"You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?" ~ Tony Stark to Bruce Banner, Avengers
The bookstore smelled like the books it held, musty and full of stories. Dust should've been an issue, considering how many books there were just in the front, not to mention the ones stored downstairs in the basement/reading area/just-leave-your-kids-here-we're-pretty-sure-they-won't-kill-themselves-with-these-blocks area, but it was easily managed. The only windows were in the front, proclaiming that Better Than Before Bookstore was currently closed for the evening, a small cat perched in the flat above it in the window seat, watching as a bug tapped stupidly against the glass.
The woman winced at the state of her living room, biting her lower lip as she surveyed the sheaves of paper lying about, along with her collection of nearly empty coffee mugs that littered the room. She sighed and half-heartedly flung a pillow onto her sectional couch before glancing at her watch and groaning, picking up the tiny kitten and carrying it through the living room, pass the kitchen and into her bedroom, plopping the grey ball of fur and leopard spots onto a pillow and stepping into the bathroom, roughly running a brush through her dark brown "curls." She sighed and tied her hair back, pecking the kitten on her head as she pulled on a jean jacket.
"Bye Bast, I'll see you later," she said as she shut her bedroom door, pausing at the kitchen to flip through some of her mail before continuing on to the front door, stepping down the stairs and through her shop, where she stepped out onto the shiny sidewalk and smiled as she saw the figure down the concrete quicken his pace, already speaking.
"Oh good, you're late too!" he told her, making her laugh and grin at him as she walked towards him, passing by a bar.
"You've made me lose my punctuality!" she grinned before gasping as somebody grabbed her waist and tugged her back into a darkened alley, something shiny and cold pressing into her neck, "Harry!"
"Hermione!" he yelled back, still a distance away as he began to run.
"This will pay nicely," the man chuckled, "You and Fury will pay, Potter! You will both pay dearly!"
"Hermione!" Harry yelled again as he heard her scream, skidding in front of the alley with a stick lighting his way, blinking and gaping at the empty space, "Hermione?"
"Nicholas Fury is director of S.H.I.E.L.D, although not much can be said of neither the man nor the organization, due to both being top secret government information. Although I hear he lives in a metal floating thing called a 'Helicarrier.' Shouldn't be too hard to find, I suspect."
"Anything else, Luna?" Harry fretted.
"No, not much," she said airily before looking worried, "Harry, shouldn't we call in Aurors?"
"No," Harry frowned, "I'm not that desperate to ask for his help, Luna."
"Perhaps the D.A?" she asked, "Seamus is rather bored, only got scorched once this week, and he'd love to have something to do."
"Ahh – I dunno, let me talk to this Fury guy and we'll see," Harry winced, "But I think Hermione's bookstore could use some looking after. And her cat."
"Alright, I'll convince him," Luna nodded, sparks spitting up from the fireplace as she did so, "Please stay safe, Harry."
"Alright, Luna," he nodded before she left from the Floo, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair and grabbed his wand. "Don't worry, Hermione, I won't let you down."
"Augh!" Hermione growled as she was tossed onto the concrete, glaring up at the man as the door slid shut, light pooling from under the door.
"Oh, poor little girly," he chuckled darkly, stepping towards her as she growled again, lying on her side with her arms and legs tied behind her, "Nobody here to save you?"
The door suddenly opened and Hermione felt a little bubble of hope in her chest before it was quickly doused, a bald man with a scarred face standing in the doorway, the light behind him making strange shadows on his face.
"Keep her alive," he ordered the man before smirking down at her, "But just barely."
He nodded, turning back to her as the door shut, "You look like a screamer." He stepped towards her, his face dark as she glared and brought her legs around, kicking him bellow the belt as he doubled over, anger showing in his eyes once he could manage it as his hand reached out, howling when she clamped down on it until blood began to pour, making her wipe her mouth on her shoulder and smirk victoriously at him. "Oh, you think we're done?"
"Well I hardly think you'll have too much luck getting any farther," she spat, quite literally, at him. "What kind of girl do you think I am? I never get raped on the second kidnapping. What have those awful rumors done to me?"
"I'll wear you down," he growled.
