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*tw: mentions of abuse and death (sorry, it's a heavy chapter)*
𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 her back turned away from the entrance of her tent, putting down the visor of her face mask, the flame of her blow torch reflecting off of the mask. The flame met the metal of her latest invention when she heard a soft cough.
Jumping, the blow torch dropped from her hand and landed near her feet. She put out the fire and looked for the source of the cougher.
"Really, Howard?" she asked with a groan. She bent down to pick up the dropped tool. "Why do you not announce yourself when someone is holding literal fire?"
"I did announce myself to you," he replied, walking over to her workstation. "I coughed." She rolled her eyes and was reaching for her forgotten screwdriver when her brother's voice rang out again. "There's something I want to talk to you about."
"Clearly, since you're here."
"How was your picnic with Steve Rogers?" Grace moved so quickly that she hit her head on the table but she hardly took notice as she was staring at her brother.
"W—What?"
"You know, Steve Rogers, the super-soldier who was recently named America's hero," Howard said and she swallowed. "Why would you go out with a soldier?"
"Howard, we're on an Army base," she replied, throwing her hands in the air. "There's nobody else to go out with."
He nodded. "Exactly. So you shouldn't be going out at all."
She knitted her eyebrows together as he started to leave. "I am not a little girl anymore," she said, walking after him. "I am a grown woman who is capable of making her own choices. None of which I have to double-check with my older brother."
"But a soldier?" he questioned with a scoff.
"There's nothing wrong with Steve!" she exclaimed, stopping in front of him. Peggy and Phillips looked over at the bickering siblings from outside the colonel's tent. "He was a perfect gentleman."
"For now..."
"What the hell does that mean?" she asked, frowning.
"It means that all soldiers are the same," he said and Grace rolled her eyes. "If you are to go out with someone, find someone who isn't a soldier in the United States Army."
"You can't ban me from seeing anyone, Howard," she contradicted, shaking her head. "You aren't my father."
"No, but he would agree with me."
Grace's eyes hardened and she shook her head with a scoff. "You know what, Howard, I never once complained about the hundreds of women you bring home on an annual basis. Never said a word. And you have the absolute nerve to—"
