Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States of America.

Medal of Honor
Senator Brandt organized a ceremony to present Captain Steve Rogers with the Medal of Honor to reward his first action during World War II, the liberation of 400 Allied soldiers in Austria.

Senator Brandt introduced Rogers to the attendants as a good friend of his, but Rogers did not attend the award ceremony, as he chose to stay with the Strategic Scientific Reserve. Brandt's Aide appeared and informed Senator Brandt in the middle of the ceremony, much to the confusion of some of the attendants.

Howard Stark's Charges of Treason
Howard Stark was accused of selling weapons and technology to enemies of the United States, and was summoned to the United States Capitol in order to face a committee headed by Senator Webster.

Stark jokingly denied all accusations, saying that he did not sell that technology "knowingly", and selling it "unknowingly" was, by definition, something impossible to answer.

Stark did not appear in the final day of hearings, so he was declared both in and a fugitive.

Senator Stern
Senator Stern had a meeting with Colonel James Rhodes of the U.S. Air Force in his office in Washington D.C., concerning Tony Stark's unpredictable behavior as Iron Man. Stern qualified the whole situation as a matter of National Security, and summoned General Thaddeus Ross to his office, tasking him to tackle the problem issued by Iron Man's presence from a different angle.

Ross took Stern and Rhodes to military base where a prototype vehicle was being constructed as the next step in strategic mobile weaponry, hoping to send the message that the United States Armed Forces don't need Iron Man.

However, the vehicle, dubbed the Aerodynamic Marvel, was shoot down in hostile territory, relying on Iron Man to rescue the pilot. Stern was informed in his office of the whole ordeal, and was visibly upset for the outcome of the events.

U.S. Senate Armed Forces Committee
Tony Stark was summoned to Washington, D.C. to attend a Senate Armed Forces Committee with the intention of obtaining the Iron Man armor for military application, using the developing of similar suits over the world in retaliation as an excuse.

Senator Stern, head of the Committee, tried to coerce Stark into handing over the Iron Man Armor as a weapon, but Stark refused, argumenting that as the armor was not a weapon, but a high technology prosthesis, and that he and the armor were one and the same, the petition would be comparable to slavery or prostitution.

Stern summoned Justin Hammer, one of Stark's business rivals and the current Department of Defense Weapons contractor, as an expert consultant. Hammer argumented that the armor was a weapon of incalculable possibilites, and that although Iron Man had played an important role in diminishing global security threats, he is not enough to give people an adequate feeling of safety, and that he wouldn't be able to prevent all potential threats to national security.

Stern then summoned Liutenant Colonel James Rhodes, who wrote a detailed report about the potential of the Iron Man Armor. Rhodes was asked to read an out of context fragment of the report, where the Iron Man Armor is declared as a potential threat to national security, given that he didn't operated as an official member of the United States Government.

The next argument of the Committe were a series of images obtained and seemingly confirmed by intelligence officers that there were operative attempts to reproduce Stark's technology. However, Stark showed a video of some of the failed attempts, such as armors made by North Korea, Iran and Hammer Industries, in order to prove that their excuse of the development of similar suits over the world was not an imminent threat that required handing over the Iron Man armor.

Stark finished his own exposition argumenting that he served as a dissuasive, and that he had succesfully privatized world peace. The public support to Stark made Senator Stern lose composure before postponing the session.

Medal Ceremony
Tony Stark and James Rhodes were presented with military medals for their role in stopping Ivan Vanko and saving civilians during his attack over the Stark Expo in New York City. Stark was awarded with the Army's Distinguished Service Medal, while Rhodes was awarded with a Meritorious Service Medal.

Stark refused to his fees as a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D. if Nick Fury managed to arrange that Senator Stern was the host of the ceremony, knowing Stern's distaste for Stark, forcing him to call Stark a "National Treasure".

Stern, however, had a little revenge, purposely sticking the nail of the medal on Stark's chest, before posing for the official photographs.

Stark Industries
Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries, had to fly to Washington, D.C., to negotiate the rezoning of terrains for constructing new buildings the day after the lighting of Stark Tower, however, the crisis surrounding Loki's arrival on Earth and his theft of the Tesseract made her travel that same night in order to let Tony Stark analyze the data Phil Coulson handed him.

Presentation of the Iron Patriot
In response to the threats and attacks made by the Mandarin, the United States Government sanctioned a rebrand of the War Machine Armor wore by Colonel James Rhodes, redesigned as the Iron Patriot by Advanced Idea Mechanics, which President Matthew Ellis presented during a press conference at the White House.

This move was very criticised on television by personalities such as Bill Maher or Joan Rivers, who thought the rebrand was a simple a smoke screen instead of taking real action against the Mandarin.

Assassination of Thomas Richards
Vice President Rodriguez of the United States of America witnessed another of the Mandarin's broadcasts, promptly asking if President Matthew Ellis was receiving the broadcast in the Air Force One.

Rodriguez and his team witnessed how the Mandarin seemingly executed Thomas Richards, an accountant for the Roxxon Oil Corporation, despite promising that he would spare his life if President Ellis called him, something Ellis did despite being recommended not do it.

Calling Vice President Rodriguez
Vice President Rodriguez received a call from Tony Stark, who warned him that Aldrich Killian wanted to involve him into the Mandarin campaign, although without mentioning Killian's name. Rodriguez assured Stark that both he and President Matthew Ellis were safe, as he was protected by agents of the United States Secret Service and Ellis was on Air Force One with Colonel James Rhodes.

Rhodes informed Rodriguez that the Iron Patriot Armor was used as a trojan horse to infiltrate Air Force One, and Rodriguez then assured the he will begin security lock down in the plane, and the F22s will be deployed if needed.

However, Rodriguez was secretly in league with A.I.M. due to his disabled daughter, and didn't warn Ellis about the incoming danger.

Arrest of Vice President Rodriguez
Following the death of Aldrich Killian and the rescue of President Matthew Ellis, Vice President Rodriguez was arrested for his involvement with A.I.M.. Colonel James Rhodes personally oversaw the arrest in the Vice President's office.

Phil Coulson's Return
Melinda May informed Phil Coulson that Nick Fury had returned to the Triskelion, and requested to see him. Coulson told her that Grant Ward's tribunal for killing Thomas Nash would be held there.

Adjustment to Modern World
Following the Battle of New York, Steve Rogers moved to Washington, D.C., where he tried to adjust to modern life while joining S.H.I.E.L.D. in order to help protect people. Rogers usually trained near the Washington monument, where he met fellow jogger Sam Wilson.

Once they both ended their daily routine, Rogers and Wilson introduced themselves, with Rogers recognizing him as a fellow soldier, and asking him which unit did he belong to. Wilson introduced himself as a former member of the, though now he worked at the Department of Veterans.

Wilson, having recognized Rogers as Captain America, asked about his return to active duty following his 70 years frozen in the arctic, and theorized that he may missed the same things as any other veteran, telling his own experience spending time sleeping in the floor with a stone as a pillow, and how now his bed felt like it was swallowing him.

Rogers began growing fond of the improvements made since the 1940s, such as the food, how polio had been significantly reduced, or the internet, that he has been using to learn about history and pop culture from the past decades. Wilson recommended Marvin Gaye's song "", stating that everything he missed was recompiled in that single album. Rogers noted that song in a list he kept of things he needed to try.

Rogers received a mission alert informing him of an imminent extraction, and he said goodbye to Wilson, who invited him to join him at the Department of Veterans in order to impress the girs at the reception desk

Natasha Romanoff appeared to extract Rogers, and jokingly asked about the location of the Smithsonian Institution, as she needed to pick up a fossil, and Rogers departed with her in a car to travel to the Indian Ocean for their next mission.

Project Insight
Steve Rogers returned to the Triskelion, S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and confronted Nick Fury for the secrets in his previous mission to rescue the hostages in the Lemurian Star, as his partner Natasha Romanoff was assigned a secret mission by Fury that compromised Rogers' own mission.

Fury and Rogers discussed the secrets kept in the agency, and how Fury tend to lie about everything. However, according to Fury, all went according to what he planned, as he sent Rogers, the greatest soldier in history, to male sure the hostages were rescued unharmed even while Romanoff was busy retrieving the data from the ship.

Rogers tried to make Fury know that trust is needed to transform a group of soldiers into an army, but Fury's trust was not easy to earn, as he lost an eye the last time he trusted someone. Fury revealed that the only reason Romanoff was assigned to the mission at the ship was to do things that Rogers wouldn't be comfortable with, and the reason to kept the secrets was the compartmentalization of the information, a way to protect the secrets of the agency by making sure that nobody knew them all.

To prove his point, Fury invited Rogers to visit the Insight Bay, a subterranean complex under the Triskelion where a group of Helicarriers were being built. Fury had to override the elevator systems as Rogers had no clearance to know about Project Insight, and using his position as director, the elevator started to descend.

Rogers casually talked about how elevators used to play music in the 1940s, Fury shared a story about his own grandfather, and how he was an elevator operator in an elegant building, earning good tips. However, over the years, his neighborhood got rougher and started to carry a loaded gun to dissuade any muggers that may try to rob him. Fury said that though his grandfather loved people, he didn't trust them.

As they continued to ride down the elevator, Rogers noticed the three Helicarriers being constructed under the Triskelion, and started to explain the purpose of Project Insight, that comprised three Helicarriers synced to a network of targeting satellites, that Rogers correctly guessed were launched from the Lemurian Star. The Helicarriers had been improved to maintain a continuous suborbital flight through a set of repulsor engines designed by Tony Stark, due to his experience repairing the turbines of the first Helicarrier.

Fury explained that the main goal of the Helicarriers was to eliminate hostiles easily through their long range precision guns, targeting terrorist via satellite, neutralizing threats even before they even happened. Rogers questioned the morality of punishing an action before committing a crime, but Fury managed to convince the World Security Council of the need of an advanced method of threat analysis after the alien invasion in New York City.

