Chapter 1
Once upon a time, on a weird world, Wade Winston Wilson fell in love with James Logan Howlett.
And once upon a time, on that same weird world, Wade Winston Wilson dealt with his little crush the same way I deal with every other emotion – by pushing it the fuck down, joking about it, and being completely alright about it. Completely all right.
I
It was still dark when Logan awoke. His eyes opened to see his own hand clenching Wade’s, and beyond it was Wade himself, asleep with his mouth slightly open. He had expected a bare room and pain, so his first impulse was to jump up and get into attack position. When his nose took in different, comforting smells and his eyes showed different, he was confused, controlling himself with some effort and remaining in that position. Besides, his whole body felt stiff, with a dull pain echoing around inside him. He lifted his head a little to look around. He was back in the apartment, which was another surprise. The last thing he remembered was being inside that awful room and the doctor smiling, followed by unbearable pain in his back, and after that, everything was white. Now, here, he deduced that he had been rescued – how and when would come later. But this information relaxed him. Having Wade’s hand to hold was another relaxing element, but he wouldn’t admit that. He turned his head as far as it could, and noticed that it was dark. He also noticed a slowly pulsing wet thing on his right leg. Looking down, he found Mary Puppins was asleep there, her head on his calf, with her leathery tongue resting on his skin. This final piece answered his reactive fight-or-flight instinct and he allowed his body to loosen up.
He was back home. Wade was asleep opposite him. Their dog was by his feet. Everything was alright. He repeated this to himself, forcing himself believe the last part. He looked at his hand. Wade’s fingers were interlaced with his own, and he saw now what would have happened if he had let his claws out. He sighed quietly.
He looked back at Wade, at his closed eyes, his lips parted. He now also noticed that Wade’s left hand was on him, on his back. The sensation of realizing this was strange – partly alien and unfamiliar due to the softness of the touch, and partly comforting. His fingertips were warm. He also noticed that he was completely naked, covered only by a thin sheet and some bandages on his back. New questions rose in his mind, but he pushed them down. Besides, Wade was clothed, so his imagination was prevented from running too wild. Logan breathed in deep, letting his lungs fill to capacity and thus being able to ignore the fluttering feeling in his stomach, and let it out slowly.
After a while, lying there was no longer possible as his heart was beginning to pound harder inside him – not due to any reason he could think of. He slowly let go of Wade, then gently lifted his hand from his back, and pulled Wade’s shoulder towards him, ensuring he was not about to fall off of the bed. As he turned, his joints and bones popped and clicked, making him curse under his breath and hope the sound wasn’t enough to wake anyone up. Looking down, he found the dog awake, blinking rapidly at him. He sat up and pulled off the bandages from his back. Finding him awake, she was about to bark, but Logan picked her up and made shushing noises. Her tail wagged furiously and she licked his beard, mildly annoying him but mostly bringing his heartrate back to normal. Petting her, he looked around and saw Laura asleep on the couch, wrapped in a blanket. Her hair covered most of her face, but he knew it was her.
He put the dog down and got up, snatching a pair of his underpants from a basket by the bed, where he usually kept his clothes after they had dried off. Dogpool whined, putting her paws in front of her and stretching her body. He cooed at her, pulling up a pair of sweatpants over the underpants, and was about to turn towards the living room when she ran to the door of the apartment. Puzzled at what she was doing, he took a step towards her. She stood in front of the door, paws apart, stance alert, eyes on him. When he came closer, she let out a low growl. Her tail wasn’t moving, and Logan could see her upper teeth. He stopped, and so did her growl. He lifted his foot in her direction, and the growling resumed.
Remembering their last interaction, where he had told her that he’d be back soon, he understood now that she was preventing him from going out. His throat felt funny all of a sudden. He knelt down and opened his arms, calling her with his fingers. She hesitated for a moment, then ran towards him, jumping into his arms. He hugged her, letting her tongue find new depths inside his ear, and got up.
“Sorry for getting you and everyone worried.” He whispered to her. “I’m not going anywhere now.” She made a happy sound, putting a paw on his chest.
He took her to the kitchen, got her some water and filled a glass for himself.
