Well, well, well...looks like everything is starting to come to a close (note: I said STARTING. So, if you were worried, don't be. There is a bit more...but only a bit.) Sorry it took so long. It's finals week and, as you all should know by now, school comes first! Oh! And thanks to Sir Clavin for your song suggestion and review! Thanks for reminding me about that great song's existence!

Luckily, I managed to piece this together between my bouts of anxiety, depression, rage, and lethargy. Now, on to the disclaimer!

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING! Well, except for Raven and Dana, but other than that I'm broke and junk. Review and shit! Oh yeah, and enjoy!

"Just what the hell is taking her so long?!" Deadpool shouted over the combined roar of the Blackbird and the wind of the thunderstorm that had just rolled in, as he ushered the Hospice patients into the loading bay.

"Well, she is killing her sister, who seems like kind of a badass."

"Raven's a badass, too!"

"Not a class 5 pyromaniac badass."

Deadpool frowned and looked at the now burning military base. He supposed that the sight of the burning buildings that were responsible for making his life the way it was was supposed to make him happy, but he couldn't be. Raven was still in there.

He cringed visibly imagining her perfect pale skin blistering, peeling, and repairing over and over again entered his mind. Why, oh, why did she keep him from helping her? Why was she so keen on doing this alone?

"Wade, Dana is my sister. It's my responsibility to knock some sense into her when she acts like a crazy bitch and besides," her voice echoed through his skull, "If it really is her time to go, then it only seems right that I'm the one who gets to see her off."

"Nothing's more important to me than you!" she shouted cheerfully at him from the deeper parts of his mind. Deadpool rolled his eyes and waved his hand, as if swatting a fly away.

"Jeeze, writer, I get it! I get it!" he shouted up at the black skies, pausing for a moment as a crack of lightning cut through the air and connected with a radio tower on the base.

"I don't get why you had to make it sound like my mind is some kind of cave or ocean..." he muttered.

"Yeah! Especially since we know that you read Deadpool: Soul Hunter! You know, the one where Agent Preston was stuck in our mind?"

"Oh yeah, I wonder how she's doing?"

"Um, guys, we can talk about Preston once Vol. 3 comes out. I'm pretty sure the main focus here is worrying about the princess of darkness." Deadpool chided his voices. A huge blast of fire erupted from one of the reactor towers around the other side of the complex. Something in his gut told him that blast was more than just a simple explosion.

"Wade?" Domino's soft voice called to him as she gently tugged on his arm, "Wade, everyone's inside and we need to close it up."

"I'm not leaving here without her." he responded, unmoving, his gaze not leaving the tower as the sudden burst of flames dwindled down. The corners of Domino's dark lips twitched upwards, never having seen him so serious before.

"Even if Wolverine says we gotta go, you guys better kick me off the Bird." he continued. Domino chuckled as she pulled him into the safety of the Blackbird.

"I'm sure he would have no problem doing that. Now, hurry up. It's getting crazy out here."

Raven panted heavily as she tried to maintain a defensive stance in the center of the now demolished reactor. Rain poured in buckets from the sky and her hair clung to the side of her face. No amount of rain could diminish all of the flames that burned relentlessly around the two sisters.

Large clouds of steam were expelled from Dana's nose. Unlike her sister, Dana was almost completely dry. Each raindrop that had fallen had evaporated into steam before they even landed inches from her skin. The same could be said for all of Raven's bullets and projectiles. Small puddles of melted metal littered the broken ground before them; evidence of the sisters' vicious battle.

This had been going on for too long; much longer than either of the sisters anticipated. The storm was getting worse and both women were practically at the ends of their ropes.

"No guns...no bullets...no grenades..." Raven panted under her breath "A mighty fine mess you've gotten yourself into today, girl."

Black eyes met with hazel. Dana showed no signs of weakening. Her skin was red hot to the touch and fire danced off the fringe of her hair. Some blood from both parties had dried on her face and bare skin.

"What's wrong, Gwen?" Dana asked, her voice giving the only sign of fatigue "You seemed so keen on killing me earlier?"

"I'm just sick of getting burned all the time!" Gwen shouted back. Her body endured so much pain in this fight. Even now, new skin was forming over the deadly looking burns all over her body. Ever since her long range weapons ran out, she had to rely on her borrowed sword.