Rogers was very concerned that Project Insight simply threatened people in the name of protection, and though his generation made some mistakes in the 1940s, everything was done in the name of freedom, something that now was made in the name of fear. As Fury told Rogers that he should start to accept the world in the same way S.H.I.E.L.D. did, Rogers defied Fury before leaving the Triskelion in his motorcycle.

Smithsonian Exhibition
Steve Rogers visited the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where an exhibit dedicated to him as Captain America was being held, in order to remind himself who he was, now that the world had changed too much and it wanted him to change too.

Going unnoticed and keeping his face hidden under a baseball cap, Rogers walked through the exhibition, entering through the doors with panels regarding the words from President Matthew Ellis to him upon his return, and photographs of his time during World War II. The narration of the exhibition described Captain America as a symbol to the nation and a hero to the world, whose story simbolizes honor, bravery and sacrifice. It explained how Rogers was denied enlistment in the regular army due to his health, and how he was chosen for a program that transformed him into the world's first super soldier.

A boy visiting the museum recognized Rogers, but he silently asked the boy to keep his presence secret putting his finger against his mouth. The boy simply nodded, amazed to see Captain America in person.

Rogers continued visiting the museum, holding replicas of his motorcycle, and film footage of the 1940s, and soon reached the area dedicated to the Howling Commandos, where mannequins dressed with replicas of his own uniform and those of the rest of the commandos where the central display. The walls showed a solemn photograph of Rogers with Bucky Barnes, Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones, James Montgomery Falsworth, Jacques Dernier and Jim Morita, over a motive of the American flag. The narration described that Captain America and his Howling Commandos quickly marked a difference during the war, as they were tasked with defeating the Nazi rogue science division, HYDRA.

Rogers walked to the display in memorial of his friend Bucky Barnes, described as Rogers' best friend since childhood, who, according to the historical records, was the only Howling Commando to give his life in service. Rogers' face showed the regret for being unable to save him.

Rogers entered a projection of an interview made to Strategic Scientific Reserve agent Peggy Carter and recorded in 1953 in New York City. In the interview, Carter described a rescue performed by Captain America, where he was able to rescue a thousand men trapped by a blizzard behind the German line, and how Rogers fought his way through a HYDRA blockade. Carter revealed in the video that one of the men rescued in that operation later became her husband, as Captain Rogers was able to change her life even after his presumed death.

While watching the video, Rogers looked at the photo of Carter he kept in his compass since World War II, and one of the few belongings from his past he managed to preserve.

Retirement Home
Steve Rogers went to visit a now older Peggy Carter, who lived in a retirement home in Washington, D.C. Rogers and Carter discussed what she managed to do with her life, having started a family and even having children since Rogers' presumed death during World War II. Rogers sought Carter's advice regarding the moral issues of his work as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, as he had tried to do what was right during his whole life, but now he was not sure what was right anymore. He revealed that knowing that Carter was one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D. was one of the reasons that made him join and stay with the organization.

Carter advised Rogers that, as the world had changed and nobody could go back to what it was, the only thing left to do is that everyone should do their best, though sometimes that meant to start over. Suddenly, Carter suffered a coughing seizure, and Rogers got her some water. Carter, suffering the symptoms of, reacted like she was seeing Rogers for the first time since he was frozen, being overwhelmed by the emotion of seeing him alive. Rogers told Carter that he couldn't leave his girl, as she still owed him a dance.

Department of Veterans
Steve Rogers visited Sam Wilson at the Department of Veterans, where he was running a meeting as a counselor to former members of the United States Armed Forces suffering from. Rogers overheard how Garcia told a personal experience where she was pulled over by a cop who thought she was drunk, as she swerved with her car to avoid a plastic bag, thinking it was an explosive device. Wilson advised the veterans to choose how to deal with the experiences they suffered while on active duty.

As the meeting ended and Wilson said goodbye to the veterans, Rogers approached Wilson, who greeted him, and he asked about what he heard in the meeting. Wilson told him that most of them dealt with the same feelings of guilt and regret, and told the experience of how he lost his wingman, Riley, during a standard operation similar to the ones they had done thousands of times before. However, in that one, Riley got hit by an RPG, and Wilson could do nothing to help him.

Wilson confessed he spent quite some time to find a reason to stay there, so he returned to the United States and he was happy now that he was not following orders anymore. Wilson asked Rogers if he ever considered leaving active duty, though Rogers confessed he did not know what he would do with his life if he did. Wilson told Rogers that he could do whatever he wanted to do, something that made him happy. Rogers did not know what would make him happy.

Nick Fury's Suspicions
Inside the Triskelion, Nick Fury secured his office in order to check the files that Natasha Romanoff obtained from the Lemurian Star. His computer informed Fury that the satellite launch files he tried to access were locked and decrypted and his override as director was denied. When he asked the computer whose authority was used to seal the files even from him, the computer told that his own authority had been used.

Confused and worried, Fury headed to the World Security Council, where Secretary Alexander Pierce was holding a virtual meeting with the rest of the World Security Council. The council was discussing the recent hijacking of the Lemurian Star, and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s response of sending Captain America and STRIKE. They were worried how a pirate was able to board and take a covert S.H.I.E.L.D. vessel. Pierce, tired of the council questioning S.H.I.E.L.D.'s work, recommended that maybe the council needed to be oversaw.

The meeting is interrupted by Pierce's assistant, who announced Fury's arrival, so Pierce excused himself to the rest of the council and ended the meeting. Pierce greeted Fury, asking him if, despite working in the same building, he only visited because a ship was hijacked, jokingly, Fury answered that a nuclear war would make him to visit Pierce too.

Fury asked about his meeting with the World Security Council, but Pierce dismissed him saying that it was nothing important. Fury revealed the actual reason for his visit, asking Pierce to delay Project Insight as a personal favor. Pierce was surprised, as he was not asking for a simple favor, his petition would involve a long subcommittee hearing.

Fury revealed his suspicions that something was hidden behind Project Insight, and he needed time to make sure if he was right or wrong, as if he was right, eeryone would be glad that the Helicarriers weren't in the air. Pierce hesitated a moment before accepting, under the condition that Iron Man visited Pierce's niece in her birthday party, staying with the guests. Fury shook Pierce's hand and thanked him for agreeing with his petition.

Car Chase
Nick Fury left the Triskelion worried of the potential scope of his suspicions regarding Project Insight, and contacted Maria Hill from his SUV, requesting her to travel to Washington, D.C. and meet him. As Fury stopped at a red traffic light, two police officers suspiciously looked at him, though Fury dismissed them asking if they wanted to his lease. As the policemen drove off and Fury was about to resume driving, another police car smashed into his SUV, being quickly surrounded by several other police cars crashing into his. The collision caused a fracture in Fury's arm detected by the SUV's computer system, that recommended an anesthesic injection. However, as he was injecting himself with the anesthesic, Fury saw a SWAT truck appear, with a full SWAT team surrounding him.

The SUV's computer informed that the police had dispatched no units in the area, and Fury realized that he was being attacked by disguised mercenaries. He asked the SUV to get him out of there, but since the propulsions systems were offline, the mercenaries started shooting at the car.

The armor integrity of the vehicle started to reduce and the mercenaries prepared a battering ram to break the windows, so Fury tried to buy some time in order to reboot the propulsion systems. Fury contained the offensive countermeasures his SUV was about to deploy, waiting until the window integrity was reduced to one percent. Fury deployed a weapon from inside the car, killing many of the mercenaries and launching grenades to destroy the SWAT truck and some of the police cars. As the propulsion systems went online, Fury ordered a full acceleration to escape, trying to use the vehicle's flight systems, though they had been damaged during the attacks.

Fury re-assumed control of the vehicle, using the guidance cameras to calculate an escape route while the mercenaries chased after him in their police cars. Fury got angry as the computer informed him that the communications array was damaged too as he tried to contact Maria Hill again, ironically asking what was not damaged. Not understanding the sarcasm, the SUV's computer revealed that the air conditioning was fully operational.

The traffic forced Fury to take a route through 17th Avenue, colliding with some of the vehicles in the streets to form a pile and stop the police cars chasing him. The mercenaries abandoned their cars and shot at Fury, who killed them by running them down with his car.

The remaining mercenaries continued the chase through the streets, and Fury got trapped between two police cars. He evaded the shots of one of the mercenaries who entered the SUV through the broken window; Fury suddenly stopped the vehicle as the computer informed of a nearby intersection. The police cars were unable to stop in time, and were hit by a large truck. It appeared that he managed to evade all the mercenaries; Fury asked the computer to get him off the grid. Suddenly, a mysterious masked mercenary was waiting ahead, and shot a Magnetic Disk Grenade that attached itself to the bottom of Nick Fury's SUV, causing it to explode and flip over. Fury was trapped inside the car, watching how the mercenary approached to kill him.

Fury used a Mouse Hole to escape, cutting a hole through the floor just before the mercenary ripped the door of the SUV with his mechanical arm.

Sniping Attack
Steve Rogers returned to his apartment, where he came across one of his neighbours, a nurse named Kate who was talking on the phone as she went to the basement to do her laundry. Rogers gently offered her to use his washing machine, as it surely was cheaper than the one in the basement, being its cost sharing a cup of coffee with him. Kate declined the offer, as she already had another load in the basement, and she needed to wash her uniform following orientation in the infectious diseases ward. However, as Rogers told her he would keep some distance, she hoped he wouldn't be going too far, and warned him that he the music on.

Rogers waited until his neighbour went to down the stairs to cautiously enter his apartment though the window, as he was sure he didn't left the music on, and that meant that someone was inside the apartment. Rogers grabbed his shield and was ready to attack the intruder, when he found Nick Fury sitting on a couch in the dark.

Rogers told Fury that he didn't remember giving him a key for his apartment, though Fury replied he didn't need one to enter, and revealed that he was there because his wife kicked him out of his house. Rogers was surprised, as he didn't even know that Fury was married, but it turned out to be only one of the many things he didn't know about him, what was starting to be a problem.

