A quick shoutout to my two rocks, Canuckle and Cheshire. This chapter should have been posted a while ago so let's just get straight to it ...


The team managed to get back with reasonable silence. Fantomex kept a not so subtle watch on Proudstar who was grumbling every so often about untrustworthy felines. And Wilson ... well Wilson was never quiet so he didn't really count.

Neither Apex nor Greer noticed any of this, aside from the tigress making sure she was tucked next to Colton till they landed. Both as a means to make sure he didn't do anything she might feel bad about and as a means of comfort. Because both felines were thinking about the same thing: Kraven.

Apex's thoughts weren't focused on Kraven. Everything he had thought about the man had been true. He was a psychotic and a narcissist who overestimated his own abilities and importance. It was everything that Kraven had said that had him thinking. Whoever 'They' were wanted him dead. No new information there. They could join the list. Weapon X ... SHIELD ... HYDRA ... Friends of Humanity ... The number of Weapon X assets he had yet to cross of his list ... He was coming after all of them and they in turn were coming after him. It had been one of the primary reasons he had worked so hard to keep Greer away from this until it had come hunting for her regardless. But whoever 'They' were ... they had now moved to the top of that list.

He went over everything Kraven had said on the flight back. Over. And over. And over. It was only when Greer stirred next to him that he even registered that they'd landed. As they gathered there things he looked down to see how Greer was doing and clearly she could tell that he was reading her.

"I'm fine. Really. Just tired." The tigress gave a little smile and headed for the bunker. She just wanted to get out of this suit ... Get back home ... Take a shower ... And slip into bed for forever. Yea forever sounded about right.

Greer was waiting in the main room of the bunker as Colton spoke with Domino and Fantomex in one of the side rooms when she glanced sideways at The Wall. Or at least that was what she had taken to calling it. She'd first encountered The Wall on her first time back with X-Force after her recovery. It took up the entire left wall of the main room. On it were dozens of pictures. Pictures of every known Weapon X director, funder, associate, officer and operative. Greer of course recognized a few of them and tended to skim over reading those particular names. Some of the pictures had red 'X's' drawn over them ... more and more every week. But despite all of their progress ... there just seemed to be so much more left to be done. Greer let out a long sigh as she scanned The Wall.

So much more.

Apex knew Greer was thinking about Kraven. She was mostly silent on the walk back to the Mansion and even in the shower she seemed distracted, simply moving to let him wash her clean and carry her back to bed. When the tigress finally chose to talk, it was when she was tucked into his side after minutes of running her claws through his fur. He had been close to actually just asking her what was wrong.

"Can I make a confession?" Greer whispered. Apex let out a relieved breath and nodded as the tigress took a long breath of her own.

"This may sound completely stupid. And I know you'd probably-"

"What is it?" The panther interrupted as he gently bunted her forehead making the tigress both purr and growl slightly.

"Do you think it was the right decision to just let Kraven go like that?" and Apex looked at Greer in surprise, surprised that Greer … Greer … of all people was asking him about this.

"Why would you ask me that?" the tigress sighed and Apex felt her curl a litter tighter into him.

"I don't know." and Apex noticed how her heart rate increased noticeably.

"Greer." She looked up at the soft rumble before staring resolutely at where he claws were scratching across his fur.

"Kraven terrifies me."

Now Apex was genuinely confused. Kraven? Greer was terrified of Kraven? Of all people to- His girlfriend seemed to have read his mind as there was a growl from her.

"He's a hunter. He's after the both of us because of what we are. We're animals to him Colton … animals." Apex noticed the snarl embedded with that last word.

"And I know we're not that ... I know he's not worth anything. Not our time or my conscious but ... We left him there. Not in jail, not in prison ..."

"So?" Apex didn't see where Greer was headed with this. Kraven had been handed easily enough. He would have finished him but for Greer's conviction. But now she looked at him harshly as she continued.

"So what if he tries again … And what if this time he succeeds in hunting one of us down?" Apex looked down into those hardened green eyes and saw what Greer was really asking him.