A flash of white lightning cracked through the sky and struck the earth in-between the sisters. Raven glanced up at the darkening skies. Was Death growing impatient with her? It was hard to tell, but that was part of Death's charm: her eternal mystery.

She looked down at the hilt of her sword. Wade's logo glinted up at her in the light of the fire. It was like he was right there with her, urging her on.

She shook her head and chuckled. Being away from someone she cared about for so long and under such strenuous conditions didn't make the reintroduction phase a gradual process. It was more of a "I need to be with him all the time" thing. It needed to stop. There was a lot on the line right now and the last thing Raven needed was to be caught up in how much she needed Wade. How much she missed him. How much she loved him.

Or maybe that's exactly what she needed. This whole time she had been fighting for herself because it was simply something she needed to do. She hadn't thought about fighting for someone else. Instantly, she felt stupid. After all, hadn't she just made this resolution not too long ago? This is probably where that adage: "Old habits are hard to break" comes in.

"I knew there was something I wasn't doing." Raven muttered. She closed her eyes and the memories of him flooded her vision. Wade had crashed through her walls like a bull in a china shop. He had roped her and domesticated her. With every romantic gesture, every gift, every kiss, and every warm embrace he was fighting for her. She owed him at least one fight for him.

Her sister charged up another fire ball and launched it directly at where Raven stood. The dark haired girl shoved her borrowed sword in the earth and used it to launch herself over the blazing inferno. Since long distance fighting had proven useless, it was time to bring the fight closer. Speed would be the key to getting within close combat range. Raven would need to drastically boost the adrenaline levels in her system to get those strange chemicals in her body pumping speed through her system.

"Guess I gotta play dodgeball for a little while longer." she mumbled. The heavy rain made seeing immensely difficult. Plus, the water made traction difficult as well. Luckily, the boots she wore provided assistance in that area, but the water was beginning to pool. They would both need to get to higher ground before it took away both of their leverage.

Except Dana had no interest in moving up the ruined structure. Higher altitudes meant weaker powers. Even though her abilities over fire were practically infinite, fire always grow weaker as the altitudes rise. It was science.

Almost as soon as Raven landed with sword in hand, Dana launched a raging river of fire at her. Raven once again launched herself into the air, over the fire. This time, she missed the flames by inches. The ends of her hair hissed as she rolled into a puddle of water upon her landing.

As soon as she was on all fours, the mercenary pushed herself up and ran for an exposed piece of rebar. Her lungs screamed for her to stop. She could feel the blood pushing up through her esophagus and into her mouth. With the taste of iron on her tongue, Raven leapt for the rusted metal. She could feel another blast of fire at her back, but that didn't stop her hands from latching onto their purchase.

Metal cut into the delicate flesh of her hands and tore through them like paper as she spun twice around in order to be able to launch her body onto a nearby rock outcropping. Pain echoed through her body as she forced herself up with bloody hands. She willed her body forward. The surrounding noise faded into the sounds of Raven's own labored breathing and her ever increasing heartbeat.

Dana relentlessly continued to attack her sister. She knew exactly what her elder sister was trying to do, but the blonde didn't want the battle to escalate any more than it had. Up there, Raven could signal help from her allies. The possibility of falling as also a factor, but that's where Dana's newest toy came in.

A rare grin broke the cold-hearted woman's features as she grabbed her gun from her side. For now, the hook was collapsed, but the way its pointed tip glinted in the light of the flames ignited a murderous feeling within the youngest Pierce.

She aimed the gun at the top of the fallen structure and fired. For a moment, the hook remained closed. Raven stopped running and stared at the shining silver curiously. It was so beautiful, like a shooting star. So strange to see something so beautiful amidst all this chaos.

The hook suddenly broke open, revealing four large fish hook looking pieces that surrounded one brutal looking harpoon center. It caught on the top of the fallen structure and the rope tightened and hissed as it pulled Dana straight up at lightning speed.

Raven couldn't let her have the upper hand. Just as Dana passed the level where Raven stood, the dark haired woman pulled a knife out of her boot, tucked Wade's sword into her belt and launched herself at her sister.

