Everyone, Daisy included, had underestimated the old politician. His will was strong, his convictions firm, and he had been captured earlier than the others. By now, he had largely recovered his sanity. As a member of Hydra, he had privately trained to resist sedatives and truth serum. That training had indeed proved useful.
Once his mind recovered, the sedative's effect weakened drastically. Still, he continued pretending to be confused. In front of Daisy, he had deliberately displayed an even more deranged state, all to preserve his life.
Pierce was terrified. His memories were perfectly clear, and he knew how much damaging information he had exposed before the cameras at the television station. During thirty years in office, he had personally participated in too many dirty deals to count. Hundreds of powerful figures outside were probably preparing to kill him.
Thus, although he knew Daisy also intended to kill him, after weighing the relationships among all sides, he still chose to hide inside S.H.I.E.L.D. He had not exposed his identity as a Hydra member, and with Nick Fury watching, Daisy would not personally strike.
But this could not continue forever. He did not know how much longer he could remain hidden. His life was held in another person's palm, and a single thought from them could kill him. It had been a very, very long time since he had faced such a situation.
Run. He had to run. Only by leaving both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra could he survive.
The door to the observation room quietly opened a crack. Someone entered with exceptionally light footsteps.
Pierce raised his head and relaxed slightly. "Mark, my friend, I knew you would understand my hint."
A hesitant middle-aged man walked in. "I'll help you this once. After this, the debt I owe you is settled."
Even an escape required preparation. If Pierce simply ran without thinking, he would never make it out of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters before Daisy's loyal subordinates riddled him with bullets. Had their positions been reversed, Pierce believed he would have done exactly that. He had already prepared several escape plans.
The middle-aged man handed Pierce his suit. Pierce removed his hospital gown, and the two exchanged clothing. The man would have to endure at least two inspection rounds to buy Pierce enough time to escape.
The middle-aged man touched a finger to his temple. The contours of his face began changing at astonishing speed. In two seconds, he had transformed into Pierce.
This was a S.H.I.E.L.D. technological product known as the Photostatic Veil, still in its experimental stage. The Science Division had produced three units in total: two remained in the laboratory, while one was in Daisy's possession. Pierce had arranged for someone to manufacture this one using Science Division data as a contingency.
It had to be said that despite being a conservative old man, Director Pierce was excellent at accepting new things. His habitual caution and the goodwill he had built over the years had given him a path to survival today.
"Hail Hydra..." Pierce almost shouted the slogan out of habit, but the middle-aged man stopped him.
"This has nothing to do with Hydra. Helping you means I've betrayed Hydra, doesn't it?" The middle-aged man's voice was bleak. "I only hope Miss Johnson will spare my life..."
Pierce stared in astonishment. Was he no longer considered Hydra? The world had changed far too quickly.
The middle-aged man lay on the bed in Pierce's appearance and did his best to make the disguise convincing. He even injected himself with a sedative, while Pierce quietly slipped out of the observation room.
The man had already drawn a safe escape route for him. Pierce cautiously made his way down to the underground parking garage, where another contingency awaited: a bulletproof Chevrolet with a newly issued license plate.
Only after driving away from S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters did Pierce's suspended heart settle halfway. He took out a satellite phone and dialed the Winter Soldier, who remained under his control. Pierce was no Daisy, merely a decrepit old man. He needed a powerful enforcer to protect him now.
The old man drove while considering his future.
How ironic. Hydra had actually expelled him. These people not only refused to help him, they wanted to kill him instead. How had events spiraled this far out of control?
Having left S.H.I.E.L.D. and been thrown out of Hydra, he was worth less than an old dog.
There would be no petitioning for justice or filing an appeal. Hydra was not a charity. If he had no value, naturally no one would risk offending Viper and Daisy to shelter him.
That raised the question: did he still have value?
Pierce brooded inside the car, repeatedly calling to urge Bucky to hurry. Every hair on his body stood on end. Surrounded by the city, he felt pursuers might appear and kill him at any moment.
With a squeal, the light ahead turned red. He had no choice but to step on the brake. The old man looked left, right, ahead, and behind.
A police car stopped to his right. Two officers wearing sunglasses were studying him.
Pierce was a badly frightened bird by now. He hurriedly turned his head away.
The light soon turned green, and the police car moved first. Pierce started forward slowly. Just as he wondered whether he should change routes, another police car shot out from the side and slammed hard into the Chevrolet.
The police car ahead instantly reversed and pinned the Chevrolet's front end. Two more police cars arrived from behind and blocked the remaining directions.
The repeated impacts left Pierce dizzy and disoriented. His vision blurred, and his thoughts scattered. He knew only that someone wanted to kill him. Through the haze, he saw numerous police officers emerge with automatic weapons and surround him.
They had no intention of wasting words. Several M4A1 rifles opened furious fire on the Chevrolet. The vehicle's ballistic protection was rapidly being worn down. Becoming a sieve was only a matter of time.
"Propulsion system failure." Pierce tried to charge out of the encirclement, but the onboard computer poured cold water over his hopes.
"Restart it! Hurry up and restart it!" For the first time, the old man cursed Daisy over official business. The Science Division had designed this onboard computer system. Daisy had praised it to the heavens and spent a great deal of money on it, yet what kind of garbage was this? It failed at the critical moment.
He did not possess Daisy's monstrous physical attributes and could not simply ignore bullets. He could only curl up inside the car like a quail and wait for the vehicle system to restart.
"Restart complete." The electronic voice sounded at precisely the right moment. Pierce was overjoyed. He floored the accelerator and violently broke free.
The assassins did not hesitate. They raced after him in their vehicles, and several even leaned out of the windows like actors in a movie, spraying the bulletproof car with gunfire.
"Window integrity at forty-five percent. Countermeasures are advised."
"Then use whatever countermeasures you have!" Pierce saw an assassin raise a rocket launcher and adjust his aim at the car. The old man was terrified. After a frantic struggle, he barely evaded the rocket at the last possible instant. He was so tense he nearly wet himself.
"The Science Division has not yet developed additional countermeasures. Please submit your feedback to Mr. Leo Fitz of the Science Division. His telephone number is..."
"All right, all right, I understand! Once I return to S.H.I.E.L.D., I'll find this Fitz person and make him install weapons in the car!" the old man cursed. If he managed to return, he would definitely have the designer killed.