Chapter 7
Harry was 8 years old when the thing that Natasha feared most happening, happened. Harry'd gone to the park with Tony since Natasha and Clint had to go file paperwork under pain of death from Coulson. Natasha was just signing for the last detail when her phone rang. Ignoring Coulson's glare and Clint's curiosity, she answered it.
“Romanov.”
“Ms. Romanov, I am no longer receiving vital signals from Master Stark.” Jarvis' voice informed her, and if an AI could sound worried, Jarvis did. She was on her way out the door in an instant, motioning the others after her.
“Where?” Jarvis listed the park that Tony had taken Harry too and Natasha felt like the floor had fallen out from under her. “I'm on my way. Call the others, and the authorities.”
“The authorities have already been alerted. There seems to be a large disturbance within the park and it's disturbing all electrical signals.” she switched from her phone to a com and kept moving, Clint and Coulson on her heels.
“What's going on?” Clint asked, and Natasha only spared a quick glance before she sped up.
“Jarvis lost of trace of Tony's vitals. Last known location is at the park with Harry.” Clint paled be before his expression hardened.
“What are we waiting for?”
Tony had thought taking Harry to the park would be a safe venture. They'd done it dozens of times before since Harry had moved in with them, and he had Happy on stand by at the coffee shop across the street. Bruce had also ventured out of the tower with them, having decided to visit a small independent bookstore around the corner that had apparently caught his interest. Tony new better than to think Bruce would happily wander New York on his own, but he certainly wouldn't begrudge Bruce's protective feelings for Harry. Of course, while he would never be surprised about attacks against himself, he'd never once considered that someone would target Harry.
The first sign that something was wrong was when Harry didn't immediately come zooming down the slide on the promised last turn. Tony had been getting tired of the glances being tossed his way and had promised Harry ice cream if they could leave this park and find a new one. The idea of two treats had thrilled the boy and he'd happily agreed on the promise that he could go down the slide one last time. Tony of course waved him towards the slide and Harry had torn off – but he hadn't appeared back at the bottom yet. Not yet worried, Tony wandered around the equipment, intent on telling Harry to hurry when he saw Harry talking to an unfamiliar pretty blonde woman. She was about his own age and he frowned, quickening his pace.
“Harry!” he called, and both sets of eyes turned his way, Harry's green eyes clouded with confusion and the blonde's grey eyes hardening the moment she saw Tony. Her hand snapped out and she grabbed Harry's wrist with bruising force. Harry's eyes went instantly from confused to afraid, and he was tugging away. Even as she grabbed him though, Tony was lashing out with a fist, punching her in the face.
“Get away from my nephew.” he snarled, and even as his fist connected, sending her to the ground, she was releasing Harry's wrist and the boy hid behind Tony.
“What's going on uncle Tony?” Harry asked, afraid, and Tony just gave him a reassuring smile, standing between him and the military looking group that was bleeding out of the space around the park. The other families had cleared out in the moments between Harry being grabbed and released, and it left Tony on his own. He pressed call on his ear piece and heard Happy answer.
“I need my suit. And you need to call Bruce and Cap. They're both in the area. We've got trouble.”
“On it, boss.” Tony hung up, turning to check on the woman, but before he could, a searing pain sent him to his knees, electricity burning through him even as he heard Harry shout out for him with fear. He was hit again with what he was assuming was a cattle prod before he could even consider getting up.
“Stop hurting my uncle!” he heard Harry shout, and this time it was not only afraid but angry. Tony knew he hadn't passed out because he could still hear everything, but that didn't explain how everything went suddenly darker. He realized moments later it was from the storm clouds that were suddenly building, and the crack of thunder had him wondering how on earth Thor had known they were in trouble. Of course, no god of thunder appeared, instead when the woman went to hit him with the rod again, Harry shouted again. “Stay away!” and he threw up his hands as if to ward off any attack. Tony watched, gaze blurry, as the woman and the men closest behind her were sent flying back, and he blinked in disbelief. He had to be seeing things.
“Leave Stark, we only need the boy.” Tony felt Harry hesitate at the words, felt the air grow thicker as if Tony could taste Harry's fear. The hands gripping his arms began to shake before Harry started to retreat, obviously trying to run from whoever was reaching for him. Tony tried to push to his feet, tried to get to Harry, but before he could, he was hit with the rod again, and just as everything went dark he heard the Hulk's roar. He prayed harder than ever before that the Hulk would recognize Harry and that the boy wouldn't be hurt.
Harry was terrified. He didn't think he'd ever been so afraid in his life. There were men with guns everywhere, and a woman who kept hurting his uncle, but no matter where he looked there didn't seem to be anywhere to escape to. He thought of his aunt Tasha and his uncle Clint, wondering briefly what they would do if they were here. He was sure they wouldn't act afraid, but that's because they were strong and could fight. Despite knowing that he himself was tiny and weak, that didn't stop him from drawing himself up to his full height, trying to be brave.
“If you hurt me, my family will be mad.” he said, trying to sound threatening, but the woman who'd hurt his uncle Tony just laughed. It was a mean laugh – a laugh like Dudley used to give when he was allowed to chase Harry around with his friends, playing a game of Beat the Freak. The memory had him shuddering, but he did his best to remain tall even as the woman came closer, obviously meaning to scare him.
