[Fic] Sugar and Spice part 9
Title: Sugar and Spice 9/??
Author: Guardian
Rating: T
Characters: Cable, Deadpool, Hope, Outlaw
Timeline: Starting off around Cable #12 and going into AU.
Disclaimer: written for fun, not profit.
Word Count: 1,762
Summary: With Nate stuck in the future, Wade has to keep Hope safe until Nate finds a way home.
Previous parts: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8
"Ah'm coming, ah'm coming!" Outlaw called out, pulling on a shirt. Apparently whoever was at her door wouldn't take the hint and go away. If it were those little perverted boys from the fifth floor, they were going to be severely disappointed. She wasn't answering the door half-dressed anymore, especially not after last time.
Knock-knock-knock-knock-
"Hold yer horses!" She flung the door open, catching Wade with his fist up in the air, about to rap at her door again. "Wade?"
"Can we stay with you?"
She tried not to show any sign of weakness when Wade gave her a big, put-on smile. The boy was always up to something... and the answer to her unspoken question was clinging to his leg, looking at her with big puppy eyes.
Outlaw sighed, leaning against her door frame and running one hand through her short blonde hair. "Wade," she said, already at a loss. "I told you before, you can't kidnap children!"
"He's my dad," Hope said, giving Outlaw a stern look.
"Well, I'll be. And who's the mother?"
Wade made a strained expression. "Nathan."
"Cable?!" Outlaw laughed, and wiped her eyes when she was finally finished. "You serious, huh? Come in, but don't you dare bleed on my couch, Wilson."
"I'll buy you a new one," Wade said, waving his hand dismissively as they entered Outlaw's apartment.
"What's yer name, cutie?" Outlaw asked, bending down with her hands on her knees.
"Hope. Hope Summers."
"Outlaw." Outlaw stuck out her hand, and Hope shook it. "But you can call me Inez if you like."
"Can I call you-"
"No, Wade." Outlaw straightened up. "So you boys are playin' house again. Why'm I so surprised? Didn't know Nathan had the uh, biology, for this," she added with a smirk. "Always pegged you for the feminine type in the relationship."
"Are you kidding me? Nate, like, totally moisturizes and stuff. I'm 100% American beef, here."
Outlaw coughed politely. "So whose idea was the crazy outfit?" she asked, gesturing her hand at Hope.
"What's wrong with it?" Hope frowned, tugging at her grey and yellow bodysuit.
"Well, nothin'. If you're an X-Man, I guess."
"They don't have a Bloomingdale's in the future," Wade explained. "Or if they did, it was the next apocalyptic town over. But I swear to God I saw a Starbucks."
Outlaw shook her head, laughing softly. "Alright, I give. So what's the plan?"
"Need to crash for a while," Wade said. "At least until I can check on what my status is here. I'm really counting on that southern hospitality thing."
"You're starting to wear it a little thin," Outlaw said pointedly. "But I can't bear the idea of this poor little gal depending solely on you."
"Hey, we did alright so far."
Outlaw frowned at that, truly concerned now. "You need a bath, darlin'. I'll find you some clothes fer tonight, and then me an' yer daddy can go shopping for some real clothes. What's wrong?"
"Er, nothing's wrong, Outlaw. Hope's just never been shopping, I think, so she doesn't even know what that means. Probably never seen indoor plumbing, either."
"Landsakes, Wade!"
"Don't blame me, Inez! The future is craaaaazy!"
////
Outlaw helped get Hope sorted out, setting the shower so it was at the right temperature (it's always hard to hit the right balance between freezing cold and magma), and laying out a towel and a change of clothes plucked from her closet.
"I..." Hope looked a little at a loss.
"Just a sec," Wade said, shooing Outlaw out of the bathroom. The woman was helpful, truly, but she didn't understand that Hope had really spent half of her life without seeing modern conveniences. Which was pretty damn ironic, considering she grew up in the future.
"This is a shower," Wade said, waving his gloved hand under the stream of hot water. "People bathe with water, usually once every day. It's good hygiene. You gotta, like... uh, you get naked in the water, and-"
"I know that!" Hope cried, her face turning bright red.
"Oh! Er, um. Okay then. That's half the battle!" Wade floundered for a change of subject and grabbed a bottle of something. "This is soap, okay? Wait, that's shampoo. This is soap. It's good for cleaning, and it smells good. Use some. Don't get it in your eyes, 'cause it burns like the dickens if you do. Oh, but, don't be scared of soap. It's good stuff. Just not in your eyes."
"Okay, I got it," Hope mumbled. "Please go away now."
"You know how to turn off the water when you're done?" Wade tried to resist, but Hope shoved him away, forcing him towards the door. "No big deal, just make sure you get dressed before you come back out-"
"Mr. Wilson, don't make me stab you again!"
