Chapter 26 -

"Black, is that you?" Fury spoke into his phone.

"It's me." Harry replied in a tired voice.

"Why do you sound so tired?" Fury asked.

"I've had a long day." He replied after taking a deep breath.

"Have you seen the news?" Fury asked.

"I've been a little busy." Harry admitted "So...no...no I have not seen the news."

"When you say busy I assume you are referring to the incident in Greenwich England?" Fury half stated, half asked.

"That'd be the one, or...at least part of what I have to deal with." Harry replied. "I was at the incident, helping Thor and so was Natasha and then Natasha got involved and something bad happened. I had to take Natasha away."

"Is Agent Romanoff injured?" Fury asked, concern in his voice.

"Not really," Harry replied. "she wasn't killed or anything but there was a...complication. Nat will be fine since I'm working on fixing it."

"What's the problem? What's wrong with her? She's one of my agents, I have to know!"

"I don't really have time to explain it at the moment." Harry replied. "Just know that she'll be fine and I'll talk to you in about two days from now."

"But what about..."

"Bye Fury." Harry cut him off and turned off the phone.


"I thought he would never hang up." Natasha whispered as she planted kisses all along Harry's jaw, deciding that him calling her boss was not a good enough reason to stop.

"He's worried about you." Harry managed to get out as he thought about the situation. He had performed the ritual with Natasha, the ritual did have the added effect of temporarily increasing her feelings towards him and vice versa, making her more much more attached to him than usual which was probably why the two were currently naked in his bed. If they weren't love making then they were cuddling or being ridiculously romantic with each other.

It was a good thing that they had agreed to spend the next few days locked up in Harry's apartment, it wouldn't be good for people to see the mysterious and mighty Raven and the beautiful yet deadly Black Widow acting like a couple of horny lovestruck teenagers.

"I know," She kissed his neck "but not like you...you care for me more than anyone else. I love you, I love you so much." She emphasised her point by planting her lips on his and engaging in some very passionate tongue wrestling. It was at this point that Harry realised that he probably wasn't going to have any long or meaningful conversations with Natasha until the effects of the ritual passed, so until then he'd have to settle with just having sex.

He was okay with that.

Later during one of their breaks Harry had experimented and managed to place some blocks on Natasha to limit her powers, he didn't want Natasha to accidently kill someone so he planned to leave them in place until she was able to learn how to completely control her powers. He was rather looking forward to helping her with it, there was potential for her to be the strongest member of the Avengers. He had sent a patronus messenger, a raven obviously, to let him know that they'd be fine.

He was sure that sooner or later he'd have to deal with some problem or something else, but until then he would spend time with his red headed fiancée who was currently lowering her head.

Once again, he was okay with that.


"So...what's the story?" Fury asked Harry a few days later when Harry finally showed up.

"Complicated," Harry sighed. "basically me and Natasha were on vacation together and we ended up investigating something in London. We ended up meeting Thor and Jane Foster."

"What was she doing there?"

"I don't know why she was originally there but she got infected with something, something that was not from Earth."

"Go on." Fury prompted as he leaned back in his chair, showing that he was giving Harry his full attention. Harry spent a short amount of time explain everything and give a general summary of all that had happened since going to Asgard to the battle in Greenwich. Though he didn't mention everything. For example he didn't mention anything unnecessary like hanging out with the Asgardians and introducing them all to pizza and fire whiskey. He also didn't tell him about Loki, he was not going to get shouted at for that plus he would leave that up to Thor.

"And then the Aether was sent in Natasha's direction, the Aether flew into her." Harry said when he got to the more recent events.

"So Agent Romanoff is dying?" Fury asked, not looking happy at all.

"Not anymore," Harry shook his head. "I remembered a ritual that we could use."

"And you didn't use this ritual on Jane Foster because..." Fury trailed off, waiting for Harry to finish the sentence for him.

"There were certain requirements for the ritual that Natasha met that Jane did not."

"Requirements like what? What requirements did Miss Romanoff fill?"

"It's not important," Harry said as he bit back his initial response of 'she was willing to sleep with me'. "but she filled the requirements and we performed the ritual. So now the Aether is not harming her, but the ritual was...taxing...for both of us so we had to spend a few days resting and getting our bodies used to it. She's still tired which is why she's currently resting instead of at this meeting with me."

"This Aether, what can it do?"

"It responds to the user basically, it's similar to my magic in certain ways. Malekith was able to use it to blast me and Thor and teleport and make things. I'm not sure about its limits or how powerful it is."

