Chapter Forty Eight: A Sapphire Burns Bright Part Three.

"I kind of snuffed up my first mission out there, didn't I?" Lois asked Harry and the wizard looked at her with a critical eye. "No, there's no need to sugar coat it, I'm a big girl, I can take it."

Harry thought about it and he remembered his early failures on missions and boy there were many. His green eyes swam with the moments of remembrance and he was fairly amused by what happened. Lois looked at him and she wanted to face palm. "Yeah, I know, a screwup, don't worry, I can take it."

"Lois, Lois, Lois, calm down," Harry said to her as they stood outside of Guardian central in the middle of Oa. "Given some of the situations that you get yourself in on a daily basis….you handled yourself pretty well, once you work with the ring, you'll do pretty well, I think so, I really do."

"Oh do you?" Lois asked as she hoped to justify Harry's faith in her because quite frankly, no one had the faith in her that Harry did. Harry smiled and placed his hand on Lois's. That allowed her to stand up even straighter. "I mean….I appreciate it but I'm not sure…."

"You might not be sure, but I am sure," Harry told her with a smile and Lois looked at him, skeptical gaze in her eye. "Lois, when have I ever lied to you?"

"You mean besides the entire Star child thing?" Lois asked as she threw her head back with an accusatory look at Harry but Harry stared back at her with a smile and spoke back to her without really missing a beat.

"Now, Lois, did I ever once let you assume that I wasn't the Star Child or really tell you that?" Harry asked her and Lois threw her hands onto her hips as she gave Harry the evil eye. Yet, despite the fact that she was irritated with the way he framed that statement, she had to admit that he had a point. She placed her hand on the bottom of her chin and closed her eyes.

"Oh, I hate you but, I love you, why in the fuck do you have to have a good point?" Lois asked and Harry smiled back at her.

"Part of my charm really," Harry said and Lois placed a hand on her hip and stared at Harry with her piercing violet eyes.

"So Carol's doing fine after you gave her a nice going over?" Lois asked Harry and Harry smiled back at her. "Yeah that sounded…."

"Accurate, very accurate actually," Harry said to Lois and the dark haired reporter nodded her head. She figured that it was accurate somehow. "I think I might have a few ideas of how to get your head together. And I need a bit of a workout while I'm here, you know."

"Workout, is that what we're calling it now?" Lois asked Harry and he smiled at her.

"I'm sure it's going to work out well for you, trust me Lois, I know," Harry whispered as she nodded her head. "Anyway, take the ring and attack me. Any attack you can, the more creative, the better."

"Okay, you've got it," Lois said as she channeled her will power to the ring and a giant teddy bear with a spiked head appeared.

"Well to be fair, I said creative," Harry said to Lois and Lois closed her eyes, as she tried to concentrate it.

"It was supposed to be a tank or maybe a wrecking ball, damn, so many possibilities, I can't make on my mind," Lois grumbled with a grimace as she staggered backwards, the construct burning out and Harry caught her. "I had it there for a moment."

"Patience, you shouldn't be impulsive, I know you have the will power, damn it, I really know that you have the will power," Harry told Lois and Lois nodded her head, a twisted smile spreading over her face.

"Right, I have the will power, sure, right, right, right," Lois managed as she held her head up as she tried to shake her hand in the air and focus on the ring. "Focusing is a lot easier said than done…."

"But I know you can do it, so just focus," Harry said as he placed his hand on Lois's arms. "I know this is going to piss you off but you need to take a deep breath and relax."

"I AM RELAXED!" Lois snapped and Harry corked one eyebrow at her. "Okay, I'm not relaxed and you behind me is not….I swear, I shouldn't try and imagine you in your underwear, should I?"

"No, that wouldn't really help," Harry told the brunette as she tried to turn around and her heart beat against her chest. Harry cold hear it and it was amusing, along with a little bit annoying. "Just shift your weight about a half of an inch to the left and stand up straight. Your feet have to be planted at a ninety degree angle and her neck needs to be turned just so. I know you have it within you, so just do it and just focus."

"I am focused, okay focusing," Lois said as she tried not to sound like she just graduated from the Kitty Pryde school of speech. Despite that, she was a bundle of nerves.

She made a catcher's mit in her hand and she nodded.

"Now try and make a rocket launcher," Harry suggested to her and Lois raised her eyebrow.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I don't look unsure, although you want to send something that will do damage at me, I can tell you that much," Harry told the dark haired reporter and she nodded, her jaw set and firm as she placed her hands upon her hips and focused as only Lois Lane could. Her blazing gaze could set anything on fire. "And it's time to begin again."