Swallowing the water and feeling its coolness spread through his stomach and chest, he leaned against the kitchen counter, letting his head tilt as far back as it could. He placed the glass on the counter and stretched his arms and his back, allowing the muscles and sinews to lose their stiffness. Finding Wade’s phone on the counter, he checked the date. It gave him a shock. Two weeks had passed since he had been abducted, and he remembered barely anything from them, just pain and that fucked up doctor. Suddenly he wanted to be away from the flat, away from its four walls enclosing him, keeping the air inside locked up. He needed to be under the sky, needed to be free. He took several long breaths.
He waited till the dog finished drinking, then picked her up, grabbed one of Wade’s t-shirts from a pile at the back of the apartment, and left the flat. Dogpool whined a little as he opened the door, but he petted her, assuring that he was not leaving her behind. He reached the small terrace after two flights of stairs. The view wasn’t anything, only other buildings and concrete walls, but the air was cool and it was quiet. The sky was still dark, though no stars were visible. He selected a spot and sat down, his back against the wall. The dog made herself at home on his lap, placed her head on her paws and went to sleep as he absentmindedly petted her head.
For his own part, Logan wasn’t thinking about anything in particular. He was curious about everything that had happened in the past two weeks, but knew that it would all be answered eventually. For now, he was grateful for the cool air around him, for the sky above him, for the rough surface of the concrete beneath and behind him, for the dog breathing slowly on his lap, for her sparse hair under his fingers. He took in a deep breath and let it out.
Everything was alright.
xxx
The door to the terrace banged open as Wade rushed out. He spotted Logan sitting against the opposite wall. Mary Puppins jerked awake, and Logan frowned at him. “The fuck’s wrong?” He asked. The sky was lighter now, and the city was already awake. They could hear horns honking in the distance.
“Fucking hell!” Wade said, panting. “We just rescued you! Do you know how annoying it is to find you gone again?” He walked over to them. “I should get a leash for you. What are you doing here anyway? Thank fuck Laura isn’t awake yet, she would be so worried.”
“Just wanted some fresh air,” He answered. “Didn’t know you’d get so worried.” The dog yawned and stretched herself.
“I’m not worried. Who said I was worried. Laura would be worried if she was awake, but she isn’t. You’re worried.” Wade stopped as he realized he was rambling.
“Okay.” Logan said, getting up. “Didn’t want to wake you up. Or Laura.” He was puzzled at why Wade was so awkward all of a sudden.
“Very considerate of you, Peanut. But next time, tell someone when you want fresh air, so they don’t question your empty bed.” Wade said. Both of them remembered where he had spent the night at the same time. Wade could feel his cheeks getting red, so he bent down and picked up the dog. Logan looked away, walking over to the edge of the terrace and peering down.
“Let’s go.” He said after a while.
Wade nodded. He bent down and picked up the t-shirt that Logan had forgotten to wear. Throwing it towards him, he said, “I know your tits needed fresh air too, but the flat is a family-friendly place,” He added, “At least most of the time.” He moved towards the door. Logan put it on and followed him.
Back in the apartment, Laura was just waking up. She rubbed her eyes as Wade and Logan entered. Seeing him, she sat up, looking at him with wide eyes.
Logan walked over to her. Wade said from behind him, “He’s okay, now. Nothing to worry about. Everything is fine.”
She hesitated, then asked Logan, “Are you really okay?”
“Yes,” he said, “I’m fully healed.” He sat down by her side. “How did you find me? What happened?”
“You can tell him all about that whole fuckery over breakfast.” Wade told her. “I’m making pancakes!”
“I’ll help.” She got up.
Logan silently went with them to the kitchen. The three of them spent the morning making extra-sweet pancakes.
The first debate between Wade and Logan occurred about five minutes into the whole thing.
“I’m telling you, we don’t need that much sugar.”
“And I’m telling you, we do need that much sugar.” Wade showed him the container, about 1/4th filled with the white powder. “It’s not even that much. And I promise, it’s a hundred percent sugar. I keep the coke hidden somewhere else.”
“You’ll ruin them.” Logan warned as Laura put three cups of Flour into a big bowl.
“No, I won’t.” Wade said.
