Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been a six months since Wade had opened up his home and his heart to the superhero of his dreams, Logan “The Wolverine” Howlett. 

Sure, there had been some teething issues, a few disputes over shared mugs and toothbrushes, and some hissed, “Get out the bathroom while I’m showering, Wade.” But it was fine. Good even. They were balanced out by takeout on the sofa while watching TV runs and therapeutic fighting in parking lots when the space became too cramped for two fully grown men and an old lady, and a princess of a dog. It wasn’t unusual for tempers to rise. 

If anyone had asked Wade, “Hey, how’s it going with your super smokin’ hot new roommate?” he’d say things were going well, that they were getting along like a house on fire, if the house had glistening, muscled abs and the fire could lick them. 

Okay, so Wade maybe had a problem. He may or may not have the hots for said super smokin’ hot roommate. 

And when Wade said the hots, he meant he was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him, or whatever bullshit Bella Swan was spouting. Wade only half paid attention to the movies as he was too busy ogling Charlie Swan and Carlisle Cullen. He’s not willing to talk about his daddy issues at this time. 

But yes, Wade’s life was currently a living hell because he had to live with the consequences of his actions, which included watching Logan work out, his eyes following the sweat drip between the canyons of his back muscles. Normally Wade wasn’t a sweat guy, but when Logan looked like he just got dipped in Wade’s favourite cherry flavoured lube, it made him want to go to tongue town. 

Yes, he knew that was gross. No, he will not retract that statement, thank you very much. 

The other problem he may have forgotten to mention was that Logan clearly had no romantic interest in Wade. Not for lack of Wade trying to hint, and when he said hint, he meant lay it on thick. Although he kinda thought he wouldn’t have to with Logan’s reputation, but oh well.

This was normally how their interactions would go:

“Go piss if you need to, Bub, I’m heading for a shower in a minute,” Logan would say. 

“Oh yeah? Need anyone to help with those hard to reach places, Peanut?” Wade would reply wittily. And then he’d either end up with a growl, or the claws would come out to play and Wade would have to dodge a swipe to the head, which was pretty rude if you asked him but that’s just the way things were at the minute. 

And, okay. Maybe things weren't going as smooth as they could be, because he'd noticed that Logan was becoming more distant in the last few weeks for seemingly no reason. Wade thought things were great at first. Logan was hanging out with him, they were doing things. Wade was helping him adjust to the X-men of this world. Wade thought they might be having their love story unfold, the old classic enemies to friends to lovers, one of his favourite fanfiction tropes. But that had stopped.

Now that he thought about it though, Al had been a bit distant lately as well. She hadn’t been letting him cuddle up to her as much. She’d been going to bingo a lot more and they hadn’t even watched Golden Girls lately either. That was their thing. Now Wade was left feeling like a diseased puppy at the pound no one wanted and maybe that it was something he did. Because it always was, wasn’t it? Wade Wilson was the world's biggest screw up, God’s worst joke. He couldn't keep anyone around. His parents, friends, not even his girlfriend. What made him think that he could hold on to someone as amazing as the Wolverine, even if he believed he was the worst one?

Not for lack of trying. 

One day he went in search of Logan and found him in the kitchen, the morning light reflecting off of him and making him look like an angel. 

“Hey, Peanut,” Wade trilled. He had lots of plans for them to bond and to get their relationship back to where it was. But clearly he had chosen the wrong day to do so. 

“What do you want?” Logan snapped, shaking out his newspaper with a little more force than necessary. Wade made an absent note in his head that Logan was looking at the job ads, which was weird as he thought Logan had a job in construction or as a bouncer or one of those jobs that big muscly men had and only Logan could fill. Not that any of that mattered now that Wade felt like his stomach had been yanked out and only a cold hollow pit was left. 

“I was just wondering, when you have some free time, there’s this new bar that opened-” 

“Wade, can’t you see I’m busy right now? Go bother someone else,” came Logan’s short reply. Wade paused for a minute before slinking away wordlessly. He sulked all the way to the living room to find Al. He flopped on the sofa with a huff and waited for her to notice, which she didn’t. That or she was ignoring him, so he huffed again, making her sigh. 

“Can’t your sulky ass wait until my stories are finished?” came Al’s exasperated answer. Wade huffed again. 

“I wanted to invite Logan out but he didn’t even give me a chance to say where we were going," Wade whined. Al sighed and picked up the TV remote to turn the TV up. Wade whined louder and flopped onto her lap and she huffed and shoved at him.

"Go do your little tantrum somewhere else. Dr. Sexy is about to reveal Antonia is really an evil twin." Wade scoffed, but rolled off her lap and slunk out of the room.

"This is so totally unfair. I can't compete with the likes of Dr. Sexy and she knows that," Wade mumbled as he walked to his room. Mary was on his bed snoozing in a sun patch when he entered. Even she took one look at him and hopped off the bed before sauntering out into the living room.

"Traitor," Wade hissed.

He flopped onto his bed and looked up at the ceiling, running through all the scenarios he could do. He thought about going back to Canada and moving in with a family of wolves. If Logan could do it then he could too. Or maybe he could just stay in his room, in this bed, and rot away.

He couldn't deny it. Things weren't as peachy keen as he liked to tell himself.

"I wish I didn't feel so alone," he murmured to himself before rolling over and going to sleep, holding on tight to his unicorn. The only comfort he had in his life right now that couldn't walk away from him.

Unbeknownst to him, his wish travelled through the air on the breeze, into the ground to a place where bugs crawled and writhed—a place for forgotten and broken things, where something cold and ancient heard it.

Chapter Text

For as much faith as everyone had put in him, Logan didn't think he could do any of this shit they wanted him to.

The X-Men had been a great help getting him legally registered in this timeline, and he was thankful for it, but he was exhausted from the run around. Bring this document to this place, no, that's the wrong document, no you have to go to the building across the street, you might have to wait three months for this to come in the mail, let's spend two hours on the phone just to hang up and start again tomorrow.

It was a fucking headache.

Thankfully in his home universe, he never had to do much of that. Illegal documents were much easier to get than whatever this clusterfuck was. Mind, Wade did offer to use some connections for him—Logan just didn't want to go that route this time because he was ready to be settled, and settled for real. Even if Wade decided to kick him out tomorrow and ask to never see him again, Logan planned on sticking around the area and starting from scratch with an easiness he knew he didn't deserve.

No more running.

The exhaustion did pull at him weirdly. Every time he saw someone, they would always ask how he was. Logan never knew how to answer, because the actual answer was never what anyone was after. They wanted him to say that he was comfortable, that he was managing and hanging in there, that he'd be running at full speed in no time. The truth was far less idyllic: he was struggling.

But nobody wanted him to say that when they asked how he was.

Honestly, Logan didn't know how much he could handle. Sure, being here was leagues better than being in his old universe and people held a lot of sympathy for him, even when they knew what he did after the shit that actually earned him sympathy. Everyone was nice. He had a bed to sleep in in an apartment with someone who handled him with the correct amounts of care and ball-busting. Three solid meals that weren't exclusively liquid yeast made it into his body every single day, and sometimes they were even good. Enjoyable.

But none of that mitigated the years and years of damage he'd purposely done to himself, and old habits die hard, even if they have to die in the end. Logan's fingers would still constantly itch for liquor that barely got him as drunk as he liked, and he would constantly feel the urge to take off without telling a single soul. He was crumbling, and the only real difference these days was that he was allowing himself to have some standards. It was maybe the only sign of life he'd been exhibiting.

It didn't say much.

Sometimes it was like the only person he could breathe around was Wade. Unfortunately, Logan thought he might have been one poorly-timed comment away from losing that, too. In the Void, things were easier. Simpler. The two of them weren't this complicated and demanding, leaving them to dance around each other and figure out how to be people to one another.

At least, that's how Logan felt. And maybe Wade could tell.

And maybe Wade really didn't like it.

Logan didn't enjoy not knowing how to interact with one of the only people in his life who seemed to have grace and the ability to keep him steady, despite how often Logan would snap at him. It… didn't make things any easier, certainly.

Like most everything in his life right now, he was at a loss for how to handle it.

—

The X-Men didn't always help. After the initial shock wore off of seeing basically everyone alive, it hurt. It hurt to think of these people, happy and safe, while his own rotted in a mass grave in another universe. He tried to come around, of course. They wanted him to and part of him wanted it, too, so who was he to tell them no? It did cause problems, especially those first few weeks when he was meeting everyone one by one and then hiding in rooms he didn't recognise just to find some reprieve. Wade had come with him, and he was thankful for that, even if he didn't know how to say it.

That was another thing he wasn't sure how to handle. He needed Wade like he needed air, like he was some sort of balm that kept him from having full blown panic attacks, but was it justifiable to ask that of him? To drag him along somewhere anytime he needed something to keep him from falling apart?

So Logan started leaving him at home.

It immediately proved to be a mistake.

Logan had been alone for so long that he forgot how to function with other people, which wasn't really a problem with Wade since he didn't mind the twitchiness. It came with constantly looking over his shoulder and grabbing people when they got to close. The growls, the sniffing, the feral parts of him—they were fine when he was with Wade, but with the X-Men?

They had comments.

At first, he could swallow them because they seemed to only be teasing, like Wade would, and everybody was trying to make him feel comfortable otherwise, but slowly, it felt worse and worse to have it acknowledged.

"The other Logan never really did that," Scott had said to him one day, pointing at Logan's hands. He could tell that he was hiding some of his wariness as he stared at his knuckles, claws peeking in and out every few seconds as he clenched and unclenched his fists. "That's like. Uh. Kneading? Cats do that?"

Logan had abruptly sheathed his claws and laid his hands in his lap, doing his best to cover his knuckles. "Yeah. Happens sometimes." The truth was that he was happy. Hank had made a joke, and Charles had laughed. It was nice to see—made him feel warm and honeyed, experiencing them casually having a good bond.

He hadn't felt like that for a long while, so it was a surprise to Logan just as much as it was to Scott.

It felt like something to be ashamed of.

And then there was the incident.

Logan had shown up for one of his weekly visits with Laura, and Charles had approached him with the request that he step in for some self defence class that Bobby was supposed to teach, but had been hit with the flu the day before and wasn't up to it. He shrugged and agreed, and for the most part, it went fine. He showed the kids how to throw a real punch, taught them how to stand when they were at the edge of a sidewalk, demonstrated all the easily reachable pressure points.

It wasn't until Laura had volunteered to help with situational awareness that things went wrong.

It's not like he was trying to freak out any of the kids—he was just doing what he would have if he needed to catch Laura without her realising it. He had her stand in the middle of the yard before walking to the other side of the mansion, all while she pointed out the tells of being followed. He had stalked her from behind the trees and a few bushes, totally honed in on catching her. It was fun, because she was sharp, and she had just as many advantages as he did. It felt good.

Too good.

He let his instincts take over too much and didn't bother reeling them in as he started crouching to the grass, fully concentrated on catching her off guard. She wasn't looking, too busy detailing something to the group, and it was the perfect time to strike, so Logan didn't think. He just did it.

Jean was apparently watching the class from inside as she prepared lesson plans, completely unbeknownst to Logan. It was later explained to him that she watched all the kids scatter, except for Laura, who was apparently waiting and ready because she knew what was going to happen. She was excited for it, even. But everyone else had run away in terror as Logan bound out from behind a tree on all fours, launched himself claws first into Laura, and tackled her to the ground with his jaw clamped around her shoulder.

He hadn't actually hurt her, even beside her healing factor. Maybe she would have bruised where his teeth made contact, but otherwise, she would have been completely unscathed because he was playing. Hunting, sure, but his hindbrain had still categorised it as play—teaching his offspring how to protect herself. Unfortunately, he didn't notice the reactions of the other kids until Jean had come out and shoved him away from Laura into a tree with her powers.

What he did notice was Laura shrieking with joy as they rolled a few times in the grass, Logan voluntarily ending stomach-up as she pushed her fists into his ribs. It wasn't a threat, really, especially not when he let her win, just a demonstration that she had him dead to rights, if he could die at all.

Of course, that's not what Jean saw.

Jean saw Logan stalking a student from the shadows until he finally made his move and attacked her viciously, adamantium and fangs flying until they sunk into her soft flesh like hot knives on butter. She saw that Laura was screaming, attacking back. She saw the rest of the class flee for their lives, screeching at the top of their lungs as the Wolverine killed one of their classmates. She saw an animal.

He hadn't been back since. It'd only been two weeks, which wasn't out of the ordinary, but he was planning to come back sooner before it happened. Despite the apologies and reassurances that he wasn't going to hurt Laura or any of the other kids, the lingering awkwardness kept him home. It soured the mood, too. The reprimand from Jean and Charles was all he could think about, and he knew that his responding attitude was hurting Wade's feelings, especially when he wouldn't budge and insisted nothing happened. It only served to make him more irritable, and it left him snapping at Wade when he didn't mean to.

Situations like this were the reason that Logan didn't try to be part of things.

He'd only hoped that Wade was going to let it roll off his back like he normally did, because Logan didn't have the capacity to worry about it. It wasn't something he liked admitting, but Logan needed someone to take care of him right now, and Wade was the perfect person to do it. He wanted Wade to be the perfect person. Logan just didn't know how to say that, or thank him for doing what he was already doing.

Logan had no idea what he would do if Wade disappeared from his life, and he hoped he never had to find out.

Chapter Text

It had been a few days since the not-so-good day and Wade was tired. Emotionally, physically. Spiritually. He was currently juggling with some shopping bags and Mary Puppins' lead. She sat on the floor, licking herself while he struggled trying to get his keys out and not drop the groceries, lest he piss Logan off more. 

He had almost grabbed them when Mary let out a little growl, which was unusual for her as she was the sweetest little angel ever. 

“Princess? What’s the matter? Did you discover your tail is attached to you again?” he cooed at her. Her growl rumbled again, and he peered over the paper bag to look at what she was growling at. He saw something red against the shit brown coloured floor in front of their apartment door, and he peered at it closer. He could see red and white which made him curious.

