Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to Harry Potter or Marvel. All properties therein are those of their creators. I am only a writer working on my skills with worlds and characters that I love.

Chapter Four - A Discovery

The next morning Reed, Ben, and Johnny were nervously pacing in the throne room once more with Valeria dutifully staring down at them from her throne when Victor came marching back in with his hands held comfortably behind his back. Before he could even take his seat beside his wife he was mobbed by the three fourths of the Fantastic Four all talking over each other to inquire about their friend and sister's condition and the condition of her child.

He waved them down and portaled himself from his position to the throne and casually sat upon it, crossing one leg over the other and taking his wife's hand. "Susan is perfectly fine, as is the child. They are both resting comfortably below us, and I will take you to them shortly. You were right to come to me as I doubt anyone else on the planet has enough knowledge of science, magic, and temporal displacement to have figured out what was happening, let alone, how to fix it."

"What was happening?" Reed wanted to know.

Doom tapped his fingers lazily on the armrest of his throne as he considered how best to answer that question. "Reed, we once debated in college about the merits and different schools of thought relating to the multiverse, do you recall?"

"Yes." Richards was a bit confused by this change in the questioning. "We seemed to agree that it existed, but you argued for more defensive study in regards to it, whereas I wanted to develop ways to travel through it and interact directly with the citizens of other realities."

"Yes, well, we were right in the fact that it does exist. The child that was growing in Susan's stomach was indeed the product of your union, but it also was not."

"Excuse me?"

"From what my scans were able to reveal, the cosmic storm that transformed you all also collapsed a neighboring reality into our own. Now, the rest of the citizens of our world were too far from that center of displacement to be affected, but the four of you were right in the center of it. In that other reality you were all older and Susan was pregnant with the child in question. The fact that she was farther along there than here explains the rapid growth of the fetus. It used the fertilized eggs she already carried in our reality as an entry point and took physical form. Believe it or not, over there she was your second child, of course here she is your first. Quite the strain on the mind to understand isn't it?"

"S-S-She?" Reed stuttered as Johnny and Ben clapped his back in congratulations.

"Yes, you have a perfectly healthy baby girl, Mr. Richards."

"I need to see her."

"Of course, but first we shall speak of the price." That sombered the room real quick. "You promised me literally anything I desired if I would help your girlfriend, Reed."

"I did, and I stand by that promise."

"Good, then this should not even be an issue. Now, delivering a child is culturally important in my country. It is why family members are 'expected' to be involved in the birth. As such, I feel a certain… responsibility for the little one. My price is thus, I will name the child, and the place of her godfather shall be mine."

"Excuse me!" Ben grunted as he stomped forward. "If anyone is gonna be responsible for Stretch's kid, it's gonna be me. Where do you get off askin for somethin like that?"

Instead of addressing Grimm, Doom turned to Reed once more. "We had a deal, Richards."

Mr. Fantastic sighed and nodded. "Done."

As Ben fell back once more with the others, aghast at the turn of events, the monarch of Latveria stated, "The child shall henceforth be named Valeria, after my wife." He squeezed her hand slightly to show her his appreciation, and reveled in the equal pressure she returned.

"Fine."

"Good. Let it be known, Reed, that your lover only exists now because I succeeded where you failed. Your daughter only has a name because I brought her into this world and gave it to her when your hands and mind were completely useless. Every time you see her face, from now until your miserable life ends, be aware that I was finally proven right. Between the two of us, I am the better man. Now that that is settled once and for all, let us go below. I believe there is a new mother quite eager to introduce her daughter to her father." The stampede of movement that statement elicited was almost laughable

Four Years Later

Susan Storm was partaking in her favorite activity of the day. Playing with Valeria. Her little girl was so smart and curious and it was the brightest sight of her life every time she saw her playing with building blocks. Of course she'd had to get used to walking around with a thermal viewing attachment to her reading glasses to make sure she could find the girl if she unconsciously went invisible (which happened frequently) but that was no great bother. It was just the world's greatest game of hide and go seek ever.

