Chapter 6
Harry felt dead inside after getting the news. His wife and children … gone. Dead at the hands of the organization that he had been tasked with investigating. He heard his friends talking and crying behind him, but he couldn't really bother to listen properly. After the day was nearly done, and he was told to get some rest, he nodded. What they didn't know was that he had no plan to get some rest.
Apparating away to an open field somewhere in the north of England, he walked up to a specific tree and waved his wand at the ground. A metal box erupted from the soft, wet soil. Kneeling down, Harry opened up the box. He reached in and grabbed a wand. It was just one of many inside the box. Over the years, he had confiscated many wands while working as an Auror. Any that he found suitable were placed in the hidden box just in case he would ever need one. He needed one then, but it wasn't just any wand. It was THE wand … The Elder Wand. Harry rolled the Deathstick between his fingers. Since taking it from Voldemort, many had been after it. Harry left a lot of clues as to where it might be. All of them were wrong, of course. Little did they know that it was sitting in a metal tin in the middle of a Muggle's sheep farm. He took a moment to silently beg his departed family for forgiveness. He should have known that playing the hero would come back to haunt him one day. After a moment of silence, he disappeared.
Finding the hideout of those responsible wasn't hard. He had, after all, been investigating them for months. Walking up to the front, he heard the laughter of a group partying. They were celebrating their victory over him. Little did they know that when they burned his house and family, he wasn't in there with them. They probably should have checked.
With a swipe of the Elder Wand, a giant lash of fire erupted from the tip. He swung downward and watched the massive whip of fire strike the roof. He immediately felt all of the cheaply placed wards disintegrate. The whip hit the roof and cut the house in half with the crack of a sonic boom. Within an instant, the house was completely in flames. Harry waited. Only a second later, the first ran out of the house, his hair and clothes on fire. A Cutter had his head rolling on the ground. Another came out. A hole through the chest finished him. Another screamed as he ran from the blaze, dropping to the ground and rolling around while attempting to snuff out the flames. A flick of the wand had him flying back into the fire to roast. After another few minutes, Harry was positive that no one survived. He stood there and watched the dance of the flames before walking away.
Everyone suspected that it was he who killed the men, but no one had any proof. Even so, Harry resigned from the Aurors. He no longer had any desire to play the hero. He was no hero. He was no savior of the wizarding world. He was Harry Potter, a man who had lost everything.
Magically Marvelous
"I did say there might be a shootout," she reminded him while checking her handgun. All Harry could do was chuckle as he checked his own.
Militants were repelling down from the hovering chopper. Another set was about to join them when Harry flicked out his wand. With a twist of his wand, a flaming whip lashed out and cut the tail off of the chopper. Sparks exploded outward with a screech of wrenched metal as the helicopter began spinning out of control. He watched with grim satisfaction as militants jumped from the doomed flight. They hit the ground and screamed in pain as their legs and backs snapped. The chopper flew several hundred meters away before hitting the ground and bursting into flames. Shots were fired beside him as Natasha wasted no time. Following her lead, Harry conjured a chest-high metal barricade for them to take cover behind. Almost immediately, the barricade began pinging loudly as bullets ricochet off of it. Popping up, Harry pulled the trigger and double-tapped one militant in the chest. He quickly dropped back down to avoid fire.
"They're getting closer," Natasha told him when she quickly fired over the barricade. Harry pointed his wand up in the air and gave it a complicated wave. Almost instantly, the wind in their area began to pick up. Within seconds, a sandstorm was whipping past them. Harry placed Bubblehead Charms on himself and Natasha. Telling her what he was about to do, she nodded and held on. They disappeared and reappeared behind a large boulder on a different ridge. Taking aim, they started firing at any person that they could see. Harry caught something out of the corner of his eye and was barely able to toss up a magical shield as the Rhino rammed right into him. The impact of the hit made Harry tumble backward, head-over-heels.
"Damn," Harry groaned, getting to his feet. Looking up, he saw Natasha rolling on the ground, desperately trying to avoid getting stomped on by Sytsevich's big, Rhino feet. One of the militants was running up behind them and was quickly dropped by Harry. The mist of blood spraying out of the back of his neck was a sight to see. He then took aim at the Rhino. Firing one bullet after another, they pinged off of his thick, armored skin. Sytsevich then turned his attention to him. This gave his partner time to roll away.
"You'll have to do better than that, Runt!" he laughed in thickly accented English. He picked up a very large rock above his head, ready to lob it at Harry.
"Sectumsempra!" Harry called out. The Rhino screamed in pain as a chunk of his gray flesh was shorn away. He dropped the rock that he was holding high in the air, and it bounced off the top of his head, making him wobble momentarily. He then bellowed in rage and charged Harry again. With a wave of his wand, the dirt beneath his feet turned into jelly.
"Whoa!" he cried out in surprise, sinking waist deep into the sludge. Another wave of Harry's wand and the sludge turned into stone. Off to the side, Natasha was still firing at the militants through the sandstorm.
Sytsevich pushed as hard as possible, pulling himself from his stone prison inch by inch. Cracks began forming in the stone, and he was nearly free. He never saw the magically banished boulder until it hit him directly in the face. He slumped forward unconscious. Waving his wand, he made the sandstorm calm until it completely vanished. Scattered about was a scene of devastation. Dead bodies, two flaming wreckages, and an unconscious mutant were what the backup team saw when they first arrived. In the distance, he saw their initial target trying to sneak away. One more wave of his wand later, and the man was pulled back to him screaming. As he reached them, Natasha pistol-whipped him in the back of his head, cutting his girlish screams short. Harry let him flop onto the ground ungracefully.
"You alright?" he asked Natasha, grabbing her arm and checking the multiple scrapes and shallow cuts.
"I've been worse," she smiled as her Bubblehead Charm was removed. "I'm definitely looking forward to that shower now."
Sadly, her shower would have to wait. No doubt Fury would want a detailed report about everything that went down.
Magically Marvelous
As much as he enjoyed perving on Natasha at the beach, he was glad to be home in the dirty and grimy city of New York. There was something about the smell of garbage and the sounds of scurrying rats that made him smile.
After their fight with the Mexican arms dealer, Harry decided that it would be a good idea to develop a few more gadgets to keep himself safe. First though, he wanted to get his bike going. The following few days were spent applying enchantments, testing them, and removing them when they didn't work. The Dragonfire Booster was a pain in the ass to figure out. He then removed the tires and enchanted them to be way more sturdy than the average tire. Harry spent a lot of time working on the seat. He even mixed his magic with the stone's power to place an incredibly powerful Cushioning Charm on the seat. Once he sat down on it, he smiled, liking the comfort. Although, it wasn't all about comfort. It would keep his spine from snapping if he ever had to land harder than he would like. As night fell, Harry decided to test it out.
Harry was nervous. Sure, he had already tested each individual enchantment, but the final test was the most dangerous. With nothing left to do, he rolled it out of his garage and kickstarted it. It rumbled to life before settling into a purr. Like Sirius's old bike, Harry's didn't need fuel. The tank was enchanted with a Refilling Charm, so only a tiny bit of gas was needed to keep it going. Revving the engine, he listened as it roared loudly. Smiling, he kicked it into gear and took off.
Keeping it slow at first, Harry tested out one of the major enchantments. With a hammering heart, he pulled his bike to the side and aimed right for a car parked on the side of the street. His asshole puckered when he was only a few feet away. Holding steady, he breathed a sigh of relief when the street stretched sideways and the car jumped out of his way. With that one confirmed, Harry steered back into the center of the street and hit the gas. Faster and faster he went until everything was nearly a blur. Cars, buses, and even people moved out of his way as if by magic. Harry yelled out in glee as he neared a dead end. Pulling a hidden lever, the bike's front tire lifted off of the ground quickly followed by the back wheel. He skimmed right over the top of the building and took to the sky. He gained some altitude before looking down. A sea of lights stretched out before him in every direction. Harry then turned the handlebars and was happy to see the bike follow his directions. He spent a while just casually flying around the city before he banked left and headed toward the ocean. With only water beneath him, he hit a button on the front console. A belch of flames burst from the back, and his enchantments struggled to keep him steady. Now everything really was a blur. The roaring flames left a trail of fire behind him.
"Woooooohoooooo!" he cheered, punching the sky. His bike suddenly bucked wildly as something nearly sideswiped him. Looking to the side, his eyes widened dramatically. "Oh, shit!" he called out as a fighter jet banked. Swiveling his head, he saw another jet closing in. Turning the handlebars, he added even more speed. Up and down he rose and dipped. Tight turns and even corkscrews couldn't keep the fighters from his tail. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRT!
Streaks of bright lights whizzed past him. Harry yelped and looked back, glaring as the fighters began firing warning shots from their cannons. Ducking low, he lowered the nose of the bike and dipped down until the tires were nearly touching the ocean's surface. The jets followed, but even they weren't crazy enough to fly so low. Even so, they were only ten to fifteen feet above him. Pressing a button on his bike, a massive cloud of black smoke coughed out of the tailpipe. Putrid, black smoke poured out of his bike, blocking the jet's view of him. Pulling left, he flew back toward the city. The fighters dodged and weaved, trying to follow him while trying to avoid the smoke. Once he was at the city's edge, he cut the smoke and turned off the flying enchantments. The bike's wheels hit the ground with a squeal. Looking back, he smiled when the jets were forced to peel off. He quickly pulled into a hidden alley. Checking over the bike, he wondered why he was being spotted. Harry suddenly remembered something and winced. He reached down and turned on the Anti-Muggle Charms. Feeling like an idiot, he drove back home.
