Canuckle ... Cheshire ... Retro ... much love for the reviews. Only way I know I'm not messing everything up ; )

Been looking forward to this chapter for a LONG time. And I know I promised to get things moving and trust me ... this is getting us there. Plenty of goodness to come. Enjoy ...


woods ... snow on the ground ... cold ...

the place was abandoned ...

claw marks on the door ... broken glass ... claw marks on the walls ...

'It's not your fault ...'

Apex opened his eyes.

He wasn't sure why his mind always drifted there. It shouldn't. His mind wasn't supposed to drift. He glanced over to the soft, steady breathing at his side.

Greer was asleep. He always liked it when she was asleep next to him. He found it ... peaceful.

Letting out a breath, Apex rolled so that he sat on the side of the bed so he could stare out the window into the night. He took breathed deep ... summer was coming. He looked over his shoulder back at his tigress. She liked summer. He found it too hot ... too much light. But she liked it.

Peaceful ... that was a new word. He'd never heard of it until Ororo had used it in class. Lot of new things since he came here ... since she showed up and took him to this place.

At first he thought he'd never change. After all ... what was there that needed changing? But then he'd changed anyway. For her. He was always a weapon ... they'd give him a target and he'd take care of it. Then he came here and he began choosing his own targets. But then something changed again. It was difficult for him to put his claw on it but he knew it had to do with her. It always did. He realized that maybe ... maybe he could be something besides just a weapon. Not more than a weapon but ... maybe he could be a good one.

A good weapon.

Apex huffed to himself.

Fine ... at least an approximation of a good one. What he did wasn't for good people. That's why he tried keeping Greer out of it ... keep the X-Men out of it. The shadows were for him. They didn't need to know what he did ... let them stay good. But he tried to make Greer happy and so he'd been naive enough to think maybe he could be a different kind of good. He hunted down Weapon X ... for ghosts mostly. He went after the worst he could find ... mutant slavers ... serial killers ... hate groups ... shadow governments ... anyone to keep them safe. Keep the shadows away.

Greer knew what he did. Enough to keep her satisfied at least. Logan knew more. He'd run missions for Logan almost since he'd gotten here ... things an X-Man wouldn't do. Things an Avenger couldn't do ... when it involved other Avengers. He wondered how many of them suspected what Logan had on them now.

Then K happened ... and he didn't feel they were safe anymore.

Then Latvaria happened ... and what he did wasn't in the shadows anymore.

Claw marks on the walls ...

Apex shook his head and took another deep breath and let it out slow.

He should sleep ... Rest. He'd been working a routine that would have made Stryker pause. Missions ... Training ... He had to push himself. He needed it. Had been a while since he'd done a circuit this late at night. Maybe if he -

"mmmh ..."

His ears swiveled as he quickly untensed and turned again to see Greer shifting in her sleep. Not a nightmare but ... he tried to keep those away as well. Rolling back into bed, Apex gently tried bringing Greer closer but at his touch she simply sighed and moved herself next to him almost as if on instinct. Letting out the gentlest rumble he could, Apex ran his claws through the tigress's fur.

Forget about the past. None of it mattered anyway. He'd keep her safe.


"What about dialing it back ... have him focus on one target?" Logan was hunched over the controls in the Danger Room as he thought out loud.

"Honestly, I've already tried that at least a dozen times," Betsy intoned as she leaned back in one of the chairs, her designer heels balanced on those same controls. "It's not as if I've never done this."

"Alright, don't need to get testy ... I got a program I been workin' on. Should force the senses to trigger a feral state. Might be worth -"

"I've already tried that too, Logan. Besides, I doubt what works for you would really work with him. You're switch is natural while his ..." Betsy let the thought hang as she gestured toward the tall, dark panther. The point that both she and Logan had yet to nail down how to trigger Colton remained unsaid.

"So you keep remindin' me," Logan didn't bother hiding his growl as he stared down at the recovering panther in question. And not that she needed him to say it but K was right. Kid was lookin' rough. He sure as hell wasn't complaining though. Just kept callin' for them to try again. And again. And again. Probably knew Tigger would be done with teachin' soon and wanted to make the most of it.