He bent down, placing the grocery bags down next to him and reached out for the unknown item, his hand closing around something soft and squishy. When he pulled it closer to his face, he crowed in delight. It was a little doll that looked like him in his Deadpool suit, like when he drew himself as a crayon version. 

“Well, hello handsome. Where did you come from?” he asked the doll, giving it a little shake and huffing in amusement at its soft little arms moving with the motion. “You’re coming home with me,” he chuckled. He put the doll in the crook of his arm and picked up the groceries before opening the door.

He kicked off his shoes and bent back down to unclip Mary’s collar, calling out, “Hey Al, Logan, I’m back!” He heard a faint grunt of Logan’s acknowledgement from the kitchen. The TV was on in the living room, Al’s stories blasting out, as Al herself sat in her chair watching them, but didn’t reply. Wade tamped down the hurt and the lump that formed in his throat and went to the kitchen to out the groceries away, the little Deadpool doll still tucked in the crook of his arm. 

“Hey, Lo. I found this little guy in front of the door. A real ‘leave the baby on the doorstep’ case. You know anything about it?" Wade asked as he stepped over the threshold of the kitchen. Logan was at the sink, washing dishes. He didn’t even turn around to look at him. 

“No.” 

“You didn’t even look at the precious angel!” 

Logan sighed exasperatedly and turned to look at Wade, his eyes flicking to the doll and back to Wade’s face, a blank expression on his face. 

“No, I don’t know anything about it,” he said again and turned back to the dishes, indicating that was the end of the conversation. Wade rolled his eyes, put the doll down on the kitchen island, and then started unpacking the groceries. Once he was done, he made his way back to the living room, standing in front of the TV since it’s not like Al could see it anyway. 

"Hey, Al. I found this neat looking doll outside on the doorstep. Do you know anything about it?" Wade asked.

"Wade, how the fuck am I supposed to know about a doll I can't see? Jackass," Al grumbled, picking up the remote and turning up the TV. Wade tried to not let the internal gut punch wind him.

"Yeah well, I thought maybe you could hear the colours or something," he mumbled, slinking off to his room, clutching the Deadpool doll. He closed his door behind him and flopped onto his back. He sighed and lifted up the doll to his face, grabbing each of its arms and making it do a little dance in the air, humming a tune to himself.

"At least you want to know me. So bad you wanna be me," he chuckled to himself before heaving another sigh and flopping his arms to his side, staring at the ceiling and wondering what he did wrong. It must have been something, even though when he thought back, there wasn't anything that stuck out to him that he did. He knew he was an annoying little shit and wound people up, but even Logan had more patience than that, right?

Wade rolled over and place the Deadpool on his nightstand, next to his limited edition Hello Kitty plushie. He looked at it and wondered how it got outside their door and why it looked like him, but honestly, weirder things had happened.

~~

It was a few days later. Wade had spent the day before trying to get Logan to do something with him, have guy bonding time, even if it was just drinking and grunting at each other. Wade had thought they were bonding as Logan didn't seem to hide any of his more animalistic traits he knew he kept hidden from others.

After one of Logan's drunken ramblings about how the X-men looked at him like he was a monster, Wade had heard about the incident with Laura but not in full detail as Logan had clammed up about it. But alas, it was rejected just like any other time lately. So Wade dealt with it like any normal, mentally healthy adult did. He cleaned the fuck out of the apartment.

He'd organised his weapons, something he'd meant to do for a while but dug his heels in just because Al and Logan wouldn't shut up about it. He had vacuumed everywhere, including under the sofa and tried to ignore the atrocities he found under there. The last job he decided to do before he burnt himself out was folding and putting away his laundry.

He was carrying it in to his closet when he tripped on something and went crashing into the back wall, hearing a cracking sound. He hoped it wasn't a rib.

"Ow, fuck," he groaned. He looked out of the closet to see what it was he tripped on, and laying there on the floor innocently, was the little Deadpool doll.

"What the—Weren't you on my nightstand, little guy? Did you jump ship or something?" The doll didn't answer him so he shook his head and got on his hands and knees to pick up the laundry. That's when he felt a gust of wind on his face.

"That better not be a fucking spirit breathing on me right now. I cannot deal with Casper the pervy ghost at the minute." Nothing answered back. He peered closer in the dim lighting and saw that he had cracked through the back panel of the closet.

"Aw fuck. Al's gonna kill me." He pushed his clothes aside and shuffled closer to look at the damage. He hoped there wasn't a vent leading to outside behind it or something, he didn't need a rat army trying to move in. He grabbed the broken bit of wood and pulled it away and to his surprise, a small door, just big enough to fit him maybe, was behind it. His finger touched the keyhole of it and he was overcome with the urge to unlock the door and see what's inside.

He got up, his knees protesting at the movement, and went into the living room where Al was predictably watching her stories again.

"Hey, Al. Complete hypothetical, but if I were to find a mysterious door in the back of my closet, where would I find a key?"

Al took a drag of her cigarette before waving her hand about. "How the hell should I know? Check the junk drawer."

A light bulb appeared over his head. The junk drawer, of course! He sped to the kitchen and almost ripped the drawer out. He rifled through light bulbs, batteries and all sorts of odd bits and bobs rolling around. He counted and there were at least twenty two separate key, making him throw his head back and groan.

"Who even owns this many spare keys? Does Al have a key to every apartment in the building?" He grabbed them anyway and took them to the little door and started a long expedition of trial and error. The first few keys, he couldn't even get in the lock. The next bunch he could get in but they wouldn't turn. He was just starting to get frustrated when he noticed a certain key. It was black with what looked like a button on the end of it. Wade could hear the blood rushing in his ears and it felt like there was pressure in the atmosphere, pushing down on him. Somehow, he knew this was the one.

He stuck the key in the door and it fit. He turned it and it opened. Wade held his breath as the door swung towards him and he looked inside. It looked like the inside of a kids play tunnel, with pulsating lights glowing blues and pinks and purples. He suddenly had an overwhelming urge to go inside and Wade wasn't one to ignore his instincts, so he bent down and crawled inside.

"This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't like Ms. Frizzle taking the gang on a journey through someone's colon," Wade muttered to himself, the tunnel underneath him felt soft and velvety, a skin sensory nightmare, but his curiosity won out. At the end there was another door that was unlocked and he gently pushed it open.

He was back in his bedroom.

He crawled out of the door and looked around. There was his limited edition Hello Kitty plushie. His Spider-man alarm clock. His Bea Arthur posted on the wall. It was all very confusing.

"What the shit? I busted the closet for nothing. Even Narnia would have been better than this. At least then I could have Mr Tumnus to stare at."

There was a nagging sense in the back of his head though. Call it his spider sense. Or Deadpool sense since he was pretty sure Parker had copyrighted that term. This was his bedroom, with his things. But it seemed brighter somehow. Like when you're a kid and the whole world seemed brighter, before the crushing weight of adulthood oppressed you and everything became more muted.

"Honestly, still not in the top ten weirdest of things that have happened to me," Wade spoke out loud as he walked to the bedroom door, ready to explore more.

He stepped out in to the hallway and walked to the living room. It was the same here. His art posters, his colourful couch he got from the sidewalk, all of his superhero figurine collection. But the room was tidier. More organised. Nicer, if he had to really admit it. That's when he heard a noise come from the kitchen. He checked his pockets for a knife, a pencil, hell even an apple would be useful weapon at this point.

As he got closer, he could distinguish that the noise he heard was humming, low and masculine, and pretty nice to be honest. It was some show tune. He stepped over the threshold and instead of the usual slightly dingy kitchen, that remained dingy no matter how much bleach he used, it was bright, warm and inviting. Standing at the stove was Logan, and he was humming.

"Hi, Peanut. Let me tell you about the weird experience I just had. I could have sworn I found a-"

Wade trailed off as Logan turned around. The first noticeable thing about him were the big black buttons right where Logan's baby hazels should be. Wade blinked, rubbed his eyes and blinked again. Button eyes were still there.

"Well, I guess I'm not in Kansas anymore."

The Logan with the button eyes chuckled warmly. "Nah, you're just in time for dinner, Bub." He turned back to the stove and continued stirring some other sauce, completely oblivious to the crisis Wade seemed to be having.

"So, not to completely freak out or anything, but who the hell are you? Because you look like Logan, don't smell like his musk, but you certainly look like him except for the whole," Wade circled a finger around his eyes. This Logan smiled warmly at his ramblings.

"I'm Logan. Well, other Logan if that makes it easier," Other Logan explained. It didn't make it easier.

"I got here through some little door that had been behind my closet the entire time apparently. Am I in some other universe? Because let me tell you, I've travelled the multiverse already, and I was hoping to leave it a few millennia before my next trip."

Other Logan smiled and seemed amused by Wade talking. That wasn't like Logan at all. Especially not lately anyway. Other Logan didn't answer any of Wade's questions.

"I'm almost finished with dinner. I'm making chicken enchiladas. Why don't you go get Al and I'll meet you at the table?" Other Logan turned back to the stove and that seemed to be the end of that conversation.

"O-kay," Wade dragged out, a little more than confused. He walked to the living room again and now there was someone watching TV, and from the top of her white hair from the back of the sofa, it looked like Al. When he rounded the sofa though, this other Al had the same affliction as Logan in the kitchen, as she had black buttons for eyes too.

"Er, Al? Logan, other Logan, said that dinner was almost ready." This other Al looked at him with her button eyes and gave him a great big smile.

"I was wondering when your ass was gonna get here! I'm so glad to see you. Dinner's almost ready you say? Well why don't you help an old lady up?" Wade was now super confused. His Al was never this sweet. And she would rather jab knitting needles in her eyes before letting someone guide her about like she was helpless.

"Okay?" Wade asked, uncertain. He thought that he was acting a little calmer than he felt, but this Al didn't seem threatening. With her soft cardigan over her top and trousers, she seemed almost homely. Warm and motherly. Something his Al never really was unless Wade was really down in the dumps. He reached out and gently took her arm that she offered and helped her stand up. She patted his arm with her other hand and smiled up at him.

"You're a good boy, Wade," she said. Something about those words hit Wade hard, making him feel warm. Something he's been wanting to feel for a while now.

"Thanks, Ma," he replied without thinking. She answered by leaning her head on his arm before they started walking towards the dining table in the kitchen. Other Logan was just putting down the last roasting tin and he looked at Wade and Al.

"Just in time. Come sit down, I hope you like it. What do you want to drink?" Other Logan asked.

"Hmm, how about cherry lemonade?"

Other Logan went to the fridge and opened it, while Wade helped Other Al into a seat at the table. As if by magic, he pulled out a tall glass of cherry lemonade, complete with a cherry on a stick and a little umbrella.

"Oh wow, pulling out all the stops I see. For little old me? Thanks." Wade took the the glass and took a long sip. It was cold and sweet, with a slight tang. It was perfect.

"Refreshing," Wade laughed. He took another sip as he pulled out a chair for himself at the table. The food in the trays smelled amazing and Other Logan started dishing up in front of Wade. The smell of the spiced chicken and melted cheese was too good to ignore so Wade dug in.

"Mmm, this 'ish really good," he mumbled around his mouthful. Other Al was eating up enthusiastically and Other Logan was watching Wade with a satisfied look on his face.

"I'm glad you like it," Other Logan rumbled. He turned and went back to the kitchen for something as Wade ate up all the food on the plate, not realising how hungry he was until he started eating. Once he was finished, Logan came back in, removed the plate and a cake was placed in front of him. Before his eyes, the words "Welcome home, Wade!" appeared in red icing.

"Welcome home?" he read aloud, confused. Other Logan had walked behind Other Al at this point and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Yes, we've been waiting for you, Wade," Other Logan said. Wade's brow crinkled in confusion.

"For me? Why?"

"Because we love you, dumbass," Other Al exclaimed, an affectionate smile on her face. It sent a pang through Wade's heart. He knew this wasn't really Al and Logan. It wasn't angst central for one. But deep down it felt easier to accept that the open affection and warmth coming from both of them was the truth, and that they wanted him.

Everything suddenly felt like it was too much for him and he really wanted to leave immediately. He was torn between wanting to stay and bask in the warmth and running away from it and this weird world.

"You know, I think I might actually head to bed. It's getting kinda late, I need my beauty sleep you know, with a mug like this," Wade gestured to his face. Logan's warm smile didn't change.

"Of course, I'll come with you."

Wade laughed to cover up his sudden nerves.

"Haha, yeah. Sure. Lead the way, Honey badger."

They both got up, Wade giving Other Al a mumbled reply when she said goodnight. Wade followed Other Logan back into the bedroom. It was still warm and cosy. He was a little weirded out by Other Logan pulling back the covers for him.

"Kinda weird, but I'm in to it," Wade joked. It didn't ease the tension much or the way that Other Logan was looking at him. He climbed into bed, and sat there awkwardly as the blankets were pulled over him and tucked in, nice and snug, but not too snug that he felt like he was being suffocated. It was actually pretty nice. The Other Logan reached for a small bottle Wade hadn't noticed on the bedside table. He pumped a small amount into his hand and reached for Wade.

"May I?"

"Erm," Wade hesitated, before holding out his arm. "This isn't some poison that can only be absorbed through the skin right? Because if so then I'm gonna be pissed and I'll haunt your ass before I come back to life."

Other Logan chuckled before gently taking Wade's hand in his.

"I wouldn't dream of such a thing. You could probably kick my ass from the astral plane," Other Logan mused. Wade snorted. It wasn't even that funny, but Logan, any version of Logan, admitting that Wade could kick his ass was amusing.

Wade stayed quiet though as Other Logan smoothed the lotion along his arm, rubbing it in to all the dry crevices and creases. Wade couldn't deny he had been neglecting his skin care a little lately. Mostly due to the existential crisis he was having over being in love with his roommate who wouldn't look at him twice. And now he had some weird doppelganger of said roommate rubbing moisturising cream into his arm. It was nicer than it maybe should be.

