[Just as he thought.... He bites his lip, then lets out a small breath before forcing himself to remember.]
After... [His voice croaked a moment, before he clears it.] After what happened, we were given our final mission. One to take down the Red Skull, and put an end to Hydra once and for all. We infiltrated his base, discovered their secret weapon... A device from another world called the Tesseract. Skull was going to use it to rule the world. First he wanted to level New York with a Hydra Airship...
I boarded the plane and fought him. Managed to take him down. But... [Sighs.] The ship was still headed for the city. There wasn't enough time to... [Pauses, longer now, a blank look crossing over his face.] I didn't have a choice. I had to put her in the water.
[A rueful smile and an another sigh.] 70 years later, that's where they found me. I was... frozen in ice. Somehow, it kept me alive.