At home, a headache was waiting for him. Harry pinched the area between his eyes as the voice over the phone relentlessly called him a dumbass. Harry looked up when he heard the door unlock. In came Natasha, who had used her emergency key to let herself in. She walked over to him and dropped down onto the couch next to him. She leaned over and snatched a piece of his pizza before sitting back. She happily munched on it while Harry was being berated. Ten minutes later, Harry got off the phone. Natasha chuckled.
"I don't think I've ever seen Fury that annoyed," she laughed. Harry rolled his eyes. He sourly grabbed some of his now cold pizza and ate it. He got up and went to the fridge and grabbed a couple of beers. Handing one to his partner, he opened his and drained half of it in one go.
"One little run-in with the United States military and he goes completely to shit," Harry said, annoyed. Her phone beeped, and she looked at the screen. Smirking at Harry, she grabbed the TV remote.
"Not just the military," she said gleefully. Natasha was always happy when he fucked up. She pressed the button and changed the channel. He saw BREAKING NEWS across the screen. Above the text was video of him driving through parked traffic with the cars moving out of his way before flying over the building.
"God dammit! I hate camera phones!" Harry glared and crossed his arms. His phone began ringing, and he checked the number.
"Fury?" asked Natasha.
Harry nodded sullenly.
"Well … Since you have your night planned, I'll just be going," she snickered as Harry gave her the finger.
As it turned out, Fury was none too happy about the public seeing someone who seemed to defy the natural order of things. He didn't think that they were ready to hear about metahumans, even though he knew that he couldn't keep a lid on it for much longer. Eventually, something big would happen, and everyone would find out. Thankfully, the video was recorded on a phone at night, so there was no chance that they could pin all of this on him. Fury smoothed things over with the military, but the general public was still looking for answers. Fury had no intention of providing them. As annoying as all of this was, Harry actually found it amusing. He didn't plan on outing himself any time soon, but he would always do whatever he wanted, regardless of anyone's orders. Though the next time, he would definitely remember the Anti-Muggle button.
Magically Marvelous
Harry had his SHIELD-issued handgun sitting on his kitchen table in pieces. Like with his bike, he was giving it a complete magical overhaul. The hardest part was trying to carve Runes on the inside of the barrel. He managed to figure that out with a nifty Charm that he remembered from way back. It would turn something inside out for a short period of time before reverting back to normal. He would have to use the Charm, quickly carve a Rune, then do it all over again. In the end, he made the barrel stronger and more heat resistant. The best part was that it had a series of Runes at the very end of the barrel that would strip away any Charms that passed it. Harry would magically lighten his bullet tips to weigh practically nothing. The explosion from the gunpowder would send the tip down the barrel at a much faster velocity. Once it reached the end, the Runes would strip away the Featherweight Charms thereby preserving the kinetic force. Now he just needed to make modified bullets.
Unfortunately, he couldn't just replicate the bullets to have a never-ending clip. Each bullet would need to be Charmed. He was very relieved that he could Charm them in bunches, instead of being forced to do it one bullet at a time. He couldn't magically strengthen them since the Runes would strip it away. He'd have to find a material that was very hard to make custom bullet tips out of. He'd think more on that later though. The news anchor on his TV suddenly caught his attention though.
"Breaking news!" the anchorman said. Harry turned and looked at the TV while continuing to work on his gun. "Illustrious billionaire and playboy, Tony Stark of Stark Industries was ambushed outside of Kabul, Afghanistan. He was in Afghanistan to display a new type of missile to the US Military. From what little we know, the convoy was attacked, and Tony Stark is considered missing in action. We will now take you to a press conference given by Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes of the United States Air Force and the military's liaison to Stark Industries."
The screen switched from the anchormen to a dark-skinned man in a crisp, dark blue uniform who was standing behind a podium. Harry listened to him, but he gave no new information regarding the status of Tony Stark. Harry didn't care all that much. He was just another rich guy who thought that he was invincible. Suddenly, Harry's phone rang. Sighing, he put down the gun piece that he was holding and answered. After listening for a couple of minutes, he nodded. "Understood," he said before hanging up. It looked like he was going to Afghanistan.
Natasha was already on another top-secret mission, so Harry would be flying solo this time. Quickly finishing up with his gun, he put it back together and packed a quick bag. With that done, he locked up and rode his bike down to the meeting point.
Chapter 7
"Thirty seconds!"
Harry stood up just as the military plane that he was flying on jerked violently from the updrafts produced from the wind hitting the surrounding mountains. The few military crew members present on the flight had no idea who he truly was. Harry was more than happy to keep it that way.
Feeling someone tugging on his back, he turned his head and saw the only other crewman in the back of the plane checking that his chute was strapped on properly. He gave Harry a thumbs up. "Ready?" he called out. Harry nodded and grabbed the goggles which were resting on the front of his helmet and pulled them down until they covered his eyes.
"Let's do this," Harry called back. The man nodded and hit a button on the side of the fuselage. A red light began flashing and a loud alarm blared as the back of the plane opened up. Instantly, the inside of the plane was buffeted by a fierce, cold wind.
"GO!" he heard the man yell as he slapped Harry on the back. Harry ran and jumped out of the plane. Spinning around so that he was facing upward, he watched as the back end closed while the plane flew away. Spinning back around, he took the opportunity to observe the surrounding area from high above. It was very early in the morning in that part of the world. Thankfully, the heat hadn't become unbearable just yet. The Special Force crew that had given him a ride must have thought that he was insane to jump out alone in this part of Afghanistan. Kunar was a mountainous region of the country that bordered Pakistan. As such, it was a haven for several terrorist organizations, not to mention opium labs and other criminals in general. The crew, however, knew very well to never ask questions.
From high above, he couldn't see any living thing for miles around, which wasn't a surprise. The area was very inhospitable. As he got closer to the ground, he pulled his chute and slowed down. Doing a few lazy circles, he surveyed his landing zone and found a nice patch of dirt with very few rocks. Coming in slow, his feet hit the ground, and he ran forward as the momentum carried him. As he stopped, he undid his backpack and piled it up with the parachute, goggles, and helmet that he had also been wearing. With a wave of his hand, it all completely vanished. After erasing the evidence of his drop, he pulled out the GPS that had been provided to him. According to it, he was around twenty miles east of his point of interest. Pulling out a special sack that he had made for just such an occasion, he opened the mouth of the bag and stretched it to an absurd degree. He held one end of the sack open by trapping it between his foot and the ground. He then reached in and pulled hard. A wheel popped out of the opening. "HA!" he cheered and was able to let the bag go. It snapped closed around the wheel. He then worked the bag the rest of the way until he had his motorcycle completely free. Looking at the bag, she shook his head. It was ripped in several different places.
"Completely fucked," he said and vanished it as well. Unfortunately, his bike couldn't be shrunk down, but it could be placed in a bag with an Undetectable Extension Charm on it. The bag he made for the occasion was similar to Hermione's old bag. It was better than a normal expanded bag because it could stretch to fit almost any reasonably-sized shape, but it was a headache to make and keep functioning properly. He remembered Hermione always tinkering with her bag to make sure it didn't rip open, causing everything to spill out. Harry just used as little effort as possible to make a one-off bag … use it once and toss it away. In the end, it did its job.
Mounting his bike, he kickstarted it and smiled as it roared to life. Pressing a button on the console, he turned on the invisibility mode and stepped on the gas. He cried out happily as the air whipped through his messy hair. Memories flashed through his mind of his days back at Hogwarts, the crowds cheering and booing as he battled for the evading Snitch. Twisting the throttle back, his surroundings began to blur as he kicked his bike into gear. Immediately the front tire began to lift off of the ground. Within seconds, he was soaring a hundred feet above the ground. Turning in the direction that he was supposed to be going, he put on a burst of speed and made it there in record time. Seeing the road, he looked a little further down and saw what he was looking for. Hitting the clutch, the bike began to lower and slow down until his wheels touched down on the compacted dirt road. He pulled up to the spot where there was clear evidence of an explosion. Turning off his bike, he lowered the kickstand and got off. Taking a quick look around, he saw hundreds of small pieces of what was once a military Humvee.
Harry had read the dossier that Fury had prepared for him and knew of the ambush. The military had removed the destroyed vehicles for whatever reason, but there was still plenty of evidence to uncover. He spent the better part of fifteen minutes looking around until he spotted an area soaked with dried blood a short distance away from the road. "The soldiers would probably stay closer to their vehicles for cover," Harry reasoned to himself. During an ambush, no one in their right mind would leave cover and stand out in the open. He walked around the area before kneeling next to a small crater. From the light smears of blood, he guessed that someone was launched away from the explosion, hit the ground, and slid. The smears of blood would have been more prominent if they had been injured and crawled, and there would be drops if they were injured and walked away. Focusing his magic, he levitated himself high into the air.