Lois thought she got the hang of this, although she had a long way to go.


"Director Hill, it's interesting to see that you decided to make the trip halfway across the universe," Carol said as she looked at the SHIEL Director. "Or is it still Agent Hill…."

"Nick Fury is still around, although it's behind the scenes but as far most of SHIELD knows, he's still on his hiatus," Maria confirmed to Carol, Natasha, and Harry who had just turned up. The green eyed wizard stopped a smiled.

"I thought I might have caught a glimpse of an eyepatch while I was hanging on there," Harry offered to her and the Acting Director of SHIELD smiled.

"Well, he does like to make his presence felt, like you do often enough," Maria said as she looked at Harry. The last time she had walked in on Harry, and she was pretty sure that was by design, echoed through her mind.

"Tell me more," Harry said and Maria paused for a second and stared back at him.

"You know what I'm talking about," Maria said and there was a sense that Natasha and Carol might have been just a little bit late to the party for both females looked a bit baffled.

"I guess that I might or maybe I don't," Harry said deciding to keep his voice even and mysterious. He could see the look of amusement and also agitation swimming through her eyes. Harry felt like he had her in a position where he could do what he wanted but the time was not yet. The problem was that it was all about timing.

"I have a feeling we're about ready to hear a riveting tale of one of Harry's escapes," Carol said as she looked at Maria and Natasha fixed a similar gaze to her boss.

Maria Hill did not say anything for the moment but she felt that escape was a pretty accurate word. She shook her head. "So….I have to complete the report that Miss Lane was not abducted by extra terrestrials and then there was the incident with Miss Ferris. It seems like a lot of insanity follows you around wherever you might go."

Harry shrugged and he had one thing to say. "Well it's a gift."

"One could agree about that, Mr. Potter," Maria said as she surveyed Harry carefully. The woman wondered half of the time what she got herself into. "SHIELD is….grateful never the less to have such an asset such of yourself."

"We are," Natasha agreed as she stared at a certain part of Harry but she was discreet about it. Not discreet enough however. "So what of the Star Sapphires….."

"They have learned that what they did is wrong, although the reasoning was sound enough," Harry informed the three women and they nodded. "They will….try and repair the damage and try and get more good will. They all have noble hearts, but even the most noble of hearts can get misguided from time to time."

"If that isn't the truth, I don't know what is," Carol said as she looked at Harry. "Well it's a good thing that both Lois and Carol are fine, and we can get home without worrying about it."

"Rumor has it that Carol is more than fine given….the attention that you've given her," Maria said as she eyed Harry. She really needed to get back pretty soon to SHIELD but she needed to find an excuse to call in Harry for a very through SHIELD briefing.

It was all about timing, that's what Maria Hill understood.

"Not just her, all of the Star Sapphires got the same…..well the same understanding," Harry said and Maria corked an eyebrow. There was only two words that she could say that really described the situation.

"I see."

Maria once again wished that she did not have other pressing matters to attend to. Nick Fury made managing SHIELD look so easy but in some ways, it was like running a babysitting service. Some of the agents….well they were the best in what they did but at the same time, they were reckless enough where someone had to keep a leash on them.

"SWORD is going to want a report on this as well, and as much as I'm enjoying the scenes, I'm going to have to leave," Carol said and this was a statement that dripped with regrets. Harry smiled at her for a second.

"It would be a shame to get to see you leave but….I understand," Harry commented as he pulled Carol into a hug and offered the blonde a kiss. She took things one step closer, as she shoved Harry against the nearest pillar and kissed him. She discreetly rubbed her groin against his in a sign of things to come.

"Yes…..well I will be seeing you later, a lot of you," Carol said as she allowed Natasha to step in as well.

"The rest of Avengers have come back anyway, although Tony looked like he wanted to move in for a minute," Natasha said and Harry smiled.

"I wouldn't be lying if I said that I was not surprised, would I?" Harry asked her and Natasha shook her head.

"You honestly shouldn't be surprised," Natasha admitted as she kept her eyes firmly locked on Harry and she locked lips with that of her lover's in a searing kiss.

The two of them exchanged a passionate and burning kiss but that one had to be cut short. Natasha moaned as Harry's hands explored her backside and she closed her eyes. The redhead woman thought that he could work magic in more ways than one and that fact was never more evident than what he was doing with his mouth to her. The woman took a step back and let out a breath as she looked at him with a burning gaze. Her lips pressed together as she breathed in and out.