“Your family doesn't scare me. They should be scared of me. After all, you're the Black Widow's nephew, do you know how powerful that will make me? Having you in my grasp?” the words didn't really make sense to Harry – he had no idea why taking him away from his aunt would make anyone powerful, but that didn't mean the woman scared him any less. Despite himself, he retreated away from her, eyes once more flying around the clearing, feeling panic at the sheer number of men with guns. Even as he felt the panic, he heard a deep, bellowing roar, and he was torn between relief and apprehension. He knew just who it was who was roaring, but he'd also never seen his uncle Bruce's hero shape, and could only wonder if the stories he'd heard were true or not. Even as he wondered that, the large green shape burst into view. Harry was struck immediately by the sheer size of the Hulk, but when their gazes met, Harry didn't feel even the slightest hint of fear. Instead, the Hulk just leapt over to where he was, the ground shaking with the force, but even as Harry stumbled, one big green hand steadied him gently while the other reached out to grab the woman, yanking her in close.
“NO TOUCH HARRY!” he bellowed, before tossing her like a rag doll into a group of the men.
“Order Delta, order Delta!” Harry could hear the shouting beginning and he flinched towards the Hulk, feeling safe behind the green bulk, but then he caught sight of Tony, and tugged on Hulk's hand.
“Uncle Tony's hurt!” he said when he had Hulk's attention, and he was immediately scooped up in one broad palm and brought over to where Tony was. Even as he blinked, he saw the guns lift in their direction, and even as he screamed, the Hulk curled around him and Tony, covering them with his bulk. The sound of gunshots had Harry in a panic and the sound of lightning had Tony struggling to pull himself back to fully aware. Harry was crying somewhere close, but he couldn't see anything behind the green bulk of the hulk.
“Harry,” he managed to wheeze out, and the sound of tears slowed.
“Uncle Tony?”
“Yeah, kid. I'm okay. Are you okay?” there was a bellowing roar paired with loud crashes of thunder, and then suddenly there were no more gunshots. The lightning stopped moments later, and that's when they both heard Natasha's voice.
“Harry!” The Hulk uncurled around them, and soon Natasha was in sight, Clint and Coulson on her heels. Hulk set Harry down, but rather than put Tony down, he frowned down at the genius, one giant finger touching the arc reactor.
“I'm okay, big guy.” Tony assured, and with a grunt, the hulk set him down as well then, and Clint was quick to move forward to help him stay on his feet. Harry just ran towards his aunt, tears streaming down his face, and Natasha immediately dropped down, hugging him tightly.
“Shh, it's alright. You're alright. I've got you.”
“They wanted to take me away. They wanted to hurt you by taking me away.” Natasha's grip tightened on him, and she cradled him to her body.
“How do you know, Harry?”
“The lady said so. She said she'd be,” he paused, sniffling, “Powerful if she could take me away from you, and that you should be scared.” The words were all too true, and Natasha just looked up at her friends, her family, wondering just how they were supposed to protect this precious boy.
>>>
Harry couldn't sleep. It's not that he didn't want to, it's that everytime he closed his eyes he was back in the park with uncle Tony and those people were attacking them again but this time, there was no uncle Bruce to save them. He was sitting in the window seat, staring out over the city with no intention of crawling back into bed when Jarvis' voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Mr. Potter, if you do not rest you will be too tired to participate in tomorrows activities."
"I don't want to participate." Harry responded sadly, and there was a pause before Jarvis asked,
"Why?"
"Because it's my fault uncle Tony got hurt. I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me."
"Mr. Stark was not caused any permanent injury. He is in perfect health."
"But they attacked us because they wanted to take me away. Uncle Tony was hurt for protecting me." There was another pause before Jarvis spoke, and Harry suspected it was because he was deciding what to say.
"You recognize Mr. Stark as your family, is that not correct?"
"Yes it is."
"As I have been informed, it is the purpose of family to protect family. It would follow then, that it is Mr. Stark's duty as your family to protect you."
"But what about me? I'm little. I can't protect anyone. That isn't fair."
"You will not always be little, Mr. Potter." This time it was Harry's turn not to answer right away.
"Jarvis?"
"Yes Mr. Potter?"
"Do you think one day I'll be able to protect them like they protect me?"
"I do, Mr. Potter." Harry nodded, finally relaxing, but he didn't leave the window seat.
"Is uncle Tony still awake?"
"He is. Would you like me to guide you to him?" At that, Harry finally stood.
"Yes please."
Tony looked up at the sound of Jarvis' voice and saw Harry carefully making his way down the stairs to the lab. When he looked up and caught sight of Tony he gave a relieved smile, and Tony heard him thank Jarvis before coming carefully into the workshop.
"You're up late." Tony noted, but he understood, he was fairly certain he couldn't sleep for the same reason Harry couldn't. Today had been a scare for both of them. "Couldn't sleep?" Harry shook his head and Tony beckoned him forward, hauling the kid onto his lap when he was close enough to reach. "Me either. Want to help me build some new arrows for Clint?" Harry nodded again, settling in against Tony, relaxed now, and Tony just reached around him, carefully showing him how to assemble the shafts he was working on. He pressed his cheek against Harry's hair, taking a deep breath. They were good. The kid was safe and he didn't even have any bruises from the day. All in all the turnout was pretty okay, but that didn't stop him from remembering Harry's terrified voice, or the lost look on Natasha's face when she'd held on to Harry for dear life. But no, they were okay, and they'd be more careful in the future because there was no way he'd let this ruin the kid's whole childhood.
When Natasha woke up she went immediately to Harry's room to find her nephew not in his bed. The panicked thought didn't even have time to form before Jarvis was interrupting.
"Mr. Potter is with Mr. Stark in the workshop." He informed her, and she realized she probably should have looked there first. Both of her boys would have been anxious after the events of the day before. She made her way down to the workshop then and wasn't at all surprised to find the two of them curled up together on the couch kept for this very purpose, fast asleep. She moved forward, keeping her steps silent so as not to wake them. Since they were both deceptively light sleepers she didn't reach out, but she did smile.
"Jarvis, let me know when they wake up."
"Of course agent Romanov." With one last look, she left the two to sleep, and knew without a doubt that they'd both be okay.