Canuckle ... Chesire ... Retro ... Spanky ... as always much appreciation for the reviews. Lets me know Im not just writing into the void and always gets me writing a bit faster. So thank you.

Special shoutout to Cheshire for her help with this chapter. Pretty sure you'll all be able to tell which part. And of course to Canuchkle ... some of you might recognize a bit here and there over these chapters. Let's just say it pays to be part of the 906.

Things might be moving a bit slow now but ... just give it some time. Plenty of craziness yet to come ; )


Apex came back from his morning run around the grounds no less agitated than when he'd headed out a little after dawn, the sharp flick of his tail as evidence. Greer had barely slept ... nightmares. She'd clung to him most of the night when she wasn't trashing and mumbling in her sleep. Old wounds coming to trouble her after what had happened in the barn. And K ... With a shake of his muzzle Apex finished with the coffee and gathered some things for him and Greer to eat for breakfast, at least grateful Greer had finally relented and started eating like a normal ... person. As he made his way upstairs, he ignored the tired nods from the other staff as the mansion started to wake.

If history was any indication this would likely go on for some time ... maybe a week. Greer typically took that much time to recover and get back to her normal schedule. He'd adjust her schedule ... make sure Jean got her out of the mansion by Thursday ... maybe talk with Logan about -

"Oh hey ... coffee. Perfect."

Apex's brow furrowed in surprise as Greer came out of the bathroom freshly showered and half-dressed and smoothly took a cup and headed for her closet. Apex however was still processing and put down the tray he'd been carrying on the dresser. This ... was not what he had been expecting. He should say something.

"Greer ..."

"Yea?" Greer was trying to decide what top worked with those grey jeans ... black ... maybe tan ...

"You're ... going downstairs?"

"That's the plan ... Need to get ready for finals season." Apex cocked his head at the optimistic tone of her voice. This ... was unexpected.

Eventually Greer picked up that something was a bit off and poked her head backwards around the closet door to get a look at her boyfriend. He was just ... staring at her. Which was typical for him. And the last thing she needed right now was him trying to figure her out. Alright smile ... Don't let him see that you're cracking.

"If you're done analyzing, could you jump in the shower? I'd rather not head down alone."

Now Apex was really confused as Greer once again disappeared into her wardrobe. Greer wanting him close wasn't surprising ... she usually treated him as a shield to keep the rest of the student body at bay in the aftermath of 'incidents' as she put it but her tone was different. Not sad or scared and more ... perfunctory.

"Sure."

Greer didn't look away from her clothes until she heard the bathroom door click and the water start running ... and then she let out a long breath as she let her shoulders slump into a more natural position and her tail go limp from the rigid curl she had held it in. This was harder then she'd thought. This was harder than she'd thought. She'd woken up and surprise - surprise ... she felt terrible. She'd been ready to commit herself to a week of hiding and letting this pressure in her chest dissipate while the rest of the Mansion moved on from whispering about her when a voice that sounded an awful lot like K's started poking around in her head.

'So what if they're gonna talk? What ... you're afraid of some whispers? Just walk out there with you head up and -'

"Fine ..." Greer had growled to the empty room if for no other reason than to get that noise out of her head. Stupid voice. Obviously ignoring the internal panic attack she was going through.

And so here she was. Getting ready like it was any other day ... and not barely 12 hours removed from her making herself a pariah in her own home. Students were scared of her ... again. She knew they were talking about her ... again. She didn't have the stomach to check and see how many students had dropped class. Maybe if she just stayed quite and let them forget she could -

'Thought you were some tigress ... C'mon cheerleader, they only talk because you give them reason to talk. One small stupid incident with a horse and you disappear? Who isn't going to talk about that? Stop feeding their gossip fodder and get a hold of yourself. Nobody cares unless you give them a reason to care…"

"You better be right." Greer worked her jaw as she pulled out her clothes and finished getting dressed. She was distracted as she finished up and only refocused when she realized she was fully dressed and holding her inducer. She just stared at it, holding the little medallion in her hand as if weighing it. She slowly looped it around her neck and activated it before quickly removing it when she saw her refelction. Greer lowered her head ... she felt ... guilty somehow.

