A/N: Hello again! This is the next installment of Crimson Bullets (duh!). this is my fun little space, I'm going to say this: HI ERICA!

Now that that's over, read on!

The mansion grounds were quiet, the only light from the sliver of moon hung suspended in the sky. A light clicked on in one of many rooms, and a form was illuminated against a setting of brilliance. The form slowly searched for something and found it. Slipping it into a bag, the light was turned off.

Remy stood, twirling a small playing card in his fingers. Kitty and Kurt resided in the corner of the hanger, outfitted in their mission gear. Slowly more and more people filed in, until ten figures milled about in the slate-gray dimness. A small conversation started up between Kurt and Remy.

"Why aren't Scott and Jean on this mission?"

The blue-furred teen rolled his eyes, animosity in his voice, "They're out seeing a movie."

"At midnight?"

Kitty snorted slightly, a sound one wouldn't expect to exit from her pink-glossed lips; "They begged the Professor for the night off."

"Speak of the devil."

The professor's tone was clipped and short, "We'll be boarding now. Remember, this is not a recovery mission; it is only serving as a fact-finding expedition. If things go wrong, and the guards are alerted to our presence in Red Block, then we flee. Getting ourselves out is the first priority, remember that.'

"Storm," he gestured to the graceful woman standing behind him, "will be staying with me on the jet. If there is a problem, she will create fog as a cover. However, I would expect Red Block Guards to have heat-seeking rifles, so it won't be much help. Logan," The gruff man nodded harshly in recognition, "will be leading Amara, Jubilee, and Bobby. They will be A team. B team will be comprised of Kurt, Kitty, X and Remy. That is all."

A few people nodded, and as the gangplank to the plane was lowered, Remy looked to the small picture of Rogue he had taken from the room. "Don't worry chere," he murmured, "if you're out there, we'll find you."

Thirty minutes later they arrived at Red Block. Remy was slightly puzzled at it's naming, the building was not square, as had been presumed, but comprised of several small bunkers. Logan, sitting next to him, growled in the back of his throat. Remy questioned, "Nervous, Wolvie?"

The older man sneered, "hardly. You?"

Remy smiled, "Not at all."

The Professor wheeled over to them, and raised his voice enough so that everyone could hear. "It seems that Red Block is made up of five buildings. However, our scanners are picking up something below, a large cavern-like space. Team B will be in charge of getting there. Logan, your team should explore all surface buildings."

He pulled out a copy of the map Amara had displayed earlier. Continuing his monologue he said, "Security cameras are here," he jabbed at the paper, "but the power source that runs them, a generator, is here," another jab, this one in the northernmost building. "That will cut off all power to the above structures. Guards make rounds every twenty minutes, so you have a very small time frame. Does everyone understand?" Eight heads nodded, "good. We'll be dropping you off now."

The plane descended quietly into a thick forest maybe twenty meters from the compound. The gangplank lowered with the hiss of hydraulics, and they trooped off into the night. The Professor handed each of them a radio headset, and wished them all good luck.

"He's not the one who has to go into Hydra's base," muttered Remy, which only earned him a sad look from Kurt, who replied, "He's also not the one who lost someone he loved."

Logan suddenly placed himself next to them and said, "Alright, turn your radios on, we've got work to do." Wheeling about on his heel he barked, "Bobby, Jubilee, and Amara, let's go."

With that, they crept off into the inky blackness of the forest. Kurt and Remy exchanged glances, before a cold voice broke in, "Are we going to go or just stand here like idiots?" That was X, whose claws were already out, her dark blue eyes illuminated by the glow of Kitty's flashlight. No one answered verbally, instead electing to set off into the trees.

They reached the perimeter of the building quickly, Kurt having teleported there to time when the guards would make their next round. Dried leaves rustled underneath booted feet as the other three reached the chain link fence that marked the entrance to the compound. Every few minutes there would be a pop, leading Remy to make the rather painful discovery involving two fingers, that the fence was electrified. Kitty sighed, "Well, I can't phase through."

Kurt continued, "And it would be stupid if I went in alone."

X raised her claws, "Metal skeleton plus electricity equals pain."

Kitty adjusted her headset and said, "Kitty to Logan, have you shut off the generator?"

