Greetings all! Welcome to Chapter 5 of the Saving Harry series.
In case you missed it last time, if you want this series uploaded in one story, please visit my profile on Archive, as , for whatever reason, hates my formatting and will not allow it.

I had a horrid time writing this chapter. Pepper Potts doesn't inspire me, but she is a needed part of my plotline and on character development for Harry & Tony, so here she is. My apologies on the length - she didn't speak to me very well!

Enjoy :)

Pepper Potts was used to odd requests from Tony and Jarvis. This one had her curiosity going through the proverbial ceiling.

She didn't quite understand why on earth she'd gotten a message from Jarvis to buy clothes for a 2 to 3-year-old boy, right from underwear to shoes and a jacket, as well as sheets and blankets and a toothbrush and everything else one could imagine if a child suddenly appeared naked out of thin air.

Considering Jarvis relayed the message from Steve and Tony, Lord only knows what SHIELD had put the Avengers up to now. She would never get used to it and all the inherit weirdness that seemed to come along with being attached to one Tony Stark and his crazy band of superheroes.

Then she found Nick Fury himself in the Tower, which answered her questions immediately. If SHIELD was involved, anything was fair game.

After giving Nick a piece of her mind and restraining from throwing a shoe at him, he left, and Pepper continued unpacking her purchases. Pepper didn't know where the baby was sleeping or in whose room, so she left her purchases on the sideboard.

"Jarvis, is Tony in the building?" she asked the AI.

"Yes, Miss Potts. He's been alerted to your arrival and is on his way up to see you," Jarvis informed her. "He will collect young Mister Potter from Captain Rogers and bring him up to meet you."

Pepper was about to ask for more details when the elevator opened and in walked Tony, a tired smile on his face. Tucked in behind his legs, Pepper could just spot a shock of black hair at Tony's knee level and she smiled and crouched down a fair ways away so they could exit the elevator.

"Hello there," she greeted softly. "Are you our new guest?"

The head of hair peeked out from behind Tony and Pepper caught sight of a sweet little face and green eyes to go with the bird's nest of black hair. Tony grinned and turned around to watch Harry. He saw Harry go completed rigid and prepared for a teleportation, but then he clued in and understood suddenly what had happened as Harry spoke.

The little boy's eyes began to pool with tears. "Mama?" came a confused little whisper. "Mama, you came?"

"Oh, dear heart," murmured Pepper. "No sweetie. I'm not. She must have looked an awful lot like me for you to say so."

Tony sat on the floor cross-legged near Pepper and pulled Harry into his lap as Pepper leaned over to wipe Harry's tears away. "Hey munchkin," said Tony. "This is Pepper. She's got red hair like your mom, and I promise she has the best hugs you've ever had."

Harry pressed his back into Tony's chest and tried his best not to cry. With a little hiccough, he took a breath and remembered his manners. "Hullo Misses Pepper," and Pepper's heart just cracked.

The little boy's accent and that devastated face absolutely undid her. She folded up her legs and sat on the floor with Tony and held her arms out. Immediately, she had her arms full of sobbing little boy. She had absolutely no idea who he was or what he'd been through, but he needed a mom right this moment. She'd be damned if she'd deny him that simple comfort.

Tony watched silently and with a heavy heart as Harry finally found the release he so badly needed. The little guy was full out sobbing, the most emotion he'd shown since Tony first dug him out of that filthy, stinking cupboard.

It had to happen sometime, and Tony was grateful it was now with just the three of them, and not much later. The kid had been forced to be so emotionless in his short little life. Tony knew all too well how that could turn out, let alone having to go through with so many sudden changes.

Harry's sobs started to simmer down in to little hiccoughs and sniffles as Pepper rocked him back and forth, rubbing his back and making soothing noises. Eventually, he quieted and fell asleep on Pepper's shoulder, exhausted. She couldn't help but feel that he was very light and thin for a little boy and knew Tony would fill her in eventually.

"Tony," Pepper whispered. "Help me up. Actually, take my pumps off for me, then help me up."

He did exactly that, his own knees cricking and his foot tingling from having fallen asleep. He quietly led Pepper to his own suite, and they put Harry on the sofa with a blanket. Harry curled up in a ball under the blanket and continued sleeping.

"Poor little gaffer didn't even wake up." Tony pulled the blanket up to the boy's chin and gently pushed Harry's hair away from his eyes.

"He's exhausted Tony, and there's no way he's only two years old. He talks too well. He's so thin, poor thing." They walked away from the sofa to the other end of the room and sat down on the soft chairs near Tony's fireplace. Tony quietly asked Jarvis to light the fireplace, and it flared up to give up some welcome heat.

