OK ... Bit of house keeping. Added a few lines to the last chapter. No big deal, just Logan telling K to leave Colton be and that Greer would be OK but ... best she not push Colton and leave her be as well. Tried fitting that someplace in this chapter but honestly it was meant for the last chapter. Sorry bout that.
Also ... BIG shoutout and thank you to canuckle. I've always had Apex (like ... decades) and when I first considered writing something it was gonna be just me and him. Then Cheshire and Greer came along. And now I have Canuckle and K. The fact either of them has let Apex join them ... huge honor. Hope I keep doing them both justice.
NOW ...
Shoutouts to Canuckle, Cheshire, Spanky1988 (welcome!) and Retro (welcome back!) for the reviews. I want them. I need them. So thank you.
He was in the woods.
He was in a shed.
He was strapped to a chair.
He was bleeding.
He was crying.
He was blind.
He had been there for hours but it felt like years.
"Are you - are you there? ... let me go ... please ... please ... just let me go ..."
"Carlos LaMuerto. Strength, speed, agility, durability, energy beam projection and ... healing factor."
Black Tarantula shuddered in his piss soaked chair. It was the first time he'd heard his voice. It reminded him of an angry storm.
"Let me go ... I - I'll give you anything ... Just stop ..." Carlos wasn't sure how many times he'd died. He'd never died so many times ... and wished it would stick.
"I can't let you go." The rumble was closer now, earning a stifled yell from Carlos.
"Wh - why!? Please! I didn't do anything to deserve this - I ... I can give you anything you want - money ... women ... please, just ... let me go and I'll ... .I'll forget I ever saw you." Carlos strained against the chains holding him in place until he began struggling for breath as a clawed hand closed around his throat.
"I can't do that."
"But WHY?"
"Because you're practice." Apex growled before plunging his other hand into Black Tarantula's chest and crushing his heart. He left it there for a few moments until Carlos stopped kicking before pulling it out.
This was the fifteenth time he'd attempted to kill Black Tarantula. The first with the drug compound he'd stolen from a Weapon X weapons depot. With his ... gift ... he knew how to kill anyone. But that didn't do much good when his target could come back from the dead.
She was here ... In his home ... A danger ... A threat ... Greer ... The students ... Logan ...
"uhhhh ... nnnn ..." Apex checked the time. Forty-Two minutes ... an improvement. But still a failure.
"Pl ... lmm - **SWACK!**
Apex finished his kick and spotted over his shoulder to watch Tarantula's head smack off the tiled wall. The feral let out a frustrated rumble. He was out of time ... and still left with questions. This particular move wouldn't do him much good ... not anymore.
Checking the time once more, Apex moved to clean up.
He'd promised Greer he'd be back in time to watch a movie.
"So have you seen them?"
K glanced up from her coffee to find Zoe and Chloe slip in across from her at the table she and Logan preferred in one of the more secluded corners of the kitchen. She calmly went back to the paper, pointedly ignoring where the girls were headed.
"Seen who?" K turned the page, not even attempting to engage the two girls who clearly were far too excited for this early in the morning. K took another sip of coffee. Logan had already headed to shower before class making this one of her few minutes of the day where she was actually alone.
"Them. You know ..." Chloe said in a conspiratorial whisper as she and her sister glanced over their shoulders at K could only assume was Greer.
It was already a week since the two felines got back and every morning was like the first. Jean, Betsy, Rogue and Kitty would surround the tigress and their table was a constant source of whispers, yelling, and laughing. K was perfectly happy to no longer be the focus of all the attention and spent her mornings snuggled next to Logan. (my mental image is like ... three empty tables between the girls and K/Logan. like a gulf. K doesn't mind ... relishes it actually).
"Oh. Yeah, we were introduced." K's sarcasm was seemingly lost on the two girls.
"Wait so you've met Greer? What do you think? Professor Summers said I should sign up for her 'Applied Gymnastics' class ... whatever that is."
"Can't really form an opinion on her personally. I haven't really spoken to her - but if she's tight with Jean, I'm sure she's alright."
"And the class?" K glanced up for a second to see the expectant look Chloe was giving her. K hadn't really meant for her role of babysitter to somehow morph into defacto-parent. Not that there was much she could do about it now.
