Amanda Waller sat at her desk reviewing the files regarding Mallory's former team and their new additions. Of the three, Kimiko Miyashiro had the most potential she had experience in armed combat even before gaining superpowers. January seemed too clean for the kind of work Task Force X dealt with. Waller thought that she was a casualty waiting to happen, if not by the enemy, but from hers. Campbell seemed to be a bit more impressive than she expected, having held down the fort for a year while Butcher disappeared. However, if there was a betting pool he was not going to make it out. She heard a knock on her door.

"It's open." She dryly said.

It was Deadshot.

"How's the interrogation coming along?" Waller asked.

"Not well, we've been hearing the same answer for the past twenty minutes ever since we brought him in. "I don't know how they killed him. I passed out, try asking the others." He named drop that Mallory woman too." Deadshot said paraphrasing their prisoner.

Waller let out an annoyed sigh taking something out of her drawer. It was a sheet of paper.

"You think he's being honest?" Waller asked.

"A little bit, I listened to the guy at that convention. I don't think he's a rational guy in the slightest." Deadshot replied.

"Then I suppose we'll need the help of some experts then." Waller said.

"You want to send a team after them?" Deadshot asked.

"No, I fully expect Batman or his friends will get them. You of all people should know that by now Lawton." Waller told him.

"They've been lucky so far." Deadshot said.

"Luck always runs out. Dismissed." Waller replied as Deadshot left the room.

Kimiko dropped Butcher on the bed. His face was swollen, his nose was broken and bent to the right, and one of his shoulders was higher than the other after being dislocated. There was blood all over his teeth. Mother's Milk examined Butcher.

"What the fuck happened to him?" He asked.

"Deathstroke attacked us," Hughie said, holding his bleeding arm. "He tried to fight."

"You cut your arm?" MM asked.

"I got shot." He told him.

"Shot?!" Annie questioned.

"I'm okay, serious. Take care of Butcher."

"Damn…" MM said and checked his pocket where he found a pencil. He inserted it inside Butcher's nose. "That's going to hurt like a motherfucker."

MM moved the pencil and forced Butcher's nose back in place. Even throughout Butcher's screaming, the Boys could hear the nose cracking back.

"You cunt licker…!" Butcher started saying.

"Cunt licker is no offense. Take off your coat, we're going to put your shoulder back in place."

"We're going?" Frenchie asked, MM looked at him when he spoke.

"Oh yeah."

They took Butcher's trench coat, revealing his bruised arms. MM put the coat under Butcher's armpit and Frenchie pulled the edges and held them tightly, MM held the arm and counted to three. At three, he and Frenchie pulled the arm and the coat, putting Butcher's shoulder in place.

"I did what I could." MM said. "Now he needs ice and a shitload of painkillers."

"Can you check on Hughie now?" Annie asked.

Mother's Milk cleaned the bullet hole and bandaged it. Hughie was shirtless, with almost a dozen purple dots on his torso from bullets that hit the vest, MM stitched his arm from a grazed bullet and right under there were bandages from the bullet that was still in Hughie's arm.

"You sure you can't remove it?" Hughie asked.

"Just avoid metal detectors." MM answered.

"A friend of mine had the same problem," Frenchie said. "I found the perfect way to remove it."

MM moved his lips without speaking, saying "Don't" to Hughie.

"It's fine." Hughie said.

"You had a good thinking, Hughie." MM said. "Soaking Deathstroke with the chemicals. You could've finished him right there if there was something stronger.'

"Thanks, but I didn't even realize there was something on the table, it was just the only thing I found to hit him. I wish we had something to blackmail him at the moment… Kinda weird how often we resort to blackmail."

"I really doubt an out-and-about card-carrying contract killer can be blackmailed." Annie said.

Butcher got up, MM immediately stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going?" MM asked. "You definitely have a concussion, I just put your shoulder back in place, were it not for the vest your ribs would be broken, matter of fact, you still need an x-ray for that. With this swelling, you're lucky if you even have vision in your left eye and there are still pieces of wood and glass all over your body. So I ask again, where do you think you're going?"

"To take a piss. Wanna hold my hand there?"

