New York City

"You're about to be the last eligible man in New York. You know, there's three and a half million women here."

- Bucky Barnes to Steve Rogers

New York City is the largest city in the state of New York, and of the United States of America. It is one of the largest cities on Earth as well.

The Promise
In 1924, a young Steve Rogers, son of soldier and a nurse, was playing with his toy soldiers, when his mother, Sarah, terminally ill due to the  she contracted while in the hospital she worked, called for him.

Realizing the resemblance between him and his father Joseph, Sarah guessed his son would like to be a soldier just like his father was, but many people would tell him what he couldn't do due to his physical condition. However, Sarah reminded his son that although his body may look frail, it held a heart ten times it size, and made him promise that whatever his dream would be, he would use his head to avoid sharing the same fate as Joseph, a promise Steve would remember in the years to come.

Meeting Bucky Barnes
"For the last time, runt, you Eighth Avenue punks wanna cross Tenth, you gotta pay a toll."

- Bully

In 1924, Steve Rogers got involved in a fight against a group of bullies, who demanded a toll for crossing Tenth Avenue. Despite his physical and numerical disadvantage, Rogers refused to pay, and the bullies started hitting him until another boy arrived and started defending him, as he was sick of watching those bullies stealing the money of little kids like Rogers.

Rogers helped his rescuer in the fight by hitting one of the bullies with a circular garbage can lid, and the bullies fled the alley. The boy was inspired to stand up to the bullies by watching a frail boy like Rogers do it, and introduce himself as James Buchanan Barnes, although his friend called him Bucky.

Harry Houdini's Escape Act
In 1925, performed one of his sensational escape acts at the Griffith Hotel, where he escaped from handcuffs, straight jackets and steamer trunks.

The tenants watched fascinated as Houdini performed his acts one after another, but despite everything, Houdini had to adhere to the strict code of conduct of the hotel, and was not allowed to ascend the stairs above the first floor.

Beginning
"Wait-- Who bombed what now? Pearl Harbor? That in Queens?"

- Art Student

In December 7, 1941, Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes were attending an art lesson, where Barnes was mos interested in the model, when news erupted that the United States had entered World War II after a bombing over Pearl Harbor.

Rogers discussed with Barnes the need to enlist, as their country would need every available men to fight in the war. Barnes tried to dissuade Rogers given his frail physical condition, citing that he got winded just for taking three flights of stairs. Rogers asked Barnes to prepare him as a physical trainer, given his status as the three-time West Side Welterweight champion. Barnes, although worried about his friend, agreed to do it.

Four days later, Rogers started taking boxing lessons from Barnes at Goldie's Gym. Barnes' first lesson would be that there was no warm-up, while punching Rogers in the face. Barnes told him that given his physical weakness, he should stay always alert to avoid his opponent to take advantage.

Over the next few days, Rogers trained hard at the gym and running, getting confident enough to make his first attempt to enlist on Christmas Eve. A doctor examined him but Rogers was ultimately rejected, with the doctor advising him to look for other ways to help the country, such as drawing enlistment and war bonds advertisements due to his art training. Rogers was not discouraged, and while Barnes had been accepted into the Army, he was going to try again, getting a second opinion.

Sewer Systems
In 1942, Peggy Carter spent time in the New York City sewer system and learned how its storm drain system worked.

Brooklyn Project
"I still prefer "The Brooklyn Project", Colonel Phillips. Let that stuck-up jerk Oppenheimer and his crew at Los Alamos know they've got competition."

- Howard Stark

Doctor Abraham Erskine, Howard Stark and Colonel Chester Phillips, members of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, oversaw the completion of the laboratory destined to house Project Rebirth, with Stark noting that it should be called "Brooklyn Project" instead, paralleling 's Manhattan Project in Los Alamos.

However, Erskine rejected the twenty candidates Phillips recommended as he wanted the power granted by his serum to fall in the right hands, with the agreement of Peggy Carter, who witnessed firsthand the result of the formula in a man like Johann Schmidt.

Enlistment
"Where are you from?" "Queens. Before that, Germany. This troubles you?"

- Steve Rogers and Abraham Erskine

Young Steve Rogers tried to enlist again for military duty in World War II. Rogers was questioned about his family records, revealing the cause of death of his father and mother. However, despite his motivation, Rogers was rejected due to various health and physical issues, and the doctor responsible of his evaluation claimed that with the rejection, he saved Rogers' life.

Rogers attended a cinema, respectfully watching the advertisements about the work of the United States Armed Forces during the war. Another spectator complained about the advertisements, wanting the movie to begin, and Rogers' demands to show respect ended up in a fight in a nearby alley. Rogers, despite his physical disadvantages, was not afraid of the man, and tried to use a circular garbage can lid as a shield to defend himself.

Sergeant James "Bucky" Barnes, Rogers' best friend, arrived in time to defend him and drive the attacker away. Barnes retrieved Rogers' latest rejection document, and warned him that lying in the enlistment form was illegal, before announcing that he was destined with the to England.

Howard Stark, owner and CEO of Stark Industries, sponsored an exhibition of future technologies, the World Exposition of Tomorrow, which Rogers, Barnes and their respective dates, Bonnie and Connie, attended. The Expo presented such inventions as Phineas Horton's Synthetic Man, and a prototype of a Flying Car by Stark Industries. Stark himself hosted the presentation of the Flying Car, an audience success despite the failure of the prototype.

Rogers attempted to enlist again during the presentation, leaving Barnes and the girls behind, but Barnes tried to persuade Rogers to not expose himself to such a risk. Rogers' strong moral convictions were the reason behind all those attempts to enlist, perceiving he had no right to stay behind when men were risking their lives fighting in the war, and Barnes, concerned about the well-being of his friend, asked him not to do nothing stupid until his return before saying goodbye.

Doctor Abraham Erskine of the Strategic Scientific Reserve overheard Rogers' conversation with Barnes about wanting to help in the war, and approached Rogers to evaluate his motives of enlisting, directly asking Rogers if he wanted to kill Nazis. Rogers' five attempts of enlisting, and his motivations to not kill anyone, but to help stop the war, impressed Erskine, and offered him his only chance to enlist.

Project Rebirth
"I know this neighborhood. I got beat up in that alley. And that parking lot. And behind that dinner."

- Steve Rogers

Steve Rogers returned to New York City accompanied by Agent Peggy Carter of the Strategic Scientific Reserve to a secret laboratory, in order to become the first test subject of Project Rebirth. While on the way, Rogers went through his old neighborhood, remembering all the places where he had been beaten. Carter asked why he didn't run away, and his answer was that if he had run, nothing would let him stop running. During the conversation, Carter realized that Rogers didn't know how to talk to a woman, and Rogers confessed that that was his longest conversation, as he was both frightened and uninterested in women, as he thought he could wait for the perfect match. Rogers and Carter arrived to an antique store, that served as entrance to the laboratory. where Abraham Erskine greeted Rogers, and Colonel Chester Phillips attended Senator Brandt and Fred Clemson of the Department of State. Rogers prepared himself for the treatment; Erskine informed the assistants of his intentions with this project, to walk down the path towards peace, and explained the details of the procedure.

The procedure began, with Rogers being infused with many injections of Erskine's Super Soldier Serum, and Howard Stark activating a saturation of Vita Radiation over the subject. The process was extremely painful, but when Erskine ordered to stop the procedure, Rogers claimed that he could resist.

The procedure was successful, and Rogers emerged from the experiment taller and muscular. However, Fred Clemson revealed himself to be HYDRA agent Heinz Kruger; he murdered Erskine and took a vial of the serum. Although Carter shot Kruger, she couldn't stop him from fleeing. With his dying breath, Erskine reminded Rogers of the promise he made the night before, being a good person no matter what happened.

Carter continued shooting Kruger, and managed to kill his driver. Kruger was forced to change his vehicle and almost hit Carter, who was saved by Rogers before pursuing Kruger through the streets to Brooklyn piers, where Kruger took a boy as hostage.

Kruger boarded the Fieser Dorsch and thought he had managed to flee, but Rogers was able to throw him off the vehicle, breaking the vial containing the last sample of the Super Soldier Serum. The assassin committed suicide via cyanide capsule before he could be interrogated.

Rogers was taken to the SSR facility to take blood samples in hopes of reproducing Project Rebirth, as Peggy Carter remarked that the secrets of Erskine's formula were lost with his death, and the only remaining traces of the formula were now in Rogers' genes.

Colonel Phillips demanded answers for the event from Senator Brandt, replying that the assassin infiltrated the laboratory with the senator. Howard Stark examined the submarine used by Kruger, realizing that its technology was superior to theirs. Senator Brandt then learned HYDRA's purpose from Phillips and Carter.

Phillips received new orders for the Strategic Scientific Reserve, to finish off HYDRA, and ordered Carter and Stark to move to London with him. Rogers volunteered to go with them, but Phillips ordered him to go to Alamogordo in order to being subjected to tests in order to recreate the Super Soldier Serum.

Senator Brandt offered Rogers another option, as his heroic persecution of Kruger in the streets of New York City was witnessed by many citizens and became a front page in the newspapers. He had potential as a public symbol.

Captain America's USO Shows
"Son. You want to serve your country on the most important battlefield of the war?" "Sir, that's all I want." "Then congratulations, you just got promoted."

- Senator Brandt and Steve Rogers

Rogers joined the and began touring the nation in a colorful costume as "Captain America", accompanied by a chorus named the Star Spangled Singers, New York being one of the many cities visited.

Rogers' shows included Rogers' speech about the role of the common citizen during the war, a dancing show by the Star Spangled Singers, feats showing Rogers' strength, a climatic moment when Captain America punched another actor portraying Adolf Hitler and the possibility of getting an autograph or a photo with Captain America.

Rogers' success during these shows led to the promotional movies and comics about "Captain America"'s adventures during World War II.

End of the War
"This thing's moving too fast and it's heading for New York."

- Steve Rogers

Captain America saved New York from a bomb that Johann Schmidt wanted to send to the city. Captain America heroically sacrificed himself in order to prevent the plane from reaching its destination. Due to this an other feats during the war, Captain America become a role model for children all over the world, especially for the ones in his native neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Acquisition Attempt of the Roxxon Refinery
"He attempted to purchase that refinery as recently as January, but I refused."

- Hugh Jones

Howard Stark tried to purchase the Roxxon Refinery from Hugh Jones in January, 1946. However, Jones refused given the affair that Stark had with his wife, that ended both businessmen's friendship.

Theft of Howard Stark's Technology
Leet Brannis was tasked by Leviathan to infiltrate Howard Stark's Mansion and steal all the technology that was kept inside his vault, deemed too dangerous by Howard Stark to ever being used.

Brannis waited until a night with a powerful thunderstorm. It caused a power failure for two hours that deactivated all the alarms and he opened a hole under the vault from the sewers. Since the sewers were prepared to take storm water to the river, Brannis put a raft under the vault and took all the technology to the sea, while opening a manhole in the opposite direction as a distraction.

Brannis followed the course of the waters until reaching a tide gate, and loaded the technology to a ship named The Heartbreak.

Howard Stark noticed that the theft had occurred when he returned from a trip to Monaco.

A Day of Work
Peggy Carter prepared herself for another day of work for the Strategic Scientific Reserve, checking the newspaper to read about Howard Stark's Senate hearings concerning the sale of his weapons in the black market. Carter drank a cup of tea, prepared her clothes and watered the plants in the apartment.

As Carter was about to close her bed, Colleen O'Brien, Carter's roommate, arrived from her job at a factory, complaining how ten women were released to be replaced by returning World War II veterans, even though the veterans were not experienced with the factory's work, as O'Brien had to explain to one of the veterans how to use a rivet gun. Carter listened as she finished grabbing her things, returning O'Brien a blouse she took the night before. O'Brien taunted Carter once again with her reluctance to go on dates with men, explaining that there was difference between being an independent woman and a spinster.

Carter dismissed the topic telling her to rest for the rest of the day, given that O'Brien was feeling sick, even thinking she had tuberculosis. Before Carter left, O'Brien reminded her that she would go to the cinema with her friends the following Saturday, and wanted Carter to accompany her.

Carter said she would try, but could not assure she would be free, as her work for the New York Bell Company, the cover used by the Strategic Scientific Reserve, kept her very busy. O'Brien was confounded that a job at a phone company was so important, even a matter of "life and death", to which Carter replied she had no idea.

Manhunt
Peggy Carter arrived at the New York Bell Company Office, the covert Strategic Scientific Reserve facility where she worked in New York City following World War II. Upon arriving, she greeted Rose, one of the phone operators that maintained the cover of the office, who opened a hidden elevator to let her enter inside the office and complimented the hat Carter was wearing.

Chief Roger Dooley called all agents for a briefing, but ordered Carter to stay out and cover the phones. However, Carter called Rose and asked her to redirect all incoming calls to the briefing room, so she could attend the briefing with the rest of male agents.

Dooley exhibited a movie regarding Howard Stark's Senate hearings, as Stark had been accused of selling weapons to the black market and even to enemies of the United States of America. However, Stark had disappeared before the final day of hearings concluded, and he was not found in his houses or his offices. For that reason, Stark had been labeled as a fugitive.

Dooley appointed Jack Thompson as the leading agent of the operation, who proposed to freeze Stark's assets, including his planes. However, Carter objected to the accusations against Stark, something that Dooley had already foreseen. Carter explained Stark's role during World War II, and how he helped the country, refusing to believe he was a traitor.

Dooley disregarded Carter's opinions, sarcastically calling her to be just Captain America's "liaison", but now that the war had ended, professionals like them would decide over important things, and ended the briefing

Ray Krzeminski made a chauvinist comment about Carter, prompting fellow agent Daniel Sousa to apologize to Carter. Krzeminski rudely treated Sousa, saying that he was not even talking to him, and taunted him due to his physical disability.

Carter approached Sousa, but instead of thanking him as he expected, Carter told him not to stand for her. Sousa disliked how the rest of agents treated Carter, just as a secretary instead of as a fellow agent, but Carter assured she was capable of handling them, despite she was grateful for what he did, and shared his dislike for the treatment.

Thompson approached Carter to try make her file some surveillance reports, saying that she was better with that. Carter asked Thompson what was he referring to, as if it was the alphabet, the only thing needed to file the reports, she would gladly teach him starting with "A".

Carter took the reports, and Thompson left, jokingly saying goodbye in three different languages with words starting with "A". Sousa felt sorry for Thompson, having heard that he lost his personality in Iwo Jima.

Old Friends
Peggy Carter went to have dinner at the L&L Automat checking the latest news about Howard Stark and how he had been branded as a traitor. Waitress Angie Martinelli, watching Steve Rogers' photograph in Carter's newspaper, commented how she once saw one of Captain America's USO Shows in Passaic, becoming impressed with his physique. Carter acted as if she had not personally met Rogers, to conceal her identity as an agent of the Strategic Scientific Reserve.

Martinelli realized Carter was feeling depressed; Carter explained how her job was not as productive as it used to be, as during World War II she had a purpose and responsibility, but she had been relegated to lower functions. Martinelli compared it to her situation as an aspiring actress, as she had an audition that day but she was not chosen.

Martinelli had to leave Carter, as a rude customer was complaining about the food. Carter asked about that customer, disliking how he was treating Martinelli, and she replied expressing her own discomfort, though she could not openly voice her own opinion while she was working.

Carter got up to take a piece of pie, but as she returned to the table, she found a note written in a napkin, asking her to meet in the nearby alley in five minutes. Carter tried to find who left the note, but she did not see anyone suspicious.

Carter exited the restaurant, where Edwin Jarvis politely greeted her and told her she would be coming with him. A car waiting for her at the entrance of the alley turned its lights on, and Carter, believing it was an ambush, quickly knocked Jarvis out. The car went to chase Carter through the alley, but she shot to one of its wheels forcing it to stop.

The door of the car opened, and its driver turned out to be none other than Howard Stark, who apologized for not calling first and asked Carter if she had missed him.

Secret Mission
Peggy Carter and Howard Stark discussed the events that led to Stark being branded as a traitor to the United States. Stark explained how he kept his most dangerous inventions in a vault in the sub-basement of one of his offices, given that sometimes he could not help inventing them, but at least tried to control them not to be sold.

Stark found his vault had been breached as he returned from a Monaco the month before, and his inventions started appearing on the black market, and despite that was the truth, the United States Senate would surely blame him of staging the theft in order to make profit of the sale.

Stark noticed that Carter found that accusation plausible, though she replied she was simply considering all the angles. Stark went on to ask her a big favor, to help him track his inventions and clear his name, as given that the Strategic Scientific Reserve was focusing its resources in catching him, the actual culprit was still at large, and he needed someone trustworthy to help him.

Carter was not sure about the petition, given that she would become a traitor in order to prove Stark was not one. However, she knew that her skills were not being of use in her current job, as she was underestimated by her superiors, and he offered an important mission to stop a lunatic that tried to be the next Red Skull.

Stark asked Edwin Jarvis, who was driving the car, to turn off the lights and stop at the harbor, as he intended to leave the country to track some of his inventions that had been already sold in Europe, tasking Carter to find the ones that were still in New York City, especially the formula for Nitramene, a highly powerful explosive that could level an entire city block with a small quantity.

Given the power of the substance, only about a dozen of the active fences in the city would be able to deal with such item, believing in Carter's ability to find the right one. Stark offered Carter the assistance of Jarvis, his personal butler, who would help her in any way he could, and thanked her for her help before departing.

Carter went on to speak to Jarvis, advising him to introduce himself the next time he approached a woman in a dark alley, something he would try to remember if the concussion due to Carter's attack was not too severe. Jarvis gave Carter his phone number in case she needed him, asking her to call before 9:00, as it was the time he and his wife Anna went to bed.

Carter realized Jarvis was new to espionage, though he proudly replied how she caught the cook stealing the cutlery. Jarvis opened the car's door for Carter and asked what was she going to do now, to which she replied she was going to work.

Black Market Dealings
The following day, Peggy Carter returned to the New York Bell Company Office, witnessed how Daniel Sousa was examining some pictures of Howard Stark in the same boat he used to escape from the city.

