Remy sat next to Cadie, his long elegant fingers gently smoothing the hair back from her forehead. "Y' gon' be okay, petite. Trust Remy, now. Evert'ing be okay now," he whispered softly.

Wolverine moved to sit on the other side of her, watching her sleep. "Hank? How long's she gonna be out?"

"I would estimate another hour, perhaps two. It is difficult to be certain, however,due to her altered physiology."

"That's long enough." He rose and motioned the Cajun to follow. With a last look at the sleeping girl, he went.

"What y' want, mon ami?" he asked once the door was firmly closed behind them.

Wolverine lit a cigar and took a long drag before he answered. He appeared uncomfortable. "Look, Gumbo. Apologies don't come easy to me. I'm willing to forget what happened on the blackbird if you will."

The Cajun was shaking his head before Logan finished. "Non, not y' fault, mon ami. Gambit nosin in where he not invited. Won' happen again. Finis. D'accord?"

"Done." The two men shook hands. Remy pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one with the tip of his finger.

"Thought you quit smokin," Wolverine remarked, a nasty smile on his face.

"Hard t' do, t'ings as rough dey been round here lately," the Cajun shot back with a grin. "I quit t'morrow maybe."

A wordless shriek cut off whatever the answer might have been. "Looks like Hank was a little off, Cajun."

"Oui. She listen t' us, t'ough, hehn?"

They burst back into the room just in time to see Cadie slide off the bed. Hank was watching carefully, but he didn't seem alarmed.

"What's all de noise, Henri?" Gambit asked casually, although he was ready to move at a moment's notice. "Heard de petite scream, non?"

"A side effect of the sedation, I believe. She appears from my examination to have completely recovered. Save for the unknown agent that has attached itself to her DNA sequence. That, I am afraid, I can do nothing about until I can convince her to allow me to do further tests."

Cadie stood slowly at Hank's words. "Non. No more labs, no more hospital. Let me go t' my room now, hehn?" There was real fear in her voice, and Logan moved slowly toward her.

"We won't hurt you, darlin, you should know that by now," he said softly as he reached out and took her arm. He pulled her close, holding her, stroking her hair. Gambit stood behind him, letting him calm her. "Hank's not gonna force you to do anything you don't want. Right Hank?"

"Of course not! That would be unethical."

"See? You know we're your friends, so you should know we won't hurt you. Not one of us." He saw that her shriek had attracted attention and handed her off to Ororo. "Now you just go with 'Roro an let her get ya settled in yer own bed, darlin." He watched them leave, his face impassive, then wheeled on the Cajun. "All right, Gumbo, time to come clean," he growled. "Just what in the hell happened to you two to make you so damned scared o' this place?"

He could smell the fear on the boy, even more than in the tunnel. Remy's words were so soft, he would have missed them if it weren't for his enhanced hearing.

"Gambit was one o' Sinister's experiments, til he escape. Cadie too."

Wolverine growled. "Don't have to be ashamed of it, Cajun. Wasn't yer fault, ya know." He paused to light another cigar. "And ya got away before he turned you into a Marauder, so I'd say yer all right. Nothin ta be ashamed of."

Gambit continued as though he hadn't spoken. "Maybe, maybe non. He make Gambit do t'ings dat hurt people, try t' hurt all o' you. And he still want Gambit back. Say Gambit be his best experiment, say he got t' take Gambit back, study him more. Now he know where Cadie is, he try t' take her back too."

Wolverine watched the Cajun out of the corner of his eye. The kid still had the fear smell all over him, it was almost suffocating. "We won't let him take you. Either of you. I imagine Rogue would have something to say about it, and I know I would." His claws gleamed under the bright fluorescent lights. "No one is gonna take her from me again."

Gambit looked down at the smaller man, his eyes thoughtful. "Gambit didn't know better, mon ami, he t'ink y' in love wit' her," he said lightly.

"Ya know somethin, Gumbo, I don't think yer as dumb as you'd like people to think," was the calm answer. "I'm goin ta check on her. Ya comin?"

Gambit smiled and fell in step with him. "Wit' such a gracious invitation, mon ami? O' course," he chuckled. They made their way up toward the dormitories.

A week later, Hank finally pronounced her fit enough to go downstairs for meals again. She dithered over what to wear long enough that Jean finally went to see what was keeping her.

A knock on the door received no reply, so she gently pushed it open to find Cadie staring down at a pile of clothing spread out on her bed. "C'mon in, cher," Cadie called softly. "Knew y' was dere, mon ami. Not used t' bein able t' use m' senses so well jus yet, though. Wish I knew what all dat man do t' me." A sad smile crossed her features and she gestured to the pile. "Cadie can't figure out what t' wear, mon ami. First night I get t' socialize in a long time, mus be somet'in special, non?"

"Cadie, you know we aren't very formal here," Jean began, but halted herself quickly. Not all of the girl's memories had returned; perhaps she truly needed some help. "What you are wearing now would be sufficient." Jean indicated her jeans and short sleeve shirt.

Cadie grinned impishly. "Non, Jeannie, y' don' understand. Got t' be somet'in special. T' let someone know Cadie 'member ever't'in dat be important." The grin widened as Jean joined her riffling through the clothes on the bed.

"Want to make someone sit up and take notice, is that it?" She could hardly control her laughter as she realized just who Cadie was referring to. "I would have thought you'd have had enough of his company for a few days. He's barely left you long enough to come eat, when we could make him do that. He's mostly been here with you and we've had to send up a tray."

"Oui, he has been here. But dat was different, non? Den, he watchin over a sick woman, n'est-ce pas? Cadie want no doubt in his mind she be okay." Her soft laugh left her companion with no doubts as to her friend's agenda for the evening.

"Well, with your coloring, we need something to set it off," Jean stated decisively. "Let's see what we can come up with."