The inspiration for this story comes from 'A Happy Accident: 70 Years' by Njchrispatrick. You should go check it out. It's cool.

The monstrous creature swam through the air towards Harry. Beady black eyes, filled with undisguised malice mingling with madness, focussed on Harry, ready to kill. Behind it, buildings fell and crumbled, leaving nothing but destruction in its ever-growing wake. A great war cry filled the air. It came from the creature. Windows hummed in their frames then shattered, tinkling to the ground to join the rest of the ruined city. An ungodly choir struck up as the blood-curdling screams of citizens mixed with the creature's roar. Together it was enough to give anyone nightmares, including Harry.

Harry swore vigorously, freezing in fear. His feet seemed to be stuck to the pavement, unable to move. A lead weight settled in his stomach. Never before had he seen a creature so large, plated in seemingly impenetrable armour, swimming through the air. It was like a larger, flying version of the basilisk from his second year….the basilisk! If he could defeat that when he was twelve, he sure as hell could defeat on of these at thirty-one. And it wasn't like he could die. Sure, feeling pain was still a thing, and caution was not something he would just throw to the wind, but now he was able to fight with just that little bit more reckless abandon.

And maybe that was all he needed right now.

Harry whirled around, searching for an area where people weren't. Where he seemed to be was fairly empty, save from the people now fleeing the coffee shop behind him. Right, his priority was to keep the leviathan away from them while they ran to safety. He started sprinting in the opposite direction of the people. The leviathan followed him down a side street that was far too small for it. With every stroke of its great tail, the tops of buildings came tumbling down, crushing everything beneath it.

An inkling of a plan began to form. The chances of it working were lost to Harry, as he didn't know the capabilities of these things or how strong they were. He would just have to do it and hope against hope it worked. If it didn't, he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

With a roar, it started moving faster, becoming nearer and nearer to Harry with every move. He could almost feel its' warm breath on the back of his neck, almost feel its' grey, chipped teeth closing around his body and thrashing him around like a ragdoll. It was completely set on destroying Harry, who must have been nothing more than a gnat to it. Well, that gnat was going to show it some manners.

Up ahead was a skyscraper that wasn't destroyed, great pillars of concrete holding up its base. Harry, all while still sprinting, pointed his wand at the building and shouted, "Homenum Revelio!" To his utter relief, there was no one in the building, nor the skyscrapers surrounding it. They all must have evacuated in record time. He laughed in relief, never stopping his sprint.

The plan continued to form. Little pieces came to him, all compiling into what Harry considered a very good plan for it being put together in less than a minute. He skidded to a stop and turned to face the leviathan. His feet were nearly ripped out from under him because of the debris. He kept his balance, straightened his back and held his ground.

Wand outstretched towards the monster, Harry narrowed his eyes. He needed to focus on the fins. There was a chink in the armour to allow for movement. All he needed to do was aim well at it and put all the power he had into the spells.

"DIFFINDO!" He turned his wand to the left fin and repeated the curse. Both spells rocketed out of his wand.

That was all it took for the leviathan to careen off to the side. It's fins now hung uselessly, holding on only by sinewy ropes of muscle and fat. A stump of bone stuck out, stark white against the grey flesh, grey air, grey atmosphere. The smell of rotting flesh filled the air. It almost overpowered Harry's senses with how foul it was. More buildings became rubble as the massive tail flailed through the air, desperately trying to control its' course. There were other fins, but without the main ones, there was nothing the leviathan could do to stop its' descent.

With an almighty 'BOOM! it crashed into the skyscraper. Harry almost saw it in slow motion as the building was standing on second, tipping sideways the next. Within ten seconds, there was nothing in the sky except dust. It was an avalanche of cement, glass, office supplies and...bodies Mutilated, torn up, charred bodies, eyes glazed over, blood congealing in small globules on their greying, ashen skin. Harry felt a tug on his heartstrings as he realised why no one had shown up with the spell he'd cast.

