CH 37: A Dance
Once Regina stopped pretending to be asleep, Lex gathered the three new women into a single room to discuss anything and everything they might want, or even need, to know.
Gwen had changed into more casual clothing, wearing a simple shirt and skirt, while Regina was no longer walking around in nothing but a lab coat. Unfortunately, her replacement outfit could still be considered questionable by most reasonable standards. Grayfia, meanwhile, remained in her maid uniform, sitting with perfect posture as though she had been attending formal meetings her entire life.
"Well then, let's begin with the world itself. Cortana, could you show them the world and add in any information they'd need?" Lex said aloud.
A blue holographic woman immediately appeared in the middle of the room.
"The world, ladies, is the personification of every rumor, legend, and conspiracy theory becoming reality. Or at least that's what Lex believes. I am fortunately not prone to rumors, so let me instead ask you a question. What does not exist in this world?"
While Lex was expecting a surprise from the girls at the sudden reveal of Cortana, he was left disappointed as none of them gave any reaction.
Grayfia considered it for a moment.
"Aliens?" she asked, not because she believed the answer, but because she was trying to locate the limit of the world's absurdity.
"There was an alien invasion last year and there is evidence suggesting extraterrestrial visits occurred long before that incident."
Grayfia nodded thoughtfully.
"Then who governs the supernatural side of society?"
"No one."
"...No one?"
"No unified authority exists," Cortana replied. "There are governments, organizations, hidden societies, magical groups, alien civilizations, cults, corporations, enhanced individuals, and at least one Norse god currently wandering around Earth."
For the first time, even Grayfia looked mildly concerned.
"And the major supernatural factions?" she asked.
"We don't really know," Lex admitted before Cortana could answer. "That's actually one of the problems. We keep discovering new ones."
Before Grayfia could process that answer, Regina suddenly raised a hand.
"...Can I ask a question about yourself?"
"Go ahead."
"Do you have feelings? Can you feel things?"
"Well, I'm certainly feeling bored by that question, so apparently yes."
Regina immediately leaned forward.
"Hmm... I created a few artificial intelligences once. Well, technically for a guy who had a very interesting life. Tell me, would you like a body? You'd be able to taste food, smell things, touch things, experience physical sensations, interact with the world, have sex, and perhaps most importantly, have sex."
"Yes, you certainly have mentioned sex multiple times," Cortana replied. "However, it does appear to be a far higher priority for you than for me."
"That's because you've never tried it."
"An argument could also be made that you have tried it too much."
Gwen buried her face in one hand.
"Can we return to the alien invasion?" she asked before Regina could continue. "Who stopped it? Are we expecting more? What do we know about these aliens?"
Cortana immediately projected images and recordings from the Battle of New York.
"These are the Chitauri. They were led to Earth by Loki, Prince of Asgard. The invasion was stopped by the Avengers, a group of extraordinary individuals and two SHIELD agents."
The projection shifted to show various members of the Avengers.
"One of these extraordinary individuals is currently upstairs and also happens to be the would-have-been father of one of the other summons."
"And while there isn't much evidence," Lex added, "I'm pretty sure there'll be more invasions sooner rather than later."
"Can you elaborate on the father part?" Gwen asked.
"Well... Sharon is from an alternate timeline where she exists, but she doesn't exist here. So Steve Rogers from this timeline isn't technically her father, but he's also basically the same person as her father."
Grayfia and Regina exchanged equally confused looks.
Gwen simply nodded.
"That makes sense."
Lex blinked.
"You don't seem surprised by alternate timeline stuff."
"I've had my fair share of encounters with alternate versions of myself," Gwen replied casually.
The way she said it suggested this wasn't even remotely close to the strangest thing she'd experienced.
"Well... that sounds interesting."
"It was. Some of them were nicer than others."
Before Lex could ask further, a knock interrupted the conversation. Without waiting for permission, the door opened and Donna practically bounced into the room.
"Lex, Natasha is off to get her. Come on."
The excitement in Donna's voice immediately caught everyone's attention.
Even Gwen looked curious.
"Who's 'her'?" Regina asked.
