Welcome back! As always, we don't own HP or Marvel. This is a collaborative work between myself and Venerance. We also thank the help of Nauze and Philip Tomarys. R&R!
"Do you mind telling me how you know?"
"How do I know what, Potter?" Harry could feel his eye twitch as he stared at the back of the man's bald head. "You are going to have to be a little more specific."
"You damn know what I mean, Director." Harry gripped the desk in front of him as he leaned forward to glare at a peculiarly shiny spot. "Last time I asked, you had at least ten guys aiming their weapons at me. Now, here I am, asking politely."
"So you are here to threaten me?" The man turned around in his seat to stare at Harry with an expression of disbelief.
"Question, not threaten," Harry corrected despite the cocked eyebrow from the black man.
"You and I have two very different interpretations of the word question." Fury rose from his seat and spread apart Harry's thin overcoat to reveal two prominent handgun grips resting against his thighs. "You walked up here, wearing something that MY agency gifted to you. Entered my office without warning, and proceeded to address me in a very hostile manner. Let me tell you something. It looks very threatening from my point of view."
Harry pushed himself off the desk before closing his eyes to take a deep breath.
Grabbing a hold of the pistol by his thigh, Harry slowly lifted the weapon up before gripping it by the barrel and placing it on the director's desk. Taking a step back, Harry proceeded to lower himself down into the seat behind him. Facing the director once more, Harry found the man smoothing out the wrinkles on his overcoat.
"Now that we are all settled," Fury said as he took a seat in his chair, "I am going to repeat myself one more time. How do I know what, Potter?"
Wordlessly, Harry reached down into his pack and withdrew the manila folder handed to him almost three weeks prior, and opened it up to rifle through the contents within. Picking a singular document, Harry lifted it out and handed it to Fury.
With a cautionary glance Harry's way, the man accepted the document and leaned back in his seat. Resting his hand against his cheek as he tapped the side of his head with his finger, Fury's eye flickered up towards Harry's impatient ones before turning back to the sheet of paper. There was a restless silence as Harry's gaze threatened to burn a hole through Fury's head. Sighing, Fury set aside the document before typing on a slanted keyboard. A simulated blink could be heard behind Harry, forcing him to turn around to see a glass widescreen coming to life.
"Secure office."
The windows obscured and the lights dimmed leaving the office to run in semi-darkness.
"Open Harry Potter's video file."
Suddenly, gunfire began to sound on the glass widescreen. Shaky body cam and poor audio quality filtered through towards the two office occupants. Gravel and debris kicked up on video as the one filming gasped for air. Harry blinked as a man burst on-screen and shook the one holding the camera. With a forced turn, the camera swooped around to reveal a hellish beast, composed entirely of flames, paving around the campsite. The footage began to stutter as the feline beast turned its head to gaze in the direction of the camera before releasing a wild growl. Heavy breaths blared through the footage as the man turned to sprint away from the creature, only for an audible scream to pierce the air as the camera was dropped to reveal the infernal beast latching onto the man's back, causing both to collide violently with the ground.
Next, footage from what appeared to be a security camera began to play. Three men were engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Two against one. But despite the large muscular frames of the two men off to the sides, the one in the middle seemed to be holding his own quite well. As the footage began to flicker, Harry suddenly found himself staring at the lone man in the middle as the two men attacking him writhed on the floor, clutching their necks. Yet, there was nothing in the man's hands to show a weapon of any sorts.
"I have about an hour's worth of footage resting in my personal databanks," Fury spoke as the screen switched to another scene in which a third party from the edges of a city focused hazily on a group of militants before the ground beneath them exploded. "And before you say anything, there wasn't a single trace of explosives residue at that scene. So what I'm looking at here is some sort of alien superpower or very, very good special effects. And I find myself leaning more towards the former every day."
"Good to know that you enjoy movies." Harry snorted as he turned around in his seat.
"You're sloppy," Fury stated as he gestured to the screens. "You may be good enough to fool everyone else but you are not good enough to fool me."
"Still doesn't explain how you came by this," Harry replied, indicating as he pulled the document back.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. has eyes and ears everywhere." Came the response from Fury as he began busying himself with something in his drawer. "We have the resources to remotely tap into anything, anywhere."
