Disclaimer – Anything you see and recognise does not belong to me. Harry Potter is JK Rowling's; The Avengers and other related characters belong to Marvel. I'm simply playing in their sandboxes.
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Heroes Assemble!
Chapter 124 – Counter Strike
The portkey jewellery that Harry'd had made for the Avengers was, for the most part, a blessing. It enabled anyone wearing one to travel from wherever they were to Paradis Noir in a blink of an eye. At least, a blink of an eye that had you wanting to throw up and lay down after it. That feeling eventually went away the more you used it. Sort of.
The drawback to the jewellery portkeys was in leaving the island. They had only one destination: Avengers Tower. More specifically, the common area in the lounge of Avengers Tower. Which really wasn't so bad if you lived in New York. So, as Avengers began arriving in an almost continuous stream, people like Matt, Jessica, Luke and Peter were able to simply head straight for the elevator to go down and then use one of Tony's private cars.
But for others who were only using the Tower as a waypoint, it was a lot more difficult. Scott and Hope needed to go to San Francisco; Jennifer to Los Angeles; T'Challa home to Wakanda; and Sam to Washington D.C. Thankfully, Doctor Strange and Wong offered to help out. Sling ring-made portals were the order of the day, with the Doctor even accompanying T'Challa to Wakanda after everyone else had been taken care of.
Everyone knew that they had a limited window of time to get everything done and to be back but what they needed to do was too important to put off. Especially those that were gathering their loved ones to take them to safety.
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"Tony?" Pepper asked as he arrived along with what seemed like half of the Avengers all within the space of a minute. "What's going on? Is something wrong?"
"We just finished a meeting, that's all," he replied, racing across the room to wrap her up in a huge hug.
"You know you can't lie to me," she said, pushing back to stare into his eyes. "Something's happened. Is it the aliens that you and the others fought off or the thing on the TV that gave away everyone's identities?"
"A bit of both?" Tony tried and then, when he saw that that wasn't going to be enough, he sighed. "No, you're right, there's more. We're not sure, but we think those aliens are just the start of something big."
"Something like New York all over again?" Pepper asked wide-eyed. "I'll get Morgan and a suitcase for each of us. I assume we're moving to the island?"
Tony couldn't help but grinned, she really was the smartest woman that he knew.
"Knew I could count on you," he said.
Giving her a quick kiss, they separated and he headed for the nearest terminal. If there was going to be a battle for the planet bigger than anything even he could imagine, then they needed to bring every trick to the party that they had.
"Boss?"
Tony barely glanced up as Happy appeared beside him.
"Ah, just the man that I wanted to see," he said. "We're moving to the island for the next while; lock the Tower completely down. No access in or out except for Avengers."
"That's going to take time," Happy frowned. "There's a lot more people in here than just us – everyone in R and D …"
"Just make it happen, Happy," Tony said, turning from his console and clapping his friend on the shoulder.
A rapid series of whines followed by bursts of orange had the two turning towards the windows.
"Are those …?" Happy asked.
"Yep," Tony replied.
"All of them?" Happy asked.
"You better believe it. The full House Party Protocol."
Happy's eyes widened. "Right. Evacuate and lock down the Tower. On it."
The man passed Pepper and Morgan hurrying back into the main living area.
"Where's Happy going?" Pepper asked.
"He's got a few things to do first, then he'll join you. Just like me," Tony said.
He leant in and kissed first his wife before kissing his daughter on the head. And then his armour arrived and he stepped back into it.
"You're not coming?" a confused-sounding Pepper asked.
"I will be; just have to make a house call first," Tony replied.
"Don't you be late, Mister," Pepper admonished.
And then the two of them were gone, disappearing in a flash of rainbow light.
Tony took one last look around the Tower's floor. Everyone had already left, off on their own missions. He nodded and fired his repulsors, setting course for upstate New York.
He'd barely gone a hundred metres when Friday advised him of incoming.
