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Damaged Bodies, Growing Lives, Building Families	By : StarLightMassacre Category: Marvel Verse Movies > Avengers, The Views: 20994 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Harry Potter, Avengers or the Marvel universe; all rights go to J. K. Rowling, Marvel and Stan Lee. I make no money for this piece of fictional writing and never will.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
Last Time
His life seemed to be one disaster after another from the moment he had been born…no, even before he’d been born he’d been trouble with the making of that prophecy. He’d gone from disaster, to disaster, to disaster with the odd catastrophe thrown in for good measure too. He just wanted to be normal. He didn’t want to be a hero, he didn’t want to be a target, he didn’t want to be involved with all this fucking shit any more. He just wanted to be Harry; he just wanted to be free to live his life, with his baby and with the Avengers if they still thought of him as a friend, though they had come for him after all. Clint and Pepper at least seemed to still want him around, he just really didn’t want to be the centre of attention any more, he didn’t want to be the one always in the middle of the disasters, he wanted a nice, quiet life, with his baby, in the house he had picked out and decorated himself, with his friends, why was that so much to ask for? Why was it always him who was the target? He cuddled into Clint more as Pepper brought over a bowl of washed, prepared blueberries and three cups of tea. There was no way that he was going to be able to sleep tonight.
Chapter Eighteen – Magnetic Attraction
The five other Avengers team members came back soot stained, sweaty, but happy a few hours after Harry had been driven to the tower by Clint. He was still on the settee, cuddled up with Clint, who was drawing absent patterns on Harry’s arm with his fingertips. Sean was fast asleep against the other arm of the same settee. Being under the effects of chloroform was far from restful after all, Harry definitely didn’t blame Sean for falling asleep. Now if only he could shut his own mind down long enough to drift off himself, but his thoughts were chasing one another in a dizzying circle and he couldn’t stop them as he analytically processed everything that had happened to him and Sean.
“We’ve been trying to shut down that warehouse for a year now, we did that and captured all of the people in that building for questioning tonight. There were a hundred and twenty-three of them, Fury is positive that we’ll get some answers now.” Natasha said.
Harry smiled tiredly. “I hope so; I don’t want to live my life in fear of opening my own front door.”
“Are you staying here tonight?” Tony asked.
Harry nodded. “If that’s okay with you.”
“Of course, you don’t even have to ask, consider this your home away from home; you can come and stay here any time you like, Harry.” Tony said. “You remember where your room is?”
Harry nodded.
“Right then, I’m off to shower and get to bed, I’m exhausted after the night of arse kicking.”
Harry watched Tony leave and then, after expressing how happy they were to see him unhurt and okay, the others followed suit and he was so glad that they weren’t fussing around him and weren’t surrounding him on all sides. He had a feeling that Clint’s sharp, poisonous glares had had a hand in that.
“Do you want to go down to your room?” Clint asked, shifting himself forward, to the edge of the settee and looking at him questioningly. “I can put Sean into a guest room too, so he’ll be a bit more comfortable.”
Harry shook his head. “No. I’m okay; you can go get to bed though, you must be tired as well. I’ll watch over Sean.”
Clint shook his head. “Are you really okay? You don’t…you look a little pale.”
Harry opened his mouth and then ducked his head. He sighed. “I am tired, really, really tired. I just don’t want to go to bed, I don’t want to sleep and I…I don’t want to be alone right now either and with Sean sleeping…”
Clint sat back from where he’d moved to the edge of the settee and he wrapped an arm around Harry again and pulled him to rest against his body. He picked up the TV remote and switched it on and turned the channel to some cheesy, monster movie from decades ago and they sat and they watched it, laughing quietly so they didn’t disturb Sean, who was right next to them or Tony, who was just a few rooms away from them. They stayed snuggled up on that settee together all night, until they finally fell asleep at about seven in the morning.
They were woken up by someone, who turned out to be Thor, almost sending them flying as he sat on the same settee as them very gracelessly and very forcefully, jolting them awake as over six hundred pounds of muscle almost collapsed the settee under them.
“Harry, friend, I am very pleased to see that you and the babe are well!” He boomed.
Harry blinked blearily and stifled a massive yawn.
“Thanks, Thor. I’m happy to see you too. What time is it?”
“It is past the lunching hour.” Thor informed them. “Steve has kept you both a meal, but Jarvis has said that you did not get to sleep until very early in the morning.”
Harry forced himself up with Clint’s big hand on his lower back to help him as he cupped the baby bulge. The little mite within had woken up and was moving restlessly.
He made his way to the kitchen and he fell onto the food that a smiling Bruce handed to him. Sean was already awake and he was eating as well, but he kept looking at the clock and then looking to the lift doors.
“I can’t believe you got yourself and Sean up into that little space.” Bruce said as he watched Harry watching Sean.
“I forced myself to climb up there with Sean over my shoulder.” Harry said. “It was a good idea. We would have been found and recaptured hours before you lot showed up if we’d had to stay on the floor.”
“We had to plan a way into the building.” Bruce said apologetically. “There were some of us who wanted to just smash through the walls, but we knew that we couldn’t put you both at any further risk. It was a weapons factory after all, they had endless amounts of guns and ammo and we didn’t actually know where you both were. We had to tread carefully.”
