Chapter 3
Together the three of them got off the plane, Harry sticking close to both Natasha and Clint, clearly feeling safest between them. The two of them didn't let anyone in the crowded airport get too close to him in return, and the way they could both see he was nearly shaking like a leaf made it worth it. That is, until the boy stopped dead in his tracks, face ghostly pale.
“Harry, what's wrong?” Natasha asked, immediately crouching in front of him, Clint standing off beside her, glaring at anyone who stepped too close.
“Can't you hear it?” he asked, and Natasha frowned.
“What do you hear, Harry?” He seemed to go even paler then, leaning away from her.
“I'm not lying, I swear it aunt Tasha.” she soothed him with a touch to his cheek and a soft smile.
“I would never think you were a liar. Just tell me what's scaring you.”
“There's someone close – they keep saying they want to kill. I'm scared, aunt Tasha.” he whispered, and Natasha was already looking around.
“What does the voice sound like, Harry?”
“It's a whisper – it's saying it's trapped but when it gets out-” her gaze snapped to Clint's who gave the tiniest shrug, but neither disbelieved him. They both knew quite a few people with peculiar talents and this wouldn't even make it close to the top of the weird list.
“Girl or boys voice?” Clint asked, and Harry hesitated.
“I don't know – but it's coming closer.” he murmured, eyes wide and frightened.
“Do you know what it's trapped in?” Natasha asked next, and Harry shook his head.
“No – but it's getting closer. It's right over there!” she followed his frightened gaze to a group of luggage trolleys and her eyes immediately fell on a box with small holes in it. She met Clint's gaze again and he nodded. He saw it too. She stood, protective hand on Harry's shoulder and Clint eased his way towards the luggage cart. Even as he reached it, a man rushed over, trying to make him move away, but without even batting an eye Clint managed to dodge around the man and knock the cart over. The large box burst open and a 13 foot king cobra spilled out. The panic was immediate and the snake's hood went wide as the snake lifted itself up, preparing to strike at the first person who got too close. Harry sucked in a breath, and without a thought Natasha lifted his tiny form into her arms, keeping him out of reach of the panicked civilians. Before the snake could strike anyone though, two gunshots rang through the air, the snake collapsing from it's threatening pose into a dead heap. A second later, the man who'd been hiding the serpent dropped as well, this time from a well aimed throw of Clint's fist. He was back beside Natasha in an instant and despite the fact that he knew the snake hadn't been anywhere close to them, his eyes still checked them for injuries.
“You okay Harry?” he asked, and the boy nodded though he kept his face pressed against Natasha's neck, shaking like a leaf from the scare. Having known the shots hadn't come from Clint, Natasha looked for the one she knew should be behind the gun. He appeared seconds later with a handful of guards following close behind. The guards immediately converged on the snake's corpse and the man while Phil walked directly over to where Natasha stood with Clint.
“I'm glad to see you made it back safe.” was the first thing he said, and Natasha just shot him a look, carefully setting Harry down when he made it clear that's what he wanted. When he was on the ground again, he looked up at Phil from where he stood partially behind Natasha. “Welcome to America, Mr. Potter.” Phil greeted, offering a friendly smile, and Natasha gave Harry a soft smile when he tossed a nervous glance in her direction.
“Harry, this is Phil Coulson.” Phil watched the understanding cross Harry's face and he gave a tentative smile, offering a tiny hand.
“It's a pleasure to meet you, sir.” Phil shook the hand carefully before watching the boy tuck it back in his pocket, looking between Natasha and Clint before moving over beside Clint and taking the man's hand. He watched how Clint reacted immediately, the tension that had appeared with Phil disappearing as his whole self turned to centre around this tiny person.
“How did you know about the snake?” Phil asked curiously, focusing on Natasha, and didn't miss how Harry tensed and Clint soothed with murmured words of comfort, but he brushed it off as a scare from the dangerous animal.
“Clint saw movement – with Harry here we decided it was better to be safe than sorry.” Phil accepted the words with a nod.
“Well, that's enough excitement for today. We should get to the tower before anyone recognizes you.” the words reminded Natasha of just how much harder she'd made her life by exposing those secrets, but looking at Harry, seeing him laugh at the undoubtedly stupid joke Clint had just told him – made it all worth it. So she nodded and moved to take Harry's other hand, leading the way out.
>>>
They stood together in the elevator, Harry holding Natasha's hand with Clint on his other side, Coulson standing between him and the door.