"You want to know if you made a mistake in stopping me from killing Kraven." It wasn't a question though Greer's look softened slightly as her ears slowly fell back. She needed to hear him say it. That she'd made the right call. Apex wrapped his arms a little tighter around the tigress whose tail snaked around his ankle.

"You were right to stop me." She scoffed at the sentiment.

"Don't patronize me," Greer shook her head and tried to get some separation but Apex held her tight.

"I was glad when you did it." Now that had Greer forget her struggling and just stare.

"You're being serious. What - why?" Greer had been worried that Colton might be mad at her for what she'd done.

"Because that's who you are. You are good Greer. I've seen how you've gotten more ... comfortable with what we're doing. It made me glad that you stopped me because it shows that you still are that person."

"That person?" Greer grinned and Colton felt her hand close around his.

"You're my balance. You stop me from becoming what I was trained to be. You gave me a reason. Direction. No more mindless killing." and Colton rumbled low in his throat as Greer snuggled deeper into his chest, kissing him lightly up his neck.

"I kinda like that ... being your balance." Greer purred.

"And don't worry about Kraven. If he tries to hurt us again I will protect you. I always protect you." The two felines simply stared into each other for a few silent moments before Greer wrapped herself around Colton and he quickly moved on top of her. Greer's purrs filled the room, quickly followed by mewls as their nuzzling intensified and Greer felt herself growing warm as her claws dug into the fur across Colton's back.

No one could hurt her. Not when she had Colton.
...

Greer was trying hard to stay asleep as she snuggled into her warm fuzzy pillow with a low, soft purr. Last night - well more like early this morning - had been amazing, but she still felt exhausted and was glad it was the weekend. It had been a hard road and though she'd never admit it to the panther resting beneath her, it was starting to wear on her. She wondered to herself how Logan dealt with it all those years - the constant fighting and tension. The killing ...

And almost on cue, she heard something ... It almost sounded like a purr ... but no. That wasn't it. She listened harder just before the noise crescendoed and her ears perked up in recognition. The Harley. She could hear Logan's the Harley. She furrowed her brow and picked her head up just enough to look at the rarely used alarm clock on her bedside stand. Six AM. What the hell was Logan doing with the motorcycle at six in the morning? She listened as the bike's pitch changed and clearly rolled down the drive way before he opened it up on the road. He was leaving.

Greer just stared off as she listened, imaging the path Logan was taking towards the highway, until eventually it faded. She pouted a little as she slowly lowered her head back down and took a deep breath that came out in a huff. So that was how he did it. Just packed a bag and left. No warning. No goodbye. He just ... left.

Over the years when Logan had done things like this it had always left Greer feeling slightly ... abandoned. Anxious. That fear of would he ever return ... just like the man he reminded her so much of. But this time those feelings faded rather quickly as a different feeling came to mind: thoughtfulness. Greer relaxed and tucked herself back into Colton's side though her brow was slightly furrowed.

"He just left ..." Greer whispered as her mind drifted back to sleep.


Greer was busy on her labtop outside. It was mid-afternoon and now that the weather had tipped passed 70, the tigress was making the most of it, set up at one of the tables the dotted the deck. Besides, it wasn't like she had any intention of staying inside the Mansion. It was the week before finals and the place was either too loud or too quite depending on the room you were in. And all that whispering and anxiety always gave her a headache. So like years passed ... Greer found herself outside enjoying the sun.

All she had to worry about now was proctoring a few exams. Her gymnastics class was an elective so unlike most of the other staff her school year was over. And from the look Rogue was giving her from the kitchen ... she wasn't the only one that knew it. Greer gave a sheepish wave as the southern belle and quickly went back to her work.

If she really wanted to pull this off ... she needed a plan. There was no way Colton would go along with it unless she could answer all of his questions. And she was determined to pull it off.

The panther in question was off in the woods doing whatever it was he did out there. Probably doing a perimeter run when he was supposed to be studying. Greer just rolled her eyes, 'some things just never change.' She grumbled to herself as she went back to typing.

