OK ... so as much as I would have liked to knock out this whole bit in one shot ... I want to keep my promise and post this weekend. Otherwise, I honestly have no idea when I might get around to getting this to where I want it. Luckily, there was a good break so I took it. Not to worry though, I actually know where I'm going with this whole thing so another chapter is on it's way ... as soon as I you know, get to writing it.

Retro, Canuckle, Cheshire ... need I really say more? thank yous all around

Retro - yea ... things are slowly starting to line up within the 906. Still some ground to cover but it's getting there. And after an entire arc of drama ... thought it was time the felines just got some time alone. Of course, things won't stay calm for long but still ... it makes me smile.

Canuckle - glad you liked that phone call, but I need to give another shout out to Cheshire. If it wasn't for her insight, that's not nearly as amazing as it turned out. And not to worry ... Greer will be getting some feral insights soon enough. Just keep ready Canuckle ; )

Cheshire - in case it wasn't obvious, couldn't write these kind of chapters without you : )


"Colton..."

Apex chose to ignore Greer at the moment, instead choosing to focus on nuzzling her neck, her hair falling gently around his muzzle. It had been a long day and he'd missed her scent. He felt her trying to shift away but he just tightened his grip ...

"Colton." Greer growled quietly as she jerked away and gave Jean, Scott and Ororo a quick smile as they sat down across from the two ferals. Greer tried to play it off, doing her best to engage her friends, but couldn't ignore the look Colton was currently giving her, one hand on the back of her chair and the other resting on her thigh. Keeping her face pleasant, she tilted her head as if he was telling her a secret.

"Just relax OK? Later ... I promise." Greer whispered, giving the panther a meaningful look until she heard him let out a grumble, earning a relieved smile.

"Thank you," Greer let out a breath and gave him a quick kiss on the jaw before turning her attention back to her friends and immediately diving in to the most recent Mansion gossip. Something to do with a student using his telepathy in an attempt to win girls until Jean had caught him in the act. The results had been ... humorous to say the least.

Apex meanwhile turned his attention back to his dinner. While classes were in session the staff always planned a few nights a week for everyone to eat together. A chance to have a little 'grown-up time' and just relax and vent without being worried about students. Not to mention the chance to have a drink with dinner ... not that it ever made much of a difference to someone like Logan who considered such rules absurd.

For the first few months Apex had successfully avoided these things ... but while Greer had been recovering these staff meals had been one of the few things capable of getting her out of their bedroom. And once the two had made a couple of appearance he knew it was expected, not to mention Greer enjoyed the ... 'social' aspect of the entire affair. If he was honest he didn't mind them too much ... there was plenty of food and if the mood struck him he could have a conversation with Hank or Logan if he happened to stick around, or even Betsy ... though Greer seemed to always cut those conversations short.

No ... the issue he had with these dinners and frankly spending too much time around most of the Mansion lately was the way Greer acted. How she could be close with him one moment and at the appearance of her friends, and if even a hint of Jean's scent wafted by, suddenly retract without reason ... it was getting tiresome.

"Colton, you're not still mad about dinner are you?"

Greer had been curled up in the middle of the bed waiting expectantly as the panther silently came out of the shower, knowing him well enough to tell when he was agitated. Greer had been a little surprised when she had turned her head at dinner to find the seat next to her empty. She had quickly excused herself and had found Colton down in the gym working out. She had tried getting his attention but aside from a brief look in her direction he had basically ignored her the rest of the night.

Greer had gone up to their room to wait for him ... give a little space, but the ignoring had continued when Colton had finally come in an hour later and headed straight to the shower. I mean she had expected a negative reaction but not this negative.

"Colton?"

"No," Greer barely caught his answer as he slipped on some shorts for bed. Greer furrowed her brow for a moment before grinning and silently slipping off the bed, coming to stand behind the panther and slip her arms around his waist.

"Well that's nice to hear," there was a definite purr to her voice which quickly cut out as Apex shrugged out of her grip, keeping his back to her as he headed across the room as if ready to leave.