“I don't wish to be a bother.” Harry repeated for the fourth time since they'd entered the building, and Natasha was at a loss for what to say. She'd already told him it was fine because they were like a family, but no matter how she'd reassured him, he hadn't calmed. What surprised her, was how Clint then took over.
“Hey, Harry.” the boy looked up at him, expression pinched with worry, and Clint just gave him a bright smile. “If any of them say anything you don't like, me and your aunt Tasha will kick their asses.” Harry looked shocked before giving Clint a scolding look.
“It isn't nice to say things like that Mr. Clint.” Clint gave a dramatic wince.
“Aw, come on kid. I told you. Just Clint is fine. Plus, we're friends, aren't we?” he asked with a sappy grin. Harry gave an embarrassed nod, but none of the adults missed the small smile that accompanied it. “That's what I thought. Well, friends protect friends. Alright kid?” Clint said with the same easy grin, ruffling Harry's hair, and Harry finally relaxed. They reached their floor and Natasha just smiled at her best friend.
The elevator doors slid open and Harry automatically gave a small, sharp intake of breath, stepping back behind Natasha. Though Natasha had expected the group welcome, she could also understand just why Harry was so uneasy. As they stepped out of the elevator they were faced with the rest of the team lounging in the communal living room but clearly waiting for them. Maria Hill and Pepper were sitting together at the bar, each with a glass of wine in their hands, but the most shocking was that Pepper's feet were bare and she was wearing loose fitting torn jeans and a shirt that obviously belonged to Tony. Tony was on the other side of the bar with Bruce, chattering away happily while he mixed himself a drink. Steve and Sam were sitting together on the couch, listening to the news as they poured over files spread out on the coffee table. The moment the elevator door closed, all eyes turned in their direction and Natasha could already feel the tremors beginning in Harry's hand.
She had never been prouder to call Sam her friend than in that moment. He was off the couch in an instant but in the slow and easy manner to make him seem harmless.
“Hey Phil, Clint, Nat. Good to have you guys back!” he was grinning from ear to ear with his perfect Disney quality friendly grin. “And who's your friend? I'm Sam by the way. It's great to meet you.” Natasha couldn't help but smile at Sam's ability to help and gently tugged Harry forward.
“This is my nephew, Harry. He's going to be living with me.” Sam didn't even miss a beat, immediately turning the beaming grin on Harry.
“Wow, that's pretty awesome. Your aunt is a pretty swell gal, little man. Hey – do you like card games? I learned a new one that I wanted to teach Clint, but it's always more fun with more people. Why don't you come play with us?” Harry looked up at Natasha who gave a small nod and then to Clint who gave an agreeable smile before looking back to Sam. Then he finally spoke, small voice carrying in the silence.
“Clint taught me Go Fish. That was fun.” he said tentatively, looking back at Clint for reassurance, and Clint grinned.
“Sure was. The kid was a natural.”
“Great. Come on, cards are this way. We can play Go Fish again if you want.” Sam offered, and Harry just took Clint's hand, giving a surprised squeak when Clint scooped him up and dropped him on his shoulders. The scolding look was immediate but he still threaded his fingers through Clint's hair, giving a little giggle as Clint all but dashed out of the room, Sam on his heels. As soon as they were gone, all eyes turned back to Natasha.
“So, a nephew, huh?” Tony asked, and Natasha just stared at him for a moment before nodding. That's when Pepper intervened, sliding off her stool and wandering over, giving Natasha a peck on the cheek.
“Welcome back. Everything's ready, just like you asked. If you need anything else just let me know.” she said, and Natasha gave her a warm smile.
“Thanks, Pepper.”
“Wait – what's ready? Why did nobody tell me about this?” Tony was collectively ignored and Steve stood.
“How did you find out about him?” the question was pointed but kind and Natasha tried to let the tension out of her shoulders but she was already worrying about Harry and the tight muscles wouldn't relax.
“When S.H.I.E.L.D. fell and everything was posted to the internet Phil's analyst found as much personal information as she could of our teams and hid it. Our addresses, family. Those sort of things. In all of that she found some details about my past that even I didn't know.” At that she paused, not sure how much she wanted to share, then she decided that they probably knew everything anyways. “As it turns out, my father was not my biological father. I was kidnapped from my family at a very young age and declared dead after 5 years of searching without any result. It turns out I had two sisters, both married with a child. The younger of the two, Lily, died alongside her husband, leaving their son, Harry, to the only living relatives. As a baby, he was left to my other sister, Petunia.” she knew they'd seen her distaste because Steve's eyebrows had winged up. “Their treatment of our mutual nephew left something to be desired.” she said coldly, and she realized her hands had tightened to fists.