"Hmm," Fury nodded. "we'll need to bring agent Romanoff in for some tests and..."

"No." Harry cut him off.

"I beg your pardon?" Fury raised an eyebrow.

"Natasha is not going to become a test subject or a guinea pig or whatever you want to call it." Harry said in a firm voice.

"It could be dangerous and..."

"And I am the magic expert here, the Aether is far closer to magic than it is science. If your men start messing around then it could result in someone dying. I've stopped it from killing Nat, I've managed to limit it's powers until she can learn how to properly control it and if something goes wrong then I can survive the fall out."

"Very well," Fury sighed and reluctantly agreed. On one hand he felt like he was losing the opportunity to look at something that could be valuable for shield. On the other hand, Agent Romanoff already worked between shield and the Avenger's so it wasn't really a loss as it was still something that can be used by shield. Besides, after the incident with the tesseract he thought it was better that important powers like the tesseract and the Aether stay away from somewhere where it could be stolen. Besides, after gaining Raven's trust he was not in a hurry to lose it. "is there anything else I should know about?"

"Yes, me and Natasha..." Harry paused, suddenly wondering why he felt a bit awkward but he powered on. "have gotten engaged."

"Engaged?" Fury repeated.

"Yes, 'engaged' Fury. You see engaged is what happens when two people..."

"I know what 'engaged' means." Fury interrupted and glared at Harry. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I don't normally question the relationships of other people but have you considered how your relationship will affect shield and the Avengers?"

"You do realise that I am older than you, right?" Harry asked, not particularly liking the way Fury was talking to him like he was a child. Though he understood why, Fury was used to being in charge and Harry did look like he was in his early twenties. "Anyway, yes we have and we're positive we can make it work."

"In that case...I guess congratulations are in order." Fury said, he knew better than to mess with the relationship. Romanoff was one of his best agents and could easily be counted on, she deserved his trust at least, same for her new fiancée. "have you seen the news recently?"

"Not really." Harry shook his head. "I've been a bit busy the last couple of days."

"You know how you have a secret identity?" Fury asked, Harry nodded at the odd question. "You don't have one anymore."

"Beg your pardon?" Harry blinked, wondering if he had heard that right.

"Take a look at this." Fury turned his TV on and flipped to a news channel.

"The mysterious Raven's identity has been revealed as Harry Black." A female reporter spoke while a picture of Harry at the battle of New York was shown alongside one of Harry where he wasn't looking at the camera. "Raven is known as the leader of the Avengers, some have theorised that he has access to highly advanced and sophisticated technology while others believe that the man is capable of using actual magic. Certain people believe that to be ridiculous but can we really rule out such a thing?"

"It's on all of the news channels." Fury said as he began flipping through various news channels which all showed reporters and people talking about Harry.

"Raven, the leader of the Avengers is..."

"Unbelievable, to think that such a person really exists, we live in a world full of..."

"Heroes fighting aliens, that was scary as hell but when it ended I remember Raven flying around and fixing things as best as he could."

"Hold up, I know that lady." Harry said when Fury flipped to another news channel which revealed an old lady talking to a reporter. "She lives down the hall from me."

"Such a lovely man," The old lady said. "always willing to help carry my bags up the stairs for me. I tried setting him up with my niece once, such a shame it didn't work out. Imagine if it did. I could brag about having a 'superhero' in the family. Ah well, at least he treated her like a gentlemen should."

"That girl came to me as a virgin, she did not leave the same way." Harry told Fury, letting him know the lady probably didn't have the full picture. "By the way that picture, that's from one of the hotels I stayed in when you was still chasing me."

"That part we've worked out." Fury said as he paused the screen.

"Yeah but I remember the day, some employee was leaving and they were all throwing a big party. I attended to be polite, plus the food. As for that picture, if I had to guess then I'd probably say it came from that agent you used to have in the building, the female one with the brown hair from around when you first started following me."

"You knew about her?" Fury asked before rolling his eyes and letting out a tired sigh. "Of course you knew about her."

"Yeah but she was removed from the case after a couple of weeks wasn't she?" Harry asked. "Why?"

"What does it matter?"

"Fury, you know why. You're a master spy, why was she removed?"

"She was...not thinking straight." Fury said, wondering how he should phrase it. In the end he just decided to go with full honesty just so this conversation could end. "One of her superior officers who she was reporting to made claims that she was becoming infatuated with you."

"What?"

