They re-appeared on a sky-scraper in New York. There were no hand-rails or doors, which seemed to indicate that nobody should be able to get up there.
Harry waved his hand and the wind seemed to stop buffeting them. This was part of Coulson's test. He wanted to, but he really needed to be sure that trusting this man was the right choice. He sat down and looked over the city. It seemed later in the day now, by at least a couple of hours. That's what happens when you move through multiple time zones.
Harry looked up when Coulson sat down next to him. "You okay? The first time can be rough. Nothing like a portkey, but those will take you farther."
Coulson said nothing at first. He didn't feel too bad considering he believed he just went through what felt like a wormhole. The problem was that it was apparently meant for a worm sized worm! "Okay. So that was new. Is that what you did at the hotel yesterday before I arrived? Is that how you arrived in this dimension."
"Yes and kind of." Harry said. "Here comes the big one: What do you believe I am capable of?"
Coulson knew this was dangerous territory. Obviously this was part of Harry's test to see if he was trust-worthy. He'd be impressed if he wasn't worried he might give away something that might help them later if Harry turned out to be an unstable super-powered psychopath. If Harry was to be believed, he'd been through enough to drive any man insane. At this point Coulson knew he had to prove trust, but also uphold his duty. "Before I answer, I need to ask a question."
"Shoot." came Harry's reply.
"My speciality is in personality profiling. Reading people and understanding them. I have picked up some patterns and would like to confirm something. What did you do for a living?" Coulson asked.
"Good question. I've had many jobs. I was a professional sports star for a while. Then a kind of police officer. I had just finished my speciality training when the war escalated and I had to start using my skills to fight the bad guys on a whole different front." Harry said.
"Special ops?" Coulson asked.
"A bit more specialized than that. I have unique skills that leant me to a specific branch of government." came Harry's vague reply.
"That's what I thought. Okay, so when you worked for your government did you have to take an oath to protect the people above all else?" Coulson asked.
"Something like that. Just more binding." Harry replied.
"Oh? You'll have to tell me more about that sometime, but anyway. I am bound by certain oaths that would make it difficult for me to give you all the information we suspect about any person of interest. Even you. Do you understand that?" Coulson asked.
"Yes I can. You're worried I could use what you know about me against you at some point. Okay how's this, can you speculate without specifics about some of what you personally think I'm capable of?" Harry asked.
"That might be more doable. Okay let's see. You seem to be able to target and destroy technology that runs on electricity," the bugs in Harry's hotel and body-cams from the men on the beach. "You might be able to interrupt signals from the brain using the same method to knock human targets unconscious and wiping short term memory," again, the men on the beach. "You might have some tech that allows you to communicate and find bugs," the ones we found anyway. "Teleportation and probably some form of barrier generation like you're doing now against the wind. How'd I do?" Coulson asked.
"Pretty good. How do you suppose I'm doing that?" Harry asked.
"My favourite theory is that you have some kind of mutant ability to harness bio-electricity or quantum entanglement." Coulson replied.
"I'm no mutant and I don't know what quantum entanglement even is." Harry replied.
"Some form of tech from your home-world?" Coulson tried.
"Nope. Want to try for broke?" Harry joked.
"So it's not tech, and it's not mutant abilities… Quantum Entanglement seems like the most likely option. It has to do with manipulating the energy that the universe is made of, not that I'm a quantum physicist. But utilizing that without tech or mutant abilities? I can't see how that would be even attempted." Coulson finished.
"Huh, maybe what I do is not far from that? Let me show you something. It will serve as a test for me and allow me to show you something, if you can see it, that is." With that, Harry closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate. He swung his hand forward and a white shape sprang forth from it in the shape of a stag. It ran through the air and trotted up to Coulson.
Coulson saw Harry move his hand and felt something happen, but he saw nothing. Harry seemed to be watching as whatever it was approached him. He felt a calm peace overcome him like he was being radiated with peace. He then heard Harry's voice coming from thin air. "Can you see it?" it asked. Coulson looked at Harry and shook his head. Not wanting to interrupt the moment of happiness as it seemed to slowly fade away.
