I'm surprised that I got this out in a week, especially since I barely wrote over my three day weekend. But now I'm updating on 2/22/22, so that's fun. Happy Twosday!
They've blown that rule about keeping magic a secret right out of the water, and several buildings and roadways are in shambles, but they won.
Tony's resolutely not thinking about how he was almost trapped in a wormhole, how the darkness had closed in on him a second time until the Hulk's roar startled him into consciousness. But, hey, at least Thor or Storm didn't need to jump-start his heart... at least, not that he remembers.
No, Tony's thinking about shawarma, and then cake. Thor is vehemently agreeing that it is appropriate to have a feast following their victorious battle.
Loki materializes in a golden shine, bringing both Harry and James along with him. Harry blinks, shocked.
"I'm not sicking up like when we appeared at your house." Harry looks from his clean shirt to Tony.
Loki has a rather superior expression on his face as he remarks that his teleportation is a much smoother ride than that of "Midgardian mages".
Moody's glare just makes Loki's smirk widen into a rather sharklike grin.
"At least you didn't throw them out the window," Tony mutters. Despite fighting on their side during the most recent battle, Loki still seems like the type who would enjoy defenestration.
"You forgot Grandpa'fessor," Harry turns to accuse Loki, though Jarvis informs Tony that Professor X is headed down in the elevator.
"How come we're not at home?" Harry eyes the chunks of rubble and smashed cars, proclaiming the street to be messier than Dudley's other bedroom.
The fact that Dudley apparently had a second, wrecked room while Harry was locked in a cupboard dampens the feeling of success a bit. Tony's going to donate enough to make sure that child protective services are better funded, better staffed so cases like Harry's don't fall through the cracks.
Hell, he's going to start his own nonprofit for that. Harry's Hope or something. Harry's Haven? Some catchy alliteration, even if he may not use Harry's actual name.
Tony needs to do something, because not every child is going to be kidnapped and then ultimately rescued by a super soldier.
But, like he said once he'd realized they won, they can take tomorrow off before trying to fix their broken world.
Professor Xavier drives out of the tower's entrance. Steve casts a glance across the street, then asks the Professor if he'll be able to navigate over the rubble.
Tony raises a brow. "Let's do a head count. I can fly, Jean can levitate his chair, Storm can fly him up or lift his chair with a gust of wind, Thor's got a hammer.."
Logan adds "Even without flight, several of us are strong enough to carry Chuck and his chair over any obstacles."
"I appreciate the offer, but I believe you could simply push obstacles out of my way, rather than carrying me." Professor X smiles mildly.
"I didn't do this," Harry gestures at the wreckage like he expects not to be believed, and then blamed for it.
"We know, Oliver. It was aliens."
Harry casts an accusing look at Thor rather than Loki, before attempting to lift a chunk of rubble.
Tony frowns. Aren't kids supposed to resist cleaning up, or at least drag their feet? Sure, Harry had clearly been put to work by his awful aunt and uncle, and had probably been blamed for all of Dudley's messes, but this still takes Tony by surprise.
Earlier today, Tony was marveling at how Harry made enough progress to throw a tantrum. Now he's back to thinking he has to clean up other people's messes, and he hasn't even spent enough time around Pepper to pick it up from her.
Or is it Harry's obvious hero complex that's compelling him to help out? His 'grandpa'fessor' had just mentioned moving the wreckage.
Steve mentions that children had helped gather scrap metal, but even with his limited time in the current century, seems to realize that kids aren't supposed to work now.
Loki waves his hand and the chunk simply disappears. Harry looks shocked while Barton suspiciously asks "Where did you put it?"
"In a pocket dimension," Loki says casually, as if that's not ringing science alarm bells in Tony's head. He's going to put Loki through so many tests.
"You're the best wizard," Harry gawks at Loki in awe. Tony catches Clint looking very disgruntled behind his sunglasses, clearly thinking Loki doesn't deserve the admiration.
Loki makes another gesture, and the dirt and grime covering Steve vanishes. Tears in their uniforms repair themselves.
James pulls Harry away from the rubble. "Remember your jobs."
"I'm not fighting," Harry points out. "I can clean. And I'm super strong, so I can lift big rocks."
"Those aren't rocks," Tony points out. Can't Harry see the chunks missing from buildings?
There's a camera crew a few blocks away, and Tony moves to block Harry and James from sight. Steve's going to be thrust into the spotlight again, there's really no avoiding that, but Tony is starting to kick himself.
He doesn't want to exclude Harry from things, but it sounds like Harry's already a celebrity back in magical Britain. He doesn't need more celebrity status here.
