Steve didn't look disappointed, he only said, "It's probably a one-time affair, they wouldn't have let their guard down."
Peter wrote the phone number on a piece of paper, Steve entered the phone booth to dial, after a string of busy signals, Steve heard a familiar voice, a voice he had not heard in a while.
"Hello, how are you..."
Peter saw Steve freeze in the phone booth, and after a couple of seconds, he hung up the call. Peter asked, "What happened, did you reach them?"
Steve shook his head stiffly and said, "Indeed, it's a one-time number, I wasn't able to get through."
Peter looked somewhat disappointed, but not too dejected, he said: "It's okay. This at least proves that the system works. As long as we keep waiting, we will surely find essential clues."
Steve nodded. After returning to Avengers Base, he said to Peter: "You go back to class first, it's about lunch time, isn't it?"
Peter noticed that something was off about Steve, he wanted to stay but was rejected by Steve. After Peter left, Steve swiftly grabbed his coat, picked up his Shield and went to the clinic located in Hell's Kitchen.
Walking up the stairs, Steve held tightly on to the handle of the Shield, seemingly drawing comfort from it. As the door swung open, the man in the dark suit was still sitting behind his desk, looking like he'd been waiting for a long time.
After Steve walked in, he stared at him and said: "You are indeed.... "
"Who are you referring to? " Schiller interrupted his conclusion.
"You, Schiller Rodriguez."
"But I'm not him, remember? I'm his other personality."
"You are Hydra, or, at least, you're related to them..."
Schiller also stood up, jabbing a pen on the table and saying: "You don't have to sound so speculative, I am Hydra, and I have a code name that you should be very familiar with..."
Steve stared at him hard, but Schiller just lowered his head, smiled and said: "You called me by that name this morning, didn't you forget?"
"... 'Doctor,' you are 'The Doctor.' "
"It's me, but not him."
"Why on earth would you..." Steve exhaled, his fists hammered angrily against the wall.
"It seems that your era indeed lacks this kind of knowledge, I have already told you, I'm not him, we are two different personalities."
As Schiller spoke, he bent down to open his drawer, took out a file, and handed it to Steve. Steve didn't accept it, he just stared at him. Schiller pointed at the file and said: "It's about Bucky."
Steve's Adam's apple bobbed, in the end, he reached out and picked up the file. As he opened the first page, it read "Howard Stark car accident investigation report".
The further he read, the graver his expression became. In the end, Steve looked incredulous. Schiller sat back in his chair nonchalantly and said: "I know you don't believe, or rather don't want to believe, that your best friend killed your other friend."
"But that is the truth. Bucky Barnes, a member of Hydra's Winter program, a successful Winter Soldier, orchestrated a car accident to kill Howard Stark."
"Enough!" Steve slammed the files on the table and said: "You vile Hydra, you want to fabricate this file to sway me, I won't let you succeed! "
"Is that so? Let's hear from our other guest." Schiller looked down at his wristwatch and said: "He should be arriving soon."
No sooner had he finished speaking, Stark strode into the clinic office in his battlesuit, his face serious, looking at Schiller he said, "Why would you be the one to answer the phone? Schiller, tell me..."
"Why would the assassin's contact number be answered by you?"
"Isn't it an obvious fact? I suppose you did more than just get my number, you should also know about my code name and the things I've done, you're more intelligent than him, I don't need to explain it all over again."
Schiller sat calmly in his chair, he looked at Stark and said: "Our other friend seems to have questions for you, concerning your father."
Even though he didn't want his attention diverted, Stark couldn't help turning to look at the stupefied Steve. Steve shook his head and said, "Nothing, it's just a conspiracy, it must be."
Stark looked at his face, walked over, picked up the file in front of Steve, after flipping to the first page, he put it down, and also slammed the file on the desk.
Seeing his action, Steve's body went rigid, he slowly turned his head to look at Stark, saying: "This is his fabrication, isn't it? It's Hydra's conspiracy..."
Stark was silent for a long time, he said: "Actually, you should know better than I do, it is the truth."
"If a killer created by that so-called Winter Soldier program is tasked to kill important figures, Howard would be the first target."
Steve's Adam's apple began to tremble violently, he shook his head as he backed away, saying, "No, it's not... He isn't..."