Rogers turned on the light and noticed Fury's injuries caused during his car chase. Fury indicated him to be silent as he turned off the light, and wrote on his phone and that there were microphones all over his apartment and that S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised, while talking about Fury's wife out loud in order to maintain a cover.

Suddenly Fury was shot three times through the window and collapsed, and Rogers dragged him to the next room, where Fury handed him the flash drive with the files obtained in the Lemurian Star and warned him not to trust anyone before passing out.

Rogers' neighbour broke into the apartment and identified herself as Agent 13 of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Special Service, assigned by Fury to protect Rogers. Agent 13 contacted S.H.I.E.L.D. through her radio to call for medical assistance, informing that Fury was down, while Rogers went to chase the assassin, the same mercenary that almost killed Fury with an explosion.

Rogers pursued him through an office building smashing through the walls, and when he finally catched him on the roof, Rogers threw his shield at the assassin. However, the mercenary was able to catch the shield with his mechanical arm before throwing it back to Rogers. As Rogers recovered from the blow, the mercenary managed to jump down the building and disappear.

Meeting with Alexander Pierce
Steve Rogers was taken to Alexander Pierce's office at the Triskelion in order to discuss the attacks against Nick Fury that seemingly led to his death. As Rogers arrived, Pierce dismissed Sharon Carter, who was also informing him about the incident at Rogers' apartment. Carter, who had been possing as Rogers' neighbour, greeted him as he approached, but Rogers coldly replied her greeting simply calling her "Neighbor" as he walked towards Pierce.

Pierce greeted Rogers, shaking his hand, who said it was an honor to meet Pierce, though Pierce replied the honor was his, as his father served in the during World War II. Pierce shared with Rogers an incident that happened in Bogotá, where Fury was able to rescue a group of hostages, including Pierce's daughter, from a group rebels that managed to take the embassy. Fury ignored the Pierce's direct order and carried out an unauthorized military operation on foreign soil, but Fury proved to be right, as though Pierce wanted to negotiate, the rebels gave the order to kill the hostages. That particular incident made Pierce promote Fury to Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., a decission he said never had any cause to regret.

Pierce asked Rogers about the reason Fury visited him at his apartment, and Rogers said he didn't know, but he managed to told him that the appartment was bugged with microphones, though omitting he gave the order to install them.

Pierce showed a live transmission of Georges Batroc being interrogated, as he had been captured in Algiers. Batroc didn't reveal nothing during the transmission, and Rogers found it hard to believe he was a suspect for Fury's assassination. Pierce revealed that Batroc was hired to attack the Lemurian Star, and the money had been traced to a fictitious accounts using the name of Nick Fury's old neighbour, so Fury was the principal suspect of hiring Batroc.

Pierce guessed that the prevailing theory for Fury's motivations for the hijacking of the ship was to use it as a cover for the acquisition and sale of classified intelligence, and that the sale went sour, what led Fury's death. Rogers found hard to believe, and Pierce told him that was precisely the reason of their current conversation. Pierce revealed that Fury asked him to take a seat on the World Security Council, as they were both realists and knew that sometimes the diplomacy was useless. Sometimes to build a better world meant having to tear the old one down. However, that path meant to gather some enemies. Pierce commented that thinking that those enemies could be happy for Fury's death made him really angry.

Pierce asked Rogers again the first question of their conversation, as he thought that it was not an accident that Rogers was the last one to see Fury alive. Rogers revealed Fury's last words, not to trust anyone, and Pierce wondered if that included Fury himself.

As Rogers was about to exit Pierce's office, Pierce warned him that he was going to find out who murdered Fury, and whoever got in his way would regret it, no matter who he was. Rogers simply replied that he understood, before leaving.

Escape from the Triskelion
Steve Rogers entered one of the elevators at the Triskelion as he left Alexander Pierce's office, in order to head to Operations control. Just as the elevator doors were about to close, Brock Rumlow entered with two STRIKE agents while calling all STRIKE agents to come.

Rumlow greeted Rogers as they headed to the Forensics Laboratory, revealing that the evidence response teams found some fibers on the roof where he confronted the mercenary that killed Nick Fury, and asked Rogers if he wanted a tactical team ready. Rogers told him to wait and see what the evidence was, but he noticed one of the with his hand ready to take his weapon.

As the elevator stopped, more agents entered and began surrounding Rogers while apparently speaking about other issues. To maintain their cover, Rumlow told he was sorry about Fury's death, as it was a big loss for the organization and for some of the agents at a personal level.

Feeling something was wrong, Rogers continued to evaluate his surrounding, noticing one of the agents was sweating, and the elevator stopped again as Jack Rollins and two other STRIKE agents entered the elevator. Knowing they were all there to take him down, Rogers asked if there was anyone who wanted to get out before starting a fight.

Rollins took a Taser Rod and attacked Rogers with it, who managed to evade the attack and disarm him before being grabbed by the agents. Some agents tried to strap his wrists with a pair of Magnetic Handcuffs, concealed as the handles of their briefcases.

Rogers was able to knock some of the agents, including Rollins, but his right hand was trapped by one of the handcuffs, that adhered itself to the wall of the elevator. Rumlow used his rod to attack Rogers, managing to hit him at his back, but Rogers was not knocked unconscious and defeated the other agent besides Rumlow that was attacking him.

Rogers deflected another of Rumlow's attacks, using the Taser Rod to knock another agent unconscious, and libertated his hand from the handcuff, knocking all the remaining agents besides Rumlow.

Rumlow, armed with Rollins' and his own Taser Rod, revealed that the attack was nothing personal. Rumlow was able to hit him with the rods a few times, but Rogers was able to withstand its effects, and defeated Rumlow throwing him to the ceiling and then back to the floor. As he was unconscious, Rogers answered Rumlow's final taunt saying that it appeared to be something personal

Jasper Sitwell, who was overseeing the confrontation from the Operations Control room, ordered to mobilize STRIKE units to the 25th floor, and as Rogers opened the door of the elevator, tactical teams were waiting for him and pointing their weapons at him. Rogers was ordered to drop his shield and put his hands in the air, but he used the shield to cut the elevator wires and quickly descend down.

As the emergency brakes activated, the elevator stopped between two floors, where more STRIKE agents were waiting for him. The tactical teams told Rogers to surrender as they were opening the door, but Rogers escaped jumping throught the glass in the elevator, landing on his shield to absorb the impact.

Sitwell watche how Rogers quickly recovered and started running off, so he ordered to lock down the entrance bridge of the compound. Rogers managed to exit the garage on his motorcycle before the door was closed. A Quinjet was sent to stop him, but Rogers managed to evade its shots and disable it throwing his shield into one of its propellers. Rogers jumped and retrieved his shield to use it disable its engines, making it to crash and managing to escape.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Fugitive
Jasper Sitwell requested a moment of attention to all agents at the Operations Control room at the Triskelion, including Sharon Carter. Sitwell ordered them to leave their current operations and to start a manhunt on Captain America. Sitwell gave a series of orders to close every possible escapeway for Rogers, to direct all the security cameras in Washington, D.C. to the monitors in that room, and to scan all sources of communications, including phones, computers and PDA's.

Carter asked the reason of such a massive manhunt for Captain America, but it was Alexander Pierce who answered her, saying that Rogers lied to them, he had critical information regarding the death of Nick Fury and refused to share it with them, so he was labelled as a fugitive from S.H.I.E.L.D.

Reactivation of Project Insight
Alexander Pierce held another virtual meeting with the World Security Council, where he defended Nick Fury despite many facts pointed he could be a traitor. Pierce said that his murder in cold blood would make him be considered a martyr by any reasonable person.

The councilmen argued that his hiring of the mercenary Georges Batroc to hijack the Lemurian Star made him a traitor, and that Fury used his friendship with Pierce to made the council agree into Project Insight, as it may expose his illegal operations.

Pierce, getting tired of the accusations, asked them if they were calling for his resignation, and he defied them to redact his resignation document. The councilmen tabled the discussion for a later time, as they already decided reactivate Project Insight immediately.

Escape from D.C.
Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers went to a shopping mall disguised as couple in casual clothing in order to investigate the files obtained from the Lemurian Star in a public place. Romanoff gave Rogers a tip about going on the run, and they entered a Mac store to use one of the computers.

Romanoff warned Rogers that the flash drive contained a homing program that would alert S.H.I.E.L.D. about their location, giving them about nine minutes from the moment they start the flash drive. Romanoff found the flasdrive was protected with an AI that kept rewriting itself to counter her commands, proving that the Fury was right, and the ship was hiding something. Romanoff used a tracer program developed by S.H.I.E.L.D. to track hostile malware, in order to locate the source of the files contained inside the flash drive.

As soon as she started analyzing its content, a convoy left the Triskelion to track Rogers down, and Brock Rumlow and his STRIKE team soon arrived at the mall to search for him.

An Apple Store Employee named Aaron approached Rogers and Romanoff to see if he could help them with anything. Romanoff quickly told them they were a couple just checking for some destinations for their honeymoon. As Aaron asked them which ones they were thinking about, the tracer program managed to track the origin of the files in New Jersey, and Rogers told him that was going to be his destination.

Aaron suspiciously looked at him, and though Rogers thought Aaron recognized him, he just told him he had exactly the same glasses he was wearing. Romanoff joked they were practically twins, though they couldn't be physically more different, and Aaron left them alone telling them his name if they needed his help while in the store.

While Rumlow and his team deployed through the mall looking for them, Rogers and Romanoff were able to trace the origin of the signal to Wheaton, New Jersey, a place where Rogers trained during World War II before being administered the Super Soldier Serum. The two of them left the store, and Rogers quickly began to devise an strategy to escape the standard tactical team sent to go after them.

Romanoff quickly dismissed his plan to and began to pose as a couple to go unnoticed. She ordered Rogers to put his arm around her, laughing at something, as one of the STRIKE agents passed right next to them.

