A DAY'S WORTH

Chapter 16

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners.

-ADW-

SANCTUM SANCTORUM

New York

3rd June 2012

"You have been very busy, Mr. Potter." Harry looked at the newspaper that had been dropped in front of him. "I didn't peg you for a politician."

"We were only together for like three hours."

"I am very good at reading people." The woman replied. "Which apparently doesn't work on you."

"I am a man of many talents." Harry leaned back in his chair. "It would take more than three hours for you to peg me for anything."

The Sorcerer Supreme stood up and went to stand by the window overlooking the mid-morning rush of New York. "Belasco is alive."

Harry raised an eyebrow even though she couldn't see him.

"I had believed that he was dead when you said you have control over Limbo." She continued. "But I know he is alive, where is he?"

"How exactly did you get to that conclusion?"

"I have a very powerful artifact that allows me to track anyone who uses the mystic arts or magic a you like to call it." She answered. "It tells me Belasco is not dead and yet when I try to find his location, nothing happens."

"Maybe it's having performance issues?"

"No." She answered dryly, apparently not appreciating Harry's attempt at humor. "If Belasco is indeed alive, his... benefactors will stop at nothing to get him back, if you can't kill him yourself, hand him over and I will do it for you. The last thing I want is the Elder gods getting involved in any of this."

"Belasco is not alive." Harry told her. "When I defeated him, I drained his life force from his body and placed it in a Limbo of sorts. Even in the event that the trap is destroyed, which I assure you is near impossible, the life force will simply disperse into nothingness."

"They why keep it?" She asked coming back to her seat. "Why not just destroy it and get it over with?"

Harry conjured an illusion of the crystal containing Belasco's life force. "This crystal contains the power of an imortal demon, if directed by someone capable of handling the power it could be used to perform astronomical feats that I can only dream of with my normal power."

"Like an Infinity Stone?"

"And what exactly is that?"

"Not relevant." She waved her hand. "So what you're saying is that there is absolutely no chance of Belasco ever coming back?"

"Not while I'm still alive, no." Harry answered as he stood straight. "Alright, let me make you a deal, you tell me everything you know about Infinity Stones and I will tell you all about me."

"Why do you want to know about the Stones?" She asked. "You have gone to great lengths to keep your story to yourself, to give it up for the knowledge about the Stones seems a bit..."

"Desperate?" Harry smiled. "My story is not as mysterious as you may think actually. As for the Stones, well my reasons are part of that story."

"How do I know you will follow through with your part?"

"I'll go first." Harry offered.

"And what if I don't go through with mine?"

"Well, I didn't peg you for a liar" Harry answered easily without missing a beat.

"I am listening."

Harry grinned at the woman's lack of humor.

"Well for starters, I am human." Harry started. "From what I have learned I came from an different universe from this one. You see, I lived a life at some point, in a society of wizards and witches like me. I had children who later had there children and so on untill I died of old age only to wake up in this universe."

"That explains how you appeared out of thin air." She mused. "Are you sure you weren't just from some other dimension?"

"I am." He answered. "In my universe there was no Sorcerer Supreme, these heroes like Iron Man didn't exist, infact I'm pretty sure that these other dimensions like Limbo weren't there or maybe they just weren't discovered."

"And what year was it when you died?"

"2163. Or to be more specific, October 30th 2163." Harry told her. "When I arrived here, I met someone who told me that I wouldn't be allowed to move on properly unless I completed a certain task and that task was why I had been brought here."

"And what task is that?"

"Unfortunately, she didn't know." He sighed. "I have over the years found out that something is coming. Something that is powerful enough to threaten every single person in the universe and I am likely the only person that could stand in his way."

"And just how did you come to that conclusion?"

"I just did." He shrugged. "From a conversation I had recently, he is likely to use some very powerful Stones to help him."

"And you believe these Stones are the Infinity Stones." She completed as she looked at Harry with a blank expression.

"Exactly." He nodded.

She was quiet for a moment as she seemed to think on what he had just told her.

"I'm not sure what to think of all that you have just told me but we did have a deal." She conjured an illusion of her own showing six colored gems. "Before the Universe began, six singularities existed. Sometime after the universe exploded into existence, these were formed into the six Infinity Stones by the Cosmic Entities. Each stone represented a different aspect of the universe (Space, Mind, Reality, Power, Time, and Soul)."

With each aspect, she pointed at a stone, The Space Stone (blue), the Reality Stone (red), the Power Stone (purple), the Mind Stone (yellow), the Time Stone (green) and the Soul Stone (orange).

