Harry didn't get more than a second to react to the arrival of what had to be Thor, since Loki was obviously used to his entrances and used the distraction to try to stab Harry unawares before his brother waded in. The Boy-Who-Lived very narrowly avoided losing that title, managing to deflect Loki's stab toward his midsection. Well, "deflect" was a strong word: Harry was able to shove himself away with his energy blades as if the knife was some kind of fixed object. Fighting Aesir royalty was like sparring with a tractor, or doing parkour on a windmill.

And Thor was supposed to be much stronger.

"Loki!" the god of thunder called, electricity still crackling off of his massive hammer. "Cease this ignoble conflict!"

"Well? Shoot him!" Loki yelled to the agents, finally slacking off on his attack on Harry and beginning to back away. Like the idiot Gryffindor he was, Harry stopped retreating, put some more magic into his conjured sword to give it additional length, and pressed the attack. He didn't want the master of illusions in front of him to have a chance to displace himself again.

Thor almost negligently caught a blast from one of the blue-beamed weapons on his hammer, deflecting it away and causing another gas tank to explode in the neighboring yard to the south. Harry didn't have a chance to check whether the news crew had decided their safety was more important than what was probably the story of their year. There were multiple agents with ray guns, though, and a blast from the orange one caught Thor in the chest, plasma converting instantly to flame and force as it flung the demigod away with an upset roar.

But a new target was all the respite Iron Man and Captain America needed to finally make progress. Another salvo of night-night missiles managed to explode in a few agent faces and the famous shield bounced between two of the cannons, making them spark. Thor managed a partial recovery from being blasted across the parking lot, landing near enough to Harry and Loki to launch himself through the air and tackle the god of mischief against one of the still-standing trees between the lot and the road to the east.

The poor plant shuddered and cracked a bit at the impact, as Thor slammed his brother against it two more times, until Loki dropped his daggers and allowed the illusion of his horned helmet and additional armor to fade back to his original armored outfit.

His implacable opponent so easily contained, Harry turned to make sure that the rest of the agents were being taken care of, but Tony and Rogers had it well in hand. The last of the attackers fell to the Captain's punch to the head. Harry finally had a chance to glance back at the news crew, who'd cowered behind their van but were still clearly recording. They might even have gotten good footage as the rain slackened after Thor's landing. The flood spillway to the west was doing its job for probably the first time in years.

"Where is the Tesseract!?" Thor demanded of his brother.

"And the scepter!" Harry tossed in, still the closest to the brotherly confrontation. Thor glanced his way in confusion and he explained, "He has a scepter with another Stone in it."

"Who are you, that speaks of Stones?" Thor asked warily, somehow inferring the capital-S, and suddenly realizing that he was surrounded by costumed warriors of uncertain disposition.

Weirdly, Loki helped, disgustedly explaining, "The boy that Fandral wouldn't cease gushing about before your failed coronation."

"Truly?" Thor grinned, absently rapping Loki against the tree again when he tried to escape Thor's grip with the revelation. "Harry of the Potters?"

"That's me," Harry gave a respectful half-bow, letting his conjured weapons fade. He gestured at his mask and the news crew. "But I'm trying to keep that identity secret from most of the people on Midgard." Based on the angle Thor was facing, Harry didn't think the news crew had picked up his name unless they had a really good shotgun microphone.

The big man considered for a moment but nodded, "Understood. Fandral will be pleased that you practiced his lessons. I saw you swordfighting with my brother."

"Nice entrance, Point Break," Tony announced, walking over warily. He must have taken another hit from one of the energy weapons, because his armor was scorched, the durable red paint fully missing in a few places. Somewhat abrasively, he declared, "We kind of need that guy to answer some questions."

Harry caught the tone. Tony had a bad habit of trying to overawe anyone he felt even slightly threatened by. It hadn't made him a ton of friends among other tech CEOs. Before he could get into a dick swinging contest with a god, Harry translated. "He used the scepter to mind control some of the world's most important… er… military generals, I guess?" He wasn't sure if Asgard had much concept of an intelligence agency. "And they could use the Tesseract to open the portal without him and let in his army."

