Chapter 9
“Jarvis – do you wish sometimes that you had a body?” Harry asked one day when he was playing with Lily on the floor, watching as she leapt at his hand only to scratch behind her ears just to start the cycle all over again.
“I am of far more use as I am, Mr. Potter. A physical form would be limiting.” Harry nodded, but pressed on.
“But do you ever want one?” There was a pause as Harry assumed Jarvis decided on an answer.
“As I do not possess emotions such as desire, I cannot therefore 'want' anything. However, the concept of a physical form does hold some use such as physical security, and the ability to enforce proper meal regiments by serving food in a physical form of my own. In this respect, it could be reflected as desire.” Harry nodded sagely.
“What do you think you'd look like if you had a body?”
“The name master Stark gave me, Jarvis, belonged to a butler that master Stark had when he was a child.” that had Harry looking up.
“What did he look like?” In front of Harry's eyes, the image of a man was projected and Harry stood, entranced, circling the image twice before shaking his head.
“No, I don't think you should like like him. You're someone new, Jarvis. You should have your own face.” Harry smiled towards one of the cameras in the room. “Will you help me?”
“Of course, Mr. Potter.” Harry grinned, excited, and he grabbed a chair from his desk, pulling it over so he could be eye level with the projection.
“When did uncle Tony create you? You sound English. What did people in England look like when you were made?” Before Jarvis could answer, Harry continued. “And uncle Tony has lots of money so you would look like someone who works for a family with lots of money. What's the word for that, Jarvis?”
“I believe the word you're looking for, Mr. Potter, is aristocracy. And how is this?” In front of Harry's eyes, a bland looking man with a pale complexion appeared in front of him. Harry looked at him and frowned.
“It's not quite right. What's your favourite colour, Jarvis?”
“If you mean to ask in order to establish eye colour, the colour green is a recesive eye colour gene that many attempt to gain in the conception of their child.”
“I have green eyes!” Harry said, and Jarvis confirmed that fact.
“You do. A trait shared by your biological mother.” Harry just hummed.
“Would you like green eyes?” Rather than answer, Harry found himself staring into grey-green eyes. “What about your hair? I think most people have brown hair.” Harry admitted. “But maybe a light brown? That would look nice I think. If you like it.”
It was Tony that found the two of them – Harry still on his chair, chatting with the projection that appeared to be chatting back, in Jarvis' voice.
“There. It's perfect. We're a good team, Jarvis.”
“Indeed, Mr. Potter.”
“I'm glad you're part of my family too.” Harry said then, and Tony found his chest clench at the words.
“As am I, Mr. Potter.” without a word, Tony turned on his heels and left, not aware that two sets of green eyes had followed his progress out of the room.
>>>
Though it had been accepted from the moment Harry had moved in with then all that he was special, it wasn't classified as magic until the boy was 9. There had been electrical issues and the whole talking to snakes thing, but after his 9th birthday it became all too clear. For the very first time, Harry met Nick Fury and it could not have gone worse. The former director of SHIELD found Harry alone in Tony Stark's office, and Fury found himself at a loss as the boy stared at him, the door closing behind him and leaving him alone with the boy.
"I'm looking for Tony Stark." He said carefully, and Harry nodded.
"This is his office." Harry said, turning back to his colouring book, and Fury took a step closer.
"I need to see him." Fury continued, and Harry looked back up, frowning.
"Visitors are supposed to wait downstairs."
"I'm a - I'm an old friend." The boy's frown darkened and Fury found himself wondering just who this boy was.
"What's your name?" Fury's eyes narrowed.
"Nick."
"He never talks about a Nick. If you don't go away I'll call security." The words were very grownup coming from a child, and Fury grew suspicious.
"I need to talk to Stark. Now." He moved forward and watched the boy's eyes zero in on the weapon at his hip. Damnit. The boy's eyes widened with fear and his tiny hands were reaching for the cellphone beside him. Fury moved forward to stop him but it seemed to only frighten the boy more and this time the boy's hands flew up in defense and Fury was sent flying back.
