Chapter Ninety-Two: So, Who Is Hydra?

After a crackling surge of electricity, Thor opened his eyes.

“Rogers?”

“Yes.”

Seeing that Thor had awakened, Rogers cut the power to the wire in his hand, then looked toward the others from the Defenders and Nick Fury.

“I knew this would work.”

During the rescue of Hill, because of the nature of the Banshee itself, the side effects of Banshee’s Screech and Banshee’s Touch had caused Thor, who had caught Hill in midair, to collapse unconscious as soon as he hit the ground.

Banshee’s Screech: a shrill, piercing wail that rattles the spirit and weakens the enemy’s mental strength; those with a fragile state of mind are easily stunned.

Banshee’s Touch: oh, what a handsome little man. Come here and let me have a touch. No matter who you are, when a beautiful older woman comes smiling over with bad intentions, remember to protect yourself. Absorb the enemy’s attributes and gain a certain growth trait, with random effects.

Since she had been cast off the helicarrier, the only one likely able to save her in midair was Thor. That trait was the main reason Roald had let Hill take the lead in all of this.

He knew the relationship between Thor and Rogers. As the strongest combatant currently known, Hill wanted to absorb part of Thor’s attributes and gain certain traits besides.

With Rogers’ personality, he could never stand by and watch her fall to her death.

Clearly, the plan had gone very well.

Even if it had failed, Roald still thought it would not have been a loss. Hill would not die.

If it succeeded, whether Hill was rescued by Rogers or Thor, she would gain attributes and infiltrate the enemy from within.

It was simply a matter of whether they profited more from Rogers or from Thor.

Thor’s lightning had driven Zhazaila back, or perhaps Zhazaila had deliberately allowed himself to be forced back. The moment he landed, he had passed out.

After some discussion, everyone decided that, in the name of Thunder God Thor, he deserved a round of electrotherapy.

From the standard 120-volt alternating current of the federal electrical code to the 240-volt split-phase voltage from the center axis, Rogers gave Thor every package available.

There was no doubt that the Thunder God could be charged, that electricity could indeed recharge him. Though everyone found that astonishing, it had done the trick.

“Ugh, what happened to me? I feel a little weak.”

Leaning against the sofa, Thor took out his flask and sipped lightly. “Did you just use me as a power bank? I am the Thunder God. Trivial mortal electricity can’t possibly—”

“But it worked, didn’t it? You woke up.”

Rogers let out a long breath. After shaking his head hard, he felt the lingering echoes of those screams begin to fade from his mind. He was finally waking up. “That was the loudest shriek I’ve ever heard. It was practically a sonic weapon, Miss Hill.”

Carrying two cups of coffee, Hill had already changed her clothes.

She walked over and sat beside Rogers. “That was the first time I’ve ever faced a scene like that. It was inevitable that I’d lose my composure. The fact that I didn’t die like that was lucky enough. Thank God.”

“Hey, hey. The one you should thank is me, the god from Asgard, not the god you’re talking about.”

Thor set the coffee aside, his brow furrowing. He had never been able to get used to that stuff.

A can of beer would have been better.

“Yes, I should thank you too, the rechargeable god from Asgard.”

After a pause, Hill looked at Rogers and said, “I’m sorry. As you can see, the whole helicarrier is full of traitors now. Those agents clearly aren’t with us anymore. They’re Hydra. Natasha seems to have planned this long ago, and Barton too.”

“Barton?”

Only then did everyone realize something was wrong.

“Where’s Barton?” Rogers asked Jessica.

“Yeah, where is Barton?”

Jessica looked at the others in the Defenders. Matt and Danny were still lying in bed.

“Captain, the situation was far too chaotic at the time. I was taking care of Danny and Matt the whole time, so...” replied Colleen, the only one who had not been slacking off the entire time.

“Forget about him. Barton is Hydra too. I’ve confirmed it.”