"A surprise," Donna replied before immediately disappearing again.
Lex stood up.
"Well then, ladies, I suppose that's our cue. Let's stop the meeting for now. If you have questions, we're all around, so feel free to ask."
With that, he left.
The moment the door closed behind him, Regina looked toward the remaining women.
"Do you two realize he's sleeping with both of the women we've met so far?"
"Yes," Grayfia replied immediately.
Gwen frowned.
"No, we do not. What do you mean he's sleeping with both of them?"
Grayfia looked genuinely puzzled.
"You didn't notice?"
"No."
The confusion on Gwen's face only deepened.
"And I think you're overreacting. Why would he be sleeping with both of them? Do you think he's cheating on them with each other?"
"Of course not," Grayfia replied. "He's likely dating both of them."
"Exactly," Regina agreed. "Why would he cheat when he can simply have both?"
Gwen stared.
"Because that's not normal."
She paused.
"...Wait. Don't tell me that outside my world it's common for people to date multiple partners."
"Of course it is," Regina said.
"Among important individuals and most supernatural societies, it is generally accepted," Grayfia added.
Gwen immediately pointed at Cortana.
"No. I refuse to trust either of you. Cortana, is this actually normal here?"
"Yes. Lex Everhart is currently involved in romantic and sexual relationships with Sharon Rogers, Donna Troy, and Kara Zor-El."
Gwen froze.
"There are three?"
"Correct."
"Would you like supporting evidence?" Cortana asked helpfully.
"Oh, there's a third one too," Regina said with interest. "I would definitely like access to that evidence. Purely for research purposes, of course."
"Apologies. You do not possess the required permissions to access that footage."
Regina looked genuinely disappointed.
Meanwhile Gwen sat completely motionless for several seconds.
She had followed the discussion about alternate timelines without issue. Alien invasions made sense. Parallel worlds made sense. Somehow, this was the part she hadn't seen coming
Finally she stood up.
"Where are you going?" Regina asked.
Gwen slowly rubbed her temples.
"To reevaluate how normal people function in this dimension."
Then she walked out.
Meanwhile, in the living room, Lex had already set everything up. Everyone was gathered there, including a rather young-looking Peggy Carter whom Natasha had brought only moments ago. The entire thing had started three days earlier when Lex discovered that Sharon's would-have-been mother was actually still alive, merely burdened by old age rather than death. Of course, revealing that he possessed a method capable of reversing age was not something he wanted SHIELD—or anyone else—to know about, so he had been forced to construct a believable explanation. According to the story, the Hand had spent decades gathering magical energies and experimenting with regenerative rituals, eventually creating a unique rejuvenation elixir. With Raphael's assistance and enough magical jargon to make the story difficult to question, he had managed to create an explanation that sounded convincing enough. Since he wasn't actually resurrecting anyone, Lex wasn't particularly worried even if the truth came out years later. At the rate he was growing stronger, he doubted it would matter much in another year or two.
Meanwhile, Steve and Sharon were still in the kitchen finishing their conversation.
“Seriously, how can you not know how to cook?” Sharon asked while carrying a plate full of briskets toward the living room. “Here I was hoping I'd get to taste my dad's cooking again.”
“Come on,” Steve protested with a laugh. “I can cook. I just don't have the sort of experience I'd probably have if I'd actually gotten married.”
The response he expected never came. Sharon had suddenly stopped walking.
Confused, Steve followed her gaze toward the living room entrance and found himself freezing as well.
“Peggy...” The name escaped his lips before he even realized he had spoken.
Sharon remained silent. Unlike Steve, she understood almost immediately what had happened. This wasn't her mother. It couldn't be. It was a version of her mother from this world. A Peggy Carter who should have been elderly, frail, and struggling with fading memories according to everything Steve had told her only minutes earlier. Her eyes shifted toward Lex standing nearby with a suspiciously innocent expression, and understanding dawned almost instantly.
“Hello, Steve.”
