A/N: Welcome to the next arc! I told you I wouldn't be long. Have lots planned for my favorite felines: a new Big Bad ... a bit more focus on just Greer and Colton's life in the mansion (aka fluff ... plenty of feraly fluff) ... and the introduction of a certain little viking hethan some of you may be familiar with ; )
Hope you like this first chapter and stick around for everything that comes next. Reviews are MUCH appreciated and any suggestions for this new arc ... well now is the time to make it. And on that topic, thanks to cheshire for her always appreciated Greer insights and to canuckle for being the best feral whisperer anyone can PM.
Enjoy ...
Simmons checked her watch a few more times, turning and looking around in search of a very familiar orange figure … A very familiar orange figure she was certain she couldn't have miss … Did Greer forget?
After all ... it had been six weeks since Jemma had met Greer and after a few awkward texts the two had, at least in Jemma's estimation, really hit it off. This was supposed to be their first 'date' but ... well maybe something happened ... or maybe she's in trouble ... maybe she should call Coulson or ...
"Hey Jemma, sorry I'm late…" Simmons gave a little jump and could only stare dumbfounded at the raven-haired girl that just approached her.
"Sorry… Do I know you?" she asked politely, earning a laugh.
"It's me… Greer? Greer Nelson?" the girl looked at Simmons hopefully before letting out a sigh, "Tigra?" the raven head gestured with a smirk before her face grew worried at the look of shock on her friend's face.
"Come on, I don't look THAT different do I?" and that's when Simmons slapped herself for not recognizing the tigress… The tigress without her stripes and her tail…
"No sorry, sorry… I'm just terrible with faces and I told myself the way I'd find you… was well … by your tail or something…" Simmons mumbled sheepishly before staring at Greer carefully… She didn't look that different… It was just without all her fierce looking spliced attributes; it was now way more obvious to Simmons that Greer was really just … Well … A normal twenty something girl … who clearly had better fashion taste then she gave her credit for...
"So are you going to take a photo of me or are we going to go to that coffee place you were talking about…" and Simmons slapped herself again for staring… Fitz had warned her about that…
"Sorry… Right this way, that café sells THE BEST sandwiches ever…"
It was only a short walk before the two were sitting inside and Simmons couldn't take it any longer. She just needed to know so much ...
"You have no idea how happy I am to see you walking around. From what you told me those first few weeks just sounded awful." Simmons frowned in sympathy as Greer ran a hand through her hair while the other squeezed her thigh, a distant look on her face.
"You have no idea ..."
...
"Ok baby steps…" Greer whispered with conviction before slowly lowering herself. She was dressed for the gym, with a tank top and loose fitting sweatpants.
"This time… Definitely this time…" and Greer lowered a foot onto the ground. She felt nothing, causing her to let out a slow breath of relief ... and then a surge of pain as her entire weight seemed to crash down on that foot and before Greer knew it, she felt another surge of pain as she crashed face first onto the ground. But it was her pride that hurt the most
"Damn it…" her growl filled the screened off gymnastic area.
"I think that's enough for today Miss Nelson…" Betsy sounded as exhausted as her patient as she approached the twitching tigress.
"No Betsy ... I am not leaving this room until I've at least done … done SOMETHING!" Greer snarled before shakily turning onto her back and trying to pull herself up with her arms. The purple haired therapist did her best to appear neutral as she struggled. She knew how hard Greer was working.
"I know you're frustrated Greer but these things take time." Betsy crouched down as the feline continued to work.
"It's been two weeks Betsy … Two weeks… and I'm still … Gah…" Greer growled as she struggled to slide up against the beams.
"See? This is why you should be careful…"
"No. No. No… Please do not tell me I should be careful or that I should take my time… My boyfriend's been doing an excellent job of that ... trust me. He barely lets me out of his sight ... I risk life and limb getting here…" Greer grumbled, finally managing to sit up, panting with exhaustion. How was this so difficult? Two weeks ago she could train for hours with Logan before feeling this exhausted ... but now? Now it felt like she had cement blocks tied to her 24/7.
"Speaking of boyfriend…" Betsy muttered as she looked over Greer's shoulder and she quickly looked up in alarm.
"Wait? It's been an hour already?!" and the doctor nodded.
