Discovering the Truth

"Listen, Stillwell has agreed. I can announce our relationship at my farewell ceremony."

The Female heard A-Train's words and threw her arms around him.

For years, apart from the time she'd spent filming adult movies, she had mostly waited for the day her boyfriend would make their relationship public.

To her, it meant all those years of waiting had finally paid off!

"This is wonderful... This is wonderful..."

The Female kissed A-Train's cheek excitedly, her eyes brimming with tears.

A-Train might be leaving The Seven, but he had already earned enough over the years for the two of them to live it up for several lifetimes.

All those places she had always wanted to see...

"But, baby, I've taken one last assignment from The Seven. I have to find out who knows about Compound V."

A-Train grew serious.

"Homelander asked me to look into it. Nothing can go wrong. You know that."

"So, baby, did you tell anyone else about Compound V?"

Seeing how uneasy The Female looked, A-Train gently stroked her cheek.

"It's okay. Just tell me. Once we deal with those people, there won't be a problem."

A-Train continued to soothe the woman in his arms, but her expression told him enough. She was almost certainly the source of the leak.

"That day was a complete accident... There was a British-looking man and a Russian guy. I slipped up... and then they threatened me..."

"They threatened you? In your room?"

A-Train was puzzled, but The Female could only nod silently as she recalled the terrifying experience.

"Okay... I understand... Everything will be fine. Don't worry."

After hearing her out, A-Train guided his girlfriend to the sofa.

A slightly off-key train whistle sounded. By the time The Female realized what was happening, four syringes had been plunged into her body.

She knew what was in them, and she knew what that dose would do to her.

But when she looked up at A-Train, he only gazed at her with sorrow and said,

"I'm sorry."

"What?!"

Elsewhere, Starlight was just as incredulous. She felt as though her entire understanding of the world had collapsed.

"That's right. Once you go down this road, there's no turning back."

Rorschach offered Butcher no explanation. He had simply brought Starlight back with him.

"How are the moving preparations coming along?"

By moving, Rorschach meant relocating somewhere no one knew about, without being caught by a single camera along the way.

"All set. Even if that bastard Translucent brings Homelander here, they'll find an empty shell. We won't leave them a scrap of information!"

There was a hard edge to Frenchie's voice. He hadn't killed Translucent and silenced him for good.

But after Rorschach connected his watch to a computer, the robots that had formed a listening device in Translucent's stomach could pick up even more explosive information.

Lately, Frenchie and Marvin had been watching for any unusual activity on Translucent's end.

As for telling Homelander everything he knew about them?

Translucent couldn't take that gamble. If an all-out war really began,

he would be the first to die, made an example of to intimidate the other heroes!

Worse, if he died on camera, his son, who had already been through so much, would suffer an even greater blow.

Unlike Homelander, who treated human lives as worthless, Translucent just liked hiding in corners. At worst, he got a little handsy.

He wasn't that evil. He could still be saved. That was the bet he needed to make.

"So... my mother..."

Starlight covered her mouth in shock.

Did that mean her mother had accepted a large sum of money when she was little to have her injected with Compound V?

Starlight had no memories of infancy, but if it was true,

then the child-hero talent shows, her debut as a teenage hero, and even her official entry into The Seven...

"My whole life... has been one fucking lie."

Starlight sank onto the sofa, tears already spilling down her cheeks.

Part of her regretted agreeing to Rorschach's request, but when she thought of the other children who had been injected with Compound V, she pulled herself together.

No case mattered more than Compound V now!

Having convinced herself to keep going, Starlight stood and looked at Rorschach.

"What can I do?"

She didn't know whether she should trust Rorschach, but from what she had seen, everything he'd told her was true.

After a moment's thought, she realized Rorschach's childhood had probably been nothing like hers.

Starlight had grown up in a single-parent home, but her mother had always supported her superhero career.

In fact, it was her mother who had pushed her all the way from their rural farm to the bustling New York City.

But Rorschach? He hardly ever mentioned his parents...

At the thought, Starlight's eyes grew damp again.

How much effort must one person, working alone and without joining Vought, have spent to uncover so much?

"I know you can't believe it yet. Tomorrow, we'll sneak into the hospital and show you something."

"Frenchie, you're not coming. Your cover's blown. Stay here and take care of Kimiko."

Rorschach didn't know whether A-Train had found out yet, but it was better to be safe.

"Time to move!"

At Rorschach's command, Marvin and Butcher promptly hoisted two barrels of gasoline.

The building they lived in was old and poorly maintained.

A gasoline spill and faulty wiring wouldn't seem all that surprising.

Fortunately, no one else was inside. Otherwise, the losses could have been immeasurable.

After rigging the wiring to spark on a delay, they avoided the cameras and left with their belongings.

They had already found a new place. Rorschach lined its floor with zinc alloy.

That way, even if Homelander scanned the place from above, he would never see them in the basement.

"You can call 911 when you pass by here."

Rorschach was speaking to Starlight. Her powers weren't well suited to putting out fires.

But calling the firefighters and evacuating the people nearby would certainly do some good for her approval rating.

A-Train returned to Seven Tower with a printed photograph.

He had only meant to look back on the years when he and The Female had shared such intimate, passionate moments.

Instead, he had stumbled across the moment she'd cheated on him.

The man appeared to be The Female's landlord. While she was in a highly excited state, she had crushed his head by sitting on it.

A-Train knew that was a reaction to an injection of Compound V.

Then two men had entered the room, claiming they would help her deal with the body.

A-Train recognized the Russian-looking guy at once!

"How's the investigation going?"

Homelander stood in the conference room, gazing out over New York. He didn't need to turn around to know it was A-Train.

"I've found out who they are. Black Noir and I are about to go investigate—"

Before A-Train could finish, Homelander tore a piece of fabric from his suit.

"Idiot. You didn't even notice someone had swapped your clothes."

Homelander snorted.

"What?" A-Train stared at him, stunned.

"You used Compound V that day, so your head was muddled. You thought you'd just underperformed?"

"I don't know who did it, but this is the beginning of a war."