It Only Takes a Second

- XXXVI -

(A/N: Hello everyone! Happy April fools day!!! That last chapter was totally a joke, and I'm sorry for those of you that threw your phones across the room— oops?? I've marked it with parentheses so that it's known that that's the April fools day "joke chapter" because I really got bored enough to write an entire gag chapter, just to watch everyone's reactions. My 9% slytherin came out, but then the 86% hufflepuff came in and felt guilty.
Before we dive into these next few chapters, I wanted to let you know that I don't know anything about how trials or the law in general works, especially in a case between people of America and England. I would also like to remind you that this is fiction, so please keep that in mind if/when you want to correct me- I'm coming up with some of my own rules here to fit the story. This chapter is also not as long as I was anticipating, so I apologize for that, but I promise we will get into some more action in the coming chapters. That being said, thank you and I hope you enjoy! Stay safe and healthy everyone!)

"Harry, can you hand me that wrench please?" Tony asked, bent under the popped hood of a car.

"That's the... all silver one with the mouth looking thing?" Harry's hand hovered over a variety of tools that were lying atop a small table.

Tony smiled to himself, thinking about how adorable Harry was, and nodded. "Yeah, the all silver one with the mouth looking thing."

Harry handed the wrench to Tony, who resumed his tinkering.

"Sir, you have an incoming phone call," Friday's voice announced.

"Who's calling?" Tony grunted, pulling some wiring out with a yank.

"It's your lawyer," Friday responded in her Irish accent.

Tony took a step back and stood up, grabbing a towel and wiping his oiled and greased hands off quickly before grabbing his phone and answering.

"This is Tony Stark," he answered, and Harry gingerly took a seat on a stool. He had completed PT this morning, and it had left him beyond sore. The scarring on his back was becoming quite restrictive as it healed, and so they were trying to help with that as much as possible. However, it meant that Harry was exhausted and sore.

"That soon?" Tony asked, his voice quiet but surprised. "No, that's good but... I thought we would have more time to prepare."

There was silence on the other end as someone responded. Tony glanced over a Harry who looked down at his hands, pretending he wasn't listening.

"No, we're ready but I just worry about..." Tony trailed off, and there was another pause. "Okay, just keep me updated. We'll be in touch."

Tony pulled the phone from his ear and set it back down on the table with a sigh. Walking over towards the kitchenette area he had in the shop, he opened the fridge and pulled out two bottles of soda before returning to where Harry was seated.

"That was my lawyer, obviously, calling to tell me that they set a trial date," he handed Harry a bottle of Sprite.

Harry's face paled, and his hands began trembling as he accepted the bottle of soda.

"When?" He asked, clenching his jaw to keep his emotions at bay.

"Two weeks from tomorrow," Tony replied, voice low.

He had thought that they had more time to get Harry emotionally and mentally prepared for the trial. While he was glad that the case had received a priority, he was hoping that Harry would be in a better place once the trial came around. And while his kid was doing better, he worried about how well he would hold up in a court of law, being questioned from several sides.