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"Edwin!" A woman with a big smile gasped when I stepped out of the car with a bag of mine. "You've outdone yourself this year. Have you brought me a little girl for my birthday?"

I couldn't help the embarrassed smile that played on my lips. "I'm not that little, ma'am."

"Well, I suppose you've got me there." She came right up to me, practically ignoring her husband while I eyed the orderly red hair all swirled around itself on her head, perched in such a lovely manner. "Does that make you a young woman?"

I shrugged, opening my mouth to answer but not before Mr. Jarvis could interrupt.

"Not anytime soon, I hope." He drew his wife's attention back to him and she gave him a 'really' look. "Mary has had a difficult week, so I offered her the spare bedroom for the weekend."

"We better get you situated then," Ana held out her hand to guide us in. "Nothing that a nice dinner couldn't help I'm sure. Don't forget I'm not the only one cooking tonight."

"That's right." Mr. Jarvis agreed with a small smile. "Ana, you don't mind-"

"Setting her up?" Ana finished for him as we entered the house, "Not at all. You should be starting in the kitchen, shouldn't you?"

"I will," He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and I had to look away, mostly out of embarrassment from such a thing, wrinkling my nose at the gesture.

Ana spotted the silly face I was making and smirked at it with a shake of her head. "Oh, don't turn your nose up, dear. One day I'm sure you'll be quite head over heels for a man too."

"Head over heels?" I asked with a small laugh, following her down the hall. "I'd never fall like that for anyone."

"I'll be sure to remind you of that when I get an invite to your future wedding." She teased, opening a door in the hallway with one of those pretty long carpets. "Here we are. Mr. Jarvis and I are in the bedroom upstairs."

"You have a really nice house."

"Mr. Stark pays well." She winked at me, waving me in. "My love and I have travel plans for after the war. This is quite modest for the time."

"Still pretty."

I smiled, stepping into the much smaller bedroom with a twin bed against one wall and a desk against the other. The walls were painted a plain white, but the brown bed frame and orange covers made up for it. There was a bookshelf staged at the end of the bed as well, filled only halfway, but from where I was, I could already tell what a few of them were. They were very obviously some of the books I'd been forced to read by Mr. Jarvis himself, except that these were only the ones I'd told him I'd enjoyed.

It was an odd coincidence considering that Mrs. Jarvis had no idea I was coming over tonight.

Mrs. Jarvis's gaze followed mine to the bookshelf and I think she might've read my mind from how quickly she answered my unspoken questions.

"Howard isn't exactly the best of role models sometimes." Mrs. Jarvis walked by me, slipping the bag from my hand to put it up on the bed. "We decided to be prepared a little bit ago. Our house is more of a…home than Howard's. And on top of that…well, we figured a room would be good to keep for the future."

"You're planning on having a kid?" I asked, finally stepping into the room that felt almost familiar to me.

She hesitated for a moment, looking back at me and then nodding. "We are."

The bedroom had sort of an eerie comfort to it, but the unsettling feeling was very quickly stifled by how wonderful it felt to just stand in that room. It wasn't fancy and wildly spacious like in Mr. Stark's house, and it wasn't anything like sharing the small bedroom in the orphanage with those hard blankets. This room was something very different. It was…mine.

Though, as the thought hit me, I decided to dismiss it and turn to help Mrs. Jarvis unpack my things into the dresser that was wedged into the corner on the same wall as the desk. It really was an excellent space. Everything from the blankets on the bed down to the circular patterned rug on the hardwood floor captured that personal touch to the room. Yet, the only word I could use to describe the room to Mrs. Jarvis was 'lovely'.

"Thank you for letting me stay." I added, trying to be polite when I sat down on the bed after we finished unpacking. "Happy Birthday too."

Mrs. Jarvis smiled warmly at that, sitting down on the bed beside me. "Miss Reed, how long do you think you'll be living with Howard?"