"You have nothing to hide." Greer whispered to her reflection.

"Ready?"

Greer blinked at the rumble and looked over to see an already showered and clothed Colton staring at her.

"Yea." Greer tossed the inducer back on the dresser without looking and headed out the door.

It didn't take long for the whispers to start and instinctively Greer snaked her arm around Colton's, ready to shy behind him ... and stopped herself. Feeling eyes on her as the two felines made their way downstairs, Greer kept her arm around Colton's but kept her head high and eyes straight ahead. It didn't help her ignore the students that scurried out of their way but ... well she was glad Colton was there.

The walk down to the kitchen felt longer than usual and Apex felt Greer let out a breath he could tell she didn't know she'd been holding. She didn't need to look up to know Colton was watching her.

"I'm fine ... hey," Greer elbowed the panther when she saw him turning to glare at a table of students, "I said I'm fine."

Realizing she'd forgotten the tray upstairs, Greer and Colton grabbed their protein heavy breakfast and headed for their preferred corner. Despite her best efforts Greer's ears were flat on her head as her tail went almost still but she kept her head up and made it to their spot. Apex leaned over to give her a brief nuzzle in support and giving him a small smile she settled in.

"You're here."

The look on Jean's face was one of clear surprise.

"Well it is you know ... breakfast." Greer shrugged with a sheepish smile and to Apex and Jean's continued surprise Greer kept acting ... normal. He knew simply from scent the moment they'd stepped out of their bedroom that Greer was on edge but ... he never knew she could act this well. Of course he wasn't going to tell Jean that who seemed to still be processing that her favorite tigress was sitting right in front of her.

"Well yea I just, I dunno after what happened with K I assumed you'd need some ... time." Jean said quietly. Apex mentally agreed with her while Greer's tail once again came to a still.

"I'm fine. Really. Let's just ... not talk about the barn. OK?" Greer couldn't help the look she shot around the noisy kitchen but turned back to Jean when she shook her head.

"The barn? No I talked with K and she ..." Jean seemed to slow for a second as she took in the now confused look on her friend's face.

"You talked to K? About what?" Greer looked intently at Jean but the psychic was already getting to her feet.

"Nothing. Forget about it. I'm just glad to see you ... well being you. I'll talk to you later." And just like that Jean clearly mentally called to Scott and the two redheads headed off.

"You have any idea what she was talking about?" Greer asked without looking up at her panther.

"None." Apex sounded like he was trying to figure out the same thing as Greer but sharing a look it was clear neither one had a clue. So they decided to just enjoy breakfast. Which the tigress had to admit ... helped with her apprehension tremendously, maybe this was why so many people comfort ate.

...

It wasn't much later that Greer said goodbye to Colton, practically having to growl at him to let her go alone, figuring she'd go to the source and talk to K herself when she when she didn't see Logan or his new fiancee at breakfast ... or at lunch. Aside from the whole mystery about whatever Jean had been talking about, this whole ... 'pretending like nothing happened and hold your head up' thing was wearing on her. It took a lot of mental self assurance to be alone and walk past all the laughing, whispering, shouting, gossiping students to find the source of what Jean was talking about. And to tell the truth ... she'd only done it thinking she'd have K standing there with her.

Since it was the weekend Greer couldn't exactly track them to a class and where exactly they'd disappeared to no one was quite sure. She'd asked Kitty if she had any idea but she'd just given her a strange look and said no. Logan's Harley and Jeep were both parked in the garage, and nothing was missing, yet, Greer could find neither hide or hair of either of them and Colton wasn't exactly being overly helpful. She'd only taken a break when Xavier assured her K was somewhere on the grounds.

