*Chapter 34*: Chapter 34
April 23, 2012
Harry sat at a table with Natasha and Clint in silence. He was just imagining the pain he was going to cause Loki while both Barton and Natasha talked about Coulson. Just then, Tony entered the room.
"Alright let's go, we're suiting up," Tony said with a serious expression on for once. Harry stood.
"We know where he is?" Harry asked as he moved to follow, not even paying attention to the two agents who also got up and followed him out. Tony nodded.
"Yeah. Asshole's on top of my penthouse about to open up a portal straight over one of the most populated cities in America." Tony said. Harry nodded in understanding.
"We should get to one of the jets quickly. Doubt Fury will let us just go without informing him." Natasha said. Harry looked at her.
"I assume you can get us there?" Harry asked. Natasha nodded.
"Alright, let's get going. We have to get there ASAP." Harry said as they all started running to grab their respective gear. Harry had none so he just ran straight to the jet and waited for everyone else. A few minutes later Natasha, Clint, Banner, and Rogers boarded the plane. They all quickly strapped in. Natasha and Clint hopped in the front and powered up the jet.
"Alright, let's get going guys. I'm going to go ahead and see if I can stop the portal opening beforehand." Tony said before taking off. Their jet took off after him as fast as it could. Harry looked around at Banner and Steve. Steve look hardened and ready while Banner seemed rather nervous. Harry focused more on Banner since he was sure that Steve could take care of himself. He tapped Banner on the side of the leg to get his attention. When Banner looked up, Harry spoke
"Hey, just remember what I told you. Long as you concentrate on that memory, it should give you some control. You will be fine I promise. Besides, I will be there so if you get too crazy I'll step in." Harry told the man with a smile. Banner returned the smile looking a little nervous about the whole situation.
"Thanks. It's comforting to know there's someone who can actually get me under control if need be." Banner said. Harry nodded. The rest of the ride was in relative silence as they approached the city. It took close to an hour to get there but it looked like the party had already kicked off. The portal was open and creatures were pouring out of it. Tony was trying to bottleneck it but was clearly having some problems. Harry immediately unbuckled and ran to the back of the plane. He popped the back open.
"Hey wait, we are still too far..." Natasha tried but Harry had already jumped out. He immediately flashed. right on top of one of the creature's hover crafts. The creatures looked like nothing he had ever seen. They were clearly alien as well as being, what looked to be, mechanical in some parts. Harry didn't bother to identify more than that before he surged forward. He lunged forward and slammed the left one into the controls before grabbing the right one and throwing it off the craft, directly into one of Tony's waiting for repulsor beams. He then flashed to the next hovercraft.
"What took you all so long? Decide to stop for drive-thru on the way?" Tony said irritated. Harry dodged a blue bolt coming from some foreign alien rifle before grabbing the barrel and smashing it against the aliens' skull.
"Oh well, you know how traffic is during this time of day," Harry said as he ducked under the second aliens grasp before banishing him off the craft and down several hundred feet.
"Well, get in the game. Our ultimate goal is to close the portal. The machine keeping it open is surrounded by an impenetrable force field at the top of Stark Towers. Thoughts about anyone?" Tony asked.
"Give me some time to think," Harry said back as he took down another hovercraft while shooting a Cutting spell at another and killing its driver causing it to smash into a building.
"We need to get the civilians out of here and to safer places as well." Roger's voice said over the comm.
"He's right. Best to have as few casualties as possible." Harry agreed as he jumped down onto the back of an alien and summoned a knife which he plunged into the back of its skull.
"Okay, I and Natasha will secure civilians. Barton, get on a roof and aim for the pilots of those crafts. Banner...need you to get an angry pal." Rogers said.
"On it" Banner responded. A few seconds later, there was a very familiar roar coming from the direction of Main street.
"Same here," Barton said.
"Good. Tony and Wolfe, just keep taking out as many of those things as possible." Rogers said.
