A/N - We are approaching the Avengers Arc now.
Previously:
It didn't take long after that; Thor somehow created a massive vortex and sucked The Destroyer straight off the ground, and then the dust clouds hid everything from sight. A few moments later a massive fireball erupted, followed by a large crash.
When the dust cleared, a completely uninjured Thor strode arrogantly out of the dust cloud, striding up to the woman who had cried over his body not five minutes ago.
Bella looked up at Harry, and he suspected her face looked as dumbfounded as his. After all the tense danger of the past half hour, Thor ended the fight in under a minute.
Taking a deep breath, wondering what to do now, Harry spotted Coulson and some other agents jumping from their black vehicles. He seriously thought about slipping away with Bella and getting a well-deserved drink, but when Coulson looked in his direction, he knew he was spotted.
"Merlin's balls," he muttered. "I hope there isn't a lot of paperwork from this."
6 Months Later
Washington D.C
Bella walked out of Georgetown's Lauinger library and out onto 37th street, her head down as she answered a text from Sophie with fond exasperation. Her quite annoying roommate had been bugging Bella all day to go with her to a big off-campus party tonight, as Sophie had just broken up with her latest boyfriend and needed a 'wingman' tonight.
Sophie's reply came straight back - clearly she had already written it in preparation of Bella's denial - and the pitying words and sad-faced emoji with the fat tears showed her roommate was not above emotional blackmail. In spite of herself, Bella was smiling at Sophie's antics as she sent off another emphatic "NO! Ask Someone Else! HARRY IS IN TOWN!" reply.
With that, Bella smirked and muted her phone. She knew Sophie could find someone else to go with her - she had a lot of friends - but she stubbornly believed that Bella, despite having a steady boyfriend should get out and 'check out the man-candy'.
She made a right onto N street, walking back to her apartment after her study session. It was a sunny but brisk day in Georgetown - typical of early Spring in the nation's capital - but the cold did not bother Bella as much as it used to. In fact, she was dressed in fairly light layers, and walked at a very fast clip that would have left her panting and out of breath just six months ago.
Since the incident at Puente Antiguo last year, Bella had thrown herself into her training full steam. She vividly remembered how much difficulty she had pulling the woman clear from the burning rubble, stretching muscles that were not used to hard exercise and were woefully out of shape.
Bella vowed she would be better prepared next time.
Fortunately, SHIELD had supplied her with a trainer, and five days a week Bella did some sort of physical workout, usually jogging and calisthenics, though ju-jitsu had been added to the mix about two months ago. Additionally, she had a small set of weights and resistance bands at home, and would often use them while watching TV or listening to her class lectures, which she always recorded.
Bella was determined to get in shape, learn how to fight, and beat her clumsiness once and for all.
Luckily, once her core muscles firmed up, her balance did as well. Now, except for rare moments where her head wandered into introspection or daydreams, her frequent self-inflicted bruises and hospital visits were a thing of the past. Bella walked more upright, her shoulders no longer hunched forward, her eyes sharper and her awareness far more attuned to her surroundings.
Being in Washington, her jogging routes often took her near government buildings, and Bella was surprised how many plainclothes law enforcement personnel were out in the streets. She often replayed in her mind the encounter in London where Hawkeye and his SHIELD team had followed Harry and her, and how she'd been completely oblivious of their presence.
This was no longer the case; Bella had become quite adept at spotting people who didn't 'belong', who were being especially watchful or 'playing' at tourist. Indeed, she'd become so adept that, on several occasions, she'd realized she had been followed after leaving SHIELD HQ. The first time this happened, she'd almost freaked-out, thinking someone had ill-intent towards her. Bella had quickly called the number Phil had given her for emergencies, rapidly explaining the situation, only to find out it had been a 'test'.
After Bella's colorful tirade ended, Phil warned her in no uncertain terms that she could never let her guard down now that her association with SHIELD was a reality. "Nothing is ever totally secure if it's recorded somewhere," he'd warned. "Always assume to worst. That's how you stay alive in this business. Always consider that the person following you could be an enemy, Bella. Never let your guard down, and you will make everyone who cares about you breathe easier."
