Ch 23 The Star Spangled Man with a Plan!
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"So I'm guessing there's training now." Sam said.
"Yup." Steve said, "It's pretty embarrassing."
Steve was shown standing in a line of soldiers as a sharp British female voice asked them to stand in attention.
"Well, well, well." Bucky smirked as Steve blushed.
"So what do we have here?" Tony asked with a smirk.
"Something very nice." Natasha smirked as Steve blushed more.
A woman walked up to them, introducing herself as Agent Carter. She supervised the operations for this division.
"Peggy." Steve smiled sadly as he remembered carrying her coffin. Both Bucky and Natasha put their hands on his shoulder for comfort as Sam nodded at him. He nodded back appreciatively.
"Peggy Carter." Fury said, "One of SHIELD's founders.
"A very important figure in our history." Hill said.
"I know." Daisy said.
"She was an inspiration to us all." Bobbi said.
"The way you all speak of her justify Sharon's decision to hide her surname." Steve commented.
"Don't blame her." Clint said.
One of the recruits mocked her accent by calling her Queen Victoria and she asked him his name, to which he replied Gilmore Hodge. She beckoned him and asked him to put his right foot in the front. He did and said she would like some of his moves.
"Bad idea." Loki said.
"Do you not know death when you see it?" Thor asked and everyone chuckled at the reference.
Peggy punched him hard, sending him to the ground.
Everyone clapped happily at the scene.
"And that's why you don't mess with Peggy Carter." Natasha said.
"I know. No one should." Steve sighed.
"I like her already." Tony said, "Wish dad introduced me to her."
"If he did, I don't think she would take kindly to your behavior." Pepper told him.
"She's right man." Rhodes said.
"Which would be a good thing." Tony simply said. [1]
"She's such a badass." Peter said.
"Yeah, she sure is." Scott said.
"And she knows how to teach bullies a lesson." Hope said.
"I learnt it from her." Steve smirked.
"You had good influences around you, Captain." Aunt May said.
"Well, the asshat has been dealt with for now." Logan said.
That was when Colonel Chester Phillips arrived, amused on seeing how Peggy was already breaking in the recruits as he asked Gilmore Hodge to get his ass of the ground and not do anything until told. He immediately complied.
Everyone laughed.
"Well, they put him in his place pretty easily." Storm said.
"Not enough to stop him from bullying Captain Rogers though." Benjamin said.
"That bullying cost him his chance to be a super soldier though." Odinson said, "Which is a good thing."
"Thanks." Steve simply said.
"It's good to see him again." Bucky said with a smile.
"Now I wonder how a team-up between Colonel Phillips and Stick would go." Daisy said aloud.
The people from the future laughed heartily at Daisy's comment.
"Who's Stick?" Wanda asked.
"Matt's mentor." Benjamin said.
"He was a hardass." Logan said.
Phillips looked at the recruits and started pacing around, "General Patton has said that wars are fought with weapons but they are won by men. We are going to win this war because we have the best. . .men." His eye had just fallen on Steve, and he glanced reproachfully back at Dr. Erskine, who had appeared beside Agent Carter, "And because they are going to get better. Much better."
"He doesn't seem very fond of you." Peter said.
"He was under pressure due to the war." Steve said, "So seeing someone like me wasn't very encouraging for him."
"That makes sense." Aunt May said.
"If only he could look into you." Scott said.
"Yeah, he would see the goodness inside." Hope said.
"Well, I think he employed another method to do that." Steve smirked.
Phillips spoke, "he Strategic Scientific Reserve is an Allied effort made up of the best minds in the free world." Steve and the others got ready for training as Phillips' voice continued, "Our goal is to create the best army in history." And then they were climbing a jungle gym made with ropes, Steve falling miserably behind, even slipping and dangling upside down to scornful laughter from Hodge as the observing Sergeant yelled at him to get out.
"That doesn't seem funny to me." Vision said.
"Because the guy is a bully." Fury told him.
"What a jerk!" Pepper said.
"But every army starts with one man. At the end of the week, we will choose that man. He will be the first in a new breed of super soldier." Now they were crawling under a mesh structure, Steve obviously struggling. Hodge, who was passing by him, kicked the prop next to him and brought half a yard of mesh crashing down on him.
"Using his power to bully the weak." T'Challa said, "He is a coward."
"I can see that." Bucky snarled angrily.
"I can't believe this is you." Sam said.
"Me neither." Tony said.
"Don't blame you." Steve simply said.
"Was he ever reprimanded for his actions?" Thor asked.
"No." Steve said, "Disciplinary action wasn't the best in our unit unfortunately."
