(A/N: Thank you for the kind reviews so far. To those who saw the goof on Clint's name at the beginning and pointed it out, thank you and I corrected it as soon as I could. I have no idea what I was thinking because I knew it was Clint Barton. For those who wondered why I called Harry a Vitki, the Old Norse term used seems to depend on where you research it. :) This is the one I picked. However, it was a simple plot device to introduce Harry; it won't be used again after Thor says good-bye … unless Harry were to visit Asgard.)
Chapter 2 - Introductions
(starts very shortly after the end of chapter 1)
Harry had seen pictures of Muggle navy ships before, including an aircraft carrier ... but this?! "People think my magic is unusual, but a flying aircraft carrier?"
Steve looked at him and smiled. "Yeah, I was really surprised the first time too."
Natasha, who was sitting beside Harry, chuckled quietly. "Don't worry," she told the wizard, "that's most people's reaction the first time they see it."
"Thanks," he told her as quietly. When she looked over at Loki to make sure he wasn't causing trouble, he looked at her again and tried to figure her out. She was an interesting mixture of friendly, like just now, and seriousness, as she had been for most of the day. He supposed the seriousness was due to fighting for her life, but it was like she could change between the two like flicking a switch. He thought she was pretty, but he wondered if she was a natural redhead. She didn't have the freckled complexion like Ginny.
When she started to look back his way, he shifted his gaze a little to look at the two Asgardians. He had a little knowledge about Norse mythology from reading a book when he was bored - his cousin had left it lying around - but he didn't remember much. It was strange that traveling to this world brought that mythology to life, as well as made his former life a myth to these people.
The helicopter landed and they disembarked. Harry stayed close to Natasha and Tony, feeling the most comfortable with those two.
Their first stop was a place to put Loki until Thor was to take him back for justice in Asgard. Just for good measure, Harry cast, "Stupify! There, he'll sleep for a while to make sure he doesn't try anything."
Thor looked like he would object at first, then he paused and nodded. "That is probably best."
Clint continued to lead the group and took them to the bridge.
Harry was impressed all over again. This was as cool as any movie he'd ever seen (which was few) and it was real in this world.
"I think we'll sit here for the debrief," said a man with a stern voice.
Turning, Harry saw a large table and on the other side was a black man who was bald and had an eye-patch. The patch didn't bother Harry, but the man's look did. It was like a cross between McGonagall's sternness and Snape's disdain for everything. While he didn't gulp, he did mentally prepare himself for a different kind of battle. He pulled up what little Occlumency shields he had and used them to calm himself. He would not let this man treat him like Dumbledore.
The last year had shown him that while Dumbledore had probably cared for him and wanted him to do well, the old man had used him like a rapier to get rid of Voldemort according to the evidence he'd found after the final battel. He would not be used again.
Harry took a seat, leaning the handle of Loki's scepter against the edge of the table, the point on the floor.
"I see Loki is secured again. What happed to him?" the Director asked.
"He is but asleep, or so I'm assured," Thor answered.
The man turned his gaze and held it on Harry, who willed himself to take it like he had from Snape. "And who are you?"
"I'm Harry Potter," he answered, purposefully going for simple answers when he could. "You are?"
"Nick Fury, the Director of SHIELD. As someone who wields a very interesting power, or so I'm told, why haven't I heard of you before?"
Harry considered what to tell them. So far, Fury was being a bit of a pain in the arse, but he wasn't as bad as Snape yet. "Because I just arrived this morning. I was fed up with where I was living and decided to leave through a portal to another dimension, or that's what I've heard it was. I thought it would either take me somewhere or kill me if I was unlucky. I wound up here. One could say I was in the wrong place at the wrong time this afternoon, but it all worked out."
When Fury didn't immediately answer, Natasha said, "I'd have to agree. I said it before but I'll say it again. Thank you for your help in protecting me and the team. I owe you."
She was completely serious and he could tell she really meant that. With a nod he said, "Anytime."