Other Logan started his humming back up as he massaged along Wade's arm, digging his thumb gently into knots Wade didn't even know you could get in your arm. Wade stayed quiet as he watched Other Logan reach for more lotion and for the other arm, Wade's eyes getting heavier as his eyes followed the repetitive motion back and forth, the tension in his body releasing as he relaxed.

"You're too good at this, you know," Wade mumbled. Other Logan looked at him, the abyss of the black buttons staring back at Wade.

"I do try. I just want you to feel safe and at home with us, Wade. I want you to like it here." Wade had an alarm bell go off in the back off his head and he squinted at Other Logan.

"Why?"

Other Logan looked at him, directly in the eyes like he was staring into his soul.

"Because you matter."

That hit Wade harder than he expected. He didn't want to think about the sting in his eyes or the burn in his throat. He felt stupid that he could be melted by some stupid words. He felt stupid for it.

"You can't go around saying those things, Peanut. A guy might think you care." Other Logan pauses in the skin care and looks at Wade directly in the eyes again.

"I do care, Wade. You do matter to me. You should know that." Wade didn't know how to reply to that, whether it was regular Logan or this weird button eye Logan. Wade cleared his throat.

"Well, I think that's enough emotions for tonight. I think I'm going to go to sleep," Wade said. Other Logan smiled and nodded, gently placing Wade's hand on the bed.

"Of course." Other Logan put the bottle of lotion back and pulled the blankets up as Wade laid down, and Wade's eyes were getting heavier.

"See you soon," was the last thing Wade heard before everything went to black.

Chapter Text

The days started blurring together after the incident, and Logan found himself feeling a little adrift. There were a few familiar ways in which he could drown out the feeling, but he wasn't sure what route to take: agree to spend time with Wade, or deal with it himself and go to the bar. He had money now—lots of it, apparently. The X-Men were more than happy to help him clear up the other Logan's finances so he could use them, which suited him just fine. It was technically his, anyway.

But that meant that he had more than enough to buy out a whole bar at least once a month for the next three years, and that information sat in his brain like poison. He was supposed to be getting sober, especially now that he didn't have the oppressive weight of everyone staring him down like he was a stain on society. It was apparently good for him to not replace the water in his veins with whiskey—or at least that's what Hank told him. His healing factor was excellent, but it still wasn't healthy for him, neither physically nor mentally.

Logan, however, would have just as soon got on his knees and confessed everything to Wade before admitting that he needed his company to heal.

He'd gone to the bar a few times after dinner over the last two weeks, not staying in with Wade despite desperately wanting to. Wade had been asking for months now to do something, and Logan kept rejecting him because he couldn't bear the thought of soaking up all his time. Then there was the idea that Wade was only asking because he thought he had to.

It was almost painful and jarring the first time Wade didn't stick around for him. After a few long, lonely hours getting drunk and then sober and then drunk again by himself, he had come home to an empty apartment with a note on the counter from Wade, validating Logan's fears: If you find this and give a shit, don't wait up! Love u lots, smooches xoxo. He had no idea where he went or what he was doing, but he figured if Wade wanted him to know, he'd say it, so Logan didn't ask.

He'd gotten used to the casual greetings and pats on the couch, the chirps and coos and unsubtle attempts to connect their bodies in some way or another. Him not being home to greet Logan with open arms was jolting. It was like someone flipped a switch on Wade's behaviour, and Logan wanted to unflip it immediately.

"You seen Wade?" Logan asked Althea after the third night of Wade's abrupt, strange absences as she watched The Price is Right. He hadn't even gone to the bar, so he wasn't sure where Wade snuck off to, or when he did it. He'd checked all over the apartment and swore up and down that he never went out the front door.

"Nope," Al responded, totally unconcerned. "He does that sometimes. Finds a way to leave without anybody knowing, usually when he's in a mood. Best to let him work it out, otherwise he becomes the meanest bastard you've ever met."

Logan hummed at that and tried to stop worrying. He would just grow a pair and figure it out with Wade in the morning.

—

Bacon was popping away in the oven when Logan finally heard Wade emerge from his bedroom. Hurriedly, Logan plopped a few pancakes onto a plate and pulled the bacon out, reaching for the maple syrup as Wade rounded the corner.

"Morning," Logan greeted as he scooped half the sheet of chewy bacon into another pan for both Wade and Al.

"Good morning," Wade said contentedly. He reached out and plucked a rasher from the pan before popping it into his mouth. Logan grimaced and watched as Wade chewed it with an open mouth, hissing as it burnt him.

Giving him an unimpressed glare, Logan muttered, "Nice," before going back to assembling Wade's plate. "Where were you last night?"

Wade swallowed and leaned against the fridge, face impassive. "A lady doesn't kiss and tell, Peanut."

Oh.

Logan hadn't even considered that.

He tried to keep his composure, but the bitterness he felt definitely seeped through when he silently nodded his head in understanding.

It must have been Vanessa.

It was already hard to not feel like his time in this apartment was ticking down the longer he stayed, and this only made it worse. If Wade had someone else to focus on, especially someone he was into, then what reason would Logan have to stick around? It was inevitable that them living together would run out like sand in an hour glass. Logan wasn't sure why he thought otherwise.

Still, he finished plating the sausage, eggs, and bacon alongside the pancakes, adding both hot sauce and syrup where needed, then handed it to Wade. Logan accepted the pensive thanks he got, and brushed past Wade to take the rest of the bacon out so it didn't burn while he was gone. Then, he promptly made his way to the coat hooks where he shoved his socked feet into shoes and wrenched the door open without so much as a backward glance.

—

Walking around New York City was distracting enough. It split his concentration between remembering his path and watching the people around him, satisfying the static running through his head. He didn't want to think about Wade and Vanessa, and he didn't want to think about why Wade might be pulling away, because it might have sent him to a place he couldn't dig himself out of. His shitty problems adjusting to this timeline were enough—he didn't need anything else fucking him up.

Quietly and calmly, he came to the conclusion that he'd better move before he got kicked out, vowing to look for other apartments in the area and hopefully give Wade the space he needed instead of crashing on his and Al's couch. If they had to come to him and ask him to leave, it would hurt much worse than if he decided to just do it on his own. It'd been a good run, and maybe he wasn't quite in the right mental space to be alone, much less away from Wade, but he would deal with it.

In his jacket pocket, his phone buzzed. He opened it and read the notification scrolling across the top of the screen.

Laura: What are you doing today

He sighed at the message and tapped out a quick Nothing, fully anticipating the immediate reply that asked him to meet her for lunch. Saying yes, he started in the direction of the bookstore cafe she suggested and tried to forget about Wade and needing to leave him. It kept needling at him on his walk, trying to push into any cracks it could seep into, so by the time he got to the bookshop, he was in an even fouler mood than he started with.

Laura, sitting at her favourite table with two drinks, clocked it as soon as he stalked in.

"What's wrong?" she asked bluntly as he sat down across from her, pushing her second drink at him.

"Nothing."

"You lie a lot."

Logan huffed a laugh at that and took a drink from his mug, savouring the dark roast. After a moment, he breathed in, put his mug down, and said, "Just need to find a new apartment."

"Oh," Laura breathed at him as she picked up a stack of books from the floor, handing him one. The cover was in black and white with a few towers in the background, the word BABEL plastered across the bottom. "You'll like this one," she said as an aside before prompting, "What happened—you and Wade finally figured it out?"

Logan snapped his head up to look at her. "What?"

She stared at him blankly, lifting her mug to her mouth before saying, "You and Wade. You're getting a bigger place together because you're doing the boyfriend thing, right?"

He reeled back and gazed at her in shock. Him and Wade? … Boyfriends? "Uh. No. I'm moving out to give him and Althea space."

Furrowing her brows, Laura glared at him with befuddlement. "You… want to give Wade space."

"He's got someone he's seeing, so." Logan didn't mention the other reason.

"And the person he's seeing isn't you?" she clarified slowly, working through the information like he was telling her something complicated.

"Right."

"Okay," she assented, taking a sip from her mug. "And you're fine with that?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Part of him was obstinate, challenging her and the perception she had, but another part of him was confused. Did the two of them seem like they were a couple? Dating? The thought struck him that he wouldn't mind if people did. He… wouldn't mind if they were. It dawned on him right there that he'd actually really like it if they actually were, which made this whole situation far more painful.

"You didn't know." She said it plainly but also softly, like it might have scared him if she wasn't careful.

"Don't matter," Logan insisted, picking up the book and flipping it over to gaze at the back of the dust jacket. "I'm still moving. Time to get my shit together and stop leaning so hard on him."

Her eyes were full of something calculating, making him feel like a flayed nerve as she watched him curiously. "I think he likes when you lean on him."

He heaved a frustrated sigh at her and threw the book back on the table, having not retained a single word of the summary. "Just—knock it off. I'm moving. Wade's not coming with me. That's it."

"He makes you happy, so how come you're giving up on that?"

"You know what?" Logan spit as he stood from his chair, turning for the door. "I'm—" He wanted to say he was going home, but he realised how that sounded. "I'm leaving. Thanks for the coffee."

Something wrapped around his ankle and pulled, almost making him topple over. Whipping around, he scowled at the hard expression on Laura's face, and she only scowled back at him before pulling at him again with their calves. "Sit," she ordered, jerking her chin to his chair. He did as he was told and folded his arms across his chest. "You need to talk to him, and make him be serious. I know you like it when your head is up your own ass, but you deserve to have someone, and he's right there. He likes you. You like him. But you're stubborn, and it makes you stupid sometimes." The look she gave him brooked no argument. "Don't be stupid."

He appreciated her candidness, but he didn't agree with her. Still, he said nothing and let her believe that he was going to take her speech to heart, sipping on his coffee and properly reading the summary of Babel.

When Logan left the bookstore cafe, he started Googling for studio apartments in Queens.

Chapter Text

After the first time he entered the other world and met Logan's nicer, if creepier counterpart, Wade told himself that he wasn't going to go again. It was weird and other Logan wasn't Logan and the same for Al too. But when he went to his closet for clothes, or when Logan grouched at him for something, he found himself wistful for it.

So of course being the king of bad decisions, he found himself crawling back through the tunnel after leaving a quickly scribbled note, as if anyone cared. And he thought it was the best decision he'd ever made.

The first time back, Logan had cooked again and other Al was watching Golden Girls and the three of them sat on the sofa laughing at the antics of the Ladies. Other Al had even let him lay his head on her shoulder and it was so warm and comfy that he had fallen asleep on the couch. He had also woken up in the morning on the couch and a crick in the neck, but it was worth it.

The second time back, Other Logan had more food ready for him and he had Wade's favourite Wham! record playing. Other Logan had let Wade ramble about all sorts of crazy stories from his days in the army. Other Logan didn't grumble once, or roll his eyes. He leaned his head in his hand and listened to Wade with a smile on his face like Wade's stories were the most interesting of all.

When he had gone back to the real world after that visit, Logan had made bacon and pancakes for breakfast and was asking questions about where Wade had gone. He'd fobbed him off with some "don't kiss and tell." spiel and Logan dropped it.

The latest visit had been one of the fun ones. Other Logan had moved all the living room furniture out of the way, handed Wade a brand new shiny katana, and held up his own, challenging Wade to a duel. Wade had laughed delightedly.

"You're gonna get knocked on your ass, Peanut," Wade crowed.

Other Logan crouched into position, both hands on his katana, and grinned. "Don't forget who's the trained Samurai here, Bub."

It felt good to get some energy out. The sounds of their swords clashing in the living room was the only thing above their panting breaths.

"Come on, Logan. I know that you're old, but surely there's still some life in the old bones yet?" Wade taunted. Other Logan gave him a feral grin, his brow furrowed.

"Bring it on."

Wade ran at him again, Other Logan managing to block the blow before it hit. It didn't stop Wade, only pushing Other Logan back even further. He thought that he had him on the run. Wade grinned, sure he had this win in the bag.

That was until Logan turned and ran up the wall, before using the momentum to push off and sail over Wade's head, landing on his feet behind him. He then rushed at Wade, pushing him into the wall. Wade let out a little 'guh' sound. He could feel all the places Logan was lined up against his back, warmth seeping in through their clothes.

"You yeilding, Bub?" Logan said into his ear, his voice almost a growl. Wade felt too warm now, squirming in Other Logan's hold.

"Yeah, yeah. Big hot shot is the better samurai. Now let me go before I piss all over the both of us. A very reasonable animal defence, I'll have you know."

Other Logan stayed there a second longer, almost pressing down on Wade a little harder before pulling back.

"Okay, that's enough rough housing for now. You hungry?" Other Logan said brightly as he moved towards the kitchen. Wade stared at his retreating back and wondered what the fuck that was. He shook it from his mind and followed after him.

They might have destroyed some furniture, but it was absolutely thrilling. Other Logan had actually proven himself to be a formidable opponent.

~~

When Wade had got back to the real world after the sparring session, he was in the mood to find Logan and see if he actually was trained as a samurai or if it was just something Other Logan made up for Wade. He whistled to himself walking down the hallway. He found the apartment empty and it didn't hurt as much before. He planned on getting some food and then nap as he was exhausted. He was always tired recently.

He entered the kitchen and made a beeline for the pantry when he spotted the newpaper sitting there innocently on the dining table, with apartment listings circled.

It hit Wade instantly.

Logan was thinking of leaving.

He had noticed Logan pulling away even more and Wade actually got annoyed. It wasn't like he hadn't tried to bond with him. And now Logan wanted to leave without even mentioning it? Wade felt like he should be more cut up about it, but when anything made him feel things he didn't want to feel, he just went to the tunnel now. In fact, outside of work, he spent as much time in the other world as he could. So that's what he did.

It was easier this way.

~~

As he was on his way out to the bodega one day, needing to fill his cravings for a something spicy and maybe salty, he bumped into his elderly neighbour Arnold. The guy was friendly enough. He kept mice and shuffled through other neighbour's mail, and was maybe a few sandwiches short of a picnic but who was he to judge? He wasn't exactly the picture of mental health.