I pursed my lips, looking toward the window where the moon was just a small sliver in the sky. "I don't really know. He's never told me anything about leaving. I'm supposed to ask to go home for summer vacation, but I've been too nervous to ask with all the deadlines."

"Howard is a grown man." She put a caring hand on the back of my shoulder, "I'm sure he'll find a way to manage his deadlines without you for a little while."

I nodded in agreement. "I guess so."

Mrs. Jarvis rubbed small circles between my shoulderblades, watching my thoughtful silence carefully for a moment longer. I was busy savoring that feeling though- the calming hand keeping me in a trance.

"What do you say we offer the old man some help in the kitchen?" She suggested then, her voice just kind enough to keep from breaking the peace in the room. "He's quite the cook for the most part, but I do love watching him attempt to chop vegetables the proper way."

"There's a proper way to do that?" I turned my head to look at her. "How many proper ways are there in the world?"

Mrs. Jarvis laughed and got up, holding out a hand. "I'll teach you. I'm sure your chopping skills will far surpass his in no time. He's got no grace."

"No grace?" I snickered, "Not Mr. Jarvis. He's got tons of grace around me. It must be you messing him up."

Mrs. Jarvis gave my shoulder a playful whack with a smile. "What is that Howard teaching you besides how to flatter a woman?"

The Jarvis household quickly became one of my favorite places in the whole world. The home was warm and safe and housed quite the assortment of books. Mrs. Jarvis was dead set on keeping me at her hip that weekend though, so I didn't have a ton of time to look over the shelves. Though, I have no complaints on how my time was spent those days. Mr. Jarvis even pitted us against each other in martial arts on Saturday afternoon. She was a lot better at it than I had anticipated and I lost every time.

She made sure we laughed each match off though and with that simple gesture, the whole world just felt less intense.

I played violin and piano for them (I was much better at the latter), and Mrs. Jarvis had me making food with her for most of the meals I had there. They kept me there one more night as well on Sunday with the promise to return me Monday morning. Honestly, I might've rather stayed at that point. Mrs. Jarvis was suddenly the most wonderful human in the world and I was a bit emotional Sunday night when she took the time to wash my hair. The memories of my mother doing said act for me came back hard and I had to sit there blinking back tears while the woman hummed to herself without a care in the world.

The aroma of vanilla from her homemade shampoo steamed up into the air from the bath, making the whole room smell wonderful. I don't think I've ever smelled like vanilla before, not even when my mother used to wash my hair with the bar of soap. Something like shampoo wasn't exactly easy to get ahold of, even now, especially if you weren't willing to spend ridiculous amounts of money on it. The fact that I got to experience something like this at all was incredible. I always knew I'd buy my own shampoo when I was older and rich enough for it, but getting to use some as a child was a luxury I never expected to know. I was sure my mother would approve of Mrs. Jarvis just for the sole reason of vanilla shampoo.

If Mrs. Jarvis noticed my shaky breathing, she didn't say anything about it.

Monday morning, I put my hair up with the help of Mrs. Jarvis and went on my way back to the mansion. It all went by way too fast, but I was still grateful that the vanilla lingered in my hair even past that night.

"Mary?"

I managed to give Mr. Jarvis a small pitiful look in the middle of our history exam. "Yes?"

"Are you not paying attention?" He looked between my eyes carefully before sighing. "The 16th president of the United States?"

"I don't know but he doesn't sound important." I mumbled back, not caring so much that I was giving him sass.

"Abraham Lincoln wasn't important?"

I looked at him with a smile and pointed. "Oh, I know- Abraham Lincoln."

Mr. Jarvis gave me an exasperated look and sighed, "What's got you disheartened today?"

I darted my eyes away again and tried to shrug it off. "I don't know."

"You do." He insisted, closing his book. "You don't have to tell me if you would prefer not to, but I'm sure I'd be understanding."

"Do you think Mrs. Jarvis would ever visit here?" I asked, fidgeting my hands in my lap. "Maybe we could make her dinner?"

"My wife would love to spend time with you again." Mr. Jarvis smiled, "She told me herself."