"I must thank you as well for turning off that device," Fury said, although it looked like it pained him to have to say that. "However, I'd like to know more about our benefactor."
He couldn't help the smile as he thought about an old movie he'd seen as a child when the Dursleys were away once. "Like name, rank, and serial number?"
Tony chortled while Natasha and Bruce smiled; the others looked a little surprised he'd said that - except for Fury, he looked like he was about to live up to his name.
"Mr - Potter -" Fury ground out.
"Oh relax, Fury," Tony told him in the joking manner he's used almost all day when talking to Harry. "He just helped save the world and he's eighteen…"
"Nineteen," Harry interjected.
"Nineteen," Tony echoed as if he'd known that all along, "and he's new here. Grilling him like this isn't the way to go about it all."
"I - am the Director of SHIELD and - I - am responsible for defending the world."
Harry wondered if the man was going to have a stroke. At least he didn't have a throbbing blood vessel like his uncle had.
"Mr Potter, I need to know more." Fury looked at him like Snape, demanding an answer with his expression.
That look sealed it for Harry, giving him the measure of the man. He was like his uncle, thinking he could control everything in his domain. That made him a bully and Harry knew how to deal with bullies now. A glance at Natasha, who looked mildly surprised at the director's answer, gave him more resolve.
Putting steel in his voice, Harry answered, "I can wield magic to protect myself and others, and I don't hurt other people when I can avoid it, but I will if I have to. That's all you really need to know about me for now."
Harry looked right back at Fury and didn't move his gaze. He had been able to look Voldemort in the eyes and Fury had nothing on him. His right hand also slowly moved and lightly rested on his left wrist in case he needed his wand to defend himself quickly.
Clint suddenly cleared his throat. "Well, I think that's some good info, but battles like that really make me hungry and it's been hours since I've eaten. I believe I'll go find some dinner. Harry, want to come with me? It seemed like I was always hungry when I was your age."
A quick glance showed Clint's hands were both on the table and he looked like he was pleading with Harry to come with him. Looking at Natasha, who was again seated next to him, he saw both her hands on the table and a compassionate look like she was sorry this was happening. Looking back at Fury, who had not lost any of his intensity, Harry slowly stood, picking up the scepter in his right hand. "Yeah, I'm hungry too."
"You need to leave that item here," Fury told him, nodding towards the scepter.
"Thor entrusted its care to me and I will keep it safe," Harry disagreed, watching Fury closely. "I understand you didn't do that when you had it before." He readied his left hand as training over the last year had shown him that he didn't have to use his wand for a few spells; plus he had an advantage now that he hadn't had a year ago.
As the tension continued to climb, Clint said, "The mess hall is this way." He stood slowly and started walking towards and then behind Harry. Harry could hear his footstep continuing. He wanted to turn around and make sure nothing happened behind his back, but he trusted Clint a lot more than Fury right now so he walked backwards several steps, keeping Fury in his vision until he thought he was near the door behind him. Turning, he hurriedly left the room.
"Thanks, Clint."
"No problem, Harry. So, what do you like to eat?"
— — —
As the door closed, Fury slammed his hands on the table and dropped into his chair. "What the hell do you all think you are doing? Here is a major power who just took out multiple aliens, including a couple of those worms who are just now floating to the surface of the ocean deader than yesterday's fish, mysteriously transported miles away and to the bottom of the ocean, and you all are just letting him do whatever he pleases without explaining himself? Do you know what he could do? What if it's possible for him to be the next Loki and try to destroy the world! Don't any you find the timing of his arrival the least bit suspicious?"
Stark looked at Banner. "I don't think you have a corner on the anger market."
Banner only shrugged, but it looked like he was having to work to maintain his innocent expression.
"This is serious, Stark!" Fury ignored all the others on the bridge, including Agent Hill who was looking at him with incredulity at his outburst.
"You want to know what's serious?" Stark said, his flippant manner completely gone as he leaned forward and put his metallic elbows on the table near his helmet that was resting there. "That kid stepped forward to help us when he didn't have to. He saved a lot of people today."
