered why. "But you can see why I never told you. Do you really want to know that I slept with your brother's wife? It's not exactly something I'd go round advertising, especially when it happened…what? Eight years ago?"

"So you slept with her?" Victoria checked from him, standing on the other side of the breakfast bar. "It was consensual?"

He scoffed. "Victoria, you have no idea what it's like. Women throw themselves at me all the time. They develop crushes. I used to be a lot more careless back in the day…flings…one-night stands…but that's not who I am now. That's not what I'm like. You've completely changed me."

Victoria felt bile rise up in her throat at hearing him speak like that. She balked slightly and placed a hand over her mouth as Homelander shrugged to her and flapped his arms by his side.

"Are you seriously going to believe the brother who kidnapped you? He's probably doctored that video…he's probably-"

"-Where is she?" Victoria interrupted him.

He shrugged. "How should I know?" he questioned from her. "I don't keep track of people who mean nothing to me."

"Billy said that she'd disappeared. He told me that she'd just gone…not to be seen again. He told me that she never opened up to him. He showed me her face…her face when she left your room. That wasn't the face of someone who had consensual sex. I should know."

"So you believe him?" Homelander demanded from her. "You think that I did that to her?"

"I didn't know what to fucking believe until I saw her face," Victoria snarled at him and slammed a fist down onto the worktop. "I saw her face and I saw how she acted. That footage was not of a woman who'd just had consensual sex. So just tell me the truth. You admitted that you slept with her, but that wasn't it, was it?"

"You really are taking his side? Do you know how that makes me feel?"

"Just tell me the fucking truth!" she exploded and he threw his arms into the air.

"What does it fucking matter?" he demanded from her and moved towards her as she remained stood on the spot. "You're never going to look at me the same way again, are you? You're always going to have that doubt in the back of your mind that I did rape her and I'm not living with that. I'm not letting that happen."

"You're right," Victoria said. "Get out of my apartment."

He laughed at that then and Victoria wondered how he could even think this was funny. She wanted him to leave. She didn't want to see him. He was no different to Eddie. He was no different to the Deep.

"I'm not going anywhere," Homelander said. "You see, everything I've done has been to protect you and you have no fucking idea of the lengths I've gone to. I've reined myself in. I've done things to make you happy and I never would have done that for someone else."

"You need to go," Victoria said.

But he had opened the floodgates and he couldn't stop them. He didn't want to stop. "You see, I do believe that I'm better than you. I really do. I'm the world's greatest superhero. I'm not like you and I never have been, but I've made you think that we're equals which is laughable. I've made boring small talk with your friends to keep you happy. I did everything to make you happy and this is how you repay me? You repay me by running to your brother and taking his side over mine all because he showed you some video."

"Because clearly you're not who you say are!" Victoria yelled back at him, waving her arm manically as her other hand went to press against her chest. "You've just proven that right now. You've lied to me. You've faked things…and I opened myself up to you. I told you things that I've never told anyone. I let you in and now I've realised that you're not who you say you are."

"But that's the thing," he retorted. "I am me. It hasn't always been a lie. There have been things…my past…those things are true. Those are the things I never faked with you. I just had to tone down other things to a PG level to keep you on side because we're good together. We're good and you know it. When it's just us…we're perfect."

"But it's all a lie!" Victoria yelled back to him. "You're faking it and I don't want that. I don't want to be with someone who feels like that and I certainly don't want to be with someone who is no better than Eddie."

Homelander moved quickly and he took hold of her by the arm. She tried to fight against him, but he was firm. He pushed her backwards until she hit the wall and she was winded from the force. But he was unrelenting, his face wild and his eyes full of rage.

"You want to compare me to him?" he demanded from her. "I am nothing like him. I would never hurt you like he did. I took care of him for you. I made him pay for what he did to you. Don't you get it? I will do anything to protect you."

Victoria looked shocked then, her eyes widening as she watched him and realised that he really wasn't who she thought he was and the mask was slipping. "You…you killed Eddie?"

"Don't act like you give a shit about his life," Homelander said with a roll of his eyes, his grip still harsh on her arms as she longed to push him from her. "He raped you. He abused you. He deserved what he got and the idea of him laying a finger on you made me sick. He had to pay."