"I've been trying to tell you that Miss Nelson. You've been working on that bar for more than an hour." Betsy explained, causing Greer to groan and lie back in defeat. Only looking up when she felt a familiar pair of arms lift her up.
"Not a word ..." she growled, "Not a single word." and Greer could only grumpily cross her arms as Colton held her closer to him.
"Nothing?" he asked Betsy and the ex -model could only shake his head.
"Maybe she should consider talking to Charles … After all, he's the only one who knows what she's going through."
Colton only nodded before carrying the frustrated Greer out of the gym. He knew she would be self-conscious and had set up the screened up area for her. He felt the tigress let out a sigh and finally relaxed a bit, leaning into her boyfriend's chest. Apex was careful to use the staff hallway. The last time Greer used the main hallway in her wheel chair, she returned to the room overwhelmed and assaulted by a great deal of her students. The sight of their beloved gymnastics teacher in a wheel chair had sent most of the girls into a frenzy. Even Apex had barely been able to withstand the verbal assault from Katherine and Amara.
"I hate this…" Greer said softly as Colton laid her into the bathtub, gently removing her clothing and preparing the water. He knew she liked to vent after therapy and simply listened.
"I can't go anywhere, I can't do anything, I feel so useless…" Greer mumbled before reluctantly allowing Colton to pour the water over her. She missed the shower ... but she still enjoyed how he could be so gentle. It wasn't very often ... but she liked how it was just for her. With a sigh, she leaned forwards planting a kiss on Colton's cheek causing him to pause and stare at her for a second as she leaned back with a sigh. The hot water felt good on her sore muscles ... at least the ones she could feel.
"What was that for?"
"Nothing … Just a little thank you for putting up with me." Greer purred before wrapping her arms around his lowered head and nuzzling it.
"Oh Greer ... that sounds awful ...what did you do with yourself?" Simmons knew from their chats that boredom had slowly been driving Greer insane. And it was more than that ... Simmons suspected that the inability to move, to pace, to well ... prowl, had been the most difficult part of her friend's ordeal.
"Pretty much what I told you. Therapy with Betsy, psychic work with the Professor to get that Weapon X crap out ... and after that I just really didn't have much left. And then when all the students got back ... well me and my bed got to be really good friends." Greer muttered at the memory of endless hours trapped in her room. To his credit, Apex tried getting Greer to at least let him carry her to the forest but she just pouted until he relented to snuggle with her in bed. Course ... having her boyfriend in bed all that time and unable to really do anything just added to her frustration ...
"But obviously things turned around. I mean ... I have to tell you ... the very idea of self-healing, from something like that is just - I mean the implications of what -"
"Jemma..." Greer raised an eyebrow. Sometimes the woman needed a pause button.
"Sorry ... sorry. You know how I can get. But tell me ... what was it like? I mean to just wake up one morning and walk again..." Jemma couldn't help it. It was just too amazing to let go. But she snapped back at Greer's snort as she played with her salad.
"Who said anything about just waking up ..."
...
Apex shot up in alarm as a loud wail resounded around the room. It was still dark and turning he found Greer curled into a fetal position, a stream of growls and whimpers filling the room. Her hair was tangled and matted in sweat while her claws dug deeply into the mattress… She was … She was crying…
"Greer?" he had his hands resting just above her, unsure of what to do as she let out another moan.
"Colton ... Colton it hurts… It hurts so bad…" the tigress growled low in her throat before releasing another roar of pain, prompting the panther to get up and streak to her side.
"I'm taking you want to Dr. McCoy." he knew the doctor was asleep across the Mansion ... he'd take the route through the library and up the -
"NO! No ... I can feel it," Greer actually smiled through the pain although it was more a grimace. "My spine, it hurts. It means - It means its healing. I just ... I just need to get through this ... Get through this!" she snarled before baring her teeth in determination, curling into a smaller ball.
Colton watched her struggle, breaths coming in between gasps, before hesitantly, and very gently, positioned himself next to her so that she was in the middle of the bed, one hand wiping the hair from her face and the other protectively on her back, rubbing soothing circles through her soft fur. He could feel her muscles tensing ... spasming ... her whole body was shaking.
"You're not alone Greer … We're doing this together." he rumbled before bringing his muzzle to the crook of her neck, pressing his chest to her back and breathing slowly ... Greer trying to match his slow easy breaths with her spasmed ones, nuzzling her for what they both knew would be a very long night.