Jack Rollins checked the Apple Store, the source of the tracked signal, and found that Rogers and Romanoff already left. Rumlow ordered a search on every floor, scanning the upper level and descending until reaching his position. Rumlow took an escalator going up, while Rogers and Romanoff took the elevator next to it going down. Upon noticing Rumlow, Romanoff quickly ordered Rogers to kiss her, explaining that public displays of affection made people very uncomfortable, something Rogers personally agreed. As they kissed, Rumlow didn't even noticed them despite being next to them, and they managed to escape the shopping mall and drive to New Jersey.

Night Meeting
Alexander Pierce is at his home at night. As he entered his kitchen to get a glass of milk, he noticed that the Winter Soldier, the mercenary that seemingly killed Nick Fury, was sitting in the shadows with his gun on the table

Before Pierce could say anything, his housemaid, Renata, calls him from the door, asking if he needed anything before she left. Pierce answered that everything was fine, and then she left after saying goodbye.

Once Renata lef, Pierce offered a glass of milk to the Winter Soldier, who didn't answered. Pierce went to brief the soldier that their timetable had moved given the interference of Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff, and assigned him their deaths, classifying them as level 6 threats. As they were responsible of destroying Arnim Zola's computer mind, Pierce ordered the Winter Soldier to kill them within ten hours.

Renata interrupted as she entered the kitchen, apologizing as she forgot her phone, and noticed the Winter Soldier in the shadows. Pierce showed discomfort in his face, and told her she should have knocked the door instead of entering, as he was forced to kill her to protect his cover.

Recruitment of Sam Wilson
The following morning, as Sam Wilson returned home from his morning run, he heard a knock at his door, finding Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff. Rogers apologized for asking, but they needed a place to hide for a while, as everyone they knew was trying to kill them. Wilson hesitated a moment before replying, but answer that not everyone, as they let them enter. Wilson checked that nobody was looking and closed the blinds at the door.

Rogers and Romanoff cleaned themselves, and Rogers noticed that Romanoff was looking sad and thoughtful. Though at firs she said she was okay, as Rogers asked twice, she revealed that she thought she chose the right path when she joined S.H.I.E.L.D., but it turned out she only left the KGB to join HYDRA. She thought all her lies belonged to S.H.I.E.L.D., and were meant to protect the world, but now she couldn't differentiate whose lies had she been telling.

Rogers replied with a quote she earlier used about him, that she might be in the wrong business. Romanoff smiled, and said she owed him one for saving her life. She asked what would happen if the situation was the opposite, if he would trust her if she was the one who had to save his life. Rogers answered he trusted her now, and he was always honest.

Romanoff told Rogers that he looked pretty optimistic even though he had found his sacrifice didn't destroyed HYDRA as everyone thought, but he guessed it just was he liked to know who his enemies were now. Wilson interrupted them announcing he made breakfast, though doubting Rogers and Romanoff even had to eat at all.

In the kitchen, Romanoff wondered who had the authority to launch a domestic missile strike such as the one that destroyed Camp Lehigh, and the most probable option was Alexander Pierce. As he was protected on top of the most secure building in the world, they needed to find another target to learn about Arnim Zola's algorithm.

They guessed that Jasper Sitwell, being the only S.H.I.E.L.D. officer on the Lemurian Star, had to be connected, and wondered how could they kidnap him in broad daylight being the two most wanted people in Washington.

Wilson offered himself to do it, handing them a dossier and files about his military background. Romanoff recognized his mission to apprehend Khalid Khandil in Bakhmala, and Rogers asked if the man in the photo was Riley, Wilson's deceased partner. The Khandil mission was tricky, as the area was infestated with terrorists carrying RPGs and the helicopters could not act, so Romanoff asked what did Wilson used to enter the area.

Wilson handed them a file about the EXO-7 Falcon, the harness he used to infiltrate the area, and upon learning it was a possibility, Rogers told Wilson that he couldn't ask him to do something like that, as Wilson left the military for a reason. Wilson asked that Captain America needing his help was the better possible reason to return.

Rogers asked where they could obtain one of the Falcon harnesses, and Wilson revealed that the last one was guarded in Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall. Romanoff indicated that it shouldn't be a problem with a gesture, and she departed with Rogers to retrieve it.

Kidnapping of Jasper Sitwell
Jasper Sitwell had a meeting with Senator Stern, who finished it earlier than expected in order to fly home. Stern argued that he had a constituency problem, but he confessed to Sitwell that he was going to meet a beautiful young woman whom he had promised to help become a reporter, and Stern even complained that she was hurting his back.

Stern noticed the S.H.I.E.L.D. pin on Sitwell's jacket and complimented it, but he asked Sitwell to give him a hug so he could whisper "Hail HYDRA" in his ears. As Stern stepped away, he touched his back in pain, and jokingly asked if he should get it checked.

Sitwell got a phonecall from Alexander Pierce, and ordered his men to give him a minute alone while they brought the car. Instead of Pierce, Sam Wilson was the caller, asking Sitwell about his lunch in the restaurant, to demonstrate he had watching Sitwell. Wilson gave Sitwell his location, who saw him sitting at a short distance away from him.

Wilson demanded Sitwell to go around the corner and board a car, showing him that he had a sniper ready to shoot with a laser sight pointing to his expensive-looking tie.

Sitwell was taken to a rooftop, where Steve Rogers threw him across followed by Natasha Romanoff. Rogers asked Sitwell about Arnim Zola's algorithm and his presence on the Lemurian Star, but Sitwell made up some excuses to deny his involvement with the ongoing conspiracy.

Rogers forced Sitwell to the edge of the rooftop, but Sitwell smiled, knowing that Rogers would not throw him off the roof. Rogers acknowledged that, but told him that Romanoff would do it, stepping aside so that she could kick Sitwell off the roof.

As Sitwell was falling and screaming, Romanoff tried to get Rogers another date, this time with Lillian, a girl who worked in accounting, but Rogers was not ready yet for dates. Suddenly, Wilson appeared wearing his EXO-7 Falcon mechanical wing harness, flying with Sitwell and throwing him down the roof.

Rogers and Romanoff walked towards Sitwell, who answered their previous questions in fear. Sitwell revealed that Zola's algorithm was a program for choosing the targets for Project Insight, targets such as Rogers himself, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, the Undersecretary of Defense, or even anonymous people like a TV anchor in Cairo or a high school valedictorian in Iowa City.

Sitwell revealed that the algorithm would predict even who could become a threat to HYDRA in the future using bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, e-mails, phone calls, and every other digital data to evaluate peoples' past and predict their future. Once the targets would be deemed as threats, the Insight Helicarriers would kill them all at once.

Battle on Washington, D.C.
Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff and Sam Wilson drove Jasper Sitwell to the Triskelion in order to stop the launch of Project Insight. Sixteen hours before the launch, they were planning to use Sitweel to bypass the DNA scans and access the Helicarriers directly.

Suddenly, the Winter Soldier landed on the car roof, taking Sitwell out through a window and throwing him against an oncoming truck, killing him. The Winter Soldier then began to shoot inside the car. The three managed to evade the shots, and Rogers quickly pulled the break handle, making the Winter Soldier fall from the car onto the street.

As Romanoff was about to shoot the soldier, a large vehicle smashed into their car, pushing it forward. The Winter Soldier jumped to the the car roof again, and though Wilson tried to escape in the car, the Winter Soldier stripped the steering wheel. Romanoff shot through the car roof, but the soldier jumped to the vehicle that smashed Rogers' car, and the mercenaries inside continued to hit the car, hoping to make them crash now that Wilson could not control it.

Rogers stripped one of the doors and took Wilson and Romanoff from the car before it crashed, falling into the road and using his shield to absorb the impact. Wilson got separated from Rogers and Romanoff, and the Winter Soldier borrowed a grenade launcher from one of his mercenaries, shooting to Rogers. Rogers quickly pulled Romanoff out, and was hit by a grenade directly. Though unharmed thanks to his shield, the impact made Rogers fall through the bridge of the highway they were standing onto a bus below.

The mercenaries continued shooting at Romanoff and Wilson, and though Romanoff retaliated with her handgun, she was forced to jump off the bridge as the Winter Soldier shot another grenade to the car she was hiding behind. Romanoff survived the fall using the grappling hook in her Black Widow's Bite, and ran to take another position, finding where the Winter Soldier was located through his shadow, and firing at him, managing to shoot him in his eye goggle mask.

The Winter Soldier removed his goggles and angrily started shooting at Romanoff's previous position, though she had already taken cover behind a truck and retaliated the fire. As Romanoff fled, the Winter Soldier, speaking Russian, ordered the mercenaries to kill Rogers while he pursued Romanoff.

The mercenaries quickly descended to the streets below the bridge while Rogers recovered from his fall. Rogers managed to evade the shots and retrieved his shield, using it to defend himself and even to make some bullets to ricochet and kill some mercenaries. Wilson killed the last remaining mercenary over the bridge and used his weapon to cover Rogers.

The Winter Soldier contined to pursue Romanoff, hearing her making a distress call behind a car, so he silently used a rolling grenade to make the car explode. Romanoff was not there, as she left her phone playing a recording of her voice to lure the Winter Soldier; as the grenade exploded, Romanoff jumped onto the soldier's back, trying to strangle him with a garrote, but he managed to throw her off. Before the soldier could retaliate, Romanoff threw one of the Taser Disks to his mechanical arm in order to hijack it.

Romanoff fled, warning the civilians in the streets to get away from the Winter Soldier, but she was shot in the shoulder and fell, watching as the Winter Soldier was coming to kill her. Rogers arrived to fight the Winter Soldier, managing to distract him and let Romanoff take cover.

A fight began on the streets, where Rogers managed to disarm the soldier from his different firearms and force him into a hand to hand fight. During the fight, the Winter Soldier managed to obtain Rogers's shield and to throw it to him with formidable strength. Rogers managed to evade an otherwise fatal blow, and while he approached, the Winter Soldier grabbed a knife to attack him.