"Did you sleep with her as well?"

"No, I kept my distance for the most part. Minimal contact, ran into her a few times but the only time I really got close enough to spend more than five minutes in her company was this one incident where a couple of guys tried to mug us both. I fought against them in self defence but she never did, I expected her to fight back but she didn't. She just stood there and watched. There was this one bit where one of them tried to escape in a car and run the two of us over, it was about to crash into her when I jumped in front of it and stopped it before it crashed into her. I knocked them all out and tied them up "

"I don't remember a report about that." Fury frowned.

"You didn't know?" Harry blinked.

"Did you file a report?" Fury asked.

"No, I didn't want to draw more attention than necessary. I just called for the police and left them there before leaving, since nobody was there besides your agent I didn't really feel like I had an obligation to stay. I figured that you would've found out thanks to your agent." Harry replied.

"So to sum up, this agent who had become enamored with you had decided not to report an incident and was present the day that picture was taken. It seems like we have someone to question. Are you going to be there?"

"Sure thing." Harry nodded. "By the way, tomorrow me and Natasha are going to host a small and informal party, you and Coulson are invited. Agent Hill as well, the rest of the Avengers are also invited."

"Very well, we'll see." Fury replied.


"Yeah, that's her." Harry said to Coulson and Maria Hill from behind two way glass, he was currently looking into the interrogation room where Fury was sat opposite the agent in question with only a table in-between them. She was dressed in the classic blue body suit that all the other shield agents wore, she had brown bushy hair which reminded Harry of another witch that he was not going to mention. Though she had blue eyes instead of brown and her face was slightly different then the witch in question.

As if requiring confirmation, his magic verified that it wasn't Hermione Granger. Admittedly this wasn't the first time he had seen people who look like people from his world. A couple of years ago he had seen one person that looked exactly like a teenage Voldemort. Luckily he was smart enough to double check with his magic instead of attacking. When he fought in World War Two he fought alongside one person who looked liked a less chubby Neville Longbottom.

"Agent Alice White." Fury said to the woman, now known as Agent Alice White. "A few years ago you were tasked with spying on and observing on Harry Black, correct?"

"Notice her shift when your name came up?" Maria Hill whispered to Harry who nodded in confirmation.

"Correct sir." Alice nodded, Harry could see she was trying to hide her emotions. However she didn't do it as well as Natasha, it was her eyes that gave her away.

"You were taken off that case because one of your superior officers claimed that you were developing feelings for the target despite having barely any contact with him."

"Is...is he here?" Alice asked as she glanced at the two way mirror. "He is...isn't he? Uh...hi Harry!" She waved at the glass.

"Shut it Coulson." Harry said to Coulson who looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"Sorry." Coulson said though he didn't sound too sorry.

"Agent White, will you focus please?" An impatient Fury asked.

"Uh...sorry Director." She blushed and turned back to Fury.

"I am going to make this quick since I have a million things I'd rather do than be here, were you or were you not the one who released information on Raven's true identity?"

"Yes sir...yes I did." She admitted. surprisingly quickly.

"Why would you do that?" Fury asked.

"Because he deserves it." Alice said as if it should be obvious.

"Did Raven do anything to you? Harm you in any way?"

"What? No, no sir."

"But you said 'he deserves it'." Fury pointed out.

"Yes he does, he's a hero. He deserves all the fame and recognition he is getting." She crossed her arms and leaned back into her chair. "If it wasn't for me then you all would've probably had him go around and not be thanked at all. I mean Stark get's thanked when all he did was fly around in his little suit. Plus Captain America who is basically a fossil got thanked, then there was the 'god of thunder', for all we know it was him who brought them here. Then there's that green monster plus there was 'The Hawk' who did what? Sit around and shoot arrows at the big and bad aliens?"

"Okay, let's not let her in a room with Barton." Harry said. "Or any of the Avengers." Coulson and Maria Hill nodded in agreement.

"What about Agent Romanoff?" Fury asked in an innocent voice, the woman in front of him was working herself into a rant and he was going to let her.

"Oh that slut," Alice said with a sour look on her face. "I bet she didn't even do anything, probably had Raven do all the work then convince them to give her credit by opening up her legs."

"You may want to ease up on the lightning." Coulson suggested to Harry, Harry blinked then looked down and saw lightning dancing around his fingers. He took in a small breath and got rid of the lightning before giving Coulon a quiet thank you.

"So why do you think Raven deserves praise but not the other Avengers?" Fury asked.