Eventually Greer simply passed out from exhaustion and Apex soon after. So when the panther finally shrugged awake, it was the first time in a long time that he woke up after Greer did. And he was genuinely surprised and a little worried to see her just sitting there, her back to him as she had her head tilted slightly to the side.
"Greer?" Apex quickly sat up. She didn't seem to hear him as she remained perfectly still her eyes transfixed on her tail.
"Greer." Apex slid off the bed and moved to kneel in front of her but she still wouldn't look at him. Maybe last night had been worse than he thought ... and it had been pretty bad.
"Greer, what's wrong?" but the tigress was clearly fixated on something else as her eyes suddenly went wide. Apex could hear her heart rate double.
"Did you see that?" she whispered, her voice quivering.
"See what?" and he froze as he felt something touch his tail. Looking down, he could see Greer's tail next to his own… It wasn't swinging like it usually was… but the tip was curling… and then uncurling… Apex didn't even have time to react when Greer suddenly launched herself onto him.
"It's moving! I can feel it! COLTON I CAN FEEL SOMETHING!" Greer sung gleefully, causing the giant panther to give a small smirk of his own and bunting her on the forehead, his grin matching her own.
"Let's go see Hank," and not bothering to wait Apex scooped Greer out of bed and quickly headed for the infirmary.
...
"So how long were you in the infirmary?" Jemma was completely wound up in Greer's story ... she had never even considered that healing might actually hurt. Not that she had really seen anybody actually heal before but from all those movies it certainly didn't seem to - oh ... right ...
Lucky for Simmons, Greer didn't notice the space out.
"Not too long, just couple days. I mean it wasn't like there was much to do ... Dr. McCoy just wanted to make sure everything was lining up right. Gah ... I had enough x-rays I thought I'd go see through." Greer shuddered and took a drink of her cola as Simmons giggled.
"You know that wouldn't happen. X-Rays produce a very concentrated beam of electrons onto a metal film. The beam -"
"Thank you doctor literal. I was kidding ..." Greer just shook her head as Jemma let out a new stream of laughs before finally calming down enough to get back to the topic at hand.
"OK ... OK ...so what happened after?" Simmons encouraged. Now Greer was smiling at the memory.
"Well ..."
...
Apex never even had the chance to suggest Greer take it slow ... maybe even use the wheelchair just to get back to their room. The moment Hank had told her she was free to go, Greer had slipped off the bed and onto her feet. The smile on her face enough to get Apex to pause his worrying for a moment ... he hadn't seen her smile like that in weeks. And each step she took only had the smile getting bigger.
"Colton ... I can walk. I can - damn it." Greer cursed as her knees buckled and Apex was quick to catch her before she hit the ground. He attempted to slip his arm under her legs but she slapped it away, just letting him support her as Hank let out a little chuckle.
"Take it slow Ms. Nelson ... slow. Let your body do it's work. Another day or so." Hank called out as Greer shuffled towards the elevator with Colton at her side, arm around her middle in support.
"Yea ... slow. Got it." The ecstatic tigress waved impatiently, her eyes fixed on her moving feet, as Apex looked back to give the doctor a quick nod of thanks.
By the time they got down the hall to their room, Greer was exhausted and plopped onto their bed with a huff. But rolling over she was still smiling and she watched her legs slowly move side to side with her hips.
"Watch em go ... watch em move ..." Greer sang as Apex smiled and went to get her some clean clothes, but the tigress had other ideas as she suddenly stopped singing and locked onto Colton.
"No ... not yet." It had suddenly hit Greer that it wasn't only her legs that had regained feeling.
"I thought you'd want to get changed." Apex was half-way to the closet as he turned back to see Greer slipping off her scrubs top.
"Shower." Greer had a concentrated look on her face as she tried working the pants over her hips. She was about to let out a growl when Colton was at the edge of the bed, slipping them over her hips and the rest of the way off as he knelt on the ground. He had just tossed them aside and was about to stand up and help Greer to the shower as he turned to see a stripped leg resting on his left shoulder.
"Greer..." Apex had a hand on her leg when he felt the other one come to rest on his other shoulder, both sliding until Greer had the panther pinned beneath her knees, each of his hands now resting on a thigh.
