Disclaimer: We do not own the characters or concepts from Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, or MARVEL. Those rights go to JK Rowling, Rick Riordan, and MARVEL Studios respectively.
AN: No, I'm not dead. These times are crazy for us all, and I (sadly), haven't had much time to work on this story. I just finished this chapter and wanted to put it up as soon as possible, so please excuse any typos. If you all could review, that would be really great - your reviews help me have the energy and make the time for making this story possible!
Thank you for your patience.
-Shadowphoenix
Chapter Eighteen
by shadowphoenix55
Clint stared up at the blank white ceiling.
They were just kids.
He had shot a child. It could have been one of his own - and then what would he think? That wouldn't ever be okay. Ever.
But… it wasn't one of his kids. And, if he brought the teens - young adults - whatever they were - in, then it could help his kids. His family. The world.
Fury was right. It was a war against evil, and, sometimes, decisions had to be made that weren't necessarily thought of as right. But it was for the greater good.
Besides, it couldn't hurt just to bring them in. It wasn't like anyone would get hurt. And... Clint wouldn't think of killing them, no, he wasn't going to consider the possibility. When it came to the point where he had to choose… then he would choose. He would be in that moment, and he would go with his gut…
Clint dearly hoped his gut would be right.
Clint looked out the window into the night sky. Usually, he loved to stargaze, see the sights the sky and the moon and the stars had to offer…
But, tonight, the sky seemed to mock him, so Clint turned over and stared at the blank wall.
He did not look out the window again.
Natasha exhaled, leaning her head against the board at the head of the bed.
She was finally alone.
She could finally think of the week's events.
SHIELD was a mess. Natasha was finally beginning to see that. When she was in the red room… she had blindly followed orders. And she'd done so at SHIELD, too.
What she'd never allowed herself to think about was whether or not she had traded doing evil orders for doing more evil orders.
But… not every order from SHIELD was wrong. Some were good, some would help. But some… like the capturing of three young adults, dead or alive, who hadn't done anything except be different… that didn't feel right. That didn't feel like a SHIELD order - that felt like a red room order.
But letting three threats off of the hook was something that went against every single code that had been programmed into Natasha. She had to stop looking at them like innocent teenagers and start looking at them like threats…
But then there was the other thing.
Potter. It had only started to come back to her a few weeks ago, but now… she remembered. She remembered those emerald-green eyes, shining in the night, remembered that messy black hair, blending in with it.
She owed him a life debt, whether she liked it or not.
And could a person who did such a deed in the past… could they really be evil? And, if he was, why hadn't SHIELD heard of him doing anything wrong? Why didn't they have any evidence?
Guilty until proven innocent. A voice in her head whispered.
But that wasn't right. People were innocent until proven guilty - well, that was what justice said, at least. Natasha wasn't so sure.
But Potter had already basically proved himself innocent… there was more evidence to that than to guilty.
But even if the three of them were innocent, what was Natasha supposed to do? This was a spy organization that was after them, not some novice government agency.
There were only two options… to bring them in, even at the cost of killing them, or to save them, betraying SHIELD and therefore getting back on their watch list. In a bad way.
Natasha didn't want to do either of those things, but she sure as heck wasn't going to do the second. SHIELD was her life. Her messy and complicated one, but it was still hers all the same.
But maybe… maybe there was another option, one that wasn't as clean-cut choosing one side over another. Natasha liked it more and more as it became more and more formed in her mind, as she figured out the complications, as she wondered how she was going to pull it off...
There was a reason why she was called the Black Widow, after all.
The three stared at each other.
"So you two are demigods."
"And you're a wizard."
It had all come out; after all, there wasn't much you could do to keep the truth from your team. And that's what they were becoming, really. Sure, they had been allies during the Maria Hill incident, but saving someone's life… you couldn't just walk away from that.
In some odd sort of way, it reminded Harry of the Troll Incident from way back when.
"And we aren't telling each other any more than just about us." Annabeth confirmed. They'd decided on that, since it was obvious to both sides that there had to be more people involved. Both Annabeth and Harry nodded.
Percy chuckled.
"I can't believe we thought you were a monster". Percy said, "Eyes out of the back of your head… right."
Percy paused, squinting a bit at Harry.
"Unless…?"
Harry laughed.
"No." He replied, thinking of Mad-Eye, "Though it is possible…"
"Dude, that would be awesome." Percy said.
"It would be obvious." Harry replied, "Then I'd have even more government agencies on my tail."
The three grew silent at that.
"So you said they couldn't find this place… are we just going to hide here?" Annabeth asked, "For how long?"