From up high, he spotted what he was looking for. Tire tracks led from the direction of the mountains to the ambush point, then back again. Jumping on his bike, he flew into the air and slowly followed the tracks. They led him first to a ridge that had seen some kind of disturbance. Landing, he looked around and found hundreds of bullet casings. There were also areas where the dirt was blown outward in a circular pattern. He pulled out his GPS device and plotted the spot. Harry then pulled out his digital voice recorder and hit the record button.
"The spot where the ambush originated from has been marked on the GPS. The ground is covered in bullet casings … 7.62," he said as he picked one up and sniffed it. "Freshly fired. There is also evidence of mortar use. There are tire tracks leading from the mountains to the ambush site. I believe they picked up Stark and drove him back toward the mountains." He clicked the stop button and got back to work.
Soon after, he was back on his bike and following the tracks from the air. They led him to the foot of a rocky mountain range. The mountains were blanketed with snow on their upper halves and would be impossible to drive on without following the treacherous dirt roads that snaked up their lower portions. As he tried to follow the tracks, they eventually became mixed with many other tire tracks. By then, it was impossible to reliably follow. The only thing he could do was follow the road until its end and hope that he might find something.
To call it a road by that point was being very generous. In reality, it was little more than a trail that was barely wide enough for one truck to safely drive on. Eventually, the trail ended with a short, makeshift cul-de-sac. If they made it to that point, Stark was likely loaded on a pack mule to continue their journey. Harry sighed. It would be very difficult to find him, assuming he was even there. The only thing to do was continue flying around.
Magically Marvelous
Tony Stark laid down on his filthy bed and groaned. The wounds in his chest were very painful. It didn't help that he was forced to do physical work before he even had a chance to properly heal. 'When I get back to the States, I'm going to sue my captors for everything they have,' he thought as he closed his eyes. He very much hoped that he would make it back home one day.
Tony was, of course, a very smart man. He knew the odds of him making it out of the cave alive were slim at best. As he lay there, he thought of the things he missed the most … his adoring fans, the sexy women that continuously threw themselves at him, cheeseburgers, and of course, Pepper. "What I wouldn't do for a cheeseburger right now," he said tiredly. His belly was full of the bean slop that Yinsen was so adept at making. It wasn't particularly tasty, but at least it kept him alive.
He didn't even know how long he had been in captivity. At least several weeks he guessed, based on the rate of healing that his body had gone through. Though his eyes were closed, he could see the bluish-white light of his Arc Reactor through his eyelids. It still amazed him that he was able to create such a thing in that disgusting, little cave. Once completed, it had given him a revelation. He had so much more to offer the world besides weapons of mass destruction. 'If I survive, things are going to change,' he told himself as he rolled onto his side to try and fall asleep.
Some distance away, Harry was getting ready to explore the area again. He found that using the thermal function on his binoculars at night was the best way to find someone up in the cold mountains. Over the last couple of weeks, he had found several terrorist training camps from their campfires alone. He sent their coordinates to Fury, and there was no doubt he would pass them along once Harry was done in the area.
As he lazily flew over the mountains, he kept the binoculars to his eyes. He spotted something moving in the distance but discovered that it was probably a snow leopard. His search continued. It was deeper into the night when he spotted something intriguing. A small, circular cave mouth was radiating heat. Not a lot of heat, but enough to show up on his thermal camera. Turning them off, he remained invisible and landed silently on a semi-smooth patch of ground not too far away. Gathering the power of the stone, he infused it with his magic, and his eyes blazed green. Immediately, the world around him became visible. What he saw was shocking. Scattered around the cave entrance were crates and loose missiles that were piled high. Whoever was in the cave was very well-stocked. With it being so late at night, he wasn't surprised to see only two guards lazily walking back and forth while chit-chatting. Going invisible, he apparated right outside of the cave. His apparation was near-silent, so the two guards didn't even bother turning around. Harry quietly snuck into the cave.
The entrance corridor was a fairly tight fit, but it eventually opened up into a larger cavern. There were lights and power cords strung up along the walls of the cave giving everyone inside just enough light to see. Here and there, he could see men sleeping on the floor on thin mats. He continued onward until he came to an area where a man was watching several screens. On those screens were the feed of several security cameras. He smiled when he saw the sleeping form of his target. Stepping away, he silently apparated back to his bike.
He pulled out his magically modified handgun and screwed an equally modified suppressor onto the end of it. He then kickstarted his bike and hit the gas as he made himself visible.
The two terrorists who were guarding the cave were chatting quietly. So far nothing had been out of the ordinary, not that they expected it to be. They were deep in the mountain range where the Americans rarely ventured.
Harry smiled wickedly as the wheels touched down. Immediately, he turned off the invisibility booster and skidded to a stop. Their eyes widened as he appeared out of thin air, and the side of his bike slammed into their bodies, sending them flying back. Before Harry even got off, he pointed his gun and silently shot them each in the chest. Getting off his bike, he walked by them and put a round into each of their heads. Harry jogged into the cave and began silently shooting anyone he came across. One man came around the corner with a steaming cup of tea in his hand. The cup broke as it hit the floor when a spray of blood and brains erupted from the back of his skull. Harry heard another man call out, likely having heard the broken glass. Harry pressed flat against the wall. As the man came around, Harry pistol-whipped him on top of the head, sending him falling face-first with a grunt. His body jerked when a bullet pierced the back of his head. So far, so good, Harry thought as he came upon the few men who were in the security camera room. They didn't even get the chance to turn their heads as blood sprayed across the screens. The man at the desk slumped over and fell out of the chair. Harry walked over and checked the feed again. Stark was still in bed.
Getting through the thick, metal doors was child's play for him. All it took were a couple of Unlocking Charms and they opened right up. Harry's plan was to get in unnoticed and apparate away with Stark. Unfortunately, his plan had hit a bit of a snag. After hitting the billionaire with a Stunner, he checked him over and saw some kind of glowing technology implanted inside of his chest. "That's not good," he told himself as he looked it over. Meanwhile, he heard yells back toward the front of the cave. It seemed that they were finally noticing the couple dozen bodies that Harry had left behind. Throwing his hand out, he sealed the steel door shut to buy him some time. Pulling out his camera, he made sure to send plenty of pictures of the device directly to Fury. Putting the camera away, he quickly decided to wake him up. Harry wasn't sure what that thing was in his chest, but he guessed that it wasn't there because it looked cool. He didn't want to take a chance that it would react poorly to his magic. 'Besides, I can always erase his memory later,' Harry thought as he shook the man awake.
Tony's eyes fluttered open after being woken from a pleasant dream and instantly became confused. "You're not Playmate of the Year, Sara Jean Underwood."
"Wow. You really are a genius," he replied with a British accent. The man was tall and good-looking and was wearing black, tactical gear that a member of the Special Forces would normally wear. "I'm here to get you out."
This immediately perked him up. He sat up straight with all previous sleepiness suddenly gone. "Well, it's about damn time. I was beginning to think that everyone thought me dead! I can only imagine the number of distraught women …" he said, putting his shoes on. " … crying, throwing themselves from tall buildings," he carried on. "But don't worry. I'll be there to dry their tears personally." Harry rolled his eyes before seeing someone else in the room. An older man was lying in a bed and was just coming to.
"Subject is delusional," Harry said into his recorder before putting it away. "Now let's go. But first though … Is he one of them?" Harry pointed his gun at the man's head with his finger on the trigger when Stark grabbed his wrist and pulled it down. He looked at Stark.
"Hey! That's Yinsen … a friend of mine!" he glared. "He's coming with us," Stark told him with some finality. Harry raised an eyebrow. Shrugging, he hit Yinsen with a Stunner and Transfigured him into a coin. Harry then summoned him into his hand and stuck him in his pocket. Stark choked on his own spit when he saw what he had done.
"I would do the same with you, but unfortunately, I'm not sure if that thing would survive," Harry said, pointing at the Arc Reactor. "Do you need that?"
"Uh … What?" Tony asked, still trying to wrap his head around the display of strange power.
"That glowing thing. Do you need it?" Harry repeated.
"Only to survive," Tony answered back.
"Then we'll have to do it the old-fashioned way," Harry said. "Stay behind me and stay close."
Tony was about to say something when he pushed his hand out and the thick, steel door of his rock prison was blasted off of its hinges. He heard screams of panic from outside of his cavern. He coughed as dust was sent all over the place. When the man began walking, Tony did as he was instructed and stayed close behind. He watched as the man angled his arm around the corner. Suddenly, the corridor beyond lit up with orange light. More screams quickly followed. "C'mon."
Tony gasped as he crossed the exit. Beneath him, he could see a pair of twisted legs sticking out from underneath the partially crushed, metal door. Blood was leaking out, and it was clear that the man was dead. As he peeked around the man's shoulder, he saw several of his captors running around, completely engulfed in flames. He jumped when automatic gunfire erupted. He couldn't believe his eyes when the bullets seemed to ricochet off of a semi-transparent, blue force field. He didn't see Harry pull out a grenade and toss it toward the terrorists. He did, however, fall over when the explosion made his ears ring. He blinked away the fuzziness as the man pulled him to his feet. Stumbling slightly while a high-pitched whine was going off in his head, Tony saw complete destruction around him. There were body parts, blood spatters, and men groaning in pain and distress while slowly dying. He knew that he shouldn't feel bad for these scumbags, but he had to admit, it was a hell of a way to die. Still, it was them or him … and he wanted to go home.
