Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners and I am not making any profit from this.

What if Melinda May and Tony Stark knew each other ever since Melinda was three and Tony was a few months old because his father and her mother were old friends. As long as either of them can remember they have known each other they were raised practically as siblings, more than once they lived in the same house, and they looked out for each other when their parents were too busy too. Always willing to help the other get out of or into trouble depending on the situation. This is a look at their lives at different stages and how through everything that has changed the one thing that hasn't is their relationship.

July 1970: Melinda 3 years old. Tony 2 months old.

Lian May never wanted to choose between raising her daughter and doing the job she loved and she never intended to, but after the death of her husband when her daughter was only a years old she thought that she may have to because she didn't have any other family to help her with her daughter, but as she now knows she was wrong, she does have family.

When Lian was nineteen just out of training in the CIA she was assigned a mission as a liaison between the CIA and the newly formed SHIELD, little did she know that that mission would introduce her to the people she would one day consider family.

Peggy Carter and Howard Stark were the heads of S.H.I.E.L.D and were more than happy to help her out be mentors to her in a sense. As the years passed Peggy, Lian and Howard grew to be good friends and without even realising the three of them formed a family, always looking out for each other.

When Lian's husband died in a car accident when Lian was overseas on an op Howard and his wife Maria went and picked up Lian's daughter from Child Care and looked out for her until Lian could get back in the country. Lian is positive that if it wasn't for the help that Howard, Maria, Peggy and her husband Gabe has given her she wouldn't be able to both work for the CIA and be a parent to Melinda. When Howard was going to propose to his girlfriend Maria he asked Peggy and Lian's advice on the ring. Peggy and Lian have always bonded over their shared discrimination and hope and determination to make sure that one day it would get better, and all three of them were always present at each other's wedding and other important moments in their lives. Peggy and Howard are the godparents to Lian's daughter, Lian and Howard are the godparents to Peggy's oldest son, and Howard along with his wife Maria attend to ask Lian and Peggy to be godparents to their two month old son, which is why Lian and her three year old daughter Melinda are on their way to the Stark Estate in Washington.

"Were are we going, Mama?" Melinda asks her mother from the back of the car as her mother drives.

"I've already told you that Melinda we're going to see Uncle Howard and Aunt Maria." Lian reveals, "And in a few days Aunt Peggy, Uncle Gabe, Mark and Jackie are going to be there too." Lian explains to her daughter.

"Yay." Melinda says happily, "How long until we get there?" Melinda asks her mother.

"Twenty minutes." Lian informs Melinda.

"That's too long." Melinda says pouting.

"Melinda what I have I told you about being patient?" Lian asks her daughter.

"That it's a skill I have to learn." Melinda responds.

"Exactly." Lian tells her daughter, "Until we get to Uncle Howard's you are going to be quite and not complain." Lian tells her daughter.

"Yes Mama." Melinda responds and she does what her mother asked.

Twenty minutes later, though it feels like much longer to Melinda not that she will let it show because she wanted to show her mother that she can do what she is told, Melinda and Lian arrive at the Stark Estate.

Within seconds of Lian knocking on the door with Melinda by her side it opens to reveal Edwin Jarvis the butler of Howard and Maria Stark.

"Madam Lian, Miss Melinda. Master Howard and Madam Maria are waiting for you in the lounge, if you would follow me." Jarvis informs Lian and Melinda.

"Thank you Jarvis." Lian responds, "Melinda what do you have to say?" she asks her daughter.

"Thank you Jarvis.' Melinda says in a small voice and she and her mother follow Jarvis through the large house.

"Lian, good to see you, I trust the mission went well." Howard greets as Melinda and Lian walk in the room.

"It did." Lian responds.

"Do I still have no chance of conniving you to leave and join us?" Howard asks Lian curious as he and Peggy have been trying to get Lian to leave the CIA to join S.H.I.E.L.D since they met and they haven't had any luck.

"I've told you a hundred times Howard I like it where I am." Lian says with a small smile, "Plus what would you and Peggy do without me, you've annoyed everyone else at the CIA so much that they refuse to work with you."

"Not true." Howard responds, "I don't think we've made enemies of some of the younger agents yet." He comments and both he and Lian smile at that.

"Aunt Maria, what's that?" Melinda asks walking over to her Aunt, who is holding Baby Tony in her arms as she is getting bored with her Mother and Uncle's conversation.

"This is Baby Anthony." Maria reveals as Melinda climbs onto the couch and sits next to Maria.

"He looks squishy." Melinda comments looking at the baby.

"He's a baby he's supposed to look like this." Maria explains, "You looked like this once."

"I did?" Melinda asks surprised.

