ripped at every edge (but you're a masterpiece) (Hp x Mcu) by Lissy

Chapter 24: won't let nobody hurt you

Summary:

Hari gives advice, and then makes a deal with the devil.

Chapter title:
I'll Stand By You - The Pretenders

Notes:

Timeline:
[x] (2012) The Avengers
[x] (2013) Iron Man 3
[x] (2013) Thor: The Dark World
[ ] (2014) Captain America: The Winter Soldier; Guardians of the Galaxy; Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2
[ ] (2015) Avengers: Age of Ultron; Ant-Man
[ ] (2016) Captain America: Civil War; Spider-Man: Homecoming
[ ] (2017) Doctor Strange; Black Panther; Thor: Ragnarok
[ ] (2018) Avengers: Infinity War

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Tony has calmed down significantly since he woke up, but Hari isn't fooled. Having suffered from nightmares extensively herself, she knows that he's the furthest thing from okay right now. His eyes are bloodshot, and they keep darting over her body, his gaze not at all seductive or wanton, but it's like he expects her to disappear right in front of him.

Not to mention the way he's playing with her hand and wrist. Tony traces patterns over her flesh, but periodically he'll linger just a little too long on the inside of her wrist, checking her pulse, making sure she's alive.

She gets it.

Too many nights, even years after the war, she'd find herself waking up, gasping for air, a scream dying on her lips. For the most part, Draco would help her through it.

But sometimes, in the dark, he looked just too much like his father. There had been a memorable incident when her incredible reaction time had her wand at his throat within seconds until the sleepy haze had left her vision.

She'd turned to her children, then. She'd rock them in their sleep, and soon enough their sweet scent would relax her until she drifted off.

"I could think of at least a thousand things I would rather do more," Tony says. He tries to smile, but it falls flat, still shaken up by his dream, and then he checks her pulse again, lingering.

Hari nods her head. "Okay." She doesn't push.

Tony seems startled by this. "That's it?" he asks. "You're not going to try to get me to talk?"

Hari burrows herself further at his side, making sure he's satisfied with the rhythmic pounding of her heart before moving her hand to his chest. She traces the patchwork of scars there.

"If you're anything like me," she says, "and we are remarkably alike, forcing you to talk is like slapping a dragon in the face – not advisable."

Tony lets out a wheezing noise, and then he's laughing. It's a rich, deep belly laugh, the kind that aches after a while, and the corners of his eyes crinkle pleasantly. The dark shadows that clung to him, his demons, they're not gone, but rather they've receded, at least a bit.

"Please tell me you've never done that," he says when he finally calms down.

Hari grins. "I've never slapped a dragon in the face," she assures him.

Her tone gives her away, and Tony regards her with exasperated fondness. "See, the way you say that makes me think you've done other ill-advised things to dragons."

"You make that sound dirty."

Tony snorts. "You know what I mean."

Hari regards him for a moment before she sits up. "Let's go exploring," she says as she slips out of bed. Her clothes are in a crumpled heap on the floor.

"Now?" Tony looks out the window, and he's surprised to see the sun beginning to sink along the horizon. "I didn't think we slept that long."

Hari shrugs on her clothes. "It's not time for dinner yet; Thor said he'd come get us. So, I'm thinking we should explore Asgard as clueless tourists." When he cocks an eyebrow, she says, "I'm pretty sure we're Asgard's first visitors from Earth, us and Jane! Let's go look around."