"Until we find their HQ and take them out when we can see it coming." Harry replied.
"So one of us doesn't get shot in the back again." Percy almost-growled, his eyes hard.
"I can work on it from the tech side, but I'm not very good at hacking…" Annabeth said.
"I'm even worse." Percy added.
They looked at Harry, who shook his head.
"Tech and magic… doesn't work well together, to say the least." Harry said, "I'm not even sure I know how to use the internet."
"Yeah, demigods and tech usually mean the monsters can find us, but Annabeth made these super-cool beads based off of her computer tech that works…"
For the first time, Harry noticed the string of beads around the two's necks. One on each was some type of metal or silver.
"I wonder if something like that could be done with magic…" Harry pondered, before trailing off. He'd ask Hermione after she finished with cleaning up the statute of secrecy mess for him… Harry scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. He should probably get her some sort of thank you present for everything she'd done for him…
"Um -" Annabeht started, "I-I know a guy who could do it, but… I don't know if… I just… I don't know."
Percy had never seen his girlfriend so lacking in words before.
"Who?" Harry asked.
"Tony Stark."
Harry stared for a moment. Who...?
Ah, yes.
"Ironman, right?" Harry asked.
"Yes." Percy answered for Annabeth, shooting a concerned look at his girlfriend.
"I'm his… well I was… am… his intern. Co-worker. Associate."
Harry frowned at Annabeth's sad posture.
"Can you securely contact him without leaving the building?" Harry asked.
A crease appeared between Annabeth's brows, a sign that she was thinking deeply.
"Hmm… maybe if I reroute the connection… or maybe… JARVIS…" She went on muttering to herself.
"I'll need a computer." Annabeth suddenly said.
"I don't, uh…" Harry said, "Have one. Never saw the need."
"A phone?" Annabeth asked.
"No." Harry replied.
Annabeth sighed.
"Then we'll have to get my computer."
"They'll probably be watching the house." Percy interjected, "I don't think that's a good idea." He eyed her wound, which was just a slight scar by now - a ghost of the previous bloody mess - due to Harry's help.
"I can Apparate in." Harry said, "Well… I'd have to have been it it before or have it be in sight, but otherwise I can."
"Apparate?"
"Teleport."
"Hmm." Annabeth said, "It's in Inwood."
"Manhattan, right?" Harry asked. Percy nodded, "I've been around there before, I think."
Annabeth gave him the address and the description of the house.
"I'll go now, then." Harry said.
"Do you have a disguise or something?" Percy asked.
Harry grinned, flicking his wand. Moments later, a plump woman with red hair and brown eyes appeared in front of them.
"Woah." Percy said, eyes wide, "That's crazy, man."
Harry winked at them, the facial expression looking a bit strange on the woman's face.
"The wards should be fully up in a few hours." He said, "I'll put on the finishing touches when I get back. Hopefully Apparating won't fry your computer."
"You better hope so." Annabeth said, looking as intimidating as someone with an arrow wound could.
"Hopefully, your anti-monster tech will work…" Harry said, suddenly more serious, "We don't really have a back-up plan if this goes wrong."
"Buying a computer in public is a bit risky." Annabeth noted, frowning, "Even with your disguise, and even if you could disguise us.. the credit card bill will be able to be tracked… and we might run into them… or a monster… I'm not sure the beads would work with that much stuff around."
"Not to mention I'll fry eighty percent of the tech I touch." Harry noted with a sort of somber sarcasm.
Annabeth's eyebrows furrowed.
"Maybe…"
She looked down at her silver bead.
"Maybe this will help." She said, fingering her necklace.
"I dunno." Harry replied, "It's anti-monster, apparently, not anti-helping-magic-not-destroy-tech."
"Actually, it keeps the demigod-ness from interacting with the computer and sending off signals." Annabeth replied, "So if demigod-ness is like magic, this could help. I'm not sure the protections on just the computer would do."
Harry's eyes widened.
"I knew there was something magical about your auras." He said. At the two's inquisitive looks, he explained, "Magic people - er, so I - have an aura. Yours is like mine, but a bit different… magical, but not. A different sort of magic."
"The godly type." Percy said, "So… it could help?"
"Most likely." Annabeth replied. With shaky hands, she reached for the clasp on her necklace.
"But you can't-" Percy cut in. Their necklaces with the beads were one of the most important things to them. Giving it up to someone they barely knew…
"He saved my life." Annabeth replied, steadying her voice, "I think we can trust him."
She unclasped her necklace and put it around Harry's neck.
"Bring it back to me." She said, "Promise."
Harry, somehow getting it, nodded solemnly.
