Shadow of the Past (Captain America) // ✔️ //

Chapter 15: The Engineer's Guilt

Antonia let out an annoyed chuckle as the damn device shocked her yet again; however, she was closer in finding a solution as the shock wasn't as wild as before, though no solution would matter if she couldn't power it. No matter what she tried, she couldn't get enough power to it, and it wouldn't retain the power. "Maybe, a more stable power source might work out the kinks. Or I can put in so much power into it that it won't matter that it's spitting some back," she stated as she ran another diagnostic on her phone-turned scanner.

Shaking her head, she stepped away. "You're fooling yourself," she told herself, as she crossed to the window and stared out at the busy city street. They had been on the move nonstop for several weeks, and Antonia had lost count to how many cities and camps she had been.

She let out a chuckle, remembering all of the countless posters that she seen of Steve in that stupid outfit. She thought his outfit in the future was bad, but this get-up was completely hilarious. She couldn't believe that he went along with the Senator's idea, but she guessed she knew why. He wanted to be doing something, and he was doing something, even if it was comical.

On the other hand, Salty seemed to trust her a little more, allowing her to work alone, and he also learned that it was a mistake to leave her in the room with her father. The last time that she was, she threw a wrench at his head. Howard had dodged and laughed it off, but the Colonel, annoyed that neither of them would tell him why she threw it, thought it would be best to separate them for a bit. Peggy, though silent, did not approve, which Antonia could see as plain as day.

Antonia crossed back to the device and loaded it into the suitcase just as the door to the small lab opened. "Stark," she greeted as she glanced up. She was getting him her famous glare.

"Hey, Antonia." He had on his stupid smile, which matched his annoying fancy suit that he always wore.

"What do you want?" she asked as she locked the suitcase. There was no real point to lock it as both Howard and Phillips had a key, but it gave her a little comfort to lock it.

"To see how you're doing," he replied as he stepped to the table.

"I'm good."

"Really?" He eyed her not believing her. "How's the device going? Besides the fact that it keeps sucking the power from the building, it does appear to be functioning." He paused. "Maybe, that's the point? However, wouldn't you consider that a weapon? I thought you opposed making weapons, Sark." His friendly tone changed.

Antonia let out a huff. "That was the main purpose of the device," she answered. Howard was too damn smart to fool and Antonia wouldn't even try to lie to him, as it would be a waste of both of their time.

"Was?" he asked, eyeing her.

"Yes, was, but the main purpose changed. The power sucking is just a side effect to the new purpose."

"Is that what happened to the thing in your chest?" he asked. His eyes dropped to her chest where the covered rector was located. His eyes hovered.

"Hey, Buddy, do you want to me to throw another wrench at you?" she asked as she reached for the closest tool on the table. "Correction, a screwdriver. You want me to throw a screwdriver at you?" she yelled as she waved the screwdriver. "And you ask a lot of questions."

"I like questions," Howard stated.

Antonia raised her eyebrow. "Why do you care about my chest piece?" she asked as she crossed her arms against her chest. "You don't need to worry about it." The screwdriver dangled from her hand dangerously.

He blew out slowly. "You know. I'm just trying to help. Nothing wrong with asking for help."

She laughed. "This isn't about help. You want to know how I outsmarted you." She was being childish she knew, but it wasn't every day that she had her father guessing, and she was going to enjoy it.