Chapter 1
Wade knew something was wrong.
Actually, let him rephrase that, Wade knew someone was following them.
In one moment, he was taking a leisurely stroll through the park closest to his apartment, the bite of a late winter chill giving way into the gentle warmth of an early spring.
Wade had Mary Puppins’ pretty pink leash in one hand while he talked with the other as he continued to rank the X-Men from most to least fuckable to Logan, who was walking beside him, doing a terrible job at hiding his fond little smile while attempting to mask it with a shake of his head and fake scoff.
In one moment, Wade had thought Logan was opening his mouth to tell the mercenary a classic “shut the fuck up,” but instead, and much to his delight, Logan began critiquing Wade’s smash or pass list.
The older man pauses his stride and turns to face Wade, who stopped short and peered at him curiously at the sudden movement.
Somewhere, a few paces behind them, Wade could swear he heard the shutter of a camera click.
“Okay, no. First off, your list is fucked.” Logan begins, as he angles his body closer in front of Wade and Mary, blocking the mercenary’s watchful eye of who else is out there with them. “There’s no way I outrank Beast. While I agree that I’m at least top three, there’s no fucking way I’m first when that guy exists. He should be placed way higher than me instead of barely scraping top ten on your list. And two—” Logan’s indulgence in Wade’s joking took the younger man off guard for a split second, faltering his focus, as did Logan’s calloused and cold hands as they find purpose on Wade’s shoulders.
Wade tenses as he hears a twig snap closer behind them.
Logan gives him a pointed look and a slight tilt of his head as he pitches his voice low, barely above a whisper. “—We got company. Nine o’clock.”
Logan removes his hands from Wade’s shoulders, before shoving them into his own coat pockets, continuing to walk like he didn’t just confirm Wade’s suspicions.
Wade follows his lead, bending down to unleash and pick up Mary in case the three of them have to run.
“You hungry?” Logan questions, calling out behind him, eyes glued ahead as he continues his stride. “I was thinking we get Shawarma after this.”
Instant realization dawns on Wade as he catches the throw back to the one and only time they ate it together a few months back after saving his— and now Logan’s— universe.
Jogging a little to walk beside Logan again, the mutant’s subtly is not lost on Wade as both of them are now aware that it’s the TVA trailing them.
“‘Kay,” Wade bumps his shoulder against Logan’s, a silent acknowledgment that he noticed too. The mercenary continues their conversation, knowing that the agents probably have ears, as well as eyes on them. “By the way, love the self-confidence, Peanut. Very hot, we love a self-assured, but still humbled, short king. Although I’m curious now, who’s first place on your list? And I swear to myself, Marvel Jesus, if you say Jean Grey—“
Logan cuts him off with an amused snort, as he leads them under a dark bridge, before yanking Wade down to crouch into the shadows. Wade’s breath hitches as their noses barely touch at the sudden, close proximity. The heat from their breath swirl in the air between the two of them, the warmth faintly grazing the other’s lips.
Eyes never leaving Wade’s, Logan murmurs under his breath, “Baby knife?”
Wade sets Mary Puppins down beside them, as he unsheathes his small blade, the noise acting enough as confirmation.
“Good.” Logan glances behind Wade, before his hazel eyes settle back on him, a curious look across them. “Short king?” He questions, “I’m the same height as you—“
He’s cut off by Wade’s condescending tone, “Keep telling yourself and the readers that, Peanut. Maybe someday someone will believe you.”
Logan rolls his eyes, but brushes past it. “And to answer your question, no, it’s not Jean. I respect her too much to rank her on a stupid fucking list. Same with Storm. And while I respect him too, hear me out—“
Wade interrupts him with a teasing, “Ooh! Hear me out? You’re about to say something wildly out of pocket, aren’t you, Peanut? Let your freak flag fly, I’m all ears.”
Logan scoffs, “Listen, you would agree with me too if you saw a young Charles.”
“What?!” Wade asks, incredulously and far too loudly, as Logan shoots him a warning look before shoving his hand over the mercenary’s mouth.
Wade mumbles something out, before licking Logan’s palm. The mutant yanks his hand back in disgust.
Wade tries to, but fails, to bite back his grin. “Sorry, I just didn’t take you as the type of guy to have a teacher kink.”
Logan’s eyebrows furrow as he lets out a low growl in warning from the back of his throat. “I don’t have a teacher kink.”
Wade jolts as Logan abruptly springs forward, claws unsheathing with a snikt! as he stabs a TVA agent behind the younger man, blood dripping from the fresh injuries as it splatters on Wade and the concrete ground below.