By some twist of faith, instead of missing her target and plummeting downwards, Raven's timing was dead on and she drove the knife deep into her sister's side, holding on for dear life as they both flew upwards. Warm red liquid trickled down Raven's arm and, in that instant, everything became shockingly real. She was doing it. She was killing her sister. This wasn't a prolonged nightmare or some twisted hallucination. This was real.

She wished she could let her sister live. She wished she could bring her back to the X-Mansion and get her help for whatever made her into this cold, unfeeling monster. She wished she hadn't promised Death to deliver her only sister into the afterlife.

But none of that was possible. As long as Dana lived and breathed, she was a threat to the semi-peaceful existence that was in the world. One of them was going to die here and it was probably going to be the woman with a four inch knife in her side and no healing factor.

They landed atop the fallen and burning structure nimbly. With one loud groan, Dana lifted her sister off her body and threw her across the length of the wall. Raven skidded, her boots not gaining any traction on the drenched concrete, until her heels hung over the ledge of the structure.

She looked down. It was a daunting drop. Probably thirteen stories at this point. Maybe more, maybe less. There was too much going on to make an accurate measurement.

What Raven could see clearly was the Blackbird. It looked like it was about to take off and hover in the safety of the air, but was being hindered by Dana's remaining men. Domino and Gambit stood on the wings of the plane fighting the soldiers off from the left and right sides. Deadpool stood on the nose, like a weaponized hood ornament, slicing and shooting the sudden onslaught. His uniform, as well as his mask, had been torn making it obvious to Raven that he had been shot, stabbed, and possibly blown up more than a few times. There was no doubt in her mind he was shouting nonsense at them, but she couldn't hear anything over the roar of the wind and the fury of the storm.

She smiled and maneuvered away from the edge. They were her new family down there. The blood on her forehead marked her baptism into this new life. It was a life of acceptance and love. Not of pain and emptiness.

"Hehe..."

Her sister's laugh was quiet, but loud enough the carry over the storm. It sent chills down Raven's spine. She hadn't heard her sister's laugh since she was three years old.

Dana hung her head and stared at the hilt of the knife jutting out of her side. With her grappling gun in one hand, she used her free one to slowly rip the knife out. She held it outwards over the ledge and watched as the rain mixed with blood. Without warning, she dropped it, watching as it tumbled down into her once impenetrable fortress.

"So, this is what it's come down to, huh?" the blonde chuckled, her hair covering her face as she stared at the area where the knife had fallen, "Murdering your own flesh and blood for people you barely know."

Blood pumped out of the newly open wound and trickled down the younger sister's side. Already, she felt lightheaded. It had been so long since someone had managed to wound her in any way. It brought out a side of Dana that she had spent so many years trying to hide.

"That's not the reason I'm doing this and you know that." Raven replied, holding her hands up in surrender and taking a step forward. She needed to do this, but only if she could see for sure that her sister was beyond saving. All the evidence pointed to it, but in order for Raven to make that final move, she had to see it in her sister's eyes.

"Hahaha! Keep telling yourself that!" Dana shouted, her eyes now on her wound. With her free hand, she cauterized the wound, grimacing slightly as she did so.

"At least I'm not a liar." the younger continued, chuckling maniacally to herself "I may be many things, but I am no liar...I am doing this for myself."

"Well, that's obvious." Raven replied sarcastically, taking another step forward and wishing she had a gun "I can imagine mass genocide happening for any other reason other than one person's selfishness."

"My selfishness?!" Dana exclaimed, finally staring at her sister "You have spent your entire life killing to sustain your own need for survival! Don't you dare turn around and patronize me because you've woken up and realized the value of human life! You are just as selfish as me! Always have been! Always will be!"

Her own selfishness was not arguable. In her past, she had killed simply for her own survival. In her present, she had killed for information as well as survival. But that was her job: to clean up the trash that other people paid her to clean. Perhaps that still marked her a selfish, but at least, if she was selfish, Raven was being selfish on the good side.

"I'm tired of this." Dana muttered, pointing her deadly looking grappling gun straight at her sister's gut "I'm going to shoot you and let you hang. While you're doing that, you can watch as I kill all of your precious friends one by one. I'll leave your precious lab rat for last so you and he can watch each other die over and over and over again!"

