Sorry it's been so long since I updated this. I got really distracted writing crossovers between Bucky and the Mandalorian (one of which is exclusively on AO3 since I gifted it to two people there). I'd avoided Mandalorian fics for years and all the sudden started writing for them. If it weren't for The Mandalorian, I never would have revived this fic back in 2020.
Also, on Tuesday I ended up in urgent care for the same reason as December 2020/Jan 2021. Thankfully there was no surgery this time and I got released yesterday. I'm taking a sick day today and managed to bang this out... I hadn't touched this since Twosday, but inspiration really struck today.
Steve knew that he'd be back in the spotlight when he put on the old stars and stripes suit and battled in the middle of Manhattan. He was resigned to being paraded around, but at least he'd be doing something rather than just being a figurehead like in his USO days.
Then again, he'd fought in the last war, and that hadn't turned out very well. Sure, it had looked like they'd won on the surface, but HYDRA had stayed lurking underneath.
Even with the recent reveal of HYDRA, they still have to make sure to chop off every single head, so none can grow back. At least, they had been focused on it before the alien invasion.
The battle in Manhattan had been smoother than Steve expected- astonishingly, there were no civilian casualties, and while there was a lot of property damage, it doesn't seem as drastic when his team contains a woman with telekinetic powers and two wizards who can fix things with magic.
Cleanup goes rather quickly with those powers at their disposal. Steve still pitches in, lifting chunks of rubble that Iron Man and Cyclops cut with their lasers. Loki does several hand-waving motions that either vanish the rubble or restore it to where it had been.
Of course, Harry insists on helping. Loki somehow switches James and Harry's appearances so they look nothing like themselves- Harry's scar and James's prosthetic are both gone, yet James looks nothing like the Bucky from before, either. Both are blonde, until Harry gripes about being "yellow like Dudley".
In the blink of an eye, both Harry and James have flaming red hair that is, thankfully, not literally flaming.
Loki actually does turn Jean's red hair into fire once as a prank, and Jean hurls him through a building in retaliation.
Climbing out of the hole and dusting off his clothes, extinguishes Jean's head with a snap. He tilts his head imperiously toward the new whole caused by his body "I believe the goal was to clean the city, not wreck it further."
Loki casts a look at Thor's hammer, then restores the building with a wave of his hand.
Of course, there are journalists filming, snapping photographs. Every news station is clamoring for interviews with the Avengers and X-Men (a common question is why they have two names when they're one team).
Tony handles a lot of the press stuff, already very well versed in public appearances even if he evidently didn't always focus on giving the best appearance in the past.
But of course, they want interviews with the whole team. Even as Steve's moving rubble, he finds several microphones shoved in his face as reporters shout questions.
There's a lot of interest in the team, sure, but even so, the world is a lot more focused on the existence of aliens and, especially, magic than the resurrection of Captain America, and Steve's honestly a little relieved.
The civilians have had a lot thrown at them, recently; in a way, their world has changed just as drastically as Steve's has. Sure, they hadn't slept for seventy years, but like Steve, they're having to face the reality of things that most would have called fictional only a few days ago.
The public seems very split on magic and mutants, and very unsure of the distinction (from what Steve can tell, mutants have more individualized powers, whereas magicians have a wider range but require specialized tools like wands).
Seeing as how the X-Men had been saving them from aliens, Steve had hoped that the public opinion of them would be favorable, but of course there are those who think they're dangerous and should be chipped by the government.
Tony goes on air to argue that anything can be dangerous if wielded by the wrong people. He cites the government trying to take his suit, stating it was a weapon, and how well that turned out for them. How evil people tried making their own Iron Man suits, but that doesn't make Iron Man any less of a hero.
It becomes very clear to the public that Tony Stark supports mutant rights and freedoms.
Just like the non-magical, non-mutant civilians, actual mutants, wizards and witches seem pretty split on the reveal as well.
Professor X seems delighted, viewing the reveal as a way to finally bridge the divide between mutants and the rest of humanity. Some of the team are slightly more cynical. Wizards are, perhaps, even more concerned with being revealed.
Yet there are some wizards that use the reveal to openly hunt Muggles. Steve's pretty sure it's the Death Eaters Moody had mentioned, and gets ready to gear up and hunt them down, but it seems that Dumbledore and other wizards in Britain are already fighting them.
The tower has a copy of that computer called Cerebro that the Professor uses to communicate with people around the globe. Professor X has several long, telepathic conversations with Dumbledore and the Minister of Magic regarding the world's knowledge of magic.