"Amazing," Natasha whispered to Harry.

"As always," Harry said and he turned to Maria who stood there. "Director Hill?"

"Yes, Mr. Potter," Maria said and Harry smiled at her, teasing something but then he stuck out his hand for a handshake.

She took it, although there was a moment where she betrayed her disappointment in her eyes. "I'll see you real soon."

Maria smirked in spite herself and there was a couple of words that fired out of her. "Sooner than you think."

Harry understood but he was trying to seize that moment when he could. Pretty soon he would have her begging for it. He would not be surprised to call into SHIELD for a detailed investigation sometime soon.


"So, are you leaving so soon?" Arisia asked as she looked at Harry. The Green Lantern looked at him with a smile.

Harry got a look at her, he actually had been spending a bit of time with Jade and Arisia while Lois had underwent her training from hell and that was a good way to describe what the newest Lantern recruit was going through all things considered. She stood there, her arms crossed underneath her chest which did amazing things to her breasts. Her legs were extremely fit and toned as well as he looked at her.

"It's a shame, we need to find an excuse to keep Harry around, just for a little bit longer," Jade said with a slight pout spreading over her face and Harry smiled at both of the females.

"If I did not know any better, I would have thought that you two would have tried to kidnap me," Harry offered and both of them grinned at him. They had pure "guilty as charged" expressions on their face and Arisia rocked back on her heels for a little bit, staring at Harry with a hungry gaze.

"If we did not think that it would break every rule of Lantern protocol, we might have," she admitted to him with a smile. "It's a shame that you weren't selected….not that Lois is a bad choice, no she's a good choice."

"A bit rough but we're smoothing out of the edges, but then again, you're someone who knows all about smoothing out her edges," Jade said with a smile. "We're working on that though and I'm sure that you'll have a chance to work her over before too long."

Harry had one of those supremely smug, do tell looks on his face. "She's off for her final exam, and then she'll be assigned to patrol the sector around Earth."

"That's right," Arisia agreed and the golden skinned alien came to another conclusion. "Although, perhaps the ring knew what it was doing when it chose her. I mean, she does work at the Daily Planet and she'll be able to learn about potential trouble in her sector far before most people well."

"So, she's well connected," Jade said to Harry. "And it's a good thing to see that the Star Sapphires are willing to play ball with the Corps finally, although I can see how the Guardians might be able to rub them the wrong way."

"Guess someone had to rub them the right way," Arisia said as she leaned a bit closer to Harry. They were not quite touching although the thought was pretty much there. The woman's arm wrapped around his waist and she gave him a lazy smile and a grin. "But you'd know all…."

"You know it kind of kills the reference when you explicitly spell something out, Arisia," Jade said and Arisia offered her fellow Lantern a mocking pout.

"I didn't mean…."

"Oh, I know what you mean," Jade said as she stood over to the other side of Arisia. Harry Potter was in between two perfectly gorgeous alien babes and oddly enough, he was more than perfectly fine with this arrangement. Then again, he figured that most men who were in this position would be equally as fine as well. "I really do know what you mean."

"Ladies," Harry said and both of the girls gave Harry a mocking pout. It was quite amazing and fairly adorable as well. The two of them shook their heads at each other and one of them smiled for a second.

"Anyway, when Lois comes back, I suspect the two of you will be going home," Jade said and Harry held her in tightly. She flinched slightly at the sudden contact or perhaps because of the person making the sudden contact because she had a crush on him, just a little bit. Although it was obvious and there were far worse people to be nursing some kind of affections for.

"Yes, you suspected right," Harry told the woman and she smiled, with a flushed feeling on her face. "But….it's a long time before that moment happens."

"Good," Arisia said, and she made a split decision. "So, Harry, how about you join us in our quarters….for a drink, and we can celebrate your successful conquest of the Star Sapphire Corps."

"That would be great," Harry said as the two Lanterns locked eyes and smiled with each other. "Lead the way ladies."

Arisia and Jade had a brief but spirited fight over who would take Harry by the arm and lead him to their room. Much to Arisia's chagrin it was Jade that won and the two of them made their way to the quarters, which had a large and spacious bed. Plenty of room for three people, perhaps a couple more.

"You should try this, you've never tried anything like this," Jade said as she poured Harry a drink and Harry took it with a smile. "Earth alcohol…..well a bit more watered down but I figured that with you're heritage, you should handle it without tripping balls."

