Chapter 28
The ringing in Harry’s ears was something that he never wanted to hear again. He looked around the destroyed lab, mind flashing between the present and his past – he needed to focus. The only person in clear view was Rogers and he was all the way across the room. They locked eyes and Harry could practically feel the shift as they went from disgruntled enemies to soldiers.
He ran into the hallway, Rogers behind him as his head cleared. “We need to find out if we can contain the explosion area,” Harry called back to him. “It was close, so it’s got to be an engine.”
Just then, the speakers cracked to life and someone started calling out directions. Sure enough, Engine three was down. Harry stopped Rogers outside of the doorway to his where his suit was stored. “Meet me here,” he said, and then handed the other man an earpiece. “Listen to him, he’ll know what to do once I get there.”
Harry didn’t wait to see if Rogers got the point. He pulled out his phone and opened the case holding his suit and hoped that his reactor would hold out just a bit longer. It ached, but it wasn’t as bad as it could be. Harry took a deep breath before stepping into the suit, letting it close around him.
“Edwin?” he asked once the HUD came up. “Rogers with you?”
“Waiting on your mark, Tony.”
Tony smiled and took off, flying once around the carrier just to make sure that the only damage was to the single engine. He saw Rogers waiting for him, but he ignored him for now, letting Jarvis dissect what needed to happen.
“Catch all this, Edwin? Read it out to Steve while I clear this.”
”Stark? Stark, I—“
“Captain, there is work to be done. Now, pull out the panel beside you…”
Harry tuned them out, making sure he could just focus on the task at hand. It wasn’t going to be an easy task to restart this, even after he cleared the area. The thing needed a lot of work and an actual mechanic, but Harry knew that he would have to do this. Taking a deep breath, he lifted his arm and started cutting away at the debris with his laser.
By the time he was finished with kicking away the last piece, Rogers pushed the panel back into the ship. “Now what?” he asked.
“It needs a jumpstart,” Harry told him, getting between the blades and pushing.
“You’ll get ripped to shreds!”
“Captain, if you look to your left, there is a red lever—“
Harry tuned them out again and shut his eyes, feeling his chest constrict. This was going to push him to his limits, but he knew he couldn’t stop. He was barely getting the damned thing started when another explosion rocked through the ship. The display lit up, showing him that another engine on the opposite side had been taken out and Harry knew what that meant.
If he couldn’t get this one back up, the ship was going down. He gritted his teeth and pushed, using both the suit and his own magic to speed up the process. Fury said something in his head, but Harry was too into getting this engine going to pay much attention to it. If it were important, Edwin would let him know.
Thankfully, it didn’t take too long to get the engine back up and running. Harry felt the pressure on his hands let up and he knew that he had to get out of this now or he would be ripped to shreds.
“Cap, the lever!”
“I’m a little busy here!”
Harry frowned, trying to push his suit faster to keep up the speed. “Edwin?”
“There are enemy soldiers firing at him, though he’s currently hanging off the side. I don’t think he’ll be able to get to the lever in time.”
Harry’s back hit the propeller and his eyes widened. “Oh.”
The next thing he knew, he was dragged under and spun against the blades, suit banging harshly with the metal. Harry squeezed his eyes shut and hope that Steve would recover soon – there was only so much he could do to keep the suit from falling apart from the onslaught.
However, as quickly as it started, it stopped. Harry opened his eyes and it took a moment for him to realize he was staring at Steve hanging off the side of the ship. He wasn’t supposed to do that – Apparation with the suit and the reactor was dangerous (and stupid). He shook his head and pushed forward, bringing down the men firing at them. He turned just as Steve finished pulling himself up.
“You okay, Cap?”
“I think I will be. Engine up?”
“And running.” Harry motioned toward the door. “Come on, they could use our help.”
Harry didn’t bother waiting for a response – he flew through the corridors, doing everything he could to knock out those that were firing against the SHIELD agents. He heard the comment about Clint and drew short, turning.
“Clint?”
“I got him, Stark. Go to Loki, keep him in his cell.”
Harry really didn’t want to trust Natasha, but there was no choice. Out of everybody here, he was the most qualified (except Thor, probably, but he was apparently handling Bruce at the moment) to handle the crazed wannabe-King. If he had to use magic and push the palladium further, then so be it.
“Get him back,” he told Natasha before turning to where Loki’s cage was.
