The Pool of Tears

Memories begin to creep forward from hidden corners of your mind.
Passing disappointments.
Lost chances and lost causes.
Heartbreaks and pain and desolate, horrible loneliness.

Sorrows you thought long forgotten mingle with still-fresh wounds.
The stone feels heavier in your hand.

When you drop it in the pool to join the rest of the stones,
you feel lighter.

As though you have released something more than a smooth polished piece of rock.

Being Brave

A small step.
Though it doesn't matter much.
Time won't let us.

I took that small step.
I loathed myself for it.
Bouncing gleefully for it.
Feeling proud of myself for it.

A small step.
A flutter inside my heart.
The one that I thought died a long time ago.
When you decided to throw me away.

I look at those words.
I wanted to be happy.
I need  to be happy.
Even for such a short period.

Please let me be happy.

I simply understand now I have no place in your heart at all.

The Proposal

p/s: Also for my sister, who I'd really like to see the reaction knowing what fate might befall these couples in a married life.

Peter and Wade held hands as they enter the Stark premises. The brunette is anxious to tell his fathers the good news or at least good news for him and Wade. Tony never seems to have a liking on Wade but Steve and he are best buddies. When the lift came to a stop at their place butterflies started to dominate both men’s stomachs, Wade’s hands were sweating and he’s nervous because he knows he has a big part on this. The elevator’s doors opened and they spotted the two love birds sitting on their couch peacefully watching a movie together. The newly engaged couple walked towards Wade’s soon-to-be-parents, Wade is so nervous he’s almost panicking ‘what if they don’t agree’ he thought to himself because he felt that Tony would protest on this one for sure.

“Dads, we’re getting married” Peter broke the news to his dads who shifted their focus on their son who seemed to said something that did not register well on them. His dads has a very confused and shocked look on their faces, Peter looked at Wade who smirked at him feeling all the nerves stinging him, this by far is the most awkward place he has ever been to.

“I need a minute” Tony raising his hands with sign of disbelief and shock on his face and went to their room.

“You guys stay put.” Steve whispered to the couple as he went to go after his husband. Peter and Wade just looked at each other Peter smiling at him.

“I should get ready before anything happens.” Wade said looking as nervous as ever.

“Relax, everything’s gonna be fine. Trust me” he comforts his fiancé rubbing his back leaning his head over his shoulders.

“Yeah, hopefully. I’ll call all the saints and gods just in case.” He replied chuckling a little. Not too long ago when Tony heard a rumor that Wade had cheated on his son he went to his apartment wearing the Iron Man suit pointing dozens of lasers at him, luckily he didn’t get harmed because Peter was there to explain everything. So yeah everything’s going to be alright.

“I’M OLD!!!”

“I’M FUCKING OLD!!!” Wilson and Parker heard a noise coming from his parent’s room. They took a seat on the couch and listen to whatever it is that’s happening behind those doors.

“Calm down Tony!” Steve came to the aid of his husband, Tony sitting on the edge of their exaggeratedly oversized bed his hands face palmed on his face.

“You’re not old. You’re only 50” Steve joked while his husband shifts his stare at him pouting his mouth.

“Look who’s talking”

“You’re over 100 years old and you don’t look like anything closer to your age”

“What does age has something to do with this anyway?” Steve just smiled at his husband rubbing his back.

“Our son’s getting married and I just realized how old we are, how old we’ve become.” Tony stopped whining. Tony always has problems with age matters, he gets melancholy knowing how much Peter, their son had grown up and now he’s settling down with a man. They always say that Steve is the more protective parent but when times like these Tony is the one panicking.

“And why does it have to be Wilson?”

“Out of millions of people living in New York why him?!” he exclaimed. He raised his voice a little not knowing that his soon-to-be-son-in-law is just there outside hearing their conversation.

“Let it go Tony.” Steve said with calm voice. Steve knew this was coming as he and Wade have been talking more lately asking for adult things and he knew something was up and he was right.

“They’ve been together for years and it’s a matter of time before you know…. They settle down.” He continued. Tony just shuts his mouth listening to the point of his husband.

“And Wade had been a great man, you only hate him because you think that he’s going to harm our son but he’s not.”

