Captain America

Captain America's History

Following Captain America's assassination, Barnes resolved to kill the two men he held responsible: the Red Skull and current S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Tony Stark. He acquired Cap's indestructible shield after defeating Black Widow, his former lover and student, in combat when she was assigned to move it to another location. Barnes then tracked Lukin and eventually confronted him only to discover his quarry was not a lead, but the Red Skull himself. Eventually captured by the Skull's forces, he resisted brainwashing by Dr. Faustus and was rescued by Falcon with the help of Sharon Carter, who was pretending to still be under Faustus' control. Barnes was then placed into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, but escaped and confronted Stark. He disabled his armor and fought him to a standstill only to learn his mentor's final requests of Stark: to rescue Barnes from his descent into violence and insanity, and to pass the Captain America identity to a successor. Stark felt the best way to honor both his friend's requests was for Barnes to become Captain America. Barnes agreed on the provision that his mind be cleansed of any remaining mental implants, and that he would answer to no one, not even Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D.Now residing in Steve Rogers S.H.I.E.L.D. safe house, he outfitted himself with an alternate version of Cap's costume built by Tony Stark and, carrying his indestructible shield along with other weapons, Barnes quickly reacted against the efforts by the Red Skull and his accomplices to spread panic. Although effective in battle, he had yet to win the support or respect of either the US government or the general public. A number of civilians and costumed adventurers also disapproved of his current wardrobe; especially Clint Barton. Despite the negative attention Barnes received, he continued to fight terrorism as Captain America and was often aided by Falcon, despite his initial disapproval of him. Together the two fought an A.I.M. cell headed by Arnim Zola. The Red Skull did not remain quiet for long. He responded to Barnes' meddling by sending the Grand Director, whose mind had been molded by Doctor Faustus to believe he was Steve Rogers and Captain America after him; James barely survived the confrontation, and was forced by Falcon to retreat. The two investigated the Grand Director's next course of actions after he escaped from the Skull's grasp and was becoming mentally unstable; most of it was hiding and running from detection by A.I.M. and the Red Skull. James was finally recognized by the United States government and the public as a hero after foiling an assassination attempt on both Republican and Democratic candidates for political debates by Sin, daughter of the Red Skull. He also revamped his relationship with the Black Widow, one of his few remaining friends who is consistently faithful to him. It was not long before he became involved in major conflicts such as an Invasion by extraterrestrial Skrulls along many other superheroes in New York. Wanting to continue to living his predecessor's legacy, James invited Clint Barton and the New Avengers to his safe-house, offering it as their base of operations as well as his own allegiance to their cause.And, at the end of a battle that involved the Avengers, the New Avengers and the Invaders, Toro, the former Invader, was revived by James: the Cosmic Cube satisfied his wish to have his friend alive once again.

Although he was reformed, there were still a few officials from both America and other foreign nations who had not all forgotten his past as the Winter Soldier. Soon, he had to face one of the crimes committed as the Winter Soldier, when he had tried to kill chinese scentist Zhang Chin in 1968, after the Invaders had already saved him from Japanese in 1942. This one wanted to use the Original Human Torch DNA as a virus to spread worldwide, but Bucky and Namor defeated the The Man with No Face and prevented his project. The Human Torch was buried honourably.