"Morning, Arny. Hope your bunions are treating you well," Wade waved cheerily. Arnold turned to look at Wade, his eyes squinting in suspicion, confusing Wade. He looked down at his outfit, not thinking there was anything wrong with his t-shirt, jeans and cardigan combo.

"What's up old man? Your mice causing you trouble? Are they unionising?" Arnold shook his head.

"You must be careful, young Wane," Arnold said in his thick heavy Russian accent, reminding Wade he needed to call Colossus.

"It's Wade, Arnold. I've told you—"

"The mice, they come and whisper to me," Arnold continued, ignoring what Wade was saying. Wade didn't have time to entertain his weird neighbour's delusions today, he needed a spicy sandwich in his stomach pronto.

"Yeah, well, write everything down. Maybe they'll tell you national secrets, or Nestle Tollhouse's secret recipe for cookies," Wade said, backing away and starting his descent down the stairs.

"Is odd," Arnold call, his voice reverberating through the stairwell. "They said to tell you not to go through little door in closet."

Wade froze, then turned back to go ask him what the hell he meant and how he knew, but the door was slamming shut behind Arnold and Wade was left feeling uneasy. Sure the guy was loopier than Fruit Loops, but how the hell did he know?

"Yeah, good one, Arnold. Take your fucking meds, okay?" Wade called, ignoring the shakiness in his voice he wasn't going to address. It was fine. Everything was fine.

~~

Because Wade never claimed to be a person with common sense, he of course went back to the other world immediately. His run in with Arnold had left him wondering, but the pull of Other Logan's attention was too strong to ignore. The world was still as bright and cheery and warm as ever, causing Wade to push Arnold's warnings to the back of his mind, writing them off as the delusions of an old man.

He walked out into the other apartment in search of Other Logan and Other Al, needing to feel normal. He found them in the living room, his eyes widening at the array of his favourite drinks and snacks on the table, almost piled high enough to block out the tv, making him grin.

"Hey guys, what's the occasion?" he asked.

"You are, dumbass," Other Al said, but with an affectionate smile. Wade tilted his head, trying to remember if it was his birthday or the anniversary of him getting the cure to el cancer. Other Logan chuckled warmly.

This was what he liked about this place. Other Logan and Other Al were nice. Actually made him feel wanted and not like he was something to be tolerated until they could get away from him. There was a peace here that he hadn't felt in the real world for a long time.

"Get over here, Bub. We're gonna watch your favourite," Other Logan said. Wade lit up and zipped across the room to sit in between them, settling into the cushions when Other Logan reached his arm out across the back of the sofa and behind Wade's head, his hand gently bumping it. The world was hazy with warmth and it made him feel cosy. He didn't want to leave. He felt his eyes drooping, the sudden weight of exhaustion pushing heavily on his shoulders.

Time seemed to slip away from him, becoming a hum in the background of his mind.

"I've been meaning to ask you something for a little while now, Wade," Other Logan started. Wade lazily rolled his head to look at him.

"That's always a loaded question. What's up?" Other Logan smiled at Wade, the light of the television shining off his button eyes.

"I know you've been enjoying it here. We've loved having you here. It's just that, there's one little thing you need to do for me, so we can keep spending time together," Other Logan explained.

"Okay?" Wade felt his face frown. Or at least he tried to frown. He felt so floaty and light he wasn't quite sure what his face was doing. From behind his back, Logan pulled out a box and offered it to Wade. It was't anything special. A red box with a black bow. Wade lifted the lid and let out a small gasp.

Nestled in velvet were two black buttons and a sewing needle. Something snapped in Wade's brain. Other Logan wanted to sew buttons on his eyes. To give him black souless pits. Alarm bells went off in his head and he needed to get out of here.

"Geez, I don't know what to say. You shouldn't have."

Other Logan chuckled. "If you prefer them in another colour, that can be arranged. If you like red, or green, or even pink if you were so persuaded." The buttons changed colour with Logan's offerings.

Wade's brain was screaming to get out.

"I don't know. It's a big decision. I might need to go back and sleep on it." Wade went to stand up but Other Logan placed his hand on his chest and pushed him back into the sofa.

"It's okay," Other Logan cooed. "It's a big decison. But you can stay here. It's your choice Wade, just know that you can't stay forever without them." Other Logan took the box from Wade's hand and it seemingly diappeared. The weight of Logan's hand was making everything warm and cloudy again and Wade relaxed back, content once more, the panic receeding until he didn't know what he was worried about. His brain was silent.

"I'm just going to get more hot chocolate," Other Logan said in a hush some time later, as if not to break the spell of warmth. Wade nodded noncommittally relaxing in the floaty headspace. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this good. Not having to worry about anything. There were no worries here.

He fully leaned back into the sofa cushions, a content sigh leaving him. That's when he felt a tapping on his arm. He sluggishly turned his head to look. It was Other Al. He smiled at her, but the smile disappeared when she tugged on him, pulling him up off the sofa.

"Hey, hey, hey. Where's the fire," Wade laughed. Other Al didn't answer him, tugging him insistently towards his bedroom. Once inside, she closed the door and pulled him towards the closet. Wade frowned and tried to pull back but her grip was too strong, too tight.

"Al, come on. Logan's gonna be done with the hot chocolate any-"

"You need to leave," Other Al hissed. That made Wade pause.

"Leave? What do you-" he didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as Other Al pushed him to the closet.

"You're in grave danger. You need to leave and never come back," she warned. Wade's eyebrows pinched together. He tried to ask her what in the shitballs was she on and if he could have some, but she had ripped open the closet door. She shoved him towards the little door at the back, making him bend down, then pushed him so he landed in the tunnel on his face.

He scrambled to get up to ask her what her fucking problem was, but he stopped short when he saw her face. Her eyebrows were knitted together, her mouth downturned. If he didn't know better, she looked like she was about to cry despute her button eyes, and he had only seen Al cry once. It wasn't an experience he wanted to have again. The haze clouding his mind was starting to clear and he realised something very wrong was going on. He moved to crawl forward, his hand reaching out to her, but it was too late.

She slammed the door, the click of the lock echoing dully through the tunnel.

Chapter Text

Logan realised that something wasn't right.

Wade was around less and less, which he would have attributed to seeing Vanessa if it weren't for how bad he seemed to be doing. Despite his healing factor, Wade would emerge from his room with bags under his eyes, dark and haunting, and Logan would grimace at them internally. The one time he dared to ask, Wade snapped at him and turned right back around to his bedroom. It worried Logan to see him so run down, hearing the erratic beat of his heart and smelling the stress sweat all over him. What was even more concerning was the amount of time he'd spend talking back to his voices when he was home.

He'd noticed in the Void that sometimes Wade would go somewhere in his head or paying attention to someone who wasn't there when he wasn't talking a mile a minute at Logan, and it wasn't so alarming then. These days, he could tell when it happened, and it would usually mean that he was having a bad day if it was for more than a few minutes a day. Afterwards, it would take days for Wade to recover and return to himself, falling into dark, quiet moods that drowned the entire apartment.

Logan was scared for what this might mean now, especially when it'd been happening for days and it was accompanied by another worrying trait. Alongside the talking to nothing was an intense need to be doing something—anything. Building LEGO for five minutes and not putting away the tubs, then switching to making an angel cake with blackberry compote, except he'd left the compote unfinished and got distracted by cleaning his guns in his room.

Logan had to turn off the pot and pull the cake out himself, and when Wade came back out, he started moving the furniture around, even as Al was sitting on the couch. When that didn't satisfy the boredom itch, he jumped into vacuuming without putting any of the furniture in a sensible place first. It was only a matter of minutes before he returned to the cake and gracelessly covered it in the half-finished compote, which Logan had tasted later and realised there was about ten times the amount of lemon juice more than it was supposed to have, and none of the sugar.

And for all the talking he'd done over that hour and a half, Wade never said a word to either Logan or Althea.

This was not something that Logan was familiar with, and it scared him. So on that third day, after cleaning up the LEGO, putting the living room back to the way it was, and dumping the cake, he approached Wade carefully.

"Bub," he started from Wade's doorway, and not by accident. He'd always found that Wade was more receptive to things he had to say if he started it with a pet name of some sort. "Everything good?"

Wade looked up at him from the floor with doe eyes, working on sewing a crude Deadpool patch onto a hoodie. Logan could smell a hint of blood and realised it was from Wade's fingers when he kept stitching, not flinching at all when he stuck himself with the needle. "Hey, Peanut. What's up? Oh—wait, yeah. I'm fine. Why?"

"You haven't seemed good these last few days, is all. I'm kinda worried."

"Worried?" Wade laughed, though was missing its usual mirth, like he might have been forcing it. "About me?"

Logan stared down at him and swallowed. Wade sat there on the floor with his hands jittering, the circles under his eyes the darkest they had been those last few days, and he truly looked fucking awful. The way Wade gazed up at him with some mix of hope, guilt, and emptiness like a child made his heart clench painfully, and he'd suddenly felt the weight of the situation crash down on him. He should have had this conversation with him months ago, maybe. He hadn't been the nicest, he knew, but he didn't realise that maybe Wade needed Logan to be interested, too.

"Yeah, about you," he settled on. "You've been gone more lately, and now you just… seem untethered. So I wanted to make sure everything was alright. If you needed anything."

Looking down into his lap, Wade frowned. He put the hoodie aside and stood up with a sigh before quietly murmuring, "Yeah, Logan. Everything's good. Just—you know how the ole' noggin can get sometimes. Coupl'a naps, maybe a little exercise." Wade winked at him, though it fell flat. "I'll be good as new quicker than you can say pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis." The volume of his voice trailed off at the end, gaze falling to the floor as it did, and Logan wanted to reach for him.

It still didn't make sense—if there was a trigger for these episodes, or why Wade felt like he had to use Logan's real name. He didn't like it, but still, he settled his hand on Wade's shoulder and rubbed his thumb soothingly into the corner of his neck. With a nod, Logan left him alone in his room. Logan went back to the living room and sat down on the couch with Althea with the hope that maybe even the few weak sentences he barely managed were enough to pull Wade out of whatever fucked up mess was inside his head.

Chapter Text

Wade couldn't believe the nerve of Logan, to say that he looked unwell. So what if he wasn't counting how much sleep he had? Or when he last ate something proper. Loads of people did that. And Wade was only muttering to himself because it's how he remembers things easier. Right? Everyone did it. And who hadn't baked a cake and completely forgotten about it?

The missing hours can just be chalked up to going to the other world and having so much fun there. He slept for ages when he was home because of all the fun. That was it.

He was sure of it.

The more he though of it though, maybe Logan did have a point. He was tired a lot nowadays. And maybe it was a little worrying just how much of the day he forgot, or when Logan came out of the bathroom and it really shook Wade that he didn't have button eyes. He could probably do with some time away from the other world. Maybe after one more visit. He didn't really remember the last visit, the only memories he had were feeling warm and floaty and then Other Al shoving him in the tunnel for whatever reason.

He waited until everyone was asleep or otherwise occupied before he snuck in to the back of his closet. The familiar lights and colours of the tunnel soothed him as he crawled forward towards everything he wanted, but deep down he knew he had to give up. Logan's concern for him was enough to break down any worries he had about Logan not caring about him. When Logan cared, you knew it was serious.

He knew Other Al had locked it when he was last here and he had forgotten to get the button key, but when he pushed on the door just on the off chance, it opened and he breathed a sigh of relief. When he climbed out, he was sure the world seemed dimmer. It was still brighter than the world he came from but there was a slight greyscale to everything, like if someone was in mourning. He walked to the living room where he found Other Logan waiting for him. Other Logan walked up to him and clapped him on the shoulder, pulling him close for a hug.

"Hey, Bub. Welcome back. You're going to love what I've got planned tonight. I found this cookie recipe and it'll blow your mind," Other Logan grinned, like Wade had never left, before turning to walk towards the kitchen. Wade could feel himself already be drawn in to the warmth and friendliness he so desperately craved, but real Logan back home—he was concerned about Wade and that had to mean something.

"No thanks. I'm here for a fly by. I've actually-" he paused, trying to swallow past the lump in his throat. This felt a lot more difficult than he originally thought it would. More painful. But he pushed through. "I've come to say goodbye. Adios. Gesundheit, as they say."

Other Logan froze for a second in the archway to the kitchen, before turning around, a big smile plastered on his face. The stillness seemed off, like something frozen in the air. Like the tempreture dropping when you knew something was wrong. The button eyes stared, unblinking.

"What did you say, Bub?" The last word was gritted out through smiling teeth. Wade felt the non existent hairs on the back of his neck go up. Like prey that realises it's in the presence of a predator. He tried to play it off.

"Eheh, well you know. It's been fun and all. I've really enjoyed the quality time that we've spent together, treasuring the memories and everything in a scrapbook. But I have to go home now, I need to be a part of the real world." Wade sounded a lot braver than he felt. He didn't know why. He was Wade fucking Wilson. He was a badass motherfucker who can't die. But the way those black, souless pits were focused on him were giving him the heebie jeebies.

"Home?" Other Logan asked as if confused. "Wade, you are home. I give you everything you need, don't I? What reason would you have to go 'home'? I told you before, you just need to accept the buttons and I'll take care of everything forever."

Wade stared at him incredulously. He noticed that the temperature of the room dropped a few degrees further and how unsettlingly quiet it was. That's when he noticed.

"Where's Al? Other Al. Is she hiding behind the corner, waiting with a burlap sack?" Wade joked. The way the smile fell off Other Logan's face told him everything his mind was now dawning on.

"Al pulled a long face, and I didn't like it," Logan stated, his tone flat and even. He took a step towards Wade, not even menacingly but it was enough to make Wade take a step back. It was time to leave.

"Yeah, I think I'm definitely going to get off the train to crazy town. It's been nice knowing you. Not." Wade turned around and was about to hightail it back to the door in his closet but his path was blocked by the sofabed, which wobbled its way across the gap in the hallway.

