The Awakening
Chapter 5: The Awakening
The next morning, Tony walked into his kitchen and sat at the island. His entire being was sore, as if he had just gotten run over by a tank. Although considering the hell that was the day before, that may have been preferable. Not being able to sleep probably didn’t help, especially when his body screamed for the rest, but he just couldn’t.
Last night, for the first time in a long time, he let himself completely breakdown. Tony had been chasing danger for so long because he was alone, because he had no one to live for. In his life, the only thing that was worth anything, was being Iron Man. He had known where that path would take him a long time ago, so when it came time yesterday to go down in flames, it seemed inevitable.
But then he learned that he would have been leaving behind a son, his son who he had never even met, and he broke. He couldn’t begin to grapple with what he almost lost.
Not only that, but a deep sense of shame had settled in his chest. How could he not have known? Lily and James died 17 years ago, meaning that Harry had been alone for 17 years and Tony never knew. He was a genius, he had the best surveillance in the world at the tips of his fingers, and he didn’t know. He should have looked harder for them, but he was a coward. He saw that grave and he stopped looking because was terrified at what he would find. And now his kid looked like he'd been through hell, long before the trauma of yesterday’s battle. This was his fault. How would his son forgive him? Would Harry want anything to do with him after he had done nothing for the past 15 years but make mistake after mistake? Tony wouldn’t forgive a father like him, not if he’d been left at the mercy of the world.
“You have visitors, sir.” Jarvis said, jolting Tony out of his downward spiral.
“Dr. Smith has arrived from D.C. I have taken the liberty of directing him towards the room where your young guest is staying.”
“Thank you, Jay.”
“Also, Director Fury is waiting for you.”
“Of fucking course.” Tony groaned, rubbing his hand over his eyes.
“I have already attempted to give him your standard business hours and the number of your secretary, sir. He did not appear to be amused.”
“Thanks for trying.”
“Anytime, sir.”
Tony got back to his feet. He would go see the doctor first, the one-eyed wonder could wait.
When he reached Harry’s room, the doctor was already in there, as well as, which Tony was not surprised to see, Ron and Hermione standing stiffly against the wall. Dr. Smith was busying himself looking over Dr. Banner’s notes and checking the monitors in place. He looked up as Tony entered the room.
“I see no direct reason for him to still be asleep besides exhaustion. I am going to place him on an IV for dehydration and nutrition. He is deficient in almost everything, most likely a side effect of the malnourishment.”
Tony nodded along, heart clenching in his chest.
“Additionally, his body temperature is extremely low, I recom….”
“That’s normal for him.” Hermione cut in, looking pale.
The doctor took her in, eyebrows raised. “I see ... Nonetheless, I recommend heating the IV fluid prior to administration, Dr. Banner should be aware of the procedure.” He looked back and forth between Tony and the teenagers listening in. “Mr. Stark, may I speak with you privately?” The two teens looked murderous.
Tony sighed, “ You can speak freely here, Dr. Smith.”
“Fine. The patient appears to have extensive scarring and bony deformities, implying previous unhealed fractures. I must insist he be admitted to a hospital for further evaluation.”
“No.” Hermione cut in again, staring him down. “We will not move him again, unless it's back home.” Tony saw that for the threat it was. She was letting him know that they did not need to be here, Tony’s feeling’s be damned.
“Mr. Stark, I must insist, I have rarely even seen soldiers with such…”
“We said no,” Ron’s face flushed red. Tony knew he would have to step in before the good doctor found himself on the wrong end of a wand.
“Please discuss his care with Bruce. He has to stay here for now due to security concerns but we can get you anything you need.” Tony narrowed his eyes. “And it goes without saying that you will discuss this with no one.”
“Of course,” the doctor scoffed, before storming off to find Dr. Banner.
Tony took a deep breath in before he allowed himself a glance at his son’s face. Harry was sleeping soundly, but a furrowed brow betrayed a tension that did not even release him in his sleep. Tony didn’t want to look any longer, not until he could meet him, until he could look his son in the eye. He shook his head.
“I have to go play politics.” He sighed, already dreading Fury’s temper tantrum. “Do either of you need anything, are you guys injured at all?”
“No, Mr. Stark.” Hermione said stiffly.
“Well, if you change your mind just call for Jarvis, or let Cap know. God knows he’s always willing to jump to someone's aid.” He said with a chuckle. Hermione just looked at him blankly.
“Well, nice talk. I’m just going to… yeah.”
Tony had reached the doorway when the girl finally spoke.
“Did you figure it out?” Ron looked at her, obviously confused.
“Yes,” He breathed out. “You could have just told me, you know.”
She snorted. “Harry would have been pissed and I’m not too interested in dealing with that at the moment. Besides, I heard you were a genius, I shouldn’ t have needed to say anything.”
Self-hatred hit him in the gut. She was right, he should have known, she shouldn’t have needed to say anything. He just nodded stiffly, before walking out the door.
…
Natasha was talking with Director Fury when he finally reached the lobby.
“You know, Nick, usually once a job is done, the boss can fuck off. No supervision needed”
“And what would you know about having a boss, Stark?” Fury said, turning to face Iron Man. “I just wanted to offer my congratulations. Never would have guessed it, but I guess you can be a team player after all.”