Rogers and the Winter Soldier exchanged blows in a evenly-matched fight, but Rogers managed to retrieve his shield and use it to damage the Winter Soldier's Prosthetic Arm, seizing the opportunity to throw him into the air, making his mask fall from his face. As the Winter Soldier looked at Rogers, Rogers recognized him as his childhood fried, Bucky Barnes.

Rogers asked incredulously if he was his best friend, but the Winter Soldier coldly asked who Bucky was. As the Winter Soldier was about to shoot at Rogers, Wilson arrived using his EXO-7 Falcon harness to kick the soldier. The Winter Soldier quickly recovered and was about to shoot at Rogers again, but Romanoff used the Grenade Launcher the Winter Soldier lost while fighting Rogers to throw a grenade at him.

The Winter Soldier disappeared, but Rogers, Romanoff and Wilson did not flee as STRIKE agents led by Brock Rumlow arrived to the scene. Rumlow ordered Rogers to drop the shield and get on his knees; Rogers did not resist, as he and his friends were surrounded, and let Rumlow arrest him. However, Rumlow had to stop Jack Rollins from killing Rogers in the streets, as a news helicopter was filming them, and the three were arrested by STRIKE and taken into custody inside a van. Rogers was distraught thinking that his best friend was his enemy, and he did not even recognized him. Wilson tried to dismissed what Rogers saw, as seventy years had passed since Barnes' presumed death, but Rogers correctly guessed that Arnim Zola experimented on Barnes while he was captured in 1943, that helped him to survive the fall. Romanoff tried to comfort Rogers, but he kept thinking about his friendship with Barnes.

Wilson noticed Romanoff's gunshot wound, and asked the guards to get a doctor or to put pressure on her wound to avoid her death due to blood loss. One of the guards threatened Wilson with a Taser Rod, but suddenly used it against the other guard to knock him out.

The guard revealed herself to be Maria Hill, and asked who Wilson was. Hill liberated the three, and used a Mouse Hole to escape from the van. Rumlow stopped the convoy inside a drain pipe to execute Rogers, Wilson and Romanoff, ordering his men to dig three holes for them, but as he and his STRIKE team approached the van with the prisoners, they found it empty, with one of the guards left unconscious and a burnt hole on the car floor that was cut with the Mouse Hole to escape.

Winter Soldier's Mission Report
The Winter Soldier was taken to the abandoned bank where HYDRA had set up a base for him and his handlers, in order to repair his mechanical arm, damaged by Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff while trying to kill them in the street of Washington, D.C.

The Winter Soldier started to experience flashbacks of his fall from the HYDRA train in the Alps, how Rogers tried to save him from the fall and how he was discovered by Arnim Zola. He also remembered how his missing arm was replaced by a prosthetic mechanical arm and how he saw it for the first time, while Zola told him he was going to the new fist of HYDRA and was put in a Cryostasis Chamber for the first time.

Due to the painful memories, the Soldier started to become agitated and shoved the technician working on his arm to the floor, causing Jack Rollins and the other STRIKE team members in the room to draw their guns on the Soldier.

Alexander Pierce arrived to the facility escorted by Brock Rumlow, and though one of the technicians warned him about the instability of the Winter Soldier, Pierce approached him to demand a mission report. The Winter Soldier did not reply to the order, looking blank, so Pierce suddenly struck him hard in the face.

The Winter Soldier asked about Rogers' identity, and Pierce told him he simply met him earlier that week on another assignment, but the soldier replied that he knew him from somewhere.

Pierce started to relate how the Winter Soldier's work had been a gift to mankind, and he helped shaped the century, but he needed him to do it one more time, as right at that moment society was drifting between order and chaos; they both needed to do their respective parts to let HYDRA give the world the freedom it deserves.

The Winter Soldier continued replying that he knew Rogers, so Pierce ordered the technicians to prepare the soldier for his next assignment. One scientist informed Pierce that he had been out of his Cryostasis Chamber for too long, Pierce ordered to wipe his memory with painful electroshocks, beginning the process while Pierce and Rumlow left the room.

Theft at the Smithsonian
Steve Rogers returned to the Smithsonian Institution in order to retrieve a replica of the uniform he used during World War II, to use it in the upcoming battle against HYDRA to the stop the Helicarriers connected to Project Insight.

One of the museum's security guards discovered the now empty mannequin, and lamented he was going to be fired for that.

Infiltration
Captain America, Falcon and Maria Hill approached the Triskelion from the nearby forest, while S.H.I.E.L.D. was finishing the protocols for the launch of the Insight Helicarriers.

The three of them infiltrated one of the communications room in the Triskelion while the technicians were casually chatting. They hijacked the signals, so the technicians heard a painful noise through their earpieces, forcing them to remove the piece and open the door, in order to check the source of the signal.

As one of the technicians opened the door, he found Captain America, Falcon and Hill outside, pointing him with their weapons. Captain America apologized for entering like that, and the technician held his hands up, stepping aside to let them enter.

Arrival of the World Security Council
Alexander Pierce met the members of the World Security Council as they arrived at the Triskelion, politely asking how their flight was. As Councilwoman Hawley said that the ride from the airport was not as good as the flight itself, Pierce acknowledged that S.H.I.E.L.D. could not control everything, to which Councilman Rockwell replied that it seemed to include Captain America.

Pierce handed each member of the council a biometrical pin to give them unrestricted access to all the facilities inside the Triskelion, and each member wore one of them.

At the World Security Council room, Pierce starting giving a speech addresing the Council members, recognizing the road to the launch of Project Insight had not been easy, and even some of the councilmen would have wanted to expel Pierce from the Project, but they finally reached the point, and the world should be grateful to them. However, as they began celebrating, they were interrupted by a transmission made by Captain America.

HYDRA Revealed
Captain America addresed all the loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agents at the Triskelion from the communications room, revealing the reason he had been deemed a traitor the last few days, and why some agents had been even ordered to hunt him down.

Rogers revealed that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been taken over by HYDRA, with Alexander Pierce acting as their leader, and STRIKE and the Insight as members too. Rogers acknowledged that their number was unknown, but they were in the building, and had almost obtained their goal, absolute control. He also revealed they were responsible for the assassination attempt on Nick Fury, and that if they managed to launch the Helicarriers, they would be able to kill all targets that oppose them.

Rogers asked for the collaboration of all loyal agents, knowing that he was asking too much from them, but he encouraged them by saying he was willing to pay the price of freedom, but he would be bet he was not the only one.

As Rogers finished his speech, Sam Wilson, impressed by Rogers' words, asked him if he had prepared the speech earlier, or it simply improvised it at the moment.

Launching
Brock Rumlow ordered his STRIKE team to take key position inside the Triskelion, while he personally went to the launch room to make sure the Helicarriers were launched despite Captain America's speech.

Jack Rollins went to the World Security Council to protect Alexander Pierce, arriving at the time the councilmen were insulting Pierce once his treachery was exposed. Thinking they were S.H.I.E.L.D. agents coming to arrest Pierce, the council members ordered Rollins to arrest him, but Rollins drew his weapon and pointed to Councilman Singh. Pierce told the council members that he was the one giving orders.

Rumlow and other STRIKE members entered the control room, and he ordered one of the Launch Technicians to bypass the launch sequence and send the Helicarriers immediately. The technician looked at Rumlow nervously, and breathed heavily until he replied Rumlow, telling him he wasn't going to launch the Helicarriers under Captain America's orders.

Rumlow pointed his gun at the technician's head, ordering him to move away from his station, but Sharon Carter approached Rumlow, pointing his gun at him, telling him that as the technician said, those were Captain America's orders. All the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in the room drew their weapons, pointing them at Rumlow and the rest of the STRIKE operative.

Rumlow told Carter that she picked the wrong side, and he droped his gun. Rumlow seized the opportunity to grab his knife and cut Carter's arm, disarming her and beginning a gunfight between the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and STRIKE operatives. Carter managed to save the technician's life by kicking his chair while Rumlow was about to shoot him.

Amidst the chaos, Rumlow managed to activate the launch and escape while Carter retrieved a gun and tried to kill him. The three bays located outside the building were opened, and though one of the loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agents tried to prevent the bays from opening, a STRIKE team killed the technicians in charge of the hanger and gunned him down, allowing the crews in the Helicarriers to take off.

Boarding the Helicarriers
Maria Hill informed Captain America and Falcon that the Helicarriers were taking off, so they ran to board different carriers to change the targeting chips and force the ships to destroy each other. Falcon asked how to differentiate loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agents from HYDRA operatives, and Captain America assured that HYDRA members would be shooting at him.

Captain America jumped to the nearest Helicarrier, while Falcon field to another. As soon as Rogers landed, many crew members started shooting at him, though he managed to evade their shots and defeat many of them using their own grenades. Meanwhile, Falcon was shot by the heavy cannons of the carrier he was trying to board, and informed Rogers that he had found the bad guys they had been talking about.

One of the crew members on the Helicarriers informed his superior that they would reach the range of the Insight targeting satellites once they were at three thousand feet of altitude.

Hill asked about Falcon's status, who informed he was engaging in combat against the Helicarrier he was trying to board, and used his weapons to kill some of the operatives guarding the deck. As he was about to enter, Falcon was engaged by a Quinjet, and he was force to fly off and avoid getting hit.

Captain America continued to fight the HYDRA agents as he tried to get inside one of the Helicarriers, while Hill informed him that they only had eight minutes before the carriers could shoot their targets. Rogers finally managed to replace the targeting system with the one Nick Fury gave him, and informed Hill that the Alpha Helicarrier had been locked as he escaped.

Falcon had to escape from the Helicarrier as a Quinjet continued to pursue him, and he had to fly near the the Helicarrier to escape from a series of heat-seeking missiles launched by the Quinjet. Falcon managed to get the missiles hit the Helicarrier, allowing him to enter it.

Falcon informed Hill that he managed to enter, and quicly replaced the targeting system, updating Hill that the Bravo Helicarrier had been locked too. Hill briefed both Falcon and Captain America that only one Helicarrier was remaining.

