SHIELD Helicarrier

The massive SHIELD mobile headquarters hovered over Avengers Island. In one of the war rooms was a meeting amongst five individuals, only two of whom were actual agents of SHIELD. Colonel Nick Fury, the Director of the international espionage agency, sat at the head of the table with an ever-present smoldering cigar clamped between his teeth. The other SHIELD agent was Sharon Carter, a stunning young woman who was as beautiful as she was intelligent and deadly.

The other three were members of the superhuman community. First was Josiah X, the latest man to bear the mantle of Captain America. He was dressed in the uniform, save for the red bandana he typically wore as a mask with the unbreakable, round shield resting against the side of his chair. Sam Wilson was clad in the red and white outfit he wore as the high-flying Falcon. The third hero was Tony Stark, although today he wore a simple yet expensive suit as opposed to the red and gold armor of Iron Man.

Above the table was a hologram of the man the media had dubbed the Iron Patriot. He was clad in a suit of armor that heavily resembled the Starktech of Iron Man and War Machine, except the color scheme was red, white and blue, complete with a star in place of the usual unibeam projector. He had appeared all over the country, stopping various crimes and even intervening in a protest that was about to turn violent.

“So who is this guy?” asked Fury. “Stark, we called you in because we thought you might be able to give us some help. Think this is some modified version of your tech he’s wearing?”

“I don’t think, I know it is,” said Tony.

“How can you be so sure before you’ve had a chance to examine it?” asked Sharon.

“I recognize my work when I see it, Agent Carter. And I know for a fact this is Starktech. And it has not been modified, at least not externally.”

“You mean you designed the Iron Patriot suit?” asked Josiah.

Tony nodded. “Although I never called it the Iron Patriot. Josiah, you won’t know this, but everyone else in the room will remember a period a few years back when the Super Soldier Serum caused Steve’s body to begin deteriorating. He was warned not to push himself too far, but he did anyway and ended up paralyzed.

“I implanted neural receptors in his body, rigged them to an exoskeleton that enabled him to move. But the serum had still weakened his heart and it was liable to give out at any time. The exoskeleton was just a stall until something better could be developed.”

“What do you mean?” asked Sam. “Steve never mentioned anything about that.”

“It’s because Steve didn’t know,” said Tony. “After I completed the exoskeleton, I began work on a suit of armor that would keep his heart beating and protect his body from the damage caused by the serum. But by the time I completed it, it was too late.”

“Too late?” asked Josiah.

“Moments before his death, the Red Skull teleported me with a med team into Avengers Mansion,” said Sharon. “We removed Steve from his exoskeleton and put him in suspended animation to give us the time we needed to perform a blood transfusion that saved his life and restored him to full strength.”

“The Red Skull? Why would he save Steve’s life?” asked Josiah.

“Long story,” said Sharon.

“Yeah, it’s startin’ to drag, so let’s get to the point,” said Fury.

“The point is that this Iron Patriot, whoever he is, is using a suit of armor developed specifically for Steve Rogers,” said Tony.

“How did he get his hands on it?” asked Sharon. “Shouldn’t you have had something like that under lock and key?”

“You have to remember what else was going on during that period,” said Tony. “It was right around the time Immortus began manipulating me and then it was followed almost immediately by the threat of Onslaught.”

“Two more very long stories,” said Sam, leaning towards Josiah.

“By the time the dust had settled, my company was in the hands of Fujikawa and I was struggling to get back on top. The armor went missing in the chaos, along with some other tech.”

“So we have to try and figure out who had access to the suit,” said Josiah. “See if we can get some leads from that period when it went missing.”

“It’s not that simple, I’m afraid,” said Tony. “First off, records from that time are pretty sketchy at best. But more than that, I think we have to look at the more obvious answer.”

“What’s that?” asked Fury.

“The armor was keyed to Steve’s genetic code,” said Tony.

“You know, at the rally, I thought there was something really familiar about that guy,” said Sam. “He even called me by name,”

“Is it possible that Steve’s alive?” asked Josiah.

“Wouldn’t be the first time he’s cheated death,” said Tony.

“But why would he do this?” asked Sharon. “Why wouldn’t he come to us first?”

“We have to get in touch with him,” said Sam. “Whatever it takes.”

“Not so fast,” said Fury. “If this is Steve, he’s probably got his reasons for puttin’ that armor on. We’ve got other things to focus on for now.”

Josiah nodded. “Nick’s right. Sam and I are currently working on a case that deserves our full attention. We can’t afford distractions, not when we’re so close.”