His voice had softened then. "We worry about our personnel, Bella, and want to keep you as safe as is reasonably possible without assigning a guard to protect you 24x7."
Bella had been touched by his sentiment, and realized that they were going one better: they were teaching her to protect herself.
After that, Bella threw herself into her training with a fervor that no one who knew her back in Forks would have ever believed her capable of.
However - and unfortunately, in her mind - with her increased confidence came some attention she could have done without. Her new, toned physique and increased confidence and attitude had not only surprised her roommate - but had caught the attention of a fair number of guys - both on campus and around Georgetown in general - who began to flirt with her or eagerly tryout their pickup lines on her.
Thus, her skills at refusing date prospects got quite the workout as well, increasingly dramatically with their frequent use.
When Bella grouchily told Harry about this problem, he just chuckled and told her to 'get used to it, Isabella. You're a dishy lass, after all.'
So not helpful!
Shaking her head in amusement at the memory, Bella arrived at her building, waved at one of her neighbors who held the front door for her, and fished out the key for her apartment (she'd begun to call it a 'flat' lately; having both a British roommate and British boyfriend was clearly rubbing off on her). Flustered from her long day and wanting to just let her brain rest for a bit, she tossed her backpack onto the floor and collapsed onto her bed. She'd gotten up at 7am to spend two hours at the gym before her first class, and had sat for six straight hours of classes with a break just for coffee.
Bella was meeting Harry in about an hour and a half, which gave her just enough time to rest for a bit, shower and get ready for their date.
She and Harry had gotten much closer since last summer, and they now saw each other just about every weekend. They'd split their time between London and D.C - the wonders of portkeys - but Harry had also surprised her with short trips to Paris and Rome, weekend getaways which she absolutely loved. Her only regret was that she couldn't share the pictures of her trip with Sophie, as her roommate would wonder how Bella could possibly take a roundtrip flight to those locations over a short weekend and still have time for sight-seeing.
Tonight, Harry was coming to take her to dinner, and then they were going to spend the night at the ministry's apartment in DC, which had become almost a home away from home for Bella, as she and Harry had stayed there quite often.
Forcing herself into the shower, she hummed to herself as she washed herself, thinking about how lucky it was that she'd never have to shave again; a simple grooming charm from a book Hermione leant her took care of things like that, and Bella chuckled as she thought of the other useful charms she'd found in that little book.
After her shower, she sat down at the small vanity that she and Sophie shared, and brushed her hair out, thinking of everything that had happened over the past six months.
Since Puente Antiguo, SHIELD had fast-tracked both Harry and herself to get them onboard as quickly as possible. Essentially, that meant Harry working as a 'Consulting Agent' and Bella as a 'Trainee Agent.' After signing a mountain of documents and undergoing an embarrassing physical exam, she was issued a plastic card that identified her as Agent Swan, SHIELD, along with a number and bunch of warnings and disclaimers. Granted, as a trainee she didn't have access to a lot of systems and places that more senior agents had, but it still blew her mind that she'd even come this far.
Who would have ever believed that timid Bella Swan would ever work as an 'Agent' of anything, save maybe a book agent? She doubted anyone from back home would believe it.
Unfortunately, her new status also meant clearing their magic-use with the resident ministries through the ICW, which was a much tougher proposition and caused many headaches. The Magical Governments did not want to give anyone carte blanche to use magic in front of muggles, they claimed it was too risky to the Statute of Secrecy.
To counter this, Harry pointed out a dozen violations of the Stature over the last decade, including some where Voldemort's Death Eaters had blatantly used magic to destroy property in London, witnessed buy hundreds and captured on photos. "Even then," Harry had said, "the general public still didn't believe it was magic." He had looked at the delegates then, his green eyes intense. "The truth is, they don't want to believe in things that their science cannot explain."
It took a lot of wrangling and compromises - and far too many boring meetings where old men argued back and forth - before she and Harry got 'probationary' approval. As part of this, they would never refer to their 'skills' to anyone outside of SHIELD as 'magic'; instead, they would use terms like 'advanced physics' or even 'sorcery', a la Doctor Strange; but never, ever call it 'magic.'
