Well ... here it is. You have no idea how long I've been waiting to write this chapter and trust me ... BIG things are coming. Of course HUGE shout out to Canuckle. Pretty sure you'll figure out why on your own ...
Cheshire - I regret nothing ; )
Canuckle - thanks for that. Was thinking on that for a while and just glad it worked out how it did. Not to worry ... left plenty of things in the dark and will be getting around to just what those felines were up to. Someone taught me the benefits of leaving things open ...
Guest - ummm ... right ... thanks
As they pulled off the highway, a three day car journey finally in the rear view mirror, Greer had gone from dozing in her seat to a bundle of excitement as she started checking her reflection or texting on her phone or doing anything but sitting still. She was so close!
"Colton I can't believe we're actually going to meet her. Oh my god I can't believe it ... Logan is engaged!" Apex let out a low rumble mixed with a sigh. Greer had been saying some version of that practically non-stop for the last week and it seemed to be getting worse the closer they got to Xavier's.
"And there's nothing else you know about her?" Greer lowered Colton with a look as she turned in her seat to glower at him.
"I told you everything that you needed to know."
"Which doesn't amount to much of anything without a name." Apex shot her a look of his own, causing the tigress' ears to droop slightly but she kept her ground.
"That's because I didn't want you finding out every little secret she might have and coming in ready to chase her off. This is Logan's fiance. And you will be nice to her." There was a faint growl in Greer's words before she turned back in her seat in a huff. Of course that didn't last long as they finally entered the grounds and she was smiling and bouncing in her seat once again.
As they finally pulled through the gates, Greer turned to smile at the line of students exiting the forest on horseback behind what appeared to be a cowgirl, complete with a cowboy hat. Greer's nod towards the woods catching Colton's attention.
"That must be her!" Apex wasn't certain why Greer was whispering. He doubted even with the windows down the small woman could hear her, "Jean said the kids are smitten with her. Almost as much as Logan is," the tigress said with a smirk. He barely glanced towards the woman in question. Despite all the excitement surrounding this ... 'engagement' ... if she was anything like the girls Logan usually got involved with, this wouldn't last long. The panther recalled all the names associated with the older feral ... ones only used in the past tense. The fact she was teaching her simply added another layer.
"C'mon ... C'mon ... stop the car!" Greer had her hand on the doorhandle and the moment they rolled to a stop Greer practically burst out of the jeep. The tigress just soaked in the familiar sounds and scents ... The sounds of the riding class laughing and joking around echoed up to her ears ... followed by the familiar laugh of -
"Jean!" Shooting Colton a quick smile Greer ran inside. Apex simply shook his head and moved to unload. He'd admit ... he was relieved they were back. Despite all his issues with living at Xavier's ... it brought a sense of security. Now that he and Fury had a new understanding, he wasn't worried about any surprise raids. But as he went about unloading, past the smell of the horses, and sound of kids filing away from the barn ... a hauntingly familiar scent reached him.
Apex slowly straightened up and locked onto the barn. Shooting a look back towards the Mansion and Greer ... he slipped the baretta from his back holster under the seat of the car before closing it and started to stalk toward the barn, avoiding the students cheerfully making their way up to the house.
He had to be silent. He had to strike first. And it could never see him coming.
He had gone out hunting for Weapon X. Weapon X had been here waiting for him. That was fine. It would not be leaving alive.
...
The woman inside had just put a horse in it's stall and carried a saddle into the tack room while he slipped into the rafters. Its scent was everywhere ... though seeing it was still difficult to process. It had been years ... She had escaped ... Disappeared ...
How ... Why ... How long ...
No
None of that mattered. It was dead.
He watched as it slipped a saddle onto some type of rack, he could hear it pause as he maneuvered into position. Enhanced senses ... speed ... agility ... healing ... he had practiced for this a hundred times. No scent of a weapon in the barn aside from the shotgun in the last stall and the handgun taped to the third rafter. Course none of that was really necessary ... not when the thing was deadlier than both.
There ... cautious steps out of a storage room. He slipped just around the side. Patience ... Three ... Two ... One ...