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Peter's leg jigged as they pulled up in the side alley of the building where he and his Aunt May lived. It'd been jigging with nerves the whole way here. But his identity was out! Everyone, everywhere now knew that he was Spider-man. All the kids at school – Flash and Betty and everyone. Even his teachers knew.
Being back here so soon after hearing that announcement, without having a second to think about what it meant had him right on the edge with all of his senses going off in hardcore overdrive. Thankfully, the windows of the car were darkened which meant that no one could see him. It was also why he was going home via the alley instead of the front door.
"We're here, Sir," the driver said.
"Thanks, Al. Um, can you open the sunroof?" Peter asked.
As soon as it had been retracted, Peter leapt straight up through it to land on the roof of the car. A fwipt had a webline shooting straight up to land beside his bedroom window and then he leapt, landing on the wall and began running up it, trusting his feet to stay sticky and to stop him from falling.
As always, his window was unlatched and he was able to open it and crawl inside.
"Aunt May!" he called.
Even before he'd half crossed his room, the door was being slammed open and she was there.
"Peter! Where've you been? Have you seen what's on the TV? It's everywhere, over and over! Your identity; everyone knows that you're Spider-man," she babbled, wrapping him in a hug.
"I know, Aunt May," Peter replied, holding on tightly to her. "That's why I'm here. We need to go, to get somewhere safe for a bit."
"Go?" she asked, confused.
And then it felt as though an extremely violent earthquake struck.
The entire building shook violently. Pictures fell of the walls. The sounds of smashing and crashing reverberated around them. His chair rolled away. The desk completely tipped over.
Peter's spidey sense went ballistic as the outside wall simply fell away in slow motion. Wrapping his arm even tighter around his aunt who was currently screaming in his ear, Peter shot out a web towards the frame of his bedroom door and pulled them closer.
Everything that he'd always heard said that standing in a doorway was the safest place to be, so that's where they were going to be.
That was until he heard a scream from just outside their apartment. The scream of a voice that he recognised.
"Gwen!" he yelled.
Quickly, Peter shot weblines all around the doorframe and off walls and basically wrapped May in a protective cocoon. As soon as he was sure that she was as safe as possible, he leapt across the room and ripped the front door clear off its hinges.
"Gwen!" he yelled again, seeing the girl laying on the floor, a large gash on her head from the fallen beam that half lay across her.
For Peter, it took no effort at all to lift that beam clear of his girlfriend and to toss it away.
"Don't be dead, don't be dead, don't be dead!" he muttered, dropping to the floor beside her.
Finding a pulse relaxed him somewhat.
The fact that the earthquake had settled also helped. The sirens and screams all around them, not just in their own building but also coming from outside, countered that, though.
Scooping Gwen up in his arms, Peter raced back to May.
"Peter! Get me out of this!" she ordered.
"Sorry, Aunt May," Peter replied.
Transferring Gwen so that he was just holding her with one arm, he used his other to start tearing the webbing away.
The open air on the far side of his room had him pausing, struggling to comprehend what he was seeing.
His bedroom wall, the side of his entire building was gone. As was the next building over. In fact, from what he could see, there wasn't much still standing. Flames, fire and great plumes of smoke could be seen everywhere.
He was an Avenger. He should be out there, helping. What was a little thing like people knowing his name to doing the right thing? He had a responsibility. There were people out there, hurt, injured, dying or even already dead. But then the weight of Gwen in his arm, May's sobs in front of him brought him back to where he was. There were people who needed him right here, too.
He could help those others later, first he had to concentrate on the two he loved the most in the whole world.
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Maria Hill stood on the tarmac, waiting in precise parade arrest. She knew he'd come even before she'd gotten the call to say that his helicopter was inbound. The wind whipped at her hair and around her legs and she was forced to squint but otherwise, she remained still.
