Hey, thanks for reading this far in! Leave comments if you feel up to it and enjoy the chapter~

"I think it's pretty cool that we got to help at all." Rose smiled, dragging her stick along the brick wall of the building beside us in our walk to the scrapyard. "I'm sorry Mr. Stark didn't contact you again though. Maybe you could use the phone fare he gave you."

I shook my head, admiring how the cars putted by and people still bustled around the streets, everyone going somewhere different. There was always something just so poignant about the process of a journey. Maybe if my whole 'professional inventor/entrepreneur' career plan didn't work out, I could travel the whole world solely for the journeys I'd take to do it.

"Mary?"

Rose caught my attention back from the road, making me finally elaborate.

"I shouldn't." I dismissed the idea, "Mr. Stark said that I was only to call him if it was an emergency."

"Well, yeah, but," Rose stopped me on a familiar road, turning to stand in front of me and lowering her voice. "He gave us all that money. Each. It's not like you'll run out of nickels."

"It's not an emergency." I shrugged, keeping my hands stuffed in my pants pockets. "What would I even say? 'Come get me again so I can waste my summer away locked in a room instead of working on cool stuff with my best friend ever'."

Rose frowned at that. "Well, no. But you could ask to spend time in his lab on the weekends."

I opened my mouth to brush her off a second time, but shut it again when my eyes fell on the window to the dance studio we always followed along with. Rose's eyes turned to look in there too with me, both of us giving it a funny look before exchanging curious glances and advancing closer.

The people inside were boys and girls alike, dancing in pairs with their hands on each other. Rose couldn't stop the small giggles that escaped her throat as we looked on at their dancing, but I'd mostly fallen into awe while watching their feet. Each step was taken with such precision and sway, spinning them around while they held onto each other like somehow both were the anchor.

"Is that what Bucky means, do you think?" Rose asked me with a smile, "When he says he's going out dancing with some girls?"

"I don't know." I replied, keeping my eyes glued to one pair in particular. "I've never been invited to see."

The woman had long auburn hair and with every right side step she took her dress swooshed with the change of direction. My hand reached up to touch my own red hair while I was mesmerized by the effortless nature of her and her partners steps. If my eyes had been such a deep blue as hers when I was born, I wondered if maybe I would've looked like her one day.

Back, Back, Right…

Forward, Forward, Left…

I was so lost in trying to figure out who was leading that I didn't notice the approaching boys coming from our left. The conclusion came to be that the woman must be pulling the man along while he was her eyes, keeping them from running into anything. She was creative, hoping to sweep around every inch of the dance floor. And he was sensible, keeping her from running them right into a wall or other dancers. It reminded me almost of my parents, though, in their case, my father was the one with curly auburn hair.

I nearly jumped a mile when Bernard and Charlie appeared beside us with big smiles.

"Hey, Dino and me and some others are playing baseball," Charlie said, slightly out of breath as he had been running here. "Wanna come?"

"You always play baseball." Rose accused quickly, crossing her arms at him. "All summer."

"Well, we can play other games after." Bernard countered, "We'll have a big group so we won't have to find more people."

Rose looked between the dance studio and them while I felt like she was probably going to be making the decisions for the both of us right now. I let her take the lead.

"We have other things we can do right now." Rose decided evenly, turning to look back in the window. "We're dancing and then inventing stuff."

"That stuff never works-"

Bernard grabbed his friend to shut him up and pull him aside. I just snorted to myself before going back to watching the dancing with Rose. It was always so funny to see them scheme like what they were talking about couldn't be said in front of girls. Like two geniuses couldn't keep up with their foolish shenanigans.

"We have a proclamation."

"Proposition." Bernard corrected his friend, "We have a proposition."

"Propose it then." Rose waved at them from over her shoulder. "Don't dilly dally."

I giggled a little at her official speaking like she was a professional bargainer. She shushed me, holding a similar goofy smile.

"We will learn this dance with you," Bernard started, catching both of our bewildered stares in record time, "If you come play baseball with us after."