"What was that?" Coulson asked, still slightly affected by the calm he had experienced.
"My patronus. It is meant to keep evil spirits and demonic creatures of the worst sort at bay. The kind that eat people's souls. Sometimes people can use them to send messages… could. I'll probably be the last person to ever see it now. Have you figured it out yet?"
"Evil spirits. Ghostly messengers made of happiness. You're talking about fairy tales. Stories from myth and legend. About dragons and… magic." His eyes suddenly shot wide open as the last piece of the puzzle clicked together. "You're a magician."
"Please," Harry scoffed, "Magicians do parlour tricks and sleight-of-hand. I do magic. I'm a wizard." Harry finished with a smile.
"You mean like Merlin?" Coulson asked with a bit of child-like wonder creeping into his voice.
"He was actually the highest regarded wizard in our history. Being compared to him was the highest compliment one could be given." Harry said. "What's the time?" he then suddenly asked.
Coulson looked at his watch. "It's a couple of minutes past our due time. Director Fury will be having a fit by now." Coulson said with a bit of worry.
"Not yet. I'm going to show you a couple more pieces of magic." At this he put a hand on Coulson's shoulder. "Ready?" he asked, but before Coulson could reply they disappeared and reappeared on the dune right where they had left. Coulson looked around after catching his breath and found nobody looking for them. That was strange.
"What did you do? Where is everyone?" Coulson asked. His face was a mask again, for the first time wondering if his trust was betrayed. He might have trusted Harry, but he KNEW Fury.
"Relax, will you? Get up. First of the two last pieces of magic for you." Harry tapped a finger on Coulson's head and after a shiver, at the feeling of running egg running over his head, he watched in wonder as his hands slowly faded out of view. "Standard issue Disillusionment Charm. Instant, near-perfect camouflage. As long as you stand still or move really slowly."
"Now that is impressive. Magic you can apply to a willing subject." Coulson said, thinking of how much Fury would give for something like that. "How long does this last?" he asked.
"It should last an hour or so. I could feed it more magic when I apply it and it would last several hours, but we won't need that long." Harry replied. "Okay, this last bit is really important so I will need to ensure no sound comes from us for the next couple of minutes. That is non-negotiable. Do you understand?" Harry was looking more serious than he ever had.
"I underst..." Coulson tried to reply as Harry pointed at him and suddenly no sound would come from him. He experimentally clicked his fingers, but no sound came forth. While disconcerting, this could also come in handy. Harry was just giving him all the information he could use to get Fury on his side. 'Useful' Coulson thought to himself. Or it would be if Harry didn't trust him not to reveal his magic.
"Okay. This next part you will never speak of to anyone. Even if I do end up working with Shield and Fury finds out about everything. Even if I die and you find this item you will not use it or tell anyone about it. You take this secret to the grave. Do you understand?" Harry was still dead serious and Coulson could only nod his assent trying to convey his earnestness with his eyes. Harry seemed to believe him, because next he removed an amulet from inside his clothes, and pulled the loop around Coulson's neck. Harry had them step back a couple of feet and turned and fiddled with the amulet in his hand.
The world seemed to grey out around them and when it came back Coulson saw Harry sitting in front of him, talking to another Coulson. The same conversation they were having before Harry moved them away. Coulson turned to Harry with big eyes. But he couldn't see Harry. Not even a shimmer. The amulet being the only point of reference for where his head should be, until even that disappeared.
As Coulson watched, a piece of paper appeared in front of his face. The words "Kick me!" was scrawled on it in a lazy hand and then the piece of paper floated onto his counterpart's back seeming to stick there. Coulson rolled his eyes at the childish joke. He then saw the other Harry ask his counterpart if he would trust him. He almost wished he could go with them to see the show again.
