(A/N): Welcome back everyone! Hope you all had a nice weekend!

Thanks to pphrts, Shorty653, nightgigjo, Sora Loves Rain, adharablack85-2, Freyja-Njorda, icyflamegirl, Catzandbookz8, KittyWolfM, julespuch, and General Mac for reviewing! Your excitement is making me excitement!

Alright guys, time for me to be level with you: I'm not doing too well. This past week was really rough and I'm feeling really down. I need to take some time and get my head on straight- I need to work on my mental health. So, I'm going to be taking the month of March off from posting for this story. I promise that, come April 5th I will be back with a new chapter for all of you. But I need to rest right now. And that doesn't mean I won't be writing because I'm actually hoping to update some of my other stories. It just means that I won't dedicate as much time as I usually do to just this story. I'm going to take a step back and just let my muse decide where it wants to go. Thank you in advance for understanding.

On a different note, I have also just been made aware that there is a user out there who doesn't like this story and has PM'd at least one reviewer here to harass them for leaving me a positive review. If they contact you, please let me know and go ahead and reach out to Fanfiction and alert them to the problem. This is absolutely unacceptable behavior and I am really pissed off right now. If you don't like my story, then feel free to stop reading. You do not harass my readers just because you don't have a life. You want a story that favors Harry? Go write one yourself.

This chapter has characters from Daredevil, The Punisher, and Jessica Jones. There's also a quote from Brooklyn 99 too because it amused me.

Thank you all for reading! Enjoy!


RITA SKEETER DECLARED MISSING

Ministry Has No Leads

As of Thursday, July 18th, The Daily Prophet's own Rita Skeeter has been declared missing by the Department of Law Enforcement. Investigations first began into the whereabouts of Miss Skeeter when she did not show up for work on July 12th and all attempts to contact her remained unsuccessful.

When asked to comment on the situation, Head Auror, Harry Potter- the vanquisher of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named- simply stated that "the investigation is still on-going, and it would be premature to make any comments at this time."

However, sources within the Department claim that Miss Skeeter is believed to be dead and the Ministry have no leads at this time as to who the killer might be. It is also believed that she was taken not long after the Wizengamot convened to speak with the newly resurrected Hermione Granger. While officially all press were was kept from entering the Ministry during the trial- a fact that was vehemently protested by many as being high-handed and suspicious- it is rumored that Miss Skeeter managed to find a way into the trial and was able to observe the proceedings.

Hermione Granger's relationship with Miss Skeeter has been described by many as contentious due to Miss Skeeter's reports on the many romantic entanglements had by Hermione Granger attending Hogwarts. One of Hermione Granger's numerous lovers was Auror Potter.

Did Hermione Granger have something to do with Rita Skeeter's disappearance? Did Miss Skeeter hear something that she shouldn't and was disposed of? Is Auror Potter covering up the truth in order to protect his former lover? We here at the Daily Prophet promise that we won't stop till we get to the bottom of this.


"You look terrible," Hermione told Frank as he slid into the seat across from her.

Frank rolled his eyes and she wondered if doing so hurt, considering the two black eyes he had. She'd never had one so she wouldn't know. "Sorry, kid, didn't know this was supposed to be a classy establishment."

Hermione gave him an unimpressed look. "Forgive me if I'm not enjoying the sensation of the waitress watching us and wondering whether or not I'm the one beating you."

He chuckled. "Doubt that's what she's thinking."

"Goodness, Frank, that sounds slightly sexist. Are you trying to imply that I couldn't take you in a fight?"

"No, I'm thinking that you're not exactly inconspicuous. If she's staring at us, it's probably to wonder why a Princess like yourself is slumming with a commoner like me."

It was strange, but Frank seemed slightly more… solid, than he had before. Or perhaps present was the better term. While it might have been nice to think that the change was because Frank finally wasn't the only one who knew the truth about what happened to his family, Hermione knew that that wasn't the case. Instead, it seemed much more likely whatever killing spree Frank had just been on was helping him feel a little less antsy- feel a little less like he was still continually failing his family.