"Including me," Natasha interrupted.
"Her and a lot of others," Stark continued. "He took down the shield around that generator and helped close the portal when none of the rest of us could. He's not someone I'm going to worry about trying to take over the world. In fact, he could come live in one of my spare apartments if he wanted to and I wouldn't be concerned about it at all.
"He also did your job of preventing the city from getting nuked by helping to close the portal. If you're pissed off about him doing your job, fine, go yell in your office about how you don't like that, but don't yell at him. If it were up to me, he can have the title of Avenger if he wants it … not that I think he does at this moment. Oh, and don't make him angry because I'm willing to bet he can kick your ass with a single wave of his stick faster than you can draw your gun."
"I see," Fury said slowly and only a little more calmly. "So you know he's not a threat. You can guarantee that?"
"I know he's not a threat," Natasha said, "just as I know he's to be taken seriously."
Fury looked at Captain America. "Obviously, I can't guarantee it, but I also don't believe he's a threat. I don't understand his story about coming from another dimension to this one, but there's a lot of things about today that I don't understand. Honestly," Steve looked it too, "I think we have a lot more important things to worry about than Harry Potter."
Fury turned his attention to Thor. "Why did you give him that scepter?"
Thor blinked and sat up a little straighter. "Because he is Vitki," he replied as if it should have been obvious. "He is the only one here who can use it beside my brother, and he's the best person to keep it safe - probably even more so than myself. I trust him."
"I assume you're taking Loki home?" Fury said, dropping the previous topic.
"I will personally guarantee that he will be punished for what he's done here," Thor promised sincerely. "I will also see that the Tesseract is secured so it does not come to Midgard again."
The director looked around the group, but no one said anything else. Making up his mind, he said, "You all have leave to get some rest and recover. Keep your phone on you in case something comes up. Agent Romanova, in my office." He stood and turned without waiting for her.
Stark looked at Thor. "When are you leaving with Loki?"
"I will get some rest here and then return with him to Asgard tomorrow morning, where he will answer for his crimes to Odin at the soonest possible moment," Thor replied.
"Have someone call me an hour before you're ready to go. I'd like to see you off," Tony said as he stood. "I need to go reassure Pepper that I'm all right and check on the damage."
Natasha agreed with the rest to be there to send the two Asgardians home before she walked to see the Director. While she could understand her superior's concerns, she thought they were unfounded and she hoped he'd cooled down by now so they could discuss this rationally.
Without needing to be told, she closed the door to his office and took a seat. She knew she was safe in here but she also left her mission awareness on; this was not a time to relax.
"Agent Romanova," he said quietly and the most calm he'd been for the last hour. "Tell me about today and Harry Potter. What happened and what did you see him do?"
She spent the next ten minutes telling him about the afternoon as factually as she could. When that story was done, she then said, "Harry Potter behaved admirably and intelligently. I would agree with Stark that he is prime material for the Avenger program. He would be an excellent asset."
"Speculate about him," he asked her.
"There is little to speculate about. He is honorable and has a code of ethics, that was obvious to me. It is not one you need to worry about. It was also obvious he's seen fighting before. He kept his head and understood tactics. He also seems to instinctively know when he needs to do something immediately because it's important, as well as work with the team for a larger goal. He knows little of hand-to-hand combat without using magic, but he knows how to wield a sword."
Fury looked at her for a moment. "He also likes and trusts you the most in the group."
"Sir?" That surprised her as it was not something she had noticed and there was little around her that she didn't see. Sure, they had worked a lot together after Harry had saved her, something she really did feel she owed him for, but she hadn't seen anything beyond that. They had sat together several times today, but the group was small enough that felt like coincidence to her.
He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I said I appreciated what he did today and I meant it. I probably did go a little overboard because I've still not fully come to grips with the idea that SHIELD's board thought it was a good idea to nuke New York City. But even in my less than best state, even I could see that he always looked to you first when gauging what was going on and deciding what to do. He also always walked next to you after he got off the helicopter - at least that I saw on the monitors, and he purposefully sat next to you out there, skipping two closer seats to him. There is something about you that he finds special.
