Sorry I haven't updated this week. I wrote about a thousand words for this chapter and then the laptop broke and THEN relatives came over and I went to an anime con/party thingy instead of staying inside and writing :L Once Christmas is over I'll update lots. CHRISTMAS! WHY YOU MAKE ME SO BUSY?

Harry cursed creatively as he flew across the cell, managing to use his magic to halt the unexpected flight before he struck the glass walls. THAT would have been problematic...

"Potter! Get out here!" Romanoff yelled as she leapt to her feet and sprinted over to the nearest computer, typing into furiously while simultaneously holding a hand up to her communicator. "Director, do you copy?"

Harry apparated out of the cell after giving Loki a murderous look. The Asgardian slowly got to his feet, smiling mischievously as explosions reverberated through the Helicarrier.

"Romanoff, Barton and an attack force are on the ship. They've taken out an engine already, and if the plan has gone as it is supposed to, Banner's as pissed as hell. You know what that means. When you get a hold of Fury, tell him I'll deal with it. You need to find Barton, knocking him out might break the mind control."

"You can't go after the Hulk!" Natasha snarled, "Are you insane? He'll rip you to shreds!" But Harry was already out the door. As he left, he called one last instruction.

"Send people down to guard the prisoner. They're coming for him."

With that, he was gone.

Harry darted and swerved through the mass of agents fleeing what he could hear was a fierce battle, punctuated by the roars of a furious beast. The hairs on the back of Harry's neck stood on end. 'Banner,' he thought grimly.

Arriving through a large archway , Harry was greeted by the sight of Thor being tossed across the room like it was nothing. Harry was concerned when he failed to see Thor emerge from the wreckage, so he did what any insane idiot with a death wish would do. He charged the Hulk.

Seeing that Thor was down for the moment, Harry pulled out his wand, immediately firing every curse he knew at the beast. To say the least, he was extremely surprised when every spell failed. He was contemplating whether or not the Hulk was made out of dragon hide when he was thrown across the room by a huge fist. He grunted in pain as he felt a number of ribs crack, and he became extremely irritated when his he collided headfirst with a metal wall. He slid to the ground in a heap, lying still for a moment before struggling back up. It was rather difficult, what with the amount of broken bones he now had, (he was pretty sure his skull was fractured), and the pain had him swearing fiercely. Fortunately, or unfortunately in Harry's opinion, the impact didn't knock him out. He was pretty sure it couldn't. The Hallows were a curse, but they did give Harry a few advantages when it came to battle.

Once again on his feet, Harry cracked his neck, and wiped a crapload of blood off of his face. Most of it was from his head wound, but he had bitten his tongue when he hit the wall. He spat out some blood, and placed a hand on his chest, shoving a rib that was poking out back in. Not the best way to deal with it, as he was sure any doctor would be quick to scream at him, but a rib sticking out of his chest would be a hindrance in a situation such as this. At least know he knew he couldn't use magic on the Hulk. Something about him made him immune to it, and while that pissed Harry off immensely, it also meant that he might be able to have fun in this battle. Shooting something from afar got the job done, but Harry had grown fond of the thrill that a fight brought him. This was the perfect time to use the tricks he had invented in his time hunting down dark wizards.

He looked up, and saw the Hulk begin to advance on him, only to be distracted by a huge hammer slamming into his face. The green monster roared in anger, spittle flying from his mouth, and spun around, his focus once again diverted.

Thor was back.

Harry used this time to cast a few spells on himself. Most wizards would think these spells to be useless, perhaps even barbaric, but then, the wizarding people, to put it lightly, were rather useless when it came to actual hand to hand combat. They relied on their magic for everything, never even considering doing anything without it. After leaving the Wizarding World and entering the Muggle, Harry realised that magic wasn't the answer to all his problems. He couldn't use it in the open, what with the amount of cameras and such devices the non-magical people had created, so he had learned how to defend himself.

And so he used spells that he himself had invented. Spells to increase his speed and strength, the force behind his attacks, and also his senses so they could keep up with his rapid movements. Once that was done, Harry let his animagus form take over halfway. Raven wings shot out of his back, his nails morphed into talons, and his is eyesight increased even more so. Time to get to work.