Her declaration was marked with a gunshot and her maniacal laughter. The projectile was moving to fast to dodge. It pierced through Raven's body like a bullet through butter. The force of impact knocked Raven back and forced her over the ledge.

As she fell, Raven could see her sister wedge the gun firmly into a crack in the ledge. She fused it into the wall with her fire and watched, laughing manically, as her sister fell.

Raven could hear the mechanism click and the fishhook apparatus release just as her current gaping wound in her stomach was about to close. The pain was excruciating, but the worst was yet to come. She just had to wait until-

Her falling abruptly jolted to a stop. The fish hooks dug straight into her back and she cried out in pain as her body and neck snapped backward. She tried to reach up for the rope, but the pain was too much and she let herself hang there.

The sudden loss of blood was disorienting and her field of vision spun around. She could still see the Blackbird. The men had been taken down and her friends were making their way back into the plane. Her body began to stop spinning and her vision began to correct itself as her healing factor began to work its magic.

Deadpool was the only one who remained on the plane, staring directly up at her. He was more than worried. He looked petrified. Although he knew she would regenerate like he did when and if she were to die, he didn't like seeing her die. It felt as if a piece of him was dying every time she passed away.

Raven could see this even though she was dangling upside down on the side of a destroyed reactor. As much as she wanted to scream out how much pain she was in, she wouldn't. It would've sent him over the edge and that plane needed to take off now or else risk being crushed by falling debris.

Instead, she flashed one of her famous toothy grins and held a thumbs up. Blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth and her body shook as she tried to restrain her coughing. She could handle this. She just needed to see him safely board that plane.

"This is one of the most fucked up things we've seen. Why won't she just let us help her?!"

"She cares, idiot. And, besides, remember what she said about being responsible for taking care of her sister?"

"Yeah...we know that...the writer literally just reminded us a few paragraphs ago. It's just so fucked up."

"Most things in our life are. Now, hurry up and get in the plane so Raven can take care of her business."

"Ugh. I may be the naughtiest of puppets, but I'm still a puppet." Deadpool muttered, entering the jet. He wanted to go against logic like he had all of his life, but a mysterious force pushed him into the jet. The same force made him go to the front window and watch as Raven heaved herself up and inched her way up the rope that protruded from her body.

Raven ground her teeth together as she heaved herself towards her sister, who was charging another fireball to launch at the Blackbird. She couldn't let that happen. This was between them.

The fish hooks were torn from her flesh and she hissed in pain. There was no time to stop. Even though the muscles in her arms screamed for her to take a break. Even though her skin and insides burned as each section of rope was pulled through her body. Even though her mind felt like it was about to break, she pushed herself forward. Faster and faster she climbed. She could feel the strange chemicals push through her veins.

Quickly, she drew Wade's sword and wedged it in between her teeth. The sharp blade cut into the corners of her lips and two thin trails of blood trickled up her face. She needed it drawn and ready. This would be her final shot.

"We're not so different, you and I!" Dana shouted down at her struggling sister "It doesn't have to be like this!"

Oh, but it does. It almost sounded like Dana was begging for her life here. Or was just trying to play on her emotions as a last ditch effort to turn the tables. Accepting defeat wasn't in the nature of either of the Pierce girls. However, only one of those girls had an ability that allowed her to keep just out of Death's reach. Somewhere deep down, Dana knew the end was near for her. That was probably the reason why she snapped.

"If only it were that easy." Raven mumbled through gritted teeth. Just a few more feet more. Ever since she agreed to planning an escape with Hilda, the black haired girl had a feeling a face off like this would happen. It happened a lot in the movies. Though, there was hardly a fight to the death between sisters.

The blood had dried on her face and the rain that had once been pouring like a waterfall was beginning to slow. Raven drew the sword from her mouth.

In an instant, the sisters' eyes met. Dana's were wild and mad, like a rabid dog that had been cornered. She wanted to live. That much was obvious. But she couldn't. Not when she was so keen on mass genocide.

Raven's were tear-filled and mixed with regret and resolution, much like the eyes of the owner of the rabid dog. She wanted to keep her sister in her life. She wanted to help. But, much like a rabid dog, not much could be done other than to put her down. She had already made her choice with Death. So, why was she still feeling so conflicted. Once she made her mind up on a kill, following through had never been so hard.