Right. They’re being trailed.
Wade turns his back to the underside of the bridge wall instead of facing People’s 2008 sexiest man alive, as Logan effortlessly tosses the body next to them and returns to his crouched position beside Wade.
“But,” Logan continues, as he faces Wade again, “If I did have a teacher kink, it would only be for a young Professor Xavier. I would have signed up for the X-Men so fucking fast if I knew the teacher looked like that.”
Wade’s eyes crinkle in way too much amusement as he reaches over Logan to yank off the stupid fucking time watch off of the dead agent’s wrist before slapping it onto his own.
“Oh em gee, Peanut!” Wade muffles his giggles, “You’re so fucking downbad for him, now I wish I knew what he looked like!” He grins, still leaning over Logan and the body as he glances up at the older man, “Okay, but from one whore to another, what did you do whenever you met him in Days of Future Past? And spare no detail!”
“Whenever I what?” Logan questions, confusion visibly creasing his features.
“Fuck, wrong one.” Wade mumbles under his breath, “Don’t worry about it! Logan the First of this universe got to meet him, that’s all—“
“He fucking what?” Logan grits out.
“Peanut, are you jealous of your own self?” Wade teases as his grin spreads impossibly wider.
Before Logan can defend himself, Mary squeezes behind him as she hops onto the body and pops a squat, pissing on it.
Logan lets out a groan at the disrespect, as Wade has to stifle his laughter and praise. “Who’s a good girl?” He whispers in a baby voice to the dog as she wags her tail, “You are! You’re Papa’s good girl!”
Logan suddenly tenses beside him, as Wade pulls back, straightening up from Mary and the body.
“Baby knife!” Wade whisper shouts as he tosses the blade behind his shoulder, hearing before actually seeing the poor, stupid agent gurgle and choke on their own blood.
“We gotta get out of here.” Logan mutters, eyes dashing back and forth between each possible direction they could take or potentially be ambushed by.
“How many?” Wade questions, as he yanks his knife free before sheathing it again to safely pluck Mary back up into his arms.
“At least a couple dozen. More coming from the sound and smell of it.” He growls out, brows crinkled in concentration.
“Fuck, okay.” Wade hisses out, “What’s the plan here? Do we try to run for it? Fight these fuckers?”
Logan shakes his head, before reaching out for Wade. “Give me your hand.”
The corner of Wade’s lips tug up into a smirk, “Peanut, baby, as much as I adore a big romantic gesture, I don’t think the power of gay love is gonna stop these fuckers. Especially when Madonna isn’t playing this time. We have to get out of here now so that we can hold hands later.”
Logan growls in frustration, but Wade can see the way his cheeks tint pink.
He can’t help but think Logan looks cute like this.
“No, you fucking idiot, give me your hand so we can use that stupid portal watch and get out of here.” Logan snaps at him, before grabbing Wade’s wrist into his own hand, and punching a combo into the device.
It glows a bright orange as Wade quickly shoots the portal behind Logan’s head as the older man ducks down and out of the way.
As soon as it appears, Logan wraps an arm around Wade as he yanks the both of them and Mary, who Wade’s still cradling, backwards into it.
Wade stumbles as he falls through, planting face first into the Wolverine’s adamantium abs. The older man’s arm still wrapped around him as they hit the ground of their dingy, shared apartment.
He winces at the impact, but it was worth it in order to protect Mary from any harm as he shielded her with his own body the whole way down.
Wade releases his hold on the dog as she jumps out of his arms, little paws pattering against the wood floors of Al’s living room, as she takes off running into the opposite direction from where they came.
The mercenary quickly shakes off the stunned feeling at their collision, as he hears shouts of protests and demands for the two of them to return to the Time Variance Authority with the arresting agents.
The voices are cut short by Wade raising his wrist again, flashing his middle finger, before shutting down the portal.
He lets out a groan as he buries his face back into Logan’s tits.
The man underneath him lets out a low chuckle, as Logan unwraps his arm from around Wade’s waist to instead gently push his shoulder up in an attempt to prompt the younger man to get off of him.
It doesn’t work.
“You alright there, Bub?” He questions, amusement clear in his tone.
“No.” Muffled, Wade groans out again, before finally lifting his head up to prop himself on his own arm on top of Logan. “What the fuck do these wannabe stormtroopers even want from us?”
Wade’s heart stutters in his chest at his own words as realization comes crashing down on him in an icy wave.