"Who else knows about this?" Harry asked as he shot a glare at the director.
"For right now?" Fury questioned as he raised his eyebrow. "Just me, you, and two other fortunate individuals. One of which you have already met."
"And you thought it was a good idea to share information about me to others without telling me?"
"Well, how else am I supposed to get Santa Claus to deliver you your presents?" Fury said as he rolled his eye before pulling out another manila folder. "Take a look through that."
Placing the previous folder back into the pack Harry had carried up with him before accepting the folder offered to him, Harry offered a suspicious look towards Fury as he examined its contents. Pages upon pages of profiles about different men and women comprised the bulk of the information.
"Who are these people?" Harry questioned quizzically as he glanced towards a pensive Fury.
"Some of the most intelligent and/or the most dangerous people this world has to offer," Fury answered. "People who could prove to be a major threat to our world."
"I'm not your lapdog Fury." Harry scowled as he shut the folder. "Find someone else to do your dirty work."
"I'm not asking you to do anything," Fury enunciated. "The people you see there like Hank Pym, Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, are all capable of causing mass destruction to our planet. What I want you to consider is helping us."
"I am not killing someone who hasn't done anything yet," Harry replied with a hint of disgust.
"You misunderstand," Fury said as he maintained eye contact with the wizard before him. "I'm trying to prepare for a contingency."
Harry turned his gaze back to the folder as he opened it up once more. A picture of a large green brute roaring on the lawn of a campus stared back at him as flames from destroyed military vehicles burned in the background.
"You want me to join S.H.I.E.L.D.," Harry deduced as he looked upon Fury for an answer.
"I'm trying to save lives," Fury corrected, "Superhuman soldiers. What kind of military would want to resist that? All it takes is one slip up, and you would have the entire world chasing after you."
"And what's to say that you aren't trying to do the same either?" Harry asked as he noted the irony in Fury's words. "How do I know that you won't try to use me?"
"Because I'm offering you a choice." Harry found himself coming to a silence at Fury's words. "You can walk away right now and I wouldn't do a damn thing to stop you. But could you say the exact same for any other military or agency?"
"I have conditions," Harry said after carefully pondering Fury's words. "Anything that involves me, I want to know about it. And that no one else gets to know who I am and what I can do. And if I believe there's a better way of doing something, I want to have the choice to do it."
"That's acceptable." Fury nodded before offering his hand out to Harry which he shook. "I'm glad we could see eye to eye."
Harry nodded as he stood up from his seat. Grabbing his pack, Harry walked across the office floor and exited through the only doorway, allowing Fury to relax and lean back into his seat. With a sigh, Fury closed his eye and began rubbing his temples only to hear the door open once more.
"What?" Fury spoke out loud as he almost groaned.
"I forgot to mention that I still haven't finished my service," Harry replied sheepishly.
"By the time you walk out of this building, you will find that the British military will have accepted your transfer to S.H.I.E.L.D.," Fury said. "Oh, and Potter?"
Harry froze near the office entrance. His slightly turned head was the only thing that told Fury he had his attention.
"It was twelve, not ten."
"Sir, wouldn't Coulson be best suited for this position?"
"Coulson is busy investigating potential candidates for the initiative," Fury reminded his second as they marched through the halls of the Triskelion. "While Potter's advantages may prove useful in case of an escalation, I will not have him showcasing his powers unless it's absolutely necessary. Until such a time that is warranted, we need him close at hand."
"Even so, sir," Agent Hill spoke as they both entered an empty elevator. "Harry Potter offers a significant potential breach in security and protocol."
"Our security has already been breached, Hill," Director Fury reminded. "S.H.I.E.L.D. has been compromised. Which is exactly why we need Potter closeby."
"Operative Potter is still new, which means his loyalty is still untested," Hill said as she pointed out a flaw in Fury's reasoning. "If we need to focus on internals, we should follow up with internal affairs. Not an outside party."
"If S.H.I.E.L.D. has been breached, then internal affairs would have been as well," Fury replied. "What we need to worry about now is keeping our cards close at hand. Which is where you will come in. I need you to head a personal investigation into S.H.I.E.L.D.. I don't know how big and deep it goes but at the moment, we need to make sure that no one knows."
"I still don't understand that, sir," Hill continued with slight frustration. "Why me?"
