Infinity

Chapter 11

Eddie's POV

"Eddie! Come look at this."

I turn to see a smiling Howie looking over at me from his desk. We have been in London for three months now, trying to figure out all the Hydra technology that they have acquired. It really is quite fascinating, and Howie and I have begun to piece it all together.

I get up from my own table and walk over to see what has gotten Howie so excited. I look on his desktop. Of course, he would do this, what else should I have expected.

Sitting on his desk is a small light up battery powered Santa Clause doll, but in place of the battery, Howie has configured it to one of the energy circuit boards we have been studying. He presses a button, and the Santa lights up brighter than before until the bulb shatters from the amount of energy it was exposed to.

"Seriously Howie? Santa."

"What we need to get into the Christmas spirit and what better way to do that than with Santa. Christmas is only ten days away and you still have not told me what you want."

I cannot help but sigh. Christmas has never been my favorite time of year. It only ever served as a reminder of my father's disapproval. He would always shower the boys with gifts, and I would be left with one secondhand gift of something that I had no interest in. It was usually new ribbons or clothes. Anything that my father deemed appropriate for a young girl.

"I told you I don't want anything."

"That's unacceptable. Either you tell me what you want, or I will pick for you. And you never know what I will come up with."

I just roll my eyes and head back to my workspace.

"Fine, don't tell me but no complaining when you receive some used perfume that I found in my bathroom."

We are then interrupted by a man I have never met before entering the room. He was tall and dressed in his full uniform. I expected him to go over to Howie, since he is technically head mechanic, but instead he walks straight to my desk. I look up from my desk.

"Ms. Edwards."

A sick feeling lands in the pit of my stomach. Everything about this screams wrong and all my instincts are telling me to run. But I hold my ground and manage to stay composed while an internal battle is waging.

"Yes, how can I help you?"

In a monotoned voice and a sympatric face, this unnamed man delivers the worst possible news.

"I regret to inform you miss, but on the twelfth day of this month your brother Thomas W. Edwards Jr. was struck down in battle. He didn't survive the night."

December 20, 1942

The past few days have gone by in a blur. After receiving the news, I just shut down. I vaguely remember Howie wrapping me in a hug and mumbling something. I stayed like that for what felt like hours, but I am quite sure was actually only about ten minutes then I got to work. That is what I do. Whenever my emotions become too much for me, I turn to work. As a kid I would read or tinker with the different household items. I could take apart and reassemble almost anything. I knew Howie was worried about me but over the past several months he had come to realize that it is best to leave me be when I am like this.

The Colonel gave me a week off. They even offered to fly me home so I could attend the funeral. At first, I declined but Howie convinced me to go. Yesterday was the funeral and day three of my week off. Being back home has been weird. My family has barely spoken two words to me, even my mother and twin can barely look at me. I know I look a lot like Tommy did and I have been gone a while, but things could not have changed that much. Until Tommy's death, I had been communicating via letters with my mother on a weekly basis.