"Okay, fine ... let's try running this through on last time." Logan muttered and with a roll of her eyes and a weary sigh, Betsy joined him at the controls as they worked up yet another scenario.

Tucked into one of the corners furthest from the window was K, her arms crossed loosely over her chest as she kept an eye on the worn down panther below.

She really hadn't meant to come down here but the women in this place were beginning to become unbearable and so she'd gone hunting for her favorite distraction - Logan. When he wasn't in his office she'd gone to the next logical place.

She knew that he'd been working down here with Betsy and Fuzz for the last week. She'd gotten some insight into what had been going on from him but seeing it first hand ... she was somewhat surprised Xavier hadn't ordered it shut down months ago. Then she'd considered whether or not Xavier had any idea of what was really happening ... or if he'd wanted to. The thought had her eyes narrowed.

It hadn't been that long ago that she'd come in late from a night with Logan, him still in the garage getting the bike settled, and she'd spotted Greer out on the deck. When she'd walked out to see what was going on Greer had some clearly bullshit story she'd already gave to the rest of the mansion about not being able to sleep. K hadn't bothered responding to that and simply asked where Colton was. But Greer had just smiled tightly and with a shrug of her shoulders gone back to watching the tree line. A moment from earlier in the week of K spotting Scott talking quietly to Colton came to her.

"You know you don't have to do this to yourself." K could think of a number of ways for Greer to confront her stalker of a boyfriend. Break up with him ... Go do this stuff with him ... Claw Scott's eyes out ...

"I know that," Greer answered quietly, her tail gently swishing behind her, "but ... you weren't here when he first started. I see that he's becoming his own person. Making his own decisions and ... I need to respect that."

"Yea but what do you want?"

"I don't want him to think he's all alone," Greer looked over her shoulder to see the look K was giving her and laughed a little as she turned back onto the railing, "I know it sounds stupid. And for a while I thought he was but ... then we were gone for so long and since we got back," Greer gave her head a heavy shake, "I just - I want him to connect with other people besides me. I want him to have friends, I want him to connect with people, I want him to feel like he has a value outside of just being able to protect people. God … the way he watches over these kids. People don't see it of course … So they don't see him as anything else then this ex-weapon … Hell sometimes I think he enforces just to keep everyone else away. He won't teach ... he won't talk to anyone ... he won't go back to taking classes ... All he seems to want to do is train and fight and hunt down the next objective which frustrates the hell out of me because I feel like it just moves him backwards ...which is what we've been trying so hard to undo in the first place. But ... I know I need to respect his decisions. It's his life but ... I see all that potential go to waste."

K lowered her chin a little as she looked back at the monitors. She thought the kid was being a bit naive but one thing was for sure: Fuzz was going to wear himself to nothing if he kept this up, and Greer liked him at a slightly higher capacity than throw rug. Something had to change. Otherwise K had a strong feeling that one of those nights she'd be waiting for someone that wasn't going to end up coming back.


Jason

Corey

Vicki

Cara

Melanie

"I'm gonna head to class." Apex looked down as Greer pushed her plate back and started gathering up her things. Bobby wasn't feeling well and Greer had volunteered to cover his class. Finals were soon and a free day wasn't really in the cards so Greer was stepping in. "I'll see you later?"

Apex just smiled a little and leaned forward as he and Greer bunted foreheads briefly and with a smile of her own Greer grabbed her mug and rushed off. Apex settled back into his chair in the corner. He had no plans for another hour or so.

Sophia

Zoe

and ... Daniel

"And you're sure you haven't seen him?"

Apex looked towards the island to find Ororo, Kitty, Scott and Hank standing around and Ororo looking concerned. He noted K in the far corner across from him, though she seemed engrossed in yesterdays paper. He worked to keep his fist unclenched.

"I saw him last night and his roommate just told us he saw him before he headed down this morning. What's the big deal?" Kitty was trying to get out of this conversation and head down to her lab. She had research to do and as one of the newest and youngest teachers she was trying to come up with something good for finals.

"It's not a 'big deal' but David was supposed to meet with me this morning and I want to know where he is." Ororo took her tone down but it was clear she was annoyed.

