Once again, sorry for the delay! I can never seem to find the time to get these chapters up, but never fear, I shall!

Remy

It's near,

I can feel it,

I can see Rogue die.

I shake myself out of my stupor, there's no time for reminiscing, we've got work to do. X23 stand next to me, Logan has an arm around her shoulder. Kitty looks shell-shocked, she manages to say, "So um, X23, how are you doing?"

X's icy eyes focus in on her, she answers, "Just call me X, it's simpler that way... Now, where's the professor?"

We all walk inside, my eyes travel over the walls, stopping on a small picture. It's tiny, about the size of my palm. It's Rogue. She's smiling, how I loved her smile.

A whirr of wheels, the Professor sits in front of us, he extends a hand to X. She stares at it skeptically, before taking it. "Welcome," he says, "you all need to go down to the tactical room."

On our way down Kurt whispers to me, "How are you holding up?"

I fake a smile, "As well as can be expected, Mon ami."

Logan's steely eyes flick towards us, he gruffly says, "What are you two muttering about?"

I give him a toothy grin, "Nothing Wolfie."

He frowns, but not with his eyes, as the doors to the tactical room open. Inside there are a couple of people, Amara, Bobby, Jubilee, I recognize all of them. We walk in, and the Professor speaks, "Now Amara, did you bring the information files?"

"Of course." She walks over to a projector, and a slide appears. It's a blueprint for something, a large square building.

"Alright everyone," Amara has a demanding tone in her voice, "This is a compound for Hydra, it's been put under the codename of 'Red Block'. We'll be infiltrating it tonight."

She's interrupted by Bobby, "But why are we doing it, I know that it's Hydra and all, but don't we need a reason to barge in like we own the place?"

X cuts him off sharply, speaking in a tone that leaves no room for argument. "We're infiltrating it because we have suspicions that they're holding mutants there. Amara, bring up the transfer slides." A click, we see some documents. "These are forms that were in Red Block's computer, as you can see, it's a roster of names. Under the name it lists age and power. So what else could it be but a mutant camp?"

The Professor adds, "These things were rare, but they are becoming widespread. The mutants, if they are indeed mutants, were probably sold to Hydra by an outside corporation. "

Logan snorts and says, "So we're going in to try and find out if there are any mutants there? Alright, but what about security?"

Amara speaks, "Red Block has security cameras here" She brings up another slide and points to several red dots, "But we can bypass them easily. Our real problem is the guards, they make rounds every twenty minutes, and so we'll only have a short time frame to investigate. Bobby, do you have team assignments?"

"Yes, Amara, Jubes, Logan and I are one team, Kurt, Kitty, X, and Remy are the other."

Jubilee speaks quietly, "Professor, do you really think it's possible that she's there?"

Dead silence.

Dead, just like Rogue.

Kitty answers, cold permeating in her voice, "Don't get your hopes up."

But what hopes have we, this evolved species of man? What can I believe in when the whole world's gone mad? Who can I trust, when my only friend is gone? A buzz of wheels, the professor speaks rapidly, "Meet back here at midnight, we'll board the plane, and be at Red Block by twelve-thirty."

We slowly file up, and I pick up my bags from outside the door. Carrying them up to my room, I let them fall to the floor, and lay down on the bed, breathing in her scent. She's still here, but only in spirit. I press my face into the pillow, inhaling cinnamon and rain.

Slowly I sit up, looking at the picture in the desk. It's from two summers ago, right after the fight with Apocalypse.

Almost everyone had gone to the beach, but Rogue stayed, and so I stayed as well. I wandered the halls for a while, before finding her sitting in the library. She was reading a book, I was to learn later that it was a romance novel, and she didn't notice me slipping into the room.

I pulled out a small disposable camera; I always carry one in my pocket, and put it up to my eye. The flash was on, it clicked once, and Rogue looked up. I smiled, "Yes chere?"

"Remy, do yah know how much ah hate pictures?"

I leaned up against the door, and said, "A belle femme like you shouldn't be afraid of the camera."

She stood and closed her book with finality, before snatching the camera out of my hand and walking out the door.

It made me smile to see the picture here, but it was a bitter smile. The door creaks open, and Kurt walks in. I don't speak as he sits down on the chair near the door, blue fingers drumming idly against the wall. "Well Kurt." I say, staring up at the ceiling, "Are you nervous about the mission?"

He laughs harshly, "Hardly. We've done worse than this. I've had a hard time lately though, because every mission is personal for me. Every time I tell myself not to get my hopes up, and yet every time we come back empty handed, I feel disappointed."

I stand up, "You don't really think we'll find her there?"

"No, I don't."

"And why is that?"

"She's dead Remy. If she was alive, she would have found a way to contact us by now."

I smile slightly, "Jubilee doesn't think so."

"Jubilee's wasn't at the warehouse. The Professor hasn't been able to trace Rogue, and it's not from a lack of trying."

"Anyway," I say, trying to steer the conversation clear of the Professor, "Have you ever been in one of these mutant camps before?"

"We've done over ten recovery missions, and failed two. On the others we recovered between one and five mutants from each."

"Are they difficult?"

"Well, from what X tells us, this one has the highest security."

I pull a deck of cards out of my pockets, "Piece of cake."

Next Chapter: "Red Block" The X-Men infiltrate a Hydra Base, and discover a link to Rogue.