Greer kept at it most of the day, being careful to close things down when she heard Colton coming across the grounds and they had a quick lunch. Then he was off to a final study session and Greer had to proctor Hank's biology exam. She tried keeping her serious demeanor as she wished a few girls that she tutored and heard a the groans at her appearance. Everyone knew that if you had any chance of cheating on an exam ... the last people you wanted was a psychic or someone with enhanced senses.

Once the exam was over she met up with Colton and they had a quiet dinner with Bobby and Ororo. Greer knew that despite the time not everyone had really gotten to know the silent panther. Bobby being one of them. That was one of the reasons Ororo was there, Greer knew that Bobby looked up to her and would follow her example. Kurt was one of the last ones on the tigress' list ... seemed he still kind of held a grudge.

The next few days passed mostly the same with a few gym and training sessions tossed in. Greer knew it was the best way to help Cotlon destress that didn't involve her having to buy new sleepwear. Claws really were cutting into her budget and didn't exactly have much funds to start with.

"Making summer plans?" Greer almost put her own claws through her keyboard as Jean slipped across from her at the table she'd been working at outside.

"N - what makes you say that?" Greer tried not coming off as defensive. Jean had a bad habit of picking up on her trains of thought and then innocently asking her about it. And this was not something she was ready to share at the moment. Jean seemed to not notice anything off about her best friend and gave a shrug.

"Nothing. Just wondering what you were up to. You've been out here practically all day since Monday." Jean leaned back in her chair and soaked in some of the sun Greer had been enjoying.

"Alright ... nevermind ... I get it ..." Jean sighed as she breathed in deep. Greer took the opportunity to silently close her computer and flip over the notepad she'd been writing on. Pretty soon she joined her friend as the two simply soaked in the sun.

"Hey ... when's Colton's birthday?" Greer's brow furrowed before slowly raised her head up from the table to look at the still dozing psychic.

"Why ..." Oh she better not have been -

"I dunno. I thought maybe you were planning this trip as a present or something." Jean shrugged and missed the hackles rise on the tigress.

"I knew it!" Now it was Jean's turn to lift her head up from the back of the deck chair.

"Knew what?"

"I told you to stop doing that! This is supposed to be a secret ... I don't want Colton hearing anything until I'm ready." Greer looked around as if afraid the panther in question might suddenly appear. He was annoyingly good at that. In truth, Greer had made it a point to ask Jean to keep out of her head ever since she'd started up with X-Force months ago. There were some things she really didn't want to have to explain.

"Oh relax ... I was just curious what you were doing out here. So if it's not for Colton's birthday then what is it for?" Jean was awake now and since she'd already admitted to the crime, she wanted to get the goods. Greer never went anywhere and the fact she was taking this much effort to plan a trip was definitely something.

"Nothing. Really ... I just thought ... I just thought that we ..." Jean gave her friend a concerned look as Greer slowly seemed to stare off and go silent.

"Hello ... earth to Ms. Nelson ..." Jean went so far as to snap her fingers a few times to get her attention, "Welcome back." Jean teased but Greer still had a distant look on her face, her tail going completely limp.

"I don't know." Greer said quietly.

"Don't know what?" Jean sounded distracted as she was getting back to her sun.

"I don't know Colton's birthday."

There was a pause between the two women, but Greer saw Jean's reaction coming from a mile away.

"WAIT ... Hold on ... You don't know Colton's birthday?! But- He's your boyfriend…" the red head practically announced for the entire mansion to hear even from outside as Greer let out a low, embarrassed growl.

"The big guy has never bothered to share ok?" Greer snapped back before running a frustrated hand through her hair. Now that she thought of it ... what did she really know? None of the usual things girlfriends did ... favorite color ... movie ... parents ... siblings ... hell where was Colton even born?

"Agh ... I'm the world's WORST girlfriend. I threw such a huge fit when he forgot about mine and I don't even KNOW when his is. Who does that?" Greer put her head in her hands as Jean tried her best to disagree with that statement but found that she couldn't. Jean thought it best to slip around the table wrap an arm around her friend's shoulder. The tigress looked about ready to flip the table in frustration and while she was doing her best to stay out, she could still tell that Greer's mind was going a million miles a second. Greer leaned into her best friend, snuggling a little deeper for good measure.