A group of S.H.I.E.L.D. Pilots gathered to give air support to Captain America, but suddenly, the Winter Soldier appeared and destroyed one of the Quinjets about to take off. The Winter Soldier then killed all the pilots and crew on the deck, and destroyed every Quinjet to make sure they couldn't help Captain America, taking one of the Quinjets for himself to personally confront his enemy.

Hill informed Captain America and Falcon that the Charlie Helicarrier was at forty-five degrees off the port bow, and noticed two HYDRA operatived making breaking into the control room where she was stationed. She killed them as they entered, and informed in the radio that only six minutes were left.

Captain America was trying to escape from the HYDRA operatives who were shooting at him on the Helicarrier, and he was forced to jump over as he called Falcon to catch him in the air. Falcon quickly flew towards Captain America, catching him in the air, and taking him to the Charlie Helicarrier.

Falcon took Captain America, whom he catched in the air while jumping from one of the hijacked Helicarriers, to the last remaining carrier, letting him know that he is a lot heavier than you look.

Suddenly, the Winter Soldier appeared and attacked Captain America, knocking him over the edge of the ship. Falcon tried to fly off and help Captain America, but the Winter Soldier grabbed one of his wings and threw him back. Falcon shot at the Winter Soldier, but he hid himself and fired a grappling hook to one of his wings as he was about to take off, breaking the wing and throwing Falcon off the Helicarrier. Falcon discarded his remaining wing, and opened his parachute to land on the roof of the Triskelion.

Falcon contacted Captain America to check his status, and Captain America, who managed to hold onto the side the Helicarrier, informed him that he was still on board. Falcon apologized for not being there, as he had fallen to the ground and, with his EXO-7 Falcon harness destroyed, he couldn't return to the Helicarrier in time, so Captain America was left alone to hijack the last Helicarrier and defeat the Winter Soldier.

Infiltration at the World Security Council
Alexander Pierce watched through the window how Captain America and Falcon were trying to board the Helicarriers and the ensuing gunfights on board, and he turned to Councilman Singh how he would have reacted if Pakistan marched into Mumbai the following, dragging his daughters into a public execution, and he could stop it just pressing a button.

Pierce extended the question to the rest of the council members, handing Singh a glass of champagne. Singh answered that he would refuse if the button was Pierce's, while tossing the glass aside.

Jack Rollins handed Pierce his handgun, and was about to kill Singh when, suddenly, councilwoman Hawley kicked Singh out of the way, disarmed Pierce and knocked down all the STRIKE operatives in the room. As Hawley was pointing a gun at Pierce, she removed a Photostatic Veil, revealing she was Natasha Romanoff, and sarcastically apologized to Pierce for ruining his moment.

Councilman Yen held Pierce at gunpoint while Romanoff disabled all security protocols to publish all information regarding S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA into the internet. Pierce asked her if she was ready to publish all of her past and let the world see her as she really was, but Romanoff simply returned the question to Pierce.

Pierce was glad to announce that disabling all the encryption was an executive order that required two Clearance Level Alpha members, as he was the only one in the room. However, as they were speaking, an helicopter landed just outside the room, and Nick Fury whom Pierce thought to be dead, appeared and entered the building.

Pierce sarcastically asked Fury if he got the flowers he sent for his death, to which Fury replied with a cold look, and said he was glad to see him there, even though Pierce ordered his death. Fury asked why was he made the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Pierce answered he was simply the best and most ruthless person he met.

Fury told Pierce his only motivation was to protect people, but Pierce told him they had common enemies, such as disorder or war, putting two examples, a dirty bomb in Moscow or an EMP in Chicago, of the outcomes that could happen if following the path of diplomacy, something he learned in Bogotá.

Pierce said that, as Fury did in Bogotá, doing what had to be done without asking, he could bring order to the lives of seven billion people, only by sacrificing twenty million, and that he had the courage to take it as the next step. Fury replied that he had the courage not to take it.

Fury took Pierce to the retinal scanner, with Romanoff pointing a gun at him, and Pierce jokingly asked if he thought they didn't removed Fury's clearance from the system. Fury acknowledged they may have erased his password and retinal scan, but in order to to stay ahead of him, he needed to keep both eyes open. Fury removed his eyepatch, revealing his scarred blind eye, using it to pass the retinal scanner while forcing Pierce to pass his. The computer accepted both scans.

Destruction of the Triskelion
At the Triskelion, an emergency evacuation was being ensued, with all personal leaving the building. Brock Rumlow fought his way through the building, killing some loyal S.H.I.E.L.D., when one of his subordinates informed him that S.H.I.E.L.D. had taken over the World Security Council, and Black Widow was there. Rumlow then proceeded to the Council, something Maria Hill detected on her monitors, and ordered Falcon to intercept him.

Inside the Council room, Natasha Romanoff informed that all of S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA's secrets had been published to the internet, but Alexander Pierce seized the opportunity to kill the remaining councilmen activating the biometric pins he gave them as they entered the building, and forced Romanoff and Nick Fury to lower their weapon or he would kill Romanoff opening a two inch hole in her sternum, with the pin. Reluctantly, Fury and Romanoff lowered their weapons.

Rumlow informed to the radio of his current location when he was caught by surprise by Sam Wilson. Rumlow managed to knock Wilson down, and prepared himself for fighting him, saying that it was going to hurt, as HYDRA didn't take prisoners, it only gives order through pain. Wilson told him to shut up and they attacked each other.

Pierce asked one of the technicians when the Insight targets would be locked, and he informed that only sixty-five seconds were left to get linked with the satellites, and the weapons in the Helicarriers were deployed. The Helicarriers informed Pierce that they reached three thousand feet and were now linked to the satellites, so they deployed the Arnim Zola's algorithm to assign the targets.

Both Washington, D.C. and the Triskelion were one of the intended targets of Project Insight, as both President Matthew Ellis and Maria Hill were deemed as primary threats for HYDRA's plans. The Insight satellites marked Ellis and Hill as candidates along numerous other individuals in Washington, D,C,.

However, Captain America managed to replace the last remaining chip, overriding the system and locking it. He informed him to the radio that the Charlie Helicarrier had been locked, and the technicians wondered where the targets went. Hill quickly set the Helicarriers as the targets for each other, and she reluctanlty open fire as Captain America ordered her to do it before he could escape the Helicarrier.

Pierce regretted the destruction of the Insight Helicarriers, and Romanoff jokingly asked if he still was doubting Captain America's chances. Pierce took Romanoff as a hostage to in order to escape the building.

As Pierce was leaving, Fury revealed that there was a time when he would have taken a bullet for Pierce, and Pierce told him that he already did, and would do it again. Romanoff seized the opportuinity to use a Taser Disk on herself and disable the pin Pierce was using as a leverage.

Pierce checked his phone to activate Romanoff's pin and kill her, but it announced that its system was rebooting. Fury grabbed a weapon from one of the unconscious HYDRA operatives in the room, and shot Pierce twice. Fury quickly went to check Romanoff's status, who was lying unconscious on the ground, and she opened her eyes, complaining that the Taser Disks she often used against her enemies actually sting a lot. Pierce, lying on the ground, said one last time "Hail, HYDRA" with his dying breath.

The Helicarriers continue to destroy each other, falling to the ground, and destroying the bays where they were stored during their construction, while the third one set a collision course towards the Triskelion. Wilson and Rumlow were still fighting, and though Rumlow was having the upper hand, Wilson noticed the Helicarrier about to crash, and started to run. Rumlow noticed it too, but it was too late for him to escape, and was reached by the falling debris caused by the collision.

Wilson contacted Romanoff to inform him of his location so she could take him with the helicopter, but he had to jump through a window to avoid being crushed by the Helicarrier. Fury who was piloting the helicopter, quickly maneuvered to let Wilson fall into the helicopter, who complained inside that he already told them he was at the 41st floor, but Fury told him the floor numbers were not placed outside of the building. Romanoff asked Hill about Rogers location, as they escaped from the area, but they had to leave as the Triskelion collapsed.

Duel on the Helicarrier
Captain America managed to enter the last remaining Helicarrier, where he was confronted by the Winter Soldier before managing to hijack the targeting system. He tried to reason with his friend, saying that many people would die and he couldn't let that happen, but the Winter Soldier coldly looked at him, so he asked not to make him fight his friend.

Seeing that the Winter Soldier won't let him pass, Captain America threw his shield at him, though the Winter Soldier managed to deflect this first hit, and started battling each other in the bridge of the Helicarrier. During the fight, Captain America managed to activate the console with the targeting system, removing the chip while evading some of the Winter Soldier's blows.

However, they both fell from the bridge during the fight, and Captain America lost the chip he had to place, having falling below his reach as he lost grip of it during one of the soldier's blows.

Having descende to the glass dome, Captain America shielded himself from the Winter Soldier's shots, and disarmed him with his shield. However, the soldier stabbed Captain America in the shoulder with his knife and grabbed the fallen chip. Captain America quickly got the knife out, grabbing the Soldier by the throat, ordering to drop the chip.

Captain America continued to hold the Soldier's throat despite he tried to release himself, and began to choke him until he passed out. Captain America grabbed the chip and quickly rushed off to replace it. Maria Hill informed him that only a minute was remaining and Captain America tried to climb to the targeting system.

The Winter Soldier recovered conscience and started shooting at Captain America, woundin his leg. Captain America reache the system, but as he got the chip out, the Winter Soldier shot him in the stomach and made him fall to the ground. Captain America managed to got up and replace the chip when a few seconds were left to open fire.

Hill told Captain America to get out of the Helicarrier as she locked each Helicarrier to be targetted by the other two, but Captain America ordered her to fire, even though he was still inside, and she reluctantly opened fire. As the carriers started destroying each other, Captain America noticed the Winter Soldier trapped under the debris.

The Helicarriers continue to destroy each other, and the other two carriers crashed with each other, falling to the ground, and destroying the bays where they were stored during their construction.