Finally, the copter landed, the side door opened and Nick Fury stepped from it. As expected, his eye swept over not only the tarmac by the entire Compound, despite the fact that, knowing him, he'd been doing the exact same thing from the air only moments before.
"Hill," he greeted.
"Sir," she replied.
"I'm not your commanding officer any more, you know that," he retorted. "You don't even work for S.H.I.E.L.D., despite the fact that we have a base here at Avengers' Compound."
Maria ignored the comment, as she knew that he knew she would.
"What have you got for me?" he asked.
"My sources tell me that the four aliens that appeared in New York work for Thanos," she began.
"And by sources, you mean Thor," Fury interrupted. "You know, I may be out of the game, but I'm not stupid. Don't treat me as if I am."
"Yes, Sir. Sorry," she replied and relaxed slightly as they began walking towards the main buildings of the facility. "They're after the Infinity Stones."
"The one in Vision's head," Fury stated.
"That's not the only one on Earth," Maria replied.
Fury stopped dead and turned to look at her.
"There's more than the one on the planet?" he demanded.
Her response never came as a series of bright, orange bolts dropping from the sky caught her attention. A dozen of them, at least, all headed straight for the Compound. And them.
"Oh, hell!" Fury swore.
Maria, though, instantly jumped at him, grabbed him in a bear hug and yelled.
"Roasted ibis!"
They disappeared in a swirl of rainbow a fraction of a second before the world where they'd just been standing erupted into flames, explosions and oblivion.
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Matt snuck into the building that housed Nelson & Murdock via the roof. Quietly, he descended the stairs and stopped one level up, cocking his head.
"You need to leave. Nelson & Murdock is closing early today."
Karen's voice was such that, even without his enhanced hearing, Matt was sure that he would have been able to hear her. Finally, after much grumbling, the door snapped shut and the people, clients, had left.
Quickly, he descended, keeping close to the wall before stepping out and into the office.
"I said that we're closed!" Karen growled. Then, "Matt!"
"Hey, buddy," Foggy said from the doorway to his office.
"Hi guys," Matt replied.
"No more pretence, huh?" Foggy half-joked but Matt could hear the worry in his voice.
"We knew about you, obviously," Karen said. "But we had no idea about Jennifer. She's really the She-Hulk?"
"She is," Matt replied. "And even when she's in that persona, she's still the same Jennifer that you know. She's just as intelligent and quick-witted and friendly."
"Yeah. Obviously," Foggy replied.
And then the world around them went crazy. Every single one of Matt's senses went into overdrive. It was as though the world exploded. Sound from everywhere, on all frequencies and levels bombarded him. The very ground became unstable and he stumbled, clapping his hands over his ears.
Suddenly, something heavy slammed into the back of his head and the world vanished.
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Their watches going off, vibrating with an intensity that none of them had ever felt before startled every single Avenger. The fact that those same watches were flashing alternating colours – red, purple, blue, white, yellow – also startled them and would have gained instant attention if it hadn't already been focussed on the strange event.
Harry, Steve and Nat hadn't left the Island's main lounge area and thus, were instantly on high alert.
"'All Avengers report to Paradis Noir immediately. Highest Priority Code, nothing else takes precedence'," Harry read. "What?"
"Friday? What's the situation?" Steve asked as Bobbi raced into the room alongside Clint, Wanda and Vision.
The AI stuttered; a holographic screen flickered on for an instant; and then there was nothing.
"That can't be good," Clint deadpanned.
A half-minute later, the holographic screen reappeared, this time appearing stable.
"Friday?" Nat asked.
"My apologies," the AI replied. "I needed to switch over to my back up servers and mainframe on Aeros City."
"You switched servers and mainframe? Why?" Nat asked.
"I think it best if I show you," Friday replied. "I suggest that you brace yourselves."
The Avengers already there shared confused looks even as more Avengers began arriving.
And then the holographic display switched images to show an aerial view of the state of New York. The screen split as it began zooming in.
