Cheshire ... Canuckle ... obviously "thanks" doesn't cover it but ... THANKS


"Don't you ever get bored?" Vanyss asked lazily as she sat perched on top of a pullup bar while Apex worked out below her.

"I didn't ask for company." Apex rumbled as he laid back on the bench and resumed working out. Vanyss just rolled her eyes and dropped down to the floor. Since that night Colton had caught her in the forest, Vanyss could count on finding the panther somewhere around the Mansion late at night and for some reason out of everyone in the Mansion ... she felt most relaxed around him. Not that she'd ever admit it.

"Yea well you've been a bit hard to find the last couple nights so you owe me. Not much to do around here since they installed that new dome security or whatever ... can't even catch a good thermal ..." Vanyss grumbled, missing Apex pausing mid-set for a moment before starting again. He hadn't counted on Vanyss noticing him being gone.

"I was running -"

"The perimeter. Yea ... that's what Greer said." Vanyss stood in front of the bench as Apex sat up, the panther noticing the interested look the teenager was wearing. He knew that look ... it typically resulted in teenagers asking way too many questions and him getting a headache. But then Vanyss rolled her shoulders with a shrug and waved her hand dismissively."But I don't really care about that ..." Vanyss droned as she started wandering towards the hanging heavy bags and mats area.

"I'm not training you." Apex repeated for the third time that week and Vanyss turned with sneer on her face as she raised her arms in disbelief.

"Pour l'amour de - you are infuriating!" Apex just shrugged and continued working out, "I would have thought that you of all people would have wanted me to know how to fight." Vanyss mock-growled.

"You learn self-defense." Apex reminded her.

"That's not the same thing." Vanyss retorted.

"Exactly." Apex glanced at Vanyss's reflection and saw her deflate for a moment before shaking herself back to righteous teenage fury. He felt a headache coming.

"Would you at least tell me why you won't train me?" Vanyss had been asking that question a number of times as well without success, but caught her breath when the panther put down the weights and half-turned to look at her.

"No."

"Putain de chat!" Vanyss swore in French.

"Enfant pétulant." Apex rumbled right back which just earned more crossed arms and a hurt look from the gargoyle as she leaned back on the mirrored wall.

"Would you at least tell me why you work out so much? Probablement pas ..." Vanyss mumbled doubtfully.

"Because I'm in control." Vanyss's head snapped in Colton's direction at his low rumble but he hadn't even looked over at her.

"Control of what?" Vanyss asked curiously but all she got was the panther doing his typical hard stare at nothing, a shrug, and he was back at it. A few more minutes of blessed silence passed before Vanyss opened her mouth but Apex cut her off

"You want to know about K."

Vanyss's jaw actually dropped for a moment as Apex noticed the slight flare of her spines and turned to face the teen fully as Vanyss fought to regain her footing.

"That's someone I really don't care about," Vanyss huffed in a way only French teenage girls can as she crossed her arms defensively. Apex grabbed his water as he gave his neck a crack.

"You're scheduled for your fight evaluation with Logan and K this week. You want to impress her." Apex hadn't said it as a question but Vanyss answered anyway.

"That's completely not -"

"You can't impress her and you can't suck up to her," Apex scratched his muzzle as he seemed to search for something, "but she loves coffee."

Vanyss stopped as her brow furrowed in confusion at that last comment but Colton headed for the door. He paused a few steps from the doorframe and glanced over his shoulder.

"You should get to sleep."

Vanyss flicked her eyes up to Colton and gave him a look as if to say 'are you serious?' but as usual the panther was capable of getting most people to do what he said simply by staring.

"You need to go to sleep." Vanyss grumbled as she headed to leave. Apex considered the gargoyle as she approached and used his tail to cut her short.

"Do you play pool?"

Vanyss's eyebrows went high as she stopped short.

"Quelle?"

"Pool. Greer said I need to be social this week and you're behind in geometry."