Tony rolled his eyes. “As long as that team strokes my ego enough, and let me tell you, Cap is amazing at compliments. Something about his hero next door personality, I guess.”
“Control yourself Stark, I just wanted to make sure everyone is okay here?”
“I mean Clint was a little injured in our pillow fight last night, but I thi….”
“Okay, enough. It is too early for this shit. Before I go, I had a quick question. Do you know anything about another individual who joined the fight yesterday, possibly an enhanced person?” Tony’s eyes flicked to Natasha, who gave an imperceptible shake of her head, right outside of Fury’s field of vision.
“Nope, I’ve had to come to grips with enough “enhanced persons” already during your little project.”
Nick raised his hands in surrender. “That’s all I wanted to know. I will keep in touch, Tony.”
“Oh, I’m sure you will.” Tony mumbled at the directors retreating back. Once he was out of sight, he turned to Natasha.
“Why didn’t you tell him?”
Natasha just looked at him. “Do you think I’m blind Tony? I can tell the kid means something to you. And you should have heard him when you flew by with that missile. He was terrified. I know something is going on here… and we’re a team, I’ve got your back.”
Tony broke her gaze, fighting back tears. Natasha was the last person he expected to hear that from. He felt like he was witnessing the moment Natasha went from spy to soldier.
“You sound like Steve.” He choked out. Natasha snorted.
“Besides, Fury doesn’t need to know everything. I have to keep some secrets of my own or he’s going to make the mistake of thinking he owns me.”
“Woe to anyone who makes THAT mistake.” He said grinning at her as she smirked back at him.
…
Harry’s eyelids felt heavy as he slowly returned to consciousness. The surface under his fingers was soft and warm and he could hear a faint beeping sound in the background that reminded him of a muggle hospital. The air smelled…clean. Dry enough to sting his nose as he breathed in. Was that a mask over his face? Harry tried to lift a hand to his cheek, but only made it about halfway before he gave up, hand falling back to his chest.
“You know mate, this is really getting old.”
“Ron?”
Harry finally opened his eyes. He was in a grey room, with a large window overlooking the city. He craned his neck around. He saw that the bed he was in was bracketed by a couple of machines, flashing numbers and lines, which appeared to be the source of the soft beeping noise. He would have guessed that he was in a hospital, but the room was too spacious, and the bed was a king, loaded with pillows and a soft comforter. A stark difference from the scratchy sheets and plastic mattress he remembered from the one time he stayed at a hospital as a kid, after Dudley had broken his arm.
“Where are we?” His voice was garbled by the mask. He tried again to reach his arm up, this time able to take it off.
Ron ignored him. He glared at Harry, looking a bit too much like Mrs. Weasley for comfort.
“You know, watching you fall from your broom once was enough for me. I didn’t really need a repeat of the experience.”
“Ron, I..”
“Actually, you know what, watching you disappear, run off on your own in the middle of a battle because you are a self-sacrificing moron, was another trend I thought we had put behind us, but no. Fuck me, I guess.”
Harry flinched, looking up at his best friend. Ron looked haggard, and his expression kept flitting between anger and relief. He was in fresh clothes, recently showered, but he looked tired. The tension in his shoulders that seemed to bleed away during their time in New York was back in full force.
“I’m sorry, Ron. I wasn’t thinking, I just..” Harry didn’t know what to say. He felt ashamed. Harry hadn’t told his friends where he was going, he just left them. He knew they would be able to keep themselves safe in the building, so he didn’t think twice when he apparated away. But looking now at the haunted look in his friend’s eyes, maybe he should have.
Ron seemed to deflate, sighing as he sat back in the armchair beside Harry’s bed.
“I know, mate.” He sighed, “I’m going to leave the real lecture to Hermione, she’s better at it anyway.” He said with a small smile.
They sat in silence for a while before Harry tried to get up, propping himself up on his elbows, before he was able to sit back against the headboard. He had to struggle against a tangle of wires that seemed to pull on his skin at every movement. Ron walked away for a second, returning with a glass of water that he placed gingerly in Harry’s hands.
Harry hesitated, before saying quietly, “Am I allowed to ask now?”
Ron snorted.
“You’ve been out since yesterday. We were going to contact a healer from MACUSA, but considering you probably would have been arrested for breaching the Statute of Secrecy, we’ve been staying with muggles instead. Bloody hell, these muggles are smart, you should see this place! Dad would have a fit!” Harry rolled his eyes.
“And this place is..?”
“Stark Tower, according to Hermione.”
Harry just gaped up at him.
“And Tony Stark …. Is he here, too?” Ron just looked at him, confused, like Harry was a bit mental.
“Well yeah, it's his house isn’t it.”
“He’s okay?”
“Well, a little banged up, but he was able to walk away from the whole thing, unlike you. Nice catch by the way, show off. Although falling off your broom,” Ron grinned and shook his head, “ come on man, you don’t even have dementors as an excuse this time.”
Harry huffed. “I’d like to see you hang on to that hunk of metal! It must have weighed a ton.”
“You’re about 500 pounds off kid, but close enough.”
Harry whipped his head towards the door, where a man leaned in the doorway. Here goes nothing.