Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want

13

"Where's your boss?"

"I don't know, really."

Nina was making sure that the visit to Voughtland would occur as planned. The Seven really hated the idea, because they would have to be there as a team, and it didn't take long for Nina to notice that they absolutely hated each other. She couldn't blame Starlight, being in the same room with the Deep, considering how he treated her, was provably very uncomfortable. The other ones just didn't want to attend. Black Noir always stayed silent. She knew that he could talk, at least he did on those old Vought movies. But it bothered her that he never did. Like he was hiding something important. Nina also didn't get his appeal at all. Annie walked into Nina's office looking for her boss but he was nowhere in sight. She was wearing her street clothes, for a walk as a normal human being, perhaps.

"Really? Weren't you supposed to be with him at all times?"

Nina was pressing her cellphone against her ear with the help of her right shoulder, while looking for some papers. "Sometimes he just goes away for a while. I have to take care of this stuff, so I'm glad he didn't ask me for anything in particular today."

Annie nodded. Nina wasn't looking at her directly, but she was trying to be as polite as she could. "I thought you could contact him directly, don't you have technology for that?"

"Oh, it's not that." Annie put her hands inside her pants' pockets. "I was just curious."

"Oh, okay." Said Nina. "Just give me a second."

The person she was calling finally picked up. "Yes. Yes, I'm his assistant. Yes, all of them. Are the rides all okay? We don't need accidents. If not, please fix them. You have twenty-four hours. Thank you."

"Shouldn't Ashley be the one to be handling all of that?" Annie asked. "She was the one who set all of this up before you."

"Yeah... I mean, sometimes she still helps me." Nina sighed. "But Homelander told me that since it was my idea to bring you guys there, I should handle it. It seems like the kids really liked to see him when we went to school."

"He always tells people how he hates kids."

"He does." Nina smiled, remembering how avoidant he was at the beginning. "But it was good for his brand. Now this will be the cherry on top."

Starlight sighed. She seemed so proud of her job. "Hey, I need to tell you something."

"Hm?" Nina was reading again. She had so much to do, but Annie was always so kind that she was multitasking just to get her attention. With that, she barely noticed the changes in Annie's expression as they talked.

"Homelander... your boss." Annie pursed her lips. "He's not who you think he is."

Now the tone of Starlight's voice changed enough to make Nina stop and look at her. "What do you mean, Annie?"

"He... he's not a good person, Nina. I've been trying to tell you this, but he's always... he's always listening."

"Not good... in what way?" Nina felt bothered by the statement, but she was also curious.

"Well, he only thinks about himself." Annie seemed a bit shy, trying not to spill everything onto Nina, because the bastard could be listening. "He's not the hero of the story at all."

"My God." Nina said. She sounded disappointed. "You now. First it was Maeve telling me the same thing. Ashley always walks around like she's about to explode and no one gives me answers at all."

"I..."

"Can you please be more specific? Can you tell me what you really mean? Because the vague statements are killing me." Nina was annoyed, and she made sure that Starlight would notice.

"You can always..." She took her hands from her pockets and in one of them there was a small piece of paper. "Just call this number. I promise they'll answer your questions."

She handed Nina the paper. It was a phone number Nina didn't recognize and the word "contact" written at the bottom. She looked at Starlight and she looked worried. "Please call it away from here. Away from this building, away from him. Please."

Nina nodded and the hero left. What was all of that? Why couldn't they fucking say anything? She never told Starlight that she felt like Homelander was hiding something from her, and now she had the chance to find out what it was. Was it worth betraying the boss? He was always so kind. He was firm when he wanted to be... and no one seem to like him besides the Deep. But Deep looked like he was about to shit his pants every time Homelander came in. Black Noir was a silent ally and there was no way to tell if he really liked the boss or not. Maybe A-Train had the answers? But judging by the fact Maeve and Starlight never spilled the beans, Nina was certain that A-Train would not tell her anything.

She sighed. She had so much to do. That call would have to wait because if something went wrong during the event, Homelander could find out that Starlight had a contact that had "secrets" about him and that Nina was involved. She decided to go on with her day as planned and pull all the strings she needed to make a successful trip to Voughtland. She had sent the autographed pics to the kids ahead of time, and checked with the school what the students thought of that. It was good move. She was informed that they were excited to go to the event and meet their heroes. By the time she was done, it was too late to leave the building to call an unknown person for info on Homelander. The man himself came to check on Nina after dark. He would probably notice if he wasn't around.

"It's too late, you know." He said. Nina felt so guilty. He was being super sweet. Maybe he knew... what if he knew about the conversation? Would he say something if he knew? "You should go to sleep."

"Yeah."

"Just take a good shower and relax." He smiled. "I think I'll do the same."

He looked so gorgeous, all the time. All the fucking time. Like a beautiful painting made by someone who dreamed about the ideal man. It wasn't really the suit with the fake muscles. It was the posture. The voice. The ocean colored eyes, the sharp jaw and the nose. It was his smell. He was a walking sensory overload, he messed up all of her senses. She smiled, and thought about having that shower together. He definitely didn't think of her that way, and the realization made her blush. She hoped his powers didn't include mind-reading.