Authoress Note: Welcome to Chapter 12 of Stark Dynasty. Thank you to those who have left reviews and have kept up with this story. It really does mean a lot to me that you guys are enjoying it. I really do enjoy writing it and I can't wait to write more for this story. Only 3 chapters left and this part of the story will be finished. Without further ado Chapter 12. Enjoy!

Chapter 12

A set of robot claws handle the cube cartridge inside of a blast chamber. Outside of it Howard was examining it as his engineer took notes and his sister watched him closely.

"Emission signature is unusual. Alpha, beta and gamma rays are neutral. Though I doubt Rogers picked up on that."

Dorothy let out a soft chuckle as Howard gently removed a glowing pellet.

"Hmm. Looks harmless enough." Howard steered the robot claw, extending a sparking wire. "Hard to see what all the fuss is ab-" He touched the wire to the pellet.

Suddenly an explosion blew out the windows of the blast chamber sending Howard, Dorothy and the engineer flying backwards.

The dust finally settled and Howard looked over at his engineer. "Write that down."

Dorothy groaned slowly getting up to her feet dusting off her uniform as the engineer wrote what they had found down. Dorothy looked at Howard. "Steve will be here any moment Howard." Dorothy said, reminding him that Steve would be there soon to check out the items that he would be using.

Howard looked over at his sister and nodded his head.

"You might want to wipe your face down though… you got…" Dorothy gestured to her face to let him know that he had ash from the explosion all over his face.

Howard let out a soft chuckle. "Of course. Agent Carter is on her way to get Rogers so he doesn't get lost."

Dorothy nodded her head softly. "Right. I'll try to clean some of this mess up while you clean up, Howard."

Howard nodded his head and moved towards her, patting her shoulder lightly. "You're too good to me."

"I'm your sister, of course I'm supposed to help." She said, giving him a look.

Howard left the room to go and get cleaned up before Steve arrived.

Dorothy let out a breath as she grabbed a broom from the closet that was in the room and began to sweep up the mess that he had made. She shook her head lightly as she cleaned. She looked up hearing noise from Peggy.

"Agent Carter. Wait a second." Steve's voice rang out.

Dorothy let out a breath shaking her head lightly.

"Looks like finding a partner wasn't that hard after all."

"Peggy. That wasn't what you thought it was."

"I don't think anything, Captain. Not one thing. You wanted to be a soldier. Now you are one. Just like all the rest."

Dorothy let out a breath as she heard the door open.

"Well what about you and Stark? How do I know what you two haven't been...fonduing the whole time?"

"You still don't understand a bloody thing about women." Peggy stormed through the room ignoring everyone.

Dorothy shook her head lightly. She turned her head seeing Howard coming back clean. She saw the look on Howard's face knowing that he had heard the conversation.

"Fondue Is just cheese and bread, my friend."

Steve turned, seeing Howard standing in the open metal door.

"And it looks to me like she thinks you've got a lot more going for you than that." Howard led Steve across the brand new lab.

Dorothy came over letting out a breath crossing her arms.

Workers began to replace the blast shattered windows. Mechanics tuned up a motorcycle.

"Really, I didn't think…" Steve said softly.

"Nor should you, pal. The minute you think you know what's in a woman's head is the minute your goose is well and truly cooked."

Dorothy suddenly smacked Howard.

"Ow."

"Rude much?" Dorothy said, narrowing her hazel eyes at him.

Howard rubbed his arm softly. "You didn't have to hit me."

"Oh I could've done much more than hit you dear brother."

Howard held his hands up knowing not to get into a sibling spat in front of Steve. Howard stopped Steve at a collection of high tech fabrics. "Me, I concentrate on work. Which at the moment is making sure you and your men and my sister don't get killed." He unrolled an impressive grey metallic weave. "Carbon polymer. Ought to hold its own against your average German bayonet. Of course, Hydra's not likely to come at you with a pocket knife…" He turned to Steve's battered shield that was laying on one of the work tables. "I hear you're sort of attached."

Steve fingered a bullet hole in the shield. "It's handier than you might think."

"So's the hotel chambermaid, but I wouldn't take her into battle." He pulled up a cart with a number of shields, some built, some half finished. "I took the liberty of coming up with a few options." He picked up one of them. "This one's fun. It's fitted with transistorized relays."

Steve pulled out a plain round shield from the bottom shelf. He spun it between his palms. It's light, balanced. She pings the simple shield. It rings like a bell. "What about this one?"

"Oh, that's just a prototype. Now this one."

"What's it made of?"

"Vibranium. Stronger than steel and a third of the weight."

Steve slid the shield onto his arm.

"It's completely vibration absorbent. Should make a bullet feel like a cotton ball."

"How come it's not standard issue?"

"It's the rarest metal on earth. You're holding all we've got."

Peggy reached the three of them rather icily. She was still upset with Steve's comments prior and she hadn't had a chance to settle down from it. "Are you about finished, Mr. Stark? I'm sure the Captain has some unfinished business."

Steve smiled at her only to have her not return the smile. He held up the shield. "What do you think?"

Peggy looked at him, expressionless. Then she turned to a table of guns, picking one up and fired at Steve's chest.

Steve blocked them with the shield. The slugs flattened and plinked to the ground.

"I think it works." She said before walking out of the room.

Dorothy covered her mouth lightly trying her best not to laugh.

Steve and Howard watched Peggy leave for a long moment.

"About my uniform…" Steve said, handing Howard a sketch. Neither man took his eyes off Peggy. "I had some ideas."

"Whatever you want, sport." Howard said as he took the design from him.

Dorothy let out a soft chuckle shaking her head lightly. She patted Howard's shoulder lightly. "I'll see you tonight to help out where you need it."

Howard turned his head to his sister and nodded his head. "And where are you off to?"

Dorothy bit her lower lip softly. "I'll be fine Howard, no need to worry about me." She said with a wink before slowly walking away from the two men.

Howard let out a breath and shook his head lightly.

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This is the end of Chapter 12. I hope that you enjoyed it. I can't wait to write more for this series. I'm getting excited about writing it. I have so many ideas that I can use. It's not funny. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Reviews keep me going in my writing. I hope to have the next chapter out soon. Until next time.