"I hear the internet's going wild right now."

"Nothing to worry about, right, Pepper?" Tony questioned, turning to look at Pepper to make sure.

"Right, sir. Mr Potter, how familiar are you with the press?" Pepper asked, her eyes narrowed as Harry looked between them. There was no possessiveness to his gaze, only curiosity. Though Tony did notice his jaw tighten at the question and he filed that reaction away to dissect later, wondering what Harry had done or had not done to garner attention from reporters.

"I'm very familiar with reporters," Harry remarked, lifting his shoulders in a small shrug. "What's the plan here? Should I not show myself yet or…"

"I don't give a shit about the press, Pepper," Tony said, watching as Harry watched him from across the car. "I'm only doing this because there'll be fuss. I don't want more fuss. What have you done in the past, Harry? Your file didn't say."

"I… was in law enforcement for a year or two after I turned 19," Harry remarked quietly as they left the airfield and Stark Industries. "Then I quit and-"

"You were in law enforcement when you were 19?" Pepper asked, her eyes widening a little.

"It was the natural progression after I fought in a war," Harry said, as Hedwig lifted her head up and placed it on Harry's lap. Tony blinked and watched as Harry stroked the dog's head, curling his fingers into her fur. "I did what was expected of me."

Tony met the man's green eyes and swallowed at the intent look. "You're a veteran?"

"...Yeah? Does that affect… I know you have a reputation for…"

Tony snorted and shrugged the words off. "Let's just do this and get it over with. I can't believe I'm doing this."

Harry frowned. "We don't have to…"

"The Board wants me to and really… I have this great weapon that the military wants," Tony remarked, waving his hands a little in the air, shaping a missile with his fingers. "You want to have some input?"

Harry stiffened a little, his shoulders curling tightly, before relaxing, sticking his fingers into his pockets. "Not particularly. So… who's Jarvis and why do you think he'd be able to help me with my unemployment problem?"

"You'll see," Tony said, grinning widely.

"Welcome to Malibu. I am Jarvis. If you need anything, please ask."

Harry's eyes widened as the disembodied voice filtered in from the ceiling. He glanced around the mansion in front of him, seeing the coast beyond it and the Pacific Ocean ahead. Hedwig was already out of the limo and sniffing around, her tail up and her ears greatly perked up, listening to any minute sound. The sea air had brought with it many scents that both of them hadn't had the opportunity to smell in a long time. It was warm and sunny, not a cloud in the air.

"You can take the guest room," Tony remarked, elbowing him as he led the way in. "Your dog can go anywhere she wants on the property. There's plenty of space for her."

"Thanks."

The walls across from them were all floor to ceiling windows, letting them look out over the ocean and the pool right in front of the mansion. There was a piano on the upper level of the main room, two couches that were at an angle but nothing that said that this was a family home. It was a bachelor pad, pure and simple. Fancy bachelor pad but still a bachelor pad.

"The wedding is Friday," Pepper offered, as she followed them in. "Tony, you think your heat will keep until then?"

Tony shrugged and turned to look at Harry, who met his eyes easily but didn't otherwise comment. "I'm fine with whatever you want. What were the circumstances of the arranged marriage anyway?"

Tony waved his hands about and gestured to Pepper. "Something about the board wanting a 'settled' CEO. I have things I need to go do."

"Mind if I see your workshop?" Harry asked, his eyes sparking with something that Tony couldn't decipher. At least not now. Maybe it was curiosity. It kind of looked like wonder to him, those green eyes bright and taking in everything around him. "I won't touch anything. You also don't have to show me anything you don't want to. I'm not that kind of pushy."

"We're gonna be married in a week. Least I could do is show you where I work my magic."

Tony saw Harry's lips twitch up into a wary, if a little bemused, grin at his words.

"That was a joke, right?" Harry confirmed, his eyebrow lifting in question.

Tony blinked at Harry before grinning. "It is if you want it to be. For all you know, I could be leading you to my sex dungeon."

Harry snorted, taking an idle step towards him. "Which is it, your sex dungeon or your wizarding lair?"

"It is the garage," Jarvis interrupted, as soon as Tony opened his mouth. "I'm afraid Mr Stark doesn't have a sex dungeon."

Tony gasped and brought his arm to his chest like he had been wounded. "Jarvis, how dare you? The tabloids all say I have a sex dungeon somewhere."

Harry laughed and Tony looked the man over, idly wondering what had possessed the man to say yes to a marriage offer by him.

"I'd be honored to see the garage where you work," Harry finally said quietly.