She should probably feel a little less comfortable sipping coffee with what some might consider a serial killer. Then again, she had just tortured a man before blowing him up- a fact she hadn't warned Clint about ahead of time, that he was still angry with her for- so she couldn't really claim the moral high ground.

"You alright?" Frank asked.

Hermione blinked, focusing on the man in front of her and not on the one she'd killed. "Yes, it's just been a long week so far."

Frank grunted. "That so?"

Studying him for a moment, Hermione abruptly decided to see where a bit more honesty got her with this man. Throwing up a privacy charm, she sat back in her seat and told him, "I'm currently working on tracking the movements of a terrorist organization that has infiltrated- at the very least- the Russian and American governments."

The only sign Frank gave of being surprised was the way his eyebrows rose ever-so-slightly, and he blinked. "Okay."

"It's been much more difficult than I thought it'd be," she continued. "I hadn't realized just how stupid the American government is and forgotten how corrupt the Russian one is. Well, forgotten really isn't the right word. More that I simply assumed that the Russian government was too paranoid to be infiltrated as easily as they were."

He was quiet for another long moment before finally sighing and saying, "Don't really know what to say, kid. Kinda wondering why you're wanting to help me when you're currently trying to take down terrorists."

"Because what happened to you is wrong," Hermione told him simply. "And finding and stopping the people who took your family from you is just as important as fighting terrorists."

"... you're something else, kid," Frank finally huffed. "Most people, they wouldn't go near any of this- hunting down gangs and taking out terrorists. You, you go out looking for it. Can't keep yourself from getting dragged down in the shit even knowing exactly what it'll cost you."

"And you're any different?" she challenged. "Most people would have tried to have faith in the system, despite knowing just how flawed it is,but not you. Did you have even a moment of hesitation before you decided that you would hunt down your family's killers yourself? A moment where you thought that maybe you should see what the police are doing, what the media is saying?"

Hermione couldn't help the bitter smile that played on her lips as she watched Frank's jaw clench.

"No, you didn't; you were so surprised when I told you what the police reports said about your family's death because you hadn't bothered checking yourself. And I know that because I understand you- just like you understand why I'm doing what I do."

"You trying to say that we're alike?"

"Aren't we? We're both individuals fighting to right the wrongs we've seen because no one else will. We're both aware that maybe our actions aren't the healthiest way of handling things, but they are the most efficient. And we're both people who should be dead but have somehow managed to survive and can't quite find the will to be grateful for it."

Frank's trigger finger tapped restlessly against his mug. "You looking to die, kid?"

Instead of answering his question, she asked her own. "Do you plan on making it out of this alive, Frank? Or are you hoping to go out in a blaze of glory?"

"There you go again asking questions about the future. You wanna know who the people that usually ask about that are? The ones who plan on having one."

"Oh, there's no need to be worried about me, Frank- I have no doubt that I'll survive whatever comes my way in the near future."

When Frank's eyes finally locked with hers, Hermione felt almost frozen in place. It felt like he was able to see into her very soul- like she was an open book and he was judging every page. But as on-display as he made her feel, Frank was still very much closed off to her. She knew the surface, knew his rage and pain and grief. But once upon a time there was more to him than that, and that man still remained a mystery to her. Was he gone, or just forgotten?

Was that what Tony and Pepper wondered when they looked at her? When they snuck glances are her from the corners of their eyes and whispered about it when she wasn't around, did they wonder about her the way she wondered about Frank?

"What're you gonna do once your war is over?" he asked, still watching her intently. "What will you do once this fight is done?"

Hermione had to look away, turning to stare out the window to the left. "Do our fights ever really end? Or do they just evolve? Because I've been fighting for almost a decade and every time I think one fight is over, another pops up."

Frank didn't have a response to that- after all, it wasn't like she was wrong.


"I resent you," Mia informed Pepper.

"That's fine by me," Pepper responded, automatically reaching out to smooth out some of the creases in Mia's dress. "Just as long as you're resenting me in heels."

"Why do you hate me?"

Pepper rolled her eyes and ushered Mia to the elevator where Tony was waiting for them.