"Trust me ... when K don' wanna be found ... woman ain' gonna be found." Rogue had advised as the two had walked down the hall to their respective classes. Greer hadn't quite believed at the time but ... that seemed to be the case. Greer had gone to bed that night still in the dark as to where either feral had gone to.

The next day, she'd only been able to spot a glimpse of Logan as he disappeared into the garage, but the roar of his Harley as she got to the door signaled his departure.

"He got called off on Avengers business," Jubilee told her when she saw how disappointed Greer looked. "Is there anything I can do for you?" the bright eyed teen smiled back at her. Greer smiled at Jubilee ... she was the first student to actually talk to her since ... well the barn. That pressure in her chest lessened a little.

"Help me find K. I'd like to talk to her," Greer said, trying to sound business like. Jubilee just laughed.

"If she doesn't want to be found, you have like, no chance of finding her."

"So everyone keeps telling me." Greer growled a little and just took it as a challenge. She kept searching but ... damn if that woman was just as hard to find as Logan. She tried the barn and could tell K had been there at some point but ... no luck. All the spots she associated with good places to hide came up as blanks.

She flat gave up when K didn't show to dinner with everyone else. Everyone was right. If she didn't want to be found, it would take someone with far better tracking skills than her. And she considered herself pretty damn good. With Logan gone and Colton being uncooperative in her quest to talk to the woman, she had nothing to work with.

Trying to clear her head and honestly get away from the whispers that kept following her, she accidentally stumbled across her quarry on the roof, hours after dinner was over. K was sitting on the edge, her feet dangling off and two empty whiskey bottles next to her – the one in her hand only about two thirds full.

"Those aren't all from tonight are they?" Greer asked as K glanced over her shoulder at her general direction.

"Yeah. Gotta drink fast to negate the healing factor," K replied, then paused for a moment before offering her the bottle, which Greer politely declined.

"I was looking for you today," Greer stepped onto the roof as K tipped back the bottle again, taking a few deep pulls from it before setting it down. Greer waited for some kind of response but it was pretty clear one wasn't coming. She wasn't really sure what to do ... she'd never seen K like this before. The thought that Logan had been acting the same and Jean's comment about saying something to K hit Greer and a terrible thought occurred her.

"Why are you up here anyhow?" K frowned and glanced over her shoulder at the tigress before looking her up and down once and shaking her head. She couldn't possibly tell her that they were arguing because of her. She didn't need to know. Probably just kick start another self loathing parade ... kid seemed was prone to do that.

"None of your business," she growled out as she turned her attention to the treeline in the distance.

"It's not - you and Logan aren't mad about something to do with me right?" Greer watched carefully as K gave a slight chuckle.

"Don't flatter yourself. Ain't got nothing to do with you." Greer furrowed her brow a bit as she watched the tiny feral from behind. That didn't exactly settle with her quite right. She cokced her head ... something about K's scent was ... she wouldn't say 'off' but different. The tigress mulled over asking about it but decided against it. Greer hesitated for a moment and came to stand next to the whiskey soaked brunette.

"Did Jean say something? I thought you two were doing better but she mentioned you two talked and -"

"That freakin' carrot top should know when to keep her mouth shut," K spat out with a snarl as she took another pull, only slowing down when she got a good look at the tigress beside her, clearly uneasy with what she was seeing. Taking a breath, K put down the bottle and shot another look at Greer. This needed a change of topic.

"You actually see daylight or were you squirreled away in your room, hiding under the blankets?" and that got Greer to make a face.

"For your information, I did. And -"

"And was it as horrible and life ending as you thought?" K leaned back on her hands as Greer crossed her arms.

"Well it - it wasn't as bad as I thought but ... it wasn't as easy as you said either. I really could have used your backup today." K looked thoughtful for a moment before she contemplated her bottle again.

"Huh. Sorry I was wrong. Shoulda known. Not exactly on my game it seems." She took another long pull and closed her eyes as she licked her lips until her frown returned.

"You know ... no one ever really told me where Colton came from. Where did you find him?" Her eyes flicked up to meet Greer's, freezing Greer to the spot. K had never asked about Colton before. Well ... no one really did. But K for sure.