“Also, wouldn’t it be nice if we add another member to our family?” Steve said, he thought that if that happened their family would consist of 4 men, but it’s on the last of their list for now.

Tony just sighed deeply, giving up.

The super husbands went outside, Steve’s arms wrapped around the defeated Tony Stark. The engaged couple stood as soon as they saw the two went out of their room. Wade dabbed his pants looking at the two men approaching.

“Mr. Sta---“

“Just this once.” Tony cuts him off before he even continues

“I’ll trust you just this once.”

“I’ll hand our Peter to you.” Tony said, his heart pounding as he talks to his future son-in-law as his partner rubs his back smiling.

“Thank you Dad!” out of excitement Wade called Tony ‘dad’ and gave him and Steve a quick hug. Peter giving him a kiss on the cheek. Another weight was lifted off his shoulder.

“Whoa, not too fast there Wilson” the older brunette said, his eyes wide open, shocked on what had occur.

“We will let you marry Peter on one condition” Steve butted in.

“Anything!” Wilson replied without hesitation.

“Tony wanted you two to live here.” He continued. Peter and Wade looked at each other not really knowing what to say.

“I’ll give a whole floor for the two of you.” Tony held. He wanted his son to stay at the tower because in no time Peter would be the one managing Starks Industries.

“I would… love to Mr. Stark-dad” Wilson agreeing to him.

“Call me dad when the ceremony’s over” with that Tony went over to the kitchen to get something to drink. Steve gave Peter and Wade a hug congratulating them early. Captain America seemed to be excited for the both of them.

“I’m so happy for you Pete.” He hugged his son again kissing his forehead.

He sighed. “Wilson… Welcome to the family.” He gave Wade a hug, fighting off the tears on his eyes.

“Pops. Save it for the ceremony” Peter joked. Steve lets go of Wade wiping his eyes.

“Wilson!” Tony yells from the kitchen. Everybody shifts their glance on the brunette who’s currently drinking a shot of whisky. He rarely drinks since Steve stepped on his life, he now only drinks when there’s something to celebrate.

“Make sure you take care of our little Bambi” he asserted.

“Dad! Don’t call me that! And I’m not a baby anymore. I’m getting married already!” Peter protested chuckling as he hugged his future husband.

“Yes Sir! I would definitely, with all my heart and soul, take care of your son.” He sincerely replied giving Peter a kiss on the forehead.

Tony and Steve accompanied the love birds four floors below them, reaching the place Peter and Wade was greeted with a wide and empty space, similar to where they live on the roof top.

“This---- is yours” Tony revealed. Both Tony and Steve have been planning this already, by the time their son wanted to get married he would have to stay here in the tower to someday manage their company. Wilson and Parker were speechless on how wonderful the view is and how large the space was, it was probably 10x on where Wade is living. Stark and Rogers decided to leave the couple alone for a moment and went back upstairs, Tony still looking shocked to what had just transpired and still in a state of disbelief while Steve was excited because he remembers the day Tony had proposed to him asking him to marry him. Rogers looked at his better half and kissed him on his lips.

Wade and Peter were now alone on their crib. They sat in the center of the empty wide space they have for themselves and just contemplated on what had happened to them and what life the both are heading to. They sat back to back, staring at the open space smiling out of pure happiness.

“I love you Mr. Wilson.” Peter said to his fiancé slowly looking at him.

“I love YOU! Mr. Parker-Wilson.” He shifts his head facing his soon-to-be-husband. They smiled at each other for a while then giving each one a kiss.

“Your name’s gonna be longer now.” Wilson said joking.

“Peter Parker-Stark-Rogers-Wilson” chuckling as he kissed Peter again.

“You’re right.” He just smiled giving Wade a kiss back.

“Am I gonna be Stark-Rogers-Wilson also?” Wade asked raising his left brow.

“Beats me.” Peter just shrugged his shoulder.

“We have to figure this thing out.” They both laughed and they cuddled some more.

Sick Days

p/s: This is too-sappy-drooling-over-too-many-sweetness that I can never imagine Wade Wilson capable being of. But this is for you, my dear sister, to fawn over.

