Genma isn't sure what to make of his situation. The impression he got from what Heir Odinson said and the people wandering around is that he is in the company of a group comparable to the Twelve Guardian Ninja. Maybe a better comparison would have been ANBU, because they certainly don't seem to be guarding a specific person. Also, he's been out of bed for two hours and witnessed three pranks and two explosions, one of which might have been part of a prank.

So, definitely more like ANBU.

That element of familiarity – the fact people are the same no matter where you are – had carried him through the moment he finally looked out a window.

He's high up. Possibly higher than the tallest of the Hashirama trees. There is a city around him, and it's all metal and glass. There are huge crowds moving around and across the roads, with some sort of transportation devices flowing through the centers. Genma can't comprehend how many people it would take to build and populate a city that extends farther than he can see. Just the crowd around the tower is enough to fill some of the larger battlefields he's been on.

All the chakra is wrong too. Everyone he's come across has low amounts of chakra that moves very sluggishly. No one is using the walls and rooftops as pathways either, so it's not just the people he's met.

Genma has to take a minute to regulate his breathing.

It's not like other worlds are a secret. Anyone who has ever thought about Summons for longer than five minutes would realize they had to be summoned from somewhere (though talking with Summons about that stuff usually requires a lot of alcohol). And the Nidiame's Hiraishin had originally been based off the principles of summoning. But it's one thing to suspect he's in the wrong world and a whole other thing to know.

The man he'd seen flying on metal wings has come up next to him (Medic Sam, he was introduced as Sam). He can't understand a word the man is saying but the tone and exaggerated breathing are familiar enough. Genma doesn't know one shinobi who hasn't experience a panic attack before, including himself. He's got to admit that he's usually the one calming people.

Once his breathing is back under control, Genma lets his mind wander. Medic Sam is clearly trained for this. Not just the generic training shinobi pick up through experience, but the kind given to healers and counselors by Yamanaka specialists. This man fights and heals and lends clothes to an injured stranger. People really are the same no matter where he ends up.

The tea is different though. Not bad, just different. By kami does he want to go home.

Having a bunch of neurotic superhero-types under the same roof tended to be chaotic. Tony considers that a great change from quiet emptiness and formality, so he encourages it. He will admit (only to himself) the last few days have been a different kind of chaos than preferred. Worrying about the kids was bad and worrying about their new friend was bad; but now, at least he gets to complain nonstop about how awful Hydra tech is while reverse-engineering it.

But that's kind of the problem. Hydra tech sucks. It's so awful, it shouldn't have worked. It really should not have worked. This isn't Bruce's area of expertise, but he'd confirmed that Tony wasn't just being dramatic. Yes, Tony had pretended to be insulted by that; but the others don't know enough about tech to tell when he's serious or just talking. And it is really hard for anyone to live up to Tony's standards of tech genius.

The recordings of the test also determined Hydra was definitely not behind the sudden success. Which leaves Tony in a bit of a pickle, because the teleporter had been built using information gained from SHIELD's study of the Tesseract (which had been a doorway between places). Presumably, this resulted in a device that– like the Tesseract – could be influenced at both ends. The problem is that their guest hadn't been carrying any form of technology – not even a freaking wristwatch!

So, their best bet was to ask their guest if he knew about any developments in interdimensional gateway technology. Given he reacted like one of SHIELD's best spooks, he's probably not a lab tech. The guy was likely security on whatever operation was going down. It isn't unusual for secure labs to institute a no-technology policy on their security personnel. Most of the time it's to prevent corporate espionage, but it is also used in labs with extremely sensitive equipment.

Now Tony just has to have an extremely technical conversation with an interdimensional spook about a project he's probably sworn to secrecy on – if he even knows what he was guarding – through a translator who insists on referring to advanced technology as forms of magic.

Not actually the hardest thing Tony has ever done.

Thor is a little bit fond of the Meeting Hall of Avengers Tower. The large, long table surrounded by chairs is reminiscent of home, but the view of the city and bitter smell of coffee – not to mention the people - remind him of all the things about Midgardian life he really appreciates. There is also the joy of discussing a good battle with his shield-siblings.

Today, he is called to a role that – though he is trained for it – he is less than accustomed to: diplomat and translator. The Allspeak may grant understanding of another being's words, but it cannot grant understanding of meaning or even of words which have no translation. Thor knows his understanding of Midgardian colloquialisms is tenuous at best, though he can technically understand every word they say.

He hasn't spoken with Specialist Shiranui long enough to properly learn the context for the words that have no translation. And the Man of Iron's studies make use of words that have very specific meanings with very limited allowances for things beyond current understanding. This is very good practice for the future, but it doesn't mean he has to enjoy it.

It starts with Stark trying to explain that Specialist Shiranui has been transported to another dimension, which Specialist Shiranui already knew.

"Wait what, he knew about alternate dimensions? How? Has their lab been studying the phenomena for long? What kind of monitoring equipment does it take?"

Thor dutifully relayed the questions, even though Specialist Shiranui raises an eyebrow and shakes his head after the first one. When he responds, Thor knows Stark isn't going to let this one go.

"Specialist Shiranui says that such knowledge is available in his world, as there are beings known to traverse the boundaries." As predicted, Stark immediately starts in on new questions, but Thor hasn't finished translating yet. "And while those capable of using such techniques to their full extent are in short supply, the manipulation of space-time is not an uncommon ability."