Carter, having agreed to help Stark clear his name, casually approached Sousa in order to learn about his investigation. Sousa was focusing in quickly finding Stark, given than most fugitive cases are solved in the first 72 hours, and investigated the possibility that Stark would try to leave the country in a boat.

Carter misled Sousa explaining that the only reason Stark would board a boat would be that he liked the girl that appeared in the photographs, as Stark could not even swim. Carter even told her a fake anecdote as how Stark tried to kiss her during the, and as she threw him into the , they needed to call frogmen to catch him and get him out of the water.

Jack Thompson organized a private meeting with Chief Roger Dooley and fellow agents Ray Krzeminski and Yauch, in order to brief them about the discovery of a fence trying to sell one of Stark's inventions, Spider Raymond, the owner of a night club named La Martinique. Thompson explained what the requirements for their mission were, such as the dress code for the three agents that were going to infiltrate the club, and the support agents that needed to be stationed outside. Dooley offered to get backup from the police department, but Thompson refused, given that Raymond would discover them.

Carter entered the briefing with the excuse of bringing coffee to the agents, overhearing that Raymond had a taste for blonde women and money, and that Thompson only needed two men with sidearms to grab Raymond, his buyer and Stark's technology. Dooley asked Thompson if he did it such missions while he was in Okinawa, replying that only sometimes, as other times they actually brought a tank.

Dooley agreed with Thompson's plan, and then asked Carter why did she enter the briefing room, as it was only for field agents. Thompson asked Dooley to let Carter stay, as she may learn something from them, though Carter replied that she already learnt what she needed.

Carter requested a sick day, telling Dooley she was not feeling good due to "ladies' things", causing discomfort in all the male agents present. Dooley granted her the day, telling her to go shopping or doing whatever made her feel better. Carter thanked him for his understanding before leaving the room, wishing them to enjoy the coffee.

Night at La Martinique
Spider Raymond, the owner of La Martinique, oversaw the ambiance in his night club before going to his office, in order to discuss with Leet Brannis the sale of Nitramene, a formula developed by Howard Stark and stolen from his vault.

Raymond asked Brannis about the properties of the Nitramene and the rest of the content retrieved from Stark's vault, jokingly asking if 's number was also there too. Seeing that Brannis did not say a single word, Raymond went on with the transaction, offering him a deal for any other items he could possibly obtain, and Brannis abandoned the club. Peggy Carter, undercover as a blonde lady, was offered to dance by one of the patrons attending the club, to which she politely refused, and went on to find Raymond. Carter approached one of Raymond's bouncers, asking him to see his boss, and being allowed entrance knowing Raymond's taste for blonde women.

Carter prepared herself for the meeting using a Sweet Dreams Lipstick, and entered Raymond's office, who was delighted by having a beautiful woman flirting with him; however, he tried to dismiss Carter as soon as she mentioned the formula for the Nitramene.

Carter flirted more aggressively in order to keep his interest, explaining that she had friends interested in buying the formula, and she even could offer him more than the buyer he surely already had could offer. Raymond told Carter that he was not carrying the formula, and went on to passionately kiss Carter.

One of Raymond's men entered the office to announce that someone was waiting for him, but seeing Raymond kissing Carter, the subordinate did not want to interrupt his boss. Raymond lost consciousness due to Carter's lipstick, and she then searched for the Nitramene, opening Raymond's vault with her Pick-Lock Wristwatch. Carter was surprised to see that the Nitramene was not just a theoretical formula anymore, as it had been weaponized into a full bomb.

Carter called Edwin Jarvis at his residence, to inform him about the Nitramene and how it had been turned into a functional weapon. Jarvis left the dinner he was preparing for his wife and went on to look for Stark's notes regarding the Nitramene.

Jarvis explained that if the Nitramene had an orange glow, exactly as the sample Carter found was doing, it would reached peak volatility whic could result in an implosion with a blast radius of 500 yards. The only way to prevent it from imploding was a solution of sodium hydrogen carbonate and acetate, that Carter already knew how to prepare.

Jarvis also warned Carter not to touch the core to the containment ring, as it would cause a core overload, and ended their conversation to attend his wife; despite Carter telling Jarvis that the job they were doing had "after-hours requirements", so did his wife. Agents Jack Thompson, Ray Krzeminski and Yauch arrived at the night club, and one of the bouncers quickly recognized them as members of the law enforcement, asking them if they had a warrant or had come to the club to socialize. Thompson asked if they could to both, as he was sure nobody would mind if the three agents took a look around the club.

The bouncer went to ask one of his colleagues to inform Raymond of their arrival, while a man in Green Suit noticed something was happening. As the tall bouncer entered Raymond's office, he saw Carter trying to leave and an unconscious Raymond. Carter quickly knocked him out before he could grab his weapon, and left the office, coming across the man in Green Suit.

Carter saw Thompson, Yauch and Krzeminski in the club, and avoided being discovered by accepting the dance that a customer proposed her as she arrived.

In her office, Raymond regained consciousness and realized that the blonde woman had stolen the Nitramene from his safe. The man in Green Suit entered the office, and though Raymond tried to explain that the blonde woman had the Nitramene, the man killed Raymond and stole his agenda.

Carter avoided Thompson once again, and thanked the man for the dance, leaving the club in a hurry and taking a taxi from the Lucky Star Cab Company to return to her apartment.

Thompson, Yauch and Krzeminski stormed Raymond's office, finding his corpse on the floor, and realizing that they spent many time changing their clothes. Thompson ordered to seal the exits of the club, but both Carter and the man in Green Suit had already left the club.

Neutralizing the Nitramene
Peggy Carter returned to her apartment, finding that her roommate Colleen O'Brien was inside instead of being at work as Carter expected. O'Brien explained that she was sent home due to having fever, and though she offered to give the bed to Carter as part of their agreement to share the bed, Carter refused and offered to make tea.

O'Brien realized that Carter was wearing a night dress, complimenting her appearance, and asked if she had gone out on a date. Carter told her she went, at least in a manner of speaking. O'Brien was proud of Carter, knowing that she was a woman deserving not to be alone and asked to tell her every detail the following morning.

Carter entered the bathroom to prepare a solution of sodium hydrogen carbonate and acetate using a combination of baking soda and vinegar, in order to neutralize the Nitramene sample that she stole from Spider Raymond. Carter carefully extracted the core of the device and sprayed it with the solution, effectively neutralizing the Nitramene.

However, just as Carter was about to have a drink to celebrate her success, she heard a noise coming from the bedroom, and quickly went to investigate what happened. Carter found the room had been searched, and when she approached O'Brien at the bed, she found her dead body with a shot in her forehead.

The man in the Green Suit that was at La Martinique emerged from the wardrobe, trying to shoot Carter and recover the Nitramene, but she managed to defend herself from him. During the fight, Carter saw a peculiar scar in the man's throat, and ended up throwing him through the window; the man was able to get up and escape.

Carter went on to check her friend's dead body and started to cry over her loss.

Grieving a Friend
Peggy Carter met Edwin Jarvis at the L&L Automat, to talk about the discovery of functional samples of Nitramene, though Carter was still mourning the death of her friend, Colleen O'Brien.

Jarvis apologized for appearing to be insensitive, as he asked if the apartment or O'Brien's death could be traced to her, but given that O'Brien used only her name and not Carter's on the lease, and nobody knew she was living there, it was highly improbable.

Jarvis went on to ask Carter about O'Brien, especially if she had any family, Carter knew that O'Brien lost a brother in Guadalcanal. Despite having met her friend only for a few months, when she needed a place to stay but did not know anyone in the city, O'Brien helped her.

Carter was sad, feeling that once again she had lost someone close to her, just like it happened with Steve Rogers. She was happy that Howard Stark asked her for help, struggling why nobody gave her any chance since World War II, so he took the chance that Stark gave her, but she thought she failed and that O'Brien's death was entirely her fault.

Jarvis tried to cheer Carter up, explaining that according to her war record, she was an excellent agent, and if her male colleagues failed to see it, it was entirely their problem. He also said that Carter was just trying to do the right thing, something she accomplished in his opinion, though they would not know if it was worth it until the job had finished.

Carter asked Jarvis where his wife thought he was, and he had invented an alibi of supervising the "extraction" of one of Stark's conquests, who refused to vacate his penthouse.

In order to continue their investigation, Carter thought the next step would be to learn the location of where the Nitramene sample was created, though she could not take it to her office for analysis. Jarvis then proposed to take it to a man that could help them with their investigation.

Analysis of the Nitramene Device
Edwin Jarvis took Peggy Carter to one of Stark Industries facilities in New York City to consult Doctor Anton Vanko about the Nitramene functional device that she stole from Spider Raymond.

Vanko analyzed the whole device, and concluded that it was made of a lanthanum carbon alloy, a compound very difficult to process due to its instability, which made Carter realize that it must have been created in the city.

Vanko informed her that only the Roxxon Oil Corporation would have been able to produce it, given that during World War II, the other two refineries that could have produced it, one belonging to Franklin Chemical and the other to Eaglestar, had been closed by the United States Navy or had been converted to Diesel, respectively.

Carter realized that the Roxxon Refinery had about 200 acres, so it would take weeks to find any evidence of the Nitramene inside it. However, Vanko explained that even the Nitramene was not volatile, but it still emitted low levels of Vita Radiation, which gave Carter, who witnessed the effects of Vita-rays during Project Rebirth, an idea to narrow the search.

Memories of the War
Peggy Carter returned to the New York Bell Company Office in order to take Abraham Erskine's Vita-Ray Detector from the Project Rebirth files kept in the archive. However, Carter could not help check Steve Rogers' file inside the box, remembering her last conversation with him as she looked his photograph.

Daniel Sousa entered the room, and as he saw Carter almost crying, he tried to leave the room unnoticed, but he unintentionally hit one of the shelves with his crutch. Sousa apologized for the intrusion, as he still had to fully learn how to control the crutch.

Carter assured she did not allow herself to get nostalgic often, so Sousa shared his experience during World War II, and how he was offered by the chaplain from the field hospital to send his effects to someone in case of the worst happened. However, Sousa did not want to send his few belongings to his father, as he preferred to let him remember his life, and as it turned out, he did not died, even joking about his disability.

Carter tried to cheer Sousa up and bond with him, explaining that he was one of the lucky ones, as there were many soldiers that did not managed to return. Sousa silently nodded as he left room.

Now alone again, Carter took the Vita-Ray Detector and prepared herself to raid the Roxxon Refinery.

Nitramene Retrieval Mission
The man in the Green Suit set up a Remote Typewriter inside his hotel room in order to contact the organization that tasked him with the recovery of the Nitramene from Spider Raymond.

The man informed them that Strategic Scientific Reserve Agent Margaret Carter obtained the device before he could arrive, and requested permission to kill her. The organization simply ordered him to complete his mission at all costs.

Destruction of the Roxxon Refinery
Peggy Carter and Edwin Jarvis went to the Roxxon Refinery to investigate the origin of the Nitramene device that Carter stole from Spider Raymond, as according to Anton Vanko, the Roxxon Refinery was the only place it could have been produced.

Carter realized the facility was heavily guarded, given that it was supposed to have temporarily stopped its production. Jarvis tried to accompany Carter, but she refused the offer, because of the danger it may pose and his inexperience with espionage and field missions.

Carter handed Jarvis a radio to maintain contact, and went on to infiltrate the refinery, climbing an electric fence and using the Vita-Ray Detector to locate the Nitramene, as it emitted low levels of Vita Radiation. She finally located the area where Leet Brannis was producing Nitramene, having enlisted Roxxon technician Miles Van Ert to help him.

Jarvis contacted Carter, but the noise of the radio alerted Brannis and Van Ert. Van Ert took a handgun and went to examine the source of the noise, but was knocked out by Carter using a Stun Light Device. Brannis ran to escape from Carter with one of the Nitramene bombs.

Carter shot to the ground in order to stop Brannis, but he ran to open a truck loaded with many Nitramene bombs. Brannis revealed a scar in his throat, and revealed a Voice Synthesizer that allowed him to speak. Brannis asked Carter not to fire again, and introduced himself as an independent businessman, not responsible of murdering people, as he just sold items to actual killers.

Carter asked about the man in the Green Suit who killed her friend Colleen O'Brien, as he had a similar scar on his throat. Brannis implied that the man in the Green Suit was his enemy and wanted him dead, but Carter swore to kill Brannis shooting to the Nitramene if he did not tell her the name of that man.

Brannis was not afraid by Carter's threats, as the man would kill them both if he was there, and ominously announced the arrival of Leviathan, who would introduce themselves soon, and create a future that Carter would not like.

Brannis threw the Nitramene bomb he had in his hand and quickly escaped using the Daisy Clover truck loaded with the rest of the Nitramene bombs. The Nitramene would implode in 30 seconds, so Carter quickly ran and called Jarvis to bring the car for escape.

The guards at the refinery started to shoot at Jarvis, who apologized to Howard Stark for the damage that the car was sustaining. Jarvis arrived at the access road of the refinery, and Carter quickly jumped over the car. Without stopping, Carter entered the car and prompted Jarvis to drive faster.

The Nitramene bomb finally detonated, with a blast that destroyed the whole refinery and an implosion that crushed the whole compound into a heavy ball of wreckage. Though they managed to escape, the car that Jarvis was driving was reached by the blast, and its bumper and license plate were fused with the rest of material.

Carter and Jarvis exited the car and witnessed how the whole compound had disappeared, with Jarvis noting that the Nitramene actually worked after all.

Inside the New York Bell Company Office, Chief Roger Dooley and Agent Daniel Sousa discussed one of the leads in the investigation about Howard Stark, that would situate him in London.

Jack Thompson interrupted them to announce that one of the bouncers from La Martinique caught a blonde woman with the body of Spider Raymond, making her the primary suspect for the Strategic Scientific Reserve

Dooley ordered Sousa to answer the phone, so he could speak to Thompson about their next move. Thompson reminded him about deserving a promotion, as he had obtained the camera from the club's photographer, and Dooley ordered him to take the camera to the laboratory.

Sousa announced that the Roxxon Refinery had been destroyed, and casualties had not been evaluated yet because Port Authority could not even find the building. Wanting to see it by himself, Dooley ordered Thompson and Sousa to accompany him.

Double Secret Mission
Peggy Carter and Edwin Jarvis reunited again at the L&L Automat, having ordered a bottle of milk to write down the address of the factory given that a Daisy Clover truck was used to conceal a full cargo of Nitramene devices at the Roxxon Refinery the night before.

Carter congratulated Jarvis for his assistance, saying that his wife Anna would be very proud, though he seriously remarked his wife must never know what he was doing. Jarvis then offered to check Howard Stark's files regarding Leviathan, to see if he had any information about the organization.

Carter told Jarvis to get rest after witnessing the destruction of the Roxxon Refinery the night before, though he doubted he would be able to sleep for days.

The same rude customer that mistreated Angie Martinelli a few days before asked Martinelli to come to his table to complain about his meal, even claiming that he ate better in a prisoner of war camp during World War II. The customer even told her that her intelligence was not her best feature, inappropriately touching her as she retired his meal. Carter, who witnessed the customer's behavior, approached him and asked about his meal. As the customer asked if she worked there too, Carter took a fork and pressed it into his brachial artery. Carter explained that he would lose consciousness in 15 seconds and even die in 90 if he started to bleed, unless someone comes to his aid, something unlikely, given his behavior.

Carter warned him to find another restaurant to eat, and to tip generously for his last time there. Martinelli realized that the man had begun to place money in his table, smiling with a bit surprise for his sudden change of behavior.

Carter left the restaurant, without noticing that Jarvis was outside in his car, talking to Stark on the phone, apologizing for not being able to be everywhere, and agreeing that Carter was an excellent choice for their plan, as she had no suspicions about anything.

Looking for Apartments
Peggy Carter started to search for another apartment following the death of Colleen O'Brien. Carter sat at the L&L Automat, being forced to hear The Captain America Adventure Program while she read the newspaper marking classified ads.

Carter, angered at the fictional portrayal of the events she lived, asked Angie Martinelli to change the radio channel, something that Martinelli was happy to do, as she auditioned for the role of Betty Carver and did not obtained it. Martinelli even made an impersonation of the character, reciting one of the lines of the dialogue, that Carter sarcastically remarked as "thrillingly realistic".

Martinelli realized that Carter was planning to move, given that she lost her roommate, without adding further detail, and Martinelli compared it to her first roommate, whom she lived with for six months until she suddenly engaged, married and ended up living in Armonk. She then started to analyze the different advertisements, explaining the lies hidden behind their fancy words.

Carter guessed Martinelli was suggesting something, and explained that one of the her neighbors at the Griffith Hotel had recently moved out, and offered Carter the chance to move there, highlighting the attributes of the place, especially the fact they would be neighbors.

Carter not wanting to put anyone in danger given that O'Brien was killed just for living with her, rejected the proposal with the excuse of Martinelli would get tired of her, and explained she was going to see an apartment even it was too late, as it was "recommended" through a friend.

Night at the Penthouse
Edwin Jarvis received Peggy Carter at one of the residences owned by Howard Stark, as Stark insisted to lodge her there. Jarvis explained the decoration of the house and its many amenities, such as the service of fresh fruit and scones, or the presence of a private chef that would gladly prepare anything she ordered.

Carter refused the invitation, contending that given her attempt to clear Stark's name, living in his house would make her an accomplice. Jarvis explained that the house was not one of Stark's primary residences, as it was used mainly for his female conquests, and proposed her to at least see the master bedroom.

Carter was amazed by the bed, and could not help to lay down due to its commodity, being finally convinced to spend one night, much to Jarvis satisfaction.

Jarvis then informed Carter how Stark's files had no mention of Leviathan, and Carter could not find it either mentioned in the files from the Strategic Scientific Reserve. She had also tried to locate Leet Brannis and the man in the Green Suit through hospital records on laryngotomy patients, to no avail, guessing that both of them should have come from outside of the city.

Carter revealed her intention to visit the Daisy Clover Milk Factory as soon as it opened, in order to follow the lead of the milk truck used by Brannis to transport the Nitramene. Jarvis offered to take her to the factory, being ready with the car ten minutes before the opening of the factory, but Carter rejected his offer given that he had nearly been killed the last time he accompanied her to a potentially dangerous mission.

