I'm back, exams are over, here's an update! Your patience is being rewarded. Also, I'm pretty sure I got asked a few questions in reviews, but I keep forgetting to answer them... eh he, sorry about that. I'm pretty sure most questions will be answered eventually at SOME point in the story. On a more awesome note, JEEPERS CREEPERS that's a lot of followers, and I only wrote 3 chapters. I feel so loved :P

News got out about the murderer a few months after the first massacre. Harry had been expecting the humans to find out about it, the government can't hide everything, but he had thought people would find out because of a different reason. Not because another town was butchered.

Harry surveyed the blood covered town. After he sensed the impulse of death, he had apparated instantly, once again out of the hotel room he had been staying in for the last couple of days. He had grabbed the chunky, black phone that was his only connection to Fury before he disappeared. Upon his arrival in the town, he found it a barren wasteland, no bodies this time, but he knew there had been plenty murder. The stench of death permeated the air, and when he broadened his senses beyond the norm, the taint of evil was apparent. He apparated around the town, not convinced that it was empty.

But he failed to locate even a single body, and his forehead scrunched up in confusion. He had only felt the 'death magic', as he had come to call it over his months of investigation, barely five minutes before. How was it that an entire town of individuals could be murdered and vanished in so short an amount of time? Only one conclusion. Extremely dark magic.

But this attack was wrong. All the historical records he had managed to find clearly stated that the mass murders occurred only once every hundred years. What could have happened to cause the evil bastard to attack again barely a year after his first attack?

After finishing his search of the town, this time failing to detect even a hint of the dark wizard's corrupt magic, he sighed with frustration. Harry ran a hand through his messy hair. This made no sense. Why would the bastard break his pattern after over half a millennia? He raised his wand, preparing to raze the town to the ground, when his sharp hearing picked up the faint sound of helicopter propellers.

Harry swiftly summoned his cloak into his hand and draped it over his shoulders, flicking the hood up over his face, shrouding himself in invisibility. He waited patiently, and a minute later, he spotted the offending aircraft as it came to a stop over the town. He squinted, and after finding himself unable to read the side of the helicopter, transformed his eyes into their animagus form. Human eyesight changed to that of a bird, and he was finally able to read the words.

Oh shit. Reporters.

Harry cursed under his breath, and silently apparated into the aircraft, thankful that he managed to avoid knocking into anyone with his sudden arrival. Now all he had to do was cast a simple Obliviate, and then-

"- coming to you from a live transmission of this small town with which we unfortunately lost contact. We are in the town for an interview but all radio interaction with the town has been lost. We have decided to investigate, as this interview will give extremely important information to you, our viewers. Pilot, what can you see from- GOOD GOD!"

Harry winced, knowing that she had just spotted the blood soaked, vacant street.

"Are you getting this, Phil? What the hell happened? We were talking to them only ten minutes ago! Quick, get a shot of this!" Harry was screwed. Why did they have to be filming live?

Suddenly, the helicopter creaked ominously, and it jerked abruptly from where it hovered in the sky. Harry's eyes widened as he realised what was going on. He immediately apparated out, back to the empty building. He watched with baited breath as the helicopter swerved downwards for a moment, before straightening out, now free of his magical interference. He considered charming the landscape, but discarded the idea. Anyone viewing the news show would already have seen the state the town was in. His only hope now was for SHIELD to become involved before the government agencies ill equipped to deal with this kind of problem took over. He fished the phone out of his pocket, grateful for the simplicity of the device which allowed him to use it without it spontaneously blowing up in his face. He selected Fury's number.

It beeped for almost a minute before there was a click.

"Nick, we got a situation here-"

"Well I've got a bigger situation, Potter. Get your ass to the Helicarrier RIGHT NOW. Headquarters has been compromised."

"Wait, what?" Harry demanded.

"The Tesseract has been stolen, by a man wearing a CAPE, and HQ is now a big crater of rubble and scrap metal. All units are being withdrawn to the Helicarrier, and that includes you, Harry. We are now at our most vulnerable, and I need all my men here to defend the Helicarrier. The amount of shit we got on here is capable of destroying the world."

"When it rains, it pours. Look Nick, I've got a problem here too. Another town was attacked, same as the last one, but the trend is warped. So far it's been one attack per century, and now there's been a second in less than a year. Either whatever spell this guy cast to lengthen his life is failing, of he's amassing more power for some reason. The amount of energy created from this many murders... Nick, this is gonna get real bad, real fast."