"These stones, it seems, can only be brandished by beings of extraordinary strength. These carriers can use the stone to mow down entire civilizations like wheat in a field. Once, for a moment, a group was able to share the energy amongst themselves, but even they were quickly destroyed by it." She continued. "They are as dangerous as they are powerful, and in the wrong hands could cause a lot of destruction."

"And these Stones, where are they kept?"

"They are scattered throughout the universe, and no single person knows the location more than one stone or two at most." She answered. "It is always better to keep them as far away from each other as possible."

"I figured." Harry said. "And going by your tone, you seem to be under the impression that I will seek them out."

"Despite what you have told me Mr. Potter, I don't really know you and anyone would be attracted by the power the Stones offer "

"What happened to your people-reading powers?" Harry raised an eyebrow and again, his humor was lost in the woman. "Listen, I am hoping to look for these Stones anyway, if only to keep them away from the fellow's hands."

"That will not be wise, Mr. Potter." She cautioned. "There are those whose lives are dedicated to making sure those Stones are never under possession by one person, willing to put their lives on the line for their cause, they will not stand idle while you go on with your quest."

"People like you?" Harry asked as he leaned forward and stared at her expressionless face. "Whatever is in that necklace is producing energy and power like I've never seen before and I can literally hear it calling to me."

He paused and drew his eyes away from the necklace to her eyes which had narrowed the least bit. Had he not been expecting a reaction, he never would have seen it.

"Now I am not one for gambling with my luck but I would bet both of my nuts that you have an Infinity Stone hanging around your neck."

Harry immediately felt the shift in the wards around the property. He wasn't sure what exactly had changed but he knew that it wouldn't be pretty for him if it came to a fight. Fight he was confident he would win but not very easily.

He wasn't here for a fight though. He leaned back slowly, not wishing to spook the woman.

"Do you honestly believe that you can stop me if I decide to take it?" Harry asked curiously.

"Why don't we find out?" She asked. "You would be surprised what lengths a Sorcerer Supreme can go to protect this particular Stone."

Harry stared at her and she stared right back. They stayed like that for what felt like hours before Harry's lips twitched into a smile.

"Well, I don't plan on finding out today." He said, leaning back in the chair. "Keep the bloody necklace, I will find all the other Stones confident in the knowledge that that particular stone is in good hands."

He stood up and headed for the door before he paused and turned back to the bald headed woman. "Make no mistake however, if I feel that there is even the smallest chance of it falling in the wrong hands, I will take the freaking Stone."

Before she could come up with a reply, Harry disappeared with a flicker and teleported to the J-Mansion. He found Jenny in the living room watching the news.

"Are you seriously watching News?" He asked as he poured himself some juice.

"Well, you see there is this thing called 'current affairs'"

"Haha." Harry replied as he settled himself next to her and handed her a glass. "So what's on?"

"Not much. They've been talking about your lawyer actually." Jenny said. "Apparently her success in such a controversial case has made her quite popular in New Orleans fueled by the fact that she is the personal lawyer to one of the richest men on the planet."

"You know it wasn't easy for her with Scarborough fighting her all the way." Harry told her, he knew Jenny had been closely following the Bowen case. "Not to mention she explicitly refused me from getting involved in any way."

"At least she got the guy's name cleared. Now all that remains is bringing the real culprit to justice. But she is pretty good and very serious at that." She replied. "And has the hots for you."

"No she doesn't."

"And you also have the hots for her."

"No, I don't!"

"You do, too!"

"I do not!"

"Then why have you been avoiding Natasha?"

"I haven't been avoiding Natasha, Jenny." He told her. "Untill that thing that happened with the Black Widow Ops simmers down, we decided to stay away from each other for now. Don't want to give Fury any ideas."

The two sat down in relative silence as the people on the news started speculating on Harry's political aspirations in New Orleans, all of which were wrong as he had no plans of becoming a politician. There was too much plotting there and he had no patience for it.

"Shuri is making sixteen in two days." Jenny stated, making Harry raise his eyebrows.

"Are you sure, didn't Jack try to hit on her when you guys first met?"

"Yeah, which didn't go well for him." Jenny giggled. "But in his defense, she is very pretty and looks way much older than her age. It wasn't untill she told me her real age that I realized just how young she is."

Harry had yet to meet the princess of Wakanda but going by her accomplishments, he had thought she was maybe a year or two younger than her brother. Which fifteen-year-old creates a watch with a AI and gives it out as a birthday present?

"So you are asking me whether you can go?" Harry asked with a smile and she nodded. From what he knew, the girl wasn't allowed to have many friends with kids her age given her position. The king, when he found out that she had a friend, let alone a white girl had been very happy when he found out surpring all of them.

"You know I couldn't stop you even if I wanted to or I would have the might of Wakanda hunting me to the ends of the earth." Harry grinned at her. "But you need to get her a gift befitting her station."