Wade scrambled out the door, which snapped shut behind him with a thump. He sniffled and wiped his eye. "They grow up so fast."
Outlaw smiled at Wade, her arms folded. "I never thought I'd see the day. And I certainly never thought I'd ever say this to you... fatherhood kinda looks good on you, champ."
"You know she's adopted, right?"
"Yeah, I figured," Outlaw said. "Can't picture her gettin' her red hair from you. But it don't mean you're any less her daddy. Sandi'll be tickled pink to see our little Wade Wilson actin' all mature."
"Speaking of that, you can't tell anyone about her."
"You're kidding me."
"Not really. I mean, unless you want the X-Men fighting sentinels or dragons or whatever it is these days in the middle of your apartment."
"You tellin' me she's the little girl that everyone's fussin' over? Wade, you should've taken her to Utopia or something. The X-Men are better qualified to handle what she needs."
"No way. The stinky claw man and all those stuffy X-Men with sticks up their butts are not what she needs. Nathan told me himself, he wants her to grow up without anyone trying to control her."
"Stinky claw man?" Outlaw arched an eyebrow at Wade's childishness. "I appreciate what you wanna do, hon, and maybe you think it's the right thing, but... but she's superhero breed, Wade. People like you and me... we ain't exactly moral compasses."
"So why are you trying to be one now?" Wade questioned, giving Outlaw a hard stare.
Outlaw faltered and gave up, grabbing Wade and giving him a kiss instead. "Shoot. Let's just keep 'er and raise 'er as our very own."
"I knew I could count on you," Wade grinned.
"But first, you're gonna get in the bath as soon as Miss Hope is done. And you're just gonna wash up, or I'll douse you with bleach instead."
"I was curious!"
"Yeah, you're a curious one alright," Outlaw grinned at him.
////
It was the dead of the night when Outlaw woke. Something had disturbed her, but she wasn't sure what that something was yet. She already had her pistols in each hand before she could so much as rub the sleep out of her eyes. The girl was supposed to be sleeping in bed with her, she remembered, but now it was empty. A small noise in the apartment set her on edge, and she knew it could mean trouble. When Wade was in town, it always meant trouble.
If anything happened to that little girl... Outlaw trailed off on the thought, unable to decide who would be angrier, Wade or herself. Wade would probably shoot her, of course.
Outlaw crept to the bedroom doorway, peering out into the living room, where she'd made Wade hunker down for the night. She was ready to blow someone's kneecaps, but instead she was taken by surprise.
Wade was sitting on the couch with his legs stretched out across the cushions, his shoulders against the armrest, and Hope curled up beside him with her head on his chest. Even in the darkness, Outlaw could see that Wade wasn't wearing his mask for once. He looked a lot sadder, more serious without his second skin. He kept his head down as if even in darkness he was ashamed of how he looked.
Outlaw watched his hand move, lifting to stroke Hope's shoulders in a gesture that was unnervingly gentle. Hope didn't move, didn't make a sound, but Outlaw could tell the girl was crying. She'd been in Hope's shoes before, trying not to make a bit of fuss while everything seemed to come crashing down, but she hadn't had anyone by her side. The sweet little thing truly had wrapped herself in Wade's heartstrings.
"He'll come back," Wade murmured, his voice so hoarse and low that Outlaw nearly missed the words. "He always comes back. Like me. Except I'm like bad breath, or unpaid parking tickets. Can't get away from it. But Nate goes away sometimes. I don't know why. He just pops away to go cure puppy cancer or something, because everyone everywhere needs him. And he says that wherever he goes, other people can't tag along. Or maybe it's just me he says that to. 'Cause even I wish I could take a break from me sometimes." Wade paused for a long time, his self-loathing words lingering in the air.
"I bet he just goes up to his spaceship sometimes, opens a pack of beer, and watches a week-long Maude marathon. 'Cause that's what I'd do. Except he probably does something more Nate-like, like he has a little miniature garden somewhere with little cherry tomatoes and daffodils, and he named every single one of his plants, and they've all got at least three names, because he'd do that. And he just spends the whole damn time fertilizing and talking to his plants in his stupidly soothing Charlton Heston voice, and he tells them all about how he wants to make the world perfect. And Daffodil Phineas Priscilla Askani'son would be like, 'That sounds marvelous, Nathan, but will there be a rainbow?' And Nate would be all, 'No' with that dumb little smirk on his face because he'd have at least eight alternating rainbows in the sky at all times. He would, too - you know he would. Then as soon as he's done planning how he'll give every single child a puppy and a hug, he comes back and he does it. That's how it works with him."
Wade fiddled with something on his bare thumb, that glinted a dull gold in the faintest light.
"He said he promised," Wade added to Hope. "So he'll come back."
Part Ten