Looking up from his phone, Tony frowned at Mia. "You were supposed to stall her for longer so that we would arrive just after fashionably late."

Mia sighed. "I tried, but she knew what I was doing and I've been punished for encouraging you by being forced to wear heels."

Tony tutted at her in mock disappointment. "Dishonor. Dishonor on your whole family! Dishonor on you, dishonor on your cow."

"You are my family," Mia reminded him as the elevator opened into the parking garage where Happy was waiting with the car.

"Yes, and you have dishonored me by not purposefully making us late enough to this event and ensuring we'll be spending a full two hours with these assholes." Tony held open the car door and gestured for Pepper and Mia to get in.

"Steve says that it's dishonorable to live with a woman when you have declared your intentions to marry her," Mia informed him. "So, if anything, you're dishonoring us by not having put a ring on Pepper's finger before she moved into the tower."

Climbing into the car, Tony stared at Mia in horror. "Why must you hurt me this way?"

"You started it!"

"Children!" Pepper interrupted, though to be honest, she enjoyed listen to them playfully bicker. The two had banded together as siblings almost right from the start and it made her so incredibly happy to know that recent events hadn't come between that.

When they both quieted and stared at her with large, innocent eyes, Pepper gave them her best no-nonsense glare. "We are going to this gala and you are both going to play nice, got it? Mia, you will wear those heels the entire time and you will not tell anyone you are there under protest. Tony, you will not insult people just because you think they're too stupid to catch on to what you're doing and you will not- I repeat, will not- propose to me in any way, shape, or form in the next month. Am I clear?"

"Yes," Tony immediately replied.

"Does that mean I can propose to you?" Mia asked.

Pepper bit her lip hard, desperately trying to hide a laugh. "No, you may not."

Mia flopped back in her seat. "Everything is garbage."

"Stop quoting Brooklyn 99 and sit up straight."

The sound of Mia's phone ringing filled the car and she stared at her purse in confusion before slowly grabbing the bag that Pepper had declared went perfectly with the strapless black dress she had on. Pulling out her StarkPhone, Mia frowned at the name on her screen before answering.

"Harry's House of Wax," she greeted blandly. "It's only creepy because we're men."

"You can do better than that," Jessica instantly responded.

"I could but then you would expect more out of our relationship and we wouldn't want that." Tony cocked an eyebrow in question but Mia ignored him.

"And God forbid anyone have expectations for the great Mia Stark," the PI drawled.

She laughed. "Do you have anything for me?"

"I did, but then I saw what you did to my door and now I don't know if you deserve this."

"You mean how I fixed it? There was no glass! You literally just had cardboard covering where the window used to be!"

"You replaced the entire door!"

"I'm a Stark! If we're not taking things a step too far then we're not being true to who we really are." Mia smiled as Tony nodded in agreement, even as he kept repeatedly asking her who she was talking to.

"We are going to have a serious conversation about boundaries later," Jessica warned.

Turning to look out the window, Mia softly asked, "Did you find the information I requested?"

"Not exactly. I know how to get into the house, but her security is going to be a bit of a problem. Any chance you can fix it so that it doesn't call the cops the moment I bust the window?"

"Of course. Just let me know when you plan to head over."

"What's going on?" Tony hissed, trying to get close enough to Mia to hear both sides of the conversation.

Pulling the phone away from her for a moment, Mia whispered back, "None of your business."

"I plan on going there in about two hours," Jessica told her. "Reyes is going to be at the fundraiser tonight so you can make sure to keep her nice and distracted."

Mia's eyes lit up. "Really? How lovely. I've been hoping for a chance to speak with her."

"Well, I'm going to take a stab in the dark here and say that that feeling is not mutual. I've been keeping an eye on this chick for days and I'm pretty sure she hates your guts."

"Not as much as she will by the time I'm done with her." Pepper gave Mia a sharp look, which the younger woman ignored.

"Whatever you say, Princess. Just text me when it's done."

"Alright." Ending the call, Mia quickly texted JARVIS a request to disable Reyes' security system.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tony pulling out his phone and rolled her eyes. "That was a PI I have on retainer."

