Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the Avengers. Unfortunately.

Chapter 9: Some Assembly Required

For once things were going well, perhaps too well. The Dursleys were in prison and Harry, and he had come to have a closer relationship because of it. Harry's twelfth birthday was coming up, and Tony and Pepper were planning something special for him. Tony had even completed his arc reactor prototype earlier then expected, and he had installed it into Stark Tower. So far it was working beautifully. He had decided that delving more into arc reactor technology would be the way to go when trying to make things compatible with magic. He just wished that he had a way of testing it, and had attempted to get Harry to bend the rules and perform magic in its presence.

Pepper had taken the jet to D.C. for a meeting on the zoning for the next three buildings now that they knew the reactor worked. The meeting had originally been planned for the day before Harry's birthday. She didn't want to miss Harry's first birthday with them so she had managed to reschedule it for a week earlier. With Pepper gone it allowed Harry and Tony to do what ever they pleased. This ended up with Harry flying around in the penthouse living room on his broom, and Tony wearing the boots and gloves of the Iron Man suit enabling him to zoom around the penthouse as well. Each of them had a nerf gun that they had personally upgraded, and were firing at one another in abandon. The room was completely trashed with little foam darts sticking to a wide range of surfaces even the gloves and boots of the Iron Man suit.

"Sir, Agent Coulson from SHIELD is on the line," Jarvis chimed.

"Tell him I'm busy," he said as he narrowly avoided the most recent volley of darts from Harry. Tony had to admit that the kid was incredible on that broom of his, and Tony had been working on adapting the suit to be able to perform some of the more difficult maneuvers Harry could perform.

"Sir, I'm afraid he's insisting," replied Jarvis.

"Grow a spine Jarvis. I'm in the middle of something here," Tony drawled while ducking behind the kitchen counter and firing an onslaught of foam darts at Harry who executed a perfect barrel roll to avoid them.

"Yeah, he's getting his butt kicked by me," Harry crowed as he shot over him, and bombarded him with a bunch of foam arrows.

"Sir, the telephone. I'm afraid my protocols are being overridden," said Jarvis as a call came through on his phone revealing Agent Coulson.

"Mr. Stark, we need to talk."

"You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark. Please leave a message," Tony said hoping the man would get the hint, and leave Harry and he alone to their game.

"This is urgent," Coulson insisted.

"Then leave it urgently," replied Tony.

He'd just finished speaking when the doors of the elevator opened and revealed Agent Coulson carrying a briefcase. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of the destroyed penthouse but other than that his normal genial, placid expression didn't change.

"Security breach," said Tony, frowning. He thought he had fixed the glitch in Jarvis that allowed SHIELD to keep breaking in after Fury had gotten in a few weeks ago.

"Mr. Stark," said Coulson.

"Phil!" Harry cried in excitement.

Harry swooped down and dismounted his broom to greet the SHIELD agent.

"Harry how many times do I have to tell you. His name is Agent," Tony sighed resigned to whatever SHIELD wanted.

He'd had minimal contact with them since the whole magical revelation issue. They'd bugged him a few times when they found out what he had done to the Dursleys but once they discovered what the Dursleys had done to Harry they had fully sanctioned his decisions, and even helped move things along. They had been trying to butt in on his research on magic but so far he hadn't let them anywhere near his research. He hoped that Coulson wasn't here to try and force him to work with them. They may have more connections to the wizarding world but Tony really worked best solo. Also when he did discover the correlation, which he knew he would eventually, all of the credit would go to him.

Harry snorted at Tony's comment then turned eagerly towards Coulson. "What are you doing here?"

"I need Mr. Stark to look this over for me as soon as possible," said Coulson lifting up the briefcase he was carrying.

"I don't like being handed things," Tony said waving the nerf gun in his hands.

"I'll look at it," offered Harry reaching for the case.

Coulson actually started to hand it to him but Tony quickly intervened by snatching it from his grasp.

"For future reference official consulting hours are between eight and five, every other Thursday," he said already pulling open the case.

"This isn't a consultation," replied Coulson.

"Then what? Magic? I told you and One-Eyed-Willy that I didn't want to work for your little wizard division," said Tony heading towards his worktable.

"It isn't about the wizarding world or magic," Coulson said.

"Then what else could it be? The only other thing you have on me is the Avengers Initiative but that was scraped. Besides I thought I didn't even qualify because apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, and don't play well with others," he mocked.

"Things have escalated beyond the need for personality reports," Coulson replied calmly.

"So it is about the Avengers," he murmured.

