4 – The Suit
He let out a soft groan, coming to in a strange building. He was staring up at a pristine white ceiling, the lights dimmed to a medium hue. He slowly tried to sit up, though found he lacked the energy. Beside his bed, her head resting on the side of the mattress, was Hermione. She had a tight grip on his hand. He smiled softly; he was home then. He closed his eyes, running his free hand across his forehead.
He couldn't remember much from after Romanoff and Dean had picked him up in the dessert. All he really remembered was being loaded into a helicopter and told he was being flown back to America. Romanoff had warned him to expect agents being sent to debrief him on his escape from the cave. Shield would doubtless be in touch soon. He let out a soft sigh, something else he would have to deal with on top of everything else. He heard footsteps approaching the room.
Luna stepped into the room, dressed in her mediwitch robes. She smiled when she saw him awake. Seeing Hermione still sleeping, she silently mouthed a greeting, asking how he was feeling. He mouthed back that he was alright. She waved her wand over his body, silently casting diagnostic charms. As she was scribbling words down on a chart at the foot of his bed, Hermione slowly stirred. She glanced at Luna first, who merely smiled and nodded her head in Harry's direction. He gently squeezed his friend's hand. She spun around, and, without warning, threw her arms around him. He let out a soft grunt, but hugged her back as best he was able. She mouthed a hurried apology, as she quickly pulled away from him. He laughed, pulling her back for another hug as he kissed her forehead.
"I'm sorry about our argument," he mouthed into her hair. He felt tears gently splash his cheek, and moved his hand to dry her eyes. She lay her head on his chest, and tightened her grip on the hand she was still holding.
"I'm sorry too," she whispered, closing her eyes as she did so. "How did you escape?" she softly murmured against his chest, the reactor thrumming softly near her ear. Dean said they found you just over nine hundred metres away from the nearest bodies." He frowned softly at the memories.
"I'll tell you how after I get out of here. Eventually." He assured his best friend. She nodded, head moving against his chest, "I'm holding you to that", Hermione promised, as she lifted her head, running her fingers through his hair. "You need a haircut," she told him drolly, causing him and Luna to look at one another, blink, and break down laughing. After a few moments, she joined them. Once they had settled down, he tilted his head to regard Luna.
"Where am I?" he asked her, not liking how his voice cracked from disuse. She smiled sadly, taking his hand,
"you're in Lady Morgain's. It's a private magical hospital. You got a private room. The only ones who know you're here are us three, Neville, and Edwin. Not even Dean can find you – in case shield ask him." He nodded slowly. She continued.
"Harry," she began, tapping the reactor in his chest with her clipboard. He winced slightly at the contact. She smiled sympathetically, apologising as she did so.
"you'll have to forgive my ignorance," she told him, "but – what is that? All I can tell is the terrorists couldn't have put it there. I can only assume you did it yourself." She and Hermione both frowned, turning to look at him. He sighed softly once more, rubbing his chest.
"I did," he told her, "though I didn't have much choice in the matter," Hermione gazed at it thoughtfully, before cutting him off.
"It looks like the Arc Reactor we have back at the facility." He nodded, beaming at her as he did.
"That's right," he agreed, stretching softly to sit up, Hermione hastily made to move the pillows for him. He smiled at her, whispering a soft "thank you".
She grinned back. Coughing slightly and clearing his throat, he continued "it's a miniature version of the reactor. I made it from the palladium in our missiles. It's designed to act as an electromagnet." Hermione gasped, and Luna looked horrified.
"Why would you actually choose to put something like that into your own body," she whispered, dreading the answer. Harry winced slightly before continuing.
"After the demonstration, they hit the compound I was in – using Stark weapons." He paused briefly, to let that sink in. The girls looked at one another. They both knew what that meant. The mole was selling under the table.
"one of the missiles exploded near me, just as I put out a call."
Hermione nodded.
"Jarvis got the call that night", she whispered softly. Harry blinked in surprise. He hadn't actually thought the call reached anybody. He smiled happily; their Stark Phones worked better then he thought they did.