Distantly, in the back of his mind, he wonders if Logan sensed his sudden panic because the man wraps an arm back around Wade and pulls the two of them to sit up together instead.
“You don’t think…” Wade trails off, voice hollow and eyes distant.
“I don’t think what, Bub?” Logan’s tone is careful, but weighted with concern now.
Wade’s eyes trail cautiously to the only bedroom, door creaked ajar, in their apartment where Mary disappeared into.
“What if they’re still hunting variants? What if they want to send her back to her timeline?” Wade panics as he fully leaps off of Logan, and turns to slam into the room.
Logan’s quick to rise to his feet as well, as he follows closely behind Wade.
The room’s empty.
Mary must be under the bed.
She’s not.
Maybe she slipped back out into the living room whenever they were distracted.
“Wade, listen to me,” Logan grits out as his hand reaches up to rest on the mercenary’s shoulder, squeezing gently in an attempt to ground the man, as Wade glances frantically around the room. “No one’s gonna fucking take her, and if they do? It’s over our dead bodies, and that‘s gonna take a long fucking time.”
Wade shakes off his daze, focusing back on Logan. “Yeah— yes, you’re right! Those fuckers aren’t gonna know what hit them if they think they can take our sweet little baby away from her two Papas!”
Normally Logan would roll his eyes and scoff out that he wasn’t the dog’s dad, nor would he ever be, but this time? This time he nods his head in unwavering agreement as the tiniest glimpse of a reassuring smile pulls at his lips.
All too fast, Wade and Logan’s moment comes crashing down as the latter suddenly tenses, claws shooting out as he whirls around and steps protectively in front of Wade for the second time that day.
“Aw, isn’t that sweet?” Paradox mocks as he steps out of a portal that now replaces the bedroom door. “But the dog isn’t the one we want.”
Despite his words, he’s holding Mary in his arms, stroking her little head, as several more TVA agents appear behind him with drawn weapons.
“What the fuck do you want from us?” Logan snarls out, as he goes to take a step forward only for the agents to snap their weapons up to his face.
“Woah, woah, woah!” Wade calls out, hands raised in an attempt to placate the trigger happy assholes swarming them, as he walks out from behind Logan. He shoves down his previous anxiety as his worst case scenario unfolds right before his eyes now instead. “Fellas, ladies, distinguished individuals! We’ve done this dance before and it did not turn out pretty.” Wade’s eyes drop down to Mary’s, she wags her little tail at him in response.
Wade’s heart breaks at the gesture, but he shoves down his feelings instead as he meets Paradox’s gaze again. “And that dance?” He continues, “Was before you broke into my fucking house, threatened us, and took my fucking dog. I’m going to kill you all now.”
Wade yanks out his pocket knife as he throws it at the agent closest to him. The guy screams as it impales him directly in the eye from where he had his visor pulled up.
“That’s what you get for not practicing safety, dumbass!” Wade taunts, as he uses the guy as a distraction to pull out a pocket gun that definitely wasn’t in his pocket as he shoots two more agents down.
Logan follows his lead as he starts slashing away at anyone who dared to point their weapon in Wade’s direction.
“Stop!” Paradox shrieks out, causing Wade and Logan’s attention to snap up to him as they, and the TVA agents alike, freeze mid-fight. “Or the dog gets it.”
The British bastard dangles Mary Puppins over a new portal.
A chill runs through Wade’s spine as he recognizes the roar of Alioth from the Void as the monster rapidly approaches.
Logan freezes as Wade gasps out, his heart plummeting to his feet. “Don’t you fucking dare!”
“Oh, I do dare.” A wicked smile grows across Paradox’s face.
The portal behind him snaps shut, as the evil bastard startles, confused. He has the actual fucking audacity to frown.
“That’s quite enough, Paradox.” B-15 commands. She snaps her fingers once as two more agents flank Paradox on either side as they forcefully take the dog from him.
He starts to protest, but B-15 shuts him down with a mere pointed look, before she returns her attention back to the agent holding Mary.
The agent looks to her boss for further instructions, as B-15 points to Wade.
Without any hesitation, she passes Mary safely back to him as the dog leaps the rest of the distance into Wade’s arms and begins to lick him on his face.
Wade doesn’t notice Logan who instinctively steps beside him, claws still out as he growls at the offending agents, borderline threatening them to take another step closer to try anything else.