"Because you are capable, Hill." A flicker of surprise waved across Hill's face before it was immediately extinguished by a blank facade. "And because I can't keep my eye trained on everything at the same time. We need Potter on our side in case anything occurs, and there are very few people I trust to do the job right."
"Yes, sir," Hill replied as the elevator doors opened. "Will Potter… be a part of the initiative?"
"Potter is a part of S.H.I.E.L.D.," Fury replied. "Whether he becomes a part of the Avengers initiative is still yet to be determined."
"Sir, you know I have my doubts about the… program," Hill carefully worded out as she allowed herself to rest her right hand against her hip. "What can a few select people do that our agency cannot?"
"More than you'll ever know, Hill," Fury answered vaguely, much to the woman's chagrin. "You've read the reports on the events in Harlem and New Mexico. I am not willing to throw away the lives of my agents at a problem they cannot handle. The world is changing Hill, it's about damn time we adapted to it."
"Again!"
Wiping the sweat away from his brow, Harry grunted before getting back into position.
Jab to the face.
Strike towards the stomach.
Both miss.
A strike from the left. Right.
A step back to maintain stability. Harry's head snapped back from the strike that slipped beneath his guard. Stepping forward, Harry launched another jab towards the woman's face, only to have his fist pushed to the inside. His eyes widened as he felt a sudden grip against his back as he was pushed downwards. A loud thumping sound filled the air as Harry found himself flat on his back with his head and arm trapped. A rising heat began to bloom in his face as he struggled to escape.
Gripping desperately at the leg locked across the front of his neck, Harry's feet slid across the smooth floor as they sought to find purchase. Smacking futilely against the leg lock, Harry could hear a slight grunt as a hazy figure rose in the corner of his vision in tandem with the increase in pressure across his neck. His vision slowly began to darken as the lights above began to shimmer.
Tapping the floor mat twice in succession, there was a gasp of relief as a leg lifted off his throat. Deep breaths filling his lungs with much-needed air, Harry was relieved to see a hand hovering in front of his blurry vision. Grabbing ahold, Harry found himself lifted to his feet.
A slight floral scent filled his nostrils amid the tinges of sweats. Blinking his eyes, Harry found himself staring at the stern visage of Maria Hill as she let go.
"Don't think I've ever seen that move before," Harry grumbled as he stretched his neck, trying to crack the vertebrae in his neck.
There wasn't even a twitch on his handler's face as she placed her hands on her hips. Turning around, she strolled over to the benches where she retrieved a small tablet.
"Combat skills… exceptional. Following today's conclusion," Hill began as she started typing on her tablet. "You are expected to report to me two days from now."
Her footsteps were almost silent as she began walking away towards the exit. There was a slight pause when she reached the doorway.
"Don't be late."
Harry's eyes flickered open as a faint ringing filled his ears. Grabbing a hold of the wand resting on the bedside table, Harry gave a swift swish through the air that abruptly cut off the wards' sirens.
As he set down his wand, Harry couldn't help but let out a groan of irritation as the bleak sunlight blazed through the slits of his curtains. A knock on the door downstairs forced him to roll out of bed as he shambled towards his bedroom doorway. The draft of cool air barely fazed him as the woes of interrupted sleep clouded his mind.
He nearly growled as a second knock sounded against his front door before he wrenched the door open. On the other side of the door stood his current handler, Maria Hill. Harry raised an eyebrow, now wishing he had grabbed a shirt on his way to the door. Wandlessly summoning a shirt, he pulled it over his head, attempting to look somewhat presentable.
"Enjoying your day off?" Hill asked with a raised brow as she pushed past him into the apartment. Harry inwardly cursed as he shut the door behind her.
"Is there a reason you're here?" Harry grunted as he watched Hill make her way to his dining table.
"You're being called in," Hill announced as she placed down a suitcase and file. Walking over, Harry discovered a file being shoved into his empty hands as Hill rounded the table.
"It's my day off," Harry protested weakly, but he still opened the file. Browsing through its contents, Harry's eyebrows slowly receded into his hairline as he rifled through several satellite images of a scorched cliff side.
"Operatives are on call twenty-four/seven. You are no exception," Hill responded as she shot him a slightly vexed look. "Now, earlier last night, S.H.I.E.L.D. intelligence received reports of a possible WMD at a Ten Rings installation in Gulmira."