A silly distinction, Bella thought, but at least they were able to finally come to an agreement.
During the endless debates, Bella learned a about the reasons for the Government's hesitancy from various sources; but, as seemed to often be the case, she learned most from Hermione. The older Witch explained how the Wizarding governments were still very much against any 'muggles' knowing that magic existed, fearing a return of the witch hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries, but with worse results now that the muggles had much deadlier weapons and technology. She lent Bella some books that told of those troubled times; back then - indeed, all throughout history until the 17th century - muggles and wizards lived closely together, with no demarcation between their communities . And then, the muggle neighbors of the wizarding folk turned on them suddenly and visciously.
Besides that one hiccup, the training had gone reasonably well, and Bella had gotten to know some of the senior Shield Agents, as well as the small trainee group she was assigned to for firearms and self-defense training. There were five people in her assigned group - two girls and three guys - - ranging in ages from 20 to 27, with Bella being the youngest at twenty. They were pretty friendly for the most part, but it became clear almost straight away that Bella was on a different track than they were. During her first two weeks, Bella had visits from both Phil and Natasha, who had come to observe. This scrutiny immediately created a barrier in the minds of the other trainees, as Level 9 and Level 10 Agents generally did not come to see how new recruits were faring.
When Directory Fury himself came down during week three to watch her for a few minutes, her 'special status' was no longer in doubt; and while the other trainees knew better than to ask questions, a clear dividing line had gone up between them, and lasted all the way through to the end of the training unit, when they all went their separate ways for advanced or specialized training.
Bella was not surprised when she later found out the group had occasionally met at the canteen for meals and she was not invited.
Her second training assignment differed only slightly from her first. There was more physical and firearms training, of course; but she was now being taught about field communications, evasion and escape, and surveillance. The training was hard, but she felt a quiet pride at how far she had come, and liked knowing that she could take care of herself now, that she was no longer helpless in the face of threats, needing someone to always save her.
She had also grown closer to Phil and Maria Hill, despite the woman's often frosty and strict demeanor. Bella smiled, remembering a recent, funny conversation she'd had with Phil Coulson and Harry. An 'Agent Michaels' - an assistant of Maria Hill - had just finished a quick briefing about Iron Man and the Mandarin, and Bella had chuckled at the names. Hill had given her a flinty look, and asked her casually about her public identity.
"What do you mean?" Bella asked, her eyebrows scrunching as she looked up at the tall woman.
"Well," Agent Michaels answered, her eyes flitting momentarily to her boss, "most of our agents who do fieldwork have codenames and 'public' profiles."
When Bella still didn't seem to understand, Hill interrupted. "What Agent Michaels is saying, Agent Swan, is that you might one day get filmed or photographed in a public location during an operation. Who knows, perhaps you'll find yourself on the six oclock news?" Bella's eyes widened at that, and she started to object, but Agent Hill continued on. "So, Agent, unless you want every bad guy out there to know that Isabella Swan is a SHIELD agent, you need to have a cover identity."
What Agent Hill didn't say at that moment was that if Bella eventually became an Avenger, like Fury and Coulson were grooming her for, she might also want to consider a disguise: the Avenger's were certain to have powerful enemies.
Bella looked at Harry in confusion. "What about Harry? Will he have to have a fake identity too?"
Harry smirked at her, and interrupted Agent Michael when she went to answer. "Bella, every bad guy already knows about me, surely you know that!" Before Bella could reply, he mock whispered to her. "I promise I'll take any name that you think is fitting - I'd suggest something like 'Incredible Man' or 'The Mighty Hunk'.
Bella tried to fight a smile - she wasn't the only one, even the unflappable Hill looked liked her lips were twitching - but gave it a good effort. But then, Harry bumped his hip into hers and gave her a cocky grin, and she lost the battle, giggling and shaking her head. "I think 'The Incredible Swollen Head' is more fitting," she retorted, making Harry guffaw loudly, and causing Phil to cough to hide his laugh.