Hill spoke up. “You were all deceived. Barton is Hydra as well. Because of him, Natasha was able to take control of the helicarrier so easily. I was careless.”

Nick Fury sat nearby, resting his chin in both hands as he considered the doubts in all this.

“How do you prove that you’re not one of Hydra?”

It was the question on everyone’s mind.

After listening to Rogers’ report earlier that day, he had finally understood just how enormous Hydra’s presence inside S.H.I.E.L.D. had become.

He glanced around the room. The members of the Defenders were there. Matt and Danny lay on the beds. For the sake of digging up dragon bones later, searching for the Seven Cities, or rather, for the sake of dealing with Roald again, that was one of the main reasons they had rescued Danny today.

To be honest, everyone here except Thor was interested in the “qi” Danny had spoken of, and Nick Fury was especially eager to know how to cultivate it and spread it.

From Hill’s words, Rogers was completely baffled.

He had thought Barton was not Hydra, yet now Barton really was Hydra. He no longer knew how to make sense of any of this.

Or rather, apart from Thor, who simply did not care to think, none of them had fully sorted out the situation. Fury’s earlier deductions had diverged too much from what they were hearing now, and with Hill’s account added on top of that, the whole thing had become a complete mess.

“Why should I explain my identity to you? Fury, my advice is that everything should be put on hold for now. What we need is to untangle the whole chain of events. If you don’t believe me, feel free to investigate. But I’m telling you this: Hydra is definitely making a major move, and it can’t wait. I don’t think they hijacked the helicarrier just for fun.”

“Think about it. If they pull a disaster in New York...” Hill did not bother to explain herself further. Silence was the best proof of her identity. She still carried herself with the same forceful style as before. “I don’t care what you think of me, but this must be prevented. Otherwise, after this is over, there won’t be any S.H.I.E.L.D. left at all.”

A tactical glint flashed in Nick Fury’s one eye.

There were parts he simply could not make sense of, but he also had no sufficient grounds to doubt Hill. Now that Hydra had seized the helicarrier, the priority had to be dealing with this far more urgent matter first.

“What’s your plan?”

At this point, Nick Fury had no way of knowing how many of the people outside the helicarrier were still on their side. He had no one left he could trust.

“Alexander Pierce.”

Hill poured the coffee in her hand onto the floor. She could no longer taste food at all; coffee felt like poison to her.

“From the moment I deliberately exposed myself to internal review, I started planning. I’m sorry for using you as a pawn too, but all of this is for S.H.I.E.L.D.’s future.”

“So many Hydra operatives could never have been dealt with overnight. They must have been executing this plan for a very long time, and the only one with both the opportunity and the ability to do it was probably Pierce. After the last review, I became even more certain of that. Congress, the military, maybe even both have their people.”

“You mean we ask Pierce for help? Tell him the helicarrier has been hijacked by Hydra, then watch his reaction?”

As expected of a man who lived by tactics, Nick Fury instantly understood Hill’s meaning.

“After all these years of preparation, Hydra can’t possibly have only one helicarrier. There must be hidden forces too. We need them to reveal themselves.”

“There’s no doubt that if Pierce supports us, we still can’t prove he’s Hydra, but we’ll have a chance to take back the helicarrier. We can also secure support along the way. He’ll think we’re not suspecting him, when in fact we already are. There’s a great deal of room to maneuver there.”

“And if Pierce refuses to support us in retaking the helicarrier, then I’ll report him to the World Security Council and pressure him from above. That also splits into two possibilities. If he is Hydra, then we deal with him. If he really isn’t Hydra, then we lose nothing. As for Congress, the Council, and the military, faced with the possibility of another New York disaster, no one would dare shoulder that responsibility. Hydra didn’t seize the helicarrier just so they could sit around enjoying the scenery.”

“But Hill, what’s the cost?”

Nick Fury voiced the question at the heart of it all.

“If it fails, you’ll lose everything, Fury.”

A single sentence, and it carried two meanings.