"This is a real Beauty and the Beast castle, but I'm not falling for it even if you have a library. I can't read," Wade said frustratedly. He turned back to Other Logan, who was frowning and Wade felt the gnawing pit of panic in his chest grow.

"Why are you doing this, Wade?" Other Logan asked, taking slow steps forward. Other Logan's voice sounded hurt, like Wade had wronged him by not wanting to stay, despite him trying to keep Wade here. The room around him seemed to stretch and darken, the wallpaper peeling, dirt showing. What once was a warm and cosy apartment, was now worn down and decrepit, like no one could be bothered with it's upkeep.

"I don't understand why you don't want to be here?" Other Logan pleaded while advancing forward. "We could be real, Wade. You can finally matter to someone. We could be a family."

A family.

The edges of his mind went fuzzy as those words hit Wade like a slap to the face. That's what he really wanted wasn't it? After all these years, no matter what he told himself. He'd always be the child chasing after people, saving them, giving them everything of himself, just so they'd give him the love he craved.

His pause seemed to please Other Logan.

"That's it. Stay with me, Wade. I can give you everything. You won't want for anything," Other Logan said, his voice almost a purr.

Anything.

"You've been gone more lately, and now you just… seem untethered. So I wanted to make sure everything was alright. If you needed anything." Logan's voice rang clear in his head. Actual Logan, not button eyed Logan. The Logan who had asked if he was alright when it was hard for him to open up. There he was, checking on Wade because he actually cared, and Wade was about to throw that all away for some weird fakey version of him.

I can't let him down.

"No, I said I need to go home." Wade's voice was more resolute this time, his decision already made as the fuzzy edges receded. Other Logan's face twisted in anger, but Wade wasn't taking any chances.

He turned and leapt over the sofabed, which in hindsight was a stupid thing to try and stop him with. He was taller than the thing.

His feet skidded on the floors a little, but he didn't let that slow him down. He got to his bedroom, ran to the closet and practically threw himself at the little door and tugged it.

But it wouldn't open.

"What in the shit?"

"Looking for this?" came Other Logan's voice from behind him. Wade turned around in horror to see the key with the little black button on the end was around Other Logan's neck on a string. Wade launched himself at the key but Other Logan yanked it out of reach.

"Ah ah, I don't think so," Other Logan said as he tucked it down his t-shirt. Suddenly, the sickly sweet smile was back in place. "They say that even the strongest of spirits can be broken, Wade. I think that could work for you too."

Wade snorted unamusedly.

"Yeah, you can try, Bucko. Freakier fucking people than you have tried." Other Logan observed him and Wade had had enough of this shit.

"I want to be back in the real world, with the real Logan. Not in whatever bullshit 'Alice in Wonderland' shit you've cooked up here. None of it was real. It's not real," Wade said, as much to himself as well as Other Logan.

The already wild shadows extended and retracted, as if they were living and breathing. Other Logan seemed to get taller as his brows furrowed and he crossed his arms.

"Take. That. Back."

Wade balled his hands into fists. "No."

Wade got a little grossed out watching as Other Logan grew taller, his neck longer. Other Logan uncrossed his arms, pointing his index finger in Wade's face.

"One more word, out of you…" Other Logan threatened. Wade was never one to back down from a threat like that. He'd done it before and he'd do it again.

"I'll give you three. Go fuck yourself."

This seemed to be the end of Other Logan's patience, and with a growl, he grabbed Wade by the elbow and dragged him out of the bedroom down the corridor. A mirror that hadn't been there before stretched into a yawning hole that Logan then shoved Wade through. Wade fell to the floor in a barely lit, cold stone room, with a rickety old fashioned bed in the corner. Other Logan stuck his head through the wall Wade just came through, his teeth bared.

"You'll fucking stay in here till you decide to do the right thing," he snarled before pulling his head back, leaving Wade cold and utterly alone.

Chapter Text

A few days after Logan's chat with Wade, the apartment felt too quiet. Wade had stayed in his room, and Logan had left him alone in the hopes that whatever was wrong with him levelled out like he promised it would. He didn't want to bother him more, or make it feel like it was a big deal, but now that he hadn't seen him, he figured that maybe he should. There had been too many mistakes with giving Wade space, and maybe this was just another one.

Logan searched the apartment from top to bottom for any signs of life from Wade, and found nothing. All of his shoes were still by the front door, the shower didn't smell of any of his soaps, and the stupid juice he insisted they bought every time they went shopping was still unopened from their last trip. He was positive that he hadn't heard Wade leave, either, unless he climbed out his window to avoid getting caught leaving the place. It wasn't like Logan would have missed that, either, not with how his ears regretfully picked up every single movement in the apartment.

The last place that Logan wanted to look was Wade's room. He could tell that he wasn't in there, but still, he knocked, then slowly opened the door. The hoodie he was sewing was still on the floor, and more worryingly, so was Wade's phone. He wouldn't have left it there, not unless he was leaving in a hurry, or wanted to make sure nobody would follow him. Logan wasn't sure which was worse.

Swallowing, he checked the window and found that it was locked from the inside, and when he looked under the bed, Wade's go-bag was still there, full of guns, knives, and cash. Logan shook his head with a frown, not liking that nothing was adding up or giving him a clue to what the hell happened to Wade.

About to give up the search and start texting people, Logan realised that the closet was cracked, a faint humming noise coming from inside. He pulled the door open further and squinted as he moved the clothes hanging up, catching the barest hint of light coming through the back of the closet. Squatting down, he reached for the wall and felt a chill run up his spine, unease crawling over his skin when his hand met a loose panel. Logan got his fingers between the loose bit and the rest of the wall and pulled, flinching back when the door peeled away with a burst of cool air and a light floral smell. It let in a pleasant glow that filled the entire closet.

Logan peered into the crawlspace warily and felt his mouth curl back unpleasantly. Inside it, there was a tunnel with felt walls, something akin to a child's play place, but it made his stomach turn looking at it. On the other side of Wade's closet was the hallway. There shouldn't have been a tunnel here, much less a crawlspace.

There was simply no room for it.

Standing and taking a step back from the crawlspace, Logan spotted a key sticking out of the door, and shook his head. He stalked back out to the living room, the feeling of dread only growing, and stopped at the arm rest of the couch.

"What do you know about that crawlspace in the back of Wade's closet?" he barked at Al.

"You two and that damn crawlspace," she muttered at him before raising her voice. "I already told that other motherfucker that the key's probably around here somewhere for it. I swear, you two are half a head injury away from asking me to tie your shoelaces like a pair of kindergarteners."

Frowning to himself, he shook his head. "They key's already in it. Old one, with a coat button on the end."

The anger in Al's body disappeared in an instant, frozen in place. "A button?"

"Yeah," Logan confirmed quietly, the dread starting to morph into fear.

"Logan, listen to me," Al whispered at him, voice trembling and serious. "You have to go in there and bring him home, and you lock those fucking doors behind you when you do."

Al stood hurriedly, wobbling on the way up, and shuffled past Logan to get to the hall. He watched her push the door to her room open, so he followed, worry lacing him all the way down to his bones. She was digging around in her nightstand for a moment before popping back up with a small jade stone in the shape of a triangle, a smooth hole carved into the middle of it.

"My sister," she started firmly, holding the rock out to him. "found a door like that when we were children. It told her all sorts of things in there to get her to stay, and one day, she never came back."

Furrowing his brow, Logan frowned. "What do you mean it told her things?"

Althea shook her head sharply and closed the gap between them. "Something evil. She explained it to me, and I never believed her until I caught it trying to crawl through the door like some sort of fucking peeping Tom. I begged her not to go back, but she said people were nicer to her in there, and that she wanted to be there all the time. I didn't think it was safe, so I went in with her one day." Althea took a deep breath and reached out for Logan's hand, flailing for a moment before he connected their hands. She put the stone in his palm, cool and silky against his skin. "I came back, but she didn't. That thing didn't like that she brought me, and it snapped. Hid her away, and chased me out."

Logan stared down at the rock and turned it over. "What's this?"

"No idea. She brought it back with her one day—said a friend in there gave it to her to help her when she was in a tight spot. Couldn't hurt to take it with you."

He regarded her unyeildingly, taking in the harsh, tense lines of her mouth and the furrow of her brow over her sunglasses. He'd never seen her so shaken before. "I'm gonna bring him back, Althea."

"You better," she threatened, and he took it seriously. "You can't leave him in there. That boy's a pain in the ass, but he doesn't deserve whatever the hell goes on in there, and he matters to people out here. I know he does to you and me."

"He does," Logan agreed firmly, determination filling in the cracks around his body. "If we're not back by tomorrow night, go to the crawlspace and lock it."

He could tell that she wanted to argue back, but she closed her mouth and pressed it into a hard line before nodding at him solemnly. "Alright."

The door was still cracked when he got back to Wade's closet, wafting out chilled air as the hum grew to an unpalatable volume. The floral smell it was emitting earlier changed slightly, and was giving off a hint of rot. The light, too, he noticed, was dimmer and not as welcoming as he'd remembered when he first found the crawlspace. Getting on his hands and knees, Logan crawled across the closet floor into the tunnel and flinched at the unsteadiness of the felt walls as it bounced around wildly. It felt like his hands might push through the fabric at any moment, so he continued on carefully, mindful of the random items stuck to the material.

The closer he got to the end, the stronger and healthier the flowers smelled, and the air turned from freezing to a refreshing, cool breeze. The light also seemed more welcoming, like it was beckoning him into the identical door in front of him as it twinkled and hummed pleasantly at him

Pushing the door open, all of the appeal disappeared in an instant.

The floor under his palms was dusty and covered in a fine film of debris that pushed into his hands painfully as he crawled out from the tunnel. When he stood, he found himself shut into a small room, possibly even a closet barren of clothes or storage. It was dark, but his powers gave him just enough edge to make out a door and its knob, and when he turned it, the wood moved easily.

In front of him was Wade's bedroom, but it was nothing like the one he just came from. It was free of clutter and everything seemed organised just-so, a stark contrast to the way Wade normally kept his room. On the bed, the sheets were neat and grey, and the soft lamp that he usually had on was missing completely, casting the room in a dark shadow as daylight filtered in through the open curtains. All these small changes left the room feeling cold and clinical.

Logan listened hard as he left the room, but couldn't hear much of anything except for the buzzing from the tunnel that never let up. The hall gave off the same clinical feeling as the bedroom that made Logan's nose itch with the uncanniness of it, and still, the dread hung around him like a ghost, haunting and ever-present. There were no posters or action figures when he got to the living room, and the kitchen didn't have the assortment of colourful, mismatched pot holders or aprons that Wade insisted on collecting. Their boots, coats, Mary's walk get-up, the hooks for their keys, the dish shaped like a mermaid on the side table for the mail—all gone.

Everything about it was wrong—Wade's touch was expressly missing from every crack he managed to shove himself into, and it was so deeply offensive that Logan's instincts screamed at him for even daring to come to such a lifeless place.

Logan didn't know where the hell he was, or how the tunnel was able take the cosiness Wade emanated and make it feel so soulless, but he did know one thing: This was not their apartment, and it would never be called home.

Chapter Text

The sniffle Wade couldn't help bounced off of the dank stone walls and echoed around the room as he nursed his hurt foot. After being thrown in this room, he had stupidly hit and kicked at where Other Logan disappeared but it was a stone wall and now he was in pain as well as upset. He should have known that a world through the tiny door in his closet would have been too good to be true. He just didn't want to believe it, wanting to live in the fantasy realm where he was wanted and needed. Although that didn't ring true now. Real Logan, his Logan, wanted him. He was worried about him, but now Wade didn't know if he was ever going to see him again.

Wade was fully intent on sitting there and feeling sorry for himself when he heard a weird echoing moan. He turned to look for the source.

"Hello? Who's there? I may sound like a dumb character in a horror movie, but I won't hesitate to fuck you up," Wade called.

"Hush, and shush," called an eerie voice. Wade's eyes spun to look at the bed. The sheets were now tented, like someone was sitting underneath when he was sure it wasn't like that before. "The beldam might be listening," the voice continued. It almost sounded like…a child.

"The beldam?" Wade questioned, straightening. "You mean, the Other Logan?" The voice didn't say anything. Only a pulsating blue glow under the sheet was his answer. He stood up and stepped closer, hand grasping the sheet before pulling it away.

Underneath, were three glowing, see-through children as pale as moonlight, their small faces twisted in frozen pain. One girl was tall, a hat perched on her head with flowing ribbons that moved through the air as if under water. The small boy reminded Wade of a Huck Finn type of character. The third one was a sweet looking girl with small pigtails and spindly legs. There was something about her that felt familiar but Wade couldn't put his finger on it. All three of them had button eyes, sending a chill down Wade's spine.

"Who are you? I gotta tell you, I'm not in the habit of meeting many ghosts, so I don't know how this works."

"Don't remember who we are, Sir. But I remember my mommy. I miss her," the little ghost boy said, the sorrow in his tone unmistakable. Wade couldn't help but feel for him. Kids were always were his weak spot.

"Why are you all here?" he asked, softening his tone, his body relaxing, not holding any of it's previous tension.

"The beldam!" They cried in unison. Wade tilted his head, his eyebrows knitting together, his lips parting as they continued. The children floated towards him, as if underwater like pale fish in the air.

"They spied on our lives, through the little dolls eyes," the sweet girl lamented, covering her button eyes. "And saw that we weren't happy."

"They lured us away, with toys and treats and games to play," the tall ghost girl said, floating closer.

"Gave us all that we asked, and still we wanted more," continued the ghost boy, his shoulders slumped forward, like a puppet with its strings cut.

"They said they loved us, but they locked us in here and ate up our lives," the sweet ghost girl finished. The three of them had floated back to the bed and laid down in a macabre end of what became of their fate. Wade swallowed, trying to find his words.

"So, I'm basically going to be a giant battery for an otherworldly being?" Wade laughed humourlessly. He scrubbed a hand down his face before his mouth set in a firm line, his eyes determined. "Well, this beldam can go to hell if he thinks I'm going to lay back with an apple in my mouth." Wade's eyes searched the room, looking for vantage points or weaknesses. "I just need to figure out how to get out of here."

