Chapter 3: Hello, Goose!
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"Sir, there is something I must tell you about Miss Ivy," Jarvis said to Tony, while the man was typing away on some documents. He hadn't wanted to disturb his creator, but this was rather important. And it was one of the few times Mr. Stark was alone.
"What?" the man said, distractedly. He wanted to get these done before he went to bed for the night. He only had about ten forms left to fill out. He had been at it since just before dinner. He had enjoyed eating with Ivy and Pepper. They were the two most important women in his life. And wasn't it funny that that little girl had become so important in such a short amount of time.
"Well, sir, you see, there's an anomaly about her," Jarvis said, not quite sure how to put it.
"What are you talking about? I mean, yeah, she's too cute for words, but that's just good genetics," Tony said, looking up into the empty room, giving Jarvis his complete attention.
"What I mean, sir, is that there is an energy field around her. I thought it was a glitch in my system at first, but an in-depth analysis showed that it is Miss Ivy," Jarvis said, his tone was one of wonder. Well as much as an AI can show. "I thought it was an electrical field, but it is proving to be something completely different," he added, bringing up a hologram of his analysis.
There in front of Tony was Ivy's outline with an aura radiating from her body. It was golden in color, and it fluctuated all around the little girl. It was like watching the weather patterns on the globe, that's how much it was shifting. He noted that there was a dark spot on her back that was black. It was a steady stream of color and marred the golden color. He would have to look into that. "Can you give me anymore information?" he asked his AI. He started typing on his virtual keyboard and was trying to get a reading on what he was seeing.
"No, sir. Only that it seems to interfere with some of my functions," Jarvis said, showing his calculations on a different hologram.
"I don't understand these readings at all," Tony said, looking at the analysis and comparing them to his own. The field around Ivy wasn't anything he'd ever seen before. There was something similar to it, like the energy output of his arc reactor. Clean energy. It wasn't quite the same, and he knew that it wouldn't generate electricity, or anything that would power electronics. However, it was putting out energy.
"What would you have me do?" Jarvis asked, unsure where to go from here. He was an AI, though he was programed to grow and react on his own, Tony was still his creator and he was the man in charge.
"Monitor it for now, and analyze it if it flares or anything," Tony said, not sure what it was. "Let me know if anything changes. And let's keep this between us for now." He didn't want anyone to snatch Little Ivy Harriet for 'testing'. He'd keep her out of Fury's hands as long as he could, which if he had his way, would be forever.
That reminded him he was going to have Natasha and Clint look in the SHIELD database for the Potters' murder case. He had Jarvis call them. It was still early evening there. Natasha answered.
"What?" she asked, not one to mince words. She was dressed for bed in a long t-shirt and some comfy slippers. Her red hair was up in a short ponytail.
"I was wondering if you could look up Ivy's parents in the SHIELD database. They died under mysterious circumstances," he said, then gave her the rundown on what Jarvis had found, which wasn't much. "It was what got me interested in Ivy in the first place. She asked if I would find out what happened to her parents. I knew her mom, but only for a week." He then went on to tell her what he knew about Lily and Petunia.
"I'll see what I can find," Natasha said, writing all that down in her tablet. "I'm thinking you want to keep this from Fury?" she said, though it really wasn't a question. They all wanted to keep this from Fury. It wasn't so much him, as who he reported to. Those people were the ones who ordered the nuke to be dropped on New York during the invasion.
"Please. I want to wait as long as we can before we inform him of anything," Tony stated emphatically. He knew that she would understand. He still had nightmares over that nuke and he didn't want to think of what those people would do with someone as cute as Ivy. Especially with what Jarvis found.
"I'll do my best," she promised then she hung up.
"And they call me rude," Tony said, then he went back to the documents he had been working on. Only a few more and he could go to bed. They sure wanted to know your whole life story just to adopt a kid. He sighed and diligently continued to write.
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When Ivy woke up the next morning, she was surprised that there was a cat in her bed. Well, she was surprised that she was in a bed. Her cot was not as big as this bed. She was surrounded by the dollies that Mr. Tony and his friends had bought for her. And now there was a kitty. Mr. Tony must have gotten it for her. It was a full-grown cat, who was orange and white striped. A tabby, she thinks Mrs. Figg called them. It was staring at her, so she put her hand out and petted its head.
"Hello, Mr. Kitty," Ivy said as she continued petting the cat's head.
"My name is Goose," the cat said in her head. He leaned into the petting and then sat and licked his paw.
"You can talk, Mr. Goose?" Ivy said quite shocked, though not overly so. She had heard snakes talk before. Just not cats. Not even Mrs. Figg's, and she had a lot of cats. Whenever she visited Mrs. Figg, the nice lady would sit and talk about her cats for hours. She made sure to give Ivy some biscuits, they weren't very good biscuits, but it was the thought that counted. Ivy knew all about cats now thanks to those talks. And she knew that cats did not talk.
