Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or The Avengers.

Chapter Three

His eyes fluttered open, breathing that was still deep from sleep harshening at the unknown surroundings. His eyes shot around the room, scanning for another being. When he could detect no other person apart from him, he let his beating heart relax from its fast pace.

Clean walls, a dull light source above him, one single door. No windows. To be expected?

He frowned, clutching lightly at his head, trying to remember the events of the previous however long. He couldn't hazard a single guess at how long he'd been out of it.

"Hadrian? Are you alright? You haven't got a headache, have you?" a worried voice preceded the opening of the door.

"Why am I here?" Hadrian muttered, pushing himself off the bed.

"Hey, hey - you're on bed rest for the foreseeable future. You don't remember what happened?"

"Obviously not, Messenger."

"You were taken by SHIELD. Somehow, though no one has any idea how, you vanished from thin air - thin air, Hadrian! I tracked you and brought you back here when you collapsed in the middle of a damn forest."

"Where is here?"

"Here is my tower. The giant building in the middle of New York, yeah?" he wiggled his eyebrows.

Hadrian opted to remain silent, brow creasing into a frown.

"About that headache -"

"I do not have a headache, Messenger."

"Hadrian, no matter what you say you're not leaving this bed. Seriously, Hadrian!"

"Stop calling me that damned name," he growled.

"Well, what do I call you then?" Messenger challenged him.

"You won't have to call me anything because I'll be leaving now."

Messenger advanced towards him, "You will not be leaving until I say you can."

"What is it with you humans?" he tore into the man, "Always trying to contain me, to use me, to chain me down! Will you never learn? I will not be your plaything! I am greater than any of you mortals, ignorant Midgardians!"

"Hadrian..."

"Leave me be," he snarled, "I have had enough of people trying to control me."

"I'm not - "

"Leave!"

Hadrian sat on his breath, chest heaving with every breath. A contorted grimace on his face, he released a frustrated scream. He was sick of it, up to his neck in subtle, tricking plans! And no silent looks of hurt or betrayal would change a damn thing about it.

The click of the door closing brought him out of his thoughts. Messenger had left. About time he got the hint, Hadrian thought bitterly. Glancing up, he caught the metallic glint shining into his eyes. So that was why Messenger thought he had a headache. They were spying on him! probably reporting back to SHIELD as well.

"When I leave this place, you will be getting the first of my revenge, One-Eye. And I'm warning you, it will not be pretty."

Tony stared at the young man before him in shock. Hadrian spoke as if he had years of experience with being 'controlled', as he put it. Yet he couldn't be more than eighteen...

Two choice words rang through his mind, screaming in their blatancy.

'Mortal'.

'Human'.

Surely not? Could this kid, the one talking about such deep topics, truly be immortal? Non-human? And as much as he wished to dismiss it, the eyes of the kid were evidence enough. Whilst the emeralds seemingly embedded into his face were eye-catching at the least, it was the depth within them that tugged on Tony's heartstrings. No kid (whether he was or wasn't one) should have had to deal with that much grief, that level of pain within himself.

"Tony? Is that you?"

"Hey Pepper," he sighed.

"What's wrong with you? Did you blow the lab up yet again?"

He chuckled slightly, "I wish I had. No, I brought someone to stay here. His name is Hadrian."

"Isn't that the person you were talking about, the teen who talked to you after the big battle?"

"Yeah," he sighed once more, "He's been here a few days now."

"What? How did I not notice him?" Pepper asked, shocked.

"He's been in a spare room. Hadrian just woke up, and... well, he wasn't happy."

"Please don't tell me you kidnapped him, Tony."

"Hey!" he protested, "I did no such thing! I mean, he might have been under pressured circumstances when he agreed but still - "

"I'm going to go see him."

"Pepper, that's not a good idea. Seriously."

"What did you do this time?" she groaned.