It was nearly out when Apex grabbed it by the shirt and flung it across the barn where it slammed into a stall door with a resounding crack. He was there before it could hit the ground, grabbing the throat this time and making contact with another wall before throwing it to the ground. He needed to rush it ... never give it time to think ... use his size and speed to his advantage. He had always ended his simulations as fast as possible but he'd never considered needing to get answers first.
"Why are you here?" he growled out as he increased the pressure around the neck while leaving his fist raised above the heart. Tearing out the heart was always key ... when it all but shot out from under him with a move he'd never seen. At least never from her.
"I'm here for Logan," she breathed out after she'd gotten her feet under her. He stopped for just a second as her words rang in his head.
"No." Apex's snarl filled the barn raising a chorus of screaming horses. So she wasn't here for him ... Logan was the target. But she wasn't taking him. Weapon X wasn't taking anyone. Not again.
With a roar loud enough to pop a ferals eardrums he charged. Kicks ... punches ... claws ... elbows ... he just needed to land one hit and it would be over. It managed to avoid him for longer than he would have expected but it was only a matter of time. And when he did, a punch to her center mass that sent her hitting the roof before crashing onto the concrete, he heard the crack he'd been waiting for.
Apex paused his assault as he felt a burning sensation in his right hand. Looking at it, his brow drew together, as he saw most of his fingers were broken along with a fair number of claws. It only took him looking back at K - really looking at her - to realize what he had overlooked.
He watched as K pushed herself back to her feet, a hand checking a trail of claw marks bleeding freely at her side, before she let out a snarl of her own and popped the adamantium claws. Apex felt his world slow ... Weapon X had finally found her again and finished what they had started ... there was no question about it now. Weapon X had come out of the shadows.
Fine ... he could still kill it.
With another roar, the two engaged.
...
Greer and Jean were still embracing and laughing when Logan came up from the lower levels with Scott. On seeing him, Greer finally released Jean in favor of rushing Logan, nearly knocking him over when she gave him a bear hug.
"Nice to see you too, Tigger – where's Colton?" Logan asks with a genuine smile. It was a look that Greer wasn't used to seeing on him.
"Who cares about him? You're getting married!" Greer practically roared, earning another laugh from her mentor and a teasing smile from the tigress.
"Wow. You've been keeping that smile to yourself all these years? That doesn't seem fair to the rest of us," she teased as he grinned earnestly. She liked it much more when he smiled instead of growling when she picked on him.
"Yeah, forgot I had one," he replied, a twinkle to his eye.
"Wait until you meet her, Greer. She lets us pick out her clothes," Jean said with a laugh.
"Ooh. Does she need more? I could use a trip." the two women got to conspiring as the riding class came in, sweaty and smiling as always.
"Hey, Jubes – is K done?" Jean asked, "Greer and I need to size her up for new clothes." Jubilee turned to look at her.
"Yeah, she should be right behind us," Jubes replied waving a hello at Greer as she walked backwards towards the stairs with a grin.
The smile slipped from Logan's face and he crinkled his brow for a moment, as if he was focusing on something on the floor. He was moving toward the door before he'd really thought about it. When he opened it, both Greer and Jean's heads whipped toward him – snarls and growls were echoing up from the barn as Logan broke into a run, his hat falling off his head halfway to the horse barn, the two women in his wake.
"Colton!" Logan shouted out as he approached, seeing the two of them –both bleeding freely, but K visibly shaken as she popped a shoulder back into place with a grimace as the panther's growl still filled the air. He had never fought her like this before ... she moved and fought differently. But it was over. Logan was here ... between the two of them would fini- "What the hell're you doin, boy?"
"She's here to kill you." he growled in response, his eyes never leaving K, who looked totally confused. Logan matched.
"If she was gonna kill me, she's had more than enough opportunity. She's been sharing my bed for months." Logan replied, but Apex was reluctant to listen, shaking his muzzle.
"Then she's here to kill Greer – or me."
"Are you crazy or something? I don't even know you, furball," K snarled back at him, sure that the large feral in front of her was nuts. To Greer and Logan's surprise, Colton actually did a double take, quickly covering his shock and returning to his crouch as Logan pushed past him and stood in front of K, squaring off himself with Apex.
