A Complicated Web

Chapter Nineteen: Not Again!

The van stopped almost abruptly, causing all those asleep, minus Kally, to wake up. Various groans and yawns filled the back portion of the vehicle as the Black Widow resisted the urge to cuss.

"Can we go around them?" the man sitting next to her asked.

Romanoff shook her head, red hair reflecting the early morning light. "I don't know. We'll have to try backtracking. What a stupid time to hold a protest."

Fred yawned, stretching up as high as the roof of the car would allow. "Are we there yet?" he asked, still blinking away the sleep from his eyes.

"We appear to be stuck," Baymax observed. Despite the tinted windows, he could see outside the vehicle more clearly than any of them could. "I detect vehicles on either side of us. There appears to be approximately two hundred individuals interspersed in the area directly ahead of us."

Natasha grit her teeth. "I can see that," she retorted. "The question is how to get out of this blockade without running anyone over." Though she was very tempted to do just that.

The people outside the car were holding up signs, chanting something over and over again. Judging from the signs, they were part of some kind of political march that had taken it upon themselves to block the roads.

The man pulled out a radio. "Base, this is Mobile One. We appear to be stuck behind a protest of some kind. We're not sure how to get around it."

A female voice came over the line. "Hang tight, Mobile One. We're looking into it."

Hiro felt stiff as he disengaged himself from Baymax's side. It was far less comfortable to snuggle with the inflatable marshmallow when he wasn't fully inflated. "What time is it?" he asked as he pulled out his phone. Only two or three hours had passed since they'd left Stark Tower. That meant they were at least outside the city limits, unless they hadn't made as good on time as they'd hoped. He wasn't sure what time rush hour started in the Big Apple.

Honey shifted in her seat, trying to find a more comfortable position. She'd probably gotten more sleep than any of the others, though that wasn't saying much. "What in the world?" she exclaimed as protestors seemed to swarm the stuck cars. Some seemed to be trying to peer into the windows, though the tint went only one way, blocking out any insiders from looking in, unless they checked through the front window.

"Everyone duck down and stay out of sight," Romanoff ordered as she pulled a baseball cap over her telltale hair. "Hopefully they'll just go on past us and we'll be free in a minute."

Hiro wished he'd pulled his hoodie out of his luggage so he could hide his face inside the hood, but he hadn't. He noticed the others had already followed instructions, Wasabi having the most noticeably hard time since he was sitting right in the middle of the vehicle. Baymax shielded Kally from view, positioning her so she lay on his lap.

Several protestors began swarming more around the vehicles. Several positioned themselves on either side of the van and began rocking it. From what Hiro could tell, they were doing the same to any vehicle larger than a sedan.

"Could someone please do something about this?" Wasabi complained as he ducked like someone practicing an earthquake drill. He didn't dare lift his head as the vehicle continued to rock back and forth. "This just might make me sick." He almost wished one of his friends had given him some Benadryl. At least that way he'd have slept through all this craziness.

The radio crackled to life in the male agent's hand. "Mobile One, be advised, local riot police have been dispatched to your location. Hang tight and try not to get into trouble."