I was never opposed to baseball in the first place, but Rose was the one calling the shots right now. That meant that now I might be at her mercy, unless I wanted to look like a drip. I looked at her next, almost wishing she'd change the terms, but she had this satisfied smile on her face that made me really nervous. Dancing with boys? Now that was a feat I wasn't sure I was ready to conquer.

"Rose," I grabbed her arm to bring her back to me, pulling her a step away from them to whisper. "Why don't we make them?"

"Make them?" She questioned at first before her eyes lit up with the same mischievous glee that I had. "Oh, that would be amazing."

The boys straightened their shoulders, awaiting our response when we rejoined the conversations.

"We are going to dance for the remainder of this class." Rose said, making them both smile, "But Mary is my partner."

The smiles fell off the boys then as they looked at each other.

"And!" Rose raised a hand, "You both have to be assistants in our inventing process for the next week whenever we want. We need muscles sometimes."

Bernard nodded at Charlie before holding out a hand. "Care to dance?"

Charlie groaned and rolled his eyes while I joined up in a pair with Rose. "Why are girls sooo annoying?"

It wasn't a bad afternoon and when we did finally join up with the others for baseball, it only added to the fun. Baseball turned into Tag, which turned into Army as the sun set with Rose and Lillian as nurses. Then, as the twilight was upon us, we picked new teams for Capture the Flag. We played until one of the sisters at the orphanage came down the street to yell at us and usher us all back home. Us orphanage kids didn't have a whole lot outside of a strong pack mentality. If we were going to get in trouble, we'd all get in trouble together. It was worth being grounded indoors all the next day because it rained anyway.

Plus, I had a visitor asking to see me specifically.

"You'll look decent." Mother huffed, fixing my hair outside the communal room. "He asked for a smart girl. One smart enough to drive everyone around her crazy with her talking and attitude."

"Hey." I frowned at that, getting a scolding 'tsk' from her.

"Put a smile on your face." She ordered gently, turning on her heel with me following in suit. "And behave please."

"I'm not even up for adoption."

"Yes you are."

"Am not." I insisted, "My brothers are going to get me after the war. I don't need a new family. Like Rose and Lillian with their dad."

"They aren't biological." Mother turned back around to face me, turning sympathetic then. "Mary, you really must try. I mean, I couldn't have imagined any situation where someone would come looking for a girl of your type. If you could find a home-"

"This is-"

"Ah-" She held up a hand to silence me. "At least behave yourself. If he doesn't want you, then he doesn't want you. But if you do something…something like-"

"I'll behave." I whispered then, looking up at her, "I promise."

"Good," She straightened herself back up. "Or I'll have Sister Carolyn dish the punishment."

I gasped at that in horror, following her further towards the entrance. Sister Carolyn was especially cruel to children and certainly wouldn't take it easy on me if I had to be smacked. Even if it hadn't been the familiar man at the door, I'd have behaved myself very well. Mother had us talk in the study so we might have privacy, shooting me a look as I went in as if to remind me to do the right thing.

I doubted that Mr. Stark was here to adopt me though.

"You have to tell her I behaved." I told him as I sat down in a chair, "She said I'd get smacked if I didn't."

"If I take you with me, you won't need to be smacked ever again by her."

I froze in my spot, looking over that smirk on his face and wondering if he was telling a lie or a big joke right now. Maybe he was trying to make me look stupid. Except…I couldn't remember a time when he intentionally tried to make me look like an idiot. Either way, I was wary of how he was looking at me.

"Take me with you?" I repeated, furrowing my brow at him, "You don't like children."

"No, but you're different." He shrugged it off and made a face, "Less…sticky."

I played with my hands in my lap. "Why? I thought you only needed me and Rose for that one… project."

"I have more projects." He almost laughed, "Dozens of them. The only problem is that they're not all here in New York. If I wanted…assistance with them, I'd have to take the assistant with me."

"Like adoption?"

He actually laughed at that, making me worry until he clarified. "No. Mentorship."

