"What are they?" Logan asked without even thinking about it. His eyes picked up some incredibly detailed work in the drawing, and he knew that it had been done by hand. "And who did the etchings?" the second question was whispered more than spoken. He could admire the amount of detail, as well as the simplicity of the lines, and the surety of the carving.

"Communication devices." Skye answered softly, trying not to distract his concentration. "Better that a telephone, and cheaper than a cellular. As for who did the artwork, it was Tom."

Logan's head snapped up at the name. "Reynolds?" he asked, surprised. He pictured the scarred man with the dark, hostile eyes, and tried to picture him bent over a delicate piece of work like this. It didn't work. He just couldn't picture it. But Skye was nodding.

"Hard to believe?" she asked, and Logan nodded. "Well, he is learning patience, and he spent several days working on this before he was finished. He also draws very well, and his painting is improving in leaps and bounds." She caught the disbelieving look and smiled. "Why is this so hard to believe?"

"The hostility." Logan answered simply. He went back to examining the bracelet a moment longer before he let her wrist go, and she shook out her hand, settling the bracelet more comfortably on her wrist. To his eyes, that was an ingeniously designed little trinket. There was more than just gold in the alloy of the links, and Logan could imagine they were very strong. And his eyes could not see a sealing mark, where the computer chip which would allow for communications, had been inserted. He also couldn't see a microphone, or speaker which would allow for communications. And there had been no visible method of removing the bracelet. It looked as though it had been built around her wrist, with no clasps, and that it would be unlikely that one could easily remove it without taking off the hand, as it was not loose enough to slip off.

"Tom is hostile, sometimes. Okay . . . a lot of the time." Skye agreed. "But there is a lot going on, under the surface, that most people will never see. But those of us who take the time, and have the patience, will never be disappointed. As deep as that hostility runs, so does his loyalty, and once he can identify it, he will love just as intensely." She smiled as he looked at her, inviting her to say more, if she could. "The drawing and the painting, and all that type of stuff is like aggression therapy. He's trying to stop being so angry all the time. So instead of destroying things, he is learning to create instead. It was a big step for him." Logan could smell the pride and happiness in Tom Reynolds from this woman, as well as . . . a deep love. It was not necessarily that of lovers, although it was close, and it was more than friends. Close to that of family, but he knew from the scent that they were not related. Yet another mystery.

"So what did you want to know about Hades?" Skye asked after shaking off the pride and happiness.

"I need to know a lot of things." Logan said. "How well do you know what they are up to?" He asked, and his nose told him that she was privy to almost everything they did before she told him that she was pretty well-informed, as she did know every member, and was friends with almost all of them. "So you are aware of the jobs they accept?"

Skye looked at him shrewdly while she took the time to organize her thoughts. Logan simply waited patiently. "I am aware." She answered. "But that doesn't mean I can tell you anything about their clients or their jobs. That is all classified information. You are not cleared to know it. The only reason I know is because Zach gave me the clearance to get the information."

"Do you know why they take the jobs?" he asked, trying from a different route. "What their motives are?"

"I know their motives." Skye said. "And they vary from job to job. As do their reasons for taking them. Every situation is different, after all. And before you ask, I can't tell you about any particular job. Classified But I can say that I have agreed with all their motives and reasons." She shook her head. "Maybe I can make this easier. I know the people of Hades. As an empath, I know them better than just about anyone outside of the group. I know their personalities, their fears, their hopes, their reasons for being there. But I can't talk about their missions. It's all classified. I'm sorry."

"Do you know how I might be able to find out?" Logan asked, frustrated that he seemed to be getting no further with her than he had with Terri. His nose was telling him that she was being honest, and she was sorry she couldn't help. But she was also determined to keep what she knew behind her teeth.

Skye thought about the question. "Yes." She finally answered. "I know how you might be able to find out." Her blue eyes met his seriously. "but it depends on how badly you want the information, and how much you're willing to pay."

Logan glanced at her sharply. "What do you mean?" he asked warily.