Captain America, badly wounded, descended to the glass dome, and tried to liberate the Winter Soldier while the Helicarrier was destroying the Triskelion. Once he was freed, Captain America tried to reason with him, saying that they knew each other, but the Winter Soldier angrily attacked him while saying it was not true.

The Winter Soldier continued hitting Steve Captain America, but he chose not to fight back, and instead started revealing some data about him, like his full name being James Buchanan Barnes. Captain America took off his mask and dropped his shield out of the Helicarrier, saying that he was not going to fight him, as they were friends.

The Winter Soldier angrily pushed Rogers to the ground, and started punching him repeatedly across the face, saying he was just his mission, so Rogers told him to finish it. Bucky hesitated, holding holding his fist up, as Rogers told him the same quote Barnes used to comfort him when Rogers' mother, Sarah, died.

The Winter Soldier started looking at Rogers as if he began to remember his past, but then a piece of the Helicarrier broke the glass dome, making Rogers fall to the river below as the Winter Soldier held to a piece of the ship. Rogers sinked at the bottom of the river, but the Winter Soldier rescued him before he died, grabbing him to the shore before departing.

Arrest of Senator Stern
Once the HYDRA infiltration within S.H.I.E.L.D. was made public, and all secrets related to the two organizations were publicly released, the FBI took action to arrest some of the individuals involved in the conspiracy.

One of the most notorious HYDRA members arrested was Senator Stern, whom the FBI apprehended as he was leaving his office in Washington, D.c.

Natasha Romanoff's Senate Hearing
Natasha Romanoff was called to a Senate hearing concerning the dissolution of S.H.I.E.L.D., and was first asked about the motivations of Steve Rogers, though she explained that the rests found at the Potomac River explained Rogers' point in a very eloquent manner.

General Scudder asked how the United States of America was expected to maintain national security now that its most prominent intelligence agency had been destroyed; Romanoff argued what HYDRA was telling was lies, not intelligence, though the general replied that she personally told many of them.

Another member of the committee, Congressman Wenham, told Romanoff that many members of the committee felt that she should be imprisoned given her service record both for the country and against it. Romanoff defiantly replied that she was sure she wasn't going to be imprisoned, as the world was now a vulnerable place, but they were still the best qualified to defend it. She then got up and walked away from the committee hearing without letting them reply.

Maria Hill's Senate Hearing
Maria Hill was called to a Senate hearing concerning the dissolution of S.H.I.E.L.D., and was asked about every minor detail the congressmen found in the reports to the point of annoyance, such as the purpose of the Fridge and its contents, or even the nature of the Man-Thing. Hill called Pepper Potts just as she left the United States Capitol to describe how she could handle the CIA, the NSA or the NRO, but how she felt the United States Congress was like a kindergarten. Hill continued describing the surveillance agents destined to follow her, one of them posing as woman at a bus stop, another posing as homeless man and a third being a hipster young man.

However, Hill suddenly realized that the three agents had been atacked or disappeared, and hang up the phone to grab her weapon. Hill entered an alley, where Melinda May surprised her saying they needed to talk. They first discussed Hill's decision to work for Tony Stark, something she did to gain the protection of Stark's lawyers against the intelligence community, and it provided them the chance to privatize global security, and Hill even offering May joining them

May revealed the intention of her visit, to help Phil Coulson, as he needed help, but he wouldn't accept it from May, there were many things to worry about to be obsessed with Project T.A.H.I.T.I., and who covered it, which Hill pointed, who covered it besides them.

May explained that Coulson knew enough about the Project, that it used alien biology, it rewrote his memories, and that Nick Fury was not the man in charge of the project. May was worried that Alexander Pierce was in charge, as he was the only person that gave orders to Fury, but he was a HYDRA operative.

Hill revealed what she knew about the responsible for Project T.A.H.I.T.I.. Fury's answers when she tried to learn about it was that he buried the intel when he decided not to bury Coulson, speaking in riddles as he sometimes did

Hearing sirens wailing, May said that it was left to her to solve the riddle, though she provoked Hill saying that maybe she could ask Fury for her. Hill continued to assure that Fury was dead, but May said she would believe it when she was it.

Two groups of FBI agents arrived at Hill's location, with May now gone, and Hill complained to the agents that having taken them 3 minutes and 20 seconds to locate her would have made them get fired if they were Hill's agents.

Departures
Nick Fury visited one of the storage rooms he maintained to retrieve documents and an unregistered weapon in order to disappear, letting HYDRA believe he was still dead. He even changed his appearance, dressing in casual clothes and removing his eyepath, changing it for a pair of sunglasses.

Fury burned the storage room to destroy all proofs of his presence there, and went to visit hiw own graveyard, where he found Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson, and asked Rogers about some advice for how to feel when the rest of the world considered him dead, though Rogers said that in the end, he would get used to it.

Fury revealed that they obtained many data from HYDRA's files, and many of its members managed to escape arrest, so he was going to travel to Europe to fight HYDRA, and asked Rogers and Wilson if theu wanted to join him. Rogers said that there was something he needed to do first, and Wilson considered himself more a soldier than a spy, so he remained with Rogers. Fury shook their hands and told them that if anybody asked for him, they should say they could find right there, at his tomb.

Natasha Romanoff appeared just as Fury was leaving, telling Rogers and Wilson that what Fury said was the closest he would to a thank you. Rogers asked if she would join Fury, but she said she blew all her covers, and would need to figure a new one, something she was hoping would take her a while.

Romanoff told handed Rogers a file about the Winter Soldier she managed to obtain from her contacts in Kiev, and asked him to call his neighbour for a date in return. Rogers now couldn't refuse getting involved with a co-worker, as he was not a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent anymore, so he asked his neighbour's true name. Romanoff revealed it was Sharon, and gave Rogers a kiss on the cheek before departing, warning him to be careful about what he learn investigating the Winter Soldier.

Rogers opened the file, watching a photograph of Bucky Barnes inside a Cryostasis Chamber, and notes about his transformation into the Winter Soldier. Wilson approached Rogers, asking him if he was going to search for Barnes, but Rogers said he didn't have to come with him. Wilson said that he knew but, nevertheless, he asked when they would start.

Museum Visit
The Winter Soldier, disguised in civilian clothes, visited the Captain America exhibit in the Smithsonian Institution, following a battle against Captain America in one of the Insight Helicarriers where he started to remember his previous identity as Bucky Barnes.

The mannequin displaying a replica of the uniform he wore during World War II had been placed at the center of the Howling Commandos wing of the exhibit, as the replica of Captain America's Uniform had been stolen. While in the museum, Barnes stopped at the memorial panel dedicated to himself, that told data about his own past, and he recognized himself in the photographs of the panel.

Sale of Super Soldiers
Ian Quinn traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with General Jacobs and Admiral Jolnes, representatives from the United States Armed Forces in order to negotiate a selling of Deathlok Soldiers.

Quinn considered the assassination of drug lord Alejandro Castillo in Bogotá a demonstration of the effectiveness of their super soldiers, as despite General Jacobs considered it a circus, Deathlok was able to fulfill the mission alone with no support or extraction plans, greatly reducing the cost of operations.

As an example, Quinn asked how much it cost the mission to capture and kill, estimating that would between 30 a 50 millions of dollars, a price that the two officers considered worthy, though the Deathlok Soldiers could have done it for a fraction of the price.

Jacobs guessed the true reason of Quinn's visit, to sell them the Super Soldier, though what Quinn proposed was to sell them about a thousand, citing the dissolution of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the rise of HYDRA as reasons to raise the security of the nation, offering them a tour into the new Cybertek Manufacturing Facility in New Mexico.

Interviewing Glenn Talbot
Brigadier General Glenn Talbot was interviewed by George Stephanopoulos in Washington, D.C. about his efforts to dismantle S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA. Talbot answered Stephanopoulos questions, saying that S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were fugitives that deserved to be punished, as they were at least partially responsible of what Talbot described as the greatest intelligence collapse in history, so it was their duty to the American people to hunt down those responsible of the catastrophe.

Stephanopoulos clarified one of Talbot's earliest statements, about having S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel and weaponry contained in a secure facility, and asked if that fact meant that both S.H.I.E.L.D. and the HYDRA had been defeated.

Talbot, knowing that there were still both S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and HYDRA operatives, informed Stephanopoulos and the public that S.H.I.E.L.D., as a corrupt institution, had been dismantled, and explained the situation with a metaphor, comparing the agency with a cut down tree whose roots had been pulled out, but he still wanted to throw it on a bonfire.

Potomac Plaza
Glenn Talbot went for a stroll through Potomac Plaza in Washington, D.C. together with his wife Carla and their eleven-year-old son George. Talbot was a bit disappointed hearing that his son was considering to join the Navy instead of the Air Force like his father.

Antoine Triplett bumped into Talbot and quickly placed a cellphone in one of his pockets. Talbot, believing Triplett was just a distracted bystander, continued to wonder why his son would choose the Navy over the Air Force, however, Carla dismissed Talbot's worries, as their son was just 11 years old and he would be able to convince him when the time would come.

Suddenly, Triplett's cellphone started to ring inside Talbot's pocket, and Carla pointed his husband that his phone was ringing. Not thinking that it was phone, he touched his pocket and realized the man that bumped into him placed the phone, so he ordered Carla to take their son to the car as they could be in danger.

As Carla ran to retrieve George, Talbot answered the phone, with Phil Coulson calling him to warn him about an impeding attack, and to let him know they were trying to ensure his safety. Talbot recognized Coulson on the other side of the phone, and taunted to show himself to talk.

Coulson, knowing that HYDRA sent Carl Creel to attack Talbot, warned him there was no time and Talbot needed to listen to him. Talbot ignored Coulson's offer for protection, and instead threatened him, saying that he already had his own protection, and a cell prepared for Coulson at Guantanamo Bay. Talbot broke S.H.I.E.L.D.'s cellphone and used his own phone to request reinforcements at the Potomac Plaza. However, right after making the request, Creel approached Talbot from behind. Melinda May warned Talbot of the impending attack, and he quickly reacted, repeatedly punching Creel in the face. Creel managed to withstand the attacks, and returned the blows being able to make Talbot go backwards.

