Deadpool had worked off his anger - that was closer to fury than he would have liked – and his frustration by stopping a bunch of guys from beating up and possibly raping a young woman. He trussed them all up, gift wrapping them for the police. A few were bleeding, though none were in danger of bleeding out, and all of them would forever remember the day. Broken bones healed, but they would feel the multiple fractures with age when the pain set in. Some might not even be able to get their full mobility back.
The woman had thanked him, crying so hard she had barely been able to get real words out, and Deadpool had felt a little better.
He still wanted to kill something, but those deadbeats hadn't been high up on anyone's list to be unalived.
SDSDSD
Peter was home when Deadpool walked in. He was in his lab/office/whatever space, working on upgrading his web shooters. He was hunched over his desk, glasses perched on his nose, and Deadpool curiously peered over his shoulder, still in full gear.
"Fury kick you off the helicarrier?" Peter asked as he snapped a tiny lid closed on the web shooters.
"Nah. Took myself home. The exhibition was boring and the company even more so. I decided to come home to my Spideyboy and see if he's up for some serious patrolling."
Peter looked up, peering over the rims of his glasses, and Deadpool pushed them back up his nose with his index finger.
"Killed anyone?"
"Nope." He smirked. "Scout's honor."
"You're not a Scout."
"Deadpool's honor," he corrected himself.
"That I believe. So the guy in the alien armor is still alive?"
"Well, his body is. I think his mind said bye-bye."
Peter frowned, his full attention on Deadpool now. "What?"
"The guy is a goner. Elvis has left the building. The human vegetable. Now that's a stupid hero name. And a hilarious villain one!"
"What happened to him?"
"Fury said they had a hell of a time removing the armor. Seems like it was attached to his nervous system and wasn't happy to lose a host. Took his mind with it."
"Damn," Peter breathed, closing his eyes and shaking his head.
"Can't say I share that notion."
"He was innocent, Wade!" the other man snapped. "He got his hands on something he didn't understand and it took over. He was no longer in control. It used him."
Deadpool snorted. He finally removed the mask and tossed it onto the desk. The brown eyes were ringed with silver.
"I don't care," he growled.
Peter rose immediately and wrapped strong fingers around his wrist, the chimera's sudden fury calmed by its mate's touch.
"No," Peter murmured. "Don't do that, Wade. We're okay. I came back. I'm fine. You can't go around killing those who injure or kill me."
"I have every right!"
Peter squeezed the wrist with a little more strength, though it was just a fraction of what he was capable of. Wade felt a new surge of fury, but the darkness only rippled, the anger more human than preternatural. The chimera whispered moodily, but it slithered around the bond and caressed Peter's soul.
"I don't want you to go on revenge trips. He was already punished from what you told me. He lost everything because of a stupid mistake. I'm still here."
Wade closed his eyes, felt the vortex, quiet and calm, felt the darkness that was pulsing softly in the presence of Peter.
"You think we can go on patrol without you cutting off anyone's limbs?"
Wade had to grin at the question. He leaned forward, stealing a kiss. "No promises," he murmured.
"Just do your best. Leave the katanas sheathed."
"Oh, I love your dirty talk, Spideybabe. So very, very much."
"Dinner's on me."
"And it gets even more suggestive," the merc moaned, grabbing his mask. "Can't promise I can hold back from fucking you against a wall tonight if you keep on doing that."
Peter laughed softly and took his web shooters off the work desk. "Patrol first. Kinky thoughts later."
"My kinky thoughts leave no room for anything else," he sighed, pulling on the mask.
SDSDSD
They went out for patrol, Chinese dinner on a rooftop, and no wall sex a little later.
Deadpool mourned the latter.
SDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSD
"So… you died."
Peter turned his head to look at the man laying on the roof with him, watching the night sky. There was hardly anything to see, thanks to light pollution, but it was a rather relaxing night anyway.
"Still no… after effects?" Deadpool asked cautiously.
"Like?"
"Uh, no idea. I mean, not a good role model here. I just pop back up like a jack-in-the-box. Death doesn't become me, and she hates losing again and again. She's kinda pissed off all the freaking time. Did you meet the Lady?"
"No. Like I said, can't really remember anything after the black-out."
"Huh."
"And no nightmares or anything," Peter added. "I'm good."
"You're… taking it well."
"Shouldn't I?"
"You died, Petey. Even if you don't remember it, you were killed, were absolutely dead, and you came back. Kinda takes balls of steel to just sit there and talk about it."
"Technically I'm not sitting. As for my balls…"
Deadpool snorted a little laugh. "Got those."