I met his eyes with a smile of my own, "Really?"

"Yes, she did last night before bed." He confirmed easily, slipping his book open again. "If you do well on your test, perhaps we can discuss a get-together for this weekend."

My mood past that point on Monday improved exponentially, driving me to be the best behaved young woman in the whole world that week. Everything was going according to plan, and Friday afternoon, I was able to pack up some of my stuff again and drive out to spend time at Jarvis's home. I hung onto every moment there this time, making sure that I didn't forget it so easily when I inevitably had to return to a house that almost felt more cold than it was worth these days.

Mrs. Jarvis kept me around the whole weekend too and I made sure to sneak away only to write letters to Steve and Bucky about the weekends I've been having. And while Mrs. Jarvis did make me emotional and sad sometimes from having to remember my mother, those emotions were also paired with a sense of safety. She wasn't my mother, but these moments where she acted like it was really holding me together these days. After just two weekends, I'd already started to rely on it.

My Monday was discouraging again, but my desire to go back to where I felt like the most normal ten year old in the world was strong. I had a good reason to put in the work that week too. Everything was going according to plan again and I went to bed Wednesday night with a smile.

I was awoken that night to a thump on my door and a quiet groan from outside. Sitting up fast, I turned my lamp right on and eyed the door with the chair wedged in front of it. My first thought went to the possibility that Mr. Stark had broken his promise and was trying to break in, but upon hearing the knock on the door a moment later, I was less worried.

"Mary, open up." Mr. Stark called, his voice not slurred in the slightest. "We've gotta get going before Jarvis has my head for trying to take you to the lab this early."

I hesitated in my bed for a minute, raising my watch to check the time and confirming that it was an ungodly hour. After a short sigh, I got up and moved for my clothes.

"Coming!"

I figured that whatever he needed me for so early in the morning had to be of utmost importance. Fortunately, I was right about this as Mr. Stark grabbed me fast by the arm when I finally pulled the door open.

"Short notice, Curie, but we've gotta slip by the brass and he'll be here in a few hours." Mr. Stark explained, letting go of me when he noticed I was following along willingly. "Today's the day and I'm running out of time."

I picked up the pace, running down the stairs after him and trying to come the rest of the way out of my sleepy daze. "Todays the day for what?"

He whipped around with his coat half on and gripped my shoulders, shaking me lightly. "The day we touch it, Curie! We've waited forever for this and you know how Jarvis-"

"I know," I sighed, shrugging his hands off so I could go for my coat. "Why couldn't we just wait until a Sunday when he takes the day off?"

"Because you're not here on Sundays anymore."

"I mean, I'm sure I will eventually." I chuckled nervously at that while he swung the door open and I tried to slip on my shoes faster. "Mrs. Jarvis has to get sick of me one of these days."

Mr. Stark smirked to himself and shook his head, but didn't say anything further on it before ushering me out to the car. "We've got places to be."

I haven't had much opportunity to travel at night, so I did find it quite exciting to get to watch our regular twists and turns across towns in the journey into the base. My eyes tracked across trees and eventually turned up to look at the moon in the sky while Mr. Stark drove. He stayed mostly silent on our way in, just keeping his eyes on the road while I enjoyed the trip even more than usual. Long trips would always be my favorite thing ever.

"Hey, Mr. Stark?"

"Mhm?" Mr. Stark pulled us in through the gates while I'd turned all the way around in my seat to see the road behind us.

"I like driving a lot. And riding in trains." I started carefully, tilting my head at the dirt road that disappeared into the dark woods. "But sometimes I wonder what it'd be like in olden days when people used to walk everywhere or ride in horse drawn carriages. You know, Mr. Jarvis says that before even horses, humans were made to run their prey to death. We'd just chase them and chase them for miles or days until they dropped down and couldn't do it anymore."

"Mary, your point, please?" Mr. Stark sighed a little. "You know I love your rants but we're on a mission tonight."

