Wade noted that the demigods had crossed the street, letting them have some privacy.
The voices were yelling at him. It was his fault and his fault only that Peter was in this situation. If his teleporter hadn't fucked up, they would have been in their apartment cuddling and not in a dark and smelly alley, crying their hearts out because they were stuck in another universe. They had nothing. No friends, no family, no jobs nor a place to live. Everything they had, everyone they knew were on the place they had no idea how to return to. Wade did not deserve to be hugging the younger man because he was the monster that had caused his distress.
The boxes were merciless.
And they were right.
"It is my fault. I'm sorry," Wade repeated again and again.
"We'll find a way back," Peter said after a few minutes, his voice hoarse. They pulled up their masks, dried their tears and tried to steady their breathing. "For now, let's just go back and get some sleep. We can talk about our options in the morning."
Wade nodded and slowly walked out of the alley and towards the boys who were standing under a street lamp scanning their surroundings, as if making sure there was nothing harmful lurking in the dark. Peter used his web-shooters to get himself Percy to the rooftop. Nico shuffled rather uncomfortably on his feet and tried to avoid conversation with Wade by fixing his eyes on the duo, as they reached the top of the building where they had left the pegasi and watched until they took off. Wade waited until Peter disappeared before he turned to Nico and put a hand on his shoulder.
"I need to make a stop before we return, kid."
Nico shrugged Wade's hand off his shoulder and looked up at him. "What? We should really get back."
"I know, I know." Wade sprinted back into the alley and opened one of the pouches of his belt extracting from it a gun-holder and a ridiculous and improbable amount of guns and knives, which he then proceeded to hide or strap to his hips. "The thing is, I really need to go to this place because I have to confirm one thing and it's crucial that Spidey doesn't know about this yet and you are the only one who can take me there right now because you can do that cool and creepy thing with the shadows and we will attract less attention because, let's be real, a sexy grown man with swords and guns that would put any army to shame, accompanied with a teenager with a sword, walking on one of the poorest neighbourhoods in New York will call unnecessary attention and besides-"
"Okay, dude, shut up and I will take you there," Nico interrupted him. "But on one condition."
"Aye, aye," Wade, once again, mocked a military salute. "Shoot."
"Answer me honestly," He waited until Wade rolled his eyes and crossed his hand with his finger and promised "on the boy scouts and all that shit" "Why do you smell so strongly like death… Why did you call Death a she and said that Death would tell you about having a child?"
Wade tensed his shoulders and knew that Nico could see him frowning even with his mask on. Even after having discovered that Peter was his soulmate and finally being together, Wade still thought about Death from time to time; and longed for what he couldn't have anymore. He had loved her deeply and cherished the times he had died and had had dates with Death.
"Tough questions, kid," He tried to laugh it off. "Before I start, let's make one thing clear. Under no circumstances can you tell anybody about this. Capisce?" He smiled a dark, dangerous smile before seeing Nico nod and returning to his usual, cheerful tone. "Back home, Death is like, a real entity. She, he, it, Death is beyond that, so I called her whatever she felt like that time. Sometimes Death would be a she, sometimes an it. Everything was cool. We used to date. In my old line of work, the chances of death were certain. Not so much for me, but for the other people." he chuckled. "Sometimes I died too, and I would have dates with Death until I came back to life. We were happy. That's why I knew we weren't on our universe, because Death would have surely told me, or I would have noticed, if she had a son. Now that I know that we are not on my universe, I need to check if I had been here before, you know, multiverse-travel and all that shit, and that's why I need you to take me to this particular place. Now tie me up and off we go!"
"Wait, what?" Nico was frozen in his place, gaping and looking at the older man with a shocked expression. "You died? Several times and had dates with Death? You got divorced from Death?"
"I can't get divorced from who I never married, kid." Wade started tying the rope around his waist and shoulders. He hummed a tune from a song he did not quite remember the name of.
"But you said..."
"I got married way after everything with Death ended. I told you before, her name wa—is Shiklah. She's not dead, so her name is Shiklah. A succubus, you know what I mean? A total hottie with her mind control and soul-sucking kisses – which I was immune to because of the whole crazy unkillable deal. And she's the queen of monsters and all that shit. So that makes me the ex-king now? Well, I answered your questions and now you have to take me to this place." Wade reached down and whispered the address to Nico's ear. Nico nodded and summoned the shadows once more.
