History[]
Early Years[]
The son of two drug addicts, whom he later killed with his own two hands, Bruck Rumlow (born June 1974, deceased 2024) was neglected by his parents for most of his life. Much of the time they didn't even notice him, due to being high, and when they did it was only because he himself initiated contact, which often resulted in beatings from his father. His mother doing nothing to aide him. Faced with this horrible home life when he was old enough Bruck started spending most of his time on the streets, doing whatever he could to survive. Whether it be stealing, lying, cheating, etc. He didn't care so long as what he did benefited him. Bruck also enjoyed controlling others through fear and intimidation. Which is in part what led him to found his own gang in his neighborhood on New York's Lower East Side, named the Savage Crims. A force Bruck used to do most of his bidding. Save for tasks he himself enjoyed handling personally. All of this only fueled his latent psychopathic tendencies. But those same traits and tendencies Bruck displayed is what made him a prime candidate for HYDRA to induct into their organization. That's why when Bruck went on the run at fifteen after brutally raping and murdering a local girl, along with her two brothers when they tried to stop him, the age-old organization scooped him up and offered him a chance to join them. A chance Rumlow didn't hesitate to take.
Becoming Crossbones[]
After Bruck made this decision he quickly became loyal to the ideals of HYDRA and a loyal follower of their mission. He also learned how to curb and control his psychopathic urges. That combined with his high natural ability for combat made Bruck one of the perfect candidates to insert within S.H.I.E.L.D., which a large part of Hydra had been masquerading as for decades. So with that his fellow Hydra members got him into the organization. Where he then rose through the ranks, becoming a team leader within S.H.I.E.L.D.'s special forces/counter-terrorism unit known as Alpha Team. That is until Spring 2014 when Hydra's existence within S.H.I.E.L.D became known to those loyal to the real organization. Once this occurred Rumlow and his fellow Hydra operatives inside the organization began showing their true colors, and prepared to re-announce their existence to the world by hijacking a secret S.H.I.E.L.D project known as Insight. Unfortunately for Bruck and his allies things did not go as planned, and their actions were thwarted by a small but determined team led by Captain America.
In the aftermath of these events Bruck found himself alive but terribly wounded, having gained horrific facial and bodily scars. Which he blamed Captain America and his allies for, leading to a burning desire for revenge. As such it was why once Bruck fully recovered he volunteered to be a candidate to undergo an experimental procedure conceived by Hydra's supreme and revived leader Red Skull and another high-ranking member the scientist Arnim Zola, which was designed to give individuals who survived it abilities comparable to those of a super-soldier like Captain America. Though none of the volunteers so far had, until Bruck. Who then decided take on the codename of Crossbones. To let his enemies know he was death in the flesh.