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Honestly? Providence was... nice, nobody judged him, nobody stared at him in disgust and pity or screamed whenever he showed his face in public. Which sure, he didn’t really do often. And usually when he did he’d stick to the rooftops and preferred stayed in his mask just to be sure, at least it was like that for the first couple weeks. But mainly throughout his time on the island he just holed himself up in the apartment Cable gave him, binge watching Netflix or sleeping and generally being bored out of his mind, so of course his favourite pastime became annoying slash stalking Nate. To keep an eye on him and because Nate had a surprisingly funny dry sense of humor and Wade was determined to see it more. Nate… speaking of Nate. Wade had no idea what it was he felt for the guy. Like, they first met because Wade was hired to kill him. And the whole mess that followed that? Damn the 90’s were wild! And then the Façade Virus gig happened, Wade got swallowed and thrown up, then he backstabbed the X-Men ( still had no idea why he did that. And it wasn’t because he believed in Cable, he didn’t!!), then Nate got himself lobotomised and Wade paid money (his precious money!) and wrecked AIM to bring him back (and he was willing to pay more than he did in the end. Despite saying he was going to rob a bank he didn't, which Nate probably knew, jerk.)Hm, that summary'll do for now. So. What it was he felt for Nate? As hell if he knew.He felt admiration for Cable, sure. The mutant (ex-mutant?) certainly had balls of steel (hm, did he have them really? that'd explain things) and Wade could respect that, kinda. His sense of humor was decent when he showed it through his 'know it all' and 'Jesus Wanna-Be' act. Hell, the first time he actually saw it in a non-violent scenario Wade thought it was just his head being it's fucked up self (it was kinda getting worse lately, but that's a story for a different time) “You’re quiet.”Wade spun around from his sitting spot on the kitchen counter to look at Nate (looking like a mess, but still waaaay better than Wade did obviously) making a beeline towards the coffee machine.“Eugh,” he scrunched up his nose in pretend disgust, “At least put some sugar in that you heathen, and use a damn cup!” Wade cried out, gagging when Nate just grabbed the pot and drank directly from it. Although his amusement wasn’t exactly hidden.“Wade. I’ve seen you drink from a bottle of ketchup before.” Nate said with a small frown, still holding the whole goddamn pot like it was normal.“Yeah, but helloo I’m supposed to be the insane and immoral one between us two, Priscilla.” he pointed out, waving his finger accusingly in Nate’s direction.Cable rolled his eyes at the nickname and rather asked, “Why do you keep coming here? Providence doesn’t consist of only of my apartment.” “Yeah, it’s made with a whole lot of recycled trash. Why? Am I not welcomed in your humble abode?” Wade said with fake hurt, dramatically splaying his hand over his heart, “Geez Nate, after everything we’ve been through? After i’ve been inside of you? I’m not even welcomed in your home? You hurt me, Terminator. You should be grateful I’m christening your kitchens counter with my gorgeous and thick buttocks.”Nate snorted slightly, quickly covering it for a cough but Wade had caught it. Glee appeared on his masked face as he considered for a few seconds before saying loudly,
“Knock Knock,”
Cable arched an eyebrow, a look of mixed disbelief and annoyance appearing his face, “Really?”
“Knock Knock,” Wade repeated more insistently, kicking his feet off the counter like a child, and pouting like one too.
He heard a loud sigh of annoyance, silence until, “...Who’s there?”
Wades grin widened, “Dewey.”
“Dewey who?”“Dewey gotta use a condom every time?”
Cable stared at him with an unreadable expression. For a moment Wade thought the guy was just a lost cause, but then Nate loosely covered his face with his T.O. hand, shoulders shaking slightly.
Nate was laughing. Sure, barely a chuckle. But Nate!
Bingo! Wade felt something weird and tingly in his chest but didn’t pay it much mind, grinning victoriously as he brought out his consulted his internal book of horrible jokes and started reciting from it. Barely breathing in between them, and after a bit he started throwing in a few cheesy pick up lines, for flavour and because why the hell not? Just for fun. Wasn't like he actually felt anything. That'd be weird. Sure that didn’t really explain to him why he felt his heart speed up a notch when Nate uncovered his face, (he was chortling!), giving him an odd look and visibly trying to fight a smile and was losing . But Wade was a weird guy.
Who the hell gave the man the rights to be that adorable? He’s freaking Cable . Cable shouldn’t be adorable, not that he was. Saying that would imply Wade thought that Nate was adorable, at least when the guy loosened up a bit, which he didn’t. No way nope. But who would’ve thought the goddamn Saviour was a pun lover?
Eventually Irene barged in, probably to investigate the loud cackling noises that came from Wade after Nate made his first joke since he entered the room that kinda sounded like a dying man. Wade just laughed even harder when he saw Irene’s livid expression when she realised that it jus was him. Nate shook his head disapprovingly, but he still had a small smile, lips quirked up on the corners of his mouth. Very nice lips.
“Get out of here Deadpool.” Irene scolded snapping out of it and snapping Wade out of what would probably would've been a dangerous train of thought, “Cable needs rest! Not whatever idiotic- mess you’re up to!”
Wade raised his hands in mock surrender, “Alright, alright! You caught me red handed, I deserve to go to jail for this crime! You’re right, of course, not letting gramps here get his hourly naps is truly a crime against humanity and G-man himself, it's blasphemy! And we wouldn’t want to anger the big guys.” he said sagely, nodding.Nate snorted again, still not fully recovered from DeadPun O’clock, earning him judging raised eyebrows from Irene. Wade winked at them both and finally got off the counter, stretching his arms for no reason whatsoever.
“Just one more though. Knock Knock,”
Irene scowled but Nate humored him, “Who’s there?”, his ‘stoic I’m a manly man totally wasn’t just laughing at dick jokes like 20 seconds ago nope I’m a Jesus-Wannabe soldier through and through’ face and voice was back which was a pity but whatever.“Robin”
“Robin who?”
“Robin you,” Wade answered with a grin, snatching a weird computer techy looking gizmo that was just lying on the table and bolted towards the open door. Cackling even louder than he did before when he heard Irene yell out in outrage.He looked over his shoulder before he was fully out of the room, catching Irene’s furious glare. Nate had that tingly-inducing smile again and a weird expression. As Wade wondered what that expression meant he tripped and went momentarily airborne, crashing painfully against a wall with a loud thud.“Wade?”He groaned in response, “Ow. My pride.” he whined complained, frowning at Nate who walked over and took back the weird device whateveritwasWadesnagged and offered his hand.Accepting it for support Wade grinned, “Sorry Sxldier, tried to fly but I failed to miss the ground. Couldn’t've hurt more than when you fell from heaven though.”
“That would make me a devil, Wade.”
Wade snorted at that. Hell, figuring shit out is boring. Anyway, playing the part of the idiot and fool has always been more fun.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Y’know.” Wade abruptly interrupted the peaceful silence, talking in casual tone of voice as he mindlessly stroked the techno organic arm draped over him, “Don't think I'm capable of ever getting used to this”“Mhm?” a sleepy rumble that made him feel all light and nice and tingly inside replied from behind him.“This! This whole… gooey happy feeling!” he gestured with his hand in the air, “Makes me feel all… human or some cheesy crap like that.” Wade finished with a frown.Nate made a tired noise, lifting his arm a bit so Wade could roll over and cuddle closer to him and bury his face against Nate’s bare chest. Their previous silence returning until Wade’s muffled voice said as matter-of-fact, “You're freaking terrifying , Nate. Y’know that?”“Is that so?” Nate raised an eyebrow slightly, eyes not completely open and voice soft.“You and your sexy body and sexy voice.”“Not as sexy as yours.” Nate countered with a murmur.Wade snorted, quiet for a bit before continuing in an usually vulnerable tone that woke Nate up.
Wade didn’t like showing vulnerability, he thought it was weak. Always covering his true feelings with a smile, snark, babbling and references, constantly going from topic to topic in the whirlwind that was his mind to avoid the truth, and he was good at it. Nate wished he could read him better, even without his telepathy the mercenaries healing factor prevented him from doing so.
Although he suspected that not even Wade understood what his real feelings were at given times.
