Review Replies for Chapter 2: you guys clearly all hate me enough to not review enough though I have had over 5,000 views since posting Chapter 2-_- lol enjoy the chapter guys it's quite a bit of drama!

Chapter 3: Divided We Fall

For the first time in a while I had a nightmare free sleep, which though only a couple of hours was better than usual. I had a couple of magical

ways of going without sleep for a while but it doesn't mean I can't be tired. Despite all this I couldn't help but feel this was to lower my guard, that the scepter could have influenced me. Crazy yes, but I'm literally flying in crazier.

"If we bypass their mainframe..." I heard Tony saying. I yawned and stretched in my seat, opening my eyes to see Tony and Bruce still hard at work on studying the scepter.

"Ah, Harry, you're awake," Bruce said, typing away at some electronic device.

"Still night?" I asked.

"Yep." Tony answered. "Oh, I took your advice and watched the fight with Loki. Just clarifying: you turned into a panther?" I nodded, walking over to look at the readings they had gotten so far; needless to say I didn't understand a whit of it.

"What else can you do? Big fan of your out-magicking Loki by the way, do your tricks work like his? You really saved Cap's ass in that fight."

"Is that what happened?" Steve said wryly striding in.

"Ever consider retirement? You're getting a bit old for this." looking at Bruce Tony said, "You should come by Stark Towers sometime. Top ten floors, all R&D. You'd love it, it's candyland."

"Thanks," Bruce said, "but the last time I was in New York I kind of broke... Harlem." he finished guiltily. I came and stood by his side.

"More like you saved it from being destroyed," Steve consoled him. "I saw the footage, the other guy was a hero not the villain you fear."

"Besides," Tony added, inserting himself between us, "I promise a stress free environment. No tension. No surprises." I nodded to Bruce eagerly. The man needed a break, and he needed it badly.

Of course, Tony chose this moment to suddenly poke Bruce and I in the side with a mini electrical prod in each hand.

"OW!" Bruce yelped and I hissed in annoyance, both of us glaring at Tony.

"What the bloody hell is your issue?" I asked him incredulously as Steve exclaimed, "Hey!" Tony examined Banner then me closely.

"Nothing?" he asked. "Both of you?"

"Are you nuts?" Steve angrily said. Tony gave him the briefest of looks.

"Jury's out," he said, which made Bruce and I chuckle despite how wrong that could have gone. Tony was annoying but a good guy nonetheless.

"So what are your secrets? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?" I bit back the urge to laugh. "It doesn't work the same way it does for him," I said still a bit pissed.

"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve asked Tony. My mind had wandered a bit and I was only partially paying attention to the conversation.

"Funny things are," Tony replied pointing with his prod.

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny," Steve stated, then looked at Bruce. "No offence, doctor."

"No-no, it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things." I had a sudden brainwave.

"OH!" I exclaimed, then realized everyone was staring at me. "Sorry about that. I just realized I might be able to help Bruce control the Other Guy!"

Bruce froze. "You... you really think so?" He said in a quavering voice. I nodded.

"When this is all over I can help you," I promised, then raised my hands. "I can't take him away, but I can give you control." Bruce hugged me with tears in his eyes. Just how long had he been enslaved by fear? I wondered embarrassed.

"You're tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut." Tony said, and from there the conversation devolved into an argument that ended with both Tony and Steve having bruised ego's and all of us suspicious about Fury. I myself refrained from partaking in that conversation seeing no good could come from it though my wisdom was fading fast; I also was highly confident Fury wanted all of us here to put together a team. Lastly, I suspected that without my presence everyone would've been too divided for that to ever be possible. Of course, when Steve left I decided to get things back on track.

"That's the guy my dad never shut up about?" Tony said, "Wondering if they should have left him on ice."

"Alright, that's low Tony," I intervened. "You don't know what Steve is dealing with and he is right about Loki, you know, so..."

"Harry and Steve are right, Loki has the jump on us." Bruce counseled.

"What he's got is an ACME dynamite kit." Tony said, though he looked thoughtful at our words; I realized Tony actually respected what I had to say and may have felt guilty, just a little, about what had happened earlier.

"So what issues are bugging us today?" I asked abruptly. Real smooth Harry, I thought to myself almost flushing, and when I got a couple confused looks in response I eked out/elaborated. "I think we would get along better if we talked about our... issues. Don't pretend they don't exist. We're in this together." I wasn't planning to ever share my worst experiences, though I worried that these people might worm their way into my heart. After a beat surprisingly Tony was the first to speak up.