Vanyss let the dig at her math skills and considered what Colton just asked her. She'd spent enough time in classes and meals to hear the wide range of whispers that the students of Xavier's had about the quiet panther. Vanyss had silently laughed at some of the more ridiculous ones ... while others had made her question just what exactly Colton did in his spare time.

"When I beat you, you will train me, yes?" Vanyss smirked, ignoring the fact she'd never played pool in her life and with a smirk quickly headed upstairs before he could answer.

"Whazzat?" Pixie mumbled out as Vanyss quietly slipped into their room close to 2am.

"Just me - va te coucher ... go to sleep." Vanyss whispered and with a wave and a few choice swear words Vanyss knew the girl would never say fully awake, Pixie rolled over and back to sleep.

Vanyss let her roommate settle before taking off her clothes and quickly getting herself ready and into bed. Though as usual ... the gargoyle felt wide awake. Rolling her eyes, Vanyss pulled out the old iPod she'd snagged from the trash and put in the earphones as she waited for the sun to come up.


K was down early that morning mostly as an excuse to watch Logan come in when he got back from his run. She was sitting by the window quietly scanning the morning's paper when a warm, rich, slightly burnt scent that hinted at a familiar turkish double roast that she'd gotten decades ago - quite far from Westchester. She touched her nose and folded over the paper to see Vanyss standing in front of her. The teen had on a pair of sunglasses despite the sun barely being up and more importantly ... two cups of coffee clutched in her clawed hands.

K didn't say anything beyond raising an eyebrow as Vanyss seemed to take a moment to settle herself before starting.

"You were right ... I was raised better than what you saw. I - haven't been much of myself lately."

K didn't move but to tip her chin up so she could look down her nose at the young gargoyle.

"What's that for?" K asked as she gestured towards the steaming mugs.

"Coffee from home," Vanyss put a mug down and very deliberately slid it across to K, "it was one of the few things I brought here ... Dieu merci." Vanyss grumbled at the end.

K didn't respond but to scarcely tip her head Vanyss' way before she reached for he mug. Vanyss took this as a good sign and kept going.

"Your French is very good."

"Rusty at best." K said in a bored tone.

"Have you ... were you from France?" The hope in the teens voice was evident. She'd been homesick since she'd arrived and hearing K speak the other day had given her the hope of talking to someone that might remind her of home. Even it was with someone actually married to Professor Logan.

"No," K replied. "But I did spend a little time there years ago."

Greer and Colton came down a few hours later and in a bit of surprise to the panther Greer paused in the doorway and instead of grabbing her morning coffee and heading to sit with K as usual, she led him over to their old corner and sat down next to him with a rather wide smile on her face. It didn't take all the leaning forwards and sitting back with an even bigger smile to figure out why.

"Vanyss and K seem to be talking." Apex rumbled over his tablet as Greer finally turned to him practically jumping in her seat.

"I know! I wasn't sure how they'd get along but seems they're hitting it off. Do you know what they're talking about?" Greer had been able to pick up what they were saying but it was apparent the two were speaking in quiet French. Apex's ear flicked over for a moment before he shrugged.

"Home."

Greer's head tilted to the side and she looked back at K and Vanyss, the gargoyle clearly doing most of the talking as K sat back and sipped her coffee, before Pixie stopped by their table and with a little wave K was again alone. Greer was about to walk over but Colton put a hand on her arm. Greer opened her mouth to say something but then she saw the look on K's face as she took a deep breath and quickly cleared her things and slipped out towards the forest.

Frowning a bit, Greer shrugged and looking back up at Colton gave him a brief nuzzle before turning to her own breakfast with a smile. Things were looking up.


"I can't believe we didn't find anything ... I feel horrible." Kitty said out loud what everyone was thinking.