Peggy raised a hand in greeting, a warm smile on her lips that felt strangely youthful, almost playful. For several seconds Steve simply stared at her. Not the elderly woman he had visited countless times. Not the woman sitting in a hospital bed struggling to remember yesterday. This was Peggy Carter. The Peggy Carter he remembered. The woman he had fallen in love with before crashing into the ice. The woman he had promised a dance and never returned to claim.
“You know,” Peggy said after a few moments, folding her arms as she examined him, “for someone who made me wait over seventy years, you don't seem particularly eager to say anything.”
The remark shattered the stunned silence immediately. Steve laughed, the sound surprising even himself.
“I had a speech prepared.”
“No, you didn't.”
“I absolutely did.”
Peggy raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“Then by all means.”
Steve opened his mouth, fully intending to prove her wrong, only for absolutely nothing to come out. Peggy's smile widened in victory while laughter spread throughout the room. Donna looked dangerously close to tears, Natasha appeared entirely too pleased with herself, and Kara looked as though she had just consumed an unhealthy amount of sugar.
“Oh come on,” Kara complained. “This is dangerous. Somebody's going to get diabetes.”
“Shut up,” Donna whispered while trying and failing to hide her watery eyes.
“I am serious. This is weaponized romance.”
Natasha ignored both of them. Her attention remained fixed on Steve. For perhaps the first time since she'd met him, Captain America looked completely lost and entirely happy about it.
Peggy eventually stepped forward and offered him her hand.
“Well?”
Steve blinked. “Well what?”
“You still owe me a dance.”
The room immediately fell quiet again.
Steve looked down at her hand and then back at her face. In that brief moment decades seemed to pass through his mind. The war. The crash. The ice. The years lost. The countless visits to a woman who no longer remembered him. Every regret, every what-if, every path life could have taken. Slowly, almost reverently, he accepted her hand.
“You still remember that?”
Peggy snorted.
“Steve, I waited over seventy years. I'm never letting you forget it.”
A soft laugh spread through the room as music began playing somewhere nearby. Nobody was entirely sure who had started it. Steve placed a hand at Peggy's waist while she rested hers against his shoulder, and together they began moving across the floor. Neither of them seemed particularly focused on the dance itself. They were far more interested in simply looking at each other. For the first time in decades there were no wars to fight, no missions to complete, no world-ending crises demanding their attention. The world could wait. Just this once.
Watching them, Sharon felt something tighten in her chest. For months she had carried memories that technically didn't belong to this reality. Memories of family dinners, birthdays, holidays and quiet evenings spent with parents who had never existed in this world. Yet standing there and watching Steve and Peggy together, she could suddenly see the life she remembered reflected in them. Not because they were her parents, but because they were still the same people underneath everything else.
Sometime during the reunion, Gwen had quietly entered the room and taken a place near the back. After observing the dancing couple for a while, she smiled faintly.
“What a romantic couple.”
“Too romantic,” Kara immediately corrected. “There should be laws against this.”
Donna ignored her completely.
“They're adorable.”
“They're elderly.”
“They're adorable elderly people.”
Eventually the song came to an end, although neither Steve nor Peggy looked particularly eager to let go of one another. Kara groaned dramatically.
“Please stop looking at each other like that.”
“No,” Peggy replied immediately.
“Peggy!”
“No.”
That only earned another round of laughter from everyone present.
As the mood settled into something warm and comfortable, Lex found his gaze drifting toward Sharon. She was smiling. Not the polite smile she used around strangers or the teasing smile she often directed at him. Just genuinely happy. Without giving himself time to overthink it, he stepped forward and offered her his hand.
“May I have this dance?”
Sharon glanced at the offered hand before looking up at him with an amused expression.
“Trying to compete with Captain America?”
“No,” Lex replied. “I'm trying to dance with another Captain America.”
“Smart answer.”
“Besides,” he added with a grin, “there's no need for competition when I've already got you.”
A small laugh escaped her before she finally accepted his hand. Unlike Steve and Peggy, there were no lost decades between them. No unfinished promises. No seventy-year wait. Just two people standing together on Christmas Eve while snow fell outside and the people they cared about filled the room around them. For Sharon, that was enough. For Lex, it was too. And as they stepped onto the floor together, neither of them particularly cared that everyone was watching.