Matt crouched on the edge of the building and breathed in the cool night air. Peter was late enough that he had begun to worry, but he kept telling himself that Peter was Spider-Man, and that he could take care of himself. But the kid was also really reckless, what if he'd gotten involved in something beyond his capabilities? He had that Stark suit, and if something were wrong Iron Man would be flying across the city to save the kid.

Matt listened for the tell tale sound of Iron Mans thrusters, and breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't hear them. But what if there was something wrong with the Spider-Suit, and Peter was in danger?

This train of thought was cut off before Matt could work himself into even more of a panic about it when he heard the distinctive thwip of Peter's web shooters. Matt waited until Peter landed on the roof softly before he moved.

"You're late." He said as he turned around. He could hear Peter shuffle around as Matt tracked him.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Peter said. "Lifes been real weird lately. Deadpools living in my apartment." Matt blinked behind his cowl in shock.

"Deadpool is…" Matt took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I must have misheard you. Did you just say that Deadpool is currently living at your apartment?"

"Ye-ap" Matt could hear the grin in Peter's voice.

"Do you mean… in the same building?" God, let it be the same building. If you have any mercy, it will be the same building.

"Nah, I mean my apartment. Although, I guess you could say that technically, since my apartment is in the same building that it's in, then Deadpool is living in the same building. You know, technically. So, what are we learning today?"

Matt gritted his teeth and got into a fighting stance. He would be having a talk with Wade later. Right now, he had a Spider-Kid to teach.


Phantom watched Wade out of the corner of his eye as he hovered near the ceiling. Wade was flopped across the couch, half way upside down, playing games on his phone as the TV chattered in the background. Phantom flipped to face the wall, and contemplated the green glow reflected there. There was something… not wrong, per se, but definitely not right.

Phantom hummed to himself and glanced back at Wade, who was still distracted by his phone. Peter had gone out as Spider-Man, and Miss May had had to go back to work tonight, so it was just Phantom and Wade left at the apartment now. Which was good, because Phantom had noticed that he was tending to feel how others were. Or at least, that's what he thought was happening. Maybe.

Phantom rolled upside down in the air and watched Wade drop his phone on his face, yelp, and fall off the couch head-first. He felt a spike of frustration and turned back to face the wall. Phantom frowned and looked down at himself. Why was he 'Phantom' right now anyway? He didn't need to be. Did he?

"Hey Dan-o? You good up there?" Phantom glanced down at Wade, who was now standing below him, and smiled.

"Wade! I'm great!" he floated down from the ceiling and draped himself across Wades shoulders. He could feel Wade relax as he did so, and smiled to himself. Whatever was off with his own head could wait, Wade needed him.

They, or rather, Wade, walked back over to the couch, where Wade sat heavily and forced Phantom to either relocate his limbs or end up squished between Wade's shoulders and the back of the couch. Phantom ended up laying across the back of the couch with his chin on top of Wade's head, and his arms propping him up on Wade's shoulders. Phantom listened to Wade chatter idly as they both watched the TV.

Wade was halfway through a rather gruesome story about some time when he had attempted to fill a swimming pool with blood when his phone rang. Wade didn't even stop talking when he grabbed his phone and swiped the screen so the call declined. The name 'Weasel' faded from the screen and then immediately lit up again, and again Wade declined the call. This repeated about four times, with Wade never stopping his story, to the point where Phantom wondered who this 'Weasel' person was that Wade didn't want to talk to.

When Wade finished his story, and his phone started ringing again, Wade answered.

"-Son of a bitch, answer your god-damn…" Weasel, presumably, was shouting.

"Yellow." Wade interrupted the shouting from the other side of the phone.

"You bastard! I've been trying to call you for ten minutes you piece of trash. Answer your phone when I call you!"

"Aw, baby. Did you miss me?" Wade laughed. Phantom slid off the back of the couch so that he was sitting next to Wade instead of behind him.

"You…! I…! Fuck you, Wade!" Weasel sputtered, half-way to incoherent. "I have a job for you, stop being a dick." at those words, Wade leaned forward.

"You have a job? I thought I was cut off." Wade shifted into a more proper sitting position as he spoke.

"You were. Client requested you specifically. Said that, and I quote, 'it's a job that requires Deadpool'. Dude was kind of a dick about it, but he's paying big money, so… anyway. Come down to Sister Margerets, I'll give you the rundown." The phone clicked off, after Probably-Weasel was done talking, and Wade dropped the phone from his face and stared at his hands. Phantom watched him.

