Chapter 4
While Natasha had expected Harry to have some trouble sleeping, she hadn't expected it quite to the extent that it was. Although the first night was okay, the next few nights had Harry nightmaring, a fact that kept Natasha up worrying. Of course, despite the nightmares, Harry seemed to be doing really well, the rest of the team slowly warming up to him. Steve had brought him a book to colour in with a pack of crayons and Harry had been so in awe of the gift that the sweetest smile had spread across his face and he'd quickly thanked Steve before running to Natasha, excitedly whispering about the gift. Since then, everyone in the tower had been presented with a drawing. Steve got the first bunch, obvious thank you's for the gift, and he'd put each of them up on his own floor which had thrilled Harry to no end. Clint got the next picture, which Harry had quickly explained was him as Robin Hood because he had a bow and arrow. Clint had tucked the picture away into the case he kept his bow in and promised to keep it forever. Natasha got the next picture, and it had been so sweet that her chest ached. The picture was of her and Harry, both little stick figures, Harry's with big round glasses, Natasha's with bright red hair. They were holding hands in what was supposed to be a flower garden. Above the image in scrawling 6 year old print read 'to aunt Tasha', and then at the bottom it said 'I love you'. His name was signed under it and Natasha had squeezed him in a tight hug, peppering his head with kisses until he was flushing bright red but beaming.
“I love you too, Harry. Thank you for the drawing. I'm going to put it up on my bedroom wall.” he nodded before immediately scrambling back to his crayons.
What surprised everyone was that the next drawing was for Tony. Though the billionaire hadn't actively avoided Harry, he hadn't searched him out either, and while the rest of the team had tried to include the boy in their lives, Tony had remained consistently distant. When Harry approached him it was hesitant, but with a smile, and he nervously handed him the drawing where he sat at the kitchen table, scrambling onto the chair next to him so he could reach.
“This is you.” Harry said, pointing at the stick figure with the blue circle on it's chest. “This is Pepper and Mr. Rhodes.”
“Who's this?” Tony asked, pointing to the shapeless grey blob with a smiley face next to his own character.
“Jarvis. He's your family. Like aunt Tasha is my family.” Tony was silent at first and then he reached over to ruffle Harry's hair.
“Nice job, kid. Isn't it, Jarvis?”
“Indeed, sir. It if a very interesting interpretation of if I had a physical form. Well done, Mr. Potter.” Tony nodded in agreement and stood, walking over to the fridge and attaching it there with a magnet.
“There. What do you think?” Harry just beamed at him, nodding his own agreement. Then he was off, Tony assumed to draw some more and leaving the billionaire behind, bemused. He turned back, fixing the picture so it was straight, and with a small smile, went back to work.
>>>
The first incident happened only a week later, and it had Natasha in a panic. She appeared in the common room and had everyone jumping in surprise, immediately wary of the fire dancing in her eyes.
“Have any of you seen Harry?” there was a beat of silence and then everyone was on their feet.
“He's missing?” Clint asked, almost instantly as panicked as Natasha, and she winced.
“I – I can't find him anywhere.”
“Jarvis! Where's Harry?” Tony demanded, and the pause had everyone's nerves on edge.
“Mr. Potter disappeared from all of my sensors 20 minutes ago.” Natasha felt instantly ill.
“Did he leave the tower?”
“I do not know, Ms. Romanov. Mr. Potter was in the common room 21 minutes ago and then completely vanished.” for the first time she could remember, Natasha felt pure terror.
“It has to be a glitch. We have to find him.” she snapped, and then she cracked, shouting his name. “Harry!” the others followed suit, combing through the tower, calling out the boy's name.
Clint was on the roof, having taken an off chance in searching it, when he heard the sniffle. Moving as silently as he could, he approached the sound, turning the corner to find Harry folded into a small, safe niche, arms wrapped around his knees, face hidden against them, shoulders shaking with tears. Clint made noise then, making sure Harry would hear him coming and wouldn't scare, and though he watched Harry stiffen the boy didn't try and escape.