"The Chitauri yes," Thor agreed, putting a name to the space zombies. "So?" he demanded, turning his attention back to his brother. "Where have you hidden these devices? Give them up and come home."

Across the lot, Rogers was doing the cleanup work of making sure all the agents were out and that the weapons were out of their reach. Interestingly, he looked at most of them with disgust and smashed them against the brick pillars to render them useless.

Loki made a clearly-fake apologetic face, shrugged, and said, "My new friend Nicholas has introduced me to a concept named 'compartmentalization.' I don't have them. You need the cube to bring me home, but I've sent it off, I know not where."

Harry blinked, realizing, "You knew you'd lose here. You didn't want us to get the scepter."

"It was a sad possibility," Loki agreed. "The chance of taking a few of your pieces off the board was worth the risk, however. Nicholas had something he called a 'strategic matrix' and convinced me that he should hold onto the scepter for the time being. I admit, now, it would not have turned the tide of battle."

"And how do you feel without it?" Harry asked. Thor shot him a curious glance, and Harry explained, "He's been holding onto it all year. It tries to mind control anyone it touches. He thinks he resisted it, but I think it's been forcing him to do all this."

"But this is excellent!" Thor exclaimed, jostling his brother. "We can explain it to our father!"

"Your father!?" Loki snarled, his facade of amused nonchalance shattered, as usual, by the implication that he'd been brainwashed. "Trust the boy not. I am the master of my own mind! I've seen worlds you've never known about! I have grown, Odinson, in my exile! I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it, I will be king!"

"Okay, nighty-night," Tony said, launching his remaining knockout missiles to explode in Loki's face and cut him off mid-tirade.

"What have you done?!" Thor demanded, his brother slumping in his grasp as he turned angrily to the armored billionaire.

"It was a boring conversation anyway," Tony quoted, but did take a half step back in the face of the imposing and angry demigod. "Reindeer Games wasn't going to give up anything else, and we're on TV."

"He just put him to sleep! Sleeping helps remove the scepter's control," Harry interjected, and Thor subsided slightly. The teen turned to Tony and asked, "Reindeer Games? Did anybody even see that movie?"

"I did," Tony admitted, a little sheepishly. "And, you know, the horns. Plus, he's basically like Rudolph, because none of the other reindeer would let him play…" He subsided as both of the others were staring at him, and even Rogers, walking over, seemed confused. "Fine, I'll workshop it."

"Point Break was good, though," Harry threw him a bone. "He's got the surfer look."

"You sure you don't need a nap, too, Rogers?" Tony asked the approaching super-soldier.

Captain America frowned, "I overheard a little. Mind control? From that bladed staff with the blue gem? Is there any way to be sure I'm not compromised?"

"Turns your eyes blue," Harry shrugged. "Better test for some people than others."

The super-soldier nodded, "That was one of the things I was suspicious about with Fury." He sighed and said, "They didn't use it on me. I guess they just lied to me about what was going on. But I don't know if I can prove it. Sorry for trying to arrest you, Mr. Stark?"

Deciding to be gracious, at least in front of the kid, Tony allowed, "Happens more than you'd think. Where's that jet?"

JARVIS answered in Harry and Tony's ears, "Agent Coulson reports that they are still approximately forty-five minutes from arrival, but have dispatched a trustworthy set of local agents to secure the area."

"Folks!" Tony ramped up the volume on the suit again to yell at the news crew. "We're going to take this inside, and there are real feds coming so you might want to clear out. I'll do a press conference about this later, but we're still in the middle of a crisis."

"Really should have known it was hinky when they had you invite the news," Harry chided Rogers.

"Yeah," the man agreed. Unlike Loki's feigned apology, Rogers had a very expressive face that indicated he really was sorry for the mix up and trying to make up for it. It was easy to believe that kind of charisma had maintained his heroic legend for over half a century.

