Much to Wade's relief the Spider did NOT further beat the shit out of him which was a bit of a surprise. It would have put good damper on the Merc's eagerness to eventually bond with the Hero... With his soulmate... Spider-Man of all people. 

They'd since parted ways, but Wade had so many questions, several he didn't really think he had any right to ask. 

He had a soulmate. Someone who hadn't died on him yet. And it wasn't just some Jane or Joe either, it was someone who could keep up with him. They might not stand on the same side fo the fence but they could see the same view.

Would he ever actually get to see that face again? Would the spider ever tell Wade about himself, his life, his childhood? Did he have a good childhood? One unlike Wade's? Would Spidey care to know him back?  Would they ever learn to love or would they be just friends? Would they be anything at all considering the abuse Wade inflicted?

[Don't get too ahead of yourself.] Yellow warned. Even slight hope was dangerous.

He wondered if the stranger could stand to see this face. Did he simply hug Wade as a way to hide from having to look at the ugly scars or was it genuine?

(He was crying )

[That could mean anything.]

Doubt crept up on him as he lounged on his well worn couch in his equally worn and small apartment.

Why was the universe so cruel, giving a guy as normal as his soulmate someone like Wade to buddy up with.  Granted the guy was obviously able to hold his own, but he had a lot of emotions going on based off that broken nose he'd gifted. Wade had already ruined his soulmates life to some degree. That was without taking into consideration that Wade was unstable, untrustworthy, and insane.

He should really leave, get out of town, or disappear before he could do something worse. He had a great skill at making any and all situations five thousand times worse. He impressed himself at times, honestly. But at the same time, the thought of just walking away from his soul mate felt impossible. He couldn't say he hadn't been waiting. He'd been curious, purposefully forgetting in order to ignore the anticipation at times. He'd be such a burden, he knew that but how could he just walk away from something the universe very directly laid out in front of him?

[It would be safest to move on and out of his life. Show him we aren't interested and save him the trouble of having to deal with us so he can move on and maybe find someone he will love. This is too dangerous of a game]  Yellow was right.

(But he told us we'd meet again. He even gave a location and time. Like a date.)

"The same kind of date you have with a friend or business partner, it's not like that. He needs time to think about how he'll deal with me." Wade muttered

He glanced down at his watch and stared at its steady and unmoving screen.

- : - : - : -

( ... I don't want to push him away. ) 

[ Don't be like a child. We can't torture someone like that. Not him. ]

...

I wonder what his name is?

__________

Peter

Peter couldn't believe himself. 

He'd compromised his identity to a Mercenary that very well could turn around and sell away his information. Soulmate or not, what the hell?

At least the guy did 't know his name. Maybe. Hopefully not? Hitmen were like, special about getting that information somehow. Maybe he knew his name? Hopefully just his face. But that didn't mean that the Mercenary wouldn't quickly obtain it. A very brief google of the man revealed his lethality and efficiency in the field. Needless to say, Peter was concerned.

He groaned as he read more about the man behind that mask. Deadpool. He was everything that went against Peter's morals as a Hero. Deadpool killed for money. His morals were questionable to put it simply. And the cherry on top was that the Merc had a record for appearing very mentally unsound. He was plain dangerous and absolutely what Peter didn't need to add to his life.

Yet this man was Peter's soulmate and Nothing could change that. Despite Peter's newly obtained information on the man he still felt attached. He hated the idea that he was attached to any degree. He hated the man, his soulmate. He always had . . . at least the idea of them. It was a little different when you had a human being standing in front of you.

Despite what the internet said,  he  hadn't felt uncomfortable in the man's presence. His Spider sense wasn't even what alerted him of Deadpool's approach. He didn't seem unstable or psychotic earlier.  But that wasn't how mental illness worked was it? Sometimes it flared up. What if the man was a monster sometimes? Then what? Had the universe decided that he was responsible for controlling him?

Peter tapped the desk with his fingers. Should he tell the man his name? Could he actually trust him, his soulmate with that? 

Peter had all of tomorrow and most of the day after to figure that out. That was when he said they should meet again. A day when Peter didn't have classes and would only have to worry about work and Spider-man duties. He could figure it out later when he wasn't going to die of exhaustion.

