True or False? A person can fall asleep on the back of a motor cycle without falling to their gruesome and bloody demise. Well, here I sit, so true…obviously. One moment I was nestled into Logan's back trying to keep as warm as possible in the night air, and the next, I was being carried into our hotel room.

I barely registered what was going on, I was so tired, but I did manage to catch a few snippets of conversation.

"Maybe we should send her home…"

"Think this Gambit guy is too much?"

"She'd be pissed."

"…use her?"

I mostly remember thinking how much nicer this bed was to the previous hotel's and I almost didn't notice as Logan crawled into bed next to me. Now don't go turning that into something it wasn't. Everyone knows men can't bare the idea of sleeping together. Babies…

Anyway, the next morning I woke up, once again to an empty room. I yawned and stretched out my legs, painfully aware of the effect riding a motorcycle was having on my body. Standing up, I glanced around the room for some sign of my two companions. I flash of white had me moving toward the dresser and I found a short note:

Hey we just went for some food. Be back in soon. Get cleaned up and we'll hit the road once you've eaten. –Logan

I released one more yawn as I head for the bathroom. I grinned at the site in front of me. Jacuzzi…yum. I figured Stryker could wait one extra hour as I indulged in one of my all time favorite activities: soaking.

By the time we hit New Orleans it was only 4 in the afternoon. Fred hadn't given us a home address, but he had given us the name of a bar located in the very center of the French Quarter. And because no one in their right mind would go to a bar in the middle of the afternoon, the three of us had some time to kill. Logan paid for another hotel room, I think for my benefit, while he and John went walking through the streets looking for something to occupy themselves.

Despite my lovely bath earlier that morning, I decided to indulge in another seeing as how I had spent the last eight hours on a motorcycle. After turning the faucets, I quickly stripped down to my basics and for the first time since this whole adventure began took a good hard look at my shoulder.

The scars started at the very top of my left shoulder and spread to the center of my back at the base of my neck down to my left hip. I couldn't help but wonder if Stryker knew what escaping and destroying his plane had cost me. It may not seem like a lot, but I had missed out on a lot of things because of this burn. I never learned to swim because I didn't want to be seen in a bathing suit. I never wore tank tops for fear of the scars poking out. I never dated a guy because I knew close contact would lead to other deeds which would lead to awkward questions first about my scars and then about why I had them. I can deny it until the cows come home, but I am just as shallow as any other girl.

With a heavy sigh, I removed my remaining clothes and slid into the tub. Closing my eyes, I started wondering what Logan and John were getting up to. And before I knew it, I heard knocking on the bathroom door. My eyes flew open and moved to the clock. 8pm. I had been sleeping for almost three hours…in a freaking tub. Who does that?

"Come in!" I cried, pulling the ridiculous amount of bubbles toward my body. Logan stepped in, took one look at me, and immediately left the room again.

"What the Hell?" I heard him shout from the main room. "Put on a Goddamn shirt!" I rolled my eyes and stepped out of the tub reaching for a towel and then my robe.

Exiting the steamy bathroom, I raised an eyebrow. "It's not like you haven't seen me naked," I told him. He shook his head and muttered something about putting on a shirt again. John only laughed.

"Yeah," he replied, "when you were eight and couldn't function on your own. Now you're hot…and it's weird." I blushed at the hot comment. That was definitely not something I ever expected to hear about myself. As I started digging through my bag in search of clean clothes, I caught my two friends whispering together near the door. This seemed familiar and I couldn't help but find it funny. At age twenty, I hated being kept in the dark almost as much as I hated it at age thirteen.

"You guys want me to leave you alone, or you want to tell me what exactly you're planning?" I asked, motioning for them to turn around while I changed. They did so…such gentlemen they were. I waited patiently, while I did my "time to put jeans on after bathing" dance and I heard Logan sigh as if he wasn't all that thrilled to be including me. "Logan, you came to me, so don't try to exclude me now, because I swear to-"

"No, that's not it," he interrupted turning around and sitting on the far bed. "It's just…John has this idea and I'm not comfortable with it." Out of the corner of my eye, I caught John rolling his eyes. I crossed my arms over my now t-shirted chest as I wondered what this plan could be.

"It's not that bad," John assured me. "You would just be taking a more active role than Logan really wants." I crinkled my brow in confusion. We were just going to talk to the guy, weren't we? What sort of plan is needed other than choosing who's going to say "Hey sorry you were kidnapped, but now we want to know where Stryker is so we can fuck his shit up." It didn't seem that complex to me, but apparently I was somewhat out of it.

"You went to the restroom before you heard Dukes' last bit of information on our guy and apparently he's a bit of a ladies' man…" I widened my eyes as his words started to sink in. "We thought he might respond better to you…you know a pretty, non threatening type opposed to Logan who's intimidating as shit and me who know one can seem to take seriously. What do you think?" John finished lamely. During his little speech, Logan never took his eyes from the floor, shaking his head all the while.

"Logan…" I started as I sat next to him. "What's wrong?" He squeezed my hand and finally looked up at me.

"Nadia, we made you do some bad things, you know that." I nodded remembering some particularly hard jobs I was assigned. "Well one thing you never did, not once, was use your body for our advantage. I don't want you starting now." I blinked a few times wondering if I had indeed heard right. Was Logan worried about my womanly virtues?

"Logan," I explained disbelievingly. "I'm not going to have sex with him. I'm going to flirt with him a little. You think I've never flirted with a guy to get what I wanted? Last summer I convinced Jo's neighbor Rodd to mow the lawn for free just because he may have been under the impression I'd go to the next Star Craft Convention with him. You're hardly asking for the world here." It took all my will power not to start laughing. I knew Logan was serious about his concerns, but he really had no need to be. Not about that.

"It's different and you know it," he growled. "This guy is dangerous and you could get hurt."

"And so could you!" I shouted. I loved Logan, truly I did, but all this over protective bullshit was starting to wear on me. "I'm not a child anymore. I don't need you to protect me, but I do need you to trust me. Believe that I can and that I will help you Logan. If you let me, I can make this work and this will all be over soon. Now," I finished holding out me hand to both Logan and John, "what do you say?"

The two exchanged glances and eyed my hands. John smiled and grasped my left while Logan finally nodded and took my right. "Good," I responded. "Now, let's see what Cosmo can do for a little old assassin like me?" I smiled.