Lucas crawled on his elbows over to the moth of the cave. He didn't want anyone to start shooting in, just because they saw him walking around.

"What's happening?" He asked his friend.

"We're trapped. Their leader took the horses and most of the treasure. He's going to come back with a wagon for the rest." He swallowed. "How are you?" He asked, not looking Lucas in the face.

"Better." Lucas told him.

The man smiled. "You'd have to feel better." He told him "You were dead for hours."

"Didn't seem all that long from my end." Lucas told him. "Didn't mean to leave you in this mess."

"You came back." The man said, finding his humor. "That's what counts."

The other man looked at them as though they had lost their minds. And they both laughed at him.

Lucas closed his eyes. He knew from personal experience that laughter meant he was relaxed enough to sense things telepathically. He reached out with his mind and was surprised by what he found. There were only three men outside the cave, and no one else for miles.

Lucas thought he sensed something familiar.

"Hey Dutch!" He hollered out of the cave and he heard guns cock and feet scramble. "Dutch!"

"Uh, yeah?" A hesitant voice replied.

"You got any of those store bought cigars on you boy?" Lucas prodded.

The group whispered outside the cave. Finally Dutch replied "Luke? Luke Logan? You in there?"

"Sure am. Got grazed by a bullet. I was out for hours." He bluffed.

"Prove it." He called back. "Come on out."

"You I trust Dutch. But you got other folk out there, now don't ya."

"Yeah." Dutch admitted slowly. "But we just finished dinner and we were getting a might drunk. We don't need a fight right now if you're willing come on out of there." Dutch swallowed. He knew that his boss would return – and that his boss already disliked Lucas – Even though they had never met.

"Well, I got two guys in here who took care of me while I was out. I cant just leave them in here you know."

"Leave them in there for a minute or two." Dutch called back. "Meet me by that first big rock on your . . ." He turned himself around, as though he were coming out of the cave. "Left. On your left."

"Okay." Luke called out. "I'm not carrying a gun." He said.

One of Dutch's men raised his gun slowly and Dutch reached out, and pushed the gun back down to face the ground. "No." He whispered.

Luke took three quick steps to the large rock on his left. He poked his head around and looked at Dutch. "Bring a cigar." He told him before ducking his head back behind the rock.

"Aw, shoot." Dutch smiled, seeing his friend's face clearly, he re-holstered his gun and walked calmly over to the large boulder and pulled a cigar out of his breast pocket.

"How'd you get mixed up in all this?" Dutch asked him, handing him the cigar and lighter.

"One of the guys inside is that little Mexican dude we met at Ray's. He was with that girl Tina." Lucas supplied.

"Jose?" Dutch asked. "Well shoot. I didn't realize."

"I'm not sure that's his name." Lucas smiled.

"That don't matter none." Dutch assured him.

And then Dutch cocked his head to the side. "Say now, you guys wouldn't have a whole passel of gold in there, now would you?"

"Well," Lucas replied, letting go of a wide grin "You might say that." He shrugged.

Dutch planted his fists on his hips. "Well, I'll be."

"I tell you what." Lucas told him. "I'll give you half of everything we cant carry out with us." He told him. "We can dynamite the cave with our half still inside and you can bury yours somewhere else." He smiled. "You tell your boss that we started shooting and you tried to blow us up and the cave fell in."

"Well, that sounds about right." Dutch scratched his head. "We already think we might have been double crossed. Our shares sure ain't what they should be anyway." He looked up finally. "Yeah. Give me a few minutes to get the point across to these two yahoos back here." He gestured behind him with a thumb.

"Sure." Lucas shrugged. "I wasn't going anywhere."

Dutch smiled. "Don't worry about it. We can fix that soon enough."

"Good to hear." Lucas grinned, strolling back in to the cave.

The two men looked expectantly at him. "No worries." He said. "Now, help me divide some of this stuff up. We're buying our way out of here."

And the less familiar of the two men, the one who spent his day in confusion and shock, smiled wide. Finally, he felt, he understood what was going on.

Meanwhile, Wolverine and Rogue were riding south, toward what would one day be known as Skeleton Canyon.

"Are you worried?" Wolverine asked her.

"No. Not really." Marie shrugged. "At least, not about Lucas."

"Who then?" Logan asked.

"Me." She admitted. "It's been a long time since I was this active Logan, since I tried to make mahself useful, or tried to make a difference."

"I know the feeling" He spoke softly to his saddle.

"And ah wonder if maybe I didn't pass it all along, in the blood, you know. Maybe I'm not up to this kind of life anymore." She shrugged.

"I think you're up to it just fine Rogue." He smiled at her. "It's just not what you want."

"You're right." She told him.

"Do you know what you do want to do?" He asked.

She looked away, hesitantly. "I thought. . ." She said softly, embarrassed. "I thought I might write mah life's story." She said. "I think other girls, mutants I mean . . ."

Wolverine was nodding slowly as the idea became clear to him. "You could help a lot of people like that." He said softly and at last.

She lit up and almost glowed from the observation. "That's what Ah thought." She smiled at him.

"It's a good idea." He said. "You should do it."

She swallowed. "Do you think," She shrugged. "That maybe the Professor would let me hire a writer, a real writer, to help me get it all out?"

"I bet he would." Logan agreed. "I bet he'd really like the idea. We can ask him when we get back." He sensed that she felt uncomfortable asking for favors in 'his' world.

She smiled gratefully at him and idled her horse up next to his, to rest her head on his shoulder. Wolverine wrapped his arms around her. They both felt wonderful. It had been a long time since either had fallen in love.