"Try it out," K gave a little shrug, "You can always drop it if you don't like it. Just a class."
"OK but ... What about the other one?" Zoe nudged her sister, clearly trying to get the conversation back on track.
"What other one?" Chloe turned in her seat to look at her sister while K resolutely lifted her paper a little higher.
"You mean you haven't seen him?" Zoe clearly was enjoying knowing something her younger sister didn't.
"Oh come on Zoe."
"No really, wait until you see ... him." Chloe looked at her sister curiously as she seemed to sink back into her seat and look past her. Looking over her shoulder, Chloe froze as what could only be described as a giant panther stood in the doorway and she swore he was glaring directly at ... no not her ... Chloe slowly turned back to find K still resolutely behind her paper.
"K ... K ..." Chloe whispered harshly towards her mentor who didn't seem at all interested.
"Hmmm ..." K half-grunted doing a spectacular impersonation of her grizzled fiance.
"What is that and why is it staring at you like that?" Chloe and Zoe seemed torn between keeping an eye one the massive feral and another on K who took one look over her paper before going back behind it.
"That'd be fuzznuts." Chloe almost choked on her juice as Zoe double-took so fast she practically fell out of her chair.
"That is not his name." Zoe whispered clearly terrified giant-panther-monster-man had heard while Chloe banged on her chest to resume breathing.
"Not who's name?" Jubilee slipped next to K with a smile. She was glad that Greer was back but some alone time with K was too good to miss.
"Fuzznuts." K said in a monotone, earning a 'shhh' from Zoe.
"Fuz - oh you mean Colton." Jubilee nudged K.
"See! Knew that wasn't his name." Zoe grumbled as Chloe finally rejoined the conversation.
"It could be," K muttered as she set the mug down again. But the sisters' attention had shifted to Jubilee.
"So ... who is he?" Chloe whispered as Zoe and her leaned in towards Jubilee. K gritted her teeth and locked her jaw ... she'd just been trying to get a few moments peace ...
"He's ... well, he's Colton," Jubilee could see her answer wasn't satisfying and rolled her eyes, "I dunno ... the team brought him back here after a mission to save Greer like ... a year ago. Didn't take long before the two of them were a thing."
"OK ... but what does he do?" Zoe suddenly shot up a bit, "Wait ... he doesn't teach does he?" Both sisters suddenly had horrible scenarios run through their heads. Like Logan's class but worse.
"Pfff ... Colton? No way. Just watches over the gym couple times a week. He's gone most of the time I think. Rarely see him outside of meals and even then ... I personally think he leaves the grounds. Even though he's not supposed to." Jubilee shrugged as she glanced over at the two felines who had moved from the popular table to their own corner across the kitchen.
"What do you mean he's not supposed to?" Zoe asked, tilting her head a little to the side. K glanced toward Jubilee for an instant. She doubted what Jubilee had said so far was even 10% of the whole story. But this was new information to her.
"No one's really sure. When he first came here I know SHIELD came looking for him. Couple times after that Scott and the Professor went down to the gate to talk to some guy and they'd put the school in lockdown. Then just couple months ago they landed like ... two Quinn Jets in the backyard and actually stormed the place. Heh," Jubilee shook her head, "should have seen Wolvie's face. Jean had to pin him to a wall in one of the classrooms." That got K's ears to perk up. She tipped her head a bit more toward the little firecracker, her paper drooping in the slightest.
"So he just ... hangs out here?" The sisters shot a look at the panther, not liking the idea.
"Like I said, no ones really sure. I personally doubt it. I've seen him in action ... dude doesn't mess around." Jubilee looked back to see the look on the girls' faces and quickly raised her hands.
"Hey relax. Really. He's one of the good guys. He pulled Amara and Kitty's a*** out of the fire when some goons tried roughing them up." Jubilee quickly explained, earning clearly surprised looks from Zoe and Chloe as K arched one eyebrow and resolutely returned to feigning reading.
"And what about Greer?" Chloe asked for the two of them. Now Jubilee smiled as she leaned back.
"Oh Greer is awesome. Been here for years."
"And has she always been ..." Chloe seemed to not be sure how to finish her thought.
"Furry? Yea. Well as long as I've known her that is." Jubilee responded.
"And she never changes back?" Zoe sounded surprised.
