Vera awoke to find herself lying on an operating table in an empty room made completely of concrete. Cabinets lined the walls and a single overhead light illuminated the small area around her. She blinked, trying to adjust her eyes to the light so that she could figure out where she was, exactly. She tried to move her arms to rub her eyes but found that her wrists were tied to the table; it took a little careful maneuvering to break them free.

Vera sighed, only vaguely remembering being dragged onto a jet of some sort, her fight with Annessa, and a few incoherent bits of conversation. She seemed to recall that their captors had injected something into Remy, but she wasn't sure what.

All of a sudden, she felt a familiar tingling sensation in the back of her mind; immediately realizing what it was, she knew who the captors were. It took her a minute to calm down enough that she could focus on short-circuiting the implanted chip before it completely took over her mind.

After she was sure the chip was at least mostly disabled, she moved quickly, hoping she could get out of the operating room before whoever had put her there decided to come back. She knew that she had to find Remy and Logan before anyone realized she was missing. She slid off the table, trying not to think about what had happened the last time she'd been taken by the feds.

The door out of the operating room led to a long hallway which was lined with double doors that, she could only assume, led to rooms similar to the one she'd just left. The hall was eerily quiet and lit only by the occasional red wall-light. She closed her eyes and focused on finding Remy; it took her a while to detect him and she was surprised by how faint his thoughts seemed to be. She opened her eyes, biting her lower lip in concern and walked down the hallway towards Remy.

The room she found him in looked similar to hers. Like she had been, he was also lying on an operating table near the far wall, but unlike her, his wrists were not tied down and he was staring blankly at the ceiling. Vera approached him slowly, feeling uneasy; she stopped when she was only a couple feet away, too scared to get any nearer.

"Remy, can you hear me?" she whispered; he didn't respond. She moved closer so she could look down into his face. His eyes were wide, silently screaming, but the rest of his face was entirely devoid of expression. The irises of his eyes were blood red, like they would be if he was using his powers.

She trailed her fingers along the contours of his face; he neither moved nor blinked. Tears welled up in her eyes as she ran her fingers through his hair. "Remy," she sighed, her voice shaking, "What have they done to you?"

She leaned back against the wall, sliding downwards until she was sitting on the cold floor. Remy's uninjured hand was dangling over the edge of the table and she reached up and clasped it in her own. Vera closed her eyes again, feeling defeated. "I'm so sorry," she said softly as her tears escaped and ran down her face in large drops, "This is all my fault." She cried silently for a while, her forehead pressing against her knees, her free arm wrapped around her legs. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed.

As she sat, she felt the cold of the hard stone floor seep through her whole body and she shivered, but she still clung to Remy's hand.

Vera jumped when she heard footsteps in the hallway outside; reacting quickly, she wiped her eyes on the back of her hand before scurrying across the room to the cabinets on the opposite side. She shoved some medical equipment out of the way, making room for herself. She squeezed inside, leaving the door open a crack so she could still see Remy lying on the table.

Vera watched as Rathborn stepped into the room, her fists clenching in disgust. Rathborn was closely followed by a rather short and balding doctor wearing a pair of dark green scrubs. Rathborn glanced around the darkened room before moving towards the operating table.

"Looks like you were right about the nanites," he said, peering down at Remy, "They appear to have worked perfectly."

"The nanites are not fully functional as of yet," the doctor said, giving Rathborn a steady look. "Total assimilation generally takes twenty-four hours," the doctor said, "It's only been about five." He turned to look down at Remy, wiping sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand before checking Remy's vitals.

Rathborn frowned "He looks 'assimilated' to me," he muttered.

"He may look operational, but I assure you he is not," the doctor said quickly, "Gambit's brain is still attempting to reject the nanites; should anything interfere with the process at this point the nanotech control would be shut down permanently."

Rathborn sighed, "What about Weapon X and Vortex though," he said, "Will they take as long?"

"I'd give them less than an hour," the doctor affirmed. Rathborn nodded before turning to walk out of the room; the doctor followed swiftly, closing the door behind himself.

Vera counted to three hundred, whispering under her breath. "290 Mississippi. 291 Mississippi." She breathed out heavily as she reached 300 seconds. "That's about five minutes," she said and carefully clambered out of the small cupboard.

She made her way back to the operating table. "Remy," she whispered as she leant over him, tucking her hair behind her ears to keep it from falling into his face, "I don't know if you can hear me," she said, glad she was no longer crying, "but I have a plan."

She waited to see if Remy could answer her; he did not; she sighed. "I've never tried this before; I don't know if it will work," she said, her voice still shaking, "but I promise you, I'm going to fix this, somehow."

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she attempted to relax. "Here goes nothing," she muttered when she felt she was ready and opened her eyes again, staring intently into Remy's burning eyes.

----

(A/N: I was informed by KShires09 that I need to explain my nerdiness, soooo… The term "nanite" is a reference to nanotechnology which is, in fact a real thing. Nanotechnology is currently being developed as a possible way to help fight disease, especially in people with weakened immune systems, like those with AIDS. However there is fear it could also be used as a possible biological weapon in the future. It's a favorite of science-fiction nerds.)