Cheshire - balance is something I'm working on so glad you approve.

CC - yea...you're one to really bug me about cliffhangers. But not to worry, here's the next chapter. Thanks as always for the support and feedback.

Retro - yes, something wicked this way comes indeed. Luckily, someone is there to meet it.

Esme Statue- thanks for all those early reviews. I still appreciate it when people leave reviews for those chapters, the feedback is vital. Hopefully you'll be all caught up soon.

Apex and Greer stood in the hallway that led to the hangar as the team slowly trudged by. Greer had taken to waiting for the teams to return since her suspension and Apex always accompanied her...even if it was just to watch her pace.

But as the team walked past, no one gave them much attention. Their focus was on the three black bags laid out on stretchers. Logan had simply stormed past looking grim and likely headed to the nearest bottle. Apex could tell that Greer was stressed at the sight, silent with ears flush to her head and tail barely moving.

It was just before midnight at this point and a few hours earlier a team led by Scott and Jean had headed out on what Apex had at least deemed a routine extraction. And he noted that none of the team showed any sign of a struggle.

So what had happened?

"I - I don't believe it..." Greer whispered as she seemed entranced by the black bags and took a step closer to Apex and further from the stretchers as they passed. Colton moved to stand beside her, placing himself between her and the gurneys.

Jean noticed Apex staring as Scott guided the stretchers to the infirmary for Dr. McCoy to examine.

"We think it was the Sapien League..." Jean spoke quietly, still shaken from what they had found. Greer reached out and took Jean's hand. Apex wasn't certain either was even aware they were touching.

"Is this normal?" Apex was referring to the last few weeks. Greer remained quiet, obviously deep within her own thoughts.

Despite Greer not yet operating with the senior team, Apex was certain to keep track of most of the X-Men's coming and goings. But what he had taken most notice of recently was the state of the mutants that they were bringing back...at least the ones still breathing.

This was the third time in as many weeks that a team had come back bearing body bags. The first time being Thanksgiving night. Xavier had clutched at his head while speaking with Hank as he had picked up on a desperate call for help. But this wasn't totally unfamiliar; a few mutants in trouble and in need of a pick up. Maybe a place to stay for a few days. Apex had not expected there to be any fighting, Scott's optic blasts or a strike from Storm usually dispersed even the most hostile mobs.

But there had been no fighting...only bodies.

"No...it's not. I mean it didn't use to be...one of them must have been just five or six." Jean said quietly, almost to herself. Giving Apex and Greer a quick goodbye, Jean made her way down the hall to follow Scott to debrief.

"I - I need to go." Greer pulled the hood over her head and quickly made her way to the elevator. He suspected she was headed to her room to wait for Jean. Normally he would have followed.

But Apex remained where he was.

Thinking.

Things had changed for him in the Mansion...He had changed.

He hadn't been certain of it at first. It wasn't until a he had walked into one of the living rooms favored by the students for its assortment of games and televisions looking for Greer that he had realized what was different.

Nothing happened.

He had walked in, a number of students and teachers had noted his arrival and...not a thing. Not a sudden silence. Not a marked increase in noise. In fact, he swore a number of older female students smiled at him as he had scanned the room.

He would have assumed he had been mistaken if it didn't keep happening whenever he found himself surrounded by the other members of the Mansion.

When he had pointed this out to Greer, she gave a pointed look around the room and told him he was being paranoid. At which point Jean and Betsy came and sat at their table. Greer smiled at their arrival and quickly fell into conversation with the pair.

Eventually Greer had to head to teach her class and Apex used that as an excuse to remove himself. Betsy and Jean had said good-bye to him as they left.

And that had been the Mansion's behavior since. While no one had taken the step of actually approaching him and he maintained his distance, it seemed everyone had moved past attempting to avoid him. Even Scott had relented on glaring at him whenever the pair found themselves in the same room and since Thanksgiving had gone out of his way to include him in discussions relating to tactics or a particular mission.

Had Greer been asked, she wouldn't go so far as to say Colton had made any friends, but she could tell he preferred the change, even if he wouldn't admit it. She could see him keeping tabs on all of the students as they moved around him going about their lives. The sight had made Greer smile.

This left Apex standing in the hallway and thinking about all the students upstairs. Thinking about Greer. About Kitty and Amara. About Ororo. About the students...

He had asked Scott why Xavier allowed these sort of threats to exist when he could simply think them out of existence if he choose. Scott had explained that was not the world Xavier wished to live in.

But that wasn't the real world.

It wasn't the world the mutants in the body bags had died in.

And there was something else bothering him. Something about the way the X-Men kept being just too late. About the uptick in violence...

When he was sure the team had gone upstairs, Apex walked into the infirmary. He wasn't sure why he was curious. They were dead. He never knew them. So why should he care?

But that didn't stop him from unzipping the smallest bag.

Now he understood why Jean had been uncertain about his age. He knew it had been 'he' from the few strands of short, amber colored hair. But the rest of his features were hard to determine because when a body burns, it leaves little trace of what was there before.