However, their usual playtime was suddenly interrupted by a call from the front desk of the Baxter Building. "Ms. Storm, there is a man here to see you." Reed had done the honorable thing at once following the birth of their child and proposed to her, but they had yet to fix a date for their wedding that hadn't been interrupted by some crises or other. Last time had seen the advance of Galactus. What were the odds?

"Is he on the schedule? I could have sworn I had the afternoon free?"

"Ah, you did, maam. But, well, after this man showed up the entire schedule changed in our computers and now he's your only appointment for the rest of the day."

"Did he give his name?"

"Agent Coulson of SHIELD, maam."

That name didn't ring any bells for Susan, but she saw no harm in meeting someone if they'd already worked this hard to meet her. "Alright, send him up." While her secretary was no doubt running a weapon's check on their guest before sending him through the central lift, Susan handed Valeria off to her nanny. She had been against the idea of hiring one at first, but with how often she and the others were called on to save the world, mixed with her own scientific projects, it helped to have an extra pair of hands on deck.

She was thus waiting at the lift in her full Fantastic Four uniform when it opened to reveal a rather plain looking man with an easygoing smile and a slightly receding hairline. Upon exiting the elevator he at once offered his hand. "Ms. Storm, my name is Agent Phil Coulson. Thank you for taking the time to see me."

The blonde shook the hand easily before directing the man to their meeting room. It held several articles of interest including a pair of long leather couches facing each other. As they took seats on opposite sides from each other she commented, "You seemed pretty determined to make it happen and I was curious. How can I help you today? And what is SHIELD if you don't mind me asking?"

"Of course not. We get that question a lot. I honestly think they tried a bit too hard to make our name make sense as SHIELD." Phil's smile was still in place as he let out an easy chuckle, but Sue detected no falseness in it. The man just seemed like a genuinely happy person. "It stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division. A bit of a mouthful, I am aware."

"Interesting, and what is your function as an organization? I only ask because I've never heard of you and my team deals with the government quite frequently."

"That's not surprising. We're still relatively new, but we are growing in scale and purview. Our set mandate is to interact with and, if need be, handle situations of a super or out of the ordinary nature. Had we been around when your group came to prominence, we'd have been contacted to evaluate you and go from there. As it stands, you can think of us as something of a legal backer and cleanup crew. As long as you don't go out of the way to break the law we will have your back and will support your activities as a legal superhero team."

"Well, that is nice I guess. I don't suppose that means you can get the Bureau of Revenue off our backs about all the damage to the city during our fights?" She half joked, hardly expecting a serious answer. "They keep trying to bill us for repairs."

So Coulson's response of, "Of course, we took over your case two weeks ago and they were one of the first agencies we dealt with. The FBI is also no longer investigating Reed for his stockpile of nuclear material and the DEA's drug case against your brother has been dropped."

"Johnny is on drugs?" Sue was aghast.

"Not at all, which made handling that issue rather easy. With his enhanced body temperature I'm honestly not sure most conventional drugs would even work on him. It seems one of his old girlfriends was angry that he broke up with her so suddenly and after she was pulled over with four kilos of cocaine in her car she claimed that he gave them to her. The investigation was in the early stages so, as I said, it was easy to disprove. Honestly it only got as far as it did because the lead investigator on the case was another one of his exes."

Sue sighed at the thought. Why did her baby brother have to be such a manwhore? "Thank you for that, but why are you here now? You haven't said yet."

"Well then I'm sorry for that. SHIELD has been asked by the United Nations to look into a rather… sensitive matter, and we were hoping that you would be able to help us out."

Susan brightened up at that. This wouldn't be the first mission they'd taken for the UN. "Of course, let me call in the others quick and we can-"

Phil held up a hand to stop her. "Let me explain the details to you first, and then you can inform the rest of your team if you wish. Primarily, we would ask for this to be a solo mission on your part."

"Really?"

