Chapter 4

General Hale wasn't a happy woman. She'd been getting reports of various HYDRA cells and operatives being taken down by either the Avengers or UN-led task groups. This wouldn't have been a problem, if it wasn't for the fact that they shouldn't have known about some of the cell's locations or even some of their operatives' true allegiance. It shouldn't have been possible. Yet, they managed to discover their moles and find their hidden facilities in an alarming rate. If this keeps up, HYDRA will cease to exist. Thinking on how to stop this, Hale received a call. Picking up her phone, she asked who is this. To her surprise, she heard the voice Mitchell Carson, one of their last remaining operatives that isn't compromised. At least that's what she thought.

"General Hale, I've heard some unsettling info that three of our cells in Texas, California, and Ireland have been discovered." Said Carson, not happy with what's going on. "That's the fourth time this had happen. What's going on?" Hale, in the dark as well, just spoke.

"I have no idea as well, I'm afraid. Someone must have leaked all our intel and hidden operatives to the Avengers. We're currently trying to find who did it." Mitchel just sighed at that, frustrated that this was happening. As he was thinking, an idea came to him.

"What if we've been looking the wrong way? What if the answer is right in front of us?" Hale just rose an eyebrow at that.

"Explain, Carson." Hale didn't have time to deal with crackpot theories.

"About a day before all these strings of disasters struck us, my men reported that one of our hidden bases was attacked. Most of the people on site were killed. The ones that survived only did so because they were on perimeter watch or weren't near the base's computer mainframe. They didn't even know that they were under attack until they found the bodies. Only a handful of people can do that." Hale nodded her head at that. The only ones she knew that could accomplice such a feat were either the Black Widow or Hawkeye, both of whom were former Avengers. Hawkeye was currently on house arrest, constantly being monitored by the UN so it couldn't be him. That left Black Widow. She had the motivation to take HYDRA down and could leak the info to the UN without being identified.

"Are you saying we should go find Black Widow?" Asked Hale. She really didn't want to waste resources on finding her. They should be focusing on salvaging their bases and to quickly regroup and hide from the UN in new locations. Not waste time and resources on a notorious spy, known for being hard to track down.

"We must or else this might happen again." Said Carson with conviction. "The Avengers are weak and divided. We should strike the rogues now when we have the chance." Carson was part of the leadership that wanted to go after the Avengers for all the times that they've thwarted them, mainly Steve Rogers for all the times he's thwarted them in World War II and exposing them in present day. Hale would be on board if it wasn't for their current situation.

"We don't even know where any of them are, Carson. And we can't afford to waste resources finding them, especially now. If you intend on searching for them without my permission, I'll see to it that you're exposed to the UN and have the Avengers sent to arrest you." Carson just clenched his fists in anger at Hale's declaration but kept calm, having a trick up his sleeve.

"Actually, we do have the location of one." Hale blinked as she processed this information.

"Are you positive on that?" Asked Hale, skeptically, but allowed Carson to continue. Carson, having her full attention, spoke.

"A few days ago, Agent Sharon Carter of the CIA went to an urban town in Texas, under the request of T'Challa. For what, T'Challa wouldn't say other than it was important. Unfortunately, we had a HYDRA agent living in said town." Hale was now interested. "When he spotted her, he saw her meet up with a man. Once they met, that man gave her a drive. If it weren't for our operatives good eyes, he wouldn't have been able to spot the exchange. He then followed them as they left the shop they were in and managed to take a picture of them. I'm sending it to you now. I'm sure you'll find it interesting." A few seconds later, Hale received an email from Carson. After opening it, she saw Agent Carter with the man in question. Raising an eyebrow she studied the man. It only took a few minutes for her to see that it was Steve Rogers, just with a beard and more rugged. Shaking her head at his attempt on a disguise, she went back to chat with Carson.

"And you're certain Steve Rogers lives in that town?" Asked Hale.

"Positive. Our man got the info after paying off the manager of the motel Captain America is staying in. He's living in that town. Now, are you ready to sanction the operation to get Captain America, one of our most hated enemies." Hale just thought it over for a few moments before speaking.

"I suppose you have an ace up your sleeve? Captain Rogers isn't one that can be taken down with ease by conventional weapons and men." Carson just chuckled.