Staying right on his tail, he hid behind him as the man in black whipped out a handgun and fired shots at anyone unlucky enough to meet them. Tony didn't know how long it had been, but finally, he felt the cold, crisp air of freedom as they exited the cave. In the distance, they heard panicked yelling as more men were surely coming. "I think we need to skedaddle," Tony wisely told him.
"I completely agree," he told him. Tony then watched as he pulled out what appeared to be a block of some kind of white explosive. He pressed a few buttons on an electronic pad attached to the block and tossed it into the entrance of the cave. The man then threw his leg over a fancy-looking bike and started it up.
"That?! That's our escape?!" Tony sputtered.
"Hey, if you'd rather stay …"
Tony quickly hopped on behind him. "I'd rather leave. The accommodations here are terrible. Worse than the Four Seasons."
"Hang on!" the man called out.
Tony's heart was pounding as the back tire began to peel out, and they gunned it. "SHIT!" Tony yelled as they hit a sloped rock and jumped it like a ramp. Below them was a fifty-foot drop, only they didn't fall. They kept on climbing. "What the …?"
Below them, the ground tore past them as they accelerated. For the first time since his capture, he felt hopeful. "WOOOOOHOOOOO!" he yelled happily and punched the air.
"That was right in my fucking ear, dude!" the man complained.
"SORRY!" he yelled back. He wasn't sorry.
Chapter 8
"Hey! Watch it, jackass! I almost fell off!" Tony called out as Harry pulled hard to the side to avoid a large flock of birds.
"You don't have to yell, moron. I can hear you just fine," Harry told him while rolling his eyes. "And watch where you put your hands. I don't swing that way."
"AAAAACK!" Tony cried out and removed his hands from his savior's waist. He heard the man chuckle happily at his disgust. "By the way, where are we going?" he asked, stuffing another piece of beef jerky, that he had bummed from the man who refused to give his name, into his mouth. It was the best thing he had tasted in weeks.
"We're just crossing the Pakistan border. We'll be in Delhi in around twenty minutes," Tony was told.
"Delhi?" he asked, confused. "Why Delhi?"
"Because the people I work for have a base of operations there. They'll get you back to the US easily enough."
Harry's eye twitched as he sat there and listened to Tony Stark talking his ear off non-stop. Once he got home, he would remember to add an ejector seat to his bike. He was already daydreaming of shooting Stark high into the air as he happily flew away. "Can I use your phone?" he heard Stark ask.
"Why?" Harry asked. The air was a little more pleasant since leaving the mountains of Afghanistan. Harry would have said that the ride was very enjoyable if not for the annoying billionaire that he was babysitting.
"I want to call my personal assistant, Pepper Potts. The poor woman is probably distraught. If she doesn't hear about my miraculous escape soon, she may never recover."
From the files that he had read, Harry knew Pepper Potts to be more than just an assistant to Stark. She was one of the few people who could actually stand to be around him for more than half a day. She also happened to be one of the very few real friends that he actually had.
"Just wait until we get there to use the phone," Harry said.
"But we're just sitting here, and you're so boring, and you refuse to tell me anything about …"
"Oh, my god will you please shut up? Here!" Harry said, handing over his SHIELD-issued satellite phone. Hopefully, that would keep the man-child distracted long enough for them to make it to New Delhi. Not wanting to take any chances, he hit the Dragonfire Booster and laughed as Stark cursed him for almost falling off again.
Magically Marvelous
When they were near, Harry touched down and deactivated the Invisibility Booster. "We're almost there," he told him.
"Okay … Alright … I said alright! … Okay bye, Pepper," Tony said and turned off the phone. He passed it forward, and Harry took it from him and put it in his pocket. "It's about time," Stark complained. "I'm ready to go home."
Harry sighed knowing that Fury would probably be mad if he shot Stark. He drove the last couple of miles and pulled into an empty garage. Harry turned off his bike and hit a button on the wall. The garage door closed, sealing them in. He then pulled out Yinsen's Transfigured body and placed it on the ground. With a wave of his hand, it turned back into the stunned man. Another wave of the hand had Yinsen groggily waking up. As Stark stooped down to help his friend, Harry walked up to the door and banged on it with the side of his fist. Immediately, the door opened, and several SHIELD Agents came into the garage and grabbed the two men. "Wait a minute! Where are you taking me?" Stark called out as they were dragged back into the building. When the door shut behind them, Harry pulled out his phone.
"Fury," his boss answered.
"Stark's been dropped off," he told him.
"Good work. The Agents will handle them until I arrive." Fury was already halfway to India and would be arriving within another couple of hours.
"Are you sure that you don't want me to erase Stark's memory? I can go back as long as you want. Seven, eight years … I don't mind abusing my powers in this case," he said. Harry was looking forward to a bit of payback.
"I want to talk to him first. If we can't come to an agreement, I may call upon your talents. In the meantime, you're free to use your discretionary funds to catch a plane from New Delhi or make your way back however you see fit."
The phone call cut off. Harry rolled his eyes and put the phone away. Fury was a man of few words. Seeing as how he was already in India, it wouldn't hurt to spend a couple of days there exploring what the country had to offer, Harry thought happily. He'd earned it after spending the last hour with Stark. He opened the garage door and threw his leg over his bike. Starting it up, he roared out onto the streets to see the sights.
Magically Marvelous
Natasha stood outside of his door and arched her back. Her latest mission had ended in a fierce bar fight, culminating in her getting hit in the back with a pool cue. She learned a valuable lesson. No matter how well trained you are, getting hit with a pool stick hurts like hell, she thought through the pain. Hissing as the muscles in her back stretched, she straightened up and opened the door.
"Not bothering to knock I see," she heard the familiar English accent. This actually brought a smile to her face. Though she would never tell him, she had missed her friend.
"Why mess with tradition?" she chuckled and walked up to him. She hid the smile when he hugged her. Unfortunately, his hand touched a particularly tender spot, and he felt her body jerk.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Workplace accident," Natasha told him. "You think I should report it to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration?" she joked as Harry helped her take her thin jacket off.
"I don't think OSHA has guidelines for our type of work," Harry told her as he lifted the back of her t-shirt. Natasha didn't even bother rebuking him for pulling such a stunt. "That's one hell of a bruise … Baseball bat?" he asked.
"Pool cue," she corrected him.
"Sounds about right. Want me to take care of it?" he asked her. Natasha raised an eyebrow.
"What can you do about it?" she asked him. In response, he got up and went into his small bathroom. He came out with a small, glass bottle with a screw-on top. "What's that?"
"One of my special creations," he told her and tossed her the bottle. Knowing that if he was going to be putting his health at risk on a consistent basis, he was going to need something to soothe his aches and pains. Obviously, he no longer had access to the necessary ingredients to create magical potions, but through trial and error, he discovered that he could take some regular ingredients and basically soak them in his combined powers.
He created a magical sink that he would pour copious amounts of his magic into. The sink would keep his magic contained for the most part. It would slowly drain away, but he would top it off every day. He needed to get rid of his excess power every day anyway, so it was the perfect solution. Putting normal plants and animal parts inside of it, he found that they would develop strange, magical properties after a few days of soaking. So far, he hadn't made much … only a mediocre version of the Pepper-Up potion and his newest creation, which was almost as good as the original magical version.
"And that is …?" she asked skeptically and unscrewed the top. She took a few sniffs and wrinkled her nose.
"A bruise-removing cream that works well down to the deep tissue," Harry explained as he took the bottle back.
"It doesn't smell that great," she responded, still looking at the bottle in his hand.
"Does any topical cream smell great?"
"Good point. Alright fine … I'm scheduled to spar with Clint in a couple of days, and it would be nice if I wasn't impaired. But if this is a trick of yours to feel me up again …" she said, shaking her fist at him. Harry rolled his eyes.
"If I wanted to feel you up, I would just do it and suffer through the consequences," he told her before slapping her blue jean-covered ass. A loud smack and her slightly pained squeal made him laugh. He laughed even harder when he ducked underneath her sudden punch.
"I shouldn't have taught you so well," she grumbled as he helped her to the couch.
"Just shut up and sit down," he told her. She huffed and followed his directions. Natasha sat down and turned her back to him. She waited as he was messing with the bottle. The back of her shirt lifted up, and his hand slid up and over her injured area. She gasped and jumped a little.
"That's cold!" she shivered. It was strange … As soon as the cream hit her skin, her whole body felt as if she was pushed out of a warm house and into sub-freezing temperatures. She actually began shivering as goosebumps erupted all over her arms and legs.
"Give it a second," he told her. Just as he said, after a quick moment, the absurd coldness faded away and her body began to grow warm. It wasn't a warmth that was overbearing. It was pleasant, like coming back into the house and sitting down in front of a roaring fire. The goosebumps on her body faded away, and she closed her eyes. His hands were working her back expertly, sliding up and down her smooth, oily skin. She actually felt the pain beginning to dull. As the minutes passed by, the pain lessened until she could barely feel it. Natasha wasn't sure how much time had passed. At the moment, she didn't care about anything except how good it felt while Harry was massaging her back. Suddenly, his fingers drifted to her sides. Natasha didn't deny him. She let his hands climb up her body and over her ribs. She tried really hard not to squirm. It was only her expert training that kept her from letting him know just how good it felt.
