it's no big surprise you turned out this way...
Wade has been looking for Logan for twenty minutes now. No one in the mansion seems to know where Logan ran off to, and Wade has already checked all his normal haunts. He isn't in the kitchen, the study, the Danger Room, or the bedroom that he and Logan claims as theirs when they stay at the mansion. Wade heads towards Logan's classroom in a last ditch effort, bumping right into Laura as she walks out of it.
"Hey kid, where's your old man?"
Laura shoots him a look. "He's not my - nevermind. He's out in the garden. He goes out there when he needs some peace and quiet, or when he's having an emotional crisis." She starts to walk away, and Wade calls after her.
"Do you know which one it is? Laura! Do you know which one it is??" She flips him off over her shoulder. Wade shakes his head. "Who am I even kidding, I know which one it is."
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Logan sits in front of the headstones of Scott, Jean and Charles, staring into the flaming bowls placed on each altar. The sun had been setting for a while. He isn't really sure what brought him out here today. Sometimes, he just likes to sit here and talk to them, imagining that somewhere, his own Scott and Jean and Charles are listening.
"The students are doing well. We just had a few get accepted into college actually. One's goin to Yale for pre-law," he huffs out a laugh at that. He remembers the day that Andrea, a tough girl who's mutant abilities allowed her to fly, came up to him after class with the envelope clutched in her hands. They had gotten fairly close through her interest in his classes and what all he had experienced in his 200 years.
"I don't want to open it on my own," she had whispered, and Logan had come around to the other side of his desk, placing a hand on her shoulder as she opened it. Her jaw had dropped, tears filling her eyes, and Logan had prepared for the worst. "I got in! Professor, I got in!!" He had wrapped her in a hug, telling her that he was incredibly proud and that Yale were a bunch of suckers if they didn't want her.
"I never imagined that I could help these kids like this," he whispers to the headstones. "I always thought my only purpose was to be a soldier, to fight for the kids. But I think that I'm finally realizing what you meant, Professor. When you said that they needed me. They just needed me in a different way." The headstones don't respond, but a different voice does.
"I need you too, Peanut. You know how I hate to be left out," Wade says, keeping his voice soft to not disturb the moment. Logan laughs quietly, getting up from the bench to greet his lover. Wade looks incredibly soft, wearing a grey oversized hoodie with the x-men logo on the chest and dark sweatpants. It's Wade's day off of mercenary work, meaning he hung around the mansion all day making food and entertaining the kids. Logan kisses Wade on the cheek, tapping the x-men insignia.
"I know. You look good in this, bub." Wade boops his nose, making Logan laugh again.
"I look good in anything, honey badger. C'mon in, I made burgers. We're celebrating!" Wade offers Logan his arm like the gentleman that he is, and Logan smiles, taking it. "What were you up to out here?"
Logan knows what Wade is doing. Knows that the other man is checking on him while trying not to corner him. "Just catchin them up." Wade nods like it makes sense, even though Logan knows it's crazy.
"I used to do the same, with Vanessa." It's Logan's turn to nod. He leans his head on Wade's shoulder as they walk, basking in the man's presence. Wade had explained what had happened leading up to them meeting in that bar, and while Logan didn't understand all of it, he understood breaking the multiverse to save someone you love. He would break the world to save the people in the room he was walking into.
Wade hadn't lied about them celebrating, the kitchen full of students and some of the other professors. There are so many people that the party spills into the study. Ellie, Yukio, and Laura sit at the kitchen island. Hank, Storm and Colossus sit at the kitchen table, laughing at a joke one of the students had told. Logan waves at Andrea, who enthusiastically waves back from where she is leaning against the wall. Students run in and out, grabbing burgers and chips only to disappear again. The energy is infectuous, and Logan finds himself excited to celebrate the students.
"Yukio, Negasonic Longest Name Ever, Mini-Wolvie, how would you rate my chef-scapades?" Wade asks. Logan starts putting together his own food, frowning when he notices his normal spot near the oven is taken by platters of appetizers. He comes back to the kitchen island, leaning into Wade. He admires the way the man jokes with the kids. Wade looks like he belongs here, drinking in the kids attention without restraint. Logan has had the privilege of watching Wade grow, from the mask never coming off in front of him, to it being rolled up halfway, to now, it nowhere in sight in front of all of these people. Wade's skin is ugly, a harsh reminder of the trauma Wade has been through. But his personality shines through, his humor contagious, his optimism stunning. He's gorgeous, and -
"Honey badger, you're staring. Not in front of the children!" Wade gasps, dramatically scandalized. Logan gives a classic scowl in response, causing everyone to laugh. Wade goes to pull him close, and Logan gasps.