Harry shot across the room, his wings propelling him through the air, causing him to move so fast that to the human eye, he was a barely a blur. He collided with the Hulk with an almighty crash, and as they flew through the air, Harry dug his sharp talons into the monsters green hide. The Hulk bellowed, and swung around wildly, trying to dislodge him, but Harry refused to let go. Harry snarled with fury as large green hands tried to grab him, obviously planning on crushing him to a pulp. He leapt backwards, flipping in the air so he landed in a crouch. The Hulk swung at him wildly but he spun out of reach, causing the Hulk to roar again. He grabbed for Harry, but he dodged again. More grabs, more punches, but Harry evaded every single one. The Hulk was become more incensed with each passing second, and a Harry couldn't stop the laughter that bubbled from his mouth. He couldn't help it, he hadn't had this much fun in years. Finally, a battle against a worthy opponent. Magical solutions didn't take much time, and so it was rare for Harry to face someone who was actually a challenge. But fun aside, the Helicarrier was under attack. He had had his share of amusement, and it was time to end it.

With a flap of his wings, Harry shot into the air. He soared upwards, and just as planned, the monsters head shot up after him, exposing its neck. Quick as a flash, Harry zoomed down, wrapping his arms around the Hulk's thick neck. Without further ado, he began to squeeze. The green rage monster roared his fury until his air ran out. Harry imagined he was quite confused when he found himself unable to breathe in any more. The Hulk made wild grabs for Harry, but he managed to duck and swerve out of the way of most of them. A flailing fist managed to catch one of his wings which hadn't been furled quickly enough, and Harry winced at the distinct crunch, and the following agony. Another green hand grasped at the arms wrapped around its neck, but it was unable to dislodge them. Harry clenched his teeth tightly, ignoring the pain, and continued to choke the Hulk.

After what felt like hours, the green monster dropped to his knees, arms falling limply to his sides, and he fell forward, faceplanting onto the hard, metal ground. Harry gasped as he was thrown forward over the beast, who was now reverting back to human, agitating his broken bones in the process. He curled up onto his side, putting an arm out so as to alleviate the pressure of his sensitive ribs coming into contact with the ground.

"Friend! You are injured!"

Harry groaned, and opened his eyes which he hadn't realised had fallen closed, his gaze falling on Thor, who was crouched over him. "Shit, really? I didn't notice."

"Then it is even more serious than I thought," Thor announced with worry. "Can you move?"

Harry resisted the urge to facepalm, and nodded, slowly sitting up, and clenching his jaw to stop himself from crying out.

"These wounds are life threatening! By Odin, one of your ribs is protruding from your chest! You should be dead!"

"Pffft, been there, done that," Harry said, absently shoving the rib back into his chest, more than slightly annoyed that it hadn't worked the first time. Thor recoiled in shock, and Harry rolled his eyes. "What, it's just a rib. You should have seen the time I had to fix my neck. Some bastard managed to slit my throat, and I had to hold it in place until it healed back together. Not the most pleasant of experiences, but it was an interesting life lesson. 'Avoid sharp objects'. Would you mind realigning my left wing? I broke that, too."

Thor just stared at him, before shaking himself to clear his thoughts, and gingerly grabbing hold of the injured appendage. He carefully moved it back into place, stopping when he heard Harry's hiss of pain, but kept going when all he received for his concern was a glare.

Once it was in place, Harry let his head droop slightly. He had endured a lot of pain over the years, but wings were by far the worst. Until it was healed, he couldn't transform back. Well he could, but it would be even more painful, and Harry felt that he had taken enough hits for the team that day. He got to his feet, and shook out his arms that were already purpled with bruises from throttling the Hulk. With that thought, he cautiously approached the unconscious form of Banner, lying naked on the floor.

"Dr. Banner?" he asked. The man didn't stir. Harry slanted his eyes sideways at Thor, and after seeing that he was looking at Banner rather than at him, allowed his wand to slide into his hand, and wordlessly cast Enervate.

Banner woke with a gasp, grasping his pale unblemished throat. "What- where am I?" Then his eyes fell closed, and Harry could practically feel the self loathing flow off of the man. "... How many people did I kill?"