"What I don't know is if that's just being a teenage boy around a pretty girl who's really not too much older than he is, or is it because he feels protective of you, or maybe he really likes you, or perhaps it's all or none of the above. So while I have a lot of questions about him and what, if anything, I need to do about him, I do know one thing.
"You, Agent Romanova, are in charge of him and your mission is to find out what you can about him and report that back to me. I don't believe you can get him to do a psyche eval, but if you can get that info out of him in your own way, that would be very helpful. I especially need to know his capabilities and powers."
Fury leaned forward again. "You're a spy, a damned good one too. Spy on Harry Potter. He needs a place to live; don't tell him about Stark's offer. Take him home with you to that house you never use and we maintain anyway. Tell him you have two weeks of vacation to rest after this. Show him around like you're both tourists; do stuff together; get to know him."
He leaned forward a little more. "I know what it was like before you came to us and what they would ask you to do in this situation. I will do anything to save the world, but even I realize this is not that desperate yet, so there are lines I won't ask you to cross with this assignment like they would have. However, for this mission, I will remind you that he doesn't work for SHIELD, so all policies that forbid relationships between team members don't apply. Do what you need to do and with what you feel comfortable with. Any questions?"
"No sir," she instantly said, somewhat surprised with that last part.
"This mission is on a need-to-know basis, and I'm presently the only person who needs to know; to everyone else, you're on vacation and playing tour guide to a guest and friend. Go find Potter and take a vacation. If you see Barton, send him to me. I have a mission for him." Fury fell back in his chair to think.
Natasha stood and left, thinking the whole thing through, what she needed to do and say. She honestly thought Harry was a good guy and was trustworthy. She also felt she owed him and she paid her debts. There was no doubt she'd show him around and give him some advice. If he wanted to stay, she'd help him fit in. If he wanted to go, she'd give him some more advice and look the other way; that would be her repayment. If Fury didn't like that, that was his problem. She had little doubt Harry Potter could take care of himself if required.
Inside the main mess hall, she found the two "escapes" still sitting together at a corner table, both with their backs to a wall, which amused her. Clint was finishing a plate of food while Harry looked like he'd had sandwiches, probably multiple if he was still finishing one given how long they'd been here. "Gentlemen," she greeted them.
"Did Fury have a stroke after we left?" Clint asked with amusement and Harry looked very interested in that.
"No, but it wasn't for lack of trying," she joked as she sat, next to Harry and across from Clint at the table for four. "He said he has a mission for you. The rest of us wanted to see Thor off tomorrow morning, so you might want to try to work that in." She looked at Harry. "Want to come?"
"Sure," he said before he finished the last of his sandwich and washed it down.
"I've also been given two weeks off." She watched him carefully, wondering if Fury was really right about him and her. "You haven't said you have a place to stay, so want to come stay with me? I can show you around."
He blinked and looked shocked. "S-Stay with you?"
"Yes," she said, hiding her amusement at his nervousness. "I have a house with an extra bedroom or two, unless you'd like to stay here on the helicarrier. I'm sure Fury wouldn't mind." That was a bit unfair of her, perhaps, but it seemed to push him in the desired direction.
"No," he said quickly. "I don't think that'd be a good idea. I can rent someplace to stay; I wouldn't want to be an inconvenience."
"Hardly, there's plenty of room and I'd love to have you around to have someone to talk to," she told him, turning on the charm just a little. "It'd be fun to be normal for a while."
Surprisingly to her, he nodded. "Normalcy is so hard to come by." He studied her for a moment and she felt like she was being judged. "All right, just for a little bit until I can figure out what I want to do."
"That's fine," she agreed, considering herself lucky that she'd happened to mention something that he could relate to. She had to be good at reading people in her line of work, but sometimes luck paved the way. "You can ask whatever you want and I'll do my best to give you advice. Consider it my repayment for what you did for me."
"You really don't need to," he insisted.
