Harry Potter: Syndicate of Heroes

"Go," was all Gwen said.

With a nod, Harry turned and fled the Den, only just managing to stop himself from apparating or portkeying straight out of the place. Instead, Harry hurried to his apartment upstairs and into his room. There, he changed as fast has he could, donning his Mage outfit; after all, it would do no good to appear in Malibu where others could see without a way to hide his magic use.

As soon as he was ready, he tapped his face with his wand before tapping a small wooden spool and disappearing in a flash of multi-coloured light.

When Harry arrived, it was to almost immediately stumble backwards.

There was almost nothing left of Tony's mansion. A small amount of rubble remained; part of a wall here or there. And smoke; there was plenty of smoke and even a few flames off to either side.

Harry's mind drifted back over a dozen years and across to a different continent to the ruins of a massive castle, a castle that once was his home. Looking about, he immediately noted the biggest difference – the lack of bodies lying about. Shaking his head, he forced his mind back to the here and now, back to the reason that he'd come.

A figure off to one side caught his attention. She was dirty, covered in dust and ash, her hair was dishevelled and there were tear tracks running from her eyes.

"Pepper," Harry said as approached.

Pepper spun about, her eyes widening slightly at the sight of him.

"Ha … Mage," she said before throwing her arms around him and beginning to sob.

"What happened?" Harry asked as he gently patted her back.

"There were helicopters and … explosions and and then Tony put his armour on me and he was still inside!" he babbled.

"Alright, he was inside, that doesn't mean that he's gone," Harry said, trying to reassure her. "Was he wearing one of his suits?"

"Yes," she confirmed.

"There, then he's alright. Not much can damage that armour and you know that it's waterproof. Plus, he's got Jarvis in there to look after him," Harry said.

"You're right, you're right," Pepper said, pulling away and scrubbing her face with her hand. "He's going to be alright."

After giving her arm an extra pat, Harry strode across what was left of the house, pulling his wand as he did. From up here, it was impossible to see anything that the water had swallowed. That didn't stop him trying though.

"Homenum revelio!" he intoned, putting as much power into the spell as possible.

Unfortunately, it came up empty, but whether that was because Tony was dead or because he wasn't in there was anyone's guess.

"Accio Tony Stark!" Harry tried again.

Once again, his spell came up empty.

"Mage!"

Pepper's scream spun Harry around and he sprinted back to her. She was standing there, one of the Iron Man helmets in her hands.

"He's alive!" she grinned.

"How do you know? Where is he?" Harry asked urgently.

"He sent a message," Pepper replied, lifting the helmet to indicate how she'd received it. "But he didn't say where he was.

"He's alive, that's something," Harry said, feeling some of the weight that he'd been feeling since he'd heard the news report lifting, lightening the heaviness in his chest. "Knowing Tony, he's probably been distracted with something. He'll come home as soon as Jarvis reminds him to."

"You're right. He's Tony. He's always alright," Pepper agreed, but Harry could hear the worry still in her voice.

"Pepper," a new woman that Harry's never seen before said from off to the side. "We can't stay here; they'll be back."

"Yes. You're right," Pepper nodded. "Mage. Thank you for coming."

"Anytime, Pepper, you know that," Harry replied. "If you need me, you know how to get hold of me."

"I will," she promised.

She was pulled away then and Harry watched her go. Then, after taking one last look at the ruins of the mansion, he activated his portkey.

ooo00ooo

"Director Fury."

Nick looked up from his tablet and nodded at the two standing off to one side.

"I don't know anything," he said, answering their questions before they could even be asked.

"We request permission to take a quinjet to Malibu," Natasha said.

"Denied," Nick replied quickly. Seeing the looks on both Clint and Natasha's faces, he sighed slightly, not that they would notice. "Look. I know what you're thinking but I need you here. Stark can take care of himself and he can get his damn-fool ass out of the mess he got himself into. What kind of idiot invites terrorists to his very home? If it makes you feel any better, I'll send one of the nearest teams to get a detailed report of what happened."

The two Avengers looked at each other before falling in line.

"Yes, Sir," they replied together.

Outwardly, Nick nodded before turning back to the report that he'd been reading. Internally, though, he had to wonder how much longer these two would last as Agents – clearly their ties to S.H.I.E.L.D. were slowly being replaced by the Avengers Initiative. Which, when it came right down to it, was precisely what he wanted. Didn't mean he had to be happy about losing two of his finest, though.

