(Logan POV)
Snow fell in thick, heavy flakes as dawn broke over the Catskills. The cabin felt like it was holding its breath. Inside, the team sat scattered across worn furniture and dusty floors, every one of us nursing bruises or memories of the night before. The embers in the fireplace cast a sullen orange glow. It felt like the quiet after a storm, but only for now.
Grace paced in front of the table, papers in her hands, eyes flicking up every few seconds to scan us like a drill sergeant taking roll. "The leak did what we needed. Vought's damage control is in full swing. Their shareholders are in revolt, congressmen are scrambling, and every camera in America is pointed straight at them." She tossed the morning papers across the table. Every headline screamed words like "Compound V Exposed" and "Vought in Crisis."
Butcher stood beside her, arms crossed, jaw set. "It's not enough." His voice was low, almost dangerous. "They'll find another spin. Another story."
MM leaned back, rubbing his temples. "And they've still got Homelander and Stormfront. Doesn't matter what the world knows if those two can vaporize us whenever they want."
I grunted, shifting my weight. My ribs ached, but the pain was a dull memory fading as fast as it came. My eyes locked on the snow drifting past the window. "Then we go on the offensive. We take the fight to them. We don't wait for them to come for the boy."
Maggie stood near me, arms folded, eyes hard. "Logan's right. Homelander knows where we are. He'll come eventually. Better to hit him before he can hit us."
Kimiko signed something sharp and urgent. Frenchie translated softly, "She says we need to take down Stormfront first. Break their alliance. Divide them."
Annie, leaning on the table beside Hughie, nodded grimly. "Stormfront's already on the back foot. Her ties to Nazi Germany are everywhere now. Vought can't spin that forever. But she won't run. She'll dig in. We flush her out."
Grace tapped a satellite photo on the table. A farmhouse in a snowy valley, remote but connected by a single road. "Our contacts say Stormfront's retreated here. She's hurt, but she's gathering loyalists, former soldiers, mercenaries, radicalized Supes. She plans to rebuild, to control the narrative herself if Vought abandons her."
Butcher's eyes flashed. "Then we bury her there. Tonight."
The rest of the morning was spent in near-silence. The cabin echoed with the sounds of gear being checked, weapons cleaned, knives sharpened. Hughie helped MM sort ammunition, his hands trembling only slightly. Annie sat with Kimiko and Frenchie, helping them pack charges and flashbangs.
Maggie came to stand beside me while I sat sharpening my claws on a whetstone. Her hand rested on my shoulder. "If this goes bad…" she started, voice low.
I looked up, meeting her eyes. "Then we finish it anyway."
She nodded, fingers tightening on my shoulder before moving away. I watched her go, feeling the unspoken weight between us.
That night, we rolled out in two black SUVs. The snow had stopped, but the sky was starless, moonlight hiding behind thick clouds. MM drove the lead vehicle, eyes hard, every sense on edge. I sat up front with him, scanning every drift and dark shape on the roadside. Behind us, Butcher, Maggie, Frenchie, Kimiko, Hughie, and Annie filled the second SUV, quiet except for the radio crackling with Grace's updates.
"They've added more guards since last report," she warned through the speaker. "Expect heavier resistance."
Butcher chuckled darkly. "Wouldn't be fun otherwise."
Hughie's voice was quiet, but carried in the silence. "We're really doing this. Taking on a literal Nazi superhero."
Annie squeezed his hand. "She's not invincible. She just thinks she is."
The compound came into view as we crested a hill, an old farmhouse surrounded by abandoned barns and silos. Warm yellow lights glowed in second-story windows, flitting shadows hinting at movement inside. Trucks and snowmobiles lined the drive. Men with rifles patrolled the perimeter, thick coats barely hiding their body armor.
Frenchie's voice came over the comms, low and tense. "We have maybe a dozen on the grounds. Unclear how many inside. Stormfront will not be alone."
Kimiko signed something quick and decisive. Frenchie's tone was grim. "She says we should cut the power before going loud."
Butcher's voice crackled through. "Then let's take out the lights, boys and girls."
Kimiko and Frenchie slipped off into the dark, moving with practiced silence. Minutes later, the lights around the farmhouse flickered and died. The night swallowed the compound. Shouts erupted among the guards, flashlights jittering wildly.
MM stepped out from cover first, rifle barking in short, deadly bursts. Maggie followed at his flank, fists slamming into anyone who got too close, bodies falling in her wake.
I leapt from the treeline, claws extended, tearing into a pair of guards before they could turn their weapons on the others. Snow exploded red beneath them.
Annie advanced with Hughie close behind. Brilliant flashes of light from her hands lit the battlefield, blinding enemies as they tried to regroup. Kimiko seemed to appear from nowhere, blades dancing in the strobing light, moving like a wraith.
Stormfront appeared on the farmhouse roof, lightning crackling along her arms, eyes blazing. Her voice rang out over the chaos, "I gave you all a world to believe in! And you threw it away for these traitors!"
Maggie looked up, shouting over the wind. "Come down here and say that to my face!"
Stormfront dropped from the roof like a meteor, smashing into the snow with a shockwave that threw several of us back. She and Maggie collided, fists flying faster than most could see, each blow shaking the ground. Maggie caught Stormfront's wrist, twisting until lightning arced wild across the sky, then headbutted her so hard blood sprayed across the snow.
I charged in beside her, claws tearing open Stormfront's armor. She shrieked in rage, throwing me off with a blast of lightning that seared the earth. Butcher and MM laid suppressive fire, forcing Stormfront to deflect bullets rather than kill the rest of us.
Frenchie appeared at my side, tossing a satchel of C4 toward the farmhouse. "We end this now!" he yelled.
Annie and Kimiko flanked Stormfront, striking from opposite sides. Hughie dragged wounded guards out of the line of fire, his face set with quiet determination. Maggie's fists never slowed, every punch driving Stormfront back.
I lunged, claws tearing across Stormfront's chest. She screamed, staggering. Maggie seized the chance, landing a devastating uppercut that lifted Stormfront off the ground, sending her crashing through the farmhouse wall.
Frenchie's timer on the charges hit zero. "Down!" he shouted.
The farmhouse erupted, flames reaching into the sky. The roar of the explosion rattled trees for miles.
Silence settled. Smoke and falling snow mixed in the cold air. Stormfront's charred body lay half-buried in rubble. Maggie stood over her, panting. I put a hand on her shoulder, steadying her.
Hughie emerged, helping Annie support Kimiko, who was limping but smiling. MM carried Frenchie, blood running down his face but eyes bright with adrenaline.
Butcher surveyed the destruction, teeth bared in a grim smile. "One down."
Grace's voice crackled in our ears. "Good work. Get out before Homelander comes looking."
We loaded into the SUVs. As we pulled away, the farmhouse burned behind us, an orange beacon in the snow. The radio hissed with static as Grace directed us to a new safe house deeper in the mountains.
Maggie slumped beside me, breathing hard. "She's done."
"For now," I said. "But Homelander will come."
She nodded, eyes flashing. "Then we'll be ready."