“You make me wanna be good enough for you.” Wade mumbled, “Which is a really damn high standard i know, and one i usually wouldn’t bother even trying with because I couldn’t give less of a shit. But… But you do. For Bea knows why. And that, frankly, is really fucking terrifying.”He paused, waiting to see if Nate wanted to say something, and when he didn’t Wade added barely over a whisper, “I don’t remember anyone else with that sort’ve… power over me, I mean. Sure, Captain America’s always been my childhood hero, I’d probably follow him off a cliff. But you ? Fuck, Nate… I really like… being with you. So of course, it’s only a matter of time before i fuck up, but like hey milk the moments for it’s worth right? Only a matter of time before I do something that’ll ruin everything but like whatever.”
Nathan pressed his lips gently against Wade’s head, stroking the mercenary’s back soothingly. He could feel Wade trembling. The shorter man refused to look at him, keeping his face buried against his chest.“You're already more than ‘good enough’, Wade.” Nate said firmly, “You're you , you're trying, and that already is enough. It’s all I could ever want. And maybe you’ll fuck up, maybe I will. But if something does happen it won’t be the end of the world, we'll figure things out.”Wade let out a small, slightly shaky laugh and finally looked up at Nate's face. There was a certain tenderness in Wades eyes, a silent thank you in the midst of something else Nate wasn’t sure he should label.
It lasted for only a few seconds before he wiggled his hairless eyebrows while taking on an exaggerated sultry purr, “You sure that's all you want from me big boy?”It was Nate’s turn to laugh, giving him that soft smile that made Wades insides feel all fuzzy and warm and made him want to kiss the big dork and— oh, they were doing just that now. Nice.It was terrifying , sure, but maybe. Just maybe, he could get used to it. Goddamnit, hope was terrifying. “You aren't the only one who's scared.”
Wade raised a bald eyebrow, turning his head towards the glass doors. He was in civvies, maskless. “Sphincter says whaat?”Nate joined him out on the balcony, leaning against the railing next to him.“You aren't the only one scared.” he repeated, looking down at the citizens of Providence going about their day below them.“Listen, I'm 100% positive it's perfectly normal to scream loudly enough to put an opera singer to shame during Rubber,” Wade put a hand over his heart in mock hurt, pointing with his other accusingly at Nate, “I mean, just cus you always know when all the jumpscares happen thanks to your instant spoiler receiving brain and know-it-all complex-”“I was referring to earlier,” Nate cut in smoothly before Wade could work himself into a rant about exactly why Rubber alongside the other ‘scary’ movies they’d watched together prior were horrifying.“Oh.” Wade stare went to the ground for a second then shrugged with an awkward attempt at a smile, “Well. I'm Canadian. You should’ve expected that once you drilled through my hard maple exterior you’d also get to drown in all my sappiness, that one’s on you Nate.”
Nate smiled but kept on topic, “It’s alarming for me because… you’re different. I could never read you through my usual means, and you… make me feel alive .”
At Wade’s confused look he exhaled and looked back down at the people below him. Many of them were normal, many of them couldn’t even dream of the life he’s been through much less had experienced something even near similar. They were simple to understand, especially when he had his telepathy. Many of them had simple lives.
Nate… almost envied them if he were honest, he was grateful to have a chance to do good, to change the world with his powers and experience. But he had wondered what it would’ve been like to grow up normally, without war, without the T.O. virus eating away at him. To grow up with his family and friends. Those sort of thoughts were rare now, Nate made sure of it, but there were his moments.“My life has never been simple. It’s… easy to get caught up in things. I always have to be careful to not get a ‘god complex’ as Irene put it, I’m always planning 10 steps ahead of everyone else, I have to make sure everything is going as it should.”Wade laughed, “Saving the world ain't exactly a run through the park. More like some crazy ass parkour obstacle course completed with lava, swinging axes from the ceiling and saws poking in and out from the ground with maybe some nintendo esc running on top of a ball thrown in the mix and spinning blades of doom.”“Which is my I am truly thankful you're here with me for it.”
Wade looked away, fidgeting with his clothes, “Well. I don’t die. Someone’s gotta keep an eye on you, or else you’d overwork yourself to death and then I’ll be pissed off if you do cus I wanna be with her and you're really boring when you're all work which is a damn shame cus you do know how to not be a boring old man even if nobody would believe me if i told them about it.”Nate tilted his head down in agreement and continued, “You remind me that I am… human.” he said with some difficulty, “Despite everything about you, you ground me. Being around you is,”
He considered for a moment, “...Freeing. You don’t have the same responsibilities as I do, and the way you make me feel. Your body. Your voice. Your actions… I shouldn’t find them as attractive as I do. Shouldn’t want to have a taste of it as well.” he smiled wryly, “Truly terrifying.”Wade studied him, his expression blank. He was quiet, quiet long enough to make Nate feel uncomfortable before he blinked and whistled slowly. “ Damn . You sure you aren't secretly Canadian as well or something cus you, sir. Are also a huge freaking sap.” He tapped his chin, “Huh… Cyke and Wolvie did seem awfully close last I checked… But you are definitely sturdy enough to be a tree to climb.”
“You climb trees?” Nate inquired, ignoring the comment about his dad and Logan.
“Only every single one of them, especially this one!”Nathan let out an amused and exasperate huff when Wade suddenly leaped onto Nate, wrapping both his arms and legs around him and clung tightly like some sort of koala. Nate, to his credit, didn’t even stumble. Using his own arms to help Wade from sliding off.“Definitely the most comfortable tree I've ever climbed.” Wade announced sagely with a nod of his head.Nate rolled his eyes, shaking his head, “You act like a child.”“Yeah, but you love me anyway don’t you?” Wade smirked before he could think better about it.He didn’t get an answer, but judging from the way Nate cupped his chin and kissed him in front of the whole damn island Wade got a feeling he already understood what it was.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Okay. Okay! So! Admittedly, maybe it wasn't the best idea to start a food fight in the public cafeteria/mess hall/building place/whatever-you-want-to-call-it with probably around a hundred younger beings with pent up energy inside. It was just a little fight! It’s not like anyone got hurt.
(Well. Sides some people who were hit by some idiots throwing apples and grapefruits, like ow much? What were they thinking? They really couldn’t put the blame on him for that)
And it really did seem like a good idea at the time! Like, come on. Providence is nice and all but sometimes it just gets reaaally boring and Wade was positive he wasn’t the only one who felt that way, probably.
So. Zero regrets! Not a SINGLE one! He was completely shameless!
It started off as a normal day, (as normal as Deadpool gets at least, Nate might of did some magic jumbo on his mind but that didn’t make him any less of an idiot or saner)The whole happy hippie vibe that Providence gave off kinda made him sick still, but it wasn't the worst thing he’s ever dealt with. Just he still had some getting used to that’s all, (doubtful but a guy can dream!)And as usual Wade preferred moving around the island via rooftops rather than the streets. He scaled and jumped from building to building, performing various acrobatics simply because he could and because he had to do something to entertain himself when violence against the hippies was frowned upon by his good ol buddy Nate. Plus, it wasn’t like if he slammed his face against a wall or broke his legs and arms it would did any real damage. And occasionally some random person would even cheer or clap at his act, to which he would sometimes wave and bow theatrically. Even if he found it really fucking weird and unusual.Sure. It was… nice . But still hella weird.
So yes that was how the day started, nothing too out of the unordinary out of his days on Providence. Wade had completed a lap around the island without touching the ground once (because some kid yelled the floor was lava so of course it was lava) before he decided to take a food break because while he didn’t necessarily need food, (thanks to the healing factor and all that that left him in another eternal loop of not hungry at all and starving which like most other things he learnt to ignore with time), didn’t mean he didn’t like eating. Loved it even, and he was getting bored of running about, might as well take some time to enjoy all the cuisines and delicacies and apparently healthy ‘fast’ food the island had to offer.And you bet your ass there was plenty to choose from! It's the one of the few thing he had absolutely no complaints about. There were several different joints and international restaurants all over Providence (he counted them all at one point, but he forgot. Typical. When he wanted random information he couldn’t remember it at all) and of course, the communal mess halls or whatever their name was.Usually he'd just bee line straight to the best mexican place that the island had to offer (he could never get over the fact that everything was free, (although Nate did ask him not to eat up the islands supply to which he generously promised not to, albeit not without at least some protest. Nate had that somewhat tired and warm amused look he was having around Wade more often lately during that conversation, which totally wasn’t why he agreed. Totally not)
But anyway, today he was feeling good. And good days mean either trying new things or blowing stuff up! And Nate probably wouldn't approve of Wade throwing some ‘nades around his wanna-be paradise granola eating island so, something new it was.And that was how a couple of minutes later Wade was standing inside the mess hall, trying not to look as awkward as he totally didn’t feel. For once he wasn’t in his Deadpool garb, opting instead for civvies. Shirt, jeans, jacket with a Deadpool logo because why not mess with good merch, and his hood over a baseball cap with the brim pulled as down as he could without being completely blinded. Not because he was self conscious but because he’d rather not make everyone in there puke up their meal.