"Uh hu..." He glanced up to see Greer with a very different smile on her face. This close her scent could be overpowering and the purr resonating in the room made it clear what she had in mind.
"Greer ... you heard what Dr. McCoy said." Apex sounded stern, earning a pout from the tigress.
"I don't care what Hank said..." she purred.
"I don't want to hurt you. You still need to heal..." Greer slowly worked her claws through the fur around Colton's head ... she knew how much he liked that.
"You're not going to hurt me. I've been waiting on a proper thank you from you for weeks. Or need I remind you how many bullets I took for your fuzzy butt." This time Greer said it with a growl and Apex slowly pushed Greer forwards, causing her to fall back onto the bed as Apex slipped from under her, her thighs falling to rest around his waist.
"Greer ..." she could see his hesitation and felt him getting ready to pull away ... but Greer just wasn't having it. Not when they were this close ... not a chance. Before he could alter his course away from her like he'd planned, she did all she could to wrap herself around him, sinking her claws into him when her legs weren't enough
"I said now!" The rumble got his attention, as did the small bites she put into his neck, and without any warning, he reacted exactly as she'd wanted him to, pulling her into him as he attacked her mouth ... along with the rest of her. The weeks that they'd spent so close but so far apart feeding the fire between them.
"Wait ... so what happened when you got back to your room?" Jemma asked confused as the raven haired girl had suddenly faded off in the middle of her story.
"I'm sorry ... what?" Greer gave her head a little shake as she refocused on a confused looking Simmons.
"I said what happened when you got back to your room? You said Hank let you leave and then you headed back to your room and you just ..."
"Oh ... sorry. Yea ... I uhhh ... took a shower ... a very long shower ..." Greer still had that distant smile on her face as she quickly took a very serious interest in eating her lunch. After a bit of digging into Simmons life, the brilliant brit returned her focus back to her friend.
"So what has Colton been up to?" Simmons tried broaching the subject lightly. Fur and tail or not ... she still had trouble understanding how Greer was dating that man. She had asked May to tell her about him and she had just shook her head. Something about, 'best not to know some things.' It had left Simmons feeling very uneasy and concerned for her friend.
"You won't believe me if I told you." Greer shook her head a little with a grin.
"Oh come on ... what?" Jemma begged as the tigress glanced up from her palm.
"He's taking classes." Jemma just tilted her head to the side as she let that process.
"Wait ... like college classes?"
"Nope ... at the Mansion. With the students." Now Jemma's mouth fell open a little at the mental image of the notorious, Weapon X assassin taking classes ... high school classes.
"You're joking."
"Nope ... classes started two weeks ago and there he was waiting for class to start. I just wish I could have seen the look on Jean's face when shes started her lecture to see Colton sitting in the back row. He tells me it was special." Greer giggled as Jemma just shook her head.
"Why ... on earth ... is he taking classes?"
"Well ... curiosity I think. I mean he knows so much that sometimes I forget how little outside of his own world he actually knows. Now he won't shut up about mid 18th century Europe and the books ... so many books. God ... I thought I left high school behind." Greer gave a mock moan as Simmons laughed.
"Well what about you? Don't you plan on going to college?" Simmons asked with a smile, but quickly withdrew it at the look on Greer's face.
"I did but ... not anymore." Greer rubbed her arm as Simmons frowned at her friend's sudden turn.
"But why? I mean it can't be the grades, you're brilliant!" She tried to sound encouraging but Greer just shook her head.
"I was accepted ... actually wanted to be a doctor but ..."
"But what?" Greer took a deep breath and looked back to Simmons.
"I got a letter from the college. It turns out my old principal ... principal Kelly ... wrote to all the colleges I applied to and told them about me. About how I'm ... you know. The college said they weren't the right fit for ... for someone like me." Simmons saw Greer give her head a little shake and try to get back to her meal but obviously this was not something Greer had gotten over. Little did Simmons know that Greer still kept the acceptance letter her mother got framed on her desk and the rejection letter crumbled up in a drawer back home.
"Well that's just ridiculous. They can't do that, can they? I mean ... that has to be against the law."
"My mom looked into it ... turns out civil rights only applies to 'normal' people. It's fine ..." Simmons' righteous stammering faded quickly as she tried to bolster Greer's spirits. Clearly the prejudiced angle wouldn't help the situation.