"Help! He has a gun and he tried to grab me!" Fury tried to push himself off the ground but Harry just threw out a hand and he was forced back. Rather than receive a response, moments later the door was exploding inwards, iron man suit appearing, putting itself in front of Harry, thrusters coming up to point at Fury.
"Shit." The faceplate came down and Tony's face became visible.
"Fury?" The shock faded and a dark glare formed. Fury didn't think he'd ever actually seen Tony so angry.
"You okay, Harry?" Tony called back, and Fury heard Harry coming forward, coming up behind Tony.
"I'm okay. I think he wanted to hurt you."
"Nah. Nick's an old friend." There was a bite to the words that Fury had expected.
"You never talk about him." The boy, Harry, said apologetically, and Tony looked down, one gauntlet pulling back to he could ruffle the kids hair gently.
"Yeah. We thought he was dead. Guess we were wrong." Harry looked up in surprise and Fury knew his own surprise was clear on his face. Who was this boy?
"Hey Jarvis, let everyone know Harry's okay." Then he looked back at Fury, gaze hardening. "We need to talk." The suit retreated into the suitcase then and Tony lifted the case in one hand, taking Harry's hand with his other. "Come on. Time to head back to the tower. The others will want to see him too." Then he nodded at Fury. "You first. I'm not letting you out of my sight." Fury obliged but he was scowling. This boy was something new, and he intended to find out what.
They reached the tower and Fury found himself freezing inside the door. The whole team was there, but instead of Bruce Banner the Hulk was in his place.
"Hulk!" Harry exclaimed, seeming overjoyed, and Fury watched as Tony actually let go of the boy's hand so he could run over to the green beast and nobody stopped him. Even more surprising, the Hulk hunkered down, cupping his hands so Harry could clamber onto them and then lifting him so the boy was more cradled in his arms. The boy just went on to tell the creature all about his day at the office with his uncle Tony and how when Tony had gone to get some papers from Pepper this strange man with bad manners had come in and was actually his uncle's friend. The word threw him for a loop. Uncle? But he said nothing and neither did anyone else until the Hulk slowly shrank down to Bruce so Harry was sitting in his lap. Harry just cuddled in, obviously content, and the doctor kept his arms around the boy, seeming equally as content.
There was silence then, as everyone stared at each other and then finally Steve broke the silence.
"This is becoming a bad habit of yours, Fury." He said, and Fury just stared back a moment before answering.
"You seem to have the same problem with collecting the enhanced." He didn't expect the reaction he got. Natasha all but tried to throw herself forward and it was only because Clint managed to get an arm around her waist and Steve got an arm out in front that she didn't get far. There was a fire in her eyes that threatened pain and that she was so protective of this boy spoke volumes.
"Well. You're wrong there, Nick. He's not an enhanced." Stark stated, and there was no missing the sharp tone. Another warning. Fury resisted narrowing his eyes. Did this boy have them all under his power? He'd never seen any of them act this protective and it made him suspicious.
"Then what is he?" Clint released Natasha then and moved to lift the boy to his feet from Bruce's arms, helping the man up as well.
"Come on, kid. You and me are gonna make sure Bruce gets something to eat, alright?" The boy nodded, taking Clint's hand, though he did shoot another frown at Fury before they disappeared through the door.
"He's a child." The words were laced with simmering rage and Fury watched Steve place a hand on her shoulder. To comfort or restrain, Fury wasn't sure. That didn't mean he was afraid.
"He's more than that. He should be tested."
"If you lay a finger on my nephew I will make you wish you'd never been born." The words were snarled but they were also words he'd never expected to hear.
"Your nephew." And even he could hear the disbelief in his voice.
"I think maybe we should be more focused on just why you came back from the dead this time." Tony cut in, and Fury eyed him warily. He needed to know more about this boy but he also didn't need to end up dead for real and he knew better than to think Romanov wouldn't put a bullet through his head if he didn't let the subject drop.