"Well ... If you were going on a trip…" Jean ignored Greer's glare.

"Why not let Colton choose? I mean maybe you'll learn more about him that way. You know that they say, choices define a person."
Greer shook her head as Jean looked hopeful.

"I'm terrified he'll just pick the woods and drag me back there for a week. Besides, I have this feeling that … I'm just under the impression he doesn't really want to share these things about himself ... or if he'd even prefer to not know." Jean's brow furrowed, clearly deep in thought. Now she knew why Greer had been out here all day.

"Well remember that file the professor dug up about Colton? Go through it. I'm sure you can come up with something." she finally suggested after a few minutes of thinking from both women.

"Isn't that kind of invading into his privacy? I mean… I don't know Jean…" the tigress muttered uncomfortably, her tail curling underneath her.

"Hey all the files are accessible by staff. If Colton didn't request for it to be taken down then technically that means he's OK with it. Besides … I'm only asking you to look for places that could be significant to him, not memorize his entire biography." and with a shrug, Jean patted Greer on the shoulder before levitating her shoes to her hand and headed back inside. Greer bit her lip as she considered Jean's suggestion before shrugging and proceeded to log onto the school's portal to access Colton's file … and let out a low snarl.

"Of course he did." Nothing. There was nothing ... Colton was nowhere on the school's servers. She knew he identified as simply a number in terms of using the Danger Room and since his class was an elective ... he didn't have a teacher's profile. Greer could almost hear the familiar growl asking her if she thought it wise to have him on record at the school when SHIELD, Weapon X, and likely every other organization, good and bad, wanted him. He'd never make it that easy for someone to trace him back here.

"Doesn't mean you couldn't have made something easy for once." Greer grumbled as she leaned into the patio chair and brooded. Nothing ... how could she not even know where he -

Colorado

Greer sat straight up as the image of a newspaper headline flashed across her memory. But where did she ... no, didn't matter. It was a lead ... something. Flipping back to her notes and opening up her computer, Greer started making some adjustments to her big summer plans.

...

"Colton was is it?" Kitty had looked up from her textbook to see what she read as a concerned look on his muzzle. She liked to think she was getting better at reading to typically reserved panther.

"Nothing." Apex quickly slipped his tablet back into his bag and went back to his own textbook. But he was no longer thinking about mid-century English literature. He'd set up a number of alarms and it seemed someone had been searching for him on the school's server and after a moment of tracking back the IP he'd found out it had been ... Greer.

"You sure?" Apex glanced back up to find both Katherine and Amara giving him those looks they usually reserved for each other. A kind of ... concerned interest.

"It was nothing. Back to work." The girls shared a look before shrugging their shoulders and went back to studying. Colton kept his eye on them for a few more seconds before he felt it safe to go back to his new puzzle.

What was Greer looking for?


Greer had given Colton a good luck kiss as he'd headed off for yet another final as she found herself relaxing in her preferred corner of the kitchen just staring out the window across the grounds. Summer was almost back and it had the tigress feeling upbeat.

'Course that depends on how things go with Colton once he finishes with finals next week.' Greer reminded herself with a little nod as she turned her attention away from the window and back into the kitchen. She'd come to appreciate this time of year. With finals in full swing her tutoring hours was over and after this last month she was simply enjoying the quite. The rest of the staff were lounging around the kitchen, letting the students make use of their precious last minutes to study before they went to their respective classrooms and handed out exams.

The tigress let out a content sigh. Her research was about as complete as she could make it and she was ready to bring it to Colton once the semester was over. She was about to go back to her relaxed position when her ear swiveled and she froze ... her brow furrowed as she focused ... was that ...

"Logan's back." Betsy had a funny look on her face as she mumbled into her coffee. She'd wondered what Greer had been hearing and brushing across her friend's thoughts was enough for the red head to quickly confirm what her senses were telling her. Logan had pulled onto the drive, his tires crunching over the gravel. It had been what she'd picked up from Logan that had her slowly shaking her head.

