2988 B.C.E
A delegation from Midgard approached the throne, the men in what sufficed for finery affecting a submissive attitude. If the humans had not been cowed by Asgard's military might, visiting Asgard itself would have established their inferiority well enough. Even the most minor of self-styled kings would never have lowered themselves to visiting a foreign court, putting themselves at their mercy. But Asgard was no foreign court, it was no secret that the humans thought the Asgardians were Gods.
Fitting.
The humans barely had a civilization, the most powerful of their petty kingdoms clung to existence along the sides of rivers, the greatest of cities were glorified villages of mud-brick hovels. Yet they did understand some things, they recognized superiority when they saw it, and understood what consisted of proper tribute- bricks and sculptures of gold that they laid at his feet.
Bor, King of Asgard, was triumphant. He had defeated the Dark Elves, and in the process asserted Asgard's claim to guardianship over the nine realms. This included the people of Midgard, and while humanity was mostly underdeveloped, there were some areas of… key interest.
With a subtle hand signal from their king, the guards acted as one, thrusting their pikes into positions and moving to encircle the delegation. The humans drew their crude bronze swords and circled around their king, save for one, who held his staff aloft. "You told us we wouldn't be harmed!" A diplomat cried out.
"I am only after one member of your retinue." Bor said. "Not the king. The vizier."
The man in question went pale. "I've done nothing!"
Bor sneered. "Worm. You accepted the power of the Aether from Malekith." The vizier's hands shook even as they clenched at his staff "You've corrupted yourself, and it is time for you to be purged."
The other humans had as much as shoved him away from them, more than willing to sacrifice him to save their own skins. "But we betrayed him. I fought for you!" The man protested, but Bor barely blinked. Yes, the worm had sensed which way the wind had been blowing and sided with the Asgardians once it became convenient to them. This lack of loyalty did not improve his standing in Bor's eyes.
But even if his abilities had been bestowed upon him through no fault of his own, it could not stand. A race the with power of an Infinity Stone imbued within them, let alone the Aether, could not be allowed to flourish within Asgard's domain, it was too great of a threat. With the power of the Reality Stone… the very fabric of nature could be at their fingertips, the possibilities were too great, too unpredictable, too dangerous.
But this turncoat's nature was why Bor had decided he would be the first. This man could be of far greater use than simply being the first to be culled. "You have no honor, and the power of the Aether has blackened your soul. The only way to save your race is to cut of the rot before it spreads." Bor boomed. "Yet, there is still hope of redemption… for you."
A spark of hope glinted in the man's eyes. Good.
"You are the most prominent of Midgard's magicians." Bor told him. "In exchange for your life, you will use your status to help us find the others like you."
"And when you find them?"
"You will pay for your life with their blood."
There was a moment of indecision in the man's eyes. If he agreed, he may yet live, but humanity's newfound magic would be ground into dust, strangled in its cradle. If he refused, he would surely die painfully, but there was a chance that his compatriots might escape. The future of humanity turned on this decision.
"I'll do it. Whatever you want."
-----
"For what its worth, I'm sorry." Thor told him. "And, uh, no one is Asgard has any intention of following up on that policy."
Harry wasn't quite sure how he felt. Perhaps the thought of his people being wiped out in an Asgardian genocide in this world should have had him enraged, or devastated, but he felt oddly detached from it. Learning that he was a wizard was up there with the happiest days of his life, but he'd never felt much attachment to 'wizardkind' as a whole. He supposed if he'd had to live while being hunted for being a wizard, he'd think about it differently, but he'd always had the luxury of taking everyone as they were- wizard or not. Come to think of it, conservative purebloods also didn't have a notion of wizards as a race, instead dividing them based on their ancestry. You had to go back to Grindewald to find that sort of attitude, and his ideology was mostly defunct in Europe.
And this was too far removed from him- it had happened some 4000 years ago to people he didn't know, in a reality that wasn't his original one. He could almost imagine that this was just another legend.
Except it wasn't- it was documented history and it had implications. Perhaps the magical world's obsession with remaining hidden to outsiders wasn't merely due to prejudice against muggles, but fear of a higher power. Perhaps there was some ingrained cultural memory that kept wizards in hiding. It was all pointless speculation, he supposed, he would never have the opportunity to find out one way or another.
"Its okay." Harry replied finally "It was a long time ago, before you." He paused contemplatively "I do have some questions, though. What's this about an Infinity Stone?"
The question caused a few to perk up. It wasn't a full meeting of 'the Avengers', but there were enough interested representatives- Wanda, Hill, Natasha, and Tony.
"The infinity stones… they're cosmic singularities."
This caused Tony to jerk in his seat. "Excuse me?" He sputtered "What exactly do you mean by that?" Harry wasn't sure what the term 'singularity' meant to him, but apparently it was significant.