Suddenly, she felt the same power that she did back on the beach. It was as if every nerve in her body was stimulated to only feel pleasure. Moaning deeply, she arched her back as his hands moved onto her slim belly. She bucked when his fingers accidentally tickled her belly button. Her panties were completely soaked through as she rubbed her thighs together. Collapsing backward, her back hit his chest, and she tilted her head back and rested it against his broad shoulder. Her beautiful eyes fluttered as his hands climbed up her front. His fingertips were just dipping underneath the cup of her bra when she leaned in and lightly kissed his lips. That soft kiss was followed by a much deeper and more passionate kiss.
It had been too long since she had time to spend with a man that knew what he was doing. She hadn't been opposed to the thought of going to bed with Harry. He was good-looking and charming, but the best part was that he knew what she did for a living because he was doing it himself. He knew better than to demand a regular relationship. With how each of them worked, there was no way that that kind of relationship would last. Perhaps when she was a little older and ready to settle into a much less stressful line of work, she would think differently. The idea of having a willing partner ready to take care of her needs with no questions asked certainly was intriguing. The only problem was that she didn't want to seem too eager. They were training partners and even partners in the field on occasion. Not only that, but she was also his superior. While they technically had the same Clearance Level in SHIELD, she still was ahead of him due to her experience and seniority. It was very important for him to respect her. Thankfully, by then they had developed a solid friendship that she greatly enjoyed. She was starting to think that it might be time to enjoy the fruits of her labor. Natasha moaned into his mouth when the door to his place was suddenly kicked open.
"DID YOU MISS ME?!"
At the same time, both Harry and Natasha whipped out their guns and began firing in the direction of the door before the voice could even finish his sentence.
Magically Marvelous
Tony Stark screamed like a girl as he dove to the side. Bullets pierced the wall where he had been standing only a fraction of a second before. "Stand down! It's me … Tony!" he cried out in panic while his heart was hammering in his chest.
'Maybe it wasn't the best idea to barge into a secret agent's home unannounced,' he suddenly thought as the gunfire stopped. 'Oh well. Live and learn.'
It had been a couple of weeks since he had been dropped off unceremoniously at SHIELD's office in New Delhi, India. He had been quickly pulled away into the back to be checked over and debriefed. That obviously took longer than he would have liked. They were particularly interested in the Arc Reactor which was implanted in his chest. He had to go through several hours of pokes and prods before he had been able to talk with someone in charge. Director Fury, as he called himself, had spoken with him for quite a while. He wanted to know everything that had happened since his capture. Stark told him as much as he could. He did, however, leave out the important fact that Stark Industries' weapons were being stockpiled by the terrorists. He wanted to take care of that little oversight on his own.
After they had talked for a while, Tony agreed to keep his mouth shut about SHIELD in exchange for his continued freedom. Within a couple more hours, he was on a plane back home. During his flight, he began searching for the man with the strange powers that had pulled him from that cave. As he looked up from the ground, he saw the man looking down at him with an annoyed expression.
"Long time no see," Tony smiled.
Harry sighed and pulled Natasha aside. "How's your back?" he asked her when they were out of earshot from Stark. Natasha stretched her back to test it out.
"A lot better," she told him honestly. Harry grabbed the bottle and put the cap back on. He gave it to her.
"Keep it. Rub some more on tonight before bed. I'll handle Stark," he told her. Natasha nodded and leaned in and kissed his cheek.
"We'll talk later. I'll call Fury and let him know about the knucklehead," she whispered. Harry replied with a silent nod and watched as she walked off. As she passed Stark by, he tilted his head and checked out her ass before turning back to him.
"You've got taste … I'll give you that much," Tony said as he invited himself in. He looked around Harry's small place. "On second thought …"
"What do you want, Stark? And how did you find me?" Harry asked him, annoyed at being cock-blocked. He knew that Fury hadn't spilled the beans about him.
"Finding you was easy. Your phone is a model made by Stark Industries," Tony said.
"Yeah … So?" All military and government phones were made by Stark's company.
"Remember when I used it to call Pepper? Before I called her, I used it to download a trojan horse. A piece of malware that would let me track you down," he added at Harry's confused look.
"After I figured out where you were, I needed to find out who you were. Hacking into SHIELD's mainframe was easier than expected … Harry Potter," he smirked. Harry actually chuckled.
"When Fury finds out …" Harry shook his head.
"Let's just hope that he won't. Especially since I hacked into his personal files as well. Alpha Level clearance secrets certainly are fascinating," he smiled as he went over to Harry's bottle of whiskey and popped it open. Not seeing a glass, he put it to his lips and took a deep swig. He pulled a face. "Cheap whiskey is always so bad," he said before drinking some more. Harry snatched the bottle from his hand and put it back on the shelf.
"So … Magic huh? … What's that about?" he asked. Harry pinched the area between his eyes.
Magically Marvelous
The following day, Harry pulled some ingredients from the magical sink to test them out. He already had another bottle of the bruise-removing cream brewing. Brewing stuff and testing ingredients in his home wasn't the smartest thing that he had ever done. It was especially dumb considering that he was still tired from trying to avoid many of Tony's questions the previous night. Tony refused to believe that he actually had magic. To him, there had to be another explanation, one that could be quantified and measured. However, Harry wasn't keen on having himself experimented on.
For some reason, Fury didn't want him to wipe Stark's memories. The Director was vague in his reasoning, but that didn't matter. Fury was the boss. Harry didn't really care anyway. He had long passed the age where he actually cared about keeping magic a secret. There were no Aurors or Obliviators here. There was no Ministry of Magic or International Confederation of Wizards. There was no one there to stop him. If he outed himself and things became too much, he could easily lay low until things cooled down. As such, he wasn't bothered by Stark knowing about him, other than the fact that the billionaire wouldn't leave him alone
He suddenly had an idea and pulled out his phone. Dialing up a number, he waited until someone answered. "Stark … How about we make a deal?"
Chapter 9
Harry grunted as he pulled the stone from his hand before tossing it in a metal bowl. The loud, metallic clank was followed by the irritating sound of it sliding around inside the bowl. The sound made his skin crawl. He massaged the palm of his hand with his thumb, trying to rub away some of the discomfort. It always irritated the skin whenever he removed that damned stone.
He looked around his new lab and smiled. New high-tech machines were arriving daily ever since he cut his deal with Tony. The deal was simple. Tony would supply him with a lab that wasn't his home along with plenty of high-tech toys to play with, and in return, Tony could come and experiment with his magic. He could test it and take readings … whatever he wanted. There were already sensors that were collecting data on various energy spikes and background radiation and sending them straight to Tony in LA. Tony had gone back to the west coast for the time being but was already hinting about moving to New York. He wanted a change in scenery after drastically upending his company by banning the creation of weapons of war. Harry didn't care. That was his life, and he could do whatever he wanted with it.
He looked over to the side when a robotic arm pulled a test tube filled with liquid from a burner and moved it over to a centrifuge. The centrifuge then began spinning and would continue to do so for the next twenty minutes. In the middle of the lab was a holographic projection of a datasheet of different plant and animal parts along with their magical properties that Harry had already discovered. All of the data was being stored on his own private server. Of course, Harry wasn't dumb enough to store sensitive information on there. There was little doubt that Tony likely had full access to anything stored on the servers. Anything important he wrote down in his handwritten journal. He hadn't made much progress yet, but he was hopeful.
Harry would have never been able to afford even a fraction of the equipment in his new lab unless he decided to go criminal. The lab itself was situated outside of NYC just in case he had a bit of an accident. Dealing with raw magic could be dangerous at times. Even outside of the city, a lab of that size would still cost more than Harry had made since arriving in this reality. That was the reason why he made a deal with Tony. The pros far outweighed the cons. He could deal with the annoying billionaire if it meant furthering his knowledge of how his magic worked. Getting up, he walked to the back room. Stopping in front of a glass door, he punched in a numbered code on the lit-up number pad that was displayed on the glass itself. The door immediately slid open. That room was where Harry stored his magic-infused substances. Going to the back of that room, he placed his palm on a screen which quickly scanned his finger and palm prints. The clank of a heavy bolt unlocking told Harry that he was free to enter the next door. Going down the stairs, he came to a blank concrete wall. Everyone who came here would be instantly stopped by the unyielding wall … everyone except Harry that is. Just like when he was a kid, he continued walking and slipped right through, only this time, the Hogwarts Express wasn't waiting for him on the other side. Had anyone else tried that, they would have slammed right into a solid wall, unless they were touching Harry of course.
The portal led Harry to the lowest section of the lab which he had dug out down to bedrock. A large, bowl-shaped depression had been cut into the bedrock by Harry before he added hundreds of Runes to the entire area. Such a thing should have taken him days of stone-carving, but thankfully, one of the first pieces of equipment that Harry had requested was a slightly modified laser engraver so that he could quickly carve Runes into stone, metal, or any other substance he wanted. With the engraver, he was done after twelve hours of semi-hard work.