He closed his laptop and walked over to his bed. It wasn't long before he found himself staring at his watch wondering when its horrible scream would go off again before he eventually fell asleep.

__________

" Parker!"

Peter sighed tiredly. He had just handed his boss his camera to look through only a few seconds ago. He was standing feet away, there was zero reason to yell. He hadn't had time to print off anything and he got more for his copyright when he met in person as opposed to sending in some visuals over email. Sometimes he wished he could just have a normal journaling gig and get away from this asshole, but the guy paid for spiderman and it was easy money.  It was hard to pay for an apartment, be a college student, all while being New York's one and only Spider-Man. He was thankful for his scholarships  or else he would plain out be doomed, but he'd really benefit from an extra student loan to help cover housing if May would just co-sign. 

" Yes Mr. J-" Jameson he thought to himself. 

"I said I wanted Pictures of Spider-Man from last night." The man barked at him, scrunching up his nose with distaste.

"They're on there. You just have to press the button there on the- ... yeah that, " Peter sighs as the Mayor figured it out. How old was this man? Sometimes Peter felt his boss just liked creating problems to feed his drama addiction. 

"Wonderful." Jameson turned to the poor chap answered to the man's every beck and call and shoved Peter's camera into his hands. "I want that on the front page! Coverage on the death of his soulmate is already ready for the press. We're waiting on you."

"You're going to have to give me the camera so I can convert the RAW file and send it to you so it looks good for the paper." Peter pointed out. It took a lot for him not to roll his eyes.

"Whatever, just get it taken care of."

Peter and the lackey exchanged looks and the camera as their boss turned away to answer a phone call. Beter sighed and waited. He always took his check in person so he knew he was getting his money, the man liked to short him  "on accident" when he didn't. So he waited a nd looked at the walls.

 They were covered in large posters of the pictures Peter had taken over the last few years. Large and small they covered the walls similar to what he imagined a room of a little fangirl's looked like. Only this Fangirl was totally into well built guys dressed in very tight spandex. Peter considered taking that as a compliment, but it felt wrong.

Honestly, the thought made his sleep-deprived ass want to giggle. Only thing stopping him was that he was the guy in the tight spandex.  And really looking, aside from wanting to keep his job, he also wasn't entirely comfortable with some of the positions he was in for some of the enlarged photos. Peter hoped the man's decor concept was a ' keep your friend close but your enemies closer' concept.

Peter looks at one slightly to the left from behind Jameson's desk. Peter wasn't sure how that one was picked for publication. It certainly didn't make his body look bad, but it had a great view of his backside and on his standards was something a lot of people would probably judge for having on the front of a newspaper. Would sell great on an OF account though . . . 

" Parker! Are you even listening? " Jameson Barked. He was always screaming. peter had certainly not missed something the guy said a moment ago. Because he was on the phone. And he'd just hung it up. 

"Yes." he deadpanned and turned to his boss only to frown as the man glanced between he and the photo of Spider-man's ass and thighs. A look of judgment was sent Peter's way.

" I- I was just looking for mistakes in the photo." Peter could feel his face beginning to burn.

" I don't care what you were doing. Just please do it on your own leisure time and not in my office."

"Right . . .  can you just call in my fee to the front desk so I can leave?"

Now just because the world was perfect and everyone had soul mates didn't mean people didn't judge according to your sexuality. Though Peter had never put much, if any thought into his own, he was pretty sure he made an impression on his boss that was very unprofessional. Though it wouldn't have been regardless the gender of the person in the picture would have been.

"Get out of here." The man grumbled as he picked up the phone. 

Special thanks to Patron Jade for their pledge. Their support has brought to you this edited edition of Stopwatch. If you would like to see more of Stopwatch edited in the future, consider pledging $1 to my Patreon. Link in bio.

https://www.patreon.com/Narloch

(Originally published July, 2016, officially edited 2022)

Until next time
~ Shadow-Assassin

original note: Tell me what you think! I love your votes, comments and reviews. You're all so awesome if you're reading This.

               Shadow-Assassin.