The sword was thrusted straight through Dana's side and its tip pushed through her left shoulder. A last burst of flame erupted from the blonde's hands and cut the rope which both supported and impaled her sister. Raven kept her grip firm on the sword, eyes blinking as the dark silhouette of Death smiled over her sister's shoulders. The sword was her link to reality. The sword reminded her of the people who still needed her here.

She watched the light fade from her sister's eyes and the empty body lean forward. The rain had stopped, a breeze gently pushed the body over the ledge, and the pair fell.

The wind was harsh and it cut through Raven's clothes and skin, sending chills throughout her body. Black hair whipped about her face as she stared with unbelieving black eyes at the falling body of her sister, who's hazel eyes stared back at her, empty and devoid of life. They were not so different from how they looked in life.

Raven couldn't look at those eyes anymore. She gently pulled the sword from the body and pushed the empty flesh away from her. It was done. Threat eliminated.

She closed her eyes as her body crashed into the earth.

"God dammit, land this thing, Fuzzball!" Deadpool yelled as soon as Raven's body crashed into the ground. Wolverine sighed irritably as he adjusted the controls. Throughout the duration of the battle, they were forced to keep the Blackbird hovering so they could avoid falling debris. Now that the storm had quieted down and the battle had ended, it was safe to land.

"Dammit, bub, she can only go so fast so cool your jets!"

"Don't you 'dammit, bub.' me, young man, or I will pull this thing over and you're gonna get such a spanking!"

The disgruntled mutant headmaster growled under his breath and was stopped from abandoning his pilot's chair to slice the mutate into a billion pieces by his fellow headmaster's hand on his shoulder.

"Remember, Logan, there are children on this plane." the white haired woman chided him "They do not need to be exposed to any more trauma than they already have."

He rolled his eyes and grumbled incoherently under his breath. Deadpool crossed his arms across his chest and stomped over to the emergency exit. If he was behind the wheel, they would've been on the ground by now.

"And we wouldn't have had a ride back home."

"And we'd probably be on fire."

"Being on fire would be preferable over this stupid girly man feeling." he muttered, peering through the glass porthole. They were descending, but not quickly enough by Deadpool standards. He could wait another couple of minutes before the plane hovered safely to the ground, but that just wasn't the Deadpool way.

He grabbed the emergency hatch and tugged it open. The alarm began to ring out and red lights began to flash, but he didn't care.

"Dammit, Wilson!" Wolverine shouted over his shoulder. Deadpool just smiled and waved over his shoulder before jumping down to the earth.

He winced as pain shot up each of his legs and into his spine. Of course, he thought the ground was closer. It always seemed like it was closer. However, thanks to his healing factor, the pain didn't last long and he began to make his way over to where Raven had fallen.

"See? Toldja she was an angel!"

"Not the time. I think the writer is trying to set some kind of mood..."

"Raven?!" Deadpool shouted, beginning to pull random pieces of rubble off the still semi-burning earth, "Babe? Where are ya?!"

Blackness. So much blackness. But no Death. No floating feeling. Still tied to this earth.

The scent of smoke was heavy in her nostrils. The sound of crackling fire and soft rain drops tickled her ear drums. Her eyes slowly opened to gaze up at light grey rainclouds, which guarded a beautiful red sunset greedily.

"Babe?! Babe, get up, please! Don't make me get the snowplow! I will plow this entire place until I find you!"

His voice. Not nearly as wonderful as Death's, but it was still so perfect. So full of life and love. It pulled her body upwards and made her rub her eyes free of any dirt or residue.

Dark eyes scanned the remains of the renovated military compound. Almost everything was either in flames or ruins. Just as she had always dreamed of.

A groan escaped her lips as the dizziness in her head left her body. She touched her stomach to make sure her last memory before her blackout was real.

Sure enough, a long bloody metal spike with a long rope attached jutted out from her gut. She sighed and shook her head as she placed both of her palms on the end of the spike. This was going to hurt a lot, but at least it was hopefully the last pain the mercenary would have to endure for a relatively long time.

As soon as he saw her dark head rise from the rubble and wreckage, Deadpool started running. She was ok. Of course she was. They were the two most durable mercs on the planet. It was a match made in heaven.

