A DAY'S WORTH
Chapter 8
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners.
-ADW-
Potter Cottage,
Wales.
27th October 2011.
"No Jack, I am not taking you to space!"
"Oh, come oooon, you promised." The very mature, muscular grown up man whinned. "Will you stop giving me that look."
"I am not taking you to space, Jenny or anyone for that matter." Harry declared. "If you want to go, make yourself a space ship or suit and fly there yourself."
"Fine." Jack huffed and stomped his way up the stairs. A minute later, Harry felt him exit the wards in his Ombra suit.
"Finally some peace." Harry sighed. As if to disagree with him, his phone rang. "Claire, I am trying to relax here."
"Well, it will have to wait or I could call Jack."
"Jack is throwing a tantrum for not taking him to space." Harry informed her and his friend's widow snorted.
"Well, even better as I think you will be better for this anyway."
"What's up?" Halloween was approaching and Harry tended to be a mess with in this period. Both emotionally and magically as his magic tended to act up, probably because of his unstable emotions. "You know I am not exactly the most reliable person during this time of the year."
"I will always take teenage you over Jack any time especially when it concerns Jenny." Remembering his teenage years, Harry highly doubted that. "The little one has gotten herself in trouble and they called for her guardian."
"I would have gone but I am a bit caught up right now and won't be free for some time." Claire continued. "So, I was thinking maybe you should go and see what it's about?"
"Sure, I'll be there in a bit."
"Thanks, Harry and maybe you can drop her at my office after."
"Don't worry about it, I could use some Jenny right now I think."
Claire hung up and Harry sighed. He tended to avoid Jenny the most as he didn't want to say or do something to hurt her in his condition. On the other hand however, she seemed to be the only one capable of stabilizing him when he started acting up even though she had no idea at all.
He changed into something presentable and gripped an already made port-key to the J-mansion as he didn't want to risk teleporting with the condition that his magic was in. He tended to avoid using it except for the most mundane of things and even then, the results were often unpredictable.
-ADW-
MIDTOWN HIGH SCHOOL
FOREST HILLS,
Queens.
Jenny nervously tapped her knee, her eyes directed into the parking area. It was her second year in high school and this was the first time she had been called to the principal's office. That didn't mean that it was the first time she had done something that warranted being called up here, it just was the first it was so blantant.
"Im sorry I dragged you into this." The kid sitting next to her sighed. "You were just trying to protect me."
Jenny dragged her eyes from the parking lot for a second to look at the boy before she turned back. "You shouldn't let bullies walk over you like that."
"What's the point when you will just get punished." The boy replied. "Even when they will come back to bully me again."
"I would like to see them try after what we did." Jenny remembered how it had felt beating up the little bullies.
"You did all the work." The boy blushed. "Me I was just there freaking out."
"Don't sell yourself short, Parker." Jenny smiled at him. "You've got one hell of a right I wouldn't wish to cross. Flash will definitely remember it."
"I got nothing on you though." The boy replied. "I barely saw you moving, one instant you were there the next all four of them were groaning on the floor!"
"Five, we can't forget Flash." The two laughed for a moment but they fell back into silence.
"How did you learn to fight like that?"
"That wasn't a fight." Jenny replied. "But I have really good teachers."
"Really, can I learn as well, I've always wanted to learn to fight, I mean not beating up anyone of course but atleast enough to defend my self. I could be a superhero, like Mr. Stark, with a super cool suit and then beat up bad guys, help the_"
Jenny was nolonger listening to the boy wondering when he got the time to breath. Remembering how she acted when excited, she realized she wasn't one to talk. Her musings were cut off when a familiar Nissan GT-R slid into the parking lot next to Mr. Thompson's car. She was quite honestly surprised as Harry rarely left Potter Cottage this close to Halloween.
She however breathed a sigh of relief given that she had been expecting Jack to come after Claire had told her she would be unable to come. Jack, she knew would have probably gotten her expelled after beating up Mr. Thompson, the principal and everyone who even looked at him wrong or for daring to call him here.
