Chapter Text
“You realize,” Severus said, as he started the engines, “that I never intended to leave either of them here.”
“Yeah, sure, I know that now,” Harriet said. Glancing in the cabin-facing mirror he saw her gesturing eloquently to where Bellatrix’s slumped form lay tightly bound, and sedated for good measure. “Besides, Caelum doesn’t deserve to be tied up.”
The boy in question was silent, arms wrapped tightly around himself. He did look rather pitiable, Severus reflected. Still— “He kidnapped you,” he reminded her.
“And then he helped me escape,” she said stubbornly. Severus kept his eyes fixed on the sky ahead of them as they lifted into the air. When he didn’t look at her, it was easy to pretend this was just another conversation with his intern.
“As you say,” he sighed, and then pulled on the accelerator. Like the quinjets he’d flown before, the acceleration was marvelous. In an instant they were out of the cliff face, and taking off into the air.
“This is Iron Man,” he said, patching the plane’s radio into their comlines. Dominion’s voice crackled over the line.
“Dominion, ready.”
“Target rescued, and villain captured. Report.”
“Copy. Rendezvoused with Hawkeye, and left the way we came in. We will arrive at the Quinjet shortly. Tower landing pad? Over.”
“Copy. I’ll see you there. Iron Man out.”
Severus slumped back into his chair, boneless with relief. They’d done it. Rescued Harriet, captured Bellatrix—and they hadn’t lost anyone.
He sucked in a deep breath, and braced himself for the next transmission.
“This is Iron Man,” he said again. “Ops, do you read me?”
“Loud and clear, Iron Man,” Poppy said, and Severus smiled to hear her voice.
“Mission success,” he said, letting his relief seep into his voice. “I’ve got her.”
“Copy! I copy, oh thank god…”
“We also captured Bellatrix…and I’ve picked up two strays.”
“You aren’t the only one,” Poppy said cryptically, which Severus supposed was deserved.
“We’ll be there in twenty minutes,” he promised, still smiling. “Iron Man out.”
+++
“How did you find me, anyway?” Harry asked Leo, between bites of the high caloric energy bars he’d shoved at her, along with a bottle of water. She’d admitted to the broken ribs, but had successfully argued that the best help would be eating, really. She was still shaken by the failure of her spidey-sense. It made sense that with most of her energy going to healing, her other powers would be unreliable—but she’d come to depend on her sixth sense, and wanted it back in working order as soon as possible.
She was desperately hoping to avoid talking about the elephant in the plane, and this was as good a distraction as any.
“Your teacher called me.”
“What?” Harry exclaimed, granola crumbs flying from her mouth. She flushed.
Leo grinned at her. “She’s my cousin,” he explained. When her eyes darted at Dr. Prince his smile only widened. “I’m no fool, Harry. I knew the moment I involved myself that Iron Man would track down my identity. It wouldn’t have been a secret much longer.”
“He’s not wrong,” Dr. Prince said from the cockpit, and Harry grimaced.
“Sorry,” she said. Leo knocked her shoulder gently.
“None of that,” he chided. “I knew the risks. Might have burned a few favors to get the info I needed, but it was worth it.”
“So you found out where the base was using your own sources?” Dr. Prince asked.
“I have a very good intelligence network,” Leo agreed. He hesitated, then said, “It turned up some stuff about your aunt, Harry.”
“...that she used to be part of the Red Room?” Harry’s voice wavered a little.
“Yes,” Leo said, surprised. “You knew?”
“She told me,” Harry mumbled, jerking her head at the unconscious Bellatrix. “Along with a lot of other stuff.”
Leo nodded grimly. “It made sense that this base was the most likely location. I couldn’t get here as fast as the Avengers, of course—although I’d guess I set out earlier—but I got to that cliff just in time to hear you asking about flying a plane. Things rather escalated from there, but Iron Man lived up to his name. Heard his heart jump, so I know he saw me coming the whole time—but not a hint of it showed in his voice.” Leo sounded almost admiring.
“Not on his face, either,” Harry said, remembering that awful, expressionless look he wore when he’d pointed the repulsors their way. She wrapped the blanket tighter around herself.
“I’ve had practice,” Dr. Prince said. “When you live with spies you get very used to concealing your microexpressions.”
Harry unwrapped another energy bar, and the plane fell back into slightly uncomfortable silence.
+++
Dr. Prince set the plane down gently on the massive rooftop landing pad, and Harry struggled out her blankets and was out the door almost before the ramp touched concrete.
There was a whole crowd of people there—fuck, that was Captain American and the Black Widow—who was pregnant, holy fuck—but Harry didn’t care, because there was Aunt Petunia, tears in her eyes and with outstretch arms.
Harry flew into her aunt’s embrace and buried her face in her shoulder, hiding the sudden flow of hot tears. Aunt Petunia gripped her tightly and rocked her back and forth.