"Changes back?" Jubilee asked, clearly not sure where Zoe was going.
"Yea you know ... to normal." K let out a huff of air as she gently folded the paper up.
"Normal? Really Zoe? When was the last time you saw normal around here? Sure as hell not at this table, let alone that one. Why don't you just drop that crap and accept that. There's no such thing as normal. Even if you were a non-mutant, you'd be different," K snarked up dryly.
"Well ... jeez. She just told you," Jubilee teased at Zoe with a grin as K gathered herself to leave.
"Another thing," K said as she stood up and put her hands on the table, leaning toward them. "If you girls want to gossip about people," her tone shifted to one a bit more wicked. "Do it somewhere else. I don't want it around me." She finished with a growl and a little bit of a glare at each of them as they quickly nodded in turn as her focus landed on them individually. "Thank you."
Motion from across the room caught K's eye and she glanced toward the two felines ... Fuzznuts seemed more tense and Greer ... she was wide eyed, her lips parted the slightest.
K locked eyes with her just long enough for her to drop her gaze to her placemat. She continued to look her direction for a second or two longer before her eyes slid to the giant panther. She bit back the growl that wanted to erupt from her throat, but she couldn't quite stop her lip from curling up the slightest.
"I'll see you girls in the barn," she said evenly as she left the table, stalking out of the room after she casually rolled her eyes away from Colton and held her head high on her exit.
...
"What is it?" Apex glanced down to see Greer staring resolutely at the table in front of her. Greer looked up at him and blinked a few times clearly trying to play off her behavior.
"Oh nothing. Nothing. Just spacing out." Greer smiled and leaned into Colton's shoulder. She was just glad he'd finally relented and agreed to start coming down for meals again.
Apex however wasn't convinced and Greer could practically feel his eyes moving to watch K leave.
"Would you stop ... please? She's not doing anything." Greer muttered, clearly remembering the last week which had amounted to a lockdown: wake up ... eat ... teach ... train ... eat ... sleep. Somehow Colton knew whenever she tried deviating from that schedule even when he wasn't around. Not that it took much of a guess as to what he was doing.
"I doubt K is going to start stabbing us over breakfast." Greer's reasoning earned a low rumble as a response and in turn a groan from the tigress. He'd been like this since they got back. Greer's brow dropped a little ... actually it had been kinda like this a while before then too. But Greer didn't have time to dwell as she saw her watch and giving Colton a quick kiss got up to leave.
"Where are you going?" Apex was half-way up when Greer placed a hand on his shoulder and kept him seated.
"Jean said I could use her office to hold some meetings. I need to go through the syllabuses with the rest of the teachers so I can set up my tutoring hours." Greer saw the look she was getting and sighed, "And I won't go anywhere near her. Happy?"
Apex simply grunted and only softened slightly when Greer gave a gently bump on his forehead.
"Relax ... OK? We're home." He nodded his head a little and earned a smile from the tigress. Giving him another kiss on the muzzle she headed off. Apex watched her go before quickly leaving the table.
He had his own things to accomplish.
Apex could practically hear Greer's voice in his head ...
"So is this what dangerous Weapons look like?"
The panther let out a huff. Just because K hadn't done anything yet ... didn't mean she wasn't about to. Though even he had to admit ... her schedule didn't exactly leave much time for mayhem and dark deeds.
K's world revolved around a few things: Logan, the barn, a handful of students, and her class. In his estimation in that particular order. She rarely deviated and Logan was with her constantly. The only times K was alone was when Logan himself had class or a mission with the X-men. Even then ... Logan had turned down Scott for several runs and he'd blown off a separate call from Stark. It seemed the older feral didn't feel like leaving his current plaything alone. It was ... frustrating.
But he watched. He studied. And what he saw ... was conflicting. There were moments when the Weapon that he knew didn't exist. When he saw her with Logan or working with the horses it was like she was someone else. And even though it set him on edge the majority of the students seemed enraptured by her. Of particular notice were two girls ... sisters. The ones that came in with her.
He had considered their role in K's appearance but had dismissed it. Though K's protectiveness of them was not. A valuable fact for another time.