"Pity." Hope said.
"Did they give you any nickname or something?" Daisy asked him.
"Yes." Steve said, "Spaghetti."
Everyone chuckled at that as it was a bit funny.
"Oh." She said, "I was called Mary Sue Poots."
Everyone chuckled hard at that.
"I wonder who made that up." Bobbi said.
The Sergeant shouted at Steve to get out as Agent Carter watched while Phillips' voice finished, "And he will personally escort Adolf Hitler to the gates of hell."
"Would be nice to see that happen." Thor said.
"Yeah, no more than what he deserves." Loki said.
"Well, he did become a parody on YouTube after all." Peter said and everyone chuckled.
"Oh those videos are so hilarious!" Tony said as everyone laughed.
"I think there was one where Hitler planned to kill Justin Bieber." Scott said.
"Don't speak that guy's name." Hope said in disgust.
"Right." He said.
"And there was one where he watched the cursed tape from The Ring." Clint said and everyone laughed again. [2]
"Yeah, those were the days." Benjamin said.
"The glory days of YouTube." Daisy smirked.
The recruits were later running up a track as Steve was yards behind the others while the Sergeant shouted at them to pick up the pace while he kept up with them all. Agent Carter was nearby on an automobile, observing the men and taking notes. The Sergeant pointed at the flag and said they were at the halfway point. First person to bring it down would get a ride back with Agent Carter.
"Nice motivation." Tony commented as everyone chuckled.
Except Steve, all men rushed at the pole, trying to get the flag as the Sergeant said no one had gotten it in 17 years. Hodge climbed up to get it but slipped down as the others tried too but failed and were ordered to get in line. Steve then walked up to the pole, bent down and unscrewed its base, making the flag fall down with a thud.
"You're so smart." Tony commented.
"I think the men must have been very stupid if no one got the flag in 17 years." Vision said.
"It's an exaggeration." Odinson told him.
Peggy smiled at Steve as he climbed up to the automobile and she drove off with him behind while everyone stared in shock.
"What a bunch of idiots." Hill said.
"She already likes you, Cap." Bruce smirked as Steve shook his head.
"So not all women in the 40's were that shallow." Natasha smirked.
Later, the recruits were doing push-ups as Peggy said her grandmother had more life in her.
"She knows what to do." Tony said.
"And she is harsh." Aunt May said.
"Which is exactly what is required of her." Clint said.
Steve was gasping for breath as Phillips asked Erskine if he was serious about picking Rogers and he said Steve was the perfect choice. The recruits were performing jumping jacks now as Phillips said that a needle stuck through his arm would go right through him. Steve was flopping his limbs weakly as Phillips said he was making him cry.
"To be honest, don't blame him." Rhodes said.
"Yeah, he was under too much pressure." Steve agreed.
Erskine said he was looking for qualities beyond the physical as Phillips begged him to pick Hodge who was big, fast and obeyed orders. He was a soldier but Erskine said he was a bully. Phillips said wars were not won by niceness.
"No, they are one by having a patient and strategic mind." Steve said and everyone nodded.
Phillips took out a dummy grenade and said war was won by guts as he threw it in front of the recruits and told them it was a grenade. Agent Carter and all the men leapt away but Steve threw himself on top of it shouting, "Get away! Get back!"
Everyone's jaw dropped at that.
"You are braver than I thought, Captain." T'Challa said, respect shining in his eyes.
"Yes, it is an honor to fight alongside you." Thor told him.
"Thank you." Steve said simply with appreciation.
"Punk." Bucky said and Steve shook his head while both chuckled.
"Now I understand why you were picked." Fury said.
"Yes." Hill agreed.
"Wow!" Peter said in awe.
"No matter how many times I see it, it never fails to inspire me." Daisy said.
"Don't blame you, bub." Logan told her.
"Everything special about you did not come out of a bottle." Tony said as he turned to Steve, "It came out of you."
Steve nodded in appreciation and said, "And you are a good man without the suit, Tony."
Everyone looked at the two with wide eyes. Never had they expected them to respect each other like that.
"Now I have seen everything." Wanda muttered.
"Let's continue." Benjamin said.
Steve realized the grenade was a fake and asked if it was a test as Erskine and Carter smirked. Phillips walked off, obviously impressed though he still said Steve was skinny.
"Not for long." Hope said.
At night, Steve was sitting in his cabin as Erskine entered with some wine and Steve asked why he had chosen him, to which Erskine showed him the wine that was from Augsburg, his city.
"What's it got to do with that?" Scott asked.
"I am wondering too." Peter said.
"He is getting to the point." Storm told them.