Butcher walked past MM, went to the bathroom, and locked the door. Butcher looked at his bruised face in the mirror and put his fingers inside his mouth. He spat two teeth on the sink.

Batman sat in front of the Batcomputer as it analyzed the sample of Neuman's blood. Within moments the analysis was complete. There was Compound V in her blood, however, that didn't prove she was the one responsible for the head explosions.

"Barbara, give me a status report of what has happened so far regarding Butcher and his gang." Batman asked.

"They learned the location of Mister Freeze's lab for Black Mask. Butcher, Campbell, and Miyashiro went over there." Oracle said.

"Any casualties?" Batman asked.

"On their side no, however, Butcher nearly got killed in a fight with Deathstroke, and Campbell got shot in the arm. Miyashiro rescued Butcher from police custody." Oracle said.
Batman sighed in annoyance.

"They're getting closer to death's door with each stunt." Batman said.

"I know, Tim believes they're hiding in the Bowery. With the bounties on their heads, every lowlife in the city sees an easy payday." Oracle said.

"I know and it's one of the reasons why I'm staying in Gotham. I'm handing the case over to someone else." Batman said.

"I figured that Joker's stunt would have called you back sooner rather than later. Homelander and his girlfriend are mounting a political offense against you." Oracle said.

"I'm aware of that." Batman bluntly said as he walked towards the Batmobile.

"Bruce, Nightwing, Robin, and I found where Nora Fries is being held." Red Robin said through his earpiece.

"Where is your current location?" Batman asked.

"At a warehouse in Gotham Harbor. Black Mask owns it through a series of shell companies." Tim said.

"Good, get to her immediately, the night's not over yet." Batman told him.

"I see, tell us what you want us to do." Tim asked.

"You've done good. I know who to bring against Butcher." Batman replied.

Maeve entered the café and saw where Donna Milton was seated. Presently, Maeve wore casual clothing to avoid getting spotted. She sat down at the table when the waiter arrived.

"I'll have a black coffee." Maeve said.

"I'll take a decaf." Circe replied.

"Glad you could make it." Circe said, flashing her a friendly smile. "I'm sorry to hear what happened to you." She stated.

"Thank you." Maeve said. "I really don't care what some smelly asshole has to say to me though." She added looking at the menu.

It was a lie, which Circe noted from the way she instantly grabbed the menu.

"Come on, be honest with me. I'm trying to help you." Circe told her.

"Look, I get enough of that talk." Maeve said.

"Well this time, I'm not saying this for my own reasons. I'm saying this for your good." Circe told her.

"You don't know anything." Maeve said.

The waiter brought

"I know enough, I've seen how the League treats you. They might act like they want to be your friends, but the truth is much worse. You do know how the authorities tend to gaslight their suspects into leaking information before their attorneys even arrive? It's like that only more duplicitous. I mean at least the cops don't pretend to be your friend." Circe said.

Maeve was silent processing the information as she drank her coffee.

"You mean they're trying to get information out of me by acting like they're my friends?" Maeve asked.

"Exactly, you're catching on. Wonder Woman might be acting all buddy-buddy with you now, but she and the rest of her friends are waiting for you to squeal." Circe said. "Now you seem like an upstanding person compared to your peers, but you've been with the Seven since the beginning. You know where all the bodies are buried, right?" She added.

Maeve blanched.

"They seem too good for that." Maeve said, though it sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than anything.

"I didn't want to tell you this, but your former teammate, Starlight. She's become a fugitive in Gotham City. You know Batman's domain." Circe said.

She showed Maeve her phone which had an article from the Gotham Gazette detailing Annie and the rest of the Boys' exploits in Gotham City. Their wanted posters were on the page.

"What?" Maeve said.

"I know, tell me how good of a person would you say Starlight is? I read that she idolized you when she was a little girl, right?" Circe questioned. "I certainly hope that you didn't play any part in her disenchantment."

Maeve was silent, but Circe knew what her silence entailed.

"Exactly, if the Justice League is going after her of all people in this universe, what makes you think they won't go after you?" Circe said.

Maeves' eyes darted around the room and she was starting to get nauseous.