“But this is Steve we’re talkin’ about,” said Sam. “We can’t just—”

“I’ll look into this business,” said Fury. “SHIELD can investigate this issue without drawin’ the kinda attention the cape an’ cowl crowd gets.”

THE IRON PATRIOT

Part II

By Scott Redmond and Dino Pollard

The Commission on Superhuman Activities
Washington, DC

Henry Peter Gyrich found himself sitting in his office, working late. Which was usually par for the course with him. The sudden appearance of the Iron Patriot meant he had a lot of legwork to do and he’d been working almost nonstop. Preparing for the unscheduled meeting he had nonetheless anticipated.

He reached for the mug on his desk and sipped. The coffee had long since grown cold. Gyrich made a face and moved down the hall to the kitchen in order to pour himself a fresh cup. When he returned to his office, he found Captain America standing over his desk.

“Took you long enough to show.” Gyrich sat back down at his desk. “If you want coffee, you’ll have to brew a fresh pot. This is the last of it.”

“Caffeine doesn’t have any effect on me anyway.” Josiah leafed through the photographs that were scattered on Gyrich’s desk. Each of them from various Iron Patriot sightings. “I take it you’ve already started an investigation?”

“When unaccounted Starktech shows up, we look into it,” said Gyrich.

“Have you come up with anything?”

“I believe the official term is ‘jack shit.’”

Josiah glanced at Gyrich. “And unofficially?”

“Now that’s where things get interesting.” Gyrich shuffled through the documents and found an order. He passed it to Josiah. “This was an executive order issued by the White House after Rogers supposedly died from the Super Soldier Serum. Said that since Captain America was a creation of the Department of Defense, they gain possession of anything connected to him. Given the Maria Stark Foundation’s support of the Avengers, this order was passed directly to them.”

“And following the merger by Fujikawa, this order was still in effect.”

“Right. In fact, it was re-issued after the merger. The DoD knew Stark was hiding something. Except they thought it was just Rogers’ exoskeleton,” said Gyrich. “So Stark-Fujikawa turned over anything related to Captain America they had in their possession.”

“So the Defense Department is where the armor fell to next,” said Josiah. “Do we know what happened to it after that?”

“Haven’t been able to dig up anything on that,” said Gyrich. “A cursory investigation like I’ve done so far falls within my duties as Director of the CSA. But to go deeper might draw unwanted attention. Could compromise my efforts to get deeper into Control.”

“Leave it as is for now. Control’s more important than this,” said Josiah. “Besides, Nick’s going to look into it.”

“Fury?” Gyrich had a hint of suspicion in his tone.

“What?”

Gyrich sighed. “Listen, there are some rumors floating around certain circles. And it casts some questionability on Fury.”

“What sort of rumors?” asked Josiah.

“Jack Monroe is alive,” said Gyrich. “Even more, he’s leading a superhuman task force.”

“But that’s impossible, I watched Fury—” Josiah froze. Pieces of the puzzle began falling into place for him. “I have to go.”

“Bradley,” said Gyrich, referring to Josiah by his family name. “Watch your back out there.”

Josiah nodded and left through the open window, the same way he came in. “You too.”

New York

Sam waited alone at a table in a Russian restaurant. He sported a fake beard and a dreadlock wig. With the help of SHIELD, he had managed to get a forged criminal record explaining where Snap Wilson had been for the past several years. Ever since Sam put that life behind him. Now, it was that identity he needed in order to get in deeper with Yuri Korzhakov of the Russian mob.

He tapped his fingers impatiently on the surface of the table. One of Yuri’s men told him to wait here. That was over an hour ago. None of the wait staff even bothered to come by to refill his water (which he finished in the first twenty minutes) or hand him a menu.

Sam kept glancing towards the door to the backroom, but was careful not to stare. He knew Yuri had to be in there, but he couldn’t just waltz right in. Even worse, he was beginning to suspect that he was being set up. As he glanced away, something happened in the corner of his eye and he turned once more.

The door opened and Yuri walked towards him. He was alone. That tended to be a good sign, a show of trust. The short, round Russian sat across from Sam and rubbed his hands together.

“Thank you for coming, Mr. Snap.”

“Been waitin’ a long time, bro,” said Sam.

“We had some…things to confirm. And now they have been.”

“What sorta things?”

Yuri reached inside his jacket and dropped a photograph on the table. Sam nearly froze when he saw what the subject of the picture was—it was him. Dressed as the Falcon.