Fury swore, and there was a tense silence, before, "Alright, Potter. Do what you need to do. But I want you here before the week is over. If you don't find anything, it will have to wait. We've got a hostile alien life form with a grudge. This is threat we might not be able to deal with without your 'area of expertise'."

"Understood. And you might what to use that influential power thing SHIELD's got going..."

"What. Did. You. Do."

"I didn't do anything," he scowled, "Reporters got to the town after ten minutes. Apparently there was some sort of newscast supposed to be going on when they lost contact. They came to investigate, and I hadn't cleaned up yet."

Fury swore again, and even Harry's eye twitched at the creativity of the word combinations. "This day just gets better and better."

"Well, at least you still have your health," Harry deadpanned.

"I got shot in the chest."

"..."

Harry hung up. He had hunting to do.

And that hunting failed. Harry snarled to himself as he left the maintenance closet and stalked down the corridors in the direction of the Bridge. A week of useless searching. No knew leads, no knew historical accounts, no TRAIL. To put it lightly, Harry was pissed. Battle hardened agents scurried out of his path, his bad mood mixed with his magical aura setting of alarm bells in their heads even if they didn't know why.

He eventually reached the Bridge, his mood darkening further as he took in the individuals seated at the conference table. Fury stood at the front, a scowl to match Harry's on his forehead. Coulson was standing behind him and smiled at Harry as he walked in. Harry nodded curtly back. Then there was Stark, obviously doing his best to irritate everyone in the room. The Ice Cube, now unfrozen, (spandex?), was seated beside him. There was also a big blond guy that Harry didn't know so he kept an eye trained on him in case he proved himself to be a threat, and a dark haired man that looked like a scientist. Harry kept him in sight as well. Appearances could be deceiving. Lastly, the lovely Agent Natasha Romanoff, who was glaring at him. Great.

"Agent Potter, glad you could join us, take a seat. How was your mission?"

"Bloody brilliant," Harry growled. "No trail, no witnesses, nothing. I had a lovely week, Nick, how 'bout you?"

"Oh, you know. The usual. Terrorism, explosions, death. Right up your alley."

Harry rolled his eyes, and sat down at the table, nodding at each of the already seated members. "I'd like to say it was a pleasure, but it's really not."

"Grim," Coulson said with a sigh, "Be nice to your new friends." Harry scowled and shook his head. Coulson's sense of humour was so messed up. Harry examined him. Something was wrong.

"You're the Grim?" Natasha asked incredulously. Harry ignored her.

Tony was about to ask what 'the Grim' was, before he was interrupted my Fury.

"What's-"

"Stark, shut up."

Tony looked indignant, "Well that's not very nice. I'm pretty sure you asked me to help you. If you hurt my feelings, I'll hack into your database and sell all your information to the press. By the way, way to be a bad friend, Mr. Harry the Mutant Secret Fairy Agent. You don't call, you don't write. I was beginning to think something terrible happened to you."

Harry's eyebrow twitched with irritation. "Something terrible did happen to me. I had the misfortune of meeting you."

The Captain laughed, and stood up, walking over to Harry and to shake his hand. "The name's Steve Rogers, Agent Potter. I see your already acquainted with Stark. It's a pleasure to meet you. Coulson's been explaining the organisation to me. I hear you're their best agent."

Harry shrugged, his face blank. He hadn't actually done that many missions for SHIELD, but the few that he did were always completed within a week of being given to him, and done perfectly. The fact that they had been world threatening level missions might also have something to do with it...

After a couple of years doing the odd assignment and sometimes going to his office to do paperwork, he became aware of his new status. He hadn't been pleased by the title, knowing that it would make it harder to stay inconspicuous, so Fury had made a compromise. Only the top agents knew his name was Harry. All the rest knew him only as The Grim. He was positive most of them didn't get the whole 'magical creature of death' reference, and no one knew the true story behind the choice, not even Fury. He hoped that Sirius was proud of him, wherever he was...

"This mortal is your top agent?" the big blond asked sceptically. "He looks very young."

Harry levelled his best glare at the blond giant, and the man leaned backwards in his chair slightly before he could stop himself. There was something dark in those emerald green eyes.

"Agent Potter is the best agent we have, Thor, don't be fooled by his youthful appearance." Fury glanced at Harry for a moment and after seeing the short nod, he continued, "He actually turned thirty two this past July."

"What?" Steve exclaimed, "But he looks barely twenty!"

"He's a freaky bird mutant," Tony said wisely.