“You are in so much trouble,” her aunt whispered, “but I am so, so proud of you, Spider-Man.” Harry stiffened, and then went limp, a sob tearing from her throat. How did they all find out? But Harry had been waiting almost two years for her Aunt to say something like that. She’d never thought she would.
Harry pulled herself away at last, smiling wetly. Her gaze fell on everyone gathered around them, and her mouth dropped open in stunned surprise. She’d heard Dominion mention Hawkeye on the plane, but somehow it hadn’t registered—that was all of them, all the Avengers, Rogues included, gathered together. It was almost enough to send her back to Germany.
Yes, there was Hawkeye, next to a scarlet-skinned man that could only be Dominion—and a rumbled, short man she though must be Scarlet Witch—and Captain America and Black Widow—and the Falcon—and…
That was Sirius Black, the Azkaban Soldier, smiling a crooked smile she knew better than her own.
Harry stared at him, at his metal arm, at the piercing grey eyes she’d now seen in three different faces.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” she said. “I actually cannot believe this. I have reached my limit for impossible revelations.”
“Their idiocy in coming back here is unbelievable, yes,” Dr. Prince said darkly, coming up behind her. His hand on her shoulder was gentle. “But we’ll see if we can sneak them away…”
“Not so fast,” a new voice said smoothly, and like a scene out of a comedy all their heads turned towards the rooftop entrance. There stood a man Harry recognized as Secretary of State Thomas Riddle, smirking unpleasantly and holding a thick stack of documents in his hand. With a sinking feeling, Harry thought she knew exactly what they contained. Behind him came a full troop of armed military agents.
“Warrants,” Riddle said delicately, “For the arrest of, let’s see—James Potter, Sirius Black, Augusta Longbottom, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Lily Evans, Peter Pettigrew, Dominion, and Severus Prince-Snape.” He cast a hungry glance at Harriet, making her go cold. “Oh, and Harriet Potter, too, I suppose.”
“What for?” Dr. Prince snarled, outraged. His grip on Harry’s shoulder tightened.
“Well, in addition to the prior charges for those who previously violated the Accords, I’m afraid the rest of you have now violated them as well by going on an unauthorized rescue mission for the dangerous teenage vigilante, Spider-Man.”
“Unauthorized—what—you knew!”
“That you were going on a rescue mission? Of course. Did I say it was approved? No. You just assumed that my prior permission to fight the Tower invasion extended to pursuit.” Riddle paused, and then drawled, “Of course, I might be willing to drop the separate charges for Spider-Man on account of her age…provided that the rest of you come quietly.”
Dr. Prince said nothing, and as Harry scanned the faces around her, she realized in utter horror that there was every chance they would all go quietly, if it meant sparing her.
Riddle’s smile slowly widened. “Found your weak spot, Severus,” he said softly, in vicious satisfaction.
“Not so fast, Riddle.” Yet another new voice, dripping in irony. They all turned again to see Poppy Pomfrey, side by side with—was that Rita Skeeter?—pushing her way past Riddle’s goons. “You see, we came across someone very interesting in our pursuit of Harry’s kidnappers. You might recognize him.”
A third figure was pushed through the crowd, tightly bound and gagged, and led by—for fucks sake, Harry was just about done—Archie and Hermione, her two insane best friends.
“Look familiar?” Ms. Pomfrey asked sweetly, gesturing to the man who could not be more obviously Riddle’s son.
“Tom,” Riddle said, the color draining from his face. Tom glared at him.
“He’s enhanced, did you know that?” Ms. Pomfrey smirked. “We had to put him in suppressor cuffs.”
“What a delightful scandal,” Rita Skeeter spoke from beside her, practically purring. “The foremost proponent of the Accords and the Enhanced Registration Act, and his own son—a member of HYDRA, guilty of human experimentation, and enhanced to boot. Where did you go wrong? Perhaps you have mysterious powers—or,” she said, gaze narrowing, “perhaps you, too, are fond of human experimentation. Do tell us, Mr. Secretary. My readers are desperate to know.”
“What do you want?” Riddle asked hoarsely, gaze fixed on his son.
“Pardons for all the Avengers,” Dr. Prince said. “Neutralize ERA. And send your son to the Raft.”
Harry watched in amazement as Riddle swallowed compulsively, then finally backed down. “You’ll regret this,” he whispered. “You’ll bring ruin on all of us.”
“I think we’ll live,” Ms. Pomfrey said coolly, and held out her hand for the warrants. Riddle reluctantly gave them over, and watched bleakly as she ripped them in half.
“Goodbye, Mr. Secretary,” she said, and Riddle left with his goons and his son.
Harry was in awe. Forget Dr. Prince, Ms. Pomfrey was her new role model.
Harry had just about geared herself up to address any one of the massive secrets among them, when her spider-sense blared in familiar warning, and she saw Rita Skeeter trying to creep away after Riddle.
“Rita.”
Skeeter froze at the sound of Dr. Prince’s deep voice, and glanced warily at him.
“Yes?” she replied, a strange smile on her face. Dr. Prince eyed her stonily.
