Widow's Vengeance chapter 21

Chapter 21 - Potter

"Are you and Clint fighting?" Harry whispered to Natasha near the end of charms class, resisting the urge to look back at Clint who was sitting behind them.

"Why do you think that?" She whispered back, not looking up from the paper that she was righting.

"Because it seems like you two don't want to talk with each other." Harry quietly answered the question after staying silent for several seconds while Professor Flitwick walked past them.

"It's not a fight," Natasha insisted as she whispered to him. "I just need some space from him."

"Okay." Harry quietly replied, not sure what to say.

"Right, that will be enough for today," Professor Flitwick declared a few minutes later as the class ended. "now, you will all have some homework to do for me. In four days I want all of you to hand in a paper on the ice jinx, class dismissed." He waved them a short goodbye before he waddled over to his desk.

"So," Clint said as he, Harry and Natasha stood up. "do you guys want to go to the library?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "we can finish our transfiguration homework first, it's due tomorrow." Harry reminded them.

"Hmm." Natasha hummed but didn't say anything else, Clint stared at her and resisted the urge to roll his eyes as the group walked out of the classroom.

"I'm going to go play with Knight after," Harry commented as they headed towards the library. "do you guys want to come?" He asked.

"No, thank you," Clint softly refused. "maybe you and Natasha can go on your own." He added, sending a mild and brief glare at Natasha.

"I'd be fine with that," Natasha spoke up, staring at Clint with narrowed eyes.

"Right, so am I the only one who feels that chill in the air?" Harry asked with a deep sigh. "What's going on between you two?" He asked.

"Nothing." The two of them answered at the same time, maybe a little too quickly judging by the look on Harry's face.

"Right," Harry drawled in an unconvinced voice. "and I'm Snape's long lost son," Harry said sarcastically.

"Your nose is a bit big," Clint said thoughtfully, looking like he was actually considering the possibility of that being true. "do you think one day you'll just wake up and it'll be twice as long as before?"

"Shut it," Harry shivered slightly at the thought. "anyway, all I'm saying is that..."

"E...excuse m...mm...me," A voice interrupted. The trio stopped and turned around to see Professor Quirrell walking towards them. "w...w...where are the t...three of you going?" He asked with his usual stutter.

"We're going to the library, sir," Harry answered.

"Oh...g...good," Professor Quirrell nodded before he turned to Natasha. "M...Miss R...Rushman, can you p...please come with me?" He asked.

"What for, sir?" Natasha asked respectfully as her mind went into overdrive, wondering if Professor Quirrell had somehow discovered her. That seemed like the most likely option, as far as she was aware she hadn't done anything to gain his attention.

"I...I have s...something to talk with you about." He told her before turning around and walking away. "Follow m...me," He ordered.

"Oh, crap," Natasha whispered under her breath, she turned to Clint who gave her a short nod which lifted her spirits rather quickly as she knew that was basically Clint's way of saying he had her back. "I'll see you two later then, I guess." She told Harry and Clint before she walked away, following behind Professor Quirrell.

(.)

"H...have you been enjoying y...yourself in s...school?" Professor Quirrell asked as he and Natasha entered his office.

"Yes sir," Natasha said respectfully as she watched Quirrell close the door behind her. "it's really fun," She added, placing her hands in her pocket, gripping onto one of the small blades she had hidden in her clothes.

"That's good, good," Professor Quirrell hummed as he waved his wand over the door, Natasha did her best to not show any reaction beyond confusion as she heard the sound of the door locking. "now, Miss Rushman, you and I need to have a very, very important chat." Professor Quirrell said in an unsettling tone, his stutter was not present at all.

"A chat about what, sir?" She asked innocently.

"About little mudbloods sneaking into places that they shouldn't be in," Professor Quirrell sneered as he pointed his wand at her, the tip glowing green. "that is what we will talk about, Miss Rushman."

'Crap.' Natasha internally sighed. 'Clint's never going to let me hear the end of this.'

(.)

