A/N: This chapter's not a dream sequence, but rather an actual flashback explaining what happened after the events described in "Homogenic/Beat the Crusher". Also, since I've been toggling between addressing Finn and Leland as MI6 agents or CHROME agents, I've finally decided to stick with the former term, and this chapter slightly delves into what CHROME actually means and why it isn't an actual agency in its own right. Finn and Leland are MI6, Redline is CIA, both work with CHROME.

Rod Redline, American spy, stared at himself in the tarnished, defaced mirror. He wore a disguise resembling one of Professor Janus Zündapp's workers, and was checking to make sure it was still on perfectly. It was, and he exited the ship's small bathroom, going down to the loading docks where the workers were assembling. He had been personally tasked with bringing what was presumably a weapon of some sorts to Zündapp -"Professor Z", as he was called, was an infamous German weapons designer.

"C'mon guys, these crates aren't gonna unload themselves!" He called out as two workers waited around about ten feet behind him, appearing to be waiting for something. One of them gave him a menacing smile when looked at -so menacing it sent chills down the hardened operative's spine. He was up to something, this one.

"Too many people here, out of my way!" Announced Zündapp as he entered the docks from below. He was a very short man with a graying comb-over and a monocle, and as he approached, Redline walked off to go get the container, wheeling it over on a cart.

"Here it is, Professor. You wanted to see this before we load it?"

"Ah, yes. Very carefully." Redline did as he as told, opening the box gingerly, revealing what appeared to be a television camera. Redline knew better than to assume it was a simple piece of recording equipment, though.

"Oh, a TV camera -What does it actually do?"

"This camera is extremely dangerous. This is valuable equipment. Make sure it is properly secured for the voyage."

"You got it." And with that, Redline shut the box just as carefully as he had opened it.

"Hey, Professor Z!" The smiling man called out as the container he had been waiting for was lowered onto the docks.

"This is one of those British spies we told you about." He continued. Rod suddenly was paying far more attention to these two. He had been working with MI6 on this undercover mission, so he was aware there were British agents stationed here. One of them had to be in that box.

"Yeah! This one we caught sticking his nose where it didn't belong." The chubby man who accompanied him joined in.

"Agent Leland Turbo..." Zündapp read off of the container right before the container's lid flew away, carried off by the crane. All that was inside was a compacted car -presumably, with the Briton crushed inside. Redline's blood ran cold -never before in his entire career had he seen an agent killed this sadistically, and he had seen a lot of awful ways to go in action. Suddenly, a yell could be heard from above, causing everyone to look up.

A well-dressed older man, obviously another British agent, was suspended from above, a horrified look on his face.

"It's Finn McMissile! He's seen the camera! Kill him!" The workers began racing after the agent, who began shooting, then swung from one of the cables into the distance. Zündapp quickly turned to Redline.

"Stay here with the camera, for NOTHING must happen to it!" And with that, Zündapp ran off as well, leaving Redline guarding the camera... and the remains of Leland Turbo.

Suddenly, a noise become audible. It sounded like a wounded groan, and it seemed to be coming from... the compacted car. There was a small cavity that could be looked into, and something compelled Rod to do just that. What he saw inside was haunting.

A face was looking back at him, and he didn't appear to be dead just yet. However, Redline knew that if he didn't get him out, he soon would be. In the chaos, with no one watching, he took out a small laser cutter and started cutting the metal. He had to act fast, as it was clear the Briton was in bad shape. He managed to tear off metal panel after metal panel, and soon the man was revealed, crumpled into the driver's seat and lying sideways from the trunk up. Redline attempted to pull him out now, but his legs were trapped. Standing out of the way, Redline cut out the panel of what was once the car's driver door, causing it to fall on the ground. Now, he was able to ease Leland out of the car. The agent was lacerated all over, and his lower legs were visibly shattered. He was limp in Redline's arms. Now he had to figure out a way to immediately evacuate the man, when an idea hit him. Around the two men were workers that had been injured or killed by McMissile's initial attack, and Leland was so mutilated and bloodied he was hard to recognize.

Redline was going to have to pass him off as a wounded worker while he worked on escaping the rig. He had pretty much blown his cover for Leland at this point. He dragged him further away from the wreckage, then realized that the workers who were still conscious had seen everything.