He installed the case and Harry came up behind him looking on in curiosity as the various pictures and files for the potential members of the Avengers Initiative came up.

"What is all that?" Harry asked.

"This is," Tony enlarged them. "This."

The various videos played and Harry gaped openly at the different profiles.

"It's Thor!" Harry gasped watching the video of the Asgardian and the Destroyer do battle with wide eyes.

Tony was too focused on the images of the tesseract, and the dark haired man with the hungry look in his eyes pictured beside it, to comment on Harry's excitement. He quickly scanned the information about the collapsing SHIELD facility, and the Asgardian god who stole the tesseract and put some sort of mind control on some of their agents. It seemed he had made several comments that hinted at wanting to enslave the planet. A couple of months ago he might have found all of this a bit too far fetched, and simply dismissed it but having a broom riding wizard as a son had raised the bar on his weird meter slightly.

It did however frighten him a bit, not that he would ever admit such a thing out loud. This guy seemed like he posed a major threat to the world, and SHIELD was asking for Tony's help to contain him. They want him to help locate the tesseract before this Loki guy got up to anything that couldn't be stopped. Tony had responsibilities now. He couldn't just jet off at a moment's notice leaving Harry by himself especially since Pepper was a couple of hours away by plane. But if he didn't help he could be risking Harry and Pepper's lives. He had things worth fighting for now but those same things made it difficult for him to just go gallivanting off, without a care, to confront it. What would happen to Harry if something ever happened to him? But what would happen to Harry if Tony didn't try to stop this guy? He might succeed in enslaving the Earth and then where would they be? Tony couldn't let that happen.

"I know this is a lot to ask from you," Coulson said making Tony jump since he hadn't heard him move beside him.

"You could say that," Tony drawled.

"But you know we wouldn't have asked if we didn't truly need you on this, Mr. Stark," Coulson said quietly.

"I know, and that's why I'll do it. What am I supposed to do with Harry? I have to make sure that he's safe," Tony murmured glancing over to where Harry was watching the footage of the Hulk with close scrutiny muttering something about a mountain troll. Reminding Tony that he really needed to have a chat with Harry about what went on in that school of his.

"I can get some friends from the wizarding world to watch the building until this whole thing blows over," Phil offered.

"Yeah, you do that. I'll have Happy stay with him in the tower while your witchy friends keep an eye on him," said Tony.

"Thank you for doing this, Mr. Stark," Coulson said sincerely.

Tony just nodded, his gaze turning back towards the screen lost in his own thoughts. He absently listened as Coulson and Harry chatted for a bit before Coulson headed back into the elevator.

"Tony, what does all this mean? Does SHIELD want you to stop this man? He's Thor's brother Loki, right? That means he's a god or else pretty close to being one. What has he done to get SHIELD's attention?" Harry asked proving just how perceptive he was.

He turned to look at his son feeling extremely guilty for what he was about to do to him.

"He's stolen something and he's planning on hurting a lot of people. SHIELD needs me to help them find him, and take him down if necessary before he does," replied Tony steadily.

"But he's really strong. He could hurt you," said Harry looking worried.

"Hey, there's no need to worry about me, Mini-Merlin. I'm more than capable of taking care of some whacked out wannabe god. Don't you have faith in your old man?" Tony demanded indignantly.

Harry gave a small smirk at his joke. "I could help you."

"No way, no how, not a chance in this universe. You're staying here with Happy. Stark Tower is one of the safest buildings on the planet, and this is where you're going to stay while I take care of Rock of Ages. And you're not going to argue about it, okay? For once in this relationship I'm going to be the adult and you're going to be the kid," Tony said firmly.

Harry stared at him for a long time.

"I just don't want anything to happen to you, Tony," Harry murmured quietly.

"Hey, I'm far too fond of myself to let anything happen to me all right?"

Harry laughed. "Right."

The rest of the night passed with Harry sticking close to him and Tony was only too happy to have him do so. Their relationship had come such a long way from where it had started as virtual strangers. Tony had never believed that he would ever be capable of caring for someone other than himself. He never believed that he would be able to put someone else's needs above his own. But he had and he was. Harry was changing him, making him want to be a better person. He wanted to be a real hero rather than just the figurehead that everyone believed him to be.

The next morning Tony said his goodbyes to Harry, leaving him in Jarvis and Happy's capable hands, not to mention the wizards Coulson had asked to watch over him. Pepper had been informed of the situation, and she was trying to get back to New York as soon as she possibly could, which would probably be a day or so at the earliest. Tony then suited up and shot off towards the SHIELD base. On his way there however he got word that this Loki guy had just shown up in Stuttgart, Germany where he had crashed some poor guy's party. He recalibrated his trajectory towards Germany.