"Oh, I do. I just need to do a live test run of it and Steve Rogers will be a perfect candidate." He then sent another email to Hale. Upon opening it and seeing the contents, Hale just nodded in satisfaction.

"Very well. You have my permission, but don't fail. Otherwise, you're on your own." Carson just scoffed and said he won't fail before ending the call.

Texas

A day later

Steve was helping a man carry fire wood to his truck. Having no actual steady job to speak of, Steve mainly got money by doing old jobs for people in town. People were skeptical at first, but soon people began to employ him for strenuous physical activities as he was able to lift objects that most normal humans will find difficult to life. Though he can't push himself to the limit because that will expose him, he still did a fine enough job to be reliably employed for lifting or construction. After placing the last log on the truck, the man patted him on the back.

"Thanks for the assist, Jake." Said the man. Steve just nodded at the fake name that he used while he lived here. He couldn't use his first name because people may suspect he's Captain America. It took awhile but he got used to it. "Here's your money." After pulling out a couple of hundreds from his wallet, the man gave them to Steve, who thanked the man before taking off. Upon arriving back in his room, he turned on the TV to watch the news. After pouring a glass of water, he began to watch the news. The news channel that was on was currently talking about how the Avengers had taken down another HYDRA facility, making it their fourth one in the week. Smiling a bit at that, Steve drank his water as the reporters began to speculate that HYDRA is finished for good this time.

"Looks like Proxima was on the nose with this." Thought Steve as he continued to listen in, remembering the alien that made all this possible. Though he figured she didn't want any praise for her work, Steve still wanted to give her his thanks for her assistance in taking down HYDRA. She deserved it, no matter how much she said that she didn't care. With HYDRA more or less crippled, Steve wondered what's her next move will be in uniting the Avengers. Thinking that he needed to know, Steve went to acquire the device she gave him when he heard something fall to the ground. Looking over to the source, Steve frowned upon seeing a cup in the ground, away from its original position on the counter in the kitchen. His instincts telling him to be on guard, Steve grabbed the cup and put it back to where it was. Just as he let go, he felt something hit him in the chest. As if he was hit by a truck, he was sent flying to his living room, crashing into his table, breaking it. Now on guard, Steve was about to get up when he was hit in the sides, sending him to his T.V., where it broke before him. Grunting in pain, Steve looked up to see, to his shock, a man coming out of nowhere, wearing some armor that looked to be based on Antman's suit.

"HYDRA sends its regards, Steve Rogers." Said the man as two other men came out of nowhere. Upon hearing that, Steve glared at the men.

"Finally, here for payback, huh?" Asked Steve as he got up, the men allowing this. "Even if you kill me, you won't stop HYDRA from collapsing. You're finished. For good this time."

"Perhaps." Said the first man. "But if we're going down, we're going to take you down with us, Captain America!" With that, the men went small again and before Steve knew it, he was sent flying to the opposite side of his room. After landing roughly on his shoulder, Steve's hand went to his pocket, remembering the device Proxima had given him. Pressing the button that will tell her that he needed her help, Steven got on his feet and got into a fighting stance, though he knew it was futile as the men would likely still be small to fight him. As Steven never fought against someone this small, he couldn't do much but endure the punches and kicks the HYDRA assassins. After a few minutes, Steve was on the ground, bruised from being punched all over his room and bleeding from his nose and lips. Spitting out some blood, Steve looked at the men before him, pulling out knives. "HYDRA will finally get justice for all the pain you caused us." Steve just glared stoically at them, annoying them. If he was going to die, Steve was going to not give them the satisfaction of seeing him beg for his life or scream in pain. Seeing the stoic glare, the leader stabbed Steve in shoulder. Wincing a bit, Steve just continued to glare at the men, not giving them an inch. Enraged, the three men were about to finish him off when the door to Steve's room suddenly was launched from its handles to the other side of the room. Surprised, the men looked up, only to have to blue energy blast to hit two of the men, turning them into dust. Before the other could react, a spear was thrown into his head, killing him. As Steve was recovering the shock from seeing the HYDRA assassins being taken out so quickly, Proxima made herself known. Entering the room, she saw Steve and rushed to him.

"Are you alright, human?" Asked Proxima as she examined Steve, who nodded.