The depression was a much larger version of the Magical Sink that Harry had at his house. Every day, he would come here and expel his excess magic into the Sink where it would be safely stored. In truth, it was a win-win situation. He got to release the wild magic that was causing his unwanted change while putting it to good use. The Sink kept most of his magic within, but some would inevitably leak out, causing his skin to tingle when he came close to it. It wasn't easy to see the magic within. The best he could describe it was like seeing heat waves above the road on a brutally hot day, only his were very light blue in color. All around the edge of the Sink, Harry had set up a series of metal baskets similar to those used to deep fry food. The mesh was made with very thin holes, and the metal handles were long and bent at a ninety-degree angle which made them easy to grab as they were resting on the floor. Each one was temporarily labeled with the ingredient, the date, and the time it was placed in. Harry bent down and grabbed the one labeled Wild Mint that had been soaking in his magic for over twenty-four hours. He carried it over to a lab table and dumped the mint on a large, metal tray. After removing the label, Harry then placed that basket aside to be washed later. He didn't want to cross-contaminate any of his samples. Grabbing a new basket, he dropped in dozens of empty shells from the Common Atlantic Slippersnail. He labeled the basket and put it into the pit. At this point, everything was trial by error. Harry couldn't wait until more of his requested equipment finally came and he could use it to build even better magical items.
Magically Marvelous
It was late at night at Harry's house and he was messing with a penny, trying to create a duplication enchantment. He didn't want to duplicate the money per se, he just wanted to get the enchantment to work, and the penny was something he had in his pocket. He waved his hand at it and only three extra pennies burst out. Picking one up, he saw that it was twisted and misshapen. Not only that, but the designs were missing. Sighing, he tossed it on the table. Clearly, it would take more time to sort out. Harry suddenly heard his front door unlock. Placing his hand on his hidden gun just in case, he calmed when Natasha walked through the door.
He hadn't seen the redheaded beauty since she attacked him with her lips. In she walked with her wide hips swaying slightly with every confident step. Like most times, she was wearing tight jeans and a t-shirt. "Hey Harry," she smiled.
"Hey Natasha," Harry greeted her back. "Long time no see," he teased her.
"You aren't mad at me, are you?" she asked, teasing. Harry could tell that she wasn't actually teasing. She was definitely trying to see if he was peeved or annoyed at her.
"I'm not a horny high school boy, Nat. I don't need you to stroke my ego, and I'm way too old to be sitting at home asking myself if a girl really likes me. Besides, I assumed that you were sent on an emergency mission," Harry told her.
Natasha smiled. She was glad that he wasn't acting like they were suddenly a couple. That was a worry when Fury called later that night and sent her on a mission. She had been looking forward to talking with him after their little moment, but sadly that had had to wait. "You're right. I was sent on a mission," she told him as Harry stood up and led her to the couch where they both sat down.
"Any place good?" he asked. Natasha shook her head.
"Michigan. There were reports that a metahuman might be out there. Turned out to be false, or at least I could find no evidence. It's possible that they left and covered their tracks really well," she told him. After a moment of silence, she continued.
"Harry … How would you feel about coming to a certain arrangement with me?" she suddenly asked him, not wanting to beat around the bush. Harry raised his eyebrows, and she continued. He sat there listening to her explain her wants and desires.
"So basically a friend's with benefits type of deal?" he asked, wanting to make sure he had understood correctly. Nat nodded.
"Yes. It's obviously impossible to have a real relationship with anyone when you're in our line of work. However, I'm still a woman and I do get lonely. It would be nice to have someone around who understands me … someone who can take care of my needs … someone who knows my body …" she said huskily, beginning to squirm. While on her mission, her thoughts often drifted to the way his hands made her feel. It had been a torturous week for her. Now that she was here by his side, she didn't want to miss another opportunity. While her mind was drifting, her body was acting. She leaned in and kissed him passionately. When her mind caught up with her lips, she decided to just go with it. "So do you agree?" she asked, breathing heavily after breaking the kiss.
"I agree," Harry said, grabbing her body and pulling her on top of him. Natasha gasped as she was forced to straddle him. Not passing up the chance, she leaned back in and kissed him again. Her eyes fluttered as his hands moved from her slim waist down to her shapely backside. He squeezed her cheeks hard as he moved her hips back and forth. She could barely feel his erection through their multiple layers of thick clothing, and she wanted to rectify that immediately.
"Let's go into the bedroom," she gasped into his mouth. Harry stood up, holding her by her ass. Natasha wrapped her strong legs around his waist while he sucked at the delicate skin of her neck. When her back touched his soft bed, she instantly sat up and began undoing the buttons of his jeans. Harry took off his shirt just as Natasha began working them down his hips. Impatiently, she gave a mighty tug and pulled down his jeans and boxers at the same time. Her face immediately flushed at what sprang forth. At face level was by far the biggest penis that she had ever seen. It was monstrous and obscene. She could feel the heat radiating off of the beast. Fighting the urge to nuzzle it with her cheek, she instantly reached out with a shaky hand and let her fingers graze over his soft skin. The moment she touched it, it jerked which made her jump slightly.
"It's not going to bite," she heard him tease. Her face turned pink with embarrassment. She was the deadly Black Widow. No situation was too big for her. She was never in over her head. Exhaling deeply to calm down, she continued to softly caress his straining cock. Her fingertips tickled his big, bloated sack before moving up, tracing his length from underneath. She looked up when Harry placed his hand on the back of her neck. Thinking that he would pull her head down, she was instead surprised when he used his fingers to softly play with her soft skin. Suddenly, a magnificent sensation of pure pleasure traveled down her spine. Every time his fingers moved against her neck, every sensual area of her body would pulse with desire and need. Natasha could feel her insides contracting and fluttering. Her body wanted him desperately. This time there was no one around to keep her from her prize. Looking up at him with wild desperation, she shuddered when he started playing with the soft, little hairs on the back of her neck. Her nipples grew harder than they ever had before … so hard that they began to hurt as they pressed against the inside of her bra. Natasha couldn't wait any longer.
Leaning her head in, she stuck her tongue out and pressed the entire thing against the underside of his shaft. Moving her head up, she licked his entire length, coating it in her saliva. When her mouth touched the underside of his head, she wiggled her tongue around it, tickling his cock. Hearing him moan actually brought her a surprising amount of pleasure. Another pulse of power entered her body through his fingers, making her insides contract. Pressing her lips to his skin, she began to kiss, lick, and suck on every inch of his throbbing manhood.
Harry saw the need in her eyes. After Hermione had suggested that he actually practice mixing his two sources of power, he threw himself into it. It was a long and difficult process to not only mix his powers but to focus them in a way that resembled the magic that he was used to. Once he accomplished that, he found that he could sometimes manipulate his magic to do things even if he didn't know how it was supposed to be done. Causing pleasure with his magic was one such example. Harry didn't know how the body was able to feel pleasure. He knew how to cause it, but not how it was created within the body. Even so, his magic took it upon itself to do the work for him. When he discovered what his magic could do to the female body, he jumped into that particular research with great exuberance. Letting the sparks of magic jump from his fingertips and dance down Natasha's lovely skin, he felt her tremble violently while her tongue explored his cock. It wasn't long before the signs of her first orgasm had made themselves known. Her body began spasming, and she squeezed his shaft tightly while letting out a cute, little whine.
Harry reached down and grabbed the hem of her t-shirt. Giving it a tug, Natasha lifted her arms up and allowed the material to be pulled from her torso. First, her toned belly was exposed, then her buxom breasts which were encased in a black, satin bra. Looking down, Harry stared momentarily at the vast amount of cleavage being produced from her porcelain chest. Harry placed his hand on her cleavage and pushed her body down on the bed.
Now at his tender mercies, Natasha lay there while he pulled her shoes from her feet. Her sock quickly followed, leaving her small feet bare. He then leaned over her, giving her a quick kiss which she was hoping to turn into something longer and deeper. Her tongue entered his mouth while her legs wrapped around his waist. She used her leg strength to pull him down so that he was pinning her body to the bed. As she wiggled her hips around, she moaned into his mouth while trying to devour his tongue. Pushing himself up, Harry looked down at her flushed face and heaving chest. Letting his fingers caress the soft skin of her breasts, he slowly lowered them down her body and over her smooth belly. He felt her body buck slightly when his fingers tickled her belly button before going lower. When he reached the button of her jeans, he eagerly popped it open. Grabbing the waistband of her jeans, he tugged them down over her wide hips as she helped him by squirming out of them. As her matching black panties were exposed, Harry was hit in the face with the scent of her arousal. Immediately, his cock strained and he had to fight the urge to fuck her right then and there. Her legs lifted high into the air, and Harry worked the jeans off of her.
Natasha bit her lower lip sexily as Harry's hands slid down her legs, caressing her perfectly smooth skin. She watched him stand up and step out of his jeans, his long, thick cock bouncing proudly as it protruded outward. Wanting to entice him further, she sat up and reached behind her back. Unclasping her bra, she let fall off of her shoulders before pulling it completely from her body. Laying back, she gave him her best "come and fuck me" face that she could muster while sexily playing with her big breasts. Her nipples were hard and aching as her fingers brushed over them. She saw his eyes linger on her little nubs and her light pink areolas. Pinching them, she pulled on them hard enough to slightly hurt. She gasped and arched her back before letting go of them. That must have snapped him out of his daze. Before she could react, his hands had gripped the waistband of her panties and started to pull them down. As she did when he removed her jeans, Natasha lifted her legs up in the air, keeping them closed to tease him.