The day had just continued to get more and more interesting. After the incident in Germany he'd proceeded to get into a pissing contest with the God of Thunder, who wore a cape of all things. He'd met Captain America who up until recently had been spending his time as a block of ice, and now he was working in a lab with none other than Dr. Bruce Banner aka the Hulk. It had been an all around awesome day. This was history in the making, and Tony Stark was right in the middle of things. Just as it should be. He couldn't wait to tell Harry all about it. After seeing Loki, and what the guy was capable he was even more certain that he was where he was supposed to be. The guy's crazed plan needed to be stopped in order to protect the lives of those he cared about.

He called Harry to check in with him, and assured him that he was all right. He asked endless questions about Thor, Bruce, Captain America, and Loki, and Tony tried to give him as many details as he could to sate his curiosity. The incident in Germany had been on the news, and it had piqued Harry's interest and worry. Tony felt bad about worrying him so much but Loki needed to be stopped, and he had the power to do so. It was only right that he used that power to protect the people he loved. At least they already had the whack job in custody. One less thing for them to do. Now they just needed to find the tesseract, and it was only a matter of time before they did.

"So who was that?" asked Bruce once he'd gotten off the phone.

"My son," he replied, feeling strange to admit such a thing. It was also a surprise that even though he had just met him, he trusted Bruce with that information. But he trusted the man. He didn't know why exactly, he just did. He just had a certain vibe that appealed to Tony.

Bruce looked a little stunned by his casual admittance. "Oh, I… I didn't know you had a son."

"Oh no one does. Well, almost no one. You're actually the first person I've been able to tell," Tony grinned.

Bruce just chuckled and proved to Tony why he already liked the man so much by dropping the subject. Instead he asked him about Stark Tower, and Tony invited him over. He would love having the incredibly intelligent scientist come work with him. There weren't many people in the world that could keep up with him, and he would enjoy having someone around who he could bounce ideas off of. He'd be a great teacher for Harry too. Bruce with his calm, friendly demeanor was much more suited to a teaching position than Tony ever could be. And he may be afraid of what the Hulk was capable of but Tony was convinced that there was more to it than just a mindless green rage monster.

Bruce and Tony continued to work together in the helicarrier lab as the day went on. Bruce even sided with him during his argument with good old, naïve Captain America. Of course Bruce was a little nicer about it than he was. It was nice to have someone on his side for a change especially in the environment that he was now in. The discovery that SHIELD was hiding something from them came as no shock to him even though poor Cap seemed a little discouraged. The guy was a bit too trusting in Tony's opinion.

The revelation led to a catfight that would have made a group of teenage girls proud. The squabble, as the God of Thunder so eloquently put it, was petty and meant to distract them from what was really going on. Tony was kicking himself for not realizing it sooner. He should of known Rock of Ages wasn't the type to just come quietly. He should have known he would have some ulterior motive for coming with them so easily. When the explosion rocked the helicarrier Tony couldn't help but let loose several choice expletives as he made his way to the shipping container that held his suit.

Once his suit was on he and Cap had to work together to repair the helicarrier. Tony wasn't the guy's biggest fan but at least he was a good person to have around in a crisis. Unfortunately there was too much damage to the blown out propeller. He knew he had to get inside to clear the rotors and actually start up the propeller manually. The positive aspect of doing this was that it would save the lives of everyone on board. The negative was that this would be a very risky venture, and he might not make it out alive. He couldn't do that to Harry. At the same time he wasn't sure if he could live with himself if he didn't try and all of the people on board died. He didn't want Harry to think that he was a coward. He wanted Harry to continue to believe that he was a hero and capable of saving the world. If that meant sacrificing himself then he would do it to prove to his son that he could be a good person. Besides Cap was there to slow it down when the time came. He would get out. Despite his initial anger towards the good Captain he knew he could at least trust the man to do everything within his power to save his life.

"Stark, we're losing altitude," the Captain chimed.

"Yup, noticed," he replied and started pushing, hoping that he would make it out of this in one piece.

He pushed harder and harder, giving it everything he had. The propeller spun faster and faster. The helicarrier was regaining altitude. He felt relief that he had restarted it but now it was time for him to get the hell out of here.

"Cap, lever," he said.

"I need a minute here," the Captain replied. Tony could here gunshots in the background, a flash of cold fear slithered down his spine.

