Part 4

Christmas Eve

Dinner still hasn't been served when Peter returns to the dining room, this time with Wade in tow. For such a large man he is doing a good job of hiding behind the teen.

'Wade Wilson,' Bucky is the first to catch sight of them and Peter feels his stomach plummeting to his feet. 'Long time no see. Last I saw you was in Brazil if I remember correctly. Nearly cost me my other arm.'

'Yeah well you left me riddled with holes so I think we're even,' the man replies.

'You don't seem to be doing too bad considering,' Bucky looks the man up and down.

'Well what can I say? I'm an irritating motherfucker that keeps bouncing back.'

'Language!' Peter and Steve shout at the same time.

'Bucky lay off,' Steve says warningly.

'What? I've not shot him yet, I'd say I'm on my best behaviour.'

'Wilson,' Natasha comes out of the kitchen, flicking her hair back as she takes in the mercenary.

'Widow. Always a pleasure to see your beautiful face.'

She looks to Peter, and he pleads silently with her to be nice. She walks forwards and extends a hand. 'Nice of you to join us for Christmas.' When he warily takes it she pulls him forwards and Peter hears her say quietly into his ear: 'You hurt my baby spider and I'll find a way to make you permanently dead.'

'Natasha,' Peter moans.

'Now what are you doing?' Mama walks out the kitchen, hands on her hips and fixes them all with one of those "I know you've all been misbehaving" looks that mothers always seem to have.

'Just greeting an old friend,' Bucky answers.

'Hmm,' Peter is sure Mama doesn't fully believe them, then she catches sight of the man hiding behind him. 'Is this the young man Tony was telling me about? This is your friend, Peter?'

'Yes, Mama, this is Wade Wilson,' he drags the merc forwards. 'Wade this is Mama Rhodes.'

'I take it you're the Colonel's sister?' Wade supplies.

'Flattery won't work on me son,' she says, 'now come here where I can see you properly.' She puts a hand either side of his face and pulls him down to her eye level. 'Hmm,' she says, taking in every aspect of his face.

'Err…. Not to seem rude but what is the old lady doing?' Wade asks.

'Oh yeah she did that to me,' Tony laughs as he enters the room behind Peter. 'Just give her a minute.'

Finally Mama releases Wade's face and gives his cheek a soft pat. 'You're a good man, Wade Wilson, if a little lost right now.'

'You know all that from looking at his face?' Peter asks. 'Took me months to work out he wasn't a complete nut case!'

'Hey!' Wade pouts.

'Right sorry,' Peter puts up his hands in a placating action. 'You are completely nuts, just not a complete arsehole.'

'Peter language!' May and Steve shout in unison.

'You can tell a lot of things from someone's face,' Mama smiles at him, 'if you know what you're looking for.'

'This just proves something,' Peter says with a grin.

'And what exactly is that?' Wade asks.

'You shouldn't have made such a fuss about taking off the mask,' he laughs, then dodges out of range of the merc and into kitchen to see if there was anything he could help with.

'You seem to make him happy, Wilson,' he hears Natasha say. 'Keep it up and I'll lay off the threats.'

'Aww but Widow it's not Christmas until you've threatened me at least five times.'

Dinner actually goes fairly well. Bucky is sat at the other end of the table to Peter and Wade, next to Steve. Tony is sitting next to his boyfriend, obviously taking pity on Wade and trying to make it so he doesn't feel his every move is being watched. They're joined by May, Wanda and Vision, the others taking up the seats in between.

It's Vision who asks the question most people have been avoiding. 'I hope you do not think me rude,' he says, 'but what happened to get your scars?'

Peter presses his knee against Wade's under the table. It was the one question he'd been too nervous to ask himself, knowing how self-conscious the merc was about them. Wanda catches his eye, and turns to her boyfriend. 'Vis, I don't think we should-'

'No it's fine,' Wade surprises Peter by cutting her off. 'It's not like they're easy to ignore. Short answer: cancer.'

'You've got cancer?' Peter asks.