"Actually, we met …."

"We met because of Weapon X," Colton interrupted as he stepped onto the roof, glaring at K in a very calculated, concentrated manner. K just let out a huff of air in a weak impression of a laugh and shook her head with a mirthless smirk.

"Of course you did," K said just before going back to her bottle, "Where else could you have met." As she looked at the fifth in her hand, she could scent his apprehension ... though at least he didn't try pushing her off the roof. K of course didn't miss a beat, nor did she give him the courtesy of turning toward him or looking his direction.

"You want a drink, big guy? No? We can start a Weapon X drinking club ... what ya think?" K asked, looking bored before taking yet another slug. "I won't fight ya." Greer and Apex shared a look for a moment as she sighed.

"Finally. My lips are numb." she mumbled, her eyes closed as she swayed slightly, leaning her forehead on the rail.

"Does … Logan know you're up here like this?" Greer asked cautiously. K smiled.

"Logan has no business lecturing me on drinking. Or on anything for that matter. But for the record, no." K countered. "I don't make an effort to check with him on every little thing I do." No one moved for a few minutes and it didn't take long for K to get tired of the sensation of them looking at her.

"Listen, I get it. I'm screwed up – I don't remember half of what I should. There's no telling what the hell I was into before I came here. You don't have to trust me. I really don't care." Both of them are silent for a moment until K looked behind her for another bottle. But when she reached for it, Greer managed to snag it first.

"I think you've had enough tonight," she said quietly as she met his eyes.

Without blinking or changing her expression, K brought what remains of the bottle in her hand to her lips and proceeds to drain it, tossing it with the other empties, the glass clattering.

"Now I've had enough," she countered, before pushing herself onto her feet and swaying dangerously. Colton grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the edge a few paces. "Totally unnecessary," she said, slurring her words slightly. Apex couldn't help but shake his head. Aside from the setting, he realized K was still, and likely always would be, a contrary little thing. He quickly let her arm go as soon as she was halfway stable and took a step back she glared. For an instant she narrowed her eyes at him, but then she saw the tigress standing at his side and she simply walked off.

By the time she got to Logan's room – with both Colton and Greer following several lengths back, she was no longer swaying. She looked over her shoulder as she opened the door.

"Goodnight, kids," K said stepping into his room and closing the door behind her.

Back in their room, Greer sat on the edge of the bed biting her lip as Colton scanned through his tablet by the open window. He knew she'd get to her questions eventually. Greer always did. He was just curious which one she'd start with.

"She's the first person to ask how we actually met you know."

Apex didn't hear a question there but knew the tigress was expecting an answer regardless.

"Everyone else is too scared to know." Apex didn't bother looking up from his screen. The two felines hadn't spoken about their time at Weapon X for a while ... but thus far they'd never spoken about it to anyone else, outside of the sessions Greer had taken with Xavier when she'd gotten back. Not Jean ... not Rogue ... not Kitty ... no one had really asked Greer what had happened in that hell hole or even really how she'd come back with the panther that had attacked everyone.

"K doesn't seem scared." Greer didn't mention she wasn't sure what K was scared of.

The two thought in silence, Greer was trying to figure out what had gotten K into such a funk and had been going over what had happened, until Greer finally had to bring something up.

"Are you OK with K now?" Apex took a breath and shut off the tablet before turning to look at Greer.

"I'm not planning on killing her if that's your concern."

"I didn't think I had to ask that anymore," Greer just rolled her eyes and let out a huff of her own, "I was referring to you helping her on the roof."

Greer smirked a little as Colton hesitated for a moment on his way towards the bed.

"I didn't help her." Greer crossed her legs and turned to sit indian style as Apex rested against the headboard, his arms crossed as Greer's smirk grew.

"Sure you did. I saw it."

"If you mean insuring she didn't stumble off the roof -"

"I do." Greer smiled sweetly. It was Apex's turn to huff now. He'd just acted on instinct not some ...

