The Final Choice

"You didn't want to kill him outright, but he's probably about to bleed to death anyway."

Tao Yu glanced at Bucky's pitiful state. Given the grudge between Bucky and Tony, it didn't really matter what Tony did.

But since he wanted Bucky alive for now, they'd better stop the bleeding. Otherwise, Bucky was about to kick the bucket.

And when Tao Yu heard Tony say he'd hand Bucky over to Nick Fury so he could root out Hydra, he couldn't help finding it a little absurd.

Nick Fury, stuck in Hydra-controlled S.H.I.E.L.D., couldn't even protect himself. Who knew what kind of trouble handing Bucky over to him might cause?

"But Ol' One-Eye had already started getting suspicious last time. He's pretty capable, so maybe Bucky going to him will help him identify the enemy. It might not be a bad idea..."

As Tao Yu mulled this over, a searing laser, like a welding torch, shot from Tony's palm and cauterized Bucky's wound.

Even with his mind under control, Bucky couldn't help letting out a muffled groan.

Still, the brutal method at least stopped the bleeding.

And given Bucky's physical resilience, he should be safe for now...

Although S.H.I.E.L.D. had been almost completely taken over by Hydra, it still had plenty of useful resources.

After Tony contacted Fury, a Quinjet arrived in Nepal that very same day.

Then the hard-working Coulson stepped out.

Seeing Bucky, who was barely recognizable, Coulson—whose hairline seemed even higher than before—looked a little surprised. But he said nothing about it, merely lowering his voice to tell the two of them, "We have a bit of a problem on the inside. I'm sure you're both aware of it. Once our director has identified the targets, we'd like to ask for your help. We want to avoid