"Hey!" Greer's ears flushed back as her hackles raised. Apex turned slightly and took in the affronted tigress, his face neutral.

"I'm sorry ... I didn't know we were touching again." Greer crossed her arms defensively.

"That's not fair. You know I just don't like it when we ... do that kind of stuff in front of other people."

"No ... I don't know. You just tell me not to do it."

"Well yea ... I just didn't want to embarrass you in front of everyone and it's not like you see anyone else nuzzling at the table."

"What difference does that make?" Now Apex turned to face Greer fully, his arms crossed as well.

"It makes all the difference. Colton," Greer looked up at the ceiling as if the answer would suddenly appear there, "do you see Scott or Jean nuzzling each other? Or hear anyone else purring at the table?"

"No ... but -"

"Exactly. Because that's not what couples do."

"And what is it exactly that couples do?" Apex growled. Why did Greer always have to complicate things so much? He had thought that what they had been doing was ... 'couple' stuff.

"What is it that - oh I dunno ... hold hands, put an arm around each other, kiss. Not ... that."

"What exactly is 'that'?" Greer ran a hand through her hair. She really didn't want to get into this ...

"You know ... nuzzling and cuddling and purring."

"It's what we do ..." Apex grumbled, his eyes switching to the floor as his tail twitched but Greer just shook her head.

"No ... it might be what we want to do but that's not good enough. We're ... we're not animals Colton. And we shouldn't let people believe that we are." Now Apex had his eyes locked on Greer's. He might not have noticed it, but she certainly did. The few times she had been too distracted and the other girls had caught their more ... feline displays. Those shared looks, the snide smiles, the quick whispers ... sometimes a bad cat joke and each time it made her want to growl and slap her forehead.

"What I'm trying to say is ... We are fully capable of behaving like two normal adults." Greer's growl both enhanced and countered her point but that didn't really matter.

The two ferals stood apart, tails twitching in irritation as Greer took in the upset panther standing in front of her. OK ... so maybe she had phrased this a little poorly ... And it wasn't like she didn't love the attention Colton could shower her with ... she really did. But ... those girls laughing at her was a painful wake up call that maybe she was getting a little too in touch with her feline side. Not to mention she couldn't stand the thought of the students seeing her and especially Colton as anything less than human.

Greer sighed.

"Balance," she whispered to herself, "balance is the key."

Looking at Colton again, Greer shook her head and let out a sigh, bowing her head as she crossed the distance and once again slipped her arms around his waist and rested her head onto his chest. She didn't have to wait long to feel his arms come to rest around her.

"I don't know why it's so important that I do that stuff ... but it is," Greer tilted her head up at Colton's rumble.

"But not in front of everyone. Oh come on, it's not like you don't know that I like it too," she nuzzled into his fur, closing her eyes as she took a deep breath before letting it out slowly.

"I just ... want to keep it in here. For us and only us ... besides, that just preserves the specialness right?" She looked up hopefully to see Colton looking down at her, one hand still at her hip as the other came to cradle her head.

"For us." Greer smiled and went up on her toes to bunt foreheads, staying there to wrap her arms around his neck as they began to kiss ... Greer feeling herself getting warm and giving up on her toes to wrap her legs around his waist instead.


It was a week later and Greer was grinning before she even opened her eyes.

She was set to go with Colton to New York over the weekend, being far enough away for it to still be exciting while the specter of her mother not too close to have her start having a panic attack. And today ... today was most definitely going to be a good day. She was sure of it. Shuffling Colton's pillow out of the way the tigress went into a deep stretch, letting her claws sink into the matress a little as she worked from her tail alllllllll the way to her neck. God she loved how that felt sometimes.

"Mmmmm..." Greer purred, tilting her head from one shoulder to the other, before finally releasing the tension in her spine, glad she actually feel it after six weeks of nothing. Giving herself a little shake, she checked the time and headed towards the bathroom to await Colton's arrival ... in the shower. Yes, today was going to be a great day.
...

Apex had just passed Logan's scent as he was finishing up his morning run. This path crossed with a number of Logan's and it seemed he had headed down a deer path to one of the clearings he preferred to meditate in. He had asked the older feral about his focus on meditation and while it interested him ... he wasn't certain of it yet.

