Under sniper fire from the new Scourge of the Underworld, Captain America hides intended victim Porcupine and rushes to the attack. Dodging the enemy’s gunfire he hurls his shield and cuts Scourge’s rifle in two, forcing the foe to face him on the ground. Scourge is faster and stronger than Cap realized and the slugging match is quite grueling. As they fight, Cap suddenly recognizes from his voice and his wrestler-like moves that the Scourge is his old friend, Dennis Dunphy, the D-Man. As Cap tries to talk sense into his pal and break Hydra’s brainwashing, Dunphy denounces Cap as a traitor for making deals with criminals….
Meanwhile, Sharon Carter is racing to the scene when Dum Dum Dugan tells her that under questioning, Henry Peter Gyrich went into a coma, implanted hypnotically, and now cannot reveal how to reverse Dunphy’s condition….
As Dunphy is in a full-on rant about heroes and traitors, he overcomes Cap and raises the hero’s shield to deliver a killing stroke…when Sharon arrives and shoots the rogue down. Dennis dies at Cap’s side.
The next day, as Diamondback is recovering from her earlier injuries, she tries to persuade Cap not to blame himself—but he still feels responsible for what Codename: Bravo has been doing. In accord with Bravo’s plans, the secrets of SHIELD’s witness protection program for supervillains are leaked to the media. Captain America is caught up in a national scandal. Sharon is still feeling guilt over her actions and even Steve must concede that Bravo and the Hydra Queen are winning….