His attention was drawn away from the bodies as the leviathan writhed under the weight of the building, roaring out in pain. The armour it wore was protecting it from fully dying. Harry was going to change that.

"Accio Head Armour." The plates of armour zoomed towards Harry, who deftly dogged them. They clattered to the ground behind him, finding a home with bent metal that used to be a car. A terrible squishing noise and then the concrete crushed the head of the leviathan. Blood sprayed outwards, twisted brushstrokes painting the street red. Some of it splattered up onto Harry's face. It was so hot it started burning against his skin. Hurriedly, he wiped it off his face. The burning sensation slowly faded, a faint tingling left behind.

The plan had worked. Harry sighed in relief, barely believing his luck.

shhhick

A rock shifted behind him. Just a tiny topple. But it was enough.

Harry whirled around, a smirk playing on his lips. At least ten aliens surrounded him, now screeching out a guttural war cry that could be heard streets over. They twitched, dark little eyes focussed on Harry. He stared right back at them, raising his wand, ready to cast a spell. It took him a second to realise it, but he hadn't felt this alive in years.

Huh.

Time to show these aliens who in charge.

He didn't have to wait for long.

Within ten seconds, they all began firing at him. They wielded strange weapons, a cross between a staff and a rifle. Blue bolts of energy fizzled through the air, crackling and snapping towards Harry. He summoned a spherical shield with a flick of his wand. The chitauri projectiles bounced off it. With every hit, the shield illuminated gold, a pinging noise similar to the peal of a bell accompanying it.

Sitting underneath a strong shield was going to do Harry no good. The aliens were getting closer, advancing with every shot. He couldn't stay under here forever. They couldn't stay alive forever. It was clear they recognised the threat he posed, as there were so many surrounding him. Maybe they wanted to stop him from getting to Stark Tower, which was where he needed to go.

Harry looked up, locking eyes with one of the aliens. It stopped in its tracks. Harry smiled, cocking his head to the side. How long would they be able to last? He dropped the shield. He raised his wand, grinning.

"Let's dance."

Harry became a deadly, glittering whirlwind, the shine of his cloak combining with the fire of his spells. The light reflected in his eyes. One after another, the aliens fell, like marionettes with the strings cut. Their weapons skittered across the asphalt. Their war cries, once a victorious roar, fell until there was only one.

Only one remaining. It stood in front of him, seven feet tall, skin covered with festering wounds, chinks visible in the dulled, scratched battle armour. The eyes locked onto him and a war cry escaped from its terrible maw.

Harry could sense the death, the destruction, clinging onto it. It disgusted him to no end. Made him want to end it, just as it had ended those innocents now decorating the city like the nightmare version of baubles on a withering Christmas tree. All it would take...all it would take was...was a...single...spell...No.

NO!

Harry took a step back, wand still held up at the creature. It seemed to be hesitating, pondering why he would suddenly stop his crusade, leave it as the only member standing. Without taking his eyes off the creature, Harry was having in an internal battle.

No.

He couldn't become consumed by those thoughts. Eira warned him about this. It would be so easy to fail. Within a single moment, he could become lost to the swirling black whirlpool that was his newfound power. Over time it would lessen until he had total control. But now, it was tempting. The temptation was so big. All he had to do was reach out and touch it. That wasn't something he was going to do. Not something he would give into. Just because this...creature standing in front of him was coated with desolation didn't mean he would let the primal instinct inside of him take over. He would kill the creature, then droves more, but wouldn't become something worse. New York City needed protecting, he rose to the occasion.

A blue bolt flew through the air. Harry twitched his wand, a protego on his lips, but was too late. It impacted with his chest, throwing him backwards. Over and over he rolled, grunting and gasping. Embers burnt on his chest, sitting proudly on the massive burn mark. Oh, Merlin, it hurt. It was up there with the Cruciatus curse. It took a quick aguamenti charm and it was no longer burning, just smouldering. Smoke lazily spiralled into the air, joining the cacophony and grit of battle. The ache began.