"Well, they're as dangerous and volatile as they sound." Thor allowed.
"I doubt it." Tony rebuked, standing up "Because I assume they don't immediately collapse into a black hole."
"Err, what?" Harry said intelligently.
"Singularities, assuming that Thor is using the term as a physicist would-" Tony gave an inquiring glance to Thor "Are points where something becomes infinite. As far as we know, the only places where this could even be theoretically possible are at the centers of black holes and-"
"-and the beginning of the universe, yes." Thor finished, surprising everyone. "You're right, of course, that's why they're called 'Infinity' Stones after all. They're leftovers from that original singularity that birthed the universe as we know it, or so the legends say."
"Okay." Tony said weakly, opting to sit back down.
"They're incredibly dangerous to handle, which is why they tend to be contained within artifacts that use their power."
"Like the Aether." Harry surmised.
"And the Tesseract." Thor added, which caused a new round a sputtering.
"Wait." Maria piped in. "You're saying that all this time Shield had found an object of infinite power and all we used it for was-"
"Opening a portal for Loki to waltz in through." Natasha snorted "Amazing. Are there any other infinity stones we should be worried about?"
Thor shrugged "I couldn't tell you where most of them lie, but the Power Stone has resurfaced recently. A Kree warlord tried to destroy a planet with it but was stopped at the last minute."
Maria and Natasha blanched, while Tony concluded "You know what, we should just feel lucky that Hydra and Shield didn't accidentally blow up the world."
"And now you see why I was so insistent that the Tesseract be returned to Asgard."
While this discussion played out, Harry was mentally occupied elsewhere. "If wizards were given magic through the Reality stone, what does that mean for me?"
Thor shrugged "I have no clue. Never heard of anything like that happening before."
"About that." Maria hesitantly intervened "Knowing what the Tesseract is… we actually do have a precedent." She now had the room's undivided attention. "Are any of you familiar with Carol Danvers?"
-----
Skye lingered after dinner, restlessly picking at her plate. It was the last night that Coulson and his team would be in town. And Skye could now officially say they weren't her team, not anymore. The ties had to be cut eventually, but she'd managed to save that decision to the last minute, when Coulson had approached her this morning.
"You're not coming with us, are you." Coulson had said, it wasn't a question.
Having him put it like that, like a fiat accompli helped. He already knew, of course he did, what her decision would be. He hadn't come to wring an answer from her, he'd come to say goodbye. "No." Skye managed after a long moment "For what it's worth… I'm sorry. There's just, so much for me here. I hope you understand."
Unexpectedly, Coulson pulled Skye into a hug. "I do." He pulled back, and looked at her so much like a proud parent would at their kid going off to college. "You're going to do great things Skye, you already have."
Skye spent dinner that night with them, with her friends, the team that was all she'd known for over a year. Already, it wasn't quite the same. Occasionally she'd catch Fitz or Simmons eyes lingering on her sadly, and already she could feel a bit of distance once the conversation shifted from reminiscing on old times to looking forward. And as her old team left to go pack and prepare for their departure early tomorrow, Skye stayed behind, left with only her thoughts.
She knew she was making the right choice, but that didn't make it easy. She was only driven from her melancholy when Harry approached her from behind and massaged her shoulders. She couldn't help but smile and leaned her head back into him, his hands were warm and the heat seemed to seep into her shoulders and relieve the tension she hadn't even realized she was carrying "I could get used to this." She purred, letting her eyes drift shut. "You learn that, or are you just a natural?"
"I'm cheating, actually." He replied cheekily. "I'm channeling a heating charm through my hands, feels good?"
"Very." Skye smiled, warm contentment swelling in her chest "You keep learning new tricks." She smirked, she could really use a distraction right now, and Harry was by far her favorite distraction "Want to show me a few more?"
They didn't even make it back to either of their rooms before they were on each other. Skye didn't have a problem with this, perhaps she had a bit of an exhibitionist streak, but there as a thrill that came with the potential of their public make-out session being stumbled upon. The thought of Natasha catching them flickered through her mind. The prospect of making the older woman jealous, or even better, turning her on with their display was unexpectedly appealing, and a sharp thrill rang out in her core that manifested as a needy whine.
Harry grinned and grabbed her ass "I love the sounds you make for me." He rumbled, and Skye eagerly spread her thighs as he pulled her against him, grinding their crotches together.
"Fuck yes." She hissed, grinding back into him, and Harry groaned out in an echo to her.
"Right. I'm taking us in." He said, and he hefted her against him, one hand securely on her ass and the other on her back. She loved that shit, getting just a little rough, being manhandled.
She bet Natasha could handle her nearly as well. Better yet, Nat and Harry teaming up on her. Ooooh.