[Writer lady can't even come up with a fake address?]
{*Sigh* what did you expect, White? She doesn't even live in the US.}
Once again, they were engulfed by the darkness and they began floating across it without a word said between them. Wade realized he kind of liked the coldness the shadows provided. It numbed his senses and thus it numbed the pain of his scars. It's been a long time since he had felt so painless. It…
{[It feels like death…]}
Wade felt a hand tugging at the rope and he prepared himself to land in the middle of an unlit, dirty street. In front of them was a tattered building with shuttered windows and an old, rickety iron door.
"I'm kinda regretting this." Nico frowned.
"You'll be all right, kid," Wade walked towards the door. "Just don't speak unless you are told to, don't leave my sight and don't look anyone in the eyes and you'll be fine." He knocked the door. "And if anyone asks, you are my apprentice, so think of a nickname." The door opened slightly before Nico could protest.
"The masked ball is next month." a voice snorted from the creak of the door.
"What is red and black and red and black all over?" Wade said, ignoring the comment.
"… Someone who's been dead for years. I don't know how you know that or who you think you are but fuck off," the voice snapped.
"Deadpool's never been more alive. Now let me in, cuddle cakes. I gotta see her."
He didn't wait for the person behind the door to open up. He barged in through it with Nico closely behind. They could hear the voice calling them and telling them to stop but Wade made deaf ears to it and continued walking down the hallway until it opened and they suddenly found themselves inside a big room filled with tables and a bar on the furthest wall. Low music could be heard through the speakers and the hushed chatting among the people present came to a halt when they caught sight of the newcomers. Some of them snickered and some of them threw dangerous glares at Wade. He ignored them and walked straight to the bar, Nico never leaving his side.
The bartender raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you too old for trick-or-treating?"
"There's no such thing as 'too old'. I came to see your boss, sugarbun." The bartender laughed humourlessly and looked at Wade right in the white of his mask. She had a gun pointed at his abdomen.
"I don't know who you think you are or where you got that costume, but if you don't leave immediately..."
"Tell her Deadpool's back." he interrupted her.
"Deadpool's been dead for years. And he was never seen without his costume." She frowned and then pressed her gun to his chest. "My patience is wearing thin." Wade noticed how the rest of the clients slowly got up from their seats and unsheathed their weapons. He also noticed Nico tensing beside him and tightening the grip on his sword.
"… Deadpool?" A brown-skinned woman appeared from behind a curtain. She wore silver glasses, which she hastily took off and cleaned with the hem of her white blouse. She put them back on and gasped, raising a hand to her mouth. "That's not possible! I – I saw you..."
"You are as beautiful as the day you had my head cut off, Alessia." Wade smiled and opened his arms, inviting her for a hug. She didn't dare get any closer from where she stood. Nico tensed and shot his gaze up to the masked man's face.
"B-but h-how…?" She looked at him with big round eyes, gripping the curtains tightly.
"I wasn't called the Regenerating Degenerate for nothing, sugar," Wade winked at her. He thought he heard a clicking sound behind him. "Anyway, you have something I need and you want me not to tear down your clients limb by limb so, let's talk business, shall we? Don't mind me, I know where the office is. Let's go, kid." He started walking towards the stunned old woman but, suddenly and without further warning, he turned and grabbed Nico's shoulders and pressed him against his chest, shielding him just as the first shots were fired. The bullets pierced through his back and Wade roared a curse. Still shielding the boy with his body, Wade stumbled forward and fell on one knee. "I still feel them inside and I think they pierced my fucking lungs. You okay, kid?" Nico nodded. He could hear the blood dripping on the floor.
Alessia raised a hand and everything went quiet. She wasn't trembling any longer. Everyone tensed and waited.
"You know the rules. You cannot shoot here unless I order it. Leave," She commanded to the group that had shot Wade. "And you… hurry up," She said and disappeared through the curtains.