There was a beat of silence in the room, heavy and oppressive as if the room itself was waiting with anticipation.

"Perhaps if you do," the sweet ghost girl asked. "You could find our souls? They kept them and that's what traps us here." Wade was sure his heart just broke in two.

"You mean you guys are trapped here? In this room that definitely requires a call to social services? Or at least Marie Kondo?"

The ghosts seemed to ignore his rambling. "Yes, Sir. They took them and hid them in this world. We cannot leave to find them. Find our souls and we can be free," the ghost boy exclaimed. Wade looked between them, to their outdated clothing and he wondered just how long these poor things had been stuck in this room, having their souls feasted on.

Wade nodded, his jaw set in determination. "I'll try." He looked around the room again. "I just need to find a way out of the most depressing room on the astral plane."

He searched the corners, under the bed. Checked the wall for structural weaknesses but there were none. There were no exits or openings, not so much as a mouse hole in the wall. Nothing. He scratched his head, leaning against the wall he first came through and looked at the ghost children who were still huddled and floating on the bed.

"Well, this one is a real toughie, I'll give you that. I've been in worse situations though. There was this one time in Malta when I was stuck in a pit with a lion and I had a fruit headdress on and—" His story was cut off as a pair of hands grabbed him and yanked him back through the wall, and Wade tried to fight off his grabber.

"Get the fuck off me you fuck," Wade hissed. His flying fist connected with flesh and made a dull thud, sending pain vibrating up his hand. "Ah, shit." He held his hand and whirled around to give whoever it was a piece of his mind, to be met face to face with Logan.

"Back off you anal shitwad. I already told you I don't want to join your creepy button parade."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Wade did a double take. Glaring hazel eyes met his own instead of the black buttons he was expecting to see, but he was still wary.

"Quick, tell me something only my Logan would know!"

"Quit being a fucking idiot and lets move," Logan barked, already turning around and walking down the corridor towards Wade's room.

"Good enough for me," Wade shot back, spinning to follow Logan down the hall. "How did you find me anyway?"

Logan stormed into the bedroom, walking straight to the closet before Wade grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Wade ignored his snarl. "Nuh uh, Peanut. I only found out about this place by accident. How the hell did you find it?" Wade pushed.

If Logan knew him by now, he'd know that Wade wouldn't let it go until he got answers. With a put upon sigh, Logan turned to look at him, his eyebrows set in a line.

"After our talk the other day, I thought I'd give you some space to sort your shit out. But then I noticed that after a few days, there was no sign that you had moved from your room. I checked everywhere else before I went in there and I saw your phone left there, and your go to bag hadn't been touched, so unless you had climbed out of the window, you had to still be in the room. Then I heard this humming noise coming from your closet"

Wade interrupted with a chuckle. "You're a regular little Sherlock Holmes, aren't you. Good old sniffer dog. At least it was the tunnel and not good old reliable. I'm glad you didn't see that," Wade joked, before something scratched in his brain in a bad way, like when you see a homeless guy shove his hands down his pants on the subway.

"Wait, you said days?" Wade asked carefully. Logan's brows deepened.

"Yeah, about three. Why?"

Wade's skin prickled and he felt a cold sweat on the back of his neck, his breathing picking up slightly. "I may be no calendar man, but I'm pretty sure it's only been half a day, maybe a little more."

Logan's mouth quirked up and he shook his head. "No, it's been days. Al thought you were just doing a dirty protest and not showering."

This time it was Wade who shook his head. "Logan, Lo, angel baby, listen to me. It has been. Half. A. Day. I think I would have noticed if I was gone for a three days," Wade said, his pitch rising slightly. Logan's mouth parted.

"Wade, I'm not lying to you. Look, that doesn't matter now. What matters is getting out of here." Logan turned back to the closet, his hand on the door.

"About that…"

Logan's whole body froze before he turned slowly to look at Wade.

"What?"

Wade scratched the back of his neck. "I kinda promised some ghost children that I would look for their souls so they could be free."

Logan closed his eyes and growled under his breath. "Wade, we don't have time. I told Al that if we weren't back by tomorrow, then to close the door on us."

Wade's jaw dropped. "Are you insane? Why would you tell her to do that? Besides, I doubt she could find her own ass to wipe it, let alone go into my room, get in the closet and find the small door hidden behind dry wall." Logan paused at that. He seemed to have not thought this through. Wade shook his head.

"Doesn't matter. Come on. If those kids are ghosts, I doubt there's much we can do for them now," Logan said, his tone a little softer. He reached out to grab Wade's hand but Wade pulled back shaking his head.

"You didn't see it, Logan," Wade said, his voice thick. "They've been stuck in this room that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, and I have a lot of them," Wade rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. "They've been stuck there for years, unable to get out. Trapped. We know what that feels like, don't we?" Wade's eyes steeled.

"Their life force was stolen Logan. That's all we are to this thing. Batteries. A meal ticket full of energy and you and I are an all you can eat buffet," Wade spat.

Logan searched Wade's eyes for a moment before closing his and heaving a deep sigh, opening them again, his eyes steeled.

"Fine, we can go back to Al and ask her for more information since she seemed to know a lot about this place. Then when we know what we're up against, we can come back and find those kids souls, yes?"

Wade nodded enthusiastically.

"Yep, sounds good. Grade A plan, Peanut. Lead the way, I can't wait to get out of these clothes if it really has been three days," Wade joked, his voice a little lighter now. Logan nodded and turned back to the closet and walked inside. He bent down to the little door and tried the handle.

It wouldn't budge.

"What the —" Logan shoved harder at the door but it wouldn't yield. He turned to look at Wade. "I swear, it was open when I came in here."

"Forgot something?" came a voice from behind them.

Chapter Text

It was unsettling, seeing something else wearing his skin. Hearing about his variants and seeing photos of this timeline's Logan were strange, sure, but this… this thing? Its limbs were grotesque, almost like someone twisted them at the wrong angle, all edges and bone. The extra foot or two of height made his skin crawl, and the gaunt likeness that stared back at him made his brain yell at him to run.

The worst part of all, despite seeming fairly innocuous, were its eyes. They were black buttons made of plastic sewn cleanly into his orbital sockets. Logan had spent a lot if time staring into the deep hazel of his eyes, hating the man that looked back at him, but this was something else entirely.

Next to him, Wade abruptly pointed at the fucked up version of Logan and began thrusting his hips in its direction. "Dance off!" he exclaimed, twirling in a slow circle. "Me and you!"

The thing furrowed its brows and watched Wade in confused frustration.

Wade stopped. "No?" he asked. "Fuck. It worked for the homophobic fundie guy. Listen. You got us trapped here, you got those kids trapped here, so I'll make a deal with you. You give us some riddles Bilbo Baggins style, we'll solve them, and you let all of us out."

"You want a challenge?" the thing asked, mouth starting to curl into a smile at the edge. "I can do that."

The thing grinned so impossibly wide that Logan could see the entirety of its long, needle-like teeth. Then, there was a shudder that ripped through the room. The walls started to crumble away and briefly revealed a blank slate behind them, grey and endless, before slowly restructuring the layout of the apartment. From the floor, plants started to spring up, lush and green, and it reminded Logan of some of the forests back home.

"What the fuck?" Wade gasped as the forest continued to grow around them, only small traces of the apartment left behind. "What kind of Labyrinth bullshit is this!"

"As a master of deception, I thought you'd appreciate the flair," the thing cooed at him sardonically before continuing on, "As for your challenge, there will be three trials. If you manage to master all three, I will let you go. If you fuck them up," the other Logan said with a grin so deep that it showed off his sharp teeth as he walked backwards. "No deal. You're mine forever."

The other him disappeared as it slunk into the forest where the front door sat dilapidated, brush collasping into itself to create a solid wall of foliage, only the door knob and upper part of the frame still visible.

Logan looked at Wade incredulously and shrugged his shoulders with a shake of his head. He didn't even have time to process their new environment before Wade's face changed slightly and his mouth droped open.

"Uh. Peanut?" He tilted his head toward something behind Logan, and he half turned to see what it was. "They really like their symbolism around here, huh?"

There between the trees stood a massive wolverine, mouth curled back to bare its teeth at them. It was almost the size of a grizzly bear, dark fur around its mouth dripping with a slow line of saliva as it stared blankly at them. Logan turned fully and took a step back towards Wade, the animal stepping with him as it hissed sickeningly. The dull echo of its paws thudded across the room to them.

Logan moved to the side, and it followed slowly yet again.

"I think you're supposed to do something with it," Wade commented offhandedly.

Logan looked over his shoulder at him and glared, ready to make a scathing comment, but he interrupted himself. His hearing only just picked up movement, barely giving him enough time to jump to the side as the wolverine lunged forward and took a swipe at him.

When he turned around, it hissed at him again and he grimaced back, frustration building in his chest. He didn't know what the fuck he was supposed to be doing.

Wait.

Logan dug the stone Althea gave him out of his pocket and pointed it at the wolverine. Nothing happened, except that the wolverine lunged again.

"What's that?" Wade asked, panic rising in his voice. "Are you fighting that thing with a rock?"

Logan took a few steps back and the animal followed, effectively putting itself between him and Wade. Logan didn't like that, but at least it wasn't laying Wade any attention.

At a loss for what to do, Logan tossed the stone over the wolverine at Wade in the hopes that he might figure it out.

"What the fuck do you want me to do with this?!" he yelled back.

"I don't fucking know!" Logan snarled as he evaded another swipe from the wolverine. He was getting annoyed. "Figure it out—I'm busy!"

Deciding that he'd had enough of this, Logan unsheathed his claws slowly and crouched down before he flung himself forward. His claws landed in the animal's stomach, but it did nothing to deter it, only making it angrier as it stayed solidly in place. It gnashed at him and threw him to the floor, kicking up plant debris as Logan skidded across it harshly. On its stomach, Logan could see the gash he gave it close up and stitch over like someone was sewing it shut, only letting a few granules of sand fall out instead of blood.

Logan stared at it in disbelief.

"Peanut! Peanut!" Wade called from across the room, jumping up to see over the wolverine between them. "It's got something in its armpit!"

"What?!"

"On one of its back legs, in it's armpit ditch thingy! There's a claw stuck in there! I think—"

Logan lunged at the wolverine again, but this time, it jumped over him neatly and scraped its nails down the entirety of his back, making him hiss with the pain. It burned for a moment, but then his wounds started healing back up, leaving only a few sticky trails of warm blood that he could feel absorb into his clothes.

When he turned around, he wasn't ready for the animal to make another move, so it caught him off guard when it tackled him to the ground and began ripping into his front brutally, tearing the skin on his arms to ribbons where he reflexively covered his face and neck. In the distance, he wasn't quite sure, but he thought he could hear the clang of metal on metal.

The wolverine kept him pinned for a minute as he tried to buck it off, to no avail. With the animal gaining an advantage on him, he knew he had to do something, so he braced himself and lowered one of his arms. The wolverine immediately caught onto his throat with one of its paws. It snapped its teeth around his whole forearm before trying to thrash him around.

With his free hand, Logan reached down, grabbed a fistful of fur, and pulled upward. It propelled the wolverine above his head, but all he got for his efforts was a faceful of pelt and its crushing weight pushing down on him heavily.

Searching, Logan brought both his hands to the animal's hind legs. It was difficult to figure out exactly what Wade was talking about and Logan thought that maybe he was full of shit, but then one of his hands caught on something hard and smooth unlike the rest of its soft fur and muscle that surrounded it. He pulled.

Above him, the wolverine let out a whine before it stopped moving, then promptly exploded into billions of granules of sand that immediately made their way into his nose, mouth, and eyes. He rolled onto his stomach and gasped for breath, body attempting to expel it all. After a moment or two, everything evened out and the rush of blood in his ears stopped. He was met with only similar sounding huffs coming from across the room.

Logan tipped onto his side and squinted in Wade's direction. He was on the ground, too, covered in blood with his clothes slashed to pieces, but he seemed to be recovering.

"The fuck happened to you?" Logan called to Wade, furrowing his brows.

Wade glanced at him, opening his mouth to respond, but nothing came out as he became distracted.

Under Wade, the floor started to sag before crumbling in earnest. Logan sat up and scrambled forward to grab him, but the flora beneath Wade gave way and swallowed him up before he could even come close. Over the hole of the pit, bars appeared to block Logan's access, and he slammed his hand into the metal.

"Wade!" he called down the well, continuing to bang into the bars in the hopes that they dislodged. They stayed put. Panicked, Logan called again, this time loud and raw, even to his own ears. "Wade!"

Chapter Text

Wade watched as Other Logan, now renamed "Creepy Logan" in his head, slunk back into the shadows like the slimy thing he was. He couldn't believe he was into that. He looked around, taking in the fact that they were now in a nightmare garden centre instead of the apartment, the door they needed for their escape now covered in shrubbery, only the knob visible.

Well fuck.

Logan looked at him in disbelief and Wade shrugged with a shake of his head. He was about to suggest they look around and see what the fuck they were actually supposed to do, before he saw a large shadow moving between the trees over Logan's shoulder, causing Wade to freeze. Then the shadow came in to focus and Wade couldn't fucking believe it, his jaw dropping.

"Uh. Peanut?" He tilted his head toward the large creature now ambling out into the clearing. Logan half twisted around to look at it. "They really like their symbolism around here, huh?"

They both stared at the massive wolverine, which was now baring its teeth at them, saliva dripping down into it's dark fur. Logan took a step back to Wade, the wolverine following with a hiss that set Wade's teeth on edge, alarm bells ringing in his head that he was in immediate danger and to get the heck out of there.

Logan stepped to the side experimentally and the great hulking creature followed in some form of messed up mirrored dance.

"I think you're supposed to do something with it," he mentioned helpfully. He held his hands up apologetically when Logan turned around to glare at him. Logan's mouth opened slightly, no doubt ready to make a comment that would hurt Wade's feelings, when he froze before jumping to the side as the wolverine lunged at him. Wade winced as Logan only just missed being hit with the swipe of the animal's large claws.