He put holes in the walls, wanting to get to the cage as fast as possible. Just one more blast and he would be through the walls… just in time to see a SHIELD agent open the door for Loki. Swearing, he quickly sent a blast to knock the guy out.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” he told Loki. “And I would personally rather do this the easy way.”
Loki scoffed, striding his way toward the control panel. “If we were doing this the easy way, you would be kneeling at my feet. However, we both know that isn’t how this goes.”
“How do we know that?”
“You didn’t kneel at anyone else’s feet before.” Loki looked over the controls before his eyes fell back on Harry. “Though I wouldn’t object to being the first.”
“I’ve dealt with people worse than you.” Harry raised his arm, readying a repulsor just in case. “Give it up, Loki.”
“You always have been a feisty one. Tell me, how did the others take the news of your sorcery.”
Harry narrowed his eyes. “Loki—“
“Did they reject you?” Loki stepped forward, though Harry didn’t dare move back. “Did they look at you with fear and disgust? My, how far exactly did you fall?”
“That’s enough.”
Both Harry and Loki turned to see Agent Coulson standing there, a gun in his hand. Harry hadn’t heard him come in, and he wasn’t sure if Loki sensed it or not, so he had to hand it to the man. Maybe SHIELD did have some skills.
“Mortal, I—“
“You like this?” Phil asked, interrupting Loki. He waved the gun a bit and stepped closer. “We started working on the prototype after you sent The Destroyer. Even I don’t know what it does.” He flipped a switch and the thing started making a whirring noise near the now orange barrel. “Do you wanna find out?”
Harry opened his mouth to tell Coulson to get the hell away, but couldn’t even open his mouth before Loki shimmered and appeared behind Coulson, stabbing him through the back with his scepter. Harry couldn’t move as Coulson cried out, eyes widened through shock or pain (he couldn’t tell which because what the hell was going on?).
Then his mind supplied what he should have seen in the first place. Illusions. Loki was a sorcerer – he had probably never actually been in that cage. Making himself invisible and wandering the carrier would have been no problem and Harry now felt like an idiot because it was so god damned obvious.
Coulson dropped to the floor as Loki walked over him, bloody scepter in hand. “You see?” he asked, flickering blue eyes focused completely on Harry. “You see what happens when you cross us, Potter? This happens. And next time, it’ll be your little archer friend. I’ll make you, and his little girlfriend, watch as I twist his mind. He’ll never be rid of me. He’ll never have me completely clear of his head. He will rot with me inside him. And you? You won’t care because you will be standing there like a good little soldier should.”
Loki raised the scepter and Harry felt frozen, unable to move. It wasn’t magic, he knew that, but he just couldn’t—something in him kept staring at Loki and seeing the other demons in his life. But most of all, he saw Umbridge. He saw Bellatrix. Himself.
Before the scepter could touch his chest, Loki was jerked off to the side by a blast, knocking him through the wall. Harry stared at the spot for a moment before he heard a raspy voice where Coulson lay.
“So that’s what it does.”
That seemed to knock his brain into play and he immediately knelt down, finger to his ear for the coms. “Med team, someone, please! Get to the cage, Agent down.”
Fury’s voice crackled in, sounding strained. ”Tell me something new, Stark. We’re—“
“Coulson’s down!”
Silence stretched as Harry ripped off his gauntlets and used his hands to try to stop the blood flow. He didn’t even fully comprehend Fury’s response, but he heard it and he knew nothing was going to help. Coulson was down, Coulson was fading.
“Talk to me, Stark.” Fury’s hand rested on Tony’s suit for a moment before he knelt down. “What happened.”
“Loki… shit the bastard cloaked himself and got the scepter. He stabbed Coulson right through.” Harry looked to Fury, frowning. “He isn’t going to be make it.”
“Don’t count him—“
“Let me take him somewhere.” Harry pressed harder against the front of the wound, wincing as he gave Coulson a bit of magic to survive. “No, screw your permission. I’m going to take him somewhere. He needs medical attention you don’t have.”
“Stark—“
But Harry had already taken out the portkey Blaise had made, the one specifically for Draco’s place, and said the word. The world spun for a moment as he gripped tightly onto the dying Agent – he hated this way of travel.
When he landed in the potions laboratory to see a shocked Draco, it was almost worth it. He had a lot of explaining to do, and no time to do it.
“Hey, ferret. Mind helping me here?”