Chương 56

Annie forced her arm forward with everything she had. His free hand held her by the throat against the elevator wall while he kept twisting her arm. Her shoulder began to burn. If he pushed any farther, the bone would break. Annie opened her mouth.

"Adam..." Homelander paused. His fingers loosened enough for her to drag in a breath.

"What about him?"

"Adam said if you ever hurt me, he'd tear that part away from you." Homelander's fist closed tighter around her neck. Annie's next breath stopped before it reached her lungs. Her hands pulled at his wrist while black spots appeared at the edge of her sight. Then Homelander remembered Adam's fist striking his cheek. He remembered the second punch and the ground rushing toward him. Adam had held off the Seven and still had enough strength left to beat him through the city. The threat no longer sounded empty.

Homelander released her. Annie waited for him to grab her again. He did not. The fear he tried to hide showed in the space he now kept between them. Annie struck the wall and remained against it, one hand covering her throat. Air returned in painful breaths. Her other arm hung near her side while she tested whether the shoulder could still move. Homelander wanted to burn Adam out of the sky. The memory of their fight stopped him from believing that heat vision would be enough.

He needed to learn what kind of Compound V had made Adam. Adam's power had come from a doctor. Homelander wanted that doctor brought to him. There had to be a way to kill him. Homelander drew a breath and looked down at Annie.

"I'll kill both of you together," he said.

"Then we'll see how much of that attitude you have left." He unlocked the elevator. The doors opened on the next floor, and he walked away without looking back. Annie stayed against the wall until the doors closed again. Her eyes filled, but she refused to cry inside Vought Tower. She reached a changing room, replaced her uniform with ordinary clothes, and left through a side exit. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Adam was waiting in a park several blocks away. He wore a cap low over his forehead. Vought had circulated the other Boys' faces on wanted posters, but clear pictures of Adam were still harder to find. He knew enough of the story to understand why Annie was late. He had warned her that Homelander might use her to reach him, but knowing the scene could happen did not make it easier to watch her approach. Annie saw him and stopped trying to hold herself together.

She began to cry as she hurried across the path and wrapped both arms around him.

"I hate him," she said against his chest. Adam held her close. One hand moved over her hair while the other rested around her waist. He did not ask her to describe the elevator. He let her cry until the grip around his back eased. Whenever she tried to apologize, he told her she had nothing to apologize for.

"Don't worry, I'm here now," he said.

"You handled him better than anyone could have, and I'm proud of you." Annie's grip on him tightened.

"You're safe with me," Adam told her.

"Nothing is going to happen to you." He kept talking until her breathing slowed. She still looked drained when she stepped back, so Adam caught her fingers and started walking.

"Where are we going?" Annie asked.

"Somewhere that might fix your mood." A car waited nearby with M. M. and Hughie beside it. Both men were ready to leave when Adam returned, but M. M. stopped after seeing Annie with him. He knew who she was to Adam. That did not make bringing a member of the Seven on their trip less dangerous.

"You know what you're doing, right?" M. M. asked. Adam looked at him.

"Do I have to say please?" M. M. sighed.

"Fine. Get in." Hughie took the front seat beside M. M. Adam sat in the back with Annie. During the drive, Annie asked M. M. how he kept the team working when Butcher refused to listen. She spoke with Hughie about Vought's wanted posters after that. Their answers gave her something else to think about, and she began speaking without forcing every word. Her expression softened during the drive. By the time M. M. took a side street, Annie was answering Hughie without staring at the floor.

Adam watched Hughie through the gap between the seats. In the original timeline, Hughie had been the one beside Annie. Adam had changed that part of the story for himself. Sorry, my friend, he thought. M. M. stopped near the address Mallory had provided. Annie pulled her cap lower before getting out. Hughie and M. M. headed toward the house while Adam started after them. His phone rang. The number was unfamiliar, but Adam knew who had it.

After the last fight, he had given Black Noir a number and said Vought could contact him once he had considered their offer. Adam glanced at Annie.

"Go with them. I need to take this." She followed Hughie while Adam stepped off the roadside and answered. Stan Edgar spoke from the other end.

"Adam, have you reached a decision? We are removing A-Train from the Seven because of his health. That leaves an ideal opening for you." Adam did not answer right away. Joining the Seven would give him Vought's resources and make him acceptable to the public. With his power, popularity would follow. He would work with the government and live with every comfort Vought could buy. Vought could erase his wanted status. It could place him before cameras and sell him as the man who had saved a plane.

The offer also placed his existence within Vought's reach. Vought would choose where he went and what he could say. Every mission would come with orders. Even his fights with Homelander would be measured against company interests. Once he joined, his freedom would end.