Chapter 11
The world twisted and turned, becoming nothing but spinning colour and ever-increasing levels of nausea. And then Harry was suddenly landing upon solid ground, bending his knees as not to fall. This time, he managed to avoid throwing up the contents of his lunch, a great improvement from his first Portkey ride. A necessary one, too, seeing as he didn't have Dumbledore to clean up the mess.
With a groan, Harry stood to his full height and gazed around his destination, an alleyway, apparently, that he knew to be in Washington.
He walked to the end and into the daylight. Across the street sat an inconspicuous and grey block of a building. Though he had never seen it from the outside, Harry knew it was the base in which he had spent all of his time with SHIELD, with a sprawl of tunnels underneath it that spanned for miles and miles. Well, it would be if Dumbledore had gotten the place correct.
Harry glanced down to the multi-coloured sock in his hand, a Portkey. Somehow, he wouldn't be surprised if Dumbledore proved to be slightly unreliable. After spending the last two weeks in Hogwarts with only him for company, he was fairly sure that the man was either insane, or a genius. Probably both.
Either way, he most likely had sent Harry to the correct place this time. He was trying to gain Harry's trust, after all. Harry had told him that he wanted to visit some of his "friends" at SHIELD. What he had really come for, however, was far from that. No, this base extended underground for miles and miles, and in his time there, he had learnt that it held many a secret, a few of which could be useful to him.
As some civilians crossed the road, Harry joined them, aware that there were probably no less than a dozen cameras aimed at him, a few snipers too, probably, sitting atop the roof of the building or peeking out through shaded windows. He ignored them. They wouldn't shoot him—probably not, anyway.
Nonetheless, he found old instincts to be kicking in as he moved in inconspicuously between crowds and clusters of people, as to deter anyone from firing upon him. It went against his better judgement to be out in the open in front of one of the main bases of the organisation he had hidden from for so long.
The glass doors slid open as Harry approached, and it wasn't hard to guess that he was somehow being screened for weapons. The lobby didn't appear to be a government base—not at first glance, at least. You only needed to peek a bit beneath the surface, and suddenly it would become crystal clear that this place was not normal.
Firstly, there were the guards, clad in suits. However, they might try, they couldn't quite conceal the bulge of the pistols under their blazers or their eyes, too surveying and calculating for any ordinary security guard.
There were too many doors disguised as supply cupboards, Harry noted. They were probably to allow the other guards—the real firepower, wearing full body armour and toting submachine guns and assault rifles—to enter the room without disrupting the escape of any other agents.
It took Harry but a second to pick up on these things, about same amount of time it would take anyone else trained by SHIELD or Hydra. If they got to this point, they already knew it was a base anyway. This place wasn't exactly the most closely guarded of secrets and it didn't need to be, for it was a fortress.
And that was why Harry wasn't carrying out his plan via the method of a full-out assault. Telekinesis, a few pistols, and an extremely limited arsenal of spells weren't enough for him to take down ten SHIELD agents, let alone two hundred odd.
Harry moved over to the counter where the apparent receptionist stood, overly aware of how loudly his shoes sounded against the marble floor. Walking silently would look suspicious, though—not that he didn't already look suspicious. As far as he knew, fifteen-year-olds weren't frequent visitors to SHIELD bases, especially ones carrying various weapons about their person.
"Good morning, sir," the receptionist said, her smile plastic. "Do you have an appointment?"
Cameras were no doubt staring upon Harry right now, and had already scanned his face and cross-referenced him against the system. SHIELD already knew who he was, and this was just to delay him while they did...something. Or there was some secret code that he didn't know.
"No," Harry said, "but I know this is a SHIELD base and I would quite like to be granted entry."
The receptionist's fake smile threatened to dissolve for a moment, but eventually decided to remain plastered upon her face. She probably didn't know who Harry was, then.
"One moment, sir," she said. She turned her head downwards, and her fingers danced over the keyboard. It was concealed from Harry's view, and he could only guess what she was typing. Whatever it was, agents would undoubtedly arrive soon.
Harry's prediction was proved correct what must've been less than half a minute later, when two men in suits approached him from behind. The only way they could've been more cliché-looking was if they were wearing sunglasses.
"Would you like to come with us, sir?" the one on the left said. Judging by the way his hand was resting upon the pistol handle under is jacket, it wasn't a question.
And so Harry complied, a roll of his eyes his only resistance. They walked across, one of them behind Harry and the other in front. They passed through a door marked "Staff Only." What appeared to be a waiting room greeted them, light spilling in through a frosted glass window. They moved through it and into a corridor, pristine and white and about ten metres in length.
In front of Harry was what appeared to be a metal detector, though it was probably much more. They had most likely passed through half a dozen ordinary ones already. One of the men signalled Harry through and he obeyed. The other man walked to a screen as Harry passed through and the detector beeped.
"Your weapons, please," the man at the screen said.