"I'm sorry, I can see you're uncomfortable. You're nowhere near any of Homelanders' acts of debauchery." Circe said, feigning an apology.

Memories of Flight 37 flashed through her mind. Maeve crushed to cup in her hand, though she was immune to the scalding hot liquid and the sharp glass. Maeve got up from the table and left.

"Wait, I didn't mean…" Circe lied.

The smirking sorceress looked down at her glass. The spell she placed in Maeve's coffee would allow her to see her memories. The one most present on Maeve's mind was that of a plane and Homelander.

After Butcher finished his business and was put to rest. MM paced around the room as something unsettling began to gnaw on his thoughts.

"I'm going to take a breather." He told the others as he walked out of the room.

As he walked down the hallway he heard someone talking on their phone.

"Yes it's them, I'm sure of it." He heard a man call them.

MM kept his ear close behind the door.

"Two of them are injured. I don't think the bearded one was capable of walking on his own." The man said.

MM could feel his heart starting to pick up pace as he realized who that man was calling presently.

"I see, they're currently on the third floor, room 3012." He said.

That confirmed that the police were on their way. MM kicked open the door and confronted the man, pointing his gun at his face.

"You're gonna tell them that it's just a false alarm or so help me…" MM said until he noticed the photos in the man's apartment depicting his children. An older girl not much older than Janine and a little boy who looked to be in preschool.

MM pistol-whipped the man and walked out of the room fighting the urge to cry from all the stress and what he was becoming.

"You okay?" Annie's voice called out.

MM turned around and saw Annie with Hughie with her.

"No, I'm not. This place is getting to me." MM said.

"What do you mean?" Annie asked.

"Back home, we were the guys going after the bigger assholes in charge. Now we're just assholes in a world where we don't belong." He told her.

"We can go to another city." Annie said.

"Still won't make a difference. I think we are just about done." MM told her.

"Butcher will…" Hughie spoke up.

"Butcher is barely able to walk and we are getting hounded by the cops, criminals, and vigilantes of this city. We're fucked, plain and simple." MM told them. "We're extra fucked now, because the guy in the other room just called the cops on us."

Victoria Neuman was reviewing the footage prior to a recent office invasion. There was a temporary blackout while she was away. She studied it over three times and could not find anything until she noticed the slightest bit of movement. It looked like a cape.

It was there that she realized that the League suspected her. She tried to think of what to do, but she couldn't go after them politically. The League was growing immensely in popularity with anti-Vought and more liberal circles which she needed to keep up the illusion of opposition. Especially since Homelander and Stormfront were starting to take a stand against them. Allying with those two would look disastrous from a strategic standpoint. She took out her phone and called Stan Edgar.

"I think they're starting to suspect me." She told him.

There was no response from his end.

"Are you sure?" Stan asked.

"There was a blackout at my office. I saw what looked to be Batman's cape before the footage cut off." She said.

"Batman's returning to his home universe from what I've gathered." Stan told her, trying to reassure her.

"I've read his file, you know he's the greatest detective in their world." Nadia replied sounding slightly more stressed.

"Keep your head low." Stan told her.

"What about Luthor? He might help." Neuman said.

"I don't know how trustworthy Luthor is, we've been looking over his formula. I do not fully trust him." Stan replied.

"I see." Nadia said as she hung up.

At this point, Nadia Edgar needed to do something, and soon.

Nightwing, Robin, Red Robin, Spoiler, and Batgirl stood on the rooftop overlooking where the Boys were hiding. They heard Batman arrive and turned to face him.

"GCPD received a call from this motel." Red Robin said.

"Good, follow my instructions." Batman said.

"Father, are you sure, all of us are necessary?" Robin asked.

"Just enough, I'll handle them. You keep an eye out for any stragglers." Batman said.

"It's not our fault they're just lucky. Nightwing nearly cornered them before running into Croc, and we only stumbled upon them by accident." Spoiler spoke up.

"I know, you've done well. All of you, We're all putting an end to this now." Batman said.

"Barbara told me you were bringing him. Are you sure that's wise?" Nightwing asked.

"Butcher won't attempt to shoot him." Batman replied.