Tony paused in the middle of his text to JARVIS. "We have a PI on retainer?"

"I have a PI on retainer. I have no idea if you have one as well; you'll have to ask Pepper."

"Why do you need a PI for?" Tony demanded. "JARVIS can find any information you want and without that pesky ability to betray you and stab you in the back."

Mia sighed, slipping her phone back into her purse. "Because JARVIS can only access electronic files and I'm dealing with an overly paranoid, corrupt DA. Not the brightest woman though, since I have reason to believe she keeps paper copies of the evidence of her misdeeds."

"Rookie move," her brother agreed, sitting back in his seat.

"Wait," Pepper interjected. "Are you having someone break into this woman's home?" When Mia just blinked at her, Pepper groaned. "For the love of God. You can't just hire someone to break into a person's house!"

"Technically, I'm not hiring her to break into a house; she's choosing to do that on her own."

The car slowly coming to a stop outside of the building where the event was taking place kept Pepper from truly responding. "We'll talk about this later," she warned, pasting a smile on her face as Happy came around to open the door.

"Alright, but she'll have already broken into the house by then."

Tony desperately tried to cover his laughter by pretending to cough as he moved to get out of the car and then helped Pepper and Mia out. "You are a beautiful person and nobody deserves you," he told Mia, the laughter still clear in his voice.

She had no response to that, so she said nothing.


Ducking behind a pillar, Mia pulled out her phone again and skimmed over JARVIS' message. "Damn," she sighed. It seemed Reyes wasn't as incompetent as Mia had thought.

Keeping a paper trail of your sins was a foolish thing to do and Reyes must have known it because her security was the best available on the market. She should have burned all evidence but since she apparently felt she couldn't do that, Reyes had seemingly done her best to make sure no one but herself would be able to access it.

JARVIS had been able to bypass the homes alarm system so that the police wouldn't be contacted in the event of a break-in, but Reyes would still get an alert on her phone the moment Jessica entered the house and when she opened Reyes' safe. Mia had been planning on making a clone of Reyes' phone in the near future, but apparently, she would need to move her time-table up.

"Fancy running into you here."

Tensing, Mia turned to see Billy Russo sidling up to her.

"I could say the same to you. What are you doing here?"

Billy smiled, leaning against the wall opposite her. "I was invited; I donate to this charity too. Plus, my company was hired to do security."

Mia relaxed. "I'd heard that you donated to several charities, but I didn't know this was one of them." The benefit was being held for one of the Stark Foundation's charities assisting victims of domestic abuse.

"It's for a good cause," he told her simply. Nodding towards the phone still clutched in her hand, Billy asked, "Is there a problem?"

"… I may need a no-questions-asked favor." While it was risky bringing Russo into her plan, Mia was banking on the fact that him wanting her to be in his debt would be more than enough reason for him to assist her without question. If she was wrong, it would be easy enough to erase this conversation from his memory.

That thought made her pause. Since when had she become so comfortable with the idea of messing with another's mind that it would be her first response to a potential problem?

Billy's gaze turned sharp. "Depends on what you want me to do. I won't ask questions about why, but I'm going to need to know what exactly it is you need me to do."

Hesitating for a moment, Mia asked, "How against borrowing without the other person knowing are you?"

Eyebrows lifting slightly in surprise, Billy answered, "Depends on who the target is. I do have standards you know."

"Samantha Reyes."

"In that case, I'm all for it."

She gave a huff of laughter. "I take it you're not a fan?"

Crossing his arms over his chest, Billy shrugged. "Hey, I'm all for doing whatever it takes to reach your goals. What I'm not okay with is sacrificing innocent people to do it. There was a case a few years back- a woman and her kids were stabbed to death in their home. Their killer was caught by the police a day or two later- he still had the bloody murder weapon on him, that's how stupid this guy is.

"Not even 12 hours later, he's released from custody and the official story the cops are giving is that this woman murdered her kids before killing herself. All evidence of the actual crime was covered up. The guy ends up dead not long after that because he pissed off a gang member but that doesn't change anything. Not in my mind at least."

