CC - glad that ending still got your attention. And just think...it only took like 5 months to get back to it...sorry bout that. But expect lots more work coming your way.
Retro - welcome back. Yea...Weapon X are some devious bastards.
Cheshire- as always, thanks for the Greer insights. Not to worry...all will be explained...in time (ominous music plays)
"What are we looking at Hank?" Scott's voice was grim as he spoke. The rest of the senior X-Men were gathered in the briefing room, their eyes on the small device in the center of the table. While everyone looked concerned, Scott's face said it all. He had been the one in charge of security for the Mansion, for his team, for the students...and they had been here and left without anyone ever even knowing.
"It's some kind of recording device. Honestly, it's something you could make from a local hardware store. The interesting quality about it is that it was never touched by a human...or mutant for that matter." Hank gave a knowing look towards Logan.
"That's why Greer and me didn't even notice it when it was in there. No scent." Logan muttered.
"It's not just that. The recording was playing at a decimal and pitch only the most acute hearing could even pick up. I'm fairly certain Greer never heard it unless it was completely silent. Such as when she was sleeping or completely alone."
"What was on the recording?" Peter asked what everyone else was wondering. The look on Hank's face flashed anger before Xavier spoke up.
"That recording will never be played in these halls again. It was Greer's voice. Her own voice being played back at her from her time at Weapon X. It was feeding into all of her deepest insecurities and fears. It was manipulation. Pure and simple." The anger radiating in the Professor's voice put everyone on edge. It was rare Xavier show such emotion, but the Professor had created the institute as a haven for mutants. And that haven had been violated.
"But Hank...how did it get here in the first place?" Scott punctuated each word with a silent slam of his fist on the table. It was obvious he was having trouble maintaining control.
"We both rechecked all the videos for the last number of weeks and even the weeks after Greer's return. Logan checked all the alarms outside. Nothing was tampered with. Nothing was triggered." Scott slammed both his fists hard on the table this time. Jean rubbed his back as the rest of the X-Men now better understood Scott's frustration. Weapon X had been in and out...and no one had ever even known.
"So what are we going to do?" Jean spoke from behind Scott, each member of the X-Men sharing looks. The Mansion had already been swept and no other recording devices had been found. No one knew how the device had gotten there. The question still remained on what to do next.
"What about Greer?" Ororo asked.
"What about her? Can't tell her about it. Not yet. Now that this...thing is gone she oughta recover," Logan said, arms crossed as he stared at the remains of the device on the center of the conference table.
"We have to tell her something," Scott argued, but his point was lost at the look Logan gave him.
"Tellin' her now will wreck any kind of feeling of safety she has here. You wanna take that from her, Slim?" Logan growled out low. "Cause I sure as hell don't."
"I don't think it's quite that simple," Hank mumbled as he lowered his glasses and rubbed his eyes in obvious exhaustion. "We may have removed the device but we have no idea what long term effects Greer may be suffering through. We have no idea the danger she may pose to herself or others. We need to discuss what type of therapy to provide her, not to mention what to do with Greer in terms of the Mansion."
"That wasn't her Hank. And if you think you're going to be locking her up, she won't be the only one in need of therapy." Logan had his fists at his sides while Henry looked ready to stand by his concerns. Ororo however had a different thought that cut through the noise.
"What does Colton have to say about any of this?"
...
"It's alright Colton...it's just me. I brought you some coffee"
The growl lasted another moment before finally dying out, his attention shifting from the red head in his doorway back towards the sleeping Greer. He had yet to leave her side since Xavier's venture into her mind.
"Hank says she's doing alright...really we're just waiting for her to wake up. Charles wanted to do another mental scan," Colton let out another growl, "but he agreed with Betsy and I that it would be a bad idea." Jean finished quickly, putting the mug down on the dresser. Once Hank had explained that physically Greer was fine, Apex had picked her up and carried her to his room. Hank had shared a look with Charles and Logan with the unspoken question of, 'Do you want to tell him no?'
Jean stood in the room for a few more minutes, Colton seemingly forgetting she was even there, before finally speaking again.
"Colton...what are we supposed to do?" Jean waited patiently for an answer...until it soon became obvious she wasn't going to get one. Scott was convinced that Colton somehow knew what had happened to Greer, but the rest of the X-Men disagreed. Still, it didn't hurt to ask.