He didn't really get community mess. Like. You’re trying to eat something and then some stranger next to you just starts jabbering about the meaning of life or some hippie bullshit like that. Like, hello just eat your damn tofu Susan. He didn’t really remember much but back when he was in military the few times there was something like communal eating it was just a bunch of guys arm wrestling, yelling or talking about women pervertedly and degradingly (which resulted in stabbing sometimes), with the occasional depressing i miss my family routine thrown into the mix.
Wade wasn’t too sure what he was expecting out of Providence’s mess hall. But, and he would never admit it outloud, despite the discomfort that came from being maskless it was actually kinda… nice. When he first walked in he felt awfully self conscious for a guy who killed on the reg, for someone who was Deadpool. He kept expecting something to happen, somebody to yell or scream or something but it never came. He simply just grabbed his tray piled it high with food and found an empty spot and sat down, nobody threw up yet, which was weird.
(Seemed like this time of the day had a lot of families or least a lot of kids and teens, so definitely no explosions now. Pity.)
Feeling awkward and hating it Wade launched himself into a long rant about the first thing that came to mind, bringing some questioning looks to him. About time... B ut rather then being told to shut up the dude sitting next to him started arguing back good naturally to one of the rants, and they ended up talking. The guy followed his train of thoughts without questions and provided, and when Wade made a joke he and the other people nearby laughed . It was....
It was... really nice. (he definitely won’t ever tell Nate about this)And as it usually does while part of his mind carried on the conversation (which was turning into a passionate discussion about the Hunger Games) the rest wandered towards different things.Wade was thinking about what a chimichanga wrapped inside another burrito, that was then deep fried, that was then wrapped inside another burrito, that was then baked in an oven would taste like when he spotted a baby a couple of tables away throwing baby mush back at a tired woman who was trying to feed them. A mischievous grin splitting across his face as the sight sparked an idea in his mind.
Abruptly cutting off the conversation he grabbed a handful of mashed potatoes and jumped onto the table.
“VIVA LA REVOLUTION!” Only a couple of minutes (but it actually felt much longer) had passed when Wade was rudely interrupted from his real life fruit ninja impression. Knives tugged forcefully out of his hands he let out a surprised yelp and a few ‘curses’ (and yes he was censoring himself because not the children! ) before realising what was going on. He was suspended upside down and encased in a suspiciously familiar blue glow.Twisting as much as he could in his position he found himself facing face to face with none other than the vaguely amused but mainly exasperate face of Nathan Terminator Dayspring Askani’son Winter Soldier Summers.“Naaate!” Wade exclaimed loudly over the chaos in the room, “How's everyone's favourite wanna-be Jesus messiah fella doing? I gotta inform you man TK fake or not is completely cheating! This is a food fight of honor Nate! That gravimetric thingy is so not fair for us normies! So turn that thing off and get your ass, and mine thank you very much, back down to the ground a p-r-r-r-ronto!” he complained, even if he was grinning like a fool, which he was (and proud!).Nathan let out a bleeded sigh, rubbing his face with his hand as he lowered them both onto the ground, letting Wade go. “Wade… this is your fault. Isn't it?”
He said gesturing towards the ongoing mess and several edibles being thrown around, apparently even the arrival and presence of the Saviour wasn’t enough to calm down the wild hearts of the kid’s and teen’s engaged in food war.At Wade’s sheepish (but completely unregretful!) grin, Cable rolled his eyes before closing them and massaged his face again (also to hide the smile threatening its way onto his face)“Of course it was. Wade. I understand you can get bored but you can't do things like this, it makes messes and someone could get hurt- ” he was interrupted when a handful of jello was thrown not so gently at his face out of the blue. Causing him to sputter surprised.Wiping the red gelatine off with the back of his hand he glared at Wade. The mercenary holding more jello in his bare hands with a playful smirk. Well, that was what he deserved! Trying to be the no-fun police!“I think the only thing that's gonna get hurt round here is your pride , c'moon Nate! Join in! Have a lil fun for once in your life! What? Ya chicken?” Wade said cheerfully, grabbing a nearby drumstick from an abandoned tray with his other hand and taking a big bite out of it, “You afraid I'm waaay better than you at the art of the war of food and that I'll whoop your ass for the whole island to see old man?” he taunted, tossing the rest of the chicken leg at Nate's face.
Cable caught it reflexively, pausing. He really shouldn't . He knew exactly why he shouldn’t, there were several reasons why he should just immobilise and gag Wade so he could bring order to the situation around him before things got even more out of control. But. Then again... Nathan thought, looking up at Wades shit eating grin. The mercenary kept taunting him, making jokes, trying to provoke him. (Wade looked for once legitimately happy)He felt a small, hesitant, smirk of his own lift the corners of lips that got a nervous laugh from Wade.
“Let's see about all that. Shall we?”
“Uh oh,” The scarred man let out a small (but manly!) eep at seeing Nate’s face, which promised unforgiving and brutal revenge, throwing the rest of the jello in his hand at the mutant, he turned and leaped over the table behind him and bolted. His laughter loud and proud.
How could Nate not follow?
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Wade inhaled sharply, trying to get a hold on of his nerves.It's not like he had anything really to be nervous about, really! It's just a date.Nothing to worry about! He's Deadpool after all! He's been through way more dangerous and scary things then a simple date. Several things, and he's died more times than he could count, speaking of dying, all his dates with Death had gone well. Besides the whole speed aspect of it.So, yep. Nothing to be nervous or worried about. Nothing at all.It's just a date.In public.In a fancy restaurant.In freaking Paris.As himself.With Nate.God. Nate. He was da- in a relationship with Nate. Cable. Nathan. freaking. Summers. the world wanna be Saviour and occasional pain in the ass and all around man he admired and probably would and had followed off a cliff.Who told him a few days ago that they should go on a 'proper' date, just out of the blue as Wade was lounging in his office, being a nuisance as he does.Well, it certainly did shut him up at the time.And no he did not splutter or stammer or fall down from his perch on Nate's desk no matter what the man or his smug smile and stupidly fond eyes may say.
The floor had just been more comfortable. That's all.
Sure. They'd been… together? For a couple weeks, but there hadn't really been any... labels? It just kind of happened, and when it did happen Wade almost blew out his brains because he couldn't believe it. But Nate wrecked the gun before he could.Well, whatever it was they had. Their relationship wasn't entirely hidden or secret, but it hadn't been broadcasted for the world to know either. Hell, Wade knew it should be hidden, as much as he disliked being the dirty secret he knew it'd be for the best for Nate. The Saviour dating Deadpool doesn't exactly look good on Nate's resume.
He looked at his reflection in the mirror, staring at the black tie with a red Deadpool symbol on it in his hands.Fucking- Stupid ties. Dammit, he should've just got clip-on's. Or a bowtie.Hell, dresses with shit tons of straps, laces fishnets and heels were simpler. And he did own a few stuff like that back in his apartment, even if he’d never wore them out. The mere thought of going out with his legs and arms in the open still left him feeling uncomfortable and more self conscious then he’d admit or like. Sure, it wasn’t as bad as it once was, since Providence and Nate and all of that he’s slowly been growing more and more okay with showing off his skin (getting comfortable or stop caring?) but still. It wasn't exactly pleasant for anyone involved.Nate didn't mind, even at the beginning he'd only ever comment on his stupidity or lack of filter. Nate, the same guy who in less than half an hour he was going to go out with for dinner.Fuck! It really shouldn't be as hard as it was! Tying the tie and the prospect of a date! Bea sake, he's Deadpool!Okay. Maybe the tie thing was because he saw a weird and overly complicated looking tie online and went 'I want that'. For the other one, seriously. He was Deadpool. He's been through way worse shit so why was he nervous now? He shouldn't be.Yet- And yet.Jesus Christ he was terrified that he'd mess up, hell. He'd be more shocked if he didn't mess something up. This was their first actual date in public, it'd be a miracle if he didn't fuck up in some tremendous way or for something to go wrong because since when the universe let Deadpool be happy?Then again. Then again, Nate sticking with him was crazy. Nate made him happy. Sure, he could be infuriating. But so could Wade, hell. Wade was a lot more annoying and infuriating. But just by doing that, just by sticking with him and giving him so many chances it was like Nate was saying fuck you to the universe. And Nate was a pro at saying silent fuck you's.Wade shook his head with a small laugh. When he looked up to check his reflection he was mildly surprised to see he was smiling. A soft smile that felt alien on him especially now that he saw it, it quickly faded but it still left him with mixed feelings.“You're really in love with the guy aren't you?” he muttered to himself, finishing the last steps of the tie. It wasn't good, far from it. But to hell with it!
