Sharpening the Knives for Revenge

"Are you sure they can find this stuff at those hospitals? And link it to Vought?"

Susan was Butcher's former lover.

He had gotten much of his intelligence by persuading Susan, the CIA's deputy director, to help him.

So when Butcher offered her this, she was stunned.

"What do you want in return?"

Susan still sounded uneasy.

Every favor Butcher had done for her, Susan had eventually repaid several times over.

"Protect my family and my team's families. Make sure they're safe."

Butcher sounded so earnest that Susan found it unsettling.

"It's just Marvin's wife and daughter, isn't it? Who else do I need to worry about?"

Susan shrugged, then remembered something.

"Maybe Frenchie's little girlfriend?"

"And my wife. And her child."

That stopped Susan cold.

"Yes, she's alive. Vought's just kept her prisoner for eight years."

Butcher wore the cruel smile that was uniquely his.

"And Homelander's kid is there too."

"Oh, God... Okay. Leave them to me."

Susan grabbed the vial and hurried off to investigate before Butcher could change his mind.

She had evidence in the form of Compound V—and a chance to find the son Vought International had secretly been raising for Homelander.

Even for someone as seasoned as Susan, it was a lot to take in.

She pushed off so hard that she accidentally snapped the heel of her shoe.

"Oh, right."

Butcher remembered what Rorschach had told him and laid a sheet of paper on the desk.

"That's the hospital's address. Send in a fully armed Special Forces team, and they can slip inside without anyone noticing."

"Follow the trail from the hospital, and you'll find it leads to Vought's charity, Samaritan's Embrace."

The idea of superheroes had already taken root in the public mind.

There was no point trying to change that slowly. They needed to burn it all down in one stroke.

Butcher couldn't help liking Rorschach's approach. It was direct, and it worked.

"Watch yourself, though. The kids in there have superpowers..."

By the time Butcher finished, Susan had limped back to the desk, taken the paper, and shot him a glare.

The operation had no approval from above.

They were only investigating a hospital. To many people at the agency, it looked like another routine corruption case at worst.

Or maybe organ trafficking.

Terrifying as such things were to ordinary people, the CIA saw them almost every day.

So plenty of people wondered why one hospital warranted so many officers.

What happened next, though, took everyone by surprise.

By the time Butcher returned to their base, the news was already reporting on Compound V.

"That was fast, wasn't it?"

Butcher grinned at everyone in the room. For years, they had been like a handful of pebbles trying to hold back a flood.

But ever since Rorschach had brought them together again, things had changed.

Now they had two Supes on their side, and they had dealt Vought a serious blow.

On the surface, Vought still seemed steady enough. A giant like that could lose a limb and keep crawling.

But Rorschach knew that Vought International had already played every card he knew it had at this stage.

And whatever card it was saving for Homelander could probably be used against him too.

"From what we understand, Vought International has been injecting children with this drug to give them superpowers."

The news report went on, but Rorschach kept reading The Crowd.

"Vought's stock is going to hit rock bottom."

Marvin sounded pleased with himself.

Monica and his daughter were under CIA protection. With the National Defense Act still unpassed, Vought wouldn't dare touch them.

"Colonel Mallory really did us a big favor this time."

Rorschach made the remark sound casual.

The three original members of The Boys immediately pricked up their ears.

"What are you getting at?"

Rorschach knew how they kept in contact, and he knew what they had done before.

Naturally, he knew about that painful chapter of their past too.

Back then, Butcher had used footage to blackmail Lamplighter, hoping to force him to reveal The Seven's secrets.

Soon afterward, Colonel Mallory's two grandsons had been burned to death in their beds.

Devastated, the group had broken up and gone their separate ways. Only Butcher had kept fighting Vought.

"You've got a new plan, then?"

Butcher couldn't help smiling.

Protect their families. Expose Vought's darkest secrets.

Those were parts of Rorschach's plan, of course, but they weren't his ultimate goal.

Homelander was still shielded by his PR team, playing the innocent.

But the darkness inside him was gaining ground. He wanted to win that level of public support on his own terms.

"Of course. Vought's ambitions go well beyond making superheroes and selling merchandise with their faces on it."

Rorschach turned a page, then changed the subject.

"Do you know where Lamplighter went after he retired?"

All three felt their hearts begin to pound.

They still cared deeply about Colonel Mallory. None of them had ever come to terms with what happened.

"Kill him. Take his head to Mallory. Let's hope an old woman still appreciates a little surprise."

Frenchie was the first to move. His whole forehead flushed red as he began packing his gear.

Even Marvin, obsessive as he was about order, didn't care that Frenchie was making a mess of the room.

"Who the hell are you?"

Butcher had lost count of how many times he'd asked that question.

"Me? I guess I'm the last watchman in the world."

Rorschach answered offhandedly.

Butcher had no idea what he meant. He went to pack and ready the car instead.

God knew how many days they'd have to drive this time. He'd need to avoid the cameras while buying gas, too.

"You two can take a break."

Rorschach opened the door and called to the pair, who were still practicing their powers.

Kimiko signed something, and the mouse beside her translated.

"When can we stop doing things like this?"

Honestly, Kimiko looked like the very picture of a Yamato Nadeshiko. In a fight, though, she was all wild instinct.

"Once we bring Vought down. I'll find a place for you both then."

Rorschach knew where the two of them came from. Their village had long since vanished in the war.

The Shining Light Liberation Army was a terrorist organization. Going back would only mean hurting people.

As for Kimiko, she would probably find her place with Frenchie, living quietly among ordinary people.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles.

"What have you found, Charles?"

The blackboard was covered in news stories about Vought, linked by a web of lines.

Charles sat quietly in his wheelchair, studying the tangled connections.

"Someone is targeting this company." His words made Logan frown.

"And they started long before we came to this world."

"We need to meet them, Logan. They might give us the breakthrough we need."