"It was nothing."

Greer let out a stifled laugh and crawled over to snuggle into her boyfriend.

"Always so modest ... but I don't think so. I think you're warming up to her." and to add salt to the wound she purred slightly.

"You're being ridiculous." Greer wasn't sure why this was so much fun ... but it really was. K must have been rubbing off on her.

"I am not. Admit it ... you don't mind having her around."

Apex worked his jaw for a minute before finally looking down at the tigress tucked against him.

"I don't mind the affect she's had on you."

Greer blinked and pushed herself up a little bit to fix Colton with a look.

"What affect? Wait ... you mean the meat thing? Hey you said you were OK with that. And I don't care what Jean says, yea I gained some weight but I look damn good in those -"

"I'm not talking about the diet." Though internally Apex was fairly relieved at Greer's change of heart. And she was right she was looking ... 'damn good'.

"So then you're talking about ..." Greer rolled her hand waiting for the usually quiet panther to continue. He seemed to be putting his words in order as he looked elsewhere before settling back onto her.

"You went downstairs yesterday ... and today."

Greer's ears flicked as her tail stilled while she tucked some hair behind her ear. Why was everyone making such a big deal of this when she was told not to make a big deal out of it herself.

"Yea ... and?"

"And I was proud that you did that. That you didn't let ... whispers hurt you. Make you doubt yourself. And I know who had a hand in that happening ..."

"K." Apex wasn't sure whether Greer's whisper was meant for her or for him. Regardless, he wrapped her closer and Greer took it a step further by laying herself across him.

"Yes ... K."

Greer seemed to mull things over while she drew her designs before tilting her head up with a little smile.

"She did do a number on me huh? I don't know Colton, I feel… I feel like I finally found a friend that understands me… Really understands me… And I think its making me better, right?" and Colton nodded bumping heads with Greer who grinned.

"Maybe you should see what some time with K could do for you." Greer teased, earning a chuff from Colton, "OK ... baby steps." Greer teased and still smiling she kicked things off with a kiss as her tail wrapped around his.

When Logan came in a few hours later, he was greeted by half a dozen empty bottles and a pretty damn drunk woman. He frowned a little on seeing her in such an advanced state of inebriation for someone with an advanced healing factor. The fact she was half-naked on the moon soaked floor wasn't helping.

"You cleaned out my stash," he said, moving the bottles out of his way with the toe of his boot as she lifted her head to greet him.

"That .. I did," she replied, before laying her head back down, eyes closed and limbs sprawled out.

"You're drunk," he said with a chuckle.

"It was not the easiest thing I've ever done, either. You gonna take advantage of me now? I've never really been drunk enough for anyone to take advantage of me." K almost sounded thoughtful.

""No. Not when you're like this."

"Suit yourself – thought everyone here liked takin' advantage." Logan's brow furrowed and he paused mid-way through taking off his shirt.

"What'd you say?"

K let out a breath and just waved her hand in his general direction.

"Nothin' important. Are you gonna join me on the floor, or am I sleepin' alone tonight." His frown deepened as he crossed the room.

"How bout you come to bed with me?"

"Thought you didn't want to take advantage," K countered, though she didn't really look at him. He shook his head and picked her up gently.

"C'mon. You'll sleep better in bed." Her head lolled on her shoulders, but she gingerly wrapped her arms around him as he took her with him. How she could hit on him then sound distant ... he didn't like it. But, as he settled her down on the bed, she gave him that smile ...

And when he slipped in next to her, she didn't wait for an invitation to settle her head on his shoulder and wrap herself around him. He pulled the covers up over the both of them and kissed the top of her head as he gave her a little squeeze and she kissed his chest.

As she fell into a fairly calm sleep, Logan couldn't stop thinking about what she said, or the swirling uptick in rumors about Creed. He glanced at the hand she had resting on his chest just in time to see her hand twitch. And just like that, his mind was back to her floating in the tank. As if he needed another reminder that their time may be short.