"Peter? You doin’ okay?"

Peter had pulled the webbing tight around the unconscious robber, fighting off a wave of nausea when Tony’s voice filtered through his earpiece.

"I'm fine, Tony," he repeated the answer he'd been saying for the past hour, trying to reign in his annoyance. This is the last time I'm ever telling him I don't feel good... "It's just a cold."

"Well, don't push yourself," Jessica joined in as she came up, resting her hand on his shoulder. "We can take it from here, if you wanna go home and rest."

"It's okay," he said in exasperation, stretching out his aching arms. "We're almost done here. I can wait." He swallowed tightly before adding on, "But...I might need tomorrow or something off."

“That’s perfectly alright, Peter,” Steve said as Jessica was pulled off by a police officer. “But just go back to the tower right now.”

“Yeah,” Tony chuckled as he landed next to them, the mask folding back to reveal his smirking face. “You almost swung into a building three times. Can you even walk in a straight line?”

“Shut up,” he grumbled, embarrassed.

Peter’s body was practically screaming for him to go home and sleep. Or give in to temptation and curl into a ball in the back seat of one of those police cars. That was starting to sound more and more like the better option here. But his conscience wouldn’t let him give up without a fight, nagging (in a voice that sounded distinctly like Aunt May) at him to not make their lives harder and to do his share of work.

The nagging was silenced, though, when Natasha threatened to knock Peter unconscious and carry him home.

Making sure one last time that the rest of the team was okay by themselves, Peter grabbed his backpack and took of swinging towards the Tower, immediately stopping after a few swings to heave in the corner of an alley.

Holy God, why oh why did he think it would be a good idea to swing back home when he felt like he was going to throw up just by standing?Stupid, stupid, stupid…

When Peter felt like it was safe, he rummaged around in his back and located his cellphone. He called Happy, garbling out the street name and asking for the driver to come get him. Happy immediately said he would be there in five minutes. Six if there was traffic.

Peter pulled on the jeans and hoodie from the bag over his uniform, lazily tugging his mask off. Happy was there in what Peter guessed to be five minutes, but everything was kind of blurring together and his head felt so hot it was hard to think.

Happy kept glancing worriedly at him through the rearview mirror during the drive, asking if he was feeling alright or if he was going to throw up. Peter mumbled a response, leaning his forehead against the tinted window.

When they reached the garage(s) of Stark Tower, Happy quickly hopped out and helped Peter into the elevator, clucking the whole time about how he should be taking better care of himself and not pushing his boundaries so far. Only a fourth of it made it past Peter’s ears, but the teenager bobbed his head up and down mechanically in agreement anyways.

He stumbled towards the bathroom as soon as they reached the right floor, curling around the toilet and throwing up. Happy hovered over him worriedly, while JARVIS’ came through the hidden speaker and asked if he should call Dr. Banner.

“Yes.”

“No.”

Happy gave Peter a disbelieving look. “You must be joking,” he stated. “You’re so sick you can barely get a syllable out before throwing up. JARVIS, call Mister Banner.”

“I already have, sir.”

“But—“ Peter weakly protested before he started throwing up again.

“I would tell you to shut up, but I think your body is already doing an excellent job of that,” Happy pursed his lips. “You just stay here and finish up while I go wait for Mr. Banner.” Physically unable to respond with anything more than a wave, Peter let Happy go.

It turned out that Bruce was gone on a trip to a remote village in India to help with a string of sicknesses that had popped up. The area didn’t have any cellphone coverage, and Happy quickly turned down JARVIS’ suggestion of sending out a squad of SHIELD agents to retrieve him.

Peter was in a daze throughout this exchange and the next few hours. He was vaguely aware of Happy half-carrying, half-dragging to his room and setting him on his bed when his stomach had settled down. Later, of someone lifting him into a sitting position so he could take pills with a few swigs of water.

When he was finally aware of his surroundings, there was a cool hand running through his hair soothingly and someone sitting next to him. He groaned and pressed into the cool hand, the owner of it letting out a relieved sigh.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Steve murmured. “How are you feeling?”

“Terrible,” Peter whimpered, rolling onto his back. “What time is it?”