As soon as their counterparts left, Harry undid the silencing and disillusionment magic. "Time Travel?! Do you have any idea what we could do with that?" Coulson asked.
"Nothing. Nothing but unravel the time-stream and create a paradox that will lead to the destruction of at least our entire solar system. Trust me. I've wanted to fix mistakes and go back to change things for the better so many times. I was informed by no uncertain terms that should one interact with the past to the point that it diverges the time-stream only unspeakable chaos could follow. Which is why time can only be extended. You could use it to read more, sleep longer, train more or to observe events, but you cannot affect the past to try and change it." Harry sounded bitter about that fact and then Coulson remembered what world Harry came from. The temptation must have been immense. And the pain at realizing that he could only do more harm.
"I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't know. I can only imagine your pain. I'll drop this for now and no one will know, but we'll have to take the time for you to explain this to me properly." And he meant it too. If this powerful person seemingly capable of anything imaginable says to not mess with time: he'd at least listen.
"So," Harry said, changing the subject, "what do we do now?"
"I think I can see my way to helping you out." he said with a smirk. "Will you trust me to report what I can?"
"If not you, then who?" Harry replied with a wry smile. "Go ahead and do what you must. Just get the Agents to let me leave when I want. I feel like a grounded kid with a babysitter."
They started to walk back to the table with Coulson's phone and earpiece. "I'll organize that by tomorrow. Just one more question before we go back online. If you just arrived here, how did you know about Puente Antiguo?"
Harry rubbed the back of his head and replied, guiltily. "I kind of picked that up from you. You were broadcasting it so hard I couldn't not pick it up. Sorry about that. When you alluded to something similar having happened before, I needed to know if it was possible that someone from my side had come through. I honestly don't actually know what happened there. I just made it seem like I did."
"You read my mind?" Coulson looked at Harry with cold eyes.
"No! There are two kinds of mental arts: one to protect the mind from being read and the other to read minds. My enemy was a master of reading minds and I had to pick up the skills to protect myself. There are two kinds of scanning. One is for surface thoughts. It's subtle and good for gathering information about current events, but the person must be thinking about it. The second is what you would call mind reading. It allows for looking through a person's experiences, but takes time and effort. Eye contact is needed for memories that are buried in your mind." Harry explained.
"I see." Harry could see this ability was a shock to Coulson. He just smiled and reached to Coulson's suit pocket. To his credit, Coulson didn't flinch. Harry took out his sunglasses and handed them to him. "Oh, that makes sense." he said as he put them on. "Why did you tell me? You could've kept that to yourself and I would never have known. We both know you could have made up something and I'd have had to believe you with as little as I know about your full abilities." Coulson thought he knew the answer, but wanted to hear it anyway.
"Trust, agent Coulson. Trust is what we're working on. It's probably the best weapon to use against me and the best way to turn me into an enemy. I'm putting the ball in your court."
They reached the table and Coulson switched his earpiece on and put it in. He switched his phone on and turned to Harry, putting a finger to his ear. "Coulson, confirming operational status. All green. Confirmation code: Zeta, Lema, Beta, four, two, fiver. Please confirm?" he waited again before responding. "Confirmed, assessment at stage Delta. Subject willing to co-operate under Handling Protocol 15, Subsection C." Coulson waited again a bit longer than before, before his eyes showed shock for a moment before he replied. "Confirmed. I suggest we go with option two and follow Protocol X."
Harry was wondering what was going on, but he understood the need to talk in front of a person with them not knowing what was said. It looked like a smart system, if a little paranoid. Moody would have loved these people.
"I'll tell him, sir." Coulson said. He looked slightly pleased with himself. "The director wants to debrief me. He'll send someone tomorrow to come pick you up. It seems he wants to meet you."
"Is that a good thing? It sounds like I should be worried?" Harry was surprised, but would go with it for now.