Peter finally did sit up and looked at his bonded. "You want me to freak out?"
"No. Not at all. Just… you need someone to talk to? Ask… okay?"
"Okay. And I'm good, Wade. Really. I don't have a problem with what happened. Apparently the rest of the world does, but I hardly remember dying. I was knocked out and then I woke up to your face."
"Worse things in life," Deadpool quipped.
"I'll say."
"Stark's been giving me the same speech, actually. Bruce offered to listen should I want to talk. They also have some kind of counsellor in Asgard who deals with near-death stuff, according to Thor. He volunteered to take me there or bring her here." Peter sighed and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up more than it already was. "People have died and been brought back before. Normal people, not bonded to an immortal nightmare. There were no bright lights. There was nothing at all. I'm okay and I'm not faking it to be strong."
He felt the chimera move closer, sliding into his soul, caressing it, and Peter smiled at his mate.
"You help a lot," he said quietly.
"Uh?"
"You instinctively do the right thing, Wade."
"Okay…"
"And you'll be there should I wake up screaming. As it is, I'm not as traumatized as people want to make me. I think Bruce is right. My brain isn't equipped to deal with what I can do. Maybe not just yet, maybe ever. I can't remember because… it was deleted? Maybe next time it stays?"
Deadpool shuddered. "No next time."
"There might just be. Eternity is long."
"Yeah."
Peter knew that should someone kill him again, he might not be so lucky to be unconscious when he passed from one side to the other, but he had been now. And he was good. Truly good.
"You should be freaking out," Wade stated softly, fingers tracing over Peter's slender digits.
"I had some time to get used to the idea. I mean, everyone's been pushing it at me, whether I had asked them or not." Peter didn't sound like he was about to slide into madness.
He interlaced their fingers.
SDSDSD
Wade looked at him, the dark eyes ringed in silver. The chimera was roiling inside him, unsure, angry, hesitant, furious, all those emotions thrown together and creating a cacophony of sound inside him head. Peter squeezed his hand, stalling the panic that was on the verge of breaking through.
Looking into the warm eyes, the handsome face, he felt some of the turmoil drain away again.
Balance.
A mate meant balance and he felt it again and again when he was together with Peter. The bond had done wonders for him and he knew he wouldn't give this up for the world at his feet.
"I'll always be there for you, Wade," Peter said softly. "Always."
"Unless someone can undo what's been done."
"You mean splice you again. Recreate what? The hellhound? I'd still be bonded to you. And the bond's unbreakable."
"Who knows? The future is that obscure, gray thing no one knows about, unless you did some time-sliding." Deadpool grinned. "Sounds fun."
"Probably. And I like you as you are, Wade Wilson. I don't want you any other way, whatever they might offer us in the future."
Wade closed his eyes and exhaled softly. "Do you know how much I love you, Peter Parker?"
Peter pulled him close and kissed him, softly, reassuring and warm, one hand cupping his cheek, the other still holding Wade's hand. "As do I. I love you, Wade. We'll be okay, whatever happens. We have forever. Or as long as it takes for someone to find a way to kill you off for good," he said pragmatically. "I'll be there every step of the way. I'll always be there."
Wade stared at him, clearly overrun, but part of that expression was also mixed in with something else.
Peter smiled a little.
He had meant it. Everything. He would be there.
SDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSD
Going back to work was a little like starting all over again, his first day in a new job, apprehensive and slightly overwhelmed.
Wade had hugged him just before Peter had left their home. Then he had pushed a lunch box at him. A Power Puff Girls lunch box.
Peter had laughed and shaken his head, feeling a lot lighter already. The lunch box was now in his back pack and he was already looking forward to Bruce's expression when he got it out.
Tony gave him a once-over, the frown on his features not really letting up.
"I'm okay," Peter just said.
It was something he had kept repeating for a while now.
"You were dead."
"I know. Thanks for reminding me again and again. And all of you knew it wouldn't be permanent."
"We had no proof," Bruce commented. "It was all in theory."
"Well, now it isn't anymore," Peter replied, voice firm. "So stop staring at me like that!"
"How is Deadpool?" Bruce asked instead, true curiosity in his voice.
"Uh, okay? Why?"
"You pulled your energy from him. It stands to reason that he might be affected."
"He isn't."
And Peter wouldn't mention the excess energy and how they had worked it off until he wasn't thrumming with it anymore. That was very much private.
No one had asked if they could examine what effect the whole resurrection had had on the chimera, and Peter was pretty thankful for it. Wade's reaction to anything coming close to what had been done to him by Weapon X drew very hostile, very destructive reactions.