Looking at the clock he still had a few minutes before… well. Nate hadn't really specified, just gave him a cryptid description. He figured they'd bodyslide directly there or something like that. Thinking about which type of cryptid Nate would be if he were a legitimate one he double checked his outfit in the mirror again; three piece suit with black waistcoat, suit, tie and red dress shirt as well as gloves. Definitely more fancy than anything he'd usually bother with or was used to outside of a recap page, but all things considered (his face) not half bad.Hm. Could use some more pouches tough.Besides that unfortunate lacking, everything was in order. Except, well.
His gaze went towards the mask lying on the floor and back towards his scarred face. He had suggested using an image inducer, which would’ve probably been for the best, but Nate shut down that idea before Wade could even build on it.Pity, it would’ve been hilarious to see tabloids talking about how The Saviours dating John Wick or Ryan Reynolds or something like that.
Before he could think about he snatched the mask and pulled it on firmly, tucking the flaps under the collar of his dress shirt. Looking at the mirror again he couldn’t see a single patch of his skin exposed. Thank Bea. Nate might've never said anything or judged him and he might've had the guts to call him beautiful (Wade laughed his ass off at that one), but still. Still.
The mask helped him take his mind off anxiety, to help that, (not! That he was anxious. Or nervous. Nope. Of course not. How dare you suggest such a thing), and also to past the last couple of minutes Wade blasted Queen at full volume on his phone, singing (badly) loudly along with the lyrics which of course he's memorized.
In retrospect, maybe it wasn't the best idea. Seeing that he had no idea when someone knocked on and then opened his door until he did a fancy spin and caught a bit of familiar white hair out of the corner of his vision causing him to trip from surprise. Bracing for impact he tensed up, only the impact never arrived. Instead, he was suspended inches away from the floor encased in a blue glow.Twisting around as much as he could in his compromising position he looked up to see Nate with a small, amused smile on his face. He was also wearing a suit that looked very nice on him Wade definitely approved, 10/10.“Naaate! How gentlemanly of you to sweep me off my feet. Didn’t hear you coming, hoow long have you been standing there?”“For most of Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy.” Nate answered, offering his hand.Wade nodded, “Truly a classic.” Wade accepted it and bounced back onto his feet, "We should totally find one of those karaoke rooms, I don't think I've ever heard you sing and that is a crime which we totally need to change as soon as possible.""I think I'll have to pass that one." his smile faded slightly, looking at him.When he still said nothing Wade arched an eyebrow enough for it to be visible, "Is it the tie? Listen, when they say 15 steps they are so lying, completely not my fault for their false advertising."Nate faintly smiled again and shook his head, his hand going towards his face, pausing midair when Wade flinched away, "Wade..." he murmured softly.Unsure what to say exactly Wade just shrugged, “Figured it’d be better for all parties involved, no one’s gonna be happy that you’re uh... With? Deadpool." shit. His voice was way too awkward, taking on a more cheerful tone he kept talking, "So! Might as well wear the mask so it’s just Deadpool and not Deadpool and some gross mouldy deformed avocado. See, people think it's bad and they think they're prepared for it but then they actually see it and oh booy is it waay worse then they initially thought it'd be.”
"You know I don't care about things like that, you don't have to wear the mask." The asshole was being genuine as well. Dammit, he didn't actually want to wear the mask that much, but of course he had to.“Well... well! You really should care.” Amazing argument there, totally convincing. Idiot.Despite knowing fully well that he should do something about it, he didn't stop Nate when the man started to slowly lift his mask up, giving him plenty time to react if he wanted to. When Wade didn't move or say anything Nate pulled it off completely and discarded it to the side. Staring at him intently.Wade crossed his arms, glaring back as if daring him to say something. He knew Nate wouldn't, Nate would never. But he couldn't help himself from bracing for the worst, too used to disappointment, to being hurt.Eventually Nate broke the tense silence with a warm smile that made something in his chest swell, "That's better."He snorted, he couldn't help it. Asshole was probably being honest as well. "Yeah yeah, whatever." he muttered, rolling his eyes even as the tension left his shoulders. Dammit, he couldn't help but be comforted by Nate. Especially when he put a large hand (like seriously, his hands were freaking huge) on his shoulder. Taking comfort in the physical contact a tentative grin spread across his face, lightly punching the techno organic arm. "So, Priscilla, are we seriously going to go to France? You're gonna take me on a freaking Parisian date? Cliche much?""Is... that bad?" Nate asked cautiously, a small frown on his face that really shouldn't of been as endearing as it was. Noot that Wade would ever tell him that. Instead he rolled his eyes again."Of course not! Lets just avoid the One world church thing, sure it's not in Paris but it's a small world after all!"Nate nodded, that small smile that Wade may or may not adore back. "Agreed, are you ready?"Wade glanced towards the mask again, maybe for a second too long, before nodding, "I got a fancy ass suit for this, the only way I'm gonna be more ready is if I got flowers chocolate hearts and a pink yellow and blue pop ring." Who knows, it might actually be fun. Maybe nothing will go wrong and they'll have a great time and show off their colours shamelessly and with pride. Oh, Wade was definitely going to bodyslide them to the top of the Effiel Tower later.Fuck. Nate's whole 'hope' shtick was infecting him.
"Bodyslide by two"
Although, maybe that's not so bad after all.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Wade hugged her tight, patting her head once before letting her go. “Have a good time out there and remember to call me or the Preston's if anything goes wrong alright? Or if you're just not feeling it any reasons is valid kiddo we will be there in a flash, try not to do anything that I would
definitely
do but Presbot wouldn't approve of alright?”
Ellie nodded, a bright grin on her face, “Yeah, I'll do my best!”
“Daad! I'll be okay! Seriously!” Hope whined up at Nathan from near them, “It’s just three days! Seriously! I can take care of myself!”
Ellie bounced over next to her in a few skips and linked their arms, “It's okay Mr. Cable!”, Wade snorted at the nickname, “Me and Hope are gonna stick together! We can kick anyone’s ass!”
Wade grinned proudly, ruffling his daughters curly hair and lightly punching Nate on the arm, “It's only three days
Cable
, have some faith in them! Plus, they’ve got
magic
on their side.” he winked at the duo, doing a small sleight of hand to reveal a 20$ bill before putting it in Ellies hands, “As much as I approve of you practicing magic by trying to steal stuff from shelves, sometimes it ain’t worth the risk. Buy all the ice cream you can with 20 bucks and don’t share it with no one.”
He smirked at Nate’s disapproving look, Ellie thanked Wade before she looked towards Hope and stage whispered, “Wade’s been fussing about the trip nonstop since it was announced, and that was
months
ago. He’s constantly worried about it with Ms. Preston.”
“
Ouch
.” Wade splayed a hand over his heart, looking in mock betrayal at Eleanor as they giggled, “Traitor! Can’t believe I got backstabbed by my own
kid
!”
He stumble around a bit before pretending to faint in Nates direction. Nate grabbed him instinctively before he could reach the ground, but at the shit eating grin and the playful wiggle of his eyebrows that Wade gave him he dropped him and let the man fall onto the grass with a soft thud surprising a yelp out of him.
Wade didn’t bother getting up and remained lying down on the ground, draping an arm over his eyes and exclaimed loudly in a dramatic tone, “Is there no one whom I can trust in this world is there?”
“
Da-ad
.” Hope chastised with a small frown. Nate tried, and failed, to fight a smile, Ellie snickered which earned her a childish pout from Wade still on the ground.
“That sells it. Can’t trust no one sides Hope in this cruel and cold world of indifference.” he sniffed loudly, “I’ll have to take her under my wing and teach her how to cut people in half and keep fire in her pockets so she can carry on my legacy on being a kicka- kickbutt cool and awesome guy.”