The wolverine hissed, as if pissed off that it missed its mark, and Logan grimaced. Wade could see the tactical gears in Logan's mind turning, trying to find a way for them to get out of this hopefully without them becoming mincemeat.

He watched the creature look between them, assessing its next move when Logan was suddenly shoving his hands into his pocket and he pulled out a small triangular stone with a circle cut out of the middle. Logan held it up to the creature. It seemed to do nothing but anger the wolverine as it lunged forward again.

Next thing Wade knew, Logan was tossing the stone to him, and he only just caught it without dropping it. He looked at the stone, to the back of Logan's head, and then back at the stone again, completely at a loss.

"What the fuck do you want me to do with it?!" he yelled at Logan.

"I don't fucking know!" Logan snarled back as he dodged another swipe from the wolverine, which was growling so deep and low, that Wade could feel the vibration of it through the ground. "Figure it out—I'm busy!" Logan finished before launching himself at the beast.

Wade turned the rock over in his hand. It was smooth and polished, a sort of teal in colour. He tapped it against his hand but nothing happened. Wade huffed in annoyance. He didn't know why Logan thought that Wade was the person to be left to figure this shit out.

The sounds of the fight going on in front of him became background noise as he thought of what to do with the stone. As a last resort he looked through it, and that's when it all became clear. Through the hole, the world became grey scale, including Logan. Wade looked around through the stone, trying to see if there was anything of importance. That's when he ran it over the wolverines flank and he saw something glowing in there and his breath hitched.

"Peanut, Peanut!" Wade called, looking up to see that the wolverine was on the other side of the wolverine, so he jumped to try and catch Logan's attention. "It's got something in his armpit!"

Logan's eyebrows furrowed together and his nose scrunched as his mouth turned downward. "What?!"

Wade tried not to growl in frustration at Logan's bad timing for needing full explanations. "On one of it's back legs, in it's armpit ditch thingy! There a claw stuck in there! I think—"

Wade was cut off as an unseen force yanked him back away from Logan. He didn't see what it was, only that it left him breathless and on the floor, the stone falling from his hand and bouncing a couple of feet away.

"What underpaid burn unit did they pull you from?" came a mocking voice from behind him. Wade turned around and he came face to face with a ghost from the past. The short cropped hair, a smirking mouth, and the smoothest skin Wade could barely remember having now.

"What in the fuck knuckles—"

"Heheh, fuck knuckles. That's a new one. Get your jokes from the recycling plant too?"

Wade looked left and right at his imaginary audience before looking back at the mirrored version of himself.

"I'm sorry, are we in an American high school right now? Are you gonna ask for my lunch money next?" Wade scoffed. Mirror him just smirked, circling him like a shark who smelled blood.

"That's it. Tell another joke. Push the feelings down. Can't let anyone see the scared little boy you really are, can you?" Mirror Wade taunted. Okay, ouch. His feelings. He brushed it off. He didn't have time to be debating on this when Logan needed him. Mirror Wade's eyes glinted, as if he could read Wade's mind. He grinned evilly, a look that Wade had never seen on his face before and he decided he didn't like it.

"He doesn't need you. No one does. Poor Wade Wilson, always alone because he doesn't. Fucking. Matter."

This guy was really starting to get on Wade's nerves.

"Okay, that's enough out of you," Wade said, already fed up of the situation. Mirror Wade's eyes turned steely, cold. As if out of nowhere, Mirror Wade pulled out a katana from behind his back. Another one materialised out of the air right in front of Wade's face and he grabbed it before it dropped to the ground. He barely got the chance to recover before Mirror Wade was running at him, murderous intent in his eyes.

Only by a hair's breadth did he manage to block the blow. Mirror Wade came at him again, and again, the sound of metal clashing with metal rang throughout the forest. Sweat was beading at Wade's brow, his muscles screaming in protest at the ferocity of the attack. He only just managed to miss a blow to his head by ducking.

"You don't matter to anyone," Mirror Wade mocked, not out of breath at all. "Not to your addict Mother. Not to your asshole Father. Bounced from home to home because no one could handle the little boy with anger problems."

"Shut up," Wade hissed as they circled each other. Mirror Wade lunged forward a little faster than Wade was expecting and he caught Wade in the face, slicing straight through his cheek. "Ah, fuck!"

Mirror Wade chuckled. Wade took a second to look back at Logan, who was still deep into his battle with the wolverine, dodging swipes left and right. Wade was fed up at this point.

"Alright, motherfucker. Let's finish this." Wade crouched into his next fighting stance. Both his hands gripping his katana tight. Mirror Wade smirked as Wade ran at him, their weapons meeting once again.

"You'll never fucking matter, Wade. Not to anyone. Not to Al, not to your so-called friends who haven't checked on you in ages. Definitely not to Logan." Wade's attacks got a little sloppier the more angry he got, his yell echoing across the clearing. It didn't help though as Mirror Wade got in a lot of hits. His stomach, his arms, his chest, his legs. Over and over, blow after blow landed, cutting his clothes to ribbons.

"Fuck!" Wade hissed through his teeth, pausing his attempted attacks to hold his arm that was bleeding sluggishly. Mirror Wade circled like a predator around his prey.

"You'll grow old in a world that doesn't want you. In years to come, everyone will leave you, and you'll be all alone," Mirror Wade said scathingly. Wade breathed harshly, trying to catch his breath, letting all his wounds heal and thinking the words over. Mirror Wade was right wasn't he? At the end of the day, he was just a massive fuck up that no one needed or wanted around. When was the last time anyone checked on him?

From behind him, he heard a guttural yell from Logan, who was still fighting the wolverine, and it clicked in his mind.

"Think again, shit stain," Wade snarled. He pointed behind him to where Logan and the wolverine were. "He came for me. I could have wasted away for the rest of my life in there, but he came for me. He didn't leave me, and if there's anyone who's going to be there till the end of the universe with me, it's him." Wade crouched again.

"We're gonna be doing this till he's ninety," Wade growled, then he ran at Mirror Wade, his weapon raised in the air. Mirror Wade's eyes widened, his arms raised to protect himself but it was too late. He brought his katana down in a wide arc, slicing straight through Mirror Wade, a spray of blood hitting Wade in the face.

Wade panted as he tried to catch his breath. He turned around to see what the damage was and Mirror Wade was standing still before he turned to face Wade. He had a large line of blood going diagonally from his shoulder to his hip. Wade had a sudden thought and took out the triangle rock again, lifting it up to his face. The grey scale was mostly all he could see until the shine of something hit his eye.

There, around Mirror Wade's neck was a necklace. More importantly what was on the necklace was a grape soda bottle cap that was lit up through the hole of the stone.

Wade took a step towards him and Mirror Wade stumbled.

"You'll…always…be…alone," Mirror Wade stuttered, before taking another step and then crumbling into sand. Wade stared at the pile with a blank look on his face before picking up the grape soda cap necklace.

"Boy do I feel sorry for the cleaning lady," he muttered before collapsing to the floor, all his energy suddenly drained. He concentrated on breathing in and out, trying to gather the strength to get up again and actually check on Logan. The sound of the fight with the massive creature had gone quiet he'd only now noticed.

"The fuck happened to you?" he heard Logan call out to him across the clearing. He managed to turn his head to look at him, opening his mouth to make a joke about how he should see the other guy, but the ground rumbling underneath his back distracted him.

Next thing he knew, the flora beneath him gave way and he was falling through the earth with a yelp. He fell into the dark, hitting his head of what might have been a tree root on the way down.

"Wade!" He heard Logan yell from above him, but it was fading fast. Quicker than he could blink, he landed with a thump on his back, knocking the wind out of him. He lay there, wheezing and dripping, trying to remember how to breathe.

The bottom of the well he was in was almost pitch black, the only light coming from what looked like a small glowing orb from above him. Moving to sit up, he looked around and saw nothing but the stone walls. They were all around him in a circle, giving an almost claustrophobic feel.

No answer.

He tsked and looked around to see if any stones were sticking out that he could maybe get a grip on and climb out.

"You'll never fucking matter."

Wade spun around to try and find the source of the whisper. It sounded like it was directly behind him.

"Hello?" he called. "I'll warn you now, there better not be anything creepy at the bottom of this well because it's going to be in for a world of pain," he threatened. But there was no answer. He waited to see if there way anything else but he could only hear a drip land in the water. Shrugging it off he turned back to look at the stone walls.

"You were always good for nothing, boy!" a voice that sounded like his Father's echoed through the well. Wade gasped and his eyes searched widly around but there was nothing there.

"Everyone just tolerates you. They don't actually like you," a voice hissed.

"Fucking waste of space," another snarled. The voices raised in volume, circling him like a vulture does with pray.

"Stop it," Wade muttered. His head whipped back and forth, trying to find the source of the voices but he saw nothing. There was no one there.

"Who could love you with a face like that," one of the voices whispered. "Vanessa left as soon as she could. Especially since your dumbass got her killed. That's all you're good at."

"Motherfucker, everyday I pray fire finds your body and finishes the job God didn't have the nuts to do," came Al's voice, truly hitting home how much it hurt to come from someone he loved and cared about so much.

"Stop it. Shut the fuck up," Wade snarled, his eyes darting back and forth. The voices got louder, overlapping each other, fighting for space in the cramped well. Wade covered his hands with his ears and crouched down.

"SHUT UP!"

The voices quietened down, the barbs of cruelty jabbing him as they went into a hush, causing Wade's ears to ring with the silence.

"Motherfucker, I wish I could say you die alone, but it's one of God's best jokes that you can't die. Except that's on all of US!" came the last and loudest voice. The one that hurt the most.

A sob tore from Wade's throat before he could stop it. It reverberated around him, bouncing around the walls as it travelled upwards. His face dampened as tears dripped down and he wrapped his arms around his knees.

"Wade!"

"Leave me alone," Wade mumbled, shaking his head.

"Wade, listen to me!"

"You're not real. You're not real," he recited. It was just another trick, something to hurt him. Break him down.

"Wade, don't let them get to you. I need you!"

Wade's head popped up. That wasn't one of the insults. He looked up and the small ball of light at the top of the well seemed brighter. And he could hear the voice clearer now.

"Wade, don't let that asshole win. Whatever it is, you gotta beat it. It's not real," Logan's voice rang clear like a bell. Wade pulled himself up, leaning on the wall to steady himself as he looked up and the bright light which seemed closer. Unconsciously, his arms lifted, reaching for it.

"Come on, you can't leave us. Get your ass up and fight it!" Logan's voice seemed closer now. Wade steeled himself. He was wanted, he was needed. He mattered.

This wasn't real.

The stone wall was cold against his back as he leaned on it, hiking his legs up in front of him so his body was spread across. Using his arms stretched out, he walked up the wall, his hands and feet moving in unison as he ascended.

The bright light stayed small, but it got brighter and brighter as he got closer. When he was close enough, he reached out and his hand closed around it. It was smooth and cold, feeling a little like a marble. It flared bright and he tried to shield his eyes but his hands and feet slipped and he fell down back into the water. He hissed as pain jolted up his spine but that didn't matter now.

"Wade! Wade are you okay? I'm gonna get you out," Logan's frantic voice called out, a lot closer than Wade remembered. He looked up and he could see Logan's head over the edge of the hole, obstructed by bars, and Wade quickly scrubbed the tears from his face. With a familiar snikt, Logan's claws were out and he slashed at the bars, cutting through the metal like butter. Wade shielded his face from the falling metal and then looked back up.

"C'mere."

Logan was holding his hand out to him and the back of Wade's eyes burned. It felt like a memory of when they saved the multiverse together. Wade lifted his arm and grasped onto Logan. Once again, Logan was saving Wade by holding hands. With a heave, he pulled Wade up out of the hole easily. When he was kneeling on the grass next to the hole, Logan clutched onto Wade's arms.

"Are you alright?" Logan asked, his eyes scanning for any injuries but Wade nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, physically I'm okay. Mentally, I might need a few sessions with a doctor," Wade huffed out. Logan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief before standing up and pulling Wade up with him.

The forest seemed to recede in on itself and their fights had moved them to their living room. They both looked down the hallway to Wade's room and then back at each other.

"Wanna get out of here?" Wade asked. Logan gave a short nod.

"Lets fucking go."

Chapter Text

Logan

He was ready to get the fuck out of here. They played this motherfucker's game, survived, and got the kids souls back, or whatever weird shit it was that Wade promised them. Logan considered slicing and dicing the creepy fucker on their way out, but he just wanted to get Wade home. He'd go to the mansion at some point and tell them all about this other worldly being sucking the souls from children.

Just not today.

Logan opened the door to Wade's bedroom, shocked to find it desolate, colour almost entirely sucked out. In the middle near the basically-white bed, the other version of him stood, staring into the doorway where they stopped. He didn't look happy, a steep slant to his brows that seemed unnatural as he glared at them.

"Alright," Wade said as he tossed a few items to the thing, motioning for Logan to throw his wolverine claw, too. "We solved your riddles fucking three. Time to make good on your end."

"No."

Anger spiked in Logan's chest.

"What the fuck do you mean no?" he spat at his grotesque clone.

"After freeing the children's souls, I changed my mind. When that one," he hissed as he pointed at Wade. "first called for me through his loneliness, it was like a miracle. I could feel his life force, persistent and everlasting, and realised he was an easy way to live until the end of eternity. I needn't lure anyone else here ever again. And now you? Another one all the same? I'd be unstoppable." The thing frowned even deeper at them, twisting into something wicked and threatening as he leaned toward the two of them. "I won't starve because you two little shits decided to suddenly grow up."

"Jesus Christ," Logan grumbled back before unsheathing his claws. How damn annoying was this asshole? He lost fair and square, and Logan hated a sore loser.

"Oh, look what you did," Wade said incredulously as he gestured toward Logan. "You pissed him off!"