Meanwhile, Agent Hill observed their banter, recognizing that their relationship seemed to have progressed further than their files might indicate. Of course, SHIELD had a dossier on both of them, and their romantic escapades in London and Washington were carefully noted, but a review and update might be warranted.
Steering the meeting back to business, Hill gave Bella a small smile. "I'm surprised he hasn't told you, Agent Swan - he already has a codename."
Bella looked at Harry in surprise. "Really? What is it?" And then her eyes twinkled. "Assuming I'm allowed to know, of course. Because I have several choice names in mind for you, mister."
Agent Hill smirked at the banter. "Well, as Head Auror for Britain, the ICU had given him the Honorarium 'Marshal Potter '; he was referred to that at ICU meetings and when traveling abroad for ICW business. Also, after he put down an attempt by some of Voldemort's old forces to take power in Russia, the name has sort of become synonymous with him. So we've simply shortened it, to 'Marshal.' And then Agent Hill's lips quirked again. "But of course, should you come up with another name that is agreeable to all parties, we would take it under advisement."
Harry gave Hill a sour look, but Bella just looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow. "Marshal, huh?" She rolled the name around on her tongue before looking at him with a playful look. "Guess no 'Incredible Man,' eh Harry?"
Laughing, he clutched his chest. "Oh Bella, you wound me! You know I only let you call me that in private!"
Both Coulson and Hill shook their head at their antics, and the four of them left Agent Michaels behind and walked further into the compound to discuss some needed paperwork - the bane of all law enforcement agencies.
Coming out of her memory, Bella could admit that she was strangely anxious about what code name she would be given when she was no longer a Trainee. She just hoped it wasn't too embarrassing; she could never be called something like 'Black Widow' without cracking-up and laughing about it - though she'd never dare tell that to Natasha.
Laughing to herself, Bella noted that she had some time to kill, so she straightened up a bit around the apartment. Sophie was a bit of a slob, having had a housekeeper cleaning-up after her when she was younger, and she had a tendency to leave clothes and food wrappers strewn everywhere.
Under a pair of Sophie's jeans, she found some of her mail, and she placed the letters on her desk, her eyes moving over the half dozen photo frames arranged across the edges; besides the typical ones of her parents, Jake, and some of her Forks friends, there was a whole bunch of new photos she'd added since she started dating Harry.
One of the largest was a picture of Hermione, Harry, and herself in London, standing near the Parliament building. It was one of her favorites, and she'd sent copies to both her parents. Next to that - and a recent addition - were several pics of her at the Weasley Christmas party. She had met that wonderfully eccentric family over Christmas break 'The Burrow', when she and Harry had split her four week college break, spending roughly half their time in Forks and half in London, with a short trip in between for Bella to see her Mom in Florida. The liberal use of portkeys meant that the only flight Bella had actually taken was the one to Jacksonville.
While at the Burrow, Bella had bonded with Ginny Weasley, who admitted that she'd not seen Harry so lively in years. Later - after Ginny had drank several butterbeers and some firewhiskey - she had loudly pronounced that Bella was 'probably too good for Harry; but won't you please take care of him anyway, as he needs someone with common sense to look after him.'"
It had been a touching moment - Harry's ex-girlfriend and the only other girl he'd ever said 'I love you' to - was giving her tacit approval of Bella and Harry's relationship. After that, Mrs. Weasley - one of the huggiest people she'd ever met, particularly after a drink or two - had taken her aside and told her to please not break 'poor Harry's heart.'
Bella remembered it clearly;
"After all, he's quite in love with you, dear. It's very obvious to see, for those of us who know him best." She hugged Bella again, before her voice turned a bit weepy. "We all worried about him, he's not had an easy life, the poor boy. Seeing him smile like this, so happy and carefree...well, you'll have the Weasley's in your corner, yes you will."
Bella didn't quite know what to say, but she was touched by the sentiment. "Thanks Mrs. Weasley," Bella finally answered, her words feeling weighty, like a vow. "I promise to look out for him."
"It's just Molly, dear, just Molly," she said, chuckling. "Harry is the only one who sometimes still calls me Mrs. Weasley." And she patted Bella on the upper arm before making her way back to the kitchen, leaving Bella standing in the hallway of the charmingly eclectic home.