“It’s alright, I understand that infiltrating that building would have taken time and careful planning. It seemed like days though, with the fear and the adrenaline, it seemed to take forever.”
Harry went quiet and he sighed as he ate some of his lunch. He was more tired than hungry, but he nibbled at it so no one worried needlessly about him.
“Are you okay, Sean?” Harry asked as he nudged his distracted friend.
Sean nodded. “They called Joe, he was sleeping this morning, they sedated him, but he’s been awake with the enforcers all night, so he needed his sleep, but they’re on their way now. I got the impression that they gave him the sleeping pills when he wasn’t looking as he didn’t sound at all happy on the phone. They were halfway across the city at the main enforcer compound, so it’s been a while since I talked to Joe, but they should be here soon.”
Harry cuddled his friend and they both ate little nibbles and when they were done they were ushered to sit down on the settee again and they were talking together softly when the lift pinged and a wild looking Joe stepped out followed by Luke and his team.
Sean let out a soft noise and stood up, he didn’t even get to take a step forward before Joe flew at him and grabbed him up into a hug, Sean wrapping around him tightly and Harry felt teary just watching them as Sean burst out into tears and clung to Joe tightly.
Harry was surprised when Joe turned and dragged him into a hug as well lifting him from the floor, with a bit more difficultly as Harry had two months of pregnancy on Sean. Despite him having a smaller than average bump he was still bigger than Sean was as his friend was only at five months gestation to his seven.
Joe held both him and Sean tightly and he just had to blow a raspberry on Harry’s neck. It made him giggle.
“I told you to stop doing that.” He complained as he was set back down on the floor gently. Sean was not put down and didn’t seem to want to go anywhere either.
Joe cupped Harry’s chin, smiling. “Thank you for helping Sean. I’ve been told how you woke up and how you didn’t leave Sean behind.”
“Of course not, he’s my friend!” Harry insisted. “Even if I’d hated him I wouldn’t have left him. I just don’t do things like that.”
Joe nodded and bent forward so that he could kiss his head, which made Harry blink a bit stupidly as Joe had never done such a thing before.
“I know, you’re too kind for your own good sometimes, especially after everything you’ve been through, but thank you for helping Sean and our daughter. I hope you’ll still be living next door to us?”
“Of course he will be! Because even if he moves now after this, we’re moving with him!” Sean said loudly and insistently.
Harry smiled as Sean glared Joe down furiously, silently daring him to say otherwise.
“I’m not moving anywhere. I bought that house, decorated it, set it up for me and my baby. I’m not going to let anyone ruin that and I’m definitely going to increase security, this will never happen again.” He said seriously. “That house is mine, for me and my baby, and no one will take it away from me.”
“We’ve cleaned it all up for you, we’ve got people coming today to fix the…ah, bullet holes.” Luke told him, grimacing as he mentioned the holes in his walls.
Harry nodded and he hugged Luke tightly. “Thank you.”
“I’m so sorry that we didn’t reach you in time.” Luke told him, very upset. “I’m going to be drilling my team, upping their training, putting them through all the advanced driving courses, everything I can think of to lower our response time. I’m just so glad that you’re alright.”
“You don’t need to. I’m fine. Sean is fine. It wasn’t your fault, it wasn’t your team’s fault. They were never going to stop coming after me, Luke. For whatever reason, they wanted me and didn’t care who they took down in their mission to get me. I’m safe now and the people who did this to me are in S.H.I.E.L.D custody. They can’t hurt me now, so don’t worry so much.”
“I do worry about you and every other Omega. I won’t rest until you are completely safe.” Luke insisted.
Harry smiled. “I’m staying here for a few days while my house is sorted out, but I’ll be completely fine and safe. I trust S.H.I.E.L.D to find out why whoever it was wanted me and if there are any other people after me. They’ll sort it out for me.”
“Keep my number on speed dial and I’ll keep your location flagged. My team will get to you sooner if there happens to be a next time, though naturally I hope you never need it.”
Harry nodded before he looked around the room, taking in the new members of Luke’s team that he hadn’t met yet.
“Is that Burne?” Harry asked distractedly as he eyed the insanely tall Alpha who was sharing looks with Clint, who was rubbing the back of his neck subconsciously.
“Yeah, come on, he’s been wanting to meet you since he took on Clint as his playmate.”
Harry laughed as he and Luke walked over to Burne. Harry didn’t even reach his nipples and he had to crane his head right back to see his eyes.
“Hey there.” Burne greeted him with a wide grin, holding out a massive, spade like hand for Harry to shake.
“Hi. I just wanted to thank you and tell you that I think you do an amazing job.”
“I have the best job in the world.” Burne winked at him and Harry chuckled as he held a hand out to Clint, who came to him immediately and clutched at it.
“Is he behaving for you now? I could always leash him back up if you wanted.” Burne offered.
“No, there’s no need for that, he’s not an animal. But he understands now that I’m still a person, despite being a pregnant Omega, don’t you, Clint?”
Clint nodded and smiled at him, nuzzling his hair with his nose.
