Changing Tides

Harry appreciated Bruce and Natasha simply because neither of them treated him like an invalid child.  As much as he loved Hermione, she had a tendency to mother hen him and that was reason number six that he didn't want her to know.  He would tell Blaise, but despite everything, he couldn't keep a secret from Hermione to save his life.  Harry wanted desperately to tell Neville, but Neville would eventually drop too many hints to the others.

So he and Bruce (and sometimes Natasha) sat in his lab, pouring over elements and biology texts and Malfoy's potions ingredients (Harry's "home-made recipies" materials).  He had to hide the toads after he caught Natasha cooking one, but otherwise things went okay enough.

Clint called again, giving him no news on the mysterious person Harry had seen.   They released the blonde intruder and things were getting weird, but he said he had it all handled.  Harry trusted him and he said as much before handing the phone to Natasha.

That had been three hours ago.  Now he stood behind the curtain of yet another stage preparing to show off another invention that would wow the masses.  The newest StarkPhone with all the bells and whistles and twice the battery life.  He already had hundreds pre-ordered before the presentation started, so he wasn't sure why he had to do this.

"Two minutes, Mister Stark."  Hermione stepped forward to adjust his tie.  "Do you remember what you're going to say?"

"I remember."

"Have fun, then."  Hermione laughed and pushed him closer to the curtain.

Harry rolled his eyes and waited for his cue before walking onto the stage.  He waved to the crowd, blowing a few kisses here and there, as he stepped center-stage.  The crowd seemed divided: half for him, and half for the actual product he was revealing.  Harry could ignore the screaming well enough, but he let them go on for a bit longer before motioning for silence.  Once it got quiet, he smiled and started his presentation.

He got through the updated contact list feature and was moving onto texting and email when something in the city exploded.  The noise wasn't loud, but Harry could see the fireball from here, Stark Tower reflecting the explosion in its windows.  Not good.

The crowd had noticed that something happened by the time Harry managed to get himself moving.  Hermione already had the suitcase set up on the floor and he spent a few seconds getting it settled on him.  By the time his HUD flickered to life, she was already gone, helping get people out of there.

"Call Bruce, Jarvis!"  Harry pushed into the air, wasting no time in going back to the tower.

The 'call failed' image on the screen mocked Harry the entire way to the tower.  Or it would have if a large, green shape hadn't jumped out at him halfway there.  Harry quickly came to a stop and turned to watch the man-turned-monster jumped toward the expo.

"Iron Man, we request your assistance!"

Harry looked down to see a man on top of a tank yelling at him through a megaphone.  Harry frowned.  "What happened?"

"The beast escaped and we're trying to bring it in.  The man you knew as Bruce Banner is a fraud and that is his true form!"

Harry stared at the older man for a second before turning and speeding toward the Hulk.  Toward Bruce, not the monster.  Whoever that man was, Harry knew his type.  Men quick to judge others by their outward appearance.  Harry knew Bruce had the ability to do this, but he didn't think he would see it.  Granted, he thought the same thing of Remus, but things turned out okay.  This would end up okay.

He called Hermione just in case and quickly explained the situation.  At least, as much information about the situation as he understood.  Someone was after Bruce, someone that would call him a monster, and that wasn't going to fly.  Hermione hung up quickly and Harry trusted her to do what was needed to be done.

It didn't take long for him to catch up to Bruce, now in the form of the Hulk, rampaging through the city.  There were other tanks and screaming people and more mess than Harry ever wanted to see again.  He moved the suit to intercept where Bruce was going.

"Bruce!  Bruce, I need you to stop!"  Harry hovered so his hands were facing down, trying not to look like a threat.  "It's me, Tony!"

The Hulk hesitated for a split second before his hand reared back and smacked Harry out of the sky.  Harry hit the side of a building and fell to the ground, glad that the suit took most of the damage and his magic took care of how hard he fell.  It still hurt and he held back a groan as he stood up.

"Bruce, listen to me!"  Harry got back in the air, following the Hulk in the middle of the expo.  This was not where they needed to be.  "Bruce!"

The Hulk jerked around and caught Harry in one of its hands.  Harry's eyes widened as the Hulk's fist tightened and part of the metal bit into his skin.  He was jerked closer to the green face and the Hulk roared into his face.

"B-Bruce, please!"

"HULK NO GO BACK."

The suit tightened more and Harry couldn't help but cry out a bit.  "Bruce—"

His screen flickered and Natasha's face suddenly popped up in the bottom corner.  "Mister Stark, I suggest you don't piss him off any further."

"Yeah, noted.  What the hell are you doing?"  Harry squeezed his eyes shut and focused on trying to breath under the pressure.

"Fixing my mistake.  I should have stayed in the to—"

"For hell's sake, Natasha, shut up!"  Another tank showed up and fired at the Hulk.  Harry felt as if he were in some spinning ride as he was jerked around in the Hulk's fist.