“Yes, you will, asshole.”
“Hey, no profanity in front of the kid. And no, I won’t, you Grinch.”
Logan looked at her a little guiltily, but she muttered, “Not a kid,” as she looked for the baking powder.
While he was distracted, Wade emptied the sugar into the bowl.
“You fucker, now you’ve ruined it.” Logan said when he saw the off-white flour covered with the white powder, but Wade was already mixing it.
“It’s up there, in the second cabinet. Top shelf.” He directed Laura as he pointed Logan towards the cocoa powder. He picked up a pinch of salt and put it into the mix.
They combined all the dry ingredients and mixed it thoroughly. Then they hit a snag. There was no milk in the flat.
“What if we use beer?” Wade suggested, bringing out a bottle from the fridge.
When Laura saw Logan actually considering it, she yelled at them both about why that was a bad idea. In the end, Wade and Mary Puppins, who had spent all this time running between their legs and making them trip, went downstairs to get milk. It took him ten minutes to return with it, while Laura and Logan brought out all the remaining ingredients.
“Alright, we’ll keep adding the milk as it gets smoother,” Logan said, pouring in a little milk.
“And what are you going to whisk it with, chef de cuisine?” Wade asked.
Logan addressed Laura, “Here, a little trick I’ve wanted to try.” He released the first of his claws and put it into the bowl. Before Wade could say, “No, don’t—” he had already flicked his wrist in a circular motion. The bowl was cut in half and all their batter fell to the floor, leaving Logan’s hands, single claw, and feet covered in the half-wet batter.
Wade and Laura had to clutch the countertop to stop themselves from falling as they laughed at him. He stood there for a moment, letting them enjoy the moment fully, only moving when Dogpool came running to lick the batter. He snatched her up before she could get a good lick in.
“Oh, my god,” Wade got himself together. “What, in god’s name, did you think would happen!?” He got a cloth and began cleaning up the batter. “You ruined it now!”
“I thought it would work,” he said, looking at his claw covered in white sludgy liquid. “I mean, it’s flat enough.” He put his claw in the sink and turned the tap on.
“It’s also sharp enough. Or did you think our bowls were adamantium?”
Laura was sitting on the floor, catching her breath. “Do you have any more sugar?” She eventually asked.
“Yeah, but we’ll have to powder it down first.” Wade said, handing the cleaning cloth to Logan. “And while I do that, you clean it up.”
He used the mixer-grinder to powder the sugar while Logan cleaned the spilled batter. Ten minutes later, they were back to the point they had reached before Logan’s little accident – with the sugar levels high again in spite of another debate. Before pouring the milk, Wade stopped them, brought out his phone and opened a 12-minute video on whisking for Logan. Laura fell into another fit of laughter as Logan had to reluctantly watch the video (on 1.5x speed) while Wade kept a running commentary going.
“And that’s a whisker.” Wade pointed it out on the video. “Not the whiskers that are on your face, but a whisk-er.” He spelled out the word as Logan held his head in his hands, keeping the middle fingers up.
Finally, they mixed milk and butter, and whisked it all till it was smooth. Wade added some vanilla essence, more than what was necessary, saying, “One should never hold back when it comes to sweeter things in life.” He blew Logan a flying kiss, who growled, but hid his small smile by turning away on pretext of finding the pan.
Laura greased the pan with the remaining butter while Wade held up a spoon to Logan’s lips. “Taste and tell how perfect it is!”
He took a small lick. After a moment: “Too sweet.”
Wade pouted and licked the spoon himself. Then he licked it clean, throwing it into the sink and twirling once. “It’s heavenly! You’re just too much of a petty bitch to admit it.”
Laura snorted, putting the pan on the stove, while Logan stifled his own chuckle into a cough. Wade picked out another spoon and poured a little of the batter into the pan. “I don’t take constructive criticism.” He said as he finished, making the other two laugh again.
The pancakes were too sweet, but were balanced out by the coffee that Laura made. Althea had joined them just as they had poured the last spoonful of batter into the pan, stumbling over the excited dog and letting out a passionate “Motherfucker!” – as her mornings usually began.
“I’ll serve, you guys sit down.” Wade told them.
