Chapter Text
Sam wasn’t sure how he was supposed to react. After trying to leave the fight, they were stopped and confronted by a man and a woman – both Asian. After they’d been pardoned, Steve had said that was the end of it. They’d go home and Tony would apologise and everything would go back to normal. Only that didn’t happen.
Tony had completely ignored them. He’d shut the compound down, had it demolished, and sold it to the city council so it was in the process of being turned into a recreational park. They’d tried to complain to Tony but he was always busy “mentoring” that Spider-Man kid. Whoever thought it was a good idea for Tony to teach a kid how to be a superhero?
Then Fury had given them more bad news: they were only pardoned in the US. If they went to any of the other countries – Nigeria, Romania, Germany, even South America. They were barred from all of them. Sam couldn’t understand why. Even Steve stepping in to post videos, with Nat’s help, on social media explaining about Bucky’s situation did nothing.
Can’t you? A traitorous voice in the back of his head whispered.
These guys were Japanese, though, and they looked really pissed off.
And Steve seemed to really not understand why. ‘Look, I’m sorry people got hurt but if we hadn’t been here more people would have died.’
‘That’s just a lie.’ Ordinarily, Sam was sure, the Japanese woman would have quite a sweet and reassuring voice. Now, though, she was angry – and angry at them. ‘89% of these people were injured because of the damage you caused. And you’re just going to walk away?’
Before Steve could defend himself the man shook his head. Despite his anger, there was something dignified and authoritative in his voice – far more than Sam had ever heard from Steve. ‘No wonder the rest of the world prefers Iron Man. At least when he makes a mess, he cleans it up.’
‘Even when he doesn’t make the mess,’ the woman said.
Wanda scowled.
The man’s eyes suddenly focused on her. ‘Stop that.’
Wanda drew back. Red had began to swirl around her fingers, but it was quickly snuffed out.
The woman looked at her companion. ‘Trying to get into our heads?’
The man just nodded and then looked at Steve. There was something in his eyes that made Sam feel like he was judging the hero and finding him wanting. ‘You said, on a public platform, your friend got brainwashed. So why the hell are you allowing someone who can manipulate minds anywhere near him? Do you have any idea how uncomfortable that would make him?’
Sam froze as the question hit him. Steve looked shocked himself. But, when Sam thought about it, it made sense. Bucky had been brainwashed for years. The guy was still trying to regain his sense of identity. If he knew Wanda could manipulate minds, that logically should have made his post traumatic sense act up. So why didn’t it?
The traitorous voice piped up again. Maybe Steve didn’t tell him?
‘You don’t understand...’ Steve started to say.
‘You know, I think I do.’ The man shook his head. ‘And I’m more than fed up with your callous disregard of the collateral damage you cause. You spend all your time justifying your actions and not enough time thinking about the people you’re meant to be protecting. I mean, look at this!’ He waved an arm, gesturing to the area around them.
Sam did look.
There were people all around – civilians. Several were being tended to by others around them. Not a single one of them didn’t seem to be bleeding. Some people were even slumped limply as other people tried to revive them. And all of this was taking place amongst the debris that had resulted from their fight. Was this what it looked like every time? Was that what the whole world was so upset about? Why hadn’t he noticed before.
The woman shook her head. ‘I don’t think you’re interested at all in the people,’ she said, ‘because you always walk away from them like they don’t exist. You’re interested in the glory that comes with getting to call yourselves heroes.’
‘That’s not true!’ Steve insisted, looking around at the rest of them to get something from them.
What, Sam didn’t know. He could actually see how it looked that way to them. They did always walk away. And they never looked back. They never even thought of the civilians who ended up caught in the crossfire. And, yes, Sam had always gotten a high when he got to call himself a hero, and he’d gotten a high when he’d been called one.
Were they really just in it for the glory?
The man shook his head. ‘It is. And it’s also true that you care more about getting your friend back than you do about the suffering he went through. You keep insisting that he didn’t do the things HYDRA forced him to do under brainwashing. Do you know what you’re really saying? You’re saying that all those people who died, all of their families and friends, are unimportant; that they don’t matter. You’re invalidating their losses.’
His eyes narrowed.
‘And you’re invalidating Barnes’s right to acknowledge and process what happened to him. You’re denying him a true psychological and emotional recovery.’
The two of them turned on their heels and walked back over to the wounded.
***
The next morning, they were all sitting in a conference room with Fury and Hill.
‘There has to be something!’ Natasha insisted.