"Bruised and got a bleeding shoulder, but I'm alright." Said Steve as he looked at his bleeding shoulder. Seeing this, Proxima looked at Steve.

"Do you have a medical system nearby?" Steve then told her where the emergency medkit was. After acquiring it, she unloaded the appropriate contents and began to treat the wound. "What happened, exactly? Who were these men?"

"HYDRA." Said Steve as he watched Proxima treating his shoulder, surprised a bit at how expertly she was doing it.

"HYDRA? How did they managed to find you?" Asked Proxima as she finished. When she did, she looked at Steve. Though she tried hard to hide it, Steve saw a hint of concern in her eyes briefly that soon disappeared and replaced with her usual cold stare.

"Must have been when I was meeting up with Sharon. That contact I told you about. They must have had an agent here in this town." Proxima nodded at that. The only other possibility was that his contact was a traitor, but she doubted that. Steve trusted her a lot and defended her when she questioned this Sharon. She couldn't have been a traitor if Steve trusted her this much. Looking at their surroundings, Proxima looked at Steve.

"You're no longer safe here. We need to get you out of here." Nodding his head, Steve got up, despite his injuries.

"I'll follow your lead, but first, we need to take something." Raising an eyebrow, Proxima got the message when she saw Steve looking at the only corpse in the area.

"You're concerned over how HYDRA got this technology." Said Proxima, grabbing the corpse, lifting it over her shoulders with ease.

"Yeah. As far as I'm aware, only one person should have this technology and he's under house arrest. And he would never sell this tech to people like HYDRA."

"Then perhaps we should pay him a visit?" Said Proxima before taking off. Sighing to himself, Steve followed her.

Later

L.A.

Scott Lang was currently eating a bowl of cereal with Luis. After swallowing a spoonful of cereal, Scott spoke to Luis.

"So, how's the job going, Luis?" Asked Scott. The questions caused Luis to smile.

"Excellent man!" Said Luis with a hint of pride. "Me and the boys. We went completely straight! No more criminal activities for us! We may get that itch to do something illegal but we're resisting it! We're one hundred percent reformed!" He then drank a glass of milk. "Anyway, the jobs going well. Wish I got get Pym my thanks before," Luis then realized where his sentence was going and mentally slapped himself. "Sorry man. I didn't mean to…" Scott then interrupted him.

"Its okay." Said Scott. "I made a tough call and I have to live with the consequences. Just wish Hank and Hope didn't have to suffer because of it." Luis just nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, it sucks." Luis said. "They just trained you and gave you the suit. They're not, like, responsible for your actions. Its like the cops arresting my mom for me stealing a T.V.! Its not fair to them." Scott nodded at that. "Still no words?"

"Nah. They're still in hiding." Said Scott. "I haven't heard from them since." Seeing that he was done with his breakfast, Scott placed his dirty dishes to the sink. "Anyway, I get to get ready for my little girl. She's coming over soon." Luis smiled at that.

"Good luck with Cassie, man!" Said Luis before bringing his dishes to the sink. "I got to get ready for work. Have a great time with her." With that Luis went to his room to get dressed. Scott just smiled a bit at Luis. Despite his eccentric nature, Luis was a good man and a good friend. He was glad that the man and his friends didn't suffer much when Scott was arrested for helping Captain America. Unlike Hank and Hope. Frowning, he remembered they're last conversation. To say the two were pissed at him was putting it mildly.

Because they were the creators of the Antman suit, the government wanted to arrest them due to his assistance in helping out Captain America. This caused a rift between him and them as he essentially made them fugitives on the run as they refused to be placed under arrest for the actions of someone else, even if it was a friend. And he couldn't blame them. He ruined whatever project they were working on. Rubbing his forehead, he hoped he could talk with them one last time so he could apologize and explain his actions, but that was unlikely. They cut all contacts with him since dropping off the face of the Earth and he hadn't heard from them since. No letter, no email. Nothing. Even though he believed he did the right thing in helping out Captain America, he hated that he ruined the lives of his friends as a result. Wanting to focus on getting ready for Cassie, Scott banished all thoughts of Hope and Hank to focus on thinking on what to do with Cassie when she gets here as well as cleaning up the dishes. Looking at the dirty dishes, he was about to start cleaning the dishes when he heard the door bell ring. Frowning upon hearing it, he went to the front door. He then heard the door bell ringing again.