"Must have been good wine." Loki commented.
Erskine said that people forgot how Nazis invaded their own country first and that his people struggled and felt weak and small. Then came Hitler with his marching flags and all and found him, asking him to make them stronger. When he refused, he sent the head of the Hydra division- Johann Schmidt, who was ambitious.
"You have no idea." Bucky said.
Erskine said how Hitler and Schmidt shared a passion for occult power and Teutonic myth. For Hitler, they were fantasies to inspire his followers but for Schmidt, it was real.
"I am sure it was real for Hitler too." Aunt May said.
"Damn right." Fury said.
"Heimdall once told me a dictator on Earth was praying for me to come down and smite his enemies." Thor said, "I think I now know who he was talking about." [3]
"Oh my God!" Steve said in horror.
"But we stopped listening to prayers after the Vikings were done with." Loki simply said.
"Good thing." Bucky sighed.
Erskine said how Schmidt believed great power had been left on Earth by the Gods to be seized by a superior man and he wanted the formula. In a flashback, Schmidt was shown holding Erskine at gunpoint as he plunged a needle into his arm. Steve asked if it made him stronger and Erskine said it did but there were other effects as Schmidt was shown crying in agony while his facial features were distorted.
Everyone winced.
"It only made him superior physically." T'Challa said.
Erskine said the serum wasn't ready but the man wasn't either. "The serum amplifies everything that is inside the man. So, good becomes great, and bad becomes worse." Erskine said.
"That explains a lot." Tony sighed.
Erskine looked at Steve with piercing eyes, "This is why you were chosen. Because the strong man, who has known power all his life, may lose respect for that power. But a weak man knows the value of strength - and knows compassion."
"Yes." Natasha agreed.
Steve thanked him as Erskine gave two cups to Steve and poured the wine saying, "Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man."
"So Ross basically missed the entire point." Bruce said.
"I guess he is a jackass by thought as well." Logan said and everyone laughed.
Steve toasted to the little guys and both were about to drink before Erskine took his drink, remembering that he could have no fluids before the procedure. Steve said they would drink it after then but Erskine said he didn't have the procedure so he could drink it.
Everyone chuckled.
"Cheers!" Thor, Odinson and Logan said at the same time.
"Good thing he enjoyed one last drink." Steve said sadly as he remembered what had happened after the procedure.
At the Hydra base, Zola walked to where Schmidt was while opera music played as the man stood without his mask, his face obscured in shadow. He asked Zola if he needed something while the painter in the corner looked at Zola with annoyance. Zola realized Schmidt had found Erskine as he looked at some pictures of the scientist.
"Shit!" Sam said.
Schmidt realized Zola disapproved as he said they shouldn't concern themselves with him as he wouldn't succeed. When Schmidt responded with silence, he added 'again.'
"Of course." Pepper said sarcastically.
Schmidt said the Serum was the only defense of the Allies against their power and if it was taken away from them, their victory was assured. Zola asked if he should give the order but Schmidt said it had already been given.
"Burn!" Daisy said.
Schmidt turned on a light and asked Zola how the picture looked. Zola said it was a masterpiece and walked off.
"Yes, one hell of it." Fury joked and everyone chuckled.
The next day, Steve was sitting on the back seat of a car with Agent Carter as he told her he knew the neighborhood and had got beaten up in an alley and a parking lot and behind a diner.
"You basically got beaten up in the entire city." Bucky said and everyone chuckled.
"Really, you're talking to a woman by telling her about the places where you got beaten up?" Tony asked with a chuckle.
"Now you know why I don't have a girlfriend." Steve said with a smirk and everyone chuckled.
"Oh I'm sure you can get one." Natasha assured him.
Carter asked if he had something against running away and he said if he started running, they'd never stop, but if he stood up and pushed back, they couldn't say no forever. Peggy smiled at him and said she knew a bit of what it was like, to have every door shut in her face.
"Inspiring words, Captain." Daisy told him.
"Thanks." He said.
"I think Peggy's situation is a little different." Clint said.
"Nope." Bucky said, "She is just as persistent as he is."
"She would have needed it in those times." Bobbi said.
"Oh you have no idea how much patience she had." Fury said.
"I know." Hill said, "There was a radio show about you Captain after the war was over."
"I heard about it but I never really heard it." Steve said.
"I heard of it too." Tony said.
"Well, that radio show renamed Peggy Carter into 'Betty Carver' and turned her into a nurse who was nothing more than a damsel in distress and a love interest for you." Natasha said and Steve and Bucky both looked shocked.
"Really? They did that to her?" Steve asked incredulously.