"Ummm...Guy's we have a problem. A BIG problem." Tony said. Harry was about to ask that he elaborate but the words died in his throat. A giant flying...thing was coming down from the portal.
"Well goddammit. Wheres an explosive train when you need it." Harry mumbled to himself.
"Tony, distract it and I'll look for weak points in its armor," Harry said as he flashed away and onto the back of the giant creature.
"Got it, but hurry. Look's like that thing drops foot soldiers. Rogers, Romanoff lookout. You are about to have a lot of company." Tony said.
"Already on it." Rogers replied.
Harry looked all over the armor until he found enough chinks. He conjured a bottle of spray paint and circled them in red.
"Tony, memorize all the points circled in red. Those are its weak point." Harry said. As he prepared himself.
"Got them marked. Get off of it so I can start shooting it." Tony said as he continued to fly in front of the creature while also shooting at the passing hovercraft.
"No need. I got this one." Harry said.
"Wha.."
Harry didn't hear the rest as he flashed away directly in front of the creature. He held his hand out as he started to free fall.
"Fiendfyre." He yelled and unleashed a giant snake made of flames directly into the creature's open maw before flashing to a nearby rooftop to see how much damage he had inflicted on the creature. Just as he thought, the flaming snake tore the creature's insides before ripping open its stomach and burning every organ and tissue within to a crisp. The creature crashed hard into the ground, clearly dead. Harry smirked before canceling the curse.
"Fuck was that?" Tony yelled in confusion without stopping the fight.
"I always have some tricks up my sleeves. I wanted to try that before I tried more powerful alternatives." Harry said.
"More powerful!?" Tony yelled again.
"Concentrate Tony. We will talk about this later." Harry said as he felt a new presence.
"Heads up, Thor just arrived. I can see him from here. He's zapping any alien in his path. It also looks like he is going straight for the portal. I think he's going to try and bottleneck it again." Harry said.
"Good, we could use all the help we can get. Keep me updated when you can on him Wolfe." Rogers said.
"I got you," Harry replied before flashing off into the path of the god causing him to stop.
"Point Break slows down a second," Harry said to the god. Thor slowed.
"What is happening ?" Thor asked quickly.
"Loki opened a portal. These creatures have come pouring out since. We can't close the portal either. It's surrounded by a barrier of pure energy." Harry said back just as swiftly. Thor nodded.
"They are called Chitauri. They are dangerous and supposed to be under only one person's control...I will take as many down as I can as well as try to get the barrier down." Thor said before taking off. Harry too, rejoined the fight. He flashed to a passing craft and resumed to take it's members out and continued on. On another craft, he slammed a Chitauri into another causing both to become disoriented when he heard his ringtone start playing. He pulled out his phone with one hand while grabbing one of the pilots with his other hand and using it as a meat shield from another craft shooting at him.
"Hello?" Harry asked confused as he ducked a blue bolt.
"Where are you right now." Daphne's voice said from the other side of the phone. Harry paled.
'Oh shit.'
"Hey, Daph. I'm umm...just chilling. What about you?" Harry asked as he threw his meat shield directly at the other hovercraft. It nailed the pilot causing it to fly out of control and explode against a building.
"Really? Just chilling, are you? So you're not in New York fighting off a bunch of aliens?" she asked harshly. Harry grabbed the controls and flashed away just as he collided with another craft. He landed on a roof.
"Pssssshhhhh. Whaatttttttt? Of course not. I'm just um...ON THE ISLAND! Yes, that's it! I decided me and Sammy needed a little vacation and took us back to Wolfe Cove." Harry said.
"Is that so? Because I just so happen to have Sammy with me. I stopped by your apartment and grabbed her this morning." Daphne said.
'Double shit.'
"Ok look, there might be a slight possibility I'm in New York fighting aliens and looking for a god to give excruciating pain too," Harry told her apprehensively.
"You are the most idiotic, testosterone-filled, man I have ever met," she said blandly. Harry perked up.