"Better take the same advice," stool bar man said with a broad grin. "Get out of the Kitchen while you still can. You won't last a day otherwise."

With one swallow, he finished off his whiskey before slamming the glass back onto the bar.

"Get out while you still can, before the Devil gets you, too," the same guy chuckled.

The toothpick still twirling in his fingers, he walked to the door. Then, just before he exited, he twirled, his hand coming up and the toothpick flying dead and true. The man at the bar grasped his throat as he began gagging.

Ignoring the dying man, he continued back onwards to the street. The regular people here were running scared, no wonder he'd been called in. Now to see his 'employer' and see what he'd get paid to rid the city of the devil on their shoulder.

ooo00ooo

The instant that Tony saw the missile tracking towards his Malibu home on the TV he knew that he'd made a mistake of epic proportions. Giving out his home address to terrorists was something that he'd never do again. Assuming that he lived through the next minute, that is. And that he still had a home.

As the missile hit and the world around him exploded, Tony knew that there was only one importance: protecting Pepper. The Mark 42 armour was the only one in the room, thankfully it had the new remote command function. Even as he was blown backwards, he could see the armour beginning to attach. Now whatever happened, everything would be alright.

The next five minutes were pure terror. The house was disintegrating around him; missiles were hitting at annoying regularity. Getting his armour back on his body helped him gain some confidence, after all, he'd taken on an army from space. The instant that the thought crossed his mind, Tony violently squashed it away – he had no time for a panic attack right then.

Two helicopters were down and he was about to get a bead on the third when the second crashed into what was left of the mansion.

There was no escape from what followed. Chucks of concrete; cars; furniture; the roof all crashed around him and took him with him in their slide down the cliff face and into the water. Through the facemask, he could only stare in horror at the sight of the rest of the house plummeting after him.

And then it landed, crashing into the sea floor around him and burying him alive. Tony could feel his heartrate spike and his breathing coming in short, sharp spurts.

"Sir, take a deep breath," Jarvis stated and all Tony could do was trust his A.I. with his very life.

ooo00ooo

Being in a small village in Brazil wasn't Bruce's first choice in life. But with his … propensity to lose control, it was always best to be as far away from civilization as possible. At least if something went wrong, there was less chance for innocent people to get hurt out here in the middle of nowhere, not to mention the fact that the Hulk did seem to enjoy being able to roam free in the wilderness.

For the briefest of times, Bruce had thought that he might be able to stay in New York with his newest … friends, allies, teammates, whatever they were. He knew that they, at least, had the power to contain the Hulk or at least redirect him somewhere safer. But what would be their new home needed some work done to it, so, for now, they'd separated, gone their own way to take care of what was important to them.

He'd been a medical doctor before, most recently in India where Natasha had found him. It was a good profession, not quite what he was trained for, but close enough to help people in small, out-of-the-way communities that wouldn't normally have access to medical help. And it made him feel as though he was giving something back, repaying humanity for the death and destruction that the Hulk had caused.

At the moment, Bruce was resting in his cabin, his usual medical hours in the village having finished an hour before. While he lay on his bed reading a medical journal, the radio played in the background, but it was merely noise, his attention wasn't on it.

A single name read out by the newsreader snapped his attention to the radio and he sat up in shock.

"… Stark. I repeat, word has come from Malibu, California of the presumed death of Tony Stark. There are confirmed reports of an unspecified number of armed helicopters firing missiles into Tony Stark's Malibu mansion, utterly destroying the mansion before the remains of the building, with the billionaire inside, sank to the bottom of the ocean. At this stage, Stark has not been found, either alive or dead. We will bring you more of this story as soon as we have it."

Before Bruce had even really considered what he was doing, he was up and moving about the room, gathering his meagre belongings and throwing them haphazardly into his bag.

To be honest, he wasn't sure exactly what he was hoping to accomplish, all he knew was that he wanted to be back in America, closer to his friends to celebrate with them when Tony was found. He refused to even consider any other scenario.

ooo00ooo

Harry had stood frozen in place as the news report, complete with footage from a nearby news helicopter, played on the television in the corner of the Marauder's Den.

"No no no no," Doreen was whispering, but Harry wasn't paying her the slightest attention.

A hand on his arm ripped Harry's attention from the TV. Big blue eyes stared at him in horror and understanding.

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