Captain America

"I'm not looking for forgiveness. And I'm way past asking for permission. Earth just lost their best defender. So we're here to fight. If you wanna stay in our way... we'll fight you, too."

- Steve Rogers to Thaddeus Ross

Steven Grant "Steve" Rogers is a World War II veteran, and is known as the world's first superhero. Born in Brooklyn, New York City, the young Rogers suffered from numerous health problems, and upon America's entry into World War II, was rejected from military service despite several attempts to enlist. Determined to serve, he ultimately volunteered for the top-secret Super Soldier program, and the frail Rogers was enhanced to the peak of human perfection. He soon joined the war effort as a mascot, given the moniker of Captain America, and later joined the war in a combat role after he single-handedly liberated captured Allied POWs.

From 1943 to 1945, Rogers had attacked multiple HYDRA bases alongside his own team, the Howling Commandos, in an attempt to capture the Red Skull, and recover the Tesseract. His famous World War II exploits had made him a living legend, and during this time he formed a relationship with agent Peggy Carter. Despite seemingly losing his closest best friend and loyal teammate, Bucky Barnes, during a mission, Rogers carried on to help the Allies win the war, but crashed into the Arctic during his final mission. His close friend Howard Stark spent time looking for his body. Rogers then spent nearly 70 years encased in ice in suspended animation before he was found by S.H.I.E.L.D. in the early 21st century.

When he was awakened, Rogers found himself alone in a modern world that he hardly recognized with no idea what he was going to do with his life. Following an Asgardian named Loki having stolen the Tesseract from S.H.I.E.L.D. and declaring war on humanity, Director Nick Fury enlisted Rogers' help in retrieving what he had once known as HYDRA's weapon, and foiling Loki's plans. Joining the team dubbed as the Avengers made up of Earth's mightiest heroes, which included Howard Stark's son Tony, Rogers played one of many pivotal roles in the Battle of New York, successfully preventing the Chitauri Invasion of Earth, apprehending Loki, and reacquiring the Tesseract while finding his place in this world.

Joining S.H.I.E.L.D. as a way to maintain peace and justice with the help of Black Widow, Captain America came into conflict with the Winter Soldier who seemingly assassinated Nick Fury. Being blamed for the incident by Alexander Pierce, Rogers eventually discovered that HYDRA, whom he thought had dissolved in 1945, had existed in secret as a parasite within S.H.I.E.L.D., and that they were planning to use Project Insight as a way to bring about a new world order, while also learning that the Winter Soldier was in fact his best friend Bucky Barnes, now operating as a brainwashed assassin. Along Romanoff, Maria Hill and Sam Wilson, Rogers had ended the HYDRA Uprising. With the immediate threat of HYDRA quelled, Rogers embarked on a quest to locate Barnes.

In the midst of his search for Barnes, the Avengers were mobilized in order to eliminate the remnants of HYDRA, prompting Rogers to abandon his quest and rejoin all of his former teammates to help capture the Scepter and Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. Following securing their victory, Rogers was almost immediately thrown into another crisis when Ultron, the peacekeeping artificial intelligent program designed by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, began a plot to eliminate humanity. Following a prolonged and brutal conflict in which the Vision's creation gave them an advantage, Ultron was defeated during the Battle of Sokovia, however the cost of their battle meant many of the Avengers disbanded, while Rogers and Romanoff stayed to lead the second incarnation of the team.

While the new Avengers conducted worldwide missions, they soon began tracking down Crossbones, only for Scarlet Witch to make a mistake resulting in innocent deaths. Thaddeus Ross then used the disaster to write the Sokovia Accords which Rogers refused to sign due to moral disagreements. Rogers' problems increased even more as Bucky Barnes resurfaced having seemingly caused a recent terrorist bombing, and Rogers chose to protect him, which then lead to Ross sending Iron Man out to apprehend them both. Upon learning Helmut Zemo was to blame, Rogers fought against his former allies to find Zemo, only for all Zemo's schemes to be completed as he revealed Barnes killed Stark's parents, resulting in Rogers going on the run and the Avengers falling apart.

Having saved his friends from the Raft, Rogers sent Barnes to gain help from T'Challa in Wakanda while he and all his allies became vigilantes. However when Thanos and his Black Order attacked Earth seeking the final Infinity Stones, Rogers came out of hiding in order to protect Vision. In order to keep the Vision safe, Rogers had brought him to Wakanda where he and Black Panther's armies held off the onslaught of Outriders sent down by Thanos. Despite their success in killing Thanos's forces, when Thanos himself arrived on the planet, he effortlessly overpowered Rogers and the other heroes and took the Mind Stone, killing Vision in the process. Despite Rogers and Thor still trying to defeat him, Thanos completed his goal and wiped out half of the population of the universe, leaving Rogers as one of the only survivors.

Meeting James Barnes
"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky."

- Steve Rogers

Steven Grant Rogers was born on July 4, 1918, to the nurse Sarah and the soldier Joseph Rogers in Brooklyn, New York City. Before Rogers had been born, his father Joseph was confirmed to have been killed in action in. At a young age he met James "Bucky" Barnes, who would eventually become his best friend. As a sickly adolescent, Rogers was frequently attacked by bullies on the streets. However, his resilience, despite his small stature, inspired Barnes to come to his aid and fight off the bullies when he was needed, and they became good friends. Rogers would also attend the Major League Baseball's 1941 season.

Rogers attended in Brooklyn from 1932 to 1936, and later Auburndale Art School, also in Brooklyn, from 1937 to 1938. During one of their trips together, Rogers and Barnes had ended up being forced to get a ride back towards Brooklyn on the back of a freezer truck as they had used all their remaining train money to buy hotdogs, while Barnes had also inadvertently managed to spend three dollars as he attempted to win a stuffed bear for a red headed girl named Dolores. Another time when they were at Coney Island together, Barnes convinced Rogers to ride the cyclon, resulting in Rogers throwing up.

Mother's Death
"Thank you Buck, but I can get by on my own." "The thing is, you don't have to. I'm with you 'til the end of the line, pal."

- Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes

In 1936, Rogers' own mother had died of tuberculosis. She was then buried next to her husband. Following the funeral, Rogers spoke to Bucky Barnes, who offered to have Rogers stay at his place and do errands to earn his keep, but Rogers declined, saying that he could get by on his own. Seeing Rogers struggling to find his house keys, Barnes revealed his secret key and told him that he did not have to because he was with him "to the end of the line," something Rogers would always keep to heart. A year later, during their art class, Barnes and Rogers found out that the United States of America had joined the Second World War. Rogers wanted to join the United States Army to go fight in Europe against the Nazis, so Bucky trained him for two weeks at Goldie's Boxing Gym. Soon Bucky and Steve went to a US Recruiting and Induction Center in New York City where Steve was classified as 4F and rejected from service, but Bucky later enlisted in the Army.

Rejected for Service
"Look, just give me a chance." "You’ll be ineligible on your asthma alone." "Is there anything I can do?" "You’re doing it. I’m saving your life."

- Steve Rogers and 4F Doctor

Seeing the rise of Adolf Hitler and the horrors of World War II, Rogers became determined to enlist in the United States Armed Forces. While in New York in December 1941, Rogers made another attempt to be enlisted, using a false enlistment card which claimed he was from Paramus. While waiting to be called up, Rogers read a newspaper with another recruit who claimed seeing the horror that was happening in France made he reconsider signing up, to which Rogers insisted he had not changed his mind. Despite everything however, Rogers rejected for service in the Armed Forces, despite still making multiple attempts at different enlistment offices, due to all his various health and physical issues. Upon being asked about how his mother and father had died previously, Rogers was rejected. However he remained determined to fight alongside his friends and other men in World War II and would attempt to convince the doctors to at least give him a chance, but to no avail. Disappointed that he would still be unable to go overseas and join in the war effort, Rogers went to a local cinema to try and take his mind of the situation. While at the screening, Rogers watched as an advert was played showing the different ways soldiers and civilians can help with the war effort, showing footage of the rise of and the efforts the United States of America and the other Allied Forces were putting in to stop Hitler's advancements. While the film showed soldiers signing up, Rogers considered the footage of all the efforts people at home could do if he was still unable to fight overseas. When a loud jerk inside the cinema yelled at the screen and showed disrespect to the message of the film, Rogers asked him to show some respect. When the bully continued yelling out and insisting that they stop showing the footage and finally play the movie, Rogers was the only person to stand up to the bully, telling him to shut up, only for the bully to stand up and reveal himself to be considerably bigger than Rogers and ready for a fight whoever told him to shut up. The bully proceeded to take Rogers outside before he then began to beat him up for insulting him. Despite being smaller and unable to defend himself, Rogers still refused to give up, getting up from every punch and using a bin-lid as a shield to defend himself and insisting he could do this all day, until he was finally knocked over and beaten. Rogers however was later rescued by his friend Bucky Barnes, who chased off the bully before helping Rogers to get on his feet. Looking at his friend, Rogers then realized Barnes was wearing his uniform while he confirmed he would ship out with the 107th Infantry Regiment to go to England the next day. While Rogers expressed his disappointment that he would not join him, Barnes then smiled and insisted that they had to celebrate his last night before heading out into combat by going to the Stark Expo, which Rogers agreed to go to despite his poor mood, still wanting to support Barnes.

Goodbye to Barnes
"There are men laying down their lives. I got no right to do any less than them. That’s what you don’t understand. This isn’t about me." "Right. Cause you got nothing to prove."

- Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes

In his attempt to cheer up his best friend, Bucky Barnes convinced Rogers to attend the Stark Expo and see an exhibition of the future technologies with him as well as two girls as a double date which Barnes had kept a secret from Rogers. Upon seeing Bonnie and Connie excitedly waving at Barnes, Rogers questioned what he had told his date about him, to which Barnes insisted he had only told her the good stuff, which had made Rogers even more nervous. While they explored the Expo with the girls, Rogers and Barnes had then witnessed Howard Stark demonstrating his flying car prototype which would be built by Stark Industries, with Stark enthusiastically claiming that with his technology he and his company were currently developing, automobiles of the future would not even have to touch the ground at all. As the demonstration went underway, Rogers tried to offer Connie some sweets which she rejected before they watched as Stark's car then promptly crashed to the ground due to still being unfinished, much to the great amusement of the crowds. Despite all of the incredible exhibits that were being displayed at the Expo, including the Synthetic Man and the Hovercar, when Rogers had seen a nearby enlistment office adjacent, he had quietly snuck away from Barnes and the girls as he then made another attempt to go enlist in the United States Armed Forces once again so he might finally have a chance of fighting overseas with his fellow men. While waiting his turn to enlist in the Armed Forces, Rogers then posed beside their picture of a soldier who was wearing an army uniform, although Rogers' own short stature meant he rather unimpressively only came up to the picture's chin while looking at himself. Barnes noticed his absence and later found Rogers, attempting to convince him not to enlist again in case he was arrested for lying on his enlistment form again, but Rogers insisted that he needed to fight for his country as the threat of World War II and still continued to grow. Finally Rogers argued that he had no right to do any less than the other men fighting for their freedom before he and Barnes said their goodbyes, knowing that Barnes would be shipping out onto England with the 107th Infantry Regiment the next morning, with the pair sharing joking insults and a hug as Barnes left.

Meeting Abraham Erskine
"Do you want to kill Nazis?" "Is this a test?" "Yes." "I don’t wanna kill anyone. I don’t like bullies."

- Abraham Erskine and Steve Rogers

Having overheard Rogers' conversation with Bucky Barnes about wanting to help in the war, Doctor Abraham Erskine decided to meet Rogers in a secluded room where Rogers was awaiting his tests. Seeing the doctors leave the room however, Rogers became concerned that his forging of enlistment paperwork had been discovered as he quickly put his shoes back on and prepared to leave. Erskine however then stepped inside the room and explained that he represented the Strategic Scientific Reserve. Rogers then questioned where Erskine was from, insisting he was not troubled when Erskine revealed he was born in Germany. Erskine then asked Rogers if he wished to go overseas and kill, to which Rogers questioned if he was being tested before saying that he did not wish to kill anyone; he simply did not like bullies no matter where they were from. Impressed by this answer and all of Rogers' continued efforts to be enlisted with the United States Armed Forces, Erskine then decided to enlist Rogers as a candidate of Project Rebirth, a secret "super-soldier" experiment which was being conducted by the Strategic Scientific Reserve, telling him that this would be his chance to join the war effort in World War II, which Rogers had then enthusiastically accepted, delighted to be given the opportunity to serve.

Training Begins
"We are going to win this war because we have the best men. And because they’re gonna get better. Much better. The Strategic Scientific Reserve is an allied effort made up of the best minds in the free world. Our goal is to create the best army in history. But every army starts with one man."

- Chester Phillips to Steve Rogers

Rogers agreed and under the supervision of Dr. Abraham Erskine, he traveled to Camp Lehigh to begin his training. Upon arriving, Rogers watched as Agent Peggy Carter introduced herself and showed her strength by hitting Gilmore Hodge when he attempted to disrespect her. Colonel Chester Phillips then arrived and gave a speech to the cadets, taking an instant dislike for Rogers as he believed that such a small man should not be involved in their operations. Rogers trained hard in his attempts to prove himself to be a worthy soldier with the United States Armed Forces, but struggled on much of the physical training, managing to get tangled in a rope climb and falling upside down. Rogers was also often mocked and bullied by the other soldiers, including Private Hodge who would kick out the structures behind him to ensure that the barbed wire fell on Rogers which he would be forced to crawl through all of the mud. However, Rogers' determination and quick thinking often made him stand out from the group, even when he was still struggling to keep up with the other soldiers physically. While out on their run under the orders of Sergeant Michael Duffy, Rogers and the other cadets were offered a ride home if they successfully took down a flag from the top of a pole, with Rogers being too tired to join the others in desperately trying to climb up the pole physically to take down the flag. Rogers however had approached the situation more thoughtfully and, rather than attempting to climb up the flagpole, Rogers instead had simply removed the pole's structure pin and allowing it to fall down, before then removing the flag as it lay on the grass. With that, and being the first cadet in the camp's history to successfully take the flag, Rogers gained his ride to camp in Carter's vehicle, much to the annoyance of the other soldiers who had failed to think of it. Despite all of Rogers' continued efforts to prove himself to be worthy, Colonel Chester Phillips was unconvinced of Erskine's claims that Rogers was the right person for the Project Rebirth procedure, still ignoring Erskine's instance that they needed to look at qualities in a subject that went beyond the physical, although Phillips claimed that Hodge was the best fit due to him being big, fast and someone who obeyed orders and was therefore the perfect soldier for them. As Erskine argued that Hodge was simply a bully, Phillips decided to demonstrate that Hodge was braver than Rogers by throwing a fake grenade at the cadets. Much to Phillips surprise, Hodge ran for his life while Rogers jumped over the grenade in order to protect his fellow soldiers from the blast that never came. Having seen Rogers commit an act of self-sacrificing bravery, Phillips finally relented to Erskine, much to his annoyance and Erskine's satisfaction.

Accepted for Rebirth
"Can I ask you a question?" "Just one?" "Why me?" "I suppose that is the only question that matters."

- Steve Rogers and Abraham Erskine

With the decision made that Rogers would be the one cadet selected to undergo Project Rebirth, Rogers was sent back into his room to await the procedure in the morning. The night before the treatment, Rogers was visited by Abraham Erskine who came with a drink, before Rogers asked him why he had been selected for the experiment as apposed to any of the other stronger potential soldiers. Erskine explained how the and Adolf Hitler had gained all it's power in Germany and how Erskine himself had been selected by Hitler to produce the perfect soldier. Erskine then revealed to Rogers that his first test subject, the Nazi officer Johann Schmidt, underwent an imperfect version of the treatment; becoming super-human while suffering negative side-effects due to his inner ambition for power and selfish obsession with becoming a superior man. However, Erskine reassured Rogers that despite everything that had happened to Schmidt upon taking the Super Soldier Serum, he had chosen Rogers because he was inherently a good man and one that because he had been weak his whole life, would not lose respect for the strength he would gain. Erskine offered Rogers a drink before he took it away as Rogers still had his procedure the next morning and therefore could not consume any liquids, although Erskine himself still insisted that he could have a drink himself. Amused, Rogers and Erskine promised to share this drink after the treatment.

Project Rebirth
"How do you feel?" "Taller." "You look taller."

- Peggy Carter and Steve Rogers

On the day of the procedure, Rogers was escorted to a secret facility by Peggy Carter. As they drove together, Rogers pointed out many of the locations in New York City where he had been beaten up as he and Carter talked about being picked on and ignored for something they could not change; Rogers for his height and Carter for her gender. Despite Rogers' awkwardness while speaking with her, Carter was charmed by Rogers' sincerity and good moral values. Once they had arrived, Rogers followed Carter into the Facility where the Strategic Scientific Reserve where awaiting their arrival in order to begin the procedure as was planned. Rogers then watched agent Carter greeted the elderly woman who was standing behind the shop desk, giving her their secret code which granted them access into the secret facility, which was being hidden behind a large book case to avoid suspicion from members of the general public. As soon as they stepped inside the main room, Rogers witnessed all of the scientists turning and looking at him, awaiting the beginning of the experiment, before Doctor Abraham Erskine greeted Rogers and Carter while Howard Stark prepped the machinery. While Rogers was instructed to remove his shirt, shoes and hat ready for them to begin their experiment, Colonel Chester Phillips was watching from a safe distance with many other various Generals and Senators. Once Rogers was strapped into the Vita-Ray Chamber, Erskine gave a short speech to Phillips and all the other people watching about exactly how Project Rebirth would work and what their procedure entailed, promising this would be the first step towards bring them to peace during World War II. Rogers was injected with a needle which made him wince, as he noted that the injection was not nearly as bad as he thought it was going to be, before Erskine then revealed that this injection had merely been, making Rogers slightly more nervous as he considered what could be coming up next. Before subjecting Rogers to the super-soldier treatment, Dr. Erskine gave a countdown and then placed a comforting hand on Rogers' shoulder before injecting him with the Super Soldier Serum which had caused Rogers considerable pain. Erskine then ordered Stark to activate the machine which lifted Rogers up in the air. Before the final stages occured, Erskine questioned how Rogers was doing, to which he simply joked if he still had time to go to the bathroom. Erskine ordered Stark to proceed as they then began dosing Rogers with large amounts of Vita Radiation. Although the treatment was extremely painful, causing Rogers to scream out in agony and almost force Erskine and Stark to shut off the reactor to save his life, Rogers demanded that the scientists to keep going regardless of his pain. Eventually, the experiment was complete and Rogers finally emerged from their experiment with a greatly enhanced physique. Rogers went from being 5'4" tall and weighing 94 pounds, to being 6'2" and weighing 220 lbs. Peggy Carter was the first to greet Rogers as he stepped out of the Vita-Ray Chamber, asking how he felt, to which the awestruck Rogers could only comment that he felt taller. While Carter gave Rogers a t-shirt to cover himself up, all the other scientists and generals then came down to congratulate the team, with Stark expressing his amazement. Senator Brandt then began commenting on how Adolf Hitler and the were about to get very nervous following this extraordinary success as more of the scientists and generals had then gathered around Rogers.

Assassination of Abraham Erskine
"Who the hell are you?" "The first of many. Cut off one head, two more shall take its place. Hail HYDRA!"

- Steve Rogers and Heinz Kruger

Shortly following the Project Rebirth experiment however, one of the attendees shot and killed Doctor Abraham Erskine, revealing himself an assassin working for Johann Schmidt. As the assassin, named Heinz Kruger fought through the soldiers in his way, he then stole the last vial of Super Soldier Serum and escaped. Rogers ran onto Erskine's aid but there was nothing he could do. Erskine pointed to Rogers' heart, reminding him of their earlier conversation, and died. Determined to bring his friend's killer to justice, Rogers then pursued Kruger on foot, saving Peggy Carter when she was almost run over by Kruger. While Kruger drove away in a stolen taxi, Rogers ran after him through the streets of New York City and, due to his enhanced physicality, Rogers was able to catch up with Kruger, despite still struggling to handle all of his newly found abilities and inadvertently crashing through a shop window which Rogers apologised for. Finally Rogers leaped from car roofs and launched himself onto the roof of Kruger's Lucky Star Taxi and tried to pull him out while they continued charging through New York. However Kruger began firing into the roof of the taxi, mildly wounding Rogers who managed to avoid most of the gun shots before Kruger took his eyes off the road to get yet another shot at Rogers and caused the taxi to crash, while Rogers was thrown off but came out of the wreak uninjured. Getting back onto his feet, Rogers continued running after Kruger, only to be shot at, forcing Rogers to pick up the Taxi's broken car door which he used as his shield. As the crowds attempted to run for their lives, Kruger then grabbed a young child from the street, taking him to the docks with the gun to his head while still firing at Rogers. Unwilling to allow the boy to come to harm, Rogers continued after Kruger while the boy's mother still cried out in utter horror. When Rogers caught up with Kruger on the docks, he witnessed the assassin holding his at the boy's head, forcing Rogers to step out to try and stop Kruger from harming the boy. Kruger responded by trying to shoot Rogers, only to realize that he was out of ammunition. Frustrated, Kruger threw the boy over the docks and ran, but when Rogers went to save the boy, he discovered the boy could swim and continued chasing after Kruger. When Kruger made his final desperate effort to escape by getting in his HYDRA submarine named Fieser Dorsch, Rogers still refused to allow the killer of Abraham Erskine to escape justice and dove into the water after him. Swimming through the water with all of his new found might, Rogers managed to catch up with the submarine and punched through the glass of the cockpit, forcing Kruger outside and dragging him all the way back to the surface for interrogation. Rogers dragged Kruger back to the surface and threw him onto the docks where he proceeded to smash the Super Soldier Serum in ensure that the Strategic Scientific Reserve could not use it again. Rogers then furiously demanded to know who he was while Kruger insisted he was merely the first of many, giving the HYDRA salute before he then committed suicide via Cyanide Pill before he could be interrogated any further, dropping dead in front of Rogers.

Recruited by Brandt
"Sir, if you’re going after Schmidt, I want in." "You’re an experiment. You’re going to Alamogordo." "The serum worked." "I asked for an army and all I got was you. You are not enough."

- Steve Rogers and Chester Phillips

With Dr. Abraham Erskine now deceased, any hope of reproducing the Super Soldier Serum was seemingly lost. Blood samples were taken from Rogers in hopes to replicate the formula. Out of the twelve, one was given to Howard Stark. Rogers then spoke with Peggy Carter who insisted that if the experiment could have only worked once, Erskine would have been glad it worked on Rogers. Finding Stark still working on the Fieser Dorsch, Rogers heard that whatever HYDRA was now working with was more technologically advanced than anything they had. Rather than be confined to a lab while scientists attempted to rediscover Erskine's formula, Rogers tried to convince Chester Phillips to allow him to serve overseas and defeat the Red Skull, but Phillips refused, noting that he was not the army he had wanted, claiming Rogers was just not enough. While Rogers was left gutted that once again he would not be able to serve in World War II as he had wanted, Senator Brandt however approached Rogers and claimed that his actions in stopping Heinz Kruger and saving the young child had been noticed by the American people. Brandt then offered Rogers the chance to serve his country on the most important battlefield of the war, which Rogers had gladly accepted, with Brandt then promoting him there on the spot.

Working for the USO
"He's got me doing this. Phillips would've had me stuck in a lab." "These are your only two options? A lab rat or dancing monkey? You were meant for more than this, you know?" "For the longest time I dreamed about coming overseas and be on the front lines. Serving my country. I finally get everything I wanted, and I’m wearing tights."

- Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter

However, rather than putting Abraham Erskine's work to it's intended use and being sent to serve overseas in order to serve alongside his fellow soldiers in the United States Armed Forces on the battlefields of World War II as he expected, Brandt had ordered Rogers to go and tour the nation in a colorful costume as Captain America. Rogers regretfully agreed, tasked to promote war bonds for the and encourage American participation in the war. Rogers found performing difficult and awkward, still wishing to fight with his fellow soldiers against the forces of and the continuing rise of HYDRA under the leadership of Red Skull. But instead he was forced by Senator Brandt to perform and pose for photographs to keep the moral of the people back home on the rise. Despite his awkwardness, Rogers still tried to make the best of the situation, enjoying the reactions of all the young children. With the help of this large show featuring music and dancers, even including a fake Adolf Hitler for Rogers to knock out night after night, Captain America became a star across the world, much to the ever growing delight of Senator Brandt who insisted on posing for some pictures with Rogers himself. Following each show, Rogers would sign autographs for the children who admired him, and following one show he was greeted by a beautiful woman wanting an autograph from him, which made the still shy Rogers rather awkward. The continued shows allowed Rogers to become an icon and living propaganda piece for the American people during the war effort, even starring in his own comic book series and several movie serials in which he would heroically battle against and defeat the Nazis while still wearing Captain America's Uniform. These comic books were sent overseas to France where they were enjoyed by both the United States Armed Forces soldiers as well as children back home. Rogers continued to travel the country from state to state as his own popularity continued to grow with the wives and children whose husbands and fathers were fighting overseas against Hitler's forces. At the end of the shows, Captain America would demonstrate his strength from the Super Soldier Serum by lifting a motorcycle and three of the dancers above his head while the music finished, much to the amazement of his ever growing audiences.

Performing Overseas
"Are you planning a rescue mission?" "Yeah! It’s called winning the war." "But if you know where they are, why not at least…?" "They’re thirty miles behind the lines."

- Captain America and Chester Phillips

In 1943, while touring to active servicemen in Italy, Rogers learned the men of the United States Armed Forces did not enjoy his act as much as the nine-year-olds for whom he usually performed. Instead of getting behind his message, Rogers had abuse yelled out by Gilmore Hodge and other soldiers who insisted on seeing the Star Spangled Singers instead of Captain America himself. Depressed at the job with Captain America's USO Show he had been given and wish to be a soldier serving on the front lines, Rogers took a free moment to sketch himself as a performing monkey. He was then joined by agent Peggy Carter who tried to persuade him that he was meant for more than what he was doing, reminding him of the reasons why Abraham Erskine had selected him, commenting on how much Rogers sounded like Senator Brandt when he attempted to defend his recent work. Rogers however noted that despite all his disappointments in his current work, at least he did not end up being experimented on to gain the Super Soldier Serum while in labs. During their conversation about his work as Captain America, Rogers watched as even more wounded soldiers returned back to the base and learned that the 107th Infantry Regiment had been seemingly completely wiped out during battle against Johann Schmidt's forces while they had been fighting in Azzano. Upon hearing this, Rogers realized this was Bucky Barnes' unit and desperately set out to learn if his closest friend had been killed or not during the conflict. Running across the camp with Carter, Rogers then went immediately to Colonel Chester Phillips tent who teased Rogers over his Captain America character. Rogers begged Phillips to inform him if Barnes was alive or dead, with Phillips explaining they believed he was gone. Rogers demanded to know what rescue mission was taking place, but Phillips confirmed none was planned as it had been deemed far too dangerous and would risk the lives of even more soldiers. Although Phillips seemingly confirmed Barnes as K.I.A., Rogers had refused to believe that Bucky was dead and stole weapons and some equipment, including Captain America's Shield, in an attempt to drive to the HYDRA base and find him. Rogers asked if Carter meant what she said when she claimed to believe he was meant for more than children's shows, which she confirmed. Seeing his determination, Carter convinced Rogers to let her to aid him. Carter and Howard Stark assisted Rogers by flying him into Austria, thirty miles behind enemy lines. During the journey, Rogers had an awkward conversation with Carter when he mistakenly thought she had begun a relationship with Stark. Their plane was suddenly shot at by enemy guns, and Rogers had ordered Carter to turn the plane around once he was clear. She tried to tell him that he could not give her orders, but he claimed he could as he was a Captain.