“I never wanted him to change who he was.” Harry said seriously. “I just wanted him to realise that the way he was seeing me, the way he treated me, wasn’t right.”
“I see that now.” Clint insisted.
Harry nodded. “I know you do. It’s why I keep saying yes to date night.”
“You two are dating now?” Burne asked them before he whistled lowly and Harry rolled his eyes.
“Yes we are, and it was going well too. I can’t believe we missed a night though, we were getting used to those fancy dinners.” He said patting his baby bump.
Clint smiled at him and Harry smiled back.
“You are alright, aren’t you?” Ollie-Jay asked.
Harry nodded. “I can feel the baby moving, Sean can feel his daughter moving and nothing happened to us in that building and no one hit either of our stomachs while we were fighting them off. I don’t think the chloroform hurt the babies at all and I just have a knot at the back of my head from hitting the mirror and this hideously bruised wrist from where I was disarmed.”
“You let yourself be disarmed, Agent?” Natasha asked and Harry couldn’t tell if she was playing with him or not.
“Knock it off, ‘Tash. He doesn’t understand your weird, backward way of teasing.” Clint told her.
“I still shot two people.” Harry shrugged. “I couldn’t move the gun from the second man to the third in time to stop him from pouncing on me and bashing my hand against the bath, my reactions have gotten slower with the heavier pregnant I get. The belly gets in the way of quick, precise movement.”
“I still can’t believe you climbed a stack of crates, with Sean, to a tiny, roof top crawl space.” Bruce said shaking his head.
“Neither could they, which is the only reason that Sean and I stayed safe and unharmed. They didn’t think we were able to climb in our condition, so they didn’t look any higher than the floor.”
“Thank you for struggling to get me up there.” Sean said softly. “You could have just left me back in the room you woke up in.”
Harry shook his head. “No. It was me they were after, not you; you wouldn’t even have been in my house when they attacked if you hadn’t wanted a chat before Joe got home. There was no way in hell that I was leaving you there when it was me they wanted, Sean. If I had been unable to get the both of us up to that roof space then neither of us would have been up there.”
Sean let out a soft, sobbing sound and suddenly Harry had his arms full of a pregnant Sean, who was crying and clutching at him, shifting continuously to try and hold him even tighter.
Harry held on to the taller man and he breathed in deeply to keep himself from joining Sean in the hormonal storm of tears and sobbing. The Alphas in the room were already uncomfortable enough as it was without adding to the uncontrollable sobbing fest himself, but it was becoming more of a challenge as he felt his eyes burning with the need to just give in and cry along with Sean.
“It’ll be alright.” Harry insisted gruffly as he pulled back from Sean and patted him gently. “We’ll be fine. S.H.I.E.L.D will find the people responsible and they’ll get answers and we’ll be safe and we’ll be just fine with our babies.”
Sean nodded and wiped at his eyes and then turned into Joe and cuddled his Alpha tightly.
“We will.” He agreed. “Joe’s not going to let me out of sight for the next year.”
“Five years.” Joe corrected as he cuddled Sean tightly. “I was so scared for you and the baby. I’ll call the doctor and see what he says; I want you to get checked out, just in case, my love.”
Sean nodded his agreement as his hand fell to his belly and patted gently.
“I can feel her moving, but I want to be sure that the chloroform didn’t hurt her. You’re going to get checked out too, aren’t you?” He asked Harry.
Harry nodded immediately. “Of course. I’ll be calling the doctor to get an appointment as soon as possible.”
“No need.” Steve said as he pulled Harry into hug. “Agent Coulson is waiting for you at headquarters with the doctor; we’re to take you there as soon as you’re ready.”
Harry nodded his understanding.
“Will you be back at the house later?” Sean asked.
Harry considered that, seriously thought about it before he shook his head. “No. Not tonight. I think I’d feel better staying here for an extra night while the walls are replastered and I have new doors fitted.”
Sean nodded and took in a deep breath.
“We could always stay in a hotel for the night.” Joe told him softly.
Sean turned to him with big, imploring eyes. “Really?”
Joe nodded. “Of course, Sean. If you don’t think you can go back to the house while the work is being done next door, then we can stay at a hotel.”
Sean gave a wide smile to Joe and Harry turned and hid his grin in Clint’s chest, enjoying the strong arms that wrapped around his back and squeezed him tight.
“I’ll see you soon, won’t I?” Sean asked a bit unsurely.
Harry nodded. “Of course. I’ll text you later, I promise.”
“You can call to talk.” Sean said a little confusedly.
“You want me to call you when you’re in a lovely hotel room, alone with your Alpha?” Harry laughed. “I don’t think so.”
Sean blushed red, but he laughed too. “Okay, better text me.”
Harry nodded and he said goodbye to Joe and Sean, he said goodbye to Luke and his team and then after having a last full glass of water, he was taken by the Avengers to S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters for a check-up scan.
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Harry endured the scan with Clint hovering over him. He was glad that Agent Coulson was there, even though the entire Avengers team had escorted him to his scan and he had to lie on the medical bed half naked with them all around him and watching curiously as the doctor scanned his bulging stomach, checking the growing baby within.
