Looking to Hughie, Billy knew that the kid wasn't happy with him having come back into his life. As far as he knew, he had abandoned them when they were in trouble, but he didn't get it. He didn't get that he'd had to go. He had to do what he had to do to ensure that Homelander suffered and he stopped him from going after his sister. But then Victoria had said the magic words. She had told him that his wife was still alive. She had pleaded with him to give up the detonator so that she could let him escape. He'd found that almost ironic. She would let him go after everything he had done to her. She wanted him to have happiness and she was willing to ruin her entire life for him.

And now Billy had to explain to his boys what had happened. He had walked back into their lives and had explained what had happened to Madelyn Stillwell. He had told them what he figured had happened to his sister judging by the way he was constantly seeing her gurning face on TV next to Homelander, holding onto him tightly and looking as loved up as she did before she knew the truth. But the truth had been taken from her.

"You know, if your sister has been brainwashed then, ironically, she is probably in the safest place," M.M. said to him.

They were sat in the place they were classing as their underground bunker, Butcher planning on heading to go and see Mallory and do what he could to get information out of Grace. Raynor had been killed, no doubt by a supe based on what Butcher had heard. Her head had exploded clean from her body and Butcher was pretty sure he knew who killed her. He suspected that Vought killed her for getting too close to the supe terrorist who had been smuggled into the country. But he had to stay undercover. He was still wanted for the murder of Stillwell.

"You really think that?" Butcher asked, voice gruff as he looked to the TV screen and saw his sister's image of her at the airport, Homelander standing next to her and waving to the crowds as it was announced that she was going to be working away for a while.

"Look at them," M.M. said to him and Butcher grunted under his breath. He could hear Frenchie and Hughie in the background, no doubt talking about something behind his back. Hughie had been doing that a lot recently. M.M. turned his upper body to the side to look at Butcher, noting the way his stare was still focused on his sister. "I know she means everything to you. I get that you want to try and put things right with her, but I'm just saying that she is maybe safe where she is."

"How can she be safe?" Butcher demanded, pointing to the screen. "She's living a fucking lie. He's lying to her. Him touching her…holding her…lying to her…it's not right and we need to get a move on because I have to save her. I have to save both of them."

"Both of them?" M.M. questioned, but Butcher was already on his feet and heading to the exit, not explaining that he knew Becca was still alive.

…

Pulling her hair into a ponytail, Victoria let it hang down her back before she went to the cooker. The apartment she was living in was all new, complete with mod-cons that had taken Victoria a week to work out. The apartment was, obviously, sparse. There were no homely touches. There was a leather sofa opposite a flat screen TV above a fireplace. The dining table was glass, the crockery plain white. It felt a bit soulless to Victoria, almost like she was living in some show home. But, then again, that didn't matter because she wasn't going to be there forever.

Heading to the kitchen, she padded on the wooden floor over to the fridge. Her tight covered feet slipped slightly as she pulled on the hem to the green dress with long sleeves she wore, not bothering to have changed once she'd gotten back from work. She pulled out some garlic and the onions from the fridge to start making dinner. Setting them on the thick, wooden chopping board on the marble worktop, she began cutting the onion up and preparing to make her ragu sauce. As she was about to put the tomato sauce on to simmer, she heard that familiar thud outside of her apartment. Her lips quirked up. She was on the sixth floor, a small balcony outside and the doors open onto it with a steel table and two chairs around it. She'd left the doors wide open, fully expecting him before the thunderstorms rolled in.

She turned around in time to see him moving into the apartment. She left the pan on the hob before moving over to him. There was a smile on his face, but it seemed quite forced. It was almost as though he was putting it on just for her. He embraced her tightly, bending down and kissing her sweetly for a few moments before pulling back. Lifting her hand up, she stroked his cheek gently.

"Hey," she said to him in that soft, sweet voice she used whenever she knew something was troubling him. "You alright?"

"Yeah," he said, hands holding onto her hips gently before she arched a brow. "Well, no…not entirely."

"Talk to me," Victoria urged from him, hand going to his hair and brushing through it softly. "I've got dinner cooking and a bottle of wine open. Whatever's going on, we can talk about it."