The next morning, Greer was a bit surprised when Logan came into the kitchen and started gathering some coffee as she waited for Colton to get back from his run. It was a rare occurence but sometimes even she got up early and there was something nice about being up before everyone else ... or at least most of everyone. Neither said much of anything and Greer took it upon herself to finally break the silence.

"So ... how's K doing?"

"Sleepin' it off. Seems she had herself a good time last night ... least from what I counted." Greer's head tilted until she realized that K must have kept drinking after they'd walked her back.

"I had no idea she kept drinking when she went in there. I'm sorry," she said.

"What have you got to be sorry for, Tigger?" Logan asked as he grabbed the paper. "It's not your doin'. Once she got it in her mind to get wasted – it was just going to happen."

"But it was partly our fault," Greer said as Logan met her eyes (he also thinking about what he heard? past regrets on what K said about him not stepping in?)

"Unless you held her down and poured it down her throat, it's not. She's got her own worries, one of the biggest bein' my track record with women. Probably don't help everyone's been whisperin' that her days are numbered. She knows Creed's got it out for her and it's just a matter of time before it goes down." She started to shake her head in protest when he held up his hand to stop her.

"Let's just let it go for now. I gotta go back up. Can't remember the last time /I/ drank that much." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and tucked the paper under his arm before grabbing the two mugs of coffee. "I'll see you later, Tig. After the night I had, I wanna spend a lil' extra time this mornin. You know - before somethin' happens."


"C'mon Zoe, we are going to be late!" Chloe shrieked tugging her still reluctant sister along.

"I'm coming. I'm coming! Jeuss its just a stupid cheer practice, no need to get so excited…" Zoe groaned as she tried to keep pace with her energetic sister, "I mean, what can a cheer squad of what ... four people do anyway? Jump around, do cartwheels ... yay ..." she finished with a sarcastic cheer.

"That's the thing, I didn't just get you to join. I invited a couple of the new kids too! Like Laurie, Sophia, Cassily ... Megan ...Who else did I miss?" Chloe paused for a second while Zoe looked at her in horror.

"WAIT WHAT? I thought it was just gonna be you, me and Jubilee. Who said anything about-"

"Well Greer said bring along anyone that's interested and I asked around and well there's quite the crowd." Chloe shrugged, holding onto her sister tighter when she tried to make an escape.

"Oh don't be such a baby, nothing to be embarrassed about. What's the worse that's going to happen?"

"I'm never going to live this down," Zoe groaned as she was hauled into the gym, mentally counting the girls that were there to witness shaming. Chloe however didn't seem to notice as she went over to greet her new friends.

"Thanks for coming, you guys are gonna love this!" she announced with only the pep a cheerleader could posses.

"Well we better considering you got us all hyped up." Sophia drawled back. "Who's the instructor?"

"Yeah! I mean we can't wait to meet her considering how much you keep talking about her." Laurie chirped in, while Cessily just grinned a little nervously.

"Trust me, Greer is the the best. She's like super fun but you learn a lot from her at the same time." but Chloe curbed her enthusiasm when she noticed the sudden change in the room. "What?"

"Greer? As in that - tiger woman? I'm sorry but I think I'm out," Sophia quickly said and to make her point, picked up her gym bag.

"Whoa whoa whoa…" and in an act that surprised the sisters, Zoe took a step forward and blocked the taller girl.

"Why the sudden bail?" and Sophia almost looked insulted that Zoe even needed to ask.

"Are you two nuts? You know who we're talking about right?"

"Yeah do you?" Zoe shot back while Chloe took a stance next to her sister, arms akimbo.

"Um yeah! That … were - woman is dangerous. Did you see what happened? At the barn? She was scary as hell!"

"Well I was there, and all the horses were like freaking out when that stuff happened. It wasn't her fault."

"Well what about her and K?" Laurie countered.

"What about it?" Chloe turned, hand on her hip.