"Lever. Now," he snapped, truly nervous now. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep up with the speed of the propeller, and if he failed he wasn't sure if the suit would be able to protect him from the cutting force of the propeller.

There was no response from the Captain. His fear about not getting out of this alive became all the more real. His fingers slowly lost their hold on the blade in front of him. He slammed into the blade behind him.

"Uh oh," was all he could say. His mind was consumed with terror that he had failed Harry.

He was sucked into the blades of the propeller. It tossed him around like a rag doll. The suit took the brunt of the damage but it was still touch and go for Tony. The suit was badly destroyed but he was utterly relieved when the propeller slowed for just a moment and was able to get slip out. He mentally thanked Captain America for pulling through. He shot towards his location to return the favor. He was just barely able to fly through the open archway and slam into Captain America's attacker before collapsing. He was exhausted and sore, and stunned to be alive.

Back in the conference room Fury, Agent Hill, and the Captain looked just as rough as he did. They were also down two members, and Agent Coulson. Tony felt something twist inside of him when he learned that Loki had killed Coulson. How was he going to tell Harry? Harry had loved the guy. Tony had even liked him. Tony would forever be grateful to him for the way that he had treated Harry, and helped him during a time he had truly needed it. The only positive thing was that they had gotten that bird guy back. Other than that they had gotten their asses handed to them.

"Are you sure there's nothing they can do? You know magically?" Tony had asked Fury when they first met in the conference room.

"It was too late, Stark. Not even magic can bring back the dead," Fury responded blankly.

Tony's hopes had plummeted then, and true grief over the loss of someone so great hit him.

He listened absently as Fury spoke about the Avengers, and Coulson's death. He was too wrapped up in his feelings of failure. Sure he had survived and for that he was grateful. But Loki had gotten away and there was no telling what the crazed lunatic would do next. He'd already killed one person that Tony cared about. He couldn't let him hurt any more. However, he couldn't sit there and listen to Fury ramble for a moment longer about being a hero. Not when he had failed to be that hero to his son by being his normal narcissistic self. If he hadn't been so worried about what Fury was up to, and taunting Captain America because of some misplaced sense of anger towards his father then maybe he would have realized Loki's plans earlier. He just couldn't stand Fury trying to guilt him into fighting, not after all the secrets the man had kept from them. He would do something about Loki on his own, and away from SHIELD.

He got up and stalked off. He needed to talk to Harry.

He found himself walking towards the area the containment cell had been in, the place where Loki had murdered Agent Coulson. Once there he gazed around feeling a stabbing pain in his chest at the reminder of how he had failed the man. He pulled out his phone to call Harry. He needed to hear his son's voice. He was thankful that Harry picked up on the first ring.

"Tony?" Harry gasped sounding worried. He hated doing that to him. Hated worrying him. He was a kid; he shouldn't have to worry so much about his father.

"Hey Mini-Merlin," he said, deciding he couldn't tell Harry about what had happened just yet. Tony was still too overwhelmed by the situation himself to even begin to explain it to Harry.

"Is everything all right?" Harry asked, just as perceptive as always.

It brought a reluctant smile to Tony's lips.

"Of course! Everything is just fine, kiddo. I'm just checking up on you and Happy. You haven't driven him crazy yet have you? It would take a lot of effort for me to break in another driver."

"Tony, he's been working for you for years. I don't think there's anything that I can do to drive him crazy that you haven't already done," he replied cheekily.

Tony snorted. "You're probably right."

"Of course I am," Harry responded proudly and launched into a play by play of what he'd been doing since the last time he'd called.

Tony glanced to his side and noticed the Captain standing there.

"Hey, kiddo I'm really sorry but I have to go. I'll call back again soon, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," replied Harry sounding a bit disappointed about cutting the call short.

They said their goodbyes and Tony turned to face Steve Rogers, Captain America; the man Tony's father had been obsessed over finding. Tony himself had nurtured a fascination with the man once, if only because his father seemed to care so much for him. That fascination and admiration had turned to resentment, however, when Howard Stark chose to look for the body of dead man in his free time rather than spending it with his son. He couldn't exactly hate the man now. He knew better. It wasn't Steve's fault that Tony's father hadn't been around. Captain America really seemed to be just like he was in all the stories about him. He was just and kind, and Tony had to admit that he felt a little inferior to the man.

"Who was that?" Steve asked.

Tony shrugged. He didn't really feel like explaining to Captain America about his illegitimate son at the moment.

"Was Coulson married?" Steve tried once he realized Tony wasn't planning on answering the first question.