Apex squatted lower onto the branch he had been standing on and narrowed his eyes. It had been quicker this time ... the slight bunching of the mid-back. The tilt of her head towards her left shoulder. The slowing of her breathing. He was a hundred yards away and above her sightline yet she still knew he was there. He knew she believed that she was simply ignoring him ... bit it was at those moments that Apex saw the Weapon he knew she was. And therein lied the conflict.
K might have thought she was acting normal but K's 'normal' was far from natural. To his eyes, her movements were trained and tactical. Slipping between sight lines and maintaining easy exits. Things he recognized ... from before.
But then there were the new things ... the things he didn't recognize. He'd watched her recent training with Logan and it troubled him. She was better ... deadlier than when he'd last seen her. And if she was here to kill Logan, learning from him first was a wise decision.
It's what Stryker had trained him to do. It seemed K had been given a similar task. And if that was her objective, she was performing it seamlessly. Her camouflage had worked it's magic on the predator that until now ... had always been hard prey to hunt. Until he'd invited the hunter into his bed.
But again, Apex shook his head and huffed. No ... no that didn't fit right either. K it seemed only one task outside of physically assaulting and distracting Logan.
Creed
She was obsessed.
Any free moment was spent training for Creed. Researching Creed. Looking for Creed. Apex had spent hours searching through mission files to understand why. It wasn't until he'd cracked Dr. McCoy's safe and found her medical records that he'd finally understood.
So K was protective of the girls. Retained her training. Hunted Victor Creed.
And he still didn't know how to kill her. But most of all ... he had questions.
"Why are you here ..." Apex rumbled to himself as K closed the barn doors. He watched as she paused for a moment, and shot the briefest of looks towards where he knew she thought he was, her teeth bared ... and just that fast it was gone. K was headed to the east part of the grounds to meet up with Logan.
Apex wasn't far behind.
Greer had finished her last meeting with Betsy and was spending her last few minutes of 'work time' aimlessly spinning in Jean's office chair. She knew Colton would be coming in exactly seven minutes so instead of making him hunt her down she decided to go easy on him this time. So there she was ... spinning. And thinking.
"Weapon ... K ..." Greer muttered to herself for the hundreth time. She believed Colton. She did. But ... there was something about the little brunet that had Greer wanting to ... well she wanted to know more.
"For Logan's sake." Greer reasoned out loud. Hell maybe if she'd been a bit more involved with her brother's love life she wouldn't have Lauren as - as ... Lauren.
"He said I can't talk to her. But that doesn't mean I can't talk to other people about her. Right?" Greer took the rooms silence as a 'yes.' Shooting another look at the clock Greer pulled out her phone and texted Colton that she'd meet him in the kitchen for dinner. If she hurried ... she could get a good twenty minutes with Jean.
...
"And that's not even the best part. When she first got here it was - oh god ..." Jean had stopped talking mid sentence and arched an eyebrow high on her forehead moments before Logan entered the kitchen with his new fiance. From the state of the two of them, it seemed as if they'd just come in from God knows what, both of them with bits of leaves in their hair, and dirt streaked across their arms and faces … at least that they could see. She was smiling broadly as he kissed the sense out of her … clearly since instead of having the tiniest bit of propriety or decorum, she instead seemed to be egging him on .. her arms around his neck as he pushed her into the cabinetry, growling.
"There are other people in the room," Jean said dryly.
"So, don't look if you don't like it," K replied a split second before he simply tossed her over his shoulder and wished them a good morning with a wink, slapping her on the backside hard when she started to wiggle, laughing her way halfway up the stairs.
"We just had him starting to act somewhat housebroken and she shows up and wrecks it. Honestly. She won't shop with us … she lets him do whatever he wants … she keeps up with his drinking and fighting ... it's insanity."
"Wait ... you're telling me she's like that all the time?" Greer was having a hard time turning away from the sounds coming down the stairwell clear into the kitchen.
"Oh ... that was mild." Rogue groaned as Jean sagely nodded her head.
"You're kidding." Greer said almost in a daze as she kept her gaze fixed on the now empty hallway.
"Yup," Jean nodded, "and let me repeat ... mild. You should see them when there's a full moon." Greer and the other girls laughed though in the back of her mind ... the tigress wasn't 100% sure Jean was kidding.
"One more time." Forge groaned at the panther's rumble and pulled a hand over his tired face.
