Chapter Eighty-Eight: Could You Please Stop Making Such a Scene?

Nick Fury, like Rogers, was probing, or rather, drawing conclusions from his own reasoning.

Hawkeye might or might not have been a Hydra man, but Hill was far more likely to be Hydra, and the military was absolutely Hydra. Pierce was still an open question.

There simply was not enough data to support a final answer.

Or perhaps, deep down, Nick Fury believed that Alexander Pierce, the man who had promoted him, could not possibly be Hydra. If he were, then what would be the point?

Would it not be better for him to become director himself?

So when Rogers brought Barton back, he made no attempt to conceal anything.

He imprisoned Barton in full view of everyone, and openly declared Barton to be Hydra, whether that was true or not. The whole point was to let the Hydras hidden within S.H.I.E.L.D. see it, to let Hill see it, to observe what the Hydras inside the organization would do, and what Hill would do in response.

Nick Fury was also using this to test the reaction of the people he suspected. After Barton was brought back to headquarters, Fury announced everything to all of S.H.I.E.L.D., then quietly withdrew and carried out his own plan in secret.

And in a sense, his plan succeeded. But it also failed.

Clearly, after he left, something changed at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, and Nick Fury obtained the answer he had wanted.

He had not expected that the change was caused by Roald. While he and Rogers both believed Hill to be Hydra, in truth everyone had already been replaced. While he waited for the right moment, Hill had directly seized control of the home base.

Nick Fury was only half right, and that half was itself only half right. His line of reasoning was roughly correct, but the outcome was vastly different, so the result he wanted was doomed to be in vain.

He could never have imagined that the so-called Hydra members in S.H.I.E.L.D. were not only Hydra, but also puppets of Banshee Hill from the Scourge Legion.

And every single one of them was.

Lack of intelligence would lead to a terrible loss.

Rogers still treated these people as Hydra.

"Good morning, gentlemen."

Rogers greeted the controlled agents waiting for him on the landing platform.

"Yes, Captain. Good morning."

Though their faces were pale and their speech a little stiff, the agents still answered his greeting.

"Your faces look a little pale."

Rogers asked casually.

"Yes, Captain. We have had a heavy workload these past few days. There have not been enough hands on the mothership, and we have not rested in a long time. Now that you are here, Captain, we can finally breathe easy."

"Yes, with the Captain here, we can relax."

Another Hydra agent beside him said the same thing.

If you, Captain, were to join us forever, I think we would feel even more at ease.

Though their words were polite, that was what the Hydra agents were thinking.

After signaling the others behind him to remain alert on the landing platform and search for Danny, Rogers followed the agents toward the elevator. "I am here to take Barton away. He is to be transferred elsewhere. Please take me to complete the handoff."

"Yes, Captain. This way, please."

Rogers stood in the center, surrounded by Hydra agents on all sides. The group entered the elevator, and it began to descend.

Inside, Rogers gripped his shield tightly, ready to respond to an attack at any moment. The other Hydra agents also kept their hands tightly on their guns.

Their index fingers rested where the trigger could be pulled at once. These controlled Hydra agents had long since chambered their rounds and disengaged the safeties; one squeeze would be enough to open fire.

Encircled by the others, Rogers felt that the atmosphere was not right.

He sensed, with unusual sharpness, that the agents in the elevator were probably all Hydra, or that when the elevator stopped, what awaited him would be a trap.

The Hydras in the elevator all knew one another to be Hydra. The ghosts preserved the consciousness they had in life; they knew Barton was Hydra, Hill was Hydra, and now everyone was curious what identity Rogers would claim for himself.

Naturally, they had their own mission as well.

Rogers moved behind one of the agents.

"Agent, tell me your name."

"Blake Rumlow, Captain. You can call me Blake."

The Hydra agent named Blake Rumlow replied.

"Very good. I want to tell you something."

Rogers leaned close to Blake Rumlow's ear.

"Hail Hydra."

The agents in the elevator looked up at Rogers one after another.

They were all dumbfounded.

The Captain is Hydra too?

That made no sense.

Impossible.

Rogers had actually said it. That made things difficult for the real Hydras. They no longer dared to shoot him casually. In order for the rest of the plan not to come under suspicion, they had to pretend not to hear and not to see, and go along with Rogers's performance. Even though they truly were Hydra, the worst part was that, knowing full well the Captain was testing them, they still had no choice but to admit their true Hydra identities.

But the Hydras always possessed a high degree of resolve. The few Hydra agents in the elevator exchanged glances, then pretended to relax at once. One even thoughtfully shot out the elevator's surveillance camera. After that, everyone answered Rogers inside the elevator.

"Hail Hydra."

Through Hill, these agents all knew that Rogers was not Hydra. But Rogers did not know that they knew he was not Hydra. He thought he had spoken the words and tricked them into revealing information, never imagining that the Hydras, whose inner workings had long since changed, were simply cooperating with his performance.

Now, the Hydra agents who had revealed themselves to Rogers all understood that he was not Hydra. But in order to cooperate with Rogers's act and to extract Barton, as well as for the plans that would follow, everyone not only had to play along with Rogers, but also had to help protect him.

Then, by using Rogers's false identity, they could achieve the plan of obtaining the real intelligence. Rogers did not know that all the agents already knew the truth about him, and that was the greatest advantage Hill could exploit.

Rogers naturally felt the change in atmosphere inside the elevator.

He believed victory was in his hands.

Hydra?

Nothing more than that.

Countless plans instantly began forming in his mind.

Meanwhile, the Hydra agents in the elevator felt as though they were enduring a trial of agony. They were utterly stifled, never imagining that one day they would have to protect the Captain while helping frame one of their own, Barton, for the sake of the mission.

But all of this was for the mission, for a greater objective and a larger plan.

Hopefully Barton would not bear a grudge.

With a soft ding, the doors of the downward-moving elevator slowly opened. The Hydras inside immediately resumed a formation that shielded Rogers in their midst and walked toward the place where Barton was being held.

Five minutes later, Rogers stood before Barton.

"Huh? Rogers, why are you here?"

Barton sat inside the cell, pretending to be astonished by Rogers's arrival.

"Barton, there is nothing to be afraid of now. If you ask why, then I suppose the answer is that I have come."

Rogers looked at Barton, whose face was a picture of confusion.

"???"

The Hydra agents and Barton were all bewildered, yet they paid no mind to Rogers's performance.

"I have come to rescue you, and the comrades from within the organization behind me."

Rogers naturally had many other motives in saying these words.

Barton grew even more baffled.

Hill had only told him to behave like a prisoner. She had never told him to improvise extra lines.

Had something changed that he did not know about?