"You did." Maria confirms, "Would you like to hold him?" Maria asks

"Can I?" Melinda asks looking excited.

"Of course." Maria responds, Lian and Howard being too wrapped up in their conversation to realise what's going on, "You've just got to be careful of his head." Maria informs Melinda, "Can you do that?" Maria asks and Melinda nods, "Okay, put your arms like I have mine." Maria informs Melinda who does exactly as she is told, "Good." Maria says and she gently puts Tony into Melinda's arms. Melinda being very careful not to hurt him, Maria watching her very carefully to make sure she doesn't.

"Hi Anthony." Melinda says to the baby, "I'm Melinda. No, I'm Melly, and I'm your friend." Melinda informs the baby, "And when you're bigger we're going to play together all the time, and I'm always going to look out for you like Mark does for Jackie because I'm bigger and it's my job to look out for you, no matter what you can count on me Anthony." Melinda informs Baby Tony having no idea how true her words are going to be in the coming years.

1973: Melinda 6 years old. Tony 3 years old.

It has been three years since Tony Stark was born and even though she has been traveling around the world with her mother because of her work Melinda has still spent a lot of the past three years with the Starks and the Carter-Jones's. In that time Melinda and Tony have grown quite close and not only does Melinda look out for Tony but Tony looks out for Melinda.

Melinda is standing in the entry way to the Stark estate with her mother kneeling in front of her talking to her, saying goodbye because she has to go on a mission and she can't bring Melinda with her so Melinda is going to be staying with Howard, Maria and Tony until she gets back.

"I don't understand why I can't come with you." Six year old Melinda May says to her mother.

"You can't come with me because I have to work." Lian tells her daughter.

"But I always come with you when you work." Melinda argues.

"I know, but you can't this time it's too dangerous." Lian explains.

"But you've been teaching me to fight, I can keep protect myself." Melinda argues. Trying not to let herself get upset as her mother has been teaching her how to control her emotions.

"And you're learning well, I'm proud of you Melinda." Lian informs her daughter, "But it's still too dangerous. You need to stay with Uncle Howard and Aunt Maria for a while." Lian tells her daughter.

"That's not fair!" Melinda says starting to get upset, "I want to come with you." Melinda says stomping her foot.

"Melinda as you get older you are going to learn that a lot of things aren't fair, and you cannot throw a tantrum when things don't go your way." Lian tell her daughter, "You need to be grownup about this." She tells her daughter,

"But I don't want you to go Mama." Melinda tells her mother.

"I know, but I have to and you need to accept that." Lian tells her daughter, "While I'm gone you need to be on your best behaviour for Uncle Howard and Aunt Maria. Can you do that?" she asks.

"Yes." Melinda responds, clearly not happy.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, I love you Melinda." Lian tells her daughter.

"How long will you be gone?" Melinda asks her mother.

"A couple of months." Lian tells Melinda.

"THAT'S NOT FAIR." Melinda yells once more stomping her feat.

"Melinda Qiaolian May what did I say about throwing a tantrum?" Lian asks.

"I don't care. This isn't fair, it sucks." Melinda says before turning and running up the stairs and to the room that is basically hers as she stays in the same room whenever she is at Stark Estate.

As she watches her daughter leave Lian stands up and sighs, halting that Melinda is so unhappy with her but knowing that she has to leave so she doesn't have time to try and get Melinda to understand.

"She'll understand one day." A voice says from the entrance to the lounge room and Lian turns to see Howard standing there with a glass of scotch in his hand.

"I doubt that." Lian comments.

"Your daughter is a lot like you Lian, I have no doubt that one day she will understand the sacrifices that have to be made." Howard tells his friend, "Good luck with your mission." He tells his friend because even though he doesn't know the details he knows that it must be very dangerous for Lian not to take Melinda with her.

"Thanks, and thank you for looking after her while I'm gone." She tells Howard, "See you soon Howard."

"See you soon Lian." Howard responds and Lian walks out the door.

When Melinda gets to her room she slams the door and throws herself down on the bed and starts to cry.

"Melly?" A voice says about ten minutes after she entered her room and Melinda turns to see Tony standing in her doorway.

"Hey Anthony." Melinda responds sitting up and wiping her eyes.

"What's wrong? You're crying." Tony says walking over to the bed and climbing up so that he can sit next to her.

"Yeah I am, I'm sad." Melinda explains, "My Mama is going away for a while so I'm staying here." She explains to Tony.

"But that means we get to play together every day, all day." Tony say with a grin, "Don't you like it when we play together Melly?"

"Of course I like it Anthony, I love playing with you. I'm sad because I'm going to miss my Mama." She explains.