"So you're not mad?" Harry asked as he flashed and drop kicked a Chitauri on the streets. He materialized a pistol and started laying down fire on a group of them that were trying to capture civilians.
"I didn't say that. You're doing your own paperwork for a week. ALL of it." she said before hanging up. Harry pocketed his phone
"Hate to say this Wolfe, but now is not the time to be dealing with your lady troubles," Tony said Harry's eyes widened for a second.
"Did you guys hear all that?" Harry asked as he levitated a car and smashed it down on three more Chitauri.
"Oh yeah," Rogers said, sounding out of breath.
"I did not know you were dating anyone," Natasha said almost teasingly. Harry tensed. He knew that she was not actually teasing and might possibly be quite angry at him.
"Not my girlfriend. More of a sister than anything else really." Harry said as he slid over a car and slammed his boot on the face of another alien before casting an exploding charm at another causing green blood and organs to fly everywhere.
"Enough about that. I got Loki on a craft going down 8th with two escorts." Barton said. Harry immediately flashed behind Barton.
"Where is he?" Harry demanded, scaring the life out of the man. Barton pointed. Harry looked where he was pointing and saw three crafts zooming above the street. Harry locked in on Loki.
"I got him," Harry called out before flashing away, once again scaring Barton. He landed right next to Loki and grabbed his shoulder before flashing them away once again. They both landed in Tony's ruined penthouse. Harry pushed him away and kicked him back close to ten feet.
"Ready for round two assholes?" Harry asked. Loki sneered at him before raising his scepter and firing at him. Harry flashed behind him and body-slammed the man. He then pushed him into the nearby wall. Loki brought his elbow down on Harry's back multiple times but Harry ignored the pain. He was too angry to care much about it. He lifted his head and slammed his fist against the god's face. It did not have much effect so Harry slammed it into the god's gut. As Loki bent down in pain, Harry flashed three steps back so he could roundhouse kick the downed man's head.
Loki went flying to the side and groaned for a second before getting up and growling. He grabbed his scepter which had fallen earlier and charged quickly at Harry. Harry conjured a short sword and deflected Loki's attack before countering with his own. He swung from the left with the full intention to see if Loki could live with having everything under his belly button liberated from his torso. Loki, sadly, deflected but was unprepared for Harry immediately smashing the hilt of the blade against his face. He stumbled back before creating more illusions. Harry didn't even bother with reminding him that they couldn't trick him
He didn't even allow the man to get close enough to do whatever he was planning. He threw away the sword and started to throw spells. The first was an exploding spell which was sent to Loki's feet. Loki jumped back in time to avoid getting hit by it but could do nothing from being thrown back by the explosion. He fell through the shattered window and down to the concrete. Harry ran over to the window, only to see Loki disappearing around a street corner on a craft that had apparently caught him before he smashed into the ground. Harry growled. He flashed to the point where Loki was just at and saw him speeding away down the street. He flashed to a building that Loki was about to pass. He looked down and saw Loki about to zoom by. He jumped off the building and collided with the craft mid-air. The Chitauri pilot immediately freaked out and made turns to get him off. Harry reached out, grabbed it by the head, and slammed it into his knee. He then threw the limp body off the craft and faced Loki.
"The more you run, the more I'm going to hurt you," Harry warned the god. Loki screamed in frustration before he reached out and grabbed Harry. Harry was about to flash away with him but was shocked still for a moment. Harry looked down at Loki's hand and saw that it was...blue? There was ice spreading on his body originating from where Loki was grabbing.
"You have become too much of a nuisance. You need to die, NOW." Loki said with a crazed smile. Harry jumped back into action and grabbed Loki's hand. He twisted it as hard as he could until he heard a loud snap. Loki fell to his knees and howled in pain. Harry grabbed the god's collar. He was about to knock him out when Loki gained a horrified expression as he looked at something behind Harry. A shadow passed over them both and Harry turned around to see that they were about to crash into an office building. Harry didn't even have enough time to get himself to flash out of the situation before he was flung forward into the building at more than 200 miles an hour with Loki. He smashed through desks, walls, and glass repeatedly until he finally came to a stop. His brain immediately shut off and he knew no more.