"Yes, but you might not want to tell people that," Goose said, bumping his head to her chubby little hand. She obliged and petted him on the head. "I will protect you while you are among the muggles."
He liked this adorable little girl and she would need a familiar when she went to school. He would protect her among the magicals as well. That's if he was still around. Something might come up that required his attention, but she was just too cute to leave alone right now. Not that he liked humans, but there was something about this one.
"What is a muggle?" Ivy asked, sounding out the word.
"It is a word for people who are not magical," Goose explained, he stopped looking for pets and stared her in the eye. "You are a witch." He was surprised that no one had told her yet. Surely, she had done some accidental magic by now.
"Mr. Goose, that is not a nice thing to say," she chastised in a cute little tone complete with finger waving. "I am a good girl," she said, still wagging her finger at the cat.
"I mean, you can do magic," the cat said with a sigh.
"Oh, can I really?" she said, clapping her hands and bouncing in place on her bed. "Should I tell Mr. Tony and Miss Pepper?" she asked the cat.
"They might not believe you," Goose warned, circling around a spot on the warm blankets. It was where Ivy had slept, and it still held her body heat. He got comfortable and closed his eyes. "Then again, you have a talking cat," he added, purring when she started petting him again.
Just then Tony came in the room to get her ready for breakfast. "Ivy," he started warily, "where did the cat come from?" he asked, not sure how the cat got in the room. It wasn't like they were on the first floor or anything. None of the doors they had opened to the outdoors.
"His name is Mr. Goose, and he said he was here to protect me from the muggles," she said brightly. Her smile radiating the whole room. "He can talk inside my head, and he said that I'm a witch. I thought he was being mean at first, but he said that means I can do magic." She finished off her explanation with another megawatt smile. She was still bouncing up and down, making her curls bounce as well.
"I see," Tony said, not sure how to handle this. He couldn't accuse her of lying, that would break her heart. He didn't want to lead her on and let her think she had magic, when she didn't. That would upset her later. "Jarvis? Where did the cat come from?" he asked the AI. Surely Jarvis saw what happened.
"It simply appeared," Jarvis answered, a tone of confusion in his voice. Not something you hear from an AI often. "Here, sir, I shall play you the last ten minutes of what happened in this room," he said, and did just that.
Sure enough, the cat just appeared on the bed, it was like he dropped from the ceiling and fell to the bed, and he did seem to be talking to Ivy. Tony got an idea. "Ivy, can you ask Goose what he eats?" he asked his adorable little friend.
"You can ask me yourself," Goose said, putout that the girl hadn't heeded his advice and not shared that he could talk.
"Holy shit, you can talk," Tony said, falling back to the closed door. He had seen some weird things in his life, but a talking cat. That took the cake. "What are you?" he asked, knowing this was not a real cat.
"I'm an alien. Let us keep this between us. If it got out that I could talk to people there would be some bad people coming around Ivy Harriet," he said, letting the man know what he was. He would simply eat anyone who tried to harm Ivy, but it was just so much work. "That and I want to keep it from Fury for a while yet."
"Oh, you know Fury? Well, that makes us best buddies," Tony said, clapping his hands together and rubbing them in a 'we can do this' manner. "Wait, didn't you take his eye?" he asked, vaguely remembering that rumor.
"He wouldn't stop cuddling me," Goose said, still not moving from his spot on the bed. "I didn't talk to him, so let's keep this a secret."
"I'll keep your secret if you tell me what you know about Ivy," Tony added, coming further into the room, and sitting on the bed. "Jarvis, lock the door," he ordered his digital butler. He didn't want anyone to interrupt their conversation. "Also, Jarvis, lock everyone out of this conversation, especially hackers."
"Yes, sir," Jarvis said as he did just that. He put the files in an offline database that could only be reached from Tony's laptop. Once they were done with their talk, he'd scrub the whole file.
Tony picked Ivy up and placed her on his lap. "So, magic? Is that why she has an aura of energy?" he asked the cat. He hugged Ivy close as she smiled up at him.
"What's an aura?" she asked, her smile brightening his day.
"It's a radiance that you have," he gave her a simple answer.
"Yes," Goose answered, looking at the golden hue the girl was radiating. He'd have to take care of that black spot when they were alone. It would be tricky, and he might scare the girl while doing it. He was going to have to explain everything to her beforehand, which also might scare her. Seeing him eat was an interesting experience.
"Will it hurt her?" was the question he really wanted the answer to. Tony would do anything to make sure that Ivy Harriet lived a pain free life.