Coulson just smirked at that and continued. "The director has said that you may leave, but would prefer that you continue using the hotel until he's met with you." Harry understood what that meant. He was an unknown. And will probably be considered a threat until they knew more or worked out a deal. Either that or locked him up, he supposed.
Coulson then turned to him and asked, "Most people would have asked about the codes and Protocols I used. Why haven't you?" Coulson asked as he started leading Harry back to his car. He could tell Harry was being honest, having been able to confirm some of his own theories after Harry opened up to him, but still slightly worried about the latest revelation that his mind might not be secure.
"I was once part of a group that needed to protect certain information and people from our enemies." Harry said, being obscure for the chance that someone might be listening in now that Coulson was plugged in again. "We had to prove our identities and used coded phrases and responses to confirm our status. Certain words dropped into sentences would let our people know if we had been compromised or were acting under duress.
"We had a paranoid, retired vet on our side. He was strict, but we were never safer than with him around. He had an eye for details that served us very well. I still remember the day he died, trying to protect an asset. His partner got spooked and left him without backup. His death signified the beginning of the war to me. That was the day I lost the last of my innocence."
"How old were you?" Coulson asked seeing the look of a lost, scared boy in Harry's face for a moment. It was strange to imagine that at some point Harry would have needed protection.
"I was about to turn 17." Harry said with a far off gaze. Obviously lost in his memories of that time.
Coulson was surprised. "And you were already working with people to stop your enemies?"
"There wasn't much of a choice. I had been in the middle of things for a couple of years by that point. Not that I ever intended on it. Things just tended to happen in such a way that I was inevitably drawn into conflicts where I had to act or intercede to protect myself or someone else." Harry was still thinking about those days. His school years seemed mild in comparison to what happened after Riddle had come back the last time. Nobody knew that he had made another Horcrux or had prepared for his own return unaided. Harry couldn't even sense him anymore with the link in his scar finally gone.
Coulson was shocked. It did explain a few things though. Those forged in the heat of battle tended to be stronger for it in the long run. He felt sorry for the man who had lost so much, but his respect for him grew all the more for having survived it. It also explained why Harry was so adept at changing his personality into a hardened warrior, ready for anything, since that's what he had needed to become.
They were silent when they reached the car and Coulson drove them to the Hotel. He dropped Harry off and then left for his debriefing.
Harry walked into the Hotel and decided to go for a drink at the bar. He sat down on a bar-stool and ordered himself a six shots of tequila and a whiskey, telling the bartender to charge it to his room. He'd need something strong to even get a buzz, but he didn't feel like drinking alone and at least there were a couple of people around. Harry downed the first two shots in quick succession before sipping the whiskey and looking around to speculate and people-watch. It had been a while for him to have been around so many people and he enjoyed the atmosphere.
He saw a young couple off in a corner trying to look inconspicuous, while whispering, holding hands under the table and sipping on some fruity drinks Harry couldn't identify. He wondered if they had eloped or were trying to come across as older than they were. He remembered reading that the drinking age in America was 21. With magical people hangovers and alcohol poisoning was not something to worry about. As such and like with so many other things in the Wizzarding world, there were no clearly defined rules about underage drinking. Butterbeer was sold to thirteen-year olds for goodness sake and while it was not exactly strong, most muggles would only be able to handle a handful of those at most!
There was a smartly dressed group of five men all in suits, seeming to have finished a business meeting. Harry mused that they were using the excuse of being at a bar and away from home to have a couple of drinks, since whatever company they presented would obviously pick up the tab.
There was an older man, also in a suit, sitting at the end of the bar, just looking at his drink and taking a sip every now and then. His suit was not as well-fitted as the younger men at the table and he seemed tired. Probably down on his luck and trying to drown his sorrows, Harry thought.
He downed another two shots, taking another sip of his whiskey, when his thoughts were interrupted by a woman's voice. "Thirsty?"