"Fuck!" Harry bit the words out. He couldn't let that happen again. The middle of the battle was the worst possible time to become lost in thoughts. The last times he could remember that happening was during his many battles against Voldemort and the Death Eaters, and then again during his hand to hand combat training at SHIELD. Each time it happened, he was dealing with a new skill. Each time, he thought too hard, getting inside his head.

Never again.

Crunching footsteps came closer to Harry. An alien rifle pointed down at his face. Blue lights extended along the barrel as it powered up to fire. Harry acted first. A quick charm of Lumos Maxima had the alien scrambling back, clutching at its' eyes. The rifle lay forgotten on the street. It roared in agony. Harry took this time to cast a quick, "Stupefy." It fell to the ground, unaware. From there, a quick, specifically directed cutting charm to the temple killed it immediately. Harry glared down at it. An important lesson had been retaught thanks to the vile creature.

A warm, slithering feeling on his torso brought him back to his injury. He needed to take a better look at it. Even though he couldn't die, it was evident he could hurt. He brought the hood of the Invisibility Cloak up overhead and cast a silencing charm on his feet. It would be almost impossible for someone to find him, lest they knew how to look through the enchantments. Harry reckoned the only person in the city who could do that was Loki.

Harry stowed away to a side alley. There was no one down here. Just to be sure no one came in, he cast a very quick, basic notice-me-not on himself. That would do for now. The aching in his chest only intensified as he fell to the ground. Point-blank range. He'd been hit, shot, at point-blank range. It would usually kill a man. For Harry, it probably just set him back a few minutes as he healed the hole in his chest.

Holy shit.

There was an actual hole in his chest. Muscles were knitting themselves together, peeling black skin returning to his usual pallor. Organs appeared, starting to work, pumping and slowly expanding. Skin regrew, stretching over the wounds until there was no indication of the injury he'd just received except the throbbing ache and the flaking blood that just a minute ago ran a river down his chest.

What a strange way for the powers to manifest themselves. He wasn't complaining, though. All it took was a quick numbing spell and the pain was gone for the next two hours. He stood, running a hand through his hair. A small dust cloud plumed up. A small smile played at his lips. The one constant through all of this was his ridiculous hair. It felt nice to have one thing that never changed.

Stark Tower loomed on the horizon. Between the rooftops he could see the blue beam streaking through the sky, the huge portal still letting every manner of alien out to wreak havoc on the city. Through the hoard, he could see nothing but blackness, a vast expanse that sent shivers down his spine. Being out there, in that nothingness, Harry couldn't imagine anything worse.

Despite this, he had to get over there, to the blue light that was so bright it couldn't be human. Wherever it came from, whatever powered it, was immensely dangerous. He could tell that even from kilometres away. And he couldn't let his ego, the temptation, get in the way. He would be fighting two battles today. One for the fate of humanity and one for the fate of his morality.

He ran out of the alley, wishing that he had his broom on him. Unfortunately, it was back at the Triskelion, from when Fury had asked to examine it. To summon it would take far too long. Running was the second-best option. Every other street he struck down an alien, leaving them writhing on the ground. He didn't stop running the entire time. Stark Tower was where he was going and nothing was going to stop him. Not the hordes of aliens, not the leviathans swimming overhead, not the distant figure of Loki on a flying vehicle, glinting green and gold, being chased by Natasha―

Loki.

Inordinate amounts of rage flooded Harry at the sight of the man who dared to control his mind. It started in his brain and washing into the rest of his body. His grip on his wand tightened, so hard his all colour filtered out of his knuckles, turning them white. Teeth clenched, lips pressed together, sprinting towards the vehicle, wand outstretched.

"ACCIO LOKI!"

He didn't even know if it would work. Never before had he tried summoning a person. Harry felt the magic swinging through the air, looking for the target. For a few seconds, it drifted aimlessly, before latching onto the target. Loki flew backwards, falling rapidly towards the ground, arms flailing wildly. Harry didn't bother casting a cushioning charm as the 'god' impacted the ground.