Wade is too distracted because he feels like he could cry. “Oh! My sweet girl, my sweet little baby, it’s okay! Daddy’s got you, he’s not gonna let that evil British bastard hurt you.” His eyes snap up to Paradox as he shoots him a death glare.
The man visibly stiffens as Wade turns his attention back to his dog who’s wagging her tail excitedly at him. “I’m going to kill him!” Wade cooes at her, “Who’s going to kill him? I am!” He giggles, “Yes, I am!”
Logan re-sheathes the claws on one of his hands as he reaches out to gently scratch behind Mary’s ears. She leans into the touch, before he pulls away again, letting his claws pop back out.
“I apologize for my agent, Mr. Wilson. He’s on a probationary period, and seems to have forgotten his current, authorized duties.” B-15 explains, her voice tight, yet still authoritative. “No one will be killing, nor maiming anyone else. We are here on a strictly lawful basis.”
“And what basis is that?” Logan scoffs, annoyed by the TVAs mere presence alone.
“The basis of your Earth-10005 immigration status, Mr. Howlett.” She clarifies, as if either Logan or Wade had any idea what she was talking about.
“My what?” Baffled, Logan takes a step back.
“His what?” Wade demands, as he moves to stand in front of Logan. “What do you mean his ‘immigration status’?”
Confusion crosses over B-15’s face, but she swiftly smooths her expression back to one of neutrality. “This is standard procedure after no response from the emigrating party. We sent numerous letters and final notices to remind Mr. Howlett to file his paperwork with the Time Variance Authority if he wished to stay in your universe, Mr. Wilson. When we received no response back and a clear unwillingness for official documentation, we are forced to take actions into our own hands, and deport the foreign party. This is all explained in the correspondences he has received.”
“Listen, lady,” Logan cuts in, “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, because I didn’t receive anything from you assholes.”
B-15’s eyebrows furrow the slightest bit at this. “The strong language is unnecessary, Mr. Howlett, but I assure you that we sent you several reminders. It was Mr. Paradox’s first assignment back from his leave of absence.”
At the mention of his name, Wade and Logan both whirl on him.
The British bastard avoids their glares as he begins to whistle noncommittally.
If looks could kill, and they could if Wade were Scott Summers, Paradox would be decimated on Wade’s apartment ground by now.
Instead, he settles for calling the man out. “You motherfucker, you didn’t mail shit out!” Wade turns back to B-15, “He didn’t mail shit out! How were we supposed to know?”
She’s quiet for a moment, weighing her next words carefully.
Wade swallows hard, already hating the way this is going, as he glances behind him at Logan whose brows are pinched in thinly veiled concern as his eyes shift from B-15 back to Wade.
Finally, she speaks again, and Wade’s heart plummets for the second time that day.
“I sincerely apologize that our correspondences never reached you, but there is nothing more that we can do. We have a strict deadline for a time variance visa renewal that we must see to.” She finishes, leaving little to no room for an appeal or protest.
“What about my fucking universe?” Wade accuses anyway, “After everything I fucking went through to save it, and just like that? Poof! You’re gonna send my Wolverine back?”
Wade ignores the way he can feel his face burn at calling Logan his Wolverine, but it’s the truth. He is his Wolverine. Besides, he tries to chalk the creeping heat up his cheeks to his rightful outrage.
“Mr. Wilson,” B-15 begins, “I know you faced many challenges to ensure the safety of your universe, but I can ensure you that with the destruction of the time ripper, your universe can and will continue to thrive for thousands of years to come before meeting its potential and natural demise again.” She unhelpfully reminds him.
“No.” Wade deadpans, before turning back to Logan, “Can you hold our daughter for a moment?”
Logan re-sheathes his claws, as he takes Mary from Wade.
The mercenary turns to Paradox and addresses him instead, voice even as he ignores B-15. “I see that you got a nose job, it looks nice, which is perfect because I’m now going to rip it off and feed it to my dog before dismembering you limb by fucking limb.”
Paradox blanches, as Wade takes a menacing step towards him as the Brit backs away, putting more distance back between himself and the man threatening his life.
“Wait—“ Logan holds a reasoning hand out as the other still cradles Mary. All eyes land on him. “You just said it was a visa, right?” He questions B-15.
She nods, “It is similar to one, yes.”
“Does that mean I could stay with an approved work permit?” His voice is taut, but Wade doesn’t miss the hopeful look in the older man’s pretty eyes.
B-15 frowns, “Yes, you could, but it only applies to meaningful work for the universe’s sake. Unfortunately your current position as a carpenter and part-time mercenary doesn’t qualify.”