"The Compound and New York City itself," Bobbi recognised.
"Merlin!" Harry whispered. "The city!"
It was the first of the images to resolve itself, only to show complete, utter devastation. Most of the island of Manhattan was nothing but a huge crater. Central Park was a blackened mess. Midtown, Hell's Kitchen, Harlem and the Upper East Side were all but gone. Not a single building was left whole. Only a tiny fraction even had part of it standing. The Empire State Building, once one of the tallest buildings in the city was gone. At least two of the bridges leading to the island had collapsed.
Steve felt himself collapse to the floor even as he was unable to tear his eyes away from the screen.
Around him, he felt more and more people arriving. The crying of a baby only tore his eyes away for a second, long enough to see Pepper and Morgan.
But New York City.
Millions would have been killed in the attack. Men, women, children. People with hopes and dreams, all going about their daily life, all gone in an instant.
His eyes tracked the devastation and he saw that it wasn't just Manhattan that had suffered. Huge chunks of Brooklyn and Queens had also suffered.
And then he heard it.
"The Compound."
He'd been so focussed on one side of the screen, that he'd forgotten the other half.
The Compound had suffered the same fate. Every building and hanger had been destroyed. The bank of the river had even been burst, flooding the crater that had been left with water; in fact, even as he watched, he could see that it was still filling.
"We have to help them," Clint said. "We have to do something."
"Who of ours was still there?" Harry asked.
And then a series of portkeys arrived. Maria and Nick Fury. Jessica with her sister and a dark-skinned man. Danny and an Asian woman.
Quickly, Harry was racing for them, giving the newcomers the words that would mean that they were safe here.
"I need help!" Peter yelled almost before the portkey had released him.
Instantly, Steve was back on his feet and racing to take Gwen from Peter's arms even as Nat began comforting May.
"That looks like it was centred on the Tower," Bobbi stated.
More and more Avengers with their loved ones kept portkeying into the Island, their last Stronghold.
Seeing Daphne appear, he shouted for her and instructed that she look at Gwen, having laid her on a couch.
"Friday, list on the screen all Avengers, primary, Ancillary and Academy members not on the Island," Steve ordered.
A larger number than he would have liked appeared by picture and name.
"List their locations," he snapped.
Instantly the list was updated and he sped-read them. Scott and Hope were in San Francisco. Jennifer was in L.A. Teddy had gone to London. Sam was in Washington D.C. Rhodey was enroute to the Fantastic Four's old military base code named 'Central City' located in California. And Doctor Strange and T'Challa were in Wakanda.
That still left Matt, Luke, Wong … and Tony as being listed with the last known location as New York City.
"Don't forget Happy," Pepper added, stepping forward even as she jigged Morgan in her arms.
"Friday, connect to Tony," Steve ordered.
"Unable to comply," Friday replied.
"Why?" Pepper snapped.
"Tony's suit is currently off-line," Friday replied.
"We need a team to head to New York immediately," Steve stated.
"Our portkeys are useless," Harry jumped in. "They're set for the living room of the Tower. That no longer exists. Anyone who tried to portkey there will be portkeying into those coordinates and would instantly fall to their deaths."
"Then give us an alternative!" Steve snapped.
"My apartment's still mostly intact," Peter volunteered.
"Before anyone goes anywhere, you're not going to talk about how that happened?" Quill interrupted.
Steve barely spared him a glance. He hadn't even heard the Guardians arrive.
"That is the result of a spaceship bombarding the surface," Quill continued. "That means that the Black Order aren't taking their defeat lying down. They want you there where they can have another shot at you."
"What they want are the Stones," Steve countered. "They arrived in New York the first time, where Vision was. Doctor Strange wasn't on the planet with the Time Stone and we have to assume that Harry's magic is able to keep the Soul Stone safe. So, as long as Vision stays here, then we can go to New York to find our missing friends and to do what we can to help."