"Can't be Cassie. Its too early." Thought Scott as he wondered on who was at the door. 'Maybe a colleague of Luis?' As if on que, Luis arrived, putting on a tie.

"Expecting someone?" Asked Scott as he pointed the door. Luis just looked at him, surprised as him.

"No man." Said Luis. "I'm in the dark as you." Upon hearing that, Scott looked at the door.

"Great." Thought Scott as he went to get a bat he kept for emergencies. He technically had the suit, Luis was keeping it hidden for emergencies, but if he used it now, the government will come and arrest him just for having it when he was supposed to give it to them. To keep it away from the hands of the U.S. government, he sent it to Luis and claimed he destroyed it. The government lackies weren't happy to hear that but couldn't do anything to him or force him to reveal its secrets as he had no idea on how the suit works. They have to get Hank for that and, well, he's too busy doing whatever he was doing and running away from them. Luis, knowing the dangers of the suit and being a good friend, kept it close at hand, promising to never reveal to anyone.

Upon seeing Scott getting a bat, Luis grabbed a lamb and held it as a weapon. Staring incredulously at his choice, Scott went near the door and readied himself. Nodding to Luis, who nodded back, he reached for the door handle with one hand and prepped his bat with the other. Opening the door, he was about to swing the bat when he noticed who it was. Stopping himself before he could swing the bat at the person's head, he and Luis looked at shocked to see Steve Rogers.

"Hey, Scott." Said Steve, dressed in normal clothing and a hat on his head to hide his hair. Dropping his bat in shock, Scott began to apologize.

"Oh god. I'm so sorry, cap." Said Scott as he tried to apologize while Luis was staring at Steve in shock, processing that the infamous Captain America was right in front of him. "I thought that you were a thug or something. If I known it was you, I wouldn't have…" Steve then brought up his hand.

"Scott, its fine." Said Steve sincerely. "You don't need to apologize. I didn't send any message or anything to indicate I was coming over." He then looked around. "We need to continue this conversation inside. Can I come in?" Remembering that Steve was still on the most wanted, Scott nodded before quickly letting him in, closing the door when he did.

Few minutes later

Living room

"Look, cap. I'm glad your safe and all, but you being here is really not good for me." Said Scott as he, Luis, and Steve were in the living room, blinders all down to prevent anyone outside from catching a glance of Steve.

"I know, Scott." Said Steve, frowning. "But I wouldn't come here if I didn't need your help." Upon hearing that, Scott began to shake his head.

"No, no, no." Said Scott. "I can't cap. I'm sorry. But I made a deal with the government. I'm on probation. I can't leave this house under any condition and that probation is nearly up. If I'm caught with you or leaving this house, its twenty years in a federal prison. I won't be able to see my little girl grow up and her mother won't let her see me ever. It took a lot of convincing to even let her leave her daughter with me for a few hours. I made a lot of stride in spending time with my family, I won't jeopardize it by helping you out. Its selfish, I know, but I just…" Scott then sighed. "I don't want to ruin my chances on being there for my little girl as she grows up." Steve just nodded, agreeing with Scott.

"I understand." Said Steve. "And I feel like a complete scumbag for asking you to put all that you worked on since you took that deal with the government in jeopardy, but." Steve then brought out a small vial containing some yellow substance. "This was found on the suit of a man that tried to kill me. I think that you know what it is." Upon giving Scott the vial, the man began to inspect it. After a few seconds, Scott looked at Steve.

"Uh…should I know what this is?" Asked Scott before placing it on a coffee table. Frowning at his answer, Steve explained the situation, hoping that this will help clarify what was going on.

"That substance was able to allow the man to shrink. On the microscopic scale." Upon hearing that, Scott looked at Steve in shock.

"You serious?" Asked Scott, looking at the vial. Steve just nodded.

"It took quite some time for me and a cohort of mine to figure out how the man could shrink, but we eventually found out that substance was able to give him that power. Since your suit give you similar powers, I was hoping you knew something about this." Scott just sighed before speaking up.

