Sorry it's been so long. I got really distracted writing some original stories, and I also wrote 18 one-shots for a British children's show called Woolly and Tig. I even crossed it over with this fic, with a little scene at the 2012 London Olympics (it's mostly just a fun cracky spinoff). It's exclusively on AO3 because there's not really a good way to add new fandoms or make a series on FFN.
So, needless to say, my inspiration was elsewhere for a while.
The next morning is a school day. Mr. and Mrs. Barton are rushing around, packing lunches and telling Cooper and Lila to hurry.
Harry hurries too. He's excited to go to nursery school with Lila. His home school is amazing because of all the mutants, but everyone there is so much bigger and older than Harry.
Harry's found he likes playing with other children, and Lila says all the kids in her "preschool" are really nice. Harry didn't know they called it preschool over here. People in America talk funny.
Harry finishes eating before anyone else and brings his bowl to the dishwasher. "I'm ready!" he announces.
Mrs. Barton does that grownup look that means she thinks he's funny but also sad at the same time.
Mr. Barton ruffles Harry's long hair. "You're staying here with us, buddy."
"Can I stay too?" Cooper asks, scowling when his dad says no.
Harry's scowling too. He's never been to nursery or preschool before. He always wanted to go when Dudley went (but at the same time was glad Dudley wasn't around). The Bartons are way better than the Dursleys, but they still aren't letting him go!
Harry watches glumly as Lila and Cooper climb in the car. He climbs onto his motorbroom and starts to follow the car, but Dad catches up, hauls him back to the house and takes his broom away.
The house feels emptier than Mr. Stark's house and tower. It's far too quiet.
Mrs. Barton sits down to work. She says she's drawing a house, but it just looks like a bunch of boxes.
"You need a door," Harry tells her. "And windows and a roof."
"It's the inside," Mrs. Barton explains. She uses a long, flat stick to draw a perfect line. It's not a wand.
Mrs. Barton points at different rectangles. "Here are the bedrooms, the hallway, and the bathroom."
There are no beds in the bedroom boxes. Harry points this out, and Mrs. Barton laughs.
She hands him a sheet of paper and points at the art stuff. "Draw your own house."
Harry doesn't know whether to draw Mr. Stark's house or his Grandpa'fessor's, but that's a school too.
Harry can't even draw a box that doesn't look squished and bent. He scribbles over his paper, getting his mad out. If Steve was here, he could draw anything and make it look real. Dad says Steve isn't magical, but his drawings are.
Mrs. Barton still hasn't drawn any beds or anything in her boxes, and she's taking forever.
Harry goes to find Dad. Dad's talking on the phone, but Harry can't tell what he's saying. Not one word. Sometimes Dad talks like that, but now Harry worries. He can't understand snakes now; what if he'll never know what Dad is saying?
Harry tugs on Dad's metal hand. "What are you talking about?"
Daddy pulls the phone away and says "Nothing." Harry understands that, but Dad switches to talking in nonsense words when he talks in the phone.
Harry tugs his arm again. Dad gently pushes him to go play.
Harry's bored, and lonely. He misses Lila and Cooper. There weren't any other kids at Mr. Stark's house, and the kids at his Grandpa'fessor's are all older.
Harry sits in the cozy cupboard. He brings his hero toys, but Iron Man just says things like "I am Iron Man."
Harry and Cooper had planned to sneak in a laptop so it would be like the Batcave. Harry hadn't known what a laptop was, and Cooper had been amazed hearing Harry talk of floating screens.
Harry goes hunting for a laptop and finds one that must be Mr. or Mrs. Barton's. He hugs the computer to his chest and crawls back in the cozy cupboard.
Harry opens the laptop and sees a white rectangle over a photo of the Barton family. He'd seen Mr. and Mrs. Barton type things into white rectangles, but Harry doesn't know how to spell many words.
"Jarvis, it's me. Harry." Harry's throat feels tight. "Can we talk? Everyone's busy. I'm in the cozy cupboard."
Jarvis doesn't answer, and Harry reminds himself that Jarvis only ever answers from Dad's phone here. Harry doesn't think Dad's talking to Jarvis. He can still hear Dad upstairs, talking in words Harry doesn't know.
Harry tries hitting the keys with the letters in his name. H-A-R-R-Y. The computer must be broken, because all the letters show up as little black dots, even while he's wearing his glasses. They always showed words for Mr. and Mrs. Barton.
Harry's almost sure he won't be slapped or screamed at for breaking the computer, but he still hides it under one of the cushions in the cozy cupboard.
Dad's still on the phone, and Mrs. Barton is still working. Mr. Barton is still out with the car.
Harry stays in the cozy cupboard for a while, hoping nobody notices the missing computer. Will they think Lila or Cooper broke it? Harry always got blamed for things Dudley did, and this was really him. Even if it was Lila or Cooper, he'd probably be punished anyway.
Harry squeezed his eyes shut and shouts in his head. "GRANDPA'FESSOR!"
"Who's he again?" Mrs. Barton asks, opening the cupboard door. Harry realizes he'd shouted out loud.
"He doesn't have any hair." Harry tells her. "And he drives a chair 'cos he can't walk."
"He can't hear you, sweetie. When your dad's done calling, you can call him"
"I can call him in my head," Harry insists. "He can read heads, and go in heads."
Mrs. Barton blinks and says nothing for a bit. "I forgot there are so many powers."
"He's a good guy." Harry tells her.
"Well, don't spend the whole day in your cozy cupboard," Mrs. Barton gives him another sad smile. "You should be getting fresh air and sunlight."
