"What do you think of him, Hill?" Fury asked, looking over the interview reports.
"He's cagey." Hill replied "He's still keeping his cards close to his chest."
Fury had to grudgingly respect that. It would have been great if he spilled every secret he had, but Potter wasn't naïve. He'd given them a lot, enough to make him seem cooperative but not everything, especially when it came to the full extent of his powers and his past.
They had leverage, but it wasn't like they could just dump him onto the street. He was too much of an asset to leave to the wolves. No, the biggest leverage they had was what they could give him. "Prepare an offer for him, tell him we want him for a consultation role. Whatever it takes to justifying him being here."
"Why so generous?" Hill asked.
"I've told you about the Avengers initiative." Hill nodded, knowing it was his pet project "Agent Romanoff strongly recommended him for the project, and from what I've heard I'm inclined to agree. We won't need to put it in his contract, he'll do what we need him to when it comes down to it."
"Understood sir, I'll have Coulson present it to him."
"I'm surprised you've had Coulson, instead of Romanoff take point on this."
"I think Potter feels a little personally betrayed by Agent Romanoff's deception." Hill explained "Coulson did well with Stark and Thor."
Fury nodded "That he did."
-----
"What's this?" Harry asked, staring blankly at the small stack of papers Coulson had slid in front of him.
"It's a deal." Coulson said "A very generous one."
"Okay." Harry said absently, the first page consistent of an easy to digest summary while the rest was taken up by legalese.
"You'd become a U.S. Citizen." Coulson pitched "You'd get an official position as a Shield consultant, salary and benefits." Harry looked at the number and his eyes bulged.
"Ah."
"You would of course get full protection from any future attempts on your life." Coulson continued. "In return, we'd like your full cooperation. I can understand your reticence, I'm sure your past is a difficult topic to discuss. But Harry, we need to know if anything in your past is a threat."
"I can guarantee that nothing in my past is a threat." Harry said tensely.
"Why?"
That was the question, wasn't it? "What would I be doing, as a Shield consultant?" That was the other question. Would his 'job' entail being used as a lab rat?
"I understand that you've developed an interest in mythology and the occult. We suspect you have more hands-on experience in those areas than you've admitted. We have access to far more than is publicly available but have no way to tell truth from fiction. That's where you come in."
"That's it?" Harry asked incredulously
"That's it." Coulson nodded.
"You get a guy with magic powers, and you hire him to do research?"
"We aren't about to send you out into the field, Harry. Particularly not since you're a target." Coulson explained. Harry contemplated that- Coulson hadn't even entertained the possibility of using him as a research subject. Was he deceiving him, or did it genuinely not occur to him as a concern Harry might have?
He hated this, second guessing everything. He wasn't built for it, that was for sure, and exhaustion alone had him wanting to take the deal. Like it or not, his only real play was to hope that these people were ethical and above board. If they weren't, he'd be screwed either way.
"Alright… I agree. Give me a pen so I can sign this damn thing."
-----
"So, where were we?" Coulson had, in a gesture of politeness, left him alone to eat lunch after he'd signed the papers. Harry didn't have much of an appetite after making such a momentous decision basically on instinct, even if momentous gut decisions were on brand for him, but he had to admit that the food was good.
"I believe you wanted to know about my past." Harry's lips curved into a smirk, the first real positive emotion he'd expressed since that night with the Winter Soldier. "You're going to find it hard to believe."
"I've seen some things. Try me." Harry didn't doubt that Coulson had experience, and he wondered if the man had other encounters with magic.
"Well, to begin with, I'm not from this Earth."
"An alien?" He seemed surprised, but not shocked at the prospect of alien life. So, aliens were a thing, then?
"No. I'm human. I'm from Earth. Just not this Earth."
To his credit, Coulson didn't laugh, or accuse him of lying. He took it in stride remarkably well. "What exactly do you mean by that?"
"My world was very similar this this one, but different in a few ways."
"Such as?" Coulson spoke matter of factly, but Harry could just imagine how the people listening in were reaction to this.
"Well, in my world, there was a global secret society of magic users." Coulson reacted with a little alarm to this, and Harry resisted the urge to chuckle, he was actually enjoying this, just a bit.
"How do you know they don't exist in this world?"
"Well, for one, they haven't burst down the doors, arrested me, and wiped all your minds for spilling the beans."
"Ah."
"For another, why do you think I've been doing all this research? I've been looking for them." He shook his head "What I've found is… mixed."
"Merlin, he's a real person in your world." Coulson surmised. Clearly, Agent Romanoff had been passing him notes, Harry noted bitterly.
"Yeah, sort of the founder of British wizarding society. The legends still exist in this world, which is… odd." The witch burnings still happened in this world too, though most of the victims in his world had been innocent muggles caught up by paranoia. It was possible that they'd have happened even without magic.
But there were some other, rather telling hints that the wizarding world didn't exist, at least not the world that he knew.
"What else have you found?"
"The duck-billed platypus." He said.