Carter opened the wardrobe and found it filled with women's clothes, including a negligee, that Jarvis excused as Stark's taste for theatrical elements during his romantic conquests. Carter grabbed a doctor's white coat that even included an stethoscope, that would be useful for creating an undercover persona to examine the Daisy Clover factory.

Carter accompanied Jarvis to the exit as he explained the last details regarding the house, such as the arrival time of both the maid and the florist, though Carter ordered him to cancel them both.

Carter bid farewell to Jarvis, though he blocked the door with his foot in order to insist that Carter allowed him to accompany her to her visit to the Milk Factory, but she dismissed him again, as a dairy hub would surely not be a dangerous place, and she would need to question the truck driver.

Due to Jarvis' insistence, Carter explained she would use the Vita-Ray Detector from Project Rebirth to analyze the trucks, as the one used to transport the Nitramene would still emit a measurable amount of Vita Radiation. To get rid of him, Carter told Jarvis that he popped a button in his attire, closing the door as soon as he moved his foot to check it and finally bidding him farewell for that night.

Nitramene Buyer Mission
At the Hotel Cosmopolitan, the man in the Green Suit communicated with his superiors from Leviathan through his Remote Typewriter, reporting that Leet Brannis had obtained the Nitramene that they were seeking to obtain. His superiors then answered that Leviathan was growing impatient, much to the man's annoyance.

Leviathan ordered the man to track Brannis and locate the Nitramene buyer, eliminating all opposition, so he used Spider Raymond's agenda to track a local Mob Boss that was one of the potential buyers.

The man in the Green Suit interrogated the Mob Boss, using small decorated credit cards to ask his questions. Given the man had killed everyone in the room and was torturing him with a knife, the Mob Boss swore he did not know Brannis, but had heard about the Nitramene. He confessed he had refused to buy it from Raymond, but also that Gino DeLucia would surely buy it.

The man consulted Raymond's agenda, finding DeLucia's address. Now that he had no more purpose, the Man killed the Mob Boss with a shot to the head and took the knife from his hand, cleaning it with a napkin that he promptly threw over another victim.

Inspection of the Daisy Clover Milk Factory
Peggy Carter arrived to the Daisy Clover Milk Factory disguised as a City of New York Health Department's inspector, claiming to have a high number of complaints as an excuse to examine all delivery trucks. She asserted her authority to the Foreman of the factory, that allowed her to inspect everything, fearing to be penalized.

Carter started to check the trucks pretending to perform a regular inspection, but she entered each truck without being noticed, in order to use the Vita-Ray Detector and locate the truck that Leet Brannis used to transport the Nitramene, as it would still have a Vita Radiation signature.

Carter was unable to find the truck, but she then realized that one of the truck was missing. The foreman explained that a driver had been sick for two days, and as he used the truck to commute, the truck was not at the factory. Carter demanded to know the name and address of the driver, and though the foreman revealed his name to be Sheldon McFee, the address was unavailable.

Carter had enough information to locate the driver, and left the factory, not without ordering the foreman to put air in one of the tires of a truck while kicking the wheel.

Roxxon Refinery Debris
Chief Roger Dooley oversaw the transport of the remains from the Roxxon Refinery back to the New York Bell Company Office with Agents Jack Thompson and Ray Krzeminski. Dooley assured that the technology capable of doing that was extremely dangerous, and they needed to find it fast.

Krzeminski randomly asked if a magnet could have done that, but Thompson answered that the wood, stone and concrete that were fused with the steel and iron did not carry a magnetic charge.

Dooley was sure that Howard Stark was responsible of the destruction, and ordered Thompson to accompany him to the Roxxon Oil Corporation Headquarters in order to learn Stark's potential reasons to destroy the refinery. However, as Krzeminski was about to accompany them, Dooley ordered him to stay and dismantle the remains of the refinery in order to find any evidence. In the main office, Peggy Carter obtained Sheldon McFee's address, and was about to leave in order to investigate it when she saw Daniel Sousa reading the Racing Journal in the newspaper. Carter advised him to bet for Whitby's Prospect instead of Uncle Bob, the horse Sousa had marked. Intrigued, Sousa asked Carter how could she be so sure, but she replied she was not, that was the reason it was called "gambling".

Carter asked Sousa to cover for her while she went to investigate McFee's address, claiming she was leaving for personal matters, and Sousa gallantly agreed, but reminding Carter she would owe him one for that favour. A laboratory technician handed Sousa the photographs taken in La Martinique, Spider Raymond's club, who hoped to find an image of the blonde woman suspect of killing Raymond, without knowing that Carter was that woman and she was not Raymond's killer.

Carter, hoping to examine the images to make sure her face did not appear, offered Sousa to help him, but before he could have any chance to examine them, Krzeminski appear to make Sousa help him with the debris from the Roxxon Refinery, while also ordering Carter to finish the transport reports and file them.

Sousa headed to the basement and locked the photographs inside his desk, and Carter seized the opportunity to enter Dooley's office and made an untraceable call to Edwin Jarvis, to make him dispose of the car they used to travel to the Roxxon Refinery, as the car sustained damage and would surely have been contaminated with Vita Radiation.

Jarvis tried to postpone the errand until finishing the laundry, but Carter seriously ordered to do it at the very moment. Jarvis then asked about the outcome of her visit to the Daisy Clover Milk Factory, so she explained that despite she did not locate the dairy truck, she learned the identity of its driver, who used to commute from Cedar Grove, New Jersey.

Jarvis offered to drive her to Cedar Grove, but she refused, as she first had to make sure the photographs that Sousa had to examine did not incriminate her.

Industrial Sabotage
Chief Roger Dooley and Agent Jack Thompson arrived at the Roxxon Oil Corporation Headquarters to interview Hugh Jones regarding the destruction of the Roxxon Refinery, believing that Howard Stark might be responsible.

Jones ordered his personal assistant, Winston, to offer the two gentlemen a glass of whiskey, while he explained that he used to be a friend of Stark, sharing lunches at the club, Christmas parties and charity functions. Jones proposed a toast, and since Dooley noted that it was very early in the morning to drink, Jones ordered Winston with a gesture to put ice in their beverages.

Thompson drank a sip and asked Jones the reason why his friendship with Stark ended. Jones revealed Stark had an affair with his wife. Dooley acknowledged there was a big difference between an affair and industrial sabotage; Jones claimed that, for Stark, personal matters and business are all the some as long as it amused him and made him earn money.

Jones added another possible reason, that Stark wanted to buy the Refinery in January, but he refused, so its destruction and the fact that it had become a federal crime scene both benefited Stark.

Thompson asked Jones if he knew what kind of technology could have destroyed the refinery, but before answering, Jones tried to evaluate the possibility of being incriminated for industrial espionage by the Strategic Scientific Reserve if he revealed everything he knew. Dooley simply answered their interest in industrial espionage was low, and Thompson assured Jones they were not investigating him. Jones then revealed that some of his sources inside Stark Industries revealed the existence of Molecular Nitramene, a compound that caused a concussive blast followed by a vacuum implosion.

The effects of the Nitramene were consistent with the damage sustained by the refinery, and when Jones commented that the formula was developed based on Stark's work with Vita Radiation, it made Thompson realize they could find a lead using the research done by the SSR during Project Rebirth.

Retrieving the Photographs
Peggy Carter waited until the some personnel abandoned the main office to try to open Daniel Sousa's desk and obtain a series of photographs that could incriminate her. Carter used a Brooch Key to try to open the drawer while being hidden under Sousa's desk, but got distracted when the phone in her own desk started to ring. As nobody went to answer, Carter tried to continue, but then Sousa's desk started to ring.

Sousa quickly arrived and answered the phone, finding Chief Roger Dooley on the other side of the line. Dooley asked about Carter, who was hiding under another desk trying to return to her own, and despite Sousa was unable to find her, as soon as he looked again, he found Carter acting as if nothing had happened.

Carter then answered the phone, and was asked by Dooley to locate something that could help them detect Vita Radiation. Carter informed Dooley that there was probably an item in the Project Rebirth files, and ended to conversation to retrieve it from the storage room and take it to the Roxxon Oil Corporation Headquarters, telling Sousa that it was just another of the errands she was usually tasked.

Vita Scanning
Peggy Carter arrived at the Roxxon Oil Corporation Headquarters in order to deliver the Vita-Ray Detector that Chief Roger Dooley had requested. Hugh Jones, CEO of the Roxxon Oil Corporation, was impressed with Carter's beauty, but he made an inappropiate compliment considering her just a secretary, to which Carter replied that her first name was "Agent".

Carter handed Dooley the Vita-Ray Detector and prepared to return to the New York Bell Company Office, though both Dooley and Jack Thompson asked her to stay in order to help them. Carter doubted their intentions, and sarcastically asked them if they wanted her for filing.

Dooley explained what they had discovered thanks to Jones, that the weapon used to destroy the Roxxon Refinery was Nitramene, and anyone that had been near it would have been exposed to Vita Radiation; they wanted to scan every member of Roxxon's staff given the chance one of the employee had been responsible for the destruction.

Jones doubted that any of his employees had been involved, but given that he had some spies hidden within the ranks of Stark Industries, the contrary case was probable too. Carter asked what would be her task, and Dooley explained she would scan the ladies, despite Thompson's volunteering as Dooley considered it would not be appropriate.

Carter went to the bathroom to use the detector on herself given that she was involved in the destruction, realizing that her wristwatch had been contaminated with Vita Radiation. Carter had to put the wristwatch into a trash can, and apologized to her grandmother out loud, given that she gave her the wristwatch.

Thompson and Carter analyzed every Roxxon employee, under Jones and Dooley's supervision, while Dooley checked the files about the staff. Carter recognized Miles Van Ert, one of the men that were developing the Nitramene at the Roxxon Refinery the night it was destroyed.

Seeing that the Vita-Ray Detector was not able to detect any sign of radiation in Van Ert's body, Carter had to think quickly of a way to incriminate him without confessing her involvement in the events.

Carter realized that Van Ert and the rest of technicians were wearing uniforms, and asked Jones if there was any place where they changed their clothes. Jones acknowledged there was a locker room for technicians tasked with handling hazardous materials.

Upon Dooley's request, Carter explained that Vita Radiation would be washed from a person's skin with a hot shower, but clothing was able to retain the radiation, so she suggested to analyze the clothes used by the employees that morning.

Dooley acknowledged it was a good idea, but Van Ert tried to escape, feeling he had been discovered. Thompson and Dooley ran after Van Ert, but Carter calmly asked Jones how to reach the front lobby.

Carter took a briefcase from a man, and used to hit Van Ert, who fell to the ground and was finally detained. She then humbly asked Dooley if she could be of any further assistance.

Interrogation of Miles Van Ert
Miles Van Ert was taken to the New York Bell Company Office of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, where Chief Roger Dooley explained the charges that had been brought against him, while leaving a carrot and a stick over the table.

Dooley explained that there were physical evidences that linked Van Ert to an act of industrial sabotage that would probably lead to a charge of treason, which could result in being condemned to the electric chair. Dooley offered the possibility of avoiding that fate if he gave him something in return.

Dooley compared fighting crime with fishing, as whoever obtained the biggest fish would win. As Van Ert was a "big fish", but there were bigger ones, Dooley offered him to reduce his sentence in exchange for the name of his employer. However, due to the pressure for solving the whole case, Dooley's offer would expire if he left the room, so he only asked for the name once.

Van Ert remained silent, so Dooley regretted that he did not choose the "easy way", and left the room with the carrot, but leaving the stick. Jack Thompson, who had been present during the whole conversation, grabbed the stick and advised Van Ert to bite it, before repeatedly punching him in the face. Dooley went to the observation room behind a one-way mirror, where Daniel Sousa and Peggy Carter were waiting. Sousa commented that he would hate what would have happened with the carrot, and Dooley gave permission to Carter to leave the office for the night, as he thought a lady should not see what Thompson was doing to Van Ert.

Bad Neighbor
Peggy Carter went to the L&L Automat to wait for Edwin Jarvis, in order to travel to Cedar Grove in New Jersey and investigate Sheldon McFee, the usual driver of the truck used to transport the Nitramene.

Angie Martinelli approached the window to inform Carter about an apartment she found for her. Carter tried to dismiss her saying she was going to get late, but Martinelli read the advertisement, explaining its many virtues, and the fact that they would be neighbors if Carter accepted.

Martinelli started to realize that Carter's refusal to her offer of living in the same building was because of her, despite Carter simply claiming that she would not be a good neighbor for Martinelli. Carter did not tell her the actual reason, the death of her former roomate. Jarvis arrived and Carter bid farewell to a saddened Martinelli.

Following Leads
Jack Thompson finished his interrogation of Miles Van Ert, having obtained details such as Leet Brannis' name or the use of a Daisy Clover truck to transport the Nitramene.

Chief Roger Dooley consulted the to check Brannis' name, and was informed that there was no record of him having ever entered the country. Thompson assured that if it was an alias, Van Ert did not know his true name, as he had confessed everything he knew.

Daniel Sousa contacted Daisy Clover to obtain the identity and address of the truck driver, despite asserting that surely he was not the mastermind of the operation. Dooley was convinced that Brannis was the key to solve their case, as despite Thompson had pressed Van Ert, he did not know anything about Howard Stark.

Sousa obtained the name and address of the driver, Sheldon McFee, so Dooley enlisted Sousa, Thompson and Ray Krzeminski to investigate it.

Nitramene Buyer Mission
The man in the Green Suit tortured Gino DeLucia, a potential buyer of the Nitramene, and obtained Sheldon McFee's name and address from him. The man killed DeLucia once he confessed, having already killed the rest of DeLucia's associates in the room, and even leaving a briefcase filled with money untouched.

The man returned to his room in the Hotel Cosmopolitan, and informed his superiors that he located and killed the buyer, and was en route to intercept the Nitramene.

Tending the Wounds
Peggy Carter and Edwin Jarvis returned from Cedar Grove in New Jersey, following their unsuccesful attempt to retrieve a truck loaded with Nitramene, that resulted in the death of Leet Brannis.

Jarvis tended one of Carter's wounds that required suture, and she complimented his skills with that, something he attributed to sewing Howard Stark's zippers. Jarvis then assured Carter that she was fortunate that he ignored her instructions to leave her alone, as his assistance had decisive.

Carter sarcastically answered that she had no idea how she managed to survive before meeting Jarvis, an answer that Jarvis did not knew if it should attributed to arrogance or ignorance, though Carter acknowledged that probably it can be attributed to both of them.

Jarvis advised that Carter needed support, but she was concerned with letting people getting close to her, as that would put her in danger. Jarvis saw no sense in Carter's decission to remove herself from the world in to protect it, as nobody was capable of carrying the entire world on his shoulders.

Carter said that Steve Rogers was able to do it, but Jarvis denied that, as according to Stark, Rogers relied heavily on Carter herself, either for courage, strategy and moral guidance. Jarvis acknowledged the nobleness of her desire to help, but she would not be successful without support.

Interview at the Griffith Hotel
Inspired by Edwin Jarvis' words, Peggy Carter accepted Angie Martinelli's offer to move to her building, and the two women went together for Carter's interview with Miriam Fry, the landlady of the Griffith Hotel.

Martinelli greeted many of her neighbors, and then reassured how happy she was that Carter changed her mind and accepted her offer, though Carter was surprised that renting an apartment required an interview. According to Martinelli, the interview was just a formality, and she was sure that Carter would obtain the room.

Fry examined Carter's references, considering them to be "impeccable", especially the ones from Senator Palmer. Carter explained that Palmer was a dear friend of her father. Fry asked about Carter's limp, due to an injury she sustained the night before, but attributed it to a cobblestone in the West Village. Carter's casual reference to the area was met with coldness, as Fry assured she never traveled below 23rd street, making Martinelli, who was coaching Carter's interview from behind Fry, change her gesture as a warning. Fry then asked Carter about her intentions to continue working for the New York Bell Company, though Carter, maintaining her cover, assured that she would quit her job as soon as she married.

Seemingly pleased with her answer, Fry explained the rules of the Hotel, that included attire, behavior, curfew and, especially the banning of men above the first floor, without any exception. Carter answered that she understood the rules "perfectly".

Deflecting Suspicion
Chief Roger Dooley, Jack Thompson and Daniel Sousa were discussing the photographs taken at La Martinique the night Spider Raymond was killed inside his own club. As Peggy Carter arrived at the office, Dooley asked her to approach.

At first, Carter feared she had been recognized as the blonde woman who was the main suspect of being Raymond's killer, but it turned that Dooley only wanted her to settle the bet the three agents have done, to see if one of the men appearing in a photographs was. Carter, relieved, casually answered that did not follow boxing, even though DiMaggio was a baseball player, prompting the Dooley to laugh.

Dooley entered his own office, still convinced that the man was DiMaggio, despite Thompson, who had been at the club that night, was sure that he was not, and paid Sousa for losing their bet. Carter was surprised that Sousa bet against her, but he said that was not sure of the outcome when he bet, as that was the reason it was called "gambling", paraphrasing something that Carter told him before.

Carter went to ask about the images, to check if he managed to obtain a clear image of the blonde woman. However, every image showed her back, and Sousa was unable to find any clear shot of her face, though he promised he would find her.

Meanwhile, at the basement, Ray Krzeminski dismantled the debris from the Roxxon Refinery, and managed to find the bumper and license plate of the car that Carter and Edwin Jarvis used to travel to the facility.

Investigating the Room 424
Chief Roger Dooley and Agent Ray Krzeminski went to the Hotel Cosmopolitan in order to follow a lead, as a key from one of the rooms was found near Leet Brannis' corpse.

Dooley asked the Building Manager about the man that had rented the room, but he could only reveal that the guest was a relatively clean but extremely silent man, and his usual visits only lasted for an hour. On their way to the room, they came across a prostitute that greeted Krzeminski, but he did not return the greet as he was on duty.

