Changing Tides

A few hours after Harry finished in the ocean, something just felt off. He glanced up from his late-night snack with his friends and found matching frowns on their faces; part of him was glad that he had not been the only one to feel the pulse of energy roam across the tower.

Edwin glanced to each of them before standing. “Something has happened?” he asked, picking up the dirty dishes.

“I'm not sure,” Harry admitted. “There was a pulse of something and...”

“It's an uncomfortable feeling,” Neville added. “Like something just stepped next to you and you can't see it.”

“The reactor?”

Harry shook his head at Edwin's question. “No, this is magic of some kind, but it wouldn't hurt to check it. Hermione, why don't you see what you can find? Edwin and I will head to the basement.”

“Sure thing.” Hermione tugged on Blaise's shirt. “You're with me.”

“I'll make a few calls as well.” Neville gave Edwin a smile. “Thank you, it was delicious as always.”

Harry waved them off and went to the elevator. “The tower is still functioning, but--”

“You can't help but be paranoid.” Edwin stepped into the elevator. “I understand, Howard was the same way.”

He shrugged, leaning against the back mirrors. “It was his tech, after all. I don't blame him.”

“But you blame him for other things?”

“Can we not talk about this right now?”

“Of course.” Edwin placed his hands behind his back. “But we will need to speak of it one day.”

Harry said nothing to that, rubbing his aching chest. The core would need to be changed again soon, probably, and he really needed to back off using the suit. Jarvis had informed him, on his way back from finalizing the reactor, that the overuse was going to kill him faster. He had nothing planned for the suit at the moment, so he should be safe for another few weeks, months if he were lucky. Luck sometimes ended up on his side. Sometimes.

He stepped out of the elevator as soon as it opened, smiling at the reactor in the middle of the basement. It ran more power than he expected, which was a big plus. If he could knock it up to one-hundred percent, he could start getting into the energy business. Maybe.

“She still looks pretty good.” He wrapped his hands around the bars atop the walkway, leaning a bit into the hum of the machine. “Levels are still good.”

“Not even a blip when the feeling you four sensed happened.” Edwin brought up a few more details on the screen next to him. “It's steady, too.”

“That's good.” Harry pulled out his phone, frowning. “You think it had something to do with the thing Clint's watching?”

Edwin smiled a little. “I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to check in on your friend. Mister Barton would quite enjoy an update on how the whole process went.”

“You're right.” Harry laughed, fingers moving across the touch screen. “I forgot I promised him an update on that.”

Hey Butterfly, how's your nest doing? Fury's wrath taken it down yet? Let me know how the big blue is coming along.

“Shall we go back upstairs?” Edwin motioned toward the elevator's open doors.

“Might as well, there's nothing else to check down here. I mean, unless you want to crawl inside.”

“I would rather not.” Edwin stepped inside the elevator. “I doubt the others have found something yet.”

“No, but that's okay. I'm going to head to my room for a bit before checking in on them.” Harry crossed his arms over his chest, hopin g to put a bit of pressure there to ease the ache. “I'll order some desert from that bakery you seem to enjoy.”

Edwin laughed. “The one I get your friend's pies from?”

“Then he won't know the difference.” Harry grinned as the elevator stopped on his floor. “Thanks, Edwin.”

“Always a pleasure, sir.”

As soon as the elevator door closed, Harry put a hand on his chest and pressed, letting out a soft moan. It would be easier to think about this whole poisoning issue if his chest didn't ache every single time the core was burnt to a crisp. Letting out a breath, he made his way to the bathroom and into his stash of reactors there.

He spent longer than he should have staring at the growing marks on his chest. When he finally pulled the reactor out and reached for the new one, there was a familiar pop and Blaise came into the room. Harry froze, staring at him through the reflection, an empty hole in his chest.

“Hermione just-- holy shit, Harry!”