Then there was Greer ... she had been a bit more insistent this morning when he had tried to get out of bed. But that wasn't particularly new ... and with the trip to New York fast approaching he was getting as much time out in the quite of the forest as possible. He wasn't sure Greer was aware but he had been to the city before and he was not a fan.

Crashing ... to his left. Apex came out of his run and stopped cold, sniffing the air as his ears turned towards the quickly increasing sound of something obviously very large stampeding through the forest ... and headed straight for him. Apex took a ready position and looked above him, quickly mapping an escape route as his mind tried to work out the scent he was picking up ... it was familiar but ... it had to be wrong. It shouldn't be here ...

"ROOOOOOOR!"

OK ... he'd been wrong. It could be here.

It was a brown bear and it was in some type of frenzy, foam flying from its mouth as it belowed, obliterating anything in its path, easily knocking over smaller trees and kicking up dirt with its claws. But Apex kept his ground. He had dealt with bears like this before ... and it would be a good exercise if nothing else.

But as it got closer he knew something was different ... off. Typically a bear wouldn't charge like this ... not unless he made the error of walking into its territory. And just the way it moved ... it's roar ... he could almost feel it's fury.

Apex took a breath and when the animal was twenty feet away he roared right back, expecting his show of dominance to force the beast to back down. He was a predator and not something to mess with. But all that got him was yet another roar and then it was on him.

He evaded the charge and whipped around to find it waiting for him. He dodged its first and second swipe and slashed his claws upwards, almost gutting it. That should have been it but the grizzly surprised him, thrashing and sending him tumbling through the brush. He was barely able to get his bearings when he caught the bear's jaws with his hands before they clamped over his neck.

There was a moment, both predators growls filling the forest, both trying to determine whether the bear's strength or his would give and who would die that morning. But with a final roar Apex snapped the bear's skull sideways and it's body fell to the ground with a dull thump.

"What the hell ..." Logan had just burst into the clearing, claws out, to find Colton brushing himself off and a very dead bear in front of him.

"Morning." Apex muttered as his eyes were fixed on the bear.

"You wanna tell me what I'm looking at here kid?" Logan's claws disappeared as he came to stand on the other side of the bear. Apex looked it over one more time before answering.

"Kamchatka brown bear." Apex squatted down for a closer look.

"Russian? Bit far from home ... and it just attacked you?" Apex just nodded in response. He didn't blame Logan for sounding doubtful. Everything about this animal was wrong.

"No ... it was sent after me." The two ferals shared a look as the panther nodded back towards his assailant.

"It was held in captivity ... few weeks," Logan looked where the panther was pointing, impressions around the neck and ankle showing manacles ... along with some cuts and brand marks still not fully healed.

"Probably starved too," Logan grumbled as he noted the state of the bears fur ... the bones showing beneath the muscle.

"Any ideas?" Logan crouched down and took a good sniff before blowing out his nose. The bear smelled awful ... burnt his nose.

"Yea ... I noticed that too. It was sprayed with something ... covers its scent."

Logan stood back up and caught Colton rotating his shoulder until an audible snap could be heard.

"You good?" Apex just tilted his head to the side before giving his shoulder another experimental roll.

"Fine ... what about the body?" Logan let out a deep breath as he looked at the incredible waste of a beautiful animal.

"What about it? You wanna hold a service? Burn the damn thing. Not much else you can do." Logan gave the carcass one last look over before giving his head a shake, muttering something about 'waste' and headed back towards the Mansion, Apex a few steps behind him. He only looked back once ... but not at the bear. He could have sworn he sensed something ... else.

"You comin' or what? I ain't haullen' all this shit back here myself." Apex turned at Logan's grumble and giving the forest one more glance, went after the wolverine.

...

Apex kept replaying what had happened in the woods as he headed up to his room. Everything about it was off ... the bear, it's behavior, how it had gotten there, who might have sent it ... it was more questions than he was comfortable with.

