Molly & Wade | Friday Evening (backdated)

[x-deadpool.livejournal.com]

Molly seeks out Wade when it becomes apparent he's not going to go find her.


Wade had heard about the kids who came back but weren't really kids anymore. He'd heard Molly was one of them. But he figured it was best to just avoid everything to do with new people until he'd gotten his things unpacked and checked on Doug and Laurie. At least he knew they were who they'd always been.

Which was why he was buried elbow-deep in the boxes he'd shipped himself back from Africa and New Orleans. Had to take his people the things he'd gotten them.

Molly had been told that Wade had lived. That he was still the same. But he hadn't come to see her. Which was why she was standing outside his door. His door. It was kinda weird how everyone lived at the mansion now and not in other places like before. Everyone was together. It was kinda nice too.

After a couple of moments she finally knocked. "Wademan? It's me."

It didn't mean it was her. Wanda had known who he was, too. Still, Wade paused with the book of traditional Southern Nilotic art half out of the box he'd shipped it in. "Hey," he said, wondering if this was going to hurt. It seemed like things had been good for Adrienne, she'd gotten her Tandy back, but seriously, the world had ended. It'd ended. And everything was different. But everything was also the same.

He thought he'd gotten a handle on cognitive dissonance back when people he knew started dying of heart attacks and cancers different from his own, but this was just taking it to an extreme. He'd gone to Africa to get away from it, he'd killed people to get rid of his anger, he'd mellowed out in New Orleans, and then he'd come back here expecting things to be normal again. But nothing would ever be normal again. Or at least not the normal he'd known before.

Molly opened the door. She was an inch or two taller, and her hair was a little darker somehow since she'd gotten older, but she looked exactly the same. She paused in the doorway, staring at Wade, sitting among the boxes like he had them all piled on his back instead of all around him and they were weighing him down.

She didn't quite know what to say. He looked so sad. "I...can I come in?" she said.

"Sure," Wade said, nodding a little. He finished pulling the book for Marie-Ange out and sat it beside himself, then grabbed the blow gun and the darts he'd bought off a tribesman just before leaving South Sudan. Laurie'd get a kick out of them.

How did you go about asking someone if they were the someone you'd known or a different someone who just looked exactly the same?

Slowly wandering into the room a little more, Molly closed the door behind her. Just in case. She folded her arms, then unfolded them and rubbed one awkwardly.

"So... I bet you're like... probably really confused," she said, letting out a breath. "And... so... um... in case you, in case you thought... I'm not, I'm me. I'm just... older. Because of where I was. Because... when she came and hurt everyone and destroyed everything... we died. Me and Tandy and Ty. But... but Paige was there. And Paige knew the Valkyrie... so she convinced her to save us. But we had to be in Asgard to live. And we had to work for some gods so we could live. But they were really nice... and...."

She swallowed. "I'm sorry I had to go. I didn't know I was going. It all happened so fast. And I thought... I thought maybe everyone here had died too so I thought... I'd just live there, with Lady Sif, until I was old... and then... I was home. And everyone was alive and the world didn't go kerblooey but I didn't see you and they said you were alive and now you are so... that's great and... and..." She let out another breath. "I missed you."

How did you tell someone you'd missed them so much you couldn't see straight so you left the country to kill bad people? Molly probably wouldn't like that. "It's good you're back, though." Wade paused, then turned to a different box and pulled out a round-brimmed hat that came to a point and had decorations all around the woven-straw cap. They weren't particularly bright colors, so far as decorations went, but they were intricate.

Wade held the hat for a moment, then said, "I dunno if you're even still into hats, but I got this in Mali cause... I dunno. I missed you, too. I was gonna put it in the car I planned to restore for you. Like I'm restoring cars for... y'know, for everybody who died. But if you want it, maybe... it could restart your collection."

Molly blinked owlishly, letting out a gasp at the hat. "Wow, that's so cool! Thanks!" she said. She had amassed only three or four hats while in Asgard, but mostly because she was so busy. She hadn't had time and, for awhile she tried to be more grown up by not doing it, but Sif reminded her that Volstagg of the Warrior's Three collected axes and swords by the dozens and he was hundreds of years old. One of the hats she had been given was one of Thor's actual helmets. He had a lot of them. But they all remained on Asgard.

She took a couple of steps forward, carefully, then peered up at him. She was still easily a head shorter than him. Than most people, really. "Can there be hugs now?"

Reaching out, Wade pulled Molly into a tight hug, the hat still held in one hand. He didn't say anything else, just hugged her because she'd been gone, she'd died and been dead and then apparently lived somewhere else thinking everyone else was dead. And he'd missed her and he hadn't let himself think about it, just killed people instead because that was easier. It was so much easier than dealing with feelings he refused to admit he had. Voice a little rough, he said, "Let's try really hard not to do that again. Okay, half-pint?"

Molly wrapped her arms around Wade, resting her head on his shoulder for a few moments. Of all the people she was sad about never seeing again, Wademan was the most. She told herself after awhile that she was happy there on Asgard, because she was respected. And valued. And even if she came back and the world was still intact it wouldn't be the same. Cause if her friends were gone, her family, then it didn't matter.

