79 Anomalies

Darcy walked out of the apartment with an air of newfound determination, her head held high and her steps exuding confidence. She had just discovered that the biggest obstacle between her and Harry Potter was none other than that red-haired SHIELD agent who tagged along with Harry and Agent Coulson. Instead of backing down like any sane person, she saw it as a challenge.

As everyone piled into their designated vehicles, Erik, Jane, and Ian took the lead car, while Harry, Natasha, and Darcy were left to share the second. Natasha had tried to have Darcy go in the other car, but Jane had practically shoved her toward Harry with an innocent “You should ride together so that you can show them the way.”

That’s how Natasha found herself in this nightmare of a car ride with Darcy pulling every stunt she could to get under her skin.

Natasha clenched her jaw as Darcy leaned forward from the backseat, resting her chin on the center console between her and Harry. “Wow, you’re a really good driver, Harry,” she purred, her voice dripping with faux admiration. “Your hands look so strong on the wheel. Do you, like, work out a lot?”

Harry, who had long since caught on to the game, smirked and shot Natasha a glance. “Yeah, I try to keep in shape,” he said innocently, but Natasha could see the glint in his eyes. Oh, he was enjoying this.

“Oh, I bet you do,” Darcy continued, blatantly ignoring Natasha’s twitching eye. “You know, I personally think wizards should get more appreciation. It’s all ‘Iron Man this’ and ‘Captain America that,’ but you? You’ve got that whole mystical, powerful, secretly dangerous thing going on.”

Natasha exhaled through her nose. I am going to kill her.

Darcy, completely undeterred, reached forward and casually set a hand on Harry’s shoulder. “You must get so stressed, though,” she sighed. “Like, with all that saving-the-world business. You know, I give amazing shoulder massages—”

Natasha moved so fast it was almost imperceptible. One second Darcy’s hand was there; the next, Natasha had not-so-accidentally smacked it away as she adjusted the car’s temperature controls.

“Oh, oops,” Natasha said flatly. “Didn’t see your hand there.”

Darcy narrowed her eyes. “Weird. It’s almost like you did see it.”

“Must be your imagination,” Natasha replied smoothly, flashing her a saccharine smile before turning to Harry. “Babe, I think we should take a detour.”

Darcy’s head snapped up. “Wait, what? Why?”

“I saw a lovely little ditch a few miles back,” Natasha deadpanned. “Perfect place to leave extra baggage.”

Harry coughed to hide his laughter. Darcy, undeterred, crossed her arms and flopped back against the seat. “Hmph. Your fiancée is really mean, Harry,” she whined playfully.

Harry just chuckled. He sent Natasha a look that was way too amused for her liking.

Darcy leaned forward again, a devious smirk playing on her lips. “Well, I like a challenge. And Harry, if you ever need, you know, a different kind of stress relief—”

Natasha’s hand slammed the car’s sound system, blasting the speakers at full volume.

“I KISSED A GIRL AND I LIKED IT—”

Darcy shrieked and clamped her hands over her ears. “WHAT THE HELL?!”

“Oh, sorry,” Natasha said, pretending to adjust the dial. “Slipped.”

Harry was full-on laughing now, struggling to keep the car steady. “I think you two are going to kill each other before we even get to the site.”

“I don’t kill children,” Natasha muttered, giving Darcy a warning glare.

Darcy just grinned, her determination unwavering. “Guess I should be very thankful I’m twenty-four, huh?”

Natasha sighed, massaging her temples. This headache was only going to get worse.

By the time they arrived at the abandoned factory, Natasha was this close to throwing Darcy out of a moving vehicle.

The drive had been pure torture. Between Darcy’s accidental hand brushes with Harry, her exaggerated sighs about how cold the backseat was followed by “Maybe I should move up front, you know, for body heat”, and the not-so-subtle attempts to discuss Harry’s “dating history,” Natasha was fairly certain she now had permanent jaw tension.

Even Harry, who had been enjoying the attention at first, was starting to look like a man trapped between a bomb and a gunfight, with no good options.

So when they finally arrived at the factory, Natasha launched herself out of the car the second it stopped, breathing in the cold, crisp air like a woman who had survived a battlefield.

“Never again,” she thought, shaking her head.

The factory was a dilapidated skeleton of bricks, metal and rust. Broken windows, half-collapsed walls, and the eerie silence of an abandoned industrial site. A group of SHIELD  agents, who had arrived earlier, had secured the perimeter, greeted them with a nod. “No signs of immediate threats.” They reported to Natasha.

“The anomalies are concentrated inside,” Erik added, staring at his tablet with a deep frown.