"I was thinking something... other-worldly." Jenny declared dramatically and giggled at Harry's unimpressed look. "Don't give me that look. Anyway, I was thinking that we pay Attilan a visit, find something that will interest her."

"You know Attilan was destroyed."

"Not completely." She argued. "I am sure there are somethings that are still lying around and their tech was pretty advanced, I think we can find the perfect gift for our nerdy princess."

"You just want to go to the moon."

"Well yeah!" Jenny said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And hopefully get Shuri a birthday gift."

"You do know Claire refused me from taking you off the planet again."

"I know."

"Ok then, get dressed already." Harry said cheerfully. "We've got places to be."

-ADW-

Harry arrived at the location his tracker had led him to and supressed a sigh. Of course it had to be an abandoned warehouse. After their treasure hunt in the ruins of Attilan, Harry had dropped off Jenny in Wakanda where she would stay for the next three days before coming back to his office at the New Orleans branch.

He had found a sticker note from Jennifer telling him that she was planning to be kidnapped and that he shouldn't try to find her. Well, he was never very good at following instructions and now here he stood.

Cloaking himself with his magic, Harry teleported to the other side of the Iron door and arrived in the water house. There were over twenty bodies lying around, most of which were missing parts and Jennifer was half naked standing over a very scared Scarborough.

"I was willing to solve this peacefully." She was saying. "I was going to systematically destroy your name, tear your reputation apart and when you have nothing left come and tear your body into pieces."

The man whimpered.

"You are a vile man, Scarborough." She continued. "You knowingly put the lives of every single person in this city in danger just so you could earn easy money. As if that wasn't enough, you went on and made everyone's lives a living hell for living in this city."

Jennifer leaned near the man, her skin taking on a green hue as she grew in size, muscles suddenly growing all over her body and straining what little fabric was still covering her and transformed into the She-hulk. "NOW YOU WILL PAY."

"Wow, you've been quite busy." Jennifer roared at Harry who had to cover his ears with his hands. "Oww, what was that for?"

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO FOLLOW ME!"

"Surely by now you know I am not good at following instructions." Harry answered as he strode towards Scarborough who had fainted. He conjured a set of clothes and tossed them at the giant woman.

"He deserves to die." Jennifer grumbled after she had shrunk back to her normal size. She pulled off the remainder of her clothes and started to change right there.

"We have no idea why he has been stealing from us not to mention he has alot to atone for." Harry told her as he shamelessly watched her dress up. "Death would be a mercy and he doesn't deserve that. Not yet at least."

"What are you going to do with him?" She asked, buttoning up her blouse.

"I have a few ideas but I am open to suggestions." He turned and squatted next to the unconscious man. "What prompted this anyway? I thought you were all for destroying him legally."

"He sent his goons after the Bowens. They were just lucky that I had gone to visit but had I not been there, they would have been dead." She told him.

"Wait, so Tandy and her mom now know that you can go all green and destructive?"

"Not." She shook her head. "I think they were amateurs as he hadn't expected much of a fight. Not to mention all those beatings I've endured at you and Jenny's hands paid off."

"Have you beaten her yet?"

"All in good time. And not the topic of this conversation." Jennifer said and stood next to him. "Now can we get this over with, all this killing has made me hungry."

"That's uh...not healthy, Walters." Harry shook his head and revived the man on the ground. "Hello sleepyhead, time to wake up."

"Wha...Potter?"

"In the flesh, I'm afraid." He grinned. "My lawyer has done quite a number on your boys and I would rather this doesn't get any messier than it already is."

"You are going to pay for this."

"No. I don't think I will." Harry informed him and grabbed his by the hair and stared into his eyes. "Infact, you are going to pay all of this and much more. You will put all your considerable resources to finding about every single person who was affected by the explosion of the rig. You will compasate them two fold and confess the part you played. If you are still alive then, you will turn whatever little you will be remaining with including the clothes on you to the police."

The man's eyes glazed over for a second before they cleared. He stood up, dusted off his suit and walked out of the warehouse like he had no care in the world. Jennifer shuddered from where she stood next to Harry.

"Wow, that's scary." She breathed. "Please tell me you will never do that to me."

"I will never do that to you." He replied dryly as they walked out of the warehouse. When they crossed the huge doors, Harry gave the building one last look before holding Jennifer's and together they disappeared. A second later, the building caught fire and by the time an alarm was raised it had burned to the ground.

Arriving at the J-Mansion, Jennifer went straight to her room for a shower while Harry quickly made dinner. Thanks to some liberal use of magic, by the time the woman came down, the dinner was ready and they sat down and started eating.

"You need to keep a better eye on your prospective student." Jennifer said. "She has a knack for getting into trouble."