"Maybe not, but I feel like I should and I want to," she insisted and he nodded. There was something between them, she decided. They were comrades in arms for sure, but she wasn't sure if there was more or not. Nevertheless, she'd keep Fury's observation in mind.
"See you tomorrow, Clint?" she asked as she stood, with Harry rising too.
"Yeah, I'll be there if at all possible. Leave your plate, Harry; I'll take care of it. Have a good time you two," Clint smiled, and then grinned even more when Harry blushed slightly and hurried away after his teasing.
"Err, Natasha, is it possible we could try to find someone?" Harry asked hesitantly.
"Who?" she asked as they walked towards the bridge to arrange a ride back to New York City.
"Part of the reason I came through the portal was to see if I could find my godfather. He was knocked into it about three years ago. I was," Harry paused and took a deep breath, "I guess I was hoping he'd have come here too."
She looked at him for a moment and realized one more thing about Harry: he'd had a lonely life so far; he had that searching look. "I've never heard of anyone else like you with your powers, but I can search for him with SHIELD's computer. If he used his real name here, I can get the list of people with that name and their addresses. If they're near, we can go there while on vacation to see if one of them is him."
"Thanks," he said, looking relieved. He kept that look all the way to the bridge.
On the bridge, Natasha went over to Agent Hill and found out there was a helicopter about to leave to help with cleanup of anything alien. She arranged transport for Harry and her before pulling him over to a computer console. "What was your godfather's name?"
"Sirius Black."
"Seriously?"
Harry laughed quietly. "That would have been a joke he would have made. Spell it like the star."
She started a query for a person and typed the man's name in. "Spelled like this?" she asked, pointing to the screen.
"Yes."
"Age?" she asked.
"Late thirties, I'd think," he said a little hesitantly and she entered "35-40".
A few seconds later, the computer reported no matches. "There are none in the US." At his disappointed look, she said, "Let me expand to other countries." It took another half minute, but that came back empty too. "I'm sorry, Harry. Either the portal didn't bring him here or maybe he changed his name. We also don't have the names of all seven billion people in here either, but we do know about most people in the more modern countries."
Harry nodded sadly. "Thanks for trying anyway."
"If you think of any other way to find him, I'll help you try," she told him caringly. "Come on, we need to get moving as they're probably waiting for us." As she led him out, she glanced over towards the director's office and noticed he was watching. She gave him a nod and left.
— — —
The helicopter they rode landed on top of one of the buildings near where the fight had been.
"Where are we going?" Harry asked her.
"I have an apartment near here. We'll spend the night there. Then after Thor leaves, we'll go to my house on Long Island. It's quieter there and we can relax for a day or two while we decide what to do for a couple of weeks. How does that sound?"
"That seems reasonable," he answered and looked around. There was one other guy near, so he quietly asked, "Where is it? I can take us there quickly. I don't think we really want to walk around down there dressed like we are now, and I probably need to change how we look anyway."
She was obviously considering that. "You're correct to be cautious," she finally answered. "I'm sure someone took our pictures and they're probably on the news by now. How would you change how we look?"
Harry pulled out his wand and waved it over her. Her pants turned into normal looking blue jeans and her top changed into a red T-shirt that matched her hair. Another wave and her utility belt and guns disappeared. She patted her sides a little franticly for a moment. "How did you do that? I feel them but I don't see them."
"A concealment charm for them and a transfiguration for your clothes. Don't worry, I can change them back when we get to your place." Harry changed his clothes too, blue jeans and a dark green shirt for him. "Where do you live? Should I take you there or would it be best to walk?"
She chuckled. "I think flying on a broom would bring too much attention to us, but I live in that building over there at the edge of central park."
"All right, hold on." Since the helicopter pilot was looking the other way, he grabbed her hand and Apparated her to the roof of her building.
"Dermo!" She crouched a little and looked around very quickly.
Or that's what Harry thought she said, but he wasn't sure and thought that maybe it was another language. "Are you all right? I know that's a little uncomfortable, but it shouldn't have hurt you."