I sighed, almost in relief. Mr. Stark was nice, but he wasn't my family. What I had with him could only be described in the way he just had. I could be his mentee. Never his daughter.

"Let's get your stuff." He smiled, standing up then. "We have a train to catch to New Jersey. Camp Lehigh."

"Right now?" I asked back, alarmed and getting up too. "Wait-"

"No time for waiting." He waved me off, heading for the parlor door. "Jarvis is waiting for us."

"No, Mr. Stark," I caught his arm, biting my lip when he looked down at me impatiently. "I don't know- What about Rose? I promised we'd have the whole summer together."

"Rose is smart." Mr. Stark shook his head. "She'll do just fine on her own. I can pay for her college, but she doesn't have what you have."

"I still promised."

I stood by my friend then, unsure still if it was the right choice. Even thinking about turning down Mr. Stark was making me feel sick, but Rose was my friend first and I wanted more nights of Baseball and Capture the Flag.

"You're-" He blinked at me almost in shock before looking back at the door. "You're choosing a grade school friendship over a possible lifetime of opened doors? You know who I am, right? What just a week of working with me can do for your reputation?"

"I know." I swallowed hard, watching him carefully. "I just promised the summer."

"Huh," He chewed on his lip, looking between my eyes for a moment before pushing the door back open. "Okay."

I followed after him, still feeling unsteady for what I'd just done while Mr. Stark stopped in front of Mother.

"I'll take her as a foster." Mr. Stark nodded at her, getting Mother to smile wildly. "Not now though. I have business to take care of for the remainder of August but as soon as September hits, I'll send for her."

I blinked, dumbfounded. I was not aware that that was an option at all. As Mr. Stark walked back towards the door and passed me a wink and a smile, I knew I'd made the right choice. Somehow, I'd come out of this conversation getting everything I wanted- A summer vacation and Howard Stark as a mentor. Maybe my luck this summer was finally picking up? Sure, I'm missing both my brothers, but these other positives were starting to outshine them a bit.

Howard was a bit annoyed at first that Mary had turned him down in favor of her surprisingly smart but not extensively intelligent best friend. He could've used her this summer while he deconstructed that underwater ship that the nazi left behind after Captain Rogers caught him. It was entirely electric and not gas-run which already put it into Mary's expertise. He wondered if maybe he'd mentioned the project she'd choose to take part over some summer vacation she'd just see next year, but in the end he knew she'd probably stick to her plan. The fact that she was ready to turn him down completely for one summer was enough proof of that.

Luckily, he knew he'd get her back to his lab no matter what. He'd offer her money if he needed to. She looked pretty content with his choice to nab her in the fall though.

"Sir," Jarvis caught his attention from the front. "If you are planning on taking her in the fall, you should remember that she has proper schooling to be done too."

"I'm sure she'll get plenty of education working under me." Howard chuckled, "No school could challenge her better. Maybe she'll actually learn something."

"You'll teach her history and english then too?"

Howard's expression soured a little at that, looking up at Jarvis. "Those can't be that important."

Jarvis huffed to himself with a small smile. "I wouldn't mind assisting in the categories you can't teach her in."

"You think I can't teach her history?" Howard laughed at that, "I don't need to. We're living it."

"I think you lack the patience to teach." Jarvis pointed out then, "Be honest with yourself. Are you planning on sitting down and explaining grammar and the revolutionary war to her? You yourself don't even know half of world history."

"And you do?"

Jarvis shrugged, turning them into a parking space at the train station. "I know a lot more than you do."

Howard scoffed, "I'm not sure if that's supposed to be an offer of support or an insult."

"It's a reminder." Jarvis got out, opening up Howard's door for him. "That you are nowhere near equipped to handle the chaos of a ten year old girl in your lab. She needs a place to sleep and three meals a day. Free-time and athletics are a must as well. What will you do when you want to get away for the evening?"

"Alright alright," Howard waved him off, "No need to drive the point past home. I get it. I've got logistics."

Jarvis nodded, shutting the door behind him. "Yes. Or you could just ask me. Ana and I have wanted children long enough to know what goes into their care."

