13511/Conspiracies and Black Widows

Conspiracies and Black Widows
Date of Scene:	05 December 2022
Location:	Atlantic Ocean Coastline
Synopsis:	Steve passes along to Natasha the warning about a conspiracy in government that Superman received from Pete Ross.
Cast of Characters:	Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff

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Steve Rogers has posed:
It had seemed a chance encounter at first, nothing unusual about Natasha bumping into Steve Rogers in the hallways of Avenger's Mansion. The super soldier carrying his coffee mug that he often has with him as he is heading back in the direction of his room.

"Natasha, are you free this afternoon for an hour or two?" he had asked. Upon getting an affirmative enough answer, Steve had handed her a folded note, his true blue eyes taking on a serious expression, and then he'd continued down the hallway without saying anything more.

The note had asked Natasha to meet him at the Delago Marina at a given time. And to not speak of it to anyone else.

Now it's the accounted time. Steve is standing out on the end of a pier, the slips nearby all empty, affording a bit of privacy and the ability to see anyone in the vicinity. He's wearing a leather jacket and jeans and boots. Arms crossed, he's looking out over the water with a troubled expression.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
One didn't turn down a request to meet from Captain America. The note threw her for a bit of a loop (by Natasha standards, at least) before she decided it was just one of the quirks of the man that hadn't changed along with society. Taking the note from him had lead to her heading over there a short time later, having taken a bike along. One that was a bit older, junkier, and not one of the modified combat models.

She was wearing something fit for the weather; a cheaper leather jacket, set of jeans, and helmet. This was her 'blend in' outfit. Just seeming normal.

She leaves off her bike, and then heads out along to the pier, taking a few moments to glance about and enjoy the view.. While also doing her normal sweeping for any sorts of threats. She doesn't bother to ask any questions while she waits for him to explain things.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve turns as he hears Natasha coming along the pier. "If you have anything recording or transmitting, now's the time to turn it off," he tells her, that expression of his serious still.

After she's had a chance to take care of any such thing, he says, "There's a situation that I'd like to get your help with. Though you're probably not going to be any happier to hear about it than I was," Steve starts.

He lets out a quiet sigh and then starts into it. "Superman approached me. Took me away from the mansion to talk, as he didn't even want JARVIS to hear the conversation," Steve says, letting that sink in as to the level of secrecy involved so far.

"He was approached with information from the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Pete Ross, about happenings in the Department of Defense," Steve tells Natasha. "He's been seeing things there that worried him. Soviet-era projects pulled out mothballs. Money going to space contractors, money being moved around in secret. The same kind of techniques that HYDRA had used before they were caught onto and purged from the government," he tells her.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
It doesn't take Natasha long to shut off any recording devices that she has - of which there are atually a few. There's a tap as she also turns off her Avengers comm and sets it to encrypted and the 'scramble' mode that shuts off the beacon and tracker on it, just to err on the side of paranoia as she goes through a quick tap-tap-tap of a lockdown sequence on it.

She glances over at Captain America and listens thoughtfully to him. Running it through her mind, listening and assessing. As he speaks there's a rare show of emotion on her face. What passes quickly for rage before it's smoothed over and flattened back to her normal state of passivity.

"Likely. Hydra has too many assetes, we could never be sure of our ability to root all of them out. Or completely stop thier ability to establish new ones." Her state of probable confirmation on the matter probably doesn't help things but shows she agrees with the potential.

Steve Rogers has posed:
The cold December wind blows across the harbor, stirring their hair and trying to find its way to exposed skin for that extra little bit of chill. "I figure if there is anyone that this is up their alley, it would be you. I considered whether to talk to Nick. But I felt more comfortable involving you first and letting you get a read on the situation before we start opening up the circle," Steve tells Natasha.

