Now Cable knows the depth of guilt felt by anyone who's ever hurt someone who has a super obvious crush on them. At least, if that someone who did the hurting has a crush on the hurt-ee as well.
Big difference? Cable accidentally shot his crush-ee in the heart. Yikes.

Cable's hand went lax around his pistol and the gun hit the ground only a moment after the mutant in whom his bullet had hit true landed. Because, while he'd made a flawless kill shot, the round hadn't hit what he'd been aiming for. Or rather, who he'd been aiming for.

Now, instead of the monster who'd some far flung day from now killed his family—who was now blubbering and begging forgiveness he wasn't likely to get—Cable'd ended the life of the only person who'd ever made him feel as confused as he'd felt over these past few, insane days.
The man with the alliterative name, a smile that never quit, and an ass that Cable'd recognize in any crowd.

Wade Wilson was dying and it was all Cable's fault. By his hand. By his itchy trigger finger and a hero complex he really needed to get a handle on. Before any other arguably innocent people went down in the wake of his blinded, singleminded blaze of glory.

The shock- the horror of hitting something that he absolutely hadn't meant to glued Cable to the spot and made his extremities tingle in a decidedly guilty way. Before they lost feeling all together. Maybe hoping if he couldn't feel them, he wouldn't end up killing anyone else who... mattered to him.

Mattered? Since when- Mattered?! That hyperactive weirdo?
But, as much as that made negative one thousand percent sense, it absolutely wasn't not true. If it was, Cable wouldn't be counting the seconds between the crispy-red guy's raspy, blood tinged breaths. Begging them not to stop. Not yet. Not before he could figure out some way to-

Cable had to stop himself from stumbling to the side as the solution to his 'the mutant who it turns out he cares about took a bullet for a murderous child and is dying' problem smacked him upside the head. It was so obvious it was shocking.
"Help me get the suppression collar off!" He barked at the collection of people who, like him, were just standing around watching the hero of the hour an hero himself to death.

"We cannot. It is his decision, Cable, and he has made it. He is happy to die." The strains of strained, Russian tinted English assaulted Cable's sensibilities as he tried to stay calm even as his self appointed partner lay bleeding and dying in a pile of rubble.
And how had the fucking-huge, silver colored nihilist known his name? They hadn't even met yet!

"You dipshit. Haven't you noticed that he's been suicidal since before I even showed up? He's not in his right mind," Cable tried to keep below a yell as he gave the ignoramos a withering glare.

"Wade, you're my friend and I can't let you just throw your life away for me." At the plaintive statement, Cable looked over at the kid he'd thought very little of outside of his mission of 'must kill' and saw genuine grief on the young face.

"Kid, seriously, I'm not up for playing another round of 'stop trying to 'help' me'," Wade informed with a full body wince Cable could see from where he'd yet to step away from the others, still standing around like useless art pieces.
"Let an insanely awesome vigilante contract killer die in peace for once in your godda-"

"The commi's dead-ass wrong and the kid's got more sense than the two of you combined," said Cable as he finally got himself to step up beside Wade and the kid. "We lose people. That's life. Doesn't mean we should give up on it," he said in what he hoped was a bolstering manner as he crouched in the smoldering rubble.

"Seriously? Now that I'm finally getting what I want, you want me to not die?" Asked the well-charred guy on the ground.

"Yes," Cable insisted, as he reached for the thing that was stopping Wade from regenerating and saving his own-
He barely held in an inexplicable smile when the guy pawed his hand away, but he managed to stay serious and explain exactly what it was he was about to do. "I'm gonna disengage the collar. So you can spit out that bullet and go back to being the most annoying human on the face of this godforsaken planet. Deal?"

"No! That is exactly opposite of the 'deal'!" Cable watched Wade half-yell. Right before the guy hacked on something that sounded like it was deep in his chest.

"Uh-huh," Cable said with a 'this is happening whether you like it or not' face. To which, Wade made a 'nuh-uh' one right back.

"There's no way you could get this collar off without killing me in the process and even if you could," Wade paused to choke on a little more blood, "I wouldn't let you. So there."

"You can't stop me and I can disengage the mutation suppression collar. I've got a fucking techno-organic arm!" Cable forgot to not-yell as he scooted a little closer to the dying guy.

"Don't forget the glowey eye," Wade reminded. Unnecessarily.