Maybe Jarvis had monitored him, but there had been no intrusive tests, and all data had been erased.
Tony scowled, then his features smoothed over. "Alright. You're back. Got work to do. Chop-chop!"
Bruce rolled his eyes.
Peter just grabbed his laptop and settled down in his usual spot in the lab. Stark disappeared after a minute and Bruce went back to work.
Business as usual, though Peter was sure he would be watched more closely for a while until the newness of his 'back from the dead' status blew over.
SD
Bruce just raised an eyebrow at the lunch box. He suppressed a chuckle when Peter got out his sandwich, lovingly wrapped with a bright pink bow on top, and a green apple. There were some candies and a note that read 'Be good. Learn stuff.'
Peter had to smile. He put the note into his wallet.
Yeah, he was a sap.
SDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSD
"Do you think we're in danger of becoming immortal villains?"
Deadpool's head whipped around so fast, Spider-Man thought he could hear vertebrae crack dangerously. "Villain? You? The little arachnid with a heart of pure gold? The one person who can do no evil, speak no evil, but sees all evil and kicks it in the butt?"
Peter tilted his head, keeping the quizzical air. He refused to be distracted by the words.
"Nah," Deadpool answered. "The world would end in a flash if you did. Or in a bang, not a whimper, alas, my dear friend."
"Deadpool. Seriously."
"I am. Totes seriously."
Spider-Man just waited. The other man finally slumped back against the wall, katanas scraping against bricks. His legs kicked against the wall they were sitting on.
"You're never going to be evil, Spidey," he finally said, voice calm and even. "You might get possessed, sure. If that's possible. I mean, I can't. Tried it before. Something in that noggin's keeping people from setting up home. You could have your brain chemistry altered, maybe. You could even have a bad day. But you'd never be a villain. And who wants to rule the world anyway?" He spread his arms. "It'll be boring soon. People are always out to get you. Stressful. Knives in your back, bombs under your pillow, poison in your favorite ice cream. Nah."
Peter nodded, still crouched in his usual stance, eyes tracking the world around them from his vantage point. It was rather peaceful tonight.
"You're not listening to those gits, right?" Deadpool's white eyes were narrowed. "I thought Iron Dick and his Merry Men finally gave up on spreading Da Word."
"No, that's just me now. Thinking."
"Big brain, big thoughts."
"Sometimes it's not as much fun as it sounds."
Deadpool smirked under the mask. He unsheathed a knife and started to play with it. "They're fucking scared of is, Spidey. That's what they are. All of them. Of me. The chimera is their night terror."
He sounded oddly pleased as he balanced the knife on its tip.
"They see the monster and always will, no matter what you tell them and what I do. Haven't unalived anyone in ages. At least not for money. Not charity either. They're fucking scared," he repeated.
"Some maybe," Spider-Man agreed. "Not those who know us by now. I mean, I've been working with the Avengers from time to time on official business. And I'm working for SI and with Dr. Banner, too. The more time we spend together, the more understanding there is."
Deadpool tossed the knife from hand to hand until Spider-Man snagged it with a web and stuck it to the wall. It got him a noise of protest.
"That stuff won't ever come off!" the chimera complained in a huff. "As for the scaredy cats, there will always be some. Ignore them. I do all the time. Can't unalive it? Ignore the fucker."
"Wise words," Peter replied sagely.
Deadpool shot him a smug look. "Live and learn, grasshopper."
"Spider."
"Same difference."
"You really need to brush up on your fauna."
"Nah. I know my little spider. All I need. So, what's the plan?"
"It's rather quiet tonight. I was thinking personal time."
"Oooohh, sounds nice. Can I come, too? Watch?"
Spider-Man chuckled. "Dinner," he explained. "We could hop over to Aunt May's? We bring the food, I'll call up ahead, see if she wants us over?"
Deadpool hesitate, then a slow smile creased the mask. "Yeah. Sounds good."
"But we can make it a dinner reservation for two at Weasel's," Peter left him the choice. "We probably have to bring the food, unless he upped the menu from snacks to actually edible food stuff."
"Your aunt's fine, if she's not to busy doing what senior citizens do."
"She's not a senior citizen," he grumbled.
Deadpool elbowed him gently.
Spider-Man leaned a little closer, just for a moment, then he pulled out his cell phone.
"May?" he asked, thumb hovering over the call button.
"May," his mate confirmed.
SD
She had the table set when the two men arrived an hour later, bearing food.
She didn't know about what had happened to Peter, that Spider-Man had been killed and he had come back from the dead, but Peter planned on telling her one day.
Just not now.
tbc...