"Why do I have to wear this again? I can't breathe and I can barely see anything" Aldrich asked as they entered the hospital.
"You're wearing it because you're more wanted than Osama bin fucking Laden," Butcher answered, shoving him through the sliding doors. "So shut up and keep the hat low."
"Wouldn't it attract more attention if I was wearing them?"
"Believe me, not as much as if you weren't wearing none."
Nobody stopped them. The doctors were too busy lookin' at clipboards or avoiding' eye contact with potential annoying relatives.
Butcher snatched a badge off a guy in a lab coat without even slowing' down. They reached the heavy steel doors at the end of the hall. Butcher swiped the badge, and the lock clicked.
Inside were rows of plastic tubs. Aldrich was confused. He expected to be led blind, but he expected a target, not a human hatchery. Butcher and MM weren't lookin' at the kids, though; they were lookin' at the blue liquid hooked up.
"Jackpot," Butcher said, eyes on the glow.
"Compound V? Yeah, and lots of it," MM said.
Suddenly, one of the infants opened its eyes, shooting two mesmerizing beams of blue light.
"That's a fucking baby Supe," Butcher said. "Chosen by God, my ass. These freaks are all made in a fucking lab!"
A lot of puzzles solved themselves in Aldrich's mind right then.
It changed everything.
Butcher moved to take a sample of the V.
"Easy with that," MM warned. "If you let in some air, it could kill the kid."
"Well, wouldn't that be quite a shame," Butcher muttered.
The doors swung open. Two armed guards burst in, and before they could even think, they opened fire.
Aldrich didn't move. He just stood there, staring at the baby while the bullets rained down on his back and bounced off. Butcher and MM scrambled behind a pillar.
Seeing the bullets have no effect, the guards turned to bolt. Aldrich was faster. He moved, catching them by the collars and gently pushing them back into the room. He didn't rip them apart. He just stood in the doorway, blocking the path.
"What the fuck are you doing? Kill them!" Butcher shouted from behind the pillar.
Aldrich turned his head slowly, his blue eyes cold and flat. "Why would I? You lied to me."
He looked at the frozen, terrified guards, then back at Butcher.
"Continue what you were doing," Aldrich said to the guards. Then he looked at Butcher. "I will not help them."
"Aldrich, you lab-made freak, stop fucking around!" Butcher roared.
"I told you I needed to kill Rufus because of what he did to my family," Aldrich said. "And what do you do? You use me as a shield to steal a bottle of blue liquid. The fact that I am not coming over there and molding you into that pillar right now is an act of mercy, Butcher. You're free to start shooting again."
The guards looked at each other helplessly. They didn't understand the conversation, but they understood the last part. They raised their rifles.
"Wait, wait. Stop," Aldrich said, holding up a hand.
The guards froze.
"Don't shoot the black one," Aldrich commanded, pointing a finger at MM. "Shoot only the other one. The one with the foul mouth. MM you can come out they wont hurt you"
MM and Butcher looked at each other. Then, slowly, MM stepped out from behind the pillar. He walked straight over and stood beside Aldrich, his massive frame a shield between the kid and the guards.
"Aldrich," MM said, his voice deep and steady, even though his heart was hammering against his ribs. "You're right. He lied. He's been lyin' since the day I met him. And if you want to let them shoot him, I can't tell you he doesn't deserve a bit of lead up his ass."
MM looked at the guards, then back at Aldrich's flat, blue eyes.
"But look at where we are, son. Look at these kids in the boxes. This is what Vought does. They turn people into things. They turned you into a weapon, and now Butcher's tryin' to do the same damn thing. If you let those guards kill him'. You're just provin' Butcher right."
MM reached out, his heavy, calloused hand steady as he placed it on Aldrich's shoulder.
"Don't do it for him. Do it for the person you were before all this mess. I know you had a fucked-up childhood that made you this way, but I know there's still a kid in there. That's why you didn't kill Sarah. Do it for Hughie. Do it for me."
Aldrich tilted his head, looking at the hands on his shoulders.
He looked at MM, his blue eyes cold and vacant.
"For you?" Aldrich's voice was a flat. "Are you really dumb enough to think I care for a man I've known for less than a day?"
"Yes," MM said
"Okay, guys, stop. Stop." Aldrich waved his hand, and the guards actually lowered their weapons. They looked at each other, confused but knowing the alternative was a closed casket.
"You can go. Thank you for your help, it was greatly appreciated," Aldrich said, his voice flat but polite.
He stepped toward the nearest guard and extended a hand. "I'm Aldrich, by the way."
The guard stared at the hand. He reached out, his fingers shaking. "J... Jonathan."
"Mike," the other one stammered.
Aldrich shook their hands firmly, then stepped away from the door, clearing the exit. "You can leave now."
"Thank you... thank you so much," they said not believing they were alive.
"Wait!" MM shouted, stopping them in their tracks. He looked at Aldrich, his eyes wide. "Aldrich, if you let them go, they saw our faces. They know exactly who we are!"
"So?" Aldrich asked, tilting his head.
"So we can't let them leave!"
Aldrich turned his entire body slowly to face MM. He looked genuinely curious, his blue eyes searching MM's face for a logic that was escaping him.
"MM... are you telling me to kill these men? After everything you just said about Sarah? After everything you said about the 'little child' inside me and the mess in Hartford?"
Aldrich stepped closer.
"Doesn't that seem... what was the word? Hypocritical? I am learning, Marvin," Aldrich said. "And what I've learned is that you only want me to be a 'person' when it suits your mission. When it doesn't, you want me to be the weapon again."
He turned back to the guards, Jonathan and Mike, who were trembling in the doorway.
"Then again, why would I kill them?" Aldrich asked the room. "I have no problems with them. I just shook their hands. They were helpful to me. And now, you simply ask me to bite, so I must bite?"
He looked at Butcher, then back to the rows of infants in the boxes.
"I am here to kill Rufus. I am not a murderer," Aldrich said, his voice flat and final. "Go, Jonathan. Go, Mike. you can leave no harm will come to you."
The guards didn't wait. They vanished into the hallway, the sound of their frantic footsteps echoing off the tile.
Butcher walked out from behind the pillar His eyes were fixed on Aldrich, burning with a pure, concentrated hatred.
"You think you're clever, don't ya?" Butcher spat, his voice a low and full of hatred. "You think you just sat us down for a little Sunday school lesson? You absolute, bloody homeless wanker."
Butcher stepped into Aldrich's space looking him dead in the eyes.
"You just let 'em go. You let the Vought rats run straight to the phone to tell the Big Cunt exactly where we're standing. You didn't do that because you're a 'person,' son. You did it because you're a spiteful little freak who wanted to see us squirm."
He jerked his thumb toward the door where the guards vanished.
"There is no Rufus, you daft pillock. I used ya. I told ya what you wanted to hear so you'd kick the door down. I needed a heavy to tank the lead while I grabbed the only thing in this building worth a damn. And you? You're just a freak who's too stupid to realize he's being steered."
Butcher leaned in, his face inches from Aldrich's.
"You want to talk about hypocrisy? Look at your hands, runt! You've got more blood on ya than a butcher's apron, and you're standin' there playin' saint in a room full of manufactured babies! You're a weapon. That's all you'll ever be. And the second you stopped being my weapon, you became my problem."
Butcher looked at the V in his hand, then tossed it casually into his pocket.
"The deal's off. You want Rufus? Go find him yourself. We got what we came for. You're on your own. Let's see how long you last before you realize that without us, you're just a freak with no direction."