Chương 48

The Boys entered Central Parkway Mall after receiving a lead about suspicious activity inside. They spread through the building, checking the open walkways and the stores around them. M. M. took one side of the mall with Hughie, while Frenchie moved in the opposite direction. Nobody knew how long the lead would remain useful, so they kept moving instead of waiting together. Kimiko moved more slowly than the others. Her senses had already caught something familiar.

She stopped near one of the corridors and drew in a breath. Frenchie noticed her change. He had seen Kimiko react to danger before, but this time she looked toward the store as if she recognized something.

"What is it, mon coeur?" Kimiko did not answer. She turned toward a store and started walking. Her steps became quicker as the familiar scent grew stronger. She pushed past the entrance without waiting for the others to catch up. Adam stayed beside Butcher while the others moved through different parts of the mall. Butcher said almost nothing. He kept looking forward while holding the rifle close. Adam studied Butcher. His silence did not surprise him anymore.

He knew Butcher was thinking about the promise Mallory had made, even though nobody else in the team knew what that promise was. Kimiko entered the store and found the Supe terrorist near the back. He was standing between the shelves, keeping his head lowered. He turned at the sound of her steps and stared at her as if he needed to make sure she was real. She froze. The man standing in front of her was Kenji, her brother. Kimiko rushed forward and hugged him.

She pressed against his shoulder and held him as if he might disappear again. Her arms tightened around him, and Kenji stopped moving before slowly holding her back.

"Kenji, zutto kimi o sagashite ita." [Kenji, I have been searching for you for a long time.] Kenji held her just as tightly. His eyes filled as he looked at her.

"Mo nidoto aenai to omotta." [I thought I would never see you again.] Kimiko pulled back and touched his cheek. She spoke quickly in Japanese, telling him that she had searched for him and had never stopped hoping that he was alive. Her voice broke several times, but she kept talking because she had too much to say and too little time to say it. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Kenji answered while crying against her shoulder.

He told her that he had kept believing she was alive too, even when he could not find a way back to her. For the first time since finding him, Kimiko looked completely happy. She kept one arm around Kenji while looking at him, afraid that moving away would end the reunion. Butcher saw them through the store entrance. His expression changed when he recognized the man Kimiko had found, but he did not lower the rifle. He raised his automatic rifle and looked through the scope. The crosshair settled on Kenji.

Butcher held it there while Kimiko remained wrapped around him. In the original plan, Hughie would have reached him before he fired. This time Hughie was somewhere else in the mall, and Adam was the only person close enough to stop him. Butcher pulled the trigger. The bullet left the rifle. Adam vanished from beside him and appeared directly in front of the shot. He reached out and caught the bullet before it could touch Kenji. Kimiko and Kenji turned toward the entrance. They saw Butcher first.

Then they saw Adam standing between them and the rifle, his closed hand held where the bullet had stopped. Kimiko grabbed Kenji's arm. They ran through the back of the store and disappeared from sight. Butcher lowered the rifle. Adam turned toward him with the bullet enclosed in his fist. He showed Butcher the round, then closed his fist again. Butcher looked back at him. Neither of them spoke. The shot had brought the others running.

It had also made it impossible for Butcher to keep the real target hidden any longer. M. M., Hughie, and Frenchie reached the store and stopped when they saw the rifle in Butcher's hands. Frenchie looked toward the empty back entrance.

"What happened here?" M. M. stepped in front of Butcher.

"Butcher, we are your friends. You lied to us." His voice was not loud, but it left no space for Butcher to pretend that the shot had been an accident. Butcher understood that hiding it was useless now.

"Yes," he said.

"I lied to you. I kept the truth from all of you because I needed the deal to stay open." Hughie gave him a tired look.

"Yeah. That was obvious." Butcher ignored him and faced the group.

"Becca is alive. My wife is alive, and she has Homelander's child. Homelander kept her hidden from the world, and he kept the child with her." Nobody moved.

"Homelander is hiding her somewhere," Butcher continued.

"I don't know where she is. I need your help finding her. She is the only reason I am still trying to get close to him." M. M. stared at him. He was no longer asking about the FBI charges.

"Then what was the offer you brought to us?" Butcher answered without hesitation.

"I was going to give the Supe terrorist to Mallory. In return, she would give me the location of Becca. That was the real deal. The FBI charges were never the point." The others looked at one another. The silence lasted only a few seconds, but the truth had changed the reason they were standing inside the mall. They had expected a stranger. Instead, Kimiko had found her brother. Butcher turned toward Adam. Adam was already looking at him. M. M. took a breath.

"Fine. We will capture the Supe terrorist and give him to Mallory." Relief crossed Butcher's face. M. M. started to object, but Adam cut in.

"Alive," Adam said.

"We are not killing anyone." Butcher looked at him as M. M. nodded in agreement.

"We have no right to kill him, not yet at least, because we brought him here ourselves."