"More like in a laboratory."

He wouldn't even stop to address his voices. She was so close and they could just go back to their tiny apartment in New York and be together until the world stopped turning.

After sitting still for a moment, she turned slightly and revealed the grappling hook that had been shot through her stomach. Its fishhook ends were wedged deep into her back and stained her straightjacket, or what was left of it, red with her blood.

The male mercenary slowly stopped running until he just stood there, just a few feet away from her. He could see the back of her black tresses was matted to her skull as the split slowly repaired itself. He could hear her soft groan. She must've been exhausted in every way. No healing factor in the world could change that.

He watched in a strange and solemn silence as she pressed both of her palms against the base of the hook. She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and pushed as hard as she could against the metal.

He could hear her skin tear and the sickening sploorp of metal out of flesh that he knew all too well. The bloody hooks clattered to the ground, but it wasn't over yet. A thick piece of rope was still attached. She sighed heavily and picked up the bloody grappling hook. With one last heave, the rope was free of her body and she let the brutal contraption clatter to the ground once again.

With another sigh, she grabbed her borrowed sword and used it to heave herself upwards. She faltered, but only for a moment, before standing as straight and tall as a statue. The ends of her dark hair blew about her body as blood dripped down her slowly closing wounds.

"Babe?" his voice called weakly to her and he stretched a hand out to her.

Slowly, perhaps due to her injuries, she turned. He noticed she was using his sword to support herself. Her skin was paler than usual. Her eyelids were heavy and her lips had been pulled perpetually downwards by tiny weights.

However, upon seeing his masked face, those eyes lit up and the weights were cut free from the corners of her lips. She placed one shaky foot in front of another.

"You know how much I hate it when you wear that mask." she said as she slowly walked forward, not taking a step until the sword was firmly wedged in the earth. He smiled and slowly pulled the mask off his face, tucking the red fabric into one of his multiple pouches.

For a moment, she paused, wobbling as her body threatened to give up on her. She raised a hand to her mouth to cover her coughing, her free hand keeping a death grip on the sword. Wade smirked. Even though it was annoying, he missed the sound of that cough.

Her smile grew when she saw his scarred face. That grin...it wasn't as goofy as usual, but was actually quite serious. It made her dark eyes wet.

"And another thing..." she said once her coughing ceased. She began to gain more momentum as all the feelings she had for this one person flooded her heart.

"After all I did...and after all this time..." she was so close now. Just two more feet and she would be within arms reach.

"And for you not to fling yourself into my arms is just plain insulting." she finished.

"Hey! She stole our line!"

"Like I give a shit." Wade's smile practically covered his entire face, "C'mere, dingus."

His strong arms pulled her the rest of the way into his body and for the first time, they embraced without worrying about lack of time, danger, or anything at all. For the first time in months, Wade could truly savor her touch and the softness of her hair...well...the parts that weren't sticky with dried blood. The only thing he was worried about was holding her too hard around her waist.

Her arms snaked around his neck and she let the sword drop into the earth for the first time since Deadpool handed it to her. He was here in her arms now. She needed no reminders about who she had to remain sane for.

He felt her body shake furiously and the corner of his uniform begin to grow wet. She said she didn't want to cry anymore, but the catharsis of doing so was like having a huge weight heaved off her shoulders. She wept for the torture she and her friends had to endure, for the months of abandonment Wade must've felt, and for her sister.

But instead of chastising her for crying or anything of the sort, Wade held her close, trying to shield her body from the remaining rain drops as much as possible with his own.

"I wanna go home, Wade!" she cried into him "I wanna go home, please! Can we go home now?!"

His face softened and he placed a gentle kiss atop her head. His fingers stroked the unharmed patches of her body reassuringly.

"Of course, babe. You can have whatever you want."

"But I'm sure Logan and Gambit would insist on taking her to the-"

"Whatever you want." he repeated, a bit louder to drone out the more serious voice. Wade and Gwen were finally reunited. The puzzle had finally found its missing piece and for now, neither of them wanted for anything more than to just go home together and forget all of this mess.

Song(s) Used:

Dare by Gorillaz

Crimson Bow and Arrow by Linked Horizon

One Reason by Fade

Going Out in Style by The Dropkick Murphys