“Everything seems to be completely normal, the chloroform wouldn’t have bothered the baby.” The doctor assured him.
“So they’re both fine?” Clint asked.
“Harry is a little dehydrated and exhausted, but otherwise fine. The bruising is bad, but will heal and the baby is fine and still attached to the placenta.” The doctor said happily. “Harry, you need some rest and plenty of fluids and you’ll be as right as rain again soon.”
“Thank you.” Harry said softly with relief.
He was helped from the bed, helped back into his tee shirt and he was escorted back out, though not before Steve had handed him a bottle of water. He sipped at it all the way back to the Tower, just to stop Clint and Steve from worrying too much.
Clint wrapped an arm around his back and escorted him into the Tower and up to the communal living room. He was settled down and Harry rolled his eyes but he said nothing as he drank some more water.
Clint hovered around him, typically and Steve stayed close, but Thor was his usual jolly self, laughing at the TV programmes and commenting on them, which made Harry laugh and made Thor happier.
He texted Sean that he and the baby were fine, that he just needed rest and some more fluids and Sean texted him back an hour later to say that he’d been given the same diagnosis and that his baby girl was completely fine, though Joe hadn’t let him take a single step on his own, to or from the hospital.
Sean was snuggled up in bed in a nearby hotel, room service all around him, anything he wanted was offered to him and Joe was waiting on him hand and foot. Harry had a good laugh about that. Sean definitely deserved to be spoilt after what he’d gone through, even if he had been asleep through most of the drama. Waking up as he had, knowing that he’d been attacked, but not knowing where he was now or in what state, what was going to happen or what had happened. It was a terrifying thing to go through, Harry knew. He hoped that Joe was spoiling Sean rotten and was pampering him properly and speaking of pampering, he could use some time to himself to clean up, he felt grubby after those people had manhandled him and tried to kill him.
“I think I’ll go for a shower, if you guys don’t mind.” Harry said softly.
“Take a bath, it’ll be safer for you.” Steve insisted.
Harry sighed, but he couldn’t help but smile. “Okay, a bath then.”
“Stay there for now, I’ll run it for you.” Clint said and before Harry could argue, he was gone.
Harry huffed and sat back against the soft cushions. It seemed Sean wasn’t the only one who was being waited on hand and foot today.
Clint came back ten minutes later and told him that his bath was ready. Steve made him take a bottle of water with him, Clint told him that everything he needed was well within reach of the bath and finally Harry was allowed a bit of peace as he slipped into the warm bubbly water and he threw his head back and relaxed.
It took him five minutes before he had relaxed enough to start crying and only a minute more before his crying turned to full out, body wracking sobs as he let out all the pent up feelings and frustration that he’d been feeling since he and Sean had been drugged and abducted.
His sobbing trailed off into just crying some ten minutes later and then into sniffling and a bit of hitched breathing and though he felt drained, he felt a lot better. He calmed himself down and just sat in the warm water for a few minutes and then he cupped his hands in the water and splashed it over his face, washing away the tears and he started on washing his hair.
He felt more balanced and more himself as he went up onto his knees to wash his upper body, belly and groin, he scrubbed hard to get rid of the last couple of days before he stood up to wash his legs. It was difficult to wash both legs with his baby belly, but he managed it with a bit of twisting, before he rinsed off and relaxed back for a little while.
He was more level headed as he climbed out of the bath carefully and wrapped himself in the warm fluffy towel that Clint had left on the heated towel rack. It was cold out of the warm water though, even with the warm towel, so he didn’t linger too long as he quickly rubbed himself dry and dressed himself in the thick, warm pyjamas that Clint had laid out for him.
He was very sleepy now, but he made his way back to the communal living room before he slipped away to his bedroom. He wanted sleep, but he didn’t want to be alone either. It was a dilemma.
“There you are, that must have been the longest bath in history.” Tony teased him.
Harry looked at the clock on the wall and smiled as he realised he’d been in the bath for almost two hours.
“I don’t think you understand exactly how difficult it is to wash and bathe when seven months pregnant.”
“Thankfully I never have to find out.” Tony retaliated and Harry’s grin widened.
Harry could see exactly how desperately Clint wanted to get up and come to him, but he was restraining himself which was making his body tight and rigid. He sighed and waddled his way to the settee and he sat himself next to Clint, snuggling into his side, smiling as Clint’s arms immediately wrapped around him and squeezed before the arm in the front lowered to press against his baby belly.
“Do you feel better?”
Harry nodded. “Much. I’m just tired now. The lack of sleep is catching up to me.”
“The doctor did say that you were exhausted and in need of sleep, but do you think you could force something down before you go to bed? I made soup.” Bruce said with a smile.
Harry nodded and twisted himself so that he was lying more on Clint. He eased himself up so that he was still reclined on Clint, but was more upright and he accepted the deep bowl of soup from Bruce.
He was thankful that he only had to eat a bit of soup, he had missed a few meals and he’d only had a sandwich and a bit of a side salad for lunch so he was hungry, but he didn’t think he could handle eating anything more. He just wanted some decent sleep now.