“You’re not cool, Mister Wilson.” Hope deadpanned in a way only a Summers could.
“Ow
okay
, yeah don’t mind that! That was just the sound of the last of my dignity and pride being killed in cold blood by a kid!” he started singing softly,
“All around me are familiar faces, worn out places, worn out faces
,”
“Stop overreacting.” Nate rolled his eyes and went to help him up, pushing the magician off when he attempted to cling onto him. “Swear to god most of the time you’re more of a kid than they are.” he scowled, even as the corner of his mouth twitched up again in amusement.
“There are
so
many jokes and things I could say to that if there weren’t so many young and innocent ears around that could hear me.” Wade said with a bright and shameless laugh before turning to give his daughter another quick hug.
“Okay, okay. I think us oldies have bothered you enough because apparently we aren’t
cool”
he gave a pointed look at Hope who smiled back innocently, “Enough for you younglings, but yes anyway you guys go on ahead. Text us or whatever and see you in three days kiddo. Don’t get caught doing anything you shouldn’t!”
Both Ellie and Hope nodded and promised they wouldn’t, calling out various goodbyes as they ran towards the parked bus.
After the bus left Nate glanced at Wade with an arched eyebrow, “You seriously taught your kid how to pickpocket?”
Wade shrugged, “She’s constantly asking me to teach her stuff. I’m really not best to be a teacher though. Hell, most days I still can’t believe I’m a dad.” he said incredulously, still looking in the direction the bus took off. “Plus, she has amazing puppy eyes and I can’t make myself say no without feeling like I’ve committed some huge crime against humanity.”He chuckled softly but muttered in a more serious tone, “You should still learn to say no now and then. Your field of work isn’t exactly the most child safety friendly, plus.” he added in a more humorous voice, “I’m pretty sure your kid’s been trying to teach mine some tricks.”“Yeah yeah Mister Stick-Up-My-Ass calm your tits, you’re as bad as Presbot.” Wade rolled his eyes but his voice held no malice. Then he smirked evilly and teased, nudging his elbow against Nate, “I am so gonna teach Ellie and Hope everything I know and give them the sol mission to make your life as difficult as possible. I am going to make myself a cult entirely out of tiny followers and send them after you, you’re gonna be powerless against our attacks and you won’t even see it coming!” Nate let out a bleeded sigh but not without a hint of fondness in the mix, “Jesus you are a kid.” “Aw c’mon you know you love me.” Nate crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, but Wade took the silence and past experiences as a yes and grinned wide.“Speaking of! Three days without tiny humans ready to walk in at any waking and sleeping moment of our lives, this is gonna be great!”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
He was floating telekinetically through the sky above the archipelago of Providence. It was a beautiful day. But, then again, it’s been nothing but beautiful days since he’d successfully saved the world from itself. Nate lowered himself down onto the smallest, and quietest, of the islands. Ever since he’d completed his goal he moved away from the main island to here for various reasons, mainly to have a bit more peace than he would staying in his previous apartment near his office.After so long, he could finally rest. There were no more war for him to fight. “Nathan!”He turned to see Cyclops jogging towards at him, leaving the group of mutants he was talking to. “Dad,” “It’s good to see you.” he sounded honest.“Likewise.” For a moment neither of them said anything, up until Scott glanced back towards the group, clearing his throat for a moment before speaking, “You gave them a safe place to live… to be themselves. You did good, son. I’m proud of what you’ve accomplished. Believe me.”“I… thank you, Scott.”Someone from the earlier group of mutants called out Cyclops name, Scott frowned slightly and let out a silent sigh, “Sorry-” “It’s okay, I’ll talk to you later.” Nate assured him. And he would, he could . They finally had the chance now, they could take it slow and make up for lost time at their own pace. Nate continued his walk as Scott ran back to the group. Taking the moment to do what he’d never had a chance to do, enjoy existing. No threats or problems looming over him, the weight on his shoulders lessened. Nearing the door of his apartment he heard laughter coming from inside. Unconcerned he opened it and was greeted with the sight of two familiar faces sitting on his counter, laughing. Domino was the first to spot him, her laughter stopped and she greeted him with a smirk, “Nathan. Good of you to drop by.” “This is my apartment.” he replied dryly, although not without a smile of his own. “Nate! You’re here!!”He barely had any time to brace himself against the sudden tackle hug. Wade, maskless and in a white shirt he likely stole from his drawers and shorts, looked up at him with a bright smile. “Nate Nate Natey, you gotta settle the age old debate, pineapple and skittles on pizza yes or no come on.” “That’s just wrong . Seriously Nathan, couldn’t you’ve fixed his tastes as well as his mind?” Neena shook her head, wrinkling her nose.Wade cackled evilly, separating himself from Cable to gesture dramatically with his hands and body, “C’mooon, you say that just cus you haven’t tried it yet! Hey Dom, Nate lets all try it later! Providence is for free speech and food and I shall defend my various pizza toppings to the death!”“I don’t think I’m in the position to settle this argument.” Nate said dryly, although still smiling. There wasn’t a single dull moment in his life even now that most of his missions were complete, and it was in large thanks to Wade. Even now that the man was sane, he could still bring light and life in any room he walked into, it was amazing.“Sure you are! You’re in the position to settle a lot of things, just like you are in making certain other things rise.” Wade wiggled his bald eyebrows, a shit eating grin spreading on his face when Neena mimicked a gag. Cable laughed, (why shouldn’t he?) causing the former mercenary to smile wider.Domino rolled her eyes at the two and slid off the counter, “Well, kids, I’ve got a massage appointment in ten. Nate, see you for lunch later?” “Of course.” Nate confirmed, Wade clinged onto him and smirked towards Neena, “See ya later mom, I am so gonna ambush you two with pizza.”Neena groaned, “God no. I’m going before you can ruin pizza for me even more , Wade. You two lovebirds at least try and respect the neighbors. They don’t have my luck.” she called over her shoulder as she walked out the door, closing it behind her. What? Wade cackled evilly, saying a quick bye-bye to Domino before looking back at the taller man. Nudging his elbow against Nate's shoulder he wiggled his eyebrows again, “You think we should listen to her?”A playful smirk spread on Nate’s face, “You couldn’t be quiet even if you tried, not to mention you never shut up. Especially not with me.”“C’moon Priscilla, you love my voice! And hey, I chose to take pride in that rather than offence because I’m a nice guy and we all do crazy things for the person who saved their ass from the edge.” Wade teased, leaning against him. Nate snorted, a fond smile replacing his smirk, “I’ve never said I didn’t like that Demi-Moore rumble.”“It’s Dee-mee .” Wade huffed while Nate laughed and mused, “That is never going to be resolved, will it?” Wade rolled his eyes even though he was smiling as well. Making grabby hand motions he clinged onto his shoulders, “Yeah yeah , c’mere you hunk of stubbornness and beauty. I’ve missed you.” It was perfect. His powers were restored, the techno organic virus destroyed. The world was saved, Providence was beautiful, his relationship with his father was fixed, he was once more close friends with Neena. And above all, he had cured Wade Wilson of his pains. Successfully fixed his cracked yet shining lightshow of a mind, in the process of doing so he somehow got more than he bargained or expected. And he was thankful for it, he's never been happier. Because they were a good duo, no matter what the world had thought. They complemented each other nicely. This. This was perfect, he thought with a smile. Taking in the look on Wade’s face, inches away from his own. Joy, adoration, amusement. Love . A kind of love that them both feeling off balance, never he thought it was possible coming from Wade out of all people. However it was , and for him . It was gorgeous. Suddenly, or maybe not so sudden given the situation, Wade grabbed the back of his neck and crossed the distance between their mouths and everything was perfect— “I think it would be for the best if I just didn’t ask…”“Did anyone else have a dream involving suntan lotion? Serious.”Nate's eyes snapped open, disoriented for a second he forcefully pushed off the man half on top of him. Quickly standing up and brushing off some grass stuck on his arm he forced himself to remain calm, reeling from the vivid experience. “Can we go inside now--?” “Yeah.” “Yes.” “I’ll go to jail right now just to get away from here.” Weasel muttered.Wade was still on the ground where Nate threw him off covering his face with a muffled scream no one questioned. After all, they all felt like doing the same. Collectively they agreed to take a few minutes to collect themselves. If he noticed Nate was carefully avoiding him, Wade said nothing. And if Nate noticed the mercenary avoiding him as well, he also said nothing.Rubbing his face Cable tried to make sense out of it. It had to of been some sort of trick. Providence and saving the world he could understand. He could understand wanting to reconnect with both Scott and Domino. But… Deadpool? No. It had to be some sort of trick. Admittedly, Nate did appreciate their strange... Friendship. He respected Wade. Perhaps even admired him in, certain aspects. And Deadpool had his uses. But his feelings didn’t go any further than that.Yet… and yet he still couldn’t close his eyes without seeing Wade’s relaxed and dazzling smile, without hearing his cheerful laughter and light-hearted banter play in his ears.Feeling eyes on him he looked over his shoulder, catching Wade staring at him with an oddly blank expression. They stood there, looking at each other in a tense silence until Weasel voice cut through it from under the desk, snapping them both out of it.Cable shook himself out of the intrusive thoughts, there’d be time to figure out this mess later. He had a mission to do, he’d let himself be distracted long enough.
