A/N: Chapter title from The Divine Comedy of the same name.

Chapter 6

Thor could not be more ready to get off the damned aircraft. It was fast, or so he was told, and yet it would still take them six hours to reach their destination. He had tried to occupy himself with reading Jane's papers. At the very least the words took his mind from Loki, their drawing reunion, and the clash of emotions that threatened to conflict with his morals. The information was interesting, but wasted on him. They did help him locate potential places for his brother to reappear, but the distraction could only last for so long.

When he put them down and inquired how long it had been, he was dismayed to find only ninety minutes had passed. He'd never been comfortable confined to one room, not even his own chambers when he was punished as a child. The craft was beginning to feel like a prison in his restless state. All he could do was stop himself from just jumping from the ship and following the craft from outside. He could have flown there in a faction of the time with Mjolnir, and he could have carried Steve. He had told the man this several times already until his war brother suggested that he might not survive the journey. It was a concept that baffled Thor.

"How so?" he enquired.

The Captain looked a little sheepish. "I'm afraid I don't know the science behind it. Our bodies aren't as strong as the Aesir-"

Thor frowned. "The Aesir?"

His friend looked more embarrassed. "That's what your people, folks from Asgard, are called in Norse Mythology. I kinda looked the stories up after New York. That's not what you call yourselves?" Thor shook his head. "What do you call yourselves?"

"Asgardian," he shook his head. "You have strange ideas here on Midgard."

"I suppose you didn't have long chats with the locals when you were here."

"My people came to protect the realm when it was threatened by Jotunheim, but it was not our place to mingle with your people or meddle in your affairs. I visited a handful of times as a child with-" he'd nearly said 'Loki', but stopped himself, "others. Before I fell here in banishment, I had not visited for centuries. I am afraid that I found your land dull."

"No offense taken. I have a feeling that I'd prefer that over whatever your idea of 'fun' was."

"Indeed. I am sorry, I interrupted you."

"Right, where was I? We aren't as strong as you guys, so travelling at high speeds affect our bodies more. Also, the higher we go, the thinner the air becomes and the harder we find it to breathe."

"What happens?"

"Honestly, I don't know. You'd have to ask Tony or Bruce. I'm not even sure if it's due to speed or acceleration. Either way, the outcome isn't pleasant."

"But you are stronger than most humans."

Steve's lips pulled up into a small smile. "If you don't mind, I think I'll pass on being a guinea pig for today."

Thor wasn't sure what swine had to do with any of this, though he thought he understood the Captain's general meaning…perhaps. "What of Tony? His suit can reach impressive speeds and heights."

"I guess it protects him. There are small planes that fly quicker than this, but the pilots wear protective suits and breathing masks."

Thor frowned. "Then why do we not use one of those?"

"You think you can fly one?"

"No, but I can use Mjolnir and you can pilot one these crafts."

"I don't know how, my work doesn't call for it; I'm more of a dropped off and picked up again soldier."

"Then I could fly ahead and meet you in the city."

"Do you know where it is?"

"I can follow the aircraft."

His companion sighed. "I get that you're restless, but I think this is best all around."

Thor huffed, he could not disagree more. "It is tedious."

Steve smiled again. "I'd suggest a game of 'I Spy', but I doubt it'd be an interesting game."

Thor frowned. "'I Spy?'"

(&)

Bruce stared down at Tokyo city as Tony's plane circled the air, preparing for the descent. It really was quite remarkable from this angle under the night sky and, in his mind at least, quite beautiful. He'd never been one to sneer t at aerial photos and be disgusted at the lighted pollution, choosing instead to marvel at it. And it was quite the marvel. The lights stretched out as far as he could see, the end vanishing from sight, at least from this viewpoint. He couldn't help but wonder if New York was even more impressive or if it would look the same. He could always ask Tony to fly them back at night so he could compare the two, he was sure that his friend would be more than happy to oblige.

He knew almost nothing about the city below them expect that it was A, the capitol city of Japan. B, the host city of the twenty-twenty Olympics. C, due for a major earthquake, though from what he understood this could describe most places in the country. D, it was the most populous metropolitan in the world, the official UN records placing it as roughly the same population as Canada. He highly doubted any of these facts would be useful for his task though.