Once he was finished Steve whisked away his bowl before he could even sit up and Harry could only roll his eyes as a fresh cup of tea was presented to him so that he didn’t have to move.
“I’m going down to my workshop if anyone needs me.” Tony said as he stretched, scratched at his shirt around the blue light of the arc reactor and made his way to the lift.
“Do you require anything more, my friend?” Thor asked loudly.
Harry suddenly blinked open his heavy eyes and looked around. He had been drifting off to sleep.
“No. No, Thor. I’m alright, thank you. You lot just go and do whatever you want, I think I’m going to go to bed now.”
“Do you want me to carry you?” Clint asked.
Harry considered it for a moment. He didn’t want to be carried, but he didn’t want to be alone. Perhaps this was the excuse he needed to keep Clint with him.
“If you don’t mind.” He said softly. “I feel like I’d stumble into something if I tried to walk.”
Clint took a moment to react, as he’d been expecting an automatic rejection. He blinked and then he almost fell as he hurried to stand up.
“Yes, of course I don’t mind!” He said quickly as he scooped Harry up into his arms and set off towards the bedroom. He ignored the others behind him who sniggered at his enthusiasm as he held Harry close to his chest, enjoying his warmth and the press of his pregnant belly against his torso.
They reached Harry’s bedroom far too soon for Clint’s liking and he placed him down on the bed and looked at him sadly.
“Well, here you are.” He said awkwardly.
Harry laughed. “I had an ulterior motive, Clint. I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to carry me, but I did want your company. I don’t want to be alone tonight either and I didn’t want the others knowing about it, so stay with me, please?”
“You know I will do anything you ask of me, Harry.” Clint told him seriously as he moved back to sit on Harry’s settee.
“Where are you going?” Harry asked as he propped himself up on his elbows to try and see him better.
“Here.” Clint said as he pointed to the settee.
“No, I meant I wanted you up here, with me.”
Clint’s eyes widened in genuine surprise. “Are you sure?”
“Would I honestly have asked otherwise, Clint?”
Clint rolled his lips nervously but he moved to sit on Harry’s bed and then he lay down with him.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Harry told him.
“I do. It’s just this is a little bit of a U turn, so it’s surprising.” Clint rushed to explain.
Harry nodded and he shifted until he was laying on Clint and he yawned.
“I just really don’t want to be alone after what happened.” Harry said. “I’m not scared per se. I’m just a little nervous because of the baby and getting Sean and his daughter into danger as well. I’d just prefer some company and as the baby’s Dad, you’re the natural choice, especially as we’ve been dating for the last few weeks and I’m rambling now, aren’t I?”
Clint smiled. “Only a little bit, but I understood you and I understand what you’re saying too. I won’t leave if you don’t want me too. You’ll have to kick me out, because I want to be here with you…and with the baby as well, of course.”
Harry hummed as he relaxed his body and he closed his eyes. He fell asleep very quickly, still on Clint who was combing his fingers through his hair slowly and calmingly.
He didn’t want to get up, he didn’t want to move Harry or go to his own bedroom. He liked this…in fact he loved it. Holding Harry close, feeling his soft breaths against his neck, having his hair tickle his nose, feeling his growing child…he didn’t want to leave.
He promised himself just five more minutes and then he swore that he’d slip out from under Harry, tuck him in and then go to his own bed…only he fell asleep himself before he could do any of that. He was just so comfortable and so happy to be here, holding Harry tight in his arms, breathing in his scent and feeling the swell of his child through Harry’s belly that he just fell asleep without meaning to, but he would never have regretted spending that night with Harry. He slept peacefully and without any incidents for the first time in a long while.
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Harry woke up warm and relaxed. He squirmed a little as his baby made itself known in his belly and he smiled. Turning into the source of warmth, he couldn’t help smiling as he saw Clint, fast asleep on his back, still fully dressed.
It humbled him to know that Clint had stayed all night, just because he’d been afraid to stay on his own last night. That Clint had thought to stay with him all night just to help him sleep easier made his feelings for Clint come through all the stronger. He was coming to love this man and he hadn’t wanted to. Yet he still did.
Sighing, Harry rolled over to lay back on Clint and he stroked that soft, blond hair from his sleeping face. Clint looked tired and Harry had to wonder how long he’d stayed awake for after he had fallen asleep. Or perhaps Clint just wasn’t used to sleeping with anyone in the bed with him and Harry had likely been restless due to the events a few days ago, thus disturbing the man next to him as he tried to sleep too. After all Clint was a specialist S.H.I.E.L.D agent, the merest brush or shift could have had his body awake and hyper alert. It was a wonder that Clint had slept at all.
On the other hand though, Harry was touching him now and he wasn’t so much as stirring…unless Clint was as exhausted as Harry had been yesterday after his bath.
Harry sighed. He didn’t know these answers because he didn’t know Clint. He didn’t know this man and though they’d been on a few dates, they still didn’t know much about one another. It was time to sit down and really get to know one another and if they were seriously going to make a go of things, then they needed to open up fully to one another, which meant no more secrets.