Harry watched as the wet crotch of her panties clung tightly to her equally wet lips before finally snapping free. Obviously, it was the first time seeing her most private area. In his opinion, it was just as sexy as the rest of her body. Her two plump lips were puffy with arousal and completely hairless. Her smooth skin was shiny with her wetness, and Harry breathed in her heady scent. Her inner lips just slightly poked out from between her thicker outer lips that were being pressed tightly together by her closed thighs. Below her damp slit was her smallest hole. A drop of arousal dripped from her slit and rolled down onto her crinkled hole, making it just as wet as her other one. Harry finally pulled her black panties from her feet and tossed them aside. Natasha opened her legs while still in the air and spread them wide. Harry's eyes locked onto her exposed pussy. As her legs opened wider, her hairless lips were forced open a bit, showing off more of her light pink insides that were drenched in her juices. Natasha reached down and placed her fingers on her clit. She started moving her hand in a circular pattern rubbing her clit and pussy at the same time. Harry was fascinated by the way the skin of her pussy moved around with the movements of her hand. Natasha then used two fingers to spread her lips open. Harry had never received a more obvious invitation. It was an invitation that he wasn't going to pass up. As Harry settled into position between her parted legs, Natasha draped her leg over his shoulder. Smiling cheekily at her, Harry brushed his fingers over the incredibly sensitive skin behind her knee and hit her with a powerful dose of his magic.
Natasha's mind suddenly froze and her body locked up. From the point of contact, the most wonderful pleasure ever imaginable spread out in every direction. From the top of her head to her toes, Natasha was bathed in his powers. Back arching and toes curling, she let out a shriek of pleasure as lights flashed behind her eyes. Her bare breasts flopped and bounced wildly as a jet of girl cum squirted from her cumming pussy. Harry was sprayed in the chest before her body thrashed and twisted.
She couldn't believe what she was feeling. She couldn't focus on anything other than the way her body tingled in the most pleasurable way possible. Turning on her side, she tried to sit up but was unable to. Her body wouldn't respond. "H-Harry! What did you …" she tried to ask but squealed again as another pulse of pleasure raced through her body. She could vaguely feel Harry rubbing her clit, rolling it between his fingers as her eyes twitched and fluttered. The pleasure was too much. Rolling onto her stomach to get away from his wandering fingers, she thrust her ass up in the air while her pussy was still squirting pussy juice all over the place. She tried to beg Harry to let her rest when his hands began caressing the soft skin of her bare back, but no words left her lips. Thankfully, he seemed to know what she wanted. Still spasming out of control, she squeaked and squealed as his hands explored her hips before moving over her waist. They slid up her sides and cupped her breasts from underneath. Natasha choked out some noises, but even she couldn't tell what she meant to say. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply as her newest lover rubbed her aching nipples. She could feel his large cock resting between her thick cheeks. When he felt that her orgasm had tapered off enough, he took his cock in hand and began sliding it up and down her soaking-wet slit.
Biting down on the pillow, Natasha gripped the bedsheets tightly, knowing what was to come. Sure enough, he penetrated her with one, confident push. She could feel his girth rubbing against the walls of her insides as it traveled inch after inch. When the head hit her g-spot, Natasha cried out again as her orgasm flared up once more. Her pussy instantly clamped down around him. Had she been able to think of anything other than the pleasure she was receiving, she would have been embarrassed that her pussy was already milking his cock after the first thrust. She was Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, and here she was drooling into his pillow as her ass cheeks were brutally clapped from behind. His cock hit depths never before reached. Every time his cock battered against her cervix, she would let out a pathetic grunt of pleasure. Suddenly, her head was getting light. She tried to blink it away, but couldn't. After another thrust, Natasha screamed into the pillow. She could feel Harry's hands gliding over her naked skin as her pussy hugged him tightly, trying desperately to coax a thick load of cum from his bloated and swinging sack. She needn't wait long. When the first load of cum seeded her insides, the pleasure that she had been feeling felt as though it were nothing but a joke. Her vision went white as her body jerked and thrashed violently. Her pussy was contracting around him, trying to drain every last drop. Then with one last desperate whine, she passed out for the night.
Chapter 10
The ringing of his phone made Harry's eyes flutter open. Blindly feeling for it on his bedside table, he finally grabbed it and hit the answer button. "Yeah?" he sleepily answered.
"Agent Potter … We need you in Los Angeles … Immediately," replied the voice of Phil Coulson. Harry blinked his eyes a few times, trying to make sense of it all in his tired state.
"What did Stark do this time?" he suddenly asked.
"We're not exactly sure just yet, but there are two men in mechanical exosuits fighting in and around the Stark Industries building. We've got eyes on the ground, and we need you to end it as fast as possible … preferably without Tony Stark dying," Phil told him. Harry sighed. It seemed that Stark was born to forever rain on his parade.
"Alright. I'll be there in a moment," Harry said. "Anything I should know?"
After a moment of silence, Phil answered. "Yeah … Stark's the red robot." The phone cut off. Harry groaned and sat up. The nude redhead that had been draped over him groaned as well.
"Where are you going?" Natasha sleepily asked as Harry got out of bed. She turned over and snuggled into the blanket.
"L.A.," Harry told her. "Hopefully it won't take that long." In reply, he heard her soft snores as she fell back asleep. Harry rolled his eyes and quickly got dressed and armed. He was very glad that Fury had made him travel to different major cities within the US. Having multiple Apparation points at many strategic points of the country could come in handy, or so Fury said. It seemed that the grumpy bastard was right. He took one last look at Natasha curled up in his thick and warm blanket and Apparated away.
Magically Marvelous
"I can't believe you were dumb enough to leave the schematic for your planned suit in that dank, little cave!" Stane called out, reaching back and swinging his massive arm at Stark. Tony ducked and stepped back out of range. Of course, Stane stepped forward. "Although, I should thank you. If those terrorists hadn't fished it out of the cave, I wouldn't be here right now," he said with a forward kick. Tony barely had time to cross his arms in front of his chest to absorb the insane amount of power Stane's suit was producing. The result was him flying backward and slamming into the side of a truck. The entire side of the vehicle caved him, leaving him in the middle of the crumpled heap.
"You're welcome, but a gift basket would have sufficed," came Tony's smart-mouthed response from the midst of the wreckage. Stane chuckled happily, grabbing the wreckage and splitting it open as though it was nothing, revealing Tony's battered suit.
"Always the wise guy. Well, Tony, I guess this is the end of the road. I would say that it's been a pleasure, but why start lying now?" Stane lifted up his mammoth leg. Tony saw his monstrously large, metal foot hovering right above him. With less than one percent power from his old chest piece, he wasn't sure if he would have enough power to stop it. Just as it was about to come down, a powerful shockwave hit the Iron Monger right in the chest, sending it tumbling down the street.
"If anyone's going to kick the shit out of Stark, it's going to be me!" came the voice he didn't expect to hear. Hearing Stane scream in anger, Tony looked on as Stane pushed himself to his feet while his friend Harry ran toward him. Harry held his hand in front of him and with a deafening crack of thunder, a lightning bolt erupted from his palm, striking the metal beast in the helmet. Stane cried out as his head was jerked backward, sparks flying in every direction.
Obadiah could barely see as his internal HUD flickered from the massive spike in electrical power. He saw a man coming right at him and quickly wondered what kind of idiot this was. He wasn't wearing a suit like his or Tony's … He wasn't even carrying a gun. 'His mistake,' Stane thought with a snarl. Holding his arm out, miniature missiles shot from it and screamed right at the man.
Tony watched as the missiles aimed directly at him. At the last second, he disappeared and reappeared standing directly on top of Stane's robotic shoulder. After a loud explosion that sent chunks of asphalt flying in every direction, Stane boomed in laughter.
"I guess your savior was just as dumb as you are, Tony," Stane laughed while Harry stood on his shoulder. Harry leaned over and used his knuckles to knock on Stane's helmet. "What the …?" Stane said, leaning back as Harry leaned forward. Stane saw his upside-down face smile at him just as he gently tapped the face of his helmet. He was about to pulverize the idiot when Stane suddenly felt a bit sweaty. He was more than sweaty … He felt hot … very, very hot. In fact, his face was beginning to burn.
Tony's eyes bugged out when Stane's helmet began to glow cherry red right before Harry jumped off. He screamed and ripped it right off of his head. "You'll pay for that pipsqueak!" Stane roared and threw the helmet at Harry, who in turn disappeared again. "Stand and fight, you coward!" Stane yelled, spinning around while looking for his attacker. Harry blinked back into existence right in front of him holding his handgun.
"Sure!" Harry chirped, and pressed a rune on his gun. Pointing it a Stane, he began to fire. Knowing that a measly handgun would do nothing to his armor, he used his massive hand to block his uncovered face. He never expected the handgun rounds to hit his armor and explode violently, sending his body stumbling back. Shot after shot hit his suit, ripping holes into it and tearing off chunks from several places. Warnings were going off in his ears as his suit took massive damage. Finally, when the shots ended, he took his opportunity to fire back. Aiming his hand at the armorless man, a stream of intense flames poured out from the hidden flamethrower and engulfed him. Slowly dipping into madness, Stane didn't stop until his suit ran out of fuel. When the flamethrower cut off, there was still a swirling maelstrom of fire spinning around like a fiery tornado. He never expected the flames to morph into a long whip that was being wielded by the annoying mystery man. He watched the fiery lash swirl about in the air before being swung directly at him.
