Disclaimer: I own nothing, nada, nil, need I say more? All belongs to J.K Rowling, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Marvel, and Disney
Warning: Very angsty Harry this chapter.
A/N: Okay not a lot of people like Neo and Dawn I guess that's to be expected. However their bit in the last chapter was important but that will not be obvious for a few more chapters and yes these first few chapters are mostly me establishing a sturdy base for this story. Note I thought Ant-man's name was Hank Pym but it's actually Henry Pym so I've changed it this chapter and will do the other chapters later. Not red Pepper didn't work so my solution she dyed her hair.
Also for those who want more background on some of the less well known characters that information will be cropping up shortly. Sorry that this is so late but work has been killer and I've been having some real trouble sleeping.
Almost all members of the Avengers were gathered as were Janet and Henry who were now official Avengers even though they were only there on a reserve status. Tony was absent as he insisted on being fashionably late with the exception of any end of the world emergencies. Thor was absent as well. Unlike the last meeting everyone was on edge as they waited for Fury to deliver the news. Logan, Janet, and Henry were not as tense as the original Avengers but they could feel the tension in the air and it was making them edgy as well.
"I thought you brought Stark with you Rogers." said Fury his question sounding more like a statement.
"I did but he wandered off after we arrived, sir" answered Steve who shifted in his seat nervously.
"Ok people let's start this meeting." declared Tony walking in late as usual not the least bothered by all of the withering glares being shot at him.
"We have a problem" said Fury grimly.
"Oh really?" asked Tony, "What is this time Armageddon? Doomsday? The Apocalypse?"
""Shut it Stark we don't have time for your jokes." said Clint.
"Fine what is reindeer games up to now?" asked Tony.
"Tony this is serious" said Steve.
"Yeah, could you try to act your age for a few minutes?" asked Janet.
"Make me." responded Tony.
"Gladly" said Janet.
"Want me to straighten you out?" asked Clint.
"So what is Loki up to now?" asked Bruce. He could see that Clint was losing his patience with Tony and he really didn't want to risk the archer snapping and shooting Tony with an arrow. Especially since he knew that the billionaire would probably continue to antagonize Clint.
"Excuse me, but why are we so worried about Loki?" asked Janet.
"What?" asked Clint, "don't you remember the alien invasion that totaled a good portion of the city."
"We were out of town for that, I was speaking at a conference in Geneva on particle collisions. I haven't read any of the files on Loki yet." said Henry.
"Yeah so maybe you could give us new Avengers a recap so we can freak out with everyone else." added Janet.
"Loki is Thor's psychotic brother who unleashed an alien army and attempted world domination. He is responsible for hundreds of deaths because of that." said Clint. He was still sore about the mind control stint and held a large grudge against the demigod.
"He did help with those creatures a few months back" said Banner.
"Only because his skin was on the line as well." said Clint.
"Oh" said Janet.
"Yeah our biggest problems this year were Doom and he's more of a pest than anything, besides the Fantastic Four usually deals with him. The big green guy got loose in Canada and that's how claws here ended up on the team. The rest of us were dealing with some of Asgardian monster things we even got reindeer games to help as birdbrain just mentioned. After some serious blackmail." said Tony offhandedly.
"That I remember, it was the same day as an event on sustained fusion by Dr. Octavius." said Henry.
"Octavius? You mean that guy who tried to rob the Federal Reserve Bank?" asked Clint.
"I remember that Fury nearly skinned us because the Doc nearly leveled Manhattan. In fact he would have if it weren't for that Spider kid." said Tony.
"Yeah then he nearly blew a gasket when the tin can interrupted him by asking how the hell we were supposed to be in three places at once." added Clint.
"I had a point after all how were we supposed to fight Doc, stop Bruce and fight a bunch of monsters. Anyways I suggested several great ideas afterwards" defended Tony.
"I distinctly remember one of those suggestions being a DeLorean, and I quote, 'to go back to meet Fury before he swallowed that cactus' among other things." said Clint.
"I liked the TARDIS suggestion, where we go back to the Paleozoic Era to see Fury with two eyes. Though it was a good idea to think about adding more people to the Avengers" said Bruce dryly.