Nodding his head, he agreed with her and she pecked him on the cheek once more before moving to the fridge. They'd been apart a week and already it felt as though things had gone wrong. Of course, none of it was Victoria's fault. Most of it was Vought's fault. It usually always was these days. She poured two glasses of wine and took them towards the sofa. Sitting down on it, she placed the glasses on the coffee table.

Folding her leg beneath herself, her other arm went over the back of the sofa. Homelander settled down next to her, hands clasped together and gaze looking down. "It's Vought," he confessed to her. "And Ryan. Everything just feels like it isn't going well…and it's only been a week since you went."

"Well, it's not as if I could have really solved any of those things," Victoria said to him, hand going to his shoulder and thumb running along the curve of the eagle there. "But I can try and work out what's going on if you want me to help."

"Well, you probably saw that we now have a new member of the Seven," Homelander said to her and rolled his eyes, holding his hands up, mockingly pulling out jazz hands. He turned to face her so that he could keep watching her. "Stormfront joined us and it wasn't as if I had any say in it. Every other member of the Seven was vetted by me. Madelyn ran it by me, but Edgar…he just recruited her and the first I knew about it was while she was doing that stupid live streaming video."

"I did see that," Victoria said. She'd been working late in the office when it had popped up on her laptop. She'd looked at it and seen Homelander's face, noting the fake smile and the clear annoyance. She'd tried to call him, but he hadn't been picking up and then when he did, he said that he couldn't talk for long. "I figured it pissed you off."

"More than pissed me off," he scoffed at her. "And now she's a new member and it's almost as though Edgar doesn't understand that he needs me. He needs me because without me there is no Seven."

Biting down on her lip, Victoria didn't want to tell him that she didn't think that was necessarily true. Did he really think of himself as the centre of attention? Then again, he was angry. He was angry and upset. He was just lashing out. She'd seen him do it before and she'd made excuses for him. How could she not?

"Well, I get it," Victoria promised him. "I get that you are protective of the Seven because of how long you've been there and how long you've been the leader…and this Stormfront…I don't know, have you spoken to her? Maybe she is harmless?"

"You think she's harmless?" Homelander asked her.

Victoria shrugged. "I don't know," she replied. "I just know that she's a new member of the Seven and, as much as it pains you, she doesn't seem to be going anywhere. It might just be best to accept it and move on. Besides, your contract is up next year, isn't it?"

"Yeah," he said to her with a nod. "And I threatened to leave if they kept keeping me in the dark, but I don't know if they saw it as empty words. Edgar seemed to think it was."

"I mean…if you do leave…would that be the worst thing?" Victoria asked from him, lifting her hand up and brushing her fingers into his hair. He let her, moving so that he was nearly nestled against her shoulder. She kept running her hand through his hair as he slumped down on the sofa, a hand going to her thigh. "You would be away from Vought. You could do what you wanted to do."

"I have no idea what I'd do," he confessed to her and she moved so that she was sat up against the arm. She lifted her legs up and draped them over his as he rested the back of his head against her chest, her fingers still playing with his hair, limbs entwined.

"Because you've never known anything but Vought. You've never had a chance to explore doing anything else," Victoria responded.

His brows knitted together on his forehead. "You think that I could be more than Vought?"

The question was clear, but the meaning behind it was different. Could he be just as powerful without Vought? Would people still love him without their endless PR and events spinning him in a certain light? But Victoria took it to mean something different. She knew that he could do more and he was certainly more than Vought. There was more to him that just that company.

"I think you could be whatever you want to be," Victoria whispered down to him and he sighed, seeming to relax against her as she watched his face relax.

"See? This is why I need you. You make me feel better instantly," he told her and Victoria smiled at that. It made her happy to hear him speak like that. She liked the fact that he listened to her and valued her opinion. "I miss you so much."

"Why didn't you just tell me this over the phone?" Victoria asked.

He shrugged. "You've been busy all week and I didn't want to trouble you. You're busy enough and I knew that I was coming here this weekend. I've spent a few days with Ryan too as well."

