Chapter 43 : Crisis
Before leaving, Mark took one last look around the underground storage area.
Something wasn’t adding up.
The courier had entered the noodle shop, picked up the shipment, and transported it here. M.M. had found Compound V, sure, but there had barely been anything left inside the vial. There was no way they could have used all of it that fast.
So where the hell did it go?
Mark’s gaze moved across the room, passing over overturned chairs, broken crates, scattered paperwork, and spilled food until it suddenly stopped on one of the takeout noodle boxes lying among the mess on the floor.
Then he remembered.
If he recalled the original plot correctly, the Compound V wasn’t stored inside some secure container.
It was hidden inside the noodle boxes.
Mark walked over and picked it up.
The weight immediately felt wrong.
Opening the container confirmed his suspicion.
Instead of noodles, three blue vials rested neatly inside.
"Well, there you are."
A small smile appeared on his face. Quietly, he removed the vials and slipped them into the inside pocket of his coat before closing the box and putting it back where he had found it.
With that done, he turned and headed toward the exit.
After that, the place descended into complete chaos.
As it turned out, secret underground facilities full of armed guards, dead bodies, prison cells, illegal drugs, and evidence of multiple felonies were generally frowned upon by law enforcement.
Who knew?
Several patrol cars were already arriving while officers began securing the area and questioning nearby witnesses. The group didn’t wait around long enough to become part of those conversations.
Meanwhile, not far away, A-Train arrived carrying a bag.
The pickup was supposed to be routine.
He walked toward the store expecting another normal shipment only to slow down when he noticed the flashing police lights.
His expression immediately darkened.
The area was crawling with cops.
A-Train’s grip tightened around the bag.
Something had gone very, very wrong.
He ducked behind a garbage bin and watched as body bags were carried out of the building. One look was enough.
His men were dead.
Which meant the secret had gotten out.
***
Inside the hideout, Butcher picked up the vial and stared at the tiny amount of blue liquid sitting at the bottom. He turned it slightly in the light before looking over at M.M.
"Oi," he said. "The fuck is this?"
M.M. frowned.
"Compound V."
"I know it’s bloody Compound V," Butcher shot back. "I’m askin’ why there’s so little of it."
He held the vial up again.
"Looks like some bloke mistook it for a wank jar and left us the leftovers."
M.M. just looked annoyed.
"That’s all we found."
Butcher stared at the vial for another second.
"Yeah, well, that don’t make a lick o’ sense, does it?" Butcher muttered while staring at the tiny amount of Compound V sitting inside the vial.
He had already tried pulling strings through Susan Rayner, hoping the CIA might be interested in looking into the stuff, but that conversation had gone nowhere. Rayner wanted proof, not theories, and what they had wasn’t enough. Until they found something bigger, she wasn’t touching it.
Which meant that road was dead.
For now.
"Bloody useless," Butcher grumbled, looking down at the vial again.
Across from him, Mark was busy with something far more important.
"Yeah, Annie, I also don’t like my current job. You see, I do all the work, but my three lovely coworkers mostly just give me stinky looks," he said with a smile.
M.M. slowly looked up.
Frenchie looked up too.
Neither appreciated being included in that statement.
Inside her room at Vought Tower, Annie was sitting in a chair with her phone pressed against her ear.
"You too?" she asked before hesitating slightly. "I mean... my work environment isn’t exactly safe. I got my dream job, but it’s seriously becoming a headache. Sometimes I think about just dropping it."
Mark leaned back in his chair.
"Yeah, I get that feeling. But hey, at least you get some satisfaction out of it, right?"
Annie sighed quietly.
The Seven wasn’t what she imagined.
Most of the people around her cared more about branding than helping anyone.
But despite all that, there were still people who genuinely respected her. Fans who looked up to her. People who believed she represented something good.
"Somewhat," she admitted. "Not as much as I thought, but... somewhat."
"See? That’s already something."
A small smile appeared on Annie’s face.
"So what are you doing?"
"Nothing. Just an office meeting."
M.M. immediately looked over.
"Office meeting?" Annie repeated.
"Yep."
Mark glanced around the room.
"But everybody here seems really focused on blue liquids and emotional damage."
"The—is it okay to call like this?" Annie asked. "I mean... with everything going on?"
"Yeah," Mark said. "It’s okay."
"Actually..." Annie said after a brief pause, shifting slightly in her chair. "Do you want to hang out this weekend?"
There was a hint of awkwardness in her voice, like she wasn’t completely used to asking people that herself.
"I’m free, and honestly I don’t really have anything to do. So... if you’re not busy..."
Mark shrugged lightly.
"Yep. I’m absolutely fine with that."
Annie immediately raised a clenched fist and gave a quick little "yes" gesture.
"Nice."
A faint smile tugged at Mark’s mouth.
Then Annie seemed to remember something.
"Oh, and I heard something kind of important earlier."
Mark looked up.
"What?"
"I was passing by one of the meeting rooms today and overheard part of a conversation. Something about a flight." Annie frowned slightly while trying to remember the details. "I don’t know why, but my colleagues are strangely excited about it."
The smile disappeared from Mark’s face.
A flight.
At this point in the timeline, there was only one flight important enough to get seven excited, there was really only one possibility.
Flight 37.
The one where every passenger ended up dead.
For a moment Mark didn’t say anything.
"Mark?" Annie asked.
He blinked and quickly forced a smile back onto his face.
"Sorry. Just remembered something."
"Umm, Annie, it’s about time for me to get back to work. I’ll call you again later."
A small smile appeared on Annie’s face.
"Okay."
"And I’m definitely looking forward to our weekend hangout. Bye."
"Bye."
Mark ended the call before slipping the phone back into his pocket. Right now, a lot of people were depending on him.
*****
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