"I woke up later in the cave they'd dragged me off to. There was another prisoner there, a doctor. He seemed to think he'd been taken so he could operate on me once they brought me in." Luna raised an eyebrow thoughtfully, before nodding.
"That might make some sense," she replied. "They would need someone to keep you alive if you were badly injured." Harry nodded.
"I was. when I came to, Yinsen – the other fellow with me – had finished operating. There was a wire poking out of my chest. It was strapped to a car battery." Both girls gasped in horror. Luna dropped her clipboard, Hermione covered her mouth with her hands, tears rimming in her eyes once more. Harry smiled sadly.
"Yinsen said he'd done it because there was shrapnel in my chest. He said it was working its way to my internal organs. Apparently, injuries like that are pretty common in his part of the world. They call them – "
"Walking dead," Luna finished, face ashen white.
Harry nodded, "anyway, he told me it'd be about a week before the shard left over reached my heart and killed me. They demanded I give them a Jericho. I agreed, but I wasn't making the missile. I made this instead, and then I built the equipment Yinsen and I used to escape. Unfortunately, he died in the attempt."
Luna nodded, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"We'll have that out of you soon enough, Harry," she told him, "then you can get back to a normal life. Shrapnel in the chest explains the foreign bodies our diagnostic spells picked up on, actually." Harry smiled in gratitude. He didn't know how long the reactor would last, and despite having gotten used to the gentle hums, he wanted rid of the shrapnel. The pain it was causing, and the trouble it might give his magic down the line weren't worth keeping the damn thing digging towards his heart with just the reactor to stop it.
Luna left the room, telling him she would be back shortly once she'd found a team she could trust to perform the operation without talking. She returned twenty minutes later with a second doctor and a house elf. The doctor was a tall man with brown hair, a muggleborn by the name of Frank Roberts, the elf, a female by the name of Topsy. Frank and Topsy each swore magically binding oaths to keep his secrets, and Luna explained they would be putting him under the effects of a powerful sleep potion to ensure he was asleep and unable to move around during the operation. She asked Hermione to step out of the room, and once she was gone, handed him the potion.
Closing his eyes, he took the foul-smelling drink, and almost immediately felt drowsy. Within minutes, he was asleep.
Luna glanced at Frank warily as she held her wand ready. The other physician carefully removed the reactor from Harry's chest, placing it off to the side of the bed. She quickly cast a cleaning charm as puss began to leak from the device and dried blood came away with it. She carefully removed the metal casing the device had rested in, handing it too to frank. Frank waved his own wand over Harry's chest, making the necessary incisions. Still her friend slept, unaware of any of what was happening. She stared at the mass of organs, bone, muscle and veins. Casting several diagnostic and location spells, she searched for the remaining shrapnel. Finding it digging its way through his body, she carefully cast the necessary spells to remove it. Four pieces came loose, dropping into a metal container Frank had prepared. The largest was easily the size of her index finger. By the look of it, she would hazard a guess the smaller pieces were bits of metal that had broken off of the largest portion on a rib or other hard surface.
Once she had made sure there were no more pieces left behind, and no shavings of metal that might be harmful in future, she signalled for Frank. She handed the metal to Topsy, who bowed, before using her own elf magic to banish the metal from the room. Frank carefully closed the incision, before placing away his own wand. Finally, Topsy sealed the last wound in the chest from where the reactor had sat. Luna placed her own wand away, and fell, exhausted into a chair beside her friend's bed. She would go and inform Hermione later.
He awoke in the same room he had been in earlier. Glancing around, he found the arc reactor lying still on a desk beside the bed. Quickly tearing off the blankets, he checked under his hospital gown. He smiled, there was no hole in his chest. the skin was completely unblemished, as though he had never been hit by the blast at all. He let out a relived laugh. Hermione barged into the room at the sound, and found him laughing almost hysterically as he stared at his unmarked chest.
"Harry!" She shrieked, rushing over to his bed side, looking flustered. "What's wrong?," she asked. He looked up, grinning at her.
"Nothing," he shouted happily, "I'm cured! The shrapnel's gone". He let out another laugh, running his hands happily through his hair in relief. This time, she joined him in his laughter. He sprung from the bed, looking around the room frantically. She shouted his name, though he didn't heed her words as he continued searching. He placed his hands gently on her cheeks.