"Enough!" snapped Fury. Bruce and Clint look slightly embarrassed as both men had momentarily forgotten the man's presence while Tony looked completely unfazed. "Back to the matter at hand, in light of recent events Odin has decided to revise Loki's punishment. Odin believes that Loki will benefit from learning our Midgardian ways."
"Is this going where I think it's going because I don't like where this is going if it's going where I think it's going." said Clint.
"That didn't make any sense and coming from me that's saying something" said Tony. While the rest of the Avengers were looking at Clint like he'd lost his marbles.
"Loki is here." stated Fury.
"In a high security prison with several armed guards?" asked Clint.
"No he's here on the Helicarrier." said Fury. He did not look at all happy about this though it was hard to tell with his usually grim demeanor.
"Are you crazy?" demanded Clint, "the last time he was here the Helicarrier nearly crashed."
"Believe me Barton but I don't want him on my ship any longer than he has to be. We have Thor standing guard over him with some SHIELD agents. Which is why all of you are here, Loki will now be staying at Avengers Tower." said Fury.
"What?" yelped Tony.
"I'm not keeping here not after last time plus I don't want him to have any access of some sensitive files." said Fury.
"Well last time he was at my house he opened an inter-dimensional portal on my balcony. Not to mention he totally trashed the rest of the place. Plus I lost a perfectly good bottle of Dom Perignon in that fight." whined Tony.
"You would bitch about the alcohol." said Janet rolling her eyes at the billionaire.
"Whatever I don't want him staying at my tower. I've only just got rid of the new paint smell. Why can't we stick him on the Raft or something?" asked Tony.
"The Raft is still in the design stages and those files are supposed to be classified." stated Fury glaring at Tony.
"Well I'm sure that I can think of something. Besides what about the kid, we really shouldn't let him near an evil megalomaniacal demigod. I don't think we should expose him to that kind of person. The poor innocent kid shouldn't be around someone like Loki" said Tony.
"Nice try Stark, but he's staying at the tower and that's final. Besides he's been stripped of his magic until he can prove himself worthy." said Fury.
"Fine but I'm holding SHIELD responsible for any damage that he causes." huffed Tony.
"Good we have him ready for transport once this meeting is over." said Fury.
"I agreed to let him stay in my tower but I'm not letting him in until I've added a few extra security measures. He can stay here for a week." said Tony.
"What part of he cannot stay here do you not comprehend Stark?" asked Fury.
"All of it. All I heard from you was blah my ship blah no Loki blah blah blah." said Tony.
"Listen here Stark. I am one second away from-" started Fury and everyone could see the vein throbbing on his forehead as he glared at the smirking inventor. He closed his hands into fists which was undoubtedly to keep him from strangling Tony.
Seeing that Stark was about to interrupt with a comment that she was sure would make the Director's head explode Natasha spoke up, "Can't you do it in less time, Stark? After all you are a genius."
"Well I might be able to do it in about 48 hours." admitted Tony.
"Deal!" shouted Janet. Fury raised an enquiring eyebrow at her and she added, "It's probably the best you're get from him Director besides I don't want to be here all day."
"Fine. You have 48 hours Stark." said Fury.
"Although if I had 72 hours I could…" said Tony.
"You have 48 hours. Take it or leave it" stated Fury, his voiced laced with thinly suppressed frustration. The rest of the Avengers found this unsurprising as this was how they felt whenever they had to deal with Tony for extended periods of time. Bruce being an exception as he and Tony managed to get along fairly well.
"Fine." agreed Tony reluctantly.
"Good, now I'm going to make the arrangements for Loki's movement." said Fury who then turned and strode out of the room.
The meeting quickly deteriorated from there, as everyone decided to take off on their own. The Avengers interacted with each other only on missions and meetings, some days they barely even saw each other, despite the fact that they all lived in the same place. Their teamwork and general camaraderie was limited to the battlefield as they tended to keep their personal lives separate. It was a good balance, one that worked.
Meanwhile at Stark Tower…
Harry was nervously paced his room which he had retreated to after spending an hour in the presence of the perky blonde woman. She reminded him of Ginny, a resemblance that became stronger when Pepper revealed that she was a natural red. She had shown him several pictures before he had fled. His hunger forgotten as he sat on the bed brooding. His mind began drifting once again over the final battle. He remembered how he felt his heart stop as he saw the majestic castle collapse, killing most of the fighters.