"I wish I could do that." I looked at him then, sitting back down in my seat. "I want to be able to run for miles and miles and look at all the mountains and valleys as I go."

"Yeah, well, maybe I'll take you traveling to some mountains for your birthday, yeah?" He gave me a quick smile.

I could feel how fast my face lit up with a smile of my own as I leaned closer to him. "Really?"

"Sure," He popped his door open and got out with me in close pursuit. "But we've got more important things to do this morning, so keep up or I'll give you back to the orphanage."

"You say that all the time." I laughed, jogging to catch up beside him. "You're always bluffing."

"Well, maybe I'm not this time."

No matter what he said, that little glint of amusement that shone in his eye on the way into the bunker told me all I needed to know. Mr. Stark was well known for his teasing by now.

We went right to work when we got down there and Mr. Stark had us running tests nearly from the moment we arrived. Biological contact with the object started with an apple that disintegrated, scaring Mr. Stark into reverting back to less dangerous test subjects. Hours into it, and at around 4:45 in the morning, I had my genius idea to try and hook it up to a computer with a breaker in between. The switch would automatically shut down if our little circuit ran too much energy for our computer to handle. Of course, my calculations were right once again.

This allowed us to run about a hundred equations at once, further proving that not only was I a genius, but so was the computer that Mr. Stark and I perfected together. It was so much better than 'The Relay Interpolator' and 'The Atanasoff-Berry'. Mr. Stark and I were ahead of the times, especially because the Stark-Reed/Reed-Stark (trademark pending) Computer was made specially for our lab use.

Now, it was rounding out the energy source we had at a record pace.

"Like a pocket watch, Curie," Mr. Stark clapped a hand on the back of my shoulder while we watched the computer in the room around us buzz with life and spit out paper. "Perfectly functioning and always right on time."

I clasped my hand over the watch on my wrist with a smile. "You think my dad would be proud of me?"

Mr. Stark laughed at that. "More than my old man ever was."

Like worker ants, Mr. Stark and I marched around that lab with new data as we took risks we had taken months to finally decide to take. I guess the big deadline clock had finally struck close to the end and we were desperate now. Mr. Stark pushed forwards tonight in experiments that I knew would've taken us weeks of preparation had we been doing this on regular time. Today was just different, and with my brain buzzing every which way and spine tingling with excitement at every new discovery, I wasn't about to complain.

I wonder sometimes if I should've.

Edwin Jarvis pushed the door open to the mansion, noting already the missing car from the driveway. Mr. Stark had likely taken himself into work already like he did often enough for it to not be suspicious in any sense. Jarvis sighed at the cold chill from the prior night and made his way right into the dining room to sit down, taking the paper with him tucked under his arm. The kitchen sounded with sizzles of cooking meat- possibly sausage from the smells that wafted into the dining room.

Jarvis smiled to himself at that and looked around before settling all the way. It was such a lovely morning to relax with the sunrise peeking through the windows and shining down on the floor and the gentle ambiance of a house at rest. Something felt more off than he cared to admit, so he ignored that funny feeling and waited for George to bring him his tea and breakfast. Working for his best friend sure did have its perks.

"Ah, Merci, Monsieur," Jarvis took his plate with a smile.

"She is late this morning." George pointed out, "Sleeping in?"

"I'll let her." Jarvis brushed it off easily, going back to his paper. "She's a hard worker."

Of course, this calm nature of the morning didn't last as long as he'd like.

The shrill ring of the phone from near the entryway jerked him out of his relaxed state in the dining room, making him frown a bit and set his paper down again. He got up with a small sigh, wondering only in the back of his mind how tired Mary must be to sleep in like this today.

He picked up the landline, "This is the Stark Residence, Edwin Jarvis speaking."

The operator replied hastily. "You have a Rose Anderson looking to speak with you?"

"Right, put her through," Jarvis chewed on his lip, checking his watch nervously then as he turned his mind to fret on what she could be calling for.

Almost instantly, he knew something must be wrong.