"Hermione," he began, staring imploringly into her eyes, "go get me my best shirt, suit jacket, pants and shoes. Then, call Neville to bring the limo and my wallet. After that, I want you to arrange for a press conference. Call Obie as well, he's going to want to be there for this one." She stared at him, dumbstruck. He sighed, "Go!" He shouted urgently with a laugh. She jumped slightly, before dashing off to do as she was asked. He sat back down on the bed, still chuckling slightly.
Hermione returned about half an hour later, holding a change of clothes. She handed it over to him, and he beamed happily at her. She stood there stunned into silence for several moments.
"Hermione", he began casually, "I suggest you leave the room. Unless you want to see me changing." Her face reddened, and she quickly left the room. He smirked as he carefully removed the gown and pulled on the pants. Next, he cautiously slung his arms into the shirt, wincing slightly as it tugged at his chest. still a little tender then, he thought to himself. He slowly buttoned up the shirt and placed the suit jacket on over it. No tie, he thought, as he checked the bag for one. Guess she forgot to bring one. "Oh, well" he murmured softly as he pulled on his shoes, tied them, and left the room.
It took a while to convince Luna to discharge him, but she eventually relented when he told her he was leaving either way. She shoved a handful of healing potions into Hermione's arms, "Make sure you and Happy insure he takes these" she snapped at the other girl. Hermione nodded. Several people in the waiting room stared at him, trying to work out if he really was the Tony Stark. He walked from the room and down to the limo parked in a secluded side street. Neville greeted him warmly and handed him his sunglasses as he hopped in.
"Thanks, pal," Harry smiled as he took them from him. He slipped them on, tapping the button on the rims as he did so.
"Hey, J" he greeted, smiling as he did so. The AI's calm tones greeted him in turn, "hello sir, it is good to know you are well." Harry beamed. "Thanks, bud," he replied, taking the water bottle Neville passed back towards him, "ask Ed to head down to the lab, would you? I've got a project for us to work on; one I think he'd like to get in on as well." Hermione, who had climbed into the back of the car beside him, raised an eyebrow. He shrugged, and she rolled her eyes.
"Of course, sir. And might I say, it is good to hear your voice once more."
"Thanks Pal. You too." Harry glanced up at Neville, meeting his friend's gaze in the mirror. "Neville," he began, deciding he was hungry, "take us to a bakery. I want a proper British Shepard's Pie." Neville nodded, turning the corner. "I know just the place."
-HPIM—
He stepped into the press room. Obie was already there, frowning at him as he watched him walk in. Harry smiled at the older man, waving as he walked up, bowing extravagantly to the media as he walked towards the stage. He slowly sat himself down at the foot of the podium Stane was standing behind. "could we all just, maybe, sit down, so that I can see all of you, and you can hear me?" he asked, still eating the pie as he did so. Obie smiled awkwardly as he sat beside him. Looking at each other, the journalists sat down as well, watching him eat the rest of his pie. He finished, tossing the paper bag in the trash. He pointed to one of the reporters.
"What happened to you out there?" he asked, leaning forwards slightly. The others quickly removed pads and pens from pockets, each ready to write.
"I – well, I had my eyes opened," he began, staring into the man's eyes, "I saw young man and women – children really; young Americans killed, by the very weapons I had built to defend them. I watched as my work destroyed the lives of innocent people. And I realised, things have to change." One of the others raised her hand, he pointed in her direction.
"So," she asked, hesitating for a moment before continuing, "what sort of changes are you talking about?" he thought briefly on his reply before answering.
"Firstly, Stark Enterprises must retrain some of its workers. I want to preface this announcement by assuring my workers that none of them will lose their jobs. They will have new departments waiting for them." There were soft murmurs in the crowd. It seemed people were slowly catching on to what he was talking about. He glanced carefully at Obie, whose eyes had widened almost imperceptibly with realization.