He fiddled with the edge of his shirt sleeve, "I had Jarvis monitoring him. He woke up, so I went to go see him. I thought he had a headache because he was clutching his head, but he said he didn't. I was worried, so I said he wouldn't be leaving the bed. He... he talked to me, about what people had done to him. I - he looks so young, to be talking about those things," his voice reduced to a murmur, "He said words I couldn't comprehend a kid saying."

"Like?"

"Human. Mortal. Midgardian. And I swear, he can't be more than eighteen! It's not possible!"

"Thor is possibly over a thousand years old, Tony. He doesn't look over thirty either."

Tony shuddered lightly. He backed up, reaching a couch and falling solidly onto it.

"Thor mentioned something. Something about a position, and how heavy the burden is on that position. But they never told me what the position was," Tony wracked his memory, "What could be so serious that a kid had to deal with it?"

He raised his hand, pointing a single accusing finger towards the camera. He glared as a low-level shock of lightning leapt from his finger to the electronic, frying the circuits instantly. Hadrian stood up and dusted himself off absent-mindedly. It was about time he caught up with an old friend of his.

"Death," he commanded.

"Master, you called."

A lithe figure, towering a foot over Hadrian, smirked predatorily at the young looking man. He was uncomfortably close to Hadrian, yet he didn't back down.

"Do feel free to inform me of the recent events," Hadrian rose a single eyebrow.

"And I thought this was just a social call," the silky voice purred.

"Stop playing around, Death."

"Of course, Master," the being let out a long-suffering sigh, "You've been out for around four days. SHIELD, as you've been told multiple times, captured you when you suffered a relapse into your memories. However, you were correct in thinking you had been injected with a substance. One designed for any superhero, however. It was meant to dull your senses, however it had not been tested on a magic user before.

"In effect, the liquid dulled your connection to magic. Only through intense panic and anger were you able to break the effects. Of course, without a wand, you drained your reserves slightly. This combined with the remnants of the injection took a far greater toll on you than anyone could imagine. In the future, Master, I would recommend not getting injected, yes?"

Hadrian glared at Death.

"I trust you have retrieved my possessions?"

"Of course."

A bundle of silvery material was placed in his outstretched hands. Delving into the material, Hadrian fished out both a slender white wand and a solid gold ring. Slipping one up his sleeve and the other on his finger, he sighed in near-contentment.

"Death, where is my cane? Where is it?"

His eyes blazed, piercing the figure.

"Where is it? Answer me!"

"Master..."

"Where is it?" he screamed.

"I am sorry, Master."

Hadrian stared at Death in shock, his hands shaking. He had thought it merely missing, even in those woods he had not anticipated the utter destruction of it.

"No," he muttered, "No, no, no, no, no! This cannot be happening!"

He sank to his knees as they gave way from under him. The slight touch of a hand on his arm sent shudders running through him. For the second time in a week, arms wrapped around his form as he lost himself to grief.

An elegant hand ran up and down his back, the soothing caress comforting him. He buried his head in the other man's chest.

"Master, now is not the time," an urgent note entered his companion's voice, "Messenger and Hera are approaching, Master. I must leave before I am spotted."

"Thank you, Death."

"Anytime, Master."

Hadrian pulled himself together in the now empty room. No matter what, he would not let strangers see him without his composure more than necessary. Though he couldn't hide his red eyes or the silent tremors running down his spine, he would pull as much dignity together as remotely possible.

Pushing himself up, he turned to face the door in preparation for his visitors. The light click of the handle turning confirmed Death's sentence.

"Hadrian, can I come in?" a woman, Hera, called.

Hadrian chose to remain silent, leaning lightly against the wall opposite the door. Nevertheless, the door was pushed open as Hera slipped into the room.

"Hello, Hadrian. My name's - "

"Hera," he interrupted her, "Your name is Hera."

She looked at him strangely, "Sorry, but that's not my name. You can call me Pepper."

A voice piped up from outside the door, causing coldness to enter Hadrian's gaze, "Ah, Pepper, I knew I forgot to say something. he has a slightly odd version of naming people."

"But - "

"Just roll with it, Pepper," Messenger slunk into the room, avoiding Hadrian's gaze, "I'm sorry about earlier, Hadrian. Wait - have you been crying?"