Liberation of Prisoners of War
"Get out fast and give ’em hell. I’ll meet you guys in the clearing with anybody else I find." "Wait! You know what you’re doin’?" "Yeah. I’ve knocked out Adolf Hitler over two hundred times."

- Captain America and Gabe Jones

Rogers then leaped from Howard Stark's plane and landed safely on the ground in Austria before immediately going out to complete his mission. Rogers snuck aboard a HYDRA truck, easily knocking out both of the guards inside before he then managed to successfully infiltrate the HYDRA Fortress belonging to Johann Schmidt's HYDRA division. Once his truck pulled up, Rogers knocked out the guard who came to look in using his Shield, managing to not raise the alarm as he proceeded to make his way through the facility while still desperately attempting to avoid detection to all costs. Once there, Rogers knocked out the second HYDRA guard without raising the alarm before making his way through the facility to find the P.O.W.s locked away in there and bring them back to the safety of the allied camp. During his search through the facility while trying not to be caught, Rogers had found a piece of Tesseract technology which he stole, hoping that Stark could analyse their technology in order to find the secret to HYDRA's increase of power. Finally Rogers located the cell and freed the captured soldiers, being questioned by Gabe Jones about who he was supposed to be, to which Rogers simply answered that he was Captain America, much to all of their considerable confusion. Once freed, Rogers then spoke with Dum Dum Dugan and James Montgomery Falsworth as well as the other prisoners about their plan, before all of the soldiers fought against their former HYDRA captors, allowing them to escape. While Dugan and the other former soldiers kept HYDRA on the run as they ran out of the Austrian HYDRA Weapons Facility and towards the freedom of their allied camp, Rogers had then continued with his search of Bucky Barnes and, on the way, he spotted Arnim Zola as the HYDRA scientist was just leaving a room in a desperate hurry and had taken with him all of his various plans and blueprints for his potential Zola Bots and prepared to escape before he could then be captured by the United States Armed Forces. When Rogers entered the room which Zola had just exited in such a hurry, he found Barnes strapped to a table having seemingly been experimented on. Rogers freed Barnes from his restraints, finding Barnes was dazed and briefly confused as to why his best friend had become so much taller. Before they tried to escape, Rogers took note of a world map in Zola's office citing New York City and Berlin as potential targets for HYDRA. While they ran through the facility, Rogers was asked what happened to him and rather than explain Project Rebirth and all the effects of that, he simply claimed he had just joined the army.

Showdown with Red Skull
"You are deluded, Captain. You pretend to be a simple soldier, but in reality you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind. Unlike you, I embrace it proudly. Without fear!" "Then how come you’re running?"

- Red Skull and Captain America

However, as they were still attempting to make their way towards the exit, the entire facility began to explode so they tried to find another way out. As they made their way upstairs away from all of the flames, Rogers was then confronted by Johann Schmidt who was attempting to escape with Arnim Zola. While Schmidt expressed his delight at meeting Captain America, claiming he was a great fan of his films. Schmidt noted that while Abraham Erskine had clearly succeeded in his plans with Project Rebirth, with Schmidt claiming that while he thought Rogers was impressive he was hardly an improvement. Wishing to shut him up and take him into custody, Rogers furiously punched Schmidt in the face, only to notice he that his punch had damaged Schmidt's prosthetic mask. Schmidt then responded by angrily punching at Captain America's Shield, causing a large dent due to his enhanced strength. They had a brief fight where Schmidt showed off his incredible strength by knocking Rogers to the ground before Rogers was able kick him across the platform. Zola separated the pair by retracting the bridge, as Schmidt revealed his face to be a Mask, removing it to display the red-colored, skull-like face that earned him the nickname the Red Skull. While Rogers looked on, Bucky Barnes nervously questioned if Rogers had that same face. Schmidt then claimed that he and Rogers had both left humanity behind before turning and making his escape in his Focke-Wulf Triebflügel while Rogers and Barnes were left to die. With little time to spare before the entire facility was consumed in flames, Rogers managed to get himself and Barnes upstairs were he found the only exit to the other side was a steel beam on the top floor. Rogers allowed Barnes to go first, only for the beam to become loosened by the weight as Barnes barely managed to get to the other side before the beam fell into the flames several floors below them, leaving Rogers with seemingly no exit remaining for himself. Believing there was no hope left for him, Rogers ordered Barnes to escape without him, only for Barnes to insist that he would no leave without Rogers. Running out of time, Rogers used his Super Soldier Serum enhanced strength to move a steel bar out of his way, before making a desperate leap across the platforms. Despite almost being consumed by a fireball, Rogers had succeeded and regrouped with Barnes. As they made their way back, Rogers realized his radio had been damaged so he could not inform Peggy Carter of their survival and journey back, forcing them to make their journey on foot.

Return to Camp
"Some of these men need medical attention... I'd like to surrender myself for disciplinary action." "That won’t be necessary."

- Steve Rogers and Chester Phillips

Before long, Rogers had reunited with all of the escaped Prisoners of War, learning Dum Dum Dugan and Gabe Jones had successfully stolen a HYDRA Tank during the conflict, and together they had their way back towards the United States Armed Forces base. While they were being greeted upon arrival Rogers then asked Colonel Chester Phillips give these men medical attention and then to reprimand him for his actions. However Phillips refused to punish Rogers for disobeying his direct orders, knowing he had saved the lives of over 400 captured soldiers. Rogers was then greeted by Peggy Carter asked him why he arrived late and Rogers explained that he could not call his ride as the radio she gave him had been broken. Bucky Barnes then called for all the people to acknowledge that Captain America was a hero and every soldier cheered and applauded for the man who had saved them all from the clutches of HYDRA and the Red Skull. Rogers' actions were then put in newspapers as he became an even stronger icon for the American people for not only giving the allies a key strategic victory over HYDRA and but also keeping the lives of all the soldiers fighting safe as World War II continued to be fought.

Recruiting the Commandos
"You ready to follow Captain America into the jaws of death?" "Hell, no! The little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fight. I’m following him. But you're keeping the outfit?" "You know what? It’s kind of grown on me."

- Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes

Rogers travelled to England where he briefed Peggy Carter on what he had learned during his raid on the HYDRA Facility, including the locations of other HYDRA bases across Europe which he had seen on Arnim Zola's map. When Howard Stark then entered the base, he questioned why Rogers was not collecting his medal from Senator Brandt, which he had just decided to skip, leading to Chester Phillips complimenting Rogers for it. As it was suggested that Rogers would need a team to go back onto the front lines of World War II, Rogers explained he was putting together a team himself. Going into the Whip & Fiddle, Rogers met with some of the men he had saved from Red Skull and invited them into his team, nicknamed the Howling Commandos, to attack the other known bases belonging to HYDRA. While James Montgomery Falsworth claimed that the idea of reading back into the front lines sounded like good fun, Jim Morita also agreed while Gabe Jones and Jacques Dernier spoke to one another in French and agreed. Dum Dum Dugan finally informed Rogers that he would always be happy to fight, so long as Rogers agreed to open his tab at the bar so they could keep drinking, which Rogers agreed to, much to the soldiers' considerable delight. While the other men celebrated their recruitment, Rogers then went to speak with Bucky Barnes asking if he was willing to follow Captain America into the fight against HYDRA, to which Barnes claims he would follow his friend from New York City who would never back down from any fight. Barnes then asked if Rogers was planning on keeping Captain America's Uniform when they went back onto the front lines as Rogers said the uniform was growing on him. While they were speaking, they were then interrupted by the arrival of Agent Peggy Carter, who had arrived in a form fitting red dress which had made everyone in the Whip & Fiddle go silent. Carter informed Rogers that Howard Stark had some equipment he wanted Rogers to try in the morning. As Carter noticed the music, Barnes invited her to dance, only for Carter to ignore him and look at Rogers as she told him that once World War II was finally over, the pair should potentially go dancing together. When Carter had left, Barnes complained about being invisible to her, noting that he was only used to this happening to skinny Rogers, much to the great amusement of Rogers.

Howard Stark's Upgrades
"Peggy, that’s not what you thought it was." "I don’t think anything Captain. Not one thing. You always wanted to be soldier and now you are. Just like all the rest." "Well, what about you and Stark? How do I know you two haven’t been…fonduing?"

- Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter

The next morning, Rogers returned to the base in London where he was supposed to meet with Howard Stark. As he struggled to find where Stark currently was, Rogers asked Private Lorraine who then informed Rogers that Stark was currently speaking with Colonel Chester Phillips. Lorraine then invited Rogers to sit and wait, before revealing that she had been reading all about the Liberation of Allied Prisoners of War and Rogers' involvement, despite Rogers still insisting that he was merely doing what needed to be done. Lorraine however had insisted that Rogers had done far more for the efforts in World War II than most had, noting that the men who he had saved would have wives back at home who would likely wish to express their gratitude. As Rogers had still tried to insist that his efforts were not a big deal, Lorraine had still decided to reward his war efforts with her passionate kiss, claiming that it was on behalf of all the grateful women of America who wanted to thank him. Rogers and Lorraine's kiss had been seen by Peggy Carter who had arrived to bring Rogers to meet with Stark. Although Rogers had still desperately tried to dismiss the situation, Carter proceeded to berate him by claiming that he had always wanted to join the United States Armed Forces and had ended up just like any other soldier. Rogers then answered this by questioning if she was into a relationship with Stark, as Carter noted that Rogers did not understand women. Rogers later spoke to Howard Stark for advice on the matter, which had resulted in Stark then jokingly claiming that there was almost no way to predict what a woman was thinking, which is why he had now concentrated on his work with Stark Industries. During their own talk about work, Stark provided Rogers with a new outfit and showed off new weapons for him to take into combat situations. Rogers however stopped a new circular shield made of Vibranium capable of negating large amounts of damage, which he then decided should become his primary weapon and defence during combat missions due to it being almost completely indestructible and vibration absorbent. Rogers took an instant connection to this vibranium shield as he then enthusiastically showed it off to Agent Carter, noting how this was almost indestructible as Carter had arrived to inform Rogers that he was required by Colonel Phillips inside the other room. The shield's strength was quickly proven when Carter shot at him multiple times as revenge for kissing another woman, noting when Rogers had been proved to be unharmed that it clearly worked well enough. As Rogers and Stark watched the satisfied Carter leave the room as she had clearly proved her point to him following his attempt to kiss another woman, the shocked Rogers presented Stark with his own designs for the new version of the Captain America's Uniform, which Stark had accepted. Rogers' new version focused on both using the original concept of Captain America in a more practical setting as he went onto the front lines of the still continuing war effort.

Howling Commandos
"That was a difficult winter. A blizzard had trapped half our battalion behind the German line. Steve... Captain Rogers, he fought his way through a HYDRA blockade that had pinned our allies down for months. He saved over a thousand men, including the man who would... who would become my husband as it turned out."

- Peggy Carter about Captain America

Finally Rogers was send inside the front lines of World War II, now in command of the Howling Commandos, his personal band of soldiers who included Rogers' closest friend Bucky Barnes, Captain America embarked on his quest to sabotage and destroy HYDRA's facilities all across Europe. He led the team still using the name Captain America to inspire his fellow soldiers, now wearing a new and upgraded uniform with a similar design, but more practical for use. With the Commandos, Captain America took the fight onto HYDRA, personally attacking HYDRA outposts and destroying them, causing massive delays in Red Skull's plans to take over the world. Using his strength gained from Project Rebirth, Rogers was able keep his men moving as they pushed their way through Europe to take back land that HYDRA took. Riding his Motorcycle, Rogers sabotaged HYDRA facilities and escaped as they exploded, satisfied with his work. While World War II continued, Rogers and his Howling Commandos continued fighting against, with Rogers becoming a more experienced military leader as result. While Rogers was giving orders to Bucky Barnes and Dum Dum Dugan along with all of the rest of the Commandos, he realized the cameraman filming his work had taken footage of his compass, which contained a photograph of Agent Peggy Carter, much to Captain America's embarrassment as he quickly made a move away from the camera crew filming him any more, knowing full well that Colonel Chester Phillips would likely be amused if he ever saw the footage showing Rogers' compass. In winter of 1944, Captain America had single-handedly managed to stop a blockade and saved over six hundred men, including the man who had eventually become Peggy Carter's Husband. Rogers commanded his unit with skill and confidence. Captain America then continued focusing on destroying HYDRA facilities, with Barnes now acting as the Commandos' sniper while he kept the unit safe as they explored the destroyed facilities to ensure their slow victory. As the war continued and moved to their favour, Captain Rogers had met with General General to discuss all their upcoming battle plans, before he was also briefly filming sharing a laugh with Barnes while he was also filming storming beaches with other members of the United States Armed Forces. All of Rogers' actions during the war greatly enraged Johann Schmidt who found his schemes becoming constantly delayed by the actions of Captain America and his current team of the Howling Commandos standing by his side throughout their continued conflict against HYDRA. While Captain America and his Howling Commandos had continued gaining victories, the Strategic Scientific Reserve had also managed to secure victories over HYDRA, allowing the allies to slowly gain the advantage over Adolf Hitler as the war continued. As their missions continued, Rogers' leadership continued growing, allowing him to move beyond his persona as a propaganda hero and become a true leader of the allied fight against the Nazis as well as HYDRA.

Capture of Arnim Zola
"We only got about a ten second window. You miss that window, we're bugs on a windshield." "Better get moving, bugs!"

- Captain America and Dum Dum Dugan

In one particular mission against HYDRA, following receiving some information on the location of one of HYDRA's top scientist Arnim Zola, Rogers and his Howling Commandos let about a plan to capture Zola, ridding Red Skull of one of his key allies. While they awaited the train that Zola on, Rogers and Bucky Barnes reminisced about the time they had gone to Coney Island and Rogers had thrown up from a ride, with Barnes comparing it to their new mission. As the train was spotted, Dum Dum Dugan and Jacques Dernier had assisted Rogers, Barnes and Gabe Jones by setting up their zip line across the mountains as they then led a stealth attack and prepared to board Zola's armored train. Going first, Rogers warned that they only had a ten second window to get onto the train as they were all wished luck by James Montgomery Falsworth. The mission had gone ahead as Rogers and Barnes stepped inside the train. While Jones stayed on top of the train, Rogers and Barnes had gone inside and silently moved through the carriages, searching for Zola. Rogers led the way, with both of them walking their their guns armed and ready. However when Rogers moved into the next carriage, the doors were then suddenly closed between them as they were quickly ambushed, as Rogers had found himself faced with a HYDRA soldier armed Heavy Assault Rifle which he fired at him. With Barnes also coming under fire from several well armed HYDRA soldiers who had cornered him, Rogers knew he did not have much time to get to Barnes' aid. Shooting at the HYDRA soldier, Rogers then swung across the carriage on a pulley system before knocking out the soldier. Rogers then used the Heavy Assault Weapon to blast open the door before giving Barnes another gun which he used to kill the final HYDRA soldier who was attempting to attack him. As they took a breath Barnes insisted that he had the soldiers on the ropes, reminding Rogers of their conversation regarding the loud jerk back home in New York City. However, before the pair could relax, the other soldier returned and fired upon them with his Heavy Assault Rifle and, despite attempting to use Captain America's Shield to try and defend himself, Barnes was struck by yet another blast and was thrown from the train before Rogers took out the soldier. Despite all his desperate efforts to save his friend who was hanging onto the side of the train for dear life, Rogers watched in utter horror as Barnes fell down into the to his presumed death, devastated that he was unable to save him. Luckily, Zola was still captured by Gabe Jones and then handed over to Allied forces and interrogated by Chester Phillips. The mission proved to successful as Zola provided the Allies with intel needed to defeat HYDRA.

Mourning Bucky Barnes
"It wasn’t your fault." "Did you read the reports?" "Yes." "Then you know that’s not true."

- Peggy Carter and Steve Rogers

Following the loss of his dearest friend, Bucky Barnes, Rogers went back to London which had been bombed during and had a drink alone in the Whip & Fiddle to mourn his friend's death, only to then learn that because of the Super Soldier Serum, he was unable to get drunk. He was joined by Peggy Carter, who tried to assure him that Barnes' unexpected death was not his fault. Although Rogers insisted that Barnes' death during the Capture of Arnim Zola was his own fault, Carer told him that Barnes knew that their mission to bring an end to World War II was worth giving his life for. Rogers then said that he would not stop until they had finally defeated HYDRA, while also vowing that he would personally either capture or kill the Red Skull himself to avenge Barnes' sacrifice, to which Carter reminded him that he would not be alone. Following the interrogation of Arnim Zola, it was learned that HYDRA was planning a new massive attack on the world. Rogers attended a briefing with run by Colonel Chester Phillips, Rogers learned about Red Skull's plans with his Tesseract technology while they discussed their plan to bring an end to HYDRA and the Red Skull. Seeking to avenge Barnes, Rogers, along with Howard Stark and the remaining members of the Howling Commandos crafted a plan in which Rogers ride into the base alone on his Upgraded Motorcycle and then have the army follow him once he broke through their defences.

Attack on HYDRA Headquarters
"So, what are we supposed to do. I mean, it’s not like we can just knock on the front door." "Why not? That’s exactly what we’re gonna do."

- Jim Morita and Captain America

With little time to spare, the Strategic Scientific Reserve put Rogers' plan into action as he rode into the HYDRA Headquarters alone on his motorcycle which had been upgraded with extra weaponry for this mission by Howard Stark. As had Rogers charged towards the base, multiple HYDRA soldiers on motorcycles rode behind him planning to kill him. However Rogers used his upgrades from Stark to his advantage, first firing a wire across the trees which knocked several HYDRA soldiers off their HYDRA Motorcycles before Rogers then activated a flame thrower which destroyed several more bikes while also giving him a boost of speed. With only two soldiers remaining, Rogers drove up beside them and simply pulled the pin out of one of their grenades, causing both motorbikes to be destroyed inside a fireball. As he neared the base, Rogers placed his shield on the front of his bike while he dodged the attacks of a HYDRA Mini Tank that was set up in front of the base that was HYDRA's final line of defence to stop Rogers from getting inside. Having blown up the tank with a missile, Rogers then rode up the front of the base and leaped inside, dodging fire from the soldiers' HYDRA Assault Rifles who were trying to stop him before then activating his motorcycle's self destruct. Finding himself surrounded, Roger leaped off the motorcycle and allowed it to crash into the wall of the facility, causing a massive explosion which left a large hole in the wall. Using his shield as his main weapon and defence, Captain America successfully defeated many soldiers inside the outer area of the base, using his incredible strength to throw the men across the battlefield and throwing his shield at them. Rogers continued to fight against all of the soldiers but was eventually subdued when they had arrived with the HYDRA Flamethrowers, trapping him in a box of flames while many others arrived with guns aimed directly at Rogers, ending the clash.

Captured by Red Skull
"He gave you everything. So, what made you so special?" "Nothing. I’m just a kid from Brooklyn. I can do this all day." "Oh, of course you can. Of course."

- Red Skull and Captain America

Having been outgunned during the clash, Rogers was then taken the prisoner and brought to Johann Schmidt inside his quarters. Schmidt noted that Rogers had been incredible arrogant by attacking their HYDRA Headquarters without any back other up before questioning if Abraham Erskine had told him that there was no limits to their superhuman abilities. Rogers noted how Erskine had told him that Schmidt was insane, to which Schmidt arrogantly claimed that Erskine had merely resented his genius before trying to deny what he believed was rightfully his with the Super Soldier Serum. When Schmidt noted Rogers had been handed all this power willingly, he asked him why Erskine chose him to undergo Project Rebirth, Rogers simply answered there was nothing special about him, and he was just a kid from Brooklyn. This angered Schmidt and he punched Rogers and knocked him to the floor until he became calm again. Rogers told Schmidt that he would not give up, to which Schmidt then tried to shoot him in the head. However before he could fire, the Howling Commandos broke into the room, thanks to Arnim Zola's information he gave them, they knew where Schmidt's quarters were and were able to burst through the window to begin their assault and to rescue Rogers. While the Howling Commandos fired about the HYDRA soldiers and freed Rogers, Johann Schmidt managed ran from the chaos while his soldiers fought. Unwilling to allow Schmidt to escape Rogers ran after him, with James Montgomery Falsworth quickly throwing him his shield to assist him during the fight. When he eventually caught up to Schmidt, Captain America immediately threw his shield at him, however it got stuck in a doorway and Schmidt continued running to get to freedom. While Rogers tried to get the shield free, a HYDRA soldier armed with a pair of Flamethrowers attempted to kill him, so Rogers was forced hide behind a corner to protect himself. As Rogers was forced to hide from the flames, Peggy Carter ran up behind the soldier and shot him the back, causing his Flamethrower to implode and killing him. Rogers then ran straight up to Carter and reminded her of what she had said to him following the Liberation of Allied Prisoners of War by noting that she was late. Carter however reminded Rogers to focus on capturing Schmidt, causing Rogers to retake his shield and then continued the chase of Schmidt. Rogers managed to spot Schmidt just as he was boarding his own ship known as the Valkyrie, along with many soldiers and prepared to take off. While a large battle had just erupted between the HYDRA soldiers and their Strategic Scientific Reserve soldiers, Rogers ran through the battle to get to the Valkyrie and stop Schmidt, leaping over the heads of the soldiers and avoiding the gunfire as he ran as fast as he possible could to catch up to Schmidt's plane. However Schmidt began charging the plane down the runway and Rogers failed to catch up to him. However just as Schmidt began to get away from him, Rogers was then greeted by Chester Phillips and Carter who had just arrived in Johann Schmidt's Coupe and offered Rogers a ride to catch up with Schmidt. Rogers got in and they raced after the plane, with Phillips also using the car's boost to bring them alongside the plane's wing. Just before he jumped aboard the plane, Rogers and Carter had shared their first and last kiss, as Phillips had jokingly insisting that he would not be kissing Rogers as well. As they neared the plane, Rogers prepared to jump onboard, with little time to spare as they reached the end of the runway. Just as the plane took off, Rogers leaped onto the wheel and flew away with it, while Carter and Phillips managed to stop in time and watched from the HYDRA Headquarters as Rogers flew away. Once he had gotten onboard, Rogers immediately set about looking for Red Skull so he could finally end Schmidt's schemes for world domination.

Battle in the Valkyrie
"You could have the power of the gods! Yet you wear a flag on your chest and think you fight a battle of nations! I have seen the future, Captain! There are no flags!" "Not my future!"

- Red Skull and Captain America

While he was onboard the Valkyrie, Rogers noticed that the bombs were actual aircraft that were soon going to be deployed in major American cities, including New York City. Rogers stayed unseen for a few minutes, then began attacking the HYDRA soldiers who were getting ready to board the aircraft. Rogers kept the HYDRA soldiers from reaching their aircraft by fighting them off, using a knife to stab one in the back, before dropping another out of the plane with his aircraft, causing him to fall to his death and the bomb to fall into the ocean. Eventually one of the soldiers had gotten in a HYDRA Parasit, which Rogers tried to stop from leaving the plane by using his own shield to attack the soldier inside of the cockpit. Unfortunately, it did launch with Rogers and another HYDRA agent on top. While the pilot then desperately attempted to knock Rogers off the aircraft by spinning wildly in the air, this only resulted in the other soldier falling into the turbine and being cut to pieces while Rogers stayed onboard. Rogers tried to pull out the soldier who was piloting the parasit, but he pulled the ejecting button, and Rogers took control of the parasit. Rogers tried to fly back to the Valkyrie, but the Red Skull proceeded to attempt to shoot Rogers out of the sky by using the ship's main weapons. Rogers dodged these attacks and flew back into the ship, crash landing back inside before reclaiming his shield and going in search of Red Skull in order to finally end their conflict. Rogers then made his way throughout the plane until he had reached the cockpit, which he found to be seemingly empty. However Rogers realized just in time that Johann Schmidt had sneaked behind him and fired his HYDRA Assault Rifle at him, which he was able to block with his shield just in time. With one of the windows now shattered, Red Skull noted how Rogers clearly never gave up, to which Rogers then admitted was true before charging towards Red Skull to fight. Having blocked several more shots, Rogers disarmed Schmidt and the pair began furiously fighting one another. While Schmidt briefly managed to get hold of Captain America's Shield and had struck him with it, Rogers responded by knocking Schmidt into the controls of the plane, making the ship free fall. While they had a brief fight in midair, Schmidt managed to kick Rogers away before crawling to the controls and getting the ship back into a normal flight path. Once the plane levelled out, Rogers fell onto a higher platform while Schmidt drew his HYDRA Pistol and attempted to shoot at Rogers. While Rogers avoided the shots, Schmidt ranted that Rogers was misusing the power of all the gods and vowed that the future would have no flags. Refusing to accept this, Rogers then threw his shield at Schmidt as he crashed into the Containment Unit which had been used in order to harness the Tesseract's incredible power. Horrified that his ultimate prize had been damaged, Schmidt picked up the Tesseract which had been disconnected from the containment unit due to impact. Rogers then looked on as a portal through space opened, which transported Red Skull across the Nine Realms as he roared in horror as he vanished to an unknown location, seemingly losing his life. Rogers then watched while the Tesseract then melted a hole into the plane and finally disappeared into the ocean.

Crashing into Ice
"Right now I'm in the middle of nowhere. If I wait any longer a lot of people are gonna die. Peggy... this is my choice. Peggy..." "I'm here." "I'm gonna need a rain check on that dance."

- Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter

Having witnessed the Red Skull's apparent death, Rogers began to pilot the Valkyrie and desperately attempted to fly it far away from its current path to destroy New York City but realized that the plane was going too fast and the landing controls had been damaged. With no clear means of escaping the plane and with it traveling at a very fast speed to destroy New York, Rogers used the ship's intercom to then call the HYDRA Headquarters, which was now controlled by the Strategic Scientific Reserve following their victory. While Jim Morita answered, Peggy Carter stepped in and talked to Rogers. He told her that the plane was heading to New York to destroy it and it was going too fast for him to think of a plan of stopping it. He then told her that the only way to save New York was to crash land the ship into the Arctic, sacrificing his own life. As Rogers descended the ship down, he and Carter spoke to each other as if Rogers was not going to crash, arranging a date to finally go dancing. When the ship finally crashed, it left him trapped and preserved in the ice.

Remembered in History
"A symbol to the nation. A hero to the world. The story of Captain America is one of honor, bravery and sacrifice. Denied enlistment due to poor health, Steven Rogers was chosen for a program unique in the annals of American warfare."