"I heard the - well the other one tried hurting her. Some people were saying the tiger one tried too." Chloe rolled her eyes ... she coudln't believe this crap.

"In case you haven't noticed that tigress has been having coffee with K like ... every morning. Not to mention -"

"Um guys…" Cessily whispered, tapping her friends and all the girls turned to find Greer standing at the doorway.

Greer hummed to herself as she made her way to the gym. If it hadn't been Chloe who had winked at her that morning, she was sure she would have forgotten, with all the insanity that had been going on that she'd scheduled the first cheer practice for that afternoon. She was still getting over facing the rest of the Mansion and as predicted her other classes has seen a noticeable dip in attendance ...

"But its OK," Greer told herself. "Forget about it and people will." Besides, it was only Jubilee, Chloe and Zoe. They were more understanding then most of the other kids here. Taking a deep breath, she repeated the mantra over and over before reaching the doors and she glanced up in alarm when she noticed the sheer amount of girls in front of her. She cringed ... she recognized those girls. They were part of that clique that K had shut down for her. And at least one of them had been at the barn. JShe had honestly considered just turning away and exiting the other way hoping Chloe and Zoe would just follow ... when she finally caught what they were saying.

Greer froze. Her ears flattening as her stomach twisting into knots. Seriously why did these things keep happening to her?

"Um guys…" and then she noticed that everybody was now staring. Greer took a step back, ready to exit if these girls found her too … Well she didn't want them to be more afraid of her than they were.

'no ...' and like a light switch going on, Greer paused.

'What am I doing? I have just as much of a right to be here as the other girls. I don't need to be miserable just because these girls are ... uncomfortable. Girls are girls… They get weirded out by … well everything. I'm the teacher ... they're the students. They are just not used to me ... Give them a chance to get to know you… Give yourself a chance.' Taking a deep breath, Greer gave her best cheerleader smile as she approached the girls. She played that over and over in her head even when she did feel that slight sting when some of the girls took a few steps back.

"OK then! Case any of you didn't know I'm Greer Nelson. But we didn't come here for me ... let's get started!"

It was an awkward first few classes to say the least. Chloe was an excellent student and Greer was genuinely doubting the cheer captain that had been stupid enough to put her at the back of the pyramid. She bet it was a jealousy issue ... or something else equally sophomoric. Cessaily clearly knew what she was doing but didn't have the same easy flow as Chloe. Zoe was ... trying. At first hardheartedly following the cheer routines Greer was demonstrating, but when the tigress had tactfully switched to doing more gymnastic based things such as back flips and cartwheels she could see Zoe's indifferent attitude starting to crack and that she was starting to enjoy herself ... even if just a little. Sophia kept her distance at first, simply doing what she was told to avoid the tigress coming near her but when Greer had personally and properly demonstrated how to do a split, the graceful Venezuelan teen slowly warmed up and pretty soon, joined Chloe, Zoe and Cessaily in eagerly pestering Greer with new moves. Greer however was more concerned about Laurie.

The little blonde clearly had no background in either gymnastics or cheering. She was struggling with doing some of the basic moves, she couldn't keep up with choreography and she was way… way too soft. At first, Greer tried leaving her alone to try and catch up, pretty certain Laurie would have appreciated it. She knew how embarrassing it was to be called out in front of friends. However, after watching the girl struggle after failing miserably at lifts, which was quite remarkable considering that all Laurie had to do was let her friends throw her and lift her, but the girl was clearly a bathroom trip away from breaking down and that was the last thing Greer wanted.

"Laurie come here for a second? The rest of you, start up flips with a partner." and the tigress tried to smile as gently as possible, keeping her fangs to a minimum, as the blonde slowly approached her. She winced internally though, Laurie was at least trying to hide it but ... fear was a hard scent for Greer to ignore.

"I'm sorry. I - I know I'm terrible. But I'm trying and ... I think I'll just leave." and Greer could practically hear the girl's heart rate skyrocket as she said that.

