Chapter Text
Tony was so fucking tired.
It had been a long few days- massive megalomaniac with a god complex that came along with an alien invasion- and all he wanted to do is go back to his mansion in Malibu and sleep. For a week. But no, due to some fucking stupid rules that apparently was protocol when faced with said invasion, or any mission an agent of SHIELD went on, they had to go have a debriefing. With Fury.
Fucking Fury.
They-- him and the Avengers-- were still in New York, just at an underground SHIELD base. Even though Tony had gotten JARVIS to hack into SHIELD a lot, he hadn't realised there was a base here. It was probably only referred to in paper files but Tony had no idea how SHIELD really worked.
Anyway, after they had stopped for shawarma, which was enjoyable, the clean-up teams had found them and practically forced them to see Fury. It was irritating, and Tony couldn't even take off his suit properly because there was no way the shitty SHIELD "scientists" were going to get their grubby hands on his suit.
They were nearing Fury's office now-- or so Tony assumed as Natalie- no, Romanoff, was finally slowing down. He could see a door at the end of the corridor, and was surprised to see it looked like, well, normal. He expected some dark or foreboding door to match the owner of the office, but it seemed to be wishful thinking. Tony looked at Romanoff, who had a slight frown on her face that wasn't there before. She saw him looking at her, and tapped her ear with a finger. Listen.
Tony couldn't hear anything at first, but then after concentrating he could hear a muffled sound. It was getting clearer and louder the nearer they got to Fury's office, but he still couldn't hear anything. In the corner of his eye he could see Thor tense, and Romanoff get one of her guns out, but Tony really didn't have a problem with opening Fury's door.
'--where is he Nick!'
To be honest, Tony was suspecting it was The Council shouting at Fury for not accepting the order for the missile strike on Manhattan, but he was surprised to a man who looked vaguely recognisable shaking with anger instead. A short and hot guy.
'Potter, I told you, you don't have clearance to see him.'
The guy, Potter, didn't seem to like Fury's answer, and slammed his hands down on the desk hard. It rattled the table and a pen holder rolled into the floor. 'If you don't tell me where he is, I swear to god, I will go to Phil.'
Fury's eyes widened marginally and flickered quickly to the door where Tony and the rest were standing silently. 'Coulson is dead Potter. Loki kill--'
'Don't even try that with me Nick.'
The room literally shook with Potter's anger and Fury looked scared. In any other situation, Tony would be cracking up with laughter, but it really did not seem like the time. Potter's back tensed before he turned around and scanned Tony and the team (really? Did he actually think that? What was his life.) narrowing his eyes ever so slightly when they looked at Thor. Potter looked at Tony again, and stepped forward, and oh god but Pepper was going to kill him, but he was going to die remembering how Potter's messy hair and bright eyes that were so green, and ever so gorgeous.
'Tony Stark. He was always fascinated by you.' Potter said quietly. The shaking in the room had slowed to a simple vibration, and Tony was not quite willing to bet that would escalate into the abnormal shaking again if the guy got angered.
'That's me short stuff. Now are you going to continue verbally lashing Fury, or are my ringside seats going to waste?'
Potter's mouth crinkled into a strange smile that made Tony's heart tighten ever-so-slightly, and he replied in, what Tony thought, the most gorgeous British accent he had ever heard. And that included the several models he had slept with while in London.
'Aren't you going to ask me who I'm looking for? Or who I am? Oh, Mr. Stark, you do disappoint me.'
Tony stepped forward awkwardly in his suit--it really couldn't step short distances, he had to fix that-- and smirked widely in reply. 'I don't need to,' he said. 'You're going to tell me the basics, and then I am going to find every single detail about you.' It should have occurred to him that Potter might be dangerous, but hey, blame it on the lack of sleep.
And almost dying. Again.
'I'm Harry Potter, Master of Death, Lord of Being Pissed Off by Nick Fury, the Boy-Who-Lived, twice, and the actual Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black.' Potter, Harry, smirked at his long list of titles and made his eyes dance in a way that begged for a retaliation.
It made Tony's mouth dry.