- Smithsonian Narrator

Steve Rogers was mourned by a nation that had admired his heroic rise from the USO Stage to the newsreels, and who now believed him to be dead due to crashing on the ice. He left a cultural and political impact on the world, changing it for the better or the worse. In his attempt to recover Rogers' body, Howard Stark found the Tesseract, which was studied by the Strategic Scientific Reserve. Captain America was still a widely famous figure and a radio serial called The Captain America Adventure Program was developed, featuring fictional adventures during the war during which he would battle against Adolf Hitler with the aid of Betty Carver. Despite it's popularity ever growing popularity, the program was still extremely historically inaccurate, and Peggy Carter, having being involved in most of Captain America's missions during the war, hated the show, especially because her own role had been fictionalized as the typical "damsel in distress" who was often saved by Captain America. One of the blood samples that was taken from Captain America after the Assassination of Abraham Erskine was kept by Stark who wanted to use it in the hope that he could potentially develop a panacea from it Rogers' Super Soldier Serum infused blood. Carter confiscated the sample which was kept in the Blitzkrieg Button, and ultimately got rid of it by pouring it off the. Stark missed his friend greatly and viewed Captain America as his greatest accomplishment, which Johann Fennhoff was able to use as manipulation. However, Carter convinced him, and herself, to finally let him go. Over the decades following his apart demise, Captain America had passed into memory as the modern world's first superhero, making his exploits in World War II fighting against HYDRA and the Red Skull become well known, especially to the people of the United States of America. In honour of Rogers' heroic legacy, Agent Carter went on to help Stark found S.H.I.E.L.D. and eventually married the man whom Captain America had saved during the course of the war.

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Search
"My God. Base, give me a line to the Colonel." "It's 3 AM, sir." "I don't care what time it is. This one's waited long enough."

- S.H.I.E.L.D. Lieutenant and S.H.I.E.L.D. Tech

Having remained trapped within the ice for nearly seven decades after Rogers' crash landing following his fight with Red Skull onboard the the Valkyrie, finally a S.H.I.E.L.D. team led by Director Nick Fury had once again gone in search for his body. A big fan of Captain America, agent Phil Coulson was part of this small team. They searched for a year to find Rogers' body. When they had finally found him, Rogers was discovered to miraculously still be alive while frozen.

Reawakening
"We thought it best to break it to you slowly." "Break what?" "You've been asleep, Cap. For almost 70 years."

- Nick Fury and Steve Rogers

When Rogers arrived in New York City, he was defrosted and kept in a simulated 1941 environment to try and ease him into what was now happening. When he awoke, he quickly became suspicious; the baseball game broadcast from the radio in the room was one of the home games, which he had personally attended at Ebbets Field. As Rogers put together that he was now being deceived, he was then greeted by a female Agent who wished him a good afternoon. Rogers demanded to know where he was before noting that the Game was from the wrong year and demanded the truth. Scaring the agent, she called for back up as Rogers quickly escaped into the streets of New York City. In Times Square he discovered to his horror that everything around him had considerably changed. As Rogers stood in amazement, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents surrounded him before he was then greeted by Nick Fury, who informed him that he had been asleep for nearly seventy years. Rogers realized that many of his friends from the Howling Commandos were all likely dead and he was now lost within the new world which he knew nothing about. Thinking sadly about Peggy Carter, Rogers then informed Fury that he had a date with Carter which he unfortunately missed.

Readjusting to Life
"Things aren’t so bad. Food’s a lot better, we used to boil everything. No polio is good. Internet, so helpful. I’ve been reading that a lot trying to catch up."

- Steve Rogers to Sam Wilson

Rogers found himself lost in a world that had moved on without him and found it difficult to adjust to his new surroundings considering where he had left his life during World War II. He spent a few weeks inside seclusion at a cabin that was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s many Safe Houses. He then moved into an apartment in New York City. While there, Rogers looked through some files of his friends from the 1940s. He eventually found the file for Peggy Carter, which stated she was still alive. The file also contained her current phone number, but he hesitated to call because he was afraid of how Carter would react to seeing him after so many decades assuming he was dead. Later, he went to a nearby diner in New York and met Beth, a waitress who asked if he had sat outside Stark Tower in the hope of seeing Tony Stark fly by as Iron Man. When Beth noted they had wireless, Rogers mistakenly thought she meant radio, while a man encouraged him to ask for her number, but Rogers did not. He then went to a boxing gym.

Initiation into the Avengers
"I slept for seventy years, sir. I think I’ve had my fill." "Then you should be out, celebrating, seeing the world." "I went under the world was at war, I wake up, they say we won. They didn’t say what we lost." "We’ve made some mistakes along the way. Some very recently."

- Steve Rogers to Nick Fury

While working out in a boxing gym, Rogers recounted various events that took place during his era in World War II including his victorious fights against HYDRA alongside the Howling Commandos. However Rogers recalled Bucky Barnes' death, his fight with Red Skull, his sacrifice, the last conversation with Peggy Carter, and being discovered and defrosted. These memories of his life before awaking in 2011 infuriated Rogers until he broke the punching bag. Just at the moment when Rogers was putting up a second punching bag, Director Nick Fury approached him and questioned if he was having trouble sleeping, to which Rogers noted that he had almost slept for seventy years and therefore had had his fill. As he took off his gloves, Rogers noted how when he had awoken, he was told the war against Adolf Hitler and the had been won, but he was unsure what had been lost in the meantime. Fury then explained that he had come to Rogers with a new mission that he was needed for, which was not just to get Rogers back out into the world, but was in fact to save the entire world from an ultimate destruction. Director Fury then informed Rogers that a dangerous and powerful being known as Loki had stolen the Tesseract and intended to use it to conquer and rule the Earth. Having heard this, Rogers was not thrilled to learn that HYDRA's secret weapon and power source had found its way into this era, as Rogers had last seen it falling into the sea following the defeat of Johann Schmidt during the Battle in the Valkyrie. Fury then explained that Howard Stark had discovered the Tesseract while searching for Rogers, believing that this could be the key to unlimited and sustainable energy all around the world. Rogers accepted the assignment to track down the Tesseract and Loki as Fury noted that S.H.I.E.L.D. would bring him up to speed on everything before the mission to find Loki went ahead. When Fury noted that since he had been asleep the world had become even stranger than he knew, Rogers and Fury made a bet for ten dollars that nothing would surprise him anymore. When Fury had asked him if there was any more useful information regarding the Tesseract that S.H.I.E.L.D. was not already aware of, to which Rogers stated that they should have left it in the ocean before walking out.

Meeting the Avengers
"I hope I’m the man for the job." "Oh, you are. Absolutely. We’ve made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input." "The uniform? Aren’t the stars and stripes a little old fashioned?" "Everything that’s happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old fashioned."

- Steve Rogers and Phil Coulson

On his way to S.H.I.E.L.D. for the mission aboard the Quinjet, Rogers was debriefed by Agent Phil Coulson about the selected people who were part of the Avengers Initiative. One member in particular that intrigued Rogers was Bruce Banner. Coulson revealed to him that Banner attempted to recreate Abraham Erskine's Super Soldier Serum, resulting in Banner being exposed to high levels of Gamma Radiation and transforming into the Hulk, although Coulson had insisted that Banner was still a genius. Coulson and Rogers shared an awkward moment when he revealed that he watched Rogers being defrosted following his discovery in the Arctic and then expressed with great enthusiasm how much of an honor it was to have Rogers on board to lead this team. Rogers was somewhat skeptical of himself being the right candidate to lead this new team against Loki, however Coulson reassured Rogers that he was before explaining and that he had personally had overseen the development of their Newly Constructed Uniform for Rogers to wear which included design input from himself regarding the look. Rogers was surprised that he would be wearing his trademark stars and stripes since in this modern era it would appear to be outdated and old-fashioned in 2012. Coulson however reassured him that with the enormous threat they were about to face, people would need an old-fashioned symbol to inspire them with hope that would be much needed. Once arriving onto the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Rogers was introduced to Natasha Romanoff, as well as Banner who was now awkwardly walking all around the Helicarrier before shaking Rogers' hand and expressing his amazement at seeing Rogers alive. While Rogers and Banner discussed finding the Tesseract, they were advised by Romanoff to move back inside, just moments before the entire Helicarrier then lifted into the air, much to Rogers' amazement while Banner jokingly noted what a poor idea this was due to the risk of him transforming into the Hulk and causing complete mayhem inside the flying headquarters. Rogers, Banner and Romanoff then stepped inside the main control room where Director Nick Fury then ordered his second in command, Maria Hill, that the ship's cloaking be put on, allowing them to not only fly but become invisible. Rogers watched all of this latest technology with amazement before walking over to Fury and fulfilling the bet they had made by paying him ten dollars as he was suitably amazed by what he had just seen. While Rogers continued exploring the entire ship, Banner then spoke to Fury about searching for the Tesseract, while Romanoff noted her fear that they would not find Loki and his mind controlled hostages, who included Clint Barton and Erik Selvig in time. Banner suggested that they track down the Tesseract by using Gamma Radiation, with Fury agreeing to use S.H.I.E.L.D.'s contacts to get this done. While they waited for results from Banner's search for the Tesseract so they could then go down and capture Loki to bring an end to the conflict, Rogers stood beside Agent Coulson who, as Romanoff had warned him about previously, shyly asked if Rogers would be willing to sign his vintage Captain America Card Collection which he had collected. Once Rogers agreed to sign the cards, Coulson continued speaking with him as he noted that they were his vintage set which had taken him several years to collect all of them, while also proudly commented on how they were still in almost mint condition.

Capturing Loki
"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." "The soldier, the man out of time." "I'm not the one whose out of time."

- Captain America and Loki

Eventually their hunt paid of as Jasper Sitwell informed his superiors that Loki had been located in Stuttgart, Germany, with Sitwell also commenting his great surprise that Loki did not appear to even be attempting to hide his own identity. Once they had confirmed Loki's location Director Nick Fury informed Rogers that he would be in charge of capturing Loki before he immediately suited up into his New Uniform and headed off to Germany, with Natasha Romanoff acting as his backup. Upon arriving in Germany at the Gala, Rogers witnessed Loki forcing an entire crowd of the bystanders to kneel before him, following the murder of Heinrich Schäfer. Seeing Loki was about to execute some of the terrified people, Captain America used his Shield to deflect an incoming blast from Loki's Scepter, thus protecting an elderly man who refused to kneel before Loki. Rogers commented that the last time he had been in Germany during World War II, he had come into conflict with HYDRA and the Red Skull who he had previously also defeated. Getting back onto his feet, Loki noted that Rogers was the soldier he had already heard of, calling him a man out of time. Rogers however noted that he was not the one who was out as time, just before Black Widow appeared behind in the Quinjet and ordered Loki to surrender. As Loki defiantly fired a beat of energy from his Scepter which barely missed the Quinjet, Rogers then engaged in a fierce battle with Loki. who often gained the upper hand due to his superior Asgardian strength, blocking yet another throw of his shield. Standing over him, Loki tried to force Rogers to kneel in surrender but Rogers swore that he would not. Their fight continued although Rogers was at a disadvantage against the God of Mischief. Captain America had managed to hold his own with his fight against Loki, despite being considerably outmatched by the Asgardian's own strength, just long enough for Iron Man to arrive on the scene. As Iron Man flew down, he fired his powerful blast which knocked Loki back before aiming every weapon his Mark VI Armor had towards the God of Mischief. As Rogers reclaimed his shield and stood by Iron Man, Loki seemingly surrendered so easily, dropping his Scepter and then agreeing to go with them as their prisoner, making Rogers somewhat suspicious that it had been far too easy to defeat him.

Skirmish in Germany
"Now, I don't know what you plan on doing here." "I've come here to put and end to Loki's schemes!" "Then prove it. Put that hammer down."

- Captain America and Thor

On route back to the Helicarrier, Rogers spoke to Tony Stark, noting that he was highly uneasy with Loki's surrender, as it appeared to be far too easy considering the fight they had previously engaged with. While they were speaking Stark openly mocked Rogers, before they discussed how Director Nick Fury would often keep secrets from them both. However they were interrupted by a mysterious thunderstorm, as Rogers saw a frightened Loki, he sarcastically asked if he afraid of lightning. Loki however explained that he was nervous because he was in fact not fond of what would soon follow all the lightning, making Rogers somewhat uneasy. Without warning, Thor then appeared on the roof of the Quinjet and promptly broke inside. As Stark donned his Mark VI Armor, Thor knocked him back into Rogers before he grabbed Loki and flew away with him. Stark immediately pursued them and, despite Black Widow advising him to sit it out, being too dangerous for him, Rogers skydived after both of them, insisting that there was only one god and he did not dress like either Thor or Loki. Having parachuted down to Stuttgart, Rogers eventually arrived in the forest area to witness Thor and Iron Man engaged in a fearsome battle against each other for the capture of Loki, with Thor intending to bring Loki back into Asgard to face imprisonment for his crimes. Using his shield, Captain America had intervened and attempted to reason with Thor, questioning what it was he was doing there. Once Rogers pointed out that they should not be fighting with each other but should instead join forces against Loki's schemes, asking Thor to put his hammer down as the sign of peace between them. In response, Thor had furiously refused to put down his hammer and instead knocked Iron Man back before then leaping towards Captain America, bringing Mjølnir down upon his shield. The shield absorbed the impact, and had created a massive shockwave throughout the surrounding woodland, sending Thor hurtling backward. Afterward, the three of them stood up and looked at each other. Once they saw the massive amount of damage caused from their clash, they agreed to stop fighting and then taking Loki into captivity together, bringing him back to the Helicarrier to be locked away in there.

Working on the Helicarrier
"You need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark." "You think I’m not? Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn’t he telling us. I can’t do the equation unless I have all the variables." "You think Fury’s hiding something?"

- Steve Rogers and Tony Stark

While Loki was escorted onboard the Helicarrier and placed into a steel containment cell specifically designed to hold the Hulk if this was necessary. Rogers and his other teammates watched the holographic video of Nick Fury interrogating Loki over his schemes before Rogers asked Thor about what he intended, with Thor revealing that Loki had an army of the Chitauri who he would use to conquer the Earth, handing over the Tesseract to his leader in exchange. As the group attempted to learn Loki's primary objective and why he had just allowed himself to be captured by them, Tony Stark arrived with Phil Coulson on the bridge and explained exactly why Loki now needed to use Iridium and Erik Selvig's knowledge to stablize and harness the Tesseract's energy to open a portal. Rogers questioned what kind of Power Source Loki would need which Stark and Bruce Banner discussed in detail. They then discussed Loki's Scepter, with Fury comparing its power of brainwashing to the, which excited Rogers as he had finally understood this reference. Upon Fury's request, Banner had teamed up with Stark to locate the Tesseract. Rogers walked in on Stark attempting to provoke Banner into turning into the Hulk, and confronted him about the potential danger he could cause, demanding that he instead resume the task of finding the location of the Tesseract. Stark however revealed that his primary focus had become learning exactly why S.H.I.E.L.D. had brought them all together and what Director Fury was planning for bringing them together at this time. Rogers then questioned if Stark thought Fury was hiding something important from all of them, which Stark had confirmed as he noted that Fury was still a spy. Stark then forced Doctor Banner revealed his own misgivings about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s motivations behind researching the Tesseract in the first place, with Banner noting that Loki's quote about a warm light for all mankind while he was being interrogated might have been a reference to Stark Tower back in New York City. Stark then revealed that he was using J.A.R.V.I.S. to hack into the Helicarrier in order to learn what Fury was hiding for them, which made Rogers incredibly uncomfortable, leading to Rogers accusing Stark of refusing to stay focused on defeating Loki, which Stark insisted was not true. Becoming initially doubtful of their theories, Rogers ordered Stark to go back to tracking down the Tesseract before he then went off and searched the storage areas of the Helicarrier. Sneaking into closed off parts of the ship, Rogers had eventually discovered what Fury was seemingly hiding from them. Opening a box hidden in one of the rooms, Rogers found HYDRA weaponry and technology, including the HYDRA Assault Rifles which had been used by the Red Skull and surmised that S.H.I.E.L.D. was in fact attempting to harness all the power of the Tesseract to create similar weapons to these.

Avengers Argument
"Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?" "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." "I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. And I've seen the footage. The only thing that you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play. To lay down on the wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

- Captain America and Tony Stark

As Rogers returned with the HYDRA Assault Rifle, he had personally confronted Director Nick Fury about his secret intentions to use the Tesseract to make weapons based on the Red Skull's original designs. An intense argument broke out between the team with Director Fury and the other members of the Avengers as they demanded information on Phase 2, until Fury confessed to be finding ways to protect Earth from Asgardians and other powerful cosmic beings. As the argument intensified, Thor explained that it was Fury's work with the Tesseract that had attracted Loki and his allies to it, leading to Stark comparing Phase 2 to a nuclear detergent, while Rogers and Fury made a comment on how Stark Industries had previously made money building weapons for the United States Armed Forces. While Rogers and Tony Stark argued on the ethics of heroism, Rogers had argued that Stark was not the type of man who would make the real sacrifice, while Stark argued that the only reason Rogers was special was due to Howard Stark's work with the Super Soldier Serum. With everyone agreeing that they were being manipulated by Fury, Doctor Bruce Banner claimed that the Avengers were not a team but a time bomb. As Stark made jokes, Rogers began to lose his temper as he threatened to fight Stark, leading to Thor laughing at them. Finally Banner began confronting everyone, confessing to have once tried to end his own life before picking up the Scepter as he became more angry. Seeing this, Rogers managed to get through to him as Banner realized that Loki had been manipulating all of them while he was on the Helicarrier which is what had led to the argument.

Attack on the Helicarrier
"The relays are intact. What's our next move?" "Even if I clear the rotors, this thing won't re-engage without a jump. I'm gonna have to get in there and push." "Well if that thing gets up to speed, you'll get shredded!"

- Captain America and Iron Man

As the group argument came to a head, the Helicarrier came under attack by Hawkeye, who fired one of his Explosive Arrows to damage one of the Helicarrier's engines, threatening to make it fall out of the sky. This forced Captain America and Iron Man to put aside their differences and work together to help to save the damaged ship before it was too late. While Iron Man repaired the turbine, Captain America first checked the computer relays, which he struggled with due to his personal lack of understanding of modern technology. Once he had completed his task, Rogers was informed that Iron Man would be restarting the Helicarrier's propellors himself, and therefore he needed Rogers to pull a red lever when he called him to allow Iron Man to get free before he was shredded. However as Rogers waited for Iron Man's signal, he was forced to fend off Loki's brainwashed agents, with one attempting to throw his grenade to further damage the propellors which Rogers managed to block before firing at them with a machine gun as he desperately attempted to keep them at bay while Iron Man was working on restarting the engines. However, while Rogers was still engaged with his firefight, the entire Helicarrier began to fall to it's side as Clint Barton had successfully gotten past Nick Fury and Maria Hill before using yet another one of his Trick Arrows to shut down the Helicarrier's power. With Loki's agent still firing at him while the Helicarrier tilted, Rogers had lost his footing and fell from the platform, barely holding on by grabbing a wire. Meanwhile Iron Man began requesting that Rogers pull the lever as requested, forcing Rogers to use his strength to pull himself back onto the platform while still avoiding all the enemy gunfire. Rogers was just able to pull the lever as required moments before Iron Man would have been shredded in the propellor blades, allowing Iron Man to fly to his aid and knock out the final one of Loki's agent before he could shoot Rogers. Rogers and Stark then learned that during the ensuing battle, both Thor and Hulk were thrown from the Helicarrier and now their locations were currently still unknown, while agent Phil Coulson had tragically been killed when he was impaled through the back with Loki's Scepter moments before Loki managed to make his successful his own escape from the Helicarrier.

Mourning Phil Coulson
"Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?" "We are not soldiers! I'm not marching to Fury's fife." "Neither am I. He's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does, but right now we gotta put that behind us and get this done. Now Loki needs a power source."

- Steve Rogers and Tony Stark

Following the Attack on the Helicarrier, Rogers and Tony Stark had a meeting with Director Nick Fury to discuss what to do next following these events. Fury showed Rogers Agent Phil Coulson's vintage Captain America Card Collection which he had not managed to sign before his death, while Rogers saw them stained with Coulson's blood. Fury explained his intention to form the Avengers fight the battles that S.H.I.E.L.D. never could, noting Stark knew about this. Stark left the meeting early and went to the spot where Coulson had died while he had been trying to save Thor's life. Rogers spoke with him there, questioning if Coulson was married and learning of his relationship with a cellist. When Rogers called Coulson a good man, Stark claimed that he was an idiot for not waiting for backup before engaging in the fight. While Rogers tried to get his mind back on the mission and focused on Loki, he questioned if his was the first time Stark had ever lost a fellow soldier, leading to Stark furiously claiming they were not soldiers and refusing to fight for Fury anymore. As Rogers continued trying to keep Stark focused, he noted that Loki needed a power source for the Tesseract and they needed to focus on figuring out where this could be. When Stark noted that in killing Coulson and trying to tear them apart, Loki had made this conflict personal, noting that this was entirely the point as Loki wanted to be seen being victorious over the Earth. All Rogers' own attempts to get through to him worked, while Stark realized that Loki required Stark Tower back in New York City to power the Tesseract as this had been designed to create self sustaining energy which Loki needed.

Recruiting the Avengers
"I need men in these buildings. There are people inside that can run into the line of fire. You take them through the basement or through the subway, you keep them off the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th." "Why the hell should I take orders from you?"

- Captain America and Silva

The death of Phil Coulson was would finally bring the team together. Regardless of all he had been through thus far in the modern world, Rogers soon found the strength to do what needed to be done and take command of the Avengers as their new leader. As Iron Man flew into New York City and confronted Loki directly, Rogers and Natasha Romanoff teamed up with the recently recovered Clint Barton, who had just been successfully freed from Loki's mind control. Having put on his Newest Uniform and collected his Shield, Captain America alongside Romanoff and Barton had then matched together inside the hanger and took over a Quinjet which was being watched by Agent Tyler who tried to stop them but was instead ordered to leave by Rogers, as Tyler offered no further resistance. Despite their direct orders from Director Nick Fury and Maria Hill to stay onboard while they still continued repairing their own ship and gathering their intelligence back, Barton piloted the Quinjet off the Helicarrier instead as they flew away to New York in order to assist Iron Man. When they eventually arrived in New York they discovered to their horror that Loki had already succeeded in his plan as a portal had opened from Stark Tower above the city and the Chitauri army had begun their attack. As Loki engaged in a fight against Thor, a blast from Loki's Scepter caused their Quinjet was shot down, but they were all able to survive the crash due to Barton's flying skills. As they ran out inside the streets, Captain America looked up into the portal and saw a monstrous Leviathan flying down and laying waste to the city, with even more Chitauri warriors leaping off the Leviathan. Seeing the countless forces still attacking from their portal, Captain America took cover beside Black Widow and Hawkeye and noticed Loki riding one of the Chitauri Chariots and firing down upon all the innocent bystanders. Knowing that he had to get the people out of harms way, Captain America had agreed to leave Black Widow and Hawkeye to fight off the Chitauri soldiers on the ground while he ran ahead. Leaping off the bridge, Captain America then jumped from a crashed bus, which was promptly destroyed by Chitauri fire before running down the streets as fast as he possibly could. As Rogers felt his priority should be ensuring the protection of the endangered civilians, so he ran to the nearest officers of the New York City Police Department, dodging the Chituari attacks as the went. Finding Officers Silva and Saunders, Captain America and gave him orders for how to ensure the safety of the people. Officer Silva questioned why he should take orders from Rogers, but before he could answer, he was attacked by three Chitauri soldiers who he defeated with ease. Seeing Captain America's strength and skill in battle, Officer Silva decided to instead follow his orders.

Fighting the Chitauri
"I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or your turn it to ash. Thor, you've gotta try and bottleneck that portal, slow them down. You’ve got the lightning, light the bastards up. You and me, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here. And Hulk, smash!"

- Captain America to the Avengers

Having just ensured the safety of the innocent bystanders during all of the chaos, Captain America then regrouped with Black Widow and Hawkeye who were still furiously fighting back against the Chitauri, using their Chitauri Guns and Hawkeye's Quiver and Bow as their primary weapons against the invaders. They were then joined by Thor who confirmed that the Tesseract could not be damaged as they agreed to focus of the attacking army for the time being as Rogers came up with their battle plan. Before Rogers could continue working out his battle plan, they were joined by Bruce Banner who commented on the horror around them. When they witnessed a Leviathan coming towards them, Rogers had advised Banner to get angry as Banner noted that his secret was that he was always angry before he transformed into the Hulk and then destroyed the Leviathan, as Rogers used his Shield to protect Black Widow from the explosion. With the Avengers assembled, Rogers proved his tactical genius by giving each member their assignment in order to fight back against the massive invading alien army. Captain America ordered Hawkeye to stake out from a building to call out patterns and any strays, Iron Man to provide air support and superiority, Thor to use Mjølnir's lightning blasts to bottleneck the portal preventing any reinforcements from coming through. As the others went off to complete their tasks, Captain America told Black Widow that they would fight together in order to keep the fighting on the ground, and for Hulk to simply do what he does best: smash. Rogers then furiously fought beside Romanoff to take on countless numbers of Chitauri troops that were coming their way. While the battle went ahead and the Avengers did their duty, Captain America assisted Black Widow as she was fighting just one Chitauri soldier, using her own Black Widow's Bite to stun the alien before turning his Chitauri Staff back on it. As they overlooked the burning battlefield, Rogers noted that they had to find someway of closing the Tesseract's portal in order to end the invasion. Romanoff decided to go to the top of Stark Tower herself and attempt to close it, asking Rogers to help her by launching her up in the air and allowing her to catch a ride on one of the Chitauri Chariots flying overhead. While Romanoff flew across the battlefield in order to get near to the Tesseract and speak with Erik Selvig about how they could stop it, Captain America found himself surrounded by the alien forces who fired their Chitauri Guns at him. While Captain America held them back on his own, he was eventually rejoined by Iron Man, who flew down, knocking several of the aliens off the bridge before they then teamed up as Iron Man fired a beam of energy at Captain America's Shield which deflected and intensified the beam as he knocked back and killed several more of the attacking Chitauri forces. At one point, while he was taking out yet another Chitauri soldier who had pinned him down, Rogers had heard from Clint Barton that the Chitauri had taken a large group of over five dozen innocent civilians as their hostages inside of a nearby bank, with these hostages also including the waitress Beth who he had previously met. These aliens prepared to execute them with an explosion, but Captain America dived into the building used his Shield to take down the lead Chitauri. In his desperate attempt to save the innocent civilians, Rogers began to take out this entire battalion of the invaders by himself. However during the fight, Captain America's Helmet was torn off his face before he knocked back the other Chitauri soldier behind him. Looking up, Rogers realized that a Helmetless Chitauri and picked the Chitauri Bomb back up, while Rogers dived for his Shield which saved him from the explosion, although he was still blasted out the building, landing hard on a nearby car. As Captain America painfully got back to his feet, he watched as members of the United States Armed Forces and New York City Police Department then took all of the terrified civilians away from the still active danger zone.

Closing the Portal
"These things are still coming!" "I got a nuke coming in, it’s gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it." "Stark, you know that’s a one way trip."

- Captain America and Iron Man

Rejoining their battle against this Chitauri Invasion, Captain America was soon partnered with Thor, together taking out wave after wave of enemies. At one point, Rogers had taken a direct hit on the side from the Chitauri Staff which injured him, however, he still refused to stop fighting. Eventually, Gideon Malick and the rest of the World Security Council decided to shoot the nuclear bomb onto New York City, stopping the Chitauri from taking over their world but would kill the Avengers and civilians, and destroy Manhattan in the process. Once the missile had been launched, Director Nick Fury immediately informed Iron Man of the bomb coming straight for them with mere minutes to spare. Despite Black Widow noting that she could use the Scepter to close the Tesseract's portal, Stark told Rogers not to give the order yet as he managed to fly the bomb through the portal and have it destroy the Chitauri Command Center which in turn killed the Chitauri soldiers. However, it appeared that Stark had been killed in the explosion. Seeing no other choice, Rogers ordered Romanoff to close the portal, thus saving the entire Earth from conquest. Just as the had portal was being closed they discovered that Stark had managed to survive, however he was unconcious and tumbling down to the ground at some speed. Stark was saved from the fall back to earth by Hulk as Rogers and Thor quickly ran to his aid. They discovered Stark's heart was not beating, however Hulk managed to scare him awake with a rour. When he awoke, Rogers informed Stark that they had won the war. Rogers then joined all the other Avengers going up to Stark Tower in order to recapture Loki who, knowing he was defeated, finally surrendered without any resistance.

