When Toad came to it was dark and he could hear muffled voices around him. A dim light was near him, a low fire, casting shadows on the already shadowed wall. His eyes picked up the light and glowed strange and overlarge.

"How are you feeling?"

The red head was back. Leaning over him with something like…concern? He swallowed, trying not to grimace at this thought, but his disdain must have shown because she moved back.

"I'm alright"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised. You're the last person I ever expected to help us."

Toad shrugged. His reasons were his own. He wasn't about to get all touchy feely with the X-Geeks.

She paused, before realizing he didn't intend to answer.

"Well, thank you, for whatever reason. You saved my life, and helped us save the kids."

Toad sat up stiffly. His side burned like a mother, but he ignored it. He was used to pain after all. And this wasn't the first time he'd been shot. He fumbled in his pocket for cigarettes, to find the carton crushed.

"Bollucks"

He did his best to smooth out one of the unbent ones and lit it on a burning ember. Faces were visible around the low flame. Many of the X-Men and mutants he'd never seen before. Even a few visually deformed. A little girl with a hairy face and fangs was munching on a granola bar and spoke in quiet Scottish tones to Rogue. He remembered Rogue, and looked down guiltily at his hands.

None of the Brotherhood had felt right about killing a little mutant girl at Liberty Island, but you didn't question Magneto. Ever.

Wolverine was there. Wolverine had saved his life. Toad wasn't sure how he felt about that. He didn't like to be indebted to anyone, but at the same time, he was glad to be alive. Well… as glad of that as Toad got.

He saw Storm then, and felt his temper flare. She glanced at him in the same moment, and before he knew what he was doing he had leapt to his feet, much to the displeasure of his wound. Wolverine laid a hand on his arm.

"Easy Bub, I'd hate to gut you after you saved Jeannie, but I do a lot of things I hate."

Toad ripped his arm away. He did not like being touched. Glowering he sank back on his haunches and stared at her as menacingly as he could. He noticed her pale under his scrutiny. He smiled.

Wolverine sat beside him. Toad had never figured the guy to be big on conversation, but he lit a stogie and started chatting. At first it was about the fight and Toad's attention wavered. The guy was all too impressed with his own combat skills. But then Wolverine put out his cigar and looked Toad over, hard, like he was trying to read him.

"Never would have figured you for a hero."

"I'm not," Toad reached for another bent cigarette as his started to go out.

Wolverine snorted.

"What do you call what you just did then?"

"Masochist. I get off on pain, s'why I let 'em shoot me," he pretended to stretch and stifled the horrifying spasm that went through his muscle, "ahhhh feels greeeat."

Wolverine shook his head and got to his feet, making his way into the shadows further ahead in the tunnel. Toad could hear him barking about just sitting around waiting for the government to find them and experiment on their asses. A voice that Toad recognized as belonging to 'Visor-Boy' argued that the kids were tired. Wolverine insisted they'd rather be tired than dead. Toad wanted to giggle.

He stretched out. Apparently they weren't going anywhere for awhile, and he was in a lot of pain. Too bad his cigarette's had gotten crushed. That was bum luck if ever he'd had any.