"Wade! Not in front of the children!" Logan tries to keep his face properly shocked, but feels his smile breaking through. The girls are laughing, and Wade throws his head back cackling. It always makes Logan feel warm to make Laura and the others laugh, but making Wade laugh, really laugh, was something entirely different.
After Logan finishes eating, the two weave their way through the party. They stop by Hank and Ororo, Hank updating them on a serum he's working on to cure Wade's scars. Wade nods, a small smile on his face, but shrugs when Hank finishes. "I appreciate it, Hank, but I would hate to be a distraction."
Logan nudges him. "You love being a distraction."
Wade's smile turns a little more real. "Ugh, you know me so well."
Hank and Storm shake their heads, and the two move on. Logan sees Andrea, talking to a group of students and Colossus, and brings Wade over to her.
"Wade, do you know Andrea? She's leavin us to go to Yale," Logan brags.
Andrea blushes. "Only because of you, Professor. I never really thought it was an option. I'm so glad that you came to the mansion last year."
Wade squeezes Logan's hand. Logan clears his throat around the emotion clogging it, and reaches into the pocket of his oversized flannel he has on over his sweatpants. He sorts through the papers he pulls out, and finds one labeled with her name. He hands it to her nervously.
"I wish I could've gotten you a better present, but I thought that you might want a copy of the recommendation letter I sent to them. You're always welcome here, but sometimes you'll need a piece of home, a piece of us, while you're there," Logan knows his voice has gone soft, the way it always does when he's around his kids. "Don't read it while I'm here, it'll stress me out." That gets a wet laugh from her, and she holds the letter to her chest.
"Thank you, professor. Seriously, you don't know how much you've helped me," Andrea says. Logan gives her a short hug, ruffling her hair as he walks away.
"Call me Logan," he insists as he leaves.
Wade pauses with her for a moment, the two having a quiet fangirl moment over hugging the Wolverine. He gives her a quiet 'congratulations' and moves to find Logan. He's giving another student a letter, the boy reacting similarly to Andrea. Logan had sent in recommendation letters for every student who had applied to college, and is giving them to the kids once they had decided if they were going. He always wished he had something from his biggest supporters, and he wouldn't let these kids feel like they had nobody. Wade heads back to the kitchen island, grabbing a cupcake he baked on the way.
Logan met him there, handing Ellie an envelope. Ellie had applied to a few schools close to the mansion for art history. She looks at the envelope like it's going to bite her. "What's this, professor?"
"It's the recommendation I sent to the schools you applied to. I just wanted you to have it if you wanted it," Logan says. Ellie looks between the letter and Logan slowly. "If you don't want it, I can-"
"Don't worry about it, it's fine," Ellie says quickly, the words running together as she snatches it away from him. Wade laughs gently, and Logan nods at her.
Logan isn't normally a sentimental person. He used to push people away instead, act angry when he wanted nothing more than to be close to others. Now that he is letting people in, he is definitely happier, but it's also terrifying. It's just a letter, just some words he had written on a page. It shouldn't make him sweat when she hadn't taken it immediately, but it did, because he wanted her to like it.
The party lasts a bit longer, students slowly heading to bed. Storm and Hank say their goodnights to the group, who head to the study to start a movie night. Logan accepts the hot chocolate Wade hands him, pulling the man down next to him on the couch. Laura sat on the floor next to Logan's legs, Ellie and Yukio collapse together on the loveseat. Andrea, Ethan, and a few other students are in the kitchen, gathering snacks. Colossus seems half asleep in the arm chair he's in. Logan is full, sleepy, and content. Wade looks the same, legs pulled up so they're sprawled in Logan's lap. Logan is humming along to the soundtrack of the movie, watching Wade dramatically reenact it. Underneath it, Logan's super hearing picks up the shuffling of the students in the kitchen, the tossing of students trying to get to sleep upstairs. And then... a knock?
Logan sits up, trying to search through the din of noises to hear what's happening at the front door. Wade doesn't immediately notice him moving, too wrapped up in the movie and his antics. Logan faintly hears a man's voice, a weak heartbeat, and then Andrea's voice. "Go get the professor!"
Logan's off the couch before Ethan comes fully into the room.