"How many time do we need to go over this? You clearly know our security better than I do. And I programmed it!" Forge fell back into his chair with an exasperated shout. This had to be the third time that Colton had asked to meet with him this late to review the updated security he and Stark had installed after Logan and K were returned after the abduction that resulted in her adamantium upgrade.
"There are flaws." Apex calmly pointed out at the hologram of the school laid out on the tech-table in front of them. Forge checked his watch and with another groan tossed his hands up in defeat.
"You know what? Fine. Forget it. Here ..." Forge leaned over and typed a few lines into the computer attached to the table, "you want to check on this again go right ahead. You got clearance. I'm going to sleep." And with that Forge pushed back from the table and with a tired wave headed back upstairs. Apex watched him go silently as his tail gave a silent thump behind him until he finally heard the elevator doors close. Only then did he finally relax.
He'd thought he'd have to go through this charade for a fourth time before Forge gave him access. Apex knew his way around most security systems but cracking the firewalls that Forge had put in place could have taken weeks. This way had worked out much better.
Logan had been thorough in wiping any training footage of K but training footage wasn't all there was. He'd watched her and Logan's run through Stark's security upgrades. Getting full access to the Mansion's security program had become a primary objective.
Apex's ears pinned back as he turned his attention to the hologram. He knew Greer was asleep upstairs ... likely laid out across the bed with her computer still on. Her attempt to stay awake until he got back. The panther let out a low rumble, his eyes closing as fatigue set in.
"No." Apex shook his muzzle as his eyes shot open. He wasn't tired. He wasn't sore. He had work to do.
And that's how things progressed for another week.
Apex kept watch. Where K went ... he went. He wished the rest of his time was gathering intelligence but ... there was nothing to gather. He'd spent the better part of a year listening for any news on Weapon K ... and nothing. And now here she was. Living not twenty yards away from him. Yet there was still nothing. Not where she had been ... her connection to Weapon X ... Stryker. Nothing. Scott had only picked her up by a fluke of Xavier picking up distress from the two girls.
"So ... figure out if K is an axe-murder yet?" Greer had gently teased as he'd come back to lie down on the bed with a grunt.
"You think ... just maybe ... it's safe for us to - I dunno ... just ask her? You know, get to know Logan's future Mrs. Logan?" Greer had slid next to him and traced designs on his fur. But her attempts fell short and once again Apex had impressed upon her the need to keep her distance. There were other leads but for now they needed input he wasn't ready to go after. Greer knew he was leaving the grounds but thus far she'd reserved any complaints.
Greer was actually pretty happy. She was back at the Mansion, tutoring and once again teaching gymnastics. Enough time had passed that most of the new kids had gotten over their trepidation and staring and she was finally relaxing. The one thing new was that at every given chance ... she watched K. Not obviously or stalking or anything ... she was just - curious. Yea curious. So far K didn't seem to pick up on it and the tigress was glad for it. She was good just watching from a distance and pestering Jean.
Logan spent most of his time around and training with K. Even with Colton keeping his distance, Logan was sure to keep himself between the dark feral and his fiance. He'd also taken to bringing K along with any mission he got called on.
K kept up with her schedule and ignoring her ever present shadow. There were some days where she'd feel like she could relax ... drop her guard for a few hours. Butt then there'd be that prickling at her neck ... a slight shift in the breeze ... a shadow that didn't move quite right. And then she was right back to where she was before. It was steadily grating on her well known patience and had her short with most of everyone except Logan. Between that and her constant hunt for Creed ... Logan was beginning to worry that K was wearing herself thin.
Logan was just thinking about that as the two sat at breakfast. He gave K a quick kiss and moved to head to class, but stopped when he realized she was getting up too. "Where you headed to first thing?" he asked as his little fiance tucked the paper under her arm and picked up her coffee.
"Your office. I haven't checked on the latest news yet." He wrinkled his brow and locked his jaw. IN his mind, this was certainly courting danger. He had hoped that whenever Creed popped his ugly mug up - he'd be there first to handle it. But the way she was going ... she might just cut him off at the pass, which, if history was any indicator, would mean he'd have yet another dead woman on his hands.
"Take a break."
"What?"
"Take a goddamned break. The damn thing'll send a text if anything shows up - you don't gotta check it all the damn time." She returned his scowl.