"Wade?" Cable asked. No hint of a yell that time.

"Hm?"

"I'm gonna save your goddamn life. Any objections?"

"I will bite my tongue off," Wade threatened. Expression pretty serious for a guy who probably didn't know what serious meant.

"No you won't," Cable informed. Matter of factly.

"Don't try me, big boy. I have sharp teeth and I know exactly how to use the-" Recognizing the threat's validity from a scene in a classic movie of the current era, Cable tore the glove off of his organic hand and shoved said, bitable appendage as far in Wade's mouth as he figured he could without obstructing the guy's airway.

"Yeah?" Cable started, able to sound confident now that he'd put a stopper in that plan. "Well either put those babies to work or shut the hell up and let me do my goddamn job," he dared. Remembering what lengths Wade had gone to to not hurt him over the last few days.

"What is your 'goddamn job'?" The kid- Russel asked from still right next to Wade. Even though he'd gotten a mouthful of blood spluttered on him for his closeness.

Hm, Cable thought as he didn't answer the question, focusing instead on disengaging the death collar, Russell really wasn't an evil, dangerous mutant who needed to be stopped at all costs. He just needed to be shown a little kindness for once in his goddamn life.
Kinda like Wade had shown Cable, in the way he'd flirted with him and not killed him on their first two encounters; how he'd cried out of happiness upon seeing him safe and sound after the freeway crash; and the way he was keeping up a lighthearted banter with him even though he thought he was about to die.

Ooh, scratch that, Cable thought as he finished removing the now disengaged collar: The way Wade was keeping up a lighthearted banter with him even though the guy was still actively trying to end his own life. By biding his time until Cable removed his hand from his mouth and then biting off his own tongue.
Now that's dedication. To death and to trying not to hurt his friend from the future. Any more than necessary.

"It'll grow back." Cable said with complete confidence. Both for his new friend's benefit as well as for his own.

"Fuck you, Clint Eastwood."

"Well, obviously, someone hasn't seen the end of the movie," Cable deadpanned, looking forward to being able to have many, many more of these stupid, pointless conversations in the future. With his very alive partner. Who'd just knocked Russell in the head as he bolted into a seated position, seemingly recovered enough that he didn't feel like laying in a crap ton of burned-to-hell-and-back shit anymore.

Cable watched, enthralled, as the crumbled up chunk of lead he'd never meant to put there backed its way out of Wade's chest and bounced harmlessly off the guy's thigh and off into the refuse that once made up the orphanage's now ruined assembly hall.

"There. Better?"

"Well," Wade started, now that Cable'd gotten his attention, "I still wanna die, but-"

Then Cable got blood vomited all over his front. But he kept his face neutral and told himself he kinda deserved that and to suck it up and get on with his fucking life already, geez. After all, you shoot someone in the chest and all they want in return is a place to vomit blood? You're getting the shiny end of the stick.
At least he got an 'Oops' out of it.

"Uh, sorry. But, uh, yeah, death still sounds pretty nice around now."

Cable held in a snicker at the ridiculous statement which he was pretty sure was at least half humorous, and stood from his knee-killing crouch.
"He's gonna be fine," he said as he moved back to give the guy who'd narrowly escaped Death's clutches a little breathing room.

"Nope," Wade started in a definitely half-kidding voice. "Gonna go home and kill myself for good this time. I think I got it all planned out too. Yes, every last tiny, insignificant detail is clear to me now." Then he paused to give each of the folks who were still just standing around a chance to look directly into his eyes. Probably to see the almost seriousness there. "I even know which song's gonna be playing in the background, and it's going to be a sad one and I'm getting Adam Lambert to belt it out, specially for my suicidal ears only." Then he pointed directly at Cable. "You're not invited!"

"Oh, I'm definitely invited," Cable said. Before deciding that Wade'd had enough filibuster time and that they all needed to leave before the coppers showed up and arrested —or tried to, anyway— the whole team of them. Even the teenagers. So he stepped back up to the friend who'd just vomited blood all over him and offered a hand up. Which was taken after only four seconds of gawk-eyed staring.

The freak was adorable. Once you got used to him.

I can feel it. This is the start of something beautiful.
I wonder whether that's what our intrepid heroes are thinking right this second? Guess the only way to know is ask Josh Brolin and Ryan Reynolds!