Harry tilted his head to the side in a bird-like action, and his attention turned inwards. "No fatalities, but a few injured. Thor and I kept you occupied. You alright, Banner? It took a lot to knock you out. Also, you have no clothes."

Banner looked surprised at the question about his welfare, but shook his head, signalling that he was fine. "It takes a lot to harm the Other Guy...How did you beat him?" He then looked down at himself, and blinked. "You don't happen to have a blanket or something, do you?"

Harry smirked, and snapped his fingers at Thor. "Hey, give him your cape."

"What?" Thor asked with indignation.

"Your cape," Harry repeated slowly, as if speaking to a child, "He needs it more then you. Give. Him. The. Cape."

Thor didn't look pleased, but he unfastened the cape, handing it to Banner, who wrapped it around himself gratefully.

"About how we knocked you out, I choked you. Everything, no matter how tough, needs to breathe. It was the only option after every other offensive attack failed. Sorry about that."

"You strangled the Other Guy?" Banner demanded incredulously, "How-"

He was interrupted by the beeping of a cell phone. Harry pulled the monstrosity that masqueraded itself as a phone out of his pocket, and after checking the number, he held it up to his ear. "Who is this?" he demanded.

"Grim," came Coulson's voice, "We got a situation down here. Loki's out of his cell. I'm going in, but I would appreciate back-up if you're nearby. We can't let him get away."

"Don't go by yourself!" Harry yelled, but Coulson had already hung up. Harry cursed and dropped the phone. Ignoring the calls of Thor and banner, Harry sprinted away, running as fast as he could, which was pretty damn fast thanks to the spells he had cast on himself. By Merlin, he better not be too late. Coulson was only a human after all.

It took him two minutes to get back to the cell at the speed he was travelling. The halls were clear of agents this time, and for that he was thankful. He arrived outside the cell, choosing to blast it down with a hurried spell rather than wait for it to open, and leapt into the room in time to see Loki raise his staff in preparation to slam it into Coulson's back. Harry acted without thinking. A Gryffindor reaction.

With a yell of fury, Harry was across the room, and knocking Coulson out of the path of the strike. Unfortunately, that but Harry into its path. The weapon sliced into his chest causing Harry to yell in pain. It was as though liquid fire was being poured into his chest. Harry had never experienced such agony, even under the Cruciatus Curse. What the fuck was that thing.

"Well, this is an interesting turn of events," Loki murmured, "Unexpected, but not unwelcome. I suppose this is my revenge for your mistreatment of me earlier. I would enjoy prolonging your suffering, but I see that you are dying. Master of Death. How foolish was I to believe such lies..."

Loki smiled triumphantly as blood gushed from Harry's mouth. He was about to yank the weapon out of his chest when Harry did the unexpected. He laughed.

Slowly, a bloodied hand rose upwards, and grasped the blade that was lodged in his chest. "You know," Harry said before he coughed violently, "I've been stabbed a number of times. I have to say, though. This alien weaponry really beats the rest. Being stabbed by that staff thing is absolute torture. But not good enough." With a fierce yank, the blade slid from his chest.

"Impossible!" Loki snarled, his face contorting into rage, "That pierced your heart!"

"Who said I needed a heart? I'm unkillable, you psychotic bastard. Getting stabbed hurts, but other than that, meh."

Loki staggered backwards. "No! It is a fairy tale! A-!" he was cut off when Coulson shot him with his massive bazooka-ish weapon thing. Loki flew backwards and collided with the wall, but managed to keep a hold of his staff. With a snarl, he got to his feet, but was hit with another blast. He smashed into the wall again, this time denting it.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Coulson asked dispassionately, keeping the huge weapon pointed at Loki. Rage contorted the Asgardian's face, and he looked as if he was about to retaliate, but then thought better of it. Instead, he snapped his fingers, and disappeared in a swirl of green.

"Ahh shit," Harry muttered as he slumped unceremoniously to the ground. He hissed as he felt his heart begin to beat again, and blood began to pump out of the wound on his chest. "Fury's gonna kill us. Well, you."

Coulson dropped the huge gun to the ground, "You don't look that great."