The older man placed a hand on his shoulder, but he gently slipped out of his grip, before glancing at the women who had asked the question. "I have come to the decision that I want to put more good into the world then the evils I have taken out of it; there are questions that – if he were alive – I would want to ask my father, after this experience. If he ever had doubts, or if he never questioned himself. And how he felt about the way this company operates. I mean, who knows right? Maybe he really was just the stoic adventure capitalist we all remember from the stills, the audio tapes, and the films. All I know for sure, is that I can no longer run stark enterprises the way he would have done. Now – as anyone that's been paying attention will have – you may have noticed recent changes within Stark Enterprises." There were nods now, and increased murmuring. He continued, knowing they were following him now.
"When I became CEO of Stark Enterprises, my advisors and I made certain plans," Now, Hermione was staring at him in shock, "I put forward a vision for the future of this company; within twenty years, I intended to have completely phased out the weapons manufacturing arm of this business. Over the last decade, the company has added several new divisions, with more to come in the future. As it is now, weapons are no longer even the biggest part of what we do here. Effective immediately, the Stark Enterprises weapons manufacturing division is closed; indefinitely, until such a time as I decide what the future of my company will be, and what I have to offer to the world other then things that blow up." As the room exploded with shouts of confusion and outrage, and Stane stared at him stunned, he stood and strode out of the room. Photographers flashed their cameras, and reporters surged forth in waves, but he paid them no mind.
As he walked past Neville and Hermione, he called over his shoulder. Quickly, the two followed after him, both silent. He climbed into the back of the limo as Neville slipped into the driver's seat.
"Not a word," he said, glancing at Hermione out of the corner of his eye "not until we're back at the house." She sighed, taking a deep huff as she clipped her own seat belt. Within half an hour, they found themselves once more standing in his living room. Harry felt a comforting sense of relief wash over him as he ran a hand over his own upholstery. The young wizard waited a few moments of Hermione tapping her shoe against the floor before smirking.
"Go ahead," he told her, chuckling with a grin on his face. She glared at him.
"First of all," she began, glancing at him carefully, "I agree with getting rid of the weapons. I supported the plan to replace weapons development from day one. We've all seen too much war to want more. But, don't you think we should have waited?" he shook his head, turning to stare out the window. The clear blue skies and calm waves did nothing to subdue the dark memories swirling in his mind at the reminder of his capture. He felt icy regret grip his heart and winced at the thought of Yinsen, now gone. He had sworn to the other man to make his life mean something. It was a vow he intended to keep.
"No, Hermione," he replied, voice low as he spoke, "I almost died over there. The only reason I even lived to come home is one man. And I had to watch him die. I heard his last words, Hermione. The last words he ever spoke. He won't even get a proper burial, and I watched him come to an end. Everything he ever was, and everything he might still have been." He ran a hand through his hair, letting out a sigh. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"OK then Harry. No more Weapons." He nodded.
"Thank you."
They stepped further into the living room. He pulled his suit jacket off, tossing it on a seat as he walked past, towards the elevator. As the doors shut, he spoke up, calling to Jarvis.
"J", he instructed simply, "switch off all the phone lines. I don't want Stane calling whilst I'm working. I'll deal with it later."
"Yes, sir," Jarvis replied, as the doors to the laboratory opened. He felt a pair of arms wrap around his shoulders. Harry smiled tenderly and leaned into the hug, wrapping his arms around Edwin's shoulders and patting the older man on the back. The older man took a deep, shuddering breath. Slowly, he pulled away, placing a hand on his young pupil's shoulder.
"Welcome back, sir," he smiled, rubbing at his eyes. Harry smirked at his older friend.
"Crying, Ed? What? A few tears for your long-lost boss?" Edwin snorted at him, laughing slightly.
"Well," he began casually, turning to walk over to one of the work tables, "if you had died, we would have had to sell the house and all your possessions. Whoever buys the place might not let me continue living here rent free." Harry laughed, walking over to the table and patting the older man on the shoulder as he did so.
As ever, Edwin was straight to business.
"Now, Jarvis said you have a project?" The old man asked. Harry nodded, smirking as he grabbed a pencil and sheets for blueprints. He quickly sketched out a more advanced form of the cave armour. He tapped his pen against the paper.