Two days ago, Noam Cohen and Rachel Greenbaum had left Xavier's together in Rachel's car to their respective homes in Boston for some Jewish holidays. Except neither of them had ever made it out of New York. After their parents had called in a panic, Xavier had tried Cerebro but for some reason he couldn't locate them. Logan and Scott had led search parties in a wider and wider arc but aside from locating an abandoned car ... they'd found nothing.

"Storm and Angel are taking over, Kitty. We'll find them don't worry." Peter put an arm around his worried girlfriend as the rest of the tired X-Men loaded off the plane. K and Logan were the last ones off while Rogue stepped to start prep the jet for the next group to head back out, Greer being one of them.

"Any luck?" Greer asked Logan with strained optimism which quickly fell along with her ears at the look on her mentor's face. Vanyss had been asking her almost on the hour about Noam ... to her surprise, it had turned out she'd been with her in Warren's flying class.

"Scent goes cold right ten yards from the car. Whoever grabbed 'em did it right there ... told Scooter we need to start thinking bigger." Logan growled while K simply watched Rogue as she worked.

"And what did Scott say?" Greer asked hopefully that Logan answered with a look. "Right ... of course." And with a quick shake of her head Greer squared her shoulders and headed towards the refueled and waiting jet.

Logan hung back until the jet took off then he headed for the elevators with K beside him. She didn't even blink when he didn't push for their floor and instead walked out on the main floor and straight outside for the woods.

"What are the chances that he found something?" K didn't need to ask where they were going.

"Kid always does." Logan rumbled back as the two hiked in relative silence until they arrived at the Shack.

"Whatcha got?" Logan called out before they'd even reached the bottom of the stairs to find Apex studying an array of digital pictures and printouts on the high-tech table that dominated the room, the ever present wall of crossed out faces to his back. Surveying his finds one more time, Apex pressed on one document, bringing it up above the rest as he pushed back from the table.

"I think I found them," Colton rumbled. Logan studied the document the panther had pulled up as K gave Colton a quick once over, estimating that he hadn't slept since this had started and seeing as how he'd been gone for the day before that, she thought he was holding up fairly well. If the kid wanted to run himself haggard ... it was up to him.

"The hell is it? Some sorta manifest?" Logan narrowed his eyes at it, but the document still just looked like a long list of generic produce, their weight, and destination.

"Not just a manifest ... an advertisement," Apex pulled an image of an apparently wealthy, smiling, middle-aged man K instinctively wanted to stab in the face, "Francis Broderick. After his father died ten years ago he became the CEO of Nomad Shipping. The company works a mass transportation, offices all over the world and worth an estimated 740 million."

"Lemme guess, he ain't just shipping tractors?" Logan huffed as Apex nodded.

"Most of his traffic is legitimate but the lions share of his income comes from moving black market goods and occasionally hosting exclusive auctions among his clients. He sends out these manifests as a form of invitation. And this," the image of Broderick was replaced with another manifest, "was the newest one sent out a week ago."

K and Logan looked between the documents and noticed the variations.

"There are two new items." K muttered.

"The kids," Logan growled and looked back at Colton, "can we intercept?"

"No," Apex growled clearly frustrated by his own answer, "I can't find where the children are ... but I do know where they're going." With a few keystrokes the new manifest highlighted a seeming random pattern of letters and numbers until they formed an address.

"So not just a brochure ... an invitation." Logan glanced at the location and figured it to be someplace in Jamaica, "can we crash the party?"

"I doubt it," K said as she leaned over the table. "Probably keeping most of the goods somewhere offsite in case one of the customers gets smart and snatch before they pay up. We need to get eyes on the kids or which ever creeps want to get their hands on them. We go in there with our claws out and we'll blow the whole damn thing. This looks more like an infiltration job."

Logan raised an eyebrow at K's assessment but Apex didn't seem too surprised.

"See the outstanding numbers?" Apex nodded towards the highlighted numbers and letters that had made up the address for the event but some numbers had been left over. K and Logan nodded.

"You know what it is? Passcode, coordinates ...?" Logan wondered out loud.

