"I don't like it," Scott (why am I letting these people become important enough to me that their first names are how I mentally refer to them?) said, pushing his ruby glasses up against his nose. "It could be a trap."

"Ah'm not fond of it either, sugah," Rogue drawled, leaning against the wall. "But this gal managed to plant things into mah mind … and y'all know how hard that is to do. And from what Remy and Kyle said, she's too powerful to ignore. Not even Emma could pull off something like her little stunt."

Emma (damn it; even her?) sniffed. "She has a few tricks. I'm sure that I could counter anything she tried."

Scott looked at her.

"Eventually," she admitted.

"You the leader of the X-Men, mon ami," Remy said to Scott (and why was I feeling a stab of jealousy over that "mon ami"?). "But in the end the decision will be my Rogue's. And Kyle's. And mine." He flashed a grin at me. "You don't think I'd let you two do this alone, did you?"

"I planned on you coming," I grinned back at him.

Rogue watched the two of us. "Ah can see Ah should never let you two be alone evah again."

Remy wiggled an eyebrow. "Cherie, you know Remy's heart belongs to you alone." He laughed. "Though Kyle, he do have a certain charm …"

"Don't go joining the other team, Gambit," Wolverine (okay, him I wasn't calling "Logan") growled. "You'll break so many hearts the Mansion'll flood from all the girls' tears." The little man looked over at me. "You and me, kid—time we had a talk."

"We're talking now, aren't we?" I knew what he wanted, but I didn't particularly feel like giving it to him.

"Alone, kid."

"Logan—" Rogue began.

"Is this necessary, Wolverine?" Scott asked. "Now?"

"Yes it is. Come on, kid. You and I are going to have a little chat before I let Rogue and the Cajun run off with you on some secret mission."

"'Let'?" Rogue growled. "You ain't mah pa, Logan. Remy and Ah don't need your permission for anything."

"Cherie. Let Papa Wolverine have his talk with our Kyle." He flashed a grin at me. "Kyle, he no baby either."

Those green eyes of her flickered to mine. "Kyle—"

"It's okay, Rogue." I stuck my hands in my jacket and looked over at Scott and Emma. "The girl has a lot of power—and from what she said, she was doing everything Remy and I saw from an astral projection. When someone with that kind of power says 'before I kill you all' I think it's worth listening to her."

Besides, she had said she would be grateful to me …

"Come on, kid. Follow me."

He was a short guy built like a brick wall with built in Ginsu blades.

And he scared the heck out of me.

But Rogue—and Remy—were watching and somehow that gave me the courage to follow the little Canuck out of the med lab and into a large room.

An empty large room.

"I don't trust you, kid."

"Why?"

"Why should I trust you?"

"Why shouldn't you? I've done nothing against the X-Men—I kept Rogue from being kidnapped once and I helped recover her the second time. What have I said or done that causes you to not trust me?"

"You've got secrets."

"Yeah. So do you."

"Why did you come to New York, kid?"

"I don't owe you any answers."

Snikt!

"Care to rephrase that, bub?"

Okay. I admit it. I was scared. I had my ward up, but if it failed—

But … there was something else in me.

Anger.

"Winds of Watoomb!"

A sudden gust out of nowhere struck Wolverine and hurled him away from me.

"You're freaking nuts!" I snarled at him. "Who the hell do you think you are?!"

The Winds had him pinned against the wall. They would not let him go until my concentration lapsed.

"Danger Room, go dark!" Wolverine barked.

Instantly the room went totally and utterly black.

Surprised, I let the Winds fall.

There was a spark of light as something struck against the edge of my ward.

"Nice protection you have there, kid," the surly voice said out of the darkness. "I'm impressed."

"Eye of—"

And suddenly I was slammed down on the floor.

"I've been around a long time, kid," Wolverine growled. "I know how magic works. I've seen the best. Long as you can't see me, long as I don't give you time to react, you can't hurt me. But I can hurt you if I have to. And I will if you're here to hurt Rogue."

"Man, you guys think everything is about you! I told you—all of you—that my being in New York had nothing to do with you. All I wanted was to get the Uru—" I stopped, hoping he would have no idea what Uru was …

"Uru? Thor's hammer? You're here for Thor's hammer?"

"What? No! Of course not!" I struggled. "And how do you know what Uru is?"

I felt the weight of his body being removed from mine. "I've been around a long time, kid. And you can't hang around Thor more than five minutes without him going on and on about his hammer."

So he knew about Thor's hammer. Maybe he didn't know what else Uru was good for, and I sure as hell didn't intend to tell him. "Look, Wolverine. What I want has nothing to do with mutants. Soon as this stuff with the X-Terminators is over, I'll be perfectly happy to disappear forever."

"You think it'll be that easy, kid?" Wolverine's voice was at my ear, but I didn't try to strike out at him—I was reasonably sure that, wards or not, he'd find a way to make me regret it if I tried. "You've got power, kid—but you're green. And young."

"Everyone was young once—even you I bet."

Wolverine laughed—this time I heard him out of my other ear. "To be what you are, kid, you had to pay a price."

"Yes," I admitted. "That's true."

"People who do that—people who pay that kind of price—have a reason for that. I don't know what your reason is, and what I don't know I don't trust."

I nodded.

"So are you going to tell me what you're really here for?"

"No."

I wouldn't. I couldn't.

"Danger Room, Lights on!"

Wolverine looked over at me. For a second, I thought I saw something like sadness in his eyes. "You paid a price for your power, kid. Maybe you think you're done paying—but I doubt it. Hope the final cost isn't more than you can afford."

And with that, he turned and left.