Steve raises an eyebrow as he skims the mission briefing at the top of the page. Apparently the person who came up with his stage name is still running amok. What on earth possessed these people to pick these names? Granted, his own code name is pretty silly, but at least he can say he didn't come up with it. A lot of propaganda was over-the-top during the war. ...He's not so sure these guys can make the same claim, though.
...Really, how can they expect him to take this seriously when his teammates have names like Iron Man? The Hulk? Black Widow? -As if 'Red Skull' wasn't bad enough…
He's tempted to ask the disembodied voice for a rundown of what the actual hell, but decides against it in the end. The why isn't all that important. It's the who that he's worried about.
He keeps reading.
Before he's even halfway through the man's profile, Steve finds himself disliking Iron Man. Something about him just really rubs Steve the wrong way. He doesn't have the patience to deal with some spoiled little rich brat's ego right now, and it sounds like the guy is more of a liability than a help. Stark's kid is apparently just as brilliant as Howard was, but the files indicate that he's also loud, rude, a drunk, and an all around self-centered jerk. This is someone who'd happily throw the rest of his team under the bus and go take a victory lap right after. Steve already knows they're going to butt heads, but he makes a mental note to at least try to be an adult about it. (He can practically hear Bucky's voice cracking up in his head, at the thought of Steve being the grown-up in any situation…)
The Black Widow he just finds a little confusing. He can't keep straight which identity is her real one and which ones are fake, no matter how many times he re-reads her biography. There are large gaps that he feels really ought to be explained, that aren't. The most solid bead he can get on her is that she's Russian and she has a long history with S.H.I.E.L.D. The Russians were allies in the war, and while he knows the world has moved on, that's at least something to go on.
Ms. Romanoff actually reminds him just a little of Peggy... if Peggy had been side-long and surreptitious instead of direct and utterly no-nonsense. Thinking of Peggy triggers another familiar ache. He makes himself move on before he can examine it too closely.
Steve puzzles for a few moments over The Hulk before he clicks. What the hell kind of code-name is that? It's an awfully ambitious title for a skinny little fella like Banner. It'd be like Steve calling himself Mr. Huge before the serum. Pretty ridiculous.
The name honestly kind of reminds him of those terrible horror flicks that the theater used to show sometimes, when it was a real slow day. Did this guy just pick words out of a hat or something?
The name suddenly makes a lot more sense once he starts reading through Dr. Banner's file. Apparently The Hulk isn't Banner. It's the giant green monster that the scientist morphs into when he's angry. Nothing has yet managed to stop The Hulk when it goes on a rampage and the monster appears to be nigh on indestructible… Given that and the ridiculous size of that thing, maybe the name is pretty apt after all…He'd imagine that when something that big and angry decides on a name, not many people are going to argue.
Steve looks up from a video of the big green monster hurling cars across a city block and roaring like a pissed off dinosaur, mulling over what he's just read and seen. Hard to believe there's a human being under there… Harder still to believe that thing's existence is at least partly his fault.
"So this Dr. Banner was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?"
"A lot of people were. You were the world's first superhero."
Coulson -the agent in charge of collecting him for this mission- answers immediately; crossing the plane like a loyal puppy. He's been lingering awfully close since they boarded, but this is the first that the two of them have really spoken.
The conversation quickly goes downhill from there.