"You mentioned some issue?"

"Do you know that Becca is raising him in this fake neighbourhood? It's been created specifically to give him a normal childhood and keep him from me…gated…security cameras everywhere…it's like a fucking prison," Homelander said and Victoria shuddered at the idea. It sounded like some kind of social experiment that she couldn't quite understand.

"Jesus," she whispered. "And Becca's okay with all of that?"

"She seems to be," Homelander said. "She said it's necessary to raise him like a normal kid. That's what she's doing, Victoria. She's raising him like he's a normal boy when he's my son. He's my son and he is anything but ordinary. He doesn't even know his powers. I tried to teach him, but there was nothing. He can't even throw a baseball more than a few yards."

"Well, I kind of get it, don't you?" Victoria said and he did move then, turning to look to her. She shook her head and moved a hand to his forearm, seeing how his face was tensing up once more. "I don't mean the fake neighbourhood or keeping things from you. I don't get any of that because it sounds insane, but I do get why she would want to raise him to be normal…because if he was raised to think that he was something special…to use his powers when he wanted to…then that could mess him up. He could grow up to be-"

"-Exactly like me?" Homelander finished off her sentence, but she shook her head quickly.

"No, that's not what I'm saying," she said quickly, squeezing his arm firmly as he looked away from her. "I am saying that she wants him to have a normal childhood. She wants him to have something that you never had. I do understand that."

"But he's not ordinary."

"And he will know that one day, but it has to be introduced to him slowly and gently…to give him the chance to grow up and experience a normal childhood, but I get that is probably not happening if she is living in some fake neighbourhood."

"You really think that?"

"I don't know, but I do know that she is his mother," Victoria said to him. "And I do know that she will just want the best for him because…if she didn't…then she wouldn't be raising him, would she? She wouldn't want to be protecting him? And, in the end, when you do introduce him to his powers then you need to do it slowly. He's just discovered that he has them. It's going to be scary for him."

"But he just…it's like he doesn't even recognise who I really am…that I'm his dad."

Victoria smiled sadly at that. She knew what this was. He wanted a relationship with his son. He longed for it. "I know, John," Victoria said to him. "And I know that it's a lot to cope with, but it's going to take time for you two to build a relationship. You're his dad and I don't doubt you love him fiercely already, but he will need time to adjust. If you give him that…bond together…then you'll be fine. Trust me."

"You think?"

"Every relationship needs work and I think that it can work so long as you want to put the effort in. Look at us…we couldn't stand each other and look where we are now."

Homelander chuckled at hearing her say that. Her own lips picked up and she felt some relief that he looked quite happy with what she was telling him. It was all going to be fine and he needed to understand that.

"That is very true."

"And the same will come with Ryan, just give him time and get to know him. Don't focus completely on his powers, focus on what he likes…the rest will come eventually," Victoria promised him and he moved his gloved hand to her cheek, stroking it slowly and running his thumb along her cheekbone.

"You say the right thing all the time. How do you know how to do that?" Homelander asked from her.

"I've got a PhD, I'm just super intelligent," she said, her tone dry and face serious. She only lasted for a second before breaking into laughter and he followed suit, moving to haul her into his lap, letting her straddle him as his arms went around her waist and her hands moved to his shoulder, thumbs running along his neck.

"You're something alright," he said to her.

"Beautiful? Smart? Funny?" she suggested to him and he continued smiling, the motion genuine, lips turned up as his thumb went to brush her hair behind her ear and his eyes searched hers slowly.

"The woman I love," he said and saw her mellow then, turning to putty in his hands.

Moving his lips to meet hers, he kissed her softly, content that he was exactly back where he belonged.

…

The weekend had gone far too quick for Victoria's liking. It was Monday morning and Homelander was due to fly back to the States. They had spent the weekend mainly indoors considering whenever they went out Homelander was mobbed by people. They'd tried to go for a walk to the farmer's market, but Victoria had abandoned it halfway through, insisting that she'd rather have time with both of them in private. She did wonder why he never tried to blend in, but he'd told her that it was because he'd given up on it a long time ago. On the Saturday night, Victoria had cooked dinner and they'd watched the thunderstorm from the patio doors, Homelander stood behind her with his arms around her waist.