Loki didn't cry out, nor did he laugh. For a second, he just lay there, a crumpled mess on the ground. At a passing glance, he could easily be mistaken for dead. Harry knew better. To kill Loki would take more than a large fall that would easily off a normal human. Loki was anything but normal. This was proven when Loki began chuckling, dark and thick, filled with amusement.

"It seems that my little minion has found a way to get free." He pulled himself to his feet, standing at his full height. The sceptre containing the power source that let his mind be controlled extended to be taller than Loki. The oval at the top glinted fiercely. "And how he's come back to challenge me. How quaint." Loki spat the last word, glaring at Harry. Arrogance and madness mixed in his eyes.

"You controlled my mind, me coming back to challenge you is anything but quaint."

"Well, if that's what you want, Potter. You're walking towards your death."

Harry laughed dryly. "I assure you I'm not."

"You dare―"

"I do."

Loki snarled and leapt towards Harry at an impossible speed. Harry did the same, readying his wand to strike.

Time to take Loki down a few notches.

Natasha, having just gained control of one of the Chitauri chariots, was chasing Loki through the ruins of what used to be New York City. The wind whipped her hair and made her eyes water. She pushed through it. She could push through anything. Her training meant she finished any mission no matter what had to be done. Right now, her mission was to get the Sceptre off Loki and close the portal.

So when Loki was suddenly pulled off his chariot and drawn towards the ground, making a strange noise that made her think of a pterodactyl getting strangled, she almost crashed into a skyscraper made almost entirely of glass. She pulled up just in time. The glass turned to smithereens, blown outwards by the force of the chariots engines. Natasha looked down at the ground to where Loki had fallen and almost fell off herself in shock.

Stalking slowly towards Loki was an unmistakable figure, swathed in a cloak made of stars, green eyes almost glowing from the power flowing through his body. There was something different about him, something darker, something more distant and cold. His presence was powerful. She could feel it from up here. It was endless, no beginning and no end, everything and nothing, eternity and infinity, all balled up into one person. Though she couldn't see it, the look on his face must have been something to behold as he talked to Loki.

But none of that mattered.

Harry was alive. Something stirred inside of her. Natasha believed that love was for children, that attachments shouldn't be formed. They got in the way of missions. Ever since being recruited by SHIELD, that mentality began to fade slightly, though she didn't let anyone know. When it came to Harry, it faded almost completely. He made her feel warm. He filled a hole she didn't know needed filling. When he died, the hole opened up again.

Now it was filled again.

She put her finger to her ear, speaking into the comm sitting there. "Harry's alive and fighting Loki."

The explosion of shock from the earpiece made her wince. Despite this, she couldn't stop the smile from spreading over her face. He was alive.

Then she heard Steve on the comm, almost sobbing. "Thank you, Natasha."

She sent a 'you're welcome' his way and was about to join in the fight below when a horde of Chitauri roared around the corner, firing at her. She would take care of them first then join in the fight below.

Good luck, Potter. Let our training pay off, she thought.

God, let it pay off.

Harry deftly leapt to the side, avoiding what would have been the sceptre cleaving straight through him and piercing out the back. He jumped a few steps back, casting the first spell that came to his head. In hindsight, it wasn't the best spell he could have chosen.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" The scarlet spell rocketed through the air, hitting the sceptre with a pting. Loki staggered backwards but the spell did nothing. He raised the sceptre and shot a bolt of energy towards Harry. It hit him square in the chest, Harry'is shield too slow to react. Fighting the aliens had made him complacent, his reactions slow. Compared to Loki they were like a fly in a spider's web.

He tumbled to the ground, hissing in pain. Throbbing pain again, numbing charm dispelled. The energy left scorch marks on his chest, on the edges of the cloak. Sparks flew outwards. Blood trickled down his temple from a cut he knew would scar if he didn't heal it properly. He blinked in shock. How powerful did something have to be to leave scorch marks on the cloak? It was a Hallow...he was going to have to play his cards. Then there was the feeling of blue, be mine, you're mine now, obey crawling into his mind. Harry growled and pushed it out. The light exploded around him in a circle, ricocheting on the ground and walls. He seemed to be immune to the controlling properties of the gem.