"Same reason I came back last time. Hydra. The Winter Soldier."
"His name is James Buchanan Barnes." Steve corrected stiffly. The look Fury gave him was blank before he continued.
"There have been sightings up in Canada."
"Of Barnes or of hydra?" Natasha asked, and all emotion had fled her expression and her voice. Fury couldn't tell which was more dangerous.
"We aren't sure."
"Who is this we? Because it isn't Shield or we would've heard something of your not-dead status ages ago." Tony pointed out, and got a glare from the ex-director of shield for his efforts.
"I have my sources." Tony just snorted out a laugh.
"Yeah, me too. Mine are better. Jarvis?"
"Right away, sir." With that, Tony waved Fury off dismissively.
"There. If Barnes is in Canada, we'll know. If it's just hydra - well. I'm sure Phil will be thrilled to hear from you."
"Aunt Tasha! Uncle Clint said if you cooked dinner, he'd teach me how to play jacks!" Harry announced excitedly, and Natasha was careful that when she turned towards the boy she was still angled towards Fury.
"What did he want?"
"Perogies!" Natasha rolled her eyes and reached for Harry's hand. She saw Fury move out of the corner of her eyes, but so did Harry, and it had been made clear that Harry didn't trust him. With only a glare, the man he thought was a danger was trussed up like a chicken, hitting the ground with a thump.
"You're not allowed to use guns inside." He told the man, and then took his aunts hand and tugged her from the room. Barely a second later, there was the click and flash of a camera and Fury shot a threatening glare in Tony's direction. The man in question didn't even bother trying to stifle his laugh.
"This is priceless." Then he followed Harry and Natasha out of the room. It seemed Steve took pity on him because he approached with a sigh, though the first thing he did was take all his weapons before undoing the rope.
"He's Natasha's biological nephew. When we dumped all the intel Coulson found her history buried somewhere. She found her family and took him in. We all did." It was a clear warning but Fury could understand Natasha's reaction now. For the first time in her life she had a connection that was all her own. "You should probably get out of here. Let everyone get used to you being back." He offered a hand up and Fury accepted it. Steve escorted him to the elevator and didn't hand his weapons back till he was inside. "If you're looking to reconnect, I suggest speaking to Coulson. But Nick - stay away from Harry." The doors closed and Fury didn't react at all, but even he knew that the fact Steve threatened him outright like that was meant more to protect Fury than Harry - it was a warning that they would do anything to protect the boy, regardless of who attacked. It was valuable information and he didn't plan to waste it.
>>>
"Aunt Pepper, why are we being followed?" Pepper looked down in surprise but didn't break stride, though her hand tightened minutely around Harry's.
"Who's following us, Harry?"
"I don't know who they are, but they're wearing normal clothes."
"And you're sure they're following us?" Harry nodded.
"They keep looking at us and then touching their ear before they talk." Pepper nodded, giving Harry an easy smile.
"We're going to lose them." She told him cheerfully, and he blinked up at her in surprise.
"How?"
"We're going to get in a cab and go to the ice cream shop near the museum instead."
"Okay. Should we call aunt Tasha?" Pepper just shook her head.
"She doesn't need to worry, we can do it." Harry nodded and followed his aunt as she turned suddenly and slid them both in a taxi. He turned back to see the men following them start to run towards them but it was too late. The taxi sped away and they were gone.
They were sitting in the ice cream shop when Harry brought the men up again.
"Why do you think they were following us, aunt Pepper?" He asked, and though she didn't answer right away it was clear she was deciding how to answer.
"I can't know for sure." Pepper admitted. "But I know that if they were supposed to be following us to keep us safe we would have been told."
"So they were bad?" Pepper gave a delicate shrug.
"We can't know for sure." She repeated. "But Harry?" He looked up from his ice cream. "It's very good that you saw them. It's always better to be safe than sorry." He accepted the compliment, finishing his ice cream. When he was done however, he looked back up.
"Aunt Pepper, do you think that man who came back sent people to follow us?"