"Buy in. To prove intention of purchase." Logan and K's arms went slack as they looked at the eight figures.

"That is a lot of money just to get in. Do we have a budget for that?" K asked, but the only answer she got was glance that Logan and Colton shared "OK. Then where the hell are we gonna get that much scratch?" Logan let out a sigh and gave her an apologetic look.

"I only know of a couple people that could cough up that kinda cash on a whim," Logan replied. He looked a bit tense. "I think he'd be more open at the prospect if you ask." K just stared at him, eyes wide ... all the good humor gone from minutes before.

"What the hell do you expect me to do?" K asked after a good stretch of silence from both men, but Logan just shook his head.

"Ask 'im nice," he suggested as K looked between the ferals before she looked back to her husband.

"Is this a test of some sort that I'm just not getting? Because if you're serious ... you better not be. Because it sounds like you're asking me to whore myself out."

"No. No I'm not. Lets get that straight right now. That ain't gonna happen," Logan said quickly and with no small amount of heat. His possessive growl was clear and it made her relax a little. He forced a sigh before continuing. "You wanna help these kids?"

"Well, yeah – of cours-"

"Then you know what you gotta do," Logan said gently. K looked from Logan to Colton and just glared at the space between.

"Damnit." She shook her head as she thought it over. "For the record – I hate this plan. But ... he does owe me."


"K ... darling. You know how I feel about you messaging me without pictures attached." Tony came out of the elevator with his typical flair. Meaning K found herself half restraining from stabbing him in the face and half trying not to laugh. The problem being that today, they actually needed something from the narcissistic billionaire and K was saddled with procuring it.

"And you know how I feel about you calling me 'darling'. Besides - Dick pics are your thing, not mine," K said over her shoulder as she kicked off the wall with a little smirk and he followed her down the hall.

"I don't ..." Tony gaped at her for a moment and couldn't help but let out a laugh. "I don't do dick pics. I have assistants for that."

"Well that's one of two ways you'd ever get me to look at it," K replied as she gave him a quick once over with a smirk that had Tony off guard right off the bat. He seemed even more engaged by, at least to his ears, K's explicit teasing.

"Well if short-and-hairy isn't around ... maybe this is our chance for tha - what the hell is that?" K kept her smile to a minimum as the lights to the secured ready room came on to reveal a glowering Apex. Tony had stopped dead in his tracks to point at the towering panther and the spike in adrenaline she could pick up coming from Stark was almost wistful to the little feral.

"It's not polite to point, Hot Lips," K drawled as she headed for the computer while Tony just continued to stare.

"That's Weapon 22." Apex gave a low growl.

"Bad manners to call him that. He prefers Apex," K answered distractedly as she slid into a chair. "Less of a chance he'd see you as 'one of them' if you lay off the 'weapon' thing. Besides, you and Tigra seem to get along just fine." K's smirk was for Tony though Apex glowered at the news all the same.

"Ti - oh Greer? She's a sweetheart. It - Isn't he supposed to be in a SHIELD lockup somewhere?" K and Colton shared a glance at that particular news. Seemed Fury was holding out Apex as a prisoner ... and maybe even a threat. SHIELD's own personal weapon.

"News to me." K finished what she was doing and spun around with a smoldering, sultry look on her face.

"Focus Mr. Stark," K snapped her fingers and regained Tony's attention in an instant while Apex kept his gaze locked on him. "Did you have a chance to read what I sent on the way over?" Tony glanced over at the still silent Apex. The giant panther was terrifying ... but the little brunette was looking at him ... was she looking at him like ... that? He cleared his throat and recaptured his swagger. K hated swagger generally speaking, but Tony had no way of knowing it. Colton thought he smelled horrible and talked too loud.

"Of course. Missing kids. Shady group holding an auction with a sudden addition of two items on the reserve. Pretty straight forward, even for the X-Men. So what do you need from me?"