"Well he..." Alice suddenly stopped. "...I just do." She said with a small shrug.

"Hmm," Fury hummed, realising that she had picked up on what he was doing, which was a shame as he really didn't want to be here any longer than he had to. "do you realise the damage you have caused? Raven was one of our best agents..."

"The best." Alice interrupted.

"and that was partly because his identity was a secret." Fury continued. pretending not to have heard her. "This has made things much more difficult for shield and Raven."

"He deserves better than being a simple shield agent." Alice argued. "He' the best that you have, he shouldn't be sent out on average missions."

"Really?" Fury sighed. He could just tell this as going to be a long interrogation. "You do realise what the consequences for what you've done are?"

"I'm not worried," She smirked as if this was all some game. "when Raven finds out what I've done then he'll come and help me out."

"Hmm, no...no I won't." Harry said to Coulson and Hill.

"What exactly happened the last time you two met?" Maria Hill asked Harry.

"A couple of guys tried to mug the two of us. I beat them up while she watched, one of them tried to run us over. I stopped the car with my bare hands and then I dealt with the guys before leaving. I had originally thought that the agent had reported what happened but apparently not."


"Well that was a waste of time," Fury said as he entered the room to meet Harry, Coulson and Hill after spending some more time interrogating Alice. "and I am not wasting more on this."

"Perhaps he should interrogate her." Coulson said as he gestured to Harry.

"What?" Harry blinked.

"I think it's a good idea." Hill smirked.

"You probably are the only person she will talk to. Off you go Raven." Fury said as he gestured to the two way mirror.

"So is this just payback for all the times I've annoyed you all?" Harry asked.

"Yes." All three said instantly. A silence filled the room.

"Good to know."


"Hey," Harry said as he entered the room. Alice White who had been looking rather bored had suddenly become wide eyed and instantly sat up straighter. "so...how are you doing" Harry said awkwardly, not entirely sure how to handle this. In his experience he usually dealt with problems by spoiling their evil plan and/or killing them.

"R...Raven..." She blurted out with a wide smile as Harry sat down opposite her. "I am a massive fan!" She said, patting down her clothes a little before realising what she was doing and stopping. She looked at Harry who was currently wearing white trainers, blue jeans, a dark blue shirt and a black jacket.

"I can see that." Harry nodded.

"I...I was following you before...not in a 'stalker' way!" She added the last part quickly. "I...shield had me follow you."

"Hate to be the bringer of bad new but that is a 'stalker' way." Harry replied. "Besides I know."

"You...I mean of course you know. You are Raven after all." She gushed. "I remember when you saved me, you were so heroic." She finished with a happy smile as she recalled the memory.

"Thanks...I guess. Anyway, I'm told that you are the one responsible for revealing to the world that I am Raven." Harry said.

"Yes, yes I did." She smiled proudly.

"And why did you do that?" Harry asked, causing her smile to falter slightly before she brought it back up to full strength.

"I did it for you," She said as if she suddenly expected him to smile at her and thank her. "you're the leader of the Avengers. You're far more deserving of fame than any of the others."

"The Avengers all fought alongside me in the battle of New York." Harry pointed out. "If it wasn't for them then many people would've died."

"But you were the one who took that nuke up into the portal." She argued in a patient voice. "They probably did a little but you were the one who took that nuke up into alien territory."

"You do realise that Stark was the one who was originally going to do that?" Harry asked, defending his fellow Avengers. "He was the one who was about to fly the nuke up into the air."

"But he didn't." She shrugged. "You did, I mean Stark is just a rich playboy in a suit."

"A very advanced suit that he designed himself." Harry countered.

"Still just a guy in a suit, and Captain America might have been great back in the day but he's no longer the best model around."

"Cap's the best of the best."

"Please," She snorted. "he's not even the strongest Avenger. And then there's Hawkeye who is useless and the there is Thor and Hulk, one is an alien and the other is a monster."

"And all three fought at my side." Harry argued in a slightly irritated voice. "They were out there kicking alien ass and helping protect people."

"Yeah but sure they knocked around some aliens but you're the only one who did anything important in the grand scheme of things." Alice replied, not sensing his irritation. "If it wasn't for you then the aliens would have overwhelmed us. You're the one who killed them."

"You may or may not be forgetting about Agent Romanoff who was the one that actually closed the portal." Harry responded.

"Yes but if she could do it than anybody else could do it."