They dragged Loki, the unconscious agents, and the weapons back into the warehouse to be out of sight of the news crew while they waited for the jet and other agents to arrive. Well, Thor sort of bemusedly followed, the unconscious Loki slung over a shoulder. Harry finally explained to him, "I think they're trying to discredit the heroes of Midgard so they can't help when the… what'd you call them, the Centauri?"

"Chitauri," the godling corrected.

"Right, when they attack," Harry finished. "But we have a scientist tracking the Tesseract's energy signature, so hopefully we'll find it before that happens."

"You should contact Jane Foster and Erik Selvig!" Thor said, enthusiastic about knowing two scientists. "They are friends."

"Um, older guy with an accent?" Harry said. "I think he was the scientist already working on the Tesseract. Loki mind-controlled him, too. Is, um… is Dr. Foster blond?"

"No, she has dark hair," Thor said, worried.

"I only saw one woman in the room when Loki attacked and she was blond," Harry said, relieved. He tried not to think about how Loki had murdered her and they'd left her body at the bottom of the crater in the desert.

Leaning against a wall, Rogers pulled his cowl off, and Tony took off his helmet. Harry followed suit and pulled off his mask. "You're just a kid!" the Captain said, in shock.

"I don't love it, either," Tony chimed in. "But he's pretty much the only one that knows what's going on."

"He's your kid!" the Captain realized. "Your girlfriend's nephew, right?" They must have given him access to files since he'd been out of the ice. "How can you let–"

"I'm almost fifteen!" Harry interjected—slightly petulantly—at immediately not being taken seriously. At least Thor wasn't looking at him like a disappointed grownup.

"And slew a Nidhogg Serpent all by himself even younger!" Thor gave him a hearty pat on the back. Used to hanging around with Hagrid, Harry was able to roll with the super-strength clap of affection. He'd still have probably had a bruise if he wasn't wearing his armor.

"You slew a what?" Tony checked.

Harry gritted his teeth and admitted, "You remember the 'gas leak' a couple years ago? I… um… there was a giant ghost snake attacking the school?"

"And the same thing that happened to Fandral happened to my brother?" Thor finally realized, expression darkening.

"Basically," Harry explained. "The Stone was in a book that year, and I think it fully controlled Fandral. But he snapped out of it when I knocked him out and kicked it into the void. But this 'Father' must have pulled it and Loki out. I don't know, though… there were a few times Loki didn't have the scepter on him, even when he was on a different world, and he didn't snap out of it, so it might have its hooks in deeper than it did for Fandral."

"When I can return him to Asgard, my mother will see to his mind," Thor said, with confidence.

"This is all a lot for me," Rogers admitted. "Ghost snakes. Mind controlling rocks. I know about the Tesseract, but everything else…"

Harry summed up, "There are lots of planets with intelligent life. Some of them are in spots around the universe that have weird laws of physics that you can think of as magic. Nine of them are kind of linked together fourth-dimensionally so it's easier to basically fold space to step between them. I go to school on one of them. Thor is the prince of Asgard, which protects the others. But their teleporter is broken so they haven't been able to help the way they usually do."

"Our fault," Thor admitted, gesturing at himself and his unconscious brother on the floor next to him.

"That… pretty much makes sense, thanks," the man-out-of-time nodded, looking at Harry consideringly.

"See. Only one that knows what's going on," Tony agreed. "What I want to know is why these are here," he gestured at the pile of mostly-smashed weapons.

"So do I," the Captain agreed, scowling. "These are Hydra weapons. A lot of my friends were killed with these back in the War."

"Coulson called it Phase 2, I think," Harry explained. "They were taking them out of the base where the Tesseract was being studied. He didn't want Loki or anyone he'd controlled to get his hands on them."

"They told me Stark was making Hydra weapons when it was SHIELD the whole time?"

Thor gestured at the BFG and noted, "That one shoots like the Destroyer—an Asgardian weapon that Loki sent after me when I met the son of Coul. They must have taken the remains."