"She's going to be alright...she will," Jean wasn't sure if that was for her benefit or his, "just let me know if you need anything." Jean gave Greer another sad look before quietly leaving the room.
Apex stood in silence, just watching her, for another hour before he finally spoke.
"I'm going to break their world apart..."
BREAKING NEWS: Terror grips the Big Apple. In a rash of fires, bombings, and gun fire, it seems the violence that has been plaguing the rural tristate area has finally come to the City. While police are staying tight lipped, evidence points to a wide spread gang war. Warehouses, known gambling and drug dens have been destroyed and hospitals filled with the injured. The District Attorney only had to say that they were investigating all leads. It would appear that we are all in for a long winter...
Logan stood among the bodies with a deep scowl on his face.
Each one was riddled with bullet holes and a mask covering its face.
This had been a Sapien League headquarters...really not much more than an old warehouse in the middle of an industrial park but these were mostly displaced backwater hicks so what did they know.
But something wasn't right.
"Looks like we were late again."
It had been the third time Logan had led a squad to break up a Sapien League meeting and the third time they had come across a scene like this in the span of a week.
Scott had sent the rest of the team to search the surrounding area and to give Logan as clean a scent as possible. But that was pointless. Something hung in the air and burnt Logan's nose each time he breathed; preventing him from getting a good scent.
It was pissing him off.
"What do you think Logan?"
"Not now Summers." Logan slowly made his way through the dozen or so bodies. Logan would stop and turn every few steps, taking in the carnage. Visualizing what had happened. Attempting to recreate the scene.
"I think we were right. Looks like a power struggle within Humanity. Maybe a rival gang..." Scott had voiced the same theories after returning from the second massacre. Logan however had been unconvinced.
"Maybe..." Logan stopped near the middle of the mess and squatted down. The rot had already set in. These bodies had been out here for at least a few days. Logan was about to move on when something caught his attention. Shifting a body he picked up an assault rifle. Logan examined it before taking a sniff.
"You got anything?" Scott walked over to stand behind Logan.
Logan ignored Scott and placed his finger on the trigger, slowly flexing his finger and staring at it. Continually taking deep breaths in an attempt to catch something he knew wasn't there.
"Logan..."
"No...nothin'. I wanna to take this back with us. Let Hank take a look." Scott gave Logan a confused look as he got up and started heading towards the exit, rifle in hand.
"Why? What can we learn from a gun?" Scott moved to follow Logan out.
"Plenty. If you know what to look at." Logan stepped over the last body and headed back towards the jet.
There was someone he needed to see.
...
"What do you want?" he demanded not even turning away from the window to look at the intruder as Logan daringly entered his room without knocking. There were only two people in the Mansion that would have done that anyway...and one of the was still unconscious. It had been two days...
"We need to talk." Logan leaned against the dresser staring holes into the back of Apex's head.
"I already told Jean...and Hank that I have no knowledge of what happened to Greer."
"Ain' why I'm here, kid."
"Then we have nothing to talk about. Now leave." Apex let a growl into his voice... Just to get the message across but all Logan did was snort and pull out a cigar.
"That alpha cat shit doesn't work with me kitten. So if you don't wanna talk then you can just stand there and listen for all I care." Apex turned and gave a serious look between Logan and the door. Logan simply took a drag from his cigar and gave Apex a sideways glance, as if daring him to see if Apex could get him to leave. Apex bared his teeth but leaned his shoulders back against the wall. Logan took it as a sign to continue.
"Alright look, I'm not gonna turn this into some hippy drum circle bullshit. I've been through the same shit that you have. I've been through it all. Wars, black ops, assassinations, and stuff would give anybody else nightmares. I wasn't a nice guy before I went through Weapon X - and it spat me back out as something worse. But I've had more missions than I can remember...the things I knew that I needed to do. The things I knew that only I could do. I've been to that dark place where you need to go to get that stuff done." Logan bowed his head as he took another drag from his cigar, obviously remembering those dark places. Carefully choosing what he wanted to reveal.
"But there's a reason I'm still here...Why I'm still sane. It's this place. These kids. What Charles represents. Hell, even what Slim fights for. I come back from those dark places because I know that there is a lighter place to go back to. Someplace worth fighting for because without it- the fight doesn't matter. You need that or else you end up staying in that dark place until it destroys you." Logan turned back to Apex, obviously waiting for some recognition that his message was getting through.