Mia was stunned. "I… I knew she was corrupt but that's… she helped cover up what he did? Why? What was her motive? What did it get her?"

"I was never able to figure that out," he told her grimly. "The obvious answer would be that he knew something about Reyes that she didn't want anyone else to find out, but I can't figure out what."

"So, she covered up what he did and then arranged for his murder," Mia finished. "Because what else would one do."

"I may not have the strongest moral compass," Billy allowed. "But even I have my lines. And that's one of them."

That… didn't necessarily ring false, but it wasn't completely true either. It was both honest and a lie. So, what did that mean exactly?

"If we're doing this," he started, breaking through Mia's musings. "We should move now. It looks like Reyes is finishing up with the Mayor now."

Taking a deep breath, Mia moved away from the column. "I need her phone. I'll only need it for a minute, but it'll be difficult to get it away from her without her noticing. It's in her clutch now- which has a clasp not a zipper so that's something."

"Do you know what kind of phone it is?" Billy offered her his arm and, once she took it, began to escort her across the room.

"It's an iPhone." If she'd owned a StarkPhone, JARVIS would have been able to access it easily. But no, the woman just had to make things difficult.

"Then we'll have to switch out her phone with mine." He made it sound like it was no big deal, but Mia was surprised that he would be willing to risk his own device just to help her. Then again, it was likely he had multiple phones on him- both work and personal- so maybe it wasn't as much of a risk as it seemed. "The trouble will be trading them back without making her too suspicious."

"Leave that to me."

Stepping around a trio of older gentlemen, Billy and Mia came to a stop in front of Reyes. This was the first time Mia had seen the woman in-person. From the photos she'd seen, Reyes generally kept her light brown hair down in large curls but tonight they were pulled up into a neat bun. She was wearing a form fitting blue dress and a painted-on smile that fell for only a moment when she spotted Mia in front of her before quickly reappearing. "Miss Stark," she greeted. "Mr. Russo."

"Please, call me Billy." Holding out his hand, Billy shook Reyes hand with his usual charming grin.

"Miss Reyes," Mia greeted, voice neutral. "I'm surprised to see you here tonight. I've heard things have been busy in your office."

"Not so busy that I couldn't take the time off for a good cause," Reyes responded easily with a small laugh.

Mia hated her.

"I couldn't agree more." Billy reached over to give the hand Mia still had on his arm a quick, warning squeeze. "So, what cases are you currently working on? I must admit, I've been out of the country for past two weeks and am a little behind on what's going on with the city."

"Not much. We're just dealing with several cases of gang-on-gang violence."

"That's not exactly unusual here, is it?" Mia asked, feigning ignorance. If Reyes still wasn't talking about the Punisher in public then Mia wasn't going to be the one to bring it up. "I must admit, having only lived here for a year, I'm not completely aware of what is and isn't normal for this city, but it seemsthat gang violence is common here."

"It's not uncommon, no," Reyes agreed coolly, taking a sip from her glass of water. "I forgot that you didn't grow up in the States. Where did you spend your childhood?"

"Oh, all over." Mia smiled brightly at the DA and she could see the flash of amusement cross Billy's face out of the corner of her eye. "I believe I am what some might call a child of the world." Or multiple worlds, if they were being exact.

If it wasn't for the fact that she still had a hand on his arm, Mia wouldn't have noticed the way Billy was trembling ever so slightly with suppressed laughter.

"Child of the world, huh?" Reyes repeated, clearly unimpressed. "That must have been a... richly rewarding experience."

"Oh, it was very educational."

Someone bumped into them from behind and Billy stumbled forward, bumping into Reyes and causing her to drop her purse. "I'm so sorry," he apologized, stooping down to grab it and then handing it back to the DA. It took less than 20 seconds and Mia worried for a moment that he hadn't been able to get the phone. But then Billy was next to her again and slipping his arm around her waist. A weight dropped into the pocket of her dress and Mia relaxed.

Pulling her own phone out of her bag, she quickly launched the cloning program she'd downloaded onto it and then slipped her phone into her pocket next to Reyes'.