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Foggy has had one of the worst days of his life. Matt's villain of the week turned out to be much more dangerous, to the point where Matt was willing to involve other heroes. (Well, less that Matt was willing and that Foggy had practically kidnapped him to come here.) Charles had met with Matt when he was younger, to see if he was a mutant, and Foggy was convinced that Xavier would be able to help. The only problem is that nobody has seen the man in years. And the even bigger problem is that they had been ambushed at a gas station on the way here, and Foggy had barely gotten Matt out alive.
Here they are now, staring at the young woman who opened the door.
"Hi, I'm so sorry but we need Professor X's help. My friend is really hurt," Foggy tries to keep calm, but he knows his voice is shaking. The young woman turns to one of the boys next to her.
"Professor X? He's not around, but we'll get Professor Logan," she goes to Matt's other side, slinging his arm around her shoulder and helping Foggy get Matt inside. "Ethan, go get the professor!"
They're barely through the door when an incredibly built, incredibly angry man comes running to them. He's followed by a circus of people: a man who looks like he got set on fire, three teenage girls, and a huge man made out of metal. If Foggy was less concerned about Matt, he would be insanely worried about what he was walking into.
"What happened?" the angry man barks. His hair is longer and pushed back into two points, and Foggy swears that he looks fairly familiar. It takes him a second to realize that the whole group was waiting for him to respond.
"We were on our way here and we got ambushed. Matt got hurt fighting them off. We barely made it here," Foggy pants. Matt's much heavier than he looks. He's barely finished his sentence before the group in front of him breaks into motion.
The scarred man goes to a panel in the wall, pushing it in. It opens, revealing weapons, bullet proof vests, and walkie talkies. He tosses a vest to each of the teenage girls, all of them suiting up with ease. He doesn't grab one for himself, instead opts to take his sweatshirt off, revealing an equally scarred chest. He places a leather holster on his chest, and unsheathes two katanas from the wall, placing them in the sheathes on his back.
While this has been happening, the angry man has been giving orders. "Yukio, Ellie, Colossus, go to the back door. Act casual, don't act like anything is wrong, but stay out there till we give an all clear. Andrea, go get Storm and Hank. Send Storm to the veranda and Hank down here. Ethan, any of the kids who are still down here need to get in the study now." The man switches place with the girl who had helped them in, Andrea, and watches everyone scatter. The scarred man comes up to him, having finished strapping countless blades on. They lean their foreheads together briefly, the scarred man cupping the other man's cheek before they draw away from each other. The scarred man heads to the front door, and one of the girls starts to follow him.
"Laura what are you -"
"Get this guy to Hank. I'll stay with Wade," the girl interrupts. She comes up to the man, and they repeat the forehead gesture from earlier. The two stop right in front of the front door, and the angry man starts to walk Foggy and Matt away from them.
"What are you doing?" Foggy hisses, trying to stop them. "They can't go out there, what if -"
"Nobody in, nobody out, Wade," the older man shouts. Foggy hears two katana blades scrape against each other, and the sound of knives being drawn in response. The older man pulls Foggy and Matt forward and down the hall. "They'll be fine. You should see the other guys."
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Hank meets them outside of his lab. He takes Matt from them, and Logan is torn between helping them and running back to Wade and Laura. Hank makes the decision for him.
"Logan, please help this gentleman inside and on a table. I'm assuming you know how to take vitals?" Logan nods, pushing the blond man into the lab.
"No, I'm fine. Focus on Matt. I, please, I can't lose him," Foggy's voice cracks, tracking where the huge blue man takes his best (boy) friend. (A blue guy and a metal guy? Foggy should be panicking much more than he is.)
The angry man pushes him onto a table, where he sits unwillingly, craning his neck to see around the man's huge form. "What's your name, bub?"
Foggy pauses, attention finally focusing on the man in front of him. "Foggy. Foggy Nelson."
The man pauses where he's grabbing a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. He laughs gruffly, shaking his head. "Damn, that's rough." Foggy's caught between his panic about Matt and indignation at the man's attitude.
"And your name is?" The older man doesn't look surprised at his sass, simply smiles.
"Logan. Why are you here, Froggy?" Logan asks, purposefully getting his name wrong as he finds a vein for an IV.
"Wait, Logan? We're here because we need Charles Xavier's help. The girl said she would bring the professor, and then you showed up. Where's Xavier?" Foggy's heart is jack-rabbiting in his chest. He needs to make sure Matt is okay, he needs to make sure the city doesn't get destroyed, he needs to make sure that he hasn't brought these people harm.