Departing the Avengers
"What, that this is somehow their fault? Captain America saved my life. Wherever he is and wherever any of them are, I would just... I would wanna say thank you."

- Bath the Waitress after the Battle of New York

Following their victory in the Chitauri Invasion and before they split up, Captain America and all of their other Avengers then ate silently together the Shawarma Palace. While they were eating they were interrupted by the arrival of War Machine, who arrived too late to help them in the battle. Sometime after the battle, they gathered in Central Park to see Thor return home to Asgard with the Tesseract with a bound and muzzled Loki, as Rogers closely watched the Tesseract's transportation. Once Thor had departed with Loki to bring him to justice by placing him into the Asgardian Dungeons, the rest of the Avengers then went their separate ways until the next time Earth needed its Mightiest Heroes to defend it from whatever threat came. Rogers personally shook hands with Tony Stark before Stark and Bruce Banner drove off together, as Rogers then rode off on his Motorcycle to see what awaited him in this new world. Rogers was then soon employed by Director Nick Fury to come and work for S.H.I.E.L.D. as an agent, to allow him to continue defending the world from dangers. Rogers moved to Washington, D.C., trying to adjust to living the 21st century. During his time with S.H.I.E.L.D., Rogers was also trained in both parkour and modern forms of combat to make him even more effective in the field. Rogers would often work with Black Widow as well as Brock Rumlow, as the three agents successfully took down a terrorist cell that had stolen the Zodiac. Rogers and Romanoff also saved the Nobel-prize winning scientist Professor Sana Amanat was in danger of an abduction by the highly dangerous mercenary group known as the Cadre by working together as a close unit.

School Discipline
"Hi. I'm Captain America. Here to talk to you about one of the most valuable traits a soldier or a student can have – patience. Sometimes patience is the key to victory. Sometimes it leads to very little; seems like it's not worth it. And you wonder... why you waited so long for something so disappointing."

- Captain America

Sometime following the Battle of New York, Captain America, on the behalf of the Department of Education, was recruited due to his fame to host his own fitness challenge for schools such as the Midtown School of Science and Technology, as well as hosting a series of public service videos, which were dubbed Rappin' With Cap, covering various topics. Some of the topics Captain America had spoken about to the school children in his videos had included fire hazards, the importance of a nutritional diet, human reproduction, the vitality of math and reading skills,, tooth decay, head lice, detention. During one of the videos Rogers spoke long and hard about the virtue of patience, claiming it could be the key to victory or could potentially lead to very little and be somewhat disappointing for the person who had waited.

Meeting Sam Wilson
"I kind of put that together. Must have freaked you out coming home after the whole defrosting thing." "It takes some getting used to. It’s good to meet you."

- Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers

While on a jog in Washington, D.C., Rogers frequently overlapped a man; every time he passed him Rogers jokingly called on to him "on your left". He later caught up again with the man who introduced himself as Sam Wilson, a former army veteran with the United States Armed Forces who was now outside the military working in the debriefing system. Wilson was able to fully understand Rogers' experiences of being a veteran returning home from World War II and all of the difficulties surrounding that experience, with the pair discussing how sleeping on a comfortable bed had become much more difficult for them and Rogers listing off all the ways that living in 2014 was not as bad as it might appear, pointing out how helpful the internet was with helping him catch up with what he had missed while frozen. The two talked about their lives and Wilson recommended some music for Rogers to catch up on, including which Rogers added to his list of things in the new world he had to watch, listen to or experience. They were interrupted when Natasha Romanoff had picked Rogers up for the newest S.H.I.E.L.D. mission. As Rogers was leaving, he teased Wilson by inviting him to go running some other time while Wilson then invited Rogers to come and join him at a meeting for those suffering with which Rogers then promised to do so. As Romanoff pulled up, she jokingly asked where the Smithsonian was, comparing Rogers to a fossil.

Retaking of the Lemurian Star
"Je pensais que tu étais plus qu'un bouclier. " "On va voir."

- Georges Batroc and Captain America

Taken onboard a Quinjet to be flown to the mission while also being debriefed, Rogers was told by Brock Rumlow that their mission was to rescue hostages of Georges Batroc who had hijacked S.H.I.E.L.D. ship, the Lemurian Star, somewhere in the Indian Ocean. Captain America ensured that he knew exactly how many hostages were onboard, which included Jasper Sitwell, before complaining about Director Nick Fury was sending them on missions like this to cover Fury's errors. Captain America gave Rumlow and the other members of STRIKE their mission orders before then preparing to go into combat himself. Rogers was tasked with attacking the ship first; as his own strength enhanced by the Super Soldier Serum would give him the advantage in the battle. As he prepared his own Uniform ready for the mission, Rogers spoke with Natasha Romanoff who tried to set him up with a date, much to Rogers' disagreement as he still loved Peggy Carter. Much to Jack Rollins' surprise, Rogers then dived off the Quinjet into the ocean without a parachute to protect him from the fall. Having landed on the Lemurian Star alone, Captain America single-handedly defeated almost every pirate on the ship without raising the alarm. Using his shield to gain the advantage, Captain America managed to get past teams of Batroc's soldiers before they could fight back. When one pirate came close to alerting Batroc, Rogers stopped him with a knife throw before being saved by Brock Rumlow shooting another pirate before continuing on his own mission. Rogers requested that Black Widow give him an update, but she was busy subduing Gerald Durand along with all of Batroc's pirates. Once Widow was in position and had ensured that the ship would not be moving, Rogers orders his S.H.I.E.L.D. team to get ready as Rumlow shot the remaining pirates and rescued the hostages and Romanoff cleared out the engine room. While Rumlow's team shot the pirates, Rogers threw his shield at Batroc who made his escape. With Sitwell and the other hostages now safe, Captain America then went searching for Batroc, while Rumlow then informed him that Romanoff had seemingly vanished during the mission and had not met with STRIKE like she was supposed to. Before he could find out where Romanoff was, Captain America was suddenly ambushed by Batroc. Captain America accepted Batroc's offer to fight without the use of Rogers' own shield or any other kind of weapon. Accepting his other to fight by speaking in French, Captain America then fought against Batroc in purely hand-to-hand combat. As they fight began, Captain America discovered that Batroc was a more formidable fighter than he had anticipated as he had able to deflect all of his own attacks. But all of the continued fighting against him, Captain America proved to have the advantage due to the Super Soldier Serum inside his veins which Batroc did not stand a chance against. Eventually Captain America won and knocked out all of those attempting to kill him, by smashing Batroc through a locked door and knocking him out with a final hard punch. After the fight, Rogers discovered Romanoff hacking into the ship's computer. He learned Romanoff had a secret assignment to recover some S.H.I.E.L.D. data from the ship through a USB drive. This somewhat annoyed Rogers, who was unhappy at being kept in the dark about the fact that Romanoff had now been given a secondary mission by Director Nick Fury. It was made worse when Batroc woke up and threw a grenade at the pair. Rogers deflected the grenade and they leapt out of the path of the explosion. They both survived the explosion, but Batroc escaped during the chaos. Rogers made it clear he blamed Romanoff for the failure to capture Batroc.

Project Insight
"This isn't freedom. This is fear." "S.H.I.E.L.D takes the world as it is, not as we'd like it to be."

- Steve Rogers and Nick Fury

Reporting back to Director Nick Fury at the Triskelion, Rogers then expressed his anger with Fury for lying to him. Rogers claimed that Fury's plan to give Black Widow a secret plan endangered the entire mission, noting that his own team should be able to trust each other, but Fury argued that he had sent in Captain America purely so that this did not happen, promising Rogers that he would now be more honest with him. Fury then took him to the facility's sub-levels, along the way he told Rogers the story of how his own Grandfather used to carry a large gun with him at all times in order to ensure he was never mugged for his lunch. Fury told Rogers that they had something bigger than his Grandfather's gun as he showed him the new Helicarriers were being constructed in the hanker with brand new technology and weapons designed by Tony Stark to make them more advanced. Introducing Rogers to Project Insight, Fury explained that S.H.I.E.L.D. now planned to use the Helicarriers to fight threats before they even happened. Rogers was discontent with this, finding S.H.I.E.L.D.'s newest methods to be too extreme. When Fury noted what Rogers' generation did during World War II, Rogers insisted this was not the same, claiming Fury was spreading fear and not freedom. When Fury insisted Rogers get behind the program, Rogers refused.

Getting Advice
"For as long as I can remember I just wanted to do what was right. I guess I’m not quite sure what that is anymore. And I thought I could throw myself back in and follow orders, serve. It’s just not the same." "You’re always so dramatic. Look, you saved the world."

- Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter

Disillusioned by Director Nick Fury's new attitude to world safety, Rogers revisited his past by visiting the Captain America division of the Smithsonian Institution. There, he saw videos of his time in World War II with all of the Howling Commandos fighting against Red Skull. When a young boy recognized him, Rogers smiled and asked him to keep quiet, which the amazed boy agreed to do. Rogers found a memorial for Bucky Barnes, which presented him as Rogers' friend and the only member of the Howling Commandos to lose his life in the fight against HYDRA. Rogers then watched an interview with Peggy Carter where she discussed her relationship with Rogers and how he changed her life even after she believed him to have been killed in action, telling the story of when he had saved over 1000 men, including the man who became her husband. Rogers went to see Carter in her retirement home, now aged past ninety years. They discussed the changing world, and Rogers told her that the reason he stayed at S.H.I.E.L.D. was partly because she helped found it. Rogers went on to say that he had hoped that now serving with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers would help him find his place in the new world, but it just was not the same or as simple as it was during World War II, with Carter then laughing that Rogers was always over dramatic about this sort of thing. Carter told Rogers that while he had saved the world, she and others had mucked it up while he had been gone. When Carter began to cough, Rogers handed her a glass of water; she looked up and appeared to have forgotten their entire conversation and reacted like she was seeing Rogers for the first time in seventy years. Carter had developed a form of dementia. Rogers smiled and told her that he could never leave his best girl while she owed him a dance. Seeking some new advice, Rogers decided to visit the Department of Veterans Affairs to listen to Sam Wilson talk to soldiers who were suffering from. Rogers found himself feeling at home around other United States Armed Forces soldiers as he listened to their stories about how they had come home to have a feeling of being out of place while Wilson offered them all whatever advice he could to try and help them move forward. He spoke to Wilson after the meeting as they discussed what they were going through as former soldiers, with Wilson explaining that his friend and partner Riley was killed in action. When Wilson questioned if Rogers was considering retiring, Rogers told him that he had no idea what else to do with his life other than obey orders and serve. Wilson joked he could be the before he told him he could do whatever it was that he wanted to do.

Loss of Nick Fury
"I don’t remember giving you a key." "You really think I’d need one? My wife kicked me out." "Didn’t know you were married." "There are a lot of things you don’t about me." "I know, Nick. That’s the problem."

- Steve Rogers and Nick Fury

Riding his Motorcycle back towards his apartment building late in the evening, Rogers parked it and then went upstairs towards his own apartment to rest, still considering both of his recent talks with Peggy Carter and Sam Wilson and his place within S.H.I.E.L.D. in the wake of learning of the new Project Insight and his strong disagreements about the moral implications of possibly supporting such a Project, still believing that it's use of preemptive targeting now promoted fear for the United States of America rather than freedom. Once back inside the building, Rogers had a brief talk with his own neighbor about how her work as a nurse was going, even building up the courage to then ask her out on a date by offering to let her use his washing machine in exchange for having a cup of coffee with him, which she said she however could not do, much to Rogers' disappointment. However, he got suspicious when she told him that she had heard his stereo playing, which he had turned off. He snuck in through the window and found Nick Fury sitting in his couch. Fury claimed to Rogers that his wife kicked him out, however when Rogers turned on the light, he saw that Fury was covered in cuts and bruises. and that they might be overheard by someone as enemies were listening in, telling Rogers that only his friends knew the truth about him. Without warning, Fury was shot several times in his back through the wall, falling down into Rogers' arms. With the remaining strength he had, Fury gave the Lemurian Star USB to Rogers and then told him not to trust anyone before falling unconscious. While Rogers pulled Fury out of the way and behind cover, his neighbor then smashed in the door, armed with a gun and revealing herself to be Agent 13, hired by Fury to keep an eye on Rogers. Agent 13 called for medical assistance and explained the situation to S.H.I.E.L.D. while desperately trying to save Fury. Rogers spotted the assassin attempting to make his getaway, so Rogers grabbed his shield and went in pursuit, leaping from his apartment window into the building across the street and leaving Agent 13 to take care of Fury. Rogers smashed his way through various office doors and was still barely able to keep up with the incredibly fast assassin. Using all of his strength, Rogers kept just behind the assassin until he saw a chance to confront him. He eventually caught up and threw his shield at the assassin, but the masked man easily caught the shield with his cybernetic arm. Rogers was amazed that the Winter Soldier was able to do this as the two enemies locked eyes with each other before the assassin threw the shield back at Rogers with some considerable force. Rogers was so stunned that he paused for just a moment, allowing the assassin to escape as Rogers looked out over the city for him. Fury was taken to a hospital where Rogers rejoined him and watched the operation with Natasha Romanoff by his side. They watched together in horror as it was reported that Fury's heart had stopped. Rogers and Romanoff were joined by Maria Hill and other Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as the doctors operated, but were unable to revive him and Doctor Fine pronounced him dead. Fury was taken away and Hill asked to take care of the body. Romanoff began to question Rogers about the identity of the shooter, predicting that the bullets used were Russian upon hearing about his incredible speed and robotic arm, indicating she knew who the assassin was. Upon being questioned about why Fury was inside his apartment by Romanoff, Rogers feigned ignorance about why Fury went to him. Before they could continue the discussion, Agent Brock Rumlow told the Captain that he was wanted for a hearing at the Triskelion with Alexander Pierce to discuss what had happened. Romanoff told Rogers that he was a terrible liar, he then used this quiet moment to hide the USB Fury had given him in a vending machine.

Alexander Pierce's Warning
"He told me not to trust anyone." "I wonder if that included him." "I'm sorry, those were his last words." "Captain. Somebody murdered my friend and I’m gonna find out why. Anyone gets in my way, they’re gonna regret it. Anyone."

- Steve Rogers and Alexander Pierce

When he arrived at the Triskelion, Captain America had encountered Agent Sharon Carter just as left Alexander Pierce's office. As Rogers and Carter passed one another, Rogers barely acknowledged her before shaking Pierce's hand, with Pierce claiming it was an honour to meet him as his own father had served with Rogers during World War II. Rogers was questioned by Pierce who said he was one of Nick Fury's closest friends, explaining how they met in Bogotá and he wanted to know who was responsible for Fury's death. Pierce questioned Rogers over why Fury had been in his apartment before they discussed how Rogers' apartment had been bugged, with Pierce noting that it was Fury himself who had bugged it. Pierce then showed Rogers video footage of Georges Batroc while he was being interrogated and revealed that Fury was secretly responsible for the Hijacking of the Lemurian Star, as the current theory was that Fury was attempting to cover up the sale of classified documents. Attempting to prove his own loyalty to Fury, Pierce told Rogers that he had taken a seat of the World Security Council because Fury had once asked him to, claiming that they had both shared the ideal that to build a better world, sometimes meant tearing the old one down. Knowing that he could not trust Pierce, Rogers told him nothing of what Fury said, and left him to return to the hospital, despite Pierce warning that he would not allow anybody to stand in his way.

Escape from the Triskelion
"Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?" "Woh, big guy. I just want you to know, Cap, this ain’t personal." "It kind of feels personal."

- Captain America and Brock Rumlow

With his meeting completed, Rogers then got inside the elevator and prepared to leave the Triskelion. Before their elevator could go down however, Rogers was joined by Brock Rumlow who greeted Rogers before expressing his own condolences for the death of Director Nick Fury, claiming that what had happened was messed up. As they went down, Rumlow noted that forensics had found hair fibers of Fury's possible assassin on the rooftop, although Rogers recommended that they wait a bit longer before investigating personally, before the elevator then stopped and collected more some people. When the had elevator slowly begun to fill up with even more agents from STRIKE, Rogers soon became more suspicious that something was wrong. Once Jack Rollins stepped inside with his hand on his weapon, Rogers noted that another agent was sweating as he came to the conclusion that Alexander Pierce had organised an ambush for him for withholding information. Giving them all one chance to leave, Rogers asked if anyone wanted to get out, then the fight began. Losing all pretence, Rollins and these other agents attacked Rogers, who used his enhanced strength as martial arts training to gain the upper hand. As all of the attackers had successfully managed to take away Captain America's Shield, they also desperately attempted to use a pair of their Magnetic Handcuffs to keep Rogers from fighting back, but they could only get one on as Rogers was unwilling to give in. Having only one free hand, Rogers fought off the attackers. Despite Rumlow attempting to use his own Taser Rod to subdue him, Rogers then managed to break free of the magnetic handcuff and proceeded to take out two more agents with considerable ease. Eventually, the last conscious double agent was Rumlow, who told Rogers that the fight was not personal. Rogers managed to subdue Rumlow and told him that it felt personal before striking at him with his Taser Rod, managing to get two hits in against Rogers. Finally Rogers managed to land a hard strike against Rumlow before throwing him into the ceiling and knocking him out, noting that this attack did feel personal. As Rogers then attempted to find a way out of the building to avoid arrest, he discovered more STRIKE agents were coming having been sent by Jasper Sitwell. Seemingly trapped, Rogers found that the only clear way out he could find was to jump out of the elevator before he could be captured by STRIKE. Realizing that Sitwell and Pierce had sent agents onto every floor to recapture him, Rogers finally threw himself out of the elevator and fell several floors onto the ground below, using his Shield to absorb to impact. While the horrified S.H.I.E.L.D. looked on, Rogers managed to get back to his feet, despite being in considerable pain, and then continued attempting to escape, all while Sitwell watched all of this unfolding on his monitors and ordered that Rogers be stopped. With little time left to spare in his escape as Sitwell had just ordered that the Triskelion be locked down, Rogers had managed to get to and drove away on the back of his Motorcycle, successfully escaping a roadblock set up for him. However, as Rogers rode straight down the bridge, he discovered that Sitwell had sent a Quinjet to stop him. Rogers had remained unintimidated however and instead continued riding straight towards the Quinjet, avoiding all of it's gunfire. Rogers managed to ride right up onto the Quinjet before throwing his Shield into one of the engines and launching himself on top the jet's roof. From here Rogers proceeded to damage the jet by throwing his shield at it's back wings before leaping off, thus causing the jet to crash land before Rogers escaped in Washington, D.C.. In order to keep S.H.I.E.L.D. from tracking him, Rogers hid his uniform inside the duffel bag of a high school coach and took those clothes.

Hiding in Plain Sight
"I'm not gonna ask you again." "I know who killed Fury. Most of the intelligence community does not believe he exists, the ones who do call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations."

- Steve Rogers to Natasha Romanoff

Having successfully escaped from the Triskelion ambush, but aware that Jasper Sitwell's agents were hunting him, the now disguised Rogers arrived later into the hospital where he noticed that the USB was gone from where he had hidden it inside of a vending machine. As Rogers was looking for the USB, Natasha Romanoff appeared behind him, revealing that she had managed to already take it. Pushing her inside an empty room, Rogers aggressively questioned where the USB was, while Romanoff questioned why Nick Fury had given it to Rogers. Upon being told that Fury hired Georges Batroc to Hijack the Lemurian Star, Romanoff confessed to knowing who killed Fury. Romanoff told Rogers that the masked man was an assassin known as the Winter Soldier, credited with several assassinations in the last fifty years, and she had encountered him once before. Despite the high risk levels, the pair came to believe that they could still trust each other as Rogers and Romanoff both put on a quick disguise, with Rogers complaining about his shoes being too big for him, and went out in public looking for answers regarding what was happening. While Romanoff gave Rogers tips on going undercover, they then went to a and used the USB in a laptop to see if they could find any valuable information to be found on it. While Romanoff hacked into the computer to access the USB drive, they were greeted by Aaron who enthusiastically offered to help them but Romanoff managed to politely move him away by pretending to be Rogers' fiancé. With Rogers keeping an eye on the time as they knew S.H.I.E.L.D. would be able to track down their USB, Romanoff eventually tracked the location where their USB could be unlocked down to New Jersey, with Rogers insisting that they leave. While leaving the mall, they soon realized that STRIKE had already arrived, having traced the USB being activated, as they managed to get out of the shop before Jack Rollins could find them. Trying to avoid being detected, Romanoff told Rogers to be intimate with her by holding her close and laughing. Spotting Brock Rumlow coming towards them, Romanoff responded by kissing Rogers publicly to deflect attention away from Rumlow before they escaped.

Arnim Zola's Confession
"Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He’s been dead for years." "First correction, I am Swiss. Second, look around you. I have never been more alive."

- Steve Rogers and Arnim Zola

Having gotten away from Brock Rumlow's STRIKE team just in time, Rogers and Natasha Romanoff then stole a car and drove towards New Jersey. As they drove along, Romanoff questioned where Rogers had previously learnt to steal a car as he answered during World War II. Romanoff had then teased Rogers about if that had been his first kiss since the 1940s, which he firmly insisted it was not. During their drive, Rogers and Romanoff began discussing how she managed to hide her true self for so long, resulting in Rogers still not having a clear idea of who she was despite all of their time working together in both S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers. When Romanoff had questioned who Rogers wanted her to be, he just told her to be his friend, which Romanoff smiled at and advised that Rogers might be in the wrong business if he was actually looking for friends. When they eventually arrived at the location, Rogers had realized that they were at Camp Lehigh, the old training camp where he had once trained during World War II before undergoing Project Rebirth. While they walked around the base, Rogers thought back to his days of training as Michael Duffy pushed him during running exercises, which the skinnier Rogers had struggled with. Eventually Rogers spotted an ammunition hut in the wrong place and went to investigate. Inside they found a S.H.I.E.L.D. secret storage room which had been clearly left untouched for decades, with photographs on these walls featuring Howard Stark as well as Colonel Chester Phillips, as Rogers was asked by Romanoff who Peggy Carter was upon seeing another photograph of her as well. Moving downstairs inside the facility, they full of old computers inside a S.H.I.E.L.D. office. There, they found a more modern looking USB slot and they put the USB inside. The computers powered up as a voice appeared from the computer which recognized Rogers and Romanoff, before noting that he and Rogers had met back in 1945 before Captain America had previously managed to capture him during World War II. Rogers quickly realized that the voice was that of Red Skull's scientist Arnim Zola, as Zola revealed that his consciousness had been put into a computer before his death in 1972, allowing his own mind to continue living on. As Rogers listened on in horror, Zola explained to them how he had been recruited by Operation Paperclip after World War II's end, and from his new position within S.H.I.E.L.D., he was then able to quietly rebuild HYDRA. Rogers refused to believe this, but Zola accessed his data files and explained how they changed strategies following the War and began tricking the entire world into surrendering their own freedoms through decades of their careful manipulation. While Zola explained that he had been working on an algorithm that HYDRA wanted, he told them that some of the deaths of S.H.I.E.L.D. leaders had been due to HYDRA, showing them a picture of Howard Stark, implying that his fatal car crash might not have been a sudden accident and instead caused by the Winter Soldier, as was the death of Nick Fury, leading to this world willing to accept Project Insight to gain peace of mind, claiming this was HYDRA's ultimate victory. Before Rogers and Romanoff could get any more information out of Zola, they realized that Alexander Pierce had sent a missile to their location. Zola locked them inside and, with seconds to spare, Rogers ripped out the floorboards and pulled Romanoff with him just as the missile blew up their location. Rogers used his Shield to keep all the debris from crushing them. He pulled Romanoff out of the rubble and ran to safety just as Brock Rumlow's STRIKE team had arrived.

Sam Wilson's Help
"I thought you said you're a pilot." "I never said a pilot." "I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason."

- Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson

Having managed to get away from Camp Lehigh's destruction just in time, Rogers and Natasha Romanoff then went to seek refuge. With just a few people they felt they could trust left, Rogers brought them to the home of Sam Wilson. Not wasting any time, Rogers apologised to Wilson and explained that they were looking for somewhere to hide out, before Romanoff noted that everyone they knew was trying to kill them, before Wilson allowed them to come in. As they got cleaned up, Rogers spoke to Romanoff and asked if she was okay following what they had learned about S.H.I.E.L.D. and all that had been going on behind the scenes. Romanoff noted how she had thought she was fighting the good fight by joining S.H.I.E.L.D., but now felt she had just traded the KGB for HYDRA, commenting on how she had now struggled to understand who exactly she had been lying for and whether she had been fighting for the wrong side. Romanoff noted how Rogers had saved her life and questioned if it had been the other way around, would Rogers have ever trusted Romanoff to save his life, to which he answered that he felt he could following this conversation. Lightening the mood, Romanoff joked that Rogers seemed chipper for the man who just recently learnt he had died for nothing following World War II's conclusion before they were then interrupted by Wilson inviting them to breakfast. Sitting down to discuss the situation, they agreed that the air-strike would have been ordered by Alexander Pierce, and they would have to find a high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D./HYDRA agent to learn more. As they noted that Jasper Sitwell was also clearly involved with Pierce's operations, Wilson told them that he was part of the military project called EXO-7 Falcon, testing of a new form of winged Jet-Packs and agreed to help Captain America in whatever way he could.

Threatening Jasper Sitwell
"Tell me about Zola's algorithm." "Never heard of it." "What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?" "I was throwing up, I get seasick."

- Steve Rogers and Jasper Sitwell

The team then travelled back to Washington, D.C. in order to corner and talk to Agent Jasper Sitwell, following their recent discovery that he had been secretly working for HYDRA all along. While Sitwell had just finished his private meeting with Senator Stern, who just before saying goodbye whispered Hail HYDRA to Sitwell as his sign of loyalty, leaving Sitwell alone. Taking advantage of Sitwell being on his own, Sam Wilson then personally called up Sitwell and forced him up on the roof of a tall building nearby their location, under the threat of Sitwell being shot at by a sniper if he attempted to disobey. Together with Natasha Romanoff, Rogers had managed to get Sitwell onto the roof and demanded that he tell them everything he knew about Arnim Zola's algorithm, although Sitwell denied all knowledge, also denying he had been onboard the Lemurian Star for any reason. When Sitwell noted that Rogers was not the kind of man to push him off the roof, Rogers handed over to Romanoff to kicked Sitwell off before Falcon caught Sitwell and then brought him back up. Terrified, Sitwell proceeded to tell them that Zola's algorithm could calculate if a person would be a threat to HYDRA in the future. He also told them that HYDRA was soon going to use Project Insight as a weapon to eliminate what they saw as their threats against all the world; mentioning Tony Stark and Bruce Banner were some of their planned targets along with Stephen Strange. This would also mean that millions of innocent people would die as a direct result.

Battle of Washington, D.C.
"Bucky?" "Who the hell is Bucky?"