He was so distracted that as he was peeling off his sweaty and torn clothes he was surprised when he felt something catch on his foot. Flipping it up, he caught what looked like ... the shorts Greer was wearing last night. Looking down he saw the tank she had borrowed on the floor ... and it was at that point he finally processed the shower running. He looked between the shorts, the top and the shower one more time before letting out a growl and letting the shorts fall back to the floor.

Greer was pouting a little as she stood under the water. OK ... It's been pretty close to thirty minutes and Colton had yet to make his appearance.

Honestly speaking, she had hoped for Colton to be in bed when she woke up this morning as a surprise but had let that go in consideration of their upcoming trip. He'd never say it but she knew he was nervous about the trip ... probably even more so that she was ... so disappearing into the forest didn't really annoy her. In truth, Greer could probably spend a little time in the forest herself before heading back to the city.A run could do her legs some good ... actually a run could probably do her some good overall. Maybe next time she'd actually wake up and ...

Greer sighed. Yea ... or maybe not. When it came to sleep, her and Colton operated on two different worlds. Speaking of her boyfriend ... he'd picked a great day to not run on schedule and at this point, she was just getting bored.

She was about to reach out and turn off the water when she jumped as an arm wrapped around her middle, the other coming across her chest as Apex pulled the tigress against him, both now under the cascading water. The tigress grinned.

"mmm ... what took you so long ..." Greer's hand found its way up to Colton's neck as his wound its way down down her stomach, purrs quickly filling the steamy bathroom as Greer caught her breath.

"Nothing I couldn't handle," any thoughts of strange bears were quickly pushed to the side as Greer started to teasingly swing her tail between his legs. A gesture Apex responded by pulling her closer to him and that's when things escalated between the two felines.


Greer carefully took in her wardrobe, her eyes meticulously studying each article of clothing in great detail while her tail swung ponderously. Today was special and she wanted it to show. After quite a bit of judging and tossing, Greer grinned as her eyes settled on the perfect dress. Yes ... This would do very nicely.

It was a black dress. Just shorter than what she usually wore. Sleeveless with quite a revealing cut at the back that was typically a bit too daring for the tigress ... but Greer knew Colton would appreciate it. He had told her she had forty seven stripes running down her back ... Interesting that he even took notice to such a small detail.

Greer grinned. Well she really hadn't stopped grinning.

What had happened in the shower had been ... amazing. And she was hoping that Colton had more of such surprises in store for her today.

Slipping into the dress. Greer gathered her mane of hair into a high pony tail before slipping on her favorite pair of short leather booties. Looking at herself in the mirror, she thought about how a year ago, heck maybe even six months ago she wouldn't have dared wear anything like this. Everything revolved around keeping her "attributes" covered up as much as possible. So people wouldn't find her too different ... and honestly living life like that had been exhausting. Looking back, Greer wondered how she had managed to keep that up for five years.

"It doesn't matter anymore ... Well at least not as much…" Greer concluded and she owed that to a certain giant panther waiting downstairs for her. Giving herself one more grin, Greer shut the closet before excitedly making her way down the stairs.

Apex had held off eating his breakfast ... at least until Greer arrived. To pass the time, he already had her coffee prepared for her and gotten together her preferred choice of eggs and berries. As he sat waiting, he saw Jean gave him a subtle thumbs up as she walked out of the cafeteria. He shook his head ... what was that about?

Rumbling slightly, he went back to staring at the clock above the doors. Greer was taking a little longer than usual. Apex flicked his ears in mild irritation before going back to staring at his coffee until quickly looking up again when the scent of cinnamon greeted his nostrils. He paused for a moment, regretting his previous irritation with Greer as she prowled towards him. He gave her a careful look up and down and couldn't help but smirk as Greer coyly came around the table to give him a quick kiss before she took a demure seat opposite him and enjoyed her breakfast as a proper lady.

Apex's mind however was on more ... interesting things than his breakfast.

"What's with the dress?

"Today's a special day ... thought I'd look the part." She smiled, enjoying her coffee.

"Special day?" Colton was caught short for a moment, "What special day?" he asked, genuinely clueless earning a laugh from Greer.

