Chapter Text
Harry woke up, feeling slightly disoriented as he took in his surroundings. Though the room he found himself in was quite grand, it was nothing compared to what he’d had at home.
Home. A place where he wouldn’t be returning anytime soon. At least, not until things calmed down some, and then, they’d probably only go back for his Father’s funeral. The young boy blinked back the sudden urge to cry, he’d done enough of that already, his pale cheeks flushed with heat as he remembered having fallen apart on his Godfather’s chest. Hopefully he hadn’t made Mr. Stark too uncomfortable with his actions, honestly, Harry hadn’t known what had overtaken him at that moment, all he knew was that he wanted to be comforted, the way he was often done by his own Father. Shaking his head, he stepped off the bed with a sigh, he didn’t want to dwell on such thoughts anymore. He made his way to the bathroom, not looking forward to the day ahead, but knowing things would have to get done sooner rather than later.
He’d need to get used to his new life, whether he liked it or not.
Natasha blinked, eyeing the well dressed figure in front of her. Harry had smiled shyly when he saw her, before dropping his emerald gaze to the floor.
“Good morning Miss Natasha.” The little boy whispered timidly, still not meeting her eyes. The Black Widow smiled, approaching him with gentle steps.
“Good morning Harry. I’m glad you’re joining us for breakfast.” Harry flushed, briefly meeting her eyes before looking around the kitchen to where Bruce and Steve were already sitting, and tucking into their meals.
“Hi Harry.” Steve greeted the boy, a bright smile on his face as he took in Harry’s attire. He was wearing slacks and a long sleeved shirt, looking all too formal for his young age. Bruce seemed to be thinking among the same lines, because his eyebrow was raised, though he didn’t make mention of it, deciding to just greet Harry instead.
Harry took a seat next to him, suddenly feeling uncomfortable at the thought of being here, alone, with these people who were basically strangers to him. Natasha handed Steve a plate, who proceeded to pile on pancakes and fruit onto it before sliding it gently over to where Harry was sitting.
The young heir smiled tightly, wondering why they didn’t have their own servants here. Back home, he had many at his beck and call, they were in charge of everything from feeding him to doing his shopping for him. It seemed rude to ask about that now, so all he did was begin to cut into his pancakes. His grumbling tummy let him know that he really was hungrier than what he’d thought, and soon he lost himself in the simple comfort the food offered him. They really were good pancakes, he wanted to offer his compliments but who had made them?
“These are, really good.” He said, looking at the three superheroes who were all eyeing him with various states of interest from underneath his long lashes. Bruce smiled, pushing up his glasses. “I’m glad you think so, I made them.” Harry nodded, continuing to eat his meal, before a thought occurred to him. “Where’s Mr. Stark?”
“Tony left very early this morning, he wanted to wake you, but I told him not to.” Natasha explained softly. Harry swallowed, suddenly wishing he had something to wash down his food with.
As though reading his thoughts, Steve got up from his seat and went to the cabinet, taking out a glass and filling it with milk. He handed it over to the young boy, who whispered a quiet thank you to the super soldier. “Where did he go?” Harry asked, after taking a long gulp of milk.
“To the office. There was stuff he needed to take care of, but don’t worry, he said he’d try to be back as early as possible, and he also told us that if you needed anything, or wanted to talk to him, you could call him whenever you wanted.” Steve told him, his blue eyes kind.
“Yeah, don’t worry kid, we’ll take care of you until Tony gets back.” Clint had materialized from out of nowhere, patting his back gently. Harry had stiffened under the touch, but he nodded along all the same.
They’d lost Harry.
It all began when the group of people had been allowed inside the Mansion, no doubt having been sent over by Pepper to get Harry’s rooms ready for him. Steve had been charged with keeping an eye on them and answering whatever questions they may hand had, while Clint and Natasha went off to SHIELD headquarters for a meeting they had with Fury. Bruce had been the one who’d volunteered to watch over Harry, since he really didn’t like strangers crowding his personal space, or even talking to them, so he’d taken Harry to another part of the Mansion, giving him a small tour of the place.
Harry’s thoughts appeared to be elsewhere, but Bruce didn’t take offense to the lack of attention the boy was paying him, after all, the young child had just lost his Father, and had been forced to move to a completely different place from where he’d grown up in. When Thor had arrived in search of him, Bruce had excused himself to talk to the God of Thunder some ways away.
He swore their conversation had only taken minutes, but by the time both he and Thor had returned to the library, where they’d last left Harry, the boy was gone. They started to call his name, knowing he couldn’t have gone far, but Harry didn’t answer their calls.
Bruce had immediately started to worry, as was in his nature, every single possibility crossing his mind as he thought about Harry’s sudden disappearance. They hadn’t even thought to ask Jarvis where the boy might be, too busy imagining Harry being kidnapped or taken or falling off the balcony and into the sea below.
When Steve mentioned asking for Jarvis’ help, Bruce had flushed, while Thor had rubbed the back of his head, chagrined for not having thought of that earlier.
Eventually, they found the missing boy inside of Tony’s lab. Why Jarvis had allowed him access in there was beyond them, though the child didn’t appear to be doing anything other than exploring. He was handing things to DUM-E who would place them somewhere else, and the cycle would continue. Harry was smiling at the chirps and beeps the robot made, his arms reaching out for whatever item Harry would hand him next. It was endearing to witness, and Steve knew that Tony would want to see this later on, he made note to mention watching the video feed inside of here later on, to him.
“Harry. There you are! You can’t just run off on us like that.” Bruce admonished softly, eyeing the young boy. Harry looked down at his feet, properly chastised. Steve furrowed his brow, but kept quiet, Bruce had a point, anything could’ve happened to the little one, especially inside a place like this. “I’m sorry Dr. Banner, it won’t happen again.” He sounded so solemn that said doctor immediately felt bad.
“I hope not, I’d hate for you to miss lunch, Clint brought us ice cream from one of the best ice cream shops in the state.” At the mention of ice cream, Harry visibly perked up, emerald eyes shining at the thought of the sweet treat.
“Ice cream?” He asked, looking from one man to the other. Steve grinned at the obvious bribe, who’d have known that Bruce was a huge softie when it came to children? The man who everyone feared for being the Hulk held out his hand almost unconsciously, and Harry furrowed his brow, seeming to debate with himself, before he took the offered limb between his.