"Oh, Tony," K said with a purr as her eyes went wide as she gave Tony such a look of innocence Apex wasn't even aware K had, "Well I was thinking that you could pay up."

"Pay up?" Tony tilted his head a bit as he was clearly trying to gauge what K was getting at as he slowly made his way towards her, "pay up as in ..."

"As in I put a lot of work in protecting your well-manicured shapely a** ... and I was thinking it was time you made it up to me." K practically uncoiled her way out of her chair so that she was brushing lightly against Stark, who was of course eating it up as she trailed her hand over his chest and up to the back of his neck.

"Name it. Weekend in Fiji, moonlit dinner in Paris, maybe your own wing at Stark Tower ..." Tony slid an arm around K's waist and for a moment, she allowed him to pull her closer.

She leaned in a bit closer still, and ran one hand through his hair before her smile widened just a bit and Tony started to readjust his grip on her. "I think this oughta cover it," K purred as she smoothly slid a piece of paper into Stark's open mouth and slipped out of his grasp. A bit flustered, Tony snatched the paper out of his mouth and was ready to snark right back at the little feral ... until he was the number written on it.

"Wait -how much?" Tony disbelief

"You wanted the best ... You pay for the best," K replied easily. "I'm giving you a break, really." Stark shook his head, suddenly looking a bit more like the man famous for making deals in the boardroom.

"Sorry K, but I've already paid for the best and /this/ is ten times that. There's no way that you expect me to -"

"You haven't actually," K replied in her own perfectly businesslike tone. "You did hire me, but you haven't paid."

"Yakov Kidron, ex-Mossad and Israeli spec ops, runs Magen Defense," Apex rumbled still unmoved from his place on the wall, "you used his outfit twice last year. Five man team."

"Yea ... and?" Tony hid his nerves well but K could tell he was more unnerved that Apex could talk then he what he knew.

"K's price is a comparable. Discounted even."

"Like hell it is." Tony shot right back but Apex seemingly wasn't finished.

"Her time, protection, hazard pay, and neutralizing Viper. She should be charging you more."

"C'mon Tony. Get real. Add to that list the fact that I allowed you to sexually harass me the entire time and allow the world at large to believe that I was screwing you. Now. You really want to try and tell me that a couple meatheaded steroid buffs are better company and protection than me?" K asked. "With all my talents?"

"I might if you showed me what some of those talents are," Tony replied.

"Keep your pants on. I just want your money," K replied with a smirk.

"Sorry K. Prenup comes first," Tony said with a growing smile. The fact that he was teasing had to mean he was at least ready for a counter offer. K smiled shyly and let out a little giggle with a light blush that made Apex glance her way in confusion. He'd never heard that come from her, and he'd never seen anyone blush on demand.

"Oh, I wish it was that simple," K said in a tone that had Apex paying closer attention and Tony looking as if he had an opening.

"Well what do I get out of this ... aside from the bill?"

"My thanks for not making me chase you down. I hate having to collect on handsome men. Ruins their whole aura by the time I'm done." K said, smirking widely at him. "And like I said - this is for services already rendered."

"Negotiable," Tony said, tipping his head to one side. "I think for that kind of number I might be able to get a few other services yet. Unless ... Does your 'thanks' involve no clothes?"

"I'm not a hooker, Stark. And if I was – you /definitely/ couldn't afford me," K replied with a chuckle. She softened her stance and reached out to grab his arm and pull him closer to where she was leaning against the table.

"But ... if this follow up favor were to require for me to dress in a manner in which I usually do not ... Ill leave it open."

"So possible no clothes. That's a step in the right direction." He was smirking. "The favor stays open. No restrictions on it ... I call it in when I need it and you make it happen."

"Of course."

"One more thing," Tony said as he pulled her up to her feet and again slid his hand around her waist. "The best deals are always sealed with a kiss. Not a peck on the cheek. I want a real one." Colton wasn't surprised when K didn't hesitate.

"Fair enough," K replied easily. It did however, surprise Stark.