"You mean just anyone could keep calm during an alien invasion and fight off aliens with just a couple of guns and survive long enough to work out how to close an alien portal?" Harry said, now defending a fellow Avenger and his fiancée.

"I get it," She smiled at him. "you want to defend your teammates. That is admirable of you but you don't need to do that."

"Look," Harry said, just barely restraining himself from facepalming. "what were you hoping to accomplish when you told people my secret identity?"

"I did it for you." Alice leaned forward and placed her arms on the table. "Now you're a celebrity, you can have all the fame and recognition you deserve. And...I probably won't ever get a better opportunities to tell you this but I really like you."

"I can see that." Harry said dryly, resisting the urge to tell her that there were far better opportunities than this once.

"I remember when you saved me from those thugs," She continued, smiling at the memory. "you were so brilliant and brave. It was like watching art, and then you stopped that car from crushing me. I fell in love with you then, it was just like that scene from Twilight."

"Wait, I'm suffering because of Twilight?!" Harry asked with disbelief. Harry had seen the first Twilight film because the actor looked a lot like Cedric except he was ten times more pale.

"Suffering?" She asked, looking like she didn't understand how anything she did could cause him to suffer in anyway.

"Look I am sure you meant well..."

"I did!"

"but what you did was not helpful." Harry continued, ignoring her outburst. "Did it ever occur to you that if I wanted to be famous then I would have revealed my identity ages ago?" Harry asked.

"Um..." Judging by the look on her face it didn't occur to her before now. "...I didn't..."

"No," Harry cut her off. "you didn't. I did my best work because I was able to get in and out of anywhere and on the off chance that I did get caught then I would escape and they couldn't come after me because they didn't know my identity. Now I have to watch my back."

"But you're Raven! It doesn't matter who come after you, they won't be able to kill you." She said, though Harry could tell she was saying this because she thought highly of him and not because she knew about his immortality, only very few people knew about that.

"Are you under the impression that I can no longer feel pain?" Harry asked while raising an eyebrow. "Or that I don't get tired?"

"W...well no but..." She was going to continue but Harry spoke before she could argue her case.

"Or how about the fact that I don't fancy people trying to break into my apartment or the fact that other people could be hurt as well?" He said. "Or did it even occur to you that I didn't want to have to worry about getting attacked?"

"I'm sorry but do you realise how many people would kill to be as famous as you are now?" She said in a way that said she didn't believe that she had done anything wrong.

"If I wanted fame then I would've removed my mask and revealed my identity ages ago. What you've done is make my job more difficult and made it so I can't go out in public without being disguised and not get bothered."

"But everyone wants to be famous."

"You've met every single person alive have you?" Harry asked sarcastically. "Being famous was not something I wanted. I did some of my best work because I could get in and out without being seen and if I was seen then I could rest easy knowing that nobody knew who I was. You took away what was my choice."

"Oh, look I get it. You're upset because I did it without asking you. I get that. And next time I promise to ask you."

"Next time?" Harry asked, wondering if he had heard that right.

"Oh...right, that was presumptuous." She apologised. "But..um, I think it's probably best that I just hurry up and say what I'm thinking. I really like you and was hoping you could be my boyfriend."

"I'm taken." Harry said, hoping he'd take the hint.

"By who?" She asked, Harry could tell that she didn't take the hint.

"Agent Romanoff."

"Well, you can break up with her." She suggested.

"I beg your pardon?" Harry looked at her with pure disbelief.

"I know that she's pretty and all but you can do better than her."

"Let me guess, you're talking about yourself?"

"Yes! Yes I am!" She nodded excitedly. "I'll do anything to prove it. I'd do 'anything'." She said, finishing the last word with a purr in her voice.

"Yeah, there's a slight problem with that. Me and Agent Romanoff have become engaged." Harry said, he then began a mental countdown in his head. 'One, two, three.'

"What?!" Alice shrieked.

"We...are...engaged." Harry said in a slow voice while Alice looked at him with a face full of horror and a gaping mouth. "You see engaged is when two people formally agree to be married. Now getting married is when two people become husband and wife or in some cases husband and husband or wife and wife. Are you with me so far?" He asked, after not receiving any answer he decided to take her silence as confirmation. "Now you see the male in the relationship becomes the husband and the female becomes the wife."

"You're getting married to Romanoff?!" She screamed, fuming at the mouth.

"You've not been paying attention." Harry said with a sad shake of his head. "But yes, I am getting married to Agent Romanoff. So I would suggest that you give up on me and..."

