Chapter 14
Harry had stayed in bed until Hermione returned to the tower. It had taken her crawling under the covers with him, telling him about some silly guest that wanted to sue Harry because her beat-up Camry had been ruined in the fight, before he would actually push himself into a sitting position. He didn't need to ask if she knew about Bruce; the note was clutched in her hand and she had that pitying "I'm so sorry, Harry" look on her face that Harry hated to see, but loved that she had it.
They went together to make sure Edwin was okay and the old man had simply told them to shut up with their mollycoddling and get on with fixing the mess outside. Edwin then threatened that if they didn't peacefully let him out of the bed in two days, he would find a way to crawl out so he could get back to his duties. Harry had promised to get him a motorized chair to help with it, but Edwin only threatened to push it off the roof if Harry tried.
After that, Harry had taken Hermione and Blaise aside and told them to take a vacation. They both tried to argue, but Harry wouldn't hear it; they deserved it, especially since he couldn't remember the last time any of them had a vacation. In the end, both of them agreed that they would finish cleaning up the Expo and then take a few weeks to themselves.
When Harry offered the same vacation to Neville, his friend had shook his head and told Harry that his kind of vacation was to start a garden on the tower roof or one of the balconies, so he would be staying. Harry was grateful that he would have some company in the tower, so he didn't argue that much. He hadn't heard from Clint in days, so he wasn't sure when the archer was returning.
Over the next few days, Fury kept both himself and Natasha away. Harry didn't question the lack of Shield babysitter because he really didn't want to invite another one into his living space. Especially when Miranda showed up to look over his bruises and give him what she had found out about Palladium. If she knew why Harry asked, she didn't mention it and simply gave her report before leaving.
Over all, it was a small vacation for Harry and he was determined to enjoy it. Jarvis (and Edwin when he got up) was looking for Bruce, but the trail had died as soon as he had reached the harbor. The only reason Harry didn't panic and think Bruce offed himself was a fake couple registered on one of the ships there and while nothing about the names screamed 'Betty and Bruce', Harry knew it was them. Face recognition helped.
Harry spent his time locked up in the workshop, trying to keep his focus on Blaise's suit. Bruce's notes on the poisoning were lengthy and filled with things Harry couldn't begin to understand, so he wanted to do something that he could understand. Or at least had enough familiarity with it that he could stumble his way through.
He had just finished perfecting a kind of switchblade in the boot (mostly because the thought of it was cool) when Jarvis announced that he had a visitor. Harry figured it was Edwin bringing him food, so he didn't look up from the wires before telling his AI to open the door and let whoever it was inside.
"It smells worse than a gym locker down here," came Clint's voice along with the smell of cheap, greasy fries.
Harry's stomach growled and he hoped that Clint brought him food. He looked up and grinned, eyes staring at the four bags of fast food in the other's hands. "Have you come in to be my best friend?"
"Thought I already was, behind Rhodey, that is." Clint held out two of the bags and shook them. "Chili dogs, burgers, fries, and an apple pie. You want?"
"Hell yes, I want." Harry pushed away from the wires and motioned to a clean table off to the side. "Sit down and tell me all about New Mexico."
"You want to hear all about my woes with a Norse God?" Clint sighed dramatically and settled down at the table. "Especially when you got to play with the Jolly Green Giant himself?"
"Norse God?"
"Oh yeah, I didn't get to tell you about that." Clint grinned and pulled out his food. "That guy that tried to take the hammer is apparently the Norse God of Thunder."
"Isn't that someone called Thor?" Harry asked, remembering names that Hermione had went on about one day. Mythology had always interested her. "Son of Odin or something?"
"Don't know about his dad, but that's the name he gave. We didn't believe him until he got on his armor and battled this metal thing that Coulson thought came from you."
Harry groaned, dragging a hand through his hair. "Did it even look like something I'd make?"
"Na, more tech was involved." Clint took a bite out of his burger, swallowing almost before he finished chewing. "It was interesting, though. Almost leveled the town."
"Where is he now?"
"Gone home, I guess." Clint shrugged. "Coulson followed him out to the desert and he called for someone to open this bridge thing. Some lights flashed and then he was gone."
"Coulson wasn't happy, I bet."
Clint laughed before shoving the rest of his food into his mouth. "I dun fink is unusual," he said around the food. Harry wrinkled his nose as a bit flew out onto the table.
"English?"
Clint flipped Harry the bird and swallowed. "I'm just saying that he should be used to it by now since you don't tell him anything."