"You with a kid?" Howard had to smile at his friend for that. "I couldn't imagine it."

"Well, I have."

Howard nodded, fixing his jacket then and sticking out a hand. "Alright then. You do logistics."

Jarvis smiled, "I'm using your money for it."

"Damn," Howard frowned a little, "Alright. How expensive could one girl be anyway?"

"There is no better way to spend my money." I decided with a giggle, exiting the theater with a comic book in hand. "Steve's gonna hate me."

"Did you see James is in this too?" Rose held hers out to show me. "He's Steve's best friend, so he's the sidekick."

"If you had it your way, you'd make Bucky the main character." I laughed, "Poor Steve. He hates attention. Serves him right for joining the army."

"I can't believe they have him in movies."

Rose and I both looked at each other then and exploded into laughter. The entire time I was in the theater watching Steve on the screen, I had to hold my laughter back. Now it was all over as we nearly fell over ourselves on the street from laughing so hard. Lillian was just confused when she came up behind us with her new friend, Minnie.

"That was a serious movie." Lillian tried to scold us, making Rose and I look back at her with red faces. "You shouldn't laugh."

Unfortunately for Lillian and her attempt to settle us, that only made Rose and I laugh harder as we turned to go down the street.

"He looks- he looks like-" Rose couldn't even finish her sentence before we were laughing again.

"Oh-" I pointed to a storefront with a big smile. "Rose. We have to."

She looked in the window and then nodded quickly. "We do."

The summer was great fun. Rose and I spent a lot of time looking over all the Captain America memorabilia that came out near the end of August, but before then we were in the scrapyard, dancing, or playing games in the big field. The end of the summer was when we really got into seeing all the Captain America stuff. Rose and I even bought trading cards of Bucky and Steve and their make-believe nemeses.

My big project for the end of the summer was completed on time too. I reconfigured some pieces of a camera I bought to make the first ever instant camera. With that, Rose and I took some pictures for us since we'd be separated for this school year.

"You'll write every week at least." She ordered firmly, standing outside on the curb with me and my bag. "Don't forget."

"I won't." I shook my head quickly, "I promise."

There was another thing I worried about as I drove away in the back seat of Mr. Stark's car. How would Rose get letters from her father now? It was like Mr. Jarvis read my mind though.

"Do you have a plan for her father's letters?"

I looked up at the driver's seat quickly. "What?"

"I know you've been writing them for her." Mr. Jarvis stated evenly, "I wanted to let you know that if you had no plan, I've already bribed the post man in the office to forward her letters to you."

I opened and shut my mouth in shock. "Oh."

"Rose will be alright without you." He added, his lips turning up into the slightest smile that made me do the same in secret relief. "Mr. Stark is making sure of it."

"Thank you, Mr. Jarvis." I replied with almost a whisper. "I hope he actually answers one day. I really couldn't stand to tell her until he does."

"It's a kind thing you're doing."

I smiled too. "I hope so. Thank you."

Mr. Jarvis had more to tell me on the train ride to New Jersey though as we were stuck in there for seven hours together. Fortunately, Mr. Stark must've had his own private car because we got to sit in there all alone with just a waitress who brought us tea and lunch. Meanwhile, Mr. Jarvis told me about how I'd spend most of my time working under Mr. Stark, but that I'd also have to take time to receive tutoring from Mr. Jarvis himself. I didn't much like the second part, especially when he informed me that I'd be required to complete assignments still.

I really thought I might get to skip out on the boring nature of school when I went to work under Mr. Stark. I was wrong.

"Missing school is no excuse for falling behind your classmates." Mr. Jarvis declared very evenly while I just wanted to pout. "There are things Mr. Stark can't teach you, so we have to compensate. Think of this like a specialized college program."

I took a deep breath and nodded, sitting up in my seat. "Alright."

If I had to think of more schooling like anything, I'd wish it were considered a special college program. Mr. Jarvis was right. I shouldn't have expected leisure from working under Mr. Stark. This was going to be hard work and I was ready for it.