"No, there was a cellist. I think," Tony responded wanting to talk about Coulson.

"I'm sorry, he seemed like a good man," Steve said obviously attempting to be a calming presence. Tony wasn't having any of it.

"He was an idiot," he said explosively.

"Why? For believing?" Steve snapped back.

"For taking on Loki alone," replied Tony.

"He was doing his job."

"He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have…" Tony trailed off, at a loss for words and just so angry about the way things had turned out.

"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony," Steve said trying to placate him.

"Right, I've heard that before," he muttered, his mind flashing to his time in the cave.

"Is this the first time you lost a soldier?"

"We are not soldiers," he snarled, feeling an inexplicable rage at the thought. It made him angry knowing that Coulson had given his life trying to protect theirs. He shouldn't have had to and would have never been in that position had he never started working for SHIELD.

Tony didn't work for Fury and he certainly wasn't one of his little spies so the thought of being confused as one added to his anger. "I'm not marching to Fury's fife," he snapped out once he'd managed to calm himself down a bit.

"Neither am I. He's got the same blood on his hands as Loki does," Steve replied, surprising Tony that the all American super solider would be willing to go against his orders. There was more to Steve than he had originally thought. "But right now we need to put that behind us and get this done. Now Loki needs a power source. We can put together a list."

"He made it personal," said Tony in surprise pulling his gaze from the spot where Phil Coulson had taken his last breath.

"That's not the point," Steve said dismissively.

"That is the point. That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?" Tony demanded.

"To tear us all apart."

"To divide and conquer is great. But he knew he would have to take us out to win. That's what he wants. He wants to beat us; he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience," Tony rambled trying to gather his thoughts together and figure out what this was all leading up to. He was pretty sure there was some a connection in there somewhere.

"Right, I caught his act in Stuttgart," Steve said. Tony hadn't thought the man capable of snark. But it was right thing to say to give him just the push he needed to finally realize what Loki wanted.

"That's just previews. This is… this is opening night, and Loki's a full tilt diva. He wants flowers. He wants parades. He wants monuments built to the sky with his name plastered on… Son of bitch," Tony trailed off. If he had been afraid while stuck between the blades of the helicarrier propeller that was nothing to how he felt now. He was utterly and completely terrified, more so than he had ever been in his entire life.

Loki was heading towards his tower. Whether he meant to or not he was heading straight towards his son. Tony was going to annihilate him if so much as touched a hair on his kid's head. He started running from the room.

"Stark!? Wait where are you going?" Steve called.

"He's heading towards Stark Tower in New York City. I'll meet you there," was all he shouted back.

He needed to get there as soon as possible. He trusted the good Captain to gather the necessary forces and meet him there. He just needed to get to his son as fast as possible.

When he arrived at the tower he ignored the lights coming from the roof of the building even though he was pretty sure the opening of the portal was what was causing the light. But Tony honestly couldn't focus on that right now. It was just more proof that Loki was indeed in the tower somewhere, and that his son was in danger. He hadn't been able to get in contact with anyone in the tower during his flight over and his whole body was tense by how nervous he was.

"Jarvis, scan for Harry and Happy," he commanded as he drew closer to the landing pad. He had no choice but to remove his armor since it was so badly damaged that there was no chance of it holding up against the self proclaimed god. His only hope of taking down Loki was to get ahold of his new tracking cuffs, and to have Jarvis quickly finish his new suit.

"I'm afraid something is disrupting my system, sir. I can't get a read on anything in the building," replied Jarvis apologetically.

Tony landed and as he walked into his penthouse he kept an eye out for Harry. He noticed a small figure standing in the middle of the room. A measure of hope welled inside him that the figure might be Harry. He scanned the area for Loki and didn't see him anywhere. Tony felt a rush of relief. Maybe Harry had been able to hide from the leather-wearing ass. Or the wizards Coulson had assigned to watch out for him were keeping Loki busy. When he fully entered the penthouse it was to find Harry standing there safe and sound.

Tony couldn't help but grin and rush to his side. He enveloped his son in a tight embrace.

"Thank god. I was so worried," Tony said just breathing Harry in.

"I'm fine. Why were you worried?" Harry asked in confusion but allowing Tony hug him.

"Loki escaped, and I thought that that crazed horn wearing god would get to you before I could," Tony said still holding tight to his son.

"You shouldn't say things like that about Loki, Tony. He's powerful and we should all respect him," said Harry.

For a moment Tony thought Harry was being sarcastic. After all that was the only context in which he could imagine Harry saying those words. However, Tony quickly realized that Harry was being one hundred percent genuine. He pulled back from the embrace so that he could get a better look at his son.

