Chapter 30
Harry's eyes fluttered open at the slight tug in his hand, seeing Bruce to his left.
"How are you feeling today?" Bruce asked as he changed out the bag of saline that was hooked up to Harry's IV.
"A little sore," Harry replied, voice rough as he spoke for the first time in several hours.
"That's what I figured. Once you guys got home last night, Tony brought you straight down here, and you were asleep before you even got under the covers. I knew you had probably overdone it," Bruce frowned, taking Harry's wrist in his hand and feeling for his pulse.
Harry blushed when he realized which wrist Bruce was holding, regret and guilt flooding him once more as he remembered that night in which Peter had found him bleeding out in the bathroom.
Bruce let go of his wrist and typed something in on a tablet, giving Harry the opportunity to tug his sleeve down and hide the scabbing wounds. It seemed like the incident had been so long ago, when in all reality, it had only been three weeks ago- twenty one days.
The attack was eighteen days ago.
It felt so much longer than that, but Harry was reminded of the attack every time he went to change clothes, or go to the bathroom, or even move. Fading bruises, stitches, small abrasions, and scabs still covered his body from where the wounds were still healing.
"Sorry," Harry whispered, looking around for any water. Bruce was already ahead of him, though, and had a cup with a bendable straw ready for him to use.
Harry gratefully accepted the water, taking several sips and savoring the sweet liquid.
"It's alright, I know you were just trying to have a good day. Next time, though, let me know when you start experiencing so much pain, instead of waiting until the absolute last second, alright?" Bruce set the cup down on Harry's bedside table, and gazed at him with gentle eyes.
"Yeah, and again, I'm sorry for not telling you. I didn't want to ruin anyone's surprises," Harry apologized once more.
Bruce sighed, and grabbing a chair from the desk behind them, he took a seat besides Harry's bed.
"Harry," the doctor removed his glasses and rubbed a hand over his face. "You don't have to worry about ruining anyone else's surprises. Your health and safety is everyone's top priority right now, and we don't want to do anything, or have you do anything, that will possibly endanger that, okay?"
Harry gave a small nod without looking up at him.
"Harry, look at me buddy," Bruce's soft voice spoke. Sometimes, with how gentle the man sounded and behaved, it was hard to believe that he ever could turn into someone as loud and destructive as the Hulk. Not that Harry minded- he understood what it was like to have the small, outspoken part of you come out once in a while, despite whether or not you wanted it to.
"Look at me Harry," Bruce spoke again, voice a bit sterner this time. Harry tentatively raised his eyes to meet Bruce's, feeling his cheeks flush with embarrassment.
"I want to you repeat after me," Bruce started, voice back to it's mellow tone. Harry gave a short nod, indicating his compliance.
"'My health and safety is the most important thing to me, and I will not lie, hide or contort the truth to make others feel better,'" Bruce stated, maintaining eye contact with Harry the entire time.
"M-my health and safety..." Harry began, but he faltered. It was just a simple statement, so why couldn't he say it?
"That's it. Hard isn't it?" Bruce gave him a sympathetic smile. "But I need you to do it while maintaining eye contact."
Harry glanced to his hands, squeezed his eyes shut in determination, before looking back up at Bruce.
"My health and safety is... is the most important thing to me... and I will not lie, hide, or contort the truth..."
"'To make other's feel better,'" Bruce coaxed.
"To-to make other's feel better," Harry's voice wobbled, but he did it. He said it, while maintaining solid eye contact with Bruce.
"Good," Bruce spoke, voice soft, without breaking eye contact with Harry. "So I want you to tell me again, how are you feeling?"
Harry's eyes blurred with tears as he choked out an answer.
"Really hurts," he whimpered, voice low and raspy. Bruce nodded sympathetically, wincing at the pained expression on Harry's face. It killed him to realize how well Harry could mask his pain.
"Let's see if we can fix that, alright?" Bruce patted Harry's leg before rising to his feet.
"Where is everyone?" Harry asked, watching as Bruce administered some meds through his IV.
"Let's see, Peter is spending some time with his aunt, Steve and Bucky are at a S.H.I.E.L.D meeting, and Pepper actually managed to drag Tony into the office for a meeting. I had to assure him that I would stay with you at all times and let him know if you even sneezed," Bruce chuckled.
