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Liam wasn't that angry that his identity was now known to Steve since Fury had taken the permission from Liam himself when he spoke about the fact that Steve had woken up. If there was anyone he was most comfortable about his identity being known, it was Steve.

With their perimeter secured, the group moved toward one of the old bunkers, led by Liam. In order to have a proper light, two fire swords appeared behind Liam hanging in air but seem to be attached to Liam. The Fusillade spell was in full force. 

Everyone present had seen Liam using magic but this was the first time Rogers had seen Liam using magic. It was very novel for Rogers. They were silent but very curious about the fiery sword hanging in the air. They for sure knew that this was fire because they could feel the heat and not some illusion.

Soon they reached an old elevator and switched it on. 

"I am surprised it still has juices after all these years." Barton said. 

"Are you sure it's not an ambush Liam," Tony joked. Liam just side eyed Tony and didn't say anything. 

"This place used to be a training camp before the war," Steve muttered.

"And now it's something else entirely." Liam said as the elevator stopped and opened to a new door. They reached a heavy steel door embedded in the far wall. Tony brought out his toy and opened the locks. With a loud clunk, the locks disengaged, and the door groaned open, revealing a dimly lit room filled with old computers and archaic machinery.

"Well, this is charming. Didn't know you were keeping a museum, Fury." Tony said as he went to the nearest data entry point and inserted a small pen drive. Meanwhile everyone was confused. Especially Fury, because even he didn't know that this place even existed in an old site. 

"Whatever it is, it's still powered." Natasha moved toward one of the machines, brushing dust off a control panel.

Then, suddenly the screens flickered. A high-pitched whine echoed through the bunker as the ancient computers whirred to life. Static crackled across multiple monitors before coalescing into a distorted face—cold, hollow eyes and a grotesque, pixelated visage.

"No way…"

The digital face twisted before stabilizing into something recognizable.

"Ah… Captain Rogers," the computerized voice spoke. "What an… expected pleasure."

"Zola." Fury recognized.

"Dr. Arnim Zola?" Tony asked, folding his arms. "As in, the Nazi scientist?"

"Not just Nazi," Zola corrected, his voice smug edge. "Hydra."

Zola's face distorted into the symbol of Hydra for a moment before reforming.

"Zola, spill out everything. You are going to die here anyways. So it's better you go out with confession." Liam declared. There was a long pause before Zola started speaking.

"After the war, I was spared the noose. Your government saw my genius and recruited me through Operation Paperclip. They brought me here, gave me new purpose."

"SHIELD recruited you." Natasha's fists clenched. 

"Hydra… recruited me." Zola's smile widened. "For years, I worked in the shadows, planting seeds. While SHIELD believed it was growing stronger, Hydra flourished within its very walls."

"How is that possible? Hydra was destroyed!" 

"Can't be happening. Nope, I refused to believe." 

"You've got to be kidding me." Tony muttered. He hadn't spent much time with SHIELD, as he didn't like them but once he knew that SHIELD was a legacy of his father he had let his hostilities go. Though he was never a fan of nostalgia, he wasn't antagonistic about it. Now it felt like it was all a scam. 

"Humanity does not crave freedom—it longs for order. And so, Hydra gave it exactly that. We did not need war. We needed patience. And since my body couldn't live beyond it was meant, Hydra made sure that my brain remained intact. They sampled my brain into this place. This computer." Zola said. 

"Fury… what the hell is he saying?" Barton demanded, seeing his whole world was crumbling down.

"I am saying, Agent Barton, that Hydra is not simply among you. It is you." Instead Zola replied. 

"Impossible," Steve breathed. "We took Hydra down."

"You cut off one head," Zola interrupted. "Two more took its place."

Zola's screen shifted, and suddenly, images flooded the monitors—classified SHIELD operations, dossiers of compromised agents, files marked with the Hydra insignia. Nick Fury's face appeared on one screen. Natasha's on another. Barton's on a third. Even Tony Stark's name flashed in encrypted files, linked to hidden dealings within SHIELD's upper ranks.

They had all been touched by Hydra's influence in some way.

"This… this can't be real," Natasha said.

"I assure you, Agent Romanoff, it is very real," Zola sneered. "Hydra has controlled SHIELD for decades. Every war, every crisis… we were always there, guiding history toward its inevitable order."

"SHIELD is SHIELD. It can't ever be Hydra." Fury said.

"Oh, Director Fury." Zola's voice dripped with amusement. "You never had SHIELD. You had Hydra… wearing its face."

The impact of the revelation hit them like a freight train.

"But you.." The screen glitched as he tried to process something. "…you are different. You are not supposed to be here. My calculations never included you. I wondered why I was cut off from the outside world. It was meant to isolate me. It was to make sure I never run away, though I don't think I can, but I could have warned the others. But you delivered a blow that I didn't expect." 

"You stepped out of your reach when one of your senators wanted to call me for a senate hearing." Liam replied.

"Wait.. That means you have always known about Hydra?" Fury asked. 

"Yes." Liam admitted. 

"Then why didn't you tell me?" Fury asked. 

"Would you have believed me? Hell, I am pretty sure you are thinking that this is all a ploy and an act. And you will return to ask questions. Zola show him what happened to people who asked questions?" Liam said. 

Zola didn't hide at all and showed how over the years Hydra had eliminated men and women who went too close to the sun. Using Winter Soldiers. Zola knew by this point that his gig was over so it was no point in hiding and he could also feel that the data he had been carrying with him was being copied away. Tony's toy was working wonders. 

Liam had come full prepared.

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