One of the more interesting characters Bella met that night had been Harry's friend, Luna Lovegood. The pretty blonde had very large, sky blue eyes that gave her an air of innocence. This was exacerbated by her tendency to space-out in the middle of conversations or make remarks that made no sense to Bella.
"Isabella, you've done a wonderful job of ridding Harry of his pesky wrackspurts. I worried for his well-being, you see, especially with his flumdinger infestation acting up." Luna then leaned forward and gave Bella a surprisingly firm hug, given her very slim stature and thin arms. "Just keep a careful eye on him for us, Isabella. Harry always has needed people who love him to keep him in check and give him a reason to come back to us." Her voice deepened then, and her eyes suddenly seemed very focused on Bella's. "And he's going to need that soon. Please don't forget."
And with that unsettling warning, Luna walked back towards the kitchen, grabbing a cup of egg-nog and disappearing around the corner.
A short while later, Bella had found herself sitting on an overstuffed sofa next to Hermione while Fleur - who was possibly the only woman Bella had ever met that could give Rosalie Hale some competition in the beauty department - and Bill entertained the family and guests with stories of their children's antics.
"Well, what do you think of all this, Bella?" Hermione asked.
Bella took a big breath. "It's certainly a bit overwhelming," she answered truthfully. "But everyone is quite lovely and they've been so welcoming."
Hermione chuckled. "Well, they certainly like you, Bella."
She nodded in reply. "I like all of them, too. They're quite a bunch. Very unique."
Hermione smiled at the younger brunette. "The main reason you've been so welcomed is they can all see how happy Harry is. The last few Christmas' he's been a bit...well, morose isn't the right word, but he seemed lonely. But this year, he's all lit up."
Hermione's warm chestnut eyes locked onto Bella's. "You make him happy, Bella. And that matters to us. Everyone here loves Harry, and we know - better than anyone else - the terrible things that Harry has had to endure. Seeing him so light hearted now...well, I just want to thank you, Bella. It's wonderful to see."
Bella felt her eyes grow moist at the heartfelt declaration, and reached a hand out and gently squeezed Hermione's. She really did like Hermione, and Bella knew that the Witch deeply cared for Harry.
Hermione took a sip of her butterbeer, her gaze wandering over the assembled guests, smiling at a comment here or laughing at something there. Sitting there with Hermione - and knowing she was a stranger to most of the people there tonight - Bella really wanted to get to know Hermione better. She'd only met Hermione perhaps a half dozen times, and only once for a social outing before this one.
Bella's understanding of Hermione's personality came mostly from the stories Harry had told her, stories of their adventures at Hogwarts and beyond. From his own words, it was very clear to Bella that Harry held Hermione in the highest regard, and that she was the most important person in the world to him.
And Bella suspected that the reverse was true, as well.
Sometimes, hearing Harry speak of her, or watching the pair together - with their completely casual touches and in-sync body language - Bella would wonder why the pair never dated. They seemed like such a natural fit.
But Bella had never come out and asked him flat out why they weren't together.
Maybe deep down, she had at first feared the answer? She wasn't sure.
So she surprised herself when she finally mustered the courage to ask. "Hermione? Please tell me if this is none of my business or if I'm being rude; but why have you and Harry never dated? You clearly both love one another."
Hermione's eyebrows rose for a moment, before she smiled and chuckled, shaking her head. "Oh Bella, you're not being rude, please don't think that for a moment!" She chuckled again. "You're not the first person to ask this; in fact, for several years at school the rumors had us dating. Even the newspapers wrote about it." She leaned in and mock whispered to her ear. "It was all quite scandalous."
Bella giggled, and Hermione gave her a wide smile before her eyes wandered for a moment: clearly she was lost in thought. "I can't speak for Harry," she finally said, as if she was considering her argument as she spoke it, "but for me, I think I probably had a crush on him without realizing it - at least at first - back during my first few years of Hogwarts. But by the time we got to the dating years - which for most of us was 4th year and up - I was attracted to older boys. And Harry...well, Harry was attracted to beautiful, sporty girls."