Perfect.

Loki was staring at the sceptre in shock, eyes wider than Harry had ever seen them. If he looked close enough, he could almost see a look of fear on the man's face. It was covered up so quickly that he couldn't see, though. Harry didn't care. He took the moment of distraction to launch a volley of spells at Loki.

"Stupefy! Petrificus Totalus! Sectumsempra! Stupefy!"

Loki came back to himself and flipped out of the way of the first three. This sent him right into the path of the last stupefy. Harry internally cheered. That was a total accident, but a welcome one. It hit him right in the chest. Loki staggered backwards again, snarling in anger.

"You're going to have to do better than that, Potter. I am a god! You can't think the pitiful parlour tricks that you call magic could defeat me, Loki, God of Mischief and Lies, chaos incarnate." Loki launched another attack at Harry, swinging at his head with the sceptre. "You're going to have to use something new. At least make this interesting for me."

"Merlin's beard, save the speech. I've heard this a million times before." Harry sent another three stunners at Loki's chest. Two of them hit. He looked visibly weakened, recovering slightly longer than last time. His breath came in unsteady puffs. "Looks like I've found a weakness, aye."

Loki's eyes widened and he increased his attack. "I have no weaknesses! I am immortal, so much more than you will ever be. At least try to keep up."

"As far as I'm concerned, I am. Have you landed a solid hit on me yet?" A quick bombarda at Loki's feet sent him flying into the air. Harry transfigured the debris into crows, which flew at Loki and began furiously pecking at his flesh. Their eyes almost glowed with malevolence, just enough to get Loki to surrender. Harry wasn't fighting to kill. He knew that the Avengers would want Loki alive so they could interrogate him and close the portal.

Loki cried out. Not in pain, nor anguish, but pure unadulterated rage. Crazily aimed bolts of energy, so numerous that Harry was forced to retreat under a fortified shield, flew out of the cloud of crows. With every hit, it's integrity fizzed and Harry could feel the strength of it fading. There had to be something better he could do...the crows were now on the ground, fading away...aha!

He quickly dispelled the shield and pulled the Cloak over his head, becoming completely invisible. No footsteps could be heard from him. Harry crept around Loki, who was now on his feet, looking a little worse for wear. The grand clothes he wore, now ripped and tattered. Plates of gold lay uselessly on the ground. His helmet was gouged. Harry stifled a snort. No matter how many times he saw that helmet it never became less ridiculous of ostentatious.

"Run away, Potter? I knew you were nothing more than a coward. Where have you gone?" Harry sniggered at how Loki was completely lost, spinning around in utter confusion. "I can't sense your magic. Have you just up and left like a coward?"

Holy shit.

The invisibility cloak hid his magical signature? That was going to come in handy in the future, Harry could just feel it.

Oh, this was going to be good.

He tip-toed closer to Loki, right behind him, then brought his wand up. A whisper was all he needed for a huge chunk of concrete to dislodge from a building above him. It sped towards Loki, so fast it made a whistling noise. Harry rolled out of the way just in time to not get hit himself.

Something snagged onto his foot, holding him back. A hand around his ankle. Iron grip. So tight his skin twisted and burned. Without even looking back Harry knew it was Loki. He was flipped over onto his back, Loki's face so close he could smell his breath. It didn't smell good. With his other hand, Loki levitated the boulder above his head.

"You're going to have to do better than that. I'll show you how to do better. Watch very carefully, and take notes." Loki grinned, somehow

The boulder came down faster than Harry could imagine. He could see his own crushed body in his mind's eye, broken and battered. Unmoving. Unbreathing.

"WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" He put all the power he had into the spell. The boulder stopped a hair breadths from his face. It was so close that he could see each stone's shade, the wires snaking through cracked pipes and ants frantically crawling. "Depulso." Nothing happened, his magic fighting with Loki's. He poured even more power into it, utilising his new abilities. The air around them began to grow cold, a slight breeze that whispered with the voices of the dead settling in the street. "Depulso! DEPULSO!" Finally, Harry launched it away. It landed halfway up a skyscraper, leaving behind a great crater.