"...found...scepter..."
"We...nuke...incoming."
"Can...barrier"
"... one-way trip."
"I know..."
"He's not...make it..."
"...made...it!"
"...coming...to hot..."
"ROAAAAARRRRRRR!"
Harry jolted up at the loud roar. He immediately groaned in pain.
'Anyone gets the number of the building that hit me?' he thought to himself. He could feel both his left arm and leg where broken in multiple places as well as some of his ribs. Harry immediately started to channel his magic into the wounds and felt a soft, warm, numbing glow on the spots he had previously felt pain. He put his back against the nearby wall and sat and took a second to take in his surroundings. Loki was passed out less than 10 yards from him. There were rubble and shrapnel from the crash as well as a few small fires that would need to be put out. Loki looked like he was in bad condition as well. He was bleeding from multiple wounds and many of his body parts where twisted at odd angles. Harry then turned his attention to the huge hole through the building he had caused.
'Well at least I know I can survive being thrown into hard objects at 200 mph...still not something I ever want to do again.' While thinking this, he realized that he heard his name being called.
"Wolfe...Wolfe...Wolfe do you read me?" He heard Captain's voice over the comms.
"Yeah. I hear from you." Harry rasped.
"Good to hear your voice," Rogers said relieved. Harry chuckled at how genuine the man sounded.
"I have Loki with me. He's knocked out cold and will need some medical attention. I'm trying to heal as fast as possible but I will need at least 10 minutes before I can get up and move freely." Harry said.
"What the hell did you do to yourself?" Tony asked with concern.
"Crashed one of the crafts at full speed into the building. Came as too much of a surprise and I wasn't fast enough to flash away. Smashed through the building, some desks, and some walls." Harry said with a slight grin.
"We are coming to your position now. Get some rest until we get over there." Natasha said.
"Okay. Get here fast. I want to go home already. I assume we found a way to close the portal?" Harry asked.
"Yeah. Loki's scepter could get through the barrier and turn it off. All the Chitauri died when the nuke hit their mother ship." Barton said. Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Nuke?" he asked curiously.
"Will explain later Wolfe. Just rest for now." Natasha said. Harry smiled and dozed off after that. It felt good to voluntarily rest his eyes for once. It seemed like he only just closed his eyes before he opened them again when he saw the team approaching him through the huge hole he smashed. He smiled and shakily stood. His bones were all healed up but he still felt pretty sore.
"Hey, guys. We are done here?" Harry asked.
"Shield is sending a jet for us right now. Should be here any minute." Barton said as they walked over to Loki and secured him. Natasha and Tony walked over to him.
"You feeling okay?" Natasha asked. Harry gave her a smile.
"Yeah. Bones are already healed. Just a little sore now. What about you guys?" Harry asked as he looked everyone over. None of them seemed to be to injured.
"We're all good. Just a few scrapes." Tony said with a smile. Harry nodded at that. He looked over at the god of mischief who Thor had picked up.
"Not to insult you or anything Thor, but when your brother wakes up, I am going to hurt him. Badly." Harry said. Thor looked over and chuckled.
"My brother has caused a lot of pain today. I understand if you want to get even. As long as I get him back in on piece physically and mentally, I won't mind if he has to go through a few hours of...unpleasantness. Just don't tell me the details." Thor said. Harry smiled. He liked this god much more than his brother already.
"I appreciate the gesture," Harry said.
3 Hours later
Harry was sitting around a table with his other 'Avengers' as they debriefed Fury on everything that had happened in New York.
"And we are sure those aliens cannot get back here correct?" Fury asked the assembled team.
"To create such a portal again would require the tesseract which will be taken back to Asgard where it belongs," Thor said to the man, almost daring him to challenge his claim. Fury didn't, he just nodded.