Stane dodged to the side, barely missing it. He then was forced to roll to the left as the whip impacted the street directly where he had been standing. The blacktop was bubbling and gashed from the brutal impact, and Stane smartly concluded that he should probably avoid being hit by it.
Harry was having the time of his life as he swung his fire whip around. Even as he missed, the violent crack of the whip cutting through the air made his blood sing with excitement. He had been avoiding "playing the hero" for a very long time, and though his life was safer, it was also a lot more boring. As his whip lashed the metal monster's arm, sending molten bits of metal flying, he thought about his life. He had no one. All his old friends had long since passed. He had no family, no wife, and no children. As sad as that was, it was also freeing in a way. While the pain of their loss was still there, it had dulled over the years until it was mostly bearable. Harry no longer felt that he needed to live a dull and ordinary life to protect those around him. Natasha was really the only friend he had, and her life was more dangerous than his. Why not allow himself to feel the thrum of excitement flowing through his veins as the metal man stumbled back, sparks flying, and him screaming? Perhaps, for the first time in a very long time, he should just let himself enjoy kicking ass like the old days, Harry thought as a high-pitched whine began to irritate his ears.
Tony saw Stane's boots ignite as he readied to take flight once again. "We'll meet again!" Stane cried out as he began to ascend. Harry, however, had other ideas. He sent his whip hurling into the air where it wrapped around Stane's ankle. The high-pitched whine of his repulsors began to sputter as Harry gave a mighty pull. Stane's body jerked and lowered a tad. Seeing that he was being pulled back down, he increased the power to his boots. Immediately, Harry's feet began to slide across the ground as Stane pulled him along. Pulling himself to his feet, Tony ordered, "Jarvis, direct all the remaining power to the repulsor in my right hand."
"Sir, even with full power, you won't be able to do much damage," Jarvis responded.
"I'm aware … Just do it!" Tony said, taking aim as Jarvis did his best to reroute the power throughout the damaged suit.
Harry pulled even harder, resulting in a loud sound of metal twisting. Stane's armored foot was starting to glow and warp from the continued contact with his magical whip. Out of nowhere, an energy blast hit Stane right in his uncovered face. "AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" he screamed in pain. Harry gave a huge pull and the mechanical foot ripped right off. Since the repulsor on the other foot was still firing, Stane corkscrewed through the air, screaming along the way. Harry watched as he hit the street some ways down, sending sparks and pieces of the suit into the air. Harry immediately Apparated to him.
Stane's face was a mess. Bloody and burnt, he was nearly unrecognizable. His breathing was shallow, and he appeared to be choking on his own blood. As Harry's eyes drifted down to get a better look at the hulking suit, he saw something that surprised him. "Isn't this Tony's?" Harry asked, gazing at the light-emitting Arc Reactor. All Stane could do was cough. Harry reached into the armor's chest and gave the reactor a twist. Pulling it free, the suit powered down. Deciding to be a decent human being, Harry stunned Stane and Transfigured him into a snake. Reaching in, Harry pulled the unconscious snake out of the suit and laid him on the ground next to it. Harry reversed his magic, letting the snake turn back into the injured man. Within seconds, SHIELD agents were pulling up to take both the man and suit into custody. Harry quickly went back to Tony, letting them do their job.
Tony's red and gold suit was a twisted wreck. Like the other suit, it was also powered down. Just as before, Harry knocked on the helmet. "You okay in there?" he asked.
"Fine and dandy," Tony's pained response came muffled by the dead suit. "If you don't count me slowly and painfully dying from my fried reactor that is," he quickly added.
"Oh, no!" came a feminine cry as the sound of high heels clopping down the street met his ears. Pepper Potts ran up to her boss and tried to get the suit off of him. Tony could hardly move since many of the suit's movements were controlled with powerful servo motors. Harry rolled his eyes and waved his hand. All of the pieces temporarily enlarged enough for them to start falling off of his body. With Pepper's help, he was freed soon after.
"Lose this?" Harry asked, wiggling the Arc Reactor that he had taken from Stane.
"Hey! Give me that, you thief!" Tony cried out, reaching for the reactor. Harry quickly pulled his hand back.
"Say pretty please!" Harry called back. He repeatedly held it out and pulled it away as Tony reached for it and cursed at him.
"Oh, for God's sake!" she cried out and snatched it away from Harry. He watched on as Tony removed his shirt. Pepper removed the burnt-out reactor and gagged.
"Ewww! I didn't want to do this again …" she squeaked, clearly grossed out as thick, viscous fluid dripped off the old reactor. "I hate pus!"
"It's not pus. It's … YOW!" he yelped as she accidentally touched the wire to the socket wall.
"Sorry!" she said as she snapped it into place. Tony took a deep breath as his life no longer hung in the balance.
"Thanks, Pepper," he groaned and got to his feet. "And thank you, H… What the …?" Tony and Pepper looked around and saw no one.
"Wow!" Pepper said in awe. "He just disappeared before he could be thanked … like a true hero!" she said quietly. Tony's eyes narrowed.
"Like a true hero?" he asked, annoyed. "Need I remind you that I was out here first? Fighting for truth and justice and …"
"That reminds me," Pepper cut him off. "What do you want me to do with this junk?" she asked, kicking a piece of his crumpled suit. Tony's eye twitched. First Harry was taking all the heroics. Now he was taking all of the women. Tony needed to get back to the lab to make an even better suit, lest he fell too far behind in the hero business.
Magically Marvelous
Harry bowed his back until it popped. Groaning, he crawled into bed where his buxom bed partner turned over and threw an arm and leg over him. Back to being surrounded by Natasha's warmth, he closed his eyes and fell back to sleep.
When he woke the following morning, the spot beside him was empty, and Natasha was nowhere to be seen. This didn't shock him at all. As per their agreement, she would come and go as she pleased. Harry wasn't the type to get clingy or jealous. Whether Natasha was or not, he didn't know. He supposed that he'd find out in due time. At the moment, he had no plans to become a one-woman man. Things were good for now, but if they ended, then that was that. No use worrying about anything. Besides, she was likely called in to help deal with the whole Stane situation. What kind of secrets he held, Harry didn't know, and it wasn't his place to ask.
After getting up and taking a shower, Harry went out and got a large cup of coffee with a ham and cheese bagel. He ducked into an alley and went directly to his new workshop that Stark had so generously donated. Once he was done eating, he got to work.
A few hours later, his phone began ringing. He dropped his handgun and the rag he was using to clean it on the table and picked up the phone. Checking who was calling, he saw that it was Stark. Smirking, he answered the phone.
"Well, if it isn't the damsel in distress. Are you calling to offer your hand in marriage to the brave knight who saved you?"
"I would have had him if Obadiah hadn't stolen the Arc Reactor right from my chest! I had to use the crappy, old one! I was hamstrung right from the start …" he immediately began making excuses.
"Uh huh … Sure," Harry rolled his eyes. "You should put some kind of locking mechanism on that chest socket," he added. Hearing nothing but silence for a moment, Harry then heard him sigh.
"As much as it pains me to say this … That's a good idea. I should probably put some kind of security feature on it to avoid mishaps like the one last night," Tony admitted. "By the way, did you catch my big press conference?"
"No, why?" Harry asked, putting it on speakerphone and setting the phone back down on the table. He picked his gun back up and started cleaning it again.
"I confessed to being Iron Man," he said. This made Harry pause for a moment.
"You better be ready for the consequences that come with it. Anyone you care about will instantly become a potential target," Harry told him.
"I wasn't planning on it. It just came out," Tony said. "I kind of screwed up." Harry sighed.
"What's done is done. It's now your responsibility to keep them safe, and to make sure that they can keep themselves safe."
"That's why I'm calling. I need help making my next version of the Iron Man suit."
"I'm no engineer. I tinker with stuff, but that suit is way beyond my level of expertise," Harry admitted.
"I don't need help designing it. I need help upgrading it," Tony told him. "As I'm sure you saw, my last one took a physical beating. I need to figure out a way to make it more rugged, and I can't do that unless I want to make it heavier and bulkier. And since you have access to magic and are deeply in my debt, I figured that …"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Harry snorted. "Where do you want to do it?"
"Meet me at my house in L.A. tonight," he said.
"Fine. I'll meet you there," Harry responded and ended the call. Harry had a feeling that Tony would end up trying something like this. He really didn't mind though. Harry enjoyed mixing technology with magic. On the plus side, if things went well, Tony would end up being dependent on him. Any future use of Harry's abilities would cost him a pretty penny. Maybe Harry would end up learning a thing or two from the experience as well. Checking the time, he saw that he still had a few more hours before he needed to even think about leaving. He picked his gun up and examined it. It shined as if it were new. He was glad that his firearm was finally battle-tested. He already knew that the normal bullets worked fine, but his newest addition to the gun hadn't been fully tested until then. He was happy to say that it was a success. No doubt Natasha would be asking for an upgrade to hers whenever she saw his in action. Perhaps he'd give it to her … for a price.