"I promise." Harry replied, before turning on the spot and vanishing.
The duo stared at the place where Harry had disappeared for a moment.
"I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to that." Annabeth remarked, attempting to distract from the fact that she'd given up her necklace. The small tremor in her words gave her away.
"Well, it's not like we haven't had our world turned upside down before." Percy said, attempting to go with it, "Though a break would have been nice…"
He glared at the sky - or rather, the ceiling.
"Thanks, guys." He said, "Oh, and the next time you see the Fates, tell them Percy Jackson doesn't appreciate it at all. Like no thanks, man."
Annabeth chuckled at him, affection in her eyes.
"Come here, Seaweed Brain." She said, scooting over on the table/makeshift bed Harry had used while saving Annabeth (that sentence was never going to make Percy not feel a blanket of fear wash over him as he relived the events of the past hour or so).
"It's okay." Annabeth said, using her all-knowing power that she said she didn't have but Percy was pretty sure she did, "I'm fine. Harry saved me."
"But what if he hadn't been there?" Percy asked, "You were this close, Annabeth." He held up two fingers about a centimeter and a half apart, "This close to death."
"I've been there before." Annabeth replied, her grey eyes searching his, "And so have you. It's practically our life now. If not today, then tomorrow. We can't live our life in fear of what could have happened, or what will happen next. Maybe a secret spy-government agency is after us today, and maybe they shot me in the back, but maybe tomorrow we'll be talking to an agent who's realized they've gone wrong, or maybe over the weekend we'll be captured by them, or maybe in a week we'll be dead. We don't know, so we have to use what we do know, hold onto the things we do have."
Percy felt a smile creep onto his face.
"I love you, Wise Girl, you know that?" He asked.
"Yes." Annabeth breathed, and then they were kissing.
Of course, it had to end entirely too soon. At a cracking sound, Annabeth and Percy jumped apart.
Harry stood in front of them, grinning (and a bit drenched, which was an oxymoron - a word Percy was proud to admit he finally had remembered).
"Oi!" He said, "I leave you two for two minutes…"
"It was more like five." Annabeth replied, a faint blush tinging her cheeks.
"Well, it was enough time for me to sneak past some government agents and grab your computer." Harry replied, handing it in a black sleeve to Annabeth, "And here's your necklace."
He carefully took it off and gave it back to Annabeth. After counting to make sure all of the beads were there, Annabeth clasped it back around her neck. Only then did she allow herself to relax, touching the beads to remind herself that they were there.
"Did it work?" Percy asked. Annabeth opened the computer, clicking a few buttons, staring, staring…
The screen turned on, the light shining on Annabeth's face.
"It worked!" She cried, grinning. Peter held his hand up for a high-five - first to Annabeth, and then to Harry, "It really worked!"
Harry looked to be a bit in awe.
"Could you, uh, maybe be able to get me one of those beads one day?" He asked, "Maybe Her- I mean we- can tinker with them to have it work better towards my magic… I've always wanted to play videogames… and, um, have tech I guess."
Percy laughed.
"Yeah." He said, looking over his left shoulder to see his girlfriend already typing away, her face inches away from the screen, "Right, Annabeth?"
"Mhm." She said.
"She's officially entered her work mode." Percy fake-whispered to Harry, "Anything you say won't process."
"Hey!" Annabeth said half-heartedly, mostly distracted, but not enough to miss the tease.
Harry winked at Percy.
"I'll go check the wards, then." He said, "Finish them up."
Harry turned an disappeared down the staircase.
"Annabeth?" Percy asked, testing the waters.
The reply was a pillow being thrown at his head.
Alright. Silence it was.
Harry made his way to the front of the shop, drawing his wand. The wards were almost complete… one more spell and a few more hour, and they'd be unfindable. Well, at least by mortals. Bill Weasley could probably take down his wards within an hour. Then again, it was Bill Weasley.
Harry raised his wand to cast the spell, mind half-focused, half-thinking about the day's events, when a flash of red snapped him - fully - back to reality. He had about the amount of time to wonder if he'd have the chance to get a half moment's rest that day before a hooded figure, drenched from the rain, made their way to the front door. They swayed a bit, and, even though Harry couldn't see their face, he knew that they were confused - obviously by the wards. Muggle, then? But how… they shouldn't have been able to…
Harry's thought process wasn't allowed to finish. The figure had found its way to the door. It knocked thrice.
Harry hid his wand up his sleeve, ready to grab it at a moment's notice, and opened the door, ready for anything.
Well, maybe not the sight of Natasha Romanoff's green eyes staring him down from inside the cloak.
