Chapter 3
“So, have you considered our offer?” asked Coulson after they’d gotten as they could be in the staff break room, and exchanged pleasantries.
“I have thought about it, yes.”
“Any chance you can tell us what you decided,” said Trip smirking.
“Well, I’ve got a couple of questions first namely what exactly do you expect me to do if I join your agency, I mean I know you take down terrorists and all that, but what do you want me to do?”
“When you join us Agent May will assess your combat and stealth capabilities, and if she finds that you’re missing or can improve any skills, then she’ll help you become one of the best at it. With all that’s happened, you’ll mostly find yourself trying to take down Hydra, but before SHIELD fell, we were also responsible on assessing people with superpowers like the avenges for example and making sure that they aren’t a threat to the world. Oh, and we also occasionally have to deal with magic.”
“Magic?” Harry asked shocked.
“Asgardian magic, you know Asgardians like Thor, Loki, stuff like that.”
“Oh, yeah that,” Harry said. Asgardian magic was very different from wizarding magic, seeing as it is from another world, or at least that’s what Harry gathered from what he saw on the internet.
“Well, I’ve got another question, if you don’t mind. Are there any specified work hours, ermm what I mean to say is am I always expected to be on call or is it by shifts and all that?”
“If you had joins our team just a couple of weeks ago, you would have been living in a plane, constantly moving from one destination to another. But, because of recent events, I’m afraid we’re all staying at a hotel. For now, you can stay at your apartment, but the moment we get a base I’m afraid you will have to come and live with us.”
Harry was silent for a few moments thinking if this is all worth the trouble. He’s been on the run before, and he knows how tiring it could be. Is it worth it, he asked himself? Is it worth losing all the luxuries he has at the moment just to join an illegal agency? Deep down he knew that saving lives is always worth it, and if he didn’t join them he knew he would regret later on, and she made his decision.
“Well I better enjoy all the luxuries while they last then,” he said smiling slightly, “I’ll just need a while to organize everything with my shop, but after that, I’m all yours.”
“Excellent, we’re all pleased to welcome you to SHIELD, here’s the address of where we’re staying for the moment,” he said sliding him a paper with the directions on how to get to the hotel, “come by as soon as you can tomorrow, and make sure no one follows you.”
“Don’t I get a badge or something?” he asked sarcastically.
“I’m afraid that none of us have badges with us and you won’t be getting one either.”
“Oh ermm yeah... definitely, yeah I should've thought of that,” Harry said awkwardly, “Right then if that’s all then I’ll show you out,” he said while getting up.
***
Harry was nervous. He shouldn’t be, but he was. After they had left last night, he had sent a text to Maria, Kyle, Theo, and Naomi telling them that there would be a staff meeting, early morning the next day, and went to sleep.
Of course, Harry didn’t get much sleep. He spent hours turning on his bed from one side to another, rethinking every decision he ever made, and every decision he was going to make.
The next day he came up with a semi-plan on what he had to cover during the meeting, and after it happened he had never felt more relieved.
It had been emotional, to say the least, Harry hated saying goodbye, and after he’d told them he would be leaving them, the questions started attacking him, they all wanted to know why he was leaving, why he decided to, what was his new job, he lost count of the number of questions. Harry did his best to answer their questions, but he couldn’t give them the full truth. No one had told him not to tell anyone, but it was obvious that he shouldn’t.
After that was done Kyle and Naomi went and opened up the shop while Maria and Kyle stayed behind with Harry who explained to them what they would be responsible of now that they were the managers of the café. It had taken a while, and by the time they had finished, it was already noon. So, he went and changed into something more comfortable, grabbed a bite from a nearby place and headed out to the address given to him the night before.
***
Since he had to make sure no one followed him, he left through the backdoor of the restaurant, and then after making sure no one was around cast a disillusionment charm. After that, he was able to comfortably walk to the hotel, his only worry was the possibility of bumping into someone. It would have been faster to simply apparate, but it was his first time going there, so he had to walk. Harry didn’t mind too much, the weather was nice and breezy and walks always helped Harry clear his head.
Although Harry was confident in his choice, there was still a voice nagging him in the back of his head.
‘Is this really worth it?’ it said, ‘do you really want to endanger your own life again just to go on another adventure? Would it not be better if you just stayed at the shop doing the same old safe thing?’
The view helped distract him. New York had a different feel from England. It would never be as homey as England, but it was still special in its own way. The noisy streets and the colorful billboards and the smell of gasoline mixed with grease and dogs’ piss. It was not something he would have ever imagined himself liking let alone living in, yet here he was enjoying his time and admiring the view.
Lost in his musings he found himself nearly there, so he ducked into an abandoned alley in an empty road undid the spell and then made his way into the hotel. He talked with the man standing at the reception, and knocked on the door of the supposed room.
***
“So, where is the famed Agent May,” Harry had asked after being introduced to everyone.
“She was actually supposed to be following you here to make sure no one followed you, so she probably got held back by something, I’m sure she’ll be here any second,” answered Coulson.
Harry froze. She must have been waiting for him when he left the café, and since he hadn’t noticed anyone following him at any point, he really hoped she hadn’t seen him cast the disillusionment charm as that could turn into quite a problem.
“Oh,” he said after he noticed how everyone was staring at him, “I didn’t notice anyone following me.”
“Ah don't worry, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re bad,” said Fitz, “ May is just that good.”
Despite Fitz’s good intentions, this only made Harry feel worse.
He was an auror for Merlin’s sake. He should be able to know when someone is following him, no matter how good. He was really getting rusty.
***
Meanwhile, Harry tried to get to know the people he would now be working with. They seemed nice enough, and Harry could see himself working and living with them in the future.
But, the lingering thought that he may have revealed the wizarding world to Agent May kept him from focusing too much on what they were saying.
He could obviously obliviate her of course, but the fact that he failed so spectacularly in keeping his alter-ego hidden, after knowing them for only a week at most was embarrassing.
“Did you even hear a single word from what I just said?” Asked an irritated Simmons.
“Huh. Oh yeah definitely,” Harry had done his best to give the right responses to what they said and answer any questions he got. But, the latest image his mind had shown him of Agent May showing up with a pitchfork and a torch made it so that he had not heard what she had said, and from the looks of it, it was undoubtedly a question. Great.
“Oh come on, go easy on him girl don’t you see how worried he looks, don’t worry about it,” he said now addressing Harry, “this wasn’t some sort of test you failed and the fact that you didn’t notice May doesn’t necessarily make you bad. May is just that good.”
“I’m not worried,” Harry said indignantly, and just as he had said that Agent May and Coulson appeared. Agent May’s facial expressions were as neutral as they were the day he had first met her and betrayed nothing. Coulson’s facial expressions on the other hand, which he was quite familiar with, told him that he knew nothing of the matter, or at least that’s how he interpreted it.
“May this is Harry Potter, Potter this is Agent May,” introduced Coulson.
“Nice to see you,” said May.
“Same here,” he’d said doing his best job to hide any nerves he had.
“I’ve got to say it’s really nice seeing you again, especially after the skill you showed on your way here,” she said, “I was able to follow you until you went out of the restaurant, after that I lost you and I couldn’t find you at all, and I have to admit I’m really impressed,” said May.
“Oh. Thanks,” Harry awkwardly said. He relaxed for the first time since he was told that Agent May had in fact been following him, but only slightly.
“Well, now that we’re done with all that, let’s go a few rounds, I want to see if you’re as good at combat as you are at disappearing.”