That was a close one. He would have to be more careful.

Harry shook his leg, trying to get out of Loki's grip. It was a futile effort. Loki pinned him to the ground by his shoulders, close enough that Harry could see a slight blue ring around his iris.

"Nothing you can do will make you win. It's over!"

"Not yet. You need to stop declaring victory in the middle of a fight. Diffindo!" Right at Loki's stomach. It tore through the armour and left a slight mark on his skin. Harry then kneed him in the groin and cast another spell, one he rarely used for how powerful it was. He doubted it would incapacitate Loki for long, but it would give him all the time he needed. "Electricae!" Lightning leapt out of the end of Harry's wand, latching onto Loki with the fervor of a dog to a bone.

While Loki cried out, this time in pain, Harry shimmered out from under him, twirling around and hitting him with another two stunners for good measure. Loki hissed curses at Harry, dragging himself to his feet. Harry shot out another stunner, weakening Harry further. Finally, he seemed to be making some difference to Loki's seemingly endless endurance.

"ENOUGH!" Loki slammed the sceptre down on the ground. Ten, twenty, thirty, forty illusions of him sprang up, surrounding him, all laughing. Golden and green, deadly and keen, all intent on driving Harry to insanity. That wasn't going to happen. He needed to see through them, see the truth, remember what Eira said to him what seemed like aeons ago...

"Remember, Harry, trust your instincts. There are so many things you are going to be able to do. You're going to be able to see through things that aren't real, see things that have happened, that will happen. Trust yourself and things will become right again."

Harry closed his eyes, tuning out the maniacal cackling boring into his brain. Concentrate. Focus.

Breathe.

In. Out.

In. Out.

Repeat. Concentrate.

His eyes snapped open. A deadly green, all traces of the previous sky blue gone. They almost glowed with power, boring into everything around them, every one. The whispering wind picked up, paper whipping around. Harry's blond hair moved in time with it. He could see the truth, see where Loki was. He could see through all the illusions, though they still played sentry. He could see the real Loki, standing tall and proud still cackling, not even realising that Harry had already won. He felt something tugging at the power within him, trying to bring him down, make him be one with the temptation.

Can't. Give. In.

He wasn't done seeing the truth yet.

Visions of death swam through his mind. People screaming, structures falling, all caused by Loki's hand. All while he was laughing, revelling in their pain and misery, their terror so thick you could breathe it in and it caused your bones to shake. Anger, black and deadly, began to fill Harry. How dare Loki think he was in the right, that he was leading Earth to a newer future. How dare he think that he could be a merciful leader?

"You're right. I've had enough. I've seen what you've done and am not impressed." Harry looked directly at Loki and waved a hand. The illusions all faded away. Loki's eyes widened. "It's time for you to leave. You need to surrender."

"I will never surrend―agh!" A wandless Incarcerous bound Loki from his shoulders to his feet. Harry summoned the sceptre to him. The second it was held in his hand, an intoxicating wave of power washed over him, calling out to him. A deep rumbling voice sounded in his head, twining in with the temptation that festered deep within him...

"Come to me. You can fulfil your dreams, your wildest desire with me. You are a worthy successor to that pathetic creature who calls himself a God. I will give you all that you desire and more if you serve me."

Harry blocked the voice out, refusing to fall prey to the power of whatever was within the gem. It stilled wormed around in his head, poking and prodding at his defences. Whatever it was, Harry seemed to be immune to it now, after breaking free of its constraints by becoming the Master of Death.

He held it proudly in his hand, a vision of pure power. It crackled around him, silver sparks dancing over his skin. His eyes glowed an ethereal green. At that moment, Harry truly, truly, accepted who he was now and what it meant to be the Master of Death. To become a protector, a guardian, someone who gains revenge for the lives of those slaughtered in cold blood.