“It’s only seven. You’ve only been asleep for a few hours.” Steve reached over and grabbed the bottle of Gatorade from the bedside table, picking up two pills as well.

Peter felt bile well up in the back of his throat. “Can I have water instead? I don’t really think I can stand anything else…”

“Of course, honey.” Steve left and returned with a glass of water, Tony following close behind him. He had oil smeared on his face and arms, goggles up on his forehead.

“Hey, Dad,” Peter greeted him, squeezing Tony’s hand tightly as he pressed a kiss to his son’s forehead.

“How’re you feeling, kiddo?” Tony asked, sitting next to his husband on the edge of Peter’s bed. “Can’t tell ya how freaked out Steve and I were when JARVIS told me you had a fever of 102 and was throwing up every half hour.” Peter grimaced.

“I’m, uh, feeling better now,” he said, chuckling weakly. “I don’t remember much of that. Did I at least make it to the toilet?”

“You made it to the bathroom,” Steve offered, sheepishly grinning as he ran his thumb over Peter’s cheek. “But, you did miss a couple of times.” Peter made a disgusted face, covering his eyes with his hand.

“Oh, great. How bad is it?”

“Jessica refuses to step foot in there until it’s been bleached.”

Peter tried to fake a gag, but the contracting of his throat ended up making it a real one. Tony was immediately off the bed and Steve had a trashcan positioned in front of Peter’s face.

“I’m fine, I’m fine. False alarm.” His parents sighed, shoulders sagging in relief.

Tony and Steve stayed with Peter for a couple more hours, talking and fretting over their son. They tried to make him eat, but all he could keep down was a half of a piece of toast before the vomit-y feeling returned. Jessica and Thor came in to check on him, sitting in for awhile as Tony had to stop something from blowing up in his lab. Even Logan called from his mission with the X-men, shocking the teenager.

Peter finally managed to shoo his parents and teammates away when he couldn’t take any more of their coddling, saying he needed to rest. He fell lightly into a dreamless sleep, having to shift from side to side to make it easier to breathe.

After more time had passed, Peter was awoken by the sound of a soft thud and a muffled curse. Mind and movements hindered by his aching muscles, Peter struggled to push himself up into a sitting position, prepared to deal with whoever had broken into his room and frantically worrying why JARVIS hadn’t alerted him of the intruder.

“Wade?”

The mercenary smiled beneath his mask, finishing with taking off his boots. His suit was torn and mud stained, his guns already laying on Peter’s writing desk., hinting that he had just come from a job. “Hey there, sleepy head. Surprise?”

“What are you doing here?” Peter hissed angrily. “Dad and Pops said that if they found you here again they’d blow you up!”

“Pshaw,” Wade said, waving his hand in the air. “I’d just heal myself up and be back to normal in a week. Plus, I heard that you were sick, and what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t come and visit you?”

“How did you find—you know what, we can discuss your stalker tendencies later,” Peter said bluntly. “You need to go. You are in a tower filled with superheroes, and an AI who could tell them you’re here at any moment.”

“Aw, JARVIS wouldn’t do that,” Wade said assuredly, rubbing the wall lovingly. “Would you?”

“I am withholding this information solely for Master Peter’s happiness,” JARVIS said dryly.

“You wound me so.”

“Wade,” Peter groaned, elongating his name. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to keep his headache and nausea at bay.

“It’s alright, babe,” Wade said, pulling off his mask and setting it on the bedside table. “I promise I’ll be gone by the time your super family wakes up. You don’t need to worry your pretty little head about that. Just focus on feeling better.”

Peter flopped back down reluctantly as Wade undressed, knowing there was no use arguing with his boyfriend when he set it mind to something. His head was pounding and he felt a spike of sickness.  He scrabbled to the edge of his bed, yanking the trashcan closer to him so he could dry heave into it. Wade rushed over to his side, putting his hand on his back and shushing him gently, ignoring the fact that he was completely naked.

When he was about done, Peter gasped for breath and managed to point at his dresser and choke out, “Pants.” Knowing Wade, the idiot was no doubt planning on sleeping in the nude. And holy Zeus, if anyone in the Tower found Peter in bed with a naked Wade, they would tear the mercenary apart into little pieces, putting them into boxes and sending each to a different country.

