Chapter 20: Ivy Sends a Letter

Thanks for all the reviews.

There is some crackishness in this chapter. As in, "That would never happen" type crack.

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Remus and Sirius were set to leave that Friday evening after a grand party was thrown in their name. Everyone had a great time, though they were sad to see them go. It was a somber event when the time came.

"Do you need more money?" Tony asked Sirius. He was more than happy to set them up with any amount they needed to protect his daughter. He knew that he could crush the competition in the wizarding world. They had nothing there compared to him.

"You know, I never thought anyone would ask me that question," Sirius said, with a shake of his head. "I'm used to being the richest person in the room," he said with a sigh.

"I know the feeling," Tony snarked. Everyone in the room just shook their heads at his ego. Even fatherhood didn't deflate that sense of self pride. Though it was rightly earned.

Ivy beamed up at him, she was proud of her daddy. Others just chuckled and moved away. Pepper was also proud of Tony. She knew what went into making all that money, and what he had to do to maintain it. He might have inherited it, but he had made it grow with his genius brain.

"To answer your question, no, I don't think we'll need any money. I have more than enough for the wizarding world. However, if we do need anything in the mug… non-magical world, I'll let you know," the dogman said, putting his shrunken trunk in his pocket. The party was over, and they were just finished packing. He had floated his trunk into the living room and had Remus check to make sure he had everything.

"I will make sure he stays out of trouble," Remus said, putting an arm over Sirius' shoulder. He had finished packing the night before. All he had needed to do was put his toiletries away.

"Prat," Sirius said, shoving his friend off him. "You are just as much of a troublemaker as I am," he accused, pointing a finger at him.

"I am the picture of innocence," Remus stated with a serene smile.

There were general snorts heard around the room. Too many of them had been caught in his little pranks. While they weren't the grand events that Sirius liked to pull, they were still pranks.

"Yeah, right angel you are," Sirius stated, sarcasm oozing from his tone. "I'd hate to see the woman you marry. The poor lady would have to deal with your angellike ways," he added with a look of sympathy for the still unknown woman.

"Like you're a prize catch," Remus said with a chuckle.

Everyone watched the two have goes at each other and laughed. They could tell that they had been friends forever. There was just a comradery that a lot of people didn't have. It was hard to tell that Sirius had spent all those years in Azkaban, or that Remus was a shunned and persecuted creature. They supported each other well. Having Ivy in there life had given them a purpose and they had thrived. Now they were on a self-imposed mission to see that that little girl had the best life she could have.

"I don't want you to go," Ivy said, her tone dripping with sadness. She would miss this type of argument they had all the time. It was all in good fun and it made everyone happy.

"I know, sweetie, but we have to," Sirius said, kneeling down and pulling her into a hug. "I promise we'll call you every morning. I'll have Jarvis set an alarm to remind us," he said, knowing the AI was doing that as his words were spoken. The AI was something he was still getting used to, but he was slowly acclimating to it. Remus had adapted to it far faster than Sirius had.

"I have made a note, Master Sirius," Jarvis said, mostly to allay Ivy's worries. He was connected to the phones of both men. He wasn't downloaded on to them, per se. More like an app that they could interface with.

"Thank you, Jarvis," both Sirius and Ivy said, then they giggled at each other.

"We have the phones that Tony gave us, so you'll see us every day," Remus reminded her. "We'll even call some days to have tea," he swore. They were British after all. That and Ivy loved her tea parties. He had been a guest a quite a few of them. He would miss them. He was one of the few adults that was a willing participant. He proudly wore the tiaras and feather boas. There was even a top hat with his name on it.

"Okay," she said, giving them one last hug. She then went to stand by her daddy and her new friend Gandr. Loki and Thor stood off to the side. The God of Mischief was closer to the two magic users than his brother, and he would miss them. Not so much now that he had his son here, but more so than Thor.

Bruce, Steve, Clint, Natasha and Pepper were standing around the duo ready to see them off. They were all on good terms with them, but they knew this had to be done. They all wanted to know what was going on in Britain and what Dumbledore was up to. Happy wasn't there. He had duties to attend to. Rhodey couldn't get the day off. He was in China taking care of something.

Sirius and Remus already had their portkey, which they had gotten from the LA magical traveling agency the day before. MACUSA had already cleared them for travel, and they were only waiting for the time to run out. It would activate any minute.

"If you guys need any help, let Jarvis know and the Avengers will be there as soon as we can," Steve said, getting nods from said group. They would stand by their friends come thick or thin. Sirius and Remus had made quite an impact on the group.

"I'm not sure the magicals can handle the Avengers," Sirius quipped, giving them a teasing grin.