He sighs and looks back out at the water. "So according to Under Secretary Ross, there are six people with high enough authority for what he's seen going on. Himself. His boss Secretary of Defense Pierce. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Polster. Vice Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Banker. Under Secretary of Defence for Intelligence and Security Wayne-Brooks. And Vice President Weathers and President Luthor."

Steve crosses his arms, listening for a moment as the water laps against the poles of the pier. "I'm hoping you'll have ideas on how to investigate this best. Also, we might want to try to make sure there's some protection on Pete Ross in case they end up on to him."

He holds up a thumb drive. "This has info on the projects and funding and such that drew his attention," Steve says, offering it over.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would nod over at Steve thoughtfully and consider. "I'm sure Fury has his own suspicions.." Or his own parallel investigation. "But yes, you're right to look into it separately before involving him." Natasha's ponderings continue on. "If he's aware of any he's likely keeping them monitored rather than disrupting them." That would be his priority as head of SHIELD. See how far things went, look at the entire web to try and break it. Even if that meant letting things go on and cause extensive damage. Not acting until he could be sure to sweep it all up.

"I have some thoughts. You'll want an analyst to sweep it over. If you trust any. You'll need to track the money flow and the shell companies." SOmeone good that wouldn't do anything to risk some notice up the ladder.

Natasha knew a few. But none she trusted -quite- this much. "For now I'd suggest not disrupting any of it beyond damage control when their operations go active." SHe agreed with Fury's probable reaction to it. If they got proactive then they risked Hydra going to ground again.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve seems to consider this for a moment. "I'll have to think about if there's anyone with those capabilities that I'd trust," he says. "Also, I don't know for sure this is Hydra. Though it sounds like the methods are similar to what they used. Not that I would count them out," he says, shaking his head and he might be heard to mumble something about 'two heads growing to replace it'.

"Give it some thought and let me know. Also if you have suggestions on anything we can do actively to help protect Pete Ross without getting on the radar of the anyone involved, or someone like the Secret Service who could unknowingly report up to someone involved."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would nod over at Steve, "It matches what Hydra's methodology is, yes. And any number of otehr organizations. It's effective and copied extensively." Infiltration, sabotage, disruption.. Albeit on a far grander scale than most intelligence agencies could ever dream of.

"We can track Soviet era stashes. A large number of them are known and can be traced. It's a followup level of investigation to go on. However, it likely entails physical inspection of the caches."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers glances around, eyes sweeping about to make sure no one seems to be observing their conversation. "Good. And if I can help with some of that let me know. I'm afraid I'm not the best at walking the halls of power in the government. But if you have a specific thing I can look into I'm definitely game. And I'll think of who else we might trust to bring in on it," he says.

A car drives through the distant parking lot of the marina, but just pulls into a parking space, and a woman and two kids climb out and head over to a houseboat. "Well, that was all I had, best probably to keep this short. If you have anything and need to meet, just let me know."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would nod at Steve, "I'll do what I can. I'd suggest you talk to Bucky. He'll be effective at tracking down any loose ends and has the freedom to get into and out of Russia without as much notice as myself for an extended period of time." She was still public, if she were to go into the field for an extended period, it might get some level of attention. She would consider..

"We want to isolate and track things. If we can preemptively determine some of their future targets or objectives, we can monitor them. We sweep for tech caches, follow thier funding trail, and try and isolated corrupted personnel."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve's expression turns pensive. "Hate to draw him into something like this. The guy deserves to be able to stay away from... well," he says with a sigh. "Yes, will give it some thought when it's time. For now, let's keep it close to the vest and find out what we can."

He glances around and says, "I'll go ahead and head back then. Let me know if you make any progress, Nat. Glad to have you having my back on this," he tells her with a smile, before heading down the dock.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would nod< "Very well, I'll defer toy our judgement. But I'd advise you to think of those not affiliated with SHIELD or other intelligence agencies that owe you favors that can vanish for a few months if that's what need be to start to investigate."

She had a few she knew could do it.. She just didn't trust them.