“You're a hard man to find, Harry.” Clint said easily, sliding forward cautiously, and Harry curled up smaller. “Hey, whoa there, I'm not mad. I've been worried.” at that, Harry finally lifted his head, and the sight of the tears was heartbreaking. “Aw, kid, come on, please don't cry!” he finally reached him, crouching down next to the hiding spot.
“I'm sorry.” Harry apologized miserably, and Clint gave a small smile.
“No apology necessary. How come you're out here?” new tears filled Harry's eyes, spilling over faster.
“I didn't mean to cause trouble, I swear it!” he sobbed, hiding his face again, and Clint's face fell. He couldn't help himself anymore, he reached out, pulling Harry from his hiding spot and into a hug.
“Harry, you haven't caused any trouble, except for hiding. Everyone's been really worried. Speaking of-” he touched the button on his hearing aid, connecting to Jarvis. “Jarvis, let the other's know I've found him. He was hiding on the roof.” Harry flinched but didn't try to pull away from his embrace. “Come on, your aunt's worried sick.” the words had Harry crying harder, and so at a loss, Clint stood, Harry curled up in his arms, and carried him inside. He saw Nat the moment she was on the floor and she moved so fast she was practically a blur, appearing directly in front of them.
“Harry, thank God.” at the sound of her voice, Harry started sobbing again.
“I'm sorry aunt Tasha. I didn't mean to be a troublemaker – please don't give me away!” Clint could see the heartbreak in Natasha's eyes, watched how her touch faltered.
“Harry, I would never, ever, give you away even if you did the naughtiest thing you could think of. What made you think you were a troublemaker?” Harry didn't seem to hear the question at first because he'd finally calmed down enough to look at his aunt.
“Really?” he sniffed, and she nodded. He reached for her with new tears, hugging her as tightly as she hugged him.
“I'm never going to give you up, Harry. You never have to be anywhere but here. I will never give you away.” she held him tight until he'd calmed down, and that's when Clint finally spoke up.
“What made you think you were being a troublemaker, Harry?” he didn’t hear the answer at first since his face was hidden in Natasha's shoulder, but then she eased him back.
“Tony said aunt Tasha looked tired and Jarvis said it was cause I kept her awake with bad dreams and Tony said I was a troublemaker.” As he heard the story, Clint could remember the incident, could remember how Tony had ruffled Harry's hair affectionately and given a smile as he said it, making Clint think nothing of it at the time. Now he realized he'd have to pay more attention. Of course, then he saw how still Nat had gone, how violence shimmered off her skin. The elevator chose that moment to ding, Tony, Steve, and Bruce piling out of it, rushing over to make sure Harry was okay. Before any of them could speak, Natasha had passed Harry to Clint and had Tony pinned against a wall. She was spitting curses in Russian while Tony shouted in pain, and before Clint realized what was happening, Harry was running towards the pair of them.
“Aunt Tasha! Aunt Tasha! Stop! Stop!” he shouted, the loudest voice any of them had ever heard him use, tugging on her arm as soon as he reached her. Natasha immediately let go, following Harry's touch, though her hand went to a knife.
“What the hell is your problem?” Tony demanded, and When Natasha snarled at him, Harry tugged her back again.
“Alright, everyone needs to calm down.” Steve's voice left no room for argument and the room went silent. “Okay. Now, Harry, can you tell us why you were hiding?” Harry fidgeted under everyone's stares, and so Clint stepped in, ignoring Steve's glare that he was supposed to let Harry talk.
“Miscommunication. Harry thought he was causing trouble.” he cast Tony a pointed look and watched realization hit followed by guilt.
“Shit – kid. I didn't mean it like that. I was only joking. You aren't a troublemaker.” he looked at Natasha then, and for once there was nothing but humble apology. She stared at him for another tense minute before finally stepping back, taking Harry's hand.
“Come on, Harry, let's go get some ice cream.”
“From outside the tower?” came the soft but excited reply, but then there was a pause where Harry looked back. He tugged his hand free of Natasha's and ran right over to where Tony still stood.
“Sorry for getting you in trouble.” he murmured, green eyes wide with apology. Tony just shrugged, but again gave an affectionate ruffle of Harry's hair.