It isn't often anything surprises Tony Stark, and Thor enjoys watching the man reevaluate his entire thought process. Not that it lasts long. Thor immediately has another barrage of questions to translate.

He does try, but it is clear the technical terminology does not carry over to Specialist Shiranui's language. Their visitor's response is also not going to go over well. Thor knows magic works in mysterious ways and that he's not an expert. "My apologies, Specialist Shiranui," Thor addresses the traveler, "but could you repeat that?"

He gives the same reply as earlier.

Many Midgardians also don't really believe in magic, preferring to think of it as advanced technology or inborn ability. The Avengers have more experience with magic than most, most all of it negative. They are really not going to like this.

"Specialist Shiranui informs us that when he was transported to our world, he was attempting to master a technique that sounds similar to your descriptions of teleportation. But," Thor hesitates, "the technique used only ink and paper."

What an absolute cacophony that unleashes. Stark and Banner are immediately theorizing about nanotechnology, energy manipulation, and new terminology Thor doesn't know. Barton, Romanoff, and the Maximoff twins start arguing over who won the latest bet (to Thor's recollection, no one put money on an interdimensional ninja). Barnes, Rogers, and the Son of Will mostly share commiserating looks, once again pretending they are normal people dragged into crazy situations. Thor doesn't know if they actually believe that about themselves or not, but it's one of the funniest things he's ever seen. Humans are weird about denial.

Shiranui just asks if they are always like this and smirks a bit when Thor says yes.

While he waits for them to calm down, Genma considers his options. So far, he's mostly been following Konoha's unofficial shinobi-civilian interaction procedures. Those procedures vary between civilians that live in Konoha and interact with shinobi regularly and those that might have only heard stories, but there are some consistent elements.

First, try and seem as reasonable as possible. No one is going to believe shinobi are harmless and seeming nice doesn't lend itself well to emergency scenarios, so reasonable is the preferred option. Second, is to never volunteer information. It doesn't matter if a civilian will never be able to use it, they may talk about it to someone else. Unless it's mission-critical, treat everyone not cleared like a potential leak. (Unspoken here, is don't show off, which some shinobi find harder than others.) Third is maintain the illusion that shinobi operate off the same ethics/honor codes as samurai. Genma has no idea how people came to that conclusion, but it is a very useful assumption. There are others of course, but those are most relevant to his situation.

The question is, how relevant?

These people may not be shinobi, but they're not civilians. And while Genma isn't in Konoha or among allies with approved clearances, he's literally in a different dimension from Konoha's enemies. There's a possibility that he can use the Hiraishin to get himself home once he's recovered, but he hasn't mastered the technique enough to be confident about that. Therefore, Genma needs the assistance of someone in this dimension. The people who had him prisoner aren't an option, so that leaves this 'Avengers' team. The guy asking most of the questions (Dr Stark, the scientist that isn't Dr Bruce – and he's pretty sure doctor means the same thing here as it does at home, or the translation effect views it as close enough) reminds Genma of some of the more obsessive researchers in R&D. It's probably a good sign, given he hasn't noticed any Orochimaru-types in this group.

No one here seems to be capable of using chakra, so theoretically it would be safe to give them details of the sealing techniques that brought him here. But their technology also played a major part and it's obvious only some of them understand what Dr Stark is talking about. So, Genma must balance how much information they need to get him home with what is safe to give them. It's clear Dr Stark is an expert and Genma doesn't have enough background knowledge of this world to learn the technology in any reasonable amount of time.

Genma's really only hesitating because he hates giving up information. It goes against everything he's been trained to be, everything that he is. But he's going to have to reveal something and the kids have already seen explosive seals. Better to demonstrate something relatively harmless.

He's got his vest and weapons pouches on over the borrowed clothes (he'd refused the shoes in favor of his own sandals) so there are options. They're still reacting to his statement that ink and paper are the only equipment necessary for seals. It makes for a very good cue. Selecting a scroll, he unrolls it across the table to find the entry he wants. Channeling the bare minimum of chakra into the seal, his favorite off-duty jacket appears in a puff of smoke.

It leaves him slightly dizzy, but not quite at a point where he has to worry about relapsing into chakra exhaustion. Putting the jacket on helps with the persistent chill of being low on chakra as well. It's not to the point Chouza-sensei would scold him, but Gai would definitely harass him about taking better care of himself. The lovable hypocrite.

His hosts had gone completely silent.

"Storage seals generally deal in pocket dimensions that can be opened following seal-specific criteria." Genma waits for Heir Odinson to translate. That kekkei genkai is very handy, and slightly weird. It's good to know the man isn't altering what he says. "The technique I was attempting was much more complex and draining."

Addresing Heir Odinson now, Genma asks, "Does Dr Stark need medical attention? I'm not quite qualified to deal with an aneurism." He's pretty adept at making it look like someone had one, but that really doesn't correlate to treating one. And Dr Stark is very red in the face, waving his arms around, and ranting to the voice in the ceiling (that had been a very startling introduction).

Heir Odinson gives a quick laugh, "Apparently you break his laws of science." Genma can't resist that kind of opening.

"Never quite been good with those."

"Science?"

"Laws."

Heir Odinson laughs and Genma smiles, wondering if the man would still find it funny if he actually knew how true it was.