Logan looks at him curiously, before radio static crackles through the air.
"Deadpool to Wolverine, copy." Logan sprints to the walkie talkie that's sitting on one of the lab tables. Foggy uses that time to find Matt with his eyes, the blue man shifting around him, hooking him up to monitors and writing things down.
"Wolverine to Deadpool. How are things lookin? Copy," Logan's voice stays gruff, but Foggy can hear a shakiness under it. Whoever it is means a lot to the man. Foggy finds his eyes drifting back to Matt on instinct.
"Nothin on our end. Laura's super sniffer says there's nobody close. Copy," Logan exhales deeply with that. Foggy watches the blue man load Matt into a CT scan, feeling the guilt in his chest lessen when hearing that.
"I'll be up soon. Stay safe, stay together. Copy," Logan keeps the radio in his hand, but paces back over to Foggy.
"You too, sweetheart. Copy," the voice crackles over the speaker. Logan watches with Foggy as Hank works over Matt.
"What's he to you?" Logan asks.
Foggy considers things. Matt has been his best friend for years now, his other half, his partner. He isn't sure what that means, but it feels like it passed platonic a few years ago. "Matt's a guilt-ridden Catholic. What do you think he is to me?" Logan nods, staying quiet for a moment.
"He's also a masked vigilante, right? Doesn't leave much time for date night." Foggy's head whips over to Logan, but Logan keeps staring straight ahead.
"How'd you know?" Logan shrugs, not answering. He goes up to Hank, whispering to him. When he comes back to Foggy, he pauses.
"You need to tell him. My masked vigilante heals, yours doesn't. Tell him while you can," Logan's voice is softer now, and he places a hand on Foggy's shoulder gently before he leaves. Foggy is left alone in a lab in a strange mansion, with a huge blue man and his best friend unresponsive.
----------------------------
Logan doesn't want to admit how fast he runs back to the front of the mansion. He doesn't want to admit how relieved he is to see Wade and Laura sitting side by side on the front steps, Wade sheathing and unsheathing baby knife. Laura is fiddling with her sunglasses and it makes her look so young his knees almost buckle in the doorway. They look at him at the same time, and he tries so hard to hide the emotion on his face. Wade smiles at him in a way that tells him that he failed. In that moment, Logan could care less.
"I'm gonna go check on everyone else, and I'll be back, okay?" Logan asks. He isn't sure why he asks, obviously they've been fine this whole time, but suddenly he's anxious that if he turns around they'll both disappear.
Laura gives him a strange look that tells him she's picked up on his weird mood. She and Wade nod.
"We'll be here, sweetheart," Wade reassures. Logan backs away, not letting the two out of his sight until he absolutely has to. He heads to the study: Ethan's gotten all the students comfortable and sleeping. Logan gives him a thumbs up, and Ethan sleepily returns the gesture. Logan heads to the back porch next, finding Yukio, Ellie, and Colossus in a similar state of tired awareness. He meets Ororo on the veranda, and she confirms that she hasn't seen anything.
"I'm glad that we established a plan for when this happens," Ororo says. It had been Logan who insisted upon it after the last attack, but it had been him and Wade who had figured it out. "You handle it well."
"Handle what well?" Logan asks, eyes on the horizon. They are probably halfway through the night and Logan is weighing the pros and cons of having the team stay on guard for the rest of it.
Ororo leans against him. Logan is glad that they figured out their issues and got to a place where they could lead the mansion as a team. "The weight of Charles's legacy. You know, the kids call you Professor because you remind them of him. You fight for them, you protect them, you teach them. I can only do two out of the three."
"You're a great teacher, Ororo. And I ain't Charles," Logan whispers.
Storm shakes her head. "I always have trouble connecting to the kids. You don't."
Logan mulls it over in his head. He hadn't noticed the kids behavior towards him change. He thinks back to when Foggy came to the door, hearing Andrea say 'go get the professor' and meaning him. It scares him shitless if he's being honest with himself. He says as much to Storm and she laughs.
"That's what Charles said too. Don't think too hard, Logan."
They stay up there a little longer and decide to have the team stick through the night . Logan goes downstairs and makes a pot of coffee, delivering it to everyone. The girls make requests for energy drinks that he does not give them (those things are terrible for the body, and he's a recovering alcoholic, so he should know). He pops his head into Hank's lab and see Foggy asleep in a chair next to Matt's bed. Ethan is asleep in the study with the rest of the kids, so Logan brings the final mugs to Laura and Wade. The sun has started to rise.
