Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or Harry Potter. Unfortunately.
Chapter 5: Furious
Harry had been living with Tony for a total of three weeks and things were going well. If only Tony could ignore the fact that Harry was hiding something from him, which he couldn't. He really didn't like it when information was kept from him. It nagged at him until he devised some way to figure it out. And in the end he always figured it out.
Tony knew something was going on with Harry and his school. He just didn't know what it was. He had theories. Outlandish ones yes but he was running out of leads to go on. His ideas ranged from a super secret spy school to a super secret school for geniuses. But then this brought up the point that if they were super secret he would know. He would know because SHIELD would know, and Tony made it his mission in life to regularly hack SHIELD to keep up to date on what the spy organization was doing. He hadn't liked being ambushed and spied on like he had been during his first encounter with them several months ago. He was determined to stay ahead of the curve this time, and not be outshone by those stiff secretive spies. Wow that's a lot of s alliterations in one thought process.
He also wanted to know more about Harry's life with the Dursleys. It was eating him away inside to hear vague references to things that had happened but not being able to outright question him on it. Pepper kept saying it was too soon and that it would halt the thin bond of trust they had formed or some psychobabble shit like that. Tony wanted answers now! At least to one of the two secrets. He definitely wasn't known for having an amazing amount of patience, and the mysteries surrounding his kid were enough to drive him up the wall. He was Tony's kid and he should be allowed to know what was going on with him. The not knowing was literally making him insane. The secrets were huge chunks of missing information, and Tony needed to know what those secrets were. How else was he supposed to get to know Harry on a close, personal level?
But despite listening in on Harry's conversations with his friend, and flat out asking him about his school he was no closer to the answers. It was very frustrating not knowing critical pieces of Harry's life. It didn't help that he was being purposefully evasive making Tony all the more suspicious of him. It strengthened his desire to find out his secrets because Tony knew if he was putting that much effort into concealing them then they had to be fairly huge secrets.
Despite these two little snafus everything else was going pretty well. They ate meals together. Discussed advanced thermonuclear physics together. Watched movies together and were generally getting to be pretty good friends. Of course Pepper nagged him that he shouldn't be trying to be his friend but his father. Tony didn't know how though. If he tried emulating his own father then he'd hire a nanny and see the kid once every couple of months. He thought his own technique really wasn't that bad so far. Sure he hadn't really had anything major to deal with yet since Harry was a pretty low maintenance kid, barring the whole secret thing. Harry was polite and friendly and smart. He had a decent sense of humor even though his knowledge of pop culture was practically nonexistent. All in all Tony really didn't mind having him around.
Harry and Tony had even developed a routine. They got up had breakfast together. Sometimes with Pepper. Sometimes without depending on if she had flown off to a meeting or not. They would then go down into the workshop where Tony had given Harry his own array of parts and tools to work with while he worked on his own projects. He'd been worried at first about inviting him down to his workshop on a daily basis. He was nervous that Harry would be a distraction or that he would touch something, and mess up what he was working on. But he didn't, he was very responsible in fact more so than Tony. Sometimes Harry would do his own thing, and other times he would sit quietly and watch Tony work, occasionally asking him a question about what he was doing. It was kind of nice to have some company. He was normally only surrounded by his robots and Jarvis while working on a new idea. Harry was also intelligent enough to keep up with him so his company was actually beneficial in bouncing ideas off of him.
On another positive note Tony had tracked down the Dursleys. They had settled back at Number 4 Privet Drive in Little Whinging, Surrey. They were planning on moving to a better, more upscale location with the money they had gotten from Tony. Tony, however, had quickly blocked any progress in their attempts to buy a new home. While he was doing that he also implemented the first phase of his plan. He'd hired several highly skilled people with dubious pasts, and sent them in to mess with their plumbing, electricity, and furniture. He also had them set up cameras so he could document the whole thing and show Harry later. He thought the kid would get a kick out of seeing his relatives so humiliated. Phase two would commence in the next few weeks or so after their daily lives had become sufficiently unsettled and unbearable.