"Relax Ororo," Scott had his calm voice on, "I'm sure he's fine. Probably just playing hookey or something. Why don't you just -"

"He's in the art studio." All four teachers stopped and looked over at Colton, "he's been going there every morning for two weeks."

"Oh - umm," Ororo looked from him to the other staff, "thank you Colton. I'll go there now."

And with that mystery resolved the other teachers said their quick goodbyes and went their separate ways. Apex just shook his head and was ready to open his tablet when he noticed K looking at him ... which was rare. Usually she simply ignored him or watched him from her peripherals. The two ferals were almost alone in the kitchen and just like that - K was back to her paper. Apex felt his brow furrow and the next time K looked up from her paper ... he was gone.


That wouldn't be the last time Apex picked up K watching him ... though watching would be the wrong word. It wasn't frequent and it was never for long but every so often he would look and she'd be staring right at him for a few seconds ... and then give him the slightest of nods and go back to whatever she was doing. The look was ... it reminded him almost of how Greer used to look at him when they first met but this was different. He knew it wasn't hostile. Regardless ... he didn't like it.

"Colton!"

Apex barely moved but looked down in brief confusion to find Amara locked onto his side, her arms not quite able to reach around him. He'd been heading to go outside when she'd found him. Must be home from 'college.'

"How have you been?! I came home a few times last year but you were never here. I asked around but no one seemed to know what'd happened to you or where you were ..." Amara must have caught something in how he looked and quickly blushed and took a small step back. "Sorry ... that was - probably a kinda stupid question."

A moment passed and despite himself Apex's shoulders dropped.

"I was traveling. But I'm here now." Amara looked back at him and seemed to regain some of her confidence as she started smiling again.

"Well good. I'm only back for a couple weeks for summer break - at NYU by the way - so I wanna make sure we catch up. Are you giving any finals?"

"No."

Amara titled her head a little.

"Aren't you teaching yet? Thought they'd have tricked you into something by now." Amara teased but Apex didn't match her smile and only shifted slightly.

"Not teaching."

Now Amara's brow wrinkled. Apex's tail started to twitch from its once still position.

"Well what about your gym class? I mean at the time I thought it was the worst ... god I almost killed Kitty after that first class - but I gotta admit it was actually pretty fun. You know ... for voluntary torture." Amara tried lightening the mood and but Apex simply seemed to recoil further as his muzzle dipped.

"I've been busy."

Apex could tell Amara wanted to ask him with what but this time she caught herself and after hesitating for a moment she let it drop.

"Alright - well ... if you're not too busy when I'm back I'd still like to catch up ... alright?"

He didn't really see much of a way out of it so Apex just nodded. That seemed to satisfy Amara and in a much more reserved manner the firey brunette walked off. Apex could hear her get about ten steps before she was grabbed by Chloe and Zoe and verbally assaulted. Seemed talking to him was something to be alarmed about. With a huff Apex turned to head outside but stopped as he saw at the other end of the hall was K. Staring. Again.

She kept doing it until she pushed off the doorframe and was gone. He stood there for a few more seconds and with a quick bare of his teeth Apex stalked off in the opposite direction.


"Who are these losers?" Chloe clearly wasn't impressed as Zoe shrugged her shoulder, the two standing in one of the large doorways that gave them a good view of the seemingly motley looking crew of mutants that had come into the Mansion.

"Pretty sure that's the Brotherhood of Mutants ... or what's left 'em." K answered as she came to stand next to the two sisters as she swung back a beer. New horses always led to more beer. K knew she was right after beating most of those same mutants in the Danger Room when she'd first started out and Logan picked up she needed something close to a challenge.

"What's a 'Brotherhood of Mutants?'" Zoe clearly wasn't a fan of the name choice and K didn't blame her.

"Exactly what your sister said ... losers. Used to be run by Magneto ... then pretty sure Mystique ... but that must have been years ago." K

"So what're they doing here? Oh man ... Xavier wouldn't actually let them stay here right?" Chloe suddenly sounded panicked and K gave a bit of a chuckle.