"Yes." Phil nodded, "It is imperative that stealth is maintained for this mission and the others in the Fantastic Four aren't exactly known for their ability to avoid the public eye. You see, we know that you are familiar with Latveria, in fact you are one of the few outsiders to have been inside Doom Castle since the new king of the country took possession of it."

"Well I was doped on painkillers most of the time to be honest, but yeah I was there when Valeria was born. This has something to do with Latveria?"

"I'm afraid so. You see, Russia, along with one or two other Eastern European nations, has lodged a complaint with the UN, claiming that Latveria is in possession of weapons of mass destruction, and with them being so close to each other it is raising international concerns."

"Is there any proof to back up their claims?"

"Not at all. Our best guess is that Russia is pissed at losing one of their most profitable trading partners with the fall of the old regime and is looking for any excuse to remove Doctor Doom from power. They think if they can push the UN into intervening with the country one such change could be planned and implemented. Of course Doom responded rather critically to their allegations and practically crippled their economy in a matter of days, ironically enough raising his own to one of the top four in the world in the process."

The Invisible Woman raised an eyebrow, "At least they have an inkling of an idea who they were poking now. Plus, the man doesn't need weapons of mass destruction anyway, he literally is one."

"Believe me, we've told them and the UN that. Several times. But the UN takes WMD's very seriously, and they want to know if Latveria is packing at the very least. Ergo, they want us to have someone infiltrate the country and find out for sure. We've tried telling them that short of going to war they couldn't do anything even if he did have them but they don't care. Politics is never fun, Ms. Storm, even for an agency like ours. As you know the area and can turn invisible, you were the natural choice to approach first."

"Really? Who is your backup choice?"

"Janet Van Dyne."

"Oh she's lovely."

"Yes, but she said she'd only do it if you were unavailable."

"I don't know, Agent Coulson." Sue's gaze was troubled as she looked to the room she knew Valeria and the nanny were playing in, "I… I owe Victor a great deal."

"We are aware, and please understand we aren't asking you to attack the man or betray any of the other secrets in his country or castle." Phil reached into his coat and pulled out a photograph of the tallest tower on Doom Castle. A red circle had been drawn in the uppermost section of it. "As you know, information out of Latveria is almost nonexistent, but before the net closed on their borders there were whispers of a particular room right there. One that no man or woman from outside the castle was allowed to access. All we ask is that you look inside it, and let us know if there are WMD's there."

"And if it's something else?"

"Provided it isn't a threat to the world we don't need to know. Again, we are… understanding, about your possible issues with the mission and wish to accommodate you in any way we can while still appeasing the UN. That being said, your cooperation could help us to stop them from making any rash decisions. Honestly, Doom seems to scare the crap out of them. In the short time he's been on the throne he's taken Latveria from a backwards, near bankrupt, country and turned it into a superpower in its own right. We just need to be able to tell them that whatever he has up there isn't nukes."

"I… need to talk this over with the others."

"I completely understand." Phil stood and offered his hand to shake. "Just let us know by this time tomorrow if you'll be able to take the mission. If not we'll need to know so we can start prepping Janet as soon as possible."

"Of course. Let me walk you to the door."

As it happened, the others had been nervous about the prospect of sending her off alone, but they couldn't deny that the mission was valid. So in the end, after being set up with over a dozen SOS devices courtesy of Reed, she'd been smuggled into Eastern Europe and from there she'd gone under intermittent invisibility until she'd finally made it across the border. And what a harrowing experience that was. It was a good thing she'd included a forcefield over her invisible body that blocked out thermal energy and scent because a full border wall had been erected that sported massive laser turrets, legions of guard dogs, and cameras and thermal sensors as far as the eye could see. Had Janet taken this route she'd have been found out in an instant no matter how small she made herself.