- Captain America and the Winter Soldier

The group took Jasper Sitwell into their custody and began driving towards Washington, D.C.. As they drove, Rogers explained his plan to use Sitwell to gain them access to the Triskelion and force him to shut down Project Insight before it had the chance to be activated. Sitwell, however, exclaimed that this was a terrible idea that would never work while Rogers and the others simply ignored him and continued driving. However before they could all reach the Triskelion and continue with their plan, they were attacked by the Winter Soldier and his men who had been seemingly sent by Alexander Pierce. Before they even had a moment to react, Sitwell was then ripped out of the car and killed by being thrown into traffic, before the Winter Soldier then shot into the car and proceeded to then rip out the car's sheering wheel and caused them all to lose control and crash the car on the road. Rogers, however, had saved his allies by kicking off the car door and allowing them to ride it onto the road to relative safety while their car crashed multiple times, leaving them to face the Winter Soldier and his team of HYDRA soldiers who had instructions to kill them all. The battle broke out and Rogers saved Natasha Romanoff when he had managed to block a grenade blast, fired by the Winter Soldier, with his own Shield, with the explosion managing to knock Rogers off the bridge and into an oncoming bus, briefly taking him out of the clash, leaving his allies to fend for themselves against Pierce's soldiers who immediately began firing upon them without any sense of mercy. When Rogers had come too he was almost immediately fired at by the HYDRA soldier armed with his minigun, but Rogers regained his shield and blocked the bullets before he subdued the soldier while being aided by Sam Wilson, who kept all the soldiers at bay, having stolen one of the guns and war currently firing back at them. With the soldiers being dealt with, Rogers then began chasing after the Winter Soldier who was now attempting to assassinate Romanoff. Rogers soon found Romanoff using her Black Widow's Bites to try and defeat the Winter Soldier herself, but she was then shot through the shoulder and defeated. Before she could be executed, Rogers charged in and ambushed the Winter Soldier, blocking a strike from his Prosthetic Arm with his own shield. Having deflected the punch, Rogers was then kicked off the car roof before being shot at by the Winter Soldier, as Rogers blocked the shots with his shield. Winter Soldier proceeded to use every weapon he had available to him to shoot at Rogers, although he was still unable to get a clean shot as Rogers continued using his shield to defend himself before fighting the Winter Soldier to hand to hand. The Winter Soldier briefly managed to get his hands onto Captain America's Shield, which he had proceeded to launch at Rogers before their fight then continued, with the Shield becoming imbedded in the side of a nearby van. While they fought, Rogers did everything he could to defend himself while the Winter Soldier drew a blade and then furiously attempted to slash at Rogers in an attempt to kill him, however both had quickly proved themselves almost equally matched as neither could land a final hit against the other. As the fight continued, Rogers managed to get some defensive blows in against his enemy before kicking him into a nearby parked van and attempting to finish the fight. The pair were forced to resort to hand to hand combat as the Winter Soldier had struck back against Captain America, managing to avoid being slammed to the ground before using his Bionic Arm to attempt to strangle the Captain before then launching him across a car. Once Captain America was briefly defenceless on the floor, Winter Soldier attempted to finish the job by striking a hard blow but he missed and instead cracked the concrete as Rogers moved out of the way. Rogers found that the longer the fight went on, the more aggressive Winter Soldier became as he was seemingly incapable of allowing his target to live. As the Winter Soldier continued striking Rogers, he drew another knife before pinning Rogers against a nearby van and using his Bionic Arm to give him even more strength, Winter Soldier plunged the knife into the van and tore through the metal, as Rogers avoided the blade and then threw the Winter Soldier off him. While the Winter Soldier was getting back onto his feet, Rogers was able to reclaim his shield, which was still imbedded in the nearby van, as he blocked all of the Winter Soldier's continued strikes with his knife. Despite the Winter Soldier continuing to become more enraged by the fight, Rogers was still able to dodge one blow and proceeded to imbed his shield into the Winter Soldier's Bionic Arm, causing serious damage and giving Rogers a clear advantage. Eventually, Rogers had managed to throw the Winter Soldier over his should which had resulted with his mask being ripped from his face, revealing that he was Bucky Barnes. When a horrified Rogers said his name, Winter Soldier said he did not know who that was before attempting to shoot Rogers again until Falcon kicked him over from mid-air and Romanoff drove him off with the grenade launcher which he had dropped earlier, leaving Rogers still utterly horrified. While Rogers was still distracted by the revelation, they were then surrounded by Brock Rumlow and his S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Rogers, Romanoff, and Wilson were then arrested by all of Rumlow's men, with Jack Rollins keeping his gun trained on Rogers' skull despite Rumlow ordering him not to kill Rogers there as there were too many cameras. Rogers did not resist as he questioned how Barnes had survived since World War II and was now the Winter Soldier.

Nick Fury's Survival
"S.H.I.E.L.D.’s been compromised, you’ve said so yourself. HYDRA was right under your nose and nobody noticed." "Why do you think we’re meeting in this cave? I noticed." "And how many paid the price before you did?"

- Steve Rogers and Nick Fury

While in the HYDRA van being driven away by Brock Rumlow, driving them to an unknown location in order to execute them, Rogers then discussed how Bucky Barnes had survived since World War II. While they were speaking, one of the HYDRA guards suddenly tested the other and revealed herself to be Maria Hill. They then used a Mouse Hole to escape before Rumlow discovered the deception. Agent Hill took them all to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Dam Facility where they immediately called upon Doctor Fine to treat Natasha Romanoff's wounds. Upon their arrival, Hill showed them into the room where Director Nick Fury was resting, revealing that he did not die during the Attack on Nick Fury and had survived with the aid of Fine as well as the use of Bruce Banner's Tetrodotoxin B, though he was still severely injured due to the gunshots through to his chest. The group discussed Alexander Pierce's plans and how HYDRA had used Barnes and Arnim Zola to finally achieve all of their goals of controlling the world. Hill and Fury told them that Project Insight was only hours away from launching and that they had to act quickly in order to save millions of lives. The Helicarriers would hover in a triangle, connected, targeting all its targets before firing. The only way to prevent this would be to use three special chips that would take away S.H.I.E.L.D.'s control over the Helicarriers. Rogers then demanded that they also destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. in this mission as he blamed them for the disaster, which Fury agreed to. Stepping outside, Rogers thought back to living in Brooklyn shortly after his mother had died, and how Barnes had been there for him at that time. Rogers was then joined by Sam Wilson who reminded Rogers that when they went into the mission, Barnes would be there waiting for them as the Winter Soldier and Rogers would need to stop him. Rogers insisted he could still save Barnes despite Wilson noting that he may not have any choice with that. Rogers told Wilson to collect his EXO-7 Falcon to be ready for their mission, noting that if they were to fight in a war then they would need to have a uniform. Having lost his suit earlier in order to avoid detection, Rogers broke into the Smithsonian Institution museum and stole his suit from World War II. After which, the group went off to stop Project Insight, arriving just outside of the Triskelion in order to complete their mission and save millions of lives.

Battle at the Triskelion
"I know I'm asking a lot. But the price of freedom is high. It always has been. And it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not."

- Captain America to S.H.I.E.L.D.

With both the Falcon and Maria Hill by his side, Captain America then successfully broke inside the Triskelion, all while Black Widow was infiltrating a meeting with the World Security Council by using the Photostatic Veil to disguise herself a Hawley. Meanwhile Captain America then managed to take over the control room with ease by banging on the door and waiting for Agent Moore to investigate before finding himself being held at gunpoint by the three heroes. Rogers used the microphones to send out his message to the base and informed the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents listening of HYDRA's infiltration within their organisation, and that Alexander Pierce was their leader as well as Brock Rumlow's STRIKE also being HYDRA. Rogers told everyone HYDRA was responsible for Director Nick Fury's apparent assassination and that they could not allow HYDRA to initiate Project Insight, before asking them to stand against HYDRA with him. Once he had finished his speech, Rogers and Sam Wilson prepared to assault the Helicarriers and battle all the HYDRA guards onboard to ensure they could not complete Pierce's plan to use Arnim Zola's algorithm to murder several million people across the world, which would include Bruce Banner and Stephen Strange. While they ran towards the Helicarriers, which were just beginning to launch, Wilson questioned how they would be able to tell the good guys from the bad guys as everyone appeared to be S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, before Captain America simply told him to look for the agents shooting at them. With that Wilson used his EXO-7 Falcon to fly up overhead and battle the Quinjets which were now being sent to shoot them. While Falcon flew overhead, Captain America leaped onto a nearby launching Helicarrier where he had charged towards all the HYDRA agents who had been sent to stop him. Without breaking his pace, Rogers avoided the gunfire while using Captain America's Shield and his own superior skills to strike back against his enemies. While he was fighting, Maria Hill reminded Rogers that they still only had eight minutes to spare to then complete their infiltration mission. Having managed to take out the HYDRA agents on the Helicarrier, Captain America ran into the main weapons centre where he then managed to insert his own chip which would allow them to force the Helicarriers to target each other. Hill then confirmed with Falcon that they had managed to insert two of the chips, with some hardship, leaving just one more to be inserted in order to complete their own mission and save millions of innocent lives from HYDRA. Although he had successfully placed their computer chip, Captain America was soon discovered by all the remaining HYDRA agents onboard the Helicarrier who began firing at him. With little time to spare, Captain America requested Falcon's help as he leaped from the Helicarrier and fell towards Washington, D.C. several hundred feet below. Falcon managed to catch up in time and pulled Captain America all the way back up to the third and final Helicarrier. However just as they began to relax, Captain America and the Falcon were ambushed by the Winter Soldier who pushed Rogers overboard and damaged Falcon's Wing Suit before also kicking him overboard, causing Falcon to fall back to the Triskelion where he got caught up in a fistfight with Agent Brock Rumlow while Rogers nearly fell to his death, although he was able to stay onboard their Helicarrier. Now it was all on Rogers to complete the plan and defeat HYDRA.

Showdown with Winter Soldier
"I'm not gonna fight you. You're my friend." "You're..my..mission!" "Then finish it. 'Cause I'm with you to the end of the line."

- Captain America and the Winter Soldier

Captain America entered the Helicarrier in order to put the final chip in place before he was confronted by the Winter Soldier who stood firmly in his way. Rogers desperately begged Barnes to listen to him, noting that Project Insight would soon kill millions of innocent lives. Rogers however saw that Barnes was not going to listen to reason and running out of time, Captain America steeled himself for what must be done in order to complete his current mission. Despite what Rogers wanted, the two former friends fought violently against each other, as Captain America began the furious fight by launching Captain America's Shield at the Winter Soldier, which he blocked with his Bionic Arm before they began their struggle. Rogers used his shield to block all the Winter Soldiers gunshots before then disarming him and attempting to keep him away while he rearmed the Helicarrier in order to complete his own current mission. While the pair both attempted to take control of the chip; the Winter Soldier responded by throwing Captain America off the ledge before they continued their fight with Rogers desperately attempting to keep the chip safe from harm. In his attempt to win their fight, the Winter Soldier launched Rogers' shield at him, before firing at him, which Rogers managed to block with his shield before launching the shield back at the Winter Soldier who used his arm to block the blow. Following a long and brutal battle between the pair where the Winter Soldier furiously attempted to kill his target while Captain America tried to emotionally reach him, the Winter Soldier managed to get his hands on the chip, before Captain America had put him into a tight chokehold and demanded that he drop it. Captain America finally managed to subdue the Winter Soldier, by choking him out until the Winter Soldier lost consciousness and dropped the chip. Rogers attempted to get the chip in place with only seconds left before Project Insight would initiate. However, he was shot multiple times by Barnes, including a shot that went through his stomach. Using whatever energy he had left, Rogers managed to get the chip in place and Maria Hill took control of the other Helicarriers. Before making them fire upon each other Hill acknowledged that Rogers was still on-board, but he commanded her to do it anyway. With Rogers still onboard, their mission went ahead exactly as they had planned, with all of Alexander Pierce's Helicarriers firing at one another. The Helicarrier that Rogers and Barnes were in was the last remaining one while the other two were blown out of the sky. Their Helicarrier crashed into the Triskelion, causing it to collapse and also crushing Brock Rumlow under the depris. As the Helicarrier had still continued to fall, some debris landed on Barnes, trapping him. Running to his aid, Rogers had freed the trapped Winter Soldier who immediately betrayed him, despite Rogers insisting that the Winter Soldier did indeed know who he was, desperately trying to remind him that his name was James "Bucky" Barnes and telling him of their friendship in the 1940s. While the Winter Soldier furiously attacking Captain America, Rogers still refused to fight Barnes, and dropped his shield allowing Barnes to secure an easy victory over him. Refusing to accept the truth about his past, the Winter Soldier began to savagely beat Rogers with his metal arm, determined to complete his mission to kill Captain America for HYDRA. Before Rogers had lost consciousness from the terrible beating, he promised Barnes to be with him until the end of the line; a promise Barnes once gave him decades ago in 1936 following Sarah Rogers' funeral. This caused Barnes to realize what he was doing to his long-time friend. However, just as Barnes came back to his senses and stopped the beating, a large piece of debris fell and caused the floor to collapse underneath them. The unconcious Rogers then fell into the water below and nearly drowned, but Barnes decided to not allow his old friend to die and dived in, saving him. Barnes then dragged Rogers back to the shore and walked away, leaving Rogers to be found and receive medical attention while Barnes had disappeared.

Search for the Winter Soldier
"You're going after him." "You don't have to come with me." "I know. When do we start?"

- Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers

Rogers eventually woke up sometime later following the Battle at the Triskelion in a hospital, where Sam Wilson then filled him in on what had happened after he was found. S.H.I.E.L.D. had gone through some major changes, having been dismantled as a result of the HYDRA Uprising. Having successfully killed Alexander Pierce during the battle, Nick Fury was officially dead, and he had destroyed all evidence of being alive, even replacing his eye-patch for sunglasses. Standing by his headstone, Fury ordered Rogers to tell anyone who asked that he was dead as he left to thwart HYDRA operations in Europe. Meanwhile Natasha Romanoff went to a Senate hearing to defend their actions, saying that they could not arrest them because they are the best qualified to protect the world. Rogers decided to start looking, with the help of Wilson, for Bucky Barnes, so that he could convince him of who he really was and save him.

Capturing Baron Strucker
"Baron Strucker. HYDRA's number one thug." "Technically, I'm a thug for S.H.I.E.L.D." "Well then technically you're unemployed. Where’s Loki's Scepter?" "I know when I'm beat. You'll mention how I cooperated, I hope." "I'll put it right under illegal human experimentation."

- Captain America and Wolfgang von Strucker

As Rogers continued his search for Bucky Barnes, the continued threat of HYDRA still endured, causing the Avengers to reassemble in bring an end to the terrorist organisation. During one mission, the Avengers helped Black Widow fight Jensen whose soldiers were enhanced with Chitauri Armor. Eventually, Rogers led the Avengers in an assault on Baron Wolfgang von Strucker's base, having learned that Strucker was using the Scepter to create an army of his own enhanced soldiers for HYDRA to unleash upon the world. Rogers rode Captain America's Motorcycle into their battle against Strucker's soldiers, throwing his Shield at the HYDRA soldiers while commanding the Avengers' actions. When Iron Man cussed while trying to break through the base's defense systems during the battle, Rogers told him to mind his language, much to Stark's amusement, while Rogers checked with J.A.R.V.I.S. about Strucker's technology and the defence systems the base currently had in place. While Rogers defended calling Stark out on his language, he then threw his motorcycle at another HYDRA convoy. When they realized Strucker's guns were targeting the innocent people of Sokovia, Stark then sent the Iron Legion to protect the people. Rogers ignored the continuing teases and fought alongside Thor, using their combined strength to destroy the HYDRA Tanks, also jokingly commenting that it had seemed like the soldiers were lining up to be defeated. During the continuing battle, Hawkeye was injured when he had been suddenly attacked by Pietro Maximoff and then took a shot from one of Strucker's bunkers. Captain America himself was also then briefly attacked by Maximoff, who he noted was too fast for him to even see and warned the other Avengers. With little time to spare, Rogers had ordered Thor to take Hawkeye onto the Avengers' Quinjet to receive treatment while they continued the assault on Strucker's base. Once Iron Man had successfully destroyed their defences, Captain America broke into the HYDRA Research Base and began searching for Loki's Scepter. During his search, Rogers was informed by Black Widow that the battle had been one, as Rogers ordered her to collect the Hulk and return him back to Bruce Banner. Before long, Rogers located Baron Wolfgang von Strucker who immediately surrendered to him, knowing that he did not stand a chance for victory. During his confrontation with Baron von Strucker, Rogers was then attacked by Wanda Maximoff who used her powers to throw Rogers down a flight of stairs before making her own escape. Rogers quickly recovered from the attack and knocked out Strucker by hitting him with his Shield, and took him into their custody while all of the rest of the Avengers had successfully defeated the remaining HYDRA army and Tony Stark found the Scepter inside Strucker's laboratory.

Return to Base
"File says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments. It's nuts." "Right. What kind of monster would let a German Scientist experiment on them to protect their country?"

- Maria Hill and Steve Rogers

With the mission a success and HYDRA officially defeated, Rogers with the other Avengers flew back on the Quinjet, with Rogers still checking in while Clint Barton and Bruce Banner recovered from their experiences during the battle. Along the way, Rogers and his own allies had observed the Scepter and commented on their victory over HYDRA. Pleased to have finally ended their search for Loki's Scepter while also having a major victory over HYDRA, Tony Stark then requested to Thor that he be allowed to keep the Scepter under observation for a few days to study it before it was returned to Asgard, also noting they should have a party to celebrate their victory. Thor then agreed to keep the Scepter on Earth, and Rogers also agreed that a party to celebrate the successful defeat of HYDRA was a good idea. Once they had arrived back at the Avengers Tower, the team was greeted by Maria Hill. While Helen Cho took Barton away to recieve treatment following his injury, Hill briefed Rogers on the twins they had all encountered, who had been identified as Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. She explained their poverty while living in Sokovia and how they lost their parents, which had led to them both volunteering for Baron Wolfgang von Strucker's enhancement experiments. When Hill called the Maximoff's decision to be experimented on by Strucker insane, Rogers expressed his understanding of the twins' decision, comparing his own decision to allow a German scientist to experiment on him, referring to Abraham Erskine's Project Rebirth. When Hill noted that they were not fighting in World War II like he was in the 1940s, Rogers argued that from the Maximoff's point of view, they were still in their own war before heading downstairs.

Victory Celebration
"It's just, she's not the most open person in the world. But with you she seems very relaxed." "No, Natasha, she... she likes to flirt." "I've seen her flirt, up close. This ain’t that."

- Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner

Rogers joined the Avengers, plus Sam Wilson and James Rhodes, at a party in Avengers Tower to celebrate their victory over HYDRA. Rogers and Wilson discussed working together and their continued search for Bucky Barnes. When Rogers suggested Wilson could join the Avengers, Wilson claimed not to be interested in joining. They went on to discuss Rogers finding himself a house in Brooklyn. Later, Rogers and Thor drank thousand-year-old alcohol from Asgard with a group of World War II veterans. Although Thor deemed only himself and the Super-Soldier Rogers to be strong enough to drink these powerful alcohol, one of the Veterans insisted upon having a drink of the Asgardian alcohol. Thor relented with Rogers' nod of approval which resulted in the man having to be carried away from Avengers Tower for instantaneously becoming too drunk. While the party had still continued, Rogers went to the bar and came across Bruce Banner speaking to Natasha Romanoff, with Romanoff clearly flirting with the nervous Banner. When Romanoff left, Rogers spoke to Banner, telling him that Romanoff was clearly attracted to him and noting how Romanoff was usually much more closed off but seemed highly relaxed around him, although Banner had still insisted that Romanoff was merely enjoying have a flirt with him. Rogers insisted that as he knew what it was like to leave a love too long, and therefore Banner should not let the chance for a happy life go past, noting that he had been flirted with by Romanoff in the past while they worked as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and the way she spoke to Banner was more than mere flirting. As Rogers walked away, Banner pondered this before questioning exactly what Rogers meant when he had claimed that Romanoff had flirted with him in the past. Once most of the guests had fianlly returned home from the party, the group, joined by Helen Cho, took turns attempting to lift Mjølnir. Leading the attempts was Clint Barton who was the first to try and when he failed, both Tony Stark and James Rhodes tried using Iron Man Gauntlets but still failed to even make the hammer move an inch, much to the great amusement of Thor who continued pushing the other Avengers to try out their luck during their game. When Rogers finally stepped up and attempted to lift Mjølnir, he was able to briefly nudge the hammer, much to Thor's surprise, but in the end was still unsuccessful. Ultimately, Stark had suggested that the hammer was actually imprinted with Thor's fingerprints and was not enchanted by Odin with Asgardian Magic as Thor claimed, but Thor simply insisted that none of them were worthy enough, causing all the others to mockingly boo him for his egotistical claims.

Attack on Avengers Tower
"I had to kill the other guy... He was a good guy." "You killed someone?" "Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices."

- Ultron and Steve Rogers

The party was interrupted when a loud noise rang through the room before broken down robot stepped forward, calling itself Ultron. The robot claimed that all the Avengers could never be worthy, as they were all killers who wanted to protect the world but not allow it to change. Ultron then claimed to have killed someone to get to them but had refused to tell Rogers whom he had actually killed. Announcing that the only path to peace on Earth was the Avengers' deaths, Ultron and some hijacked Iron Legion drones attacked the group, proclaiming humanity inferior and ready for extinction. Rogers and the rest of the group engaged in a violent battle with Ultron, with Rogers kicking over the table to block an incoming drone which was flying directly for him and Maria Hill, although Rogers was still thrown across the room as the drone had crashed straight into him. Leaping onto a flying drone's back, Rogers used his strength to pull the drones apart with his bare hands before he could shoot at Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanoff. During the clash, Rogers was thrown across the room and smashed into walls until he was thrown to the ground. Seeing another drone about to shoot Helen Cho, Rogers had immediately ran straight to Cho's aid and then proceeded to throw the drone back towards Thor who furiously smashed it apart. With one of the final drones being dispatched by Tony Stark, Rogers was then thrown his Shield by Clint Barton and destroyed the final drone with it. With the Avengers coming out victorious, Ultron then continued to rant about his desire to destroy the Avengers to bring peace to the entire planet, before his first robotic form was then completely destroyed by Mjølnir. However, Ultron's mind had still managed to escape by accessing through the internet.

Avengers Argument
"How do we cope with something like that?" "Together" "We'll lose." "Then we'll do that together."

- Tony Stark and Steve Rogers

As the team regrouped following the Attack on Avengers Tower, they discussed what had occurred, as Bruce Banner explained that Ultron had cleared out their computer files before escaping through the internet. When James Rhodes discussed the fear of Ultron getting into the nuclear codes, it was mentioned that Ultron had claimed to have killed somebody, although they still did not know who. However Tony Stark revealed that J.A.R.V.I.S. was the one that Ultron killed, as Rogers noted that J.A.R.V.I.S. was Ultron first threat to be destroyed. Stark admitted his own involvement in Ultron's creation; although he still strongly defended the idea as he had believed it was a beneficial plan to save the entire world. Thor, furious at all Stark's recklessness which caused Loki's Scepter to be lost, stepped in and grabbed Stark by the throat until Rogers had calmed him down. Thor had confirmed that he had lost track of the Drone and Scepter's location before Helen Cho questioned by Ultron was trying to kill him as Rogers watch Stark trying to defend his actions, with Rogers then comparing Stark's actions with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s. Stark explained there was a War coming, and not just the one against Ultron but another one coming that they were not ready for, but Rogers had insisted that they would fight and die together as a team regardless. As the hunt for Ultron continued, Rogers spoke to Maria Hill shortly afterward and was told that Ultron's attempts to launch the nuclear missiles had been stopped by a mysterious ally. Rogers was also informed about the survivors of Ultron's attacks were suffering from visions from their past and had claimed to have also encountered something faster than they could see, realising that Ultron had allied himself with Wanda and Pietro Maximoff to build up his strength. The team had later learned that Ultron had sent a message directly to them by brutally murdering Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, the former leader of HYDRA while he was still locked inside of his prison cell, leaving the word "PEACE" written with Strucker's blood on the walls. Rogers collected Clint Barton to hear the new update while Barton had claimed to have been talking to his girlfriend on the phone before coming to join the rest of the Avengers in their discussion. The Avengers soon learned that Ultron had wiped out their computer files on Baron Strucker to ensure that they had no leads on where to track him next. Together, they then went through all of their former paperwork from S.H.I.E.L.D. and had eventually discovered that Ultron would likely be going after the Vibranium which he would get from Ulysses Klaue, who was in Johannesburg, who Stark previously had met, as the Avengers then departed to find Ultron.

Battle at the Salvage Yard
"I know you've suffered." "Urgh, Captain America, God's righteous man, pretending you could live without war. I can't physically throw up in my mouth but..."

- Captain America and Ultron

The Avengers traveled to Ulysses Klaue's location where they had soon found Ultron along with Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, the two powered twins who had attacked the team earlier. The Avengers learned that Ultron had already purchased all of the now injured Klaue's Vibranium. Rogers attempted to gain the Maximoff's trust but they seemed to have no interest in siding with the Avengers and Ultron had mocked Rogers by calling him God's righteous man. When Thor's peace negotiations quickly failed, the team engaged in a fierce fight with Ultron, the Maximoff twins, and Klaue's soldiers. While Iron Man and Ultron fought over the skyline, Captain America and Thor teamed up to destroy many of the Ultron Sentries while they were assisted by Black Widow and Hawkeye who then fought against Klaue's soldiers. The Maximoffs proved fierce opponents as they were both able to knock Rogers to the ground separately. Despite the numbers being against them, Captain America were able to gain the advantage over their foes, while Thor had used Mjølnir to trick Quicksilver into attempting to grab ahold of it, causing him to be thrown across the Salvage Yard as he was unworthy to lift it. Captain America and Thor had then teamed up to destroy the last few Ultron Sentries, with Captain America trapping one during the fight before Thor smashed off it's head with a powerful strike from Mjølnir. Eventually, while Iron Man still continued fighting Ultron in the skies above Johannesburg, Captain America used his Shield to known out several more of the remaining Klaue soldiers before he was then able to knock Pietro Maximoff to the ground with another strong hit from his shield, ordering him to stay down. While the Avengers were still fighting against their enemies however, the Vibranium was still stolen by another of Ultron's Sentries who managed to escape.

Seeing Visions
"Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Pulled us apart like cotton candy." "Seems like you walked away all right." "Is that a problem?" "I don't trust a guy without a dark side. Call me old fashioned."

- Steve Rogers and Tony Stark

However, just as their Battle at the Salvage Yard was coming to it's end, Captain America took a hit by Pietro Maximoff who charged straight into Rogers at full speed which then knocked him back. While Rogers recovered from the strike, Wanda Maximoff had taken advantage of him before injured and then proceeded to use her powers to affect Rogers' mind and make him see strange visions. No longer seeing himself in the Salvage Yard fighting alongside his allies, Rogers then saw strange images of the life he almost could have had with both his former comrades celebrating their own final victory, and Agent Peggy Carter following the final ending of World War II, if he had not been frozen within ice for almost seventy years following his final battle against Red Skull, resulting in him becoming trapped in this new world he had never fully adjusted to. Rogers saw himself in a ballroom in the 1940s when Agent Carter approached him and told him he could finally stop fighting. When he turned around, however, everyone had vanished and Rogers stood alone. The tactic was used in an attempt to break Rogers' heart when confronted by his tragic situation. Meanwhile Thor and Black Widow were also given similar visions until Hawkeye had subdued Scarlet Witch and forced her and Quicksilver to escape. With most of the Avengers suffered from these strange and painful visions, and Iron Man fought the deranged Hulk in Johannesburg, the team decided to escape. While still onboard the Quinjet, they were updated by Maria Hill on the public's perception of the Avengers in the wake of Hulk's destructive rampage. As Rogers, Romanoff and Thor tried to cope with what they had seen, Barton made the call for them to hide out at his homestead where they could rest up.