Natasha Romanoff bit back a sigh as she sat in a room with Thor, Steve Rogers A.K.A Captain America, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, the latter two having been dragged away from their lab to help out. Right now the odd group of people were currently looking through information that Shield had gathered about Loki, including a few myths and stories about the trickster god that had been passed down through human history, something that amused Thor a lot. Their information included places that Shield believed that Loki had visited along with potential allies that Loki had gathered.

Natasha ran a hand over her face as the group shifted through the info they were given, she was frustrated and more than a little bit impatient, wanting to get Clint back as soon as possible. Part of her thought about sneaking Revenant into Loki's cell and having him make the self-proclaimed 'god of tricks' talk through any means necessary. She knew that Revenant was also itching to get his hands on Loki as well, she suspected that the only real reason for Revenant not doing things his own way, besides Fury, was him not wanting to risk a confrontation with Thor, and by extension, Asgard by doing so. Though then again, maybe Revenant didn't really care about that and simply didn't want to hear Fury lecture him.

A big part of her couldn't help but wish that Revenant was here, as odd as it may seem, his presence was a source of comfort for her in certain ways. When he wasn't fighting, Revenant always had a calm and controlled presence that Natasha couldn't help but appreciate as it helped her feel calmer. Thor held an otherworldly presence, Steve Rogers was stiff as a board and could do with some relaxing, Bruce Banner was skittish at best due to his fear of losing control and turning into the Hulk, meanwhile Stark was a hyperactive intelligent child in a man's body. Natasha didn't hate or even dislike any of them, but none of them had the calming presence of Revenant, a man who always acted like there was nothing in the world that could harm him.

A knock on the door caused the group to stop and turn their attention to the door as it opened and a man in a blue Shield uniform walked in.

"Whoa," Tony Stark blinked as he stared at the new arrival. "do we need a medic?" He asked, half-joking.

Natasha frowned at Stark for his manners, but he wasn't exactly wrong. The man was incredibly pale, his face thin in a way that made it look like he had been starving for weeks. He looked truly like he was going to collapse at any moment. His body was also thin and the man was clearly underweight, his hands were so boney and thin that she wondered if they had just wrapped a fake skeleton in some skin. He had messy, wild, raven black hair and dim green eyes, he stood at five feet and three inches, much like herself.

"I was told to deliver this to you all," The man said in a raspy voice as he dropped a few folders on the table that the group were sitting around.

"Are you well?" Thor asked in a concerned voice.

"I'm fine," The man replied calmly before covering his mouth as he suffered from a quick coughing fit.

"Really?" Tony asked sceptically, raising an eyebrow. "Please tell me that you're not the guy in charge of handling the food."

"Just yours," The man replied after he stopped coughing. "I made sure to get my hands all over it."

"Hmm," Tony looked more amused than offended by the man's reply. "I guess you still got a little fight in you."

"A bit," The man grunted before turning to Steve. "Captain Rogers, I was asked by Agent Coulson to ask you about your 'uniform'."

"My uniform?" Steve repeated as he stared down at the blue costume that he was wearing.

"Are we really calling that a uniform?" Tony asked, looking like he was trying not to laugh.

"It's what Agent Coulson is calling it," The new arrival shrugged before turning his attention back to Steve. "he wants me to inform you that Shield is currently in the process of designing and making several new uniforms for you, but you'll have to stick with your current one for the time being. He asked if there are any modifications that you'd like to be made to your current one." The man finished, staring at Steve questioningly.

"No, thank you," Steve politely refused. "this suit will be fine until I can get an improved one."

"Right, so I'll tell him you hate it then," The man summarised, causing Steve to look slightly alarmed, the man continued talking before Steve could reply. "I'll go and have a gun and holster brought for you since I figure you still remember how to use one. It'll make your suit look less like something you wear to bed."

"Ha!" Tony laughed loudly. "I like this guy, if someone would just feed him then we could keep him around."