"I wouldn't put it past him. Hey - Rogue," the southern belle had just come from where the wing brootherhood had been led to by Ororo and Scott and hearing K came over, "any news?"

Rogue seemed to roll her eyes as she looked back from the way she came.

"Ain' news exactly ... seems the Brootherhood was pegged for somethin' and now they're askin' the Professor for some help clearin' their names. Been tellin' some story about not causin' trouble all this time ... just protectin' that mutant ghetto in the city. Course it's more like runnin' a gang and terrorisn people but ... not like they can lie to Xavier."

"Makes sense." K took another pull as Chloe and Zoe tried to keep quiet. Usually they were kicked out for these types of conversations.

"Bit funny though ..." Rogue

"Funny?" Chloe shot Zoe a look but she was curious and wasn't like K wasn't about to ask herself.

"Well ... I mean they actually called Kitty askin' to meet." Rogue

"What's so weird about a phone call?" K raised an eyebrow but Rogue just chuckled a little as she clearly was thinking of some old memories.

"Was before your time but ... us and those boys used to scrap all the time. Hell one of the reasons we got security in the first place was cause they used to jump those walls and come lookin' for a fight. So thought of one of 'em just ... pickin' up a phone and askin' Kitty to arrange a meet someplace all nice was ... weird."

"They didn't want to meet here?" Chloe asked this time and Rogue shook her head.

"Nope. Took some serious convincin' from Scott to actually get em to show up. We thought it might be a trap or somethin'. Wouldn't be the first time they tried somethin' like that. Hell ... Scott and Kitty had to meet 'em all at the gate jsut to get 'em to come inside."

"You think the Professor's gonna help them out?" Chloe looked between K and Rogue and as Rogue answered K leaned into the wall as she thought about how the group had looked when they'd come in. Anxiety had radiated off the group, most of them either keeping their eyes straight down or shooting around. She'd shrugged it off as nerves but ... something about this story seemed off.

Almost an hour later the Brotherhood made their reappearance with Scott once again leading the group. K would have thought they'd have been more relaxed after hearing Xavier had agreed to speak on their behalf ... hell not having the MRD on your ass was supposed to be a good thing. But instead of sticking the group just seemed determined to get out of there.

This time Logan was with K and the two waited in the main entrance as the group headed down the hall.

"Like Xavier said, after we talk to the FBI and SHIELD we'll be in touch." K could hear Scott talking to who must have been the leader now, some mutant called Avalanche.

"Yea ... that's fine. Thanks again." Scott seemed bemused by all the manners. Maybe these guys really were trying to turn a new leaf.

"No problem ... and hey - whatever happened to Blob?" K wasn't sure if anyone but her and Logan caught it but the entire Brotherhood froze.

"He - I mean Blob was -" K's eyes narrowed as she saw Avalanche pale and his heartrate spiked, "he left. Don't know where he went. Don't care. See ya Scott." And just like that the entire group of once mutant tough guys practically ran for the front door without another word. Scott seemed a bit surprised for a second and considered going after them seeing as how he was supposed to walk them off the property but after that little display he gave a chuckle and walked off.

K and Logan shared a look as not one of the brotherhood had bothered to give even of them a glance ,and he shook his head the slightest before sliding his hand across her lower back and pulling her along with him. "Unless you care, I was thinking it sounded like time for another beer."

"Beer is good," K agreed, but walked slow enough so that as she walked down the hall she could catch the scent she knew she'd be getting. Colton. Must have been standing directly behind Scott but otherwise out of sight ... to everyone but Avalanche. Didn't take a genius to figure things out.

"Was it your idea or his?" K looked up to catch Logan's reaction.

"Idea for what?" Logan clearly doesn't know what she's talking about.

"Nothing. Forget it." So ... he seemed he played attack cat on his own time too. K could only guess as to why - but after the display the other morning she'd learned what she needed to know about the guy.


Apex's ears swiveled as he turned to look at Greer in surprise. A few minutes ago he'd been waiting for her as the X-Men had came off the jet ... some mission in Jersey followed by a pickup in the city. The team had come off looking no worse for wear with Jean and Katherine on either side of Greer with the three all smiles. Seeing Greer with her friends in an X-Men uniform ... he thought she'd been happy. But no sooner had they gotten from the lockers and closed the door to their room that Greer was now pacing and growling lowly to herself.

