Wanda/Wade 3

*** I own nothing. I'm just having fun. ***

"You sure this guy's on the up and up? This place is pretty shady," Sam said. Wanda couldn't argue that. This bar was full of people who looked like they'd be happy to shoot you. She felt this twitch between her shoulder blades, like eyes were following them. They probably were.

"This place is shady, but it's also the only place he'll meet us. Says he doesn't trust anyone as goody-two shoes as Cap," Natasha said. She smirked at the frown that passed over Steve's face, but didn't push. They'd all had it hard since they became fugitives, especially Steve. He'd grown somber and distant, his smiles few and far between. Natasha was easier on him these days. They all were.

"If he has the intel we need, that's all I care about." Steve sounded tired to Wanda's ears. She felt that way too.

They didn't have to wait long for Natasha's mercenary friend to show. Wearing a jacket with the hood up, he pulled a chair over to their table and straddled it.

"You stick out worse than a nun in a whorehouse," he said to Steve. Wanda tried not to openly stare, but his disfigured face was so compelling, somehow familiar, as if she'd seen it in a dream. He caught her eye for a brief moment, his eyes looking cold and unamused past his sly grin, and she flushed in embarrassment at being caught.

"Wade," Nat said, smirking, "meet Steve Rogers. Steve, this is Wade Wilson. You two will be the best of friends, I'm sure."

"I've already got a bestie, but thanks. We've got friendship bracelets and everything," Wade said. Sam chuckled at that. Wanda just dropped her gaze to her hands and picked at the chipped nail polish, trying not to look up at Wade again.

"We're not here to make friends," Steve said, ever serious these days. "We're here to get a job done. Are you going to help us?"

"Yeah, about that. Turns out I can't just give you this information."

"What the hell? Why are you wasting our time?" Sam asked. His anger rolled over her and she forced down a wave of nausea.

"Chill out, man," Wade said. "I didn't say I wasn't gonna give it to you. I said I wasn't just going to give it to you." Sam's anger seethed and roiled, but at least he wasn't exploding. Wanda was grateful. He was always so angry these days. She couldn't blame him, not after everything they'd been through, so she swallowed down her discomfort.

"Anyway. As I was saying, I can't just give this to you."

"What is it you want?" Steve asked tiredly. Wanda allowed herself to look up now, to look at Wade's strangely familiar face as he answered.

"I wanna go with you," he said.

The building they were raiding was three stories of fully armed enemy combatants and they had no idea where the crates of alien weapons and technology were being held, so the plan was to split up and slip in while Sam set up a distraction outside. They'd get as far as they could before the fighting started, and with any luck they'd find their target before the bad guys knew what was up.

Luck was never on their side. It all went to hell within minutes of stepping inside the building, and Wanda found herself fighting through what felt like hordes of men and bullets. Shielding was second nature, but fighting while shielding was still a work in progress, so she was advancing more slowly than she would've liked. She could hear her teammates over the com link having their own troubles.

Suddenly Wade was there, tearing through the men like they were paper, his shots terrifyingly accurate and 100% deadly. She dropped her shield and stared as he turned to her and laughed.

"Maximum effort, baby!" he said, giving her a thumbs up. Wanda's jaw dropped, and she froze as the soul mark on her back Flared. The sting passed as quickly as it had come, leaving a gentle warmth behind.

More men burst through the doorway, guns blazing, and Wade dove in front of her to take the bullets that were headed her way. He dropped to the ground with a grunt, and ice froze her veins as she realized what had happened, her soul mate shot like... like Pietro... and she exploded in rage.

The men who survived the initial outburst of her power didn't live for long.

But Wade wasn't dead. He was standing back up again, dusting himself off and cursing.

"Fuck! That hurts every time," he said. Wanda slapped his chest, pushing him hard, and he raised his hands in surrender. "What the hell?"

"Do you have to take every bullet in the place?" she asked angrily, her thoughts consumed with fear. "Idiot! I can defend myself! What were you thinking?"

She barely noticed Wade lowering his hands, coming closer, until he cupped her face and brought her raging to a screeching halt.

"For you? I'd take every bullet in the world if I had to. Especially now that I know you're mine," he said, and she could hear the smug smile in his voice. The meaning of his words slowly sank in, and her eyes widened.

"You would have done that even without knowing me as your soul mate?" She asked incredulously. Surely not. Even he wasn't that crazy. He had to be joking.

"Fuck yeah," he said. "Couldn't let anything happen to this sweet ass." He reached down and groped her ass, and she smacked him in the chest.

"Keep it in your pants, lover boy. There is still fighting to do."

"And we can hear every word you say," Nat said through the com link. Wanda's face went beet red, and she stuttered an apology to her team as Wade slapped her ass and moved towards the door.

She could hear Sam laughing his head off, and underneath it she heard Steve. It was the first laugh she'd heard from him in ages. She could deal with some embarrassment to have Steve sound like that again.

Wanda smiled and followed Wade into the hallway, red at the ready.