Somehow, despite the gaggle of heroes, the camera crew turns the other way, seeming intensely focused on reporting on a dead Leviathan.
The walk to the shawarma joint takes a while, and not just due to the rubble or Moody's prosthetic leg. James is tense, and Harry's picking up on it, falling silent and clutching his father's metal hand. This is Harry's first time out in the city too. Sure, the streets may have been cleared of civilians during the battle, but there are squadrons of police.
If Tony weren't in their little hero crowd, he'd never notice James, who is staying stealthily in the middle. The police look at the heroes, and see no sign of James or Harry.
At the shawarma place, Harry turns his head in awe. "I always wanted burgers."
"A kid after my heart," Tony chuckles, but explains that these aren't burgers. Doesn't Harry smell the difference?
Thankfully, Harry doesn't throw a fit over hearing these. He seems to regard Shawarma as close enough since it's meat and bread that he can eat with his hands.
By the time they get their orders and push together a few tables, everyone has fallen silent, even those with superhuman stamina. Clint watches Loki suspiciously. Moody sniffs the shawarma with what's left of his nose, but doesn't take a single bite.
The press would probably be shocked that Tony isn't talking, and even Harry has stopped asking what different ingredients are.
They eat in silence, knowing that the world has changed and will never be the same.
As if Tony hadn't seen enough changes already. At this rate, literally nothing will surprise him anymore.
Harry crashes before they get out of the restaurant. Despite his protest of naps being babyish, he conks out and James carries him back to the tower.
They put off the cake party until later.
Tony's exhausted, but he knows if he closes his eyes, he'll see the blackness of space surrounding him. He stays in his lab, blasting music and cursing the fact that this event ruined his half-baked plan of making Iron Man an astronaut.
Bruce has no trouble sleeping after Hulking out, seeming almost as tired as Harry, and Tony's not jealous.
Harry sleeps for six hours straight and wakes up around ten p.m., and Jarvis doesn't even start getting preachy about consistent sleep schedules.
Clint and Natasha have disappeared to who knows where, probably briefing Fury despite the fact he was surely watching the whole battle.
Thor and Loki disappear as well, beaming up to Asgard with the Tesseract before Fury can object. Thor seems convinced that Loki will be sentenced to imprisonment in the tower, and community service to help rebuild Manhattan.
Tony's not sure he likes the idea of Earth being the dumping ground for arrogant, entitled alien princes to learn humility. Plus the fact this Allfather isn't even asking whether Tony would mind housing Loki in his tower.
Professor Xavier has offered his school to help rehabilitate Loki- after all, there are several qualified adults to help keep Loki in check, and Tony's pretty sure the school would be open to anyone, regardless of their past.
But, well, Loki can't really help clean Manhattan from Westchester. So it seems like Tony's tower it is.
If there's any basis of truth to the myths, though, Tony would take Loki into his tower just to prevent him being tortured by a snake dripping venom into his eyes. Tony doesn't jive with torture, even for criminals, and Loki's a complicated case, to say the least.
As the hours tick by, JARVIS updates Tony on the news of the attack as well as the conversations about it online.
The public is, in general, not as shocked about an alien invasion as they would have been a few years ago. With all the recent news about HYDRA lurking for decades, about how widespread the infestation has been through governments and companies around the globe, a lot of citizens seem pretty unruffled by the whole alien thing.
Or, rather, a lot of people seem more focused on the whole magic bit. The news constantly loops footage of the X-Men using their powers, which the press and public is branding as magic, despite the fact mutants aren't magic.
Then there's the ever-circulating footage of Loki taking down Chitauri with magic, turning their blasters into baguettes and making their speeders buck them off like broncos. This is often played side-by-side with the news footage of him in Stuttgart, ordering civilians to kneel.
There are, of course, all sorts of wild theories about that, but some people are hitting pretty close to home and guessing mind control, noting the change in his eyes from blue to green, and the lack of a certain glowing blue scepter in the Manhattan battle.
Tony's pretty sure the cat's permanently out of the bag now. Muggles or no-majes or whatever they're called know about magic on a widespread scale. Frankly, the fact someone hadn't caught it on camera by now is sort of shocking.
Tony's not sure if even Professor X could erase everyone's memory of magic with Cerebro, and frankly, he's not sure he wants to know either. That guy would be terrifying if he were on the other side, and if he ever decides to become a supervillain, well, it'd be even worse than this whole Loki fiasco.
Tony's in the kitchen, where another pot of coffee has been mercifully brewed when Harry comes running from the bedroom and past the magical fort.
"Where's Loki?"
Harry seems surprisingly disgruntled to hear that Loki went away. "He was going to make my head so small inside that the bad guy can't fit."