Harry on the other hand was probably going to guilt trip her and make her feel horrible but she will likely be going back to class right after the meeting.
"Whoa, Harry Potter is your dad?"
Jenny turned to look at Parker. "You know who he is?"
"He is the CEO an Co-founder of J-Corp, of course I know who he is!" Parker exclaimed. "I want to work there after I graduate and so I did some digging of my own, but I thought you were called Summers!"
Jenny didn't reply as Harry had arrived and was grinning at her in amusement. She ran up and hugged him.
"Hey, kiddo. Finally managed to get into trouble?"
"I am glad it's you who came." Jenny said. "Jack probably would have gotten me expelled."
"That's probably true." Harry laughed and Jenny wondered what had him in such a happy mood. "Then again, he would have built a school for you that is way better than that s one."
"Uh, Mr. Summers?" The principal's secretary interrupted them. "If you would come this way."
"My name is Harry Potter and I'll bloody see you when I am ready to." Harry glared at the woman who blushed slightly.
"I uhm... my apologies then, it's just that Mr. Thompson has been waiting for over an hour and wishes to get this over done with."
Harry seemed ready to snap at her again but Jenny squeezed his hand, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Well, lead the way then."
And suddenly she wasn't so sure about not being expelled.
-ADW-
Ten minutes later, the group had just finished watching the video that had been caught by the school cameras. Next to Jenny, Harry whistled appreciatively.
"Wow, that was pretty quick, kiddo." Jenny blushed even as he turned to Parker. "And that is one hell of a right you've got there son."
"Takes after his father, this one." May Parker replied as she tried ruffling the boy's hair affectionately who tried to lean away to no avail. "He has trouble standing up for himself though."
"Are you taking this for a joke?" Thompson shouted. "Those savages assaulted my son and his friends."
Jenny wasn't sure if Harry actually teleported but there was a flurry of movement and the next instant, Harry was holding Mr. Thompson by the neck. He slammed him into the wall and whispered in his ear even though everyone in the office heard him clearly.
"Call my little girl a Savage again and I will sew you lips shut. Do I make myself clear?" The man nodded fearfully and Harry dumped him on the ground and turned to Jenny. "I take it you have the full video?"
In the ensuing silence, Jenny just tapped on her watch and Jaime played the video. How Flash walked over to Peter, dumped his lunch on his head and Peter punched Flash where he collapsed on the ground. The other four boys had tried to beat up Petter but Jenny arrived and effortlessly beat them up, leaving them moaning on the ground next to Flash.
"Well, Mr. Thompson?" Harry turned to look Flash who clearly had nothing to say. "What have you got to say for yourself, young man?"
"I think this was clearly a wastage of time." Harry continued as he looked at the principal. "The kids are bullies and this time they didn't get away with it, I take it you have something more to show us, Jenny?"
"Jaime." Jenny said simply and the AI played small clips that all featured the five boys bullying several students at the school.
"This is what is going on in your school, Mr. Davis. Rather than dealing with this, you drag me from my work threatening to expell my kid because she defended a fellow student?" Jenny doubted the work part but was quite enjoying the reactions Harry was inducing. "Give me one single reason why I shouldn't put everything in my power to shut down this school, as I am sure you that I am more than capable of it."
Jenny glanced at the Parkers and wasn't surprised at the expressions as clearly they hadn't expected this. The Thompson's hadn't expected wealth to be used against them but it was only now that they were realising how out of depth they were.
"I apologise, Mr. Potter." The principal said. "A lot has been going on in this school and I have delegated most of the duties to others, clearly they are not doing their job. I assure you, however that I will do all I can to make sure nothing like this happens again."
"I should hope so." Harry nodded before he turned to the door. "This is nothing against you Principal. I just don't like bullies and when I am called to the school because my little girl defended herself from them, it just looks like you are condoning it."