"Would you be willing to stay here while I go out?" Wade asked after a long silence. Phantom tilted his head.

"Wade." Phantom said.

"Yeah, I didn't think so. Come on kid, I'm taking you to your first bar."


Jazz parked her car in front of city hall and took a deep breath. Valerie was on ghost hunting duty, and Sam and Tucker were in the ghost zone with the specter speeder on their way to the far frozen, which left Jazz to talk to Vlad. Jazz took a deep breath before she walked through the door. She talked her way past the receptionist and was in the mayor's office within minutes.

"Ah, Jasmine. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Vlad asked when Jazz was finally sitting down in front of him, her shoulders stiff and her hands held together in her lap.

"Danny's missing." she said, her throat tight. As much as Jazz hated to admit it, she hoped that Vlad was the one that took him. Vlad hummed.

"I thought that was this weekend's adventure," Vlad said, rolling his eyes as he shuffled papers on his desk without looking at her. Jazz frowned. "Surely you don't still think I had something to do with that?"

"No, we got him back. That was the GIW." Her eyes burned and she took a shaky breath in before continuing. "He fell through a ghost portal when he got home." she took a few more deep breaths to steady herself, and when she looked up Vlad had set aside the random papers and was looking at her.

"He fell through a ghost portal?" Vlad asked when Jazz looked at him. She nodded, and he hummed thoughtfully again. "I suppose you think that I have him, then?"

"I hope you have him," Jazz said, causing Vlad to reel back as though he'd been struck. "Because the Boo-merang isn't working, and Sam and Tucker said he was hiding injuries. So I hope to high heaven that you have him, because at least then I'd know he's safe." Jazz searched Vlad's face for a minute as they stared at each other. "Do you have Danny?"

"No. I do not." Vlad said, his voice slightly shaky. Jazz nodded stiffly and stood from her chair, eyes burning.

"Please, if you find him, or… or know where he might be, please let us know."

"What's in it for me if I do?" Vlad asked, and Jazz stifled a sob. She didn't say anything as she left, and Vlad watched her leave in silence. The GIW had hurt his pseudo-son, and now the child had gone missing. He would never say it out loud, but he was worried, "Where are you, Daniel?"


Sister Margarets was crowded with buff, burly and otherwise intimidating looking biker types. It also smelled like aunt Alicia's outhouse mixed with her liquor cabinet, and Phantom couldn't imagine why anyone would want to be here, ever. It was loud and hot in here, and from the door Phantom could hear the shrill shouts of the ratty man behind the counter as he tried to get the people closest to him to stop fighting. It didn't seem like they were listening to him though, because anyone not currently trying to bash another person's brains out was cheering the others on.

Wade pushed through this crowd as though it were no different than a field of tall grass, and Phantom followed in his wake helplessly. As much as Phantom wanted to go home now that he was here, he also couldn't bring himself to leave, even though he was feeling a bit like he could take someone's head off at the slightest provocation. Wade radiated joy though, so Phantom resolved himself to stick as close to Wade as possible.

As soon as they reached the counter Wade threw himself onto a bar stool, and Phantom gingerly followed his example with the stool right next to him. The man behind the bar, presumably Weasel, was the greasiest human that Phantom had ever seen. He had the distinct look of a rodent that had been dipped in grease.

"Yo, Weasel!" Wade yelled at the man, causing him to jump and look at them, and confirming Phantom's suspicion that this was, indeed, Weasel. "I will have your finest whiskey, and an apple juice for my friend here."

"I'm not wasting my whiskey on… Wade." Weasel stopped and stared at Phantom. Phantom smiled at him uncomfortably.

"I know I can't get drunk, but that doesn't mean that I don't still enjoy drinking!" Wade said indignantly.

"Wade." Weasel frowned deeply as he kept staring at Phantom.

"I mean, seriously, how much money do I make you, and you still won't give me anything better than piss beer." Wade continued, oblivious to the stare that Weasel was leveling at Phantom.

"Wade! Why is there a child in my bar?" Weasel yelled. Wade paused mid rant and looked around. Phantom could practically feel Weasels teeth grinding together as he raised a hand and pointed at Phantom.

"OH!" Wade exclaimed, looking at Phantom as though he'd never seen him before. "You mean Danny. Yeah, he's coming with me. Are you gonna get him an apple juice, or...?"