Fury smirked and shook his head. ‘Chiba, Mamoru. Mizuno, Ami. They’re both doctors from Japan, both at the top of their fields, and in New York for a medical conference. When you had your little fight, the doctors attending the conference were asked to come down and help with the casualties that you caused. They just took the chance to get something off of their chests.’
‘But he knew I was using my powers!’ Wanda insisted.
‘I got news for you, Maximoff,’ Fury snapped. ‘That ain’t hard! Your hands glow red when you use your powers. You can see it.’
Sam winced. That was true. He didn’t think there was anything about them that stood out. He couldn’t understand why the others were trying to push the idea. Besides, Fury wasn’t saying anything new. Sam had gotten their names from Hill last night and looked them up. Mizuno specialised in post-traumatic stress caused by psychological abuse and had actually been consulted on Bucky’s case. Chiba specialised in physical trauma, reconstructing the body as much as possible after things like vehicular collisions and suchlike. And he was apparently quite successful, getting limbs that should never function again properly in working order.
‘They’re not enhanced,’ Hill said. ‘They’re just two very good doctors who were called down to help, and decided to give you a piece of their minds when they saw you walking away from the devastation you’d caused. There’s nothing special about them at all.’
Sam winced.
It wasn’t like they hadn’t deserved it.
***
Tony knew that Fury believed that there was nothing remarkable about Chiba and Mizuno.
He was fine with him thinking that, but Tony suspected there might be. See, right after the Civil War, when Rhodey had been paralysed, Tony had asked around, looking for someone to help his friend. Eventually, it was Helen Cho who said, ‘Why don’t you call Chiba Mamoru. He’s a doctor in the Jubaan district in Tokyo. If anyone can help Rhodey, it’ll be him.’
Her Cradle was undergoing upgrades, so she couldn’t pull it out for this.
So, Tony contacted the guy. He was calm, friendly, and said he’d see what he could do. He came in and went to do some reconstructive surgery on Rhodey’s spine. 48 hours later, feeling had returned to his best friend’s legs. All he needed was help getting them under him again. Tony immediately had Dr. Chiba put on his list of doctors.
But, shortly after, Tony had been approached by Sailor Venus and Sailor Mercury of Japan’s superhero team: Pretty Guardians Sailor Soldiers.
Nifty name, that. Tony would like to know who came up with it.
They wanted to know why he was calling the various superheroes around the world for help. And they listened. They not only listened, but they had prior experience with invaders from other planets. The Sailor Soldiers – all nine of them – were quite indispensible for helping prepare for the inevitable attack.
It’d taken him quite a while to even come to the conclusion. For all he knew, it could have been a coincidence. And it could have been a coincidence that Dr. Chiba refused to work nights or over festivals. His wife, after all, seemed to be the centre of his world, and he’d made it very clear early on that she liked him home at night and liked him to take her to the various festivals through the year.
Tony was sure there was a story there, but it was none of his business.
At the same time, Tony had, upon meeting the Sailor Soldiers, began paying more attention to them. Their name suggested that they were in service to some authority. But there seemed to be no authority they answered to – visible. Sure, they didn’t sign the Accords but, then again, they didn’t operate internationally.
At the same time, they seemed to operate like a well-oiled machine. The worst of their collateral damage often happened before they arrived. Which was even more impressive given that their fights usually had at least one unconscious civilian around somewhere. So they obviously knew what they were doing, and they obviously answered to someone.
Which was more than you could say for the Avengers.
Now, Tony couldn’t prove anything. All he had was some circumstantial evidence but he strongly suspected that Dr. Chiba’s ability to heal just about any injury perfectly in a very short space of time was a bit more than some hush-hush surgical technique. After all, Rhodey’s spine now showed 0 of the damage that he’d initially sustained.
And Tony had the strangest sensation that Chiba knew far more than he let on.
And that was not even mentioning Dr. Mizuno. She seemed far more knowledgeable about brainwashing and the psychological after effects of it to have studied merely the theory. If it turned out she had some personal experience with a real case, Tony wouldn’t be the least bit surprised. She seemed to know exactly what to do with Barnes’s case. Not to mention her intelligence.
Now, Tony knew genius and this woman was a genius.
But she was a genius in so many fields it seemed...beyond human.
Chiba’s wife also gave him the feeling that there was something about her. He’d met her once, and she was an absolute gem of a lady. It was easy to see why her husband was smitten with her. She seemed to absolutely radiate positivity, despite her bouts of klutziness and overdramatic reactions, which he got the feeling she was doing on purpose – whether to amuse or annoy her husband, Tony didn’t know. Still...there was something almost...magical about her.
It was just a feeling.
Tony had no proof for it.