"Okay Anthony Stark. Explain. Now." Pepper's face had switched from being soft and concerned to hellfire. "How the hell do you have a toddler in the tower?"

"Easy, Pep. He's not a toddler. He's 4. From what Jarvis dug up on him, his parents and relatives, he's well on his way to 5, and he's here because we found him stuffed in a mop closet, abused and starved." Pepper gasped and her eyes flicked back to Harry.

"Who would do such a thing?" She was too stunned to even finish her sentence.

"His aunt and uncle. It's a bit of a weird story, but Fury got a request from someone who knows the kid and pretty much demanded help." Tony tried to explain without mentioning magic. All the Avengers had been heavily warned about the Statue of Secrecy, though in Tony's opinion, they could take their damned Statute and stuff it up their ass, if this is what they allowed happen to their supposed hero.

"Exactly who tipped Fury off is classified. Well, until Jarvis finds it, anyway." Tony smirked and Pepper tried not to roll her eyes. "Oh, Pep," Tony moaned. "I was the one who pulled him out of that effing closet. It stank like death. He was covered in a smell that took us three baths to get off him." Pepper couldn't begin to imagine the nightmare that Harry went through.

Pepper listened with a mixture of anger, horror and pity, and Tony's eyes grew distant as he remembered. "All he wanted was to leave. He was ready to fight and tried to bite me, the little bugger, even though he was terrified out of his mind." Tony sighed. "Yet he went with me. He'd never seen me before, but he willingly came, which says a lot about how he felt about his so-called home." Tony waffled between jumping in to his suit and nuking the damned house to just going for the hope that Harry's relatives would burn in hell someday. Then again, Thor hadn't been around yet. That would be interesting.

"Pep, it was worse than the cave in Afghanistan. He's so little. He doesn't ask for food or to go to sleep. Hell, he doesn't even ask to go pee because he's scared that we'll hit him for simple requests." Tony sighed and wiped his hands across his eyes. "He didn't have clean clothes or even clothes that fit and the doc said his teeth have never seen a toothbrush. We don't think he's ever had a toy and I didn't see any shoes in that cupboard. His bed was made from discarded egg cartons, for crissake."

Pepper had tears rolling down her face at this point, she could hardly bear to hear more but knew Tony needed to get this off his chest as much as she morbidly wanted to know everything. She reached out her hand and he grasped it gratefully.

"I doubt he knows his numbers. I doubt he knows what love is. I doubt he's ever slept in a bed. I doubt he's ever felt safe a day in his life, and I sure as hell doubt he's cried until today. He's so damaged, but he's incredibly smart and strong." Tony paused and grinned. "He took Cap down in less than an hour. I've never seen Cap sleep like that. He's got Brucie and even Hulk wrapped around his little finger." Pepper's eyes widened at that, but Tony waved her question off.

"Hell, even Fury melts in a puddle with him. He charms everyone. He's, well, sweet. Just about makes your teeth rot. Oh, I need to take him to a dentist, speaking of teeth. And a lot of other checkups he should have had and never has." Tony's attention wandered off for a moment as he realised that the kid needed a pediatrician, a dentist and probably a preschool.

Pepper shifted in her chair and tucked her legs up underneath her. "Does SHIELD have custody?" She asked Tony.

He looked at Pepper, his mood darkening as the genius quickly processed his options. "No idea. I hope not. We took him from his home. I highly doubt custody has been established already." Tony replayed Fury's conversation in his head and figured to hell with it. Pepper was his Pep. Fury had to know he'd tell her eventually.

"He has a guardian. A magical guardian. He's a special kid, Pepper Pot. He's got powers that we haven't even begun to figure out yet." Pepper looked back over at the sleeping boy, as if she could stare through him and see magic.

"Magical? What do you mean, Tony? Rabbits out of hats magical?" she asked, trying to sort out where Harry fit in the world.

Tony sighed again, his exhaustion and lack of sleep showing well on his face. "No. Real magic. So far, we've noticed that he heals crazy fast, teleports, and can move stuff around with just thinking about it. He did it to Clint's arrows, had them dancing. Brucie and I are sure that he probably doesn't get sick either because quite honestly, as bad of a shape as we found him in, he shouldn't have survived starvation like that at his age." His thumb stroked the back of Pepper's hand as her face reflected the pain and reality of what Tony was saying.