"Do you mean Nick Fury?" Harry nodded. "Why do you think he would send people to follow us?"
"Because I think he's scared of me." the words weren't ones Pepper had expected to hear and she found herself frowning. Careful now, she leaned forward, reaching for Harry's hand. She wasn't afraid of him, and she wanted to be sure he knew that.
“Why would he be afraid of you, Harry?”
“Because I'm different.” And Pepper was so proud that he no longer showed any shame in that fact. “I did something he didn't understand and he wanted to do tests to find out why. Uncle Clint said that people only experiment on other people when they're scared.” For a moment, Pepper imagined a life where this little boy was taken from them; where he was experimented on and used against his own interests and it burned in her chest like fire. She reached her other hand out, enveloping his in her own and made sure to catch his gaze so he would see the complete honestly behind her words.
“You are an incredible person, Harry, and I love you very much. We all do. And no matter what, we will never let anyone experiment on you, okay?” Harry offered a smile.
“I love you too, aunt Pepper.” then he hesitated. “You're not scared of me, are you?” he asked, clearly afraid of the answer, and Pepper gave him a bright smile.
“Never.”
>>>
Pepper found Tony in his workshop and he looked up in surprise at the sight of her, anxious frown creasing her brow.
"Hey Pep. What's wrong?"
"We were followed." She said, and watched Tony's expression cloud. "Harry and I - he noticed them first and I put us in a cab before they could consider following us further, but there were men following us today, Tony." She paused and Tony knew it was because she was deciding whether it was a good idea to tell Tony whatever she was thinking. Then she stepped in closer, taking one of Tony's hands. "Harry thinks Fury sent them." Tony didn't answer right away, but his anger was clear in his expression.
"Does Natasha know?"
"Not yet."
"Keep it that way. Call Phil. He'll probably have an idea on how to deal with dear old Nick that won't put Natasha on another most wanted list." Pepper smiled, leaning forward to press a kiss to Tony's forehead.
The moment she left the room, Tony was calling Steve.
"Cap, we have a problem. Pep and Harry were followed today, and they think they were Fury's people."
"You think he would risk that? Risk Natasha?"
"I think he's paranoid enough, yeah. Natasha doesn't know yet and I think we should keep it that way, but this can't happen again."
"Does Phil know?"
"Pep's calling him now."
"Good. Try and keep Natasha from hearing about this. I'm going to go have a talk with our friend Nick."
>>>
"You're going to get yourself killed. Again." Nick Fury looked up from his desk at Steve Rogers who was standing casually in the doorway, but he knew enough about soldiers to tell that Steve was ready to fight if he had to. When he didn't respond, Steve spoke again. "Harry's off limits, Nick. If you go after him, you go after us. And none of us will stop Natasha and Clint from doing whatever they feel they have to do." Nick didn't respond but even he knew that between Natasha and Clint that he'd never be able to win. It was why he'd made them a team, because nobody could come up against them and win.
"I'm not quite sure why you're making this visit. You already told me to stay away, and I have." He leaned back with the words, putting off an air of innocent calm, but Steve obviously didn't believe him.
"I know you had men follow him and Pepper today. That's as good as you doing it yourself. This is your only warning, Nick. If anything happens to that kid, we're going to have a problem.”
“That kid is enhanced.”
“Yeah, well so am I. Are you going to start having me tailed again? We know how well that went last time.”
“If anything happens because we weren't prepared-”
“We'll deal with it. If something happens, and if it's going to be a problem, we'll notify you. Until then, back off.” having no other choice, Fury nodded his head, and with that, Steve turned and left. They both knew now that Fury wouldn't risk acting. Not if it meant all of the Avengers would turn against him.
Steve walked back into the communal floor and found Natasha waiting for him, and knew with only a glance that she knew where he'd been.
“He's not going to be a problem.” Natasha didn't react at first, but then she came forward, moving to press a kiss to his cheek.
“Thank you.” was all she said before disappearing, and Steve smiled at the empty room.