Captain America is frustrated with all the paperwork and monitor duty he has to take care of since becoming leader of the Avengers. He receives a call from Raymond Sikorsky of the Commission on Superhuman Affairs to tell him John Walker, the replacement Captain America, is still alive. Sikorsky has just learned that Walker’s assassination was faked by a lone member of the Commission. He requests Cap’s black uniform for Walker to wear as a member of the West Coast Avengers, where he can be rehabilitated as a hero with Cap’s teammates to watch over him. Cap reluctantly agrees. Cap then gets a call from his ex-girlfriend Bernie Rosenthal, asking for his help in locating her runaway sister Nancy. Though this is not in the Avengers’ usual line of work, Steve agrees….
Meanwhile, at Fort George Meade, Maryland, Battle Star tries fighting his way past the armored guardsmen to get inside. Overwhelmed by superior numbers, he is captured and brought before Valerie Cooper—who he was trying to see anyway. He tells her he doesn’t believe the reports of John Walker’s death and demands to know what really happened. She reveals that Walker is alive and working undercover, and warns Battle Star to stay out of the matter….
Cap’s preliminary investigation uncovers a long list of teenagers who have suddenly disappeared from the area, and his only lead is that one was spotted at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Cap ponders a way to go undercover as a teenager convincingly and begins to look for a magician. He settles on Sersi of the Eternals as the best bet and heads over to her apartment. The flirtatious immortal agrees to change him into a fifteen-year-old—with a limit of 48 hours—in exchange for a favor to be claimed later. To Steve’s surprise, he really regresses to the young age—and realizes that he no longer has the Super-Soldier Serum in him. He stashes his shield with Sersi and takes his leave….
Trying to track down John Walker’s whereabouts leads Battle Star to contact other heroes. The easiest one to find is Sam Wilson, alias the Falcon. He arrives at Sam’s office to find him under attack by Python and Coachwhip of the Serpent Society, who want his Falcon costume. Battle Star joins in giving Sam time enough to retrieve his costume from a secret closet and slip into it. Falcon clobbers Coachwhip and complains about the damage to his office…so Battle Star grabs Python and leaps out of a window with him. The baddie lands on his head and is knocked out. In the alley, Battle Star is attacked by a third member of the Society—Puff Adder. He is overwhelmed when the villain expands in size and lands on him pinning him to the ground. Now Falcon comes to his rescue and together they take down the huge enemy….
The now-teenaged Steve heads downtown where he is accosted by a pair of young women who take him for a runaway. They help him get a room at the YMCA; though they make him nervous, Steve goes along with their suggestions. Later they try to get him to try marijuana but he declines; so instead one of the girls puts him under a hypnotic spell…. He wakes up on a bus full of teens heading out to a rural area. At this point he realizes why they seemed so familiar: the young women are members of the Sisters of Sin, whom he met as adults, but they have now been restored to their rightful ages…and he is their prisoner….