'Yeah, uh, kind of a long story,' Wade rubs the back of his head and sighs. 'So I learned a few years back that I had terminal cancer, nothing we tried worked so things were not looking rosy.'

'We?' Wanda asks.

'My girlfriend at the time,' he explains, 'Vanessa. Anyway someone found out about my military history and the fix I was in and offered me a way out. I was… pretty desperate at the time so I signed up. Let Vanessa think I was going somewhere to die without putting her through it. It was… not entirely legal.'

'The Weapon-X programme?' Natasha asks from across the table. Peter is conscious that everyone has gone quiet, listening to Wade's story.

'Yeah, that's the one. Turns out it was experimentation to make latent mutant genes come to the front. They, uh, tried lots of different ways to get my gene to work.'

'They tortured you,' Natasha says bluntly.

'Well I didn't think it was appropriate for the dinner table but yes,' Wade gives Natasha a dark look.

'What would have happened if you didn't have the gene?' May asks.

'Lucky for me it did. Although it gave me my healing abilities, and I can recover from anything, it gave me all these scars. The healing abilities counter the cancer as fast as the cells grow, and this,' he gestures at his skin, 'is the price I pay. So no more front page photo shoots, now its Hallowe'en posters.'

'What happened to the programme? Are they still operating?' Vision asks.

'I shut it down when I escaped,' Wade answers, looking down at the table. 'They were trying to make "super slaves" to sell to the highest bidders.'

'May didn't you say you were expecting to hear back about that nursing course?' Peter asks before anyone can continue the conversation.

May smiles at her nephew. 'Yeah, they said either today or after the holiday. Looks like it's going to be a few more days of waiting.'

'What course is that?' Steve asks, and Peter shoots him a grateful smile, slyly taking his hand from the table and giving Wade's knee a comforting squeeze.

'Thanks, Baby Boy,' Wade mutters.

The rest of dinner passes without incident. Peter's quite surprised to find Rhodes is making an effort to get to know Wade, Tony pulls him aside later and explains.

'If Mama says someone's a good man, you don't argue with her,' he says. 'That woman is always right. Just wish I knew how she does it.'

May had taken a little more encouragement, and she'd taken him aside after dinner and demanded he explain just why he failed to mention he was best friends with a mercenary. He'd tried pointing out that she doesn't like hearing about his patrols, and the look she'd given him had sent him scurrying as fast as possible. Which for him is pretty damn quick.

They're all gathering in and around the common area, laughing around mugs of steaming hot drinks and tucking in to snacks that have been placed on all the available surfaces. Peter notices Wade has stepped outside and goes to follow him when Natasha catches him arm and gives a small shake of her head.

'He needs a bit of air I think,' she says, pulling him back towards the group. 'Just give him a minute, it's probably a bit overwhelming. Don't forget the only times me and Bucky have seen him before we've been trying to kill each other. And you two have just shared identities.'

'Not to mention dinner,' he mutters.

'So,' Sam's voice breaks across the conversations, 'anyone have any Christmas traditions we should make sure we do?'

'Does getting absolutely hammered count?' Tony asks.

'No!' a couple of voices chorus, causing the inventor to pout.

'We have one,' Mama says, 'that covers Christmas Eve through Boxing Day.'

'Oh god Mama, really?' Rhodes groans.

'Ok now I want to hear it,' Sam says, grinning like an idiot.

'Well it's rather simple really. Everyone has to catch everyone else under the mistletoe at least once over the holiday,' the old woman says, cackling a little at some of the wide-eyed expressions she receives.

'Now that sounds like a challenge if ever I heard one,' Bucky grins. 'I say let's do it. Prize for who catches everyone first?'

'Something tells me this is going to become a yearly competition,' Natasha sighs, then winks at Peter and stands up. She meanders over to the counter via Wade, who has just come back in from the balcony, catching him just as he steps under the piece of mistletoe that Wanda had hung in the middle of the room. She gives him a quick kiss then continues to the bar. 'I'm one ahead of you already, Barnes. Better catch up!'