Askani preserve him, he could never let Wade find out…
Gently touching his lips, he could almost feel the ghost of Wade’s mouth on them.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Cable was scowling, pushing past cameras and microphones shoved into his face and ignoring the questions being screamed at him. Making a beeline towards the group of X-Men currently handling the medias attention.Wade zoned out for that part. Unite mutantkind and humanity make them equals, world peace, revive wolvie, blah blah blah he's heard the whole spiel Bea knows how many times at this point and he wasn’t even part of the X-Men.Now Cable was talking with Cyclops in the background, (man and Wade thought he had daddy issues). Whatever it was they were talking about neither of them seemed happy about it, especially Nate. Judging by the way he was sending death glares at anyone who got close he wasn't in a good mood.He looked though good, well. (Nate always looked good). His T.O. even looked at least 60% authentic! And glory be the pouches were back.Like, sure. The big guy seemed tired, but that was hardly a surprise now was it? Classic Cable, always trying to carry the weight of the stupid world upon his shoulders. More than anyone ought to, no matter how wide Liefeld draws them everyone has their limits. But not Nate, nope. He just keeps pushing past them. Just like how he always ends up pushing away those who try to help, sure he keeps them just close enough for his uses and stupid plans but that's about it isn't it Nate you don't actually care you just-
Where was he again?
The scene changed, and oh. Looks like they caught some of the previous battle.He didn't pay attention to whatever it was they were fighting (villains, aliens, robots, rouges, sentinels, evil clones honestly who the hell's bothering to keep track of all that bullshit?), and no. He wasn’t keeping an eye out for anyone in particular.He glazed over the battle again, mind wandering towards the X-Women. Seriously, X-Men. Most of their most badass members were women, what were they thinking with that name? Then if Wade suddenly sat a little bit straighter it wasn’t because a certain. What the hell even were they? Ex allies? Ex friends? Ex, ex, x. Way too many x-es making his head hurt. X-Men, Weapon X, ex, god dammit.
Well whatever they were, it wasn’t because Wade was wondering how he was doing, if he was alive, or if Cable remembered him at all. Of course not, why would he wonder that? That would imply he cared. And of course he didn’t. Why would he? Of course he didn’t miss him, psft. That’s hilarious. He’s been doing great without Nate. Anyway. It looked like he was bamfed into the scene, Nightcrawler was a cool guy. Way cooler than Cable. He had blue skin a tail and BAMF powers and tiny minions, wait was that even a thing in his continuity? Where in the continuity even were they? Goddamn Marvel being a mess. And lazy writing, his two worst enemies.Huh, seems like his powers were back. Always coming and going, talk about a headache. Good to see Nate hadn’t lost the whole huge gun shtick. Damn he totally doesn’t care about Nate, but those guns were beautiful. Hm, Wade should totally raid one of his caches soon. Maybe he could even sell some for a good price…No no no no. Nope. No selling futuristic weapons. He promised Nate that. And while Nate might fucking suck at keeping promises, Wade would at least try.
Not because he gives a damn. Just to prove that he’s better than him.
Plus, who the hell would even want to buy them? Or hold them, they’re huge. Overcompensating for something much over there Nate? Hm? He felt something ache in his chest that he’s going to blame on a sudden tumor. Letting out a long sigh he muttered to himself, “Yeah, old and overused joke, Priscilla. I know, but s’not like you make it hard.”
Hm. An innuendo could probably be thrown there somewhere.
“...Dad?”Wade blinked, startling out of his thoughts by the young voice when he turned his head to come face to face with the inquisitive expression of his daughter.
By Bea. He’ll never get used to thinking or saying those two words. His daughter.
Ah, shit. Right. His daughter. He was hanging out with her. That decides it, no “inappropriate” jokes in this good christian household. Were the Prestons even religious? Had he ever been religious? Maybe at one point. He couldn’t recall, then again he still couldn’t remember that much. Why did everyone love giving him memory problems?
Right. Getting off track.
Reaching over he ruffled her hair playfully, a small smile on his face when that made her pout. “You’ve been silent for the past ten minutes. Are you okay? What were you thinking about?”Wade shot a small glare at the television, now showing something about the weather. Stupid Cable and cable for distracting him.“Woah woah kiddo, I’m all good cross my heart. There’s nothing wrong, but sorry bout that. What were we talking about?”Ellie frowned, “C’mon Wade I wanna know! You never say that unless something's happening, and you were quiet. Who’s Priscilla?”Dammit, she's too smart.There was no way Ellie would let this go now, however he hesitated anyway, “Priscilla… He’s…” Ex-Jesus? Ex-friend? Divorcee? Teammate? No, not teammates (thanks Nate for the non existing X-Force invite, totally never salty about that), and dammit! We’ve already established way to many ex’s.
After maybe a tad bit too long pause he decided to at least give invading this awkward conversation a go, plus it’s always good fun to argue, “He’s no one you gotta concern yourself about kiddo.”
“Come on dad!” she whined. Shit, she really wasn’t gonna let go of this was she. Suddenly her expression brightened and exclaimed, jumping to her feet with a little dance, “Story time!” “You sure we can’t talk about that time I stole the infinity gauntlet? Or what about Spidey? There’s plenty of Spidey stories. Uncle Spidey’s good.”He looked at Ellies face and made a big show of covering his eyes, “Noooope. No. No. That’s playing dirty kid. I’m both proud of you and disapproving. How dare you.”Ellie didn’t stop looking at him with puppy eyes and a pout that could melt Iceman, curse her unyielding heart.
Nate was also good at the whole hurt puppy schtick, y’know, back when he had a heart and before all his slightly likeable development was killed off with their team-up series.
Shaking his head both out of those thoughts and stubbornness he tried to hold his ground, “No! No. Stap that! Not my only weakness!”“Please?” she tried, fighting a smile. And goddammit Deadpool you’ve gone far too soft for your own good.Letting out a resigned sigh he raised both his hands in defeat, “Alright. You got me kiddo.”“Yes!” Ellie pumped her fist in the air in victory, beaming at Wade’s half assed attempt at a glare. Rolling his eyes fondly he pat her on the back, “Go on and get cleaned up Ellie Jelly, I’ll meet you in your room and there I’ll tell you aaall about the tale of The mighty Queen Priscilla of Providence and the lowly rogue.”The smile Ellie gave him could’ve lighted up all of New York, he couldn’t help but grin as well as he watched her run enthusiastically up the stairs to the bathroom.
The moment she was out of sight his expression dimmed slightly, staring at the TV playing an ad for lip balm. Shaking his head before he could trip onto another unwanted train of thoughts he stood up and mentally prepared himself for the night.Ellie loved Story Time, it probably was only a matter of time anyways before he'd tell her about Cable & Deadpool, (or Deadpool & Cable, hah!). A small smirk spread on his face, while he doubted Ellie would ever get much of a chance to meet Nate that won't stop Wade from spinning ridiculous tales about him mixed with the truth for her ears to hear."Well, Nate. I'll be seeing you in the form of flashbacks."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“X?”
Ow.
#$%&. His head hurt, a lot.
Actually, strike that, his whole body was in pain as if he'd been dipped in acid. Like he was burning alive while lying on top of a cold slab of… metal? Whatever it was it was freezing, the contrast of it reminded him of how it was like to be torn apart in two.