"What difference does it make to you? You're going to class ... I'm ... checking the news." Logan didn't look convinced and the last thing K needed was two ferals hounding her.
"Fine ... Fine. I got shit to do in the barn anyways." K grumbled and slipping out of Logan's reach she stalked away.
"I dunno Jean ..." Greer sat hunched with her arms across her chest and tail gently curled around a leg of the chair.
"Listen, I'm not the one that's been asking non-stop about K," Jean ignored Greer's grumbled denial, "and if you really want to get to know her and still for some reason refuse to actually ask the woman yourself ... than you need to come down and watch her ride. I'm telling you ... it's worth seeing."
Greer glanced up to see the certain look on Jean's think before looking back down at the table and biting her lip. She knew Colton had gone out on some 'intel' mission. He kept coming back with nothing and instead of making him trust K more all it seemed to be doing was putting him more on edge. But all it did for Greer was increase her curiosity. If K wasn't a mind-controlled killing machine ... then who was she? The tigress had spent the better part of a week talking with Jean, Betsy, Ororo, Scott ... well everyone basically. Her own surveillance time was pretty much limited to mealtime and those rare instances they bumped into each other by chance.
Those usually didn't go very well. Least as far as Greer was concerned ...
Greer fumbled with her fingers nervously in the rare situation where Colton was late and she was left alone and to make matters weirder, K came running into the kitchen. The two stared at each other ... Greer going completely still and way more uncomfortable than the latter who simply gave the tigress a nod before making her way to the fridge ... and swearing loudly.
"What the hell happened to the beer? I know I just bought a damn case," Greer looked around, certain that question was meant for someone else ... Until K turned around annoyed glared directly at her before rolling her eyes in exasperation.
"Look I know big, dark and paranoid banned you from breathing the same air as me but you can at least do me a solid and answer the question. I probably won't bite." She snarked and Greer took another careful look around in case the panther in question came bursting through the window to get K.
"Sorry. I was just uh- spaced out."
"Yeah I noticed, you seem to do that a lot." And Greer raised an eyebrow at comment but K didn't noitce, "Is that a permanent condition or does it only happen when you go against what he tells you? You know what ... nevermind. Not my business." K's voice echoed from the fridge.
"Bad habit ... And I'm pretty sure Scott or Jean took those beers and chucked them out. I mean... It is a school..." Greer spoke slightly above a whisper and k sighed.
"Aw, Red ... no! No ... I thought I could trust her ..." She put her hands on her hips and tapped her toe as she considered her situation. "Curses. Foiled again," she said with a smirk as the smile stretched across her face. "Except ... I could always pillage the secret stash," K announced with a broad grin as Greer forgot her caution and simply gaped.
"Wait? You know where the stash is? But Logan never-"
"Like he could hide it from me," K chuckled before openly giving Greer an up and down. "You know, if you're not too afraid of your boyfriend, you /could/ join me. Awful lotta fun taking out one of Logan's 'secret' hiding spots and watching him get all ... grumpy about it." She might just be the only person on the planet that was entertained when Logan frowned ... then again ... He likely wasn't too serious with her about it.
"Love to but I promised Colton I'll be here waiting or him. Don't want him flipping out if I suddenly disappeared..." And k rolled her eyes.
"Oh, you poor, poor creature. Well .. remember, I offered. You don't want to join me ... for whatever reason, that's your problem."
"Don't rub it in." Greer warned with a growl and k laughed as she walked off. Greer watched her go. For someone Colton claimed was so dangerous... she sure didn't seem like it.
"Greer ... Hey you wanna go or what?" Greer snapped her head back up and nodded.
"Lead the way." Jean gave a big smile and taking Greer's arm led them outside.
"Hey ... you have your inducer?" Jean asked thoughtfully.
"Ummm ... yea. Why?" Greer looked over at her friend.
"I dunno ... might be a good idea to put it on. You know in case you freak out the horses or something. God ... K loves those things."
Greer just nodded silently and flipped on the inducer as the two walked down to the barn.
"You weren't kidding ..." Greer muttered to a smug Jean. The two had slipped in a few minutes into K's class. Greer had heard about it from Kitty and Amara but seeing it was something else entirely. How someone so small could be in such control of something that big ... not to mention seemingly in control of every horse in the arena.