"Friday, the Stark Relief Foundation," Pepper was saying behind her. "Anything and everything worldwide. Get it all to New York as soon as possible."
"Of course," Friday replied.
"Alright, Avengers," Steve called. "Our plans for dealing with Thanos and his army just took a slight backseat. Our priority at the moment is New York. Unfortunately, the Compound will have to hold tight at the moment."
"I have S.H.I.E.L.D. response teams on their way to the Compound already, including Coulson," Fury piped in.
"Thank you," Steve nodded. "Vision, with that Stone in your head, we're going to need you to stay here. Harry, you, too. I have a job for you. Everyone else, there'll be portkeys taking you to Queens. After that, make your way in on foot. You can see who of us is missing. But don't leave focussing on them as an excuse not to help everyone who needs it."
"Steve?" Gert said, pushing her way through the crowd so that she was standing right in front of him. "You need to send Old Lace with us. She can help sniff out trapped people. Plus, she's really strong."
Steve stared at her for a moment before nodding. "Alright. Agreed. Make sure your team stays with you and her at all times. We don't want someone accidentally shooting first and asking questions later.
"Any questions?"
When none arrived, Steve pointed at Harry who was busy with a set of hoola hoops which one of the house elves had brought him.
"Get a team together and get to New York. Let's do what we do best: help and protect innocent lives."
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It was only the sound of the jet that alerted them to its presence. Even looking up for it didn't help all that much. The sky, while a clear day, was all but filled by copious amounts of thick black smoke.
Nico's spell casting had helped the air quality on the ground. Using the Staff of One, she'd been able to clear out sections as they moved along, eliminating the toxic air and replacing it with fresh, clean air, albeit with the tang of the sea.
It had been long hours of slow moving. Everywhere they looked was heartbreaking. Buildings had collapsed, crushing cars, people, smaller buildings, anything and everything. And what wasn't crushed was often blackened, whether from the smoke or whatever type of weapon had been used against the city was impossible to tell.
Old Lace had been a godsend. Under Gert's command, she'd moved steadily about, her nose to the ground. Occasionally, she'd leap from one pile of rubble to another before sniffing, looking up and around for the rest of them and giving her strange bark-like call to them.
That's when Molly's strength, Chase's fistagons and Karolina's powers had really come into play. Together, they'd worked to free whoever Old Lace had detected. Sometimes it was just a single person, others it was a couple. Once, they'd managed to free an entire room full of people trapped when their building collapsed.
All of them had thanked the teens continuously, showering them with praise. Even the sight of a dinosaur standing proudly, watching it all only had them shying away but not reacting with fear.
But the jet, that was something new. Sure, they'd seen and heard a few helicopters over the hours that they'd been on the ground, but nothing so large.
Seeing it coming towards them, the group stopped and looked up. When the rear ramp lowered and a stocky man jumped from it, landing in a crouch, they unconsciously began drifting together.
The snickt of metal reached them even as they saw three long, sharp claws appear out of each of the man's hands. Instantly, Nico held the Staff of Out in front of her even as Chase raised his fistagons.
"I don't know what the hell that is, kids, but just back away slowly," the man growled.
"I think he means Old Lace," Gert whispered, causing Karolina to 'turn on' her glowing self and ready herself, just as Carol had taught her.
Unexpectedly, it was Molly who marched right up the man, ignoring the others' calls.
"You leave Old Lace alone," Molly commanded. "She's not hurting anyone."
"Listen, kid, I've dealt with this sort of thing my whole life. You just get behind him," the man stated.
And that's when he made his mistake. The man's claws retracted into his hand and he reached out to push Molly behind him. Molly, though, simply grabbed that hand and swung the man around in a circle so fast that the man's legs left the ground. When she let go, they watched him fly across what was once the street before rolling away and through a broken door.