It was a several day trek from there to the capitol city and the eventual journey to the castle itself proved quite harrowing. There were soldiers everywhere and she was endlessly paranoid she might bump into one. Yet contrary to what such a situation should have meant for the populace, the people of Latveria didn't seem at all oppressed. Indeed, they seemed lively, ecstatic, and happy beyond measure. The city boasted an interesting mix of architectural styles, both modern and old european reminiscent of the medieval period, yet everyone she saw was all wide smiles and open spirits. The clothing was equally diverse as she saw men and women in tunics, breaches, and leather jerkins as well as skinny jeans, leather jackets, and tank tops. Modernization had come to Latveria in a big way and the people seemed to be loving it.

Castle Doom was much as she remembered it. Tall, imposing, but with a long line of people leading out the door. Taking a risk she made herself visible toward the back of the line and asked one of the people in her best Latverian accent, "Excuse me, but I am new here. What is this line for?"

The man she spoke to was incredibly friendly in his response. "Worry not, many of us are still learning the new way of things so you are in good company. This line is to see the king. Every day, unless he is working on a project, he opens his throne room for a minimum of one hour to meet with anyone who should approach him. He likes to take a direct hand in the running of our country and Queen Valeria has announced on the news that that includes seeing to the direct needs of the people themselves. I was skeptical until I came here myself and started talking to others that approached him. He turns no one away."

'Well that is interesting' She thought as she moved to a nearby alley and reclaimed her invisible status. She supposed there was a reason the people seemed to love their monarch so much, though she suspected a lot of that had to be the queen's influence. Smart and powerful as he was, Victor was not naturally likable. Moving stealthily the Invisible Girl bypassed the line, and when she got to the central lift area began to levitate herself on a platform of energy all the way up the structure until she reached the final level. Inwardly she was praising the central floor plan. With everything branching off from that central point, floor by floor, it completely negated the need for a bunch of stairs.

The secure room was exactly where SHIELD had said it was. Final level, furthest point, a bunch of automated defenses between what would have been the elevator and it. Whatever was inside, Doom wanted it as safe as humanly possible. What could it be, really? Sue didn't believe for one second that it was WMDs. For one thing, what idiot would keep those kinds of things where he lives?

After making it past everything else Susan was rather surprised to find the door unlocked when she turned the handle. Of course she entered without a sound and closed it behind her, but what she beheld upon turning back in was a sight that took her breath away from how outlandish it truly was. She seemed to have entered a giant… playroom. All around her were scattered toys, developmental games, and even what looked like a small worktable full of closed booklets. She immediately went to examine them. 'Lego instruction manuals?' she wondered idly as she flipped through the pages. 'And pretty intricate designs too.'

Her attention was grabbed by a sound of movement around the corner mixed with the easy piano notes of Chopin that had her walking over to investigate further. The blonde woman didn't think it was possible, but what she beheld was twice as shocking as the rest. She'd entered a larger play area that was stock full of massive lego structures and builds. In the center of it all was an absolutely gigantic lego Death Star, and adding pieces to its outer edge was a little boy that couldn't be more than five, six at the most, dressed in what looked like a medieval outfit fit for a prince.

He was all set to go back for more pieces out of a nearby box when he faced the direction she was standing in and visibly jumped with surprise. 'Had he seen her? No, that was impossible.'

"Oh, hello there." His tiny voice chirped as the child bustled over to her and took her hand. 'That answers that.' "I never get guests, who are you?"

"You can see me?"

"My daddy taught me to see things that others don't. We use the method to play hide and seek."

As she became visible again (hiding clearly wasn't working) Susan had to physically restrain herself from scooping the little one up and squeezing him for all she was worth. He was just so adorable! "I'm Susan Storm, who are you, little guy?"

Gathering himself and giving the cutest little bow he said, in a clearly practiced manner, "I am Prince Harry Von Doom, milady. Would you like some tea? Mommy says a prince is always supposed to offer visiting girls tea."

"Squee!" Susan lost the battle against the cuteness and indeed swept the child into a hug. Luckily the boy seemed to be a cuddler as well, as he quickly returned the embrace before being let back down. "Tea sounds lovely." The boy nodded and to her shock he retrieved some kind of stick from his sleeve and gave it a wave before a tray floated over from a nearby table with a steaming pot. Another wave and it poured into twin cups which soon floated into their hands. "That's amazing."