"We talking biological or nuclear?" Harry questioned as he observed one of the images more closely."
"Neither," Hill answered. "But something launched from the compound and crash-landed somewhere in this area." Harry tore his eyes away from his briefing to see Hill making a small circle on a map lying across the table. "There've been a few who stated it might be a mobile weapon's platform. The fact that Tony Stark was recovered the crash site does lend some credence to that idea."
"We," Hill looked up to meet Harry's interested gaze, "are being called in to locate and assess the wreckage."
Cradling his file, Harry carefully crafted his reply as his mind analyzed possible outside factors that could influence their new assignment. "Who did you say retrieved Tony Stark?"
"I didn't," Hill evaded as she gestured towards the case she brought in. "We will be racing the United States Air Force and Ten Rings to the crash site. I suggest you suit up now."
Harry popped open the case to reveal his armaments and outfit. As Hill walked outside to give him the courtesy of privacy, Harry couldn't help but wonder why they were being called in instead of a team already in the Middle East.
Stark had done his job thoroughly. The last few Ten Rings stragglers had been beaten to death by the citizens of Gulmira. It had been a rather boring assignment, but Harry was more than glad to join Hill when she made her report at the Triskelion. He'd never been to the D.C. Headquarters, more often having met with Fury in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s office in New York, if he met with him in the United States.
The building was tall and if Harry didn't know better, he'd have thought it was some sort of power plant. Hill led him through the front entrance and past all of the security checks before entering one of the lobby elevators. Harry looked out of the windows to watch the city as they went up. For the most part, D.C. was a picturesque city; it was, if he had read correctly, specifically designed to impress foreign dignitaries. Thinking of the organic but often disorganised Paris, Kabul, Baghdad, and London, that idea certainly made sense and seemed to have paid off.
They got off on the eighteenth floor and Harry followed Hill as she took them to an executive office with a nice view of the rest of the facilities. At a clear glass desk, Nick Fury was sitting, waiting for them. Looking at Fury, Harry had the distinct feeling that the older man certainly looked quite strange, sitting behind the desk and not out working in the field.
"So, what can you tell me?" asked Fury, pulling back to sit against his chair instead of leaning over his desk.
Hill obviously took this as an invitation to sit down, because she took the seat nearest the door, allowing Harry to take the other chair. She pulled out a small file and handed it to Fury, and began speaking as the man flipped through its contents.
"He took out all of the remaining Ten Rings forces in the area like we suspected. It was pretty clean for the most part. The altercation with the US Air Force will be marked as a training incident, though neither pilot was killed or injured too seriously for that matter."
Fury turned to Harry, "Anything that you would like to add, Potter?"
Harry looked at the file. "To be honest, it all seems a bit too set-up to me. I don't think that the Ten Rings were solely responsible for Stark's abduction."
Fury stared at him. "You think it might have been an inside job?"
"Taking a three humvee escort through enemy territory is completely impractical, especially during the day," Harry dutifully reported. "Practically suicide. I don't know who authorized such action but they should be demoted and taken in for questioning for such a blase use of VIP transport. The fact that Stark was captured during this event indicates either awareness he was being transported this way or immense luck. I'm leaning more to the latter due to the Ten Rings' use of explosives. I suspect that the US Air Force may be compromised in some way, most likely in the commanding ranks in order to have Stark assassinated."
Hill nodded. "It stands to say who has the most to gain from such an action as Stark is the main weapons contractor for the US military: executives from Stark industries dissatisfied with him; commanding ranks within the US Air Force that may have been paid off. We need to know who had the info on where Stark was going to be, and who has a vendetta against him. Coulson is already looking into things, but we could do with some direct oversight on Stark."
Fury placed the papers down on his desk. "Sounds like a plan. I'll inform Agent Coulson," he sighed. "In the meantime, have either of you ever heard of Dr. Bruce Banner?"
A/N: Sorry this took so long and that this chapter is shorter than usual. Depression and writer's block has been a major issue. Also, a big thank you for all of the well wishes following the last chapter, they're deeply appreciated.
Time skip in the next chapter, but we're finally moving into some of the action, so look forward to that. R&R!