"That's not a very nice thing to say, Mr. Stark," the scientist man said in a soft spoken voice, "There's nothing wrong with being a mutant."

"I didn't mean anything bad, Bruce. This guy helped me out in the desert when I was a captive of those terrorists a few years back. He can grow big-assed wings whenever he wants. I guess it was mildly impressive."

Harry raised an eyebrow and exchanged a glance with Fury. He didn't actually expect Harry to work with this moron, did he? Less than a day in the desert with the man had almost made Harry insane. Stark didn't know how to stop talking.

"You're from Britain?" Steve asked curiously, paying no mind to the claims of being a mutant. "You have a pretty strong accent."

Coulson laughed at this, "Yes, he failed every test when it came to masking his nationality. Quite entertaining, really."

Harry's scowl deepened. "If you're all finished discussing me, could we please continue with the meeting? I don't particularly want to be here. I've got a guy I need to murder right now."

Fury cleared his throat. "I agree with Agent Potter. As you know, we apprehended the Asgardian terrorist known as Loki earlier today due to the combined efforts of this team. We are now in possession of the staff he uses to control his slaves, but as of yet we have gotten no information on the whereabouts of the Tesseract. Potter, I want you to interrogate the prisoner. Try to get the whereabouts of Agent Barton while you're at it."

"Some sort of 'slave staff'? Hawkeye got turned into a zombie-slave-thing, didn't he?"

Fury's face tightened at the memory of Barton's clouded eyes. "Yes, he is currently under Loki's control. I would prefer if we apprehended him, but if that is impossible, you are given permission to terminate him. The Tesseract has huge destructive capabilities, and I'd rather an insane alien didn't gain control over it."

"That is my brother you are talking about," Thor grumbled menacingly.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "He's Imperio'd Hawkeye, and I'm almost positive he won't have supplied Barton any filing cabinets to perch on. I swear, Clint was a pigeon in a past life. I him a couple of times this past year. Nice guy. I am... displeased ... on his behalf." Harry's eyes flashed dangerously.

Thor cleared his throat and nodded slightly, muttering about adoptions and the like.

"Dr. Banner," Fury said to Bruce, regaining control of the situation, "I want you and Mr. Stark tracing the gamma radiation on the staff as fast as you can. Romanoff, you go with Potter for the interrogation. The rest of you, prepare yourself for battle. An attack could come at any time. Dismissed."

Everyone got up and began to head for the exit. "And Potter?" Fury called.

Harry glanced back over his shoulder, his bangs shrouding his eyes, "Yeah?"

"Don't kill him."

Harry frowned slightly, an almost petulant expression on his face, throwing Romanoff off guard. Were Grim and Fury... friends? She didn't even know Fury was capable of making friends. He usually just ordered people around or shot them. "Can I kill him a little bit?"

Fury glared before sighing and giving into the temptation to smirk. "Very well. You may kill him a little bit... For the filing cabinet." Harry gave a casual salute, and left the room, Natasha beside him.

"So The Grim is a mutant," Natasha stated blandly. Harry shrugged, not giving a vocal response. "I didn't think there were that many mutants." Again, Harry shrugged. He wasn't going to say anything otherwise, so if that's what the rest of them wanted to think, who was he to stop them? This way he could perform some types of magic, such as his animagus form, and pass it off as a mutation. It was perfect. "Anything else you can do?"

Harry sighed. "Few other things. Does it really make a difference?"

Natasha stared up at him, "It depends. How useful will you be in a fight? War isn't the same as sneaking around and assassinating targets."

Harry glared at her, and she allowed shock to flash across her face.

"I know more of war then you ever will," Harry hissed, his voice gaining a slightly serpentine quality. As he realised this, he cleared his throat and scowled, then walked faster, leaving Natasha to hurry behind him. Agent Romanoff frowned thoughtfully as she walked after him, staring at his back. She had gained a new piece of information through her manipulation. He had taken part in a war. Curious. She wondered which one.

When they reached the Containment room originally built to hold the Hulk, and saw the dark haired man standing within, Harry raised an eyebrow. So this was Loki. Huh.

"I'll make sure the systems are running correctly," Natasha said, and walked over to the control panel. "Loki's a deceiving bastard, it'll be difficult to-"

She turned around and immediately pulled her gun. Potter was inside the cell. How was that possible? Loki was staring out at her, an expression of confusion on his face, when Harry said, "Mind if I join you?"

Loki whirled around to find himself no longer alone. "How did you gain entrance to this cage, mortal?"

