Having won the climactic boss battle, what's left for our heroes? An ignoble end at the hands of early onset rheumatoid arthritis? No? Well, how 'bout a little love then?
As soon as the happy shock of their young cab driver brutally ending the life of the piece of slime who'd nearly turned a decent kid into a mass murderer wore off, the team—minus the X-Backup—unstuck themselves from their I-can't-believe-he-just-did-that statue poses and made for their ride.
Having reached the death cab, Russell shouting something about 'calling shotgun' before hopping in the front seat, the boy seeming unperturbed at the blood smeared across that half of the windshield, Cable decided it would be a good idea to make sure Wade had no way of throwing himself out of a moving vehicle that day. Just in case he was just a little more serious about the whole 'still wanting to die' thing than anyone thought.
For being as big a badass as she was, it turned out Domino was also strikingly thoughtful. Allowing Cable to corral Wade into the middle of the rear bench and himself against one door, the woman seeming content to have no say in which seating position she ended up with. Not even making any protest when Wade started poking her in the bicep to test the strength of his own luck factor. Which must have been pretty strong that day, considering he didn't end up with a busted finger. Plus the fact that he wasn't already dead.
Eventually, the hyperactive man-child got bored of his 'will she, won't she bite this off if I keep poking her?' game and instead sat facing forward with his arms politely to himself. But after a few seconds of blissful quiet, the mercenary in the fried armored suit addressed Cable with a twitch of his head.
"Not that I've forgiven you for saving my life," Wade started, sounding just a hair unsure of himself, "but, uh... when are you planning on going back to your no longer dead future family?"
"We're divorced," Cable said, matter of factly.
"Come again?" Wade asked, confusion winning out over anything else he might have been feeling.
"My wife and I divorced a few years ago. We're still friends. I was coming to visit my daughter when Fire Fist... got there first."
"Oh." Wade paused to tap out a rhythm against his own lap. Likely at a loss as to what to say to that.
"So, when're you planning to go back?"
Domino might have sighed at that, but Cable found the earnest, honest question endearing enough that he just had to chuckle. Out loud. Before answering as seriously as he could. "I'm thinking of sticking around. Making sure your annoying ass doesn't kill itself."
"You know, Cable?" Asked Wade, sounding amused. "That was the sweetest thing you've ever said to me."
"Nope. I called you an annoying ass," Cable corrected, even as he found himself studying the soft smile playing on the lips of the fire-roasted, medium rare passenger beside him.
"Mm, Nope. You said my ass was annoying. And that you'd stay in this shit-hole of a time period just so I couldn't get my hands on another of those mutie-stoppy collars and off my-"
Cable didn't understand the sudden urge that lanced through him when he realized what it was Wade was more than implying. The thought of seeing his new teammate- his new partner dying once and for all all over again? There was no way in hell.
Before Cable knew it, he'd reached out and grabbed the chin that never stopped flapping, and by then it was too late to stop what it was his mostly human hindbrain had in mind. By the time he opened his eyes, he'd just about finished kissing a pair of dry, cracked, unmoisturized lips, and when the contact ended, Cable found himself gazing into a pair of vivid caring mutant eyes. A hint of question in their shallow depths.
"What? No tongue?" Wade asked with a breathless huff that only made Cable's hindbrain want him worse.
"Shut up and kiss me like you mean it," the guy holding another man by the jaw managed before resealing a kiss he hadn't known he'd been looking forward to for almost as long as he'd been annoyed by the weirdo in red.
"Seriously, you two? I'm right here." Domino pointed out in a tone which clearly expressed annoyance. Kindly reminding Cable where they where, when they where, and of the fact that they did indeed have company.
The reminder ended up sparking a debate in the cab over the merits and demerits of public displays of affection and the levels of appropriateness of such when in close proximity to minors and others who were not explicitly okay with it already. Exactly the sort of debate that never happened when Cable was from, but this was the dark ages, so he let them have their pseudo-philosophy for the time being.
While everyone argued over the relative beauty or grossness of what they'd just witnessed Cable felt Wade leaning more and more of his not inconsiderable weight into his side, signifying something that Cable had never thought he'd see: the hyperactive adrenaline junkie was getting tired. Fading fast too if that yawn was any indication.
As soon as Wade's eyes closed, his new willing body pillow had a moment to inspect his own feelings on the matter of their sudden and passionate kiss and within seconds found himself wishing he hadn't. Because remembering that he still had a semi-working time machine with a whole charge left which he could probably somehow use to rescue Wade's wife from her horrible, grizzly fate in this past's past made him feel as if he'd just taken very strong advantage of the bereft guy's state of suicidal grief.
The thing that almost spooked Cable about it though, was the follow up train of thought that went something like, 'So what? He's mine now. His wife's long gone and would want him to be happy. Right?' Yeah. Right.
What she'd want would be to not be dead. And by the looks of things that's exactly what her husband wanted too.
Cable had some hard thinking to do and a lengthy cab ride in which to do it. Though, he thought with a huff, deep down he already knew the answer he was inevitably going to settle on. But until he actually made the decision, he was going to continue taking advantage of the whole 'the guy who inexplicably claims to have feelings for me is passed out against my whole body' thing and just enjoy it while it lasted. And maybe until he figured out how to fix the problem of having only charge enough for one time jump.
Which he paradoxically hoped was both as soon and as far in the future as mutantly possible. Because having someone feel comfortable enough- having someone have enough faith in you that they'll just up and conk out curled up against you? Now that was worth savoring.
Besides, that kiss had been hot as shit. No way Cable was letting that go without a fight. Even though he knew he was gonna lose in the end.
Stupid 'moral compass' sure as hell picked a crap-tastic time to come back online.
He'd just have to ignore it as long as possible.
Heehee, I think they've finally reached bestie status!