Harry wondered how Clint would take the news that he was a wizard and their child could also be magical because of that. It was frightening to think of telling anyone this secret, but he couldn’t hide it. He wanted to, Merlin did he want to, but if he was serious about Clint, then he needed to tell the man the truth, if not for their relationship, then for their shared child, who could be just as magical as himself.
He swallowed and buried his face into Clint’s side. He had moved here to get the hell away from the wizarding world and the upsetting, horrific memories that it had caused for him, but then he’d never imagined that he’d have been kidnapped, tortured, impregnated and then forced under the protection of the Avengers. Why was it so much to ask to just have a quiet life?
“Are you alright?”
Harry looked up at Clint’s sleep gruff voice and he smiled as he made contact with those sleepy blue eyes.
“I’m alright, just thinking a bit too hard. Did you sleep alright? I didn’t mean to keep you up.”
“I slept fine. I went to sleep just a bit after you did and I didn’t wake up once. I could have done without being fully dressed though.”
Harry smiled. “I could have done with stripping off a few layers, I don’t usually sleep in full pyjamas. I didn’t mean to fall asleep so quickly. I was just really tired.”
“I know, you needed your sleep. What time is it now?”
“Early. It’s not even seven in the morning yet.”
Clint groaned and forced himself up. “I was supposed to meet ‘Tasha in the gym to spar over an hour ago.”
Harry chuckled. “She’s going to kick you off of the roof.”
Clint snorted. “If I let her.”
Harry laughed outright at that and stifled a yawn. He sat up himself and rubbed at his gritty eyes.
“You look like you could do with going back to sleep.”
Harry grunted. “I’m already awake now. I’ll take a nap in the afternoon if I get too tired, but I’m alright for now.”
“Do you want a shower?”
Harry shook his head. “No. I don’t even want to get dressed.”
“Stay in your pyjamas then. No one will dare say a word. Well, no one but Tony, but he will never change.”
“Steve will immediately jump on me if I stay in my pyjamas.”
“I’ll protect you from Steve, I promise.”
Harry smiled and stood up, placing a supporting hand under his belly bump before stretching. Clint touched his lower back and stroked it softly as Harry almost blinded himself with his stretching.
“Better?” Clint teased him.
Harry nodded and he didn’t even bother to comb his hair before he left his bedroom.
“Hold on a sec, let me just change my clothes and I’ll be back.” Clint said as he walked into his own bedroom.
Harry stopped in his tracks and then slipped into Clint’s bedroom after the blond. He hadn’t been in there before, so he was naturally curious.
It was set out much like his own…only there was more stuff lying around and Clint had two more dressers in his room than he did, but Clint was very neat and clean…orderly. Everything was in its place and there was no clutter. There were no photographs out on display either.
He couldn’t help but look when Clint came back into the room in a fresh pair of jeans and went digging for a new shirt in one of his dressers. Clint sorted out his clean shirt and then he undressed himself and Harry whistled as Clint’s muscled back was exposed to him. The blond looked over his shoulder, arms still trapped by his tee shirt and his face coloured a little.
“Now that is a good look, stay like that for a minute.” Harry said with a grin as he stared at Clint.
He moved forward, touched that muscled back and he gave a quick kiss to the nearest cheek.
“Come on or we’ll be late for breakfast.” Harry called out over his shoulder to the stunned man.
He was halfway towards the lift before Clint caught up with him and an arm wrapped around his waist and squeezed. Harry couldn’t prevent himself from smiling.
Bruce was already making toast and preparing bowls of fruit when they arrived and it seemed Steve had already eaten as he was reading a newspaper with empty plates and bowls beside his hand.
“Where were you this morning?” Natasha asked Clint. “We had a sparring date.”
“I slept in. Sorry, ‘Tasha. I’ll make it up to you.”
“You’d better. I woke up early and waited for you for forty minutes.”
Clint gave her a wide grin and he shoved her as he walked past. “I didn’t mean to sleep in.” He insisted.
“No, then why did you?” Tony asked as he walked across the living room from his bedroom. “Does it have anything to do with our very pregnant Agent Potter?”
“Yes, it does.” Clint replied easily and unashamedly as he sat next to Harry and touched his shoulder.
“We’re dating, Tony. I’m having Clint’s baby. Why shouldn’t we spend the night together?”
The look on Tony’s face had Harry regretting his words and speaking again before Tony could say anything.
“I’m heavily pregnant. Whatever you’re thinking, it didn’t happen. We just slept.” Harry explained as he nibbled on some fruit.
Tony deflated a little, but he still looked far too happy.
“Are you feeling better today?” Steve asked as he folded the newspaper down and placed it on the table.
Harry nodded. “Much better. The bath yesterday helped relax me and I got a good, decent amount of sleep. So I feel better. Of course hearing that Sean and his daughter are going to be alright helped too. I was worried because he’s had worries about his pregnancy.”
“Are you going to see him today?”
Harry shook his head. “No, not today. He’s going to spend the day with Joe and I want to just slouch around in my pyjamas. The doctor said I needed to rest, so that’s what I’m going to do.”
“Really?” Steve asked with a surprised lilt and Harry huffed.