"Really?"

"Mmm hmm."

"OK then. Do you want it in cash? Because I don't have quite that much on me," Tony replied with a grin that totally gave away that he knew he was getting away with murder. K smirked at him and turned the screen next to her so that Tony could read it.

"Here is the account number. Name is 'Christiansen', and Tony," he looked down at her wide eyed. "Thank you."

"No problem," he muttered as he sat down and took over on the computer to more or less finish the financial side of the transaction. "Now, would you tell your pet kitten to stop looking at me like he's thinking about the best way to eat and or kill me. It's distracting and I want to be on my game for when we seal the deal."

"Not a chance," she laughed.

"Why not?" Tony asked. K seemed to consider things for a moment as she lingered looking between Colton and Tony.

"Maybe because he's thinking about killing and eating you ... just not necessarily in that order," While Tony was distracted, she quickly slipped over to him and slipped an arm around his neck as she sat on his lap. He stiffened up as she ran her fingers through his messy hair and gave him a little smirk.

It was clear to her that he simply wasn't expecting it right then. What wasn't clear though was if the spike in his scent was from fear of Colton or K herself. Her smirk stretched into a little smile before she simply leaned in and gave him what he'd been asking for. To her surprise ... he refocused quickly and came after her with a surprising amount of aggression. When the kiss was through, his hand was on her a** and he was grinning like he'd come out ahead in the deal. Without missing a beat he reached over and hit the return button and finished the transfer. She glanced to follow his movement and before Tony could make another move, she pulled back a bit.

Looking Tony straight in the eye she addressed Colton. "Mmmmmm," her tone was steamy and it had Tony grinning widely. "I'd suggest something to cover the stench of slimeball. Like maybe sautee him in garlic butter with sriracha."

"Oh ... come on. You're really gonna call me a slime ball after I gave you all that money?"

"You didn't give me that money ... it's paying me what you owed and. With a forward on something I have to pay back," she argued, still on his lap. "And you tried to check my tonsils! That's a slime ball move." He frowned a little and shook his head.

"I don't regret it. Totally the best way to seal a deal. I look forward to doing business with you in the future." Her dry, appraising look returned in an instant.

"We're done here. Thanks for your help."

"Just send me a text – with a photo this time if you need anything else. Always glad to help."


Greer was headed upstairs tired, dejected, and just wanting to get out of this uniform, shower, and snuggle into something dark and furry. They still hadn't found the kids and she could actually scent the tension in the house coming mostly from the students. But as she reached the top of the stairs, her ears flipped up as she spotted Logan slipping out of his bedroom with ... wait -

"Is that a garment bag?" Greer pointed at the bag flipped over Logan's shoulder with a small duffel clenched in his other hand as the gruff feral headed past her.

"Not now Tigger." Logan barely shot her a look as he headed downstairs, leaving Greer paused on the stairs. Listening closely, she could tell Colton wasn't in their room ... and K wasn't in her and Logan's either. Her tail gave a few thumps on the stairs before her eyes narrowed.

"They wouldn't dare."

Greer hadn't bothered changing or even heading back downstairs, instead leaping from her bedroom window and running straight for the Shack. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she was already growling as Logan and Colton were clearly prepping gear for a mission. Logan didn't look up from his work but letting out a low growl of resignation of his own, Apex knew he wasn't as lucky.

"You found them didn't you." Greer growled at Colton who carefully put down the com equipment he'd been prepping to turn and face the seething tigress.

"It's not what you think." Apex tried speaking calmly but it didn't seem to soothe her.

"Oh I'm sorry ... is this not you two heading out for a mission?"

"Yes, but -"

"But nothing. I know we talked about you going after Weapon X but this is X-Force. You were going to give me the choice of whether I wanted in and you were ready to go behind my back. Again." Greer hissed, and Colton noted how the tigress's voice had gone quiet on that last word. He was in trouble...

