Captain America resumes his report to his commander General Simon: having rescued the Avengers he now submits to a thorough examination by Iron Man and Giant-Man. Giant-Man for one is convinced that the subject is the genuine Captain America and assures him that he is in perfect physical condition. Cap questions Iron Man about the possibility of going back, now that they have let slip that Reed Richards has a means of time travel. Iron Man warns him that the time machine (actually Dr. Doom’s) is dangerously unreliable and that there is no evidence from history that either Cap or Bucky was seen alive after that final mission. Cap insists he must go back and try to rescue his partner. This world is not his home and Bucky needs him. Iron Man tells Cap that Tony Stark has invited him for a night on the town….
Steve joins Tony for a private concert by Radiohead on his private jet. Steve has never heard an electric guitar or eaten sushi but enjoys the experience. Stark explains the fall of the Berlin Wall (having first to explain what the Berlin Wall was), the collapse of the Soviet Union, the conquest of polio and other amazing medical advances, and then takes him to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Steve learns about the X-1, the X-15, the moon landing, the space station—and the Challenger Disaster. What impresses Steve the most is not the technological advances though, it’s the social changes: the breaking down of racial and gender barriers. Tony shows him Martin Luther King’s "I Have a Dream" speech and tells Steve that all this change was made possible by Captain America. Tony leads Steve to a huge display honoring Captain America, where Steve discovers that others carried the mantle after his disappearance. This just convinces Steve that he can resign from the position and go home with a clear conscience. He suits up as Captain America and heads over to the White House. Arriving there, Cap is brought into the Oval Office for a meeting with the President. The President extends to Cap the nation’s thanks and offers him a role in the Avengers or a permanent vacation. Cap turns him down, insisting he must go back. The President can’t allow that: Cap knows too much about the subsequent history to be trusted in the 1940s again. Since the technology is still uncertain, the President must order Cap to stay in the present. Cap accepts that as his duty and leaves. The President calls Tony Stark to tell him what has happened; Stark assures the President that Iron Man will keep an eye on Cap but who knows what will happen next….
Meanwhile, at the Lincoln Memorial, Captain America is overwhelmed with sorrow….