Inside a SHIELD analytical room, filled with monitors of partially silhouetted people. Fury stands in the middle, frowning. They make up the World Security Council.
Member 1: This is out of line, Director. You're dealing with forces you can't control.
Fury: You ever been in a war, Councilman? In a firefight? Did you feel an overabundance of control?
Member 1: You saying that this Asgard has declared war on our planet?
Fury: Not Asgard, Loki.
Member 2: He can't be working alone. What about the other one? His brother.
Fury: Our intelligence says, Thor is not a hostile. But he's worlds away, we can't depend on him to help. It's up to us.
Member 1: Which is why you should be focusing on phase 2, it was designed for exactly...
Fury: PHASE 2 isn't ready, our enemy is. We need a response team.
Member 1: The Avengers Initiative was shut down.
Fury: This isn't about The Avengers.
Member 1: We're running the world's greatest covert security network and you're gonna leave the fate of human race to a handful of freaks.
Fury: I'm not leaving anything to anyone. We need a response team. These people maybe isolated, unbalanced even, but I believe with the right push they can be exactly what we need.
Member 2: You believe?
Member 1: War isn't won by sentiment, Director.
Fury: No, it's won by soldiers.
A Brooklyn gym at night. Occupied by one man, beating a punching bag in the gym lights, alone in the floor, lost in the fight. The gym is old, as old as the man inside, Captain America, or Steve Rogers. He beats the bag harder, like physically hurting it will repress the memories.
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Hydra base, Captain America is running through a forest, dodging mortar shells, gunfire and Tesseract energy blasts.
Steve: There's not enough time! I gotta put her in the water!
In the present, Steve's punches become harder and more violent.
In the flashback, Steve places the compass he has, featuring a picture of Peggy Carter, on the dash as the plane plummets towards the ice.
Peggy: You won't be alone.
Red Skull picked up the Tesseract, and vanishes.
Scientist: Oh my god!
Steve is lying on a table, half frozen, and still partially trapped in a slab of ice. Two SHIELD scientists run equipment over him, checking for his vitals. Something flickers...
