Chapter Ninety-Four: The Lich King Rages Again

“Surprise, you bastards!!!”

What in the hell kind of surprise was that?

The moment the people in the room were talking, a rocket-propelled grenade slammed into them.

Everyone dove for cover.

Rogers reacted at once, using his shield to bat a grenade that had been thrown into the room straight back out through the window.

“Oh, I think Thor just gave them a rather excellent opening,” Rogers said, spreading his hands with a helpless look.

The gaping hole Thor had smashed open as he flew away was impossible to ignore.

“Let’s deal with the matter in front of us first, Captain, Lawyer Matt. As for what comes after, I’ll give you an explanation you can live with.”

“I understand.”

A faint, knowing smile appeared on Matt’s face.

Then he signaled to Jessica and the others behind him.

“In that case, we’ll take our leave first. I don’t think there’s any reason to stay here anymore.”

The hell with this. We’re out. We can’t afford to tangle with this.

It was obvious their opponent had planned this all along.

Why stay and wait to be set up again?

Why die with you?

Luke Cage tore the door off its hinges and charged out first, using his own body as a shield to take the lead. Jessica and Colleen lifted Danny, while Matt’s cane found every step with perfect precision. The group burst out of the room from another direction.

Before Nick Fury could say another word, Matt and the others from the Defenders simply turned and ran without the slightest hesitation.

Their coordination at that moment was far better than it had been aboard the Helicarrier. It was almost as if, only now, they truly belonged to the same team. Only now did they display their real ability; all their earlier clumsy behavior seemed no more than slacking off.

So much so that Nick Fury never even had time to react. By the time he had seated a round in his gun and turned back around, the group had already vanished.

He looked at the empty space behind him, then at Rogers standing there with his shield raised.

A row of question marks seemed to pop up over Nick Fury’s head.

He stared blankly, unable to process what had just happened.

“Damn it!”

“I knew those people were unreliable.”

Nick Fury watched the fleeing figures, and even Hill was nowhere to be seen now.

“Director, I think what matters now is not that. This place is no longer safe. We need to move immediately.”

“Yes, Rogers. I have another safe house. It’s absolutely secure.”

Nick Fury and Rogers covered each other as they rushed out of the room. From the side, another RPG came screaming in.

Rogers braced his shield and blocked the strike, then looked toward the figure emerging gradually from the smoke, surprise flickering across his face.

“Bucky?”

But Bucky gave no answer. He raised his metal arm and brought it down hard at Rogers.

.

.

One day later.

Another safe house in Washington.

Nick Fury slammed his hand down on the table. Coulson was bandaging his idol’s wounds, while Rogers sat in silence, lost in thought over other matters.

“Those damn Hydras!”

Nick Fury was furious now.

Furious beyond restraint. Betrayed again, and by a band of street-level heroes he had never thought much of to begin with.

He had thought, at last, that he had found people he could trust. He had thought the Defenders would work with him. But Matt and the others had practically slapped him in the face.

He felt like an idiot.

“Coulson, do I look like someone who doesn’t understand people, someone with a terrible personality?”

Nick Fury immediately turned to his most trusted subordinate for an answer.

He had always done this.

“Director, this isn’t really a matter of sentiment. It has risen to the level of philosophy, of metaphysics. After all, they aren’t agents, and they aren’t your subordinates. You were only cooperating with them. In status, everyone was equal...”

Coulson stopped there.

Anyone would have resented being used like a weapon.

Matt not smacking you dead with that cane of his was probably only because Captain Rogers was nearby and he couldn’t win.

But being angry was still necessary.

This was New York. Freedom was the thing people valued here.

“No, Coulson. Hill must still have some other plan. And the Defenders are an indispensable asset. I want you to find them. We still need to win over more heroes and righteous men.”

“Find them and apologize on my behalf. We need them.”

Across from Fury’s desk, he kept issuing orders to the subordinate he trusted.

Under normal circumstances, Coulson would have accepted the assignment without question. But he had spent time with the Defenders. He knew their temperaments and their principles. This matter had originated with Nick Fury himself; what right did Coulson have to apologize on his behalf?

And even if he apologized, would the other side accept it?

Would they simply be manipulated again?

“Sorry, Director. I don’t think this is something I can handle.”

It was the first time Coulson had ever refused Nick Fury’s order.

“Hm?”

Hearing this, Fury looked up in confusion at the subordinate he trusted most.

“Why?”

“Director, they are not S.H.I.E.L.D. employees, nor are they your agents. That should be enough. I think you understand what I mean.”

“Yes, Fury. This is a matter where we need to show our position.”

“...Is it because of what happened this time? If that’s the reason, I’m willing to apologize.”

Nick Fury was used to giving orders to his subordinates, and he stopped short for a moment as he spoke.

“Yes, I’ll apologize. Rogers, we still have many things to do. I’ll go.”

Only then, after the abrupt shift in roles and the shock of it, did Nick Fury finally react and say it aloud.

The room fell silent again.

Neither of the other two said a word, and Fury’s dark expression grew even darker.

“Damn Hydra!”

Nick Fury was terribly angry now. He had finally worked out Hill’s purpose, only to discover that such a coincidence had occurred. And if Rogers’ account was true, if he really had seen Bucky, then Fury was now even more convinced that Hill was one of Hydra’s people as well.

Hill was the mastermind operating from behind the military.

“Rogers, do you have any thoughts on what happened aboard the Helicarrier?”

“I never expected it. I truly never expected that so many people would be Hydra agents, Hill included. Just thinking about it chills me to the bone!”

There was one thing Rogers still could not understand. Since Hydra had occupied S.H.I.E.L.D. for so long, why had they never struck in secret to kill him and Nick Fury before?

And Bucky?

Was he also a Hydra agent?

“Nick Fury, regarding Bucky, I want to sort out a few things. I think your plan will have to be pushed back. If possible, I want to awaken his mind. If we can do that, we may gain another ally. And more importantly...”

Rogers paused there.

“We need more elite fighters. We don’t know friend from foe. The enemy is too strong. We still need time to prepare, or rather, to wait for Thor’s return.”

“Captain Bucky, then? Fine. I can use some of my hidden channels to help. But are you sure you can awaken Barton?”

“If we don’t try, how will we know?”

“Then let it stand for now. My instincts tell me there’s a larger boss hiding behind our enemy. We need to be careful. Let’s deal with our internal problems first, gather all of our own superhuman strength, and then settle the final battle!”

“Yes, Fury. That’s exactly what I mean.”

With so many Hydra operatives hidden inside S.H.I.E.L.D. for so long, if they had not exposed themselves, they were even more dutiful and dependable than S.H.I.E.L.D.’s own agents. That only made Rogers more confused.

Now that Hill had been confirmed as a military insider, it meant they had already infiltrated beyond S.H.I.E.L.D. It was possible that those politicians, senators, and countless other places all had Hydra’s shadow lurking in them.

Their task was arduous and heavy.

Meanwhile, Hill had also appeared in Pierce’s office.

“Mr. Pierce, thank you for your help this time. I think there will be many opportunities for us to cooperate from here on out. Perhaps you can do me one more favor?”

“Hm?”

“Bucky is the most useful piece we have.”

Through the Mind Stone, Rold watched everything unfold with satisfaction.

Once again, he began whispering through the psychic link.

This time, the target was clear: Jane Foster.

“Do you desire power?”

“Or an eternal beloved?”

In her sleep, Jane Foster thrashed violently, clutching a pillow over her head and rolling back and forth on the bed.

That voice had been nagging in her ear for more than a month now.

Her mind was on the verge of collapse.