HYDRA agents are marching in formation. "The Führer is not accustomed to being ignored, Herr Schmidt. He funds your research because you promised him weapons." Hutter says.
"You serve at his pleasure. He gave you this facility as a reward for your injuries." Schneider says.
"Reward? Call it what it is. Exile. I no longer reflect his image of Aryan perfection." Schmidt says.
" You think this is about appearances? Your HYDRA division has failed to deliver so much as a rifle in over a year. And we had learned through local intelligence you had mounted a full-scale incursion into Norway." Roeder says.
"The Führer feels... How does he put it? 'The Red Skull has been indulged long enough!'"
"Red skull?" Thor asked.
Schmidt turns around to face them. "Gentlemen, you have come to see the results of our work. Let me show you." He says and the enter the lab. " Hitler speaks of a thousand-year Reich, but he cannot feed his army for a month. His troops spill their blood across every field in Europe. But still he is no closer to achieving his goals." He says.
" And I suppose you still aim to end this war through magic?" Roeder says.
"Science. But I understand your confusion. Great power has always baffled primitive men. HYDRA is assembling an arsenal to destroy my enemies in one stroke. Where ever they are, regardless of how many forces they possess. All in a matter of hours."
"Your enemies."
"My weapons contain enough destructive power to decimate every hostile capital on earth. Quite simply, gentlemen, I have harnessed the power of the Gods."
"Well... not really but kind of." Valkyrie said.
"Thank you, Schmidt."
"For what."
" For making it clear how obviously mad you are."
"He's not wrong. This guy is insane." Pepper said.
Hutter is studying a map that has pins in it. "Berlin is on this map." He says.
"So it is."
" You will be punished for your insolence! You will be brought before the Führer himself!" Schmidt kills them all with the weapon he created with the tesseract.
A few people watched in horror. "And you were trying to to the exact same thing." Tony said to Fury.
"Now hang on a minute we had a perfectly good reason-" Fury protested.
"Whether you had a reason or not, those type of weapons do not need to be in the world." Steve said.
"My apologies, Doctor, but we both knew HYDRA could grow no further in Hitler's shadow. Hail HYDRA." Schmidt says. "
Hail HYDRA!" The agents in the room repeat.
"Hail HYDRA!" Zola says when Schmidt looks at him.
"So he wants to overthrow Hitler?" Peter asked.
"No, He just wanted more power than Hitler, and he would have used any means necessary to get it." Steve said.
A nurse is taking blood samples from Steve. "Think you got enough?" He asks.
"Any hope of reproducing a program is locked in your genetic code. But without Dr. Erskine, it could take years." Peggy said.
"They still haven't figured it out yet. People have tried." Bruce said. The 'I tried' was left out but implied.
"He deserved more than this."
"He did." Coulson said.
"If it could only work once, he'd be proud it was you." Peggy says.
SSR agents are working with the HYDRA submarine. "Colonel Phillips, my committee is demanding answers." Brandt says.
"Great. Why don't we start with how a German spy got a ride to my secret installation in your car?"
"Ooh, shots fired." Peter said.
"What have we got here?" Phillips asks.
"Speaking modestly, I'm the best mechanical engineer in this country. But I don't know what's inside this thing or how it works. We're not even close to this technology." Howard says.
"A bit of a humble brag, not really modest." Peggy said.
"Then who is?" Brandt asks.
"HYDRA. I'm sure you've been reading our briefings." Phillips answers.
"I'm on a number of committees, Colonel."
"HYDRA is the Nazi deep science division. It's led by Johann Schmidt. But he has much bigger ambitions." Peggy says.
"HYDRA's practically a cult. They worship Schmidt, they think he's invincible."
"An accurate comparison." Natasha said.
"So what are you gonna do about it?"
"Spoke to the president this morning. As of today the SSR is being re-tasked."
"Colonel?" Peggy asks.
" We are taking the fight to HYDRA. Pack your bags Agent Carter. You too, Stark. You're flying to London tonight."
"Sir, if you're going after Schmidt, I want in." Steve says.
"You are still in the early stages, that could have been very dangerous if you went." Shuri said.
"You're an experiment. You're going to Alamogordo." Phillips says.
"The serum worked." Steve protested.
" I asked for an army and all I got was you. You are not enough."
"Harsh." Clint said.
"With all due respect to the Colonel, I think we may be missing the point. I've seen you in action, Steve. More importantly, the country's seen it. *He shows Steve a newspaper* The enlistment lines have been around the block since your picture hit the newsstands. You don't take a soldier, a symbol like that, and hide him in a lab. Son, do you want to serve your country on the most important battlefield of the war?" Brandt says.