Natasha took a step forward, but before she could issue any orders, Darcy dramatically flipped her hair and waltzed right past her.

“It’s this way,” Darcy declared, confidently pointing deeper into the complex.

Natasha narrowed her eyes. “And you know this how?”

Darcy gave a nonchalant shrug. “Oh, you know. A feeling,” she said in an exaggerated, flirty hair toss before turning back and walking ahead.

Natasha clenched her fists but tried to keep her emotions on check as much as she could. As they moved further into the complex, Darcy continued her antics with relentless determination. First, she trailed just a little too close to Harry, occasionally “accidentally” bumping into him.

“Oh, my bad,” she giggled after the fourth time, clinging onto his arm for balance. “This floor is super uneven.”

Natasha side-eyed her. The floor was made of solid concrete.

Next, when Erik and Jane were discussing gravitational distortions, Darcy completely ignored the conversation and focused on adjusting Harry’s jacket.

“It’s chilly, don’t want you catching a cold,” she cooed, deliberately brushing her fingers against his jaw.

Natasha’s eye twitched. I swear to every god in existence, if she doesn’t step back—

But the worst offense? The absolute cherry on top?

As they paused to assess a strange reading from Erik’s scanner, Darcy reached into her bag and pulled out a thermos.

“Here, Harry,” she said sweetly. “I brought you some hot cocoa. You looked like you could use a little sweetness in your life.”

Natasha folded her arms. “Funny, I don’t remember seeing you pack that.”

Darcy grinned. “Oh, I made it this morning. You know, just in case.”

Natasha inhaled slowly. “Just in case what?”

Darcy took a very deliberate sip of her own cocoa. “Just in case I needed to win a wizard’s heart.”

Natasha’s patience snapped like a twig. Natasha yanked the thermos from his hands, popped the lid, and took a long, slow sip herself.

“Mmm,” Natasha hummed, smacking her lips. “Not bad.”

Darcy gasped, scandalized. “That was for Harry!”

Natasha handed the now half-empty thermos back to Harry with a perfectly smug smile. “Oops. Guess I was thirsty.”

Darcy scowled, gripping her own cup tighter. “Wow. You’re really playing dirty, huh?”

Natasha smirked. “I am a spy, after all.”

Darcy huffed but, instead of backing down, she took another sip of her drink, her eyes burning with newfound resolve.

The game was still on.

And Natasha’s headache?

It was definitely getting worse.

However, Natasha didn’t get time to nurse her headache. There was a scuttling noise nearby and, Natasha’s hand snapped up in an instant, signaling for the group to halt.

“Stay behind us,” Harry ordered, his voice leaving zero room for argument.

The scientists, including Jane and Erik, immediately obeyed, huddling together as Natasha and Harry went full professional.

Natasha unholstered her Glock, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the area. Harry, meanwhile, raised his wand and whispered a detection spell. His magic painted a map of the surrounding area in his mind, and any living creatures in the area. “Three people,” he murmured to Natasha.

Natasha nodded, and both she and Harry carefully moved towards where Harry had sensed the individuals. Darcy swallowed hard, suddenly very aware that she had been goofing around with two very dangerous people after seeing their shift in behavior.

As they reached the source of the disturbance, they rounded a stack of rusted metal crates and found themselves face-to-face with three children—two boys and a girl—huddled together in the corner. Their wide, terrified eyes darted between Harry and Natasha.

Natasha holstered her weapon and took a step forward. The kids flinched, eyes darting toward Harry, but Natasha crouched down to their level, her expression shifting into something soft.

“Hey there,” she said gently. “What are you lot doing here?”

The three kids hesitated, exchanging nervous glances.

Natasha could tell they were frightened, probably more by her and Harry’s sudden arrival than whatever strange phenomenon they had stumbled upon. She reached into her pocket, pulled out a few pieces of bubblegum, and held them out in her open palm.

“Here,” she offered with a reassuring smile. “You chew, I’ll talk.”

The kids hesitated at first, but the youngest was the first to take one. The other two followed cautiously, unwrapping the gum and popping it into their mouths.

Natasha kept her posture relaxed, giving them space. “We’re not here to get you in trouble,” she assured them. “We just want to make sure you're safe.”

The girl, studied Natasha carefully. “Are you with the police?” she asked, her small hands fidgeting with the gum wrapper.

Natasha shook her head. “No, we just heard something strange was happening here, and we came to check it out. Make sure no one gets hurt.” She glanced around meaningfully. “Including you three.”

The apparent leader of the group straightened slightly, emboldened by Natasha’s non-threatening tone. “We didn’t mean to break in or anything,” he said quickly. “We just—well—found it.”

