A Little Secret of the City of Immortals

"Damn CIA!" Victoria Hand spat, fully expressing her contempt for her old rivals.

The staff in the carrier's command center were all wanted Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Victoria's trusted subordinates, and they were accustomed to their superior's attitude. Before S.H.I.E.L.D. fell, one of Victoria Hand's many responsibilities had been preventing external infiltration—Hydra was internal infiltration, and no one could blame her for that. The CIA was the department that had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. most deeply; traces of this Intelligence Department could even be found in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, which trained new talent. Agent Hand dealt with the CIA most often while carrying out this work, but to avoid openly breaking with the US Government, all she could do then was drag CIA agents out of S.H.I.E.L.D. facilities and wait for Langley headquarters to collect them, rather than cleanly firing a "rapidly delivered loyalty pill" through a spy's skull.

Before S.H.I.E.L.D. fell, the last person she had suspected was actually Sharon Carter, Peggy Carter's niece. But because of Peggy Carter's political influence, she had never voiced that suspicion publicly. The matter had remained buried in her heart, but she had never had a chance to verify it because of her assignments.

"Are you sure?"

"It's a minor covert mission. If possible, please look for information on this. The Sisterhood attacked Langley Air Force Base last time, rather than the headquarters beside the Lincoln Memorial, so this is our first opportunity to access the CIA's classified files." Victoria Hand spoke in the detached tone she often used while commanding operations. "I remember that you carried out missions to steal classified CIA documents when you were still in the Red Room, didn't you?"

Victoria caught sight of her staff whispering among themselves, occasionally lowering their voices to keep their laughter from reaching her. She did