"That," he stated, "or rather a less impressive form of that, is how I escaped." Edwin cast a glance over the blueprints and nodded. Harry watched him as he hummed softly. Ed lowered the blueprints onto the table.
"And you want to make another of these" he stated simply. It wasn't a question. Harry nodded.
"At least one, yeah," he told the older man. Edwin nodded slowly as he watched him.
"Alright then. Why?" Harry sighed slightly, looking at the screen behind the older man.
"I'd forgotten what it was like, you know; war. Part of making more suits is simply put for self-protection. But more than that, I've been looking for something to do. Whether I end up using this to help people or not, I think I need a distraction. I want this to be that." Edwin nodded once more.
"Alright. Good enough, I'll help you."
He turned his attention to Jarvis, "Jarvis, place these under a new file. Name it Mark II. And keep it on Mr. Stark's private files only," he looked at Harry, "I think we now know the mole is prepared to kill you at any cost. We don't want them getting a hold of something like this." Harry nodded slowly.
"No weapons this time. Just the defences and improved flight capabilities for now. If I need weapons later, I'll install them in the Mark III."
"Very well, sirs."
-HPIM—
Between the two humans, Dum-e, U, and Butterfingers, work on the suit went quicker then he'd anticipated. As Harry worked directly with Dum-e on the left boot, Edwin and U completed the labour on the right. Within a day they had the two completely functional in that he was able to move around the room wearing them and not have to worry about breaking bones or tearing muscles from the sheer weight. Now came the difficult part. The final testing.
He stepped onto the pad, taking several deep breaths as he held his arms at his sides. The metal snapped onto his frame, locking together as he stood still. The Heads Up Display he had designed whilst Edwin worked on the legs lit up. Jarvis' voice greeted him, confirming he had been uploaded fully correctly.
"At your service sir, Heads Up Display working normally. I have been uploaded successfully sir". Harry nodded, tilting his head in the helmet.
"Good. Import all preferences from home interface," he told the AI.
"Will do, sir," Jarvis replied as he adjusted the face plate of the suit ever so slightly, and quickly double checked the runes he had inscribed on the metal. "Will there be anything else, sir?"
"Can we start the virtual walk around and check on control surfaces?" he requested. Jarvis was, as ever, quick to comply.
"As you wish, sir," the AI replied, and the results flared to life on the HUD. "Preparing to power down" the AI informed him, as Edwin stood to help him remove the armour. Harry shook his head.
"Ah yeah, sorry boys, but that ain't happening. Jarvis, prepare the thrusters." Edwin was horrified as he stepped forwards to interject.
"Sir, there are still countless tests required before an actual flight can be – "
"Sorry Ed, no more baby steps. I built this already from scraps, in a cave. I know it'll work. Besides, sometimes, you just have to run before you can walk." He heard the older man let out a grunt behind him as the suit took off, shooting out of the garage and into the night air of the city beyond. He quickly activated the disillusionment runes on the suit, cloaking the armour against the darkness of the night sky. As he swooped through the air, he let out a whoop. Even untested, and at such extreme speeds, the suit handled like a dream. He said so to Edwin and Jarvis over the comms. Harry smirked as he soared across the skyline, before getting a textbook insane Gryffindorish idea.
"OK, Jay, let's say we see what this baby can really do. What's SR-71's Record?" he asked. Jarvis' robotic voice replied momentarily.
"The Altitude record for fixed wing flight is 85,000ft, sir". Harry grinned, they should be able to beat that, if they pushed more power into the thrusters.
"Records are made to be broken." He told his AI friend. Edwin's voice came over the line.
"Sir," the butler began, "I cannot recommend such an endeavour with the current suit design, it could prove to be fatal." Harry hesitated for several moments before assuring the older man he'd be careful, and instructing Jarvis to kill coms but have medical supplies prepped in the lab.
As they shot higher into the sky, warnings began to flash across the HUD. Just as he was beginning to wonder if this had really been his best idea, Jarvis alerted him to a potentially fatal Ice build-up. Harry grinned.