"You never told me," Victoria said to him with a firm shake of her head. "I…that was where you'd gone…that night…"

"And I never told you because you'd have disapproved. Do you not see that I kept these things from you-"

"-Don't you dare say to fucking protect me," she warned him. "Because that's not what you've done. How has lying to me protected me because look at where we are now. We're stood here and all I want is for you to get away from me because I can't stand being near you."

"You don't mean that."

"Yes, I fucking do," Victoria snapped back, her tone harsh and angry. "I fell in love with you and none of it was real."

"It was…it is…" Homelander said. "You do love me. You will always love me because we belong together and you know that. You know that we work."

"No, we don't, not anymore," Victoria said. "I might love some version of you, but not the real you…I don't love him. How could I ever love someone like him?"

And that pushed him too far. The look of hurt on his face turned into pure, white hot rage that Victoria had never seen from him before. She froze as he moved a hand to her chin, squeezing it tightly and she was certain it would bruise. He bowed his head, tears forming in his eyes and the look of hurt etched onto his features as his jaw tensed and he shook his head.

"I'm not letting you go," he said to her. "We're going to work through this. We're going to be how it was."

"How the fuck can you think that?' she demanded from him.

"Because I put plans in place," he hissed at her. "I didn't want to, but I knew that it might come to this and I wasn't willing to let you leave me. So, you're coming with me and I'm going to sort this mess and then, my darling, you're going to forget this ever happened."

"Are you fucking delusional?" she demanded from him. "How can you ever…"

She trailed off and Homelander lifted his other hand up, raising a finger as he saw realisation form on her face.

"And the penny drops," he said to her. "One of Vought's supes has the power of telepathy. All of those memories…everything that's happened today…you'll forget it. It will be forgotten and we will be how we were this morning. There will be no more Butcher, no more Becca. There will just be us."

"No!" Victoria snapped at him and pushed at his chest, but he grabbed hold of her by the wrists, pinning them above her head, his front pressed flush to hers as he gathered her wrists into one hand and then moved the other to her hip, pushing her against the wall as she tried to buck him off of her.

"It will be better this way," he promised her. "You'll be happy. I'll make you happy. It will be everything you need."

"I won't…you won't get away with it. Billy will know."

"Billy will be dead," he retorted. "And it will just be us. You'll be happy. You'll see."

"I won't do it."

"You think you have a choice?" he questioned from her. "No. You're coming with me back to the penthouse and you're going to stay there until everything has settled down and then it will all be like a bad dream. Your memories will be gone."

"I'm not coming."

"You're coming now or we wait here and I laser Michelle and Daniella as soon as they walk through that fucking door," he said, lifting his hand from her hip and pointing to it. She froze again then and he knew he had her where he needed her. "So get your shit together and come back with me."

"You wouldn't…" she whispered, but he shook his head.

"You want to test that theory?" he asked from her. "You have no idea what I'm willing to do…the lengths I'll go to…to keep us safe. So we're going. Do you understand me? Do you understand that I am doing this for us?"

She wanted to shake her head. She wanted to yell at him and tell him that he was nothing but a crazed psycho. But then she looked to the clock on the kitchen wall. Daniella would be home in ten minutes. Her best friend would walk through that door. Looking to Homelander, she longed for him to tell her that he would never do that. But he said nothing and she knew that she didn't know who he was. She had no idea who he was really. And she wasn't going to risk her friends. She would find another way out. She would find a way out where Michelle and Daniella stayed safe.

And so she nodded her head and he sniffed, wiping his eyes and looking to her, a soft gasp of a laugh leaving his throat. "I knew you'd see sense, sweetheart," he said to her and she wanted to punch at him. She wanted him to get away from her. But he bent down and kissed the corner of her mouth, feeling her tense beneath him. He didn't comment on it, but he brushed her hair with his fingers before taking her hand into his.

"Let's go," he said to her in a whisper. "And I will fix all of this. I will fix us."

Victoria was quiet and his grip was firm on her hand. She followed him out of the apartment, letting him put her denim jacket back on her and then handing her bag to her. She went to lock the apartment door and looked into it one final time, wondering when she would next see it. As he took her to the sidewalk, she wanted to scream. She wanted to yell at people as they walked by to help her. But no one was going to help her. She just had to find a way to help herself.

...

A/N: So I wasn't getting any of the reviews that have come in and I am overwhelmed with how many of you are still reading! Thanks so much to each and every one of you and I have no decided that...season two is coming! This chapter was hard to write - much heartbreak and there is still plenty more to come. As always, your comments mean so much to me!