"Is there anything else?" Steve asked, cutting Tony off before he could say more while also sending the new arrival a look that makes it seem like Steve is trying to apologise for Tony's behaviour.

"Shield has prepared a room for Thor," The man answered, nodding to the god of thunder. "he need simply let a Shield agent know if he wants to go there and he'll be escorted there. And that's about it, so I'll go and get out of your hair now." The man nodded to them all, he was about to turn and leave when suddenly the door opened and Director Fury walked in with his hands behind his back, looking as serious as ever. Fury opened his mouth to speak but stopped and trailed off when he saw Harry standing in the room.

"Mr Potter, what are you doing here?" Director Fury asked as he looked down at the new arrival, towering over him seeing as Fury was over six feet tall. Natasha wasn't that surprised that Fury knew the man's name, on one hand, nobody expected a man like Fury to take a personal interest in anybody who wasn't extraordinary, but on the other hand, it also made sense for Fury to try to know as much as he could about everybody on this ship.

"I was..." The new man who was apparently called 'Potter', coughed roughly before he continued with his answer. "...I was delivering some files and relaying information from Agent Coulson, sir." He finished, having spoken in a respectful voice.

"Hmm, good," Director Fury hummed, eyeing Potter in a critical manner. "have you taken your medicine yet?" Director Fury's words may have been phrased as a question, but everybody in the room knew that it was not one and that Fury already knew the answer.

"I..." Potter stopped to take in a deep breath. "...I'm going to go and do that now, sir."

"Good, I need to speak with Revenant as soon as possible." Fury told him.

"Yes, sir," Potter nodded. "I'll fetch him for you."

"Send him straight here," Fury ordered.

"Sir." Potter gave him a nod before he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"Jeez, Fury," Tony spoke up once Potter was gone. "the guy looks like he can't even hold up a cup of water and you got him working here?"

"I think Stark might be exaggerating a little bit," Bruce spoke up for the first time. "but I do agree with him about that man needing medical help."

"Do not worry about Mr Potter," Fury replied in a calm and patient voice. "he's tougher than he looks and is already on medication. Now, I've come here to ask if any of you have made progress on the case yet."

"Not yet, sir." Captain America was the one who answered, he seemed honestly apologetic over that fact.

"We haven't finished going through all the information we have available to us," Natasha spoke up, she was about to say more when the door opened once again, Fury turned around and found himself face to face with Revenant.

"Good, you're here," Fury smiled at him. "I want you to stay here and work with these people, try and find out what Loki is up to." Revenant tilted his head to the side, Natasha couldn't help but feel like the man was imagining Fury's brains being splattered across the room, the man seemingly didn't like the idea of working with the rest of them. "I know you don't like it, but it is important." Fury told Revenant, clearly getting the same impression that Natasha was getting.

"We don't need to," Revenant said. "I can force the information out of Loki myself."

"As tempting as that might be," Fury replied, "I don't think that that's the best idea." he glanced at Thor.

"He's right," Thor spoke up, standing at his full and impressive height. "I will not allow Loki to be harmed by..."

"Then you take responsibility for all the people he will kill," Revenant cut him off. "I'm more than willing to take you out as well if..."

"Enough," Fury cut off any further response. "you will not fight with Thor, the last thing we need is for an entire race of alien warriors to descend down on Earth because you attacked their prince. Now, I have work to do, work together and save the world while I'm gone." Fury told Revenant before he walked past him and out of the room.

Revenant let out a low growl before he moved forwards and sat down in-between Natasha and Captain America.

"Wow," Tony commented as he leaned forward and tried to peek under Revenant's hood but saw nothing except darkness. "how do you do that? Holo-tech?"

"Don't irritate him," Natasha said as she handed Revenant a few folders. "I'm not taking responsibility if he suddenly decides to remove your teeth."

"What?" Tony blinked before staring at Revenant who was now staring back at him. Tony couldn't see Revenant's face, but it was clear to the billionaire that Revenant was considering it, which was a big part of why Tony quickly leaned back. "I don't like this guy." He whispered to himself.