"I told you this was a stupid idea. I can't believe you talked me into doing that."

Apex looked the tigress up and down slowly as he considered whether to point out that rejoining the X-Men had been her idea and one she'd been thinking about for a while…. He took a look at her before reconsidering. Nope, not a good time.

"I thought you achieved the objective?" Greer shot him a look.

"If that's your way of saying everything went fine then ... no. I mean yea - the team 'achieved the objective' but ... I told you, I should just be working with you. You need me more than they do…. I mean… It's just God ... how could I ever have been so naive." Greer bared her teeth as she continued to pace in nothing but the bottom of her uniform and sports bra, her claws leaving a track in the wood floor.

"What happened?"

Greer looked up and stopped as she found her path blocked by Colton, his hands slightly out to make sure she didn't try to just move around him. The tigress grumbled low in her throat before putting Colton's outstretched arms to good use, leaning into them and feeling slightly better as he wrapped them around her….

"We were going after the brotherhood(?) right… And…

"Scott just listen to me, if you station each of us separately, we can totally take these losers down. Five minutes tops." and for a second Greer thought she saw a flash under Scott's visor.

"I'm sorry, who's team leader here? " he argued before continuing his briefing to which Greer just growled and sunk a little into her seat, Jean placing what she hoped what was a comforting hand on her friend's stripped thigh…

"Any questions?" and Scott groaned as Greer raised her arm sarcastically.

"Yes Greer?"

"Ok, if we aren't going to rush them, why don't we attack from above then? That would still give us the element of surprise… I mean if you think about it-"

"Look Greer, I know you've been off the team for quite a while and maybe you're a bit rusty…" to which the tigress narrowed her eyes at. "So why don't we try to do things my way so you can reclaim your footing again…"

"Oh my footings completely fine thank you. Case you forgot, I've been training during all that time you suspended me from joining the x men." Greer said silkily, getting onto her feet and going eye to eye with Scott.

"And do you want me to remind you as to why you were suspended?" he shot back and Jean had to quickly intervine as she caught sight of Greer's tail give its furious thump on the ground.

"So he completely ignored my suggestion with no other reason apart from it not being a part of his plan. Which was stupid because if we had rushed them considering there were so many of us… we would have overwhelmed them and the fight would have been over in minutes…But no, our wise and fearless leader decided to confront them HEAD ON of all things… Completely giving away our element of surprise… Idiot…" and Colton gave Greer a comforting nuzzle as she rubbed her forehead in frustration.

"Okay so then…"

Greer growled as she was once again struck to the ground by Pietro, Rouge not fairing any better as she too went face first onto the pavement, seconds behind Greer. The tigress snarled, she had been off the team for too long, she had forgotten how exactly to coordinate herself and work with the previously conscious southerner…. Or anyone for that matter… Greer shifted slightly, narrowly avoiding another blow from the speedster and then a beam from both Bobby and Cyclops as they too tried to take Pietro down. Greer took another look around her surroundings and frowned… This was insanity and not in the good way, weren't cyclops and Bobby supposed to be handling Lance? That's what their beams were good for, long range attacks… And wasn't Jean and Kitty supposed to be handling Pyro? Why were they chasing after Toad? God… The x men were so… uncoordinated… and amateurish… No one was sticking to the plan-

"Agh!" and Greer snarled at the offending speedster as he struck her again in the middle. Ok this had dragged on for far too long… Running through Apex's lessons of how to deal with enhanced speed, Greer shut her eyes and instead tried to track Pietro with just sound alone… There! And with a roar, the tigress performed a drop kick before pouncing at the shrieking Pietro…

"And then…"

"And then I got flacked for being too violent apparently" Greer grumbled too annoyed to notice Colton 's amusement at her use of air quotations.

"What did you do?"

"Severed his hamstrings." Greer shrugged before she caught sight of Colton's unblinking stare.

