He watches her draw. No, he doesn't really mind her touching his things. What's his is hers, in a way.

A weird way. "Agent Carter was the only acting soldier at basic. She made it pretty clear on the very first day that she was in charge, not by throwing her title around, but by showing that she was just as strong and capable as any of the privates lined up in front of her."

And he respected the hell out of her for it. A lot of them did. He'd be remiss to assume he was the only one who got a giddy sense of pleasure watching her deck Hodge, but he doesn't like to think about other men looking at her the way he looked at her. They couldn't have admired her any more than he did.

The hands come into focus, familiar scar blackened before his eyes.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's a boys' club. One I never would have gotten invited to without Dr. Erskine. I'm sorry, I can't imagine what it's like for you," he says, emanating genuineness. His mother suffered a lot providing for him after his dad died. It wasn't easy, sick kid, bills piling up. "Peggy's a good lady to have on your side, though. No, it's more than that. She's a good soldier to have on your side."

The gender makes no difference in the long run.