"You're not going to hurt her, kid. Not without going through me first," Logan growled out. Apex didn't seem deterred and Jean tried to deescalate the situation as she saw where things were headed.
"Colton, she didn't know you guys were coming – why would she want to kill you!?" Jean shouted, aghast at the scene unfolding before her.
"She's Weapon X." Colton said, trying hard to get Logan to understand. He didn't want to hurt the older feral and Greer seemed to pale at the news and subconsciously slipped a hair closer to Colton, hiding behind his bulk while eyeing the bleeding brunette warily.
"Yeah, I know. But how the hell do you know?" Logan growled out. Apex froze as the group all turned for an explanation. Years flashed by in his mind as the panther slowly came out of his crouch to stand at his full height, his glare still fixed on K.
"You turn your back on them and think that they'll just leave you - or any of us - alone. But I have never stopped hunting them. I know everyone that's been through that program. All of them. And that one," he pointed a claw at K, "Is a weapon. And she'll kill everyone in this place." Greer placed a hand on Colton's arm as Logan let out a sigh and shook his head as K started to step out next to him. He knew that Colton had not answered his question but now wasn't the time to press for the truth.
"Alright, X-22. What should we do about it? Punish her for something she didn't ask for?" Apex huffed in response but Logan pressed his point, "She's not a Weapon anymore. Neither am I. Neither are you," he growled out, though Apex paid more attention to how he pushed K behind him again, "I won't let you kill her." Logan's growl was familiar to Apex and it was aimed directly at him, earning a more measured look at the two ferals before him. Logan was serious ... he was willing to fight him to protect her.
It was worse than he thought.
"Can everyone calm down just a little bit?" Scott tried reclaiming some sense of control over the situation ... a move clearly all the ferals involved ignored. Apex still had his eyes on K, Greer was clearly at war with herself between believing Colton, fearing K, and trusting Logan, and Logan still wouldn't let K from behind him. Things stood like that for a few moments until K finally retracted her claws and rested a hand on Wolverine's shoulder.
"Um …. Colton?" K started to say as Apex growled low ... he didn't like her saying his name. She'd never said his name before. K however kept talking, "There is only one person on this planet that I want dead – and you aren't him." He watched her a moment before dropping his growl. He considered her for a moment as a host of names crossed his mind before settling on one.
"Creed." he growled out and she nodded in agreement.
"Then we have a common ground outside of hating Weapon X?" K asked. He paused, taking her in, aware of Greer just behind him and the other X-Men, trying to decide. He could kill her ... he knew that. But the way the others were looking at him showed that to them ... he was the danger. And after these last few months ... he couldn't expose Greer by taking her away again. He knew she'd follow him.
Now wasn't the time.
Apex let out a rumble of resignation as his eyes shifted to rest for a moment on the diamond ring on her left hand. She didn't look threatening, but then again – that was what made her so dangerous. Logan's growl snapped him out of his pondering and he finally nodded. There was a collective release of breath.
Sensing that further bloodshed wasn't imminent, Greer slipped next to Colton in order to figure out where are that blood was coming from while keeping an eye on K. Jean meanwhile eyed the two felines before turning her attention to the little brunnet.
"You definitely need new clothes," Jean assessed as K finally looked down at what was left of her ensemble. It wasn't much with freshly healed skin counting more than fabric.
"Damnit. I actually liked that shirt," K grumbled as Logan raised an eyebrow at her. She put one arm across her chest as she turned her back to Colton, Greer and Jean, her head turned toward Logan who had already started unbuttoning his flannel.
"Don't need to have the boys gettin' too many impure thoughts about ya. You should hear what they say as it is," Logan teased as she slipped the flannel on, wrapping it tightly around herself with a smirk. Logan's tone had Apex's ear twitch in their direction.
"You don't say," she replied as he put his arm around her back – a protective gesture missed by no one. As the two of them started to walk toward the door, Logan stayed between K and Colton, the former keeping a firm look ahead while the latter watched her carefully from the side, Logan not taking his eyes off him until they'd passed by.
"Interesting to meet you two," K said as they left the barn. Scott gave his head a shake and grumbled something about ferals before heading back inside with Remy, Rogue, Jubilee and Kitty in tow. Only Jean stayed behind with Greer who seemed to be trying to use a blanket she'd found laying around and cut into strips to stop the three deep gashes bleeding freely from Colton's left side.
