Hello! So it turns out doing an MST is a bitch… too many essays! But Harry and Bucky are still in my heart, don't worry! The story will not be abandoned
Chapter 8
Harry woke up as green light filled his vision. Something was holding him down to the bed; his eyes flew open to the sight of a dark, blurry figure above him. His body reacted on its own as he started to struggle, his ears still filled with the echoes of his screams.
"…rry! Harry! You are safe!" the figure was talking to him, calling his name. Bucky! His brain finally caught up with everything, and he stopped straggling. He just laid there staring up at Bucky. He was sight was still blurry-his glasses were on the nightstand- but he could see that the man above him was frowning.
"Is he awake?" Harry's head snapped to the right, noticing a larger figure standing to the side. Even in the darkness of the room, he could see Thor's blond hair.
"Yes", he answered, his voice a bit raw 'I guess the screams were not just in my dreams'
"What happened?" Bucky asked, still holding him to the bed
"Do you think you can let me go?" Harry asked, "I can't see shit without my glasses "
"You are bleeding. You were scratching your left arm raw" Bucky said as he slowly let go as if making sure Harry wouldn't go into another fit of screaming. Harry looked down and saw a dark pool on the sheet
"I…I am sorry for ruining the bed" he whispered as he reached for his glasses, making the world a bit clearer
"We don't care about the sheets young Harry, Man of Iron has enough money to replace them. We care about you hurting yourself" Thor approached the bed and rested his hand over Harry's shoulder. "Did it happen often?" he looked at Barnes for clarification, but the Ex-assassin shook his head
"Not in the days I've been watching him. Do you need water?" he asked
"Yes" Harry croaked "I'll go get some… I… I need air"
"Of course" Thor helped him up. He was still disoriented, and the darkness did nothing to help, but he knew light would be so much worse now. They left the room and headed to the floor's kitchen in silence. Both men seemed to care for the darkness and Harry was grateful none reached for the lights- he could feel the dried tears on his face and he didn't want them to see. Thor opened the fridge and took out a water bottle as they settled into the small kitchen table. They waited as Harry took some sips from the bottle. And they waited as he just stared at it. He finally broke the silence.
"The Dursleys would have beat me by now…well Vernon would have, Dudley would just watch, and Aunt Petunia will not come near"
"Did it happen before? The bleeding? The nightmares being so bad that you hurt yourself?" Bucky asked
"It happened a couple of times before…In Hogwarts" he admitted
"And no one cared" Bucky said
"I placed silencing spells on my bed curtains…for the screams"
"Why the left hand?" Bucky asked
"It's where he marks them, Voldemort." Harry was still staring at the bottle refusing to meet their gaze "I dream of being branded…It hurts so bad, and I don't want it. It burns through my skin like fire, the snake digging into my flesh and I try to claw it out and he just stands there and laughs"
"When did you start having them?" Bucky's voice was calm but not flat. He used his interrogation voice, when he needed to coax out information from his victims.
"After the dragon task, when I got burned."
"Fighting a dragon at your age is something many warriors in Asgard would fear to do" Harry had to crack a smile and look at the god. The man was at a loss of words, he didn't seem like comforting was something he did but he was trying- for Harry. And Harry was grateful
"I am sorry for waking you up"
"I was awake and Blondie Is a god- I don't think he minds" Bucky said resting his hand over Harry's own
"I don't" Thor agreed
"I think we should bandage the scratches now kid, they are not deep but they are close to the veins so they will continue to bleed until we close them" Harry nodded and lifted his injured arm to the table
"I will turn on the lights and bring the first-aid kit" Thor said "JARVIS where is the first-aid kit?" Harry and Bucky chuckled at the god.
"Above the knives holder" JARVIS answered the god "would you like me to turn on the lights on a low setting or normal?"
"Low will be fine" Bucky said- he remembered hating bright lights after waking from cryo-sleeping and he would not risk Harry having the same reaction as he did. When the lights turned own Bucky stiffed a bit looking at Harry's wounds
"I made a mess" Harry mumbled looking at the blood trail he left. But Bucky was not listening, instead he wondered why the scratches reminded him of a torture method the Winter Soldier used to use and not claw marks that one would expect to see from nails
"Not to worry young Mr. Harry the staff of the tower are used to cleaning blood from the other floors" JARVIS supplied. He knew to remain quite until addressed to give the boy a semblance of control and freedom. The AI knew the boy would consider his presence as over-watch.
"Right…" Harry wondered a bit why but preferred not to question the statement
"It will sting a little as I disinfect them" Bucky warned
"I am used to pain" He said as if simply stating a fact- Bucky was angered to know it was a fact. Harry didn't even flinched as he tended to his wounds and only moved a bit as Thor handed him a pop tart- it seems like the god saw sugar as a remedy to sadness. He was not wrong.
"So now that we are all awake and there is no way we will sleep how about a movie?" Bucky offered. It was only 3AM and the earliest the people in the tower woke was usually 6:30 for Steve's morning run.
