After the battle.
Back at the Quinjet they sit and take stock, reload their weapons and patch their wounds.
Wanda grins as she tells Nat "And I caught the grenade in mid-air and held it, BOOM! All while keeping my shield up!"
Natasha grins "Well done! I think it's time we moved your training up a level… I've an idea I think you'll like"
Rhodey is out of the Warmachine armour, reloading the backpack ammo hoppers. "I tell you, those Centipede guys are getting faster and stronger each time, that slab shield they were using weighed a lot. Doesn't stop cluster munitions fired over the top though" he chuckles.
The Communications centre on-board is making angry pinging noises as messages flood in. Steve watches them in dismay as they fill the screen. "Seems the fact we just popped up out of nowhere has a lot of officials quite irate. Demands for authorisations, lots of government, police and military chain of command stuff. And lots of people complaining who's going to pay for all this"
Sam grins "Well, we did just leave them a pile of HYDRA soldiers to hold while the World Council sorts jurisdiction and due process and stuff."
"That's only half of it. The rest seems to be invitations to formal meetings, political fund raisers, dinners, functions; someone even wants to give us a medal.
Nat shouts over "All that we have to just drop in the trash, we'll be tied up for days here with paperwork and pleasantries, plus it sets a dangerous precedent. It's politics; we can't play favourites so we'd have to do it when we visit every country. Forward the official stuff to the office, we have people to sort the paperwork"
"Efficient as ever, we don't have time for paperwork"
"But I think we do have time for a little downtime. Rhodey, where's your café from here?"
"You want to go get coffee and cake after a fire-fight?"
"sure, while we refuel. Plus I want to see what sort of response times we're looking at for social calls"
Nat raises an eyebrow. "Sure you want to risk it?"
The Café is a long narrow glass fronted shop filled with booths and tables, tucked away down a side street in a busy area of Tokyo. As they get out of the truck Natasha looks at her mobile and says "Mark", setting a timer running. Vision has his civilian clothes on and human colour skin, but still is head and shoulders taller than everyone. He looks around with curiosity and childish delight at the kaleidoscope of colours and signs.
"It's all so… busy."
Rhodey leads them in, shaking his head is disbelief. "can't believe we're doing this"
Wanda walks past, looking round "relax, it'll be fun"
"crazy idea if you ask me." Looking over at the counter at the back he shouts "Sumimasen! Six Matcha Choco and Six Americanos please!"
They all crowd into a small booth, set out like a normal café but with a clear plastic trough of sawdust down the middle of the table.
A smiling waitress comes over and greets them "thank you for your order. Who would you like to play with today?"
Looking embarrassed Rhodey says "just two new friends please; it's my friends first time"
"of course!" She comes back holding two small soft cloth bundles and sets them in the trough "it's their feeding time soon so they should be awake and friendly"
They all watch in amazement as a small pointed nose pokes from one bundle and snuffles.
"How we doing?"
Nat glances up "already got two people outside pointing and looking in. Local police have called us in, traffic cop on the intersection as well." Her mobile pings "Google alert so we've been posted on the Otaku boards"
Steve gently probes the cloth bundle and lets the little hedgehog sniff his finger "What does that mean?"
"The Internet knows we're here"
"A chilling prospect" says the Vision as the cakes and coffees arrive.
"Domo Arigato" Steve says stiffly to the waitress who flushes and hurries away
Vision looks curiously at his little green and brown layered confection with whipped cream on top "So, how does one go about eating?"
"Perhaps we should do some tests at home first?" says Wanda, stealing his cake.
Nat rubs her foot on Steve's leg under the table "So who taught you Japanese?"
He smiles "one of the guys" then looks wistful and sad for a moment.
Nat winces internally, his pronunciation had been overly stiff and formal but spot on so someone he served with, someone long dead now. But still a sore spot.
Steve eats his cake and plays with the hedgehog as the others chatter, feeding it a meal worm and smiling softly to himself as it eats it with gusto then scampers round in a little circle, foaming at the mouth.
"That means it's happy" Rhodey explains. Sam stifles a laugh.
Outside the window is a solid wall of curious faces.
Nat checks her mobile. They're all over the fan sites and trending on Twitter. The Police are trying to lock down the block and the army are mobilising.
"I think it's time we left; things are getting crazy out there"
Steve nods and stands up "Cheque please!". Outside the crowd is a frenzy of activity as the waitress brings the bill and takes the hedgehogs away. Nat leans over and whispers something to her in Japanese, motioning to the front window. The waitress nods and points to the rear of the café.
"We go out the back, slide door drill and away"
"You practised this?"
"Yes, using a van with a sliding side door you can get in and out of doors in narrow alleys without people seeing you"
"Best hurry, the police and army have helicopters in the air and the Japanese Foreign office is preparing an official enquiry to the Security Council"
"Seems operating in public is going to be a problem. Well, let's get going"
It takes them almost an hour to weave through the traffic to the main road out of Tokyo back to the Quinjet.
Nat kept watching the News "looks like we caused a bit of a riot. Lots of fans and a fair few protestors. And someone in a home-made iron man suit"
"So we're going to have to be careful going out in public as a group"
Steve glances across at Nat and says "We're going to head back into Tokyo undercover, keep watch over how they deal with those HYDRA troops and their technology. I'm worried things may get into the wrong hands"
She nods in agreement, all business "I'll get the car"