"We have athletics in line for you as well because I won't have you wasting away in some lab underground like a mole." Mr. Jarvis continued, pulling out a folder and handing it over to me. "I've set a schedule for you for your first week. Now, keep in mind, your designated free time is not to be spent in the lab with Mr. Stark. You have limited time there each day after school is done."

"Okay," I took the folder and looked up at him then with a small smile. "What kind of athletics?"

After our chat, Mr. Jarvis did allow me to enjoy the journey down the country finally. I got to stare out windows at the passing trees and terrain, just imagining how many people and lives and wonderful little stories we were passing on our way. This was so much better than wandering the streets of New York city. As we passed through a tunnel, I had already decided that I could very quickly get used to train rides.

Mr. Jarvis took me to a room in one of Mr. Stark's houses near the base when we arrived. My mentor wasn't home at the moment since he was busy at work, but I was able to get well set up without him. The room I was put in was significantly better than anything I'd had in my life up until this point. It had a twin bed with a light blue bedcover and three pillows pushed against the far left wall. The walls had a blue-grey wallpaper and a sizable poster of the world map on it. The part I got most excited about though was the bathroom attached to my bedroom. I got a bathtub all to myself.

Mr. Jarvis and I put my limited wardrobe away before he was alarmed by my lack of options and took me out to the town nearby. He mumbled something to himself about how I should've told him when we were in the city, but if I'm being honest, I didn't think I'd need much more than the one skirt, my nice dress, and a pair of slacks. Plus I had four blouses which happened to be quite a bit more than a lot of the other girls at home.

It had just never occurred to me that I might need more, even with having money that Mr. Stark had given me. I figured I'd buy new stuff if any of my current clothes were ruined or I outgrew them.

Mr. Jarvis didn't like that answer and had me trying on different size shoes within an hour of arriving in New Jersey.

"Could I get slacks?" I asked him, eyeing the boys section on the opposite side of the clothing store. "Instead of the dresses?"

Mr. Jarvis looked over at the section too like he'd never considered such a thing before waving me over there. "You can find two pairs you like. But you won't wear them to classes with me."

I think I was really starting to like Mr. Jarvis, especially as we went out and bought dinner together that night with still no sign of Mr. Stark. A letter was written to Rose later that night in which I told her all that had happened so far. I didn't get to send it the next morning right away, but I did get to sit down for breakfast with Mr. Stark, remembering to keep my mouth shut as best I could.

My parents were always very strict about children being seen and not heard at the table unless we were spoken to directly. Mr. Stark seemed to appreciate this trait of mine while he wrote something out in his notebook and took forever to eat his food.

"Mary?"

I looked up, shaken out of my spaced out stare to see Mr. Stark wave a hand at me. "Yes?"

"How's your control theory?"

"Uh, pretty good." I sat up more, "I've read a school book on it from the library. Why?"

"Take a look at this." He passed the notebook across the table to me with the pencil. "And try to solve the equations I have going. You finish them before the end of breakfast and I'll let you see where they apply as soon as Jarvis releases you."

That was motivation enough for me to pick up that pencil and start reading. While math was often left for Rose to do, I was still very capable, just less patient. Two of the equations I was offered had longer processes to their solution, so that wore on my mind pretty fast, but I did figure them out. I was real close to the end of the last one when Mr. Stark got up from his seat finally and snatched the notebook back.

He looked over it with a slow nod before snapping it shut and turning toward the door. "Close enough."

Not a single 'thank you'.

I frowned a little at that before turning back to my own breakfast with a sigh and worrying about whatever Mr. Jarvis was going to put me through today.

It ended up being even less fun than I anticipated with an essay to write, a book to read, and words I needed to know the definition and origin of. Not to mention the sudden language lessons from Mr. Jarvis himself. He was insistent that I learn German too, even though I argued that it was in bad taste for the times. He didn't think that was a proper argument and gave me homework to do anyways. This was, by no means, an easy education.