It was just another routine day since Harry arrived. They were down in the workshop and he had almost completed the arc reactor prototype. He couldn't wait for it to be finished so he could test it out. The world was going to be in awe of his genius once they realized he had created something that could power an entire building for a year, and still be considered green energy. He just decided to take a break from the arc reactor, and was working on some upgrades to his newest suit the Mark VII. He had stepped into the back room where he kept his other suits under lock and key when he heard the door to his workshop slide open. He thought Harry must have decided to head back up to the penthouse for lunch or something but he stopped dead when he recognized a deep male voice questioning Harry.
"Who are you?" Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD and number one, one-eyed annoyance in Tony's life, demanded.
Tony moved back towards the main workshop area but stopped just shy of entering, keeping out of sight of the Director. It was too late to do anything now. Fury had seen Harry and wouldn't stop until he figured out what a kid was doing in Tony Stark's private workshop even if Tony tried to play it off like he was no one special. It was just too bizarre. Fury would know that Tony would have never let just anybody in his workshop. Tony knew Fury wasn't here because he had found out about Harry. First because he had been far too careful and second, the most obvious reason, was because Fury seemed confused about who Harry was. He would have to have words with Jarvis as to how Fury had gotten in to the building in the first place but for now he just wanted to see how this all played out.
"Harry," Harry replied looking slightly confused by Fury's appearance. Yeah, Fury really needed to work on his wardrobe. The all black leather ensemble and the eye-patch really screamed space pirate or being a part of some weird biker gang.
Fury was staring at Harry. His one eye looking him over keenly before recognition, followed swiftly by dread dawned on the super spy's face.
"Oh hell no! Stark, get your ass out here! This cannot be happening. This is a disaster waiting to happen," Fury ranted.
"Problem Director?" Tony asked casually as he walked back into the workshop. Harry was staring wide eyed at Fury, obviously not knowing how to react to the man's crazed ranting.
"What the hell is this Stark?" Fury said waving in Harry's direction.
"I believe he said his name was Harry and you should really know better than to swear in front of children, Director," Tony chided, annoyed with the way Fury was referring to Harry especially with the kid still in the room. He knew the jabs were meant to be towards Tony but Harry would no doubt take them personally.
"Don't get smart with me, Stark. Who the hell thought reproducing with you was a good idea?"
"My mum," Harry chirped, glaring at Fury.
In his head Tony applauded his cheeky courage and sent Harry a wink, which made the kid grin.
"Right, and she thought it was a good idea to leave you with the most irresponsible man on the planet?"
"My mum's dead, sir."
To Tony the added sir sounded like he was challenging Fury. It was like he said 'take that and shove it where the sun don't shine you one-eyed idiot'. For a minute Fury looked a little flabbergasted by Harry's snappy response. Tony could relate. The kid had this whole wide-eyed innocent look but he had courage and spunk. But Fury wasn't the Director of SHIELD for nothing and he wouldn't be intimidated by an eleven year old. He quickly arranged his face back into his stoic mask.
"Why wasn't I informed about this development?" Fury demanded.
"Contrary to your beliefs, SHIELD does not run my life and they do not need to know about the intricate details of it," Tony sniped, he was still angry over their meddling even if they had inadvertently saved his life, and Fury's attitude towards Harry was really irking him. He made it seem like Tony was some wild maniac who was completely incapable of taking care of a kid. His reaction brought up all the old fears of him being incapable of raising Harry.
"In the past you've proven that you need someone to look after you," replied Fury not in the least concerned by Tony's anger.
"What do you want Fury? Besides coming here and criticizing me on whether or not I am allowed to procreate?" Tony demanded.
"It's confidential," Fury snapped back, tossing a look towards Harry.
"Harry, kiddo, why don't you head upstairs? I'll be up in a moment okay? Right after I deal with the mean and nasty pirate," Tony told him.
"Okay," Harry said still glaring at Fury for insulting his mother.