"What? He's a healer, he'll be fine in a few days. Besides, you taught me that trick." she added on defensively to which Colton quickly tried to quickly recover from. He had brought up Ororo's offer from earlier that day to do a run with the team. Greer had been slowly working herself in to the team sessions since she'd been back and while he knew she'd thought about rejoining the team, it took some nuzzling on his part to get her to finally take up the offer. Summer was practically here and without any students to take up her time she'd finally relented. Though he thought that Greer was aware of the fact that rejoining the X-men meant that she had to tone down from the methods employed in X force.

"So what does Scott make me do next? Puts me in charge of evacuation. Basically turning me into a glorified human cattle prod," Greer said dryly before mumbling something about people running away from her direction rather than following it. It was a little more of this before Greer finally slumped down, pressing herself firmly against her boyfriend's chest.

"I don't know Colton," she said softly, "I thought rejoining the X-Men would have been the best move for me but ..." and she paused, "Its become too easy. I mean after all that we have done in X-Force … All that we've seen … stopping a bunch of c listers from robbing a bank is almost and playing superhero feels so trivial. And I want to help … I want to really help stop the bad guys. And I know you're going to say, it doesn't matter who you help or how much you help because your technically still helping but lets face it ..." and Greer turned to look at Colton.

"Someone like me just isn't cut out for helping people without them running away from me first. And pretending that it doesn't happen and trying to fit into that whole likable hero thing without crossing those lines that scare the hell out of people just doesn't cut it for me anymore. I'm done pretending for everyone. If I'm going to really make a difference it's with you."

Greer looked at Colton and she could tell he was thinking over what she'd said but ... well some kind of response would be nice.

"Well? I mean I know you've been running most of these missions solo but maybe if you got X-Force back together we could -"

"You're wrong."

Greer's brows went up at Colton's rumble.

"Wrong about ..."

Apex looked out the window for a few seconds and took a breath before looking back at Greer.

"Everything."

Greer let out a snort and rolled her eyes.

"So nice of you to say. If this is the same crap about you not thinking I can handle X-Force I swear to god I will -" Greer was growling now but Apex quickly cut her off when he took her hands into his.

"I know you can handle it. And I'm not saying you don't have a role when it comes to what I do. But ... you're an X-Man."

Greer's shoulders dropped as her tail slid off the bed.

"I just told you that's not true. I'm done with it." But Colton shook his head and leaned so that his eyes were even with Greer's.

"I know what you said. But you are an X-Man Greer. I know that you want to help people ... not kill them. What you do needs to be seen by everyone else so that they know who you are."

"Oh yea? And what is that exactly?"

And this time Apex didn't hesitate.

"A good person."

Greer just stared at him for a moment and the look she was seeing was so sure ... so absolute that she couldn't help but feel her tail curl and her ears slide back as she did her imitation of a feline blush.

Greer muttered something and Apex tilted his head a little.

"What was that?"

"I said 'a good feral actually'," Apex couldn't help but smirk as Greer shrugged her shoulders, "but that's just semantics I guess." And Greer again looked back at Colton and let out a sigh as she scooted herself so that she was curled into his lap.

"Fine ... you win. I'll give the team another shot," she glanced up at Colton, "Scott's still an ass though."

Apex chuffed and nodded his head. Pretty soon Colton's claws were running through the tigress's fur and as she returned the favor her purrs reverberated through the room. It wasn't long before things escalated and the two finally fell asleep with Greer gently purring across her panther's chest.


It was definitely finals seasons at Xavier's and that meant the entire student body were in varying cycles of stress and relief ... before returning to stress as the next test came up on their calendars. This meant most staff actually had more free time since outside of giving or proctoring a final, they really didn't have much else to do. Some teachers like Greer and Bobby found themselves with less time as their tutoring kicked into high-gear. But that also meant that Colton had full use of Logan and Betsy and damn if he wasn't making the most of it.