Escape to the Retreat
"That would affect the team." "That would end the team. Isn't that the mission? Isn't that the why we fight, so we can end the fight, so we get to go home?" "Every time someone tries to end a war before it starts, innocent people, die. Every time."

- Steve Rogers and Tony Stark

When the team had arrived at Clint Barton's Homestead where they intended to recover from their ordeals, they discovered, much to their great surprise that Clint Barton was in fact married with two children and one more on the way. While Rogers apologised to coming to their home unexpectedly, Barton had explained that the reason the team had been unaware of his family was due to Director Nick Fury helping him to have this second peaceful life outside of S.H.I.E.L.D. where his family could be safe from any of Barton's enemies. Once introductions had been made, Thor informed the team that he intended to try and learn more about the vision he had been given which had showed him the possible Destruction of Asgard as well as images of the Infinity Stones. While Rogers had stepped out with him, Thor then immediately left the farm to look for the answers he needed, while Rogers stood outside of the doorway, haunted by the idea of a peaceful life with a family which he could never have. Attempting to relax, Rogers and Tony Stark went outside together and chopped wood. They discussed how Wanda Maximoff had been able to use her powers to pull their team apart with ease, although Stark questioned why Rogers had seemed less affected. When the conversation moved onto how Stark and Bruce Banner inadvertently creating Ultron, they began to argue and debate whether or not Stark should have experimented on the Scepter, causing the disaster. Stark argued that he and Banner were doing research into Ultron with the intention of ending the need for the Avengers, still insisting that the Ultron Program was originally designed to protect the Earth. As the argument became more intense Rogers ripped a log in half with his bare hands before Rogers then told Stark that trying to end wars before they start results in the deaths of innocent people. They were then interrupted by Laura Barton who asked for Stark's help.

Nick Fury's Return
"What about Ultron himself?" "He's easy to track, he's everywhere. Guy's multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. Still doesn’t help us get an angle on any of his plans."

- Steve Rogers and Nick Fury

The team was later joined by Nick Fury who had come there in order to motivate the Avengers them restart their fight. Fury then explained that Ultron had pulled the team apart in order to buy himself time, noting that the amount of Vibranium he had taken from Ulysses Klaue was unlikely to be used for one thing. As Rogers questioned where Ultron was, Fury noted that Ultron's attempts to get nuclear launch codes being stopped by an unknown enemy of Ultron. Motivating the team, Fury noted that without S.H.I.E.L.D. to support them, they now only had their wit and their will to save the world but must stand and fight, and when Fury insulted Ultron, calling him a Platinum Bastard, Natasha Romanoff teased Rogers by joking about his dislike for bad language. Bruce Banner worked out that Ultron's plan would be to create another body made of synthetic tissue using the Cradle, and would likely do this with Helen Cho's assistance. Rogers spoke to Tony Stark, who was planning on going straight to the NEXUS to investigate who was assisting their fight against Ultron. They discussed the being Ultron was now planning on building, with Rogers joking that he missed the days when when the weirdest thing science ever created was himself with Project Rebirth. Fury then left the Homestead and also requested the help of Maria Hill from Stark, promising that he would be back to do something dramatic.

Battle of Seoul
"You know what's in that Cradle? The power to make real change and that terrifies you." "I wouldn’t call it a comfort."

- Ultron and Captain America

The team tracked down Ultron at Helen Cho's own Facility within the city of Seoul, where Ultron was still attempting to complete his plans to build himself a new body using the Vibranium which he had previously taken from Ulysses Klaue. Having been dropped off from the Quinjet, Rogers ordered his teammates to stay close while he personally investigated. When Rogers entered the lab he soon found Cho lying injured on the floor after being shot by Ultron. Cho then explained to him that the being inside the Cradle had a Powerful Gem on its head, which could not be destroyed without then creating a massive explosion which could destroy all of Seoul. Cho then recommended that they recover the body and bring it to Tony Stark, so Captain America then went to find and capture the being before Ultron could then escape. Having warned all of the Avengers of this potential danger, Captain America was informed by Hawkeye of Ultron's current location with the Cradle beside him. As Ultron attempted to escape in the truck, Captain America engaged him and they began an intense battle in with Ultron furiously fired his concussion beams at Rogers and had demanded that he leave him alone, although Rogers still managed to remain on top of the truck despite all of Ultron's best efforts. Ultron then flew up and personally confronted Captain America while insisting that the being in the Cradle could create real change which was the Avengers' nightmare. Noting that Ultron's concept was not exactly a comfort for him, Captain America then engaged him and repeatedly threw his shield at Ultron, even managing to imbed it in Ultron's chest, but the robot was able to knock it away and shot at Rogers once again, almost knocking him off the truck. As Ultron gained the upper hand in their fight due to the robot's own immense strength and durability, he soon began to strangle Captain America until Natasha Romanoff caught up with them while on her Motorbike and threw Rogers his shield back which he used to knock Ultron's hand back before continuing to battle the robot. To assist him in the battle, the Quinjet being flown by Hawkeye had fired down a hail of bullets upon Ultron in order to briefly distract him. As they continued their clash on top of the moving truck, Ultron sent several of his Sentries after Hawkeye while trying to destroy Captain America. Eventually, both Rogers and Ultron were thrown onto a train and continued their fight, with Black Widow asking Rogers to keep Ultron distracted. However Rogers was helped by Pietro and Wanda Maximoff who had betrayed Ultron after learning Ultron's schemes to eradicate all human life and could no longer be a part it. Seeing that he was outnumbered by both Captain America and the Maximoffs, who knocked Ultron off Rogers and trapped him with steel beams, Ultron responded by destroying the controls of the train and escaped before they could stop him. Upon seeing this, Captain America ordered the Maximoffs to assist him in finding a way to stop the train; he then sent Quicksilver to move all of the people out of the way while Scarlet Witch used her powers to stop the train. Standing in the front of the train, Rogers had watched as Quicksilver saved several lives while Scarlet Witch used her powers to trap the train's wheels. Although he had to use his Shield to deflect some debris, eventually the train was stopped. By the end of the battle and have saved hundreds of lives from the train crash, the Avengers took control of the Cradle with the being still inside it, but Romanoff was taken prisoner by Ultron during the chaos of the battle. Although he was still somewhat wary of the pair considering their history with HYDRA's leader Baron Wolfgang von Strucker before joining Ultron, Rogers still recruited the Maximoffs as new temporary members of the Avengers, seeing their willingness to stop Ultron's plans. First however, Rogers had confronted the Maximoff twins about their own recent actions while working alongside Ultron and nearly killing the Avengers on several different occasions. Before they left, Rogers spoke to Wanda Maximoff, who expressed her fears of Tony Stark getting possession of Ultron's new body, as she began making the comparisons between the warmongering A.I. and Stark as they both intended to save the world but could not see that they were destroying it. Despite not believing that Stark was a man capable of any of the same kind of actions that Maximoff was suggesting, her words did still make him consider the risks.

Birth of the Vision
"I think I've had my fill of new." "You think I'm a child of Ultron?" "You're not?" "I'm not Ultron. I'm not J.A.R.V.I.S.. I am... I am..."

- Captain America and Vision

Once they had returned inside the Avengers Tower, the team began searching for Natasha Romanoff and discovered that Tony Stark and Bruce Banner were currently attempting to transfer J.A.R.V.I.S.' consciousness into the being Ultron had created inside the Cradle. When Rogers saw this, he and the Maximoff twins confronted them, mortified that Stark would risk creating yet another Ultron. Although Rogers remanded that they shut down the machine, Stark refused and Banner questioned if Scarlet Witch was now controlling Rogers' actions. Although Quicksilver attempted to unplug all the machinery, he was soon subdued by Clint Barton. As tensions had continued to rise, they engaged in a short fight. However their fight was quickly interrupted when Thor arrived and used his lightning to activate the Cradle and give new life to the being inside. The being launched out of the Cradle as the Avengers watched with confusion before it briefly attacked the team, causing Thor to throw it across the room. The being stopped mid-flight when it started out of the window at New York City and seemingly calmed down, with Thor recommending that Captain America not engage with it. The being apologized for its mistake and called itself the Vision, giving itself a uniform and cape which was based on Thor's uniform. Rogers questioned Thor's motives as he explained that he had seen a vision which had showed him that the Mind Stone on the Vision's forehead was one of the six Infinity Stones, which they would need to defeat Ultron. Vision promised to assist the Avengers in their war with Ultron and, in an attempt to show its worthiness to the Avengers, as Rogers and the others had continued to question it, the Vision calmly lifted Mjølnir and handed it to Thor, proving his worthiness. The Avengers then teamed up with the Maximoff twins and regained their weapons ready to go to war with Ultron. They discovered that Ultron was heading back to Sokovia with a plan to destroy the world and was holding Black Widow there as well. Rogers gathered with Stark and Banner to discuss their plan of attack, Stark noted that it was unlikely that they would all survive the battle but Rogers did not let this stop him, jokingly noting that he had no other plans. As they flew to Sokovia in the Quinjet, Rogers gave a speech where he informed the Avengers that the priority was to get the people of Sokovia away from the harm before engaging Ultron. Rogers detailed the plan to evacuate the city, rescue Romanoff, discover what Ultron was building with the Vibranium taken from Ulysses Klaue and then engage Ultron himself. Rogers concluded that this was their chance to prove they were not monsters as Ultron believed they were.

Evacuating the Citizens
"Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed... Walk it off."

- Captain America to the Avengers

As the Avengers arrived in Sokovia, Rogers attached his Shield and grabbed his helmet. He walked down to see some graffiti of him with the word 'Fascist' written on it. In disgust, Rogers threw his helmet back on the Quinjet. Rogers was then informed by Scarlet Witch that the bridge was the main way out and Quicksilver said that they would cover the others so Rogers told them to get everybody out while they still could. As Rogers prepared to go and evacuate the civilians, Clint Barton walked by and noticed the graffiti, while jokingly saying it was not bad. When he was confronted by Iron Man, Ultron had then responded by unleashing his army of Ultron Sentries across Sokovia, ordering them to slaughter all the innocent people in order to ensure he was not bothered while he continued with his schemes. Captain America led the Avengers in their battle against the armies of Sentries, as Scarlet Witch offered protective shield while Rogers continued to fight them back, managing to rip the arm off one of the Ultron Sentries. Eventually, Ultron made his move towards complete destruction and used a device which was powered by Ulysses Klaue's Vibranium, to levitate Novi Grad as Ultron had then prepared to drop the entire city down onto the Earth to destroy the entire planet. Captain America watched this unfolding from the bridge, seeing buildings falling apart as the citizens ran in terror, all while Ultron watched from the air and vowed that before long only he would remain on the planet. While they continued trying to get as many people out of harms way as they could, Iron Man warned Captain America of an incoming, however he informed him just a moment too late as another Sentry crashed into Rogers and sent him flying backwards. Getting back to his feet, Captain America ordered Tony Stark to focus on bringing the city back down safety, while ordering the team to tear the Sentries apart, telling them to walk off any injury, even their own death. As the army of machines continued to attack the civilians of the city, Rogers spotted two cars which were dangling from the edge of the broken bridge. Captain America attempted to save at least one but was seconds too late as both of the cars fell from a bridge, tumbling hundreds of feet. Thor came to their aid and flew down, pulling the woman out of her car and throwing her to Rogers, who was able to pull her back to safety. Another Ultron Sentries then attempted to kill them but Rogers was able to use his Shield to rip it in half before he had thrown its mangled body off the bridge, mocking it as it fell while Thor successfully brought the second car back onto the bridge. While Hawkeye joined forces with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver while they battled the Ultron Sentries in the city center, Captain America and Thor fought the incoming army inside the outer limits of the city, protecting the citizens from danger, with Captain America allowing Thor to use Mjølnir to strike his Shield with considerable more power. While Ultron personally confronted Thor, Hawkeye claimed that they were all clear, which Rogers disputed as he destroyed Sentries. When Black Widow had arrived on the battlefield, she found herself surrounded by Ultron's forces until Captain America came to her aid. Together, Romanoff and Rogers fought side by side, assisting each other in their fight as Rogers then threw her his own Shield which she used along with her Batons to fight back against the Sentries which surrounded her. Rogers joined the fight until the first wave of Sentries were all destroyed, giving the Avengers a moment of peace.

Reinforcements
"Fury, you son of a bitch." "Oh, you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

- Captain America and Nick Fury

During this time Iron Man flew outside of Novi Grad to try and work out a solution in order to stop Ultron's plans for global annihilation, when he suggested that they destroy the city while it was still in the air, Rogers insisted that they would not leave the city and risk the lives of the thousands of citizens. Standing on the edge of the city, Black Widow had argued that the percentages of these sacrifices did not match up. While they continued debating the matter, they were then interrupted when eventually, Nick Fury and Maria Hill had unexpectedly arrived onboard a Helicarrier. While Rogers looked on with amazement, Fury explained that he gained the old and supposedly Helicarrier with the help of some old friends. Rogers, surprised yet delighted over Fury's surprise arrival, jokingly called him a son of a bitch, to which Fury teased if Roger spoke to his own mother the same way. With the assistance of Cameron Klein who was also onboard, Fury then used the Helicarrier to enact Rogers' plan and evacuate all the civilians while War Machine joined the battle to keep the Helicarrier from harm. Fury sent out a squad of rescue boats to evacuate the citizens while Rogers and all the Avengers ensured no one was left behind, ensuring that every civilian got to the safety of the Helicarrier before the entire city could then be dropped out of the sky.

Protecting the Key
"Is that the best you can do!?" "You had to ask..."

- Thor and Captain America

Seeing the Avengers were winning the battle, Ultron had attempted to activate the key, dropping Novi Grad out of the sky and destroying the entire planet as a result. Captain America and the rest of the team arrived inside the church and surrounded the key in order to protect it. Once everybody had finally reassembled around the key, Iron Man explained to Black Widow that if Ultron was able to get near the key, the day would be lost. Just as this was said, Captain America noticed Ultron was currently assembling his armies just outside. When Thor had mocked Ultron by furiously questioning if all this was the best he could do, the robot responded by showing off his army of hundreds of Ultron Sentries. Captain America then turned to Thor and commented on how he had to provoke Ultron resulting in such a difficult challenge for them. As Ultron continued to monologue about how he intended to destroy them, Iron Man said they would defeat him the way Captain America had once suggested, together. With the challenge accepted, Ultron immediately unleashed his entire army of the Ultron Sentries upon them, who completely surrounded the church within seconds. Captain America and all the Avengers put all their force into destroying the seemingly endless horde of Ultron Sentries, however even Captain America soon found himself being overwhelmed as one of the Sentries grabbed ahold of his throat until he was able to free himself and ripped off the Sentries head. As the onslaught of Sentries continued to attack them, the Avengers fought as a perfect unit, with Captain America crushing the Sentries under his Shield while the Vision used his incredible abilities to give them a clear advantage against Ultron's forces, until finally they were pushed back. When Ultron attempted to join the fight in his strongest form, the Vision alongside Iron Man and Thor nearly destroyed him as well as his Vibranium armour with their own combined powers. With the battle almost won, Captain America then ordered the team to get to a Rescue Boat and leave the city before Iron Man and Thor stayed behind and destroyed the city, despite knowing that there was a strong chance of their deaths. When Hawkeye questioned how the key would be protected, Scarlet Witch had agreed to stay behind to protect it, despite Quicksilver being unsure of the idea. With little time to spare, Rogers and the others made their way to safety.

Destruction of Sokovia
"We gotta move out. Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats, I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you." "What about the core?"

- Captain America and Hawkeye

With only limited time remaining to get the final few civilians off Novi Grad and onto the Helicarrier, Captain America regrouped with Thor to ensure that everybody was safe, including most of the Avengers who were no longer needed in the mission. While they were speaking, Iron Man requested that Thor return to the church so together they could destroy the entire city by overloading and then striking the Vibranium core once everybody was clear from danger. However, before they left, Ultron had managed to successfully take control of their Quinjet and used it to fire a hail of bullets upon the Avengers. While Captain America was able to block the bullets using his Shield, Ultron was however successful in killing Quicksilver in the process, who was attempting to protect Hawkeye by sacrificing his life. Rogers quietly carried Pietro's body onto the rescue boat while Hawkeye saved a young boy and reunited him with his sister. While Ultron was ripped from their Quinjet by the Hulk to ensure he could not do anymore damage, he was thrown back down into the streets of Novi Grad, with his robotic body disabled. There Ultron was later confronted by the Scarlet Witch, who attempted to avenge her brother by destroying Ultron's primary body. Meanwhile Rogers remained on the surface of the city and watched the final few people get on the Transporters ready to get away from the danger. Without warning, Ultron took advantage of Scarlet Witch leaving her post and managed to activate the key and Rogers was barely able to escape onto the Transporter as Novi Grad fell towards the Earth at a terrifying speed. Thor and Iron Man were able to destroy the device, saving the Earth from Ultron's devastating plan. With the battle won, the Vision was able to destroy the final Ultron body, effectively killing him and ending the threat of global destruction for the world.

Leading the Team
"Well, we're not the ." "We've got some hitters." "They're good; they're not a team." "Let's beat 'em into shape."

- Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff

The Avengers were soon disbanded in the aftermath of the Battle of Sokovia, with Tony Stark and Clint Barton retiring and Bruce Banner still missing in action. Rogers, Stark and Thor met at the New Avengers Facility where they discussed the Vision keeping the Mind Stone in his head, Thor insisted that he could as he had proven himself worthy by lifting Mjølnir, although Rogers questioned if this counted as Vision was a machine, comparing him to putting Mjølnir into a lift which would still go up. Thor then returned to Asgard to learn more about the Infinity Stones, as he had been given a vision of their true power while within the Water of Sights, claiming that someone was planning on using their power for something terrible soon. Stark then departed the facility, telling Rogers that he believed it was time for him to return to Stark Industries and Pepper Potts away from the Avengers, with Rogers telling Stark that he would miss him once he was gone. Rogers then explored the New Avengers Facility, which had been formed by Nick Fury, with the help of Maria Hill, Erik Selvig, Helen Cho and other former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to train a new Avengers team. Before long Rogers found Natasha Romanoff in one of the hallways having just spoken with Fury and considering where Banner might have gone. Rogers teased Romanoff before calling her into action and asking her about their new team of Avengers. Captain America then greeted the New Avengers team, consisting of the Vision, Scarlet Witch, War Machine and Falcon. Before long, HYDRA collected many of the parts of the destroyed Ultron Sentries and took them to an undisclosed location in Eastern Europe, where they used the parts to create a giant robot called Ultimo. HYDRA then used the Ultimo to attack a village. Rogers led the Avengers to an attack on the giant robot and managed to destroy Ultimo.

Attack on the IFID Headquarters
"He knew we knew you. Your pal, your buddy, your Bucky." "What did you say?" "He remembered you. I was there. He got all weepy about it. Till they put his brain back in the blender."

- Crossbones and Captain America

Rogers led his fellow Avengers on a mission in Lagos, Nigeria to stop Brock Rumlow - who separated from HYDRA and began working as a mercenary. Rogers observed the streets from a building when he saw a suspicious truck. Rogers had Falcon follow the truck using Redwing. Discovering the truck was at maximum capacity, Black Widow realized that the truck was being used as a battering ram. The truck then drove into the IFID entrance, allowing all Crossbones' mercenaries to break in. The Avengers attacked the mercenaries as Falcon dropped Rogers from the sky where he proceeded to take out some of Crossbones' mercenaries. Falcon soon located which floor Crossbones was, so Rogers was thrown into it by Scarlet Witch who emptied the building of gas. Rogers fought through all Crossbones' mercenaries to discover that he had taken a biological weapon. Rogers reached the balcony when Crossbones attacked him from an armed vehicle after having already subdued Black Widow. Despite Rogers attempting to get away, Crossbones still continued to fire at him, destroying much of the building before knocking him out of a window when Rogers was hit by a fireball. While Rogers recovered from the fall, Crossbones and his mercenaries managed to escape to the market and the Avengers quickly chased after them all. Before long all of Crossbones' mercenaries had been found and defeated, with Black Widow recovering the biological weapon and sending it away within Redwing, however, Crossbones himself still remained at large. Once Captain America had arrived on the scene, Crossbones managed to attach a bomb to his Shield. To save himself and the citizens around him, Rogers threw his shield away before it exploded, only to be attacked from behind by Crossbones. Captain America and Crossbones then battled one another, with Crossbones desperate for revenge for what had happened to him during the Battle at the Triskelion in which Rogers had crashed a Helicarrier into the Triskelion and nearly killed him. Crossbones used the upgrades on his Battle Suit to try and kill Rogers, including using retractable blades, but Captain America's superior fighting skills and enhanced strength gave him the edge in the fight. As their fight went on, Captain America managed to rip off both of Crossbones' gauntlets and then eventually beat him into submission. Having finally defeated Rumlow and removed his enemy's mask, Rogers then interrogated him about the what he had been planning, demanding to know who he was planning on selling the biological weapon too. Unintimidated by the threats, Rumlow proceeded to tell Rogers all about how HYDRA had tortured and brainwashed Bucky Barnes under the orders of Alexander Pierce, which managed to distract Rogers from the threats around him. With Rogers distracted by thoughts of Barnes, Rumlow then triggered his suicide vest to kill both himself and Rogers and finally gain his revenge. However, just before Rogers could be consumed in the fireball, he was saved just in time as Scarlet Witch used her powers to save Rogers and all the immediate civilians by throwing Rumlow into the air where he exploded. However, as a result, dozens of the innocent people inside a nearby building were killed by the blast, as Rogers and Maximoff looked on in horror. Upon seeing the carnage, Rogers instructed Wilson to call fire and rescue onto the scene.

Sokovia Accords
"If we sign these, we surrender our right to choose. What if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if it's somewhere we need to go, and they don't let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own."

- Steve Rogers to the Avengers

A month after the event, Wanda Maximoff still felt guilty for the death of the civilians. Rogers tried to comfort her by telling her that sometimes they could not save everyone. Vision entered the room and informed him that Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross was coming to the New Avengers Facility. The new Avengers members and Tony Stark were present, as Ross explained to them that as a result of many catastrophic events in which they had been involved over the years, the Sokovia Accords were drafted to regulate superheroes and were signed by 117 nations. The team was divided on the issue, with each member beginning to take sides. Stark fully supported the bill, feeling the regulation was necessary to do good and protect people, making an example of a young man who had died in Sokovia. Stark tried to convince Rogers, but the latter was hesitant. Rogers felt that the Avengers were successful because they did not have a government to which they answered; deliberation of when to deploy the team would render the Avengers too slow to act in emergencies and prevent them from determining when and where to act. While Stark felt guilty over creating Ultron, Rogers felt that the intervention of another party could have similar results to the S.H.I.E.L.D. infiltration by HYDRA. Ross informed the team that refused to sign the Accords was tantamount to resignation. If they acted outside the law again, they would be branded criminals and sent to jail.

Death of Peggy Carter
"When I came out of the ice, I thought I wanted to ignore she was gone. When I found out that she was alive... I was just lucky to have her."

- Steve Rogers to Natasha Romanoff

During the meeting, Rogers received a text telling him that Peggy Carter had passed away peacefully in her sleep. At the funeral in London, Rogers' beliefs on the Sokovia Accords were affirmed by a eulogy given by Sharon Carter, who revealed her relation to the former Carter; she was Peggy's niece. Rogers stayed in the church after the funeral, alone, acknowledging that another close friend was deceased. Natasha Romanoff arrived and consoled Rogers. They discussed the Accords, and what it would mean for Rogers in the team. Romanoff felt it was necessary to sign, but Rogers was unmoved. Rogers and Carter were in Vienna where the Sokovia Accords were underway to be signed. They talked about Carter's work at the CIA and about Peggy, when suddenly Sam Wilson came to inform him that a bomb was detonated outside the Vienna International Centre. They watched the news reporting that the prime suspect was Bucky Barnes.

Hunt for Winter Soldier
"I should be the one to bring him in." "Why?" "Because I'm the one least likely to die to try."

- Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff

Rogers called Natasha Romanoff and asked her if she was alright. After she said she was fine, she urged him not to go after Barnes. He refused, saying that he was the most capable to confront him and he hung up. Rogers and Sam Wilson met in a nearby bar, and Wilson asked him if Romanoff had told him to not interfere. Rogers said that Barnes would have done the same thing. Sharon Carter then entered, giving Barnes' location in Romania and a warning to Rogers that the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre had been given the order to kill Barnes. Against the warnings of Romanoff, Rogers and Wilson went to Romania. Rogers entered Barnes's apartment and saw Barnes. While Wilson updated him about the task force's location, Rogers asked Barnes if he remembered him. Barnes said he did since he had read about him at the Smithsonian Institution. Rogers warned him about the task force coming for him, as they thought Barnes had caused the Bombing of the Vienna International Centre, but Barnes assured him that he had not done it. Rogers asked Barnes why he had pulled him out of the river during the Battle at the Triskelion, but Barnes said he did not know why, although Rogers thought otherwise. Once the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre operatives broke into the apartment, Rogers and Barnes fought against them together. The two escaped, but Barnes was attacked by Black Panther. As the two fought each other, a helicopter shot towards them. Rogers asked Wilson to deflect it. Barnes escaped through a tunnel, with Black Panther and the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre operatives after him. Rogers went after Barnes to defend him. The pursuit continued, Rogers running after Black Panther. Because he was so fast, Rogers entered one of the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre cars. Black Panther held onto the car and Rogers could not get rid of him, asking Wilson to help him. Barnes threw a bomb to the tunnel's entrance and Black Panther managed to catch him. Rogers got out from the spinning car, only to be arrested by the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre operatives and James Rhodes, who called him a criminal. Black Panther revealed himself to be T'Challa, the prince of Wakanda.

Fugitive of the Law
"If I see a situation pointed south, I can't ignore it. Sometimes I wish I could." "No, you don't." "No, I don't."