"Oh, okay." Tony responds, "I found a secret passage a few days ago, want to see?" he asks curious.

"Yes." Melinda says looking excited, forgetting all about being sad.

"Follow me." Tony says and they both jump down from Melinda's bed and exit the room.

"How did you find it?" Melinda asks as she follows Tony down the corridor.

"I was following wires, I wanted to see where they went and what they did, and I found it instead." Tony explains as they walk.

"Where does it go?" Melinda ask.

"No idea." Tony responds honestly, "Here." Tony says pulling forward a bit of the wooden panel to reveal a door handle which he pulls open which moves several of the other panels to reveal a tunnel, "I was waiting for you to get here to explore." He explains.

"I'm glad you did." Melinda tells Tony, "Can I go first?" Melinda asks all her sadness now replaced with joy and wonder.

"Sure." Tony says and Melinda enters the tunnel Tony right behind her.

"We should have grabbed a torch." Melinda says after about a minute.

"Oh, I have one of those." Tony says pulling something he just finished making out of his pocket, a homemade torch.

"Did you make that?" Melinda asks and Tony nods, "That's soo cool Anthony." She tells him, looking very impressed.

"Dad says it's not." Tony tells Melinda looking upset at that.

"It is Anthony." Melinda informs Tony, "Don't let Uncle Howard upset you, you did a really cool thing." Melinda tells Tony.

"Thanks. " Tony says looking slightly embarrassed, "And you shouldn't let Aunt Lian upset you either." Tony says and Melinda smiles.

"Come on we should figure out where this leads before Jarvis realises we're missing." Melinda comments.

"We should." Tony says, knowing that even if no one else does Jarvis will realise soon, and they continue to walk, this time side by side.

For over five minutes Melinda and Tony walk together side by side, neither saying anything.

"Melly, you're my friend right." Tony says a few minutes later.

"Of course I am Anthony." Melinda responds, "Why do you ask?"

"Because last week at preschool none of the other kids liked me, they called me names." Tony explains looking upset, "I wanted to make sure you were my friend." Tony explains.

"I am Anthony, I will always be your friend." Melinda tells him.

"Really?" Tony asks.

"Really." Melinda confirms, "In fact I'm more than you just your friend I'm your sister and I always will be, no matter what." She tells him.

"Then I'm your brother Melly." Tony says proudly, "Forever." He tells Melinda.

"Forever." Melinda confirms, "Look, I see light." She says pointing to where a small bit of light is coming from.

"Let's see where we are." Tony says and both he and Melinda start to run to the door which Melinda pushes open and they find themselves in the backyard of the estate.

"So through that tunnel we can get from upstairs to out here." Melinda says looking around, "That's so cool." Melinda and Tony both say looking at each other but before they can say anything else they hear a voice.

"Young Master Tony, Miss Melinda are you out here, dinner is ready." Jarvis's voice asks.

"COMING JARVIS." Melinda and Tony both yell.

"We've got to cover this up." Melinda tells Tony, "That way this can be out little secret." She explains.

"Our little secret, I like that." Tony says and together he and Melinda close the wooden panels and cover up the way into their secret passage way.

1974: Melinda 7 years old. Tony 4 years old.

Ever since Melinda lived with the Starks for three months a few months ago Melinda and Tony haven't seen a lot of each other as Lian has been assigned to work at different places around the world, a fact which has upset both Melinda and Tony, but now Melinda and Lian are coming to stay with the Starks for over a week. From the day before Christmas Eve to the second of January.

"Jarvis how long until they get here?" Tony ask Jarvis as the two of them are waiting in the entrance way which is covered in Christmas decorations waiting for Melinda and Lian.

"They should be here any minute Young Master Tony." Jarvis tells Tony and before Tony can say anything there is a knock on the door and Tony manages to get to it before Jarvis.

"MELLY." Tony says happily when he sees his friend.

"Anthony." Melinda responds just as happily and the two friends hug.

"You've got to come upstairs, I've got soo much to show you." Tony says grabbing Melinda's hand and they both run upsets.

"Hi Jarvis." Lian greats as she closes the door that Tony and Melinda left open.

"Good afternoon Ma'am." Jarvis responds.

"Are Howard and Maria around?" Lian asks curious.

"Madam Maria is in the Library and Master Howard is still at work." Jarvis informs Lian.

"Thanks Jarvis." Lian responds and she heads towards the library.

"So this is all yours?" Melinda asks Tony as they arrive in what was once an empty room that has now been turned into a lab, and a pretty impressive one at that.

"Yep." Tony says with a proud grin, "Dad set it up for me. You should have seen his face Melly he was so happy when I made that circuit board." Tony reveals.