"I told you. She's amazing. Just don't let her know I said that," Jean nudged Greer but she still had her eyes on the little brunet in question, "she's even been working with me and some of the other staff."
Greer just nodded as she thought about what she was seeing. These kids loved this woman. It was that clear ... aside from Logan she'd never seen kids behave so well and listen so quickly. And somehow K was doing it with a smile. A smile!
"And the dressage ... oh Greer I need to show you the outfits later. They're gorgeous." Jean sounded whistful.
"Yea ... gorgeous - oh crap." Greer's unseen claws sank into the bleachers her and Jean were sitting on as K had been giving the two of them a few curious looks and was now heading straight for them on horseback. Greer didn't know whether to run or stay where she was. What if K was mad that she'd come down to watch? Did she notice all those other times she'd been shooting her looks? What if Colton found out ... shit ... shit ... shit ...
'Would you relax?' Jean whispered into Greer's mind before fixing K with a big smile, "Hey K! Thought we'd come down and give you an audience."
K seemed somewhat amused by Jean's comment before going back to fixing both of them with that look.
"What the hell happened to you?" The two women glance at each other, clearly checking to see what K was talking about, before looking back at the cowgirl.
"What are you talking about?" Jean sounded defensive. Greer just stayed quite and tried to look small.
"Not you ... her." K nodded towards a surprised Greer.
"Me?"
"But why are you using it? You looked good in stripes. They suit you." Greer was taken aback.
"They suit me?" While Jean winced slightly.
"Yep. Just as well as Jeannie with the long red hair. Why?"
"NO reason at all." Greer cut in hastily. "Was just worried I'd scare the horses or something…" and K snickered.
"Not a horse that I've trained. Hell they're used to me on their backs. You on the sidelines? No worries." and Greer was suddenly aware she should get a move on… Colton would come looking for her soon.
"Sorry Jean. I - I got to go." The disguised tigress darted off as quickly as she could, leaving K with her brows drawn together watching her go.
...
K was sweeping up after class had ended and Jean, along with the rest of the class, had long since headed up. K was brushing out her horse, her mind wandering and her eyes unfocused as she took her time. All the way up until Logan came out to check on her.
"Where ya been? Little late comin' in from class, arent'cha?" he asked as he stepped into the barn. she glanced up with a quick smile as she looked at the brush in her hands. A quick peek at the clock told her she'd been grooming the same horse for nearly an hour.
"Yeah. I ... I just got a little distracted," she replied before hastily tossing the brush into the bucket and giving the horse a treat. Poor thing had to be starving.
"Distracted by what, darlin'?" he asked as he slid his arms around her waist and kissed the back of her neck. She covered his hands with hers and turned around to face him. She looked in his icy blue eyes for just a moment before cutting right to the chase.
"Does the no secrets rule go both ways?" she asked. He wrinkled his brow just a moment and tersely nodded. She took a quick breath and held it until he made a point to kiss her. Whatever it was on her mind ... now he needed to know. She wasn't the kind to hold her tongue.
"I want you to tell me more about your striped friend. Please." he tipped his chin up and looked down his nose at her for a moment, his eyes narrowed just a fraction. "I think ... I might have misspoken earlier and - well, I'd like to know enough to not stick my foot in my mouth again"
He didn't answer but to kiss her again, slightly more involved this time. When the kiss broke he took her hand in his and pulled her up to the hay loft to chat alone.
"Jesus. When did I get so reliant on him?" The lithe feral grumbled as she tossed off the covers and headed for her dresser. Logan had finally relented and gone to meet up with the Avengers leaving K alone for the first time in days. And of course ... now she couldn't sleep.
"Damn Canadian. Makin' me fall for him. At least I have his flannel to curl up with," K cursed as she slipped on the flannel he'd worn earlier and the first pair of yoga pants she could find before she silently slipped out of the room. The dark and silence of the mansion in the cool Spring night brought a small measure of calm for K and taking a deep breath started down the hall. Sometimes when she couldn't sleep ... she'd wander. Sometimes it helped and sometimes she just watched the sunrise alone with a fresh, hot cup of coffee.