She sighed.  "I have information on your enemies, Stark, so listen.  The man attacking is Gender Thaddeus Ross.  Banner was working for him during the accident and Ross went insane."

Harry grunted as the Hulk let him go and he again dropped to the ground.  "Just what I need, another insane leader."

"You can't stop the Hulk and I wouldn't suggest it."

"Stop Ross, got it."  Harry pushed himself up and grunted as his magic pushed the metal of his suit enough so he could breathe again.  "Is everyone okay in the tower?"

"Your butler has a small concussion from where he was hit, but the employees are fine.  Most weren't here."

"Thank you, Agent Romanoff."  Harry cut the connection and flew back into the air.  He made sure to stay out of the Hulk's reach this time and looked toward the tanks.  They weren't shooting at him, probably because they thought he would help them.  "Fat chance," he murmured.

He got two of them down before they realized he wasn't exactly on their team.  Swearing at the sudden fire from one of the three remaining, Harry turned and shot further into the air to get away from the shots.

This fight was different from Stane, but it reminded him of Quidditch in a way.  As long as he thought of the stuff aimed at him as Bludgers, he would be fine.  Maybe.  Harry grunted as one nicked his suit, but he managed to settle himself enough to keep flying.  He aimed and prepared to take his shot against the stupid thing, but he never got the chance.

Another tank, being held by the Hulk, came swinging down right on top of the one firing at Harry.  Then the Hulk picked it up and slammed it down once more; it would have been almost funny if there weren't people in them.

"Bruce, wait!  Bruce!"  Harry dropped down so he could attempt to wrap an arm around the Hulk's massive one.  "Stop, it's okay now!"

"HULK PROTECT METAL MAN AND PUNY BRUCE!"

Harry grunted as he held on tight.  "I appreciate it, but we're safe!  I'm safe!"

The tank dropped one more time and the Hulk let go.  Harry still held on, but turned the thrusters on so he could try to bring the Hulk out of the center of destruction.  He had tried before to think of Bruce as Remus, but this was not the case.  The Hulk was smarter than a werewolf, so maybe he could be reasoned with?  It was worth a shot.

"I just want to sit by the large globe, okay?"  Harry made sure the tugs were gentle.  "See that big circle with the lights?  Let's sit over there."

"HULK SIT ON TOP."

"What?  No—Wait!"

It was too late.  With Harry still attached, the Hulk jumped off the ground and made his way to the globe in the center of the expo.  Thankfully, most of the guests were already gone, so they didn't squish anyone on the way there.  The mess they left behind was a bigger issue and part of Harry was glad that most of it was within the property of the expo.  At least the city wouldn't demand repayment for it and Harry could just let the matter rest.  Or mostly rest.

Once the Hulk settled on the globe, he took hold of Harry and roughly put him on one massive shoulder.  Harry was reminded of the picture Hagrid had of his parents and he grinned behind the faceplate.  The Hulk wasn't as big as Hagrid's mother, but that hardly mattered to Harry's imagination.

"So, big guy, want to tell me what happened?"

The Hulk grunted and his head turned, no doubt watching for more enemies.  Harry tried not to notice the flames that had yet to be put out.

"Bruce?"

"PUNY MAN NOT HERE."

Harry winced and turned down the volume for his suit, though he probably could have turned it off and still heard him.  "Okay… so Hulk?"

"HULK PROTECT."

That was obvious, but that still left plenty of questions.  "Protect Bruce?"  He grinned as the Hulk's shoulders straightened and Harry figured he felt proud.  "And me?"

"METAL MAN HELP HULK EVEN WHEN HULK NEED NO HELP."  He reached up to poke one of Harry's feet and Harry had to hang on in order to not fall off.  "PUNY MAN LIKE METAL MAN."

"You talk to Bruce like this?"

The Hulk shook his head.  "PUNY MAN NO TALK.  HULK JUST KNOWS."

Harry patted the Hulk's head with a small sigh.  "Okay, buddy, okay.  Mind if Bruce comes back, though?  We need to get him home and away from all of this."

"TALL PLACE IS BAD.  TOWER IS WHERE BAD MAN SHOOT."

"Bad man is going to get his ass kicked by metal man, okay?  And metal man's friends."  Harry pointed toward the tower.  "But its home and I'm sure Bruce will want a bed.  I'm sure he'd be glad that you protected his home, too."

Hulk frowned, his fist clenching on the globe and bending it a little.  "BRUCE LIVE IN TALL PLACE?"

"For as long as he wants to.  I wouldn't mind you there, either."  Harry ignored the call from Blaise that came up in the suit.  He would call him later.  "Please, Hulk?  I promise next time I see you, we can go to the ocean."

"LARGE WATER?"

"Yep, large water."  Harry patted the Hulk's head again.  "What do you say, big guy?"

Hulk stared off into the distance for a while before nodding.  Before Harry could say anything else, the Hulk had him in his hands again.  "HULK TAKE METAL MAN."

After jumping through the air with the Hulk, Harry decided that he'd rather travel by Portkey.