"Sir, that's all I want."
"Then, congratulations. You just got promoted."
"You never finished training." Bucky pointed out.
"No." Steve said.
"So its more of like an honorary title, Captain?"
"I guess so."
Steve is backstage in his Captain America costume.
"Oh no." Steve groaned.
"Oh no what? I have a feeling this'll be good." Sam said.
"I don't know if I can do this." Steve said.
"Nothing to it. Sell off a few bonds, bonds buy bullets, bullets kills Nazi's. Bing bang boom. You're an American hero."
"Propaganda?" Rhodey asked.
"It's just not how I pictured getting there." Steve puts the mask on.
"The senator's got a lot of pull up on the hill. You play ball with us, you'll be leading your own platoon in no time. Take the shield." He shoves Steve on to the stage.
The women start singing. "?Who's strong and brave, here to save the American way?" Steve reads off of the papers taped to the back of the shield.
"Not all of us can storm a beach or drive a tank. But there's still a way all of us can fight."
The room starts laughing. "Is there a way we can skip this part?" Steve asked.
"No no no. This is great." Tony said, laughing.
"?Who vows to fight like a man, for what's right, night and day?"
"Series E Defense Bonds. Each one you buy is a bullet in the barrel of your best guy's gun."
"?Who will campaign door-to-door for America? Carry the flag shore to shore for America? From Hoboken to Spokane, *Steve takes a picture with a baby, then an older man.* the star-spangled man with a plan.?" Steve leads a group of men dressed as soldiers in front of a moving image.
"Cut. Guys, don't look at the camera."
People are still laughing. Steve groans in embarrassment. "
I'm sorry man, this is too funny." Clint says.
"?We can't ignore there's a threat and a war we must win.?"
"Each one you buy is a bullet in the barrel of your best guy's gun."
"?Who'll hang a noose on the goose-stepping goons from Berlin? Who will redeem, heed the call for America? Who'll rise or fall, give his all for America? Who's here to prove that we can? The star-spangled man with a plan.?"
"We all know this is about trying to win the war. We can't do that without bullets and bandages, tanks and tents. That's where you come in. Every bond you buy will help protect someone you love."
A man dressed as Hitler is sneaking up behind him. "Turn around! He's right behind you!" A kid in the audience yells.
"Keep our boys armed and ready, and the Germans will think twice about trying to get the drop on us." Steve turns around and stage punches the man dressed as Hitler.
"You people do weird things to gain peoples favor" Drax said.
"? Stalwart and steady and true, forceful and ready to defend, the red, white, and blue. *City names pop up on the screen, while Steve punches Hitler over and over again." Who'll give the Axis the sack and is smart as a fox? *Kids are reading Captain America Comic books* Far as an eagle will soar. Who's making Adolf afraid to step out of his box? He knows what we're fighting for. Who waked the giant that napped in America? We know it's no one but Captain America. Who'll finish what they began? Who'll kick the Krauts to Japan? The star-spangled man with a a plan!?"
The laughter dies down.
"Finally." Steve said.
Steve is now talking to a group of soldiers.
"How many of you ready to help me sock old Adolf on the jaw?" The soldiers remain quiet.
"I don't think the same tactics will work on them." Vision said.
"Okay... uh I need a volunteer."
" I already volunteered! How do you think I got here?" A man yells.
"Bring back the girls!"
"I think they only know the one song. But um...let me...I'll...I'll see what I can do."
" You do that, sweetheart."
"Nice boots, Tinker Bell!"
"Come on, guys. We're all on the same team here."
"Hey, Captain! Sign this!" The man pulls his pants down and shows his ass.
A few people cringed. Gross.
"Bring back the girls!"
The dancers run on stage.
"Don't worry, pal. They'll warm up to you. Don't worry."
"I'm sure they will." Scott said.
Steve is now sketching a monkey on a unicycle.
"You're a pretty good artist." Wanda said.
"Thank you."
Peggy walks up behind him. " Hello, Steve." She says.
Steve turns around. "Hi."
"Hi."
" What are you doin' here?"
" Officially I'm not here at all. That was quite a performance."
"Yeah. Uh... I had to improvise a little bit. Crowds I'm used to are usually more uh... twelve."
" I understand you're 'America's New Hope'?"
"Bond sales take a ten percent bump in every state I visit."
"At least something good came out of it." Quill said.
"Is that Senator Brandt I hear?"
"At least he's got me doin' this. Phillips would have had be stuck in lab."
"I think he would only have kept you in a lab until he was absolutely sure that everything was working properly, he seems like the cautious type." Strange said.
"But who knows how long that might have been." Steve countered.