"No no not at all." and Greer just grinned. "Trust me, I know lifts are scary. I was really scared on my first one."

"Your ... first one?" Laurie raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Yeah back in high school."

"You were in-" Laurie stopped herself short as she realized what she was saying, "I mean ..."

"Yep! High school," the tigress cut in for both their sakes. "So what I'm trying to say is I really appreciate that you're trying and trust me, you'll get a hang of it." and for the first time Greer saw Laurie with a shadow of a smile.

"OK so why don't you and I practice those lifts."

"Wait ... what?" Laurie squeaked out and Greer held out her hand.

"It'll be fun, I promise. All you have to do is trust me OK?" and Laurie stole a glance at Greer's hands ...

"But you're claws. Won't they ..." Greer fought the urge to pull her hand away and kept her smile.

"No they won't? See?" and Greer gently held out her palm, gesturing for Laurie to place hers against it. That seemed to finally get the blonde to trust her ... Slightly.

"OK ..."

"Wonderful. Now can you get into the liberty position for me?" and Laurie did so obediently. Slowly, Greer wrapped her hands around Laurie's waist, letting the girl get used to that before nodding.

"Alright Laurie, I'm going to lift you up now OK? Ready? One… two… three!" and the teen was so surprised that she didn't even scream as she felt herself being tossed. She panicked slightly, when she had no footing for a split second thinking she was going to crash onto the ground and break something but Greer was fast enough to catch her, grinning from underneath her palms. Laurie was stumped. Here she was ... Way above the ground, standing on the tigress's paws ... It wasn't so bad ...But ...

"Now what?" Laurie called down, earning a smile from Greer.

"Now you get ready for drop in 1, 2…' Laurie bit her lip, suddenly panicking. Why did she feel like this was going to end badly? No she was way to far up and she was sure she was way too heavy for Greer to catch her.

"No…" and Greer glanced up, the girl was shaking again.

"Laurie... I'm not going to let you fall."

"No I'm scared!" Laurie shouted so loudly all the other girls turned from their routines to look in their direction.

"You don't have to be scared. I'm not going to drop you." but the girl shook her head.

"I take it back. This ... This was a mistake. Let me down ... I - I wanna go down." she begged.

"No its not. You're doing great. Nothing bad is gonna happen."

"How do you know that?!" Laurie argued

"Because I've done this a million times." Greer said firmly. "Look Laurie, stop panicking, take a deep breath, and close your eyes." the blonde seemed to hesitate for a moment but reluctantly complied and the uncertainty slowly ebbed. She suddenly felt like she had much stable footing … and then she realized something … Her shaking had been causing her to sway ... and somehow Greer had still managed the admirable task of keeping her upright.

"OK remember what I taught you about drops? The trick is to not overthink it and let the catcher do the worrying?" and Laurie nodded.

"Great, so close your eyes and just trust me OK?" and Laurie swallowed her urge to argue this time. Greer clearly knew what she was doing. All she had to do was trust her. OK… Trust Greer … Trust the giant tigress holding her eight feet in the air ... Yea ... That wasn't too hard ... Deep breaths ... and Laurie nodded before shutting her eyes. It had happened so fast. One minute she was frozen like that, the next, she felt herself fall and when she opened her eyes again, she was staring at Greer's grinning face.

Greer meanwhile was feeling rather proud of herself that she managed to get someone like Laurie, someone she was certain was terrified of both her and heights, to swallow that fear and trust her. But she couldn't describe the pure joy she felt when Laurie, upon being let down… suddenly wrapped her arms around Greer and hugged her. The tigress couldn't help but smile a little, her ears lowering, and her tail gently curling. That was awfully… sweet. Soon the other girls were running over to congratulate their friend and ask Greer for the next turn.

Unbeknownst to the cheerleaders, K had quietly stepped into the gym and taken in the little scene. She'd dropped by most practices and this time as she leaned against the shadowed wall she couldn't help but smile a little.

"Not bad cheerleader ... Not bad."