"I have taught my girl to stand up for herself and what is right, I know she has handled bullies before, only this time she decided to do it in everyone's sight..." Harry pinned Jenny with a stare and she looked at her shoes in embarrassment. "If you can't stand that, then you can tell me right this instant and we will never step in this school again."
"That will not be necessary, sir."
"Good." Harry nodded. "Come on kiddo, we've got places to be."
Jenny exchanged a smile with Parker before she followed Harry. She hadn't expected the meeting to go like this at all, infact she had no idea what she had expected this meeting to be like as Harry was always unpredictable. Despite being with him all these years, it was hard to imagine how he would react to a situation. One thing she was sure of though, is that no matter how he reacted, it would always be in her best interest.
That was why she had no reservations when she spoke this time.
"You have taught me to always make what I feel is the best choice in life." She started when they had reached the car. "I have been thinking about this ever since I started at Midtown High and I have a workable plan."
"This should be interesting." Harry mused smiling at her encouragingly.
"There are kids who are smart but have been denied the chance to explore their talents because they are poor and many other have even dropped out because of bullying." Jenny said. "I have met many kids who I know could be great but their talents are wasted at that bloody school. Kids who could grow to even work at J-Corp but have no money or the opportunity to do something for themselves because of the carelessness of the staff at Midtown High. So I have been thinking..."
"Oh God."
"I want all my shares in J-Corp to be used to build a science school here in Queens."
Harry stared her.
"Jenny." Harry started carefully. "You know that with your shares you could build schools on every single piece of land in Queens, right?"
"Oh."
"We really should start teaching you about the family business." Harry sighed as he started the car. "Sometimes I like to think you are still the little girl I met all those years ago at the orphanage with Jake. Then I won't have to think of what it means for you to grow up."
Jenny blushed, knowing what he was talking about even though she had little memory of the day Harry and her father had picked her up at the orphanage. By then, they had just started working as a team and with all that had happened since then, her early memories were pretty insignificant. It didn't hurt that she actively tried to forget all that had happened to her before her father picked her up.
"I know you have grown, even more than you should but with how smart you are it is expected." Harry sighed again. "Sometimes you are more adult than both us combined and it's always funny watching Jack get worked up over it."
Harry was quiet with a small smile on his face even as Jenny felt all warm from the clear pride in his voice.
"You want to build a school? That is up to you, it is about time you started taking a role in the company." Harry told her seriously. "Just remember, every decision you make from now on, it will impact our lives one way or another. I trust you to make the right choices though, and I honestly can't wait to see what chaos you will cause."
"I will not disappoint, I promise."
"Good, now let's go for some ice cream." Harry ruffled her hair with one hand. "All this serious talk is making me feel hot."
-ADW-
"I can only imagine what you are going through." Natasha said looking around the nearly empty park. "I have to say however, that you are taking all this pretty well."
"Honestly, I am struggling here." Her companion chuckled. "But what choice do I have, it's not like I will fall asleep and wake up in my time."
"This is your time now."
"Yes. It is, and I only have to find my place in it like them." Natasha followed the man's gaze and her eyes widened slightly at the two familiar figures who has just entered the park.
One had only a long trenchcoat similar to Fury's with a cowboy's hat with the smaller figure also having one, her light red curls tumbling out of the hat up to her waist. The two were laughing at something so hard that the girl was holding her sides with one hand while the other held ice cream.
"They are happy even if there is an obvious lack of a female. They know their place and are quite content with it." Her companion to to her. "Deep inside me, I know I will never reach that point. No matter what happens, I will always know that I don't belong here."
"Maybe, but you will try, won't you. Because that is who you are, you try untill you win in the end."
The man didn't reply, instead turning back to look at the two who were chasing a rabbit of all things. When Natasha followed his gaze again, she met light green eyes almost identical to her own. The girl's eyes widened in recognition before she whispered to the man. He looked up sharply, his deep emeralds studying her before they narrowed at her companion.
"I think we are about to have company."
"I can see that." Her companion replied. "Old acquaintances of yours?"