Looking back, they found that another four individuals had emerged from the jet as it now hovered a bare half-metre above the ground. The fact that one of them was big, blue and hairy definitely had them blinking.
"Children, stop!" the bald-headed man sitting in the wheelchair commanded.
Instantly, without even thinking about it, the teens froze.
"My name is Professor Charles Xavier. We're here to help, just as you are," the man said.
"Professor?" the man with visor across his face asked. "They're just kids; they shouldn't be here."
"Ah, but Scott, these children are in the Avenger's Academy," Xavier replied. "Isn't that so?"
"Yeah, we are," Nico replied. "It's a recent thing."
"Xavier? As in the X-men?" Chase asked.
"Well, that's obvious," Gert stated. "You can see their uniforms, right?"
Now that they looked, even though each of them dressed slightly differently, they did have that familiar 'X' design prominent on their clothes.
"I've been saying for ages that we should have costumes too," Molly pointed out. "How many times have we had to explain who we are today already?"
Suddenly, a roar had them looking back across the street and the man that Molly'd thrown away came charging back towards them.
"Logan!" Xavier snapped. "They're here to help, just as we are."
Reluctantly, it seemed, the man now known as Logan slowed to a halt.
"Help, huh?" he grunted. "With a freaking dinosaur?"
"Genetically engineered, I would guess," the blue-furred one said. "Quite fascinating. I wasn't aware that anyone had progressed so far in the field."
"Old Lace is a part of our team," Nico stated. "And she'd done more to help today than the rest of us combined. She can sniff out anyone who's trapped."
"Exactly," Xavier smiled. "The X-men have teams all over the city as well, hopefully by working together, we can rescue everyone who needs us."
"You're not here because of Mister Stark?" Chase asked.
"Mister Stark? Tony?" Xavier asked. "I haven't spoken to him in many months, I'm afraid. We simply came as soon as we'd heard what'd happened."
The Runaways shared grim looks with each other. Every one of them was all too aware that Tony was on the 'Missing' list.
"In that case, can I ask that you contact Steve or Harry or someone else from the Avengers?" Nico asked. "There's some really big stuff going down and we need everyone. Tony was going to be asking you for your help."
"I will make it my top priority to make contact with them," Xavier replied. "Avengers, if you will continue in the direction that you are searching for people, my team will go that way."
"Thanks," Nico nodded. "Good luck."
"You as well," Xavier replied.
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Doreen's head cocked as she heard a shifting of bricks to her right. The ground seemed stable enough, which meant that it wasn't an earthquake. Thus, she instantly began picking her way in that direction.
"Hello?" she called as loudly as she could.
The bricks in front of her shifted some more and she was sure that she heard a grunt as well.
Instantly, she raced forward. Her eyes scanned the area and found that a huge steel beam was wiggling slightly. Looking around, she found a long bar, picked it up and wedged it in under the beam.
Bracing her legs, she grabbed the bar and pulled down on it, using every part of her enhanced strength that she possessed. Slowly, inch by inch, the beam began levering itself upwards. A large, dust-covered hand appeared and Doreen found strength that even she didn't know that she possessed. There was a person trapped under there and she was going to get them out.
Her eyes closed with her effort and she gritted her teeth even as she felt sweat break out on her forehead. A sudden shift in the beam had her eyes snapping open and she fixed on not one hand but two, both braced under the steel beam and adding their strength to it.
Together, they continued to struggle with the beam until, with one last effort, it rolled over. Doreen's bar slipped out and clattered on the bricks but she ignored it, instead focussing on the gap that had emerged.
Huge chunks of brick and concrete were pushed out of the way, both by her and by whoever was inside. Finally, the gap was wide enough and she flung herself down on her belly so that she could see inside.
"Well, fancy meeting you here," the dust-covered head of Luke Cage said, his white teeth not standing out as much as they usually did now that he, too, appeared white.
"Luke! You're alive!" Doreen exclaimed.
"Unbreakable skin, remember?" he said.