"What do you mean by that kiddo…" he trailed off when he got a good look at Harry's eyes.

His son's beautiful emerald green eyes were an unnatural, opaque blue.

"Harry?" he gasped.

"I can't let you stop him, Tony. He's here to free the world. Everything will be better under his rule. You'll see," Harry said, smiling placidly at him before Tony was slammed backwards by a powerful invisible force. His son had attacked him!

He flew across the room and landed harshly on the floor. Harry slowly approached him, looking ready for a second attack. He was stopped however when the tall, black and green clad form of Loki stepped up behind him. Loki placed his hand on Harry's shoulder a fond, gloating expression on his face as he gazed down at Tony.

"What the hell have you done to my son?" Tony snarled struggling to his feet.

He needed to get to the metal cuffs on the kitchen counter so he could activate his suit and get his son away from this mad man. He never thought he could ever hate someone as much as the black haired man in front of him. He had killed a man Tony considered his friend, and now he had put his son under some form of otherworldly mind control. Tony was going to rip him to shreds.

"Your son. He was quite a pleasant surprise, you know. Such a wonderful child, intelligent and resourceful, and with such a thirst to prove himself. He reminds me of myself. Just think how shocking it was to discover that a man such as you, a man of science, would have a child of magic. Of course they are one in the same in Asgard but magic seems to be beyond the realm of comprehension for a man such as yourself. And of course he was born with the natural ability to wield magic, much like myself. You wouldn't understand what it is like to manipulate such power," Loki mused.

"What the hell did you do to my son?" Tony snarled again in response.

"I'm simply helping him realize his full potential. He's an extremely intriguing young man, and with my help he could be truly great. I think I would make an excellent father figure for a boy such as he. After all how could a man like you ever begin to understand him?" Loki asked his lips curling into a knowing smirk as he gave Harry's shoulder a possessive squeeze.

Tony wanted nothing more than to blast the expression off the bastard's smug face. Somehow he had guessed Tony's own insecurities about being able to raise Harry especially when it came to magically things, and he was exploiting it.

"Maybe you're right. But that doesn't change anything. He's still my son and if you weren't using you're little glow stick of destiny on him he would be trying to kick your ass right about now. After all why would he want a father like you? What kind of coward hides behind a kid? I thought you were a god. If you were a real god you wouldn't need some alien army to come back you up to take what you wanted. If you were a real god you wouldn't want to take over this puny planet to begin with. But that's right, you were kicked out of Asgard. You ruined you're chances there. Just like you'll lose here too," Tony taunted, turning Loki's own tactics against him. And as he spoke he had backed up against the counter, casually leaning one arm against it to appear as if he just needed the extra support. He grabbed the cuffs and slipped one on. Before slipping his hand down to put on the other one.

"You know nothing you pathetic mortal!" Loki hissed looking enraged.

"Loki, he's trying to distract you. He's up to something," Harry suddenly piped up.

"Ah yes, I see. Thank you, Harry. It won't work, whatever you are attempting," said Loki giving him a bright grin.

"You're going to lose," Tony hissed.

"How can I possibly lose? Even now my army comes," said Loki his manic gaze turning towards the large windows. With dread Tony could see that he was right. The Chitauri had arrived.

Tony gathered his determination.

"We'll stop you."

"Who? I don't see anyone standing with you. So please, tell me. Who is there to stop me?" Loki mocked.

"The Avengers, that's what we call ourselves. Earth's mightiest heroes type of thing."

"Yes, I've met them," said Loki not looking at all impressed.

"It takes us a while to get any traction. I'll give you that one. But let's do a head count. Your brother the demi-god. A super soldier, a living legend, who kind of lives up to the legend. A man with breath taking anger management issues. A couple of master assassins. And you've managed to piss off all of them. Because when they come and they will, they'll come for you."

"I have an army," said Loki smugly, but he looked angry.

"Yeah, you do and maybe it will be too much for us. But if we can't protect the Earth you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it," Tony snarled.

"Well, how can they fight me when they'll be so busy fighting your son? Harry, it's time for your father to leave," Loki called.

Tony turned to look into his son's filmy blue eyes. Harry smiled and raised his hand. He twitched his fingers and Tony was once more thrown across the room. Harry lifted him into the air and spun him a bit before dropping him again, causing him to land painfully on his back. It knocked the breath from his lungs and Tony laid there panting, unable to move. Harry however looked like he was enjoying this. The expression made him shudder.