"And she put up with all that?" Bucky asked.
"There's a reason we all at SHIELD look up to her." Bobbi said.
"Yes. She is an inspiration to us all." Daisy said.
"Earth really used to be weird back in the day." Thor commented.
"Well, respect." Hope said.
"Yes." Aunt May agreed.
"On with the show." Logan said.
Steve said he didn't know why a beautiful dame would want to join the army, before correcting himself hastily by calling her a woman, and then an agent, and then just said she was beautiful, fumbling badly as Peggy asked him he had no idea how to talk to a woman and he said this was the longest conversation he ever had with one.
"I think I'm now seeing why you never got a girlfriend, Cap." Tony said as everyone chuckled at Steve's awkwardness.
"Even I can do better than this." Peter said and everyone laughed at that.
"I know. I know. It's embarrassing." Steve said.
"Clearly." Benjamin told him.
"Even simple-minded women won't talk to you if you speak like that." Storm told him.
"And I thought you would make me look cool in front of the receptionist." Sam joked and everyone chuckled.
Steve said women weren't exactly lining up to dance with a guy they might step on.
"Remember the time I could step on you?" Hope asked Scott jokingly.
"I think we shouldn't talk about that." Scott said.
Peggy pressed how he must have danced as Steve said asking a woman to dance always seemed terrifying so he figured he would just wait. Peggy asked for what and Steve said the right partner.
"Awww." Natasha, Hill and Wanda said at the same time as Steve blushed.
"Yes, it's pretty terrifying Cap." Peter said as he remembered asking Liz to the prom.
"I'm guessing we are very alike." Steve said.
They stopped near Brooklyn Antiques and the two entered while two men leaning nearby a car watched them. An old woman greeted them and asked Peggy it was a wonderful weather in the morning, wasn't it? Peggy said it was but she always carried an umbrella.
"Ah, the classic code language." Clint said.
"Yeah, good way to recognize allies." Fury agreed.
The woman pressed a button underneath a counter where there was a gun too. Steve followed Peggy to a room full of books with a big bookcase on the back wall and they halted there.
"Please be a secret door, please be a secret door." Tony said.
The secret door swung open to allow them to enter.
"Yes!" Tony cheered and everyone chuckled.
They passed a woman at a desk, and a number of armed sentries. At the end of the corridor they passed through another set of doors that a pair of guards opened for them, and then came into the room in which history had been changed forever.
"Here we go." Clint said.
Steve stared around at all the men in white lab coats, the great machines covered with switches and dials and meters, and the man-sized chamber in the middle of it all. Peggy cast him a rather anxious look, and then led him down a short flight of steps and into the lab. Dr. Erskine greeted Steve as someone took a picture but he told them not to for now and asked Steve to take off his shirt, tie and hat.
"And the pants stay on?" Aunt May asked as everyone's jaw dropped, including Steve.
"Aunt May!" Peter said.
"It's not like they're going to grow with him." She said.
"Good point." Bruce conceded.
Steve managed to take them off and handed them to an assistant as Phillips greeted Senator Brandt and he asked if Brandt could have given them the generators like requested but Brandt dismissed him, saying a lot of people asked for funds.
"Asking the Senator for something? Good luck." Hill said.
Brandt then introduced Phillips to Fred Clemson of the State Department who said they would like to see this project for more than just headlines if it came through.
"Him." Steve snarled.
"What is it, Cap?" Scott asked.
"Keep watching," Steve said.
Brandt looked at Steve and jokingly said that someone should give him a sandwich.
"I think he is going to get something much better." Sam said.
Steve settled into the machine as Erskine asked if he was comfortable and Steve said it was a little big and if Erskine had saved him any of the schnapps. Erskine said not as much as he should have and asked Howard Stark about the levels.
"And now here dad is, creating history." Tony said dryly.
Howard said levels were at hundred percent and they might dim half the lights in Brooklyn but they were as ready as they will ever be.
"Dimming half the lights in Brooklyn? Now that sounds like something I would do." Tony said, seeing for the first time how much he and his father were alike.
Erskine asked Peggy if she would be comfortable in the booth and she quickly went off, flustered as she shared a look with Steve. Erskine picked up a microphone and said how they were on a path to peace with this and would begin with a series of micro-injections into the subject's major muscle groups. The serum will cause immediate cellular change and to stimulate growth, he will be saturated with vita rays.
"Oh. Vita rays. Didn't know that." Bruce shrugged.
