She-Hulk (Vol. 3) #10
The Good Old Days: Conclusion
During the wrongful death trial of Steve Rogers, the former Captain America drops a bombshell in the courtroom: everything said in the death bed confession of Harold Fogler is true. He is being cross-examined by Matt Murdock, who asks Steve if he is admitting guilt in wrongful death. Rogers says he is not. Murdock concludes his questions. When She-Hulk takes the stand, she asks Steve to clarify how he is not guilty of wrongful death if everything Fogler said was true. Steve explains that it wasn't even half of the story, there were parts that Harold left out. He begins explaining his side of the story...
Fall 1940
Prior to becoming Captain America, Steve Rogers was a scrawny young man who lived in Brooklyn. Among his friends was Sam Fogler, who pulled Steve aside and asked him to travel with him to Los Angeles to try and convince his brother to come back home. Steve agreed, and even though the pair had thirty dollars between the two of them, they managed to get there, but not without some difficulty. After watching "The Mark of Zorro", the pair then went about trying to find Sam's brother. Asking around they learned that Harold was working for some shady characters working out of a warehouse. When the two tracked the location down and looked into the window, they were shocked by what they saw. Realizing that if his brother were caught with this group, his life would be ruined forever. Steve originally thought they should leave Sam's brother to his fate, but agreed to try and convince him to come home none-the-less.
It was then that the pair had their encounter with Harold and their failed attempt to convince him to come him. It's here, that Steve begins explaining some of the facts that Harold's death bed confession left out: The men who Harold was working for were Nazis under the command of the costumed operative known as Saurespritze. Even when captured and faced with death, Steve Rogers refused to back down. He told the masked Nazi straight to his face that his masters will lose the war as they will soon be facing the best the United States has to offer. His words angered Saurespritze to the point where he shot Sam to death in order to break Steve's courage.
Now
With Steve's story over, She-Hulk asks him why these facts were kept out of the police report that was read the day before. Steve refuses to tell them because that information is classified. Deadlock, Jennifer continues through the rest of the witnesses and pleads her case to the jury. With the day's session over, Jennifer and her friends return to the law office of Matt Rocks. There she demands to know why Steve won't explain himself in court. She explains to him that because of this, they have nothing to prove his innocence in court. However, it's at that moment that Hellcat returns with a file she stole from a top-secret facility. This is a case file that verifies everything that Steve said in court and completes the rest of the story. However, during the confusion, Steve slipped away with Sam's body and the FBI suddenly raided the warehouse. It was then, that an agent of the FBI told Steve that the entire incident wasn't his fault. Having heard about what Rogers said in the warehouse he believes that Steve should get into the military immediately. When Steve states that he would likely be ranked 4-F, the FBI agent states that his boss, J. Edgar Hoover had heard of something new was being done. Hinting at the Super Soldier Program that would ultimately turn Steve into Captain America.
Steve explains that the entire episode was made classified so as not to alarm the American people that Nazi operatives were active on American soil. However, both Matt Rocks and Jennifer point out that there are all sorts of problems that would block them from bringing this file into evidence. Steve tells her that he didn't have Hellcat steal the file for the trial, he had her steal it for Jennifer to see so she can defend him in court with no doubts about Steve's innocence. The following day, both Matt and Jennifer give their closing arguments and the jury is sent into deliberations. Once the jury returns they reach their verdict. Later, Steve, Jennifer, and Matt are taking a walk down, while Steve explains his entire plan. He explains that this entire trial was due to the machinations of one of his old foes. However, sending his allies to take down his enemy became a moot point once the lawsuit was filed. He needed to win his court case and selected the two lawyers that would put up a convincing trial. He selected Matt to work against him, as he was capable of considering the idea that Steve was guilty. In turn, he chooses Jennifer to represent him because he wanted to win. Finally, he reveals the mastermind behind this plot. He shows them a letter sent by his old foe Doctor Faustus, who orchestrated the trial in the hopes of tarnishing Captain America's legacy forever. With the full truth revealed, Steve asks his two friends if they want to help him capture Faustus. Sure enough, they do, and while She-Hulk and Daredevil deal with Faustus' minions, Steve shows that his age hasn't done much to diminish his strength, as he is able to knock out Faustus with a single punch.
She-Hulk, Angie Huang, and Hellcat then return to Brooklyn where they begin figuring out their next case. When they arrive at Jennifer's office they notice that someone had broken into while they were gone. Opening the door, She-Hulk sees her old foe Titania sitting behind a desk. Titania suggests that Jennifer works on the mysterious blue file next.
Recurring Characters
She-Hulk, Steve Rogers, Daredevil, Angie Huang, Hellcat, Doctor Faustus, Saurespritze, Titania, Matt Rocks
Continuity Notes
The elderly woman who is stated as having known Steve Rogers and Sam Fogler during the 1940s create some issues with the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616 as it will become increasingly difficult to explain how people in the 1940s could still be alive in the modern age without some means of prolonging their lives. An explanation as to how this could work by that eventuality is a matter of interpretation.
