Lady Liberty |1| The Liberty Saga (An MCU Fanfiction)

Chapter Three: The Star Spangled Man With A Plan

Senator Brandt entered the SSR tech lab brandishing a file. "Colonel Phillips, my committee is demanding answers."

"Great," Phillips told him sarcastically. "Why don't we start with how a Nazi spy got a ride to my secret installation in your car?" He turned to Howard Stark, who was working on the submarine they'd pulled from the docks. "What have we got here?"

Howard grimaced. "Speaking modestly, I'm the best mechanical engineer in this country. But I don't know what's inside this thing or how it works. We're not even close to this technology."

"Then who is?" Brandt demanded.

Colonel Phillips scowled. "Hydra. I'm sure you've been reading our briefings."

"I'm on a number of committees, Colonel," Brandt reminded him pointedly.

It was at that point that Elke entered with Steve on her heels. "Hydra is the Nazi deep science division," she explained. "It's led by Johann Schmidt, but he's got much bigger ambitions."

"Hydra's practically a cult," Peggy added. "They worship Schmidt, they think he's invincible."

Senator Brandt turned to Colonel Phillips expectantly. "So what are you gonna do about it?"

"Spoke to the president this morning," Phillips told him. "As of today, the SSR is being retasked."

Elke blinked. "Colonel?"

"We are taking the fight to Hydra," Phillips announced. "Pack your bags, Agents. You too, Stark. You're flying to London tonight."

"Sir," Steve interjected, "if you're going after Schmidt, I want in."

Phillips sighed. "You're an experiment. You're going to Alamogordo."

"The serum worked," Steve protested.

"I asked for an army and all I got was you," Phillips told him bluntly. "You are not enough."

Senator Brandt stepped between the two men, his eyes lighting up with an idea. "With all due respect to the Colonel, I think we may be missing the point. I've seen you in action, Steve. More importantly, the country's seen it." He nudged his aide. "Paper."

The aide hurriedly showed them all the latest edition of The New York Examiner, where headlines declared "NAZIS IN NEW YORK—MYSTERY MAN SAVES CHILD". The photograph below the headline conveniently avoided any sight of Elke, making it out to have been just Steve and Kruger. It might have been annoying, but it did at least serve to protect her secret.

"The enlistment lines have been around the block since your picture hit the newsstands," Brandt continued, with eyes only for the hero of the hour. "You don't take a soldier, a symbol like that, and hide him in a lab. Son, do you want to serve your country on the most important battlefield of the war?"

"Sir, that's all I want," Steve assured him.

Senator Brandt smiled, shaking his head. "Well, then, congratulations. You just got promoted."

***

"I don't know if I can do this," Steve admitted later, looking down at his costume—the red, white and blue, suited and booted Captain America.

"Nothing to it," the Senator's aide assured him. "Sell off a few bonds, bonds buy bullets, bullets kill Nazis. Bing bang boom—you're an American hero."

Steve sighed. "It's just not how I pictured getting there." He pulled on his fabric helmet.

"The senator's got a lot of pull up on the hill," the aide explained. "You play ball with us, you'll be leading your own platoon in no time. Take the shield." As soon as Steve had the shield in his hand, the aide pushed him out onto the stage, and as the ladies began to sing and dance around him, he read the words on the back of his shield.