"Maybe I like the dark. Maybe I prefer it." Apex replied firmly, an edge to his voice.
"You say that just cause you don't know any better. I don't mean you need to go make friends with everyone. You don't need to change yourself either. But you better find something else outside of what it is that you're doin' or else things will turn ugly." Apex didn't bother contradicting Logan...denying what he had been up to made no difference at this point. If Logan had intended to stop him...he would have already done so.
"There is nothing else..." Apex said softly but Logan noticed his eyes had shifted towards Greer. Logan just looked at her still form for a few moments before turning back to Apex, his attention still on her.
"You really should stop pushing her away if you care about 'er. She's stronger than you give her credit for." Logan hinted. He rarely tried to get himself involved with these things but...he knew that unlike the rest of the Mansion, Greer had been struggling with Apex's distancing from her before all of this had happened...and she deserved better than to go through this alone.
Logan took another drag from his cigar as he shook his head. He had tried to speak with her about it several times but every time he even mentioned the word "weapon" she had just shut down... and Logan knew what could happen when you tried to keep that kind of stuff bottled up...Apex and Logan stood in silence until Apex finally spoke.
"The last thing she needs is me... All I can do is remind her of exactly what she needs to forget." If he had just kept his distance...if he had only kept her safe...if he had never entered her life...none of this would have happened. She wouldn't be here...
"Or maybe you're exactly the person she needs. Cause in case you were blind, it looked to me like you were the one thing making her happy...happiest I've seen that kid since the day we brought her here. Either way, you should let her be the judge of that." Logan suggested bluntly before pushing himself off the dresser and making his way back to the door, turning just before he closed it.
"She needs you...and whether you like it or not...you're going to need her too."
Apex watched Logan go and opened a window despite the cold. Last thing he needed was his room stinking of cigars.
But as much as he would have liked to shrug off what Logan had said...it stayed with him. He had tried distancing himself from her, of keeping her away from what he was doing...and what good had that done? Colton turned his attention back to Greer.
Logan had said that she'd been...happy. The happiest he'd seen her since...Apex shook his head...he still found it difficult seeing Greer with her inducer, never mind considering that was who she had actually been. But that didn't matter right now...what mattered was keeping her safe.
And if that meant keeping her close...and that meant seeing her happy...well...there were worse things.
"When will you be back?"
Apex turned back from the window and saw the worry etched on her face. He didn't want her worrying...he didn't want her being scared.
"In a few hours. I don't want you staying awake...you need your rest."
"I think I've slept enough, thank you very much." Greer grumbled, looking ruffled, which Apex had to admit was rather endearing considering how Greer usually kept herself.
She had woken up with a very bad hangover two days ago to find out she had been unconscious for almost 72 hours...much to her horror. Thankfully, Colton had been sitting next to her and when she had groaned herself awake, he had been the first thing she had grabbed on to, burying her face into his chest until his scent helped clear out the fog in her head.
She could barely stand having Hank check her out, his questions made her head hurt, and she had spent the remainder of that day tucked next to Colton. After assuring her that she was doing better, Greer consumed the food Jean had brought up and satisfied she was no longer malnourished Colton had urged her to get some rest. But Greer just shook her head.
"It's not safe..." she felt her hands grip onto Colton like a life preserver.
"You are safe...here." Greer had glanced up for a moment before finally relenting and closing her eyes.
She knew she had nightmares that night...she was sure of it...They just refused to go away...but...each time she felt herself begin to panic, she heard a growl that would keep the nightmares at bay. When she woke up in the morning she could tell Colton had been up the entire night...watching over her.
"You need to sleep yourself." she whispered guilty. It wasn't fair that Colton went through all this for her...but he just shook his head head stubbornly telling her he was fine but she didn't buy it. She wasn't going to let that happen. She told him they'd discuss it once she got out of the shower...she knew it had been a few days and she felt the need to wash this all off.
When she walked out she was relieved when she saw Colton passed out on the bed. He hadn't moved...how long had he been awake? A day...two...three? She walked over to the one dresser he used to pull out something to slip into and was shocked when she found her own clothes instead.