"I've got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl it's way into my heart." He pointed at the blue-ish glow in the center of his chest shining through his shirt. "This stops it. This little circle of light. It's a part of me now, not just armor. It's a... terrible privilege." My respect for him went up slightly; to carry such a burden and continue the way he is few people could do. But I still thought he was somewhat of a jerk.

"At least you can control it," Bruce said depressed. "I can never stop worrying that the Other Guy will bust out and kill anyone close to me. It's not Him that weighs me down, just the safety-"

"-of everyone around you," I finished, sitting down and twisting my fingers together in my lap. "I know what that's like. I... I can't talk about this now, but I really, really do know. I've seen those fears realized," my voice cracked, "but they won't have to be for you. Maybe when this is all over... Sirius really wants me to share because it'll help me... So maybe we can help each other?" I asked hopefully. Bruce looked at me kindly.

"Of-of course Harry, that would be fine," he said warmly. Tony nodded and went back to work.

"I'm not a sentimental person, but it'd probably be best if I participated. Getting to know each other and all," he said. I frowned and thought for a moment.

"Well if we are gonna get to know each other then could I try something? I just need to make sure using magic close by won't hurt you." I told Tony. He looked confused.

"Er, it didn't before, but go ahead I guess." he said unsure. I extended my hand and let out a wave of concentrated magic, not strong enough to fry any electronics but enough to be noticeable. The pad Tony was holding flickered but his magnet was completely unaffected.

"You care to explain?" Tony asked, tapping his datapad to see if it was okay.

"Magic and electronics don't really mix, though really in small doses it's okay. I needed to know if your magnet-"

"ARC reactor actually," Tony interjected.

"If your ARC reactor would be affected, so I don't kill you," I finished.

Eventually they got back to work, with me pitching in helping Banner get readings of my magic and comparing them to that of the staff and Tesseract. I pulled out a vial of pepperup potion out of my pockets(I had thousands of potions literally at my fingertips) and took a swig; I didn't want to get tired today.

"Aren't you a bit young to have alcohol?" Tony asked. The only reason I didn't choke was because I was getting used to his comments. Oh, how depressing a reality that is!

"Um, I don't do alcohol," I told him placidly, "and even if I did magic will keep me from getting drunk-"

"What I would give for that," Tony muttered. I rolled my eyes at him and continued.

"What I just drunk is a magical concoction known as a pepperup potion. It makes me completely refreshed, fully awake, alert, and rejuvenated. I will not get tired for the rest of the day by the amount I just consumed. was going to offer some to you guys, but-"

"Yeah, I really would Merlin," he said eagerly. He took a swig.

"Holy shit!" he said, "this is amazing! thanks magic boy."

"No problem," I assured him. Bruce refrained from taking it saying the Other Guy did a good enough job and he wasn't sure how it would affect him. After getting all the readings the scientist needed I sat back in my chair again. Usually at times like this I would be playing with Hedwig,

but she was away hunting. Hedwig would come at my call when I needed her, but she was a free spirit after all, and like me had an aversion to being confined. Well, that's not entirely true. I suppose I would enjoy not being so free if righteous people confined and limited me, but I have an extreme phobia especially after the graveyard of being restrained and evil people running around in the meantime.

Just before dawn Natasha gave us a message over the earpieces we had; "Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well."

We all exchanged glances. "Bruce..." I began.

"I'll be fine Harry," Bruce said irritably, and I fell silent. Well, hopefully he wouldn't need my help anyways. Loki was one of the most powerful opponents I have ever faced, and to be honest he scared me just a bit. So damn Slytherin...

Just as the sun was rising Tony, who was sitting on the corner of the table, exclaimed, "Finally!"

"What's up?" I asked, me and Bruce strolling over. We look over his shoulder and see all sorts of SHIELD files being decrypted.

"Well," Tony said pressing a couple buttons, "in a few moments we will finally know what the pirate spy isn't telling us."

Nick Fury strolled in, and was not pleased to see Tony not at work.

"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?" he said angrily.

"Uh... kind of been wondering the same thing about you," Tony responded. I raised an eyebrow, wondering just how Nick would play this.

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract," Nick spit out.

"We are. The model's locked and and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile," Bruce said, pointing at the monitor behind Nick.

"And the moment it's located, we can move in and extract it, no extra charge," I chimed in. Nick nodded in satisfaction though still looked suspicious. Well, he was a spy after all.

Immediately the monitor in front of us showed a bunch of secret files.

"What is Phase 2?" Tony asked.

Suddenly a sinister looking gun was slammed onto the table with a loud clank! I half jumped into a defensive posture then slacked as we all turned our attention there. Steve had put the rifle there, and looked pissed.

"Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons," he said in an irate tone.