Static greeted her inquiry, but Logan's voice responded in maybe a minute, "done half-pint, go on through."

Kurt grabbed X and quickly teleported to the other side. Kitty pulled Remy through rapidly, and as she finished Kurt found an entrance into lower levels. Kurt looked at his team and said, "We have eighteen minutes till the guards in the lower levels make another round. The ones up here will be heading to check the generator very soon, so we've got to hurry."

The entrance into the lower levels turned out to be a typical set of stairs; only these were camouflaged and hidden beneath a steel sheet. Kitty phased through easily and unlocked it from the inside. Silently they rushed down these and came to another door. Before they opened it, Logan's voice came over the radio, "A Team to B, we've investigated all top buildings. Most are offices; we took some files that looked promising. One of them was completely empty, just a steel floor and steel walls." Kitty shuddered at this description, and with good reason. Logan continued, "We're heading back to the plane. Team A out."

By this time X, in her impatience, had sliced through the door. It fell, hitting the floor with a harsh clang. Remy, whose eyes had become accustomed to the darkness of the stairwell, was momentarily blinded by the clinical whiteness of the space beyond it. A large room, three levels, all illuminated by huge fluorescent panels. They were on the top level, looking out and over onto this giant white room. Moans and screams greeted his ears, and he shook with revulsion. For on each level were fifty cells, each covered by a clear sheet of plastic. Whispering he said, "so this is what a mutant camp is like?"

Kitty replied instantly, "Yes, but this is the largest."

"Only thirteen minutes left."

Remy jerked forward as if on autopilot, his eyes searching the haggard faces in the cells for any sign of life or hope. Most stared silently, as if completely resigned to the fate they had been given. Several were empty, a few with starved bodies within, and as he continued walking, he felt even more anger welling up inside him. He wanted to blow up all the cells, freeing the occupants, but he couldn't. After all, he thought angrily, this was a fact-finding mission. Two more cells on the top row. His radio buzzed, "ten minutes."

There, in the last cell. A form, decidedly female, clad in white pants and shirt. White hair, white skin, and as the form ventured a weary gaze, white eyes, slightly slanted at the corners. So, she was of Asian descent. Suddenly recognition bloomed in her pale orbs, and she, using the bed within the cell for leverage, managed to stand. She lurched forward, so unsteady, and nearly fell, her hands pressed up against the plastic wall for support. It was then that Remy noticed the barcode tattooed onto her palms, with a number below it, 8216.

She blinked slowly at him, as if trying to conjure up the energy to speak. Her pale and chapped lips moved silently, and she slid to the floor. He followed her, staying level. Once again his radio hummed, but it seemed far away.

"Seven minutes."

The woman, still laboring to move, breathed against the glass. The vapor from her breath was weak, but it still condensed on the plastic. Raising one skeletal finger she dragged the tip of the digit through, writing something. Remy watched, mesmerized. Eons passed, and she was finished.

ymer.

What? Remy looked again. It was his name, backwards, but still! She knew him. But how? She looked up, eyes closing slowly.

"No!" He shook his head furiously.

Languidly she began the process again.

"Two minutes"

eugor

"ROGUE!"

"WHAT?!" Logan and Kitty said over the radio at the same time. Pounding feet, and Kurt and Kitty stood beside him. Kitty looked at him with anger blazing in her eyes, "That" she gestured to the fallen woman, "it not Rogue."

"No, no!" Remy said frantically, pointing to the writing on the plastic, "It's Rogue's name backwards, and here's mine!"

"OH!" Kitty shouted, "We have to get her out of here!"

Kurt's watch beeped, the guards were coming. "Kurt, get her out!"

The blue teen quickly teleported into the cell, gathered her to him, and teleported back out to the squad.

Kitty cried, "Not HERE, the JET!"

BAMF!

Kurt and the woman were gone.

"Intruders!"

An alarm went off, and they had to race up the stairs back to the jet. Kurt, after dropping off the woman, 'ported back and grabbed X. Kitty and Remy ran quickly across the compound grounds, phased through the still fence, and were picked up by the jet amid a blaze of gunfire.

Next chapter: Professor Xavier ("I was supposed to be able to help them, teach them, keep them safe...but I couldn't, wouldn't, do that for Rogue. Why?")