Wade watches as defeat begins to creep into Logan’s posture, slumping his shoulders the slightest bit, as his gaze falls down to Mary.
That’s when Wade has a brilliant idea.
“He does have a meaningful job, actually!” He chimes in as he shoots Logan a reassuring smile, before it shifts into a bright grin that spreads across his face. “He’s about to begin work as an X-Man again!”
Logan startles at Wade’s words as his eyes narrow at him, but the younger man willfully ignores it.
Technically, it’s only half a lie which also makes it half a truth.
Ever since Logan began to settle into Earth-10005, the X-Men have been making consistent, yet fruitless attempts to get Logan to join them again.
It started with Professor X— the older one, not the one Logan would fuck, at least Wade assumes he wouldn’t fuck him— telepathically attempting to reach him from cerebro, as the psychic had questions of his own as to how he could sense Logan dead, yet still alive and well at the same time.
After Logan clued Wade in to why his drinking habits suddenly became heavier than usual, why his depression became worse, and why he suddenly developed an erratic paranoia that affected his every waking hour— Wade tried as best as he could to help Logan dodge Charles’ psychic calls. Even going as far as to reach out to his own X-Men friends to tell their beloved professor to back off and give Logan some space.
Charles seemed to have gotten the hint, as Logan experienced peace again for the first time in a long time, even going as far as to back off significantly on his drinking.
But that peace only lasted for so long, as one night when Logan and Wade were in the middle of watching the latest episode of the Bachelorette together, Jean Grey reached out from cerebro instead.
It sent Logan into a severe panic attack upon hearing her voice again. As Wade held a trembling Logan tightly against his own chest, the older mutant yelled at and cried on and clawed the younger man nearly all night long.
But Wade never moved from his side, nor did he let him go.
The following morning, after Logan exhausted himself and fell asleep wrapped in the close comfort of Wade’s arms, the mercenary reached out to his friends again where he had some very… colorful words for them to tell the other X-Men.
Jean didn’t reach out again after that.
Logan rushes in to remedy Wade’s proclamation when he sees B-15’s curious look she casts him. “It’s… definitely a process, especially with them being dead in my universe and me being dead in theirs. It’s complicated, but they reached out to me already, I just needed more time before seeing all of them again.”
She nods her head slowly in consideration, before questioning him. “If I contact someone from the mansion, they will be able to confirm this?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely!” Wade perks up, ignoring the death glare Logan’s shooting into the back of his skull. “Does this settle it then? Logan can stay with me since he’s an X-Men again?”
B-15’s neutral expression flickers to one of pity for the briefest moment, before she schools herself.
Wade’s grin falters.
“Unfortunately, no. Not yet, Mr. Wilson.” She tries to explain, “He would still have to apply for a work permit, and that alone will take several months to be approved. Mr. Howlett cannot stay here until then.”
Defeated, Wade turns back to completely face Logan as he takes the sight of him in, afraid that this may be the last time he sees him in a long, long time: Logan’s gently cradling their dog in the middle of Al’s bedroom in the three of their’s apartment, his eyebrows pinched in a pensive expression as a tight frown pulls at the corner of his lips.
As Wade looks at Logan as if he’s the only person in the room, let alone the world, the younger man can’t help but wonder how life would be as fugitives with Logan and Mary from the time variance law.
Something Wade can’t quite place passes across Logan’s eyes as he suddenly screws them shut, sucking in a deep breath before releasing it again.
He opens his eyes, and while Wade has only lived with the man for several months, he can tell by the look Logan’s giving him that it’s one of reassurance and a pleading, silent “trust me.”
Wade’s unsure what’s about to happen, but he does know that he trusts Logan with his life, his dog, his gaggle of friends who are much more of a family to him than his own blood.
Wade trusts Logan with his universe.
He tilts his head down in a small, agreeing nod to Logan.
Logan steps forward, closing the short distance between them until he’s side by side with Wade again, and with one hand still carrying Mary, the other reaches out to intertwine with Wade’s hand.
Wade’s heart stutters in his chest at the contact, bittersweet deja vu overwhelming him as he remembers their banter from earlier in the day.
“We have to get out of here now so that we can hold hands later.”
Logan takes a deep breath, before turning back to B-15, hand still in hand with Wade’s as he squeezes gently. “I’m applying for a K-1 visa so I can stay with my fiancé and our dog. Consider this my official notice.”
Wade’s racing thoughts come to a screeching halt.
Wait, what?
And then, Did he just fucking Proposal me?