The other Logan's mouth curled back before letting out a gut wrenching scream, lunging forward toward the two of them. The floor under Logan's feet vibrated with the effort, and when he jumped forward himself, he could feel the floorboards slip away. The two of them made contact in the middle of the room, though there wasn't much of a room left as Logan caught sight of bits floating out of existence. The collision knocked the wind out of Logan, but he still managed to get one set of claws in, feeling the rip of fabric under them.

The thing heaved a yell and pushed at Logan as he tried to scramble away. His clone stepped back to get decent footing to pounce again, but before he had the chance, Wade was charging in with a hunting knife, one that Logan knew he kept on his ankle.

At once, all the remaining colour in the room drained away and left only white to bounce off of the quickly-disappearing furniture. The floor collapsed under his feet and he watched on in horror as Wade fell, too, into the bottom of the void.

Around them was thick spiderweb that spread out closely into the vast nothingness as it trapped them there like insects, creating a cage. Logan could feel the stickiness on his arms keeping him still, and he watched in horror as the other him slithered across the web like it was nothing. It disoriented Logan as it bounced the web.

Below him, Wade was sunk to the very bottom of their cage, thrashing as he tried to wriggle free. It hurt his heart to see it, especially after all the shit in the well. He was unresponsive down there, curling in on himself, and all Logan could do was watch. He couldn't reach out for him, hardly breaking the horrible bubble that wrapped over him like a blanket. It was a miracle at all that Wade looked up when Logan called.

Anger swelled in him, running hot in his veins and making him flail out in rage. His claws came shooting out and sliced through the web easily.

He couldn't stand to think about Wade at the bottom of the well, in near tears as he fought off some invisible assault that Logan couldn't see. All Logan could do was watch and desperately beg for Wade to get the fuck up, to drag himself out. It was agonising to witness, but it seemed like his rambling worked. The fear he'd felt was like nothing he'd felt before, not being able to reach past the barely-visible force covering the bars that kept him from jumping down there and hauling Wade out himself.

He wasn't going to let some fucker wearing his skin keep Wade here until the end of eternity, and he sure as fuck wasn't staying here himself. This place wasn't right, and Logan was determined to bring them home again.

With some effort, he pulled himself off the web, though it seemed to give a little more than he was expecting, and let himself fall to the very bottom where Wade was finally pulling himself free.

"Let's get that key and get the fuck out of here," Logan said to him as he tried to keep the panic out of his voice.

"Gladly," Wade agreed, starting on his climb toward the top.

Logan watched as the other him scuttled toward them on all fours. a speed that he knew was much faster than the two of them would be able to manage during their climb. Crouching down, Logan leapt upward to cut off the thing's path where it was beelining toward Wade, landing in a heap against the sticky web. It growled at him and slashed with its own claws, leaving long, angry lines of red across Logan's stomach painfully.

In response, he growled back and threw a solid punch at its face that made its head snap backwards. He did it again, but this time, let his claws out mid-swing. They sliced through easily, exposing something dark and horrid beneath the skin before it stitched itself back together, staring Logan down with unbridled malice in its blank button eyes.

Logan grimaced at his own grotesque face, threw another punch that knocked the thing off balance, and swiped at the key hanging from its neck. The cord gave a little resistance as he snatched it, but he managed and turned around to start climbing. Something grabbed his ankle and he glanced down to find the other him yanking on him mercilessly, dragging him a few inches with every effort, and Logan knew that he only had a few seconds before it fully won over.

"Wade!" he called as he turned his attention upward where Wade was pretty close to the crawlspace door hanging there in the void of endless white.

He looked down at Logan, and he promptly tossed the key upwards, watching as Wade caught it smoothly. Turning back around to deal with the other him, Logan waited until it gave him one more good tug on his ankle before letting the momentum take him down, crashing into it gracelessly. It earned him a full double set of claws in his stomach, but he managed to put his in the space on either side of its sternum, slicing through the web below them. It jostled them as it sent them plunging downwards, the rest of the web ripping away with their weight. They only stayed connected by a few threads.

"Logan!"

Rearing back, Logan stabbed through the thing's thigh as he used his other hand to grab at the remaining line of web. It tried to lunge up at him, but he kicked at it once in the shoulder before slicing through the web just below his grasp, sending it tumbling down into the endless void. Quickly, Logan started climbing up the web toward Wade, who looked horrified at the exchange.

"Go," Logan urged as soon as he was close enough, pulling himself up and following Wade through the door into the dusty, lint-filled tunnel.

There was a bang behind them, and Logan looked over his shoulder to see the other version of him slithering its way into the tunnel, enraged.

"Jesus Christ," Logan hissed at it as he continued forward. "Cockroach motherfucker!"

Logan kept close behind Wade, heart beating at a million miles an hour as they went, the floor under him so soft that it tripped him up every few feet. He could finally see the door to the closet, slightly ajar like he left it, and when Wade finally burst through it, Logan felt a bit of hope rear up in his chest.

In front of him, Wade threw himself out into his closet and Logan was hot on his heels, getting one hand onto the wood floor as long coats and jeans slapped against his face roughly. Just as he turned around to slam the door shut, he realised how close the other him was as he reached out and grabbed both of Logan's ankles, yanking him halfway into the tunnel on his back.

"No!" Logan could hear Wade scream as Logan grabbed onto the frame to try to keep from getting dragged in. "You can't. Fucking. Have him!"

Over the top of Logan's head, several gunshots sounded out that made his head spin, ears ringing with the sheer volume. In front of him, the other version of himself laid unmoving, nothing but a smoky, sandy mess where its head used to be, and Logan sighed out in relief as it went limp enough to let him go.

He felt Wade grasp onto the front of his shirt and pull him backwards into the closet. He watched as Wade slammed the door shut before shoving the key into the lock and turning it so hard that it snapped off into the keyhole.

Logan collapsed fully onto the floor of the closet, arms covering his face. He could hear Wade's heavy breathing next to him and he'd never been so thankful for something so mundane.

"If I ever find another pocket dimension again that's full of shit that's too good to be true, do not let me go in there," Wade breathed out quietly. "Seriously, I will be tempted, even after all this. I just can't control myself. Lifetime of unmedicated mental illness and trauma of never getting what you want does that to a man."

The reality of what they just came out of hit Logan like a freight train. Angrily, he rolled over and flipped onto his knees, putting one on either side of of Wade's hips as he gripped the front of his tattered shirt tightly in both fists.

"What the fuck were you thinking?!" Logan spat at him, inches from his face. "I was fucking worried about you, and now you're telling me you went in there willingly?"

The cowed look in Wade's eyes eases some of the rage in his chest. "It was nice in there! He made me hot chocolate!"

"Hot chocolate?" Logan laughed bitterly, feeling crazy. "Fucking hot chocolate? Jesus Christ, your standards are low. I'll make you hot chocolate if it means you don't pull shit like this again."

"Well, now I'm gonna know it's just pity hot chocolate, so it's not gonna be the same."

Logan realised that it sounded a little too sincere for him to brush off. He leaned forward and put his forehead on Wade's collarbone, exhaustion hitting him fully. "You really liked it better in there than out here?"

"It was nice, y'know, aside from the part where he wanted to suck my life force out for all of eternity. We hung out all the time, he made me food, he paid attention, we'd cuddle. It was almost like we were—" Wade stopped himself short, before continuing on. "It was good. Yeah. Al was there, too, and she was great. Would it be fucked up for me to say that I'll miss it? Because—"

Logan sat up again and glared down at Wade, searching for anything in his face to say that it wasn't true. Guilt slid down his spine like poison as he understood that Wade's disappearance was a direct result of his own actions. The times that Wade had reached out and Logan brushed him off because he was too annoyed to make an effort, the times where he was meaner than he should have been, the way he let his own emotions drown out the fact that they were supposed to be close friends. No fucking wonder he ran off and almost let himself die for it.

This wasn't how you were supposed to treat people you loved.

"I'm sorry."

The look on Wade's face made his stomach clench, shocked and awed, like he'd never expected to hear that from Logan. "What's that?"

"I should have been better to you. I haven't been paying attention to you, and I've been a fucking bastard. I just—I don't know. I've been drowning trying to get my shit settled."

"Yeah, I saw you were trying to move out." He said it so free of emotion that Logan could tell just how much it actually affected him. "And—and I know you've been struggling. It's why I was trying to get you to come out and do stuff. I mean, it was also for selfish reasons, but there were some kinda noble motivations, too."

Logan shrugged at him and sat all the way back on his haunches, hands on the tops of his thighs. "Just wanted to give you space for you and your person. Whoever it was you were seeing."

It dawned on him then that maybe there was never someone in Wade's life and that all the time he spent sneaking off was actually just moments in that demented place with that fucked up face-stealer.

Under him, Wade shook his head, rolling it across the floor. His expression was openly confused, and Logan could feel his fingers fidget at the edge of his calves. "I'm not seeing anyone, and if I needed space, I would have said so." Logan could sense the nerves in him—heart picking up, skin pricking with sweat. "I mean, I have my eye on someone, but they wouldn't give me the time of day if I asked."

Things started to click into place slowly, and Logan felt like a total fucking idiot. He'd been too busy worrying about his own life to realise how much Wade was chasing after him, how he went to this alternate dimension where someone was giving him his deepest desires, including a version of Logan that spent all his time showering Wade in his undivided attention. Wade was right. Real Logan wasn't doing the best job of convincing him that he wanted to stick around. The thing was, Logan would have absolutely said yes if he'd asked seriously, or just seriously enough that Logan could tell it wasn't a damn joke.

"You mean me."

Wade just shrugged in response.

"Okay," Logan said slowly. "Ask me now."

"What?"

"Ask me for the time of day."

Wade eyed him carefully, like it might end up poorly for him if he followed the instruction, like it could be a trap. "Alright. What time is it?"

"I don't fucking know." Logan leaned down again, aiming for Wade's mouth as he answered.

Their lips met softly and, immediately, Wade returned the chaste kiss. He ran his hands up the sides of Logan's thighs and sighed at the contact happily, holding on like they might get ripped away from each other. Logan could feel the stress flood from him in waves.

Logan pulled back and buried his face into the crook of Wade's neck as he breathed evenly. "I'm gonna do better. Just—don't forget that I'm brand new here, and I got all this shit going on in my head right now. But I want this. I want us."

He could hear Wade's breath hitch as he said, "You gotta pass a test first."

Logan sat up and unseated himself from Wade's lap, not wanting to seem like he was taking without asking. He knew he needed to prove himself and wouldn't be surprised if Wade wanted him to do that before anything else. "Sounds good. What do you want?"

"You can date my sweet ass and wait on me hand and foot, but only if your hot chocolate is better than Other Logan's."

Logan laughed in relief. "I'm sure I can do that."

Chapter Text

The fridge closed with a soft thunk behind Wade and he moved about the kitchen, packet of cheese in his hand. The smell of seasoned meat and vegetables permeated the air on what was now classed as Taco Night.

"Hey, Al. Get your ass out here before Logan eats all the grated cheese again!" Wade called down the hallway.

"He does that again, his ass is gonna meet the business end of my walking stick," Al called from here bedroom. Wade chuckled and gently hip checked Logan as he went past. Logan pretended to swat him with the spatula, but he had a smile in the corner of his mouth as he did so.

Wade went to the dining table and place the drinks down, petting Mary Puppins who was underneath the table. She lifted her head up and gave his hand a lick before settling her head back down to continue her snooze.

"Oh to be a little pup," Wade mused affectionately. The apartment was warm and filled with laughter a lot more these days. After the incident they don't like to talk about, they've been trying to work on their communication a lot more. It's still them, so it's slow going but they're getting there. The fact that they were dating now made things infinitely better.

Wade felt lighter now, like things might actually get better. When they had come back, Wade had a dream about the little ghost children. They had thanked him for saving them, and he had gotten a little emotional about it, having woken up with tears on his face. He had to get Logan to hold him.

"I hope there's plenty tonight. I'm so hungry I could eat three horses," Al exclaimed as she entered the kitchen.

"Don't worry, there's plenty tonight," Logan said, giving Wade a pointed look. He held his hands up in mock indignation.

"Fuck, you forget the extra tortillas one time and suddenly you're the guy who ruined Taco Night." Logan shook his head at him, but there was a smirk on his face as he turned around and nudged a cup of hot chocolate towards him on the counter. Wade grinned at his tasty offering and made to go for the plates before he noticed Al patting down her pockets out of the corner of his eye.

"What's the matter, Meemaw? You lost something or are we just feeling ourselves in the middle of the kitchen? Right in front of my tacos," Wade joked. Al shook her head.

"I forgot my medication in my bedroom," she huffed angrily. Wade felt a pang of sympathy for her and decided to not be an asshole.

"I'll grab it for you. Where is it?" She seemed shocked at him being nice but didn't mention it.

"In my bedside cabinet, on the left side it should be." Wade saluted, even though she couldn't see it, and made his way down the hall to Al's room. He hummed to himself as he travelled down the hallway, not looking at his room. The door in the back of his closet had been locked and boarded up since they left.

He entered Al's room, breathing in the smell of old lady and mothballs. He walked to her bedside cabinet, switching on her lamp, and opened the drawer. He dug through receipts and suspicious looking baggies, until his hand hit the foil packet.

"Bingo!" he said brightly. He went to switch the lamp back off and something made him pause. Al had a picture by her bed. He peered at it closer. It was two young girls standing in front of a building. One was staring at the camera with a serious look on her face. The other looked the same, but she was smiling and holding a little doll of herself. She had big eyes and two pigtails, and she looked kind of like…

"Fuck." He brought it up to his face to take in all the little details. The serious looking girl in the photo had a beauty spot right in the same place Al did, just near her chin. "Looks like someone been keeping secrets. Would have been nice to know sooner." He placed the picture gently back on the nightstand before flicking the lamps switch off and walking out the room.

"We'll have to have a talk about that later," Wade mused to himself as he went to join his F word back in the kitchen. For now, all that mattered was eating tacos and maybe kissing Logan.