The Boys[Oneshots]

nightmare

Ryan could feel his eyes burning trough his mom.

He could hear her screams in his ears like an ambulance siren,far,far away.

He couldn't breathe.

He couldn't think.

Suddenly,the forest from his memories went dark and it was just him and his mom alone in a dark place.

"Mom! I'm so so so sorry! Mom!"

He sat on his knees next to her limp,bloodied body and sobbed. He pushed her,trying to wake her up but she wouldn't. Of course she wouldn't.

"MOM!"

-

His own heartbeat was the only thing he could hear in the room that his dad ordered to be made for him. It's a small room built into his dad's larger one,with everything that Ryan asked him to get for him:posters,toys,books,everything.

The young boy was sobbing uncontrollably in his bed,snuggling a pillow but never quite shaking the fright and the guilt that the dream has reminded him of. A part of him still felt really guilty for what he did,it didn't matter that killing his mom wasn't his intention.

He got up,opened his door and slowly walked to his dad's bed.

Homelander was lying on his side,in a black T-shirt of what Ryan guessed was probably a rock band of some sort. The boy had never seen his father in anything but his superhero suit before. He seemed much smaller,more human this way. He then noticed that he had wireless headphones in his ears. Why would he sleep with music?

Ryan built up the courage and gently nudged his arm,trying to wake him up.

The man growled a little,sleepily, and fluttered his eyes open. Suddenly,his eyes were full of worry.

"Ryan? Wh...what happened?"

"I'm sorry" that's all he could manage to say trough his tears.

"What do you mean? Are you hurt? Who the fuck do I need to put down?" His worried gaze turned then to cold fury,which scared Ryan a little bit.

"No,no,nothing like that!... I-I had a nightmare. I'm sorry for waking you up and worrying you,dad."

The superhero took a deep breath and calmed down. Suddenly,he smiled and took Ryan in his arms,placing him next to him on the bed. His dad ran his hand trough the boy's hair and placed it around him afterwards.

"It's gonna be okay. No monsters can hunt you down while I'm here." Homelander smiled.

"No, it's not that... it was... I remembered how... how I killed mom."

His father took a deep breath and looked down for a bit.

"I told you,it wasn't your fault,Ryan."

"I know but... I still..."

"I get it. It's gonna be okay though. How about... how about tomorrow we save someone together? Maybe that will make you feel better about what happened."

Ryan smiled at the thought of being a hero instead of a villain,for once.

"I'm gonna go bring you some tissues and water,okay?"

"No! Don't leave!" Ryan desperately tugged at his T-shirt and his dad smiled at him,a wider smile than he has ever seen from him.

"Okay,okay!" He lay back down on his side next to his kid and startled tickling him "You gonna wipe your snot on me,I get it!"

Ryan giggled and tried to push his hands away.

After a while his dad tossed his blanket on top of both of them and rested one arm on Ryan.

"Goodnight,sweetheart. I'm here if you need me."

"Goodnight,dad."