But Logan and Betsy were nearing their last straws. Betsy had actually given up on the entire projects over a week ago but found it at least more engaging then having to sit in a room for two hours watching a bunch of students take a test. She just made sure not to eat before coming down. Logan meanwhile had just gone silent, grumbling mostly to himself as he moved worked on the console. He'd tried pushing him ... Challenging him ... Meditation ... Hell he even had him fight two Creed's at once just to see what would happen. Putting Greer in danger almost worked but ... that somewhat defeat the purpose. Betsy had floated the idea of putting K down there with him but a snarl from Logan killed that just as fast. Regardless, it always ended the same way: bodies on the floor, Colton worked over ... and roaring for more.

K meanwhile had taken to joining in on these sessions. She was pretty sure Colton didn't want her there but that would mean actually talking to her directly and it wasn't like it would have made any difference. K went where she damn well pleased. They were just getting into their second hour when for the first time K abandonded her preferred corner and moved towards the controls. She hadn't said a word in the two weeks she'd been there so Logan could have been forgiven for not realizing she was standing right next to him. He raised an eyebrow up at her and pushed back a little as if to ask what she wanted but instead K just took the opportunity and dropped onto his lap ... and turning right into the controls, her fingers working quickly.

Logan and Betsy shared a look before the distracted feral tried to figure out what his fiance was up to.

"What'cha you doin', darlin'?"

But K, true to her nature, just kept on typing as he slid his hand around her waist. Logan caught the different, more urgent, look Betsy shot him and the message was clear, 'You really want K working over Colton or worse ... Colton finding out?'

"Sweetheart ... maybe it'd be best if you just let me in on the secret." But Logan's attempt to cut in was just as quickly cut off as K wiggled a little in his lap and shot him a look over her shoulder.

"Hush. Trust me. I'm not going to hurt him." And without looking at the board K hit start.

Apex was about to call up to Logan to move on to the next program when the room around him started to shift and with a crack of his neck the panther readied himself for whatever Logan and Betsy had planned. But instead of another hostile environment or room full of targets he found himself ... upstairs. He didn't scent anything off ... and as the students ran past him it seemed they couldn't really see him either. He waited for something to happen but eventually started walking around and despite himself began to untense. He couldn't help it. He noticed that there were no other staff ... just students.

The program must have rerouted him because he found himself standing in front of a class in session but not one to question a program he walked inside. Ororo was lecturing, reading from a book. He used to sit in the back of her class and just listen ... he liked when she read. But then things got quiet and suddenly every student and Ororo were staring right at him. He froze ... unsure what to make of his sudden visibility ... right as the room burst into flames.

The explosion threw him through the wall and back into the hallway and when he regained his footing the entire Mansion was in chaos. Gunfire ... Explosions ... Students screaming ... Men's voices yelling ...

The school was under attack.

Apex immediately tried to locate the students and eliminate the threat but every time he tried to reach a student he was too late. Every masked infiltrator seemed immune to his attacks and would simply evade him and keep firing.

With a snarl Apex kept trying to fight as more students fell around him and with a final roar ... his world went white.

Up in the control booth there was complete silence. Logan had seen Apex triggered before but had usually been on the receiving end of it. He'd never had the chance to simply witness it. He simply stood as K slipped off his lap and stared down to watch. Betsy had slowly approached the glass until she simply stood there with a hand over mouth. Apex had described to her what to expect but after weeks of failure she'd never had expected this. It was like every move he made ended up with another kill - which should have been impossible from the programming.

The program kept going - and when it finally ended, and the holograms faded, he was still standing there but otherwise not moving, the heaving of his chest and white eyes the only sign he was still triggered ... looking for his next target. The thought hit Logan that while they'd been so focused on getting Colton to trigger ... no real thought had gone into working him out of it.

"Alright ... neither you move. If somethin' goes wrong, K I want you to - K?," Logan asked as he turned to where his fiance had last been. But she wasn't there. He spun around only to see the light from within the Danger Room change as the lights from the hall poured into the room below. "Oh shit," he muttered before he ran for it. There was no way she was going in there with him like that. But by the time he got down there, K was already in the room, calmly approaching the fully triggered Apex and Logan was torn knowing a sudden move by him could provoke an attack.

