The more Victoria Hand listened, the worse her expression became.
Steve Rogers and his two friends had already taken a light transport plane back to the capital. Their conversation inside the Armored Personnel Carrier had all been recorded by the combat logging device and sent back by Defense Intelligence Agency agents. The intelligence had reached the capital even before they did. Victoria Hand found it hard to believe. In her mind, Steve Rogers could not possibly have been unaware that he was under surveillance, or that every word and action of his would be recorded. Yet he had still openly planned to betray the Emperor inside the vehicle.
Her first instinct was to believe this was deliberately planted false intelligence, a ploy specifically meant to divert the Intelligence Department's attention. There had to be some even more terrifying conspiracy that Steve Rogers was trying to conceal. Still, she stopped herself from pursuing that line of thought. The greatest taboo in intelligence work was starting with preconceived conclusions; otherwise, every sign and piece of evidence would become proof. Even so, she issued an order to begin surveillance and wiretapping on Black Widow Natasha Romanoff.
Victoria Hand knew that if anyone would offer Steve Rogers a helping hand, it could only be Black Widow Natasha Romanoff. Victoria Hand had never trusted her, nor had she trusted the Avengers. Unlike Phil Coulson, she was not a Captain America admirer. She knew that those Avengers had spent less time in school than any outstanding science or engineering student, yet they were still capable of influencing the course of countless real-world events. It was an extremely irresponsible way to act. But she knew Natasha Romanoff was an exception. Besides possessing considerable scientific knowledge, she was highly rational and had strong intelligence-gathering abilities. If Steve Rogers