He turned on his heel and stalked from the room. For a moment the lights in the workshop flickered before settling back down. Tony frowned. There must have been something wrong with the wiring. He would have to look into it later after dealing with Fury, and explaining to Harry just who Fury was.
"How long have you known about him?" Fury asked the moment Harry was gone.
"Three weeks Director. And I really don't appreciate you saying those things in front of him. It was a bit unnecessary," Tony said casually while inside he was still stewing.
"You're lecturing me on propriety?" Fury demanded. "That's rich Stark considering your behavior a couple months ago."
"You didn't need to make him feel like he was some sort of strange anomaly for being my son. He's just a kid," growled Tony.
"Which is exactly why you shouldn't be anywhere near him. No offense Stark, but you're not exactly kid friendly or the responsible type. You're great with computers and mechanics. But are you even capable of keeping a goldfish alive? Let alone another human being."
Tony snorted. He knew that was as close to an apology as he was going to get from the super spy. "I'm doing just fine with Harry, Fury. It's been three weeks and the kid is still alive and fully functional. Just tell me why you're here since it wasn't to discuss the fact that I have managed to reproduce."
"Why have you been hacking SHIELD, Stark?"
Tony put on a blank expression. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Cut the crap, Stark. You've been looking through top-secret programs that you have no right even knowing about. It needs to stop."
"I've just been making sure you haven't found out about Harry. Okay? You're security systems aren't exactly the best but you do have some pretty good spies. Basically that means you're good at acquiring information but not good at keeping it a secret. I don't want anyone knowing about Harry, Director. Not even you."
"The only people we can't seem to keep information from is you. And why are you so worried about people knowing about the kid?" Fury questioned.
"Hello? Billionaire? Iron Man? Any of these ringing any bells, Director? There are people out there who would jump at the chance to get their hands on Tony Stark's kid and use him against me," Tony giving him his patented duh look that Harry had inherited from him.
These were things that Tony was actually terrified about. Harry's life would be at risk if people found out he had a kid. He knew he would guard Harry with all the resources he had at his disposal but he knew there would always be a slight chance that something could happen. Tony had thought himself safe, and look what had happened to him. He had been kidnapped by terrorists who wanted him to build weapons for them. He could only imagine what someone desperate enough would do to Harry to get him to cooperate. Harry was a weakness now, and he had to make sure to do whatever he could to protect him.
"You have to know that SHIELD would never let anything like that happen to your son, Stark. We protect our interests," said Fury looking insulted even at the mere mention of SHIELD not being able to do something.
"Right, but I'm not really of interest anymore am I? Not since you scrapped me for the Avengers Initiative," said Tony. He was only a little disappointed at being declined. After all he worked much better alone.
"You'll always be of interest to us, Stark," said Fury a hint of threat in his tone.
"You mean the bad kind of interest, don't you? Less of a sweet, high school crush and more of a stalker with a shrine in the closet, right? Because you're afraid of what would happen if I ever turned against you," Tony was slightly amused that he could make SHIELD uncomfortable.
"Don't push me, Stark."
"You know my tech outclasses yours and that if I really wanted to I could probably become the next supreme overlord of the planet. Hmmm Emperor Tony. Has a nice ring to it don't you think, Director? I wouldn't mind the bowing and scraping. And look, now I have Harry to continue my dynasty. It'll be a never ending rule of Starks."
"Stark…"
"Honestly, Fury, you have nothing to worry about. Just stay out of my life and you won't ever have to worry about any trouble from me. Pinkie swear."
"Don't count on that Stark. There may be a time when we do actually need you. Will you be prepared to meet that challenge? Can you take up a fight that has nothing to do with you? Cause so far all you've ever used that suit for are problems you've created for yourself or for your own personal gain," said Fury.
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see Director," said Tony in a jibbing tone.
"I guess we will. Good luck with the kid, Tony. Try to do by right him or find him a better home. I'll keep him out of SHIELD's database for now as a favor for the kid, not you. The less people who know about him the better. And for god's sake stop hacking SHIELD, Stark! I'm going to end up having Natasha come and kick your sorry ass, and that's something you definitely don't want your kid to see," Fury said as he stalked from the room muttering about the downfall of humanity due to Starks multiplying.