"Do you really have to go already?" Victoria asked from him.

She was dressed in a tight-fitting grey dress, the skirt coming down to her thighs and her hair pulled into a neat ponytail. She was making herself a salad for lunch, pouring it into the lunchbox and then putting the lid on. Her black curly hair hung down her back and swayed as she reached over the cabinet for her thermal mug. She poured her herbal tea into it and watched as Homelander ate his croissant and drank his milk.

"I haven't been to check on Seven business in ages, Vicky," Homelander said to her. "Between going to see Ryan and being here, it's been almost four days. That's a long time for me to be out of the game."

"I guess," Victoria said as he tore off another bit of pastry and popped it into his mouth. She went to stand on the other side of the breakfast bar to him and tore at her own pastry. "I don't know, I just kind of like having you here. It's weird coming home and you're not around. Is it weird back at the Tower?"

"Too quiet," he said to her with a nod of his head. "I try not to spend too much time there, but all of your stuff is there. I've left your boxes by the kitchen, figured you'd want to deal with them when you come back."

"Sounds good," Victoria promised him with a nod of her head and then checked the watch on her wrist before taking another bite of her pastry. "Look, I've got to get to work. I've got to catch the metro and then walk a bit."

"You know that I could just fly you, right?"

"I know, but I'm happy commuting," Victoria promised him after finishing her mouthful. She placed her lunch into her patent black shoulder bag. Pushing it onto her shoulder, she then bent down and pulled her heels onto her feet, one shoe at a time. "Besides, every time we fly I end up having to do my hair again."

"That's not the only time you have to do it again," Homelander said, rubbing his hands together over his plate. Victoria left it there, figuring that she'd tidy up when she got back. Looking to him, she arched a brow and moved around the apartment, heels clicking on the wooden floor.

"Are you referring to that time we almost got caught on the way to the film premiere?" Victoria asked from him. "Because Ashley had organised for me to have my hair professionally done and you basically ruined that."

"Worth it though."

"You didn't have to deal with Ashley's glares for the night," Victoria retorted, putting her bag down and grabbing her jacket. Shrugging into it, there was no chance she was going without it considering the dress was sleeveless. Hanging her bag in the crook of her arm, she looked to him as he finished off his glass of milk.

"Well, thankfully you don't need to worry about Ashley. She's harmless. Do you think you might be able to get any time off, by the way?" Homelander questioned from her. "I really would love it if you came to meet Ryan with me when I visit him."

"Oh," Victoria said to him, seeming startled by that. "Well, I guess that I could try and take five days off? But I'm not sure…it's not that I don't want to meet him. I really do. But I've just got here so I don't think I can ask to fly back straight away. Besides, you need time to get to know him, not with me lurking in the background."

"Yeah, I guess," he said, trying not to sound bothered. He moved over to her and his hands went to her shoulders. "But so long as we get there."

"We'll get there," she promised him and moved to peck him on the cheek softly. "Now, I really do need to get going. Will I see you next week?"

"Yeah," he said to her with a nod of his head. "I'll be back, don't worry. I'll call you later, alright? See how your day went."

"Perfect," Victoria said to him with a nod of her head and he moved to kiss her, dragging it out as a hand went to the back of her neck and she held onto his shoulders. He finally put her down after a moment or two and she smiled up to him. "Love you," she whispered and pecked him once more.

"I love you too," he said to her and reluctantly let her go.

Moving to the patio, she stood in the doorway as he went onto the small little veranda and gave her one final wink before taking off into the early morning sky. He wanted to do nothing more but land again in Paris and take her back home with him, but he had no chance to do that. He knew that he actually had to go back to work. He'd distracted himself with his son and his girlfriend, but he could only distract himself for too long.

The flight back to New York was quick. It was still early in the morning when he got back due to the time difference between the States and Europe. Sighing to himself, he knew that he had time to kill before he had to go to work. And so he went to the one place he knew he could go to. He went to see his son and prepared for a second breakfast.

