Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want

2

"Homelander? You're Homelander's assistant?"

Nina's mom seemed nervous, devastatingly nervous, even through the phone.

"Yeah, mom. He's really nice."

"He's a freak experiment! You should come back home."

Nina sighed. She would never understand. "The pay is really good. I'm living at the Tower. I don't have to split rent anymore!"

"You're in the devil's lair!"

It was exhausting. She couldn't be happy for her only daughter, and that was it. Back home, Nina worked as an English teacher, and the pay was ridiculously low. It was tiring and it felt like every month took away a year of her life. She managed to save money, just enough to go to the United States and perhaps have a better life. It wasn't easy at first, and Nina tried to be away from the "big companies" her mom was afraid of. She understood her mom's point of view, but when Vought reached out with a job offer, she couldn't say no. She was just helping perhaps the best person in the universe, and that was already an honor. She even brought her Homelander figurines and posters with her. It was a bit silly, but she did have a crush on him. She sighed, wondering if he was taken or not. She didn't have a chance, but she would see him every day, at least.

She was getting ready when someone knocked on her door. "Nina?"

His voice was unmistakable. The Homelander. She shivered. "Yes?"

"May I come in?"

Nina opened the door, wet hair, no makeup and barefoot, but dressed in an elegant gray dress. She looked at him and he raised his eyebrows. He had a sheet of paper in one of his hands. "Busy?"

She shook her head. "No, no sir. What is it?"

He looked around her room, and she had made herself at home already. He saw the Homelander posters and figurines and smiled. "I see you're a fan."

"Yeah..." She blushed. "You're my favorite."

"You know what's that?" He pointed with his gloved hand to her. "That's good taste."

"Thank you sir." She smiled.

"Now." His smile suddenly disappeared. Something kind of bizarre. "I need you to find the contacts of these people for me."

He handed her a sheet of paper with dozens of names Nina didn't recognize. "Oh. Their numbers and locations? Okay, but..."

"But...?" His voice was so full of authority it made Nina think she had screwed something up.

"I... don't have access to Vought's files on superheroes."

"Listen." He took two steps closer to Nina and stood right in front of her. His eyes were so intimidating that Nina had to look down. He had a serious tone to his voice. "If I had to do it myself, you wouldn't be here. I hope you understand that."

Nina nodded. "I'll look them up right away."

He took another look at the room. He looked particularly good on the poster Nina had just above her bed.

"Just don't take long, alright darling?" He said, with a completely different tone, something way more friendly. "I need these today."

He went away, and Nina stared at his back as the door closed. She was paralyzed for a second and a bit confused.

-

"God, I said no questions!" Ashley whispered, as Nina asked her how to proceed. They were walking to Ashley's office. It was something about the press conference, apparently protesters were trying to disrupt the event and she had to do something. "Just go to the HR and ask. Say it's for him. They won't say no, because it's him."

"Is he always like that?" Nina followed and entered Ashley's office.

"Like what?" She was distracted and had a pile of papers to organize.

Nina sighed. "Kind of sweet but kind of threatening too."

Ashley looked up. She now felt a bit of regret and even if telling Nina the truth was the right thing to do, she would take too much time to find another assistant. Nina seemed passionate and Ashley would use her apparent love and admiration for her boss in benefit of the company. It was morally wrong and disgusting, but that's how life was.

"I never really know what he is thinking." Ashley pursed her lips. "But he seemed to like you. You'll be alright."

Nina was still a bit scared of him, and now she understood why Ashley seemed so uncomfortable. It happened once and she wasn't going to let it happen again. He had left for a press conference with the Seven, to talk Vought's new superhero program, after the existence of the Compound V and its effects was revealed to the general public. Stan Edgar thought the solution to silence the opposition was to take that moment and make the best out of it. While he was there, Nina went on and looked up the people he asked. They were all... superheroes... heroines. Women. She shrugged and decided not to question it. She asked for the info, making sure HR knew it was for him, and they delivered quickly... as if they knew he didn't like to wait. It was weird, sure, but it was what he wanted and she got it. If that was going to be the job, it would be no big deal.

She sat for a bit on the lounge, watching the conference. Everybody at the spotlight seemed tense and her boss was very serious, the way he looked when they talked in her bedroom. The questions went from support to disapproval, some of them were subtle and some direct. Homelander was sitting next to Edgar and they both had a very PR crafted answer. They assured everybody that Compound V would only be used for the best interests of the population, to make them feel safe. It was a shock to a lot of people when the news of manufactured superhumans came out, but somehow, Nina still thought that there was nothing wrong with that, because the Vought superheroes were always there the save the day, in the end. Homelander was proof of that.

The people were concerned with news about the other superhuman activities in other parts of the world, with some bad people. If superheroes could be made, so superterrorists. Some organizations suspected Vought themselves had experimented on them. Homelander got up, and Nina's eyes sparkled. He was about to save the world once again. He said that as long as Vought could prevent evil, they would. He promised that they would be there for the brave people of America. He said that the police force and the fire department were filled with brave men and women and these people deserved to be back home in the end of the day, to their families. He mentioned that even if he had powers, he was still a human on the inside, and that human part of him understood that no one needed to die pointlessly if the Seven could take the fall for them. He seemed to ease the situation and he said Nina's favorite line in the end.

Just so you know. You guys... you guys are the real heroes.

She got bored and decided to take a walk around the Tower, waiting for Homelander to come back. She looked at the statues of the Seven and people bumped into her, either busy or late to something. She waved to some heroes that were walking around and none of them was polite enough to wave back. It was okay, the corporate world was never so welcoming, but as long as her boss was being tended to, nothing else mattered. Walking on heels was the most difficult part. Everybody was really well dressed and she couldn't just wear whatever. She thought about how much comfortable - and shorter - she would be if she just changed the shoes. As she went back to her room to change them, she bumped into her boss. She jumped and wondered how he was back so quickly. It was so funny that she forgot, for a second, that her boss was Homelander and that he could fly.

"Nina." He said in acknowledgement, but also reminding her of her task.

"Here it is, boss." She handed him the files. He smirked and took them.

"Thanks, doll." He said, which made her blush. "You're a life savior."