"Good. Still, we will need to immediately get started on building better weapons and defenses for Earth. We can never be so vulnerable to an extraterrestrial attack again." Fury said. A few around the table nodded in agreement. Harry wasn't one of them. While Shield really had no other course of action it could take, there was no way to keep more advanced weapons away from unsavory people if they were made. Once something existed, it should be expected that all of humanity, potentially, had access to it.
"Well, where do we go from here?" Tony asked.
"Well, if you could stay to guard Loki until Thor takes him and the Tesseract back to Asgard tomorrow, that would be appreciated." Fury told the billionaire. Tony shrugged.
"I don't have any plans so that's fine with me." He said. Harry smirked.
"You just don't want to go home and explain to Pepper how you basically resolved to martyr yourself for the good of humanity," Harry said causing everyone to chuckle as Tony gained a blush on his face.
"Untrue... I just think that Loki needs the extra guarding while he is here. He HAS already escaped once if you remember correctly." Tony said. Harry shook his head.
"He's not escaping again. I personally made sure of it." Harry replied. He had personally set up enough wards around Loki's cell to contain virtually anything. Loki wasn't getting out without Harry escorting him no matter what.
"If you say so," Tony mumbled unconvinced. After that, the meeting was adjourned. Harry got up and decided it was time to cash in on what Thor had told him earlier. Natasha had seen fit to follow him.
"I take it that you are going to see Loki?" she asked him as she matched his pace next to him. Harry nodded with a smile.
"You need to punish a child in order to teach him that actions have consequences. It's how they learn." Harry told her. The sides of her lips twitched up into a smile.
"May I watch? I would like to see your technique," she asked him politely. Harry looked over at her mischievously.
"That depends. Are we still talking about my interrogation techniques?" Harry asked. She looked back at him with a playful glint.
"Why? Do you have another technique that you're eager to show me?" she teased back at him. Harry smiled.
"Perhaps. But not now." Harry said as they reached Loki's cell door. He clicked the key code to open the door and entered. Loki looked like he could be in better shape. Harry had healed him up enough to the point where he could leave his body to finish the job. He was probably still in a lot of pain though. Luckily the god was still passed out and likely could not feel the pain. Harry was about to change that. He looked over at Natasha who was looking at him with an intrigued expression.
"Do me a favor?" Harry asked her. Her intrigue changed to curiosity.
"What?" she asked him.
"Don't tell anyone what you see here," Harry said to her. She looked at him for a second before nodding.
"I promise," she said sincerely. Harry smiled at her before turning back to Loki. He raised his hand and start to levitate the passed out man. He then conjured a table and set the god down on it. He then had normal chains wrap around his limbs so he would have an extremely hard time moving.
"Bit medieval don't you think," Natasha said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Harry just chuckled.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," Harry responded. Harry then put his hand against the god's head and sent a small shock into the god. Loki immediately woke and bolted up only to find himself chained and unable to move freely. He started trying to struggle to get out of the chains.
"Hello, Loki. Have a nice nap." Harry asked as he gave the god a creepy grin. Loki looked at him and, for once, actually seemed nervous.
"Let me go." He demanded weakly.
"Oh, I will. First, though, I and you are going to have some fun. I have to teach you an important lesson. Pay attention to it will you." Harry said with the grin still in place.
"What lesson?" Loki asked with a little more confidence in his voice.
"That actions have consequences. Some have very...painful consequences." Harry said to the god. He immediately conjured a fire mans ax. Loki looked at it with wide eyes and immediately redoubled his efforts to escape.
"No please! We can work this out. You seem like a smart mortal. I can give you anything you want. Money, woman, eternal life! Anything, just name it!" Loki said trying to get away from the man.
"Well, there is one thing..." Harry trailed off. Loki felt like jumping for joy at his words.
"Name it and it shall be yours." He said confidently.
