Shortly after they returned to Stark Industries, a group of men in suits and polished shoes arrived, asking for Howard.
"I heard about the attack. Are you all right? No injuries?" The leader, a man about Howard's age, asked as soon as he entered the room.
"I'm fine, Pierce." Though wary of these men, Howard maintained a calm exterior. "Marcus handled those attackers all by himself."
Pierce was one of the few people who knew about the super soldier serum. Until Howard could identify the traitor, he needed to stay on guard.
Hearing Howard's words, Pierce turned his attention to Marcus, who was lounging on a nearby sofa.
"You must be Marcus," Pierce approached him with an outstretched hand and a friendly smile. "If it weren't for you, Howard and Maria would probably have died at the hands of those terrorists." Pierce appeared genuinely concerned about his old friend's safety.
Taking the man's hand, Marcus smiled back. "Howard traded shares for my protection. I couldn't let him down, could I?"
He raised an eyebrow at Pierce.
The moment Howard had said the other man's name, Marcus had recognized who he was. After all, this person had made an indelible contribution to transforming SHIELD into what it was today.
After exchanging pleasantries with Marcus, Pierce stated his purpose.
"I came to check on your condition, but also because we'll be taking over the investigation of this attack. Don't worry—we'll be thorough and catch all those responsible."
Since they would be handling the incident, Pierce explained, everything related to it would need to be transferred to their custody.
This included the bodies of the soldiers Marcus had killed, and Bucky, whom Marcus had captured.
"Hold up!" Marcus raised his hand to object. "I don't know who you people are exactly, but if you want to take over this investigation, fine—investigate away. But why take my spoils?"
Marcus was deliberately stirring the pot. He wanted to see how the Hydra leader would react.
"Those are all key pieces of evidence that naturally need to be handed over to us for proper processing," Pierce argued, his brow slightly furrowed. "Besides, one of them is a former member of the Howling Commandos. We have many questions for him."
This was standard procedure, Pierce explained, even if they were handing the case to the FBI.
"Well..." Marcus nodded slowly. "Your reasoning makes sense. Why don't we question him together?"
Now Pierce was growing uncomfortable. The whole reason for taking over was to prevent Hydra's existence from being exposed, but with Marcus insisting on being involved, that would be difficult.
"What's wrong? Afraid of revealing some questionable methods?" Marcus draped an arm around Pierce's shoulders with a grin. "Don't worry—I'm quite skilled at interrogation myself. Maybe even more ruthless than you are."
Pierce was at a loss for words. If he insisted on taking all the evidence, it might raise suspicion.
And Marcus had already claimed his interrogation methods were effective. Pierce couldn't keep using humanitarian arguments against him—after all, it was the Howards who were nearly killed, not his agents.
Seeing Pierce's hesitation, Marcus patted him on the shoulder.
"Come on, the guy should be awake by now. Generally, people who've been brainwashed regain their senses after a good knock to the head. Let's see what he knows!"
As Marcus walked toward the laboratory, Pierce felt his stomach sink. Though Bucky had never seen him personally, he had been under Hydra's control for years. If he regained his memories, it could expose their entire operation.
But Pierce had no good options. The agents he'd brought likely wouldn't stand a chance against Marcus.
After all, Marcus had single-handedly wiped out an entire elite team and a Winter Soldier. Pierce wasn't about to test that kind of strength.
"Why are you just standing there? Let's go!" Marcus called from the laboratory doorway, looking back at everyone.
"NO!!!"
With a roar, fragmented images flashed through Bucky's mind.
"Longing... Rusted... Seventeen... Daybreak... Furnace..."
Voices echoed in his head, speaking seemingly unrelated Russian words—the trigger phrases designed to control him.
Just as he was about to succumb to their influence, a sharp voice cut through his consciousness.
"What are you yelling about?" The interruption snapped him out of the controlled state.
He opened his eyes to see two men standing before him—one young, one old.
"Looking better," Marcus raised his eyebrows and asked, "Do you know who I am?"
Bucky shook his head. Though Marcus's voice had pulled him back from the brink, he didn't recognize him.
"What about him?"
Following the direction of Marcus's finger, Bucky's eyes widened. Memories of his time under control came flooding back.
"Howard... I—I was sent to kill Howard and retrieve whatever was in his car!" His expression twisted with horror as he trembled on the bed, clutching his head. "No! Howard is my friend. I couldn't do that!"
Seeing Bucky's distress, Howard stepped forward to comfort him. "I'm fine! What happened to you after the accident?"
Hearing Howard's reassurance, Bucky's expression gradually relaxed as he recounted his experiences.
"They took me to a secret base—appeared to be Soviet on the surface, but it was actually Hydra..."
As Bucky told his story, Howard finally understood that Marcus had been right. Bucky had been brainwashed by Hydra and sent to assassinate him.
Looking at Pierce standing beside Marcus, Howard fell into deep thought.
"Pierce seems normal for now, but we can't let our guard down until we find the mole."
Howard knew exactly how significant the super soldier serum was. Though his recreated version might not match Dr. Erskine's original formula, it was still incredibly potent.
"Pierce, it seems our old enemy has returned."
"Yes, I never imagined Hydra was hiding this deep in the shadows. If not for this attack, we might never have noticed them at all."
Pierce nodded gravely. "I'll dispatch agents to search for traces of their operation. Hopefully we'll find something."
With that, he turned and left with his men.
After seeing Pierce off, Howard frowned. He hadn't detected anything unusual in Pierce's behavior. Perhaps he truly wasn't the traitor.
"What did you make of Pierce?" Howard asked.
"Him?" Marcus smiled, crossing his legs. "A cunning old fox. Good actor."
Good actor?
Howard stared at Marcus, eager to hear his thoughts.
"Don't overthink it. Something felt off about that guy from the moment he walked in," Marcus said, waving his hand dismissively before collapsing onto the sofa with a groan. "I don't know what kind of relationship you two have, but in my opinion, he's up to no good."
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