Apex zipped the bag back up and gazed at the other two.

He knew what would happen.

Nothing would be done.

Xavier would urge restraint and lament the loss. Scott would rage and push for more training. Logan would continue his pattern of drinking and self-abuse, growling at whoever came close. And the rest of the team would try to move on and 'do better the next time.'

But Apex knew something else: The X-Jet kept a log of its last ten coordinates.

...

It was still dark out when Greer jolted awake…she looked around wildly in the dark…taking a moment to realize she was home...she was safe...

'Then why don't I feel that way?'

Greer buried her face into her hands. She hadn't meant to fall asleep, and even if she had, she hadn't meant to do it without her ipod. She had just been so worried and had tried to stay up to talk with Jean that she must have just leaned back and fallen asleep...and now she felt like she had just returned from Weapon X. With the headaches, the exhaustion and the general feeling of dread all over…

If she wasn't focused on her sessions with Logan or class with Betsy or teaching her own, all Greer could think about was what was happening on TV. Things were getting worse...and somehow Greer felt like it was her fault. She knew that was irrational but it didn't make it any easier.

Stepping out of bed, Greer looked over to find Jean sound asleep. She felt the sudden compulsion to wake her up...to talk to someone and it took her a moment to realize that it wasn't Jean she really wanted to talk to. She wanted to talk to Colton. To take in his scent…to feel that warmth…she wanted to feel safe in her own home.

Slowly, she made her way down the hall, depending on his scent she easily recognized the door, even without her ability to see clearly in the dark, she would have been able to find him. Greer hesitated for only a moment before taking a breath.

"Colton? Colton…" she whispered before gently knocking on the door. She frowned… There was no answer.

'Maybe he's asleep?' she thought only to reconsider. He would have heard her…what with his superior hearing and all that… Also, it wasn't like he would just ignore her…

"Colton?" she tried again, a little louder this time. Nothing...Suspicious, Greer reached for the doorknob only to blink in surprise as it turned…He didn't lock it. Quickly entering, Greer froze as all her worst fears came through all at once…

The window was open, the room was empty and Colton was nowhere to be seen.

It had been simple enough to pull up the travel log on the X-Jet and plug in the coordinates. Less than an hour to travel to the site...or what remained of it.

The home had been small, off of a main road in a relatively rural town. Likely the family had thought that being away from the focus of the major cities would provide them with some sense of security. Standing amongst the remains of the home, obviously a misguided conclusion.

He continued to walk among the wreckage, kneeling down every so often to trace a footprint, flip over a piece of wreckage or get a better scent. Eventually he tracked the group...five...maybe six...to a dirt road less than a mile into the forest. Likely used by local park rangers or hunters. Clear of the smoldering remains, it was easier to follow the scent to another dirt road until he found himself crouching in the tall grass just bordering a rundown farm.

It wasn't much: a two story farmhouse and a barn, each in need of repair, surrounded by a few acres of farmland and rusted equipment.

He had counted a total of ten: eight men and two women. Ages ranging from early twenties to late fifties. Not all of them were armed...likely keeping whatever firearms and ammunition inside the house. Here they felt safe...secure in their 'fortress.'

He spent another hour moving around the perimeter, plotting the layout of the house and likely exits based on what he could see through the windows. The only thing he couldn't place was that one of the men, sometimes in pairs, would go to the barn and after a few minutes spent inside head back to the house.

Apex waited until the majority of the lights inside the farmhouse went out before making his move. He was half-way between the farmhouse and the barn, silent on all fours, when a sound caused him to pause. A hollow rattling.

There it was again...

Giving the house a last look, he changed direction and made his way towards the farmhouse. He climbed through a window, pausing only for a moment to take in what he saw and ensure he was alone before dropping to the dirt floor.

The girl was in shock, totally missing his appearance, her eyes half-closed but showing them to be completely blue, without any discernible iris. A mutant...like him.

She was young...around Katherine's age but slightly taller and with similar build. Hair like her brother's. Her breathing was ragged, explaining the noise he had heard. Her feet dragged on the floor, hands tied above her head with a length of rope connected to a rafter. As she slowly spun, he saw the back of her dress had been ripped open...long slashes covering her back.

He could clearly see the path beaten into the dirt floor where they had come and gone, the path leading to a whip resting on a tack.

Noises...coming towards the barn.

Apex moved quickly to a little nook hidden well in the shadows, and waited.

A few moments passed as one of the men stumbled out, half drunk and swearing under his breath, laughing to himself. On hearing one of her captors the girl took a sharp intake of breath, feebly attempting to get away from the pain but unable to stand.

When he stepped into the barn the look on his face was one Apex recognized. Cruelty shone from his eyes as he sought out the whip that was no longer on the rack. He searched the floor, swearing to the young woman all the horrible things he had planned for her. Finally he saw it.

He bent down and reached for the whip...and it moved.

He furrowed his brows and after a few more attempts took a hold of it...and looked up just as Apex's snarl rendered the air.