"Oh you're funny…" she grinned before returning to her food causing the panther to stare at her in confusion. What was going on? Deciding it was safer to remain silent, Apex turned to his own breakfast as he quickly tried to run through the possible options. Maybe if he didn't bring anything up ... there would be a lesser chance of alerting Greer of his ignorance. At least until he found out what she was talking about ...

The plan worked throughout the entirety of breakfast, something he was grateful for until Greer pushed her plate out of the way and leaned her elbows on the table, an expectant look on her face.

"So what are we doing today?" Greer asked suddenly, a wide grin on her face. Apex had a feeling he should answer with great caution.

"Just the usual…" he mumbled, slowly leaning back in his chair as he watched the tigress' brows come together and her smile start to fade.

"The usual? C'mon Colton stop kidding around. You're doing so well ..."

'Doing so well… What was Greer talking about?' Apex's mind was a complete blank.

"I'm not kidding around. I have classes and then the gym and we can have dinner together." Colton shrugged only to regret it when Greer's gaze seemed to harden, her hackles slowly beginning to raise.

'What did he say wrong?'

"Seriously Colton what's on for today?"

The panther rumbled.

"I just told you…" Apex replied defensively and with a hint of confusion, causing the tigress to suddenly stand up.

"Wait ... hold on. Colton ... are you telling me you don't know what today is?" Greer said it with a mix of anger and disbelief.

'She sounds hurt. Why does she sound so hurt?' Apex was now at wits end.

"It's a Thursday?" He finally answered noting how some of the other students were now turning around to stare at them but more importantly, Greer seemed to be baring her teeth and without a word, she promptly turned around to storm out of the cafeteria.

"You really screwed up big ..." a passing Katherine mumbled and before Apex could ask her what was so special about today, she had phased through the floor.

It took another two seconds for Apex to absorb what happened before letting out a growl of frustration and quickly made his way after the seething tigress.

"Greer! Where are you going?"

"Out." she growled not even looking at him as she stormed up the stairs.

"Out? Don't you have lessons to plan today?" Apex was doing his best to keep up with her.

"No! Just - just getting the hell lot of here," Apex almost broke his muzzle as their bedroom door slammed in his face. He actually didn't know what to do ... he assumed breaking down the door wasn't going to help in this situation and after quietly calling for her a few times just stood planted in front of the door, his tail twitching through the hall. He was about to try another strategy when in the shortest amount of time since he'd known her Greer threw open the door and stormed right past him in a different outfit. The dress and booties were gone, replaced with a pair of tattered jeans, a sweatshirt and some combat boots, her hair quickly pulled from its tight ponytail trailing behind her. He also noted she had her inducer back on ...

"Greer wait -" Apex reached out to try and stop her, just to get her to explain for a second.

"Don't touch me," Greer snarled in warning as she slapped his hand away, the panther now following her down the stairs and towards the garage.

"Can you just tell me what I did wrong?" Greer stopped just before the garage, slowly looking over her shoulder to take in her boyfriend.

"You're supposed to be good at reading people ... you figure it out. I am going out and you will not try to follow me if you know what's good for you. Enjoy your Thursday Colton!" she growled and with that slammed the garage door hard enough to have it shake. The panther to lower his head as he heard a car start and tires crunching over gravel ... and just like that she was gone. Whatever was going on ... he needed some professional help.

...

"Jean? Can I ask you something?" the red head had been in the library prepping her teaching plan for the next week to look up and find a clearly agitated Colton.

"Yeah sure Colton, but ... shouldn't you be with Greer?" Apex tilted his head to the side and gave Jean a careful look.

"Actually, it's about Greer. She came down for breakfast this morning expecting ... something."

Jean blinked.

"Well of course she was. I mean it's not as if you ..." Jean paused for a moment, quickly reaching out around the Mansion as she picked up what had gone on after she had left the kitchen ... and her eyes went wide.

"Oh my god ... You didn't forget did you?" Jean slowly got out of her chair to stand in front of the lost panther.

"Forget what?"