“You are American superhero, yes?” Yuri scowled. “We have friends who deal with this.”

“That doesn’t sound good…” muttered Sam.

His cover was blown but before he could formulate a plan of action, the wall of the restaurant burst in. Standing there was a man in a green suit of armor. The Titanium Man. Once sanctioned by the Russian government, although lately Boris Bullski had become a mercenary for hire. And the Russian mob paid well.

Sam shed his disguise and his street clothes, revealing the red and white suit of the Falcon beneath. His suit’s harness extended the hard-light wings, wrapping them around him as the Titanium Man opened fire. The wings defended the Falcon from the Titanium Man’s concussive force beams.

The Titanium Man charged forward, throwing a massive fist downward. The Falcon sprung, firing the hidden talon from his gauntlet and using the jump-line to propel him over the Titanium Man and into the street. He needed to get out in the open, where he’d have more maneuverability.

The Falcon’s harness activated its magnetic propulsion and launched him into flight. The Titanium Man was close behind, however, his armor blasting him into the sky. The Falcon extended his empathic connection with his partner, Redwing. The bird flew overhead and the Falcon could see through Redwing’s eyes, watching to keep tabs on his opponent. When the Titanium man fired, Falcon swerved to the side to avoid the blasts.

He curved up, rising higher. The Titanium Man did the same, but the Falcon had a greatest ease of movement. He dove once more, shooting past the Titanium Man. His best bet was to try and outmaneuver his armored opponent. “C’mon, that the best you can do? Guess the Russians don’t make armored mercs like they used to.”

“I will show you how superior our technology is!” shouted the Titanium Man.

The Falcon zipped over the streets, still flying at some height. Although he might be able to get the Titanium Man into a more compromising position if he flew closer to the ground, he didn’t want to risk any of those energy blasts striking the traffic below. Or even worse, risk the Titanium Man himself crashing into the street. Falcon tilted to the side as he flew through a narrow alley. The Titanium Man couldn’t follow, but his HUD’s GPS was able to keep the Falcon marked.

Instead of trying to follow the Falcon, the Titanium Man flew over the alley, planning to head off his prey. What happened instead, however, was a flurry of pigeons flying at him. The Titanium Man swatted the birds away, but they continued to flutter around him, causing a distraction.

The pigeons suddenly departed and the Falcon shot from the alley, his arms thrust forward. The hard light shape of his wings changed, now wrapped around his arms and with sharp talons at the end, talons that enabled him to slash at the Titanium Man’s outer shell.

The Falcon moved on the offensive, maneuvering about his foe, going for surgical strikes and getting away before the Titanium Man could counter. The Russian activated a command in his armor and when Sam struck again, an electric shock went through his body.

Sam fell to the rooftop below and the Titanium Man hovered over him, prepared to deliver the killing blow. Just as he was about to, a powerful repulsor blast slammed into his helmet. The Titanium Man looked up and saw another man in a suit of armor. This one with a very patriotic color scheme.

The star on the Iron Patriot’s chest began to crackle with energy and he fired a powerful unibeam from it. The force knocked the Titanium Man off the roof. Bullski righted himself with his thrusters.

“You are not Stark,” said the Titanium Man.

“Good guess,” said the Iron Patriot. He held up his arms and strafed with his repulsor blasts. The Titanium Man was unprepared for the sudden assault and the Iron Patriot rocketed into him at full-force.

The twin armored men exchanged a flurry of blows, but where the Titanium Man had the edge in strength, the Iron Patriot had it in speed, which allowed him to hit twice as much. Unleashing another unibeam, the Iron Patriot separated himself from the Titanium Man.

Bullski’s suit ran diagnostics. Now wasn’t the time to continue this. “We are not finished!” The Titanium Man rocketed towards the clouds, and the Iron Patriot lowered himself to the rooftop, landing by the Falcon’s side.

“Easy there,” he said, gently cradling the Falcon’s body. Sam groaned as he forced himself to sit up.

“Good thing you were in the neighborhood,” said the Falcon.

“Not quite,” said the Iron Patriot. “I heard Snap Wilson was back in town and thought you could use some back-up.”

“How do you know about that?” asked the Falcon.

The Iron Patriot reached for his helmet. The machinery of his armor clicked and whirred as the locks were disengaged. He removed the helm and held it between his hands. The blond-haired, blue-eyed face that smiled down at him was one Sam Wilson never expected to see again.

“Come on, Sam. Do you really mean to tell me you don’t recognize your old partner?” asked Steve Rogers.