"But that's not fair!" Alice shouted in a voice filled with anger. "That bitch couldn't just settle with beating me at shield, she has to take the one guy I was interested in!"

"You shouldn't insult her in front of me." Harry said in a warning tone.

"I'm far more deserving than her!" Alice snarled, apparently not hearing Harry as she continued to get deeper into her rant. "She's just a stupid little..." Alice was cut off by Harry who had stood up, slapping the table as he did so, causing it to break in half. Ropes wrapped around her arms and leg, tying her to the chair. She was about to speak when a gag appeared in her mouth.

"Listen to me," Harry said in a cold and deadly voice. "you do not talk about my fiancée like that. Natasha is more than just beauty, she's smart and intelligent and skilled yet still has a good heart despite all that's happened. You are an arrogant, egotistical woman and I will never go out with you. But you have bigger problem right now, do you realise how you've just gave out top secret information to the public? If I was you then I'd say bye to your job and wonder how long you'll spend in jail for this." Hey eyes went wide with horror. "What? You think I'm going to help you? Stop it from happening and demand that Fury let you go?

No, I won't. You're not better than Natasha. You...repel...me." With that final word Harry teleported out.


"Well that was harsh." Maria Hill said to Harry once he teleported into the room.

"Probably but I find it hard to care for a person after they insult my fiancée." Harry replied.

"You and Agent Romanoff are really going to get married?" Coulson asked.

"Yes, we are." Harry nodded before turning to Fury. "Fury the girl is crazy, you can see the crazy eyes from here."

"Yes," Fury nodded in agreement as they all looked through the mirror at Alice who was trying to scream and get out of the chair but was stopped by the gag and restraints. "I don't understand how nobody's noticed. Shield agents go through regular mental evaluations."

"We also had an extra one after the events of Loki and the battle of New York." Coulson added.

"What about the examiners?" Harry asked.

"What do you mean?" Hill spoke next.

"Well if she's having regular mental evaluations then are we going to remove the possibility that it could be something to do with the examiner?" Harry asked as he looked between them all. "Does she have the same person examining her every time?"

"I'm not sure but we can check." Coulson offered.

"Do that." Fury nodded. "See what else we can find about her?"

"What's going to happen to her?" Harry asked.

"Like you said, she is no longer going to be working in shield. She will also be tried for revealing top secret information, there's probably going to be more people involved in this and I will probably have a lot of work to do." Fury said with a tired expression.

"Well, good luck with that." Harry said as he patted Fury on the shoulder. "I will leave this in your very capable hands. By the way, tomorrow me and Natasha are having a party. You three are invited, it's an informal one, come around six if you want to attend. Bye." Harry said before teleporting out.


Harry entered his apartment, he saw Natasha sitting on the sofa wearing a blue t-shirt and white shorts that barely covered the top half of her thighs. She was watching TV with an ice cream tub in her left hand with a spoon in her right. She looked when she saw him enter.

"Oh hi, there's a tub in the freezer for you." She said as she gestured to the kitchen.

"Thanks," Harry said as he walked towards the kitchen and took out a tub. He walked back and sat next to Natasha, his clothes changed as he conjured a spoon for himself. He now sat while wearing blue tracksuit bottoms and a white shirt. "so how are you?" He asked as he began eating.

"Hmm," She took a second to swallow. "I've been good. Still a bit tired but I should hopefully be back to a hundred percent by tomorrow, and needless to say but we are not going to be telling people how we've spent the last few days..."

"Shagging like rabbits?" Harry offered.

"That's better than what I was about to say. What about you?" She asked as she leaned against Harry.

"I went to shield, I explained to Fury what happened. Left a few things out, obviously."

"Obviously." She nodded and waited for him to continue.

"Fury originally wanted to take you in for tests," Harry continued. "I usually won't make decisions on your behalf but I told him no because the last thing anyone needs is scientists poking you."

"It's alright, I agree with you." She said "But next time do us a favour and let me refuse."

"You're right, I'm sorry." He said as he kissed her on the forehead. "Also did you know that my identity has been revealed?"

"I just found out a while after you left. It was all over the news. What happened?"

"Does the name Alice White mean anything to you?" Harry asked.

"Alice? Alice...Alice, I know that name. Um...oh yeah, when I first came to shield they made me go through some tests with other people, she was there. I remember she kept trying to outdo me, wasn't even subtle about it. Why does she have to do with it?"

"She revealed my identity and was under the impression that I would help her so the consequence wouldn't matter. She also had a 'special interest' in me."