May quickly approached, and kicked Creel in the chest, knocking him down, though he easily recovered and ripped a guard rail to used it as a ball-and-chain weapon, absorbing the properties of the metal and transforming his arm. May was able to evade Creel's attacks, and Skye shot at him using a Taser Projectile Launcher.

Lance Hunter and Isabelle Hartley arrived at the Potomac Plaza disguised as members of the United States Armed Forces together with a large platoon of real soldiers. The soldiers went to secure Creel following Talbot's orders, while May and Skye were able to escape and avoid detention.

Hartley and Hunter stayed by Talbot's side, and took him to a car telling him they were getting him to cover. One of the soldiers told Talbot they should get him to a safe place, unaware that S.H.I.E.L.D. already took him in. Talbot entered a car where Melinda May pointed him with an I.C.E.R. Realizing he was being kidnapped, Talbot cursed out loud before being knocked unconscious, while Creel was captured and imprisoned in the Government Storage Warehouse.

Chase of Carl Creel
Melinda May, Skye, Antoine Triplett and Lance Hunter were deployed to Washington, D.C. in order to finally catch Carl Creel, having located his position thanks to tracker installed inside a ring Creel stole from Raina.

Beginning the mission, Hunter complained that he was armed with I.C.E.R.s, as Triplett was the agent tasked with being armed with a sniper rifle in case Creel had to be neutralized. Skye received a transmission from the laboratory at the Playground, stating that Leo Fitz found a way to neutralize Creel's powers, and she managed to confirm his exact location with the tracker.

May confirmed Tiplett's position, who found Creel through the sighting scope of his rifle and informed her that Creel had a case with the Obelisk. Skye showed a camera feed on a screen showing Creel talking to Sunil Bakshi while sitting back to back in a bench, receiving confirmation from Phil Coulson at the Playground that Bakshi was surely Creel's HYDRA contact.

Coulson ordered Skye to run a facial recognition software, and to let the exchange happen, tasking Skye and Hunter to follow Bakshi while May followed Creel. However, as soon as Skye and May confirmed Coulson's orders, Hunter shot them from the back with an I.C.E.R., in order to chase and kill Creel himself to avenger his friends, Idaho and Isabelle Hartley.

Triplett spoke to Skye in order to confirm that the exchange had not yet be performed, wondering the reason, but he realized Skye was not asking. As Triplett turned around, he saw Hunter aiming at him with his I.C.E.R., and though he cursed out loud, Hunter shot at him and took his sniper rifle.

On the public square, Creel explained Bakshi how the infection that resulted from his contact with the Obelisk was spreading over his body, and Bakshi told him to pass him the case containing the object and he would help him. However, Creel threatened to kill him like he did to a Waitress if Bakshi didn't help him. To calm Creel, Bakshi recited the trigger phrase used to brainwash him, that helped him to contain the transformation and regain his powers.

However, as Bakshi stood up to take the case, Hunter approached armed with the rifle, spreading panic among the people at the public square. Hunter took aim and shoot at Creel, but he was to transform into carbyne, the material from the ring he stole from Raina, which made him able to withstand even high-caliber armor piercing rounds.

Bakshi ran from Creel's side before managing to take the case with the Obelisk, and as Creel chased Hunter, Raina seized the opportunity to escape with the Obelisk, blending with the scared crowd so that Bakshi couldn't locate her.

Hunter tried to enter a building to escape from Creel, who transformed his arms into carbyne to attack Hunter, who was unable to stop him despite his attempts. Having gained full control of his powers, Creel transformed his hand into the same material from the Obelisk, intending to use to painfully kill Hunter.

However, Hunter was ultimately saved by Coulson, who arrived and stabbed Creel with an Overkill Device, destabilizing his powers and unconsciously making him transform into almost every substance he recently absorbed, before being petrified as if he had touched the Obelisk.

Coulson, mocking Hunter's promise to follow orders under his Scout's honor, sarcastically asked if he ever was a boy scout, to which Hunter only replied with a smile of embarrassment.

Isabelle Hartley's Burial
Lance Hunter attended the burial of his friend Isabelle Hartley, watching it from the distance and seeing how Jane Hartley mourned the death of her sister. Hunter opened Jane's car, and left a necklace from her mother that was among Isabelle's belongings.

Phil Coulson caught Hunter from behind, and asked him if now he dedicated to break into cars. Hunter said that he was just fulfilling a promise, something he could do thanks to him, as Coulson managed to arrange Hartley's burial as Glenn Talbot had promised Hunter if he cooperated. However, Coulson could not get the $2 million he asked for, surprising Hunter for knowing that part of the deal.

Hunter lamented that Talbot wanted his head too, and he had no money to escape, so Coulson simply proposed Hunter to work for him. Hunter stared at him in disbelief, having shot three agents, amusing Coulson with the fact that he shot Melinda May, being sure she would not only hold a grudge against him, but would savor it.

Coulson recognized both of them had made mistakes, but even as he wasn't sure if he could fully trust Hunter, Coulson argued he didn't have a fleet of Helicarriers or Quinjets, or thousands of agents at his disposal, so he needed skilled assets in the field, specially if they were, like Hunter, willing to do the wrong thing for the right reason, just like he had done before being Director.

Coulson told Hunter that people he respect vouched for him, and he would like to know the reason, something that Hunter himself didn't know, but was curious enough about it to accept Coulson's offer. In order to do it, Coulson needed something from Hunter, that he sold him to Talbot.

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Public Return
Glenn Talbot reunited with Senator Christian Ward to talk about the implications of the attack against the United Nations Headquarters seemingly perpetrated by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Ward mocked Talbot, for his claims that S.H.I.E.L.D. was under control, as Ward funded Talbot's operations through the armed services committee.

Talbot tried to excuse himself, saying that everything worked until that same morning. Though Ward said that something like an attack against the United Nations was not a symbol of control, Talbot was not sure that S.H.I.E.L.D. was the actual responsible of the attack.

Senator Ward decided to step in and personally take control the situation, especially concerned about how the press would investigate the whole event. Talbot asked if Senator Ward was worried about the press discovering the identity of his brother.

Thinking that Talbot would try to blackmail him with the information, Ward taunted him saying that what was worth of worrying was Talbot even knew about his brother, but Talbot assured him that he was not interested in politics, so he had not revealed anything about Ward's brother, and did not intend to do it either.

However, Ward said that, given the circumstances, Talbot was not in position of assuring anything, so he would now do what he thought should have done months ago, to finally destroy S.H.I.E.L.D.

Senator Christian Ward's Proposal
Senator Christian Ward gave an interview to WHiH World News about his position regarding the attack suffered at the United Nations Headquarters. Ward condemned S.H.I.E.L.D. for the attack, describing it as a terrorist organization that should be prosecuted and punished.

Ward revealed his intention to lay out a proposal at the United Nations, for the creation a multi-national police force in order to target all members of S.H.I.E.L.D., either confirmed or suspected.

Julien Beckers, Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, expressed his concern that the proposal did not respect citizens' rights, as it may target innocent people, and assured that his country would not accept Ward's proposal.

Ward taunted Beckers, saying that he was free to welcome S.H.I.E.L.D. in his country, but assured that the former agency was an infestation, and as such, it needed to be exterminated, before continuing with the debate about his proposal.

Unexpected Visit
"Excuse me. What are you doing here?" "Don't worry. I haven't been waiting long."

- Christian Ward and Phil Coulson

Phil Coulson infiltrated Senator Christian Ward's office in Washington, D.C., in order to speak face to face. Before Senator Ward's arrival, Coulson made sure that his assistants would not interrupt them, scheduling personal time for the senator, and cutting his phone line. Coulson then proceeded to review some of the notes for Senator Ward's speech, making a few changes while he waited for the senator's arrival.

Senator Ward entered his office, and was surprised to find an intruder. Coulson introduced himself, being sure that General Glenn Talbot had mentioned his name, so Coulson explained the measures he took to speak to the senator without interruption, just as Senator Ward was trying to use the phone. Senator Ward then asked Coulson about his intentions, and Coulson tried to explain that the real culprit for the attack to the United Nations Headquarters was not S.H.I.E.L.D., but HYDRA operatives under Daniel Whitehall's orders.

Senator Ward deduced Coulson actually wanted something from him, probably to publicly defend S.H.I.E.L.D. while condemning HYDRA; though he tried to explain that having a simple enemy was what would make the public feel safe. Coulson confronted him about how the public would feel if they knew his younger brother, Grant Ward, was a member of HYDRA.

Senator Ward took Coulson's question as a threat, but Coulson replied that his intention was to reveal that he had Grant Ward imprisoned in his headquarters. Senator Ward was concerned for his brother's well-being, especially if he had been tortured in exchange for information; something Coulson denied, as he believed in other ways to get information.

Coulson was genuinely surprised by his concern, but Senator Ward explained that, despite everything, he was still his brother. That concern was not fitting with all the stories that Grant explained about him, and how Christian forced Grant to torture their youngest brother, Thomas, during a particular incident in a well.

Senator Ward warned Coulson about Grant, and how the only thing that was behind his lies was another lie. Senator Ward explained his version of the story, and how Grant attacked Thomas every time Christian left them alone, as their parents were often busy with state functions.

He explained a particular event where Grant was about to attack Thomas with a screwdriver, and despite Thomas' screams, Grant was cold, with something hidden behind his eyes. Christian arrived and stopped Grant, and Grant returned to his senses, and told his parents that Christian forced him to do it.

Senator Ward explained that he spent many time trying to unravel Grant's lies, something that Coulson also did, but Senator Ward was sure Grant would continue doing so, as he would always find someone that believed them. Coulson, having been betrayed by Grant, believed Senator Ward enough to propose him a deal so they could both obtain what we wanted.

Trivia

 * Scenes from the film Captain America: The Winter Soldier that are set in Washington were actually filmed there, and filming took place on the and at the.