The Death of the Dream: Part 3

White Lies

Tony Stark has held a press conference to announce his new team of government sanctioned Avengers.[1] When ask if there will be a new Captain America, Stark tells them that Steve Rogers was the only Captain America.[2] The identity has been retired and his trademark costume and shield are now on display at the Smithsonian.

James “Bucky” Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier, has decided to see if this is true. When he arrives at the museum he has to wait to enter the room made especially for Captain America. He pretends to take in the exhibits on display until he can get close to the display case with the shield.[3] A woman looking at the display case tells Bucky that a relative was saved by Captain America and the Invaders during the Battle of Saipan. James knows that this is a made up story because they were fighting in the Pacific that month, but he doesn’t correct her as it would crush her memories. When Bucky gets a good look at the shield, he confirms that it is a fake and isn’t surprised as he already knew Stark was full of shit.[4] Determined to kill Tony Stark to avenge Steve’s death, James knew he would have to make the first move, and e might as well start with Steve’s shield.

Falling off the Grid

Sharon Carter cannot live with the guilt of being the one who fatally shot Captain America and has decided to commit suicide. As she puts her gun under her chin she discovers that she can’t bring herself to pull the trigger. This is more of Doctor Faustus’ handiwork, who used his psychology skills to make her kill Steve, and is now forcing her to live with the guilt.[5] Seeing an image of Faustus mocking her in the mirror, Sharon tells him to shut up and punches the mirror.

When she leaves the bathroom someone calls out her name and she almost shoots the Falcon, who has come in through her window to check on her. She tells him that she is doing terribly after everything that has happened.[6] Sam tells her he also came by because Fury wants them to find Winter Soldier, who just went off the grid. Sharon agrees to help because it will at least get her out of the house. As Sharon changes, Sam says that Bucky used Fury’s resources to learn the location where they are keeping Captain America’s shield before going dark, and they figure he’s going to try and steal it. Sharon recognizes that this is bad as James could get himself killed, captured, or kill Tony Stark. They have to find him in a hurry because Barnes has already compromised some of Fury’s assetts.

Compromised Assetts

One of these assets was a Life Model Decoy of Nick Fury himself that SHIELD was using to hide the fact that Fury had gone AWOL.[7] It was shut down after it attacked some agent. Tony Stark video conferences with the technician going over its remains. Although they can’t know for sure who is responsible for the security breach, the fact of the matter is that whoever it is now knows the real location of Captain America’s shield. Stark can’t be there because he is busy meeting with government officials and then has to make a trip to Camp Hammond. When asked what they should due, Tony tells the technician that the facility should be on red alert to protect the shield at all costs, telling them that he’ll send someone to help as soon as possible.

Old Friends

Winter Soldier is staking out the SHIELD facility where the shield is being kept. As he expected, Stark has three transport trucks leave the facility and go into three different directions. However, Bucky knows that the trucks are all decoys. Waiting a few minutes more, he sees an unmarked sports car leave the facility next. It is one of SHIELD’s flying cars, so James has to move quickly to incapacitate it before it can take off.

He takes the car down by smashing its flying mechanisms with his cybernetic arm. However, the driver isn’t giving up without a fight. James is shocked to discover that the person they sent to protect the shield is Natalya Romanov, the Black Widow. Interestingly enough, James and Natasha have a past history from back when they were both Russian agents.[8] Bucky quickly overpowers the Black Widow and steals the shield.

The Falcon and Sharon Carter show up at the scene moments later. Not wanting to have to deal with SHIELD, they decide to try and pick up James’ trail.

Buried in the Past

Natasha wakes up in a SHIELD infirmary after dreaming about a night when the Winter Soldier snuck into her bedroom decades earlier. Tony Stark is checking in on her and she wants to know why he didn’t tell her that the Winter Soldier was still out there. Tony explains that nobody but Steve thought he was still alive.[9] When he asks what their history was, Natasha only says that they trained for a few weeks back in Russia. She doesn’t reveal that their affair was found out and that Bucky was violently punished by their handlers.

Unfortunately, the files on the Winter Soldier all went missing around the time that Nick Fury went AWOL, suggesting that the two are working together. Natasha reveals that Winter Soldier said he was working alone and that he was after Captain America’s shield because he didn’t trust Tony with it. She has no reason to believe he wasn’t telling the truth.