"That's the point," Tony retorted back. "We'd stomp them into the ground." He would have no problem putting the smackdown on some of those uppity wizards.

Everyone laughed and the tension was relieved a bit.

"Don't let Dumbledore push you around," Bruce said as he moved to stand by Thor, who was watching with some curiosity. None of them had ever seen travel by portkey, and Thor wondered if it were like traveling by the Rainbow Bridge.

"We won't," Remus said, holding onto the old boot that was their portkey. The seconds were ticking away on his spell. It was counting down the time, and they were ten seconds off.

"Do what you must to protect Ivy," Loki said, giving them a knowing look.

"That's why we're going," Sirius pointed out, returning the look.

It was then that the portkey went off and the two men disappeared with in a whirlwind. It was like a hole opened up in the living room and they were sucked up by a tornado. Nothing was disturbed, but that was the impression that everyone had.

"That is nothing like the Rainbow Bridge," Thor observed. The hole closed and everything went back to normal. It was fascinating and anticlimactic at the same time.

"No," Loki agreed. He had good and bad memories of that bridge, and the portkey did nothing to trigger either.

"I miss them already," Ivy sighed. She folded her arms around her torso and sighed again.

"You'll hear from them tomorrow," Tony said, picking her up and putting her on his hip. He bopped her nose and tried to get her to smile.

"I know," she said, laying her head on his shoulder. "I still miss them," she said, once again sighing.

"Let's order pizza tonight, and play whatever game you want," her daddy said, trying to cheer her up. She was just so sweet and sensitive.

"Okay," she said, making the effort to be cheery. "Gandr, do you want pizza?" she asked her friend.

"I love pizza," the little boy said, even though he had never had it. He would say anything to make her happy. She was his only friend.

"I'm sure you will," Loki said, ruffling his hair. He was proud of his second son. He had taken to Ivy like he had hoped the snake would. There was nothing on this earth that Jormungandr wouldn't do for that little girl.

That's what they did, and it was a lackluster night, though they tried. Ivy called it an early night and waited for Sirius' and Remus' call the next day. They did call and let her know they got there okay and that they missed her too.

The week that followed was better. Ivy got used to the two men not being there, and Gandr was enrolled in her school. The goblins had come through with his paperwork. She was so busy helping him get used to acting human and getting caught up, that she didn't miss Sirius and Remus as much as she thought she would. They did call each and every morning. It was part of her getting ready routine.

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Ivy Harriet Potter-Stark was not a stupid child. Not since she had taken the potion. She knew that someone was harassing her daddy, and she was going to try and stop it. "Jarvis," she said to her favorite AI, "I need to make a video-gram."

It was a Saturday morning, a week after Sirius and Remus left, and everyone had eaten breakfast already. She had told them that she was going to play princess in her room, which was true enough. She was just going to be the princess that saved her daddy.

"To whom?" the AI inquired, more than willing to help.

"There's a man who is bothering Daddy. I want to ask him to stop," she said, going through her dresses to find the cutest one for this message. She had to look just right.

"Do you think that wise?" Jarvis asked, wondering if he should alert an adult. Ivy had been studying this man since she first learned of him. He had helped her and kept it from Mr. Stark. He didn't go against his programing since his master had never told him to report everything his daughter did. Only if it was going to hurt her. So far, she had done nothing dangerous. This, however, might be crossing that line.

"I don't think it will hurt," she answered, finally settling on a pale-yellow doll-like dress. It was ruffled and had a cute little bow in the back. It made her look like a fairy princess. Her red hair showed out with it on. It did make her green eyes look striking. Though it accented her pale skin. She might live in California, but she never tanned. Her daddy made sure she was in the shade after the first time she got sunburned. She was determined to get some color on her skin before the next summer.

Gandr came in and watched her get dolled up, literally. "Why are you trying to make yourself cuter than normal?" he asked, not understanding what she was doing.

"I'm going to persuade someone to behave," she answered, putting a bit of gloss on her lips. She didn't wear makeup. She was far too young for that, but a small bit of gloss would make her look adorable. "He's being naughty and making threats to Daddy," she explained.

"I'll help," Gandr said, going behind her and fixing some of her curls. He wasn't a hairstylist, but he knew how he liked to see them lay. It seemed natural to him. There was a ribbon that matched the dress, so he added it to her hair.

She looked like a princess. There was a quality about her that made her precious. He wanted to take her back to his cave and protect her, but he knew she would never let him. Or at least, she would not be happy there. Sometimes he would think it would be worth it, until he pictured the hurt look on her face. Then he knew that she would just have to grow up like everyone else.