The workers had strapped Steve in place and were pulling tubes of blue serum out of a compartment, before loading them in various places in the machine. Peggy was making herself comfortable in the booth. A woman pushed a needle into Steve's arm as he said it wasn't so bad but Erskine said that was just penicillin and started counting down to the serum infusion with a hand on Steve's shoulder for support.
"Rome wasn't built in a day, Rogers." Fury shrugged and Steve shook his head.
A white gloved hand pushed on a lever as the blue tubes of serum began to empty. Steve grimaced and shut his eyes before opening them a moment later. He appeared to be in pain.
Everyone winced at the scene.
Logan and Wanda knew this was a good thing they were seeing but it was still hard not remembering the experiments performed on them. The difference being they were done to control them while this one was done for Steve.
Erskine then asked Howard to do his part and he pulled down another lever which made the machine tilt to an upright position and its two pieces snapped together while a third one came down on Steve.
"You're not claustrophobic, are you?" Pepper asked.
"Nope." Steve said.
"Good thing." Bruce shrugged.
Cables were connected to the machine as Erskine asked if Steve could hear him and he said he joked that it was a little late to go to the bathroom.
Everyone chuckled.
Erskine said they would proceed as Howard turned a dial and putting on glasses, turned a small steering wheel next to a meter, saying it was ten percent. A bright light shone from inside the machine. Howard increased the power till it was at seventy percent when Steve started screaming in pain.
"What the hell?" Bucky said as they all heard Steve's scream.
Tony and Peter looked pale at this point as Logan and Wanda's eyes widened.
Erskine frantically called out to Steve as Peggy asked them to shut it off and Erskine asked Howard to kill the reactor but Steve yelled, "NO! DON'T! I CAN DO THIS!"
"All day!" Bucky added.
"Really dude?" Sam asked.
"I knew it was going to be painful." Steve added.
Howard increased the power to a hundred percent as the ringing grew louder and the light shone brighter while sparks flew and parts of the machine went flying out before the machine died down completely. The spectators rose from their booths.
"Oh my God!" Peter said.
"That looked awful." Pepper said.
"Now even I have respect for you." Loki said and everyone shook their heads.
Erskine called out to Stark and the pieces of the machine slid back. There Steve was, gasping for breath but he wasn't a Spaghetti any longer. He was tall, broad-shouldered and pure muscle. He was bare-chested and bare foot.
The jaws of all the women in the room dropped on seeing a shirtless Steve as he blushed.
"Oh my God!" Pepper said.
"Ta-da!" Aunt May said.
"History is born." Daisy said with a smirk.
"Those abs." Scott said enviously.
Phillips looked impressed as Erskine and Howard helped Steve out and Fred got up from his chair, leaving a rectangular object on it. Peggy rushed up to them, asking how Steve felt. Steve looked around and realized that he was now towering over everyone in the room so he simply said, "Taller."
"By a foot." Sam said.
Peggy unconsciously touched Steve's chest for a second when he didn't notice before taking a shirt from somebody and handing it to Steve.
"Did she just…." Bobbi said in amusement.
"Don't blame her." Hill shrugged as Steve shook his head.
Brandt said some people in Berlin were going to get very nervous as Clemson pulled out an object that looked like a cigarette lighter.
"Is he….." Scott trailed off.
"Yes." Steve said.
"He was an assassin." Natasha said.
"His real name is Heinz Kruger." Clint told everyone.
The booth suddenly went up in flames, sending a shower of glass raining on everyone as Heinz quickly snatched a tube of the serum. Erskine yelled at everyone to stop him as he yanked out a gun and fired two shots into Erskine, who fell on his back, bloodstains coming from his clothes.
"Shit!" Sam said.
"The doctor again?" Pepper said, remembering Yinsen from Tony's recording.
"No!" Peter said in horror as Aunt May covered her mouth with her hand.
"He is going to pay, isn't he?" Rhodes asked.
"He will." Steve said.
A nurse screamed as Kruger ran up the stairs while Peggy withdrew a gun and fired, getting him on the shoulder.
"Nice shot." Clint said, impressed.
Kruger bolted up the stairs and shot all the guards as he reached the antiques part while Steve rushed towards the dying Erskine and looked at him in dismay. Erskine took labored breaths and tapped Steve's chest with his finger, reminding him of their conversation. With that, he closed his eyes.
"Rest in peace." Scott said as everyone looked sad.
Steve looked at his muscles, flexing his limbs as his face hardened.
"Now you'll get 'em, Cap." Fury said.
Heinz burst through the store as the elderly agent fired at him but was gunned down. He then grabbed her gun in his other hand and ran outside towards a car where a man was already at the wheel. He shouted a warning to another man who shot down the two guards who had followed Kruger as he went into the car and the driver started, with Kruger shooting two more men.