…

Homelander had tried to remember what Victoria had told him. He had tried to be patient with Ryan. He had tried to bond with him, but it wasn't going as well as he'd hoped. They had nothing in common, not really, except for their powers. But it had gone terribly wrong. He had tried to teach his son to fly, but instead had just pushed him from the roof. Becca had gone crazy, calling him all kinds of names. He had told her that she was raising Ryan like a girl, warning her not to push him. And then Ryan had pushed Homelander away from his mom. He had shoved him with enough force to make him fall over. That was his son. Of course, Ryan had been angry. He had told Homelander to leave them alone, but it was just childish emotions, that was all.

He'd calm down and be fine. In the end, he'd had to go to work. Moving into Vought Towers, he headed on up to the meeting room to try and find where everyone was. Eyes watched him as he moved through the corridors, but it wasn't the usual stares. They almost seemed apprehensive. His brows furrowed together. Something was wrong. Coming to the meeting room, he pulled his gloves from his fingers and held them in his hands. He could hear Maeve on the phone. She was talking to someone called Elena, sounding rather familiar with her.

Moving into the meeting room, it only took two seconds before Maeve turned around and he tried to look sheepish, like he hadn't been listening into everything she had been saying. Elena was someone special, he could tell that much from Maeve's tone.

"Not interrupting, am I?" he checked as Maeve made her excuses on the phone and hung up the call.

"No, of course not," she promised him, turning in her chair and leaving her phone on the table.

"Great," he said, shifting from one foot to the other and then moving further into the room, looking at the screens around that showed the latest statistics. "You know it's funny…out of all the people here, I've know you the longest," he said to her, resting his arms over the back of the chair she was sat next to her as she looked up to him. "It used to feel like you were the only person I could lean on," he said to her and she instantly knew that something was going on. This was a game he was playing with her. She knew when he did that.

"I felt the same way," Maeve promised him, but she couldn't meet his gaze. "But you have Victoria now."

"I know," he said, leaving his gloves over the back of the chair and sitting down next to her. "Life's just crazy…look how we've changed…I have a stable relationship…and you…you must have moved on too…who's Elena?"

He noted the change in her posture. She went onto the defensive. "She's just an old friend."

"Since when did you have old friends?" Homelander queried from her. His look turned intense. He didn't care what was going on, but he just didn't appreciate being lied to by her.

She shrugged. "I just needed someone who I could talk to about this bullshit," Maeve said with a roll of her eyes. "I mean, I can imagine you've already been on the phone to Victoria about this, right? It's just crazy. I already suspected that my dad would know…would do this to me…he always wanted the money. But you? You had the perfect childhood."

"What are you talking about?" Homelander asked from her and he did see the genuine look of confusion on her face then.

"You mean you haven't heard?" she asked from him and she picked up the television remote from the table. Turning around, she pressed a button and the screen lit up with the news. Looking at the headlines, he read them quickly. As if he didn't already know all of this. He knew everything about Compound V. How could he not? He already knew that he'd been injected with it and raised in a lab.

"We're not born, we're made," Maeve said to him and he tried to look shocked. He already knew that. "It's all over the news. People are losing their minds over it. How have you not seen it?"

"We don't exactly watch the news when we're together," Homelander said to Maeve. "I'll be back later."

"Where are you going?" Maeve asked, but he didn't answer her. He stood up and grabbed his gloves before leaving.

Heading up to his penthouse, he walked up the steps to his bedroom and found his phone on the bedside table, dropping his gloves in its place. He'd purposefully left it there, wanting no distractions and no way for Vought to contact him. He'd even asked Victoria to keep her phone in her bedroom, not wanting them to get to him through her. He pressed the home button and saw that the screen lit up. There were already three voicemails from Victoria and a dozen text messages. He pressed on her name and called her, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Hey," Victoria said when she picked up on the third ring. "I've seen the news. It's all anyone's been talking about. Are you alright?"

"Well, yes," Homelander said to her. She'd had her memories wiped. She knew that he'd been made, but she didn't know how. He'd told her about Compound V before, but she remembered none of it. "I already knew that they'd made me…I'd assumed from something else…but Compound V…well, it makes sense. I just didn't think that it was Compound V."