Harry tilted his head, and wordlessly cast Muffliato with the wand that was hidden up his sleeve. "You Asgardians," Harry drawled, narrowing his eyes, "So quick to call me mortal. I find it offensive that you call us 'mortal' as if you yourself were immortal. I'm positive that I would be able to kill you," he said softly, "It wouldn't be that hard. In fact, I know that you are mortal. To be immortal means 'to be unkillable'. I'm afraid, Asgardian, that you aren't quite as powerful as you believe yourself to be. IfI were to, I don't know, stab you enough times, you would eventually bleed to death, wouldn't you? With your advanced healing and, hmm, what's that smell? Magic? And ice? Well, it might take a while, but in the end, you would be dead. As dead as any human."

"Who are you?" Loki demanded, glaring at the man before him.

"Now that's a difficult question," Harry said with a dark smile, "My names Harry, but this organisation, SHIELD, they call me the Grim. You know, great black dog, signifies death? Pretty accurate in my opinion. And others, well, they called me the Chosen One. I didn't much like that name, wasn't partial to The-Boy-Who-Lived either. Been called some other things. Parselmouth, just 'cause I like chatting to snakes. Been called Lord, you know, not that important."

Loki stared at him, a calculating look in his eyes. He had assumed the green eyed man was an average human, but now as he paid more attention, little details were starting to become obvious to him. The ageless quality to Harry, the quiet presence of restrained power, the graceful way he moved, seemingly always ready for a fight. Perhaps even deadly. Loki glanced at the woman outside the cell. She had a mortal weapon pointed at him. How dare she challenge a God? His lip curled in distaste, and glanced back at Harry. Then he slowly stepped backwards.

Harry stared into his eyes, and smirked. "Still convinced you're a God, are you? Perhaps this will change your mind. In a flash of movement too fast for Loki's eyes to keep track of, a dagger slammed into his shoulder. Loki gasped and gripped his wounded shoulder, but remained standing.

"Pathetic mortal," Loki snarled, "You think this will kill me?" He scoffed, "This is but a scratch."

Harry tilted his head to the side again, in an oddly bird-like movement. "Oh really? Well then, we'll have to fix that." He gestured his right hand at Loki, the arm with the wand hidden up the sleeve, and whispered, "Sanguine."

Loki cried out as the wound began pumping blood, more so then should be possible with a wound as pathetic as the human had inflicted on him. One little knife, harm a God? What sorcery was this? He fell to one knee, desperately trying to halt the blood flow.

Harry gazed down at him, a look of distaste on his face. He waved his hand again, and the flow of blood stopped. Harry grabbed Loki's head, and forced him to stare at the puddle of blood he was kneeling in.

"You should remember this, Loki of Asgard," Harry snarled in a deadly voice, "Gods don't bleed."

"What are you?" Loki demanded in a harsh voice, experiencing slight shock at how easily the human had harmed him.

"I'm a mutant. You know, science experiment gone wrong."

"Do not attempt to deceive me," Loki snarled, "I am the Prince of Lies."

Harry raised a dark eyebrow. "Nice title you got there. I wonder... perhaps you have heard mine?" He narrowed his eyes, "Its a name I gained by accident, but I have come to believe over the years that perhaps I was destined to claim it. My life was definitely shitty enough for it to suit me..."

"Spit it out, human," Loki snarled at the Harry.

Harry smirked, "Human? ...I am no such thing. I lost the right to call myself that years ago. I am the Master of Death."

All the colour left Loki's already pale face.

"That is impossible... An old wives tale told to warn children away from seeking power."

"A fairytale on Asgard. How quaint. Didn't seem to work on you, though," Harry observed, "And as interesting as this conversation has been, I want answers. Where is the Tesseract? Where's Barton?"

Loki just laughed. Harry sighed, "The hard way, then. Legilimens."

Loki's laugh turned into grunt of pain. Harry had been loath to perform the mind art. His Master of Death powers only focused on well, death. Pretty much useless when it came to information gathering. Even after all these years, Legilimency still brought back bad memories, and Harry disliked using it, even on an enemy. Physical torture was one thing, but invading someone's mind was crossing a line. Unfortunately, he didn't have any other option.

Harry scanned through the last couple of days, and froze. Quickly, he cancelled the silencing charm.

"Romanoff! Tell Fury! They're going to attack-!"

He was interrupted by an explosion.

So, it's been a while, but I'll be able to update more often over the next three weeks. Perhaps even three updates a week? :O How does that sound? :P Thanks for reading, and thanks for all the support. Review if you want :)