He disregarded the man completely, narrowing his eyes on Hera. She suited her soul's name, a light tinge of vengeance sown throughout her soul. It intrigued him as to why she would have such within her, within such an interesting soul.

"Why are you here," his voice cut through the tension.

"We want to help you."

"That's what everybody says," he muttered, half-turning from the pair. Within his clutch still lay the cloak and the bleached white wand.

"Hold on a sec, where the hell did you get those from?"

"Tony, you are not helping!" Pepper snapped.

"Pepper, he didn't have them earlier and I'm just curious - "

"What I have and what I don't is none of your business," Hadrian stated coldly, swinging the cloak onto his shoulders.

"Where are you going?" Messenger's eyes darted around nervously.

Nervously?

"Kid, you need your rest!"

Glaring daggers into the human, Hadrian gripped the wand tightly. Oh, how he wished to curse the man. Yet as inept as he was, Messenger was still trying to help. Perhaps he deserved an explanation, even if it was a short one.

"I have... business I need to take care of."

Messenger's hand reached out before he let it fall with a sigh.

"Well after it's done, you'll always be welcome here, kid."

Hadrian gritted his teeth at the last word, dearly wishing to snap at the an 'I'm older than you could ever imagine, youngling!'. And it was true. He had lost count of how much time had passed since his world had died - certainly, more than one sane or not-so-much sane man should have to cope with. But he had always had Death to thank for that. He shook himself from his thoughts and tilted forwards to bow to his gracious hosts.

"Whether I willingly show it or not, I am grateful you took me in," he sighed, "I give you my thanks, Messenger. While I would delight in more of your company, I have some business I must tend to."

And with a final swirl of his cloak, he let his smirk show through slightly. Bringing his magic to play, he turned a half step and - disappeared.

"What - But that - It's not possible!" Tony spluttered.

Pepper rolled her eyes at him as he ranted about the impossibilities of vanishing from thin air. That was certainly an interesting meeting, she thought.

A full-blown smirk surfaced on Hadrian's face, strands of his hair hanging in front of his eyes. He couldn't help the chuckle bursting forth, nor the magic pulsing through him. The glowing of his eyes was a welcome side-effect of the last one though.

At least he had a perfectly good reason to be seen as slightly insane. After all, no one would get away with drugging him, stranding him from contact with his magic and chaining him down like a rabid beast. There was hell to pay and he was going to make sure that he'd be the one to deal it out. His giggle evolving into a cackle, he advanced down the harshly lit corridors. There was a gaping hole where the presence of his cane should have been and it only added more salt to his injury.

Reminiscent of his last visit here, he flung his head up to the skies and kicked the door in front of him off of its hinges. It fell to the floor as the crash resounded through the room. And indeed, it was almost a mirror image of his previous escapade. Sat around a table in the middle of the room were the Avengers (minus Messenger, of course). One-Eye had his hands planted on the table, leaning forward with a hint of intimidation. However, it wasn't enough to threaten Hadrian and it seemed it wasn't enough to frighten the Avengers either, from the looks of several unimpressed faces.

"One-Eye."

His voice was a frightening rumble. It filled the minds of the heroes before him, a tugging call for petrifying fear from his victims. Hadrian could see the Avengers wishing to call out to him, to ask him questions - but to care? He didn't know. Yet it seemed they knew he meant business this time.

"You," One-Eye blanched as he spun around, "You! You're a criminal of the law, and - "

"You think your puny laws matter to me?" Hadrian's laugh echoed cruelly.

"Why are you here," One-Eye lived up to his surname as he trembled with rage.

Hadrian's laughter cut off immediately, "What, you thought I wouldn't come back? You thought I would let you chain me down, drug me and destroy an object that you have no idea the significance of?" his voice rose to a roar, "You have no clue what you've forced me to go through!"

"I have no clue? Don't you understand what you did? You managed to short circuit all of the electronics in your vicinity with your disappearing act!"