Natasha arched a brow. “It?”

The boy nodded and pointed further into the factory. “There’s a truck over there… and weird stuff happens around it.”

Natasha exchanged a glance with Harry, who had been quietly observing, letting her take the lead. He gave her a small nod, letting her know he trusted her instinct.

Natasha turned back to the kids with an encouraging smile. “Think you can show us?”

The three kids hesitated for only a moment before nodding in unison.

“Alright then,” Natasha said, standing up and ruffling Lucas’s hair lightly. “Lead the way.”

And just like that, the kids were fully on their side. Darcy, meanwhile, was shocked by how Natasha’s behavior went from irritated fiancée to spy to a motherly figure in an instant

“Damn,” she muttered under her breath, staring at Natasha in something close to awe. “That was kinda hot.”

“Yeah”, Ian replied beside her, as awed as she was.

The leader of the kids stepped forward, glanced at the group, then hesitantly reached out. With just two fingers, he pressed against the truck’s bumper. After which, the entire vehicle floated. It lifted off the ground like a helium balloon, hovering weightlessly in midair as if gravity had forgotten it.

The scientists collectively sucked in a breath. “That…” Darcy’s voice trailed off as she took a step closer. She leaned in, inspecting the chassis from different angles. “That doesn’t look like it’s been rigged.”

The group cautiously approached the truck, surrounding it like archaeologists stumbling upon an untouched relic.

Erik walked around it, running a hand over the metal. His eyes lit up with fascination. “This… this is how they did it.”

Harry raised an eyebrow. “Did what?”

“The ancients.” Erik gestured animatedly. “The Egyptians, the Mayans, civilizations that moved impossibly heavy stones without modern machinery. They must have discovered these gravitational anomalies and used them to assist in construction.” His gaze flickered with pure scientific wonder. “Phenomenal.”

As the scientists marveled over the floating truck, Harry and Natasha moved a few steps away, scanning the site for any magical disturbances.

“This isn’t you, right?” Natasha asked, even though she already knew the answer.

Harry shook his head. “No. This is all the universe’s doing. There’s no magic behind it, at least none that I can sense.”

Natasha hesitated for a moment before voicing the thought that had been lingering in her mind. “Just a thought… but if there are rips in space forming because of the Convergence, do you think there’s a chance?” she exhaled, bracing herself. “A chance that you might find a way back to your universe?”

Harry was quiet as he considered it. “It’s possible,” he admitted. “A cosmic event like this? If the right kind of tear opened, it could lead anywhere.”

Natasha’s fingers curled into fists at her sides, though she kept her voice even. “And if that happened… would you want to go?”

Harry turned to her, hearing the vulnerability hidden beneath her controlled tone. He could see it in her posture too, how her shoulders were just a little too stiff, how her eyes were locked on the ground instead of on him.

He didn’t hesitate with his answer.

“I won’t lie. Part of me would love to see how things turned out after I left. To know if my friends are okay, if my world is still the same.” He took a breath. “But I have a life here now. I have you here.”

Natasha finally looked at him, searching his face.

“I wouldn’t trade that for a past that’s already moved on without me,” he continued. “If going back means never coming back here, then I don’t want to go at all. My old world has moved on without me, and so have I.”

Natasha let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. A slow, relieved exhale that made her shoulders loosen.

She nodded, then reached for his hand, squeezing it tightly.

Before Natasha could say anything else, a familiar voice cut through the moment like nails on a chalkboard.

“Why don’t we split up and check out the other anomalies?” Darcy suggested brightly, stepping way too close to Harry’s side. “Harry can go with me, while the SHIELD Agent can go with Erik and Jane.” She even pointed at Natasha as if assigning her a group project.

Natasha’s eye twitched.

Harry sighed.

The sheer audacity of this woman.

Instead of dignifying Darcy’s suggestion with a response, Natasha turned sharply on her heel and crouched down to the kids’ level again, flashing them a warm smile.

“Can you show us what else you found?” she asked politely.

The kids perked up immediately, their faces lighting with excitement. “Yeah! We found something really weird over here!” one of the boys said, already grabbing Natasha’s hand to pull her along.

“Cool,” Natasha replied, letting them lead her forward without sparing Darcy a second glance.

Harry smirked at Natasha’s handling of the situation, then gave Darcy an apologetic shrug before following after his fiancée.

Darcy huffed, crossing her arms. “Oh, come on,” she muttered under her breath. “At least pretend I’m a threat.”

But Natasha was already gone, her attention fully on the mission.

For now.