When Tony asks if she was unable to stop him because they were once friends, Natasha denies it, saying she knows how he thinks because they were both used as weapons. She briefly remembers how, when they were separated, she went looking for him. She remembers finding Winter Soldier being contained in a stasis cylinder and tucked away in a warehouse.

When Tony asks what she thinks Bucky is going to do next. She figures that he blames Tony for Steve’s death and that he’ll come gunning for him soon enough. She warns Tony that of all the people who might want him death, the Winter Soldier is the most dangerous them all.

Recurring Characters

Winter Soldier, Falcon, Sharon Carter, Black Widow, Vasily Karpov, Tony Stark

Continuity Notes

1. Tony Stark had recently formed the “Mighty” Avengers in Mighty Avengers #1 as the “New” Avengers had gone underground after going against the Super-Human Registration Act in Civil War #1-7.

2. If you haven’t noticed Captain America was seemingly killed in Captain America (vol. 5) #25. In reality, he was time displaced as part of a convoluted scheme by the Red Skull to steal his body. See Captain America: Reborn #1-5.

3. Among the various displays there is a reproduction of the cover to Captain America Comics #30, a poster advertising chapter 10 of the 1944 Captain America serial, and a statue recreating the cover of Avengers #4.

4. James suspects that Stark will wait a few years and maybe clone Captain America like they did with Thor. Thor seemingly died following the events of Thor (vol. 2) #80-85. To bolster the ranks of the pro-SHRA side, Iron Man had Thor cloned, as seen in Civil War #3. The real Thor will return to the living in Thor (vol. 3) #1.

5. Doctor Faustus had been posing as a SHIELD psychologist in order to manipulate Sharon into assisting in the Red Skull’s body thievery scheme. This was revealed in Captain America (vol. 5) #22.

6. Sharon states here that she quit SHIELD. That happened last issue.

7. To all appearances, Nick Fury had gone underground after it was revealed that he led an unsanctioned invasion of Latveria in Secret War #1-5. In reality, he had uncovered a Skrull plot to invade the Earth and is working on thwarting it. See Mighty Avengers #12 and Secret Invasion #1-8. The Fury LMD has been used since Marvel Team-Up (vol. 3) #13 and was compromised in Captain America (vol. 5) #23.

8. While the world thought he died in 1945, per Avengers #4, Bucky survived and was recovered by the Russians. They then programmed him to be their assassin, the Winter Soldier, the details of which were revealed in Captain America (vol. 5) #8 and 11. His past history with the Black Widow is explored in more detail in Captain America and Bucky #624. James is surprised that Natasha isn’t an old woman, this is because she underwent an experimental process that slowed her aging process, as revealed in Black Widow (vol. 3) #4.

9. More recently, the Winter Soldier was being used by Aleksander Lukin, starting in Captain America (vol. 5) #1. Later, James was freed from his brainwashing with the Cosmic Cube in issue #14. James was believed to have been vaporized when he later destroyed the Cube. Obviously he survived.

Topical References

• An elderly woman looking at the Captain America display at the Smithsonian states that her father was saved by Captain America during World War II. Due to the Sliding Timescale, it will become increasingly impossible for someone to have had an immediate relative involved in World War II. Modern readers should assume that the woman is directly descended from someone who fought in the war, but no specific relation.

The Initiative Reading Order

Civil War: The Initiative #1, Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #13, 14, 15, 16, 17, Thunderbolts #112, 113, 114, 115, Omega Flight #1-5, Moon Knight (vol. 3) #13, Captain America (vol. 5) #26, 27, 28, 29, 30, New Avengers #27, 28, 29, 30, 31, New Warriors (vol. 4) #1-8, Black Panther (vol. 4) #27, 28, 29, 30, Iron Man: Agent of SHIELD #15, 16, 17, 18, Avengers: The Initiative #1, 2, 3, Fantastic Four #547, 548, 549, 550, Punisher: War Journal (vol. 2) #6-11, Mighty Avengers #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Sub-Mariner (vol. 2) #1-6, The Order (vol. 2) 1-4, Penance: Relentless #1, 2, 3, 4, 5