He wished he could say he was joking, but Natasha and Bruce—Bruce of all people! He wasn’t supposed to encourage homicidal urges!—had created quite a detailed presentation on the subject, including some very lifelike 3d models.

Wade climbed over him and took the side closest to the wall, thankfully having listened to Peter and put on a pair of sweatpants. Peter instinctively curled around him, entangling their legs and wrapping his arms around Wade’s scarred torso.

“You still feel a bit warm,” Wade said contemplatively, brushing his nose across Peter’s hairline. Peter just groaned and tightened his hold on his boyfriend.

“My temp’ll go back down eventually,” he mumbled. “Hey. You won’t get sick, too, will you?”

“Probably not,” Wade shrugged. “But if I do, it’ll go away after a day or so. Y’know. Healing factor.” Peter hummed, eyes drooping shut.

“Good.  ‘Cause this really, really sucks.” Wade huffed out a laugh.

Peter growled a few moments later, lazily pushing Wade’s face away from his own. “Don’t, puke breath.” Wade chuckled deeply, the vibrations making Peter shiver and goosebumps break out over his arms.

“Stop it.”

“Stop what?” Wade played dumb, running his hand teasingly from the back of Peter’s sensitive neck down to the curve of his waist.

“I refuse to be sexually tormented by you when I still feel like I’m gonna barf,” Peter groaned, catching Wade’s hand at his hip and holding it there. “We can do this after I’m not as sick as a dog.”

Wade hugged him closer and buried his head into Peter’s neck. “’Kay,” he said, nuzzling Peter’s cheek to draw a weak laugh from the sick boy.

“Oh my God,” Peter said in surprise, eyes widening. “You’re actually behaving.”

Wade looked bashful. “Shut up,” he grumbled, flicking Peter nose.

“Are the boxes in your head making out again? You haven’t been talking to them much.”

“Nah, they save that for when they think I’m asleep,” Wade responded casually. He snickered a few moments later at whatever the voices in his head had responded with. “They’re worried about you, too, so they're staying quiet.”

“That’s nice,” Peter mumbled, cuddling closer. “Thought they didn’t like me.”

“Really? They’re absolutely obsessed with you. They love you as much as I do.”

Peter couldn’t stop the smile that spread over his mouth. He hesitantly said, “Thanks for coming, Wade. It’s really nice to see you.”

"It's no problem," Wade said sincerely. "I'm here for whenever you need me, sweets."

“I love you.”

“Love you too, Peter.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Wade.”

“Mr. Rogers.”

They stared at each other, one calm and silent in his fury while the other looked like a deer about to be pummeled by an eighteen-wheeler. Wade swallowed heavily, tightening his arm around the sleeping superhero on his chest.

The captain clenched his jaw at the gesture, eyes narrowing. “I’m sure you have a reason for being in my son’s room without a shirt on?”

It was still way too fucking early to be dealing with this. Wade had stayed up most of the night, watching over Peter to make sure he was alright and then soothing him when he threw up or had a coughing fit. At one point, he had even snuck out of the room to get him a glass of lukewarm water and a rag to clean up some puke that had missed the trashcan and a new trash bag. His voice was gravelly from talking nonstop after Peter had deliriously said that his voice made him feel better. Which, now that he thought about it, was probably why Steve had come into his son’s room.

“Um.” Don’tfuckitupdon’tfuckitupdon’tfuckitup. “I saw—heard—from JARVIS—“

“That’s a lie, Master Rogers. I had no part of this.”

“You’re not helping, you big toaster! Anyway, I, er, heard that Petey wasn’t feeling good, so I stopped by last night to check in on him…and sort of…fell asleep?” The boxes in his head chorused in delight that he hadn’t made any reference to Captain America’s biceps or how cute his son’s ass was.

“And what exactly happened while you were ‘checking up’ on him?” Steve growled.

“Just…talking?”

“Talking,” Steve repeated, leaning in the doorway. He ran his tongue over his teeth. “Uh-huh.” The uncomfortable silence returned, broken only when Peter groaned in his sleep and buried his head into Wade’s neck, throwing his leg carelessly over Wade’s.

