A/N: Procrastinating on doing any school work, with my fingers crossed that the university will be closed tomorrow (high of zero with wind chills reaching -30), so fingers crossed! (we are one of a handful of schools still open for tomorrow) Enjoy the new chapter!
"HARRY!" I hear someone yelling from the family room. "Harry! Where are you?"
Suddenly my bedroom door opens, and I peek through the crack in the closet door to see Uncle Tony still dressed in the Iron Man suit standing in the middle of my bedroom. I bolt out of the closet, dropping the blanket as I run to Uncle Tony. As soon as I reach him he scoops me up and I can't help the sob that escapes me.
"Shh, Harry…. Shush now, it's alright," I hear him murmur into my head as he hugs me close and rubs my back trying to get me to calm down. I wrap my arms more securely around his neck enforcing the fact that I don't plan on letting go anytime soon.
I feel him move and settle down onto my bed, pulling himself up against headboard, holding me close waiting for me to calm myself down.
"Wh-why did you leave me?" I ask with a slight hiccough.
"I'm sorry kiddo. I didn't think you'd wake up before I got back. I probably shouldn't have left you alone, but Pepper isn't here and I don't know anyone else I could trust to stay with you and keep you safe. Now, do you think you can sleep a little more? I have someplace I have to go, but I will let you come with. You have to promise to do everything I say."
"I promise. Just please don't leave me again! I don't think I can sleep again… I'm tired but I'm too scared to go back to sleep. I want to go home, I want Daddy and Papa," I mumble, tears still streaming down my face.
"Hush now, kiddo. It's alright. I'm going to sit you down for a second on the bed while I go get us ready to leave, including grabbing some of your stuff."
He returns, still in his suit, but it has some weird attachment on the front of it. He grabs my bag and swings it over one of his shoulders before picking me up and putting me in the harness like contraption on his front. There are a lot of straps that he tightens around me, and I end up strapped to his chest, almost like a baby in a carrier.
"The straps are just a precaution, in case something happens and I need to do some fancy flying. It shouldn't be necessary though. Just keep your face tucked down, and whatever you do, don't look down and it should be fine. I promise not to let anything happen to you."
I nod my head before wrapping my arms around his neck and tucking my head down into them as well. I feel a slight breeze on my back and I know that we must have made it outside.
"Oh, we should probably put a coat on you," he adds as an afterthought helping me quickly toss it on. He bundles me up, saying that the wind and higher altitude is bound to be cold.
Even though Uncle Tony said not to look, I can't help but glance out anyway. It immediately reminds me of flying on a plane, and I know that I must have flown out in the air like this in my past. It seems oddly familiar and comforting even though I can't really remember. I stare around wide eyed, before looking down and gasping at how far off of the ground we already are. I quickly tuck my head back down and hug Uncle Tony a little bit closer.
We land, and Uncle Tony immediately rushes into a small bedroom. He tells me that it is the room he was given on the ship and that he is going to leave me there while he goes and helps out.
"I won't be far, within walking distances at all times. I promise. Now I am going to take off my suit and stay with you until you fall asleep. I grabbed Patches before we left, I didn't think that he would appreciate being left behind," he says reaching into the bag and handing him to me.
He sits down on the bed next to me, and pulls me close to his side getting himself comfortable as well. Now that he is with me it doesn't take long for me to fall back to sleep.
The next time I awake up, I am alone in the bed, but I don't mind so much. I look at the small table beside the bed and see a note on it. It is from Uncle Tony and says that I should call him once I am awake. He left the small cell phone on the table as well. I quickly open it and dial his number. On the flight to New York he made me memorize his number and the number for the house in case of an emergency.
"Harry?" I hear him ask after a couple of rings.
"Good morning," I say.
"I was about to come sneak down there and wake you up if you weren't up soon. Are you hungry? I can go find you some food."
"Yes please, I also really have to go to the bathroom but I don't know where to go."
"Alright, I will be there soon, just hold tight and give me a couple of minutes," he says before hanging up the phone. I put it back down on the table and sit down on the bed.
The room I am in is very small, it has a single window that is small and up high, too high for me to be able to look out of. There is a small bed, which I am currently sitting on, the small table and a desk. The room is rather bleak, and painted in a blue grey.
I sit on the bed playing with Patches and waiting for Uncle Tony for what feels like forever. I don't see any of my stuff in the room, so I don't have anything to do but wait. Finally, after what feels like forever he shows up.