"Well that's one way to put it," Harry said as he looked at both of the girls. Arisia shifted and he could see her amazing cleavage which was quite the sight. "You know, there are far easier ways of getting me in your bed without getting me drunk. I mean, two sexy women, it's not like I'm going to pass that one up."

Both of the girls did a double take and they then both sided. Jade scooted closer to Harry, throwing her arms around his neck with a triumphant grin spreading over her face.

"Very well, then," Jade said with a half lustful purr as she straddled his lap. Arisia pressed against him from the side. "I believe we're going to try one of those better ways.

Arisia kissed the back of his neck hungrily as Jade attacked him from the front. The two girls were going to have their wicked way with Harry, or so they assumed.


"That….well it's going to be hard getting back to normal after what I've seen," Carol said as she shook the cobwebs from her head and Harry offered her a blinking smile and an even bigger grin.

"Tell me, Carol, what is normal?" Harry asked the woman and she stopped and stared. "I'm not sure that I've lived a normal life in years, you know that."

"Oh, yes, I know that," Carol said as she held her head down and clapped her hands together. Given what Harry was, it was just as expected. "Still it isn't every day that you're abducted by a group of alien females and…..well bent to their will."

"The situation is pretty bent," Harry agreed to the woman as he ran his hand over the top of her hair and she smiled as she returned to her office. She actually was not gone for too long although technically if felt like she was away for months and months.

Harry was personally glad that he was not gone long enough to stir a panic between the women in his Collective and that was a good thing for sure. Some of them could get pretty frantic if Harry was not seen in a while.

"And lost in all of that was the successful partnership that the two of us will now have together," Harry whispered to Carol and the woman looked at him, a pleased glint flickering through her eyes as she stepped towards him.

"It's the beginning of many great things," Carol said as she licked her lips, hunger dancing in her eyes. That small taste that she got of Harry, it got her motor running. While it was actually a pretty big smaller taste, it was not enough to sate her desire for him. She was looking forward to more intimate meetings with the green eyed businessman. "And I'm sure that we'll have many more meetings in the future, intimate meetings, with late nights."

"Oh do tell," Harry said as he watched her, and Carol watched him, with a bright smile on her face.

"I will tell," Carol concluded as she took her eyes on him and the two of them stared at each other. It was an interesting meeting. "I think that I can pin you down quite easily and have my way with you and then some."

"And then a lot," Harry whispered in her ear and Carol flushed for a second and agreed with a bright smile.

"And then a lot," Carol confirmed to Harry without missing a beat as the two of them stared at each other. Any steamy relations would have to wait between the two of them for Carol was getting paged. The two of them looked at each other and she sighed. "Well business before pleasure, you know how that goes, don't you?"

"Of course, what do they want this time?" Harry wondered and Carol shook her head in amusement.

"Considering that it's the board, likely more than they deserve," Carol suggested but there was really no time to stand up.

"It's time for them to understand that new management has found its way to this company," Harry said to her and Carol smiled at him, locking her arm into his.

"New and greater management….."

"Not that you're not great enough yourself," Harry said to Carol and she looked at him, the smile that she had on her face could not be beaten by any means. Harry looked at her with a note of warning in his eyes. "Careful, Carol, we're going to have to get that surgically removed from your face, if it's not careful."

"Or you could fuck it off me," Carol whispered to him without shame but she shook her head. Now she was dressed for success, which was quite frankly a shame, as she missed the boots. But she supposed that they would have had to go. She locked arms with Harry and the two of them left her office.

In no time flat, they made their way down a set of stairs and Harry opened the doors. There was the typical boardroom setting if there ever was one, a group of crusty old men, some of them having agendas of their own.

It was type for Harry to nip this problem in the bud and he turned to face them.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome, welcome," Harry told them and they all stood up, even though there was only one lady there and she looked about as disgusted as Harry did. "Ferris Aircraft is about to undergo some changes in management that we want all of you to be a part of."

"The RAO Corporation is taking more companies to higher heights and we believe that….you can all benefit from it, if you open up your minds a little bit," Carol said, although there was something about the look on her face that indicated that she severely doubted that they could do such a thing. But she remained hopeful. "And some of you….well retirement is lurking around the corner, so you might not be a part of this for much longer."

The men in the boardroom looked at them and saw that there were going to be changes and they were not quite sure if they liked it.

Harry honestly did not care all that much.


Harry Potter thought that the RAO's new incentive program for young promising students was going to be a great thing. He was keeping a look at some promising people who were a part of tomorrow and he hoped to give them the guidance that he could.