Skye sighed. "Listen, Logan. I know the people very well. If you wanted to know about people, like the members of the team, I'm the best person to tell you. As long as you're not press. I don't like those people. Nosy for no other reason than to get ratings. They don't really care about the people personally. But if you are half as intelligent as I give you credit for being, you know as well as I do that all information can be found, if you have the price. All information can be bought."

Logan nodded, oddly disappointed in her, having never thought she would be the type to sell information on people she obviously thought of as her friends. "And what's your price?" he asked.

Skye laughed and put out her cigarette. "Logan, you don't know any dozen people with the price to buy me or my loyalty. When I promise not to talk, I don't. I can't be bought. You can't bribe me. And I won't break my word to that team and talk about their missions." She smiled and poured them both fresh cups of coffee, and lit another cigarette. "But you see, that's where my personal interests in the group conflict with my professional assessment of what will ultimately be best for them. I am their friend. And sometimes, as a friend, we sometimes do things that they don't like, when we think it's in their best interests."

She looked at him. "I would rather that they told you themselves." She said. "I don't like circumventing my word like this. But they know me, and I warned them that I would sometimes do what I thought was best as long as it didn't go against my word to them. So I'll tell you how you can find the information. That way I don't break my word, you get what you want, if you want it badly enough, and they get some understanding that their team needs. But you have to promise me something." She said seriously as she inhaled deeply and then exhaled the smoke thoughtfully. "I'll tell you how to find what you want, but you can't tell anyone other than one person, how you knew where to go to look for it, and I will tell you which one person you may tell." She met his eyes. "Deal?" she asked.

Logan didn't like it. He considered what he wanted to know. How he wanted to know why Terri was with Hades, and why Hades was involving themselves in shady deals. He thought about the X-Men's needs to have more information on the group, as their files were far from complete. And then he weighed it, along with his personal interests, and decided that it was a deal he could make. After all, he could always decide not to use what she gave him. "Deal." He agreed.

Skye smiled. "Cool." She said. She sipped at her coffee, while he did the same and took another drag off his cigar. "Listen carefully." She said after a moment. "There is a bar on route 15, outside of Brooklyn. It's called Joe's. It's a pretty rowdy place most nights, and there's a lot of Harley's parked in front of it. Go to Joe's and go to the booth in the far corner. There will be a man there, with his back to the wall and a clear view of all the doors.. An African American, bald as a cue ball, with a mustache and Goatee. He'll be sitting, but he stands a little over six feet. He'll probably be wearing shades. Even indoors. There will be a laptop computer with him. You probably won't like being around him much. And he'll remind you a lot of that guy from Spencer for Hire, Hawk. But don't call him that. His name is Blade Santiago. He's an information broker. He knows just about everything that goes on in this country, and if he doesn't, he can find out. But he will make you pay for it. His prices are non-negotiable, and are sometimes surprising, but his answers are always accurate, and he accepts credit cards. And he is the one person you can mention my name to. You can tell him that I sent you to him."

"All right." Logan agreed. "Blade Santiago at Joe's Bar. Got it."

"There's one more thing." Skye said. "Blade will sell any information. ANY information, to anyone, if they have the price. An example, if you will. You can tell him I sent you. And he can sell you the information about Hades. And then, three days from now, someone from Hades might go to Blade because they found out that he sold information about them. They want to know who was looking into their activities. And he will sell them your name. And if they ask how you found them, he'll also sell them my name. Blade is a man who knows the value of information. Information is power. And he knows this. And everything he hears, or finds out, is just more power that he has. Be careful what you let slip to him. Because he will sell it to someone else, if the price is met."

Logan understood what she was saying. He had dealt with information brokers before, and knew the risks involved. And he would only ask information he couldn't gain through other means. But some information, he could probably get for the small price of asking. He looked at Skye and decided to try. "Do you know Terri?"