Jean wanted to explain things to Colton but ... the look on his face ... Jean took a step back to head towards the mansion herself when Colton's rumble stopped her as if she could feel his eyes on the back of her head.
"Something on your mind, Colton?" she asked. There was little that could have gone worse with that meeting.
"Colton not now - god ... I think you need to go see Hank," Greer winced as she tentaively checked the bloody bandage before tossing it away and moving to replace it but Apex shrugged the tigress off and addressed Jean.
"Tell me everything you know about her," his tone was serious enough that Jean wasn't sure he had really asked so much as told. She worried her lip a moment before nodding her head as she hugged herself.
"Right now?"
"No -"
"Yes." Apex growled over Greer. His wound wasn't fatal ... far from it. He would heal. What he needed now was information. And he knew that out of everyone in the mansion, Jean was the best one to ask. She looked from Colton to the worried Greer as she tossed her hands up and addressed her friend.
"Greer – this is the same woman I've been telling you about for months. You can't honestly believe we'd let someone this close to Logan if we weren't sure. Charles checked her out himself." Jean replied.
"And you can't honestly believe that Logan would let you stop him if it was someone he wanted. Also, she just stabbed my boyfriend and I can't stop the bleeding so sue me if I'm feeling a little suspicious." Greer countered. "Please, I need to know if he's in danger." Jean looked put out but nodded, scanning the area quickly for anyone that might be eaves dropping before taking a deep breath and 'debriefing' them both about what they knew of her past, and all that had happened since she'd come to the mansion. By the end of the story, she could see Greer was rather horrified and Colton processing.
"They make a wonderful couple, Colton. He's got hope. That by itself should be enough – but she really has been good for the kids too. The girls she came in with said she'd been protecting them for months. That doesn't sound much like a Weapon X move to me."
Jean watched the panther carefully as he seemed to be considering something before finally looking back at her.
"No ... not like Weapon X." Jean gave a small smile of relief. Maybe they could all move past this. It wasn't that Jean had her own reserves about K but ... they didn't involve killing her. Just her wardrobe.
"Good," Jean looked down at the wound Greer was still trying to dress and frowned, "You really should get that looked at Colton." And with that Jean turned on her heel and headed back to the house.
The moment K and Logan stepped into the house, K found herself being led by the hand not upstairs as she had thought ... but down.
"Why are we going down here? I don't have any clothes in the locker room."
"Just be quiet. Somethin' I gotta do right now." K stayed quite but didn't hide the raised eyebrow as Logan headed to the observation booth for the Danger Room. It was only after he sealed the doors that K found herself with the use of both hands as Logan busied himself at the computer.
"What are you doing?" K asked skeptically. At first she'd thought Logan was powering up a new simulation. Wouldn't be the first time she'd gotten thrashed like that and he'd taken her immediately to the Danger Room to figure out how to make sure it never happened again. And speaking of what just happened ...
"Logan, who the hell was that?" K shot a glance back at the door but Logan didn't turn around as his fingers danced over the keys, his answer a distracted rumble.
"He's a previous weapon for weapon X. I was the original. They kept going after I got loose. Trying to duplicate or ... do better. He's number 22."
"What happened to the other ones?" K knew of a few ex-Weapon's but the idea that there might be more than a dozen others with that kind of reaction had her on edge.
"Don't worry about it." Logan grumbled. Almost done ...
"Well alright. What happened to the rest of 'em?" She asked cautiously. Another surprise. Simple math said there was the possibility of over a dozen more. She had to wonder how many of them were going to get their panties twisted and screw up her barn. Or worse ... the cabin ... the cottage ... or ... if one of the girls was in the way? No good. It had her questioning how wise it was for her to stick around with 'the original.'
"He killed the rest of 'em." Logan responded with a weary sigh as he logged off and spun to face his fiance. They met eyes for a moment and he gave her a tight look as he patted his knee. She slowly crossed the room and let him pull her into his lap where he could hold onto her. This ... couldn't be good.