Tony sat down at his workbench feeling a bit overwhelmed. He was surprised by the surge of protectiveness he had felt when Fury started going after Harry. He was also surprised just how much he wanted to prove Fury wrong, and that he could be a good father to Harry. Maybe that's what the one-eyed bastard wanted in the first place; to push Tony and test him to make sure he did treat him well. Or maybe he was just being an ass. Tony was going with the latter because he didn't like the one-eyed Director throwing his own concerns back in his face.
Tony would never admit it but he was terrified of failing Harry. He was so scared that he was going to completely screw up Harry's life. He could barely focus on the fact that he was a father. Even thinking it still terrified him. Tony didn't want to end up like his own father but at the same time he was worried that taking an active part in Harry's life would be even worse. He wasn't the best of role models despite the image of himself he'd portrayed to Harry. He didn't want Harry to hate him. He was afraid to let himself care about him, to become too attached because he wasn't sure if he would even be able to succeed in being a father. Being a dad and allowing himself to care left him open and vulnerable, something he really didn't care for. So he tried not to think about his fears, and focused on areas of Harry's life that he could discover and control.
Tony should have known that hacking SHIELD so often would bring their attention eventually but he was desperately looking for information on the school that Harry went to. He knew it existed. His friend Hermione was certainly real and when he had first looked her up it showed the same gap in her own education as Harry's. She declined an acceptance letter from a very prestigious school in Britain in favor of this other school. But there were no records of where she ended up going, only a short note that she had chosen some other gifted school instead. So it definitely existed somewhere, there was just no way for him to track it online. He'd used satellites to try and track down possible locations for it but so far he'd found nothing that fit the profile.
It also sparked a memory for him when he noticed that Hermione Granger had declined her invitation to the prestigious school right after she turned eleven. He had never been able to track down Lily's school records after the age of eleven, the age both Harry and Hermione were when they first would have attended this school. So the logical conclusion was that Lily had gone to this school too. But the sister hadn't, and Harry's cousin hadn't so why had Lily and Harry? Why did this Hermione girl go when her parents hadn't? There was also the strange term that Hermione had used to describe her summer tutor. At first he wrote it off to be some British slang word but the more he thought about it the more unlikely it seemed. He looked up the term but couldn't find a meaning for it. And why would she need a 'muggle' tutor in the summer? What wasn't she learning at this school that she needed a tutor in the summer? It was a strange pattern, one that Tony was having trouble solving on his own.
Still feeling a bit frustrated over his meeting with Fury, and his lack of answers with Harry he went back up to the penthouse. He found Harry washing the dishes he'd left in the sink. Tony suddenly realized that it must have been Harry who had been doing all his dishes for him. He had thought Pepper had hired a cleaning lady without telling him or she had told him and he just hadn't been paying attention. Watching the practiced way Harry cleaned the dishes, he knew now it had been him the whole time. How had this escaped his notice? Why would he decide to do this? Did he feel like he needed to do this to earn Tony's affections? Either way it made Tony angry. No eleven year old boy should be that good at washing the dishes.
"Harry, you don't have to do that," Tony barked at him.
Harry startled and turned around to face him. "That's okay, Tony. I want to help out and I used to do it all the time at the Dursleys."
"You don't need to help out, okay? I'm not like you're aunt and uncle. I don't expect you to clean up after me. I pay people for that," Tony said moving forward to snatch the plate from Harry's hand and tossing it into the sink with a loud clang.
"What do you mean?" questioned Harry nervously.
Tony instantly felt guilty. He didn't mean to scare the kid but he was just so tired of tiptoeing around it. He wanted to know the truth. It was obviously worse than what he thought if Harry was so good at cleaning. He also mentioned that he knew how to cook. What had the Dursleys done? Made him their live-in maid? The thought sparked a hot rage inside Tony.
"I know what they did, Harry. I know how your relatives treated you. I know everything," Tony said. Maybe if Harry thought he already knew everything he'd be more willing to explain it all to him.