"Bout time he got back ... I almost had cover his self-defense final." Scott grumbled as he put down his paper and crossed his arms, seemingly trying to find the right look to give the returning feral as Jean seemed a bit more preoccupied with her paper.

Greer meanwhile had slipped out of her chair and headed towards the garage to welcome Logan back. It had only been a little over two weeks but that didn't mean she hadn't missed him. Even after all this time and Colton and X-Force ... she still felt that bit of anxiety whenever Logan went off on his own. And she always felt that same sense of relief and excitement when he got back. But just as she was about to leave the kitchen she froze again as this time it was her nose that caught her attention and now it was Greer slowly shaking her head.

"Oh no ..." Greer sighed and simply leaned against the doorframe as the notorious feral finally made his way inside. All it took was one look at the rumpled hair, the dirty clothes and the haggard appearance. It had been on of those trips.

Logan stopped at the doorway, giving the kitchen a once over as the teachers all seemed to stop what they were doing and take him in. Logan finally settled on Greer who looked up from the floor and gave a little smile, earning a huff from the wolverine.

"Great example," Scott muttered as Logan crossed the room to the coffee maker.

"Get bent, Scooter," Logan growled out as he poured himself a cup.

"Boys - play nice. Logan - come on. Take off that smelly jacket and have a seat with us," Jean was trying to not make this like almost every other time Logan came back like this. "Please." The feral in question considered her from the counter as he downed the first cup then poured a second before slowly makinh his way over, glaring and smirking at Scott as he did it. He set the mug down and pulled the chair out when Jean made a pointed look at the stained coat.

"Sure it's the coat that smells?" Scott deadpanned but Logan ignored him and slipped off the jacket. As soon as Jean was certain Logan was settled in, she turned her head to her judging boyfriend.

"It doesn't hurt to be nice, Scott. Really," Jean admonished before turning back to Logan. Her mouth was open to say something when something on Logan's bicep grabbed her attention. Scott's face lost it's glower and was now a mixture of disbelief and highly entertained.

"Is .. is that a tattoo?" Jean spit out, eyebrows raised high. Most of the teachers in earshot craned their necks for a look. Jean though couldn't believe it. Logan meanwhile barely looked up from the rim of his mug with a wrinkled brow to look at Jean as if she'd cracked, then to Scott, who looks like he's simply considering what was the best thing to say. Logan saw where their eyes were locked on to and a quick glance over his shoulder earned yet another huff from the feral.

"Yeah. Probably. It'll be gone before lunch. Always are." Logan grumbled as he nursed the hangover fighting coffee.

"Always are?" How often does this happen ... and WHY would you keep doing it if it just fades away?" Jean sounded scandalized while Greer and Betsy shared a look and tried not to giggle too loudly. Both picking up on the fact that Logan had never gotten Jean's name tatooed before. Logan set his coffee down and tipped his arm better to see the ink.

"I did it because apparently... Trisha wanted to see her name on me before I left. Little souvenir to remember her by." Logan replied.

"But you didn't even remember her name without looking at ... that." Jean said derisively as she pointed at the ink. Logan just shrugged.

"Nope. Won't after it's gone either." And with that Logan pushed off the counter and with a little nod to Greer headed up to his room to shower. Last time he'd shown up to teach a class looking like that Xavier had ... words. Didn't mean he intended to show up on time though.

"Some things just never change." Greer half-laughed as she shook her head and went to listen to the rant she just knew Jean wanted to give.


"Come on Colton you have to come." Kitty whined as Amara nodded her head in adamant agreement.

"I told you. I'm not interested." The last final had just let out and despite his best efforts, Katherine and Amara had managed to catch him at the door. They'd been bugging him about some 'finals party' that the two girls and a few other students had organized. But getting dressed up, going into town, and spending hours following the teens from one loud, crowded place to the next ... he could think of better things. Anything really.

"Oh you're just saying that." Amara retorted as she and Katherine stepped in front of the much taller feral. He tried glaring down at them but it seemed to be losing it's affect as they simply smiled right back.