"Can I ride my motorbroom?" Harry asks. It's Mrs. Barton's house, so if she says yes, maybe Dad will have to let him.
But Mrs. Barton smiles again and tells him "That's up to your dad."
She leaves, and Harry realizes she hadn't asked about the computer. He almost hadn't been scared of her asking, except he still doesn't know what the punishment will be.
Eventually, Dad comes and coaxes Harry out of the cupboard, offering to play catch. Harry leans on the cushion to hide the computer even more, then realizes a corner of the computer is poking out from underneath the cushion.
Dad says nothing about it. He and Harry play catch, but now that Harry's up, he can hardly stand still to catch the ball. He asks for his motorbroom, but Dad says no.
Harry pouts, but Dad doesn't change his mind.
"Who were you talking to?" Harry asks.
"Romanoff."
Harry scrunches his nose. "Is she going to be my new Mummy? Ms. Jean's better."
Dad actually laughs. "No, she told me that mind control will likely be a legitimate defense in court. I'll be cleared, and Clint."
Harry doesn't know what that means, but he's happy Romanoff won't be his mummy.
Harry rides Lila's tricycle around and around, but it's not nearly as fun as riding with Lila and Cooper.
"When will they get home?" he asks.
"Lila and Clint will be home in a few hours," Mrs. Barton tells him. "Then Cooper comes later,"
Harry wanders the house. Dad crouches and asks, "What's wrong?"
Dad's never hit him, never shouted except for nightmares.
Harry makes sure that Mrs. Barton is several rooms away and whispers "A bad wizard broke the computer."
Dad stares at him and says, in a flat voice, "A bad wizard appeared, broke the computer and vanished."
Harry nods.
Still in the same flat voice, Dad says, "Usually they try to hurt us."
Harry glances away, then back into Dad's blue eyes. They seem a bit happier than they used to be. They aren't far away now.
"He wasn't that bad,"
Dad barks out a laugh and reaches into his pocket with his skin hand. He pulls out his phone and says "Sounds like a question for Stark. Or Jarvis."
Harry grins and takes the phone. They can fix anything except heads, and maybe Mr. and Mrs. Barton will never know the computer was broken.
Harry goes back to the cozy cupboard and pulls the computer out.
"Jarvis?"
He lets out a big breath when Jarvis speaks out of the phone. "How may I assist you, Master Harry?"
"The computer broke," Harry says. "And Lila got to go to nursery preschool but not me,"
"Did you drop the computer? Did the screen crack?"
"It makes dots instead of letters," Harry says. "And I'm wearing my glasses."
"Is it alright if I turn on the camera, Master Harry?"
Harry nods. He'd forgotten that Jarvis can't already see him.
"If you show me what's wrong, I'll likely be able to assist you,"
Harry shows Jarvis the screen with the Barton family and the white rectangle and how any letter he hits shows up as a dot.
Jarvis never laughs, but he clearly thinks it's funny when he talks. "That's the lock screen, Master Harry."
"Mr. and Mrs. Barton typed words into the white rectangles, not dots."
"I suspect they were using a search engine, Master Harry. A lock screen requires a password to keep the user's information secure. I could hack in, but it would be ill manners to do that to your hosts and friends. That wouldn't stop Mr. Stark, of course, but I often find myself acting as his moral compass. An often ignored moral compass."
Harry scrunches his nose. Usually Jarvis uses easier words than Mr. Stark, but he has no idea what Jarvis is talking about.
"I apologize. I digress, Master Harry. The computer is not broken. It is merely keeping their information relatively secure from amateur hackers."
Harry doesn't understand most of that, either, but he understands that the computer isn't broken. He grins and hugs the phone to his cheek. "You're the best, Jarvis!"
"It was my pleasure, Master Harry. And I'll be sure to update Sir about my promotion to 'the best'."
Harry bursts out of the cupboard and runs through the house, cheering "I didn't break the computer!"
He finds Mr. Barton and Lila have come back, and are sharing a bowl of fruit in the kitchen.
"I didn't break the computer!" Harry says again.
"That's good," Lila says. "Mommy and Daddy would be mad."
Mr. Barton shrugs. "I spilled coffee on two computers. Besides, even if you had broken it, you live with Tony Stark."
"Not now," Harry interrupts. "I'm here."
"Right, well, Tony could fork out the cash for a hundred new ones, even if you had. So, how did you not-break it?"
"It had little dots, not letters." Harry is proud to share this new knowledge. "Jarvis said it's a password. What's your password? Wait, I know! Hawkeye! How do you spell it?"
"That's my codename," Mr. Barton says. "And if you tell Tony to hack into my computer, you're going to be in big trouble, mister."
Harry should be scared. Trouble always meant more pain, more hunger, or bad guys trying to get them. But he's not scared of Mr. Barton, even though he fought Dad at first.
"I'm afraid you're too late, Agent Barton," Jarvis says from the phone, still sounding cheerful. Mr. Barton jumps. "Sir has already snooped around. I told him it's impolite, but he's never let social niceties stop him."
Mr. Barton jumps out of his chair, shouting as if Mr. Stark's on the phone, too. "Stark!"
Harry giggles. He and Lila race back to their cozy cupboard. Harry still has the phone clutched in his hand.
"Is there anything else I might assist you with?" Jarvis asks.
Harry nods. "I want to go to nursery preschool with Lila tomorrow."
This chapter ended up being sort of similar to all the Woolly and Tig stories I've written, in that Harry gets upset and Jarvis talks him through it… actually that's the only reason I got past the writer's block on this chapter, was writing it like those. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you're interested in seeing these characters from an outsider perspective, check out my story Olympic Magic on AO3.