Darcy, however, wasn’t done yet. Not by a long shot.

The kids led them to a stairwell deep inside the factory. One of them picked up an empty bottle, dropped it down the steps and they all watched as it vanished into thin air.

“Where did it go?” Darcy asked, peering down the stairwell.

The girl silently pointed upward. Everyone tilted their heads just in time to see the bottle reappear above them, falling again into the exact same spot where it had disappeared. It kept looping—fall, vanish, reappear, repeat.

“That’s incredible,” Ian breathed.

Jane picked up a nearby can and dropped it, expecting the same effect. It disappeared like the bottle, but this time nothing came back.

“What happened?” Erik asked, frowning.

The girl shrugged. “Sometimes they come back. Sometimes they don’t.”

Darcy clapped her hands. “I wanna throw something! Jane, give me your shoe.”

Jane ignored her, pulling out a gadget to scan the readings. “I haven't seen energy spikes like this since…” She trailed off.

Darcy smirked. “New Mexico?”

Jane gave her a delighted look before suddenly rushing off. “Don't touch anything!” she called over her shoulder.

Darcy, undeterred, turned to Ian. “Gimme your shoe.”

Jane, meanwhile, drifted away from the group. She glanced back at them, then looked down at her scanner. The readings were getting stronger. She followed them.

Back on the stairwell, Ian reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. “Okay, one more,” he muttered before casually dropping it into the anomaly.

Everyone watched as the keys float into the air.

There was a beat of silence.

Then Darcy’s eyes widened. “Wait… were those the car keys?”

Ian blinked. “Uh…”

Before panic could set in, Harry lazily waved his hand, casting an Accio charm. A second later, the keys shot back into his hand like a well-trained boomerang.

Darcy let out an exaggerated sigh of relief, clutching her chest. “Harry, you lifesaver! If you hadn’t been here, we’d be stranded in the middle of spooky sci-fi town with no way home.”

She dramatically threw her arms around him in a hug. “Thank you!”

Harry awkwardly patted her back, trying to untangle himself. Natasha, on the other hand, had her arms crossed and one eye twitching.

“Alright, enough of that,” Natasha said flatly, prying Darcy off him like someone detaching a particularly stubborn piece of Velcro.

Darcy grinned at her. “Just expressing my gratitude.”

Natasha smiled back, but there was no warmth in it. “Express it from over there.” She pointed a good ten feet away.

Harry coughed to cover up his laugh while Darcy, undeterred, simply winked at him and took exactly one step back.

While Darcy and Erik focused on collecting as much data as possible, scanning the anomalies and taking measurements, Harry and Natasha followed the kids deeper into the factory to see what else they had discovered.

Everywhere they looked, there were strange spatial distortions with objects vanishing from one spot and reappearing elsewhere, sometimes in a loop, sometimes unpredictably. One kid tossed a rock forward, only for it to reappear behind them a second later. Another pointed to a crack in the floor where a puddle of water seemed frozen mid-splash, defying gravity entirely.

As the hours passed, Natasha sensed something was off. She did a quick scan of their group before frowning. “Where’s Jane?” she asked, her voice cutting through the chatter.

The others turned, startled by the question.

“What do you mean, where’s Jane?” Erik asked, his expression shifting from confusion to panic as he spun around, searching for her.

A tense silence fell over the group before they all started frantically looking around. They called Jane’s name, checked the stairwell, the truck, and every anomaly they had encountered. But there was no sign of her.

Natasha’s jaw clenched as she activated her comms. “SHIELD teams, report in. We have a missing person. Jane Foster. Initiate a full perimeter sweep. Be careful so that no one gets caught in any anomalies.”

The SHIELD agents quickly mobilized following Natasha’s instructions to avoid the dangerous distortions. The kids, now frightened, huddled together until Natasha crouched down beside them.

“You’ve been a great help today,” she said gently. “But it’s time to head home, okay?”

At her signal, two SHIELD agents stepped forward to escort the children out of the factory. Meanwhile, Harry’s started casting spells to locate Jane. His magic pulsed outward, seeking her presence, but came up empty.

“That’s… strange,” he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

Frowning, he tried again, layering multiple location spells. Still, nothing. No trace of Jane, as if she had simply vanished from existence.

“She’s not here,” Harry stated, confused.

Darcy swallowed hard, her usual playfulness gone. “What do you mean ‘not here’? Like… not here, here? Or—?”

“She might have fallen into a wormhole,” Erik said gravely, his face pale under the dim factory lights.

A heavy silence followed his words. The implications were terrifying. Jane could be anywhere or worse, nowhere at all.

And they had no idea how to bring her back.