"You can't bring a kid with you on a job! Are you out of your mind?!" Weasel gestured wildly as he spoke.

"Of course I'm out of my mind! You know this about me!" Wade snapped back. The air around Phantom suddenly felt oppressive, so he closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe evenly.

"That is not what I meant, Wade, and you know it! You're gonna get him killed if you take him with you!" Weasel placed his hands on the bar top and leaned forward as he spoke.

"Well it sure sounded like that was what you meant! And Danny can take care of himself!" Wade mirrored Weasels pose, anger radiating of of both of them.

"You don't know that! What if he takes on more than he can handle? What if he gets shot? Are you willing to have that kids death on your conscience? I thought you were better than that!" Wade reeled back at Weasels vicious words, and then seemed to still himself as he returned the volley with something equally vicious.

Phantom could no longer hear the fight over the sound of blood rushing through his head. His core pulsed in his chest to the same beat, and Phantom almost felt like he was hooked back up to the electrodes in the Hydra lab. They were zapping him. Phantom opened his eyes. He was in a bar. Sister Margaretes. The room was incandescently bright, and he could taste iron. Blood? Someone grabbed his shoulder, and his skin felt like it was crawling off of him.

"You're in my spot, kid." A silky, low voice spoke right next to his ear. Phantom looked at the hand on his shoulder. The nails were long and painted blood red, with a skull motif on the middle finger. Sam would like those he thought absently. The hand shook his shoulder. "Hey! Get out of my spot!" the voice was slightly shrill now. Where was Wade? Phantom glanced around. Wade was still arguing with Weasel, and they looked like they were both seconds from throwing punches. His chest felt tight and hot. "Are you even listening to me? Move!" The nails dug into Danny's shoulder, and he reacted without thought. The woman crashed into the wall of bottles behind the bar, and her head tilted at a wrongwrongwrong angle. Everyone was staring at him. Everything was too quiet, and bright. They were looking at him. Why were they looking? He should take their eyes! They couldn't look if they had no eyes!

"Nice throw, Kid!" Wades voice shattered whatever trance he was in, and Phantom swiveled his head to look at him. Even through the mask, Phantom could tell that Wade was smiling, and some of the tension left him.

"What the fuck! Do you know how much that's going to cost to replace?" Weasels hands were in his hair, and he was staring at the dead woman with a horrified expression.

"Oh, relax Wease. It's not like you don't have more in the store room." Wade said flippantly, the anger at the other man apparently forgotten, though Phantom was sure it still simmered just below the surface.

"That's not the point!" Weasel dragged his hands over his face. "Whatever. Fine. the kid can go with you, but only because he needs to do something to pay off this debt." Weasel mumbled some stuff under his breath before he looked back up, and seemed to notice the entire bar was staring at Phantom. "What are you all looking at? Don't you have things to do?" Weasel snapped. Chatter picked back up, and Phantom relaxed further.

Phantom looked around the bar as Weasel and Wade chatted quietly, and when Wade went to the bathroom, Phantom found himself essentially alone with Weasel. It was strangely comfortable.

"So…" Weasel said after a moment of them staring at each other. "How did you meet Wade?"

"He pulled me out of a Hydra lab half dead." Phantom said. Weasel scrubbed his hands over his face and groaned.

"By any chance would that have been about… two months ago?" Phantom nodded. "Mother fucker lied to me! Okay. okay, fine. Why's he hanging around you now?"

"Probably because they tried to kidnap me, and then they shot me, and I think I died? I don't know. Wade did die, but he came back, so it's fine." Weasel stared at him quietly for a long moment, expressionless. Phantom shifted uncomfortably under the weight of Weasels stare. and then Weasel grinned.

"So you're enhanced? A mutant?" the excitement in Weasels voice, while suppressed, as still obvious.

"I'm a ghost." Phantom still didn't understand why everyone insisted on calling him a mutant. he wasn't.

"Potato, pah-tato. You're like… the perfect partner for Wade. Neither of you can die!" Weasel dug around under the counter for a minute, and then placed a juice box on the counter in front of Phantom. "Here, on the house. I like you, kid. Don't do anything stupid." and then Wade was back.

"Ready to go, kid?" Wade asked "The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can be in Africa." Phantom stood up and followed Wade to the door, juice box in hand.

"We're going to Africa?"