"Not great. But then ... why does he think I'm some threat? I never had a number attached to me ..." Logan remembered some of what Xavier had mentioned about K's past. Even without it ... he knew that Weapon X had wanted her for something big. The recent adamantium infusion was a very expensive testament to that.
"Don't matter. Least of all to him," Logan looked around the observation room and scrunched his brow uncomfortable with the setting for this conversation. He gave her a quick kiss and a slap on the thigh. "Let's go."
"Where?" She asked as she stood and he took her hand firmly in his. "You don't need to hold my hand everywhere. I'm not going anywhere." K protested as she pulled back from him. She wasn't exactly used to him acting so protective all the time. Sure, back at Weapon X when they'd just escaped Creed but here? He stepped back toward her and leaned in close to her, his lips brushing her ear with his answer.
"Not here." Logan breathed out and K gave him a simple nod in understanding as she squeezed his hand. She readjusted the grip ... entwining her fingers with his and this time, he didn't have to drag her ... instead she matched his pace, keeping tight to his side as he led her to their room.
Greer sat tense on the edge of the bed watching as Colton stood poring over his tablet and silently bleeding onto the floor. She just kept staring at that steady drip onto the floor ... drip ... drip ... drip ... they hadn't even made it inside and he was already bleeding ... drip ... drip ... drip ... She had looked so friendly ... drip ... dri -
"Logan."
"What?" Colton's growl snapped Greer back into the present. After speaking to Jean, Greer had almost had to run to keep up with Colton as he'd stalked straight back to their room and his tablet. Her attempts to redress his wound had been met with a growl of, 'not now' and so she'd just sat.
"Nothing," Apex let out another growl of frustration. Seemed Logan had taken precautions ... Greer stared at her boyfriend work himself into a stream of low growls. OK this had to stop, plus the bleeding was really bothering her. He usually started healing by now.
"Colton," Greer waited for the panther to acknowledge her, "Colton please look at me." Apex closed his eyes and took a breath before looking at the tigress, her concern evident.
"Colton ... what happened down there? How do you know K? Why do you think she's so dangerous."
"I know she's dangerous." Greer let out a sigh and ran a hand through her hair. This wasn't the welcome she'd been expecting ... She didn't think anything could top that in terms of "how situations could go south so quickly".
"Alright but how? How do you know her ... is it from Weapon X? Were you there together? Can she know something about your past?" Apex shot Greer a different look ... one she couldn't quite interpret when suddenly he was heading for the door.
"It doesn't matter. She won't be here long." Greer furrowed her brow for a second before her eyes shot wide and she quickly slipped in front of the panther who let out a rumble of frustration.
"Move." But Greer shook her head with a low growl of her own and stood her ground. She wasn't as subdued as she was a few seconds ago.
"What do you mean 'she won't be here long? What are you going to do?'" Apex stared straight back as his tail twitched until he finally looked away.
"It's better that you don't know." He stalked past Greer and into the hallway but again she blocked his path, earning a faint growl.
"No - no don't you even think about it. This is Logan we're talking about. He vouched for her. Colton she - she makes him happy. I've never seen Logan this happy." Apex couldn't believe what he was hearing. Greer was worried about Logan's happiness. K was here ... in the Mansion. Their home.
"You don't understand. She's dangerous." Apex's hands were in fists, a rare sign of him trying to keep in control.
"And you're not?!" Greer's growl seemed to reverberate down the hall and she took a small step back as her ears dropped as realized what she'd said. A lot had happened over those last few months ... she hadn't meant to ... The tigress rubbed her forehead. She had to rethink how she was going to handle this…
"Colton, we've both went through Weapon X, you longer than me and we both know they make people do ... terrible things." Greer crossed her arms as she stepped closer to the panther who was no longer looking at her, "I understand your concern. I do. I swear that I do. More than anyone else in this building. You want to protect Logan - all of us. I get it. But you can't just kill her. You can't do that to him."
"Greer ..." Apex looked down at the tigress but she raised a claw to let her finish.
"Not without proof," Apex narrowed his eyes "If you can prove that K is some secret Weapon X assassin here to murder everyone in their sleep? Fine. Then by all means do what you want. Till then? Do ... Not ... Touch ... Her." Greer was silent as she waited on Colton until she saw the slightest of tension leave his shoulders.