Dooley ordered Krzeminski to check the usual hiding places, despite the manager's complaints to be careful with the furniture. Krzeminski found cash and passports under different aliases that the Man in the Green Suit had hidden in the armchair. Dooley, on the other hand, inspected the unusual typewriter on the desk, realizing it was a lead for their investigation.

Unwanted Visitor
Inside her new apartment at the Griffith Hotel, Peggy Carter consulted a code-breaking book disguised as The Complete Works of  in order to investigate the meaning of the symbol that Leet Brannis drew during his last moments. Carter heard a noise, as a man was climbing up the wall of the Hotel, so she quickly grabbed her gun and pointed it at the man as he appeared at her window. The man, who introduced himself as Jimmy, was looking for his girlfriend, Molly Bowden, who lived in the next apartment.

Jimmy had mistaken Carter's window for his girlfriend's, and as he asked Carter if he could enter her apartment to go to Bowden's through the hallway instead of through the wall, Carter closed the window. Jimmy wished Carter a nice night, and went to the apartment rented by his girlfriend, spending the night with her.

Breakfast at the Griffith
Peggy Carter and Angie Martinelli went to have breakfast in the dining room of the hotel, where fellow tenant Carol complained about having powdered eggs for breakfast again. Martinelli joked with Carter saying that it was better than, a joke that Carter followed agreeing with her, but detailing that just barely.

Molly Bowden greeted her neighbors after spending the night with her boyfriend Jimmy at his apartment, despite it being strictly forbidden by the rules of the hotel. Carter, who knew that Jimmy had visited her, asked Bowden about her night. Martinelli was surprised to hear that, and Bowden excused her behavior saying that Jimmy was very persuasive. Carol asked Carter if she had a boyfriend, but she explained that she was just married to the work. Martinelli seized the opportunity to inquire about Edwin Jarvis, having noticed their usual meetings at the L&L Automat, but Carter described him as a colleague.

Landlady Miriam Fry, noticing that Carter was about to leave, asked her to sit as she would like to speak to all the women that lived at the hotel. Fry started relating how performed one of his escape acts in 1925 at the hotel, fascinating the women that watched show, but even Houdini had to adhere to the strict code of conduct of the hotel, and was not allowed to ascend the stairs above the first floor.

Fry reminded the women of the rule of not allowing men above the first floor, and told Bowden to go to her room and pack her belongings. Bowden tried to apologized, but Fry desired that her last evening at the Griffith had been splendid. Fry wanted to make Bowden an example for the rest of tenants, explaining that like or, the building was impenetrable.

That comment gave Carter an idea about her investigation with the technology that had been stolen from Howard Stark.

Russian Connections
Chief Roger Dooley checked with Agents Jack Thompson and Ray Krzeminski the leads they have obtained regarding their case about Howard Stark. Thompson managed to identify Leet Brannis' corpse, tracking him as a Russian citizen due to the amalgam in his teeth. The coroner who revealed that fact also explained Thompson that Brannis' scar in the throat was due to his voice box having been cut out, probably during World War II, as he served in the Soviet 478th Rifle Division.

Thompson explained the most unusual they managed to learn from Brannis. According to Thompson's contact in the United States Embassy in Moscow, Brannis died two years before, in 1944, during the battle of Finow in Germany. His entire division was exterminated during that battle, and Brannis was classified as deceased despite having survived.

Krzeminski obtained an image from the Man in the Green Suit through the fingerprints in the passports he found at the Hotel Cosmopolitan, and Dooley explained Thompson that according to the laboratory, the typewriter found at the hotel was a long-range transmitter, though its specific range had not been determined.

Thompson gave Dooley an idea, so he ordered Thompson to investigate the Man in the Green Suit through his contact at the embassy in Moscow. Krzeminski complained, as he wanted to investigate the man, but Dooley noted that he did not have friends in Moscow, to which Thompson joked he did not have friends anywhere.

Daniel Sousa informed Dooley that the license plate located within the debris from the Roxxon Refinery belonged to Howard Stark, and Krzeminski proudly remarked that he was the one who found the license plate. Sousa doubted that Stark himself used the car to destroy the Roxxon Refinery, but Dooley noted that somebody was surely driving the car, and he wanted to know his identity.

Arrest of Edwin Jarvis
Peggy Carter traveled to Howard Stark's Mansion in order to investigate the vault that Leet Brannis was able to raid, stealing the dangerous inventions that Stark kept there.

Edwin Jarvis, who was still inside his private residence, was about to clear the table when his wife Anna told him to leave it, as she would take care of it. Jarvis noticed Carter outside the house; he and accepted Anna's offer so that he could attend to Carter, telling Anna that he would be outside in the garden. Jarvis told Carter she should have called him before entering the estate, but Carter guessed that women wandering through through the property was surely something usual, something that Jarvis acknowledged.

Carter explained that her landlady helped to continue their investigation, because if they discover how Leet Brannis was able to break into Stark's seemingly impenetrable vault, maybe they could trace where he went from there, locating all the missing technology in the process. Jarvis noticed that Carter was not adequately dressed for that mission, given that the thief escaped through the sewers under the mansion.

Carter inquired about the night of the theft, but Jarvis did not notice anything unsual, given that a thunderstorm caused a power failure during two hours, and the combination of candlelight and rain made Jarvis quickly fell asleep.

Their conversation was interrupted by Agents Jack Thompson and Daniel Sousa of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, who had discovered the license plate of the car that Jarvis and Carter used to go to the Roxxon Refinery the night it was destroyed, and wanted to take Jarvis for questioning.

Jarvis attended to the two agents while Carter hid behind the door. Jarvis explained that Howard Stark was "indefinitely unavailable", though Thompson revealed that they were not looking for Stark, they came to speak to Jarvis himself, as they had found the bumper of one of Stark's cars usually driven by Jarvis.

Jarvis explained how he reported that the car had been stolen several days ago, pointing them to Detective Davis from the 19th Precinct in order to inquire more about the theft, and tried to dismiss the two agents.

Thompson blocked the door with his foot in order to further question Jarvis, given that the bumper of the car was found in a major crime scene, and despite Thompson threatened Jarvis to call a judge and obtain a warrant, Jarvis agreed on accompanying the two agents to maintain Carter's cover, even joking about going in the back of a car for the first time in years.

Interrogation of Edwin Jarvis
Ray Krzeminski tried to convince fellow agents Butch Wallace and Yauch to cover his night shift, given that Krzeminski had told his girlfriend that he would take her to a show that night, even despite he was married.

Yauch told him to ask Peggy Carter, who was entering the New York Bell Company Office at that moment, though Krzeminski refused, given that Chief Roger Dooley would not want a lady to make a night shift, and Krzeminski even believed her to be unable to make her own shift. Krzeminski scolded Carter for being late, though she taunted Krzeminski asking if he would take his wife or his girlfriend to the show.

Jack Thompson took Edwin Jarvis to the interrogation room, and started thanking him for coming to the office to talk. Jarvis explained that probably everything they wanted him to say was probably already in the missing-car report that he filed for the Police Department. To question Jarvis without being able to charge him for a crime, Thompson explained that the report was not available yet, as the Police Department was very inefficient in record-keeping, even more than the Strategic Scientific Reserve.

On the other side of the room, Peggy Carter joined Roger Dooley and Daniel Sousa during the interrogation, and told them that he recognized Jarvis as Howard Stark's butler from the file. Carter asked Dooley if he really believed that he had been involved in the destruction of the Roxxon Refinery, and though Dooley thought he was not the direct responsible, he guessed that Jarvis could have driven a getaway car.

Thompson joked that many things have been stolen from Stark, first the bombs, now a car, and probably even a death ray; Jarvis then explained that the death ray had not been stolen, still being in Nevada as far as he knew. Thompson then showed Jarvis the images of Leet Brannis and Sasha Demidov, explaining that both of them had been in possession of Stark's technology, but now they were dead. Jarvis guessed that meant the SSR had already found the thieves, but Thompson presented the hypothesis that they could have been working for Stark.

Sousa was surprised to see that Thompson had not punched the suspect in the first five minutes of the interrogation, but Dooley was well aware that Jarvis, being a butler, could know very powerful people, and many lawyers could get involved to stop their effort to obtain information from Jarvis.

Carter asked about the stolen-car report that Jarvis mentioned, and Dooley explained that he was retaining it with the excuse that it had been lost in the system. Sousa pointed that if the car was actually stolen, they would not have anything to use against Jarvis, though Dooley said they had something to threaten Jarvis.

Thompson continued with his interrogation, acknowledging that denouncing the theft of a car was an usual move if the car had been used for committing a crime and lost its bumper during the process, and though Jarvis defended Stark from the accusation, Thompson told Jarvis that he was directly accusing him, given that Stark was a fugitive, despite Jarvis claimed he was innocent from all the crimes he had been accused of.

Thompson acknowledged some of Jarvis' qualities that surely made Stark hire him, such as his smartness and loyalty, something unusual for a man that had been charged with treason. Jarvis' face changed when he realized the SSR knew about that part of his past, and Carter was also surprised to hear that about the man that was collaborating with her in clearing Stark's name.

Thompson, hitting the button to make Jarvis confess, guessed that the treason charges were dropped thanks to Stark, but his dishonorable discharge from the British Armed Forces was still on record. Thompson continued to threaten Jarvis to even get him deported and guessed how would he inform his wife about it. Jarvis was visibly angry that Thompson wanted to involve his wife, and warned him to leave my wife out of the accusation, though Thompson acknowledged that it was Jarvis who dragged her when he broke the law for Stark. Dooley commented that Jarvis was about to give in and admit everything he knew, so Carter retired to quickly devise a plan and let Jarvis leave without risking her involvement.

At the main office, Krzeminski asked Carter to take his night shift, offering it as if it was him who offered her a favor, but Carter simply ignored him and took a series of documents to make Dooley sign them. Carter seized the opportunity to take the stolen-car report from the table along with the now-signed documents.

Thompson left the room and went to speak to Dooley, who congratulated him for the interrogation and prompted to continue pressing Jarvis using his wife. Thompson entered the room introducing Dooley, but at that moment, Carter arrived in a seemingly casual and unintentional way, explaining that she mistakenly took the stolen-car report.

Jarvis, knowing that with the report the Strategic Scientific Reserve was unable to retain him without charges, left the interrogation room, prompting them to contact one of Stark's lawyers for further questioning, and silently looked at Carter as a gesture of gratitude.

Dooley took Carter to his office and angrily scolded her for her mistake, that heavily hindered their investigation, and wondered why he had been ordered to accept her as an agent. Dooley praised Thompson's work, but it had been ruined by Carter. Carter apologized for her apparent mistake. Thompson said that an apology would not even begin to cover the harm done, and Dooley ordered Carter to get out of his sight.

New Tenant
Peggy Carter prepared herself at her apartment to investigate the sewers underneath Howard Stark's Mansion, but was interrupted by Angie Martinelli, who wanted to talk to Carter about their day. Martinelli entered Carter's apartment, and though Carter tried to apologize, she entered and started to talk about how tired she was after her 8-hour shift, and the little tips she earned.

Carter, who had been scolded at her job, said that the 50 cents Martinelli earned would have been an improvement over her situation, and Martinelli offered to share a bottle of Schnapps and a rhubarb pie with her. Since Carter was trying to sneak out the Griffith Hotel, she refused Martinelli's offer saying that she was about to go to bed, but being relatively early in the evening, Martinelli prompted Carter to talk about her own day. Carter refused again, and opened the door to let Martinelli leave the apartment. Martinelli was very upset for the rejection, and sarcastically apologized for disturbing Carter.

In the hallway, Carter and Martinelli came across Miriam Fry, who was accompanying the newest resident at the Griffith Hotel, Dottie Underwood, and introduced her to the two tenants.

Underwood was excited with the ambiance of the hotel, and despite Martinelli's cold greeting due to her disappointment inside the room, Carter quickly that assured they were pleased to meet Underwood. Underwood recognized Carter's accent, and was excited to meet someone from England for the first time.

Fry explained that Underwood had traveled from her native Iowa to New York City in order to pursue a ballet career, something Fry appreciated due to the discipline it required, as opposed to the typical carefreeness and irresponsibility of regular dancers.

Still upset, Martinelli went to her apartment, and though Underwood apologized for the apparent interruption, Martinelli said that there was not much more conversation left between her and Carter. On the other hand, Carter wished Underwood a very happy stay at the Griffith, leaving Fry and Underwood in order to prepare herself for her mission with Edwin Jarvis.

Descent to the Sewers
Peggy Carter returned to Howard Stark's Mansion at night, in order to investigate the vault and try to guess the method that Leet Brannis used to transport all the technology kept inside.

Edwin Jarvis received Carter, who asked him if he wanted to clarify some of the facts that were presented during his interrogation by the Strategic Scientific Reserve, but Jarvis refused. Seemingly accepting the excuse, Carter prompted him to investigate the vault.

Jarvis explained that the hole in the middle of the vault made Howard Stark believed that Brannis used advanced technology to break into it, though Carter dismissed the theory, as according to her, Stark believed in the need of advanced to even the most mundane tasks. Carter whistled to check the depth of the hole, and decided to descend using climbing equipment. Jarvis' skills with the equipment made Carter realized it was not the first time he had done something similar, and he confessed that he had visited the before World War II.

Carter tried to go back to the subject of Jarvis' trason charge, explaining that he was in his right to maintain his privacy, as a charge of treason out of context was not necessarily a what it appeared to be, comparing ir to her mission to clear Stark's name, that could have been considered a treason. Hoping her empathy would prompt Jarvis to talk about his own charge, she explained that she did not need to know the details, but Jarvis simply thanked her without explaining anything.

Jarvis went on to explain what the investigators hired by Stark had discovered. Given that the night of the theft an open manhole was discoveredt five blocks away from the mansion, the investigators assumed that Brannis used it to escape. Carter dismissed that theory, given that all the equipment that was stolen would weigh hundreds of pounds of equipment, and it would have been nearly impossible to carry it out of a manhole.

Carter realized the sewers took storm water to the sea, and the night of the theft it had been raining, so Brannis could have used a raft to float the equipment to sea, given the tide gate would have been opened to take the water into the river, so they followed the tunnels to see where did they take them.

Night Shift
Jack Thompson abandoned the New York Bell Company Office, leaving Agents Daniel Sousa and Ray Krzeminski for the night shift. Thompson handed Krzeminski what he managed to discover about the Man in the Green Suit, including his real name, Sasha Demidov, and some facts about his life that might sound familiar.

Sousa correctly guessed that, like Leet Brannis, Demidov was a Soviet soldier that died in 1944 during the battle of Finow in Germany.

Thompson congratulated Sousa, given that he would be the clever agent during that night shift, and wished them a good night. Krzeminski was proud for having found Demidov's passports, and told Thompson that the least he could do in exchange was to cover his shift, but Thompson left the office.

Sousa asked Krzeminski if he had asked Peggy Carter; Krzeminski explained that he indeed asked her, but she was not amused by the offer. Sousa sarcastically told him that surely he asked in the polite and respectful way he always talked to Carter.

Krzeminski gave Sousa advice to give up on whatever he was feeling for Carter, as no woman would be with a man like him after having met a man like Captain America.

Past Revealed
Peggy Carter and Edwin Jarvis navigated through the sewers, that Carter knew very well given that she spent a full week inside the sewers in 1942.

Carter, tired of insinuations, directly told Jarvis that she needed to know the facts about Jarvis' treason chargers in order to fully trust him as they were going to work and risk their lives together. Both Jarvis' honor and Howard Stark' trust in Jarvis were not enough for Carter, and sshe wanted to know the truth.

Jarvis started to explain how he served under a general before World War II, travelling with him and meeting Anna, the girl who would become his wife in Budapest. However, given that Anna was Jewish, when the war broke out her life was threatened, and Jarvis asked the general to use one of the several letters of transit he carried in his safe to ensure's Anna's safety, but he refused to sign.

Jarvis explained how he forged the general's signature, earning a dishonorable discharge and made him arrested. Howard Stark, whom Jarvis met and befriended during Stark's business with the general, used his influence to save Anna and dismiss Jarvis' charge of treason. Due to that, Jarvis was extremely grateful to Stark, and become a loyal butler for him.

Carter asked if, as Anna obviously knew what Stark did to help them, she was aware of what Jarvis was doing to clear Stark's name. Jarvis explained that he was hiding his missions with Carter from Anna, given that as he may not always be truthful with Anna, he was always honest.

Carter and Jarvis arrived at the tide gate, guessing where Leet Brannis would have taken a raft full of volatile technology, but Carter realized one of the ships, The Heartbreak, was adorned with the symbol that Brannis drew moments before his death.

Investigating the Ship
Peggy Carter and Edwin Jarvis arrived at the in Manhattan to investigate The Heartbreak, the ship with the symbol that Leet Brannis drew moments before his death. Carter realized that, despite its dilapitated appearance, the ship was still connected to the electric system, and prepared to board it grabbing her handgun, and Jarvis asked if she had a spare weapon. Carter and Jarvis boarded the ship, without realizing they were being observed by a woman disguised in a man's suit, and quickly located the technology stolen from Howard Stark. Carter went to examine the crates, and Jarvis warned her to be careful. Carter picked the first item she came across, the Constrictor, and Jarvis explained that, despite having been originally designed for back massage, it caused an involuntary and catastrophic muscle contraction that ended up breaking the bones.

Carter decided to call the Strategic Scientific Reserve for backup, but Jarvis advised her that she could not reveal that it was she who found the items. Carter refused to leave them in the ship so that anyone else could find them, or handing them to Jarvis due to the danger of being stolen again; though none of these possibilities was what Jarvis was suggesting.

To prove his point, Jarvis simulated the interrogation that the SSR would surely give her, explaining that Leet Brannis revealed their location during her private investigation with Howard Stark. Jarvis pointed that revealing the truth would not clear Stark's name, in fact, it would have the opposite effect, and Carter would be a suspect along with him.

Carter wanted her colleagues to respect her due to her efforts. Jarvis explained her colleagues would not respect her; they would only use the opportunity to disprove and discredit her. Jarvis acknowledged that the only way to clear Stark's name would be doing it from the shadows.

