In a basement only a few hundred meters from Vought Tower, Frenchie and the others were stretched out on the sofas, resting.
Sudden hurried footsteps echoed from the stairwell. Frenchie and Mother's Milk locked eyes, each grabbing the heavy rifle beside them and swinging the muzzles toward the sound.
They'd just pulled off something completely insane. If word of Ryan's kidnapping got out it would be national headline news.
"Super villains, well done. You've finally grown up. Makes me proud." Butcher appeared and immediately started needling them.
"Next time you come back maybe try calling first. You have no idea how fast my heart was going just now."
Frenchie set the rifle down and flipped Butcher the middle finger.
"That so? Must be because you were so excited. Not everyone gets to kidnap Homelander's kid." Butcher shrugged off his jacket, revealing the black shirt underneath.
"Thanks to you we're actual super villains now." Mother's Milk racked the bolt and ejected the already-chambered round with practiced ease.
"How's Ryan? Any tracker in him?"
Butcher examined the electromagnetic pulse gun Frenchie had built while he asked.
"He sucked in a lot of the gas. Won't be waking up anytime soon. And I already checked. Vought didn't plant a tracker in him. Could be carelessness, could be something else. Either way I didn't find the little toy on him."
Frenchie had locked Ryan in a prepared storage room and put Kimiko on watch so the kid couldn't escape the basement.
"Boys, no question, this op was perfect."
"You should've seen Homelander's face at the selection event. He realizes the chocolate he just ate is actually a dung ball rolled by a dung beetle, but he still has to pretend everything's fine and even force that stiff smile for the cameras." Butcher was practically glowing.
Hughie, sitting off to the side, sounded pure bitter. "Who the fuck besides you cares whether Homelander ate chocolate or a dung ball? You absolute bastards. Not a single one of you told me beforehand."
"I told them to keep it from you." Starlight walked out of the side room with her mother.
Hughie stared at Starlight's mother in shock. "Jesus Christ, how many things have you all done behind my back?"
"Last time. I promise."
Starlight stepped in front of him and met his eyes with clear apology.
"Fine. How did Butcher help you get your mother out? Even if I wasn't part of it I still deserve to know what happened." Her look made Hughie fold almost immediately.
"Lamplighter. He told me where they were holding Starlight's mother and quietly let her go."
The truth was Lamplighter still had Butcher's number. He didn't trust Vought or its vice president Greevs, so he was hedging both sides. One, use Vought's resources to climb back to the top. Two, if Greevs ever flipped on him he could team up with Butcher and help burn Vought down.
"So it was him." Hughie finally got it.
That meant even with Starlight gone from The Seven they could still pull internal Vought intel through Lamplighter.
Right now The Seven was basically in pieces. Starlight on the run, A-Train dead, Maeve wavering, reserve member Lamplighter turned into a new mole, The Deep completely in Ivan's pocket, Black Noir with almost zero presence and answering only to Edgar. Left were Homelander and Stormfront.
One worried about Ryan's life. The other only wanted to make a new life with Homelander.
…
The next day.
First thing in the morning Ivan was summoned to the CEO's office.
Edgar was flipping through documents. He only glanced at Ivan as he walked in and said nothing.
Click! Ivan locked the door behind him and stood there just as silent.
The pressure in the room kept dropping. Apart from the soft rustle of Edgar turning pages, there was no sound at all. Dead quiet.
Ten minutes later Edgar finally slammed the folder shut and looked up at Ivan.
"You know exactly why I called you here. About A-Train's death. Anything you want to say?" His face was blank.
"Vought doesn't need a worthless piece of trash."
Ivan's answer made Edgar's expression even darker. He glanced down at the papers in his hand. "Whether A-Train had any value isn't for you to decide. It isn't for me either. Only a final board ruling can decide if he stays or goes."
"Greevs, my patience has limits. Do you have any idea how much damage your little self-righteous murder of A-Train is going to cost Vought? The board still doesn't know you killed him. I can choose not to press charges. Just make sure you send in your resignation later today."
Edgar's tone was almost casual.
He'd decided to cut Ivan loose. Maybe the softer Ashley would be easier to control.
"What? Something else?" Seeing Ivan still standing there without moving, Edgar figured the man was about to beg.
He'd seen this exact scene too many times to be surprised. "I don't change my mind easily. You're not suited for the vice president seat any longer. Once you hand everything over to Ashley, you can leave."
Instead of leaving, Ivan reached up, straightened his suit collar, and smiled. "Mr. Edgar, I hope you'll give this matter some serious thought. Right now I'm afraid I can't leave Vought. There are still a few jobs that require my personal attention."
"Ashley will take over your work. And I don't want to repeat myself a second time." Edgar's voice dropped low. His face was pure thunder. A mere vice president actually dared threaten him? He was curious where the bastard got the balls.
"Ashley, send a few security guards to my office. Fast."
Edgar pressed the red button on his desk, eyes dark.
If Greevs didn't want to leave with any dignity, fine. He'd give the man exactly what he asked for.
"Mr. Edgar, you were the one who promoted me. I've always respected you for that. It's just one dead A-Train. Besides, he was sitting on plenty of Vought's dirty laundry. Only the dead keep secrets."
Ivan stood opposite Edgar. A beam of morning light cut through the window and fell across both of them.
One in light, one in shadow.
Under the sunlight Ivan's expensive suit shimmered with scattered gold. Edgar's upper body stayed wrapped in darkness.
____
[]~(￣▽￣)~*
Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69