Harry gestures pointedly to his fort, though Loki had done the opposite to it.
"Not a good idea," Tony sips coffee just shy of hot enough to burn his throat, "unless you want brains leaking out your ears."
Harry wrinkles his nose in disgust, protesting, "Loki can't leave. He needs cake. Did Thor eat it all?"
"Nobody ate your cake, Master Harry."
"He's probably coming back," Tony says, still not entirely happy with the idea. Harry, however, smiles.
They slice up the cake, and Harry insists on saving pieces for Loki, Thor, Clint and Natasha (he's even more disappointed to hear that Clint is gone). Tony finds it hilarious that Harry insists 'the angry pirate' shouldn't get a piece.
The remaining members of the team, besides Bruce, who's still sleeping off his Hulk out, gather when JARVIS informs them that there's cake.
Harry uses his Wolverine toy's fork claws to stab cake, and urges Logan to do the same with his real claws. Logan spears a bit to make Harry smile, but doesn't eat off of them.
As they're finishing up the cake, Harry shows off a list of jobs he'd made during the battle, and insists Steve draw a broomstick. Steve sketches Harry riding his motorbroom, and Harry protests "No, just the broom."
"But isn't this for your job list?" Steve asks, baffled. "Aren't you going to play... Quidditch?"
"No, I'm going to be a broom!" Harry insists.
Steve shakes his head, as if he feels he might be dreaming this conversation. "But you can't be a broomstick."
"Yes I can," Harry folds his arms petulantly. "Then Dad can't take my motorbroom away."
Tony bursts out laughing. "You've seen Storm and I fly without brooms. Why not be like us?"
Harry huffs, annoyed at how slow they are on the uptake. "You said I can't be a superhero."
Steve asks if Harry will have arms and carry pails of water. It's Harry's turn to stare blankly and then copy the tone of an adult being confused by a child that Steve had just used "Brooms don't have arms."
Steve sketches a few scenes from Disney's Fantasia, saying Harry might like it because of the magic. Steve's rendition of Sorcerer Mickey is uncanny.
As Steve sketches, Tony delights in sharing some of the theories that Steve was cloned by aliens, or resurrected by magic.
Though really, Tony deserves all the credit for finding him.
Harry conks out again around midnight. James retires for the night as well, but Tony dives into work. He calls Pepper about the charity for child abuse, examines the scepter that Thor and Loki graciously left behind.
Around four in the morning, Thor and Loki return. Thor's prediction is correct, and Loki is here to fix some of the damage.
When Harry wakes up and sees Loki later that morning, he's thrilled. "Loki! I saved you cake!" Harry glances at Thor and adds "And you,"
"And I got you burgers," Tony boasts, gesturing toward the burgers he'd ordered for breakfast. Yes, they can be breakfast, and Jarvis has been ordered, under threat of reprogramming, not to comment or inform Pepper.
James doesn't comment, and Professor Xavier is off doing something.
Thor devours his cake heartily, while Loki takes his time, neatly cutting it with his fork. Harry struggles to bite into his own massive burger, mumbling that he wished he could have a snake mouth.
"Don't even think about it, brother," Thor warns. "You know the consequences if you do not comply with Father's guidelines."
At these words, James crushes his own burger so the bun splits and the ingredients plop onto the countertop.
"Mr. Stark says you can't make my head small to get the bad guy out," Harry shares, half a challenge and half disappointed resignation.
"It would not be advisable," Loki agrees, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender as James emerges from the bedroom with a murderous glare. "I have research to conduct before I can remove the parasite,"
"Can you make me a broom?" Harry asks.
"I made you the best broom," Tony protests.
Harry shoots him an exasperated look, and Tony sighs. Despite not sleeping, that conversation about growing up to be a broomstick feels like a fever dream.
"No, he won't turn you into a broom," James says. Harry adopts James's own glare, but of course James is unaffected.
Neither James nor Harry back down from the impromptu staring contest, and there aren't many people who could stare at the former Winter Soldier without being intimidated. Harry's got guts, especially since James has parental authority over him.
Harry's glare abruptly vanishes when he realizes "I get my motorbroom back today."
The motorbroom zooms up to Harry, almost like an excited puppy. Is it Loki's doing, or Harry's?
"That should keep you busy," Tony remarks, dragging Loki off toward the lab to run some tests. Loki, surprisingly, doesn't protest. James looks like he's getting flashbacks to Tony's fascination with his cybernetic arm.
Thor stands to protest. "Loki was sent to help with repairs-"
"I said we weren't going in today," Tony answers breezily over his shoulder. "Besides, it looks like we don't have to hide magic anymore, so Loki can just pull a Mary Poppins tomorrow."