"Guys? Why does that seem familiar?" Bruce asked, pointing to a blue-grey coloured cloth draped over one of the stools at the end of the counter. "The … the other guy, he seems to be indicating that it's … friendly?"
Bruce shook his head as he tried to explain something that didn't even make sense to him. Tony, though was never one to leave a question unanswered. Pushing away from the table, he crossed the room and picked it up.
What he found was a large cloak, complete with hood. Whatever it was made from wasn't something that he was familiar with. At first, he thought that it might be leather, but no leather that he'd ever felt before felt like this.
"Guys?" he said, swinging around, holding the cloak up in front of him for the rest of them to see.
Instantly, Steve was up out of his chair and across the room.
"This is the cloak that the other guy was wearing, the one helping out in the fight," he said.
It was at that instant that Harry returned. He backed through one of the swinging doors to the kitchen, two overloaded trays in his hands, one filled with basket of fries, the other with a platter filled with hamburgers.
He stopped dead at the sight of the two Avengers standing at the counter, the blue-grey cloak in their hands.
"I take it this belongs to you?" Steve asked.
Peripherally, Harry noted Natasha and Clint tensing slightly.
"Why would you say that?" he temporised.
Tony took an exaggerated look around the room.
"Um, I don't see anyone else around, unless you've got someone stashed in your kitchen, and this isn't the type of thing that one just leaves lying around," he said.
"So, is it? Is it yours?" Steve asked. "'Cause, believe me, if it is, you deserve our thanks for what you did for us out there today as well."
"Worthy allies are always to be celebrated," Thor added.
After eyeing each of the six, Harry gave a small nod and a shrug.
"I did what I could to help people," he said.
"Thor, grab another chair and bring it over here," Clint said. "I've heard it said that this table's for superheroes."
Harry had only just put the food on the table after Tony and Steve had returned to their seats when the door to the Den opened once more.
"Nick!" Tony beamed, waving a fry at him. "Pull up a seat, we're celebrating."
The two that entered wore the same black jumpsuit as Natasha with the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on their shoulders and right breast. But that was the only similarities that the two had.
The first to enter, the man whom Tony had addressed as 'Nick', was a tall, bald black man whose most distinguishing feature was the eye patch that he wore over his left eye. He also wore a long black trench coat, giving him a mysterious and forbidding demeanour.
The other was a blonde-haired woman with striking blue eyes. In addition to the gun at her hip, the top of a baton could be seen peeking out from the holsters strapped to each of her thighs.
"The next time you decide to 'celebrate' clue me in on your whereabouts," Nick stated.
He came to stand next to the table, looming between his two agents.
"Nice to see that you all survived," he commented. "Well done. Loki?"
"My brother is secure within Stark's mighty tower," Thor replied. "I assure you that he will not be going anywhere."
"And the sceptre and tesseract?" Nick asked.
"In one of my vaults," Tony replied easily. "Jarvis' keeping an eye on them."
Nick's eye narrowed and the tension rose, a tension that Harry decided to diffuse.
"Can I get you something to eat or drink, Sir?" he asked.
Nick turned to face him, eyeing him up and down before speaking to his agents.
"Who's this?"
"Harry, the owner of this place," Clint replied easily.
"He also helped us out in the fight," Natasha added.
"Is that so?" he asked before reaching across the table to shake hands. "Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Thanks for your help."
"My pleasure," Harry replied.
"Director, there are two men approaching," the blonde agent announced from her position near the window.
"Thank you, Agent Morse," Nick replied.
The two men in red robes that entered the café took one look around and Harry sighed, a sigh that was instantly heard by all of the Avengers.
"Mister Potter, we need to have a word with you," one stated emphatically.
"And who might you be?" Fury asked, his eye narrowed.
"Aurors Stevenson and Jenkins," Harry replied, indicating each one. "They're … they're police officers?"
This time it was the two robed men whose turn it was to sigh.
"You shouldn't have said that, Mister Potter," Stevenson stated.
"Wait, aurors?" Fury asked.
In reply the two men raised their right arms, wooden sticks in their hands.
"Seriously?" Harry asked. "You're going to try to take on the group that just fought and beat an alien invasion from out of space? And expect to win?"
Seeing that the group that they were facing wasn't as defenceless as they'd first appeared the two backed off. Looking around the Den, Harry couldn't blame them. Captain America had his shield in place, also covering Bruce; Thor had raised his mighty hammer; Clint, Natasha and Fury had guns pointed at the pair; and Tony was holding some kind of glowing disk in his right hand. Even Agent Morse looked ready for battle, having drawn her batons and holding them at the ready.
.
.
.
Thank you for reading this chapter. If you want to read more than 500 advanced chapters, please visit my Ko-Fi.👇🏼👇🏼
☕️ko-fi.com/skyarc☕️