With admirable reflexes, Harry didn't waste a moment, stepping backwards and flicking his wrist to have his wand land in his hand in one fluid movement. He pointed it at Romanoff, ready to do whatever he had to. After all, he'd already broken the Statute once today. Twice had it coming.
Romanoff lifted her hands up.
"I come in peace." She said.
"Oh really?" Harry asked, "I was under the impression we burned that bridge when your ally shot mine."
"Ally?'
"Well, we do have a common enemy." Harry replied, attempting not to wince as he realized his mistake. He wasn't almost put into Slytherin for subtlety, that was for sure.
"And that's not me." Romanoff replied, "At least, not anymore."
Harry didn't move his wand an inch from where it was pointed at Romanoff's head.
"Oh yeah?" He replied.
"Are you going to let me in, or am I going to have to explain out here in the rain?" Romanoff asked. A boom of thunder emphasized her point.
"You stand out in the rain unless you tell me why you're here."
"I'm here because I didn't join SHIELD to kill innocents." Romanoff replied.
Harry stared her down. The two locked gazes.
"In." Harry said, allowing her to come in but still keeping his wand on her. Romanoff did so, making her movements deliberate and slow as she shut the door behind her. She sat down on the closest chair, "Explain."
"I think that something's wrong with SHIELD." She replied, taking off her hood, "At least, in the council. Fury thinks so too. He's the director, but he answers to higher-ups. They're the ones that pushed this whole scene. And they've done things that were… off before. I - I didn't want to believe it, but now I have to. I didn't join SHIELD to serve bad guys. But some things SHIELD does are good, and I - I'm staying with them. But I'm also here, helping you. And the other two, wherever they are. I assume here. I can help all three of you. I have a plan to make sure SHIELD doesn't capture you all and keep you that way - or kill you in the process."
"Yeah? What's the plan?" Harry asked, sitting down on the chair opposite of Romanoff but still holding his wand.
Romanoff looked at him, her eyes flickering between his.
"Faking your deaths." Romanoff replied, "The only way they'll stop is if you're captured or dead - but they won't believe it if you three sudennly die with no witness - they probably won't unless they see it themselves. So I propose you let them capture you, and then I help you escape - faking your deaths as you do so and claiming I killed you."
Harry laughed.
"That sounds like a way to get us to come peacefully into SHIELD's waiting arms." He replied, "And we already have a plan."
"You can't take out SHIELD in one night, even if you found the main HQ. We're scattered everywhere. Also, I doubt any of you have the skills to hack into our systems." Romanoff replied. Harry stared. Romanoff smirked, "How else would three magic warriors do it?"
"We can." Harry replied, more confidently than he felt, "And taking out your HQ will stop you all for a bit."
"But then we'll be back." Romanoff replied, "And with a greater incentive to hunt you down. Plus, Stark isn't going to be on your side."
Again. Harry had to give her props for catching on fast.
"What do you mean?"
"SHIELD is assembling a group to catch you three. He's included."
Harry stared at Romanoff for a long moment, thinking.
"Why should I trust you?" He finally asked.
"Other than the fact that I've just spilled countless of SHIELD's secrets and haven't tried to kill you yet?" Romanoff asked. Harry fought the urge to laugh, "Because the real reason I'm here is that I owe you a life debt."
Harry stared.
Natasha Romanoff… all of the sudden, she seemed familiar, but he couldn't pinpoint from where.
"Barcelona. '08." Natasha said.
Harry blinked.
"Natalia?"
Natasha - Natalia - nodded.
"I remember. I used to not, but now… I do. The dark alleyway, the mission gone awry, and then, suddenly, this man shows up with green emerald eyes and some sort of magic and takes them all out, saving us. Saving me. And then you did your thing - obliviate - and I didn't remember."
Natasha stared him down.
"But now I do."
"I-" Harry started, "So the other man… that was Barton? Clint?"
Nastasha nodded.
Harry cursed himself for not remembering. But how could he have? He hadn't grown out of his saving-people thing at all yet, and the duo was only another on the long list. And they had been in some sort of disguise, apparently.
"Then why did he…" Harry asked, Annabeth's wound coming to the forefront of his mind.
"He thought - we thought - you were threats. And he wasn't aiming to kill, only to stop them for long enough to bring them in."
"That doesn't excuse anything." Harry replied sharply.
"No, it doesn't." Natasha admitted, "We were all misled. I want to fix that. I owe you a life debt, Harry Potter, and I'm going to pay it off."
They locked gazes once more.
"Do you believe me?"
A beat.
Two.
"Yes."