"That's great. I'm so happy for you Anthony." Melinda tells her friend as she sits down on one of the benches.

"Thanks." Tony responds deciding not to mention that now he is worried that now he will never live up to his father's expectations, "Do you want me to make you something? I can you know." Tony informs Melinda.

"Thanks, but unless you can make me something that can help me learn Tai-Chi I don't need anything." Melinda tells her friend as Tony starts to fiddle with bits and pieces.

"Huh?" Tony asks looking at Melinda confused.

"Nothing." Melinda says shaking her head.

"No, it's something. What's wrong Melly?" Tony asks worried for his friend, "Talk to me." He asks and Melinda looks away from him, "Talk to me and I'll show you the plans to the robot I'll build one day." He tells her friend.

"That's just mean." Melinda tells her friend, "You know I'll want to see that." She tells him then sighs, "For a few weeks Mama has been teaching me Tai-Chi and I just can't get it." Melinda explains, "And I want to quit, but I know I can't and I hate it because I'm disappointing Mama." Melinda explains.

"I don't think you are." Tony tells his friend, "You're trying. Sometimes things take time." He tells Melinda.

"That's easy for you to say you can do anything after being shown it once." She says annoyed and then regrets her words as soon as she sees Tony's face, "I'm sorry. That was mean." Melinda tells her friend feeling bad about what she just said.

"It's true, I do pick up things easily but so do you." Tony tells his friend, "I was watching you when Aunt Peggy was showing you how to fight, you only had to be shown that once." He points out.

"I know, but this is different." Melinda reveals.

"How?" Tony asks thinking that if he can get Melinda to explain why she is having such a problem them maybe she can figure out or he can help her figure out how to solve it.

"It's like fighting is muscle, Tai-Chi is mind. I find muscle easier." Melinda tells Tony.

"Well then practice with your mind more." Tony reveals, "Maybe that will help." He says with a shrug.

"Maybe." Melinda responds, "Do you need an assistant with whatever you're doing?" Melinda asks curious.

"Sure." Tony responds and Melinda jumps down from the counter.

"Just a warning I don't think I'll understand half of what you say." Melinda informs Tony.

"That's okay, I think I'll mostly need you to hold things in place while I do other things." Tony explains.

"Good that I can do." Melinda informs Tony and they get started in doing just that.

The following Night

It is Christmas Eve which means it is time for the annual Stark Christmas party. Both Tony and Melinda are sitting together very bored. Neither practically interested in what is going on. Tony's parents, Melinda's Mom, and all the Carter-Jones's are off talking to different people leaving Melinda and Tony alone at the table.

"Want to sneak upstairs?" Tony asks Melinda, who is currently folding cranes with her napkin, curious.

"I don't know." Melinda says uncertainly, being pretty sure that her mother would be angry if she found out they left the party.

"We can play Captain America and the Howling Commandoes." Tony suggests, and Melinda looks more interested though still a bit hesitant, "Come on Melly, I'll ever let you be Captain America." Tony offers trying to get Melinda to agree.

"I don't want to be Captain America." Melinda inform Tony, "I want to be Aunt Peggy she's way more awesome than Captain America." She informs Tony.

"Is that a yes?" Tony asks with a grin and Melinda nods, putting the napkin on the table.

"But we can't let anyone see us." Melinda tells Tony, "You parents are over talking to that guy who works with your Dad, Obie or whatever his name is and Mama's talking to Uncle Gabe, let's go." Melinda tells Tony and both trying to be un noticed as possible they walk fast towards the stairs but they find the path blocked by tall dark haired, eleven year old Jacqueline 'Jackie' Carter-Jones, the daughter of Peggy Carter and Gabe Jones. Even though Jackie may look more like her Dad she acts more like her mother which makes Tony and Melinda slightly afraid when they see the look that she has on her face.

"Hi Jackie." Melinda says attempting to put the most innocent look on her face.

"What's up?" Tony asks also trying to put an innocent look on his face, something which he doesn't do quite as well as Melinda.

"What are you two up to?" Jackie asks looking between the pair.

"Nothing." Melinda and Tony respond in unison.

"Yes, you are. You're sneaking upstairs." Jackie realises and Melinda and Tony exchange worried looks, "Don't worry. Mark agreed to cover for us as long as we didn't destroy anything." Jackie informs them.

"We?" Melinda asks.

"Of course we, if you two are getting out of this party I am too but if we don't want to get caught we have to hurry." Jackie tells Melinda and Tony and with a nod the three of them head upstairs, planning on having a lot more fun than they would have sitting at an empty table at a boring party.

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