The Winter Soldier: Part 2

Now

At a secure government facility outside Reno, Nevada, two soldiers are pre-occupied with the Hulk’s sex life while on patrol. When they notice the sentry is missing from his post atop the guard tower they are ambushed by Crossbones who kills both soldiers in quick succession. He then breaks into the facility which houses a teenaged girl. She screams at the sight of Crossbones and he orders her keep her mouth shut if she wants to get out alive.

Meanwhile, above the Altai Mountains in Mongolia, a trio of SHIELD helicopters are en route to the headquarters of the Kronas Corporation in order to apprehend its CEO, Aleksander Lukin on terrorism charges. Along with Nick Fury and Sharon Carter is Captain America who has been silent the entire trip. Sharon wants to know what he’s thinking and he tells her that with the firefight coming up he didn’t their personal baggage affecting the mission. Sharon tells him he should have thought about that earlier.

Yesterday, Brooklyn

Steve Rogers was just returning home after a run when he was confronted by Sharon. She was pissed off at him for trying to get her bumped off the Kronas mission. When Steve asked if Fury told her, Sharon reveals that Steve did by his response just now. As they enter his apartment, Steve explains that he thinks that Sharon is too close to this one after the death of her boyfriend Neil Tapper. While Steve is motivated by getting justice for the people killed in the explosion in Philadelphia, she is driven by wanting revenge.[1] Sharon called Steve out on being full of shit, pointing out that he’s got a personal stake in this as well, determining if the Winter Soldier is really his former partner Bucky.[2] She also believes that Steve thinks that she might kill Winter Soldier before he can find out the truth. However, Steve insists that this Winter Soldier is not Bucky. She disagrees, she has watched enough of the old film reels that she is confident that it is him. Sharon told him that he can live in denial, but she is going to bring in Neil’s killer and she is going on that mission no matter what.

Now

As they are approaching the city, the chopper pilots ask if they should radio in their position. Fury orders them to maintain radio silence and turn on their stealth devices. When the pilot points out that this could spark an international incident, Fury says he knows and tells them to follow orders and let him worry about the red tape.

Two Days Earlier

Nick Fury asked to meet with Steve, but not on the helicarrier. As they walk into the New York subway system, Fury tells Steve that he cannot get the clearance for the Kronas operation. This is because all of the evidence they have on the Red Skull’s murder and the Philadelphia explosion all point to Jack Monroe, who is conveniently dead.[3] Still Fury wants to go ahead with the opeartion even if it is legally shaky. They will be storm the Kronas Corporation headquarters, which is located on border between Mongolia and China, technically a corporately owned country of its own. They will hit the target in two days time because that’s when Lukin and his board members will be meeting to finalize their merger with the Roxxon Energy Corporation.

Steve was fine with everything, but wants to talk about Sharon Carter’s involvement…

Now

As they approach the Kronas Building, Fury makes sure that Sharon and Captain America have sorted out their differences. Moments later, they are storming the front of the building. The SHIELD team quickly takes down the security personelle on site with no casualties. They also manage to disable the alarms before they could be triggered. With Lukin and his cohorts meeting in a sound-proofed room, there is little chance they could know what is going on outside. Cap tries to question the Kronas soldiers about Winter Soldier’s location but none of them can give him any answers. Annoyed, he joins Fury and his team in the elevator up to the top floor of the building.

When they arrive, Captain America charges ahead, takes out the two guards, and smashes through the board room doors. There he pushes through everyone and grabs Lukin and demands to know where the Winter Soldier is being kept. That’s when Fury realizes that this isn’t a business meeting at all when he recognizes one of the attendees is the assistant to the Secretary General of the United Nations. Also present is a member of the US Senate and her orders Captain America to stand down. When Steve gets ahold of himself he does as he is told and learns from the Senator that they are there to discuss the construction of a pipeline that will deliver oil to the US from Madripoor.

The Senator then demands to know why Fury and his team are here to begin with. Captain America accuses Aleksander Lukin of being responsible for the bombing in Philadelphia. However, when they are forced to admit that they have no evidence to prove this, they are ordered to leave. As Captain America leaves, the Senator orders him to apologize to Lukin. Steve refuses to do any such thing, telling them that Hell will freeze over before he does that. Once Cap and the SHIELD team are gone, the Senator apologizes for what happened and promises there will be repercussions for what happened.

Soon, Aleksander and his assistant Leon are back in his private office watching the SHIELD choppers retreat. Leon is extremely distressed over how out of control things are getting and he pleads with Lukin to get rid of the Cosmic Cube. He warns Leon not to speak out of tone, then apologizes for threatening him. He assures his friend that everything is under control. As he looks at a dossier on the Winter Soldier, he assures Leon that he only plans using the Cosmic Cube for a few small things.

On the chopper, Steve calls this operation a complete disaster, lamenting that Likin may as well have diplomatic immunity at this point. Fury tells Steve that this isn’t over and they’ll continue investgating Lukin. Cap looks forward to wiping the smug grin off Aleksander’s face. Nick quips that Steve is being too soft, saying that he won’t rest until Likin is dead.

Back in Nevada, Crossbones has finished killing the guards at the military facility so he can leave with their young prisoner. The teen, who calls herself Erica Holstein, doesn’t understand what’s going on or who he is. He tells her that’s because the government has been de-programming her. She’s not Eric Holstein at all, she’s really Synthia Schmidt, daughter of the Red Skull![4]

Recurring Characters

Captain America, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Sharon Carter), Red Skull/Aleksander Lukin, Crossbones, Synthia Schmidt

Continuity Notes

1. In case you’re late to the party, Lukin had the Winter Soldier set off a bomb in Philly in Captain America (vol. 5) #6. The blast killed Neil Tapper.

2. Since Avengers #4, Steve had believed that Bucky died in an explosion in 1945. Last issue we learned otherwise. How he was transformed into the Winter Soldier is explained in Captain America (vol. 5) #11.

3. The Red Skull was seemingly killed in Captain America (vol. 5) #1. He actually managed to cheat death by using the Cosmic Cube to send his consciousness into the body of Aleksander Lukin, as we’ll find out in issue #14. Jack Monroe was killed by the Winter Soldier and framed for everything, see issues #4-7 for all that.

4. First appearing in Captain America #290 as Mother Superior, Synthia Schmidt’s origins were originally told in issue #298 of that series. When last seen, she had been de-aged to a child to help brainwash young runaways into an army as seen in Captain America #355-357. As Synthia has had her age manipulated by her father, SHIELD did not know her true age and so adjusted her age to that of a teenager before trying to recondition her memories to forget her past. This will all be explained in more detail in Captain America (vol. 5) #15.

Topical References

• When justifying women who might be attracted to the Hulk, one of the soldiers likens him to serial killer Ted Bundy. Bundy is one of the most prolific serial killers in modern history. He has been confirmed to have murdered 20 women, confessed to 30 more, and is suspected of killing an additional 36+. His crimes spanned from 1974 to 1978 and he even once escaped from prison. He was executed in the electric chain in 1989. This could be considered a topical reference as there are more contemporary examples that could be used in the place of Bundy.