She was getting entirely too turned on over threesome fantasies with her boyfriend and his ex. Being pressed so intimately against Harry wasn't helping matters, and every step he took provided just a little friction between their crotches. Come on, she should focus on the incredibly attractive man in her arms, not his hot ex who could absolutely kick her ass and force her to call her 'mistress'.
When Harry arrived at his room, they were faced with a problem. He needed a key card to enter, but his hands were completely occupied. With a mischievous glance towards Skye, he let go. For a moment, her gut dropped as she braced for freefall… but it never came. She was floating.
She crossed her arms and shot a faux annoyed look at Harry as he fished the keycard from his pocket. "A little warning would've been nice."
"Yeah. But the look on your face was adorable." Harry teased. The door beeped and clicked open, and as Harry walked in, he crooked his fingers behind him. Skye squeaked as her body jerked into motion, drifting in his wake. Hnnnnnnngg.
Her thought processes? Gone. Distractions? Eliminated. Brain? Turned to mush. Panties? Completely drenched. Harry was one of the sweetest, most genuine people she'd had the pleasure of knowing. Everything she'd seen of him since she met him, and since getting to D.C. had affirmed that for her. Yet here he was pulling alpha shit like this? What right did he have to be this kind and sexy and confident?
To her slack-jawed look he said "What? You wanted to see some new tricks, didn't you. I actually have more up my sleeve if you're interested."
Yes please. Her mind screamed. Skye merely nodded.
Harry took in a deep breath, seemingly preparing himself for his 'new trick'. Then he touched a hand to her shoulder and… suddenly Skye was feeling cool air against her body.
Vaguely, she noticed her clothes appearing in the corner of the room, which meant they clearly weren't on her body. Which meant that Harry had just stripped her with a single touch and holy SHIT-
There was an intoxicating rush to being powerless, and Skye was feeling it now, she was completely swamped in it, enthralled by it. "Oh my god." She whimpered "Take me."
But instead of heading her request, Harry took his time. He traced his hands across her back and shoulders, sweeping around to her breasts and taking care to toy with her nipples. His every touch felt good on her skin, and part of her just wanted him to toy with her all night. His hands drifted down her stomach, coming dangerously close to her sex before detouring to her thighs, nudging them apart- a signal that Skye didn't hesitate to follow as she spread her legs and presented herself to him.
Harry crouched in front of her, his tongue wetting his lips, and Skye's moan came out strangled in her throat. She was so exposed and completely at his mercy and he looked like he was about to devour her.
And oh did she want to be devoured.
"Merlin, you're so sexy, Skye." He breathed. She giggled deliriously at his odd form of cursing surfacing now of all times. "I just want to…" Anything else he might have said, and anything else Skye might have thought about it was silenced as his lips pressed against her sex. They were followed by his tongue and… oh FUCK. Her thighs instinctively tried to clamp around his head, but she found that they couldn't.
In fact, she couldn't move at all. Her arms and legs were locked in place, and while she could breathe through her nose, her mouth was locked shut. Harry paused his work for a moment, his eyes meeting hers, seeking permission for this new development. Skye's returning gaze was wild, desperate, and entirely eager.
So, Harry returned to his work. His clever tongue felt like sin and heaven rolled into one as it lavished her folds and curled around her clit, and Skye could only respond with increasingly labored breathing through her nose, and a series of guttural grunts and groans- the only noises she was capable of making. Then, when his lips wrapped around her clit, applying perfect suction, she was gone. "Hng! Hng! Hng! Hng!" Came her strangled grunts in response to an orgasm that felt like it'd been wrung from a juice press. Harry lapped eagerly at her juices, which in itself was nearly enough to push her over the edge again, but he soon opted to ease up his assault, gentling nuzzling and pressing feather light kisses to her sex.
It was time she could use to recuperate. Breathe, Skye told herself, heavily drawing air in through her nose, trying to find some sense of stability. It was a futile exercise- as soon as Harry's mouth began to work in earnest again, she was a goner. It would take mere seconds of his mouth on her clit for her to break again, and from then on, he would be much less generous with his breaks. He would only pause for enough time to check in with her and confirm that she was still enjoying the experience (she always was). He would wring orgasm and orgasm from her, and Skye could do nothing, think nothing, say nothing… and be nothing other than his orgasm machine.
Skye certainly would not be thinking- not about work or Hydra, not about Coulson or her old team, and even not about Natasha, not for a long time.
And though neither of them knew it yet, Skye and Harry did end up with a voyeur of sorts, just no the one Skye had imagined. In the room on the other side of his wall, Wanda would be kept wide awake, her breathing growing ragged and a brilliant flush growing on her cheeks as she involuntarily picked up the pleasure cascading off Skye in torrents. And when Harry and Skye cuddled together in bed and drifted off, Wanda would remain awake, flushed, panting, and unable to forget what she had just experienced or parse the combination of lust and guilt left in its wake.