Chương 87

Homelander remained silent after Adam's question. He did not want to admit it, but Adam was right.

"You fucking..." Homelander said angrily.

"Who needs people when all they do is drag you down? What good are they if they only make you weak?" Adam gave him no answer. Without turning back, he walked toward Annie. Annie stepped away from the shoot as he approached. She was surprised that Adam had appeared in front of everyone without telling her. He never did anything like this. Adam had been busy for a long time. Now Annie was just as busy, and she had slowly begun to regret it. She remembered when she first told him she wanted to become co-captain.

A negative look had crossed Adam's face, showing that he was not happy with her choice. Even then, he had not tried to stop her. At first, his reaction had hurt Annie. It had seemed as if he wanted to refuse her decision. Since he eventually agreed, she had not said much about it. Now she understood why he had reacted that way. She truly had become too busy, and she no longer had time to go to him.

'He did the same thing,' Annie reminded herself.

'He became busy first.' The thought gave her some comfort. When Annie saw Adam coming closer, she moved forward as well. She stepped farther away from the shoot, and Adam stopped in front of her. Homelander and the others watched them from a distance. With his super senses, Homelander could hear every word between them. He could also hear Annie's heartbeat, which had risen sharply. Adam's heartbeat was not completely normal either.

It was beating a little faster, the way it did when he was excited or when something mattered to him. Homelander had little interest in their romantic relationship. He wanted to hear what Adam would say and how he would say it. He had just rejected Adam's need for other people. Even so, part of him felt jealous that Adam had someone waiting for him. Adam was about to speak, but Annie spoke first.

"How did you suddenly get here?" she asked.

"Is something wrong?" Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Adam smiled slightly.

"I've decided." Annie looked at him in surprise. Her next words came out much more quietly.

"You've decided what?"

"I'm leaving the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs." Annie's eyes widened.

"What?" Her voice rose despite her effort to control it. She knew people nearby could hear them. Even those who could not might read their lips, and Homelander could certainly hear everything. The news was too large for Annie to hide her reaction. Adam raised both hands, signaling her to calm down.

"Keep your voice down and listen first. I've decided to leave the FBSA completely."

"I want to spend more time with you and the people close to me," Adam continued.

"I don't want every mission they send me on to keep deciding when I can see any of you." Happiness rose inside Annie, but fear came with it. The fear remained visible despite Annie's effort to hide it.

"What if the government declares you a Supe terrorist again?" Adam smiled.

"That won't happen. I've earned enough credit that they can't label me a Supe terrorist again. Even if they do, I don't care anymore, as long as you're with me." Hearing that made Annie happy, yet her fear remained. She did not want Adam to return to the position he had escaped only a few months ago. Annie had never shown how frightened she had been during that time. She was more afraid for Adam than for herself. What would happen to him if the government turned against him again?

Would he ever be able to live a normal life with her? Adam could see that she had not calmed down. He also knew a few reassuring words would not be enough.

"I spoke properly with Victoria," Adam said.

"She agreed." That was not the complete truth. Adam had not spoken to Victoria after giving her the two-day limit. He was relying on the time he had given her and on the fear he had already placed inside her. Victoria was a Supe, but she was afraid of him. Their last incident had shown her what Adam might do, while his battle with Homelander had already proven that even the world's strongest Supe could be brought down to his knees by Adam.

Adam's origin and the source of his powers remained unknown to everyone around him. Even with that mystery hanging over him, he still followed his morality in a world where many Supes abandoned every moral limit once they received their abilities. That morality made Adam's warning to Victoria more frightening, not less. The threat was simple: do not force him to abandon that morality. Victoria would have to imagine what might remain afterward, and Adam had already used that fear against her.

He also knew that Edgar did not directly command every move Victoria made. Adam had reached that conclusion after watching the FBSA's missions for months. Many of those missions had been important and genuine. Some, however, seemed to send him deliberately against Supe terrorists who were targeting Vought. Adam had no proof. He also could not depend on a perfect memory of the original story. He had watched the later seasons many years ago, and after living in this world for so long, many details had faded.

He remembered only that Victoria had been connected to Edgar in some way. This was also around the point in the original story when Hughie discovered the truth about her. That was why Adam had recommended Hughie join him inside the FBSA. When Annie heard that Victoria had agreed, some of the fear inside her finally eased. In its place, the regret over her own decision grew stronger. Part of the reason Annie had chosen to become co-captain was that Adam had already been too busy for her.

But she had also made that choice because she wanted to inspire other people.