"Sorry bub that it took so long. After waiting for you to fall asleep, I was late for a meeting on the bridge. I think Fury is suspicious, especially because I am also hacking his computers. It took me a minute to sneak away," he says sitting down next to me.
"Who's Fury?"
"He's my boss, well sort of my boss. He runs SHIELD, and the Avengers initiative. I, as Iron Man am an Avenger, and with the latest threat, I have been asked to come and help out. The threat was spotted in Germany. He goes by the name of Loki. He isn't from Earth, and his brother, Thor is currently working with us, trying to stop his brother."
"OK, how long do I have to stay in here?"
"Just a little while longer. We caught Loki and brought him onto the ship so we don't have to worry about that anymore. Now we just need to find the tesseract, it is what Loki stole that made us chase after him. I am currently helping another scientist, Dr. Banner try and track it down. Dr. Banner is an Avenger also, he has a bit of a temper, and when he gets mad he becomes this green giant. But don't worry, Dr. Banner is a really nice guy, if you need anything and you can't find me I want you to go to him. Do you understand?"
I nod my head, and Uncle Tony smiles before leaving again to find us some food. When he brings it back, he eats with me before he has to leave again and return to the lab and Dr. Banner. Before he goes though, he gets out my bag and leaves me with at least something to do.
It doesn't take long for me to get bored sitting in the little room. Uncle Tony couldn't honestly expect me not to, I mean he didn't even lock the door, which to me is an invitation to leave and go exploring. I know Uncle Tony would approve, plus it's not like I'll get in trouble. Uncle Tony never yells at me.
I open up the door and look out into the hallway, there aren't any people in it, so I quick run out and dive into a little alcove where I can then decide what my next move will be. I decide to play police and bad guys. Everyone on the ship is a bad guy, and in order to win, I have to get to Uncle Tony without someone seeing me or grabbing me. Uncle Tony said it was important that no one knows I am on the ship.
I run from hall to hall, ducking and hiding when I see someone. It takes me a while, but I eventually realize that everyone I pass is heading towards the opposite direction as me. Obviously I must be heading the wrong way, so I turn around. I start to follow the people, and the farther we go the louder the sound of an alarm blaring can be heard. I look around and realize that everyone running down the hallway has guns, and other sorts of weapons.
I stop then. I mean my game just got scary. I don't want to head that way anymore, so I decide to turn around and head back to the room and call Uncle Tony to find out what is going on. I then realize I am completely lost. I hear a loud explosion, and see someone ducking into a room so quickly follow them before the door closes. Anything to get out of this scary hallway.
I quickly hide behind some boxes before looking out into the room. The room consists of this giant glass container in the middle of the room that looks like a giant fish bowl. Inside of it is a man with long dark hair, and a funny looking outfit on. Does he have horns? That can't be right.
Surrounding the bowl is a platform that is raised off of the ground. Currently standing on the platform is a blond man who is wearing armor and a red cape. He looks pretty cool, I will have to admit. The two men are talking, but I cant hear what they are saying. The next thing I know, the black haired man walks out of the bowl, and the blond charges him before walking straight through him and into the bowl himself.
My eyes go wide. That couldn't have just happened, could it? That's not right. Not right at all. I mean I know magic is real, but you need a wand to do magic, don't you?
I stay hidden behind my boxes, as another man appears. I don't know where he came from because I definitely didn't see him before, but he is holding this giant weapon. It looks like a gun. I hear him say that he doesn't know what exactly it will do before he aims it at the black haired man. Without thinking I jump up.
"Wait!" I yell, running from behind the boxes and in between the two men. "Don't hurt him, he hasn't done anything wrong! You can't just go around shooting people!"
As soon as the words are out of my mouth, the dark haired man picks me up and hold me in front of him. I realize that he is using me as a human shield, and I look up fearfully to the other man. Maybe I should have let him shoot him.
"Put the kid down Loki. You don't want to bring an innocent child into the middle of this," the man with the gun says. So I guess the dark haired man is Loki. Oops, Uncle Tony is not going to be happy about this.
Without saying a word, Loki runs out of the room keeping me as a shield the entire time. I am completely terrified now and I have absolutely no idea what to do. I hear yelling, and look behind us to see the gun man running down the hall behind us but Loki quickly loses him.
We turn down hallways in what seems to me a random pattern, but must make some sort of sense. The next thing I know, we are jumping on board of some sort of aircraft before Loki gets behind the wheel and flies off with me. I start to cry, realizing that I am completely alone with no idea where I am or how to get back.