"Only if you make her ignore it. That will lead her to repress it and then it will turn on her and retaliate. That is never good," the orange tabby explained in a serious tone.
"Right, let her do what she wants," Tony said, like he was not going to do that anyway.
"Mr. Tony, is it true? Am I a witch?" Ivy asked, not sure if this was a good thing or not. She worried her lip, remembering all the times her aunt called her a freak, and wondered if this was what her aunt was talking about.
"It looks like you are. But don't fret, you'll be a good witch," Tony said, hugging the little girl to his chest. "Now, it's time for breakfast, so why don't you get dressed and we can eat and then go shopping. Well, you and Pepper are going shopping. I have some other things to do today." He put her on the floor and patted her back to get her moving in the correct direction.
"Okay, Mr. Tony," she said, smiling and going to the closet which held all the clothes they had taken from her Aunt Petunia's house. She wanted to wear shorts today. There was a cute little pink and white set that one of the neighbors had bought for her that she had not worn yet. It had ponies on it.
"Goose, you can stay, but you and I are going to talk," Tony said once Ivy was in the walk-in closet.
"Like you could make me leave. Only Ivy can do that and that's only if I let her. However, I will indulge you. We will talk tonight after Ivy is in bed," Goose said, having not moved from his warm spot on the bed.
"Great. A cat with an ego," Tony said, going to help Ivy get dressed.
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While Pepper and Ivy were out getting Ivy some more clothes, Tony was talking to Petunia and Vernon. Dudley was out playing at a friend's house. Happy was watching and making sure that everything went smoothly. Tony had a tendency to get riled easily since the invasion, and Happy could usually talk him down. Or at least get him out of the room until he calmed down on his own.
"I need you to sign these. I will be taking Ivy to America, but you need to sign away your rights," Tony said, indicating the spots where there were sticky notes, showing where she needed to put her initials or signature. They were the standard release papers. There was nothing added to them. They simply stated that Petunia gave up all rights and privileges to Ivy Harriet Potter. She would take no responsibility or claim no rights to her thereafter.
"What do I get for giving up my niece?" the bitch asked, not touching the documents. She was going to get her due before she gave up anything. After all, she was giving up the protection the old man promised her and her family. She was putting her little Dudley in danger by giving up the brat.
"What are you talking about? You are going to court for the way you treated Ivy, you don't want her. Why would you think you deserve any compensation?" Tony asked, looking to Vernon, who was looking at his wife with disdain. He was wondering if he should give the man his lawyer's card. For a divorce. Then again, maybe without Ivy here, they could work things out. There had to have been something there to begin with.
"Petunia, just sign the papers," Vernon said, growing a backbone for a moment. It was easier now that Ivy wasn't here to take the punishment.
"Do not tell me what to do," Petunia snapped at her husband, who backed off earning a disappointed look from the other two men in the room. She still had not touched the pen and she was glaring at Tony as if to say, 'Well'.
"I'm not paying you to take Ivy. She's coming with me whether you sign these papers or not," Tony said, pointing at the documents in question. "It'll just take longer, and I have the best lawyers in the world." It was true, he had the money to keep her in the courtroom for years. "By the time I'm done with you, Ivy will be of age, and you'll be broke," he added, pointing at the papers more profoundly.
Petunia knew she was out of her league, and she signed the indicated places. "You do know she's a freak, right?" she asked, finishing off the last signature. "I will not take her back. If that old man brings her back here, I'll dump her in the Thames." She knew she wouldn't be here even if the old man tried to bring her back. They were moving the first chance they got.
"What old man?" Tony asked, taking up the papers and putting them in his briefcase. He handed it to Happy. They were going to file those papers today. That way they could get started on getting Ivy Harriet stateside. He still needed to get the girl a passport, and Pepper was supposed to start that today as well.
"The headmaster of that freak school. She'll get a letter when she's eleven," Petunia said smugly, like it was something that she was now looking forward to seeing, even if she wasn't going to be there. How would the great Tony Stark look when he found out that the girl he took on was a freak?
"Oh, so, you knew she was a witch?" Tony said, shocking Petunia and confusing Vernon. He saw the confusion and looked at the wife. "You never told Vernon?" That was shocking. He was sure she'd tell her husband.
"There are laws," Petunia said, putting her hand to her neck to play with the faux pearls there. "I'm not supposed to talk about it. However, you are going to be taking care of her and she's your problem now," she said snidely.
"I'll keep my eyes out," Tony said as he got off the couch. He took a card out of his pocket and handed it to Vernon. "If you need a good lawyer, these guys are the best," he said, then sneered at Petunia. He and Happy made their way out of the house. "She really is a piece of work," he said, getting into the back of the limo.
"That she is, boss, that she is," Happy agreed as he handed Tony the briefcase and closed the door.