Harry looked stricken. "I didn't want you to find out. I don't want anyone to find out."
"It's okay, no one else needs to know. I don't care about what happened, just talk to me kiddo."
"I don't want to talk about it," said Harry stubbornly.
"Harry, it's fine all right. Just tell me what happened," Tony demanded trying to hold on to his patience. It wasn't Harry's fault that the Dursleys were cruel bastards but it was so hard that the kid was so stubborn in keeping it a secret. He didn't understand why he was so against it. He was away from those horrible people there was nothing they could do to stop him from telling people the truth now.
"You already know. Why do I have to tell you again?" Harry said glaring at him much like he had been glaring at Fury earlier.
"I want to hear it from you."
"Why? Why do you need to hear about my horrible life with the Dursleys?" Harry suddenly raged, surprising Tony since he'd never heard the kid raise his voice.
"I just want to help you, Harry. What they did to you wasn't right."
"Then how come no one ever did anything to stop it? The teachers, the neighbors. No one ever said a word about how wrong it was. They just all hated me, and thought I was a freak and I didn't know why. A part me even began to believe that there was something wrong with me," Harry cried.
"They were idiots. There's nothing wrong with you, okay? Absolutely nothing," Tony growled.
"Then why did they hate me?" Harry demanded and the tears in his eyes were filled with more emotion than Tony capable of deal with.
"They were supposed to love me, Tony. They were my relatives and they were supposed to care for me. Why did they make me sleep in a cupboard under the stairs? Why was it that no matter how hard I tried to impress them I was never good enough for them?" Harry questioned half sobbing now.
Tony could only feel the blood drain from his face at Harry's admission. He wasn't even close to having any answers to those types of questions. But it seemed he wasn't required to because Harry wasn't even close to being done with his confession.
"They treated me like I was freeloader and that I owed everything to them. They made me earn my keep so that I could pay them back for their so-called generosity. They made me do all the cleaning and cooking and even the yard work while Dudley didn't have to do anything. They told me my parents died in car crash because they were drunks and burdens to society and that I was just like them. I never got to have a birthday party and they would lock me in my cupboard whenever Dudley had one. I had to watch through the cracks while he got cake and presents, and played with his friends. The first Christmas present they ever got me was just this year. Do you know what it was? It was a fifty pence piece," Harry snarled.
"The only good thing I had was school. But they even took that away from me by telling all the teachers I was disturbed so they would never believe me when I told them about how Dudley and his gang used to chase me and beat me up. Harry Hunting they called it. They made a game of it and there was nothing I could do about it. Dudley even chased away anyone else who even tried to be my friend. I was all-alone, all the time. I couldn't even do well in my classes or else Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon would punish me by locking me in my cupboard or giving me scraps from meals I cooked for them. They never took me anywhere. I had to stay with Mrs. Figgs down the street while they got to go on vacations. Because I'm a freak and freaks aren't allowed to do things like normal people. Is that what you wanted to hear Tony? You wanted me to tell you what I've never told anyone else so congratulations," Harry finally gasped out breathing hard, the tears in his luminous green eyes filling and pouring over and down his cheeks.
Tony could only stare at him in stunned silence. For once in his life he was at a loss for words.
"I didn't realize, I didn't know," Tony finally managed to croak out.
He'd made a lot of assumptions based on what he'd found while digging up dirt on the Dursleys, and what he'd observed of Harry's interactions with them in the lobby and the lab. But it was so much harder to hear it from Harry. To hear him tell him about just how cruel they had been to him and just how much it had affected him, it really got to Tony. He also never would have guessed that they had practically treated him like a slave, that they made him live in a cupboard, and that they had actually never given him a single scrap of affection. These were things that stunned him to his core, and made him sick to think about. Harry kept it so well hidden. He acted like a normal kid albeit more cautious and a bit distant but he doubted few would ever guess he was hiding such a huge secret. He was so guarded with his secret that if Tony hadn't pushed so hard he doubted he would have ever known the whole truth.