"At least I'm on the same planet." Harry tossed a fry at Clint's head. "How long are you back for?"
"Don't know, but Fury seems to think I'm needed here more." Clint reached into his jacket and pulled out a picture of the Hulk. "I missed this?"
Harry frowned, taking the picture. "You probably couldn't have helped. He gets like that when he's pissed and you like to push buttons."
"Your lack of faith in me is annoying sometimes, Stark." Clint took his drink and stared at it. "I can control myself when I need to."
"Yeah, well, we'll test that when I find him. Does Shield know where he is?"
"What makes you think I'd know that?"
Harry sighed. "Do I seriously need to answer that? You work for Shield, Fury wants me to work with them, so he'd use you. I'm not stupid to politics."
"Fury would have better luck using Nat, but she already told me that she wouldn't do that because you already don't trust her." Clint pushed his glass away. "Don't get me wrong, Nat does her job well, but she's loyal to those that are loyal to her. She and I have an… agreement. If I didn't like you, you'd be in bed whispering all your secrets to her."
"What makes you think she'd be in my bed?" Harry finished his food and got up throw the trash away.
"The fact that before I met you, you slept with half the West Coast?"
Harry hesitated, still hating that aspect of his Tony Stark deception. "Yeah, I guess."
"Who was the last girl you slept with anyway?"
"A reporter, the morning before I went to Afghanistan." Clint was quiet for a moment and Harry felt awkward, so he continued. "Well, last in the bed. I don't sleep with them."
"Seriously?"
Harry shrugged and went back to the table. "You'd be amazed at what I can manipulate, Clint. They were in my bed, but I'm not a whore."
"No, no. You had all sorts of beautiful women and you didn't sleep with one of them?"
A flush went across Harry's face and he couldn't stop it. "Ah, I guess the rumor of the calendar models might be true."
Clint laughed and smacked Harry's arm. "You dog! Spill, man, come on."
Harry grinned a little. Hermione had been upset, Blaise quietly amused, and Neville ignored the situation. He was never one to brag, but it felt normal right now and he wanted that. "Well, February could hold a decent conversation and December was very convincing."
"December was twins, Tony. Which one was convincing?"
The blush on Harry's face deepened and he hide his grin behind his drink. "Never say I didn't try new things back then."
Clint laughed so hard he almost fell off the chair. Harry watched him, hoping the redness in his face would go down because Tony Stark was not a man who would blush at the things he did in the bedroom. If anything, Tony Stark would brag and find something to top that.
Deep down, Harry would never be Tony Stark. "Honestly, though, one just liked watching her sister have sex. It was really awkward and I doubt I'll ever do something like it again."
"I bet they experiment on each other." Clint wiped at his eyes. "Oh god, I owe Nat fifty bucks now. We bet on which rumors might be false and I lost that one."
"Yeah, I can't find it in myself to feel sorry for you." Harry shrugged. "Sorry, pal, your loss."
"I guess so. Hey, you know what else we bet on?"
"What?"
Clint reached forward suddenly and tapped on the reactor through Harry's shirt. Harry was proud that he didn't jerk violently away. "We bet on when you'd come up with a solution."
"I'm getting really tired of people finding this stuff out," Harry muttered, pulling away.
"Super secret spies, Stark. You can't hide much from us." Clint leaned back onto his seat. "Talk to me… Why didn't you say anything before? Why are you keeping it from Pepper? Was it why Director Fury had Doctor Banner come?"
Harry stared down at his hands. "I'm only going to say this once, okay? I'm dying, Clint. I'm dying and I don't know how to stop it because I'm not as smart as people expect me to be. I have all of Bruce's notes and I'll do my best, but I doubt it's going to change anything." He looked up and stared Clint in the eye. "The last thing I want is people fawning over me, thinking that I'm going to break. I don't go down without a fight, okay? Death has to find me, after all, and I have some ways of hiding from Her."
"Just promise me you won't do anything stupid."
Out of every way Clint could have reacted, that was the one that Harry had been hoping for. No sympathy, no words of encouragement, just acceptance. Harry felt himself relax and he gave Clint a small, but forced smile. He could do this.
"Can't promise anything, but I'll take it into consideration."
"That's all I ask."
They spent the rest of the night exchanging stories about their time separated until Clint yawned and shuffled off to bed. It was only once he was gone that Harry stood and opened his shirt, looking at the barely-there black lines starting to creep away from his reactor.