Wade was positive the superhero was going to have an aneurysm, but he somehow held it together.

“We’re not going to discuss this now,” Steve said calmly. “We’re going to talk about it later, when Peter is awake and I can hear his side of what happened. And then I am going to send him out, and you are going to ‘just talk’ with Clint and Natasha.” Wade blanched. “Is that understood?”

“Yessir,” the mercenary moaned, banging his head lightly against the wall while Steve stormed out of the room, loudly calling for his husband.

Peter let out a breathy giggle. “I told you to leave before they got up.”

“I liked it better when you were throwing up and cuddly, you little buttface.”

Wade pushed his boyfriend off of him and started getting dressed, taking off Peter’s sweatpants and putting on his ratty uniform. When he was dressed, he grabbed Peter’s shoulders and kissed him hard.

“If I get castrated, know that we’ll find a way around it. We don’t have to give up sex.”

Peter made a disgusted face and punched him in the arm as he got up, too, dressing in comfortable clothing. He grabbed his boyfriend’s hand and dragged him into the living room, where the team was waiting with a murderous rage emanating out of them.

Thor stood with his arms crossed over Wade when he was pushed into a chair while Peter loudly convinced his parents and family that no, he hadn’t had sex with Wade, no, the mercenary hadn’t felt him up in his sleep, and yes, they had just cuddled.

“I’m so sick it feels gross to stand up,” Peter said bluntly. “Do you really think I have enough energy to have sex with Wade?” Each time he said the word sex, Steve cringed and Clint shot a glare at Wade.

Tony was the one who caved in, saying that they did trust Peter and believed him. But they didn’t trust Deadpool, and wanted to have a private word with him in the other room.

“Okay, fine,” Peter said, holding up his hands. “But you aren’t allowed to hurt or shoot him.”

Clint looked affronted. “We wouldn’t do that…” He stopped when Peter and Natasha shot him cold stares.

Thor and Steve grabbed on to Wade’s arms and dragged him into one of Tony’s offices. Peter tried to go after them, but Jessica and Coulson—and who knew where the hell he’d popped out from—held him back, using the excuse that they wanted a doctor to look at him.

The doctor diagnosed him with just a bad virus, and said that he needed lots of rest and shouldn’t do any missions for a couple of days. Peter only half listened to what was being said to him, anxiously asking JARVIS if his family was done with harassing Wade, or if the mercenary was dead yet.

Peter was in the elevator as soon as JARVIS announced the ‘meeting’ was coming to an end, Jessica right behind him whining for him to be patient. Wade was standing ramrod straight when the elevator doors opened, waiting for Peter in the living room. The rest of the team was eating breakfast in the kitchen, Natasha wearing a smug expression that earned her a high-five from Jessica.

“What’d they say?” Peter asked him worriedly, checking his boyfriend for any new cuts or bloodstains.

“…Nothing your innocent ears need to hear,” Wade said hastily, awkwardly squeezing Peter’s forearm. He hesitated and then lowered his voice. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, it really wasn't that bad. And it’s wonderful that your family loves you so much.” Peter huffed mutinously, grumbling about how he wished they’d hurry up and get used to having Wade around.

“Do you want to stay for some coffee?” Peter asked, entering the kitchen. Tony leaned to the side so he could see Wade and gave him a very pointed look.

“I’d love one,” Wade said, intercepting Peter on his way to the coffee pot, “but allow me to get it. You just go sit down on the couch and relax.” Peter gave him a grateful smile and went into the living room, turning on the TV. Wade mentally cheered for himself when Tony gave him an approving nod.

“They’re kind of adorable,” Jessica whispered to Steve, watching Peter cuddle up into Wade’s side as the other wrapped his arm around his shoulders.

A smile ghosted over Steve’s mouth as he turned the page of his book. “I think so, too,” he murmured. “Just don’t tell Tony.”

First Words

Steve was laying comfortably on the couch with Peter curled up next to him. Tony was sitting on the other side of the couch with blue prints and a tablet that he was flipping through, trying to work out a new gadget for one of the Avengers, Steve had honestly lost track.