"Here," Tony called his attention back by sliding a device across the table to him, shortly followed by a pair of glasses. Bruce picked up the first one and turned it over in his hands. It looked like a normal Bluetooth ear device, except with 'Stark Industries' stamped across the side. He knew Tony too well to know it wasn't something that normal. He flicked his eyes up to his friend to see him looking at him, clearly waiting for the question. Bruce sighed; Tony could never just tell him.

"Okay, what are they?"

Tony smirked smugly. "Real time translators, best you'll find. Ninety-eight per cent accuracy. The ear device translates orally, the glasses to and from written. Course, the earphones you have to wait for the sentence to finish, but the glasses translate as they go along. Prefer those ones, not waiting about. Makes Google Translate look like… well, Google Translate, not sure you can get worse than that."

Bruce looked at him with renewed interest. "I'm actually quite impressed."

Tony's grin became even smugger. "And better than a S.H.E.I.L.D. babysitter."

"How did I know you were going to go into that?"

"Come on, you don't want S.H.E.I.L.D. breathing down our necks."

"We're working for them, remember?"

"Wouldn't you rather do this our way?"

Bruce shook his head. "I'd rather find where Loki is. What about when we need to talk to people?"

"That's why I carry spares."

"And how are we going to meet with our contacts? We can't just wander around Tokyo hoping to find him."

"We have the information, list of contacts, and J.A.R.V.I.S. He can hack whatever we need, actually, that's a better idea."

"Have you thought that this is why they don't like you?"

"Fury loves me, really. Come on, I know you don't want them breathing down our necks."

Bruce didn't reply, massaging the bridge of his nose and wondering why he spent so much time with Tony.

The grin was back on his friend's face and he pointed a finger at Bruce. "That's a 'yes.'"

"You do realise that they'll find us by the end of the first day."

"Wanna bet?"

(&)

As it turned out, they lasted two hours. In fact it took the same time as it took them to get them from the plane to their hotel room. Bruce said room, but when one travelled with Tony Stark, one did not stay in a hotel room; you stayed in the Presidential Suite, or whatever they called them. Tony, or more likely Pepper, had arranged for a driver to meet them and for them to leave through a back door or sorts, their bags had already been taken to the hotel. From there they'd been driven to Park Hyatt Hotel in Shinjuku, the heart of Tokyo. They'd barely had to pause to pick up their keys, their private butler mentioning that the room had been on either side of Bruce were three sets of bookshelves, implying that this room was normally some kind of small library. The room was almost 'L' shaped, and just around the corner he could see a large double bed peeking out. The wall facing him was lined with windows, giving a marvellous view of the metropolis. Walking towards it, he noted that his backpack with his clothes had been placed on a low table at the end of the bed, which was far more modest then the portable wardrobe rearranged to Stark's request, he didn't ask what that meant, and Tony dismissed him for the evening before they headed up to the fiftieth floor.

"Bet you've never stayed in the Presidential Suite before," Tony commented, walking into the entrance hall, of their temporary.

"Can't say I have," Bruce replied following Tony as he turned left, through a door and into yet another small hallway "Why do I get the feeling that this is going bigger than anywhere I've lived in the past three years?"

"That's what I paid for. Pep got them to move it around a little so you get your own room." He turned right, opened a door and peered in. "Yep, your room." Without ceremony, Tony strode in. "I already called dibs on the master bedroom. Not too bad in here though."

Bruce walked past an oval table with three chairs around it. The walls that Tony had brought along with him.

To the right of the room, Stark opened a sliding door and stepped into what appeared to the longue, Bruce trailing after him. This was certainly far more luxurious than anything he had been used to, before he'd met his billionaire friend that was. A black grand piano greeted them immediately just far away enough for them not to bump into it when leaving the make shift bedroom. Did anyone actually play the piano when they stayed here or was it like the one in Tony's Malibu home, purely there to look classy? The mirror directly to his left caught his attention, or more specifically what he saw in it.

