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May 2nd, 1988 — Cambridge, MA 11:12 AM, EST
"Big day. Big, big day, Girl Genius." Tony muttered as he and Shelby walked along, pulling Mary behind them in a red Radio Flyer wagon. Their machine-rocket-aircraft-child was haphazardly covered in an old blanket and was being transported across campus from their work room in the student research center to the building that housed the office of the dean of the engineering department.
Though Shelby had never met him, she'd heard that the dean was an asshole. Dr. William Parsley, despite sharing his last name with a spice, was one of the most bland people to grace the face of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His sunken gray eyes fell into his pale, hairless head, and he stared ahead blankly at Tony and Shelby as the entered his office. Shelby couldn't believe that the shapeless old man before them was said to be one of the most brilliant minds in engineering. Besides Tony and herself, that was.
Mary was finally complete, and after some light sanding and a few flashy stickers, their aircraft (they really had to stop referring to it as a rocket) was ready for the young geniuses' senior design presentation.
After rolling the wagon to a stop, Tony lead Shelby up to the dean's desk, where he sat with two other men. Shelby frowned as she noticed the lack of diversity within the group. They were all men, all old, and all white, each as crotchety and sickly-looking as the next one.
"Hello, Dr. Parsley, my name is Tony Stark. Nice to meet you." Tony continued shaking hands down the line with the other two professors, while Shelby did the same.
"Today we would like to present to you our senior design project," Shelby began. "It's an aircraft we have designed to monitor the weather pattern in the atmosphere over a given surface area."
"You said an aircraft, Miss?" Dr. Parsley questioned.
"Yes, sir." Shelby responded. "We were hoping you all wouldn't mind joining us outside for a few minutes so we can demonstrate the machine's abilities."
The three men looked at each other silently, as if deciding if it was really worth it enough to get up out of their seats and walk the few feet outside to the courtyard.
"Yes, okay." The dean nodded and stood, then walked outside, flanked by the other two professors who had remained entirely silent.
Shelby and Tony shared a glance, and Tony smirked. "I can't believe they went for it!" He whispered.
"We are so getting an A, Stark." Shelby said back with a grin.
Tony took the wagon and wheeled Mary out to the courtyard. "Esteemed professors, may I present to you our senior design project: Mary." With a flick of his hand, Tony pulled off the blanket and revealed the aircraft in its full glory.
Shelby stood back with a smile on her face as the men looked at it in amazement.
"Does 'Mary' stand for something?" One of the professor's asked, finally breaking his silence.
"No, it's just a name." Tony replied. "Simple as my name is Tony, and your name is Dr. Green."
Shelby took out the remote control. "We've set it up to be run solely on green energy. You'll notice the solar panels." She said, pointing to them. "These sensors tell us temperature, wind speed, and, in case of rain, approximately how many drops per second are falling in the given zone."
Tony flipped a switch on the aircraft while Shelby held the remote. After making a slight buzzing sound, Mary's fans propelled the device into the air. Shelby hit a few buttons, and then Mary went up further, heading high into the sky.
The professors watched as the aircraft went up, looking slightly impressed by the two students before them. The only one whose poker face remained was Dr. Parsley.
"So, um, if you'll see here..." Shelby walked over to the three men, showing them the remote control in her hand. "Not only does this control the device while it is in the air, but this is also how you monitor those levels we talked about earlier. Also, when it's raining, it collects samples of the rain. It then tests the acidity of the rainwater, and can be collected upon returning to the ground."
"And," Tony stated with a smirk, "You'll notice it is virtually indestructible, as we have crafted the outside body out of vibranium."
They continued explaining Mary's functions, and upon the aircraft's return to the ground, Dr. Parsley took a step forward. "Miss Colewell, Mr. Stark, do not take this the wrong way," he began. "But this is not something I often say to students." Shelby and Tony shared a nervous glance before the dean stated, "I am impressed."
May 2nd, 1988 — Cambridge, MA 1:30 PM, EST
After a celebratory lunch of cheeseburgers, pie, and New Coke, the two young geniuses headed back to their work station to clean up.
Mary was to get shipped off to New York, to Tony's dad. That had been the agreement they had made when Howard had given them the vibranium. Tony had also assured Shelby that Howard would be paying her a significant sum of money as well, given the success that Mary was making.
"You know, Shelbster..." Tony said as he took a sip of his soda can. "This New Coke is not good."
Shelby nodded in agreement as she rifled through a pile of spare parts. They'd really left themselves a mess. "It totally sucks."
The boy shrugged and grabbed some tools off the counter, shoving them back where they belonged. "What are going to do with all those extra parts?" He asked.
She shrugged. "Maybe give them to the university? Someone should be able to use them next year."
Next year.
Next year, Tony wouldn't be coming back to Boston. None of them would. He'd be going back to New York, working with his father, probably. That sounded like tons of fun.
Shelby would be going south to Florida.
Robbo would be going west to Washington.
Rhodey, who was in the ROTC, would be going to wherever the Air Force sent him.
Shelby's friends -- well, he wasn't sure where Lisa and Donna were going, but that didn't matter.
None of them would come back to Boston in the fall, and none of them would probably ever be in the same place again.
"Right." He said, moving to help her load them into a box. "Good idea."
While he continued with the extra parts, Shelby moved over to a pile of notebooks and binders. He was pretty sure most of that was his old stuff.
"Tony, is this old homework of yours?" She asked, holding up a piece of paper. "Did you turn this in?"
He nodded. "Oh, yeah. That's just ... practice stuff, I think."
"Okay. Do you mind if I throw it out?" She asked, sifting through it.
"No, go ahead." He responded as he closed the box and taped the top. He grabbed a marker and labeled the box, then set it down next to Mary in the red wagon. He glanced over at Shelby, seeing the small smile that played over her face as she rifled through his stuff.
He was going to miss her like crazy when she was in Florida, but he was so incredibly proud of her.
He walked over and wrapped his arms around her, engulfing her in a hug. She was always going around giving people hugs, and he was one to shy away from things like that. It was about time someone hugged Shelby.
"What's this for?" She asked as she hesitantly wrapped her arms around him.
"Oh, nothing." He sighed, "I'm just really glad that we pulled that off."