"You could say that."
Jenny ran and gave her a hug.
"Hey, happy belated birthday."
"Thanks." The girl smiled. "And thank you for the gift, I loved it."
"I should hope so, took me hours to pick it." Natasha replied with a smile of her own. "Uhm Steve, this is my friend Jenny Summers and Jenny this is also my friend Steve Rogers."
"A pleasure, Mr. Rogers."
"Please call me Steve, a friend of Natasha is a friend of mine. And the pleasure is all mine."
"And this is Harry Potter, Co-founder and CEO of J-Corp Industries."
"Let me guess, a billionaire play boy who spends more time with women than making the money but still has lots of it? It seems to be the trend these days."
"I do know my way around women, Mr. Rogers but I would hardly call myself a Playboy." Harry shook the man's hand. "You've got quite the grip for a ninety-year-old man."
Natasha visibly saw the grip in question tighten at Harry's words and wondered what was going on in Harry's mind, not even surprised he knew who Steve was. Before the man could reply however, a small cricket-ball sized ball rolled into the middle of the group blinking a blue light rapidly. It took her a split second to recognize it for what it was but by then it had already gone off.
She saw Harry shift infront of Jenny and covered her with his body before the little grenade went off. There was a blinding flash of white light before she felt her self being lifted and hurled through the air. Natasha fought to remain conscious as she blindly tried to get up. Her ears were ringing and she could feel blood running down the side of her head coming from said ears. Her eyes were paining even though she couldn't see anything.
She could taste the blood in her mouth even as she thought someone was holding her head. Her body didn't seem to listen to any commands she was giving it. Suddenly the coppery taste of blood was mixed in with something even her distorted senses recognized as disgusting. She tried not to swallow but again her body rebelled and the disgusting things went down her throat. After what felt like forever, her ears slowly stopped ringing and she could feel even the headache she hadn't been aware of sudsiding.
"..sha?...me. you...sha...sha?" Someone seemed to be calling her but it was like a swarm of bees had built their hive in her head.
The same disgusting stuff was forced into her mouth and she didn't have any lack fighting it this time either. When she swallowed, she felt her ears stop ringing and the headache disappeared completely. Her vision was still blurry but she could make out Harry's green eyes peering at her in concern.
"Natasha, can you hear me?" The man asked and she tried to answer but no words came out. "Jenny get me another potion."
"No-" she managed to croak. "No more, I am ok."
"Oh thank Merlin." Harry sighed, now that she could see, she saw that Harry and Jenny seemed not to have been affected at all. "Go back to the mansion, I'll find you there."
Jenny nodded and disappeared.
Natasha blinked at the empty spot uncomprehendingly before she turned to Harry who was already turning away from her.
"Come on, Natasha." Harry told her walking towards a certain figure that not been part of their group.
The figure was wearing full body armor laced with blue and orange, completed with an iconic hood covering a full helmet fitted with a skull-ish mouth and a set of some sort of high tech lenses on it. On one hand he had a circular shield, not very different from Captain America's though the designs were different. His other hand had some kind of metal gauntlet and with how it glowed in places Natasha knew there was some tech in there somewhere.
Steve limped his way next to them.
"Everyone alright? Natasha nodded. "What happened to the girl?"
"She is not here." Harry replied turning to Natasha. "What the hell is that?"
"No idea." Natasha said truthfully, whatever disgusting potion that had been forced into her had gotten rid of whatever effects of the stun bomb. "I haven't seen him before and I am very sure he isn't in the SHIELD database."
Steve stepped forward and Natasha had to admit that even without his suit and shield, there was no doubt that the man standing before her was a hero.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Steve Rogers asked, his voice clear. For some reason, the few people who had been in the park were nowhere to be seen. "We don't want any trouble."
The figure didn't say anything, it started taking purposeful steps towards the trio.
"He doesn't look like he is here to give us a hug, Cap." Harry commented, cocking his head to the side looking amused.
"No, I think he is looking for a fight." Steve got into a stance. "Now this is something I am familiar with."