"And this will only encourage more recruits to your doorstep," Emma agreed with Harry. "Your little….test run over the summer was just the beginning, am I not mistaken?"

"No, Emma, you're far from mistaken," Harry told the blonde woman and there was a moment where the woman paused and a smile crossed over her face.

"I seldom am," Emma said without skipping any sort of beat and it was hard to tell when the modesty had left her face. Then again, that was just the way that Emma Frost operated. She wanted to be the best at what she did and the best at what she did often times might not have been really nice. Then again, that was just what she had to do. "But seriously, you….and here is one of your new recruits right now."

Harry smiled as he saw the girl standing there of about sixteen years old. To say that she had a rough life would be about the same as saying that Harry had a few headaches during his day. Yet, he could see her standing there, bright and vibrant, clear as day. She had long shimmering red hair that was clipped behind her back. He watched her with a wide grin on his face as he kept his eyes on her.

"Mr. Potter," the girl said in a respected tone of voice.

"Miss Selton, welcome," Harry said to her. "Did you enjoy your trip to the school?"

"It was fine," she said with a shrug. Then again, it was hard for her to really open up around people after the life she lived. She was not going to be one to bemoan about her fate in life because that was not the kind of person that she was. Be that as it may however, she did show a lot of frustration.

Her parents were killed by HYDRA when she was very young, right before her very eyes. That was never a good sight for any three year old to see their parents killed. Then again, The Red Skull did not care, he was that type of person. He kidnapped the girl and subjected her to numerous tests, some of them Harry had not been able to figure out the full extent.

Claire didn't quite have an X-Gene like the various members of the team did, although she had something extremely similar. It was what one might call the meta-gene. It was hard to determine the difference without being carefully trained but Harry suspected that she would not be the first one to be there.

"If you need anything, you know where to find me," Harry said and Claire offered him a genuine smile, although it was rare.

Nearly thirteen years of her life, she spent locked up with HYDRA, slightly less perhaps, but it might as well have been fifteen given what those bastards did to her. She did have powers, she was a pryo-kinetic and it took her a while to control those abilities. The sixteen year old girl crossed her arms and she was found by SHIELD, not that it was much better.

The Zod invasion had allowed a bit of an opening as she, along with a few other prisoners, had managed to escape. The Brotherhood was one of the groups of prisoners that had escaped, but they had been stupid enough to get themselves caught and they were put deeper underground.

Claire was found by Emma after the Humans United group had gone after her, thinking that she was a mutant. She also was recruited by the X-Men, although she could not stand that douchebag with a visor.

"I know," Claire said, realizing that she had been distracted for a moment on her trail down memory lane. "It's….appreciated."

"I know," Harry said to her as she leaned towards him a wide grin on her face. Harry spotted a brunette girl in a black tank top and jean shorts, and a blonde girl with a red tank top and blue shorts. Both of them stepped forward with smiles on their faces. "Courtney, Mary, it's good to see you again."

Courtney Whitmore and Mary Batson turned to face their….well mentor for lack of a better term with a smile on her face.

"I haven't killed anyone with the staff, if that's what you're wondering," Courtney said as she watched Harry.

"Remember, keep up your studies, and you have a spot on my team….both of you," Harry whispered.

Mary looked at him with a puzzled expression. "The RAO team….or the team….team….team."

"Yes, the team….team…team, obviously," Harry said as she went flushed and he patted her on the shoulder. The dark haired woman looked fairly amused at her own faux pas, but then again, if you could not find amusement with yourself than who could you find amusement with.

"I'm looking forward to….well I'm looking forward to joining the team, if you'd have me….us," Courtney said as she realized that she slipped the top.

'It looks like young Miss Whitmore might be handling a different kind of energy staff,' Emma commented lightly and Harry smiled. 'Then again, it was only inevitable. If you are a female and have a pulse, you are honestly honestly.'

'You would know that better than anyone else, wouldn't you, Emma?' Harry asked her and Emma smiled.

'Correct,' Emma thought without missing a beat.

'Amara, meet me down in the lobby in ten minutes, and then we'll be on our way to Nova Roma,' Harry thought to the Princess.

'Right,' Amara thought to him. 'You do realize that Selene's coming there as well.'

'I would be surprised if she wasn't….I'm sure your mother will need to meet me,' Harry thought to her and Amara smiled.

'Oh believe me, she's looking forward to seeing you again,' the princess commented with a wide grin and Harry could not get it off of her face, he was sure.