She walked around for a bit before deciding to head down to the labs. Sometimes Henry could lose track of time and if nothing else, a conversation with him could put her straight to sleep. But as she stepped off the elevator and headed towards his lab, a faint scent caught her attention and she pulled back her lip on instinct.
But just as quickly, the sneer fell. What was he doing up this late? According to Logan no one really kept track of the panther and curiosity finally won out. Besides, she'd had to deal with him stalking around and following her every move for the last two weeks.
"Let's see how you like being watched, big guy," K whispered to herself and quietly stalked towards the Danger Room.
...
It was late. Again.
Greer would probably be upset. Again.
But he needed to do something. All of his research ... all of his questioning ... and nothing. He was as close to finding out what had happened to K as when he'd started.
So Apex trained. He'd started off slow ... taking on the Brotherhood with relative ease. He'd increased the intensity with staging an assault and assassination of Mr. Fantastic. And then he'd turned to the simulation he always seemed to end up running at the end ... the Weapon simulation. It was the same one Logan had almost walked in on all those months ago ... and glancing around the assorted Weapons he found him. Logan ... right next to K.
Apex took a deep breath ... and tore into Maverick.
Things slowed for the panther. Simplified. All of his stress and problems faded into the background. This was what he did. What he was good at. He only refocused when he realized that despite her carcass slowly fading into light ... K's scent was still there. He froze.
"So how did I do?" Apex slowly came to his full height turned into a half-stance to look up and face K who appeared relaxed and undeterred standing on the observation deck, casually leaning on the railing.
"Well, I think you did pretty well. I'd have handled Johnny a little differently, but you certainly got the job done." K almost sounded like she was complimenting Apex but she wasn't pausing for a response.
"Do yourself a favor. The next time you run your sim of me and Logan - try to figure out how to just stop us too. Long history of mind control, you know. And ... I'm sure you've figured out how to kill us - I've got a few ideas myself, but I'm sure as hell not gonna share." K smiled down to the still silent and glaring panther.
"Have a nice night. Pretty sure I can fall asleep now." And with that K gave a dismissive wave and she was gone.
Apex stood completely still, his gaze fixed on the spot K had vacated, long after she'd left. No one in the Mansion had ever snuck up on him before. No one had ever seen him train like this.
No one.
A growl filled the chamber as he grew tense until he finally roared out for all three simulations at once. Except this time ... he let them come to him.
...
Apex came out of his early morning run and took a breath before heading into the kitchen. He hadn't gotten much sleep and he was sore. Healing like that took some time but he felt he needed the run. K being here ... seeing him last night it -
"Smells different this morning. Did you make this?" Apex stopped midway through the sliding door to find K once again, this time leaning against the counter, the large island between them. He didn't know what game she was playing ... but he didn't like it. K of course looked as innocent as ever as she glanced up at him and took another sip. "Nice balance. Slim usually makes it too weak." She crossed the kitchen and took a seat. The paper spread out in front of her.
He watched for a moment before deciding to have a word before anyone could show up. Something she had said the night before had stayed with him.
"I don't believe in mind control," K kept her eyes trained on her paper at his rumble, "I've always found it to only bring out what was already there."
"Well the problem with mind control," K lazily flipped over a page, "is that it isn't that person's fault they're doing things. When you kill someone that's not in control of their own mind and it's really just tragic. It makes them the victim and you still didn't stop whoever is causing the real trouble. Not to mention, if anyone cared about that innocent victim, the people that cared ... the might always hold it against you and wonder why you weren't good enough to /save/ the person they cared about. Not to mention how some people have a tendency to I don't know ... go for revenge. It would be awful to start a feud between friends ... or near family - don't you think?" K finally looked up with a brow raised, as she took another sip.
"I don't save people." Apex kept his growl in check and stalked towards the exit.
"Not what I've heard." K kept her eyes on the panther's back and saw him pause for just a moment before continuing down the hall, passing Logan on the way. The shorter feral took one look from Colton to his fiance and set her with a look which she returned with a pleasant smile.
"Morning." K said lazily as Logan headed for the coffee. He slid next to her with a full cup as she slid him the frontpage.
"Thought I told you to leave the kid be." Logan spoke lightly but K heard the timbre regardless and shrugged.
"And I am. Doesn't mean I need to be a mute. Besides," K took picked up her mug, "fuzz makes a damn good coffee."