"See all of the things I can teach you?" Loki whispered into Harry's ear. Harry just nodded, smirking.

"Anytime now, Jarvis," Tony coughed out desperately.

He didn't really appreciate being beaten up by his own son. The worst part of it all was the expression on Harry's face and how closely in mirrored Loki's own.

"Finish him," Loki hissed.

Harry hesitated and for a moment his blue eyes flashed their normal emerald green. Tony stared with bated breath, hope rising within him at the sight.

"I said finish him," Loki snarled impatiently.

Harry lifted his hand.

"Harry kiddo, I know you're in there. Fight it. I know you're stronger than he is. You can break his hold on you!" Tony shouted.

Harry shook his head, his eyes shut tightly as he fought.

"Enough!" Loki screamed.

He lashed out at Tony grabbing him by the throat and launching him out the window.

"Deploy! Jarvis deploy!" he cried.

Mere moments before he became a human pancake his suit closed around him. He immediately shot back up into the penthouse living room. He was just in time to see Harry scream. A shockwave exploded out from him sending Loki soaring out through the window onto the balcony. Harry proceeded to drop to his knees gripping his head in agony. Loki was back up in a moment looking ready to engage in a fight with Tony when Thor slammed down beside him. Tony turned his back on the dueling brothers to focus on his son.

"Harry?" he cried desperately pulling at Harry's hands to better see into his eyes. "Please talk to me. Tell me what's going on. Tell me you're okay."

His only response was to groan, and continue to cradle his head. Tony took him into his arms and rocked him, trying to soothe him.

"Come on kiddo, come back to me. I know you can do it, Harry," he breathed rubbing his back and praying that he could break the hold Loki had on him.

"Tony," his voice sounded muffled and confused.

"Harry! Let me see those eyes, kiddo," Tony demanded gently moving Harry's hands away from his face.

"What happened?" Harry asked looking up at him with clear emerald eyes.

Tony just chuckled in utter relief with the knowledge that Harry was no longer under the control of that mad man.

"Loki!" Harry gasped. "He… He attacked Happy. Knocked him out. But I think he was okay. There were some other men, wizards I think. He stopped them too. I'm not sure if they're all right. Then he used that staff he was carrying on me. It made me feel like I was floating. Everything was really fuzzy and I couldn't think for myself. I just wanted to do everything I could to help Loki. It… He made me… I… I hurt you."

"No, that wasn't you. You could never hurt anyone like that," Tony told him firmly.

"But I—"

"No, Harry, Loki made you do those things. He did the same thing to a couple of world-class spies and a really intelligent scientist. You're an eleven, almost twelve-year-old kid. It's amazing that you were able to fight off the mind control whammy he had over you," Tony praised, truly amazed that Harry was capable of such a thing.

Harry didn't look convinced and Tony knew it would take time for him to get over this. He'd make sure that Loki paid for making Harry doubt himself. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Not as glad as I am that you're okay," replied Tony, yanking him in for another hug and a quick kiss to his forehead.

Captain America contacting him over their arrival into the city had him reluctantly pulling away from Harry. It woke him up to the chaos that was going on in the city below them. As he looked out over the city he was shocked by what he saw. There were aliens zooming around everywhere on small hovercrafts, and what looked like a giant flying whale.

"Well that's not something you don't see every day," Tony murmured in shock.

"We have to stop them," Harry cried eyes wide as he looked over the destruction.

"I have to stop it," Tony corrected him. "We just need to find a safe place for you."

Unfortunately Tony couldn't really think of anything within a close distance. He had no idea how the wizarding world was dealing with this situation, and if they would have any safe place for Harry to go. At the moment the only place safe place he could think of was for Harry to go lock himself in his workshop. It wasn't exactly a completely sound option but Tony couldn't think of anything else on such short notice. He didn't want to leave Harry behind at the tower again. But hopefully Loki was distracted enough with Thor, and his army now to forget about his son.

"Harry go down to my workshop. Seal yourself in and don't come out until all of this is over." Harry opened his mouth to protest. "No, I said go. You're not equipped to handle something like this. Now, just do what I said."

His expression was still mutinous.

"Please just go." Tony pleaded.

"Only if you promise to come back," replied Harry firmly.

Tony stared into his green eyes, so brave and determined for his age.

"I'll do my best," replied Tony seriously, unwilling to lie to Harry.

Harry just nodded.

"Now, I really have to go kick some alien butt. The city wouldn't stand a chance without Iron Man around to save the day," said Tony with a grin.