"And these are your only two options? A lab rat or a dancing monkey? You were meant for more than this, you know?" Steve goes to say something but stops. "What?" She asks.
"You know for the longest time I dreamed about coming overseas and being on the front lines. Serving my country. I finally get everything I wanted, and I'm wearing tights."
A few people laughed.
A horn honks in the background, an ambulance pulls up, 2 people pull out a stretcher with an injured man. "They look like they've been through hell." Steve said.
" These men more than most."
"Wars only get more gruesome with time." Gamora said.
"Schmidt sent out a force to Azzano. Two hundred men went up against him and less than fifty returned. Your audience contained what was left of the one-oh-seventh. The rest were killed or captured." Peggy said.
"The one-oh-seventh?"
"What?"
"You were in the one-oh-seventh." Sam said to Bucky.
"Come on!" Steve and Peggy run into a tent.
"Colonel Phillips." Steve says.
"Well, if it isn't the Star-Spangled Man With A Plan. And what is your plan today?"
"So condescending." Valkyrie said.
"I need the casualty list from Azzano." He says.
"You don't get to give me orders, son."
"I just need one name. Sergeant James Barnes from the hundred and seventh."
" You and I are gonna have a conversation later that you won't enjoy." Phillips says to Peggy.
" Please tell me if he's alive, sir. B-A-R..."
"I can spell. I have signed more of these condolence letters today than I would care to count. But the name does sound familiar. I'm sorry."
"What about the others? Are you planning a rescue mission?"
"Yeah! It's called winning the war."
"They are not going to be alive by the time the war ends." T'Challa said.
"But if you know where they are, why not at least-"
"They're thirty miles behind the lines. Through the most heavily fortified territory in Europe. We'd lose more men than we'd save. But I don't expect you to understand that, because you're a chorus girl."
"So rude." Hope said.
"I think I understand just fine."
" Well then understand it somewhere else. If I read the posters correctly, you got some place to be in thirty minutes." Phillips walks away. Steve looks at the map.
"Yes, sir. I do."
"You're gonna go and get them, aren't you?" Mantis asked.
"If you have something to say, right now is the perfect time to keep it to yourself." Phillips says to Peggy.
Steve is in his tent, packing some things. Peggy walks in. " What do you plan to do? Walk to Austria?"
"If that's what it takes."
"You heard the Colonel, your friend is most likely dead."
"Except he isn't." Drax said. "Almost was." Bucky said.
"You don't know that."
"Even so, he's devising a strategy. If he detects-"
"By the time he's done that, it could be too late!" Steve walks out of the tent and puts his things into a truck.
"You told me you thought I was meant for more than this. Did you mean that?" He asks.
" Every word."
"Then you gotta let me go." Steve gets in the jeep.
" I can do more than that."
"Nice." Clint said.
The showgirls are rushing to get ready.
"On stage, girls. Five minutes!"
"Where's my helmet?"
"Has anyone seen Rogers?"
"Yeah, he, uh, he left." Peter said. Ned, Shuri and MJ quietly laughed.
"They didn't think to get you like an understudy of some sorts?" Pepper asked.
"I guess they didn't see a reason too, thought I'd always be there." Steve said.
Steve, Peggy and Howard are all in a plane. " The HYDRA camp is in Krausberg, tucked between these two mountain ranges. It's a factory of some kind." Peggy says.
"We should be able to drop you right on the doorstep." Howard says.
"Just get me as close as you can. You know, you two are gonna be in a lot of trouble at the lab."
"You are too." Sam said.
"And you won't?" Peggy asks.
"Where I'm goin', if anybody yells at me I can just shoot 'em."
" They will undoubtedly shoot back."
"Well, let's hope it's good for somethin'."
" Agent Carter, if we're not in too much of a hurry I thought we could stop off in Lucerne for a late night fondue."
Howard started laughing quietly. Nobody knew why, though.
"Stark is the best civilian pilot I've ever seen. He's mad enough to brave this airspace, we're lucky to have him." Peggy says.
"So are you two...? Do you...? Fondue?"
A few people started laughing. "What does that even mean?" Scott asked.
"I thought it was supposed to be an analogy." Steve said.
"This is your transponder. Activate it when you're ready and the signal will lead us straight to you." Peggy says.
" Are you sure this thing works?"
" It's been tested more than you, pal."
The plane starts getting attacked. Steve moves toward the open door, ready to jump.
" Get back here! We're taking you all the way in."
"As soon as I'm free, you turn this thing around and get the hell outta here!"
" You can't give me orders!"
"The hell I can't! I'm a Captain!"
"Yes, but not in that way. Well yes, but actually no. So the answer is yes but also no." MJ said.