"Fine by me. How much do you know about mechanics?" Tony questioned, leading the other man down the stairs and to the door. Hedwig followed along quietly, her tail wagging idly. She rubbed up against him on the way down and Tony jumped a little before relaxing. "Press your fingers up against the glass wall here and let Jarvis get your info. He'll let you into any room or building that he has access to."

Harry reached over to do just so, placing his hand against the glass wall, on the small computer screen. "I know absolutely nothing about mechanics or this kind of technology. The Stark phone you sent was the first cell phone that was mine."

Tony blinked and turned to look at the man, tilting his head in confusion. "The one I sent you was your first cell phone? Where have you lived? Under a rock?"

Harry snorted and shook his head, his eyes darkening at a memory. Tony wondered what it was and then looked over at his cars, seeing something in one of them that… He filed that away to patch up later and then turned back to Harry. "Something like that. It's amazing."

Jarvis scanned Harry's hand, blue light encompassing Harry's fingers and his fingerprints. "Sir, what kind of access shall I grant him?"

"Everything, J. Hedwig too. They go where I go," Tony said, shrugging in thought. "I'm working on this…"

Tony pushed the door open in front of them and headed into the workshop, seeing Harry look around, his eyes wide. Tony walked directly over to the table he was working on currently, pulling up the designs he had worked on for the past week. His eyes narrowed as Dummy came rolling over, his two bots checking out the new human.

Harry blinked, stopping before the bots and looked them over. "Hello. And who might you be?"

Dummy chirped and extended its claw to him. Tony watched as Harry held out his own hand, letting Dummy grip his fingers. Hedwig trotted over to the 'bot and stuck her nose out tentatively. Dummy let go of Harry's hand and reached out with its claw, bopping her nose. Hedwig huffed and barked, her tail sweeping the floor slowly, before continuing on, exploring the new territory. Harry blinked before he grinned, his eyes sparking with awe.

"I understand completely," Harry whispered conspiratorially to Dummy, tilting his head in concentration as Dummy made a chittery noise. "I won't let Hedwig slobber all over you."

"You made… Dummy?" Harry questioned, turning to look at Tony.

"Yep."

"Awesome. And Jarvis… You made him too?"

Tony nodded, his heart thumping loudly in his chest at Harry's quiet awe. He hadn't shown his bots to many people and he really hadn't thought about what having a… husband would do. But… Harry had taken this much in stride. Maybe he wouldn't… Tony looked away and walked over to sit down on the stool next to his table, picking up a tablet.

"You're a genius then," Harry remarked quietly and Tony started at the movement, at seeing Harry at his side. "Sorry. Habit."

"Nah, it's fine. You understand Dummy?"

Harry nodded, gesturing to Hedwig. "Yeah. Helps that I can understand her."

Tony peered at Harry out of the corner of his eyes, taking in the man's messy black hair and bright green eyes. The scar on the guy's forehead drew his attention the most and Tony winked at Harry.

"So… where'd the scar come from?"

Harry met his eyes easily, smiling faintly. "It's rather a long story and I don't… think I'm ready to tell you."

Tony blinked.

"We just met an hour ago," Harry said, shrugging, his eyes darkening at a thought or a memory. "I'm going to go explore, if that's alright with you."

Tony nodded and gestured with a hand. "Yell at Jarvis if you have any problems."

Harry's lips twitched up into a tentative grin before he turned and walked off. "Hedwig, come on!"

Tony watched as the man who would become his husband in a week walked off, taking the stairs up to the main level of the house two at a time. The white shepherd followed immediately, after glancing at Tony in an almost un-doglike manner. It was almost as if the dog was suspicious of him, her golden eyes narrowed.

"Sir… something wrong?"

"I don't know. Keep an eye on him for me, will you?"

"Of course."

Harry sighed as he walked out onto the cliff in front of Tony's mansion, taking a deep breath of sea air and sitting down on the wet grass. The sun wasn't too hot right now, early afternoon, and at least this world had just one sun. For all he knew, it could have had two or more. He hadn't been too picky when he had been fleeing his own world. Hedwig chuffed loudly and plonked her butt down next to him, hitting him with her tail once.

"I know, Hedwig," Harry muttered, running a hand through his hair. "I talked it out with you before and… This whole world is crazy and I…"

Hedwig placed her head on his lap and licked his wrist, nudging her nose at the pocket where he kept the cell phone. Harry's nose wrinkled and then pulled it out, idly browsing the apps he found on it. "I miss everyone."

Hedwig whined low in her throat and he wrapped his arms around her, burying his nose in her fur. "Fur is easier to fall apart in than feathers, you know."

Hedwig growled and nipped his arm.

Harry snorted and stayed quiet for a while, listening to the waves pounding the sea cliffs. The gulls honking at each other as they flew overhead. The occasional helicopter that flew along the coastline, north to south, that Harry figured was a tour company.