Harry smiled back as Tony shot off into the city. He took out as many of the Chitauri as he could. Banner finally turned up and that's when things really started getting interesting. The important thing was, was that they were really working together as a team and taking out a lot of the aliens before they could harm a lot of people. Unfortunately it was only a matter of time before they failed. They were making a difference but none of that mattered if they couldn't close the portal. The Chitauri would just keep coming until they were completely overrun.

Tony was relieved when Natasha discovered a way to close the portal. Unfortunately that feeling was abruptly cut short when he got news of a nuke heading their way. Tony knew what he had to do. If he didn't bring that nuke through the portal it would completely decimate the city, Harry and everyone else included. There was only one option.

Tony grabbed on to the nuke. He changed the course and steered it straight up towards the portal.

"Shall I call Master Harry, sir?" Jarvis questioned.

"Yeah," Tony murmured as he and the nuke entered the portal.

The phone rang a couple of times before Harry answered.

"Tony!" Harry cried.

"I've only got a couple of seconds here, kiddo. But I just want to say… I want to tell you that I love you, Harry. I couldn't have asked for a better son. I love you and I'm sorry for doing this to you," Tony said.

"What do you mean? Tony? Tony! Dad!" Harry cried.

Tony's heart broke at Harry finally calling him dad.

"Bye, kiddo," Tony said ending the call.

He was close enough to the Chitauri ship now to let the nuke go. He watched absently as it hit its target, and destroyed the warship. The damage to his suit was getting to him and he was losing power. But it didn't matter anymore. He had saved his son, Pepper, and so many others. He was just collateral damage. Soon his suit stopped functioning all together, and he started losing consciousness. His last thoughts as he succumbed to darkness were of Harry and Pepper. He really wished he could have been there for Harry growing up, and get to see firsthand the amazing person Tony knew he would become.


He hadn't been expecting to wake up. But he wasn't complaining when he was jolted awake by a loud, familiar roar. If only everything didn't hurt so much. Every part of him seemed to ache. The pain didn't stop him from smiling as he gazed up into the concerned and relieved faces of Steve, the Hulk, and Thor.

He was about to ask if one of them had kissed him when a shouted "Dad!" had him jerking up.

He gasped when Harry shot towards him, leaping over debris and clutching his broom in one hand as he ran. He launched himself at Tony sending them both toppling over with Harry sprawled on top of him. Harry clutched at him, and Tony could feel him shudder as he tried to suppress his sobs.

"It's all right, Harry. Everything is going to be all right now," Tony said feeling tears of his own sting his eyes. He was relieved to be alive. Apparently the universe wasn't quite ready to be rid of him.

Harry just gripped him tighter.

"You know we're going to have to have a talk about you listening to me. I clearly remember telling you to stay put."

Harry just snorted.

"Yeah, you get the not following rules thing from me. And, well a kid flying on a broom is probably like the fortieth on the list of weird things that happened today. So we'll just think about the consequences for that later," Tony said with a grin. "But anyway who's up for shawarma? I saw a shawarma place a couple blocks back and I've always wanted to try it."

"First, there is something that we must do," said Thor looking ominous.

"Right, your brother," said Tony darkly.

"The Hulk tossed him around like a rag doll. I saw him," Harry said grinning over at the giant green creature.

The Hulk grinned back. "Puny god."

"Whoa, you can talk big guy? Who knew?" Tony exclaimed.

"We can discuss this later. Right now we should go grab Loki before he decides to try and slip away from us," Steve said, ever the practical one.

So that's how they all ended back up at his tower, dramatically looming over the broken form of Loki where he lay in the crater caused by the Hulk's smashing of him. Tony punched Loki across the face just to be safe and as punishment for his treatment of Harry.

"No one messes with my kid," Tony growled.

"So now what?" Harry asked once Thor had securely tied up Loki, and the rest of the Avengers were milling about the destroyed penthouse.

"Shawarma," Tony replied with a grin.

Sorry about the late update! I've been really busy and I probably won't have time to work on the next chapter until at least Thanksgiving when I will be getting a break. I haven't edited this chapter as much as I normally do but I really wanted to post this while I still had the extra time. When I have the time I'll read back through and edit it a bit more. Chapter 10 is outlined and is titled Loki Loses It. It will be from Harry's point of view on the confrontation with Loki. Also it will be explained more in depth the next chapter, but Harry was able to do wandless magic only because Loki was controlling his body and magic and has a better knowledge on how to use magic. The effects of this on Harry will be discussed more later on as well.

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews and to everyone who followed or favorited!