The Red Room was a Soviet brainwashing and training initiative that took and turned young girls into deadly assassins. After Steve Rogers' apparent death in 1953, he was captured by the Red Room and brainwashed into being one of their assassins.
History[]
What If...?[]
"What If... Captain Carter Fought the HYDRA Stomper?"[]
After Steve Rogers was discovered to be still alive, Nick Fury and Natasha Romanoff admitted that there had been rumors that Steve was captured by the Red Room after his apparent death in 1953 and brainwashed into being one of their assassins. Under the Red Room's control, Steve as the HYDRA Stomper was responsible for some of the world's worst acts of terror that had cost the lives of dozens of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, including friends of Fury.
Steve was sent to assassinate Secretary of State Bucky Barnes, but he was foiled and captured by Peggy and Natasha. Taking him to a remote Scottish lighthouse, the two women discovered that the Red Room had used biotech in the HYDRA Stomper to keep Steve alive and unaging, but he would die if they tried to remove him from the armor. Without the time to enlist the help of Tony Stark or Bruce Banner, Peggy decided to go to the Red Room instead, much to Natasha's shock, believing that if there was a cure, they would have it. Natasha revealed that, before joining S.H.I.E.L.D., she had spent five days in a Hungarian sewer tracking down and killing the head of the Red Room. Having stabbed the man in the carotid artery with a corkscrew, Natasha was sure that he was dead. However, at the end of the day it meant nothing: the Red Room survived because its location was a secret and no one could find it, not even S.H.I.E.L.D. Having awoken, Steve offered to take them there, happily greeting Peggy and recalling that he still owed her a date. However, Natasha remained suspicious of Steve.
Steve led the two women to a Sokovian military base that was a training camp for KGB spies until it was abandoned in the 1990s at which time the Red Room moved in. Natasha noted that it had been built by the KGB to look like an American town straight out of a John Mellencamp song which Peggy recognized, having been introduced to "dad rock" by Clint. The town and the animatronic residents weirded Peggy out and Steve revealed that he'd signaled the Red Room, claiming mechanical issues to get them to send a transport. Natasha left to give Peggy and Steve time alone together and Steve explained that he didn't remember much as the suit had been in control whenever he was awake, leaving Steve to watch the world as if through fogged glass, while Peggy recalled stepping through a door in the past and arriving in the future in the next breath. The two reminisced about how different the future was and while Steve was happy about Bucky settling down with a family, he had never seen much point in that kind of a life unless it was with Peggy. Steve had spent years going after HYDRA which had allowed him to pretend that Peggy wasn't gone as long as he was on a mission.
As Peggy and Steve were about to kiss, Peggy was shocked with a Widow Bite by one of the animatronic residents who were all revealed to be armed. Joined by Natasha, the two fought off an army of robots before the HYDRA Stomper suddenly powered down. Peggy rushed to help Steve and Natasha was stunned while Peggy was finally taken down just before she could reach Steve. The robot army stood down as the Red Room appeared in the sky and Melina Vostokoff arrived with several Widows, including Ingrid and Agnesa.
Melina reactivated the HYDRA Stomper and Steve turned his guns on the two women, reporting that his mission was accomplished. Melina claimed that Steve was happier this way: no regret and no loss, just Melina and his mission. Steve's true mission was never to get Bucky, but rather to get Peggy and he had always still been under the Red Room's control. Melina had needed to lure Peggy away from S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers, and she expressed admiration for Peggy, calling her the epitome of womanhood and science and admitting that she didn't know whether to kiss, kill, or dissect her or possibly all three. Even in Russia, little girls grew up dreaming of becoming Captain Carter and all of the Widows had seen Peggy's movie, something that she didn't know existed.
Refusing to surrender, Peggy engaged in battle with Steve while Natasha fought against Melina and the Widows, much to Melina's delight. Battling through the town, Peggy attempted to remind Steve of who he was and to break his brainwashing while Melina shouted instructions to the Widows as they fought Natasha. However, Natasha eventually managed to subdue the Widows with a Widow Bite, enraging Melina who attacked her directly. Overpowering and strangling Natasha, Melina declared that she was proud of her and the very successful killing machine that Natasha had become, but Natasha had disappointed her by becoming an Avenger. Knocking Steve's faceplate open, Peggy dropped her shield and refused to continue fighting, declaring that she was tired of fighting, and she wanted to be with Steve, even if this was the end. Peggy's words get through to Steve who disengaged his attack and looked up at the Red Room. Realizing Steve's intention, Peggy pleaded with him not to do it as she couldn't lose him again, but with one last look at his love, Steve launched into the air. Seeing this, Natasha headbutted Melina and attached her via a grappling hook to the HYDRA Stomper armor, pulling Melina into the air by her foot. Flying into the Red Room as Peggy and Natasha fled, Steve opened fire, sending the Red Room crashing onto the military base below, destroying them both in a massive explosion.
Knowing that Steve had survived, Peggy was determined to find him and save Steve from what the Red Room had done to him.