Regan took her seat in the plane next to Cain, a tall, broad-shouldered man with bright red hair. His muscles flexed when she sat beside him, and he stared off to the side so that she couldn't see his face. Regan and Cain had never gotten along and it annoyed her that they had to work together now. She turned away, pulling out a her walkman and putting on her headphones.

The jet was mostly empty; Rathborn seemed to think that with the addition of Wolverine they would need little help in bringing down Sabretooth and Joule. Regan thought he was underestimating the two, personally. She'd seen how Sabretooth fought from her time in the Marauders and she knew Joule could be a strong opponent. Apart from this, Regan suspected they hadn't seen the last of Gambit or Vortex. Gambit, especially, tended to be the vengeful sort.

She sighed, lost in thought as the plane began to take off. She had never planned to end up where she was now, a government lackey working under the likes of Rathborn. Her father had trained her from a young age to hate the government, and fight it with the powers she had inherited from him.

That was the reason she had joined Mister Sinister's Marauders. She thought she'd been joining a noble cause, one that would make her father proud. But she had been wrong. The Marauders had been nothing more than an experiment for Nathaniel Essex and the destruction of the Morlocks had been nothing like what she'd expected the group to do. Regan had carried out her mission, but she had honestly been somewhat relieved when Gambit had turned and the Marauders had been disbanded. However, she missed those days now.

After the Marauders, Regan had fallen out with her father. When the government offered her a job with the promise of erasing her criminal record, she had felt as though she had few other options; she regretted that decision now. Working for the feds went against all her principles. There was only one reason why she hadn't quit: her current mission.

Regan despised Joule from the day they'd met. Joule was manipulative, using the affections of others, such as Sinister and Sabretooth, to get ahead. She had used her sex appeal to become essentially immortal. It was true that in a way, Regan envied her; she envied the way men looked at her, and hated the way she rarely seemed to notice. But in all honesty, the reason Regan hated her the most was because Joule was everything Regan had always wished to be.

---

"So, should we land?" Remy asked.
Vera closed her eyes, searching for what she could remember of Annessa and Victor. At this distance, with people whose minds she wasn't extremely familiar with, it was difficult, but she managed to pick up traces of Victor and Annessa below. She opened her eyes again to find Remy staring at her intently. "This is it," she confirmed, "Help me find a place to land."

They landed nearly a mile from the house on the beach next to a large lake. Remy noticed Vera messing with the control panel before they both exited the jet.
"What was that about?" he asked, raising a single eyebrow at her.
"I turned on the distress signal," she answered, walking briskly towards the surrounding woods. Remy knew he would have to rely on her abilities to navigate through the dense forest. "It should throw off Rathborn, at least temporarily."

"Good thinking," Remy said, impressed.
It was late afternoon by the time they made it to Victor and Annessa's home. Remy felt relieved to see it, not enjoying wandering through the woods with no idea of where he was. The house was extremely large, with an equally large garage. Out front were a Toyota Tundra and bright metallic black Ferrari. Remy was surprised to see that there weren't any lights on inside the home and he wondered if he and Vera had come there unnecessarily.

Remy stepped in front of Vera, walking briskly up to the house. As he approached the door, he fished in his pocket, searching for something.

"What are you looking for?" Vera asked, glancing at him suspiciously.
"You'll see," Remy replied, smirking as he pulled out some type of metal tool. She rolled her eyes as he began to fiddle with the lock; it didn't take him long to pick it. "Come on," he said, motioning for her to follow as he entered through the now-open door. Vera sighed before complying.

Victor and Annessa's home was incredibly beautiful on the inside; it certainly wasn't what Vera had been expecting. The home was spacious and neat, not to mention expensive. The hallway they were now standing in had a marble floor and wood-paneling going about a third of the way up the wall. The wood was dark, probably cherry, and above it the walls were a slate grey. There was a crystal chandelier overhead and a grandfather clock against the far wall. An open doorway to her left led to an elegant looking living room, and to her right was a flight of mahogany stairs, the wall of which was lined with paintings from Veronica Kasatkina to Monet.

Vera was so captivated by the interior of the house she didn't notice the dark figure closing in behind them until it was too late. Remy gasped as a tall man slammed him hard against the nearest wall, his clawed hand closing around Remy's neck.

"How did you get here?" Victor snarled.

"We're here to help you," Vera said, resisting the urge to run over and try to pry Victor's hands from Remy's throat.

Victor looked at her with eyebrows raised as if seeing her for the first time, "We don't need your help."

"Just let him go," Vera said, voice wavering slightly. Victor only snickered as he applied more and more pressure, completely cutting off Remy's air-supply. Her eyes flared at him as she moved closer, hands tightening into fists. She hesitated when he met her gaze without flinching.

"That won't work on me," he said, answering her thoughts as his mouth twisted into a smirk.

"What the fuck is going on down there?" a woman's voice called from upstairs. Vera and Victor both looked up to find Annessa making her way down the staircase. She was wearing a dark red bathrobe, her wet hair pulled into a ponytail behind her. She quickly assessed the situation as she made it to the bottom. "Victor, let him go," she said, frowning. He looked at her quizzically, but eventually did as she'd told him. Remy gasped for breath as he collapsed to the floor.

"Now will someone answer me?" Annessa continued, "What's going on and how the hell did they get in our house?"

"They broke in," Victor growled.

"We're here to help you," Vera repeated.

"How did you even find us?" Annessa asked, frowning.

"We got your location from the feds," Vera replied; Victor raised his eyebrows at this. "Which I guess is lucky for you," Vera continued, "Since we wouldn't have been able to come here and help you out if you hadn't screwed us over."

I do believe it was your boyfriend over there attacked us first," Annessa said, motioning to Remy who had finally made it to his feet.

"Vera hadn't done anything and yet you were more than willing to kill her," Remy snapped.

"If I'd wanted to kill her," Annessa said, "she'd already be dead." Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him.

"Look, arguing isn't getting us anywhere," Vera said, "And we don't have a lot of time." She turned to Victor before continuing, "We got your address because the feds have sent out a team to kill you and bring back the adamantium you stole."

Annessa looked nervous at this, but Victor remained calm, crossing his arms across his chest. "And you thought I'd need your protection?"

"They're controlling Logan," Vera said, looking down at her feet, still feeling responsible for him.

After a long silence, Vera looked up again, meeting the intense look in Victor's eyes. "How?" he asked.

"Neural implant," Vera replied simply.

"Alright," Victor said at last, "You've got my attention." He looked at Annessa, who nodded, before he continued, "Now tell me what you're planning to do."