"Not without proof." Greer let out a sigh of her own at the rumble. It definitely wasn't a win but ... least it was a start…. Small victories she reminded herself.
"Alright ... now I'm taking you Hank. I think you've bled on the carpets long enough." And with that Greer took the panther's hand and led him downstairs, ignoring the shaking of her legs… It was hard to reason with Colton when he got so intense like that…
Logan waited until the two felines had hit the bottom of the elevator before slipping around the corner with K and heading up to their room. Just catching a whiff of Colton ... bleeding from the fight with K had him irritated again. Now that he'd wiped any trace of her from the servers ... the two of them needed to have a heart to heart. The very fact that it had become a necessity had him riled. At everyone.
"What the hell was that?" Logan growled out low when he got her into their room and shut the door. His tone was urgent, and he was locked onto her like he'd never done. And K flat didn't know how to answer him. She'd thought they'd just covered it in the control booth.
"The fight? I don't know - I was in the tack room and the next thing I knew, I was going toe to toe with a big goddamned tomcat." She moved to take the flannel shirt off he'd given her and he shook his head and grabbed her hands. He really didn't need her getting naked when he wanted answers.
"You're sure?" She looked put out as her mouth dropped open for a second and she searched for some divine intervention.
"I have never seen anyone even remotely like that before. Trust me, I'd remember it." He let out a sigh and worked his mouth as he watched her. She wasn't lying.
"You may not know him, but he sure as hell knows you. You can't remember ever seeing him? Nothing at all?" She shook her head and looked up to meet his eyes. The confusion on her face was plain to see, and not at all manufactured. He let out a sigh as he took a step toward her, his arms out. He knew an erased memory when he saw one.
"Alright. Okay. We'll figure it out. Don't worry about it right now," he rumbled as he pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. The last thing he needed was her getting the wrong idea about everything and taking off. "Doesn't change a thing between us. You're mine and no one's takin' you from me."
"That's very reassuring, love ... but ... who the hell are they and why did they show up now?" K said as she nuzzled into his neck. She could feel him smiling as his amused chuckle rumbled in his chest.
"They're here because of you, darlin'," he answered before he tangled his fingers in her hair and kissed her. "They showed up for you."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean? I just told you I don't know that cat." He grinned and took her hand in his and kissed her palm.
"I'm not bein' clear. There here because of you and me." Still, she looked blankly at him. "Because you said yes."
"The ... no. Not because ..." he nodded his head as her brows drew together. "But ..."
"Just never mind. Get naked. Get in the shower. I wanna wash all that blood off before I try and explain myself any further."
K didn't argue and it was another hour later before the two ferals found themselves back in bed, K's head on his shoulder, her leg across his and his arm around her as Logan stared up at the ceiling, deep in thought.
"So about that little problem with the tomcat ..." Logan's eyebrow raised as he shifted to get a read on her expression. She looked too serious.
"No problem."
"not so sure about that, stud." Logan let out a sigh and sat up while K pulled the sheet up to cover herself a bit.
"Leave Colton be. He won't try anythin' stupid with me around. Keep your distance and let him figure it out for himself that you're not who he thinks you are. Last thing I need is you givin' him an excuse." Logan didn't hide his growl, considering that just might be what Colton wanted.
"As long as I don't ... right. Because I gave him one before," She challenged as she sat up next to him, her legs dangling off the bed. He scrubbed his hand over the stubble on his face as he tried to find the best way to convince her. Fortunately, his tense reaction was just about enough for her. "Fine. He's right. Breathing really was baiting him. I should have known better. What about the tabby?" Logan looked back at K with a raised eyebrow.
"You mean Greer?" K nodded and waited for his thoughts. Logan seemed to consider things for a moment before shaking his head, "Unless she approaches you probably best you keep your distance. Like I said ... last thing we need is -"
"Another lame excuse for him to /try/ and kill me. Got it. " K said as she kept her gaze to the carpet. He let out a sigh. That was not how this was supposed to be.
"It shouldn't take too long. Just keep doin' what you always do. Ignore him. He'll come around," he tried to assure her as his hand slid across her shoulders. "But for now .."
"THe best way to avoid him is right .. here ... am I right?" She finished for him with a smirk.
