1944: Captain America (Steve Rogers) is storming a castle in Europe to prevent the Red Skull from bringing occult forces to aid the Nazis. Cap encounters Master Man and engages him in battle, realizing he is reliving a past experience of his and wondering if he can change the outcome so that many of the American forces survive…when he finds himself in a meeting with president Roosevelt as he wonders if there is a way to get back to his own time….
On the HAMMER Helicarrier, Captain America (James Barnes) and the Black Widow are fighting HAMMER guards, Ares and Venom, desperately trying to escape from Norman Osborn’s trap; the forces are overwhelming, though, and they are taken alive….
At the Baxter Building, Reed Richards, whose help was sought by Hank Pym, is running a scan of Sharon Carter and discovers something odd in her bloodstream, similar to particles found in Steve Rogers’ body at his autopsy….
Norman Osborn visits Crossbones and Sin in prison to enlist their help to retrieve Captain America as the head of the Avengers—with the Red Skull’s mind inside his body….
Steve, meanwhile, finds himself in the lab of Dr. Erskine, creator of the Super-Soldier Serum, and steers the conversation to time travel; Erskine offers a few comments and moves on to the grand experiment. Steve realizes that he can affect events in his past but not change them—there is nothing he can do to save Erskine. Steve drinks the serum, is bathed in vita rays and gains his Captain America powers but Erskine is shot down by the Nazi spy anyway and Steve deals with the villain and stands by as his benefactor dies….
Back on the HAMMER Helicarrier, Osborn confronts Captain America (Bucky) and the Black Widow, showing them the latest news reports: he has exposed Sharon Carter as the second shooter in the assassination of Captain America. He then tells the Widow to deliver the message to Sharon that she has 24 hours to turn herself in—or another Captain America dies….