"I think I know how they got this stuff." Said Scott before explaining. "Read about Pym headquarters being destroyed? Just collapsing on itself and leaving a crater?" Steve nodding, having read about it during his time in the Avengers. "Well, that was caused by me along with a few others, including my friend Luis here." Luis then smiled and waved at Steve, who nodded back. "Reason we did it was because a man named Derek Cross was trying to make a substance similar to the stuff that makes me go big and small. The guy that made my suit, Hank Pym, was worried about that the idea of that stuff falling into the wrong hands. So, he hired me and a few others to destroy all the research relating to the substance before it could be revealed to the public." He then sighed. "But it looks like we failed. You see, while we were completing our big plan, Derek caught us and revealed to us that the first people he'll sell the substance was to HYDRA." Upon hearing that, Steve widened his eyes in shock. "And you already know just how crazy and dangerous those guys are. No way is giving them the ability to shrink soldiers a good thing for any of us." Steve nodded. If they did get that technology, the amount of damage they could do would have been enormous. "Fortunately, we stopped Derek from giving that a case full of the stuff and blew up the HQ, destroying all the research of that shrinking substance and what they made so far. We also killed Derek so there's no way can anyone make anymore of that stuff, not without a great deal of money and time." Scott then sighed. "But I guess I was wrong. One of the HYDRA goons must have snatched a vial and escaped the blast and did some research using that stuff."

"And it looks like they've made a breakthrough." Said Steve. "Three guys came for me yesterday, Scott. They all had the ability to shrink, something that I've never fought before. I would have died if I didn't get assistance in the last minute." Upon hearing that Scott sighed again. That was just great. Hank was going to flip out when he heard that his technology was out in the hands of HYDRA.

"What do we do?" Asked Scott. "You think that we should contact the…uh…"loyalist" Avengers. I mean, from what I heard, those guys are doing well in taking out HYDRA bases and agents. Think they can handle themselves against more of these shrinking guys?" Steve just frowned at that. While he was confident that they can handle themselves, none of them have ever faced a foe that can shrink to the size of a fly. And if the HYDRA agents can go into Tony's and Rhode's armor like Scott did back at the airport, then they just taken out more than half of the remaining Avengers. Looking at Scott, Steve replied.

"We need to take them out ourselves, Scott. We can't risk HYDRA sending these guys against the Avengers." Upon hearing we, Scott shook his head.

"Cap, I can't. I told you. I want to help, but I won't risk all I worked for." Steve nodded, completely understanding and even slightly envying Scott. He had a family to worry about and get back to. Steve, meanwhile, only had Bucky and his friend can never provide him the support a family can do.

"I understand. All I'm asking if you can get into contact with Hank Pym. I need his support in fighting this." Scott rubbed his neck at that.

"Well, I guess I can call him. Can't guarantee that he'll get it though. He's on the run from the government for "assisting" a criminal on account of my suit. I'll still try though."

"Thanks Scott." Said Steve with a nod before getting up. "I better leave before your handlers figure out I was here." He then looked at Scott. "For what its worth, I'm sorry I've put you into this situation." Scott shook his head.

"Ah, Cap, I don't regret helping you out. You needed help taking out some super soldiers from wreaking havoc in the world. Even though all I did was fight some other heroes, I didn't mind doing what I thought right. Trust me, if I didn't have my daughter, I'll be helping you out." Steve nodded gratefully.

"Thanks, Scott. You're a good man. I'll be staying close by, but I won't do anything that'll compromise you." With that, Steve left the house. Once he was gone, Luis looked at Scott.

"You actually think that Hank will take your call?" Asked Luis, curious. Scott nodded his head.

"Oh yup. If only to make myself feel bad and then hang up. He'll listen to what I have to say first, though." He then brought out his phone, glad that the government wasn't tracking his phone calls. At least he hoped so. Meanwhile, Proxima was keeping a watchful eye on Scott's home from her ship. She received notification that he just contacted someone. Ignoring it, she then proceeded to keep an eye on his transmission so that it wasn't traced. As she did so, she wondered on this HYDRA. They clearly needed to be taken out. They were a danger to the safety of this planet, her plan, and her overall goal. The fact that they had shrinking technology only proved just how much of a danger they were, despite the fact they're organization was falling apart.

"If these "loyalist" Avengers won't stop them quickly enough. Then my human helper and I will do it for them." Thought Proxima as she brought out a communication device from one of the soldiers that attacked Steve. "That human better be fine with going out on the field again."