Chapter Two
Three hours after the disintegration
A group was beginning to form. Order was returning.
Mantis began relaxing people who were distressed. She put Starlord to sleep and calmed Wanda so that she was in a sort of trance-like state. She even came around to Peter (apparently his outburst earlier was known to those outside of Wade) and asked if he wanted to be calmed, but he shook his head vehemently. No mind control today.
Maria Hill, a SHIELD agent who stuck close to Nick Fury, had some basic first aid training. Her and T'challa began patching up people's wounds.
Dr. Strange assumed a sort of happy medium between leader and led by teaching heroes how to meditate. Deadpool was very enthusiastic about that and begged Peter to join them.
"Look, Spidey, please please please IjustknowitwillhelpyouandI'vealwayswantedtotry!" Peter pressed his hands over his ears. Wade was practically screaming.
"Please... my Spidey-sense is too overwhelmed with you yell like that..." Peter groaned from all the noise so close to his ears.
"Oh!" Wade said, much quieter. "I had a friend who got sensory overload, too. I'm sorry, Baby Boy, won't happen again, scout's honor."
The pair then learned how to meditate, but Peter wondered how much of it was for Wade's sake, really, because the anti-hero squirmed the whole time. Spider-Man blushed and smiled with the realization that it hadn't been for Wade's benefit, at all. Deadpool had done it for him.
And it did help, weirdly enough. Spidey could be content for a little while with thinking about nothing at all. That was better than thinking about everything bad that had happened in the past few hours. That was a gift within itself, thought Peter, and made a mental note to thank Dr. Strange eventually.
Peter was tracing his finger through the orange-tinted sand of the wasteland when the low mutters of conversation stopped. Something had changed, and he and 'Pool looked up to see none other than Vision walking towards them.
"Spider-Babe," Deadpool whispered. "Am I hallucinatin' again, or is Vision walking towards us right now?"
Spider-Man didn't really like how Wade said again, but he let it slide. "You're not hallucinating. That really is Vision."
"What the fuck?" Wade mumbled, just as Wanda broke from her trance and ran to meet Vision, sobbing into his arms. The cyborg wept, too, which was something that Peter had previously thought could not happen. Vision wiped Wanda's tears and kissed her, and whispered something in her ear. Peter's heart fluttered at the display of affection and real love. He was such a romantic.
"Wade, let's see what Vision has to say, yeah?" The hero pulled Deadpool along to the inner circle of everyone, and after Vision calmed, they all listened expectantly.
"I apologize, I don't- I don't know what happened." Vision was still clearly perplexed. Peter noticed that there was no yellow stone on his forehead. "I was dead- but now- I apologize."
Wanda was gripping his hand tightly, and her head rested on his shoulder. Tears still flowed from her eyes.
"My only guess is that the stone chose me to be here."
Silence, except for Wanda's sniffing.
Vision continued. "Why is it only you here? Why are there only heroes here? Why not any regular people?"
More silence. Peter had never considered that.
"It's probably the author not wanting to deal with all the normal people. Y'know, make this a 'hero only' fic. More exciting that way." Deadpool mumbled.
"What is he going on about?" Fury asked.
"It's they/them, bitch!" Deadpool shouted.
"Wade," Peter's voice shook a little. "What are you talking about?"
"Peter, let us handle this." Dr. Strange said, a little too gently. Peter's face fell. They were all treating him like a kid again...
"You're bullying him," Wade said firmly.
"We're trying to keep him safe from murderers like you." Maria Hill's comment bit into Peter.
"Oh, like you've never killed anyone before? Leave us alone. C'mon, Spider-Man." Wade held out his hand to help Peter get up, and Peter wouldn't let go of him after that.
It was getting dark, but with the lingering light, Wade could see the wet spots under the eyes of Spidey's mask.
"Oh, baby, baby, are you crying? It's okay, shhh..." Peter took off his mask, and Wade tried not to stare at his beautiful, distressed face.
"Wade," he said, his voice small. "I'm okay."
"I know you are, beautiful, I know, you're so much better than okay. You're not a kid in my eyes, okay Spidey? You're strong, you're so strong. Fuck all of them. They think they're so goddamn high and mighty, that they can just treat you like a child when you were just trying to help!"
Peter could feel the fury rolling off the merc in waves. Tears pricked at his eyes again, but this time because of the way Wade was acting; they really cared, they were really trying, and that's more than what he could say about the Avengers.
Peter looked up at Wade. They were so tall, towering over the boy at nearly 6'3". Spider-Man stepped closer to the anti-hero and took both of their hands in his own.
"Wade... Thank you. You're so-you're so good at this."
Wade was blushing under their own mask, this time. Peter took a deep breath, and said,
"My name is Peter Parker. Strange mentioned it earlier. I would've rather told you myself, but... This'll have to do." Wade's mask stretched with their smile.
"Petey, I'm Wade Wilson, A.K.A Deadpool, A.K.A the Merc with a Mouth. But you can call me Daddy." Deadpool winked, the mask moving to match their facial expression.
"No! God, no, eww, Wade!" It's too bad Peter's mask was off now, he thought, because Wade could plainly see the flush that had spread across Peter's face.
After that(very awkward) moment passed, Peter asked,
"Wade, will you take off your mask? I can never tell what you're thinking."
Wade reacted instantly, releasing Peter's hands and scratching the back of their neck. They were suddenly fidgety and jumpy, and the emotions Peter was reading from Wade were all anxiety.
"Well, you see, honey, that's not a good idea, because imagine the worst face you've ever seen, yeah? And then hit it with a flamethrower. A fucking flamethrower. And then bulldoze it. Exfoliating doesn't work, sweetie, dermatologists hate me-"
"Woah, 'Pool, I think that's enough self-deprecation for one day. You don't have to take it off, but I'm sure it's not half as bad as what you're saying." Spidey reasoned.
"Maybe another time," Deadpool mumbled. Peter decided not to push the issue, and ended with a simple "okay."
The yelling began again from the other side of the group.
"We will surely not survive if we stay here," came T'challa's reason. "There is no water and no food here. We must go-"
"I'm not sure that you're right. I haven't felt hungry or thirsty since I've come here." Strange said calmly. Everyone was quiet for a moment.
"Still," T'challa replied. "I am not one to wait around here any longer. I say we leave tomorrow to wander this wasteland."
"I am Groot." Said Groot.
"He said that he does not know the rules of time and space here, but he hopes to understand them more fully by exploring." T'challa translated.
"Cat-Boy got all of that out of 'I am Groot'? There's no way he's really translating." Wade hissed in Peter's ear.
Spider-Man wished the sun was up so that he could see everyone's body language more clearly. The arguments died down a bit after that, with only terse whispers that even Peter's Spidey hearing couldn't make out.
"Wade, can we sleep?" Asked Peter softly. Wade chuckled.
"You don't have to ask for permission, Baby Boy. Of course we can."
Deadpool let Peter use their arm as a pillow, and Spidey stuck close to their side for warmth. Without the hot sun, deserts got cold at night, but the mercenary always seemed warm to the touch.