"Wait, what?" I asked in disbelief.

"Look, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract," Nick said placatingly. "This does not mean that we're..."

"I'm sorry, Nick," Tony interrupted, turning the computer screen around to show a model design for, what do you know, weapons.

"Well isn't that awkward," I told him.

"I was wrong, director. The world hasn't changed a bit." Steve said. Thor and Natasha walked in. Bruce glared at Natasha.

"Did you know about this?" Bruce asked gesturing to the evidence.

"Of course she knew Bruce how could she not?" I said with immediate scornfulness before realizing I had been the exact same way. The guilt must have shown on my face as Natasha gave me a tiny smirk and I regained my composure.

"And what excuse will she give for it?" said Bruce heatedly.

"I don't think this is the best place for you to be doctor," she told him.

"You want him here, you don't want him here, make up your mind woman!" I muttered. Bruce grinned and Natasha glared at me.

"And what place do you have here kid?" she asked. "We're being manipulated by Loki and you are far too easy a target."

"Oh, because I'm sixteen?" I challenged her.

"Yeah, so far what else exactly have you done?" Bruce asked Natasha.

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you," she retorted.

"Neither will we leave if you do the same," I responded gravely. "And methinks you are the only person who is NOT here present on false pretences."

"I'm not leaving until someone tells me why SHIELD is building weapons of mass destruction!" Bruce exclaimed, starting to lose his cool a bit.

Nick seemed to have had enough. "Because of him," he stated, pointing his arm at Thor. The god looked stunned.

"Me?" he asked.

"Last year earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, we are hopelessly," he gave a derisive snort, "hilariously, outgunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor protested.

"But you're not the only people out there are you? And, you're not the only threat. The world is filling up with people that can't be matched, they can't be controlled."

"Are you talking about-" I started in a dangerous tone.

"No, of course not!" Nick said quickly. "But it's only a matter of time until..."

"Nuclear deterrent. 'Cause that always calms everything right down." Tony said.

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?"

"I'm sure if he still made weapons Stark would be neck-deep-"

"Wait-wait! Hold on! How is this now about me?" Tony said raising a hand.

"I'm sorry, isn't everything?" Steve replied sarcastically.

"Very childish Tony, Steve," I told him annoyed.

"Uh huh, yeah you're the only one who's been acting their age," Tony said dismissively.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this," Thor told the room at large as Steve defended me. Nick rounded on him now angry again.

"Excuse me, did we come to YOUR planet and blow stuff up?" I shrugged.

"I mean, most people with that kind of power tend to do such things," I noted. Nick glared at me. "Not helping Harry," he said through gritted teeth. I was surprised at the vehemence behind not only his, but everyone's words.

"Did you always give your champions such mistrust?" Thor asked scornfully.

"You're not my champion!" Nick said loudly.

"Being a champion sucks balls," I pouted.

"Are you boys really that naive?" said Natasha. "SHIELD monitors potential threats."

"Captain America is on the threat watch?" Bruce asked.

"We all are!" Natasha said.

"That's not your concern doctor!" added Nick.

"You're on that list?" Tony said to Steve. "Are you above or below angry bees?"

"Should it be?" said Bruce aggravated.

"We are the good guys!" Nick said.

"I swear to God, Stark, one more crack..." Steve clenched his teeth.

"Well, normally when organizations make children fight for them..." Bruce said.

"I'm starting to wonder if SHIELD isn't becoming the bad guy, needing kids to do the dirty work for them. Just how weak are you guys?" Tony spoke over in disgust.

"If I hadn't been there-" I started heatedly.

"You're the one who made the childish mistake Tony!" Steve said.

"You speak of control, yet you court chaos," Thor proclaimed.

"Well..." I said hesitantly. Even after all this time away from the Dursleys it's in my nature to be a quiet person. Not much I had to say here

except watch in fascinated horror really. But right now I was one ticked off teen.

"It's his M.O., isn't it? I mean, what are we, a team?" Bruce asked skeptically. He seemed quietly furious. "No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're... we're a time bomb." A vein was pulsing in his neck.

"You need to step away," Nick said firmly. Tony put his hand on Steve's shoulder.

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam? The kid got to earlier," he said with fake jovialness. Steve pushed him away.

"You know damn well why! Back off!"

"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me," Tony said menacingly, coming face to face. Steve walked around him.

"Huh. Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist," he replied, slowing coming to face Steve again. I snorted. "About that last one..." I began, but Steve cut me off.

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you," Steve said viciously. "I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you. But Harry would."