"Well then those admissions people are just idiots," Simmons declared, her voice ringing with conviction. Greer gave a half-smile.
"No kidding." Simmons frowned as she watched her friend. She might not have been able to see her ears drooping but it was still fairly obvious ... this wasn't at all how she had wanted this afternoon to go.
"Come on ... let's get out of here." Simmons nodded towards the door and after paying for their meal the two friends started to walk around the small downtown area, enjoying the first bit of spring.
"Speaking of Colton," Greer gave the brunnete an appreciative look at her attempt to change the subject, "I was a little surprised he let you come without a chaperone."
"Trust me ... he tried." Greer finally gave a smile.
...
"You sure about this Scott?" Apex was tensed ... ready...he knew how to kill him ... He just wasn't sure cyclops knew that.
"Hey, I'm waiting on you. Give me your best shot." Apex couldn't help but smirk. Seemed Scott remembered the last time.
He moved first, running directly at cyclops, waiting for that red glow... Now!
He rolled left, avoiding the blast and sliding behind a pillar.
"Cmon ... Don't tell me your scared?" Scott taunted and sent another blast, obliterating the pillar ... But apex was already moving, tossing a smoke screen and quickly filling the chamber.
Scott growled a little and started firing blind, his red beams cutting through smoke but nothing else. He thought he saw a shadow moving through the smoke ...
"Come on! Where are -!" Scott yelled in surprise as apex did a flip over his head, slamming something in his face ... Followed by his world going dark. Cyclops grasped at his face and felt some type of clay covering his visor.
"It's over cyclops." Apex rolled into a crouch a safe distance away to watch the leader of the x-men struggle.
"You think some putty mean's over? I'll show you over..." Apex watched as the clay grew red for an instant ... before Scott's head exploded.
"Scott!" Jeans' scream filled the room.
"What?" Scott rubbed an ear as he turned from the console to find the leggy red head clearly upset ... it always hurt when Jean screamed mentally too.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jean stalked over to stand behind her boyfriend and look down at the smoldering remains of his body. Scott made it a point to keep his gaze fixed on the Danger Room below.
"It's fine ... was just testing myself." Scott looked up for a moment to see saw a dangerously arched eyebrow.
"By having Greer's boyfriend kill you?" She asked skeptical.
"Well ... He's been killing all of us actually ..." Scott muttered and replayed the moment Colton had put that ... that ...
"Hey Colton," Scott called down, "what the hell did you do?"
"Plastique ... and you never react well to being blinded." Apex explained as he turned to get some water as the body slowly disintegrated into nothing. They'd been at this for over an hour.
"That clever son of a -" Scott muttered as he added some notes to his own programming. He was going to have to talk to Logan about fighting blind ...
"Scott," Jean slipped herself between him and the console, his hands naturally going to her waist as she stood with her arms crossed.
"I told you to help keep Colton busy while Greer finally had her day out. That didn't mean using him in the Danger Room to find out how he'd kill all of us. How do you think Greer is going to take that?" Jean sounded concerned and Scott frowned a little. He hadn't thought of it upsetting Greer ...
"I just wanted to find out what we needed to work on. What our weaknesses are. You know I just want everyone to be prepared ... safe." Jean sighed a little and cupped his face. She couldn't help it when he talked like that.
"Always such the leader." Jean finally smiled and gave Scott a quick kiss as Apex came into the room. He'd heard Jean's shout and assumed her appearance had shut down the exercise. Jean slipped onto Scott's lap and gave the large feral a smile.
"Hey ... any word from Greer?"
"No ... but she should check in in a few minutes." Jean could tell Colton was stressed. He might not be as easy to read as Greer but the tells were the same if you knew what to look for. After all, he had been at Greer's side non-stop for the last six weeks. He was even there when her and Greer had finally gone to get Greer a much needed haircut and some shopping therapy ... so when she had come to Jean and asked her to distract Colton so she could have her afternoon with Jemma, Jean had been happy to oblige.
"I'm sure she's fine Colton. You know how much Greer has been looking forward to this. Besides, it's good for her to be social outside of the Mansion ... I'm not really sure who was Greer's last ... well normal friend." Jean considered it and for a moment wondered when the last time had been that Greer had gone anywhere without either herself or Colton ...
