Belladonna woke suddenly, certain she'd heard a noise in her room. Her eyes scanned slowly over everything, but she saw nothing. Still, she was uneasy.

She sat up in bed, listening. No sound came to her but the normal ones of her home, but still, she felt a presence. She rose and shrugged into her robe, intending to go to the kitchen. She didn't even make it to the door.

A strong arm wrapped itself around her throat, lifting her off the floor. She knew only one man who could move so swiftly, yet be so silent. She struggled to breathe.

"Remy, amour, let me go, hehn? I got not'in y' could want." She forced a pleading tone into her voice; the man had always had a soft spot for vulnerable women. "Please, Remy, y' scarin me."

"Ain' gon' work dis time, cher," he hissed in her ear. "Now you gon' answer some questions fo' Remy, or do I have t' squeeze?"

"Can it, Cajun." Another man moved forward out of the shadows, and Bella cringed. She knew this one, knew what he was capable of. "She don't answer, she's gonna have to deal with me." The smile on the man's face was thin, menacing. She watched in horror as not one, but three bone claws extended themselves from each hand. She began to shiver. Her eyes slid to the door, and both men laughed softly. "I wouldn't try it, lady."

"Now y' tell Remy, non? What y' done wit' Cadie?"

Her eyes grew wide as one of the claws came to rest on her cheek. "N-not'in, Remy, I swear it. I don' know where le petite chat is, I swear it!" Her voice broke and she cursed to herself.

"Then why t'ree o' your Assassin's come t' de mansion, hehn? Try t' kill her? Dey were your people, Belle."

"She ain't gonna answer, Cajun. Walk away." Wolverine's voice dropped to a menacing whisper. "She's mine."

"Wait!"

Remy's low laugh infuriated her, but she was careful not to show it. "T'ought y' might see t'ings our way." There was something in his voice she had never heard before, and it frightened her badly. "Where is she?"

"Sinister. He have y' friend, compris? I was only supposed to have her delivered here for him t' pick up. T'ieves' Guild want her dead, Sinister want her period." She shrugged. "Dis way, ever'one happy, I still get paid, non?"

Wolverine growled, and Gambit's grip on her throat tightened. "Where?"

"Don' know, don' care. One o' my people will collect de money, should already be gone now."

A steady pounding on the door made both men freeze, then regard each other tensely. "T'ink it time t' go, mon ami. I know where de meet take place, same as always. Belle don' change t'ings less'n she have to."

Wolverine's fist connected with Belle's face and she slumped. Gambit dropped her onto the floor and Wolverine smiled nastily. "Gettin to be as bad as me, Gumbo. No respect for the ladies."

"She ain' no lady, homme. Now let's get, while de gettin's good, neh?"

They slipped back into the night.