Harry laughed, and more blood spattered the ground in front of him. "Well seen as how I've been stabbed, punched, back handed, concussed, and had the majority of my ribs and my wing broken, I'd say I'm entitled to looking like shit."

"Humph," was all Coulson said, knowing that Harry didn't like being fussed over. From past experience, he knew Harry's wounds would heal themselves in a short amount of time, but the stab wound that Loki had inflicted didn't seem to be healing as fast as it should be. Harry had already noticed this, and just sighed, which caused him to cough again.

"I hate alien tech," he muttered.

"This is the first time you've ever encountered it," Coulson commented, brushing a hand over his suit jacket. "Thanks for coming. Pretty sure you just saved me from becoming a human shish kebab... even if it was by turning yourself into a shish kebab. Was that really necessary?"

Harry looked uncomfortable, which looked extremely strange, seeing as how he was soaked in blood, all of which was his own. Thank Merlin for black clothing. "I didn't really think it through. You were gonna die, and I had to save you. A friend of mine used to tell me that I had a saving-people-thing."

"What does she say now?"

"The dead don't speak." Well, not unless he wanted them to. Harry's thoughts turned to the Resurrection Stone... the one Hallow he had yet to be brave enough to use. When he had gone to the Forest that night with the intention of calling them back, it had been out of desperation. After he had awoken from the change into something other than human, he hadn't felt like he could face them. He had let them die, and now he was immortal. What would they think of him? They were dead now, and he wouldn't bother them with the problems of the living... Not when their deaths were on his conscience...

"Look, don't mention it," Harry said, trying not to get too distracted by the sensation of his chest begin knitting itself back together for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "It would have killed you, couldn't kill me. Not much of a sacrifice, Phil. I'd have done it for any agent."

Coulson smiled at him slightly, "I knew there was a reason I tolerated you."

Harry scowled, and then smirked, "Saving all your fangirling for the Cap.?"

"And all the gratitude vanishes..." There was a ringing sound, and Coulson pulled his phone out of his jacket. "It's Fury. NOW he calls me." He answered the call, "Director. Yes, I'm fine, sir, but Loki escaped. Potter's here too. Alright." He put the phone on loudspeaker.

"Potter," Fury growled, "Report."

"The Hulk has been dealt with, no casualties caused by him. A few agents were killed in the explosions that took out the engines, and in the firefight with the hostiles. Loki tried to kill Coulson. I arrived on the scene while Coulson confronted the prisoner, and in the fight that followed, I was incapacitated. Loki escaped. I take full responsibility."

Fury cursed, "Potter, tell me how seriously you're injured. I was under the impression that you couldn't be incapacitated. I've seen you get shot in the head and just walk away."

"That staff Loki has fucked up my magic. I think it would be wise if I avoided alien tech for the remainder of my existence. Is the Helicarrier repaired?"

"Stark and Rogers fixed the problem. We're not falling out of the sky anytime soon. If your able, I need both of you on the Bridge. Loki's going to strike again, and we need the Avengers to function as a team, not a group of five year olds. I was hoping you would help convince them to get along. How wounded do you look?"

"He looks like he just got hit by a bus, and then took a swim in a bucket of red paint," Coulson supplied calmly.

"Good, we can use this to our advantage." He hung up.

Harry rubbed his face tiredly before staggering to his feet. "Bastard..."

"Well at least you're alive," Coulson supplied, "If I had died, he probably would have used my death to motivate the team. Every cloud has a silver lining."

"Sometimes I hate my job. Actually, I always hate my job."

By the time Coulson led an unsteady Harry onto the Bridge, the Avengers had already assembled. Each sat in one of the chairs around the table, and Harry could practically feel the animosity radiating from them.

"Potter, Coulson, take a seat... Jesus, Potter, you're a mess." The others turned around, and openly gawked at the sight of the blood soaked wizard.

"What?" Harry asked, feigning confusion, wiping his blood covered chin, "Is there something on my face?"

"Sit down, Potter." Harry sat, awkwardly positioning his healing wing into a comfortable position, scowling at the so called 'Avengers'. When he reached Natasha, he asked, "Barton alright?" She gave a swift nod.