"Well, how about that then?" he murmured, before forcing his magic into the heat runes of the armour. He felt the suit get hotter as the ice melted. They were able to push higher before the heat runes expired, and the ice began to build up once more. At 87,400 feet, he aimed towards the ground, flying back towards the house and in through the garage door.
He landed in the garage, walking towards Edwin, standing ready to aid. He stopped in front of the older man, removing the face plate and placing it on the table next to where he was standing. He grinned at the old man. Edwin shook his head, removing the chest plate as he did so.
"You don't need to be so reckless, sir." Harry smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry, Ed. I didn't really think things through there, did I?" he asked, running a metal clad hand through his hair. Edwin shook his head, removing the armour from the other arm as he did.
"No, sir" he stated simply, "no you did not. Perhaps next time, you would like to actually think, before you act?" Harry nodded, blushing slightly as he bowed his head. Once the suit was fully stored away, Edwin moved back over towards the computer. The old man sat down, reaching for a cup of steaming tea next to the keyboard. He moved towards the other man, who shook his head briefly.
"I will finish up here sir," the other man assured, "you go back upstairs, and get something to eat." Harry nodded his thanks, heading towards the lift as he did so. A few moments later, he found himself walking into the living room. Hermione was sitting at a stool behind the kitchen counter. Spread out on the couch was Neville. Both were chewing on pizza. A low, crooning sound floated towards his ears from the direction of the grand piano. He winced, though put on a bold face as he entered the room.
"Uh-oh, I've heard that before," he deadpanned as he walked towards Obie, "that well, huh?" The other man didn't even look up before responding.
"Would have gone better if you'd been there," he replied. Harry snorted softly, reaching for a piece of pizza from the box by Stane's side.
"You told me to stay low, that's what I'm doing. So, anything major I need to know?" He asked, chewing on the slice of pizza in his hand. He plopped down into a seat by the other man's side.
" First of all, I told you to lay low with the press. This was a board of directors meeting. Secondly –". Harry blanched, staring in horror at the older man.
"This was, this was a board of directors meeting?" Stane nodded.
"It was."
"Well?"
"The board are claiming post-traumatic stress. They've filed an injunction to lock you out."
Harry glared. "They did what?" this time, it was Hermione who answered.
"It's not that surprising, with the drop in the stock market. Besides the board have rights too."
Stane nodded, cutting him off before he could retort.
"She's right, Tones." He wrapped an arm around his shoulders, patting him on the arm. "Look, don't worry about this right now. I'll deal with the board, you keep down in the lab and finish whatever it is you're working on, you hear?"
Harry nodded tiredly. He stood slowly, grabbing the pizza box as he did so.
"Hey, mind if I come down and have a look at what you and the old man are cooking up down there?"
Harry shook his head. "Not tonight Obie," he replied. The other man shook his head, reaching for the pizza box.
"Well then, this stays with me. Take a piece. No wait, you take two. The rest stays up here though."
"Good night, Obie," he called back simply over his shoulder. He walked down the stairs, ordering Jarvis to make sure the lab was locked down once he got in there. He stepped into the lab, handing one of the pizza slices to Edwin. The old man took the piece from him, murmuring his thanks. Harry smiled grimly.
"You hear all that?" He asked his friend. Edwin nodded.
"It seems that Mr. Stane is rather eager to get his hands on our work".
"Yeah," Harry grunted watching as he typed.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked.
"I am researching possible replacement metals for the exoskeleton." Harry nodded, pulling over a seat.
"I had a thought on that one, actually."
Edwin nodded, tilting his head up to show he was listening.
"Yes sir?" Harry smiled slightly.
"Nitinol," he told the other man. Edwin paused, thinking quickly. He nodded after a few moments.
"Nickel-Titanium alloy. Light and strong. Should be able to take stress relatively well. We may as well use that for now. Jarvis, began rendering a new nitinol suit for Mr. Stark, would you?"
"Of course, sir. Anything else?" Edwin glanced at harry, who grinned and shrugged.
"Tell you what, Jay, throw a little Gryffindor red and gold in there."
"Yes, because that should help you blend right in sir".
Harry smirked, chuckling at the deadpan response from his A.I. 'Who said anything about blending in?' he thought, though kept it to himself.