"It doesn't have magic," Harry finally remarked, sighing as he withdrew from Hedwig's fur. "I don't even know what Stark Industries is, really, aside from a big weapons company."

Hedwig barked quietly and pulled away from him, staring out at the ocean in front of them. Harry smiled as they both saw dolphins dancing amongst the waves and he spelled a sense enhancer into effect, letting him see that there was at least one baby dolphin.

"Tony seems…" Harry trailed off, stroking Hedwig's fur as one of the dolphins whistled their way. "He's gorgeous and talented and apparently very wealthy. Everything an alpha would want. I wonder why… He said yes, Hedwig. And here we were, just a couple of days living in this world."

"So… Tony said to talk to you about career choices," Harry remarked, glancing up at the ceiling. Hedwig huffed out a breath as she trotted through the open door behind them, out to go explore more of the estate. Tony had been true to his word, letting her run anywhere in the mansion and on the grounds around them. It was a humid sunny day out, windy, enough of a day that he stayed more in the mansion than out walking. It was windy enough too that he wouldn't even have flown and he had brought his broomstick with him.

"Indeed. I already have what we discussed of your job history uploaded to my databanks, Harry. I can assist with sending out a resume to any office that you might be interested in," Jarvis offered, his disembodied voice unusually quiet. "The tablet that my creator gave you yesterday is all yours as you know."

Harry twitched but watched as the tablet in front of him turned on, flipping to a blank screen. "I like helping people, I know that. I don't want to be in law enforcement. I also know that."

Jarvis stayed quiet even as the screen changed to what looked like a job hunting site. Harry's information was filled out already, his name, his address, his age, background… All from what he had told Jarvis. Jarvis had his entire background, minus the magic, just the bits that Harry had been able to translate into non magical jobs.

"It's been a while for me but I don't know what this Twitter is," Harry said, pointing to the bird app in the background. "Facebook's new to me but I think I know the barebones basics to it. What are they?"

"Social media," Jarvis explained, controlling the tablet and opening the Twitter app for him. "Tony has his own pages across all of them but he is not allowed access this week."

Harry snorted even as they heard muttering coming up from the stairs.

"J! That was one time!"

Harry laughed, wondering what had happened. "Dare I ask, Tony?"

Tony's head peeked up from the stairwell that led to his workshop and glared at him. "Nope. I was drunk. We've all been there."

"You were drunk and naked, sir."

Harry laughed harder, something in his chest tightening at the thought a half minute later. "Tony, I've never been drunk and naked on camera before. Besides… you're about to get married."

Tony blinked and then raised an eyebrow, his brown eyes teasing as he spoke next. "Oh? I am? I didn't know. It's only been on about half a million talk shows and the whole internet."

Harry's nose wrinkled and his heart fell into his stomach at the thought that Tony didn't... "Tony."

"What? This was an arranged marriage," Tony retorted. "I'm too young to get married. I like you, babe, but the board is gonna get a talking to."

"Tony, you're 39. The world- I'm pretty sure it's common for people to get married younger."

Tony blinked at Harry's slip and then shot finger guns at him. "You're under no certain circumstances to mention that again. Got it?"

"What? That you're 39?"

Tony yelped and ran back down the stairs, muttering loudly about fiancees and their attractiveness that only led to traps. Harry laughed and returned to Jarvis' tutorial about Twitter.

"Besides, I think I'm starting to feel a bit possessive!" Harry called down a second later.

"Oh, the horror!"

Harry snorted and laughed even harder. "No more drunken nakedness on television, Stark!"

Harry stared down at the screen of the tablet a minute later and then swore. "Jarvis, show me that footage."

"Do you really want to see him naked?" Jarvis questioned. Harry could swear there was a hint of judgement in that voice.

"I saw him naked. He walked naked out of his bedroom this morning," Harry muttered, heat coiling in his bones at the memory. "The man has no shame."

London reporters weren't quite sure what to make of the mark that had mysteriously appeared on one of the side streets of the city. People had tried to scrape it off, had tried to pour cement over it to cover it up but nothing worked. It stayed visible, like a brand in between the two government buildings.

Phil Coulson stared right down at it, flipping his sunglasses up and kneeling to see better. People pointed at it and stared at it, taking photos, and probably posting them on the internet, maybe on Facebook, maybe on Twitter.

The triangle with a circle through it and a line right through both. Black and green swirled through it, unmoving, but it was as if it flickered in the sunlight. He traced a thumb over the bottom half of the triangle and felt… something. He didn't know quite what it was but he knew Fury would be interested in it.