"I know ..." Apex rubbed his arm for a moment, a habit he had picked up from watching Greer and Jean couldn't help but smile.
"Come on, let's go find you something to do that doesn't involve killing my boyfriend." Jean hopped off of Scott's lap to take the large panther by the arm, turning for a moment to got Scott a meaningful look, and lead Apex up towards the Mansion. A number of students waved at Jean as they walked down the hall while some of the newer students stopped to stare at the large feral, their more experienced friends nudging them to move on.
Jean glanced up to see if Colton had noticed but he still seemed distracted by Greer's absence.
"Don't worry about her so much. Besides, I got something I think you'll enjoy."
"What exactly did you have in mind?" Apex glanced down to see Jean with a conspiratorial smile on her face as the walked into one of the living rooms to find Remy practicing some of his more creative tricks shots.
"Afternoon mademoiselle ... you here to try and cheat against Remy again?" The cajun's eyes flashed as he leaned over to sink another shot as Jean just feigned ignorance, calmly sweeping her hair to the side.
"No need to be bitter Remy ... besides, I brought you someone new to lose to." Remy shared Jean's smile before standing up to take in the silent feline. Colton had seen Remy around but with his focus on Greer the two had yet to say much to the other. Remy however was always eager to play.
"You play pool panthère?" Remy lazily flipped his cue stick between his hands.
"Oh he plays ... ten says he wins." Now the ex-thief was really smiling as he went to get another stick. Apex looked down at Jean who spoke low enough that she knew only he could hear her.
"You better win ... otherwise he'll never shut up." Jean gave Colton's arm a quick squeeze before turning on her heel. She had biology to teach.
"Have fun boys ... and don't forget Colton, Betsy expects her English paper done by Friday!" The red head waved goodbye, a confident smile on her face now that Greer wouldn't scold her for keeping her boyfriend locked in the Danger Room all day.
"So," Colton turned to catch the pool stick Remy tossed at him, "care to break?" Apex looked between the stick in his hands and down the hall where Jean had disappeared before giving a slight shrug and taking a stance behind the white ball.
"Don't worry panthère, ol' Remy will take it easy on y -" the crack of the balls followed by two thuds had Remy pause.
"So ... I'm solids then?" Apex asked casually, Remy seeing the first hint of a smirk on the felines face which he quickly matched.
"Jeu sur."
...
"So it sounds like everything is going pretty well for the two of you." Greer stared down at her boots as she smiled a little before answering.
"Yea ... yea I think it is." And that was the truth ... after Greer had finally recovered, her and Colton spent each night entwined together, just basking in being in the others arms. Exploring what the other wanted ... needed. There was no rush ... and it had been a long time since Greer could say she felt intimate towards someone ... someone she knew accepted her as she was ... who found her beautiful ... and had certainly been making the most of it. Aside from hearing a lecture from Jean about being responsible ... but Greer had cut that short when she pointed out that Jean was now very much sharing what had been their room with Scott. That had gotten Jean's face to match her hair ...
"And are you two still ... working?" Simmons didn't know how else to bring it up. After what Greer had been through, she was worried about her friend. Who wouldn't be? Greer wasn't May or Coulson ... All the potential physical and psychological complications ...
"Oh - ummm ... I dunno actually." Greer furrowed her brow a little. She had caught Logan and Colton arguing about a week ago, Greer's hearing picking up it having something to do with x-force. But when she had gotten closer Colton had just turned away from Logan and met her with an embrace. She'd peaked over his shoulder to see Logan grumble for a moment before heading the other way.
"What was that about?" Greer took a step back to see Colton's face, but he'd just shaken his head.
"Nothing either of us need to worry about right now." He'd rumbled, ending the conversation by picking her up and nuzzling her neck, Greer quickly picking up on what he had in mind and wrapping herself around him. Luckily the two hadn't run into any students on their way upstairs ... would have either scared them half to death or scar them for life.
"Good." Simmons voice brought Greer back to the present, though feeling slightly warmer than the cold warranted. But when the breeze picked up Greer had a feeling why ...
"I think this might be the end of our date." Greer stopped at the curb and Simmons frowned a little.