Slowly, she stood and calmed her breathing. "Don't ever do that again without telling me first," she told him sternly. "How did you do that?"
"Magic," he said with a bit of cheek. He was a little surprised at her reaction. She seemed to have accepted practically everything else thrown at her before, even changing her clothes. Well, her guns disappearing alarmed her a little, he reminded himself.
She calmed the rest of the way as she really looked around. "At least you brought us to the correct place. Follow me."
They found a door and went down two floors via stairs, passing another young couple going up. Pulling out a key by feel from her invisible utility belt, she unlocked the door and let them in, locking it behind them.
Harry looked around and thought it was fairly nice, but it didn't have much of a personal touch. "Do you stay here often?" He saw a single bedroom. It was a small place but had a nice view. He knew he'd be sleeping on the couch tonight, but that would be better than his old bed at the Dursleys, so he could live with that.
"A few days a month. I've thought about getting rid of it, but it does come in handy because no one expects to find me here. I have several small places all over the world," she told him matter-of-factly.
"I had a big house, but I left it to my friends from school when I came here. If they're smart, they'll sell it and use the money to buy a house somewhere else." Or Harry thought that's what they should do and had mentioned it in the letter he sent them along with the deed to old Number 12 just before he left.
"Let me change and we can go get something to eat. Or if you're not hungry you can join me for dessert," she told him. "Oh, can you change this back to normal?" She pointed to her clothes. A single wave of the wand reverted it all and she now looked like she had back at the helicarrier.
Harry pulled out his trunk and enlarged it. Searching, he found some clean clothes and changed quickly.
She came out a few minutes later in real jeans and a blouse, along with a purse that was over her shoulder with a long strap. Harry wouldn't have been surprised to find out that there was a gun in it.
They had dinner in a small Russian restaurant, where she told about herself in vague terms: growing up in Russia, working for the government, and then Clint helping her to defect and come here to join SHIELD as it was really getting going.
Harry listened while he slowly ate a dessert she recommended, Prague Cake. "So, what you're telling me is that you were a spy?" he asked as quietly as she had been talking.
Natasha smiled mischievously at him. "Things are rarely that simple, but yes. I'm also very good at ballet. I studied at the famous school in St Petersburg."
"Then what do you do for SHIELD? Spy?"
"We call it gathering information," she answered, her smile turning into a smirk.
"Who do you gather information on?" he asked, wondering about her.
Natasha finished her dinner and looked at him carefully. "I'm sure you're asking because you want to know if you can trust me."
"Mostly," he acknowledged, "but I also want to know if I can trust SHIELD and Fury."
She smiled at him. "I trust both of them enough to work for them and I'm generally suspicious of everything. To answer your question, I'm given missions to get info on groups that are causing global disruption. Most of the times, it's criminal groups selling weapons they shouldn't be and terrorist groups trying to expand, but it can also be against countries that look like they're about to invade someone else and other situations of that magnitude. Sometimes I'm tasked with bringing a criminal in so he can stand trial, someone normal police can't handle. We operate within the law or where there is no law at all."
"Like aliens invading?" he asked with a grin.
Natasha laughed quietly. "Yes, they didn't get the memo not to invade. Seriously, that was an all-hands event and the first one of its kind. I'd like to hope there are no more of those, but who can really say."
"I can understand," he agreed.
The redhead paid their bill and they walked back for her apartment. She told Harry about the city and pointed a few things out to him. The city was slowly returning to normal, except for the area the fight had been in.
They talked for a little more back at her apartment before she handed him a pillow and a blanket for the couch, turning in early because of the exertions of the fight.
— — —
Harry looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was only a little after midnight. He might have dozed off a little in last few hours, but thought not and he was sure he could not get to sleep any time soon.
Natasha's bedroom door was closed, so he rose and pulled on his pants over his boxers and put his shoes on; his T-shirt would be enough on top. Retrieving and donning his Invisibility Cloak, he thought very carefully and Apparated as quietly as he could, which he had been told was quieter than most - almost but not quite silent.