Bruce spun round to face the main body of the room. A low glass coffee table sat in the centre, large enough to be surrounded by two chairs on each side with a round side table between them and a cream sofa at each end. On the far sofa sat a young Japanese woman in a generic black suit and was looking more than a little expectant. As soon as he laid eyes on her she stood.

"Mr Stark, Mr Banner." Her polite tone was hampered by her accent. She gave them a deep bow. "Nice to meet you."

She straightened, her long hair falling in front of her shoulders. She was a beautiful woman, there was no doubt about that, and no doubt in his mind that she had been rolled out to entice Tony into staying put and doing as he was told. Perhaps it would have worked two or three years ago, pre-Pepper. Even then Bruce wasn't sure that she was Tony's type, too slight and slim and not enough curves. She had big darks eyes, framed by her darker hair and bangs, making her look younger than she probably was. Yes, beautiful, but not Tony's type.

"I'm-" she didn't get time to finish before Tony interrupted.

"In my suite. What are you? A ninja or something?"

The woman's smile stayed in place, but there was a definite shift in her air. "I'm your escort."

"Sorry, escorts not really my thing. Never needed to pay." He pushed the door further open. "So you can just skip on back to Mad-Eye Moody."

The poor woman clearly didn't understand the reference, she did get the 'go away' part though.

"I'm sorry, S.H.E.I.L.D. told me to stay with you. Please rest. I will not disturb you."

"You're in my suite, too late for that."

She bowed again, looking a little flustered. "I'm sorry. I am sure they worried because at the airport you did not meet Ms. Kurosawa."

"I'm sure that's it," Bruce said, only a hint of disbelief entering his voice. He was sure that S.H.E.I.L.D. wasn't happy when they didn't turn up where they should have, but he suspected it was more because it meant that Tony was out from under their watchful eye than any real concern for them. After all, they weren't defenceless. He doubted that his friend baiting the woman would do them any good though. "If you two don't mind, I'm heading to bed."

"Please," she rushed. "I hope you we have a very nice sleep."

"Yeah," Tony added. "I need Bruce in my room to help me unpack or undress or… something."

Bruce winced at the phrasing and their handler's eyes went wide. He hurried after his friend, cursing him for his deliberately suggestive phrasing. He slide the door shut behind him, catching sight of the young woman looking a little red and reaching into her pocket. Tony was already in the corridor, fiddling with his Starkphone.

Bruce sighed. "Did you have to put it like that?" he asked as he walked across the passage to the other end of the penthouse and Tony's room.

"A better question is how did they know we'd be here?" He closed the bedroom door behind his friend. "Do they have people in every hotel room in Tokyo?"

"Or they went to the most expensive suite in the most expensive hotel," Bruce pointed out. "You're hardly unpredictable in that regard. I guess this means that we're playing by S.H.E.I.L.D.'s rules after all."

"We could just sneak out before she wakes up. She can't stay awake all night."

"If she does?"

Tony paused, as if he hadn't really considered this. "Well, then, she'll be easier to give the slip during the day."

"Were you a nightmare to look after as a kid?"

"There was the Mexico incident, but I found my way back eventually."

Bruce quickly decided that he didn't want to know. "We could just let her accompany us," he reminded him. "We aren't trying to hide anything and we're working for the same people. It's a lot of trouble for nothing."

"I never like to do things the easy way," Tony tried to shake off Bruce's comment. "I'm happy to work with S.H.E.I.L.D. on the world saving stuff, but I do things my way. I'm my own boss."

"I just not sure that this is worth the hassle."

"Come on, Bruce. I know you don't like the idea of them spying on our every move. We'll just wake up early and ya know, not want to wake her."

Bruce rubbed the bridge of his nose, he really needed some sleep. Tony was right. He didn't like the feeling of being constantly watched and followed, especially after spending so much time trying to keep a low profile. On the flip side, he just wanted to get this done. "Fine, but if this doesn't work, just tell me you'll let it drop. This really isn't worth all this."

"Deal," Tony agreed.

As always, I hope you guys enjoyed that. Soryr there was no Sven, but he will be back in the next chapter. Promise.

Thank you to everyone who has fav'ed and Followed and to those who were kind enough to leave a comment. :)