Finally, her eyes adjusted to the blackness of the hole that Luke was in and Doreen's eyes widened. He wasn't alone. Two women, both unconscious, one looking like she was missing an arm, lay in the tiny, cramped space.
"Are they … are they alive?" she whispered.
Luke looked down at the two.
"Yeah, Barely," he replied. "They need a doctor."
"Why don't you just portkey them to the island?" Doreen asked.
"Can't. Lost my portkey," he replied.
Instantly, Doreen began fiddling with the necklace around her neck. When her fumbling fingers refused to undo the clasp, she simply tore the thing from her neck.
"Grab hold of them," she commanded, handing it over.
Luke nodded his thanks and squatted down, finding a hand from each of the women and wrapping the chain of the necklace around their hands and his own. Looking up, he gave a nod.
"Buck toothed beaver!" Doreen said clearly and loudly.
Instantly, Luke and the two women vanished in a swirl of colour.
ooo00ooo
Wong came to in the dark. His head throbbed and he couldn't feel his foot. Carefully, he wiggled his toes and sighed with relief. Still there, just trapped. Feeling around his belt, his fingers found his sling ring; not that he could use it until he was out of here.
Gathering his magic through his pounding head wasn't easy and it took his four goes just to get some sparks. Finally, on the eighth try, he produced a shield and then he pushed.
It took a thousand times more effort than it should but he managed to get whatever was above his head to begin moving. Dust and small bits of rock and brick cascaded down towards him but he persevered.
Finally, the sky above appeared in a crack and he pushed even harder. One last massive shove cleared a path above him. Now he only had to get his leg free and he could escape the remains of the Sanctum Sanctorum.
ooo00ooo
"Hello, Harry Potter."
Harry felt his face burst into its first smile in what felt like forever at the words, at the sound of the oh-so-familiar voice.
"Hello, Luna Lovegood," he replied, without turning around.
"Now, Harry, you know I'm married," Luna admonished. "I'm Luna Scamander now."
"So you are. My apologies. Let me try that again. Hello, Luna Scamander," he replied.
Her tinkling laughter was a balm to his soul.
"A little bird told me that you needed to talk to me," she said.
"It was an owl and a rather large one at that," Harry corrected. "But you're right, I desperately needed to talk to you. You could be the only one that could help me right now."
He turned then to find a most unexpected sight: a Luna who looked both startled and a little afraid.
"Is it to do with what you're doing now, Harry?" she asked.
Harry looked at the dozens of hula hoops that the elves had found for him. They were currently in two piles, the pile holding his finished work being nearly twice the size of the pile that he had yet to begin working on.
"In a roundabout way, I guess so," Harry replied. "If can give me another twenty minutes, then I should be done and then we can talk."
He picked up the next hoop, concentrated, gathered his magic and tapped it with his wand.
"Portus!"
Luna gave her acknowledgement with a nod and moved across to the nearby lounge to take a seat while she waited. Mentally, Harry gave a quick count to how many were left. Eleven. Eleven to turn into portkeys and then, hopefully, with Luna's help, he'd finally get the answers that he needed.
ooo00ooo
The Sanctuary II dropped out of jump into the system just as a swirling mass of blue appeared on its bridge. From within it, Thanos stepped out, a great smile on his face. A long, slow, careful look around told him all that he needed to know.
The ship was close to her destination. In fact, a tiny ball of blue and white out the main window showed him just how close they were. Movement to one side of space indicated that a Q-ship was inbound – his children returning, hopefully with their prize already for him.
Lifting his hand, he studied the golden gauntlet that he wore. Already three gems adorned it – purple, blue and now red. He wondered which would be the next to join its brethren and to bend to his will, doing his bidding.
ooo00ooo
A/N – If you're enjoying this story, check out my profile page where you can find all of my FanFiction stories. Also there is a link to my Facebook page and my website where you will find all of my original stories as well.