Tiptoeing to the closet, she saw that almost all of her clothes had been put in. Greer looked over to the sleeping panther. She had been looking for his clothes because the idea of going into her own room was...well she just wasn't ready to see that yet. But somehow Colton knew that...so he had brought most of her things in here. Where he knew she'd be safe.
For the first time since waking up, Greer found herself with a small half-smile, and even though her own clothes were there, she went to the remaining dresser and slipped on one of Colton's t-shirts before she quietly took her place next to him. As she curled her smaller body next to his she felt Apex jerk awake.
"Shh… It's ok… I'm ok… Let's just sleep…" Greer whispered before slowly allowing herself to nuzzle him… Rubbing her cheek against his chest… Once, twice, she kept doing it and running her claws through his fur… Slowly, she felt Colton lower himself back down and then smiled when he placed a protective arm around her, pulling her closer to him as she started doing the same.
Greer let out a slow breath...she felt safe.
"Glad to see you up and about Tigger." Logan stood in front of the table where Jean and Greer had been huddled up together.
When the red head had seen her best friend that morning make her first trip outside of her room since...well that wasn't important. Greer had to wave her hands and claim a headache to get Jean to quite down.
The two had spent most of the following days together, their only interruption when Colton would stop by every couple hours to check on her. Jean kept her eyebrow in check the first time Greer had reached up to pull Colton behind her, adjusting so that she sat with her back to Colton's chest. Greer would just take deep breaths and let Jean talk at her before finally relinquishing her grip and telling Colton to get on with his day. After spending so much time just locked in with him...Greer found it reassuring to get a little bit of that throughout the day.
And from the way Colton kept showing up and simply allowing Greer to drape him around her, she knew he liked it too.
In honesty, her headaches were improving. Along with her sleep. After the third night she had actually slept fairly well, waking up find Colton studying her face. When she had attempted to hide and sleepily asked what could possibly be so interesting, he had simply replied that it was the first time she had woken up...peaceful.
Building off of that, instead of going out to the woods with Colton as usual, he had allowed Jean to convince Greer to go out with her and Betsy instead. It had felt good...normal. Once she had gotten back, she had immediately hunted down Colton who had just gotten back from his Danger Room with Peter. When he saw her, he knew he had made the right decision. This was the Greer he knew.
Which had made that night so difficult when he had whispered good-bye and slipped out. Greer had taken his pillow and buried her face in it, and while it wasn't as good...or warm, it kept the nightmares at bay until she had felt Colton wrap his arms around her and she breathed deeply before falling into a real sleep.
"Mind if I talk to you alone for a minute?" Jean gave Greer's hand a squeeze and reminded her of their plan to head out with some of the younger girls after lunch.
"What's going on Logan?" Greer didn't mean to eye Logan suspiciously...he had just kept his distance these last few days. She had expected him to be all over her once he saw that she and Colton back together but instead he had simply came over to make sure she was feeling alright the first morning she had come down and that had been it.
"Just wanted to check in...see how everythin' was goin'."
"I'm doing alright...having attacked anyone in days." Greer said sarcastically, doing her best to at least lighten what had happened. She had asked Jean to bring her the rest of her things from their room and while that had gotten her an earful, she still had no interest in setting foot back into that place. Xavier had informed her that everything had been repaired but still...she just didn't like it. Besides, sharing a room with Colton had it's benefits...
"And you and Colton are..."
"Logan, drop it. I don't care what it is that Colton's been doing...does. He's doing it to protect the rest of us and that's good enough for me. So if you want to talk...talk about something else."
It had been the second night. Greer had laid quietly as Colton told her what he had been doing for these last few months...ever since he had come back with that girl in his arms. He hadn't gone into any details and Greer hadn't asked for any. Colton didn't want to lie to her anymore and Greer didn't want him to feel the need to. No more lies.
But instead Logan just raised his hands, "I ain' gettin' in the middle of that darlin. Not my place...doesn't take a genius to see you're better with him around." Greer just blinked a few times...it wasn't that she had wanted it but Logan suddenly being supportive was...not expected.
"Just want to make sure you two look after each other. Like I told him...he's gonna need you. Even if he's too thick to know it yet." Greer eyed Logan as he gave her a little nod and wandered off.
Greer wondered just how much her mentor knew because despite what Colton might think...she agreed with Logan. And she was going to make sure Colton knew that as well.