The hours after Annie's meeting with Maya were filled with a nervous, humming energy. The plan was set, but the stakes felt impossibly high. Graviton wasn't like the others. He was a professional. A soldier. He wouldn't panic like Ember. He'd fight smart.
We gathered around the table, the blueprints for the First Federal Bank building spread out before us.
"This is a fortress," MM stated, pointing at the schematics. "State-of-the-art security, bulletproof glass, panic rooms on every floor. It's designed to withstand a bloody siege. Russo isn't just consulting; he's stress-testing their system. He'll be on high alert."
"And he'll be expecting trouble," I added. "After Ember, Vought's entire black ops division will be paranoid. This 'vulnerable' moment is a potential trap."
"Of course it's a trap," Butcher said, lighting a cigarette despite MM's glare. "The question is, is it a trap for us, or is Graviton the bait in a trap Vought is setting for someone else? Either way, we spring it. We just have to be the bigger bastard."
Frenchie tapped his laptop. "I can spoof the bank's internal security system. Give you a ten-minute window where the cameras see an empty lobby, disable the alarms. But after that, all hell will break loose."
"Ten minutes is all I'll need," I said, tracing a path on the blueprint. "I go in invisible, neutralize the driver first, then hit Graviton before he can react. If his power is gravity-based, the key is to get in close, negate his ability to create distance."
"What's the absorption plan?" Hughie asked, looking queasy. "You can't just... you know, in the middle of a bank lobby."
"He's right," Annie agreed. "The aftermath is getting harder to cover up. A charred lot is one thing. A dead high-level Supe in a major financial institution is another."
"I'll incapacitate him and get him to a secondary location," I said. "The old warehouse by the docks. It's isolated. That's where it happens."
The plan was brutal in its simplicity. Infiltrate, capture, transport, execute. Each step was fraught with risk, but we had run out of clean, easy options. Vought was forcing our hand, and we had to play the game by their rules now—rules of overwhelming force and ruthless efficiency.
I spent the rest of the afternoon running through scenarios in my head, testing my new powers in the safe house's basement. I practiced shifting between invisibility and my Mazahs form faster. I focused on the pyrokinesis, learning to contain the heat, to create precise, concentrated flames instead of wild infernos. Ember's volatile anger was a current in the power, but I was learning to dam it, to control the flow.
As evening fell, I found Annie in the kitchen, staring into a mug of tea she hadn't touched.
"You should get some rest," I said softly.
She shook her head. "I can't. Every time I close my eyes, I see Maya's face. How scared she was. I dragged her into this."
"You gave her a choice," I repeated my earlier words, but they sounded hollow even to me.
"She didn't have a real choice, Alex. It was either help us and risk being destroyed by Vought, or say no and live with the guilt. That's not a choice; that's coercion with extra steps." She finally looked at me, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "We're doing the right thing, but we're doing it in a way that's getting dirtier every time. How long until we're no better than them?"
I had no answer for her. She was articulating the fear that had been gnawing at me since I'd absorbed Ember. The line between justice and vengeance was blurring, and we were the ones smudging it.
"I don't know," I admitted, leaning against the counter next to her. "But I know that if we stop now, Homelander wins. Vought wins. And the world stays their playground. We have to believe that the dirt on our hands is worth it for the future we're trying to build."
" 'The ends justify the means'?" she asked, her tone skeptical.
"Maybe. Or maybe there are no clean means left. Maybe the world is so dirty that the only way to clean it is to get dirty yourself."
It was a cynical thought, one that sounded more like Butcher than me. Annie heard it too. She studied my face, looking for the man she'd met in the park.
"Just promise me you're still in there," she whispered.
"I'm still in here," I said, and for now, it was true.
We stood in silence for a long time, two people trying to find their balance on a path that was collapsing behind them. Tomorrow, we would take another step into the darkness. I could only hope we'd still recognize each other when we reached the other side.