Professor X refuses to erase everyone's memories of magic, leaving the wizards stuck. The wizards can't possibly erase everyone's memory, just as they can't erase the evidence from television and computers.
Wizards, witches and mutants will just have to cope with muggles knowing about them, just as the muggles are having to cope with learning about them. It doesn't always go well, but several celebrities share their personal connection with mutants or mages.
With the cleanup happening rather quickly after the decimation of Manhattan, life moves on.
Tony is a whirlwind of activity as always, and seems to sleep even less. He jumps from endlessly complicated conversations about magic and science with Loki, Bruce and Hank to egging on Loki's ridiculous pranks. He gets Miss Potts to help kickstart a charity for helping fund child services and providing for children in foster care. He's talking of furthering screenings for abuse.
Even with all that going on, Tony still manages to look over a lot of the Avengers and X-Men merchandise hitting the shelves like wild, faster even than the Captain America comic books, or even the Captain America and Bucky Bears had back in Steve's day.
Both the bears are making a comeback, but supersized Hulk bears are the surprise smash hit that everyone seems crazy to get their hands on; Bruce honestly doesn't seem to know how to react. "Beast Bears" are only slightly less sought after.
One week after the battle, after watching Loki clean the city, James approaches Loki and, without any pleasantries, says "You can get the parasite out of Harry's head."
Steve's not really sure what he was expecting, maybe a lot of yelling and chanting like the exorcisms in old radio dramas. Loki gets Harry comfortable on the couch, presses a hand against his head. Something erupts from it, which really does seem demonic.
Smoke forms into a bald, noseless who looks remarkably like Red Skull, only paler. The Pale Skull man yells and hisses until Loki does something that makes him writhe and disappear.
Harry rubs his head, then rushes to the mirror. The lightning scar is still there, but he claims it doesn't hurt.
"Why's it not a star?" Harry asks. Loki snaps his fingers, and the scar suddenly becomes a star. Harry laughs and begins requesting other shapes- a snake, a moon, a snitch. Each request is met with a newly shaped scar, and Harry seems to have entirely forgotten the previous procedure of removing the horrible presence from within.
About a week and a half after the battle, Steve gets Loki to disguise him and James so they can walk through the park anonymously. Harry wears a plastic firefighter hat over his scar, as well as the ridiculously expensive sunglasses Tony got him, which are sure to break any day with Harry's rough and tumble play. Steve reminds himself that they've got people who could fix them in a blink.
Steve tries not to think about walks he used to take with Bucky (which were usually much shorter and certainly never involved a child, unless Bucky's sisters were tagging after them).
Steve discusses taking Harry and James to Coney Island, despite the Bucky memories associated with there, too. James clearly has no memories of the place, not even forcing Steve to ride the Cyclone, but he listens with interest as Steve describes it. Or, rather, how Coney Island used to be.
Harry, wide-eyed, seems enamored and utterly fearless at the prospect of roller coasters. He begs to go and demands to know if it's faster than his Motor-broom.
Steve assures him it is.
Despite all the merchandise now and in his USO days, Steve's still taken aback when he sees a woman throw a frisbee that resembles his shield for her dog to catch in Central Park.
Not twenty yards down the path, they see a boy with huge rubber Hulk fists pretend to battle a girl with plastic Wolverine claws. The children bash and slash at each other before teaming up to wallop invisible aliens.
Steve looks down at Harry, who doesn't run up to play with the other children, like he always did when the older kids were playing basketball. Despite all his fearlessness around people with actual superpowers, Harry half hides behind James, his eyes tracking the Hulk fists as if they'll pummel him.
James squats, encouraging Harry to go play. He assures that the kids won't be like Dudley and Piers, and if they are, they'll have to answer to James.
"And me," Steve says. "I don't like bullies."
Harry nods and slowly approaches the children.
"What power do you have?" asks the boy, who's maybe a year older than Harry.
"Magic." Harry answers.
The girl pokes her plastic claws against the fork tine claws of Harry's Wolverine toy. "Where'd you get him?"
Harry clutches the toy tighter, pulling it back slightly. "We painted Batman."
"Batman's not real," the boy says. "He's a made-up hero. Real heroes are cooler."
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles aren't real either, Leonardo." the girl shoots back.
"Mutants are too real!" Leonardo argues, obviously misunderstanding the recent news. Then again, with everything that has been revealed, it's not all that implausible there would be turtle ninjas.