"Special like what?" She asked. "Wait...did she have a crush on you?"

"She was crazy." Harry replied. "But yes, yes she did. I talked with her for a bit."

"How did that go?"

"She insulted all of the other avengers, including you. I basically told her to fuck off."

"Really?"

"Yeah, nobody insults my fiancée." He said, nudging her slightly.

"Thanks," She said, giving him a small laugh. "I'll thank you for that later tonight."

"Promise?" He asked with a grin.

"Promise." She smiled. "Anything else I should know?"

"I invited Fury, Hill and Coulson to the party tomorrow. Don't know if they're actually going to show, but I still offered. Have you been working on your powers while I'm gone?"

"A little," She said. "watch this." Her hands glowed red and her ice cream and spoon was levitated out of her hands to the table with the spoon being put in the tub.

"That's impressive." Harry said as he did the same with his own ice cream and had it placed next to Natasha's. "How's your control?" He asked. "Do you feel tired when you use it?"

"Not really."

"Have you ever used it accidently?" Harry asked.

"Today I accidently teleported into the bathroom." She admitted. "Before you came I nearly dropped the spoon but then I managed to catch it with my...I don't even know what to call it...red stuff?"

"We'll come up with something better." Harry promised as he wrapped an around her shoulders. "I've managed to limit your powers quite a bit, when you get more control then we can slowly start removing the limits if you want."

"Maybe," She said. "I don't think I'd know what to do with so much power. What do you think I should do"

"Just be yourself," Harry said. "everyone else will expect different things from you. Just keep being Natasha, you're the same...just a little stronger."

"A little?" She turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, a lot stronger." He amended. "But just don't let it change who you are and I think you'll be fine. Just keep practising, keep yourself in shape and act like your normally would. We don't know how permanent this is so I wouldn't rely solely on it."

"I get it." She nodded. "Do you think it's possible I won't lose these powers?"

"Anything's possible." Harry answered.


"That's the door," Harry said when he heard the sound of the doorbell. It was time for their party and Harry had conjured some extra chairs for everyone who was coming. "are you getting that or am I?" He asked Natasha.

"Can't, too busy looking at my ring." Natasha said with a fake yawn as she turned her attention back to her ring while she remained sitting on the sofa in Harry's apartment.

"Fine," Harry rolled his eyes. "you're lucky I love you enough to do this for you."

"Yes, I am so appreciative about having someone willing to open a door for me." She said sarcastically.

"Yeah well I can't claim the same." Harry shot back as he got to the door, he opened it to reveal who was behind the door. "Steve, Bucky, it's good to see you guys. Come in." He stepped back to allow them in.

"Hey Harry, congratulations on the engagement." Steve said as the two entered the room with Bucky holding a bouquet of flowers.

"Ah, and there is the future 'Mrs Raven'" Bucky said as Natasha got up to go greet them and accept the flowers.

"At least until I convince Harry to change his name to Mr Widow." Natasha joked as she took the flowers form Bucky. "Thank you. Harry, would you mind?"

"No problem." Harry said as he conjured a vase for her, she took the flowers and vase into the kitchen. "As for the name," He said to Steve and Bucky. "we'll flip a coin."

"Here's the thing," Bucky said. "I have no idea if you're being serious about that. Steve?"

"I could not tell you." Steve said with a small shake of his head.

"To be fair, even I can't tell at this point." Harry said as they all sat down. "How's work been going?" Harry asked.

"Well, it's better than working for Hydra." Bucky smirked.

"It's been good so far." Steve said. "They've all been pretty simple, apart from one."

"Oh, do tell." Natasha said as she came back in and sat down next to Harry.

"Well we had to penetrate this fortress," Steve began explaining. "the defences on it were..."

"Ridiculously dangerous." Bucky said,

"Yes, thank you Buck." Steve said with a mild glare that said 'don't interrupt', Bucky raised his hands in surrender. "Anyway after spending some time trying to figure a way in we realised that we couldn't get through on our own. We tried calling you Harry but Fury said you weren't reachable for some reason."

"Yeah we'll explain that later." Harry said. "Go on." He said.

"Well Fury got us some help, guy called Sam Wilson." Steve said.

"The guy had wings." Bucky added.

"Actual wings?" Harry asked as he and Natasha gave the pair their full interest.