Carter, realizing that Jarvis was right, told him to call the SSR as an anonymous tipster, but warned him not to let Ray Krzeminski claim the merit, as Daniel Sousa was in the night shift, and she preferred that Sousa got the credit for her work if any should get it. Before leaving, Carter reminded Jarvis that Sousa knew his voice, so he should fake an accent.

Anonymous Tip
Edwin Jarvis called the New York Bell Company Office to inform the Strategic Scientific Reserve about the discovery of the technology stolen from Howard Stark.

Faking an awkward American accent, Jarvis told Daniel Sousa that the technology was located in The Heartbreak, a ship near the south side pier. Sousa, demanded to know how Jarvis obtained the number, but getting nervous, Jarvis politely bid his farewell and hung up the phone.

Sousa explained to Ray Krzeminski that they received an anonymous tip, and they should go immediately to investigate it.

Muscle for Hire
Peggy Carter waited inside The Heartbreak until Edwin Jarvis returned from calling the Strategic Scientific Reserve for reinforcements, but she was ambushed by Jerome Zandow, a man hired by Leet Brannis to guard the ship.

Zandow attacked and disarmed Carter, and started to taunt her now that she was seemingly defenseless. Zandow told them that Brannis had already warned that someone would come to take possession of the technology and he was not afraid to kill a woman; Carter told him she would not make it easy. Zandow attacked Carter, who despite her skill and speed, was unable to overcome Zandow's brute strength. Zandow grabbed a metal pipe and started to strangle Carter, but Jarvis managed to ambush Zandow and hit him in the head. Zandow was not knocked out by the hit, and easily overcame Jarvis' attacks.

Zandow pushed Jarvis against a wall, and tried to use the metal pipe to strangle him. Carter grabbed one of Howard Stark's weapons, the Constrictor, and used it to easily break Zandow's arm, and subdued him with the metal pipe to knock him unconscious.

Jarvis noticed the car siren that meant the SSR agents were about to arrive, and prompted Carter to leave, even despite Zandow being a witness and possibly incriminating them.

Confiscation of the Arsenal
Daniel Sousa and Ray Krzeminski arrived at the docks to investigate the anonymous tip that informed them about the location of Howard Stark's technology inside one of the ships.

Sousa located The Heartbreak, and boarded it with Krzeminski, locating the stolen cargo and an unconscious Jerome Zandow. Sousa warned Krzeminski to be careful with the items, as he was too excited, thinking they would be promoted for finding them. Sousa was concerned that instead of discovering something, once again the solution was handed to them, but Krzeminski compared it to a Christmas gift and went to call Chief Roger Dooley. Dooley quickly arrived with Jack Thompson and many other armed agents to take the technology into custody, unaware that they were being observed by a woman dressed in a man's suit. Thompson coordinated the operation, ordering to check every box and transport it carefully.

Thompson informed Dooley that the man found inside the ship, Jerome Zandow, was a sideshow performer at Coney Island that usually acted as muscle-for-hire. Dooley wanted Thompson to interrogate Zandow, as he wanted to know the reason why Zandow did nothing but wait while having a full arsenal in his possession.

Sousa informed Dooley that all the crates had been loaded up inside their truck, and Dooley ordered to take the technology as quickly as possible to the Strategic Scientific Reserve facility, custodied by two cars. Thompson volunteered to call their scientists to figure out the nature of all the technology, and Dooley asked them to drive carefully, as, with the precedent of the destruction of the Roxxon Refinery, the technology had the potential to sink the island of Manhattan.

Krzeminski was tasked with driving Zandow back to the New York Bell Company Office, and commented how Agent Thompson would submit him to one of his "special" interrogations. Zandow complained that he needed a doctor as his arm was broken, but Krzeminski explained that fixing it was futile given they would surely break it again. Zandow asked if the English woman that attacked him was also working for them, but before Zandow could describe them, they were forced to stop by a traffic light and another car crashed into theirs. Krzeminsky got out of the car to complain, but he was shot and killed by the woman that was previously observing them at the docks.

Zandow plead not to be killed, as swore that he had not told anything, but she killed him and left the scene, leaving the two corpses behind.

Mourning Ray Krzeminski
The whole personnel at the New York Bell Company Office mourned the death of Ray Krzeminski, leaving flowers in his desk. Peggy Carter, unaware of what happened, arrived at the office as usual, and saw how the phone operators were crying. Carter asked Rose what had happened, and she explained what happened the night before.

Carter entered the main office, where all agents were sad for the loss of their colleague, and watched the flowers in Krzeminski's station. Daniel Sousa, being a veteran of World War II, wondered if she too felt that same feeling during the war, that anyone could die any day.

Carter asked how it happened, and Jack Thompson explained that a professional killed Krzeminski and their witness, Jerome Zandow, probably having been watching them in the docks. Sousa felt guilty for answering the anonymous tip, as he knew that something was wrong, given that "concerned citizens" usually called the police, as the office's phone number was unavailable. Sousa promised to find the one responsible

Chief Roger Dooley addressed all the agents in the office, visibly saddened for the loss of one of his agents, and reminded the agents that Howard Stark was responsible for the death of Krzeminski, as despite he may have not pulled the trigger himself, it was because of him they were dragged into the investigation that ended with Krzeminski's life. Dooley informed the agents he wanted action plans in one hour, but also asked them to stay vigilant, as he did not want to lose any other agent.

Dooley went on to call Krzeminski's wife, while Thompson volunteered to call Krzeminski's girlfriend.

Mourning a Colleague
Peggy Carter went to the L&L Automat, still deeply affected by the loss of the colleague Ray Krzeminski, wanting to speak to her friend Angie Martinelli. Martinelli, still upset with Carter for the way Carter treated her the previous night at the Griffith Hotel, coldly treated her as another customer.

Carter asked her for the opportunity of telling Martinelli about her day if she had a moment, and noticing Carter's state, she told her she had plenty of time to talk to her. Carter explained that one of her co-workers died suddenly died that day, without commenting the details to maintain her cover.

Carter was even shocked for the way it deeply affected her, even despite she and Krzeminski were anywhere but close, given that he was always rude and disrespectful with her, but she acknowledged that Krzeminski was good at his job. Martinelli offered to do whatever was in her hand to help her, and Carter asked if she still had the bottle of Schnapps she offered to share the previous night.

Martinelli, wanting to help her friend, went to refill a customer, and then she would leave work to be with her.

Smuggled Goods
Edwin Jarvis went to a warehouse in order to pay a ransom to the subordinates of Otto Mink for a package Mink managed to smuggle into the United States. The smugglers counted the money Jarvis gave him, surprised to see $1000 bills that they had never seen before. Jarvis assured that they legal tender, and easier to transport than one-dollar bills.

The smugglers wanted Jarvis to pay $100,000 in addition to the $50,000 that they agreed, something he politely refused due to not being the amount previously agreed for the service. One of the smugglers told him that Mink did not smuggle any goods for free, grabbed his gun to threaten Jarvis, and explained that the extra $100,000 were not for the delivery itself, but for being silent about it.

Peggy Carter who had accompanied Jarvis to the warehouse, ambushed and defeated the three goons standing guard outside of the warehouse, and went to the room were Jarvis tried to deal with the smugglers

Jarvis, who complained again about the extortion, touched his ear and agreed to offer another $50,000. He pushed a button on his briefcase and offered it to the smugglers but was concerned that they would open it there in his presence. One of the smugglers opened the briefcase and a cloud of gas directly hit him, knocking him unconscious, while the other managed to evade it.

The remaining smuggler pointed his gun at Jarvis, but Carter pointed her gun at him and knocked him unconscious with a single punch. Carter sarcastically complimented Jarvis for his bargaining skills, and they went on to check their delivered goods.

They opened one of the containers to see Howard Stark playing pool inside, greeting Carter and Jarvis as his favorite foreigners. Stark asked if Mink's subordinates had blackmailed them. Carter pointed that Stark had a particular way of choosing his business partners.

Stark explained that Mink was just a black-market smuggler, but he managed to take him back into the United States. Stark already predicted that Mink's greed would lead him to extort Stark's emissary for more money, and he liked predictable and greedy people.

Stark grabbed a billiard ball and threw it toward Carter's direction. She quickly evaded it, and the ball hit one of Mink's remaining goons. Stark lamented leaving, being so close to winning that game of pool, and departed with Jarvis and Carter to one of his residences.

Change of Plans
Edwin Jarvis and Peggy Carter took a recently returned Howard Stark through the streets of New York City, heading to one of his residences. Along the way, Stark asked Jarvis and Carter how the two of them were getting along, and if they had enough familiarity to make Carter try Anna Jarvis' goulash, or to let her reveal Jarvis one of her physical feats.

Carter reminded Stark that every American intelligence agency was still looking for him, and asked him the reason for his return to New York City. Stark told her he would explain everything once they arrived to the penthouse.

Carter suddenly ordered Jarvis to stop the car, despite the residence was nearby, and she explained that Agents Yauch and Henry of the Strategic Scientific Reserve were watching the penthouse's surroundings acting as bystanders, so they needed to take Stark to another place.

Stark claimed that the penthouse was his least-known property, as a dummy corporation owned by another dummy corporation was the one that held the lease for the penthouse. Theoretically, only Stark and Jarvis knew about it, besides Stark's female conquests such as and.

Carter reminded Stark that her colleague Ray Krzeminski was killed during the investigation of Stark's stolen technology and the Strategic Scientific Reserve blamed him, so it was sure they were working hard to uncover all of Stark's assets, including residences, bank accounts and corporations.

Carter decided to hide Stark at the Griffith Hotel, her own residence, despite she was unsure. Upon arriving, Stark recognized the establishment, and familiarly asked about Miriam Fry, asking how she was.

Departure to Germany
Jack Thompson arrived at the New York Bell Company Office very early in the morning to find that Chief Roger Dooley had been working all night on the case regarding Howard Stark and the two Russian suspects.

Dooley explained he obtained the official report about the battle of Finow, where suspects Leet Brannis and Sasha Demidov had been reported as deceased despite not having died. Dooley showed the report to Thompson, who pointed many words had been removed from it, and Dooley explained that the officer who redacted it, General John McGinnis, had died a month before.

Thompson asked about the Remote Typewriter, and Dooley answered that, according to their technicians, it was sending and receiving signals, but they had not figured its destination yet, so Thompson proposed to send a message to their enemies.

Dooley revealed that he managed to obtain the identity of the German officer that, according to intelligence reports, ambushed the Russian division in Finow, Colonel Ernst Mueller, but he was going to be executed in two days accused of multiple war crimes. For that reason, Dooley was going to travel to Germany and talk to him before his execution.

Thompson was surprised that Dooley would travel so far to talk to a Nazi, and Dooley pointed the connection between Brannis and Demidov, who supposedly died in Finow, and Stark's technology. Besides, not even the government was willing to reveal the truth about the battle of Finow, so Mueller was one of the only remaining sources he had available.

Dooley appointed Thompson as acting chief of the station until his return, and Thompson wished good luck to Dooley, addressing each other as "Chief".

Dumbwaiter Trick
Peggy Carter managed to take Howard Stark into the Griffith Hotel through the laundry room in the basement, and told him to enter the dumbwaiter. Stark complained due to his hate of small spaces, and was concerned what would happen if the chain did not endure his weight.

Carter joked that she would never reveal that his body was in the bottom of a dumbwaiter shaft, and warned him that if Miriam Fry found them, they would be more comfortable in any place, including the electric chair.

As Carter closed the dumbwaiter, Fry arrived and surprised Carter, telling her that she was the woman Fry was most worried about of all the establishment. Carter considered it to be a discouraging sentiment, and Fry explained that her schedule appeared to be more of a woman frequenting taxi dance halls than those of a telephone operator.

Carter lied saying she was just doing her laundry, though Fry said that she had caught many intruders inside the dumbwaiter, making Carter acknowledge that that many women owed her virtue to Fry. Fry was always suspicious, explaining how Alice Shaw once tried to enter his room with a man, disguising him in a girdle and making him pose as her sister.

Being suspicious of Carter, Fry volunteered to accompany her to her room, walking together to the third floor. Along the way, Fry continued to explain how she had managed to catch women trying to sneak men inside the hotel. Fry, trying to explain her goal in helping women "govern their impulses", asked Carter if she was familiar with 's concepts of the id and the ego, and Carter maintained her cover asking if they were children's characters.

Carter was about to enter her room when Fry reminded her about her laundry. The two women went on to check the dumbwaiter, but they only found Stark's bad. Fry was surprised, as she was expecting to see a man inside, and left Carter alone, reminding her the time it was.

Carter went on to check the dumbwaiter again, thinking Stark was still hiding inside, but she heard one of her neighbors giggling inside her room. Carter angrily knocked on the door, and Lorraine appeared to say Carter had just woken her.

Stark appeared at Lorraine's door, half undressed and with a lipstick mark on his face, explaining to Lorraine that Carter was just his cousin, and introduced both women to each other. Lorraine noted that Carter's cousin looked a lot like Howard Stark, but Carter told her cousin was shorter, to which Stark pointed that he was better-looking.

Stark and Carter entered her apartment, and while he served some coffee, he casually told her how he would sausages, eggs and a couple of Bloody Marys, only for Carter to remind him that there was no room service at the Griffith. Carter prompted him to reveal the reason of his return and when he was planning to leave while she got dressed,

Stark explained that he was going to leave the country again and travel to Rio de Janeiro in three days, but he needed to know how many of his inventions had the Strategic Scientific Reserve recovered, and therefore determine how many were still on the black market.

Instead of asking Edwin Jarvis to mediate between them, Stark explained he came to give her a Camera Pen, photographing themselves with it. Carter was shocked that Stark risked everything to give her just that item, and took the pen to change her clothes inside the bathroom.

Stark told that it took him quite some time to figure out how to miniaturize the lens, and reminded her there was no need to change her clothes with the door closed, as they were just friends.

Acting Chief
Jack Thompson, assuming his position as acting Chief, gathered every agent inside the New York Bell Company Office to give what he thought was a motivational speech. He asked if anyone knew recently killed Agent Ray Krzeminski's middle name, and only Daniel Sousa knew it was "Walter". He then asked what was the most important part of his name, and though Agent Yauch answered with insecurity if it was Walter, Thompson said that the most important part of the name was "Agent".

Thompson explained that Chief Roger Dooley was gone to investigate a lead, and he was in charge during his absence, so he would not let any agent rest or return home until they managed to obtain any result. Thompson ordered every agent to form a single file to give them individual assignments.

Sousa asked Peggy Carter if she was not eager to see the assignment that Thompson would give to her, but she was sure he would task her with the lunch orders. Carter realized Sousa was leaving the office, and he explained he was going to investigate the anonymous call that informed them about the whole cargo of Howard Stark's technology, so he would try to obtain a fingerprint from the phone.

Carter tried to dissuade him, knowing that Edwin Jarvis was the one who called them, and told him that given it was a public phone, he would find a bacterial infection sooner than a valid fingerprint.

Thompson came out of the office, and asked him where he was going. Sousa answered that he was going to real police work instead of what Thompson was expecting him to do, and Thompson reminded him that he should assume Krzeminski's role, just before ordering Carter to take the lunch orders.

Laboratory Developments
Peggy Carter entered the laboratory to check how many of Howard Stark's inventions had been confiscated by the Strategic Scientific Reserve, and distracted Alex Doobin, one of the scientists working at the laboratory, posing as if she was simply taking the lunch orders.

Carter casually asked about their research, and witnessed how one of the scientists' arm was burning with a green flame. Doobin pointed the research has been challenging, and Carter took the Camera Pen that Stark gave her to begin taking photographs of the different inventions.

While Carter continued to take photographs, Doobin told her how one the inventions, gave him a shock every time he pushed its switch, and how the shock ran through his arm into his skull, melting his glasses the first time he pushed it. Doobin wondered if that was its intended purpose, and acknowledged that Stark was either an ignoramus or a genius. Carter, who knew Stark very well, told Doobin that he was most likely both things.

The scientist's arm burst in flames again, this time with a blue flame, and Carter seized the opportunity to take the last photographs before leaving.

Investigation at the Pier
Daniel Sousa went to the pier in order to try to obtain a fingerprint from the phone that Edwin Jarvis used to tip the Strategic Scientific Reserve about the location of Howard Stark's stolen technology.

Two tramps, Frank and George, were playing cards in the pier and betting coins. Sousa approached the two men, who offered him to join their game for a nickel, but he asked them about the night where the Strategic Scientific Reserve confiscated Stark's technology inside one the ships docked there, The Heartbreak

George asked Sousa for a coin, only to reveal that he was not there that night, as he camped on 14th Street, but told him that Frank had been spending nights there for over a month. Sousa offered Frank another coin, but Frank told him to keep the money, as he was not going to cooperate with law enforcement, mistaking Sousa for a policeman.

Sousa told him that he just wanted to know what Frank saw that night, and when on to ask if he was the tipper who called them. Frank got angry and confronted Sousa, who evaded Frank's punch and used his crutch to knock Frank down. Sousa handcuffed Frank to take him into custody, and George guessed he had win that hand.

Smuggling Business
Otto Mink tuned up his Automatic Pistol while scolding his subordinates for not managing to obtain the $150,000 he wanted for smuggling Howard Stark back into the United States.

Mink's subordinates explained that Edwin Jarvis deceived them, as instead of coming alone with the money, he brought a girl. In order to make their story more believable, they started to lie saying that more than five men also accompanied them

Mink accused his smugglers of lying, and killed one of them with his Automatic Pistol, shooting until the weapon jammed. The other smuggler tried to leave the room, but the door was closed. While Mink fixed his weapon, the smuggler swore he was telling the truth, and revealed he overheard Stark calling woman "Peggy".

He volunteered to follow Jarvis and find the woman, the money and Stark. Mink was not interested in money anymore, saying that nobody crossed him while he shot to the smuggler's shoulder. The pistol jammed again and the smuggler offered to kill Stark and the woman.

Mink refused the offer, saying that he would take care of them, and killed the other smuggler shooting with the pistol.

Retrieving an Artifact
Peggy Carter returned to the Griffith Hotel in order to show Howard Stark the images of his inventions she managed to take. Carter was unable to find Stark inside his room, and realized that he was in another tenant's room.

