As the news hits the nation that Steve
Rogers is again powered up, the public and various demagogues call on
Sam Wilson to resign and let Steve reassume the mantle of Captain
America....
In the wake of the Pleasant Hill
debacle, some of the Avengers meet with SHIELD Director Maria Hill
about her involvement in the incident. She glibly informs them that
the truth behind the matter can never be made known publicly lest a)
the world learning that the Cosmic Cube is alive and on the loose and
b) the lawsuits that would come from the supervillains held at
Pleasant Hill, would destroy the nation. Sam Cap is fed up that Hill
will not be held accountable for her actions and walks out. Steve
follows him and suggests that they support Hill publicly while having
the World Security Council address the matter privately to prevent a
major scandal....
While sparring, Sam reveals some of his
insecurities about Steve's return to Misty Knight, then he has to
hurry to a public appearance....
Sam Cap and Steve Cap meet at a Cap
rally along with D-Man and the new Falcon (see issue #6). As Steve
Cap is addressing the audience, the birds tell Sam Cap that there is
danger in the wings: Sam pushes Steve out of the way of a deadly
missile and takes off after the assassin. Sam outmaneuvers the
jet-pack-borne villain and shoots him down. The crowd cheers for both
Caps. The baddie, a former Spider-Man villain called Chance, tells
Sam that he was an inmate at Pleasant Hill and hoped that once
Captain America arrived, justice would be done. But it looks to
Chance that Sam Cap is going along with the official cover-up, making
him no different than any other government flunky....
Epilogue: As Sam broods (in bed with
Misty) elsewhere in the city a drug deal is broken up by some
frightening lawmen calling themselves the Americops....