"They had it planned from A to Z, didn't they?" Bruce asked.
"It's Hydra." Fury said simply.
Peggy appeared and pointed her gun at the back window of the car when a car burst in flames behind her with a bang.
"Wasn't that your car?" Clint asked.
"It was." Steve said.
Peggy turned back around and fired at the car again, killing the driver as the car slammed into a yellow cab.
"Now that's more like it!" Hope cheered.
The driver of the cab went to check up on the people in the car when Kruger got out of it and into the cab, speeding off as his own driver was discovered dead.
"Did he just leave his car door open?" Aunt May asked.
"Not every day does another car slam into you." Logan pointed out.
Kruger headed straight for Peggy when Steve pushed her out of the way and he sped off. Peggy yelled she had it as Steve sped off, apologizing. He was still barefoot.
"I knew she wouldn't be happy." Natasha said.
"I said I was sorry." Steve simply shrugged.
"Now this is more like it." Thor said as they watched Steve running.
"Now I understand how you kept up with me." T'Challa said as he remembered the chase in Romania.
Steve ran down the street as he gained on the cab and accidentally smashed himself through the windows of a store, damaging it as he apologized while running off.
"Sorry!" Steve said.
"Get him Cap!" Scott yelled.
"Kick his ass!" Hope cheered.
With that, everyone in the room was cheering for Steve.
"Catch him!" Bobbi yelled as everyone cheered for him more.
Steve then ran up an alleyway and leapt over a fence flawlessly.
"Whoa!" Peter cheered as everyone clapped.
"Catch up!" Tony yelled.
"You can do this!" Sam yelled as everyone cheered.
"He is probably regretting being born." Natasha said about Kruger as everyone continued cheering.
"Thanks guys." Steve said with a smile.
Steve then leapt over a few cars before leaping onto the cab, hanging over it.
"Yes! Now get him!" Bucky yelled.
Heinz tried to fire at him but he avoided all the shots before hanging onto the door as Heinz fired again but he avoided before the cab crashed into a truck, flipping it over as Steve fell off while Heinz recovered and ran off again.
"The assassin is very persistent." Vision commented.
"Cap will get him. He is the fastest person I've seen after my brother." Wanda said as everyone continued cheering.
Kruger fired at Steve as he picked up the now broken cab door and blocked the bullets before Kruger ran off and Steve ditched the door, running after him again.
"Practicing your hold again?" Natasha joked and everyone chuckled.
Kruger then fired in the middle of a crowd as everyone dispersed and he snatched a kid from his mother's arms as she howled in despair. He threatened to kill the kid, stopping Steve. He fired at him but he took cover to avoid.
"What a coward!" Thor spat.
"Even I wouldn't do that." Loki said.
"Let him go!" Aunt May snarled as she held Peter's hand tightly and he squeezed back.
Kruger ran up to a waterside loading shed when Steve showed up and he pointed the gun at the boy's head. Steve begged him not to shoot the boy and Kruger fired at him, only to realize the gun was empty now.
"Phew!" Pepper sighed in relief.
"Good thing the gun ran out." Vision commented.
Kruger threw the kid into the water and ran off as Steve looked down but the boy started swimming away, telling Steve to Kruger as he could swim.
"There's a God in heaven! There's a God in heaven!" Daisy said as everyone sighed in relief.
Kruger then jumped inside a submarine in the water he had summoned and shutting himself, started it when Steve followed him, assured that the boy wasn't in danger. Steve dived into the water and followed the submarine. He then punched through the side window. Water gushed into the chamber as Steve lifted the top of the cockpit. He grabbed Heinz and hauled him upward through the water, tossing him up onto the landing stage and climbing up after him once he reached the surface.
"Good one, Cap!" Storm said as everyone clapped.
"YES!" Thor, Bruce, Peter, Bucky and Sam cheered.
"He did it!" Odinson said.
"Which is why you're such a legend." Logan said.
"Thank you very much." Steve said in appreciation.
Steve was upon Kruger who tried to strike but Steve avoided and kicked him down as the blue tube fell away and shattered into pieces.
"And the formula is lost." Bruce said.
"Already got the reflexes." Natasha said.
Steve grabbed Kruger by the throat and asked who he was as Kruger said, "The first of many. Cut off one head-", He stopped to dislodge something in his mouth, "-two more shall take its place. Hail HYDRA!" His mouth filled with foam even as Steve looked on, puzzled, and he choked and gurgled for a moment before becoming completely still. He was dead.
"What-" Peter trailed off.
"Oh no!" Aunt May said in horror.