He took out a pistol with a silencer and shot every single one. Every single worker that lay nearby, leaving just him and Leland. Hardened as he was, this shook him, just going around and executing people. He could hear explosions in the distance. There was a vessel being used by the American branch of CHROME -which wasn't actually an organization in its own right, but rather a coalition between MI6, the CIA, and a few other organizations- for remote surveillance of the base. That was his best chance for escaping with Leland alive. He radioed the vessel.

"This is Rod Redline, requesting an immediate medivac. I have a critically injured MI6 agent with me, and he's NOT going to make it unless he gets medical attention pronto." Redline was dragging Leland over to one of the inflatable lifeboats suspended from the rig, and actually pushed the Briton into it with his foot.

The radio crackled for a moment before a man's voice came on. "This is the Evelyn Torres. Is the injured agent Leland Turbo?"

"Yeah."

"Another MI6 agent was sent to provide him backup. What happened?" Redline grunted, cutting the boat free.

"Shit happened, okay? Shit happened." The boat was cut loose, and plummeted into the ocean. Redline held onto both the craft and Leland for dear life, letting out a grunt when the craft hit the water hard. He quickly put on a lifejacket, then began struggling to put one on Leland, having to work against the man's limp body. He managed to succeed after a minute or so, and proceeded to start up the engine, driving away from the rig, into the darkness. As the lights of dozens upon dozens of offshore platforms grew far enough to blend into a single, nearly uniform line, Rod cut the engine.

"This is Rod Redline, I'm currently in a dingy to the west of the oil platforms. No one else is around, it's just me and the injured agent. Transmitting my grids now." Rod looked around, and realized there was a vessel in the distance.

"Uh, I see a ship. Is it you guys?"

"Judging by your grids, yeah, it's us. On the radar, we can see what appears to be your vessel." Rod turned on the engine once more to advance towards the vessel, which up close, was in fact the Evelyn Torres. A crew member tossed down a tow rope, and Redline grabbed ahold, allowing the little dinghy to be pulled towards the boat -right towards a ladder on her side. He clambered up the ladder.

"He's down there." Two crewmen climbed down to the dinghy and emerged a few minutes later, struggling to carry Leland Turbo. The bloodied and mangled figure actually forced a few gasps out of the ship's crew, and Rod watched as a medical team crowded around the MI6 agent, blocking everyone else's view of him -perhaps for the better. Rod was escorted inside.

"HQ, this is the Evelyn Torres, requesting an immediate medivac. We have a severely injured MI6 operative in need of a medical attention." Crewmen were rushing around, clearly thrown off-balance by Redline's appearance on the ship -and who he had brought with him. With all the chaos inside, Redline slipped back outside, taking out a pack of cigarettes, looking on at the medical team tending to Leland before realizing that they were performing CPR on him. He froze, now watching intently. Had his cover been blown for nothing? He had been so close to getting really deep undercover -he was just about to travel with them to alternative energy magnate Sir Miles Axlerod's World Grand Prix in Tokyo. He could have blown their whole operation open -but he had sacrificed all that to save this man.

To his relief, Leland was soon revived as a helicopter approached. The medical team was once again crowding around him, and when they moved away once more, he was strapped to a stretcher for the helicopter, which up close was in fact a medical one. Rod got closer, his feet just a few inches away from Leland's shoulder as a crewman attached the stretcher to the ropes the helicopter had thrown down.

"So I guess this is it, huh?" The crewman looked up.

"Hm?"

"Not you, him." Redline pointed to Leland with his cigarette, even though Leland was unconscious and had been unconscious since Redline had pulled him out. Redline looked him directly in the face, trying to figure out what to say. He really did look horrific up-close, and Redline realized that now.

"Uh, take care, pal." With that, the ropes pulled the stretcher from the boat, and a few moments later, Redline and the crew of the Evelyn Torres watched as the aircraft disappeared once more into the night.

Redline would later get to Tokyo to actually pass information over to Finn McMissile, the agent sent to the rig as Leland's backup. He was actually kind-of looking forward to it -Finn and Leland were partners, and it was well known they were very close. It was even rumored the two might have been involved. He figured McMissile could tell him if he was dead or alive -however, in a bathroom, Redline himself was intercepted by Leland's attackers, and taken to a remote pier. There, Professor Z and the two men demonstrated that Axlerod's fuel is flammable under certain conditions -by dousing Redline in it and training the "camera" he had seen on the rig at him. The fuel then spontaneously combusted all over the surface of Redline's body, leaving fourth-degree burns over 100% of his body. He had no chance of survival. His body has not yet been found.