'Err… what just happened?' Wade asks, blinking in surprise. Tony huffs a laugh and fills him in, the mercenary jumping out from under the mistletoe like it was about to set him on fire. He glares at Bucky. 'Come near me and mistletoe and I'll rip your arm off.'

'Feelings mutual,' the Winter Soldier growls in retaliation.

'Now, now children,' Tony says, 'that's not in the spirit of the game. But let's add the rule you have to catch someone unawares just to make it easier. And no bodily harm if you are caught please.'

They all spend the rest of the night laughing and talking. Gradually people start to filter out as they become tired, and a couple get caught under the mistletoe on their way out. Tony managing to catch Steve by pulling the super soldier back on their way out and laughing at the blond's surprised expression. Soon it's just Peter, Wade and Natasha left.

'Well boys, I'm going to head to bed so that I have some energy to cope with all the shenanigans I'm sure everyone is going to be up to tomorrow. Goodnight and behave yourselves,' she says with a small smirk, standing up and giving Peter a quick kiss on his forehead. She fixes Wade with one of her looks and then nods, with a small smile. 'You're doing alright, Wilson. Try not to screw it up.'

Wade smiles back and raises his near empty beer bottle in a toast. 'Wouldn't dream of it my beautiful Widow.'

When she's gone Peter stifles a yawn. 'I think we should head off too, Wade,' he says tiredly, letting his head fall onto the mercenary's shoulder. 'I'm beat.'

'Ugh, yeah, yeah whatever you say Baby Boy,' the man responds, stumbling over his words.

'Hmm,' Peter says, letting his eyes close. He lets out a protest as Wade moves his shoulder. 'Stop moving I'm comfy.'

'I thought you said we were heading to bed?'

Peter groans. 'Fine!' He hauls himself to his feet and takes his can to the kitchenette to throw it away then heads towards the door. 'You coming or do you really want to risk accidentally going into Bucky's room rather than your own?'

'Yeah no thanks,' Wade says, scrambling to his feet. He stops a little short of Peter.

'What now?' he asks, sleepiness making him slightly irritable. He isn't prepared for the short burst of speed the mercenary puts on to wrap an arm around him, pressing his lips against his. Peter's too shocked to register what's happening before Wade's pulling away. The man just points above his head with a sheepish look on his face.

'I thought we had the competition right?' his voice uncertain.

Peter blinks a couple of times, looking up at the mistletoe, then looking back the merc.

'Peter?'

He does the only thing he can think of. He reaches up and pulls the man's lips down to meet his own again, stifling the surprised sound as he kisses him. Wade's arm tightens around his waist, his other arm cupping Peter's cheek; both of Peter's arms wrapped around the taller man's neck.

When they finally break apart they're both breathless. Neither says anything as Peter take's the man's hand and leads him through the facility to their rooms. When they part outside, Peter presses another soft kiss to his lips.

'Merry Christmas, Wade,' he whispers, then goes into his room, closing the door softly behind him.

A/N: So Deadpool has now been accepted into the team for Christmas. I hope you enjoyed the first bit of Spideypool action everyone :)

I'm hoping to post the next two chapter on Christmas Eve, so do keep your eyes open and let me know what you think of these two chapters.

Thank you so so much to everyone who has been reading this story, and especially those who have taken the time to leave reviews. I hope you're all basically ready for Christmas and ready to relax for the holidays.

Merry Christmas,
L x

As always here's your sneak peek at the next chapter:

Tony's actually surprised to find Wade easy to talk to, and he enjoys their conversation as they clear the table and take everything back into the kitchen. 'Don't think I haven't noticed the way you look at him,' he says as he fills the sink to wash everything that won't go in the dishwasher. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Wade tense from where he's filling said appliance.
'What-'
'Don't play dumb,' he fixes the scarred man with his best don't-give-me-that-bullshit expression, the one usually reserved for Peter these days. 'I've noticed the way you look at Peter. You care about him as more than a friend.'