"You just told me that you knew everything," Harry cried in outrage, looking more mortified than anything else.
"I knew about most of it. But not the cupboard part or the cleaning and cooking part. They really kept you locked in a cupboard?" Tony demanded in pure disbelief so sad and so very, very angry at the Dursleys.
"You tricked me! You lied to me so I would tell you! I hate you! It's your fault I had to live with them. If you had cared more about my mum maybe she would have told you the truth and then she wouldn't have died and I could have grown up with her instead of with the Dursleys," Harry shouted and to Tony's shock all of the lights, screens and other electrical devices suddenly exploded in a shower of sparks.
Tony was momentarily shocked by the occurrence, and stood firmly rooted to the floor in the midst of the explosion. Harry too looked equally stunned and frightened. His face, which had been flushed red with anger, was suddenly a pale, ghostly white.
"Harry? Are you all right?" Tony questioned taking a step towards him afraid he might have been hit or something. "Jarvis report on the damage. Jarvis report? Jarvis?" He tried again when there was no response. There must have been some strange electrical surge. It was no problem the back up systems should kick on any moment.
"I did it," said Harry staring him straight in the eyes still looking a little queasy.
"You did what?" Tony asked in confusion.
"I made everything explode with my accidental magic," said Harry softly.
"Harry, we already talked about this. There's no such thing as magic. Okay? This isn't the time to fool around something could have gone seriously wrong with the system," he was worried because the back up should have kicked on by now. Did someone deliberately hack him?
"I'm not fooling around. I'm a wizard, Tony. Whether you believe it or not," snapped Harry.
"You're not a wizard, Harry," Tony said in annoyance, trying to get Jarvis back online from his phone. But strangely enough that too was destroyed.
"I am a wizard. I go to a magical school called Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. I have a wand and a flying broomstick and books full of magical spells. My mum was a witch, and she and James Potter died fighting a dark wizard called Voldemort. Who tried to kill me, James Potter died to protect my mum and I from Voldemort. And I wish that he was my real father and not you," Harry hissed coldly.
Tony's entire world was shaken by his words and tone. He was once more at a loss for words as Harry glared fiercely at him. Then he turned on his heel and headed towards his bedroom. "Oh and I can talk to snakes!"
"Harry?" Tony called after him but his voice was barely above a whisper.
He didn't respond and Tony heard his bedroom door slam shut. Tony knew he should go after him but he couldn't. One he couldn't move, and two he was still too angry about the Dursleys. He wouldn't be in the right state of mind to hold a civil conversation with the angry eleven year old. Maybe he was also a bit terrified of the prospect of facing Harry right now. He was normally so happy and easygoing it was shocking to see him so angry. Of course he had every right to be but still Tony didn't have any idea about how to deal with it. He could barely deal with his own emotions right now, he wasn't sure how he could go about sorting out the emotions of someone else.
He staggered onto the couch, his legs were shaky, and he felt strangely lightheaded. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this horrible. He didn't think he'd even felt this bad when he had been actually dying. Hearing that his kid had been abused in such a horrible way was shocking enough. But then hearing that his kid hated him and wished that someone else was his father was a huge blow. Tony hadn't been expecting the words to hurt as much as they did. It felt like someone had literally ripped the arc reactor right out of his chest and let the shrapnel pierce his heart. Things had been going so well and that's what had made this sudden, unexpected fight so much more difficult to deal with. Why hadn't he listened to Pepper and waited for Harry to come to him in his own way? He'd ruined everything. Fury was right he wasn't cut out to take care of a kid.
And he wasn't even going to address the issue of Harry believing he was a wizard and that Lily was a witch. But it did still make him think. He remembered when Harry had left the workshop earlier while he'd been angry at Fury how the lights had flickered, and just now some sort of surge dismantled every single electrical device in the radius of the penthouse even his cell phone. The only thing not affected had been the arc reactor but that wasn't really electricity. The question was: how did Harry make it happen? Harry seemed to think it was because he was a wizard. He said the mysterious school he went to was a magical school. Tony couldn't believe that. He could believe that Harry might be some sort of telepath with the ability to control and manipulate energy at a certain frequency level. It was much more probable than a wand waving wizard.
