Gabriel & Wade | Friday Afternoon

[x-deadpool.livejournal.com]

Wade tracks Gabriel down and they have a talk. Sort of.


Wade had gotten Weasel to track down Gabriel after Kyle had commented on the stench of alcohol coming from the young man's trail in town. It hadn't been easy, apparently, but Wade'd suggested checking bars and clubs and - bingo. There he was. Being slightly shady and disappearing for periods of time during which Wade could only assume he was using his speedy powers. Probably.

Which was why the mercenary had turned up at that bar shortly after getting the message from Weasel. He'd seen some things on the news, some things on the internet - didn't look like this was a good place for mutants to be in general. God help a drunk one.

"Oh, come the fuck on," Gabriel muttered, rising out of his bar stool to lean on the bar. "Elyse," he called to the bartender at the other end, who'd been flirting with a tall Scandinavian for the last few minutes, "I'm serving myself." He'd been here before, back when the world was whole, before the senseless violence that had been erased from the record but not from his mind, and he was pleased to discover that his brand of whiskey was still in its usual place.

Even as drunk as he was and coming off a slight pot high, he managed to grab the right bottle without seeing it, pulling it out of its spot. Taking that as a cue for another glass, he filled a lowball glass with some liquor and returned to a more comfortable seated position.

Wade snagged the glass out of Gabriel's hand and drank the whiskey with one swallow. "Mm," he said, looking at the bottle. "Nice. Not the best, but alright. And you're only wobbling on your seat a little. I'd be impressed but I have a feeling it's a lot of practice rather than innate balance that's keeping you upright."

Gabriel glanced at Wade, then at the empty glass. He reached over the bar again, this time in search of another. After a few silent moments, he found one and plopped it down in front of the older man.

Seconds later, he and his glass had moved to the other end of the bar, leaving both Wade and the bottle behind.

Wade eyed the bottle, he eyed the glass, he eyed the bartender - and then he laid a twenty on the bar before following Gabriel at a much slower pace. He paused before actually reaching him, though, and pulled out his phone.

[1/2] Getting fall down drunk is one thing. Getting yourself strung up for being a mutant is another.
[2/2] And it might blow back on the mansion. People are worried. At least drink yourself to death where they can find you.

Wade shot the texts off before turning and walking right back out the way he'd come. Another followed a moment later.

You want a ride back, let me know. I'll pick you up whenever. Just don't die.

The response came seconds later. Thats it? Gabriel looked up from his phone and turned over his shoulder toward the door. Considering the other man's reputation, he'd expected way more. Actually, he'd been kind of hoping for it.

"Fucking Wade," he muttered, hopping off the stool. He glanced down toward the end of the bar, waving to catch his friend's eyes, then miming a smoke break. With one hand fumbling in his pocket for a pack of smokes, he headed out the door. "Jesus fucking Christ."

[1/3] What, you wanted me to put you in a fireman's carry and tote you back to the mansion?
[2/3] Not my job. I'm just making sure you're alive. And that you don't bring unwanted guests to our door.
[3/3] I have my own sorrows to drown. Just remember he probably wouldn't want you dead. So.

Wade kept walking down the street toward his Impala, rolling his shoulders in an effort to lose some of the tension that kept building in him.

A lit cigarette now in his mouth, Gabriel squinted as he searched the busy Manhattan street. His phone buzzed, and so he pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at the screen. He closed his eyes for a second and sighed.

At least yo, he started typing, then deleted it. I don' Nope.

Come back for a second I need to ask you something and I cant figure out how to type it. He hit send and shifted the phone into one hand, staring at it for a second before typing out an additional Please

Wade took a turn around the block rather than getting in his car, approaching Gabriel from the opposite direction. "Sup?" He asked, frowning a little at the cigarette.

Gabriel pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and flicked ash on the ground. He stared at Wade for a second, then looked at his feet. He stayed silent for a while, far longer than expected considering that he'd called Wade back to ask a question.

"I just – it's not just him, you know?" Gabriel looked back up, any confidence he'd put on display at the bar suddenly stripped away. "I mean, it is, a lot of it is, but I don't know if I can – what if I can't come back? Well, not can't, but it's..." Wade's expression was blank, and so Gabriel shrugged, because he was having a really hard time explaining what he meant. "I don't know if I can go back."

"What are your other options?" Wade asked, turning to put his shoulders against the wall next to Gabriel. "What've you got to go back to? What'll make it better? Cause from the looks of you, drinking and smoking and whatever else you might've been doing hasn't managed to numb anything."

"I don't know," Gabriel said somewhat dumbly. He took a drag on his cigarette, considering. "I've been hanging out with friends. They all think I've been out of town, and nobody knows, and I keep seeing everything in my head, over and over again. Other me and the other other me and Miles, and J–" He couldn't even bring himself to say her name. "And him, God, I can't stop thinking about any of it, and I'm not even there, you know?"

He threw the cigarette to the ground, watching it burn for a second before stomping on it.

Wade pulled his phone out and sent Gabriel a text. Less about other you and other other you. Don't want to destroy the world. Again.

"Maybe being there would help with that. Maybe it wouldn't. But whatever you do, you gotta be careful." The mercenary kept an eye on the street, on the alley, on the people moving back and forth, the people going into the bar, the people leaving. "Pretty much nothing's like it used to be." His voice dropped. "They don't know what happened. But they know something happened. And they're blaming us. It's all over the news. Registration this and registration that. You don't have to come back but don't be reckless."

Gabriel pulled his vibrating phone back out of his coat pocket, read his texts and glanced at Wade. He shrugged and tried to look contrite. "Great," he said as he tapped out a message. "This fucking sucks." He'd done his best to suppress it, but his anger was coming back. Wade's phone buzzed. "Live a lie, or live in my nightmare."

I have to pretend it never happened but I cant pretend it never happened

"No," Wade said, shaking his head. "You don't live a lie. And you never forget. But you move on because otherwise - you're stuck. You're stuck and they wouldn't want you to be. None of them." He tapped out a message on his phone and hit send. Just because we can't talk about them with the doppelgangers doesn't mean we can't talk about them with one another.

Gabriel looked at his phone and snorted. "Yeah," he said bitterly. "Great."

"I know," Wade said, tone dry. "Know what helps?" He waited a beat, then answered himself. "Hitting things. And not breaking your hand when you do it."

"Sounds healthy," he replied somewhat pointedly. "I'll keep that in mind when I'm done drinking until I stop feeling."

Wade cracked a smile. It didn't last long. "Meditation's better. But until you get rid of the echoes in your brain, giving yourself time to think's probably not at the top of your 'to do' list. Anyway, consider it an offer. Was the sum total of your question 'what if I can't come back'?"

"Yeah," Gabriel said after a few seconds. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. "I guess so."

"You sure? Cause Wade's Advice Emporium's gonna close up shop in a few and head back to the mansion. Wade's Taxi Service is open 24/7, though." Wade pushed off from the wall and slid his phone back into his pocket.

"Yeah." He was itching for a second cigarette, but he could tell Wade disapproved, and he wasn't looking for a lecture. "Thanks. I... thanks."

Wade gave the younger man a small salute and headed toward his car again. At least he could confirm for Angel and anyone else who wanted to know that Gabriel hadn't quite succeeded in drinking himself to death. Yet.