- Steve Rogers and Tony Stark

The four were brought to the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre Building in Berlin. During the transition, Rogers asked T'Challa if his Panther Habit was made of Vibranium as it had proven to be bulletproof. He replied that he took the title of the Black Panther after his father had died in the Bombing of the Vienna International Centre. Barnes was held in a containment cell and Rogers, Sam Wilson, and T'Challa met with Everett Ross, the deputy task force commander. He told them their equipment, meaning the EXO-7 Falcon and Captain America's Shield, had been confiscated for the foreseeable future. They were offered exoneration on the condition they sign the Sokovia Accords, but Rogers and Wilson refused to sign. Tony Stark arrived, extending an olive branch by offering Rogers a set of antique fountain pens, and asking his friend once more to sign. Rogers almost agreed, but he felt he must stand by his principles. They argued, including the house arrest Stark had ordered Vision to do for Wanda Maximoff in the New Avengers Facility. Rogers still refused to sign the Accords. Rogers and Wilson, with Sharon Carter, watched the interview of a contained Barnes by the psycho-analyst, Theo Broussard. Rogers suspected the motive behind releasing Barnes's picture to the public. Carter realized that he thought someone had framed Barnes only to get him; Rogers suspected the psycho-analyst. Suddenly, the power across the headquarters went out. Rogers and Wilson hurried to the interrogation room, finding the psycho-analyst on the ground without Barnes. Rogers asked him who was he and what he wanted, so he replied he wanted to see "an empire fall". Barnes suddenly attacked Rogers and Wilson, easily subduing Wilson and engaging in a brief scuffle with Rogers, using his Prosthetic Arm to throw him down an elevator shaft. Rogers went after him, finding him on a helicopter. With his strength, Rogers managed to hold the helicopter to the landing platform and prevent the escape. Barnes fell to the river and Rogers pulled him out. The duo took Barnes to an abandoned building and subdued him. They questioned him if he was still under brainwashing of the psychoanalyst, who was really Helmut Zemo and deliberated their course of action; telling Stark or the others would get them back where they started, but doing otherwise could make them wanted men. Barnes elaborates the potential motives of Zemo. He believed that Zemo was traveling to the HYDRA Siberian Facility that had kept him when he was in HYDRA. He suspected he would use the Winter Soldiers, highly trained HYDRA assassins, for his goals. Rogers said to Wilson that they were alone in the fight, but Wilson said that he knew a guy who could assist them.

New Team
"Suit up!"

- Steve Rogers to his team

Knowing the threat an army of Winter Soldiers posed to the world, Rogers, Sam Wilson, and Bucky Barnes weighed their options. They decided they must put a team together to stop Helmut Zemo and to resist Tony Stark and his team. He connected with Clint Barton, asked him to free Wanda Maximoff from the New Avengers Facility and then to recruit Scott Lang. Rogers met with Sharon Carter in a parking lot. She gave them their armor and weapons, and she and Rogers shared a long overdue moment of intimacy, to the cheers and howls of Roger's friends. After she left, Barton arrived with Maximoff and Lang, who was eager to meet Captain America and the other heroes and agreed with their plight, even though Rogers informed him that he would once again be a criminal. They planned to take a Quinjet at the Leipzig/Halle Airport and use it to get to Zemo, although they knew Stark and his team would wait for them. Rogers told his team to suit up.

Clash of the Avengers
"What do we do, Cap?" "We fight."

- Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers

Captain America and his companions arrived at the Leipzig/Halle Airport to take a Quinjet to find Helmut Zemo. Rogers went to the field alone, where he was intercepted by Iron Man and his Avengers, who offered Rogers and his team one last chance to surrender. Rogers tried to convince Stark that Zemo was behind their fight, but he did not listen. Suddenly, Spider-Man showed up, using his Web-Shooters to take Rogers' shield and to tie his hands. Falcon found the Quinjet, so Hawkeye freed Rogers and Ant-Man brought his shield back. The two teams then fought each other. Rogers fought against War Machine and Black Panther. As Black Panther ran to Bucky Barnes, Rogers stopped him. Ant-Man came to him, telling him to throw the shrunken truck at the Pym Particles Disks. Once he did that, the truck grew and exploded. Captain America's team reunited and ran to the Quinjet, but Vision arrived and blocked their way with his energy blast. As both teams were facing each other, Falcon asked Rogers what should they do next, so he replied they would fight. Captain America and his team ran to Iron Man's team and the two fought each other. Captain America managed to bring Spider-Man to the ground and he told him that he did not understand what was happening. They fought each other and Captain America dropped a platform on him, forcing him to hold it. Rogers asked him from where he came, so Spider-Man replied that he was from Queens. Rogers smiled and said he was from Brooklyn. Rogers and Barnes reunited and ran to the Quinjet. Ant-Man had a plan to distract the other team, so he grew in size. As they ran to the hangar, Vision used his energy blast to collapse it, but Scarlet Witch used her power and prevented it. The two entered the hangar; however, they were intercepted thereby Black Widow. Rogers did not want to fight against her. To Rogers and Barnes' surprise, she let them leave, repeatedly shocking Black Panther, who was about to stop them, to keep him in place, giving the two the chance to reach the Quinjet. As they departed, Iron Man and War Machine followed them through the air as they attempted to fly away. In turn, Falcon followed the two armored Avengers to try to stop them. But only after the two changed directions did Rogers and Barnes had an opportunity to leave.

Battle at the HYDRA Siberian Facility
"Stay down. Final warning." "I can do this all day."

- Iron Man and Captain America

On their way to the HYDRA Siberian Facility, Bucky Barnes said to Rogers that he felt he was not worthy enough so Rogers would lose his friends. Rogers said to him that what Barnes had done over the years was not his fault. The two entered the facility, a few hours after Helmut Zemo. As they searched for Zemo, Tony Stark arrived at the facility and declared a truce to stop Zemo. Rogers was happy that Stark finally agreed with him. The trio found the Winter Soldiers, all deceased. Zemo revealed himself behind a bunker and explained that he successfully managed to bring him and Stark to the base, after a year of planning. Rogers realized that he was from Sokovia and wanted revenge because of the battle there. Blaming the Avengers for the loss of his family during the battle, he had orchestrated a plot to tear them apart from the inside. He then started a video of a car on a dark road which Stark instantly recognized. The three watched it, as it revealed Barnes, under HYDRA's control, killing Howard and Maria. Stark then moved to attack Barnes before Rogers held him back. Tony then demanded Rogers to tell him if he had known that Barnes had killed his parents. Rogers revealed that he had known Stark's parents were killed by HYDRA but didn't know it was Bucky. However, Tony saw right through the lie and demanded the truth, forcing Rogers to admit he'd known for years. Already enraged by Rogers' decisions over the past few days, Tony snapped and attacked Barnes with the intent to kill him. He forced Steve into clamps before the super soldier broke free with his shield as Stark and Barnes had destroyed the base's main floor. As the Mark XLVI, was pinned under debris Rogers told Barnes to flee before he attempted to reason with Tony. When Tony refused to listen, Rogers was forced to damage one of the suit's boot jets before Tony trapped him with the laser. Rogers caught up in the fight, managing to reflect a lethal repulsor blast back at Stark before being separated from his shield and trapped on a lower level. When Stark tried to crush Barnes under the Mark XLVI's weight, Rogers tackled the Avenger taking the two down to the main level. Rogers again attempted to reason with Stark who made clear he was done listening to Rogers before attacking again, overpowering the super soldier before Barnes intervened with the shield, turning the fight into a two on one brawl. Tony responded to the uneven odds by simply blasting Rogers point blank disabling him for nearly two minutes. While Rogers convulsed in pain, Barnes managed to force Stark against the wall and tried to rip out the main Arc Reactor. Stark responded with the Unibeam, disintegrating Barnes' robotic arm before seemingly killing him with a standard blast. Recovering, the enraged Rogers stormed towards Stark, deflecting the repulsor blasts with his shield before forcing Stark back against the wall and pummeling him relentlessly. Knowing he stood no chance up close, Stark changed his tactics, anticipating Rogers' moves and caught the shield before blasting it away and brutally beating down the captain. Utterly defeated, outclassed by the Mark XLVI, and having lost everything, Rogers tried to appeal to Stark to make him understand why he did what he did before Stark bitterly commented that they were enemies now and threw him aside, giving him a final warning to stand down. Bloodied and exhausted, Rogers still refused to stand down, even as Stark charged a repulsor blast. A still alive Barnes managed to grab Stark's boot before Stark kicked Barnes in the face providing a distraction for Rogers, who grabbed Stark from behind and violently slammed him into the ground. Rogers pinned him to the floor and pummeled him with every bit of remaining strength he had, smashing his helmet to pieces and shattering his arc reactor with his shield. As Rogers carried the injured Barnes away Stark claimed Rogers did not deserve the shield, as Howard Stark had made it. Acknowledging that he had proved himself unworthy of the weapon and out of sympathy for his former friend, he surrendered it back to the Stark family and left the scene with Barnes.

Once outside the facility, Rogers and Barnes were confronted by the Black Panther, who revealed that he had overheard everything and had already apprehended Zemo. Before leaving to take Zemo to the authorities, Black Panther told Barnes that he had sources in Wakanda that could help him in removing his Winter Soldier programming.

Escape from the Raft
"I wished we'd agree on the Accords. I really do. I know you're doing what you believe in. And that's all any of us can do. That's all any of us should. So, no matter what, I promise you, if you need us, if you need me, I'll be there."

- Steve Rogers to Tony Stark

Two days later, after finishing his plan on how to infiltrate the prison, Rogers took a Quinjet to the Raft, and, while also reassuring Barnes that he was still "with him 'til the end of the line", Rogers liberated his teammates from the Airport Battle. Rogers was joined by Sam Wilson in his vigilantism, while Barton, Maximoff, and Lang returned to their homes.

At the same time, seeking to make amends, Rogers sent Tony a package containing a letter and a cell phone. In the letter, Rogers apologized for the events that had transpired, specifically withholding the knowledge of Stark's parents' murder and the fact that they couldn't agree on the Sokovia Accords. He assured Stark that if the latter would ever need him, or any of the other Avengers, he would be a phone call away.

Wakanda
"You know if they find out he's here, they'll come for him." "Let them try."

- Steve Rogers and T'Challa

Some weeks after the Escape from the Raft, Rogers and Barnes were told by T'Challa that Barnes would have to return to cryo-sleep stasis to have a better chance of having his Winter Soldier programming removed. Though Rogers disagreed, he left the choice to Barnes, who decided to give it a chance. After Shuri explained how she intended to remove the HYDRA programming, Rogers stayed by Barnes' side as he went into the ice once again. Rogers thanked T'Challa for his actions in protecting Barnes, with T'Challa noting that both Barnes and T'Chaka were victims and he wanted to help one find some kind of peace. Rogers warned him that if the United Nations would discover that Wakanda was harboring the Winter Soldier, they will come as Thaddeus Ross and Everett Ross were still furious that he had gotten away, to which T'Challa boldly stated that they may try as they overlooked Wakanda.

Following the Chatter
After months of remaining under the radar, Rogers and Wilson were later joined by Natasha Romanoff, who was now on the run for helping Rogers during the Clash of the Avengers. Romanoff used her KGB contacts to track down a terrorist organization supplied with Chitauri fuelled weapons in Syria. Infiltrating the terrorists, Rogers, Wilson and Romanoff disabled the weapons and then left for Lebanon.

Saving Vision
Warned by Bruce Banner that New York had been attacked, Rogers, Romanoff, and Wilson went off to find Maximoff and Vision. They arrived just in time to save Vision and Wanda. Beneath the train station, Rogers fought against Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive alongside Romanoff and Wilson. They were successfully able to injure Glaive and force their adversary to retreat. Regrouping with Vision and Maximoff, Steve and the others flew to the New Avengers Facility to meet with Rhodes and Banner.

Going to Wakanda
"I'm not looking for forgiveness, and I'm way past asking permission. Earth just lost her best defender, so we're here to fight. And if you want to stand in our way, we'll fight you too."

- Steve Rogers to Thaddeus Ross

Upon arrival in the New Avengers Facility, Steve is greeted by Thaddeus Ross, who mocks him that he is wrong to believe that he is allowed to be a hero again. However Steve tells Ross that he is done asking for permission or forgiveness reminding him that Iron Man is no longer here to defend the Earth, and goes as far as to threaten war with him and the Governments of the World if they try to get in the way. When Ross ordered Rhodes to arrest them, Rhodes chose to cut off the communication and join Rogers. The reassembled Avengers debated on their course of action. Banner warned them that Thanos was coming for Vision's infinity stone. Roger and Maximoff protested when Vision offered to sacrifice himself to destroy the stone. Roger decided to find help in Wakanda as the nation possessed advanced technology that can remove the Infinity Stone without causing Vision's death. Arriving at Wakanda with his team, they were greeted by T'Challa and Rogers was reunited with his old friend, Bucky Barnes. Rogers watched as Banner and Shuri discussed on how to safely remove Vision's Mind Stone. It wasn't long before massive alien space ship crashed on Wakanda's borders, signifying the arrival of the enemy. In order to buy time for Shuri to remove the Infinity Stone, T'Challa ordered the city to be evacuated, the preparation of the city's defenses and for Rogers' to be given a Vibranium shield.

Battle of Wakanda
"What is this? What the hell is happening?" "...Oh, God."

- James Rhodes to Steve Rogers

As the Avengers and the Wakandan Army prepared to face Thanos' army, Rogers and Romanoff accompanied T'Challa to face Midnight and Cull Obsidian. Finding their opponent nonnegotiable, Captain America rejoined the rest of the army as they prepared for the alien invaders. Countless alien soldiers began pouring out from the ship and charging into Wakanda's barrier force field. Despite killing numerous amount of them, more and more began to force themselves through the barrier, they were quickly dispatched by the allied army. Unfortunately, they were forced to open the barrier in order to prevent the city from being encircled and to force the enemy to focus their attention on them. Once Black Panther ordered a gap to be open on their section of the barrier, Captain America joined Black Panther were the first to engage with the army. Fighting off numerous outriders, the situation grew grim as the allied army began finding themselves overwhelmed by the innumerable enemy army. This eventually forced Maximoff to enter the battle in order to give them an edge. The arrival of Thor, Groot and Rocket Raccoon turned the tide of the battle. Unfortunately, Wanda's participation left Vision open to get attacked by Glaive who have infiltrated the city, which ruined the process to remove the stone. Captain America raced to save Vision and managed to reach him in time to prevent Glaive from killing him. He entered into combat with Glaive and held his own well but would have been defeated if Vision hadn't caught him by surprise and killed him. Unfortunately, as victory was almost at their grasp, Vision sensed the arrival of Thanos and Captain America immediately ordered every Avenger to regroup to prepare for Thanos's inevitable arrival. After a few seconds of winds blowing, Thanos finally arrived, having acquired almost all of the Infinity Stones and only needed the Mind Stone to complete the Infinity Gauntlet. Banner quickly deduced that it is Thanos and Captain America, faced with the dire situation, desperately attacked Thanos alongside his allies to buy as much time as possible for Scarlet Witch as she tearfully began destroying Vision's Mind Stone. Despite their best effort, Captain America and his allies find themselves hopelessly outmatched by Thanos and his dominion over the fabrics of existence granted by the nearly complete Infinity Gauntlet, with Rogers being the second one to be taken out by Thanos, who used the Power Stone to blow him away. However, Captain America was the only Avenger able to still fight and he desperately fought to buy time as he held Thanos off by grabbing his Infinity Gauntlet hand, a feat that managed to momentarily surprise the Mad Titan. But Captain America was eventually swiftly defeated by Thanos and incapacitated with a single punch, leaving him powerless to prevent Thanos from getting the Mind Stone and completing the Gauntlet.

Despite Thor, in a last-minute and nearly successful attempt, badly wounding Thanos with Stormbreaker, the Mad Titan successfully achieve his goal of killing off half the population of the universe. As Thanos retreated from the battlefield, Rogers was able to get back up on his feet and asked Thor on what happened, although his teammate, reminded by Gamora's warnings that Thanos can wipe out half of the universe with just a snap of his fingers, remains silent as he laments his failure to stop Thanos. As Rogers asked Thor further on what happened, he soon realizes that Thanos has won upon watching Barnes disintegrated in front him and subsequently the disintegration of half of his teammates, friends and allies in absolute shock and horror. In the aftermath of the battle, Rogers knelt next to the demolished body of Vision, accepting defeat with the other survivors.

Personality
"The price of freedom is high. It always has been. And it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not."

- Captain America Considered by many as the world's first and greatest superhero, Captain America has been defined by his courage and righteousness.

Steve Rogers has always had a noble and honest spirit, intolerant towards injustice and abuses of power. Since he grew up weak and small, he learned on his own that true strength is having the courage to fight against abuse no matter one's power and having compassion for the innocent. Despite being transformed into a perfect human by the Super Soldier Serum, he maintained his original spirit and character. Since his reawakening, Rogers was saddened by losing so much of his time but still retains the same values he had since the 1940s. Due to his famed past exploits and his continued works to save the world, Rogers is generally respected by many; even if he doesn't seek acknowledgment for his deeds. He was also very empathetic being able to understand and relate to both Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver before meeting them and understanding Tony Stark's motivation during the Avengers' Civil War despite Iron Man being on the opposing side.

What separates Steve Rogers from the other Avengers is his humanity and morality. Steve Rogers is an extremely dedicated person. Despite originally being physically weak and small, and rejected many times due to his frail health, he still tried to enlist in the Army during World War II. Steve tried to be of service in whatever way he was allowed; even when his talents were wasted when he was ordered to inspire the American soldiers and support the American war effort by starring in U.S. propaganda. When he heard that the 107th battalion, including Bucky, was captured in a nearby HYDRA facility, Rogers disobeyed his superior's orders and went behind enemy lines in an apparent suicide mission and rescued them. Rogers finds the courage to defend the weak and innocent, and does not hesitate to stand up to corrupt bureaucrats, hypocritical authority figures, powerful beings like Loki, or even the nearly omnipotent Thanos. His determination also aids him, giving him a boost in physical power to allow him to hold off beings of much greater strength, with this even allowing him to survive against Thanos. A true hero, Rogers is more than willing to sacrifice himself to protect others and does not care if he is considered the villain in his heroic job, as his desire to protect the world remained as strong as ever even after he was deemed a criminal.

Rogers is not afraid to do what's right for the greater good and make the tough choices, even if it might be costly to him personally. As a soldier and an Avenger, Rogers knows full well that war has its casualties and some of his dearest friends or even himself may need to make the ultimate sacrifice. He was willing to justify violence and killing to defend others and to preserve peace and freedom, even when Nick Fury called him out on various war crimes he and the American army committed during World War II. Rogers once had to tell Natasha Romanoff to close the Chitauri portal, despite Stark not being out yet. Rogers was also willing to fight his best friend Bucky Barnes when the latter was preventing Steve from saving over three million innocent lives. Nevertheless, Captain America will always prioritize civilian lives. For example, Rogers would not abandon Novi Grad until all of its citizens were evacuated; even when Ultron was planning on smashing the city to the ground to create more damage to Earth. His heroism and determination to what he believes is morally right no matter the personal cost even allowed him to move Mjølnir slightly when he attempted to lift it following the retrieval of the Chitauri Scepter, much to the surprise and discomfort of Thor. He also does not approve simply sacrificing others just to make sure a battle is won if there is other choices, as Rogers disapproved of Vision's idea to destroy both the Mind Stone and Vision even though he is aware if Thanos gets all six Infinity Stones, he will wipe out half of the universe.

As seen during World War II and the Chitauri Invasion, Captain America has demonstrated impressive charisma and leadership skills. He is able to command respect from his fellow Avengers and the undying loyalty of his Howling Commandos. Rogers' extraordinary ability to not only inspire the nobility in others but also assess combat situations and come up with effective strategies made his fellow Avengers recognize him as the leader of their team. During the Chitauri attack on New York, Captain America focused on directing civilian authorities in order to keep the citizens safe and off the streets while the rest of the Avengers focused their efforts on taking out the Chitauri's military assets. Even when outnumbered by the forces of HYDRA within S.H.I.E.L.D., Steve was able to get Wilson, Hill, Romanoff and even Fury, along with the loyal agents within S.H.I.E.L.D. to fight back against HYDRA and stop Project Insight from being achieved. As a result, Rogers dealt HYDRA their first devastating blow in decades, since he fought against them in World War II.

Captain America's uncompromising sense of morality and selflessness sometimes puts him at odds with Tony Stark, who is more comfortable with a grey morality to protect people. This has led to several moments of bickering, arguments, and almost physical fights over the direction of the Avengers in how to protect people. Despite their differences, however, they both respect each other, work well together, and have even formed a close friendship. This difference in attitude, reached a head in the Avengers Civil War, where Tony sought to compromise with governments who were increasingly intolerant with collateral damage while Rogers refused to do so believing it would inhibit the Avengers' response time, eventually causing him to become a fugitive. Rogers nevertheless still cared for Tony and did not desire for them to fight, as he pleaded with Tony to stop attacking Bucky as Bucky did it without having control and did not kill him after beating him, even going as far as to send him a letter to apologise and a phone so Stark can contact him. He was visibly ashamed when Tony furiously demanded he tell the truth of his parent's death and felt enough sympathy and remorse for keeping the truth hidden that he relinquished his shield and returned it to the Stark family. Two years later, after much of the anger between the two factions of Avengers had died down, Rogers outright referred to Iron Man as Earth's "greatest defender", even joking that he himself was a poor substitute emphasizing the respect he maintained for Tony.

While Captain America's sense of duty exceeds his personal feelings, his sense of loyalty is difficult to surpass. After realizing the Winter Soldier was his long thought to be a dead best friend, he only fought him to disable HYDRA's Helicarriers. However, once the Helicarriers were destroyed, he immediately stopped fighting the Winter Soldier in an attempt to reason with him and help him remember their friendship. This reached its apex in the Avengers Civil War where Steve steadfastly refused to give up on Bucky which caused the Avengers to fracture along with more than half their number to become fugitives.

Since being defrosted by S.H.I.E.L.D., Steve was lost in a world he no longer knew. The world had changed; though technology had greatly advanced, humane morals were constantly being compromised in favor of political expediency. To make matters worse, most of the people he loved from his past were gone, or greatly aged. Even while working with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers, Steve still had no real life outside of being a soldier. Steve did not know how to belong and strives to uphold his code of honor in this new complicated world. Although he eventually reunited with both Peggy and Bucky, Steve was still a "man out of time". However, after the battle against Ultron, Steve finally realized that he was no longer the man he was before he was frozen. Hence, Steve decided to focus his life on just helping people, taking a permanent role as the leader of the second incarnation of the Avengers.

He is very protective of his friends from his past, especially Bucky Barnes, and is willing to go to great lengths to save them, being susceptible to emotional and violent acts to fulfill his goal. He seems to have developed a trust and attraction towards Sharon Carter. During his time with the new team of Avengers, he developed a trust and bond with Black Widow. He also embraces links to his own time often seeing much of Howard Stark in Tony.

He does have a darker side, however, with Ultron noting that Rogers had been a soldier for so long, he subconsciously craved conflict and battles to avoid a civilian life and being forced to confront all he'd lost. Indeed his worst nightmare, caused by Wanda Maximoff, was shown to be the end of the war with people not needing him anymore leaving him with the realization that everyone whom he had ever loved was gone and he was alone. Overall, Rogers is a selfless person but one with a notable blindspot: his childhood friend Bucky Barnes. The last living link to his time, Rogers was willing to do everything to protect him, going so far as to abandon his role as leader of the Avengers and a team player. When Tony called Rogers out on failing the role of Captain America, at the end of their fight during the Avengers Civil War, Rogers abandoned his shield and with it, the identity of "Captain America", heeding Tony's point. Even years later, he had made no efforts to reclaim the moniker allowing his uniform to darken and removing the American stars that had once adorned it.

Rogers has a strong dislike for agencies or groups that express control over the individual due to having fought vigorously for his nations' freedom and losing the world he knew for that very reason. This dislike extends to groups of any ideology be they HYDRA or S.H.I.E.L.D.. Rogers himself admits that the Howling Commandos committed less than moral actions during World War II but it was for the basis that people could be free, whereas Project Insight was using fear to dissuade a security risk before it happens, eliminating the need for a soldier like himself and taking away the people's freedom. The desire for free will heavily influence Rogers' opinion on the Sokovia Accords. He strongly believed that the extravagant politics involved would restrict (or at least hinder) the Avengers' efforts to protect the people of the world, putting him at odds with the very pragmatic Tony Stark on the issue. His opinion on such groups lessened when the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre, locked up Barnes in a cage. In the end, such was his dislike that he cut all ties with them and became a fugitive after the Avengers Civil War. While he still retains his desire to protect the world, continuing to fight against terrorists, he has no desire to be re-acknowledged as a superhero and does not care about the opinions of the governments of the world, as he coldly told Thaddeus Ross that he did not care if the latter disapproves of him defending the world and even went as far as to say he would not hesitate to fight him and the governments if they get in the way.

While not as intelligent as Stark or Banner nor possessing Barton's keen awareness, Rogers frequently proved himself a quick study in battlefield situations being able to quickly ascertain details from minor actions. His bravery and determination further supplement this as he is willing to take even the most risky of choices to stand a chance to win, a trait best exemplified when he was quickly able to deduce the HYDRA personnel in an elevator were about to attack him and provoked them into attacking him. He can even do this while in situations of extreme stress, as during the final battle against Thanos. Rogers was able to quickly deduce that the Infinity Gauntlet had to be clenched before its powers could be accessed after seeing Thanos repeatedly clenching it to easily overpower the other Avengers and bravely charged the warlord to hold his Gauntlet hand open.

Powers and Abilities
"Did I beat Captain America's time?" "Not even close."

- Michael Peterson and a S.H.I.E.L.D. trainer

Powers
"Sometimes, I just want to punch you in your perfect teeth."