"Come onnnn ... you had us studying for weeks and now it's all over and we need to have some fun. You can bring Greer!" Apex raised an eyebrow at Katherine's yell until he felt a familiar set of claws scrape across his back, earning a low rumble the other two couldn't hear.

"Take me where?" Greer asked, giving the two teens a warm smile as she slipped next to Colton.

"We're all going out tonight. Come on Greer ... you remember how much fun tonight can be!" Amara practically squealed as she smiled conspiratorially.

"Right ... of course. Finals party." Greer nodded as Kitty and Amara mentally high fived. Everyone loved the last day of finals because of tonight. Of course, what neither of the two girls knew was that Greer had never really gone with Jean and the others girls on finals night. The one time she had she'd spent the whole night tucked away in a corner terrified of someone bumping into her or her inducer suddenly failing.

Apex however suddenly felt outnumbered and was trying to catch the tigress' eye to make it clear he was not doing this.

"I dunno ... what do you think Colton?" Greer looked up with a sly smile and tried not to giggle at the look she was getting from her boyfriend.

"Oh ... you're right." Kitty and Amara suddenly looked nervous as Greer nodded as if catching some meaning from the look the two felines had just shared.

"Right ... right about what?" Kitty sounded a bit worried as Greer again turned her attention back to the two students. Apex simply kept silent and waited to see what Greer was playing.

"I promised Colton we'd have dinner together. You know ... little date night." Greer wrapped her arms around Colton's and the two girls quickly shared her smile.

"Alright fine ... but you," Kitty pointed up at Colton, "are not out of this yet. The three of us are going to do something fun later." And with that Amara and Kitty hurried off to get ready for tonight.

"We didn't have plans for dinner tonight ..." Greer glanced up at the rumble and smiled.

"After getting you out of that? Damn right we do. And you're cooking." Apex shook his head a little before nodding. She was right.

...

Colton woke up to an empty spot next to him. Reaching for his tigress a few futile times he finally looked up to see Greer sitting at the side of the bed … her tail swaying ponderously. After dinner the two had spent most of the night outside simply enjoying the forest until finally coming back and falling into bed. Things had gotten ... interesting from there as remembered.

Greer finally looked up when a gentle arm wrapped around her waist.

"Morning." she smiled.

"Morning." Greer lay back down as Colton tugged her gently back to his chest and she ran a claw over the fur on his hand.

"Colton … What does the term soul searching mean to you." Apex scrunched up his brow. Meant nothing to him whatsoever. Greer however seemed to see that coming.

"Because I was thinking … We should so some soul searching this summer. You know ... Pack a suitcase. Grab a car and just take off."
Apex lowered his ears. This sounded an awful lot like a vacation. And he was certain he'd never wanted to repeat that particular experience after New York. Greer just rolled her eyes as she sensed his hesitation and rolled around so she could see him.

"It's not what you're thinking. I promise. No shopping, no people, just the two of us. Finding out more about each other ... ourselves." Greer watched carefully as Colton's eyes shifted away from her. Not good.

"Hold on ..." Apex didn't resist as Greer shifted so that she was on top of him, taking a moment to toss her hair back before resuming her pitch.

"Listen ... I get what we do - what you do - is important. Really. But ... I need us to step back. Just for a little while. Take a breath." Greer felt her tail swishing behind her as Colton just kept staring at her. "Don't you think our relationship shouldn't just revolve around trying not to get killed, or hunting down the next bad guy or being walled up in our room." Still nothing. Sometimes all that staring could drive her crazy ... like now. Was she getting through?

"Hold on ..." Greer crawled over to her side of the bed and reached for her notes. She'd show him ... she had it all planned out. "Look, here ... I thought of everything. We can start in - Colton?" She had to twist around to find him already with his shorts on and headed for the door.

"Hey - where are you going?!" Greer almost tripped as she rushed to pull on some shorts and grabbed a nearby tanktop. By the time she got to the stairs she could hear Colton heading ... outside? Was he leaving?

"Colton!" Greer finally caught up with him when he was already outside and marching resolutely towards the little used barn.

"Colton will you just stop and talk to me?" Greer tried not to yell as she walked next to him. "Listen I'm sorry alright. We don't need to go anywhere," Colton didn't pause as she pushed open the barn doors, "Will you just say something!"

