Chapter 52
"Here you go," Bruce handed Harry a steaming mug of hot chocolate. "Careful, it's really hot."
"Hence the name 'hot chocolate,'" Tony snorted as he entered the room. Bruce let out a small sigh and rolled his eyes.
"Tony, I was just telling him to be careful not to burn himself," the scientist explained, but it was no use. As soon as Tony had even an inch to go off of, he took it a mile.
"I think he could tell that himself based on the steam, the heat of the mug, the-"
"Okay, okay," Harry giggled, interrupting his dad. "Don't piss Bruce off. You know what happens when you do."
Bruce slipped Harry a small high five behind his back.
"Hey now, you can't do that," Tony cried defensively.
"Do what?" Bruce asked innocently.
"Use my own son against me!"
"Sir, I hate to interrupt, but Agent Coulson and Director Fury are waiting downstairs for you" Friday's voice announced. Tony frowned, looking at the date on his watch.
"They weren't supposed to come until tomorrow," he grumbled before letting out a large sigh. "Bring them up."
"Right away, sir," Friday replied curtly. Tony turned to Harry and Bruce with an exasperated expression.
"I'll be right back after I deal with these two," he pinched the bridge of his nose, and with one last exaggerated eyeroll, disappeared into the elevator.
"Surprisingly, I have never met either of them," Harry declared, taking a sip of his hot chocolate (which he had stealthily cast a cooling charm on to make it a reasonable drinking temperature).
Bruce's face took on an expression of surprise at this declaration, and he let out a small chuckle.
"That is surprising. I would have thought that Fury would have demanded to meet you as soon as he knew that Tony was planning on adopting you," Bruce shrugged. "Maybe he just did some research and decided that it was for the best."
"They were at my trial, you know. At least, I'm assuming that's who it was. Does one of them have an eyepatch and look really intimidating at all times?"
Bruce couldn't help but let out a bark of laughter at this. "Yeah, that's Director Fury. He's not as scary as he looks, I promise."
"I'm sure he can hold his own pretty well, though," Harry said, chewing on his bottom lip anxiously.
"Sure, I mean, he is S.H.I.E.L.D director. But he's not a malicious person by any means. He has everyone's best interests in mind, trust me," Bruce reassured, noticing how tense Harry seemed. He knew that the kid still had a lot of trouble trusting new people, especially men, and with someone of Fury's caliber, it would take a bit more coaxing to make Harry comfortable.
"But Agent Coulson, despite what Tony may say about him, is a big teddy bear. He really is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. Tony just gives him a hard time because Coulson is big on rule following and, uh..."
"My dad's not?" Harry chuckled, finishing Bruce's sentence.
"Yeah, you could say that," Bruce grinned, taking a sip from his own steaming mug- though his contained coffee.
"I'll have you know that I follow many more rules now than I used to," Tony interrupted, strolling into the room with the two agents in tow.
"Harry, I want you to meet Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D, and Agent Phil Coulson, the bane of my existence," Tony motioned to the two men. Coulson rolled his eyes with a sigh.
"I am not that bad, Stark, cut it out. Trust me, if I really wanted you to stop breaking rules, you would."
Everyone, including Harry, chuckled at that. Coulson, while looking mighty stiff and proper, came off as very kind and compassionate to Harry- he really did seem to care deeply about his job, and making sure everyone around him was safe.
Fury, on the other hand, looked very intimidating, and Harry couldn't help but shift away from him as the man extended his hand.
"So you're the one who stole Caroline from us," Fury let out a small huff that was probably supposed to be a laugh, but felt very stiff and irritated.
"Ye-yes sir. I'm sorry sir," Harry forced himself to extend a trembling hand and quickly shake the director's hand, but his face was flushed bright red. He couldn't believe that he had already pissed the man off, without even officially meeting him.
"Hey, Harry, it's alright. He was just trying to joke with you," Bruce spoke in a hushed voice, noticing as Harry's breath hitched. But it was already too late. As Bruce reached out to place his hand on Harry's shoulder, the kid bolted out of his seat and up to his room.
Tony spun on his heels to face Fury.
"Look at what you did! Did I not warn you to be nice to him?" The billionaire got up in the director's face, stabbing a finger in his direction.
"Do you mind if I go talk to him?" Coulson asked, placing a hand on Tony's arm partially to get his attention, but also to keep him from swinging at the head of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Tony glanced towards Bruce, trying to gage the man's opinion, but scientist shrugged.
"Go for it. I'll have Natasha meet you up there. She usually helps him calm down the most when he's scared," Bruce gave Coulson a nod.
"Friday-" Tony began.
"I have already alerted Ms. Romanoff," Friday's voice announced.
"Thank you," Tony sighed. He turned to Fury.
"Stark, I want you to know that I truly didn't mean to upset the kid," Fury frowned. He really did feel bad about frightening the teen. He had never been the best at interacting with kids, and apparently his track record was still bad.