- Tony Stark

Artificially Enhanced Physiology: As a Super Soldier, Steve Rogers possesses enhanced human abilities, such as formidable intelligence, strength, speed, senses, durability, agility, stamina, dexterity and reflexes, as well as an accelerated healing factor. The SSS healed all of his ailments, and physical and genetic imperfections instantly, giving him the body of a man in his physical prime. It also prevents him from getting intoxicated by alcohol. The serum metabolized and enhanced all of Steve's natural anatomical abilities beyond the peak of human potential, pushing into the early levels of superhuman condition. It permanently transformed a frail and sickly Steve into the "perfect" specimen of human development and conditioning. The SSS is definite, even without training Rogers' physiology surpasses that of any human being trained to their physical and mental peaks. Rogers maintains an overall very healthy lifestyle including a regular extensive and intense exercise regimen and a strictly balanced nutrition diet. This appears to have increased his capabilities further, much like how it increases strength, physical performance and muscle control in non-enhanced humans.
 * Enhanced Intelligence: Steve's mental performance has been greatly enhanced to the very peak of human potential and beyond, thus allowing his mind to operate in the most efficient and rapid manner possible. Some manifestation of this is his exceptionally perfect charisma, eloquence, leadership skills, deductive/analytical skills, and tactical genius. Rogers has demonstrated the ability to quickly process multiple information streams (e.g., threat assessment) and rapidly respond to any changing tactical situations, by creating perfect winning strategies rapidly. He possesses perfect memory as demonstrated when he was able to perfectly replicate the locations of all HYDRA bases on a map, despite "only getting a glance." He is able to learn anything- he can memorize, understand and recall all kinds of information and skills in extraordinary capacity and in limited time. Even though he was unconscious, he was able to recall the conversation S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had while they were deforesting him. Even with his limited knowledge of modern technology, he was still able to help Tony repair a Helicarrier and prevent it from crashing, or when he quickly gave the Avengers and the first responders an efficient plan to minimize and contain damage from the Chitauri invasion. Since the Super-Soldier serum amplifies personality aspects as well, Rogers' brain chemistry is also altered. Though he was brave, determined, and compassionate before, the SSS has also amplified those character traits.
 * Enhanced Strength: Rogers' strength is immensely enhanced beyond the peak of human potential. His immense strength allows him to physically overpower combatants, including elite-trained humans, extraterrestrial troops, and robot sentries. He can effortlessly bend metal bars, slam through solid walls and reinforced glass, and pry open steel doors. In combat, his strength allows for him to send enemies flying several meters in the air from mere punches and kicks. He can even generate enough force to have his shield pierce the metal frame of a Quinjet. While his strength is no match against the likes of Hulk, Loki, Thor and Thanos, who possesses god-like strength, his strength combined with his extremely effective muscle control and legendary fighting skills and experience makes him extremely formidable and can even allow him to put up a fight against those undeniably stronger than him, as shown when he was able to fight against Loki long enough for Stark to save him, with him managing to slightly harm and him stumble back with a full-force kick and jab to the face and most impressively, even able to hold his own against Thanos even if only for moments, managing to very slightly harm Thanos with blows from his collapsible shields and even barely prevent Thanos from gripping his Infinity Gauntlet's hands with the Power, Space, Reality, Time, Soul Stones already inserted, a feat that somewhat shocked Thanos, albeit he had to use the full strength of both his arms while Thanos showed minimum strain and was soon overpowered easily with a single punch. During his USO tours, Rogers was able to lift a motorcycle frame with three showgirls sitting on top without any strain. With one hand, Rogers can lift a grown man over his head and throw him like a rag doll. He was also able to pull himself away from the immense magnetic force applied on his hand by a magnetic lock, which most others cannot achieve. Steve Rogers was able to lift a massive metal support beam to save a trapped Winter Soldier, while he was critically injured. He also supported falling debris from a collapsing building to save Black Widow and himself from being crushed. When chopping wood, Rogers ripped apart a block of a wood trunk in half with his bare hands. He has been able to throw a moving motorcycle at a jeep, toss Ultron, who was in his second body, through a concrete pillar during their fight in Seoul. With considerable effort, he was able to support the weight of an entire car during Ultron's initial attack on Sokovia. He even stopped a helicopter piloted by Winter Soldier from lifting off by pulling on its landing gear. In Lagos, Rogers kicked a pickup truck several yards with enough force to send an enemy soldier flying away upon impact with this truck. He was also able to overwhelm the superhumanly strong Spider-Man thanks to his own strength in addition to his rigorous training and fighting skills, with him easily pulling Spider-Man to him whenever he webbed him and throwing him away with his kicks, and force back both Black Panther and War Machine in his Mark III Armor. With his shield, Steve could dismantle the Iron Man Armor with brute force.
 * Enhanced Durability: Steve's bones and muscles are vastly denser and harder than a human's, above the highest level of human potential, which makes him much incredibly more durable than any human being. Though he is not bulletproof, he can survive extreme blunt force trauma such as being hit with solid objects like his own shield, or contact with superhuman opponents like Loki, the Winter Soldier, and the Red Skull. With his vibranium shield, he is capable of surviving falls from immense heights that would absolutely kill a human. Steve was tasered, shot, stabbed, caught in several explosions, and took several beatings including being blasted through a city bus by a launched grenade, falling from the 30th floor of Triskelion, and getting beaten by the metal arm of Winter Soldier in the face multiple times. With his enhanced physiology, Rogers was able to recover and continue fighting after taking such powerful blows in efficient time. Another great example of his durability is when Rumlow tried to taze him with the Taser Rod. He was able to resist it for more than 5 seconds with endurable discomfort whereas normal humans would become unconscious within a second of contact. He also dropped down to one if Project Insight's helicarrier at a considerable height. Steve was able to dive out of a Quinjet without a parachute into open water. Steve was also able to take the full power of both Ultron's blasts and Iron Man's repulsors straight in the chest, as well as Scarlet Witch's telekinetic bolts and a super-accelerated punch from Quicksilver, all without any noticeable damage whatsoever, while he got back up immediately after all of these. Steve was even able to withstand being telekinetically thrown away by Thanos using the Infinity Gauntlet and quickly recover to stand against the Titan for a while on his own. Even after being briefly incapacitated by a powerful punch from Thanos, Steve was once again able to eventually get back up on his feet.

"You ran like 13 miles in 30 minutes."

- Sam Wilson


 * Enhanced Speed: Steve can run and move at speeds beyond the peak of human potential, moving into the early levels of superhuman condition. He can keep up with most standard vehicles and cover a small area such as city blocks within a short period of time. Sam Wilson stated that Steve ran over 13 miles in less than 30 minutes, during their first encounter. Even while completely unmatched, Steve was quick enough to surprise Quicksilver and knock him out with his shield and he even managed to accomplish this feat again with the exceptionally fast Thanos, managing to surprise and land 3 hits on him. While Winter Soldier and Black Panther are capable of outrunning him in a chase due to their head start, forcing him to resort to hijacking a car to catch up, on normal conditions, Rogers proves to be as fast as them, as shown during the Battle of Wakanda, when he ran at equal speeds with T'Challa when rushing towards the Outriders.
 * Enhanced Stamina: Steve's musculature produces fewer fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of an ordinary human and his body eliminates the excessive build-up of fatigue-producing chemicals in his muscles, granting him exceptional endurance and lung capacity, greater than of normal humans. He can function at peak capacity for several hours before showing fatigue.
 * Enhanced Agility: His immensely enhanced agility is greater than that of an Olympic gold medalist and leagues above even the world's greatest acrobats. He can coordinate his body with perfect balance, equilibrium, flexibility, and dexterity. He can reach very high places with great ease. While escaping the destruction of the HYDRA base that Bucky was held captive in, he was able to leap from one end of the complex to the other side in order to escape. During his chase of the Winter Soldier, Steve was able to leap outside his apartment into the building across the street. He can leap over cars with simple running moves. Steve uses his supremely enhanced agility to perform amazing parkour and gymnastic moves that would be impossible for a normal human to accomplish.
 * Enhanced Reflexes: Steve's reflexes are superior to those of the finest athlete. They are beyond the peak of human potential, which allows him to dodge rapid gunfire at close range. Rogers was once able to evade a gatling gun's gunfire from a Quinjet as he was accelerating towards the airship on his motorcycle. His auto-reflexes allow him to easily dodge gunfire and respond quickly to fast pace combat. Soldiers are subdued by Captain America before they can even align their weapons on him. His immense reflexes can also be used to attack and counter instead of just defensive purposes, allowing him to punish attacks with devastating counters when fighting extraordinary quick opponents. Rogers was also able to catch Proxima Midnight's spear when it was hurled at him and he even had enough reflexes to be able to land 3 hits on Thanos himself, whose reflexes was so great the Titan completely outmatched Hulk and Loki, and managed to stop Thanos's Infinity Gauntlet hand.
 * Enhanced Senses: Steve's five natural senses have been enhanced. He can see, hear, smell, feel, and taste things imperceptible to humans. This allows him to see further, hear with amazing clarity, detect specific persons, objects, substances with his smell, etc. He was able to notice little things such as sweat coming to a man face to cue him off on danger . He has also spotted a HYDRA soldier high up in a tree completely hidden when platoons of soldiers had no idea . His instincts may also be enhanced.

"Doctor Erskine said that the serum wouldn't just affect my muscles, it would affect my cells, create a protective system of regeneration and healing, which means ...um....I can't get drunk. Did you know that?" "Your metabolism burns four times faster than the average person. He thought it could be one of the side effects."

- Captain America to Peggy Carter


 * Regenerative Healing Factor: The super-soldier serum caused Steve Rogers' physiology possesses accelerated healing and regeneration. He is immune to all infections, diseases, and disorders; also Rogers cannot become intoxicated by alcohol, drugs, toxins, or impurities. This annoys him as he can't get drunk like his friends. However, it would appear that Asgardian liquor might work on him, as Thor shared some from a flask during an party with the Avengers. For Rogers, large cuts and bruises heal within minutes and even fatal gunshot wounds and fractures will mend within an hour or less. Rogers was able to regenerate from being shot by a Chitauri Gun directly to the abdomen in a matter of minutes. Any and all injuries will heal and regenerate rapidly and perfectly without leaving a trace of injury. Steve regained consciousness in a short amount of time after nearly dying. His accelerated healing powers also helped him to rapidly rejuvenate to his prime conditioning and capabilities after he was defrosted, as well as it kept him alive when he was in cryo-stasis. It also seems to be rapidly regenerating already perfectly healthy slow-decaying cells. Thus Rogers has a form of ageless immortality.

Abilities
"You can't beat him hand-to-hand."

- F.R.I.D.A.Y. to Iron Man


 * Master Martial Artist: Rogers is an extremely accomplished and experienced master martial artist. He has extensive levels of knowledge of melee combat. He also displayed a variety of martial arts in his fighting style. Rogers' combat style composed of a mixture of American Boxing, Judo, Jiu-jitsu, Taekwondo and Aikido. In addition, Rogers also showed refined fighting techniques, applying characteristics of Muay Thai, Karate, Savate, and Wing Chun. Captain America's combat skills are considered legendary, making him one of the greatest fighters in the world. Even in World War II, when still inexperienced, Captain America already proved to be a great fighter, having used his knowledge of combat, his enhanced attributes, and indestructible shield to defeat hundreds of Nazi soldiers and even the Red Skull himself. After being revived in the 21st century, Rogers was quickly put into action again and remained as skilled as ever; he proved able to briefly go up against Loki in combat, holding him off long enough for Iron Man to aid him, and also managed to defeat hordes of Chitauri aliens at the Battle of New York. When a police officer questioned why he should take orders from Captain America, the latter defeated several attacking Chitauri soldiers with ease, inducing the impressed officer to follow his orders without question. When he joined S.H.I.E.L.D., Rogers received more extensive training and became even more skilled in hand-to-hand combat, proving more than capable of defeating several armed pirates, soldiers of HYDRA, a dozen STRIKE agents (while limited by the confined space of an elevator), as well as also having Georges Batroc knocked out in a one on one fight. Captain America also fought on par against Black Panther, as well as the notorious Winter Soldier in combat, ultimately defeating the latter by putting him in a choke-hold and after being briefly knocked down, also fending off and knocking away both Black Panther and War Machine. His combat level is at least on par, if not better, than that of the Winter Soldier and Black Panther and is certainly superior to Black Widow. Rogers is even able to use his combat skills to hold his own against or even defeat considerably stronger or at least equally strong opponents, with him matching and eventually defeating an armored Crossbones, swiftly beating the inexperienced Spider-Man while holding back, holding his own against and landing some hits on Loki, giving Ultron's second body a prolonged fight, easily overwhelming Iron Man and forcing him to F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s advanced combat analysis, with even then Tony needing to use his repulsors to overwhelm him briefly, eventually still winning, although it was partially aided by Bucky distracting him, disarming and competing for a time against Corvus Glaive and even managing to briefly hold his own alone against Thanos himself, even landing 3 punches on the Titan and just barely managing to deflect a blow from the Titan, although he was quickly beaten. Rogers also managed to defeat hordes of Ultron Sentries during the Battle of Sokovia and bested and killed many Outriders during the Battle of Wakanda. He also displays considerable prowess in armed combat, as shown when he wielded Corvus Glaive's glaive with great skill to parry an attack from Proxima Midnight and alongiside Black Widow, were able to fight on par with her until Falcon knocked her down.
 * Shield Mastery:Cap_Shield_3.png]] Over time of training and experience with his unique shield, as well as its physical properties, allow him to accomplish amazing feats with the item. Aside from bashing foes and blocking incoming attacks, he is able to throw it with a nearly perfect aim, managing to slice Spider-Man's webbing with it mid-air. Rogers can hit multiple targets with the same throw by means of ricochet, and could even achieve a boomerang-like return effect, allowing him to strike enemies from behind or retrieve the shield without objects to ricochet from. Roger's skill applies to other shields, as he was able to wield the Wakandan Shields given to him for the Battle of Wakanda very expertly as blunt weapons, killing many Outriders and managing to combat and even disarm Corvus Glaive as well as even land 3 hits on Thanos.
 * Expert Marksman: Rogers can throw most projectile weaponry with great aim and is well-versed in the use of firearms like the military-issued Colt 1911 or the Tommy Gun during World War II and eventually modern firearms, picking up an assault rifle and using with ease. While he knew how to use the modern assault rifle, he was not used to it and missed his targets each time he fires and even slipped from the platform he was and grabbed a wire to stay on the ship when caught in a hail of gunfire from the men that he was fighting on the Helicarrier. Rogers also shows expertise in knife throwing.
 * Master Spy: Aside from being a veteran soldier and one of the world's greatest combatants, Rogers is highly skilled in espionage, intelligence gathering, infiltration, and sabotage. During World War II, Rogers and the Howling Commandos successful raided several HYDRA bases, rescued Allied POWs, and captured top HYDRA scientist, Dr. Arnim Zola. After being revived in the 21st century, despite his lack of knowledge of the current technologies, he managed to sneak around in the Helicarrier and discovered S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Tesseract-based weaponry. When Rogers received additional training from S.H.I.E.L.D., he became a highly accomplished spy in his own right. He participated several black-ops missions with STRIKE and helped thwart the HYDRA Uprising. He evaded capture from authorities when he became a fugitive twice (During HYDRA Uprising and the Avengers Civil War). However, Rogers' most impressive feat was breaking into an underwater highly-secured prison, the Raft, and freeing his fellow Avengers.
 * Master Tactician: Rogers is a masterful strategist. He is able to formulate battle strategies and his brilliant tactical sense allows him to alter any strategy to fit the changing need of the situation. A prime example is when he formulated the plan to go in first by himself in "the front door" of the Red Skull's hidden base. After taking out the Red Skull's defenses and feigning a surrender, the assault team and then the full force of the Strategic Scientific Reserve came in and raided the base following Rogers' initial assault. His tactical brilliance also came into play during the Chitauri assault on New York, first in organizing first responders to protect the civilian population, and then re-deploying other members of the Avengers to best defend the city with their limited resources (even the usually anti-authoritarian Tony Stark recognizes Rogers' tactical abilities and accepts his assignment).
 * Master Acrobat: Rogers' years of training and experience have made him an extradionary master acrobat, gymnast, and aerialist. He often utilizes these talents in combat for both evasive and offensive purposes. Combined with his extremely enhanced agility, Rogers has shown expertise in utilizing flips in his attacks and takedowns.
 * Multilingualism: Rogers speaks his native English, as well as fluent French.
 * Pilot: Rogers has at least basic knowledge of aircraft piloting. In the 1940s, he crash-landed Red Skull's plane on the Arctic. After returning, he is able to fly a Quinjet.

Weapons
As a weapon of choice, Rogers uses a round shaped Vibranium shield, which can be used as a throwing weapon and is able to absorb any kind of impact. Also in combat, Rogers also uses canon weapons like guns and other firearms.

"I hear you're uh, kinda attached?" "It's handier than you might think."

- Howard Stark and Steve Rogers


 * Vibranium Shield: A concave disk about 2.5 feet in diameter, weighing 12 pounds painted in its familiar red-white-and-blue pattern with a five-pointed star design in its center. Constructed by Howard Stark and made from Vibranium. The Vibranium alloy can absorb and reflect kinetic energy from impacts, therefore, making it nigh-indestructible. Nearly every kind of human weaponry cannot even dent it, as bullets normally bounce off it. The shield is also strong enough to combat magic and mystical weapons, such as Thor's hammer Mjølnir. It also withstood Iron Man's repulsors, deflecting them in a coordinated team attack. The shield's shape makes it a superb throwing weapon. It can cut through the air with minimal wind resistance. It is also able to bounce off solid objects, such as walls and floors, when struck on its edge and can be ricocheted off of multiple surfaces. It also makes a formidable and devastating hand-held weapon. Combined with Rogers' strength and combat skills, it enables him to plow through virtually any opponent. The Vibranium in the shield also enables Rogers to withstand great falls and devastating blows that he couldn't otherwise. At the end of the Avengers Civil War, Rogers surrendered the shield to Tony Stark acknowledging that Howard Stark had made it and he had proven unworthy of it.

"And get this man a shield."

- Black Panther


 * Wakandan Shields: Rogers was given two-handed shields in Wakanda, capable of collapsing to be smaller and used as gauntlets for punching. The shield's points are incredibly sharp, creating an offensive weapon, being able to pierce the skin of Outriders.
 * : Steve Rogers has issued an M1 Garand rifle for his training maneuvers in Camp Lehigh. However, he never used it for actual combat during World War II.
 * : Rogers was issued an M1911A1 as his sidearm during World War II. He took one of them in an unauthorized mission to liberate his friend Bucky Barnes in a HYDRA facility in Austria, and continued to use it during the rest of the war, especially in his attacks against HYDRA all over Europe and the capture of Arnim Zola.
 * : Before joining World War II, Rogers played a colorful character named Captain America in a series of live shows and films. In those films, he used an M1928A1 Thompson to attack Nazis and protect America, inspiring soldiers to join the United States Armed Forces and citizens to buy war bonds.
 * : Captain America took one of these rifles from one of the mercenaries that attacked the Helicarrier, and used it to defend his position while helping Tony Stark to restart the aircraft's propellers.
 * : Rogers obtained a grenade from one of the HYDRA operatives patrolling one of the Project Insight Helicarriers, using it to attack a group of operatives while infiltrating the aircraft.

Other Equipment

 * Uniform: Rogers and Howard Stark both designed the original suit he wore during the war. It was made of carbon polymer and it offers a medium level of resistance to gunfire. The helmet also served as a mask. It also allowed for a sidearm. The shield could be attached to the back. However, upon his reawakening and him joining the Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D., along with input from Phil Coulson, designed his new upgraded suit. It has more flexibility and mobility than his previous suit. The new suit carries a wireless communicator. The uniform is composed of a Nomex and Kevlar fiber. While it doesn't allow for him carrying a sidearm, nonetheless, it is bulletproof and fireproof. It could also withstand blunt force trauma and energy blasts from alien weaponry.
 * Utility Belt: Captain America wears a utility belt containing tactical devices and equipment for battle.
 * Grapple Gun: A line cable firing device that automatically entangles a limb of a flying or fleeing culprit, thus preventing their escape. It is kept in Captain America's utility belt. Captain America used it on Iron Man when Stark was chasing the Winter Soldier.

Family

 * Joseph Rogers † - Father
 * Sarah Rogers † - Mother

Allies

 * Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier † - Best Friend, Former Teammate and Temporary Enemy (while under HYDRA control)
 * Peggy Carter † - Former Love Interest
 * Brandt
 * United States Armed Forces
 * 107th Infantry Regiment
 * Abraham Erskine † - Friend and Creator of the Super Soldier Serum
 * Chester Phillips † - Former Army Commander
 * Howard Stark † - Friend and Weapons Producer
 * Michael Duffy - Former Drill Sergeant
 * Lorraine - General Phillips' Secretary
 * Howling Commandos - Former Teammates
 * Dum Dum Dugan - Friend
 * Jacques Dernier
 * James Montgomery Falsworth †
 * Jim Morita †
 * Gabe Jones
 * S.H.I.E.L.D. (First Incarnation) - Former Employer
 * Nick Fury † - Former Director
 * Maria Hill † - Former Deputy Director
 * Tyler - Former Colleague
 * Phil Coulson - Fan and Colleague
 * Sharon Carter - Former Neighbor, Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Colleague, and Love Interest
 * Lillian - Former Colleague
 * Kristen - Former Colleague
 * Moore
 * Avengers - Teammates
 * Tony Stark/Iron Man - Close Friend, Rival and Former Situational Enemy
 * Thor - Friend
 * Bruce Banner/Hulk - Friend
 * Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow - Partner, Close Friend and Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Colleague
 * Clint Barton/Hawkeye - Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Colleague and Former Teammate
 * Sam Wilson/Falcon † - Partner and Close Friend
 * Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch † - Former Enemy and Enthraller
 * Vision † - Former Situational Enemy
 * James Rhodes/War Machine - Friend and Former Situational Enemy
 * Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver † - Former Enemy
 * Peter Parker/Spider-Man † - Fan and Former Situational Enemy
 * Erik Selvig
 * J.A.R.V.I.S.
 * New York City Police Department
 * Silva
 * Joint Counter Terrorist Centre
 * Everett Ross
 * Saunders
 * Helen Cho
 * Laura Barton - Hostess
 * T'Challa/Black Panther † - Situational Enemy turned Ally
 * Scott Lang/Ant-Man
 * Shuri
 * Dora Milaje
 * Okoye
 * Ayo
 * Jabari Tribe
 * M'Baku
 * Border Tribe
 * Guardians of the Galaxy
 * Rocket Raccoon
 * Groot †
 * Groot †

Enemies

 * Wehrmacht
 * Schutzstaffel
 * HYDRA
 * Johann Schmidt/Red Skull - Attempted Killer
 * Ivan Vanko/Whiplash
 * Arnim Zola †
 * Heinz Kruger †
 * Alexander Pierce † - Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Superior
 * STRIKE
 * Jack Rollins - Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Colleague
 * Jasper Sitwell † - Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Colleague
 * Russo † - Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Colleague
 * Wolfgang von Strucker †
 * List †
 * Ultimo †
 * Loki †
 * Chitauri
 * Leviathan
 * Baker
 * Georges Batroc
 * Ultron †
 * Ultron Sentries †
 * Ulysses Klaue †
 * Brock Rumlow/Crossbones † - Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Colleague
 * Thaddeus Ross
 * Helmut Zemo
 * ISIS
 * Thanos
 * Outriders
 * Black Order
 * Corvus Glaive † - Attempted Killer
 * Proxima Midnight † - Attempted Killer
 * Cull Obsidian †

Trivia

 * Before Rogers gets his signature circular Shield, he is seen using three different shields. The first time, he uses a garbage can lid as a shield when he's getting beaten up by a bully in an alley. The second time, he uses a cab door as a protective shield when Heinz Kruger fires a gun at him. The third time, he uses a triangular shield resembling one wielded by a medieval knight. He brandishes this during a musical tour and later ends up using it as a weapon on his first mission.
 * Due to the Super Soldier Serum, his metabolism burns four times faster than the average person. Therefore, he cannot get drunk.
 * When Bucky Barnes takes Rogers to the World's Fair near the beginning of the film he says, "We're going to the future" - a foreshadowing that Rogers and Barnes will actually go to the future, at the end of the film and in the sequel, respectively.
 * According to Steve's WWII enlistment form, his birth date is July 4, 1918, making him 26 in early 1945. Decades later in 2011, when he wakes up after over 66 years, he is 93. However, due to being frozen for so long and his fast metabolism, he still appears young.
 * While the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Captain America's date of birth is listed as July 4, 1918, the mainstream comics version's date of birth is July 4, 1920.
 * Steve Rogers originally drinks the Super Soldier formula, while in the movie Steve is transformed into Captain America with a large set of special equipment, designed by Abraham Erskine and Howard Stark.
 * Steve Rogers was an artist before becoming Captain America; Adolf Hitler was also an artist before he became Führer of the Third Reich. This is an ironic coincidence, as Captain America was fighting Nazis.
 * The helmet he wears on his first mission is a homage to the Ultimate Universe WWII Captain America's helmet.
 * His triangular shield is based off of the character's original shield, as well as the Ultimate version.
 * When Rogers wakes up for the first time in almost seventy years in the 1940's-style 'recovery room,' he hears the broadcast of a baseball game from May 1941, on an old-fashioned radio and recognizes the game because he was there. This is a reference to an actual baseball game played at Ebbets Field on May 25th, 1941, where Pete Reiser of the Brooklyn Dodgers hit an inside the park grand slam. Actor Michael Swan recorded the dialogue portraying the Dodgers announcer.
 * Trevor Slattery has a tattoo of Captain America's Shield on his neck, but instead of a star in the middle of the circles, is the symbol for.
 * A young boy is shown running around wearing Steve's Age of Ultron costume in the Jessica Jones episode: AKA The Sandwich Saved Me.
 * Rogers leaves his shield behind at the Battle at the HYDRA Siberian Facility before going on the run. In the comics, Rogers abandoned the title of Captain America after becoming disillusioned with the United States Government, instead adopting the identity Nomad (meaning "man without a country").
 * Method Man mentions Captain America in his song "Bulletproof Love" in the Luke Cage episode Soliloquy of Chaos.
 * According to Helmut Zemo, there is a bit of green in Captain America's blue eyes.
 * The MCU's Steve is significantly stronger than his comics counterpart.
 * Steve's phone number is 678-136-7092.

Behind the Scenes

 * Chris Evans almost turned down the role of Captain America. It was his The Avengers co-star Robert Downey, Jr. who convinced Evans to play the character.
 * Captain America is not Chris Evans' first role as a Marvel character. His first was the Human Torch in the films Fantastic Four and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. This was probably referenced in Captain America: The First Avenger, when the android Synthetic Man, the first Human Torch was displayed at Stark Expo.
 * Before Chris Evans was cast as Captain America, and  were in early talks for the role of Captain America. Later on, , , , Sebastian Stan, Wilson Bethel, , , , and  were on the final shortlist for the role. ,  and  carried out auditions in case Evans wasn't going to do the role. Sebastian Stan would later be cast as Bucky Barnes in the film and Alexander Skarsgård's father, Stellan Skarsgård, was previously in the film Thor as Erik Selvig.
 * In Captain America: The First Avenger, many kids and a soldier are seen reading Captain America Comics #1, the first Captain America comic ever published.
 * In the first two Iron Man films a prototype shield can be seen. In Iron Man, a prototype of Captain America's Shield is visible in the background in the scene where Pepper Potts discovers Tony Stark is Iron Man. In Iron Man 2, Phil Coulson finds another prototype of Captain America's Shield in Tony Stark's Mansion, and questions why Stark has it, hinting towards Coulson's fascination of Rogers.
 * Captain america shield the incredible hulk.png an alternate opening to The Incredible Hulk, Bruce Banner is attempting to commit suicide on top of a glacier, instead transforming into The Hulk before he can do it, smashing the glacier. A freeze frame shot of the crumbling glacier shows Captain America in the ice, but this is odd considering that he was in the Valkyrie when he was frozen. However, ice shifts are common in that area, and his body could have easily fallen through a hole in the cabin in one of the shifts, and later ended up back in the plane due to another shift.
 * The Super Soldier Serum is a main plot element in The Incredible Hulk, giving Emil Blonsky his powers. The 'one successful test subject' (Captain America) is also referenced in the film.
 * In The Incredible Hulk, when Tony Stark is talking to General Ross, Stark says the Super Soldier program was "put on ice," referring to Captain America's frozen body.
 * Captain America has the most screen-time in The Avengers with nearly thirty-seven minutes. He also has the most screen-time in Avengers: Age of Ultron with just over fifty minutes.
 * Chris Evans made a cameo in Thor: The Dark World as an illusion created by Loki.
 * So far, ever since his introduction, Captain America has appeared in at least one film per year, Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011, The Avengers in 2012, Thor: The Dark World in 2013, Captain America: The Winter Soldier in 2014, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man  in 2015, Captain America: Civil War in 2016, Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017, Avengers: Infinity War in 2018 and Avengers 4 in 2019.
 * It should be noted in Thor: The Dark World, it was not actually Captain America, but Loki taking on the form of Captain America.
 * Chris Evans was uncredited for his appearance in Ant-Man.
 * Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the third live-action incarnation of the character, following incarnations portrayed by Reb Brown and.
 * Daniel Awde, Michael Byrch, Paul Hanks, Adam Hart, Mike Lambert, Jan Petrina, Ben Wright, Sam Hargrave, Chris Brewster, Daniel Hargrave, Bobby Holland Hanton, Andy Lister, Jack Gill, Adrian Hein, Greg Rementer and Jackson Spidell were stunt doubles for Chris Evans in the role of Captain Amercia.
 * Jason Horwood, Bill McAdams Jr., Brent McGee and Travis Ruhland were stand-ins for Chris Evans in the role of Captain America.