Chapter Text
Christine Everhart always suspected that she had lived a life before this one, as weird as that may sound like. There had just a sense of déjà vu at the back of her mind for as long as she could think.
Everything felt familiar and yet — at the very same time — everything felt so new and exciting. At times, it was really confusing, but Christine learned to deal with it. It wasn’t like she had any other choice, really. But she learned how to do it with some level of grace.
If there was one thing that her not-quite-memories were to blame for, then it was definitely her instinctive distrust of men, especially those with charming personas. She had been hurt by someone in more ways than one by a man that pretended to be all great but wasn’t.
(There was also a man that had just been trying to help until she had been forced to hurt him and they hurt each other and someone else in turn. It had had a terrible start, a worse end, and an amazing middle.)
It took Christine the longest time to decide what she wanted to do with her life, but once she had thought of becoming a journalist. Yeah, that felt right. She deserves the chance to get her words out — to write her way out, essentially — just as much as anyone else did.
So yeah, she set her mind to it and worked for it. It turned out that she had an eye for stories. She could spot a front page story within seconds, even if it was hidden under layers and layers of lies. Christine had experience with that — sort of. In a way.
It made sense to her and it didn’t feel like a lie. But since she didn’t have any definite proof or example, Christine usually kept quiet about that part.
It wasn’t hard to keep her cards close to her chest. People didn’t really care how she got her stories, just that she did. Which too, felt familiar.
Basically she did her job, and she did it well.
Then came Tony Stark.
Instead of an interview, he slept with her — a thing that really shouldn’t feel familiar, but did — and, don’t get her wrong, it was good — like really good, almost scarily good — but still not what she wanted.
Christine had intended to try again, but then the man was kidnapped. Once he returned, she wanted to give him some space to recover before she showed him the things his weapons did.
Only then Stane died before she had the chance to. And the following press conference made it more than obvious that Tony had had no idea that the man went behind his back, nor care for the man’s image.
“This man, he manipulated me over decades for his own gain. He supplied literally every enemy of this country with my weapons. You are, of course, free to think whatever you want — that is one of the principles this country was built on —” that pause sounded suspiciously like an ‘I should know’ to Christine “— but I, personally think that that man does not deserve to be remembered the way he would be had I not spoken out. He betrayed me and I know of three attempts on my life done by him — the Afghanistan debacle being the first and the fight that ended up causing his death the last. I do not see any reason why I should honor this man. You are free to see it differently, just don’t expect me to understand it. I also hope that you understand that I, personally will not be taking any questions. They will be handled by Agent Coulson and the wonderful Miss Potts, so I can assure you you are in good hands. Thank you.” Without another word, Tony Stark left the podium and the view of the many cameras.
Most of the reporters needed a moment to process the new information, but Christine was on the top of her game, despite the fact that she could feel that there was something else just waiting to reveal herself. She was a master in handling one problem at the time, after all.
Once all questions were answered, the room emptied quickly, since everyone was eager to get their articles written and printed.
But Christine lingered for a moment. And at that moment, she realized not only who she had been, but who Tony Stark was. Who Pepper Potts was.
Oh, she was in trouble. She was definitely in trouble.
She tried to get herself to leave the room but found herself frozen in place.
“Miss Everhart? I am sorry, but I will have to ask you to leave,” Pepper Potts — why her out of everyone here? — requested.
“I’m sorry,” Christine blurted out. “I’m so sorry.”
“Miss Everhart, I don’t know what you are talking about —”
“I was Maria Reynolds,” Christine interrupts her. “And thanks to my husband forcing me to, I had an affair with yours. And I grew to genuinely enjoy it. I’m so sorry for all the pain I caused you.” She didn’t even dare to look at the other woman.
“I think you better come with me, then,” Miss Potts proposed. “There’s no need for this to happen where anyone could see you.”
Hesitatingly, Christine let herself be lead into the backstage area. She didn’t dare to speak until they were out of sight.
The first thing she noticed was that Agent Coulson, Colonel Rhodes, and Doctor Stark — who had been her Alexander for a while and yet had never been hers at all — had been deep in a conversation right up until Christine and Miss Potts entered.
“Pepper? Who is this and why is she here?” Colonel Rhodes questioned. Beside him, Agent Coulson looked equally puzzled.
But Dr. Stark recognized her.
“Christine? Maria?” he stuttered.
Christine nodded slowly.
Her identity seemed to dawn on Agent Coulson — he had to have been someone too and she had a sneaking suspicion she really didn't like, based on the way he was holding himself — but Colonel Rhodes still didn’t understand the situation.
“Alexander?” he questioned.
“Last time around, I ruined so much of not just my own life by cheating on Eliza. With Maria. And, full disclosure, Christine was the last person I slept with before Afghanistan. I regret it more than I can currently find words to express properly.”
Christine spoke up. “I wasn’t exactly guiltless either.”
Stark, however, shot her a look. “Your abusive husband pressured you into it. I had a choice to say no to this whole endeavor, but I didn’t. I should have said ‘no, thank you’ and helped you actually get a divorce — which I hear Burr did after he shot me. Good work. But I’m really glad that you were able to build a life for yourself this time around. I’ve read your articles, they’re good.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Rhodes questioned. “ Burr shot you?”
“Is that really the part you are focusing on?” Stark responded.
"Yeah. I mean, we've established polyamory and Pepper has neither strangled her nor used her weaponized stilettos, so I'm assuming the affair is dealt with. But Burr was your friend last time I checked."
"I knew that their friendship had ended, but I hadn't been aware it had escalated like this," Agent Coulson agreed.
Christine simply continued to stand there, completely flabbergasted as the three men continued to talk about Burr.
Eventually, Miss Potts chuckled next to her. “They’re always like that. And don’t worry, I have forgiven both you and Alexander.”
She had truly done the unimaginable. There was no way Christine would ever be able to thank her for that.