The figure increased pace as he came nearer. Natasha readied herself, given that Steve was infront of her, she knew the situation was probably in hand but she hadn't been alive for this long by hiding behind other people.
When he was near enough, he jumped and tried to punch Steve who leaned out of the way. He took a step back to avoid a shield that had come directly for his neck. The figure kicked out but Steve lefted one leg then the other to avoid to sloppy kicks. It gave him the opening he needed and he kicked him right into the chest and sent him to the ground.
It was apparent to everyone that the man had little to no matial arts training.
The man got back up and attacked in the same format. This time when he punched with his right, Steve leaned to his left but didn't change position, effortlessly dodging the punch. This made him over reach and Steve grabbed his arm and kneed him in his midsection. He twisted his arm and the man was forced into his knees.
"You are way out of your league here." Steve said behind the man. "Surrender peacefully and we shall help you."
"You have some impressive skills, Captain." The man spoke, his voice distorted because of the skull mask. "I like them."
Surprised that the man knew who he was, Steve was taken off guard as the figure forced himself back to his feet with surprising strength. He cocked his left hand forward and elbowed him in the neck, spun around and in the same motion hit Steve's head with the shield. Steve staggered, trying to regain his bearings before he tried to salvage the situation. The figure stepped back with one leg, then the next and kicked Steve square in the chest and sent him flying just like Steve had done to him before.
The figure leaped again with his shield raised high and Steve barely managed to roll out of the way as the figure landed and the shield dug into the ground. Natasha remembered the move from seeing some of Captain America's videos and wondered how he had pulled it off so accurately.
Natasha was ready to jump in but Harry stopped her. "Watch."
Steve scrambled to get to his feet even as the figure swiftly followed him. He managed to get to his feet and blocked the puch headed for his face and returned with one of his own which was blocked as well. The two then found themselves in a close combat dance that they both seemed to have practiced for a long time. They were equally matched, possessed the same skills and executed them almost in tandem. If Natasha didn't know any better, she would have thought Steve was fighting with some alternate version of himself.
Natasha knew something would have to give. Knowing what Captain America was made of, it was no surprise when the other figure faltered for just a second and got a punch in the face. Steve made to capitalize on the moment but the other figure's gauntlent glowed, sparks of electricity covering half of it and he punched Steve in the chest. There was a flash of blue light and the next instant the enhanced soldier was flying across the park.
Natasha blinked to clear the spots in her sight and blinked when she saw the yellow and orange amoured figure suspended in the air and Harry was standing in front of him probably holding the figure with his telekinetic powers. He made a gesture with his hand and the skull mask was ripped of his face.
From where she was standing, she couldn't see his face. Her attention was only Harry though, she knew about the powers, she had even witnessed them her self on more than one occasion. She hadn't seen him use them on such as scale as now and wondered what he was going to do.
Harry grabbed the man's chin and just stared at his face for a couple of seconds completely ignoring the sparks and smoke that was coming off the man's armour. Harry stepped back and the figure suddenly shot up in the air and then rapidly descended.
The figure landed with a thump and didn't move again. The next instant, the scary visage of Ombra appeared behind Harry, grabbed his shoulder and they both disappeared.
"Well, that explains a lot." She looked to her left and wasn't surprised to see Fury standing just behind her with Clint who was staring at the spot the other two had been.
"I'm beginning to like those guys." With the way Fury glared at him, the SHIELD director didn't share the sentiment.
-ADW-
AN: Hi guys, there goes another chapter. I am quite disappointed with how the fight turned out but don't worry, those two will meet again and hopefully it will be better.
I imagine a number of you already know who the mysterious attacker is but he obviously he isn't working alone. Next chapter, we finally get to see Harry in a real fight. I would also like to hear what you guys think I should do with Peter Parker. Of course he hasnt been bitten yet
One or two more chapters and we reach the Chitauri invasion.
Till then, Stay home, Stay safe, Stay Alive.