Carter shouted in the hallway and Stark opened the door of Helen's room. Stark introduced both women to each other, saying that Carter was his cousin, and entered Carter's room again, with a visibly disgusted Carter.

They entered the bathroom to use it as a dark room to develop the pictures she took with the Camera Pen. Carter realized the first pictures portrayed a woman, and Stark took the film, claiming the first photographs were not suitable for Carter's eyes.

Carter and Stark were interrupted by Angie Martinelli, who had come to pick Carter up for dinner. Stark acknowledged that Martinelli's voice was beautiful, but Carter warned him to stay away from her friend.

Carter shouted that he was not feeling good, but Stark prompted her to go and spend some time outside of her duties, as he was actually worrying about her. Stark volunteered to check the photos himself, and asked Carter to bring him something to eat.

Carter descended to the dining room and started to steal food for Stark, trying to conceal it as best as she could. However, Martinelli watched her stealing and started to take some for herself, advising Carter she could keep the rolls for an extra day if she put them on the windowsill.

Martinelli explained that it was very common to steal food from the dining room, for example Carol once stole a whole chicken, hiding it in a special pocket under her sweater that her mother knit for her, and Gloria had a compartment in her pocketbook. Dottie Underwood checked Gloria's pocketbook and was surprised by its content, asking her to make her one compartment to hold pickles.

Carter left the dining hall, explaining she was going to eat in her room and read the last five pages of the new novel.

Inside the room, Stark checked that all of his inventions had been recovered by the Strategic Scientific Reserve, but he needed that Carter stole one of them from them. Stark explained that one of the particular inventions that cause large-scale destruction was still active.

Stark explained how he created the Blitzkrieg Button in order to conceal the city of London from German bombings during World War II, instantly creating a city-wide blackout once the device is activated. However, it worked destroying the electrical grids, so it would left the area without electric energy for years.

Stark asked Carter to retrieve the item and deliver it to him so that he could disable the device, as it would take the tri-state area back to the Dark Ages if the device was activated in New York City. Stark gave Carter a fake device to swap it for the real one, as if she tried to explain what was its purpose, the government would try to use it. Stark asked her, as a personal favor, not to let him become the man who shut down New York.

Carter left the building to return to her office, with Edwin Jarvis waiting for her outside the building. Unbeknownst to them, Otto Mink had been following Jarvis to get revenge for being crossed when he smuggled Stark back to the country, and now he knew how Carter looked, and where she lived.

Interrogating a Tramp
Daniel Sousa returned to New York Bell Company Office with Frank, a tramp that lived near the piers, intending to interrogate him about what happened the night that Sousa and Ray Krzeminski. Upon entering, Jack Thompson and other agents mocked Sousa, sarcastically remarking that he found Howard Stark, and the reason the rest of them could not find him was his rough appearance.

Thompson then asked Sousa what was he doing bringing a tramp to the office, and Sousa explained that Frank may have seen something in the docks before the agents even arrived. Looking at Frank, Thompson assured the only thing he probably saw that night was a bottle of alcohol.

Sousa tried to bond with Frank over their status as World War II veterans, explaining how people clapped at him once in a diner when he had recently returned from the war. He thought people were clapping for because he served and came back alive, but when another veteran entered the diner and prepared to clap, Sousa realized they clapped for his injury, not for his service, the rest of patrons only clapped to relieve their guilt.

Sousa explained that he and Frank were not different, and Frank told him how nobody clapped for him when he returned from the war, and he lost both his wife and his job to other men while he was serving. Despite having similar "sad stories", Frank continued to refuse to talk to him.

Sousa entered the observation room behind the one-way mirror, where Thompson had been watching the whole conversation. Thompson told Sousa he would clap him, but he did not want to hurt his feelings, and order Sousa to release the tramp and join the search for Stark like the rest of agents.

Sousa claimed that Frank was a witness, he saw something at the docks, because he would say so if he did not see anything. Thompson compared Roger Dooley's efforts, travelling to Nuremberg to interview a Colonel Ernst Mueller moments before his execution, to his lead about a tramp.

Sousa continues trying to make Frank speak to him, but Thompson interrupted them, entering the room with a hamburger and a bottle of Roger Dooley's Scotch whisky. Thompson's interruption infuriated Sousa, who tried to make him leave. Frank was distracted with Thompson's food and drink, and Thompson even taunted him with their smell and taste.

Thompson ignored Sousa, and offered Frank the bottle and the hamburger in exchange of telling them what he saw at the docks. Frank immediately answered he saw a well-dressed man and a dark-haired woman, that entered the ship and left before the agents arrived, but he could not see their faces because he was far and hid once the agents arrived.

Frank ignored the hamburger and took the bottle, drinking as much as he could I hid when the cops came. Before leaving the room, Thompson told Sousa that not everybody returned from the war wanting a hug.

Lying Gestures
Edwin Jarvis took Peggy Carter to her office in order to retrieve one of Howard Stark's devices, and she asked him to park around the corner in order to quickly return to the Griffith Hotel once she managed to get it.

Carter asked him about the device, and noticed Jarvis was more nervous than usual, touching his ear as he did once he tried to deceive Otto Mink's smugglers. Noticing that something was wrong, Carter tried to learn more about the item from Jarvis, asking him if Stark took the risk of returning to New York City, maybe he was planning to use it to blackout an entire city.

Jarvis vigorously denied that accusation, and Carter went on to compare this device with Nitramene, that this at least would not hurt anyone if it was accidentally activated. Jarvis touched his ear again, and asked her to bring the device as fast as she could so that there was no need to worry about it anymore.

Night Infiltration
Daniel Sousa was angry that his witness Frank, one of the tramps that lived in the docks where Howard Stark's technology was found, was only a waste of time. Jack Thompson acknowledged Sousa managed to find a witness that the rest of the agents overlooked. However, Frank's information about a man and a woman were too general to be of any value, as Stark was known to be almost always with women around him.

Thompson explained something he learnt during the war, that not every won battle was an achievement. Sousa claimed that hearing the way Thompson fought, he was surprised there was any achievement left for him to obtain. Thompson said he just did what was needed to be done, but Sousa said that was all of them did.

Sousa grabbed his coat to leave the room, and Thompson asked where did he gained his prosthesis, guessing it could have been in Russia or in Italy, but Sousa simply said he gained it in his femur.

Peggy Carter entered the office and passed the room where Sousa and Thompson were talking, heading to the laboratory. She managed to find the artifact that Stark asked her to switch for a fake one, and quickly placed the fake device on its place.

Carter wanted to know the actual reason Stark was interested in the device, so she hid inside a storage room to open it. Nervously, Carter pulled the switch on the device, and instead of blacking out the entire city as Stark said, it revealed a vial of blood.

Carter hid inside the interrogation room to avoid being caught inside the office at night, but she did not realized that Thompson was still inside the room. Thompson asked what was she doing there, given that only men had to work at night, and she taunted him saying that she did not want to interrupt Thompson enjoying his promotion, as he was still with the bottle of whisky in his hand.

Thompson continued to discomfort Carter asking the reason she worked at the office. Carter answered that she worked to uphold democracy, but Thompson said that the rest of agents did more for that than to simply take lunch orders. Thompson was not stopped by Carter's clever answers, and told her that she was trying to hide something, but she did not manage to fool anyone but herself.

Carter thought that Thompson had discovered her secret, but what Thompson said was that Carter was trying to bypass the "natural order of the universe", that no man would ever consider her as an equal simply because she was a woman. Carter said she could always come to him to remind her what the truth was, and left the room.

Broken Trust
Peggy Carter returned to the Griffith Hotel with the artifact that Howard Stark asked her to steal from her office, and quickly entered her room to confront Stark about the artifact. She knew that Stark had lied to her about the item, as she found a vial of blood.

Shaken, Carter asked Stark about the content of the vial, and she diverted his attempts to hold back the truth, asking four times the same question. Stark realized she was angry, though she claimed that it was just curiosity, and wanted to hear the truth from Stark's lips.

Stark finally confessed the vial held a sample of Steve Rogers' blood, and Carter punched him in the face.

Otto Mink, having followed Carter to the Griffith, entered the lobby with a bouquet of flowers, posing as a suitor and wanting to see Carter and kill her for crossing him when he smuggled Stark into the country.

Mink approached Miriam Fry, saying that he brought the flowers for Carter and wanted to deliver them himself. Fry, applying the rules of the Griffith, refused to let him pass, and told him instead to left the flowers at the reception desk. Fry asked Mink if he was a delivery man or Carter's suitor, to which Mink replied that he loved her, hoping that would make Fry allow him to see Carter.

Fry wrote a note with Carter's room to deliver the flowers, and asked Mink his name and profession. Mink, who saw Carter's room number in the note, left the hotel to infiltrate it in another way, and Fry was not surprised that such a man was Carter's suitor.

In her room, Carter confronted Stark for having used her and lying to her. Stark said he was just wanting to protect her, as Rogers meant so much for both of them, and while Carter continued to throw his lies into his face, he realized he was wrong when he lied to her.

Stark explained he had the habit of lying to everyone, given he needed to do it since his youth to overcome his humble origins as the son of a fruit seller and a seamstress, to climb over a ceiling that stopped people based on their social class, religion or sex. Stark explained that lying was his natural instinct, but he was truly sorry for having lied to Carter.

Carter asked why he had Rogers' blood, and Stark said that he obtained it as he was one of the lead scientists on Project Rebirth, while other 11 vials went to the government. Stark asked if the Strategic Scientific Reserve knew about the vial, as the government had almost used their entire supply of blood, and they would not give back Stark's sample even if his name was cleared.

Carter was not sure that Stark deserved to have the blood, but he was sure it could contain the key to vaccines and medications, so despite Rogers' sacrifice to save them, he could still save millions of people. Carter thought Stark's only motivation for that was the money he would make with it, considering he was a greed, selfish and superficial man.

Carter reminded him how Rogers dedicated both his mind and body, and even his life to both the Strategic Scientific Reserve and the United States, but not to Stark's money. And she had made the same pledge that Rogers did, but she did not followed once she started to covertly work for Stark. Now, being reminded of what she aspired to be, Carter told Stark that, for her, he was as guilty of stealing his inventions as anyone else believed.

Carter left the room and ordered him to be gone upon her return. Stark wondered where would he go, given that he would get arrested, but she was less than concerned, as she told him to figure it out as the genius he was.

Next Door Killer
Otto Mink managed to infiltrate the Griffith Hotel through a ventilation shaft, and went to ambush Peggy Carter at her room. Before he could enter, Dottie Underwood came out of her room and was surprised to see a man in the hallway, asked him if she was lost.

Mink ordered her to return to her room, but Underwood asked him if she was looking for Carter. Mink then threatened her at gunpoint, and Underwood recognized the weapon as an Automatic Pistol. Underwood changed her tone and claimed she wanted the weapon, and quickly attacked Mink, who had no chance to defend himself. Underwood effortlessly broke Mink's neck, and took the weapon for herself, hiding the corpse under her bed.

Chain of Lies
Edwin Jarvis approached Peggy Carter on her way to work, and explained he regretted how everything was handled and having lied to her. Carter took his apology as an answer to whether he knew the true content of the artifact or not, and told him that he had the habit of rubbing his ear when he lied.

Jarvis explained that both himself and Howard Stark truly respected her, and were probably the only men alive that held her in high esteem. Carter said that it looked like she could trust more the actions of men that did not respect her, as they, at least, meant something when they asked for it.

Jarvis sat at a shoe shiner parlor where Stark was hiding behind a newspaper, and explained to him that Stark underestimated Carter, so he tasked Jarvis to win Carter's trust back. Jarvis explained how during the last five years, he had been apologizing for Stark, but that time it had been hurtful for him.

As Jarvis left Stark behind, visibly brought down by Jarvis' complain, the man besides him asked him to borrow the sports section of his newspaper.

Return from Germany
Peggy Carter delivered the lunch orders to her co-workers while Daniel Sousa looked at the picture of the blonde woman that was related to Howard Stark's case, taking it from the board and painting her hair with a pencil.

Roger Dooley returned from his trip to Germany, and Jack Thompson jokingly asked him if he obtained something. Dooley explained that Colonel Ernst Mueller should had been hanged at that moment, but he revealed that there was not any battle in Finow, only Russian bodies ripped to pieces.

Dooley wondered who killed them, and debunked Thompson's theory that Leet Brannis and Sasha Demidov killed them, as two men could not kill hundreds of soldiers, also wondering why they were listed among the dead. Dooley realized that maybe Brannis and Demidov assumed the identities of men who actually died in Finow.

Thompson showed Dooley one of the things he managed to discover, that the log at the Finow airfield showed that, one day after the supposed battle of Finow, a plane allegedly carrying Stark arrived there. Dooley asked Thompson to serve him a glass of whisky, as they had come across a conspiracy.

Secrets at the Griffith
At night, Peggy Carter returned to her room in the Griffith Hotel and turned the radio on at a high volume. She grabbed a hammer and opened a hole in the wall, in order to hide the vial containing Steve Rogers' blood behind the bricks.

Meanwhile, Dottie Underwood admired the Automatic Pistol she obtained from Otto Mink, while his corpse laid under her bed. Angie Martinelli knocked Underwood's door and asked her if she was coming to dinner, and Underwood answered she would meet her downstairs.

Receiving a Message
Roger Dooley spent the night at the New York Bell Company Office, trying to tie the loose ends relating every suspect in the case about Howard Stark. While he was alone, Sasha Demidov's Remote Typewriter started to receive a message, shocking Dooley.

Zodiac
"You're not from around here, are you?" "No, I live in Brooklyn actually."

- Goon and Peggy Carter

Peggy Carter continued her work with the Strategic Scientific Reserve in the agency's New York City office after World War II, where she was set aside to code-breaking and analysis tasks by her chauvinistic boss, Agent John Flynn, underestimating her for field work for being a woman, as she wasn't given an assignment during her three months under Flynn's orders.

Flynn received word of the location of the Zodiac, a mysterious biological weapon, and sent agents Miller, Johnson and Wilkes to retrieve it. That same night, the agents returned to the office empty-handed, as by the time they arrived, the car transporting the substance was abandoned.

One of the Analysts at the office ordered Carter to make an analysis of a large number of transmissions between S.H.I.E.L.D. and S.W.O.R.D. for the following day, what would force Carter to spend the night working at the office. However, Carter already anticipated such an order, and handed the complete analysis to her co-worker.

Flynn informed Carter that he was going out for drinks with the rest of the agents, but instead of the expected invitation, Carter received an order to stay at the office and review a field report. While alone in the office, Carter received another call informing of the location of Zodiac, requesting three to five agents to retrieve the substance. Carter used the absence of her co-workers as an excuse to take the mission alone, and traveled to the location given, carrying a briefcase full of field gear with her. At the entrance of the warehouse where Zodiac was hidden, Carter easily defeated two goons that tried to make her leave when they saw her approaching. The guard at the door, alerted by the fight, tried to shoot Carter, but she outsmarted him and ordered him to drop his weapon while pointing her gun to the head of the guard.

Carter handcuffed the guard and interrogated him about the location of Zodiac and the number of guards in the warehouse, and used him as a bait to defeat another two guards. Locating the room containing Zodiac and with another guard inside, she shot at the door and threw a gas grenade to either render the guard unconscious or make him exit the room.

Once the guard was unconscious, she entered the room wearing a gas mask, finding the vial containing Zodiac, although a large guard also wearing a gas mask caught her by surprise. The guard tried to strangle Carter, removing her gas mask, but she was able to stab the guard with a knife hidden in her briefcase before being suffocated, defeating the guard with a kick and leaving the warehouse with Zodiac.

The following morning, Flynn admonished Carter for her actions saying that the only reason that she was an agent was that people felt sorry for her after Captain America died. In the midst of his tirade, the office hotline rang with a phone call by Howard Stark. Stark told Flynn that Carter needed to go to Washington, D.C., as was going to run S.H.I.E.L.D. with Stark. Stark ordered Flynn to give Carter the news, and let her know how honored he was for bringing them.

Flynn uncomfortably gave Carter the news, and offered her to help carry her personal items out of the office. Carter refused the offer, saying that it had been demonstrated that as always, she didn't require his help.

Peggy Carter's Interviews
In 1953, former Strategic Scientific Reserve agent Peggy Carter recorded an interview in New York City about Captain Steve Rogers, the World War II hero known as Captain America. 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 interview 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.

Development of the Arc Reactor
"This Arc Reactor technology, the implications alone of such a device even existing, have you not thought about these things?" "They said the same thing about the Manhattan Project, didn't they, Maria? "Where ignorance is bliss..."" ""...'tis folly to be wise"."

- Anton Vanko, Howard Stark and Maria Stark

Howard Stark had a meeting with Anton Vanko, in presence of Maria Stark and Vanko's wike, regarding what they called 'The Unity Project', focusing in developing the Arc Reactor technology, as Stark hoped to change the future of humanity with this technology, while Vanko wanted to use the research to make money.

Over time, Vanko proved true to his intentions, selling the technology and other secrets to the Russian government, prompting his deportation, disappointing Howard Stark, who was convinced by Obadiah Stane to focus again in weapons development.

Tony Stark's Childhood
In 1971, Howard Stark fathered a son, Tony, living together with him, her wife Maria and their trusted butler Edwin Jarvis in their mansion of New York. Howard was very strict with Tony; one of the examples of this severity particularly remembered by Tony Stark years later was an occasion that his father qualified as nonsenses and a waste of time spending his weekends playing at home. Tony started to hate returning from boarding school to his house the weekends, even despite Edwin Jarvis' efforts to comfort Tony.

Tony grew up to become a rebel teenager, who was lectured by his father Howard for his attitude and his immaturity despite his intelligence, who hoped that one day he could be able to tell his son about his real work, as Howard felt that his son needed to know that. However, Howard was not able to tell him, because both Howard and Maria Stark died that same day in a car accident.

Birth of Marcus Daniels
Fresno is the birthplace of Marcus Daniels, born in 1972 who went to become a physics laboratory assistant under doctor Abner Croit. Daniels was exposed to a form of cosmic radiation called Darkforce, obtaining the power to absorb all types of energy.