He shook himself. He could think about the logistics of that later because honestly he couldn't even fathom that there might be some truth to it. Right now he should really be thinking about how he could make things up with Harry. Was it even possible at this point? He cared about Harry more than he thought he would ever be capable of but he was at a loss. For once in his life he had no idea what he should do next. Harry's life was so much worse than he imagined, and having Harry hate him left him feeling desolate and uncertain. Maybe he really wasn't cut out to be a father. He'd obviously done a piss poor job so far to completely alienate him in such a spectacular manner. His own father should be proud. It had only taken Tony three weeks to make Harry hate him. Hell it had only taken him one day.
Tony was sure that he had never felt more like crying than in that moment. He was really beginning to like Harry and he thought Harry had felt the same now he had ruined it. It was his worst fear come to life. He had thought of his own wants and needs before Harry's. That's what it boiled down to. Tony hadn't wanted to wait to find out the truth about Harry's past so he pushed and pushed regardless of how forcing him to reveal those truths would affect Harry. Maybe Harry would be better off with someone else. Someone who could be understanding and gentle and sentimental. Someone who could actually help him overcome all the horrible things that had happened to him like he clearly needed to. Because Tony clearly wasn't cut out for it. He had enough trouble dealing with his own problems. He really couldn't do this.
With that thought in mind he got into his liquor cabinet and proceeded to get drunk because obviously he had the emotional coping skills of a two-year, and he was incapable of dealing with this situation. It was all a blur after that.
"Tony," he felt someone poking him.
"Five more minutes, Pepper," he murmured.
"Tony!" Pepper shrieked and shoved him off the couch.
He fell to the floor with a thud. It made the throbbing in his head so much worse and the room was spinning. He lifted his head and opened eyes.
"Nope," he breathed and closed his eyes tightly shut once more against the pain the morning sunlight caused him.
"What the hell are you doing? Why the hell are you hung over Tony? Why weren't you answering your cellphone? I've been trying to get ahold of you and Harry for hours. I flew all the way back from my meeting because I was worried about the two of you… And why is nothing working in the living room?" Pepper demanded not allowing him to wallow in his misery.
That caught his attention. He vaguely remembered something. Then like the sudden sting of a slap in the face he remembered everything that had happened. Fury had stopped by, and then he and Harry had a fight to end all fights. Well it was more like Harry handed him a spectacular ass chewing, which had certainly been within his rights to do so. Tony had then proceeded to get drunk, very drunk to forget about said ass chewing and about how horrible Harry's declaration of hate had made him feel.
He groaned loudly. He really wished it had all been some horrible nightmare. Unfortunately he had never been that lucky.
"He hates me, Pepper," Tony said, still unable to pick his head from the carpet. He deserved to spend the rest of his life lying on this carpet, in pain for what a shitty father he turned out to be.
"Who? Harry? What happened Tony? I haven't seen you like this since you thought were dying. In fact I think you looked better when you thought you were dying," she said crouching down beside him to peek at him in concern.
"I'm an asshole. I did exactly what you told me not to do. Harry got mad and told me about how he had to sleep in a cupboard under the stairs. And that he thinks he's a wizard. And that he wishes James Potter was his real father and not me." The last part was almost whispered since it was still painful for Tony to even contemplate.
"What did you do?" Pepper demanded, a fierce, angry expression on her face.
"I made him tell me about the Dursleys. I pushed him when I should of left him alone. Then everything exploded, literally, exploded like the lights and everything, and he stomped to his room after telling me he could talk to snakes. Then I got drunk instead of talking to him because Fury was right I shouldn't have been allowed to reproduce or care for a kid when I probably couldn't even take care of a goldfish," Tony rambled.
"You forced Harry to tell you about how the Dursleys treated him. He, understandably, got mad and went to his room after some sort explosion knocked out all the power in the penthouse living room. Then instead of trying to fix the situation with Harry or apologize like a reasonable person would do, you got drunk and left Harry to his own devices, is that about right?" Pepper asked sounding dangerous.
