Prove You Have A Heart

Chapter 32

They didn't rush back to Malibu, having had a call from Pepper assuring that she'd picked up Luke from school and fed him, and arrived back home around seven thirty, Happy picking them up at the airport to drive them back. Tony teased the driver about his new girlfriend, but seemed to realise that he wasn't going to get any information out of him, as he gave up quickly. Wandering up to the living room, Harry easily caught Luke out of the air as he jumped at him almost as soon as he reached the top of the stairs, carrying the small boy over his shoulder with ease. "Pepper, we're home!" Tony called, looking around expectantly.

"Good, I was getting bored." Harry raised an eyebrow at the now familiar voice, spotting Coulson sat quite comfortably in the armchair. "Pepper's in the office upstairs."

"She left you with the kid?" Tony asked, aghast. "I'll need to have a word with that woman."

"Agent Phil and Mr Hawkeye were playing catch with me!" Luke chirped brightly, and Tony stopped in his tracks, an unimpressed expression on his face.

"Alright, Barton. Wherever you are, front and centre," he requested evenly. Harry jumped as the man dropped from seemingly nowhere, an amused smirk at his lips.

"Damn it, kid, you gave the game away!" he exclaimed, shaking his head at Luke. "I was supposed to be hiding!" Luke frowned apologetically, climbing down off Harry's back.

"Sorry." Clint grinned, tossing a sponge baseball at the five year-old.

"No worries, kid. But next time, hush up, yeah?" Luke nodded, and Tony groaned.

"Stop corrupting my child," he scolded, making Clint's grin widen. "Why are you two here? I assume it wasn't just to play catch with Luke; usually I have his friends call before making a playdate." Coulson flushed, but Clint merely continued grinning, rocking on his heels.

"He has news," he explained. "I was bored." Harry snorted, heading over to the kitchen for an apple.

"News?" Tony asked with a raised eyebrow, already walking towards the stairs to go to the workshop. "I'm all ears for the thirty seconds it takes for me to find something else more interesting than you."

"We've moved the Tesseract to a secure location ready to research," Coulson informed him, cutting straight to the chase. Tony stopped walking, turning back around to face them.

"Oh, really? Don't suppose I can go take a look?" he asked, not surprised when Coulson shook his head.

"Afraid it's authorised personnel only, and you haven't been approved yet. But I can tell you that I'll send you the basics of the research tonight, Fury wants an opinion, and for you to check your dad's notes, see if he came up with anything. Also, we're also tracking Banner a lot more closely than we were before. A few... other parties... have been a little too interested in his movements for our liking; we're keeping them off his tail the best we can. Fury is considering approaching him soon," he reported, and Harry grinned when Tony gained an eager expression.

"Banner? Dr Bruce Banner? Oh, Coulson, you have to let me meet him when you guys finally bring him in. That guy is like, a legend. His brain is beautiful. I want to have sex with it. No offence, gorgeous," he added to Harry, making Clint snicker.

"So long as that doesn't extend to the rest of him, I think we'll be fine," Harry assured in amusement.

"I think you meeting Banner can be arranged," Coulson agreed, and Tony lit up like a child at Christmas.

"Y'know, Coulson, maybe you're not so bad," he mused. "However; you, Barton, are still annoying. Even if Luke does like you."

"Hey! I give you an excuse to make exploding projectiles again!" Clint argued, indignant.