"I'm not. K is -"

"Oh don't worry! I know you invited K in on this mission. Real glad you suddenly trust her more than me. What ... you think I forgot all that training or something? That I can't work with the X-Men and you?"

"Greer," Apex didn't hold back his growl this time, "K is the mission. Logan and I are only providing overwatch."

That certainly got Greer to quite for a second as she tilted her head to the side.

"What do you mean K /is/ the mission? Why would she - holy - K?!" Greer's jaw dropped a bit as K sauntered out of the small locker room dressed in a skin tight, low cut, long, sparkling black dress - a slit on the side going nearly up to her hip, her red soled Louboutin's clicking on the metal floor. Her hair was done up in a perfectly chic updo, the soft curls loose in all the right spots, and her makeup was perfectly stunning.

"What's the problem here?" K grumbled impatiently as she forced the earrings into her ears and spotted Greer. "Hey, Princess." Greer kept staring as the elegant feral walked over to Logan who first made sure to check that there was no blood on her neck from the impromptu ear piercing then moved on to secure the body cam and wire before he kissed her right next to her lips and the two of them spoke quietly with their heads together.

"Like I said ... K is the mission." Apex said as explanation, his rumble snapping Greer back to reality.

"And what kind of mission has her dressing like that?" Greer gestured at K still trying to make sure that really was K.

"A covert one." Apex glanced over at K for a moment as if trying to figure out what had Greer so confused.

"What part of that dress is covert exactly?" Greer retorted as her tail started swaying again. Something had to be up ... there was no way this was real as Greer couldn't seem to pull her eyes off of K as she slid her arms around Logan's neck, and he simply rested his hands on her hips and the two continued their quiet flirting. If Logan wasn't dressed in his black X-Force uniform she'd have sworn the two were about to head out to some gala.

"It's cover. She needs to fit in." Apex shrugged as he tried gauging his irritated girlfriend as suddenly her tail slowed to a more thoughtful sway.

"Fit in to where exactly?" Greer said slowly and listened intently as Colton explained what had happened to the students and K's role in either extracting or at least locating them.

"So you're sending K into some hoity-toity, bad guy soiree ... dressed like that ... so she can mingle with said bad guys ... find Noam and Rachel ... and just walk out of there?"

"About sums it up," Logan muttered distractedly over K's shoulder as he went back to nibbling at her neck. Greer looked from him, to K, to Colton and took a breath.

"Great. When do we leave?" Apex took a slow step closer to Greer.

"In a couple hours. Why would you -"

"Perfect. I'll run back to the Mansion, grab a dress, and be back here and changed in an hour." Greer sounded serious but there was definitely a hint of excitement in her voice. Finally ... something she could do. Something Colton couldn't. And she got to do it in heels.

"Greer ... You're not trained for this." Apex knew this wasn't going to go over well but this had been why he hadn't told Greer in the first place.

"Not tr- of /course/ I'm trained for this. Besides, you were gonna send K in there without backup?" Greer growled defiantly back up at the much taller panther but it was K that cut in with a chuckle.

"First of all, kitten, I don't need backup. Second, these two are already gonna be watching everything I do which is going to be totally overkill and completely worthless until this is all said and done and Fuzz gets to fly while Logan helps me get out of this horrid dress. And finally, I can't believe I'm saying this - Colton is right. You're SO not trained for this."

"You're not trained for this," Greer countered with a frown as she tried to find a flaw in K's cover. "You ... you are NOT THAT girl. You're ... You don't do dresses. That's MY thing."

"You have no idea what you're talking about," K replied. "And this thing? This thing requires that you can do all the things you DON'T want to do in the black uniform. There is killing. Lots of it, and it's got to be under cover. If you can't kill and do it smoothly in heels without getting anything on you - you have no business in there. Besides, there's only one other woman in my league for THIS THING. And you ain't her."

"Well you've never been on a mission with me so I don't think you can make that call." Greer shot back quickly, turning to face K fully.