Bella's eyebrows rose at that, and she interrupted. "But Hermione, you're so pretty! I don't understand."
Hermione's laugh was loud enough for a few heads to turn their way for a moment. "Oh Bella, that's sweet, but trust me, I was not pretty at all during my early teens. I was bucktoothed, and had horribly bushy hair that was like a bird's nest made of twigs. It wasn't until I was fifteen until I got both things under control. And trust me, I was *never* sporty. I could barely fly a broom!" She laughed again. "Harry tended to be attracted to the prettiest girls in the school, especially if they were exotic looking, which meant foreigners. If they played Quidditch, that helped too. In fact, he took a beautiful Indian girl to the Tri-Wiz ball, and dated a Chinese girl - a Quidditch player - the following year. In sixth year, he dated Ginny, who was without a doubt one of the prettiest girls in the school, and also a Quidditch player." Hermione chuckled again. "I don't think he ever found me attractive like that."
Bella chewed her lip for a moment. "Would you have dated him if he asked?"
Hermione was lost in thought for a few seconds. "In school? Maybe. Maybe I would have." But then her eyes locked back on Bella's. "However, I think at some point, I realized that my friendship with Harry was the most important relationship in my life. I was, deep down, terrified of what might happen to that special friendship if we tried to date and it didn't work. And I think Harry probably felt the same."
She smiled at Bella. "I think it worked out best, at least for him. He and I...well, we will always be closer than siblings. True best friends. And that works for us." Hermione then squeezed Bella's hand again. "And Bella...when I see him happy like this," - and here she nodded her head towards Harry, who was having an animated conversation with George and Ron, a happy smile on his face - ", when I see how you and he are so happy together...then I think everything is working out for the best."
Bella was quiet for a moment, her hand clasped with Hermione's. Her eyes strayed over to Harry's, and he slowly turned his head, almost as if he had felt her looking. When their eyes met, Bella felt a flutter in her chest, and she saw his lips quirk up in a small, secretive smile; 'a lover's smile' is what her favorite books would call it.
Harry's eyes darted down to her hand - still clenched with Hermione's - and one of his eyebrows raised even as his lips twitched. He gazed at Hermione for a few seconds - the pair seemed to have non-verbal communication down to an art form, or so it sometimes seemed - before turning back towards Bella. He winked at her, and she laughed before blowing him a kiss with her free hand.
He pretended to catch it before he blew his own kiss, and winked at her again before letting his attention get snagged by Ron as he was brought back into their conversation.
"Yes," said Hermione, her voice warm. "Just as it should be."
Blinking as she turned away from her picture collection, Bella smiled to herself as she waited for Harry to arrive.
About thirty minutes later, she walked outside to meet him, having just been texted that he was downstairs. "Harry!" Bella exclaimed, moving quickly to hug him and wrap her arms around his neck. She stepped on her tiptoes and pulled him into a warm kiss. Harry's arms snaked out, and he hugged her lithe body to himself, kissing her back hungrily: he'd really missed her this week.
"Mm," he whispered against her lips. "That's what I call a warm welcome."
Bella giggled, falling back to her heels, but kept her arms draped around his neck. "Very warm," she agreed. She leaned towards his ear, and whispered softly, her breath hot, making him shiver. "If we finish dinner quickly, I'll show you some extra cozy warmth."
Harry's eyes darkened, and he took her arm as she chuckled at the obvious effect she had on him. "I don't suppose I could interest you in take-out?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, only half joking.
Bella threw her head back, laughing as the clearly in-love couple walked down the wide street towards dinner.
It was nearing midnight when Bella and Harry finally collapsed together on the bed, having spent the better part of the last two hours losing themselves in their lovemaking. They were both hot ant sticky, but Bella didn't mind it, and turned down Harry's offer to hit them with a freshening charm. She had come to appreciate the way her body felt after sex, and loved resting her cheek on Harry's sweaty chest.