Harry turned around and saw a stunningly beautiful red-head walking up behind him to the bar. She wore a white sundress with a stylish, but understated, pattern of pale green leaves. Her hair came down to just above her shoulders and was slightly wavy. Looking at him were a pair of green eyes just a shade or two darker than his own. "No, just needed to get out of my room." he answered.
She looked at him and then the six shot glasses, four of which were empty, and smirked. "Must be a really boring room. Mind if I join you? I seem to be suffering from cabin-fever myself."
He smirked back, getting off his seat and pulling one out for her. "Please," he said "be my guest." She acted like she was delighted by his manners. Harry held out his hand to her and said "I'm Harry."
She took his hand saying "Natalie", and he kissed the air above her knuckles, smirking at her smile.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Natalie. May I buy you a drink?" he offered.
She accepted his offer and gave the bar tender her order. "Are you trying to pick me up?" she asked, "I'm not some one-night stand, I'll have you know," she said affecting a poor imitation of his accent, but with some humour in her eyes.
"Of course not, dear lady," Harry responded immediately, "but would I not be a poor example of a British gentleman, if I did not offer you a refreshment after you have deigned to grace me with your lovely company?" Harry asked affecting a much better imitation of a British Lord (which, technically, he was), bowing slightly at the waist and gesticulating with his hand.
He looked up at her and grinned, which seemed to break the ice. She smiled, realizing he was joking. "You're dangerous," she said. "For a moment there I thought you were serious."
"It's all in the name of good fun. I have been cooped up in my room for a couple of days now. I was starting to miss human contact." Harry said.
"What are you doing in Malibu? Vacation?" She asked, looking up at him after taking her drink from the bar-tender and thanking him.
"The trip was a bit of a spur-of-the-moment thing. I might decide to turn it into a bit of a vacation, depending on what happens tomorrow." he answered.
"Oh, what happens tomorrow?" she asked.
"A possible business opportunity has come up. I'm meeting with someone who's supposed to know the details tomorrow." Harry said. Being non-specific was becoming a bit of a habit for him. "What about you? Taking some time off from being a model?" Harry asked with some humour, smirking again.
"You are a flirt." She said still smiling. "I'm a PA. The boss and I were here for a conference. Now he's off with his boyfriend. He set me up with a room and some spending money, while they are off doing whatever. And what is it that you do, that you could just up and leave and find business propositions where you end up?" she asked.
"A bit of this and a bit of that." he answered, purposefully vague. He honestly had not thought about that yet. What would he be doing with his time? He'd not had a job in years, nor a vacation for that matter. "A friend of mine arranged the meeting. I think he's hoping I will stick around. Things back home aren't great." He turned to the shots and downed the last two, followed by the rest of his whiskey.
With that done, he stood up and held his hand out to her again. Confusion played on her face for a moment as she took his hand and he kissed the air just above her knuckles again. "I thank you for your lovely company, my dear, but I am afraid I must bid you farewell."
"Wait, you're leaving?" She looked slightly affronted.
"I was only planning on drinking what I did. I'm sorry for the seeming abruptness of my departure but I feel like going for a walk. Maybe look for a marketplace to window-shop. You know, do the tourist thing, while I have time. I suppose you could join me if you were interested?" He didn't expect her to take him up on his offer, but at least it wouldn't seem like he was just leaving her alone.
"Sure." she said, completely catching him off guard. "I haven't gone shopping in a while." She seemed to shrug and started getting up.
"Do you mind if we meet up in an hour? I was at the beach earlier and feel like a shower and some clean clothes.
"Okay. I'll meet you in the lobby." At that she sat back down, presumably to finish her drink.
Once Harry was gone, she reached into her purse and pulled something small out, which she put in her ear. She then picked up her phone and put it to the same ear, just in case someone was watching and said, "Target has stated that he's going to leave the hotel to 'do the tourist thing'. I've received an invitation to join him. Departure time is one hour."
She listened to her earpiece for a couple of seconds and said, "Confirmed. Will continue with primary. Observation and reconnaissance. Widow out."