Chương 40

Adam found Annie in the church. On the bench, Annie sat with her hands folded and her eyes fixed ahead. The suit and name did not matter there; she was just Annie January, the girl who had learned that half of her life had been built on someone else's lie. Adam sat behind her and said, "Hi." Annie did not turn.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was worried about you." She stayed quiet. Adam leaned forward a little.

"I did not want to tell you like that because I knew what it would do to you. Your mother, Vought, everything you believed in... I knew it would hurt hard." Annie's hand tightened over the back of the bench in front of her.

"So you knew." Adam answered without looking away, "Yes."

"And you still lied." Adam did not defend himself.

"I did." That made her turn slightly. Her eyes were wet, but her face was hard. Adam lowered his voice.

"You can be angry at me; you should be. I gave you half-truths because I thought I was protecting you. Maybe I was just scared, but don't blame yourself for what Vought did." Annie rose from the bench.

"Don't do that," she said.

"Don't come here and talk like you understand me." She started walking toward the aisle. Adam followed, keeping a step behind her.

"Your anger is fair. But I am not going to stop caring about you just because you are angry."

"I don't need you to care about me."

"I know. But I still do." Annie did not stop. Adam's face changed. There was no good way to say the next thing.

"Annie, I need your help." That finally stopped her. She turned back slowly. Adam said, "My friends were taken." For a second she just stared at him. Then her expression turned colder than before.

"There it is," she said.

"That is the truth. You came because your team is in trouble." This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"No," Adam said.

"Yes. You did not come for me. You came because you need Starlight." Adam stepped closer, and Annie moved away before he reached her. Adam said her name once.

"Annie." She cut him off before he could say more.

"No. I am done." She walked out of the church. Adam did not chase her past the door. He stood there with the empty aisle in front of him. For once his knowledge of the original timeline did not make him feel ready. In the show, Hughie had broken her trust. Now Adam had done it in another way, and that felt worse because he had walked into it with open eyes. If he had more time, he would have stayed until Annie threw every word at him. He deserved that much, but his team was in Vought's hands now.

Waiting would only make him late, so he swallowed it and turned. Behind him, hurried footsteps entered the church. Hughie came in breathing hard.

"I knew you would come to this church." Adam turned.

"What happened?"

"M. M., Frenchie, and Kimiko," Hughie said.

"They got grabbed." Adam made himself look shocked.

"How do you know?"

"Butcher saw the lodge. He said soldiers were all over the place. He thinks they took them."

"Where is Butcher?" Hughie's face tightened.

"He went to kill Homelander." The answer left Adam staring at him while the church went silent for a full second.

"He will never pull that off alone," Adam said.

"I know," Hughie said.

"But he went anyway." Adam walked past him toward the exit.

"Tell me exactly what Butcher saw." Hughie followed with his voice tight.

"The place was locked down, maybe twenty soldiers or more. I did not see inside. I just know they were gone."

"So you don't know where they were taken."

"No." Adam stopped at the church steps. His eyes moved once over the street, then back to Hughie. Hughie noticed that look and did not like it.

"You already have a plan, don't you?" Adam gave him a small smile.

"You will not enjoy it."

"That is never a good start."

"You have to be bait." Hughie's mouth opened.

"Bait? Why am I bait?"

"Because they still want you too. If you walk back to that lodge, they will take you to the same place. I will follow."

"You can follow a van without being seen?" Adam looked up. Hughie swallowed.

"Right. Flying."

"And speed," Adam said.

"You just need to let them grab you."

"That sounds insane."

"It is." Hughie rubbed both hands over his face and looked toward the road. The fear stayed in his voice, but his answer did not change. Hughie said, "Fine. But if this goes wrong, I am haunting you." Adam answered with a nod.

"Fair." A short time later, Hughie walked toward the lodge on foot. He kept his hands visible. He did not run. At the parking gate, he looked once over his shoulder. Adam was gone from sight. The soldiers came out fast. Two grabbed his arms before he could speak. One shoved a black bag over his head. Hughie shouted once from panic, not resistance, as they dragged him into a vehicle. High above the road, Adam watched. The vehicle did not go far.

It turned off the main road and entered a low government facility hidden behind an old service entrance. Adam stayed high enough that the soldiers never looked up. Inside the holding room, Hughie was thrown to the floor. The bag came off. M. M. and Frenchie were already there, tied and locked behind reinforced bars. Kimiko was not with them. Frenchie stared at him.

"Petit Hughie?" M. M. snapped, "Where the hell is Butcher?" Hughie pushed himself up.

"He went after Homelander." Frenchie's face went pale.

"You came alone?" Hughie shook his head.

"No," he said. The ceiling exploded. Concrete crashed down. Soldiers shouted outside. Dust dropped through the hole as Adam descended straight into the holding room, floating a few feet above the broken floor. He looked at Frenchie, then at M. M., then at Hughie.

"So," Adam said, "did you miss me?"