"We just keep getting better at that," Harry sighed, his right hand mindlessly twirling the ends of Bella's hair that lay draped over his hips. She was in her favorite spot: curled into his right side, with her head resting on his sternum, listening to his heartbeat and his breathing. She told him that his hearbeat 'relaxed her', and she'd often fall asleep in this position, despite him repeatedly laughing and telling her she might be more comfortable on a pillow.
"I think if you get any better at that I might pass out," Bella chuffed. "As it is, I probably will be sore all day tomorrow."
Harry laughed. "Well, you are particularly bendy, and I've never seen you so contorted before."
Bella lifted her head and turned to face him, an impish grin on her face. "Oh, and did you not enjoy that bendiness?" she quipped.
Cupping her cheek, he gave her a crooked smile. "Oh, believe me, I enjoyed it, Bella. If I enjoyed it any more, then perhaps it would be me passing out, and not you."
She leaned up and gave him a soft peck on the lips before laying her head back down and sighing contentedly.
They lay in silence for a few minutes, and she shivered a bit as her body cooled. When Harry pulled the blanket up around her shoulders, she smiled to herself, feeling deliriously happy at how well she and Harry fit together.
A few minutes later, his breathing had evened out, but Bella wasn't ready to go to sleep quite yet. "Harry?" she said quietly. "Are you still awake?"
"Yes. What's up?"
Bella didn't answer straight away. She was mindlessly tracing her a nail over his belly, a few inches below where her chin rested on his chest, watching the tiny little tremors in his abs when she hit a ticklish spot, admiring his toned form and musky scent. Finally, though, she had to ask him the question that had been bugging her for the past week. "Is..is there something happening at SHIELD? Something out of the ordinary? All week the place has been a beehive, and there is so much security everywhere now."
Harry's gentle tousling of Bella's hair stopped, and he knew that Bella - his beautiful, observant, wonderful girlfriend - immediately felt his hesitation.
He watched with a small smile as she predictably lifted her head and turned to face him, their eyes perhaps a half foot apart. "Harry?" she asked again, a careful look on her face.
If he was another person, he might have lied to her, claiming compartmentalization and clearance issues; but Harry - despite his years as an auror - was simply not that person. When he trusted, he trusted; and though he knew certain secrets needed to be kept for legitimate reasons, he didn't believe this was one of them.
Taking a breath, he answered her truthfully. "You're correct, there is something going on." When she leaned up on her elbow, he sat himself up a bit against the headboard. "About ten days ago, a survey ship found an old WW2 plane - a German Valkyrie bomber - buried under the ice in the North Atlantic. In it, they found the frozen body of Captain America." Harry paused a moment, and then spoke with a hint of wonder in his voice. "He was still alive."
Bella's eyes opened wide at that, and she let out a little huff at the sheer improbability of such a thing. "Truly?" she finally asked. "He's been frozen since World War 2 and he's still alive? Was it magic, like that stasis charm you told me about?"
"No, it wasn't. At least, not as far as I can tell." Harry frowned for a moment, wondering if magic could freeze someone for that long. Something to ask Hermione, probably. Shaking his head, he repeated himself. "No, no magic. Just the secret soldier formula that made him so strong I think. It kept him alive somehow."
Bella lay her head back down on his chest, but her eyes were still on his face. "I guess that would explain them all going crazy down there." And then her lips twitched. "Phil in particular has been almost giddy."
Harry chuckled. "Not surprised. Have you seen the poster of the Captain in his office?" As they lay quietly for a few moments, Harry again playing with a lock of her hair, his smile slowly faded. "I think there is more to the story, though. I overheard a few people talking about a new high-energy experiment being done by NASA and the JPL, with SHIELD backing. Somewhere out in the desert somewhere. They haven't told me anything though."
Bella absorbed that for a few moments, and raised an eyebrow. "Anything we should be worried about?"
Harry didn't answer, his fingers trailing slowly over the soft skin of her neck, just relishing in the feel of her. When her eyes eventually fluttered closed, Harry felt his heart warm: Merlin, he loved this girl.
As her breathing slowed, and she was almost asleep, he finally answered, whispering quietly. "I hope not."
A/N- A bit of character building here. Hope you enjoyed!