Steve wonders if Harry will brag about living with real heroes, but he's oddly quiet and subdued. He's still clearly unsure of how to play with other kids. The closest he's gotten were teenagers at the mansion.
The kids' mother says something to her kids in Spanish. Both Leonardo and Lucia go out of their way to try and include Harry and make him comfortable.
James nods at her in thanks, and they wind up chatting in a way they probably wouldn't have if Steve looked like himself. The woman, who introduces herself as Victoria, mistakes them both for Harry's dads. Steve marvels at how two men could openly raise a child together in New York now, but he tells her he's not.
Victoria nods, but mentions her wife is stationed overseas, which gets them into swapping stories about being soldiers (though Steve's are edited somewhat).
Victoria briefly brings up Don't Ask, Don't Tell, which is one aspect of history Steve's caught up on. He never thought he'd see the day soldiers didn't have to hide their preferences, but Victoria seems displeased that it was only repealed last year.
To Victoria, Steve's just any other soldier. It's refreshing, in a way, and she doesn't pressure James to talk. She seems to know, intuitively, that was a soldier too.
James mostly watches Harry and the other children play. At one point, Leonardo swings his Hulk fists at Harry, who flees as if his life depends on it. Leonardo seems to view it as a game of chase, not picking up on Harry's genuine desire to escape.
Harry glances back, and with a loud pop both rubber Hulk fists deflate. Rather than blaming the action figure or costume claws, Leonardo puts the pieces together as he looks at his ruined props. "You really are a wizard!"
Harry sprints back to James, out of breath.
"No, no, that's so cool." Leonardo insists, his voice turning wistful. "I wish I was a wizard. Maybe I'll be a mutant."
"I'm going to be a magic mutant." Harry shares softly. "Only Dad says no fighting like a hero. So I'm gonna fix broken stuff instead. And feed people."
Lucia pipes up with "Mommy's off fighting."
Harry finds a ball and seems much more comfortable playing with that than play-fighting. Steve shakes his head, because he would've thought a hero-obsessed kid like Harry would love playing heroes with other kids.
Victoria invites them over to dinner, which Steve dodges by saying they have plans, but maybe sometime else. He doesn't know how long this disguise will last, and suddenly turning into Captain America during dinner would be simply awkward.
They swap phone numbers, something Steve still isn't used to, and Steve, James and Harry head back to the tower. Steve wonders if they'd even be allowed to invite the family there, what with all the clearances required, and whether or not the kids would be overwhelmed finding out who they truly are.
When they return, they find Clint and Natasha have returned as well. Clint insists on a game of darts with James, and they seem pretty equally matched. Harry, of course, clammers for the next turn, his earlier shyness entirely gone.
Natasha remarks that Clint's used to wiping the floor with people, which makes Harry frown.
"So, I hear you're on cleanup duty," Clint aims, throws, and splits one dart through the middle to get another bullseye.
"We don't wipe with people," says Harry, and Clint chuckles.
"That's one of those expressions," Clint shrugs. When the game's done, he shows Harry how to throw, helping Harry through the motions. Harry has a knack for catching balls and has improved at shooting baskets, but his first several throws miss the dartboard entirely.
"Where were you?" Harry asks, nosily.
"Where were you?" Clint shoots back playfully, successfully distracting Harry from something most likely classified. Harry launches into a description of their day at the park and how a boy tried to punch him.
Clint's expression flicks between anger and the understanding that kids can quickly get out of hand. He glances at James and Steve, so confirm it was the latter.
James speaks quietly to Clint about Harry's struggles with learning how to play, and Steve feels a pang when he realizes, yet again, that James is far from the easygoing, charming man from the forties. James fretting over Harry's social skills is really the pot calling the kettle black.
But Clint nods and takes it seriously. He glances around, confirms with Jarvis that Loki is still outside cleaning, and says "You know, I've got some rugrats back home who'd be happy to play with you,"
Natasha smirks. "Clint may be a disaster, but his kids turned out great."
So that line with the Hulk fists was supposed to be a throwaway line (and a homage to the Hulk fists my best friend had growing up). I wasn't planning on writing nearly two pages with original characters. I was planning on Cooper and Lila being the first kids Harry played with near his own age, but I kind of like how this turned out.
I'm not sure if Leonardo and Lucia will ever show up again, but I had fun writing them.
Spring break is next week, so hopefully I'll be able to update sometime then. I sort of want to write a spinoff of how these characters would react to the Mandalorian and Grogu.