'You are the mortal my brother had taken to visiting on Midgard?' Thor said. Everyone tensed at the implication of Loki, but Harry's head just swung towards Thor and his eyes narrowed to slits. Tony swore that the temperature dropped a few degrees.
'First of all, Thor,' Harry spat, 'I am not mortal. I am a wizard, which extends my lifetime considerably, and then some considering my magical strength. Second, Loki did not just visit me; he practically lived with me seeing as his brother was some bullying arse who seemed to think the world of himself. Third, I promised myself that if I ever saw you, and you did something so utterly stupid even your blessed Allfather would shake his head in despair, I would do this.'
Harry punched him. Like, actually punched Thor without shattering all his bones. Tony was impressed.
'I see you have been taken in by my bro-Loki's silver tongue and quick words.' Thor said stiffly. Though, to be fair to the guy, he did look like he was having some trouble with his jaw.
'Fuck no, Crown Prince fucking Odinson. I can't even believe you didn't see it. You have lived with him, grown up with him, fucking looked in his eye and hurt him and you couldn't even tell the difference. You so deserve that punch.'
Rogers had been silently calculating the scene before him, with one hand on his shield, but Tony could see he resisted his urge to stay silent to ask the question on the lips of everyone. 'What difference?'
Harry spun on his feet before delicately and angrily sitting on the desk chair before Fury. His hair flopped every-which way and his eyes glistened with unshed tears.
Hmm. Maybe Tony should take up poetry as a hobby.
Harry opened his mouth once, twice, before whispering a silent swear word, and running his hand through his black hair.
'Loki- Loki didn't do all that. He, well he has green eyes. Dark forest green eyes, not the lime green or turquoise he seemed to have. And he was using a staff to channel his magic, which a wizard, mage- whatever, would never do if they had the power to not need it. He was being mind controlled, tortured, to take over a planet that he had someone he actually cared for on it, and made to fail.'
There was silence. Tony could hear someone next to him shift on their feet, but didn’t look. Mind control.
'We actually consider each other brothers you know.’ Harry continued while looking at his hands. ‘We look enough like it, except his eyes and hair are a few shades darker and skin a few shades lighter. We are both exceptionally powerful in our own rights, him as an alien and me as a wizard. We both- we both have had our family give up on us and have had pretty shitty childhoods.'
Mind control.
Natasha had a blank face, but Tony could see the twitch in her fingers which meant she wanted to beat someone or something up. 'Are you saying Loki -- that Loki who just led an alien invasion on New York and took over the minds of numerous SHIELD agents-- is just as much a victim as they are?'
Harry's eyes closed. 'Yes Agent Romanoff, I am saying that and I can prove it, but only if I know where Loki is.'
Fury looked undecided. Romanoff looked, well, like she had gas. Thor was more interested in his jaw than what was being said about his supposed brother. Barton looked pale, while Rogers looked caught on two sides.
Tony however, wanted to know the truth.
'JARVIS, find out were Loki is being held.'
Everyone stared at him. Harry was the only one he noticed though with those bright green eyes just sparkling with gratefulness and his red lips that were quivering--
'Sir, Loki is being held in Cell D387 Mode Alpha.'
Fury looked like his name--infuriated. Romanoff had a blank face and Thor looked confused. Barton looked like had shat his pants and Rogers was as stiff as a brick.
Harry, however, looked like he had just been gifted the world and then some as he tilted his head back and let out a breath in relief. 'Thank you so much Mr. Stark.' he said. 'You can not believe how much this means to me.'
Fury stood up from his desk, and loomed over Harry. 'I can not allow to go to war prisoner Loki, as you have no familial rights unlike Thor.' he barked. Harry's eyebrow just twitched in response, before he stood, again surprising Tony by his lack of height, and spoke calmly to Fury.
'Actually, I have a right to see Loki as he is under protection of the House of Black, and as the Head of the House, I have the right to see him. Unless you do want to go to the magical courts for ignoring the rights of a Lord and Head of House? They would be disappointed to seeing you again.' Harry turned to Romanoff and Barton, before changing his tone to one of quiet respect. 'Agent Romanoff, how did you know you had released Agent Barton from mind control?'
Romanoff tilted her head to show a long cut just below her hairline and nodded her head once, twice, before replying.