But as K got closer Logan stopped moving as to his shock, Apex wasn't attacking - he wasn't so much as looking at K ... but he couldn't figure out why. Might have been his scent covering hers ... or that no one had given him a directive to attack her ... he doubted it was that he didn't see her as a threat but ... could be he was wrong on all of it.

K meanwhile had her eyes locked on one thing ... the adamantium shards. Logan choked back a warning and without any hesitation K gently reached out and touched one, as if it see if it was real. And just like that - they were gone. K just watched as Apex's breathing evened and his eyes returned to amber once more. He gave his head a little shake and that's when the scent hit him: a mix of anger, sadness ... and pity. He turned and saw K, her eyes still on the spot where his shard must have been, the steady drops of blood to the floor the only evidence.

And while K being this close ... that scent of pity ... normally would have been enough for Apex to move away ... K was staring at him again ... but this was different. There was an almost sad expression to her eyes, her lips barely parted. No one, not even Greer, had ever stared at him like that before.

"When did they do this to you?" K whispered out as she flicked her eyes up to meet his. It was the first time he's ever seen her look him in the eyes and not see the faintest whisper of the berserkr.

A thousand thoughts rushed through his head at her question ... but suddenly none of the answers mattered. Not to her. Not anymore.

"A long time ago." The answer didn't seem to satisfy her, but she didn't press. Instead, he watched as she shook her head lightly, and bit her bottom lip. She nodded a few times before she turned to the cabinet holding the medical supplies and quickly pulled out what she could carry. She dropped the whole pile at his feet and ripped open a package of gauze with her teeth.

She didn't ask permission or say a word as she simply went to bandaging the wound that had come from the shard she'd touched. Logan was too much in shock to even say anything. Apex however shook his head but still didn't move.

"Don't do that." His rumble was very low.

"Just let me do this. I need to do this. Please just hold still and freakin' let me do my thing," she said quietly. "I'm not trying to hurt you."

Apex didn't say another word, his eyes only on K, and when she finished he simply stared for a few moments longer until she looked up at him and with that he stalked straight out of the Danger Room and once Betsy quietly stepped aside at the door he was gone.

Logan and Betsy stood in silence as K simply started picking up the mess left behind, well aware of the large pool of blood still pooled on the floor, before Betsy finally asked.

"What the hell just happened?"

K and Logan shared a look but Betsy wasn't having it.

"We've been at this for weeks and I want to know what the hell we just saw." It wasn't clear if Betsy was referring to the trigger, the killing, or the aftermath. K chose to go with the first two.

"You two have been trying to see what it would take to trip him over. Like you said - for WEEKS. You were out of ideas - so I thought I'd clue you in." But Betsy scoffed.

"What ... you're gonna slice a kid every time we need him to flip?"

"It's not what you think. He's protecting." K

"Sure didn't look like it," Logan countered.

"Then you weren't watching," K challenged.

"That's not what he -" Betsy

"PROTECTING," K barked, "you needed to hit the right nerve. Make him feel helpless. Like there was no hope and no option other than to just go into it. HE KNOWS where that edge is. He's just ... not willing to go there unless he has no choice." K turned to walk away, but this time Logan grabbed her arm and K tried to yank free before she narrowed her eyes at him. "You know, for someone so damned observant, I'm surprised that you didn't catch that this was never about him triggering."

"What are you talking about now? That's what he asked for." K looked over her shoulder at Betsy.

"Hell if I know. But I'm getting real fuckin' tired of having to explain things to psychics. You figure it out." K turned back to Logan "All you people have done here is reinforce everything they did to him. Nothing has changed but the scenery and the personnel."

Logan's face went slack and he dropped his grip from K's arm and just like the panther she was gone.

...

Apex had went from the Danger Room straight to the forest. Deep enough that he knew he wouldn't be bothered. He needed to think.

Everything he knew about K told him she was a danger. A threat. A predator. A weapon. Weapon's didn't change ... not like this. She had to be the same feral he remembered ... she had to be.

Glancing down he noticed the bandage K had wrapped and gave an experimental twist of his arm. He couldn't help but notice it didn't restrict movement like Dr. McCoy's did. She'd been ... gentle. That look she'd had. Apex closed his eyes and let his arm fall.

"Damn it."