"Also YES K, I do know what I'm talking about. I've been going to these events ever since I was a little kid, my mum made sure of that. Trust me, I know exactly what to do, what to say. Besides wouldn't it just be a little too suspicious that such a knockout like you showed up alone? Unescorted? I mean if I saw you there just mingling from person to person, I'd be pretty suspicious. Also you don't have any kind of ties to anyone... doubly suspicious "

K just let out a weary sigh as she leaned back into Logan and pinched the bridge of her nose. "This ... is not like playing nice for mommy's associates and underlings. This is not being yourself and acting like a perfect sorority pain in the a**." She let her hand fall to her side. "no. Showing up alone - like this - is entirely auspicious. Because it's NOT one of the charity functions or asskissing festivals like you're used to. But, sheerly out of curiosity - what do you think I'd need a trainee's help for - exactly?"

Greer straightened up and her tail curled a bit. "I mean wouldn't it be easier if you had someone to… I don't know, bounce off of? Say someone caught onto you, think you're up to something but you prove them wrong because you end up walking back to gossip with your friend. It'll throw them off."

"Greer, this isn't something you bounce off of. There are always mysterious, rich women that draw attention. Try some other argument."

"Okay. well -" Greer started to say looking hopeful, "Noam weighs what ... 170?"

"173 pounds." Apex muttered.

"What's that got to do with anything?" K asked as Logan snaked his arm around her waist again.

"I think she's questioning your ability, darlin'," Logan muttered quietly.

"NO," Greer said, half glaring at Logan. "Just ... what're you gonna do if Noam or Rachel need help getting out of there? Carry one while you drag the other and fight with your feet? I can carry both of those kids over a shoulder." Greer leaned back against the wall a triumphant look in her eye. There was a pause while Logan K and Colton exchanged looks before K stood forward, a hard sort of look in her eyes.

"I want you to get this through your head, sweetie. This is not a game. This is not some dress up dinner that you and Jean invite friends to. This is a mission. One wrong move, one wrong look and those kids could die."

"All the more reason you need me." Greer replied calmly.

"All the more reason I DON'T. This is not the kind of mission to pull in a trainee. Or do you think you're better back up than these two? What about the killing? You ready to go there baby girl? Can you bring yourself to? Because I can guarantee I'm not going to bust my ass covering for you if you get cold feet " and that seemed to crack the tigress's confidence… Only momentarily though as Greer took a deep breath and answered coolly.

"If it comes to that then yes… I'll go there. I have killed before K… I'm not proud of it but I HAVE done it."

"Yeah but I've been told plenty from these two about your conscience getting to you in the aftermath and I can't afford for you to fall apart in there," K told her earnestly.

"Those bastards took the kids… I'll use that as a reminder on my conscience," Greer growled before looking K straight in the eye. "Besides in the rare scenario that I do fall apart like you all are predicting … It'll at least give something for those two to do." Greer jerked her head in Logan and Colton's direction while the two shared a look with the two women seemed to have gone into a stare off. K's hard look not going away and Greer just refusing to back off.

"I'm not predicting that you'll fall apart," K told her. "I'm predicting that you wouldn't do what was needed until it was too late. And using them," she said, jerking her head toward the men. "As part of your argument to get on board to say they'll be backup? Isn't helping you. I've already got them for backup. What do you bring to the table?"

After a particularly cold stare down, Greer finally sighed and let her shoulders fall a bit. "I can do this. Please. Let me show you."

K just watched her for a moment, her eyes narrowed before Logan stepped forward to kiss her behind the ear. "He's been keeping her off of all of these missions," Logan whispered just loud enough for K alone to hear. And with that, the little brunette sighed.

"You better run," K told her. "We leave in twenty minutes with or without you…" There was an audible growl from Apex as Logan gave Greer a little wink, but it like they had said, K's mission, so K made the rules and Greer had to try extra hard to refrain her tail from giving away just exactly how excited she was.