"Sounds like dad," Harry slurred, his eyes slipping shut as the drugs Bruce had given him kicked in almost immediately. Bruce smiled, his heart warmed at the kid's use of the word 'dad'.
Checking to make sure Harry was completely asleep, Bruce grabbed his phone and stepped out into the hallway. Letting the door shut closely behind him, Bruce positioned himself so that he could look through the window in the door as he dialed the familiar number.
The tone barely even rang once before Tony's voice came through on the other end.
"Bruce? What's wrong? What happened?" The billionaire's voice was breathless and scared, and it was obvious that by calling him, Bruce had frightened him.
"Tony, nothing's wrong. Sorry for scaring you," Bruce began, and a sigh could be heard through the phone, followed by a mumbling of 'he's fine' to someone else- presumably Pepper.
"Then what's up?" Tony's voice went back to casual, but there was still a trace of fear and anxiety there.
"I just thought I'd give you an update. He was awake for a few minutes, long enough to honestly tell me how he was feeling, and ask where everyone was. I explained, gave him some meds, he called you dad to me, and then he fell asleep and I came to call you," Bruce explained, smirking as he disguised what would be Tony's favorite part of that sentence between other rather mundane statements.
"Hold on, go back a second and say that again," Tony spoke, voice excited.
"He fell asleep?" Bruce suggested, smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he messed with the billionaire.
"No, before that," Tony replied, exasperation heavy in his voice.
"I gave him some meds?" Bruce teased, enjoying this all too much.
"Dammit Bruce, after that!" Tony was squirming in his seat now, and Bruce knew that his leg must be bouncing at a million miles an hour like it always did when he was anticipating something.
"Oh, that. Yeah, Harry called you dad," Bruce smiled, but he spoke as if it were the most normal thing ever.
"Shit!" Tony exclaimed excitedly, and in the background, Pepper could be heard chastising him quietly, earning a soft apology from Tony.
"I'm so happy to hear that. I know it's not the first time he's called me dad, but it's the first time he's ever done it around someone else, except for maybe Peter," Tony said. Bruce nodded in agreement, gazing through the window to see Harry curled up as best he could, fast asleep.
"He's a really good kid, Tony," Bruce confirmed, as if it needed confirming. Sure, Harry came with a few complications and a whole lot of issues that they'd have to work through, but who didn't? Everyone instantly fell in love with him, and how could they not? Harry, despite what he thought about himself, was an amazing kid with so much love in his heart for everyone that he met, even those who weren't good to him. The fact that he had even been upset by his uncle and his cousin's deaths, despite how horribly they had treated him, went to show just how empathetic and kind-hearted Harry was.
"Yeah. Yeah, he is," Tony replied wistfully, before snapping back into the typical Tony attitude. "But I already claimed him, so go find your own kid."
Bruce chuckled at Tony's antics, shaking his head at the thought of another teenager being introduced to the team. There was only so much chaos that they could handle.
"Alrighty then, Brucie, this conference is almost over so we'll be home in probably an hour, tops."
"Okay," Bruce replied, ignoring the nickname that Tony refused to quit calling him. "See you then."
*
When Harry came to again, he felt a lot better than when he had awoken last. Instead of feeling heavy and on fire, his body felt light and airy. He knew it was just whatever meds Bruce had given him, but he was glad that, for once, nothing hurt.
Slowly, taking a few blinks to adjust to the light of the room, Harry opened his eyes.
"Good morning, sleepy head," Tony greeted from where he sat in a chair at the end of his bed.
"'s really morning 'gain?" Harry grumbled, rubbing at his eyes.
"Nah, I'm just playing with you. It's about four p.m.," Tony chuckled, patting Harry's leg fondly. "I heard you missed me."
Harry gave a short laugh, rolling his eyes as he shook his head. "I asked about everyone, not just you."
"Yeah, yeah, small details," Tony waved it off with a smile, before his face grew a bit more serious. "Bruce said you were hurting pretty bad earlier. How are you feeling now?"