Loki came in to see what his son was up to and saw them getting prepared for something. "What are you two up to?" he asked, going to them, and helping to fix the dress. He was intrigued as to what game they were playing. Gandr wasn't dressing up, so it must be something Ivy thought up.

So, Ivy explained once again what she was doing, hoping that the adult wasn't going to stop her. Loki was the least likely to rat her out, and the most likely to go along with it. Still, he was an adult.

"I won't stop you, but you should know that these take over the world type people won't be stopped easily. You might persuade him to stop harassing Stark, but he will still try to take over the world. I fear that even your cuteness may not be enough," Loki stated, looking around the room for the best backdrop. He saw a corner that was nothing but colors and directed her to it. It was painted in light shades of the rainbow.

"I know," she said, sadly. Even with all her charm, she couldn't stop them from trying for world domination. "But my daddy will be safe for a while," she added, standing in an area that had no toys or furniture. "Okay, Jarvis, record this, please."

"As you wish, little miss," the AI said, and he started recording a hologram.

She stood there with her hands folded in front of her. Her dress was perfect and there were sparkles floating around her, given off by her magic. The air had a soft quality to it. She looked like a dream. There was a light emanating from her body, like an unearthly being. One that would lead you down the path to great treasure or give you the answer to all your problems.

"Hello, Mr. Mandarin, my name is Ivy Harriet Potter-Stark," she said, her voice soft and sweet, the sound of bells tinkling was heard in the background, "and I would like to ask that you stop being mean to my daddy. Please. I know that he is a hero, and you are a villain and that you are supposed to fight one another, but I just got him and would like some time to learn how to be a family and you are interfering with that. Could you please focus your attempts on world domination elsewhere?"

She took on a thoughtful look and her eyes went wide and almost pleading, without looking so. It was more like she had come to an epiphany, and she wanted to share it with him. That if he followed her reasoning then all would be right with the world.

"Maybe we can come to an agreement and find something else for you to do," she said, her tone laced with happiness and hopefulness. "The world doesn't need a leader that would subjugate it. If you could just learn to harness that anger into something meaningful, then you could be a benevolent leader.

"I hear you have rings of great power," she continued, though she seemed sad to be saying this. Like she knew what he had done with those rings. "Think of all the good things you could do with these rings. People would fall at your feet if you stopped world hunger, or the ongoing water issue. I know you are a smart man and could use those rings to help the world instead of destroying it."

She gave the camera a look that said that he could do so much better with his life. Her cute little nose scrunched up in a perky manner.

"Anyway," she finished, giving him her cutest smile, "I just wanted to ask that you leave Tony Stark and James Rhodes, Iron Man and War Machine respectively, alone. I would be ever so thankful. Thank you for your time," she stated with her cuteness on full blast. She gave off her cute little giggle, which echoed around the room in a crystal-like quality. Then the sparkles seemed to explode around her and make her seem even more fairylike. There was definitely magic happening in this message.

Jarvis stopped recording the video-gram without being told.

"Thank you, Jarvis," she said, moving from where she was standing. She shook herself, like she was trying to rid herself of the magic aftermath. It tickled. She giggled again at the feel of it.

Loki actually wondered if it would work. She just exuded something that made you want to kowtow to her cuteness. He knew he would have given great consideration if he had received that video.

"How did you find out about his rings?" he asked Ivy. He didn't know who the guy was. He never paid attention to the Midgardians. Not even those trying to take over the world. He knew someone was making Stark snappy the last week, but not who it was. Perhaps he should pay more attention. They would affect Ivy in the long run.

"He uses them all the time. It's hard to miss them," Ivy said sadly, waving her hand over her keyboard and bringing up some holograms of the man doing some pretty bad things with his rings. "He isn't as coy as he likes to think he is. There are cameras all over the world recording everything," she explained. She looked at what she brought up and tears formed in her eyes. The images weren't pretty.

Gandr was watching the man rain down destruction on people and wondered why Ivy was watching such evil. She was such an innocent child; she should not be seeing something so vile. He knew the cruelty of people, he had seen it from the Asgardians, for all they claim to be enlightened. They had cast out him and his siblings without care or thought. They had enslaved his youngest brother to servitude. He hoped his father freed him soon, though he couldn't for the life of him figure out how the man could. Odin was such a bastard.

Maybe they should sic Ivy on him. If this video-gram worked, he would consider it deeper.

Ivy waved her hand again and stopped the holograms. She was crying. She hated looking at them, but she needed to see who the man was and why he was picking on her daddy.

"Send the message, Jarvis, pretty please," she instructed the AI. She hoped that Jarvis wouldn't tell her daddy what she did, but she would not order him not to. She thought of Jarvis as a person, not some servant to be ordered about and dismissed.