When he put down the tray containing the pancakes and the coffee, he took a step back to look at his small family. Althea and Laura and Logan and Mary Puppins. An overwhelming warmth inside him threatened to spill out through his eyes, but he shook his head, swallowed hard, and grinned with the others. He did remember to click a photo secretly, of the four of them sitting at the table – Logan, then Laura, then Althea, and the dog under her arm.
Over breakfast, Laura and Wade told the other two about what had happened – the facility, the rescue, the children, the doctor. When Logan heard that Laura had killed Rice, he extended a hand towards her, which she took.
“Are you alright?”
“I…kind of…needed to do that.” She said, her eyes down.
He squeezed her hand. “It’s okay. He was an evil man. And he would’ve gone on to do worse things.”
She nodded, recalling everything he had done on her world.
“Good fucking riddance.” Al said, her fork clinking loudly on the plate as she searched for her pancake.
“So, what’s the plan now?” Wade asked as they finished up. He turned the tap on, letting the water rush over their dishes. Al had gone down to the laundromat.
“We’ll drop you off at the mansion,” Logan told Laura. “And then we’ll go get some new contracts.”
“Slow down, Valjean, you just healed from two weeks of prison and torture!”
“Yeah, and I need something to slice.”
“We do have fruit in the house.” He shrugged. When he heard a SNIKT behind him, he quickly added, “But sure, we’ll go.”
“I’ll also need a new suit.” Logan said, more to himself. “Those fuckers took the old one.”
“Oh, I have good news then,” Wade turned off the tap and wiped his hands. “I fixed your old one!”
“You fixed it?” Logan asked slowly, apprehensive of what ‘fixed’ meant by Wade’s standards. “When?”
The tailor looked abashed. “Around a month ago. Well, two months, actually, but—”
“Two months ago!? Why didn’t you give it back?”
“You just looked so hawt in the brown & tan one.” Wade said, going to the bed and kneeling by it. “Plus, I was depressed at the time, and it gave me something to do. I didn’t want to let go of it so quickly.” He grinned and slid under. Coming back out with a bulky package, he jumped up. “Super early Christmas gift for you!”
Logan unwrapped the package. The brilliant yellow and blue unfurled as he held it up. Wade excitedly gazed at the mutant’s expressions as he took in the full suit. It was the same as it had been, down to the black in yellow in blue pattern on the sides and the belt with the red ‘X’ on it. The gloves were tucked into the belt.
“Damn.” Logan whispered before he could stop himself. He looked at the suit in its entirety, reminding himself that it was no longer his punishment to wear, but an honour, its colours and the ‘X’ on it a symbol of his friends, and his own love for them. Then he noticed a change. “Where are the sleeves?”
Wade leaned his head against his arm. “Oh, these guns need to be free to breathe for the good of the world.” He tapped his biceps with his index finger. “We saved it once. I’m not covering them and risking it all again!”*
Laura giggled as Logan stepped away, growling. Wade winked at her.
“Also, I added a new modification.”
“I swear to God, if it’s something opening when it shouldn’t—”
“It’s not, it’s not!” Wade raised his hands, then looked down at the suit’s crotch. “Although now that you mention it…” Logan growled and Wade stepped behind Laura. “Don’t worry, it’s not like that. I just added a layer of ferromagnetic shield within the fabric.”
“What’s that?” He asked suspiciously.
“You know how your wonderful spiky skeleton just cannot stop itself from smooching and frenching magnets? Well, this will stop that.”
Logan was taken aback. “It…will?”
“Yeah. In the void, I didn’t really enjoy being smacked in the face by that sentinel foot,” He said, then brought his hand to the side of his mouth and added, “Though the Titanic pose was nice.”
“But how does it—”
“Ah, don’t ask how. Neither the writer knows, nor I. Just know that it was a fucking turd to find, a rare one at that. Colossus and Yukio and Ellie helped a lot, mostly in getting it thin and light. That’s why it took two months. Would’ve taken one, but I had to undo all the sewing to put it inside.” Wade went back to the sink. “But no more fucking magnets. Figured you would be pretty tired of them by now.”
Logan didn’t know what to say. He just held the suit tighter.