"I'm fi-" Harry paused, remembering what Bruce made him promise. "I'm pretty sore still."
"Want me to find Bruce?" Tony asked, narrowing his eyes as he tried to read Harry's response.
Harry shook his head, reaching his hand out to Tony. Tony accepted, and pressed a chaste kiss to the scarred skin on the back of his kid's hand. It killed him to see the scars left, still so fresh, the words having cut so deep.
"Harry," Tony began, looking over Harry's scarred skin. "Can- can I ask about this? About what happened?"
Harry didn't even need to glance down at which hand that Tony was holding to know what he was talking about.
"A professor. At my school, she... she didn't like us speaking out of place, or about anything that she wasn't comfortable talking about. She... her punishment of choice, was this thing called a blood quill. You would write with it, and it would scratch the words you were writing on paper, into the back of your hand. It used your blood as the ink."
Tony's blood boiled as he struggled to contain his rage. "That has to be illegal! She can't do that!"
Harry flinched at Tony's raised voice, but he kept his composure steady. "It's not legal, and no, she can't."
"We have to make sure she can't do that to anyone else!" Tony exclaimed, rising to his feet.
"I can assure you she won't," Harry replied softly. "She died, in the war. Not a hero's death, but trying to flee."
There was a silence, before Tony sank back into the chair with a sigh.
"I'm sorry, to bring it up," Tony spoke, voice barely above a whisper. "I'm really sorry."
Harry shook his head, and placed his other hand on top of his and Tony's, careful not to tug at the IV too much.
"You didn't know, and you wanted to make sure that I was alright. And I love that, that you want me to be safe. You care about me, and I love that... I-I love you dad."
Tony eye's filled with tears and excitement, as he leaned forward and pressed his lips against Harry's forehead.
"I love you too, son."
*
"Hey!" A choir of voices called, as Steve and Bruce walked in.
Steve raised an arm in a small wave, and Bucky gave everyone a tired, close lipped smile. But everyone noticed that their hands were intertwined.
"How'd it go?" Tony asked, rubbing Pepper's feet that were resting in his lap.
"About the same as usual," Steve smiled, taking his baseball cap off and running a hand through his hair.
"That's good," Pepper gave them both a warm smile, running her hand up and down Tony's arm mindlessly.
"What was the meeting about?" Harry asked, propping himself up with a wince. "Sorry if that's too nosy."
"Hey, I'm going to go order dinner, anyone have any preferences?" Tony said, glancing around the room. Everyone shook their head, and Pepper rose to her feet before helping Tony up.
"I'll be right back, I just remembered that I forgot to file something earlier," Pepper declared. From the other side of the room, Bruce's phone rang.
"I've got to take this," Bruce held the phone up, holding the door open and exiting, Pepper and Tony right behind him.
"That was them trying to give us alone time, wasn't it?" Harry asked, eyebrow raised in confusion.
"I think so," Bucky chuckled. "They aren't the most subtle."
"No, they're not. But subtle isn't exactly Tony's thing," Steve laughed.
"So... why are they trying to give us alone time?" Harry questioned.
Bucky and Steve took a seat in chairs beside Harry's bed, glancing at one another quickly.
"We run a support group at S.H.I.E.L.D from retired vets and other agents that work or have worked for the agency," Steve started, taking a deep breath. "A lot of us suffer from PTSD, or have trouble working through things that happened on missions, or even just life events that have nothing to do with the job, and we all just talk about... everything."
Harry nodded slowly, coming to the realization of what they were about to ask.
"Would you maybe, and it's completely up to you, we don't want to force you into anything, but... would you maybe want to come with us sometime?"
"I- I think maybe I would like that," Harry spoke, a smile blooming on his face.
Steve and Bucky looked at one another, a wonderous look passing between the two of them. They didn't think Harry would admit to needing help so quickly or painlessly.
"I- I do think I need help, and I think it'd be nice to talk about it with other people who understand. Maybe they don't know exactly what I've been through, but everyone has their own issues and they have their own trauma. And it'd be nice to talk about the process of healing with people who understand how hard it is."
Bucky smiled, and gave Harry's leg a gentle pat.
"I'm really glad to hear that, buddy. I'm really glad."