Tony nodded, not even bothering to lift his head up from the rug. He knew her expression would be murderous. He was well aware he was a dead man and he wouldn't even try to stop her from whatever form of punishment she would dish out.
"You are an idiot. No that's not good enough. You're a selfish, moronic bastard who can't even face the problems you've created because you're too much of a spineless, pathetic wimp when it comes to facing your emotional problems. I can't believe you would do something like this, Tony."
"I know, I've ruined everything with him."
"You should have gone after him, Tony. At least tried to fix things. He probably feels like you don't even care about him, Tony," Pepper reasoned.
"I don't think he cares about what I think. You didn't hear the way he sounded when he told me he hated me and wished I wasn't his father," Tony said.
"Tony I know you like to act like nothing bothers you and that you're this indestructible force, and you like to hold your emotions inside. But I know how much finding out about Harry has affected you. I know how terrified you are of doing something wrong. But doing nothing in a situation like this is worse than if you had at least tried to work things out. I know you're worried about being your father. But you're not him, Tony. You were doing great up until today. You and Harry were really making a connection. We'll work this out, but you have to try Tony you can't just give up when you hit a rough patch. Parenting is a full time job and unfortunately you can't just quit or give it up whenever you feel like it or because you're afraid. So man up and take responsibility for once in your life. Now I'm going to check on Harry. Then you and I are going to sit down and have a little chat."
He listened as she got up and headed towards the bedrooms. He deserved whatever torture Pepper could think up for him. But her words struck a cord in him. She was right he couldn't just give up. He had another person depending on him now for their every need, and while that was completely overwhelming and he didn't want anything to do with it he knew he needed to do it. He wanted to do it because whether Harry liked it or not he was his father for better or worse and they would have to learn to live with one another. He was still terrified that he would screw things up but he knew he at least had to try to do better.
"Tony! Harry's not his room, or bathroom or any of the other bedrooms," Pepper cried racing back into the living room.
That made Tony sit up. "Call security we'll have them secure the building and check all the rooms."
"His trunk was open and it was almost empty. It also looked like he packed some of his clothes in a hurry. I think he's run away Tony. Harry is alone somewhere in New York City. And who knows how long he's been out there. Your fight happened yesterday and it is officially eight AM the next morning so he could have possibly been gone all night. Something horrible could have happened to him. This is an unfamiliar city with unfamiliar people," Pepper said looking more stressed out than he had ever seen her before.
Tony felt himself pale. Then jumped to his feet despite the insistence of his body telling him not to.
"Did he take his robot?" Tony demanded.
"I… what does it matter? Harry's missing, Tony," Pepper cried.
"Did he or didn't he, Pepper?"
"Yes, I think so, it wasn't in his room," she finally snapped.
"Good, then I can find him." He raced towards the elevator.
"What are you going to do, Tony?" Pepper demanded.
"I'm going to find my son," Tony stated simply.
Once in the elevator he was able to get in touch with Jarvis and have him prepare his suit. It seemed whatever power outage had happened only affected everything in the penthouse living room; the rest of the building was in perfect working order. But he'd think about that later. He suited up in a matter of moments and shot out of the specially designed emergency exit. He shot off through the air and had Jarvis pull up the GPS tracking system he'd installed in Harry's robot so that he could keep on eye on where Harry went with it.
Jarvis locked on the robot's location and he crossed his fingers in hopes that Harry would be there too. He'd never felt this terrified before in his life. He'd also never before hated himself as much as he did right now.
"Jarvis full power to the thrusters," he commanded.
"Right away, sir," Jarvis responded promptly.
"Please be all right. I promise to do better. Just let him be all right," Tony murmured to himself as he flew as fast as he could towards his destination.
So Tony has finally found out about magic but he doesn't believe it. That will change very soon. Sorry for the angsty chapter but the blow up needed to happen as a wake up call to Tony. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews and to anyone who followed or favorited :)