Gandr and Loki hugged the little girl. They could see it was hurting her to see that there were such people in her life, albeit on the sidelines. She deserved to have only goodness and light around her.

"Don't worry about me," she said, smiling through her tears. "I know it's going to work," she said, bouncing back and perking up. She had to have faith in herself.

"Let's go see Frank," Loki suggested, leading her and his son out of her room.

"Yay," Ivy said, tears drying up like they had not been there moments before. Frank always cheered her up. The only thing that made her happier was her daddy. He was working on his suit today though. She had begged off lab time to do this, but after she saw Frank, she might go and spend some time with her daddy.

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Deep in a mansion in China, the Mandarin received an alert that he had a message from an unknown person, but that it came from Anthony Stark's house. Intrigued he opened it. As he watched the little girl, something in his chest ached. It was like his heart had started for the first time since his hateful aunt had looked upon him. It was like he was looking at a kindred spirit. He decided to look up this Ivy Harriet Potter-Stark and see how she came to be in Stark's life.

He did the research and noted that Stark had saved her from an aunt that was just as cruel as his aunt had been. He tapped his finger on the desk and wondered if perhaps, he should direct his attention elsewhere… for now.

However, he was going to meet this little girl sooner or later. She fascinated him.

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War Machine had just been about to raid a stronghold of the Mandarin's when he got the alert to call it off. Perturb, he did. He flew back to the base and inquired why.

"We just got the information that he is moving his base," the commander said, reading something from a file. "He has declared that he will no longer attack the United States," he added.

"Where is he moving?" James asked, still in his suit. No one could see the confusion on his face, or even hear it in his voice.

"He's set his sights on Russia," was the puzzled answer as there was much paper shuffling.

"Russia?" Rhodey asked, not sure what to think of that.

"Yes," was all the answer he got. "Until he threatens the United States again, you are to leave him to the alphabets," his commander said, dismissing him.

Rhodey saluted the man and went to take off the suit. He didn't understand what had just happened or why the Mandarin turned his attention to the USA's enemy, but maybe this was a good thing.

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Sirius was bored out of his mind. He was playing a game on his phone, while keeping half an ear on what was going on around him. He was in a Wizengamot meeting and they were discussing nothing important. Everyone around him was looking at his phone with undisguised disgust, or fascination.

Remus was at Gringotts going over the accounts. So, he was the lucky one.

"Now that that is settled," Dumbledore said, banging his gavel, bringing Sirius out of his thoughts, "that brings this meeting to an end." He banged the gavel again and closed the meeting.

"Thank Merlin," Sirius said, putting his phone in his pocket. His Jarvis app was on, and always recording, so that he could review anything he might have missed. Jarvis would give him the highlights, and let him know the undertones. There was always someone trying to sneak things in.

"Sirius, my boy. I didn't know you had taken up your seat," Albus said, coming up to him as he was about to leave.

"I thought it was time," Sirius said, his tone cordial. He was trying to get in good with the man. "Have you heard anything about Ivy?" he asked, like he didn't speak to her every morning.

"Alas, the man who has her made sure to cover all his bases," the headmaster said, like it was done in a shady manner. "I have been unable to attain her back to her home country," he said, there was frustration in his tone.

"I just hope she's happy," the dogman stated sincerely. He knew Tony had made sure his case was ironclad. There was no legal way anyone would obtain Ivy.

"I was thinking of recalling the Order," Albus said, moving them to the side. "I would like you and Remus to join us."

"We can do that, but to what purpose?" he asked, hoping it wasn't something illegal, like kidnapping.

"That will be revealed at the first meeting," Dumbledore said, putting his finger to his nose.

"Okay, where are you meeting?" was the next question.

"We have yet to find a location," Albus said leadingly.

"I have a house that I am not using," Sirius said, knowing the man was fishing.

"You are not living there yourself?" the headmaster asked, confused.

"No, Remus has a place in the muggle world that suits us better," he lied. There was no way he was going to tell the man they were living in the lap of luxury.

"Ah," Albus said, drawing his own conclusions.

"Anyway, it's #12 Grimmuald Place. Meet me there in an hour and I'll add you to the wards," Sirius offered. If they met there, he could bug the place and Jarvis could surveillance them. It was better than listening charms because the magicals wouldn't know to look for them.

"Thank you, Sirius, my boy. I will be there," Albus said, moving off to greet others.

Sirius pulled his phone out, put it to his ear and talked into it. "Jarvis, where can I get some listening equipment that we can tie into you?"

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I should clarify that this is not the cinema Mandarin. It's not quite the comic Mandarin either, but closer to him than the cinema. He's not going to play a big part, so there's no need to go into great depth in his character.