...

"He's out...that's it...he's done..."

Once Greer had realized that Colton's scent wasn't as strong as it should be had he just been in his room, Greer retraced her steps to find Scott pacing in the hangar. Ororo and Xavier were huddled by the monitors while Logan was quietly leaning against a wall with the brim on his hat falling over his face; making it impossible to tell if he was pissed, thinking, or simply had fallen asleep.

"What's going on?" Greer had momentarily forgotten why she had come running down. It was the middle of the night and the last thing she had expected was this.

"Colton." Scott said it at a whisper.

"What about Colton? You know where he is?" Greer looked expectantly towards Xavier but Scott wasn't finished.

"Colton...stole the X-Jet to do god knows what and when he gets back...I'm gonna kill 'em." Scott only stopped his pacing long enough to seethe at Greer before returning to it. Greer meanwhile was struck silent at just how many things in that sentence were in need of explaining.

"How - how long has he been gone? Where did he go?" Greer hurried over to the monitors to look over Ororo's shoulder.

"Well, we know he's been gone for three hours from the security footage. What we don't know is where...somehow he's blocking the X-Jet from pinging back to us." Ororo was busy typing on the key board. Kitty would have been the best one to handle this but she was at her parents.

"So we don't know where he went? What if he's in trouble? What if he-" Greer started to ramble.

"Relax Tigger. Somethin' tells me your boy can handle himself just fine," Logan grumbled, unsure why he had to be here at all, only to cock his head to the side, "Speak of the devil."

Sure enough a few minutes later the X-Jet made its landing, Scott fuming as the door slowly came down.

"Who the hell do you think you are? You can't just -" Scott's voice died off as Colton slowly came down the ramp, a limp body in his arms.

"Charles, call Hank! We need to..." Xavier laid a hand on Ororo's arm with a slow shake of his head. Scott took a step back to allow Colton to pass, the feral stopping beside him.

"Four...there were four of them." The rest of the small welcoming party followed silently as Apex took the body of the young woman to join the rest of her family. Greer however being the only one to follow him out of the infirmary and up to his room.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Apex looked over his shoulder for a moment to look at Greer. Her concern was obvious but telling her what he saw...what he had done...no, that wasn't what she needed to hear.

"I'm fine. Nothing happened." Apex tried walking over to his window but Greer beat him to it.

"Nothing? You slip out in the middle of night and come back hours later with a dead girl in your arms...and you call that nothing?" Apex just stared back, Greer searching his face for some sign of recognition...and seeing none.

"Did you find the men responsible?"

"Yes..."

"And what did you do to them? How did you find the girl?" Apex saw that Greer wanted to know, but he refused to do this. He protected her...that was all she needed to know. Greer saw Apex look away from her and it felt like a physical blow.

"Don't. Don't do that. Don't lock me out." Greer placed her hands on Colton's arms but he barely reacted.

"I'm not doing anything. I just want some air." Again he tried moving around Greer but she held onto him tighter.

"Stop it! You can't do this." Apex heard the tremble in her voice.

"Do...what?"

"I don't want you going out there. I don't want you killing people anymore."

"Greer...just go back to your room. Go to sleep." Apex shrugged her off but now Greer knew she was losing it as he turned his back on her.

"I can't sleep! Don't you get it? I came in here because I needed you...I needed to feel safe...and you left me...you left me..." She was cracking...she couldn't see...

It was like night had suddenly descended, a dark blanket enveloping her in soft blackness. Greer breathed in deep, his scent blocking everything else out, his arms wrapped around her like a shield.

She didn't fight as he gently picked her up, her arm snaking up to his neck, and carried her over to his bed. When he tried setting her down, Greer just worked her fingers deeper into his fur, refusing to let go.

"Greer..."

"I just...want to fall asleep..." she sounded exhausted, breathing deeply in between words.

"I'll be here. You're safe." Greer opened an eye and saw Colton take a seat across from the bed...a memory of him sitting across from her...except they were in a jungle...watching over her. Greer never took her eyes off of Colton until finally exhaustion won out.

Once he had started his trip back to the Mansion, all Apex could think about was what he had seen...what he had discovered...and what it all meant. He had already began plotting out what he would have to do. How he would do it.

But now...now all he could focus on was the tigress laying across to him. He had left to protect her...but something Ororo had said...'Maybe she needs something more than protection.'

"I will protect you Greer. I promise." He knew she was already asleep, but somehow he saw her smile regardless.

Colton sat thinking for hours as he watched over Greer as she slept.

Greer had no dreams that night.

BREAKING NEWS: In a night of tragedy, two fires claimed lives tonight in rural upstate New York. The first belonged to the Miller family, the husband and wife of twenty years along with their two children. Firefighters are still attempting to locate the bodies. Only a few miles away, another fire was found by local authorities in what was believed to have been an abandoned farm. But after putting out the flames to the farmhouse and barn, firefighters found the remains of a yet unknown number of inhabitants. It is not yet clear if the two deadly blazes were connected...