Mia watched the way Reyes' grip tightened on her bag before relaxing, reassured that everything that was supposed to be in there was. "So, how did you two meet?" she asked.

It took Mia a moment to realize that Reyes thought she and Billy were an item. And, what with the arm Billy still had on her waist, who could really blame her?

"We ran into one another when Billy was coming out of a meeting with Pepper." It wasn't worth the hassle to try and explain that they weren't together- Mia was well aware that no one would believe her anyway.

"How cute," Reyes said, clearly lying. "I'm sure your brother must like the fact that you're dating someone who's dedicated his career to keeping people safe."

The inflection in Reyes' voice told Mia that the DA knew something about Billy's work that she didn't, and Billy stiffened. "Actually, Tony hates me," was all he said, tone light and easy. "I've heard that's the case with most people when it comes to him."

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, alerting Mia that the clone was complete. Pulling her phone out again, she composed a quick text to Jessica. Give it 15min and you're good to go.

Slipping her phone away, Mia switched it with Reyes', taking the iPhone and sliding it into the hand on her waist as subtly as possible. He took the phone and slowly pulled his hand away from her, reaching into his jacket pocket and pretending to pull the phone from it. With a twitch of her finger, Mia cast a Severing Charm at the seam of Reyes' purse at the same time as she pretended to fall against Billy, making him drop the phone right as the contents of Reyes' purse hit the ground.

"I'm so sorry," she told Billy, kneeling down to grab his actual phone as Reyes' went to grab her things. "I still have trouble with balancing while in heels."

"No problem," he reassured her as Reyes stood back up.

"If you'll excuse me." Reyes turned and hurried off.

After she was out of sight, Mia immediately checked to make sure that JARVIS had been able to ensure that Reyes wasn't alerted when Jessica went into her home. "Impressive," she softly complimented Billy. "You were able to do that so quickly even I couldn't tell when you had made the switch."

"It's a talent," he answered dryly. "Do I want to know why her bag ripped all of a sudden?"

"No, you really don't."

Before he could ask anymore, Tony appeared beside her. "Hey," he greeted, eying Billy suspiciously. "We're leaving now."

"So quickly?" Mia asked. "How'd you manage that?"

"Oh, it wasn't just me- Pepper is apparently very eager to yell at both of us about earlier."

Mia grimaced. "Why does she want to yell at you?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Because I am such a terrible influence, and this is clearly all my fault."

"What did you do?" Billy asked Mia with a small smile.

"None of your business," Tony snapped at him, pulling Mia away. "We are going to discuss your terrible taste the moment we get back to the tower," he muttered to his sister.

"Until next time," she called to Billy, glancing back at him one last time before allowing Tony to tow her out of the room.


"There's no sign of them," Fandral spat, sinking into his seat at the table.

Thor wasn't surprised- he hadn't expected his brother or Carol to be so careless as to leave any trace of them behind.

Lady Sif raced into the room, eyes wide with horror. "They've taken the Tesseract."

"That means they could be anywhere in the galaxy," Volstagg hissed. "Loki must know how to wield it; even if we were to find them, they could disappear again in an instant."

"There would not have been time to retrieve it after Loki was released," Hogun murmured. "The alarms were sounded the moment the wards around the cell were broken."

"When we were on Earth before," Thor interrupted. "Loki made mention of the fact that there is a rightful owner of the Tesseract who he implied would return to take back what is theirs."

"The Tesseract is thousands of years old," Lady Sif argued. "It is an Infinity Stone- there is no rightful owner."

Hogun seemed concerned. "You believe Carol to be the one Loki was referring to?"

"I am unsure," Thor lied. "It is possible, but I know not why he would think so."

In fact, Thor knew it was Lady Carol that Loki was speaking of. He believed that the Tesseract belonged to her. But though it may belong to Carol now, he also knew that his brother considered it their child's birthright.

Thor knew not what their intentions were by taking the Tesseract from the safety of Asgard but he knew they would not have done so without reason. The only thing he wasn't clear of, is what that reason was.


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