“Seems fair. I made you cry first. We're even now.” Harry nodded but then hesitated again, looking back at his aunt. Knowing what he was going to ask, she gave a resigned sigh but nodded. Harry turned back to Tony.
“Do you want to come for ice cream?”
>>>
Natasha had known there was something different about Harry from the moment she'd taken him from her sister's home, but that didn't make it any less surprising each time something happened.
Clint and Natasha had decided to take Harry to the zoo, Natasha because she'd seen his longing gaze when he'd heard about it on the radio station he liked listening to, and Clint because Coulson was spending the day at the tower and he needed out of there. Though Natasha had given him a scolding look, she hadn't denied his company, especially when he offered to carry Harry around on his back, running the two of them around as if he was also 6. Natasha found it endearing and allowed it to continue. Of course, that's when she noticed the odd things. It happened first in desert exhibit where the sidewinders seemed to show off for Harry who would giggle appreciatively, and again when they saw the rattlesnakes who seemed to actually rattle in response to Harry's awe, but the final incident happened in the rain forest pavilion, when they found the boa constrictor, and at Harry's awed gasp, it moved as if in reaction, slithering over to the glass, lifting itself up as if to look at him. It hissed in Harry's direction and Harry asked to be put down, little hands pressing against the glass, nose millimetres away.
“You're very beautiful.” Harry murmured, and the snake seemed to bob it's head in answer, hissing back. Clint glanced at Natasha, but Natasha just shrugged. She'd thought it might be possible considering the incident at the airport when they'd first arrived, but there'd been no way to prove it. “You must be lonely, aren't you? I used to be lonely, but then my new family found me.” there was another hiss from the snake and Harry looked nearly apologetic. “I don't know my parents either.” he said softly, and that's when the other kids started gathering, noticing that the snake was moving. Before either Clint or Natasha could react, other kids stormed over, an older boy knocking Harry out of the way. As he was closer, Clint caught him before he could hit the ground, but that didn't stop Harry's hurt glare. That's when everything changed. One second the glass was separating the kids from the snake, and the next moment the glass was gone, the snake sliding out of the cage, menacing hiss escaping it whenever someone was too close. It turned towards where Clint held Harry, offering a hiss before sliding off into the pavilion, and for a moment the three of them just stared at each other before they heard the screams of other visitors and Natasha watched the tears well in Harry's eyes.
“I didn't mean to.” he whispered, terrified, and Clint lifted him off the ground before the tears could really start to fall.
“Don't worry about it kid. Know what I think this means? We should go to the pet store.” the surprise had Harry blinking the tears away, and Natasha just smiled. Of course she knew she'd never get angry at Harry for something like this – not when it was obviously not intended, and from Harry's words he'd empathized with how lonely the snake seemed to feel, but if she understood what Clint was saying, if Harry had his own pet, then perhaps he'd be less likely to set free the zoo animals. They left the zoo, avoiding the zoo keepers rushing around to recapture the snake, and soon found themselves in a large pet store, wandering the aisles. Despite their initial idea of what pet they thought they'd end up getting, Harry went right past the reptiles with only brief admiration, and they soon found themselves in front of a group of kittens. As if sensing the sale, a young woman appeared with a bright smile, facing them across the one cage Harry was admiring.
“Do you see one that you like?” Harry just looked at Natasha who moved forward beside him. Harry then pointed at the smallest one in there, a little black cat with white tipped ears and a white cap on the end of it's tail and paws. It had bright blue eyes and Harry seemed charmed by it. Natasha nodded at the woman, motioning at the cat and watched as she gently brought it out of the cage.
“She's brand new.” the woman told them. “A friend of the owner, her cat just had kittens but they didn't have space for them so they donated them here.”
“She's beautiful.” Harry said softly, eyes lit up with wonder, and the woman agreed.
One hour later, Harry carried his new kitten into the tower, same expression of awe on his face.
“What are you going to name her, Harry?”
“Lily.” he said, without hesitation, and once again Natasha felt her chest tighten.
“That's a really pretty name.”