"Thanks." The boy chirped once more. "Do you want to help me with my legos?"

Susan eyed the large structure that was easily twice her height and thought 'He built all this himself?' Then said, "Sure thing." If the objects of this room were her mission, then why shouldn't she help a little boy with his crafts project?

Elsewhere

Queen Valeria stretched happily as she made her way to the central lift. It was an absolute joy to watch her husband interact with their people, working diligently to solve their problems and make Latveria as great as it could be. However, those thrones were not always comfortable and having to maintain a queenly bearing was incredibly stressful on her facial muscles. Ah well, at least now she could finally return to helping her little boy work on his Death Star.

When the child had shown an interest in building things his father had been ecstatic, and he'd quickly moved on from building blocks to more advanced tools, and now his lego structures were so intricate that they had proudly begun displaying them in the town square. The people absolutely adored their prince and so equally adored the things he made. Honestly, little Harry was so good that he never even looked at the instruction manuals. Instead he just seemed to be able to look at the separated pieces and instinctively know where they all should go, as if a puzzle was in his mind and constantly piecing itself together for him. It was so soothing to watch the way his face lit up when a structure came into being beneath his own little hands.

The lift exited on their residence floor and she easily made her way over to Harry's room before letting herself inside. So excited to see her adopted son was she that the woman didn't even register the presence of another until she entered his workspace and came to view none other than Susan Storm levitating her boy into the air as he set some pieces into places on the top of his latest project. Both Harry and his father absolutely loved Star Wars and he'd made several items based on the franchise. Hell, his Star Destroyer was displayed in the square right now and it received endless praise from those who saw it.

Valeria didn't say anything for a while, instead choosing to just watch the two work. She didn't think Susan was here for anything nefarious, and honestly she was saving her from having to go get a ladder herself. Indeed, all she saw when she looked at the blonde woman was another mother that enjoyed seeing children smile. So after a bit she simply went to the worktable, opened the unused manual for the build, and perused the plans before going to the box, grabbing a few pieces, and getting to work herself. It was then that the blonde seemed to finally realize the two of them weren't alone and the women shared a knowing look mixed with wry grins before setting back into things. They'd talk about why she was here, but they'd do it after they were done.

A short time later Victor entered the room, having finally finished another meeting with the heads of his various government ministries. All reported the same things, his plans for the nation were all progressing smoothly and without issue as he knew they would. Now he wanted to check on his son's progress. The boy had proven to be remarkably intelligent (as he knew any child of him and Lily was bound to be) and had also shown himself to be quite the architect. He, Doom, and Valeria had been working on the Death Star for only a couple days but already it was almost finished. The question of what to get him next to work on had been brought up and he was torn between a life sized tyrannosaurus rex or the roman coliseum. The legos themselves were good toys to judge his capability as Valeria had put her foot down and refused to let their child near mechanics and power tools until he was at least ten and under his direct supervision. A shame but he supposed he could deal with it.

He was prepared for many possible sights upon entering the workspace but none of them were his wife and Susan Storm of all people laughing like old friends and drinking tea at the worktable while Harry finished placing the finishing touches on the Kyber Laser Port. Once the last piece was inserted he clapped three times in the air, his usual signal that a project had been completed, and turned to tell Valeria, only to let his eyes fall on his watching father.

"Daddy!" The little boy practically screamed happily as he charged across the distance and barreled into his legs for a hug. Doom was convinced Harry's natural magical affinity was the only reason such actions never seemed to hurt him since all of his limbs were covered in his sleek armor.

As gently as he could he reached down and combed his gauntleted fingers through the lad's sleek black hair. "Greetings, my son. How goes the progress?"

"I'm finished." He chirped easily in his rather high pitched voice.

"Really? Did you include the parts I gave you?"

"Yup, they fit right where you said they would."

"Of course they did. Doctor Doom never makes mistakes. How about we test it out, eh?"