"I think I would just cut the wire. You and the kid would kill yourselves for nothing." That stung so bad - I felt the tiniest bit of pity that he didn't understand, but was quickly washed away by the raw emotion such a statement brought up in me.

"Don't you dare diss sacrifice you god damn fool!" I hissed getting a bit in his face. "You've lost already without it!"

Steve looked at him with disgust and glanced at Bruce, who gave him a look back.

"Don't bother Harry he can't understand, always a loophole he can take." Steve snorted. "You know, you may not be a threat, but you better

stop pretending to be a hero." That seemed to do it for Tony.

"A hero, like you? Or Harry? Your ideals are all you people have. You're a laboratory experiment Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle." I nearly gasped. Steve gave Tony a cold look but instead of venting like I would have smirked dangerously.

"Put on the suit. Lets go a few rounds," he said quietly. Tony seemed to realize he had gone too far and didn't respond. Fortunately, or Unfortunately as luck would have it Thor chuckled.

"You people are so petty," he said superiorly, "and tiny."

"Yeah, this is a team," Bruce stated with sarcastic anger.

"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his-"

"Where?! You rented my room?!" he exclaimed.

"The cell was just in case-"

"You needed to kill me, but you can't, I know, I've tried!" Bruce said, the veins in his neck starting to look an eerie green. We all stared at him in shock, though me more so in pity.

"I got low,' he explained, "I didn't see an end so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on, I focused on helping other people. I was good until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!" I however was focusing on another part of his words, and had a revelation.

"Every biggest threat you've got is gathered in this room," I stated to Nick coldly standing up from the wall I was leaning against. "What are you really up to Director?"

Bruce however, influenced by his other guy as he was, took my words utterly the wrong way.

"So. We're here to die huh?" he said losing control. Nick and Natasha reached and gripped their guns ready to shoot, and I realized my I didn't intervene the Hulk would kill us all. I needed to make a sacrifice to win here. "Well then, try to-"

"So have I!" I yelled, slamming my fists down on the table. "So have I," I repeated softly. Everyone stared at me now, Bruce's anger forgotten; the man removed a hand from the scepter none of us had noticed.

"Mr. K did not tell me-"

"He wouldn't know Nick, this was long before the war." I gave a bitter laugh and said in scorn,. "As if anything could convince me to off myself when I was needed most. I was six."

Bruce was even more horrified than the rest, having experienced it.

"No, no no no," he practically pleaded, looking sick.

"So you're unkillable?" asked Tony puzzled. I laughed in derision.

"I'm very, very mortal Tony." I gripped the table hard squeezing my eyes shut against the storm of memories my next words brought back, and just how broken I had been. "I couldn't control my powers when I was younger - my relatives didn't like that at all… my childhood was hell." I barely kept my voice from cracking - even Sirius didn't know the worst of it. Entrusting them with this knowledge was like sitting on a hot stove. In that moment for once I looked and felt just like a terrified and haunted child.

Everyone seemed at a loss for words, but thankfully the monitor tracking the Tesseract wasn't fazed. Thank you monitor.

"Got it!" Nick exclaimed. Bruce swiftly walked over and began putting the info up.

"Located the Tesseract?" Thor asked as I finally pushed up and walked over to Tony, looking him in the eye.

"Sacrifice," I told Tony in a low voice, gesturing to Bruce, and then spoke up. "Depending on how far away it is I might be able to make it in a couple jumps, but I'm taking someone with me." Another argument was beginning to start when Bruce finally saw the location. He took off his glasses in disbelief and horror.

"Oh-my-god," He said, then the world exploded into fire.

A/N: Each Avenger is struggling with an issue, and I think I made apparent what Harry's is. This will be mentioned a couple more times, though its not quite the full problem. Harry will have an issue at the end of the avengers arc that is to be healed later. So please don't murder me for this, but I'm planning for the Thor: The Dark World arc to be more development for Harry, I mean he needs to have his own character development throughout my story and Thor never changes in that movie.

Not gonna say much else at all because I'm still getting back in the mindset after a long hiatus and what is above was also written prior to my sad absence.

Oh yeah, and to anyone who thought I abandoned this story, I may be utterly on my own with this but seriously how many times do I have to say that I will never abandon this?

I'm purposefully keeping my chapters rough and "unrefined" so to speak because you still have enough for a good pretty detailed idea and editing wording, completely redoing small scenes even and making it more natural than what I have done would be way better if you guys just, you guessed where I'm going here...

And for the love of god please review, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next two will be filled with enormous amounts of action and fighting, and I hope that even the words of my rough draft are enough for you to stop and visually delight in the fantastic, epic fight scenes I spend so much time crafting.

The next chapter is titled: Chapter 4: the Kickstart.