"Is that a joke?"
"It was. A wizard had a laugh when they first discovered Australia, decided to make a new species by putting together a duck and a mammal. It doesn't exist in this world." Harry chuckled humorlessly. "There were also a few specific place names that had magical origins- but nothing." Godric's Hollow simply didn't exist, as far as he could tell. "There are also a few wizards that made it into mu- non-magical history books in my world. Nicholas Flamel doesn't exist, as far as I can tell."
"So, its possible that magic users existed far in the past in this world, but aren't around now?"
"I hope not. I hope they were never here at all."
"Why?"
"Because it would mean someone killed them. If you're looking for threats, Agent Coulson, I don't think the wizarding world is a threat to you. But if someone had the ability and the desire to commit genocide against them…"
"Point taken."
-----
"Strongly recommended him, eh?"
Natasha grit her teeth. She and Maria Hill had gotten along simply by virtue of being women in such a male dominated field, but that didn't mean they didn't step on each other's toes sometimes. She was Shield's best field agent; Hill was Fury's right hand- there was bound to be some conflict.
"Absolutely." She stood her ground "He seems like the type."
"You heard about Coulson's interview with him, I assume." Hill prodded. Her skeptical look spoke volumes, and Natasha felt the urge to defend him. "If he were going to lie, I don't think he'd chose something so ridiculous or specific, and may I remind you about Thor the God of Thunder."
Hill shrugged, nonplussed "Touché. If it weren't for the fact that he can back up his words with magic I'd say he'd need therapy." A thoughtful look "Actually, he probably needs therapy anyway."
"Look, just give him the benefit of the doubt. You're going to be his point of contact, right?" Natasha pressed, and Hill nodded "You don't have to trust my judgement. Use your own and give him a chance. You can't tell me he isn't a good person. He saved my life." He could have run, let her distract the Winter Soldier and fend for herself, but he'd charged right in, taking two bullets in the process. But more than that… it was just obvious. He was a good person, he tried to do the right thing, it was obvious to her after spending even just a few days with him. She hadn't been lying when she recommended him for the Avengers Initiative. Harry was honestly the perfect candidate- a real Captain America.
"And this has nothing to do with you finally getting laid?" This might have been a critique, but Hill's smirk told her she was just teasing.
"Shut up. Not like he's gonna touch me again, now."
Hill chuckled "Was he any good?"
It was Natasha's turn to smirk "Oh. Best I ever had." Let her wonder whether she was serious. "Was there anything else?"
"Actually, yes. You've got another mission."
"Good." It would spare her from having to see Harry steadfastly ignore her when they happened to pass by each other. If she weren't concerned for his fate, she might have been itching to get out of here sooner. It was obvious he wanted nothing to do with her, and she didn't blame him.
"You aren't going to like it."
"Try me."
"Have you ever considered taking a position at Stark Industries?"
"Oh, god, no."
-----
Harry didn't tell them everything.
He decided to leave off the part about the Dark Lord. The idea of some alternate timeline was wild enough, no need to bring Voldemort or his unique role in the war into it. He'd also slightly downplayed what magic was truly capable of, and heavily emphasized that without a wand, there wasn't that much he could do. As pleased as he was to be able to leave the 'Chosen One' nonsense behind him, it was karmic irony that he was no more 'normal' now than he was back in the wizarding world.
'Lumos' was the only spell he'd ever managed on command. In a high stress situation, his accidental magic flared up, but he had no control of it. He'd also, out of a lack of anything better to do, spent hours doing occlumency exercises, though it was hard to tell if they truly worked. Supposedly they improved memory, but if it had an effect it had happened too gradually for him to notice. It was an immense source of frustration for him, not having his magic left him feeling stripped. But there was little he could do about it but continue practicing in futility, saying 'Winguardiam leviosa' repeatedly while pointing at a scrap of paper got old quick.
Thankfully, they seemed to buy what he was saying, or at least were willing to let sleeping dogs lie when it came to what he omitted. Mostly, he thought that the sheer ridiculousness of his story was enough to convince them that he wasn't lying- it would truly be brazen of him to use this as his lie.
Coulson had pressed him on only one topic- how he'd gotten here in the first place. Harry genuinely had no answer for him. He'd let Voldemort kill him, fully expecting to die. The next thing he knew, he'd woken up here. Harry's gut niggled at him, telling him that he was missing something, but no matter how much he strained his mind, he came up with nothing.
His accommodations changed- instead of being held in a nameless 'secure facility', he'd been transferred onto something resembling a high security campus in the D.C. area. His apartment there was undeniably better than his old place, and Shield had helpfully transported all his belongings to DC for him.
T he night he arrived, he'd carefully arranged the hand-drawn portraits of his friends along the walls. He had nothing of them, except his memories. When he'd first settled down he'd been afraid that those would eventually fade, and he'd forget their faces, their quirks, what made them unique. So he drew them, he had a scrapbook full of drawings of people, places, things from his old world. He'd been terrible at first, and he still didn't think he did any of them justice.
