Cadie woke, startled when she felt his arm around her. Then memories came flooding back from the night before and she blushed, although she also snuggled deeper against his side. *What a nice way t' wake up. Feel safe here.* A worried frown crossed her face. *Hope he still feel de same way when he wake, hehn?*

She hadn't long to wait. His eyes came open in the dim light of the dawn and he smiled, holding her tight against him. Then his smile faded and he moved away, sitting up on the edge of the bed, not looking at her. "We need t' talk, darlin," he said softly.

She winced at the pain in his voice. "What--- what about?" she whispered. She was terrified that he would leave her now, send her away. "Logan? What's wrong?" She placed her hand against his back, moved it up onto his shoulder.

He shivered lightly at her touch. "Last night," he said slowly, painfully. "Cadie, I took advantage of you." She laughed softly and he turned, surprised. "Now that's the last thing I would have expected, sweetheart."

Her voice was tinged with laughter when she spoke. "Oh, Logan, mon coeur, mon amour," she said as she gently touched his cheek. "T'ink it was de other way 'round, non? Y' gave me enough chances t' stop, t' refuse, t' say no. I wanted it as much as you did, Logan. I could have said no. So no more guilt, neh?"

He wanted to hold her, to kiss her. He forced himself to look away. "I'm the last thing you need, darlin. Look at me. I'm old enough to be your father, Cadie. Maybe even your grandfather. Is that what you want? An old fool who doesn't have any self control where you're concerned?"

"O' course not." His head snapped around and she smiled at him. "Now dat I have your attention, maybe you listen, non? Cadie got a story she want y' t' hear."

He knew when she resorted to speaking in the third person she was confused, emotional. He'd seen it enough times with her, with Gambit, to realize what it was costing her to speak. He kept silent, watching her face.

"Long time ago, dere was dis girl. She a t'ief, lived in N'Awlins, worked her trade dere. Well, one night, she workin a job, an she made a stupid mistake, got caught. Found herself in a cell wit' a man wit' hurt eyes, bad attitude. She liked him. He sounded like her, mean, but wit' a big heart. Den she see he a mutant, like her. She know 'cause he wearin an inhibitor, like dey'd put on her. So she decide t' help him 'scape wit' her."

She paused, trying to choose her words carefully. "She get dem bot' out, take de collars off. But 'stead o' lettin him say his t'anks, she run; she 'fraid o' what she might do, scared o' lettin anyone get too close. She don' wan' t' get attached, so she run away. She t'ink she never see him 'gain, dat she safe from herself.

"Time pass. She find herself t'inkin bout dis man at de odd moment, wond'rin where he is, what he doin, if he okay. Can't admit yet dat she like him more den a little. T'ought it was a 'if only' situation, so she put it behind her. Least dat's what she tol' herself. Den, couple years later, she go on a job, run int' him 'gain. Hurt him, t'ought he'd hate her fo' dat.

"He didn' hate her, t'ough. Helped her find a friend, helped her outta a bad situation. Den someone hurt him, hurt him bad, an she los' her mind fer a minute. She took de woman down, but she didn' stop dere. She take de woman's mind, wipe it clean. Make her a t'ing, wit' no mind, no mem'ries. Den de man, he bring her back outta de darkness, make her see, make her want t' live again. Don' judge her fo' what she done, jus' 'cepts her fo' what she is. Dat when she realize she love him."

His eyes never left her face. She plowed on, lost in the past, not even really aware he was with her any longer. "Time pass, an she love him more all de time. But she don' wan' t' say not'in, 'fraid he don' love her. Never let on he felt anyt'in but frien'ship fo' her. Den somet'in happen, make her t'ink he don' care, make him t'ink she don' wan' him. He lef'. She was heartbroke. T'ought it was her fault he go. So she go after him. An you know what she find when she catch up wit' him? She find he love her, he lef' t' try t' protect her, give her what he t'ought she needed, some time, some room. She love him more fo' dat."

"Cadie, you're not makin this very easy," he said softly. "You need more in your life than me. I'm nothing more than an animal in human form. You deserve better."

She gave another soft laugh. "Logan, mon coeur, you t'ink I don' know dat? I ain' much better. Y' know what I can do, y' seen me kill. Maybe not wit' as much blood, but death is death, non? Never a pretty t'ing, amour. We b'long t'gether, if fo' no other reason dat we're too like. Same senses, same habits. Same killer instinct. Y' know dat's true."

He gave up the fight, taking her in his arms, wondering if the tiny woman he held was aware of the softening effect she had on him. He doubted he could ever deny her anything she wanted. "Yes, that's true." He sighed. "You know words don't come easy to me, darlin. Just because I don't use em, doesn't make em less true. Understand?"

"D'Accord, cher Logan," she said softly, touching his face gently. "Je t'aime, mon amour, mon coeur. Y' showed me in so many ways, I jus couldn't see, non?" She kissed him gently. "Now, cher, t'ink we might go int' town an let ever'one know we still livin? Remy prob'ly pacin de floor, by now, non?"

He grinned. "Let's just surprise em."

They both came awake, suddenly, each reacting in their own way to the tiny sound outside. Logan looked into her eyes and raised an eyebrow, and she jerked her head toward the front door. He nodded, moving silently across the room while she went nonchalantly to the window. She opened it wide, leaning out, inhaling the crisp clear air.

To an observer, it might have appeared she was merely taking a breath of fresh air, but the watchers knew better. "Get ready to move in," he said slowly, the menace in his voice plain. "She'll have our scent in about a minute. Maybe less. Must've heard us. Damn, why did she have to be so much like that little psycho?"

<snikt>

Both watchers froze, the sound chilling them more than the air could possibly have done. The voice, when it spoke, was so low, so full of rage, that it almost physically touched them. Much like the claws they felt against their necks. "This ain't your neck of the woods, Harpoon," Wolverine growled. "Call em off. Or I'll finish this right now."

Harpoon shrugged, then put his hands on his head. Scrambler followed suit, both of them ignoring the comlink on the ground between them. It began to chatter wildly. "Too late, runt," came a growl from behind, as a huge body slammed into Wolverine from the side.

"Shoulda watched yer back, runt," Sabretooth snarled as they rolled together on the ground, each doing his level best to cripple, even kill the other. "Yer gettin soft, Logan, an it's all over a frail. Stupid."

A vicious swipe with the claws left Sabretooth clutching his middle as blood began to ooze. It stopped quickly though, and Sabretooth charged him again. He stepped aside, dodged, and ran his claws down the other mutant's back, drawing blood once more, then turned and saw Scalphunter and Arclight headed inside. *Cadie!*

The momentary distraction was all that was necessary. Sabretooth hit him hard from the rear, and he went down under the sheer weight of his attacker. "Listen up runt," Sabretooth growled softly into his ear. "Much as I'd love to finish this, I got orders. Sinister wants the frail. So Sinister gets the frail. If yer smart, you'll write her off an let it go." He heard the sounds of a battle royal going on inside, then silence. His blood froze in his veins, and he began to see red. He saw Scalphunter emerge, Cadie's still form slung over his shoulder, and his rage began to grow even hotter. He began to tense, careful not to let the big man know what he was up to. "Do me a favor, runt. Don't be smart."

A roar of rage came from his throat as he threw the big man across the clearing. He charged, his rage giving him an edge as he harnessed it, made it work for him. Three swift crosses with his claws and the big man went down, unconscious. *Won't last long, bub, get movin. Get Cadie back from those bastards.* He stopped in the cabin long enough to find the emergency transmitter he kept, then hit the trail.