“This is my baby. Believe it or not the very last thing I want is to put my baby in harm’s way, even from myself. The abduction has unsettled me, I must admit. It has to be the use of chloroform and not knowing if it would have any effect on my baby. I’m still feeling a little unsettled, so while the doctor has told me to rest, this time at least, I will do as suggested because the chloroform was an unknown factor. I don’t know if it will have any effect later, or if I push myself, so I’m going to rest and catch up on my sleep and the missed meals.”
“I’m not doing anything today.” Clint told him. “I’ll stay with you.”
Harry saw the look that Clint gave him, the slight widening of those blue eyes and he smiled. He’d told Clint twice yesterday that he didn’t want to be alone. He took that statement not as an attack on his independence, but as an offer of companionship for the day. He was grateful.
“We have a training exercise this morning.” Steve said a little weakly.
“Tell Fury that I won’t be there.” Clint said sternly. “Actually, no don’t, I’ll call him myself before you leave and explain, but I will not be there today. I want to stay with Harry.”
The warm, grateful feelings that welled up inside him kept the smile on his face and he ate a little more gutsily after that, even managing a bowl of porridge that he liberally covered with raspberries.
Afterwards he moved to the settee and settled himself down with a baby book. He still took everything said with a pinch of salt, too many of them were contradictory for his liking, but he enjoyed this book because it was encouraging its readers to find the way that they found most comfortable, the way that worked for them as parents, instead of saying one way was the right way and every other way was wrong.
Clint had gone to make his call to Coulson or Fury, maybe even both, as the other Avengers got themselves ready for their training exercise and Harry watched them fondly as they geared up and Tony strutted around with his Ironman suit in the form of a briefcase in his hand.
Clint came back and his face was neutral, Harry worried for a moment before Clint said goodbye to the rest of his team and sat down next to him.
“Are you okay?” Harry asked softly as the Avengers declared themselves ready and left in the lift.
Clint grimaced. “Fury wasn’t happy, but as I said, I don’t care. You’re more important to me at the moment. I know you can protect yourself and that under normal circumstances that you like to look after yourself, but at the moment you’ve been unsettled, as you’ve said yourself. I feel better knowing that when you don’t want to be alone, that you’re not alone.”
Harry smiled widely and turned himself to recline on Clint.
“Thank you for understanding and I’m sorry that I’ve gotten you into trouble.”
Clint’s arm came around his chest and squeezed him. “I don’t care about any disciplinary action that awaits me when I go back. I’m highly trained as it is and I’m the best at what I do. One missed training exercise meant to promote team building isn’t going to hurt. If the operation we took part in to rescue you and Sean wasn’t enough proof that the Avengers are a real, integrated team then no amount of training will help.”
“I think you are a real team and I think, from observing you, that you all care about one another in your own ways. You’re all different people, radically different even, especially with Steve being born in a different decade and then being frozen for seventy years, that can’t be easy for him at all. You’re all from different backgrounds and walks of life, you’re all strongly opinionated and independent. Expecting you all to be the same and to have the same thoughts and ways of dealing with things is a fantasy, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t all work together or that you don’t work well together, because I think you do.”
They lapsed into a comfortable silence and Harry read more of his book as Clint stroked his thumb and fingers over Harry’s arm softly as he relaxed in thought.
“I thought you’d given up reading those books.” Clint asked some time later in amusement.
Harry chuckled. “This one is different. It’s not confusing me and it’s actually making me feel better. It says to find the way to look after the baby that suits me, it says that I will make mistakes, but that’s alright, because everyone makes mistakes and they won’t harm the baby or their development. It’s actually reassuring me instead of making me more afraid to give birth and have this tiny, vulnerable baby around.”
“I…I can’t wait for you to give birth, but at the same time, I am very nervous. I’ve never had to deal with any of this before, I’ve never even thought of being a Father before and now suddenly, here we are.”
“We’ll get through this together.” Harry assured him. “You need to get the baby something though. I’ve bought everything so far, I’d like for you to give the baby something. A teddy or a replacement blanket for the one that was ruined will do, just something personal that you’ve bought for them when they’re born.”
Clint nodded. “Of course and I would like to point out that you only bought everything because you wouldn’t let anyone else buy it.”
Harry grinned unrepentantly. “I’m asking now.”
Clint nodded. “Do you want something to eat? It’s about lunchtime. I think we have some more soup here.”
Harry nodded and he hefty himself up and he moved to the kitchen. He found the soup and put it on the hob to warm it through as Clint got two bowls out and set the table. It was all very domestic and Harry smiled.
“Let me finish that, you need to rest.”
Harry was ushered to sit down and Clint poured out two bowls of the tomato, vegetable and lentil soup. It was light enough for Harry to eat, yet filling enough to satisfy him and the baby.
“How long does training exercises usually take? They’ve been gone for near enough four hours.”
Clint swallowed his mouthful. “It can last all day sometimes. It depends what they’re doing, but if it has gone on for this long then it usually involved other Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I’m glad I’m not there. Tony makes a nuisance of himself with the female agents.”
Harry snorted. “Why am I not surprised?”
“Because being a pain in the arse is a fundamental part of who Tony Stark is?” Clint asked innocently.
Harry laughed. “Exactly. But I still like him, even if he is afraid of me when I’m on a pre-heat.”
