Most of the diners were in their sixties and seventies, though Gambit spotted one or two younger couples in the crowd. The walls were painted white, and decorated with paintings and wood carvings that had been done by local artists. Price tags hung from them. An old fashioned ice cream counter with red leather topped stools sat in the back, and the intervening space was filled with tables of varying shapes and sizes, mismatched chairs at every one.

Gambit was acutely aware of eyes focusing on their small group, but Anne did not seem to mind and Logan merely tucked his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. A tall, burly man approached the three. His shaggy graying hair was tied back from a deeply creased face, and his nose looked as though it had been broken several times in the past.

"Anne," he greeted her cautiously, eyeing the men behind her.

"It's all right, Ben." Anne reassured him. "These men are my friends."

Ben did not appear to relax, but he nodded curtly. "It's been a while since you stopped by," he said, gathering up three menus and leading them to a small private table at the back of the restaurant.

"I know," she replied. "But I don't like the town as much as I used to."

Ben looked at her sharply. He glanced at Logan and Gambit and frowned.

"You need anything, just call." Ben told Anne in a strong voice. Gambit could tell that he was not referring to their meal. Next to him, Logan's fingers twitched in irritation.

Anne smiled thinly.

Ben noted her silence and scowled. He did not push the issue though, and left them to head back to the front doors of the restaurant where an elderly couple had just entered.

Anne sighed, and quirked her lips apologetically at Gambit and Logan.

"Sorry about that. Ben was a friend of my father, and ever since dad and mom died, he thinks he has a responsibility towards me. More of one than I'm sometimes comfortable with," she ended with a weak chuckle.

A waitress came by at that moment, and they ordered. Anne asked for a plate of steak and eggs, hash browns, bacon, and a side of pancakes. Of course, she wanted her steak rare. Logan grinned when he heard that, and ordered the same without looking at the menu. Gambit was not about to bust a gut trying to follow them, and quickly settled for an omelet.

After their order had been taken, there was a long moment of silence at the table. Gambit idly looked around the restaurant. A fair number of glances were being thrown their way, some curious while others were disapproving. He glanced at Anne, who followed his gaze around the room with resigned acceptance clouding her features.

"What do dese people have 'gainst you, chere?"

She smiled tightly.

"Think of this town as a high school, and I'm the bad girl that everyone talks about. You know how it goes. Parents die tragically, quits school, withdraws and becomes a troublemaker. Great for gossip, though I get tired of them looking at me like I'm a time bomb waiting to go off."

"Why do ya' stay then, darlin'? There must be other places ya' can go." Logan replied, eyes intent on her face.

Anne smiled sadly. "I want to leave. I keep telling myself to just pick up and go, but I have ties to this area. My parents—they loved this mountain. It was a sanctuary to them and for me. And then there's the forest—the trees are practically my second family." Her face reddened as though she had said too much.

Logan sat back and crossed his arms.

"Ya' mean it, don't ya'."

"Excuse me?"

"'Bout the trees bein' like family. Ya' really mean it."

Anne opened her mouth and hesitated, indecision warring on her face.

"It's all right, darlin." Logan whispered. "Ya' can trust us."

The ghost of a smile traced Anne's lips.

"I know." she whispered.

The reaffirmation of her trust sent a sent a mixture of surprise and warmth through Gambit, and he glanced at Logan. There was a strange glint in his eyes that Gambit had never seen before, and he wondered again at the strange quality of this young woman, that she could draw them in so easily though they hardly knew her.

Anne took a deep breath. When she finally spoke, her voice was pitched so low that Gambit and even Logan, had to lean forward in order to hear her.

"Healing more quickly than others isn't my only mutant ability," she began. "You see...I can communicate with trees...and they talk back."

Gambit looked at her in disbelief. Anne noted his expression and scowled irritably.

"It's true," she insisted.

"That's all right, darlin'," Logan interjected. "We believe ya'. Right, Gumbo?"

Gambit shrugged noncommittally, and Logan snorted in disgust.

The scowl left Anne's face, and she smiled wearily at Gambit.

"It doesn't matter, Remy. If I hadn't grown up hearing trees, I probably wouldn't believe it myself."

He shifted uncomfortably. "Gambit sorry, chere. Gambit seen enough strange things dat dis shouldn't be hard to believe. Just unexpected...dat's all."

Anne looked as though she wanted to say more, but their meals arrived.

They ate in silence, more for Anne's sake, who devoted herself to consuming her food with an odd mixture of gusto and restraint. Gambit was sure that after two days of not eating she would have stuffed herself in the first five minutes, and then gotten ill. Instead, she took careful, small bites, relishing each morsel that entered her mouth.

It took her more than an hour to finish, and in the meantime, Gambit and Logan carefully observed the restaurant and the other diners. One man in particular stared at Anne. His hair had gone white, and his face was soft. His eyes peered out like rough black stones from within the folds of his flesh, and his fingers idly tapped the wood table top.

When Anne finally finished eating, Gambit was more than ready to leave. He could tell by the tense hunch to Logan's shoulders, that his friend was too. Their waitress came over to the table to clear their plates, and Logan paid the bill. As they were leaving, Ben caught up with them. Gesturing outside, they all piled out of the restaurant. Ben pointedly ignored Logan and Gambit, turning to face Anne.

"Anne, a trap went missing this morning, and Alec Trebner is blaming you."