"He needs feeding up. And a bed. He spent two nights in the SHIELD med bed, then used Capsicle for a pillow last night." Tony looked Pepper straight in the eyes. "I want him, Pep. I want him bad. No kid deserves this."

Pepper's heart crumbled a little bit more at what Tony was saying. "Tony, he's not a puppy. I love you to death and back, you know that." She squeezed his hand for emphasis. "But Tony, you're an unmedicated bipolar, insomniac, alcoholic, workaholic with a heart of gold that's bigger than he knows. Harry needs to be loved every day, not just on the days when he's being cute." Tony's face darkened somewhat. Sure, Pepper was right, but damn, he hated it when she was verbally throwing daggers.

Tony was quiet for a moment, then muttered, "I'll go into treatment. For him, I would."

Pepper stared back at him, incredulously. "What? No, that's not what I meant Tony. That's a conversation for another day, but Tony, he's not a perfect kid. He's adorable today. He won't be when he's 8 or 12 or 16." She saw Tony's face start to get stormy and knew she'd hit a sore spot.

"Just don't, Pep. Not this time. You wanna leave him to SHIELD or to whatever weirdo they have in England who sold him off to his relatives? We can do better. I can do better!" Tony found himself standing, vehemently trying to convince Pepper that sudden parenthood was what was needed.

"Tony," Pepper started, standing up as well.

"No. You don't get it Pepper. This isn't for me. This isn't about collecting the cute kid and winning. This is about a little guy who's had no fucking chance in the world at all. None." Tony pointed over to Harry, who was still dead asleep on the other side of the room.

"This is for Harry, Pepper, he can't go back there. We care about him a ton already. Hell, Cap himself would tear apart the planet if Harry was removed from us. There are six Avengers." Tony's brain was already putting together plans faster than his mouth could spit them out. "We work together. All of us. You, if you want to. Happy too. Rhodey would never turn a kid down. We raise him to be a decent kid. It won't be perfect, but not one person here would lay a hand on him in anger, and you know it." Tony reached for his phone in his pocket and was already emailing his lawyers.

Pepper sat back down and sighed. "I can't stop you Tony, but I'll be watching. You won't be able to hide in your lab for days of no sleep anymore. The drinking will have to slow down, if not outright stop."

Not looking up from his phone, Tony said "Four days."

Pepper looked up at him. "What?"

"Four days," Tony repeated, looking up from his email. "I haven't touched a drop in four days. That kid could cure cancer, I swear. Every particle in my being screams to protect him with everything I've got. The Avengers are everything I've got. With dividends and residuals and licensing and perpetuity fees, I can't even run out of money. He'll lack for nothing, which is more than most of us ever got. I had money growing up but I didn't have a dad worth mentioning. I can be his dad, if he wants me to. I can, Pepper. I'm better than his fucking relatives." Tony was breathing heavily, almost panicking that Pepper would kybosh the entire thing.

Pepper sighed, resigned to let Tony off the hook. Though not a perfect solution, she couldn't resist that passion. "He's irresistible, isn't he?" she said as she walked back over to where Harry was sleeping. With a soft smile, she pulled his blanket up higher and carefully stroked his soft hair. Harry muttered a bit in his sleep as he frowned, then dreamland captured him once more and his face evened out.

"Yeah," agreed Tony as he walked up and stood beside her. He put his arm around her, and she leaned into Tony and lifted her face for a kiss. Tony acquiesced, then laid his head on the top of hers. "His world won't be perfect, but he'll be loved."

Pepper smiled. "Oh, he already is, the little charmer."

She had absolutely no idea where this would end up. It could backfire spectacularly. Harry would need help to move forward, but he was so young that she hoped not much damage would be done. Tony would need help too, but she and Roadie had an unspoken promise that they'd always see Tony through whatever hyper crazy idea was next. They hadn't failed yet, and they were not about to start now, especially now that Tony, who'd resisted kids as long as she'd known him, suddenly saw himself as Father of the Year. This was going to be spectacular, all right. Only which end of that spectrum wouldn't be seen for a few years yet.

Tony had no idea where this was going either, but he damned well knew he wasn't letting Harry go. No way, no how. Fury could take a long walk off a short pier if he even tried.

"Pep?" Tony said softly.

"Hmm?" she looked up at Tony and lifted her head off his shoulder.

Tony smiled a rare genuine smile at her. "Thanks. Really."

She smiled back. "Always." Then she laughed gently. "But you're explaining this to Rhodey the next time he's around."

Tony laughed. "Leave my platypus to Harry. Rhodey won't stand a chance."

Pepper smiled and the two headed off to bed.