"Sure" Harry was still feeling bad about the mess but allowed himself to be led to the common floor.
As Steve headed down to get a fresh cup of coffee before his usual run he had to take a double take at the sight that welcomed him as he left the lifts. Thor, Bucky, and Harry were sitting in the den watching Frozen. They had leftovers of candy wrappers and soda cans around them
"Wha?"
"Shhhh!" He looked to the side and saw Natasha standing in the corner. Bucky turned to see him and nodded towards Natasha so Steve walked to the spy trying to be as silent as possible to prevent the god and young wizard from noticing him. As it turns out they were too fascinated by the colors and animation to notice anything
"What is going on over there?" He whispered
"Harry had a bad night, so they are watching movies to distract him. I think it works on Thor as well" Natasha cracked a smile
"And we are not making any noise because?"
"They are too sweet to disturb and Harry will get all locked up in himself if he realized he is being watched"
"So why are you watching them?"
"It's interesting, you never do people-watching?" she asked tilting her head slightly
"Not from the shadows..." he ignored Natasha's smirk and slowly walked to the kitchen
"You know its creepy right?" Natasha's head snapped to Harry who was still looking at the screen with Thor
"What is?" Buck asked wondering if he missed some part of the movie while listening to the others
"That she is just watching us from the corner…she knows she can join us right?" Harry glanced at Natasha
"You knew I was here?" her eyes widened ever so slightly in surprise but the teenager quickly looked back at the screen blushing
"Well you weren't really hiding over there, I can see your reflection from the screen's edges and the elevator makes a sound when it opens"
"Usually people don't notice me in the shadows"
"Well the shadows usually hold things that want to kill me so I pay attention to them" He shrugged "This Hans guy is bed news"
"You are right. No good man would do this to the family of the woman he loves" Thor agreed while munching on popcorn. Natasha and Bucky shared a look before the ex-assassin shrugged and went back to the movie. Natasha edged slowly and set at the edge of the couch closest to her before grabbing some popcorn and a soda.
Bucky just enjoyed the silence; he ignored the movie filtering it like white noise as he looked at Harry watching the movie with intense stare commenting from time to time about the characters. The kid grew on him faster than he thought was possible, especially after HYDRA. He was worried about the injury he sustained but if Harry said it didn't happen so often they could figure it another time. The kid was happy and he was content with that. He was not going to share his concerns about Harry's wounds with anyone here and he had a feeling that Thor and JARVIS won't tell anyone. The AI with his privacy protocols and the god with his strange protectiveness over Harry will not share anything intimate. Bucky was both grateful and jealous of the fast bond- but Harry seemed to trust him just as fast. For a kid with trust issues, he is sure to trust the people here really fast
'Or he is faking it' a nagging voice echoed in his mind but he shook it away. Harry would not be this calm with the two after the night he had if he didn't trust them.
Half an hour later the movie ended and Harry stretched as he stood. Bucky went up and gave him his jacket at some point when he noticed Harry was cold. He accepted the clothing without objections as he was happy to have something warm to cover the bandages with.
"Want to watch another?" Thor asked
"We've already watched three movies; I think it's enough sugar. I'll make breakfast you want something?"
"Are you hungry or are you just going to make us food?" Bucky asked remembering that it was one of Harry's chores to cook and that the boy had enough sweets to fill his small apatite
"Ummm" Harry looked around the room purposely avoiding Bucky's stare
"Kid" Bucky pressed on
"You are all so nice to me and you!" Harry called pointing at Bucky "You did so much for me in the last couple of days that I wanted to do something as well…and I am a good cook! It's the one thing Aunt Petunia doesn't comment about!"
Bucky was going to argue but he saw how proud Harry was at his ability to cook that he even puffed his chest a little- adorable.
"Usually we all make something for ourselves and get takeout for lunch and dinner" Natasha intervened "I personally never cook…but I can help"
"We all could!" Thor happily added already heading to the kitchen
"S…sure why not…" Harry then looked at the ex-assassin who was watching him back "Buck?" he asked a bit uncertain as he held his hand out
"Let's do it" Bucky answered as he took Harry's hand and stood up
"We can make pancakes, scrambled eggs, some bacon and muffins" Harry listed following Natasha to the kitchen where Thor already stood
"You should make Blueberry ones… Stark love them" The spy could not help but smile at the excitement Harry showed. He was not bouncing around or talking fast like other kids his age when they were happy. Harry was calmer, more at ease and that made her happy.
"Do you think he will come over?" Harry asked
"I am not sure" she admitted
"I will inform Mr. Stark of the food" JARVIS offered making Natasha and Bucky wonder if even the AI had a soft spot for the kid
"Thank you JARVIS" Harry smiled a little "Well first we need eggs and meat, LARVIS do you…" Harry went on ordering them around. It was just as Bucky was cutting the vegetables he realized he grabbed Harry with his uncovered metal arm
'And he never hesitated to hold it back' Bucky thought. For the first time he looked at his metal fingers and smiled 'This kid is something else alright'