"Yay!" Harry scampered across the room and dragged a chair in front of the large creation before plopping a stuffed giraffe right on top of it.

Doom raised an interested laugh at the sight. "Why Mr. Stretchy?"

"He was mean to the other animals." Harry said as seriously as a five and a half year old could before speeding back over to his Death Star.

Moving quickly Doctor Doom crossed the floor and raised his cape (reinforced of course) in front of his wife. "Ms. Storm, I have no idea why exactly you have come here, but you would be wise to raise a shield before you."

"What?" It was only her finely tuned instincts that caused the Invisible Woman to create a barrier as directed between herself and the legos as a bright green light suddenly blinded them all. When the spots finally cleared they all beheld a pile of ash where the giraffe had once sat while Harry was patting the Death Star as if it were a treasured pet.

"It works!" The little one proclaimed happily.

Meanwhile, Valeria was staring daggers at her husband. "You helped our five year old make a fully functioning Death Star? Out of legos!"

"Of course I did." Victor waved off the concern, "What was I supposed to do, let him create one that didn't function at all? Be reasonable, dear." His arm raised a bit and soon enough his son was snuggled happily into his side. Though he never let himself show it, Victor found these moments of closeness… calming. "Now, Ms. Storm, could you please explain why the hell you seem to have infiltrated both my country and my son's rooms?"

Seeing no point in lying Susan proceeded to explain the mission given to her by the UN. She finished by saying, "When I met your son I just couldn't walk away. He is simply too cute to avoid."

Valeria laughed merrily at the thought. "Yes, he is. The little guy has the governesses all wrapped around his fingers. It helps that he's so smart too."

"Pardon me for saying, but isn't he a little old to be your child?"

Valeria sighed and moved to caress the boy's cheek. From the pleased grin on his face it was clear he loved physical affection. "Harry is my husband's child from a woman he knew in college, though I could not love him more if he were truly my own."

Victor nodded, "We have never hidden the truth from him and never will. He has a right to his heritage on both sides. But no matter where he came from, Valeria is his mother. She raised him."

Sue nodded, it made sense. "Well, I suppose I should head back and report 'only' that you don't have WMD's up here." She waved easily to the child before walking towards the door.

"Do you seriously think I'm just going to let you leave after breaking in here?" Victor nearly growled.

"Yes, yes I do, considering your wife already guaranteed me free passage to and from Latveria in perpetuity."

"What!" Doom turned to his wife who was smiling far too innocently.

In explanation she said, "Sue and I got to talking while we waited for you, and we found it a fun coincidence that we both have children so close in age. It seems a shame that they wouldn't know each other so we've arranged a series of playdates over the next few weeks. More will surely follow."

Doom didn't know how to respond to that, a situation that got worse when Susan added, "Don't forget the bit where you agreed to name me his godmother. Ta!" More than a little smug at finally leaving the great Doctor Doom speechless, Susan returned to her invisible status and escaped from their sight.

"Valeria, why would you do that?"

"Three reasons. First, you already tied our family to theirs by making yourself their daughter's godfather, so a bit of turnabout is fair play. Second, Harry is isolated up here. Sure he has us, the nannies, governesses, tutors, and monks, but he has no friends his own age. Sure, little Valeria is a year or so younger than him, but with the intelligence Susan has seen in her that shouldn't really count for much soon enough. Alone those two won't have anyone to connect to, to share their experiences and problems, but together they could forge a powerful friendship. Third, I've just made one of the most powerful women on the planet feel as if she now holds a personal responsibility for our boy. It's yet another level of protection that he is better off having than not."

"I still don't know about this."

"Well, think of it this way. If Harry grows fond of Susan's daughter and eventually marries her, the girl would become the queen of Latveria, which means the Fantastic Four would have to go through the effort to cross the globe every single time they wanted to see her. Imagine the discomfort, inconvenience, and annoyance they'll feel on every occasion."

Indeed that thought did bring a smile to his face.