Chapter 16: SHIELD!

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Harry awoke with a yawn and then rolled back over, snuggling into the soft bed of the hotel room.

'Wake up or you won't adjust to the time difference,' Loki ordered, but Harry preferred to sleep. 'Wake up or I'll make you feel like you're on fire.'

With that, Harry was immediately getting up. He had long since learned that the god didn't bluff, but at least that event had given him some good material if he ever wanted to create an illusion involving fire.

He picked up the necklace at his bedside and put it on, staring at his new reflection in the mirror. It was simply a wooden disc engraved with runes, but Harry had been designing it for a few days before he had arrived in Russia the day prior.

It was his basic disguise, so would simply change his hair to blond, his eyes to brown, obscure his scar and greatly change his other facial features.

He had only finished carving it the night before, though there had been many failed prior attempts.

It would be possible to design one for an adult form, though that would take too much energy to hold up.

This one was rather simple; he had to actually turn it on and off, meaning that the illusion wouldn't disperse if he were to lose focus or even fall unconscious.

While the Russians might be looking for this form, it was more important that he wasn't recognized as Harry Potter.

Satisfied that it was working, Harry packed his bags before exiting the hotel and making his way across the street to eat breakfast in café.

'Look back across the street for me,' Loki ordered as Harry began to eat a few minutes later. Something in his tone made sure that he did so immediately.

Two men in black suits stood inconspicuously where Loki had directed him to look, seemingly chatting, but then a wind swept through the street and one of their jackets was blown upon, revealing a gun holstered at his side.

'There are more of them,' Harry commented, suddenly looking at everyone else on the street in a suspicious light as he refused to let panic settle in upon him.

'I know, but they are muggles if they are using firearms,' Loki said, his tone calming. 'Unless you are shot in the head, I should be able to heal any wound. We should be safe in all cases. If the worst comes to the worst, we can try and apparate and hope that it works.'

Harry was about to suggest leaving via the back entrance when a reflection caught his eye and he witnessed another suit-clad man heading towards his table, having entered from the said back entrance.

Slipping into an arrogant and carefree demeanour with the ease of a well-practised actor, Harry casually turned to face the man, pointing at the chair opposite him as he continued to eat.

The man sat down and Harry studied him. He appeared to be in his mid-forties, with receding brown hair and kind-looking grey eyes, but Harry wasn't one to be fooled by appearance. Many a person had made that mistake when they looked at him and saw a mere child.

That was a reason why Harry tended to avoid eye-contact. They said the eyes were the windows to the soul, and when people stared into his, they sometimes saw Loki.

Well, not Loki, but the fact that they were staring upon an unknown being made it even more terrifying.

All they sensed was that he was ancient and powerful, from which point their imagination took hold and they started to believe that Harry was the Devil himself, having come to claim their soul.

Loki immensely enjoyed that. In modern times there was no fear associated with his name, but being mistaken for a being such as Satan himself tended to boost his ego to levels yet to be discovered by mortals.

With how large it was already, Harry was quite surprised that he, being raised by the god, wasn't also incredibly arrogant – that wasn't to say that he didn't know that he was far superior to the vast majority of beings in existence.

He was torn from his thoughts of Asgardian-Wizard-Jotun-Hybrid supremacy as the man said in American-accented English, "I'm Agent Phil Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

A jolt of surprise emitted from Loki. 'SHIELD,' he offered. 'The last time I was on Earth in my physical form I noted that was the organization that were investigating the appearance of Mjolnir. They are a global group and do not usually mix with the magical from what I saw.' Loki paused. 'They may have found you using the CCTV from the airport which would explain why they have shown up in Russia. If this is the case they probably haven't seen your wand and may believe that your power comes from sources other than magic. Act as though you do not know what it is.'

Loki had taken a little two long to say that and silence had now reigned the table for at least five seconds. "Oh," Harry began in mock surprise, putting on a flawless Russian accent. "Were you expecting me to introduce myself?" He paused and hummed.

"Do you think Vladmir Karakovsky sounds good enough?" he asked, putting together the most stereotypical Russian name he could think of. Not waiting for an answer to his clearly fake alias he continued, "Anyway, what do you want with me?"

"SHIELD – the name we usually go by – takes an interest in the Gifted, as we call them, and after your little performance at the airport yesterday, it was deemed that one with your skills would make a valuable asset. Of course, even if you don't agree to join and help SHIELD, we still need to give you a risk assessment."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "That sounded a bit like a threat to me, Agent Coulson. I'm not sure if I can keep pretending to be morally superior if I join an organization that threatens children."

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