"Colton ... can you tell me what today is?" Apex growled a little at hearing that question again. What the hell was so special about today ...

"It's March 9th." He crossed his arms as Jean rolled her hands.

"OK ... and can you tell me anything that might make today special for your girlfriend?" Jean sounded hopeful as Apex lowered his eyes, mentally trying to connect the date to his missing tigress.

"Well ... she was born today ..." Apex recalled her file from Weapon X. But why was that important?

"Yes! Birthday Colton! It's Greer's birthday today! I only kept quiet when I saw her because I thought you had something planned considering you're you know ... oh crap." Jean ran a hand through her hair as she quickly realized she couldn't locate her best friend. On her birthday. Which she didn't even mention.

"Where is she?" the red head sounded all business.

"She went out."

"Out?!"

"Without her phone..." the giant panther mumbled. Suddenly developing a keen interest in the floor while the red head grabbed her hair.

There was an uncomfortable silence between the two.

"OK ... We are going to fix this..." Jean snapped suddenly. "We're going to fix this right now. No way am I letting my best friend and your girlfriend feel like crap on her 22nd birthday. Come on Colton!" and Apex begrudgingly allowed the red head to pull him towards the kitchens. Scott, Logan, Betsy, with Jubilee hanging next to Logan's elbow, looked up as the two approached.

"We have a situation." Jean didn't wait to fill them in as Apex just stood there, considering whether to simply ignore Greer's demand and track her down. He'd already put locators on all the cars ...

"You're kidding me ... you forgot the girl's birthday?" Jubilee practically shouted as Scott just shook his head and Betsy looked pitifully at the large feral.

"Yes, he did. But we are going to fix it." Jean had that look as she took everyone in but Logan just put up his hands, grabbing his coffee and morning paper.

"Jewelry. You need jewelry," Scott blurted out, Jean giving him a brief smirk of approval, but Colton's eyes landed on a smirking Logan, who resolutely refused to look at any of them as he busied himself with his paper as if he hadn't heard a word of what Jean said.

"Might be too late for that," Betsy replied. Forgetting a birthday? "It'll make you look too guilty."

"You better take her to Paris - or Tahiti. That's what I'd want," Jubilee added, getting a little scowl from Logan as he lifted his mug.

"Come on, Logan - you know how to smooth things over with women better than anyone - How does he fix this?" Jean asked, but already Logan was folding up his paper and shaking his head.

"Nope."

"Oh come on Logan ... show him something - teach the boy something he can use." Betsy tried doubling up on the older feral but he wasn't falling for it.

"With a screw up like that? Hell - even I've never goofed that bad. You need help shreddin' let me know - otherwise ... good luck, kid."

Jean and Colton both found themselves scowling at his retreating form as he headed off to his class. Rotten solitary old bastard. Jean let out a brief sigh before regrouping.

"Alright, here's the plan ... Betsy, you're with me. We're going to hunt Greer down and make sure that today is not a total waste. Shopping, spa, that sandwich place she can't shut up about ... whatever she wants." Betsy nodded her head and headed to grab her things, giving Colton a sympathetic pat on the way out.

"What about us?" Jubilee was clearly having trouble containing her excitement. This was the type of mission she could get behind.

"You ... have to get to class," Jubilee let out a groan of protest but Jean silenced her with a raised hand, "but, I'm counting on you to make sure these two come up with something good." Scott raised an eyebrow at that particular order but it seemed to do the trick as Jubilee was back to grinning and giving Jean a quick salute ran to make it to class before the first bell. Jean meanwhile, gave a slow turn towards Colton.

"And you ... will make this up ... to her ... got it?" Jean poked him in the chest at each pause, settling with a silent nod from the feral that she was heard.

"Good. Now excuse me while I try to fix this mess." Giving Scott a quick kiss and asking Xavier to cover for her, Jean was out the door with Betsy in search of her friend.

That left Apex with the unlikely partner of Scott alone in the kitchen. Obviously 'birthdays' were a big deal ... and he had some work to do if he intended to get Greer to forgive him. So letting out a short rumble he turned to Scott with open arms.

"So ... what now?"