Logan sends Laura inside with her mug, giving her strict instructions to go sleep in the study. He watches her walk to the back porch and sighs, but leaves her be. Wade is sitting on the front steps, unnaturally still. He has one katana unsheathed and laid across his knees. His eyes are closed. He's tapping his fingers on the blade and Logan has a flash of memory - a different Wade in a different universe on a bumpy plane ride. He sits next to him and leans his head on his shoulder.
"Thank you," Logan says. He doesn't clarify for what. He sips the coffee before placing his hand on the hilt of the blade. Wade's eyes open and Logan is struck by the warrior he sees in front of him. Wade always wears a mask, whether it's red or scars or both. But this is the real Wade. A highly trained, dangerous individual who feels the most calm in the midst of battle, midst of war. Wade lets Logan take the blade in exchange for the coffee cup.
Logan lays the katana across his knees like Wade had. It's a gorgeous blade with a leather wrapped hilt. For the first time, Logan notices characters etched into the blade.
"The steel reveals, the kill instills," Wade recites. Logan considers the words. It brings up questions: where was Wade trained, how many languages does the man know, what happened in his time in special forces? Logan is struck by how much he still has to learn about the man he loves.
"Never knew you were a poet," Logan jokes, and the spell bloodlust has cast over Wade is broken. He laughs and sips from the coffee cup gratefully.
"The kids think of me like they did Charles," Logan says. He's unsure of why he says it. Maybe he wants Wade to laugh, call him crazy. Maybe he'd rather Wade get mad and call him dishonorable. Wade does neither and simply nods.
"I know. I was wondering when you would notice," he agrees. Logan hums in acknowledgement and the two sit there until the sun is high in the sky.
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Wade places the katanas back into the wall, letting the panel slide closed. He puts his sweatshirt back on, imagining what Logan would say in his head. You took your shirt off for what? or maybe he would throw Wade's own words back at him and say Put your glistening tits away, you preening slut. Wade laughs in response to the voices in his head and goes to the kitchen. He begins his post-traumatic experience routine, meaning he dons an apron and begins to make scrambled eggs, pancakes, and bacon. He starts a pot of coffee, whistling to the movie soundtrack they didn't get to watch last night.
He hears the kitchen door swing open, but doesn't react. Not until he hears a voice he doesn't recognize.
"My apologies. I think I have the wrong room." The voice is higher for a man, soft but confident. Wade turns his head and sees the man from yesterday standing in the doorway, holding a cane that was covered in blood and wearing red sunglasses that were bent. He tilts his head as if he's listening to something only he can hear.
"Where ya tryin to go?" Wade asks, munching on a piece of bacon to see if it was done.
"The front door."
Wade shakes his head, laughing quietly. "I don't think your boyfriend would like ya leaving without him."
The man tilts his head again. "Foggy? He's not my boyfriend. We're partners."
"My bad, I didn't mean to assume. I'm genderblind," Wade leans closer. "It's my cross to bear."
The man's brows furrow, jaw tensing. "My work partner."
Wade shrugs, attention going back to the breakfast. "Kinky."
The man lingers in the doorway and Wade motions to the kitchen island. "Have a seat. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." The man walks over to the island, using his cane to feel for the chair. Wade keeps speaking. "I lived with a blind person once, Blind Al. And before you cancel me, she told me to call her that."
The man lets out a small chuckle. "I highly doubt that." Wade dumps a spoonful of scrambled egg, a few pieces of bacon and a pancake on a plate and slides it to the man. He watches the man find the silverware and dig in, tensing slightly. The kitchen door swings open again, and Wade cocks his head.
Logan walks in, shoulders dropping when he sees the man at the table. "Foggy, he's in here." Logan heads to Wade's side, reaching around him to snag a piece of bacon. Wade lets it happen, booping him on the nose once. Another man, presumably Foggy, follows Logan in, sighing when he sees the man at the island.
"Matt what the hell were you thinking? You should be resting."
"Foggy, I'm fine. We need to leave before those people track us here," Matt says, turning back to Wade and Logan.
"Not gonna happen, Daredevil. You're stayin here, and we are gonna help you find out who did this," Logan orders. Wade gasps, clapping his hands over his mouth excitedly.
"You're Daredevil?? THE daredevil? Oh my god I've always wanted to meet you!"
Needless to say, Matt and Foggy stay at the mansion for a good long while after that.