"You're sure you're alright?" Victoria asked from him.

"Better than fine," he promised her. "Because I know what I am and it doesn't matter who made me or where I came from. All that matters is what I have now and I know what I have…and Vought…they can do what they want to damage control this, but it isn't my fucking problem."

Victoria was silent for a moment. "Wow," she said earnestly. "That…that's surprisingly rational of you."

He chuckled, flopping back onto the bed. "You're shocked?" he questioned from her, closing his eyes and imaging that she was still with him, laid beside him instead of across the Atlantic.

"I just didn't know how you'd take the news, I guess," Victoria confessed. "I mean, I know all about your childhood and everything else, but others…I mean…what Vought's done to them. It's not right. It's just…it's diabolical."

"And that's their issue to solve," Homelander said to her. "My only issue is the Seven and that's it. Nothing else matters, not really. My son. You. The Seven. That's it. Fuck Vought."

"I'm glad you're alright with all of this," Victoria said to him, a sense of hesitancy in her tone. "But you know that I'm here if you're not, right? I'm always here."

"I know and I love you for it," he said to her. "I'll call you later. I imagine you're busy at work."

"Working on a policy brief," she confirmed to him and he didn't want to tell her that sounded incredibly dull. "But I just wanted to talk to you and make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine," he promised her. "I love you."

"Love you too."

"I'll call you tonight."

"Alright. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, sweetheart."

"Bye."

He let her hang up first before he dropped his phone to the bed and let his hands rest on his stomach. He kept his eyes closed before he heard his phone vibrate once more. Picking it up, he saw that it was Ashley. There was meeting on the ninety-ninth floor. Edgar was going to grace them with his presence, not that Homelander cared about what he was going to say. Sitting back up, he looked to the bedside table and saw the photo he kept there of Victoria and him that she had given him for Christmas.

Moving to his feet, he took the lift down to the meeting room, slipping his gloves onto his fingers once more. The elevator stopped en route, the doors opening and Starlight appearing before him. There was still bad blood between them. He didn't trust her, not entirely. But he gave her the benefit of the doubt for Victoria's sake.

"There you are," she said and moved into the space. "Victoria called me asking where you were. She said you weren't picking up your phone."

"I've been busy."

"Did you speak to her? She was worried sick," Annie said and the elevator doors closed once more. She still had her suspicions about Homelander too, but she had no idea how to air them, not truly. She didn't want to jump to conclusions, especially when Maeve had told her about Homelander. She was scared of him and Maeve wasn't scared of anyone.

"I just called her back," Homelander said.

"Okay good," Annie said. "I told her that I'd try and find you, but it's been impossible."

"I've been busy," Homelander just said to her.

"You went to see her this weekend, right? How is she?"

"Fine," Homelander said. "Loving Paris…loving her job…she's happy."

"We didn't get too much time to talk on the phone. She was concerned about you and me…and in between meetings, I think." Annie said. She didn't mention how she had been the one to leak the news of Compound V. Why would she? But she had felt horrible lying to Victoria. The sooner she knew the truth then the better, but that was a conversation for when they were in person.

"Well, she's just great," Homelander said, fake smile on his face. "Come on, let's get this shit show out of the way," Homelander said as the doors opened and they made their way in silence to the meeting room together.

Homelander took his usual seat, squeezing Noir's shoulder as he sat down. A-Train soon appeared and Homelander didn't even bother to mention that it was the first time he'd seen him since his accident. Maeve was already seated too, Starlight taking the spare seat next to A-Train. And then he saw her for the second time. Stormfront was sat in the chair next to his, her dark shoulder length hair neatly coiffed around her face. She had her uniform on that Vought had given her and there was a light in her eyes. There was something about her that he wasn't sure of. He didn't know if he could trust her, not entirely. Then again, he had a trust issue in general.

"I see you're back," she said to him and he moved his cape to the side before settling down in his seat. "Did you have a nice weekend in Paris? You certainly made headlines. It must be exhausting…constantly being in the news wherever you go."