Wade felt his healing factor kicking almost immediately – thanks to the copious dinner he had had and the quality of the food– pushing the bullets out of his body before the wounds started closing. He groaned a curse that would put any sailor to shame as he tensed his shoulders until he heard little droppings on the wooden floor. He was going to need a new shirt.
Nico freed himself from his embrace and helped Wade on his feet. "You have so much explaining to do when we leave," he growled before letting him go. His hand never left his sword "Gods."
They walked along yet another corridor where they saw the only opened door and got inside the big office. Alessia was waiting for them behind a big desk with a Scotch on her hand. The walls were covered in bookshelves and scenery paintings. She just pointed the two chairs in front of her and waited for them to sit.
"This—Things are not supposed to work this way…" She rubbed her temple with her free hand and took a sip at her glass.
Wade took a red crayon out of his pouch and grabbed a piece of paper from Alessia's desk. "Things for me have never worked the way they were supposed to, cuddle cakes." He rested a boot on his left knee and used his thigh as a support and started doodling.
"There's no denying that it is really you. That healing of yours has always given me the creeps and so did that strange belt; never understood how you could keep so much shit in there... How can you still be alive, Wade?" She frowned. "And who's the boy? Last time I checked, you were a loner, and you weren't gone long enough to have a kid of your own."
Wade roared a laughter, "You became funnier the older you got, Alessia."
"And you are even more of an asshole. Answer me," She commanded.
"I'm not his son," Nico intervened, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm… his apprentice. I'm the Ghost King."
"Is that so?" She raised an eyebrow and look suspiciously at the two of them. "Better name than Deadpool, that's for sure," she snorted. "But you still haven't answered. How are you still alive? I saw your head."
"Excuse you, Deadpool is a fan-fucking-tasic name. And not even an atomic bomb can kill me. At least not for a long time. I told you that."
"And I always thought you were just insane… Why did you come back here, Wade? Why now?"
"I need something only you can give me. And you want the money I left here, I assume that's the reason you had me killed – which, let me add, I let you do so –, but then you discovered I hid it pretty damn well and couldn't get your old, wrinkled hands on it. I don't hold a grudge, though, what's a little murder between old friends? Most of mine have tried to kill me at least twice at some point. But next time please avoid the head. It messes with my sanity. Anyway, business. Yes. I need three new identities for me and one more. The whole package: Id's, passports, security cards, college degrees, birth and high school certificates, etc. Six total, mine Canadian, the other, American. And I need them fast. As old friends, I am willing to pay for them and maybe not kill you yet. I will write you down the names. I'll take care of the pictures. The usual."
Alessia looked at him right in the eyes and scrutinized him. "You are truly crazy, Wade," she sighed, letting go the breath she had been holding. "But you've always paid well. At least most of the times… Tell me the names and whatever else you need. I'll have yours done first. You'll have to pay beforehand for the rest of the documents."
"Always a step ahead of you, sugar. Here," Wade handed her the crayon doodle, which in fact was a list full of names, dates and all kinds of info. "They are already separated. Mines are these three." He pointed to the bottom of the list.
"You've always had a thing for alliteration." She studied the list carefully before sighing again. She nodded. "All right. Come back next month. That's the fastest I can work. You want anything else? If you need money fast, I have some jobs for you." She got up and took a folder from one of her drawers and slid it to Wade. "This person needs a sniper. A hundred grand. I can give it to you if you want to teach your boy."
"No, thanks, that won't be necessary. Just… Hurry up with that. Let's go, kid." Wade got up and walked out of the office. Nico followed him and they hurried out of the building. "We have to go back. They will be arriving shortly."
"Wait. You have some explaining to do," Nico reached to grab Wade's arm but he avoided the touch. "Dude. You are a mercenary? That's why you were so quiet at dinner? What the Hades? And what's that whole deal about you being decapitated and not dying?"
"First of all, I'm an ex-mercenary. Haven't taken a job in almost two years," Wade growled and tied the rope around himself yet once again that night. "Look, before I tell you anything, I need to speak with Spidey. Not everything, of course, but enough for us to know where we stand and what are we going to do next. You'll have to wait until then, Ghost King. You have to tell me about that nickname. Sounds really cool. Let's go, they will arrive at any moment. And remember. Not. A. Word."
"For now, Wade," Nico said curtly, before summoning the shadows.