And, as awful as it sounds, I actually started to enjoy it by the end of the first week. Though, I'd never admit it, the sudden challenge on my mind was such a satisfying thing to have every day. I'd be challenged in the 'classroom' and then I'd get to go out and work for real alongside Mr. Stark in his lab. We poured molds and assembled parts to his different wartime inventions. I didn't get a lot of free time in the lab, but when I did, I got to sit in the corner desk set up for me and fiddle with his scrap pieces. Mr. Stark never seemed to mind, as long as I was out of the way when he needed me to be.

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Mr. Jarvis had me in an actual ballet class, which I made sure to tell Rose all about. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I was confined to the far study in the house with what modern women would describe as the worst of horrors this world had to offer- Violin.

I'd originally been placed in front of a piano, but while Mr. Stark liked how quickly I picked it up and understood complex sheet music, Mr. Jarvis was immensely frustrated and made me try violin instead.

"You can't expect everything to fall into your lap all the time." He grumbled, setting me up in the far study with a new instructor. "Mr. Baron is going to teach you violin and when you can master this, you will get to use the extra time on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the lab."

That right there was plenty of the needed motivation to not totally give up on this impossible instrument. My problem was not that I couldn't understand the music, it was that I had to actually build muscle memory and patience for it like in ballet. I knew all the steps and the parts, but it was applying and holding them that really got to me. It was like Mr. Jarvis knew exactly how to kick me down into line with the other girls my age. Outside of my work with Mr. Stark, I almost felt like every other girl around. It was a humbling experience to have to struggle for the first time in a while.

These things not coming easy to me was a hard kick right to my ego and Mr. Jarvis knew it.

Yet, while I felt slightly bullied in that first month in New Jersey, I was more determined to get back at him by being better than the other girls. I spent my free weekends practicing that violin and ballet like it was my saving grace. Surely there was nothing out there as difficult as these activities. You know, aside from trying to gain the approval of either of the men in the household. Mr. Stark was always off in his own mental world, ready to take pointers but not ready to offer compliments. Mr. Jarvis was just always ready for me to be onto the next thing. I got more frustrated with the latter.

"Good," Mr. Jarvis nodded at my performance, "You're improving."

I nodded back, setting the violin down with a sigh. Honestly, his approval was starting to wear on me for real these days.

"Mary?"

"Yes, sir?" I asked back, picking up the sheet music off the stand to put back in the folder.

"Are you alright?"

I looked back at him then, almost taken aback by the question. "I'm alright."

"You're not as talkative today." He pointed out, "Normally you'd have a wise comment for me."

"I'm just tired today I think." I mumbled, "I miss home."

"You'll get to visit."

I frowned at the wall and turned my eyes away from him again. "Thanksgiving isn't soon enough."

Mr. Jarvis watched me for a moment while I sat back down with the violin and started packing it carefully into the case how I was taught. He stayed stuck in his thoughts for only a moment before nodding to himself again.

"Well," He looked down at his notebook again, "I was going to explain to you your compensation for doing so well this week. You've improved a lot, so I should honor my word and let you practice only on weekends."

I snapped my gaze back up to look at him, narrowing my eyes in suspicion. "What?"

"You heard me." He wrote something down. "Of course, now that you've shown quite a bit of discipline in such activities that you are not naturally good at, I'd like to offer you an opportunity."

"I thought I could work in the lab." I asked back quickly, "You said if I could move my violin lessons to weekends then I could spend my weekdays with Mr. Stark."

"I did." He tilted his head in such a way that I could still make out the tiniest hint of a smirk on his face. "But on Tuesdays I'd like to teach you something new."

I looked between his eyes, puzzled still and quite curious about that smirk of his. "What is it?"

"Well, you've certainly proven yourself mature enough." He checked his watch, "We'll start you next Tuesday. You'll have to meet me out in the backyard at the time you'd usually have this."

"What is it though?" I demanded as he got up, "Mr. Jarvis!"

"You'll have to find out." He shrugged me off, heading for the door. "Excellent work today."