Her eyes narrowed. "Where did he set the trap?"

Ben frowned. "An hour north. Maybe a few hundred yards off the Ridgeway Express. There's a grotto up there that the animals love."

"Yes, I know." She hissed.

Ben took a step back. "Anne, you didn't take the trap did you?"

Logan growled, his eyes darkening ominously. Gambit placed a restraining hand on his shoulder, feeling the muscles quivering below his palm. Not a good sign, he thought.

"Mon ami, we found de trap last night. Attached to Anne's leg."

Ben's eyes filled with doubt.

"But she's walking ...the traps Trebner uses are enough to hold a good sized bear."

Gambit could see Anne shaking her head in frustration and defeat.

"Nice going, Gumbo." Logan muttered.

The restaurant door opened, and the fat man with cold eyes that Gambit had seen watching Anne stepped out.

Ben turned around, and almost gratefully approached the newcomer.

"Maybe we can sort this out now. Alec, why don't you talk to Anne about your trap."

"This here is Trebner?" Logan rasped.

The man nodded silently, eyes glittering. Without another word, Logan stalked to the back of his jeep and pulled out the trap they had removed from Anne's leg. Seeing the ugly device in the daylight, Gambit wondered how Anne had managed to keep her foot. The teeth, stained with rust and her blood, dully glinted in the sunlight. Anne's face paled.

Logan held it up by the chain. "This yours?"

Trebner gritted his teeth angrily.

That was all the answer that Logan needed. Without a moment's hesitation, Logan pounced on the man, pummeling him into the ground. His belly and face resounded with the sounds of fists hitting soft, thick flesh, and Alec's expression of rage changed to a look of fear and pain. Ben ran into the restaurant and reappeared moments later with a rifle, which he pointed at Logan.

Gambit took a flying leap and tackled him, the gun skittering across the pavement. A regular little brawl erupted, with Gambit and Logan in the middle of it. A few diners, the younger and rougher ones, rushed out and tried to attack the two X-Men but they were easily thrown off. At one point in the scuffle, Gambit caught Logan's eyes and the two grinned fiercely.

The roar of a gunshot ended the fight.

All actions stopped immediately, and nearly a dozen pairs of eyes lifted to find Anne with the butt of Ben's rifle hugging her hip.

"Thank you." She declared. "We'll be leaving now. Won't we, boys?"

Gambit and Logan extricated themselves from the tangle of bodies, Logan getting in one last kick to Trebner's stomach. No one tried to stop him. Anne held the rifle with steady hands, her eyes hard.

Ben clutched at his stomach with one hand, using his other in an attempt to stem the blood flowing from his broken nose.

"Anne!" he seethed. "What in the hell do you think your doin'?

"What does it look like, Ben?" Anne snapped.

His eyes narrowed.

"Perry woulda hated what you've become, girl."

Anne stiffened, bone deep sorrow flickering in her eyes. She studied the injured man and the other members of the town as though she was seeing them for the first time.

"Nah, Ben." She spoke quietly, determination slowly replacing the sadness in her face. "Daddy would be proud of me, and he'd be prouder still for the things I'm going to do."

She shook her head regretfully. "Good-bye, Ben."

Keeping an eye on the restaurant patrons, Logan, Gambit and Anne climbed into the jeep. Anne did not lower the rifle until they were well away.

"You all right, darlin?"

Anne smiled sadly. "Ben always did give low blows, but I knew my dad like the back of my hand and he would never, ever have hated me. No matter what. That was always the one constant of my life."

Logan glanced at her in the rear view mirror, his eyes penetrating. "What are ya' gonna do now? Ya' can't stay here anymore."

She snorted derisively. "I practically signed the warrant for my arrest, didn't I."

Logan nodded seriously, and turned in his seat to look at her.

"Ya' could leave here with me an' Gambit."

Gambit stared at him in astonishment, an astonishment that was mirrored in Anne's eyes. He quickly schooled his features into a blank mask. He himself had thought about asking Anne to come with them, but hearing it from Logan amazed him.

"Leave with you?" she asked incredulously.

"Ya' trust us, right?"

"Yes, but...but just pick up and leave? Then what?"

Logan shrugged. "One step at a time, darlin'. Way I see it, ya' gotta leave this place, an' it might as well be with friends."

She was silent for such a long time, both men turned to look at her with concern.

"Chere?"

Her eyes swallowed them both. Something in the way she searched their faces, pained Gambit. She reminded him of a person who could not remember what it was like to have other people care for them.

"It's been a long time since I've had a real friend, let alone two." She admitted finally.

"Well darlin', you're stuck with us whether ya' like it or not."

Gambit found his own head nodding in agreement.

"Dat's right, chere. We a trio now, eh Logan?"

Anne blushed, and Gambit saw the mark of uncertainty in her eyes. He rushed to reassure her.

"Trust us, chere. Remy and Logan won't ever hurt you." He caught her eyes.

After a long moment that kept the men's ears straining towards the back seat, she spoke softly.

"Has anyone ever told you two that you're both wonderful?"

Gambit grinned charmingly.

"Yeah, we are pretty nice, eh?"

"Speak fer yerself, Cajun."

"Yeah, yeah, Logan. Your image."

"Damn right."

Anne laughed out loud.

"So? Ya' comin' or what?" Logan asked gruffly.

She looked at the two men appraisingly, finally breaking into a sparkling grin.

"Trio. I like the sound of that."