Stop. It's fine. He'd done this thousands of times before. Why did it still frighten him so much?

The hiss of the meeting room doors, snapped him out of it as he plastered on a timid smile.

"Hey, John." He murmured, slowly making his way to the head of the table.

"Dane." Homelander bit out with a forced smile, placing an ungloved hand on his chin.

Oh, God. Was he angry with him?

"Everything... alright?" The Shadow's voice grew quieter as his pace became slower.

"Hm? Oh, yes. With you? Everything's fine." The blond looked up at him. "I just have a few things to sort out with The Deep."

"Oh... Right now?"

"Any moment actually."

Dane stiffened instantly, placing a white knuckled hand at the top of his usual seat, beside Homelander. "We'll, I'd uh— Prefer not to be here to, um—"

"Nonsense, sit down." Homelander's voice grew more authoritative, to which Dane quickly took a seat.

"I'm doing this for you, you know? Of course you should be here." The man spoke confidently before turning his eyes to the doorway as Deep entered.

"Oh—" The Deep's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the two. "Well, I heard we had a meeting. So, um, I'll just leave you guys to it." He quickly moved to turn around.

"Well, we're having a meeting right now, aren't we, Deep?" Homelander's voice commanded attention, causing Dane's shoulders to tense in anticipation.
"You, me, and Shadow..."

Deep slowly turned to face their leader.

"Come on in." The blond nodded his head to beckon the man closer.

"Yeah. Sure." Deep murmured before reluctantly making his way into the room. He eyed Dane for a moment before looking to the doors as they shut with a mechanical whir. He slowly moved to sit down at the seat beside The Shadow.

There was a moment of silence as a smiling Homelander stared The Deep down.

"So, uh, what—er" Deep broke through, hand gesturing nervously toward the two. "Or is there, is there anything I can—can do for you? Homelander?"

Their leader let out a small sigh.

"Well, yeah. I-I guess, uh..." He sighed again. "Well, you can help me understand something, Deep. 'Cause, uh..." His head dipped down as he let out a chuckle before looking back at the man.

"I don't know, maybe I'm stupid. Am I stupid, Deep?"

Dane kept his back ramrod straight at that. He had wanted Deep to be punished for what he did, but he didn't anticipate being there to watch.

"What? No." The Deep scoffed. "No. You're not stupid." He nervously chuckled. "You're—you're smart. Very smart. Right?"

"Yeah. Okay." Homelander began after the admission. "So, what possible reason—" The man immediately stood to which both Deep and Dane reeled slightly in their chairs. "What, uh, razor-sharp fish instinct—" He gently brushed a bare hand across the top of Dane's shoulders as he passed. Dane's shoulders reflexively flinched at the touch.
"Made you run to Stilwell and tell her what you thought you saw down there?" Homelander grabbed at The Deep's shoulders from behind, squeezing lightly in jest.

Dane's brows furrowed in confusion. He had no idea what they were talking about.

"All right, look, I-I thought—I thought I, I was, uh... I-I don't even know—I don't even know what I saw down there, as a matter of fact. It was. It was really dark and, uh, muddy—the water was really muddy. I'm sorry. Okay? I'm sorry." The Deep muttered quickly, instantly flinching as Homelander's grip tightened.
"I-I didn't... I didn't really see anything down there, as a matter of fact."

Homelander chuckled lightly. "That's what I thought." He smiled, instantly letting go of the other man's shoulders.

"Yeah."

"Yeah." The blond smiled, placing one hand on The Deep's shoulder as he turned slightly to face him. For a moment, Dane thought it was over with.

Until Homelander's hand gracefully moved to Deep's neck, a thumb gently grazing across his skin to rest at the middle of his throat.

"Now, Shadow tells me you did something to his friend he didn't want you to." Homelander's expression instantly grew very serious.

"Well, I-I, uh, um—Friend?" The Deep blurted out, instantly panicking.

"Yes, Starlight. Surely it was a mistake, right? A mistake that won't happen again?" The man began to press his thumb down.

"Homelander," Dane began, moving to stand. Homelander used his free hand to place it on Dane's shoulder, pushing him back into his seat.
"Shadow," Their leader returned, keeping his eyes narrowed at The Deep.

"Yes, it, uh, it won't happen again." Deep quickly muttered out, to which Homelander smiled.

"And I trust we never have to have this conversation again."

"No. Of course not. Just this once." Deep whispered out.

Homelander eyed the man for a moment longer before his face broke into a smile. He chuckled lightly to which The Deep copied with a nervous laugh of his own. The blond dropped the grip he had on man's neck as he moved to the head of the room, staring out the windows once again, his hands held behind his back.

"Now go fuck Shamu in the blowhole."

Deep looked to Shadow before quickly looking away, down at the table.
"Yeah," He whispered quietly before getting up to leave.

Dane let out a breath he didn't know he had held, stiffening as Homelander turned to look at him.

"There." The man smiled fondly. "All settled."

"Thank you." Dane murmured.

"Of course. Hey, how about we go out to lunch? Celebration for a meeting well done." Homelander spoke, moving to stand closer to the other man's still sitting form.

"Oh, uh, I don't know—" Dane began.

"I'll take that as a yes."