Peter was rambling on in a language all his own and Steve smiled at himself for being able to understand him for the most part. The way he pointed at things on the television screen excitedly as they watched the final scenes of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.”

As the music continued, Peter murmured on and one of his garbled words almost sounded like a real word.

“Did you hear that Tony?” Steve nudged his husband's thigh with his foot. “He said song.”

“He said 'so-umm-an-gah'.” Tony didn't even look up from his tablet. Steve could swear if he looked hard enough he would be able to see the equations in Tony's mind reflected in his dark eyes.

“Don't you want to hear our son's first word?”

“Of course I do, and I will hear it when he actually says something.” Tony glanced up from his tablet, staring his husband straight in the eyes. His own filled with a bit of humor because Steve was always trying to convince him that Peter's nonsensical sounds were actual words.

“You want to say something for your Papa?” Steve cooed to his son, who giggled when he tossed him gently into the air before catching him again.

Tony reached over, scooping his son into his arms. “No, you'd rather say something for Daddy, wouldn't you?”

Peter smiled up at his Dad, grabbing hold of his beard that Steve had been nagging Tony to shave.

“Ow, ow.” Tony winced but Steve only laughed, picking Peter back up and bouncing him on his lap.

“Be nice to Daddy, Peter. He's not as strong as your Papa. Don't you want to say Papa?”

“Har, har. Capsicle.” Tony's eyes narrowed at his husband as he nursed his chin.

“Peter, say Papa.”

“No, look at Daddy, look here, that's right. Say Daddy.”

The small child looked between his fathers as incoherent sounds tumbled from his smiling mouth.

“Say Papa, son, you can do it.”

“No, Peter, say Daddy instead. Look right here and say Daah-dii.”

A snicker from the doorway distracted the two fathers from their clearly successful speech lesson with their son.

“What are you two idiots doing?”

“Tasha!” Peter cheered happily. Steve and Tony turned simultaneously to gape at Peter who was now reaching toward Agent Romanoff.

Natasha was standing before Steve in a moment, picking Peter up and settling him on her hip. “That's right, munchkin. Auntie Tasha's here.” Looking back to her teammates she was surprised to find Steve gawking at her with jealousy in his eyes while Tony was glaring daggers through her heart. “What? What's wrong with you two?"

What Was Dead Was Hope

Because he can't die he likes to pretend others can't.
Which he knows isn't true because he's a fricking mercenary.
Wade stopped counting the kills a long time ago.

But when he finds out Peter is dead he doesn't know what to think. His voices have gone quiet too and he's never felt so acutely alone. Somehow he' expected Peter to keep on living beside him.

The worst part is how quickly things had changed. They went from Wade trying to kill him to team ups to beer and pizza to.... damnit, what should he call it? They meant something more to each other than all of that.

He thinks about the nights he crawled in Peter's windows and made himself comfortable in bed. Wrapped around Peter, he could pretend this would never end.

Wade looks down at Peter's broken body and takes off Peter's mask. Even in death, he's not willing to risk Peter's identity leaking although he suspects it will. He takes his own mask and pulls it over Peter's face. When he puts the Spiderman mask on his own, he pretends he's Peter looking down at Wade's dead body.

It's a strange feeling to realize you'd die for someone. He has never been the kind of man Peter deserves but he's always wanted to try.

How many years had gone by and how many people had tried to persuade him to be different? Peter is-was- he corrects himself, was the only one who saw goodness in him.

Wade sits down next to Peter's body and he doesn't know what to do. The pulse is long gone and he can see rigor mortis setting in. He grabs his hand and squeezes like it'll somehow bring him gasping back to life.

"I loved you, you fricking idiot. Why didn't you call me?" He thinks about his pulse and regenerative powers and how he'd give it all away to talk to him one last time.

Wade hopes Peter knew how much he cared about him. He's never been good with feelings but Peter took it all in so easily.

Peter would read to him, stories and plays and books and Wade always shrugged it off and pretended he wasn't listening. Right now, the only thing he can think is

Each man kills the thing he loves.  

"Forgive me," he whispers. "For all of it."