Skye smiled and flicked ask into the try. "Terri Thompson?" she asked and Logan nodded. "Yes, I know her. I can't say we're really good friends or anything, but then, there are very few who can claim that." She sighed and started taking her cues about what he wanted to know by reading his emotional interest. "She has very few close friends. But she'll walk through hell and back for the ones she has. She just doesn't let anyone get very close. It's just the way she is. And those of us who are empaths, or in her confidences, know why she is that way. But we won't necessarily tell. For me, it's almost a patient teacher confidentiality thing. For those that are friends . . . well, I think it's because she has so few, and trusts very few, but is still one of the best friends you could ever get, if you can be counted as one by her, that no-one is willing to betray her trust by giving away information she told them in confidence. They count themselves lucky to be her friend. And there are those in Hades that she calls friend. Very few elsewhere."

Logan looked at Skye intently. "Is that why she joined the team? Because her friends were on the team?" This was a question he had been trying to get an answer to ever since he had seen her on the television. And had never gotten an answer.

"No." Skye said. "Terri didn't even know the people of Hades when she joined. Had never met them until she was accepted for the position. Hades was not a bunch of friends who decided to get together and go into business with each other. Tom and Brad knew each other, but they are not exactly friends. They more tolerate each other than anything else. And they both knew Zach. But Pete, Ryker (and don't call him John to his face, by the way, he hates it.) and Terri didn't know them, or each other. It was after they sat down and got to know each other that Terri made friends with one or two of them. She gets along with all of them, though."

Logan cocked his head slightly, and inhaled another drag off the cigar. "Then why?" he asked again. The more he heard, the more he didn't understand. If she didn't know these people before joining the team, then why had she even bothered? "What made her join?" he asked.

Skye looked at him, and her face was soft, her eyes gentle. Her scent was even gentle, a soft spicy warmth like cinnamon rolls on Sunday. "For the same reason all people get involved with things." She said softly. "Especially things that require the kind of commitment working with Hades does. Because she was looking for something to do, in part. Because she needed something to excel at, somewhere she was needed, accepted. She needed to believe in something bigger than himself, and find people who would believe in her, even when she didn't believe in herself."

"But what got her to that point where she decided that Hades was it?" Logan asked. "She's bitter, and angry. I want to know why." He knew it was none of his business, but he also knew that if for no other reason than that he had once been responsible for her, he needed to know what had happened to that sweet kid that had ended with her on that team. But there was more than that to it. He had hurt her. And now he wanted to understand her. Maybe then he'll be able to understand, and then he might find a way to make amends.

Skye looked vaguely sad and smiled a soft sad smile. "Oh, Logan, there are so many reasons, motivations, behind Terri's decision to join Hades. She'll tell you them herself. But in her own way. But first you have to be able to ask her. Then you have to be able to be patient and listen, both to what she says, and what she doesn't. She wants to talk about it. And I can tell you have a history with her, so she'll probably even want to talk to you about it. But sometimes, she can't get around the emotions and put it into words. Part of it is her parents' fault, they were never very good at expressing themselves." Skye smiled as she reminded him that she was much older than she looked, hinting that she not only knew Terri, but knew her parents as well. "So she never really learned how. But she will tell you, if you give her the chance."

Logan thought about what Skye said, sipping at his coffee occasionally, not even noticing the rich blend. He stubbed out his cigar, finally, and stood up. To his surprise, Skye stood up along with him. "One last question." He said, and Skye looked at him with childish curiosity, huge blue eyes patient. "Why did you tell me all of this?"

Skye smiled. "Because I like you."

Her scent said she was being honest with him. He shook his head, incredulously. "Why?" he asked, knowing his tone was one of incredulity.

"I don't know." Skye said and shrugged her shoulders. "I just do. Maybe it's because I am an empath, but a lot of those feelings you have are a little unpleasant. I know I don't want to be inside your mind any time soon. Maybe it's because I like the fact that you smoke Cuban cigars, and not some cheap off-shot." She met his eyes and smiled again. "It's not something I can really explain." She said. "It's just something I feel. Something inside me tells me that you're going to be a good man to know, but that you are probably going to bring trouble. But I can handle trouble. I was trained as an assassin, after all." She shook her head and shrugged again. "I don't know. I guess I'll just have to call it an instinct thing. Do you understand that?"

Logan caught the scent of questioning, and acceptance, and hoped for understanding, and he smiled, offering her his hand, which she shook lightly. "Yeah, Darlin'." He said. "I do."

Her bright smile followed him out the door.