Prologue: Professor Amtower, seeking to blow the whistle on shady doings at a major corporation, waits in a remote area for a meeting with his contact. Suddenly a voice comes over his car radio informing him his betrayal is known…then his car explodes in flames….
In a diner Steve Rogers meets with British secret agent Pete Wisdom. Wisdom tells Steve that the murdered whistle-blower worked for Nextin Pharmaceuticals, whose CEO is Jacob Erskine, grandson of the creator of the Super-Soldier Serum which gave birth to Captain America. Erskine’s father was Tyler Paxton, Steve's fellow subject from Operation: Rebirth, cheated of his opportunity by the murder of the original Erskine. Now it seems Erskine has recreated his grandfather’s secret and is planning to sell the Serum overseas to the highest bidder. Learning that Nextin is hosting a major gala for its stockholders in Madripoor, Steve heads there. Infiltrating the building, he dons a tuxedo and mingles with the partygoers, planning to dissuade Erskine from this course of action. His world is shaken when he sees Erskine’s wife: she is the exact double of a woman Steve romanced during the War—and who died a long time ago. Erskine is notified of a security breach and leaves the room with his wife. Steve, unable to access the private elevator, takes the stairs to the next floor—and is confronted by three burly guards, who have been enhanced with the Super-Soldier Serum. Steve is able to overcome two of them but the third dies of an aneurism—one of the dangers of the Serum. Steve confronts Erskine in his office and accuses him of seeking revenge for his father’s disappointment. Erskine reveals that Tyler Paxton went on to a heroic career as a code-breaker for Military Intelligence and did not resent Steve. Erskine is surprised when Steve accuses him of planning to sell the Serum to the highest bidder; he claims to have rediscovered the Serum as a possible cure for cancer. When told about the super-strong guards, Erskine is again startled and mentions the Head of Security—before a sniper’s bullet hits him in the back and he dies in Steve’s arms….