"Paris was great," Homelander simply said to her and she rolled her eyes at him, her lips quirking into a smile.

"You're just full of details, aren't you?" she said to him. "America's golden boy and golden girl spend a weekend together and all we get is 'Paris was great'?" she said and Homelander was aware that everyone was silent around the table, listening to the conversation and, for the first time in a long time, he wished Edgar would just turn up sooner rather than later.

"Well, I prefer to keep what we get up to private."

"So, what is it about her?" Stormfront questioned and the atmosphere seemed tense to everyone in that room but her. No one in that room would ever question his private life. No one would ever dare bring it to attention. He looked to her then and she noted the way his jaw tensed. She laughed, trying to lighten the situation. "What? Has no one here asked you this before? We're members of the Seven and she's a normal human...plus, she always seems a bit placid whenever she's doing interviews."

"She's great, actually," Annie was the one to speak, Homelander's fingers balling into a fist. He didn't need this. He didn't need her speaking to him like she had any right to probe into his relationship with Victoria. "She's really smart and really funny. Plus, nothing really bothers her."

"Are you his mouthpiece?" Stormfront asked. "I just think that America's greatest hero deserves someone equally as great by his side."

"She is."

Stormfront scoffed. "She's a human. There's no chance she can ever be equal," she said to him.

Before Homelander could answer her, Edgar entered the room, announcing his presence and completely unaware of the tension in the space between them. He began with his speech about Vought and how they had to pull together. But Homelander was done. He was finished with listening to him and what he wanted from them. No. Homelander was going to do what he had to do. He was done with Vought. He was done with it all.

…

The super-terrorist had been located and the Seven were on their way to find him. When they arrived on the beach, the last thing they'd expected was to see a beached whale, a speedboat impaled in its stomach. Homelander had groaned at the sight of it. He didn't need more mess. He led the group, marching ahead and finding the Deep stood by the whale, sobbing against its stomach. He wanted to curse him for turning up and tell him that they didn't need his help. But he didn't.

Starlight and the Deep had started arguing, Homelander wanting to interrupt them but Stormfront was the one who interfered. They'd left the Deep on the beach and gone into the storm drain. Homelander had one final dig at him though, telling him to put his gill away. It did make him feel slightly nauseous. Heading into the drains, Homelander listened out for any sudden noise.

And then he heard it.

He heard the grunting in the distance. Hands behind his back, he walked slowly through the drain and eventually noted it light up in one open space where the pipes met. Coming to it, he saw Starlight stood over a figure. Looking to the figure on the floor, he was covered in blood and that almost made him undistinguishable. But then he finally realised who it was and groaned, hand moving in front of his body.

"This guy?" Homelander demanded to know. "Fucking Hughie? Again? I mean, for fucks sake, does this kid have a death wish? And you," he turned to Starlight. "You happen to be here when he is?"

"I had no idea," she blabbered.

"Shut it," he demanded, holding a finger up to silence her. "I don't want to hear another word out of you. I want you to kill him."

Annie's eyes widened at that. She shook her head. She wasn't going to kill him. She couldn't kill him. He might have betrayed her, but she still cared. Feelings didn't just go away, no matter how much she wanted them to.

"No," Annie said firmly. "I'm not going to kill him. We have to bring him."

"Nope," Homelander said, his lips popping on the 'p'. "And yes, we should take him to the police, but that isn't going to happen. You're going to kill him and then he's never going to be our problem again."

But Annie was hesitating. He could see it. She wasn't going to do it and he had to make her do it. Rolling his eyes, he clucked his tongue and went behind her, taking hold of her hands and holding them up. "It's easy," he said to her. "Hand in the air…" he began and then chuckled over the next party "like you just don't care," he said, a smirk on his face before his lips fell flat and serious, "and kill him."

But Annie didn't know if she could. Her hands remained in the air. Hughie looked to her and nodded his head. He would let it happen. It was fine. He was ready for it. It was either him or her and there was no chance that he was ever going to risk Annie. How could he? He adored her more than she could ever know.