Harry smiled. "It's almost as if you don't trust me."
"It's protocol."
At the end of the corridor, two men clad in black clothing and body armour entered, each carrying assault rifles. Harry decided to comply. He reached under his jacket and took one gun from its holster, placing it in the offered tray. The one from his waist followed a moment later. Next, he reached down his right trouser leg and unsheathed the knife that sat there, and then the he took out the other knives, one from his the inside of his jacket and the other from his left ankle.
He had decided to forgo any further weapons, lest SHIELD decided not to give them back. It would also probably look dodgy if he wandered in with an MP5 slung across his chest.
"You're free to go through," the man at the scanner said.
Harry smiled and nodded, resisting the urge to touch his sleeve and ensure that his wand was still there. There had been the chance that the magic would screw with the sensors too much. If it appeared to be a signal disruptor, it would likely result in its confiscation.
The men at the end of the corridor stayed still and silent as Harry passed, staring at him through their goggles. It was almost unnerving how similar to Hydra SHIELD was, and Harry found himself unintentionally gathering his power around his hands, ready to combat any attack on his person.
The door slid open with barely a hiss, revealing the room beyond, the same white as the corridor. Harry glanced at the door as he passed through. It was steel, over an inch thick. And that was another reason why Harry wasn't carrying out an assault on the base…
Two further guards stood on this side of the doorway. Harry was beginning to wonder how SHIELD managed to maintain any secrecy whatsoever with so much manpower around. He supposed that a lot of these people had no idea that they were working for SHIELD, rather than the CIA or the military or something of the like.
The two men in suits from before followed Harry through the door, resuming their former positions as they lead him through the base. They moved down the corridor, and then another after that. Eventually, they reached an elevator, one of the men tapping in a code and scanning a card against a lock.
Harry and the men entered as the doors opened, and then closed a mere second later, leaving them trapped in a metal box. Rapidly, it descended. Harry wasn't able to calculate what speed they were moving at, but he counted it to be about half a minute's journey.
When they reached the bottom, the doors slid open once again. Rather predictably, two guards waited outside. The two men in suits remained in the elevator, and didn't say a word as the doors closed and it ascended. One of the guards gestured Harry forward, and he complied.
The door at the end of the short corridor was emblazoned with an eagle in a circle. This was the actual SHIELD part, then. Harry, having been brought in unconscious and leaving through Portkey, hadn't seen any part of the base other than what lay behind that door. He glanced up to the security camera, and the door hissed open.
Beyond was yet another short corridor and Harry was starting to feel that SHIELD was perhaps a little too obsessed with security. Then again, this was where they kept a wealth of information from the days when paper was the best thing to use. Most of the information wasn't important, albeit, but some still had its purpose.
Harry walked down the long corridor, and, once again, the door slid open. As he saw what was inside, Harry smiled, the tension in his body fading slightly as he drew his power back into his hands.
He stood on a balcony, overlooking a large and high-ceilinged room milling with agents carrying files from computer terminal to computer terminal. While he had not seen this part, having been confined to only the living quarters and training rooms, this was clearly an actual part of SHIELD, and they hadn't decided to kill him.
Someone approached Harry on his left, their footsteps only slightly audible against the chatter from below.
"Back so soon?" The voice was Natasha's; she had been sent to babysit him, then. Good.
Without turning, Harry nodded towards a pair of guards carrying assault rifles. "Couldn't help it, what with the friendly atmosphere and all."
Natasha snorted. "And I work for SHIELD because of the great dental plan."
"Do I get one?" Harry asked. "And on a similar note, when do I get my pay check."
One of Natasha's eyebrows quirked upwards. "I believe you'd have to ask Fury that, though he isn't here for the large majority of the time," she said. "Now I'm just wondering why you're here. Fury said your leave would be indefinite, and I doubt you're meant to be back already."
"Would you believe me if I said I was?"
"No."
"Thought so," Harry said. He turned from Natasha, leaning against the railing and staring over the room below.
Natasha wandered up beside him and stared at him. "So what are you here for?"
A shiver of reluctance threatened to crawl up Harry's spine, but he quickly banished it. He didn't like to ask others for aid, but now, it was his only option. "I need your help."
Natasha cocked her head to the side. "With what?"
An explosive sigh forced its way from Harry. "Well," he said, "I would ask for a promise of secrecy, but those don't tend to mean much in our kind of business. So all I ask is that you hear me out. Firstly, you have to understand that I have no one else to turn to—not that you wouldn't be the one I would've turned to in this case."
Nodding, Natasha said, "That's nice and all, but do you have a point?"
"Yes," Harry said insistently. "It's just that flattery works on most people. And I am telling the truth about you being the person who I would trust most in this instance because you'll understand me the most." He sighed. "I need to access files on Hydra agents."
"Hydra is gone," Natasha said, frowning.
Harry snorted. "I'm fairly sure that's what SHIELD used to say before they re-discovered their existence."