Which, by the way, in case you were curious, &*%$#@^ hurt like &%*$@#$@%. So, mhm. He didn’t like that. Nope, not ooone bit. Hated it, even, if he were being honest.Letting out a silent groan, he tried to get up, only to find that his body wasn’t responding. Fucking great! He was paralyzed!$#^%, was he drugged? #$%&, he hated being drugged, how the hell was he even drugged? New drug who dis?Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on move! Dammit! Not even a pinky? Seriously?“X can you hear me?” an unfamiliar voice boomed above him.
Jesus Christ, could you tone it down a bit, where the hell was that voice even coming from, speakers? Where the hell was he?!
“X, answer me.” “I don’t think it can hear you.” “How are its vitals?”It? Did those assholes call him an it? How dare they. He was a very respectable immoral mercenary excuse you.He didn’t think he knew who those voices belonged to, nor did he particularly cared. All he knew was he didn’t like it. Cold, condescending, rude, doctor-y. Ugh. Yeah, no thanks. Haaaard pass. He tried speaking, only to find out that, great! His mouth wouldn’t work! That’s just the cherry on top of this pile of bullshit!Dammit. Frustration burned through him as he kept trying to say something, anything. Why the hell couldn’t he do anything?! What the fuck did they inject him with?!Wait- his eyes suddenly opened. He hissed internally at the harsh lights directly above him, fuck, did they have to put those lights there? When he gets out of here, he’s going to track down whichever jerkbag decided to put that there and give him a piece of his mind, or sword. Where were his weapons?Actually where the fuck even was he? He still couldn’t move anything besides his eyes, and all he could see in his position were bright lights and a stark white ceiling, everything was so fucking white. Horrible design choice. Place really could use some life.Fuck, this was bad. If only he could move,“X-I if you’re awake, you have to answer me.”
How about you go fuck yourself. He wanted to, but unfortunately couldn’t, spit out.“This trial was a failure, let’s move on to the next one.”
Trials? What the fuck was going on? He had to get out of here, wherever here was, he had to get out right now, come on Deadpool get your shit together- Something prick against his neck, where did that come from? His consciousness was rapidly fading. Fuck. That…That wasn’t…That wasn’t… good……... ...Where was he from?
The stench of alcohol suffocated him, booming steps coming closer as dread curled in his chest, his heart beating quickly as he pitifully tried to prepare himself for the following sharp bite of leather and metal. Trying to curl in on himself and cover his ears so he didn't have to hear the angry screams and curses covering him in spit between strikes bringing unwanted tears to his eyes.
What was his name?
A pleased smirk, bets on a dead pool (dead pool dead pool dead pool deadpool), blue playing cards, a hand helping a cigarette into his mouth, smoke curling up past a sharp scarlet fake eye surrounded by metal.Smoke.
There was a lot of smoke right now. He heard someone screaming. Or was it more than one someone?Something was dripping from his hands, going drip drip drip drip, wasn’t water. No. Water wasn’t red.
Was it?
He heard bullets ripping through the air, a shotgun? And suddenly he was moving, faster than was probably normal.What even was normal?
People were crying out, definitely more than one now, unless that was just the ringing in his ears tricking him. Something sharp burned through his arm, it stung but he didn't pay it much mind.More of that liquid, drip drip drip, the same as the one on his hands.Where was he?
There was a lot of smoke. And red, lots of red everywhere. Red painting the ground, red sparking up into the sky, red in his vision.It was quiet now, no more screaming, nope. The only sound was soft crackling of dying fire and that drip Drip...drip...Suddenly feeling awfully tired he closed his eyes, eagerly welcoming the black after all that burning red. “Soon. Soon, you will finally be mine. We can be together at last. Isn’t that wonderful?”
He looked up at the woman cloaked in blue and jewels. Standing at the end of the floating rocks, beckoning him closer with thin fingers. Was he in space? Looking around he felt oddly at peace, letting out a satisfied sigh he focused back on the woman before him.Her beauty was ethereal, swiftly taking away any breath he may of had away. He stared dumbfounded, mouth agape. She was easily the most gorgeous thing he has ever seen.The woman tilted her head slightly, pursing her lips. “You’ve changed…”The faint disappointment in her tone made his heart ache. He registered unconcerned as a matter of fact that he would stop at nothing for her approval, anything to be with her.In the back of his mind, he had a feeling that he has.Why did he feel so strongly for this mysterious woman?“I’m… I’m sorry,” he muttered apologetically, unsure of what to say.
She tilted her head, a small amused smile tugging on the corner of her lips before she started changing. Her skin fell off in pieces, turning to glittering dust until only a skeleton remained under her cloak. Empty sockets studying him, and he had a feeling that she was looking past his body and into his soul. Seeing everything that made him mortal and judging it. It should’ve been terrifying, but he could only find it fascinating and himself enchanted. Enraptured all the same even if her steady gaze made him squirm a little.“Don't fret." her voice was cold but kind, reassuring, "Here in my home you don't need fear nor worry. I will take good care of you, as I have done for you and your friends in the past.”He wanted it. He wanted it so bad, it wasn’t until he heard her soothing words that he realized just how tired he was. His shoulders sagged, he was ready to finally go home. Because home was where the heart is. And this woman had his in her strings. He took a step forward, then two, reaching for her outstretched hands. So close… So close to rest.Horror be, his footing was suddenly gone, stolen by the scalding flow of Life. Dragging him back, further and further away from her. His screams of protests were ignored, drowned by the roar of wind that trapped him.
Somehow he still heard her voice clearly despite the growing distance, "Soon.”It was a promise.
But it felt all too familiar to his ears. All too easy to be broken. He woke up choking.
Sitting up quickly he tried to breathe, panic growing as he clawed at his throat, ripping off whatever it was suffocating him with a deep breath. Taking a few minutes to recover he looked down at the fabric in his hands. A... mask? Yeah, that was a definitely some sort of mask. Mostly red with black diamonds surrounding white eyeholes and a weird nub thing. Where on earth did he get this? And why wasn’t there an appropriate breathing hole? Confused he stood up shakily, taking a look at his surroundings. Was he in an apartment? It seemed like it, how did he get here?Well, whatever it was, the place was a mess; broken TV, overturned stained couch, empty take out, broken glass and crushed cans littered the floor among dust, dirt and… was that blood?
“What the fuck?” he coughed out, abruptly realizing just how painfully dry his throat was.He found the kitchen without much thought, bending over the sink he guzzled down the tap water until his throat stopped feeling like he was inhaling past sand and nails. Splashing some of the water in his face he went back out to the living room, head feeling marginally clearer.Where was he? The place felt familiar, but he couldn’t recall ever seeing it before in his life.In fact. He couldn't recall anything before in his life. The only thing he remembered were empty eyes, screaming and pain.A lot of pain. Fire? Something was burning. His skin. Yeah, that’s right. His skin was burning, itching everywhere uncomfortably.
That's when he noticed he was in a sort of… costume? It matched the mask that was suffocating him earlier, red with black in certain areas. Empty holsters, straps and belt with pouches on, but not limited to, his hips, and a weird sort of harness over his shoulders. Jesus christ what was he? Some sort of… video game character? Cosplayer?
Well whatever the hell the reason was for the weird get up it was really fucking uncomfortable and starting to make him itch badly.It took awhile to get the ridiculous suit off. He hadn't been able to figure it out until his mind started wandering, which allowed his hands to start working on their own, that he was able to get out of the thing at all. He was wearing nothing underneath it besides a pair of white boxer briefs with hearts on them. God, he could use a shower, then he could figure out what the crap was going on.Massaging his face he soon found the bathroom. It was decently sized, a pink fuzzy carpet covered most of the floor that felt nice under his feet.About to step into the bathtub he paused, catching sight of his reflection in one of the mirrors his eyes widened.
“Holy shitballs.”