"I highly doubt it!" she said before swinging her legs up and hitting him once more, this time with enough force to make him kneel to the ground as she jumped up with some difficulty, standing over him before wincing and head-butting him in the back of the head. He groaned and plummeted to the ground, where Hermione sat back down and grabbed his shoe to tug him slowly to the door, looking through his pockets until she found the small knife. What he had that for, she didn't want to know, she decided as she cut away her bindings and stood, kicking him out of the way and easing the door open, knowing that she was in the lowest level.
Just a few more steps to the door….
An arm swept around her waist, picking her up as she fought and squirmed, clawing at his arm and kicking, "You didn't think he was the only one, did you, Mudblood?"
"Let go of me – let go of me!" she demanded as she was led back into her room, the unconscious guard pushed out as the door shut once more.
Fury glared at the young man looking pleadingly at him, arching an eyebrow back at him as the Avengers walked by and stood awkwardly in place, glancing between their director and the newcomer.
"Tell me again how you got on my airship?" Fury asked, frowning as he crossed his arms over his chest.
The man sighed, running his hands through shaggy black hair, "I'm magic."
"Oh, what a strange coincidence," he said dully, "Stark's the sugar plum fairy and Barton is the elf. What're you? Gnome?"
"Okay, can we please stop with the Legolas jokes?" Clint asked irritably as Tony chuckled, Natasha patting his head sympathetically, "They're getting really old."
"Alright, Katniss," Tony grinned as he glared at him, Steve arching an eyebrow at them before stepping forward.
"How did you get here?"
"I Apparated," he said with a frown, "You need to put up Apparation wards or else everybody will be popping in whenever they want."
"Ah-hah," Tony said in interest before turning to Bruce and whispering, "Somebody's had one too many midnight margaritas."
"Tony," Bruce admonished with a frown.
"Oh, you don't believe me?" the man asked, shrugging off his jacket before pointing a stick at it, "Wingardium Leviosa." He released it, the jacket floating above the ground, flying when he moved his stick as they gaped at him. After a few moments, he grabbed it back and shrugged the jacket on as he put the wand back in his pocket.
"So, magic?" Tony asked with raised eyebrows.
"I need your help," he pleaded with Fury, "My friend, Hermione, she's been kidnapped."
"What's your name?" he asked, still frowning.
"Harry – Harry Potter," he said.
"And your friend's name?"
"Hermione Granger."
"Is she magic too?"
"Yeah – definitely, practically saved my life for years," he fixed his glasses back on his face, accidentally showing off a lightning bolt scar in the process.
"Good, now I've got jurisdiction," Fury smirked, "Tell us what you know, Potter."
"Alright, here we've got guards there, and there, and there – and oh, some scary looking baddies over here too," Tony pointed at a map, held up by push-pins as Bruce wrote on it, circling things and looking as if they were making a football play and were explaining it to their team. "According to some surveillance footage which I – heh – hacked, there's a pile of what appears to be dead bodies at this point," he pointed to a small room on the lower level.
Harry paled and sunk lower in his seat, although Bruce waved his worries away, "No, no, they're all male, and all guards."
Harry felt himself grinning despite himself, running his hands over his face tiredly, "Go Hermione, give them hell."
"What would Roshbovine want with her anyway, Potter?" Fury asked, seated at the head of the table, "What's so special about her?"
"She's smart – a pretty powerful witch, a great fighter and…my best friend," Harry shrugged, "And she's written a few books and runs a bookstore with her cat. She's simple – she's Hermione. We were in a war together – she got me to that point and through it. We decided we were done with fighting all together and came to – ironically enough – New York when relationships began to fall apart. She's done a lot for me and I've – " he sighed, sinking into the chair and glaring at the map, "I've let her go and get kidnapped. I owe her so much, and for the second time she gets hurt, I can't do anything about it."
"Hey," Steve spoke up, "She's kept up with you since you were kids, even going through a war with you. That's familiar. Trust me, she'd be just as hurt if anything happened to you. She'd probably be saying the same thing too. Minus the stuff about cats."
He smiled ruefully at him as Tony nudged him with a grin, "You sound like you know her."
"Nah," he grinned and shrugged, "I know Bucky."
New Chapter One! I kept the "I know Bucky" quote because I love it. I'll try to keep some parts from the un-fixed chapters if I like them, but more than likely not. Same basic plot, but not quite. But Darcy will come in, rest assured!
CHAPTERS TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE AND SIX ARE CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION. PLEASE REFRAIN FROM TELLING ME THAT THE CHAPTERS DON'T MATCH UP. I'M WORKING ON IT.