You know, Mr. Jarvis was really starting to be a pain in my bottom these days. A secret class that I'm only now prepared to do? That sounded ridiculous and almost like he was just trying to trick me into something. Though, that 'something' was so far beyond my imagination that I couldn't stop thinking about it even as I went to visit Mr. Stark on base.

"Mary," Mr. Stark sighed heavily from his spot under the jeep. "The three quarters wrench!"

I jumped to it, sticking it in his hand after having been slightly distracted by my own curiosity.

"Hey!"

"Yeah?" I got down on my hands and knees to look under the jeep at his slight scowl. "I'm listening."

"If you're gonna be useless, be useless in your corner." He snapped back, beckoning me to move his tools closer. "Go write in your journal until you can focus on this stuff."

I sighed and got up again, nudging his tool bag closer before retreating back to my far desk with my notebook. My mind was racing anyhow, so I supposed staying out of the way today wouldn't be the worst of the things I've done in this lab. The focus that I kept on my journal was quick to drift, and by the time Mr. Stark came out to check on me, I had my head buried in my personal project. That's what I used to keep me busy for a whole week and Mr. Stark never minded, deciding it best to leave me be.

Ms. Carter stopped by to talk to Mr. Stark that next week on Monday and gave me a second glance this time. She looked privately amused when I set the audio transformer down fast and almost dropped it upon being eyed by her.

"I need a shield." She stated, making Mr. Stark looked over at me as if to exchange annoyed glances.

Like I would ever disrespect a woman of Ms. Carter's type.

I shrugged back helplessly.

"For you?" Mr. Stark asked her then, "I'm sure they have plenty-"

"A different one." She snipped, getting a slight scowl back from Mr. Stark. "One that's indestructible."

"For what?" I dared to ask.

"Hey," Mr. Stark crossed an arm over his chest and held a hand out towards me to shut me up, "Peg, you know I appreciate a good challenge, but you really don't call the shots around here."

"It's for your test subject." She passed a look my way, catching my attention again. "And your older brother."

I looked to Mr. Stark fast then, already begging with my eyes to take on this project. He sighed and flickered his glance between the both of us before shaking his head and waving her off.

"I'll see what I can drum up, but those press junkets can't-"

"He's about ready to run into battle-"

"I'll put a rush on it!" Mr. Stark turned back around with a smile. "We'll get that for you right away."

Ms. Carter nodded approvingly, not going far yet. "And we'll need a plane. I'm calling in a favor."

"The shield is your favor."

"The shield is a gift for you." She replied swiftly, "So you don't lose the most important weapon this country has to offer."

"Alright, alright," Mr. Stark gave her an offended look. "I'm flying though."

I raised my hand. "Can I come?"

Both adults shot me a glare that reminded me to shut my mouth right up. I listened and very quietly turned my eyes back to my work.

Mr. Stark didn't come home for dinner that night, though I imagined if he did, I might have a thousand questions on where Ms. Carter needed the plane to. Luckily, I was happy to fly through my school work the next day to prepare for what Mr. Jarvis had in store for me. I went outside at the time I'd usually have violin lessons and noticed right away how he had athletic clothes on. I might've giggled on a better day, but I was far too curious to care about his attire right now.

"You've shown quite a bit of patience and determination, Mary." Mr. Jarvis smiled at me as I approached, "Now, you've earned the right to a sport many girls never get a chance to even witness. But, working where you are and alongside Mr. Stark, I believe it would be beneficial. Not to mention you are most certainly the kind of young woman who would value such skills. I'm afraid your friend likely wouldn't."

"What sport is it?" I asked, the grin only growing bigger on my face.

"On Tuesdays forward," Mr. Jarvis smiled too, "You will be joining me outside for assorted variations of martial arts. I have practiced nearly a year now with the help of my dear wife Ana, so I consider myself a worthy teacher."

I couldn't wipe the smile off my face if I tried. Just the idea of watching martial arts up close was exhilarating to think about. Being one to learn how was a different feeling altogether. I was nothing short of ecstatic.