"I want to hear you scream as loud as you can. That is my wish. Make sure you don't disappoint me." Harry said as he raised the ax and brought it down hard.
Needless to say, Loki did not disappoint.
1 hour later
Harry walked out of the room smiling with a pouting Romanoff behind him.
"Well that's just not fair." she immediately complained as the cell door close behind them. Harry looked over at her.
"How so?" he asked her.
"You can do so much more because you don't have to worry about accidentally killing your victim. You just heal anything you damage only to damage it more. Then you keep doing that. You don't even have to worry about them accidentally dying." she said with irritation. Harry smiled and laughed at that.
"Sorry to disappoint you with my over effective methods." Harry shot back. She made a very unladylike grunt causing Harry to start laughing at her once again.
Next Day
The group had met up at one of the central park entrances to see Thor and Loki off. Loki looked terrible. He was very subdued and pale. He also wouldn't glance in the direction of Harry. He looked like a strong wind could take him out of commission. Thor had asked Harry what he had done but Harry had just said that it was probably best that he didn't know. Thor accepted the answer since he probably did not want to really know.
"Thank you for your help, my friends. They will tell of your deeds during our battle for ages in Valhalla. I am proud to say I fought by all of you." Thor said with a large smile. Harry rolled his eyes at the god. He was just too cheesy sometimes.
"No problem Point Break. You ever want to chill out on Earth with us mortals, my doors will be open for you...as soon as I reattach them to their hinges." Tony said as he glanced at his still destroyed tower. Thor gave a hearty laugh at that.
"Goodbye, my friends. Heimdall, to Asgard." Thor said as he looked up. Immediately a beam of what looked like rainbow light shot down and surrounded the two gods and the tesseract. When the light left, the gods and their cargo was gone. Harry looked into the sky impressed. He wasn't sure what he just saw, but it was impressive none the less. He looked at the rest of the team.
"Well, I suppose that's it's then," Harry said. The Shield agents already started getting into their cars in preparation to leave. Fury gave a quick thank you to the team and explained about awards they would be given. Tony and Banner seemed to get out of there quickly as well. Tony had invited Banner back to his lab and both were eager to get working. Harry and Natasha were left by themselves since she had come on her motorcycle and did not have to leave with her fellow agents.
"So I guess this goodbye," Harry said with a smile. Natasha punched him in the arm. Hard.
"Don't be corny. It doesn't suit you," she said but was smiling at him. Harry smiled back.
"I think I can pull off corny if I wanted," Harry argued with his chin in the air with a faux arrogance. Natasha stared at him for a second.
"You're an idiot." she decided. Harry laughed at that.
"Maybe I am. So at the expense of making myself look like a bigger idiot. Would it be too presumptuous of me to ask you to have dinner with me sometime?" Harry asked her with a charming smile. She raised an eyebrow.
"We've had dinner before," she commented with a smile.
"And it was so good I thought I'd ask you to have it for a second time," Harry replied back instantly.
" Hmm. That was quite smooth. So you want to make me dinner. Any thoughts to where? I'm a hard girl to impress. Especially for a young buck like you." she teased. Harry smirked.
"I'll hear your answer first," Harry responded back. Natasha just looked at him with a thoughtful look on her face for a few seconds before she relented.
"Alright, Wolfe. I'll give you one shot. Better not screw it up." Natasha said. Harry's eyes lit up.
"Great! It's a date then." Harry said. Before Natasha could shoot a witty comment back at him, he reached over and planted a firm kiss on her lips. The shocked look in her wide eyes gave Harry a certain amount of satisfaction. He pulled back after a few seconds.
"I'll message you with the details. See you then." Harry said before disappearing in a silver flash to who knows where. Natasha just stood there for a second. She then shook her head and cleared her mind.
"Brat thinks he can get one over on me, does he. Alright, Wolfe, I will get you back for that one," she mumbled to herself as she hopped on her bike with a smile and shot off back to where the Quinjet was parked while thinking about the pleasant sensation on her lips that Harry had left.