Tony let out a deep breath that he had been holding, and he pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a seat at the counter.
"I know. He's just pretty emotionally vulnerable, and it doesn't take much to set him off," Tony replied. It was taking a lot of control not to snap at the director for upsetting his kid, but he knew deep down that it wasn't his fault. He had no idea how sensitive Harry was.
"Now I understand why you've been so quiet these past few months- why I'm not getting the typical 'Stark fucked something up' phone call every other day. You've had your hands full, haven't you?" Fury raised an eyebrow at the pain-in-the-ass billionaire.
"You could say that again. But I wouldn't trade it for the world. I'm crazy about him," the corner of his mouth turned up into a grin as he thought about all the joy that having Harry around had given him.
"Well I'm happy for you, Stark. Both of you."
*
"Harry?" A knock at the door made Harry flinch from where he was cowering under his covers.
"Harry, it's Nat. Can I come in?"
With the wave of his hand, the lock on the door flipped, and Natasha tentatively turned the handle, pushing the door open.
Immediately, her eyes fell on the quivering lump beneath the sheets, and she held up a hand at Coulson, who was hovering right behind her.
"Hey sweetie, it's me. What's going on?"
Harry's face appeared, tears streaking down his cheeks and eyebrows blotched with red.
"I'm sorry," he whimpered, cowering in his sheets. He couldn't believe that he had blown it in front of the director of S.H.I.E.L.D-- probably one of the only people that still held any power over Tony and his superhero career.
Another knock at the door alerted Harry that Natasha wasn't alone. He peered around the trained assassin and tensed when he saw Agent Coulson standing tentatively in the doorway.
"You've got nothing to be sorry for, pal," Coulson stated, voice low and soft. "Do you mind if I come in?"
Harry glanced from Coulson to Natasha, who gave him a nod that said 'he won't hurt you, it's okay', and then back at Coulson, before giving a hesitant nod as a response.
"Do you want me to stay, or give you some space?" Natasha asked, absentmindedly attempting to smooth down a strand of Harry's hair that never behaved.
Harry looked at Coulson's face, noticing his warm, kind eyes that had laugh lines sprouting from their corners. He could trust him- he was a good guy. He was on Harry's side.
"Could you, um, maybe could I have some water please?" Harry stammered, giving Nat's hand a tight squeeze.
"Sure thing sweetie," she smiled as she rose. Coulson was looking at her with surprise- possibly at the gentle side of her that he had never seen before, or possibly at the fact that she, Natasha Romanoff, had just used the word 'sweetie' in a non-sarcastic way. With a tight lipped smile, Nat excused herself from the room, leaving the agent standing awkwardly several feet from Harry's bed.
"Do you mind if I...?" Coulson motioned to a chair, and Harry waved his hand, the chair moving forward on it's own. If Agent Coulson were surprised, he didn't show it. He had mastered the art of keeping a straight face despite whatever tom-fuckery was going on around him.
"Harry, I just wanted to apologize for Fury's comment. I know he was only trying to joke around with you, but he should have known better than to say something so accusatory to you, even in a joking manner. He's not..." he paused, thinking out what he wanted to say next.
"He's not the most personable human being to ever walk the planet."
This earned a small smile from Harry, so Coulson decided to tread carefully onward.
"If it's any consolation, I know how you're feeling. Well, I understand the panic and the whirlwind of emotions. I couldn't possibly understand exactly what you're feeling in this moment..."
Harry watched the agent as he took a big breath, and his hands balling into fists.
"I just wanted to tell you, if you ever need to talk to someone who's been through it- the... the abuse, I mean... I'm here if you need."
Harry's eyes searched the man's face, pain, sympathy and questions all etched into his expression.
"Who?" He croaked, finally, eyebrows furrowing with sadness and concern.
"My father," Coulson's responded, pressing his lips together in a very thin line as he looked down at his lap.
There was silence in the room as the words hung in the air. Suddenly, much to his surprise, a hand appeared atop of Coulson's fist.
Harry had uncovered himself, and was now sitting up with his arm outstretched, hand on top of the agent's.
"You're strong, Harry. Stronger than most people will ever know. Stronger than all of my agents combined. If I can understand even just a fraction of what you went through, then I know that you are the strongest of us all. And I know that it's going to take a lot of time and a lot of work to get through this, but trust me, pal, it does get easier."
Coulson gave Harry's hand a small squeeze, and stood up.
"I think it's probably about time I wrangle Fury and get him back to base before he finds one of Tony's new 'projects', but it was an honor to meet you. Really. And if you ever need anything," he reached into his suit and pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket.
"Just give me a call," he set the card on Harry's nightstand. "Take care, pal."
Harry gave him a small, genuine smile.
"Agent Coulson?" He spoke, causing the agent to turn around. "Thank you."
Coulson grinned and winked at the teenager.
"No problem," he began to turn again, before stopping and smiling.
"Oh, and kid? Call me Phil."