"Promise," she said. A broad, sneaky smile crossed her lips and she put up her dukes. "I know how to fight now, so they're gonna have a really hard time."

"Good," Wade said, resting his chin on Molly's hair for another few moments before he released her. "You're gonna have to show me some of your Asgardian moves."

Taking a step back, the smile blossomed into a grin. "Dude, I was hoping you'd say that!" she said. It had been hard coming back, not as hard as she thought, but much harder without Wade around. And now that he was... it got better. "Wait, do you know how to use a sword?"

"Doug's been showing me some basic forms. Clarice, too," Wade answered, quirking a smile before putting the hat on Molly's head.

Molly reached up to touch the hat, tilting it a bit on her head so that she looked almost like a witch. She grinned. "Really? We can totally fence too if you want," she said. She missed having someone to spar with. Maybe Kurt would be up for it too. Another thought occurred to her after a moment. "Is my motorcycle still here? I didn't get to finish but I was close... I was hoping to use it to get around. Artie made me some fake IDs. And... I know how to fly a hoverspeeder. A motorcycle's pretty close, right?" It'd been about two years for her and she'd only had her learners permit when all the crazy stuff happened.

"Yeah, it's still in the garage," Wade answered. It'd been weird to him, how all her other belongings were gone but the motorcycle remained. Then he'd figured it'd been because he was helping her with it and everything he'd been working on down there had stayed, up to and including the VW Beetle he and Korvus had restored. "And I'd bet they're pretty similar. If not, it won't take long to get the hang of it."

Blinking, Molly tilted her head. Suddenly the wheels were turning in her mind. "Actually, I got a good look at the hoverspeeder when I took one apart one time... I could make the motorcycle one! It could work like a regular motorcycle when I'm out but all I have to do is apply a zero-point gravity propulsion engine to it! They don't have them here but if I found the right parts... it may need to operate under a variable specific impulse magnetoplasma rocket system if something isn't available. It's not as clean, though... the fuel requirements alone could be tricky." She furrowed her brows.

Wade's eyebrows had climbed slowly up his forehead. They were now getting intimate with his hairline. "Half of that science stuff I vaguely followed, the rest I can probably get in touch with some people about the zero point grav propulsion engine. Theoretical stuff at the moment. I'm more into the classic engines, but I can put you in touch with people." She'd been interested in engineering before the world ended - a bit. So obviously a fair bit had changed in that department.

"Really? Wow that'd be great! Cause... variable specific impulse magnetoplasma rocket systems are cool, well...heh, hot...and all but they also--" Molly said, finally noticing the startled look on his face when she glanced down. "What? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, no, I'm good," Wade said, nodding. "Just a little surprised."

Molly peered at him curiously, then a light bulb went off. "Oh! You mean the... that stuff I was talking about? Yeah, I know right? I didn't know it was all so fun! Like... I'd get bored when Lady Sif and I weren't training or traveling and so I was talking about the motorcycle one time and Lady Sif gave me a broken toy so I could see how it worked. After a bit I figured it out and it just... clicked. So she let me play with stuff that was broken and try to fix it. And I could." She smiled, the joy and excitement radiating off her in waves. "It's so cool."

Wade chuckled and shook his head a little, forcing himself to dislodge his preconceptions. "Yeah it is," he said. "It really is. You'll have to show me some of your designs some time."

Molly frowned. "They're back on Asgard. But I will try to remember them and write them down. Some of them would be hard to replicate here on Midgar--Earth. Earth. Earth," she said. She had to remember that in case they were out and about. Not that she'd ever needed to talk about the Earth before, because she had been there 99% of the time, not counting trips to SlendermanVille. "But not impossible with the right parts." She shook her head. "Sorry. I babble. Hey, you wanna go get some food? I'm starving."

"Sure," Wade said, nodding. "You can help me drop off the rest of these things I brought back from Africa after we've eaten."

Eyeing all the boxes, Molly quirked a brow. "Wow, that's a lot of stuff." She glanced away. "You were gone awhile too, huh?"

"I stayed in Africa for a little while," Wade agreed, nodding. "And then New Orleans. Not all of this is for other people, though. I picked up some pretty awesome tribal weapons."

Molly's ears perked at the sound of 'tribal weapons.' She literally poked her head a little higher, and her eyes widened with interest. "Pointy things first...food can wait. Can I see? Can I use? Or are they just decoration?" Asgardians always used their weapons.

"They're functional decoration," Wade said. There was no way he'd put things up in any room, whether personal or public, that he didn't know he could use if he needed to. Tipping his head toward a few long, well-padded plastic containers. "Mostly spears and staves, some knives. You're more than welcome to use them."

Opening up one of the containers, Molly picked up an elaborately decorated knife, then twirled it in her hand and slashed at an invisible opponent. "Cool!" she said. She put the knife back, then continued to peruse the rest of the weaponry.

The world was where it needed to be again.