"Act? No, no, no. An act insinuates that I'm playing around," he prowled towards One-Eye, cloak shifting with his movements, "I'm serious. Deadly serious."

Fury shifted backwards as the being shortened the distance between them. The normally emotionless man felt a flicker of fear twitch through him.

"It's people like you I really hate. You individuals, you suffer. And you know why? Because you want to control others - but you can barely control yourselves."

The room was silent. A feather could have dropped and made more noise in its collision than there was in that room. No one was willing to talk, One-Eye desperately searching for words to counter Hadrian's.

"You're mad," he rasped.

"That's what they all say," Hadrian drawled. And he oh so wished to have his cane back, if only for visual effect. It wasn't his fault that when he leant on his cane he looked like a madman, crazy eyes and slumped posture included.

One-Eye spluttered, eyes darting between the gathered heroes and Hadrian. A slight shrug from Little-Spider crushed his efforts.

"I'm not going to take any shit from you," One-Eye finally spluttered.

Hadrian snorted at the ridiculous sentence, a silent snigger sending shudders through his body.

"You destroyed my cane. I think I take more shit than you do," he tilted his head pointedly.

"I never did such a thing," Fury spat.

Hadrian's anger rose to the surface once again, the blatant disregard of any care enraging him. His last tie to his world, the last memory of his first century - gone. Blown to pieces, burnt to ashes, shattered into shards. He didn't know the method, no, but he knew one thing for certain; the bastards had destroyed his last real possession, the only thing that had ever mattered, and they were denying it!

"You dare," he rasped, "You dare deny your actions?"

"There are no actions to deny," One-Eye stated defiantly.

"You have no idea," his eyes widened, glowing orbs piercing into One-Eye, "You have no idea! That staff was the only remainder of my family and friends, and you fucking destroyed it!"

One-Eye gazed at Hadrian, shocked at the waves of force coming from the young man. He sounded so old, so ancient. Too old, too wise for a man barely out of pubescence.

Hadrian glared at the man, magic pulsing through his veins. How he wished to raise his wand, to think that one word and watch the red curse shoot straight into his heart. How he wished to hear him scream. The man needed to pay. But the curse was, as the name suggested, cursed. The last time he had touched his wand to say those words, it had been the death of a loved on that spurred him on.

"Know this, One-Eye. I will never be your puppet, nor your weapon or pawn. And mark my words: if you try to bring me under your control, I will personally make sure you regret it."

Sorry? I know it's been a long time since I published and put out the second chapter (a month exactly) but... yeah, I don't really have an excuse.

Anyway, I asked last time and a few of you said that you did indeed want the meanings behind the names. So here they are in all their glory:

Tony ~ Messenger: 'None loves the messenger who brings bad news', referencing Tony's thoughts on how he is unloved and out of place in the world.

Fury ~ One-Eye: references not only his single eye but also the blindness entailed pertaining to his actions.

Thor ~ Mad-Warrior: references Thor's weakness (Warrior Madness).

Natasha ~ Little-Spider: not only her name but her ability to be as quiet and unnoticed as a small spider.

Bruce ~ Hidden-One: He tries to hide the other half of him behind an unassuming mask.

Steve ~ Peace-Forcer: Yeah. Kinda clear? Capsicle is the very righteous one of the group.

Clint ~ Wingless-Bird: A play on the name 'Hawkeye', showing that while he might be known as a hawk, he will never have the wings needed for freedom.

Loki ~ Broken-One: his mind and essentially his body, were broken by Thanos, henceforth his name.

Pepper ~ Hera: not only a codename for her but the goddess herself is known for vengeance, something that I believe suits pepper very well.

Few things:

Do you guys want a pairing? If anyone does then tell me who you want me to pair Hadrian with and I'll put a poll up with the names.

Do any of you have a specific direction you want the story to take? PM me your suggestions or leave a review. I'd love to hear them!

Hadrian's name? Do you want me to keep calling him Hadrian or call him Harry? Or both? Let me know.

Sorry for the long AN, I'll get going now :)

Thanks to everyone for the support.

MG