"Fine," he snapped. "You need more incentive? Kill him or I'll kill you both."

Looking to him, Annie shook her head. "No," she said to him. "You wouldn't. Victoria-"

"-Would simply be told that you turned out to be a traitor," Homelander interrupted her and then looked at her, glare focused directly onto her anxious eyes. "And don't you dare think about running to her with any of this. Stay the fuck away from her, do you understand me?"

"Wish you'd taken your own advice."

The new voice echoed through the cave and Homelander startled for a moment before turning around, hands going to his hips. And then he saw him. William Butcher was moving out of the tunnel and into the open space. He was also covered in blood, looking an absolute mess and a stench around him. Moving closer to him, Homelander couldn't help the smirk forming on his face.

"William," he said, tone almost jovial. "What a pleasant surprise this is."

"Yeah?" Butcher asked from him, voice gruff as he tried not to get too angry. He had to be calm. He had to save Hughie and get out of there. He had to not rise to whatever bait Homelander was going to throw his way.

"You know, I had a lovely breakfast with your wife this morning. Pancakes," he said and then pulled a smarmy face. "Delicious," he said, emphasising the 's'. Heading closer to him, his cape flowed behind him as he walked, hands going behind his back. "But not before I spent the morning with your sister…well…in her bed...between her legs."

The look on Billy's face darkened at hearing that. But Homelander couldn't stop himself. The taunting came naturally to him and Annie remained behind him, confused and alarmed. Butcher had a wife? His wife was alive? And why was Homelander with her? None of this was making any sense to her.

"You know, she's got quite the mouth on her and the yells…I'm amazed the neighbours haven't reported us yet," Homelander said, lowering his tone slightly. "And to think, you almost had her back where you wanted her and now I have her back where I want her…it must kill you."

"Yeah," Billy said to him with a nod. "But we both know you live in fear."

"I have no reason to live in fear. I have everything I want."

"Not for much longer if I have my way," Butcher said to him. "And I intend on having it."

He stepped aside after a moment and let Kenji step forwards, using his powers to pull everything from above them down, crushing Homelander and burying him under a pile of rubble. Butcher watched him and then rushed to Hughie while Starlight remained where she was. Crouching down as Kimiko went after her brother who had begun to run, Butcher looked to the kid.

"Come on, Hughie. We need to get out of here before the cunt escapes," he said.

"He's right," Annie added on and Hughie looked to her as Butcher held his hand out to Hughie. He looked at it for a moment before taking it in his hand. Billy helped him up before Annie looked to both of them, glancing between them. "What is going on here? Something's not right."

Billy couldn't even look at her. He despised supes. He hated everything that they stood for. But she was the only one in front of him who might be able to get to his sister. And he didn't want to trust her. He didn't want it, but Hughie had insisted that they were such good friends. Dropping Hughie's hand from his grip, Butcher turned to her and did look at her then.

"He's dangerous," Butcher hissed at her. He knew they had to get out. They had to get away before Homelander fought his way back up from the wreckage. "And Victoria doesn't know it. You need to keep an eye on her. You need to look out for her because, right now, I can't do that. I can't protect my own sister."

"You tried to kill her," Annie said.

"No. I didn't," Butcher snapped.

"Butcher, come on," M.M. urged from him as Frenchie took off, needing to find Kimiko and keep her safe. "We don't have time for this, not right now."

"You need to tell me," Annie said quickly, but Hughie shook his head.

"Not right now," he said, finding his voice. "Eventually, we will…but just keep her safe…look out for her. Butcher's not lying. Trust me."

Annie wanted to scoff. Trust him. That was rich. He was asking her to trust him after lying to her for months. But, for some reason, she did. She did trust him as she looked into his gaze and then to Butcher. And so she just nodded once and let them go. Watching them run away, she turned the other way and went after the supe-terrorist before Homelander could get out. She had no idea what had just gone on, but she knew that her suspicions weren't being dispelled. If anything, she was growing even more suspicious.

…

A/N: So we have Annie on the case, Billy back and Stormfront...well...stirring the pot! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and as always, pretty please do let me know if you're still reading!