It was fitting, in a way. After all, he'd failed them all in real life, effectively abandoning them to fight Voldemort without him. He'd never find closure, or be able to capture them perfectly- in that he would always fail.
His quarters were also undoubtedly secure. He couldn't exactly complain about the patrols or cameras because of the shadowy assassin that could still very well be after him. He was certain that Shield was happy that they could easily keep an eye on him there, but he wasn't in a position to object. Despite the generous deal, Harry was fully aware who had the power here, and it left him feeling more than a little caged.
Natasha had disappeared. She'd been reassigned, Coulson had told him. Not long afterwards Coulson too departed- both of them were field agents, and it made sense that they would be in and out on missions. Still, it left Harry feeling rather isolated. The only two faces he'd truly gotten familiar with were gone- even though he hadn't really spoken to Natasha in days… he just didn't know what to say. And now it was too late, he might never get a chance to set things straight with her now. Hell, he didn't even know if she'd care too. He might just be another mark to her. She certainly never made any effort to speak to him either.
That left his main point of contact as Maria Hill. Ultimately Nick Fury was Director, but Harry had never met him, to most people in the organization he was a shadowy figure, almost as much legend as flesh and blood person. Harry reckoned Fury liked it that way. Hill was essentially Fury's second in command, which left Harry feeling a little chuffed, reporting to the second most important person in the Shield hierarchy. They clearly placed some importance on him.
It did make things awkward with his coworkers. They were largely 'serious' scientists and historians, and here he came rolling up with a cartful of conspiracy theories, bypassing all the normal hierarchies to report directly to Maria Hill. It created more than a little distance between them, but Harry didn't feel much of an urge to make connections with the people around him. There was still an unbridgeable gulf between him and everyone he met. None of them could begin to understand what he'd been through, get how real and important the world and people he'd lost were.
His first meeting with Hill after getting settled into D.C. set the tone for his new position. Essentially, they wanted him to do what he'd already been doing in his spare time- trying to master wandless magic and investigating mythologies and supernatural claims- full time.
"Well, Fury just had an… awkward conversation with the President. He has not been contacted by a magical government." Hill had opened with. When he'd first met after signing that contract, she'd been strict and impersonal with him. He hadn't been exactly surprised by the attitude, but he felt as if she'd been warming to him as time went on.
Harry nodded, he'd expected as much "The only thing left to really check is the magical sites. I'm not familiar with magical America."
"I think confirming that we have nothing to worry about on that front would be worth a quick trip to the UK. The main concern is your safety. Is it possible that an agent could check these locations without you?"
Harry grimaced. This had reminded him a little of his treatment by the Order of the Phoenix earlier in the war. Yet, he had to admit he had very little means of defending himself… it was frustrating. "In my world, they were enchanted to prevent non-magicals from accessing or seeing them without the help of someone with magic. I'd need to be there."
"So, an escort, then." Hill conceded "I'll see what team we can draw up. To avoid questions, it'd probably have to be Coulson's team, or myself." Harry didn't know whether to be disappointed or relieved that Natasha wasn't mentioned. It might not have meant anything; she was supposedly fairly deep under cover. "While we're waiting on that, we need everything we can get on Norse mythology. If there's anything you know from your world…"
Harry had been thinking about that. The revelation that the Norse gods existed in this universe had frankly shocked him. He'd speculated that the mythology was based around the real deeds of wizards and magical creatures, not gods. It also had Harry wondering what role those gods played in Harry's home world. It'd be rather amusing if the Statute of Secrecy was broken by Thor dropping down from the heavens, shocking wizarding and muggle world alike. Still, he was grateful that Thor making an appearance in New Mexico did a lot to make his own outlandish story more palatable, and it did give him a lead.
"There was a whole magical language of ancient runes, derived from the old Nordic runes." Harry explained "I never studied it extensively" Not for the first time since arriving in this world, he regretted not studying Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. He suspected that those disciplines would be useful in doing magic without a wand. "But I'll see what I can pick up from the texts we have."
There was more discussion- on other mythologies, what Hydra had uncovered, but Harry got the sense that not much solid progress was expected of him. For a supposed expert of magic and mythology, completely confirming the wizarding world didn't exist and trying to pick up ancient runes didn't seem like much. It left Harry wondering what other plans for him, but also made him want to prove his worth to them.
"Harry." Hill addressed him in a softer tone, sliding a card to him. "I want you to consider this."
Harry took one look and scoffed "I don't need a therapist."
"Anyone would need one if they experienced half of what you did- fighting in a war, waking up in another world." He was surprised to see that she seemed to be coming from a place of genuine care, which only made it harder to swallow. He couldn't bear to meet her eyes, didn't want to see her pity.
"I appreciate the offer, but no."
Hill looked disappointed. "It's your choice. But keep the card, you never know."
Harry did take the card to appease her… and after he left, he threw it away in the nearest bin.
He was fine.