He thought of all the promises that Ron, Hermione, and he had made. One night while they had hunted for horcruxes talk had turned to life after the war which was a far off dream at that point. Hermione had suggested that they should all try some traveling. He had thought it an odd proposition from the bookworm, and when Ron had said as much she had clonked him over the head. She talked about a bunch of places she'd read about. New York had been one of them, mentioning that she had visited the city with her parents. He felt a pang as he thought of Hermione's parents who were still living in Australia.
He had gone to visit them shortly after the war ended. He had found them living happily as Wendell and Monica Wilkins. He knew that the memory charm would have worn off soon as the original caster was dead. It was a decision he still agonized over. He could renew the memory charms and let the Grangers live out false lives or let the charms fade and tell them that their daughter was dead. In the end he decided it would be less painful for them to continue living in Australia without their memories. He knew that he had no right to do that but he did not feel better about the alternative either. He had then made a couple additions to their accounts so they could live the rest of their lives without worrying about finances. It was the least he could do for them and it was not like he would miss the money.
Money had always meant very little to him, but after the war it meant even less. He found himself the richest wizard in Britain, perhaps even the world. He was given the vaults of several Death Eaters with no family left by right of conquest. He also had access to several vaults from wizards whose family lines died out in the final battle and had alliances with the Potter family. The reparations that he'd had to pay Gringotts barely even made a dent.
He would have given away every galleon he had if he thought it could bring his friends back. He no longer had the Resurrection Stone and had not even tried to retrieve it though he did think of it sometimes. He tried not to dwell on his memories too much during the day; they haunted him enough during the night. He found himself often thinking of the future that could have been. He could often see a little girl with bushy red hair and freckles. He wondered if she would have inherited her father's blue eyes or her mother's brown ones. He supposed it didn't really matter, the girl would never exist.
Harry sighed and stood up. He needed to find the kitchen; perhaps cooking would take his mind off things, as it usually did. He didn't really want to ask Pepper where the kitchen was though so he'd probably have to find it on his own. He knew that he would feel awkward around her and didn't want to make her uncomfortable. He walked to the elevator and stared at the control panel hoping it would somehow reveal the location of the kitchen.
"Are you looking for something Harry?" asked JARVIS.
"Yes actually I'm looking for the kitchen." said Harry warily. He had jumped violently when he'd heard JARVIS and had to stop himself from pulling out his wand. The AI was going to give him a heart attack.
"It is on the floor above you, it is next to the shelf with all the pictures that Miss Potts was showing you earlier." replied JARVIS.
"Okay I remember where that is thanks JARVIS" said Harry.
Harry took the elevator upstairs and headed to his right. Once he reached the oak shelves that housed the pictures that Pepper had so proudly showed off he saw a dark mahogany door. It led to the kitchen. He pushed the door open and was pleased to find a well-furnished kitchen. After looking through the cabinets and the fridge he concluded that despite all of the appliances there wasn't anything to cook. There were several boxes of pop tarts and containers of leftovers.
"Erm JARVIS is the food kept in a separate area or something?" asked Harry.
"No, fresh food is usually not stocked in the tower, as most of the residents prefer to procure their meals elsewhere." answered JARVIS.
"Oh well, I wanted to cook, is there a market or something nearby that I could go to?" said Harry.
"I'm sorry but I have been given strict instructions not to let you out of the tower." said JARVIS.
"Oh" said Harry. He really didn't know what else to say he couldn't really force JARVIS to let him out of the tower and he didn't want to ask Pepper for help. She was part of the reason he was currently hiding in the kitchen anyways.
"If I may? There are several grocers who are willing to deliver." said JARVIS.
"That's great. Um JARVIS do you know when everyone will be returning?" asked Harry.
"No, everyone generally returns in their own time. I can contact them to see what time they would be back." replied JARVIS.
"Oh, well I don't want to be a bother, but since I'm already here I figured I could make dinner for everyone." said Harry.
"I'm sure the team will be most pleased. I will help in any way that I can" said JARVIS.
"Thank you JARVIS" said Harry, "I have a couple things I want to make but I'll be glad to have some suggestions.
A/N: updated 10/21/13