"He is Hydra." Benjamin pointed out.
"They do that so they can't spill the secrets." Bobbi said.
"Always been there motto." Daisy said.
"Yup." Fury agreed.
Steve then looked at his muscles, as if noticing them for the first time.
"Captain America is born." Scott said as everyone clapped at the scene and Steve nodded in appreciation.
At the Hydra base, some men walked with Herr Schmidt, telling him he served at the pleasure of the Fuhrer and that he funded him because he was promised weapons. The facility was given to him as a reward for his injuries. Schmidt corrected them that it was his exile as he no longer reflected his image of Aryan perfection.
"Hitler is pissed." Sam said.
"Of course he is." Rhodes agreed.
"Of course you don't reflect his image." Clint snorted.
The man next to Schmidt berated him as his weapons division hadn't even delivered a rifle for over a year and that they had learnt from local intelligence that he had mounted a full scale incursion into Norway. One of them said that the Fuhrer felt the Red Skull has been indulged long enough.
"Oh he indulges himself now." Fury said.
Schmidt said he would show them the results of his work and led them to his room, saying how Hitler planned to establish a 1000 year Reich but he couldn't feed his troops for more than a month. His troops spilled blood across every field in Europe but he was no closer to achieving his goals. He then removed the cover off a very large gun on a revolving base.
"He can't feed his troops because he is funding you!" Bruce said.
One of the men mockingly asked if Schmidt intended to win the war through magic but he corrected them by saying he intended to win through science and that primitive men were confused by great power. Schmidt began pressing the buttons and flipping switches and said Hydra was assembling an arsenal to destroy his enemies in one stroke in a matter of hours regardless of what forces they possessed.
"They have Captain America now!" Thor said with a grin.
One of the men was suspicious Schmidt said his weapons contained enough destructive force to decimate every hostile capital on Earth and that he had harnessed the power of the Gods. One of them men said he was clearly mad when one of the men noticed Berlin was on his map.
"Busted again." Hope said.
"And they are all screwed." Logan said.
Schmidt turned the gun on him as he cried how Schmidt would be punished for his insolence and brought before the Fuhrer himself when the gun fired a stream of blue and disintegrated him.
"Oh boy!" Peter said in shock.
Schmidt turned his gun and fired again but missed before firing again, disintegrating the other man as the last one tried to run out but was trapped. He screamed as Schmidt fired at him too, disintegrating him.
"That didn't take long." Vision said.
"So he is smoked." Peter joked and everybody laughed.
Schmidt said to Zola, "My apologies, Doctor. But we both knew HYDRA could grow no further in Hitler's shadow. Hail HYDRA!" His men raised their arms and said, "Hail HYDRA!" Zola composed himself and also declared, "Hail HYDRA!" Schmidt walked off with a smile as Zola pulled himself together.
"Looks like he has never seen blood before." Natasha said.
Steve was sitting in a medical room as a nurse took his blood and Peggy said any hope of reproducing the Serum was in his genetic code but it could take years. Steve said Erskine deserved better and she said that if it could work only once, he would be proud it was Steve.
"Trust me Captain, he is proud." T'Challa said and Steve nodded in appreciation.
She looked at Steve with a smile as Brandt said how his committee was demanding answers and Phillips asked how a spy had entered his base in his car. Brandt asked Howard about the submarine. Howard spoke 'modestly', saying he was the best mechanical engineer in the country but even he couldn't figure out what that was.
"We all know how modest you are." Tony said with a smirk as everyone chuckled.
Phillips then talked about Hydra and asked if Brandt was reading their briefings but he said he was on a lot of committees as Peggy told him Hydra was a Nazi deep science division led by Johann Schmidt and it had even bigger ambitions. Phillips said it was a cult that worshipped him and believed him invincible.
"Well, they would believe that." Natasha said.
"They do worship someone." Daisy said as she exchanged a look with Bobbi and they remembered Hive.
Phillips said he had spoken to the President and they were going to take the fight to Schmidt. Peggy and Howard were coming too. Steve said he wanted in too but Phillips said he was going to Alamo as he was an experiment. Steve protested that it worked but Phillips said he had asked for an army and all he had gotten was him and he was not enough.
"Oh he has no idea." Bucky said cheerfully as him and Steve exchanged a smirk.
"And you are lucky you got him." Benjamin said and everyone nodded.
Brandt then told Steve he had seen him in action and so had the country as a paper was brought and it had the headline- "Nazis in New York: Mystery Man Saves Child." There was the picture of Steve holding the cab door as a shield. Brandt said they didn't take a symbol to hide in a lab and asked if he wanted to serve his country on the most important battlefield of the war. Steve said he did and Brandt shook his hand, telling him he had been promoted.