“Everyone is afraid of you when you’re on a pre-heat. You were rather frightening and I can see exactly why you are an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D when you’re that angry.”
Harry grimaced. “I’ve never felt that angry before…at least not since I was a hormonal teenager.” He added. “These heat periods are all new to me and frankly, I’m not fond of them. They turn me into something that I don’t like and invoke emotions in me that I don’t like.”
“It’s because your first adult heat period was so late.” Clint told him. “I looked it up and asked Tony and Bruce about it. You haven’t had time to get used to the new surges of hormones and as a result, your body isn’t as settled as it could be, but it won’t be that way forever.”
“That’s good to know.” Harry laughed. “I don’t think I could deal with myself behaving like that for much longer. I’m not used to these new heats. The suppression tablets kept them mostly under control, but since I can’t take them now until after I’ve given birth, I have to deal with it.”
“Will you go back on the tablets once you’ve given birth?” Clint asked curiously.
Harry nodded seriously. “Yes, as soon as I can.”
“Would you…” Clint stopped himself before he could even ask his question as his brain realised exactly what he was about to say and how it might sound.
“What?” Harry asked curiously.
“Nothing. It doesn’t matter.” Clint assured.
“No, tell me. If we’re going to make this work, Clint, then we need to be honest with one another. Tell me what you were going to say. Please.”
“I was just going to ask if you would consider more children at a later time. Then I realised how presumptuous it sounded.”
Harry chuckled. “Let’s see how I handle this one first. If I’m no good and can’t cope then there’s no point in having another one. If we do a good job, then maybe, in several years when we’ve gotten to know one another properly and we’ve actually figured out how to have sex in normal circumstances and I’ve had ample time to recover from this pregnancy and we’ve assessed how we are as parents then we can talk about more children, okay?”
Clint grinned widely and nodded his head. “That sounds perfect.”
Harry shook his head as he picked up the bowls and washed them up.
“Do you think Thor would behave if I bought a dishwasher in the house? I still want you guys to visit, but if he’s going to smash all of my appliances up…”
“He can be trained. You should have seen him with the microwave when he first came to Earth. Every time it beeped he smashed it up with Mjolnir or sent bloody lightning at it and fried the damn thing. We kept telling him that it was just warming things up and eventually he understood. We had a harder time with the dishwasher, but he’s getting much better.”
Harry nodded. “The only thing that house didn’t have was a dishwasher. I want one.”
“Find the one you want and we’ll get it. We’ll even keep Thor away from it until he understands it’s just cleaning the dishes, not eating them.”
Harry laughed and left the bowls in the drainer and turned to Clint who hugged him. He laid a hand on Harry’s belly and rubbed.
“How is the baby today?”
“Alright as far as I can tell. The baby’s been active and has bounced around a bit this morning, but at the moment, I think its sleeping.”
“Maybe you should catch a nap while you can then.”
Harry wholeheartedly agreed. He settled back onto the settee and he laid himself down. It took several minutes, but he did eventually drop off to sleep. Clint didn’t join him, but he was very close by and it reassured Harry enough to relax and fall sleep.
Clint cleaned, serviced and restrung his bow in the chair close to Harry and he watched him almost silently and he caught himself smiling when Harry either shifted or snuffled in his sleep. He was completely in love and he couldn’t help himself. He was so glad that he and Harry had worked things out. They had some more things to talk about and sort through, of course. But things were much better now than they had once been and it had taken them a while to get where they were and a lot of aggravation as well, but he had a feeling that they were on the right track now and he was definitely toeing the line with his behaviour.
Harry was more than worth it and he hoped that when they came to the end of the awkward, painful past feelings, that Harry would think that he was worth it too. He wanted nothing more than a family now that it had been thrust into his face so abruptly, even in the controversial way that it had come about. He wanted Harry and he wanted their baby and he hoped, that given time and a lot of work at their relationship, that he and Harry could give their first child a sibling or two in the future. He smiled as Harry shifted again on the settee, his baby belly a gorgeous curve protruding outwards. He loved the man sleeping a few feet away from him and he couldn’t wait for Harry to be his Omega truly and he couldn’t wait for their baby to be born. He was willing to do absolutely anything and everything, because he wanted it so very much and he had no intentions of giving up on Harry. He wanted Harry, he wanted their baby and he wanted Harry to want him as well. Now that it was within his grasp, he wanted a proper family of his own.
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A/N: I know it’s been a while, but I honestly never meant to leave it for this long. I wanted it done and finished, but my plans never work out as I want them too. Especially not when I started my new fic, The Beguile and Devotion of a Black Heir. I just wanted to get several chapters up for that fic while it was new to start it off, but it sort of exploded and took off and before I knew what was going on, it had been half a year since I last updated. There are only a few chapters left now, so I’m hoping to find a good balance between Damaged Bodies, Black Heir and Rise of the Drackens.
I believe that that’s all for now, The Black Heir is next on my update list and that’ll be next week now, so until then, I hope that you lovelies have enjoyed reading this chapter,
StarLight Massacre. X
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Damaged Bodies, Growing Lives, Building Families