Chapter 11
Butcher kept the gun aimed at Adam's shoulder.
A line of blood showed under Adam's fingers. The bullet had entered only a little. That was enough to remind him that he was not close to Homelander yet.
Adam looked at Butcher. "Cheap power or not, it still bought you time."
Butcher stared at him.
Hughie and Frenchie stood near the cage. Translucent's remains were still spread across the basement, and Hughie looked like he might fall if someone spoke too loudly.
Butcher finally lowered the gun.
"Fine," Butcher said. "You want in, you're in."
Adam did not smile.
Butcher stepped closer. "But don't get warm feelings about it. I don't trust you."
"I know."
"Good."
Frenchie let out a breath. "Can we please move before someone else comes?"
Butcher looked toward the remains of Translucent. "That's your first job, Superman."
Adam looked at him.
Butcher's mouth curled slightly. "Take what is left of him and throw it where no one finds it."
Frenchie brought thick bags from the back room. He worked fast, keeping Hughie away from the worst of it. Butcher helped only enough to make sure each bag was sealed properly. Adam lifted the filled bags without showing how light they felt in his hands.
Hughie watched from the side.
He still had blood on his clothes. His hands shook. He kept looking at the cage as if Translucent might stand up again.
Frenchie touched his shoulder. "Come. I take you home."
Hughie did not argue.
Butcher gave Adam an address before leaving. "Meet there after you're done. If you run, I'll find you."
"I won't run."
"We'll see."
Adam carried the bags out through the back and moved away from the building. Once he was far enough from the area, he used his speed.
The streets blurred around him.
He kept the bags close and ran through side roads whenever he could. He could not match A-Train. A normal man still could never follow him. In a few minutes, he reached the water.
Adam threw the first bag into the ocean as far as his arm could send it.
Then he ran again.
He reached another side and threw the next bag there. He repeated it until every sealed part was gone in a different direction. None of the throws looked casual. Each one crossed a long distance before the water swallowed it.
When the last bag disappeared, Adam looked at his wounded shoulder.
Only a thin spot of blood remained there.
"I need more synchronization," he muttered.
Far away from him, Homelander stood in Madelyn Stillwell's office.
Stillwell looked up from her desk. "Did you find Translucent?"
Homelander opened his mouth.
For a second, he wanted to tell her everything. He wanted to say that a masked man had blocked his heat vision. He wanted to say that the man had hit him with enough force to throw him through buildings.
The words did not come out.
If Stillwell knew someone had challenged him, Vought would know. The story would spread beyond her office sooner or later.
Homelander could not allow that.
His whole life stood on one idea.
No one was above him.
He did not even know what Adam was yet. The man could be a Supe, or the mask could be part of some suit that gave him strength and speed. The heat vision was the part he could not explain.
That was not enough to explain him.
Stillwell watched him carefully. "Homelander?"
Homelander smiled.
"Nothing yet," he said. "But I'll look again myself."
"Vought security can handle this."
"No," Homelander said, too quickly.
Stillwell's eyes narrowed a little.
Homelander softened his voice. "Translucent is one of us. I should be the one to find him."
Stillwell studied him for another second, then nodded.
Homelander turned away before she could ask more.
He would go back to that place. He would find the masked man. Then he would decide what the truth was.
Adam reached the address Butcher had given him a little later.
It was not the basement. It was a place near a quiet street where a van waited near the curb. Butcher stood outside it with a large man Adam recognized as Marvin T. Milk, the man called M.M.
Hughie was there too. He looked cleaner now, but not better. His face still carried the shock from the basement.
Adam slowed before reaching them.
Butcher looked at the empty space near Adam's hands. "Done?"
"Done."
M.M. looked Adam up and down. "This the new guy?"
"Adam," Butcher said. "He works with us now."
M.M. did not look convinced.
Adam held out his hand. "Adam."
He shook it once. "M.M.," he said.
The grip was firm. Adam did not push back with power.
M.M. turned to Butcher. "You said we needed someone for A-Train's girl."
Butcher nodded toward Adam. "He says he knows tech."
Adam looked at Hughie. "I worked in a company. Sales was the job name, but I handled system access when clients got stuck."
He glanced at the work bag. "I know enough hacking to get through a normal apartment computer."
M.M. looked at Adam. "Then I go in with him."
Hughie straightened. "No. I want to go."
M.M. looked at him. "You?"
"Yeah," Hughie said. "I know tech too. Bryman Audio was mostly installs."
M.M. looked at Butcher.
Butcher answered, "A-Train's girlfriend. Popclaw."
Hughie heard A-Train's name and his expression changed.
Adam saw it.
Adam understood the change right away. He was taking the place M.M. had in the original story.
M.M. turned back to Hughie. "Fine. You and Adam go in."
Butcher pointed toward the van. "You two act like workers. Get inside. Find anything that tells us what A-Train was doing before he killed Robin."
Hughie swallowed.
Adam nodded. "We can do it."
They left in the van soon after. M.M. drove while Butcher stayed back, watching the street through the window. Hughie sat beside Adam, quiet for most of the ride.
At Popclaw's building, Adam stepped out first. Hughie followed him with a small work bag.
They went up to her floor and stopped at the apartment door. Adam lifted his hand and knocked.
The door opened. Adam gave a simple worker's smile.
"Hi, I'm from Bryman Audio."