"The guy was willing to kill a baby." Nightwing said.

"Only as part of a suicide gambit in an attempt to hurt Homelander. I've read about Butcher, his misanthropic views won't apply to him. I've read about his past, he likely won't try to kill him unless he's been pressed." Batman said.

"If he gets hurt, father, I will never forgive you." Robin said.

"Tim, who are they talking about?" Spoiler whispered to Red Robin.

Tim sighed and whispered into his girlfriend's ear. Despite her mask, Stephanie's bewilderment was noticeable.

Maeve walked into her room and went to the fridge where she took a great gulp of a bottle of tequila. Her talk with Donna played in her mind like a broken echo. After swallowing, she smelled something burning in the room over her bedroom. It smelled like overcooked meat.

She covered her nose and walked towards her bed. Slowly sauntering over to her goal, she saw a lump underneath the covers. She grabbed them and removed the covers.

Underneath the covers were the charred remains of a little girl. Her corpse was covered with third and mostly fourth-degree burns as she could see the bones poking through her little body's seared flesh and muscles. Maeve threw up, she could feel the bile burn the back of her throat. She felt something grab her thigh and saw the arm of the corpse gripping it almost desperately.

Maeve screamed as she fell onto the ground. Despite being eyeless she could feel the anger emanating from it. She closed her eyes, as she could hear screams in her mind. Only for it to suddenly stop.

Maeve opened her eyes and saw there was nothing in front of her. The burning smell was no longer present. Her eyes darted back and forth before climbing onto the bed. She could feel the tears starting to build as she huddled in on herself.

Butcher sat on the floor, his back facing a broken heater of the abandoned building. That was the first empty place after leaving the motel in a hurry before the police came. Kimiko gave Butcher a water bottle and smiled. Frenchie and MM looked out the windows, with no movement. They checked their phones, all suddenly out of battery.

"I had all the bars just now." Hughie said. "You think he did this?"

"I'm out of power." Annie said. "And I have nothing to absorb."

"You still have your strength. He's just a guy."

"Just a guy?" MM asked. "Haven't you seen enough shit to know there's no 'just' in here, Hughie?"

"I'm saying he doesn't have powers. But Deathstroke did and Butcher held his own against him."

"You call that shit holding his own? And you forget Batman beat Deathstroke, what does that tell you? We have to move. Staying here is just waiting to be caught."

"There are dozens of abandoned places in Gotham." Butcher said. "How would he know we hid here?"

"You're smarter than that Butcher. They can map down the area, find the direction we are going, and eliminate options. Even if Batman has no idea, wanna wait for him to bring Superman to fly over the city with x-ray vision? This time we don't have an explosion to get rid of the guy." MM said, alluding to Frenchie blowing his hideout to distract Homelander when they killed Translucent.

Butcher and MM started a loud discussion and the argument almost became physical until they were interrupted by a noise coming from upstairs. MM grabbed his gun and went out of the room. Nothing. He kept around the darkness pointing his gun at the chance of threat, each step making a different noise. Pain. He stepped on something pointy that went through his shoe. A nail? He checked the floor and ripped something out of the wood, a Batarang.

Mother Milk was pulled by his ankle and sent up by a rope taking him in screams. He shot until his gun was out of bullets. The boys watched helplessly and ran out of the room.

"Wait!" Hughie cautioned. "What about MM?"

"There's nothing we can do." Butcher said.

Frenchie pulled out a lantern and a pistol. The moment his pistol was out, he was attacked by a dog, a German Shepherd wearing a yellow leash and (almost comically) a mask similar to Batman's. Bat-Hound made Frenchie lose his gun and pinned him on the ground while biting his arms. Kimiko jumped in to save Frenchie, but the second she approached, Batman emerged from the shadows and placed an inhibitor collar on her neck, and threw her on the ground. Batman went back to the shadows and Butcher tried to shoot him but he was nowhere to be seen. They heard a loud whistle and Bat-Hound released Frenchie and ran away to the shadows. Kimiko got up, she had a bruise on her head. Frenchie, still bleeding from the bites, went to attend to Kimiko and examined her injury.

"Why is she not healing?" Annie asked.