“Your word,” he said grimly, “that you will not reveal anything you’ve learned today.”
Her expression twisted. “Are you kidding me?” she asked. “Do you realize how big a scoop this is? I could bring him down. I could win a Pulitzer.”
The tense silence extended, pressure building—but Skeeter refused to shatter under the weight of their audience.
“We’ve known each other for a long time, Rita,” Dr. Prince said at last, voice soft and silky. “I would hate for you to make an enemy out of me—I might have a…slip of the tongue, and accidentally mention BEETLE.”
Harry watched in fascination as the reporter stiffened, color draining from her skin until she was a sickly grey.
“You wouldn’t dare,” Skeeter said shakily. Dr. Prince smiled like a shark.
“For Spider-Man?” he breathed. “Oh, I absolutely would.”
Impossibly, Skeeter blanched even further—then, she pulled a plastic smile across her face, and in a tone of false cheer, said, “Spider-Man? Who’s that?”
“Precisely,” Dr. Prince said. “I’m so glad we could come to an understanding.”
Skeeter made her escape then, and Captain America—fuck, her father, what a distressing thought—let out a low whistle.
“Remind me not to get on your bad side, Severus,” he said, then looked caught out. “Er, again.”
Dr. Prince actually rolled his eyes. “That’s not how I deal with people I’m pissed at, Potter; that’s how I deal with threats.”
Captain America spluttered, but Dr. Prince ignored him. Harry saw Archie silently repeating That’s how I deal with threats, a look of ecstasy on his face.
And then the Black Widow stepped forwards, and she was looking at Harry, and the half dozen conversations around them faded out as Harry met her mother’s gaze for the first time that she could remember. Her eyes were a vivid green, just like Harry’s.
“Harriet,” the Widow said, but stopped, looking uncertain. Harry took pity on her.
“I know,” she said. “Bellatrix told me about you and—you and my father.” She stumbled over the last word, and it came out a little breathy.
“Oh,” the Widow said, looking oddly devastated. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have found out that way.”
“Would I ever have found out?” Harry asked, some morbid curiosity driving her.
“I—I don’t know,” her mother admitted. Dryly, she went on, “I wanted you to have a normal life. Except it looks like your life wasn’t so normal after all.”
“No,” Harry agreed.
“If you want, you could call me Lily, and we—we could get to know each other.” Her words were abrupt and rushed, and Harry realized with a start that her mother didn’t know what to do about this situation any more than Harry did. She had abandoned Harry, but now they had met again, all the secrets and lies exposed. They could go anywhere from here, do anything.
The thought was strangely freeing.
“Lily,” Harry said, trying the name out. “I’d like that. To get to know you, and…” she trailed off.
“James,” her father said, and she saw him next to Lily, an anxious, hopeful look on his face. Aunt Petunia stood a few feet away, watching them carefully; but not, Harry thought, with disapproval. “I didn’t…I didn’t know about you. But I’d like to know you now.”
“Okay,” Harry said softly. “Lily and James.”
“And your sister,” Lily said, tears in her eyes. “You’re going to have a sister, you know.”
“A sister,” Harry repeated, and found herself smiling. She’d had the next best thing to a brother in Archie, and before that Dudley, but she’d always wondered what it would be like to have a sister. She guessed she’d find out now.
It would be messy, Harry was sure, and she thought that at some point she would be very, very angry, at her mother and her aunt and even Archie, who had told her secret in the end—but for the first time in almost two years, Harry didn’t feel alone. She had her friends, she had her mentor, she had her aunt, she had parents and a sister. Maybe, she thought, she could tell Dudley about Spider-Man, and then she’d have a cousin again, too.
look out, New York—here comes the Spider-Fam.
+++
“You realize,” Severus said, when his discomfort at the… heartfelt family reunion grew too much for him, “that our difficulties are not yet over. We must still prepare for the Mad Titan. ”
He had hardly spoken the words when there was an immense atmospheric disturbance; he nearly buckled under the blast of displaced air as a blue and silver metal behemoth came to a sudden halt at the edge of the landing pad. There was a moment of chaos as the Avengers drew up in formation, the noncombatants pushed behind them.
Repulsors charged and ready, Severus fought to keep his breathing even as the hatch of the spaceship drew down, the hiss of the hydraulics audible in the silence.
Four figures stepped out, and Severus found himself lowering his hands as he recognized Dumbledore and Remus—Remus! Dumbledore’s brother was a far less welcome sight, but he trusted his friends to have him under control.
The fourth and final figure was unfamiliar to him, though Severus thought he would recognize the eerie blue glow of the stone in her crown anywhere. He might have raised his repulsors again, were it not for the broad smile Dumbledore wore.
“Peace, my friends!” the Asgardian cried. “I bring news of a great victory—the Mad Titan Grindelwald is no more!”
“What?” Severus asked. “How?”
Aberforth Dumbledore, god of thunder, hefted his axe and grinned viciously. “I went for the head.”
FIN