Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want

18

"How's your face?"

No one but Starlight came to visit Nina. The Seven knew she was hurt, but they never bothered to actually talk to her personally. Homelander was the one making sure she was properly fed, he would bring ice packs for her to place over her face. It was super sweet, but also such unusual behavior coming from him. Everybody noticed it. Nina was the only one oblivious to his real personality and his unstable, destructive ways. It took a few days for her to be able to fully open her left eye. Her nose was healing quite fast, and she could go back to work, as she asked her boss every time he came in. But he refused, stating that she should be fully healed. It was a bit frustrating, to say the least.

"Better. I mean... it doesn't hurt as much anymore," Nina said, on her pajamas and holding an ice pack to her face. She was sitting right in the middle of her king sized bed.

She was extremely bored, so Annie coming in made her feel better. The order was not to leave the Tower for any reason, at least for a while. Homelander was probably busy, but he always visited at the end of the day. Ashley never called to know how Nina was. It was so weird. Nina had no idea that Ashley hated her guts, because she had to stand Homelander's verbal abuse for years and now he was babying his new assistant. It wasn't because Ashley felt something for Homelander, but because she did everything in her power to keep Vought afloat and she was still mistreated. Starlight always said Ashley could find another job, but she refused and kept going. It was toxic workaholic behavior. The hero had to admit that Nina was having it easy for someone who wasn't a Supe. But it wasn't her fault at all.

"No time to talk to that person I told you about, huh?"

Nina had forgotten about it completely. The ripped paper with the phone number was still somewhere in her office. "I'm sorry. I had no time, I couldn't leave and the Voughtland trip took all of my time."

"Do you think... you could come with me now?" She seemed jittery, like she wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.

"What? Where?"

"My contact," Starlight said. "My contact is available to talk. Right now."

"Listen, Annie." Nina put the ice pack over the bed. "You're scaring me."

"Well..."

"Yeah, I know," Nina sighed. "You can't say it here. But all of that secrecy is making me nervous. You know that the boss will probably find me if he wants to."

"It's important."

Nina's eyes wandered. Her head wasn't hurting as much as before. "How far away is it?"

"Not that far. I promise. Go get changed," Starlight said. She turned to the door and Homelander was there.

"Starlight!", he said. Annie had no idea if his happiness was genuine. "How is Nina doing?"

"Uh...", Starlight widened her eyes. "She's fine. We were going to grab something to eat."

"Really?", he took a step towards Annie, in a way to intimidate her. "Then why is your heart beating like it's about to pop out of your chest?"

"Well... you startled me," she frowned. It seemed impossible to be away from him, especially when the plan needed him to be far. It was like he enjoyed fucking everything up.

Homelander tilted his head, "what's going on here?"

Nina looked at the scene, feeling a bit uneasy. He had a very serious look in his face. He directed his eyes to the young woman in bed. "Nina?"

Nina smiled shyly, "I just reminded Annie that we can't leave the Tower. I'm sorry."

Homelander smiled at Starlight, "it's okay, feel free to order something... just don't leave."

"Yeah, I'll do that. Bye." Starlight left in a hurry. Homelander side eyed her as she left.

He turned to Nina, "how are you doing, sweetheart?"

"Fine," she smiled. "My face looks awful, still."

"Does it hurt?" His big blue eyes were always so tender when caring for her.

"Just a bit. I think I'll be ready to work in a couple of days," she yawned.

"I hope so. But don't worry about that right now," he said, softly. His voice poured in her ears like the sweetest honey.

He sat by her left side, mostly facing the wall, next to the ice pack Nina had placed over the bed. His profile was gorgeous. His sharp features, his nose, his chin. It was impossible for him to anything but gorgeous, from every angle.

"I just hate not being able to go back to work," she confessed. "I feel a bit useless."

"I swear I'll take you out when you heal. Just... not now," he looked down.

While talking to Starlight he was firm and authoritative, but he seemed to let his vulnerability show while alone with Nina. She really appreciated that. It was perhaps the way he had to demonstrate he trusted her. She could feel that something was wrong. She didn't know if the shapeshifter had attacked again and someone from the Seven had stopped it, she didn't know If there was more than one. He didn't really tell her anything to protect her, but Nina was bothered by it.

"How... how are things going?"

"We're waiting for an attack," he shook his head, "we have no way to track them."

"But..."

"I'll take care of it," he deflated, "don't you worry." He had been repeating the same thing to her for a while and it didn't seem truthful anymore. She knew he had lost control over the situation.

She reached out for a hug, coming from behind on her knees, wrapping her arms around his stomach and placing her head over his left shoulder between his neck and the golden eagle on his suit. She held him tight. It wasn't really like the hugs they had exchanged before, for work purposes. It was a long, loving hug. A hug of understanding, a thank you hug. She owed so much to him. She wouldn't be there if it wasn't for him. His gloved hand reached for her small hands and gently caressed her fingers. He sighed and closed his eyes, taking her scent in. She touched her cheek to his. They remained silent for a bit, as if telepathically communicating with each other. They both knew what that hug meant, and they both needed that moment of mutual adoration.

"You can do it, John."

He chuckled, which made her do the same.

"You're my hero."