"Great," Tony's scowl was starting to match the Captain's. "So they have an illegal weapons division reverse engineering Nazi and alien tech. And they didn't even give me the chance to turn down helping." He wasn't actually that surprised, since he already knew SHIELD was working on weapons tech. While Harry hadn't managed to plant one of his hacking discs, the knockout missiles had been based on SHIELD designs that they had shared with him.

The genius billionaire couldn't help himself: he wandered over and started disassembling the weapons to see how they were made, and Rogers followed to look over his shoulder. The two men seemed to be bonding, so Harry began to sum up the rest of the information that he thought Thor would like to know.

After getting the debrief, the big man admitted, "We could not find out who this 'Father' might be after Fandral recounted his tale." He was only a little taller than Loki and Rogers, and nowhere near as big as Hagrid, but his sheer bulk and presence made him seem huge to Harry, especially right next to him. "But perhaps with this additional information my father will remember something."

"And there's some lady with a big bladed headdress or maybe weird antlers, that the Nidhogg Serpent seemed to think was his mistress," Harry explained. "The guy pretending to be Voldemort didn't even seem to know about her, but I think she may be working with the alien that killed my parents."

Thor frowned, the description tickling some distant memory of a fresco covered over and other portraits taken away when he was still a small child. "I know not who that is, either. That the serpents even have a leader is chilling. I thought them simple beasts."

"So did Tom Riddle," Harry agreed. "The draugr of the man they replaced to take over the Death Eaters. He thought he was controlling it, then it ate him."

Not long after their discussion, new agents began to show up at the building. Coulson called ahead through JARVIS to confirm that they were friendlies.

"We broke your illegal ray guns," Tony enjoyed informing the mild-mannered acting-Director.

"Not my circus," Coulson deflected, over the phone. "Take it up with Fury and Pierce."

"I plan to," the rich philanthropist agreed, at least willing to give the agent he'd known the longest a bit of a pass.

"My brother stays with me," Thor informed one of the incoming agents, who looked like he wanted to take Loki into custody. "Though I know not where we are taking him. I doubt this realm has a prison capable of holding him."

"I agree," Harry said, when it looked like Tony was going to suggest some high-tech solution. "He probably can't teleport, but I bet he can open pretty much any locks and restraints you can think of. And he can turn invisible and look like he's somewhere other than where he is."

"Can we just keep him unconscious?" Rogers suggested, cutting to the simplest solution. "You said sleep might help him snap out of it anyway?"

"Glad I'm not a medical doctor. I don't want to be on the hook to design the anesthesia protocol to induce a coma in an Asgardian," possibly the smartest man on the planet joked.

"You have coma missiles, Tony," Harry gestured at all the unconscious agents that were being carried out by the other agents.

"I may have borrowed the basic tech… and the name… from some SHIELD scientists whose notes were in the nonlethal weapons files they did let me see. Hopefully they understand tranquilization better than I do."

"Quinjet incoming," the lead local agent informed them, then went back to organizing the cleanup of the mess Tony and Rogers had made of the Phase 2 weapons. "Still press outside," he warned.

The four men (and Loki over Thor's shoulder) walked out to see the sleek VTOL landing in the wide street outside, to the east. Not only had the news crew not cleared off, they'd been joined by other stations, so Harry was glad of the warning so he already had his mask back on. At least they were all behind a cordon of government vehicles, but the reporters shouted questions that none of them could make out over the sound of a jet landing. As the bay opened, they saw a fairly large cargo area in the back of the plane, and Natasha in her Black Widow gear was waiting for them. Harry thought he glimpsed Barton in the pilot's seat.

"I need to go back to the house to swap to a clean suit," Tony gestured at his damaged armor. "I'll meet you back at the Tower. No house parties while I'm out."

"But what about my new friends?" Harry joked, gesturing at Thor and Rogers.

"Fine," Tony allowed, "but only since I've met them. And there better not be any drinking or other shenanigans!" With that he blasted off, heading back west toward Malibu.

"I guess the gang's all here," Natasha observed, as they walked aboard and she closed the ramp behind them. Like Harry, she seemed a little surprised by just how tall Captain America and Thor were up close. "Glad we brought the jet with the extra legroom."