"Mr. Jarvis, something happened." Her voice came back a terrified squeak, shaking to the high heavens. "Or…I think…I think it happened but…I don't know anymore."

"What's happened?" He asked, eyeing the stairs now as a new eerie silence filled the house around him, sending a chill down his spine. "This is a private line, Rose, no one will hear you."

"I know." She whispered, "The operator said so. I don't know how to explain it."

"Do your best. Are you hurt?"

"No! No, nothing- nothing like that. I just…I think I saw Mary. She was here and then she wasn't? A blue cloud ate her."

Jarvis sighed a little at this, while he had patience for children, he was starting to worry more about Mary and less about Rose's bad dreams. "I'm sure it was only a nightmare. Mary is still here in New Jersey."

"But I saw her." Rose insisted, "I saw her here. She ran into my room with snow in her hands! Saying she needed help and her hands were hot. It was just a few minutes ago. I know she was here."

"Sometimes dreams feel more real than they are." Jarvis tried to console her. "Everything will be alright. Mary is still here and well."

"Are you sure?"

To be entirely fair, Mr. Jarvis was not so sure anymore if she was, but for the sake of this conversation, he assured Rose that she was.

"You ought to be on your way to school by now, Rose." He admonished gently, "You're welcome to call again later, but you shouldn't let nightmares interfere with your education."

"Right." Rose sighed a bit, as if finally letting it go to. "I'm sorry to bother you, sir. I'm sure I'm losing my mind today."

"Don't fret over it." He tried to smile, despite the clear fact that she wouldn't be able to tell. "Have yourself a nice day at school."

After hanging up the phone, Mr. Jarvis never ascended those stairs faster, making for a fast walk down the hallway to Mary's room. His annoyance only climbed with him when he saw how empty her bedroom was.

Seeing how Howard's bedroom held a similar stagnant quality, it didn't take a genius to figure where she'd gone off to.

"Easy, easy. Same time, okay?"

Mr. Stark had a ridiculous grin on his face while we ran the most recent test on the energy source. His amusement had a warm sort of feeling that reached me today. If I wasn't excited enough as is, I was sure Mr. Stark getting excited would've been enough to make me smile pretty bright anyways. We had our hands covered and holding prods inside of the containment chamber.

I had some other things on my mind though while we worked. With the school year more than halfway over, I was starting to wonder about my friends back home in New York.

"The summer is going to come pretty soon, Mr. Stark." I mentioned suddenly, the words almost falling out of my mouth faster than I expected them too.

"It does seem that way doesn't it." Mr. Stark agreed, "Lots of time for the lab. I'm sure Jarvis will still keep you busy with some studies at home anyways."

"Probably," I dropped my voice to a small whisper. "I want to go home."

Mr. Stark looked at me, pausing our work on the device. "Right now? Back to the house? We can wrap up soon, I guess, but we have a few more to get done this morning that I want you for-"

"No, for the summer." I looked back at him, sucking in a deeper breath to push the squirming of earthworms further down in my gut. "I want to go back with Rose and Lillian."

Mr. Stark looked me over for a moment longer before turning his attention back to the equipment. "There's a war, Mary-"

"I know."

"We can't just-"

"Can't you do it without me?" I interrupted, desperate now as I worried he wouldn't agree. "Just for the summer. For two months. I'd be right back in the fall. The war won't be over by September, right?"

Mr. Stark only gave me a cold silence in return, so cold, in fact, that I worried that I'd seriously hurt his feelings. I could almost see how his brain was running and turning in his head, thinking up things to say- ways to tell me 'no'. Seeing how his brows and cheeks softened in a dismayed emotion he always tried to hide from everyone, even himself. In that moment, I felt everything in that room, from the stagnant lack of humidity that pinched my nose to the humming and whirring of our computer thinking. My own breathing felt loud as I turned my eyes back to that gorgeous and unnatural blue glow in a containment chamber.

The quiet from Mr. Stark only made me miss home more now. I felt trapped…cold even as a shiver ran down my spine and made my hand shift inside the box.