"Inhibitor collar," Frenchie explained. "It's what they use in prisons for supes."

"Was that dog wearing a mask?" Hughie asked.

"The Bat Hound. I thought he was just something the Bat Burger made up to sell toys. But apparently non." Frenchie explained.

Frenchie went to grab his gun from its holster, but felt nothing. He looked down and saw that it was gone.

"Merde, I lost my gun." Frenchie said.

"You are one man down." Batman's voice echoed all the building, they couldn't tell where it was coming from. "Two of your men are injured. One of your metas is powerless, you have one gun and limited bullets. You can surrender yourselves now or I'll come for you one by one. You don't want that."

"Speakers," Butcher whispered. "Fucking theatrical cunt. Can you absorb the energy?" He asked Annie.

"I think… I… No, I can't feel anything. Whatever he was using he already put it down."

"Then why the hell didn't you do it before!?"

"Because I was scared!" She confessed.

"Hey!" Hughie yelled. "Where's Frenchie and Kimiko?"

They realized the speech wasn't just a warning, it was a distraction. When they were too busy listening to it and trying to figure out where it came from, the two most vulnerable of them were taken out. Butcher pulled out his gun and checked the bullets.

"Alright, you two listen up." Butcher said. "You don't have your flare but you're still tough, I can still shoot and I have enough bullets to put him down. You're the shield, I'm the sword. Hughie, you're the lookout, stay close to us so he can't snatch you and you tell us if tries to sneak on."

"Where are we going?" Annie asked.

"Upstairs, we're leaving from the fire ladder." Butcher said.

They walked up the stairs, and each step was a reason for caution and fear as the noise from the wood could be mistaken for Batman. In the hallway, they walked in the direction of the illumination provided by Hughie's flashlight. If something happened to the light, they knew something happened to Hughie. Surprisingly, the light showed Bat-Hound, who didn't attack, just stared at them with a friendly face and his tongue out.

"Won't you do something?" Annie asked.

"I can't." Butcher answered.

"This dog nearly ripped Frenchie to shreds."

"If I point my gun at him, he'll attack."

"You just don't want to hurt a dog, do you?" Hughie pointed out. "It's nice."

"Just walk carefully." Butcher said, his voice showing annoyance at Hughie's correctness.

They all walked around Bat Hound, always keeping an eye on him, who just stood friendly with his tongue out. They had their backs facing the direction they were walking toward in order to keep an eye on Bat Hound, who showed no threat. A loud noise burst out a door and something hit Annie's body pushing her through the staircase and sending her downstairs. Bat Hound ran away and Butcher shot at the door where whatever hit Annie came from. Hughie and Butcher entered the room, there was some sort of grenade launcher on the floor, they could see the thick smoke coming from where Annie fell. The launcher was now empty and the window opened, they knew where Batman left from. Butcher raced back to the hallway and desperately pulled out the fire hose, it was old and didn't work anymore but it would serve the purpose. Butcher cut it off and went back to the room, tied it to the window, and threw it out.

"Go." He ordered Hughie.

"Batman just went this way. Even if he didn't, I can't leave Annie."

"He left already. You saw how he did to Kimiko and Frenchie, he knew she cared about him and used him as bait to get her. He knows you care about Annie and he's waiting for you to come for her. He's not waiting for me. He'll be busy If you're lucky, maybe Annie escapes but now you have to run."

Hughie reluctantly grabbed the hose and climbed down the building. Almost on the ground, he jumped and almost fell but he was safe. Hughie could hear shots from the building. He climbed a fence in the alley and ran the further he could. Hughie put out his phone and called Annie's number.

"Annie, if you escaped, meet me… Shit, fuck, he probably has your phone- - Wait, if you escaped or listen to this, you should meet at that place where we called Butcher from when we first came to Gotham."

Hughie kept running. About 20 minutes later, he went by an alley but couldn't pass, there was something in the way. Maybe it was a garbage truck. Upon closer inspection, Hughie found it wasn't a garbage truck, it was a large militarized black vehicle with a distinct bat theme. Hughie knew who it belonged to, what he didn't know was that Batman was right behind him.