“What happened to him?” Maria asked, frowning between her and Coulson, and Natasha let out a breath.
“They had him sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs.” she said softly, and the shock in the room was palpable. Phil took over then.
“The doctor's noticed malnutrition among other things. It would be safe to say Harry has been previously neglected and it will take some time to make up for that.” he looked at Natasha who nodded.
“I understand that having a child here is a lot of responsibility and I don't expect help from any of you.” before Steve could argue, she smiled and continued. “But I won't stop any of you from being a part of my nephew's life. Just be gentle with him.” she sighed. “The first time I held him, he cried because he couldn't remember an affectionate touch. So be careful with him. And don't ever tell him to do a chore. In his last home he was expected to cook and clean. I want him just to be a child.” there were nods all around and so Natasha finally made to follow the path Clint and Sam had taken. When she was gone, Coulson pulled a file from his coat and handed it to Steve, the others converging.
“Here are the results of Harry's medical exams.” he said, and there was no missing the dark tone.
>>>
Their first night in the tower went much as Natasha had expected it to. She put Harry to bed at 8 since that seemed an appropriate time for a 6 year old to sleep and he was exhausted, and at 9:30, Harry had found her in their private living room with Clint. Both had known the instant Harry was out of bed and had waited for him to appear. When he did, it was to hide in the shadows of the doorway, invisible except to those who had been trained to notice such things.
“Couldn't sleep, kid?” Clint called, and Harry stiffened before slowly coming into the room, shaking his head. Natasha just waved him closer.
“We were going to watch a movie. Would you like to watch one with us?”
“I don't want to be a bother.” came the usual reply, so Natasha just slid to her feet, scooped him up, and settled him between herself and Clint on the couch.
“We should totally watch Robin Hood – the one with the fox.” Clint said, and Harry frowned at him.
“Robin hood isn't a fox. He's a man. And he's a thief. Thief’s are bad.” Clint just grinned at him.
“But that's not the whole story, kid. Sure he's a thief, but he's stealing things back from a bigger thief. Cause you see, the prince was taking all the money that everyone had and so nobody could be very happy anymore, so Robin, he took the money back and gave it to the poor so that they didn't have to go hungry.” Harry was silent for a moment as he digested the story then looked to Natasha.
“Can we watch that, aunt Tasha?” she nodded, pulling him in to cuddle.
“Of course. Jarvis?”
“Right away Ms. Romanov.” Harry startled at the voice.
“Is Jarvis in every room?” Harry whispered, having been unnerved by the AI since he'd first heard it speak to Sam during their game of cards.
“Yes, but don't worry. He's here to keep us all safe. That includes you.”
“How?”
“Jarvis has control of the whole security system, and he can tell you wherever anyone is. If you're ever lost, he can help you get unlost.”
“Wow. But if he's protecting us, who's protecting him? If he's the whole house he could be hurt very easily.” Natasha smiled down at Harry, amazed by his empathy.
“Tony protects him. He made Jarvis so he knows how to fix him if anything goes wrong.” Harry nodded and then his attention was caught by the movie beginning.
He was asleep by the time the credits rolled, and Clint looked over, carefully removing the glasses from his face.
“He's a great kid, Nat.” Clint said, and Natasha nodded, smoothing the hair back from his face.
“I know.”
“So then what are you worried about?”
“What if I hurt him – if we hurt him?” Clint shook his head, taking her hand.
“Nat, he's a good kid. And you're a great guardian. He's going to be okay, and so are you. Plus, from what I heard, between Sam and Pepper you'll have all the information you could ever need.”
“Phil's been a big help too, Clint.” she replied, and Clint scowled.
“He also pretended to be dead for a couple of years, Nat.”
“He's trying, Clint. But your radio silence is hurting him. He doesn't get it, Clint. How could he? You never told him.” Clint just made a face.
“Yeah well. He was my S.O he should've figured it out.” Natasha just scoffed.
“идиот.” she said, but it was fond, and Clint's scowl softened.
“Okay, let's get the little tyke to bed.”