Chapter 17
The girl finished the first gunman and turned toward Adam and the Boys.
Frenchie was standing behind Adam, watching her. M.M. looked at Adam without taking his eyes off the girl.
"You can handle her, right?" M.M. asked.
The girl suddenly jumped toward them.
Adam pushed against the floor and jumped forward to meet her. The girl pulled one hand back as she crossed the distance. Her fingers were aimed at his chest as if she planned to tear straight through him.
Her hand came forward.
Adam caught her wrist before it touched his chest.
Adam kept his grip while the force behind her attack pushed against his arm. He turned with her movement and pulled her body around. After one turn, he released her toward the other side of the room.
Adam's fingers did not move when the girl tried to pull her hand free during the turn. He shifted his weight through his legs and used the force of her jump against her. Her feet left the floor as he completed the throw.
The girl spun through the air and struck the wall beside the exit. She dropped near the wall, then slowly pushed herself back to her feet.
She kept one hand against the wall while rising. Adam stayed in front of the others and watched her rise.
Adam did not move toward her.
Red light appeared inside his eyes as he activated his heat vision. He did not fire it. He only stood between the girl and the Boys with his eyes glowing the same way Homelander's did before an attack.
M.M. stared at Adam. Frenchie also remained behind him and watched the red light in his eyes.
The girl stood in the same place for a few seconds. She looked at Adam, then turned her body toward the exit.
She ran.
Adam let her pass without firing. The girl crossed the exit and disappeared from the underground area.
Frenchie stepped out from behind Adam and looked at him.
"You weren't actually going to kill her, were you?"
Adam switched off his heat vision. The red light faded from his eyes.
"No," Adam said. "I only wanted to scare her."
After she escaped, the Boys searched the entire underground area. The team moved through each room until every box had been checked.
Adam looked through the last box himself. It was empty, confirming that no Compound V had been stored there.
They found no vial of the drug.
The only thing left was a sealed parcel. M.M. picked it up.
They took the parcel and left the underground area.
At Vought Tower, Madelyn Stillwell sat in her office with two members of her team. They were discussing how Vought should explain Translucent's disappearance to the public.
One of them suggested announcing that he had died while serving his country. The other pointed out that admitting an unkillable member of The Seven had been killed could damage Vought's military bill.
Madelyn listened while they tried to find a story that would not create more questions. They were considering saying that Translucent had been sent on a classified mission when her phone rang.
She answered it.
The voice on the other end gave her an emergency update. Trans-Oceanic Flight 37, which was travelling from Paris to Chicago, had been hijacked over the Atlantic.
The hijacking had happened only minutes earlier. Three hijackers were believed to be on the plane, and fighter jets were already moving to intercept it.
Madelyn stood up.
She left her office and went to find Homelander. Queen Maeve was with him when Madelyn reached them.
"I have a mission for you," Madelyn told Homelander.
She explained that Flight 37 had been taken by hijackers and was still in the air. Fighter jets had already been sent, but Homelander and Maeve could reach the plane sooner.
The plane was over international waters. That meant no country could protest if The Seven moved in.
"Bring the passengers back alive," Madelyn said. "If you succeed, no one in Congress will be able to stand against putting Supes in the military."
"We'll handle it," he said.
Elsewhere, A-Train reached the place where he had been getting Compound V.
Police had already raided it.
Officers were moving through the area while the entrance remained blocked. A-Train stopped only long enough to understand that someone had found the operation.
Then he vanished from the street.
He ran straight to Popclaw's apartment. When he entered, Popclaw looked at him with fear already showing on her face.
"You're here," she said.
A-Train walked toward her. "You did this, didn't you?"
Popclaw's fear changed into anger when he raised his voice.
"Don't yell at me."
"Who did you tell about Compound V?" A-Train demanded.
"Nobody."
"You were the only person who knew I had it and where I was taking it. Who else did you tell?"
"I didn't tell anyone."
A-Train stepped closer. "Tell me the truth. Who did you tell?"
Popclaw shook her head. "No one. I told no one."
A-Train kept watching her as if another answer might appear on her face. Popclaw refused to change her answer and repeated that she had told nobody.
Some time later, Butcher told Adam that he needed to meet Starlight again.
They left the van and entered a small cafe. Butcher waited until they had taken a place away from the other customers. Then he placed one hand on Adam's shoulder.
"Adam, you need to hack Starlight's phone," Butcher said. "Turn it into a live microphone so we can hear what she says."
Adam released a tired breath and looked at him.
"I don't know what else I'll have to do for you."
Butcher smiled.
Adam took out his phone and opened Starlight's contact. Their earlier conversation had already given him a reason to ask for another meeting.
He typed a short message.
Can we meet?
Adam sent it and waited.
The reply appeared on the screen.
I was thinking the same thing.