"Christ, Mary!" Mr. Stark snapped, making me jump in my spot at the outburst. "Your hands! Keep them still!"

I opened my mouth to speak but as no words came out, I clamped my mouth back shut and looked at the work again. A lump clogged up my throat, keeping me just distracted enough to run back to my thoughts. Honestly, what was I even thinking? I couldn't just take off in the middle of the war because I missed my friends. There were responsibilities here, even if I wasn't a soldier. I had a responsibility to stay here and help Mr. Stark as much as he needed so we could support people who were actually fighting.

New York was dearly missed though and I couldn't help but worry about never seeing them again until I was older. I'd miss window ballet classes (even though I had real ones now). And I'd miss working at the junkyard with Rose, playing games in the big field with Bernard and Charlie and all the other kids in the neighborhood. I'd miss playing in the snow…though, I'm sure by now I'd missed just about all of the playing in the snow anyways.

That lump in my throat only grew as my distracted work didn't feel as safe as it used to. That blue light consumed my vision, pushing me back into the illusion of a world in my head. I could see myself running around in the field, jumping rope with the other girls, passing notes with Rose in class….

"Mary! Stop!"

Mr. Stark shouted at me again and I blinked back to reality, staring at the blue light with my hand just inches from its whispering call.

"Don't move." He held out his free hand towards me with a much more serious stare, crouching down to the ground and beckoning me like I was a wild animal.

He'd turned his back on me with the containment chamber for only a moment, giving my curious subconscious all the time it needed apparently to reach inside without a rubber glove as if I were ready to touch it. I shoulda been scared too, having seen the films of soldiers being disintegrated in an instant upon contact, but there was a sort of warmth to the source in front of me. It didn't feel so scary.

Either way, I was a reasonable kid. I knew that warm as it was, I wouldn't see any of that snow or my friends again if I got any closer.

"Oh," I squeaked, my eyes widening in horror as I realized how close I was now to disaster. "Oh, Mr. Stark. I'm so sorry, I didn't-"

"Easy." He motioned with the hand, setting down his metal tool from the other. "Mary, keep very still and back your hand up now."

I did so, listening obediently as I took my hand back and tucked it close to my chest. "I'm so sorry-"

"Don't." He released a breath of relief and stood up again with a glare. "Fucking shit, Mary! I can't look away from you for four seconds!? What is wrong with you today! You could've killed us both!"

"I'm sorry-"

"If you were sorry, you wouldn't have done it!" He pushed towards me and grabbed my shoulders tight to shake me. "You're not stupid! Don't act like it!"

My mouth went dry as I bowed my head in shame like a chastised dog who just pissed on the carpet, wincing from the feeling of his fingers digging into my arms. I'd never been in trouble with Mr. Stark like this before, but I knew that I deserved it. I was being stupid by sticking my hand in there, even if I didn't do it intentionally. He was right- I knew better.

Then…he gave me a shove.

Whether this was an intentioned shove or more of a way to release me in an aggressive way, I don't really know, nor do I care to try and remember. Regardless, as I was 'released', I tripped backwards and reached to catch myself. My hand slipped through the hole in the side of the containment, a small and unfortunate placement, landing my hand directly on the warmth of the blue energy source.

Mr. Stark and I stared in horror for a moment at the source as it didn't react as fast as I thought it would. In fact, with my mind running so fast, I thought perhaps that there was a small chance it wouldn't. My hope was not squashed so much as it was demolished when my hands both burned at an exponential rate.

All I heard was the sound of a scream…an unnatural guttural tone that resonated and tore at my own vocal chords as a blue wave surrounded me and swallowed me up. That scream could've been in pain or terror, but I wasn't the one to decode my own reaction as the world around me caved in and something felt like it turned my guts inside out. My bones were scratched and crushed, sounding like a nail on glass in my ears. And from that pain and terror, my vision bottomed out, dropping me into a cold end that I prayed was a merciful death, as dying would've been better than feeling like that ever again.

But one can only be so lucky in a day.