"Fair point," Natasha said. "I understand, but—"
"Please, Natasha. I know that you know what I'm feeling. If there was even a chance that the people who had ripped away your childhood and made you an assassin still existed, you would want to destroy them, to kill every last one of them."
Natasha bit down on her lip. Harry had no idea of knowing whether or not it was a genuine response. Nonetheless, he powered onwards. "Please," he said. "You know that I can't do this without you."
Probably not, that was, but the risk would be much lower of failure would be much lower with Natasha's assistance.
"All I need you to do is handle the cameras and cover for me if anyone asks where I was."
After a moment of silence, Natasha finally nodded.
Harry smiled. "I assume you actually know how to disable the security cameras? Or put them on a loop or something? "
"Of course," Natasha said. "Don't doubt my expertise."
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Harry fiddled with his wireless, concealed earpiece, ensuring that it wouldn't fall out.
"Relax." Natasha's voice came through the earpiece with only a slight distortion. "This is my job."
"Do you normally go up against SHIELD?"
Natasha snorted. "Not anymore. Used to, though."
The agents who passed Harry occasionally spared him a glance, though didn't appear too interested in him. Most had probably seen him during the time he had been here before. Nonetheless, he was cautious.
"Ready?" Harry glanced down at his watch; he wouldn't have much time.
"Let's go."
Pushing himself from the wall, Harry turned the corner and walked towards the door at the end of the corridor. Simultaneously, Natasha moved from a door halfway down the corridor. She walked slightly faster than Harry and he was five metres behind her when she made it to the end of the corridor.
One moment she was normal, her expression the cold mask—or perhaps not a mask—that she normally wore. And the next, she was completely different, all smiles and flirty touches. When Natasha said she was good at her job, she most definitely wasn't lying.
There was only one guard looking over the whole of the corridor, thank God. Probably because SHIELD didn't want too much manpower inside this part of the base, and these files weren't exactly important. In fact, if a SHIELD agent wanted their hands on them, it would likely be easier to just get them from a computer. And so, for most, their usefulness had long since expired. Not for Harry.
The guard, trained by SHIELD might he be, didn't take long to be bent to Natasha's will and be drawn a few metres from the door. Harry passed him casually, sparing only a glance to the set of keys—not key cards, he noted—at his waist. He probably didn't have the key to this door, anyway.
Harry slid his wand from his sleeve and aimed it at the lock. "Alohomora," he whispered.
The door clicked open from the unlocking spell and Harry slipped in, thanking God that it was old-fashioned rather than electric. There was only one camera, sitting high on the wall. Harry ignored it: Natasha would destroy any footage later.
Filing cabinets lined each wall, one labelled, "Hydra." Apparently SHIELD's lack of security consciousness extended inside, as well. The organisation had most likely only just begun when this had been made, and no one had touched it in years, as evidenced by the thick layers of dust sitting upon everything.
Harry drew his wand from his sleeve and focused. "Scourgify," he said, flicking his wand. It was a cleaning spell, and a rather simple one at that. Nonetheless, it did its job, and after a few goes of it, Harry had cleared away most of the rooms dust. He slipped a pair of gloves from one of his pockets and moved over to the filing cabinet.
"Alohomora," he said, waving his wand, and the lock clicked open. Even though he had only been using it for a few weeks, magic had already proven itself extremely useful to Harry. He opened the top draw. A short stack of documents greeted him.
Harry glanced over the titles of a few, but didn't have time to look into them in any further depth, as much as he would've liked to. He put the files down, separating one from the others.
Casting his wand over the single one, he said, "Geminio."
For a moment, the file glowed, and then a copy of it materialised next to it. Harry might not have mastered the Copying Charm yet, but it would be good enough. He set to work on duplicating all of the other folders.
"We have a problem," Natasha said, her voice coming through Harry's earpiece and slightly startling him.
Harry's heart raced. He couldn't afford to fail. "What?"
"The guard has decided to lean against the door you're in, and there are a few other people in the corridor. You might end up waiting in there for a while."
A smile edged itself onto Harry's lips. There was an easy solution to this. "You'll still be able to wipe away any evidence on the cameras, yes?"
"Easily. They won't check the ones for this corridor unless something major happens."
"Well, I'll be going then," Harry said, replacing the files and gathering the duplicated ones in his arms.
"How?" Natasha's tone held a hint of confusion, rightfully so. After all, in real life nothing was built with air vents large enough to crawl through.
"Magic." Harry reached into one of his pockets and pulled out the brightly coloured sock he had used to arrive. With a final glance around the room to make sure nothing was out of place, he said, "Sherbet lemons."
Harry's world shifted into a vortex of swirling colours, and then he was gone.
A/N: Sorry for not uploading last week. I honestly can't remember why I didn't upload, but it was probably something to do with the game Warframe and farming for Frost Prime. Yeah, anyway, tell me what you thought.