He wasn’t sure what it was that made him freeze. He was lean but muscular. Disheveled blond hair kind of sticking up and hazel brown eyes looking back at him, if they were blue he might’ve kinda looked like Captain America when the artists drew him on the skimpier side in the comics he read when he was a kid in…In… He was a kid in… he read comics when… Captain America was… he was… The fleeting image of being under bed sheets with a flashlight and the feeling of… of awe? Of…The memory and sensation left as abruptly as it'd appeared, leaving him even emptier then he had before. He… he remembered something there. Didn’t he? He did. Did he? His head hurt like hell, reaching for memories that should've been there but weren't. It was so fucking frustrating-He barely managed to stop himself from punching the glass in front of him, if only because he noticed something burnt onto his chest. Right above where his heart was, he took a closer look, (how did he know they were burnt?)SUBJECT: XW.W.W.It took him a moment to notice he was shaking, clutching the edges of the sink tight enough for his knuckles to be a ghostly white.Forcing himself to relax his grip, he took a deep and deep breath and looked back at the marks again. Tracing his hand over them. With the words were a... barcode? What the fuck?He didn't know what they meant, where he got them or how, but whatever they were it left a bitter taste in his mouth. There were still no memories, just the ghost feeling of millions of live ants crawling across his skin and pain. Plenty of pain.Screwing his eyes shut he dragged his attention away from the marks, whatever they meant evidently he won’t be able to figure them out by just staring at them.Nauseous, he forgot all about his shower and went back to the living room, biting his bottom lip at the mess he previously forgot about. Dammit. This wouldn’t do, this wouldn’t do at all. His head fucking hurt enough without piles of trash and stains clogging his vision. Letting out a sharp sigh he looked for a supply closet, this gave him an opportunity to distract himself from his headache anyway. The sheer amount of weapons hidden or placed throughout the apartment didn’t alarm him as much as he knew it should’ve. There were of all types, from knives to grenades to guns to bo staffs. The majority of them were guns, more than he could count were just sitting around or hidden. Unsure what to do with them but uneasy just leaving them there he decided to pile them up in the mostly empty bedroom. He’s guessing he didn't really use that room, if this was his apartment, or it’s been a while since he’d been in there; judging by the amount of dust layered on top of the red bed sheets.
He looked around for anything that might trigger some memory or that could tell him anything about himself as he did his best to clean up. A few things provoked a small emotion at the back of his mind, but they were fuzzy and hard to reach at best. So far he got a fuzzy tingle of pride when he passed by a gigantic poster of an elderly woman, Bea Arthur according to the title, and a sickly feeling when he went to clean the shattered TV (for a moment he thought he heard a cold laugh mocking him, but he choked that up to headaches). Nothing else was identifiable, which both irked and worried him.
At least the apartment was starting to look less like a landfill and more like a liveable palace.Finally deciding to tackle the several pizza boxes stacked in a corner he froze at what was behind them. Hurrying to throw them away he went to take a closer look at the previously hidden display.Various photos and polaroids hung up with sparkly hello kitty stickers decorated the wall. A majority of them were blurry as if the subject or photographer was moving. A repeating figure in some of them was a man in a red suit.The same suit he woke up in. He searched frantically for a familiar face, there were several people in costumes and spandex of all colours, yellow, blue, red, green, white, black. What was with that?
His fingers hesitated over a few images; an angry looking middle aged man with sideburns in yellow and blue spandex, smoking a cigar, a scrawny guy who looks like he was in his mid twenties with round, thick glasses and a nervous smile, a lovely looking woman in yellow and blue with piercing green eyes and long red hair laughing off camera.The only picture that had him outside of that that weird red suit was also the only one in a frame, it looked older than the others and worn out. It was of a woman with blue skin and white hair and cat-whiskers, laughing next to a grinning younger version him. But nothing came up, no names, no memories, nothing. Just a painful dull ache in his chest and lump in his throat. His head was pounding again, trying to find memories that just weren’t there. Letting out a short but frustrated yell he stood as quickly as he could, wanting to distance himself as far as possible from the images.Only to trip on something, a shout of surprise escaping him as he fell down hard on his butt. Cursing loudly he stood back up and looked for what he tripped on with a glare.It was another photo, probably fell from the display on the wall. Picking it up the first thing he noticed was it’d been ripped apart several times and frantically taped back together. Angry scribbles in red… crayon? Covered partially covered it, but he could vaguely make most of it out.
It was of a man in a white muscle shirt that matched his white hair, intense blue eyes softened by small crinkles at the edges and a fond-like smile that filled him with warmth. A slight smile of his own unknowingly spread across his own face.
“Hah! I should get an award for this! Or a badge, a big shiny badge with ‘I caught mutant jesus smiling on camera’ written in glitter on it! Mark it on the calendar Siri Priscilla actually smiled!”
The man arched an eyebrow, “You act as if I’ve never smiled before.”
“Well duh, your smile’s are always either all eggplanty-”
“Eggplanty?”
“-Or all diplomatic and formal and forced alike and lame. Like seriously Nate! You need to learn to loosen up a bit or you’re going to drive yourself insane! And we can't have that now can we?” There was a quiet laugh, " Now , you're being dramatic. But I appreciate your concern." "Pft, I am not concerned-"
He snapped out of the sudden vivid memory, stumbling back he tried to steady himself as his mind reeled. The photo fluttered to the ground escaping from his shaking hands. His heart was pounding in his chest as he clung onto the recollection desperately.
Nate-
He- He-
Nate. Priscilla, he. He knew him. He-
He remembered Nate.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“You’d be fools to trust him.”
The second those words left Cable’s mouth broken, hysterical laughter bubbled up and out of his mouth. Leaving him a wheezing mess.He kept laughing even as Cable walked away leaving him to process those bitter words, (as he always did. Since day one. Didn’t stop fate from being a bitch, didn’t stop Wade from loving the idiot. Stryfe looked similar, but he was never the same, could never compete with the original no matter how much Wade pretended)He couldn't stop his laughter even when everyone else glared daggers at him. He couldn’t stop laughing, couldn't stop the sounds of insanity from leaving, laughing even when Logan threatened him, he laughed even as Stryfe gave him orders through their link yelling at him. It was confirmed. It had to be, it finally was .Later, he told Domino when she asked what the hell he was smiling about. Because why the hell not? What did he have to lose? She didn't believe him, of course. Who could blame her? He didn’t have the mark to prove it, he had lost that long ago when Weapon X and cancer ruined his skin forever. Hell, he had forgot about it until Nate said those six words.Hm. Or was it seven? Did the 'you’d' count as one or two?He could no longer tell fantasies dreams and memories apart from each other, but he think it was a memory. He was a teen when the words first appeared, they appeared much later than everyone else he knew. He'd been thrilled of course, when he found out he finally had a soulmark. He tried the whole 'hope' schtick again for it, hoped his soulmate could've helped him survive, or give him a reason to live or something cheesy like that. It was hilarious the way he read what they said and and felt dread, he's pretty sure his dad figured out and laughed about it. Most people did. He had been both disappointed and thankful when he lost it. Had he? He couldn't rememberEither ways, how could he not be thrilled? After a millennium of pain and insanity he finally got confirmation of who his soulmate was, and he finally got confirmation he could die.
[Unless Nate’s just going to leave and never come back after this. Our death could take another century to come.]
One of the many voices in his head pointed out, they were right, of course. However death would come. Rest. Rest would finally come. He felt like crying from relief, but all his tears were used up long ago, so only more laughter escaped him earning more glares from the others.Obviously he chose to betray Stryfe. Even if Nate didn’t give a shit about him anymore, hadn’t in ages, Wade still gave a shit about him. There was no amount of good he could do to even out the scales, good thing he wasn’t interested in that. He just wanted to help Nate, despite everything.He chatted absentmindedly, Nate ignored him, of course he did. He was always busy. Busy with his teams, with Providence, with that kid, with the world. Wade wasn’t important, and he understood. He got it, even soulmates came after the world. Nate was a soldier, the Chosen One or whatever. He put duty before himself or anyone else.Wade wondered what Nate’s mark said, wondered if Nate would care one day. If one day he’d go back and prevent him from being trapped in that freezer, or go find him before Stryfe did. He sniggered to himself at those thoughts, they were hilarious. Wade had already spent years, centuries in there hopelessly thinking about scenarios where he was saved by various people from his past, including Nate.Stryfe didn’t even give him a second look after tearing him apart in two, Wade never stopped talking. He caught Nate’s eye, something he might've recognized once upon a time but had long forgotten flickered in them, lasting only for a split second before his attention went back towards his overly dramatic clone. It was funny, how similar those two could be. Wade figured that out during the first years he worked for Stryfe, it was pretty funny at the time. Still kinda funny now really.Wade wondered if Nate knew about that, or about the soulmarks. If he could tell. If he hated it. Wade would, if he were in Nate’s shoes. He let out one last laugh, accepting the darkness clouding his visions without fight or struggle.After so long he could finally, finally, rest. For once, pleased with himself.