"No, like mechanical wings." Steve answered. "Anyway he flew me to the top, me and him disabled some of the defences then Bucky over here lead some shield agents in from the bottom. Long story short it went great. I recommended he join the Avengers, since your the team leader I was hoping he could meet with you some time soon." Harry was about to reply when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get that." Harry said as he got up and opened the door to reveal Tony, Pepper and Bruce Banner. "Hey guys, come in."

"Thanks for inviting us." Pepper smiled as they all entered.

"It's a pleasure to see you two again. Oh...and Tony I suppose." Harry grinned as he shut the door.

"Ha ha." Tony said with a fake laugh.

"I'm glad you all came." Natasha smiled at them.

"Well I didn't really have a choice," Bruce said with a small smile. "Pepper threatened to ground me and Tony if we didn't come."

"The incredible Hulk and the might Iron man," Harry said. "both crumble under the might of Pepper Pots."

"As well they should." Pepper said in agreement. "Aren't we missing a few people?"

"Fury gave me a call and said he, Hill and Coulson couldn't make it. Barton and Thor should be coming around in..." Harry stopped to check the time on his phone "a few minutes by portkey."

"Portkey?" Pepper raised an eyebrow.

"It's essentially something that is magically changed to become a teleporter." Harry answered. "One way portkeys are things that teleport you once while reusable portkeys are...reusable, for lack of a better term. You just take something, anything like a shoe or a pipe, then you change it into a portkey. You've got to decide where you want to go and then..." Harry was interrupted as Barton and Thor popped in to the apartment, causing Pepper to jump in surprise. "that...then that." He said as he gestured to Barton. "You know you really should just walk or take a cab."

"Why would I do that when I have you?" Barton countered as Natasha got up to greet him. "Hey," He smiled as the two hugged. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks." Natasha smiled back.

"Thor, how are you?" Harry greeted the god of thunder.

"I am doing well my friend." Thor smiled as he returned the greeting. Everyone all sat down with Natasha leaning against Harry. "I've spoken with Odin, about the Aether."

"Go on." Harry said, tensing a little along with Natasha.

"Odin has decided to allow you to keep the Aether." Thor said.

"Really?" Harry drawled, disbelief evident.

"Yes, he has." Thor nodded. "All of the nine realms have witnessed our battle and the defeat of the dark elves, Asgard included. Father has forgiven all crimes committed as a reward for what we've done, I will admit that at first he did not want to allow you to keep the Aether. But after a...very, very long...conversation with myself and mother, he eventually agreed."

"The Aether?" Tony asked. "What's that?"

"Well, it sort of went like this." Harry said before he began telling everyone what had happened.

"Whoa!" Tony said once they were finished. "It's never just a normal day for you, is it?"

"No, despite however much I wish." Harry said, he thought that what Thor had told him about Odin was odd but he supposed it was possible for the man to change.

"Can we see the ring?" Pepper asked, trying to change the conversation into something a little more pleasant.

"You can." Natasha smiled and showed her the ring.

"Aw, it's beautiful." Pepper gave a wide smile.

"Is something wrong?" Tony asked Harry who was glancing at everything in the apartment.

"I'm sorry, this is just...a little too normal for me. I usually don't do normal." Harry frowned. "Something usually goes wrong."

"Just enjoy it and appreciate it and hope it lasts for a day." Natasha suggested. "Besides, if nothing goes wrong today then we'll know it'll probably go wrong another day."

"True." Harry shrugged and that was a rather sad part of his life, if something didn't go wrong now then it would likely happen later. Still, until then he could enjoy himself.


A.N: Hey guys, this is just a filler chapter (if you couldn't tell), the next chapter will be going into Avengers age of Ultron (yay), I was considering making another filler chapter but I've decided I'd rather just get on with it. Just want to address a couple of things.

1) Natasha will not be made an OP character who will be able to overpower everyone, Harry has limited her powers so she can control it. As of the moment she's like a very powerful magical user.

2) I will explain more about what happened with Loki later on in the story.

3) No Omake this chapter, maybe one the next chapter.

4) A few people have asked if Harry will be getting other girls into this story. I just want to say no, no he will not. Just Natasha and Wanda.

5) Alice White was a character I made up, though I did just google her and apparently there is an actual DC character called Alice White and a marvel character called the same name. Anyway there will be a little more about that story in the future but not so much as most of the focus will be on the avengers.

6) As for the guest reviews designed to insult me and my story, kindly give a reason for your criticism or just don't leave a review and then go and find a story that you like.

There's probably more I need to say but that's it for now. Thanks again for reading, hope you enjoyed the chapter and feel free to leave a review.