Returning Home
As an adult, Tony Stark created the A.I. J.A.R.V.I.S. as an homage to his faithful butler, and installed it in his father's mansion as what he called a force of habit, to feel the presence of Edwin Jarvis in the mansion once again.

It was during one of the nostalgic visits to his childhood home that Stark received a petition from the United States Armed Forces to return to Afghanistan as Iron Man to clean a -infested desert.

Stark Expo Opening Ceremony
"So from all of us here at Stark Industries, I would personally like to introduce you to the city...of the future"

- Howard Stark

Tony Stark flew over New York City, only to land in the scenario of the Stark Expo and host its opening ceremony for a cheering crowd. Stark praised his own achievements as Iron Man, bringing the longest uninterrupted period of world peace. He talked about the purpose of the Stark Expo, the importance of their legacy, as organizations from all over the world would join efforts for the sake of a better future.

While displaying his father's opening for the Stark Expo made in 1974, Stark went backstage to check his blood toxicity, having discovered that the Palladium core of the Arc Reactor in his chest was slowly killing him.

Reporter Chess Roberts covered the event, informing that the Expo would be opened for a full year, and she would visit the pavilions, attractions and inventions presented to cover the news.

Stark abandoned the Expo escorted by his bodyguard, Happy Hogan, while attending fans, signing autographs and greeting Larry Ellison and Larry King, coming across a beautiful woman standing by his car. The woman turned out to be a U.S. Marshall, who was waiting for him to give him a subpoena for the Senate Armed Forces Committee in Washington, D.C., and Stark, upset for the inconvenience, departed for Washington driving his own car.

Hammer Industries
Justin Hammer took Ivan Vanko to the Hammer Industries Headquarters, having offered him an agreement of mutual collaboration to take advantage of the knowledge demonstrated when constructing the armor used to attack Tony Stark in Monaco. Hammer showed the multiple prototypes of an armor similar to the ones used by Stark as Iron Man. Vanko easily hacked Hammer's software, and stripped off the head of one of the armors, despite Hammer's warnings of its cost.

Vanko asked Hammer's intentions, that wanted to assure himself a position as the Department of Defense Primary Systems Contractor at the Pentagon for over 25 years, while humiliating Stark for his role in suspending his contract after revealing his attempts to create an armor before the Senate Armed Forces Committee Washington, D.C.

Vanko seemingly agreed with this plan, and for the next few days, he worked on improving Hammer's armors, transforming into Drones. Vanko managed to convince Hammer of the change as people may give problems, reluctantly accepting as he warned Vanko that the drones should be amazing.

Vanko was also secretly working in an improved armor for himself, and lied to Vanko saying that the Drones wouldn't be operative for the Stark Expo event, saying only a presentation would be available, but not a full demonstration. Infuriated, Hammer returned to his Headquarters, and given that Vanko didn't fulfill his part of the agreement, took away his belongings and confined him with two security guards. Vanko easily killed the guards, and called Stark, threatening him to destroy him just as Howard Stark destroyed his family.

Battle at Stark Expo
Justin Hammer hosted his own weapons demonstration at the Stark Expo, with the name "In Defense of Peace", an event attended by military and civilian authorities, including Pepper Potts as the new CEO of Stark Industries.

He seized the opportunity to criticize Iron Man for not sharing his technology with the rest of the world, and, in order to avoid the loss of human lives in the battlefield, he presented his new lines of Hammer Drones, each one representing a branch of the United States Armed Forces: Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Adding that, despite this advancement, human presence would be necessary, he presented the War Machine Armor and its pilot, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes.

Tony Stark arrived at the Expo amongst a thunderous applause of the attending crowd, intending to evacuate the civilians in response to Vanko's threats, and to question Hammer about his collaboration with Vanko. Before he could obtain any response, Vanko remotely controlled War Machine Armor and the Hammer Drones to attack Stark.

Pepper Potts accessed the backstage to check the situation, overhearing that someone was controlling the drones from another location, hampering the technicians from regaining control of the situation. Potts' assistant Natalie Rushman, the undercover identity of S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff coerced Hammer into confessing the identity of the responsible, Ivan Vanko, and his location, departing to Hammer Industries Headquarters while Potts called the police.

Iron Man battled the armies of drones while avoiding War Machine's shoots to not harm his friend, while the drones started attacking the Expo to fulfill Vanko's desire of destroying Stark's legacy, endangering civilians in the process.

Happy Hogan accompanied Romanoff to Hammer Industries, and started fighting the first guard while Romanoff easily defeated the rest, clearing the path to Vanko's control room. Vanko, having been informed of the security breach, deployed the remaining drones and activated his own armor.

Romanoff found that Vanko was gone, rebooted the system to give Rhodes control of his armor, in time to avoid it killing Stark, and inadvertently let Pepper Potts know of Stark's disease. Nick Fury ordered Romanoff to hack Hammer Industries mainframe to check the developments made by Justin Hammer, in order to take the worthy technology and destroy the rest before the authorities arrived. Iron Man and War Machine then got surrounded by the Hammer Drones, battling them until Stark unleashed a laser weapon that tore the drones in half. Romanoff warned them that another signal was approaching, and both Stark and Rhodes witnessed the arrival of Whiplash.

Vanko's new armor resisted all the attacks launched to him, and he gained the upper hand, managing to constrain Stark and Rhodes with the whips of the armor. Seeing no other way, Stark and Rhodes mutually attacked them other with their repulsors, causing a explosion right at the spot where Vanko was standing. Vanko activated the self-destruct mechanism in his armor and the drones, causing a series of explosions in the complex that almost killed Pepper Potts, rescued by Stark in the nick of time.

Potts and Stark started arguing in a nearby rooftop, with Potts wanting to resign from her position as CEO of Stark Industries, given the amount of stress she suffered during her first days. Stark thanked her for her help in overcoming a difficult moment for him, and the two finally kissed.

Rhodes, who was on the rooftop for the whole time, informed Stark that he was going to keep the armor despite Stark refusal, and departed leaving the couple alone.

Cure of Bruce Banner
Bruce Banner and Betty Ross traveled to Grayburn College in New York City, seeking the assistance of cellular biologist Dr. Samuel Sterns, a man who remotely assisted Banner during his attempts to find a cure for his transformations into Hulk.

Banner and Betty Ross found a road blockade near the entrance of New York, as the United States Armed Forces tracked Banner's conversations with Sterns, and figured out they would eventually meet. In order to bypass the blockade, Banner and Betty managed to enter New York in a small boat.

To avoid stressful situations for Banner and not trigger his transformations, they decided to avoid the subway and take a taxi instead. However, the taxi driver turned out to be very aggressive, and they had to continue on foot.

Betty Ross approached Sterns when he was exiting Grayburn College, and introduced herself as Elizabeth Ross, with Sterns recognizing her name as a colleague in the field of cellular biology. She then told Sterns that someone wanted to meet him, Mister Green, the online alias of Bruce Banner, a discovery that startled Sterns, as he had questioned the actual existence of a man with such a latent power inside him.

Accompanying Sterns to his laboratory, Banner and Betty learned that Sterns had developed a possible antidote, but he wasn't unsure if it could cure Banner's condition, or merely reverse a individual transformation. Also, an overdose of the antidote could kill Banner.

Despite the risks, Banner agreed to test Sterns' antidote and was restrained to electrically induce his transformation, Sterns transfused the cure while Betty tried to calm a restrained Hulk, and he successfully returned to his normal self. Exhilarated by the success of the antidote, Sterns unconsciously revealed there had been previous tests for the cure, and when demanded to answer how was that possible, Stern showed a large that large supply Banner's synthesized blood samples with the intention of using it to enhance the human condition to the next evolutionary level.

Birth of Abomination
A large unit commanded by General Thaddeus Ross gathered around Grayburn College, with the intention of finally capture Banner while distracted. Appalled by what Sterns had done and fearful of the Hulk's power falling into the wrong hands, Banner attempts to convince Sterns to immediately destroy the blood supply but is shot by a tranquilizer from one of General Ross' snipers.

Emil Blonsky entered into Grayburn College disobeying Ross' direct orders, and confronted Banner in order to trigger his transformation. Realizing that he has been cured, both Banner and Betty Ross were taken into military custody.

Major Kathleen Sparr started questioning Samuel Sterns about his capability of reproducing the project. However, Sparr was killed by a mentally unstable Blonsky, who wanted to obtain the power of Hulk for himself. Sterns was coerced into subjecting Blonsky to a transfusion of Banner's synthetic blood. Sterns warned him that the combination of the Super Soldier Serum and the Gamma Radiation in the blood would be an unpredictable combination that could turn him into an "Abomination". Blonsky, less than concerned about this, forced Sterns into administering the transfusion. As Blonsky mutated into a monstrous giant, he knocked Sterns aside and an irradiated sample of Banner's blood-derivative dripped into an open wound on Sterns's temple, causing his cranium to mutate and expand.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Natasha Romanoff, who arrived to witness how Banner was taken into custody, entered into Grayburn College to make sure that Sterns didn't have any material to research on Banner's condition, witnessing how Blonsky emerged transformed into the Abomination.

Duel of Harlem
In an attempt to attract Hulk, the now transformed Blonsky went on a rampage through Harlem. While military and police forces attempt to confront the Abomination, General Ross was informed that Hulk was set loose in the streets in the same helicopter Banner and Betty Ross were being transported to a detention facility. Realizing that couldn't be possible, General Ross ordered the pilot to return to the area.

Banner, realizing that he was the only one who could stop the Abomination, convinced General Ross to release him. He jumped from Ross' helicopter as it hovered over the city, hoping the fall will stimulate his adrenal glands into triggering a transformation. Banner's plan succeeded and a brutal battle between Hulk and Abomination began.

General Ross tried to help Hulk using his helicopter's weapons, but Abomination managed to catch the helicopter mid-air and make its pilot lose control. Hulk, enraged by seeing Betty Ross endangered, managed to subdue Abomination by strangling him with a huge chain, without killing him after a plea from Betty. Abomination collapsed at the feet of General Ross, while Betty approached Hulk, who was forced to flee the scene after saying her name.

Mutation of Samuel Sterns
During the battle between Banner and Blonsky, Natasha Romanoff made her way through Grayburn College to investigate Samuel Sterns' status, finding him changed by his contact with Bruce Banner's blood.

Sterns, announcing he now became much more than what he was before, requested Romanoff's assistance in fulfilling the future of power and influence he had foreseen, by gathering his work and eluding the authorities.

Romanoff was slightly shocked when Sterns correctly guessed she was Russian, and that faint traces of her accent let him know that she was born in Stalingrad, but, while Sterns was promising to give her whatever she wanted or whatever was taken from her, Romanoff shot Sterns in the kneecap and called for a cleanup team.

Romanoff, on the rooftop of Grayburn College to mark the location for the cleanup team, witnessed the explosions and destruction caused by Banner and Blonsky during their fight.

Liberty Island
A few days after the battle between Bruce Banner and Emil Blonsky, Betty Ross spent hours in wondering about Banner's status, and received a "Low Battery" warning from her camera, displaying one of Banner's photographs.

Construction of Stark Tower
Pepper Potts announced in a press conference that, after all damage resulting from the Stark Expo incident had been repaired at the expense of Stark Industries, the relationship between Stark Industries and New York would make another step towards the future.

Potts presented the plans for an structure acquired by Stark Industries, that would be transformed into the Stark Tower, the first completely clean energy-powered skyscraper in New York City, hoping it would become a model for future development in the city.

During the press conference, Tony Stark called Potts to congratulate her and told her that he was waiting for having a date with a bottle of. Potts told Stark that she was going to give him the benefit of the doubt, and told him she assumed that he remembered their date was the following night. Stark replied that he obviously remembered, as he was in Malibu altering one of his armors.

A few months later, Stark helped in the construction of the tower, lifting the giant letters in the front of the building as Iron Man, when James Rhodes contacted him to learn about the Ten Rings, responsible of his his kidnapping in Afghanistan. Stark told him that his investigations after confronting them at Gulmira led to nowhere, as the Ten Rings operated in autonomous cells, and the highest-ranking operative in each cell had one contact in another cell, but not with the overall leader.

Awakening
"Good morning. Or should I say, afternoon." "Where am I?" "You're in a recovery room in New York City."

- S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent and Steve Rogers

Captain America awoke from his 70 years of slumber in what seemed a hospital room in New York City. Realizing that it was a ploy due to the radio airing a football matched he attended in 1941, he escaped to the streets of modern New York City.

Confused for the environment, Rogers was surrounded in Times Square, where Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., explained that the reason for the ruse was to facilitate his transition to the 21st century after nearly 70 years of sleep. Rogers was saddened realizing that everything and everyone he knew was most probably gone.

Recruitment
Nick Fury approached Steve Rogers while he was furiously doing boxing training, experiencing flashbacks of memories about the events prior to his freezing. Fury talked about his sleeping problems, and Rogers answered about how the world had changed in his sleep.

Fury asked Rogers about his experiences with the Tesseract, informing him about how Howard Stark was able to retrieve it, believing it could be a source of unlimited and sustainable energy for the world.

However, the Tesseract had been stolen by Loki, and Fury wanted Rogers to be part of a response team in case of need. Fury warned Rogers that if he agreed to participate, he had to be updated about many things. Rogers answered that few things could surprise him, and Fury bet that he was wrong.

While Rogers was leaving, Fury asked if there was something about the Tesseract that they needed to know immediately, and Rogers answer was that it should have been left at the bottom of the ocean.

Lighting of Stark Tower
Tony Stark finished installing the last piece of an Arc Reactor in the undersea wiring near New York City thanks to his Iron Man armor, in order to disconnect the newly constructed Stark Tower from the general electricity network, becoming the first self-sustained building in New York.

Stark contacted Pepper Potts while returning to the tower to tell her that she could turn on the light. Stark witnessed how the Tower got lit, and entered inside to celebrate with Potts.

J.A.R.V.I.S. informed Stark that agent Phil Coulson was trying to contact him, but Stark dismissed the call. Potts checked the energy levels of the tower were stable, and discussed with Stark how the idea about Stark Tower came from the Arc Reactor in Stark's chest. Stark suggested Potts that she must attribute herself a 12% percent of the merit, and although he tried to justify himself, Stark realized the comment was inappropriate.

Coulson called Stark again, annulling J.A.R.V.I.S.'s protocols, and although Stark tied to dismiss him again, Coulson appeared in the tower, where Potts greeted him on a first-name basis to Stark's surprise.

As Coulson explained that his visit was not based on Stark's status as a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D., he thought it had to do with the Avengers Initiative, even although that project had been discarded and Stark had been deemed as unsuitable.

Coulson handed Stark a tablet containing files about the other candidates of the Avengers Initiative: Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner and Thor, about the Tesseract and about Loki. Potts realized that she must leave Stark alone to let him focus in the task handed over by S.H.I.E.L.D.

Potts asked Coulson if he could take her to to go to Washington, D.C., and asked how things were going with Audrey Nathan, his cellist girlfriend, and Coulson informed her that she moved back to Portland.

Prelude
Loki, during his quest to conquer Earth, chose Stark Tower in New York City as the place to open his portal for the Chitauri with the Tesseract, in order to publicly beat the Avengers an assert his authority over the world. Erik Selvig installed the device he created under Loki's control in the rooftop of Stark Tower, connecting to the Arc Reactor sustaining the tower.

Iron Man arrived at Stark Tower and was informed by J.A.R.V.I.S. that the Arc Reactor had been disconnected, but the Tesseract was already activated. Stark asked Selvig to turn off the device, but Selvig said it was too late for it, so Stark tried to attack the device. The barrier surrounding the Tesseract knocked both Stark and Selvig down, breaking Loki's control over Selvig.

Stark descended to the penthouse of the tower to deal personally with Loki. Stark entertained Loki while J.A.R.V.I.S. prepared the Mark VII Armor. Stark offered Loki a drink, menacing him of how he should be afraid of the Avengers, as he pissed each and every one of them.

Loki tried to control Stark, but as the Chitauri Scepter touched the Arc Reactor in Stark's chest, the reaction was not the one he expected, and he couldn't control Stark. Angered by his failure, Loki threw Stark off a window, and he was saved in the nick of time by the Mark VII Armor launched by J.A.R.V.I.S., who attached to him before hitting the ground.

Iron Man went to confront Loki again, this time in the name of Phil Coulson, knocking down Loki with an attack of his repulsor gauntlets.

First Waves
A portal to the Chitauri Space was finally opened, and the first waves of the Chitauri began arriving on Earth above New York City. Iron Man managed to destroy the first Chitauri that crossed the portal, but their number soon proved to be more than Iron Man could handle alone.

The Chitauri began spreading through the area surrounding Stark Tower and attacking civilians, while Loki beheld the destruction they were causing. Thor arrived and ordered Loki to turn the Tesseract off, or he would destroy it. Loki went to attack his brother, battling on Stark Tower.

Iron Man contacted James Rhodes in order to obtain his assistance during the battle, but Rhodes was in Hong Kong at the moment, telling Stark that even flying at supersonic speed as War Machine, it would took him an hour to arrive.

Black Widow contacted Iron Man, having arrived in a Quinjet with Captain America and Hawkeye, and they assisted Iron Man destroying many Chitauri Chariots that were following him. Loki hit the Quinjet with a shot from his weapon, and they were forced to land near the tower.

The Avengers witnessed the arrival of the first Leviathan, a gargantuan beast used by the Chitauri as both warship and assault craft. Iron Man used J.A.R.V.I.S. to find a weakness on the Leviathan, and asked Captain America if Bruce Banner had arrived.

Thor tried to reason with Loki, asking him if he thought that madness would end under his rule. Loki seized to opportunity to stab Loki with a concealed knife. Outraged, Thor went to hit Loki, seemingly beating him into submission, but Loki managed to flee in one of the Chitauri Chariots, leaving his scepter behind, and began mercilessly attacking civilians.

Captain America went to rescue the endangered civilians, while Hawkeye and Black Widow repelled the group trying to ambush them. Captain America asked the officers of the, overwhelmed by the situation, to evacuate civilians and contain the destruction within a perimeter.