"What the hell happened to you?" Tony sputtered.

"Him," Harry said, pointed at Banner, "But Loki is responsible for most of the blood. Bloody annoying fucker, that one. The worst God Complex I've ever come across, and believe me," Harry said darkly, "There was some stiff competition."

"Your mutant powers give you accelerated healing?" Stark asked with interest. Harry shrugged. Giving Stark any more information seemed like a bad idea."Hmm, interesting. You know, I hacked into SHIELD's database. Found out lots of interesting stuff. Plans for turning the Tesseract into weaponry, which, admittedly, was rather worrying, but it was the information about SHELD's agents that interested m the most. Tell me, Harry James Potter, are you seriously a wizard?"

Harry stilled, eyeing the billionaire sardonically. "A wizard? Is that what I'm classified as? That's a sucky codename."

"Cut the crap, Tinkerbell. There were files about your 'communities' as well."

Harry sighed, and leaned back in his chair, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling. "... I hate muggles."

Fury looked like he wanted to murder Tony. "You told us you only saw the files about the Tesseract."

Tony shrugged, "I lied. It was pretty mean of you to mislead us like that. I mean, a mutant? Why not just tell us you were a wizard?"

Harry glanced at Fury, "Can I Obliviate them, please?"

"No," he replied shortly, "They might as well know. This way you can use your full skill set in front of them without the fear of breaking the Statute of Secrecy. The American ministry gave us permission to reveal their existence to the high level agents."

"Wait a goddamn minute," Rogers interrupted, "What the heck are all of you talking about? Wizards? But they're not real!"

"I concur," Thor announced, "My people would know if such a species existed on this planet. The only beings capable of magic manipulation are Asgardians. To claim that humans possess such power is preposterous."

Harry kept staring up at the ceiling, fuming inwardly. This was why he hated working with other agents. They asked questions, caused complications, and the next thing you knew, you were growing attached to them. It was one thing for Harry to be on friendly terms with Fury and Coulson, and after their first meeting, to a lesser extent, Barton, but harry refused to be involved with this team of morons. Well, intelligent morons. Stark had hacked into SHIELD's computer crap. Harry couldn't do that. His Master of Death enhanced magic just blew stuff up. Except his phone. Goddammit, where was his phone?

"Perhaps a demonstration?" Romanoff asked. Harry was annoyed by this. He wasn't a circus entertainer. Also, now he couldn't mess with Romanoff anymore by disappearing in closets and such. That had been so amusing...

"I don't want to," Harry growled, "I don't even like you people. It's not like I'm going to work with you. Why should you need a demonstration?" Coulson raised an eyebrow at the 'Don't even like you' comment, knowing how much Harry would do to save their lives if they were ever in danger. It was who he was.

Fury cleared his throat, "Actually, you will be working with them. I want you to join the Avengers Initiative. Loki will attack sooner rather than later, and I want you to be there to stop him."

"No," Harry growled.

"That's what the others said as well. See, you fit right in. And this isn't an option, Grim. You're working with them whether you want to or not. Someone needs to make these idiots work together.

Harry glared at Fury, and he glared back. Finally, Harry sighed angrily. "Fine, but I want a holiday after this. A decade long one."

"You still have that mass murderer to catch," Coulson reminded him.

"I hate my life so much..."

"So, proof?" Tony asked excitedly. Rogers frowned, as did Banner. Natasha kept her face blank, but Harry could see she was interested. Thor stared at him, obviously reluctant to believe that his people weren't as all knowing as he had previously thought.

"Fine," harry snarled. He deftly pulled his wand out of his sleeve.

"You expect us to believe you perform magic with a twig?" Thor scoffed, "That is-"

Harry turned him into a toad.

"..."

Tony looked from harry, to the toad, and then back to Harry. "What? No magic words?"

"Those are for amateurs."

And then there were two frogs.

"Any more questions?" Everyone shook their heads, "Well then, let's go catch Loki. I have stuff to do."

Again, sorry for the long wait. Hope you liked the chapter, it took me two days to write rather than one :( CHRISTMAS IS SO DISTRACTING? Anyway, thanks for reading, review if you want. Hope you all have a great Christmas.