"Oh no!" Steve groaned.
"Oh yes!" Natasha rubbed her hands with an evil smirk.
Later, Steve was blowing his breath, wondering if he could do it. The attendant said he had to sell a few bonds. Bonds bought bullets, bullets killed Nazis. He was an American Hero.
"Why are you showing this?" Steve groaned.
"It was funny." Odinson said and everyone laughed.
"Prepare to die a slow death." Tony told Steve who shook his head.
The attendant said he could lead his platoon if he played ball with them as Steve took his shield and put on a balaclava-like mask that had an 'A' on it. He walked up to the stage, looking ridiculous in the middle of all the women in red, white and blue uniforms as they sang along the bouncing rhythm of the music. "Who's strong and brave, here to save the American way?" Steve lifted the shield and began obviously reading aloud from the back of it. And the women sang again. "Who vows to fight like a man for what's right, night and day?" Steve read on as the women danced and sang. "Who will campaign door-to-door for America? Carry the flag shore to shore for America." Steve posed for a photograph with a woman and her howling baby, who took the child from him and hurried off before Senator Brandt came up for his turn. "From Hoboken to Spokane. The Star Spangled Man with a Plan!"
The entire room burst in laughter. Tony, Thor, Odinson, Natasha, Bucky, Sam, Loki, Logan, Bobbi and Daisy were roaring with it as even Fury howled.
"Somebody kill me." Steve muttered with his head in his hands.
Steve read the same thing on another stage as the women danced and sang. "We can't ignore there's a threat and a war we must win. Who'll hang a noose on the goose-stepping goons from Berlin?"
"It's a tour!" Aunt May said.
Steve was then on the set of a film, marching with others as the director cut the scene and asked them to not look at the camera. "Who will redeem, head the call for America, Who'll rise or fall, give his all for America, Who's here to prove that we can? The Star Spangled Man with a Plan!" Brandt smiled from the audience. Steve read more as an actor dressed as Adolf Hitler tried to sneak up on him from behind the women with a menacing scowl as two children warned him. 'Hitler' burst through the line but Steve turned around and fake-punched him down as everyone cheered.
"Take that Dolfy." Scott said as everyone laughed.
Steve did the same thing in Buffalo, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Chicago. "Stalwart and steady and true, (see how this guy can shoot, we tell ya, there's no substitute!) Forceful and ready to defend the Red, White, and Blue!" Captain America comics were being sold by the dozens around the country.
"I've got one of those!" Peter said excitedly.
"I still have it." Benjamin said.
"I think Coulson had one too." Bobbi said.
"He did." Daisy said with a smirk.
Steve starred in more films and watched himself in a movie theater with his lips quirking as everyone clapped and cheered. "Who'll give the Axis the sack, and is smart as a fox? (Far as an eagle will soar) Who's making Adolph afraid to step out of his box? (He knows what we're fighting for!)" And there were still more stage performances and photos as Steve signed autographs for children off-stage and a woman greeted him as a picture was clicked. Steve then held up a bike with women on it as all of them sang. "Who waked the giant that napped in America? We know it's no-one but Captain America, Who'll finish what they began? Who'll kick the Krauts to Japan? The Star Spangled Man with a Plan!"
And this time, everyone in the room joined in.
"The Star Spangled Man with a Plan!"
"Why is this happening to me?" Steve shook his head as everyone laughed at his misery.
Steve then asked if they were ready to help his sock 'old Adolf' in the jaw but the uniformed men were silent. These were real soldiers who had seen combat and they weren't having any of it. The words "Italy, 1943: Five Miles from the Front" were shown on the screen
"Uh-oh." Scott said.
Steve said he needed a volunteer as one soldier said he had already volunteered and all his companions laughed derisively. Another shouted at him to bring back the girls and he said he would try as one of them called him "Tinkerbell." Everyone from the audience laughed.
"All right, they were not in a good mood but was that necessary?" Peter asked as everyone watched.
Steve said they were all on the same time.
"Except they're fighting and you're not." Sam said.
One of the men pulled down his pants and asked Steve to sign it as he looked away.
"Okay, I didn't need to see that." Hill said.
Then the soldiers threw projectiles at Steve as he deflected them with his shield and walked off the stage dejectedly and the girls returned.
"Sorry Cap." Tony said sympathetically as Steve nodded in appreciation.
As the music began to play, one of the helpers assured Steve they would warm up to him. But he just tramped off miserably down the stairs.
"They will. Eventually." Bucky said and everyone nodded.