The Last Operation

Captain America is finally reunited with Diamondback, after she was injured on a recent adventure.[1] After a heartfelt reunion, Steve tells Rachel that he is moving out of Avengers Headquarters and setting up a new solo base of operations in Brooklyn Heights. Rachel is excited to hear the news since she doesn’t have anywhere else to stay.

Meanwhile at a hospital 40 blocks away, Seth Volker is reading a bedtime story to his daughter. After putting her to bed for the night, Seth goes to talk to the doctor about her condition. The doctor explains that Amelia is suffering from involuntary seizures and will need expensive brain surgery to correct the condition. This is money that neither Seth nor his ex-wife has at the moment. Determined to get the money by any means necessary, Seth tells the doctor to prepare for the surgery right away. As the doctor leaves to make arrangements Seth — who is secretly the criminal known as Sidewinder — teleports away.

Back at Avengers Headquarters, Steve is packing his things when he is visited by the Black Widow. Natasha tells him that he doesn’t have to move out, but Steve insists that he needs a space of his own. Not only for himself, but for his growing relationship with Diamondback. The Widow is pleased to hear that Rachel has returned and wishes the couple all the best as she has come to like her. He then goes downstairs to check on how the packing in Fabian Stankewicz’s lab is coming along. Rachel admits her frustration since Fabian is incredibly fussy and indecisive about how to pack his equipment. That’s when Steve is informed by Peggy Carter that he has a call waiting for him. It turns out to be Sidewinder who wants to meet with Captain America, saying that it is a matter of life and death. When Diamondback offers to accompany him, Steve sidelines her until they can talk about why she crashed her cycle in the Savage Land earlier. Rachel begins dreading having to tell the truth about killing Snapdragon and ruining her hard earned trust.[2]

Soon, Captain America meets up with Sidewinder at the subway station on the corner of 34th and Seventh Avenue. Volker explains his daughters medical condition and how he doesn’t have the money for her much needed surgery. Wanting to obtain the money legally, Sidewinder asks Captain America for the money. Unfortunately, the Avenger doesn’t have that kind of cash. Losing his temper, Volker tells Captain America that he is responsible for whatever crimes he has to commit in order to get the money needed and teleports away. That’s when Diamondback arrives on the scene and Cap asks if she can verify Sidewinder’s story about having a seriously ill daughter. Rachel admits that while they were close back when they were in the Serpent Society, Seth didn’t tell her that much about his personal life.

Later that evening, Sidewinder shows up at a drug den in the South Bronx. Using his teleporting cloak to distribute tear gas all over the room, he is able to steal the drug money from the crooks. As he is doing so, Seth realizes the danger he is putting himself, something he always avoided doing and the reason why he formed the Serpent Society to do his dirty work in the past.[3]

Meanwhile, Captain America and Diamondback both decide to help Sidewinder. However, the pair have some differences over how to handle the situation. Steve still wants Volker to face justice for his past crimes, while Rachel refuses to do anything to compromise her friend. The two decide to work separately, with Cap checking in on Seth’s daughter, while Rachel goes to talk directly with Sidewinder. Rachel shows up at Seth’s home just as he is returning from his successful raid. He confirms to her that he is divorced and has a sick daughter and explains that rather than robbing a bank he is stealing from other criminals to make the money he needs to pay for his daughter’s surgery. Rachel decides to let him continue they exchange numbers so he can call her if he is gets into too much trouble to handle on his own.

At that same moment, Captain America is meeting with Amelia and her mother at the hospital. There he learns how Amelia’s mother divorced Seth because she didn’t like the fact that he was a criminal. That’s when Steve is contacted by Rachel who tells him that she knows where Sidewinder is. The two meet up and head to another drug den where Sidewinder’s latest theft has gone south. Injured in the ensuing confrontation, an emergency feature in his teleporting cape has kicked in causing Sidewinder to randomly teleport all around the room. That’s when Captain America and Diamondback arrive to rescue him. While Steve is busy with the drug dealer, he is suddenly struck by another bout of fatigue, something that has been happening more and more frequently over the past few days.[4] Getting Sidewinder to safety, Diamondback is briefly haunted by a vision of Snapdragon while helping Seth.

In the aftermath of the battle, Captain America tells Sidewinder that he can secure the funding that Amelia needs for surgery on the condition that Seth willfully surrenders to the authorities and serve time for his past crimes. Volker decides he doesn’t have any other options and hopes that he can get out with good behavior. After Sidewinder is taken into police custody, Diamondback decides to admit the truth about Snapdragon to Steve. He tells her how she drowned her old enemy and that she might be dead. Surprisingly, Steve doesn’t reject her at all. Although he thinks she should go before the courts, Steve promises to be there for her every step of the way.

Three weeks later, Amelia has underwent her surgery and Captain America goes to visit her. As a surprise he has brought a computer that allows her father to communicate with her over video from prison. He is happy to see that his daughter is on the mend and promises to visit her once he’s served his term. Proud of her father doing the right thing, Amelia tells him that he is the best father in the world.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Sidwinder, Diamondback, Fabian Stankewicz, Black Widow

Continuity Notes

1. Rachel was injured on a mission in the Savage Land when her sky-cycle crashed, as seen in Captain America #417. She was in a coma until issue #442.

2. Diamondback has been haunted by the apparent death of Snapdragon after she drowned the woman back in Captain America #413. Despite her apparent demise, Snapdragon will turn up alive again in Moon Knight (vol. 6) #2. A profile in Captain America: America’s Avenger #1 states that Snapdragon faked her death.

3. Sidewinder formed the Serpent Society — a super-villain trade union of sorts — in Captain America #310. He was their leader until Viper staged a failed coup in Captain America #342-344. Disgraced by this, Seth gave leadership over to the Cobra and went into retirement as revealed in Captain America Annual #10.

4. Captain America first felt this fatigue in Captain America #422. These are the first signs that his Super Soldier Serum is wearing out, something that he’ll learn next issue. This will slowly lead to Steve becoming completely disabled until he is cured of this condition in Captain America #445.

Topical References

• Sidewinder is reading "The Patchwork Girl of Oz” to his daughter. This wouldn’t be considered a topical reference as this is a piece of classic children’s literature.

• Sidewinder mentions “Hillary’s National Healthcare Program” this is in reference to the Clinton health care plan of 1993. One of America’s many failed attempts at creating universal healthcare for its citizens. As you can guess a collection of conservatives, libertarians and the insurance industry quashed these plans because why have a health nation? Anyway, references to this health care plan should be considered topical particularly since the program was quashed in the Senate a year later.

• The cost of Amelia’s surgery is stated as being a quarter of a million dollars. This amount should be considered topical due to inflation. For example $250,000 in 1993 money is equivalent to $512,648.78 in 2022.

• To stay in touch, Sidewinder gives Diamondback his pager number. This should be considered a topical reference as pagers are an obsolete technology.