That snapped him out of it (and his brain caught up with the pain lacing through him). With a grunt, Harry grabbed the new reactor and shoved it into his chest, twisting it fast to lock it into place. The release of tightness wasn't immediate, but he could already feel it working to fix what those precious seconds did to him. He squeezed his eyes shut as a hand came down on his shoulder, heavier than it should have been, and Blaise's warmth came fully beside him.

“What the hell were you doing?”

“Just go away, Blaise, I'm fine.” Harry opened his eyes and reached for the wasted reactor.

Blaise picked it up seconds before Harry could. “Don't lie to me about it. What the hell is this?”

“They burn out sometimes, okay? It happens.”

Blaise stared at him for a long moment before resting the useless thing on the counter. “I thought we were done lying to each other, Potter.”

“I never said I was lying.”

“Then you do a good job of hiding the truth. Does Hermione know?”

Harry pushed back from the counter. “She doesn't need to. None of you need to.”

Blaise put a gentle hand on Harry's back, guiding him closer. “Harry...”

As soon as his face touched Blaise's collarbone, he squeezed his eyes shut and wrapped his arms up around him. Harry wasn't sure when the simple feel of a hug could bring him down so much, but it did and he just buried his head further against Blaise, holding on tightly. He didn't cry or sob or do anything as embarrassing, but it felt too comforting to simply step away from the display.

“You can tell us,” Blaise told him, voice quiet. “You can tell me. We've been with you through thick and thin, Hermione and Neville more than I have. Don't abandon us now.”

Harry finally pulled back, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes. “This is beyond what can be handled. I'm sorry.”

“If that's truly what you think, then I should be the sorry one. You should trust me and you don't, so that's fault on me.” Blaise put both hands on Harry's shoulders and shook him lightly. “You can trust us.”

“I know I can, it's just...”

“Just?”

Harry wasn't sure how he could explain it, so he was more than happy when Jarvis interrupted him, letting him know that not only was Coulson here for him, but he was already in the elevator and up to the common area. Since they were a floor below that, Harry just frowned and went to take the stairs.

“Jarvis, why didn't you stop him?” he asked, taking the stairs two at a time.

“I'm afraid I was overwritten, sir.”

“Are the others already there?”

“Yes, sir.”

Harry nodded and opened the stairway door. Hermione and Neville were standing closer to the elevator; Hermione smiled softly at them before turning back. Edwin was nowhere to be seen, but Harry knew he was in here somewhere.

“Waiting for our guest?” The elevator doors opened and Harry let out a breath. “Who seemed to have just arrived. Agent Coulson, what can I do for you?” He glanced down at the laptop in his hand. “Ooh, consulting--”

“Save it, Stark, this is no time for jokes. We need your help.” Coulson held out the laptop. “This has everything you need to know.”

Harry handed it straight to Hermione. “Give this to Jarvis.”

“Mister Stark--”

“Just tell me what happened, Agent.” He had a bad feeling about this and, from the tenseness of both Blaise and Neville next to him, they did as well. “There's got to be a reason Fury wants me working outside of our agreed hours, to talk to me.”

Coulson frowned at him and that was when Harry noticed he was shaking. “You don't have agreed hours with the Director.”

Harry stepped closer and put a hand on Coulson's shoulder. “Tell me what happened.”

“Barton's been compromised.”

Harry glanced back to Neville, who shrugged, before looking again to Coulson. “One more time?”

Coulson motioned to where Hermione had images drawn up on the wall. The man on the far right? That's Loki. He came into our facility earlier, stole the Tesseract, and killed or controlled a few agents as he did so. Agent Barton was one of the ones taken.”

“But I texted him and...” Harry pulled out his phone, staring at the screen lacking in messages. “Coulson, are you positive?”

“I am. Romanoff wanted to tell you herself, but she was unable to. My instructions were to tell you and then collect Captain Rogers.” Coulson took a step back. “If you'll excuse me.”

“Wait.” Harry looked up at Coulson. “You said controlled, yes?” The agent nodded so Harry continued. “Unwillingly, then?” Another nod and Harry looked to his friends. “We have work to do. Thank you, Coulson.

He was going to kill this Loki, whatever or whoever he was.