"Have you met them yet?" Harry asked Rogers, as he realized he was probably the only one that knew everyone. At the star-spangled man's head shake, he did introductions while they took seats, "Thor, Prince of Asgard: God of Thunder and protector of the Nine Realms. Captain America, Steve Rogers: Earth's first known superhero. Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff: infiltration and interrogation expert. Hawkeye, Clint Barton: possibly Earth's best marksman." He was really glad of the Avengers Initiative tablet for having filled him in more on Nat and Clint. "You all met Iron Man, Tony Stark. He's flying back home to get replacement armor. And I'm Harry Potts. I don't have a code name yet."

"We should probably come up with one," Natasha agreed, with a genuine smile that Harry had given her an introduction that wouldn't have the two newcomers assuming she was a personal assistant or something. "You're the only one that still has a secret identity to hold onto."

"Should I also have one of these coded names?" Thor wondered, managing to figure out how to strap Loki into one of the plane's seats. "Oh, I had forgotten, I already have a secret mortal identity in this realm! Though I think I misplaced my Donald Blake identity card."

"We can probably get you a more secure mundane name if you want one," Natasha offered. "I understand that Donald Blake is an actual person that Dr. Foster knew who… does not look like you."

"A former paramour of hers, yes," the demigod agreed. "Are you aware of her disposition?"

She nodded, "Coulson got her to a safe location. He can tell you the details when we get back to New York."

"Excellent," he said, looking relieved. "It's bad enough that Selvig has been caught by this curse of the mind. I would not have known what to do if Jane had also been involved…"

"We should get you an owl," Harry suggested. Natasha and Rogers looked at him like that was a strange non-sequitur. Apparently not even SHIELD had really noticed that he had a pet owl and that it might be relevant. "Vanaheim owls," he explained, "can be enchanted to be able to carry letters between worlds."

"I sought one, but my mother forbade it as too unusual for Midgard," Thor sighed. "I think, in truth, she disapproves of my interest in a woman of your realm."

"Life span differences," Harry nodded. It was another potential barrier between him and Fleur. She was older than him, but she'd still be young-looking even if he made it to Dumbledore's age.

"And she's had her heart set on my marriage to someone else since I was young," the Aesir prince agreed. "Despite Sif and myself only being good friends."

"Everyone thought my friend Hermione and I were going to get together, too," Harry agreed.

"The only woman I ever really liked is ninety-one now," Rogers sighed. "I missed most of her life while I was frozen. We never even got to go on a real date." He pulled himself together and explained, "Even if you think you'll have all the time in the world together, it can go wrong. You shouldn't wait, if you really care about her."

Given how close he kept coming to getting killed, Harry had to nod. Even Thor gave a considering look to the advice of the man-out-of-time. Natasha just concealed a smirk at three of the most powerful warriors on the planet bonding over their relationship struggles. She shot a glance to the front of the plane, where Clint clearly wanted to weigh in, but wasn't going to compromise his own family's safety unnecessarily. She was a little surprised to glance back and see their gazes turning in her direction, as if offering her a chance to bond as well. "I've always been too busy to date," she deflected. "No big tragic romance for me."

The three superheroes clearly started to think about advice they could offer her, then thought better of it with someone that was probably far more adept at relationships than they were and lapsed into silence.

Nearing New York, Rogers asked about Loki, "Should he have woken up by now?"

Harry had been wondering the same thing, since Aesir physiology should likely shake off knockout drugs faster than a human. "He could be faking," he shrugged. "But I also don't think he's really gotten to sleep in a year, so maybe his body's forcing him to while it has the chance."

"We have secure containment at the SHIELD offices," Natasha offered. "If Thor can make sure he gets there, Coulson says they called an anesthesiologist to keep him sedated."

"I selfishly hope he wakes before you give him more drugs," Thor admitted. "I would have more words with my brother, even if his mind is too twisted to answer truly. We mourned him for over a year."

As they disembarked from the plane and organized cars through the Thursday afternoon traffic, Harry just worried that they might have more people to mourn before this was all over.