"Tandy?" He asked and she nodded. "What did she do this time?"

"She was in a fight with two other girls."

"Bullies?"

"No, apparently they were smiling at a boy she likes."

"She likes boys! At twelve?"

"Well, unlike Jenny, she didn't have two over grown boys constantly showing her just how rotten the other sex can be when it comes to women." Jeniffer said and Harry frowned at her. "She doesn't have a father to protect her from things like that and her mother recently hasn't been the model parent and I doubt that bond will be reforming any time soon. So yes Harry, the girl is very much interested in boys."

"Are you asking me to become a father to her?"

"No, you have your hands already full with Jenny now that she is getting in that stage." She shook her head. "I just think that you need to show her that you're aren't just interested in her because of her powers. Let her know that there is someone other than her mother who cares about her well being."

"That sounds like being her father to me."

"Perhaps." She didn't argue. "You're not exactly too bad all things considered. I mean, Jenny turned out fine after all."

"I am not sure whether to feel proud or insulted."

"My point exactly." She grinned and Harry just shook his head in amusement. "So, now that the Scarborough situation has been resolved I'm going to need something else to do."

"Yeah, about that." Harry said. "Jenny was suggesting that you set up a law firm. Whether you want it as an extension of J-Corp or independent but having J-Corp as it's premier clients is up to you. Not only will it provide a bunch of budding lawyers with jobs, it will be a platform to help other people."

"What exactly prompted this?" Jennifer asked, surprised at the fourteen-year-old.

"She didn't tell me but I know she is plotting." Harry told her with a proud smile. "She wants the Inhumans and mutants to join normal society but she is aware of how hard people will be accepting of them. There will be no shortage of legal battles to fight and it would be easier with a law firm of our own. One that has the backing of a company like J-Corp."

"That's why she proposed building of the high school." Jennifer said in realization. "It will be open to all kinds of students, humans, mutants and Inhumans alike without the need to hide who they really are."

"Exactly." Harry said. "There will be no shortage of opposition given the tendacy of people fearing the unknown. We will need you and your lot to help smooth things over, my magic can only do so much."

A few minutes later, they finished their dinner and Jennifer left to go and check on some of her friends. Harry called and talked to Jenny before he went to bed. Even after the long and tiresome day he had while searching for Shuri's gift on the moon, he kept turning and tossing as sleep wouldn't come. Something was keeping him from sleeping and he had no idea what.

He got out of bed and checked on the wards on the property. While they weren't as strong as the ones on the Cottage in Wells, they were pretty strong and he was sure the house would come out of a war with minimum damage.

He teleported to Hell's Kitchen and checked the wards on Claire's house to see that they were functioning well enough. He knew Jenny was fine and even when he called Jack, his friend was in the middle of a threesome and didn't appreciate being interrupted.

With the feeling of unease still clinging on him, Harry forced himself back to bed and sleep. It took a couple of minutes but he finally managed to ignore the feeling and sleep took him.

MEANWHILE

In a special room deep down in a SHIELD facility in the outskirts of New Mexico, agents waited with baited breath, all eyes trained on the cube that was getting brighter with every pulse of blue light.

Fury took a step back when the Cube pulsed even brighter, pushing the line of agents behind him further away. He glanced at Clint who looked back at him helplessly, clearly not sure what to make of this.

"She shouldn't be behaving like this." Dr. Selvig said quietly.

"How long as this been happening?" Fury asked.

"She only started behaving like that four hours ago." The scientist answered. "At first I thought it was one of her mood swings but she hasn't stopped since."

"You speak of the Tessaract like it's sentient." Phil Coulson observed from Fury's left.

"That's because it is."

Any further conversation was cut off when the Tessaract pulsed one more time, energy bulding around it which suddenly shot forward towards a platform. It gathered together and formed a ring of blue energy with a blackness in the middle. The ring of energy seemed to get unstable and it collapsed on itself causing an explosion of blue light that knocked everyone off their feet.

When Fury got back to his feet, he saw that the Tessaract had turned back to how it had looked the last time he set his eyes on it. He turned back to the place where the ring of energy had been and immediately raised his gun. Standing in the platform was a tall dark figure holding some kind of spear with a glowing tip. The figure raised it's head and stared right at him.

"Nick Fury." The man said, his eyes glinting with the light. "Time to meet your God."

-ADW-

AN: Hi guys, that's our latest chapter for now and finally we reach the Avengers. Unfortunately, I'll be starting serious work tomorrow so I have no idea when I will update again.

I am afraid I will have to declare that A DAY'S WORTH is now officially on hiatus untill further notice. Hopefully not for long. Till then keep safe, Stay alive.

#Blacklivesmatter.