When he arrived at the underground train station tunnel, he looked and found the tile with his initials in it, showing him that he was in the right place. Looking more carefully now, and casting a spell to detect magical usage or even existence of anything magical. His transformed tile was the only thing that showed as magical and there were no marks that he could see that showed Sirius had ever been here.
He fell back again the wall, leaning there to hold himself up. He'd known and mostly accepted that Sirius was gone, but he'd hoped his godfather had only appeared dead because he went to another dimension - namely here; however, that didn't seem to be the case. It seemed more final now for some reason when there was no evidence of his existence.
Taking a deep breath to clear some of the numbness of his feelings away, he retraced his path from earlier today to the streets again, somewhat surprised to see the train station open at this time of night, and surprised to see so many people on the street. Sure, it wasn't as nearly busy as during the day, but he hadn't expected to see more than one or two people around instead of the dozen out and about.
With his Cloak still on, he wandered down the street. The area where the fight had been was marked off and there were a few policemen around, but they were few and usually talking with each other and not really watching.
The destruction had been so pointless, or at least from what he understood. Loki, like Voldemort, had tried to take over the world in his own fashion, not really caring what happened to everyone else.
Wanting to do something good, maybe to correct the wrong or maybe to honor Sirius, he wasn't sure, he ducked under the yellow ribbon to keep people away and entered the fight zone. There was a crew working several blocks away under bright lights, so Harry thought he could safely work here.
Letting only the tip of his wand out of his cloak, and thankful that this spell was colorless, Harry began to cast Repairing spell after Repairing spell. He fixed broken windows, chips from walls, holes blasted out of the street. In many cases he reduced damage to cars. He even greatly reduced the damage to the bus he'd moved. Some things couldn't be completely repaired, but he did as much as he could for a couple of blocks.
He couldn't really go any further because of a crew that was starting to clean up the mess, removing materials needed to restore broken things, but Harry did as much as he could. In the end, he felt better for restoring some order and he felt truly exhausted.
Thinking very carefully, he Apparated back to Natasha's apartment and, with the low light through the gauzy curtains, found a gun practically in his face. He froze and stared at it for a moment.
"Reveal yourself or die," he heard whispered from a form on the couch.
Slowly, Harry dropped the hood of his cloak. "It's me, Harry," he told her before he dropped the rest of the cloak to the floor
The gun lowered and was set on the side table. "Where have you been? I heard a noise and found you gone. I didn't know where to look either."
He sat down on the couch and twisted so he could lay on it, his feet mostly on the floor. "I'm tired now; I couldn't sleep before," he said thickly.
She moved, stepping over his feet and kneeling down beside the couch where his head was. Gently, she stroked his hair. "Where did you go?"
"I had to know. There was no sign that Sirius has ever been here. I'd seen his ghost or shade in my world, so I should have known he was dead, but I'd hoped he'd be here." It hit Harry again as he said that out loud and he couldn't contain the feelings this time. "He's really gone and I'm the last," he sobbed, turning his face into the pillow to hide.
The last thing he remembered was becoming more comfortable before he fell into a deep sleep.
—
Natasha removed his shoes and put his feet on the couch before pulling the blanket over him. Most of that explanation wasn't too hard to figure out, given what Harry had already shared about his godfather. What Harry was the last of was harder. It probably didn't really matter, but it reinforced her thought that Harry was lonely.
Picking up the silvery material he'd been wearing when he arrived, she draped it around her shoulders like Harry had. Looking down, she could still see the cloth; it was beautiful in its own way, but she'd hoped it would have made her invisible like Harry had been. Folding it, she carefully laid it on top of his trunk.
Silently, she retrieved her gun and walked back into her bedroom to go back to bed, leaving her door open. She was always a light sleeper, a necessity in her line of work. If he made a sound before her mobile phone vibrated with a message for the meeting, she'd know.
(A/N: Am I the only one who can't read a story with Nick Fury in it without hearing SLJ's voice? :)