Greer watched as Colton finally looked back at her ... before pulling a large, gray tarp off of something that had been sitting in the middle of the barn.

"What - is that a car?"

"Jeep ... actually." Apex corrected. Greer seemed transfixed as she slowly approached the black truck.

"But why do - what are you doing with this?" Greer finally looked up to see a smirk on Colton's muzzle.

"I was under the impression that a road trip required a car." Greer just stared blankly for a few moments before running around the front of the jeep and launching herself at her boyfriend.

"So that means we're going?!" Apex nodded and Greer was kissing him, her legs wrapped around his waist. It went on for about a minute before Greer felt herself rested on top of the hood.

"But why? How did you - oh don't you dare ... don't tell me that you -" she only needed to see the look on his muzzle to know. He'd looked on her computer, "It was supposed to be a surprise!" Greer slapped him on the chest with a low growl.

"And it was. I also made a few ... additions to your itinerary." Now that got Greer's attention as she raised a curious eyebrow.

"Oh really?" She really wanted to get back to her notes to see what he was talking about ... but first, "hey ummm ... how exactly did you get this?" Greer ran an appreciative hand over the hood of the Jeep Grand Cherooke (if she had to guess).

"I bought it." Apex said with a shrug. Now both of Greer's eyebrows went up.

"Wait ... with what?" Apex was smirking again.

"Money. What else?" Greer narrowed her eyes as she leaned back to get a better look at Colton.

"Hold on ... you have money? From where?" Apex suddenly had a slightly different but familiar look, "OK, ignore that question. But seriously ... you actually like - have real money?" Apex nodded slowly. He didn't like the tone Greer had ... and that look was familiar.

"OK, I lied. I need to go make some more edits to our trip!" Greer gave him a final kiss and with a backwards roll she was running out of the barn and back up to their room. Now Apex knew that look ... shopping. Wonderful. Giving a heavy sigh and an appreciative look at his jeep, the panther carefully put the tarp back and locked up the barn.

He had a trip to pack for.

"Sounds like you got quite the summer ahead of you."

Apex had his claws raised and ready to strike as he turned to find Nick Fury step out of the shadows of the rear of the barn.

"Whoa ... easy now." Fury warned as he kept his gun raised on the dark feral. Apex had his eyes narrowed as he breathed in. He ... couldn't smell him. That was new. The panther quickly looked around the space for the agents he knew had to be there.

"There's no one else here. Just me." Apex let out a derisive snort. "Alright ... fine. Just me and Agent Romanoff a hundred yards out with a rifle aimed at your heart." Fury shrugged as he holstered his weapon. Apex did not stand down.

"We need to talk." Fury took a few steps forward, and kept his eye on the feral.

"I'm not going to stop." Apex growled. A number of the Weapon X assets he had taken down had been on SHIELD's radar ... some even had ties to a few teams.

"I'm not here about that," Fury sounded frustrated as he brushed his coat back to put his hands on his hips, "though it'd make my life a hell of a lot easier if it was." Apex finally lowered his hand and took a step back.

"What do you want?" Fury being here ... like this ... it was off. Off grid. Off books. He didn't want anyone knowing he was here.

"I keep a balance. It's my job. But sometimes ... that balance comes in danger of tipping. And when that happens ... I need someone that I can trust to fix it. Protect that balance."

"I don't work for you anymore. You want help? Go to Logan." Apex growled. But Fury shook his head.

"You don't get it. Logan is too exposed. He's on almost every god damn hero team there is. Name all over the papers. Both public ... and private. And this ... I can't go to him." There was that tone again ... frustrated and almost ... tired. No ... this was a trick. A trap.

"Forget it. You're on your own." Apex turned to leave.

"You don't do this? You put every kid in that place in danger. All of you." Apex stopped. Fury could be lying but ... he glanced over his shoulder back at the Mansion before looking down at Fury.

"What happened?" Apex rumbled, taking a step closer. Fury looked back at him and let out a low breath.

"We have a situation in New Hampshire."