An Avenger.

And then the temptation disappeared. Gone in an instant, in the snap of a pair of fingers. Nothing left but the realisation that this was always what he was meant to be all along.

"You...what are you? How can you hold the staff and not go mad?" Loki spoke up again, still fighting despite the impenetrable ropes around him. "How?"

Harry stalked forward, the cloak swishing at his feet. The stone, ensconced within the brooch, hummed. The wand, clutched in his right hand, crackled with the same sparks that clung to his skin and found a home within his eyes. He knelt in front of Loki, smiling that small smile that victory brought.

"I'm someone who doesn't take shit from anyone. I'm the one who defeated you, Loki Odinson, a supposed god." Loki hissed at the surname, Harry paying no mind to it. "I am the one who was prepared to sacrifice everything I was to do what was right for the world.

"I'm the motherfucking Master of Death."

One Week Later…

"Nobody knows the name of this mysterious new hero. He has been reported to wear a cloak of stars, fight with a wand and have green eyes. He saved a little girl named Alena Scott, who says that he was very nice to her. Other reports have stated that he 'reeked of death, but in a good way. Several names have been proposed for him, one including the 'Death Star,' which will not be happening, due to copyrights from Lucasfilm. A man who was witness to the fight between him and Loki has come forward and said that he referred to himself as 'The Master of Death.'"

Steve clicked the television off. Three days earlier, Harry admitted how he escaped from Loki's control, how he had theories about him be immune to the sceptre and why he now looked as if he was in his early twenties. He was still getting his head around the impossible facts, as well as how Harry now looked just younger than him. The new powers he'd acquired did unnerve him slightly, but Steve was sure he would get used to it.

On his left was Harry, and on his right was Natasha. Clint was somewhere up high, Tony was in the kitchen failing at making coffee with Bruce, while Thor was on Asgard. They were all staying in the communal levels of Stark Tower, now renamed Avengers Tower.

Nothing needed to be said between the three of them, for there was nothing to be said. Though the entire city needed to be repaired and Earth would never be the same again, there was a sense of peace that settled in their chests. It wouldn't last, they knew that. But at the moment, that didn't matter.

At the moment, things were good.

Wow, I'm finally done. This took so long, and I hope it shows in the writing. This is the end of the first Avengers movie arc, and it will continue in around a month or two. I want to spend the next few weeks focusing on family interactions, mundane things, which is what I wrote this story about. Also, Harry and Steve strengthening their relationship. I am also writing a new end to this series, as I have a different vision for how these characters go and what they do. With Harry in the mix, how can you not expect it to go differently? This was a labour of love. I hope you enjoyed it.

I was going to add a bit where Harry hexed Loki to have actual horns growing out of his head, but I couldn't find an appropriate place to slot it in, so I decided to write it very quickly below:

"Um, Harry, what did you do?" asked Natasha. "Scratch that, how did you do it?" Sitting before them was Loki, still bound head to toe. The object of Natasha's questioning was the antlers sticking out of his head. They were gold in colour and melded with his skin.

"Oh, nothing much. He just seemed so fond of his helmet that I decided to give him the real thing."

"And why are you wearing his helmet, then?"

"I'm keeping it as a trophy and had nowhere to put it?"

Guffaws followed his statement, as well as an outraged grunt from Loki. If the gag wasn't on, Harry was sure the words would have been crass and vulgar. He didn't care. Just the sight of Loki with honest to Merlin antlers was hilarious enough.

Why not come and join my discord server? The link is /Kb9zJgV. Just enter it in and you should be good to go. We discuss fanfiction and it is a place to promote your own stories. It's really fun, in my opinion.

I'm starting the question of the week again: If you could be in any fictional universe, what would it be and what would your role be? Do blatant self-inserts and OP versions of yourself, those are really fun.

Sincerely,
A very happy Mariadoria

P.S: Thank you for all the reviews and read, favourites and follows. It means the world to me. I also really like constructive criticism. If you don't like something, be constructive about it and how I could improve. That's really good. :)