"What? Why do you say that? We were just -" But Greer nodded her head towards across the street and looking Simmons could see a rather tall, built man clearly staring at the two of them as he leaned against the car Greer had driven. Simmons turned to ask Greer who that man was but then she caught the grin on her face and looking once more between them just smiled and shook her head a little bit. Anyone that could get a girl to look at him like that ... well he couldn't be that bad.
"Go ahead ... I need to get back to SHIELD anyway. I'm sure Fitz has gotten himself into some sort of trouble without me there," but before Simmons could slink away, Greer grabbed her arm.
"Oh come on, I know what you're thinking, he's not so bad. Really ..." and before Simmons could protest the taller girl had hauled the brunette over to Colton... Much to both their discomfort.
Simmons tried to control her breath as Colton stared down at her… His amber eyes fixated on her like a piece of well…meat… Simmons gulped. Yep, she could definitely see the panther beneath the hologram. But out of curiosity Simmons had done some research on ferals and did her best to retain eye contact as Greer rushed forwards into Colton's open arms, giving him a quick kiss before stepping back towards Simmons.
"Thanks for swinging by Colton, and since Jemma here didn't stick any needles in me, I think its grounds for you two to get to know her better," Greer grinned before gently nudging Simmons forward.
There was a pause.
"Nice to meet you … again?" Simmons squeaked. She held her breath as Colton shifted his weight and seemingly made a move towards her…She let out a silent sigh of relief when she realized he was only holding out a hand to shake.
"Likewise." came a familiar rumble and before Simmons knew it, they made contact and well ... Her hand had stayed miraculously connected to her wrist.
"Your work on molecular degradualtion is impressive. And ... thanks for spending time with Greer." and with that, Colton nodded before getting into the car while Greer grinned knowingly at the bewildered Simmons.
"That wasn't so bad … Was it?"
"He - He complimented my work… I can't believe he… He complimented my work!" Simmons exclaimed before grinning back.
"Of course he did. As much as the both of us hate labs and needles, there's no denying that you and Fitz are amazing at what you do." Greer shrugged, trusting Colton on that particular topic, causing Simmons to blush before wrapping the tigress in a huge hug.
"This isn't my last time seeing you is it? Because if it is, I am going to have to think about cloning you…"
Greer blinked before rolling her eyes at Simmons. This girl made no sense sometimes.
"It's definitely not…" she said softly before returning the hug with equal grace.
"I can't think of the last time I had a friend outside the mansion… So thanks for-"
"Oh shut up Hobbes. You spoil me rotten. Just call me and we can do this again yeah?"
"Definitely." and with that the two girls released each other.
"Well see you…" Greer smiled sheepishly before getting into the car and as the vehicle drove off, Simmons swore she saw a familiar stripped arm waving to her. The brunette grinned.
"Definitely have to do this again…"
"My employers appreciate you choosing to meet with me." The tall blonde woman spoke with a slight British accent, and was dressed in professional business attire, clashing with the safari like surroundings she found herself in. Animal heads decorated the stone walls along with a vast assortment of weapons from ancient Celtic swords to the most advanced firearms from Stark Industries. But the focus of her attention was on the man sitting behind the massive oak desk she had driven two hours into the Serbian forest to find.
"Payment or death is not much of a choice zhen-schee-nah." She picked up on his accent, effortlessly switching to his native tongue.
"But when the payment is such as this ... is that really such a bad thing?" The man turned around to face her, a smile and his green eyes pleasant at the sound of his native Russian ... but she recognized a mad man when she saw one. It helped her in this line of work.
"That depends ... you have yet to tell me what my payment is, nor what you would have me hunt." he had a hint of a growl in his voice, but she retained her composure, taking a step forward to place a small metal box on the desk which quickly projected a life size image.
"This is your payment. The chance to hunt the greatest predator alive ..." The man seemed to have not heard her, instead slowly rising from his chair to take in the beast standing before him. He had never seen anything quite like it ... so ... perfect.
A moment of silence passed and she was concerned she had lost his attention.
"If there is a problem, my employers -" she paused at the raised hand and as if it pained him, the man turned to look at her with a hunger.
"Tell your employers ... Kraven the Hunter accepts." And with that Kraven turned back to stare at the image, the blonde giving a small nod before showing herself out. But Kraven didn't notice ... his eyes locked on the image before looking down to see a name and smirking.
"Yes ... you and I will have a great hunt ... Apex. A great hunt indeed..."