He then returned to help Hawkeye and Black Widow to defeat the Chitauri on the ground, being joined by Thor after he tried to destroy the Tesseract, and by Banner, who arrived to New York in a little motorbike.

Iron Man, who unsuccessfully tried to harm the Leviathan, approached to the point where the others have reunited, with the creature following closely, asking for Banner's transformation. Banner approached the incoming Leviathan, and revealed his secret to control his transformations, he was always angry. Banner, now transformed into Hulk, stopped the creature with a single punch, allowing Iron Man to kill it with a missile shot to one of its now exposed weak points.

Avengers Assemble
With the defeat of the first Leviathan, Loki ordered to send the rest of the Chitauri army and Leviathans through the portal.

The recently assembled Avengers went on to contain the invasion, with Captain America acting as the leader of the team and establishing an strategy. Hawkeye would control patterns and strays from a roof, Iron Man would contain the hordes within the perimeter, Thor would obstruct the portal, slowing the Chitauri down with lightning, Captain America and Black Widow would fight on the ground, and Hulk's only orders were to smash.

Hulk fulfilled his orders, jumping to the building and smashing every Chitauri he came across, while Thor used the as a giant lightning rod to strengthen his lightnings and shoot them directly to the portal.

Hawkeye oversaw the situation from his position while killing every Chitauri he could, often telling Iron Man where he was needed most, and giving him an advice having realized one of the patterns of the Chitauri when they turn while flying.

Hulk went to engage with another Leviathan, while Black Widow realized that they needed to close the portal soon. Captain America helped her to jump on a Chitauri Chariot to quickly ascend to Stark Tower. The rest of the Avengers continued to battle the Chitauri, while Hulk was able to kill the Leviathan with Thor's assistance.

Captain America went to rescue a large group of civilians trapped by a group of Chitauri, that intended to kill them with a bomb. Captain America defeated the Chitauri, and the civilians were rescued unharmed.

Loki began following Black Widow, shooting at her to prevent her from reaching the Tesseract, but Hawkeye was able to shoot him and knock him down from his vehicle, landing on Stark Tower. Hulk jumped to Stark Tower, and while Loki tried to exert his superiority as a god, Hulk savagely beat him.

Black Widow approached the Tesseract, and Erik Selvig, now free from Loki's control, revealed that the Chitauri Scepter was the key to close the portal.

First Defeats
As the battle continues the Chituari begin to gain the upper hand. Iron Man entered the mouth of another Leviathan, provoking a series of explosion inside that managed to kill it, but he was ambushed by a series of Chitauri when he landed in front of the Shawarma Palace; Hawkeye, having run out of arrows, jumped from the building using his last arrow as grappling hook, crashing into a window of the building; Hulk was ambushed by a large group of Chitauri, who began shooting him, rendering him unable to move as he was surrounded by the explosions caused by the shots; and Captain America was shot with one of the weapons while battling a group of Chitauri alongside Thor.

Nuclear Missile
The World Security Council decided to send a nuclear missile and make it explode in New York City to contain the Chitauri invasion, and although Nick Fury strongly objected and managed to prevent a F-22 Raptor from launching the missile, another jet was sent.

Iron Man was informed by Fury of the incoming missile, and flew to intercept it. Black Widow was about to close the portal, and while Captain America ordered her to do it, Iron Man told her to wait, as he planned to send the missile through the portal.

Iron Man knew that move would most likely end up with his death, and J.A.R.V.I.S. suggested contacting Pepper Potts, who was unable to answer the call as she was worried about him, watching the news about the Battle of New York. Using all his remaining energy, Iron Man ascended through the portal with the missile, losing power and consciousness as the missile destroyed the Chitauri Command Center.

End of the Battle
All the Chitauri and the Leviathans were killed when their connection to the Chitauri Command Center was severed, and the Avengers waited a few moments for Iron Man to cross the portal back to Earth before closing it.

Seeing that Iron Man would not be returning, Captain America ordered Black Widow to close the portal using the Chitauri Scepter. Iron Man fell through the portal in the nick of time, but Thor noted that he was not slowing down.

Hulk jumped and caught Iron Man, saving his life, and managed to wake him up roaring upon his face. Iron Man asked what had happened, and Captain America informed that they won the battle.

Stark suggested taking a vacation and trying at a nearby establishment, but Thor noted that they hadn't finished yet. Together, the six Avengers went to confront Loki, who surrendered and now accepted the drink Iron Man offered him earlier.

The Avengers then gathered at the Shawarma Palace, eating quietly being exhausted for the battle.

James Rhodes arrived at New York, being unable to arrive earlier as he was ambushed by a Ten Rings cell in Hong Kong, and was surprised to see that the "situation" that made Stark call him for help, and that prevented backup for him in Hong Kong, was an alien invasion.

Rhodes tracked Stark's signal, and entered the Shawarma Palace, where Stark invited him to pull up a chair an eat with them.

Item 47
Forty seven registered alien objects fell from the sky when the portal was closed, rendered useless by the destruction of the Chitauri Command Center. One of the Chitauri Guns fell into the laboratory of unemployed scientist Benjamin Pollack and his girlfriend Claire Wise.

Pollack managed to repair the weapon and planned a series of thefts using it across the East Coast, starting just five days after the Battle of New York. The use of the alien weapon caught the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D., who sent agent Jasper Sitwell to retrieve the weapons and neutralize Pollack and Wise.

Aftermath
The following day, interviews and parades were made in New York City and all over the world to document the reactions to the Avengers and the Battle of New York, with the public massively supporting their role in saving the world.

The Avengers reunited at Central Park to see how Thor returned to Asgard with Loki and the Tesseract, escorted by a large crew of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

Erik Selvig and Bruce Banner stored the Tesseract into an Asgardian containment case while Steve Rogers finally witnessed how HYDRA's weapon went out of human hands.

Thor said goodbye to Selvig, and the rest of the Avengers saw the two Asgardians as they departed using the Tesseract, and later parted ways going to different places.

Tony Stark returned to Stark Tower with Pepper Potts, planning to transform the tower into the headquarters for the Avengers, adapting it to the needs of each and every member.

Volunteer Firefighters
An engine team with a dozen volunteer firefighters was dispatched to New York City from Wrigley, Pennsylvania, in order to help in the aftermath of the Chitauri invasion. Adam Cross, Frank Whalen and Tony Diaz, three of these volunteers, found a Chitauri Helmet, and decided to keep it as a souvenir.

Recovery of Erik Selvig
Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis traveled to New York City from Norway, with Foster complaining that if S.H.I.E.L.D. told her what was happening, she could have helped shut down the portal above New York.

Foster and Lewis arrived at a Veteran Affairs Medical Center, where they found Erik Selvig recovering from his experience, and Selvig warned Foster that she was in danger, as Loki was inside his head, and now Loki knew about Foster. Foster asked about Thor's whereabouts, and Selvig, confused and traumatized for the experience, pointed to the stars, with Foster realizing Thor was gone. Foster and Lewis promised to take care of Selvig.

Foster climbed to the rooftop, looking at the stars, realizing that although Thor was on Earth, he didn't even left a message for her. When Lewis tried to comfort her, Foster told that every thought in her last year was about finding Thor again, but now she felt all her work was for nothing, so she was done with waiting for him.

Attack at Stark Tower
Tony Stark organized a press conference in front of the Stark Tower to promote the tower's status as the first completely clean-energy powered skyscraper in New York, explaining that, despite the skepticism, Stark developed clean energy technology as powerful and efficient as other methods. To demonstrate it, he shut down the connection between the Arc Reactor in his chest and his Iron Man Armor, connecting the armor to the solar panels of the tower to power it up.

In the middle of the press conference, Stark was attacked by Bruno Horgan, calling himself the Melter, who attacked him with a weapon he denominated the Melting Ray. In his first attack, Horgan severed the connection between Iron Man and the Stark Tower, and the second one, that Stark didn't evade thinking his armor would withstand, caused malfunctions in the armor's internal systems.

Horgan, having defeated Iron Man making some debris to fall over Stark, announced that he would hold another demonstration in a few days, and after that his technology would be sold to the highest bidder, and that he would contact the potential purchasers.

Investigation
Tony Stark and James Rhodes discussed the need of finding Bruno Horgan before he managed to sell his technology, and made a friendly wager to investigate Horgan each one using their own methods.

Rhodes used formal procedures and contacted his superiors to request warrants and obtain information about sales records of micro-processors and industrial properties with large spikes in power usage, even defeating a group of gun smugglers in the process. On the other hand, Stark hacked the email accounts of suspected organized crime figures, offered a deal to the CEO of another company in case he was contacted by Horgan, and hacked the surveillance cameras of New York to investigate Horgan's route while abandoning Stark Tower following his attack to Stark.

Their research proved to be unsuccessful, as Stark discovered that Horgan contacted his buyers through impossible to trace disposable cell phones, and the only clue he obtained from one of the buyers was a background industrial machinery sound. Rhodes traced the supplies ordered but Horgan, but they ended in a rented office where temporary workers loaded them in cars that ended up disappearing.

Stark and Rhodes combined their researches, cross-referencing the list of industrial facilities obtained by Rhodes with the flight trajectory map obtained by Stark. Stark noticed an automobile scrapyard that matched both requisites and deduced it was Horgan's hideout, as he would have easily made his cars disappear there.

Battle at the Scrapyard
Iron Man and War Machine investigated an automobile scrapyard as a possible hideout for Bruno Horgan, who attacked them upon arriving. Iron Man improved their armors to withstand Horgan's attacks, modifying the different systems of their armors to work independently to protect them from the damage to internal circuitry that Horgan's Melting Ray could made.

Although surprised, Horgan used the environment to his advantage, melting cars and machinery to attack both Iron Man and War Machine. To disable his Melting Ray, War Machine kept Horgan distracted enough time for Iron Man to approach him from behind and disconnect the cables to Horgan's power source. However, Stark's armor's systems crashed and left him defenseless.

Horgan was about to crush Iron Man under a heavy piece of machinery, but War Machine caught Horgan by surprise and gave him a headbutt that stunned him. Using his military training, War Machine easily subdued Horgan, giving Iron Man enough time to recover. Iron Man and War Machine finished Horgan with a simultaneous punch.

War Machine turned Horgan over to military police, discussing with Iron Man their contest using their own methods had not a clear winner, and they both acknowledged the other one's methods, realizing that they work best when they do it together.

Therapy Session
Tony Stark retold the story of his battle against Aldrich Killian to his friend Bruce Banner, detailing the story from the beginning in Switzerland. As Stark was wrapping the story and thanking Banner for listening, Stark realized Banner had been sleeping since almost the beginning of the tale.

Banner excused himself as he was not a therapist and lacked the necessary temperament for it. Stark ignored this comment and began telling more stories of his life, much to the dismay of Banner who went to sleep again.

Gathering of Fans
Following the Battle of New York, Stark Tower become a gathering point for fans of superheroes, including many cosplayers. They hoped to see one of the so-called Heroes of New York.

Skye, a member of the Rising Tide, approached Stark Tower once in cosplay, although she didn't easily admit the fact when questioned about it.

Kidnapping of Sana Amanat
"How'd you survive in such a dangerous neighborhood?" "It's gotten a lot more so in the last three minutes."

- Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers

Steve Rogers returned to his old neighborhood of Brooklyn, accompanied by fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff, in an undercover mission assigned by Director Nick Fury regarding a piece intel obtained regarding a plan to kidnap S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist Sana Amanat.

To maintain their cover, Rogers invited Romanoff to taste the best milk shake of the city, in an establishment that has been open since he was a kid before World War II. However, the establishment was a front for a mercenary group known as the Cadre, the organization planning to kidnap Amanat in the area that same day, and the waiter recognized Rogers and Romanoff for their role in the Battle of New York.

The waiter contacted the headquarters of his group, who were monitorizing the arrival of Amanat to the. The mercenaries decided to verify Rogers and Romanoff's identities using face recognition software, that confirmed the waiter's suspicions.

Rogers and Romanoff went out of the diner for a walk, coming across numerous members of the Cadre disguised as civilians, tasked with observing but not engaging the two Avengers. Rogers remembered his childhood, telling Romanoff stories as they passed through spots where he spent his days, such as his old flat, or a former news vendor, now transformed into a gluten-free organic wraps stand. Romanoff asked if the walk provoked him to remember unhappy memories, and Rogers asked that, although melancholic, he was happy to see the good use was making of his neighborhood.

As Rogers and Romanoff entered a small alley, the mercenaries of the Cadre in the street were ordered to take them out. They followed Rogers and Romanoff into the alley, but the two Avengers, now in full costume assuming their identities of Captain America and Black Widow, ambushed them and easily defeated them. Rogers tried to call Brock Rumlow for backup, but they both found that the communications in the area had been jammed.

Captain America and Black Widow tried to ask a group of paramedics inside an ambulance to use their radio to make contact, but were attacked by them as they were undercover members of the Cadre. Other members, such as the organic wraps vendor they saw earlier, or mercenaries inside the surrounding buildings, also attacked Rogers and Romanoff, and while they defeated the ones on the ground, they were forced to use the ambulance to flee the scene.

More mercenaries blocked their way with a garbage truck, and they entered inside one the alleys to climb to the rooftops and get above the broadcast jammer. Rogers checked his communications to realize they were still within the jammer's range, but noticed that the antenna at the local radio station had an unusual aspect.

Rogers jumped from the rooftop, crashing through a window into the headquarters of the Cadre, and he started battling the mercenaries followed by Romanoff, who joined the fight as well. As Romanoff realized they don't need the backup anymore,

Rogers interrogated the presumed leader of the Cadre, who revealed that they managed to delayed Captain America and Black Widow long enough for Amanat's motorcade to arrive and kidnap her so that she would be forced into developing weapons for the employer of the mercenaries.

Another group of Cadre mercenaries attacked Amanat with smoke bombs to facilitate the kidnapping, and although Captain America jumped to the street to fight the kidnappers, one of the mercenaries managed to apprehend Amanat and flee the scene. However, the mercenary got lost in the alleys of Brooklyn, and Captain America took advantage of his knowledge of the area to ambush him.

The mercenary threatened to kill Amanat, but Rogers advised him not to do it, as she was the only thing that was keeping him from being attacked by Rogers. Amanat stomped the mercenary, allowing Captain America to defeat him with a single attack.

Amanat went to hold a press conference where she publicly thanked Captain America and Black Widow, and praised his neighborhood of Brooklyn as a place where inmmigrants from all over the world felt at home for decades, and where the best milk shakes on Earth are served.

Project Insight
New York City was one of the intended targets of Project Insight, as Tony Stark, now living at Stark Tower was deemed a threat for HYDRA's plans. The Insight satellites marked Stark as a candidate along numerous other individuals in New York City. The city was not shot as Captain America and his allies were able to change the intended targets and stop HYDRA in time.

Interviewing Glenn Talbot
George Stephanopoulos interviewed Brigadier General Glenn Talbot from his studios at New York City 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 the responsibles.

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.

Attack on the United Nations
"Now, I was here in 2012 when the sky tore up and the Chitauri rained down on us."

- Glenn Talbot

Brigadier-General Glenn Talbot of the United States Air Force was invited to the United Nations Headquarters in order to give a speech about the threat to global security that S.H.I.E.L.D. still posed.

Talbot described S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first public appearance, during the Chitauri invasion of New York City that he personally witnessed. He denounced the organization, saying that S.H.I.E.L.D. abused the public trust as it gathered super-powered individuals, garnered extraterrestrial weapons and technology and built facilities all over the world, acting without regular supervision.

Italian representative Adamo Dioli protested Talbot's words, asking for proof on his allegations against S.H.I.E.L.D. While Dioli was speaking, a group of mercenaries led by Marcus Scarlotti, and disguised as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, burst into the room and Scarlotti himself threw a Splinter Bomb to Dioli, which instantly killed him disintegrated his body.

As the other delegates fled in terror, security guards tried to stop Scarlotti and his mercenaries, but he easily killed them too. Talbot witnessed how the mercenaries attacked the security guards while staying behind and prompting the delegates to escape from the room.

Talbot went on to help a woman who had fallen to the ground, an opportunity that Scarlotti seized to taunt him saying that S.H.I.E.L.D. was done hiding, and attacking him with a Splinter Bomb. Talbot was able to escape, but he broke his arm while doing so.

Senator Ward's Confession
Almost two days after the attack at the United Nations Headquarters, Massachusetts Senator Christian Ward came to the same spot in order to make a speech as part of the deal he struck with S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Phil Coulson.

Ward began his speech with words of respect to the men and women who died in the attack, intending to reveal the truth behind the attack. Senator Ward acknowledged the difference between S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA, explaining their existence as two separate organizations, the first dedicated to law enforcement, and the other towards world domination, despite the public had been lead to believe they were one and the same.

Senator Ward went on to reveal that his brother, Grant Ward, was a traitor and operative of HYDRA, and promised to personally bring his own brother to justice and make sure he would be punished for his crimes. Ward ended his speech warning the world about the threat that HYDRA still posed.

Layout
New York City is composed of five different boroughs:, , , and , that have the same boundaries as a county of the state of New York.


 * Avengers Tower
 * Central Park
 * Grayburn College
 * Griffith Hotel
 * Howard Stark's Mansion
 * Howard Stark's Penthouse
 * Jarvis Residence
 * Roxxon Oil Corporation Headquarters
 * S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters
 * Shawarma Palace
 * Times Square
 * United Nations Headquarters
 * Times Square
 * United Nations Headquarters


 * Colleen O'Brien's Apartment
 * Coney Island
 * Ebbets Field
 * L&L Automat
 * La Martinique
 * New York Bell Company Office
 * Strategic Scientific Reserve Brooklyn Facility
 * Strategic Scientific Reserve New York Office
 * Roxxon Refinery


 * Hammer Industries Headquarters
 * Stark Expo
 * Stark Expo
 * Stark Expo

Other Landmarks

 * Daisy Clover Milk Factory
 * Hotel Cosmopolitan
 * Stark Industries New York Facility